r 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


SCIENTIFIC  SIDE-LIGHTS 


SCIENTIFIC 

SIDE-LIGHTS 


ILLUSTRATING  THOUSANDS  OF  TOPICS  BY  SELECTIONS 
FROM  STANDARD  WORKS  OF  THE  MASTERS  OF  SCIENCE 
THROUGHOUT  THE  WORLD,  WITH  COMPREHENSIVE 
INDEXES  EMBRACING  THIRTY  THOUSAND  TOPICS 
AND  CROSS-REFERENCES,  AND  MAKING  ALL  MATTERS 
CONTAINED  IN  THE  VOLUME  INSTANTLY  AVAILABLE 
FOR  ILLUSTRATIVE  USE  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  •• 


COMPILED    BY 


JAMES  C.  FERNALD 

Associate  Editor  of  the    "Standard    Dictionary";    Editor  of  the   "Students'  Standard 
Dictionary";   "  English  Synonyms,  Antonyms,  and  Prepositions  ";  Etc. 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK   AND    LONDON 


F38 


INTRODUCTORY 


THE  material  in  this  book  can  be  absolutely  relied  upon.  In  using  it,  the 
student  may  be  sure  that  he  is  dealing  with  master  minds,  each  of  whom  has 
made  a  specialty  of  the  science  of  which  he  treats.  The  editor  has  kept 
steadily  in  view  the  duty  of  a  compiler.  He  has  refrained  from  making 
digests,  compends,  or  summaries  of  the  works  reviewed.  He  has  not  under- 
taken to  advance  any  opinion,  theory,  or  creed,  but  simply  to  give  the  fairest 
possible  picture  of  the  present  state  of  science  consistent  with  the  primary 
purpose  of  the  work  as  a  volume  of  illustrations.  Where  eminent  men  differ 
in  opinion,  conflicting  views  have  been  allowed  expression,  leaving  the  name 
and  authority  of  each  author  to  answer  for  his  own  statements.  The  record- 
ing of  a  scientific  opinion  is  not  its  advocacy,  and  that  even  leaders  in  science 
may  well  change  their  views  with  advancing  knowledge  is  abundantly  shown 
in  the  selections  given,  and  freely  admitted  by  the  foremost  among  them. 

In  obedience  to  the  primary  and  controlling  purpose  of  scientific  illustra- 
tion, whatever  in  science  can  throw  a  "side-light"  upon  some  intellectual, 
moral,  political,  industrial,  social,  or  religious  truth  has  been  seized  wherever 
found.  The  titles  and  location  of  topics  are  thus  not  what  would  be  found  in 
a  scientific  hand-book,  which  would  place  all  matter  treating  of  glaciers 
under  glacier,  of  oxygen  under  oxygen,  of  volcanoes  under  volcano,  etc.  It 
is  not  primarily  for  the  astronomical,  geological,  chemical,  or  other  scientific 
teachings  that  the  selections  have  been  made,  but  for  some  truth  relating  to 
humanity,  which  they  illustrate. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  believed  that  the  selections  will  be  found  of 
exceeding  interest  for  their  own  sake,  and  that  they  will  open  to  many  readers 
vistas  of  the  wide  reach  of  science,  such  as  their  special  studies  have  not  pre- 
viously brought  to  their  view.  The  minister,  the  teacher,  or  the  busy  worker 
in  any  profession,  even  if  he  devotes  his  spare  time  to  science,  can  scarcely 
hope  for  extensive  knowledge  in  more  than  some  one  of  its  many  departments. 
Through  these  pages  flashes  of  light  will  come  to  him  from  all,  and  he  will 
thus  gain  a  fuller  view  of  the  grand  unity  toward  which  all  are  tending. 

Of  the  use  of  scientific  illustrations  in  speaking  or  writing,  it  may  be 
said  that  they  are  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  is  preemi- 
nently scientific ;  that  they  have  not  the  hackneyed  character  of  the  numerous 
popular  anecdotes  or  of  the  stock  illustrations  long  current  in  classic  litera- 
ture, and  that  they  especially  impress  the  thoughtful  mind,  as  dealing  with 
facts.  However  theories  may  change,  the  movements  of  suns  and  planets, 
the  combinations  of  chemistry,  the  fossils  and  strata  of  geology,  the  proper- 
ties of  heat,  light,  and  sound,  the  marvels  of  electricity,  and  the  infinitesimal 
world  of  the  microscope  are  facts,  ascertained  and  demonstrable.  The  mind 
is  there  upon  sure  ground,  and  the  use  of  such  facts  in  illustration  gives  a 
sense  of  certainty  and  reality  to  the  thoughts  they  are  employed  to  illustrate. 

The  selections  here  given  are  not  from  works  on  so-called  ' '  popular  sci- 
ence," where  the  element  of  popularity  often  quite  swamps  the  scientific, 
where  uncertified  facts  are  given  on  the  testimony  of  anonymous  witnesses,  and 
where  the  suspicion  is  often  inevitable  that  the  occurrence  happened  for  the 
sake  of  the  illustration.  This  work  is  based  upon  the  belief  that  the  essentials 
of  science  are  simple  enough  for  the  untrained  mind,  and  that  whatever  of 
abstruseness  it  contains  is  in  processes  or  in  their  necessary  technical  terms, 
and  that  there  are  none  who  can  state  the  essentials  more  clearly  than  those 
who  know  them  most  thoroughly  at  first  hand — the  leading  specialists  in  the 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


various  departments.  An  examination  of  the  Index  of  Authors  will  show  how 
high  is  the  standing  of  the  writers  from  whom  the  quotations  are  made,  and  a 
study  of  the  selections  will  show  how  simple  and  lucid  are  their  expositions  of 
scientific  truth.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  also  with  the  ex- 
exceeding  felicity  of  language,  the  beautiful  descriptions  of  natural  scenery, 
the  sympathy  with  all  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  Nature,  and  the  wide  out- 
reach of  thought  and  aspiration  with  which  these  extracts  abound. 

For  each  selection  a  number  of  topics  for  illustrative  use  are  commonly 
suggested  in  the  headlines,  while  still  others  are  indicated  in  the  various  in- 
dexes ;  but  so  multiform  are  the  relations  of  scientific  truth  to  all  other  truth, 
that  the  thoughtful  reader  will  constantly  perceive  new  uses  and  adaptations 
of  the  same  scientific  fact.  This  suggestiveness  of  these  extracts,  reaching 
beyond  anything  that  can  be  specified  in  set  phrases,  will  be  found  among 
the  most  valuable  qualities  of  this  collection.  While  each  selection  is  com- 
plete in  itself  and  ready  for  immediate  use,  without  reference  to  any  other 
work,  it  will  be  found  also  of  value  as  a  guide  to  the  sources  from  which 
other  material  of  interest  and  value  may  be  obtained ;  for  these  extracts, 
tho  most  carefully  made,  are  yet  but  specimens  of  the  riches  to  be  found 
in  the  various  works  from  which  they  are  taken.  The  student  will  almost 
certainly  find  himself  impelled  to  seek  a  fuller  knowledge  of  some  at  least  of 
the  subjects  presented  in  the  volumes  themselves  of  which  these  extracts  form 
a,  part. 

In  the  choice  of  authors  to  be  quoted,  the  editor  has  been  guided,  not 
merely  by  his  own  opinion,  but  by  the  valued  advice  of  eminent  scholars,  as 
Marcus  Benjamin,  A.M.,  Ph.D,  F.C.S.,  Editor  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. ;  Arthur  Elmore  Bostwick,  Ph.D.,  New  York  Public  Library, 
New  York  City;  Professor  Charles  'Sunnier  Dolley,  M.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ; 
Professor  Albert  Smith  Bickmore,  Ph.D.,  American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, New  York;  Louis  Pope  Gratacap,  Ph.B.,  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  New  York;  Professor  Frank  Hall  Knowlton,  Ph.D.,  U.  S.  Nat. 
Museum,  Washington;  Professor  George  Perkins  Merrill,  Ph.D.,U.  S.  Nat. 
Museum,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Professor  Theophil  Mitchell  Prudden,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  Columbia  University;  Prof  essor  Frederick  Starr,  Ph.D.,  University  of 
Chicago;  Isaac  Kauffman  Funk,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Editor  in  Chief  of  Funk  & 
Wagnalls  STANDARD  DICTIONARY,  New  York ;  Professor  Edward  Richard 
Shaw,  Ph.D.,  New  York  University;  Henry  Newlin  Stokes,  Ph.D., 
U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Pepartment  of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Professor 
Nathaniel  Southgate  Shaler,  D.S.,  Harvard  University — whose  aid  it  is  a 
pleasure  here  gratefully  to  acknowledge. 

In  the  translation  of  extracts  from  foreign  authors,  Mrs.  J.  H.  W.  Stuck- 
enberg,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. ,  has  rendered  admirable  service. 

A  special  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  to  authors  who  have  granted  the  use  of 
their  copyrightvolumes  or  have  furnished  important  monographs  for  quotation 
in  this  work,  among  whom  should  be  particularly  mentioned :  the  late  John 
Fiske,  LL.B. ;  Samuel Pierpont  Langley,  D.Sc.,  LL.D.;  Professor  William 
James,  M.D.,  Ph.  et.  Litt.D.,  LL.D.;  Professor  Hugo  Munsterberg,  M.D., 
Ph.D.;  Park  Benjamin,  Ph.  D. ;  Otis  Tuf  ton  Mason,  Ph.D.;  Israel  C.  Russell, 
M.S.,  LL.D.;  Theodore  Gill,  M.D.,  Ph.D.;  William  James  Beal,  M.S., 
Ph.D.;  William  Keith  Brooks,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.;  Clarence  Moores  Weed, 
Sc.D. ;  Henry  Newlin  Stokes,  Ph.D. ;  Harvey  W.  Wiley,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. ;  Hon. 
William  Torrey  Harris,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion; andLeland  Ossian  Howard,  Ph.D.,  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Entomology, 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  who  sent  advance  proofs  of 
his  valuable  article  on  Smyrna  Fig  Culture  in  the  United  States. 

The  editor  would  also  present  his  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  pub- 
lishers whose  volumes  of  scientific  facts  and  researches  he  has  been  privileged 


INTRODUCTORY 


to  use,  and  whose  courtesy  and  kindness  it  will  always  be  a  pleasure  to  re- 
member: to  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  whose  International  Library 
of  Science  and  Modern  Science  Series  have  been  of  especial  service  and  are  to 
be  commended  as  placing  a  great  amount  and  variety  of  admirably  selected 
material  within  the  reach  of  the  American  or  English  reader  in  his  own 
language ;  to  the  American  Book  Co. ,  the  Clarendon  Press,  the  Columbia 
University  Press,  Wm.  O.  Allison,  A.  L.  Burt,  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Fords,  Howard  &  Hulbert,  Harper  &  Broth- 
ers, Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  the  Humboldt  Publishing  Co.,  Longmans,  Green 
&  Co.,  James  Pott  &  Co.,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
Sheldon  &  Co.,  John  Wiley  &  Sons,  and  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  of  New 
York;  to  Ginn  &  Co.,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co  ,  and  Little,  Brown  & 
Co.,  of  Boston;  to  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  the  Henry 
Altemus  Co.,  and  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia;  to  the  Schulte 
Publishing  Co.,  of  Chicago;  to  A.  &  C.  Black,  Bell  &  Sons,  Chapman  & 
Hall,  J.  M.  Dent  &  Co.,  Harper  &  Brothers,  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner 
&  Co. ,  Swan,  Sonnenschein  &  Co. ,  of  London.  Individual  favors  and  cour- 
tesies more  than  can  be  here  enumerated,  but  all  of  which  are  gratefully  re- 
membered, have  aided  in  the  preparation  of  the  work. 

JAMES  C.  FERNALD. 


viii 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


KEY   TO   ABBREVIATIONS 


a— Alpha,  designating  a  special  star 
of  group;  thus,  a  (alpha)  Centauri 
is  the  most  brilliant  star  of  the 
constellation  Centaurus  or  Cen- 
taur. Other  Greek  letters  are  at 
times  similarly  uused. 

A.— D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

A.  &  S. — A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son. 

A.B.Co. — American  Book  Co. 

A. B.P.S.— American  Baptist  Publi- 
cation Society. 

A.  D.  L.  V.— Anleitung  zur  deut- 
schen  Landes  und  Volksforschung, 
Alfred  Kirchof ,  editor. 

Bell.— Bell  &  Sons. 

Bl.— A.  &  C.  Black. 

Burt. — A.  L.  Burt. 

C.  &  H  —  Chapman  &  Hall. 

Cl.  P. — Clarendon  Press. 

C.  U.  P. — Columbia  University 
Press. 


D.  &  McC. — Doubleday  &  McClure 
Co. ;  Doubleday ,  Page  &  Company. 

D.  M.  &  Co.— Dodd.  Mead  &  Co. 

D.  Z.  S.  F. — Deutsche-Zeit  und 
Streit-fragen. 

F.  H.  &  H.— Fords,  Howard  & 
Hulbert. 

F.  &  W.— Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co. 

G.  &  Co. — Ginn  &  Co. 

G.  &  L. — Gould  &  Lincoln. 

G.  P.  P.— G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

H.— Harper  &  Bros. 

H.  Al. — Henry  Altemus. 

H.  H.  &  Co.— Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

H.  M.  &  Co.— Houghton,  Mifflin  & 

Co. 
Hum. — H  u  m  b  o  1  d  t     Publishing 

Co. 

J.  P.— James  Pott  &  Co. 
J.  W.— John  Wiley  &  Sons. 


K.  P.  &  Co.— Kegan  Paul     <fe  Co.; 

Kegan  Paul,  Trench  ,Trubner&Co. 
L. — J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co. 
L.  B.  &  Co.— Little,  Brown  &  Co. 
L.  G.  &  Co. — Longmans,  Green  & 

Co. 

R.  Ct.— Robert  Carter. 
S. — Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
S.  G.  W.  V. — Sammlung  gemeinver- 

standlicher     wissenschaftlicher 

Vortrage,  R.  Virchow  and  F.  von 

Holtzendorff ,  Editors. 
Sch.  P.  C.— Schulte  Publication  Co. 
Sh.  &  Co.— Sheldon  &  Co. 
Sm.  Inst. — Smithsonian  Institution. 
Son.  &  Co. — Sonnenschein  &  Co. 
U.  P. — University  Press. 
W.  L.  A.— W.  L.  Allison  &  Co. 
W.  W.  —William  Wood  &  Co. 


SCIENTIFIC  SIDE-LIGHTS 


1.  ABERRATION  OF    LIGHT— Apparent 
Motion  of  Stars  in  Space  Due  to  Motion  of 
the   Earth. — Bradley     .     .     .     noticed   that 
the  fixed  stars  did  not  really  appear  to  be 
fixed,  but  that  they  describe  little  orbits  in 
the   heavens   every   year.      The   result   per- 
plexed him.     .     .     .     He  was  one  day  upon 
the  Thames  in  a  boat,  and  noticed  that  as 
long  as  his  course  remained  unchanged,  the 
vane  upon  his  masthead  showed  the  wind  to 
be  blowing  constantly  in  the  same  direction, 
but  that  the  wind  appeared  to  vary  with 
every  change  in  the  direction  of  his  boat. 
"  Here,"  as  Whewell  says,  "  was  the  image 
of  his  case.     The  boat  was  the  earth,  mov- 
ing in  its  orbit,  and  the  wind  was  the  light 
of  a  star."     .     .     .     You  will  immediately 
understand  the  meaning  of   Bradley's  dis- 
covery.    Imagine  yourself  in   a   motionless 
railway-train,   with    a    shower   of    rain   de- 
scending   vertically    downwards.      The   mo- 
ment  the  train  begins   to   move   the   rain- 
drops begin  to  slant,  and  the  quicker  the 
motion    of    the    train    the    greater    is    the 
obliquity.     In   a   precisely   similar   manner 
the  rays  from  a  star  vertically  overhead  are 
caused  to  slant  by  the  motion  of  the  earth 
through  space.     Knowing  the  speed  of  the 
train,  and  the  obliquity  of  the  falling  rain, 
the  velocity  of  the  drops  may  be  calculated; 
and  knowing  the  speed  of  the  earth  in  her 
orbit,  and  the  obliquity  of  the  rays  due  to 
this  cause,  we  can  calculate  just  as  easily 
the  velocity  of  light. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  22.     (A.,  1898.) 

2.  ABRASION  OF  ROCKS  BY  GLACIERS 

— Marks  of  Ice  That  Melted  Ages  Ago. — In 
the  first  place,  we  have  to  consider  the  sin- 
gular abrasion  of  the  surfaces  over  which 
the  glacier  has  moved,  quite  unlike  that  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  water.  We  have  seen 
that  such  surfaces,  wherever  the  glacier- 
marks  have  not  been  erased  by  some  subse- 
quent action,  have  several  unfailing  charac- 
teristics :  they  are  highly  polished,  and  they 
are  also  marked  with  scratches  or  fine  strice, 
with  grooves  and  deeper  furrows.  Where 
best  preserved,  the  smooth  surfaces  are  shin- 
ing; they  have  a  luster  like  stone  or  marble 
artificially  polished  by  the  combined  friction 
and  pressure  of  some  harder  material  than 


itself  until  all  its  inequalities  have  been 
completely  leveled  and  its  surface  has  be- 
come glossy.  Any  marble  mantelpiece  may 
serve  as  an  example  of  this  kind  of  glacier- 
worn  surface. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches, 
ser.  ii,  p.  34.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3. Rocks  Are  Cut  by  Exist- 


ing Glaciers. — At  the  lower  end,  and  along 
the  sides  of  many  Alpine  glaciers,  the  ice 
charged  with  sand  and  stones  may  be  seen 
in  direct  contact  with  the  smooth,  polished, 
and  striated  rock  surfaces.  Below  glaciers 
that  have  recently  retreated,  and  where  the 
surface  is  still  bare  of  vegetation,  records 
similar  to  those  just  mentioned  may  be  ob- 
served in  thousands  of  localities.  The  same 
is  true,  also,  over  vast  regions  that  are 
known  to  have  been  formerly  glaciated; 
while  on  adjacent  areas,  where  the  condi- 
tions are  similar,  excepting  that  they  were 
not  occupied  by  ice,  the  peculiar  and  not 
easily  mistaken  evidences  of  ice  abrasion 
are  lacking.  We  have,  therefore,  both  posi- 
tive and  negative  evidence  pointing  to  the 
conclusion  that  glaciers  abrade  the  rocks 
over  which  they  flow. — RUSSELL  Glaciers  of 
North  America,  int.,  p.  19.  (G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

4.  ABSENCE  OF  MIND— Newton  and  the 
Egg. — Always    preoccupied    with    his    pro- 
found researches,  the  great  Newton  showed 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  an  absence  of 
mind  which  has  become  proverbial.    It  is  re- 
lated that  one  day,  wishing  to  find  the  num- 
ber of  seconds  necessary  for  the  boiling  of 
an  egg,  he  perceived,  after  waiting  a  minute, 
that  he  held  the  egg  in  his  hand,  and  had 
placed  his  seconds  watch  (an  instrument  of 
great  value  on  account  of  its  mathematical 
precision)    to  boil! — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  93.     (A.) 

5.  ACCIDENT   CONFIRMS    SUPERSTI- 
TION— Indian's  Prognostication  of  Calamity — 
A  Hunter's  Omen. — The  effect  of  accidental 
occurrences   upon  an  uneducated   mind,   in 
engendering  superstition,  is  a  subject  which 
has   often  been   dwelt  upon,   and  the  diffi- 
culty of  eradicating  the  same — as  may  be 
judged  of  by  the  following  accident  which 
came  under  the  observation   of   Mr.   T.   B. 


Accident 
Accumulation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Lloyd  and  the  author,  in  1873,  when  travel- 
ing in  Newfoundland — will  be  easily  appre- 
ciated. At  the  time  to  which  I  refer,  my 
companion  was  bringing  a  canoe  down  the 
rapids  below  the  Grand  Pond  in  a  country 
which  is  practically  uninhabited,  and  where 
an  Indian  trapper  would  perhaps  be  the 
only  person  met  with,  and  this  not  more 
than  once  a  year.  Whilst  shooting  the 
rapids  one  of  the  Indians,  Reuben  Soulian, 
shot  at  a  deer  passing  up  one  bank  of  the 
river.  That  the  deer  had  been  hit  was  testi- 
fied by  a  trail  of  blood  which  bespattered 
the  rocks.  Subsequently  several  more  shots 
were  fired,  and  it  was  believed  by  all  that 
the  deer  was  killed.  Soulian  quickly  fol- 
lowed the  animal  to  the  spot  where  it  was 
supposed  to  have  fallen.  Some  time  after 
he  returned,  having  failed  to  find  any  trace 
of  the  animal.  He  was  greatly  agitated,  but 
eventually  became  melancholy,  saying  that 
the  sudden  disappearance  of  the  animal  was 
a  sure  sign  that  some  of  his  relations  had 
suddenly  died.  About  two  hours  afterwards 
Mr.  Lloyd's  party  met  with  a  party  of  In- 
dians coming  up  the  river,  the  first  they  had 
seen  for  four  weeks,  who  told  them  that 
Soulian's  sister  had  just  died  on  the  coast,  i 
— MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  18,  p.  306.  (A.,  I 
1899.) 

6.  ACCIDENT,  HAPPY— Measurement  of 
Etna — Agreement     of     Masters. — In     1815, 
Captain  Smyth   ascertained,   trigonometric- 
ally,   that  the  height  of  Etna  was   10,874 
feet.      The    Catanians,     disappointed    that 
their  mountain  had  lost  nearly  2,000  feet 
of  the  height  assigned  to  it  by  Recupero, 
refused  to  acquiesce  in  the  decision.     After- 
wards, in  1824,  Sir  J.  Herschel,  not  being 
aware  of  Captain  Smyth's  conclusions,  de- 
termined by  careful  barometrical  measure- 
ment  that   the   height   was    10,872y2    feet. 
This  singular  agreement  of  results  so  differ- 
ently obtained  was  spoken  of  by  Herschel  as 
"  a  happy  accident  " ;   but  Dr.  Wollaston  re- 
marked that  "  it  was  one  of  those  accidents 
which    would    not    have    happened    to    two 
fools." — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  ch.  25, 
p.  396.     (A.,  1854.) 

7.  ACCIDENT  LEADS  TO  IMPORTANT 
INVENTION— Electric  Motor  the  Result  of  a 
Workman's  Mistake. — At  an  industrial  ex- 
hibition in  Vienna,  in   1873,   a  number  of 
Gramme    machines    were    being    placed    in 
position,  in  order  to  exemplify  the  various 
uses  to  which  the  invention  might  be  put 
as  an  electric  generator,  when  there  occurred 
one  of  those  singularly  fortunate  accidents 
which  have  again  and  again  played  so  prom- 
inent a  part  in  the  history  of  industrial 
progress.     In  making  the  electrical  connec- 
tions to  one  of  these  machines  which  had 
not  as  yet  been  belted  to  the  engine-shaft,  a 
careless  workman  attached  to  it  by  mistake 
a  pair   of  wires   which   were   already   con- 
nected with  another  dynamo  machine  which 
was  in  rapid  motion.    To  the  amazement  of 
this  worthy  artisan  the  second  machine  com- 


menced to  revolve  with  great  rapidity  in  a 
reverse  direction.  Upon  the  attention  of  M. 
Gramme  being  directed  to  this  phenomenon, 
he  at  once  perceived  that  the  second  ma- 
chine was  performing  the  function  of  a 
motor,  and  that  what  was  taking  place  was 
an  actual  transference  of  mechanical  power 
through  the  medium  of  electricity.  This 
singularly  opportune  occurrence,  being  com- 
mented upon  in  the  scientific  journals,  led 
to  the  instant  recognition  of  the  true  place 
of  the  electric  motor  in  the  domain  of 
mechanics. — POPE,  in  Electricity  in  Daily 
Life,  p.  46.  (S.,  1893.) 

8.  ACCIDENT  LED   TO   THE  DISCOV- 
ERY OF  THE  EARTH-CIRCUIT— The  possi- 
bility of  signaling  without  wires  was  in  a 
manner  forced  upon  him   [Steinheil  of  Mu- 
nich].    While  he  was  engaged  in  establish- 
ing his  beautiful   system  of  telegraphy  in 
Bavaria,  Gauss,  the  celebrated  German  phi- 
losopher, and  himself  a  telegraph  inventor, 
suggested  to  him  that  the  two  rails  of  a 
railway  might  be  utilized  as  telegraphic  con- 
ductors.    In  July,  1838,  Steinheil  tried  the 
experiment  on  the  Niirnberg-Fiirth  railway, 
but  was  unable  to  obtain  an  insulation  of 
the  rails  sufficiently  good  for  the  current  to 
reach  from  one  station  to  the  other.     The 
great  conductibility   with   which   he   found 
that  the  earth  was  endowed  led  him  to  pre- 
sume that  it  would  be  possible  to  employ  it 
instead  of  the  return  wire  or  wires  hitherto 
used.     The  trials  that  he  made  in  order  to 
prove  the  accuracy  of  this  conclusion  were 
followed  by  complete  success;    and  he  then 
introduced  into  electric  telegraphy  one  of  its 
greatest  improvements — -the  earth-circuit. — 
FAHIE  Wireless  Telegraphy,  p.  3.     (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 

9.  ACCIDENT    REENFORCES    SUPER- 
STITION— Profile  Portrait   Gives   Offense   to 
Savages — Artist     Endangered.^C&tlin     ex- 
cited great  commotion  among  the  Sioux  by 
drawing    one    of    their    chiefs    in    profile. 
"Why  was  half  his   face  left  out?"  they 
asked;    "  Mahtocheega  was  never  ashamed 
to  look  a  white  man  in  the  face."     Mahto- 
cheega himself  does  not  seem  to  have  taken 
any    offense,    but    Shonka,    The    Dog,    took 
advantage  of  the  idea  to  taunt  him.     "  The 
Englishman  knows,"  he  said,  "  that  you  are 
but  half  a  man;    he  has  painted  but  one- 
half  of  your  face,  and  knows  that  the  rest  is 
good  for  nothing."     This  view  of  the  case 
led  to  a  fight,  in  which  poor  Mahtocheega 
was  shot;    and  as  ill-luck  would  have  it,  the 
bullet  by  which  he  was  killed   tore   away 
just  that  part  of  the  face  which  had  been 
omitted  in  the  drawing.     This  was  very  un- 
fortunate   for   Mr.    Catlin,   who   had   great 
difficulty  in  making  his  escape,   and  lived 
some  months  after  in  fear  for  his  life;    nor 
was  the  matter  settled  until  both   Shonka 
and  his  brother  had  been  killed  in  revenge 
for    the    death    of   Mahtocheega. — AVEBUBY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  14,  p.  505.     (A.,  1900.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Accident 
Accumulation 


10.  ACCIDENT,  SEEMING,  LEADS  TO 
DISCOVERY    OF    URANUS— Result   of   Sir 
William  Herschel's  Exhaustive  Study. — Al- 
tho  Uranus  was  discovered  by  accident,  it 
will  not  be  thought  that  on  that   account 
small  credit  should  be  given  to  Sir  W.  Her- 
schel,  the  astronomer,  to  wThose  redoubtable 
telescope  this  planet  fell  as  a  spoil.    The  ac- 
cident was  one  which  could  not  have  hap- 
pened but  to  an  enthusiast  in  astronomical 
researches.    He  had  penetrated  into  the  star 
depths  again  and  again  with  telescopes  of 
his    own   construction,    engaged    in   the   at- 
tempt to  solve  problems  of  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty, when  one  night  this  new  orb  swept 
into  his  ken. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  115.     (L.  G.  &  Co.) 

11.  ACCIDENT    UTILIZED    BY    MAN 

OF  SCIENCE— Darwin  Led  to  the  Study  of 
Insectivorous  Plants — Great  Destruction  of 
Insects  by  Drosera  or  Sundew. — During  the 
summer  of  1860,  I  was  surprised  by  finding 
how  large  a  number  of  insects  were  caught 
by  the  leaves  of  the  common  sundew 
(Drosera  rotundi folia)  on  a  heath  in  Sussex. 
I  had  heard  that  insects  were  thus  caught, 
but  knew  nothing  further  on  the  subject. 
I  gathered  by  chance  a  dozen  plants,  bear- 
ing fifty-six  fully  expanded  leaves,  and  on 
thirty-one  of  these  dead  insects  or  remnants 
of  them  adhered;  and,  no  doubt,  many  more 
would  have  been  caught  afterwards  by  these 
same  leaves,  and  still  more  by  those  as  yet 
not  expanded.  On  one  plant  all  six  leaves 
had  caught  their  prey ;  and  on  several  plants 
very  many  leaves  had  caught  more  than  a 
single  insect.  On  one  large  leaf  I  found  the 
remains  of  thirteen  distinct  insects.  Flies 
(Dipt era)  are  captured  much  oftener  than 
other  insects.  The  largest  kind  which  I 
have  seen  caught  was  a  small  butterfly 
(Ccenonympha  pamphilus)  ;  but  the  Rev.  H. 
M.  Wilkinson  informs  me  that  he  found  a 
large  living  dragon-fly  with  its  body  firmly 
held  by  two  leaves.  As  this  plant  is  ex- 
tremely common  in  some  districts,  the  num- 
ber of  insects  thus  annually  slaughtered 
must  be  prodigious.  Many  plants  cause  the 
death  of  insects,  for  instance  the  sticky  buds 
of  the  horse-chestnut,  without  thereby  re- 
ceiving, as  far  as  we  can  perceive,  any 
advantage;  but  it  was  soon  evident  that 
Drosera  was  excellently  adapted  for  the 
special  purpose  of  catching  insects,  so  that 
the  subject  seemed  well  worthy  of  investiga- 
tion.— DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  1, 
p.  1.  (A.,  1900.) 

12.  ACCIDENT    YIELDS     DISCOVERY 
TO  TRAINED  OBSERVER—  Goodyear  First 
Vulcanized  India-rubber  "by  Chance. — Good- 
year, the  sagacious  and  persevering  investi- 
gator   into    the    properties    and    uses    of 
caoutchouc    or    india-rubber,    had    long    in- 
quired after   some  agent   in  nature  which 
would  remove  from  the  substance  in  ques- 
tion its  special  sensibility  to  cold  and  heat, 
and  make  it  in  effect  a  new  material.     He 
discovered   this    long-desired    agent   in   the 


most  casual  way.  "  In  one  of  those  ani- 
mated conversations  so  habitual  to  him,  in 
reference  to  his  experiments,  a  piece  of 
india-rubber  combined  with  sulfur,  which  he 
held  in  his  hand  as  the  text  of  all  his  dis- 
courses, was  by  a  violent  gesture  thrown 
into  a  burning  stove  near  which  he  was 
standing.  When  taken  out,  after  having 
been  subjected  to  a  high  degree  of  heat,  he 
saw — what  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  would 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  all  others — that 
a  complete  transformation  had  taken  place, 
and  that  an  entirely  new  product,  since  so 
felicitously  termed  '  new  metal,'  was  the 
consequence."  (Decision  of  the  U.  S.  Com- 
missioner of  Patents.)  .  .  .  The  eye  of 
Goodyear  was  quickened  by  the  watching 
and  waiting  of  years  to  that  sagacity  which 
was  able  to  see  in  the  piece  of  refuse  rubber 
casually  discharged  from  the  fire  an  answer 
to  the  question  with  which  his  mind  had  so 
long  been  burdened. — PORTER  Human  In- 
tellect, pt.  iii,  ch.  8,  p.  490.  (S.,  1899.) 

13.  ACCOMPLISHMENT   OF  THE  IM- 
POSSIBLE— Chemistry  of  Sun  and  Stars  Re- 
vealed— Scientists'    Predictions    Falsified. — 
Resuming  in  a  sentence  what  has  been  al- 
ready explained,  we  find  that  the  prismatic 
analysis  of  the  heavenly  bodies  was  founded 
upon  three  classes  of  facts :    First,  the  un- 
mistakable character  of  the  light  given  by 
each  different  kind  of  glowing  vapor;    sec- 
ondly,   the   identity   of   the   light   absorbed 
with  the  light  emitted  by  each ;    thirdly,  the 
coincidences  observed  between  rays  missing 
from  the  solar  spectrum  and  rays  absorbed 
by  various  terrestrial  substances.     Thus,  ,a 
realm  of  knowledge,  pronounced  by  Morinus 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  no  less  dog- 
matically by  Auguste  Comte   in  the   nine- 
teenth, hopelessly  out  of  reach  of  the  human 
intellect,  was  thrown  freely  open,  and  the 
chemistry   of   the   sun   and   stars   took   its 
place   among   the   foremost   of   the   experi- 
mental sciences. — CLERKE  History  of  Astron- 
omy, pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  174.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

14.  ACCUMULATION      OF     ETHICAL 
FORCES — Advance  Must  Be  Unbroken. — One 
must  first  learn,  unmoved,  looking  neither 
to  the  right  nor  left,  to  walk  firmly  on  the 
straight  and  narrow  path,   before  one  can 
begin  "  to  make  oneself  over  again."     He 
who  every  day  makes  a  fresh  resolve  is  like 
one  who,  arriving  at  the  edge  of  the  ditch 
he  is  to  leap,  forever  stops  and  returns  for 
a    fresh    run.      Without   unbroken   advance 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  accumulation  of 
the  ethical  forces  possible,  and  to  make  this 
possible,  and  to  exercise  us  and  habituate 
us  in  it,  is  the  sovereign  blessing  of  regular 
work. — BAHNSEN    Beitrdge    zur    Character- 
ologie,  quoted  by  JAMES  in  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  4,  p.  124.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

15.  ACCUMULATION      OF      EXCITE- 
MENTS— A  stimulus  which  would  be  inade- 
quate by  itself  to  excite  a  nerve-center  to 
effective  discharge  may,  by  acting  with  one 


Accumulation 
Action 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


or  more  other  stimuli  (equally  ineffectual 
by  themselves  alone)  bring  the  discharge 
about.  The  natural  way  to  consider  this 
is  as  a  summation  of  tensions  which  at  last 
overcome  a  resistance.  The  first  of  them 
produce  a  "  latent  excitement,"  or  a 
"  heightened  irritability  " — the  phrase  is 
immaterial  so  far  as  practical  consequences 
go;  the  last  is  the  straw  which  breaks  the 
camel's  back. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
3,  p.  82.  (H.  II.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

16.  ACCUMULATION   OF    SMALL    IM- 
PULSES —  Great    Results.  —  Extraordinary 
effects  are  produced  by  the  accumulation  of 
small   impulses.     Galileo   set  a  heavy  pen- 
dulum in  motion  by  the  well-timed  puffs  of 
his  breath.     Ellicot  set  one  clock  going  by 
the   ticks    of   another,    even  when   the   two 
clocks    were    separated    by    a    wall.     TYN- 
DALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  22, 
p.  444.      (A.,   1900.) 

17.  ACCURACY  OF  ANCIENT  BUILD- 
ERS— Orientation  of  Great   Pyramid — Exact- 
ness  Not   Attainable   by   Compass. — It   has 
been  frequently  maintained  that  the  orien- 
tation of  the  great  pyramid  is  such  as  to 
indicate,   with   reasonable  probability,  that 
the  compass-needle  was  used  in  establishing 
the  positions  of  its  faces. 

The  difficulty  with  this  supposition  is 
that  the  pyramid  is,  in  fact,  placed  with 
too  great  accuracy  for  the  work  to  be  done 
even  by  the  best  modern  compass.  Its  sides 
face  astronomically  the  north,  south,  east 
and  west;  not  to  the  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass,  but  to  the  azimuthal  direction  of 
the  earth's  axis  and  to  a  line  at  right  angles 
thereto.  The  compass,  however,  is  subject 
to  variations,  due  to  regular  daily,  monthly, 
yearly,  and  centennial  changes  in  the  earth's 
magnetic  field,  which  controls  it.  Hence, 
the  task  of  figuring  backward  the  probable 
position  of  the  needle  at  the  time  of  the 
building  of  the  pyramid — a  period  which  is 
in  doubt — might  well  cause  despair  in  the 
most  skilful  investigator  of  terrestrial 
magnetism ;  for,  in  the  least  interval  which 
has  elapsed,  the  needle  has  probably  swung 
over  large  angles  from  the  true  north,  back 
and  forth  many  times.  But,  granting  such 
a  possibility,  still  it  may  be  safely  ques- 
tioned whether  the  most  accomplished  sur- 
veyor or  topographical  engineer  of  to-day 
could  run  the  lines  of  the  pyramid  faces,  by 
the  aid  of  the  best  modern  compass,  with 
no  greater  error  than  19'  58",  which  the 
French  Academy,  in  1799,  determined  to  be 
the  entire  amount  of  variation  of  these 
faces  from  the  true  astronomical  direction. 
— PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity, ch.  3.  p.  57.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

18.  ACCURACY      OF      DETAIL  —  The 

Charm  Alike  of  Science.  Literature,  and 
Art. — In  the  sphere  of  natural  investiga- 
tion, as  in  poetry  and  painting,  the  delinea- 
tion of  that  which  appeals  most  strongly  to 
the  imagination,  derives  its  collective  inter- 


est from  the  vivid  truthfulness  with  which 
the  individual  features  are  portrayed. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  34.  (H., 
1897.) 

19.  ACCURACY  OF  MODERN  ASTRO- 
NOMICAL    INSTRUMENTS— All    the   Light 
Gathered  by  a  Two-foot  Lens  Concentrated 
on  a  Pin-point. — The  revolving  dome  above, 
the  great  tube  beneath,   its  massive  piers, 
and  all  its   accessories   are  only  means  to 
carry  and  direct  the  great  lens  at  the  fur- 
ther   end    [of    the    equatorial    telescope    at 
Washington],   which   acts  the   part   of   the 
lens  in  our  own  eye,  and  forms  the  image  of 
the  thing  to  be  looked  at.    Galileo's  original 
lens    was    a    single    piece    of   glass,    rather 
smaller    than    that    of    our    common    spec- 
tacles;    but   the   lens   here  is   composed  of 
two  pieces,  each  twenty-six  inches  in  diam- 
eter, and  collects  as  much  light  as  a  human 
eye  would  do  if  over  two  feet  across.     But 
this  is  useless  if  the  lens  is  not  shaped  with 
such  precision  as  to  send  every  ray  to  its 
proper  place  at  the  eye-piece,  nearly  thirty- 
five  feet  away;    and,  in  fact,  the  shape  given 
its    surface    by    the    skilful    hands    of    the 
Messrs.   Clark,   who   made   it,   is   so   exqui- 
sitely exact  that  all  the  light  of  a  star  gath- 
ered by  this  great  surface  is  packed  at  the 
distant     focus    into    a     circle    very    much 
smaller  than  that  made  by  the  dot  on  this 
i,  and  the  same  statement  may  be  made  of 
the  great  Lick  glass,  which  is  three  feet  in 
diameter — an    accuracy   we   might    call   in- 
credible were  it  not  certain.     It  is  with  in- 
struments of  such  accuracy  that  astronomy 
now  works. — LANGLEY  The  New  Astronomy, 
ch.  5,  p.  122.     (H.  M.  &  Co.) 

20.  ACTION    A    CELESTIAL    LAW— 

Every  Star  in  Motion. — So  far  as  observa- 
tion has  extended  very  few  stars  in  the 
heavens  have  unchanging  apparent  posi- 
tions. It  is  highly  probable  that  in  reality 
every  star  is  in  motion. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  282.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

21.  ACTION  AND  REACTION— Increase 

of  Magnetic  Power — Progress  of  Scientific 
Discovery. — The  aspects  of  Nature  provoke 
in  man  the  spirit  of  inquiry.  As  the  eye  is 
formed  to  see,  and  the  ear  to  hear,  so  the 
human  mind  is  formed  to  explore  and  un- 
derstand the  basis  and  relationship  of 
natural  phenomena.  A  modern  discovery 
illustrates  the  manner  in  which  our  present 
mastery  over  Nature  has  been  obtained.  We 
start  with  a  magnet  of  infinitesimal  power, 
which  gives  rise  to  electric  currents  of  in- 
finitesimal strength.  These  react  upon  the 
magnet,  exalt  its  attractive  and  repulsive 
forces,  thus  enabling  it  to  produce  stronger 
currents,  which  again  react  upon  and  en- 
hance the  power  of  their  source.  Thus  we 
rise  from  an  origin  too  feeble  to  produce 
the  slightest  spark  or  gleam,  to  an  energy 
competent  to  produce  the  solar  brilliancy  of 
the  electric  light.  In  a  similarly  small  way 
the  human  mind  began  its  operations  among 
the  powers  of  Nature,  winning  first  a  little 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Accumulation 
Action 


knowledge  and  a  little  strength,  and  then 
turning  the  knowledge  and  the  strength  so 
won  back  upon  Nature,  with  the  viewT  of 
winning  more.  Action  and  reaction  have 
thus  gone  on  from  prehistoric  ages  to  the 
present  time.  The  result  is  that  stored 
body  of  scientific  knowledge,  and  that  de- 
veloped power  of  scientific  investigation, 
which  have  revolutionized  philosophy,  and 
begotten  those  marvels  of  practical  science 
in  the  midst  of  which  we  dwell. — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  1,  p.  1.  (A., 
1900.) 

22.  ACTION        A      NECESSITY      TO 
CLENCH  GOOD  RESOLUTION  — Seize     the 
very   first   possible   opportunity   to   act   on 
every  resolution  you  make,  and  on  every  emo- 
tional prompting  you  may  experience  in  the 
direction  of  the  habits  you  aspire  to  gain. 
It  is  not  in  the  moment  of  their  forming, 
but  in  the  moment  of  their  producing  motor 
effects,   that  resolves  and  aspirations  com- 
municate the  new  "  set  "  to  the  brain.     No 
matter  how  full  a  reservoir  of  maxims  one 
may  possess,  and  no  matter  how  good  one's 
sentiments  may  be,  if  one  have  not  taken 
advantage  of  every  concrete  opportunity  to 
act,    one's    character   may    remain    entirely 
unaffected  for  the  better. — JAMES  Talks  to 
Teachers,  ch.  8,  p.  69.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

23.  ACTION,        CONTINUOUS,         OF 

EARTH-BUILDING  FORCES—  Slow  Upheaval 
and  Subsidence  of  Lands  Now  Taking  Place. 
— Recent  observations  have  disclosed  to  us 
the  wonderful  fact  that  not  only  the  west 
coast  of  South  America,  but  also  other 
large  areas,  some  of  them  several  thousand 
miles  in  circumference,  such  as  Scandinavia, 
and  certain  archipelagoes  in  the  Pacific,  are 
slowly  and  insensibly  rising;  while  other 
regions,  such  as  Greenland,  and  parts  of  the 
Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans,  in  which  atolls 
or  circular  coral  islands  abound,  are  as 
gradually  sinking.  That  all  the  existing 
continents  and  submarine  abysses  may 
have  originated  in  movements  of  this  kind, 
continued  throughout  incalculable  periods 
of  time,  is  undeniable,  and  the  denudation 
which  the  dry  land  appears  everywhere  to 
have  suffered  favors  the  idea  that  it  was 
raised  from  the  deep  by  a  succession  of  up- 
ward movements,  prolonged  throughout  in- 
definite periods.  For  the  action  of  waves 
and  currents  on  land  slowly  emerging  from 
the  deep  affords  the  only  power  by  which 
we  can  conceive  so  many  deep  valleys  and 
wide  spaces  to  have  been  denuded  as  those 
which  are  unquestionably  the  effects  of 
running  water. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geol- 
ogy, ch.  11,  p.  170.  (A.,  1854.) 

24.  ACTION   IMPRESSES   MEMORY— 

Effort  Better  than  Prompting. — A  curious 
peculiarity  of  our  memory  is  that  things 
are  impressed  better  by  active  than  by 
passive  repetition.  I  mean  that  in  learn- 
ing by  heart  (for  example) ,  when  we  almost 
know  the  piece,  it  pays  better  to  wait  and 
recollect  by  an  effort  from  within  than  to 


look  at  the  book  again.  If  we  recover  the 
words  in  the  former  way,  we  shall  probably 
know  them  the  next  time;  if  in  the  latter 
way,  we  shall  very  likely  need  the  book 
once  more. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
16,  p.  686.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

25.  ACTION,       INCALCULABLE,      OF 

ELEMENTAL  FORCES— Freaks  of  Light- 
ning.— The  house  [struck  by  lightning  at 
Montevideo]  I  saw  shortly  afterwards. 
.  .  .  Some  of  the  effects  were  curious. 
The  paper,  for  nearly  a  foot  on  each  side  of 
the  line  where  the  bell-wires  had  run,  was 
blackened.  The  rnetal  had  been  fused,  and 
altho  the  room  was  about  fifteen  feet  high, 
the  globules,  dropping  on  the  chairs  and  fur- 
niture, had  drilled  in  them  a  chain  of  mi- 
nute holes.  A  part  of  the  wall  was  shat- 
tered as  if  by  gunpowder,  and  the  fragments 
had  been  blown  off  with  force  sufficient  to 
dent  the  wrall  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
room.  The  frame  of  a  looking-glass  was 
blackened,  and  the  gilding  must  have  been 
volatilized,  for  a  smelling-bottle,  which  stood 
on  the  chimney-piece,  was  coated  with  bright 
metallic  particles,  which  adhered  as  firmly 
as  if  they  had  been  enameled. — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's Voyage  Around  the  World,  ch.  3.  p. 
62.  (A.,  1898.) 

26.  ACTION    MAY   BE  REFLEX,  NOT 
INDICATING    MIND  — If   a    man    has    his 
back  broken  in  such  a  way  as  to  sever  the 
connection  between  his  brain  and  lower  ex- 
tremities,  on  pinching  or  tickling  his  feet 
they   are   drawn    suddenly   away   from   the 
irritation,  altho  the  man  is  quite  unconscious 
of  the  adaptive  movement  of  his  muscles; 
the  lower  nerve-centers  of  the  spinal   cord 
are  competent  to  bring  about  this  movement 
of  adaptive  response  without  requiring  to  be 
directed  by  the  brain.     This  non-mental  op- 
eration of  the  lower  nerve-centers  in  the  pro- 
duction of  apparently  intentional  movements 
is  called  reflex  action,  and  the  cases  of  its 
occurrence,  even  within  the  limits  of  our  own 
organism,  are  literally  numberless.     There- 
fore,  in   view   of   such   non-mental   nervous 
adjustment,  leading  to  movements  which  are 
only  in  appearance  intentional,  it  clearly  be- 
comes a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to  say  in 
the  case  of  the  lower  animals  whether  any 
action  which  appears  to  indicate  intelligent 
choice  is  not  really  action  of  the  reflex  kind. 
— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  int.,  p.  3. 
(A.,  1899.) 

27.  ACTION  OF  ANIMALS— Determined 
by  Memory. — The  action  of  animals  may  be 
determined  by  memorial   ideas,   as  well   as 
by  the   corresponding  sense-impressions.     I 
often  made  the  following  amusing  experi- 
ment with  my  own  poodle.     I  had  taught 
him  to  spring  over  a  stick  which  I  held  out 
at  the  word  "Jump!"     One  day  I   called 
the  word  out  to  him  without  presenting  the 
stick.     At  first  he  looked  at  me  in  surprise, 
and    then,    as    I    repeated    the    command, 
barked  impatiently.     At  last,   after   I  had 


Action 
Activity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


given  the  order  several  times  with  a  stern 
face,  he  decided  to  make  a  spring  into  the 
air,  but  barked  loudly  at  me  afterwards,  as 
tho  to  complain  of  the  absolute  absurdity 
of  my  command.  When  I  had  repeated 
the  experiment  a  number  of  times,  the 
animal  came  to  respond  at  once  by  spring- 
ing into  the  air,  but  never  failed  to  protest 
by  growling  and  barking.  The  word  of 
command  aroused  the  memorial  idea,  and 
this  was  sufficient  to  arouse  the  action  pro- 
duced by  the  actual  presentation  of  the 
stick;  while  the  feeling  of  contrast  between 
idea  and  object,  and  of  the  purposelessness 
of  the  act  gave  rise  to  unpleasurable  emo- 
tions conflicting  with  the  dog's  habitual 
obedience. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  24,  p. 
356.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

28.  ACTION    OF  EXISTING    CAUSES 
PROVED    FOR    THE    PAST— Lyell    Trans- 
forms    Geology. — He     completely     refuted 
Cuvier's  history  of  creation  with  its  myth- 
ical revolutions,  and  established  in  its  place 
the  constant  and  slow  transformation  of  the 
earth's    crust    by    the   continued    action    of 
forces,    which    are    still    working    on    the 
earth's  surface,  viz. :  the  movement  of  water 
and   the   volcanic   fluid   of   the   interior    of 
earth.     Lyell  thus  demonstrated  a  continu- 
ous   and    uninterrupted    connection    of   the 
whole  history  of  the  earth,  and  he  proved  it 
so  irrefutably,  and  established  so  convinc- 
ingly    the     supremacy     of     the     "  existing 
causes,"   that  is,   of  the  causes  which   are 
still    active    in   the   transformation    of   the 
earth's  crust,  that  geology  in  a  short  time 
completely  renounced  Cuvier's  -hypothesis. — 
HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  6, 
p.  132.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

29.  ACTION,      RIGHT,     TENDS      TO 
RIGHT    FEELING -Forced  Cheerfulness  Will 
Conquer    Depression. — There    is     no     more 
valuable   precept  in   moral   education   than 
this,  as  all  who  have  experience  know:    if 
we  wish  to  conquer  undesirable  emotional 
tendencies    in    ourselves,    we    must    assidu- 
ously, and  in  the  first  instance  cold-blood- 
edly, go  through  the  outward  movements  of 
those  contrary  dispositions  which  we  prefer 
to  cultivate.    The  reward  of  persistency  will 
infallibly  come,  in  the  fading  out  of  the  sul- 
lenness  or  depression,  and  the  advent  of  real 
cheerfulness  and  kindliness  in  their  stead. 
Smooth  the  brow,  brighten  the  eye,  contract 
the  dorsal  rather  than  the  ventral  aspect  of 
the  frame,  and  speak  in  a  major  key,  pass 
the  genial  compliment,  and  your  heart  must 
be  frigid  indeed  if  it  do  not  gradually  thaw ! 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  25,  p.  463. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

30.  ACTIONS  GOOD  OR  BAD  IN  THEM- 
SELVES— Harmony  or  Discord  with  Nature — 
Responsibility  Dependent  on  Knowledge. — 
Every  act  must  have  its  own  relation  to  the 
future.     Every  act  must  be  either  innocent, 
or  beneficent,  or  hurtful  in  its  ultimate  ten- 
dencies and  results.    Or,  if  we  like  to  put  it 
in  another  form,  every  act  must  be  accord- 


ing to  the  harmony  of  Nature  or  at  variance 
with  that  harmony,  and  therefore  an  elet 
ment  of  discord  and  disturbance.  In  all 
these  senses,  therefore,  we  speak,  and  we 
are  right  in  speaking,  of  actions  as  in  them- 
selves good  or  bad,  because  we  so  speak  of 
them  according  to  our  own  knowledge  of  the 
relation  in  which  they  stand  to  those  great 
axioms  of  morality,  which  are  facts  and  not 
mere  assumptions  or  even  mere  beliefs.  But 
we  are  quite  able  to  separate  this  judgment 
of  the  act  from  the  judgment  which  can 
justly  be  applied  to  the  individual  agent. 
As  regards  him,  the  act  is  right  or  wrong, 
not  according  to  our  knowledge,  but  accord- 
ing to  his  own.  And  this  great  distinction  is 
universally  recognized  in  the  language  and 
(however  unconsciously)  in  the  thoughts  of 
men.  It  is  sanctioned,  moreover,  by  supreme 
authority.  The  most  solemn  prayer  ever  ut- 
tered upon  earth  was  a  prayer  for  the  for- 
giveness of  an  act  of  the  most  enormous 
wickedness,  and  the  ground  of  the  petition 
was  specially  declared  to  be  that  those  who 
committed  it  "  knew  not  what  they  did." 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  198. 
(Bart.) 

31.     ACTIVITIES    OF    THE    EARTH— 

Like  the  Respiration  and  Movements  of  an 
Animal — Discovery  of  Causes  a  Part  of 
Science. — The  internal  heat  of  the  earth, 
the  elevation  and  depression  of  its  crust,  its 
belchings  forth  of  vapors,  ashes,  and  lava, 
are  its  activities,  in  as  strict  a  sense,  as  are 
warmth  and  the  movements  and  products  of 
respiration  the  activities  of  an  animal.  The 
phenomena  of  the  seasons,  of  the  trade- 
winds,  of  the  Gulf-stream,  are  as  much  the 
results  of  the  reaction  between  these  inner 
activities  and  outward  forces,  as  are  the 
building  of  the  leaves  in  spring  and  their 
falling  in  autumn  the  effects  of  the  inter- 
action between  the  organization  of  a  plant 
and  the  solar  light  and  heat.  And,  as  the 
study  of  the  activities  of  the  living  being  is 
called  its  physiology,  so  are  these  phenomena 
the  subject-matter  of  an  analogous  telluric 
physiology,  to  which  we  sometimes  give  the 
name  of  meteorology,  sometimes  that  of 
physical  geography,  sometimes  that  of  geol- 
ogy. Again,  the  earth  has  a  place  in  space 
and  in  time,  and  relations  to  other  bodies  in 
both  these  respects,  which  constitute  its  dis- 
tribution. This  subject  is  usually  left  to  the 
astronomer;  but  a  knowledge  of  its  broad 
outlines  seems  to  me  to  be  an  essential  con- 
stituent of  the  stock  of  geological  ideas.  All 
that  can  be  ascertained  concerning  the  struc- 
ture, succession  of  conditions,  actions,  and 
position  in  space  of  the  earth,  is  the  matter 
of  fact  of  its  natural  history.  But,  as  in 
biology,  there  remains  the  matter  of  reason- 
ing from  these  facts  to  their  causes,  which 
is  just  as  much  science  as  the  other,  and  in- 
deed more. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm. 
11,  p.  238.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

32.     ACTIVITIES       UNDIFFERENTIA- 
TED  IN  ELEMENTARY  ORGANISMS—  The 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Action 
Activity 


Rhizopod  or  Ameba. — Where  there  are  no 
distinctions  of  structure  there  are  no  dis- 
tinctions of  function.  A  rhizopod  (e.  g.,  the 
ameba)  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  From 
the  outside  of  this  creature,  which  has  not 
even  a  limiting  membrane,  there  are  pro- 
truded numerous  processes.  Originating 
from  any  point  of  the  surface,  each  of  these 
may  contract  again  and  disappear,  or  it  may 
touch  some  fragment  of  nutriment  which  it 
draws  with  it,  when  contracting,  into  the 
general  mass — thus  serving  as  hand  and 
mouth;  or  it  may  come  in  contact  with  its 
fellow-processes  at  a  distance  from  the  body 
and  become  confluent  with  them;  or  it  may 
attach  itself  to  an  adjacent  fixed  object,  and 
help  by  its  contraction  to  draw  the  body  into 
a  new  position.  In  brief,  this  speck  of  ani- 
mated jelly  is  at  once  all  stomach,  all  skin, 
all  mouth,  all  limb,  and  doubtless,  too,  all 
lung. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  200. 
(A.,  1900.) 

33.  ACTIVITY      OF      MIND— Increases 
Flow  of  Blood  to  Brain. — The  brain  itself  is 
an  excessively  vascular  organ,  a  sponge  full 
of  blood,  in  fact;    and  [one]  of  Mosso's  in- 
ventions showed  that  when  less  blood  went 
to  the  arms,  more  went  to  the  head.     The 
subject  to  be  observed  lay  on  a  delicately 
balanced  table  which  could  tip   downward 
either   at   the   head   or   at   the   foot   if  the 
weight  of  either  end  were  increased.     The 
moment   emotional   or   intellectual   activity 
began  in  the  subject,  down  went  the  balance 
at  the  head-end,  in  consequence  of  the  redis- 
tribution of  blood  in  his  system.     But  the 
best  proof  of  the  immediate  afflux  of  blood 
to  the  brain  during  mental  activity  is  due 
to    Mosso's    observations   on    three   persona 
whose  brain  had  been  laid  bare  by  lesion  of 
the  skull.     By  means  of  apparatus     .     .     . 
this    physiologist    was    enabled    to    let    the 
brain-pulse  record  itself  directly  by  a  tra- 
cing.    The  intra-cranial  blood-pressure  rose 
immediately     whenever     the     subject     was 
spoken  to,  or  when  he  began  to  think  active- 
ly, as  in  solving  a  problem  in  mental  arith- 
metic.  Mosso  gives  in  his  work  a  large  num- 
ber of  reproductions  of  tracings  which  show 
the  instantaneity  of  the  change  of  blood-sup- 
ply, whenever  the  mental  activity  was  quick- 
ened by  any  cause  whatever,  intellectual  or 
emotional.     He  relates  of  his  female  subject 
that  one  day  while  tracing  her  brain-pulse 
he  observed  a  sudden  rise  with  no  apparent 
outer  or  inner  cause.    She,  however,  confessed 
to  him  afterwards  that  at  that  moment  she 
had  caught  sight  of  a  skull  on  top  of  a  piece 
of  furniture  in  the  room,  and  that  this  had 
given  her  a  slight  emotion. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  98.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

34.  ACTIVITY  OF  SOLAR  FORCES— 

Turmoil  behind  Beneficence — Productive 
Forces  Not  Always  Beautiful  in  Operation. 
— The  furnace  [the  sun]  whose  fires  main- 
tain the  life  of  the  solar  system  is  not 
merely  aglow  with  intense  light  and  heat, 
but  is  in  a  state  of  fierce  turmoil.  The 


most  tremendous  conflagrations  ever  wit- 
nessed upon  our  earth — great  fires,  by  which 
whole  cities  have  been  destroyed — serve  to 
suggest  something  of  what  is  going  on  upon 
the  sun,  only  that  all  the  processes  of  such 
catastrophes  must  be  supposed  to  be  inten- 
sified a  million-fold.  As  in  great  fires,  there 
is  a  constant  roar  and  tumult  produced  by 
the  rush  of  air  currents  which  the  fire  itself 
has  generated,  so  in  every  part  of  the  sun, 
on  every  square  yard  of  that  enormous  sur- 
face, the  most  hideous  uproar  must  prevail 
as  fierce  cyclonic  storms,  bred__by  solar  fires, 
rush  with  inconceivable  velocity  over  the 
flaming  surface.  In  the  most  tremendous 
storms  known  upon  earth  the  wind  does  not 
travel  a  hundred  miles  per  hour,  and  the 
winds  which  rage  amid  the  flames  of  a  con- 
flagration are  of  slow  motion  compared  with 
true  hurricanes;  but  the  cyclonic  storms 
which  stir  the  fiery  breath  of  the  solar 
flames  career  often  with  the  inconceivable 
velocity  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles  in 
every  second  of  time. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of 
Heaven,  ch.  2,  p.  17.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

35.  ACTIVITY  OF   SWALLOWS—  Use- 
fulness  as   Insectivorous  Birds. — Swallows 
are     eminently     insectivorous.       The    tree- 
swallow    is    known    to    feed    on    bayberries 
when  its  usual  fare  is  wanting,  but,  with 
this   exception,   it   is    doubtful   if   any   but 
insect  food  passes  a  swallow's  bill  from  one 
year's  end  to  another.     Recalling  now  the 
activity   of   swallows,   which   both    necessi- 
tates a  large  supply  of  food  and  procures  it, 
we  must  realize  that  these  birds  are  incal- 
culably   beneficial. — CHAPMAN    Bird    Life 
ch.  7,  p.  212.     (A.,  1900.) 

36.  ACTIVITY,   VOLCANIC,    ON    THE 

MOON — Conflicting  Testimony  Explained. — 
In  the  Sea  of  JXectar  we  see  a  small  crater, 
of  which  the  diameter  measures  about 
6,000  meters  (about  3%  miles),  rising  iso- 
lated in  the  midst  of  a  vast  plain.  Well, 
this  crater  is  sometimes  visible  and  some- 
times invisible.  From  1830  to  1837  it  was 
certainly  invisible,  for  two  observers  abso- 
lutely strangers  to  each  other,  Madler  and 
Lohrmann,  have  minutely  analyzed,  de- 
scribed, and  drawn  this  lunar  country,  and 
saw,  very  near  the  position  it  occupies,  de- 
tails of  the  ground  very  much  less  impor- 
tant than  itself,  without  having  the  least 
suspicion  [of  it].  In  1842-43  Schmidt  ob- 
served this  same  country  without  perceiving 
it.  He  saw  it  for  the  first  time  in  1851.  It  may 
be  distinguished  very  well  in  a  direct  photo- 
graph by  Rutherfurd  taken  in  1865.  But  in 
1875  the  English  selenographer  Neison  ex- 
amined, drew,  and  described  this  same  place, 
with  details  the  most  minute  and  measures 
the  most  precise,  without  perceiving  any 
trace  of  the  volcano.  Since  then  it  has  been 
seen  again  several  times.  It  seems  that  the 
most  simple  explanation  to  give  of  these 
changes  of  visibility  would  be  to  admit  that 
this  volcano  now  and  then  emits  smoke  or 
vapors  which  remain  for  some  time  sus- 


Activity 

Adaptation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


8 


pended  above  it  and  hide  it,  as  would  hap- 
pen to  an  aeronaut  looking  down  from  some 
height  above  Vesuvius  at  the  epoch  of  its 
eruptions. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  ii,  ch.  7,  p.  152.  (A.) 

37.  ACTOR     PRACTISES      ILLUSION 
ON     AUDIENCE— /w  Part  upon    Himself.— 
Among  all  varieties  of  this   deception    [of 
self],   that  of  the  stage  is   the  most  com- 
plete.    The  actor  is  a  man  who  has  elabo- 
rately trained  himself  in  the  simulation  of 
certain  feelings.     And  when  his  acting  is  of 
the  best  quality,  and  the  proper  bodily  atti- 
tude, gesture,  tone  of  voice,  and  so  on,  are  hit 
off,  the  force  of  the  illusion  completely  mas- 
ters us.  For  the  moment  we  lose  sight  of  the 
theatrical  surroundings,  and  see  the  actor  as 
really  carried  away  by  the  passion  which  he 
so  closely  imitates.    Histrionic  illusion  is  as 
complete  as  any  artistic  variety  can  venture 
to  be.— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  9,  p.  222.     (A., 
1897.) 

38.  ACTS,       AUTOMATIC,       ACCOM- 
PLISHING   A    PURPOSE—  The    Decapitated 
Frog — Organism   Constituted  to  Secure  Its 
Own  Protection. — It  is  well  known  that,  if 
the  hind-foot  of  a  frog  that  has  had  its  head 
cut  off  be  pinched,  it  is  withdrawn  from  the 
irritation.      The    stimulus    to    the    afferent 
nerve  reaches  the  gray  matter  of  the  spinal 
cord,  and  sets  free  a  force  which  excites  to 
action   the   corresponding   motor   nerves   of 
the  same  side.   When  the  foot  is  pinched  more 
strongly,  the  force  liberated  by  the  stimulus 
passes  across  the  cord  to  the  motor  nerves 
of  the  opposite  side,  and  there  is  a  simul- 
taneous withdrawal  of  both  limbs;    and,  if 
the  excitation  be  stronger  still,  there  is  a 
wider  irradiation  of  the  effects  of  the  stimu- 
lus in  the  gray  matter,  and  a  movement  of 
all    four    limbs   follows,    the   frog   jumping 
away.     These  movements  of  the  decapitated 
frog,  which  it  is  plain  effect  the  definite  pur- 
pose of  getting  it  out  of  the  way  of  harm, 
we  believe  to  be  analogous  to  the  violent 
coughing  by  which  food  that  has  gone  the 
wrong    way    is    expelled    from    the    human 
larynx,  or  to  the  vomiting  by  which  offend- 
ing matter  is  ejected  from  the  stomach.     In- 
dependently of  consciousness  and  of  will,  an 
organism  plainly  has  the  power — call  it  in- 
telligent or  call  it  what  we  will — of  feeling 
and  eschewing  what  is  hurtful  to  it,  as  well 
as  of  feeling  and  ensuing  what  is  beneficial 
to  it. — MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.   1, 
p.  15.     (A.,  1898.) 

39.  ADAPTABILITY      AMONG       ANI- 
MALS—Horse    and   Ox    Follow    Man— Meet 
Man's  Enemies  in  Every  Clime. — This  spec- 
tacle [horses  attacked  by  crocodiles]   invol- 
untarily reminds  the  contemplative  observer 
of  the  adaptability  granted  by  an  all-provi- 
dent nature  to  certain  animals  and  plants. 
Like  the  farinaceous  fruits  of  Ceres,  the  ox 
and  horse  have  followed  man  over  the  whole 
surface  of  the  earth — from  the  Ganges  to 
the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  from  the  sea-coast 
of    Africa    to    the    mountainous    plain    of 


Antisana,  which  lies  higher  than  the  Peak 
of  Teneriffe.  In  the  one  region  the  northern 
birch,  in  the  other  the  date-palm,  protects 
the  wearied  ox  from  the  noonday  sun.  The 
same  species  of  animal  which  contends  in 
eastern  Europe  with  bears  and  wolves  is  ex- 
posed, in  a  different  latitude,  to  the  attacks 
of  tigers  and  crocodiles! — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  17.  (Bell,  1896.) 

40.  ADAPTABILITY  OF  BIRDS  -  Spar- 
rows Utilize  Electric  Light. — Some  birds  are 
influenced  by  changes  in  their  surroundings, 
and    alter    their    nesting    habits    when    it 
proves  to  their  advantage  to  do  so.     Chim- 
ney-swifts,    who     have     exchanged     hollow 
trees,  in  which  they  were  exposed  to  their 
natural  enemies,  for  the  comparative  safety 
of    chimneys,    are    good    examples.     But    a 
far  better  one  is  given  by  that  prodigy  in 
feathers,  the  house-sparrow.     Is  there  any 
available  site  in  which  this  thoroughly  up- 
to-date  bird  will  not  place  its  nest?     It  has 
taken  possession  of  even  the  hollow  spaces 
about  certain  kinds  of  electric  lamps,   and 
has    been    observed    repairing    its    nest    at 
night  by  their  light! — CHAPMAN  Bird  Life, 
ch.  5,  p.  68.     (A.,  1900.) 

41.  ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE   VERTE- 
BRATE TYPE — Laws  of  Nature  the  Expres- 
sion of  a  Purpose. — Among  the  many  won- 
ders of  nature  there  is  nothing  more  won- 
derful  than   this — the   adaptability   of   the 
one  vertebrate  type  to  the  infinite  variety 
of  life  to  which  it  serves  as  an  organ  and 
a  home.    Its  basement  has  been  so  laid  that 
every  possible  change  or  addition  of  super- 
structure could  be  built  upon  it.     Creatures 
destined    to    live    on    the    earth    or    in   the 
earth,  on  the  sea  or  in  the  sea,  under  every 
variety  of  condition  of  existence,  have  all 
been    made    after    that    one   pattern;     and 
each  of  them  with  as  close  an  adaptation 
to   special   function   as   if  the   pattern   had 
been  designed  for  itself  alone.     It  is  true 
that  there  are  particular  parts  of  it  which 
are  of  no  use  to  particular  animals.     But 
there  is  no  part  of  it  which  is  not  of  indis- 
pensable use  to  some  member  of  the  group; 
and   there   is   one   supreme   form   in   which 
all  its  elements  receive  their  highest  inter- 
pretation and  fulfilment.     It  is  indeed  won- 
derful to  think  that  the  feeble  and  sprawl- 
ing paddles  on  a  newt,  the  ungainly  flippers 
of  a  seal,  and  the  long  leathery  wings  of  a 
bat,  have  all  the  same  elements,  bone  for 
bone,  with  that  human  hand  which  is  the 
supple  instrument  of  man's  contrivance,  and 
is   alive   even   to   the   finger-tips,    with   the 
power   of   expressing   his   intellect   and   his 
will.     Here   again  the   laws   of  nature   are 
seen  to  be  nothing  but  combinations  of  force 
with  a  view  to  purpose :    combinations  which 
indicate    complete    knowledge,    not   only    of 
what  is,  but  of  what  is  to  be,   and  which 
foresees    the    end     from    the    beginning. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  123.    (Burt.) 

42.  ADAPTATION  ADMITTED— Design 
Denied — Appearance    of    Purpose    Assumed 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Activity 
Adaptation 


to  be  without  a  Plan. — The  struggle  for  life 
in  natural  selection  acts  with  as  much  se- 
lective power  as  does  the  will  of  man  in 
artificial  selection.  The  latter,  however, 
acts  according  to  a  plan  and  consciously,  the 
former  without  a  plan  and  unconsciously. 
This  important  difference  between  artificial 
and  natural  selection  deserves  especial  con- 
sideration. For  we  learn  by  it  to  under- 
stand how  arrangements  serving  a  purpose 
can  be  produced  by  mechanical  causes  act- 
ing without  an  object,  as  well  as  by  causes 
acting  for  an  object.  The  products  of  nat- 
ural selection  are  arranged  even  more  for  a 
purpose  than  the  artificial  products  of  man, 
and  yet  they  owe  their  existence  not  to  a 
creative  power  acting  for  a  definite  purpose, 
but  to  a  mechanical  relation  acting  uncon- 
sciously and  without  a  plan. — HAECKEL 
History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  <ch.  11,  p.  284. 
(K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

43.  ADAPTATION    CERTAINLY 

KNOWN—  The  Only  Question  the  Method  of 
Its  Production. — And  yet  scientific  men 
sometimes  tell  us  that  "  we  must  be  very 
cautious  how  we  ascribe  intention  to  nature. 
Things  do  fit  into  each  other,  no  doubt,  as  if 
they  were  designed;  but  all  we  know  about 
them  is  that  these  correspondences  exist, 
and  that  they  seem  to  be  the  result  of  phys- 
ical laws  of  development  and  growth."  Very 
likely;  but  how  these  correspondences  have 
arisen,  and  are  daily  arising,  is  not  the  ques- 
tion, and  it  is  immaterial  how  that  question 
may  be  answered.  Do  those  correspondences 
exist,  or  do  they  not?  The  perception  of 
them  by  our  mind  is  as  much  a  fact  as  the 
sight  or  touch  of  the  things  in  wrhich  they 
appear.  They  may  have  been  produced  by 
growth — they  may  have  been  the  result  of  a 
process  of  development — but  it  is  not  the 
less  the  development  of  a  mental  purpose. 
It  is  the  end  subserved  that  we  absolutely 
know.  What  alone  is  doubtful  and  obscure 
is  precisely  that  which  we  are  told  is  the 
only  legitimate  object  of  our  research — viz. : 
the  means  by  which  that  end  has  been  at- 
tained.— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  20. 
(Burt.) 

44.  ADAPTATION,   MUTUAL,    OF   DI- 
VERSE ORGANISMS— Dandelion  Seed— Wa- 
ter-beetle.— The  structure  of  every  organic 
being  is  related,  in  the  most  essential  yet 
often    hidden    manner,    to    that   of    all   the 
other  organic  beings    with  which  it  comes 
into  competition  for  food  or  residence,   or 
from  which  it  has  to  escape,  or  on  which  it 
preys.     This  is  obvious  in  the  structure  of 
the  teeth  and  talons  of  the  tiger;    and  in 
that  of  the  legs  and  claws  of  the  parasite 
which  clings  to  the  hair  on  the  tiger's  body. 
But  in  the  beautifully  plumed  seed  of  the 
dandelion,  and  in  the  flattened  and  fringed 
legs  of  the  water-beetle,  the  relation  seems 
at  first  confined  to  the  elements  of  air  and 
water.     Yet  the  advantage  of  the  plumed 
seeds,  no  doubt,  stands  in  the  closest  relation 
to  the  land  being  already  thickly  clothed 


with  other  plants,  so  that  the  seeds  may  be 
widely  distributed  and  fall  on  unoccupied 
ground.  In  the  water-beetle,  the  structure  of 
its  legs,  so  well  adapted  for  diving,  allows 
it  to  compete  with  other  aquatic  insects,  to 
hunt  for  its  own  prey,  and  to  escape  serving 
as  prey  to  other  animals. — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  3,  p.  71.  (Burt.) 

45.  ADAPTATION  OF  COLOR  TO  EN- 
VIRONMENT -Black  Cattle  in  Scotland- 
Trout  Colored  Litye  Bottom  of  Stream. — The 
breeders  of  the  polled  Angus — a  particular 
race  of  black  cattle  in  Scotland — who  make 
a  great  point  of  keeping  up  the  perfect  uni- 
formity of  their  blackness,  getting  rid  of 
every  individual  that  has  even  a  single 
white  foot — take  care  to  have  everything 
black  about  their  farmsteads;  all  the 
buildings  are  black,  the  horses  are  black, 
the  dogs  are  black,  the  fowls  are  black.  No 
breeder  will  have  anything  colored  or  white 
about  his  place.  Tho  no  account  can  be 
given  of  the  physiological  action  which 
makes  these  precautions  effective  (as  they 
are  asserted  to  be)  in  securing  the  desired 
result,  yet  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think 
that  some  influence  of  this  kind  is  concerned 
in  producing  many  singular  correspondences 
between  the  surface-aspect  of  fishes  and 
Crustacea  inhabiting  shallow  waters,  and  the 
characters  of  the  bottoms  on  which  they 
live.  Every  angler  for  trout  is  familiar  with 
variations  of  this  kind ;  and  I  have  been  as- 
sured of  cases  in  which  these  fish,  when 
transferred  from  one  part  of  a  stream  to  an- 
other, were  found  in  no  long  time  to  have 
undergone  a  change  in  surface-markings, 
which  gave  them  the  same  conformity  to  the 
new  bottom  as  they  previously  had  to  the 
old. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15, 
p.  443.  (A.,  1889.) 


46. 


Shades  of  Color  Va- 


ried in  Different  Surroundings. — To  birds 
placed  at  so  great  a  disadvantage,  by  a 
feeble  flight  and  other  adverse  circum- 
stances, in  the  race  of  life,  bright  colors 
would  certainly  prove  fatal.  It  is  true  that 
brown  is  not  in  itself  a  protective  color,  and 
the  clear,  almost  silky  browns  and  bright 
chestnut  tints  in  several  species  are  cer- 
tainly not  protective;  but  these  species  are 
sufficiently  protected  in  other  ways,  and  can 
afford  to  be  without  a  strictly  adaptive 
color,  so  long  as  they  are  not  conspicuous. 
In  a  majority  of  cases,  however,  the  color  is 
undoubtedly  protective,  the  brown  hue  being 
of  a  shade  that  assimilates  very  closely  to 
the  surroundings.  There  are  pale  yellowish 
browns,  lined  and  mottled,  in  species  living 
amidst  a  sere,  scanty  vegetation;  earthy 
browns,  in  those  frequenting  open  sterile  or 
stony  places;  while  the  species  that  creep 
on  trees  in  forests  are  dark  brown  in  color, 
and  in  many  cases  the  feathers  are  mottled 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  them  curiously 
resemble  the  bark  of  a  tree.  The  genera 
lochmias  and  sclerurus  are  the  darkest,  the 
plumage  in  these  birds  being  nearly  or  quite 


Adaptation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


10 


black,  washed  or  tinged  with  rhubarb  yel- 
low. Their  black  plumage  would  render 
them  conspicuous  in  the  sunshine,  but  they 
pass  their  lives  in  dense  tropical  forests, 
where  the  sun  at  noon  sheds  only  a  gloomy 
twilight. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata, 
ch.  18,  p.  248.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

47. White   Coloration  of 

Arctic  Animals  Protective. — In  the  arctic 
regions  there  are  a  number  of  animals 
which  are  wholly  white  all  the  year  round, 
or  which  only  turn  white  in  winter.  Among 
the  former  are  the  polar  bear  and  the 
American  polar  hare,  the  snowy  owl  and  the 
Greenland  falcon;  among  the  latter  the  arc- 
tic fox,  the  arctic  hare,  the  ermine,  and  the 
ptarmigan.  Those  which  are  permanently 
white  remain  among  the  snow  nearly  all  the 
year  round,  while  those  which  change  their 
color  inhabit  regions  which  are  free  from 
snow  in  summer.  The  obvious  explanation 
of  this  style  of  coloration  is  that  it  is  pro- 
tective, serving  to  conceal  the  herbivorous 
species  from  their  enemies,  and  enabling  car- 
nivorous animals  to  approach  their  prey  un- 
perceived. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p. 
130.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

48.  ADAPTATION  OF  COLOR  TO  HAB- 
ITS— Brilliancy  of  Color  Possible  for  Female 
Birds  in  Protected  Nests. — There  are  con- 
siderable numbers  of  birds  in  which   both 
sexes  are  similarly  and  brilliantly  colored. 
Such  are  the  extensive  families  of  the  king- 
fishers,  the  woodpeckers,   the  toucans,   the 
parrots,    the    turacos,    the    hangnests,    the 
starlings,  and  many  other  smaller  groups, 
all  the  species  of  which  are  conspicuously  or 
brilliantly  colored,  while  in  all  of  them  the 
females  are  either  colored  exactly  like  the 
males,    or,    when    differently    colored,    are 
equally  conspicuous.     ...     In   all   these 
cases,  without  exception,  the  species  either 
nests  in  holes  in  the  ground  or  in  trees,  or 
builds  a  domed  or  covered  nest,  so  as  com- 
pletely to  conceal  the  sitting-bird.    We  have 
here  a  case  exactly  parallel  to  that  of  the 
butterflies     protected     by     distastefulness, 
whose   females   are  either  exactly  like  the 
males,  or,  if  different,  are  equally  conspicu- 
ous.— WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.   10,  p.   188. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

49.  ADAPTATION    OF  DEVICES     TO 
CLIMATE — Binding  with  Rawhide  among  the 
Eskimos. — The  peoples  of  the  world  who  live 
north  of  the  tree-line,  and  many  who  dwell 
in  more  temperate  zones,   have  discovered 
the  virtue  of  rawhide.     The  Eskimo  spends 
many  hours   in  cutting  out  miles   of  raw- 
hide string,  or  babiche,  of  all  degrees  and 
sizes.    This  he  uses  in  holding  together  not 
only  the  parts  of  his  implements,  but  in 
manufactures  of  every  kind.     It  is  a  mar- 
velous   substance.       Frost    that    will    snap 
steel  nails  like  glass  has  no  effect  upon  it. 
W7hen  it  is  put  on  green  and  allowed  to  dry, 
it  shrinks  nearly  one-half,  binding  the  parts 
immovably. 

Further  south,  as  well  as  in  the  Arctic 


region,  the  tough  sinew  is  taken  from  the 
leg  of  the  deer.  It  is  shredded  as  fine  as 
silk,  spun  into  yarn,  and  then  twisted  or 
braided  into  cord.  This  has  no  end  of  uses, 
not  only  in  tool  making,  but  in  all  arts 
where  the  greatest  possible  toughness  and 
pliability  are  demanded.  It  serves  to  make 
a  secure  ferrule  on  the  awl  handle,  to 
strengthen  the  bow,  to  hold  feather  and 
head  on  the  arrow.  It  has  an  economic  use 
for  every  day  in  the  year. — MASON  Origins 
of  Invention,  ch.  2,  p.  41.  (S.,  1899.) 

50.  ADAPTATION   OF    FLOWERS    TO 
INSECTS — Contrivances  That  Guide  or  Force 
Visiting    Insect    to    Fertilize    Flower — The 
Labellum  in  Orchids. — The  labellum   is  by 
far    the    most    important    of    the    external 
envelopes    of    the   flower.     It    not   only    se- 
cretes   nectar,    but    is    often    modeled    into 
variously    shaped    receptacles    for    holding 
this  fluid,  or  is  itself  rendered  attractive  so 
as   to   be   gnawed   by   insects.     Unless    the 
flowers  were  by  some  means  rendered   at- 
tractive, most  of  the  species  would  be  cursed 
with  perpetual  sterility.     The  labellum  al- 
ways stands  in  front  of  the  rostellum.  and 
its  outer  portion  often  serves  as  a  landing- 
place   for   the  necessary  visitors.      In   Epi- 
pactis   palustris   this   part   is    flexible    and 
elastic,   and   apparently  compels   insects  in 
retreating  to  brush  against  the  rostellum. 
In  Cypripedium  the  distal  portion  is  folded 
over  like  the  end  of  a  slipper,  and  compels 
insects  to  crawl  out  of  the  flower  by  one  of 
two  special  passages.     In  Pterostylis  and  a 
few  other  orchids  the  labellum  is  irritable, 
so  that  when  touched  it  shuts  the  flower, 
leaving  only  a  single  passage  by  which  an 
insect  can  escape.     In  Spiranthes,  when  the 
flower   is  fully  mature,   the   column  moves 
from  the  labellum,  space  being  thus  left  for 
the    introduction    of   the    pollen-masses    at- 
tached to  the  proboscis  of  a  bumblebee.     In 
Mormodes  ignea  the  labellum  is  perched  on 
the  summit  of  the  column,  and  here  insects 
alight  and  touch  a  sensitive  point,  causing 
the  ejection  of  the  pollen-masses.     The  la- 
bellum  is   often   deeply   channeled,    or   has 
guiding  ridges,  or  is  pressed  closely  against 
the  column;    and  in  a  multitude  of  cases  it 
approaches    closely .  enough    to    render    the 
flower    tubular.     "By    these    several    means 
insects  are  forced  to  brush  against  the  ros- 
tellum.— DARWIN   Fertilisation   of   Orchids, 
ch.  9,  p.  275.     (A.,  1898.) 

51.  ADAPTATION     OF     MEANS     TO 
ENDS — Seeming  Intelligent  Choice  on  the  Part 
of    Earthworms — Intelligence    Not    Limited 
by  Size  of  Brain. — To  sum  up,   as   chance 
does  not  determine  the  manner  in  which  ob- 
jects are  drawn  into  the  burrows,  and  as  the 
existence   of  specialized  instincts   for   each 
particular    case    cannot    be    admitted,    the 
first  and  most  natural  supposition  is  that 
worms  try  all  methods  until  they  at   last 
succeed ;    but  many  appearances  are  opposed 
to   such   a   supposition.        One   alternative 
alone    is    left,    namely,    that    worms,    altho 


11 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Adaptation 


standing  low  in  the  scale  of  organization, 
possess  some  degree  of  intelligence.  This 
will  strike  every  one  as  very  improbable; 
but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  we  know 
enough  about  the  nervous  system  of  the 
lower  animals  to  justify  our  natural  dis- 
trust of  such  a  conclusion.  With  respect  to 
the  small  size  of  the  cerebral  ganglia,  we 
should  remember  what  a  mass  of  inherited 
knowledge,  with  some  power  of  adapting 
means  to  an  end,  is  crowded  into  the  minute 
brain  of  a  worker-ant. — DARWIN  Formation 
of  Vegetable  Mold,  ch.  2,  p.  28.  (Hum., 
1887.) 

52.  ADAPTATION    OF    ORGANS     TO 
MIND — The  Secret   of  Man's    Supremacy. — 
And  when  we  remember  that  the  immense 
variety    of    organic    forms    in    the    existing 
world  does  not  exhaust  the  adaptability  of 
their  plan,  but  that  the  still  vaster  varieties 
of    all    the    extinct    creations    have    circled 
round  the  same  central   types,   it  becomes 
evident  that  these  types  have  had  from  the 
first   a   purpose  which   has   been   well    and 
wonderfully  fulfilled.     As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  see  that  the  original  conception  of  the 
framework  of  organic  life  has  included  in 
itself  provisions  for  applying  the  principle 
of  adaptation  in  infinite  degrees.     Its  last 
development  is  in  man.     .     .     .     There  are 
stronger  arms,  there  are  swifter  limbs,  there 
are   more   powerful   teeth,    there    are   finer 
ears,    there    are    sharper   .eyes.     There    are 
creatures  which  go  where  he  cannot  go,  and 
can  live  where  he  would  die.     But  all  his 
members  are  coordinated  with  one  power — 
the  power  of  thought.     Through  this  he  has 
the  dominion  over  all  other  created  things — 
whilst  yet  as  regards  the  type  and  pattern 
of  his  frame  he  has  not  a  single  bone  or 
joint  or  organ  which  he  does  not  share  with 
some  one  or  other  of  the  beasts  that  perish. 
It  is  not  in  any  of  the  parts  of  his  struc- 
ture, but  in  their  combination  and  adjust- 
ment, that  he  stands  alone. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  eh.  4,  p.  120.     (Burt.) 

53.  ADAPTATION  OF  PARALYTIC  TO 
NEW    CONDITION— Increase    of    Muscular 
Force  for  Same  Movement — Effect  of  Prac- 
tise.— A  patient  who  is  partly  paralyzed  in 
leg  or  arm,  so  that  he  can  only  move  the 
limb  with  very  great  effort,  has  a  distinct 
sensation   of   this   effort:     the    limb    seems 
heavier  than  it  used  to  be,  as  tho  weighted 
with  lead;    that  is  to  say,  there  is  a  sensa- 
tion of  greater  expenditure  of  force  than  be- 
fore,  altho  the  work   actually  done  is  the 
same  or  even  less.     For  the  performance  of 
this  amount  of  work  there  is  required  an 
innervation  of  abnormal  intensity.     In  the 
same  way,  the  patient  will  deceive  himself, 
especially  in  the  first  stages  of  the  disease, 
with  regard  to  the  extent  of  his  movements. 
His    steps    are    short    and    uncertain;     his 
hand  misses  the  objects  which  he  is  reach- 
ing for.     By   degrees,    if  his   condition  re- 
mains unchanged  for  a  long  time,  he  regains 
more  or  less  precision  of  movement;    prac- 


tise gives  him  familiarity  with  his  new  sys- 
tem of  muscle-sensations. — WUNDT  Psychol- 
ogy, lect.  9,  p.  136.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

54.  ADAPTATION  OF  PLANT  TO  ANI- 
MAL FOOD— Secretion  Poured  Out  When  Ob- 
ject To  Be  Digested. — It  is  a  much  more  re- 
markable fact  that  when  an  object,  such  as 
a  bit  of  meat  or  an  insect,  is  placed  on  the 
disk  of  a  leaf,  as  soon  as  the  surrounding 
tentacles     become     considerably     inflected, 
their  glands  pour  forth  an  increased  amount 
of  secretion.     I  ascertained  this_by  selecting 
leaves   with   equal-sized   drops   on   the   two 
sides,  and  by  placing  bits  of  meat  on  one  side 
of  the  disk ;    and  as  soon  as  the  tentacles  on 
this  side  became  much  inflected,  but  before 
the  glands  touched  the  meat,  the  drops  of 
secretion  became  larger.    This  was  repeated- 
ly observed,  but  a  record  was  kept  of  only 
thirteen  cases,  in  nine  of  which  increased 
secretion   was    plainly   observed;     the   four 
failures  being  due  either  to  the  leaves  being 
rather  torpid,  or  to  the  bits  of  meat  being 
too  small  to  cause  much  inflection.   We  must 
therefore  conclude  that  the  central  glands, 
when  strongly  excited,  transmit  some  influ- 
ence to  the  glands  of  the  circumferential  ten- 
tacles, causing  them  to  secrete  more  copious- 
ly.— DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  1,  p. 
11.     (A.,  1900.) 

55.  ADAPTATION,      PRIMITIVE,     OF 
HANDLES     TO    TOOLS— In    almost   every 
section     of     North     America     occurs     the 
"  grooved  ax,"  and  there  grow  a  great  many 
varieties  of  wood,  like  ash  or  hickory,  whose 
saplings  will  bend  double  without  breaking 
and  will  easily  split.     The  Indians  were  ac- 
customed to  take  a  piece  of  one  of  these 
saplings  about  six  feet  long  and  split  it,  so 
that,  in  bending  about  the  groove  of  the  ax 
or  adz  or  hammer,  it  would  neatly  fit.     The 
halting  was  completed  by  securely  seizing 
the  sides  together  near  the  working  piece 
and  at  the  grip.     .     .     .     This  style  might 
have  been  seen  in  the  United  States  any- 
where   between    the    two    oceans. — MASON 
Origins    of    Invention,    ch.    2,    p.    37.     (S.," 
1899.) 

56.  ADAPTATION  TO  ENVIRONMENT 
BY     ANIMALS — Deep-sea     Organisms     with 
Movable  Plates  Adjustable   to   Pressure. — 
In  shallow-water  sea-urchins  the  shells  are 
composed  of  a  great  number  of  little  plates 
that  fit  so  closely  to  one  another  that  no 
movement  is  possible  between  them.     When 
the  animal  dies  all  the  soft  tissues  decay 
and  the  shell  remains,  to  be  tossed  about  by 
the    waves    until    crunched    or    dashed    to 
pieces.     In  Phormosoma,  however,  the  tiny 
plates  of  which  the  shell  is  composed    are 
freely  movable  on  one  another,  and  when  the 
animal  is   alive  very   considerable   contrac- 
tions and  expansions  can  take  place.     None 
of  the  modern  shallow- water  echinoids  pre- 
sent this  peculiarity,  and  it  is  a  very  inter- 
esting and  surprising  fact  that  in  this  re- 
spect  the   fossils   of   the   chalk   should    re- 


Adaptation 
Adaptations 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


12 


semble  so  closely  the  living  urchins  of  the 
abyss. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  5,  p.  102.  (A.,  1894.) 


57. 


Dogs  Change  during 


Growth — Heredity  of  Acquired  Characters. 
— The  influence  of  physical  conditions  in 
modifying  the  constitution  is  well  known  to 
be  most  strongly  exerted  during  the  earlier 
period  of  life;  for  as  long  as  the  organism 
is  in  process  of  development  it  will  grow 
to  its  environment,  as  it  Avill  not  do  at  a 
later  epoch,  when  it  will  either  resist  or 
succumb.  We  are  told  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell 
that  the  Cornish  miners,  who  went  out  some 
sixty  years  ago  to  work  the  Real  del  Monte 
mines  in  Mexico,  took  out  some  greyhounds 
to  hunt  the  hares  Avhich  abound  on  the  ele- 
vated plateaux  of  that  country;  but  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  rarefied  condition  of 
the  air,  the  dogs  could  not  continue  the 
chase,  but  lay  down  panting  for  breath. 
The  offspring  of  those  dogs,  however, 
brought  up  at  this  elevation,  were  able  to 
run  down  the  hares  as  well  as  if  both  had 
been  on  a  lower  level.  The  constitution  of 
the  young  dogs  adapted  itself  to  the  envi- 
ronment in  which  they  grew  up ;  but  whence 
that  adaptability?  We  do  not  find  it  in 
any  but  living  organisms;  no  physical  prop- 
erty gives  the  least  account  of  it. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  440.  (A., 
1889.) 


58. 


Kangaroo     Must 
ivhile   Its   Fore- 


Traverse  Desert  Swiftly, 
feet  Serve  as  Hands. — Some  of  them  [kan- 
garoos] are  very  large  animals,  as  bulky  as 
deer,  and  rapidity  of  locomotion  is  espe- 
cially necessary  for  a  large  animal  which  in- 
habits a  country  subject  to  such  severe  and 
widely  extended  droughts  as  is  Australia. 
.  .  .  In  the  kangaroos  we  have  animals 
which  require  to  use  their  front  limbs  for 
purposes  of  more  or  less  delicate  manipula- 
tion, with  respect  to  the  economy  of  the 
"  pouch."  Accordingly,  for  such  creatures 
to  be  able  to  inhabit  such  a  country,  the 
hind  limbs  must  by  themselves  answer  the 
purpose  of  both  the  front  and  hind  limbs  of 
deer  and  antelopes.  But  the  kangaroo's 
limbs  are  quite  admirably  suited  to  its 
needs.  The  front  pair  serve  as  prehensile 
manipulating  organs,  while  the  hind  pair 
amply  suffice  to  carry  the  animal  over  great 
distances  and  rapidly  traverse  wide,  arid 
plains  in  pursuit  of  rare  and  distant  water. 
— MIVART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  2,  p. 
48.  (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

59. Lizards    That   Live 

inithout  Water. — The  individuals  [lizards 
of  the  terrestrial  species  of  Amblyrhyncus, 
of  the  Galapagos  Islands],  and  they  are  the 
greater  number,  which  inhabit  the  lower 
country,  can  scarcely  taste  a  drop  of  water 
throughout  the  year;  but  they  consume 
much  of  the  succulent  cactus,  the  branches 
of  which  are  occasionallv  broken  off  by  the 
wind.  I  several  times  threw  a  piece  to  two 


or  three  of  them  when  together ;  and  it  was 
amusing  enough  to  see  them  trying  to  seize 
and  carry  it  away  in  their  mouths,  like  so 
many  hungry  dogs  with  a  bone. — DARWIN 
Naturalist's  Voyage  Around  the  World,  ch. 
17,  p.  389.  (A.,  1893.) 


60. 


The  Sloth,  as  Known 


to  Recent  Science. — Far  from  being  an  "  im- 
perfect sketch "  of  animal  life,  it  [the 
sloth]  is  a  fully  completed  study  of  perfect 
adaptation  of  structure  to  need.  The  sloth 
is  an  animal  specially  formed  to  dwell  no- 
where but  in  luxuriant  forests.  But  to  live 
thus  .  .  .  necessitates  a  special  and 
peculiar  structure.  ...  It  is  impos- 
sible that  an  animal  formed  to  do  this  can 
at  the  same  time  be  organized  so  as  to  move 
well  and  freely  on  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
for  which  the  stress  and  leverage  must  be 
altogether  different.  Hence  the  structure  of 
such  a  creature  must  seem  very  defective  to 
any  one  who  only  observes  its  motions  on 
the  surface  of  the  soil,  a  position  in  which 
it  naturally  hardly  if  ever  finds  itself. 
.  .  .  Sloths  pass  their  lives  hanging 
under  the  branches  of  trees,  back  down- 
wards, and  so  they  can  sleep  securely.  The 
fingers  and  toes  of  each  hand  and  foot  are 
so  closely  bound  together  that  they  cannot 
be  separated;  while  each  finger  and  toe  is 
furnished  with  an  enormously  long  and  very 
strong  nail,  greatly  curved.  W'hen  at  rest 
the  hands  and  feet  are  so  bent  that  each 
thus  forms  a  strong  hook,  and  it  requires  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  animal  to  unhook 
either  a  hand  or  foot  from  the  branch  it 
clasps.  Thus  it  is  that  the  sloth  can  sleep 
suspended  from  a  branch,  and  remain  so 
after  death. — MIVART  Types  of  Animal  Life, 
ch.  9,  p.  249.  (L.  B.  &Co.,  1893.) 


01. 


Vast  Size  of  Whale 


Possible  Only  for  Marine  Animal. — There 
results  a  limitation  of  growth  in  a  land- 
animal,  which  does  not  exist  for  an  animal 
living  in  the  water.  If,  after  observing  the 
swaying  flesh  of  an  elephant  as  it  walks 
along,  we  consider  what  would  happen  could 
there  be  formed  a  land-animal  equal  in  mass 
to  the  whale,  it  needs  no  argument  to  show 
that  such  a  creature  could  not  stand,  much 
less  move  about.  But  in  the  water  the 
strain  put  upon  its  structures  by  the 
weights  of  its  various  parts  is  almost  if  not 
quite  taken  away. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  1,  p.  156.  (A.,  1900.) 

62.     ADAPTATION  TO  ENVIRONMENT 

BY  MEN — Arboreal  Human  Life — Former 
South  American  Tree-dwellers. — This  re- 
gion [South  American  steppes],  which  may 
be  regarded  as  peculiarly  the  habitation  of 
wild  animals,  would  not  have  been  chosen  as 
a  place  of  settlement  by  nomadic  hordes, 
who  prefer  a  vegetable  diet,  had  it  not  pos- 
sessed some  few  fan-palms  (Mauritia)  scat- 
tered here  and  there.  The  beneficent  quali- 
ties of  this  tree  of  life  have  been  univer- 
sally celebrated.  Upon  this  alone  subsist 


13 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Adaptation 
Adaptations 


the  unsubdued  tribe  of  the  Guaranes,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Orinoco  northward  of  the 
Sierra  de  Imataca.  When  they  increased  in 
numbers  and  became  overcrowded,  it  is  said 
that,  besides  the  huts  which  they  built  on 
horizontal  platforms  supported  by  the 
stumps  of  felled  palm-trees,  they  also  in- 
geniously suspended  from  stem  to  stem 
spreading  mats  or  hammocks  woven  of  the 
leaf-stalk  of  the  Mauritia,  which  enabled 
them,  during  the  rainy  season,  when  the 
Delta  was  overflowed,  to  live  in  trees  in 
the  manner  of  apes.  These  pendent  huts 
were  partly  covered  with  clay.  The  women 
kindled  the  fire  necessary  for  their  culinary 
occupations  on  the  humid  flooring.  As  the 
traveler  passed  by  night  along  the  river,  his 
attention  was  attracted  by  a  long  line  of 
flame  suspended  high  in  the  air,  and  ap- 
parently unconnected  with  the  earth.  The 
Guaranes  owe  the  preservation  of  their  phys- 
ical, and  perhaps  even  of  their  moral  inde- 
pendence, to  the  loose  marshy  soil,  over 
which  they  move  with  fleet  and  buoyant 
foot,  and  to  their  lofty  sylvan  domiciles;  a 
sanctuary  whither  religious  enthusiasm 
would  hardly  lead  an  American  stylite. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  12.  (Bell, 
1896.) 

63.  ADAPTATION    TO    LIFE-WORK— 

Teeth  of  Beaver  Self -sharpening. — The 
amazing  facility  the  beaver  possesses  for 
felling  trees  is  due  to  the  power  of  its  jaws 
and  teeth.  Of  these  there  are,  as  in  the 
aye-aye,  two  large  cutting  teeth  above  and 
two  below,  separated  by  a  toothless  inter- 
space from  the  grinding  teeth  behind  them. 
Each  cutting  tooth  is  protected  in  front  by 
a  coating  of  very  dense  enamel,  so  that  at 
its  summit  it  wears  away  less  quickly  in 
front  than  behind,  and  thus  a  sharp,  chisel- 
like  cutting  edge  is  constantly  preserved. — 
MIVART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch,  12  p 
352.  (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

64.  ADAPTATION     TO    SEASON— 

Grouse  Provided  with  Snowshoes  in  Winter. 
—By  far  the  best  instance  of  modification 
in  the  structure  of  the  feet  is  furnished  by 
grouse.  ^  It  is  an  unusual  case  of  seasonal 
adaptation  in  form.  During  the  summer 
the  toes  of  grouse  are  bare  and  slender,  but 
as  these  birds  are  largely  ground-haunters, 
and  most  of  them  inhabit  regions  where  the 
snowfall  is  heavy,  the  toes  in  winter  acquire 
a  comblike  fringe  on  either  side.  Practi- 
cally, therefore,  grouse  don  snowshoes  in 
the  fall,  and  wear  them  until  the  following 
spring.— CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  2  p  27 
(A.,  1900.) 

65.  ADAPTATION     TO     TWO      ELE- 
MENTS AT  ONCE— Fish  with  Divided  Eye.— 
Mr.    Agassiz    was    especially   interested    in 
seeing  alive  for  the  first  time  the  curious 
fish  called  "  tralhote  "  by  the  Indians,  and 
known  to   naturalists   as   the   Anableps   te- 
trophthalmus.    This  name,  signifying  "  four- 
eyed,"  is  derived  from  the  singular  struc- 
ture  of  the   eye.     A  membranous   fold   en- 


closing the  bulb  of  the  eye  stretches  across 
the  pupil,  dividing  the  visual  apparatus  into 
an  upper  and  lower  half.  No  doubt  this 
formation  is  intended  to  suit  the  peculiar 
habits  of  the  Anableps.  These  fishes  gather 
in  shoals  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  their 
heads  resting  partly  above,  partly  below  the 
surface,  and  they  move  by  a  leaping  motion 
somewhat  like  that  of  frogs  on  land.  Thus, 
half  in  air,  half  in  water,  they  require  eyes 
adapted  for  seeing  in  both  elements,  and  the 
arrangement  described  above  just  meets 
this  want. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch. 
4,  p.  143.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

66.  ADAPTATION  TO  USE  THROUGH- 
OUT   NATURE— Darwinism  Involves  a  New 
Teleology. — Adaptation    to    use,    altho    the 
very  essence  of  Darwinism,  is  not  a  fixed 
and  inflexible  adaptation,  realized  once  for 
all  at  the  outset;    it  includes  a  long  pro- 
gression and  succession  of  modifications,  ad- 
justing   themselves    to    changing    circum- 
stances, under  which  they  may  be  more  and 
more  diversified,  specialized,  and  in  a  just 
sense  perfected.     Now,  the  question  is,  does 
this  involve  the  destruction  or  only  the  re- 
construction   of    our    consecrated    ideas    of 
teleology?     Is  it  compatible  with  our  seem- 
ingly inborn  conception  of  nature  as  an  or- 
dered system?    Furthermore,  and  above  all, 
can   the   Darwinian   theory   itself   dispense 
with  the  idea  of  purpose,  in  the  ordinary 
sense   of  the   word,   as   tantamount  to   de- 
sign.— ASA   GRAY  Darwiniana,   art.    13,   p. 
358.     (A.,  1889.) 

67.  ADAPTATIONS   IN   BIRD-STRUC- 
TURE CUMULATIVE— All  Converged  on  the 
Power   of   Flight — Not   Less  Designed  Be- 
cause a  Grototh. — Now  if,  in  examining  the 
structure   of   a   typical   bird,    we   find    evi- 
dences of  "  design  "  in  the  wonderful  adap- 
tation of  its  clothing  of  feathers  alike  to 
keep  in  the  warmth  of  the  body,  and  to  sus- 
tain it  in  its  flight  through  the  air — in  that 
organization  of  its  heart  and  lungs  which 
enables  them  to  keep  up  the  energetic  cir- 
culation  and   respiration   required   for   the 
maintenance  of  a  high  standard  of  muscu- 
lar activity — in  those  arrangements  of  the 
skeleton  and  muscular  apparatus  which  give 
support  and  motion  to  the  expanded  wings 
— in  the  adaptation  of  the  eye  to  that  acute 
and  far-ranging  vision  which  is  needed  for 
the  guidance  of  its  actions — and  in  many 
other  provisions  I  might  enumerate — I  af- 
firm, without  any  doubt  otf  your  assent,  that 
this  evidence  is  not  in  the  least  degree  in- 
validated by  the  discovery  that  the  germ- 
particle  is  not  a  miniature  bird,  but  a  pro- 
toplasmic "  jelly-speck."    In  its  capacity  for 
"evolution"    into   the    complete    type,    the 
germ-particle  is  just  as  much  "  potentially  " 
the  bird  as  if  it  could  become  one  by  merely 
swelling  out. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  15,  p.  432.     (A.,  1889.) 

68.  ADAPTATIONS      MANIFOLD     IN 

NATURE— Owe  Part  Serves  Many  Purposes.— 
Altho  an  organ  may  not  have  been  originally 


A  dap  tat  ions 
Adjustment 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


14 


formed  for  some  special  purpose,  if  it  now 
serves  for  this  end  we  are  justified  in  saying 
that  it  is  specially  adapted  for  it.  On  the 
same  principle,  if  a  man  were  to  make  a  ma- 
chine for  some  special  purpose,  but  were  to 
use  old  wheels,  springs,  and  pulleys,  only 
slightly  altered,  the  whole  machine,  with  all 
its  parts,  might  be  said  to  be  specially  con- 
trived for  its  present  purpose.  Thus  through- 
out nature  almost  every  part  of  each  living 
being  has  probably  served,  in  a  slightly 
modified  condition,  for  diverse  purposes,  and 
has  acted  in  the  living  machinery  of  many 
ancient  and  distinct  specific  forms. — DAR- 
WIN Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  9,  p.  283. 
(A.,  1898.) 

69.  ADAPTIVENESS  OF  HUMAN  OR- 
GANISM— Acquired      Automatism — Houdiris 
Play  with  Balls. — The  extraordinary  adapt- 
iveness  of  the  organism  of  man  is  shown  in 
his  power  of  acquiring  a  vast  number  of 
more  special  actions,  which  have  no  direct 
relation  to  his  bodily  wants,  but  minister  to 
requirements   of  his   own   creation.     These 
often    become,    by    a   process    of   prolonged 
"  training,"  not  less  automatic  than  the  act 
of  walking;    as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that, 
when  once  set  going,  they  will  continue  in 
regular    sequence,    not    only    without    any 
volitional  exertion,  but  whilst  the  attention 
is  wholly  directed  elsewhere.     .     .     .     With 
a  view  of  cultivating  the  rapidity  of  visual 
and  tactile  perception,  and  the  precision  of 
respondent  movements,  which  are  necessary 
for  success  in  every  kind  of  "  prestidigita- 
tion,"  Houdin    early   practised   the    art   of 
juggling  with  balls  in  the  air;    and  having, 
after  a  month's  practice,  become  thorough 
master  of  the  art  of  keeping  up  four  balls 
at  once,  he  placed  a  book  before  him,  and, 
while  the  balls  were  in  the  air,  accustomed 
himself  to   read  without   hesitation. — CAR- 
PENTER  Mental  Physiology,   ch.    5,  p.   217. 
(A.,  1900.) 

70.  ADAPTIVENESS     OF    NATURE— 

Wings  for  Other  Use  than  Flight — Penguin 
—"  St earner  "—Ostrich.— In  these  [Falk- 
land] islands  a  great  loggerheaded  duck  or 
goose  ...  is  very  abundant.  .  .  . 
They  are  named,  appropriately,  steamers. 
Their  wings  are  too  small  and  weak  to  allow 
of  flight,  but  by  their  aid,  partly  swimming 
and  partly  flapping  the  surface  of  the  water, 
they  move  very  quickly.  These  clumsy,  log- 
gerheaded ducks  make  such  a  noise  and 
splashing  that  the  effect  is  exceedingly  cu- 
rious. Thus  we  find  in  South  America  three 
birds  which  use  their  wings  for  other  pur- 
poses besides  flight :  the  penguin  as  fins,  the 
steamer  as  paddles,  and  the  ostrich  as  sails ; 
and  the  apteryx  of  New  Zealand,  as  well  as 
its  gigantic  extinct  prototype  the  deinornis, 
possess  only  rudimentary  representatives 
of  wings. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage 
Around  the  World,  ch.  9,  p.  200.  (A.,  1898.) 

71.  ADJUSTMENT  OF  AERIAL  TEM- 
PERATURE -Dead-line    of  Cold  Just    Over- 


hangs Zone  of  Life — Earth's  Heat  Not 
Greatly  Changed  through  Geologic  Ages. — 
It  is  not  easy  to  appreciate  the  delicacy  of 
adjustment  which  is  required  to  establish 
this  temperature  demanded  by  organic  life, 
and  to  maintain  it  through  the  geological 
ages.  Even  in  the  permanent  heat  of  the 
equator  the  zone  of  life-killing  cold  lies  but 
four  miles  above  the  surface  of  the  sea.  As 
soon  as  night  comes  on,  this  dead-line  begins 
to  descend  toward  the  surface;  by  morning 
it  may  have  fallen  to  within  three  miles  of 
the  sea-level.  A  week  of  continued  night 
would  lock  the  tropics  in  a  deadly  frost  and 
make  an  end  of  its  land-life. — SHALER  As- 
pects of  the  Earth,  p.  201.  (S.,  1900.) 

72.  ADJUSTMENT       OF      CHEMICAL 
AFFINITIES  IN  THE  BODY— Life  Supreme. 
— There  is  indeed  an  adjustment — a   close 
and     intricate     adjustment — between     the 
chemical  affinities  of  these  elements  as  they 
are  combined  in  the  living  body;    but  it  is 
an  adjustment  of  them  under  the  control- 
ling energy  of  a  power  which  cannot  be  iden- 
tified  with   any   other,   and   which   always 
presents  phenomena  peculiar  to  itself.     Un- 
der that  power  we  see  that  the  laws  and 
forces    of    chemical    affinity,    as    exhibited 
apart  from  life,  are  held,  as  it  were,  to  serv- 
ice— compelled,  indeed,  to  minister,  but  not 
allowed  to  rule.     Through  an  infinite  va- 
riety of  organisms    this  mysterious  subor- 
dination is  maintained,  ministering  through 
an  ascending  series  to  higher   and  higher 
grades   of  sensation,   perception,   conscious- 
ness,  and  thought. — ARGYLL   Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  34.      (Burt.) 

73.  ADJUSTMENT      OF     MENTAL 
FORCES — Conduct    Determined    by   Combina- 
tion of  Motives. — It  is  true,   indeed,   that 
there  are  in  the  mind  of  man,  as  there  are 
in    nature,    certain    forces    originally    im- 
planted    which    are   unchangeable    in    this 
sense,  that  they  have  an  invariable  tendency 
to  determine  conduct  in  a  particular  direc- 
tion.    But  as  in  nature  we  have  a  power  of 
commanding  her  elementary  forces  by  the 
methods  of  adjustment,  so  in  the  realm  of 
mind  we  can  operate  on  the  same  principle, 
by    setting   one    motive   to    counteract    an- 
other:    and   by   combination   among  many 
motives  we  can  influence  in  a  degree,  and  to 
an  extent  as  yet  unknown,  the  conduct  and 
the   condition  of  mankind. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  219.      (Burt.) 

74.  ADJUSTMENT  OF  ORGANISM  TO 

ENVIRONMENT—  Wing-feathers  and  Auricu- 
lars  in  Birds — Internal  vs.  External  Corre- 
lation.— There  are  two  correlations  of 
growth  in  respect  to  feathers  which  are  con- 
stant. In  all  cases  (excepting,  of  course, 
the  wingless  birds)  the  feathers  which 
grow  from  the  forearm  and  finger-bones, 
constituting  the  wings,  are  comparatively 
long,  strong,  tapering,  elastic,  and  with  thin 
lateral  filaments,  which  filaments  are 
closely  hooked  together  by  means  of  minute 


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Adaptations 
Adjustment 


teeth  fitting  into  each  other,  so  that  the 
whole  shall  form  one  continuous  sur- 
face or  web.  This  is  a  correlation  of 
growth  between  one  particular  kind  of 
feather  and  one  particular  member  of 
the  body,  which,  in  all  Birds  capable 
of  flight,  is  constant,  and  amounts  to 
a  universal  law.  Now  let  us  contrast 
this  with  another  correlation  of  growth 
which  is  equally  constant.  On  the  side  of 
the  head  of  all  birds  there  is  a  patch  of 
feathers  of  peculiar  structure,  with  fine  and 
slender  shafts,  and  with  the  lateral  fila- 
ments not  hooked  together  as  in  the  other 
case,  but,  on  the  contrary,  always  separated 
from  each  other — the  whole  series  forming 
a  fine  and  open  network  spread  over  the  sur- 
face which  they  cover  and  protect.  These 
feathers  cover  the  orifice  of  the  ear,  and  are 
called  the  auriculars.  They  are  correlated 
with  the  curious  passages,  the  finely  hung 
clapper-bones,  and  all  the  elaborate  mechan- 
ism of  that  organ.  Such  are  the  internal 
correlations.  But  they  are  intelligible  only 
when  considered  in  the  light  shed  by  other 
correlations  which  are  external.  The  wing- 
feathers,  with  close  continuous  webs,  are 
correlated  to  the  laws  by  which  the  passage 
of  air  may  be  prevented ;  the  auricular  feath- 
ers, with  open  unconnected  webs,  are  corre- 
lated to  the  laws  by  which  the  passage  of 
sound  may  be  rendered  easy.  The  one  set  of 
feathers  is  adapted  to  the  active  function 
of  evoking  and  resisting  atmospheric  pres- 
sure by  striking  strong,  yet  light  and  elastic 
blows,  upon  the  air ;  the  other  set  of  feath- 
ers is  adapted  to  the  passive  function  of 
allowing  the  free  access  of  the  waves  of 
sound  into  the  passages  of  the  ear.  These 
are  but  a  few  examples  out  of  millions. 
Throughout  the  whole  range  of  nature  the 
system  of  internal  correlation  is  entirely 
subordinate  to  the  system  of  external  corre- 
lation.— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  151. 
(Burt.) 

75.  ADJUSTMENT  OF  ORGANS  FOR 
MUSICAL  EFFECT— A  Natural  Violin— The 
Mole-cricket. — If  one  walks  in  the  meadows 
along  a  little  brook  on  a  fine  June  evening, 
he  will  often  hear  a  long-sustained  note, 
even,  subdued,  and  pleasant,  which  vibrates 
powerfully  without  swelling  or  diminishing, 
somewhat  like  that  of  the  nightingale  in 
Haydn's  "  Toy  Symphony."  A  cautious  ap- 
proach will  enable  us  to  sec  a  mole-cricket 
sitting,  apparently  motionless,  in  front  of 
its  hole  in  the  ground.  More  careful  ex- 
amination proves  that  the  short  wing-covers 
are  in  a  state  of  continual  vibration,  pro- 
ducing friction  as  they  move ;  and  this  it  is 
which  causes  the  sound.  The  microscope 
shows  that  minute  and  delicate  teeth  are 
placed  at  regular  intervals  along  a  vein  on 
one  of  the  wing-covers;  when  these  are 
struck  at  a  certain  rate  by  a  vein  on  the 
other  wing,  they  emit  a  whirring  note  of  a 
definite  pitch.  One  vein  acts  as  the  bow,  the 
other  as  the  string  of  a  violin ;  the  mole- 
cricket  is  a  violinist,  and  can  therefore  hold 


on  its  note  as  long  as  it  will. — WEISSMAN 
Heredity,  vol.  ii,  p.  34.     (Cl.  P.,  1892.) 

76.  ADJUSTMENT  OF  SOUL  TO  THE 
NON-EXISTENT— A  Breach  of  Continuity- 
Would   Violate  All  Analogy   of   Nature. — 
Now  if  the  relation  thus  established  in  the 
morning  twilight  of  man's  existence  between 
the  human  soul  and  a  world  invisible  and 
immaterial  is  a  relation  of  which  only  the 
subjective   term  is  real   and   the   objective 
term  is  non-existent,  then,  I  say,  it  is  some- 
thing   utterly    without    precedent    in    the 
whole  history  of  creation.    All  the  analogies 
of  evolution,  so  far  as  we  have  yet  been  able 
to  decipher  it,  are  overwhelmingly  against 
any  such  supposition.    To  suppose  that  dur- 
ing countless  ages,  from  the  sea-weed  up  to 
man,    the    progress    of    life    was    achieved 
through  adjustments  to  external  realities, 
but  that  then  the  method  was  all  at  once 
changed  and  throughout  a  vast  province  of 
evolution  the  end  was  secured  through  ad- 
justments to  external  non-realities,  is  to  do 
'sheer    violence    to    logic    and    to    common 
sense. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt. 
iii,  ch.  10,  p.  189.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

77.  ADJUSTMENT     OF    VISION     TO 
DISTANCE— Adaptation  Automatic  and   Un- 
conscious.— Mark,   now,   the   superiority  of 
the  eye.     In  its  normal  condition   this  won- 
derful organ  possesses  a  power  to  which  no 
optical  instrument  of  human  construction 
can  show  the  remotest  parallelism — that  of 
adjusting  itself  to  differences  of  focal  dis- 
tance.   Thus,  if  I  close  one  eye,  and  hold  up 
my  finger  between  my  other  eye  and   the 
clock  at  the  far  end  of  the  room,  I  cannot 
see  both   of  them    distinctly   at   the   same 
time,  because,  as  they  are  at  different  dis- 
tances from  my  eye,  their  pictures  on  my 
retina  cannot  both  be  distinct.     But,  with- 
out moving  either  my  head  or  my  eye,  I  can 
so  "  focus  "  my  eye  on  either  as  to  see  it 
distinctly,  the  other  becoming  hazy.     This 
we    all    constantly    do    without    the    least 
knowledge  of  the  mechanism  by  which  it  is 
effected:    and  all  that  the  most  careful  and 
refined    investigation    has    revealed    to    the 
physiologist  is  that  the  focal  adjustment  is 
made  by  a  change  in  the  curvature  of  the 
crystalline    lens;     its    curvature   being   in- 
creased when  the  rays  that  fall  upon  it  are 
more  divergent,  because  proceeding  from  a 
nearer  object;    and  being  diminished  when 
the  rays,  proceeding  from  a  more  distant 
object,  are  less  divergent — so  as  in  each  case 
to  bring  them  to  a  focus  on  the  retina.   This 
change  of  curvature  is  produced,  it  is  be- 
lieved, by  the  action  of  the  ciliary  muscle 
which  surrounds  the  lens;    but  how  that  ac- 
tion is  called  forth  we  do  not  know.    Indeed, 
we  are  quite  unconscious  that  we  are  put- 
ting  it   into   contraction.     I   simply   deter- 
mine,  "I   will   look  at  the   clock,"  or,   "I 
will  look  at  my  finger,"  and  my  eye  adjusts 
itself  accordingly.     If,  on  the  other  hand,  I 
were  to   look  with   a   telescope,   first  at   a 
watch -face   a   few  feet  off,   and  then   at  a 


if, 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


16 


church-clock  at  a  distance,  I  should  have  to 
diminish  the  distance  between  the  object- 
glass  and  the  eye-piece;  and  I  cannot  con- 
ceive of  any  optical  mechanism  by  which  the 
telescope  could  be  enabled  to  make  this  ad- 
justment for  itself.  That  the  eye  should  be 
provided  with  such  a  mechanism  has  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  a  most  wonderful  evi- 
dence of  intelligent  design;  and  the  im- 
portance of  this  provision  in  our  daily  life 
is  so  great  (as  every  one  knows  in  whom  it 
is  even  partially  deficient)  as  to  outweigh 
beyond  all  comparison  the  slight  want  of 
optical  perfection  which  ...  is  insep- 
arable from  it. — CARPENTER  Nature  and 
Man,  lect.  15,  p.  425. 

78.  ADVANCE    ALONG    ABORIGINAL 
LINES — Improvement  in  Mechanic  Arts — Per- 
fected Snow-shoes. — The   Canadian   Indians 
and  those   of   the  northern   United   States, 
having  only  soft  material  and  bark  to  work 
upon,  restrict  themselves  mostly  to  the  long- 
bladed  curved  knife.     On  the  Pacific  coast, 
among  Indian  tribes  from  Mount  St.  Elias 
and  southward,  there  is  a  mixture  of  hard 
material  and  soft  wood,  so  that  there  is  a 
great  variety  in  the  form  of  the  whittler's 
knife.     Furthermore,  these  tribes  have  been 
in  contact  with  sailors  for  more  than  a  cen- 
tury, and  use  any  piece  of  steel  or  iron  they 
can  secure  in  trade.    The  Canadian  Indians 
were   stimulated   by   the    fur-trading    com- 
panies to  travel  more  rapidly  and  to  make 
longer  journeys ;    hence,  in  furnishing  them 
with  the  curved  knife,  they  made  it  possible 
for  these  Indians  to  work  out  the  frame  of 
the  birch-bark  canoe,  the  bows  of  the  snow- 
shoes,  splints  for  basketry,  and  a  thousand 
and   one  objects   made   of  birch-bark,   with 
this    simple   but   most    efficient    device.     It 
has  become  the  traveling  tool  of  the  Cana- 
dian Indians  and  has  done  more  than  aught 
else  to  improve  their  mechanical  skill.     An 
examination     of     old     patterns     of     snow- 
shoes,   in   comparison  with   the   latest  pat- 
terns, reveals  an  astonishing  improvement. 
The  versatile  curved  knife  is  just  as  useful 
in  the  making  of  fine  babiche  or  rawhide 
string  for  the  webbing  of  the  snow-shoe  as 
in  whittling  down  the  frame.     In  the  old- 
fashioned  snow-shoes  the  rawhide  footing  is 
nearly  one-fourth   inch  wide,   while  in  the 
best  and  latest  the  strands  are  as  fine  as 
thread. — MASON    The   Man's   Knife   Among 
the  North  American  Indians,  (Report  of  the 
U.  S.  National  Museum),  p.  732. 

79.  ADVANCE     FROM     KNOWN     TO 
UNKNOWN — Acquaintance    with    Phenomena 
of  Sound-tea  ves  Led  to  Discovery  of  Waves 
of  Light — Young  Demonstrates  the   Undu- 
latory  Theory. — In  the  year  1773  was  born, 
at  Milverton,  in  Somersetshire,  one  of  the 
most   remarkable   men   that   England   ever 
produced.      He    [Thomas  Young]    was  edu- 
cated for  the  profession  of  a  physician,  but 
was  too'  strong  to  be  tied  down  to  profes- 
sional routine.     He  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  natural  philosophy,  and  became  in 


all  its  departments  a  master.  He  was  also 
a  master  of  letters.  Languages,  ancient  and 
modern,  were  housed  within  his  brain,  and, 
to  use  the  words  of  his  epitaph,  "  he  first 
penetrated  the  obscurity  which  had  veiled 
for  ages  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt."  It 
fell  to  the  lot  of  this  man  to  discover  facts 
in  optics  which  Newton's  theory  was  incom- 
petent to  explain,  and  his  mind  roamed  in 
search  of  a  sufficient  theory.  He  had  made 
himself  acquainted  with  all  the  phenomena 
of  wave-motion;  with  all  the  phenomena  of 
sound;  working  successfully  in  this  domain 
as  an  original  discoverer.  Thus  informed 
and  disciplined,  he  was  prepared  to  detect 
any  resemblance  which  might  reveal  itself 
between  the  phenomena  of  light  and  those  of 
wave-motion.  Such  resemblances  he  did  de- 
tect; and,  spurred  on  by  the  discovery,  he 
pursued  his  speculations  and  his  experi- 
ments until  he  finally  succeeded  in  placing 
on  an  immovable  basis  the  undulatory  the- 
ory of  light. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  2,  p.  50.  (A.,  1898.) 

8O.  ADVANCE  IN  OUR  KNOWLEDGE 
OF  LIVING  ORGANISMS—  Inadequate  Early 
Estimates. — The  species  known  to  the  nat- 
uralists of  early  times  were  few  in  number 
— at  least,  comparatively — and  the  old 
students  had  no  idea  of  the  excessive  di- 
versity of  form  and  structure  familiar  to 
us.  A  census  of  animals  and  plants  was 
taken  by  Ray  [1670-93]  shortly  before  Lin- 
naeus commenced  his  career,  and  enumerated 
less  than  4,000  animals,  exclusive  of  in- 
sects; and  of  those  it  was  estimated  that 
there  were  about  "20,000  in  the  whole 
world."  He  evidently  believed  that  the  en- 
tire number  living  would  not  be  found 
greatly  to  exceed  this.  But  let  Ray  speak 
for  himself.  According  to  the  author's  clas- 
sification, animals  were  divided  into  four 
or(iers — "beasts,  birds,  fishes,  and  insects." 
The  number  of  beasts,  including  also  ser- 
pents, that  had  been  accurately  described, 
he  estimated  at  not  above  150,  adding  that, 
according  to  his  belief,  "  not  many  that  are 
of  any  considerable  bigness,  in  the  known 
regions  of  the  world,  have  escaped  the  cog- 
nizance of  the  curious."  (At  the  present 
day  more  than  7,000  species  of  "beasts," 
reptiles,  and  amphibians  have  been  de- 
scribed. )  The  number  of  birds  "  may  be 
near  500;  and  the  number  of  fishes,  exclu- 
ding shell-fish,  as  many ;  but,  if  the  shell-fish 
be  taken  in,  more  than  six  times  the  num- 
ber." As  to  the  species  remaining  undis- 
covered, he  supposed  "  the  whole  sum  of 
beasts  and  birds  to  exceed  by  a  third  part, 
and  fishes  by  one-half,  those  known."  The 
number  of  insects — that  is,  of  animals  not 
included  in  the  above  classes — he  estimated 
at  2,000  in  Britain  alone,  and  20,000  in  the 
whole  world.  .  .  .  About  375,000  species 
of  animals  are  now  known,  and  of  insects 
we  still  know  the  smaller  portion.  .  .  . 
The  late  Dr.  C.  V.  Riley  even  went  so  far  as 
to  say  "  that  there  are' 10,000,000  species  of 


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Advance 


insects  in  the  world  would  be,  in  [his]  judg- 
ment, a  moderate  estimate."  The  largest 
previous  estimate,  by  Sharp  and  Walsing- 
ham,  2,000,000,  was  termed  by  Riley  "ex- 
tremely low." — GILL  Address  before  the  Am. 
Assoc.  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
Smithsonian  Report  for  1896,  pp.  457-483. 

81.  ADVANCE   IN   SCIENCE—  The  Joy 

of  Its  Study  Alike  in  All  Ages. — Each  of 
these  epochs  of  the  contemplation  of  the  ex- 
ternal world — the  earliest  dawn  of  thought 
and  the  advanced  stage  of  civilization — has 
its  own  source  of  enjoyment.  In  the  former, 
this  enjoyment,  in  accordance  with  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  primitive  ages,  flowed  from  an 
intuitive  feeling  of  the  order  that  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  invariable  and  successive  re- 
appearance of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  by 
the  progressive  development  of  organized 
beings;  while  in  the  latter,  this  sense  of 
enjoyment  springs  from  a  definite  knowl- 
edge of  the  phenomena  of  nature.  When 
man  began  to  interrogate  nature,  and,  not 
content  with  observing,  learned  to  evoke 
phenomena  under  definite  conditions;  when 
once  he  sought  to  collect  and  record  facts,  in 
order  that  the  fruit  of  his  labors  might  aid 
investigation  after  his  own  brief  existence 
had  passed  away,  the  philosophy  of  nature 
cast  aside  the  vague  and  poetic  garb  in 
which  she  had  been  enveloped  from  her 
origin,  and,  having  assumed  a  severer  as- 
pect, she  now  weighs  the  value  of  observa- 
tions, and  substitutes  induction  and  reason- 
ing for  conjecture  and  assumption. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  24.  (H.,  1897.) 

82.  ADVANCE   IN    TYPE— None  Since 
the  Mammalia  Were  Reached — The  Mothers 
Stand   Now   at   the   Top. — What   was   that 
pinnacle?      There    is    no    more    instructive 
question  in  science.     For  the  answer  brings 
into  relief  one  of  the  expression-points  of 
nature — one  of  these  great  teleological  notes 
of  which  the  natural  order  is  so  full,  and  of 
which  this  is  by  far  the  most  impressive. 
Run  the  eye  for  a  moment  up  the  scale  of 
animal   life.     At  the  bottom  are  the  first 
animals,  the  Protozoa.   The  Ccelenterata  fol- 
low, then  in  mixed  array  the  Echinoderms. 
Worms,   and  Mollusks.     Above  these  come 
the  •  Pisces,    then    the    Amphibia,    then    the 
Reptilia,  then  the  Aves,  then — what?     The 
Mammalia,  THE  MOTHERS.    There  the  series 
stops.      Nature   has   never   made    anything 
since. — DBTJMMOND  A  scent  of  Man,  p.  267. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

83.  ADVANCE     OF     CIVILIZATION— 

Epoch-making  Ideas. — Those  are  happy 
hours  to  most  of  us  when  we  recall  the  days 
of  childhood.  To  trace  the  lives  of  cele- 
brated men  and  women  to  the  springs  of 
their  moral  and  intellectual  powrer  brings 
never-fading  delight.  To  study  the  rise  and 
progress  of  a  nation  or  any  social  unit  is 
worthy  of  exalted  minds.  But  the  most 
profitable  inquiry  of  all  is  the  search  for  the 
origin  of  epoch-making  ideas  in  order  to 


comprehend  the  history  of  civilization,  to- 
con  jure  up  those  race  memories  in  which 
each  people  transmits  to  itself  and  to  pos- 
terity its  former  experiences. — MASON  The 
Birth  of  Invention  (Address  at  Centenary 
of  American  Patent  System,  Washington, 
1891,  proceedings),  p.  403. 

84.  ADVANCE  OF  GLACIERS  IN  RE- 
CENT   TIMES— Road    Buried    under  Ice.— 
We  have  ample  traditional  evidence  of  the 
oscillations  of  glacier-boundaries  in  recent 
times.    During  the  religious  Tvars  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  when  the   Catholics  gained 
the  ascendency  in  the  Canton  of  Valais,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  upper  valleys  adhered  to 
the  Protestant  faith.     Shut  out  from  ordi- 
nary   communication    with    the    Protestant 
churches  by  the  Bernese  Oberland,  the  ac- 
count   states    that    these    peasants    braved 
every  obstacle  to  the  exercise  of  their  re- 
ligion, and  used  to  carry  their  children  over 
a    certain    road    by    the    valley    of    Viesch, 
across  the  Alps,  to  be  baptized  at  Grindel- 
wald,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  glaciers  of 
Aletsch  and  Viesch.    I  could  not  understand 
this  statement,  for  no  such  road  exists,  or 
could  be  conceived  possible  at  present;    nor 
was  there  any  knowledge  of  it  among  the 
guides,    intimate    as    they   are    with    every 
feature  of  the  region.     Impressed,  however, 
with  the  idea  that  there  must  be  some  foun- 
dation for  the  statement,  I  carefully  exam- 
ined the  ground,  and,  penetrating  under  the 
glacier  of  Aletsch,  I  actually  found,  a  num- 
ber of  feet  below  the  present  level  of  the  ice, 
the   paved   road   along   which   these   hardy 
people  traveled  to  church  with  their  chil- 
dren,   and   some   traces   of  which    are   still 
visible.      It    has    been    almost    completely 
buried,    altho     here     and     there     it     reap- 
pears;   but  at  this  day  it  is  completely  im- 
passable    for     ordinary     travel. — AGASSIZ 
Geological    Sketches,    ser.    ii,    p.    16.       (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

85.  ADVANCE   OF  INTELLECT    PRE- 
PARES   FOR   NEW    DISCOVERY— A  Great 
Period  Sustains  Great  Men. — All  great  dis- 
coveries are  duly  prepared  for  in  two  ways: 
first,  by  other  discoveries  which  form  their 
prelude;    and.  secondly,  by  the  sharpening 
of   the   inquiring   intellect.     Thus    Ptolemy 
grew  out  of  Hipparchus,  Copernicus  out  of 
both,  Kepler  out  of  all  three,  and  Newton 
out  of  all  the  four.     Newton  did  not  rise 
suddenly  from  the  sea-level  of  the  intellect 
to  his  amazing  elevation.    At  the  time  that 
he   appeared,   the  table-land   of   knowledge 
was  already  high.    He  juts,  it  is  true,  above 
the  table-land,  as  a  massive  peak;    still  he 
is  supported  by  it,  and  a  great  part  of  his 
absolute  height  is  the  height  of  humanity  in 
his  time.     It  is  thus  with  the  discoveries  of 
Kirchhoff.     Much  had  been  previously  ac- 
complished;   this  he  mastered,  and  then  by 
the  force  of  individual  genius  went  beyond 
it.      He  replaced  uncertainty  by  certainty, 
vagueness  by  definiteness,  confusion  by  or- 


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der;  and  I  do  not  think  that  Newton  has  a 
surer  claim  to  the  discoveries  that  have 
made  his  name  immortal  than  Kirchhoff 
has  to  the  credit  of  gathering  up  the  frag- 
mentary knowledge  of  his  time,  of  vastly 
extending  it,  and  of  infusing  into  it  the  life 
of  great  principles. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  6,  p.  206.  (A.,  1898.) 

86.  ADVANCE  OF  LEARNING  IN  SEV- 
ENTEENTH CENTURY— A  Galaxy  of  Dis- 
coveries.— A  few  names  will  suffice  to  give 
an  idea  of  the  gigantic  strides  with  which 
the   human   mind   advanced   in   the    seven- 
teenth  century,   especially  in  the   develop- 
ment of  mathematical  induction,  under  the 
influence  of  its  own  subjective  force  rather 
than  from  the  incitement  of  outward  cir- 
cumstances.    The   laws  which   control   the 
fall  of  bodies  and  the  motions  of  the  planets 
were  now  recognized.     The  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere;    the  propagation  of  light,  and 
its  refraction  and  polarization,  were  inves- 
tigated. Mathematical  physics  were  created, 
and  based  on  a  firm  foundation.     The  in- 
vention of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  char- 
acterizes  the   close   of   the   century;     and, 
strengthened  by  its  aid,  human  understand- 
ing has  been  enabled,  during  the  succeeding 
century  and  a  half,  successfully  to  venture 
on  the  solution  of  the  problems  presented  by 
the  perturbations  of  the  heavenly  bodies; 
by  the  polarization  and  interference  of  the 
waves  of  light;    by  the  radiation  of  heat; 
by     electro-magnetic     reentering    currents; 
by  vibrating  chords  and  surfaces;    by  the 
capillary  attraction  of  narrow  tubes;    and 
by  many  other  natural  phenomena.    Hence- 
forward the  work  in  the  world  of  thought 
progresses    uninterruptedly,    each    portion 
continually  contributing  its  aid  to  the  re- 
mainder.— HUMBOLDT    Cosmos,    vol.    ii,    pt. 
ii,  p.  302.      (H.,  1897.) 

87.  ADVANCE    OF    PHOTOGRAPHY— 
Stars  Revealed    That    Are    Invisible    Even 
through    the    Telescope. — Celestial    photog- 
raphy is  not  yet  fifty  years  old;    yet  its 
earliest  beginnings  already  seem  centuries 
behind    its    present    performances.     .     .     . 
The  chemical  plate  has  two  advantages  over 
the  human  retina.     First,  it  is  sensitive  to 
rays  which  are  utterly  powerless  to  produce 
any  visual  effect;    next,  it  can  accumulate 
impressions  almost  indefinitely,  while  from 
the  retina  they  fade  after  one-tenth  part  of 
a  second,  leaving  it  a  continually  renewed 
tabula  rasa.    It  is  accordingly  quite  possible 
to  photograph  objects  so  faint  as  to  be  alto- 
gether beyond  the  power  of  any  telescope  to 
reveal;    and  we  may  thus  eventually  learn 
whether  a  blank  space  in  the  sky  truly  rep- 
resents the  end  of  the  stellar  universe  in 
that  direction,  or  whether  farther  and  far- 
ther worlds  roll  and  shine  beyond,  veiled  in 
the  obscurity  of  immeasurable  distance. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
13,  p.  524.      (Bl.,  1893.) 

88.  ADVANCE  OF  PRIMITIVE  MAN— 
From  the  Stone  Age  to  a  Better  Stone  Age — 


The  Smoothed  and  Sharpened  Tool  Slowly 
Attained — Nature  the  First  Artificer. — The 
next  step  from  the  stone  age,  so  far  as  fur- 
ther appeal  to  ancient  implements  can  guide 
us,  is  also  exactly  what  one  would  expect. 
It  is  to  a  better  stone  age.  Two  distinct 
grades  of  stone  implements  are  found,  the 
rough  and  the  smooth,  or  the  unground  and 
the  ground.  For  a  long  period  the  idea 
never  seems  to  have  dawned  that  a  smooth 
stone  made  a  better  ax  than  a  rough  one. 
Mind  was  as  yet  unequal  to  this  small  dis- 
covery, and  there  are  vast  remains  repre- 
senting long  intervals  of  time  where  all  the 
stone  implements  and  tools  are  of  the  un- 
ground type.  Even  when  the  hour  did  come, 
when  savage  vied  with  savage  in  putting 
the  finest  polish  on  his  flints,  his  inspira- 
tion probably  came  from  nature.  The  first 
lapidary  was  the  sea;  the  smoothed  pebble 
on  the  beach,  or  the  rounded  stone  of  the 
mountain  stream,  supplied  the  pattern. — 
DBUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  140.  (J. 
P.,  1900.) 

89.  ADVANCE    OF    SOLAR    PHOTOG- 
RAPHY— Incessant  Record  of  the  Sun  by  Its 
Own  Light. — The  first  solar   light-pictures 
of   real   value   were   taken,    and   the   auto- 
graphic record  of  the  solar  condition  rec- 
ommended by  Sir  John  Herschel  was  com- 
menced and  continued  at  Kew  during  four- 
teen years — 1858-72.     The  work  of  photo- 
graphing the  sun  is  now  carried  on  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  from  the  Mauritius  to 
Massachusetts,  and  the  days  are  few  indeed 
on  which  the  self-betrayal   of  the  camera 
can  be  evaded  by  our  chief  luminary.     In 
the  year  1883  the  incorporation  of  Indian 
with  Greenwich  pictures  afforded  a  record 
of  the   state   of  the   solar   surface   on   340 
days;    and  360  were  similarly  provided  for 
in  1885. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  2,  p.  191.      (Bl.,  1893.) 

90.  ADVANCE  THROUGH  STRUGGLE 

— Sentence  of  Death  on  All  Who  Fail. — We 
find  that  this  hideous  hatred  and  strife,  this 
wholesale  famine  and  death,  furnish  the  in- 
dispensable conditions  for  the  evolution  of 
higher  and  higher  types  of  life.  Nay,  more ; 
but  for  the  pitiless  destruction  of  all  indi- 
viduals that  fall  short  of  a  certain  degree  of 
fitness  to  the  circumstances  of  life  into 
which  they  are  born,  the  type  would  inevi- 
tably degenerate,  the  life  would  become 
lower  and  meaner  in  kind.  Increase  in  rich- 
ness, variety,  complexity  of  life  is  gained 
only  by  the  selection  of  variations  above  or 
beyond  a  certain  mean,  and  the  prompt  exe- 
cution of  a  death  sentence  upon  all  the  rest. 
— FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
2,  p.  65.  (H.  L.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

91.  ADVANTAGE      OF     DIMINISHED 
LIGHT   OF    STARS— If  the  entire  vault  of 
heaven  were  covered  with  innumerable  stra- 
ta of  stars,  one  behind  the  other,  as  with 
a  wide-spread  starry  canopy,  and  light  were 
undiminished  in  its  passage  through  space, 
the  sun  would  be  distinguishable  only  by  its 


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spots,  the  moon  would  appear  as  a  dark 
disk,  and  amid  the  general  blaze  not  a  single 
constellation  would  be  visible. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  103.  (H.,  1897.) 

92.  ADVANTAGE    OF    TROPICS    FOR 
NATURE-STUDY—AM  Forms  Represented— 
Climates  Ranged  Stage  by  Stage  on  Moun- 
tainsides.— The  countries  bordering  on  the 
equator  possess  another  advantage.     .     .     . 
This  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  globe  af- 
fords in  the  smallest  space  the  greatest  pos- 
sible variety  of  impressions  from  the  con- 
templation of  nature.     Among  the  colossal 
mountains  of  Cundinamarca,  of  Quito,  and 
of  Peru,  furrowed  by  deep  ravines,  man  is 
enabled  to  contemplate  alike  all  the  families 
of  plants,  and  all  the  stars  of  the  firmament. 
There,  at  a  single  glance,  the  eye  surveys 
majestic  palms,  humid  forests  of  bambusa, 
and  the  varied   species   of  musaceae,   while 
above  these  forms  of  tropical  vegetation  ap- 
pear   oaks,    medlars,    the    sweet-brier,    and 
umbelliferous   plants,   as   in  our  European 
homes.     There,    as   the   traveler   turns   his 
eyes  to  the  vault  of  heaven,  a  single  glance 
embraces  the  constellation  of  the  Southern 
Cross,  the  Magellanic  clouds,  and  the  guid- 
ing stars  of  the  constellation  of  the  Bear, 
as  they  circle  round  the  arctic  pole.     There 
the  depths  of  the  earth  and  the  vaults  of 
heaven    display    all    the    richness    of    their 
forms  and  the  variety  of  their  phenomena. 
There  the  different  climates  are  ranged  the 
one  above  the  other,   stage   by  stage,   like 
the  vegetable  zones,  whose  succession  they 
limit;    and  there  the  observer  may  readily 
trace  the  laws  that  regulate  the  diminution 
of  heat,  as  they  stand   indelibly  inscribed 
on  the  rocky  walls  and  abrupt  declivities  of 
the  Cordilleras. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i, 
int.,  p.  32.     (H.,  1897.) 

93.  ADVANTAGES  OF  NORTH  AMER- 
ICA   FOR    COMMERCE—  Command    of  Two 
Oceans — Abundant  Harbors. — North  Ameri- 
ca,   and   particularly  the   part   of   it   held 
by    the    United    States,    is    more    advanta- 
geously placed  in  relation  to  marine  naviga- 
tion than  any  other  equally  extensive  por- 
tion of  the  lands  of  the  earth.     Owing  to 
the  shape  and  position  of  this  continent,  it 
faces   the  two   great   divisions   of   oceanic 
waters,  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,   and 
nearly  all  parts  of  its  area  are  readily  ac- 
cessible from  the  shore  by  rivers  or  rela- 
tively short  railways.     At  no  point  on  its 
coast-line  do  we  find  a  stretch  of  shore  of 
more  than  three  hundred  miles  in  length 
which  is  without  a  haven  suitable  for  mod- 
ern  shipping   or   which   cannot   readily   be 
made  into  a  good  harbor. — SHALER  Sea  and 
Land,  p.  159.     (S.,  1894.) 

94.  ADVANTAGES     OF    THE     SPEC- 
TROSCOPE— Chromosphere    of  Sun   Studied 
without    Waiting    for    Eclipse. — Until    re- 
cently, the  solar  atmosphere  could  be  seen 
only  at  an  eclipse,  when  the  sun  itself  is 
hidden  by  the  moon.     Now,   however,   the 


spectroscope  has  brought  the  chromosphere 
and  the  prominences  within  the  range  of 
daily  observation,  so  that  they  can  be 
studied  with  nearly  the  same  facility  as  the 
spots  and  faculse,  and  a  fresh  field  of  great 
interest  and  importance  is  thus  opened  to 
science.  It  seems  hardly  possible  that  the 
ancients  should  have  failed  to  notice,  even 
with  the  naked  eye,  in  some  one  of  the  many 
eclipses  on  record,  the  presence  of  blazing, 
star  like  objects,  around  the  edge  of  the 
moon,  but  we  find  no  mention  of  anything 
of  the  kind,  altho  the  corona  is  described  as 
we  see  it  now. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  6,  p. 
193.  (A.,  1898.) 

95.  ADVANTAGES       TRANSMITTED 
BY    HEREDITY — Improvement    by  Breeding 
from  Best  Specimens. — If  we  grow  plants 
from  seed  or  breed  any  kind  of  animals  year 
after  year,  consuming  or  giving  away  all 
the  increase  we  do  not  wish  to  keep  just 
as  they  come  to  hand,  our  plants  or  animals 
will  continue  much  the  same;    but  if  every 
year  we  carefully  save  the  best  seed  to  sow 
and  the  finest  or  brightest  colored  animals 
to  breed  from,  we  shall  soon  find  that  an  im- 
provement will  take  place,  and  that  the  av- 
erage quality  of  our  stock  will  be  raised. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  all  our  fine  garden 
fruits  and  vegetables  and  flowers  have  been 
produced,  as  well  as  all  our  splendid  breeds 
of  domestic  animals;    and  they  have  thus 
become  in  many  cases  so  different  from  the 
wild    races     from    which    they    originally 
sprang  as  to  be  hardly  recognizable  as  the 
same.     It  is  therefore  proved  that  if  any 
particular   kind  of  variation  is   preserved 
and  bred  from,  the  variation  itself  goes  on 
increasing  in  amount  to  an  enormous  ex- 
tent;   and  the  bearing  of  this  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  origin  of  species  is  most  im- 
portant.— WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  1,  p.  8. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

96.  AERONAUT,  SPIDER  AS— Ascend- 
ing Current  in  Still  Air. — One  day,  at  Santa 
F6,  a  spider  which  was  about  three-tenths 
of  an  inch  in  length,  and  which  in  its  gen- 
eral    appearance     resembled     a     citigrade 
(therefore  quite  different  from  the  gossa- 
mer), while  standing  on  the  summit  of  a 
post,  darted  forth  four  or  five  threads  from 
its  spinners.     These,  glittering  in  the  sun- 
shine, might  be  compared  to  diverging  rays 
of  light;    they  were  not,  however,  straight, 
but  in  undulations  like  films  of  silk  blown 
by  the  wind.     They  were  more  than  a  yard 
in  length,  and  diverged  in  an  ascending  di- 
rection from  the  orifices.     The  spider  then 
suddenly  let  go  its  hold  of  the  post,  and  was 
quickly  borne  out  of  sight.     The  day  was 
hot  and  apparently  quite  calm;    yet  under 
such     circumstances     the    atmosphere    can 
never  be  so  tranquil  as  not  to  affect  a  vane 
so  delicate  as  the  thread  of  a  spider's  web. 
If  during  a  warm  day  we  look  either  at  the 
shadow  of  any  object  cast  on  a  bank,  or 
over  a  level  plain  at  a  distant  landmark,  the 
effect  of  an  ascending  current  of  heated  air 


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is  almost  always  evident:  such  upward  cur- 
rents, it  has  been  remarked,  are  also  shown 
by  the  ascent  of  soap-bubbles,  which  will 
not  rise  in  an  indoors  room.  Hence  I 
think  there  is  not  much  difficulty  in  under- 
standing the  ascent  of  the  fine  lines  pro- 
jected from  a  spider's  spinners,  and  after- 
wards of  the  spider  itself. — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's Voyage  Around  the  World,  ch.  8,  p. 
161.  (A.,  1898.) 

97.  AFFECTION    AMONG    PRIMITIVE 
PEOPLES— Caribs,     Papuans,     Kurubars — 
Conflicting    Reports    of    Observers. — Under 
favorable  circumstances,  where  food  is  not 
too  scarce  nor  war  too  wasting,  the  life  of 
low  barbaric  races  may  be  in  its  rude  way 
good  and  happy.     In  the  West  Indian  is- 
lands,  where   Columbus    first   landed,    lived 
tribes  who  have  been  called  the  most  gentle 
and  benevolent  of  the  human  race.     Schom- 
burgk,  the  traveler,  who  knew  the  warlike 
Caribs  well  in  their  home  life,  draws  a  para- 
dise-like picture  of  their  ways,  where  they 
have  not  been  corrupted  by  the  vices  of  the 
white  men;    he  saw  among  them  peace  and 
cheerfulness  and  simple  family  affection,  un- 
varnished friendship,  and  gratitude.    .     .     . 
At  the   other    side   of   the   world,    in   New 
Guinea,    Kops,    the    Dutch    explorer,    gives 
much  the  same  account  of  the  Papuans  of 
Dory,  who  live  in  houses  built  on  piles  in 
the  water,  like  the  old  lake-men  of  Switzer- 
land;   he  speaks  of  their  mild  disposition, 
their  inclination  to  right  and  justice,  their 
strong  moral  principles,  their  respect  for  the 
aged  and  love  for  their  children,  their  living 
without    fastenings    to     their     houses — for 
theft  is  considered  by  them  a  grave  offense, 
and   rarely   occurs.     Among  the  rude  non- 
Hindu  tribes  of  India,  English  officials  have 
often  recorded  with  wonder  the  kindliness 
and   cheerfulness   of   the   rude   men   of  the 
mountains  and  the  jungle,  and  their  utter 
honesty  in  word  and  deed.    Thus  Sir  Walter 
Elliot  mentions  a  low  poor  tribe  of  South 
India,  whom  the  farmers  employ  to  guard 
their  fields,  well  knowing  that  they  would 
starve  rather  than  steal  the  grain  in  their 
charge.     [Their  veracity  is  proverbial.]     Of 
course,  these  accounts  of  Caribs  and  Papuans 
show  them  on  the  friendly  side,  while  those 
who  have  fought  with  them  call  them  mon- 
sters of  ferocity  and  treachery.     But  cruelty 
and  cunning  in  war  seem  to  them  right  and 
praiseworthy;    and  what  we  are  here  look- 
ing at  is  their  home  peace-life.     It  is  clear 
that  low  barbarians  may  live  among  them- 
selves under  a  fairly  high  moral  standard, 
and  this  is  the  more  instructive  because  it 
shows  what  may  be  called  natural  morality. 
— TYLOB  Anthropology,  ch.  16,  p.  406.    (A., 
1899.) 

98.  AFFECTION,    CONJUGAL,  WANT- 
ING AMONG  SAVAGES— Of  Slow  Growth  in 
Civilization — Australian  —  Brahman. — We 
have    another    and    a    more    serious    count 
against    early    fatherhood.     If   the   love   of 
father  for  child  was  in  this  backward  state, 


infinitely  more  grave  was  the  condition  of 
things  between  him  and  the  mother.  Prob- 
ably we  have  all  taken  it  for  granted  that 
husbands  and  wives  have  always  loved  one 
another.  .  .  .  There  have  been  and  still 
are  tribes  and  nations  where  love  between 
husband  and  wife  is  non-existent.  Among 
the  Hovas,  we  are  assured  by  authorities, 
the  idea  of  love  between  husband  and  wife 
is  "hardly  thought  of";  that  at  Winne- 
bah  "  not  even  the  appearance  of  affection  " 
exists  between  them;  that  among  the  Beni- 
Amer  it  is  "  considered  even  disgraceful  for 
a  wife  to  show  any  affection  for  her  hus- 
band " ;  that  the  Chittagong  Hill  tribes 
have  "  no  idea  of  tenderness  nor  of  chival- 
rous devotion  " ;  and  that  the  Eskimo  treat 
their  wives  "  with  great  coldness  and  neg- 
lect." The  savage  cruelty  with  which 
wives  are  treated  by  the  Australian  ab- 
origines is  indicated  even  in  their  weapons. 
The  very  names,  "  servant,  slave,"  by  which 
the  Brahman  address  their  wives,  and  the 
wife's  reply,  "  master,  lord,"  symbolize  the 
gulf  between  the  two.  There  are  exceptions, 
it  is  true,  and  often  touching  exceptions. 
Travelers  cite  instances  of  constancy  among 
savage  peoples  which  reach  the  region  of 
romance.  Probably  there  never  was  a  time, 
indeed,  nor  a  race,  when  some  measure  of 
sympathy  did  not  stir  between  husband  and 
wife.  But  when  we  consider  all  the  facts, 
it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  in  the  region 
of  all  the  higher  'affections  the  savage  wife 
and  the  savage  husband  were  all  but  stran- 
gers to  each  other. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  p.  300.  (,T.  P.,  1900.) 

99.  AFFECTIONS,  ORGANIC,  ACT 
UPON  THE  MIND — Hopefulness  of  Consump- 
tives Due  to  Accelerated  Breathing. — It  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  passion  which 
a  particular  organ  produces  in  the  mind 
will  be  that  which,  when  otherwise  excited, 
discharges  itself  specially  upon  that  organ. 
.  .  .  When  we  consider  the  effects  which 
a  joyful  anticipation,  or  the  elation  of  a 
present  excitement,  has  upon  the  lungs — 
the  accelerated  breathing  and  the  general 
bodily  exhilaration  which  it  occasions — we 
cannot  help  thinking  of  the  strange  hope- 
fulness and  the  sanguine  expectations  of  the 
consumptive  patient,  who,  on  the  edge  of  the 
grave,  projects,  without  a  shadow  of  dis- 
trust, what  he  will  do  long  after  he  will 
have  been  "  green  in  death  and  festering  in 
his  shroud."  Observe  how  fear  strikes  the 
heart,  and  what  anxious  fear  and  appre- 
hension accompany  some  affections  of  the 
heart.  Anger,  disappointment,  and  envy 
notably  touch  the  liver;  which,  in  its  turn, 
when  deranged,  engenders  a  gloomy  tone  of 
mind  through  which  all  things  have  a  malig- 
nant look,  and  from  which,  when  philosophy 
avails  not  to  free  us,  the  restoration  of  its 
functions  will  yield  instant  relief.  The  in- 
ternal organs  are  plainly  not  the  agents  of 
their  special  functions  only,  but,  by  reason 
of  the  intimate  consent  or  sympathy  of 


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functions,  they  are  essential  constituents  of 
our  mental  life. — MAUDSLEY  Body  and 
Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  37.  (A.,  1898.) 

100.  AFFINITY,     CHEMICAL,     AND 
ELECTRICITY  —  Any      chemical      reaction 
which  occurs  between  conducting  substances 
may   be    utilized   to   generate   electric   cur- 
rents.    The  chemical  affinity  both  ^supplies 
and    measures    exactly    the    electro-motive 
force — BENJAMIN  Age  of  Electricity,  ch.  4, 
p.  41.     (S.,  1897.) 

101.  AFFLICTION   MAY    STRENGTH- 
EN— People  of  Iceland — Many  Perils  and  High 
Achievement. — Care  must  be  taken   not  to 
make  too  much  account  of  the  effect  exer- 
cised by  the  great  convulsions  of  nature  on 
the  moral  condition  of  a  people.     The  need 
of   this   precaution   is    well    shown   by   the 
social  history  of  Iceland.     This  country  has 
for  the  thousand  years  of  its  history  been 
subjected  to  imminent  peril  from  the  insta- 
bility of  the  earth  as  well  as  from  the  in- 
hospitable nature  of  its  climate.     In  almost 
every  century  of  the  world's  history  famine 
caused  by  the  accidents  of  the  earth  and  air 
has    menaced    the    life    of    the    population. 
Many     successive    volcanic    outbreaks,     at- 
tended   by    serious    earthquakes,    have    con- 
vulsed this  island,  and  yet  amid  these  mis- 
haps the  people  have  maintained  the  highest 
measure    of   social    order    in    any    state    of 
which  we  have  a  history.     The  Icelanders 
have  had  the  moral  strength  to  rise  superior 
to  such  afflictions.     In  this  state,  as  in  cer- 
tain individuals,  chastisement  which  would 
have    destroyed    weaker   natures    served   to 
affirm    the    vigor    of    the    strong    people. — 
SHALER  Aspects  of  the  Earth,  p.   20.     (S., 
1900.) 

1 0  2 .  AGENCY,  HUMAN,  RECOGNIZED 
IN  ARROW-HEAD— Instant  Conviction  of  Its 
Human  Origin. — Many  years  ago,  as  I  was 
walking  in  a  garden  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Edinburgh,  my  eye  wandered  over  the  ma- 
terials which  had  been  freshly  scattered  on 
the  path.  Suddenly,  and  very  unexpectedly, 
it  lighted  on  a  fragment  unlike  the  rest, 
and  unlike  them  in  a  way  which  instantly 
carried  its  own  explanation  on  its  face.  All 
the  other  fragments  were  works  of  nature. 
This  one  fragment  was  certainly  a  work  of 
human  art.  It  was  a  very  small,  but  a  very 
perfect  arrow-head,  made  of  yellow  flint. 
What  was  it  that  made  its  artificial  origin 
so  obvious  at  a  glance?  The  physical  forces 
of  nature,  it  is  true,  had  made  it ;  but  they 
had  made  it  under  special  direction  and  con- 
trol. The  physical  forces  of  nature,  work- 
ing by  themselves,  under  no  special  direc- 
tion or  control,  could  never  have  made  that 
arrow-head.  No  mere  splitting  by  frost,  no 
mere  chipping  by  accidental  collision  with 
other  fragments,  still  less  any  wearing  by 
rivers  or  by  the  sea,  could  possibly  have 
molded  that  perfect  symmetry  of  form,  with 
its  sharpened  point,  with  its  two  lateral 
barbs,  and  with  the  little  shank  between 
them.  But  all  this  reasoning  was  an  after- 


thought. In  coming  to  my  conclusion,  I 
was  not  conscious  of  any  reasoning.  The 
recognition  was  instantaneous.  It  was  the 
recognition  in  that  fragment,  alone  of  all 
the  fragments  round  it,  of  two  things  which 
of  all  others  are  the  most  familiar  to  us. 
The  first  of  these  was  the  adaptation  of  ma- 
terial and  of  form  to  a  known  end,  and  the 
second  of  these  was  that  particular  me- 
chanical method  by  which  the  particular 
animal  man  makes  the  adaptations  he  in- 
tends.— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  5,  p. 
106.  (Burt.) 

103.  AGENCY  MANIFEST—  The  Wrong 
Agent    Suspected — The    Scattering    of    Its 
Seeds    by    Wistaria. — In    December,    while 
absent    from   home,    I   collected    for    future 
study  some  pods   of  the   Chinese   wistaria, 
and  left  them  on  my  desk  in  the  library  for 
the  night.     The  house  was  heated  by  a  hot- 
air  furnace.     In  the  morning  the  pods  were 
in  great  confusion;    most  of  them  had  split 
and  curled  up,  and  the  seeds  were  scattered 
all   about   the   room.     As   usual   the   little 
daughter,    an    only    child,    was    accused    of 
spoiling  my  specimens,  but  she  showed  her 
innocence.     A  little  investigation  and  a  few 
experiments  with  some  pods  not  yet  opened 
explained   the   wThole  matter   satisfactorily. 
The  stout  pods  grow  and  ripen  in  a  highly 
strained  condition,  with  a  strong  tendency 
to  burst  spirally,  the  two  half-pods  being 
ready  to  coil  and  spring  in  opposite  direc- 
tions;   when  the  valves  can  no  longer  hold 
together,  they  snap  with  a  sharp  noise  and 
sling  the  heavy  seeds,  giving  them  a  good 
send-off  into  the  wrorld.     As  a  pair  of  birds 
built  a  nest,  hatch  eggs,  rear  their  young, 
and  then  send  them  forth  to  seek  their  for- 
tunes, so  for  months  the  mother  plant  had 
labored,   had  produced  and  matured  seeds, 
which    at    last    it    scattered    broadcast. — 
BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  6,  p.   58.      (G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

104.  AGENCY    OF    CONTRASTED 
FORCES     IN    UNITED    WORK— Fire    and 
Water  Jointly  Build  the  Crust  of  the  Earth. 
— Water  is  a  very  active  agent  of  destruc- 
tion, but  it  works  over  again  the  materials 
it  pulls   down  or  wears   away,   and  builds 
them  up  anew  in  other  forms.     As  soon  as 
an  ocean  washed  over  the  consolidated  crust 
of  the  globe,  it  would  begin  to  abrade  the 
surfaces   upon    which   it    moved,    gradually 
loosening   and   detaching  materials,    to   de- 
posit them  again  as  sand  or  mud  or  pebbles 
at  its  bottom  in  successive  layers,  one  above 
another.     Thus,   in  analyzing  the  crust  of 
the   globe,   we   find   at   once    two   kinds   of 
rocks,  the  respective  work  of  fire  and  water: 
the    first    poured    out    from    the    furnaces 
within,    and   cooling,   as   one   may  see   any 
mass  of  metal  cool  that  is  poured  out  from 
a  smelting-furnace  to-day,  in  solid  crystal- 
line masses,  without  any  division  into  sepa- 
rate  layers   or   leaves ;     and   the    latter   in 
successive  beds,  one  over  another,  the  heav- 
ier materials  below,   the   lighter   above,   or 


L  gnosticism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


22 


sometimes  in  alternate  layers,  as  special 
causes  may  have  determined  successive  de- 
posits of  lighter  or  heavier  materials  at 
some  given  spot. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

105.  AGENCY,     UNCONSCIOUS  —  In- 
sects Allured   by  Nectar   Carry  Away  Ad- 
hering   Pollen — Narrow    Self-seeking    Ful- 
fils Wide  Design. — Small  insects  alight  on 
the  labelluin  of  the  Listera  ovata  for  the 
sake  of  the  nectar  copiously  secreted  by  it; 
as  they  lick  this  they  slowly  crawl  up  its 
narrowed   surface  until  their  heads   stand 
directly  beneath  the  overarching  crest  of  the 
rostellum ;   when  they  raise  their  heads  they 
touch  the  crest ;   this  then  explodes,  and  the 
pollinia  are  instantly  and  firmly  cemented 
to  their  heads.     As  soon  as  the  insect  flies 
away,    it    withdraws    the    pollinia,    carries 
them  to   another   flower,   and  there  leaves 
masses  of  the  friable  pollen  on  the  adhesive 
stigma. — DARWIN   Fertilization  of  Orchids, 
eh.  4,  p.  119.     (A.,  1898.) 

106.  AGENT     LOST    IN     RESULT— 

Heat  Disappears  in  Work. — We  can  raise  a 
weight  by  heat;  and  in  this  agent  we  pos- 
sess an  enormous  store  of  mechanical  power. 
A  pound  of  coal  produces  by  its  combination 
with  oxygen  an  amount  of  heat  which,  if 
mechanically  applied,  would  suffice  to  raise 
a  weight  of  100  pounds  to  a  height  of 
twenty  miles  above  the  earth's  surface. 
Conversely,  100  pounds  falling  from  a 
height  of  twenty  miles,  and  striking 
against  the  earth,  would  generate  an 
amount  of  heat  equal  to  that  developed  by 
the  combustion  of  a  pound  of  coal.  Wher- 
ever work  is  done  by  heat,  heat  disappears. 
A  gun  which  fires  a  ball  is  less  heated  than 
one  which  fires  blank  cartridge.  The  quan- 
tity of  heat  communicated  to  the  boiler  of 
a  working  steam-engine  is  greater  than  that 
which  could  be  obtained  from  the  reconden- 
sation  of  the  steam,  after  it  had  done  its 
work;  and  the  amount  of  work  performed 
is  the  exact  equivalent  of  the  amount  of 
heat  lost. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science, 
vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  373.  (A.,  1897.) 

1 0  7 .  AGENT .  OF  DESTRUCTION  VAN- 
ISHES, RUIN  REMAINS—  Explosion  of  Vol- 
cano Likened  to  Bursting  of  a  Boiler. — We 
may  compare  the  explosion  of  a  volcano  to 
the  action  of  a  bursting  boiler,  when  in  a 
moment  the  rupturing  agent  disappears  in 
the  air,  leaving  only  the  fragments  of  the 
vessel  which  contained  it  and  which  it  has 
torn  to  pieces. — SHALER  Aspects  of  the 
Earth,  p.  65.  (S.,  1900.) 

1O8.     AGE  OF  DEEP-SEA  ORGANISMS 

— Oldest  Genera  at  Greatest  Depths. — Agas- 
siz  points  out  that  all  those  genera  that  have 
the  greatest  bathymetrical  range,  extending 
from  the  littoral  to  the  abysmal  region,  are 
at  the  same  time  genera  which  date  back 
to  the  cretaceous  period,  while  those  having 
a  somewhat  more  limited  range  go  back  to 


the  tertiaries,  and  those  that  extend  only 
slightly  beyond  the  littoral  area  go  back 
only  to  the  later  tertiaries. 

This  interesting  generalization  brings 
home  to  our  minds  the  enormous  length  of 
time  that  it  must  have  taken  these  animals 
to  migrate  from  the  shallow  to  the  deep  sea. 
In  the  struggles  for  existence  between  ma- 
rine animals  it  must  always  have  been  the 
last  resort  of  those  unable  to  compete  with 
the  younger  generations  in  shallow  water 
to  migrate  into  the  deeps. 

The  scarcity  of  food,  the  darkness,  and 
the  pressure  of  these  regions  can  never  be 
so  favorable  for  the  support  of  animals  as 
the  conditions  of  the  shores.  We  can  well 
imagine  that  a  species  would  take  every  op- 
portunity that  is  afforded  to  return  from 
such  inhospitable  habitats,  and  that  only 
when,  as  it  were,  every  door  is  closed,  when 
no  island,  continent,  or  cape  can  afford  it  a 
free  scope  for  life  in  shallow  water,  does  it 
become  a  true  deep-sea  species. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  5,  p.  103.  (A., 
1894.) 

109.  AGE    OF    SEQUOIAS— Brevity  of 
Human  Life  and  Fame. — So  far  as  we  can 
judge  from  the  actual  counting  of  the  layers 
of  several  trees,  no  sequoia  now  alive  sen- 
sibly antedates  the  Christian  era.     .     .     . 
That  the   more   remarkable   of  these   trees 
should     bear     distinguishing     appellations 
seems   proper   enough;    but  the  tablets   of 
personal  names  which  are  affixed  to  many 
of  them  in  the  most  visited  groves — as  if 
the  memory  of  more  or  less  notable  people 
of  our  day  might  be  made  enduring  by  the 
juxtaposition — do  suggest  some  incongruity. 
When  we  consider  that  a  hand's  breadth  at 
the  circumference  of  any  one  of  the  vener- 
able  trunks   so   placarded   has   recorded   in 
annual  lines  the  lifetime  of  the  individual 
thus  associated  with  it,  one  may  question 
whether  the  next  hand's  breadth  may  not 
measure  the  fame  of  some  of  the  names  thus 
ticketed      for      adventitious      immortality. 
Whether  it  be  the  man  or  the  tree  that  is 
honored  in  the  connection,  probably  either 
would  live  as  long,  in  fact  and  in  memory, 
without  it. — ASA  GRAY  Danoiniana,  art.  5, 
p.  207.     (A.,  1889.) 

110.  AGE    OF    TREES—  Yew,    Linden, 
and   Eucalyptus — Relative  Brevity   of   Hu- 
man   Life. — Decandolle    finds    that    of    all 
European  species  of  trees    the  yew  attains 
the  greatest  age;    and  according  to  his  cal- 
culations  thirty  centuries  must  be  assigned 
as  the  age  of  the  Taxus  baccata  of  Braburn 
in  Kent,  from  twenty-five  to  twenty-six  to 
the  Scotch  yew  of  Fortingal,  and  fourteen 
and    one-half    and    twelve    respectively    to 
those   of   Crowhurst  in   Surrey   and  Hipon 
(Fountains  Abbey)  in  Yorkshire.   Endlicher 
remarks    that    "  another    yew-tree    in    the 
churchyard  of  Grasford,  North  Wales,  which 
measures  more  than  fifty  feet  in  girth  below 
the  branches,  is  more  than  1,400  years  old, 
whilst   one   in   Derbyshire   is   estimated   at 


23 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Agency 
Agiiosticisi 


2,096  years.  In  Lithuania  linden  trees  have 
been  felled  which  measured  eighty-seven 
feet  round,  and  in  which  815  annular  rings 
have  been  counted."  In  the  temperate  zone 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  some  species  of 
the  eucalyptus  attain  an  enormous  girth, 
and  as  they  at  the  same  time  attain  a 
height  of  nearly  250  feet,  they  afford  a 
singular  contrast  to  our  yew-trees,  which 
are  colossal  only  in  thickness.  Mr.  Back- 
house found  in  Emu  Bay,  on  the  shore  of 
Van  Diemen's  Land,  eucalyptus  trunks 
which,  with  a  circumference  of  seventy  feet 
at  the  base,  measured  as  much  as  fifty  feet 
at  a  little  more  than  five  feet  from  the 
ground. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p. 
274.  (Bell,  1896.) 

111.  AGES  OF  GEOLOGY— Early  Geol- 
ogists   Grasped    Essentials. — Altho     subse- 
quent investigations  have  multiplied  exten- 
sively   the    number    of    geological    periods, 
.     .     .     yet  the  first  general   division  into 
three  great  eras    [primary,   secondary,   and 
tertiary]    was  nevertheless  founded  upon  a 
broad  and  true  generalization.     In  the  first 
stratified  rocks   in  which   any   organic  re- 
mains are  found,  the  highest  animals  are 
fishes,   and  the  highest  plants  are  crypto- 
gams;   in  the  middle  periods  reptiles  come 
in,  accompanied  by  fern  and  moss  forests; 
in   later  times   quadrupeds  are  introduced, 
with  a  dicotyledonous  vegetation.  So  closely 
does  the  march  of  animal  and  vegetable  life 
keep  pace  with  the  material  progress  of  the 
world,  that  we  may  well  consider  these  three 
divisions,  included  under  the  first  general 
classification  of  its  physical  history,  as  the 
three  ages  of  nature;    the  more  important 
epochs  which  subdivide  them  may  be  com- 
pared  to   so   many   great   dynasties,    while 
the  lesser  periods  are  the  separate  reigns 
contained       therein. — AGASSIZ       Geological 
Sketches,   ser.   i,    ch.    1,   p.    15.     (H.   M    & 
Co.,  1896.) 

112.  AGES  PRECEDING  HUMAN  HIS- 
TORY— Momentary  Life  of  Man.— How  these 
grand     contemplations     enlarge    the     ideas 
which  we  habitually  form  of  nature!     We 
imagine  that  we  go  very  far  back  in  the 
past  in  contemplating  the  old  pyramids  still 
standing  on  the  plains  of  Egypt,  the  obel- 
isks     engraved     with      mysterious      hiero- 
glyphics, the  silent  temples  of  Assyria,  the 
ancient    pagodas    of    India,    the    idols    of 
Mexico   and  Peru,   the   time-honored  tradi- 
tions  of  Asia  and  of  the  Aryans,  our  an- 
cestors,  the  instruments  of  the  stone  age, 
the  flint  weapons,   the  arrows,  the  lances, 
the  knives,  the  sling-stones  of  our  primitive 
barbarism — we  scarcely  dare  to  speak  of  ten 
thousand,    of    twenty   thousand   years.  But 
even  if  we  admit  a  hundred  thousand  years 
for  the  age  of  our  species,  so  slowly  pro- 
gressive, what  is  even  this  compared  with 
the  fabulous  succession  of  ages  which  have 
preceded  us  in  the  history  of  the  planet! — 
FLAM  MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch. 
7,  p.  77.     (A.) 


113.  AGNOSTIC    AGREES    WITH 
SCRIPTURE  —"Neither  Can  He  Know  Them  " 
(I    Cor.    ii,    14J — No    Prohibition,    but    a 
Statement  of  Fact. — It  is  no  spell  of  igno- 
rance arbitrarily  laid  upon  certain  members 
of  the  organic  kingdom  that  prevents  them 
reading  the  secrets  of  the  spiritual  world. 
It  is  a  scientific  necessity.    No  exposition  of 
the  case  could  be  more  truly  scientific  than 
this :    "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  spirit  of  God;    for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him;    neither  can  he  know 
them,    because    they    are    spiritually    dis- 
cerned."    The  verb  here,   it  will  be  again 
observed,  is  potential.    This  is  not  a  dogma 
of  theology,  but  a  necessity  of  science.     And 
science,  for  the  most  part,  has  consistently 
accepted  the  situation.     It  has  always  pro- 
claimed its  ignorance  of  the  spiritual  world. 
When   Mr.   Herbert   Spencer   affirms,    "  Re- 
garding science   as  a  gradually  increasing 
sphere  we  may  say  that  every  addition  to 
its  surface  does  not  but  bring  it  into  wider 
contact  with  surrounding  nescience,"  from 
his  standpoint  he  is  quite  correct.     The  en- 
deavors   of   well-meaning   persons   to   show 
that  the  agnostic's  position,  when  lie  asserts 
his  ignorance  of  the  spiritual  world,  is  only 
a  pretense;    the  attempts  to  prove  that  he 
really  knows  a  great  deal  about  it,  if  he 
would  only  admit  it,  are  quite  misplaced. 
He  really  does  not  know.     The  verdict  that 
the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  spirit  of  God,  that  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him,  that  neither  can  he  know  them,  is 
final  as  a  statement  of  scientific  truth — a 
statement  on  which  the  entire  agnostic  liter- 
ature   is    simply    one    long    commentary. — 
DRUMMOND   Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  69.     (H.  Al.) 

114.  AGNOSTICISM— A      Witness   for 
Christian  Truth. — The  Pauline  anthropology 
has  been  challenged  as  an  insult  to  human 
nature.     Culture  has  opposed  the  doctrine 
that  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  fool- 
ishness   unto   him:     neither    can   he   know 
them,    because    they    are    spiritually    dis- 
cerned"    (I  Cor.  ii,  14).     .     .     .     The  his- 
tory of  thought  during  the  present  century 
proves  that  the  world  has  come  round  spon- 
taneously to  the  position  of  the  first.     One 
of  the  ablest  philosophical  schools  of  the  day 
erects  a  whole  anti-christian  system  on  this 
very  doctrine.     Seeking  by  means  of  it  to 
sap  the  foundation  of  spiritual  religion,  it 
stands  unconsciously  as  the  most  significant 
witness  for  its  truth.     What  is  the  creed  of 
the    agnostic    but    the    confession    of    the 
spiritual  numbness  of  humanity  ?    The  nega- 
tive doctrine  which  it  reiterates  with  such 
sad  persistency,  what  is  it  but  the  echo  of 
the  oldest  of  scientific  and  religious  truths  f 
And  what  are  all  these  gloomy  and  rebel- 
lious  infidelities,    these   touching    and   too 
sincere   confessions    of   universal   nescience, 
but  a  protest  against  this  ancient  law  of 


Agnosticism 
Air 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


24 


death? — DRUMMOND    Natural    Law    in    the 
Spiritual  World,  p.  143.     (H.  Al.) 


115. 


Hopelessness  of.  — The 


agnostic  evolution  thus  leaves  us  as  orphans 
in  the  midst  of  a  cold  and  insensate  nature. 
We  are  no  longer  dwellers  in  our  Father's 
house,  beautiful  and  fitted  for  us,  but  are 
thrown  into  the  midst  of  a  hideous  conflict 
of  dead  forces,  in  which  we  must  finally 
perish  and  be  annihilated.  In  a  struggle  so 
hopeless  it  is  a  mere  mockery  to  tell  us  that 
in  millions  of  years  something  better  may 
come  out  of  it;  for  we  know  that  this  will 
be  of  no  avail  to  us,  and  we  feel  that  it  is 
impossible.  Thus  the  agnostic  philosophy, 
if  it  be  once  accepted  as  true,  seriously 
raises  the  question  whether  life  is  worth 
living. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Mod- 
ern Science,  lect.  1,  p.  99.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

116. Its  Hypotheses  Need 

a  God. — An  excellent  judge,  a  gifted  adept  in 
physical  science  and  exact  reasoning,  the  late 
Clerk-Maxwell,  is  reported  to  have  said,  not 
long  before  he  left  the  world,  that  he  had 
scrutinized  all  the  agnostic  hypotheses  he 
knew  of,  and  found  that  they  one  and  all 
needed  a  God  to  make  them  workable. — ASA 
GRAY  Natural  Science  and  Religion,  lect.  2, 
p.  91.  (S.,  1891.) 

117.  AGREEMENT  OF  INDEPEND- 
ENT THINKERS—  Wallace  and  Darwin  Reach 
the  Same  Conclusion. — Such  being  the  gen- 
eral ferment  in  the  minds  of  naturalists,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  they  mustered  strong  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Linnaean  Society,  on  the 
1st  of  July  of  the  year  1858,  to  hear  two 
papers  by  authors  living  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  globe,  working  out  their  results  inde- 
pendently, and  yet  professing  to  have  dis- 
covered one  and  the  same  solution  of  all  the 
problems  connected  with  species.  The  one 
of  these  authors  was  an  able  naturalist, 
Mr.  Wallace,  who  had  been  employed  for 
some  years  in  studying  the  productions  of 
the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and 
who  had  forwarded  a  memoir  embodying  his 
views  to  Mr.  Darwin,  for  communication  to 
the  Linnsean  Society.  On  perusing  the  es- 
say Mr.  Darwin  was  not  a  little  surprised 
to  find  that  it  embodied  some  of  the  leading 
ideas  of  a  great  work  which  he  had  been 
preparing  for  twenty  years,  and  parts  of 
which  containing  a  development  of  the 
very  same  views,  had  been  perused  by  his 
private  friends  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  be- 
fore. Perplexed  in  what  manner  to  do  full 
justice  both  to  his  friend  and  to  himself, 
Mr.  Darwin  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Hooker  and  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  by 
whose  advice  he  communicated  a  brief  ab- 
stract of  his  own  views  to  the  Linnaean  So- 
ciety, at  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Wallace's 
paper  was  read.  Of  that  abstract  the  work 
on  the  "  Origin  of  Species  "  is  an  enlarge- 
ment.— HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  12,  p. 
291.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


118.  AGREEMENT    OF    PLANT    AND 

ANIMAL— Each  an  Aggregate  of  .Units. — The 
substance  of  our  recent  knowledge  is  that  a 
plant  is  an  aggregate  of  organic  units,  most- 
ly of  very  small  size;  that  these  are  to  the 
herb  or  tree  what  the  bricks  and  stones  are 
to  the  edifice.  Only  they  "  are  living  stones, 
fitly  framed  together  "  in  organic  growth, 
and  their  walls  answer  to  the  cement.  Ani- 
mals do  not  differ  materially,  except  that 
the  mortar  is  mostly  of  the  same  nature  as 
the  bricks,  and  there  is  a  greater  or  at 
length  complete  fusion  or  confluence  of  the 
cells.  The  component  material,  the  proto- 
plasm, is  essentially  the  same. — ASA  GRAY 
Natural  Science  and  Religion,  lect.  1,  p.  30. 
(S.,  1891.) 

119.  AGREEMENT     OF     SUN     AND 
MOON  IN  APPARENT  SIZE— Dependence  of 
Astronomy    on    Seeming    Accident. — If    the 
moon  had   a   disk   much   smaller   than   the 
sun's  there  would  never  be  a  total  eclipse  of 
the    sun,    and   all   those   wonderful    objects 
which  make  their  appearance  when  the  sun 
is  totally  eclipsed — the  colored  prominences 
and  the   sierra,   the  glowing   inner   corona, 
and  the  radiated  fainter   glory  which  lies 
outside  the  corona — would  have  been   alto- 
gether   unknown    to    us.      But    we    should 
scarcely  have  learned  more  if  the  moon  had 
had  a  disk  much  larger  than  the  sun's.     For 
in  that  case,  when  a  total  eclipse  began  all 
the  region  round  the  sun,  except  that  close 
to  the  part  of  the  sun's  face  concealed  last, 
would  be  hidden  by  the  moon's  much  larger 
disk.     .     .     .     We  now  see  during  totality 
the  complete  ring  of  prominences  for  two  or 
three  minutes,  and  the  whole  of  the  corona 
is  shown.     Even  as  thus  shown  it  has  been 
sufficiently  difficult  to  ascertain  the  nature 
of  these  objects.     But  with  a  moon  much 
larger    than    ours    we    could    have    learned 
scarcely  anything  respecting  them,  and  with 
a  moon  much  smaller  we  should  have  known 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  solar  appendages. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  38.      (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1 2O.  AGRICULTURE  AIDED  BY  CHEM- 
ISTRY— The  Fertilization   of  Soils.— Chem- 
ical    analysis     taught     the     farmer     that, 
to  a  certain  depth,  his  field  contains  only  a 
very  limited  amount  of  what  is  required  to 
grow  plants,  and  in  what  form  a  fertilizing 
substance  is  able  to  afford  nourishment.     It 
showed  him  also  that  stable  manure,  excel- 
lent as  it  is,  is  not  adequate  for  sustaining 
the    farm's   products;     that   to    farm    with 
nothing  but  stable  manure  produced  upon 
the  farm    could  not  increase  the  amount  of 
nourishing  substances  in  the  soil,  but  would 
only  set  these  in  motion  and  displace  them; 
that  he  could  not  contribute  to  the  surface 
of  an  exhausted  grain  field  what  he  had  just 
withdrawn  from  the  field  beneath  by  means 
of  the  plants  for  fodder;    that  he  was  not 
giving  to  any  field  more  than  he  was  taking 
from  it,  or  otherwise,  only  at  the  expense  of 
some  other  field;    that  the  revenue  from  a 


25 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Agnosticism 


Ifr" 


farm  tilled  wholly  by  means  of  stable  ma- 
nure was  like  a  life-annuity — it  was  using 
up  his  capital. — LIEBIG  Addresse  vor  der 
offentlichcn  Sitzung  der  koniglichen  Aka- 
demie  der  Wissenschaften,  Munich,  1861. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

121.  AGRICULTURE  AND  COMMERCE, 
PRIMITIVE—  Lake-dwellers  of  Switzerland.— 
The   lake-inhabitants   of   Switzerland   culti- 
vated several  kinds  of  wheat  and  barley,  the 
pea,  the  poppy  for  oil  and  flax;    and  they 
possessed     several     domesticated     animals. 
They  also  carried  on  commerce  with  other 
nations. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1, 
p.  16.     (Burt.) 

122.  AGRICULTURE   AN   EARLY  IN- 
VENTION— Beginnings    of,   among  Savages- 
Purpose,    Industry,    and    Settled    Life    Re- 
quired.— Man,  even  while  he  feeds  himself 
as  the  lower  animals  do,  by  gathering  wild 
fruit  and  catching  game  and  fish,  is  led  by 
his    higher    intelligence    to    more    artificial 
means  of  getting  these.     Rising  to  the  next 
stage,  he  begins  to  grow  supplies  of  food  for 
himself.     Agriculture  is  not  to  be  looked  on 
as  a  difficult  or  out-of-the-way  invention,  for 
the  rudest  savage,  skilled  as  he  is  in  the 
habits  of  the  food-plants  he  gathers,  must 
know  well  enough  that  if  seeds  or  roots  are 
put  in  a  proper  place  in  the  ground  they 
will  grow.     Thus  it  is  hardly  through  igno- 
rance,   but    rather    from    roving    life,    bad 
climate,    or    sheer    idleness,    that   so   many 
tribes  gather  what  nature  gives,  but  plant 
nothing.     Even  very  rude  people,  when  they 
live  on  one  spot  all  the  year  round,  and  the 
climate  and  soil  are  favorable,  mostly  plant 
a  little,  like  the  Indians  of  Brazil,  who  clear 
a  patch  of  forest  round  their  huts  to  grow 
a  supply  of  maize,  cassava,  bananas,   and 
cotton. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  214. 
(A.,  1899.) 

123.  AGRICULTURE,  PRIMITIVE,  OF 
NORTH  AMERICA— Aw   Original  Product- 
Maize. — But  American  agriculture  was  not 
imported   from    abroad;     it   resulted   from, 
and  in  return  rendered  possible,  the  gradual 
development  of  American  semi-civilization. 
This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  grains  of 
the   Old   World   were   entirely   absent,    and 
that  American  agriculture  was  founded  on 
the    maize,    an   American    plant. — AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  264.    (A.,  1900.) 

124.  AGRICULTURE,  PRIMITIVE,  WO- 
MAN'S  WORK    IN— A  company  of  Cocopa 
or  Mohave  or  Pima  women  set  forth  to  a 
rich  and  favored  spot  on  the  side  of  a  canon 
or  rocky  steep.    They  are  guarded  by  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  men  from  capture  or  mol- 
estation.    Each  woman  has  a  little  bag  of 
gourd-seed,    and    when    the    company   reach 
their  destination  she  proceeds  to  plant  the 
seeds  one  by  one  in  a  rich  cranny  or  crevice 
where  the   roots  may  have  opportunity  to 
hold,  the  sun  may  shine  in,  and  the  vines 
with  their  fruit  may  swing  down  as  from 
a  trellis.     The  planters  then  go  home  and 


take  no  further  notice  of  their  vines  until 
they  return  in  the  autumn  to  gather  the 
gourds.  This  is  the  testimony  of  E.  Palmer, 
who  spent  many  years  as  a  collector  among 
the  American  aborigines.  Seed-time  and 
harvest:  no  preparation  of  the  soil,  no 
tending  of  the  young  plants;  ingathering, 
that  is  all. — MASON  Origins  of  Invention, 
ch.  6,  p.  192.  (S.,  1899.) 

125.  AGRICULTURE,  THE  FIRST  OF 
ALL    IMPLEMENTS     IN— After     all     has 
been  said  about  other  devices,  the  digging- 
stick  is  the  beginning  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments, the  progenitor  of  the  hoe,  the  spade, 
the  plow.     It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
tribe  so  low  down  as  not  to  know  its  use. — 
MASON  Origins  of  Invention,  ch.  6,  p.  190. 
(S.,  1899.) 

126.  AGRICULTURE    THE    FOUNDA- 
TION   OF    CIVILIZATIpN— All  civilization 
is  the  outgrowth  of  strivings  which  go  be- 
yond momentary  physical  needs ;    and  there- 
fore until  agriculture  affords  a  firm  founda- 
tion for  subsistence,  until  life  is  by  the  soil 
made  something  more  than  a  struggle  for 
momentary  support,  the  foundations  of  cul- 
ture  cannot  be  obtained. — SHALER   Nature 
and  Man  in  America,  ch.   5,  p.    170.      (S., 
1899.) 

127.  AIR,  EXCLUSION  OF,  QUENCH- 
ES FIRE— Danger    of   Flight    with    Burning 
Garments — Invisible  Food  of  Combustion. — 
The  flame  of  an  ordinary  lantern  or  lamp, 
where   a   chimney   is   employed,    would   not 
burn  more  than  a  few  minutes  if  holes  were 
not  provided  at  the  base  for  the  ingress  of 
air.     But  for  the  occasional  application  of 
the  poker,  the  combustion  of  a  common  fire 
would  be  maintained  with  difficulty,  or  pre- 
maturely put  an  end  to,  for  the  oxygen  of 
the  air  must  find  free  access  to  the  interior 
of  the  burning  mass,   or  the  chemical  de- 
compositions we  are  about  to  describe  can- 
not take  place.     On  the  same  principle  the 
best  way  of  extinguishing  fire  is  to  smother 
it;    that  is,  to  cover  it  closely  with  some- 
thing that  will  effectually  cut  off  the  source 
of  its  existence.     If  the  clothes  of  some  un- 
fortunate friend  should  happen  to  catch  fire, 
the  best  course  to  follow  is  to  throw  him 
down  and  envelop  him  in  a  rug,  blanket,  or 
anything  of  a   similar  kind  within  reach, 
when   the  flames   will   be   immediately   ex- 
tinguished.     To    run    about    in    search    of 
water  or  assistance  in  these  cases  is  simply 
to  give  time  to  the  flames  to  reach  a  vital 
part    of   the   body. — LOWE    Nature-Studies, 
p.  2.     (Hum.,  1888.) 

128.  AIR    MADE    LIQUID-^    Perfect 
Refrigerant. — In  many  of  its  chapters    the 
history   of   invention    displays    an    advance 
from  the  roundabout  to  the  direct,   as  we 
have  seen  in  the  substitution  of  the  steam- 
turbine   for  the  compound  engine.     Recent 
modes  of  refrigeration  offer  a  like  illustra- 
tion.    For  some  years  the  plan  was  to  em- 
ploy a  series  of  chemical  compounds,  each 


Icohol 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


26 


with  a  lower  boiling-point  than  its  predeces- 
sor in  the  process,  and  all  troublesome  and 
hazardous  in  manipulation.  A  better 
method  has  been  developed  by  keeping  to 
simple  air  from  first  to  last.  In  the  Trip- 
ler  machine  air  is  first  compressed  to  65 
pounds  pressure  to  the  square  inch; 
through  a  second  pump  this  pressure  is 
exalted  to  400  pounds,  and  with  a  third 
pump  the  pressure  is  carried  to  2,500 
pounds.  After  each  compression  the  air 
flows  through  jacketed  pipes,  where  it  is 
cooled  by  a  stream  of  water.  At  the  third 
condensation  a  valve,  the  secret  of  whose 
construction  Mr.  Tripler  keeps  to  himself, 
permits  part  of  the  compressed  air  to  flow 
into  a  pipe  surrounding  the  tube  through 
which  the  remainder  is  flowing.  This  act  of 
expansion  severely  chills  the  imprisoned  air, 
which  at  last  discharges  itself  in  liquid 
form — much  as  water  does  from  an  ordi- 
nary city  faucet. — ILES  Flame,  Electricity, 
and  the  Camera,  ch.  6,  p.  72.  (D.  &  McC., 
1900.) 

129.  AIR,  MAN'S  DEPENDENCE  UPON 

— Bad  Air  Cannot  Always  Be  Rejected. — 
Solicitude  with  regard  to  the  hostile  influ- 
ences contained  within  our  mixture  of  air  is 
gradually  becoming  greater.  We  are  con- 
scious of  the  9,000  liters  of  air  we 
are  daily  consuming;  we  might  almost 
grow  disheartened  before  the  avowal  that 
this  consumption  is  something  compulsory, 
uninterrupted;  that  we  cannot  refuse 
spoiled  air  as  we  can  any  doubtful,  disgust- 
ing article  of  food;  that  it  is  not  in  our 
power  to  wait  for  hours,  or  even  several 
minutes,  until  better  air  can  be  furnished. 
Breathe  or  die,  there  can  be  no  haggling. — 
WEBNICH  Veber  gute  und  schlechte  Luft, 
lect.  A  lecture.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights. ) 

130.  AIR,      PURIFIED,      PUTREFAC- 
TION IMPOSSIBLE  IN—Tyndall's  Glycerin- 
coated    Cabinet. — A    few   years    after    Pas- 
teur's   first    work    on    this    subject    Tyn- 
dall     (1868)     conceived    a    precise    method 
of    determining    the    absence    or    presence 
of   dust    particles    in    the    air    by   passing 
a     beam     of     sunlight     through     a     glass 
box   before    and   after   its   walls   had  been 
coated  with  glycerin.     Into  the  floor  of  the 
box  were  fixed  the  mouths  of  flasks  of  infu- 
sion.    These  were  boiled,  after  which  they 
were   allowed  to   cool,   and  might  then  be 
Icept  for  weeks  or  months  without  putrefy- 
ing or  revealing  the  presence  of  germ  life. 
Here  all  the  conditions  of  the  infusions  were 
natural,  except  that  in  the  air  above  them 
there  was  no  dust.    The  sum-total  of  result 
arising  from  all  these  investigations  was  to 
the  effect  that  no   spontaneous  generation 
was  possible,  that  the  atmosphere  contained 
unseen  germs  of  life,  that  the  smallest  of 
organisms  responded  to  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion and  adhered  to  moist  surfaces,  and  that 
micro-organisms  were  in  some  way  or  other 


the  cause  of  putrefaction. — NEWMAN  Bac- 
teria, ch.  1,  p.  4.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

131.  ALCOHOL     A"   POISON— Destroys 
the  Life  That  Produced  It — Necessary  Limit 
to    Strength    of    Fermented    Liquors. — We 
shall  have  to  consider  a  remarkable  faculty 
which   some  bacteria  possess  of  producing 
products  inimical  to  their  own  growth.     In 
some  degree  this  is  true  of  the  yeasts,  for 
when  they  have  set  up  fermentation  in  a 
saccharine  fluid  there  comes  a  time  when  the 
presence  of  the  resulting  alcohol  is  injurious 
to  further  action  on  their  part.     It  has  be- 
come indeed  a  poison,  and,  as  we  have  al- 
ready mentioned,  a  necessary  condition  for 
the  action  of  a  ferment  is  the  absence  of 
poisonous   substances.      This   limit   of   fer- 
mentation is  reached  when  the  fermenting 
fluid  contains  13  or  14  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 
— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  4,  p.  119.     (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

132.  ALCOHOL  DESTROYS  VOLITION 

— Confirmed  Alcoholism — Power  and  Re- 
sponsibility in  Early  Stages. — It  may  be 
confidently  stated  as  a  result  of  universal 
experience  that  our  "capacity  of  willing," 
that  is,  of  giving  a  preponderance  to  the 
motive  on  which  we  elect  to  act,  depends, 
first,  upon  our  conviction  that  we  really 
have  such  a  self-determinirtg  power,  and, 
secondly,  upon  our  habitual  exercise  of  it. 
The  case,  which  is  unfortunately  but  too 
common,  of  a  man  who  habitually  gives  way 
to  the  desire  for  alcoholic  excitement,  and 
is  ruining  himself  and  his  family  by  his 
self-abandonment,  will  bring  into  distinct 
view  the  practical  bearing  of  the  antago- 
nistic doctrines. 

The  automatism  of  his  nature  (purely 
physical  so  far  as  the  bodily  craving  for 
alcohol  is  concerned,  but  including,  in  most 
cases,  some  play  of  social  instincts)  fur- 
nishes an  aggregate  of  powerful  attractions 
to  the  present  gratification.  On  the  other 
side  is  an  aggregate  of  moral  deterrents, 
which,  when  the  attention  is  fixed  upon 
them  in  the  absence  of  the  attractive  object, 
have  a  decided  preponderance,  so  far  as  the 
desires  are  concerned.  The  slave  of  intem- 
perance is  often  ready  to  cry  out,  "  O 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  ^ death?" — and 
he  proves  his  sincerity  by  his  readiness  to 
take  every  indirect  precaution  that  does  not 
interfere  with  his  personal  liberty.  But  when 
the  temptation  recurs,  the  force  of  the  at- 
traction is  intensified  by  its  actual  pres- 
ence; the  direct  sensory  presentation  makes 
a  more  vivid  impression  than  the  ideal  rep- 
resentation of  the  deterrent  motives;  and 
the  balance,  which  previously  turned  against 
the  indulgence,  now  preponderates  in  favor 
of  it.  What,  then,  is  it  within  the  power 
of  the  ego  to  do?  On  the  automatist 
theory,  nothing.  For  not  only  is  he  unable 
to  call  to  his  aid  any  motive  which  does  not 
spontaneously  arise,  but  he  cannot  make 
any  alteration  in  the  relative  strength  of 


27 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Air 
Alcohol 


the  motives  which  are  actually  present  to 
his  consciousness.  He  says,  to  himself  and 
to  others,  "  I  could  not  help  yielding  " ;  and 
automatism  sanctions  the  plea.  Society 
may  be  justified  in  imposing  on  him  either 
restraint  or  punishment,  alike  for  its  own 
security  and  for  his  welfare;  but  no  con- 
sistent automatist  can  regard  him  as  an  ob- 
ject of  the  moral  reprobation  which  we  in- 
stinctively feel  for  the  self-degraded  sot; 
and  experience  shows  that  the  system  of 
external  repression  almost  invariably  loses 
its  potency  as  a  deterrent  as  soon  as  the 
restraining  influence  is  withdrawn. 

Xow,  although  I  hold  it  beyond  question 
that  a  state  may  be  induced  by  habitual 
alcoholic  indulgence  in  which  the  unhappy 
subject  of  it  loses  all  power  of  resistance, 
I  affirm  it  to  be  "  the  normal  experience  of 
healthy  men  "  that  the  ordinary  toper  has 
such  a  power  in  the  earlier  stages  of  his 
decadence,  and  that  he  is  justly  held  cul- 
pable for  not  exerting  it. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  pref.,  p.  xxxix.  (A., 
1900.) 

133.  ALCOHOL,  EFFECT  OF— Cumu- 
lative— How  Small  Doses  of  Poison  Operate. 
— Small  quantities  of  poisonous  substances, 
such  as  alcohol,  for  instance,  may  be  in- 
dulged in  for  years  without  apparent 
injury.  But  finally  the  total  effect  of  all 
these  small  quantities  of  poison  will  sud- 
denly appear,  not,  perhaps,  because  of  any 
accumulation  of  those  small  doses  of  the 
poison  in  the  system,  but  because  of  an  ac- 
cumulation of  their  effects. — STRUMPELL  in 
an  address  before  the  Naturforscher 
Versammlung,  Nuremberg,  1893.  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 


134. 


Intoxication  Allied 


to  Mania — Results  May  Be  Mental  Derange- 
ment.— Alcohol  yields  us,  in  its  direct  ef- 
fects, the  abstract  and  brief  chronicle  of  the 
course  of  mania.  At  first  there  is  an  agree- 
able excitement,  a  lively  flow  of  ideas,  a  re- 
vival of  old  ideas  and  feelings  which  seemed 
to  have  passed  from  the  mind,  a  general  in- 
crease of  mental  activity — a  condition  very 
like  that  which  often  precedes  an  attack 
of  acute  mania,  when  the  patient  is  witty, 
lively,  satirical,  makes  jokes  or  rimes,  and 
certainly  exhibits  a  brilliancy  of  fancy 
which  he  is  capable  of  at  no  other  time. 
Then  there  follows,  in  the  next  stage  of  its 
increasing  action,  as  there  does  in  mania, 
the  automatic  excitation  of  ideas  which 
start  up  and  follow  one  another  without 
order,  so  that  thought  and  speech  are  more 
or  less  incoherent,  while  passion  is  easily 
excited.  After  this  stage  has  lasted  for  a 
time,  in  some  longer,  in  others  shorter,  it 
passes  into  one  of  depression  and  maudlin 
melancholy,  just  as  mania  sometimes  passes 
into  melancholia,  or  convulsion  into  paraly- 
sis. And  the  last  stage  of  all  is  one  of 
stupor  and  dementia.  If  the  abuse  of  alco- 
hol be  continued  for  years,  it  may  cause 
different  forms  of  mental  derangement,  in 


each  of  wrhich  the  muscular  are  curiously 
like  the  mental  symptoms:  delirium  tre- 
mens  in  one,  an  acute  noisy  and  destructive 
mania  in  another,  chronic  alcoholism  in  a 
third,  and  a  condition  of  mental  weakness 
with  loss  of  memory  and  loss  of  energy  in 
a  fourth. — MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect. 
3,  p.  91.  (A.,  1898.) 

135.  ALCOHOL,    EFFECT    OF— Upon 
Children — Alcoholic     Imbecility. — But     the 
greatest  ravage  is  wrought  upoji  the  nervous 
system  of  the  child  by  means  of  alcohol.    We 
now  are  aware  that  there  is  no  more  certain 
method  of  breeding  idiots  than  by  the  con- 
tinuous   administering    of    alcohol.      Thou- 
sands  of   mothers    are    systematically    poi- 
soning their  darlings  by  means  of  a   sub- 
stance which  renders  them  stupid,  languid, 
and  without  energy;    and,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances,   makes    of   them   physical    and 
mental  cripples.     Therefore  away  with  this 
pernicious    faith    in    the    "  strengthening " 
effect  of  alcohol,  away  with  the  "  strength- 
ening "    wines    for    chronic    conditions    of 
weakness,  anemia,  and  chlorosis;    above  all 
let  us  do  away  with  alcoholic  poisons  in  the 
nursery,  that  we  may  not  lead  the  genera- 
tion that  is  now  growing  up  into  sickness 
and   degeneration   with   our    own    hands. — 
KRAPELIN    A     Lecture.       (Translated    for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

136.  ALCOHOL  IN  BREAD  INCONSID- 
ERABLE—A   Disastrous    Experiment.— Not 
many   years   ago   £20,000   was   lost   in   the 
prosecution  of  a  scheme  for  collecting  the 
alcohol  that  distils  from  bread  in  baking, 
all  which  would  have  been  saved  to  the  sub- 
scribers had  they  known  that  less  than  a 
hundredth  part  by  weight  of  the  flour  is 
changed   in   fermentation. — HERBERT    SPEN- 
CER Education,  chap.  1,  p.  38.     (A.,  1900.) 

137.  ALCOHOL,  IS  IT  A  FOOD  OR  A 
POISON?— We    are    thus    freed    from    the 
dilemma   in  which  we  were  placed  by  ad- 
mitting on  the  one  hand  that  alcohol  has  no 
albumen-saving     properties,    as     has     been 
proven  by  many  experiments,  and  by  claim- 
ing for  it  on  the  other  hand  the  power  to 
save  fat.   vFor  the  two   facts   from  which 
these  contradictory  assumptions  have  been 
deduced,  namely,  the  absence  of  a  diminu- 
tion in  the  breaking  up  of  albumen  and  the 
actually  noted  diminution  in  the  breaking 
up  of  fat,  far  from  being  contradictory,  are 
simply  the  necessary  result  of  the  toxic  and 
deleterious  action  which  alcohol  exerts  upon 
the  protoplasm. 

In  this  statement  our  final  sentence 
against  alcohol  is  pronounced.  For  the 
animal  and  human  organism  alcohol  is  not 
both  a  food  and  a  poison,  but  only  a  poison, 
which,  like  all  other  poisons,  is  excitant 
when  taken  in  small  doses,  while  in  larger 
ones  it  produces  paralysis  and  death. — KAS- 
SOWITZ  Alkohol  nahrend  oder  toxischf  A 
Lecture:  WerJce,  p.  16.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Light s.) 


Alcoholism 
Alphabet 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


28 


138.  ALCOHOLISM    IN    THE    FRONT 
RANK    OF    DISEASES—  Prevention  of  Dis- 
ease Now  the  Watchword  of  Physicians — 
The    Etiological    Epoch    in    Medicine. — The 
present  epoch  is  rightly  termed  the  etiologi- 
cal    in  medicine.     We   physicians   now   ac- 
knowledge that  recognition  of  the  causes  of 
disease  is  one  of  the  highest  problems  of 
our  investigation,  because  we  have  become 
aware  that  by  this  means  we  pave  the  way 
not  merely  for  the  cure  of  disease,  but  also 
for  the  far  more  important — prevention  of 
disease.     But  how  many  causes  of  disease 
can  be   found   that  for  extent   and   impor- 
tance are  at  all  comparable  to  chronic  alco- 
hol  intoxication?     At  the  most  there   are 
two    infectious    diseases,    tuberculosis    and 
syphilis,  that  can  be  ranked  with  alcoholism 
in  these  respects.     But  how  much  more  com- 
prehensible, more  manifest,  more  accessible 
to  research  and  to  medical  influence  are  the 
effects   of  this   chemical   substance   exactly 
known,   as  compared  with  the  complicated 
biological  influences  of  the  parasite  micro- 
organisms!— STRUMPELL    Ueber    die    Alko- 
holfrage       vom       drztlichen       Standpunkt. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

139.  ALCOHOL  PRODUCES  CRIMINAL 
HEREDITY — The  Ancestry  of  Paris  Prisoners. 
— I   have   stated   that   the   prisons   are   in- 
habited by   degenerates.     I   might   just  as 
well  have  said,   and   with   as  much   right, 
that  they  are  inhabited  by  the  sons  of  alco- 
holics.   If,  in  the  case  of  a  criminal,  we  can- 
not refer  to  insanity,  or  hysteria,  or  epi- 
lepsy in  the  ancestry,  we  make  inquiries  re- 
garding alcohol,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  we  find  that  to  be  the  root  of  the  evil. — 
LAURENT  Les  Habitues  des  Prisons  de  Paris, 
p.    21.       (Translated    for    Scientific    Side- 
Lights.) 

140.  ALCOHOL  VS.  NUTRITION-Pn- 

vation  a  Cause  of  Intemperance — The  Mo- 
rality of  Cookery. — An  instructive  experi- 
ence of  my  own  will  illustrate  this.  When 
wandering  alone  through  Norway  in  1856,  I 
lost  the  track  in  crossing  the  Kjolen  fjeld, 
struggled  on  for  twenty-three  hours  without 
food  or  rest,  and  arrived  in  sorry  plight  at 
Lorn,  a  very  wild  region.  After  a  few  hours' 
rest  I  pushed  on  to  a  still  wilder  region  and 
still  rougher  quarters,  and  continued  thus 
to  the  great  Jostedal  table-land,  an  un- 
broken glacier  of  500  square  miles;  then 
descended  the  Jostedal  itself  to  its  opening 
on  the  Sogne  fjord — five  days  of  extreme 
hardship  with  no  other  food  than  flatbrod 
(very  coarse  oatcake)  and  bilberries  gath- 
ered on  the  way,  varied  on  one  occasion 
with  the  luxury  of  two  raw  turnips.  Then 
I  reached  a  comparatively  luxurious  station 
(Ronnei),  where  ham  and  eggs  and  claret 
were  obtainable.  The  first  glass  of  claret 
produced  an  effect  that  alarmed  me — a  crav- 
ing for  more  and  for  stronger  drink,  that 
was  almost  irresistible.  I  finished  a  bottle 
of  St.  Julien,  and  nothing  but  a  violent  ef- 


fort of  will  prevented  me  from  then  order- 
ing brandy. 

I  attribute  this  to  the  exhaustion  con- 
sequent upon  the  excessive  work  and  insuffi- 
cient, unsavory  food  of  the  previous  five 
days;  have  made  many  subsequent  obser- 
vations on  the  victims  of  alcohol,  and  have 
no  doubt  that  overwork  and  scanty,  tasteless 
food  is  the  primary  source  of  the  craving 
for  strong  drink  that  so  largely  prevails 
with  such  deplorable  results  among  the  class 
that  is  the  most  exposed  to  such  privation. 
I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  only  source  of 
such  depraved  appetite.  It  may  also  be 
engendered  by  the  opposite  extreme  of  ex- 
cessive luxurious  pandering  to  general  sen- 
suality. 

The  practical  inference  suggested  by  this 
experience  and  these  observations  is,  that 
speech-making,  pledge-signing,  and  blue- 
ribbon  missions  can  only  effect  temporary 
results  unless  supplemented  by  satisfying 
the  natural  appetite  of  hungry  people  by 
supplies  of  food  that  are  not  only  nutri- 
tious, but  savory  and  varied.  Such  food 
need  be  no  more  expensive  than  that  which 
is  commonly  eaten  by  the  poorest  of  Eng- 
lishmen, but  it  must  be  far  better  cooked. — 
WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  5,  p. 
60.  (A.,  1900.) 

141.  ALCOHOL  WEAKENS  VOLITION 

— Morbid  Physical  Craving — Physical 
Remedies  for  Drunkenness — Seclusion — 
Absolute  Abstinence. — It  is  the  physical 
craving  produced  by  the  continued  action  of 
the  stimulant  upon  the  nutrition  of  the 
nervous  system  which  renders  the  condition 
of  the  habitual  drunkard  one  with  which  it 
is  peculiarly  difficult  to  deal  by  purely 
moral  means.  Vain  is  it  to  recall  the  mo- 
tives for  a  better  course  of  conduct  to  one 
who  is  already  familiar  with  them  all,  but 
is  destitute  of  the  will  to  act  upon  them; 
the  seclusion  of  such  persons  from  the  reach 
of  alcoholic  liquors,  for  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  to  free  the  blood  from  its  contam- 
ination, to  restore  the  healthful  nutrition  of 
the  brain,  and  to  enable  the  recovered 
mental  vigor  to  be  wisely  directed,  seems  to 
afford  the  only  prospect  of  reformation; 
and  this  cannot  be  expected  to  be  perma- 
nent unless  the  patient  determinately 
adopts  and  steadily  acts  on  the  resolution 
to  abstain  entirely  from  that  which,  if 
again  indulged  in,  will  be  poison  alike  to 
his  body  and  to  his  mind,  and  will  transmit 
its  pernicious  influence  to  his  offspring. — 
CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
17,  p.  653.  (A.,  1900.) 

142.  ALCOHOL,  WHAT  IS    A  HARM- 
LESS DOSE  OF  ?— That  for  alcohol,  as  for 
all  other  medicinal  agents  of  the  same  order, 
there  may  be  a  dose  the  effects  of  which  may 
pass  unperceived — which  may  not  diminish 
the  elasticity  of  our  organs — there  can  be  no 
doubt.     But  what  is  this  dose  ?     The  deter- 
mination of  it  is  very  difficult;     it  varies 
with  the  individual,  with  the  disposition  at 


29 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Alcoholism 
Alphabet 


the  moment,  and  with  a  multitude  of  inde- 
finable circumstances.  It  is  on  the  average 
Mess  than  7%  grams;  less,  therefore,  than 
the  amount ~  of  alcohol  in  half  a  glass 
of  port,  in  one-tenth  of  a  liter  of  Mere 
d'ale;  very  much  less,  therefore,  than 
the  quantity  in  which  alcohol  is  habitually 
consumed.  As  soon  as  the  dose  is  increased 
there  is  abuse,  and  the  occasions  for  abuse 
are  not  wanting.  Action  appears  heavy  im- 
mediately, and  the  alcohol  leaves  traces  of 
its  passage  in  the  nervous  centers. — BOECK 
The  Influence  of  Alcoholic  Liquors  on  Men- 
tal Work.  (Translation,  Journal  of  Ine- 
briety, Jan.,  1901.) 

143.  ALLEVIATION  OF  HUMAN  MIS- 
ERY— Practical  Result  of  Science. — And  thus 
mankind    will   have    one    more    admonition 
that  "the  people  perish  for  lack  of  knowl- 
edge " ;     and    that    the    alleviation    of    the 
miseries,  and  the  promotion  of  the  welfare 
of  men,  must  be  sought,  by  those  who  will 
not  lose  their  pains,   in  that  diligent,  pa- 
tient, loving  study  of  all  the  multitudinous 
aspects  of  nature,  the  results  of  which  con- 
stitute exact  knowledge,  or  science. — HUXLEY 
Lay  Sermons,  serm.  15,  p.  378.     (A.,  1895.) 

144.  ALLIANCE    OF    SCIENCES—  As- 
tronomy     No      Longer     Isolated — Sciences 
Merging   in   Unity   of   Nature. — The   estab- 
lishment  of  the   new   method   of   spectrum 
analysis   drew   far   closer   this   alliance   be- 
tween celestial  and  terrestrial  science.     In- 
deed, they  have  come  to  merge  so  intimately 
one  into  the  other    that  it  is  no  easier  to 
trace  their  respective  boundaries  than  it  is 
to  draw  a  clear  dividing-line  between  the 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms.     Yet  up  to 
the  middle  of  the  present  century    astron- 
omy,   while    maintaining   her    strict    union 
with  mathematics,  looked  with  indifference 
on  the  rest  of  the  sciences;    it  was  enough 
that   she   possessed   the   telescope    and   the 
calculus.     Now  the  materials  for  her  induc- 
tions are  supplied  by  the  chemist,  the  elec- 
trician, the  inquirer  into  the  most  recondite 
mysteries  of  light  and  the  molecular  con- 
stitution of  matter.     She  is  concerned  with 
what  the  geologist,  the  meteorologist,  even 
the  biologist,  has  to  say;    she  can  afford  to 
close  her  ears  to  no  new  truth  of  the  phys- 
ical order.     Her  position  of  lofty  isolation 
has  been  exchanged  for  one  of  community 
and  mutual  aid.     The  astronomer  has  be- 
come, in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term,  a 
physicist,  while  the  physicist  is  bound  to  be 
something  of  an  astronomer. — CLERKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  176.    (Bl., 
1893.) 

145.  ALLUREMENT    BY    IMITATION 

— Wingless  Mantis  Resembles  Orchis. — But 
the  most  curious  and  beautiful  case  of  al- 
luring protection  is  that  of  a  wingless  man- 
tis in  India,  which  is  so  formed  and  colored 
as  to  resemble  a  pink  orchis  or  some  other 
fantastic  flower.  The  whole  insect  is  of  a 
bright  pink  color,  the  large  and  oval  ab- 
domen looking  like  the  labellum  of  an 


orchid.  On  each  side  the  two  posterior  legs 
have  immensely  dilated  and  flattened  thighs 
which  represent  the  petals  of  a  flower,  while 
the  neck  and  forelegs  imitate  the  upper 
sepal  and  column  of  an  orchid.  The  insect 
rests  motionless,  in  this  symmetrical  atti- 
tude, among  bright  green  foliage,  being,  of 
course,  very  conspicuous,  but  so  exactly  re- 
sembling a  flower  that  butterflies  and  other 
insects  settle  upon  it  and  are  instantly  cap- 
tured. It  is  a  living  trap,  baited  in  the 
most  alluring  manner  to  catch,  the  unwary 
flower-haunting  insects. — WALLACE  Dar- 
winism, ch.  8,  p.  144.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

146.  ALMIGHTY,  THE,   SUN  AN  EM- 
BLEM OF— The    Source  of  All   Life    on   the 
Earth — Destruction   if    Sun's    Light    With- 
held— Fiery  Death  if  Sun's  Light  Intensi- 
fied.— The  sun  is  an  emblem  of  the  Almighty 
in   being  the   source   whence   all   that   lives 
upon  the  earth  derives  support.     Our  very 
existence  depends  on  the  beneficent  supply 
of   light   and  heat   poured  out   continually 
upon   the   earth   by   the   great   central    orb 
of  the  planetary  scheme.     Let  the  sun  for- 
get to  shine  for  a  single  day,  and  it  would 
be  with  us  even  as  tho  God  had  forgotten 
our     existence.     .     .     .     Myriads     of    crea- 
tures now  living  on  the  earth  would  perish, 
uncounted  millions  would  suffer   fearfully. 
But  let  the  sun's  rays  cease  to  be  poured  out 
for  four  or  five  days,  and  every  living  crea- 
ture on  the  earth  would  be  destroyed.     Or, 
on  the  other  hand,  even  a  worse  (or  at  least 
more  sudden  and  terrible)    fate  would  be- 
fall us  if  an  angel  of  wrath  "  poured  out  his 
vial  upon  the  sun,  and  power  were  given 
unto  it  to  scorch  men  with  fire." — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  ch.  2,  p.  11.     (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

147.  ALMSHOUSE     OF     OCEAN— An- 
cient Geologic  Forms  Have  Representatives 
in    Deep    Sea. — One    of    the    most    striking 
features  connected  with  the  animals  of  the 
deep   sea  is   the  frequency  with   which  we 
find  there  living  species  which  remind  us  of 
kinds   which    in    former    geologic    periods 
dwelt  in  the  coastal  districts  of  the  oceans. 
It  seems  that  many  of  these  ancient  crea- 
tures, when  they  no  longer  could  hold  their 
own  against  the  more  highly  organized  and 
developed  animals  which  inhabited  the  fa- 
vored stations  next  the  shores,  shrunk  away 
into  the  deep  water,  and  in  that  undesired 
part  of  the  world  found  an  asylum,  where, 
amid  the  changeless  environment,  they  have 
dwelt  for  ages,  unaltered.     Thus  the  vast 
profounds  of  the  deep  have  become  a  sort  of 
almshouse,    whereunto    antiquated    species 
have  retired  before  the  overwhelming  pres- 
sure which  the  newer  and  higher  life  ever 
imposes. — SHALER    Sea   and   Land,   p.    102. 
(S.,   1894.) 

148.  ALPHABET    OF    GEOLOGY—  Evi- 
dences of  the  Work  of  an  Ancient  Stream. — 
On  entering  it  (the  gorge  of  the  Via  Mala), 
the   first   conclusion   is   that  it  must  be   a 
fissure.      This    conclusion   in    my   case   was 


Alphabet 
Analogy 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


30 


modified  as  I  advanced.  Some  distance  up 
the  gorge  I  found  upon  the  slopes  to  my 
right  quantities  of  rolled  stones,  evidently 
rounded  by  water-action.  Still  further  up, 
and  just  before  reaching  the  first  bridge 
which  spans  the  chasm,  I  found  more  rolled 
stones,  associated  with  sand  and  gravel. 
Through  this  mass  of  detritus,  fortunately, 
a  vertical  cutting  had  been  made,  which  ex- 
hibited a  section  showing  perfect  stratifica- 
tion. There  was  no  agency  in  the  place  to 
roll  these  stones,  and  to  deposit  these  alter- 
nating layers  of  sand  and  pebbles,  but  the 
river  which  now  rushes  some  hundreds  of 
feet  below  them.  At  one  period  of  the  Via 
Mala's  history  the  river  must  have  run  at 
this  high  level.  Other  evidences  of  water- 
action  soon  revealed  themselves. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  20,  p. 
220.  (A.,  1898.) 

149.    ALTAR    OF      STONEHENGE— A 

Nameless  Ancient  Astronomer  and  His  En- 
during Memorial — Evidence  of  Ancient 
Sun-worship  in  England. — The  visitor  to 
Salisbury  Plain  sees  around  him  a  lonely 
waste,  utterly  barren  except  for  a  few  re- 
cently planted  trees,  and  otherwise  as  deso- 
late as  it  could  have  been  when  Hengist  and 
Horsa  landed  in  Britain;  for  its  monotony 
is  still  unbroken  except  by  the  funeral 
mounds  of  ancient  chiefs,  which  dot  it  to 
its  horizon,  and  contrast  strangely  with  the 
crowded  life  and  fertile  soil  which  every- 
where surround  its  borders.  In  the  midst 
of  this  loneliness  rise  the  rude,  enormous 
monoliths  of  Stonehenge — circles  of  gray 
stones  which  seem  as  old  as  time,  and  were 
there,  as  we  now  are  told,  the  temple  of  a 
people  which  had  already  passed  away,  and 
whose  worship  was  forgotten  when  our 
Saxon  forefathers  first  saw  the  place. 

In  the  center  of  the  inner  circle  is  a  stone 
which  is  believed  once  to  have  been  the 
altar ;  while  beyond  the  outmost  ring,  quite 
away  to  the  northeast  upon  the  open  plain, 
still  stands  a  solitary  stone,  set  up  there 
evidently  with  some  -special  object  by  the 
same  unknown  builders.  Seen  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  it  is  difficult  to  divine 
its  connection  with  the  others;  but  we  are 
told  that  once  in  each  year,  upon  the  morn- 
ing of  the  longest  day,  the  level  shadow  of 
this  distant,  isolated  stone  is  projected  at 
sunrise  to  the  very  center  of  the  ancient 
sanctuary,  and  falls  just  upon  the  altar. 
The  primitive  man  who  devised  this  was 
both  astronomer  and  priest,  for  he  not  only 
adored  the  risen  god  whose  first  beams 
brought  him  light  and  warmth,  but  he  could 
mark  his  place,  and  tho  utterly  ignorant  of 
its  nature,  had  evidently  learned  enough  of 
its  motions  to  embody  his  simple  astronomi- 
cal knowledge  in  a  record  so  exact  and  so 
enduring  that,  tho  his  very  memory  has 
gone,  common  men  are  still  interested  in  it ; 
for,  as  I  learned  when  viewing  the  scene, 
people  are  accustomed  to  come  from  all  the 
surrounding  country  and  pass  in  this  deso- 


late spot  the  short  night  preceding  the  long- 
est day  of  the  year,  to  see  the  shadow  touch 
the  altar  at  the  moment  of  sunrise. — LANG- 
LEY  The  New  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

150.  ALTRUISM    A    NECESSITY    OF 
REPRODUCTION—  Only    by    Maternal     Care 
and     Solicitude    Do     Races     Survive — The 
Vicarious  Principle  in  Nature. — Sympathy, 
tenderness,  unselfishness,  and  the  long  list 
of  virtues  which  make  up  altruism,  are  the 
direct  outcome  and  essential  accompaniment 
of  the  reproductive  process.     Without  some 
rudimentary  maternal  solicitude  for  the  egg 
in  the  humblest  forms  of  life,  or  for   the 
young  among  higher  forms,  the  living  world 
would  not  only  suffer,  but  would  cease.    For 
a  time  in  the  life-history  of  every  higher 
animal  the  direct,  personal,  gratuitous,  un- 
rewarded help  of  another  creature  is  a  con- 
dition of  existence.     Even  in  the  lowliest 
world  of  plants  the  labors  of  maternity  be- 
gin,  and   the  animal  kingdom  closes  with 
the  creation  of  a  class  in  which  this  func- 
tion is  perfected  to  its  last  conceivable  ex- 
pression.     The   vicarious   principle   is   shot 
through   and  through  the  whole  vast  web 
of  nature;    and  if  one  actor  has  played  a 
mightier  part  than  another  in  the  drama  of 
the  past,  it  has  been  self-sacrifice.     What 
more  has  come  into  humanity  along  the  line 
of  the  struggle  for  the  life  of  others  will  be 
shown  later.     But  it  is  quite  certain  that, 
of  all  the  things  that  minister  to  the  wel- 
fare and  good  of  man,  of  all  that  make  the 
world  varied  and  fruitful,  of  all  that  make 
society   solid   and  interesting,   of   all   that 
make  life  beautiful  and  glad  and  worthy,  by 
far  the  larger  part  has  reached  us  through 
the  activities  of  the  struggle  for  the  life  of 
others. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  18. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

151.  AMAZEMENT    AT    POWER    OF 
MAGNET— Augustine's  Description.—  1'  When 
I  first  saw  it,"  says  St.  Augustine,  speak- 
ing  of  the   attraction    of  the   magnet,   "  I 
was     thunderstruck     (t(  vehement er    inhor- 
rui"),  for  I  saw  an  iron  ring  attracted  and 
suspended  by  the  stone;    and  then,  as  if  it 
had  communicated  its  own  property  to  the 
iron  it  attracted,  and  had  made  it  a  sub- 
stance like  itself,  this  ring  was  put  near 
another  and  lifted  it  up,  and  as  the  first 
ring  clung  to  the  magnet,  so  did  the  second 
ring  to  the  first.     A  third  and  fourth  were 
similarly  added,    so  that  there  hung  from 
the  stone  a  kind  of  chain  of  rings  with  their 
hoops   connected,  not  interlinking,  but  at- 
tached   together    by    their    outer    surface. 
Who  would  not  be  amazed  at  this  virtue  of 
the  stone,  subsisting,  as  it  does,  not  only 
in  itself,  but  transmitted  through  so  many 
suspended  rings  and  binding  them  together 
by  invisible  links? 

"  Yet  far  more  astonishing  is  what  I 
heard  about  the  stone  from  my  brother  in 
the  episcopate,  Severus,  Bishop  of  MilevK 
Tie  told  me  that  Bathanarius,  once  Count  of 


31 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Alphabet 
Analogy 


Africa,  when  the  bishop  was  dining  with 
him,  produced  a  magnet,  and  held  it  under  a 
silver  plate  on  which  he  placed  a  bit  of 
iron;  then  as  he  moved  his  hand,  with  the 
magnet  underneath  the  plate,  the  iron  upon 
the  plate  moved  about  accordingly.  The  in- 
tervening silver  was  not  affected  at  all,  but 
precisely  as  the  magnet  was  moved  back- 
ward and  forward  below  it,  no  matter  how 
quickly,  so  was  the  iron  attracted  above.  I 
have  related  what  I  myself  have  witnessed. 
I  have  related  what  I  was  told  by  one  whom 
I  trust  as  I  trust  my  own  eyes." — PARK 
BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity, 
ch.  4,  p.  87.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

152.  AMBIGUITY     OF     THE     WORD 
"  LIGHT  "—Natural  Agency  vs.  Human  Im- 
pression— The     Luminiferous     Ether. — The 
word  "  light "  may  be  used  in  two  different 
senses;    it  may  mean  the  impression  made 
upon    consciousness,    or    it   may   mean   the 
physical  agent  which  makes  the  impression. 

.  .  That  agent  is  a  substance  which 
fills  all  space,  and  surrounds  the  atoms  and 
molecules  of  bodies.  To  this  interstellar 
and  interatomic  medium  definite  mechanical 
properties  are  ascribed,  and  we  deal  with  it 
in  our  reasonings  and  calculations  as  a  body 
possessed  of  these  properties.  In  mechanics 
we  have  the  composition  and  resolution  of 
forces  and  of  motions,  extending  to  the  com- 
position and  resolution  of  vibrations.  We 
treat^ the  luminiferous  ether  on  mechanical 
principles,  and,  from  the  composition,  reso- 
lution, and  interference  of  its  vibrations  we 
deduce  all  the  phenomena  displayed  by  crys- 
tals in  polarized  light. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  4,  p.  128.  (A.,  1898.) 

153.  AMBITION  OF  GREAT  ASTRON- 
OMER— Investigation  of  All  Stars  in  the  Heav- 
ens.— "I    resolved,"    he    [Herschel]    writes, 
"  to  examine  every  star  in  the  heavens  with 
the  utmost  attention  and  a  very  high  power, 
that  I  might  collect  such  materials  for  this 
research  as  would  enable  me  to  fix  my  ob- 
servations upon  those  that  would  best  an- 
swer   my   end.      The    subject    has    already 
proved  so  extensive,  and  still  promises  so 
rich  a  harvest  to  those  who  are  inclined  to 
be  diligent  in  the  pursuit,   that  I   cannot 
help  inviting  every  lover  of  astronomy  to 
join  with  me  in  observations  that  must  in- 
evitably lead  to  new  discoveries." — CLEBKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  ch.   1,  p.  15.     (Bl., 
1893.) 

154.  AMERICA  AN  UNSTABLE  CON- 
TINENT—PeriZ  of  High  Buildings— Northern 
Europe  Stable  by  Comparison. — It  is  clear 
that  we  cannot,  in  this  country,  reckon  on 
an  earth  as  stable  as  that  of  the  northern 
region  of  Europe,  where  our  race  was  bred 
and  our  building  system  developed.     It  is 
equally  clear  that  the  mode  of  construction 
should  be  adapted  to  the  new  needs  which 
the  less   firm  ground   of  this   country  im- 
poses on  us.     As  long  as  the  building  ma- 
terial  most  commonly  in  use  was  timber, 


and  the  masonry  structures  of  a  low  and 
substantial  nature,  they  were  fairly  fitted  to 
afford  the  resistance  required  to  withstand 
the  shocks  which  could  be  expected  to  come 
upon  them.  But  the  combination  of  ambi- 
tion and  economy  which  is  filling  the  land 
with  lofty  and  flimsy  structures  invites 
calamity  on  the  least  disturbance  of  the 
earth.  The  shock  of  1755,  which  did  little 
more  than  stir  the  fears,  shake  down  the 
chimney-tops  of  the  old  town  of  Boston, 
and  afford  a  text  for  many  interesting  ser- 
mons, would  be  extremely  disastrous  to  the 
higher  and  weaker  structures  of  to-day. — 
SHALEB  Aspects  of  the  Earth,  p.  39.  (S., 
1900.) 

155.  AMERICA    THE   OLD    WORLD— 

First  to  Rise  from  the  Waste  of  Waters. — 
First-born  among  the  continents,  tho  so 
much  later  in  culture  and  civilization  than 
some  of  more  recent  birth,  America,  so  far 
as  her  physical  history  is  concerned,  has 
been  falsely  denominated  the  New  World. 
Hers  was  the  first  dry  land  lifted  out  of  the 
waters,  hers  the  first  shore  washed  by  the 
ocean  that  enveloped  all  the  earth  beside; 
and  while  Europe  was  represented  only  by 
islands  rising  here  and  there  above  the  sea, 
America  already  stretched  an  unbroken  line 
of  land  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Far  West. 
— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  1.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

156.  AMUSEMENTS    OF   ANIMALS— 

Wild  Vaulting  of  Ibis  in  the  Air. — The 
black-faced  ibis  of  Patagonia,  a  bird  nearly 
as  large  as  a  turkey,  indulges  in  a  curious 
mad  performance,  usually  in  the  evening, 
when  feeding- time  is  over.  The  birds  of  a 
flock,  while  winging  their  way  to  the  roost- 
ing-place,  all  at  once  seem  possessed  with 
frenzy,  simultaneously  dashing  downwards 
with  amazing  violence,  doubling  about  in 
the  most  eccentric  manner;  and  when  close 
to  the  surface  rising  again  to  repeat  the  ac- 
tion, all  the  while  making  the  air  palpitate 
for  miles  around  with  their  hard,  metallic 
cries.  Other  ibises,  also  birds  of  other 
genera,  have  similar  aerial  performances. — 
HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  19,  p. 
265.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

157.  ANALOGY    OF    NATURAL    AND 
SPIRITUAL— Poetry    a  Form  of   Science.— 
How  profoundly  Hebrew  poetry  is  saturated 
with  this  high  thought  will  appear  when  we 
try  to   conceive   of   it   with   this   left   out. 
True  poetry  is  only  science  in  another  form. 
And  long  before  it  was  possible  for  religion 
to  give  scientific  expression  to  its  greatest 
truths,  men  of  insight  uttered  themselves  in 
psalms  which  could  not  have  been  truer  to 
nature  had  the  most  modern  light  controlled 
the  inspiration.    "  As  the  hart  panteth  after 
the  water-brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after 
Thee,  O  God!  "    What  fine  sense  of  the  an- 
alogy of  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  does 
not  underlie  these  words !    As  the  hart  after 
its  environment,  so  man  after  his;    as  the 


Animal"- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


water-brooks  are  fitly  designed  to  meet  the 
natural  wants,  so  fitly  does  God  implement 
the  spiritual  need  of  man.  It  will  be  no- 
ticed that  in  the  Hebrew  poets  the  longing 
for  God  never  strikes  one  as  morbid,  or 
unnatural  to  the  men  who  uttered  it.  It 
is  as  natural  to  them  to  long  for  God  as  for 
the  swallow  to  seek  her  nest.  Throughout 
all  their  images  no  suspicion  rises  within  us 
that  they  are  exaggerating.  We  feel  how 
truly  they  are  reading  themselves,  their 
deepest  selves.  No  false  note  occurs  in  all 
their  aspiration. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  p.  245.  (H.  Al.) 

158.  ANALOGY  OF  VEGETATION  OF 
OLD  AND  NEW  WORLDS—  Unity  of  Nature. 
— Amid  the  colossal  and  majestic  forms  of 
an  exotic  flora   we  feel  how  wonderfully  the 
flexibility  of  our  nature  fits  us  to  receive 
new  impressions,  linked  together  by  a  cer- 
tain secret  analogy.    We  so  readily  perceive 
the   affinity  existing   among   all  the   forms 
of  organic  life  that,  altho   the  sight  of  a 
vegetation   similar    to    that   of    our    native 
country  might  at  first  be  most  welcome  to 
the  eye,  as  the  sweet  familiar  sounds  of  our 
mother  tongue  are  to  the  ear,  we  neverthe- 
less, by  degrees,  and  almost  imperceptibly, 
became  familiarized  with  a  new  home  and  a 
new  climate.    As  a  true  citizen  of  the  world, 
man  everywhere  habituates  himself  to  that 
which   surrounds   him;     yet   fearful,    as   it 
were,  of  breaking  the  links  of  association 
that  bind  him  to  the  home  of  his  childhood, 
the  colonist  applies  to  some  few  plants  in  a 
far-distant  clime  the  names  he  had  been  fa- 
miliar with  in  his  native  land;    and  by  the 
mysterious    relations    existing    among    all 
types  of  organization,  the  forms  of  exotic 
vegetation  present  themselves  to  his  mind 
as  nobler  and  more  perfect  developments  of 
those  he  had  loved  in  earlier  days.    Thus  do 
the   spontaneous   impressions   of   the  untu- 
tored mind  lead,  like  the  laborious  deduc- 
tions  of   cultivated   intellect,   to  the   same 
intimate  persuasion  that  one  sole  and  indis- 
soluble chain  binds  together  all  nature. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  27.      (H., 
2897.) 

159.  ANALYSIS  A  COMPLEX    PROB- 
LEM— An  Expert  Alone  Can  Secure  Needed 
Data — Must  Know  "  Gathering -ground  "  of 
Water. — Accompanying     the     sample      [of 
water]  should  be  a  more  or  less  full  state- 
ment of  its  source.     There  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  in  addition  to  a  chemical  and  bacterio- 
logical report  of  a  water,  there  should  also 
be  made  a  careful  examination  of  its  source. 
This  may  appear  to  take  the  bacteriologist 
far  afield,  and  in  point  of  fact,  as  regards 
distance,  this  may  be  so.     But  until  he  has 
seen    for    himself    what    "the    gathering- 
ground"   is   like,    and   from   what   sources 
come  the  feeding  streams,  he  cannot  judge 
the  water  as  fairly  as  he  should  be  able  to 
do.      The   configuration    of    the    gathering- 
ground,  its  subsoil,  its  geology,  its  rainfall, 
its  relation  to  the  slopes  which  it  drains, 


the  nature  of  its  surface,  the  course  of  its 
feeders,  and  the  absence  or  presence  of  cul- 
tivated areas,  of  roads,  of  houses,  of  farms, 
of  human  traffic,  of  cattle  and  sheep — all 
these  points  must  be  noted,  and  their  influ- 
ence, direct  or  indirect,  upon  the  water  care- 
fully borne  in  mind. — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  2,  p.  38.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

16O.  ANATOMY  AMONG  SAVAGES— 

Comparative  Study  of  the  Toes  of  the  Os- 
trich.— The  science  of  homologies,  as  de- 
veloped by  Cuvier  and  Hunter  and  Owen 
and  Huxley,  is  indeed  an  intricate,  almost 
a  transcendental,  science.  Yet  Dr.  Living- 
stone found  the  natives  of  Africa  debating 
a  question  which  belongs  essentially  to  that 
science  and  involves  the  whole  principle  of 
the  mental  process  by  which  it  is  pursued. 
The  debate  was  on  the  question  "  whether 
the  two  toes  of  the  ostrich  represent  the 
thumb  and  forefinger  in  man,  or  the  little 
and  ring-finger."  This  is  purely  a  question 
of  comparative  anatomy.  It  is  founded  on 
the  instinctive  perception  that  even  between 
two  frames  so  widely  separated  as  those  of 
an  ostrich  and  a  man  there  is  a  common 
plan  of  structure,  with  reference  to  which 
plan  parts  wholly  dissimilar  in  appearance 
and  in  use  can  nevertheless  be  identified  as 
"  representative  "  of  each  other — that  is,  as 
holding  the  same  relative  place  in  one  ideal 
order  of  arrangement. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  4,  p.  118.  (Burt.) 


161. 


Practical      Knowl- 


edge of. — A  moment's  reflection  will  show 
that  all  savages  had  a  practical  knowledge 
of  anatomy.  They  knew  where  to  strike 
with  the  club  to  paralyze  the  brain,  to  slash 
with  the  cutlass  for  the  shallow  arteries,  to 
pierce  with  the  spear  to  reach  the  fountain 
of  life. — MASON  Origins  of  Invention,  ch. 
8,  p.  267.  (S.,  1899.) 

162.  ANATOMY,  COMPARATIVE 
GIVES  FULLER  KNOWLEDGE  OF  MAN- 
Likeness  and  Unlikeness  of  Lower  Animals 
to  Man. — Comparative  anatomy  and  physi- 
ology, by  treating  the  human  species  as  one 
member  of  a  long  series  of  related  organ- 
isms, have  gained  a  higher  and  more  perfect 
understanding  of  man  himself  and  his  place 
in  the  universe  than  could  have  been  gained 
by  the  narrower  investigation  of  his  species 
by  and  for  itself.  ...  No  doubt  the 
phenomena  of  intellect  appear  in  vastly 
higher  and  more  complete  organization  in 
man  than  in  beings  below  him  in  the  scale 
of  nature,  that  beasts  and  birds  only  attain 
to  language  in  its  lower  rudiments,  and  that 
only  the  germs  of  moral  tendency  and  social 
law  are  discernible  among  the  lower  ani- 
mals. Yet  tho  the  mental  and  moral 
interval  between  man  and  the  nearest  ani- 
mals may  be  vast,  the  break  is  not  absolute, 
and  the  investigation  of  the  laws  of  reason 
and  instinct  throughout  the  zoological  sys- 
tem, which  is  already  casting  some  scattered 
rays  of  light  on  the  study  of  man's  highest 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Analogy 

Animal* 


organization,  may  be  destined  henceforth  to 
throw  brighter  illumination  into  its  very  re- 
cesses.— DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropology,  ch. 
1,  p.  1.  (Hum.,  1885.) 

163.  ANIMALS,  ARCTIC—  Commonly 
White — The  Tree-frequenting  Sable  Is 
Brown — Raven  Tweeds  No  Protective  Color. 
— Whenever  we  find  arctic  animals  which, 
from  whatever  cause,  do  not  require  protec- 
tion by  the  white  color,  then  neither  the  cold 
nor  the  snow-glare  has  any  effect  upon  their 
coloration.  The  sable  retains  its  rich  brown 
fur  throughout  the  Siberian  winter;  but 
it  frequents  trees  at  that  season  and  not 
only  feeds  partially  on  fruits  or  seeds,  but 
is  able  to  catch  birds  among  the  branches  of 
the  fir-trees,  with  the  bark  of  which  its 
color  assimilates.  Then  we  have  that  thor- 
oughly arctic  animal,  the  musk-sheep,  which 
is  brown  and  conspicuous;  but  this  animal 
is  gregarious,  and  its  safety  depends  upon 
its  association  in  small  herds.  It  is  there- 
fore of  more  importance  for  it  to  be  able  to 
recognize  its  kind  at  a  distance  than  to  be 
concealed  from  its  enemies.  .  .  .  The 
common  raven,  a  true  arctic  bird,  .  .  . 
always  retains  its  black  coat.  .  .  .  The 
raven  is  a  powerful  bird  and  fears  no  enemy, 
while,  being  a  carrion-feeder,  it  has  no  need 
for  concealment  in  order  to  approach  its 
prey. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  130. 
( Hum. ) 


1O4. 


Once      Dwelt 


Southern  Europe — A  Colder  Climate  in 
Geologic  Times — Reindeer  at  Foot  of 
Pyrenees. — The  northernmost  part  of  Nor- 
way and  Sweden  is  at  this  day  the  southern 
limit  of  the  reindeer  in  Europe,  but  their 
fossil  remains  are. found  in  large  quantities 
.in  the  drift  about  the  neighborhood  of  Paris, 
and  quite  recently  they  have  been  traced 
even  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  where  their 
presence  would,  of  course,  indicate  a  climate 
similar  to  the  one  now  prevailing  in  north- 
ern Scandinavia.  Side  by  side  with  the  re- 
mains of  the  reindeer  are  found  those  of  the 
European  marmot,  whose  present  home  is 
in  the  mountains,  about  six  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  occurrence 
of  these  animals  in  the  superficial  deposits 
of  the  plains  of  central  Europe,  one  of  which 
is  now  confined  to  the  high  north,  and  the 
other  to  mountain-heights,  certainly  indi- 
cates an  entire  change  of  climatic  condi- 
tions since  the  time  of  their  existence. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8, 
p.  210.  (H.  Mi  &  Co.,  1896.) 

165.  ANIMALS  AS  DISTRIBUTERS 
OF  SEEDS— Hooks  and  Spines  for  Seed-dis- 
persal.— An  idea  of  the  important  part 
played  by  these  various  hooks  and  spines  in 
the  dissemination  of  seeds  may  be  gained  by 
reading  the  following  paragraph  written  by 
the  German  botanist  Kerner: 

"  About  ten  per  cent,  of  all  the  flowering 
plants  possess  fruits  and  seeds  which  are 
dispersed  by  means  of  clawed  or  barbed 


processes.  The  part  of  the  plant  which  is 
provided  with  these  structures  hooks  on  to 
the  hairs,  bristles,  or  feathers  of  any  bird 
or  other  animal  that  happens  to  come  into 
contact  with  it.  The  consequence  is  that  it 
is  torn  away  and  carried  off  by  the  animal. 
This  act  of  depredation  is,  of  course,  not  in- 
tentional on  the  part  of  the  creature  that 
performs  it;  on  the  contrary,  such  append- 
ages are  a  source  of  discomfort,  and  are  got 
rid  of  as  soon  as  possible.  But  in  many 
cases  this  is  not  accomplished  until  a  con- 
siderable distance  has  been  "  traversed. — 
WEED  Seed-travelers,  pt.  iii,  p.  51.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

166.  ANIMALS,  EXISTENCE  OF,  DE- 
PENDENT ON  PLANTS—  The  Plant  the  Me- 
diator between  Animal  and  Mineral. — The 
very  existence  of  animal  life,  to  take   an- 
other   case    of   broad   economy,    is    possible 
only  through   the  mediation  of  the   plant. 
No   animal  has   the  power  to   satisfy   one 
single  impulse  of  hunger   without  the   co- 
operation of  the  vegetable  world.     It  is  one 
of  the  mysteries  of  organic  chemistry  that 
the  chlorophyll  contained  in  the  green  parts 
of  plants,  alone  among  substances,  has  the 
power  to  break  up  the  mineral  kingdom  and 
utilize  the  products  as  food.     Tho  detected 
recently  in  the  tissues  of  two  of  the  very 
lowest  animals,  chlorophyll  is  the  peculiar 
possession   of   the   vegetable   kingdom,    and 
forms  the  solitary  point  of  contact  between 
man  and  all  higher  animals  and  their  sup- 
ply of  food.     Every  grain  of  matter,  there- 
fore, eaten  fey  man,  every  movement  of  the 
body,  every  stroke  of  work  done  by  muscle 
or  brain,  depends  upon  the  contribution  of  a 
plant,  or  of  an  animal  which  has  eaten  a 
plant. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  240. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

167.  ANIMALS      FIXED      TO      THE 
EARTH  LIKE  PLANTS— Sponges  Rooted  to 
the  Sea-floor. — [There  is  one  division  that 
consists  of]   animals  that  remain  perfectly 
fixed  to  the  bottom  or  are  capable  only  of 
creeping   or    crawling   over    the   rocks   and 
sand,  such  as  the  sponges,  hydroids,  seden- 
tary tunicates,   gasteropods,   most   lamelli- 
branchs,  and  many  Crustacea.     This  portion 
of  the  fauna   [of  the  sea]   has  been  called 
the  benthos. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  3,  p.  53.     (A.,  1894.) 

168.  ANIMALS    GIVE    WARNING   OF 
EARTHQUAKE — Alarm  of  Dogs,    Cats,  and 
Horses — Sea-birds  Flying  Inland. — A  study 
of   the  warnings   furnished   by   animals   is 
also   interesting.      It   is   said   that   several 
of  the  natives  in  Caracas  possess  oracular . 
quadrupeds,  such  as  dogs,  cats,  and  jerboas, 
which  anticipate  coming  dangers  by  their 
restlessness.         Before   the    catastrophe    of 
1812,  at  Caracas,  a  Spanish  stallion  broke 
out  from  its  stable  and  escaped  to  the  high- 
lands, which  was  regarded  as  the  result  of 
the  prescience  of  a  coming  calamity.    Before 
the  disturbances  of  1822  and   1835,   which 


Animals 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


34 


shook  Chile,  immense  flocks  of  sea-birds  flew 
inland,  as  if  they  had  been  alarmed  by  the 
commencement  of  some  suboceanic  disturb- 
ance. Before  this  last  shock  it  is  also 
related  that  all  the  dogs  escaped  from  the 
city  of  Talcahuano. — MILNE  Earthquakes, 
ch.  18,  p.  307.  (A.,  1899.) 

169.  ANIMALS,    LIMITED    INTELLI- 
GENCE OF — Inability  To  Learn  by  Experience 
— Mingled  Folly  and  Wisdom  of  Serpent. — 
Fabre    states    (Souvenirs    Entomologiques, 
pp.    168-177)    that   a   sphex — an   insect  be- 
longing to  the  same  highly  endowed  order 
with   ants — stocks  its  nest  with   paralyzed 
grasshoppers,  which  are  invariably  dragged 
into  the  burrow  by  their  antennae.     When 
these  were  cut   off  close  to  the  head,   the 
sphex    seized  the   palpi;      but   when   these 
were  likewise  cut  off,  the  attempt  to  drag 
its  prey  into  the  burrow  was  given  up  in 
despair.      The    sphex   had   not   intelligence 
enough  to  seize  one  of  the  six  legs  or  the 
ovipositor  of  the  grasshopper,  which,  as  M. 
Fabre  remarks,  would  have  served  equally 
well.     So  again,  if  the  paralyzed  prey  with 
an  egg  attached  to  it  be  taken  out  of  the 
cell,  the  sphex,  after  entering  and  finding 
the  cell  empty,  nevertheless  closes  it  up  in 
the  usual  elaborate  manner.     Bees  will  try 
to  escape  and  go  on  buzzing  for  hours  on  a 
window,    one-half   of   which    has   been   left 
open.     Even  a  pike  continued  during  three 
months   to  dash   and  bruise  itself  against 
the  glass  sides  of  an  aquarium,  in  the  vain 
attempt  to  seize  minnows  on  the  opposite 
side.    A  cobra-snake  was  seen  by  Mr.  Larard 
to  act  much  more  wisely  than  either  the 
pike  or  the  sphex;    it  had  swallowed  a  toad 
lying  within  a  hole,  and  could  not  withdraw 
its  head ;   the  toad  was  disgorged,  and  began 
to   crawl    away;     it   was   again   swallowed 
and  again  disgorged;    and  now  the  snake 
had  learned  by  experience,  for  it  seized  the 
toad  by  one  of  its  legs  and  drew  it  out  of 
the  hole.     The  instincts  of  even  the  higher 
animals  are  often  followed  in  a  senseless  or 
purposeless  manner:     the  weaver-bird  will 
perseveringlywind  threads  through  the  bars 
of  its  cage,  as  if  building  a  nest ;    a  squirrel 
will  pat  nuts  on  a  wooden  floor,  as  if  he 
had   just  buried   them   in   the   ground;     a 
beaver  will  cut  up  logs  of  wood  and  drag 
them    about,    tho    there    is    no    water    to 
dam   up;     and   so  in  many  other   cases. — 
DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable  Mold,  ch. 
2,  p.  26.     (Hum.,  1887.) 

170.  ANIMALS       MAKE      CLEARING 
AROUND    THEIR    HOMES— A  Resource  for 
Pastime    and    Protection. — He    [the    visca- 
cha]  lives  in  a  small  community  of  twenty 
or   thirty  members,   in   a   village   of   deep- 
chambered  burrows,   all  with  their  pit-like 
entrances  closely  grouped  together;    and  as 
the  village  endures  forever,  or  for  an  in- 
definite   time,    the    earth    constantly    being 
brought  up  forms  a  mound  thirty  or  forty 
feet    in    diameter;     and    this    protects    the 
habitation    from    floods    on    low    or    level 


ground.  Again,  he  is  not  swift  of  foot,  and 
all  rapacious  beasts  are  his  enemies;  he 
also  loves  to  feed  on  tender  succulent  herbs 
and  grasses,  to  seek  for  which  he  would 
have  to  go  far  afield  among  the  giant  grass, 
where  his  watchful  foes  are  lying  in  wait 
to  seize  him;  he  saves  himself  from  this 
danger  by  making  a  clearing  all  round  his 
abode,  on  which  a  smooth  turf  is  formed; 
and  here  the  animals  feed  and  have  their 
evening  pastimes  in  comparative  security: 
for  when  an  enemy  approaches,  he  is  easily 
seen ;  the  note  of  alarm  is  sounded,  and  the 
whole  company  scuttles  away  to  their  ref- 
uge.— HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch. 
1,  p.  10.  (C.  &H.,  1895.) 


171. 


Enemies      Cannot 


Approach  Unseen — Open  Space  for  Play- 
ground.— The  strongest  instinct  of  this 
animal  [the  viscacha]  is  to  clear  the 
ground  thoroughly  about  its  burrows;  and 
it  is  this  destructive  habit  that  makes  it 
necessary  for  cultivators  of  the  soil  to  de- 
stroy all  the  viscachas  in  or  near  their 
fields.  On  the  uninhabited  pampas,  where 
the  long  grasses  grow,  I  have  often  admired 
the  viscachera;  for  it  is  there  the  center 
of  a  clean  space,  often  of  half  an  acre  in 
extent,  on  which  there  is  an  even,  close- 
shaven  turf;  this  clearing  is  surrounded 
by  the  usual  rough  growth  of  herbs  and 
giant  grasses.  In  such  situations  this  habit 
of  clearing  the  ground  is  eminently  ad- 
vantageous to  them,  as  it  affords  them  a 
comparatively  safe  spot  to  feed  and  disport 
themselves  on,  and  over  which  they  can  fly 
to  their  burrows  without  meeting  any  ob- 
struction on  the  slightest  alarm. — HUDSON 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  20,  p.  303.  (C. 
&  H.,  1895.) 

172.  ANIMALS,      MARINE,      THEIR 
MODES     OF    LIFE — Now,  amongst  marine 
animals    we   can   recognize   three   principal 
modes  of  life.     Some  animals  simply  float 
or  drift  about  with  the  currents  of  the  sea 
and  are  unable  to  determine  for  themselves, 
excepting,  perhaps,  within  very  small  lim- 
its, the  direction  in  which  they  travel.   Such 
are    the    countless    forms    of    protozoa,    the 
jellyfishes    and   medusae,    numerous    pelagic 
worms    and    Crustacea,     .     .     .     and    many 
other  forms  well  known  to  those  who  are  in 
the  habit  of  using  the  tow-net. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  3,  p.  52.      (A., 
1894.) 

173.  ANIMALS     NOT     AUTOMATA— 

Protozoa  Show  Voluntary  Movement. — 
There  is  not  the  slightest  confirmation  to  be 
found  for  the  assertion  that  the  lower  ani- 
mals, and  children  in  the  early  days  of  life, 
are  merely  reflex  machines,  which  make 
certain  movements  with  mechanical  cer- 
tainty as  soon  as  we  press  the  spring.  Even 
such  of  the  protozoa  as  undoubtedly  belong 
to  the  animal  kingdom  give  plain  evidence 
of  voluntary  movement.  The  chick  just  out 
of  the  shell  executes  movements  which  are 
in  great  part  at  least  of  the  nature  of  vol- 


35 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Animals 


untary  actions.  No  one  will,  of  course,  deny 
that  reflex  movements  may  also  be  observed 
from  the  first,  especially  among  the  more 
complexly  organized  animals.  It  must  not, 
however,  be  forgotten  that  these  purposive 
reflexes  have  become  possible  through  an 
organization  acquired  in  the  course  of 
countless  generations. — WUNDT  Psychology, 
lect.  15,  p.  226.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

174.  ANIMALS     NOT    UNDERSTOOD 
WITHOUT    STUDY   OF   ENVIRONMENT— 

The  fact  is,  no  animal  can  be  correctly  ap- 
preciated by  us  if  we  do  not  well  understand 
the  circumstances  of  its  being,  its  surround- 
ing conditions.  Each  creature's  structure 
is  an  expression  and  manifestation  of  that 
interplay  of  influences  and  activities  be- 
tween its  own  being  and  its  environment, 
which  constitutes  its  life. — MIVAET  Types 
of  Animal  Life,  ch.  9,  p.  248.  (L.  B.  &  Co., 
1893.) 

175.  ANIMALS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 
SAME  AS  MODERN— Five   Thousand   Years 
Have  Made  No  Change. — Our  domestic  ani- 
mals have  always  followed  man  in  the  prog- 
ress  of   civilization.     Wherever   the   traces 
of  civilization  are  found,   there  are   found 
also  traces  of  the  presence  of  animals  not 
only  domesticated,  but  also  wild.     No  civi- 
lization has  left  us  more  interesting  traces 
in  this  respect  than  that  of  Egypt;    on  the 
Egyptian    monuments    are    represented    in 
sculptures  and  drawings,  and  in  the  cata- 
combs are  preserved  in  the  shape  of  mum- 
mies, animals    which  lived  many  thousand 
years  ago.    Some  of  those  relics,  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  are  unquestionably  nearly 
five  thousand  years  old.     They  form  a  very 
interesting  basis    by  which  to  ascertain  to 
what  extent  animals  may  change  under  the 
different  circumstances  in  which  they  live. 
The    most    careful    comparison    which    has 
been    made   between    the    skeletons    of   the 
animals  preserved  in  mummies,   and  those 
recently   killed   in   the  valley  of   the   Nile, 
has  not  shown  the  slightest  difference  be- 
tween them. — AGASSIZ  Structure  of  Animal 
Life,  lect.  3,  p.  48.     (S.,  1886.) 

176.  ANIMALS,    PERFECTION    OF— 

Enforced  by  the  Death  Penalty — Nothing 
That  Lives  Can  Be  Wholly  a  Failure — All 
in  the  Long  Run  Advancing — Natural  Selec- 
tion.— By  placing  the  death  penalty  upon 
the  slightest  shortcoming,  natural  selection 
so  discourages  imperfection  as  practically 
to  eliminate  it  from  the  world.  The  fact  that 
any  given  animal  is  alive  at  all  is  almost  a 
token  of  its  perfectness.  Nothing  living  can 
be  wholly  a  failure;  for  the  moment  that  it 
fails,  it  ceases  to  live.  Something  more  fit, 
were  it  even  by  a  hairbreadth,  secures  its 
place;  so  that  all  existing  lives  must,  with 
reference  to  their  environment,  be  the  best 
possible  lives.  Natural  selection  is  the  means 
employed  in  nature  to  bring  about  perfect 
health,  perfect  wholeness,  perfect  adapta- 
tion, and  in  the  long  run  the  ascent  of  all 


living  things. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
p.  208.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

177.  ANIMALS,  PRIMEVAL,  DID  NOT 
NEED  MOTHERS— Not    Children,    but   Mere 
Offspring — The    Early    World    Bleak    and 
Loveless. — The   truth    is,    Nature    so    made 
animals  in  the  early  days  that  they  did  not 
need  mothers.     The  moment  they  were  born 
they  looked  after  themselves,  and  were  per- 
fectly able  to  look  after  themselves.     Moth- 
ers in  these  days  would  havejbeen  a  super- 
fluity.    All  that  Nature  worked"  at  at  that 
dawning  date  was  maternity  in  a  physical 
sense — motherhood  came  as  a  later  and  a 
rarer  growth.     The  children  of  those  days 
were  not  really  children  at  all;    they  were 
only  offspring,  springers  off,  deserters  from 
home.    At  one  bound  they  were  out  into  life 
on  their  own  account,  and  she  who  begat 
them  knew  them  no  more.     That  early  world, 
therefore,  for  millions  and  millions  of  years 
was  a  bleak  and  loveless  world.     It  was  a 
world  without  children  and  a  world  without 
mothers.      It  is  good  to  realize  how  heart- 
less Nature  was  till  these  arrived. — DRUM- 
MOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  270.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

178.  ANIMALS,  PROTECTION  OF,  BY 
NON-CONDUCTING    CLOTHING—  Utility    of 
Woolen  Garments. — It  is  the  imperfect  con- 
ductivity of  woolen  textures  which  renders 
them  so  eminently  fit  for  clothing.     They 
preserve  the  body  from   sudden  accessions 
and  from  sudden  losses  of  heat.     The  same 
quality    of    non-conductivity  manifests   it- 
self when  we  wrap  flannel  round  a  block 
of  ice.    The  ice  thus  preserved  is  not  easily 
melted.     In  the  case  of  the  human  body,  on 
a   cold   day,   the   woolen   clothing  prevents 
the   transmission   of    motion    from   within 
outwards.    In  the  case  of  the  ice,  on  a  warm 
day,  the  selfsame  fabric  prevents  the  trans- 
mission  of  motion   from  without  inwards. 
Animals    which    inhabit   cold    climates    are 
furnished  by   nature  with   their  necessary 
clothing.    Birds    especially    need  this   pro- 
tection,   for    they    are    still    more    warm- 
blooded than  the  mammalia.     They  are  fur- 
nished with  feathers,  and  between  the  feath- 
ers the  interstices  are  filled  with  down,  the 
molecular  constitution  and  mechanical  tex- 
ture of  which  render  it,  perhaps,  the  worst 
of  all  conductors.     Here  we  have  another 
example  of  that  harmonious  relation  of  life 
to  the  conditions  of  life  which  is  incessantly 
presented  to  the  student  of  natural  science. 
— TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  9, 
p.  256.     (A.,  1900.) 

179.  ANIMALS,  SURRENDER  OF,  TO 

MAN — Submission  of  Dog,  Sheep,  and  Goat, 
Llama,  Camel,  Horse,  Ass,  Elephant,  and 
Cow. — By  and  by  they  turned  the  artillery 
of  nature  on  herself.  The  dog  raised  a  flag  of 
truce  and  came  in  to  join  the  hosts  of  man 
against  the  rest.  The  mountain-sheep  and 
the  wild  goat  descended  from  their  rocky 
fortresses,  gave  up  the  contest,  and  sur- 
rendered skins  and  fleece  and  flesh  and  milk 


Animals 
Antiquity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


36 


to  clothe  and  feed  the  .inventor  of  the  fatal 
arrow. 

Tired  of  deadly  weapons  and  decoys  and 
snares  and  pitfalls  set  by  the  most  cun- 
ning of  enemies  too  long  ago  for  any  his- 
torian, the  llama,  the  camel,  the  horse,  the 
ass,  the  elephant,  the  cow  entered  into  a  sol- 
emn and  everlasting  treaty  to  lend  their 
agile  feet,  their  patient  backs  and  necks  and 
shoulders,  their  milk,  their  flesh,  their  hides, 
their  hair,  their  very  bones,  to  minister  to 
men's  wants.  How  well  this  treaty  has 
been  observed  'on  both  sides  let  all  domestic 
creatures  bear  witness.  Those  that  refused 
to  enter  in  any  way  into  these  stipulations 
are  doomed  sooner  or  later  to  extinction, 
and  many  species  have  already  disappeared 
or  withdrawn  to  the  waste  places  of  the 
earth  in  despair. — MASON  Origins  of  Inven- 
tion, ch.  8,  p.  259.  (S.,  1899.) 

180.  ANIMALS      TRANSPORTING 

SEEDS — The  Bur-marigold— The  "Stick- 
tights" — H an  Limits  the  Processes  of  Na- 
ture.— Look  at  one  of  these  seeds  [of  the 
bur-marigold]  through  a  simple  lens,  and 
study  its  structure.  See  the  four  ribs  ex- 
tending up  and  down  along  the  sides,  and 
notice  particularly  the  sharp-pointed  hooks 
curving  backward  toward  the  base.  See 
how  these  ribs  project  up  beyond  the  seed, 
as  spines  provided  with  recurved  barbs. 

In  pulling  the  seed-head  to  pieces,  some 
of  these  seeds  are  likely  to  adhere  to  the 
fingers  by  means  of  these  barbs,  while  if 
you  touch  them  to  a  piece  of  cloth  they 
will  "  stick  tight " — a  fact  which  has  given 
them  this  term  for  a  common  name.  It  is 
easy  to  see  how  this  sort  of  an  adaptation 
would  be  useful  to  the  plant  in  getting  its 
seed  dispersed.  Instead  of  calling  upon  the 
wind  to  waft  its  seeds  far  and  wide,  it 
makes  the  beasts  of  the  field  its  burden- 
bearers.  These  "  stick-tights  "  will  take  firm 
hold  upon  the  hair  or  fur  of  almost  any  of 
the  larger  animals,  many  of  which  under 
the  conditions  existing  in  previous  ages  of 
the  world,  when  our  plants  were  developing, 
roamed  about  in  just  the  situations  where 
the  bur-marigold  is  most  at  home.  So,  also, 
they  do  to-day,  tho  mankind  has  interfered 
in  the  older  settled  regions  to  render  com- 
munication by  sucK  animals  between  regions 
far  apart  more  difficult  than  formerly. — 
WEED  Seed-travelers,  pt.  iii,  p.  45.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

181.  ANIMALS  WITHOUT  INFANCY 

— Parent  and  Child  Never  Know  Each 
Other. — This  abnormal  form  [the  talegal- 
lus — the  best  known  brush-turkey]  buries 
its  eggs  in  the  huge  mound  made  by  the 
male,  and  troubles  herself  no  more  about 
them.  When  the  young  is  fully  developed 
it  simply  kicks  the  coffin  to  pieces  in  which 
its  mother  interred  it,  and,  burrowing  its 
way  up  to  the  sunshine,  enters  on  the  pleas- 
ures and  pains  of  an  independent  existence 
from  earliest  infancy — that  is,  if  a  species 
born  into  the  world  in  full  possession  of  all 


the  wisdom  of  the  ancients  can  be  said  ever 
to  know  infancy. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in 
La  Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  87.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

182.  ANOMALIES    OF  SCIENCE— Ex- 
planation of  Discrepancies  Will  Reveal  New 
Laws. — The  man  of  science,    like  the  man 
of   law,   has   brought  before  him  many  an 
anomaly;  but,  unlike  the  judge  or  the  ad- 
vocate,   he    knows    that   the   contradictions 
he   studies   are   only  such   in   seeming;     he 
feels   confident  that  nature  at  the  core  is 
in   agreement  with   herself.      Any   day,   he 
believes,  these  apparent  contradictions  may 
be  resolved  into  cases  of  detected  law,  not 
simple  enough  to  disclose  itself  to  aught  but 
the  most  rigorous  analysis.     In  the  realm 
of  heat  it  seems  that  certain  rules  of  radia- 
tion,   conduction,    boiling-points,    and    the 
like,   are  general,   not  universal.     In  most 
cases  they  act  as  if  alone;   in  a  few  cases 
their  efl'ect  is  masked  by  causes  as  yet  not 
understood.     Let  a  few  cases  as  perplexing 
as   that   of   the   alloys   under   refrigeration 
be  recounted:    Common  solder  has  a  lower 
melting-point  than  any  of  its  ingredients. 
Sulfur  fuses  at  120°  C.,  and  thickens  again 
at  220°  C.    When  steel  is  heated  and  dipped 
into  cold  water  it  is  hardened;   the   same 
treatment    softens    copper.      While    almost 
every  substance  expands  with  heat,  rubber 
shrinks.     In  most  cases   electrical   conduc- 
tivity is  impaired  by  increase  of  tempera- 
ture, yet  a  carbon  pencil  rises  to  an  almost 
threefold     augmentation     of     conductivity 
when  brought  to  incandescence  in  an  electric 
lamp.     We  may  be  well  assured  that  when 
these   anomalies   are  resolved  the   explana- 
tions will  bear  in  their  train  other  difficul- 
ties for  research  yet  more  subtile.     Science 
never  does   worthier   work   than   where,   as 
here,  she  points  to  her  own  unfinished  walls, 
and  bids  the  student  as  a  privilege  and  a 
duty  to  supply  their  gaps  as  best  he  may. — 
ILES  Flame,  Electricity,  and  the  Camera,  ch. 
6,  p.  76.    (D.  &  McC.,  1900.) 

183.  ANTAGONISMS    OF    BACTERIA 

— Environment  That  Is  Favorable  to  Some, 
Destructive  of  Others. — Study  of  the  life- 
history  of  many  of  the  water  bacteria  will 
reveal  the  fact  that  they  can  live  and  multi- 
ply under  conditions  which  would  at  once 
prove  fatal  to  other  species.  Some  of  these 
water  organisms  can  indeed  increase  and 
multiply  in  distilled  water,  whereas  it  is 
known  that  other  species  cannot  even  live 
in  distilled  water,  owing  to  the  lack  of 
pabulum.  Thus  we  see  that  what  is  favor- 
able for  one  species  may  be  the  reverse  for 
another. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  33. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

184.  ANTHROPOMORPHISM    A    MIS- 
NOMER— Likeness  of  Soul,  Not  of  Form. — 
The  word   [anthropomorphism]    is  in  itself 
a  misrepresentation  of  the  fundamental  idea 
which    it    is    employed    to    designate,    and 
against  which  it  is  intended  to  raise  a  prej- 
udice.    Anthropomorphism  means   literally 


37 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Animals 
Antiquity 


man-formism,  conveying  the  idea  that  it 
is,  in  some  sense  or  other,  the  human 
"  form "  that  is  ascribed  to  the  agencies 
which  are  at  work  in  nature.  But  this  sug- 
gestion is  altogether  at  variance  with  the 
truth.  It  is  not  the  form  of  man  that  is 
in  question.  It  is  the  mind  and  spirit  of 
man — his  reason,  his  intelligence,  and  his 
will.  Nor  is  it  even  these  under  all  the 
conditions,  or  under  any  of  the  limitations, 
with  which  they  are  associated  in  us.  But 
the  question  is  of  a  real  and  fundamental 
analogy,  despite  all  differences  of  form  or 
of  limiting  conditions,  between  the  mind 
which  is  in  us  and  the  mind  which  is  in 
nature.  The  true  etymological  expression 
for  this  idea,  if  we  are  to  have  any  word 
constructed  on  the  same  model  out  of  Greek, 
would  be,  not  anthropomorphism,  but  an- 
thropopsychism,  which  means  not  man- 
formism,  but  man-soulism.  The  use  of  the 
word  in  this  construction  would  raise  much 
more  truly  the  real  issue. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  5,  p.  99.  (Burt.) 

185.  ANTHROPOMORPHISM  AN  IDLE 
BUGBEAR — All  Knowledge  Is  Anthropomor- 
phic— Man  Can  Think  Only  as  Man. — There 
is  indeed  one  objection  to  this  [teleological] 
method    of    conception,    which   would    be    a 
fatal  objection  if  it  could  be   consistently 
maintained.     But  all  the  strength  of  this 
objection  lies  in  the  obscure  terrors  which 
a  very  long  word  is  sometimes  capable  of 
inspiring.      This    word    is    "  anthropomor- 
phism."   Purpose  and  design,  it  is  said,  is  a 
human    conception.      Unquestionably   it   is, 
and  so  is  all  knowledge  in  every  form.    We 
can  never  stand  outside  ourselves.     We  can 
never  get  behind  or  above  our  own  methods 
of  conception.     The  human  mind  can  know 
nothing  and  can  think  of  nothing  except  in 
terms  of  its  own   capacities   of  thought. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  63.    (Burt.) 

186.  ANTHROPOMORPHISM  INVERT- 
ED— Just  as  the   theologians  tell  us — and 
logically  enough — that  if  there  is  a  divine 
mind,  the  best,  and  indeed  only,  conception 
we  can  form  of  it  is  that  which  is  formed 
on  the  analogy,  however  imperfect,  supplied 
by  the  human  mind ;    so  with  "  inverted  an- 
thropomorphism "  we  must  apply  a  similar 
consideration  with  a  similar  conclusion  to 
the  animal  mind.     The  mental  states  of  an 
insect  may  be  widely  different  from  those 
of  a  man,  and  yet  most  probably  the  nearest 
conception  that  we  can  form  of  their  true 
nature  is  that  which  we  form  by  assimilat- 
ing them  to  the  pattern  of  the  only  mental 
states  with  which  we  are  actually  acquaint- 
ed.— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  int.,  p. 
10.     (A.,  1899.) 

187.  ANTICIPATIONS     OF    MODERN 
METHODS—  Granaries,  Original,  of  Primitive 
Peoples. — The  thousand  and  one  manipula- 
tions at  the  hands  of  women  formerly  prac- 
tised on  vegetal  substances  preparatory  to 
consumption  were  all  anticipatory  of  meth- 


ods now  in  operation  on  a  grander  scale. 
They  were  the  predecessors  of  harvesters, 
wagons  and  freight  trains,  granaries  and 
elevators,  mills  and  bakeries.  The  little 
wicker  basket,  holding  about  a  barrel,  set 
up  in  some  northern  California  hut  to  pre- 
serve acorns,  the  larger  granaries  in  the  Mo- 
jave  country,  the  pretty  structures  conspic- 
uous in  the  pictures  of  African  villages,  are 
all  familiar  now  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
great  grain  elevators. — MASON  Woman's 
Share  in  Primitive  Culture^-ch.  2,  p.  17. 
(A.,  1894.) 

188.  ANTICS    OF     THE     SCISSORS- 
TAIL — Fun-loving  Birds. —  The   performance 
of    the    scissors-tail,    a    tyrant-bird,    is    re- 
markable.    This  species  is  gray  and  white, 
with     black  head     and     tail     and     a     cro- 
cus-yellow   crest.      On    the    wing    it    looks 
like      a      large      swallow,     but   with     the 
two     outer      tail-feathers      a     foot     long. 
The  scissors-tails  always  live  in  pairs,  but 
at  sunset  several  pairs  assemble,  the  birds 
calling  excitedly  to  each  other;   they  then 
mount   upwards,    like    rockets,    to    a   great 
height  in  the  air,  and,  after  wheeling  about 
for  a  few  moments,  precipitate  themselves 
downwards  with  amazing  violence  in  a  wild 
zigzag,  opening  and  shutting  the  long  tail- 
feathers  like  a  pair  of  shears,  and  producing 
loud   whirring   sounds,    as    of   clocks   being 
wound  rapidly  up,  with  a  slight  pause  after 
each   turn   of  the  key.     This   aerial   dance 
over,  they  alight  in  separate  couples  on  the 
tree- tops,  each  couple  joining  in  a  kind  of 
duet     of     rapidly     repeated,     castanet-like 
sounds. — HUDSON    Naturalist  in  La  Plata, 
ch.  19,  p.  271.     (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

189.  ANTIQUITY  NOT  BARBARISM— 

The  remarkable  phase  of  archaic  culture 
known  as  Mycenaean  [since  its  remains  were 
first  recognized  at  the  ancient  Greek  city  of 
Mycenae] — when  arms  of  bronze  were  beau- 
tifully inlaid  with  gold,  when  gems  were 
cut,  and  the  potter's  art  had  attained  a  high 
degree  of  perfection — appears  to  have  at- 
tained its  zenith  about  1500  B.  C.  It  must 
therefore  have  commenced  much  earlier. — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1,  p.  8. 
(A.,  1900.) 

190.  ANTIQUITY  OF  ANIMAL  ARCHI- 
TECTURE— Beaver-dam    a  Thousand    Years 
Old — A    Geological  Survival. — In   one   case 
Prof.  Agassiz  obtained  what  may  be  termed 
geological  evidence  of  the  truth  of  an  opin- 
ion advanced  by  Mr.  Morgan,  that  beaver- 
works  may  be  hundreds  if  not  thousands  of 
years    in   course    of    continuous    formation. 
For  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  secure  foun- 
dation for  a  mill-dam  erected  above  a  beaver- 
dam,   it  was  necessary  to  clear   away  the 
soil   from   the  bottom    of   the  beaver-pond. 
This  soil  was  found  to  be  a  peat-bog.      A 
trench  was  dug  into  the  peat  12  feet  wide 
by  1,200  feet  long,  and  9  feet  deep;    all  the 
way  along  this  trench  old  stumps  of  trees 
were    found   at   various   depths,    some   still 


Antiquity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


38 


bearing  marks  of  having  been  gnawed  by 
beavers'  teeth.  Agassiz  calculated  the 
growth  of  the  bog  as  about  a  foot  per  cen- 
tury, so  that  here  we  have  tolerably  accu- 
rate evidence  of  an  existing  beaver-dam  be- 
ing somewhere  about  a  thousand  years  old. 
— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  12,  p. 
384.  (A.,  1899.) 

191.  ANTIQUITY  OF  ASTRONOMY— 

The  Most  Ancient  of  the  Sciences — Primi- 
tive Observations — Egyptian  Calendar — 
Chinese  Calendar — The  Week  Instituted 
4,000  Years  Ago — Ancient  Record  of  Solar 
Eclipse. — Astronomy  is  the  most  ancient  of 
the  sciences.  Even  before  the  invention  of 
writing  and  the  beginning  of  history  men 
examined  the  sky  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  a  primeval  almanac.  The  primitive  ob- 
servations have  been  lost  in  the  revolutions 
of  nations;  we  possess,  however,  some 
fairly  good  records,  considering  their  an- 
tiquity, among  others  those  of  the  Egyp- 
tians and  Chinese  made  in  the  thirtieth 
century  before  our  era,  stating  that  at  the 
vernal  equinox  the  sun  was  situated  in  the 
constellation  Taurus,  then  the  first  sign  of 
the  Zodiac;  that  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun 
made  in  Egypt  in  the  year  2720  B.  C. ;  that 
of  a  conjunction  of  the  planets  in  Capri- 
corn, made  by  the  Chinese  astronomers  in 
the  year  2449  B.  C.;  that  of  a  star  in  the 
constellation  Hydra  made  in  the  year  2306 
B.  C.  The  Egyptian  calendar  was  insti- 
tuted about  the  year  2782  B.  C.,  and  the 
Chinese  calendar  about  the  year  2637  B.  C. 
At  least  four  thousand  years  have  elapsed 
since  our  week  of  seven  days  was  formed  in 
the  plains  of  Babylon,  and  for  several  thou- 
sand years  also  each  day  has  taken  the  name 
of  one  of  the  moving  stars  known  to  the 
ancients:  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  Mars,  Mer- 
cury, Jupiter,  Venus,  and  Saturn. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p. 
5.  (A.) 

192.  ANTIQUITY   OF   CHINESE  HIS- 
TORY IN  DOUBT—  Chinese  Invention  of  Com- 
pass a  Question. — While  the  beginning  of 
Chinese  history  is  placed  by  De  Lacouperie 
at    the   twenty-third    century   B.    C.,    other 
Chinese  annalists  regard  it  as  impossible  to 
rely    upon    any   records   dating   back   more 
than  800  years  before  our  era.  Legge  fixes  the 
beginning  of  trustworthy  chronology  at  826 
B.   C.,  and  Plath   at  841   B.  C.     It  is  ap- 
parent, therefore,  that  in  dealing  with  the 
legends  and  traditions  which  form  the  basis 
for  the  assertion  of  knowledge  of  the  mag- 
net by  the  Chinese  at  very  ancient  epochs, 
the  doubt  whether  they  properly  belong  to 
mythology  or  to  history  is  unavoidable. — 
PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity, ch.  3,  p.  66.     (J.  W.,  1898.) 

1 93.  ANTIQUITY  OF  LIFE  ON  EARTH 

— Not  Eternal — Geology  Proves  a  Definite 
Beginning  (Gen.  i,  1). — The  unstratified 
rocks  are  the  oldest.  They  contain 
no  traces  of  the  remains  of  either 


animals  or  plants,  and  therefore  furnish 
evidence  that  there  was  a  time  when  the 
earth  was  not  inhabited;  for  there  are 
hardly  any  animals  so  soft  that  none  of 
their  parts  could  be  preserved.  The  solid 
parts  of  animals,  when  once  deposited  in 
sand  or  mud  and  covered,  are  there  pre- 
served and  treasured  up  for  all  future  time 
in  the  solid  rock  that  is  formed  out  of  the 
deposit.  In  exploring  the  strata  of  our 
earth  and  examining  their  contents,  geolo- 
gists have  become  acquainted  with  the  va- 
rious animals  and  plants  that  have  in- 
habited our  globe  in  the  early  periods;  and 
their  number  is  so  great  that  the  conclusion 
is  inevitable  that  at  all  times,  since  the 
stratified  rocks  have  been  forming,  the 
earth  has  teemed  with  inhabitants  as  va- 
rious and  diversified  as  they  are  now. 
Within  the  limits  of  this  State  there  are 
beds  of  rock  so  full  of  remains  of  animals 
and  plants  that  the  mass  of  strata  consists 
of  almost  nothing  else.  Indeed,  along  our 
seashores  we  do  not  find  such  quantities  of 
dead  shells  as  we  find  in  some  of  the  lime- 
stone rocks  in  the  western  part  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  And  yet  these  rocks  are 
among  the  oldest  of  the  stratified  beds  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  But  below  these 
are  found  masses  of  rock  in  which  no  trace 
of  organic  remains  are  found. — AGASSIZ 
Structure  of  Animal  Life,  lect.  4,  p.  79. 
(S.,  1883.) 

194.  ANTIQUITY     OF     MACHINES— 

Bow-drill  Used  by  Egyptians — Indians  Ob- 
tain Fire  by  Same  Means. — The  Dakotas 
used  a  drill-bow  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing fire.  This  instrument  is  a  small  stiff  bow, 
the  string  of  which  forms  a  loop  round  the 
upright  stick,  and  thus,  when  the  bow  is 
moved  backwards  and  forwards,  gives  it  a 
rotatory  movement.  .  .  .  The  use  of  the 
bow-drill  is  very  ancient.  Ulysses  used  one 
to  put  out  the  eye  of  the  unfortunate 
Cyclops.  I  myself,  he  says,  twirled  it 
round,  while  my  companions  pulled  the 
"  thong,"  and  it  requires  no  great  stretch 
of  the  imagination  to  see  the  strap  drill 
working  until  "  the  very  roots  of  the  eye 
hissed  in  the  fire."  The  bow-drill  was  used 
still  earlier  by  the  Egyptians — even  in 
the  fourth  dynasty. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  14,  "p.  500.  (A.,  1900.) 

195.  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN—  Change  in 
Estimate     of — Archeology,     Geology,     and 
Culture  Attest  Remote   Origin   of  the  Hu- 
man Race. — It  was  until  of  late  years  com- 
monly held  among  the  educated  classes  that 
man's  first  appearance  on  earth  might  be 
treated  on  a  historical  basis  as  matter  of 
record.     It  is  true  that  the  schemes  drawn 
up  by  chronologists  differed  widely,  as  was 
naturally  the  case,  considering  the  variety 
and    inconsistency    of    their    documentary 
data.     On  the  whole,  the  scheme  of  Arch- 
bishop Usher,  who  computed  that  the  earth 
and  man  were  created  in  4004  B.   C.,  was 
the  most  popular.     It  is  no  longer  neces- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Antiquity 


sary,  however,  to  discuss  these  chronologies, 
inasmuch  as  new  evidence  has  so  changed 
the  aspect  of  the  subject  that  the  quasi- 
historical  schemes  of  the  last  century  would 
now  hardly  be  maintained  by  any  competent 
authority  of  any  school.  Geology,  notwith- 
standing the  imperfection  of  its  results,  has 
made  it  manifest  that  our  earth  must  have 
been  the  seat  of  vegetable  and  animal  life 
for  an  immense  period  of  time;  while  the 
first  appearance  of  man,  tho  compara- 
tively recent,  is  positively  so  remote  that 
an  estimate  between  twenty  and  a  hundred 
thousand  years  may  fairly  be  taken  as  a 
minimum.  This  geological  claim  for  a  vast 
antiquity  of  the  human  race  is  supported 
by  the  similar  claims  of  prehistoric  arche- 
ology and  the  science  of  culture,  the  evi- 
dence of  all  three  departments  of  inquiry 
being  intimately  connected  and  in  perfect 
harmony. — DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropology, 
ch.  5,  p.  17.  (Hum.,  1885.) 

196.  ANTIQUITY  OF  POTTERY— Ho- 
mer's Mention. — In  the  very  earliest  graves 
and  camp-sites  no  fragments  of  pottery  oc- 
cur.     If    our    first    parents    were    makers 
thereof,    we    should   know   it,   because   this 
most  brittle  of  human  works  is  also  among 
the    most    enduring.      Fire-making    devices 
were  invented  before  pottery,  because  all  of 
it  was  effected  by  means  of  fire,  if  we  except 
sun-dried  bricks  and  lamp-stoves.     The  bow 
and  the  arrow,  the  spear  and  the  fish-hook, 
are  older.     They  are  found  in  older  graves. 
Can  it  be  that  this  art  came  in  with  the 
grinding   of   food?      At    any    rate,    it    long 
antedated  Homer,  for  the  potter's  wheel  is 
mentioned    by    him     (II.    xviii,    600).     The 
simpler  hand  epoch  antedates  all  books  and 
writings,  and  there  are  many,  many  tribes 
of  uncivilized  peoples  on  the  earth  making 
beautiful    ware     who   do   not   read    at   all. 
The  lake-dwellers  had  pottery,  and  so  had 
the  mound-builders,  and  the  people  of  very 
ancient  Troy.     In  Peru  beautiful  specimens 
come  from  the  oldest  graves,  and  over  the 
canons    of   Colorado,    and   especially   of  its 
tributaries,    hundreds    of    complete    vessels, 
and    millions    of    fragments,    are    scattered 
similar    to     that    made    near-by    to-day. — 
MASON  Origins  of  Invention,  ch.  5,  p.  154. 
(S.,  1899.) 

197.  ANTIQUITY     OF      SEVEN-DAY 

WEEK — Not  Used  by  Greeks  and  Romans. 
— Whichever  of  the  three  processes  may 
have  been  used,  the  interesting  point  for  us 
to  know  is  that  the  division  of  time  by 
periods  of  seven  days  is  of  the  highest 
antiquity  and  due  to  the  phases  of  the 
moon,  but  that  it  has  not  been  in  use  among 
all  nations,  for  the  Greeks  and  Romans  did 
not  make  use  of  it,  the  first  having  weeks 
of  ten  days  (decades),  and  the  second 
counting  by  kalends,  ides,  and  nones.  But 
it  came  into  almost  general  use  about  the 
first  century  of  our  era. — FLAMMARTON 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  2,  p.  103. 
(A.) 


198.  ANTIQUITY  OF    SUN-WORSHIP 

— Every  scholar  •  knows,  tno  litterateurs 
and  men  of  the  world  do  not,  that  in  the 
full  vigor  of  the  Greek  religion  the  Sun 
and  Moon,  not  a  god  and  goddess  thereof, 
were  sacrificed  to  as  deities — older  deities 
than  Zeus  and  his  descendants,  belonging 
to  the  earlier  dynasty  of  the  Titans  (which 
was  the  mythical  version  of  the  fact  that 
their  worship  was  older) — and  these  deities 
had  a  distinct  set  of  fables  or  legends  con- 
nected with  them. — MILL  Rasitive  Philos- 
ophy of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  20.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1887.) 

199.  ANTIQUITY    OF    THE    ARCH— 

Found  in  Tombs  of  Egypt — Neglect  of,  by 
Greeks — Skilful  Use  of,  by  Romans. — In  the 
tombs  of  ancient  Egypt  real  arches  are  to 
be  seen,  constructed  in  mud-bricks,  or  later 
in  stone,  by  architects  who  quite  understood 
the  principle.  Yet  tho  the  arch  was 
known  in  what  we  call  ancient  times,  it  was 
not  at  once  accepted  by  the  world.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  Greek  architects  of  the 
classic  period  never  took  to  it.  It  was  left 
to  the  Romans,  who  applied  it  with  admi- 
rable skill,  and  from  whose  vaulted  roofs, 
bridges,  and  domes  those  of  the  medieval 
and  modern  world  are  derived. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  10,  p.  235.  (A.,  1899.) 

200.  ANTIQUITY      OF      WEAVING— 

The  textile  art  is  older  than  the  human 
species.  For  not  only  spiders  and  many 
caterpillars  drew  out  extremely  fine 
threads,  but  birds  wove  nests  long  before 
man's  advent  on  earth.  And,  most  signifi- 
cant of  all,  in  tropical  lands  especially, 
trees  and  plants  fabricated  cloth,  which 
men  have  worn  from  time  immemorial,  and 
on  it  they  have  also  preserved  their 
thoughts.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
the  very  first  women  were  weavers  of  a 
crude  kind,  and  that  the  textile  art  has 
been  with  us  always  in  one  form  or  another. 
— MASON  Origins  'of  Invention,  ch.  7,  p.  224. 
(S.,  1899.) 

201.  ANTIQUITY,    REMOTE,     OF 
MOUND-BUILDERS—  Where  it  [an    ancient 
mound]    is    most   distinct,    it   is    from    fif- 
teen to  twenty  feet  wide,  by  three  or  four 
in  height.     The  area  thus  enclosed  is  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  and  the  wall 
is  two  miles  and  a  quarter  in  length.     The 
stones  themselves  vary  much  in   size,   and 
Messrs.  Squier  and  Davis  suggest  that  the 
wall  may  originally  have  been  about  eight 
feet  high,  with  an  equal  base.     At  present 
trees  of  the  largest  size  are  growing  upon 
it.     On   a    similar   work   known   as   "  Fort 
Hill,"     Highland     County,     Ohio,     Messrs. 
Squier  and  Davis  found  a  splendid  chestnut 
tree,  which  they  suppose  to  be  six  hundred 
years  old.    "  If,"  they  say,  "  to  this  we  add 
the   probable   period   intervening   from   the 
time   of  the  building  of  this  work  to   its 
abandonment,    and    the    subsequent    period 
up  to  its  invasion  by  the  forest,  we  are  led 


Annuity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


40 


irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that  it  has  an 
antiquity  of  at  least  one  thousand  years. 
But  when  we  notice,  all  around  us,  the 
crumbling  trunks  of  trees,  half  hidden  in 
the  accumulating  soil,  we  are  induced  to  fix 
on  an  antiquitj^  still  more  remote." — AVE- 
BURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  244.  (A., 
1900.) 

0 O2.  ANTITOXINS,  THEORY  OF— Im- 
munity   of    Patients    after    Recovery    from 
Some    Diseases — Bacteria    Generate    Their 
Own    Destroyers. — Whenever    bacteria,    in- 
troduced into  the  blood  and  tissues,  fail  to 
multiply  or  produce  infection,  this  inability 
to  perform  their  role  is  brought  about  by 
some   property    in    the   living    and    normal 
blood-serum   which   opposes   their   life   and 
action.     .     .     .     Where  the  blood  and  tis- 
sues do  not  possess  this  power,  the  animal 
is   susceptible.     Now,   as  we  have   already 
seen  from  the  experiments  of  Ogata,  Kita- 
sato,   and  others,  the  blood  of  an   animal 
dead  of  anthrax  is  protective  against  an- 
thrax, from  which  and  the  foregoing  it  ap- 
pears    that     microbes     produce     by     their 
growth  in  the  tissues  poisonous  substances 
we  term  toxins,  which  have  the  power  of 
producing  in  the  blood  and  body  cells  sub- 
stances inimical  to  themselves,  named  anti- 
toxins,   and   so    long   as   these    latter   sub- 
stances remain  in  the  tissues  the  body  re- 
mains  insusceptible   to   further   attacks   of 
the   same   disease. — NEWMAN   Bacteria,   ch. 
7,  p.  249.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

203.  ANTS,      AMAZONS      AMONG— 

Preparation  for  Success  in  Warfare. — This 
year  I  have  constantly  seen  amazons  from 
my  ant-hill  depart  individually  and  go  to  a 
great  distance  (as  far  as  fifty  paces  from 
their  nests),  marching  by  jerks.  I  have 
watched  them  inspecting  four  or  five  nests 
of  the  Fusca  ants  situated  more  than  thirty 
paces  distant,  searching  for  their  openings 
and  examining  their  surroundings  with 
care.  These  facts  more  and  more  convince 
me  that  each  amazon  studies  on  her  own 
account  the  situation  of  the  nests  of  the 
slaves  in  the  neighborhood,  and  that  that 
is  what  enables  the  army  to  direct  itself 
with  uniformity  and  to  make  a  decision  at 
any  given  moment. — FOREL  Les  Fourmis  de 
la  Suisse,  p.  321.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

204.  ANTS  AS    KEEPERS    OF    LIVE 
STOCK — Property  in  Aphids. —  I    have    seen 
the    ants     of    two    neighboring    nests    in 
dispute    over    their    plant-lice.       If    those 
from  the  one  strayed  into  that  of  the  other, 
these  latter  would  rob  them  from  the  real 
owners,  and  often  these  in  turn  would  rob 
the   robbers.     For   ants   are    aware   of  the 
value  of  these  tiny  animals  that  seem  to 
have  been  made  for  them.     They  form  their 
wealth;    an  ant-hill  is  rich  according  to  its 
number  of  plant-lice;     they  are  their   live 
stock,  their  cows  and  goats.     We  had  never 
imagined  that  ants  were  a  pastoral  people. 


— HUBEB  Recherches  sur  les  Moeurs  dcs 
Fourmis  Indigenes,  p.  194.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

205.  ANTS    DOMESTICATE     OTHER 
INSECTS—  Aphides  "The  Cows  of  the  Ants." 
— It  has  long  been  known  that  ants  derive 
a  very  important  part  of  their  sustenance 
from  the  sweet  juice  excreted  by  aphides. 
These  insects,  in  fact,  as  has  been  over  and 
over   again   observed,   are   the   cows   of   the 
ants ;     in   the   words   of   Linnaeus,    "  Aphis 
formicarum  vacca."    A  good  account  of  the 
relations  existing  between  ants  and  aphides 
was  given  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago 
by  the  Abbe"  Boisier  de  Sauvages. — AVEBURY 
Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch.  4.  p.  67.     (A., 
1900.) 

206.  ANTS,     MANIFESTATIONS    OF 
FRIENDSHIP    AMONG  —  When     ants    are 
friendly,  they  have  a  multitude  of  manifes- 
tations.     Sometimes    they    conduct    them- 
selves as  if  not  aware  of  each  other's  pres- 
ence, only  they  show  no  fear,  do  not  take 
flight;     or  rather   they    stop.      Then   again 
we  see  both  of  them  patting  their  bodies 
with  very  lively  concussion  before  and  be- 
hind,  or  rapidly   striking  the   forehead   or 
any  other  part  of  the  body  and  then  sepa- 
rating.   At  other  times  only  one  of  the  two 
will     perform    this    maneuver    facing    the 
other,  which  will  feel  about  it  for  a  time 
with  her  antennae.    On  other  occasions  both 
remain   motionless   in   body,    only   striking 
each  other  with  their  antenna?.  '  This  last 
act  is  a   less   sure  sign  of  friendship,   and 
we  often  witness  it  between  ants  in  doubt 
whether  they  are  dealing  with  an  enemy  or 
a  friend.    One  almost  never  sees  two  friends 
menace   one   another  by  a   jesting  bite   or 
curving    their    abdomens    around    at    each 
other.     Two  particular  manifestations   are 
very    characteristic    between    two    friendly 
ants,  disgorging,  and  carrying  one  another 
by  mutual  consent.     If  one  of  the  two  ants 
is  hungry  or  thirsty,  and  especially  if  she 
perceives  that  the  crop  of  the  other  is  full, 
which  she  recognizes  by  feeling  the  abdo- 
men   with    her    antennae,    she   asks   for   a 
drink.     .     .     .     The  ant    (granting  the  re- 
quest)   has  the  appearance  of  enjoying  it 
and  sometimes   causes   two   or   three   drops 
to  appear,  one  after  the  other.     This  act  of 
disgorging  plays  a  very  important  role  in 
the  economy  of  an  ant-hill ;    it  is  a  perfect 
sign  that  the  two  ants  are  friends. — FOREL 
Les  Fourmis  de  la  Suisse,  p.  244.     (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 

2O  7.  ANTS  STORING  GRAIN—  Solo- 
mon's Statement  Verified — Objection  Re- 
futed by  Fuller  Knowledge. — None  of  our 
northern  ants  store  up  grain,  and  hence 
there  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the 
well-known  passage  of  Solomon.  .  .  . 
It  is,  however,  now  a  well-established  fact 
that  more  than  one  species  of  southern  ants 
do  collect  seeds  of  various  kinds.  The  fact, 
of  course,  has  long  been  known  in  those 


41 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Antiquity 
Apes 


regions.  Indeed,  the  quantity  of  grain  thus 
stored  up  is  sometimes  so  considerable  that 
in  the  "  Mishna  "  rules  are  laid  down  with 
reference  to  it;  and  various  commentators, 
including  the  celebrated  Maimonides,  have 
discussed  at  length  the  question  whether 
such  grain  belonged  to  the  owner  of  the 
land,  or  might  be  taken  by  gleaners — giv- 
ing the  latter  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  They 
do  not  appear  to  have  considered  the  rights 
of  the  ants. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  59.  (A.,  1900.) 

208.  ANTS,      THE      LEAF-CUTTING 
SPECIES  OF — Systematic  Industry  among — 
Insects    Building    Thatched    Roofs    of    Cut 
Leaves. — It  is  a  most  interesting  sight  to 
see  the  vast  host  of  busy  diminutive  labor- 
ers [the  Saiiba  ants]  occupied  on  this  work 
[of  leaf-cutting] .     Unfortunately  they  choose 
cultivated  trees  for  their  purpose.    This  ant 
is  quite  peculiar  to  tropical  America,  as  is 
the  entire  genus   to  which   it  belongs;     it 
sometimes  despoils  the  young  trees  of  species 
growing  wild  in  its  native  forests,  but  seems 
to    prefer,    when   within   reach,   plants    im- 
ported from  other  countries,  such  as  the  cof- 
fee and  orange  trees.     It  has  not  hitherto 
been  sho\vn  satisfactorily  to  what  use  it  ap- 
plies the  leaves.   I  discovered  this  only  after 
much    time    spent    in    investigation.       The 
leaves  are  used  to  thatch  the  domes  which 
cover  the   entrances  to  their   subterranean 
dwellings,  thereby  protecting  from  the  del- 
uging rains  the  young  broods  in  the  nests 
beneath.      The   larger  mounds,   already   de- 
scribed, are  so  extensive  that  few  persons 
would  attempt  to  remove  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  their  interior ;  but  smaller 
hillocks,  cover  ing  other  entrances  to  the  same 
system   of   tunnels   and   chambers,    may  be 
found  in  sheltered  places,  and  these  are  al- 
ways   thatched   with    leaves,    mingled   with 
granules     of     earth.       The     heavily     laden 
workers,  each  carrying  its  segment  of  leaf 
vertically,    the   lower    edge    secured   in    its 
mandibles,  troop  up  and  cast  their  burdens 
on  the  hillock;    another  relay  of  laborers 
place  the  leaves  in  position,  covering  them 
with  a  layer  of  earthy  granules,  which  are 
brought  one  by  one  from  the  soil  beneath. — 
BATES  Naturalist  on  the  River  Amazon,  ch. 
1,  p.  627.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

209.  ANTS  TRACKING  ONE  ANOTH- 
ER BY  SCENT— Huber's  Experiment.— That 
ants  track  one  another  by  scent  was  long 
ago  mentioned  by  Huber,  and  also  that  they 
depend    on    this    sense   for   their    power    of 
finding  supplies  which  have  been  previously 
found  by  other  ants.     Huber  proved  their 
power  of  tracking  a  path  previously  pur- 
sued by  their  friends,  by  drawing  his  finger 
across  the  trail,   so  obliterating  the   scent 
at  that  point,  and  observing  that  when  the 
ants  arrived  at  that  point  they  became  con- 
fused and  ran  about  in  various   directions 
till  thev  again  came  upon  the  trail  on  the 
other  side  of  the  interrupted  space,   when 


they  proceeded  on  their  way  as  before.  The 
more  numerous  and  systematic  experiments 
of  Sir  John  Lubbock  have  fully  corrobo- 
rated Huber's  observations. — ROMANES  Ani- 
mal Intelligence,  ch.  3,  p.  33.  (A.,  1899.) 

210.  ANTS  USELESS  OR  INJURIOUS 
TO  FLOWERS— Nature  Shuts    Them   Off  in 
Favor    of    Bees. — If    larger    flowers    were 
visited  by  ants,  not  only  would  they  deprive 
the  flowers  of  their  honey  without  fulfilling 
any    useful    function    in    return,    but    they 
would   probably   prevent   the~really   useful 
visits   of  bees.     If  you  touch  an  ant  with 
a  needle  or  a  bristle,  she  is  almost  sure  to 
seize   it   in   her   jaws;     and   if   bees,   when 
visiting  any   particular   plant,   were   liable 
to  have  the  delicate  tip  of  their  proboscis 
seized  on  by  the  horny  jaws  of  an  ant,  we 
may  be  sure  that  such   a  species  of  plant 
would   soon   cease   to    be   visited.      On   the 
other  hand,  we  know  how  fond  ants  are  of 
honey,  and  how  zealously  and  unremittingly 
they  search  for  food.     How  is  it  then  that 
they  do  not  anticipate  the  bees,  and  secure 
the  honey  for  themselves?    This  is  guarded 
against   in   several   ways    [as   by   hairy   or 
slippery  surfaces,  cups  of  water  around  the 
stem,     etc.]. — AVEBURY     Ants,     Bees,     and 
Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  51.      (A.,  1900.) 

211.  APES,    ANTHROPOID,    NOT 
FOUND    IN    AMERICA—  Spider-monkey    the 
Limit  of  Development  in  the  New  World — 
Prehensile  Tails  Mark  American  Monkeys. 
— The  forest  at  Obydos  seemed  to  abound 
in  monkeys,  for  I  rarely  passed  a  day  with- 
out seeing  several.     I  noticed  four  species: 
the  Coaita    (Ateles  paniscus),  the   Chryso- 
thrix    sciureus,    the    Callithrix    torquatus, 
and   our    old   Para    friend,    Midas   ursulus. 
The  Coaita  is  a  large  black  monkey,  covered 
with  coarse  hair,  and  having  the  prominent 
parts  of  the  face  of  a  tawny  flesh-colored 
hue.     It  is  the  largest  of  the  Amazonian 
monkeys  in  stature,  but  is  excelled  in  bulk 
by     the     "  Barrigudo "     (Lagothrix     hum- 
loldtii)  of  the  Upper  Amazons.     It  occurs 
throughout  the  lowlands  of  the  Lower  and 
Upper  Amazons;    but  does  not  range  to  the 
south  beyond  the  limits  of  the  river  plains. 
At  that  point  an  allied  species,  the  white- 
whiskered     Coaita      (Ateles     marginatus), 
takes  its  place.     The  Coaitas  are  called  by 
zoologists    spider-monkeys,    on    account    of 
the   length   and   slenderness   of   their   body 
and   limbs.      In   these   apes   the  tail,    as   a 
prehensile    organ,    reaches    its    highest    de- 
gree of  perfection;    and  on  this  account  it 
would,  perhaps,  be  correct  to  consider  the 
Coaitas  as  the  extreme  development  of  the 
American  type  of  apes.     As  far  as  we  know, 
from    living    and    fossil    species,    the    New 
World  has  progressed  no  farther  than  the 
Coaita  toward  the  production  of  a  higher 
form    of    the    Quadrumanous    order.      The 
tendency  of  nature  here  has  been,  to  all  ap- 
pearance,   simply    to    perfect    those    organs 
which    adapt    the    species    more    and    more 


Apes 
Architecture 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


completely  to  a  purely  arboreal  life;  and 
no  nearer  approach  has  been  made  toward 
the  more  advanced  forms  of  anthropoid 
apes,  which  are  the  products  of  the  Old 
World  solely.— BATES  Naturalist  on'  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  6,  p.  671.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

212.  APES,    CIVILIZATION    MEANS 
EXTINCTION    OF  —  It  is   pretty   certain, 
however,  that  were  apes  as  like  us  mentally 
as    they    are   bodily,    that   very    similarity 
would  result  in  a  notable  difference.     Some 
men   are   radicals   and   some  conservatives, 
but  apes  would  give  a  solid  vote  for  the 
most   conservative  ticket,   since  that  prog- 
ress   and    advance    of    civilization    which 
pleases  most  of  us  means,  ultimately,  death 
to  them. — MIVART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch. 
1,  p.  2.     (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

213.  APPEAL  FROM  ILLUSIVE  PRES- 
ENT TO  CERTAINTIES  OF  THE  PAST— 

One  Sense  Called  to  Verify  Another. — It  is 
plain  that  the  illusoriness  of  a  perception 
is  in  these  cases  determined  in  relation  to 
the  sense-impressions  of  other  moments  and 
situations,  or  to  what  are  presumably  bet- 
ter percepts  than  the  present  one.  Some- 
times this  involves  an  appeal  from  one 
sense  to  another.  Thus,  there  is  the  process 
of  verification  of  sight  by  touch,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  case  of  optical  images,  a  mode 
of  perception  which  .  .  .  gives  a  more 
direct  cognition  of  external  quality.  Con- 
versely, there  may  occasionally  be  a  refer- 
ence from  touch  to  sight,  when  it  is  a 
question  of  discriminating  two  points  lying 
very  close  to  one  another.  Finally,  the 
same  sense  may  correct  itself,  as  when  the 
illusion  of  the  stereoscope  is  corrected  by 
afterwards  looking  at  the  two  separate  pic- 
tures.— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  3,  p.  38.  (A., 
1897.) 

214.  APPEARANCE  OF    DESIGN    AC- 
KNOWLEDGED   BY    DARWIN—  The    Testi- 
mony of  Language — Contrivance  and  Pur- 
pose Recognized. — It  is  curious  to  observe 
the  language  which  this  most  advanced  dis- 
ciple of  pure  naturalism  [Darwin]  instinct- 
ively uses  when  he  has  to  describe  the  com- 
plicated structure  of  this  curious  order  of 
plants  [the  orchids] .   "  Caution  in  ascribing 
intentions  to  nature,"  does  not  seem  to  occur 
to  him  as  possible.    Intention  is  the  one  thing 
which  he  does  see,  and  which,  when  he  does 
not  see,  he  seeks  for  diligently  until  he  finds 
it.     He  exhausts  every  form  of  words  and  of 
illustration  by  which   intention  or  mental 
purpose  can  be  described.    "  Contrivance  " — 
"  curious      contrivance  " — "  beautiful      con- 
trivance " — these  are  expressions  which  re- 
cur over  and  over  again.     Here  is  one  sen- 
tence describing  the  parts  of  a  particular 
species :    "  The  Labellum  is  developed  into  a 
long  nectary,  in  order  to  attract  Lepidop- 
tera,  and  we  shall  presently  give  reasons  for 
suspecting  that  the  nectar  is  purposely  so 
lodged  that  it  can  be  sucked  only  slowly,  in 
order  to  give  time  for  the  curious  chemical 


quality  of  the  viscid  matter  setting  hard 
and  dry."  ["  Fertilization  of  Orchids,"  p. 
29.]  Nor  are  these  words  used  in  any  sense 
different  from  that  in  which  they  are  ap- 
plicable to  the  works  of  man's  contrivance — 
to  the  instruments  we  use  or  invent  for 
carrying  into  effect  our  own  preconceived 
designs.  On  the  contrary,  human  instru- 
ments are  often  selected  as  the  aptest  illus- 
trations, both  of  the  object  in  view  and  of 
the  means  taken  to  effect  it.  Of  one  par- 
ticular structure,  Mr.  Darwin  says :  "  This 
contrivance  of  the  guiding  ridges  may  be 
compared  to  the  little  instrument  sometimes 
used  for  guiding  a  thread  into  the  eye  of  a 
needle."  Again,  referring  to  the  precautions 
taken  to  compel  the  insects  to  come  to  the 
proper  spot,  in  order  to  have  the  "  pollinia  " 
attached  to  their  bodies,  Mr.  Darwin  says: 
"  Thus  we  have  the  rostellum  partially  clos- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  nectary,  like  a  trap 
placed  in  a  run  for  game — and  the  trap  so 
complex  and  perfect"!  [ibid.,  p.  30]. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  23.  (Burt.) 

215.  APPENDAGES,   USELESS,  VOL- 
UNTARILY REMOVED— Nature's  Provision 
for  Extended  Life — Ants  Winged  for  Ma- 
ting in  Distant  Colonies. — I  noticed  that  the 
winged  termites,  or  white  ants,  which  came 
by  hundreds  to  the  lamps  at  night,  when 
alighting  on  the  table  often  jerked  off  their 
wings  by  a  voluntary  movement.    On  exam- 
ination  I   found  that  the  wings  were  not 
shed  by  the  roots,  for  a  small  portion  of 
the     stumps     remained     attached     to     the 
thorax.    The  edge  of  the  fracture  was  in  all 
cases  straight,   not  ruptured;     there  is,  in 
fact,  a  natural  seam  crossing  the  member 
toward  its  root,  and  at  this  point  the  long 
wing  naturally  drops  or  is  jerked  off  when 
the  insect  has  no  further  use  for  it.     The 
white  ant  is  endowed  with  wings  simply  for 
the  purpose  of  flying  away  from  the  colony 
peopled  by  its  wingless  companions,  to  pair 
with  individuals  of  the  same  or  other  col- 
onies, and  thus  propagate  and  disseminate 
its  kind.     The  winged  individuals  are  males 
and  females,  while  the  great  bulk  of  their 
wingless  fraternity  are  of  no  sex,  but  are 
of  two  castes,  soldiers  and  workers,  which 
are  restricted  to  the  functions  of  building 
the  nests,  nursing,  and  defending  the  young 
brood. — BATES     Naturalist     on     the    River 
Amazon,  ch.  5,  p.  664.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

216.  APPLIANCES,  DEFECTIVE,  MAY 
GIVE  GREAT    RESULTS— Earnest   Worker* 
Win  Astonishing  Success. — For  a  long  time 
investigators    were    compelled    to    employ 
plates   of  tourmaline  for  this   purpose    [of 
studying  polarized  light],  and  the  progress 
they  made  with  so  defective  a  means  of  in- 
quiry is  astonishing.     But  these  men  had 
their   hearts   in   their   work,    and    were   on 
this    account  enabled   to   extract   great  re- 
sults  from   small   instrumental   appliances. 
But   for  our  present  purpose  we  need  far 
larger   apparatus ;     and,   happily,   in   these 
later  times  this  need  has  been  to  a  great 


43 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Apes 
Architecture 


extent     satisfied. — TYNDALL     Lectures     on 
Light,  lect.  4.  p.  124.     (A.,  1898.) 

217.  APPLICATION  OF  KNOWLEDGE 
FOLLOWS    ACQUISITION— Sense  of   Igno- 
rance— Desire   to   Know. — Without  a  sense 
of   ignorance   there   could   be   no   desire   of 
knowledge,  and  without  his  desire  of  knowl- 
edge man  would  not  be  man.     His  whole 
place  in  nature  depends  upon  it.     His  curi- 
osity, and  his  wonder,  and  his  admiration, 
and  his  awe — these  are  all  but  the  adjuncts 
and  subsidiary  allies  of  that  supreme  affec- 
tion which  incites  him  to  inquire  and  know. 
Nor  is  this  desire  capable  of  being  resolved 
into  his  tendency  to  seek  for  an  increased 
command    over    the    comforts    and    conve- 
niences of  life.    It  is  wholly  independent  of 
that   kind  of  value  which  consists   in  the 
physical  utility  of  things.     The  application 
of  knowledge  comes  after  the  acquisition  of 
it,  and  is  not  the  only,  or  even  the  most 
powerful,  inducement  to  its  pursuit.     The 
real  incitement  is  an  innate  appetite  of  the 
mind — conscious  in  various  degrees  of  the 
mystery,  and  of  the  beauty,  and  of  the  maj- 
esty of  the  system  in  which  it  lives   and 
moves;    conscious,   too,   that  its   own   rela- 
tions to   that   system   are  but   dimly   seen 
and  very  imperfectly  understood. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  188.     (Burt.) 

218.  APPROXIMATIONS,    GRADUAL, 
TO  SCIENTIFIC  TRUTH— Ancient  Errors.— 
The   history   of   the    contemplation   of   the 
universe,   as   I   interpret  its   limits,   desig- 
nates not  so  much  the  frequently  recurring 
oscillations  between  truth  and  error    as  the 
principal  epochs  of  the  gradual  approxima- 
tion to  more  accurate  views  regarding  ter- 
restrial  forces   and   the   planetary   system. 
It  shows  us  that  the  Pythagoreans     .     .     . 
taught    the    progressive    movement    of   the 
non- rotating  earth,  its  revolution  round  the 
focus  of  the  world  (the  central  fire,  hestia), 
while    Plato   and   Aristotle   imagined   that 
the  earth  neither  rotated  nor  advanced  in 
space,  but  that,  fixed  to  one  central  point, 
it    merely    oscillated    from    side    to    side. 
Aristarchus   of   Samos,    and   more   particu- 
larly  Seleucus   of  Babylon,  who   lived  one 
hundred   and   fifty   years    after   Alexander, 
first    arrived    at    the    knowledge    that    the 
earth  not  only  rotated  on  its  own  axis,  but 
also  moved  round  the  sun  as  the  center  of 
the  whole  planetary  system.     And  if,  in  the 
dark  period  of  the  middle  ages,   Christian 
fanaticism,    and  the   lingering  influence   of 
the  Ptolemaic  school,  revived  a  belief  in  the 
immobility   of    the   earth,  ...     it   must 
not  be  forgotten  that  a  German  cardinal, 
Nicholas  de  Cuss,  was  the  first  who  had  the 
courage    and     the     independence     of     mind 
again   to   ascribe   to   our   planet,    almost   a 
hundred  years  before  Copernicus,  both  rota- 
tion on  its  axis  and  translation  in  space. 
After    Copernicus,   the   doctrines    of  Tycho 
Brahe    gave     a     retrograde     movement    to 
science,  altho  this  was  only  of  short  dura- 
tion;   and  when  once  a  large  mass  of  accu- 


rate observations  had  been  collected,  to 
which  Tycho  Brahe  himself  contributed 
largely,  a  correct  view  of  the  structure  of 
the  universe  could  not  fail  to  be  speedily 
established.  A  period  of  fluctuations  be- 
tween truth  and  error  is  especially  one  of 
presentiments  and  fanciful  hypotheses  re- 
garding natural  philosophy. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  109.  (H.,  1897.) 

219.  ARABS      PRESERVED      GREEK 
LEARNING—  Value  of  Their  translations.— 
The  repugnance  entertained  by  all  the  ad 
herents  of  Isl'amism  toward  anatomical  in- 
vestigations    impeded     their     advance     in 
zoology.   They  remained  contented  with  that 
which    they    were    able    to    appropriate    to 
themselves  from  translations  of  the  works 
of  Aristotle  and  Galen.     .     .     .     The  Arabs 
have  served  as  a  uniting  link  between  an- 
cient and  modern   science.     If  it  had  not 
been  for  them  and  their  love  of  translation, 
a  great  portion  of  that  which  the  Greeks 
had   either    formed   themselves,    or   derived 
from  other .  nations,  would  have  been  lost 
to    succeeding    ages. — HUMBOLDT     Cosmos, 
vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  214,  216.    (H.,  1897.) 

220.  ARCHITECTS,     MICROSCOPIC— 

Chalk  Cliffs  Built  by  Minute  Organisms. — 
The  great  chalk  cliffs  that  are  found  on  the 
coasts  of  the  English  Channel  are  the  work 
of  a  sea-animal  microscopic  in  size.  At  one 
time  it  was  a  question  among  scientists 
how  these  chalk  cliffs  were  formed,  but 
when  the  microscope  was  invented  this  mys- 
tery, as  well  as  many  others,  was  solved. 
The  chemical  components  of  chalk  are  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  those  of  limestone.  The 
microscope  shows  that  chalk  is  almost 
wholly  a  product  of  very  small  organized 
shells.  The  animals  who  are  the  architects 
of  the  chalk  cliffs  are  called  "foraminif- 
era  " — bearing  shells  perforated  with  little 
holes.  The  chief  difference  between  chalk 
and  limestone  seems  to  be  in  the  size  of  the 
shells  of  which  they  are  respectively  made 
up  and  in  the  manner  of  the  bonding  of 
these  shells  together.  The  shells  in  a  lump 
of  chalk  are  held  much  more  loosely  than 
those  in  a  lump  of  limestone.  These  in- 
trepid workers  are  still  actively  changing 
the  structure  of  the  bottoms  of  seas  and 
oceans,  and  forming  new  islands,  which  in 
turn  become  the  substructure  that  supports 
new  life,  animal  and  vegetable.  And  when 
we  consider  the  great  part  performed  by 
these  microscopic  architects  and  builders  it 
is  not  a  misnomer  to  speak  of  the  building 
of  a  world. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mir- 
acles, vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  20.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 

221.  ARCHITECTURE      AMONG     IN- 
SECTS— Ants  Adapt  Their  Homes  to  Conve- 
nience and  Comfort. — The  chief  feature  of 
ant    architecture,    in    contradistinction    to 
that  of  bees  and  wasps,  is  the  irregularity, 
the  want  of  uniformity,  that  is  to  say,  its 
adaptability,  or  the  capacity  of  making  all 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


44 


the  surroundings  and  incidents  subserve  the 
purpose  of  attaining  the  greatest  possible 
economy  of  space  and  time,  and  the  most 
comfort.  For  instance,  the  same  species 
will,  in  the  Alps,  live  under  stones  that 
absorb  the  rays  of  the  sun;  in  a  forest  it 
will  live  in  warm,  decayed  trunks  of  trees; 
in  a  rich  meadow  it  will  live  in  high  conical 
mounds  of  earth. — AUGUSTE  FOREL  Fourmis 
de  la  Suisse,  p.  181.  (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights. ) 

222.  ARCHITECTURE,  ANCIENT  AND 
MODERN  —  Sun-dried  Bricks— Straw  Mixed 
with    Clay — Modern   Adobe    a    Survival   in 
Fact  and  Name  from  Ancient  Egypt. — Such 
hut-walls  of  clay  or  mud  are  very  usual  in 
dry  climates,  such  as  Egypt,  where  they  are 
cheaper  and  better  than  timber.     This  being 
so,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  understanding 
how  sun-dried  bricks  came  into  use,   these 
being  simply  convenient  blocks  of  the  same 
mud  or  loam  mixed  with  straw  which  was 
used  to  build  the  cottage  walls.     These  sun- 
dried   bricks  were  used  in  the   East  from 
high    antiquity.         Some    of    the    Egyptian 
pyramids  still  standing  are  built  of  them, 
and   the   pictures   show  how   the  clay  was 
tempered   and   the   large   bricks    formed   in 
wooden  molds,   much   as   in   modern   brick- 
fields.    With  these  the  architects  of  Nine- 
veh built  the  palace  walls  ten  or  fifteen  feet 
thick,   which   were   paneled  with   the   slabs 
of   sculptured   alabaster.         For    such   sun- 
dried  bricks,  clay  and  water  form  a  suffi- 
cient   cement.      Building   with    mud-bricks, 
which   indeed  suits   the  climate  well,   goes 
on  in  these  countries  as  of  old.     They  were 
used  also  in  America,  and  to  this  day  the 
traveler   in    such   districts    as   Mexico   will 
often  find  himself  lodged  in  a  house  built 
of  them.   The  sun-dried  brick  is  there  called 
adobe,  a  word  which  is  actually  their  an- 
cient   Egyptian    name     tob,     which     when 
adopted  into   Arabic  became  with   the   ar- 
ticle,  at-tob,  and  thence  was  adopted  into 
Spanish   as   adobe.     Baked  bricks  seem   to 
have  been  a  later  invention,  easy  enough  to 
nations  who  baked   earthen  pots,  but  only 
wanted  in  more  rainy  climates.     Thus  the 
Romans,  whom  mere  mud-bricks  would  not 
have  suited,  carried  to  great  perfection  the 
making    of   kiln-burnt   bricks    and    tiles. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.   10,  p.  234.      (A., 
1899.) 

223.  ARCHITECTURE,   DEVICES  OF, 
ANTICIPATED— Buttresses      Built      around 
Tropical    Trees — Roots   Spring    Up   to   Sus- 
tain   Massive    Crown. — A   very   remarkable 
feature  in  these  trees  is  the  growth  of  but- 
tress-shaped  projections   around  the   lower 
part  of  their   stems.     The  spaces  between 
these  buttresses,  which  are  generally  thin 
walls  of  wood,  form  spacious  chambers,  and 
may   be    compared   to    stalls    in    a    stable; 
some  of  them  are  large  enough  to  hold  half 
a    dozen    persons.      The   purpose    of    these 
structures  is  as  obvious,  at  the  first  glance, 
as  that  of  the  similar  props  of  brickwork 


which  support  a  high  wall.  They  are  not 
peculiar  to  one  species,  but  are  common  to 
most  of  the  larger  forest-trees.  Their  na- 
ture and  manner  of  growth  are  explained 
when  a  series  of  young  trees  of  different 
ages  is  examined.  It  is  then  seen  that  they 
are  the  roots  which  have  raised  themselves 
ridge-like  out  of  the  earth;  growing  grad- 
ually upward  as  the  increasing  height  of 
the  tree  required  augmented  support.  Thus 
they  are  plainly  intended  to  sustain  the 
massive  crown  and  trunk  in  these  crowded 
forests,  where  lateral  growth  of  the  roots 
in  the  earth  is  rendered  difficult  by  the  mul- 
titude of  competitors. — BATES  Naturalist 
on  the  Amazon,  ch.  2,  p.  635.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

224.  ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE  EARTH 

— Basaltic  Columns  the  Silent  Memorials 
of  Past  Convulsions — Fingal's  Cave — The 
Giant's  Causeway. — The  remarkable  grotto 
known  as  Fingal's  Cave,  in  the  Island  of 
Staffa,  has  been  formed  in  the  midst  of  a 
lava-stream;  the  thick  vertical  columns, 
which  rise  from  beneath  the  level  of  the  sea, 
are  divided  by  joints  and  have  been  broken 
away  by  the  action  of  the  sea ;  in  this  way 
a  great  cavern  has  been  produced,  the  sides 
of  which  are  formed  by  vertical  columns, 
while  the  roof  is  made  up  of  smaller  and 
interlacing  ones.  The  whole  structure  bears 
some  resemblance  to  a  Gothic  cathedral; 
the  sea  finding  access  to  its  floor  of  broken 
columns,  and  permitting  the  entrance  of  a 
boat  during  fine  weather.  Similar,  tho 
perhaps  less  striking,  structures  are  found 
in  many  other  parts  of  the  globe  wherever 
basaltic  and  other  lava-streams  exhibit  the 
remarkable  columnar  structure  as  the  re- 
sult of  their  slow  cooling.  .  .  .  This 
kind  of  structure  is  admirably  displayed  at 
the  Giant's  Causeway,  County  Antrim,  in 
the  north  of  Ireland. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch. 
4,  p.  107.  (A.,  1899.) 

225.  AREA,    TRIFLING,     OF    CORAL 
ISLANDS — Archipelago  Less  than  a  City. — 
To  show  how  small  the  total  area  of  the 
annular  reef  and  the  land  is  in  islands  of 
this  class  [coral  atolls],  I  may  quote  a  re- 
mark  from   the  voyage   of   Lutk6,   namely, 
that  if  the  forty-three  rings,  or  atolls,   in 
the    Caroline    Archipelago    were    put    one 
within  another,  and  over  a  steeple  in  the 
center  of  St.  Petersburg,  the  whole  would 
not  cover  that  city  and  its  suburbs. — DAR- 
WIN Coral  Reefs,  ch.  1,  p.  29.      (A.,  1900.) 

226.  ARGUMENT  A  PRIORI  CANNOT 
DETERMINE  FACT— Popular  Belief  in  Me- 
teorites    Scouted     by     Early     Scientists. — 
Among  the  many  superstitions  of  the  early 
world  and  credulous  fancies  of  the  middle 
ages  was  the  belief  that  great  stones  some- 
times fell  down  out  of  heaven  onto  the  earth. 

Pliny  has  a  story  of  such  a  black  stone, 
big  enough  to  load  a  chariot;  the  Mussul- 
man still  adores  one  at  Mecca ;  and  a 
medieval  emperor  of  Germany  had  a  sword 
which  was  said  to  have  been  forged  from 


45 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


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Arrest 


one  of  these  bolts  shot  out  of  the  blue.  But 
with  the  revival  of  learning,  people  came  to 
know  better !  That  stones  should  fall  down 
from  the  sky  was  clearly,  they  thought,  an 
absurdity;  indeed,  according  to  the  learned 
opinion  of  that  time,  one  would  hardly  ask 
a  better  instance  of  the  difference  between 
the  realities  which  science  recognized  and 
the  absurdities  wliich  it  condemned  than 
the  fancy  that  such  a  thing  could  be. — 
LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  6,  p.  175. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

227.  ARGUMENT    FROM     DESIGN— 

Plan  Not  Less  Divine  for  Lapse  of  Time — 
Unity  Perfect — Interpositions  Not  Needed. 
— Accepting  provisionally,  then,  the  doc- 
trine of  evolution  in  this  widest  sense,  as 
implying  the  common  origin  of  the  whole 
organized  creation — past  and  present — 
from  a  single  stock,  we  shall  find  that  no 
further  modification  will  be  required  in  the 
form  in  which  I  have  put  the  argument, 
from  design,  than  such  as  gives  it  yet  fur- 
ther range  and  greater  comprehensiveness. 
For  we  must  then  regard  our  one  ancestral 
germ-particle  as  endowed  with  a  "  poten- 
tiality "  of  progressive  development  that 
has  been  equal  to  the  peopling  of  our  globe 
with  all  that  vast  variety  of  living  crea- 
tures, by  some  or  other  of  which  it  has  been 
inhabited  through  all  save  the  remotest 
periods  of  its  ever-changing  history  to  the 
present  time.  That  this  progressive  de- 
velopment has  taken  place  according  to  an 
orderly  succession,  the  study  of  which  will 
ultimately  enable  us  to  frame  "  laws  "  that 
shall  express  the  conditions  of  the  "  per- 
turbations" as  well  as  of  the  "uniformities" 
of  genetic  descent,  is  the  belief  of  every 
philosophic  biologist.  But  when  biological 
science  shall  have  reached  this  elevated 
point, .  it  will  have  revealed  to  us  only  the 
order  of  the  evolutionary  process,  leaving 
us  still  to  seek  for  its  cause.  But  how 
much  grander  a  conception  of  that  order  do 
we  obtain  when  we  are  thus  led  to  regard 
it  as  embodied  in  one  original  design  con- 
tinuously working  itself  out  through  the 
ages,  in  constant  harmony  with  the  changes 
contemporaneously  taking  place  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  terrestrial  surface,  than  when 
we  suppose  it  to  have  needed  successive  in- 
terpositions for  readaptation  to  those 
changes  as  they  successively  occurred! — 
CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p. 
434.  (A.,  1889.) 

228.  ARITHMETIC     OF     PRIMITIVE 

MAN— -Standards  of  Computation  Limited. — 
The  standards  of  compound  arithmetic  were 
very  low  among  the  Andamanese.  About 
forty  pounds  was  a  man's  load,  and  any- 
thing above  that  would  simply  be  more 
than  a  man's  load.  Size  was  rated  by  well- 
known  natural  objects,  seeds,  fruits,  nuts, 
etc.  Capacity  was  counted  by  handfuls, 
basketfuls,  bucketfuls,  canoefuls.  There  is 
no  prescribed  form  or  dimensions  for  any 
object.  No  tallies  were  kept  nor  counters, 


and  this  is  very  low  down,  because  all 
American  tribes  knew  the  use  of  tallies. 
Distance  was  spoken  of  as  a  bowshot,  or  as 
from  there  to  there,  indicating  the  limits. 
Fifteen  miles,  about,  was  a  day's  journey, 
and  over  that  was  said  to  "  exceed  a  day's 
journey."  —  MASON  Origins  of  Invention,  ch. 
2,  p.  69.  (S.,  1899.) 

229.  ARMOR  DERIVED  FROM  ANI- 
MALS— The  Cuirass  Originally  of  Leather- 
Later  Imitation  of  the  Scales-  of  Fish  or 
Reptile.  —  How  the  warrior's  armor  comes 
from  the  natural  armor  of  animals  is 
plainly  to  be  seen.  The  beast's  own  hide 
may  be  used,  as  where  one  sees  in  museums 
the  armor  of  bearskins  from  Borneo,  or 
breastplates  of  crocodile's  skin  from  Egypt. 
The  name  of  the  cuirass  shows  that  it  was 
at  first  of  leather,  like  the  buff  jerkin. 
The  Bugis  of  Sumatra  would  make  a 
breastplate  by  sewing  upon  bark  the  cast- 
off  scales  of  the  ant-eater,  overlapping  as 
the  animal  wore  them;  and  so  the  natural 
armor  of  animals  was  imitated  by  the 
Sarmatians,  with  their  slices  of  horses' 
hoofs  sewed  together  in  overlapping  scales 
like  a  fir-cone.  Such  devices,  when  metal 
came  in,  would  lead  to  the  scale  armor  of 
the  Greeks,  imitated  from  fish-scales  and 
serpent-scales,  while  their  chain-mail  is  a 
sort  of  netted  garment  made  in  metal.  The 
armor  of  the  middle  ages  continued  the  an- 
cient kinds,  now  protecting  the  whole  body 
with  a  suit  from  head  to  foot  (cap-a-pie) 
of  iron  scales,  or  mail  (that  is,  meshes),  or 
of  jointed  plates  of  iron  copied  from  the 
crab  and  lobster,  such  as  the  later  suits  of 
armor  which  decorate  our  manorial  halls.  — 
TYLOB  Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  222.  (A., 
1899.) 


23O.     ARREST    OF    THE    BODY— 

Walking  Erect  and  Making  Tools  Thence- 
forth Developed  Mind.  —  From  the  time 
when  the  ancestral  man  first  walked  erect, 
with  hands  freed  from  any  active  part  in 
locomotion,  and  when  his  brain-power  be- 
came sufficient  to  cause  him  to  use  his 
hands  in  making  weapons  and  tools,  houses 
and  clothing,  to  use  fire  for  cooking,  and 
to  plant  seeds  or  roots  to  supply  himself 
with  stores  of  food,  the  power  of  natural 
selection  would  cease  to  act  in  producing 
modifications  of  his  body,  but  would  con- 
tinuously advance  his  mind  through  the 
development  of  its  organ,  the  brain.  Hence 
man  may  have  become  truly  man  —  the 
species,  Homo  sapiens  —  even  in  the  Miocene 
period;  and  while  all  other  mammals  were 
becoming  modified  from  age  to  age  under 
the  influence  of  ever-changing  physical  and 
biological  conditions,  he  would  be  advancing 
mainly  in  intelligence,  but  perhaps  also  in 
stature,  and  by  that  advance  alone  would 
be  able  to  maintain  himself  as  the  master 
of  all  other  animals  and  as  the  most  wide- 
spread occupier  of  the  earth.  —  WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  15,  p.  308.  (Hum.) 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


46 


231. 


Man   Will  Develop 


No  Further  as  an  Animal.  —  "  On  the  earth 
there  will  never  be  a  higher  creature  than 
man"  (Fiske,  "Destiny  of  Man,"  p.  26). 
It  is  a  daring  prophecy,  but  every  proba- 
bility of  science  attests  the  likelihood  of  its 
fulfilment. 

This  is  not  a  conceit  of  science,  nor  a 
reminiscence  of  the  pre-Copernican  idea 
that  the  center  of  the  universe  is  the  world, 
and  the  center  of  the  world  man.  It  is  the 
sober  scientific  probability  that  with  the 
body  of  man  the  final  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
organic  evolution  has  appeared;  that  the 
highest  possibilities  open  to  flesh  and  bone 
and  nerve  and  muscle  have  now  been  real- 
ized; that  in  whatever  direction,  and  with 
whatever  materials,  evolution  still  may 
work,  it  will  never  produce  any  material 
thing  more  perfect  in  design  or  workman- 
ship; that  in  man,  in  short,  about  this 
time  in  history,  we  are  confronted  with  a 
stupendous  crisis  in  Nature  —  the  arrest  of 
the  animal.  —  DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch. 
3.  p.  99.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

232.  ARREST  OF  THE  HAND—  Tools 
Are  External  Hands.  —  As  the  hand  was 
given  more  and  more  to  do,  it  became  more 
and  more  adapted  to  its  work.  Up  to  a 

to   each 


point,  it  responded  directly 
duty  that  was  laid  upon  it  ;  but  only  up  to 
a  point.  There  came  a  time  when  the  neces- 
sities became  too  numerous  and  too  varied 
for  adaptation  to  keep  pace  with  them. 
And  the  fatal  day  came,  the  fatal  day  for 
the  hand,  when  he  who  bore  it  made  a  new 
discovery.  It  was  the  discovery  of  tools. 
Henceforth  what  the  hand  used  to  do,  and 
was  slowly  becoming  adapted  to  do  better, 
was  to  be  done  by  external  appliances;  so 
that  if  anything  new  arose  to  be  done,  or  to 
be  better  done,  it  was  not  a  better  hand 
that  was  now  made,  but  a  better  tool. 
Tools  are  external  hands.  Levers  are  the 
extensions  of  the  bones  of  the  arm.  Ham- 
mers are  callous  substitutes  for  the  fist. 
Knives  do  the  work  of  nails.  The  vise  and 
the  pincers  replace  the  fingers.  The  day 
that  caveman  first  split  the  marrow-bone 
of  a  bear  by  thrusting  a  stick  into  it,  and 
striking  it  home  with  a  stone  —  that  day  the 
doom  of  the  hand  was  sealed.  —  DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  102.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

233.  ART  AMONG  ANCIENT  CAVE- 
MEN—  Forgeries  Detected  by  Lack  of  Antique 
Skill  —  Pictures  Made  ~by  Australian  and 
South  African  Savages.  —  The  sketches  and 
carvings  of  animals  done  by  the  old  cave- 
men of  Europe  have  so  artistic  a  touch  that 
some  have  supposed  them  modern  forgeries. 
But  they  are  admitted  to  be  genuine  and 
found  over  a  wide  district,  while  forgeries 
which  have  been  really  done  to  palm  off  on 
collectors  are  just  wanting  in  the  peculiar 
skill  with  which  the  savages  who  lived 
among  the  reindeer  and  mammoths  knew 
how  to  catch  their  forms  and  attitudes. 
.  .  .  The  art  of  coloring  would  naturally 


arise,  for  savages  who  paint  their  own 
bodies  with  charcoal,  pipe-clay,  and  red  and 
yellow  ocher,  would  daub  their  carved  fig- 
ures and  fill  in  their  outline  drawings  witii 
the  same  colors.  Travelers  in  Australia, 
sheltering  from  the  storm  in  caves,  wonder 
at  the  cleverness  of  the  rude  frescos  on  the 
cavern-walls  of  kangaroos  and  emus  and  na- 
tives dancing,  while  in  South  Africa  tiie 
bushmen's  caves  show  paintings  of  them- 
selves with  bows  and  arrows,  and  the  bul- 
lock-wagons of  the  white  men,  and  the 
dreaded  figure  of  the  Dutch  Boer  with  his 
broad-brimmed  hat  and  pipe. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  12,  p.  301.  (A.,  1899.) 

234.  ARTIFICIALITY    DESTROYS 

MENTAL  FREEDOM—  True  Love  of  Nature 
Wanting  in  Persian  Poetry. — Both  Iran 
and  Turan  are  wanting  in  woodland  sce- 
nery, and  also,  therefore,  in  the  hermit  life 
of  the  forest,  which  exercised  so  powerful 
an  influence  on  the  imagination  of  the  In- 
dian poets.  Gardens  refreshed  by  cool 
springs,  and  filled  with  roses  and  fruit- 
trees,  can  form  no  substitute  for  the  wild 
and  grand  natural  scenery  of  Hindustan. 
It  is  no  wonder,,  then,  that  the  descriptive 
poetry  of  Persia  was  less  fresh  and  ani- 
mated, and  that  it  was  often  heavy  and 
overcharged  with  artificial  adornment. 
.  .  Sadi,  in  his  Bostan  and  Gulistan 
(Fruit  and  Rose  Gardens),  may  be  re- 
garded as  indicating  an  age  of  ethical 
teaching,  while  Hafiz,  whose  joyous  views 
of  life  have  caused  him  to  be  compared  to 
Horace,  may  be  considered  by  his  love-songs 
as  the  type  of  a  high  development  of  lyrical 
art;  but  in  both  bombastic  affectation  too 
frequently  mars  the  descriptions  of  nature. 
The  darling  subject  of  Persian  poetry,  the 
"  loves  of  the  nightingale  and  the  rose," 
recurs  with  wearying  frequency,  and  a  genu- 
ine love  of  nature  is  lost  in  the  East  amid 
the  artificial  conventionalities  of  the  lan- 
guage of  flowers. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
ii,  pt.  i,  p.  54.  (H.,  1897.) 

235.  ARTISAN    MAY    BECOME    A 
SCHOLAR — Opportunities  of  Stone-mason  in 
Geology. — I  advise  the  stone-mason,  for  in- 
stance,   to   acquaint   himself   with    geology. 
Much  of  his  time  must  be  spent  amid  the 
rocks  and  quarries  of  widely  separated  lo- 
calities.    ...     In  some  respects  his  ad- 
vantages are  superior  to  those  of  the  ama- 
teur himself.     The  latter  must  often  pro- 
nounce   a    formation    unfossiliferous    when, 
after   the   examination   of   at   most    a   few 
days,   he   discovers   in   it   nothing   organic; 
and  it  will  be  found  that  half  the  mistakes 
of  geologists  have  arisen  from  conclusions 
thus  hastily  formed.     But  the  working  man, 
whose  employments  have  to  be  carried  on  in 
the    same    formation    for    months,    perhaps 
years,  together,  enjoys  better  opportunities 
for  arriving  at  just  decisions.     There  are, 
besides,    a    thousand    varieties    of    accident 
which     lead   to     discovery — floods,     storms, 
landslips,   tides  of  unusual  height,  ebbs  of 


47 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Arrest 
Ascent 


extraordinary  fall:  and  the  man  who  plies 
his  labor  at  all  seasons  in  the  open  air  has 
by  much  the  best  chance  of  profiting  by 
these.  There  are  formations  which  yield 
their  organisms  slowly  to  the  discoverer, 
and  the  proofs  which  establish  their  place 
in  the  geological  scale  more  tardily  still.  I 
was  acquainted  with  the  old  red  sandstone 
of  Ross  and  Cromarty  for  nearly  ten  years 
ere  I  had  ascertained  that  it  is  richly  fos- 
siliferous — a  discovery  which,  in  exploring 
this  formation  in  those  localities,  some  of 
our  first  geologists  had  failed  to  anticipate. 
I  was  acquainted  with  it  for  nearly  ten 
years  more  ere  I  could  assign  to  its  fossils 
their  exact  place  in  the  scale. — MILLER  The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  1,  p.  13.  (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

236.  ARTIST  FEARING  BLINDNESS 

— Scientist  Explains  Difficulty — Prediction 
of  Recovery  Fulfilled. — One  of  the  most 
interesting  cases  of  diffraction  by  small  par- 
ticles that  ever  came  before  me  was  that  of 
an  artist  whose  vision  was  disturbed  by 
vividly  colored  circles.  He  was  in  great 
dread  of  losing  his  sight;  assigning  as  a 
cause  of  his  increased  fear  that  the  circles 
were  becoming  larger  and  the  colors  more 
vivid.  I  ascribed  the  colors  to  minute  par- 
ticles in  the  humors  of  the  eye,  and  ventured 
to  encourage  him  by  the  assurance  that  the 
increase  of  size  and  vividness  on  the  part  of 
the  circles  indicated  that  the  diffracting  par- 
ticles were  becoming  smaller,  and  that  they 
might  finally  be  altogether  absorbed.  The 
prediction  was  verified. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  92.  (A.,  1898.) 

237.  ARTIST,  SCIENTIFIC  BLUNDER 

OF — Asiatic  Monkey  Given  Prehensile  Tail. — 
An  amusing  illustration  of  the  wide-spread 
ignorance  which  exists  as  to  such  matters, 
and  also  of  the  use  of  the  imagination  in  a 
way  not  strictly  scientific,  occurred  with 
reference  to  the  Prince  of  Wales's  visit  to 
India  some  years  ago.  Among  other  places 
of  interest  the  Prince  visited  was  the  Tem- 
ple of  Monkeys  at  Benares.  His  visit  was 
duly  depicted  in  one  of  the  illustrated  jour- 
nals, and  no  doubt  with  scrupulous  fidelity 
in  all  these  points  to  wrhich  the  artist  di- 
rected his  attention.  Nevertheless  these 
monkeys  are  represented  as  having  prehen- 
sile tails ;  which  is  about  as  accurate  as 
would  be  a  picture  of  a  fox-hunt  by  a  sup- 
posed eye-witness  wherein  the  hounds  should 
be  represented  each  with  a  fox's  brush  for 
tail  [none  but  American  monkeys  having 
prehensile  tails]. — MIVABT  Types  of  Animal 
Life,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

238.  ARTIST,   SELECTION  THE  SE- 
CRET OF  HIS  POWER— Beauty  of  Works  of 
Art  Due  to  Elimination. — The  artist  selects 
his  items,  rejecting  all  tones,  colors,  shapes, 
which   do   not   harmonize   with    each   other 
and   with   the   main   purpose   of   his   work. 
That  unity,  harmony,  "  convergence  of  char- 
acters," as  M.  Taine  calls  it,  which  gives  to 


works  of  art  their  superiority  over  works  of 
nature,  is  wholly  due  to  elimination.  Any 
natural  subject  will  do,  if  the  artist  has  wit 
enough  to  pounce  upon  some  one  feature  of 
it  as  characteristic,  and  suppress  all  merely 
accidental  items  which  do  not  harmonize 
with  this. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9, 
p.  287.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

239.  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES,  GROWTH 

OF — From  Bow  through  Crossbow  to  Musket. 
— Arts  and  sciences  never  spring  forth  per- 
fect, like  Athene  out  of  the~split  head  of 
Zeus.  They  come  on  by  successive  steps, 
and  where  other  information  fails  the  ob- 
server may  often  trust  himself  to  judge 
from  the  mere  look  of  an  invention  how  it 
probably  arose.  Thus  no  one  can  look  at  a 
crossbow  and  a  common  longbow  without 
being  convinced  that  the  longbow  was  the 
earlier,  and  that  the  crossbow  was  made 
afterwards  by  fitting  a  common  bow  on  a 
stock,  and  arranging  a  trigger  to  let  go  the 
string  after  taking  aim.  Tho  history  fails 
to  tell  us  who  did  this  and  when,  we  feel  al- 
most as  sure  of  it  as  of  the  known  historical 
facts  that  the  crossbow  led  up  to  the  match- 
lock, and  that  again  to  the  flint-lock  mus- 
ket, and  that  again  to  the  percussion  mus- 
ket, and  that  again  to  the  breech-loading 
rifle. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p.  18. 
(A.,  1899.) 

240.  ASCENT  FROM  BRUTE  TO  MAN 

— Alpine  Heights  of  Intellect — Marvelous 
Endowment  of  Speech — Spiritual  Exalta- 
tion.— Nay,  more;  thoughtful  men,  once 
escaped  from  the  blinding  influences  of  tra- 
ditional prejudice,  will  find  in  the  lowly 
stock  whence  man  has  sprung  the  best  evi- 
dence of  the  splendor  of  his  capacities,  and 
will  discern  in  his  long  progress  through 
the  past  a  reasonable  ground  of  faith  in  his 
attainment  of  a  nobler  future. 

They  will  remember  that  in  comparing 
civilized  man  with  the  animal  world  one  is 
as  the  Alpine  traveler,  who  sees  the  moun- 
tains soaring  into  the  sky,  and  can  hardly 
discern  where  the  deep-shadowed  crags  and 
roseate  peaks  end  and  where  the  clouds  of 
heaven  begin.  Surely  the  awe-struck  voy- 
ager may  be  excused  if  at  first  he  refuses  to 
believe  the  geologist,  who  tells  him  that 
these  glorious  masses  are,  after  all,  the 
hardened  mud  of  primeval  seas,  or  the 
cooled  slag  of  subterranean  furnaces — of 
one  substance  with  the  dullest  clay,  but 
raised  by  inward  forces  to  that  place  of 
proud  and  seemingly  inaccessible  glory. 

But  the  geologist  is  right;  and  due  re- 
flection on  his  teachings,  instead  of  di- 
minishing our  reverence  and  our  wonder, 
adds  all  the  force  of  intellectual  sublimity 
to  the  more  esthetic  intuition  of  the  unin- 
structed  beholder. 

And  after  passion  and  prejudice  have 
died  away  the  same  result  will  attend  the 
teachings  of  the  naturalist  respecting  that 
great  Alps  and  Andes  of  the  living  world — 


Ascent 
Assumptions 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


48 


man.  Our  reverence  for  the  nobility  of 
manhood  will  not  be  lessened  by  the  knowl- 
edge that  man  is,  in  substance  and  in  struc- 
ture, one  with  the  brutes;  for  he  alone 
possesses  the  marvelous  endowment  of  in- 
telligible and  rational  speech  whereby,  in 
the  secular  period  of  his  existence,  he  has 
slowly  accumulated  and  organized  the  ex- 
perience which  is  almost  wholly  lost  with 
the  cessation  of  every  individual  life  in 
other  animals;  so  that  now  he  stands 
raised  upon  it  as  on  a  mountain-top,  far 
above  the  level  of  his  humble  fellows,  and 
transfigured  from  his  grosser  nature  by  re- 
flecting, here  and  there,  a  ray  from  the  in- 
finite source  of  truth. — HUXLEY  Man's 
Place  in  Nature,  p.  234.  -(Hum.) 

241.  ASPIRATION  OF  SCIENCE  LIM- 
ITLESS —  The      idea      of      limitation      to 
thought  or  achievement  no  longer  enters  the 
imagination.      The    depth    of    the    sea,    the 
distances  of  the  stars,  the  concealment  of 
the    earth's    treasures,    the    minuteness    of 
the   springs   of   life   and   sense,   the  multi- 
plicity  and    complicity   of   phenomena    are 
only  so  many  incitements  to  greater  achieve- 
ments.    The  daring  souls  of  this  decade  are 

'  determined  at  any  risk  to  answer  the  in- 
quiry of  Pontius  Pilate,  What  is  truth? 
With  sympathetic  enthusiasm  we  wave 
them  on,  bidding  them  Godspeed. — MASON 
The  Birth  of  Invention.  An  Address. 
[Washington,  D.  C.,  1891.] 

242.  ASSIMILATION    OF    COLOR    TO 

ENVIRONMENT—  Transparency  of  Pelagic 
Animals. — An  .  .  .  illustration  of  gen- 
eral assimilation  of  color  to  the  surround- 
ings of  animals  is  furnished  by  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  deep  oceans.  Professor  Mose- 
ley,  of  the  Challenger  Expedition,  in  his 
British  Association  lecture  on  this  subject, 
says :  "  Most  characteristic  of  pelagic 
animals  is  the  almost  crystalline  trans- 
parency of  their  bodies.  So  perfect  is  this 
transparency  that  very  many  of  them  are 
rendered  almost  entirely  invisible  when 
floating  in  the  water,  while  some,  even  when 
caught  and  held  up  in  a  glass  globe,  are 
hardly  to  be  seen.  The  skin,  nerves,  mus- 
cles, and  other  organs  are  absolutely  hya- 
line and  transparent,  but  the  liver  and  di- 
gestive tract  often  remain  opaque  and  of  a 
yellow  or  brown  color,  and  exactly  resemble 
when  seen  in  the  water  small  pieces  of  float- 
ing seaweed."  Such  marine  organisms,  how- 
ever, as  are  of  larger  size,  and  either  occa- 
sionally or  habitually  float  on  the  surface, 
are  beautifully  tinged  with  blue  above,  thus 
harmonizing  with  the  color  of  the  sea  as 
seen  by  hovering  birds ;  while  they  are  white 
below,  and  are  thus  invisible  against  the 
wave-foam  and  clouds  as  seen  by  enemies  be- 
neath the  surface.  Such  are  the  tints  of  the 
beautiful  nudibranchiate  mollusk,  Glaucus 
atlanticus,  and  many  others. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  132.  (Hum.,  1889.) 


243.  ASSOCIATION    A    SOURCE    OF 
POWER — Gregarious  Animals,   However  De- 
fenseless, Survive — Each  Has  the  Foresight 
and  Perception  of  the  Herd. — One  of  these 
advantages    [of   gregariousness] ,    obviously, 
is  the  mere  physical  strength  of  numbers. 
But  there  is  another  and  a  much  more  im- 
portant one — the  mental  strength  of  a  com- 
bination.    Here  is  a  herd  of  deer,  scattered, 
as  they  love  to  be,  in  a  string,  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  long.     Every  animal  in  the  herd  not 
only  shares  the  physical  strength  of  all  the 
rest,  but  their  powers  of  observation.     Its 
foresight  in  presence  of  possible  danger  is 
the  foresight  of  the  herd.     It  has  as  many 
eyes  as  the  herd,   as  many  ears,   as  many 
organs  of  smell;    its  nervous  system  extends 
throughout  the  whole  space  covered  by  the 
line;    its  environment,  in  short,  is  not  only 
what  it  hears,  sees,  smells,  touches,  tastes, 
but  what  every  single  member  hears,  sees, 
smells,    touches,    tastes.      This    means    an 
enormous  advantage  in  the  struggle  for  life. 
What   deer   have   to   arm   themselves    most 
against  is  surprise.     When  it  comes  to  an 
actual  fight,  comrades  are  of  little  use.     At 
that  crisis  the  others  run  away  and  leave 
the  victims  to  their  fate.     But  in  helping 
one  another  to  avert  that  crisis,  the  value 
of  this   mutual   aid   is   so   great   that   gre- 
garious  animals,   for  the  most  part  timid 
and    defenseless    as    individuals,    have    sur- 
vived  to  occupy  in  untold  multitudes   the 
highest  places  'in  nature. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  p.  155.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

244.  ASSOCIATION    IN    THOUGHT— 

Interdependence  of  the  Various  Parts  of  the 
Brain. — Every  namable  thing,  act,  or  rela- 
tion has  numerous  properties,  qualities,  or 
aspects.  In  our  minds  the  properties  of 
each  thing,  together  with  its  name,  form 
an  associated  group.  If  different  parts  of 
the  brain  are  severally  concerned  with  the 
several  properties,  and  a  farther  part  with 
the  hearing,  and  still  another  with  the  ut- 
tering, of  the  name,  there  must  inevitably 
be  brought  about  (through  the  law  of  asso- 
ciation) such  a  dynamic  connection 
amongst  all  these  brain-parts  that  the  ac- 
tivity of  any  one  of  them  will  be  likely  to 
awaken  the  activity  of  all  the  rest.  When 
we  are  talking  as  we  think,  the  ultimate 
process  is  that  of  utterance.  If  the  brain- 
part  for  that  be  injured,  speech  is  impos- 
sible or  disorderly,  even  tho  all  the  other 
brain-parts  be  intact. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  57.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

245.  ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  IMPRES- 
SIONS   OF    DIFFERENT    SENSES—  Touch 
Awakens  Memories  of  Sight  and  Sound. — 
Association   occurs    as    amply   between    im- 
pressions   of    different    senses    as    between 
homogeneous  sensations.      Seen   things   and 
heard  things   cohere  with   each   other,   and 
with  odors  and  tastes,  in  representation,  in 
the  same  order  in  which  they  cohered  as  im- 
pressions of  the  outer  world.     Feelings  of 
contact     reproduce     similarly     the     sights, 


49 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ascent 
Assumptions 


sounds,  and  tastes  with  which  experience 
has  associated  them.  In  fact,  the  "  ob- 
jects "  of  our  perception,  as  trees,  men, 
nouses,  microscopes,  of  which  the  real  world 
seems  composed,  are  nothing  but  clusters 
of  qualities  which  through  simultaneous 
stimulation  have  so  coalesced  that  the  mo- 
ment one  is  excited  actually  it  serves  as  a 
sign  or  cue  for  the  idea  of  the  others  to 
rise.  Let  a  person  enter  his  room  in  the 
dark  and  grope  among  the  objects  there. 
The  touch  of  the  matches  will  instanta- 
neously recall  their  appearance.  If  his 
hand  comes  in  contact  with  an  orange  on 
the  table,  the  golden  yellow  of  the  fruit,  its 
savor  and  perfume  will  forthwith  shoot 
through  his  mind.  In  passing  the  hand 
over  the  sideboard  or  in  jogging  the  coal- 
scuttle with  the  foot,  the  large,  glossy,  dark 
shape  of  the  one  and  the  irregular  blackness 
of  the  other  awaken  like  a  flash  and  con- 
stitute what  we  call  the  recognition  of  the 
objects.  The  voice  of  the  violin  faintly 
echoes  through  the  mind  as  the  hand  is  laid 
upon  it  in  the  dark,  and  the  feeling  of  the 
garments  or  draperies  which  may  hang 
about  the  room  is  not  understood  till  the 
look  correlative  to  the  feeling  has  in  each 
case  been  resuscitated.  .  .  .  We  can- 
not hear  the  din  of  a  railroad  train  or  the 
yell  of  its  whistle  without  thinking  of  its 
long,  jointed  appearance  and  its  headlong 
speed,  nor  catch  a  familiar  voice  in  a 
crowd  without  recalling,  with  the  name  of 
the  speaker,  also  his  face. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  14,  p.  555.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

246.    ASSOCIATION,  THE  SPIRIT  OF 

— Power  of  Voluntary  Societies — Church — 
Country. — New  motives  can  be  evoked  and 
put  in  action  by  the  adopting  of  appropri- 
ate means.  The  mere  founding,  for  ex- 
ample, of  a  voluntary  society  for  any  given 
purpose  evolves  out  of  the  primary  ele- 
ments of  human  character  a  latent  force  of 
the  most  powerful  kind,  namely,  the  mo- 
tive— the  sentiment— the  feeling — the  pas- 
sion, as  it  often  is,  of  the  spirit  of  associa- 
tion. This  is  a  passion  which  defies  anal- 
ysis. The  cynic  may  reduce  it  to  a  form 
of  selfishness — and  undoubtedly  the  identi- 
fication of  the  interests,  and  the  desires  of 
self  with  the  society  for  which  this  passion 
is  conceived,  lies  at  its  very  root  and  is  of 
its  very  essence.  It  is  true,  also,  that  it  is 
a  passion  so  powerful  as  to  need  strong  con- 
trol— without  which  control  it  generates 
some  of  the  very  meanest  emotions  of  the 
heart.  Out  of  it  there  has  come,  and  there 
comes  again  and  again  from  age  to  age,  a 
spirit  of  hatred  even  against  good  itself, 
when  that  good  is  the  work  of  any  one  who 
"  followeth  not  us."  It  is  a  force,  neverthe- 
less, rooted  in  the  nature  of  man,  implanted 
there  as  part  of  its  constitution,  and,  like 
all  others  of  this  character,  given  him  for 
a  purpose,  and  having  its  own  legitimate 
field  of  operation.  Nor  is  that  field  a  nar- 


row one.  The  spirit  of  association  is  the 
fountain  of  much  that  is  noblest  in  human 
character,  and  of  much  that  is  most  heroic 
in  human  conduct.  For  all  the  desires  and 
aspirations  of  self  are  not  selfish.  The  in- 
terests of  self,  justly  appreciated  and  right- 
ly understood,  may  be,  nay  indeed  must  be, 
the  interests  also  of  other  men — of  society 
— of  country — of  the  church,  and  of  the 
world. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  219. 
(Burt.) 

247.  ASSUMPTION  NECESSARY  TO 
MAINTAIN    A    THEORY — Spontaneous  Gen- 
eration  ~Never  Known — Assumed  in   Order 
to  Dispense  with  a  Creator. — The  origin  of 
the  first  Monera  by  spontaneous  generation 
appears  to   us   as  a  simple  and  necessary 
event  in  the  process  of  the  development  of 
the  earth.     We  admit  that  this  process,  as 
long  as  it  is  not  directly  observed  or  re- 
peated by  experiment,  remains  a  pure  hy- 
pothesis.    But  I  must  again  say  that  this 
hypothesis    is    indispensable    for    the    con- 
sistent   completion    of    the    non-miraculous 
history  of  creation,  that  it  has  absolutely 
nothing  forced  or  miraculous  about  it,  and 
that  certainly  it  can  never  be  positively  re- 
futed.    It  must  also  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration that  the  process  of  spontaneous  gen- 
eration, even  if  it  still  took  place  daily  and 
hourly,   would  in   any   case  be   exceedingly 
difficult  to   observe  and  establish  with   ab- 
solute certainty  as  such.     This  is  also  the 
opinion   of  Naegeli,   the   ingenious    investi- 
gator, and  he,  in  his  admirable  chapter  on 
spontaneous  generation,  maintains  that  "  to 
deny  spontaneous  generation  is  to  proclaim 
miracles." — HAECKEL   History   of   Creation, 
vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p.  422.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

248.  ASSUMPTIONS    OF    MONISM— 

Spontaneous  Generation  Never  Proved — 
Mind  to  Be  Evolved  from  Fire-mist — Faith 
Demanded  in  Philosophic  Creed. — It  is 
plain  that  we  might  here  enter  our  dissent 
from  Haeckel's  method,  for  he  requires  us, 
before  we  can  proceed  a  single  step  in  the 
evolution  of  man,  to  assume  many  things 
which  he  cannot  prove.  What  evidence  is 
there,  for  example,  of  the  possibility  of  the 
development  of  the  rational  and  moral  na- 
ture of  man  from  the  intelligence  and  the 
instinct  of  the  lower  animals,  or  of  the 
necessary  dependence  of  the  phenomena  of 
mind  on  the  structure  of  brain-cells?  The 
evidence,  so  far  as  it  goes,  seems  to  tend 
the  other  way.  What  proof  is  there  of  the 
spontaneous  evolution  of  living  forms  from 
inorganic  matter?  Experiment  so  far  nega- 
tives the  possibility  of  this.  Even  if  we 
give  Haeckel,  to  begin  with,  a  single  living 
cell  or  granule  of  protoplasm,  we  know  that 
this  protoplasm  must  have  been  produced 
bv  the  agency  of  a  living  vegetable  cell  pre- 
viously existing;  and  we  have  no  proof 
that  it  can  be  produced  in  any  other  way. 
Asrain.  what  particle  of  evidence  have  we 
that  the  atoms  or  the  energy  of  an  incan- 
descent fire-mist  have  in  them  anything  of 


Asaumptions 
Astronomy 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


50 


the  power  or  potency  of  life?  We  must 
grant  the  monist  all  these  postulates  as 
pure  matters  of  faith  before  he  can  begin 
his  demonstration;  and,  as  none  of  them 
are  axiomatic  truths,  it  is  evident  that  so 
far  he  is  simply  a  believer  in  the  dogmas  of 
a  philosophic  creed,  and  in  this  respect  weak 
as  other  men  whom  he  affects  to  despise. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  1,  p.  58.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

249.  ASSURANCE  OF  OUR  OWN  RE- 
ALITY —  We    reach    thus    the    important 
conclusion  that  our  own  reality,  that  sense 
of  our  own  life  which  we  at  every  moment 
possess,  is  the  ultimate  of  ultimates  for  our 
belief.     "  As  sure  as  I  exist !  " — this  is  our 
uttermost    warrant    for    the    being    of    all 
other    things. — JAMES    Psychology,   vol.    ii, 
ch.  21,  p.  297.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

250.  ASTEROIDS,  COUNTLESS  HOST 

OF — Photography  Surpasses  the  Human  Eye 
in  Observing — Study  of  This  Band  a  Special 
Department  of  Science. — The  detection  of 
new  members  of  the  solar  system  has  come 
to  be  one  of  the  most  ordinary  of  astro- 
nomical events.  Since  1846  no  single  year 
has  passed  without  bringing  its  tribute  of 
asteroidal  discovery.  .  .  .  Both  [time 
and  diligence]  are  vastly  economized  by  the 
photographic  method.  Tedious  compari- 
sons of  the  sky  with  charts  are  no  longer 
needed  for  the  identification  of  unrecorded, 
because  simulated,  stars.  Planetary  bodies 
declare  themselves  by  appearing  upon  prop- 
erly exposed  sensitive  plates,  not  in  circu- 
lar, but  in  linear  form.  Their  motion  con- 
verts their  images  into  trails,  long  or  short 
according  to  the  time  of  exposure.  .  .  . 
Far  more  onerous  than  the  task  of  their 
discovery  is  that  of  keeping  them  in  view 
once  discovered — of  tracking  out  their 
paths,  fixing  their  places,  and  calculating 
the  disturbing  effects  upon  them  of  the 
mighty  Jovian  mass.  These  complex  opera-' 
tions  have  come  to  be  centralized  at  Berlin 
under  the  superintendence  of  Professor 
Tietjen,  and  their  results  are  given  to  the 
public  through  the  medium  of  the  Berliner 
Astronomisches  Jahrbuch. — CLEBKE  History 
of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  346.  (Bl., 
1893.) 

251.  ASTRONOMY     A    CONTINUOUS 
SCIENCE— Each  Discoverer  Builds  on  Pre- 
vious Discoveries. — The  theory  of  universal 
gravitation  was  founded  by  Newton  upon 
the  laws   of  Kepler,   the   observations   and 
measurements     of    his     French     contempo- 
raries,   and    the    geometry    of    Apollonius. 
Kepler   used   as  his   material   the  observa- 
tions of  Tycho  Brahe,  and  built  upon  the 
theory  of  Copernicus.     When  we  seek  the 
origin   of  the  instruments   used  by   Tycho, 
we  soon  find  ourselves  among  the  medieval 
Arabs.     The  discovery  of  the  true  system  of 
the  world  by  Copernicus  was  only  possible 
by  a  careful  study  of  the  laws  of  apparent 
motion  of  the  planets  as  expressed  in  the 


epicycles  of  Ptolemy  and  Hipparchus.  In- 
deed, the  more  carefully  one  studies  the 
great  work  of  Copernicus,  the  more  sur- 
prised he  will  be  to  find  how  completely 
Ptolemy  furnished  him  both  ideas  and  ma- 
terial. If  we  seek  the  teachers  and  prede- 
cessors of  Hipparchus,  we  find  only  the 
shadowy  forms  of  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
priests,  whose  names  and  writings  are  all 
entirely  lost.  In  the  earliest  historic  ages, 
men  knew  that  the  earth  was  round;  that 
the  sun  appeared  to  make  an  annual  revo- 
lution among  the  stars;  and  that  eclipses 
were  caused  by  the  moon  entering  the 
shadow  of  the  earth,  or  the  earth  that  of 
the  moon. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy, 
pt.  i,  int.,  p.  1.  (H.,  1899.) 

252.  ASTRONOMY,  FASCINATION  OF 

— Compared  with  Novel-reading — Astron- 
omy Instructs — The  Novel  Gives  No  Ad- 
vance in  Knowledge. — Such  a  book  [a  popu- 
lar treatise  on  astronomy],  altho  of  more 
real  interest  and  more  attractive  than  a 
novel,  should  be  read  with  attention,  and 
only  on  this  condition  can  the  ideas  it  con- 
tains impart  lasting  scientific  instruction. 
But  whereas  when  we  reach  the  last  page 
of  a  novel  we  know  just  as  much  as  when 
we  began  the  first,  we  must  be  either  blind 
or  oblivious  to  all  intellectual  apprehension 
if  the  reading  of  a  scientific  work  does  not 
greatly  extend  the  sphere  of  our  knowledge, 
and  does  not  more  and  more  elevate  the 
level  of  our  judgment.  We  might  even  say 
that  in  our  age  it  should  be  impossible  for 
any  one's  mind  to  be  so  little  cultivated  as 
to  remain  in  ignorance  of  the  absolute 
truths  revealed  by  the  grand  conquests  of 
modern  astronomy. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  p.  2.  (A.) 

253.  ASTRONOMY,         GENERALIZA- 
TIONS   OF— The  Indefinitely   Great  and  the 
Indefinitely    Little    Alike    Her   Province. — 
Astronomy  generalizes  the  results  of  other 
sciences.     She  exhibits  the  laws  of  Nature 
working  over  a  wider  area,  and  under  more 
varied  conditions,  than  ordinary  experience 
presents.    Ordinary  experience,  on  the  other 
hand,    has    become    indispensable    to    her 
progress.     She  takes  in  at  one  view  the  in- 
definitely great  and  the  indefinitely  little. 
The  mutual  revolutions  of  the  stellar  multi- 
tude during  tracts  of  time  which  seem  to 
lengthen  out  to  eternity  as   the  mind  at- 
tempts to  traverse  them,  she  does  not  admit 
to  be  beyond  her  ken ;    nor  is  she  indifferent 
to   the  constitution   of  the  minutest   atom 
of  matter  that  thrills  the  ether  into  light. — 
CLERKE   History  of  Astronomy,  int.,   p.    9. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

254.  ASTRONOMY  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

— Discoveries  Recorded  in  Structure  of  the 
Pyramids. — The  Egyptians,  who  built  the 
great  pyramids  more  than  forty  centuries 
ago,  constructed  the  passages  which  permit 
us  to  penetrate  into  the  interior  exactly  in 
the  direction  of  the  north,  and  at  an  in- 
clination of  27  degrees,  which  is  precisely 


„ 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Assumption-* 
Astronomy 


the  altitude  which  the  pole  star  of  that  day, 
a  Draconis,  attained  at  its  lower  transit 
across  the  meridian. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  p.  39.  (A.) 

255.  ASTRONOMY    IN    CHINA— More 

Fitly  Termed  Astrology — Calculations 
Grossly  Erroneous. — Arguments  in  support 
of  the  presumed  knowledge  of  the  Chinese 
regarding  navigation  are  often  based  on 
their  alleged  attainments  in  astronomy; 
for  they  have  undoubtedly  studied  the  phe- 
nomena dealt  with  by  that  science  since 
time  immemorial.  But  their  calculations 
of  eclipses  have  been  found  erroneous;  and 
the  astronomer  Cassini,  in  examining  an 
observation  of  one  winter  solstice  very  cele- 
brated in  their  annals,  discovered  therein 
an  error  of  no  less  than  487  years.  They 
are  rather  astrologers  than  astronomers, 
and  their  tribunal  of  mathematics,  exist- 
ing, as  it  has,  for  centuries,  has  found  its 
chief  occupation  in  indicating  to  the  gov- 
ernment fortunate  days  for  national  enter- 
prises or  ceremonials  rather  than  in  gather- 
ing the  results  of  observation.  In  brief, 
their  system  of  astronomy  is  rigidity  itself, 
and  if  its  predictions  fail  they  argue  that 
the  fault  is  not  in  themselves,  but  in  their 
stars,  and  settle  the  matter  by  deferring 
further  prophecy  until  after  the  event. — 
PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity, ch.  3,  p.  79.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

256.  ASTRONOMY   MADE  POSSIBLE 
BY  MATHEMATICS— Ancient  Thinkers  Pre- 
pared  the   Way   for   Modern  Discoverers — 
Reason  Directs  the  Telescope. — The  age  of 
the  Ptolemies  was  a  most  brilliant  epoch 
in  the  prosecution  of  mathematical  inves- 
tigations.    In  the  same  century  there  ap- 
peared Euclid,  the  creator  of  mathematics 
as    a    science;     Apollonius    of    Perga,    and 
Archimedes,    who    visited   Egypt,    and   was 
connected  through  Conon  with  the  school  of. 
Alexandria.     The  long  period  of  time  which 
leads  from  the  so-called  geometrical   anal- 
ysis of  Plato     ...     to  the  age  of  Kep- 
ler and  Tycho  Brahe,  Euler  and  Clairaut, 
D'Alembert   and  Laplace,    is   marked  by   a 
series  of  mathematical  discoveries  without 
which    the    laws    of    the    motion    of    the 
heavenly  bodies  and  their  mutual  relations 
in  the  regions  of  space  would  not  have  been 
revealed  to  mankind.     While  the  telescope 
serves  as  a  means  of  penetrating  space,  and 
of  bringing  its  remotest  regions  nearer  to 
us,    mathematics,    by    inductive    reasoning, 
have  led  us  onward  to  the  remotest  regions 
of  heaven,  and  brought  a  portion  of  them 
within  the  range  of  our  possession;    nay,  in 
our  own  times — so  propitious  to  extension 
of    knowledge — the    application    of    all    the 
elements   yielded  by  the  present   condition 
of  astronomy  has  even  revealed  to  the  in- 
tellectual eye  a  heavenly  body,  and  assigned 
to  it   its  place,   orbit,   and  mass,  before   a 
single  telescope  had  been  directed  toward  it. 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  179. 
(H.,  1897.) 


257.  ASTRONOMY     OF     ANTIQUITY 

— Substitute  for  the  Telescope — Lensless 
Tubes  Excluded  Diffused  Light. — We  find, 
without  including  the  epoch  of  the  Chal- 
deans, Egyptians,  and  Chinese,  that  more 
than  nineteen  centuries  intervened  between 
the  age  of  Timochares  and  Aristillus  and 
the  discoveries  of  Galileo,  during  which 
period  the  position  and  course  of  the  stars 
were  observed  by  the  eye  alone,  unaided  by 
instruments.  .  .  .  We  are  astonished 
that  Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy  should  have 
been  so  well  acquainted  with  the  precession 
of  the  equinoxes,  the  complicated  move- 
ments of  the  planets,  the  two  principal 
inequalities  of  the  moon,  and  the  position 
of  the  stars;  that  Copernicus  should  have 
had  so  great  a  knowledge  of  the  true  sys- 
tem of  the  universe;  and  that  Tycho 
Brahe  should  have  been  so  familiar  with  the 
methods  of  practical  astronomy  before  the 
discovery  of  the  telescope.  Long  tubes, 
which  were  certainly  employed  by  Arabian 
astronomers,  and  very  probably  also  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  may  indeed,  in  some 
degree,  have  increased  the  exactness  of  the 
observations  by  causing  the  object  to  be 
seen  through  diopters  or  slits.  Abul-Has- 
san  speaks  very  distinctly  of  tubes,  to  the 
extremities  of  which  ocular  and  object 
diopters  were  attached;  and  instruments 
so  constructed  were  used  in  the  observatory 
founded  by  Hulagu  at  Meragha.  If  stars  be 
more  easily  discovered  during  twilight  by 
means  of  tubes,  and  if  a  star  be  sooner  re- 
vealed to  the  naked  eye  through  a  tube  than 
without  it,  the  reason  lies,  as  Arago  has  al- 
ready observed,  in  the  circumstance  that 
the  tube  conceals  a  great  portion  of  the  dis- 
turbing light  diffused  in  the  atmospheric 
strata  between  the  star  and  the  eye  applied 
to  the  tube.  In  like  manner,  the  tube  pre- 
vents the  lateral  impression  of  the  faint 
light  which  the  particles  of  air  receive  at 
night  from  all  the  other  stars  in  the  firma- 
ment. The  intensity  of  the  image  and  the 
size  of  the  star  are  apparently  augmented. 
In  a  frequently  emendated  and  much  con- 
tested passage  of  Strabo,  in  which  mention 
is  made  of  looking  through  tubes,  this  "  en- 
larged form  of  the  stars "  is  expressly 
mentioned,  and  is  erroneously  ascribed  to 
refraction. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p. 
42.  (H.,  1897.) 

258.  ASTRONOMY    OF   THE    EARLY 
WORLD— A  Slow  Growth  through  Protracted 
Observation. — Wherever      steppes,      grassy 
plains,   or   sandy  wastes   present   a   far-ex- 
tended horizon,  those  constellations  whose 
rising  or  setting  corresponds  with  the  busy 
seasons   and  requirements  of  pastoral   and 
agricultural    life   have   become   the   subject 
of  attentive  consideration,  and  have  gradu- 
ally   led    to    a    symbolizing    connection    of 
ideas.     Men  thus  became  familiarized  with 
the   aspect   of  the   heavens   before   the   de- 
velopment of  measuring  astronomy.     They 
soon  perceived  that  besides  the  daily  move- 
ment from  east  to  west,  which  is  common 


Astronomy 
Atmosphere 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


52 


to  all  celestial  bodies,  the  sun  has  a  far 
slower  proper  motion  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion. The  stars  which  shine  in  the  evening 
sky  sink  lower  every  day,  until  at  length 
they  are  wholly  lost  amid  the  rays  of  the 
setting  sun;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  stars  which  were  shining  in  the  morn- 
ing sky,  before  the  rising  of  the  sun,  recede 
further  and  further  from  it.  In  the  ever- 
changing  aspect  of  the  starry  heavens  suc- 
cessive constellations  are  always  coming  to 
view.  A  slight  degree  of  attention  suffices 
to  show  that  these  are  the  same  which  had 
before  vanished  in  the  west,  and  that  the 
stars  which  are  opposite  to  the  sun,  setting 
at  its  rise  and  rising  at  its  setting,  had 
about  half  a  year  earlier  been  seen  in  its 
vicinity.  From  the  time  of  Hesiod  to  Eu- 
doxus,  and  from  the  latter  to  Aratus  and 
Hipparchus,  Hellenic  literature  abounds  in 
metaphoric  allusions  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  stars  amid  the  sun's  rays,  and  their 
appearance  in  the  morning  twilight — their 
heliacal  setting  and  rising.  An  attentive 
observation  of  these  phenomena  yielded  the 
earliest  elements  of  chronology,  which  were 
simply  expressed  in  numbers,  while  myth- 
ology, in  accordance  with  the  more  cheerful 
or  gloomy  tone  of  national  character,  con- 
tinued simultaneously  to  rule  the  heavens 
with  arbitrary  despotism. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  118.  (H.,  1897.) 

259.  ASTRONOMY     ORIGINATED 
WITH    THE  MOON— The      light      of     the 
moon  was  the  first  astronomical  illumina- 
tion.    Science  commenced  with  this  dawn, 
and  age  by  age  it  has  conquered  the  stars 
and  the  immense  universe.     This  sweet  and 
calm  light  releases  our  thoughts  from  ter- 
restrial bonds  and  compels  us  to  think  of 
the   sky;     then  the  study  of  other   worlds 
develops,     observations    increase,     and    as- 
tronomy  is   founded.        It   is   not   yet   the 
heavens,   and  it  is  already  more  than   the 
earth.     The  silent  star  of  night  is  the  first 
halting-place  on  a  voyage  towards  the  in- 
finite.— FLAMMARION    Popular    Astronomy, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  81.     (A.) 

260.  ASTRONOMY,  PRECISION  OF— 

Eclipses  Predicted  Centuries  in  Advance — 
Traced  Back  Centuries  in  the  Past — Miss- 
ing Date  of  Herodotus  Supplied — Uniform- 
ity of  Nature  Proved. — Now,  on  the  con- 
trary, with  the  much  more  precise  knowl- 
edge we  have  of  the  moon's  motion,  we  are 
in  a  position  to  calculate  and  foretell  for  a 
great  number  of  years,  and  even  centuries 
in  advance,  not  only  the  general  circum- 
stances of  eclipses  of  the  moon,  but  even  the 
detailed  course  of  eclipses  of  the  sun.  We 
can  even,  by  a  retrospective  examination, 
give  an  account  of  all  the  circumstances 
which  an  ancient  eclipse  should  have  pre- 
sented in  such  or  such  a  locality,  and  find 
the  precise  date  of  certain  historical  events 
of  which  the  epoch  is  a  subject  of  discussion. 
An  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  a  veritable  rarity 
for  any  given  place.  (Thus,  for  example, 
there  has  not  been  one  at  Paris  since  May 


22,  1724;  the  nineteenth  century  has  not  a 
single  one;  in  the  twentieth  century,  on 
April  17,  1912,  Paris  will  be  just  on  the 
limit  of  totality;  but  a  true  total  eclipse, 
of  several  minutes'  duration,  will  not  be 
seen  in  the  capital  of  France  till  August  11, 
1999.)  Herodotus  relates  that  at  the  mo- 
ment of  a  battle  between  the  Lydians  and 
the  Medes  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  at  once 
stopped  the  stupefied  combatants  and  put 
an  end  to  the  war.  Till  recently  historians 
gave  various  dates  for  this  event,  from  the 
year  626  before  our  era  down  to  the  year 
583 ;  astronomical  calculation,  however, 
proves  that  this  battle  took  place  on  May 
28  of  the  year  585  B.  C. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  182. 
(A.) 

261.  ASTRONOMY    SUPPOSED     EX- 
HAUSTED— Reenforcement    of   Physics    Has 
Given  It  New  Youth — The  Nature  vs.   the 
Movements   of   the   Heavenly   Bodies. — The 
astronomy  so  signally  promoted  by  Bessel — 
the  astronomy  placed  by  Comte  at  the  head 
of  the  hierarchy  of  the  physical  sciences — 
was  the   science  of  the   movements   of   the 
heavenly  bodies.    And  there  were  those  who 
began  to  regard  it  as  a  science  which,  from 
its  very  perfection,  had  ceased  to  be  inter- 
esting— whose  tale  of  discoveries  was  told, 
and  whose  further  advance  must  be  in  the 
line  of  minute  technical  improvements,  not 
of  novel  and  stirring  disclosures.     But  the 
science  of  the  nature  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
is  one  only  in  the  beginning  of  its  career. 
It  is  full  of  the  audacities,  the  inconsist- 
encies, the  imperfections,  the  possibilities  of 
youth.     It  promises  everything;    it  has  al- 
ready  performed   much;     it   will    doubtless 
perform  much  more.     The  means  at  its  dis- 
posal  are   vast   and   are   being   daily   aug- 
mented.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  1,  p.  177.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

262.  ASTRONOMY,      TRANSFORMA- 
TION OF — A  New  Epoch — The  Manifestation 
of    Universal   Life — Peaceful   and    Glorious 
Conquests    of    Science. — Moreover,    astron- 
omy   presents    us    now   with    one    of    those 
radical     transformations    which     form     an 
epoch    in    the   history    of    the    science.      It 
ceases   to   be   a   figure   and   becomes    alive. 
The   spectacle   of   the  universe   is   transfig- 
ured before  our  astonished  minds.     It  is  no 
longer    inert   bodies    rolling    in    silence    in 
eternal    night    that    the    finger    of    Urania 
shows  us  in  the  depths  of  the  heavens;    it 
is    life — life    immense,    universal,    eternal, 
unfolding  itself  in  waves  of  harmony  out  to 
the   inaccessible  horizon   of   an   eternal   in- 
finite.     What    marvelous    results!       What 
splendors  to  contemplate!      What  magnifi- 
cent fields  to  traverse!      WTiat  a  series  of 
pictures  to  admire  in  these  noble  and  peace- 
ful conquests  of  the  human  mind — sublime 
conquests    which    cost    neither    blood    nor 
tears,  and  where  we  live  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  in  the  contemplation   of  the 
beautiful. — FLAMMARION    Popular    Astron- 
omy, bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  3.     (A.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Astronomy 
Atmosphere 


263.  ASTRONOMY,    UNEXPECTED 
DEVELOPMENTS  IN— Spectroscope  and  Cam- 
era Supplement  Telescope — Man  Learns  the 
Nature  of  Orbs  Where  He  May  Never  Set 
Foot. — The  third  and  last  division  of  celes- 
tial science  may  properly  be  termed  "  phys- 
ical and  descriptive  astronomy."     It   seeks 
to  know  what  the   heavenly  bodies   are  in 
themselves,     leaving    the    How?     and    the 
Wherefore?  of  their  movements  to  be  other- 
wise answered.     .     .     .     Inquisitions  begun 
with  the  telescope  have  been  extended  and 
made  effective  in  unhoped-for  directions  by 
the    aid    of    the    spectroscope    and    photo- 
graphic camera.     .     .     . 

The  unexpected  development  of  this  new 
physical-celestial  science  is  the  leading 
fact  in  recent  astronomical  history.  It  was 
out  of  the  regular  course  of  events.  In  the 
degree  in  which  it  has  actually  occurred  it 
could  certainly  not  have  been  foreseen.  It 
was  a  seizing  of  the  prize  by  a  competitor 
who  had  hardly  been  thought  qualified  to 
enter  the  lists.  Orthodox  astronomers  of 
the  old  school  looked  with  a  certain  con- 
tempt upon  observers  who  spent  their 
nights  in  scrutinizing  the  faces  of  the  moon 
and  -planets  rather  than  in  timing  their 
transits;  or  devoted  daylight  energies  not 
to  reductions  and  computations,  but  to 
counting  and  measuring  spots  on  the  sun. 
They  were  regarded  as  irregular  practition- 
ers, to  be  tolerated  perhaps,  but  certainly 
not  encouraged. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, int.,  p.  2.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

264.  ATHEISM,     THE     HEART    RE- 
VOLTS FROM  —  Our  feeling  toward  athe- 
ism goes  much  deeper  than  the  mere  recog- 
nition of  it  as  philosophically  untrue.     The 
mood  in  which  we  condemn  it  is  not  at  all 
like  the  mood  in  which  we  reject  the  corpus- 
cular   theory     of    light.     .     .     .     We    are 
wont  to  look  upon  atheism  with  unspeak- 
able horror  and  loathing.     Our  moral  sense 
revolts  against  it  no  less  than  our  intelli- 
gence;   and  this  is  because,  on  its  practical 
side,  atheism  would  remove  humanity  from 
its  peculiar  position  in  the  world,  and  make 
it  cast  in  its  lot  with  the  grass  that  with- 
ers and  the  beasts  that  perish;     and  thus 
the  rich  and  varied  life  of  the  universe,  in 
all  the  ages  of  its  wondrous  duration,  be- 
comes deprived  of  any  such  element  of  pur- 
pose as  can  make  it  intelligible  to  us  or  ap- 
peal to  our  moral  sympathies  and  religious 
aspirations. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  1, 
p.  13.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

265.  ATHEIST  NOT  AN  IMPOSSIBLE 
CHARACTER — Has  Become  Incapable  of  See- 
ing  God   (Ps.   xiv,   1). — Men  tell  us   some- 
times there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  atheist. 
There   must    be.      There   are   some   men   to 
whom  it  is  true  that  there  is  no  God.     They 
cannot  see  God  because  they  have  no  eye. 
They  have  only  an  abortive  organ,  atrophied 
by    neglect. — DKUMMOND    Natural    Law    in 
the  Spiritual  World,  p.  103.     (H.  Al.) 


266.  ATMOSPHERE  A  FATHOMLESS 
OCEAN — Perhaps   Merging  in  That   of  Other 
Worlds. — We  used  to  be  told  that  this  at- 
mosphere   extended    forty-five    miles    above 
us,  but  later  observation  proves   its  exist- 
ence at  a  height  of  many  times  this;    and 
a  remarkable  speculation,  which  Dr.  Hunt 
strengthens  with  the  great  name  of  Newton, 
even  contemplates  it  as  extending  in  ever- 
increasing    tenuity    until    it    touches    and 
merges  in  the  atmosphere  of  other  worlds. 
— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  5,  p.   136. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

267.  ATMOSPHERE    AFFECTED    BY 
VOLCANIC    ERUPTION—  Sound-transmis- 
sion— Waves    of    Gases    Sent    Round    the 
World — Air    Filled    ivith    Rock-dust — Red 
Sunsets    for    Two    Years. — The    movements 
which  this  shock  [the  eruption  of  Krakatau 
in  1883]  impressed  on  the  atmosphere  were 
even  more  remarkable  than  those  which  it 
gave  to  the  sea.     The  sounds  of  the  explo- 
sions were  heard  for  double  the  distance  to 
which  we  have  any  record  of  their  having 
been  audible  in  previous  eruptions.     If  an 
eruption  of   Skaptar  in  Iceland  should  be 
audible  at  once  along  our  great  lakes  and 
upon  the  Mediterranean,  we  should  have  a 
case   of   sound-transmission   comparable   to 
that  in  Krakatau  in  August,    1883.     The 
waves  of  the  air  caused  by  the  sudden  pres- 
sure of  the  escaping  gases  rolled  around  the 
earth,  twice  girdling  its  circumference.     Be- 
sides the  enormous  mass  of  dust  which  fell 
upon  land  and  sea  within  a  few  hundred 
miles    of    the    point    of    explosion,    which 
probably  amounted  in  bulk  to  as  much  as 
twelve  cubic  miles,  an  unknown  amount  of 
the  more  finely  comminuted  rock  remained 
for   a   long  time   suspended   in   the   atmos- 
phere and  was  floated  over  all  parts  of  the 
earth's  surface,  giving  to  the  sky  at  morn- 
ing and  evening  the  memorable  ruddy  glow 
it  presented  in  the  two  years  following  the 
eruption. — SHALER  Aspects  of  the  Earth,  p. 
75.     (S.,  1900.) 

268.  ATMOSPHERE     A    TRAP     FOR 
SUNBEAMS— Nearness  of  the   Sun  Not  the 

Sole  Consideration — Saturn  and  Mercury. — 
The  cold  of  outer  space  can  only  be  es- 
timated, in  view  of  recent  observations,  as 
at  least  four  hundred  degrees  Fahrenheit  be- 
low zero  (mercury  freezes  at  thirty-nine  de- 
grees below ) ,  and  it  is  the  sun  which  makes 
up  the  difference  ...  to  us,  but  indi- 
rectly, and  not  in  the  way  that  we  might 
naturally  think,  and  have  till  very  lately 
thought;  for  our  atmosphere  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  it  beside  the  direct  solar 
rays,  allowing  more  to  come  in  than  to  go 
out,  until  the  temperature  rises  very  much 
higher  than  it  would  were  there  no  air 
here.  Thus,  since  it  is  this  power  in  the 
atmosphere  of  storing  the  heat  which  makes 
us  live,  no  less  than  the  sun's  rays  them- 
selves, we  see  how  the  temperature  of  a 
planet  may  depend  on  considerations  quite 
beside  its  distance  from  the  sun;  and  when 


AtmoEwhere 

A  t«t  HIM 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


54 


we  discuss  the  possibility  of  life  in  other 
worlds  we  shall  do  well  to  remember  that 
Saturn  may  be  possibly  a  warm  world,  and 
Mercury  conceivably  a  cold  one. — LANGLEY 
New  Astronomy,  ch.  5,  p.  136.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

269.  ATMOSPHERE  A  VAST  HYDRO- 
ELECTRIC MATOttNE— Friction  a  General 
Source  of  Electricity — Air  and  Earth 
Mutually  Electrified. — It  has  been  found 
that  friction  is  a  far  more  general  source 
of  electricity  than  was  at  first  believed.  In 
fact,  electrical  phenomena  appear  to  be  a 
constant  result  of  friction,  whatever  may  be 
the  nature  of  the  substances  rubbed.  Thus 
it  is  developed  by  blowing  air  over  glass. 
.  .  .  When,  now,  we  consider  that  the 
air  is  always  rubbing  over  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  at  times  with  great  rapidity,  we 
shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  both 
bodies  are  constantly  in  an  electrified  condi- 
tion, the  earth  being  generally  charged 
negatively  and  the  atmosphere  positively. 
Even  in  fair  weather  it  is  always  possible 
to  detect  the  presence  of  free  electricity  in 
the  atmosphere;  and  during  a  storm,  when 
clouds  filled  with  drops  of  water  are  hur- 
ried over  the  surface,  grinding  against  the 
hills  and  the  trees,  or  against  each  other, 
the  atmosphere  becomes  a  vast  hydro-elec- 
tric machine,  whose  sparks  are  the  light- 
ning and  the  noise  of  whose  discharges  the 
thunder. — COOKE  Religion  and  Chemistry, 
ch.  2,  p.  59.  (S.,  1891.) 

27O.     ATMOSPHERE,   MAGNETIC— 

Aura  around  Electrical  Conductor. — The 
electrical  current  is  competent  to  produce 
effects  not  merely  in  its  channel  or  con- 
ductor— like  water  turning  a  wheel — but  to 
influence  bodies  entirely  outside  of  that 
channel.  It  causes,  around  its  conductor,  a 
peculiar  aura  or  atmosphere  like  that 
around  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  but  differing 
from  the  latter  as  a  whirlwind  differs  from 
a  steady  gale.  It  converts  the  conductor 
into  a  magnet,  which,  like  other  magnets, 
is  capable  of  influencing  magnetic  bodies  to 
become  magnets.  It  also  converts  magnetic 
bodies,  around  which  the  conductor  is 
wound,  into  magnets;  and  a  bar  of  iron  in 
this  way  is  given  all  the  properties  which 
it  would  have  were  it  normally  and  nat- 
urally a  magnet,  or  piece  of  lodestone. — 
PARK  BENJAMIN  Age  of  Electricity,  ch.  6, 
p.  87.  (S.,  1897.) 

271. Aura  or   Field  of 

Force  around  the  Poles  of  a  Magnet. — It 
appears,  therefore,  that  around  the  pole  of 
a  magnet  exists  this  strange  atmosphere — 
a  so-called  "  field  of  force,"  in  which  exist 
strains  and  pulls  and  pushes  as  if  a  host 
of  infinitesimal  beings  were  at  work  seiz- 
ing upon  the  filings,  and  arranging  them  to 
make  them  accommodate  themselves  to  this 
new  condition  of  affairs.  And  the  result  of 
it  all  is,  that  we  recognize  seeming  lines  of 
force  radiating  from  the  pole.  It  is  a  won- 


derful atmosphere,  that  magnetic  field.  We 
have  only  to  move  a  piece  of  iron  in  it,  in 
a  peculiar  way,  to  make  speech  heard  miles 
distant,  or  to  produce  the  light  which  is 
weaker  only  than  the  sun  in  power;  and 
what  still  stranger  things  may  yet  be  done 
no  one  knows. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Age  of 
Electricity,  ch.  6,  p.  75.  (S.,  1897.) 

272.     ATMOSPHERE    OF     DEATH— A 

Barbarous  Experiment — Suffocation  of  a 
Dog — Gas  Bailed  Out  Extinguishes  Candle. 
— Many  natural  springs  of  carbonic  acid 
have  been  discovered,  one  of  which  I  should 
like  to  introduce  to  your  notice.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  the  city  of  Naples  there  is 
a  cave  called  the  Grotto  del  Cane,  a  name 
given  to  it  for  a  curious  and  culpable  rea- 
son. During  one  of  the  eruptions  of  Vesu- 
vius I  paid  a  visit,  in  company  with  two 
friends,  to  Naples,  and  went  to  see,  among 
the  other  sights  of  that  wonderful  region, 
the  Grotto  of  the  Dog.  At  a  place  adjacent 
we  met  a  guide  and  some  other  visitors. 
At  the  heels  of  the  guide  was  a  timid  little 
quadruped,  which,  for  the  time  being,  was 
the  victim  that  gave  the  cave  its  name. 
We  could  walk  into  the  cave  without  in- 
convenience, knowing,  at  the  same  time, 
from  the  descriptions  we  had  heard  and 
read,  that  our  feet  were  plunged  in  a  stream 
of  heavy  carbonic  acid  flowing  along  the 
bottom  of  the  cave.  The  poor  little  dog, 
much  against  its  will,  was  brought  into  the 
grotto.  The  stream  of  carbonic  acid  was 
not  deep  enough  to  cover  the  animal;  its 
master,  accordingly,  pressed  its  head  under 
the  suffocating  gas.  It  struggled  for  a 
time,  but  soon  became  motionless — appar- 
ently lifeless.  Taken  into  the  air  outside, 
through  a  series  of  convulsions  painful  to 
look  upon,  it  returned  to  life. 

The  experiment  is  a  barbarous  one,  and 
ought  not  to  be  tolerated.  There  are  many 
ways  of  satisfying  the  curious  without 
cruelty  to  the  dog.  I  made  the  following 
experiment,  which  seemed  to  surprise  the 
bystanders.  Placing  a  burning  candle  near 
the  bottom  of  my  hat,  in  the  open  air  out- 
side the  cave,  I  borrowed  a  cap,  and  by 
means  of  it  ladled  up  the  heavy  gas.  Pour- 
ing it  from  the  cap  into  the  hat,  the  light 
was  quenched  as  effectually  as  if  water  had 
been  poured  upon  it.  Made  with  glass  jars 
instead  of  hats,  this  is  a  familiar  labora- 
tory experiment. — TYNDALL  New  Frag- 
ments, p.  338.  (A.,  1897.) 

273.  ATMOSPHERE  OF  THE  SUN— 
Far  Exceeds  the  Central  Mass — Mam 
Body  of  the  Luminary  Commonly  Unseen. — 
WThat  we  see  of  the  sun  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances is  but  a  fraction  of  his  total 
bulk.  While  by  far  the  greater  portion  of 
the  solar  mass  is  included  within  the  photo- 
sphere— the  blazing  cloud-layer,  which 
seems  to  form  the  sun's  true,  surface,  and  is 
the  principal  source  of  his  light  and  heat — 
yet  the  larger  portion  of  his  volume  lies 
without,  and  constitutes  an  atmosphere 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Atmosphere 
Atoms 


whose  diameter  is  at  least  double,  and  its 
bulk  therefore  sevenfold  that  of  the  central 
globe. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  6,  p.  191.  (A., 
1898.) 

274.  ATMOSPHERE  ONCE  A  SOURCE 
OF  ERROR — Combustion  Not  Understood  till 
a    Century    Ago. — At    first    sight    chemical 
processes  are  frequently  very  obscure,  and 
one  great  reason  is,  that  we  live  in  an  at- 
mosphere  which    is   a   mixture   of   two    in- 
visible aeriform  substances,  named  nitrogen 
gas  and  oxygen  gas;    and  these  substances, 
especially  the  last,  are  constantly  entering 
as  factors  into  chemical  processes  without 
our  noticing  the  circumstance;    and,  again, 
the  products  of  such  processes,  when  aeri- 
form, often  escape  notice  by  mingling  with 
the  great  volume  of  the  air.     Now,  that  we 
are  on  our  guard,  we  are  seldom  deceived  by 
the  intervention  of  the  atmosphere;    but  in 
former  times,  when  the  qualities  and  rela- 
tions of  aeriform  bodies  were  little  known, 
so    great    was    the    obscurity    thus    caused 
that   even   the   familiar   processes    of   com- 
bustion   have    not    been    understood    until 
within  a  century. — COOKE  New  Chemistry, 
lect.  4,  p.  87.     (A.,  1899.) 

275.  ATMOSPHERE,    POSSIBLE,    OF 

THE  MOON— Upon  the  whole,  then,  there 
may  (and  there  should)  exist  on  the  moon 
an  atmosphere  of  feeble  density,  and  prob- 
ably of  a  composition  very  different  from 
ours.  Perhaps  there  may  also  exist  certain 
liquids,  such  as  water,  but  in  a  minimum 
quantity.  If  it  had  no  air  at  all  there 
could  not  exist  a  single  drop  of  water,  see- 
ing that  it  is  the  atmospheric  pressure 
which  maintains  water  in  the  liquid  state, 
and  that  without  it  all  water  would  imme- 
diately evaporate.  It  is  possible,  after  all, 
that  the  lunar  hemisphere  which  we  never 
see  may  be  richer  in  fluids  than  the  visible 
one.  But  we  see  that  in  any  case  it  would 
be  contrary  to  the  real  interpretation  of 
facts  to  assert,  as  is  too  often  done,  that 
there  is  absolutely  no  atmosphere  nor  any 
liquid  or  fluid  on  the  surface  of  the  moon. — 
FLAMMABION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  4,  p.  140.  (A.) 

276.  ATMOSPHERE  SEPARATED  IN- 
TO   STRATA    WOULD    DESTROY    PITCH 
OF    SOUNDS— Music  Depends  on    Chemical 
Law — Diffusion  of  Gases. — As  the  air  is  now 
constituted,  there  is   a  constancy  of  pitch, 
however  far  sound  travels.     Any  tone  once 
generated  remains   the   same  tone  until  it 
dies   away.     Its   degree   of   loudness   alters 
in  proportion  to  the  distance  of  the  listener, 
but   the  pitch   is   constant.      Were   it  not, 
however,  for  this  law  of  diffusion — were  the 
atmosphere  not  perfectly  homogeneous,  and 
the  gases  of  which  it  consists  even  partially 
separated — there   would  have  been    a   very 
different    result.      The    constancy    of    pitch 
could  no  longer  have  been  depended  upon. 
The  sound   as   it   traveled   would   vary   its 
pitch      with      the      ever-varying      medium 
through  which  it  passed,  and  would  arrive 


at  the  ear  with  a  tone  entirely  different 
from  that  with  which  it  started.  Nor 
would  it  require  any  great  difference  in  the 
medium  to  produce  a  sensible  result  and  to 
confuse  all  those  delicate  differences  of 
pitch  on  which  the  whole  art  of  music  de- 
pends. Whenever,  therefore,  you  may  be 
next  enjoying  the  grand  Pastoral  Symphony 
of  Beethoven  or  the  Requiem  of  Mozart,  re- 
call the  careful  adjustment  of  forces  by 
which  alone  these  magnificent  creations  of 
genius  were  rendered  possible,  and  you  can- 
not fail  to  recognize  in  this  Dimple  law  of 
Nature  the  same  hand  that  first  strung  the 
lyre  and  made  the  soul  of  man  responsive 
to  its  seven  notes. — COOKE  Religion  and 
Chemistry,  ch.  3,  p.  76.  (A.,  1897.) 

277.  ATOMS    FALL    TOGETHER    IN 
COMBUSTION  —  The   burning   of   charcoal 
in  oxygen  is  an  old  experiment,  but  it  has 
now  a  significance  beyond  what  it  used  to 
have;    we  now  regard  the  act  of  combina- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  atoms  of  oxygen  and 
coal  as  we  regard  the  clashing  of  a  falling 
weight  against  the  earth.     The  heat  pro- 
duced in  both  cases  is  referable  to  a  com- 
mon  cause.     A   diamond,   which   burns    in 
oxygen  as  a  star  of  white  light,  glows  and 
burns  in  consequence  of  the  falling  of  the 
atoms     of     ogygen     against     it. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  372. 
(A.,  1897.) 

278.  ATOMS,    POLARITY   OF  —  Every 
Fragment  of  the  Magnet  Retains  Its  Poles. 
— What,  then,  will  occur  if  we  break  this 
magnet  in  two  at  the  center?     Shall  we  ob- 
tain two  magnets,  each  with  a  single  pole? 
No;    each  half  is  in  itself  a  perfect  magnet, 
possessing  two  poles.     This  may  be  proved 
by  breaking  something  of  less   value  than 
the  magnet — the  steel  of  a  lady's  stays,  for 
example,  hardened  and  magnetized.     It  acts 
like  the  magnet.     When  broken,  each  half 
acts  like  the  whole;    and  when  these  parts 
are  again  broken  we  have  still  the  perfect 
magnet,  possessing,  as  in  the  first  instance, 
two  poles.     Push  your  breaking  to  its  ut- 
most sensible  limit,  you  cannot  stop  there. 
The  bias  derived  from  observation  will  in- 
fallibly carry  you  beyond  the  bourn  of  the 
senses,  and  compel  you  to  regard  this  thing 
that  we  call  magnetic  polarity  as  resident 
in  the  ultimate  particles  of  the  steel.     You 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  each  atom  of 
the  magnet  is  endowed  with  this  polar  force. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3,  p.  97. 
(A.,  1898.) 

279.  ATOMS,  THEIR   NUMBER   AND 
WEIGHT— Heat  a  Peculiar  Form  of  Atomic 
Motion. — Chemistry    teaches    that    heat    is 
directly   related    to    the    atoms    of    matter. 
Atoms  of  different  substances  differ  greatly 
in  weight.    For  instance,  the  hydrogen  atom 
is  the  unit  of  atomic  weight,  because  it  is 
the  lightest  of  all  of  them.     Taking  the  hy- 
drogen atom  as  the  unit,  in  round  numbers 
the  iron  atom  weighs  as  much  as  56  atoms 


Atoms 
Attenuation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


56 


of  hydrogen,  copper  a  little  over  63,  silver 
108,  gold  197.  Heat  acts  upon  matter  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  atoms  in  a  given 
space,  and  not  as  its  weight.  Knowing  the 
relative  weights  of  the  atoms  of  the  differ- 
ent metals  named,  it  would  be  possible  to 
determine  by  weight  the  dimensions  of  dif- 
ferent pieces  of  metal  so  that  they  will  con- 
tain an  equal  number  of  atoms.  If  we  take 
pieces  of  iron,  copper,  silver,  and  gold,  each 
of  such  weight  as  that  all  the  pieces  will 
contain  the  same  number  of  atoms,  and  sub- 
ject them  to  heat  till  all  are  raised  to  the 
same  temperature,  it  will  be  found  that 
they  have  all  absorbed  practically  the  same 
quantity  of  heat  without  regard  to  the  dif- 
ferent weights  of  matter.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  piece  of  silver,  for  instance,  will 
have  to  weigh  nearly  twice  as  much  as  the 
iron  in  order  to  contain  the  same  number  of 
atoms,  but  it  will  absorb  the  same  amount 
of  heat  as  the  piece  of  iron  containing  the 
same  number  of  atoms  if  both  are  raised 
to  the  same  temperature.  In  view  of  the 
above  fact  it  seems  that  heat  acts  especially 
upon  the  atoms  of  matter  and  is  a  peculiar 
form  of  atomic  motion.  Heat  is  one  kind 
of  motion  of  the  atoms,  while  electricity 
may  be  another  form  of  motion  of  the  same. 
The  two  motions  may  be  carried  on  to- 
gether.— ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles, 
vol.  iii,  ch.  26,  p.  42.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

280.  ATOMS    THE    ULTIMATE   ELE- 
MENTS    OF    CHEMISTRY— Atomic  Evolu- 
tion.— If   the   union   of   atoms   is   attended 
with  an  ever-increasing  evolution  of  heat  as 
they  press   together  into  closer   and  closer 
associations,    we    should    naturally    expect 
that   the   effect   of   increasing   temperature 
would   be  to  part  the  atoms;     and  as  we 
study  the  phenomena  of  disassociation  we 
are  led  to  the  latest  conception  of  chemical 
philosophy,  that  of  a  condition  of  disasso- 
ciated atoms  out  of  which  the  material  uni- 
verse  has   been    developed.      Such    isolated 
atoms  are  for  the  present  at  least  the  ulti- 
mate   elements    of    chemistry,    and    before 
reaching  this  condition  all  qualities  which 
distinguish     substances     disappear     except 
only  a  definite  mass  whose  rhythmic  pulsa- 
tions the  spectroscope  may  reveal.     As  out 
of  such  a  primal  chaotic  condition  molec- 
ular structures  were  evolved,  the  qualities 
of  substances  appeared,  and  the  energy  of 
nature  was  awakened.    To  discover  the  laws 
of  this  evolution  so  as  to  follow  its  various 
steps,    and  be   able  to   predict  the   results 
tinder  given  conditions,  is  the  future  work 
of  chemistry. — COOKE  The  New  Chemistry, 
int.,  p.  17.     (A.,  1899.) 

281.  ATROPHY    OF    EYES    DUE    TO 
DISUSE — Cave-fishes. — But  there   is   much 
in  the  history  of  the  development  of  ani- 
mals that  seems  to  lead  to  the  belief  that 
eventually  modifications  may  be  due  in  part 
to  acts  of  representatives  of  the  phylum  to 
which  they  belong.     It  is  difficult  to  believe 


that  some  structural  features  are  simply 
the  result  of  natural  selection  operating  on 
chance  variations.  An  application  of  the 
doctrine  of  chances  to  some  such  cases  ap- 
pears to  be  adverse  to  the  conception  that 
they  represent  the  influence  of  natural  se- 
lection unaided. 

A  feature  characteristic  of  most  cave  ani- 
mals of  widely  diverse  groups  and  classes 
is  the  atrophy  of  the  eyes,  and  it  seems  to 
be  most  logical  to  attribute  this  to  disuse 
of  those  organs  in  remote  progenitors,  and 
to  assume  that  the  atrophy  may  have  re- 
sulted from  a  failure  of  nourishment  by  the 
nutrient  fluid  of  the  organs  on  account  of 
the  loss  of  functional  activity,  rather  than 
to  selection  by  nature  of  forms  with  succes- 
sively diminishing  eyes.  The  presence  of 
eyes  in  most  cases  certainly  would  scarcely 
be  an  element  of  disadvantage  to  animals, 
and  it  may  be  allowable  to  invoke  some 
other  agency  than  chance  selection.  We 
may  be  justified  in  postulating  that  the 
continuous  disuse  of  the  organs  would  in 
time  react  on  the  nutrition  of  the  parts  af- 
fected, and  finally  atrophy  or  disappearance 
would  result.  Like  explanation  would  be 
applicable  to  the  innumerable  cases  of 
atrophy  of  parts  known  to  the  naturalist. — 
GILL  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  vol.  xlvi.  ( 1897.) 

282.  ATROPHY  OF  MENTAL  POWERS 
THROUGH  DISUSE — Darwin's  Distaste  for 
Poetry. — There  is  a  passage  in  Darwin's 
short  autobiography  which  has  been  often 
quoted,  and  which,  for  the  sake  of  its  bear- 
ing on  our  subject  of  habit,  I  must  now 
quote  again.  Darwin  says :  "  Up  to  the 
age  of  thirty  or  beyond  it,  poetry  of  many 
kinds  gave  me  great  pleasure;  and  even  as 
a  schoolboy  I  took  intense  delight  in 
Shakespeare,  especially  in  the  historical 
plays.  I  have  also  said  that  pictures 
formerly  gave  me  considerable  and  music 
very  great  delight.  But  now  for  many 
years  I  cannot  endure  to  read  a  line  of 
poetry.  I  have  tried  lately  to  read  Shake- 
speare, and  found  it  so  intolerably  dull 
that  it  nauseated  me.  I  have  also  almost 
lost  my  taste  for  pictures  or  music.  .  .  . 
My  mind  seems  to  have  become  a  kind  of 
machine  for  grinding  general  laws  out  of 
large  collections  of  facts;  but  why  this 
should  have  caused  the  atrophy  of  that  part 
of  the  brain  alone,  on  which  the  higher 
tastes  depend,  I  cannot  conceive.  .  .  . 
If  I  had  to  live  my  life  again,  I  would  have 
made  a  rule  to  read  some  poetry  and  listen 
to  some  music  at  least  once  every  week; 
for  perhaps  the  parts  of  my  brain  now 
atrophied  would  thus  have  been  kept  alive 
through  use.  The  loss  of  these  tastes  is  a 
loss  of  happiness,  and  may  possibly  be  in- 
jurious to  the  intellect,  and  more  probably 
to  the  moral  character,  by  enfeebling  the 
emotional  part  of  our  nature." — JAMES 
Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  8,  p.  71.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 


57 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Atoms 
Attenuation 


283.  ATTENTION  BRIEF  IF  VOLUN- 
TARY— Longer    Sustained    if   Passive— Con- 
stant Change  of  Object — Variety  Needed. — 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  voluntary  atten- 
tion sustained  for  more  than  a  few  seconds 
at  a  time.    What  is  called  sustained  volun- 
tary attention  is  a  repetition  of  successive 
efforts   which  bring  back   the  topic  to  the 
mind.     The  topic  once  brought  back,  if  a 
congenial  one,  develops ;    and.  if  its  develop- 
ment is  interesting  it  engages  the  attention 
passively  for  a  time.     .     .     .     This  passive 
interest  may  be  short  or  long.     As  soon  as 
it  flags,  the  attention  is  diverted  by  some 
irrelevant  thing,  and  then  a  voluntary  ef- 
fort may  bring  it  back  to  the  topic  again; 
and  so  on,  under  favorable  conditions,  for 
hours  together.     During  all  this  time,  how- 
ever, note  that  it  is  not  an  identical  object 
in  the  psychological  sense,  but  a  succession 
of    mutually    related    objects,    forming    an 
identical  topic  only,  upon  which  the  atten- 
tion is  fixed.     No  one  can  possibly  attend 
continuously    to    an    object    that    does    not 
change. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.   11, 
p.  420.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

284.  ATTENTION,    FIXATION    OF— 

The  Microscopist's  Purposed  Blindness. — 
The  practised  microscopist,  whilst  apply- 
ing one  of  his  eyes  to  his  instrument,  and 
determinedly  giving  his  whole  attention  to 
the  visual  picture  he  receives  through  it, 
can  keep  his  other  eye  open  without  being 
in  the  least  disturbed  by  the  picture  of  the 
objects  on  the  table,  which  must  be  formed 
upon  its  retina,  but  which  he  does  not  see 
unless  their  brightness  should  make  him 
perceive  them. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physi- 
ology, ch.  3,  p.  135.  (A.,  1900.) 

285.  ATTENTION    IN    LISTENING— 

Ability  to  Fix  on  Particular  Part  in  a  Har- 
mony.— In  the  act  of  listening  we  are  not 
only  distinctly  conscious  of  sounds  so 
faint  that  they  would  not  excite  our  notice 
but  for  the  volitional  direction  of  the  atten- 
tion, but  we  can  single  out  these  from  the 
midst  of  others  by  a  determined  and  sus- 
tained effort,  which  may  even  make  us 
quite  unconscious  of  the  rest  so  long  as 
that  effort  is  kept  up.  Thus  a  person  with 
a  practised  "  musical  ear "  ( as  it  is  com- 
monly but  erroneously  termed,  it  being  not 
the  ear,  but  the  brain,  which  exerts  this 
power),  whilst  listening  to  a  piece  of  music 
played  by  a  large  orchestra,  can  single  out 
any  one  part  in  the  harmony  and  follow  it 
through  all  its  mazes;  or  can  distinguish 
the  sound  of  the  weakest  instrument  in  the 
whole  band  and  follow  its  strain  through 
the  whole  performance.  And  an  experi- 
enced conductor  will  not  only  distinguish 
when  some  instrumentalist  is  playing  out  of 
tune,  but  will  at  once  single  out  the  of- 
fender from  the  midst  of  a  numerous  band. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  3,  p. 
137.  (A.,  1900.) 


286.  ATTENTION,   POWER    OF,    AT- 
TRIBUTED  TO    EARTHWORMS— Apparent 
Evidence   of  Mental  Preoccupation. — When 
a  worm  is  suddenly  illuminated  and  dashes 
like    a    rabbit   into   a   burrow — to    use    the 
expression  employed  by  a  friend — we  are  at 
first  led  to  look  at  the  action  as  a  reflex 
one.     The  irritation  of  the  cerebral  ganglia 
appears  to  cause  certain  muscles  to  contract 
in  an  inevitable  manner,   independently  of 
the  will  or  consciousness  of  the  animal,  as 
if  it  were  an  automaton.     Bufc-th«  different 
effect  which  a  light  produced  on  different 
occasions,    and   especially   the   fact   that   a 
worm   when  in  any  way  employed  and  in 
the  intervals  of  such  employment,  whatever 
set  of  muscles  and  ganglia  may  then  have 
been  brought  into  play,  is  often  regardless  of 
light,  are  opposed  to  the  view  of  the  sudden 
withdrawal    being   a    simple    reflex    action. 
With  the  higher  animals,  when  close  atten- 
tion to  some  object  leads  to  the  disregard  of 
the  impressions  which  other  objects  must  be 
producing   on   them,    we   attribute   this    to 
their   attention   being   then   absorbed;     and 
attention  implies  the  presence   of  a  mind. 
Every   sportsman   knows    that   he   can    ap- 
proach   animals    whilst    they    are    grazing, 
fighting,  or  courting,  much  more  easily  than 
at    other    times.      The    state,    also,    of    the 
nervous  system  of  the  higher  animals  dif- 
fers much  at  different  times;    for  instance, 
a  horse  is  much  more  readily  startled  at  one 
time  than  at  another.    The  comparison  here 
implied  between  the  actions  of  one  of  the 
higher   animals   and  of  one  so  low  in  the 
scale    as    an    earthworm    may    appear    far- 
fetched, for  we  thus  attribute  to  the  worm 
attention  and  some  mental   power;     never- 
theless  I   can  see  no   reason  to  doubt  the 
justice   of   the    comparison. — DARWIN    For- 
mation  of   Vegetable   Mould,    ch.    1,    p.    7. 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

287.  ATTENUATION  OF  VIRULENCE 
OF  BACTERIA— Pasteur's  Method— Protection 
by  Weakening  the  Enemy. — It  was  pointed 
out  by  some  of  the  pioneer  bacteriologists 
that  the  function  of  bacteria  suffered  under 
certain    circumstances    a    marked    diminu- 
tion in  power.     Later  workers  found  that 
such    a    change   might   be   artificially   pro- 
duced.       Pasteur      introduced      the      first 
method,  which  was  the  simple  one  of  allow- 
ing cultures  to  grow  old  before  subcultur- 
ing.     Obviously  a  pure  culture  cannot  last 
forever.     To  maintain  the  species  in  char- 
acteristic   condition    it    is    necessary    fre- 
quently   to    subculture    upon    fresh    media. 
If  this   simple  operation  be  postponed   as 
long  as  possible  consistent  with  vitality,  and 
then  performed,  it  will  be   found  that  the 
subculture    is    attenuated,    i.  e.,    weakened. 
Another  mode  is  to  raise  the  pure  culture 
to  a  temperature  approaching  its  thermal 
death-point.      A  third  way  of  securing  the 
same  end  is  to  place  it  under  disadvantage- 
ous external  circumstances,  for  example  a 
too  alkaline  or  too  acid  medium.    A  fourth, 


Attenuation 

Automatism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


58 


but  rarely  necessary,  method  is  to  pass  it 
through  the  tissues  of  an  insusceptible  ani- 
mal. Thus  we  see  that,  whilst  the  favor- 
able conditions  which  we  have  considered 
afford  full  scope  for  the  growth  and  per- 
formance of  functions  of  bacteria,  we  are 
able  by  a  partial  withdrawal  of  these,  short 
of  that  ending  fatally,  to  modify  the  char- 
acter and  strength  of  bacteria. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  36.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

288.  ATTRACTION      CONSTANT, 
HOWEVER  LONG  RESTRAINED— The  day 

was  fading  and  the  deeper  glacier  pools 
were  shaded  by  their  icy  banks.  Through 
the  shadowed  water  needles  of  ice  were  dart- 
ing; all  day  long  the  molecules  had  been 
kept  asunder  by  the  antagonistic  heat; 
their  enemy  is  now  withdrawn,  and  they 
lock  themselves  together  in  a  crystalline 
embrace. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in 
the  Alps,  ch.  6,  p.  74.  (A.,  1898.) 

289.  AURORA    MAY    ENVELOP   THE 
EARTH — Australia  Responds   to  Borealis. — 
It  would  even  seem  that  this  simultaneity 
of  the  aurora  borealis  and  australis  is  the 
rule  and  not  the  exception.     Data  with  re- 
gard to  the  southern  hemisphere  are  often 
wanting,  yet  we  possess  an  uninterrupted 
series  of  eight  years  of  observations  taken 
at  Hobart  Town  in  Tasmania,  from  1841  to 
1848,  during  which  thirty- four  auroras  were 
reckoned.     Now,  every  time  that  an  aurora 
was  seen  at  Hobart  Town  an  aurora  bore- 
alis  was    observed    in    the   northern   hemi- 
sphere;   or,  at  least,  if  it  were  daytime  in 
Europe,   there  were  those   important  mag- 
netic perturbations  which  accompany  polar 
auroras. 

If  it  be  remembered  that  the  presence  of 
the  sun  above  the  horizon  prevents  a  given 
aurora  from  being  seen  over  half  the  sur- 
face of  the  globe,  and  if  we  remark  that,  in 
the  cases  cited  above,  the  aurora  was  seen 
in  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  mean  lati- 
tudes of  the  globe  where  it  was  night  at  the 
time  of  its  appearance,  it  will  not  seem  un- 
reasonable to  admit  that  at  certain  mo- 
ments the  lights  of  the  double  polar  aurora 
may  entirely  envelop  the  earth,  with  the 
exception  of  an  equatorial  zone  of  a  width 
of  about  forty  degrees. — ANGOT  Aurora 
Borealis,  ch.  4,  p.  55.  (A.,  1897.) 

290.  AUTHORITY  A  HINDRANCE  TO 
INVESTIGATION—  Werner's  Pupils  Too  Eager 
to  Maintain  His  Views — Travel  Needed  for 
Broad  Views  of  the  Universe. — Werner  had 
a  great  antipathy  to  the  mechanical  labor 
of  writing,    and,   with   the   exception   of   a 
valuable  treatise  on  metalliferous  veins,  he 
could  never  be  persuaded  to  pen  more  than 
a  few  brief  memoirs,  and  those  containing 
no  development  of  his  general  views.     Al- 
tho  the  natural  modesty  of  his  disposition 
was  excessive,  approaching  even  to  timidity, 
he  indulged  in  the  most  bold  and  sweeping 
generalizations,    and    he    inspired    all    his 
scholars  with  a  most  implicit  faith  in  his 


doctrines.  Their  admiration  of  his  genius, 
and  the  feelings  of  gratitude  and  friendship 
which  they  all  felt  for  him,  were  not  unde- 
served; but  the  supreme  authority  usurped 
by  him  over  the  opinions  of  his  contempo- 
raries was  eventually  prejudicial  to  the 
progress  of  the  science;  so  much  so  as 
greatly  to  counterbalance  the  advantages 
which  it  derived  from  his  exertions.  If  it 
be  true  that  delivery  be  the  first,  second, 
and  third  requisite  in  a  popular  orator,  it 
is  no  less  certain  that  to  travel  is  of  first, 
second,  and  third  importance  to  those  who 
desire  to  originate  just  and  comprehensive 
views  concerning  the  structure  of  our  globe. 
Now  Werner  had  not  traveled  to  distant 
countries;  he  had  merely  explored  a  small 
portion  of  Germany,  and  conceived,  and 
persuaded  others  to  believe,  that  the  whole 
surface  of  our  planet,  and  all  the  mountain 
chains  in  the  world,  were  made  after  the 
model  of  his  own  province.  It  became  a 
ruling  object  of  ambition  in  the  minds  of 
his  pupils  to  confirm  the  generalizations  of 
their  great  master,  and  to  discover  in  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  globe  his  "  uni- 
versal formations,"  which  he  supposed  had 
been  each  in  succession  simultaneously  pre- 
cipitated over  the  whole  earth  from  a  com- 
mon menstruum,  or  "  chaotic  fluid."  It  now 
appears  that  the  Saxon  professor  had  mis- 
interpreted many  of  the  more  important 
appearances  even  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  Freiberg. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  47.  (A.,  1854.) 

291.    AUTHORITY    OF   MOTHERHOOD 

— There  is  at  least  one  authority  the  right- 
fulness  of  which  is  not  a  question,  but  a 
fact.  All  men  are  born  of  parents.  All 
men,  moreover,  are  born  in  a  condition  of 
utter  helplessness  and  of  absolute  depend- 
ence. .  .  .  It  is  a  dependence  arising 
out  of  conditions  full  to  overflowing  of  all 
the  elements  to  which  the  sentiment  of 
moral  obligation  is  necessarily  and  intui- 
tively attached.  It  is  the  least  and  lowest 
of  these  elements  that  at  the  breasts  of  its 
mother  an  infant  first  satisfies  its  hunger 
and  its  thirst.  Other  elements  follow  in  an 
ascending  order.  In  the  arms  of  its  mother 
it  feels  the  first  sense  of  rest,  and  the  first 
ideas  of  refuge  and  of  protection.  In  the 
voice  of  its  mother  it  hears  the  first  expres- 
sions of  love,  and  makes  the  first  responses 
which  that  love  demands.  In  the  smile  of 
its  mother  it  first  finds  the  great  gift  of 
laughter.  In  the  eyes  of  its  mother  it  has 
its  first  look  into  the  mirror  of  another 
spirit,  and  feels  the  answering  tides  which 
are  stirring  within  its  own.  These  are  but  a 
part  of  the  great  claim,  accumulating  with 
the  hours  and  days,  upon  which  the  author- 
ity of  a  mother  rests.  And  so  it  comes  to 
pass  that  the  rightfulness  of  that  authority 
is  by  the  necessities  of  nature  recognized 
from  the  first,  and  when  its  voice  is  issued 
in  command,  the  duty  of  obedience  is  felt 
and  known.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  therefore, 


59 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Attenuation 
A  utoniatism 


and  not  at  all  as  a  matter  of  question  or 
of  doubt,  our  first  conception  of  duty,  or  of 
moral  obligation,  is  necessarily  and  uni- 
versally attached  to  such  acts  as  are  in 
conformity  with  the  injunctions  of  this 
first  and  most  indisputable  of  all  authori- 
ties.— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p. 
210.  (Burt.) 

292.  AUTHORITY    USED    TO    MAIN- 
TAIN ERROR— Dispute  over  Nature  of  Light 
— Conflict  of  Theories. — After  philosophers 
had  become  aware  of  the  manner  in  which 
sound  was  produced  and  transmitted,  anal- 
ogy led  some  of  them  to  suppose  that  light 
might   be    produced    and   transmitted   in    a 
somewhat    similar    manner.     And    perhaps, 
in  the  whole  history  of  science,  there  was 
never  a  question  more  hotly  contested  than 
this  one.     Sir  Isaac  Newton     .     .     .     sup- 
posed light  to  consist  of  minute  particles, 
darted  out  from  luminous  bodies.     Huygens, 
the   contemporary  of  Newton,   found  great 
difficulty   in    admitting   this    cannonade    of 
particles;     or  in  realizing  that  they  could 
shoot  with   inconceivable   velocity    through 
space,  and  yet  not  disturb  each  other.     This 
celebrated   man   entertained   the   view   that 
light  was  produced  by  vibrations  similar  to 
those    of    sound.      Euler    supported    Huy- 
gens.    .     .     . 

The  authority  of  Newton  bore  these  men 
down,  and  not  until  a  man  of  genius  within 
these  walls  took  up  the  subject  had  the 
theory  of  undulation  any  chance  of  coping 
with  the  rival  theory  of  emission.  To  Dr. 
Thomas  Young,  formerly  Professor  of  Nat- 
ural Philosophy  in  the  Royal  Institution, 
belongs  the  honor  of  stemming  this  tide  of 
authority,  and  of  establishing,  on  a  safe 
basis,  the  undulatory  theory  of  light.  Great 
things  have  been  done  in  this  edifice;  but 
scarcely  a  greater  thing  than  this. — TYN- 
DALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  10,  p.  274. 
(A.,  1900.) 

293.  AUTOMATISM  IMPLIES  DESIGN 

— Mind  behind  Machine. — The  automatic 
theory  would  seem  to  be  one  which  can  least 
of  all  dispense  with  design,  since,  either  in 
the  literal  or  current  sense  of  the  word,  un- 
designed automatism  is,  as  near  as  may  be, 
a  contradiction  in  terms.  As  the  automa- 
ton man  constructs  manifests  the  designs 
of  its  maker  and  mover,  so  the  more  effi- 
cient automata  which  man  did  not  con- 
struct would  not  legitimately  suggest  less 
than  human  intelligence.  And  so  all  adap- 
tations in  the  animal  and  vegetable  world 
which  irresistibly  suggest  purpose  (in  the 
sense  now  accepted)  would  also  suggest  de- 
sign, and,  under  the  law  of  parsimony, 
claim  to  be  thus  interpreted,  unless  some 
other  hypothesis  will  better  account  for  the 
facts. — ASA  GRAY  Darwiniana,  art.  13,  p. 
360.  (A.,  1889.) 

294.  AUTOMATISM       LABORIOUSLY 

ACQUIRED—  The  Beginner  on  the  Violin.— 
"  When  one  begins  to  play  on  the  violin,  to 


keep  him  from  raising  his  right  elbow  in 
playing,  a  book  is  placed  under  his  right 
armpit,  which  he  is  ordered  to  hold  fast  by 
keeping  the  upper  arm  tight  against  his 
body.  The  muscular  feelings,  and  feelings 
of  contact  connected  with  the  book,  provoke 
an  impulse  to  press  it  tight.  But  often  it 
happens  that  the  beginner,  whose  attention 
gets  absorbed  in  the  production  of  the  notes, 
lets  drop  the  book.  Later,  however,  this 
never  happens;  the  faintest  sensations  of 
contact  suffice  to  awaken  the  impulse  to 
keep  it  in  its  place,  and  the  attention  may 
be  wholly  absorbed  by  the  notes  and  the  fin- 
gering with  the  left  hand.  The  simultaneous 
combination  of  movements  is  thus  in  the 
first  instance  conditioned  by  the  facility 
with  which  in  us,  alongside  of  intellectual 
processes,  processes  of  inattentive  feeling 
may  still  go  on." —  ( Schneider,  "  Der  mensch- 
liche  Wille.") — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i, 
ch.  4,  p.  119.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

295.  AUTOMATISM    OF  MUSICIAN— 

Muscles  Respond  Unconsciously  to  Sight  or 
Sound. — Thus  a  musical  performer  will 
play  a  piece  which  has  become  familiar  by 
repetition,  whilst  carrying  on  an  animated 
conversation,  or  whilst  continuously  en- 
grossed by  some  train  of  deeply  interesting 
thought;  the  accustomed  sequence  of  move- 
ments being  directly  prompted  by  the  sight 
of  the  notes,  or  by  the  remembered  succes- 
sion of  the  sounds  (if  the  piece  is  played 
from  memory),  aided  in  both  cases  by  the 
guiding  sensations  derived  from  the  muscles 
themselves.  But  further,  a  higher  degree 
of  the  same  "  training  "  ( acting  on  an  or- 
ganism specially  fitted  to  profit  by  it)  en- 
ables an  accomplished  pianist  to  play  a 
difficult  piece  of  music  at  sight;  the  move- 
ments of  the  hands  and  fingers  following  so 
immediately  upon  the  sight  of  the  notes 
that  it  seems  impossible  to  believe  that  any 
but  the  very  shortest  and  most  direct  track 
can  be  the  channel  of  the  nervous  communi- 
cation through  which  they  are  called  forth. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  5,  p. 
217.  (A.,  1900.) 

296.  AUTOMATISM,      THEORY      OF, 
DESTROYS     RESPONSIBILITY—  Drunkard 
Held  Blameless — Conqueror  of   Temptation 
Allowed    No    Merit. — On     the     automatist 
theory,  a  drunkard  who  deserts  a  comfort- 
able home  for  the  taproom    (I  make  large 
allowance   for   those   who   have   uncomfort- 
able homes ) ,  who  neglects  an  attached  wife 
and  loving  children  for  the  society  of  profli- 
gates, and  who,  with  ample  means  of  higher 
enjoyment,    surrenders    himself    without    a 
struggle  to  the  allurements  of  sensual  pleas- 
ure, and  at  last  renders  himself  amenable 
to  the  law  by  fatal  outrage  on  the  patient 
wife  who  has  long  borne  with  his  brutality, 
is  no  more  a  subject  of  moral  reprobation 
than  poor  Hartley  Coleridge,  who,  when  he 
strayed  from  the  loving  care  of  his  friends, 
would  be  found  in  the  parlor  of  some  rural 


Automatism 
Balance 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


public  house,  delighting  the  rustics  with  his 
wonderful  stories,  and  indulging  to  his 
heart's  content  in  the  unlimited  beer  which 
the  publican  was  only  too  glad  to  allow 
him.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  subject 
of  a  strong  hereditary  alcoholic  craving 
maintains  a  daily  conflict  with  his  tempter, 
uses  every  means  he  can  think  of  to  avoid 
or  weaken  its  seductions,  puts  forth  all  his 
energy  in  resisting  them,  and,  through  occa- 
sional failures,  comes  off  on  the  whole  vic- 
torious, the  consistent  automatist  can  have 
no  other  approbation  to  bestow  upon  him 
than  that  which  he  would  accord  to  a  self- 
governing  steam-engine,  or  a  compensation 
balance  watch. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physi- 
ology, pref.,  p.  42.  (A.,  1900.) 

297.  AUTOMATON  THEORY  AN    IM- 
PERTINENCE —  My  conclusion  is  that  to 
urge  the  automaton  theory  upon  us,  as  it  is 
now  urged,  on  purely  a  priori  and  quasi- 
metaphysical  grounds,  is  an  unwarrantable 
impertinence   in  the  present  state  of  psy- 
chology.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p. 
138.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

298.  AVALANCHE    OF    STONES— 

Abasing  That  Which  Is  High — Ceaseless 
Leveling  Action  of  Denuding  Forces. — By 
this  action  the  hardest  and  most  solid  rock- 
masses  are  reduced  to  a  state  of  complete 
disintegration,  certain  of  their  ingredients 
undergoing  decomposition,  and  the  cement- 
ing materials  which  hold  their  particles 
together  being  removed  in  a  state  of  solu- 
tion. In  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere this  work  of  rock-disintegration  pro- 
ceeds with  the  greatest  rapidity;  for  there 
the  chemical  action  is  reenforced  by  the 
powerful  mechanical  action  of  freezing 
water.  On  high  mountain  peaks  the  work 
of  breaking  up  rock-masses  goes  on  at  the 
most  rapid  rate,  and  every  craggy  pinnacle 
is  swathed  by  the  heaps  of  fragments  which 
have  fallen  from  it.  The  Alpine  traveler 
justly  dreads  the  continual  fusillade  of  fall- 
ing rock- fragments  which  is  kept  up  by  the 
ever-active  power  of  the  frost  in  these 
higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere;  and 
fears  lest  the  vibrations  of  his  footsteps 
should  loosen,  from  their  position  of  pre- 
carious rest,  the  rapidly  accumulating  piles 
of  detritus.  No  mountain  peak  attains  to 
any  very  great  elevation  above  the  earth's 
surface,  for  the  higher  we  rise  in  the  at- 
mosphere the  greater  is  the  range  of  tem- 
perature and  the  more  destructive  are  the 
effects  of  the  atmospheric  water. — JUDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  283.  (A.,  1899.) 

299. Mountainside  Raked 

as  by  Cannon-shot. — While  we  stood  ponder- 
ing here  [on  the  side  of  the  Weisshorn],  a 
deep  and  confused  roar  attracted  our  atten- 
tion. From  a  point  near  the  summit  of  the 
Weisshorn  a  rock  had  been  discharged  down 
a  dry  couloir,  raising  a  cloud  of  dust  at  each 
bump  against  the  mountain.  A  hundred  simi- 


lar ones  were  immediately  in  motion,  while 
the  spaces  between  the  larger  masses  were 
filled  by  an  innumerable  flight  of  smaller 
stones.  Each  of  them  shook  its  quantum  of 
dust  in  the  air,  until  finally  the  avalanche 
was  enveloped  in  a  cloud.  The  clatter  was 
stunning,  for  the  collisions  were  incessant. 
Black  masses  of  rock  emerged  here  and 
there  from  the  cloud,  and  sped  through  the 
air  like  flying  fiends.  Their  motion  was  not 
one  of  translation  merely,  but  they  whizzed 
and  vibrated  in  their  flight  as  if  urged  by 
wings.  The  echoes  resounded  from  side  to 
side,  from  the  Schallenberg  to  the  Weiss- 
horn  and  back,  until  finally,  after  many  a 
deep-sounding  thud  in  the  snow,  the  whole 
troop  came  to  rest  at  the  bottom  of  the 
mountain.  This  stone  avalanche  was  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  things  I  had  ever 
witnessed,  and  in  connection  writh  it  I  would 
draw  the  attention  of  future  climbers  of  the 
Weisshorn  to  the  danger  which  would  in- 
fallibly beset  any  attempt  to  ascend  it  from 
this  side,  except  by  one  of  its  aretes.  At 
any  moment  the  mountainside  may  be  raked 
by  a  fire  as  deadly  as  that  of  cannon. — 
TYNDAIX  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch. 
9,  p.  110.  (A.,  1898.) 

300.  AWAKENING  DETERMINED  BY 
INTEREST — Hearing  of  One's  Own  Name. 
— The  awakening  power  of  sensory  impres- 
sions  is  greatly  modified  by  our   habitual 
state   of   mind    in   regard    to   them.      Thus 
most  sleepers   are  awoke  by  the  sound  of 
their    own    names    uttered    in    a    low    tone, 
when  it  requires  a  much  louder  sound  of 
a  different  description  to  produce  any  mani- 
festation of  consciousness.     The  same  thing 
is  seen  in  comatose  states,  a  patient  being 
often  found  capable  of  being  momentarily 
aroused  by  shouting  his  name  into  his  ear, 
when    no    other    sound   produces    the    least 
effect. — CARPENTER   Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  15,  p.  581.     (A.,  1900.) 

301.  AWAKENING  DUE  TO  EXPECT- 
ANT ATTENTION  —  But  it   is   not  requi- 
site that  the  sensory  impression  should  be 
one  habitually  attended  to  during  the  wak- 
ing hours,   for  it  is  generally  sufficient  to 
produce  the  effect,  that  the  attention  should 
have  been  strongly  fixed  upon  it,  previously 
to  the  access  of  the  sleep,  as  one  at  which 
the  slumberer  is  to  be  aroused.     Thus  the 
traveler  who  requires  to  set  forth  upon  his 
journey  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning, 
and  has  given  directions  to  be  called  accord- 
ingly, is  awakened  by  a  gentle  tap  at  the 
door   of   his   chamber,    altho   he    may   have 
previously  slept  through  a  succession  of  far 
louder  noises  with  which  he  had  no  concern. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
15,  p.  583.     (A.,  1900.) 

302.  AX,    THE   CHIEF    WEAPON    OF 
PRIMITIVE  MAN— Labor  and  Skill  in  Mak- 
ing of  Axes  from  Stone. — The  ax  was  pre- 
eminently the  implement  of  antiquity.     It 
was  used  in  war  and  in  the  chase,  as  well 


61 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Automatism 
Balance 


as  for  domestic  purposes,  and  great  num- 
bers have  been  found,  especially  at  Wangen 
(Lake  of  Constance)  and  Concise  (Lake  of 
Neufchatel).  With  a  few  exceptions  they 
are  small,  especially  when  compared  with 
the  magnificent  specimens  from  Denmark; 
in  length  they  varied  from  one  to  six  inches, 
while  the  cutting  edge  had  generally  a 
width  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  lines.  Flint 
was  sometimes  used,  and  nephrite  or  jade 
in  a  few  cases,  but  serpentine  and  diorite 
were  the  principal  materials.  Most  of  the 
larger  settlements  were  evidently  manufac- 
turing places,  and  many  spoiled  pieces  and 
half-finished  specimens  have  been  found. 
After  having  chosen  a  stone,  the  first  step 
was  to  reduce  it  by  blows  with  a  hammer 
to  a  suitable  size.  Then  grooves  were  made 
artificially,  which  must  have  been  a  very 
tedious  and  difficult  operation  when  flint 
knives,  sand,  and  water  were  the  only  avail- 
able instruments.  Having  carried  the 
grooves  to  the  required  depth,  the  project- 
ing portions  were  removed  by  a  skilful  blow 
with  a  hammer,  and  the  implement  was 
then  sharpened  and  polished  on  blocks  of 
sandstone. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
6,  p.  180.  (A.,  1900.) 

303.  BACTERIA    CAPTURE     NITRO- 
GEN   FOR     HIGHER     ORGANISMS  —  The 

Nitrifying  Bacteria. — The  third  group  of 
micro-organisms  connected  with  the  soil 
exist  in  groups  and  colonies  situated  inside 
the  nodules  appearing,  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances, on  the  rootlets  of  the  pea,  bean, 
and  other  Leguminosce.  It  wras  Hellriegel 
and  Wilfarth  who  first  pointed  out  that, 
altho  the  higher  chlorophyllaceous  plants 
could  not  directly  obtain  or  utilize  free  nitro- 
gen, some  of  them  at  any  rate  could  acquire 
nitrogen  brought  into  combination  under 
the  influence  of  bacteria.  Hellriegel  found 
that  the  graminaceous,  polygonaceous,  cruci- 
ferous, and  other  orders  depended  upon 
combined  nitrogen  supplied  within  the  soil, 
but  that  the  Leguminosce  did  not  depend  en- 
tirely upon  such  supplies. — NEWMAN  Bac- 
teria, ch.  5,  p.  163.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

304.  BACTERIA,  UNIVERSAL  PRES- 
ENCE OF— In  Earth,  Air,  and  Water,  Every- 
ivlicre. — There  are  no  other  plants  or  ani- 
mals so  universally  found  in  nature  as  the 
bacteria.     It  is  this  universal  presence,  to- 
gether with  their  great  powers  of  multipli- 
cation, which  renders  them  of  so  much  im- 
portance   in    nature.      They    exist    almost 
everywhere  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.    They 
are  in  the   soil,   especially   at   its   surface. 
.     .     .     They   are   in   all  'bodies    ot   water, 
both  at  the  surface  and  below  it.     They  are 
found  at  considerable  depths  in  the  ocean. 
They  are  in  streams  of  running  water  in 
even    greater    quantity    than    in    standing 
water. — CONN  Story  of  Germ  Life,  ch.  1,  p. 
38.     (A.,  1900.) 

3O5. Microscopic  Organ- 
isms Dormant  in  Dust. — Wherever  on  the 
face  of  nature  there  is  a  lodging-place  for 


dust  there  wrill  be  found  bacteria.  In  most 
of  these  localities  they  are  dormant,  or  at 
least  growing  only  a  little.  The  bacteria 
.  .  .  in  pure  water  multiply  very  little. 
When  dried  as  dust  they  are  entirely  dor- 
mant. But  each  individual  bacterium  or 
spore  has  the  potential  power  of  multiplica- 
tion, and  as  soon  as  it  by  accident  falls  upon 
a  place  where  there  is  food  and  moisture  it 
will  begin  to  multiply.  Everywhere  in  Na- 
ture, then,  exists  this  group  of  organisms 
with  its  almost  inconceivable  power  of  mul- 
tiplication, but  a  power  helcTIn  check  by 
lack  of  food.  Furnish  them  with  food  and 
their  potential  powers  become  actual. — CONN 
Story  of  Germ  Life,  ch.  1,  p.  38.  (A.,  1900.) 

306.  BACTERIOLOGY,  PRACTICAL  IM- 
PORTANCE    OF— Municipalities     are     ex- 
pending public   moneys   in  water   analysis, 
in  the  examination  of  milk,  in  the  inspec- 
tion of  cows  and  dairies,  in  the  bacterial 
treatment    of    sewage,    and   in    disinfection 
and  other  branches  of  public  health  admin- 
istration.     Again,    the    newly    formed    Na- 
tional Association  for  the  Prevention  of  Tu- 
berculosis,   our    increasing   colonial   posses- 
sions   with    their    tropical    diseases,    even 
medical  science  itself,  which  is  year  by  year 
becoming  more  preventive,  make  an  increas- 
ing claim  upon  public  opinion.     The   suc- 
cessful   accomplishment    and    solution    of 
these  questions  ti  ">end  in  a  measure  upon 
an  educated  publ       opinion   respecting  the 
elements  of  bacteriology.     Recently  it  was 
urged   [in  the  Contemporary  Review,  Nov., 
1897]    that  "the  first  elements  of  bacteri- 
ology should  be  shadowed  forth  in  the  pri- 
mary   school."      This    course    was    advised 
owing  to  such  knowledge  being  of  value  to 
those   engaged   in   dairying.      As   we   shall 
point  out  at  a  later  stage,  many  of  the  un- 
desirable changes  occurring  in  milk  are  due 
to  bacteria,  even  as  the  success  of  the  but- 
ter and   cheese  industries   depends   on   the 
use  and  control   of  the  fermentative  proc- 
esses due  to  their  action.     Much  of  the  un- 
certainty    attending    the    manufacture     of 
dairy  products  can  only  be  abolished  by  the 
careful    application   of   some   knowledge    of 
the  flora  of  milk. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  int., 
p.  12.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

307.  BALANCE  OF  FORCES  ON  OUR 
GLOBE—  The  Earth  a  Delicately  Adjusted  Ma- 
chine— Contrast  of  the  Moon. — In  our  near- 
est neighbor  among  the  planets — the  moon 
— the  telescope  has  revealed  to  us  the  exist- 
ence of  a  globe,  in  which  the  internal  forces 
have  not  been  checked  and  controlled  by  the 
operation  of  any  external  agencies — for  the 
moon  appears  to  be  destitute  of  both  at- 
mosphere and  water.     Under  these  circum- 
stances we  find  its  surface,  as  we  might  ex- 
pect, to  be  composed  of  rocks  which  appear 
to  be  entirely  of  igneous  origin;    the  moun- 
tain masses,  unworn  by  rain  or  frost,  river 
or  glacier,  being  of  most  prodigious  dimen- 
sions as  compared  with  those  of  our  own 
globe,  while  no  features  at  all  resembling 


Balance 
Beauty 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


valleys,  or  plains,  or  alluvial  flats  are  any- 
where to  be  discerned  upon  the  lunar  sur- 
face. But  by  the  admirable  balancing  of 
the  external  and  internal  forces  on  our  own 
globe,  the  conditions  necessary  to  animal 
and  vegetable  existence  are  almost  con- 
stantly maintained,  and  those  interruptions 
of  such  conditions,  produced  by  hurricanes 
and  floods,  by  volcanic  outbursts  and  earth- 
quakes, may  safely  be  regarded  as  the  in- 
significant accidents  of  what  is,  on  the 
whole,  a  very  perfectly  working  piece  of 
machinery. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  305. 
(A.,  1899.) 

308.  BALANCE    OF    HAPPINESS    IN 
THE    ANIMAL    WORLD— On     the     whole, 
then,  we  conclude  that  the  popular  idea  of 
the  struggle  for  existence  entailing  misery 
and  pain  on  the  animal  world  is  the  very 
reverse  of  the  truth.     What  it  really  brings 
about  is  the  maximum  of  life  and  of  the 
enjoyment  of  life  with  the  minimum  of  suf- 
fering  and   pain.      Given   the   necessity   of 
death  and  reproduction — and  without  these 
there   could   have   been   no   progressive   de- 
velopment of  the  organic  world — and  it  is 
difficult  even  to  imagine  a  system  by  which 
a  greater  balance  of  happiness  could  have 
been  secured. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2, 
p.  27.     (Hum.,  1889.) 

309.  BARBARIANS    OF    ANCIENT 

EUROPE— Use  of  Iron  Known  by  Them.— 
The  soldiers  of  Brennus  were  provided  with 
iron  swords,  and  when  the  armies  of  Rome 
brought  the  civilization  of  the  South  into 
contact  with  that  of  the  North  they  found 
iron  already  well  known  to,  and  in  general 
use  among,  their  new  enemies.  Nor  is  there 
any  reason  to  suppose  that  arms  of  bronze 
were  also  at  that  time  still  in  use  in  the 
North,  for,  had  this  been  so,  they  would 
certainly  have  been  mentioned  by  the 
Roman  writers;  whereas  the  description 
given  by  Tacitus  of  the  Caledonian  weapons 
shows  that  in  his  time  the  swords  used  in 
Scotland  were  made  of  iron.  Moreover, 
there  are  several  cases  in  which  large  quan- 
tities of  arms  belonging  to  the  Roman 
period  have  been  found  together,  and  in 
which  the  arms  and  implements  are  all  of 
iron.  This  argument  is  in  its  very  nature 
cumulative,  and  cannot  therefore  be  fully 
developed  here. — AVEBUEY  Prehistoric  Times, 
ch.  7,  p.  8.  (A.,  1900.) 

31 0.  BARBARISM,  NURSERIES  OF— 

The  Steppes  of  Asia  Have  Sent  Destruction 
to  Europe. — These  Mongolian  and  Tartar 
Steppes,  which  are  intersected  by  numerous 
mountain  chains,  separate  the  ancient  and 
long-civilized  races  of  Tibet  and  Hindustan 
from  the  rude  nations  of  Northern  Asia. 
They  have  also  exerted  a  manifold  influence 
on  the  changing  destinies  of  mankind.  They 
have  inclined  the  current  of  population 
southward,  impeded  the  intercourse  of  na- 
tions more  than  the  Himalayas,  or  the 
Snowy  Mountains  of  Sirinagur  and  Gorka, 
and  placed  permanent  limits  to  the  progress 


of  civilization  and  refinement  in  a  northerly 
direction. 

History  cannot,  however,  regard  the 
plains  of  Central  Asia  under  the  character 
of  obstructive  barriers  alone.  They  have 
frequently  proved  the  means  of  spreading 
misery  and  devastation  over  the  face  of  the 
earth.  Some  of  the  pastoral  tribes  inhabit- 
ing this  steppe — the  Mongols,  Getse,  Alani, 
and  Ustini — have  convulsed  the  world.  If 
in  the  course  of  earlier  ages  the  dawn  of 
civilization  spread  like  the  vivifying  light 
of  the  sun  from  east  to  west,  so  in  subse- 
quent ages  and  from  the  same  quarter  have 
barbarism  and  rudeness  threatened  to  over- 
cloud Europe. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature, 
p.  4.  (Bell,  1896.) 

311.  BAROMETER,  ETHICAL,  THE— 

Lessons  Taught  by  Statistics  of  Crime. — The 
statistics  of  crime  within  a  given  period  reg- 
isters how  the  ethical  barometer  stands  in 
dry  figures.  The  statistics  of  the  cases 
brought  before  the  law  are  facts  that  cannot 
be  shaken — they  speak  for  themselves. — BAS- 
TIAN  Allgemeine  Grundzuge  der  Ethnologic. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

312.  BARRENNESS   SELF-PERPETU- 
ATING— Cause      and     Effect     Reciprocal  — 
Clouds  Wait  Vainly  over  the  Sahara. — The 
vertical  ascent  of  currents  of  air  is  one  of 
the  principal  causes  of  the  most  important 
meteorological  phenomena.     Where  a  desert 
or  a  sandy  surface  devoid  of  vegetation  is 
surrounded  by  a  high  mountain  chain,  the 
sea-wind  may  be  observed  driving  a  dense 
cloud  over  the  desert,  without  any  precipi- 
tation   of    vapor    taking    place    before    it 
reaches  the  crest  of  the  mountains.     This 
phenomenon  was  formerly  very  unsatisfac- 
torily referred  to  an  attraction  supposed  to 
be  exercised  by  the  mountain  chain  on  the 
clouds.    The  true  cause  appears  to  lie  in  the 
ascent  from  the  sandy  plain  of  a  column  of 
warm  air,  which  prevents  the  condensation 
of  the  vesicles  of  vapor.     The  more  barren 
the  surface,  and  the  greater  the  degree  of 
heat  acquired  by  the  sand,  the  higher  will 
be  the  ascent  of  the  clouds,   and  the  less 
readily  will  the  vapor  be  precipitated.    Over 
the   declivities    of   mountains    these    causes 
cease.     The  play  of  the  vertical  column  of 
air  is  there  weaker;    the  clouds  sink,  and 
their  disintegration  is  effected  by  a  cooler 
stratum  of  air.    Thus  deficiency  of  rain  and 
absence  of  vegetation  in  the  desert  stand  in 
a  reciprocal  action  to  one  another.     It  does 
not  rain  because  the  barren  and  bare  sur- 
face of  sand  becomes  more  strongly  heated 
and  radiates  more  heat;    and  the  desert  is 
not  converted  into  a  steppe  or  grassy  plain 
because  without  water  no  organic  develop- 
ment is  possible. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Na- 
ture, p.  266.     (Bell,  1896.) 

313.  BASKET-MAKING  OF  PRIMITIVE 
PEOPLES — There  are  no  savages  on  earth 
so  rude  that  they  have  no  form  of  basketry. 
The  birds  and  beasts  are  basket-makers,  and 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Balance 
Beauty 


some  fishes  construct  for  themselves  little 
retreats  where  they  may  hide.  Long  before 
the  fire-maker,  the  potter,  or  even  the  cook, 
came  the  mothers  of  the  Fates,  spinning 
threads,  drawing  them  out,  and  cutting 
them  off.  Coarse  basketry  or  matting  is 
found  charred  in  very  ancient  sepulchers. — 
MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, ch.  3,  p.  42.  (A.,  1894.) 

314.  BAS-RELIEFS    OF    NINEVEH— 

Ancient  Scenes  Preserved — Gigantic  Stature 
Given  to  Kings  and  Heroes. — In  the  British 
Museum  the  alabaster  bas-reliefs  that 
adorned  the  palace  courts  of  Nineveh  give  a 
wonderfully  clear  idea  of  what  Assyrian  life 
was  like,  how  the  king  rode  in  his  chariot, 
or  let  fly  his  arrows  at  the  lion  at  bay,  or 
walked  with  the  state  umbrella  held  over 
his  head;  how  the  soldiers  swam  the  rivers 
on  blown  skins  and  the  storming  party 
scaled  the  fortress,  while  the  archers  shot 
down  among  them  from  the  battlements, 
and  the  impaled  captives  hung  in  rows  full 
in  view  outside  the  walls.  But  in  such 
scenes  proportion  did  not  much  matter  if 
only  the  meaning  were  conveyed.  It  did 
not  seem  artistically  absurd  to  the  Assy- 
rians to  make  archers  so  big  that  two  fill  a 
whole  parapet;  nor  did  the  Egyptians  feel 
the  comic  impression  made  on  our  modern 
minds  by  the  gigantic  figure  of  the  king 
striding  half  across  the  battle-field  and 
grasping  a  dozen  pigmy  barbarians  at  a 
grip,  to  slash  their  heads  off  with  one  sweep 
of  his  mighty  falchion. — TYLOB  Anthropol- 
ogy, ch.  12,  p.  302.  (A.,  1899.) 

315.  BEAM  OF  LIGHT  IN  DARKNESS 

— Gifted  Men  of  Middle  Ages — Rapid 
Spread  of  Investigation  Once  Started. — The 
germ  of  those  events  which  have  imparted 
any  strongly  marked  progressive  movement 
to  the  human  mind  may  be  traced  deeply 
rooted  in  the  track  of  preceding  ages.  It 
does  not  lie  in  the  destinies  of  mankind  that 
all  should  equally  experience  mental  obscu- 
ration. A  principle  of  preservation  fosters 
the  eternal  vital  process  of  advancing  rea- 
son. The  Age  of  Columbus  attained  the  ob- 
ject of  its  destination  so  rapidly  because  a 
track  of  fruitful  germs  had  already  been 
cast  abroad  by  a  number  of  highly  gifted 
men,  who  formed,  as  it  were,  a  lengthened 
beam  of  light  amid  the  darkness  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  One  single  century — the  thir- 
teenth— shows  us  Roger  Bacon,  Nicolaus 
Scotus,  Albertus  Magnus,  and  Vincentius  of 
Beauvais.  The  mental  activity,  once  awak- 
ened, was  soon  followed  by  an  extension  of 
geographical  knowledge.  When  Diego  Ri- 
bero  returned,  in  the  year  1525,  from  the 
geographical  and  astronomical  congress 
which  had  been  held  at  the  Puente  de  Caya, 
near  Yelves,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the 
contentions  that  had  arisen  regarding  the 
boundaries  of  the  two  empires  of  the  Por- 
tuguese and  the  Spaniards,  the  outlines  of 
the  new  continent  had  been  already  laid 


down  from  Terra  del  Fuego  to  the  coasts  of 
Labrador.  .  .  .  The  emulous  enterprise 
of  the  Spaniards,  English,  and  Portuguese, 
directed  to  one  and  the  same  object,  was 
then  so  great  that  fifty  years  sufficed  to  de- 
termine the  external  configuration  or  the 
general  direction  of  the  coasts  of  the  coun- 
tries in  the  western  hemisphere. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  229.  (H., 
1891.) 

316.  BEAUTIES    OF    NATURE    NEG- 
LECTED BY  ROMANS— No  description  has 
been   transmitted   to  us  from   antiquity   of 
the  eternal  snow  of  the  Alps  reddened  by 
the  evening  glow  or  the  morning  dawn,  of 
the  beauty  of  the  blue  ice  of  the  glaciers,  or 
of  the  sublimity  of  Swiss  natural  scenery, 
altho  statesmen  and  generals,  with  men  of 
letters  in  their  retinue,  continually  passed 
through  Helvetia  on  their  road  to  Gaul.   All 
these  travelers  think  only  of  complaining  of 
the  wretchedness  of  the  roads,  and  never  ap- 
pear to  have  paid  any  attention  to  the  ro- 
mantic beauty  of  the  scenery  through  which 
they   passed.     ...     Silius   Italicus,    who 
died  in  the  time  of  Trajan,  when  Switzer- 
land  was    already   considerably   cultivated, 
describes  the  region  of  the  Alps  as  a  dreary 
and   barren    wilderness    at    the    same   time 
that  he   extols  with   admiration   the  rocky 
ravines  of  Italy  and  the  woody  shores   of 
the  Liris. — HTJMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i, 
p.  38.    (H.,  1897.) 

317.  BEAUTY  AMID    DESOLATION— 

— Fascination  of  Alaskan  Glaciers — Contin- 
ual Roar  of  Avalanches. — The  tide-water 
glaciers  of  Alaska  are  the  ones  that  claim 
the  greatest  share  of  admiration  from  tour- 
ists on  account  of  the  wonderful  coloring 
and  marvelous  beauty  of  their  ice-cliffs  and 
the  picturesqueness  of  the  floating  islands 
of  ice  to  which  they  give  origin.  The  ap- 
proach to  a  tide-water  glacier  is  usually 
first  made  known  by  the  fleet  of  bergs  that 
dot  the  water  and  chill  the  atmosphere. 
These  become  more  numerous  as  one  pro- 
ceeds, and  many  times  completely  cover  the 
water  before  the  ice-cliffs  from  which  they 
came  can  be  seen.  Indeed,  at  times,  the 
floating  bergs  form  an  impenetrable  pack 
through  which  it  is  impossible  for  a  vessel 
to  advance.  The  vicinity  of  a  glacier  which 
terminates  in  the  sea  is  frequently  made 
manifest  also  by  the  roar  of  avalanches,  as 
fresh  masses  of  ice  fall  from  its  face  and 
join  the  fleet  of  gleaming  bergs  crowding 
the  adjacent  waters.  The  noise  of  the  fall- 
ing fragments  may  be  heard  many  miles, 
and  sounds  like  distant  thunder  or  the  dis- 
charge of  heavy  guns. 

When  a  large  tide-water  glacier  is  seen 
for  the  first  time,  the  beholder  is  fascinated 
by  its  beauty,  especially  if  it  is  illuminated 
by  a  brilliant  sun,  and  learns  a  new  lesson, 
for  the  reason  that  the  scene  is  so  different 
from  the  popular  idea  of  the  appearance 
of  glaciers,  derived  principally  from  the 


Beauty 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


64 


well-known  ice  streams  of  Switzerland. — 
RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  Korth  America,  ch.  6, 
p.  77.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

318. Gorgeous    Sunset 

among  Desert  Ranges  of  Utah. — The  unu- 
sually clear  air  of  Utah,  especially  after 
the  winter  rains,  renders  distant  mountains 
remarkably  sharp  and  distinct,  particularly 
when  the  sun  is  low  in  the  sky  and  a 
strong  side-light  brings  the  sharp  serrate 
crests  into  bold  relief  and  reveals  a  rich- 
ness of  sculpturing  that  was  before  un- 
seen. At  such  time  the  colors  on  the  broad 
deserts,  and  amid  the  purple  hills  and 
mountains,  are  more  wonderful  than  artists 
have  ever  painted,  and  exceed  anything  of 
the  kind  witnessed  by  the  dweller  of  regions 
where  the  atmosphere  is  moist  and  the  na- 
tive tints  of  the  rock  concealed  by  vegeta- 
tion. The  hills  of  New  England  when  ar- 
rayed in  all  the  gorgeous  panoply  of 
autumnal  foliage  are  not  more  striking 
than  the  desert  ranges  of  Utah  when  ablaze 
with  the  reflected  glories  of  the  sunset  sky. 
The  rich,  native  colors  of  the  naked  rocks 
are  then  kindled  into  glowing  fires,  and 
each  canon  and  rocky  gorge  is  filled  with 
liquid  purple,  beside  which  even  the  im- 
perial dyes  would  be  dull  and  lusterless. 
At  such  times  the  glories  of  the  hills  are 
mirrored  in  the  dense  water  of  the  lake; 
their  duplicate  forms  appearing  in  sharp 
relief  on  the  paler  tints  of  the  reflected  sky. 
As  the  sun  sinks  behind  the  far-off .  moun- 
tains, range  after  range  fades  through  in- 
numerable shades  of  purple  and  violet  until 
only  their  highest  battlements  catch  the 
fading  glory.  The  lingering  twilight  brings 
softer  and  more  mysterious  beauties. 
Ranges  and  peaks  that  were  concealed  by 
the  glare  of  the  noonday  sun  start  into 
life.  Forms  that  were  before  unnoticed 
people  the  distant  plain  like  a  shadowy  en- 
campment. At  last  each  remote  mountain 
crest  appears  as  a  delicate  silhouette,  in 
which  all  details  are  lost,  drawn  in  the  soft- 
est of  violet  tints  on  the  fading  yellow  of 
the  sky. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America, 
ch.  4,  p.  79.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

319.  BEAUTY  AND  FERTILITY  OF 
EARTH  DUE  TO  DESPISED  ORGANISMS 

— Worms  Antedate  and  Still  Supplement 
the  Plow. — When  we  behold  a  wide,  turf- 
covered  expanse,  we  should  remember  that 
its  smoothness,  on  which  so  much  of  its 
beauty  depends,  is  mainly  due  to  all  the  in- 
equalities having  been  slowly  leveled  by 
worms.  It  is  a  marvelous  reflection  that 
the  whole  of  the  superficial  mold  over  any 
such  expanse  has  passed,  and  will  again 
pass,  every  few  years  through  the  bodies  of 
worms.  The  plow  is  one  of  the  most  an- 
cient and  most  valuable  of  man's  inven- 
tions; but  long  before  he  existed  the  land 
was  in  fact  regularly  plowed,  and  still  con- 
tinues to  be  thus  plowed  by  earthworms. 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  there  are  many 
other  animals  which  have  played  so  im- 


portant a  part  in  the  history  of  the  world 
as  have  these  lowly  organized  creatures. 
Some  other  animals,  however,  still  more 
lowly  organized,  namely,  corals,  have  done 
far  more  conspicuous  work  in  having  con- 
structed innumerable  reefs  and  islands  in 
the  great  oceans;  but  these  are  almost  con- 
fined to  the  tropical  zones. — DARWIN  For- 
mation of  Vegetable  Mould,  ch.  7,  p.  91. 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

0 2 O .  BEAUTY  AND  HARMONY  EXIST 
ONLY  IN  THE  SOUL—  The  World  vs.  Man's 
Interpretation  of  It.^Out  in  the  external 
world  surrounding  us  there  exists   neither 
sound  nor  song,  neither  noise  nor  quiet,  but 
only  periodical  or   fitful  vibrating  motion, 
or  rest. 

The  most  glorious  music,  the  most  in- 
spired speech  is  nothing  there,  absolutely 
nothing  except  a  wild,  meaningless  surf  of 
sound-waves,  a  purely  mechanical,  grossly 
material  movement  of  bodies  that  produce 
sound,  and  of  particles  of  air  that  conduct 
it.  Not  until  it  reaches  the  purely  subjec- 
tive sphere  of  the  sensation  of  hearing  does 
the  new,  beautiful,  and  significant  world 
come  into  being;  but  it  exists  nowhere  ex- 
cept within  ourselves,  and  only  for  us.  It 
has  absolutely  no  existence  elsewhere. — 
CZERNAK  Vorlesung  iiber  das  Ohr  und  das 
Horen.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 

321.  BEAUTY  AND    MAJESTY  COM- 
BINED IN  PALM— Aspiring    Upward  Reach 
of  Its  Leaves. — The  direction  of  the  leaves, 
together  with  the  lofty  stem,  gives  to  the 
palms  their  character  of  high  majesty.     It 
is    a    characteristic   of   the   physiognomical 
beauty  of  the  palm  that  its  leaves  are  di- 
rected    aspiringly     upwards.     .     .     .     Na- 
ture   seems    to    have    accumulated    all    the 
beauties  of  form  in  the  Jagua  palm,  which, 
intermingled  with  the   Cucurito  or  Vadgi- 
hai,  whose  stem  rises  to  a  height  of  80  or 
even  more  than  100  feet,  crowns  the  granite 
rocks  at  the  cataracts  of  Atures  and  Maj- 
pures,  and  wliieh  we  also  occasionally  saw 
on    the    lonely    banks    of    the    Cassiquiare. 
Their  smooth  and  slender   stems  rise  to  a 
height  of  from  64  to  75  feet,  projecting  like 
a  colonnade  above  the  dense  mass  of  the  sur- 
rounding foliage. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Na- 
ture, p.  301.     (Bell,  96.) 


322. 


Height  of  Its  Pillar- 


like  Stem. — Palms  [are]  the  loftiest  and 
most  stately  of  all  vegetable  forms.  To  these, 
above  all  other  trees,  the  prize  of  beauty 
has  always  been  awarded  by  every  nation; 
and  it  was  from  the  Asiatic  palm-world,  or 
the  adjacent  countries,  that  human  civiliza- 
tion sent  forth  the  first  rays  of  its  early 
dawn.  Marked  with  rings,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  armed  with  thorns,  the  tall  and 
slender  shaft  of  this  graceful  tree  rears  on 
high  its  crown  of  shining,  fan-like,  or  pin- 
nated leaves,  which  are"  often  curled  like 
those  of  some  gramineae.  Smooth  stems  of 


65 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Beauty 


the  palm,  which  I  carefully  measured,  rose 
to  a  height  of  190  feet.  The  palm  dimin- 
ishes in  size  and  beauty  as  it  recedes  from 
the  equatorial  towards  the  temperate  zones. 
— HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  223. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

323.  BEAUTY  AND   SUBLIMITY  IN- 
ACCESSIBLE AND  BARREN— Antarctic  Ice- 
capped     Continent. — From     about    latitude 
70°    to    79°    S.    he    [Sir    J.    Ross]    found 
comparatively  open  water,  and  sailed  along 
near  the  coast  of  a  great  mass  of  land,  on 
which,   however,    it   was    impossible   to    set 
foot.     Its   shores  were  everywhere   covered 
with  ice  projecting  into  the  sea.     A  thick 
mass  of  ice  capped  the  whole  region,   and 
bare  rock  was   only  seen   where  precipices 
rose  high  above  the  water.     Mile  after  mile 
this   unbroken   rampart,    often   rising   to   a 
height  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet, 
presented  a  hopeless  barrier  to  the  explor- 
ers.    It  evidently  indicates  the  margin  of  a 
large  and  mountainous  mass  of  land,  per- 
haps of  an  Antarctic  continent.     From  the 
top  of  the  ice-cliff  the  dazzling  white  sur- 
face   sloped    up    towards    a    range    "whose 
lofty  peaks,  perfectly  covered  with  eternal 
snow,  rose  to  elevations  varying  from  seven 
to  ten  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
ocean.     The  glaciers  that  filled  their  inter- 
vening valleys,   and  which  descended  from 
near   the   mountain   summits,    projected   in 
many  places  several  miles  into  the  sea,  and 
terminated  in  lofty  perpendicular  cliffs.     In 
a  few  places  the  rocks  broke  through  their 
icy  covering,  by  which   alone  we  could  be 
assured   that    land    formed   the    nucleus    of 
this,    to    appearance,    enormous    iceberg." — 
BONNET  Ice-work  Present  and  Past,  pt.  i, 
ch.  2,  p.  57.     (A.,  1896.) 

324.  BEAUTY  AN  END   IN  NATURE 

— Elaborate  and  Multiplied  Ornament — 
Human  Impulses  Not  Out  of  Harmony 
with  Divine  Intelligence. — It  would  be  to 
doubt  the  evidence  of  our  senses  and  of  our 
reason,  or  else  to  assume  hypotheses  of 
which  there  is  no  proof  whatever,  if  we  were 
to  doubt  that  mere  ornament,  mere  variety, 
are  as  much  an  end  and  aim  in  the  work- 
shop of  Nature  as  they  are  known  to  be  in 
the  workshop  of  the  goldsmith  and  the 
jeweler.  Why  should  they  not?  The  love 
and  desire  of  these  is  universal  in  the  mind 
of  man.  It  is  seen  not  more  distinctly  in 
the  highest  forms  of  civilized  art  than  in 
the  habits  of  the  rudest  savage,  who  covers 
with  elaborate  carving  the  handle  of  his 
war-club,  or  the  prow  of  his  canoe.  Is  it 
likely  that  this  universal  aim  and  purpose 
of  the  mind  of  man  should  be  wholly  with- 
out relation  to  the  aims  and  purposes  of  his 
Creator?  He  that  formed  the  eye  to  see 
beauty,  shall  he  not  see  it?  He  that  gave 
the  human  hand  its  cunning  to  work  for 
beauty,  shall  his  hand  never  work  for  it? 
How,  then,  shall  we  account  for  all  the 
beauty  of  the  world — for  the  careful  pro- 
vision made  for  it  where  it  is  only  the  sec- 


ondary object,  not  the  first? — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  14,  p.  114.  (Burt.) 

325. Gorgeous    Coloring 

of  Humming-birds. — Those  who,  by  special 
study,  have  laid  their  minds  alongside  the 
mind  of  Nature  in  any  of  her  provinces 
have  generally  imparted  to  them  a  true 
sense,  so  far  as  it  goes,  in  the  interpretation 
of  her  mysteries.  Let  us,  then,  hear  what 
Mr.  Gould  says  on  the  beauty  of  the  hum- 
ming-birds :  "  The  members  of  .most  <»f  the 
genera  have  certain  parts  of  their  plumage 
fantastically  decorated,  and  in  many  in- 
stances most  resplendent  in  color.  My  own 
opinion  is  that  this  gorgeous  coloring  of  the 
humming-birds  has  been  given  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  ornament,  and  for  no  other  pur- 
pose of  special  adaptation  in  their  mode 
of  life;  in  other  words,  that  ornament  and 
beauty,  merely  as  such,  was  the  end  pro- 
posed/'— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  137. 
(Burt.) 


326. 


Ornament   Sought 


amid  Devices  for  Concealment. — Even  in 
those  cases,  for  example,  where  concealment 
is  the  main  object  in  view,  ornament  is  never 
forgotten,  but  lies,  as  it  were,  underneath, 
carried  into  effect  under  the  conditions  and 
limitations  imposed  by  the  higher  law  and 
the  more  special  purpose.  Thus,  the  feathers 
of  the  ptarmigan,  tho  confined  by  the  law  of 
assimilative  coloring  to  a  mixture  of  black 
and  white  or  gray,  have  those  simple  colors 
disposed  in  crescent  bars  and  mottlings  of 
beautiful  form,  even  as  the  lichens  which 
they  imitate  spread  in  radiating  lines  and 
semicircular  ripples  over  the  weather- 
beaten  stones.  It  is  the  same  with  all  other 
birds  whose  color  is  the  color  of  their  home. 
For  the  purpose  of  concealment,  their  color- 
ing would  be  equally  effective  if  it  were  laid 
on  without  order  *or  regularity  of  form. 
But  this  is  never  done.  The  required  tints 
are  always  disposed  in  patterns,  each  vary- 
ing with  the  genus  and  the  species ;  varying 
for  the  mere  sake  of  variation,  and  for  the 
beauty  which  belongs  to  ornament.  And 
where  this  purpose  is  not  under  the  re- 
straint of  any  other  purpose  controlling  it 
and  keeping  it  down  as  it  were  within  com- 
paratively narrow  limits,  how  gorgeous  are 
the  results  attained !  What  shall  we  say  of 
flowers — those  banners  of  the  vegetable 
world  which  march  in  such  various  and 
splendid  triumph  before  the  coming  of  its 
fruits?  What  shall  we  say  of  the  hum- 
ming-birds— whose  feathers  are  made  to  re- 
turn the  light  which  falls  upon  them,  as  if 
rekindled  from  intenser  fires,  and  colored 
with  more  than  all  the  colors  of  all  the 
gems? — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  114. 
(Burt.) 

327.  BEAUTY  AN  END  IN  THE  DI- 
VINE MIND — Microscopic  Perfection  in  Hid- 
den Rocks. — There  is  unity  of  character  in 
every  scale,  plate,  and  fin  [among  the  ich- 
thyolites  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone] — 


Beauty 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


66 


unity  such  as  all  men  of  taste  have  learned 
to  admire  in  those  three  Grecian  orders 
from  which  the  ingenuity  of  Rome  was  con- 
tent to  borrow,  when  it  professed  to  invent 
— in  the  masculine  Doric,  the  chaste  and 
graceful  Ionic,  the  exquisitely  elegant  Co- 
rinthian; and  yet  the  unassisted  eye  fails 
to  discover  the  finer  evidences  of  this  unity: 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  adorable  Architect 
had  brought  it  out  in  secret  with  reference 
to  the  Divine  idea  alone.  The  artist  who 
sculptured  the  cherry-stone  consigned  it  to 
a  cabinet,  and  placed  a  microscope  beside 
it;  the  microscopic  beauty  of  these  ancient 
fish  was  consigned  to  the  twilight  depths  of 
a  primeval  ocean.  There  is  a  feeling  which 
at  times  grows  upon  the  painter  and  the 
statuary,  as  if  the  perception  and  love  of 
the  beautiful  had  been  sublimed  into  a  kind 
of  moral  sense.  Art  comes  to  be  pursued 
for  its  own  sake;  the  exquisite  conception 
in  the  mind,  or  the  elegant  and  elaborate 
model,  becomes  all  in  all  to  the  worker,  and 
the  dread  of  criticism  or  the  appetite  of 
praise  almost  nothing.  And  thus,  through 
the  influence  of  a  power  somewhat  akin  to 
conscience,  but  whose  province  is  not  the 
just  and  the  good,  but  the  fair,  the  refined, 
the  exquisite,  have  works  prosecuted  in  soli- 
tude, and  never  intended  for  the  world, 
been  found  fraught  with  loveliness. — MIL- 
LER Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  5,  p.  88.  (G.  & 
L.,  1851.) 


328. 


Tyrannous  Demand 


for  Perfection  Urges  Artist  On — All  Tends 
to  an  Ideal. — Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  when 
finishing,  with  the  most  consummate  care, 
a  picture  intended  for  a  semibarbarous,  for- 
eign court,  was  asked  why  he  took  so  much 
pains  with  a  piece  destined,  perhaps,  never 
to  come  under  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur.  "  I 
cannot  help  it,"  he  replied;  "  I  do  the  best 
I  can,  unable,  through  a  tyrant  feeling  that 
will  not  brook  offense,  to  do  anything  less." 
It  would  be  perhaps  overbold  to  attribute 
any  such  overmastering  feeling  to  the  Cre- 
ator; yet  certain  it  is,  that  among  his  crea- 
tures well-nigh  all  approximations  towards 
perfection,  in  the  province  in  which  it  ex- 
patiates, owe  their  origin  to  it,  and  that 
Deity  in  all  his  works  is  his  own  rule. — 
MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  5,  p.  88. 
(G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

329.  BEAUTY    DEFIES    DEFINITION 

— The  concept  of  beauty  is  exceedingly  dim- 
cult.  The  effort  to  construct  the  notion  of 
beauty  always  terminates  in  a  logical  chaos 
that  bewilders  me. — FISCHER  Aesthetik. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

330.  BEAUTY  EMBOWERED  AMID  IN- 
HOSPITABLE   MOUNTAINS—  Transparency 
of    Mountain    Lake. — This     "  gem     of     the 
Sierra  "  [Lake  Tahoe]  is  situated  at  an  ele- 
vation of  6,200  feet  above  the  sea  and  is  en- 
closed in  all  directions  by  rugged,   forest- 
covered   mountain   slopes   which   rise   from 
two  to  over  four  thousand  feet  above  its 


surface.  Its  expanse  is  unbroken  by  islands, 
and  has  an  area  of  between  192  to  195 
square  miles.  Its  diameter  from  north  to 
south  is  21.6  miles  and  from  east  to  west  12 
miles.  On  looking  down  on  Lake  Tahoe 
from  the  surrounding  pine-covered  heights, 
one  beholds  a  vast  plain  of  the  most  won- 
derful blue  that  can  be  imagined.  Near 
shore,  where  the  bottom  is  of  white  sand,  the 
waters  have  an  emerald  tint,  but  are  so 
clear  that  objects  far  beneath  the  surface 
may  be  readily  distinguished.  Farther  lake- 
ward,  the  tints  change  by  insensible  grada- 
tion until  the  water  is  a  deep  blue,  un- 
rivaled even  by  the  color  of  the  ocean  in  its 
deepest  and  most  remote  parts.  On  calm 
summer  days  the  sky,  with  its  drifting 
cloud  banks  and  the  rugged  mountains  with 
their  bare  and  usually  snow-covered  sum- 
mits, are  mirrored  in  the  placid  waters  with 
such  wonderful  distinctness  and  such  accu- 
racy of  detail,  that  one  is  at  a  loss  to  tell 
where  the  real  ends  and  the  duplicate  be- 
gins. While  floating  on  the  lake  in  a  boat, 
the  transparency  of  the  water  gives  the  sen- 
sation that  one  is  suspended  in  mid-air,  as 
every  detail  on  the  bottom,  fathoms  below, 
is  clearly  discernible. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of 
North  America,  ch.  4,  p.  63.  (G.  &  Co., 
1895.) 

331.  BEAUTY  ENHANCED  BY  MYS- 
TERY—Towers  and  Castles  of  Native  Rock- 
Mode  of  Rock-formation  Unknown — Ex- 
planation Carries  the  Difficulty  a  Step  Fur- 
ther Back. — Every  island  and  rocky  crag 
that  rose  in  Lake  Lahontan  became  a  center 
of  accumulation  for  tufa  deposits  and  was 
transformed  into  strange  and  frequently 
fantastic  shapes  by  the  material  precipi- 
tated upon  it.  Now  that  the  waters  of  the 
ancient  sea  have  disappeared,  these  struc- 
tures stand  in  the  desert  valleys  like  the 
crumbling  ruins  of  towers,  castles,  domes, 
and  various  other  shapes,  in  keeping  with 
the  desolation  surrounding  them.  The  finest 
examples  of  these  water-built  structures, 
some  of  them  a  hundred  feet  or  more  in 
height,  occur  about  the  border  of  Pyramid 
and  Winnemucca  lakes,  or  rising  from  their 
bottoms  and  still  wholly  or  in  part  sub- 
merged. The  islands  in  Pyramid  Lake  are 
sheathed  from  base  to  summit  with  these 
deposits  and  their  precipitous  sides  given  a 
convex  outline,  owing  especially  to  the  vast 
deposits  of  dendritic  tufa,  which  was  pre- 
cipitated most  abundantly  midway  up  the 
slopes.  .  .  .  When  the  tufa  towers  and 
castle-like  piles  are  broken,  the  concentric 
layers  of  which  they  are  composed  are  re- 
vealed and  fill  one  with  wonder  at  the  vast 
amount  of  material  they  contain,  as  well  as 
attract  the  eye  on  account  of  the  delicacy 
and  beauty  of  their  structure.  Nowhere  else 
in  this  country,  and,  so  far  as  reported,  no- 
where else  in  the  world,  are  rocks  formed  of 
precipitates  from  lake  waters  so  magnifi- 
cently displayed  as  in  the  desert  valleys  of 
Nevada. 


67 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Beauty 


qu 
th 


The  fascination  of  the  weird  and  fre- 
uently  wonderfully  impressive  scenery  of 
the  region  formerly  submerged  beneath  the 
waters  of  Lake  Lahontan,  is  enhanced,  at 
least  to  the  geologist,  by  the  fact  that  there 
is  yet  an  unsolved  mystery  connected  with 
the  tufa  deposits  that  start  out  as  strange, 
gigantic  forms  from  the  desert  haze,  as  one 
slowly  traverses  those  bitter,  alkaline  lands. 
— RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  6, 
p.  111.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

332.  BEAUTY  IN  NATURE  OBJECTIVE 

—  Utility  Might  Dispense  with  the  Beautiful— 
Herculean  efforts  have  been  made  by  mod- 
ern evolutionists  to  eliminate  altogether  the 
idea  of  beauty  from  nature,  by  theories  of 
sexual  selection  and  the  like,  and  to  per- 
suade us  that  beauty  is  merely  utility  in 
disguise,  and  even  then  only  an  accidental 
coincidence  between  our  perceptions  and 
certain  external  things.  But  in  no  part 
of  their  argument  have  they  more  signally 
failed  in  accounting  for  the  observed  facts, 
and  in  no  part  have  they  more  seriously 
outraged  the  common  sense  and  natural 
taste  of  men.  In  point  of  fact,  we  have 
here  one  of  those  great  correlations  belong- 
ing to  the  unity  of  nature — that  indis- 
soluble connection  which  has  been  estab- 
lished between  the  senses  and  the  esthetic 
sentiments  of  man  and  certain  things  in  the 
external  world.  But  there  is  more  in  beauty 
than  this  merely  anthropological  relation. 
Certain  forms,  for  example,  adopted  in  the 
skeletons  of  the  lower  animals  are  necessa- 
rily beautiful  because  of  their  geometrical 
proportions.  Certain  styles  of  coloring  are 
necessarily  beautiful  because  of  harmonies 
and  contrasts  which  depend  on  the  essen- 
tial properties  of  the  waves  of  light. 
Beauty  is  thus  in  a  great  measure  inde- 
pendent of  the  taste  of  the  spectator.  It  is 
also  independent  of  mere  utility,  since,  even 
if  we  admit  that  all  these  combinations  of 
forms,  motions,  and  colors  which  we  call 
beautiful  are  also  useful,  it  is  easy  to  per- 
ceive that  the  end  could  often  be  attained 
without  the  beauty. — DAWSON  Facts  and 
Fancies  in  Modern  Science,  lect.  5,  p.  198. 
(A.  B.  P.  S.) 

333.  BEAUTY,  NATURAL,  MOLDS  NA- 
TION— Scenery  of  Greece — Intimate  Association 
of  Land  and  Sea. — We  must  not  forget  that 
Grecian  scenery  presents  the  peculiar  charm 
of  an  intimate  association  of  land  and  sea, 
of  shores  adorned  with  vegetation,  or  pic- 
turesquely girt  round  by  rocks  gleaming  in 
the  light  of  aerial  tints,  and  of  an  ocean 
beautiful  in  the  play  of  the  ever-changing 
brightness  of  its  deep-toned  moving  waves. 
Altho  to  other  nations,  sea  and  land,  in  the 
different  pursuits  of  life  to  which  they  give 
rise,   appeared   as   two   separate  spheres   of 
nature,  the  Greeks — not  only  those  who  in- 
habited the  islands,  but  also  those  occupying 
the  southern  portion  of  the  continent — en- 
joyed, almost  everywhere,  the  aspect  of  the 
richness  and  sublime  grandeur  imparted  to 


the  scenery  by  the  contact  and  mutual  in- 
fluence of  the  two  elements. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p.  25.  (H.,  1897.) 

334.  BEAUTY  NOT  MATCHED  BY  IN- 
TELLECT— Naturalist    Tires  of  the  Exquisite 
Humming-bird. — The   longer    he    [the    nat- 
uralist]   observes  any  one  species  or  indi- 
vidual, the  more  does  he  find  in  it  to  reward 
his  attention;    this  is  not  the  case,  however, 
with  humming-birds,  which  possess  the  avian 
body,  but  do  not  rank  mentally- with  birds. 
The  pleasure  one  takes  in  their  beauty  soon 
evaporates,  and  is  succeeded  by  no  fresh  in- 
terest,  so  monotonous  and  mechanical  are 
all  their  actions;    and  we  accordingly  find 
that  those  who  are  most  familiar  with  them 
from  personal  observation  have  very  little 
to  say  about  them.     A  score  of  humming- 
birds, of  as  many  distinct  species,  are  less 
to    the    student   of   habits   than   one    little 
brown-plumaged  bird  haunting  his  garden 
or  the  rush-bed   of  a  neighboring  stream; 
and,  doubtless,  for  a  reason  similar  to  that 
which    makes    a   lovely   human   face    unin- 
formed by  intellect  seem  less  permanently 
attractive    than   many   a   homelier   counte- 
nance.— HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch. 
16,  p.  211.     (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

335.  BEAUTY     OF    CREVASSES    IN 
GLACIERS  —  Color    Rivals    Blue  of  Ocean 
Depths. — The  walls  of  crevasses  in  neVe"  re- 
gions are   of  the  most  exquisite  turquoise 
blue,  the  color  deepening  below  the  surface 
until  it  seems  almost  black.    The  only  color 
in  nature  that  rivals  the  blue  of  glacial  ice 
is  seen  when  one  looks  down  into  the  un- 
fathomable sea.     The  sides  of  crevasses  are 
frequently  hung  with  icicles,  forming  rank 
on  rank  of  glittering  pendants,  and  fretted 
and  embossed  in  the  most  beautiful  manner 
with    snow-wreaths,    and    partially    roofed 
with  curtain-like  cornices  of  snow.     These 
details  are  wrought  in  silvery  white,  or  in 
innumerable    shades    of   blue   with    sugges- 
tions of  emerald  tints.     When  the  sunlight 
enters  the  great  chasms,  their  walls  seem 
incrusted  with  iridescent  jewels.     The  still 
waters  with  which  many  of  the  gulfs  are 
partially  filled  reflect  every  detail  of  their 
crystal   walls   and  make   their  depth   seem 
infinite.     No  dream   of   fairy  caverns   ever 
exceeded    the    beauty    of    these    mysterious 
crypts    of    the    vast    cathedral-like    amphi- 
theaters of  the  silent  mountains. — RUSSELL 
Glaciers  of  North  America,  int.,  p.  8.     (G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

336.  BEAUTY  OF  NATURE  SECOND- 
ARY   IN    GREEK    POETRY— We   find   the 
most  attractive  scenes  of  nature  introduced 
in  the  Homeric  songs  merely  as  secondary 
adjuncts.      "The    shepherd   rejoices    in   the 
stillness  of  night,  in  the  purity  of  the  sky, 
and  in  the  starry  radiance  of  the  vault  of 
heaven;    he  hears  from  afar  the  rush  of  the 
mountain  torrent,  as  it  pursues  its  foaming 
course  swollen  with  the  trunks  of  oaks  that 
have  been  borne  along  by  its  turbid  waters  " 


Beaun-. 


ginning 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


[Iliad,  viii,  555].  The  sublime  description 
of  the  sylvan  loneliness  of  Parnassus,  with 
its  somber,  thickly  \vooded  and  rocky  val- 
leys, contrasts  with  the  joyous  pictures  of 
the  many-fountained  poplar  groves  in  the 
Phseacian  island  of  Scheria,  and  especially 
of  the  land  of  the  Cyclops,  "  where  meadows 
waving  with  luxuriant  and  succulent  grass 
encircle  the  hills  of  unpruned  vines  "  [Od., 
xix,  431].  Pindar,  in  a  dithyrambus  in 
praise  of  spring,  recited  at  Athens,  sings  of 
"  the  earth  covered  with  new-born  flowers, 
when,  in  the  Argive  Nemaea,  the  first  open- 
ing shoot  of  the  palm  announces  the  coming 
of  balmy  spring."  Then  he  sings  of  Etna 
as  "  the  pillar  of  heaven,  the  fosterer  of  en- 
during snow  " ;  but  he  quickly  turns  away 
from  these  terrific  forms  of  inanimate  na- 
ture to  celebrate  Hiero  of  Syracuse,  and  the 
victorious  combats  of  the  Greeks  with  the 
mighty  race  of  the  Persians. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p.  24.  (H.,  1897.) 

337.  BEAUTY,     OF     ORCHIDS-  Innu- 
merable Variety  in  South  America. — While 
these  plants    [of  the  cactus   family]    form 
green   oases   in  the  barren  desert,   the  or- 
chidace*  shed  beauty  over  the  most  desolate 
rocky  clefts,  and  the  seared  and  blackened 
stems   of   those   tropical   trees   which   have 
been  discolored  by  the  action  of  light.     The 
Vanilla  form  is  distinguished  by  its  light- 
green    succulent    leaves,    and   by   its   varie- 
gated    and     singularly     shaped     blossoms. 
Some  of  the  orchidaceous  flowers  resemble  in 
shape  winged  insects,  while  others  look  like 
birds,    attracted   by    the    fragrance    of    the 
honey  vessels.    An  entire  life  would  not  suf- 
fice to  enable  an  artist,  altho  limiting  him- 
self to  the  specimens  afforded  by  one  cir- 
cumscribed  region,   to   depict   the   splendid 
orchidacese  which  embellish  the  deep  alpine 
valleys  of  the  Peruvian  Andes. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  220.    (Bell,  1896.) 

338.  BEAUTY  OF  WILD  PLANT  FAILS 
UNDER  CULTIVATION—  The  Pampas  Grass. 
— On    moist    clayey   ground   flourishes    the 
stately  pampa  grass,  Oynerium  argenteum, 
the  spears  of  which  often  attain  a  height 
of  eight  or  nine  feet.    I  have  ridden  through 
many  leagues  of  this  grass  with  the  feath- 
ery   spikes    high    as    my    head,    and    often 
higher.     .     .     .     Every  one  is  familiar  with 
it  in  cultivation;    but  the  garden  plant  has 
a  sadly  decaying,  draggled  look  at  all  times, 
and  to  my  mind  is  often  positively  ugly, 
with    its    dense    withering    mass    of    coarse 
leaves,  drooping  on  the  ground,  and  bundle 
of  spikes,  always  of  the  same  dead  white  or 
dirty  cream  color.     Now  color — the  various 
ethereal  tints  that  give  a  blush  to  its  cloud- 
like  purity — is  one  of  the  chief  beauties  of 
this  grass  on  its  native  soil;    and  travelers 
who  have  galloped  across  the.  pampas  at  a 
season  of  the  year  when  the  spikes  are  dead, 
and  white  as  paper  or  parchment,  have  cer- 
tainly missed  its  greatest  charm.    The  plant 
is  social,  and  in  some  places  where  scarcely 
any  other  kind  exists  it  covers  large  areas 


with  a  sea  of  fleecy  white  plumes;  in  late 
summer,  and  in  autumn,  the  tints  are  seen, 
varying  from  the  most  delicate  rose,  tender 
and  illusive  as  the  blush  on  the  white  un- 
der-plumage  of  some  gulls,  to  purple  and 
violaceous.  At  no  time  does  it  look  so  per- 
fect as  in  the  evening,  before  and  after  sun- 
set, when  the  softened  light  imparts  a 
mistiness  to  the  crowding  plumes,  and  the 
traveler  cannot  help  fancying  that  the  tints, 
whicn  then  seem  richest,  are  caught  from 
the  level  rays  of  the  sun,  or  reflected  from 
the  colored  vapors  of  the  afterglow. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  6.  (C. 
&  H.,  1895.) 

339.  BEAUTY  RESULTING  FROM  IN- 
TERFERENCE OF  WAVES— Richly  Chased 
Pattern    on    Surface    of    Mercury. — To    the 
eye  of  a  person  conversant  with  these  prin- 
ciples, nothing  can  be  more  interesting  than 
the    crossing    of    water    ripples.      Through 
their  interference  the  water  surface  is  some- 
times   shivered    into    the    most    beautiful 
mosaic,  trembling  rhythmically  as  if  with  a 
kind    of   visible    music.      When    waves    are 
skilfully  generated  in  a  dish  of  mercury,  a 
strong  light  thrown  upon  the  shining  sur- 
face,  and  reflected  on  to   a  screen,  reveals 
the  motions  of  the  liquid  metal.     The  shape 
of  the  vessel  determines  the  forms  of   the 
figures  produced.     In  a  circular  dish,  for  ex- 
ample, a  disturbance  at  the   center  propa- 
gates itself  as  a  series  of  circular  waves, 
which,  after  reflection,   again  meet  at   the 
center.     If  the   point  of  disturbance  be   a 
little  way  removed  from  the  center,  the  in- 
terference of  the  direct  and  reflected  waves 
produces  magnificent  chasing.    The  light  re- 
flected from  such  a  surface  yields  a  pattern 
of   extraordinary  beauty.     When   the   mer- 
cury is  slightly  struck  by  a  needle-point  in 
a  direction  concentric  with  the  surface  of 
the  vessel,  the  lines  of  light  run  round  in 
mazy     coils,     interlacing     and     unraveling 
themselves  in  a  wonderful  manner.     When 
the   vessel    is    square,    a    splendid    checker- 
work  is  produced  by  the  crossing  of  the  di- 
rect and  reflected  waves.    Thus,  in  the  case 
of  wave-motion,   the  most  ordinary  causes 
give    rise   to   most    exquisite    effects.      The 
words   of   your   countryman,   Emerson,   are 
perfectly  applicable  here: 

"  Thou  canst  not  wave  thy  staff  in  the  air, 

Or  dip  thy  paddle  in  the  lake, 
But  it  carves  the  brow  of  beauty  there, 
And  the  ripples  in  rimes  the  oars  for- 
sake." 

— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  54. 
(A.,  1898.) 

340.  BEAUTY  REVEALED    BY   SUB- 
DUED   LIGHT — To   one    who    only   beholds 
the  desert  land  bordering  Great  Salt  Lake 
in  the  full  glare  of  the  unclouded  summer 
sun,  when  the  peculiar  desert  haze  shrouds 
the  landscape  and  the  strange  mirage  dis- 
torts the  outline  of  the  hills,  the  scenery 
will  no  doubt  be  uninteresting  and  perhaps 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Beginning 


even  repellent.  But  let  him  wait  until  the 
cool  breath  from  the  mountains  steals  out 
on  the  plain  and  the  light  becomes  less  in- 
tense, and  a  transformation  will  be  wit- 
nessed that  will  fill  his  heart  with  wonder. 
— RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  4, 
p.  79.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

341.  BEES   MERCILESS   UTILITARI- 
ANS— Individual  Sacrificed  to  Public  Welfare. 
— Bees   are  a  peculiar  people;     they  know 
no  mercy,  no  gratitude,  and  grant  no  pen- 
sions.    They  maintain  every  one  as  long  as 
is   necessary   for   the   general   welfare,   but 
after   that  they   make   away   with   him   as 
quickly   as   possible. — GLOCK   Symbolik   der 
Bienen.       (Translated    for    Scientific    Side- 
Lights.) 

342.  BEES  VENTILATE  THEIR  HIVES 

— Air-currents  Driven  by  Fanning  Wings — 
Natural  Precursor  of  the  Electric  Fan. — 
Very  interesting  [says  Biichner] ,  and  closely 
connected  with  this  characteristic  of  clean- 
liness, is  the  conduct  of  the  so-called  ven- 
tila  ting-bees,  which  have  to  take  care  that 
in  summer  or  hot  weather  the  air  necessary 
for  respiration  of  the  bees  in  the  interior 
of  the  hive  is  renewed,  and  the  too  high 
temperature  cooled  down.  The  latter  pre- 
caution is  necessary,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  bees  working  within  the  hive,  to 
whom,  as  already  said,  a  temperature  risen 
beyond  a  certain  point  would  be  intolerable, 
but  also  to  guard  against  the  melting  or 
softening  of  the  wax.  The  bees  charged 
with  the  care  of  the  ventilation  divide 
themselves  into  rows  and  stages  in  regular 
order  through  all  parts  of  the  hive,  and  by 
swift  fanning  of  their  wings  send  little  cur- 
rents of  air  in  such  fashion  that  a  powerful 
stream  or  change  of  air  passes  through  all 
parts  of  the  hive.  Other  bees  stand  at  the 
mouth  of  the  hive,  which  fan  in  the  same 
way  and  considerably  accelerate  the  wind 
from  within.  The  current  of  air  thus  caused 
is  so  strong  that  little  bits  of  paper  hung 
in  front  of  the  mouth  are  rapidly  moved, 
and  that,  according  to  F.  Huber,  a  lighted 
match  is  extinguished.  The  wind  can  be 
distinctly  felt  if  the  hand  be  held  in  front. 
— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p. 
191.  (A.,  1899.) 

343.  BEGINNING  NECESSARILY  SU- 
PERNATURAL—If  the  universe  had  a  be- 
ginning,  its  beginning,  by  the  very  condi- 
tions  of   the  case,   was   supernatural;     the 
laws  of  Nature  cannot  account  for  their  own 
origin. — MILL   Positive   Philosophy   of   Au- 
guste  Comle,  p.  15.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

344.  BEGINNING    OF     LIFE     SOME- 
WHERE— Earth    Once  Lifeless  —  Origin   Re- 
quires Creative  Power. — These  different  sets 
of  inhabitants  who  have  possessed  the  earth 
at  successive  periods  have  each  a  character 
of  their  own.     The  transmutation  theory  in- 
sists that  they  owe  their  origin  to  gradual 
transformations,  and  are  not,  therefore,  the 
result  ^of  distinct  creative  acts.     All  agree, 


however,  that  we  arrive  at  a  lower  stratum 
where  no  trace  of  life  is  to  be  found.  Place 
it  where  we  will:  suppose  that  we  are  mis- 
taken in  thinking  that  we  have  reached  the 
beginning  of  life  with  the  lowest  Cambrian 
deposit;  suppose  that  the  first  animals  pre- 
ceded this  epoch,  and  that  there  was  an 
earlier  epoch,  to  be  called  the  Laurentian 
system,  besides  many  others  older  still ;  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  geology  brings  us 
down  to  a  level  at  which  the  character  of 
the  earth's  crust  made  organic_life  impos- 
sible. At  this  point,  wherever  we  place  it, 
the  origin  of  animals  by  development  was 
impossible,  because  they  had  no  ancestors. 
This  is  the  true  starting-point,  and  until  we 
have  some  facts  to  prove  that  the  power, 
whatever  it  was,  which  originated  the  first 
animals  has  ceased  to  act,  I  see  no  reason 
for  referring  the  origin  of  life  to  any  other 
cause. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  1,  p. 
43.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

345.  BEGINNING  OF  LIFE-WORK  IN 
MIDDLE  AGE — Herschel's  Great  Work  Done 
after  His  Fortieth  Year — Prodigious  Labors 
— Discovery  of  Uranus. — He  [Herschel]  had 
entered  upon  his  forty-second  year  when  he 
sent   his   first   paper   to   the   Philosophical 
Transactions;      yet     during     the     ensuing 
thirty-nine   years   his    contributions — many 
of     them     elaborate     treatises — numbered 
sixty-nine,    forming   a    series   of   extraordi- 
nary importance  to  the  history  of  astron- 
omy.   As  a  mere  explorer  of  the  heavens  his 
labors     were     prodigious.       He     discovered 
2,500  nebulae,   806  double  stars,  passed  the 
whole    firmament    in    review    four    several 
times,    counted   the    stars    in    3,400    "  gage 
fields,"  and  executed  a  photometric  classifi- 
cation of  the  principal  stars,  founded  on  an 
elaborate  ( and  the  first  systematically  con- 
ducted)    investigation     of     their     relative 
brightness.     He  was  as  careful  and  patient 
as    he    was    rapid;     spared    no    time    and 
omitted  no  precaution  to  secure  accuracy  in 
his  observations;    yet  in  one  night  he  would 
examine,  singly  and  attentively,  up  to  400 
separate  objects. 

The  discovery  of  Uranus  was  a  mere  inci- 
dent of  the  scheme  he  had  marked  out  for 
himself — a  fruit,  gathered  as  it  were  by  the 
way.  It  formed,  nevertheless,  the  turning- 
point  in  his  career.  From  a  star-gazing 
musician  he  was  at  once  transformed  into 
an  eminent  astronomer;  he  was  relieved 
from  the  drudgery  of  a  toilsome  profession 
and  installed  as  Royal  Astronomer. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  15. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

346.  BEGINNING,  THE,  TO  BE  INTER- 
PRETED   BY  THE   END— Man  the  End  in 

Evolution. — If  evolution  can  be  proved  to 
include  man,  the  whole  course  of  evolution 
and  the  whole  scheme  of  Nature  from  that 
moment  assume  a  new  significance.  The  be- 
ginning must  then  be  interpreted  from  the 
end,  not  the  end  from  the  beginning.  An 
engineering  workshop  is  unintelligible  until 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


70 


we  reach  the  room  where  the  completed  en- 
gine stands.  Everything  culminates  in  that 
final  product,  is  contained  in  it,  is  explained 
by  it.  The  evolution  of  man  is  also  the 
complement  and  corrective  of  all  other 
forms  of  evolution.  From  this  height  only 
is  there  a  full  view,  a  true  perspective,  a 
consistent  world. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  p.  9.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

347.    BEGINNINGS    OF    ASTRONOMY 

— Chaldeans  the  First  Astronomers — Care- 
ful Observations  of  the  Greeks. — The  Greek 
astronomers  of  a  later  age  not  only  rejected 
the  vague  speculations  of  their  ancestors, 
but  proved  themselves  the  most  careful  ob- 
servers of  their  time,  and  first  made  astron- 
omy worthy  the  name  of  a  science.  From  this 
Greek  astronomy  the  astronomy  of  our  own 
time  may  be  considered  as  coming  by  direct 
descent.  Still,  were  it  not  for  the  absence 
of  historic  records,  we  could  probably  trace 
back  both  their  theories  and  their  system  of 
observation  to  the  plains  of  Chaldea.  The 
zodiac  was  mapped  out  and  the  constella- 
tions named  many  centuries  before  they 
commenced  their  observations,  and  these 
works  marked  quite  an  advanced  stage  of 
development. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astron- 
omy, pt.  i,  int.,  p.  5.  (H.,  1899.) 


348. 


Hipparchus  Antici- 


pated Ptolemy — Cycles  and  Epicycles. — If 
we  confine  ourselves  to  men  whose  names 
and  whose  labors  have  come  down  to  us,  we 
must  concede  to  Hipparchus  the  honor  of 
being  the  father  of  astronomy.  Not  only  do 
his  observations  of  the  heavenly  bodies  ap- 
pear to  have  been  far  more  accurate  than 
those  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  but  he  also 
determined  the  laws  of  the  apparent  mo- 
tions of  the  planets,  and  prepared  tables  by 
which  these  motions  could  be  calculated. 
Probably  he  was  the  first  propounder  of  the 
theory  of  epicyclic  motions  of  the  planets, 
commonly  called  after  the  name  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Ptolemy,  who  lived  three  centuries 
later. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy,  pt.  i, 
int.,  p.  5.  (H.,  1899.) 

349.  BEGINNINGS  OF  SCIENCE— Su- 
perstition Mingled  with  Real  Knowledge. — 
...  A  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  Tus- 
cans was  their  inclination  for  cultivating  an 
intimate  connection  with  certain  natural 
phenomena.  Divination,  which  was  the  oc- 
cupation of  their  equestrian  hierarchical 
.caste,  gave  occasion  for  a  daily  observation 
of  the  meteorological  processes  of  the  at- 
mosphere. The  Fulguratores,  observers  of 
lightning,  occupied  themselves  in  investi- 
gating the  direction  of  the  lightning,  with 
"  drawing  it  down  "  and  "  turning  it  aside." 
They  carefully  distinguished  between  flashes 
of  lightning  from  the  higher  regions  of  the 
clouds,  and  those  which  Saturn,  an  earth- 
god,  caused  to  ascend  from  below,  and 
which  ^  were  called  Saturnine- terrestrial 
lightning,  a  distinction  which  modern  phys- 
icists have  thought  worthy  of  especial  at- 


tention. Thus  were  established  regular  offi- 
cial notices  of  the  occurrence  of  storms. 
The  Aqucelicium,  the  art  of  discovering 
springs  of  waters,  which  was  much  practised 
by  the  Etruscans,  and  the  drawing  forth  of 
water  by  their  Aquileges,  indicate  a  careful 
investigation  of  the  natural  stratification 
of  rocks  and  of  the  inequalities  of  the 
ground.  Diodorus,  on  this  account,  extols 
the  Etruscans  as  industrious  inquirers  of 
Nature. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii, 
p.  139.  (H.,  1897.) 

350.  BEGINNINGS  OF  SCULPTURE— 

Indian  Pipes  Molded  to  Figures  of  Men  and 
Animals. — Among  the  most  characteristic 
specimens  of  ancient  American  pottery  are 
the  pipes.  Some  of  these  are  simple  bowls, 
not  unlike  a  common  every-day  pipe,  from 
which  they  differ  in  having  generally  no 
stem,  the  mouth  having  apparently  been 
applied  direct  to  the  bowl.  Many  are  highly 
ornamented,  others  are  spirited  representa- 
tions of  monsters  or  of  animals,  such  as  the 
beaver,  otter,  wildcat,  elk,  bear,  wolf,  pan- 
ther, raccoon,  opossum,  squirrel,  manatee, 
eagle,  hawk,  heron,  owl,  buzzard,  raven, 
swallow,  parrakeet,  duck,  grouse,  and  many 
others.  The  most  interesting  of  these,  per- 
haps, is  the  manatee  or  lamantin,  of  which 
seven  representations  have  been  found  in 
the  mounds  of  Ohio.  These  are  no  mere 
rude  sculptures,  about  which  there  might 
easily  be  a  mistake,  but  we  are  assured  that 
"  the  truncated  head,  thick  semicircular 
snout,  peculiar  nostrils,  tumid,  furrowed 
upper  lip,  singular  feet  or  fins,  and  remark- 
able mustaches,  are  all  distinctly  marked, 
and  render  the  recognition  of  the  animal 
complete."  This  curious  animal  is  not  at 
present  found  nearer  than  the  shores  of 
Florida,  a  thousand  miles  away. — AVEBUBY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  242.  (A.,  1900.) 

35 1 .  BEGINNINGS  RUDE  AND  POOR— 

Ancestors  of  Steam-plow,  Harvester,  and 
Thresher. — The  ancestor  of  the  steam-plow 
is  the  digging-stick  of  savagery,  a  branch 
of  a  tree  sharpened  at  the  end  by  fire;  the 
progenitors  of  the  steam-harvester  and 
thresher  were  the  stone  sickle,  the  roasting- 
tray,  or,  later  on,  the  tribulum. — MASON 
Birth  of  Invention,  Address  at  Centenary 
of  Amer.  Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C., 
1891.  Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  407. 

352.  BELIEF  BEFORE  DISCOVERY— 

Ross  Confident  of  the  Existence  of  Deep-sea 
Life. — In  the  narrative  of  the  voyage  of  the 
"Erebus"  and  "Terror,"  published  in  1847, 
Sir  James  Ross  [writes] :  "  It  is  well  known 
that  marine  animals  are  more  susceptible 
of  change  of  temperature  than  land  ani- 
mals; indeed  they  may  be  isothermally  ar- 
ranged with  great  accuracy.  It  will,  how- 
ever, be  difficult  to  get  naturalists  to  believe 
that  these  fragile  creatures  could  possibly 
exist  at  the  depth  of  nearly  2,000  fathoms 
below  the  surface;  yet  as  we  know  they  can 
bear  the  pressure  of  1,000  fathoms,  why 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ing 


may  they  not  of  two?  We  also  know  that 
several  of  the  same  species  of  creatures  in- 
habit the  Arctic  that  we  have  fished  up 
from  great  depths  in  the  Antarctic  seas.  The 
only  way  they  could  get  from  one  pole  to 
the"  other  must  have  been  through  the 
tropics;  but  the  temperature  of  the  sea  in 
those  regions  is  such  that  they  could  not 
exist  in  it,  unless  at  a  depth  of  nearly  2,000 
fathoms.  At  that  depth  they  might  pass 
from  the  Arctic  to  the  Antarctic  Ocean  with- 
out a  variation  of  five  degrees  of  tempera- 
ture; whilst  any  land  animal,  at  the  most 
favorable  season,  must  experience  a  differ- 
ence of  fifty  degrees,  and,  if  in  the  winter, 
no  less  than  150  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's 
thermometer — a  sufficient  reason  why  there 
are  neither  quadrupeds,  nor  birds,  nor  land 
insects  common  to  both  regions." — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (A., 
1894.) 

353.  BELIEF  IN   A  FUTURE  LIFE— 

Ancient  British  Islanders. — The  care  with 
which  the  dead  were  interred,  and  the  cus- 
tom [prevalent,  but  not  universal]  of  bury- 
ing implements  with  them,  may  fairly  be 
regarded  as  indicating  the  existence  of  a  be- 
lief in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  in  a 
material  existence  after  death. 

The  objects  buried  with  the  dead  are 
sometimes  numerous,  and  always  interest- 
ing. In  a  large  tumulus  near  Everley,  a 
deposit  of  burnt  bones  was  "  surrounded  by 
a  circular  wreath  of  horns  of  the  red- 
deer  " ;  whilst  at  a  higher  level,  tho  three 
feet  from  the  summit,  was  the  skeleton  of  a 
small  dog,  the  "  attendant  in  the  chase,  and 
perhaps  the  victim  in  death,"  of  the  hunter, 
whose  exquisitely  chipped  arrow-heads,  five 
in  number,  were  deposited  with  his  ashes. — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  5,  p.  133. 
(A.,  1900.) 

354.      Favorite  Objects 

Buried  with  the  Dead — American  Indians. 
— The  remark  made  by  Schoolcraft  as  re- 
gards the  American  Indians  is  applicable  to 
many   savage    tribes.      "  Nothing   that   the 
dead  possessed  was  deemed  too  valuable  to 
be  interred  with  the  body.     The  most  costly 
dress,    arms,    ornaments,    and    implements, 
are    deposited    in    the    grave,"    which    is 
"  placed  in  the  choicest  scenic  situations — 
on  some  crowning  hill  or  gentle  eminence  in 
a  secluded  valley."     And  the  North-Ameri- 
can Indians  are  said,  even  until  within  the 
last   few    years,   to   have  long   cherished   a 
friendly  feeling  for  the  French,  because,  in 
the  time  of  their  supremacy,   they  had  at 
least  this  one  great  merit,  that  they  never 
disturbed  the  resting-places  of  the  dead. — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  5,  p.   123. 
(A.,  1900.) 

355.  BELIEF  IN  ILLUSIONS  OF  OTH- 
ERS—Every   Man  Attributes    the  Failing  to 
All    the    Rest. — Most    men    are    sometimes 
liable  to  illusion.     Hardly   anybody  is   al- 
ways consistently  sober  and  rational  in  his 


perceptions  and  beliefs.  A  momentary  fa- 
tigue of  the  nerves,  a  little  mental  excite- 
ment, a  relaxation  of  the  effort  of  attention 
by  which  we  continually  take  our  bearings 
with  respect  to  the  real  world  about  us,  will 
produce  just  the  same  kind  of  confusion  of 
reality  and  phantasm  which  we  observe  in 
the  insane.  To  give  but  an  example:  the 
play  of  fancy  which  leads  to  a  detection  of 
animal  and  other  forms  in  clouds  is  known 
to  be  an  occupation  of  the  insane,  and  is 
rightly  made  use  of  by  Shakespeare  as  a 
mark  of  incipient  mental  aberration  in 
Hamlet;  and  yet  this  very  same  occupation 
is  quite  natural  to  children,  and  to  imagi- 
native adults  when  they  choose  to  throw  the 
reins  on  the  neck  of  their  fantasy.  Our 
luminous  circle  of  rational  perception  is 
surrounded  by  a  misty  penumbra  of  illu- 
sion. Common  sense  itself  may  be  said  to 
admit  this,  since  the  greatest  stickler  for 
the  enlightenment  of  our  age  will  be  found 
in  practise  to  accuse  most  of  his  acquaint- 
ance at  some  time  or  another  of  falling  into 
illusion. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (A., 
1897.) 

356.  BELIEF  IN  THE  UNKNOWABLE 
A    NECESSITY—  Human    Personality    Inex- 
plicable— Agnosticism  Accepts  the  Mystery. 
— Let  us  ask  him  [the  agnostic]  if  he  can 
subscribe  to  the  simple  creed  expressed  in 
the  words  "  I  am,  I  feel,  I  think."     Should 
he  deny  these  propositions,  then  there  is  no 
basis  left  on  which  to  argue.    Should  he  ad- 
mit this  much  of  belief,  he  has  abandoned 
somewhat  of  his  agnostic  position;    for  it 
would  be  easy  to  show  that  in  even  uttering 
the  pronoun  "  I "  he  has  committed  himself 
to  the  belief  in  the  unknowable.     What  is 
the  ego  which  lie  admits?     Is  it  the  ma- 
terial organism  or  any  one  of  its  organs  or 
parts?  or  is  it  something  distinct,  of  which 
the  organism  is  merely  the  garment,  or  out- 
ward manifestation?  or  is  the  organism  it- 
self anything  more  than  a  bundle   of  ap- 
pearances partially  known  and  scarcely  un- 
derstood by  that  which   calls  itself  "  I "  ? 
Who  knows  ?    And  if  our  own  personality  is 
thus  inscrutable,  if  we  can  conceive  of  it 
neither  as  identical  with  the  whole  or  any 
part  of  the  organism,  nor  as  existing  inde- 
pendently of  the  organism,  we  should  begin 
our  agnosticism  here,  and  decline  to  utter 
the  pronoun  "  I "  as  implying  what  we  can- 
not know. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in 
Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  22.     (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

357.  BELIEF  NOT  FORCED  BY  WILL 

— Created  by  Action  According  to  Facts: 
"  If  Any  Man  Will  Do  His  Will "  (John  vii, 
17). — If  belief  consists  in  an  emotional  re- 
action of  the  entire  man  on  an  object,  how 
can  we  believe  at  will?  We  cannot  control 
our  emotions.  Truly  enough,  a  man  cannot 
believe  at  will  abruptly.  Nature  some- 
times, and  indeed  not  very  infrequently, 
produces  instantaneous  conversions  for  us. 
She  suddenly  puts  us  in  an  active  connec- 


Belief 
Biolo 


ogy 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


tion  with  objects  of  which  she  had  till  then 
left  us  cold.  "  I  realize  for  the  first  time," 
we  then  say,  "  what  that  means !  "  This 
happens  often  with  moral  propositions.  We 
have  often  heard  them;  but  now  they  shoot 
into  our  lives;  they  move  us;  we  feel  their 
living  force.  Such  instantaneous  beliefs  are 
truly  enough  not  to  be  achieved  by  will. 
But  gradually  our  will  can  lead  us  to  the 
same  results  by  a  very  simple  method:  we 
need  only  in  cold  blood  act  as  if  the  thing 
in  question  were  real,  and  keep  acting  as  if 
it  were  real,  and  it  will  infallibly  end  by 
growing  into  such  a  connection  with  our 
life  that  it  will  become  real.  It  will  become 
so  knit  with  habit  and  emotion  that  our  in- 
terests in  it  will  be  those  which  characterize 
belief.  Those  to  whom  "  God  "  and  "  Duty  " 
are  now  mere  names  can  make  them  much 
more  than  that  if  they  make  a  little  sacri- 
fice to  them  every  day. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  21,  p.  321.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

358.  BELIEF    THAT    NO    SUNLIGHT 
PENETRATES    TO    DEPTHS    OF    SEA— 
Until  quite  recently,  every  one  agreed  that 
no  rays  of  sunlight  could  possibly  penetrate 
the  sea  to  a  greater  depth  than  a  few  hun- 
dred fathoms.    Moseley  says  that  "  probably 
all  is  dark  below  200  fathoms  excepting  in 
so  far  as  light  is  given  out  by  phosphores- 
cent animals,"  and  Wyville  Thomson  speaks 
of  the  "  utter  darkness  of  the  deep-sea  bot- 
tom."— HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
2,  p.  22.     (A.,  1894.) 

359.  BENEFITS  CONFERRED  BY  UN- 
SEEN ORGANISMS—  Their  Action  Essential 
to  Best  Quality  of  Butter — Bacteria  Have 
Economic  Value. — Cream  in  ordinary  dairies 
and    creameries    invariably    contains    some 
bacteria,  a  large  number  of  which  are  in  no 
sense  injurious.     Indeed,  it  is  to  these  bac- 
teria that  the  ripening  and  flavoring  proc- 
esses are  due.     They  are  perfectly  consist- 
ent with  the  production  of  the  best  quality 
of  butter.   The  aroma  of  butter,  as  we  know, 
controls  in  a  large  measure  its  price  in  the 
market.     This  aroma  is  due  to  the  decom- 
posing effect  upon  the  constituents  of  the 
butter    of    the    bacteria    contained    in    the 
cream.    In  the  months  of  May  and  June  the 
variety  and  number  of  these  types  of  bac- 
teria are  decidedly  greater  than  in  the  win- 
ter months,   and  this  explains  in  part  the 
better  quality  of  the  butter  at  these  seasons. 
— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  215.    (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

360.  BENEFITS    OF    FIRE— Range  of 
Habitation     Widened — Forests     Subdued — 
Canoes  Invented — Eskimos  and  Cave-men. — 
Incalculable  were  the  gains  that  began  to 
flow  in  upon  the  first  fire-maker,  his  victory 
won,  its  spoils  assured.     Beneath  his  tread 
the  globe   expanded  itself  with   invitation, 
for  now  no  longer  chained  by  the  sunbeam, 
he  added  all  the  frozen  North  to  his  hunt- 
ing-ground.     The    Eskimos,    according    to 
Professor  Dawkins,  are  the  lineal  descend- 


ants of  the  cave-men.  They  are  the  only 
American  aborigines  who  have  invented  a 
lamp;  that  simple  device  has  enabled  them 
to  conquer  and  hold  an  outpost  twenty  de- 
grees nearer  the  pole  than  any  other  human 
settlement.  Whether  the  first  explorers  had 
caves  to  fall  back  upon  or  not,  fire  was  in- 
dispensable to  them.  A  burning  brand 
cleared  their  paths  through  forests  other- 
wise impenetrable.  When  they  singled  out 
a  tree  for  their  rude  carpentry,  it  was  no 
longer  cut  down  by  flints  so  soon  dulled  and 
broken  in  the  process.  Fire  cunningly  ap- 
plied, to  be  as  cunningly  quenched  with  wet 
mud,  had  a  sharper  and  quicker  tooth  than 
stone.  The  tree  felled,  its  trunk  was  soft- 
ened and  shaped,  again  by  fire,  into  a  canoe 
for  voyages  too  daring  for  any  raft. — ILES 
Flame,  Electricity,  and  the  Camera,  ch.  3, 
p.  24.  (D.  &  McC.,  1900.) 

361.  BENEFITS    POSSIBLE    IN    UN- 
KNOWN FUTURE— Studies  Not  To  Be  Lim- 
ited to  Manifest  Demand.— Let  me,  firstly, 
note  that  those  who  object  to  study  any  sub- 
ject   which    they    themselves    deem    uncon- 
nected with  their  own  special  life  and  avo- 
cation, commit  the  illogical,  and  I  must  say 
illiberal,  mistake  of  seeking  to  limit  their 
intellectual  progress  from  a  very  unreason- 
able motive  and  cause.     Because  such  per- 
sons   consider   any  particular   study   of   no 
use,  or,  what  is  still  more  absurd,  because 
they  think  that  it  cannot  be  of  any  future 
service  to  them,  the  study  is  rejected.     But 
one  is  naturally  tempted  to  ask  of  such  per- 
sons how,  without  pretending  to  possess  a 
special  gift  of  prophecy,  they  can  attain  to 
any  knowledge  of  what  will  or   what  will 
not  be   of  service  to  them   in   the   future? 
Who  can,  in  the  first  place,  and  as  a  matter 
of   common-sense   detail,    reasonably    assert 
that  they  will  never  be  in  any  position,  or 
placed   in    any   circumstances,    in    which    a 
knowledge  of  the  despised  branch  will  not 
come  handy,  and  even  be  of  valuable  nature 
to   them?     Human  policy  in   this   respect, 
and  especially  that  which  would  take  upon 
itself  the  office  of  educational  censor,  and  of 
deciding    according    to    its    narrow    lights 
what  should  or   should  not  be   studied   in 
view  of  the  unknown  future,  is  of  a  very 
short-sighted  kind.    The  study  we  prosecute 
from  a  liking  for  it,  and  in  our  leisure  time, 
may  in  the  days  of  the  future  become  the 
prop  and  mainstay  of  our  physical  and  in- 
tellectual life,   and  may  unfold   sources  of 
pleasure  and  gratification  to  us   undreamt 
of   until   the    occasion   calls   them   forth. — 
ANDREW    WILSON    Science-Culture    for    the 
Masses,  p.  26.     (Hum.,  1888.) 

362.  BENEFITS,      RECIPROCAL,    OF 
NATIONS  IN  SCIENCE—  The  Royal  Institu- 
tion of  Great  Britain  Founded  by  an  Ameri- 
can— The  Smithsonian,  by  an  Englishman. 
— At  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution 
there  resided  in  the  town  of  Rumford,  N.  H., 
one  Benjamin  Thompson,  who  occupied  him- 


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Belief 
Biology 


self  in  teaching  a  school.  He  embraced,  as 
we  Americans  would  say,  the  wrong  side 
of  the  question  on  that  occasion — he  sided 
with  the  king's  government.  He  went  to 
England,  became  a  man  of  mark,  and  was 
knighted.  Then  he  went  on  the  Continent, 
again  distinguished  himself  by  his  scientific 
attainments,  again  was  titled,  and  this 
time,  in  memory  of  his  American  home,  was 
called  Count  Kumford.  On  his  return  to 
London,  Count  Rumford  founded  the  Royal 
Institution,  and  thus  to  a  native  American 
the  world  owes  that  establishment  which 
has  been  glorified  by  Davy,  and  Young,  and 
Faraday.  Had  it  not  been  for  Rumford, 
Davy  might  have  spent  his  life  in  filling 
gas-bags  for  Dr.  Beddoes's  patients,  and 
Faraday  might  have  been  a  bookbinder. 

But  if  Benjamin  Thompson,  an  American, 
founded  the  Royal  Institution,  James 
Smithson,  an  Englishman,  shortly  after- 
wards founded  that  noble  institution  in 
Washington  w^hich  bears  his  name,  and 
which,  under  the  enlightened  care  of  Prof. 
Henry,  has  so  greatly  ministered  to  the  ad- 
vancement and  diffusion  of  science. — TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  app.  (Draper's  Ad- 
dress), p.  235.  (A...  1898.) 

363.  BIBLE    THE   ONLY  STANDARD 
OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANS— Science  Measured 
by  Scripture. — The  sufferings  of  the  early 
Christians,    and    the    extraordinary   exalta- 
tion of  mind  which  enabled  them  to  triumph 
over  the  diabolical  tortures  to  which  they 
were  subjected,   must  have  left  traces  not 
easily  effaced.     They  scorned  the  earth,  in 
view  of  that  "  building  of  God,  that  house 
not     made     with     hands,     eternal     in     the 
heavens."     The  Scriptures  which  ministered 
to  their  spiritual  needs  were  also  the  meas- 
ure  of  their   science.     When,    for  example, 
the  celebrated  question  of  Antipodes  came  to 
be  discussed,  the  Bible  was  with  many  the 
ultimate  court  of  appeal.     Augustine,  who 
flourished   A.   D.   400,   would  not   deny  the 
rotundity  of  the  earth;    but  he  would  deny 
the  possible  existence  of  inhabitants  at  the 
other  side,  "  because  no  such  race  is  recorded 
in    Scripture    among    the    descendants    of 
Adam."     Archbishop  Boniface  was  shocked 
at  the  assumption  of  a  "  world  of  human  be- 
ings out  of  the  reach  of  the  means  of  salva- 
tion."   Thus  reined  in,  science  was  not  like- 
ly to  make  much  progress. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  146.     (A., 
1897.) 

364.  BIGOTRY   AND    SCIENCE— Des- 
cartes Assailed  Alike  ~by  Catholics  and  ~by 
Protestants. — Descartes    lived    and    died    a 
good  Catholic,  and  prided  himself  upon  hav- 
ing demonstrated  the  existence  of  God  and 
of  the  soul  of  man.     As  a  reward  for  his 
exertions,  his  old  friends  the  Jesuits  put  his 
wTorks   upon   the   "  Index,"   and   called  him 
an  atheist,  while  the  Protestant  divines  of 
Holland  declared  him  to  be  both   a  Jesuit 
and  an  atheist.     His  books  narrowly  escaped 


being  burned  by  the  hangman;  the  fate  of 
Vanini  was  dangled  before  his  eyes;  and 
the  misfortunes  of  Galileo  so  alarmed  him 
that  he  well-nigh  renounced  the  pursuits  by 
which  the  world  has  so  greatly  benefited, 
and  was  driven  into  subterfuges  and  eva- 
sions which  were  not  worthy  of  him. — HUX- 
LEY Lay  Sermons,  serin.  14,  p.  342.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

365.  BINDING  A  SUBSTITUTE   FOR 
NAILS  AND  CEMENT—  The  Sennit  of  Oce- 
anica. — But    the    savage    man's    unfailing 
friend  in  holding  together  the  parts  of  his 
tools   is  a   seizing  of  some  sort.      It  is   so 
easy,  so  effective,  so  readily  repaired,  and  it 
makes     the     handle     stronger     instead     of 
weaker.     Hence  the  Polynesian  gentleman, 
when  he  goes   out  to  visit  or   sits  in  the 
shade  of  his   own  vine  and  fig-tree,   takes 
along    a    good    quantity    of    coco-fiber    and 
braids  it  into  sennit.     If  the  reader  never 
saw  a  roll  of  sennit,  it  will  pay  him  to  visit 
the   nearest  ethnological   museum   for   this 
sole  purpose.     The  uniformity  of  the  strands, 
the  evenness  of  the  braid,  the  incomparable 
winding  on  the  roll  or  spool,  as  one  might 
call  it,  constitute  one  of  the  fine  arts   of 
Oceanica.     But  prettier  still  are  the  regu- 
lar,  geometrical   wrappings   of   this    sennit 
when  it  is  designed  to  hold  an  adz  blade  and 
handle  in  close  union.    While  speaking  of  this 
combining  substance,  it  may  as  well  be  said 
that  in  the  building  of  houses  the  frame- 
work   is    held    together    entirely    by    the 
braided  sennit.     The  strakes  of  a  boat  are 
united  by  its  means.     In  short,  whatsoever 
is  wrapped  for  amusement  or  seriously,  and 
whatsoever  is  nailed  or  screwed  or  pegged 
or  glued  in  other  lands,  is  in  this  region 
united   by   means    of   this   textile. — MASON 
Origins    of    Invention,    ch.    2,    p.    41.     (S., 
1899.) 

366.  BIOLOGY,  PROBLEMS  OF,  DEFY 
MECHANICAL  EXPLANATION— I  think  that 
the    more    thoroughly    and    conscientiously 
we  endeavor  to   study  biological  problems, 
the  more  we  are  convinced  that  even  those 
processes  which  we  have  already  regarded  as 
explicable  by  chemical  and  physical  laws  are 
in  reality  infinitely  more  complex,  and   at 
present  defy  any  attempt  at  a  mechanical 
explanation. 

Thus  we  have  been  satisfied  to  account 
for  the  absorption  of  food  from  the  ali- 
mentary canal  by  the  laws  of  diffusion  and 
osmosis.  But  we  now  know  that,  as  regards 
osmosis,  the  wall  of  the  intestine  does  not 
behave  like  a  dead  membrane.  We  know 
that  the  intestinal  wall  is  covered  with 
epithelium,  and  that  every  epithelial  cell  is 
in  itself  an  organism,  a  living  being  with 
the  most  complex  functions.  We  know  that 
it  takes  up  food  by  the  active  contraction  of 
its  protoplasm  in  the  same  way  as  observed 
in  independent  naked  animal  cells. — BUNGE 
Text-book  of  Physiological  and  Pathologi- 
cal Chemistry,  p.  3.  [K.  P.  &  Co.]  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


74 


367.  BIRD  ATTACKED  FOR  UNUSU- 
AL COLOR— A   Stranger  to  Its  Kind.— An- 
other instance  of  misdirected  anger  in  na- 
ture, not  quite  so  familiar  as  that  of  the 
bull  and  red  rag,  is  used  as  an  illustration 
by  one  of  the  prophets :     "  My  heritage  is 
unto  me  as  a  speckled  bird;    the  birds  round 
about  are  against  it "  [ Jer.  xii,  9] .     I  have 
frequently  seen  the  birds  of  a  thicket  gather 
round    some    singularly    marked    accidental 
visitor,    and   finally   drive  him  with   great 
anger  from  the  neighborhood.     Possibly  as- 
sociation comes  in  a  little  here,  since  any 
bird,  even  a  small  one,  strikingly  colored  or 
marked,  might  be  looked  on  as  a  bird  of 
prey. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch. 
12,  p.  167.    (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

368.  BIRDS    IN    SUDDEN    MULTI- 
TUDES—-How  Explained —  Unseen  Hosts  Ever 
Passing. — On  the  pampas,  whenever  grass- 
hoppers, mice,  frogs,  or  crickets  become  ex- 
cessively abundant  we  confidently  look  for 
the  appearance  of  multitudes  of  the  birds 
that  prey  on  them.     .     .     .     It  is  plain  that 
these  birds  have  been  drawn  from  over  an 
immense  area  to  one  spot ;    and  the  question 
is  how  have  they  been  drawn?    Many  large 
birds  possessing  great  powers  of  flight  are, 
when    not    occupied    with    the    business    of 
propagation,    incessantly    wandering    from 
place  to  place  in  search  of  food.     They  are 
not,  as  a  rule,  regular  migrants,  for  their 
wanderings   begin   and   end  irrespective   of 
seasons,  and  where  they  find  abundance  they 
remain  the  whole  year.     They  fly  at  a  very 
great    height,    and    traverse    immense    dis- 
tances.    When  the  favorite  food  of  any  one 
of  these  species  is  plentiful  in  any  particu- 
lar region  all  the  individuals  that  discover 
it  remain,  and  attract  to  them  all  of  their 
kind   passing  overhead.      This   happens   on 
the  pampas  with  the  stork,  the  short-eared 
owl,  the  hooded  gull,  and  the  dominican  or 
black-backed      gull — the      leading      species 
among  the  feathered  nomads:     a  few  first 
appear  like  harbingers;    these  are  presently 
joined  by  newcomers  in  considerable  num- 
bers, and  before  long  they  are  in  myriads. — 
HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  3,  p.  64. 
(C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

369.  BIRDS    KILLED    BY    SPIDER— 

The  Gigantic  Spider  (Mygale)  of  Brazil- 
Confirmation  of  Early  Narratives — Lower 
Life  Preying  on  Higher. — At  Cameta 
chanced  to  verify  a  fact  relating  to  the 
habits  of  a  large  hairy  spider  of  the  genus 
Mygale  in  a  manner  worth  recording.  The 
species  was  M.  avicularia,  or  one  very  close- 
ly allied  to  it;  the  individual  was  nearly 
two  inches  in  length  of  body,  but  the  legs 
expanded  seven  inches,  and  the  entire  body 
and  legs  were  covered  with  coarse  gray  and 
reddish  hairs.  I  was  attracted  by  a  move- 
ment of  the  monster  on  a  tree- trunk;  it 
was  close  beneath  a  deep  crevice  in  the  tree, 
across  which  was  stretched  a  dense  white 
web.  The  lower  part  of  the  web  was  broken, 


and  two  small  birds,  finches,  were  entangled 
in  the  pieces;  they  were  about  the  size  of 
the  English  siskin,  and  I  judged  the  two  to 
be  male  and  female.  One  of  them  was  quite 
dead;  the  other  lay  under  the  body  of  the 
spider  not  quite  dead,  and  was  smeared 
with  the  filthy  liquor  or  saliva  exuded  by 
the  monster.  I  drove  away  the  spider  and 
took  the  birds,  but  the  second  one  soon  died. 
The  fact  of  species  of  Mygale  sallying  forth 
at  night,  mounting  trees  and  sucking  the 
eggs  and  young  of  humming-birds,  has  been 
recorded  long  ago  by  Madame  Merian  and 
Palisot  de  Beauvois;  but,  in  the  absence  of 
any  confirmation,  it  has  come  to  be  dis- 
credited. From  the  way  the  fact  has  been 
related  it  would  appear  that  it  had  been 
merely  derived  from  the  report  of  natives, 
and  had  not  been  witnessed  by  the  narra- 
tors. Count  Langsdorff,  in  his  "  Expedition 
into  the  Interior  of  Brazil,"  states  that  he 
totally  disbelieved  the  story.  I  found  the 
circumstances  to  be  quite  a  novelty  to  the 
residents  hereabout.  The  mygales  are  quite 
common  insects;  some  species  make  their 
cells  under  stones,  others  form  artistic  tun- 
nels in  the  earth,  and  some  build  their  dens 
in  the  thatch  of  houses.  The  natives  call 
them  Aranhas  carangueijeiras,  or  crab- 
spiders.  The  hairs  with  which  they  are 
clothed  come  off  when  touched,  and  cause  a 
peculiar  and  almost  maddening  irritation. 
The  first  specimen  that  I  killed  and  pre- 
pared was  handled  incautiously,  and  I  suf- 
fered terribly  for  three  days  afterward.  I 
think  this  is  not  owing  to  any  poisonous 
quality  residing  in  the  hairs,  but  to  their 
being  short  and  hard,  and  thus  getting  into 
the  fine  creases  of  the  skin.  Some  mygales 
are  of  immense  size.  One  day  I  saw  the 
children  belonging  to  an  Indian  family,  who 
collected  for  me,  with  one  of  these  monsters 
secured  by  a  cord  round  its  waist,  by  which 
they  were  leading  it  about  the  house  as 
they  would  a  dog. — BATES  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  4,  p.  655.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

370.  BIRDS    LOST    IN    WASTE    OF 

AIR — Fatal  Fascination  of  Lighthouse. — It  is 
when  fogs  and  storms  obscure  the  view  that 
birds  lose  their  way.  Then  they  fly  much 
lower,  perhaps  seeking  some  landmark,  and, 
should  a  lighthouse  lie  in  their  path,  they 
are  often  attracted  to  it  in  countless  num- 
bers. Thousands  of  birds  perish  annually 
by  striking  these  lights  during  stormy  fall 
weather.  In  the  spring  the  weather  is  more 
settled  and  fewer  birds  are  killed. — CHAP- 
MAN Bird-Life,  ch.  4,  p.  56.  (A.,  1900.) 

371.  BIRDS,  MIGRATION  OF— An  Al- 
most Universal  Law — Mystery  in  Familiar 
Things. — The    least    observant    person    who 
walks    even    a    short    distance    beyond    the 
range  of  bricks  and  mortar  cannot  fail  to 
notice  that  in  early  spring  a  strange  uneasy 
movement    seems    to    pervade    every    living 
thing.     .     .     .     But  what  betokens  the  ar- 
rival of  spring  even  more  than  the  crawling 


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Bird 
Birth 


of  snails  or  the  flutter  of  insects  is  the  ar- 
rival of  the  migratory  birds.  That  they  are 
migratory  is  to  most  of  us  a  matter  of  such 
familiar  knowledge  that  we  no  more  think 
of  questioning  it  than  we  conceive  it  neces- 
sary to  doubt  the  rotundity  of  the  earth  or 
the  waning  of  the  moon.  We  know  that 
certain  feathered  friends  are  here  during  the 
summer,  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  they 
are  absent  a  few  months  later,  only  to  ap- 
pear with  the  first  flowers  and  the  pioneer 
bees.  .  .  .  All  summer  these  little 
feathered  folk  revel  in  the  joy  of  existence. 
The  pair  build  their  nest,  rear  their  young, 
and  disappear,  until  the  observer  who  was 
intent  six  months  before  in  watching  their 
arrival  may  find  a  sadder  but  not  less  intel- 
lectual amusement  in  noting  how  one  by  one 
they  vanish  from  the  woods,  the  commons, 
the  fields,  the  gardens,  and  the  riversides, 
where  they  had  to  all  appearance  established 
themselves  for  good. — BROWN  Nature- 
Studies,  p.  11.  (Hum.,  1888.) 


372.    BIRDS'    WINGS     SELF-ACTING 

VALVES — Adjustment  to  Upward  and  Down- 
ward Strokes. — But  there  is  another  diffi- 
culty to  be  overcome  [in  flight] — a  difficulty 
opposed  by  natural  laws,  and  which  can 
only  be  met  by  another  adjustment,  if  pos- 
sible more  ingenious  and  beautiful  than  the 
rest.  It  is  obvious  that  if  a  bird  is  to  sup- 
port itself  by  the  downward  blow  of  its 
wings  upon  the  air,  it  must  at  the  end  of 
each  downward  stroke  lift  the  wing  up- 
wards again,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  next. 
But  each  upward  stroke  is  in  danger  of 
neutralizing  the  effect  of  the  downward 
stroke.  It  must  be  made  with  equal  veloci- 
ty, and  if  it  required  equal  force  it  must 
produce  equal  resistance — an  equal  rebound 
from  the  elasticity  of  the  air.  If  this  diffi- 
culty were  not  evaded  somehow,  flight  would 
be  impossible.  But  it  is  evaded  by  two  me- 
chanical contrivances,  which,  as  it  were, 
triumph  over  the  laws  of  aerial  resistance 
by  conforming  to  them.  One  of  these  con- 
trivances is,  that  the  upper  surface  of  the 
wing  is  made  convex,  whilst  the  under  sur- 
face is  concave.  The  enormous  difference 
which  this  makes  in  atmospheric  resistance 
is  familiarly  known  to  us  by  the  difference 
between  the  effect  of  the  wind  on  an  um- 
brella which  is  exposed  to  it  on  the  under 
or  the  upper  side.  The  air  which  is  struck 
by  a  concave  or  hollow  surface  is  gathered 
up,  and  prevented  from  escaping;  whereas 
the  air  struck  by  a  convex  or  bulging  surface 
escapes  readily  on  all  sides,  and  compara- 
tively little  pressure  or  resistance  is  pro- 
duced. And  so,  from  the  convexity  of  the 
upper  surface  of  a  bird's  wing,  the  upward 
stroke  may  be  made  with  comparatively 
trifling  injury  to  the  force  gained  in  the 
downward  blow. 

But  this  is  only  half  of  the  provision  made 
against  a  consequence  which  would  be  so 
fatal  to  the  end  in  view.  The  other  half 


consists  in  this — that  the  feathers  of  a 
bird's  wing  are  made  to  underlap  each 
other,  so  that  in  the  downward  stroke  the 
pressure  of  the  air  closes  them  upwards 
against  each  other,  and  converts  the  whole 
series  of  them  into  one  connected  mem- 
brane, through  which  there  is  no  escape; 
whilst  in  the  upward  stroke  the  same  pres- 
sure has  precisely  the  reverse  effect — it 
opens  the  feathers,  separates  them  from 
each  other,  and  converts  each  pair  of  feath- 
ers into  a  self-acting  valve,  through  which 
the  air  rushes  at  every  point. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p.  81.  (Burt.) 

373.  BIRTH  OF  GEOLOGY— Early  Study 
of  the  Neptunian  or  Stratified  Rocks. — In 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
extensive  mining  operations  in  Saxony  gave 
rise  to  an  elaborate  investigation  of  the  soil 
for  practical  purposes.  It  was  found  that 
the  rocks  consisted  of  a  succession  of  ma- 
terials following  each  other  in  regular  se- 
quence, some  of  which  were  utterly  worth- 
less for  industrial  purposes,  while  others 
were  exceedingly  valuable.  .  .  .  But 
while  the  workmen  wrought  at  these  suc- 
cessive layers  of  rock  to  see  what  they 
would  yield  for  practical  purposes,  a  man 
[Werner]  was  watching  their  operations 
who  considered  the  crust  of  the  earth  from 
quite  another  point  of  view.  .  .  .  From 
the  general  character  of  these  rocks,  as  well 
as  the  number  of  marine  shells  contained  in 
them,  he  convinced  himself  that  the  whole 
series,  including  the  coal,  .  .  .  the  red 
sandstone,  and  the  Muschel-Kalk,  had  been 
deposited  under  the  agency  of  water,  and 
were  the  work  of  the  ocean. — AGASSIZ  Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  113.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


374. 


Button  Studies  the 


Plutonic  or  Igneous  Rocks. — But,  in  the 
meantime  [compare  373],  James  Hutton,  a 
Scotch  geologist,  was  looking  at  phenomena 
of  a  like  character  from  a  very  different 
point  of  view.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  lived,  was  an  extensive  re- 
gion of  trap-rock — that  is,  of  igneous  rock, 
which  had  forced  itself  through  the  strati- 
fied deposits,  sometimes  spreading  in  a  con- 
tinuous sheet  over  large  tracts,  or  splitting 
them  open  and  filling  all  the  interstices  and 
cracks  so  formed.  Thus  he  saw  igneous 
rocks  not  only  covering  or  underlying 
stratified  deposits,  but  penetrating  deep 
into  their  structure,  forming  dikes  at  right 
angles  with  them,  and  presenting,  in  short, 
all  the  phenomena  belonging  to  volcanic 
rocks  in  contact  with  stratified  materials. 
He  again  pushed  his  theory  too  far,  and,  in- 
ferring from  the  phenomena  immediately 
about  him  that  heat  had  been  the  chief 
agent  in  the  formation  of  the  earth's  crust, 
he  was  inclined  to  believe  that  the  stratified 
materials  also  were  in  part  at  least  due  to 
this  cause. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches, 
ser.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  115.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


iisar- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


375.  BLACKNESS  OF  ATLANTIC 
DEPTHS — Reflection  Necessary  To  Give  Color 
— Solid  Particles  in  Suspension  Give  the 
Green  Hue  to  Shoal  Water. — If,  then,  we 
render  water  sufficiently  deep  to  quench  all 
the  light,  and  if  from  the  interior  of  the 
water  no  light  reaches  the  eye,  we  have  the 
condition  necessary  to  produce  blackness. 
Looked  properly  down  upon  there  are  por- 
tions of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  which  one 
would  hardly  ascribe  a  trace  of  color:  at 
the  most  a  tint  of  dark  indigo  reaches  the 
eye.  The  water,  in  fact,  is  practically  black, 
and  this  is  an  indication  both  of  its  depth 
and  purity.  But  the  case  is  entirely 
changed  when  the  ocean  contains  solid  par- 
ticles in  a  state  of  mechanical  suspension, 
capable  of  sending  light  back  to  the  eye. 
Throw,  for  example,  a  white  pebble  into  the 
blackest  Atlantic  water;  as  it  sinks  it  be- 
comes greener  and  greener,  and,  before  it 
disappears,  it  reaches  a  vivid  blue  green. 
Break  such  a  pebble  into  fragments,  these 
will  behave  like  the  unbroken  mass ;  grind 
the  pebble  to  powder,  every  particle  will 
yield  its  modicum  of  green;  and  if  the  par- 
ticles be  so  fine  as  to  remain  suspended  in 
the  water,  the  scattered  light  will  be  a  uni- 
form green.  Hence  the  greenness  of  shoal 
water.  You  go  to  bed  with  the  black  water 
of  the  Atlantic  around  you.  You  rise  in  the 
morning,  find  it  a  vivid  green,  and  correctly 
infer  that  you  are  crossing  the  bank  of 
Newfoundland.  Such  water  is  found  charged 
with  fine  matter  in  a  state  of  mechanical 
suspension.  The  light  from  the  bottom  may 
sometimes  come  into  play,  but  it  is  not  nec- 
essary. The  subaqueous  foam  generated  by 
the  screw  or  paddle-wheels  of  a  steamer  also 
sends  forth  a  vivid  green.  The  foam  here 
furnishes  a  reflecting  surface,  the  water  be- 
tween the  eye  and  it  the  absorbing  medium. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  35. 
(A.,  1898.) 

376.     BLINDNESS     OF     INSTINCT  — 

Squirrel  Burying  Nut. — [The  following]  in- 
stance is  given  by  Dr.  H.  D.  Schmidt,  of 
New  Orleans,  in  the  "  Transactions  of 
American  Neurological  Association,"  vol.  i, 
p.  129  (1875)  :  "  I  may  cite  the  example  of 
a  young  squirrel  which  I  had  tamed,  a  num- 
ber of  years  ago,  when  serving  in  the  army, 
and  when  I  had  sufficient  leisure  and  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  habits  of  animals.  In 
the  autumn,  before  the  winter  sets  in,  adult 
squirrels  bury  as  many  nuts  as  they  can  col- 
lect, separately,  in  the  ground.  Holding  the 
nut  firmly  between  their  teeth,  they  first 
scratch  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and,  after 
pointing  their  ears  in  all  directions  to  con- 
vince themselves  that  no  enemy  is  near, 
they  ram — the  head,  with  the  nut  still  be- 
tween the  front  teeth,  serving  as  a  sledge- 
hammer— the  nut  into  the  ground,  and  then 
fill  up  the  hole  by  means  of  their  paws. 
The  whole  process  is  executed  with  great 
rapidity,  and,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  always 
with  exactly  the  same  movements;  in  fact, 


it  is  done  so  well  that  I  could  never  dis- 
cover the  traces  of  the  burial-ground.  Now, 
as  regards  the  young  squirrel,  which,  of 
course,  never  had  been  present  at  the  burial 
of  a  nut,  I  observed  that,  after  having  eaten 
a  number  of  hickory-nuts  to  appease  its  ap- 
petite, it  would  take  one  between  its  teeth, 
then  sit  upright  and  listen  in  all  directions. 
Finding  all  right,  it  would  scratch  upon  the 
smooth  blanket  on  which  I  was  playing 
with  it  as  if  to  make  a  hole,  then  hammer 
with  the  nut  between  its  teeth  upon  the 
blanket,  and  finally  perform  all  the  motions 
required  to  fill  up  a  hole — in  the  air;  after 
which  it  would  jump  away,  leaving  the  nut, 
of  course,  uncovered." — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  400.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

377.  BLOOD-BROTHERHOOD— A    Sym- 
bol   of    Duty    and    Truth    Owed    Only    to 
Kindred. — In  the  old  days,  before  there  were 
lawyers    and    law-books,    solemn    acts    and 
rights  were  made  plain  to  all  men  by  pic- 
turesque  ceremonies   suited  to   lay  hold  of 
unlettered  minds.    Many  of  these  old  cere- 
monies  are   still  kept  up   and   show   their 
meaning  as  plainly  as  ever.     For  example, 
when  two  parties  wish  to  make  firm  peace 
or  friendship,  they  will  go  through  the  cere- 
mony of  mixing  their  blood,  so  as  to  make 
themselves  blood-relations.     Travelers  often 
now  ally  themselves  in  such  blood-brother- 
hood with  barbarous  tribes;    an  account  of 
East  Africans  performing  the  rite  describes 
the  two  sitting  together  on  a  hide  so  as  to 
become  "  of  one  skin,"  and  then  they  made 
little  cuts  in  one  another's  breasts,  tasted 
the  mixed  blood,  and  rubbed  it  into  one  an- 
other's wounds.     Thus  we  find  still  going  on 
in  the  world   a   compact  which   Herodotus 
describes   among   the   ancient   Lydians   and 
Scythians,  and  which  is  also  mentioned  in 
the  sagas  of  the  old  Northmen  and  the  an- 
cient Irish  legends.     It  would  be  impossible 
to  put  more  clearly  the  great  principle  of 
old-world  morals,  that  a  man  owes  friend- 
ship not  to  mankind  at  large,  but  only  to  his 
own  kin,  so  that  to  entitle  a  stranger  to 
kindness  and  good  faith  he  must  become  a 
kinsman  by  blood.     With   much   the   same 
thought  even  rude  tribes  hold  that  eating 
and    drinking    together    is    a    covenant    of 
friendship,  for  the  guest  becomes  in  some 
sort  one  of  the  household,   and  has  to  be 
treated  as  morally  one  of  the  family.     This 
helps  to  explain  the  vast  importance  people 
everywhere   give  to   the   act   of   dining   to- 
gether.— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  16,  p.  423. 
(A.,  1899.) 

378.  BLOOD,  CAUSE  OF  COLOR  OF— 

Work  of  the  Red  Corpuscles — "  The  Life  of 
All  Flesh  Is  the  Blood"  (Lev.  xvii,  14).— 
When  a  very  thin  film  of  blood  is  placed 
under  a  microscope  of  sufficient  power,  we 
observe  that,  so  far  from  being  a  uniformly 
red  fluid,  blood  is  really  as  colorless  as 
water.  This  apparent  "paradox  between 
what  we  see  with  the  unassisted  sight  and 


77 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Slackness 
lood 


what  is  beheld  under  the  microscope  is  en- 
tirely explained  when  we  discover  that  the 
red  color  of  blood  is  due,  not  to  any  inherent 
property  of  color  in  blood  as  a  fluid,  but  to 
the  enormous  number  of  red  particles  which 
float  in  it.  What  the  microscope  enables  us 
to  see  is  the  clear  liquid  between  the  red 
particles  it  bears.  To  the  naked  eye,  which 
is  unable  to  distinguish  minute  objects,  and 
which  sees  things  only  in  the  mass,  as  it 
were,  blood  naturally  appears  red.  In  any 
case,  it  will  take  its  color  from  its  floating 
particles. 

Some  worms  have  green  blood;  this  is 
due  to  the  green  hue  of  their  blood  par- 
ticles. An  oyster  or  a  lobster  has  colorless 
blood  because  it  possesses  no  colored  par- 
ticles at  all,  but  only  white  or  colorless 
ones.  The  blood-particles  we  name  "  cor- 
puscles " ;  and  in  addition  to  the  red  ones 
seen  in  our  blood  there  are  also  white  cor- 
puscles. The  latter  are  less  numerous  than 
the  red,  and  we  may  calculate  that  about 
one  white  to  400  or  500  red  corpuscles  is  to 
be  taken  as  a  fair  or  average  estimate  of 
their  proportion.  The  red  corpuscles  of  the 
blood  discharge  a  very  important  duty  in 
the  maintenance  of  our  lives.  They  are  the 
gas-carriers  of  the  blood.  They  go  forth 
from  the  lungs  laden  with  the  oxygen  we 
have  breathed  in;  they  return  to  the  lungs 
charged  with  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which 
we  have  to  breathe  out.  So  far,  then,  the 
use  and  duty  of  the  millions  of  red  particles 
in  our  blood  are  not  by  any  means  matters 
of  doubt. — ANDREW  WILSON  Glimpses  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  23,  p.  74.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

379.  BLOOD-LETTING    THE    ONCE 

UNIVERSAL  CURE  —  Patients  Reduced  To 
Keep  Down  Fever. — The  doctrine  of  vital 
force  entered  into  the  pathological  system 
of  changes  in  irritability.  The  attempt 
was  made  to  separate  the  direct  actions  of 
the  virus  which  produce  disease,  in  so  far 
as  they  depended  on  the  play  of  blind  nat- 
ural forces,  the  symptomata  morbi,  from 
those  which  brought  on  the  reaction  of  vital 
force,  the  symptomata  reactionis.  The  lat- 
ter were  principally  seen  in  inflammation 
and  in  fever.  It  was  the  function  of  the 
physician  to  observe  the  strength  of  this  re- 
action, and  to  stimulate  or  moderate  it  ac- 
cording to  circumstances. 

The  treatment  of  fever  seemed  at  that 
time  to  be  the  chief  point;  to  be  that  part 
of  medicine  which  had  a  real  scientific  foun- 
dation, and  in  which  the  local  treatment 
fell  comparatively  into  the  background.  The 
therapeutics  of  febrile  diseases  had  thereby 
become  very  monotonous,  altho  the  means 
indicated  by  theory  were  still  abundantly 
used,  and  especially  blood-letting,  which 
since  that  time  has  almost  been  entirely 
abandoned. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  5,  p.  217.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

380.  BLOOD  POURS  TO  BRAIN  DUR- 
ING MENTAL  ACTIVITY— Muscles  Drained 


To  Supply  Higher  Life. — Mosso  .  .  .  dis- 
covered that  the  blood-supply  to  the  arms 
diminished  during  intellectual  activity,  and 
found  furthermore  that  the  arterial  tension 
(as  shown  by  the  sphygmograph )  was  in- 
creased in  these  members.  .  .  .  The  brain 
itself  is  an  excessively  vascular  organ,  a 
sponge  full  of  blood,  in  fact ;  and  another  of 
Mosso's  inventions  showed  that  when  less 
blood  went  to  the  arms,  more  went  to  the 
head.  The  subject  to  be  observed  lay  on  a 
delicately  balanced  table  which  could  tip 
downward  either  at  the  head  or  at  the  foot 
if  the  weight  of  either  end  were  increased. 
The  moment  emotional  or  intellectual  ac- 
tivity began  in  the  subject,  down  went  the 
balance  at  the  head-end,  in  consequence  of 
the  redistribution  of  blood  in  his  system. 
But  the  best  proof  of  the  immediate  afflux 
of  blood  to  the  brain  during  mental  activity 
is  due  to  Mosso's  observations  on  three  per- 
sons whose  brain  had  been  laid  bare  by 
lesion  of  the  skull.  By  means  of  apparatus 
described  in  his  book,  this  physiologist  was 
enabled  to  let  the  brain-pulse  record  itself 
directly  by  a  tracing.  The  intracranial 
blood-pressure  rose  immediately  whenever 
the  subject  was  spoken  to,  or  when  he  began 
to  think  actively,  as  in  solving  a  problem  in 
mental  arithmetic. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  3,  p.  97.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

381.    BLOOD,    THE    AVENGER    OF — 

Crude  Barbaric  Justice — Hebrew  Limita- 
tion of  Ancient  Custom. — When  in  barbaric 
life  fierce  passion  breaks  loose  and  a  man  is 
slain,  this  rule  of  vengeance  comes  into  ac- 
tion. How  it  works  as  one  of  the  great 
forces  of  society  may  well  be  seen  among 
the  Australians.  As  Sir  George  Grey  says 
in  his  account  of  it,  the  holiest  duty  a  na- 
tive ,  is  called  on  to  perform  is  to  avenge 
the  death  of  his  nearest  relation.  If  he  left 
this  duty  unfulfilled,  the  old  women  would 
taunt  him;  if  he  were  unmarried,  no  girl 
would  speak  to  him;  if  he  had  wives,  they 
would  leave  him;  his  mother  would  cry  and 
lament  that  she  had  given  birth  to  so  de- 
generate a  son,  his  father  would  treat  him 
with  contempt,  and  he  would  be  a  mark  for 
public  scorn.  But  what  is  to  be  done  if  the 
murderer  escapes,  as  must  in  so  wild  and 
thinly  peopled  a  country  be  easy?  Native 
custom  goes  on  the  ancient  doctrine  that  the 
criminal's  whole  family  are  responsible;  so 
that  when  it  is  known  that  a  man  has  been 
slain,  and  especially  when  the  actual  cul- 
prit has  escaped,  his  kinsfolk  run  for  their 
lives;  the  very  children  of  seven  years  old 
know  whether  they  are  of  kin  to  the  man- 
slayer,  and,  if  so,  they  are  off  at  once  into 
hiding.  Here,  then,  we  come  in  view  of  two 
principles  which  every  student  of  law 
should  have  clearly  in  his  mind  in  tracing 
its  history  up  from  its  lowest  stages.  In 
the  primitive  law  of  vengeance  of  blood,  he 
sees  society  using  for  the  public  benefit  the 
instinct  of  revenge  which  man  has  in  com- 
mon with  the  lower  animals;  and  by  hold- 


Blood 
Body 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


78 


ing  the  whole  familj  answerable  for  the 
deed  of  one  of  its  members,  the  public 
brings  the  full  pressure  of  familj  influence 
to  bear  on  each  individual  as  a  means  of 
keeping  the  peace.  No  one  who  sees  the 
working  of  blood-vengeance  can  deny  its 
practical  reasonableness,  and  its  use  in  re- 
straining men  from  violence  while  there  are 
as  yet  no  judges  and  executioners.  Indeed 
among  all  savages  and  barbarians  the  aven- 
ger of  blood,  little  as  he  thinks  it  himself 
in  his  wild  fury,  is  doing  his  part  toward 
saving  his  people  from  perishing  by  deeds  of 
blood. — TYLQB  Anthropology,  ch.  16,  p.  414. 
(A.,  1899.) 

382.  BLOOM    AMID    DESOLATION  — 

Alpine  Flowers  in  the  Midst  of  Ice  and 
Snow. — There  are  valleys  in  the  Alps  far 
above  six  thousand  feet  which  have  no  gla- 
ciers, and  where  perpetual  snow  is  seen  only 
on  their  northern  sides.  These  contrasts  in 
temperature  lead  to  the  most  wonderful 
contrasts  in  the  aspect  of  the  soil;  summer 
and  winter  lie  side  by  side,  and  bright 
flowers  look  out  from  the  edge  of  snows  that 
never  melt.  Where  the  warm  winds  prevail 
there  may  be  sheltered  spots  at  a  height  of 
ten  or  eleven  thousand  feet,  isolated  nooks 
opening  southward  where  the  most  exquisite 
flowers  bloom  in  the  midst  of  perpetual 
snow  and  ice;  and  occasionally  I  have  seen 
a  bright  little  flower  with  a  cap  of  snow 
over  it  that  seemed  to  be  its  shelter.  The 
flowers  give,  indeed,  a  peculiar  charm  to 
these  high  Alpine  regions.  Occurring  often 
in  beds  of  the  same  kind,  forming  green, 
blue,  or  yellow  patches,  they  seem  nestled 
close  together  in  sheltered  spots,  or  even  in 
fissures  and  chasms  of  the  rock,  where  they 
gather  in  dense  quantities.  Even  in  the 
sternest  scenery  of  the  Alps  some  sign  of 
vegetation  lingers.  I  remember  to  have 
found  a  tuft  of  lichen  growing  on  the  only 
rock  which  pierced  through  the  ice  on  the 
summit  of  the  Jungfrau. — AGASSIZ  Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  226.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

383.  BLOSSOMS    OF    THE    FROST— 

Hidden  Law  Binding  Water  Crystals  to  the 
Angle  of  Sixty  Degrees. — There  is  hardly  a 
more  beautiful  and  instructive  example  of 
this  play  of  molecular  force  than  that  fur- 
nished by  the  case  of  water.  You  have  seen 
the  exquisite  fernlike  forms  produced  by 
the  crystallization  of  a  film  of  water  on  a 
cold  window-pane.  You  have  also  probably 
noticed  the  beautiful  rosettes  tied  together 
by  the  crystallizing  force  during  the  descent 
of  a  snow-shower  on  a  very  calm  day.  The 
slopes  and  summits  of  the  Alps  are  loaded 
in  winter  with  these  blossoms  of  the  frost. 
They  vary  infinitely  in  detail  of  beauty,  but 
the  same  angular  magnitude  is  preserved 
throughout:  an  inflexible  power  binding 
spears  and  spiculae  to  the  angle  of  60°.  The 
common  ice  of  our  lakes  is  also  ruled  in  its 
deposition  by  the  same  angle.  You .  may 


sometimes  see  in  freezing  water  small  crys- 
tals of  stellar  shapes,  each  star  consisting 
of  six  rays,  with  this  angle  of  60°  between 
every  two  of  them.  This  structure  may 
be  revealed  in  ordinary  ice.  In  a  sun- 
beam, or,  failing  that,  in  our  electric  beam, 
we  have  an  instrument  delicate  enough  to 
unlock  the  frozen  molecules  without  dis- 
turbing the  order  of  their  architecture. 
Cutting  from  clear,  sound,  regularly  frozen 
ice  a  slab  parallel  to  the  planes  of  freezing, 
and  sending  a  sunbeam  through  such  a  slab, 
it  liquefies  internally  at  special  points, 
round  each  point  a  six-petaled  liquid  flower 
of  exquisite  beauty  being  formed.  Crowds 
of  such  flowers  are  thus  produced. — TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3,  p.  106.  (A., 
1898.) 

384.  BLUE    OF    SKY   ARTIFICIALLY 
PRODUCED— Light  Separates  Atoms  from  Gas 
— Blue  of  Sky  Results. — Sulfur  and  oxygen 
combine   to    form    sulfurous    acid   gas,    two 
atoms  of  oxygen  and  one  of  sulfur  consti- 
tuting the  molecule  of  sulfurous  acid.     It 
has  been  recently  shown  that  waves  of  ether 
issuing  from  a  strong  source,  such  as  the 
sun  or  the  electric  light,  are  competent  to 
shake  asunder  the  atoms  of  gaseous  mole- 
cules.   A  chemist  would  call  this  "  decompo- 
sition "  by  light ;    but  it  behooves  us,  who 
are  examining  the  power  and  function  of 
the  imagination,  to  keep  constantly  before 
us  the  physical  images  which  underlie  our 
terms.     Therefore  I  say,  sharply  and  defi- 
nitely, that  the  components  of  the  molecules 
of  sulfurous  acid  are  shaken  asunder  by  the 
ether-waves.      Enclosing   sulfurous    acid   in 
a  suitable  vessel,  placing  it  in  a  dark  room, 
and  sending  through  it  a  powerful  beam  of 
light,  we  at  first  see  nothing:     the  vessel 
containing   the   gas   seems   as   empty   as   a 
vacuum.     Soon,  however,  along  the  track  of 
the  beam  a  beautiful  sky-blue  color  is  ob- 
served, which  is  due  to  light  scattered  by 
the  liberated  particles  of  sulfur. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  120. 
(A.,  1897.) 

385.  BLUNDER  ATTRIBUTED  TO  NA- 
TURE— The  Sloth  as  Characterized  by  Buff  on 
— A  Supposed  "  Defective  Monster" — "  The 
inertia  of  this  animal  is  not  so  much  due  to 
laziness  as  to  wretchedness ;    it  is  the  conse- 
quence of  its  faulty  structure.     .     .     .     In- 
activity, stupidity,  and  even  habitual  suf- 
fering result  from  its  strange  and  ill-con- 
structed conformation.    Having  no  weapons 
for   attack  or   defense,   no  mode  of  refuge 
even   by  burrowing,    its   only   safety   is   in 
flight.   Confined  within  the  narrowest  range, 
only   climbing   with    difficulty  or   dragging 
itself   along   painfully,   never   allowing   its 
plaintive  voice  to  be  heard  except  at  night, 
everything  about  it  shows  its  wretchedness 
and  proclaims  it  to  be  one  of  those  defective 
monsters,   those   imperfect   sketches,   which 
Nature  has  sometimes  formed,  and  which, 
having    scarcely    the    faculty    of    existence, 


79 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


llood 
»ody 


could  only  continue  for  a  short  time  and 
have  since  been  removed  from  the  catalog 
of  living  beings.  ...  To  regard  these 
imperfect  sketches  of  animal  life  as  being 
as  good  as  others,  to  admit  final  causes  for 
such  ill-proportioned  creatures,  and  to  find 
that  Nature  is  as  admirable  in  them  as  in 
her  finest  works,  is  to  take  a  most  narrow 
view  of  the  world  and  make  our  own  ideas 
of  finality  the  tests  of  Nature's  aims." 

In  this  quotation  we  have  a  memorable 
example  of  the  errors  into  which  the  great- 
est thinkers  may  sometimes  fall.  It  records 
a  rash  judgment  (with  respect  to  the  sloth) 
which  the  illustrious  zoologist  Buffon  al- 
lowed himself  to  make,  and  which  he  has 
recorded  in  the  thirteenth  volume  of  his  im- 
mortal "Natural  History." — MIVART  Types 
of  Animal  Life,  ch.  9,  p.  246.  (L.  B.  &  Co., 
1893.) 

386.  BODIES.    CELESTIAL,   VIEWED 
AS    ABODES    OF    SENTIENT    BEINGS— 
General  Belief  that  Other  Worlds  Are  In- 
habited.— In  fact,  it  is  in  this  way  that  we 
view  all  the  celestial  bodies.     We  are  not 
contented  when   studying  the  sun,   for  ex- 
ample, with  the  mere  consideration  of  the 
wonderful  processes  taking  place  upon  his 
surface   and   around  him;    but  we  inquire 
how  these  processes  are  related  to  his  power 
of  supplying  our  wants,  and  the  wants  of 
all  that  live  upon  the  earth,  by  means  of  the 
light  and  heat  which  he  emits.     We  study 
our  moon  in  the  same  spirit;    we  see  that, 
whether  she  be  herself  inhabited  or  not,  she 
was    not    created    in    vain — she    rules    our 
tides,    she   gives   us   an   important   tho   in- 
termitting   supply    of   light   by  night,    she 
serves  as  a  measure  of  time,  she  helps  to 
guide  the  seaman  over  the  trackless  waves 
of  ocean,  and  she  subserves  our  wants  in  a 
variety  of  other  ways.     And  it  is  the  same 
method  of  viewing  the  celestial  bodies  which 
has  led  nearly  all  men  to  believe  in  the  ex- 
istence of  multitudes  of  other  worlds  than 
ours. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  85. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

387.  BODY  AND  MIND  TRAINED  IN 
UNISON    BY     THE     GREEKS  —  To     the 
Greeks  the  idea  that  the  human  being  con- 
sists of  two  halves  whose  prerogatives  are 
unequal  was  wholly  foreign;    they  made  the 
equilibrium  between  the  intellectual  and  the 
physical  life  the  groundwork  of  education. 
As  a  consequence,  even  their  culture  of  the 
physical  life  was  of  a  character  to  cultivate 
the  mind.    The  greatest  possible  comprehen- 
siveness of  exercise,  systematically  directed, 
enlivened  by  music  and  combat,  was  calcu- 
lated to  contribute  to  the  elasticity  and  ac- 
tivity of  the  body,  to  endurance  in  running 
and  in  wrestling,  and  also  to  bestow  a  firm, 
light    step,    a    free,  -  spirited    carriage,    the 
freshness  of  health,  and  a  clear,  unshrink- 
ing   eye;     while    stimulating    the    mental 
power  to  prudence  and  manly  self-assertion, 
and  to  presence  of  mind;   in  fact,  to  become 
possessed  of  the  kind  of  virtues  that  should 


distinguish  the  noble  and  well  bred  from 
the  low  and  uncultivated,  the  free  citizen 
loving  his  country  from  those  of  servile 
spirit,  egoistic,  who  think  of  nothing  but 
material  gain. — KUPPERS  Der  Apoxyomenos 
des  Lysippos  und  die  griechische  Paldstre. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

388.  BODY  A  WONDERFUL  CONTRI- 
VANCE OF  CREATIVE  SKILL— Not  an  Ob- 
ject of  Contempt. — I  have  no  wish  whatever 
to  exalt  unduly  the  body;    I  have,  if  pos- 
sible, still  less  desire  to  degrade  the  mind; 
but  I  do  protest,  with  all  the  energy  I  dare 
use,  against  the  unjust  and  most  unscien- 
tific practise  of  declaring  the  body  vile  and 
despicable,  of  looking  down  upon  the  high- 
est   and    most    wonderful    contrivance    of 
creative  skill  as  something  of  which  man 
dare  venture  to   feel  ashamed. — MAUDSLEY 
Body  and  Mind,  lect.  3,  p.  95.    (A.,  1898.) 

389.  BODY,    MEDIEVAL    CONTEMPT 

FOR — Regarded  as  "Prison-house"  of  the 
Spirit — False  Views  of  Insanity. — [Under 
the  medieval  philosophy]  the  body  was 
looked  down  upon  with  contempt,  as  vile 
and  despicable,  the  temple  of  Satan,  the 
home  of  the  fleshly  lusts  which  war  against 
the  soul,  and  as  needing  to  be  vigilantly 
kept  in  subjection,  to  be  crucified  daily  with 
its  affections  and  lusts.  It  was  the  earthly 
prison-house  of  the  spirit  whose  pure  im- 
mortal longings  were  to  get  free  from  it. 
Such  was  the  monstrous  doctrine  of  the 
relation  of  mind  and  body.  What  place 
could  a  rational  theory  of  insanity  have  in 
such  an  atmosphere  of  thought  and  feeling? 
The  conception  of  it  as  a  disease  was  impos- 
sible: it  was  ascribed  to  a  supernatural 
operation,  divine  or  diabolical,  as  the  case 
might  be — was  a  real  possession  of  the  indi- 
vidual by  some  extrinsic  superior  power. — 
MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  4,  p.  101. 
(A.,  1898.) 

390.  BODY   OF   MAN   A  MACHINE— 

Descartes's  Illustration  of  a  Bathing  Diana 
— Mind  the  Engineer  Controlling  the 
Mechanism. — Thus,  as  you  may  have  seen 
in  the  grottoes  and  the  fountains  in  royal 
gardens,  the  force  with  which  the  water 
issues  from  its  reservoir  is  sufficient  to 
move  various  machines,  and  even  to  make 
them  play  instruments,  or  pronounce  words 
according  to  the  different  disposition  of  the 
pipes  which  lead  the  water.  And,  in  truth, 
the  nerves  of  the  machine  which  I  am  de- 
scribing may  very  well  be  compared  to  the 
pipes  of  these  water- works ;  its  muscles  and 
its  tendons  to  the  other  various  engines  and 
springs  which  seem  to  move  them;  its  ani- 
mal spirits  to  the  water  which  impels  them, 
of  which  the  heart  is  the  fountain;  while 
the  cavities  of  the  brain  are  the  central 
office.  Moreover,  respiration  and  other  such 
actions  as  are  natural  and  usual  in  the 
body,  and  which  depend  on  the  course  of  the 
spirits,  are  like  the  movements  of  a  clock, 
or  of  a  mill,  which  may  be  kept  up  by  the 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


80 


ordinary  flow  of  the  water.  The  external  ob- 
jects which,  by  their  mere  presence,  act 
upon  the  organs  of  the  senses;  and  which, 
by  this  means,  determine  the  corporal  ma- 
chine to  move  in  many  different  ways,  ac- 
cording as  the  parts  of  the  brain  are  ar- 
ranged, are  like  the  strangers  who,  entering 
into  some  of  the  grottoes  of  these  water- 
works, unconsciously  cause  the  movements 
which  take  place  in  their  presence.  For 
they  cannot  enter  without  treading  upon 
certain  planks  so  arranged  that,  for  ex- 
ample, if  they  approach  a  bathing  Diana, 
they  cause  her  to  hide  among  the  reeds; 
and  if  they  attempt  to  follow  her,  they  see 
approaching  a  Neptune,  who  threatens  them 
with  his  trident;  or  if  they  try  some  other 
way,  they  cause  some  monster,  who  vomits 
water  into  their  faces,  to  dart  out;  or  like 
contrivances,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the 
engineers  who  have  made  them.  And  lastly, 
when  the  rational  soul  is  lodged  in  this  ma- 
chine, it  will  have  its  principal  seat  in  the 
brain,  and  will  take  the  place  of  the  en- 
gineer, who  ought  to  be  in  that  part  of  the 
works  with  which  all  the  pipes  are  con- 
nected, when  he  wishes  to  increase  or  to 
slacken,  or  in  some  way  to  alter,  their 
movements. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm. 
14,  p.  322.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


391. 


Inscrutable    Mys- 


tery of  Life — Personality. — All  investiga- 
tion goes  to  show  that  in  a  mechanical 
sense  the  body  of  an  animal  is  only  a  very 
ingenious  and  effective  machine,  by  means 
of  which  the  living  inhabitant  which  con- 
trols it  can  utilize  the  energy  derived  from 
the  food  taken  into  the  stomach.  The  body, 
regarded  as  a  mechanism,  is  only  a  food- 
engine  in  which  the  stomach  and  the  lungs 
stand  for  the  furnace  and  boiler  of  a  steam- 
engine,  the  nervous  system  for  the  valve- 
gear,  and  the  muscles  for  the  cylinder.  How 
the  personality  within,  which  wills  and 
acts,  is  put  into  relation  with  this  valve- 
gear,  so  as  to  determine  the  movements  of 
the  body  it  resides  in,  is  the  inscrutable 
mystery  of  life;  the  facts  in  the  case,  how- 
ever, being  no  less  facts  because  inexpli- 
cable.— YOUNG  The  Sun,  int.,  p.  3.  (A., 
1898.) 

392.  BODY,  THE  HUMAN,  MECHAN- 
ICAL FUNCTIONS  OF — Involuntary  Closing 
of  the  Eye. — Consider  what  happens  when  a 
blow  is  aimed  at  the  eye.  Instantly,  and 
without  our  knowledge  or  will,  and  even 
against  the  will,  the  eyelids  close.  What  is 
it  that  happens?  A  picture  of  the  rapidly 
advancing  fist  is  made  upon  the  retina  at 
the  back  of  the  eye.  The  retina  changes 
this  picture  into  an  affection  of  a  number  of 
the  fibers  of  the  optic  nerve;  the  fibers  of 
the  optic  nerve  affect  certain  parts  of  the 
brain;  the  brain,  in  consequence,  affects 
those  particular  fibers  of  the  seventh  nerve 
which  go  to  the  orbicular  muscle  of  the  eye- 
lids ;  the  change  in  these  nerve-fibers  causes 


the  muscular  fibers  to  change  their  dimen- 
sions, so  as  to  become  shorter  and  broader; 
and  the  result  is  the  closing  of  the  slit  be- 
tween the  two  lids  round  which  these  fibers 
are  disposed.  Here  is  a  pure  mechanism, 
giving  rise  to  a  purposive  action,  and  strict- 
ly comparable  to  that  by  which  Descartes 
supposes  his  water- work  Diana  [see  BODY  OF 
MAN,  390]  to  be  moved.  But  we  may  go  fur- 
ther, and  inquire  whether  our  volition,  in 
what  we  term  voluntary  action,  ever  plays 
any  other  part  than  that  of  Descartes's  en- 
gineer, sitting  in  his  office,  and  turning  this 
tap  or  the  other,  as  he  wishes  to  set  one  or 
another  machine  in  motion,  but  exercising 
no  direct  influence  upon  the  movements  of 
the  whole. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14, 
p.  335.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

393.  BOMBARDMENT  BY  MOLECULES 

— Expansion  and  Contraction  Explained. — 
According  to  this  theory,  which  is  known  as 
the  Kinetic  Theory  of  gases,  we  are  to  fig- 
ure the  molecules  of  a  gas  as  flying  in 
straight  lines  through  space,  impinging  like 
little  projectiles  upon  each  other,  and  strik- 
ing against  the  boundaries  of  the  space  they 
occupy.  I  place  a  bladder,  half  filled  with 
air,  under  the  receiver  of  the  air-pump,  and 
remove  the  air  from  the  receiver.  The  blad- 
der swells.  According  to  our  present  the- 
ory, this  expansion  of  the  bladder  is  pro- 
duced by  the  shooting  of  atomic  projectiles 
against  its  interior  surface.  When  air  is 
admitted  into  the  receiver,  the  bladder 
shrivels  to  its  former  size;  and  here  we 
must  figure  the  discharge  of  the  atoms 
against  the  outer  surface  of  the  bladder, 
driving  the  envelope  inwards,  causing,  at 
the  same  time,  the  atoms  within  to  concen- 
trate their  fire,  until  finally  the  force  from 
within  equals  that  from  without,  and  the 
envelope  remains  quiescent.  All  the  impres- 
sions, then,  which  we  derive  from  heated  air 
or  vapor  are,  according  to  this  hypothesis, 
due  to  the  impact  of  gaseous  molecules. 
Thus  the  impression  one  receives  on  enter- 
ing the  hot-room  of  a  Turkish  bath  is 
caused  by  the  atomic  patter  there  main- 
tained against  the  surface  of  the  body. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  5,  p. 
118.  (A.,  1900.) 

394.  BONDAGE  OF  FACT— Science  Miist 
Master  Details. — The  bondage  under  which 
all  true  science  lies  to  fact — the  necessity  of 
groping  among  the  detail  of  little  and  com- 
mon things — this  is  a  hard  lesson  for  the 
human  intellect  to  learn — conscious  as  that 
intellect  is  of  its  own  great  powers — of  its 
own  high  aims — of  its  own  large  capacities 
of    intuitive    understanding.      But   it    is    a 
lesson  which  must  be  learned.    There  are  no 
short  cuts  in  Nature.     Her  results  are  al- 
ways   attained    by   method.     Her   purposes 
are   always  worked  out  by  law.      So  must 
ours  be.    For  our  bodies  and  our  spirits  are 
both  parts  of  the  great  order  of  Nature ;  and 
our  wills  can  attain  no  end,  and  can  ac- 


81 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Bod 


Body 
Brain 


complish  no  design,  except  through  knowl- 
edge and  through  use  of  the  appropriate 
and  appointed  means.  Nor  can  those  means 
be  ascertained  except  by  careful  observa- 
tion, and  as  careful  reasoning.  It  is  a  hard 
thing  to  know  all  the  forces  which  operate 
even  on  our  own  individual  minds;  and  it 
is  a  much  harder  problem  to  understand  the 
forces  which  arise  out  of  the  complicated 
conditions  of  human  society. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  197.  (Burt.) 

395.  BOW,    THE,    A     PREHISTORIC 
WEAPON — Stone  Arrow-heads  Prove  Antiquity. 
— However  invented,  the  bow  came  into  use 
in  ages  before  history.    Its  arrow  is  a  mini- 
ature of  the  full-sized  javelin,  and  the  old 
stone  arrows-heads  found  in  most  regions  of 
the   world   show  the  existence   of  the  bow 
and  arrow  in  the  Stone  Age,  tho  hardly  back 
to  the  drift  period.     The  art  of  feathering 
the  arrow  goes  back  as  far  as  history,  and 
we    know   not   how   much    further. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  8,  p.  195.     (A.,  1899.) 

396.  BRAIN,  ACTIVITY  OF,  PRODU- 
CES LOCAL  HEAT— Anger  Really  a  Hot  Pas- 
sion— Great   Strain  of  Silent  Recitation. — 
Brain-activity  seems  accompanied  by  a  local 
disengagement  of  heat.     .     .     .     Dr.   J.   S. 
Lombard        .     .     .     found    [in    more    than 
60,000   observations]    that   any   intellectual 
effort,  such  as  computing,  composing,  recit- 
ing poetry  silently  or  aloud,  and  especially 
that  emotional  excitement  such  as  an  anger 
fit,   caused   a  general   rise   of  temperature, 
which  rarely  exceeded  a  degree  Fahrenheit. 
The  rise  was  in  most  cases  more  marked  in 
the  middle  region   of  the  head   than   else- 
where.    Strange  to  say,  it  was  greater  in 
reciting  poetry  silently  than  in  reciting  it 
aloud.     Dr.  Lombard's  explanation  is  that 
"  in  internal  recitation  an  additional  por- 
tion  of  energy,   which   in  recitation   aloud 
was   converted   into   nervous   and  muscular 
force,  now  appears  as  heat."     I  should  sug- 
gest rather,  if  we  must  have  a  theory,  that 
the    surplus  of  heat  in  recitation   to   one- 
self is  due  to  inhibitory  processes  which  are 
absent  when  we  recite  aloud.     .     .     .     The 
simple  central  process  is  to  speak  when  we 
think;    to  think  silently  involves  a  check  in 
addition. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  3, 
p.  99.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

397.  BRAIN  BENUMBED  BY  HEAT— 

Effect  of  Molecular  Motion. — But  what  is 
heat,  that  it  should  work  such  changes  in 
moral  and  intellectual  nature?  Why  are  we 
unable  to  read  "  Mill's  Logic  "  or  study  the 
"  Kritik  der  reinen  Vernunft "  with  any 
profit  in  a  Turkish  bath?  Heat,  defined 
without  reference  to  our  sensations,  is  a 
kind  of  motion,  as  strictly  mechanical  as 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  as  the  aerial  vibra- 
tions which  produce  sound.  The  communi- 
cation of  this  motion  to  the  molecules  of 
the  brain  produces  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual effects  just  referred  to.  Human  ac- 
tion is  only  possible  within  a  narrow  zone 


of  temperature.  Transgress  the  limit  on 
one  side,  and  we  are  torpid  by  excess; 
transgress  it  on  the  other,  and  we  are  tor- 
pid by  defect.  The  intellect  is  in  some 
sense  a  function  of  temperature.  Thus  at 
noon  we  were  drained  of  intellectual  en- 
ergy; eight  hours  later  the  mind  was 
awake  and  active,  and  through  her  opera- 
tions was  shed  that  feeling  of  earnestness 
and  awe  which  the  mystery  of  the  starry 
heavens  ever  inspires.  Physically  consid- 
ered, however,  the  intellect  of_noon  differed 
from  that  of  8  p.  m.  simply  in  the  amount 
of  motion  possessed  by  the  molecules  of  the 
brain. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps,  ch.  5,  p.  61.  (A.,  1898.) 

398 .  BRAIN,  HEMISPHERES  OF,  SPE- 
CIALIZED —  Right-handed  People  Are  Left- 
drained. — Most    people,    in    fact,    are    left- 
brained,  that  is,  all  their  delicate  and  spe- 
cialized movements  are  handed  over  to  the 
charge  of  the  left  hemisphere.     The   ordi- 
nary right-handedness  for  such  movements 
is  only  a  consequence  of  that  fact,  a  conse- 
quence which  shows  outwardly  on  account 
of  that  extensive  decussation  of  the  fibers 
whereby  most  of  those  from  the  left  hemi- 
sphere pass  to  the  right  half  of  the  body 
only. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.   i,   ch.   2,   p. 
39.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

399.  BRAIN  NOT  INVOLVED  IN  RE- 
FLEX  ACTION— Breathing,    the    Beating    of 
the  Heart,   etc.,   Unconscious — The  Highest 
(Cerebral)    Force    Economized. — The    reflex 
actions — breathing,    the   movements    of   the 
intestines,  the  heart's  action,  winking,  etc. 
— are  known  to  be  stimulated  through  the 
spinal    cord,    and    its    immediate    continua- 
tions at  the  base  of  the  brain;    they  do  not 
involve  the  cerebral  mass.     The  responding 
movements  in  the  case  of  each  of  them  are 
limited  to  the  work  to  be  done :  to  the  chest, 
in  breathing;    to  the  intestines,  in  propel- 
ling the  food;    to  the  muscles  of  the  heart, 
in  pumping  the  blood.     These   actions   are 
unaccompanied  with  feeling.     So,  in  touch- 
ing the  hand  of  one  asleep,  we  see  the  hand 
curl  up,  or  the  arm  move  away.     This  is 
called  reflex;    it  is  prompted  through  the 
lower  centers,  without  lateral  diffusion   or 
communication,  and  it  is  directed  to  a  sin- 
gle  local   group   of   muscles.      In   such   ex- 
amples, as  formerly  seen,  the  limitation  is 
owing  to  want  of  force.     There  are  ways 
open  to  the  brain ;    but  they  are  not  entered 
at  the   instance   of   a   very   feeble   contact. 
Still,  the  fact  of  limitation  of  range  is  ac- 
companied by  the  fact  of  unconsciousness: 
an  isolated  response  is  our  evidence  for  con- 
traction of  the  sphere  of  excitement;    and 
such  isolated  responses  are  little,  if  at  all, 
accompanied  with  feeling. — BAIN  Mind  and 
Body,  ch.  4,  p.  14.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

400.  BRAIN  OF  MAN  AND  OF  APE— Ab- 
solute and  Relative  Differences. — So  far  as 
I  am  aware,  no  human  cranium  belonging  to 
an  adult  man  has  yet  been  observed  with  a 


Brain 

Brotherhood 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


less  cubical  capacity  than  62  cubic  inches, 
the  smallest  cranium  observed  in  any  race 
of  men,  by  Morton,  measuring  63  cubic 
inches;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  most 
capacious  gorilla  skull  yet  measured  has  a 
content  of  not  more  than  34%  cubic  inches. 
Let  us  assume,  for  simplicity's  sake,  that 
the  lowest  man's  skull  has  twice  the  capac- 
ity of  the  highest  gorilla. 

No  doubt  this  is  a  very  striking  differ- 
ence, but  it  loses  much  of  its  apparent  sys- 
tematic value  when  viewed  by  the  light  of 
certain  other  equally  indubitable  facts  re- 
specting cranial  capacities. 

The  first  of  these  is,  that  the  difference  in 
the  volume  of  the  cranial  cavity  of  different 
races  of  mankind  is  far  greater,  absolutely, 
than  that  between  the  lowest  man  and  the 
highest  ape,  while,  relatively,  it  is  about 
the  same.  For  the  largest  human  skull 
measured  by  Morton  contained  114  cubic 
inches — that  is  to  say,  had  very  nearly 
double  the  capacity  of  the  smallest,  while 
its  absolute  preponderance  of  52  cubic  inch- 
es is  far  greater  than  that  by  which  the 
lowest  adult  male  human  cranium  surpasses 
the  largest  of  the  gorillas  ( 62  —  34y2  = 
27 %).  Secondly,  the  adult  crania  of  goril- 
las which  have  as  yet  been  measured  differ 
among  themselves  by  nearly  one-third,  the 
maximum  capacity  being  34.5  cubic  inches, 
the  minimum  24  cubic  inches;  and,  thirdly, 
after  making  all  due  allowance  for  differ- 
ence of  size,  the  cranial  capacities  of  some 
of  the  lower  apes  fall  nearly  as  much,  rela- 
tively, below  those  of  the  higher  apes  as  the 
latter  fall  below  man. 

Thus,  even  in  the  important  matter  of 
cranial  capacity,  men  differ  more  widely 
from  one  another  than  they  do  from  the 
ape,  while  the  lowest  apes  differ  as  much,  in 
proportion,  from  the  highest  as  the  latter 
does  from  man.  The  last  proposition  is  still 
better  illustrated  by  the  study  of  the  modi- 
fications which  other  parts  of  the  cranium 
undergo  in  the  Simian  series. — HUXLEY 
Man's  Place  in  Nature,  p.  221.  (Hum.) 


401. 


Difference  in  Weight 


of  Brain. — It  must  not  be  overlooked,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  a  very  striking  difference 
in  absolute  mass  and  weight  between  the 
lowest  human  brain  and  that  of  the  highest 
ape — a  difference  which  is  all  the  more  re- 
markable when  we  recollect  that  a  full- 
grown  gorilla  is  probably  pretty  nearly 
twice  as  heavy  as  a  Bosjes  man,  or  as  many 
an  European  woman.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  a  healthy  human  adult  brain  ever 
weighed  less  than  thirty-one  or  two  ounces, 
or  that  the  heaviest  gorilla  brain  has  ex- 
ceeded twenty  ounces.  This  is  a  very  note- 
worthy circumstance,  and  doubtless  will  one 
day  help  to  furnish  an  explanation  of  the 
great  gulf  which  intervenes  between  the  low- 
est man  and  the  highest  ape  in  intellectual 
power. — HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in  Nature, 
p.  231.  (Hum.) 


4O2. 


Enormous  Increase 


in  Human  Brain. — We  find  the  most  pro- 
nounced distinction  between  man  and  the 
anthropoid  apes  in  the  size  and  complexity 
of  his  brain.  Thus,  Professor  Huxley  tells 
us  that  "  it  may  be  doubted  whether  a 
healthy  human  adult  brain  ever  weighed  less 
than  31  or  32  ounces,  or  that  the  heaviest 
gorilla  brain  has  exceeded  20  ounces,"  altho 
"  a  full-grown  gorilla  is  probably  pretty 
nearly  twice  as  heavy  as  a  Bosjes  man,  or  as 
many  an  European  woman."  The  average 
human  brain,  however,  weighs  48  or  49 
ounces,  and  if  we  take  the  average  ape  brain 
at  only  2  ounces  less  than  the  very  largest 
gorilla's  brain,  or  18  ounces,  we  shall  see 
better  the  enormous  increase  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  brain  of  man. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  15,  p.  308.  (Hum.) 

403.  BRAIN     OF     PRIMITIVE    MAN 
HELD  THE  POSSIBILITIES   OF   THE   FU- 
TURE—  The  one  endowment  that  this  crea- 
ture [primitive  man]  possessed,  having  in  it 
the    promise    and    potency    of    all    future 
achievements,  was  the  creative  spark  called 
invention.     The  superabundant  brain   over 
and  above  all  the  amount  required  for  mere 
animal  existence,   held  in  trust  the  possi- 
bilities  of   the   future,   and   stamped   upon 
man  the  divine  likeness.     This  naked  igno- 
ramus is  the  father  of  the  clothed  philos- 
opher, looking  out  into  infinite  space  and 
time  and  causation. — MASON  The  Birth  of 
Invention,  Address  at  Centenary  of  Amer. 
Patent    System,    Washington,   D.    C.,   1891, 
(procs.)  p.  405. 

404.  BRAIN,  THE  ESSENTIAL  ORGAN 
OF  KNOWLEDGE— Results  of  Changes  in.— 
The  experiences  of  the  body  are  one  of  the 
conditions  of  the  faculty  of  memory  being 
what  it  is.  And    .    .    .    the  brain  is  the  part 
whose    experiences    are    directly    concerned. 
If  the  nervous  communication  be  cut  off  be- 
tween the  brain  and  other  parts,  the  experi- 
ences of  those  other  parts  are  non-existent 
for  the   mind.     The  eye  is  blind,   the   ear 
deaf,    the   hand   insensible   and   motionless. 
And  conversely,  if  the  brain  be  injured,  con- 
sciousness is  abolished  or  altered,  even  altho 
every  other  organ  in  the  body  be  ready  to 
play  its  normal  part.     A  blow  on  the  head, 
a  sudden  subtraction  of  blood,  the  pressure 
of  an  apoplectic  hemorrhage,  may  have  the 
first  effect;     whilst   a   very  few  ounces   of 
alcohol  or  grains  of  opium  or  hasheesh,  or  a 
whiff  of  chloroform  or  nitrous  oxid  gas,  are 
sure  to  have  the  second.     The  delirium  of 
fever,  the  altered  self  of  insanity,  are  all 
due  to  foreign  matters  circulating  through 
the  brain,  or  to  pathological  changes  in  that 
organ's  substance. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  1,  p.  4.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

405.  BREAD   CONTAINS    FEW    BAC- 
TERIA— The  Universal  Food  Relatively  Pure. 
— Bread    forms    an    excellent    medium    for 
molds,  but  unless  specially  exposed  the  bac- 
teria in  it  are  few.    Waldo  and  Walsh  have, 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Broth 


erhood 


. 


however,  demonstrated  that  baking  does 
not  sterilize  the  interior  of  bread.  These 
observers  cultivated  numerous  bacteria 
from  the  center  of  newly  baked  London 
loaves.  The  writer  has  recently  made  a 
series  of  examinations  of  the  air  of  several 
underground  bakehouses  in  central  London; 
but,  tho  the  air  was  highly  impregnated 
with  flour-dust,  few  bacteria  were  present. 
—NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  239.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

406.  BRIGHTNESS    THAT     ONLY 
'ARKNESS  AND  GLOOM  REVEAL— Sun's 

Chromosphere  and  Corona  Seen  Only  in 
Eclipse. — But  what  a  marvelous  spectacle 
is  then  afforded  to  all  eyes  directed  to  the 
same  point  of  the  sky!  In  place  of  the  sun 
appears  a  black  disk,  surrounded  by  a 
glorious  crown  of  light.  In  this  ethereal 
crown  we  see  immense  rays  diverging  from 
the  eclipsed  sun.  Rose-colored  flames  ap- 
pear to  issue  from  the  lunar  screen  which 
masks  the  god  of  day.  During  two  minutes, 
three  minutes,  four  minutes,  the  astronomer 
studies  this  strange  frame,  rendered  visible 
by  the  passage  of  the  moon  before  the  radi- 
ant disk,  while  the  people,  surprised  and 
still  silent,  seem  to  await  with  anxiety  the 
end  of  a  spectacle  which  they  have  never 
seen  before  and  may  never  see  again.  Sud- 
denly a  jet  of  light,  a  shout  of  pleasure 
from  a  thousand  throats,  announces  the  re- 
turn of  the  joyous  sun,  still  pure,  still 
luminous,  still  fiery,  still  faithful. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  9,  p. 
197.  (A.) 

407.  BRILLIANCY  A  MEANS  OF  CON- 
CEALMENT— The  White-headed  Fruit-pigeon. 
— In  some  cases  the  concealment  is  effected 
by  colors  and  markings  which  are  so  strik- 
ing and  peculiar  that  no  one  who  had  not 
seen  the  creature  in  its  native  haunts  would 
imagine    them    to    be    protective.      An    ex- 
ample of  this  is  afforded  by  the  banded  fruit- 
pigeon  of  Timor,  whose  pure  white  head  and 
neck,  black  wings   and  back,   yellow  belly, 
and   deeply   curved   black   band   across   the 
breast,  render  it  a  very  handsome  and  con- 
spicuous bird.     Yet  this  is  what  Mr.  H.  O. 
Forbes  says  of  it :  "  On  the  trees  the  white- 
headed  fruit-pigeon   (Ptilopus  cinctus)   sat 
motionless   during  the  heat  of  the  day  in 
numbers,  on  well-exposed  branches;    but  it 
was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  I  or  my 
sharp-eyed  native  servant  could  ever  detect 
them,   even  in  trees   where  we   knew   they 
were    sitting."     The   trees   referred   to   are 
species    of    Eucalyptus    which    abound    in 
Timor.      They    have    whitish    or    yellowish 
bark  and  very  open  foliage,  and  it  is  the  in- 
tense sunlight  casting  black  curved  shadows 
of  one  branch  upon  another,  with  the  white 
and   yellow  bark   and    deep   blue   sky   seen 
through  openings  of  the  foliage,  that  pro- 
duces the  peculiar  combination  of  colors  and 
shadows  to  which  the  colors  and  markings 


of  this  bird  have  become  so  closely  assimi- 
lated.— WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  136. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

408.  BRILLIANCY   OF  COLOR  CHAR- 
ACTERIZES   MALE   BIRDS— Mothers  Com- 
monly   Protected    by    Modest    Colors. — The 
most    fundamental    characteristic    of    birds, 
from    our    present    point    of    view,    is    a 
greater    intensity    of    color    in    the    male. 
.     .     .     In  order   that  the  species   may  be 
continued,  young  birds  must  be  produced, 
and  the  female  birds  have  to  sfif  assiduously 
on  their  eggs.     While  doing  this  they  are 
exposed  to  observation  and  attack  by  the 
numerous  devourers  of  eggs  and  birds,  and 
it  is  of  vital  importance  that  they  should 
be  protectively  colored  in  all  those  parts  of 
the  body  which  are  exposed  during  incuba- 
tion.     To    secure   this   end   all   the   bright 
colors  and  showy  ornaments  which  decorate 
the  male  have  not  been  acquired  by  the  fe- 
male, who  often  remains  clothed  in  the  sober 
hues  which  were  probably  once  common  to 
the    whole   order    to   which   she   belongs. — 
WALLACE     Darwinism,     ch.     10,     p.     187. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

409.  BROTHERHOOD     OF     MAN  —  A 

Growing  Conviction  and  Sentiment  of  the 
Human  Race. — "If  we  would  indicate  an  idea 
which,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  his- 
tory, has  ever  more  and  more  widely  ex- 
tended its  empire,  or  which,  more  than  any 
other,  testifies  to  the  much-contested  and 
still  more  decidedly  misunderstood  perfecti- 
bility of  the  whole  human  race,  it  is  that  of 
establishing  our  common  humanity — of 
striving  to  remove  the  barriers  which  prej- 
udice and  limited  views  of  every  kind  have 
erected  among  men,  and  to  treat  all  man- 
kind, without  reference  to  religion,  nation, 
or  color,  as  one  fraternity,  one  great  com- 
munity, fitted  for  the  attainment  of  one  ob- 
ject, the  unrestrained  development  of  the 
physical  powers.  This  is  the  ultimate  and 
highest  aim  of  society,  identical  with  the 
direction  implanted  by  nature  in  the  mind 
of  man  toward  the  indefinite  extension  of 
his  existence.  He  regards  the  earth  in  all 
its  limits,  and  the  heavens  as  far  as  his  eye 
can  scan  their  bright  and  starry  depths,  as 
inwardly  his  own,  given  to  him  as  the  ob- 
jects of  his  contemplation,  and  as  a  field  for 
the  development  of  his  energies.  Even  the 
child  longs  to  pass  the  hills  or  the  seas 
which  enclose  his  narrow  home;  yet,  when 
his  eager  steps  have  borne  him  beyond  those 
limits,  he  pines,  like  the  plant,  for  his  na- 
tive soil;  and  it  is  by  this  touching  and 
beautiful  attribute  of  man — this  longing  for 
that  which  is  unknown,  and  this  fond  re- 
membrance of  that  which  is  lost — that  he  is 
spared  from  an  exclusive  attachment  to  the 
present.  Thus  deeply  rooted  in  the  inner- 
most nature  of  man,  and  even  enjoined  upon 
him  by  .his  highest  tendencies,  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  bond  of  humanity  becomes  one  of 
the  noblest  leading  principles  in  the  history 


sasr 


hood 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


84 


of  mankind."  [Quoted  from  Wilhelm  von 
Humboldt.J — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p. 
358.  (H.,  1897.) 

41O.  BUBBLE  AND  FROG— Elementary 
Law  Has  No  Adaptation  to  Circumstance. — 
Blow  bubbles  through  a  tube  into  the  bot- 
tom of  a  pail  of  water,  they  will  rise  to  the 
surface  and  mingle  with  the  air.  Their  ac- 
tion may  again  be  poetically  interpreted  as 
due  to  a  longing  to  recombine  with  the 
mother-atmosphere  above  the  surface.  But 
if  you  invert  a  jar  full  of  water  over  the 
pail,  they  will  rise  and  remain  lodged  be- 
neath its  bottom,  shut  in  from  the  outer  air, 
altho  a  slight  deflection  from  their  course 
at  the  outset,  or  a  redescent  towards  the 
rim  of  the  jar  when  they  found  their  up- 
ward course  impeded,  would  easily  have  set 
them  free.  Suppose  a  living  frog  in  the  po- 
sition in  which  we  placed  our  bubbles  of  air, 
namely,  at  the  bottom  of  a  jar  of  water. 
The  want  of  breath  will  soon  make  him  also 
long  to  rejoin  the  mother-atmosphere,  and 
he  will  take  the  shortest  path  to  his  end  by 
swimming  straight  upwards.  But  if  a  jar 
full  of  water  be  inverted  over  him,  he  will 
not,  like  the  bubbles,  perpetually  press  his 
nose  against  its  unyielding  roof,  but  will 
restlessly  explore  the  neighborhood  until  by 
redescending  again  he  has  discovered  a  path 
round  its  brim  to  the  goal  of  his  desires. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  7.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

411.  BUILDINGS,  ANCIENT,  UNDER- 
MINED BY  WORMS— Subsidence  and  Crack- 
ing    of     Walls,     Cause     of. — Worms     have 
played  a  considerable  part  in  the  burial  and 
concealment  of  several  Roman  and  other  old 
buildings    in   England;     but   no   doubt   the 
washing  down  of  soil  from  the  neighboring 
higher   lands,   and  the   deposition   of  dust, 
have  together  aided  largely  in  the  work  of 
concealment.    Dust  would  be  apt  to  accumu- 
late wherever   old  broken-down   walls   pro- 
jected a  little  above  the  then  existing  sur- 
face and  thus  afforded  some  shelter.     The 
floors  of  the  old  rooms,  halls,  and  passages 
have  generally  sunk,  partly  from  the  set- 
tling of  the  ground,  but  chiefly  from  hav- 
ing been  undermined  by  worms;     and   the 
sinking  has  commonly  been  greater  in  the 
middle    than    near    the    walls.      The    walls 
themselves,  whenever  their  foundations  do 
not  lie  at  a  great  depth,  have  been  pene- 
trated and  undermined  by  worms,  and  have 
consequently   subsided.      The    unequal    sub- 
sidence thus  caused  probably  explains  the 
great  cracks  which  may  be  seen  in  many 
ancient  walls,  as  well  as  their  inclination 
from    the    perpendicular. — DARWIN    Forma- 
tion   of    Vegetable    Mould,    ch.    4,    p.    68. 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

412.  BUTTRESSES,  NATURAL- Sup- 
porting Roots  of  the  Brazilian  Pashiuba — 
Tree  Stands  as  if  on  Stilts — Strange  Result 
of   Struggle   for   Life. — My   guide    put    me 
ashore  in  one  place  to  show  me  the  roots  of 


the  Pashiuba.  These  grow  above  ground, 
radiating  from  the  trunk  many  feet  above 
the  surface,  so  that  the  tree  looks  as  if  sup- 
ported on  stilts;  and  a  person  can,  in  old 
trees,  stand  upright  among  the  roots  with 
the  perpendicular  stem  wholly  above  his 
head.  It  adds  to  the  singularity  of  their 
appearance  that  these  roots,  which  have  the 
form  of  straight  rods,  are  studded  with 
stout  thorns,  while  the  trunk  of  the  tree  is 
quite  smooth.  The  purpose  of  this  curious 
arrangement  is,  perhaps,  similar  to  that  of 
the  buttress-roots  already  described — name- 
ly, to  recompense  the  tree  by  root-growth 
above  the  soil  for  its  inability,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  competition  of  neighboring 
roots,  to  extend  it  underground.  The  great 
amount  of  moisture  and  nutriment  con- 
tained in  the  atmosphere  may  also  favor 
.these  growths.— BATES  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  5,  p.  661.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

413.  CALCULATION,     ANCIENT,    BY 
PEBBLES— Language  Preserves  the   Story  of 
Early  Arithmetic. — In  Africa,  negro  traders 
may  be  seen  at  market  reckoning  with  peb- 
bles, and  when  they  come  to  five,  putting 
them  aside  in  a  little  heap.     In  the  South 
Sea  Islands  it  has  been  noticed  that  people 
reckoning,   when  they  came  to  ten,   would 
not  put  aside  a  heap  of  ten  things,  but  only 
a  single  bit  of  coconut  stalk  to  stand  for 
ten,    and    then    a    bigger    piece   when    they 
wanted  to  represent  ten  tens  or  a  hundred. 
Now  to  us  it  is  plain  that  this  use  of  differ- 
ent kinds  of  markers  is  unnecessary,  but  all 
that  the  reckoner  with  little  stones  or  beans 
has  to  do  is  to  keep  separate  his  unit-heap, 
his   ten-heap,   his  hundred-heap,   etc.     This 
use  of  such  things  as  pebbles  for   "  count- 
ers," which  still  survives  in  England  among 
the  ignorant,  was  so  common  in  the  ancient 
world   that  the  Greek  word  for   reckoning 
was  psephizein,  from  psephos,  a  pebble,  and 
the  corresponding  Latin  word  was  calculare, 
from  calculus,  a  pebble,  so  that  our  word 
calculate  is  a  relic  of  very  early  arithmetic. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  13,  p.  313.    (A., 
1899.) 

414.  CALCULATION  VERIFIED-A 

Fine  Test — Utilizing  the  Moon — Star-colors 
Proved  Real — Varied  Glory  in  Distant 
Space. — It  was  long  thought  that  at  least 
the  more  strongly  marked  colors,  in  the  case 
of  small  companion  stars,  were  due  merely 
to  contrast.  But  the  supposition  that  the 
colors  seen  in  double  stars  are  due  to  con- 
trast has  been  in  several  instances  com- 
pletely disposed  of,  by  so  arranging  matters 
that  one  star  only  of  a  pair  is  seen  at  a 
time.  This  can  readily  be  arranged  where 
the  stars  are  not  very  close,  and  in  a  great 
number  of  cases  it  has  been  found  that  the 
small  star,  seen  alone,  was  really  blue  or 
green  or  purple,  as  the  case  might  be.  The 
experiment  was  in  one  case  tried  in  the  case 
of  a  very  close  pair,  in  a  very  interesting 
way.  The  star  in  question  is  the  ruddy 


85 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Brotherhood 
Capital 


Antares,  called  also  the  Scorpion's  Heart. 
This  star  has  a  minute  green  companion,  far 
too  close  to  the  red  primary  star  to  be  seen 
alone  by  any  arrangement  of  the  telescope. 
But  advantage  was  taken  by  an  eminent  ob- 
server of  the  passage  of  the  moon  over  this 
star.  In  a  moment  or  two  the  moon  hid  the 
larger  star,  leaving  the  other  shining  alone, 
and  then  it  was  seen  that  the  small  star 
was  unmistakably  green. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  pp.  220-221.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

415.  CALM    OF    NATURE  —  Supposed 
Discord   of    the   Elements   Lost   in   Higher 
Unity. — The  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Na- 
ture, whether  we  can  trace  them  in  the  al- 
ternate ebb   and  flow  of  the  ocean,  in  the 
measured  path  of  comets,  or  in  the  mutual 
attractions  of  multiple  stars,  alike  increases 
our  sense  of  the  calm  of  Nature,  while  the  ' 
chimera    so   long   cherished   by   the   human 
mind  in  its  early  and  intuitive  contempla- 
tions, the  belief  in  a  "  discord  of  the  ele- 
ments," seems  gradually  to  vanish  in  pro- 
portion   as    science   extends    her    empire. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  42.     (H., 
1897.) 

416.  CALMNESS  OF  SCIENCE— Relief 
from    Strife    and    Discord — Fascination    of 
Botany  or  Astronomy. — He,  therefore,  who 
amid  the  discordant  strife  of  nations  would 
seek  intellectual  repose,  turns  with  delight 
to  contemplate  the  silent  life  of  plants,  and 
to  study  the  hidden  forces  of  Nature  in  her 
sacred  sanctuaries;    or,  yielding  to  that  in- 
herent   impulse    which    for    thousands    of 
years  has  glowed  in  the  breast  of  man,  di- 
rects his   mind,  by  a   mysterious   presenti- 
ment of  his  destiny,  towards  the  celestial 
orbs,  which,  in  undisturbed  harmony,  pur- 
sue their  ancient  and  eternal  course. — HUM- 
BOLDT Views  of  Nature,  p.  21.     (Bell,  1896.) 

417.  CAMEL,   CHARACTERISTICS  OF 

— Stolid  Endurance  Joined  with  Limited  In- 
telligence.— The  sole  good  quality  that  the 
camel  possesses  is  his  seriousness.  His  in- 
telligence is  very  limited,  he  neither  shows 
love  nor  hate,  he  is  indifferent  to  everything 
that  is  not  food  or  his  young.  He  is  irri- 
tated whenever  he  is  obliged  to  work;  if  he 
perceives  that  his  wrath  is  of  no  avail  he 
submits  to  his  task  with  the  indifference  he 
brings  to  everything  else.  He  is  vicious  and 
dangerous  when  he  is  in  a  rage;  his  cow- 
ardice has  no  bounds;  the  roar  of  a  lion 
will  put  an  entire  caravan  to  flight.  Under 
such  circumstances  every  camel  throws 
down  its  charge  and  flees.  The  howl  of  a 
hyena  terrifies  it;  a  monkey,  a  dog,  or  even 
a  lizard  will  put  it  in  a  fright.  I  know  of 
no  animal  with  which  it  is  on  friendly 
terms.  The  donkey's  relation  to  it  is  kind 
enough,  but  of  friendship  there  is  no  trace. 
The  horse  seems  to  regard  him  as  the  most 
unsightly  animal.  For  his  part,  the  camel 
appears  to  regard  all  other  animals  with 
the  same  bad  humor  which  he  feels  toward 


man. — BREHM  La  Vie  des  Animaux  illustre, 
Mammiferes,  p.  443.  (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

418.  CANDOR  OF  SCIENTIST—  Change 
of    Opinion   with   Advancing    Knowledge. — 
But  it  is  the  misfortune  of  progress  that 
one  is  forced  not  only  to  unlearn  a  great 
deal,  but,  if  one  has  been  in  the  habit  of 
communicating  his  ideas  to  others,  to   de- 
stroy much  of  his  own  work.     I  now  find 
myself  in  this  predicament ;  and  after  teach- 
ing my  students  for  years  that -the  Carbon- 
iferous  epoch  belongs   to   the  Paleozoic   or 
Primary  age,  I  am  convinced — and  this  con- 
viction grows  upon  me  constantly  as  I  free 
myself  from  old  prepossessions  and  bias  on 
the   subject — that   with    the    Carboniferous 
epoch  we  have  the  opening  of  the  Secondary 
age  in  the  history  of  the  world. — AGASSIZ 
Geological  Sketches,  ser.   i,  ch.   5,   p.    140. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

419.  CANNIBALISM  NOT  PRACTISED 
BY    SHELL-MOUND    BUILDERS  — The  ob- 
servations   of   Arctic   travelers   prove    that 
even  if  human  bones  had  been  found  in  the 
shell-mounds,   this   would   not   of   itself   be 
any  evidence  of  cannibalism;    but  the  ab- 
sence of  such  remains  satisfactorily  shows 
that  the  primitive  population  of  the  North 
were  free  from  this  practise.     On  the  other 
hand,    the    tumuli    have    supplied   us    with 
numerous  skeletons  which  probably  belong 
to    the    Stone    Age.      The    skulls    are    very 
round,  and  in  many  respects  resemble  those 
of  the  Lapps,  but  have  a  more  projecting 
ridge   over    the    eye. — AVEBURY   Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  7,  p.  229.     (A.,  1900.) 

420.  CAPACITY    OF    VARIATION    A 
CAPACITY   OF  IMPROVEMENT  — No  case 
is  on  record  of  a  variable  organism  ceasing 
to  vary  under  cultivation.    Our  oldest  culti- 
vated plants,  such  as  wheat,  still  yield  new 
varieties:    our  oldest  domesticated  animals 
are  still  capable  of  rapid  improvement  or 
modification. — DARWIN    Origin    of    Species, 
ch.  1,  p.  6.     (Burt.) 

421.  CAPITAL,    VITAL—  The    Young 
Plant  Draws  on  Accumulated  Store. — The 
food  of  plants  being  in  great  measure  the 
same  for  all,  and  bathing  all  so  that  it  can 
be  absorbed  without  effort,  their  vital  proc- 
esses result  almost  entirely  in  profit.     Once 
fairly  rooted  in  a  fit  place,  a  plant  may  thus 
from  the  outset  add  a  very  large  proportion 
of  its  entire  returns  to  capital;    and  may 
soon  be  able  to  carry  on  its  processes  on 
a  large  scale,  tho  it  does  not  at  first  do  so. 
When,  however,  plants  are  expenders,  name- 
ly, during  their  germination  and  first  stages 
of  growth,  their  degrees  of  growth  are  de- 
termined by  their  amounts  of  vital  capital. 
It  is  because  the  young  tree  commences  life 
with   a  ready-formed  embryo  and  store   of 
food  sufficient  to  last  for  some  time,  that  it 
is  enabled  to  strike  root  and  lift  its  head 
above    the    surrounding    herbage. — SPENCER 
Biology,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  159.     (A.,  1900.) 


Carelessness 
Cause 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


422.  CARELESSNESS,    CAUSE    OF 
DEATH— Fatal  Result  of  Neglect—  Uncleanli- 
ness  Destroys   Infant   Life. — Careless   feed- 
ing, in  conjunction  with  a  warm,  dry  sum- 
mer, invariably  results  in  a  high  death-rate 
from  this  cause.     These  two  causes  interact 
upon  each  other.     A  warm  temperature  is  a 
favorable  temperature  for  the  growth  of  the 
poisonous  micro-organism;    a  dry  season  af- 
fords ample  opportunity  for  its  conveyance 
through    the    air.      Unclean    feeding-bottles 
are  obviously  an  admirable  nidus  for  these 
injurious   bacteria,    for   in   such   a   resting- 
place  the  three  main   conditions   necessary 
for   bacterial    life    are    well    fulfilled,    viz.: 
heat,  moisture,  and  pabulum.     The  heat  is 
supplied    by    the    warm    temperature,    the 
moisture  and  food  by  the  dregs  of  milk  left 
in   the  bottle,    and   the  dry  air   assists   in 
transit. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.   204. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

423.  CARE    OF    OFFSPRING    AMONG 
BIRDS — Intelligence  Combined  with  Devotion. 
— The  care  of  the  young  and  their  mental 
and  physical  development  afford  us  unequal 
opportunities  for  the  study  of  bird-charac- 
ter.    We  may  now  become  acquainted  not 
only  with  the  species,  but  with  individual 
birds,  and  at  a  time  when  the  greatest  de- 
mands   are    made   upon    their    intelligence. 
We  may  see  the  seed-eaters  gathering  in- 
sects and  perhaps  beating  them  into  a  pulp 
before  giving  them  to  their  nestlings;    or 
we  may  learn  how  the  doves,  high-holes,  and 
humming-birds    pump    softened    food    from 
their  crops  down  the  throats  of  their  off- 
spring.    The  activity  of  the  parents  at  this 
season  is  amazing.    Think  of  the  day's  work 
before  a  pair  of  chickadees  with  a  family  of 
six  or  eight  fledglings  clamoring  for  food 
from    daylight    to    dark! — CHAPMAN    Bird- 
Life,  ch.  6,  p.  70.    (A.,  1900.) 

424.  CARE  OF  OFFSPRING  INCREAS- 
ES   AS    NUMBER    DIMINISHES— Maternal 
Instinct    among    Birds — Division    of   Labor 
among  Them — Man's  Single  and  Costly  In- 
fancy.— With  birds,  the  necessity  of  main- 
taining  a    high    temperature   for    the    eggs 
leads  to  the  building  of  nests,  to  a  division 
of  labor  in  the  securing  of  food,  to  the  de- 
velopment   of    a    temporary    maternal    in- 
stinct, and  to  conjugal  alliances  which  in 
some  birds  last  for  a  lifetime.     As  the  eggs 
become  effectively  guarded  the  number  di- 
minishes, till  instead  of  millions  there  are 
half  a  dozen.     When  it  comes  to  her  more 
valuable  products  Nature  is  not  such  a  reck- 
less squanderer   after   all.      So   with   mam- 
mals, for  the  most  part  the  young  are  in 
litters  of  half  a  dozen  or  so;    but  in  man, 
with  his  prolonged  and  costly  infancy,  pa- 
rental care  reaches  its  highest  development 
and  concentration  in  rearing  children  one 
by  one. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  11,  p.  118.     (H.  L.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

425.  CASTS  OF  VANISHED  REMAINS 

— Mold  of  Skeleton  Preserved  in  Rock. — I 
have  had  occasion  to  work  out  the  nature 


of  fossil  remains  of  which  there  was  noth- 
ing left  except  casts  of  the  bones,  the  solid 
material  of  the  skeleton  having  been  dis- 
solved out  by  percolating  water.  It  was  a 
chance,  in  this  case,  that  the  sandstone  hap- 
pened to  be  of  such  a  constitution  as  to  set, 
and  to  allow  the  bones  to  be  afterward  dis- 
solved out,  leaving  cavities  of  the  exact 
shape  of  the  bones.  Had  that  constitution 
been  other  than  what  it  was,  the  bones 
would  have  been  dissolved,  the  layers  of 
sandstone  would  have  fallen  together  into 
one  mass,  and  not  the  slightest  indication 
'that  the  animal  had  existed  would  have 
been  discoverable. — HUXLEY  American  Ad- 
dresses, lect.  2,  p.  45.  (A.,  1898.) 

426.  CAUSALITY,  THE  IDEA  OF,  IN- 
HERENT IN  NAN— Science  Springs  from  the 
Search  for  Causes. — All  our  notions  of  Na- 
ture, however  exalted  or  however  grotesque, 
have  some  foundation  in  experience.     The 
notion  of  personal  volition  in  Nature  had 
this  basis.     In  the  fury  and  the  serenity  of 
natural    phenomena    the    savage    saw    the 
transcript  of  his  own  varying  moods,   and 
he  accordingly  ascribed  these  phenomena  to 
beings   of   like   passions  with    himself,   but 
vastly   transcending   him   in   power.     Thus 
the    notion    of    causality — the    assumption 
that  natural  things  did  not  come  of  them- 
selves, but  had  unseen  antecedents — lay  at 
the  root  of  even  the  savage's  interpretation 
of  Nature.     Out  of  this  bias  of  the  human 
mind  to   seek   for  the   antecedents   of  phe- 
nomena  all   science  has   sprung. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  4.     (A.,  1898.) 

427.  CAUSATION,  PERSONAL,   AN 
ULTIMATE  FACT  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS— 

Force,  as  Known  to  Man,  Connected  with 
Conscious  Mind. — There  is  a  philosophy 
which  has  fully  as  true  and  as  broad  a  basis 
in  man's  psychical  experience  as  can  be 
claimed  for  the  fabric  of  physical  science; 
and  in  the  admirable  words  of  the  great 
master  I  have  already  quoted  (Sir  John 
Herschel,  in  his  "  Familiar  Lectures  on  Sci- 
entific Subjects,"  p.  460),  I  shall  sum  up  an 
argument  which  this  paper  is  intended 
rather  to  illustrate  and  enforce  by  an  ap- 
peal to  the  familiar  facts  of  consciousness 
than  to  present  in  strict  logical  form : 

"  In  the  mental  sense  of  effort,  clear  to 
the  apprehension  of  every  one  who  has  ever 
performed  a  voluntary  act,  which  is  present 
at  the  instant  when  the  determination  to  do 
a  thing  is  carried  out  into  the  act  of  doing 
it,  we  have  a  consciousness  of  immediate 
and  personal  causation  which  cannot  be  dis- 
puted or  ignored.  And  when  we  see  the 
same  kind  of  act  performed  by  another,  we 
never  hesitate  in  assuming  for  him  that 
consciousness  which  we  recognize  in  our- 
selves; and  in  this  case  we  can  verify  our 
conclusion  by  oral  communication."  "  In  the 
only  case  in  which  we  are  admitted  into  any 
personal  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  force, 
we  find  it  connected  (possibly  by  intermedi- 
ate links  untraceable  by  our  faculties,  yet 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Carelessness 
Cause 


indisputably  connected)  with  volition,  and 
by  inevitable  consequence,  with  motive,  with 
intellect,  and  with  all  those  attributes  of 
mind  in  which  personality  consists." — CAR- 
PENTER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  12,  p.  363. 
(A.,  1889.) 

428.  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT   IN  MEN- 
TAL    PHENOMENA  —  Law    in     Realm     of 
Mind. — When  we  pass  from  the  phenomena 
of  matter  to  the  phenomena  of  mind,  we  do 
not    pass    from    under    the    reign    of    law. 
Here,  too,  facts  do  range  themselves  in  an 
observed  order;    here,  too,  there  is  a  chain 
of  cause  and  effect  running  throughout  all 
events;    here,   too,   we   see   around  us,   and 
feel   within  us,   the  work   of   forces   which 
have  always  a  certain  definite  tendency  to 
produce  certain  definite  results;    here,  too, 
it  is  by  combination  and  adjustment  among 
these  forces  that  they  are  mutually  held  in 
check;    here,  too,  accordingly,  special  ends 
can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  use  of  spe- 
cial means. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  6,  p. 
163.     (Burt.) 

429.  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT,  TESTS 

OF — Change  of  Result  Corresponding  to  Change 
of  Agency. — The  dependence  of  one  thing 
upon  another  is  ordinarily  shown  by  two 
classes  of  facts — the  first,  the  presence  of 
the  cause  followed  by  the  presence  of  the 
effect;  the  second,  the  absence  of  the  cause 
followed  by  the  absence  of  the  effect;  as 
when  we  prove  that  lighting  a  fire  is  the 
cause  of  smoke,  or  oxygen  the  cause  of  pu- 
trefaction and  decay.  Of  the  two  methods, 
the  second — the  absence  of  the  cause  fol- 
lowed by  the  absence  of  the  effect — is  the 
most  decisive;  the  preservation  of  meat  by 
excluding  air  is  the  best  proof  that  air,  or 
some  ingredient  of  it,  is  the  cause  of  putre- 
faction. More  especially  convincing  is  the 
abrupt  removal  of  a  supposed  cause,  leading 
at  once  to  the  suspension  of  an  effect. 
There  are  cases,  however,  where  we  cannot 
make  the  experiment  of  removing  an  agent. 
We  cannot  get  away  from  the  earth  where 
we  live.  We  cannot  remove  the  moon  from 
its  sphere,  so  as  to  see  what  actions  on  the 
earth  depend  upon  it;  we  cannot  by  an 
abrupt  suspension  of  lunar  gravitation 
prove  that  the  tides  are  very  largely  de- 
pendent on  lunar  influence.  For  such  cases, 
recourse  is  had  to  a  third  expedient,  which 
happily  solves  the  difficulty,  and  furnishes 
the  proof  required.  If  the  agency  in  ques- 
tion, altho  irremovable,  passes  through 
gradations  whose  amount  can  be  measured, 
we  are  able  to  observe  •  whether  the  effect 
has  corresponding  changes  of  degree;  and 
if  a  strict  concomitance  is  observable  be- 
tween the  intensity  of  the  cause  and  the 
intensity  of  the  effect,  we  have  a  presump- 
tion that  may  rise  to  positive  proof  of  the 
connection.  It  is  thus  shown  that  the  tides 
depend  on  the  moon  and  the  sun  conjointly; 
that  the  gaseous  and  liquid  states  of  matter 
are  due  to  heat. — BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch. 
3,  p.  5.  (Hum.,  1880.) 


430.  CAUSE    BEHIND    CAUSE—  Sub- 
terranean   Forces    Built    the    Mountains — 
Fain,  Snow,  Frost,  and  Rivers  Carved  Them 
into  Shape. — We  are  led  by  recent  geologi- 
cal   investigations    to    reject    the    notions 
which    were    formerly    accepted,    by    which 
mountain  ranges  were  supposed  to  be  sud- 
denly  and   violently   upheaved   by   volcanic 
forces.     .     .     .     The    actual    forms    of    the 
mountain  ranges  are  due  directly  to  the  ac- 
tion of  denuding  forces,  which  have  sculp- 
tured out  from  the  rude  rocky_  masses  all 
the  varied  outlines  of  peaks   and  crags,  of 
ravines  and  valleys.    But  it  is  none  the  less 
true    that    the    determining    causes    which 
have  directed  and  controlled  all  this  earth- 
sculpture    are    found    in   the    relative    posi- 
tions of  hard  and  soft  masses  of  rock;    but 
these  rock-masses  have  acquired  their  hard- 
ness   and    consistency,    and    have    assumed 
their  present  positions,  in  obedience  to  the 
action  of  subterranean  forces.    Hence  we  see 
that  tho  the  formation  of  mountain  ranges 
is  proximately  due  to  the  denuding  forces, 
which  have  sculptured  the  earth's  surface, 
the  primary  cause  for  the  existence  of  such 
mountain  chains  must  be  sought  for  in  the 
fact  that  subterranean  forces  have  been  at 
work,  folding,  crumpling,  and  hardening  the 
soft   sediments,   and  placing  them   in   such 
positions  that,  by  the  action  of  denudation, 
the  more  indurated  portions  are  left  stand- 
ing as  mountain  masses  above  the  general 
surface. — JUDU    Volcanoes,   ch.    10,    p.    290. 
(A.,  1899.) 

431.  CAUSE   BEHIND    THE   PRIMOR- 
DIAL GERM  — In  the  case  of  Mr.  Darwin, 
observation,   imagination,   and  reason   com- 
bined have  run  back  with  wonderful  sagac- 
ity and  success  over  a  certain  length  of  the 
line    of    biological    succession.      Guided   by 
analogy,    in    his    "  Origin    of    Species "    he 
placed  at  the  root  of  life  a  primordial  germ, 
from  which  he  conceived  the   amazing  va- 
riety of  the  organisms  now  upon  the  earth's 
surface  might  be  deduced.     If  this  hypothe- 
sis were  even  true,  it  would  not  be  final. 
The  human  mind  would  infallibly  look  be- 
hind the  germ,  and,  however  hopeless  the  at- 
tempt, would  inquire  into  the  history  of  its 
genesis. — TYNDALL    Fragments    of    Science, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  127.     (A.,  1897.) 

432.  CAUSE  DEMANDED  BY  HUMAN 
MIND    FOR    EVERY  EFFECT— Every    oc- 
currence  in   Nature   is   preceded    by   other 
occurrences  which  are  its  causes,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  others  which  are  its  effects.     The 
human  mind  is  not  satisfied  with  observing 
and  studying  any  natural  occurrence  alone, 
but  takes  pleasure  in  connecting  every  nat- 
ural fact  with  what  has  gone  before  it,  and 
with  what  is  to  come  after   it. — TYNDALL 
Forms  of  Water,  p.  1.     (A.,  1899.) 

433.  CAUSE,   FINAL,   NEVER  FULLY 

KNOWN— We  See  Immediate,  Not  Ultimate, 
Purpose. — When  man  makes  an  implement, 
he  knows  the  purpose  for  which  he  makes  it 


Valise 
Javes 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


—he  knows  the  function  assigned  to  it  in 
his  own  intention.  But  as  in  making  it 
there  are  a  thousand  chips  and  fragments 
of  material  which  he  casts  aside,  so  in  its 
final  use  it  often  produces  consequences  and 
results  which  he  did  not  contemplate  or 
foresee.  But  in  Nature  all  this  is  different. 
Nature  has  no  chips  or  fragments  which  she 
does  not  put  to  use;  and  as  on  the  way  to 
her  apparent  ends  there  are  no  incidents 
which  she  did  not  foresee,  so  beyond  those 
ends  there  are  no  ulterior  results  which  do 
not  open  out  into  new  firmaments  of  design. 
Of  nothing,  therefore,  can  we  say  with  even 
the  probability  of  truth  that  we  see  its  final 
cause;  that  is  to  say,  its  ultimate  purpose. 
All  that  we  can  ever  see  are  the  facts  of  ad- 
justment and  of  function,  and  these  consti- 
tute not  final  but  immediate  purpose.  But 
a  purpose  is  not  less  a  purpose  because 
other  purposes  may  lie  beyond  it.  And  not 
only  can  we  detect  purpose  in  natural  phe- 
nomena, but  .  .  .  it  is  very  often  the 
only  thing  about  them  which  is  intelligible 
to  us.  The  how  is  very  often  incomprehen- 
sible where  the  why  is  apparent  at  a  glance. 
And  be  this  observed,  that  when  purpose  is 
perceived  it  is  a  "  making  plain "  to  a 
higher  faculty  of  the  mind  than  the  mere 
sense  of  order.  It  is  a  making  plain  to  rea- 
son. It  is  the  reduction  of  phenomena  to 
that  order  of  thought  which  is  the  basis  of 
all  other  order  in  the  works  of  man,  and 
which,  he  instinctively  concludes,  is  the 
basis  also  of  all  order  in  the  works  of  Na- 
ture.— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  49. 
(Burt.) 

434.  CAUSE  OF  MIGRATION  OF  BIRDS 

— Nesting-season  the  Controlling  Factor — 
Bird  Goes  against  Appearances. — Why  do 
birds  migrate?  It  is  true  that  in  temper- 
ate and  boreal  regions  the  return  of  cold 
weather  robs  them  of  their  food,  and  they 
retreat  southward.  But  many,  in  fact  most, 
birds  begin  their  southern  journey  long  be- 
fore the  first  fall  frost.  We  have  seen  that 
some  species  start  as  early  as  July  and  Au- 
gust. Furthermore,  there  are  many  birds 
that  come  to  our  Gulf  and  South  Atlantic 
States  to  nest,  and  when  the  breeding  sea- 
son is  over  they  return  to  the  tropics.  Sure- 
ly, a  lower  temperature  cannot  be  said  to 
compel  them  to  migrate.  Even  more  re- 
markable than  the  southward  journey  in  the 
fall  is  the  northward  journey  in  the  spring. 
Our  birds  leave  their  winter  homes  in  the 
tropics  in  the  height  of  the  tropical  spring, 
when  insect  and  vegetable  food  is  daily  in- 
creasing. They  leave  this  land  of  plenty  for 
one  from  which  the  snows  of  winter  have 
barely  disappeared,  often  coming  so  early 
that  unseasonable  weather  forces  them  to 
retreat. 

I  believe  that  the  origin  of  this  great  pil- 
grimage of  countless  millions  of  birds  is  to 
be  found  in  the  existence  of  an  annual  nest- 
ing-season. .  .  .  There  is  good  reason 
for  the  belief  that  the  necessity  of  securing 


a  home  in  which  their  young  could  be  reared 
was,  as  it  still  is,  the  cause  of  migration. — 
CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  4,  p.  58.  (A., 
1900.) 

435.  CAUSE,  PHYSICAL,  OF  THE 
ALPS — All  Earthly  Energy  Derived  from  the 
Sun. — And  as  I  looked  over  this  wondrous 
scene  towards  Mont  Blanc,  the  Grand  Corn- 
bin,  the  Dent  Blanche,  the  Weisshorn,  the 
Dom,  and  the  thousand  lesser  peaks  which 
seemed  to  join  in  celebration  of  the  risen 
day,  I  asked  myself,  as  on  previous  occa- 
sions: How  was  this  colossal  work  per- 
formed? Who  chiseled  these  mighty  and 
picturesque  masses  out  of  a  mere  protuber- 
ance of  the  earth?  And  the  answer  was  at 
hand.  Ever  young,  ever  mighty — with  the 
vigor  of  a  thousand  worlds  still  within  him 
— the  real  sculptor  was  even  then  climbing 
up  the  eastern  sky.  It  was  he  who  raised 
aloft  the  waters  which  cut  out  these  ravines ; 
it  was  he  who  planted  the  glaciers  on  the 
mountain  slopes,  thus  giving  gravity  a 
plow  to  open  out  the  valleys;  and  it  is  he 
who,  acting  through  the  ages,  will  finally 
lay  low  these  mighty  monuments,  rolling 
them  gradually  seaward — 

Sowing  the  seeds  of  continents  to  be; 
so  that  the  people  of  an  older  earth  may  see 
mold  spread  and  corn  wave  over  the  hidden 
rocks  which  at  this  moment  bear  the  weight 
of  the  Jungfrau. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exer- 
cise in  the  Alps,  ch.  17,  p.  190.  (A.,  1898.) 

436.  CAUSE,  SAME,  PRODUCES  UN- 
LIKE EFFECTS — Dew  and  Frost  Results  of 
Radiation. — It  is  thus  that  dew  is  produced. 
By  the  effect  of  nocturnal  radiation  bodies 
exposed  in  the  open  air  are  cooled  down,  and 
this  cooling  condenses  on  them  the  vapor  of 
water  diffused  in  the  atmosphere.   Dew  does 
not  descend  from  the  sky,  nor  does  it  rise 
from  the  earth.    A  light  covering,  a  sheet  of 
paper,  a  cloud,  is  sufficient  to  check  the  ra- 
diation and  prevent  dew,  as  it  would  pre- 
vent frost. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  175.     (A.) 

437 .  CAUSE  SEEN  IN  LEAST  EFFECT 

— Motions  of  Stars  Overwhelm  Thought. — 
In  the  falling  of  a  rock  from  a  mountain- 
head,  in  the  shoot  of  an  avalanche,  in  the 
plunge  of  a  cataract,  we  often  see  more  im- 
pressive illustrations  of  the  power  of  grav- 
ity than  in  the  motions  of  the  stars.  When 
the  intellect  has  to  intervene,  and  calcula- 
tion is  necessary  to  the  building  up  of  the 
conception,  the  expansion  of  the  feelings 
ceases  to  be  proport'ional  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  phenomena. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Ex- 
ercise in  the  Alps,  ch.  20,  p.  251.  (A.,  1898.) 

438-  CAUSE,  THE  HIGHEST  WORK 
OF  SCIENCE  TO  FIND—  Three  Departments 
of  Scientific  Study — Observation,  Experi- 
ment, Theory. — In  the  house  of  science  are 
many  mansions,  occupied  by  tenants  of  di- 
verse kinds.  Some  of  them  execute  with 
painstaking  fidelity  the  useful  work  of  ob- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Cause 
Cave* 


servation,  recording  from  day  to  day  the 
aspects  of  Nature,  or  the  indications  of  in- 
struments devised  to  reveal  her  ways.  Oth- 
ers  there  are  who  add  to  this  capacity  for 
observation  a  power  over  the  language  of 
experiment,  by  means  of  which  they  put 
questions  to  Nature,  and  receive  from  her 
intelligible  replies.  There  is,  again,  a  third 
class  of  minds,  that  cannot  rest  content 
with  observation  and  experiment,  whose 
love  of  causal  unity  tempts  them  perpetu- 
ally to  break  through  the  limitations  of  the 
senses,  and  to  seek  beyond  them  the  roots 
and  reasons  of  the  phenomena  which  the  ob- 
server and  experimenter  record.  To  such 
spirits — adventurous  and  firm — we  are  in- 
debted for  our  deeper  knowledge  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  physical  universe  is 
ordered  and  ruled. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  131.  (A.,  1897.) 

439.  CAUSES,    KNOWLEDGE   OF, 
SAVES  LIFE — Bacteria  Recognized,  Antisep- 
tic  Treatment   Follows — Surgery    Conquers 
Wounds   and   Disease. — Even   more   impor- 
tant was  the  introduction  of  the  antiseptic 
treatment  in  1865,  which,  by  preventing  the 
suppuration  of  incised  or  wounded  surfaces, 
has  reduced  the  death-rate  for  serious  am- 
putations from  forty-five  per  cent,  to  twelve 
per  cent.,  and  has  besides  rendered  possible 
numbers   of   operations   which   would   have 
been  certainly  fatal  under  the  old  system. 
.     .     .     The   antiseptic  treatment  was   the 
logical  outcome  of  the  proof  that  suppuration 
of  wounds  and  all  processes  of  fermentation 
and   putrefaction  were  not  due  to  normal 
changes  either  in  living  or  dead  tissues,  but 
were  produced  by  the  growth  and  the  rapid 
multiplication    of  minute   organisms,   espe- 
cially of  those  low  fungoid  groups  termed 
bacteria.     If,  therefore,  we  can  adopt  meas- 
ures to  keep  away  or  destroy  these  organ- 
isms and  their  germs,  or  in  any  way  pre- 
vent their  increase,   injured  living  tissues 
will  rapidly  heal.     ...     In  the  case   of 
wounds  and  surgical  operations  this  is  ef- 
fected by  means  of  a  weak  solution  of  corro- 
sive sublimate,  in  which  all  instruments  and 
everything  that  comes  in  contact  with  the 
wound  are  washed,   and  by  filling  the  air 
around  the  part  operated  on  with  a  copious 
spray  of  carbolic  acid. — WALLACE  The  Won- 
derful Century,  ch.   14,  p.  148.      (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

440.  CAUTION    NEEDED    IN   INTER- 
PRETING   DISCOVERIES— Stone    weapons, 
however,  of  many  kinds  were  still  in  use 
during  the  Age  of  Bronze,  and  lingered  on 
even  into  that  of  iron,  so  that  the  mere  pres- 
ence of  a  few  stone  implements  is  not  in 
itself    sufficient    evidence    that    any    given 
"  find  "  belongs  to  the  Stone  Age. — AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1,  p.  3.     (A.,  1900.) 

441.  CAVE-MEN  OF  DENMARK  LIKE 
MODERN  FUEGIANS— Hunting  and  Fishing 
the  Great  Reliance  of  Primitive  Man. — The 
Fuegians  wander  along  their  bleak  inhospi- 


table shores,  feeding  mostly  on  shell-fish,  so 
that  in  the  course  of  ages  their  shells,  with 
fish-bones  and  other  rubbish,  have  formed 
long  banks  above  high-water  mark.  Such 
shell-heaps,  or  "  kitchen-middens,"  are  found 
here  and  there  all  round  the  coasts  of  the 
world,  marking  the  old  resorts  of  such 
tribes;  for  instance,  on  the  coast  of  Den- 
mark, where  archeologists  search  them  for 
relics  of  rude  Europeans,  who,  in  the  Stone 
Age,  led  a  life  somewhat  like  that  of  Terra 
del  Fuego.  Hunting  and  fishing  go  on 
through  all  levels  of  society,  beginning  with 
the  savages  who  have  no  other  means  of 
subsistence,  till  at  last  among  civilized  na- 
tions game  and  fish  hardly  do  more  than 
supplement  the  more  regular  supplies  of 
grain  and  meat  from  the  farm.  Looking  at 
the  devices  of  the  hunter  and  fisher,  it  will 
be  seen  how  thoroughly  most  of  them  belong 
to  the  ruder  stages  of  culture. — TYLOB 
Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  207.  (A.,  1899.) 

442.  CAVERNS   CARVED  BY  OCEAN- 
WAVES — FingaVs  Cave — Remains  of  Ancient 
Beaches. — We   are,   perhaps,   generally   dis- 
posed to  associate  the  formation  of  caves 
with  the  action  of  the  waves  upon  a  rocky 
shore,  and  certainly  some  of  the  most  re- 
markable caves  are  due  to  this  cause.     The 
process  of  attrition  can  indeed  often  be  ob- 
served in  actual  progress,   and  those  who 
have  seen  the  gigantic  waves  break  upon  a 
rock-bound    coast,    and   have    observed    the 
huge  masses  of  stone  which  have  been  torn 
away  like  so  many  fragments  of  timber  and 
strewn  upon  the  beach,  can  form  some  tol- 
erably accurate  idea  of  the  power  of  the  sea 
to  eat  its    way  into  the  face  of  any   cliff 
when  once  it  has  found  a  weak  place  in  the 
rock.     .     .     .     [Such  is  the]    familiar  cav- 
ern known  as  Fingal's  Cave,  which  is  due  to 
the  action   of  the  waves.     These  sea-worn 
caves   are   easily   distinguished   from  those 
formed  by  other  agencies.    They  are  seldom 
of  great  extent,  and  they  generally  lie  in  a 
tolerably  horizontal  plane.     Sometimes  they 
lie  far  above  the  present  water-line,  but  the 
nearly   level  floor,   the  indication   in  their 
vicinity  of  an  ancient  beach,  and  the  fact 
that  in  many  cases  at  least  similar  caves  of 
greater   or  less  extent  are   to  be   observed 
opening  on  the  same  general  horizon,  prove 
conclusively  that  they  must  be  due  to  the 
prolonged  beating  of  the  ocean-waves  upon 
a  rocky  shore. — DALLAS  Nature-Studies,  p. 
37.     (Hum.,  1888.) 

443.  CAVES    AS     READY-MADE 
HOUSES— The   Cave-men  of  Europe.— Rock- 
shelters  under  the  cliffs  were  in  Europe  the 
resort  of  the  ancient  savages,  as  is  proved 
by  the  bones  and  flint  flakes  and  other  re- 
mains  that  are   found   lying  there   in   the 
ground.     Caves  are  ready-made  houses  for 
beast  or  man.     It  has  been  already  men- 
tioned how  in   such  countries   as  England 
and  France  caverns  were  the  abodes  of  the 
old   tribes   of   the   reindeer   and   mammoth 
period,   and  the  bushmen  of   South   Africa 


<  ave« 
Chance 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


90 


are  a  modern  example  of  rude  tribes  thus 
given  to  dwelling  in  caves  in  the  rocks.  But 
caverns  are  so  convenient  that  they  are  now 
and  then  still  used  in  the  civilized  world, 
and  most  of  us  have  seen  some  cave  in  a 
cliff  forming  the  back  of  a  fisherman's  cot- 
tage, or  at  least  a  storehouse. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  10,  p.  229.  (A.,  1899.) 

444.  CEDARS  OF  THE  HIMALAYAS— 

Timber  for  the  Gods. — On  the  Himalayas 
the  acicular-leaved  form  of  trees  is  distin- 
guished by  the  mighty  thickness  and  height 
of  the  stem  as  well  as  by  the  length  of  the 
leaf.  The  chief  ornament  of  the  mountain 
range  is  the  cedar  Deodwara  [deodar]  (Pinus 
Deodara,  Roxb.)  [Cedrus  Deodara],  which 
word  is,  in  Sanskrit,  dewa-daru — i.  e.,  tim- 
ber for  the  gods — its  stem  being  nearly  from 
13  to  14  feet  in  diameter.  It  ascends  in 
Nepaul  to  more  than  11,700  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  More  than  2,000  years  ago 
the  Deodwara  cedar,  near  the  River  Behut — 
that  is,  the  Hydaspes — furnished  the  timber 
for  the  fleet  of  Nearchus. — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  317.  (Bell,  1896.) 

445.  CELL,    THE    FUNDAMENTAL 
UNIT  OF  ALL  LIVING  THINGS— The  first 
of   the    great   fundamental   conceptions  re- 
ferred to  is  the  cell  theory,  which  was  defi- 
nitely established  for  plants  in   1838,  and 
immediately    afterward    for    animal    struc- 
tures.   The  theory  is  that  all  the  parts  and 
tissues  of  plants  and  animals  are  built  up 
of  cells,  modified  in  form  and  function  in  an 
infinite  variety  of  ways,  but  to  be  traced  in 
the  early  stages  of  growth,  alike  of  bone  and 
muscle,    nerve    and    blood-vessel,    skin    and 
hair,  root,  wood,  and  flower.     And,  further, 
that  all  organisms  originate  in  simple  cells, 
which    are    almost   identical    in    form    and 
structure,    and   which   thus   constitute   the 
fundamental    unit    of    all   living   things. — 
WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  14,  p. 
143.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


446. 


The  Constitution  of 


the  Ameba. — The  creature  which  natural- 
ists call  the  Ameba,  one  of  the  lowest  in  the 
animal  series,  consists  of  nothing  but  an 
apparently  simple  and  formless  jelly.  But 
simple,  and  formless  as  it  appears  to  be,  this 
jelly  exhibits  all  the  wonder  and  mystery  of 
that  power  which  we  know  as  life.  It  is  in 
virtue  of  that  power  that  the  dead  or  inor- 
ganic elements  of  which  it  is  composed  are 
held  together  in  a  special  and  delicate  com- 
bination, which  no  other  power  can  preserve 
in  union,  and  which  begins  to  dissolve  the 
moment  that  power  departs.  And  as  in  vir- 
tue of  this  power  the  constituent  elements 
are  held  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  each  other, 
so  in  virtue  of  the  same  power  does  the  com- 
bination possess  peculiar  relations  with  ex- 
ternal things.  It  has  the  faculty  of  appro- 
priating foreign  substances  into  its  own, 
making  them  subservient  to  the  renewal  of 
its  own  material,  to  the  maintenance  of  its 
own  energy,  and  to  the  preservation  of  its 


own  separate  individuality.  It  has  the 
faculty,  moreover,  of  giving  off  parts  of  it- 
self, endowed  with  the  same  properties,  to 
lead  a  separate  existence.  This  same  sub- 
stance, which  when  analyzed  has  always  the 
same  chemical  composition,  and  when  alive 
has  always  the  same  fundamental  proper- 
ties, is  at  the  root  of  every  organism, 
whether  animal  or  vegetable. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  29.  (Burt.) 

447.  CELLS    THE    POPULATION    OF 
THE  VITAL  KINGDOM— Perfect  Division  of 
Labor — Definition  and  Size  of  Cell. — What, 
then,  is  a  cell  ?    Imagine  a  speck  of  this  liv- 
ing  matter,    averaging,    say,    the   one- four- 
hundredth    of    an    inch    in    diameter,    of 
rounded  shape,   bounded  by  a  kind  of  en- 
velope, and  having  a  particle  (the  nucleus) 
somewhere  or  other  embedded  in  its  inte- 
rior, and  you  will  have  a  fair  conception  of 
what  a  cell  of  ordinary  size   and  form  is 
likely  to  be.    Some  cells  we  know  of — nerve- 
cells,    indeed — average    only    the    one-five- 
thousandth  of  an  inch,  or  less,  in  diameter; 
and  between  big  cells  and  little  cells  there 
are,  of  course,  all  gradations  in  size.    These 
cells,   then,   are   the  workers   of  the  body. 
They  are  the  population  of  the  vital  king- 
dom.    .     .     .     There  is  perfect  division  of 
labor  in  the  living  state.    One  group  of  cells 
does  not  interfere  with  the  work  of  another 
group.    Each  piece  of  labor,  from  the  build- 
ing of  bone  to  the  making  of  gastric  juice, 
is  carried  out  independently  and  thoroughly 
by  workers  set  apart  for  the  given  purpose. 
The  economy  of  a  bee's  hive  is  not  more 
rigidly  ordered  than  is  the  work  of  our  own 
body   in  respect  of  its   laborers   and   their 
specific  duties. — ANDREW  WILSON  Glimpses 
of  Nature,  ch.  25,  p.  81.     (Hum.,  1892.) 

448.  CERTAINTY  AND  CONJECTURE 

— True  Science  Will  Not  Confuse. — The 
burden,  however,  of  this  celebrated  lecture 
[of  Virchow]  is  a  warning  that  a  marked 
distinction  ought  to  be  made  between  that 
which  is  experimentally  proved  and  that 
which  is  still  in  the  region  of  speculation. 
.  .  .  He  insists  that  it  [speculation] 
ought  not  to  be  put  on  the  same  evidential 
level  as  the  former.  "  It  ought,"  as  he 
poetically  expresses  it,  "to  be  written  in 
small  letters  under  the  text."  The  audience 
ought  to  be  warned  that  the  speculative 
matter  is  only  possible  not  actual  truth — 
that  it  belongs  to  the  region  of  "belief," 
and  not  to  that  of  demonstration.  As  long 
as  a  problem  continues  in  this  speculative 
stage  it  would  be  mischievous,  he  considers, 
to  teach  it  in  our  schools.  "  We  ought  not," 
he  urges,  "  to  represent  our  conjecture  as  a 
certainty,  nor  our  hypothesis  as  a  doctrine: 
this  is  inadmissible." — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  397.  (A.,  1900.) 

449.  CERTAINTY    OF    INSTINCT— 

Young  Turtles  and  Crocodiles  Readily 
Find  Their  Way  to  Unseen  Water. — Dr. 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Caves 
Chance 


Davy,  in  his  "  Account  of  Ceylon,"  gives  an 
interesting  observation  of  his  own  on  a 
young  crocodile,  which  he  cut  out  of  the 
egg,  and  which,  as  soon  as  it  escaped,  started 
off  in  a  direct  line  for  a  neighboring  stream. 
Dr.  Davy  placed  his  stick  before  it  to  try  to 
make  the  little  animal  deviate  from  its 
course;  but  it  stoutly  resisted  the  opposi- 
tion, and  raised  itself  into  a  posture  of  of- 
fense, just  as  an  older  animal  would  have 
done.  Humboldt  made  exactly  the  same  ob- 
servation with  regard  to  young  turtles,  and 
he  remarks  that,  as  the  young  normally  quit 
the  egg  at  night,  they  cannot  see  the  water 
which  they  seek,  and  must  therefore  be 
guided  to  it  by  discerning  the  direction  in 
which  the  air  is  most  humid.  He  adds  that 
experiments  were  made  which  consisted  in 
putting  the  newly  hatched  animals  into 
bags,  carrying  them  to  some  distance  from 
the  shore,  and  liberating  them  with  their 
tails  turned  towards  the  water.  It  was  in- 
variably found  that  the  young  animals  im- 
mediately faced  round  and  took  without 
hesitation  the  shortest  way  to  the  water. — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  8,  p.  257. 
(A.,  1899.) 

450.  CERTAINTY,  SCIENTIFIC,  THE 
GROUND  OF— A  Stable  Consensus  of  Belief.— 
It  would  thus  appear  that  philosophy  tends, 
after    all,   to   unsettle   what   appear   to   be 
permanent  convictions  of  the  common  mind 
and  the  presuppositions  of  science  much  less 
than  is  sometimes  imagined.   Our  intuitions 
of  external  realities,  our  indestructible  be- 
lief  in   the   uniformity   of    Nature,   in   the 
nexus  of  cause  and  effect,  and  so  on,  are,  by 
the  admission  of  all  philosophers,  at  least 
partially  and  relatively  true ;   that  is  to  say, 
true  in  relation  to  certain  features  of  our 
common  experience.    At  the  worst,  they  can 
only  be  called  illusory  as  slightly  misrepre- 
senting the  exact  results  of  this  experience. 
And  even  so,  the  misrepresentation  must,  by 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  be  practically 
insignificant.     And  so  in  full  view  of  the 
subtleties    of    philosophic    speculation,    the 
man  of  science  may  still  feel  justified  in  re- 
garding his  standard  of  truth,  a  stable  con- 
sensus of  belief,  as  above  suspicion. — SULLY 
Illusions,  ch.  12,  p.  361.     (A.,  1897.) 

451.  CHALK    CLIFFS    OF    ENGLAND 
WERE  ONCE  PART  OF  THE  OCEAN  FLOOR 

— However,  the  important  points  for  us  are, 
that  the  living  Globigerince  [see  MICRO-OR- 
GANISMS] are  exclusively  marine  animals, 
the  skeletons  of  which  abound  at  the  bottom 
of  deep  seas;  and  that  there  is  not  a 
shadow  of  reason  for  believing  that  the 
habits  of  the  Globigerince  of  the  chalk  dif- 
fered from  those  of  the  existing  species. 
But  if  this  be  true,  there  is  no  escaping  the 
conclusion  that  the  chalk  itself  is  the  dried 
mud  of  an  ancient  deep  sea. — HUXLEY  Lay 
Sermons,  ch.  9,  p.  186.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

452.  CHANCE,   A  WORLD    OF—  Cause 
and  Effect  Abolished — Reason  Impossible. — 


There  used  to  be  a  children's  book  which 
bore  the  fascinating  title  of  "  The  Chance 
World."  It  described  a  world  in  which 
everything  happened  by  chance.  The  sun 
might  rise  or  it  might  not;  or  it  might  ap- 
pear at  any  hour,  or  the  moon  might  come 
up  instead.  When  children  were  born  they 
might  have  one  head  or  a  dozen  heads,  and 
those  heads  might  not  be  on  their  shoulders 
— there  might  be  no  shoulders — but  ar- 
ranged about  the  limbs.  If  one  jumped  up 
in  the  air  it  was  impossible  to  predict 
whether  he  would  ever  come  down  again. 
That  he  came  down  yesterday  was  no  guar- 
antee that  he  would  do  it  next  time.  For 
every  day  antecedent  and  consequent  varied, 
and  gravitation  and  everything  else  changed 
from  hour  to  hour.  To-day  a  child's  body 
might  be  so  light  that  it  was  impossible  for 
it  to  descend  from  its  chair  to  the  floor ;  but 
to-morrow,  in  attempting  the  experiment 
again,  the  impetus  might  drive  it  through  a 
three-story  house  and  dash  it  to  pieces  some- 
where near  the  center  of  the  earth.  In  this 
chance  world  cause  and  effect  were  abol- 
ished. Law  was  annihilated.  And  the  re- 
sult to  the  inhabitants  of  such  a  world  could 
only  be  that  reason  would  be  impossible.  It 
would  be  a  lunatic  world  with  a  population 
of  lunatics. — DKUMMOND  Natural  Law  in 
the  Spiritual  World,  p.  33.  (H.  Al.) 

453.  CHANCE   DOES   NOT   GIVE    CO- 
HERENCE    AND     CONSISTENCY— Earth's 
Progress  Marked  by  Consistent  Purpose. — 
The  tree  is  known  by  its   fruits,  and  the 
fruits    of    chance    are    incoherence,    incom- 
pleteness, unsteadiness,  the  stammering  ut- 
terance of  blind,  unreasoning  force.     A  co- 
herence that  binds  all  the  geological  ages  in 
one  chain,  a  stability  of  purpose  that  com- 
pletes in  the  beings  born  to-day  an  intention 
expressed  in  the  first  creatures  that  swam 
in    the    Silurian    ocean    or   crept   upon    its 
shores,    a    stedfastness    of   thought,    practi- 
cally recognized  by  man,   if  not   acknowl- 
edged by  him,  whenever  he  traces  the  intelli- 
gent connection  between  the  facts  of  Nature 
and  combines  them  into  what  he  is  pleased 
to  call  his  system  of  geology,  or  zoology,  or 
botany — these  things  are  not  the  fruits  of 
chance  or  of  an  unreasoning  force,  but  the 
legitimate  results   of   intellectual  power. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1,  p. 
21.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

454.  CHANCE  FINALLY  RULED  OUT 
OF    NATURE— No  "Fortuitous  Concourse  of 
Atoms" — Law    Rules    the    Universe. — The 
element  of  chance,  which  some  atheists  for- 
merly admitted  into  their  scheme  of  things, 
is  expelled.     Nobody  would  now  waste  his 
time  in  theorizing  about  a  fortuitous  con- 
course of  atoms.   We  have  so  far  spelled  out 
the  history  of  creation  as  to  see  that  all  has 
been   done   in   strict   accordance   with   law. 
The  method  has  been  the  method  of  evolu- 
tion, and  the  more  we  study  it  the  more  do 
we  discern  in  it  intelligible  coherence.    One 


Chance 
Change 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


part  of  the  story  never  gives  the  lie  to  an- 
other part. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God, 
pt.  iii,  ch.  2,  p.  147.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

455.  CHANGE  ALWAYS  THE  RESULT 
OF  PREPARATION—  The  Law  of  Continuity 
— Necessity  of  Belief  in  Causation. — There 
is  a  common  superstition  that  this  so-called 
law  [the  law  of  continuity]  shuts  out  the 
idea  of  creation  and  negatives  the  possi- 
bility, for  example,  of  the  sudden  appearance 
of  new  forms  of  life.  What  it  does  nega- 
tive, however,  is  not  any  appearance  which 
is  sudden,  but  only  any  appearance  which 
has  been  unprepared.  But  these  are  two 
very  different  conceptions,  altho  they  are 
conceptions  very  easily  confounded.  In- 
numerable things  may  come  to  be  in  a  mo- 
ment— in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  But 
nothing  can  come  to  be  without  a  long,  even 
if  it  be  a  secret,  history.  The  "  law  of  con- 
tinuity "  is,  therefore,  a  phrase  of  ambigu- 
ous meaning;  but  at  the  bottom  of  it  there 
lies  the  true  and  invincible  conviction  that 
for  every  change,  however  sudden — for  every 
"  leap,"  however  wide — there  has  always 
been  a  long  chain  of  predetermining  causes, 
and  that  even  the  most  tremendous  bursts  of 
energy  and  the  most  sudden  exhibitions  of 
force  have  all  been  slowly  and  silently  pre- 
pared. In  this  sense  the  law  of  continuity 
is  nothing  but  the  idea  of  causation.  It  is 
founded  on  the  necessary  duration  which  we 
cannot  but  attribute  to  the  existence  of 
force,  and  this  appears  to  be  the  only  truth 
which  the  law  of  continuity  represents. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  84. 
(Burt.) 

456.  CHANGE  AMONG  THE  STARS— 

Sirius  Attended  by  a  Darkened  Sun. — The 
knowledge  of  the  law  of  gravitation  has  here 
also  led  to  the  discovery  of  new  bodies,  as 
in  the  case  of  Neptune.  Peters  of  Altona 
found,  confirming  therein  a  conjecture  of 
Bessel,  that  Sirius,  the  most  brilliant  of  the 
fixed  stars,  moves  in  an  elliptical  path  about 
an  invisible  center.  This  must  have  been 
due  to  an  unseen  companion,  and  when  the 
excellent  and  powerful  telescope  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  in  the  United  States, 
had  been  set  up,  this  was  discovered.  It  is 
not  quite  dark,  but  its  light  is  so  feeble  that 
it  can  only  be  seen  by  the  most  perfect  in- 
struments. The  mass  of  Sirius  is  found  to 
be  13.76,  and  that  of  its  satellite  6.71,  times 
the  mass  of  the  sun;  their  mutual  distance 
is  equal  to  thirty-seven  times  the  radius  of 
the  earth's  orbit,  and  is  therefore  somewhat 
larger  than  the  distance  of  Neptune  from 
the  sun.  Another  fixed  star,  Procyon,  is  in 
the  same  case  as  Sirius,  but  its  satellite  has 
not  yet  been  discovered.  You  thus  see  that 
in  gravitation  we  have  discovered  a  prop- 
erty common  to  all  matter,  which  is  not 
confined  to  bodies  in  our  system,  but  ex- 
tends as  far  in  the  celestial  space  as  our 
means  of  observation  have  hitherto  been  able 
to  penetrate. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lec- 
tures, lect.  4,  p.  150.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 


457.  CHANGE,  CEASELESS,  OF  THE 
EARTH'S  POSITION  —  Its  Path  through 
Space  an  Infinite  Spiral — We  Never  Twice 
Visit  the  Same  Place. — Owing  to  the  exist- 
ence of  this  motion  [of  the  whole  solar  sys- 
tem toward  a  distant  center],  our  globe  has 
never  passed  twice  through  the  same  place, 
and  it  can  never  return  to  the  spot  where 
it  is  at  present.  We  fall  into  the  infinite, 
describing  a  series  of  spirals  which  are  con- 
tinually changing.  Our  abode  is  simply  a 
moving  globe  carried  through  space,  a  veri- 
table sport  of  cosmical  forces,  speeding 
through  the  eternal  void  towards  an  end  of 
which  we  are  ignorant,  subject  in  its  un- 
steady course  to  the  most  varied  oscilla- 
tions, balancing  itself  in  the  infinite  with 
the  lightness  of  an  atom  of  dust  in  the  sun- 
light, flying  with  a  dizzy  velocity  above  the 
unfathomable  abyss,  and  carrying  us  for 
thousands  of  years  past,  and  perhaps  for 
thousands  of  years  to  come,  to  a  mysterious 
destiny,  which  the  most  far-seeing  mind  can- 
not discern,  beyond  an  horizon  always  fad- 
ing into  the  future. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  11.  (A.) 

458.  CHANGE,  GRADUAL,  OF  EARTH'S 
SURFACE — Inroads  of  the  Sea  on  British 
Coast. — The  waves  constantly  undermine 
the  low  chalk  cliffs,  covered  with  sand  and 
clay,  between  Weybourne  and  Sherringham, 
a  certain  portion  of  them  being  annually  re- 
moved. At  the  latter  town  I  ascertained,  in 
1829,  some  facts  which  throw  light  on  the 
rate  at  which  the  sea  gains  upon  the  land. 
It  was  computed,  when  the  present  inn  was 
built,  in  1805,  that  it  would  require  seventy 
years  for  the  sea  to  reach  the  spot,  the  mean 
loss  of  land  being  calculated,  from  previous 
observations,  to  be  somewhat  less  than  one 
yard  annually.  The  distance  between  the 
house  and  the  sea  was  fifty  yards;  but  no 
allowance  was  made  for  the  slope  of  the 
ground  being  from  the  sea,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  waste  was  naturally  acceler- 
ated every  year,  as  the  cliff  grew  lower, 
there  being  at  each  succeeding  period  less 
matter  to  remove  when  portions  of  equal 
area  fell  down.  Between  the  years  1824  and 
1829  no  less  than  seventeen  yards  were 
swept  away,  and  only  a  small  garden  was 
then  left  between  the  building  and  the  sea. 
There  was,  in  1829,  a  depth  of  twenty  feet 
(sufficient  to  float  a  frigate)  at  one  point  in 
the  harbor  of  that  port,  where,  only  forty- 
eight  years  before,  there  stood  a  cliff  fifty 
feet  high,  with  houses  upon  it!  If  once  in 
half  a  century  an  equal  amount  of  change 
were  produced  suddenly  by  the  momentary 
shock  of  an  earthquake,  history  would  be 
filled  with  records  of  such  wonderful  revolu- 
tions of  the  earth's  surface;  but,  if  the  con- 
version of  high  land  into  deep  sea  be 
gradual,  it  excites  only  local  attention. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  ch.  19,  p.  305. 
(A.,  1854.) 

459.     CHANGE  OF   CHARACTER  PRO- 
DUCED THROUGH  CONTACT— Alloys  Made 


93 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Chance 
Change 


by  Pressure. — In  order  to  produce  chemical 
changes  in  bodies,  it  is  usually  necessary 
that  one  at  least  be  a  liquid  or  be  in  a  state 
of  solution,  and  the  combinations  that  occur 
lead  to  the  production  of  bodies  having 
quite  different  properties  from  either  of 
their  components.  Similar  results  occur 
when  metals  are  mixed  together,  forming 
alloys.  Thus  a  mixture  in  certain  propor- 
tions of  lead,  tin,  bismuth,  and  cadmium 
produces  an  alloy  which  melts  in  boiling 
water,  while  the  component  metals  only 
melt  at  double  that  temperature  or  more. 
Again,  the  strength  of  gold  is  doubled  by 
the  addition  of  one-five-hundredth  part  of 
the  rare  metal  zirconium,  indicating  that 
the  alloy  must  have  a  new  arrangement  of 
the  molecules.  But  the  interesting  point  is 
that  alloys  can  be  produced  without  melting 
the  metals,  for  mere  pressure  often  produces 
an  alloy  at  the  surfaces  of  contact;  while 
in  other  cases,  if  fine  filings  of  the  com- 
ponent metals  are  thoroughly  mixed  to- 
gether and  then  subjected  to  continued  pres- 
sure, true  alloys  are  produced. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  7,  p.  56.  (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

460.  CHANGE  OF  CLIMATE  OF  NORTH 
AMERICA — Once  the  Home  of  Mastodon,  Mam- 
moth, and  Camel. — Of  the  remains  of  verte- 
brates, the  bones  of  the  mastodon  or  mam- 
moth, and  of  the  ox,  camel,  and  horse,  have 
been  found  in  the  sediments  of  Lake  Lahon- 
tan,   together  with   a   single   undetermined 
fish.    The  bones  of  a  musk-ox  were  obtained 
near  Salt  Lake  City  under  such  conditions 
that  it  is  believed  they  were  buried  in  the 
upper   strata  of  the  Bonneville  sediments. 
.    .    .    The  mastodon  and  mammoth  roamed 
over   nearly   the   whole   of   North   America 
during  Pleistocene  times,  but  have  since  be- 
come extinct.    The  camel  is  no  longer  found 
on  this-  continent,   and  the  horse  was   ex- 
tinct before  the  coming  of  the  white  man. 
The  musk-ox  is  now  found  only  far  to  the 
north.    The  extinction  of  some  of  these  large 
animals,  and  the  scattering  of  others  to  dis- 
tant regions,  suggests  the  lapse  of  a  long 
period   of    time    since   they   lived   together 
where  their  remains  are  now  found,  and  also 
points    to    great    changes    in    climatic    and 
other  elements  of  their  environment. — RUS- 
SELL Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  6,  p.  114. 
(G.  &Co.,  1895.) 

461.  CHANGE    OF    COLOR    AS    THE 
EFFECT   OF  SIGHT—  The  Chameleon— Flat- 
fish— Variable     Protective      Coloring. — [In 
some  cases]  the  change  [of  color]  is  caused 
by  reflex  action  set  up  by  the  animal  seeing 
the  color  to  be  imitated,  and  the  change  pro- 
duced can  be  altered  or  repeated  as  the  ani- 
mal changes  its  position.     .     .     .     The  most 
striking    example     ...     is    that    of    the 
chameleon,  which  changes  to  white,  brown, 
yellowish,  or  green,  according  to  the  color  of 
the  object  on  which  it  rests.    This  change  is 
brought  about  by  means  of  two  layers  of 
pigment  cells,  deeply  seated  in  the  skin,  and 


of  bluish  and  yellowish  colors.  By  suitable 
muscles  these  cells  can  be  forced  upwards  so 
as  to  modify  the  color  of  the  skin,  which, 
when  they  are  not  brought  into  action,  is  a 
dirty  white.  These  animals  are  excessively 
sluggish  and  defenseless,  and  the  power  of 
changing  their  color  to  that  of  their  imme- 
diate surroundings  is  no  doubt  of  great  serv- 
ice to  them.  Many  of  the  flatfish  are  also 
capable  of  changing  their  color  according  to 
the  color  of  the  bottom  they  rest  on. — WAL- 
LACE Darurinism,  ch.  8,  p.  133.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

462.  CHANGE  OF  EYES  TO  SUIT  EN- 
VIRONMENT  IN   DEEP-SEA   ORGANISMS 

— If  the  animals  that  now  live  in  the  depths 
of  the  sea  are  descended  from  the  shallow- 
water  forms  of  bygone  epochs,  they  must 
have  passed  through  many  different  habi- 
tats with  diminished  light  until  they 
reached  their  present  dark  abode  in  the 
abyss.  In  every  new  region  they  came  to, 
the  forms  with  larger  and  better  eyes  would 
be  at  an  advantage  in  the  fainter  light,  and 
would  be  more  likely  to  survive  and  trans- 
mit their  favorable  variation  in  this  respect 
to  their  offspring,  than  their  less  fortunate 
neighbors.  Thus  down  to  the  depth  of  the 
limit  of  sunlight  we  should  expect  to  find, 
as  we  do  find  in  fishes,  large-eyed  species. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p. 
74.  (A.,  1894.) 

463.  CHANGE  OF  FORMS  FROM  AN- 
CIENT TO  MODERN—  The  Chambered  Nau- 
tilus.— The  chambered  nautilus  is  familiar 
to  all,  since,  from  the  exquisite  beauty  of  its 
shell,   it   is   especially   sought   for   by   con- 
chologists ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  not  so  com- 
mon in  our  days  as  the  squids  and  cuttle- 
fishes, which  are  the  most  numerous  modern 
representatives  of  the  class.    In  the  earliest 
geological  days,  on  the  contrary,  those  with 
a    shell    predominated,    differing    from    the 
later  ones,  however,  in  having  the  shell  per- 
fectly straight   instead   of   curved,   tho   its 
internal  structure  was  the  same  as  it  is  now 
and  has  ever  been.     Then,  as  now,  the  ani- 
mal shut  himself  out  from  his  last  year's 
home,  building  his  annual  wall  behind  him, 
till  his  whole  shell  was  divided  into  suc- 
cessive  chambers,    all   of   which   were    con- 
nected by  a  siphon.     Some  of  the  shells  of 
this  kind  belonging  to  the  Silurian  deposits 
are  enormous:    giants  of  the  sea  they  must 
have  been  in  those  days.     They  have  been 
found  fifteen  feet  long,  and  as  large  round 
as     a     man's     body. — AGASSIZ     Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  49.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

464.  CHANGE  OF  HABITS  IN  A  BIRD 

— The  Kea  (Parrot)  of  New  Zealand. — The 
kea  (Nestor  notabilis)  is  a  curious  parrot 
inhabiting  the  mountain  ranges  of  the  Mid- 
dle Island  of  New  Zealand.  It  belongs  to 
the  family  of  brush-tongued  parrots,  and 
naturally  feeds  on  the  honey  of  flowers  and 
the  insects  which  frequent  them,  together 
with  such  fruits  or  berries  as  are  found  in 


lange 
langes 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


94 


the  region.  Till  quite  recently  this  com- 
prised its  whole  diet,  but  since  the  country 
it  inhabits  has  become  occupied  by  Euro- 
peans it  has  developed  a  taste  for  a  carnivo- 
rous diet,  with  alarming  results.  It  began 
by  picking  the  sheepskins  hung  out  to  dry  or 
the  meat  in  process  of  being  cured.  About 
1868  it  was  first  observed  to  attack  living 
sheep,  which  had  frequently  been  found  with 
raw  and  bleeding  wounds  on  their  backs. 
Since  then  it  is  stated  that  the  bird  actually 
burrows  into  the  living  sheep,  eating  its  way 
down  to  the  kidneys,  which  form  its  special 
delicacy.  As  a  natural  consequence,  the 
bird  is  being  destroyed  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible. .  .  .  The  case  affords  a  remark- 
able instance  of  how  the  climbing  feet  and 
powerful  hooked  beak  developed  for  one  set 
of  purposes  can  be  applied  to  another  alto- 
gether different  purpose,  and  it  also  shows 
how  little  real  stability  there  may  be  in 
what  appear  to  us  the  most  fixed  habits  of 
life. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  3,  p.  52. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

465.  CHANGE    OF    HEART— Effect  of 
Grief  or  Fear — New  Mental  Level  Produces 
New  Perspective. — There  is  a  form  of  deci- 
sion [in  which] ,  in  consequence  of  some  outer 
experience     or     some    inexplicable    inward 
change,  we  suddenly  pass  from  the  easy  and 
careless  to  the  sober  and  strenuous  mood,  or 
possibly  the  other  way.     The  whole  scale  of 
values  of  our  motives  and  impulses  then  un- 
dergoes a  change  like  that  which  a  change 
of  the  observer's  level  produces  on  a  view. 
The  most  sobering  possible  agents  are  ob- 
jects of  grief  and  fear.     When  one  of  these 
affects  us,  all  "  light  fantastic  "  notions  lose 
their    motive   power,   all   solemn   ones   find 
theirs    multiplied    manifold.       The     conse- 
quence is   an  instant  abandonment  of  the 
more  trivial   projects   with   which   we  had 
been  dallying,  and  an  instant  practical  ac- 
ceptance of  the  more  grim  and  earnest  al- 
ternative which  till  then  could  not  extort 
our  mind's  consent.     All  those  "  changes  of 
heart,"    "  awakenings    of   conscience,"    etc., 
which  make  new  men  of  so  many  of  us,  may 
be  classed  under  this  head.     The  character 
abruptly  rises  to  another  "  level,"  and  de- 
liberation   comes   to    an    immediate    end. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  533. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

466.  CHANGE     OF     POSITIONS      OF 
FIXED  STARS— Not  One  Star  of  Greek  As- 
tronomers Now  Holds  Its  Place  Unchanged 
— "  Fixed  Stars  "  a  Misnomer. — The  heaven 
of  the  fixed  stars,  in  contradiction  to   its 
very  name,  exhibits  not  only  changes  in  the 
intensity  of  light,  but  also  further  variation 
from  the  perpetual  motion  of  the  individual 
stars.     Allusion  has  already  been  made  to 
the  fact  that,  without  disturbing  the  equilib- 
rium of  the  star  systems,  no  fixed  point  is 
to  be  found  in  the  whole  heavens,  and  that 
of  all  the  bright  stars  observed  by  the  ear- 
liest of  the  Greek  astronomers,  not  one  has 
kept  its  place  unchanged.     In  the  case  of 


Arcturus,  of  v  Cassiopeise,  and  of  a  double 
star  in  Cygnus,  this  change  of  position  has, 
by  the  accumulation  of  their  annual  proper 
motion  during  2,000  years,  amounted,  re- 
spectively, to  2y2,  3y2,  and  6  moon's  diam- 
eters. In  the  course  of  3,000  years  about 
twenty  fixed  stars  will  have  changed  their 
places  by  1°  and  upward.  Since  the  proper 
motions  of  the  fixed  stars  rise  from  ^th  of 
a  second  to  7.7  seconds  (and  consequently 
differ,  at  the  least,  in  the  ratio  of  1.154), 
the  relative  distances  also  of  the  fixed  stars 
from  each  other,  and  the  configuration  of 
the  constellations  themselves,  cannot  in  long 
periods  remain  the  same.  The  Southern 
Cross  will  not  always  shine  in  the  heavens 
exactly  in  its  present  form,  for  the  four 
stars  of  which  it  consists  move  with  unequal 
velocity  in  different  paths.  How  many  thou- 
sand years  will  elapse  before  its  total  dis- 
solution cannot  be  calculated.  In  the  rela- 
tions of  space  and  the  duration  of  time,  no 
absolute  idea  can  be  attached  to  the  terms 
great  and  small. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
iii,  p.  182.  (H.,  1897.) 

467.  CHANGE  OF  SKIES  IN  SOUTH- 
ERN CLIMES— Reversal  of  All  Ideas  of  Posi- 
tion— The  Sun  North  at  Noon. — If  we  travel 
southward    we    find    that    the    north    pole 
gradually  sinks  towards  the  horizon,  while 
new  stars  come  into  view  above  the  south 
horizon;    consequently    the    circles    of    per- 
petual apparition   and   of  perpetual  disap- 
pearance  both    grow   smaller.        When   we 
reach  the  earth's  equator  the  south  pole  has 
risen  to  the  south  horizon,  the  north  pole 
has  sunk  to  the  north  horizon ;    the  celestial 
equator  passes  from  east  to  west  directly 
overhead;     and  all  the  heavenly  bodies  in 
their  diurnal  revolutions  describe  circles  of 
which  one-half  is  above  and  the  other  half 
below   the   horizon.      These   circles   are   all 
vertical.      South    of   the   equator   only   the 
south  pole  is  visible,  the  north  one,  which 
we  see,  being  now  below  the  horizon.     Be- 
yond the  southern  tropic  the  sun  is  north 
at  noon,  and,  instead  of  moving  from  left 
to  right,  its  course  is  from  right  to  left. — 
NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  13. 
(H.,  1899.) 

468.  CHANGE  OF  VIEW    OF    SCIEN- 
TIST— Spencer  Accepts  Natural   Selection. — 
In  the  days  when,  not  having  been  better 
instructed  by  Mr.  Darwin,  I  believed  that 
all  changes  of  structure  in  organisms  result 
from  changes  of  function,  I  held  that  the 
cause  of  such  changes  of  function  is  migra- 
tion.    .     .     .     This   conception   was    wrong 
in  so  far  as  it  ascribed  the  production  of 
new  species  entirely  to  inheritance  of  func- 
tionally wrought  alterations    (thus  failing 
to  recognize  natural   selection,   which   was 
not  yet  enunciated). — SPENCER  Biology,  pt. 
iii,  ch.  14A,  p.  568.     (A.,  1900.) 

469.  CHANGE,  SILENT  WITNESS  OF 

— Surface,  Former,  of  Earth  Removed — 
Granite  from  Depths  Found  at  New  Surface. 


95 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Change 
Changes 


— Granite  [is]  a  rock  believed  to  be  of  deep- 
seated  origin.  Its  Plutonic  character  is 
evinced  not  less  by  its  composition  and 
structure  than  by  its  relation  to  the  rock- 
masses  that  surround  it.  Every  mass  of 
granite,  then,  has  cooled  and  consolidated, 
probably  very  slowly,  and  certainly  at  a  less 
or  greater  depth  in  the  earth's  crust.  When 
this  rock  is  met  with  over  a  wide  area  at 
the  actual  surface,  therefore — forming,  it 
may  be,  great  mountains  or  rolling  and 
broken  lowlands — we  know  that  in  such  re- 
gions thick  masses  of  formerly  overlying 
rocks  have  been  removed.  The  granite  ap- 
pears at  the  surface  simply  because  the  cov- 
ering of  rocks  underneath  which  it  cooled 
and  solidified  has  been  subsequently  carried 
away. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  1,  p.  16. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

470.  CHANGE  THE    CONDITION    OF 
LIFE— Repose  of  the  Earth  Will  Be  Its  Death. 
— As  long  as  our  planet  yields  less  heat  to 
space  than  she  receives  from  the  bodies  of 
space,  so  long  will  the  forms  upon  her  sur- 
face   undergo    mutation,    and    as    soon    as 
equilibrium,  in  regard  to  heat,  has  been  es- 
tablished we   shall  have,   as   Thomson  has 
pointed  out,  not  peace,  but  death.     Life  is 
the  product  and  accompaniment  of  change, 
and    the    selfsame    power    that    tears    the 
flanks   of  the  hills  to  pieces  is  the  main- 
spring of  the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds. 
Still  there  is  something  chilling  in  the  con- 
templation of  the  irresistible  and  remorse- 
less character  of  those  infinitesimal  forces, 
whose  integration   through   the  ages   pulls 
down    even   the   Matterhorn.     Hacked   and 
hurt  by  time,  the  aspect  of  the  mountain 
from  its  higher  crags  saddened  me.     Hitherto 
the  impression  that  it  made  was  that  of  sav- 
age strength,  but  here  we  had  inexorable  de- 
cay.— TYNDALL   Hours   of   Exercise   in   the 
Alps,  ch.  24,  p.  291.    (A.,  1898.) 

471.  CHANGE,    UNCEASING,  OF    THE 
"SOLID  EARTH"—  Continents  Rising  beneath 
Our  Feet — "  Thou  Renewest  the  Face  of  the 
Earth"  ( Ps.  civ,  30). — It  is  certain  that  dur- 
ing the  enormous  periods  of  time  of  which 
the   records   have   been   discovered   by   the 
geologist  there  have  always  been  continents 
and  oceans  upon  the  earth's  surface,  just  as 
at  present,  and  it  is  almost  equally  certain 
that  the  proportions  of  the  earth's  surface 
occupied   by   land   and   water,   respectively, 
have   not   varied    very    widely    from    those 
which  now  prevail.     But,  at  the  same  time, 
it  is  an  equally  well-established  fact  that 
the  denuding  forces  ever  at  work  upon  the 
earth's  surface  would  have  been  competent 
to  the  removal  of  existing  continents  many 
times  over,  in  the  vast  periods  covered  by 
geological  records.     Hence  we  are  driven  to 
conclude  that  the  subterranean  movements 
have  in  past  times  entirely  compensated  for 
the  waste  produced  by  the  denuding  forces 
ever  at  work  upon  our  globe.     But  this  is 
not  all.     The  subterranean  forces  not  only 
produce  upheaval;    in  a  great  many  cases 


the  evidences  of  subsidence  are  as  clear  and 
conclusive  as  are  those  of  upheaval  in  oth- 
ers. Hence  we  are  driven  to  conclude  that 
the  forces  producing  upheaval  of  portions  of 
the  earth's  crust  are  sufficient,  not  only  to 
balance  those  producing  subsidence,  but  also 
to  compensate  for  the  destructive  action  of 
denuding  agents  upon  the  land-masses  of 
the  globe. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  286. 
(A.,  1899.) 

472.  CHANGE,    UNSEEN,    INVOLVES 
LIFE  OR  DEATH— Fish  Drown*  in  Airless 
Water. — If  a  fish  be  placed  in  cooked  water 
it  swims  for  a  while  with  its  mouth  at  the 
surface,  for  just  there  is  a  film  that  is  reac- 
quiring  its   charge  of  oxygen,  etc.,  by  ab- 
sorbing it  from  the  air;    but  this  film  is  so 
thin,  and  so  poorly  charged,  that  after  a 
short  struggle  the  fish  dies  for  lack  of  oxy- 
gen in  its  blood ;    drowned  as  truly  and  com- 
pletely as  an  air-breathing  animal  when  im- 
mersed in  any  kind  of  water. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,   ch.  2,  p.    10.    (A., 
1900.) 

473.  CHANGE    WROUGHT  BY    NINE- 
TEENTH   CENTURY— Practical  Application 
of    Science — Slow   Progress   in    Moral    and 
Social   Life. — The   close    of   the   nineteenth 
century  offers  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
spectacles  to  the  thoughtful  observer.     All 
educated  people  are  agreed  that  it  has  in 
many  respects  immeasurably  outstripped  its 
predecessors,   and  has   achieved  tasks   that 
were  deemed  impracticable  at  its  commence- 
ment.    An  entirely  new  character  has  been 
given  to  the  whole  of  our  modern  civilization, 
not  only  by  our  astounding  theoretical  prog- 
ress in  sound  knowledge  of  Nature,  but  also 
by  the  remarkably  fertile  practical  applica- 
tion of  that  knowledge  in  technical  science, 
industry,  commerce,  and  so  forth.     On  the 
other  hand,  however,  we  have  made  little  or 
no  progress  in  moral  and  social  life,  in  com- 
parison  with   earlier    centuries;     at   times 
there  has  been  serious  reaction.     And  from 
this  obvious  conflict  there  have  arisen,  not 
only  an  uneasy  sense  of  dismemberment  and 
falseness,  but  even  the  danger  of  grave  cat- 
astrophes in  the  political  and  social  world. 
It  is.  then,  not  merely  the  right,  but  the 
sacred  duty,  of  every  honorable  and  humani- 
tarian thinker  to  devote  himself  conscien- 
tiously to  the  settlement  of  that  conflict, 
and    to    warding    off    the    dangers    that    it 
brings  in  its  train. — HAECKEL  Riddle  of  the 
Universe,  ch.  1,  p.  1.     (H.,  1900.) 

474.  CHANGES  AMONG  THE  STARS 

— Increase  and  Decrease  of  Brightness. — In 
this  long  and  careful  series  of  observations 
it  has  been  remarked  that  the  stars  are  not 
fixed  or  unalterable,  as  they  appear  to  be. 
There  are  some  which  since  the  time  of  Hip- 
parchus  have  slowly  diminished  in  bright- 
ness, and  have  even  ended  by  becoming  com- 
pletely extinct.  There  are  others  whose  light 
has  gradually  increased,  and  which  are  now 
much  brighter  than  they  were  formerly. 


Cheapening 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


96 


Others,  again,  have  changed  in  tint.  .  .  . 
There  are  some,  also,  which  have  suddenly 
appeared,  have  shone  with  a  dazzling  bright- 
ness for  several  weeks  or  months,  and  have 
then  relapsed  into  obscurity.  In  a  large 
number  a  periodical  variation  of  light  has 
been  established,  in  virtue  of  which  certain 
stars,  at  first  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  ap- 
pear, increase  progressively  in  brightness, 
then  gradually  diminish,  and  disappear,  to 
again  reappear  after  a  certain  number  of 
days  has  elapsed;  their  periodicity  is  some- 
times so  exact  that  they  are  now  calculated 
in  advance. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  vi,  ch.  3,  p.  580.  (A.) 

475.  CHANGES    IN    SHAPE   OF  THE 
EARTH— Alps    Thrust   Up  from  beneath  the 
Sea — Folded   and    Contorted   Strata. — That 
[the  Alps]  were  in  whole  or  in  part  once  be- 
neath the  sea  will  not  be  disputed ;    for  they 
are  in  grfeat  part  composed  of  sedimentary 
rocks  which  required  a  sea  to  form  them. 
Their  present  elevation  above  the  sea  is  due 
to  one  of  those  local  changes  in  the  shape  of 
the  earth  which  have  been  of  frequent  oc- 
currence   throughout    geologic     time,     and 
which  in  some  cases  have  depressed  the  land, 
and  in  others  caused  the  sea-bottom  to  pro- 
trude beyond  its  surface.     Considering  the 
inelastic  character  of  its  materials,  the  pro- 
tuberance  of   the  Alps   could   hardly   have 
been   pushed    out   without   dislocation   and 
fracture;    and  this  conclusion  gains  in  prob- 
ability when  we  consider  the  foldings,  con- 
tortions, and  even  reversals  in  position  of 
the  strata  in  many  parts  of  the  Alps.    Such 
changes  in  the  position  of  beds  which  were 
once  horizontal  could  not  have  been  effected 
without  dislocation. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Ex- 
ercise  in   the  Alps,   ch.   20,   p.   230.      (A., 
1898.) 

476.  CHANGES   IN   STRUCTURE    OF 
THE    EARTH—  Rapid  Growth  of  Coral— It 
may  be  concluded,   first,   that   considerable 
thicknesses    of    rock    have    certainly    been 
formed  within  the  present  geological  era  by 
the  growth  of  corals  and  the  accumulation 
of  their  detritus ;   and,  secondly,  that  the  in- 
crease of  individual  corals  and  of  reefs,  both 
outwards  or  horizontally,  and  upwards  or 
vertically,    under    conditions    favorable    to 
such   increase,   is  not  slow,   when   referred 
either  to  the  standard  of  the  average  oscilla- 
tions of  level  in  the  earth's  crust,  or  to  the 
more  precise  but  less  important  one  of  a 
cycle  of  years. — DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch.  4, 
p.  107.    (A.,  1900.) 

477.  CHANGES  IN  THE  BRAIN— Pres- 
ent  State  a  Combined   Result   of    Circum- 
stance and   Sensibility. — Whilst  we   think, 
our  brain  changes,  and,  like  the  aurora  bore- 
alis,   its  whole  internal  equilibrium   shifts 
with  every  pulse  of  change.    The  precise  na- 
ture of  the  shifting  at  a  given  moment  is  a 
product  of  many  factors.     The  accidental 
state  of  local  nutrition  or  blood-supply  may 
be  among  them.     But  just  as  one  of  them 
certainly  is  the  influence  of  outward  objects 


on  the  sense-organs  during  the  moment,  so 
is  another  certainly  the  very  special  sus- 
ceptibility in  which  the  organ  has  been  left 
at  that  moment  by  all  it  has  gone  through 
in  the  past.  Every  brain-state  is  partly  de- 
termined by  the  nature  of  this  entire  past 
succession.  Alter  the  latter  in  any  part,  and 
the  brain-state  must  be  somewhat  different. 
Each  present  brain-state  is  a  record  in 
which  the  eye  of  Omniscience  might  read  all 
the  foregone  history  of  its  owner. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  234.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

478.  CHANGES,    MOLECULAR,    IN 
PLANTS  DUE  TO  LIGHT—  Colors  of  Flower 
Petals — Chlorophyl     Produced     by     Sun. — 
Light  is  an  all-important  agent  of  molecu- 
lar changes  in  organic  substances.     .     .     . 
The  characteristic  matter  called  chlorophyl, 
which  gives  the  green  color  to  leaves,  makes 
its  appearance  whenever  the  blanched  shoots 
of  plants  are  exposed  to  the  sun;  the  petals 
of  flowers,  uncolored  while  in  the  bud,  ac- 
quire their  bright  tints  as  they  unfold ;    and 
on  the  outer  surfaces  of  animals  analogous 
changes  are  induced. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt. 
i,  ch.  2,  p.  35.     (A.,  1900.) 

479.  CHANGES    OF    A    STAR  —  Once 
Bright  as  Sirius,  Now  Almost  Invisible. — 
Changes  such  as  these  [the  repeated  increase 
and  decline  of  light  of  a  star  in  the  ship 
Argo] — or  even  one  of  these  changes — if  oc- 
curring in  the  case  of  our  own  sun,  would 
destroy  life  very  quickly  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,   and  probably   from   all   the   in- 
habited planets  of  the  solar  system.     The 
mere  change  from  the  second  magnitude  to 
a  brightness  approaching  that  of  Sirius  im- 
plies an  increase  of  emission  of  light  and 
heat    more    than    tenfold.      But   from    this 
amazing  access  of  splendor  how .  wonderful 
has  been  the  falling  off  by  which  the  star 
has  been  rendered  almost  invisible.     It  is 
absolutely  certain  that  this  star,  once  doubt- 
less a  sun,  and  probably,  like  our  own  sun, 
the  center  of  a  scheme  of  circling  worlds, 
gives  out,  day  by  day,  far  less  than  the  hun- 
dredth part  of  the  light  and  heat  which  it 
gave  out  daily  only  thirty  years  ago. — PROC- 
TOR Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  197.      (L.  Gr.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

480.  CHANGES,     SUBTERRANEAN— 

Defy  Human  Perception — Imagination  Often 
at  Fault — Prejudices  Arising  from  Our  Not 
Seeing  Subterranean  Changes. — Nor  is  his 
[man's]  position  less  unfavorable  when,  be- 
holding a  volcanic  eruption,  he  tries  to  con- 
ceive what  changes  the  column  of  lava  has 
produced,  in  its  passage  upwards,  on  the  in- 
tersected strata;  or  what  form  the  melted 
matter  may  assume  at  great  depths  on  cool- 
ing; or  what  may  be  the  extent  of  the  sub- 
terranean rivers  and  reservoirs  of  liquid 
matter  far  beneath  the  surface.  It  should 
therefore  be  remembered  that  the  task  im- 
posed on  those  who  study  the  earth's  history 
requires  no  ordinary  share  of  discretion ;  for 


97 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Chanse* 


eapening 


we  are  precluded  from  collating  the  corre- 
sponding parts  of  the  system  of  things  as  it 
exists  now,  and  as  it  existed  at  former 
periods.  If  we  were  inhabitants  of  another 
element — if  the  great  ocean  were  our  do- 
main, instead  of  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
land — our  difficultie's  would  be  considerably 
lessened;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
can  be  little  doubt,  altho  the  reader  may 
perhaps  smile  at  the  bare  suggestion  of 
such  an  idea,  that  an  amphibious  being 
who  should  possess  our  faculties  would  still 
more  easily  arrive  at  sound  theoretical 
opinions  in  geology,  since  he  might  behold, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  decomposition  of  rocks 
in  the  atmosphere,  or  the  transportation  of 
matter  by  running  water ;  and,  on  the  other, 
examine  the  deposition  of  sediment  in  the 
sea,  and  the  embedding  of  animal  and  vege- 
table remains  in  new  strata.  He  might  as- 
certain, by  direct  observation,  the  action  of 
a  mountain  torrent,  as  well  as  of  a  marine 
current ;  might  compare  the  products  of  vol- 
canoes poured  out  upon  the  land  with  those 
ejected  beneath  the  waters;  and  might 
mark,  on  the  one  hand,  the  growth  of  the 
forest,  and,  on  the  other,  that  of  the  coral 
reef.  Yet,  even  with  these  advantages,  he 
would  be  liable  to  fall  into  the  greatest  er- 
rors, when  endeavoring  to  reason  on  rocks 
of  subterranean  origin.  He  would  seek  in 
vain,  within  the  sphere  of  his  observation, 
for  any  direct  analogy  to  the  process  of 
their  formation,  and  would  therefore  be  in 
danger  of  attributing  them,  wherever  they 
are  upraised  to  view,  to  some  "  primeval 
state  of  Nature." — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, ch.  5,  p.  69.  (A.,  1854.) 

481.  CHARACTER  A  SUM  OF  AC- 
TIVITIES —  Every  Action  Counts— Hell  a 
Present  Fact  in  Evil  Life. — The  hell  to  be 
endured  hereafter,  of  which  theology  tells, 
is  no  worse  than  the  hell  we  make  for  our- 
selves in  this  world  by  habitually  fashion- 
ing our  characters  in  the  wrong  way.  Could 
the  young  but  realize  how  soon  they  will  be- 
come mere  walking  bundles  of  habits,  they 
would  give  more  heed  to  their  conduct  while 
in  the  plastic  state.  We  are  spinning  our 
own  fates,  good  or  evil,  and  never  to  be  un- 
done. Every  smallest  stroke  of  virtue  or  of 
vice  leaves  its  never  so  little  scar.  The 
drunken  Rip  Van  Winkle,  in  Jefferson's 
play,  excuses  himself  for  every  fresh  dere- 
liction by  saying,  "  I  won't  count  this 
time !  "  Well !  he  may  not  count  it,  and  a 
kind  Heaven  may  not  count  it;  but  it  is  be- 
ing counted  none  the  less.  Down  among  his 
nerve-cells  and  fibers  the  molecules  are 
counting  it,  registering  and  storing  it  up  to 
be  used  against  him  when  the  next  tempta- 
tion comes.  Nothing  we  ever  do  is,  in 
strict  scientific  literalness,  wiped  out.  Of 
course,  this  has  its  good  side  as  well  as  its 
bad  one.  As  we  become  permanent  drunk- 
ards by  so  many  separate  drinks,  so  we  be- 
come saints  in  the  moral,  and  authorities 
and  experts  in  the  practical  and  scientific 


spheres,  by  so  many  separate  acts  and  hours 
of  work. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p. 
127.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

482.  CHARACTER,  FORMATION  OF— 

Development  of  the  Will— Whilst,  in  its 
earlier  stages,  the  educator  aims  to  call 
forth  and  train  the  intellectual  faculties  of 
his  pupil,  and  to  form  his  moral  character, 
by  bringing  appropriate  external  influences 
to  bear  upon  him,  every  one  who  really  un- 
derstands his  profession  will  make  it  his 
special  object  to  foster  the  development,  and 
to  promote  the  right  exercise,  of  that  inter- 
nal power,  by  the  exertion  of  which  each  in- 
dividual becomes  the  director  of  his  own 
conduct,  and  so  far  the  arbiter  of  his  own 
destinies.  This  power  is  exercised  by  the 
will,  in  virtue  of  its  domination  over  the 
automatic  operations  of  the  mind,  as  over 
the  automatic  movements  of  the  body;  the 
real  self-formation  of  the  ego  commencing 
with  his  consciousness  of  the  ability  to  de- 
termine his  own  course  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion. Until  this  self -directing  power  has 
been  acquired,  the  character  is  the  resultant 
of  the  individual's  original  constitution,  and 
of  the  circumstances  in  which  he  may  have 
been  placed;  and  so  long  as  the  circum- 
stances are  unfavorable  to  its  development, 
and  to  the  operation  of  those  higher  tend- 
encies which  should  furnish  the  best  mo- 
tives to  its  exercise,  so  long  the  character  of 
the  individual  is  formed  for  him  rather  than 
by  him. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  1,  sec.  8,  p.  9.  (A.,  1900.) 

483.  CHEAPENING  OF  LABOR— Wom- 
en   and    Children    Made    Victims — Legisla- 
tion Must  Control  Rapacity. — "  Thus,"  says 
Mr.  Baker,  one  of  the  most  experienced  of 
our  factory  inspectors,  "  most  of  the  work- 
shops of  this  great  commercial  country  are 
found    to    have    fallen    into    the    inevitable 
track  of  competitive  industry,  when  unre- 
stricted by  law — namely,  to  cheapen  prices 
by  the  employment  of  women  and  children, 
in  the  first  instance,   and  then  to  increase 
production    by    protracted   hours    of   work, 
without  much  regard  to  age,  to  sex,  or  to 
physical  capability."     This  is  the  result  of 
nature — of   nature,    at   least,    such   as   ours 
now  is.     But  it  is  the  result  of  that  nature 
with  all  its  nobler  powers  allowed  to  sleep. 
Power  to  control  such  evils  has  been  given 
to  man,  and  he  is  bound  to  use  it.     "  Free 
labor,  even  in  a  free  country,"  as  Mr.  Baker 
says,  "  requires  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  to 
protect  it  from  the  cupidity  and  ignorance 
of  parents."     And  by  the  "  strong  arm  of 
the  law  "  is  meant  nothing  but  the  law  of 
conscience  and  of  reason  asserting  itself  over 
the  lower  instincts  of  our  nature.     If  under 
such   conditions   of   society   higher   motives 
are  ever  to  prevail,  they  must  be  supplied 
from  without,  and  must  be  imposed  in  au- 
thoritative form  through  the  legitimate  or- 
gans of  positive  institution. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  214.     (Burt.) 


Christf 


ristianity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


484.  CHECKS    UPON    INCREASE    OF 
WEEDS  —  Seedlings,  also,  are  destroyed  in 
vast  numbers  by  various  enemies;    for  in- 
stance, on  a  piece  of  ground  three  feet  long 
and  two  wide,  dug  and  cleared,  and  where 
there  could  be  no  choking  from  other  plants, 
I   marked  all   the  seedlings  of  our   native 
weeds  as  they  came  up,  and  out  of  357  no 
less    than    295    were   destroyed,    chiefly   by 
slugs     and     insects. — DARWIN     Origin     of 
Species,  ch.  1,  p.  63.     (Burt.) 

485.  CHEMISTRY    DEVELOPED    BY 
ARABS — Debt  of  Science  to  Moslem  Investi- 
gators.— The  most  powerful  influence  exer- 
cised by  the  Arabs  on  general  natural  phys- 
ics  was  that   directed   to   the   advances   of 
chemistry,    a    science    for   which    this    race 
created  a   new  era.     It  must  be  admitted 
that  alchemistic  and  new  Platonic  fancies 
were   as   much  blended  with   chemistry  as 
astrology    with    astronomy.      The    require- 
ments of  pharmacy,  and  the  equally  urgent 
demands  of  the  technical  arts,  led  to  dis- 
coveries   which   were   promoted,    sometimes 
designedly,  and  sometimes  by  a  happy  acci- 
dent   depending    upon    alchemistic    investi- 
gation into  the  study  of  metallurgy.     The 
labors  of  Geber  and  the  much  more  recent 
ones  of  Razes   have  been  attended  by  the 
most  important  results.  This  period  is  char- 
acterized by  the  preparation  of  sulfuric  and 
nitric    acids,    aqua    regia,    preparations    of 
mercury,  and  of  the  oxids  of  other  metals, 
and  by  the  knowledge  of  the  alcoholic  proc- 
ess   of    fermentation.      The    first    scientific 
foundation,  and  the  subsequent  advances  of 
chemistry,  are  so  much  the  more  important, 
as  they  imparted  a  knowledge  of  the  hetero- 
geneous character  of  matter,  and  the  nature 
of  forces  not  made  manifest  by  motion,  but 
which  now  led  to  the  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance of  composition,  no  less  than  to  that 
of  the  perfectibility  of  form  assumed  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras 
and  Plato.    Differences  of  form  and  of  com- 
position are,   however,  the  elements  of  all 
our  knowledge  of  matter — the  abstractions 
which  we  believe  capable,  by  means  of  meas- 
urement and  analysis,  of  enabling  us  to  com- 
prehend   the    whole    universe. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  217.    (H.,  1897.) 

486.  CHEMISTRY,  MODERN,  ELE- 
VATES WORK  AND  WORKER— Intelligence 
in    the    Kitchen. — Modern    chemistry    can 
throw  into  the  kitchen  a  great  deal  of  light 
that  shall  not  merely  help  the  cook  in  doing 
his  or  her  work  more  efficiently,  but  shall 
also  elevate  both  the  work  and  the  worker, 
and  render  the  kitchen  far  more  interesting, 
to  all  intelligent  people  who  have  an  appe- 
tite for  knowledge,  as  well  as  for  food ;  more 
so  than  it  can  be  while  the  cook  is  groping 
in  rule-of-thumb  darkness — is  merely  a  tech- 
nical operator  unenlightened  by  technolog- 
ical   intelligence. — WILLIAMS    Chemistry   of 
Cookery,  ch.  1,  p.  5.     (A.,  1900.) 

487.  CHILD  A  TUTOR  FOR  THE  AF- 
FECTIONS—  The  Lengthening  of  School-days 


— Giving  Affection  Time  to  Grow. — No 
greater  day  ever  dawned  for  evolution  than 
this  on  which  the  first  human  child  was 
born.  For  there  entered  then  into  the  world 
the  one  thing  wanting  to  complete  the  as- 
cent of  man — a  tutor  for  the  affections.  It 
may  be  that  a  mother  teaches  a  child,  but  in 
a  far  deeper  sense  it  is  the  child  who  teaches 
the  mother.  ...  To  create  motherhood 
and  all  that  enshrines  itself  in  that  holy 
word  required  a  human  child.  The  creation 
of  the  mammalia  established  two  schools  in 
the  world — the  two  oldest  and  surest  and 
best  equipped  schools  of  ethics  that  have 
ever  been  in  it — the  one  for  the  child,  who 
must  now  at  least  know  its  mother;  the 
other  for  the  mother,  who  must  as  certainly 
attend  to  her  child.  The  only  thing  that  re- 
mains now  is  to  secure  that  they  shall  both 
be  kept  in  that  school  as  long  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  detain  them.  The  next  effort  of 
evolution,  therefore — the  fifth  process,  as 
one  might  call  it— is  to  lengthen  out  these 
school-days,  and  give  affection  time  to  grow. 
— DBIJMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  281.  (J. 
P.,  1900.) 

488.  CHILD  BELIEVES  IN   SPONTA- 
NEOUS    GENERATION  —  Childhood  of  the 
Race. — The  most  copious  source  of  this  life 
without  an  ancestry  was  putrefying  flesh; 
and,  lacking  the  checks  imposed  by  fuller 
investigation,  the  conclusion  that  flesh  pos- 
sesses and  exerts  this  generative  power  is  a 
natural  one.    I  well  remember,  when  a  child 
of  ten  or  twelve,  seeing  a  joint  of  imperfectly 
salted  beef  cut  into,  and  coils  of  maggots 
laid  bare  within  the  mass.     Without  a  mo- 
ment's hesitation  I  jumped  to  the  conclusion 
that  these  maggots  had  been  spontaneously 
generated  in  the  meat.    I  had  no  knowledge 
which  could  qualify  or  oppose  this  conclu- 
sion, and  for  the  time  it  was  irresistible. 
The  childhood  of  the  individual  typifies  that 
of  the  race,  and  the  belief  here  enunciated 
was  that  of  the  world  for  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  291.     (A.,  1900.) 

489.  CHILD-TRAINING,   NEED    OF   A 
SCIENCE  OF  —  The  principles  of  the  men- 
tal culture  of  children  especially  can  be  out- 
lined without  trouble.  We  have  a  sufficiency 
of  pedagogic  models,  almost  in  greater  num- 
ber than  we  have  in  dietetics  or  hygiene. 
And  a  young  mother  could  look  upon  her 
babe  with  much  more  assurance  if  she  were 
not  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  this  child  of 
hers  was  to  be  an  experiment — one  on  which, 
with  more  or  less  independence,  and  accord- 
ing to  her  own  starts  of  fancy,  she  would 
make  her  experiments  in  training.     For — 
let  us  not  blind  ourselves  to  the  fact — our 
family  training  still  remains  upon  the  same 
low  plane  as  political  economy  in  the  preced- 
ing century;    it  is  purely  natural  economy. 
It  should  be  the  mission  of  our  times  to  de- 
velop the  science  of  bringing  up   children, 
and  to  put  it  into  application,  and  to  do 
away    with    this    continual    experimenting, 


99 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


unity 


this  training  of  children  according  to  mere 
tradition. — VIBCHOW  Ueber  die  Erziehung 
des  Weibes  fur  seinen  Beruf,  p.  27.  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

490.  CHOICE  AMONG  METHODS    OF 
REACHING  A    SINGLE    END— A   Superior 
Intelligence     Can     Predetermine     Results, 
while  Leaving  Inferior  Intelligence  Free. — 
Not  infrequently  the  one  thing  willed,  as  the 
only  end  before  the  mind,  may  be  accom- 
plished in  either  one  of  several  ways.    Thus 
a  skilled  fencer  who  has  willed  to  attack  his 
opponent  at  what  he  knows  to  be  his  only 
weak  point,  and  under  the  influence  of  this 
volition  is  watching  his   opportunity,   may 
with   incredible    speed,    and   yet   with    con- 
scious intelligent  choice,  select  the  particu- 
lar  form   of   giving  his  thrust — some   new 
trick  he  has  recently  learned. — LADD  Psy- 
chology, ch.  26,  p.  630.     (S.,  1899.) 

491.  CHOICE  THE  GREAT  WORK  OF 
CONSCIOUSNESS  —  Consciousness     is     at 
all    times     primarily    a    selecting    agency. 
Whether  we  take  it  in  the  lowest  sphere  of 
sense  or  in  the  highest  of  intellection,  we 
find  it  always  doing  one  thing,  choosing  one 
out  of  several  of  the  materials  so  presented 
to  its  notice,  emphasizing  and  accentuating 
that  and  suppressing  as  far  as  possible  all 
the  rest.    The  item  emphasized  is  always  in 
close  connection  with  some  interest  felt  by 
consciousness  to  be  paramount  at  the  time. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  139. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

492.  CHOICE  THE  RESULT  OF  A  SE- 
RIES OF  COMPARISONS— Decision  the  Result 
of  What  One  Brings  to  the  Test. — How  is  it 
when  an  alternative  is  presented  to  you  for 
choice,    and    you    are    uncertain   what   you 
ought  to  do?     You  first  hesitate,  and  then 
you  deliberate.     And  in  what  does  your  de- 
liberation consist?     It  consists  in  trying  to 
apperceive  the  case  successively  by  a  number 
of  different  ideas,  which  seem  to  fit  it  more 
or  less,  until  at  last  you  hit  on  one  which 
seems  to  fit  it  exactly.     If  that  be  an  idea 
which  is  a  customary  forerunner  of  action 
in    you,    which    enters    into    one    of    your 
maxims   of   positive  behavior,   your  hesita- 
tion ceases,  and  you  act  immediately.     If, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  be  an  idea  which  car- 
ries inaction  as  its  habitual  result,  if  it  ally 
itself  with  prohibition,  then  you  unhesitat- 
ingly refrain.     The  problem  is,  you  see,  to 
find   the   right  idea   or   conception   for   the 
case. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  15,  p. 
184.     (H.  H.  &Co.,  1900.) 

493.  CHRISTIANITY    DEMANDS    NO 
EXCEPTION    TO    LAW  —  Christ's    Work  a 
Means  to  an  End. — Assuredly,  whatever  may 
be  the  difficulties  of  Christianity,  this  is  not 
one  of  them — that  it  calls  on  us  to  believe  in 
any  exception   to  the  universal   prevalence 
and  power  of   law.     Its  leading  facts   and 
doctrines   are   directly  connected  with  this 
belief,   and  directly   suggestive   of  it.     The 
divine  mission  of  Christ  on  earth — does  not 
this  imply  not  only  the  use  of  means  to  an 


end,  but  some  inscrutable  necessity  that  cer- 
tain means,  and  these  only,  should  be  em- 
p!oyed  in  resisting  and  overcoming  evil? 
What  else  is  the  import  of  so  many  passages 
of  Scripture  implying  that  certain  condi- 
tions were  required  to  bring  the  Savior  of 
man  into  a  given  relation  with  the  race  he 
was  sent  to  save  ?  "  It  behoved  him  .  .  . 
to  make  the  captain  of  our  salvation  perfect 
through  suffering."  "  It  behoved  him  in  all 
things  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren, 
that  he  might  be,"  etc. — with?  the  reason 
added :  "  for  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered 
being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour  them 
that  are  tempted."  WThatever  more  there 
may  be  in  such  passages,  they  all  imply  the 
universal  reign  of  law  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual,  as  well  as  in  the  material  world: 
that  those  laws  had  to  be — behooved  to  be — 
obeyed ;  and  that  the  results  to  be  obtained 
are  brought  about  by  the  adaptation  of 
means  to  an  end,  or,  as  it  were,  by  way  of 
natural  consequences  from  the  instrumental- 
ity employed.  This,  however,  is  an  idea 
which  systematic  theology  generally  regards 
with  intense  suspicion,  tho,  in  fact,  all 
theologies  involve  it,  and  build  upon  it. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  31.  (Burt.) 

494.  CHRISTIANITY  LED  TO  STUDY 
OF  NATURE — Religion  Ministers  to  Science. — 
At  the  period  when  the  feelings  died  away 
which  had  animated  classical  antiquity,  and 
directed  the  minds  of  men  to  a  visible  mani- 
festation of  human  activity  rather  than  to  a 
passive  contemplation  of  the  external  world, 
a  new  spirit  arose;  Christianity  gradually 
diffused  itself,  and,  wherever  it  was  adopted 
as  the  religion  of  the  state,  it  not  only  exer- 
cised a  beneficial  influence  on  the  condition 
of  the  lower  classes  by  inculcating  the  social 
freedom  of  mankind,  but  also  expanded  the 
views  of  men  in  their  communion  with  Na- 
ture. The  eye  no  longer  rested  on  the  forms 
of  Olympic  gods.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
in  their  rhetorically  correct  and  often  poetic- 
ally imaginative  language,  now  taught  that 
the  Creator  showed  himself  great  in  inani- 
mate no  less  than  in  animate  nature,  and  in 
the  wild  strife  of  the  elements  no  less  than 
in  the  still  activity  of  organic  development. 
.  .  .  The  ancient  world  is  not  abruptly 
separated  from  the  modern,  but  modifica- 
tions in  the  religious  sentiments  and  the 
tenderest  social  feelings  of  men,  and  changes 
in  the  special  habits  of  those  who  exercise  an 
influence  on  the  ideas  of  the  mass,  must  give 
a  sudden  predominance  to  that  which  might 
previously  have  escaped  attention.  It  was  the 
tendency  of  the  Christian  mind  to  prove  from 
the  order  of  the  universe  and  the  beauty  of 
Nature  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  the 
Creator.  This  tendency  to  glorify  the  Deity 
in  his  works  gave  rise  to  a  taste  for  natural 
description.  The  earliest  and  most  remark- 
able instances  of  this  kind  are  to  be  met 
with  in  the  writings  of  Minucius  Felix,  a 
rhetorician  and  lawyer  at  Rome,  who  lived 
in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  .  .  . 


Christianity 
Civilization 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


100 


We  follow  with  pleasure  the  delineation  of 
his  twilight  rambles  on  the  shore  near 
Ostia,  which  he  describes  as  more  pictur- 
esque and  more  conducive  to  health  than  we 
find  it  in  the  present  day.  In  the  religious 
discourse  entitled  "  Octavius  "  we  meet  with 
a  spirited  defense  of  the  new  faith  against 
the  attacks  of  a  heathen  friend. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p.  38.  (H.,  1897.) 

495.  CHRISTIANITY  UNSHAKEN  BY 
COPERNICAN    ASTRONOMY— Religion  Has 
Outgrown  the  Ancient  Cosmic  Theories. — It 
is  instructive  to  observe  that,  while  the  Co- 
pernican  astronomy  has  become  firmly  estab- 
lished in   spite  of  priestly  opposition,   the 
foundations  of  Christian  theology  have  not 
been   shaken   thereby.      It  is   not   that   the 
question  which  once  so  sorely  puzzled  men 
has  ever  been  settled,  but  that  it  has  been 
outgrown.      The    speculative    necessity    for 
man's  occupying  the  largest  and  most  cen- 
tral spot  in  the  universe  is  no  longer  felt. 
It  is  recognized  as  a  primitive  and  childish 
notion.     With  our  larger  knowledge  we  see 
that  these  vast  and  fiery  suns  are  after  all 
but    the    Titan-like    servants    of    the    little 
planets  which  they  bear  with  them  in  their 
flight  through  the  abysses  of  space.     .     .     . 
And  as  when  God  revealed  himself  to  his 
ancient  prophet  he  came;  not  in  the  earth- 
quake or  the  tempest,  but  in  a  voice  that 
was  still  and  small,  so  that  divine  spark  the 
soul,  as  it  takes  up  its  brief  abode  in  this 
realm  of  fleeting  phenomena,  chooses  not  the 
central  sun  where  elemental  forces  forever 
blaze  and  clash,  but  selects  an  outlying  ter- 
restrial nook  where  seeds  may  germinate  in 
silence,  and  where  through  slow  fruition  the 
mysterious  forms  of  organic  life  may  come 
to  take  shape  and  thrive. — FISKE  Destiny  of 
Man,  ch.  1,  p.  16.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

496.  CHROMOSPHERE  OF  THE    SUN 

— Eclipses  of  18^2  and  1851 — The  Solar 
"  Prominences." — In  July,  1842,  a  great 
eclipse  occurred,  and  the  shadow  of  the 
moon  described  a  wide  belt  running  across 
southern  France,  northern  Italy,  and  a  por- 
tion of  Austria.  The  eclipse  was  carefully 
observed  by  many  of  the  most  noted  astron- 
omers of  the  world;  and  so  completely  had 
previous  observations  of  the  kind  been  for- 
gofcten,  that  the  prominences,  which  ap- 
peared then  with  great  brilliance,  were  re- 
garded with  extreme  surprise,  and  became 
objects  of  warm  discussion,  not  only  as  to 
their  cause  and  location,  but  even  as  to  their 
very  existence.  Some  thought  them  moun- 
tains upon  the  sun,  some  that  they  were 
solar  flames,  and  others,  clouds  floating  in 
the  sun's  atmosphere.  Others  referred  them 
to  the  moon,  and  yet  others  claimed  that 
they  were  mere  optical  illusions.  At  the 
eclipse  of  1851  (in  Sweden  and  Norway), 
similar  observations  were  repeated,  and,  as 
a  result  of  the  discussions  and  comparison 
of  observations  which  followed,  astronomers 
generally  became  satisfied  that  the  promi- 
nences are  real  phenomena  of  the  solar  at- 


mosphere, in  many  respects  analogous  to 
our  terrestrial  clouds;  and  several  came 
more  or  less  confidently  to  the  conclusion, 
now  known  to  be  true,  that  the  sun  is  en- 
tirely surrounded  with  a  continuous  stratum 
of  the  same  substance. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch. 
6,  p.  195.  (A.,  1898.) 

497.  CIRCULATION    ON    THE  SUN— 
Products    Cooled    on    the    Surface    Poured 
Back     for     Reheating — Otherwise     All     on 
Earth  Would  Die — Spots  That  Seem  to  Dim 
the  Glory  Are  the  Very  Source  of  Life. — "Are 
the  spots,  these  gigantic  areas  of  disturb- 
ance,  comparable   to  whirlpools   or   to  vol- 
canoes ?  "  It  may  seen  unphilosophical  to  as- 
sume that  they  are  one  or  the  other,  and  in 
fact  they  may  possibly  be  neither ;    but  it  is 
certain  that  the  surface  of  the  sun  would 
soon  cool  from  its  enormous  temperature,  if 
it  were  not  supplied  with  fresh  heat,  and  it 
is  almost  certain  that  this  heat  is  drawn 
from  the  interior.     As  M.  Faye  has  pointed 
out,   there   must  be   a   circulation   up   and 
down,    the    cooled    products    being    carried 
within,  heated  and  brought   out  again,  or 
the  sun  would,  however  hot,  grow  cold  out- 
side;   and,  what  is  of  interest  to  us,   the 
earth  would  grow  cold  also,  and  we  should 
all  die.     No  one,  I  believe,  who  has  studied 
the   subject,   will   contradict   the  statement 
that  if  the  sun's  surface  were  absolutely  cut 
off  from  any  heat-supply  from  the  interior, 
organic  life  in  general  upon  the  earth   (and 
our    own   life   in   particular)    would    cease 
much  within  a  month.     This  solar  circula- 
tion, then,  is  of  nearly  as  much  consequence 
to  us  as  that  of  our  own  bodies,  if  we  but 
knew  it. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.   1, 
p.  28.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

498.  CIVILIZATION  A  GAIN—  The  Poor, 
as  a  Rule,  Better  Fed  than   Savages. — To 
uncivilized  men  supplies  of  food  come  very 
irregularly.     Long  periods  of  scarcity   are 
divided  by  short  periods  of  abundance.    And 
tho   by   gorging   when   opportunity   occurs, 
something  is  done  towards  compensating  for 
previous    fasting,    yet   the    effects    of    pro- 
longed starvation  cannot  be  neutralized  by 
occasional    enormous    meals.       Bearing    in 
mind,   too,   that,   improvident   as   they   are, 
savages  often  bestir  themselves  only  under 
pressure  of  hunger,  we  may  fairly  consider 
them   as  habitually  ill-nourished — may  see 
that  even  the  poorer  classes  of  civilized  men, 
making   regular    meals    on    food    separated 
from  innutritive  matters,  easy  to  masticate 
and  digest,  tolerably  good  in  quality,  and 
adequate  if  not  abundant  in  quantity,  are 
much  better   nourished. — SPENCER  Biology, 
pt.  vi,  ch.  12,  p.  515.     (A.,  1900.) 

499.  CIVILIZATION,    ANCIENT—  En- 
cumbered by  Relics  of  Barbarism — Evidences 
of  Slow  Advance — Hieroglyphics — Dog  and 
Cat  Worship. — These,  then   [the  Egyptians 
and  Babylonians],  are  the  two  nations  whose 
culture  is  earliest  vouched  for  by  inscriptions 
done  at  the  very  time  of  their  ancient  gran- 


101 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


deur,  and  therefore  it  is  safer  to  appeal  to 
them  than  to  other  nations  which  can  only 
show  as  proofs  of  their  antiquity  writings 
drawn  up  in  far  later  ages.  Looking  at 
their  ancient  civilization,  it  seems  to  have 
been  formed  by  men  whose  minds  worked 
much  like  our  own.  No  superhuman  powers 
were  required  for  the  work,  but  just  human 
nature  groping  on  by  roundabout  ways, 
reaching  great  results,  yet  not  half  knowing 
how  to  profit  by  them  when  reached;  solv- 
ing the  great  problem  of  writing,  yet  not 
seeing  how  to  simplify  the  clumsy  hiero- 
glyphics into  letters;  devoting  earnest 
thought  to  religion  and  yet  keeping  up  a  dog 
and  cat  worship  which  was  a  jest  even  to 
the  ancients ;  cultivating  astronomy  and  yet 
remaining  mazed  in  the  follies  of  astrology. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p.  22.  (A., 
1899.) 

5OO. Shows  Traces  of  More 

Remote  Antiquity — Prehistoric  Develop- 
ment and  Progress. — In  the  midst  of  their 
[Egyptians  and  Babylonians]  most  striking 
efforts  of  civilization,  the  traces  may  be  dis- 
cerned of  the  barbaric  condition  which  pre- 
vailed before;  the  Egyptian  pyramids  are 
burial-mounds  like  those  of  prehistoric 
England,  but  huge  in  size  and  built  of  hewn 
stone  or  brick;  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics, 
with  their  pictures  of  men  and  beasts  and 
miscellaneous  things,  tell  the  story  of  their 
own  invention,  how  they  began  as  a  mere 
picture-writing,  like  that  of  the  rude  hunt- 
ers of  America.  Thus  it  appears  that  civili- 
zation, at  the  earliest  dates  where  history 
brings  it  into  view,  had  already  reached  a 
level  which  can  only  be  accounted  for  by 
growth  during  a  long  prehistoric  period. 
This  result  agrees  with  the  conclusions  al- 
ready arrived  at  by  the  study  of  races  and 
language. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p. 
22.  (A.,  1899.) 

501.  CIVILIZATION  CAME  TO  EUROPE 
FROM  WITHOUT— Archeology  Tells  the  Story 
— Fixing   a    Relative    Date. — When    metals 
were  very  scarce,  it  would  naturally  some- 
times happen  that,  in  order  to  make  up  the 
necessary  quantity,  some  tin  would  be  added 
to  copper,  or  vice  versa.     It  would  then  be 
found  that  the  properties  of  the  alloy  were 
quite  different  from  those  of  either  metal, 
and  a   very  few  experiments  would   deter- 
mine   the    most    advantageous    proportion, 
which   for   axes   and   other   cutting  instru- 
ments is  about  nine  parts  of  copper  to  one 
of  tin.     No  implements  or  weapons  of  tin 
have  yet  been  found,  and  those  of  copper  are 
extremely  rare,  in  western  Europe,  whence 
it  has  been  inferred  that  the  art  of  making 
bronze  was  known  elsewhere  before  the  use 
of  either  copper  or  tin  was  introduced  into 
Europe. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1, 
p.  4.     (A.,  1900.) 

502.  CIVILIZATION,   CULTURE    THE 
RIPE  FRUIT  OF— Pioneer  Too  Hard  Driven 
for   Abstractions. — When    the    Pilgrim    Fa- 
thers landed  at  Plymouth  Rock,  and  when 


Penn  made  his  treaty  with  the  Indians,  the 
newcomers  had  to  build  their  houses,  to 
chasten  the  earth  into  cultivation,  and  to 
take  care  of  their  souls.  In  such  a  com- 
munity, science,  in  its  more  abstract  forms, 
was  not  to  be  thought  of.  And  at  the  pres- 
ent hour,  when  your  hardy  Western  pioneers 
stand  face  to  face  with  stubborn  Nature, 
piercing  the  mountains  and  subduing  the 
forest  and  the  prairie,  the  pursuit  of 
science,  for  its  own  sake,  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected. The  first  need  of  man  is  food  and 
shelter;  but  a  vast  portion  of  this  con- 
tinent is  already  raised  far  beyond  this 
need.  The  gentlemen  of  New  York,  Brook- 
lyn, Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
Washington  have  already  built  their  houses, 
and  very  beautiful  they  are;  they  have  also 
secured  their  dinners,  to  the  excellence  of 
which  I  can  also  bear  testimony.  They  have, 
in  fact,  reached  that  precise  condition  of 
well-being  and  independence  when  a  culture, 
as  high  as  humanity  has  yet  reached,  may 
be  justly  demanded  at  their  hands.  They 
have  reached  that  maturity,  as  possessors  of 
wealth  and  leisure,  when  the  investigator 
of  natural  truth,  for  the  truth's  own  sake, 
ought  to  find  among  them  promoters  and 
protectors. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  p. 
224.  (A.,  1898.) 

5O3.     CIVILIZATION,    DECLINE    OF— 

The  Half-castes  of  India — The  Digger  In- 
dians of  North  America. — Degeneration  is 
to  be  seen  among  the  descendants  of  Por- 
tuguese in  the  East  Indies,  who  have  inter- 
married with  the  natives  and  fallen  out  of 
the  march  of  civilization,  so  that  newly  ar- 
rived Europeans  go  to  look  at  them  loun- 
ging about  their  mean  hovels  in  the  midst  of 
luxuriant  tropical  fruits  and  flowers,  as  if 
they  had  been  set  there  to  teach  by  example 
how  man  falls  in  culture  where  the  need  of 
effort  is  wanting.  Another  frequent  cause 
of  loss  of  civilization  is  when  people  once 
more  prosperous  are  ruined  or  driven  from 
their  homes,  like  those  Shoshone  Indians 
who  have  taken  refuge  from  their  enemies, 
the  Blackfeet,  in  the  wilds  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  where  they  now  roam,  called 
Digger  Indians,  from  the  wild  roots  they  dig 
for  as  part  of  their  miserable  subsistence. 
Not  only  the  degraded  state  of  such  out- 
casts, but  the  loss  of  particular  arts  by 
other  peoples,  may  often  be  explained  by 
loss  of  culture  under  unfavorable  conditions. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p.  19.  (A., 
1899.) 


5O4. 


The  South  Sea  Is- 


landers Planting  Nails — Lost  Arts. — The 
South  Sea  Islanders,  tho  not  a  very  rude 
people  when  visited  by  Captain  Cook,  used 
only  stone  hatchets  and  knives,  being  indeed 
so  ignorant  of  metal  that  they  planted  the 
first  iron  nails  they  got  from  the  English 
sailors,  in  the  hope  of  raising  a  new  crop. 
Possibly  their  ancestors  never  had  metals, 
but  it  seems  as  likely  that  these  ancestors 
were  an  Asiatic  people  to  whom  metal  was 


Civilization 

CleanlineMs 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


102 


known,  but  who,  through  emigration  to 
ocean  islands  and  separation  from  their 
kinsfolk,  lost  the  use  of  it  and  fell  back  into 
the  Stone  Age.  It  is  necessary  for  the  stu- 
dent to  be  alive  to  the  importance  of  decline 
in  civilization. — TYLOB  Anthropology,  ch.  1, 
p.  19.  (A.,  1899.) 

505.  CIVILIZATION  FAILS  TO  TEACH 
HUMANITY— Extermination  of  Animals— Our 
Domestic  Species  Spared   by  Ancient  Bar- 
barians.— It  is  sad  to  reflect  that  all  our 
domestic  animals  have  descended  to  us  from 
those    ancient   times   which   we   are   accus- 
tomed to  regard  as  dark  or  barbarous,  while 
the  effect  of  our  modern  so-called  humane 
civilization  has  been  purely  destructive  to 
animal   life.      Not   one   type   do   we   rescue 
from  the  carnage  going  on  at  an  ever-in- 
creasing rate  over  all  the  globe.     To  Aus- 
tralia and  America,  North  and  South,  we 
look  in  vain  for  new  domestic  species,  while 
even  from  Africa,   with   its  numerous   fine 
mammalian  forms,  and  where  England  has 
been    the   conquering   colonizing   power    for 
nearly  a  century,  we  take  nothing.     Even 
the  sterling  qualities  of  the  elephant,  the 
unique  beauty  of  the  zebra,  appeal  to  us  in 
vain.     We  are  only  teaching  the  tribes  of 
that  vast  continent  to  exterminate  a  hun- 
dred   noble   species   they   would    not   tame. 
With  grief  and  shame,  even  with  dismay,  we 
call   to   mind   that   our   country  is   now   a 
stupendous  manufactory  of  destructive  en- 
gines, which  we  are  rapidly  placing  in  the 
hands    of   all   the   savage   and   semi-savage 
peoples    of    the    earth,    thus    insuring    the 
speedy  destruction  of  all  the  finest  types  in 
the    animal   kingdom. — HUDSON    Naturalist 
in  La  Plata,  ch.  17,  p.  233.    (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

506.  CIVILIZATION  FOUNDED  UPON 
HOME— Influence  of  a  Fixed  Abode. —  What  a 
simple  fact  and  what  a  simple  idea  a  house 
seems  to  be.     To  one  it  is  a  possession,  to 
another  wealth;    to  one  nothing  but  prop- 
erty, to  another  only  an  investment.     And 
yet  with  the  house  a  new  form  was  given  to 
the  entire  world's  history.    There  have  been 
houseless  peoples  capable  of  making  inroads 
into    the   world's   history   with    elementary 
power,   that  have  won  great  battles,  over- 
thrown empires  and  destroyed  them.     But 
they  were  not  able  to  accomplish  anything 
lasting  until  the  wild   riders   and  hunters 
from  the  forest  and  the  wilderness  built  for 
themselves  a  hearth,  or  made  themselves  at 
home  in  what  they  had  conquered.     It  was 
first  with  the  home  that  the  general  civili- 
zation began,  with  the  domestic  life  of  the 
individual,  the  civilization  of  the  individual. 
— STEIN  Die  Frau  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Na- 
tipnalokonomie.      A    Lecture.      (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

507.  CIVILIZATION    IN    NORTHERN 
LANDS — Diversity  and  Interest  of  Northern 
Life — Abundance   of   Tropics   Favors   Indo- 
lence and  Improvidence — Possible  Future  of 
Humanity  under  the  Equator. — During  this 
last  night  on  the  Para  River  a  crowd  of  un- 


usual thoughts  occupied  my  mind.  Recol- 
lections of  English  climate,  scenery,  and 
modes  of  life  came  to  me  with  a  vividness  I 
had  never  before  experienced  during  the 
eleven  years  of  my  absence.  Pictures  of 
startling  clearness  rose  up  of  the  gloomy 
winters,  the  long  gray  twilights,  murky  at- 
mosphere, elongated  shadows,  chilly  springs, 
and  sloppy  summers;  of  factory  chimneys 
and  crowds  of  grimy  operatives,  rung  to 
work  in  early  morning  by  factory  bells ;  of 
union  workhouses,  confined  rooms,  artificial 
cares,  and  slavish  conventionalities.  To  live 
again  amid  these  dull  scenes  I  was  quitting 
a  country  of  perpetual  summer,  where  my 
life  had  been  spent,  like  that  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  people,  in  gipsy  fashion,  on 
the  endless  streams  or  in  the  boundless  for- 
ests. I  was  leaving  the  equator,  where  the 
well-balanced  forces  of  Nature  maintained  a 
land-surface  and  climate  that  seemed  to  be 
typical  of  mundane  order  and  beauty,  to  sail 
toward  the  north  pole,  where  lay  my  home 
under  crepuscular  skies  somewhere  about 
fifty-two  degrees  of  latitude.  It  was  natural 
to  feel  a  little  dismayed  at  the  prospect  of 
so  great  a  change;  but  now,  after  three 
years  of  renewed  experience  of  England,  I 
find  how  incomparably  superior  is  civilized 
life,  where  feelings,  tastes,  and  intellect  find 
abundant  nourishment,  to  the  spiritual  ste- 
rility of  half-savage  existence,  even  tho  it 
be  passed  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  What  has 
struck  me  powerfully  is  the  immeasurably 
greater  diversity  and  interest  of  human 
character  and  social  conditions  in  a  single 
civilized  nation  than  in  equatorial  South 
America,  where  three  distinct  races  of  men 
live  together.  The  superiority  of  the  bleak 
north  to  tropical  regions,  however,  is  only 
in  their  social  aspect;  for  I  hold  to  the 
opinion  that,  altho  humanity  can  reach  an 
advanced  state  of  culture  only  by  battling 
with  the  inclemencies  of  Nature  in  high  lati- 
tudes, it  is  under  the  equator  alone  that  the 
perfect  race  of  the  future  will  attain  to  com- 
plete fruition  of  man's  beautiful  heritage, 
the  earth. — BATES  The  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  13,  p.  773.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

508.  CIVILIZATION,  IN  WHAT  DOES 
IT  CONSIST  ?  —  An  extended  knowledge  of 
the  useful  arts,  and  the  possession  of  such  a 
settled  system  of  law  and  government  as  en- 
ables men  to  live  in  great  political  commu- 
nities,  these   are    the   essential   features   of 
what     we     understand     by     civilization. — 
ARGYLL   Unity  of   Nature,   ch.   10,   p.   225. 
(Burt.) 

509.  CIVILIZATION  NOT  COMPLETED 
BY    MATERIAL    GOOD— Spiritual    Advance 
Its    Goal — The    Body    the    Vehicle   for    the 
Soul. — If   we   can    imagine    a    future    time 
when   warfare   and   crime    shall   have   been 
done  away  with  forever,  when  disease  shall 
have   been   for   the   most  part  curbed,    and 
when  every  human  being  by  moderate  labor 
can  secure  ample  food  and  shelter,  we  can 
also  see  that  in  such  a  state  of  things  the 


103 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Civilization 
Cleanlii 


work  of  civilization  would  be  by  no  means 
completed.  In  ministering  to  human  happi- 
ness in  countless  ways,  through  the  pursuit 
of  purely  spiritual  ends,  in  enriching  and 
diversifying  life  to  the  utmost,  there  would 
still  be  almost  limitless  work  to  be  done.  I 
believe  that  such  a  time  will  come  for  weary 
and  suffering  mankind.  Such  a  faith  is  in- 
spiring. It  sustains  one  in  the  work  of  life, 
when  one  would  otherwise  lose  heart.  But 
it  is  a  faith  that  rests  upon  induction. 
The  process  of  evolution  is  excessively  slow, 
and  its  ends  are  achieved  at  the  cost  of 
enormous  waste  of  life,  but  for  innumerable 
ages  its  direction  has  been  toward  the  goal 
here  pointed  out ;  and  the  case  may  be  fitly 
summed  up  in  the  statement  that  whereas 
in  its  rude  beginnings  the  psychical  life  was 
but  an  appendage  to  the  body,  in  fully  de- 
veloped humanity  the  body  is  but  the  vehicle 
for  the  soul. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  8, 
p.  64.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

510.  CIVILIZATION  REMOVES  OCCA- 
SIONS   FOR    FEAR  —  The    progress    from 
brute  to  man  is  characterized  by  nothing  so 
much   as  by  the   decrease   in   frequency   of 
proper  occasions  for  fear.     In  civilized  life, 
in  particular,  it  has  at  last  become  possible 
for  large  numbers  of  people  to  pass  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave  without  ever  having  had 
a  pang  of  genuine  fear.     Many  of  us  need 
an  attack  of  mental  disease  to  teach  us  the 
meaning  of  the  word.    Hence  the  possibility 
of   so   much   blindly   optimistic   philosophy 
and  religion.     The  atrocities  of  life  become 
"  like  a  tale  of  little  meaning,  tho  the  words 
are  strong";  we  doubt  if  anything  like  us 
ever  really  was  within  the  tiger's  jaws,  and 
conclude  that  the  horrors  we  hear  of  are  but 
a  sort  of  painted  tapestry  for  the  chambers 
in   which   we   lie   so   comfortably   at   peace 
with  ourselves  and  with  the  world. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  415.     (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

511.  CIVILIZATION  TEACHES  REGU- 
LAR WORK—  Savage  Requires  Excitement. — 
We   naturally   assume  that  because   barba- 
rians are  averse  to  regular  labor  their  mus- 
cular action  is  less  than  our  own.    But  this 
is   not  necessarily  true.     The   monotonous 
toil  is  what  they  cannot  tolerate;    and  they 
may  be  ready  to  go   through   as  much   or 
more  exertion  when  it  is  joined  with  excite- 
ment.    If  we  remember  that  the  sportsman 
who  gladly  scrambles  up  and  down  rough 
hillsides  all  day  after  grouse  or  deer,  would 
think  himself  hardly  used  had  he  to  spend 
as  much   effort  and  time  in  digging;     we 
shall  see  that  a  savage  who  is  the  reverse  of 
industrious,  may  nevertheless  be  subject  to 
a    muscular    waste    not    very    different    in 
amount  from  that  undergone  by  the  indus- 
trious.— SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  vi,  ch.  12,  p. 
515.     (A.,  1900.) 

512.  CIVILIZATION,  THE  DWELLING 
AN    INDEX  OF — In    general,    the   dwelling 
provides  an  instrument  for  measuring  the 


degree  of  civilization  a  people  has  attained. 
— ALSBERG  Die  gesunde  Wohnung.  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.} 

513.  CLASSIFICATION,      BACTERIA 
ELUDE — Even    yet,    however,    we    are    far 
from  a  scientific  classification  for  bacteria. 
Nor  is  this  matter  for  surprise.     The  de- 
velopment in  this  branch  of  biology  has  been 
so  rapid  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  as- 
similate the  facts  collected.    The  facts  them- 
selves by  their  remarkable  variety  have  not 
aided    classification.      Names  "which   a   few 
years  ago  were  applied  to  individual  species 
are  now  representative,  not  of  individuals, 
but  of  families  and  groups  of  species.    Again, 
isolated  characteristics  of  certain  microbes, 
such  as  motility,  power  of  liquefying  gela- 
tin, size,  color,  and  so  forth,  which  at  first 
sight  might  appear  as  likely  to  form  a  basis 
for  classification,  are  found  to  vary  not  only 
between    similar    germs,    but    in    the    same 
germ.    Different  physical  conditions  have  so 
powerful  an  influence  upon  these  microscopic 
cells   that   their   individual   characters   are 
constantly  undergoing  change.   For  example, 
bacteria  in  old  cultures  assume  a  different 
size,    and    often    a    different    shape,    from 
younger    members    of    precisely    the    same 
species.     .     .     .     Hence  it  will  at  once  ap- 
pear to  the  student  of  bacteriology  that,  tho 
there  is  great  need  for  classification  amongst 
the  six  or  seven  hundred  species  of  microbes, 
our  present  knowledge  of  their  life-history 
is  not  yet  advanced  enough  to  form  more 
than  a  provisional  arrangement. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  7.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

514.  CLASSIFICATION    DEPENDENT 
UPON  PURPOSE  — It    is    always    easy    to 
find  fault  with  a  classification.    There  are  a 
hundred  possible  ways  of  arranging  any  set 
of  objects,   and  something  may   almost  al- 
ways be  said  against  the  best   and  in  favor 
of  the  worst  of  them.     But  the  merits  of  a 
classification    depend    on    the    purposes    to 
which    it   is    instrumental. — MILL    Positive 
Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte,  p,  40.      (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

515.  CLEANLINESS  SECURES  PURI- 
TY  OF  MILK—  Gross  Pollution  under  Ordi- 
nary    Conditions. — Professor     Russell     [in 
"Dairy    Bacteriology,"    p.    46]    recounts    a 
simple  experiment  [as  follows] : 

"  A  cow  that  had  been  pastured  in  a 
meadow  was  taken  for  the  experiment,  and 
the  milking  done  out-of-doors,  to  eliminate 
as  much  as  possible  the  influence  of  germs 
in  the  barn  air.  Without  any  special  pre- 
caution being  taken  the  cow  was  partially 
milked,  and  during  the  operation  a  covered 
glass  dish,  containing  a  thin  layer  of  sterile 
gelatin,  was  exposed  for  sixty  seconds  un- 
derneath the  belly  of  the  cow  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  milk-pail.  The  udder,  flank, 
and  legs  of  the  cow  were  then  thoroughly 
cleaned  with  water,  and  all  of  the  precau- 
tions referred  to  before  were  carried  out, 
and  the  milking  then  resumed.  A  second 


leanliness 
lothing 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


104 


plate  was  then  exposed  in  the  same  place  for 
an  equal  length  of  time,  a  control  also  being 
exposed  at  the  same  time  at  a  distance  of 
ten  feet  from  the  animal  and  six  feet  from 
the  ground  to  ascertain  the  germ  contents 
of  the  surrounding  air.  From  this  experi- 
ment the  following  instructive  data  were 
gathered.  Where  the  animal  was  milked 
without  any  special  precautions  being  taken 
there  were  3,250  bacterial  germs  per  minute 
deposited  on  an  area  equal  to  the  exposed 
top  of  a  ten-inch  milk-pail.  Where  the  cow 
received  the  precautionary  treatment  as 
suggested  above,  there  were  only  115  germs 
per  minute  deposited  on  the  same  area.  In 
the  plate  that  was  exposed  to  the  surround- 
ing air  at  some  distance  from  the  cow  there 
were  65  bacteria.  This  indicates  that  a 
large  number  of  organisms  from  the  dry 
coat  of  the  animal  can  be  kept  out  of  milk 
if  such  simple  precautions  as  these  are  car- 
ried out." — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  182. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

516.  CLEANLINESS,  UTILITY  OF, 
DISCOVERED    WHILE    REASONS    WERE 
UNKNOWN  — To  the  credit  of  English  sur- 
geons  it   stands   recorded    that,   guided   by 
their  practical  sagacity,  they  had  adopted  in 
their    hospitals    measures    of    amelioration 
which  reduced,  almost  to  a  minimum,  the 
rate  of  mortality  arising  from  the  "  mortifi- 
cation "   of  wounds.     They  had   discovered 
the  evils  incident  to  "  dirt";    and,  by  keep- 
ing  dirt    far    away    from   them,    they    had 
saved  innumerable  lives,  which  would  un- 
doubtedly have  succumbed  under  conditions 
prevalent  in  many  of  the  hospitals  of  con- 
tinental Europe.     In  thus  acting,  English 
surgeons  were,   for  the  most  part,   "  wiser 
than   they  knew."     Their  knowledge,  how- 
ever   momentous    in    its    practical    applica- 
tions, was  still  empirical  knowledge.     That 
dirt  was  fatal  they  had  discovered ;  but  why 
it  was  fatal  few  of  them  knew. — TYNDALL 
Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  int.,  p.  7.     (A., 
1895.) 

517.  CLEANLINESS,     UTILITY     OF, 
SCIENTIFICALLY  DEMONSTRATED— Lis- 
ter and  Schwann  Proved  Germs  to  Be  Dead- 
ly.— At  this  point  Lister  came  forward  with 
a    scientific    principle    which    rendered    all 
plain.     Dirt  was  fatal,  not  as  dirt,  but  be- 
cause it  contained  living  germs  which,  as 
Schwann   was   the   first   to   prove,   are   the 
cause  of  putrefaction.     Lister  extended  the 
generalization  of  Schwann  from  dead  matter 
to   living   matter,   and  by  this    apparently 
simple  step  revolutionized  the  art  of  sur- 
gery.    He  changed  it,  in  fact,  from  an  art 
into   a  science. — TYNDALL  Floating  Matter 
of  the  Air,  int.,  p.  8.     (A.,  1895.) 

518.  CLEARNESS    OF    THE    CELES- 
TIAL ETHER — Contrast  with  the  Atmosphere 
of  Earth. — It  is  marvelous  that  we  can  per- 
ceive the  stars  at  such  a  distance.    What  an 
admirable  transparency    in    these   immense 
spaces  to  permit  the  light  to  pass,  without 
being  wasted,    to   thousands   of  billions   of 


miles!  Around  us,  in  the  thick  air  which 
envelops  us,  the  mountains  are  already 
darkened  and  difficult  to  see  at  seventy 
miles;  the  least  fog  hides  from  us  objects 
on  the  horizon.  What  must  be  the  tenuity, 
the  rarefaction,  the  extreme  transparency  of 
the  ethereal  medium  which  fills  the  celestial 
spaces! — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  vi,  ch.  1,  p.  553.  (A.) 

519.  CLIMATE,  ALTERNATIONS    OF 

— Change  from  Glacial  Epoch  to  Tropical 
Period — Siberian  Mammoths  —  Elephant, 
Lion,  Tiger. — It  will  naturally  be  asked 
whether  some  recent  geological  discoveries 
bringing  evidence  to  light  of  a  colder,  or  as 
it  has  been  termed  "  glacial  epoch,"  towards 
the  close  of  the  Tertiary  period  throughout 
the  northern  hemisphere,  does  not  conflict 
with  the  theory.,  above  alluded  to,  of  a 
warmer  temperature  having  prevailed  in 
the  eras  of  the  Eocene,  Miocene,  and  Pli- 
ocene formations.  In  answer  to  this  inquiry, 
it  may  certainly  be  affirmed  that  an  oscilla- 
tion of  climate  has  occurred  in  times  imme- 
diately antecedent  to  the  peopling  of  the 
earth  by  man;  but  proof  of  the  intercala- 
tion of  a  less  genial  climate,  at  an  era  when 
nearly  all  the  marine  and  terrestrial  testa- 
cea  had  already  become  specifically  the  same 
as  those  now  living,  by  no  means  rebuts  the 
conclusion  previously  drawn,  in  favor  of  a 
warmer  condition  of  the  globe  during  the 
ages  which  elapsed  while  the  tertiary  strata 
were  deposited.  In  some  of  the  most  super- 
ficial patches  of  sand,  gravel,  and  loam, 
scattered  very  generally  over  Europe,  and 
containing  recent  shells,  the  remains  of  ex- 
tinct species  of  land  quadrupeds  have  been 
found,  especially  in  places  where  the  allu- 
vial matter  appears  to  have  been  washed 
into  small  lakes,  or  into  depressions  in  the 
plains  bordering  ancient  rivers.  Similar  de- 
posits have  also  been  lodged  in  rents  and 
caverns  of  rocks,  where  they  may  have  been 
swept  in  by  land  floods,  or  introduced  by 
engulfed  rivers  during  changes  in  the  phys- 
ical geography  of  these  countries.  .  .  . 
Among  the  extinct  mammalia  thus  en- 
tombed, we  find  species  of  the  elephant, 
rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  bear,  hyena, 
lion,  tiger,  monkey  (Macacus),  and  many 
others,  consisting  partly  of  genera  now  con- 
fined to  warmer  regions. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  ch.  6,  p.  75.  (A.,  1854.) 

520.      Elephants    Once 

Abundant    in    Siberia — Ivory    in    Northern 
Russia. — The  most  recent  discoveries  made 
in  1843  by  Mr.  Middendorf,  a  distinguished 
Russian  naturalist,  and  which  he  communi- 
cated to  me  in  September,  1846,  afford  more 
precise  information  as  to  the  climate  of  the 
Siberian  lowlands,  at  the  period  when  the 
extinct    quadrupeds    were    entombed.      One 
elephant  was  found  on  the  Tas,  between  the 
Obi    and    Yenisei,    near    the    arctic    circle, 
about    lat.    66°    30'    N.,    with    some    parts 
of  the  flesh  in  so  perfect  a  state  that  the 
bulb  of  the  eye  is  now  preserved  in  the  mu- 


105 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


seum  at  Moscow.  Another  carcass,  together 
with  a  young  individual  of  the  same  species, 
was  met  with  in  the  same  year,  1843,  in 
lat.  75°  15'  N.,  near  the  River  Taimyr, 
with  the  flesh  decayed.  It  was  embedded  in 
strata  of  clay  and  sand,  with  erratic  blocks, 
at  about  15  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
In  the  same  deposit  Mr.  Middendorf  ob- 
served the  trunk  of  a  larch  tree  (Pinus 
lariac),  the  same  wood  as  that  now  carried 
down  in  abundance  by  the  Taimyr  to  the 
Arctic  Sea.  There  were  also  associated  fos- 
sil shells  of  living  northern  species,  and 
which  are  moreover  characteristic  of  the 
drift  or  glacial  deposits  of  Europe.  Among 
these  Nucula  pygmcea,  Tellina  calcarea,  Mya 
truncata,  and  Saxicava  rugosa  were  con- 
spicuous. 

So  fresh  is  the  ivory  throughout  northern 
Russia  that,  according  to  Tilesius,  thou- 
sands of  fossil  tusks  have  been  collected  and 
used  in  turning;  yet  others  are  still  pro- 
cured and  sold  in  great  plenty.  He  declares 
his  belief  that  the  bones  still  left  in  north- 
ern Russia  must  greatly  exceed  in  number 
all  the  elephants  now  living  on  the  globe. — 

«LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  ch.  6,  p.  81. 
(A.,  1854.) 

521.  CLIMATE,     EFFECT    OF,    ON 
STRUGGLE     FOR    LIFE  — The  action  of 
climate  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  quite  in- 
dependent of  the  struggle  for  existence;    but 
in  so  far  as  climate  chiefly  acts  in  reducing 
food,  it  brings  on  the  most  severe  struggle 
between    the    individuals,    whether    of    the 
same  or  of  distinct  species,  which  subsist  on 
the  same  kind  of  food.     Even  when  climate, 
for  instance,  extreme  cold,  acts  directly,  it 
will   be  the   least  vigorous   individuals,   or 
those  which  have  got  least  food  through  the 
advancing    winter,    which    will    suffer    the 
most. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1,  p. 
64.    (Burt.) 

522.  CLIMATE,  EFFECT  OF,  UPON 
MAN — In  the  climate  of  America,  compared 
with  that  of  England,  there  is  an  important 
difference.      That    of    England    is    a    moist, 
moderate    island    climate,    while    that    of 
America  is  continental,  with  extremely  dry 
west  winds  and  great  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold  in  summer  and  winter.     The  elimina- 
tion of  heat  is  greater  in  America,  and  con- 
sequently   greater    production    of    warmth 
within  the  organism  is  necessary;    the  tissue 
change  has  to  be  more  rapid.     This  is  ap- 
parent in  the  entire  being  of  the  American. 
Desor  describes  him  exactly  when  he   says 
that  the  American's  activity,  his  hurry,  his 
rushing,  is  more  a  matter  of  instinct,  more 
the   result   of   natural   impatience   than    of 
necessity,  the  cause  that  creates  restlessness 
and  haste  in  the  Englishman.     The  latter 
runs  from  zeal  for  business,  the  American 
from     an     inner      impulse. — OPPENHEIMEB 
Ueber    den    Einftuss    des    Klimas    auf    den 
Menschen,  p.  31.     (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 


523.  CLIMATE    EFFECTS    CHANGES 
OF  CHARACTERISTICS  —  Wool  Replaced  by 
Hair — Hairless  Cattle — Whiteness  of  Arctic 
Animals. — I  have  myself  seen  in  Southdown 
sheep,  which  had  been  transported  only  two 
years    previously   to   the   West   Indies,   the 
thick   covering   of   wool   replaced   by    short 
crisp    hair,    scarcely    distinguishable    from 
that  of  the  goats  which  had  inhabited  the 
island  for  several  generations ;    and  the  hot- 
test parts  of  the  South  American   pampas 
are    inhabited    by    breeds    of" cattle     (the 
descendants    of    those    introduced    by    the 
Spaniards),  of  which  some  are  nearly,  and 
others   quite,   destitute  of  hair,   and  which 
cannot  live  in  the  more  temperate  air  of  the 
slopes  of  the  Andes.     It  seems  clear,  then, 
that  this  adaptation  results  from  some  di- 
rect physical  action  of  temperature  on  the 
constitution  of  the  animals;    and  yet   (like 
the  expansion  of  water  in  cooling  from  39.2° 
to  32°)   it  is  in  direct  opposition  to  a  very 
general  law.     The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
winter  whitening  of  the  fur  and  plumage  of 
arctic  mammals  and  birds.     For,  altho  this 
(like  the  preceding)  has  been  adduced  as  an 
example  of  "  natural  selection  " — the  white 
varieties  surviving  because  they  escape  being 
seen   upon  ground  whitened   by  snow — yet 
there  must  have  been  some  cause   for  the 
production  of  the  white  varieties. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  441.     (A., 
1889.) 

524.  CLOTHING    OF    BARK     AND 
LEAVES — Reversion  to  Primitive  Customs. — 
To  come  now  to  clothing  proper.     The  man 
who  wants  a  garment  gets  it  in  the  simplest 
way  when  he  takes  the  covering  off  a  tree 
or  a  beast,  and  puts  it  on  himself.  The  bark 
of  trees  provides  clothes  for  rude  races  in 
many  districts,  as  for  instance  in  the  cu- 
rious use  which  natives  of  the  Brazilian  for- 
ests have  long  made  of  the  so-called  "  shirt- 
tree  "  (Lecythis).    A  man  cuts  a  four-  or  five- 
feet  length  of  the  trunk,  or  a  large  branch, 
and   gets   the  bark   off  in  an   entire   tube, 
which  he  has  then  only  to  soak  and  beat 
soft  and  to  cut  slits  for  armholes,  to  be  able 
to  slip  it  on  as  a  ready-made  shirt;    or  a 
short  length  will  make  a  woman's  skirt.     The 
wearing  of  bark  has  sometimes  been  kept  up 
as  a  sign  of  primitive  simplicity.     Thus  in 
India  it.  is  written  in  the  laws  of  Manu  that 
when  the  gray-haired  Brahman  retires  into 
the  forest  to  end  his  days  in  religious  medi- 
tation, he  shall  wear  a  skin  or  a  garment 
of  bark.      A   ruder   people,   the   Kayans   of 
Borneo,  while  in  common  life  they  like  the 
smart  foreign  stuffs  of  the  trader,  when  they 
go  into  mourning  throw  them  off  and  return 
to  the  rude   native  garment  of  bark-cloth. 
In  Polynesia  the  manufacture  of  tapa  from 
the  bark  of  the  paper-mulberry  was  carried 
to  great  perfection,  the  women  beating  it 
out  with  grooved  clubs  into  a  sort  of  vege- 
table felt,  and  ornamenting  it  with  colored 
patterns  stamped  on.     The  people  were  de- 
lighted with  the  white  paper  of  the  Euro- 
peans, and  dressed  themselves  in  it  as  a  fine 


Clothing 
Color 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


106 


variety  of  tapa,  till  they  found  that  the  first 
shower  of  rain  spoiled  it.  Leaves,  also,  are 
made  into  aprons  or  skirts  which  clothe  va- 
rious rude  tribes.  Not  only  are  there  "  leaf- 
wearers  "  in  India,  but  at  a  yearly  festival 
in  Madras  the  whole  low-caste  population 
cast  off  their  ordinary  clothing  and  put  on 
aprons  of  leafy  twigs. — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  10,  p.  244.  (A.,  1899.) 

525.  CLOUD-CAPITALS  OF  VIEWLESS 
COLUMNS — Cumulous  Clouds. — Similar    re- 
marks apply  to  the  formation  of  cumuli  in 
our  own  latitudes;    they  are  the  heads  of 
vaporous     columns    which    rise    from    the 
earth's  surface,  and  are  precipitated  as  soon 
as  they  reach  a  certain  elevation.    Thus,  the 
visible  cloud  forms  the  capital  of  an  invis- 
ible  pillar   of   saturated   air.     The   top   of 
such  a  column,  raised  above  the  lower  vapor- 
screen  which  clasps  the  earth,  and  offering 
itself  to  space,  is  chilled  by  radiation  and 
precipitated    as    cloud.     Mountains   act   as 
condensers,  partly  by  the  coldness  of  their 
own  masses,  which  they  owe  to  their  eleva- 
tion.    Above  them  spreads  no  vapor-screen 
of  sufficient  density  to  intercept  their  heat, 
which   consequently  passes  unrequited  into 
space.     When  the   sun  is  withdrawn,   this 
loss  is  shown  by  the  quick  descent  of  the 
thermometer. — TYNDALL    Heat    a    Mode   of 
Motion,  lect.  13,  p.  384.     (A.,  1900.) 

526.  CLOUD,  INCIPIENT— Rivals  Azure 
of  Italian  Sky. — It  is  possible,  by  duly  regu- 
lating the  quantity  of  vapor,  to  make  our 
precipitated  particles  grow  from  an  infini- 
tesimal,   and    altogether    ultra-microscopic 
size,  to  specks  of  sensible  magnitude;    and 
by  means  of  these  particles,   in   a   certain 
stage  of  their  growth,  we  can  produce  a  blue 
which  shall  rival,  if  it  does  not  transcend, 
that  of  the  deepest  and  purest  Italian  sky. 
Let  this  point  be  in  the  first  place  estab- 
lished.     Associated  with   our   experimental 
tube  is  a  barometer,  the  mercurial  column 
of  which  now  indicates  that  the  tube  is  ex- 
hausted.    Into  the  tube  I  introduce  a  quan- 
tity of  the  mixed  air  and  nitrite  of  butyl 
vapor,   sufficient   to   depress   the   mercurial 
column  one-twentieth  of  an  inch;    that  is  to 
say,  the  air  and  vapor  together  exert  a  pres- 
sure of  one-six-hundredth  of  an  atmosphere. 
I   now  add  a  quantity  of   air   and  hydro- 
chloric acid,  sufficient  to  depress  the  mer- 
cury half  an  inch  further,  and  into  this  com- 
pound and  highly  attenuated  atmosphere  I 
discharge  the  beam  of  the  electric  light.   The 
effect   is    slow;     but   gradually   within    the 
tube  arises  a  splendid  azure,  which  strength- 
ens for  a  time,  reaches  a  maximum  of  depth 
and  purity,  and  then,  as  the  particles  grow 
larger,  passes  into  whitish  blue.     This  ex- 
periment is  representative,  and  it  illustrates 
a   general    principle.     Other   colorless   sub- 
stances of  the  most  diverse  properties,  optic- 
al and  chemical,  might  be  employed  for  this 
experiment.     The  incipient  cloud,  in  every 
case,  would  exhibit  this  superb  blue;    thus 
proving  to  demonstration  that  particles  of 


infinitesimal  size,  without  any  color  of  their 
own,  and  irrespective  of  the  optical  proper- 
ties exhibited  by  the  substances  in  a  massive 
state,  are  competent  to  produce  the  color  of 
the  sky. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  16,  p.  484.  (A.,  1900.) 

527.  CLOUDS  WITH  LINING  OF  BLUE 

AND  GOLD— Beauty  of  Sunrise  and  Sunset  on 
Worlds  Lit  by  Colored  Suns. — The  skies, 
however,  must  be  often  exceedingly  beauti- 
ful. Our  clouds  have  their  silver  lining,  be- 
cause it  is  the  white  light  of  the  sun  which 
illumines  them.  Our  summer  sky  presents 
glowing  white  clouds  to  our  view,  and  at 
other  times  we  see  the  various  shades  be- 
tween perfect  whiteness  and  an  almost  black 
hue,  corresponding  to  the  various  degrees  in 
which  the  illuminated  side  of  a  cloud  is 
turned  towards  us.  But  imagine  how  beau- 
tiful the  scene  must  be,  when  those  parts  of 
a  cloud  which  would  otherwise  appear  sim- 
ply darker,  shine  with  a  fuller  blue  light  or 
(as  the  case  may  be)  with  a  fuller  orange 
light.  How  gorgeous  again  must  be  the  col- 
oring of  the  clouds  which  fleck  the  sky  when 
one  or  other  sun  is  setting!  At  such  times 
on  our  earth  we  see  the  most  beautiful  tints, 
owing  to  the  various  degrees  in  which  the 
atmosphere  affects  the  light  of  our  single 
sun;  but  how  wonderful  must  be  the  varie- 
ties of  color  when,  in  addition  to  this  cause 
of  varying  tints,  there  is  a  sun  of  comple- 
mentary color  illuminating  those  parts  of 
each  cloud  which  would  be  simply  dark  were 
there  no  other  sun  but  the  orb  which  is  actu- 
ally setting! — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
pp.  235-236.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

528.  COAL-DEPOSITS  PROVE  MILDER 
CLIMATE—  Tree-ferns  Now  Only  Tropical— 
But  it  is  from  the  more  ancient  coal-deposits 
that  the  most  extraordinary   evidence  has 
been  supplied  in  proof  of  the  former  exist- 
ence of  a  very  different  climate — a  climate 
which  seems  to  have  been  moist,  warm,  and 
extremely  uniform — in  those  very  latitudes 
which  are  now  the  colder,  and,  in  regard  to 
temperature,  the  most  variable,  regions  of 
the  globe.    We  learn  from  the  researches  of 
Adolphe   Brongniart,    Goeppert,    and    other 
botanists,  that  in  the  flora  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous era  there  was  a  great  predominance  of 
ferns,     some    of    which    were    arborescent. 
.     .     .     This  prevalence  of  ferns  indicates  a 
moist,  equable,  and  temperate  climate,  and 
the  absence  of  any  severe  cold,  for  such  are 
the  conditions  which,  at  the  present  day,  are 
found  to  be  most  favorable  to  that  tribe  of 
plants.      It   is   only   in   the   islands    of   the 
tropical  oceans,   and  of  the  southern  tem- 
perate  zone,   such   as   Norfolk  Island,  Ota- 
heite,      the      Sandwich      Islands,      Tristan 
d'Acunha,  and  New  Zealand,  that  we  find 
any  near  approach  to  that  remarkable  pre- 
ponderance of  ferns  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  Carboniferous  flora.     It  has  been  ob- 
served that   tree-ferns   and  other   forms  of 
vegetation    which    flourished    most    luxuri- 
antly within  the  tropics  extend  to  a  much 


107 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


hlng 


greater  distance  from  the  equator  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  than  in  the  northern, 
being  found  even  as  far  as  46°  S.  latitude  in 
New  Zealand.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
this  is  owing  to  the  more  uniform  and  moist 
climate  occasioned  by  the  greater  propor- 
tional area  of  sea. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, ch.  6,  p.  87.  (A.,  1854.) 

529.  CODE  OF  HONOR— Permissions  of 
Moral   Evil. — What    may   be    called    "  club 
opinion  "  is  one  of  the  very  strongest  forces 
in  life.    The  thief  must  not  steal  from  other 
thieves ;   the  gambler  must  pay  his  gambling 
debts,   tho   he   pay   no   other    debts   in   the 
world.     The  code  of  honor  of  fashionable  so- 
ciety has  throughout  history  been   full   of 
permissions  as  well  as  of  vetoes,  the  only 
reason  for  following  either  of  which  is  that 
so  we  best  serve  one  of  our  social   selves. 
You  must  not  lie  in  general,  but  you  may 
lie  as  much  as  you  please  if  asked  about 
your  relations  with  a  lady;    you  must  ac- 
cept a  challenge  from  an  equal,  but  if  chal- 
lenged by  an  inferior  you  may  laugh  him  to 
scorn :    these  are  examples  of  what  is  meant. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  295. 
(H.  II.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

530.  COINCIDENCE  OF   GREAT  DIS- 
COVERIES— Columbus  and  Copernicus. —  The 
age  of  Columbus,  Gama,  and  Magellan — the 
age    of    great    maritime    enterprises — coin- 
cided   in   a   most    wonderful    manner    with 
many  great  events,  with  the  awakening  of 
a  feeling  of  religious  freedom,  with  the  de- 
velopment of  nobler  sentiments  for  art,  and 
with  the  diffusion  of  the  Copernican  views 
regarding     the     system     of     the    universe. 
Nicolaus   Copernicus   had   already  attained 
his  twenty-first  year,  and  was  engaged  in 
making   observations   with   the   astronomer 
Albert  Brudzewski,  at  Cracow,  when  Colum- 
bus   discovered    America.      Hardly    a    year 
after  the  death  of  the  great  discoverer,  and 
after  a  six  years'  residence  at  Padua,  Bo- 
logna, and  Rome,  we  find  him  returned  to 
Cracow,    and    busily    engaged    in    bringing 
about  a  thorough  revolution  in  the  astro- 
nomical views  of  the  universe.     .     .     .     He 
was  nominated,  in  1510,   canon  of  Frauen- 
burg,    where    he    labored    for    thirty-three 
years   on   the   completion   of  his  work,    en- 
titled   "  De    Revolutionibus    Orbium    Coeles- 
tium."     The  first  printed  copy  was  brought 
to  him  when,  shattered  in  mind  and  body,  he 
was  preparing  himself  for  death.     He  saw  it 
and  touched  it,  but  his  thoughts  were  no 
longer  fixed  on  earthly  things,  and  he  died 
several  days  afterward  (on  the  24th  of  May, 
1543). — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p. 
303.     (H.,  1897.) 


531. 


Moons  of  Jupiter 


Simultaneously  Discovered. — The  moons  of 
Jupiter,  the  first  of  all  the  secondary  plan- 
ets discovered  by  the  telescope,  were  first 
seen,  almost  simultaneously  and  wholly  in- 
dependently, on  the  29th  of  December,  1609, 
by  Simon  Marius  at  Ansbach,  and  on  the 


7th  of  January,  1610,  by  Galileo  at  Padua. 
In  the  publication  of  this  discovery,  Galileo, 
by  the  "Nuncius  Siderius"  (1610),  preceded 
the  "  Mundus  Jovialis "  (1614)  of  Simon 
Marius.  .  .  . 

The  discovery  of  Jupiter's  satellites 
marks  an  ever  memorable  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory and  the  vicissitudes  of  astronomy.  The 
occultations  of  the  satellites,  or  their  en- 
trance into  Jupiter's  shadow,  led  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  velocity  of  light  (1675),  and, 
through  this  knowledge,  to  the  explanation 
of  the  aberration-ellipse  of  the  fixed  stars 
(1727),  in  which  the  great  orbit  of  the 
earth,  in  its  annual  course  round  the  sun, 
is,  as  it  were,  reflected  on  the  vault  of 
heaven.  These  discoveries  of  Romer  and 
Bradley  have  been  justly  termed  "  the  key- 
stone of  the  Copernican  system,"  the  per- 
ceptible evidence  of  the  translatory  motion 
of  the  earth. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt. 
ii,  pp.  320,  322.  (H.,  1897.) 

532.  COLOR,  ABSENCE  OF,  HELPFUL 
AT    A    CERTAIN    STAGE— Advantages  of 
the  Glass  Animals  in  the  Struggle  for  Ex- 
istence.— Evidently    for    all    glass    animals, 
carrying  on  their  unceasing  warfare,  their 
waterlike  bodily  composition  is  of  the  great- 
est utility.  The  pursuers  can  approach  their 
prey  without   being  observed,   the   pursued 
are  able  more  easily  to  escape  than  if  both 
were  colored  and  wanting  in  transparency, 
and  therefore  more  readily  visible  in  clear 
water.     Suppose  we  assume  that  of  these 
glass    animals    different    varieties    existed 
originally,  varying  especially  in  the  degree 
of  transparency  and  want  of  color.     Then, 
certainly,  those  individuals  that  were  most 
transparent  and  colorless  would  achieve  the 
preponderance  in  the  struggle  for  existence, 
at  the  same  time  confirming  and  strengthen- 
ing those  advantageous  individual  peculiari- 
ties for  generations,  and  finally  arrive  at  a 
perfectly   glasslike   development. — HAECKEL 
Generelle     Morphologic,     vol.     ii,     p.     243. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

533.  COLOR   A   NEGATIVE  QUALITY 

— Produced  by  Subtraction,  Not  by  Addi- 
tion.— Pass  a  black  ribbon  through  the  col- 
ors of  the  spectrum;  it  quenches  all  of 
them.  The  meaning  of  blackness  is  thus 
revealed — it  is  the  result  of  the  absorption 
of  all  the  constituents  of  solar  light.  Pass 
a  red  ribbon  through  the  spectrum.  In  the 
red  light  the  ribbon  is  a  vivid  red.  Why? 
Because  the  light  that  enters  the  ribbon  is 
not  quenched  or  absorbed,  but  in  great  part 
sent  back  to  the  eye.  Place  the  same  ribbon 
in  the  green  of  the  spectrum ;  it  is  black  as 
jet.  It  absorbs  the  green  light,  and  leaves 
the  space  on  which  it  falls  a  space  of  intense 
darkness.  Place  a  green  ribbon  in  the  green 
of  the  spectrum.  It  shines  vividly  with  its 
proper  color;  transfer  it  to  the  red,  it  is 
black  as  jet.  Here  it  absorbs  all  the  light 
that  falls  upon  it,  and  offers  mere  darkness 
to  the  eye.  Thus,  when  white  light  is  em- 
ployed, the  red  sifts  it  by  quenching  the 


Coloration 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


108 


green,  and  the  green  sifts  it  by  quenching 
the  red,  both  exhibiting  the  residual  color. 
The  process  through  which  natural  bodies 
acquire  their  colors  is  therefore  a  negative 
one.  The  colors  are  produced  by  subtrac- 
tion, not  by  addition.  This  red  glass  is  red 
because  it  destroys  all  the  more  refrangible 
rays  of  the  spectrum.  This  blue  liquid  is 
blue  because  it  destroys  all  the  less  refran- 
gible rays.  Both  together  are  opaque  be- 
cause the  light  transmitted  by  the  one  is 
quenched  by  the  other.  In  this  way,  by  the 
union  of  two  transparent  substances  we  ob- 
tain a  combination  as  dark  as  pitch  to  solar 
light.  This  other  liquid,  finally,  is  purple 
because  it  destroys  the  green  and  the  yellow, 
and  allows  the  terminal  colors  of  the  spec- 
trum to  pass  unimpeded.  From  the  blend- 
ing of  the  blue  and  the  red  this  gorgeous 
purple  is  produced. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  led.  1,  p.  32.  (A.,  1898.) 

534.  COLOR    A    PROTECTION  —  Bird 

Feeding  on  Ground — Tree-trunk  a  Hiding- 
place. — The  Sclerurus,  altho  an  inhabitant 
of  the  darkest  forest,  and  provided  with 
sharply  curved  claws,  never  seeks  its  food 
on  trees,  but  exclusively  on  the  ground, 
among  the  decaying  fallen  leaves;  but, 
strangely  enough,  \vhen  alarmed  ,it  flies  to 
the  trunk  of  the  nearest  tree,  to  which  it 
clings  in  a  vertical  position,  and,  remaining 
silent  and  motionless,  escapes  observation 
by  means  of  its  dark  protective  color. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  18,  p.  240. 
(C.  &H.,  1895.) 

535.  COLOR  AS  PROTECTIVE  FROM 
HEAT — White  for    Military    Uniforms.— By 
instinct,  or  perhaps  as  the  result  of  the  ex- 
perience of  centuries,  the  native  Algerians 
have  adopted  white  as  the  color  for  their 
clothing.     Evidently   they  never   dream   of 
manufacturing  uniforms  of  colored  woolen 
cloth.     It  would  be  possible  to  shade  sol- 
diers on  a  march,  or  other  expedition,  from 
the  sun's  rays,  with  the  aid  of  a  simple  cot- 
ton burnoose  at  only  a  slightly  increased 
cost,  and  whose  volume  would  be  very  little. 
This  is  an  experiment  worth  trying,  at  least 
on  a  small  scale;    the  use  of  this  vestment 
would  have  as  an  immediate  result  the  pla- 
cing of  the  soldier  within  a  medium  cooler 
by  ten  or  a  dozen  degrees,  and  all  physicians 
who  have  accompanied  troops  on  a  march 
are  aware  that  a  number  of  degrees  more  or 
less  for  a  man  that  is  fatigued,  or  has  an 
attack  of  fever,  or  is  wounded,  is  a  question 
of  life  or  death.     In  any  case,  it  would  al- 
ways be  well  to  place  some  of  these  white 
vestures  at  the  disposal  of  the  physician  for 
the  use  of  sick  men  menaced  or  attacked  by 
congestion   during  a   march. — COULTER  Ex- 
periences sur  les  Etoffes  qui  scrvent  a  con- 
fectionner  les  Vetements  Militaires,  p.  138, 
Journal  de  la  Physiologic  de  I'Homme  et  des 
Animaux.      (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Jjights.) 


536.  COLOR,    DEPENDENCE    OF,   ON 
OBSERVER—  Color-blindness— The    World  in 
Chiaroscuro. — It  is   agreed  alike  by  physi- 
cists and  physiologists  that  color  does  not 
exist  as  such  in  the  object  itself,  which  has 
merely  the  power  of  reflecting  or  transmit- 
ting a  certain  number  of  millions  of  undu- 
lations in  a  second,  and  these  only  produce 
that  affection  of  our  consciousness  which  we 
call  color,  when  they  fall  upon  the  retina  of 
the  living  percipient.     And  if  there  be  that 
defect  either  in  the  retina  or  in  the  appara- 
tus behind  it,  which  we  call  "  color-blind- 
ness "  or  Daltonism,   some  particular  hues 
cannot  be  distinguished,  or  there  may  even 
be   no    power    of    distinguishing    any    color 
whatever.     If  we  were  all  like  Dalton,  we 
should  see  no  difference,  except  in  form,  be- 
tween ripe  cherries  hanging  on  a  tree  and 
the  green  leaves  around  them;    if  we  were 
all  affected  with  the  severest  form  of  color- 
blindness, the  fair  face  of  Nature  would  be 
seen  by  us  as  in  the  chiaroscuro  of  an  en- 
graving of  one  of  Turner's  landscapes,  not 
as  in  the  glowing  hues  of  the  wondrous  pic- 
ture itself. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  p. 
201.     (A.,  1889.) 

537.  COLOR    IN    FLOWERS   AND 
FRUITS— Beauty  Subserves  a  Purpose.—  Be- 
tween fruits  and  flowers,  in  the  matter  of 
color,  there  is  a  close  and  intimate  associa- 
tion.   Every  schoolboy  who  is  taught  botany 
knows   that   flowers   are   colored   to   attract 
insects,    while    the    insects    in    turn    cross- 
fertilize  the  plants  by  carrying  the  pollen- 
dust  from  one  flower  to  another  flower  of 
the  same  species.     Color  in  flowers,  then,  has 
a  purpose  all  undreamt  of  by  the  older  bot- 
anists.    What  of  fruits?     Color  here,  in  the 
logical  sequence  of  events,  must  be  credited 
with  a  purpose  also.     Let  us  see  what  that 
design  may  be.    When  you  look  at  an  apple 
or  orange  you  are  struck  by  the  apparently 
big  size  of  the  edible  part  of  the  fruit,  and 
by   the   relatively  small   size   of   the   seeds. 
Compared  with,  say,  the  fruits  of  a  butter- 
cup, represented  by  the  collection  of  little 
dry  green  bodies  borne  on  the  end   of  the 
flower-stalk,  the  apple,  orange,  peach,  plum, 
and   cherry   are  grandiose  in   the   extreme. 
The   apple-substance   does   not   nourish   the 
seed.     There  is  no  question  of  nutrition  in- 
volved in  the  matter  at  all.     The  seeds  are 
all  ready  to  produce  the  new  plants,  and  lie 
concealed  within  the  apple,   and  cherry  or 
plum  stone,  waiting  their  season  and  oppor- 
tunity.    Why,  then,  all  this  big  growth  of 
eatable  material  ?    The  answer  is,  "  For  the 
birds  and  insects,  and  for  any  other  animal 
agencies   which  will  help  the  plant  on   its 
way  of  life."     The  blackbirds  that  peck  at 
the  peaches  and  apples  are  Nature's  servi- 
tors.    They  come  for  their  food  to  the  garden- 
er's preserves,  and  as  they  split  up'the  dainty 
succulent  fruit,  they  liberate   [and  scatter] 
the  seeds,  and  thus  secure  the  prospect  of 


109 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ation 


fresh  generations  of  plants. — ANDREW  WIL- 
SON Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  22,  p.  72. 
(Hum.,  1892.) 

538.  COLOR   OF   PIGMENTS—  Absorp- 
tion and  Reflection   Unite   to  Determine — 
The    Rose    Seen    by    Light    Reflected   Back 
through      Its      Substance — Exhaustion      by 
Waste  of  Echoes. — Pigments  are  composed 
of  particles  mixed  with  a  vehicle;    but  how 
intimately    soever    the    particles    may    be 
blended,   they   still   remain   particles,    sepa- 
rated it  may  be  by  exceedingly  minute  dis- 
tances,   but    still    separated.      To    use    the 
scientific  phrase,  they  are  not  optically  con- 
tinuous.    Now,  wherever  optical  continuity 
is  ruptured  we  have  reflection  of  the  incident 
light.     It  is  the  multitude  of  reflections  at 
the  limiting  surfaces  of  the  particles  that 
prevents  light  from  passing  through  glass j 
or  rock   salt.,   when  these  transparent  sub- 
stances are  pounded  into  powder.     The  light 
here  is  exhausted  in  a  waste  of  echoes,  not 
extinguished  by  true  absorption.     It  is  the 
same    kind    of    reflection    that   renders    the 
thunder-cloud  so  impervious  to  light.     Such 
a  cloud  is  composed  of  particles  of  water 
mixed  with  particles  of  air,  both  separately 
transparent,    but   practically   opaque    when 
thus  mixed  together.     In  the  case  of  pig- 
ments, then,  the  light  is  reflected  at  the  lim- 
iting surfaces  of  the  particles,  but  it  is  in 
part  absorbed  within  the  particles.     The  re- 
flection is  necessary  to  send  the  light  back 
to  the  eye;    the  absorption  is  necessary  to 
give  the  body  its  color.     The  same  remarks 
apply  to  flowers.    The  rose  is  red  in  virtue, 
not  of  the  light  reflected  from  its  surface, 
but  of  light  which  has  entered  its  substance, 
which    has    been    reflected    from    surfaces 
within,  and  which  in  returning  through  the 
substance  has  had  its   green   extinguished. 
A  similar  process  in  the  case  of  hard  green 
leaves  extinguishes  the  red,  and  sends  green 
light  from  the  body  of  the  leaves  to  the  eye. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  34. 
(A.,  1898.) 

539.  COLOR    OF    THE    SKY— Hues  of 

Flowers  Due  to  Absorption — Fine  Particles 
Make  Blue  of  Sky — Alpine  Sunrise  and  Sun- 
set.— First,  then,  with  regard  to  the  sky; 
how  is  it  produced,  and  can  we  not  repro- 
duce it?  Its  color  has  not  the  same  origin 
as  that  of  ordinary  coloring  matter,  in 
which  certain  portions  of  the  white  solar 
light  are  absorbed,  the  color  of  the  body  be- 
ing that  of  the  light  which  remains.  A  vio- 
let is  blue  because  its  molecular  texture 
enables  it  to  quench  the  yellow  and  red  con- 
stituents of  white  light,  and  to  send  back 
the  blue  from  its  interior.  A  geranium  is 
red  because  its  molecular  texture  is  such  as 
quenches  all  rays  except  the  red.  Such  col- 
ors are  called  colors  of  absorption;  but  the 
hue  of  the  sky  is  not  of  this  character.  The 
blue  light  of  the  sky  is  scattered  light ;  and, 
were  there  nothing  in  our  atmosphere  com- 
petent to  scatter  the  solar  rays,  we  should 
see  no  blue  firmament,  but  the  mere  dark- 


ness of  infinite  space.  The  blue  of  the  sky 
is  produced  by  perfectly  colorless  particles. 
Smallness  of  size  alone  is  requisite  to  insure 
the  selection  and  reflection  of  this  color.  Of 
all  the  visual  waves  emitted  by  the  sun,  the 
shortest  and  smallest  are  those  correspond- 
ing to  the  color  blue.  To  such  small  waves 
minute  particles  offer  more  obstruction  than 
to  large  ones,  hence  the  predominance  of 
blue  color  in  all  light  reflected  from  such 
particles.  The  crimson  glow  of  the  evening 
and  the  morning,  seen  so  finely  in  the  Alps, 
is  due,  on  the  other  hand,  to  transmitted 
light;  that  is  to  say,  to  light  which,  in  its 
passage  through  great  atmospheric  dis- 
tances, has  its  blue  constituents  sifted  out 
of  it  by  repeated  collision  with  suspended 
particles. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  16,  p.  484.  (A.,  1900.) 


540. 


May  Be  Produced 


Artificially — Light  Liberates  Atoms  from 
Vapor. — We  can  liberate,  in  air,  particles  of 
a  size  capable  of  producing  a  blue  as  deep 
and  pure  as  the  azure  of  "the  firmament.  In 
fact,  artificial  skies  may  be  thus  generated, 
which  prove  their  brotherhood  with  the  nat- 
ural sky  by  exhibiting  all  its  phenomena. 
There  are  certain  chemical  compounds — 
aggregates  of  molecules — the  constituent 
atoms  of  which  are  readily  shaken  asunder 
by  the  impact  of  special  waves  of  light. 
Probably,  if  not  certainly,  the  atoms  and 
the  waves  are  so  related  to  each  other,  as 
regards  vibrating  period,  that  the  wave- 
motion  can  accumulate  until  it  becomes  dis- 
ruptive. A  great  number  of  substances 
might  be  mentioned  whose  vapors,  when 
mixed  with  air  and  subjected  to  the  action 
of  a  solar  or  an  electric  beam,  are  thus  de- 
composed, the  products  of  decomposition 
hanging  as  liquid  or  solid  particles  in  the 
beam  which  generates  them.  .  .  .  Like 
the  natural  sky,  the  artificial  one  shows  all 
the  colors  of  the  spectrum,  but  blue  in  ex- 
cess.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i, 
ch.  5,  p.  137.  (A.,  1897.) 

541.  COLORATION,  PROTECTIVE,  UNI- 
VERSAL— Natural  Objects  of  Every  Kind  Imi- 
tated by  Living  Beings. — Protective  colora- 
tion, in  some  of  its  varied  forms,  has  not 
improbably  modified  the  appearance  of  one- 
half  of  the  animals  living  on  the  globe.  The 
white  of  arctic  animals,  the  yellowish  tints 
of  the  desert  forms,  the  du*sky  hues  of  cre- 
puscular and  nocturnal  species,  the  trans- 
parent or  bluish  tints  of  oceanic  creatures, 
represent  a  vast  host  in  themselves ;  but  we 
have  an  equally  numerous  body  whose  tints 
are  adapted  to  tropical  foliage,  to  the  bark 
of  trees,  or  to  the  soil  or  dead  leaves  on  or 
among  which  they  habitually  live.  Then  we 
have  the  innumerable  special  adaptations  to 
the  tints  and  forms  of  leaves,  or  twigs,  or 
flowers ;  to  bark  or  moss ;  to  rock  or  pebble ; 
by  which  such  vast  numbers  of  the  insect 
tribes  obtain  protection;  and  these  various 
forms  of  coloration  are  equally  prevalent  in 


Conihhiaiion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


110 


the  waters  of  the  seas  and  oceans,  and  are 
thus  coextensive  with  the  domain  of  life 
upon  the  earth. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch. 
8,  p.  155.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

542.  COLOR-BLINDNESS— More  Com- 
mon among  Men  than  among  Women — De- 
fect Commonly  Congenital. — Color-blindness 
is   found  much   more   common   among  men 
than  women.     Out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
registered   cases,   there   are   but   six   of   fe- 
males, and  one  of  these  is  doubtful.     It  has 
been  conjectured  that  needlework  on  a  va- 
riety of  colored  articles  might  be  the  means 
of  counteracting  the  tendency  to  this  defect, 
as  well  as  to  produce  a  delicacy  of  discrim- 
ination of  different  shades  of  color  not  pos- 
sessed by  those  otherwise  employed.    But  in 
answer  to  this  it  has  been  remarked,  that  in 
the  case  of  "  Daltonians  "  engaged  in  paint- 
ing there  has  been  found  but  little,  if  any, 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  vision ;  and 
the    very    employment    of    the    females    on 
works  which  require  a  constant  comparison 
of  color  would  daily  reveal  cases  of  blind- 
ness of  this  kind  did  it  frequently  exist  in 
the  female  sex.    This  peculiarity  of  vision  is 
principally  congenital.    Professor  Wartmann 
has   found  but  two  exceptions.     In  one  of 
these,   colors   were   perceived   in   the   usual 
manner  until  at  the  ninth  year,  when  the 
boy  received   a  violent  blow  on  the  head, 
which  fractured  the  skull,  and  rendered  a 
surgical  operation  necessary.  The  fact,  how- 
ever, that  three  of  the  brothers  of  this  indi- 
vidual were  affected  with  the  same  kind  of 
vision  renders  it  probable  that  he  was  con- 
stitutionally predisposed  to  this  peculiarity. 
— HENRY  Scientific   Works,   vol.   i,   p.   238. 
(Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

543.  COLORS    IN   DEEP-SEA    FISH— 

Dark  or  Dull  Hues  Prevail. — The  majority 
of  the  fish  are  dark  brown  or  black,  but 
many  other  colors  are  represented.  .  .  . 
Many  examples  could  be  given  to  show  the 
prevalence  in  these  regions  of  these  black, 
dull,  and  pale  uniform  colors.  But  there 
are  many  exceptional  cases. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  59.  (A., 
1894.) 

544.  COLORS  OBTAINED  FROM  THIN 
FILMS — Due  to  Interference  of  Light-waves. — 
He  [Robert  Hooke]  then  describes  fully  and 
clearly  the  experiment  with  pressed  glasses: 
"  Take  two  small  pieces  of  ground  and  pol- 
ished looking-glass  plate,  each  about  the  big- 
ness of  a  shilling;    take  these  two  dry,  and 
with  your  forefingers  and  thumbs  press  them 
very  hard  and  close  together,  and  you  shall 
find   that   when  they  approach   each  other 
very  near  there  will  appear  several  irises  or 
colored   lines,     .     .     .     and   you  may  very 
easily  change  any  of  the  colors  of  any  part 
of  the  interposed  body  by  pressing  the  plates 
closer  and  harder  together,  or  leaving  them 
more  lax — that  is,  a  part  which  appeared 
colored  with  a  red  may  be  presently  tinged 
with  a  yellow,  blue,  green,  purple,  or  the 


like.  Any  substance,"  he  says,  "  provided  it 
be  thin  and  transparent,  will  show  these 
colors."  Like  Boyle,  he  obtained  them  with 
glass  films ;  he  also  "  produced  them  with 
bubbles  of  pitch,  rosin,  colophony,  turpen- 
tine, solutions  of  several  gums,  as  gum  ara- 
bic  in  water,  any  glutinous  liquor,  as  wort, 
wine,  spirit  of  wine,  oil  of  turpentine,  glare 
of  snails,  etc."  [See  COLORS  OF  THIN 
PLATES,  548-9.] — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  70.  (A.,  1898.) 

545.  COLORS    OF    SPECTRUM— Aris- 
totle's Theory  of  Combination  of  Black  and 
White — Experiment  Disposes  of  Ancient  Er- 
ror.— Aristotle  taught  that  black  and  white 
are  the  two  fundamental  qualities  of  light, 
and  that  every  color  can  be  obtained  from 
their    intermixture    in    varying    amounts. 
.     .     .     The  Aristotelian  view  of  the  origin 
of    color    prevailed    until    modern    times. 
Goethe  defended  it,  and  many  of  his  admir- 
ers are  its  enthusiastic  champions.     But  it 
has  been  banished  from  science  these  two 
hundred  years,  thanks  to  Newton's  discov- 
eries.    Newton   said   to   himself:     If   there 
really  are  simple  kinds  of  light  or  simple 
colors,  which  intermix  in  various  ways,  we 
must  be  able  both  to  isolate  and  to  recom- 
bine  the  simple  constituents  of  any  given 
compound  color.    That  meant  that  the  whole 
question  was  referred  to  the  tribunal  of  ex- 
periment, where  alone  it  could  be  definitely 
answered.     For  direct  perception  is  decep- 
tive.    Can  the  chemist  "  see  "  of  what  ele- 
ments a  body  is  composed?     Of  course  not. 
We    know    that    bodies    of    very    different 
chemical    composition    appear    just    alike. 
May  not  the  same  hold  of  light?     May  not 
similar  kinds  of  light  give  rise  to  different 
mixtures,    and    different    kinds    to    similar 
mixtures?      So   Newton    looked   round   him 
for  a  means  of  analyzing  compound  light, 
and   by   a   happy   accident   found   what   he 
wanted  in   the   refraction   of  light  by   the 
prism. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.   6,  p.   88. 
(Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

546.  COLORS    OF  STARS—  Change  of 
Color    of    Sirius. — The    Greek    astronomers 
were  acquainted  with  red  stars  only,  while 
modern  science  has  discovered,  by  the  aid  of 
the  telescope,  in  the  radiant  fields  of  the 
starry  heaven,   as   in   the  blossoms   of  the 
phanerogamia,  and  in  the  metallic  oxids,  al- 
most   all   the   gradations   of   the   prismatic 
spectrum  between  the  extremes  of  refrangi- 
bility  of  the  red  and  the  violet  ray.     Ptole- 
my enumerates  in  his  catalog  of  the  fixed 
stars  six  (viroKippot)    fiery  red  stars — viz., 
Arcturus,    Aldebaran,     Pollux,    Antares,  a 
Orionis  (in  the  right  shoulder),  and  Sirius. 
Cleomedes  even  compares  Antares  in  Scorpio 
with  the  fiery  red  Mars,  which  is  called  both 
»rvpp6£   and    irvpoeiSfi^.     Of  the  six  above- 
named  stars,  five  still  retain  a  red  or  red- 
dish light.     Pollux  is  still  indicated  as  a 
reddish    but    Castor    as    a    greenish    star. 
Sirius  therefore  affords  the  only  example  of 


Ill 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Coloration 
Combinatioi 


an  historically  proved  change  of  color,  for  it 
has  at  present  a  perfectly  white  light.  A 
great  physical  revolution  must  therefore 
have  occurred  at  the  surface  or  in  the  photo- 
sphere of  this  fixed  star. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  130.  (H.,  1897.) 


547, 


Variety  and   Con- 


trast of — Instances  of  Double,  Triple,  and 
Multiple  Stars.  —  Stars  have  also  been 
noticed  which,  instead  of  showing  a  white 
or  golden  light,  as  is  generally  the  case,  are 
colored  with  the  most  vivid  tints,  such  as 
those  of  the  emerald,  sapphire,  ruby,  topaz, 
garnet,  and  the  finest  of  our  precious  stones. 
The  telescope  has  discovered  a  large  number 
which,  instead  of  being  single,  as  they  ap- 
pear to  the  naked  eye,  are  double,  composed 
of  two  stars  close  together  which  turn  round 
each  other  in  revolutions  which  we  have  al- 
ready been  able  to  calculate,  and  which  in- 
clude the  most  varied  periods,  from  a  few 
years  to  several  centuries  and  even  thou- 
sands of  years.  Sometimes  the  system  is 
triple :  a  bright  star  is  seen  accompanied  by 
two  little  companions,  and  while  these  two 
revolve  round  each  other,  they  move  to- 
gether and  revolve  round  the  large  one.  It 
is  among  these  multiple  systems  that  we 
find  the  most  wonderful  contrasts  of  colors. 
The  science  is  already  so  far  advanced  in 
this  respect  that  I  have  been  able  to  form  a 
catalog  of  nearly  1,000  double  stars  in 
certain  motion,  and  to  construct  a  chart  of 
more  than  10,000  double  stars  which  have 
been  discovered. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  vi,  ch.  3,  p.  580.  (A.) 

548.    COLORS    OF    THIN     PLATES— 

Films  of  Any  Kind  Illustrate — Newton 
Blowing  Soap-bubbles. — This  subject  [of 
the  interference  of  light-waves]  may  be  il- 
lustrated by  the  class  of  phenomena  which 
first  suggested  the  undulatory  theory  to  the 
mind  of  Hooke.  These  are  the  colors  of  thin 
transparent  films  of  all  kinds,  known  as  the 
colors  of  thin  plates.  In  this  relation  no 
object  in  the  world  possesses  a  deeper  scien- 
tific interest  than  a  common  soap-bubble. 
And  here  let  me  say  emerges  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  the  student  of  pure  science  en- 
counters in  the  presence  of  "practical"  com- 
munities like  those  of  America  and  Eng- 
land; it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  such 
communities  can  entertain  any  profound 
sympathy  with  labors  which  seem  so  far  re- 
moved from  the  domain  of  practise  as  many 
of  the  labors  of  the  man  of  science  are. 
Imagine  Dr.  Draper  spending  his  days  in 
blowing  soap-bubbles  and  in  studying  their 
colors !  Would  you  show  him  the  necessary 
patience,  or  grant  him  the  necessary  sup- 
port ?  And  yet,  be  it  remembered,  it  was  thus 
that  minds  like  those  of  Boyle,  Newton,  and 
Hooke  were  occupied;  and  that  on  such  ex- 
periments has  been  founded  a  theory  the  is- 
sues of  which  are  incalculable.  I  see  no 
other  way  for  you,  laymen,  than  to  trust  the 
scientific  man  with  the  choice  of  his  inquir- 
ies; he  stands  before  the  tribunal  of  his 


peers,  and  by  their  verdict  on  his  labors  you 
ought  to  abide. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  2,  p.  65.  (A.,  1898.) 

549. Interference  of  Light- 
waves Illustrated — Prismatic  Colors  of  a 
Film  of  Spirit  of  Turpentine  on  Water. — 
Take  with  you  a  little  bottle  of  spirit  of  tur- 
pentine, and  pour  it  into  one  of  your  coun- 
try ponds.  You  will  then  see  the  flashing  of 
those  colors  over  the  surface  of  the  water. 
On  a  small  scale  we  produce  them  thus:  A 
common  tea-tray  is  filled  wfth  water,  be- 
neath the  surface  of  which  dips  the  end  of  a 
pipette.  A  beam  of  light  falls  upon  the 
water,  and  is  reflected  by  it  to  the  screen. 
Spirit  of  turpentine  is  poured  into  the 
pipette;  it  descends,  issues  from  the  end  in 
minute  drops,  which  rise  in  succession  to 
the  surface.  On  reaching  it,  each  drop 
spreads  suddenly  out  as  a  film,  and,  glowing 
colors  immediately  flash  forth  upon  the 
screen.  The  colors  change  as  the  thickness 
of  the  film  changes  by  evaporation.  They 
are  also  arranged  in  zones,  in  consequence 
of  the  gradual  diminution  of  thickness  from 
the  center  outwards.  [See  COLORS  OBTAINED 
FROM  THIN  FILMS;  LIGHT,  DOUBLE  REFLEC- 
TION OF,  PLATES;  etc.] — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  67.  (A.,  1898.) 

550.  COLORS    RESULTING  FROM 
MOLECULAR    ARRANGEMENT    OF    SUB- 
STANCES—  It    is    the    molecular    arrange- 
ment of  reflecting  or  transparent  substances 
which  gives  rise  to  the  different  reflections 
of  light — that  is  to  say,  the  colors.    A  slight 
difference  produces  here  a  blue  eye,  pensive 
and  thoughtful,  there  a  brown  eye  with  half- 
hidden  flames,  there  a   look   dull   and  dis- 
tasteful.   The  dazzling  rose  which  blooms  in 
the  flower-garden  receives  the  same  light  as 
the  lily,  the  buttercup,  the  cornflower,  or  the 
violet;    molecular  reflection  produces  all  the 
difference;    and  we  might  even  say,  without 
metaphor,  that  objects  are  of  all  colors  ex- 
cept that  which  they  appear.     Why  is  the 
meadow  green?    Because  it  keeps  all  except 
the  green,  which  it  does  not  want,  and  sends 
back.    White  is  formed  by  the  reflective  na- 
ture of  an  object  which  keeps  nothing  and 
returns  all ;   black,  by  a  surface  which  keeps 
all  and  sends  back  nothing. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  7,  p.   321. 
(A.) 

551.  COMBINATION    MAY  PERISH— 

Substance  or  Agent  Must  Remain. — There  is 
no  existing  order — no  present  combination 
of  matter  or  of  force — which  we  cannot  con- 
ceive coming  to  an  end.  But  when  that  end 
is  come,  we  cannot  conceive  but  that  some- 
thing must  remain— if  it  be  nothing  else 
than  that  by  which  the  ending  was  brought 
about. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p. 
85.  (Burt.) 

552.  COMBINATION    OF    INTELLI- 
GENCE—  The  Republic  of  the  Stars — By  Elec- 
tricity the  Astronomer  Looks  from  All  Parts 
of  the  World  at  Once. — Modern  facilities  of 
communication  have  helped  to  impress  more 


Combination 
Compensation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


112 


deeply  upon  modern  astronomy  its  associ- 
ative character.  The  electric  telegraph  gives 
a  certain  ubiquity  which  is  invaluable  to  an 
observer  of  the  skies.  With  the  help  of  a 
wire,  a  battery,  and  a  code  of  signals,  he 
sees  whatever  is  visible  from  any  portion  of 
our  globe,  depending,  however,  upon  other 
eyes  than  his  own,  and  so  entering  as  a  unit 
into  a  wide-spread  combination  of  intelli- 
gence. The  press,  again,  has  been  a  potent 
agent  of  cooperation.  I  has  mainly  con- 
tributed to  unite  astronomers  all  over  the 
world  into  a  body  animated  by  the  single 
aim  of  collecting  "  particulars "  in  their 
special  branch  for  what  Bacon  termed  a 
History  of  Nature,  eventually  to  be  inter- 
preted according  to  the  sagacious  insight  of 
some  one  among  them  gifted  above  his  fel- 
lows.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  int., 
p.  7.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

553.  COMBINATION  OF   THE   SEEM- 
INGLY   INCOMPATIBLE  —  Fossils    Ejected 
from     Depths     of     Volcano. — At     Vesuvius 
fragments     of     limestone     are     frequently 
ejected,  and  may  be  picked  up  all  over  the 
slopes  of  the  mountains.     These  limestone- 
fragments    frequently    contain    fossils,    and 
Professor    Guiscardi,    of    Naples,    has    been 
able   to  collect  several   hundred   species   of 
shells,  transported  thus  by  volcanic  action 
from  the  rock-masses  which  form  the  foun- 
dation of  the  volcano  of  Vesuvius.     The  ac- 
tion of  water  at  a  high  temperature,  and 
under  such  enormous  pressure  as  must  exist 
beneath  volcanic  mountains,  has  often  pro- 
duced changes  in  the  rocks  of  which  frag- 
ments   are   ejected    from    volcanic   vents. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  3,  p.  45.     (A.,  1899.) 

554.  COMBINATIONS,  HUMAN,  MUST 
ACT   WITH  NATURE — Combination  is  nat- 
ural to  man.    The  desire  for  it  and  the  need 
of  it  grow  with  the  growth  of  knowledge 
and  with  the  increasing  complications  of  so- 
ciety.     It    has    now,    for    the    most    part, 
emerged  from  the  stage  of  rude  ignorance 
which  led  to  the  breaking  of  machinery.     It 
is  conducted,  comparatively  at  least,  with 
high  intelligence,  and  aims  for  the  most  part 
at  legitimate  objects  of  desire.     Yet  in  the 
rebellion  which  has  been  roused  against  the 
doctrines  of  necessity,  founded  on  false  con- 
ceptions of  invariable  law,  there  is  a  con- 
stant danger  lest  the  spirit  of  association 
should  attempt  to  act  against  Nature  in- 
stead of  acting  with  it. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  224.     (Burt.) 

555.  COMBUSTION,  ITS  CHIEF  PROD- 
UCTS   INVISIBLE— The  chief  products  of 
ordinary     combustion — that     is,     the     com- 
pounds of  oxygen  with  the  elements  of  coal, 
wood,  and  illuminating  gas — are  only  two  in 
number,  carbonic  dioxid  gas  and  aqueous  va- 
por.   These  products,  as  is  well  known,  are 
perfectly  colorless  and  transparent  aeriform 
substances,   wholly  without  odor   or   taste, 
and  entirely  devoid  of  every  active  quality. 


For  this  reason  they  escape  without  obser- 
vation from  the  burning  wood,  ascend  our 
chimneys,  and  by  the  force  of  diffusion  are 
spread  throughout  the  atmosphere;  but  if, 
as  may  readily  be  done  by  chemical  means, 
we  collect  the  neglected  smoke  and  weigh  it, 
we  shall  find  that  it  weighs  much  more  than 
the  burnt  wood,  and,  as  more  careful  experi- 
ments will  show,  its  weight  is  exactly  equal 
to  that  of  the  wood  added  to  that  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  air  consumed  during  the  burn- 
ing.— COOKE  Religion  and  Chemistry,  ch.  3, 
p.  78.  (A.,  1897.) 

556.  COMETS    ARE    MOVING    ELEC- 
TRIC  LIGHTS  —  The  gaseous  surroundings 
of  comets  are  then  largely  made  up   of  a 
compound  of  hydrogen  with  carbon.     Other 
materials  are  also  present;    but  the  hydro- 
carbon  element   is   probably  unfailing   and 
predominant.      Its    luminosity   is,    there    is 
little   doubt,   an  effect   of  electrical   excite- 
ment.    Zollner  showed  in  1872  that,  owing 
to  evaporation  and  other  changes  produced 
by    rapid    approach    to    the    sun,    electrical 
processes    of    considerable    intensity    must 
take  place  in  comets ;  and  that  their  original 
light  is  immediately  connected  with  these, 
and   depends   upon   solar   radiation,    rather 
through   its   direct  or   indirect  electrifying 
effects     than     through     its     more     obvious 
thermal  power,  may  be  considered  a  truth 
permanently  acquired  to  science.     They  are 
not,    it    thus     seems,    bodies    incandescent 
through   heat,   but   glowing  by   electricity; 
and  this   is   compatible,   under   certain   cir- 
cumstances, with  a  relatively  low  tempera- 
ture.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  10,  p.  416.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

557.  COMMUNICATION,  ELECTRICAL 

— Vision  of  a  Possible  Future. — In  a  lecture 
on  Submarine  Telegraphy  at  the  Imperial 
Institute  (February  15,  1897),  Professor 
Ayrton  said :  "  I  have  told  you  about  the 
past  and  about  the  present.  What  about 
the  future  ?  Well,  there  is  no  doubt  the  day 
will  come,  maybe  when  you  and  I  are  for- 
gotten, when  copper  wires,  gutta-percha  cov- 
erings, and  iron  sheathings  will  be  relegated 
to  the  museum  of  antiquities.  Then,  when  a 
person  wants  to  telegraph  to  a  friend,  he 
knows  not  where,  he  will  call  in  an  electro- 
magnetic voice,  which  will  be  heard  loud  by 
him  who  has  the  electro-magnetic  ear,  but 
will  be  silent  to  every  one  else.  He  will  call, 
'  Where  are  you  ?  '  and  the  reply  will  come, 
'I  am  at  the  bottom  of  the  coal-mine,'  or 
'  Crossing  the  Andes,'  or  '  In  the  middle  of 
the  Pacific ' ;  or  perhaps  no  reply  will  come 
at  all,  and  he  may  then  conclude  the  friend 
is  dead." — FAHIE  Wireless  Telegraphy,  pref., 
p.  7.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.). 

558.  COMMUNION     OF     PRIMITIVE 
MAN  WITH  NATURE— Astronomy  the  Most 
Ancient  of  the  Sciences — The  Moon's  Phases 
the  Origin  of  the  Calendar — "  He  Appointed 
the  Moon  for  Seasons"  (Ps,  civ,  19). — Our 
fore-fathers    lived    in    more    intimate    com- 


113 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Combination 
Compensation! 


munication  with  Nature  than  we  do.  They 
had  neither  the  artificial  life,  nor  the  hy- 
pocrisy, nor  the  anxieties  created  by  the 
factitious  necessities  of  modern  existence. 
It  was  they  who  established  the  first  bases 
of  the  sciences  by  the  direct  observation  of 
natural  phenomena.  If  astronomy  is  the 
most  ancient  of  the  sciences,  the  study  of  the 
moon  was  the  most  ancient  of  astronomical 
observations,  because  it  was  the  simplest, 
the  easiest,  and  the  most  useful.  The  soli- 
tary globe  of  night  pours  out  its  calm  and 
clear  light  in  the  midst  of  the  silence  and 
contemplation  of  Nature.  The  succession  of 
its  phases  provided  shepherds  as  well  as 
travelers  with  the  first  measure  of  time, 
after  that  of  day  and  night,  due  to  the  diur- 
nal rotation  of  our  planet.  The  lunar  cres- 
cent, with  its  melancholy  light,  gave  to 
Nature  a  pastoral  calendar. — FLAMMARION 

«  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  2,  p.  96.  (A.) 
559.  COMMUNITY  OF  NEED  AND 
SUPPLY — Chopping -knife  in  Use  among  Es- 
kimo Women. — The  Eskimo  women  have  a 
knife  precisely  like  the  mincing-choppers  in 
every  kitchen,  which  they  use  at  present  for 
all  sorts  of  work.  But  is  it  not  interesting 
to  find  dainty  little  women  almost  at  the 
jumping-off  place  of  the  globe  holding  on  to 
the  primeval  form  of  an  implement  as  well 
as  its  use  whose  modern  representative  does 
service  both  in  our  kitchens  and  our  sad- 
dler-shops? The  saddler  and  his  wife  now 
divide  between  them  an  implement  which 
many  thousands  of  years  ago  would  have 
been  hers  alone,  and  he  would  have  been  de- 
filed to  touch  it.  With  it,  in  that  early  day, 
she  made  harness  for  dogs  and  for  herself  to 
wear,  besides  cutting  out  clothing  and  tents, 
skinning  animals,  and  mincing  food. — 
MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  27.  (A.,  1894.) 

56O.     COMPARISON    OF    DIFFERENT 

VIEWS—  Celest ial  Objects  Located  by  Combi- 
ning Observations — Transit  of  Venus — The 
Planet  a  Celestial  Index. — To  determine  the 
distance  of  an  inaccessible  object  we  must 
compare  the  direction  in  which  it  lies  as 
seen  from  two  stations  sufficiently  far 
apart.  This,  which  is  a  principle  of  ordi- 
nary land-surveying,  is  equally  true  of  the 
celestial  objects.  The  astronomer  deter- 
mines the  moon's  distance  by  observing  her 
from  the  northern  and  southern  hemi- 
spheres, as  from  the  Greenwich  Observatory 
and  the  observatory  at  Cape  Town;  or  else 
he  takes  advantage  of  the  fact  that  the 
earth  rotates  on  her  axis,  and  so  carries  any 
given  station  from  one  side  to  another  in  a 
given  time.  The  distance  of  the  sun  can  be 
measured  in  no  other  (direct)  way,  and 
altho  we  hear  of  the  transits  of  Venus  as 
means  of  which  the  astronomer  avails  him- 
self to  determine  the  sun's  distance,  yet  the 
very  same  principle  is  involved — the  value 
of  a  transit  of  Venus  depending  solely  on 
the  fact  that  the  observers  at  two  distant 
stations  can  in  point  of  fact  regard  her  as  a 


celestial  index,  traversing  the  sun's  face  as 
an  index-plate,  so  that  they  possess,  as  it 
were,  an  instrument  of  survey  more  power- 
ful than  any  terrestrial  instrument. — PROC- 
TOR Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  241.  (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

561.  COMPENSATION    IN    CHRO- 
NOMETER— Self-adjustment  to  Heat  or  Cold 
— Cause   Back   of   Mechanism. — We   find   a 
singularly    parallel    case   in   that  beautiful 
piece   of   human   workmanship-r-a    clock   or 
chronometer  so  constructed  as:  by  the  accu- 
rate  "  compensation "    of   its   pendulum   or 
balance-wheel,  to  keep  accurate  time  under 
all  ordinary  variations  of  climatic  tempera- 
ture.    Surely  we  do  not  consider  it  a  suffi- 
cient account  of  its  self -adjustment  to  at- 
tribute it  to  the  physical  action  of  heat  or 
cold;     for  this  would  disturb  the  perform- 
ance of  an  ordinary  clock  or  watch.     We; 
seek  the  explanation  of  its  special  "  poten- 
tiality "    in    the    compensating    apparatus ; 
and  we  trace  back  the  origin  of  this  appara- 
tus to  the  mind  of  its  contriver.     So,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  however  long  may  be  the  chain 
of  "  causation,"  or  the  series  of  "  uncondi- 
tional   sequences,"    that    may   be    traceable 
backwards  in  the  ancestral  history  of  any 
organized  type,  we  come  to  a  beginning  of 
it,  as  to  the  first  term  of  an  arithmetical  or 
geometrical   progression;     and  we   have   no 
less  to  account  for  the  common  beginning  of 
the  whole  organized  creation,  with  its  un- 
limited   possibilities    of    modification    and 
adaptation,  than  if  we  had  to  account  for 
the    separate    production    of    each    type    of 
plant  and  animal. — CARPENTER  Nature  and 
Man,  lect.  15,  p.  442.     (A.,  1889.) 

562.  COMPENSATION  IN   NATURE 

— Insectivorous  Plants  Flourish  in  Poor 
Soil — Interchange  of  Functions  of  Organs — 
Roots  Defective  when  Leaves  Supply  Food. 
— The  absorption  of  animal  matter  from 
captured  insects  explains  how  Drosera  can 
flourish  in  extremely  poor  peaty  soil.  .  .  . 
Altho  the  leaves  at  a  hasty  glance  do  not 
appear  green,  owing  to  the  purple  color  of 
the  tentacles,  yet  the  upper  and  lower  sur- 
faces of  the  blade,  the  pedicels  of  the  central 
tentacles,  and  the  petioles  contain  chloro- 
phyl,  so  that,  no  doubt,  the  plant  obtains 
and  assimilates  carbonic  acid  from  the  air. 
Nevertheless,  considering  the  nature  of  the 
soil  where  it  grows,  the  supply  of  nitrogen 
would  be  extremely  limited,  or  quite  defi- 
cient, unless  the  plant  had  the  power  of  ob- 
taining this  important  element  from  cap- 
tured insects.  We  can  thus  understand  how 
it  is  that  the  roots  are  so  poorly  developed. 
These  usually  consist  of  only  two  or  three 
slightly  divided  branches,  from  half  to  one 
inch  in  length,  furnished  with  absorbent 
hairs.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  roots 
serve  only  to  imbibe  water;  tho,  no  doubt, 
they  would  absorb  nutritive  matter  if  pres- 
ent in  the  soil.  ...  A  plant  of  Drosera, 
with  the  edges  of  its  leaves  curled  inwards, 
so  as  to  form  a  temporary  stomach,  with  the. 


Compensation 
Concentration 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


114 


glands  of  the  closely  inflected  tentacles  pour- 
ing forth  their  acid  secretion,  which  dis- 
solves animal  matter,  afterwards  to  be  ab- 
sorbed, may  be  said  to  feed  like  an  animal. 
But,  differently  from  an  animal,  it  drinks 
by  means  of  its  roots;  and  it  must  drink 
largely,  so  as  to  retain  many  drops  of  viscid 
fluid  round  the  glands,  sometimes  as  many 
as  260,  exposed  during  the  whole  day  to  a 
glaring  sun. — DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants, 
ch.  1,  p.  14.  (A.,  1900.) 

563.  COMPENSATIONS     OF     THE 
DEEP — Lack  of  Sight  Accompanied  by  Supe- 
rior Organs  of  Touch. — The  disappearance 
of  the  sense  of  sight  in  the  animals  of  the 
deep   sea  is  sometimes  accompanied  by  an 
enormous    development    of    tactile    organs. 
Thus,  among  fishes  we  find  Bathypterois,  a 
form  that  possesses  extremely  small   eyes, 
provided  with  enormously  long  pectoral  fin- 
rays  that  most  probably  possess  the  func- 
tions of  organs  of  touch.     Among  the  Crus- 
tacea we  find  the  blind   form,    Galathodes 
Antonii,  with  an  extraordinary  development 
in  length  of  the  antennae,  and  Nematocar- 
cinus,  with   enormously  long  antennae   and 
legs. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
4,  p.  75.     (A.,  1894.) 

564.  COMPETITORS,  NEW,  AFFECT 
PLANT    OR  ANIMAL   IN  NEW  LAND— 
Hence  we  can  see  that  when  a  plant  or  ani- 
mal is  placed  in  a  new  country,  among  new 
competitors,  the  conditions  of  its  life  will 
generally  be  changed  in  an  essential  man- 
ner, altho  the  climate  may  be  exactly  the 
same  as  in  its  former  home.     If  its  average 
numbers  are  to  increase  in  its  new  home,  we 
should  have  to  modify  it  in  a  different  way 
to  what  we  should  have  had  to  do  in  its  na- 
tive country;    for  we  should  have  to  give  it 
some  advantage  over  a  different  set  of  com- 
petitors   or    enemies. — DARWIN    Origin    of 
Species,  ch.  3,  p.  72.     (Burt.) 

565.  COMPLEXITY  OF  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS ALWAYS— No  Feeling  or  Motive  Sim- 
ple  and   Unmingled. — We  have  thus   fields 
of   consciousness — that  is  the  first  general 
fact ;  and  the  second  general  fact  is  that  the 
concrete   fields   are   always   complex.     They 
contain  sensations  of  our  bodies  and  of  the 
objects  around  us,  memories  of  past  experi- 
ences and  thoughts  of  distant  things,  feel- 
ings of  satisfaction  and  dissatisfaction,  de- 
sires   and    aversions,    and    other    emotional 
conditions,  together  with  determinations  of 
the  will,   in  every  variety   of  permutation 
and  combination. — .JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers, 
ch.  2,  p.  17.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

566.  COMPLEXITY    OF    HUMAN 
BRAIN  AND  FINENESS  OF  STRUCTURE 

— Adapted  to  Freedom  and  Variety  of  Hu- 
man Thought. — When  it  is  remembered,  in- 
deed, that  the  brain  itself  is  very  large,  the 
largest  mass  of  nerve-matter  in  the  organic 
world ;  when  it  is  further  realized  that  each 
of  the  cells  of  which  it  is  built  up  measures 
only  one-ten-thousandth  of  an  inch  in 


diameter,  that  the  transit-fibers  which  con- 
nect them  are  of  altogether  unimaginable 
fineness,  the  limitlessness  of  the  powers  of 
thought  and  the  inconceivable  complexity 
of  these  processes  will  begin  to  be  under- 
stood.— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  286. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

567 .  COMPLEXITY  OF  THE  STRUG- 
GLE FOR  LIFE— Bumblebees— Field-mice- 
Cats. — Humblebees   alone   visit   red   clover, 
as  other  bees  cannot  reach  the  nectar.     .     .     . 
Hence  we  may  infer  as  highly  probable  that, 
if  the  whole  genus  of  humblebees  became 
extinct  or  very  rare  in  England,   the  red 
clover  would  become  very  rare,   or  wholly 
disappear.     The  number  of  humblebees  in 
any   district   depends    in   a   great   measure 
upon  the  number  of  field-mice,  which  destroy 
their  combs  and  nests;    and  Colonel  New- 
man, who  has  long  attended  to  the  habits  of 
humblebees,  believes  that  "  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  them  are  thus  destroyed  all  over 
England."      Now    the    number    of    mice    is 
largely  dependent,  as  every  one  knows,  on 
the  number   of   cats.     .     .     .     Hence    it   is 
quite  credible  that  the  presence  of  a  feline 
animal  in  large  numbers  in  a  district  might 
determine,  through  the  intervention  first  of 
mice  and  then  of  bees,  the  frequency  of  cer- 
tain flowers  in  that  district. — DARWIN  Ori- 
gin of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  68.     (Burt.) 

568.  COMPLEXITY      REQUIRES 
TIME    FOR   DEVELOPMENT  — Two     or- 
ganisms of  the  same  size,  but  belonging  to 
different  grades  of  organization,  will  require 
different  periods  of  time  for  their  develop- 
ment.    Certain  animals  of  a  very  lowly  or- 
ganization, such  as  the  Rhizopoda,  may  at- 
tain a  diameter  of  .5  mm.  and  may  thus 
become  larger  than  many  insects'  eggs.    Yet 
under    favorable    circumstances    an    ameba 
can  divide  into  two  animals  in  ten  minutes, 
while  no  insect's  egg  can  develop  into  the 
young  animal  in  a  less  period  than  twenty- 
four  hours.     Time  is  required  for  the  devel- 
opment   of    the    immense    number    of    cells 
which  must  in  the  latter  case  arise  from  the 
single  egg-cell. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  i, 
ch.  1,  p.  8.    (Cl.  P.,  1891.) 

569.  COMPOSITION    OF    FORCES- 

Path  of  a  Pendulum  Changed  to  an  Ellipse. 
— Suspended  before  you  is  a  pendulum, 
which,  when  drawn  aside  and  liberated,  os- 
cillates to  and  fro.  If,  when  the  pendulum 
is  passing  the  middle  point  of  its  excursion, 
I  impart  a  shock  to  it  tending  to  drive  it  at 
right  angles  to  its  present  course,  what  oc- 
curs? The  two  impulses  compound  them- 
selves to  a  vibration  oblique  in  direction  to 
the  former  one,  but  the  pendulum  still  oscil- 
lates in  a  plane.  But,  if  the  rectangular 
shock  be  imparted  to  the  pendulum  when  it 
is  at  the  limit  of  its  swing,  then  the  com- 
pounding of  the  two  impulses  causes  the  sus- 
pended ball  to  describe,  not  a  straight  line, 
but  an  ellipse;  and,  if  the  shock  be  com- 
petent of  itself  to  produce  a  vibration  of  the 


115 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Compensation 
Concentration 


• 


snme  amplitude  as  the  first  one,  the  ellipse 
becomes  a  circle. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  4,  p.  142.  (A.,  1898.) 

570.  COMPREHENSIVENESS      OF 

GENIUS  —  Newton  Proved  Gravitation  by 
Siudying  the  Disturbances  of  the  Moon's 
Motion. — It  was  in  dealing  with  these  dis- 
turbances [of  the  moon]  that  Newton  showed 
with  what  wonderful  mental  powers  he  had 
been  endowed.  He  tracked  the  moon  through 
all  her  movements,  and  measured  the  sun's 
action  on  her  in  all  positions;  he  showed 
where  she  would  be  hastened,  where  re- 
tarded, where  drawn  away  from  the  earth, 
where  drawn  closer,  where  her  path 
would  be  more  tilted,  where  less,  where  its 
eccentricity  would  be  increased,  where  di- 
minished. All  the  peculiarities  of  motion 
thus  calculated  from  the  law  of  gravitation 
were  found  to  accord  in  the  most  convincing 
manner  with  those  peculiarities  actually  ob- 
served in  the  moon's  motions  which  had  long 
perplexed  astronomers.  The  demonstration 
of  the  law  of  gravitation  was  so  complete,  as 
it  thus  first  came  from  Newton's  hands,  that 
within  a  very  short  time  men  of  science  were 
thoroughly  convinced,  and  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation has  not  been  seriously  questioned 
from  that  day  to  this. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of 
eaven,  p.  113.  (L.  G.  &  Co.) 

571.  COMPREHENSIVENESS      0  F 
THE  HUMAN   MIND— Man  Reads   System 
into  Phenomena. — Through  this   faculty  of 
invention  the  whole  earth  is  man's.     There 
is  not  a  lone  island  fit  for  his  abode  whereon 
some   Alexander    Selkirk   has   not   made    a 
home.    Every  mineral,  plant,  and  animal  is 
so  far  known  that  a  place  has  been  found 
for  it  in  his  Systema  Naturce.     Every  crea- 
ture is  subject  to  man;    the  winds,  the  seas, 
the  sunshine,  the  lightning  do  his  bidding. 
Projecting  his  vision  beyond  his  tiny  planet, 
this  inventing  animal  has   catalogued   and 
traced  the  motion  of  every  star.     But  his 
crowning  glory  (which  always  fills  me  with 
admiration)    is  his  ever-increasing  compre- 
hensiveness.    After  centuries  of  cultivating 
acquaintance  with  the  discrete  phenomena 
around  him,  he  has  now  striven  to  coordi- 
nate them,  to  make  them  organic,  to  read 
system  into  them.     He  has  learned  by  de- 
grees to  comprehend  all  things  as  parts  of  a 
single  mechanism.     Sir  Isaac  Newton  and 
Kepler  conceived  all  objects  and  all  worlds 
to  be  held  by  universal  gravitation. — MASON 
The  Birth  of  Invention.     Address  at   Cen- 
tenary of  Am.  Pat.  System,  Washington,  D. 
C.,  1891 ;  proceedings,  p.  403. 

572.  COMPULSION    ABOLISHES 
MORAL  QUALITY   OF  ACTIONS— If  any 

human  action  is  determined  not  by  any  mo- 
tive whatever,  but  simply  by  external  or 
physical  compulsion,  then  no  moral  element 
is  present  at  all,  and  no  perception  of  the 
moral  sense  can  arise  respecting  it.  Free- 
dom, therefore,  in  the  sense  of  exemption 
from  such  compulsion,  must  be  assumed  as 


a  condition  of  human  action  absolutely  es- 
sential to  its  possessing  any  moral  character 
whatever. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9, 
p.  197.  (Burt.) 

573.  COMPULSION    OF    BODY  BY 

MIND—  The  "Mountain  Sickness"— Milk  Re- 
freshes Alpine  Climber. — It  is  not  good  to 
go  altogether  without  food  in  these  climbing 
expeditions ;  nor  is  it  good  to  eat  copiously. 
Here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  as  the  need 
makes  itself  apparent,  is  the  prudent  course. 
For,  left  to  itself,  the  stomach  infallibly 
sickens,  and  the  forces  of  the  system  ooze 
away.  Should  the  sickness  have  set  in  so  as 
to  produce  a  recoil  from  nutriment,  the 
stomach  must  be  forced  to  yield.  A  small 
modicum  of  food  usually  suffices  to  set  it 
right.  The  strongest  guides  and  the  sturdi- 
est porters  have  sometimes  to  use  this  com- 
pulsion. .  .  .  On  the  present  occasion  I 
had  a  bottle  of  milk,  which  suits  me  better 
than  anything  else.  That  and  a  crust  are 
all  I  need  to  keep  my  vigor  up  and  to  ward 
off  le  mal  des  montagnes. — TYNDALL  Hours 
of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  25,  p.  302.  (A., 
1898.) 

574.  CONCENTRATION  OF  INDUS- 
TRY—  The  Factory  System  Antedates  Steam — 
Apprenticeship   an  Incident. — And   just  as 
Hargreaves   and  Arkwright  and  Crompton 
were  inventing  the  new  machines  which  were 
to  be  moved,  Watt  was  laboring  at  the  new 
power  which  was  to  move  them.    But  mean- 
while,   before    the    steam-engine    had    been 
made  available,  the  factory  system  had  be- 
gun under  the  old  motive  power  of  water; 
and  here  it  is  very  curious  to  observe  how 
each  stage  in  the  progress  of  discovery  had, 
by    way    of    natural    consequence,    its    own 
special  effect  on  the  conduct  and  the  wills  of 
men.    Very  soon  the  course  of  every  moun- 
tain  stream   in   Lancashire   and   Yorkshire 
was  marked  by  factories.     This  again  had 
another  consequence.     It  was  a  necessity  of 
the  case  that  such  factories  must  generally 
be  situated  at  a  distance  from  preexisting 
populations,  and,  therefore,  from  a  full  sup- 
ply  of   labor.      Consequently   they   had   to 
create   communities   for   themselves.     From 
this    necessity,    again,    it    arose    that    the 
earlier  mills  were  worked  under  a  system  of 
apprenticeship.     The  due  attendance  of  the 
requisite  number  of  "  hands  "  was  secured 
by  engagements  which  bound  the  laborer  to 
his    work    for    a    definite    period. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  207.     (Burt.) 

575.  CONCENTRATION  OF  POWER 

— Through  a  Three-foot  Burning-glass  the 
Sun's  Heat  Vaporizes  Diamond — A  Partial 
Revelation  of  the  Heat  of  the  Sun's  Surface 
— Source  of  Heat  Exceeds  Its  Reflection  or 
Refraction. — One  certain  thing  is  this — that 
we  cannot  by  any  contrivance  raise  the  tem- 
perature in  the  focus  of  any  lens  or  mirror 
beyond  that  of  its  source  (practically  we 
cannot  do  even  so  much)  ;  we  cannot,  for 
instance,  by  any  burning-lens  make  the 


Concentration 
Conflagration 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


image  of  a  candle  as  hot  as  the  original 
flame.  Whatever  a  thermometer  may  read 
when  the  candle-heat  is  concentrated  on  its 
bulb  by  a  lens,  it  would  read  yet  more  if  the 
bulb  were  dipped  in  the  candle-flame  itself; 
and  one  obvious  application  of  this  fact  is 
that  tho  we  cannot  dip  our  thermometer  in 
the  sun,  we  know  that  if  we  could  do  so 
the  temperature  would  at  least  be  greater 
than  any  we  get  by  the  largest  burning- 
glass.  We  need  have  no  fear  of  making  the 
burning-glass  too  big;  the  temperature  at 
its  solar  focus  is  always  and  necessarily 
lower  than  that  of  the  sun  itself. 

For  some  reason  no  very  great  burning- 
lens  or  mirror  has  been  constructed  for  a 
long  time,  and  we  have  to  go  back  to  the 
eighteenth  century  to  see  what  can  be  done 
in  this  way.  .  .  . 

In  England,  the  largest  burning-lens  on 
record  was  made  ...  by  an  optician 
named  Parker  for  the  English  Government, 
who  designed  it  as  a  present  to  be  taken  by 
Lord  Macartney's  embassy  to  the  Emperor 
of  China.  Parker's  lens  was  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  very  massive,  being  seven 
inches  thick  at  the  center.  In  its  focus  the 
most  refractory  substances  were  fused,  and 
even  the  diamond  was  reduced  to  vapor,  so 
that  the  temperature  of  the  sun's  surface  is 
at  any  rate  higher  than  this. — LANGLEY  New 
Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  102.  (H.  M.  &  Co.) 

576.  CONCEPTION, INFINITE, FROM 
FINITE    EXPERIENCE— Indestructibility  of 
Matter  and  of  Force. — It  is  indeed  of  the 
highest  importance  to  observe  that  some  of 
these  conceptions,  especially  the  indestructi- 
bility of  matter  and  of  force,  belong  to  the 
domain  of  science.     .     .     .     As  now  accepted 
and  defined,  they  are  the  result  of  direct  ex- 
periment.    And  yet,   strictly  speaking,   all 
that  experiment  can  do  is  to  prove  that  in 
all  the  cases  in  which  either  matter  or  force 
seems  to  be  destroyed,  no  such  destruction 
has  taken  place.    Here  then  we  have  a  very 
limited  and  imperfect  amount  of  "  experi- 
ence "  giving  rise  to  an  infinite  conception. 
But  it  is  another  of  the  suggestions  of  the 
agnostic  philosophy  that  this  can  never  be  a 
legitimate  result.    Nevertheless,  it  is  a  fact 
that  these   conceptions   have  been   reached. 
They    are    now    universally    accepted    and 
taught  as  truths  lying  at  the  foundation  of 
every  branch  of  natural  science — at  once  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  every  physical  in- 
vestigation.— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch. 
4,  p.  85.     (Burt.) 

577.  CONCEPTION    OF    A     FINITE 
CREATOR—  God  Himself  Viewed  as  Engaged 
in   the   Struggle   against   Inevitable   Evil — 
Mill's  Belief.— Re  [John  Stuart  Mill]  does 
not  undertake  to  suggest  how  or  why  the 
divine  power  is  limited;    but  he  distinctly 
prefers  the  alternative  which  sacrifices  the 
attribute  of  omnipotence   in   order  to  pre- 
serve in  our  conception  of  Deity  the  attri- 
bute of  goodness.     According  to  Mr.  Mill, 
we  may  regard  the  all-wise  and  holy  Deity 


as  a  creative  energy  that  is  perpetually  at 
work  in  eliminating  evil  from  the  universe. 
His  wisdom  is  perfect,  his  goodness  is  in- 
finite, but  his  power  is  limited  by  some  inex- 
plicable viciousness  in  the  original  constitu- 
tion of  things  which  it  must  require  a  long 
succession  of  ages  to  overcome.  In  such  a 
view  Mr.  Mill  sees  much  that  is  ennobling. 
The  humblest  human  being  who  resists  an 
impulse  to  sin,  or  helps  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree to  leave  the  world  better  than  he  found 
it,  may  actually  be  regarded  as  a  partici- 
pator in  the  creative  work  of  God;  and 
thus  each  act  of  human  life  acquires  a  sol- 
emn significance  that  is  almost  overwhelm- 
ing to  contemplate. — FISKE  Through  Nature 
to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  17.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1900.) 

578.  CONCEPTIONS  FOUNDED   ON 
EXPERIENCE—  The    "Falling    Atoms"    of 
Ancient    Philosophy. — Our    conceptions    of 
natural    phenomena    and    their    causes    are 
founded  on,  but  they  are  not  bounded  by, 
sensible   experience.     The   eternally   falling 
atoms   of  Epicurus  and  Lucretius,   for  ex- 
ample, were  derived  from  the  observation  of 
small   particles   of   matter;     but   in   trans- 
forming   such   particles,   by   a   mental    act. 
into  atoms,  the  ancient  philosophers  broke 
ground  in  an  ideal  region.     The  notion  of 
falling  indicates  the  manner  in  which  the 
ancient  mind  was  conditioned  by  experience ; 
for  in  those  days,  while  the  action  of  gravity 
was  known,  the  action  of  molecular  force, 
capable    of    attracting    and    arranging    the 
atoms,  was  unknown.    The  case  is  represent- 
ative, the  visible  world  being  converted  by 
science  into  the  symbol  of  an  invisible  one. 
We  can  have  no  explanation  of  the  objects 
of  experience,  without  invoking  the  aid  and 
ministry  of  objects  which  lie  beyond  the  pale 
of  experience.     We  can  only  reach  the  roots 
of  natural  phenomena  by  laying  down,  in- 
tellectually, a  subsensible  soil  out  of  which 
such  phenomena  spring. — TYNDALL  Heat  a 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  1,  p.  32.     (A.,  1900.) 

579.  CONCURRENCE    OF    EVENTS 
TO     ADVANCE     ASTRONOMY—  The  "Set 
Time "    of    a    Great     Movement — Herschel 
"  Bursts  the  Barriers  of  Heaven." — Much  of 
this  interest  was  due  to  the  occurrence  of 
events  calculated  to  arrest  the  attention  and 
excite  the  wonder  of  the  uninitiated.     The 
predicted  return  of  Halley's  comet  in  1759 
verified,  after  an  unprecedented  fashion,  the 
computations  of  astronomers.     It  deprived 
such    bodies    forever    of    their    portentous 
character;     it  ranked  them  as  denizens  of 
the   solar   system.      Again,   the   transits   of 
Venus  in  1761   and  1769  were  the  first  oc- 
currences of  the  kind  since  the  awakening 
of  science  to  their  consequence.     Imposing 
preparations,  journeys  to  remote  and  hardly 
accessible  regions,  official  expeditions,  inter- 
national  communications,   all   for  the  pur- 
pose of  observing  them  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, brought  their  high  significance  vividly 
to  the  public  consciousness;    a  result  aided 


117 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Concentration 
Conflagration 


by  the  facile  pen  of  Lalande,  in  rendering 
intelligible  the  means  by  which  these  elabo- 
rate arrangements  were  to  issue  in  an  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  sun's  distance.  Lastly, 
Herschel's  discovery  of  Uranus,  March  13, 
1781,  had  the  surprising  effect  of  utter  nov- 
elty. Since  the  human  race  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  company  of  the  planets, 
no  addition  had  been  made  to  their  number. 
The  event  thus  broke  with  immemorial  tra- 
ditions, and  seemed  to  show  astronomy  as 
still  young  and  full  of  unlooked-for  possi- 
bilities.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy, 
int.,  p.  5.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

580.  CONDEMNATION  OF  PRESENT 
JUDGES    BRAVED    FOR   HIGHER    AP- 
PROVAL (1  Cor.  iv,  3-4)— The  Highest,  God 
— The  "  Great  Companion." — When  for  mo- 
tives of  honor  and  conscience  I  brave  the 
condemnation  of  my  own  family,  club,  and 
"set";      when,    as    a    Protestant,    I    turn 
Catholic;    as  a  Catholic,  freethinker;    as  a 
•"  regular  practitioner,"  homeopath,  or  what 
not,  I  am  always  inwardly  strengthened  in 
my  course  and  steeled  against  the  loss  of  my 
actual  social  self  by  the  thought  of  other 
and  better  possible  social  judges  than  those 
whose  verdict  goes   against  me  now.     The 
ideal  social   self  which  I  thus   seek  in  ap- 
pealing to  their   decision  may  be  very  re- 
mote:   it  may  be  represented  as  barely  pos- 
sible.    I  may  not  hope   for  its   realization 
during  my  lifetime;    I  may  even  expect  the 
future  generations,  which  would  approve  me 
if  they  knew  me,  to  know  nothing  about  me 
when  I  am  dead  and  gone.     Yet  still  the 
emotion  that  beckons  me  on  is  indubitably 
the  pursuit  of  an  ideal  social  self,  of  a  self 
that  is  at  least  worthy  of  approving  recog- 
nition by  the  highest  possible  judging  com- 
panion, if  such  companion  there  be.     This 
self  is  the  true,  the  intimate,  the  ultimate, 
the  permanent  Me  which  I  seek.    This  judge 
is  God,  the  Absolute  Mind,  the  "  Great  Com- 
panion."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10, 
p.  315.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

581.  CONDITIONS       APPARENTLY 
SIMILAR    PRODUCE    DIFFERENT   RE- 
SULTS— In  Coldest  Siberia  Glaciers  Unknown 
— Hasty       Inferences       Untrustworthy. — A 
study    of    the    arctic    regions    quickly    im- 
presses one  fact  upon  our  minds,  viz.,  the 
markedly  unequal  distribution  of  the  larger 
masses   of  land-ice.     .     .     .     The   other   is- 
lands north  of  the  American  continent,  tho 
some  are  of  a  fair  size  and  rise  to  a  consid- 
erable elevation,  nowhere  exhibit  an  accu- 
mulation of  ice  in  any  way  comparable  with 
that  of  Greenland.     The  same  is  true  of  the 
northern  part  of  Siberia;    the  cold  there  is 
no   less   intense   than   in  the  north   of   the 
other  continent.     .     .     .     The  January  tem- 
perature of  Yakutsk,  in  latitude  62°  north, 
is  as  low  as  —  40°  P.,  and  the  soil  is  per- 

.  manently  frozen  to  a  depth  of  about  700 
feet.  Yet  in  all  this  region,  notwithstand- 
ing the  intense  cold,  glaciers  are  unknown. 
The  reason  is  simple:  the  air  is  dry  and  the 


snowfall  is  but  light.  So  far  as  temperature 
goes,  a  glacial  epoch  rules  in  Siberia,  but 
no  marks  of  ice-action  will  be  left  behind  in 
the  event  of  its  departure. — BONNEY  Ice- 
work,  Present  and  Past,  pt.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  39. 
(A.,  1896.) 

582.  CONFIDENCE    IN  COMMON 

SENSE — Common  sense,  however,  univer- 
sally feels  that  analogy  is  here  a  safer  guide 
to  truth  than  the  skeptical  demand  for  im- 
possible evidence.-1— ROMANES  Animal  Intel- 
ligence, int.,  p.  6.  (A.,  1899.) 

583.  CONFLAGRATION  OF  A  STAR 

— News  Centuries  in  Coming. — Between 
thirty  and  fifteen  minutes  before  midnight 
of  May  12,  1866,  Mr.  John  Birmingham,  of 
Millbrook,  near  Tuam,  in  Ireland,  saw  with 
astonishment  a  bright  star  of  the  second 
magnitude  unfamiliarly  situated  in  the  con- 
stellation of  the  Northern  Crown.  Four 
hours  earlier,  Schmidt,  of  Athens,  had  been 
surveying  the  same  part  of  the  heavens,  and 
was  able  to  testify  that  it  was  not  visibly 
there;  that  is  to  say,  a  few  hours,  or  pos- 
sibly a  few  minutes,  sufficed  to  bring  about 
a  conflagration  the  news  of  which  may  have 
occupied  hundreds  of  years  in  traveling  to 
us  across  space.  .  .  .  The  chief  of  [the 
lines  observed  in  the  spectrum]  agreed  in 
position  with  lines  of  hydrogen;  so  that  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  outburst  was  plainly 
perceived  to  have  been  the  eruption,  or  igni- 
tion, of  vast  masses  of  that  subtle  kind  of 
matter  the  universal  importance  of  which 
throughout  the  cosmos  is  one  of  the  most 
curious  facts  revealed  by  the  spectroscope. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  12, 
p.  473.  (Bl.,  1893.) 


584. 


Sudden  Brightness 


of  "  The  Blaze  Star  " — Possible  Conflagra- 
tion of  Our  Sun — The  "  Day  of  Fire  "  on 
Earth. — Years  ago  a  star  suddenly  ap- 
peared in  the  constellation  of  the  North- 
ern Crown,  shining  as  a  star  of  the  second 
magnitude.  It  was  found  that  it  occupied 
the  same  place  as  a  star  of  the  tenth  magni- 
tude, and  no  doubt  now  exists  that  it  was 
this  known  faint  star  which  had  thus  sud- 
denly acquired  a  new  brilliancy ;  for  tho  the 
star  soon  lost  its  great  brightness,  it  can 
still  be  seen,  as  before,  as  a  star  of  about  the 
tenth  magnitude.  Now,  when  the  star  (ap- 
propriately called  the  Blaze  Star)  came  to 
be  examined  with  the  spectroscope,  it  was 
found  that  a  great  portion  of  its  light  came 
from  glowing  hydrogen.  Doubtless,  by  some 
circumstances  the  exact  nature  of  which  we 
shall  never  know,  there  had  been  a  tremen- 
dous conflagration  in  that  distant  star.  It 
was  estimated  that  the  brightness  of  the 
star  increased  fully  eight  hundredfold  while 
this  conflagration  was  in  progress.  If  a 
change  such  as  this  took  place  in  our  own 
sun — and  who  shall  say  that  such  a  change 
is  impossible? — the  prophecy  of  St.  Peter 
would  be  fulfilled:  "The  day  of  the  Lord 
will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night;  in  the 


Conflagration 
Conquest 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


118 


which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a 
great  noise;  and  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat:  the  earth  also  and  the 
works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up  " 
[2  Peter  iii,  10].  For  aught  that  is  cer- 
tainly known,  the  mere  daily  continuance  of 
the  sun's  light  and  heat  may  be  due  to 
causes  which  need  only  be  excited  to  unusual 
activity  to  produce  such  a  catastrophe. 
.  .  .  Sometimes  there  are  outbursts  in 
the  sun  which  suggest  very  significantly  the 
possibility  of  much  more  terrible,  because 
more  general,  catastrophes. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  p.  199.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

585.    CONFLAGRATION  ON  THE  SUN 

— "  A  Prairie  on  Fire  " — Chromosphere  and 
Prominences. — At  its  base  [of  the  sun's 
corona],  and  in  contact  with  the  photo- 
sphere, is  what  resembles  a  sheet  of  scarlet 
fire.  The  appearance,  which  probably  indi- 
cates a  fact,  is  as  if  countless  jets  of  heated 
gas  were  issuing  through  vents  and  spiracles 
over  the  whole  surface,  thus  clothing  it  with 
flame  which  heaves  and  tosses  like  the  blaze 
of  a  conflagration — "  like  a  prairie  on  fire," 
to  quote  the  vividly  descriptive  phrase  of 
Professor  Langley.  This  has  received  the 
name  of  chromosphere.  .  .  . 

Here  and  there  masses  of  this  hydrogen 
mixed  with  other  substances  rise  to  a  great 
height,  ascending  far  above  the  general  level 
into  the  coronal  regions,  where  they  float 
like  clouds,  or  are  torn  to  pieces  by  contend- 
ing currents.  These  cloud-masses  are  known 
as  solar  "  prominences,"  or  "  protuber- 
ances," a  non-committal  sort  of  appellation 
applied  in  1842,  when  they  first  attracted 
any  considerable  attention,  and  while  it  was 
a  warmly  disputed  question  whether  they 
were  solar,  lunar,  phenomena  of  our  own  at- 
mosphere, or  even  mere  optical  illusions.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  no  more  appropriate  and 
graphic  name  has  yet  been  found  for  objects 
of  such  wonderful  beauty  and  interest. — 
YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  6,  p.  192.  (A.,  1898.) 


586. 


Simultaneous  and 


Wild  Agitation  of  the  Magnetic  Needle — 
Aurora  Borealis. — On  September  1,  1859, 
two  astronomers,  Carrington  and  Hodgson, 
were  observing  the  sun,  independently  of 
each  other,  the  first  on  a  screen  which  re- 
ceived the  image,  the  second  directly  through 
a  telescope,  when,  in  a  moment,  a  dazzling 
flash  blazed  out  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of 
spots.  This  light  sparkled  for  five  minutes 
above  the  spots  without  modifying  their 
form,  as  if  it  were  completely  independent, 
and  yet  it  must  have  been  the  effect  of  a 
terrible  conflagration  occurring  in  the  solar 
atmosphere.  Each  observer  ascertained  the 
fact  separately,  and  was  for  an  instant  daz- 
zled. Now,  here  is  a  surprising  coincidence: 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  sun  appeared 
inflamed  in  this  region  the  magnetic  instru- 
ments of  the  Kew  Observatory,  near  Lon- 
don, where  they  were  observing,  manifested 


a  strange  agitation;  the  magnetic  needle 
jumped  for  more  than  an  hour  as  if  infatu- 
ated. Moreover,  a  part  of  the  world  was  on 
that  day  and  the  following  one  enveloped  in 
the  fires  of  an  aurora  borealis,  in  Europe 
as  well  as  in  America.  It  was  seen  almost 
everywhere:  at  Home,  at  Calcutta,  in  Cuba, 
in  Australia,  and  in  South  America.  Vio- 
lent magnetic  perturbations  were  mani- 
fested, and  at  several  points  the  telegraph 
lines  ceased  to  act.  Why  should  these  two 
curious  events  not  be  associated  with  each 
other  ? — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  290.  (A.) 

587.  CONFLICT    OF    TESTIMONY— 

Personal  Difference  of  Observation  Univer- 
sal among  Astronomers. — When  the  errors 
dependent  upon  accidental  circumstances 
have  all  been  eliminated,  these  measure- 
ments still  show  differences  between  differ- 
ent observers.  They  persist  even  when  there 
is  no  external  reason  discoverable.  The  fact 
was  first  noticed  in  the  annals  of  the  Green- 
wich Observatory  for  1795.  The  astronomer 
writes  that  he  dismissed  his  assistant  as  un- 
reliable because  he  had  acquired  the  habit 
of  seeing  all  stellar  transits  half  a  second 
too  late.  Not  till  many  decades  later  was 
the  scientific  honor  of  the  assistant  vindi- 
cated. It  was  the  celebrated  German  astron- 
omer Bessel  who  proved  that  this  difference 
between  two  observers  is  only  a  special  case 
of  a  phenomenon  of  universal  occurrence. 
Bessel  compared  his  own  results  with  those 
of  other  astronomers,  and  came  to  the  sur- 
prising conclusion  that  it  is  hardly  possible 
to  find  two  observers  who  put  the  passage  of 
a  star  at  precisely  the  same  time,  and  that 
the  personal  differences  may  amount  to  a 
whole  second.  These  observations  were  con- 
firmed at  all  observatories. — WUNDT  Human 
and  Animal  Psychology,  ch.  18,  §  2,  p.  268. 
(Son.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

588.     -• Surprise  Disquali- 
fies for  Observation — Disagreement  in  First 
Accounts  of  the  Sun's  Halo. — In  this  halo 
we   notice   tongues   of   fire   which   emanate 
from  the  sun  and  are  contiguous  to  him.     It 
was  during  the  eclipse  of  July  8,  1842,  that 
the  attention  of  astronomers  was  first  at- 
tracted to  these  prominences,   which  shoot 
forth  round  the  moon  like  gigantic  flames 
of  a  rose  or  peach  color   (they  had  already 
been  seen  with  the  naked  eye,  especially  in 
1239,  in  1560,  1605,  1652,  1706,  1724,  1733, 
and  1766,  but  astronomers  believed  them  to 
be  optical  illusions).    The  surprise  produced 
by  this  unexpected  phenomenon  did  not  per- 
mit exact  observations  to  be  made,  .so  that 
there  was  a  complete  disagreement  between 
the  different  accounts.     Baily  noticed  three 
enormous    prominences,    almost    uniformly 
distributed  on  the  same  side. 

Airy  observed  three,  in  the  form  of  the 
teeth  of  a  saw,  but  placed  at  the  summit. 
Arago  saw  two  at  the  lower  part  of  the 
disk.  At  Verona  these  flames  remained  vis- 


119 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Conflagration 
Conquest 


ible  after  the  appearance  of  the  sun. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  hi,  ch. 
4,  p.  263.  (A.) 

589. UnimpeachableWit- 

nesses  Disagree. — The  most  extraordinary 
thing,  however  [in  the  eclipse  of  1878,  seen 
from  Pike's  Peak],  was  a  beam  of  light,  in- 
clined at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees, 
about  as  wide  as  the  sun,  and  extending 
to  the  distance  of  nearly  six  of  its  diam- 
eters on  one  side  and  over  twelve  on  the 
other;  on  one  side  alone,  that  is,  to  the 
amazing  distance  of  over  ten  million  miles 
from  its  [the  sun's]  body.  Substantially  the 
same  observation  was  made,  as  it  appeared 
later,  by  Professor  Newcomb,  at  a  lower  level. 
The  direction,  when  more  carefully  measured, 
it  was  interesting  to  note,  coincided  closely 
with  that  of  the  zodiacal  light,  and  a  faint 
central  rib  added  to  its  resemblance  to  that 
body.  It  is  noteworthy,  in  illustration  of 
what  has  already  been  said  as  to  the  con- 
flict of  ocular  testimony,  that  tho  I,  with 
the  great  majority  of  observers  below,  saw 
only  this  beam,  two  witnesses  whose  evi- 
dence is  unimpeachable,  Professors  Young 
and  Abbe,  saw  a  pale  beam  at  right  angles 
to  it;  and  that  one  observer  did  not  see  the 
beam  in  question  at  all. — LANGLEY  New  As- 
tronomy, ch.  2,  p.  55.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

590.  CONFLICT,  SEEMING,  OF  SCI- 
ENCE AND  RELIGION— tfoence  Not  to  Be 

Silenced  by  Dogma. — When,  therefore,  the 
disturbing  elements  of  scientific  assertion 
and  inquiry  shock  the  religious  beliefs  of  the 
individual,  the  sect,  or  the  nation  at  large, 
what  procedure  or  line  of  conduct  does  it  be- 
come every  earnest  and  cultured  person  to 
follow  ?  Certainly  not  that  of  bewailing  the 
destruction,  apparent  or  real,  of  his  temples 
of  belief;  not  that  of  bemoaning  the  razing 
to  the  ground  of  those  tents  wherein  he  has 
so  long  and  comfortably  dwelt;  and  not 
that,  assuredly,  of  asserting  that,  because  his 
fathers  worshiped  in  this  mountain  or  in 
that,  he  must  therefore  and  of  necessity  do 
the  same.  No;  if  our  beliefs  are  attacked, 
and  if  they  are  worth  defending  at  all,  let 
us  be  up  and  doing.  Meet  your  opponents 
with  their  own  weapons.  Do  not  go  forth 
with  old  dogmas  to  meet  scientific  truths,  as 
with  the  armor  of  medieval  times  against 
the  weapons  of  to-day.  Study  science  for 
yourselves;  meet  scientific  fact  and  asser- 
tion by  counter-assertion  and  counter-fact. 
You  will  find  that  in  science,  more,  perhaps, 
than  in  commonplace  things,  there  are 
always  two  sides  to  every  great  question; 
and  you  will  never  fight  or  gain  your  battle 
more  readily,  or  more  honestly,  than  by 
testing  every  point  by  your  own  knowledge, 
and  by  opposing  to  the  advance  of  your 
adversaries  a  barrier  of  like  kind  to  that 
which  forms  their  most  potent  means  of 
offense. — ANDREW  WILSON  Science  Culture 
for  the  Masses,  p.  33.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

591.  CONNECTION     OF    PHYSICAL 

PHENOMENA  —  The  Study  of  Science  —  A 


Unity  behind  the  Facts. — In  considering  the 
study  of  physical  phenomena,  not  merely  in 
its  bearings  on  the  material  wants  of  life, 
but  in  its  general  influence  on  the  intellec- 
tual advancement  of  mankind,  we  find  its. 
noblest  and  most  important  result  to  be  a 
knowledge  6f  the  chain  of  connection  by 
which  all  natural  forces  are  linked  together 
and  made  mutually  dependent  upon  each 
other ;  and  it  is  the  perception  of  these  rela- 
tions that  exalts  our  views  and  ennobles  our 
enjoyments.  Such  a  result  ean,  however, 
only  be  reaped  as  the  fruit  of  observation 
and  intellect,  combined  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  in  which  are  reflected  all  the  varied 
phases  of  thought. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
i,  int.,  p.  23.  (H.,  1897.) 

592.  CONQUEST  HAS  UNINTENDED 
RESULT— Human  Brotherhood  Strangely  Ad- 
vanced by  War. — "  The  impetuous  conquests 
of    Alexander,    the    more    politic    and    pre- 
meditated extension   of  territory  made  by 
the  Romans,  the  wild  and  cruel  incursiona 
of  the  Mexicans,  and  the  despotic  acquisi- 
tions of  the  Incas,  have  in  both  hemispheres 
contributed  to  put  an  end  to  the  separate 
existence  of  many  tribes  as  independent  na- 
tions, and  tended  at  the  same  time  to  es- 
tablish more  extended  international   amal- 
gamation.   Men  of  great  and  strong  minds, 
as  well  as  whole  nations,  acted  under  the 
influence  of  one  idea,  the  purity  of  which 
was,  however,  utterly  unknown  to  them.     It 
was    Christianity   which    first   promulgated 
the  truth  of  its  exalted  charity,  altho  the 
seed  sown  yielded  but  a  slow  and  scanty  har- 
vest.    Before  the  religion  of  Christ  mani- 
fested   its    form,    its    existence    was    only 
revealed  by  a  faint  foreshadowing  presenti- 
ment.    In  recent  times,  the  idea  of  civiliza- 
tion has  acquired  additional  intensity,  and 
has  given  rise  to  a  desire  of  extending  more 
widely  the  relations  of  national  intercourse 
and  of  intellectual  cultivation;    even  selfish- 
ness begins  to  learn  that  by  such  a  course 
its  interests  will  be  better  served  than  by 
violent    and    forced    isolation.      Language, 
more  than  any  other  attribute  of  mankind, 
binds  together  the  whole  human  race.     By 
its  idiomatic  properties  it  certainly  seems- 
to  separate  nations,  but  the  reciprocal  un- 
derstanding of  foreign   languages   connects 
men  together,  on  the  other  hand,  without  in- 
juring individual  national  characteristics." 
[Quoted   from   Wilhelm   von   Humboldt.] — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  359.  (H.,  1897.) 

593.  CONQUEST    OF    NATURE    BY 

SAVAGE  MAN— A  House  and  Feast  in  the 
South  Sea  Islands — Fire  Kindled  by  Fric- 
tion.— By  the  aid  of  strips  of  bark  for  rope, 
the  stems  of  bamboos  for  rafters,  and  the 
large  leaf  of  the  banana  for  a  thatch,  the 
Tahitians  in  a  few  minutes  built  us  an  ex- 
cellent house,  and  with  withered  leaves 
made  a  soft  bed.  They  then  proceeded  to 
make  a  fire  and  cook  our  evening  meal.  A 
light  was  procured  by  rubbing  a  blunt- 
pointed  stick  in  a  groove  made  in  another,. 


Conquest 
Consciousness 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


120 


as  if  with  intention  of  deepening  it,  until 
by  the  friction  the  dust  became  ignited.  A 
peculiarly  white  and  very  light  wood  is 
alone  used  for  this  purpose.  .  .  .  The 
fire  was  produced  in  a  few  seconds;  but  to 
a  person  who  does  not  understand  the  art, 
it  requires,  as  I  found,  the  greatest  exer- 
tion; but  at  last,  to  my  great  pride,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  igniting  the  dust.  .  .  .  The 
Tahitians,  having  made  a  small  fire  of 
sticks,  placed  a  score  of  stones,  of  about  the 
size  of  cricket-balls,  on  the  burning  wood. 
In  about  ten  minutes  the  sticks  were  con- 
sumed and  the  stones  hot.  They  had  pre- 
viously folded  up  in  small  parcels  of  leaves 
pieces  of  beef,  fish,  ripe  and  unripe  bananas, 
and  the  tops  of  the  wild  arum.  These  green 
parcels  were  laid  in  a  layer  between  two 
layers  of  the  hot  stones,  and  the  whole  then 
covered  up  with  earth,  so  that  no  smoke  or 
steam  could  escape.  In  about  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  the  whole  was  most  deliciously 
cooked.  The  choice  green  parcels  were  now 
laid  on  a  cloth  of  banana-leaves,  and  with  a 
coconut-shell  we  drank  the  cool  water  of 
the  running  stream;  and  thus  we  enjoyed 
our  rustic  meal. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voy- 
age around  the  World,  ch.  18,  p.  409.  (A., 
1898.) 

594.      CONQUESTS     OF     SCIENCE— 

Warriors  Accomplished  Less  than  Peaceful 
Travelers. — Altho  in  Columbus  a  capacity 
for  exact  observation  was  developed  in  mani- 
fold directions,  notwithstanding  his  entire 
deficiency  of  all  previous  knowledge  of  nat- 
ural history,  and  solely  by  contact  with 
great  natural  phenomena,  we  must  by  no 
means  assume  a  similar  development  in  the 
rough  and  warlike  body  of  the  conquista- 
dores.  Europe  owes  to  another  and  more 
peaceful  class  of  travelers,  and  to  a  small 
number  of  distinguished  men  among  munic- 
ipal functionaries,  ecclesiastics,  and  physi- 
cians, that  which  it  has  unquestionably  ac- 
quired by  the  discovery  of  America,  in  the 
gradual  enrichment  of  its  knowledge  re- 
garding the  character  and  composition  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  its  action  on  the  human 
organization;  the  distribution  of  climates 
on  the  declivities  of  the  Cordilleras;  the 
•elevation  of  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  in 
accordance  with  the  different  degrees  of  lati- 
tude in  both  hemispheres ;  the  succession  of 
volcanoes;  the  limitation  of  the  circles  of 
commotion  in  earthquakes;  the  laws  of 
magnetism ;  the  direction  of  oceanic  currents, 
and  the  gradations  of  new  animal  and  vege- 
table forms.  The  class  of  travelers  to  whom 
we  have  alluded,  by  residing  in  native  In- 
dian cities,  some  of  which  were  situated 
twelve  or  thirteen  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  were  enabled  to  observe  with 
their  own  eyes,  and,  by  a  continued  residence 
in  those  regions,  to  test  and  to  combine  the 
observations  of  others,  to  collect  natural 
products,  and  to  describe  and  transmit  them 
to  their  European  friends.  It  will  suffice 


here  to  mention  Gomara,  Oviedo,  Acosta, 
and  Hernandez. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii 
pt.  ii,  p.  273.  (H.,  1897.) 

595.  CONSCIENCE  ACTIVE  IN  OPI- 
UM-EATER— Paralysis  of  Will—De  Quincey. 
— "  The  opium-eater  loses  none  of  his  moral 
sensibilities  or  aspirations:    he  wishes  and 
longs,  as  earnestly  as  ever,  to  realize  what 
he  believes  possible    and  feels  to  be  exacted 
by  duty;    but  his  intellectual  apprehension 
of  what  is   possible   infinitely   outruns   his 
power,  not  of  execution  only,  but  of  power 
to  attempt.     He  lies  under  the  weight  of  in- 
cubus and  nightmare :  he  lies  in  sight  of  all 
that  he  would  fain  perform,  just  as  a  man 
forcibly  confined  to  his  bed  by  the  mortal 
languor  of  a  relaxing  disease,  who  is  com- 
pelled to  witness  injury  or  outrage  offered 
to    some    object    of   his    tenderest    love — he 
curses  the  spells  which  chain  him  down  from 
motion — he  would  lay  down  his  life  if  he 
might    but   get   up    and    walk;     but   he   is 
powerless  as  an  infant,  and  cannot  even  at- 
tempt to  rise."      [De  Quincey,   op.  cit.,  pp. 
136-138.] — CARPENTER    Mental    Physiology, 
bk.  2,  ch.  17,  p.  648.     (A.,  1900.) 

596.  CONSCIENCE,      AGGREGATE, 
CONTROLLING  INDIVIDUAL  —  Laws  In- 
variable— Combinations  Subject  to  Change. 
— As  the  reason  and  the  conscience  of  the 
whole  political  community  can  interfere  by 
the  exercise  of  authority,  so  also  may  ade- 
quate remedies  be  found  in  the  reason  and 
the  conscience  of  voluntary  societies.     The 
external  conditions  which  tell  upon  the  indi- 
vidual will  are  themselves  very  often  noth- 
ing but  conditions  depending  on  the  aggre- 
gate will  of  those  around  us;    and  if  upon 
them,   by  any  means,  new  motives   can  be 
brought  to  bear,  then  the  whole  of  those  ex- 
ternal conditions  may  be  changed.     .     .     . 
It  is  often  said  that  the  conduct  and  condi- 
tion   of    men    are    governed    by    invariable 
laws;    and  the  conclusion  is  that  the  evils 
which  arise  by  way  of  natural  consequence 
out  of  the  action  of  those  laws    are  evils 
against  which  the  struggles  of  the  will  are 
hopeless.     But  the  facts  on  which  this  con- 
clusion   is    founded    are,    as    usual,    inaccu- 
rately stated.    The  conditions  of  human  life 
and  conduct,  like  the  conditions  of  all  nat- 
ural phenomena,  are  never  governed  by  those 
separate  and  individual  forces  which  alone 
are  invariable,  but  always  by  combinations 
among  those  forces — which  combinations  are 
of  endless  variety,  and  of  endless  capability 
of  change. — ARGYLL  Feign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p. 
218.     (Burt.) 

597.  CONSCIENCE, THE  UNIVERSAL 
BELIEF  OF  MANKIND— Formation  of  Char- 
acter the  Great  Aim. — The  idea  of  "  respon- 
sibility," on  the  other  hand,  which  is  enter- 
tained by  mankind  at  large,  rests  upon  the 
assumption,  not  only  that  each  ego  has  a 
conscience  which  recognizes  a  distinction  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  and  which  (accord- 
ing to  the  training  it  has  received)  decides 


121 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Conquest 
Consciouaiu 


what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong  in  each  in- 
dividual case,  but  also  that  he  has  a  voli- 
tional power  which  enables  him  to  intensify 
his  sense  of  "  duty  "  by  fixing  his  attention 
upon  it,  and  thus  gives  it  a  potency  in  de- 
termining his  conduct  which  it  might  not 
have  otherwise  possessed.  That  this  power 
is  a  part  of  the  ego's  "  formed  character," 
and  that  it  can  only  be  exerted  within  cer- 
tain limits,  is  fully  admitted  on  the  doctrine 
I  advocate;  but  the  responsibility  of  the 
ego  is  shifted  backwards  to  the  share  he  has 
had  in  the  formation  of  his  character  and  in 
the  determination  of  those  limits.  And 
here,  again,  the  results  of  scientific  investi- 
gation are  in  complete  harmony  with  the 
precepts  of  the  greatest  of  all  religious 
teachers.  For  no  one  can  study  these  with 
care  without  perceiving  that  Jesus  and 
Paul  addressed  themselves  rather  to  the 
formation  of  the  character  than  to  the  lay- 
ing down  rules  for  conduct;  that  they  en- 
deavored rather  to  cultivate  the  dispositions 
which  should  lead  to  right  action  than  to 
fix  rigid  lines  of  duty  the  enforcement  of 
which  under  other  circumstances  might  be 
not  only  unsuitable,  but  actually  mischie- 
vous; and  that  they  not  only  most  fully 
recognized  the  power  of  each  individual  to 
direct  the  habitual  course  of  his  thoughts, 
to  cherish  his  nobler  affections,  and  to  re- 
press his  sensual  inclinations,  but  made  the 
possession  of  that  power  the  basis  of  the  en- 
tire system  of  Christian  morality. — CARPEN- 
TER Mental  Physiology,  pref.,  p.  46.  (A., 
1900.) 

598.  CONSCIOUSNESS  AND  ATOMIC 
MOTION  DIFFERENT  IN  KIND—"  Thus 
far  our  way  is  clear,  but  now  comes  my  dif- 
ficulty. Your  atoms  are  individually  with- 
out sensation,  much  more  are  they  without 
intelligence.  May  I  ask  you,  then,  to  try 
your  hand  upon  this  problem.  Take  your 
dead  hydrogen  atoms,  your  dead  oxygen 
atoms,  your  dead  carbon  atoms,  your  dead 
nitrogen  atoms,  your  dead  phosphorus 
atoms,  and  all  the  other  atoms,  dead  as 
grains  of  shot,  of  which  the  brain  is  formed. 
Imagine  them  separate  and  sensationless ; 
observe  them  running  together  and  forming 
all  imaginable  combinations.  This,  as  a 
purely  mechanical  process,  is  seeable  by  the 
mind.  But  can  you  see,  or  dream,  or  in  any 
way  imagine,  how  out  of  that  mechanical 
act,  and  from  these  individually  dead  atoms, 
sensation,  thought,  and  emotion  are  to  rise? 
Are  you  likely  to  extract  Homer  out  of  the 
rattling  of  dice,  or  the  differential  calculus 
out  of  the  clash  of  billiard-balls  ?  .  .  .  I 
can  follow  a  particle  of  musk  until  it 
reaches  the  olfactory  nerve;  I  can  follow 
the  waves  of  sound  until  their  tremors  reach 
the  water  of  the  labyrinth,  and  set  the  oto- 
liths  and  Corti's  fibers  in  motion;  I  can 
also  visualize  the  waves  of  ether  as  they 
cross  the  eye  and  hit  the  retina.  Nay,  more,  I 
am  able  to  pursue  to  the  central  organ  the 
motion  thus  imparted  at  the  periphery,  and 
to  see  in  idea  the  very  molecules  of  the  brain 


thrown  into  tremors.  My  insight  is  not 
baffled  by  these  physical  processes.  What 
baffles  and  bewilders  me  is  the  notion  that 
from  those  physical  tremors  things  so  ut- 
terly incongruous  with  them  as  sensation,, 
thought,  and  emotion  can  be  derived."1 
[Supposed  quotation  from  Bishop  Butler.] 
— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science  (the  Bel- 
fast Address),  vol.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  167.  (A.,, 
1900.) 

599.  CONSCIOUSNESS  AN  UNREST- 
ING STREAM— Not  an  Assemblage  of  Molded 
Forms — Mind  Not  to  Be  Measured  Off  into 
Departments. — The    traditional    psychology 
talks  like  one  who  should  say  a  river  con- 
sists   of    nothing    but    pailsful,    spoonsful, 
quartpotsful,  barrelsful,   and  other   molded 
forms  of  water.     Even  were  the  pails  and 
the  pots  all  actually  standing  in  the  stream,, 
still   between   them   the   free   water    would 
continue  to  flow.     It  is  just  this  free  water 
of    consciousness    that    psychologists    reso- 
lutely overlook.    Every  definite  image  in  the 
mind  is  steeped  and  dyed  in  the  free  water 
that  flows  round  it.    With  it  goes  the  sense 
of  its  relations,  near  and  remote,  the  dying 
echo  of  whence  it  came  to  us,  the  dawning 
sense  of  whither  it  is  to  lead.     The  signifi- 
cance, the  value,  of  the  image  is  all  in  this, 
halo   or   penumbra   that  surrounds   and  es- 
corts it — or  rather  that  is  fused  into  one 
with  it  and  has  become  bone  of  its  bone  and 
flesh  of  its  flesh;    leaving  it,  it  is  true,  ai* 
image  of  the  same  thing  it  was  before,  but 
making  it  an   image  of  that  thing   newly 
taken      and      freshly     understood. — JAMES- 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  255.     (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

600.  CONSCIOUSNESS  AS  A  STAGE 

— Ideas  as  Actors,  Appearing  and  Disap- 
pearing— Comparison  Misleading — Uncon- 
scious Idea  Also  Unknown — Same  Idea 
Never  Returns. — Nothing  is  more  natural 
than  to  think  of  consciousness  as  a  kind  of 
stage  upon  which  our  ideas  are  the  actors, 
appearing,  withdrawing  behind  the  scenes, 
and  coming  on  again  when  their  cue  is. 
given.  .  .  .  Nevertheless  this  compari- 
son of  consciousness  to  a  stage  is  entirely 
misleading.  The  stage  remains  when  the 
actors  have  left  it;  it  has  an  existence  of 
its  own,  which  is  not  dependent  upon  them. 
But  consciousness  does  not  continue  to  exist 
when  the  processes  of  which  we  are  conscious 
have  passed  away;  it  changes  constantly 
with  their  changes,  and  is  not  anything 
which  can  be  distinguished  from  them. 
When  the  actor  has  left  the  stage,  we  know 
that  he  is  somewhere  else.  But  when  an 
idea  has  disappeared  from  consciousness  we 
know  nothing  at  all  about  it.  Strictly 
speaking,  it  is  not  correct  to  say  that  it 
subsequently  returns.  For  the  same  idea 
never  returns.  A  subsequent  idea  may  be 
more  or  less  similar  to  an  earlier  one;  but 
it  is  probably  never  exactly  the  same. — 
WITNDT  Psychology,  lect.  16,  p.  235.  (Son.. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 


Consciousness 
•Conservation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


122 


GO  1 .    CONSCIOUSNESS,  CONTINUITY 

OF — Individuality  Endures  through  All  Change 
— Sleep  Does  Not  Sunder. — When  Paul  and 
Peter  wake  up  in  the  same  bed,  and  recog- 
nize that  they  have  been  asleep,  each  one  of 
them  mentally  reaches  back  and  makes  con- 
nection with  but  one  of  the  two  streams  of 
thought  which  were  broken  by  the  sleeping 
hours.  As  the  current  of  an  electrode  buried 
in  the  ground  unerringly  finds  its  way  to 
its  own  similarly  buried  mate,  across  no 
matter  how  much  intervening  earth,  so 
Peter's  present  instantly  finds  out  Peter's 
past,  and  never  by  mistake  knits  itself  on  to 
that  of  Paul.  Paul's  thought  in  turn  is  as 
little  liable  to  go  astray.  The  past  thought 
of  Peter  is  appropriated  by  the  present 
Peter  alone.  He  may  have  a  knowledge,  and 
a  correct  one,  too,  of  what  Paul's  last 
drowsy  states  of  mind  were  as  he  sank  into 
sleep,  but  it  is  an  entirely  different  sort  of 
knowledge  from  that  which  he  has  of  his 
own  last  states.  He  remembers  his  own 
states,  whilst  he  only  conceives  Paul's. 
..  .  .  This  community  of  self  is  what  the 
time-gap  cannot  break  in  twain,  and  is  why 
a  present  thought,  altho  not  ignorant  of  the 
time-gap,  can  still  regard  itself  as  continu- 
ous with  certain  chosen  portions  of  the  past. 
.  .  .  A  "  river  "  or  a  "  stream  "  are  the 
metaphors  by  which  it  is  most  naturally  de- 
scribed.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p. 
238.  (II.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

602.  CONSCIOUSNESS    DEAD    TO 

EVER-PRESENT  FACT—  Sound  Always  in 
the  Ear  Never  Heard. — It  is  a  law  of  nerv- 
ous stimulation  that  a  continued  activity 
of  any  structure  results  in  less  and  less 
psychic  result,  and  that  when  a  stimulus  is 
always  at  work  it  ceases  in  time  to  have 
any  appreciable  effect.  The  common  illus- 
tration of  this  law  is  drawn  from  the  region 
of  sound.  A  constant  noise,  as  of  a  mill, 
ceases  to  produce  any  conscious  sensation. 
This  fact,  it  is  plain,  may  easily  become  the 
commencement  of  an  illusion.  Not  only  may 
we  mistake  a  measure  of  noise  for  perfect 
silence,  we  may  misconceive  the  real  nature 
of  external  circumstances  by  overlooking 
Mome  continuous  impression. — SULLY  Illu- 
sions, ch.  4,  p.  56.  (A.,  1897.) 

603.  CONSCIOUSNESS  DEPENDS  ON 

CONTRAST  —An  Unvarying  Sensation  Is  Un- 
perceived — Incessant  Ticking  of  Clock. — It 
is  a  familiar  observation  that  an  unvarying 
action  on  any  of  our  senses  has,  when  long 
continued,  the  same  effect  as  no  action  at 
all.  We  are  not  conscious  of  the  pressure 
of  the  atmosphere.  An  even  temperature, 
such  as  that  enjoyed  by  the  fishes  in  the 
tropical  seas,  leaves  the  mind  an  entire 
blank  as  regards  heat  and  cold.  The  feeling 
of  warmth  is  not  an  absolute,  independent, 
or  self-sustaining  condition  of  mind,  but  the 
result  of  a  transition  from  cold;  the  sensa- 
tion of  light  supposes  a  transition  from 
darkness  or  shade,  or  from  a  less  degree  of 
illumination  to  a  greater.  To  use  a  familiar 


illustration,  a  watchmaker  is  not  conscious 
of  the  unintermitted  ticking  of  his  clocks; 
but  were  they  all  suddenly  stopped,  he 
would  at  once  become  aware  of  the  blank. — 
BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  4,  p.  12.  (Hum., 
1880.) 


6O4. 


Enjoyment  by  Trans- 


ition— Advantages  of  Wealth. — People  are 
generally  aware  that  the  first  shock  of  trans- 
ition from  sickness  to  health,  from  poverty 
to  abundance,  from  ignorance  to  insight,  is 
the  most  intense;  and  that,  as  the  memory 
of  the  previous  condition  fades  away,  so 
does  the  liveliness  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
change.  Shakespeare  speaks  of  the  miser's 
looking  but  rarely  at  his  hoards  for  fear  of 
"  blunting  the  fine  point  of  seldom  pleas- 
ure " ;  and  makes  the  versatile  Prince  Hal 
say  that 
"  If  all  the  year  were  playing  holidays, 

To  sport  would  be  as  tedious  as  to  work." 
The  blessings  of  leisure,  retirement,  and  rest 
are  pleasant  only  by  contrast  to  previous 
toil  and  excitement.  The  incessant  demand 
for  novelty  and  change,  for  constant  ad- 
vances in  wealth,  in  knowledge,  in  the  ar- 
rangements of  things  about  us — attest  the 
existence  and  the  power  of  the  law  of  rela- 
tivity in  all  the  provisions  for  enjoyment. 
It  is  a  law  that  greatly  neutralizes  one  part 
of  the  advantages  of  superior  fortune,  the 
sense  of  the  superiority  itself,  but  leaves  an- 
other part  untouched — namely,  the  range, 
variety,  and  alternation  of  pleasures. — BAIN 
Mind  and  Body,  ch.  4,  p.  12.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

605.  CONSCIOUSNESS  NOT  A  PROD- 
UCT  OF   PHYSICAL  FORCES— Nature  of 
the  Soul  Still  a  Mystery  (Eccl.  Hi,  21). — 
Whence   came  the   soul   we  no  more  know 
than  we  know  whence  came   the  universe. 
The  primal  origin  of  consciousness  is  hid- 
den  in  the  depths  of  the  bygone  eternity. 
That  it  cannot  possibly  be  the  product  of 
any  cunning  arrangement  of  material  par- 
ticles is  demonstrated  beyond  peradventure 
by  what  we  now  know  of  the  correlation  of 
physical  forces. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch. 
5,  p.  42.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

606.  CONSCIOUSNESS  NOT  EXPLI- 
CABLE BY  MECHANICAL  OR  MOLECU- 
LAR THEORY— We  may  even  affirm  that 
the  brain  of  man — the  organ  of  his  reason — 
without  which  he  can  neither  think  nor  feel, 
is  also  an  assemblage  of  molecules,  acting 
and  reacting  according  to  law.     Here,  how- 
ever,   the   methods    pursued   in    mechanical 
science  come  to  an  end;    and  if  asked  to  de- 
duce from  the  physical  interaction .  of  the 
brain  molecules  the  least  of  the  phenomena 
of  sensation  or  thought,  I  acknowledge  my 
helplessness.     The  association  of  both  with 
the  matter  of  the  brain  may  be  as  certain  as 
the  association  of  light  with  the  rising  of 
the  sun.     But  whereas  in  the  latter  case  we 
have    unbroken    mechanical    connection    be- 
tween the  sun  and  our  organs,  in  the  former 


123 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Consciousness 
Conservation 


case  logical  continuity  disappears.  Between 
molecular  mechanics  and  consciousness  is  in- 
terposed a  fissure  over  which  the  ladder  of 
physical  reasoning  is  incompetent  to  carry 
us. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  15,  p.  388.  (A.,  1900.) 

607.  CONSCIOUSNESS  PERSISTS  IN 
SLEEP—  Waking  Ideas    Control— "A   Dream 
Cometh  through  the  Multitude  of  Business  " 
(Eccl.   v,    3). — Our    dream-operations    have 
been  found  to  have  a  much  closer  connection 
with  our  waking  experiences  than  could  be 
supposed   on   a   superficial  view.     The  ma- 
terials of  our  dreams  are  seen,  when  closely 
examined,  to  be  drawn  from  our  waking  ex- 
perience.    Our  waking  consciousness  acts  in 
numberless  ways  on  our  dreams,  and  these 
again    in    unsuspected    ways    influence    our 
waking  mental  life.    Not  only  so,  it  is  found 
that  the  quaint  chaotic  play  of  images  in 
dreams    illustrates    mental    processes    and 
laws    which    are    distinctly    observable    in 
waking  thought.    Thus,  for  example,  the  ap- 
parent objective  reality  of  these  visions  has 
been  accounted  for,  without  the  need  of  re- 
sorting to  any  supernatural  agency,  in  the 
light  of  a  vast  assemblage  of  facts  gathered 
from  the  byways,   so  to  speak,   of  waking 
mental  life. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  7,  p.  130. 
(A.,  1897.) 

608.  CONSCIOUSNESS,  POWER   OF 

— Influences  the  Bodily  Life. — The  particu- 
lars of  the  distribution  of  consciousness,  so 
far  as  we  know  them,  point  to  its  being  effi- 
cacious. It  is  very  generally  admitted,  tho 
the  point  would  be  hard  to  prove,  that  con- 
sciousness grows  the  more  complex  and  in- 
tense the  higher  we  rise  in  the  animal  king- 
dom. That  of  a  man  must  exceed  that  of  an 
oyster.  From  this  point  of  view  it  seems  an 
organ,  superadded  to  the  other  organs  which 
maintain  the  animal  in  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence; and  the  presumption,  of  course,  is 
that  it  helps  him  in  some  way  in  the  strug- 
gle, just  as  they  do.  But  it  cannot  help  him 
without  being  in  some  way  efficacious  and 
influencing  the  course  of  his  bodily  history. 
If  now  it  could  be  shown  in  what  way  con- 
sciousness might  help  him,  and  if,  moreover, 
the  defects  of  his  other  organs  .  .  .  are 
such  as  to  make  them  need  just  the  kind  of 
help  that  consciousness  would  bring  pro- 
vided it  were  efficacious;  why,  then  the 
plausible  inference  would  be  that  it  came 
just  because  of  its  efficacy — in  other  words, 
its  efficacy  would  be  inductively  proved. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  138.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

609.  CONSCIOUSNESS  REPUDIATES 

MATERIALISM—  The  Soul  Not  a  Combina- 
tion of  Atoms. — To  be  sure,  we  cannot,  no, 
we  cannot  be  satisfied  with  that  practical 
outcome  of  psychology,  with  those  conclu- 
sions about  the  final  character  of  personality 
and  freedom  [as  mere  psychophysical  proc- 
esses "  for  nobody,  for  no  end,  and  with  no 


value  •*'],  about  history  and  logic  and  ethics, 
about  man  and  the  universe.  Every  fiber  in 
us  revolts,  every  value  in  our  real  life  re- 
jects such  a  construction.  We  do  not  feel 
ourselves  such  conglomerates  of  psychophys- 
ical elements,  and  the  men  whom  we  admire 
and  condemn,  love  and  hate,  are  for  us  not 
identical  with  those  combinations  of  psy- 
chical atoms  which  pull  and  push  one  another 
after  psychological  laws.  We  do  not  mean, 
with  our  responsibility  and  with  our  free- 
dom in  the  moral  world,  that  our  con- 
sciousness is  the  passive  spectator  of  psy- 
chological processes  which  go  on  causally  de- 
termined by  laws,  satisfied  that  some  of  the 
causes  are  inside  our  skull,  and  not  outside. 
The  child  is  to  us  in  real  life  no  vegetable 
which  can  be  raised  like  tomatoes,  and  the 
criminal  is  no  weed  which  does  not  feel  that 
it  destroys  the  garden. — MUNSTERBERG  Psy- 
chology and  Life,  p.  15.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1899.') 

610.  CONSCIOUSNESS   SUSPENDED 

— Effect  of  a  Lightning-stroke. — On  June 
30,  1788,  a  soldier  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Mannheim,  being  overtaken  by  rain,  placed 
himself  under  a  tree,  beneath  which  a  wom- 
an had  previously  taken  shelter.  He  looked 
upwards  to  see  whether  the  branches  were 
thick  enough  to  afford  the  required  protec- 
tion, and,  in  doing  so,  was  struck  by  light- 
ning, and  fell  senseless  to  the  earth.  The 
woman  at  his  side  experienced  the  shock  in 
her  foot,  but  was  not  struck  down.  Some 
hours  afterwards  the  man  revived,  but  re- 
membered nothing  about  what  had  occurred, 
save  the  fact  of  his  looking  up  at  the 
branches.  This  was  his  last  act  of  con- 
sciousness, and  he  passed  from  the  conscious 
to  the  unconscious  condition  without  pain. 
— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch. 
21,  p.  442.  (A.,  1900.) 

611.  CONSERVATION   OF   ENERGY 

— Heat,  Light,  Magnetism,  Electricity,  and 
Motion  Convertible. — The  phrase  "  conser- 
vation of  energy  "  does  not  cover  the  whole 
subject  that  it  is  intended  to  cover.  It  in- 
volves the  correlation  of  energy,  or,  as  it 
has  been  called  in  earlier  times,  the  corre- 
lation of  forces,  as  well  as  the  transmuta- 
tion of  energy,  by  which  is  meant  a  change 
from  one  form  to  another.  For  instance, 
heat  as  an  energy  may  be  converted  into  an- 
other form  called  electricity,  and  this  in 
turn  may  be  reconverted  into  heat.  This 
process  is  called  transmutation.  The  energy, 
as  such,  representing  a  definite  amount  of 
work,  remains  the  same  in  both  cases.  Heat, 
light,  magnetism,  electricity,  are  all  differ- 
ent modes  or  forms  of  energy  working 
through  motion;  the  fact  that  they  are  in- 
terchangeable is  their  "  correlation  " ;  the 
fact  that  the  amount  of  energy  remains  the 
same  through  all  changes  is  its  "  conserva- 
tion." Energy  is  a  constant  quantity. — 
ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
1,  p.  2.  (F.  H.  &IL,  1900.) 


Conservation 
Constituents 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


134 


612. 


Heat  Stored  in  Lime 


— Given  Back  in  "  Slacking." — Lime  is  pro- 
duced from  ordinary  limestone  by  burning  it 
in  kilns,  where  it  is  subjected  to  a  heat  of  a 
certain  temperature  for  a  number  of  hours. 
The  heat  drives  off  the  carbon  dioxid, 
which,  as  we  have  seen.,  has  taken  away 
from  each  molecule  of  the  compound  all  of 
the  carbon  and  two  atoms  of  the  oxygen, 
while  all  of  the  calcium  ik  retained  with  one 
atom  of  oxygen,  leaving  ordinary  lime. 
Lime,  then,  is  simply  oxid  of  calcium.  As 
all  know,  it  is  used  almost  exclusively  for 
making  mortar  for  building  purposes.  In 
order  to  do  this  we  have  to  put  it  through 
the  process  of  "  slacking,"  by  pouring  water 
upon  it,  and  here  another  chemical  change 
takes  place.  The  water  unites  with  the 
lime,  when  immediately  the  heat  that  was 
expended  in  throwing  off  the  carbon  dioxid 
and  was  stored  in  the  lime  as  energy  is  now 
given  up  again  in  the  form  of  heat.  When 
a  considerable  bulk  of  lime  is  slacked  very 
rapidly  the  heat  that  is  given  off  is  so  great 
that  it  will  produce  combustion.  Here  is  a 
beautiful  illustration  of  what  has  been  er- 
roneously called  "  latent  heat."  It  is  "  heat 
stored  as  potential  energy  "  that  is  released 
bv  the  combination  of  lime  with  water. — 
ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch.  2, 
p.  17.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 


613. 


The  Sun's  Heat  the 


Source  of  Terrestrial  Motion. — The  law  of 
the  conservation  of  energy  implies  that  in 
any  limited  system  of  bodies,  whether  a 
steam-engine  or  the  solar  system,  no  change 
can  occur  in  the  total  amount  of  the  energy 
it  contains  unless  fresh  energy  comes  to  it 
from  without,  or  is  lost  by  transmission  to 
bodies  outside  it.  But  as,  in  the  case  of  the 
sun,  some  heat  is  certainly  lost  by  radiation 
into  space  unless  an  equal  amount  comes  in 
from  the  stellar  universe,  the  system  must 
be  cooling,  and  in  sufficient  time  would  lose 
all  its  heat,  and  therefore  much  of  its  energy. 
The  chief  use  of  the  principle  is  to  teach  us 
what  becomes  of  force  expended  without  any 
apparent  result,  as  when  a  ball  falls  to  the 
ground  and  comes  to  rest.  We  now  know 
that  the  energy  of  the  falling  ball  is  con- 
verted into  heat,  which,  if  it  could  be  all 
preserved  and  utilized,  would  again  raise 
the  ball  to  the  height  from  which  it  fell.  It 
also  enables  us  to  trace  most  of  the  energy 
around  us,  whether  of  wind,  or  water,  or  of 
living  animals,  to  the  heat  and  light  of  the 
sun.  Wind  is  caused  by  inequalities  of  the 
sun's  heat  on  the  earth;  all  water-power  is 
due  to  evaporation  by  the  sun's  heat,  which 
thus  transfers  the  water  from  the  ocean  sur- 
face to  the  mountains,  producing  rivers; 
solar  heat  alone  gives  power  to  plants  to 
absorb  carbonic  acid  and  build  up  their  tis- 
sues, and  the  energy  thus  locked  up  is  again 
liberated  during  the  muscular  action  of  the 
animals  which  have  fed  directly  or  indirect- 
ly on  the  plants. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  7,  p.  52.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


614. 


Why  Does  the  Sun 


Not  Burn  Outf — A  Problem  Yet  Unsolved. 
— Thought  has,  in  many  directions,  been 
profoundly  modified  by  Mayer's  and  Joule's 
discovery,  in  1842,  of  the  equivalence  be- 
tween heat  and  motion.  Its  corollary  was 
the  grand  idea  of  the  "  conservation  of  en- 
ergy," now  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of 
science.  This  means  that,  under  the  ordi- 
nary circumstances  of  observation,  the  old 
maxim  ex  nihilo  nihil  fit  applies  to  force  as 
well  as  to  matter.  The  supplies  of  heat, 
light,  electricity,  must  be  kept  up,  or  the 
stream  will  cease  to  flow.  The  question  of 
the  maintenance  of  the  sun's  heat  was  thus 
inevitably  raised;  and  with  the  question  of 
maintenance  that  of  origin  is  indissolubly 
connected. 

Dr.  Julius  Robert  Mayer,  a  physician 
residing  at  Heilbronn,  .  .  .  showed  that 
if  the  sun  were  a  body  either  simply  cool- 
ing or  in  a  state  of  combustion,  it  must 
long  since  have  "  gone  out."  Had  an  equal 
mass  of  coal  been  set  alight,  four  or  five  cen- 
turies after  the  building  of  the  Pyramid  of 
Cheops,  and  kept  burning  at  such  a  rate  as 
to  supply  solar  light  and  heat  during  the 
interim,  only  a  few  cinders  would  now  re- 
main in  lieu  of  our  undiminished  glorious 
orb. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  9,  p.  376.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

615.  CONSISTENCY  OF   PROGRESS 

— Mind  Required  to  Construe  the  World — 
What  to  Construct  Itf — Design  Transferred 
from  Phenomena  to  Law. — As  the  doctrine 
of  natural  selection  out  of  an  endless  diver- 
sity of  "  aimless  "  variations  fails  to  account 
for  that  general  consistency  of  the  advance 
along  definite  lines  of  progress  which  is 
manifested  in  the  history  of  evolution, 
.  .  .  it  leaves  untouched  the  evidence  of 
design  in  the  original  scheme  of  the  organ- 
ized creation;  while  it  transfers  the  idea 
of  that  design  from  the  particular  to  the 
general,  making  all  the  special  cases  of 
adaptation  the  foreknown  results  of  the 
adoption  of  that  general  order  which  we  call 
law.  As  Dr.  Martineau  has  pertinently 
asked :  '*'  If  it  takes  mind  to  construe  the 
world,  how  can  it  require  the  negation  of 
mind  to  constitute  it?  "  Science,  being  the 
intellectual  interpretation  of  Nature,  can- 
not possibly  disprove  its  origin  in  mind; 
and,  if  rightly  pursued,  leads  us  only  to  a 
higher  comprehension  of  the  "  bright  de- 
signs," a  more  assured  recognition  of  the 
working  of  the  "  sovereign  will,"  of  its  di- 
vine author. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  15,  p.  463.  (A.,  1889.) 

616.  CONSTANCY,  IMPORTANCE  OF 

— History  of  Drinking  Water  a  Determining 
Element. — It  is  generally  only  possible  to 
form  an  accurate  judgment  of  a  water  from 
watching  its  history — that  is,  not  from  one 
examination  only,  but  from  a  series  of  ob- 
servations. A  water  yielding  a  steady  stand- 
ard of  bacterial  contents  is  a  much  more 
satisfactory  water,  from  every  point  of  view, 


125 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Conservation 
Constituent! 


than  one  which  is  unstable,  one  month  pos- 
sessing 500  bacteria  per  c.  c.  and  another 
month  5,000. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p. 
51.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

617.  CONSTANCY  OF  LAWS  OF  NA- 
TURE— Adapts  Universe  for  Rational  Beings. 
-—Unless  the  laws  of  Nature  were  constant, 
in  so  far  as  our  experience  extends,  we  could 
have  no  certain  basis  either  for  science  or 
for  practical  life.  All  would  be  capricious 
and  uncertain,  and  we  could  calculate  on 
nothing.  Law  thus  adapts  the  universe  to 
be  the  residence  of  rational  beings,  and  noth- 
ing else  could. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies 
in  Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  39.  (A.  B. 
P.  S.) 


618. 


Altitude  Determined 


by  Boiling-point. — As  we  ascend  a  moun- 
tain, the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  above 
us  diminishes,  and  the  boiling-point  is  cor- 
respondingly lowered.  On  an  August  morn- 
ing in  1859  I  found  the  temperature  of  boil- 
ing water  on  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc  to 
be  184.95°  F.;  that  is,  about  twenty-seven 
degrees  lower  than  the  boiling-point  at  the 
sea-level.  On  August  3,  1858,  the  tempera- 
ture of  boiling  water  on  the  summit  of  the 
Finsteraarhorn  was  187°  F.  On  August  10, 
1858,  the  boiling-point  on  the  summit  of 
Monte  Rosa  was  184.92°  F.  The  boiling- 
point  on  Monte  Rosa  is  shown  by  these  ob- 
servations to  be  almost  the  same  as  it  was 
found  to  be  on  Mont  Blanc,  tho  the  latter 
exceeds  the  former  in  height  by  500  feet. 
The  fluctuations  of  the  barometer  are,  how- 
ever, quite  sufficient  to  account  for  this 
anomaly.  The  lowering  of  the  boiling-point  is 
about  1°  F.  for  every  590  feet  of  elevation; 
and  from  the  temperature  at  which  water 
boils  we  may  approximately  infer  the 
height. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  6,  p.  100.  (A.,  1900.) 

619.     CONSTANCY    OF    VISION-^lw- 

cient  Same  as  Modern — Six  or  Seven  Stars 
Seen  in  the  Pleiades. — However  diversified 
the  power  of  vision  may  be  in  different  per- 
sons, there  is  nevertheless  a  certain  average 
of  organic  capacity,  which  was  the  same 
among  former  generations,  as,  for  instance, 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  at  the  present 
day.  The  Pleiades  prove  that  several  thou- 
sand years  ago,  even  as  now,  stars  which 
astronomers  regard  as  of  the  seventh  mag- 
nitude were  invisible  to  the  naked  eye  of 
average  visual  power.  The  group  of  the 
Pleiades  consists  of  one  star  of  the  third 
magnitude,  Alcyone;  of  two  of  the  fourth, 
Electra  and  Atlas;  of  three  of  the  fifth, 
Merope,  Maia,  and  Taygeta ;  of  two  between 
the  sixth  and  the  seventh  magnitudes, 
Pleione  and  Celseno;  of  one  between  the  sev- 
enth and  the  eighth,  Asterope ;  and  of  many 
very  minute  telescopic  stars.  I  make  use  of 
the  nomenclature  and  order  of  succession  at 
present  adopted,  as  the  same  names  were 
among  the  ancients  in  part  applied  to  other 
stars.  The  six  first-named  stars  of  the 


third,  fourth,  and  fifth  magnitudes  were  the 
only  ones  which  could  be  readily  distin- 
guished. Of  these  Ovid  says  (Fast.,  iv, 
170)  : 

"  Quae  septem  dici,  sex  tamen  esse  solent." 
[Which  are  called  seven,  but  are  usually 

seen  as  six.] 

One  of  the  daughters  of  Atlas,  Merope,  the 
only  one  who  was  wedded  to  a  mortal,  was 
said  to  have  veiled  herself  for  very  shame, 
or  even  to  have  wholly  disappeared.  This  is 
probably  the  star  of  about  the  seventh  mag- 
nitude which  we  call  Celseno;  for  Hippar- 
chus,  in  his  commentary  on  Aratus,  observes 
that  on  clear  moonless  nights  seven  stars 
may  actually  be  seen.  Celaeno,  therefore, 
must  have  been  seen,  for  Pleione,  which  is 
of  equal  brightness,  is  too  near  to  Atlas,  a 
star  of  the  fourth  magnitude. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  48.  (H.,  1897.) 


62O. 


The  Same  Constel- 


lations Recognized  by  Rudest  Nations. — 
Amid  the  innumerable  multitude  of  great 
and  small  stars,  which  seem  scattered,  as  it 
were  by  chance,  throughout  the  vault  of 
heaven,  even  the  rudest  nations  separate 
single  (and  almost  invariably  the  same) 
groups,  among  which  certain  bright  stars 
catch  the  observer's  eye,  either  by  their 
proximity  to  each  other,  their  juxtaposition, 
or,  in  some  cases,  by  a  kind  of  isolation. 
This  fact  has  been  confirmed  by  recent  and 
careful  examinations  of  several  of  the  lan- 
guages of  so-called  savage  tribes.  Such 
groups  excite  a  vague  sense  of  the  mutual 
relation  ot  parts,  ?^d  have  thus  led  to  their 
receiving  names  which,  altho  varying  among 
different  races,  were  generally  derived  from 
organic  terrestrial  objects.  Amid  the  forms 
with  which  fancy  animated  the  waste  and 
silent  vault  of  heaven,  the  earliest  groups 
thus  distinguished  were  the  seven-starred 
Pleiades,  the  seven  stars  of  the  Great  Bear, 
subsequently  (on  account  of  the  repetition 
of  the  same  form)  the  constellation  of  the 
Lesser  Bear,  the  belt  of  Orion  (Jacob's 
staff),  Cassiopeia,  the  Swan,  the  Scorpion, 
the  Southern  Cross  (owing  to  the  striking 
difference  in  its  direction  before  and  after 
its  culmination),  the  Southern  Crown,  the 
Feet  of  the  Centaur  (the  Twins,  as  it  were, 
of  the  southern  hemisphere),  etc. — HUM- 
BOLDT Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  117.  (H.,  1897.) 

621.     CONSTITUENTS   OF  THE  SUN 

— Rays  of  Nucleus  and  Photosphere  Con- 
flict— Fraunhofer's  Lines. — The  sun,  accord- 
ing to  Kirchhoff,  consists  of  a  central  orb, 
molten  or  solid,  of  exceeding  brightness, 
which  emits  all  kinds  of  rays,  and  would 
therefore,  if  unhindered,  give  a  continuous 
spectrum.  The  radiation  from  the  nucleus, 
however,  has  to  pass  through  the  photo- 
sphere, and  this  vaporous  envelope  cuts  off 
those  particular  rays  of  the  nucleus  which 
it  can  itself  emit — the  lines  of  Fraunhofer 
marking  the  position  of  the  failing  rays. 
Could  we  abolish  the  central  orb,  and  obtain 


Constituents 
Contraction 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


126- 


the  spectrum  of  the  gaseous  envelope  alone, 
we  should  obtain  a  striped  spectrum,  each 
bright  band  of  which  would  coincide  with 
one  of  Fraunhofer's  dark  lines.  These  lines, 
therefore,  are  spaces  of  relative,  not  of  abso- 
lute, darkness;  upon  them  the  rays  of  the 
absorbent  photosphere  fall;  but  these,  not 
being  sufficiently  intense  to  make  good  the 
light  intercepted,  the  spaces  which  they  il- 
luminate are  dark,  in  comparison  to  the  gen- 
eral brilliancy  of  the  spectrum. — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  512. 
(A.,  1900.) 

622.  CONTAGION,   SPREAD     OF, 
AMONG    SILKWORMS— Care  Necessary  to 
Exclude    Germs — One    Infected    Individual 
Will  Poison  Many. — To  protect  the  worms 
from  contagion  it  is  necessary  to  raise  them 
at  a  distance  from  where  infection  has  orig- 
inated,    in    separate     localities,     perfectly 
adapted,  that  have  been  cleansed  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  after  all  the  apparatus 
has  been  most  energetically  washed  to  remove 
all  the  dust  and  debris  of  any  preceding  cul- 
ture.    And  besides,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
the  most  minute  precautions  not  to  intro- 
duce the  germ  of  the  malady  into  the  room, 
especially  no  germ  produced  by  a  contem- 
poraneous culture,  since  the  contagion  is  in- 
finitely more  easy  with  the  fresh  dust  than 
with  that  which  is  dry  or  old.    Just  one  in- 
fected worm  trailing  its  body  and  its  dejecta 
over  the   leaves  can  poison  a   considerable 
number  of  healthy  worms. — PASTEUR  Etudes 
sur    la   Maladie    des    Vers    a    Soie,    p.    64. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

623.  CONTAMINATION,  ARTIFICIAL 

— Oysters  Fattened  on  Sewage. — It  is  four 
or  five  years  since  Professor  Conn  startled 
the  medical  world  by  tracing  an  epidemic  of 
typhoid  fever  to  the  consumption  of  some 
uncooked  oysters.  Almost  at  the  same  time 
Sir  William  Broadbent  published  in  the 
British  Medical  Journal  a  series  of  cases 
occurring  in  his  practise  which  illustrated 
the  same  channel  of  infection.  Since  then  a 
number  of  similar  items  of  evidence  to  the 
same  effect  have  cropped  up.  .  .  .  The 
mode  of  infection  of  oysters  by  pathogenic 
bacteria  is  briefly  as  follows:  The  sewage 
of  certain  coast  towns  is  passed  untreated 
out  to  sea.  At  or  near  the  outfall,  oyster- 
beds  are  laid  down  for  the  purpose  of  fatten- 
ing oysters.  Thus  they  become  contami- 
nated with  saprophytic  and  pathogenic 
germs  contained  in  the  sewage. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  229.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

624.  CONTEMPLATION,  INVESTIGA- 
TION, EXPERIMENT-  The  Three  Stages  in 
Knowledge    of    Phenomena. — To    the    mere 
contemplation  of  Nature,  to  the  observation 
of  the  phenomena  accidentally  presented  to 
the  eye  in  the  terrestrial  and  celestial  re- 
gions of  space,  succeeds  investigation  into 
the  actual,  an  estimate  by  the  measurement 
of  magnitudes  and  the  duration  of  motion. 
The  earliest  epoch  of  such  a  species  of  nat- 


ural observation,  altho  principally  limited 
to  organic  substances,  was  the  age  of  Aris- 
totle. There  remains  a  third  and  higher 
stage  in  the  progressive  advancement  of  the 
knowledge  of  physical  phenomena,  which 
embraces  an  investigation  into  natural 
forces,  and  the  powers  by  which  these  forces 
are  enabled  to  act,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
bring  the  substances  liberated  into  new  com- 
binations. The  means  by  which  this  libera- 
tion is  effected  are  experiments,  by  which 
phenomena  may  be  called  forth  at  will.  The 
last-named  stage  of  the  process  of  knowl- 
edge, Avhich  was  almost  wholly  disregarded 
in  antiquity,  was  raised  by  the  Arabs  to  a 
high  degree  of  development. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  209.  (H.,  1897.) 

625.  CONTEMPLATION  OF  NATURE 

— A  Joy  to  Man — Its  Silent  Influence. — In 
reflecting  upon  the  different  degrees  of  en- 
joyment presented  to  us  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  Nature,  we  find  that  the  first  place 
must  be  assigned  to  a  sensation  which  is 
wholly  independent  of  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  physical  phenomena  presented 
to  our  view,  or  of  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  region  surrounding  us.  In  the  uniform 
plain  bounded  only  by  a  distant  horizon, 
where  the  lowly  heather,  the  cistus,  or  wav- 
ing grasses  deck  the  soil;  on  the  ocean 
shore,  where  the  waves,  softly  rippling  over 
the  beach,  leave  a  track,  green  with  the 
weeds  of  the  sea;  everywhere,  the  mind  is 
penetrated  by  the  same  sense  of  the 
grandeur  and  vast  expanse  of  Nature,  re- 
vealing to  the  soul,  by  a  mysterious  inspira- 
tion, the  existence  of  laws  that  regulate  the 
forces  of  the  universe.  Mere  communion 
with  Nature,  mere  contact  with  the  free  air, 
exercise  a  soothing  yet  strengthening  influ- 
ence on  the  wearied  spirit,  calm  the  storm 
of  passion,  and  soften  the  heart  when  shaken 
by  sorrow  to  its  inmost  depths.  Everywhere, 
in  every  region  of  the  globe,  in  every  stage 
of  intellectual  culture,  the  same  sources  of 
enjoyment  are  alike  vouchsafed  to  man. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  25.  (H., 
1897.) 

626.  CONTEMPT  OF  SCHOLASTICS 
FOR  SCIENCE— Medieval  Problems  Concerned 
the  Future  World. — The  men  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  in  fact,  endeavored  on  the  one  hand  to 
develop  the  laws  of  the  universe  a  priori  out 
of  their  own  consciousness,  while  many  of 
them  were  so  occupied  with  the  concerns  of 
a  future  world  that  they  looked  with  a  lofty 
scorn  on  all  things  pertaining  to  this  one. 
Speaking  of  the  natural  philosophers  of  his 
time,  Eusebius  says,  "  It  is  not  through  ig- 
norance of  the  things  admired  by  them,  but 
through  contempt  of  their  useless  labor,  that 
we  think  little  of  these  matters,  turning  our 
souls  to  the  exercise  of  better  things."     So 
also  Lactantius — "  To  search  for  the  causes 
of  things;    to  inquire  whether  the  sun  be  as 
large  as  he  seems;    whether  the  moon  is  con- 
vex or  concave;    whether  the  stars  are  fixed 
in  the  sky,  or  float  freely  in  the  air;    of 


127 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Constituent* 
Contraction 


what  size  and  of  what  material  are  the  heav- 
ens; whether  they  be  at  rest  or  in  motion; 
what  is  the  magnitude  of  the  earth;  on 
what  foundations  is  it  suspended  or  bal- 
anced— to  dispute  and  conjecture  upon  such 
matters  is  just  as  ii  we  chose  to  discuss 
what  we  think  of  a  city  in  a  remote  country, 
of  which  we  never  heard  but  the  name." — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  13. 
(A.,  1898.) 

627.  CONTINENTS  AND    OCEANS 

PERSISTENT  —  The  Same  General  Forma- 
tions from  Geologic  Times. — We  now  know 
for  certain  that  the  sands  and  clays  washed 
off  the  land — whether  by  the  action  of  ice  or 
river- waters  on  its  surface,  or  by  the  wear- 
ing away  of  its  margin  by  the  waves  of  the 
sea — sink  to  the  sea-bottom  long  before  they 
reach  the  deeper  abysses;  not  the  least  trace 
of  such  sediments  having  been  anywhere 
found  at  a  distance  from  the  continental 
platforms.  And  thus  the  study  of  the  de- 
posits on  the  oceanic  sea-bed  has  fully  con- 
firmed the  conclusion  drawn  from  the  pres- 
ent t  configuration  of  the  earth's  surface,  as 
to  the  general  persistence  of  those  original 
inequalities  which  have  served  as  the  bases 
of  the  existing  continents,  and  the  floors  of 
the  great  ocean-basins. 

In  the  masterly  lecture  on  "  Geographical 
Evolution,"  .  .  .  given  by  Professor 
Geikie  before  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety, ...  he  thus  sums  up: 

"  From  all  this  evidence  we  may  legiti- 
mately conclude  that  the  present  land  of  the 
globe,  tho  composed  in  great  measure  of  ma- 
rine formations,  has  never  lain  under  the 
deep  sea,  but  that  its  site  must  always  have 
been  near  land.  Even  its  thick  marine  lime- 
stones are  the  deposits  of  comparatively 
shallow  water.  Whether  or  not  any  trace  of 
aboriginal  land  may  now  be  discoverable,  the 
characters  of  the  most  unequivocally  marine 
formations  bear  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
proximity  of  a  terrestrial  surface.  The  pres- 
ent continental  ridges  have  probably  always 
existed  in  some  form ;  and  as  a  corollary  we 
may  infer  that  the  present  deep  ocean-basins 
likewise  date  from  the  remotest  geological 
antiquity." — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  11,  p.  332.  (A.,  1889.) 

628.  CONTINENTS     PERPETUALLY 
WASHED    INTO    THE    SEA— The  disinte- 
grated materials,  produced  by  chemical  and 
mechanical  actions  of  the  atmospheric  wa- 
ters upon  rock-masses,  are  by  floods,  rivers, 
and    glaciers     gradually    transported    from 
higher  to  lower  levels;    and  sooner  or  later 
every  fragment,  when  it  has  once  been  sepa- 
rated from  a  mountain-top,  must  reach  the 
ocean,   where  these  materials   are   accumu- 
lated  and   arranged  to   form  new  rocks. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  284.     (A.,  1899.) 

629.  CONTINENTS,     RELATIVE 
HEIGHT  OF—  The  "Sea-level"  a  Fluctuating 
Line. — The    existing    land-surfaces    of    the 
globe  are  composed  most  frequently  of  ma- 


rine strata.  There  are  apparently  only  twa 
ways  in  which  this  phenomenon  can  be  ac- 
counted for,  and  these  explanations  come  to- 
much  the  same  thing.  Either  the  general 
level  of  the  ocean  has  fallen,  or  wide  areas 
of  the  sea-floor  have  been  pushed  up  from 
below  and  converted  into  dry  land.  Both 
changes  appear  to  have  taken  place.  The 
bed  of  the  sea  has  sunk  from  time  to  time 
to  greater  and  greater  depths,  and  has  thus 
tended  to  draw  the  water  away  from  the 
surface  of  what  are  now  continental  areas.. 
But  if  the  earth's  crust  under  the  ocean  has. 
subsided,  it  has  also  been  elevated  within 
what  are  now  dry  lands  again  and  again. — 
GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1898.) 

630.  CONTINENTS  SUBMERGED  AT 
VARIOUS   EPOCHS—  "The  Earth  Standing 
Out  of  the  Water  and  in  the  Water." — The 
extensive  geographical  range  of  the  deriva- 
tive rocks,  most  of  which  are  of  marine  ori- 
gin, must  convince  us  that  the  greater  por- 
tion of  our  continental  areas  has  been  under 
water.     It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however, 
that  all  the  land-surfaces  occupied  by  sedi- 
mentary strata  have  been  submerged  at  one 
and  the  same  time.     On  the  contrary,  the 
several  geological  systems  have  been  accu- 
mulated at  widely  different  periods. — GEIKIE 
Earth  Sculpture,  ch.   1,  p.   12.      (G.  P.   P., 
1898.) 

631.  CpNTINUITY   OF  NATURE— A 

Universe  without  Law,  a  Universe  De- 
ranged.— Probably  the  most  satisfactory 
way  to  secure  for  oneself  a  just  appreciation 
of  the  principle  of  continuity  is  to  try  to 
conceive  the  universe  without  it.  The  oppo- 
site of  a  continuous  universe  would  be  a  dis- 
continuous universe,  an  incoherent  and  ir- 
relevant universe — as  irrelevant  in  all  ita 
ways  of  doing  things  as  an  irrelevant  per- 
son. In  effect,  to  withdraw  continuity  from 
the  universe  would  be  the  same  as  to  with- 
draw reason  from  an  individual.  The  uni- 
verse would  run  deranged. — DBUMMOND 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  int.,  p. 
34.  (H.  Al.) 

632.  CONTRACTION  OF  BULK  MAY 
SUSTAIN  HEAT  OF  SUN—  Gravity  the  Cause 
of  Heat. — If,  now,  there  is  no  present  mani- 
festation of  force  sufficient  to  cover  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  sun's  heat,  the  sun  must 
originally  have  had  a  store  of  heat  which  it 
gradually  gives  out.    But  whence  this  store? 
We   know   that   the    cosmical   forces    alone 
could  have  produced  it.   And  here  the  hypoth- 
esis,  previously  discussed  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  sun,  comes  to  our  aid.    If  the  mass  of 
the  sun  had  been  once  diffused  in  cosmical 
space,  and  had  then  been  condensed — that  is, 
had  fallen  together  under  the  influence  of 
celestial  gravity — if  then  the  resultant  mo- 
tion had  been  destroyed  by  friction  and  im- 
pact, with  the  production  of  heat,  the  new 
world  produced  by  such  condensation  must 


'Contraction 
Contrivance 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


128 


have  acquired  a  store  of  heat  not  only  of 
considerable,  but  even  of  colossal,  magni- 
tude.— HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect. 
4,  p.  181.  (L.  G.  &Co.,  1898.) 


633. 


This  Involves  Final 


Extinction. — In  the  very  act  of  parting  with 
heat,  the  sun  develops  a  fresh  stock.  His 
radiations,  in  short,  are  the  direct  result  of 
^shrinkage  through  cooling.  A  diminution  of 
the  solar  diameter  by  380  feet  yearly  would 
just  suffice  to  cover  the  present  rate  of  emis- 
sion, and  would  for  ages  remain  impercep- 
tible with  our  means  of  observation,  since, 
after  the  lapse  of  6,000  years,  the  lessening 
of  angular  size  would  scarcely  amount  to 
•one  second.  But  the  process,  tho  not  ter- 
minated, is  strictly  a  terminable  one.  In 
less  than  five  million  years  the  sun  will  have 
contracted  to  half  its  present  bulk.  In  seven 
million  more,  it  will  be  as  dense  as  the  earth. 
It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  it  will  then  be  a 
luminous  body.  Nor  can  an  unlimited  past 
•duration  be  admitted.  Helmholtz  considered 
that  radiation  might  have  gone  on  with  its 
actual  intensity  for  twenty-two,  Langley  al- 
lows only  eighteen,  million  years.  The  period 
can  scarcely  be  stretched,  by  the  most  gen- 
erous allowances,  to  double  the  latter  figure. 
But  this  is  far  from  meeting  the  demands  of 
geologists  and  biologists. — CLERKE  History 
of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  379.  (Bl., 
1893.) 

634.  CONTRADICTION,  SEEMING,  IN 
REFLECTION  OF  LIGHT—  White  Light  May 
Come  from  a  Black  Object. — The  light  which 
falls  upon  a  body  is  divided  into  two  por- 
tions, one  of  which  is  reflected  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  body;    and  this  is  of  the  same 
color  as  the  incident  light.     If  the  incident 
light    be    white    the    superficially    reflected 
light  will  also  be  white.    Solar  light,  for  ex- 
ample, reflected  from  the  surface  of  even  a 
black   body,   is   white.     The  blackest   cam- 
phine  smoke  in  a  dark  room  through  which 
a  sunbeam  passes  from  an  aperture  in  the 
window-shutter     renders    the    track    of    the 
beam  white,  by  the  light  scattered  from  the 
surfaces  of  the  soot-particles.    The  moon  ap- 
pears to  us  as  if 

"  Clothed  in  white  samite,  mystic,  wonder- 
ful"; 

but  were  she  covered  with  the  blackest  vel- 
vet she  would  still  hang  in  the  heavens  as 
a  white  orb,  shining  upon  our  world  sub- 
«tantially  as  she  does  now. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  33.  (A.,  1898.) 

635.  CONTRAST,  IMPRESSIVE— For- 
est and  Steppe. — From  the  rich  luxuriance 
of  organic  life  the  astonished  traveler   [to 
the    steppes    of    South    America]    suddenly 
finds  himself  on  the  dreary  margin  of  a  tree- 
less waste.    Nor  hill  nor  cliff  rears  its  head, 
like  an  island  in  the  ocean,  above  the  bound- 
less plain :  only  here  and  there  broken  strata 
of  floetz,  extending  over  a  surface  of  more 
than  three  thousand  English  square  miles, 


appear  sensibly  higher  than  the  surrounding 
district.  The  natives  term  them  banks,  as 
if  the  spirit  of  language  would  convey  some 
record  of  that  ancient  condition  of  the 
world  when  these  elevations  formed  the 
shoals,  and  the  steppes  themselves  the  bot- 
tom, of  some  vast  inland  sea. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  1.  (Bell,  1896.) 

636.  CONTRAST    OF    GIVING   AND 
WITHHOLDING— Mountain  Lake  with  Flow- 
ing Stream — Bitter  Waters  with  No  Outlet. 
— The     waters     of     Lake     Tahoe     overflow 
through    the    Truckee    caiion    and    form    a 
bright,  swift-flowing  stream,  which  finds  its 
way    to    Pyramid    and    Winnemucca    lakes, 
situated  2,400  feet  lower,  in  the  desert  val- 
leys to  the  north.    The  waters  when  starting 
on  their  troubled  journey  are  as  pure  and 
limpid  as  the  melting  snows  of  mountain 
valleys  can  furnish,     .     .     .     but  the  lakes 
into  which  they  flow,  and  of  which  they  form 
almost   the    sole    supply,    are    alkaline    and 
saline  owing  to  long  concentration.     An  ex- 
ample of  an  isolated  drainage  system  is  here 
furnished,   embracing  the   cool   summits   of 
lofty  mountains  where  the  moisture  of  the 
atmosphere  is  condensed;    a  mountain  reser- 
voir where  the  waters  are  stored;    a  swift, 
clear  stream  formed  by  the  overflow  of  the 
reservoir;    and  the  bitter  lakes  where  the 
stream  empties  and  from  which  there  is  no 
escape     except    by     evaporation. — RUSSELL 
Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  4,  p.  64.     ( G.  & 
Co.,  1895.) 

637.  CONTRAST  OF  HEAT  AND  COLD 
IN    SOUTH    AFRICA—  Solar  Radiation  — 
Wide  Difference  between  Sunrise  and  Mid- 
day.— Dr.   Livingstone,  in  his  "  Travels   in 
South  Africa,"  has  given  some  striking  ex- 
amples of  the  difference  in  nocturnal  chill- 
ing when  the  air  is  dry  and  when  it  is  laden 
with  moisture.    Thus  he  finds  in  South  Cen- 
tral Africa  during  the  month  of  June,  "  the 
thermometer  early  in  the  mornings  at  from 
42°  to  52°;    at  noon,  94°  to  96°,"  or  a  mean 
difference  of  48°  between  sunrise  and  mid- 
day.    The  range  would  probably  have  been 
found  still  greater  had  not  the  thermometer 
been  placed  in  the  shade  of  his  tent,  which 
was  pitched  under  the  thickest  tree  he  could 
find.     He  adds,  moreover,  "  the  sensation  of 
cold  after  the  heat  of  the  day  was  very  keen. 
The  Balonda  at  this  season  never  leave  their 
fires  till  nine  or  ten  in  the  morning.     As 
the  cold  was  so  great  here,  it  was  probably 
frosty  at  Linyanti ;    I  therefore  feared  to  ex- 
pose my  young  trees  there." — TYNDALL  Heat 
a  Mode  of  Motion,   lect.   13,  p.   387.      (A., 
1900.) 

638.  CONTRAST     OF    REFLECTED 
AND  TRANSMITTED  LIGHT—  Sunrise  on 
Mt.  Blanc. — The  sunrise  from  the  summit 
[of  Mt.  Blanc]  was  singularly  magnificent. 
The  snow  on  the  shaded  flanks  of  the  moun- 
tain was  of  a  pure  blue,  being  illuminated 
solely  by  the  reflected  light  of  the  sky;    the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  on  the  contrary, 


129 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Contraction 
Contrivance 


was  crimson,  being  illuminated  by  trans- 
mitted light.  The  contrast  of  both  was  finer 
than  I  can  describe. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Ex- 
ercise in  the  Alps,  ch.  4,  p.  57.  (A.,  1898.) 

639.  CONTRAST  OF  STORM-SWEPT 
MOUNTAIN  AND    SUNLIT    VALLEY— 

Pike's  Peak  in  July — Waiting  for  Solar 
Eclipse  under  Difficulties. — The  snow  en- 
tered [the  tent]  with  the  wind  and  lay  in  a 
deep  drift  on  the  pillow,  when  I  woke  after 
a  brief  sleep  toward  morning,  and,  looking 
out  on  the  gray  dawn,  found  that  the  snow 
had  turned  to  hail,  which  was  rattling 
sharply  on  the  rocks  with  an  accompani- 
ment of  thunder,  which  seemed  to  roll  from 
all  parts  of  the  horizon.  The  snow  lay 
thick,  and  the  sheets  of  hail  were  like  a 
wall,  shutting  out  the  sight  of  everything  a 
few  rods  off,  and  this  was  in  July  [1878]  ! 
Hail,  rain,  sleet,  snow,  fog,  and  every  form 
of  bad  weather  continued  for  a  week  on  the 
summit,  while  it  was  almost  always  clear 
below.  It  was  often  a  remarkable  sight  to 
go  to  the  edge  and  look  down.  The  expanse 
of  "  the  plains,"  which  stretched  eastward 
to  a  horizon  line  over  a  hundred  miles  dis- 
tant, would  be  in  bright  sunshine  beneath, 
while  the  hail  was  all  around  and  above  us ; 
and  the  light  coming  up  instead  of  down 
gave  singular  effects  when  the  clouds  parted 
below,  the  plains  seeming  at  such  times  to 
be  opalescent  with  luminous  yellow  and 
green,  as  tho  the  lower  world  were  translu- 
cent and  the  sun  were  beneath  it  and  shin- 
ing up  through. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy, 
ch.  2,  p.  54.  (H.  M.  &  Co.) 

640.  CONTRAST     OF    TEMPERATE 
AND   TROPICAL   VEGETATION  -Temper- 
ate   Lands    within    the    Tropics. — The    ex- 
traordinary height  to  which  not  only  indi- 
vidual mountains    but  even  whole  districts 
rise  in  tropical  regions,  and  the  consequent 
cold  of  such  elevations,  affords  the  inhabit- 
ant of  the  tropics  a  singular  spectacle.     For 
besides  his  own  palms  and  bananas,  he  is 
surrounded  by  those  vegetable  forms  which 
would    seem   to  belong   solely   to    northern 
latitudes.     Cypresses,  pines,  and  oaks,  bar- 
berry shrubs    and  alders    (nearly  allied  to 
our  own  species ) ,  cover  the  mountain  plains 
of   southern   Mexico   and  the   chain   of  the 
Andes   at  the   equator.      Thus   Nature   has 
permitted  the  native  of  the  torrid  zone  to 
behold  all  the  vegetable  forms  of  the  earth 
without  quitting  his  own  clime,  even  as  are 
revealed  to  him  the  luminous  worlds  which 
spangle  the  firmament  from  pole  to  pole. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  231.     (Bell, 
1896.) 

641.  CONTRAST  WITH  ALL  KNOWN 
EARTHLY  CONDITIONS— Endless  Day  and 
Endless  Night  on  Mercury. — And  after  long 
and  patient  watching,  the  conclusion  was  at 
last  reached  that  Mercury  turns  on  his  axis 
in  the  same  time  needed  to  complete  a  revo- 
lution in  his  orbit.     One  of  his  hemispheres, 
then,  is  always  averted  from  the  sun,  as  one 


of  the  moon's  hemispheres  from  the  earth, 
while  the  other  never  shifts  from  beneath  his 
torrid  rays.  The  "  librations,"  however,  of 
Mercury  are  on  a  larger  scale  than  those  of 
the  moon,  because  he  travels  in  a  more  ec- 
centric path.  The  temporary  inequalities 
arising  between  his  "  even  pacing "  on  an 
axis  and  his  alternately  accelerated  and  re- 
tarded elliptical  movement  occasion,  in  fact, 
an  oscillation  to  and  fro  of  the  boundaries 
of  light  and  darkness  on  his  globe  over  an 
arc  of  47°  22',  in  the  course  of  his  year  of 
88  days.  Thus  the  regions  of  perpetual  day 
and  perpetual  night  are  separated  by  two 
segments,  amounting  to  one-fourth  of  the 
entire  surface,  where  the  sun  rises  and  sets 
once  in  88  days.  No  variation  from  the 
fierce  glare  on  one  side  of  the  globe  and  the 
nocturnal  blackness  on  the  other  can,  in- 
deed, take  place.  Yet  these  apparently  in- 
tolerable climatic  conditions  may  be  some- 
what mitigated  by  the  vigorous  atmospheric 
circulation  to  which  they  would  naturally 
give  rise. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  7,  p.  305.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

642.  CONTRASTS,  MAN  A   CREA- 
TURE  OF — Physical  Insignificance  and  Men- 
tal Supremacy — "  What  Is  Man,  that  Thou 
Art  Mindful  of  Him?     .     .     .     Thou  Hast 
Made  Him  a  Little  Lower  than  the  Angels  " 
(Ps.  viii,  3-5). — It  is,  for  instance,  a  strange 
and  suggestive  circumstance  that  man,   in- 
significant in  his  dimensions  and  in  all  his 
physical  powers,  when  viewed  in  comparison 
even  with  the  earth  on  which  he  lives,  and 
compelled  to  remain  always  upon  that  orb, 
which  is  utterly  insignificant  compared  with 
the  solar  system,  should  yet  dare  to  raise  his 
thoughts  beyond  the  earth  and  beyond  the 
solar   system,   to   contemplate  boldly   those 
amazing   depths    amidst   which   the   stellar 
glories  are  strewn. 

That  he  should  undertake  to  measure  the 
scale  on  which  the  universe  is  built,  to  rate 
the  stars  as  with  swift  yet  stately  motion 
they  career  through  space,  to  test  and  an- 
alyze their  very  substance,  to  form  a  judg- 
ment as  to  processes  taking  place  upon  and 
around  them,  tho  not  one  star  in  all  the 
heavens  can  be  magnified  into  more  than  the 
merest  point — all  this  affords  noble  concep- 
tions of  the  qualities  which  the  Almighty 
has  implanted  in  the  soul  of  man. — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  104.  (L.  G.  &  Co.) 

643.  CONTRIVANCE  FOR   FERTIL- 
IZING ORCHID— Bee  Made  to  Carry  Pollen 
from  Flower  to  Flower. — With  most  orchids 
the  flowers  remain  open  for  some  time  be- 
fore they  are  visited  by  insects;    but  with 
spiranthes  I  have  generally  found  the  boat- 
formed  disks  removed  very  soon  after  their 
expansion.     For  example,   in  the  two  last 
spikes  which  I  happened  to  examine  there 
were  numerous  buds  on  the  summit  of  one, 
with  only  the  seven  lowest  flowers  expanded, 
of  which  six  had  their  disks  and  pollinia  re- 
moved;   the  other  spike  had  eight  expanded 
flowers,  and  the  pollinia  of  all  were  removed. 


Contrivance 
Cookery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


130 


When  the  flowers  first  open  they  would  be 
attractive  to  insects,  for  the  receptacle  al- 
ready contains  nectar;  and  at  this  period 
the  rostellum  lies  so  close  to  the  channeled 
labellum  that  a  bee  could  not  pass  down  its 
proboscis  without  touching  the  medial  fur- 
row of  the  rostellum.  This  I  know  to  be  the 
case  by  repeated  trials  with  a  bristle.  We 
thus  see  how  beautifully  everything  is  con- 
trived that  the  pollinia  should  be  withdrawn 
by  insects  visiting  the  flowers.  They  are  al- 
ready attached  to  the  disk  by  their  threads, 
and,  from  the  early  withering  of  the  anther- 
cells,  they  hang  loosely  suspended.  .  .  . 
The  touch  of  the  proboscis  causes  the  rostel- 
lum to  split  in  front  and  behind,  and  frees 
the  long,  narrow,  boat-formed  disk,  which  is 
filled  with  extremely  viscid  matter,  and  is 
sure  to  adhere  longitudinally  to  the  probos- 
cis. When  the  bee  flies  away,  so  surely  will 
it  carry  away  the  pollinia. — DARWIN  Fer- 
tilization of  Orchids,  ch.  4,  p.  111.  (A., 
1898.) 

644.  CONTRIVANCE  FOR  SEED-DIS- 
PERSAL— Burs  of  the  Burdock — Animals  as 
Distributers  of  Seeds. — If  you  examine  a  bur- 
dock blossom  you  will  find  the  lower  part  of 
the  flower-head  covered  with  green  scales,  each 
of  which  projects  upward  and  outward,  and 
at  the  tip  curves  over  into  a  sharp-pointed 
hook,  much  the  shape  of  a  fish-hook.  As  the 
flower  matures  these  hooks  gradually  become 
dry.  Finally,  when  the  seeds  are  ripe,  the 
hooks  are  ready  to  catch  hold  of  any  animal 
that  brushes  against  the  plant.  By  this 
time  the  connection  with  the  stem  at  the 
base  of  the  Sower-head  has  become .  suffi- 
ciently loosened  so  that  the  bur  pulls  off 
readily.  Yet  it  holds  on  tight  enough  to 
remain  attached  to  the  plant  through  the 
winter,  unless  the  grappling-hooks  are  taken 
hold  of  by  some  external  agency.  Conse- 
quently, the  period  during  which  the  seeds 
are  open  to  dissemination  extends  over  many 
months.  This,  of  course,  is  a  decided  ad- 
vantage, for  it  greatly  increases  the  chances 
that  the  seeds  will  be  carried  to  other  lo- 
calities. When  the  bur  becomes  attached 
to  the  hair  of  an  animal,  it  may  be  some 
time  before  it  is  removed.  As  it  is  rubbed 
by  the  creature  or  is  brushed  against  trees 
or  branches,  it  is  likely  to  be  pushed  open, 
and  the  dozen  or  more  seeds  are  likely,  one 
by  one,  to  drop  to  the  ground.  The  individ- 
ual seeds  are  rather  large,  in  color  brown 
mottled  with  black,  and  rather  smooth  ex- 
cept for  a  few  slightly  projecting,  longi- 
tudinal ridges. — WEED  Seed-travelers,  pt.  iii, 
p.  49.  (G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


645. 


Seeds  Shot  as  from 


Thumb  and  Finger. — The  witch-hazel  bears 
a  hard,  woody,  nutlike  fruit,  as  large  as  a 
hazelnut;  when  ripe,  the  apex  gapes  open 
more  and  more,  the  sides  pressing  harder 
against  each  smooth  seed,  till  finally  it  is 
shot,  sometimes  for  a  distance  of  thirty  feet. 
— BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  6,  p.  60.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 


646.  CONTRIVANCE  IN  NATURE- 

Beauty  and  Completeness  of  Adaptation  Ex- 
ceed Imagination. — The  more  I  study  Na- 
ture, the  more  I  become  impressed  with  ever- 
increasing  force  that  the  contrivances 
and  beautiful  adaptations  slowly  acquired 
through  each  part,  occasionally  varying  in  a 
slight  degree,  but  in  many  ways,  with  the 
preservation  of  those  variations  which  were 
beneficial  to  the  organism  under  complex 
and  ever-varying  conditions  of  life,  transcend 
in  an  incomparable  manner  the  contrivances 
and  adaptations  which  the  most  fertile  im- 
agination of  man  could  invent. — DARWIN 
Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  9,  p.  285.  (A., 
1898.) 

647.  CONTRIVANCE   NOT  UNWOR- 
THY   OF   THE    SUPREME    WILL  — This 

idea  of  the  relation  in  which  law  stands  to 
will,  and  in  which  will  stands  to  law,  is 
familiar  to  us  in  the  works  of  man;  but  it 
is  less  familiar  to  us  as  equally  holding 
good  in  the  works  of  Nature.  We  feel,  some- 
times, as  if  it  were  an  unworthy  notion  of 
the  will  which  works  in  Nature,  to  suppose 
that  it  should  never  act  except  through  the 
use  of  means.  But  our  notions  of  unworthi- 
ness  are  themselves  often  the  unworthiest  of 
all.  They  must  be  ruled  and  disciplined  by 
observation  of  that  which  is — not  founded 
on  a  priori  conceptions  of  what  ought  to  be. 
Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  whole 
order  of  Nature  is  one  vast  system  of  con- 
trivance. And  what  is  contrivance  but  that 
kind  of  arrangement  by  which  the  unchange- 
able demands  of  law  are  met  and  satisfied? 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p.  76. 
(Burt.) 

648.  CONTROVERSY    BETWEEN 
HOLDERS    OF    PARTIAL    TRUTHS— 

Geologic  Theories  of  Formation  of  Rocks  by 
Fire  and  by  Water. — There  were  many  well- 
fought  battles  between  geologists  before  it 
was  understood  that  these  two  elements  [fire 
and  water]  had  been  equally  active  in  build- 
ing up  the  crust  of  the  earth.  The  ground 
was  hotly  contested  by  the  disciples  of  the 
two  geological  schools,  one  of  which  held 
that  the  solid  envelope  of  the  earth  was  ex- 
clusively due  to  the  influence  of  fire,  while 
the  other  insisted  that  it  had  been  accumu- 
lated wholly  under  the  agency  of  water. 
This  difference  of  opinion  grew  up  very  nat- 
urally; for  the  great  leaders  of  the  two 
schools  lived  in  different  localities,  and  pur- 
sued their  investigations  over  regions  where 
the  geological  phenomena  were  of  an  en- 
tirely opposite  character — the  one  exhibit- 
ing the  effect  of  volcanic  eruptions,  the 
other  that  of  stratified  deposits.  It  was  the 
old  story  of  the  two  knights  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  shield. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  6.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

649.  CONTROVERSY  OVER  LITTLE 
HILL— Rival  Schools  of  Cosmogony.—  Near 
the    highroad    which    passes    between    the 
towns  of  Eger  and  Franzenbad  in  Bohemia, 


131 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Contrivance 
Cookery 


there  rises  a  small  hill  known  as  the  Kam- 
merbiihl,  which  has  attracted  to  itself  an 
amount  of  interest  and  attention  quite  out 
of  proportion  to  its  magnitude  or  impor- 
tance. During  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century  and  the  earlier  years  of  the  present 
one,  the  fiercest  controversies  were  waged 
between  the  partisans  of  rival  schools  of  cos- 
mogony over  this  insignificant  hill,  some 
maintaining  that  it  originated  in  the  com- 
bustion of  a  bed  of  coal,  others  that  its  ma- 
terials were  entirely  formed  by  some  kind 
of  "  aqueous  precipitation,"  and  others  again 
that  the  hill  was  the  relic  of  a  small  vol- 
canic cone.  Among  those  who  took  a  very 
active  part  in  this  controversy  was  the  poet 
Goethe,  who  stoutly  maintained  the  vol- 
canic origin  of  the  Kammerbuhl,  styling  it 
"  a  pocket  edition  of  a  volcano  "  [which  the 
excavations  undertaken  at  his  instance  have 
proved  it  to  be]. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  5,  p. 
112.  (A.,  1899.) 

65O.  CONVERGENCE  OF  SCIENCES 
UPON  EVOLUTION  —  Authority  in  Agree- 
ment.— The  hypothesis  of  evolution  must  be 
ultimately  either  established  or  disproved  by 
its  accordance  or  disaccordance  with  a  vast 
aggregate  of  facts  of  Nature  which  belong 
to  different  departments  of  scientific  in- 
quiry. The  geologist  traces  the  succession 
of  plants  and  animals  in  paleontological  or- 
der, and  finds,  as  he  advances  in  his  studies, 
less  and  less  evidence  of  interruption,  and 
more  and  more  of  continuity,  biological  as 
well  as  physical.  The  zoologist  and  botanist, 
who  have  been  accustomed  to  classify  their 
multitudinous  and  diversified  forms  of 
plants  and  animals  according  to  their  "  nat- 
ural affinities,"  find  a  real  meaning  in  their 
classification,  a  new  significance  in  their 
terms  of  relationship,  when  these  are  used 
to  represent  what  might  be  regarded  with 
probability  as  actual  community  of  descent. 
The  morphologist  who  has  been  accustomed 
to  trace  a  "  unity  of  type  "  in  each  great 
group,  and  especially  to  recognize  this  in  the 
presence  of  rudimentary  parts  which  must 
be  entirely  useless  to  the  animals  that  pos- 
sess them,  delights  in  the  new  idea  which 
gives  a  perfect  rationale  of  what  had  pre- 
viously seemed  an  inexplicable  superfluity. 
And  the  embryologist,  who  carries  back  his 
studies  to  the  earliest  phases  of  develop- 
ment, and  follows  out  the  grand  law  of  Von 
Baer,  "  from  the  general  to  the  special,"  in 
the  evolution  of  every  separate  type,  finds 
the  extension  of  that  law  from  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  whole  succession  of  organic 
life  impart  to  his  soul  a  feeling  of  grandeur 
like  that  which  the  physical  philosopher  of 
two  hundred  years  ago  must  have  experi- 
enced when  Newton  first  promulgated  the 
doctrine  of  universal  gravitation.-  And  last- 
ly, when  the  doctrine  of  evolution  is  looked 
at  in  its  moral  aspect,  as  one  which  leads 
man  ever  onwards  and  upwards,  and  which 
encourages  his  brightest  anticipations  of  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  truth  over  error,  of 


knowledge  over  ignorance,  of  right  over 
wrong,  of  good  over  evil,  who  shall  presume 
to  say  that  the  convergence  of  all  these 
great  lines  of  thought,  each  of  them  the  re- 
sultant of  the  patient  toil  of  a  whole  army 
of  scientific  workers,  is  a  fact  of  no  account  ? 
— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  7,  p. 
237.  (A.,  1889.) 

651.  CONVOLUTIONS  DETERMINE 
SURFACE  AND  POWER  OF  BRAIN— An 

Invisible  Engraving  in  Bodily  Substance 
Wrought  by  All  Great  /SfowZs.— Increase  of 
the  cerebral  surface  is  shown  not  only  in 
the  general  size  of  the  organ;  but  to  a  still 
greater  extent  in  the  irregular  creasing  and 
furrowing  of  the  surface.  This  creasing  and 
furrowing  begins  to  occur  in  the  higher 
mammals,  and  in  civilized  man  it  is  carried 
to  an  astonishing  extent.  The  amount  of 
intelligence  is  correlated  with  the  number, 
the  depth,  and  the  irregularity  of  the  fur- 
rows. A  cat's  brain  has  a  few  symmetrical 
creases.  In  an  ape  the  creases  are  deepened 
into  slight  furrows,  and  they  run  irregu- 
larly, somewhat  like  the  lines  in  the  palm 
of  your  hand.  With  age  and  experience  the 
furrows  grow  deeper  and  more  sinuous,  and 
new  ones  appear;  and  in  man  these  phe- 
nomena come  to  have  great  significance. 
The  cerebral  surface  of  a  human  infant  is 
like  that  of  an  ape.  In  an  adult  savage,  or 
in  a  European  peasant,  the  furrowing  is 
somewhat  marked  and  complicated.  In  the 
brain  of  a  great  scholar  the  furrows  are 
very  deep  and  crooked,  and  hundreds  of 
creases  appear  which  are  not  found  at  all  in 
the  brains  of  ordinary  men.  In  other  words, 
the  cerebral  surface  of  such  a  man,  the  seat 
of  conscious  mental  life,  has  become  enor- 
mously enlarged  in  area ;  and  we  must  fur- 
ther observe  that  it  goes  on  enlarging  in 
some  cases  into  extreme  old  age. — FISKE 
Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  5,  p.  48.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1900.) 

652.  COOKERY  AMONG  PRIMITIVE 

WOMEN— Cassava  Griddle-cakes.— The.  cook- 
ing is  done  after  the  following  fashion:  A 
large  flat  slab  of  stone  is  placed  over  a  fire, 
and  on  this  griddle  a  thin  layer  of  meal  is 
spread.  A  woman,  fan  in  hand,  sits  by  the 
fire  watching.  With  her  fan  she  smooths 
the  upper  surface  of  the  cake  and  makes  its 
edges  round.  In  a  few  minutes  one  side  is 
done,  and  when  the  cake  is  turned  it  is  done 
in  two  minutes  more.  They  are  next  thrown 
on  the  roof  to  dry,  and  I  have  often  vainly 
tried  to  imitate  the  skill  with  which  an 
Indian  woman  "  quoits "  up  one  of  these 
large  and  thin  cakes  on  to  the  roof,  often 
high  above  her  head.  When  thoroughly 
dried  the  bread  is  hard  and  crisp. — MASON 
Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2, 
p.  39.  (A.,  1894.  ) 

653.  COOKERY,   IMPORTANCE  OF 

— More  Depends  on  the  Cook  than  on  the 
Materials  Cooked — The  Quality  of  a  Soup. — 
His  [Benjamin  Thompson's]  faith  in  cook- 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


132 


ery  is  well  expressed  in  the  following,  where 
he  is  speaking  of  his  experiments  in  feeding 
the  Bavarian  army  and  the  poor  of  Munich. 
He  says :  "  I  constantly  found  that  the  rich- 
ness or  quality  of  a  soup  depended  more 
upon  the  proper  choice  of  the  ingredients, 
and  a  proper  management  of  the  fire  in  the 
combination  of  these  ingredients,  than  upon 
the  quantity  of  solid  nutritious  matter  em- 
ployed; much  more  upon  the  art  and  skill 
of  the  cook  than  upon  the  sums  laid  out  in 
the  market." — WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cook- 
ery, ch.  1,  p.  5.  (A.,  1900.) 

654.  COOKING,    EARLY     DEVICES 

FOR — Boiling  by  Hot  Stones — No  Soiled  Meats 
in  Homeric  Feasts — Found  in  Northmen's 
Traditions. — In  many  parts  of  the  world, 
among  tribes  who  do  not  know  how  to  make 
an  earthen  pot,  there  is  found  the  curious 
art  of  stone-boiling,  which  is  a  sort  of  wet 
baking.  The  Assiniboins  of  North  America 
have  their  name,  which  means  "  stone-boil- 
ers," from  their  old  practise  of  digging  a 
hole  in  the  ground,  lining  it  with  a  piece  of 
the  slaughtered  animal's  hide,  and  then  put- 
ting in  the  meat  with  water,  and  hot  stones 
to  boil  it.  Tribes  of  the  far  West  actually 
managed  by  means  of  red-hot  stones  to  boil 
salmon  and  acorn-porridge  in  their  baskets 
made  of  close-plaited  roots  of  the  spruce-fir. 
The  process  of  stone-boiling  has  lasted  on 
even  in  Europe  where  found  convenient  for 
heating  water  in  wooden  tubs.  Linnaeus  on 
his  northern  tour  found  the  Bothland  people 
brewing  beer  in  this  way,  and  to  this  day 
the  "  rude  Carinthian  boor "  drinks  such 
"  stone-beer,"  as  it  is  called.  As  soon  as  the 
cooks  anywhere  are  provided  with  earthen 
pots  or  metal  kettles,  boiling  over  the  fire 
becomes  easy.  Yet  it  is  curious  to  notice  the 
absence  of  boiled  meats  from  the  feasts  of 
the  Homeric  heroes,  where  there  is  so  much 
about  the  joints  stuck  on  spits  to  roast,  and 
the  vengeful  Odysseus  rolling  to  and  fro  on 
his  bed  is  compared  to  an  eager  roaster  turn- 
ing a  stuffed  paunch  before  the  blazing  fire. 
Among  the  old  Northmen  it  was  otherwise, 
for  it  is  told  in  the  Edda  how  the  warriors 
feast  every  night  in  Valhalla  on  the  sodden 
flesh  of  the  boar  Ssehrimner,  who  is  daily 
boiled  in  the  huge  kettle,  and  comes  to  life 
again  ready  for  the  morrow's  hunt. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  11,  p.  266.  (A.,  1899.) 

655.  COOKING,  SCIENTIFIC  VALUE 
OF  —  Destroys    Most   Bacteria.  —  Injurious 
micro-organisms    in    foods    are,    fortunately 
for  the  consumers,  usually  killed  by  cooking. 
Vast  numbers  are,  as  far  as  we  know,  of  no 
harm  whatever.     Alarming  reports   of   the 
large  numbers   of  bacteria  which   are   con- 
tained in  this  or  that  food  are  generally  as 
irrelevant  as  they  are  incorrect.     Bacteria, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  ubiquitous.    In  food  we 
have  abundance  of  the  chief  thing  necessary 
to  their  life  and  multiplication — favorable 
nutriment.     Hence  we  should  expect  to  find 
in  uncooked  or  stale  food  an  ample  supply 


of  saprophytic  bacteria.  There  was  much 
wholesome  truth  in  the  assertions  made 
some  two  years  ago  by  the  late  Professor 
Kanthack,  to  the  effect  that  good  food  as 
well  as  bad  frequently  contained  large  num- 
bers of  bacteria,  and  often  of  the  same 
species.  It  is  well  that  we  should  become 
familiarized  with  this  idea,  for  its  accuracy 
cannot  be  doubted,  and  its  usefulness  at  the 
present  time  may  not  be  without  its  benefi- 
cial effect. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  178. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

656.  COOKING  THE  INVENTION  OF 
WOMAN — There  are  in  many  lands  plants 
which  in  the  natural  state  are  poisonous  or 
extremely  acrid  or  pungent.     The  women  of 
these  lands    have    all   discovered    independ- 
ently that  boiling  or  heating  drives  off  the 
poisonous  or  disagreeable  element.     The  In- 
dians   of    southern    California    gather    the 
leaves    and    stems    of    several    cruciferous 
plants,    throw   them   into   hot   water,    then 
rinse   them   out   in   cold  water   five   or   six 
times,    then    dry    them    and    use    them    as 
boiled  cabbage.     This  washing  removes  the 
bitter   taste   and    certain  substances   which 
are  likely  to  produce  nausea  and  diarrhea. 
The    removal    of    poisonous    matter    from 
tapioca  by  means  of  hot  water  is  the  dis- 
covery of  savage  women. — MASON  Woman's 
Share   in  Primitive   Culture,   ch.   2,   p.   24. 
(A.,  1894.) 

657.  COOPERATION     AMONG 
BRUTES,  UNSUPPORTED  STORIES  OF— 

Thresher  and  Swordfish — Pilot-fish  and 
Shark — Blind  Instinct  of  Remora. — Dr. 
Giinther,  however,  denies  that  the  thresher 
ever  attacks  whales;  and  Professor  Moseley 
writes  me  that  he  considers  the  alleged  cases 
"  very  unlikely,"  as  the  hide  of  the  whale  is 
so  tough,  and  the  blubber  so  thick,  that  the 
animal  would  not  "  feel  or  care  about  the 
thresher,  which,  by  falling  on  the  whale 
from  a  height  of  say  20  feet,  might  nearly 
commit  suicide  without  the  whale  knowing 
anything  about  it."  Moreover,  as  regards  the 
pilot-fish,  Professor  Moseley  writes  me  that 
from  actual  observation  he  can  fully  corrobo- 
rate the  opinion  which  I  have  expressed. 
"  The  pilot-fish,"  he  says,  "  cannot  possibly 
hold  on  the  shark,  as  it  has  no  means  of 
attachment  " ;  "  it  is  the  remora  ( which 
habitually  clings  to  the  bodies  of  sharks) 
that  has  been  mistaken  for  the  pilot-fish. 
The  latter  is  a  most  unfortunate  fish  to  run 
as  exhibiting  animal  intelligence.  It  con- 
stantly mistakes  a  ship  for  a  big  shark, 
swimming  for  weeks  near  the  water-surface, 
just  a  foot  in  front  of  the  cutwater.  Now, 
if  it  swam  just  behind  the  stern  it  would  get 
plenty  of  food,  whereas  in  front  of  the  bow 
it  gets  nothing  whatever.  Nevertheless,  it 
stays  on  at  what  in  a  shark  is  of  course  the 
right  place,  ready  to  be  at  the  beast's  mouth 
directly  food  is  found."  [1886.] — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  8,  p.  253.  (A., 
1899.) 


133 


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Coordination 


658.  COOPERATION  DEPENDS  UP- 
ON COMMUNICATION— A  Nervous  System 
a  Quarter  of  a  Mile  Long — The  Most  Perfect 
Signal-service    Triumphs. — The    success    of 
the  cooperative  principle,  however,  depends 
upon    one    condition:    the   members    of    the 
herd  must  be  able  to  communicate  with  one 
another.      It    matters    not    how    acute    the 
senses  of  each  animal  may  be,  the  strength 
of    the    column    depends    on    the    power    to 
transmit  from  one  to  another  what  impres- 
sions each  may  receive  at  any  moment  from 
without.     Without  this  power  the  sociality 
of  the  herd  is  stultified;    the  army,  having 
no  signaling  department,  is  powerless  as  an 
army.     But  if  any  member  of  the  herd  is 
able  by  motion  of  head  or  foot  or  neck  or 
ear,  by  any  sign  or  by  any  sound,  to  pass  on 
the  news  that  there  is  danger  near,  each  in- 
stantly enters  into  possession  of  the  facul- 
ties of  the  whole.    Each  has  a  hundred  eyes, 
noses,  ears.    Each  has  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
nerves.      Thus   numbers    are    strength    only 
when  strength  is  coupled  with  some  power 
of  intercommunication  by  signs.   If  one  herd 
develops  this  signaling  system  and  another 
does    not,    its    chances    of   survival   will   be 
greater.      The   less   equipped  herds   will   be 
slowly  decimated  and  driven  to  the  wall; 
and  those  which  survive  to  propagate  their 
kind  will  be  those  whose   signal-service   is 
most    efficient    and    complete. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  p.  156.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

659.  COOPERATION   IN    LOWER 
LIFE — A  Colonial  Animal — Animal    Resem- 
bling Plant. — Let  us  pick  up  a  piece  of  this 
"  seaweed  "  and  note  its  structure.     You  ob- 
serve it  resembles   a   fir-tree   in  miniature. 
Its  total  length  is  about  four  inches,  and 
you  note  that  it  grows  rooted  and  fixed  like 
any  plant  on  oyster-shells  and  other  objects. 
Little  wonder  that  it  is  called  a  sea-plant, 
for  its  habits  and  its  appearance  certainly 
lend   support  to   that  view  of   its   nature. 
Scan  its   structure,   however,   a  little  more 
closely  by  aid  of  this  lens,  and  you  observe 
that    in    place    of    leaves    or    flowers    the 
branches  bear  hundreds  of  little  cups  set  in 
each  side.     .     .     .     Then  your  gaze  alights 
on  a  curious  sight.     You  find  that  each  of 
these  cups  or  cells  is  tenanted  by  a  living 
animal.     .     .     . 

Our  sea-fir  is  a  compound  or  colonial  ani- 
mal, which  numbers  its  members  by  the 
hundred.  It  is  something  more,  however. 
It  appears  before  us  as  a  typical  example  of 
a  cooperative  society.  For  the  colony  is 
nourished,  not  by  the  labor  of  one,  but  by 
the  work  of  all  its  members.  Each  little 
animal  unit  captures  food  and  digests  it, 
and  then  delivers  this  nutriment  over  to  the 
general  store  or  common  fund,  which  is  cir- 
culating always  through  the  hollow  stem 
and  branches  of  the  colony.  From  this  com- 
mon store  each  unit  in  turn  draws  its  own 
supply. 

There  is  perfect  cooperation  witnessed 
here.  No  wrangling  and  quarreling,  such  as 


intervene  in  higher  societies,  exist.  Lower 
life  knows  nothing  of  the  overweening  am- 
bition of  the  twos  or  threes  over  the  aims  of 
the  mass.  There  is  no  question  or  claim  of 
precedence  in  the  sea-fir  democracy.  All  is 
harmony,  equality,  fraternity  here;  and  the 
currents  of  sea-fir  life  roll  onwards  undis- 
turbed by  the  passions  of  higher  existence. — 
ANDREW  WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  9, 
p.  33.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

660.  COOPERATION,  UNCONSCIOUS 

— Flowers  and  Insects — Color  and  Fragrance 
Attract  for  a  Purpose — Life  Dependent  on 
Beauty  and  Sweetness. — The  vegetable  world 
is  a  world  of  still  life.  No  higher  plant  has 
the  power  to  move  to  help  its  neighbor,  or 
even  to  help  itself,  at  the  most  critical  mo- 
ment of  its  life.  .  .  .  The  fertilizing 
pollen  grows  on  one  part  of  the  flower,  the 
stigma  which  is  to  receive  it  grows  on  an- 
other, or  it  may  be  on  a  different  plant. 
But  as  these  parts  cannot  move  towards  one 
another,  the  flower  calls  in  the  aid  of  mov- 
ing things.  .  .  .  Multitudes  of  flowers 
without  such  aid  could  never  seed  at  all.  It 
is  to  these  cooperations  that  we  owe  all  that 
is  beautiful  and  fragrant  in  the  flower 
world.  To  attract  the  insect  and  recom- 
pense it  for  its  trouble,  a  banquet  of  honey 
is  spread  in  the  heart  of  the  flower;  and  to 
enable  the  visitor  to  find  the  nectar,  the 
leaves  of  the  flower  are  made  showy  or  con- 
spicuous beyond  all  other  leaves.  To  meet 
the  case  of  insects  which  love  the  dusk, 
many  flowers  are  colored  white;  for  those 
which  move  about  at  night  and  cannot  see  at 
all,  the  night-flowers  load  the  darkness  with 
their  sweet  perfume.  The  loveliness,  the 
variegations  of  shade  and  tint,  the  ornamen- 
tations, the  scents,  the  shapes,  the  sizes  of 
flowers,  are  all  the  gifts  of  cooperation. 
The  flower  in  every  detail,  in  fact,  is  a 
monument  to  the  cooperative  principle. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  234.  (J.  P., 
1900.) 

661.  COORDINATION    OF   BODILY 
ACTIVITIES—  Stronger  Excitement  Arouses  a 
Greater  Number — Unity  of  the  Body. — My 
hand  is  lying  quiescent  on  the  table;    some- 
thing touches  it  lightly,  a  fly,  or  a  feather; 
there  is  a  rush  of  activity  to  certain  mus- 
cles, and  the  hand  is  moved  away.     Well, 
supposing  the  two  things  to  be  remote  cause 
and  effect:  the  light  contact — cause,  the  mo- 
tion— effect:     what  may  we   suppose  as  to 
the  intermediate  links?     Unless  the  process 
be  something  quite  unique,  there  must  be  a 
channel  of  communication  between  the  "skin 
of  the  hand  and  the  group  of  muscles  in  the 
shoulder,    upper    arm,    and    forearm,    that 
unite  to  withdraw  the  hand.     Assuming  the 
concurrence  of  ten  muscles,  there  must  be  a 
ramifying   thread    of    communication    from 
any  point  in  the  skin  of  the  hand  to  all 
those  ten  muscles.     .     .     . 

Suppose  now,  instead  of  a  light  contact, 
the  hand  is  sharply  pinched  in  the  very 
same  place.  .  .  .  [Now]  with  the  mere 


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Correspondence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


134 


arm  movements  are  coupled  a  great  many 
more — in  the  other  arm,  the  legs,  the  body, 
and  the  face,  besides  the  more  concealed 
movements  shown  in  the  voice,  which  emits 
a  cry,  shout,  or  other  exclamation.  We  see 
that  any  part  of  the  skin  of  the  hand  is  in 
connection  with  perhaps  two  hundred  mus- 
cles, the  notable  circumstance  being  that  a 
weak  touch  does  not  arouse  the  wider  circle 
of  movements.  .  .  .  A  very  bitter  taste, 
a  malodor,  a  screeching  discord,  an  intense 
flame,  will  each  awaken  movements  of  limbs, 
body,  face,  and  voice.  Every  one  of  the 
senses  is  in  the  same  extensive  communica- 
tion with  the  organs  of  motion. — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  3,  p.  6.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

662.  COPPER    HAMMERED    INTO 

SHAPE — Indians  Ignorant  of  Casting. — It  has 
often  been  stated  that  the  Indians  possessed 
some  method,  at  present  unknown,  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  harden  the  copper. 
This,  however,  seems  to  be  an  error.  Some 
copper  implements,  which  Mr.  Wilson  sub- 
mitted to  Professor  Crofts,  were  found  to  be 
no  harder  than  the  native  copper  from  Lake 
Superior.  "  The  structure  of  the  metal  was 
also  highly  laminated,  as  if  the  instrument 
had  been  brought  to  its  present  shape  by 
hammering  out  a  solid  mass  of  copper." — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  242. 
(A.,  1900.) 

663.  CORAL  ANIMALS  FOUND  BE- 
LOW THIRTY  FATHOMS— No  Reefs  at  the 
Greater  Depth. — Until  quite  recently  it  was 
usually   stated   in   works   dealing  with   the 
structures  of  coral  reefs  that  the  so-called 
reef-building  corals,  that  is  to  say  the  large 
madrepores,   astrseids,  and  others,  are  con- 
fined to  water  not  deeper  than  thirty  fath- 
oms.   This  limit  must  now  be  somewhat  ex- 
tended, in  consequence  of  the  discovery  by 
Captain  Moore  of  an  abundance  of  growing 
coral  at  a  depth  of  forty-four  fathoms  in  the 
China  seas ;    but,  nevertheless,  it  is  perfectly 
true  that  the  corals  do  not  grow  in  such  pro- 
fusion in  very  deep  water  as  to  form  any- 
thing that  can  be  compared  with  the  reefs 
of  the  shores.     It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
advantages  afforded  by  the  light,  warmth, 
and  abundance  of  food  of  the  shallow  water 
may  account  for  the  luxuriance  and  vigor  of 
the  reef  corals,  and  that  where  the  food  is 
scarce,  and  the  water  cold  and  dark,  as  it  is 
below  fifty  fathoms,  the  power  of  continuous 
gemmation  is  lost,  and  the  rapidity  of  the 
growth  and  reproduction  of  the  individual 
polyps    is   considerably   diminished. — HICK- 
SON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  5,  p.  94. 
(A.,  1894.) 

664.  CORONA   OF   THE    SUN— Seen 
Only  when  Eclipse  Abolishes  the   Glare. — 
Owing  to  the  scattering  of  light  by  matter 
floating  mechanically  in  the  earth's  atmos- 
phere, the  sun  is  seen  not  sharply  defined, 
but  surrounded  by  a  luminous  glare.     Now, 
a  loud  noise  will  drown  a  whisper,  an  in- 
tense light  will  quench  a  feeble  one,  and  so 


this  circumsolar  glare  prevents  us  from  see- 
ing many  striking  appearances  round  the 
border  of  the  sun.  The  glare  is  abolished 
in  total  eclipses,  when  the  moon  comes  be- 
tween the  earth  and  the  sun,  and  there  are 
then  seen  a  series  of  rose-colored  protuber- 
ances, stretching  sometimes  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  miles  beyond  the  dark  edge  of  the 
moon.  They  are  described  by  Vassenius  in 
the  "  Philosophical  Transactions  "  for  1733, 
and  were  probably  observed  even  earlier 
than  this.  In  1842  they  attracted  great  atten- 
tion, and  were  then  compared  to  Alpine 
snow-peaks  reddened  by  the  evening  sun. 
That  these  prominences  are  flaming  gas,  and 
principally  hydrogen  gas,  was  first  proved 
by  M.  Janssen  during  an  eclipse  observed  in 
India,  on  the  18th  of  August,  1868.  —  TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  206.  (A., 
1898.) 


665. 


Stedfast   Glory  of 


Evanescent  Substance.  —  This  outer  envelope 
[of  the  sun],  tho  gaseous  in  the  main,  is  not 
spherical,  but  has  an  outline  exceedingly 
irregular  and  variable.  It  seems  to  be  made 
up  not  of  overlying  strata  of  different  den- 
sity, but  rather  of  flames,  beams,  and 
streamers,  as  transient  and  unstable  as 
those  of  our  own  aurora  borealis.  It  is  di- 
vided into  two  portions,  separated  by  a 
boundary  as  definite,  tho  not  so  regular,  as 
that  which  parts  them  both  from  the  photo- 
sphere. The  outer  and  far  more  extensive 
portion,  which  in  texture  and  rarity  seems 
to  resemble  the  tails  of  comets,  and  may  al- 
most, without  exaggeration,  be  likened  to 
"  the  stuff  that  dreams  are  made  of,"  is 
known  as  the  "  coronal  atmosphere,"  since 
to  it  is  chiefly  due  the  "  corona  "  or  glory 
which  surrounds  the  darkened  sun  during 
an  eclipse,  and  constitutes  the  most  im- 
pressive feature  of  the  occasion.  —  YOUNG 
The  Sun,  ch.  6,  p.  191.  (A.,  1898.) 

666.    CORRECTION   OF   IMPRES- 

SIONS—A Characteristic  of  Normal  Mental 
Life.  —  Finally,  it  should  never  be  forgotten 
that  in  normal  states  of  mind  there  is  al- 
ways the  possibility  of  rectifying  an  illu- 
sion. What  distinguishes  abnormal  from 
normal  mental  life  is  the  persistent  occupa- 
tion of  the  mind  by  certain  ideas,  so  that 
there  is  no  room  for  the  salutary  corrective 
effect  of  reflection  on  the  actual  impression 
of  the  moment,  by  which  we  are  wont  to 
"  orientate,"  or  take  our  bearings  as  to  the 
position  of  things  about  us.  In  sleep,  and 
in  certain  artificially  produced  states,  much 
the  same  thing  presents  itself.  Images  be- 
come realities  just  because  they  are  not  in- 
stantly recognized  as  such  by  a  reference  to 
the  actual  surroundings  of  the  moment. 
But  in  normal  waking  life  this  power  of 
correction  remains  with  us.  We  may  not 
exercise  it,  it  is  true,  and  thus  the  illusion 
will  tend  to  become  more  or  less  persistent 
and  recurring;  for  the  same  law  applies  to 
true  and  to  false  perception:  repetition 
makes  the  process  easier.  But  if  we  only 


135 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Coordination 
Correspondence 


choose  to  exert  ourselves,  we  can  always 
keep  our  illusions  in  a  nascent  or  imper- 
fectly developed  stage. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch. 
6,  p.  124.  (A.,  1897.) 

667.  CORRELATION   OF   GROWTH 

— The  Law  of  Symmetry — Plants,  Animals, 
and  Crystals  Symmetrical. — One  relation 
which  we  detect  in  all  variations  of  organic 
growth  is  simply  the  relation  of  symmetry. 
This  kind  and  degree  of  correlation  of 
growth  prevails  even  in  the  world  which  we 
call  inorganic.  The  corresponding  sides  and 
angles  of  a  crystal,  for  example,  may  be 
said  to  be  correlated  together.  The  nature 
of  this  relation  is  geometrical  and  numeric- 
al. It  is  a  relation  having  reference  to  in- 
variable rules  of  number.  As  regards  its 
physical  cause,  all  we  can  say  is  that  it  is 
the  result  of  forces  whose  property  it  is  to 
aggregate  the  particles  of  matter  in  definite 
forms,  which  forms  are  symmetrical — that 
is  to  say,  they  are  forms  having  an  axis  with 
equal  developments  on  either  side.  Correla- 
tion of  growth,  therefore,  in  this  sense 
points  to  the  work  of  forces,  one  of  whose 
essential  properties  is  polarity — that  is, 
equal  and  similar  action  in  opposite  direc- 
tions. Now,  this  kind  of  correlation  of 
growth  may  be  traced  upwards  from  simple 
minerals  through  all  the  infinite  complica- 
tions of  the  organic  world.  It  is  unques- 
tionably the  basis  of  many  of  the  correla- 
tions of  growth  prevailing  in  plants  and 
animals.  It  is  seen  in  the  symmetrical  ar- 
rangement of  all  vegetable  and  of  all  animal 
forms.  A  central  axis  is  traceable  in  them 
all,  and  the  bilateral  or  radiated  arrange- 
ment of  their  subordinate  parts  is  one  of  the 
most  fundamental  and  universal  of  all  the 
correlations  of  growth. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  5,  p.  144.  (Burt.) 

668.  CORRELATION   OF  SCIENCES 
— Chemistry     and     Microscopy     Aid     Each 
Other. — It    should    always    be    remembered 
that  a  chemical  report  and  a  bacteriological 
report  should  assist  each  other.    The  former 
is  able  to  tell  us  the  quantity  of  salts  and 
condition    of   the   organic   matter    present; 
the  latter  the  number  and  quality  of  micro- 
organisms.    Neither  can  take  the  place  of 
the  other,  and,  generally  speaking,  both  are 
more  or  less  useless  until  we  can  learn,  by 
inspection  and  investigation  of  the  source 
of  the  water,  the  origin  of  the  organic  mat- 
ter or  contamination.    Hence  a  water  report 
should  contain  not  only  a  record  of  physical 
characters,  of  chemical  constituents,  and  of 
the  presence  or  absence  of  micro-organisms, 
injurious  and  otherwise,  but  it  should  also 
contain    information    obtained   by   personal 
investigation  of  the  source.     Only  thus  can 
a  reasonable  opinion  be  expected. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  51.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

669.  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 
EMBRYOLOGY  AND  GEOLOGY  FAILS  IN 
PARTICULARS— When  we  rigorously  com- 
pare the  development  of  any  animal  what- 


ever with  the  successive  appearance  of  ani- 
mals of  the  same  or  similar  groups  in 
geological  time,  we  find  many  things  which 
do  not  correspond — not  merely  in  the  want 
of  links  which  we  might  expect  to  find,  but 
in  the  more  significant  appearance,  prema- 
turely or  inopportunely,  of  forms  which  we 
would  not  anticipate. — DAWSON  Facts  and 
Fancies  in  Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  66. 
(A.  B.  P.  S.) 

670.  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 
PITCH   OF   SOUND    AND    COLOR— Incon- 
ceivable Number  of  Light-waves. — The  pitch 
of  sound  is  wholly  determined  by  the  rapid- 
ity of  the  vibration,  as  the  intensity  is  by  the 
amplitude.    What  pitch  is  to  the  ear  in  acous- 
tics, color  is  to  the  eye  in  the  undulatory  the- 
ory of  light.     Tho  never  seen,  the  lengths  of 
the  waves   of   light  have  been  determined. 
Their  existence  is  proved  by  their  effects,  and 
from  their  effects  also  their  lengths  may  be 
accurately  deduced.    This  may,  moreover,  be 
done  in  many  ways,  and,  when  the  different 
determinations  are  compared,  the  strictest 
harmony  is   found   to  exist  between  them. 
This   consensus   of   evidence   is   one  of  the 
strongest  points  of  the  undulatory  theory. 
The  shortest  waves  of  the  visible  spectrum 
are  those  of  the  extreme  violet ;  the  longest, 
those  of  the  extreme  red;    while  the  other 
colors   are  of  intermediate  pitch  or  wave- 
length.   The  length  of  a  wave  of  the  extreme 
red  is  such  that  it  would  require  36,918  of 
them,  placed  end  to  end,  to  cover  one  inch, 
while   64,631    of  the  extreme  violet  waves 
would  be  required  to  span  the  same  distance. 
Now,  the  velocity  of  light,  in  round  num- 
bers,    is     190,000     [186,414,     Flammarion, 
"  Popular  Astronomy,"  p.  318]  miles  per  sec- 
ond.   Reducing  this  to  inches,  and  multiply- 
ing the  number  thus  found  by  36,918,  we 
find  the  number  of  waves  of  the  extreme  red, 
in   190,000  miles,   to  be  four  hundred   and 
fifty-one    millions    of    millions.      All    these 
waves  enter  the  eye,  and  strike  the  retina 
at  the  back  of  the  eye  in  one  second.     In  a 
similar  manner,  it  may  be  found  that  the 
number  of  shocks  corresponding  to  the  im- 
pression   of    violet    is    seven    hundred    and 
eighty-nine  millions  of  millions. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  62.     (A.,  1898.) 

671.  CORRESPONDENCE  DEMANDS 

A  PLAN — The  Natural  Includes  the  Supernat- 
ural.— Here  the  supermaterial,  and  in  this 
sense  the  supernatural,  element — that  is  to 
say,  the  ideal  conformity  and  unity  of  con- 
ception— is  the  one  unquestionable  fact  in 
which  we  recognize  directly  the  working  of 
a  mind  with  which  our  own  has  very  near 
relations.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  see  the 
natural,  in  the  largest  sense,  including  and 
embodying  the  supernatural ;  the  material, 
including  the  supermaterial.  No  possible 
theory,  whether  true  or  false,  in  respect  to 
the  physical  means  employed  to  preserve  the 
correspondence  of  parts  which  runs  through 
all  creation,  can  affect  the  certainty  of  that 


Correspondence 
Creation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


136 


mental  plan  and  purpose  which  alone  makes 
such  correspondence  intelligible  to  us,  and 
in  which  alone  it  may  be  said  to  exist. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Laic,  ch.  1,  p.  19.  (Burt.) 
672.  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  ANI- 
MAL ORGANS— Likeness  Found  Only  in  an 
Order  of  Thought. — An  order  so  vast  as  this, 
including  within  itself  such  variety  of  de- 
tail, and  maintained  through  such  periods 
of  time,  implies  combination  and  adjust- 
ment founded  upon,  and  carrying  into  effect, 
one  vast  conception.  It  is  only  as  an  order 
of  thought  that  the  doctrine  of  animal  ho- 
mologies  is  intelligible  at  all.  It  is  a  mental 
order,  and  can  only  be  mentally  perceived. 
For  what  do  we  mean  when  we  say  that  this 
bone  in  one  kind  of  animal  corresponds  to 
such  another  bone  in  another  kind  of  ani- 
mal ?  Corresponds — in  what  sense  ?  Not  in 
the  method  of  using  it — for  very  often  limbs 
which  are  homologically  the  same  are  put  to 
the  most  diverse  and  opposite  uses.  To 
what  standard,  then,  are  we  referring  when 
we  say  that  such  and  such  two  limbs  are 
homologically  the  same?  It  is  to  the  stand- 
ard of  an  ideal  order — a  plan — a  type — a 
pattern  mentally  conceived.  This  sounds 
very  recondite  and  metaphysical;  and  yet 
the  habit  of  referring  physical  facts  to  some 
ideal  standard  and  order  of  thought  is  a 
universal  instinct  in  the  human  mind.  It  is 
one  of  the  earliest  of  our  efforts  in  endeavor- 
ing to  understand  the  phenomena  around  us. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  117. 
(Burt.) 

673.  COSMOGONY     OF    DANTE 
WRECKED  BY  COPERNICAN   ASTRON- 
OMY— Men  Thought  Christianity  Threatened. — 
With  the  advent  of  the  Copernican  astron- 
omy  the   funnel-shaped   inferno,    the   steep 
mountain    of   purgatory    crowned    with    its 
terrestrial    paradise,    and    those    concentric 
spheres  of  heaven  wherein  beatified  saints 
held   weird   and   subtle   converse,   all   went 
their   way  to  the  limbo   prepared   for   the 
childlike  fancies  of  untaught  minds,  whither 
Hades  and  Valhalla  had  gone  before  them. 
In  our  day  it  is  hard  to  realize  the  startling 
effect  of  the  discovery  that  man  does  not 
dwell  at  the  center  of  things,  but  is  the  deni- 
zen of  an  obscure  and  tiny  speck  of  cosmical 
matter  quite  invisible  amid  the  innumerable 
throng  of  flaming  suns  that  make  up  our 
galaxy.     To  the  contemporaries  of  Coperni- 
cus the  new  theory  seemed  to  strike  at  the 
very   foundations   of   Christian   theology. — 
FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  1,  p.  15.     (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1900.) 

674.  COSMOGONY,  ORIENTAL— Hin- 
du   Account     of     Creation — Ordinances     of 
Menu. — The  earliest  doctrines  of  the  Indian 
and  Egyptian  schools  of  philosophy  agreed 
in  ascribing  the  first  creation  of  the  world 
to  an  omnipotent  and  infinite  being.     They 
concurred   also   in  representing   this   being, 
who  had  existed  from  all  eternity,  as  having 
repeatedly    destroyed    and    reproduced    the 
world  and  all  its  inhabitants.    In  the  sacred 


volume  of  the  Hindus,  called  the  "  Ordi- 
nances of  Menu,"  comprising  the  Indian  sys- 
tem of  duties  religious  and  civil,  we  find  a 
preliminary  chapter  treating  of  the  crea- 
tion, in  which  the  cosmogony  is  known  to 
have  been  derived  from  earlier  writings  and 
traditions,  and  principally  from  certain 
hymns  of  high  antiquity,  called  the  Vedas. 
These  hymns  were  first  put  together,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Colebrooke,  in  a  connected  series, 
about  thirteen  centuries  before  the  Christian 
era,  but  they  appear  from  internal  evidence 
to  have  been  written  at  various  antecedent 
periods.  In  them,  as  we  learn  from  the  re- 
searches of  Professor  Wilson,  the  eminent 
Sanskrit  scholar,  two  distinct  philosophical 
systems  are  discoverable.  According  to  one 
of  them,  all  things  were  originally  brought 
into  existence  by  the  sole  will  of  a  single 
first  cause,  which  existed  from  eternity; 
according  to  the  other,  there  have  always 
existed  two  principles,  the  one  material,  but 
without  form,  the  other  spiritual  and 
capable  of  compelling  "  inert  matter  to  de- 
velop its  sensible  properties."  This  de- 
velopment of  matter  into  "  individual  and 
visible  existences  "  is  called  creation,  and  is 
assigned  to  a  subordinate  agent,  or  the 
creative  faculty  of  the  Supreme  Being  em- 
bodied in  the  person  of  Brahma. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  4.  (A., 
1854.) 

675.     COST    OF    PLEASURE  AND 

PAIN — Expenditure  of  Blood  and  Nerve-tissue 
—  Waste  of  Life-force  by  Stimulants. — 
Every  throb  of  pleasure  costs  something  to 
the  physical  system;  and  two  throbs  cost 
twice  as  much  as  one.  If  we  cannot  fix  a 
precise  equivalent,  it  is  not  because  the  re- 
lation is  not  definite,  but  from  the  difficul- 
ties of  reducing  degrees  of  pleasure  to  a 
recognized  standard.  Of  this,  however, 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt — namely, 
that  a  large  amount  of  pleasure  supposes  a 
corresponding  large  expenditure  of  blood 
and  nerve-tissue,  to  the  stinting,  perhaps,  of 
the  active  energies  and  the  intellectual  proc- 
esses. It  is  a  matter  of  practical  moment 
to  ascertain  what  pleasures  cost  least,  for 
there  are  thrifty  and  unthrifty  modes  of 
spending  our  brain  and  heart's  blood.  Ex- 
perience probably  justifies  us  in  saying  that 
the  narcotic  stimulants  are,  in  general,  a 
more  extravagant  expenditure  than  the 
stimulation  of  food,  society,  and  fine  art. 
One  of  the  safest  of  delights,  if  not  very 
acute,  is  the  delight  of  abounding  physical 
vigor;  for,  from  the  very  supposition,  the 
supply  to  the  brain  is  not  such  as  to  inter- 
fere with  the  general  interests  of  the  sys- 
tem. But  the  theory  of  pleasure  is  incom- 
plete without  the  theory  of  pain. 

As  a  rule,  pain  is  a  more  costly  experience 
than  pleasure,  altho  sometimes  economical 
as  a  check  to  the  spendthrift  pleasures. 
Pain  is  physically  accompanied  by  an  excess 
of  blood  in  the  brain,  from  at  least  two 
causes — extreme  intensity  of  nervous  action 


137 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Correspondence 
Creation 


and  conflicting  currents,  both  being  sources 
of  waste.  .  .  .  The  ideally  best  condi- 
tion is  a  moderate  surplus  of  pleasure — a 
gentle  glow,  not  rising  into  brilliancy  or  in- 
tensity, except  at  considerable  intervals 
(say  a  small  portion  of  every  day),  falling 
down  frequently  to  indifference,  but  seldom 
sinking  into  pain. — BAIN  app.  to  Conserva- 
tion of  Energy,  by  STEWART,  p.  429.  (Hum., 
1880.) 

676.  COSTUME    CHANGED   WITH 

SEASON — Mystery  of  Color  among  Birds. — 
Quite  apart  from  the  changes  in  color  due 
to  age,  a  bird  may  throughout  its  life 
change  costumes  with  the  seasons.  Thus, 
the  male  bobolink,  after  the  nesting  season, 
exchanges  his  black,  white,  and  buff  nuptial 
suit  for  a  sparrowlike  dress  resembling  that 
of  his  mate.  The  scarlet  tanager  sheds  his 
gay  body  plumage  and  puts  on  the  olive- 
green  colors  of  the  female,  without  chan- 
ging, however,  the  color  of  his  black  wings 
and  tail.  The  following  spring  both  birds 
resume  the  more  conspicuous  coats.  A 
more  or  less  similar  change  takes  place 
among  many  birds  in  which  the  male  is 
brighter  than  the  female,  but,  among  land 
birds,  when  the  adults  of  both  sexes  are 
alike,  there  is  little  or  no  seasonal  change 
in  color. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  3,  p.  37. 
(A.,  1900.) 

677.  COUNTING,  METHODS    OF, 
AMONG  SAVAGES— Even  the  comparatively 
intellectual  Zulus  can  only  count  up  to  ten 
by  using  the  hands  and  fingers.     The  Ahts 
of  Northwest  America  count  in  nearly  the 
same   manner,    and   most  of   the    tribes    of 
South    America    are    no    further    advanced. 
Somewhat    higher    races,    as    the    Eskimos, 
can  count  up  to  twenty  by  using  the  hands 
and  the  feet ;    and  other  races  get  even  fur- 
ther than  this  by  saying  "  one  man  "   for 
twenty,  "  two  men "  for  forty,  and  so  on, 
equivalent  to  our  rural  mode  of  reckoning 
by  scores. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  15,  p. 
312.     (Hum.) 

678.  COURAGE   AND  RESOLUTION 
OF    SCIENTIST—  Gorge   Cut   by  River  Ex- 
plored.— This  year  I  subjected  the  famous 
Finsteraarschlucht  to  a  closer  examination 
than  ordinary.     The  earthquake  theory  al- 
ready adverted  to  was  prevalent  regarding 
it,   and   I  wished  to   see  whether  any  evi- 
dences existed  of  aqueous  erosion.     It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  Schlucht  or  gorge 
is  cut  through  a  great  barrier  of  limestone 
rock  called  the  Kirchet,  which  throws  itself 
across  the  valley  of  Hasli,  about  three-quar- 
ters  of   an   hour's   walk   above   Meyringen. 
,   •«     .     It  was  regarding  the  sides  of  the 
great  chasm  that  I  needed  instruction,  and 
from  its  edge  I  could  see  nothing  to  satisfy 
me.    I  therefore  stripped  and  waded  into  the 
river  until  a  point  was  reached  which  com- 
manded an  excellent  view  of  both  sides  of 
the  gorge.     The  water  was  cutting,  but  I 
was  repaid.     Below  me  on  the  left-hand  side 


was  a  jutting  cliff,  which  bore  the  thrust  of 
the  river  and  caused  the  Aar  to  swerve  from 
its  direct  course.  From  top  to  bottom  this 
cliff  was  polished,  rounded,  and  scooped. 
There  was  no  room  for  doubt.  The  river 
which  now  runs  so  deeply  down  had  once 
been  above.  It  has  been  the  delver  of  its 
own  channel  through  the  barrier  of  the 
Kirchet. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps,  ch.  22,  p.  256.  (A.,  1898.) 

679.  COURTSHIP  AN  EDUCATION- 
AL SEASON—  Giving  Love  Time  for  Develop- 
ment.— Courtship,  with  its  vivid  perceptions 
and  quickened  emotions,  is  a  great  oppor- 
tunity for  evolution;    and  to  institute  and 
lengthen  reasonably  a  period  so  rich  in  im- 
pression is  one  of  its  latest  and  highest  ef- 
forts.    To  give  love  time,  indeed,  has  been 
all  along,  and  through  a  great  variety  of  ar- 
rangements, the  chief  means  of  establishing 
it  on  the  earth. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
p.  304.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

680.  CRAMMING   SCIENTIFICALLY 

BAD — Hasty  Learning  Opens  Few  Lines  of 
Association — Oblivion  a  Sure  Result. — The 
reason  why  cramming  is  such  a  bad  mode  of 
study  is  now  made  clear.  I  mean  by  cram- 
ming that  way  of  preparing  for  examina- 
tions by  committing  "  points "  to  memory 
during  a  few  hours  or  days  of  intense  appli- 
cation immediately  preceding  the  final  or- 
deal, little  or  no  work  having  been  per- 
formed during  the  previous  course  of  the 
term.  Things  learned  thus  in  a  few  hours, 
on  one  occasion,  for  one  purpose,  cannot  pos- 
sibly have  formed  many  associations  with 
other  things  in  the  mind.  Their  brain-proc- 
esses are  led  into  by  few  paths,  and  are  rela- 
tively little  liable  to  be  awakened  again. 
Speedy  oblivion  is  the  almost  inevitable  fate 
of  all  that  is  committed  to  memory  in  this 
simple  way.  Whereas,  on  the  contrary,  the 
same  materials  taken  in  gradually,  day  after 
day,  recurring  in  different  contexts,  consid- 
ered in  various  relations,  associated  with 
other  external  incidents,  and  repeatedly  re- 
flected on,  grow  into  such  a  system,  form 
such  connections  with  the  rest  of  the  mind's 
fabric,  lie  open  to  so  many  paths  of  ap- 
proach, that  they  remain  permanent  posses- 
sions. This  is  the  intellectual  reason  why 
habits  of  continuous  application  should  be 
enforced  in  educational  establishments. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  663.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

681.  CREATION  A  COMING-TO-BE— 

Creative  Power  May  Use  Preexisting  Ma- 
terial— "  The  Dust  of  the  Ground." — I  do 
not  know  on  what  authority  it  is  that  we  so 
often  speak  as  if  creation  were  not  creation 
unless  it  work  from  nothing  as  its  material, 
and  by  nothing  as  its  means.  We  know  that 
out  of  the  "  dust  of  the  ground  " — that  is, 
out  of  the  ordinary  elements  of  Nature — 
are  our  own  bodies  formed,  and  the  bodies  of 
all  living  things.  Nor  is  there  anything 
which  should  shock  us  in  the  idea  that  the 


Creation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


138 


creation  of  new  forms,  any  more  than  their 
propagation,  has  been  brought  about  by  the 
use  and  instrumentality  of  means.  In  a 
theological  point  of  view  it  matters  nothing 
what  those  means  have  been.  I  agree  with 
M.  Guizot  when  he  says  that  "  Those  only 
would  be  serious  adversaries  of  the  doctrine 
of  creation  who  could  affirm  that  the  uni- 
verse— the  earth,  and  man  upon  it — have 
been  from  all  eternity,  and  in  all  respects, 
just  what  they  are  now."  But  this  cannot 
be  affirmed  except  in  the  teeth  of  facts  which 
science  has  clearly  ascertained.  There  has 
been  a  continual  coming-to-be  of  new  forms 
of  life.  This  is  creation,  no  matter  what 
have  been  the  laws  or  forces  employed  by 
creative  power. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch. 
5,  p.  156.  (Burt.) 

682.  CREATION  AND  MAINTENANCE 
ONE   IN   ESSENCE— Divine  Power  Acts  by 
Wisdom     and    Knowledge. — Whatever     the 
ultimate   relation   may   be  between  mental 
and   material    force.,    we    can    at    least    see 
clearly  this — that  in  Nature  there   is   the 
most  elaborate  machinery  to  accomplish  pur- 
pose through  the  instrumentality  of  means. 
It  seems  as  if  all  that  is  done  in  Nature,  as 
well  as  all  that  is  done  in  art,  were  done  by 
knowing  how  to  do  it.    It  is  curious  how  the 
language  of  the  great  seers  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament  corresponds   with  this   idea.     They 
uniformly  ascribe  all  the  operations  of  Na- 
ture— the  greatest  and  the  smallest — to  the 
working  of  divine  power.     But  they  never 
revolt — as  so  many  do  in  these  weaker  days 
— from  the  idea  of  this  power  working  by 
wisdom  and  knowledge  in  the  use  of  means ; 
nor,  in  this  point  of  view,  do  they  ever  sepa- 
rate between  the  work  of  first  creation  and 
the  work  which  is  going  on  daily  in  the  ex- 
isting world.    Exactly  the  same  language  is 
applied  to  the  rarest  exertions  of  power,  and 
to  the  gentlest  and  most  constant  of  all  nat- 
ural   operations.       Thus    the    saying    that 
"  The    Lord   by    wisdom   hath    founded   the 
earth;     by    understanding    hath    he    estab- 
lished the  heavens,"  is  coupled  in  the  same 
breath    with    this    other    saying,    "  By    his 
knowledge  the  depths  are  broken  up,  and  the 
clouds  drop  down  the  dew"   [Prov.  iii,   19- 
20]. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p.  77. 
( Burt. ) 

683.  CREATION  A  PRESENT  FACT 

— Suns  Forming  Now — Partially  Condensed 
Nebulce — Intense  Heat  and  Activity  of  Gases 
Composing  Them. — The  aspect  and  the 
chemical  analysis  of  these  nebulae  have 
brought  again  into  favor  the  hypothesis  of 
cosmical  matter  originally  scattered  through 
all  space.  A  first  condensation  of  this  dif- 
fuse matter  produces  clouds  of  vapors  or 
simple  nebula?.  By  a  subsequent  condensa- 
tion one  or  more  nuclei  are  formed  in  these 
nebulosities.  These  nuclei,  attracting  the 
surrounding  matter,  gradually  increase  and 
become  stars,  which  afterwards,  by  their 
mutual  attraction,  approach  each  other,  and 
group  themselves  into  stellar  clusters.  We 


thus  see  nebulae  at  all  ages  of  their  organi- 
zation. In  order  to  develop  in  the  gases 
lines  as  clear  and  sharp  as  those  revealed 
by  spectrum  analysis,  ordinary  combustion 
accompanied  by  a  feeble  disengagement  of 
heat  would  not  suffice;  on  the  contrary,  a 
very  elevated  temperature  is  necessary,  like 
that  produced  by  the  electric  focus.  We 
may  conclude  that  the  fluids  which  consti- 
tute the  nebulae  are  in  a  state  of  vivid  in- 
candescence, at  a  temperature  at  least  as 
elevated  as  those  which  we  can  raise.  The 
depths  of  space,  which  are  usually  presented 
to  our  mind  as  the  seat  of  a  glacial  silence, 
similar  to  that  of  death,  are  then,  on  the 
contrary,  in  a  state  of  tremendous  activity 
which  our  imagination  can  hardly  conceive. 
Thus  suns  are  prepared  which  one  day,  when 
sufficiently  condensed  and  cooled,  will  rule 
and  illuminate  a  certain  number  of  planets. 
The  planetary  nebulae  seem  to  be  bodies  al- 
ready very  far  advanced  in  this  way  of  for- 
mation. We  know  a  compound  body,  of 
which  the  position  is  19  hours  40  minutes 
of  right  ascension  and  50°  6'  of  northern 
declination;  this  is  a  star  surrounded  by  a 
nebulous  atmosphere,  presenting  at  the  same 
time  two  spectra — which  seems  to  indicate 
an  intermediate  phase  of  sidereal  forma- 
tions.— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  p. 
664.  (A.) 

684.  CREATION  BY  DEVELOPMENT 

— A  Long  Course  of  Slow  Modification — In- 
dications of  Evolution  in  Orchids. — Can  we 
feel  satisfied  by  saying  that  each  orchid  was 
created,  exactly  as  we  now  see  it,  on  a  cer- 
tain "  ideal  type  " ;  that  the  omnipotent 
Creator,  having  fixed  on  one  plan  for  the 
whole  order,  did  not  depart  from  this  plan; 
that  he,  therefore,  made  the  same  organ  to 
perform  diverse  functions — often  of  trifling 
importance  compared  with  their  proper 
function — converted  other  organs  into  mere 
purposeless  rudiments,  and  arranged  all  as 
if  they  had  to  stand  separate,  and  then  made 
them  cohere?  Is  it  not  a  more  simple  and 
intelligible  view  that  all  the  Orchidece  owe 
what  they  have  in  common  to  descent  from 
some  monocotyledonous  plant,  which,  like  so 
many  other  plants  of  the  same  class,  pos- 
sessed fifteen  organs,  arranged  alternately 
three  within  three  in  five  whorls;  and  that 
the  now  wonderfully  changed  structure  of 
the  flower  is  due  to  a  long  course  of  slow 
modification — each  modification  having  been 
preserved  which  was  useful  to  the  plant, 
during  the  incessant  changes  to  which  the 
organic  and  inorganic  world  has  been  ex- 
posed?— DARWIN  Fertilization  of  Orchids, 
ch.  8,  p.  245.  (A.,  1898.) 

685.  CREATION  BY  SECOND  CAUSES 

— God  Works  by  Lain — Law  Makes  Science 
Possible — Science  Will  Not  Discover  Too 
Much. — We  may  be  stopped  indeed  at  the 
threshold  of  the  inquiry  by  the  suggestion 
that  so  many  thousands  of  years  ago  the 
comets  were  launched  upon  the  paths  which 
they  are  now  pursuing,  and  at  such  dis- 


139 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Creation 


tances  from  the  sun  as  to  come  into  view  at 
their  respective  times.  But  I  may  be  per- 
mitted, I  trust,  to  reject  altogether  such  a 
solution  as  this,  not  assuredly  because  I 
question  the  Creator's  power  so  to  arrange 
matters  if  it  had  pleased  him,  but  because 
it  is  rendered  manifest  by  the  most  certain 
scientific  evidence  that  this  has  not  been  the 
Creator's  pleasure;  that,  on  the  contrary, 
he  has  chosen  to  work  all  things  by  law.  It 
is  indeed  only  because  this  is  so  that  science 
has  any  power  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of 
processes  going  on  around  us.  It  is  by  the 
recognition  of  law  in  the  universe  that  we 
are  led  from  "  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God," 
and  they  err  who  would  stay  the  researches 
which  lead  to  the  discovery  of  the  laws  of 
the  universe,  by  the  simple  explanation  that 
"  God  so  willed."  That  he  did  so  is  certain ; 
but  science  is  not  therefore  to  be  checked  in 
its  inquiries,  as  tho  there  were  fear  of  her  • 
discovering  too  much.  The  time  has  not 
yet  come,  nor  is  it  likely  to  come,  when 
science  need  take  her  shoes  from  off  her  feet, 
because  of  her  too  near  approach  to  the 
great  First  Cause  and  because  in  that  sense 
the  ground  on  which  she  stands  is  holy 
ground.  She  stands  on  holy  ground  now, 
and  has  always  so  stood,  because  she  deals 
with  the  ways  and  works  of  the  Creator. 
But  she  approaches  no  nearer  to  the  First 
Cause  in  inquiring  into  the  birth  of  the  solar 
system  than  in  watching  the  growth  of  an 
ephemeron. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p. 
137.  (L.  G.  &  Co.) 

686.  CREATION  HIGHER  THAN  DE- 
STRUCTION— Achievement  Grander  than  Emo- 
tion.— Perhaps    it    might    once    for    all    be 
stated,  as  a  law  of  vital  action,  that  the  dig- 
nity of  the  force  is  in  an  inverse  ratio  to  its 
volumetrical  display.     It  is  indeed  with  or- 
ganic action  as  it  is  with  mental  action. 
The    emotional    man    displays    considerable 
force,  and  often  produces  great  effects  in  the 
way  of  destruction,  but  his  power  is  vastly 
inferior  to   that   of  the   man  who   has   de- 
veloped   emotional    force    into    the    higher 
form  of  will-force,  who  has  coordinated  the 
passions   into   the   calm,    self-contained   ac- 
tivity of  definite  productive  aim.     Surely, 
creation  always  testifies  to  a  much  higher 
energy  than  destruction. — MAUDSLEY  Body 
and  Mind,  essay  3,  p.  249.     (A.,  1898.) 

687.  CREATION,  LENGTH   OF   PE- 
RIOD OCCUPIED    IN— Planetary   System- 
Comparative  Brevity  of  Human  History. — 
The  length  of  time  required  by  the  conden- 
sation to  which   the  primitive  nebula  was 
subjected  in  order  to  constitute  our  planet- 
ary system  entirely  defies  our  imagination. 
To  count  it  by  thousands  of  millions  of  cen- 
turies would  not  be  an  exaggeration.     The 
experiments   of  Bischof  on  basalt  seem   to 
prove  that  in  order  to  pass  from  the  liquid 
state  to  the  solid  state,  to  cool  from  2,000 
degrees  to  200,  our  globe  has  required  350 
millions  of  years.     The  sun  has  existed  for 
many  more  millions  of  centuries.     What  is 


the  whole  history  of  mankind  compared  with 
such  periods? — a  wave  upon  the  ocean. — 
FLAM  MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch. 
7,  p.  76.  (A.) 

688.  CREATION  NOT   LIMITED  IN 
METHOD— Scripture  Draws  No  Line  between 
Natural  and  Supernatural. — But  whatever 
may   have  been  the  method   or   process   of 
creation,    it   is    creation   still.      If   it   were 
proved   to-morrow  that   the   first  man  was 
"  born  "  from  some  preexisting  form  of  life, 
it  would  still  be  true  that  such  a  birth  must 
have  been,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  new 
creation.    It  would  still  be  as  true  that  God 
formed  him  "  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth  " 
as  it  is  true  that  he  has  so  formed  every 
child  who  is  now  called  to  answer  the  first 
question   of  allfc  theologies.     And  we   must 
remember   that  the   language  of   Scripture 
nowhere  draws,  or  seems  even  conscious  of, 
the    distinction    which    modern    philosophy 
draws  so  sharply  between  the  natural  and 
the  supernatural.    All  the  operations  of  Na- 
ture are  spoken  of  as  operations  of  the  Di- 
vine  Mind.      Creation  is   the   outward  em- 
bodiment of  a  divine  idea.     It  is  in  this 
sense,    apparently,    that    the    narrative    of 
Genesis  speaks  of  every  plant  being  formed 
"before   it   grew"    [Gen.    ii,    5].      But   the 
same  language  is  held,  not  less  decidedly,  of 
every  ordinary  birth.     "  Thine  eyes  did  see 
my  substance,  yet  being  imperfect.     In  thy 
book  all  my  members  were  written,  which  in 
continuance   were    fashioned,    when   as    yet 
there  were  none  of  them."    And  these  words, 
spoken  of  the  individual  birth,   have  been 
applied  not  less  truly  to  the  modern  idea  of 
the  genesis  of  all  organic  life.     Whatever 
may  have  been  the  physical  or  material  rela- 
tion between  its  successive  forms,  the  ideal 
relation   has   been   now   clearly   recognized, 
and  reduced  to  scientific  definition. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  18.     (Burt.) 

689.  CREATION    STILL    IN    PROG- 
RESS— Jupiter  Yet  in  Its  "Geologic  Age" — 
A  Red-hot  Planet. — It  would  indeed  seem  as 
tho  the  actual  globe  of  Jupiter  were  red-hot ; 
since   from   time   to   time,   when   the   great 
white  cloud-belt  which  surrounds  his  torrid 
regions  has  been  dispersed,  a  strange  fiery 
hue    has    been    observed    over    this    zone, 
which  strongly  suggests  the  idea  of  a  glow- 
ing central  globe.     And  when  the  light  of 
Jupiter  has  been  measured  it  has  been  found 
to  exceed  that  which  would  be  given  by  a 
globe   of    equal    size    simply   reflecting    the 
sun's  light. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p. 
83.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


69O. 


Life  on  the  Moons 


of  Jupiter. — Jupiter  appears  to  be  a  world 
still  in  process  of  formation,  which  lately — 
some  thousands  of  centuries  ago — served  as 
a  sun  to  his  own  system  of  four  [five,  or 
perhaps  more]  worlds.  If  the  central  body 
is  not  at  present  inhabited,  his  satellites 
may  be.  In  this  case,  the  magnificence  of 
the  spectacle  presented  by  Jupiter  himself 


Creation 
Criticism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


140 


to  the  inhabitants  of  the  satellites  is  worthy 
of  our  attention.  Seen  from  the  first  sat- 
ellite, the  Jovian  globe  presents  an  im- 
mense disk  of  twenty  degrees  in  diameter,  or 
1,400  times  larger  than  the  full  moon! 
What  a  body!  What  a  picture,  with  its 
belts,  its  cloud-motions,  and  its  glowing 
coloration,  seen  from  so  near !  What  a  noc- 
turnal sun! — still  warm,  perhaps.  Add  to 
this  the  aspect  of  the  satellites  themselves 
seen  from  each  other,  and  you  have  a  spec- 
tacle of  which  no  terrestrial  night  can  give 
an  idea. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  iv,  ch.  7,  p.  429.  (A.) 


691. 


The  Nebula  of  Orion 


— A  Vast  Aggregation  of  Gaseous  Matter — 
Wider  than  Our  Solar  System — Nebulce  That 
Cannot  Be  Resolved — Unformed  Matter. — 
On  a  very  clear  and  transparent  night  of 
winter,  at  midnight  in  December,  look  be- 
low the  belt  of  Orion  and  you  will  distin- 
guish the  mass  of  nebulous  light  which 
glimmers  in  that  constellation.  Take  a  tele- 
scope, even  of  small  power,  and  you  remark 
the  beautiful  quadruple  star  (it  is  even 
sextuple ) ,  0  Orionis,  surrounded  by  the  most 
curious  of  nebulae.  Here  is  no  cluster  of 
suns;  it  is  luminous,  gaseous  matter,  a 
little  greenish.  The  spectroscope  shows  in 
its  spectrum  three  bright  lines  sharply  de- 
fined, and  separated  by  dark  intervals.  A 
spectrum  of  this  nature  can  only  be  pro- 
duced by  light  which  emanates  from  mat- 
ter in  the  state  of  gas.  What  is  this  cos- 
mical  gas?  [Recent  researches  show  that 
this  nebula  contains  hydrogen,  but  not  nitro- 
gen.— J.  E.  GORE.]  This  immense  nebula,  the 
finest  in  the  heavens,  occupies  a  space  much 
vaster  than  our  whole  planetary  system! — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
10,  p.  633.  (A.) 

692.  CREATION,  SYSTEM  OF,  IN 
KORAN — Mohammedan  Intolerance  a  Check 
upon  Science. — The  cosmological  opinions 
expressed  in  the  Koran  are  few,  and  merely 
introduced  incidentally;  so  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  understand  how  they  could  have  in- 
terfered so  seriously  with  free  discussion  on 
the  former  changes  of  the  globe.  '  The 
Prophet  declares  that  the  earth  was  created 
in  two  days,  and  the  mountains  were  then 
placed  on  it;  and  during  these,  and  two  ad- 
ditional days,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
were  formed;  and  in  twro  more  the  seven 
heavens.  There  is  no  more  detail  of  circum- 
stances ;  and  the  deluge,  which  is  also  men- 
tioned, is  discussed  with  equal  brevity.  The 
waters  are  represented  to  have  poured  out 
of  an  oven — a  strange  fable,  said  to  be  bor- 
rowed from  the  Persian  Magi,  who  repre- 
sented them  as  issuing  from  the  oven  of  an 
old  woman.  All  men  were  drowned,  save 
Noah  and  his  family;  and  then  God  said: 
"  O  earth,  swallow  up  thy  waters ;  and  thou, 
O  heaven,  withhold  thy  rain,"  and  imme- 
diately the  waters  abated. — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  bk.  i.  ch.  3,  p.  18.  (A.,  1854.) 


693.  CREATION  TRANSCENDS  HU- 
MAN  THOUGHT— "  With    Whom    Took  He 
Counsel,  or  Who  Instructed  Him?"  (Is.  xl, 
12) — "  Where  Wast  Thou  when  I  Laid  the 
Foundations  of  the  Earth?"   (Job  xxxviii, 
4-12)- — In  one  form  or  another,  if  we  specu- 
late at  all  on  the  development  of  the  plan- 
etary system,   our   speculations   are   driven 
into  conformity  with  the  broad  lines  of  the 
nebular  hypothesis — so  far,  at  least,  as  ad- 
mitting an  original  material  unity  and  mo- 
tive uniformity.    But  we  can  see  now,  better 
than  formerly,  that  these  supply  a  bare  and 
imperfect  sketch  of  the  truth.     We  should 
err  gravely  were  we  to  suppose  it  possible 
to  reconstruct,  with  the  help  of  any  knowl- 
edge our  race  is  ever  likely  to  possess,  the 
real  and  complete  history  of  our  admirable 
system.     "  The  subtlety  of  Nature,"  Bacon 
says,   "  transcends   in  many  ways  the  sub- 
tlety of  the  intellect  and  senses  of  man." 
By  no  mere  barren  formula  of  evolution,  in- 
discriminately applied  all  round,  the  results 
we  marvel  at,  and  by  a  fragment  of  which 
our  life  is  conditioned,  were  brought  forth; 
but    by   the    manifold   play    of    interacting 
forces,  variously  modified  and  variously  pre- 
vailing, according  to  the  local  requirements 
of  the  design  they  were  appointed  to  exe- 
cute.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  9,  p.  391.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

694.  CREATOR    CANNOT    BE    DE- 
MONSTRATED— Origin  of  Life  a  Mystery- 
Decision  Must  Be  upon  Facts. — I  grant  that 
we    have    no    such    evidence    of    an    active 
creative  power  as  science  requires  for  posi- 
tive demonstration  of  her  laws,  and  that  we 
cannot  explain  the  processes  which  lie  at  the 
origin  of  life.     ...     I  bring  this  subject 
before  you  now,  not  to  urge  upon  you  this  or 
that  theory,  strong  as  my  own  convictions 
are.     .     .     .     Whatever    be    your    ultimate 
opinions  on  this  subject,  let  them  rest  on 
facts  and  not  on  arguments,  however  plau- 
sible.    This  is  not  a  question  to  be  argued, 
it  is  one  to  be  investigated. — AGASSIZ  Jour- 
ney in  Brazil,  ch.  1,  p.  43.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

695.  CREATURES  OF  FANCY—  "Na- 
ked Specks  of  Protoplasm." — "  What  present 
warrant,"  it  has  been  asked,  "  is  there  for 
supposing  that  a  naked,  or  almost  naked, 
speck  of  protoplasm  can  withstand  four,  six, 
or  eight  hours'  boiling  ?  "     Regarding  naked 
specks  of  protoplasm  I  make  no  assertion. 
I   know   nothing  about  them,   save  as   the 
creatures  of  fancy.     But  I  do  affirm,  not  as 
a  "  supposition,"  nor  an  "  assumption,"  nor 
a  "  probable  guess,"  nor  as  "  a  wild  hypoth- 
esis,"  but    as    a   matter    of    the   most   un- 
doubted  fact,   that  the   spores   of   the  hay 
bacillus,  when  thoroughly  desiccated  by  age, 
have  withstood  the  ordeal  mentioned   [four 
to  eight  hours'  boiling]. — TYNDALL  Floating 
Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  3,  p.   307.      (A., 
1895.) 


141 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Creation 
riticism 


096.  CREDULITY  ACCEPTING 
WORTHLESS  REMEDIES-  The  Silkworm 
Plague. — Pamphlets  about  the  plague  [dis- 
ease of  silkworms]  had  been  showered  upon 
the  public,  the  monotony  of  waste  paper  be- 
ing broken,  at  rare  intervals,  by  a  more  or 
less  useful  publication.  "  The  pharmaco- 
poeia of  the  silkworm,"  wrote  M.  Cornalia  in 
1860,  "  is  now  as  complicated  as  that  of 
man.  Gases,  liquids,  and  solids  have  been 
laid  under  contribution.  From  chlorin  to 
sulfurous  acid,  from  nitric  acid  to  rum,  from 
sugar  to  sulfate  of  quinin — all  has  been 
invoked  in  behalf  of  this  unhappy  insect." 
The  helpless  cultivators,  moreover,  welcomed 
with  ready  trustfulness  every  new  remedy, 
if  only  pressed  upon  them  with  sufficient 
hardihood.  It  seemed  impossible  to  dimin- 
ish their  blind  confidence  in  their  blind 
guides.  In  1863  the  French  Minister  of  Ag- 
riculture signed  an  agreement  to  pay  500,- 
000  francs  for  the  use  of  a  remedy  which 
its  promoter  declared  to  be  infallible.  It 
was  tried  in  twelve  different  departments  of 
France,  and  found  perfectly  useless.  In  no 
single  instance  was  it  successful. — TYNDALL 
Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  1,  p.  10. 
('A.,  1895.) 

697.  CRIME  NOT  EXCUSED  BY  IN- 
TOXICATION—The  time  may  perhaps  come 
when  the  man  who  voluntarily  resigns  that 
self-directing  power  which  is  the  noblest  gift 
of  his  Creator,  and  gives  himself  over  to  the 
domination  of  rage,  lust,  jealousy,  or  any 
other  bad  passion  which  may  be  excited  by 
the  action  of  alcohol  on  his  brain,  may  be 
regarded  as  not  less  criminal  than  an  en- 
gine-driver who  should  raise  the  fire  of  his 
locomotive  to  an  extra  heat,  and  bring  up 
its  steam  to  its  highest  pressure,  and  then 
abandon  it,  after  starting  it  on  a  career  of 
destruction. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  651.     (A.,  1900.) 

698.  CRIMINALS  OFTEN  MORAL  IM- 
BECILES— Physical,  Mental,  and  Moral  De- 
generates— Juvenile       Offenders. — Now,      if 
there  be  a  class  of  persons  who  are  without 
the  moral  sense,  who  are  true  moral  imbec- 
iles, it  is  the  class  of  habitual  criminals. 
All   observers   who   have  made   them   their 
study  agree  that  they  constitute  a  morbid 
or  degenerate  variety  of  mankind,  marked 
by  peculiar  low  physical  and  mental  charac- 
teristics.     They    are    scrofulous,    often    de- 
formed, with  badly  formed,  angular  heads, 
are  stupid,   sluggish,  deficient  in  vital  en- 
ergy, and  sometimes  afflicted  with  epilepsy. 
They  are  of  weak  and  defective  intellect,  tho 
excessively  cunning ;    and  now  a  few  of  them 
are  weak-minded  and  imbecile.     The  women 
are  ugly  in  features,  and  without  grace  of 
expression  or  movement.     The  children  who 
become  juvenile  criminals  do  not  evince  the 
educational  aptitude  of  the  higher  industrial 
classes;    they  are  deficient  in  the  power  of 
attention  and  application,  have  bad  memo- 
ries, and  make  slow  progress  in  learning; 
many  of  them  are  weak  in  mind  and  body, 


and  some  of  them  actually  imbecile.  At  the 
end  of  the  best  part  of  a  life  spent  among 
prisoners,  a  prison  surgeon  declares  himself 
to  be  mainly  impressed  with  their  extreme 
deficiency  or  perversion  of  moral  feeling,  the 
strength  of  the  evil  propensities  of  their  na- 
ture, and  their  utter  impracticability; 
neither  kindness  nor  severity  availing  to 
prevent  them  from  devising  and  doing  wrong 
day  by  day,  altho  their  conduct  brought  on 
them  further  privations. — MAUDSLEY  Body 
and  Mind,  lect.  4,  p.  110.  (A.,  1898.) 

699.     CRIMSON    OF    SUNSET    AND 

SUNRISE— Mountain-tops  Shine  Like  Rubies 
— Glory  Due  to  Dust. — The  action  of  the 
particles  [of  matter  suspended  in  the  air] 
upon  the  solar  light  increases  with  the  at- 
mospheric distances  traversed  by  the  sun's 
rays.  The  lower  the  sun,  therefore,  the 
greater  the  action.  The  shorter  waves  of 
the  spectrum  being  more  and  more  with- 
drawn, the  tendency  is  to  give  the  longer 
waves  an  enhanced  predominance  in  the 
transmitted  light.  The  tendency,  in  other 
words,  of  this  light,  as  the  rays  traverse 
ever-increasing  distances,  is  more  and  more 
towards  red.  This,  I  say,  might  be  stated 
as  an  inference,  but  it  is  borne  out  in  the 
most  impressive  manner  by  facts.  When 
the  Alpine  sun  is  setting,  or,  better  still, 
some  time  after  he  has  set,  leaving  the  limbs 
and  shoulders  of  the  mountains  in  shadow, 
while  their  snowy  crests  are  bathed  by  the 
retreating  light,  the  snow  glows  with  a 
beauty  and  solemnity  hardly  equaled  by 
any  other  natural  phenomenon.  So,  also, 
when  first  illumined  by  the  rays  of  the  un- 
risen  sun,  the  mountain-heads,  under  favor- 
able atmospheric  conditions,  shine  like  ru- 
bies. And  all  this  splendor  is  evoked  by  the 
simple  mechanism  of  minute  particles,  them- 
selves without  color,  suspended  in  the  air. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  5, 
p.  141.  (A.,  1897.) 

TOO.  CRITICISM  OF  THE  HUMAN 
EYE — Practical  Perfection  through  Theoretical 
Defects. — The  perfection  of  this  adaptation 
[of  the  human  eye],  however,  has  been  par- 
tially denied  by  several  modern  writers, 
who  have  based  their  denial  on  a  statement 
contained  in  a  most  interesting  and  instruct- 
ive lecture  on  "  The  Eye  and  Vision,"  given 
some  years  ago  by  my  very  distinguished 
friend,  Professor  Helmholtz.  The  first  part 
of  this  lecture  is  devoted  to  an  exposition  of 
the  structure  and  actions  of  the  eye,  con- 
sidered merely  as  an  optical  instrument,  and 
of  those  more  recent  researches  which  have 
shown  that,  in  addition  to  retinal  defects 
previously  known,  the  eye  is  not  perfectly 
corrected  for  either  spherical  or  chromatic 
aberration,  that  the  crystalline  lens  has  by 
no  means  the  perfect  clearness  it  has  been 
supposed  to  possess,  and  that  its  fibrous 
structure  produces  an  irregular  radiation  in 
the  image  of  any  single  bright  point.  "  Now, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say,"  continues  the  lec- 
turer, "  that  if  an  optician  wanted  to  sell 


Criticism 
Crystals 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


142 


me  an  instrument  which  had  all  these  de- 
fects, I  should  think  myself  quite  justi- 
fied in  blaming  his  carelessness  in  the 
strongest  terms,  and  giving  him  back  his 
instrument."  .  .  .  Yet  I  have  seldom 
met  with  a  case  so  unfair  as  the  citation  of 
this  statement  without  any  of  the  qualifi- 
cations which  it  subsequently  receives. 
Thus,  after  showing  that  these  defects 
scarcely  reveal  themselves  in  our  ordinary 
vision — some  of  them  requiring  most  refined 
methods  of  observation  for  their  detection — 
Professor  Helmholtz  continues :  "  If  I  am 
asked  why  I  have  spent  so  much  time  in  ex- 
plaining the  imperfection  of  the  eye,  I  an- 
swer, as  I  said  at  first,  that  I  have  not  done 
so  in  order  to  depreciate  the  performances 
of  this  wonderful  organ,  or  to  diminish  our 
admiration  of  its  construction.  It  was  my 
object  to  make  my  readers  understand,  at 
the  outset  of  our  inquiry,  that  it  is  not  any 
mechanical  perfection  of  the  organs  of  our 
senses  which  secures  for  us  such  wonderfully 
true  and  exact  impressions  of  the  outer 
world.  The  extraordinary  value  of  the  eye 
depends  on  the  way  in  which  we  use  it:  its 
perfection  is  practical,  not  absolute,  consist- 
ing not  in  the  avoidance  of  every  error,  but 
in  the  fact  that  all  its  defects  do  not  pre- 
vent its  rendering  us  the  most  important 
and  varied  services."  This  "  practical  per- 
fection "  he  afterwards  defines  as  "  adapta- 
tion to  the  wants  of  the  organism  " ;  the 
defects  of  the  eye  as  an  optical  instrument 
being  "  all  so  counteracted  that  the  inexact- 
ness of  the  image  which  results  from  their 
presence  very  little  exceeds,  under  ordinary 
conditions  of  illumination,  the  limits  which 
are  set  to  the  delicacy  of  sensation  by  the 
dimensions  of  the  retinal  cones." — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  422.  (A., 
1889.) 

701.  CRITICISM   ON  INADEQUATE 
DATA — Geology  Needs    Wide   Observation.— 
If  it  be  thus  unsafe,  however,  to  calculate 
on  the  depth  of  deposits  by  the  altitude  of 
hills,  it  is  quite  as  unsafe  for  the  geologist, 
who  has  studied  a  formation  in  one  district, 
to  set  himself  to  criticize  the  calculations  of 
a  brother   geologist  by  whom  it  has  been 
studied  in  a  different  and  widely  separated 
district.     A  deposit  in  one  locality  may  be 
found  to  possess  many  times  the  thickness 
of  the  same  deposit  in  another. — MILLER  The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  2,  p.  25.     (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

702.  CROWS  AS  DISTRIBUTERS  OF 

SEED— Birds  That  Thrive  on  Poison-ivy.— 
Professor  Barrows  writes :  "Crows  spend  only 
the  hours  of  darkness  at  the  roosts,  while 
during  at  least  twelve  hours  each  day  they 
are  dispersed  far  and  wide  over  the  sur- 
rounding country,  collecting  and  distribut- 
ing seeds.  The  process  of  digestion — at 
least  the  preliminary  process — is  very  rapid 
in  crows.  A  caged  crow,  experimented  on 
during  several  months  in  the  winter  of  1889- 
90,  ate  berries  of  poison-ivy  with  greater 


relish  than  any  other  wild  fruit  obtainable. 
He  swallowed  about  eighty  berries  within  a 
few  moments,  taking  several  mouthfuls  of 
sand  immediately  afterwards;  and  about 
thirty  minutes  later  he  disgorged  a  large 
pellet,  consisting  entirely  of  sand  and  the 
seeds  of  the  poison-ivy  berries,  the  latter 
with  every  shred  of  pulp  removed  by  the 
gizzardlike  action  of  the  stomach." — WEED 
Seedrtravellers,  pt.  ii,  p.  44.  (G.  &  Co.,  1899. ) 

703.  CRUCIFYING  THE    FLESH— 

Sustained  Ideal  Will  Control  Action. — The 
strong-willed  man,  however,  is  the  man  who 
hears  the  still  small  voice  unflinchingly,  and 
who,  when  the  death-bringing  consideration 
comes,  looks  at  its  face,  consents  to  its  pres- 
ence, clings  to  it,  affirms  it,  and  holds  it 
fast,  in  spite  of  the  host  of  exciting  mental 
images  which  rise  in  revolt  against  it  and 
would  expel  it  from  the  mind.  Sustained  in 
this  way  by  a  resolute  effort  of  attention, 
the  difficult  object  erelong  begins  to  call  up 
its  own  congeners  and  associates,  and  ends 
by  changing  the  disposition  of  the  man's 
consciousness  altogether.  And  with  his  con- 
sciousness his  action  changes,  for  the  new 
object,  once  stably  in  possession  of  the  field 
of  his  thoughts,  infallibly  produces  its  own 
motor  effects.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the  gain- 
ing possession  of  that  field.  Tho  the  spon- 
taneous drift  of  thought  is  all  the  other 
way,  the  attention  must  be  kept  strained  on 
that  one  object  until  at  last  it  grows,  so  as 
to  maintain  itself  before  the  mind  with  ease. 
.  .  .  The  mysterious  tie  between  the 
thought  and  the  motor  centers  next  comes 
into  play,  and,  in  a  way  which  we  cannot 
even  guess  at,  the  obedience  of  the  bodily 
organs  follows  as  a  matter  of  course. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  563. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

704.  CRUELTY,    ANCIENT,     IN 
TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE— Brutality 
Resulting  from  Belief  in  Demoniac  Posses- 
sion.— It   was  the   natural   result   of   such 
[medieval]     views    of    insanity    that    men 
should  treat  him  whom  they  believed  to  have 
a  devil  in  him    as  they  would  have  treated 
the  devil  could  they  have  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  lay  hold  of  him.    The  tortures  which 
the  insane  suffered*  from  the  devils  that  had 
entered  into  him  were  less  than  those  in- 
flicted by  the  devils  who  took  charge  of  him. 
When  he  was  not  put  to  death  as  a  heretic 
or  a  criminal,  he  was  confined  in  a  dungeon, 
where  he  lay  chained  on   straw;    his  food 
was  thrown  in,   and  the  straw  raked  out, 
through   the  bars ;     sightseers  went   to  see 
him,  as  they  went  to  see  the  wild  beasts,  for 
amusement;    he  was  cowed  by  the  whip,  or 
other   instrument   of  punishment,   and  was 
more  neglected  and  worse  treated  than  if  he 
had  been  a  wild  beast.     Many  insane  per- 
sons, too,  were  without  doubt  executed  as 
witches,   or   as   persons   who   had,   through 
witchcraft,  entered  into  compact  with  Satan. 
— MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  4,  p.  102. 
(A.,  1898.) 


143 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Criticism 
Crystals 


705.  CRUELTY  WELLS  UP   FROM 
THE  LOWER  NATURE— A  Survival  of  Bar- 
barism— Easily    Developed    by    Encourage- 
ment.— As     Rochefoucauld     says,     there    is 
something  in  the  misfortunes  of  our  very 
friends  that  does  not  altogether  displease 
us;    and  an  apostle  of  peace  will  feel  a  cer- 
tain vicious  thrill  run  through  him,  and  en- 
joy a  vicarious  brutality,  as  he  turns  to  the 
column  in  his  newspaper  at  the  top  of  which 
"  Shocking    Atrocity "     stands    printed     in 
large  capitals.     See  the  ignoble  crew  that 
escorts  every  great  pugilist — parasites  who 
feel  as  if  the  glory  of  his  brutality  rubbed 
off  upon  them,  and  whose  darling  hope,  from 
day   to   day,   is   to   arrange   some  set-to   of 
which  they  may  share  the  rapture  without 
enduring  the  pains!     The  first  blows  at  a 
prize-fight  are  apt  to  make  a  refined  spec- 
tator sick ;   but  his  blood  is  soon  up  in  favor 
of  one  party,  and  it  will  then  seem  as  if  the 
other    fellow    could    not    be    banged    and 
pounded  and  mangled  enough — the  refined 
spectator  would  like  to  reenforce  the  blows 
himself.     Over  the  sinister  orgies  of  blood 
of  certain  depraved  and  insane  persons  let  a 
curtain  be  drawn,  as  well  as  over  the  feroc- 
ity with  which  otherwise  fairly  decent  men 
may  be  animated,  when   (at  the  sacking  of 
a  town,  for  instance),  the  excitement  of  vic- 
tory long   delayed,   the  sudden   freedom   of 
rapine  and  of  lust,  the  contagion  of  a  crowd, 
and  the  impulse  to  imitate  and  outdo,  all 
combine  to  swell  the  blind  drunkenness  of 
the  killing  instinct,  and  carry  it  to  its  ex- 
treme.    No!   those  who  try  to  account  for 
this  from  above  downwards,  as  if  it  resulted 
from  the  consequences  of  the  victory  being 
rapidly  inferred,  and  from  the  agreeable  sen- 
timents associated  with  them  in  the  imagi- 
nation, have  missed  the  root  of  the  matter. 
Our  ferocity  is  blind,  and  can  only  be  ex- 
plained from  below.    Could  we  trace  it  back 
through  our  line  of  descent,  we  should  see 
it  taking  more  and  more  the  form  of  a  fatal 
reflex  response,  and  at  the  same  time  becom- 
ing more  and  more  the  pure  and  direct  emo- 
tion that  it  is. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  24,  p.  413.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

706.  CRY  OF  FOSTER-PARENT  NOT 
UNDERSTOOD— Bird  Learns  Only  from  Its 
Own  Kind. — I   am  very  familiar  with   the 
manners  of  the  parasitical  starling  or  cow- 
bird  of  South  America.     The  warning  cries 
of  the  foster-parent  have  no  effect  on  the 
young  cowbird  at  any  time.    Until  they  are 
able  to  fly  they  will  readily  devour  worms 
from  the  hand  of  a  man,  even  when  the  old 
birds  are  hovering  close  by  and  screaming 
their    danger    notes,    and   while    their    own 
young,  if  the  parasite  has  allowed  any  to 
survive  in  the  nest,  are  crouching  down  in 
the   greatest   fear.     After  the  cowbird  has 
left  the  nest  it  is  still  stupidly  tame,  and 
more  than  once  I  have  seen  one  carried  off 
from  its  elevated  perch  by  a  milvago  hawk, 
when,  if  it  had  understood  the  warning  cry 
of  the  foster-parent,  it  would  have  dropped 


down  into  the  bush  or  grass  and  escaped. 
But  as  soon  as  the  young  cowbirds  are  able 
to  shift  for  themselves,  and  begin  to  asso- 
ciate with  their  own  kind,  their  habits 
change,  and  they  become  suspicious  and  wild 
like  other  birds.  —  HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  90.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

7O7.    CRYSTALLIZATION  REQUIRES 

TIME  —  Enforced  Suddenness  Produces  Imper- 
fection —  Illustrates  Revolutionary  Action  in 
Society.  —  The  condition  of  perfect  crystalli- 
zation is,  that  the  crystallizing  force  shall 
act  with  deliberation.  There  should  be  no 
hurry  in  its  operations  ;  but  every  molecule 
ought  to  be  permitted,  without  disturbance 
from  its  neighbors,  to  exercise  its  own 
rights.  If  the  crystallization  be  too  sud- 
den, the  regularity  disappears.  Water  may 
be  saturated  with  sulfate  of  soda,  dis- 
solved when  the  water  is  hot,  and  afterwards 
permitted  to  cool.  When  cold  the  solution 
is  supersaturated  ;  that  is  to  say,  more  solid 
matter  is  contained  in  it  than  corresponds 
to  its  temperature.  Still  the  molecules  show 
no  sign  of  building  themselves  together. 
This  is  a  very  remarkable  tho  a  very  com- 
mon fact.  The  molecules  in  the  center  of 
the  liquid  are  so  hampered  by  the  action  of 
their  neighbors  that  freedom  to  follow  their 
own  tendencies  is  denied  to  them.  Fixv  your 
mind's  eye  upon  a  molecule  within  the  mass. 
It  wishes  to  unite  with  its  neighbor  to  the 
right,  but  it  wishes  equally  to  unite  with  its 
neighbor  to  the  left;  the  one  tendency  neu- 
tralizes the  other,  and  it  unites  with  neither. 
But,  if  a  crystal  of  sulfate  of  soda  be 
dropped  into  the  solution,  the  molecular  in- 
decision ceases.  On  the  crystal  the  adjacent 
molecules  will  immediately  precipitate 
themselves;  on  these  again  others  will  be 
precipitated,  and  this  act  of  precipitation 
will  continue  from  the  top  of  the  flask  to 
the  bottom,  until  the  solution  has,  as  far  as 
possible,  assumed  the  solid  form.  The  crys- 
tals here  produced  are  small,  and  confusedly 
arranged.  The  process  has  been  too  hasty 
to  admit  of  the  pure  and  orderly  action  of 
the  crystallizing  force.  It  typifies  the  state 
of  a  nation  in  which  natural  and  healthy 
change  is  resisted,  until  society  becomes,  as 
it  were,  supersaturated  with  the  desire  for 
change,  the  change  being  then  effected 
through  confusion  and  revolution.  —  TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3,  p.  102.  (A., 
1898.) 


7O8.     CRYSTALS,  ARTIFICIAL— 

Gives  Scope  to  Innate  Law  of  Matter  —  Each 
Substance  Has  Its  Own  Crystalline  Form.  — 
Everywhere  in  Nature  we  observe  this  tend- 
ency to  run  into  definite  forms,  and  nothing 
is  easier  than  to  give  scope  to  this  tend- 
ency by  artificial  arrangements.  Dissolve 
niter  in  water,  and  allow  the  water  slowly 
to  evaporate;  the  niter  remains,  and  the 
solution  soon  becomes  so  concentrated  that 
the  liquid  condition  can  no  longer  be  pre- 
served. The  niter-molecules  approach  each 
other,  and  come  at  length  within  the  range 


Crystals 
Cycle 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


144 


of  their  polar  forces.  They  arrange  them- 
selves in  obedience  to  these  forces,  a  minute 
crystal  of  niter  being  at  first  produced.  On 
this  crystal  the  molecules  continue  to  de- 
posit themselves  from  the  surrounding 
liquid.  The  crystal  grows,  and  finally  we 
have  large  prisms  of  niter,  each  of  a  per- 
fectly definite  shape.  Alum  crystallizes 
with  the  utmost  ease  in  this  fashion.  The 
resultant  crystal  is,  however,  different  in 
shape  from  that  of  niter,  because  the  poles 
ef  the  molecules  are  differently  disposed. 
If  they  be  only  nursed  with  proper  care, 
crystals  of  these  substances  may  be  caused 
to  grow  to  a  great  size. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  3,  p.  102.  (A.,  1898.) 

709.  CURIOSITY    A    TRAIT     OF 

SEALS— Music  and  Church  Bells  Attract  Them. 
— [The  common  seal],  like  other  species  of 
the  group,  is  certainly  attracted  by  musical 
sounds;  probably  only  through  curiosity, 
because  it  is  similarly  attracted  by  any  un- 
usual movements.  Mr.  Bell  tells  us,  in  his 
"  British  Quadrupeds,"  that,  in  the  Orkney 
Islands,  if  people  are  passing  in  boats,  seals 
will  often  come  quite  close  up  to  the  boat, 
and  stare  at  them,  following  for  a  long  time 
together;  if  people  speak  loud,  they  seem  to 
wonder  what  may  be  the  matter!  The 
Church  of  Hoy,  in  Orkney,  is  situated  near 
a  small  sandy  bay,  much  frequented  by  these 
creatures,  and  it  was  observed  that  when 
the  bell  rang  for  divine  service  all  the  seals 
within  hearing  swam  directly  for  the  shore, 
and  kept  looking  about  them,  as  if  surprised 
rather  than  frightened,  and  this  continued 
as  long  as  the  bells  rang. — MIVART  Types  of 
Animal  Life,  ch.  10,  p.  289.  (L.  B.  &  Co., 
1893.) 

710.  CURIOSITY     OF    MONKEYS— 
Mr.  Darwin,  who,  in  order  to  test  the  state- 
ment of  Brehm  that  monkeys  have  an  in- 
stinctive dread  of  snakes,   and  yet  cannot 
"  desist    from    occasionally    satiating    their 
curiosity  in  a  most  human  fashion,  by  lift- 
ing up  the  lid  of  the  box  in  which  the  snakes 
were    kept,"    took    a    stuffed    snake   to   the 
monkey-house    at    the    Zoological    Gardens. 
Mr.   Darwin   says :     "  The   excitement   thus 
caused  was  one  of  the  most  curious  spec- 
tacles I  ever  beheld.     ...     I  then  placed 
a  live  snake  in  a  paper  bag,  with  the  mouth 
loosely  closed,  in  one  of  the  larger  compart- 
ments.   One  of  the  monkeys  immediately  ap- 
proached, cautiously  opened  the  bag,  peeped 
in,  and  instantly  dashed  away.    Then  I  wit- 
nessed what  Brehm  has  described,  for  mon- 
key after  monkey,  with  head  raised  high  and 
turned  on  one  side,  could  not  resist  taking 
a  momentary  peep  into  the  upright  bag,  at 
the  dreadful  object  lying  quietly  at  the  bot- 
tom."— ROMANES    Animal    Intelligence,    ch. 
17,  p.  477.     (A.,  1899.) 

711.  CURRENT    OF    ELECTRICITY 
NON-EXISTENT— A  Figure  of  Speech— Elec- 
tric Action  by  Atomic  Motion — The  Row  of 
Bricks. — Having    established    the    so-called 


electric  current,  we  will  now  try  to  show  you 
that  there  really  is  no  current.  The  idea 
of  a  current  involves  the  idea  of  a  fluid  sub- 
stance flowing  from  one  point  to  another. 
When  you  were  a  boy  did  you  never  set  up  a 
row  of  bricks  on  their  ends,  just  far  enough 
apart  so  that  if  you  pushed  one  over  they 
all  fell  one  after  another?  Now,  imagine 
rows  of  molecules  or  atoms,  and  in  your 
imagination  they  may  be  arranged  like  the 
bricks,  so  that  they  are  affected  one  by  the 
other  successively  with  a  rapidity  that  is 
akin  to  that  of  light-waves,  and  you  can  con- 
ceive how  a  motion  may  be  communicated 
from  end  to  end  of  a  wire  hundreds  of  miles 
in  length  in  a  small  fraction  of  a  second,  and 
no  material  substance  has  been  carried 
through  the  wire — only  energy.  We  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  the  row  of  bricks  illus- 
trates the  exact  mode  of  molecular  or  atomic 
motion  that  takes  place  in  a  conductor. 
What  we  mean  is,  that  in  some  way  motion 
is  passed  along  from  atom  to  atom. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  6,  p.  53. 
(F.  H.  &H.,  1900.) 

712.  CURRENTS  AS  A  MEANS  OF 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMAL  ORGANISMS 

— By  far  the  greater  number  of  invertebrate 
animals  freely  swimming  or  floating  in  wa- 
ter are  incapable  of  offering  any  resistance 
to  the  current,  and  are  therefore  carried 
along  in  the  direction  which  the  current  it- 
self takes.  All  the  larvae  of  sponges,  polyps, 
annelida,  tunicata,  echinodermata,  and  very 
many  mollusca,  .  .  .  and  the  medusae, 
tho  many  of  these  are  provided  with  special 
swimming  "organs,  are  perfectly  incapable  of 
swimming  against  the  feeblest  stream.  The 
only  invertebrate  animals  which  are  able  to 
overcome  perhaps  the  strongest  currents  are 
the  cuttlefishes. 

The  well-known  wealth  of  forms  in  the 
Mediterranean  and  in  the  Red  Sea  owes  its 
origin,  certainly  in  great  part,  to  the  action 
of  the  constant  marine  currents.  Both  these 
seas  are  connected  with  the  ocean  only  by 
narrow  straits  through  which  a  superficial 
current  incessantly  flows  in.  The  strength  of 
these  currents  may  vary  with  the  time  of 
year  and  the  direction  of  the  prevailing 
winds,  but  their  direction  is  invariable  the 
whole  year  through.  Hence  all  the  animals 
drifting  on  or  just  below  the  surface,  when 
once  they  nave  been  carried  in  through  these 
narrow  straits,  cannot  easily  get  back  to  the 
open  ocean,  and  so  all  the  forms  that  never 
sink  below  a  certain  inconsiderable  depth 
must  remain  in  the  inland  sea,  and  only 
those  few  species  or  individuals  which  reach 
the  deeper  return  current  and  do  not  leave  it 
can  be  in  a  position  to  be  borne  back  by  it  to 
the  ocean.  Consequently  both  these  seas,  by 
reason  of  the  inflowing  surface  currents,  are 
a  sort  of  trap;  everything  can  get  in,  but 
nothing  can  get  out  again;  thus  it  is  in- 
evitable— and  it  is  actually  the  case — that  a 
vast  accumulation  of  species  as  well  as  of 
individuals  occurs  in  these  seas,  wherever 


145 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Crystals 
Cycle 


the  other  necessary  conditions  for  the  ex- 
istence of  the  individual  forms  exist. — 
SEMPER  Animal  Life,  ch.  9,  p.  279.  (A., 
1881.) 

713.  CURRENTS,  ELECTRIC,  TRAV- 
ERSING  THE  OCEAN  FLOOR—  The  Sub- 
marine Telegraph. — And  now  we  come  to  the 
most     wonderful     of     all     telegraphs — that 
which  transmits  messages  from  continent  to 
continent,  for  thousands  of  miles,  under  the 
depths  of  the  sea.    "  Does  it  not  seem  all  but 
incredible  to  you,"  said  Edward  Everett  in 
his  oration  at  the  opening  of  Dudley  Obser- 
vatory, "  that  intelligence  should  travel  for 
two  thousand  miles  along  those  slender  cop- 
per wires  far  down  in  the  all  but  fathomless 
Atlantic,  never  before  penetrated  by  aught 
pertaining   to    humanity,    save   when    some 
foundering  vessel  has  plunged  with  her  hap- 
less company  to  the  eternal  silence  and  dark- 
ness of  the  abyss?     Does  it  not  seem,  I  say, 
all  but  a  miracle  of  art,  that  the  thoughts 
of  living  men — the  thoughts  that  we  think 
up  here  on  the  earth's  surface,  in  the  cheer- 
ful light  of  day — about  the  markets  and  the 
exchanges,   and  the   seasons,   and   the   elec- 
tions, and  the  treaties,  and  the  wars,  and  all 
the  fond  nothings  of  daily  life,  should  clothe 
themselves  with  elemental  sparks,  and  shoot 
with  fiery  speed  in  a  moment,  in  the  twin- 
kling of  an  eye,  from  hemisphere  to  hemi- 
sphere, far  down  among  the  uncouth  mon- 
sters that  wallow  in  the  nether  seas,  along 
the  wreck-paved  floor,  through  the  oozy  dun- 
geons of  the  rayless  deep;    that  the  last  in- 
telligence of  the  crops,  whose  dancing  tas- 
sels will  in  a  few  months  be  coquetting  with 
the  west  wind  on  these  boundless  prairies, 
should  go  flashing  along  the  slimy  decks  of 
old  sunken  galleons  which  have  been  rotting 
for  ages;    that  messages  of  friendship  and 
love,  from  warm  living  bosoms,  should  burn 
over  the  cold  green  bones  of  men  and  women 
whose  hearts,  once  as  warm  as  ours,  burst 
as  the  eternal  gulfs  closed  and  roared  over 
them,    centuries    ago!  " — PARK    BENJAMIN 
Age  of  Electricity,  ch.  11,  p.  247.    (S.,  1897.) 

714.  CURSE  OF  SLAVERY— Even  An- 
imals Degraded  ~by  Becoming  Oppressors. — 
Here,  then  [among  the  slave-making  ants], 
as  in  the  case  of  nestlings,  the  food-seeking 
instinct    and    the    power    of    distinguishing 
food  by  sight  have  degenerated,  and  clearly 
in  consequence   of  disuse.      Inasmuch  as   a 
colony  of  red  ants  always  owns  plenty  of 
slaves,  the  food-seeking  instinct  has  become 
unnecessary,  natural  selection  has  ceased  to 
affect   it,    and   it  has    gradually   died    out. 
Other  instincts,  too,  have  been  lost  by  these 
red  ants  in  consequence   of  their  habit  of 
keeping  slaves;     they  have  quite  forgotten 
the  art  of  nest-building  and  in  part  that  of 
tending  their  young.     Other  species  of  ants 
devote  much  attention  to  their  pupae,  mov- 
ing them  about  the  nest  from  time  to  time, 
and  often  carrying  them  out  into  the  air  and 
sun,    and    they   feed    their   larvae   with    the 
greatest  assiduity.     But  the  red  slave-ma- 


king ants  have  no  such  instincts;  they  care 
nothing  for  their  own  young,  and  the  species 
would  become  extinct  if  they  were  suddenly 
deprived  of  their  slaves.  So  it  is  not  only 
among  men  that  there  is  a  curse  upon 
slavery;  even  animals  become  degraded  by 
it. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  ch.  9,  p. 
26.  (Cl.  P.,  1897.) 

715.  CUTTING    BY    GLACIER    RE- 
SISTLESS —  Gigantic   Rasp   of  Ice  —  Record 
"  Graven  with  Iron  Pen  in  Rock  Forever  " 
(Job  xix,  2Jf). — On  any  surfaee  over  which 
water   flows  we   shall   find   that   the  softer 
materials  have  yielded  first  and  most  com- 
pletely.    Hard  dikes  will  be  left  standing 
out,    while   softer    rocks    around    them    are 
worn  away — furrows  will  be  eaten  into  more 
deeply — fissures     will      be     widened — clay- 
slates  will  be  wasted — while  hard  sandstone 
or  limestone  and  granite  will  show  greater 
resistance.    Not  so  with  surfaces  over  which 
the  leveling  plow  of  the  glacier  has  passed. 
Wherever  softer  and  harder  rocks  alternate, 
they    are    brought    to   one    outline;     where 
dikes  intersect  softer  rock,  they  are  cut  to 
one  level  with  it;    where  rents  or  fissures 
traverse  the  rock,  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  widened  or  scooped  out  more  deeply, 
but  their  edges  are  simply  abraded  on  one 
line  with  the  adjoining  surfaces.    Whatever 
be   the   inequality   in   the   hardness   of    the 
materials  of  which  the  rock  consists,  even 
in  the  case  of  pudding-stone,  the  surface  is 
abraded  so  evenly  as  to  leave  the  impression 
that  a  rigid  rasp  has  moved  over  all  the  un- 
dulations of  the  land,  advancing  in  one  and 
the  same  direction  and  leveling  all  before 
it. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p. 
40.     (H.  M.  &Co.,  1896.) 

716.  CYCLE    OF    CHANGE— Life  the 
Builder,  Oxygen  the  Destroyer — Science  Has 
A7o  Explanation  of  Life. — While  the  plant 
is  in  great  measure  made  up  of  non-nitro- 
genized  substances,  the  animal,  on  the  other 
hand,  consists  almost  entirely  of  albuminous 
compounds.     The  flesh,  the  nerves,  and  the 
bones    of   our   bodies   all   contain   nitrogen, 
and,  like  the  vegetable  albumen,  are  prone 
to  decay;    and  this  change  is  constantly  go- 
ing on  in  our  living  members.     In  a  most 
profound  sense,  "  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are 
in  death."     The  materials  of  our  bodies  are 
being    constantly   renewed,    and    the    great 
mass  of  their  structure  changes  in  less  than 
a  year.     At  every  motion  of  your  arm,  and 
at  every  breath  you  draw,  a  portion  of  the 
muscles  concerned  is  actually  burned  up  in 
the    effort.      During    life,    in    some    utterly 
mysterious  manner,  beyond  the  range  of  all 
human  science,  the  various  gases  and  vapors 
of  the  atmosphere,   together   with   a  small 
amount  of  a  few  earthy  salts,  are  elaborated 
into    various    organized    structures.      They 
first  pass  into  the  organism  of  the  plant, 
and  thence  are  transferred  to  the  body  of 
the  animal;    but  no  sooner  are  they  firmly 
built    into    the    animal   tissues    than    a    de- 
structive   change    begins,    by    which    before 


Sycle 
arkness 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


146 


long  they  are  restored  to  the  air  or  the  soil, 
only  to  renew  the  same  cycle  of  ceaseless 
change.  Life,  during  its  whole  existence,  is 
an  untiring  builder,  the  oxygen  of  the  at- 
mosphere a  fell  destroyer;  and  when  at  last 
the  builders  cease,  then  the  spirit  takes  its 
heavenward  flight,  and  leaves  the  frail  tene- 
ment to  its  appointed  end.  Dust  returns  to 
the  dust,  and  these  mortal  mists  and  vapors 
to  the  air. — COOKE  Religion  and  Chemistry, 
ch.  4,  p.  99.  (A.,  1897.) 

717.  CYCLES  OF  VOLCANIC  ACTION 

— Earth's  Subterranean  Forces  Never  Still. 
— Geologists  have  been  led  to  the  conclusion 
.  .  .  that  the  subterranean  forces  are  in 
a  state  of  continual  flux  over  the  surface  of 
the  globe.  At  one  point  of  the  earth's  crust 
these  forces  gradually  gather  such  energy  as 
to  rend  asunder  the  superincumbent  rock- 
masses  and  make  themselves  manifest  at  the 
surface  in  the  series  of  phenomena  charac- 
teristic of  volcanic  action.  But  after  a 
longer  or  shorter  interval  of  time — an  in- 
terval which  must  probably  be  measured  by 
millions  of  years — the  volcanic  forces  die 
out  in  that  area  to  make  their  appearance 
in  another. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  9,  p.  277. 
(A.,  1899.) 

718.  DANCING   AMONG    BIRDS— 

Amusements  of  Animals. — There  are  human 
dances  in  which  only  one  person  performs 
at  a  time,  the  rest  of  the  company  looking 
on;  and  some  birds,  in  widely  separated 
genera,  have  dances  of  this  kind.  A  stri- 
king example  is  the  Rupicola,  or  cock-of-the- 
rock,  of  tropical  South  America.  A  mossy 
level  spot  of  earth  surrounded  by  bushes  is 
selected  for  a  'dancing-place,  and  kept  well 
cleared  of  sticks  and  stones;  round  this 
area  the  birds  assemble,  when  a  cock-bird, 
with  vivid  orange-scarlet  crest  and  plumage, 
steps  into  it,  and,  with  spreading  wings  and 
tail,  begins  a  series  of  movements  as  if  dan- 
cing a  minuet;  finally,  carried  away  with 
excitement,  he  leaps  and  gyrates  in  the  most 
astonishing  manner,  until,  becoming  ex- 
hausted, he  retires,  and  another  bird  takes 
his  place. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata, 
ch.  19,  p.  261.  (C.  &H.,  1895.) 

719.  DANCING  ANCIENTLY  A  SIG- 
NIFICANT RITE— Passionate  Fervor  of  Dan- 
cers— Superstitions  Connected  with  Dance. 
— Dancing  may  seem  to  us  moderns  a  frivo- 
lous   amusement;     but    in    the    infancy    of 
civilization   it  was   full   of  passionate   and 
solemn  meaning.      Savages   and  barbarians 
dance  their  joy  and  sorrow,  their  love  and 
rage,  even  their  magic  and  religion.     .     .     . 
We  have  enough  of  the  savage  left  in  us  to 
feel  how  Australians  leaping  and  yelling  at 
a  corroboree  by  firelight  in  the  forest  can 
work   themselves  up   into   frenzy   for    next 
day's  fight.     But  with  our  civilized  notions 
it  is  not  so  easy  to  understand  that  barba- 
rians'  dancing  may  mean  still   more  than 
this ;    it  seems  to  them  so  real  that  they  ex- 
pect it  to  act  on  the  world  outside.     Thus 


among  the  Mandan  Indians,  when  the  hunt- 
ers failed  to  find  the  buffaloes  on  which  the 
tribe  depended  for  food,  every  man  brought 
out  of  his  lodge  the  mask  made  of  a  buffalo's 
head  and  horns,  with  the  tail  hanging  down 
behind,  which  he  kept  for  such  an  emergency, 
and  they  all  set  to  dance  buffalo.  Ten  or 
fifteen  masked  dancers  at  a  time  formed  the 
ring,  drumming  and  rattling,  chanting  and 
yelling;  when  one  was  tired  out  he  went 
through  the  pantomime  of  being  shot  with 
bow  and  arrow,  skinned,  and  cut  up;  while 
another,  who  stood  ready  with  his  buffalo- 
head  on,  took  his  place  in  the  dance.  So  it 
would  go  on,  without  stopping  day  or  night, 
sometimes  for  two  or  three  weeks,  till  at 
last  these  persevering  efforts  to  bring  the 
buffalo  succeeded,  and  a  herd  came  in  sight 
on  the  prairie. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch. 
12,  p.  296.  (A.,  1899.) 

7  2O.  DANCING,  RELIGIOUS— In  An- 
cient Greece  and  Rome,  as  in  Modern  India. 
— In  ancient  religion  dancing  came  to  be  one 
of  the  chief  acts  of  worship.  Religious 
processions  went  with  song  and  dance  to  the 
Egyptian  temples,  and  Plato  said  that  all 
dancing  ought  to  be  thus  an  act  of  religion. 
In  fact,  it  was  so  to  a  great  extent  in 
Greece,  as  where  the  Qretan  chorus,  moving 
in  measured  pace,  sang  hymns  to  Apollo, 
and  in  Rome,  where  the  Salian  priests  sang 
and  danced,  beating  their  shields,  along  the 
streets  at  the  yearly  festival  of  Mars.  Mod- 
ern civilization,  in  which  sacred  music  flour- 
ishes more  than  ever,  has  mostly  cast  off  the 
sacred  dance.  To  see  this  near  its  old  state 
the  traveler  may  visit  the  temples  of  India, 
or  among  the  lamas  of  Tibet  watch  the 
mummers  in  animal  masks  dancing  the 
demons  out,  or  the  new  year  in,  to  wild 
music  of  drums  and  shell-trumpets.  Rem- 
nants of  such  ceremonies,  come  down  from 
the  religion  of  England  before  Christian 
times,  are  still  sometimes  to  be  seen  in  the 
dances  of  boys  and  girls  round  the  midsum- 
mer bonfire,  or  of  the  mummers  at  Yuletide ; 
but  even  these  are  dying  out.  The  dances  of 
choristers  in  plumed  hats  and  the  dress  of 
pages  of  Philip  III.'s  time,  still  performed 
before  the  high  altar  of  Seville  Cathedral, 
are  now  among  the  quaintest  relics  of  a  rite 
all  but  vanished  from  Christendom. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p.  297.  (A.,  1899.) 

721.  DANGER ,  HIDDEN  —  Vesuvius 
Seemingly  an  Extinct  Volcano  before 
Eruption  of  79. — From  the  first  colonization 
of  southern  Italy  by  the  Greeks,  Vesuvius 
afforded  no  other  indications  of  its  volcanic 
character  than  such  as  the  naturalist  might 
infer  from  the  analogy  of  its  structure  to 
other  volcanoes.  These  were  recognized  by 
Strabo,  but  Pliny  did  not  include  the  moun- 
tain in  his  list  of  active  vents.  The  ancient 
cone  was  of  a  very  regular  form,  terminating 
not  as  at  present  in  two  peaks,  but  with  a 
summit  which  presented,  when  seen  from  a 
distance,  the  even  outline  of  an  abruptly 


147 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


truncated  cone.  On  the  summit,  as  we  learn 
from  Plutarch,  there  was  a  crater  with 
steep  clifl's,  and  having  its  interior  over- 
grown with  wild  vines,  and  with  a  sterile 
plain  at  the  bottom.  On  the  exterior,  the 
flanks  of  the  mountain  were  clothed  with 
fertile  fields  richly  cultivated,  and  at  its 
base  wrere  the  populous  cities  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  Pompeii.  But  the  scene  of  re- 
pose was  at  length  doomed  to  cease,  and  the 
volcanic  fire  was  recalled  to  the  main  chan- 
nel, which  at  some  former  unknown  period 
had  given  passage  to  repeated  streams  of 
melted  lava,  sand,  and  scoriae. — LYELL  Ge- 
ology, ch.  23,  p.  363.  (A.,  1854.) 

722.  DANGER-SIGNALS    AMONG 

ANIMALS —  Warning  Coloration  a  Defense  to 
Its  Possessor. — [Some  colorations]  are  de- 
veloped for  the  express  purpose  of  rendering 
the  species  conspicuous.  The  reason  of  this 
is  that  the  animals  in  question  are  either 
the  possessors  of  some  deadly  weapons,  as 
stings  or  poison-fangs,  or  they  are  uneat- 
able, and  are  thus  so  disagreeable  to  the 
usual  enemies  of  their  kind  that  they  are 
never  attacked  when  their  peculiar  powers 
or  properties  are  known.  It  is,  therefore, 
important  that  they  should  not  be  mistaken 
for  defenseless  or  eatable  species  of  the  same 
class  or  order,  since  in  that  case  they  might 
suffer  injury,  or  even  death,  before  their 
enemies  discovered  the  danger  or  the  use- 
lessness  of  the  attack.  They  require  some 
signal  or  danger-flag  which  shall  serve  as  a 
warning  to  would-be  enemies  not  to  attack 
them,  and  they  have  usually  obtained  this  in 
the  form  of  conspicuous  or  brilliant  colora- 
tion, very  distinct  from  the  protective  tints 
of  the  defenseless  animals  allied  to  them. — 
WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  9,  p.  158.  (Hum., 
1889.) 

723.  DANGERS  FACED  BY  SCIEN- 
TISTS—"Mountain   Sickness"— Rarefied  Air 
May  Be  Fatal. — The  years  brought  round 
the    eclipse    of    1878,    which   was    again    in 
United   States   territory,   the  central  track 
running   directly    over    one    of   the    loftiest 
mountains  of  the  country,  Pike's   Peak,  in 
Colorado.      Pike's   Peak,   tho   over   fourteen 
thousand    feet   high,    is   often    ascended   by 
pleasure  tourists;     but  it  is  one  thing  to 
stay  there  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  another 
to  take  up  one's  abode  there  and  get  accli- 
mated— for  to  do  the  latter  we  must  first 
pass  through  the  horrors   (not  too  strong  a 
word)    of  mountain  sickness.     This  reaches 
its   height  usually  on  the   second  or  third 
day,  and  is  something  like  violent  seasick- 
ness,   complicated    with    the    sensations    a 
mouse  may  be  supposed  to  have  under  the 
bell    of   an    air-pump.      After    a    week   the 
strong  begin  to  get  over  it,  but  none  but  the 
very  robust  should  take  its  chances,  as  we 
did,  without  preparation;    for  on  the  night 
before  the  eclipse  the  life  of  one  of  our  little 
party  was  pronounced  in  danger,  and  he  was 
carried  down  in  a  litter  to  a  cabin  at  an 
altitude  of  about  ten  thousand  feet,  where 


he  recovered  so  speedily  as  to  be  able  to  do 
good  service  on  the  following  day. — LANG- 
LEY  2V7 ew  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  50.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

724.  DANGERS  OF  ISOLATION— No 
Man  Sufficient  to  Himself — The  Corrective 
of  Society  a  Necessity  for  Sound  Thinking. 
— Neither  is  such  a  practise   [of  devoting 
oneself    wholly    to    thinking    and    teaching 
without   reading   or   study],   in   a   hygienic 
point  of  view,  free  from  the  gravest  dangers 
to  the  philosopher's  own  mind.     When  once 
he  has  persuaded  himself  that  he  can  work 
out  the  final  truth  on  any  subject,  exclusive- 
ly from  his  own  sources,  he  is  apt  to  lose  all 
measure  or  standard  by  which  to  be  apprised 
when  he  is  departing  from  common  sense. 
Living    only    with    his    own    thoughts,    he 
gradually  forgets  the  aspect  they  present  to 
minds  of  a  different  mold  from  his  own ;    he 
looks  at  his  conclusions  only  from  the  point 
of   view  which   suggested   them,   and   from 
which  they  naturally  appear  perfect;    and 
every  consideration  which  from  other  points 
of  view  might  present  itself,  either  as  an  ob- 
jection or  as  a  necessary  modification,  is  to 
him  as  if  it  did  not  exist.    When  his  merits 
come  to  be  recognized  and  appreciated,  and 
especially  if  he  obtains  disciples,  the  intel- 
lectual infirmity  soon  becomes  complicated 
with  a  moral  one.    The  natural  result  of  the 
position  is  a  gigantic  self-confidence,  not  to 
say  self-conceit. — MILL  Positive  Philosophy 
ofAugusteComte,p.U7.   (H.H.  &  Co.,1887.) 

725.  DARKNESS  ATTENDED  WITH 

COLD— Night  for  Five  Months.— One  of  the 
last  expeditions  made  for  the  discovery  of 
the  north  pole — that  of  the  English  navi- 
gators Nares  and  Stephenson  (May  29,  1875, 
to  November  2,  1877) — which  advanced 
farther  than  any  of  its  predecessors — up  to 
82°  24' — had  142  days  of  solar  privation — 
nearly  five  months  of  night!  From  Novem- 
ber 6  to  February  6  the  night  was  complete 
and  dark.  Even  on  November  8  the  dark- 
ness was  so  complete  at  noon  that  it  was 
impossible  to  read.  But  soon  the  moon 
brought  a  reflection  of  the  vanished  sun, 
and  turned  round  the  pole  without  ever  set- 
ting for  ten  times  twenty-four  hours.  The 
thermometer  went  down  to  58°  centigrade 
below  zero !  ( It  has  been  seen  still  lower  at 
Werchojansk,  in  Siberia — 68°.)  These  low 
temperatures  are  never  accompanied  with 
wind;  otherwise  no  human  being  could 
stand  such  cold.  0  icy  solitudes  of  the  pole, 
you  have  already  received  heroes  who  have 
lain  down  forever  in  your  gloomy  shroud! 
The  road  to  the  pole  is  always  marked  with 
martyrs;  but  it  is  not  the  odious  war  of 
man  against  man:  it  is  the  triumph  of 
mind  over  matter,  the  conquest  of  Nature  by 
genius! — FLAMMAEION  Popular  Astronomy, 
p.  31.  (A.) 

726.  DARKNESS  BEFORE    DAWN 

OF  NEW  ERA— Summary  of  Human  Knowl- 
edge of  the  Stars  through  All  Centuries 
before  1775. — A  star  in  the  Swan  was  per- 


ear- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


148 


ceived  by  Janson  in  1600  to  show  fluctua- 
tions of  light,  and  Montanari  found,  in  1669, 
that  Algol  in  Perseus  shared  the  same  pe- 
culiarity to  a  marked  degree.  Altogether 
the  class  embraced,  in  1782,  half  a  dozen 
members.  When  it  is  added  that  a  few  star 
couples  had  been  noted  in  singularly,  but  it 
was  supposed  accidentally,  close  juxtaposi- 
tion, and  that  the  failure  of  repeated  at- 
tempts to  find  an  annual  parallax  pointed  to 
distances  for  the  stars  at  least  400,000  times 
that  of  the  earth  from  the  sun,  the  picture 
of  sidereal  science,  when  the  last  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  century  began,  is  practically 
complete.  It  included  three  items  of  infor- 
mation: that  the  stars  have  motions,  real 
or  apparent;  that  they  are  immeasurably 
•  remote;  and  that  a  few  shine  with  a  period- 
ically variable  light.  Nor  were  the  facts 
thus  scantily  collected  ordered  into  any 
promise  of  further  development.  They  lay 
at  once  isolated  and  confused  before  the  in- 
quirer. They  needed  to  be  both  multiplied 
and  marshaled,  and  it  seemed  as  if  cen- 
turies of  patient  toil  must  elapse  before  any 
reliable  conclusions  could  be  derived  from 
them.  The  sidereal  world  was  thus  the 
recognized  domain  of  far-reaching  specula- 
tions, which  remained  wholly  uncramped  by 
systematic  research  until  Herschel  entered 
upon  his  career  as  an  observer  of  the 
heavens. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  ch. 
1,  p.  12.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

727.  DARKNESS,  COLD,  AND  PRES- 
SURE IN  DEEP   SEA—  "In  the  Lowest  Pit, 
in  Darkness,  in  the  Deeps  "  (Ps.  Ixxxviii,  6). 
— The  peculiar   physical   conditions   of   the 
deep  seas  may  be  briefly  stated  to  be  these: 
It  is  absolutely  dark  so  far  as  actual  sun- 
light is  concerned,  the  temperature  is  only 
a  few  degrees  above  freezing-point,  the  pres- 
sure is  enormous,  there  is  little  or  no  move- 
ment of  the  water,  the  bottom  is  composed 
of  a  uniform  fine  soft  mud,  and  there  is  no 
plant-life.     All  of  these  physical  conditions 
we  can  appreciate  except  the  enormous  pres- 
sure.   Absolute  darkness  we  know,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  deep  seas  is  not  an  extraor- 
dinary one,  the  absence  of  movement  in  the 
water  and  the  fine  soft  mud  are  conditions 
that   we   can   readily  appreciate;     but  the 
pressure  is  far  greater  than   anything  we 
can  realize. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  18.     (A.,  1894.) 

728.  DARKNESS  IN  THE  DAYTIME 

— Far-reaching  Effect  of  Earthquake. — In 
April,  1815,  one  of  the  most  frightful  erup- 
tions recorded  in  history  occurred  in  the 
province  of  Tomboro,  in  the  island  of  Sum- 
bawa,  about  200  miles  from  the  eastern  ex- 
tremity of  Java.  .  .  .  The  sound  of  the 
explosions  was  heard  in  Sumatra,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  970  geographical  miles  in  a  direct 
line;  and  at  Ternate,  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, at  the  distance  of  720  miles.  Out  of  a 
population  of  12,000,  in  the  province  of 
Tomboro.  only  twenty-six  individuals  sur- 
vived. Violent  whirlwinds  carried  up  men, 


horses,  cattle,  and  whatever  else  came 
within  their  influence  into  the  air;  tore  up 
the  largest  trees  by  the  roots,  and  covered 
the  whole  sea  with  floating  timber.  Great 
tracts  of  land  were  covered  by  lava,  several 
streams  of  which,  issuing  from  the  crater 
of  the  Tomboro  mountain,  reached  the  sea. 
So  heavy  was  the  fall  of  ashes  that  they 
broke  into  the  Resident's  house  at  Bima, 
forty  miles  east  of  the  volcano,  and  ren- 
dered it,  as  well  as  many  other  dwellings  in 
the  town,  uninhabitable.  On  the  side  of 
Java  the  ashes  were  carried  to  the  distance 
of  300  miles,  and  217  towards  Celebes,  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  darken  the  air.  The 
floating  cinders  to  the  westward  of  Sumatra 
formed,  on  the  12th  of  April,  a  mass  two  feet 
thick,  and  several  miles  in  extent,  through 
which  ships  with  difficulty  forced  their 
way. 

The  darkness  occasioned  in  the  daytime 
by  the  ashes  in  Java  was  so  profound  that 
nothing  equal  to  it  was  ever  witnessed  in 
the  darkest  night.  Altho  this  volcanic  dust 
when  it  fell  was  an  impalpable  powder,  it 
was  of  considerable  weight  when  compressed, 
a  pint  of  it  weighing  twelve  ounces  and 
three-quarters.  "  Some  of  the  finest  parti- 
cles," says  Mr.  Crawiurd,  "were  transported 
to  the  islands  of  Amboyna  and  Banda,  which 
last  is  about  800  miles  east  from  the  site  of 
the  volcano,  altho  the  southeast  monsoon 
was  then  at  its  height."  They  must  have 
been  projected,  therefore,  into  the  upper  re- 
gions of  the  atmosphere,  where  a  counter- 
current  prevailed. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, bk.  ii,  ch.  27,  p.  465.  (A.,  1854.) 

729.     DARKNESS     REVEALS—  The 

Sun's  Bright  Corona  Seen  Only  During 
Eclipse — Unnatural  Light  Attending  Eclipse. 
— I  have  witnessed  three  total  eclipses,  but  I 
do  not  find  that  repetition  dulls  the  interest. 
The  first  was  that  of  1869,  which  passed 
across  the  United  States  and  was  nearly 
central  over  Louisville.  My  station  was  on 
the  southern  border  of  the  eclipse  track,  not 
very  far  from  the  Mammoth  Cave  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  I  well  remember  that  early  ex- 
perience. The  special  observations  of  pre- 
cision in  which  I  was  engaged  would  not 
interest  the  reader ;  but  while  trying  to  give 
my  undivided  attention  to  these,  a  mental 
photograph  of  the  whole  spectacle  seemed  to 
be  taking  without  my  volition.  First,  the 
black  body  of  the  moon  advanced  slowly  on 
the  sun,  as  we  have  all  seen  it  do  in  partial 
eclipses,  without  anything  noticeable  ap- 
pearing; nor  till  the  sun  was  very  nearly 
covered  did  the  light  of  day  about  us  seem 
much  diminished.  But  when  the  sun's  face 
was  reduced  to  a  very  narrow  crescent,  the 
change  was  sudden  and  startling,  for  the 
light  which  fell  on  us  not  only  dwindled  rap- 
idly, but  became  of  a  kind  unknown  before, 
so  that  a  pallid  appearance  overspread  the 
face  of  the  earth  with  an  ugly  livid  hue; 
and  as  this  strange  wanness  increased,  a 
cold  seemed  to  come  with  it.  The  impres- 


149 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


sion  was  of  something  unnatural ;  but  there 
was  only  a  moment  to  note  it,  for  the  sun 
went  out  as  suddenly  as  a  blown-out  gas- 
jet,  and  I  became  as  suddenly  aware  that  all 
around,  where  it  had  been,  there  had  been 
growing  into  vision  a  kind  of  ghostly  radi- 
ance, composed  of  separate  pearly  beams, 
looking  distinct  each  from  each,  as  tho  the 
black  circles  where  the  sun  once  was  bristled 
with  pale  streamers,  stretching  far  away 
from  it  in  a  sort  of  crown  [the  corona]. — 
LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  39.  (H. 
M.  &Co.,  1896.) 

730.  DARWINISM  NOT  ATHEISTIC 

^Agnosticism  and  Monism — Problem  of 
First  Organisms. — Darwinism  was  not  nec- 
essarily atheistic  or  agnostic.  Its  author 
was  content  to  assume  a  few  living  beings 
or  independent  forms  to  begin  with,  and 
did  not  propose  to  obtain  them  by  any 
spontaneous  action  of  dead  matter,  nor  to 
account  for  the  primary  origin  of  life,  still 
less  of  all  material  things.  In  this  he  was 
sufficiently  humble  and  honest;  but  the 
logical  weakness  of  his  position  was  at  once 
apparent.  If  creation  was  needed  to  give  a 
few  initial  types,  it  might  have  produced 
others  also.  The  followers  of  Darwin,  there- 
fore, more  especially  in  Germany,  at  once 
pushed  the  doctrine  back  into  agnosticism 
and  monism,  giving  to  it  a  greater  logical 
consistency,  but  bringing  it  into  violent  con- 
flict with  theism  and  with  common  sense. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  of  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  1,  p.  52.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

731.  DATA,  INADEQUATE,  LEAD  TO 
ERRONEOUS      CONCLUSION  —  Emission 
Theory  of  Light  Justified  by  the  Facts  in 
Neivton's  Possession. — The  case  of  Newton 
still  more  forcibly  illustrates  the  position, 
that  in  forming  physical  theories  we  draw 
for  our  materials  upon  the  world  of  fact. 
Before  he  began  to  deal  with  light,  he  was 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  elas- 
tic collision,  which  all  of  you  have  seen  more 
or  less  perfectly  illustrated   on   a  billiard- 
table.     As  regards  the  collision  of  sensible 
masses,  Newton  knew  the  angle  of  incidence 
to  be  equal  to  the  angle  of  reflection,  and  he 
also  knew  that  experiment     .     .     .     had  es- 
tablished the  same  law  with  regard  to  light. 
He  thus  found  in  his  previous  knowledge  the 
material  for  theoretic  images.     He  had  only 
to    change    the    magnitude    of    conceptions 
already  in  his  mind  to  arrive  at  the  emis- 
sion theory  of  light.     He  supposed  light  to 
consist  of  elastic  particles  of  inconceivable 
minuteness  shot  out  with  inconceivable  rap- 
idity by  luminous  bodies,  and  that  such  par- 
ticles impinging  upon  smooth  surfaces  were 
reflected   in    accordance    with   the   ordinary 
law  of  elastic  collision.     The  fact  of  optical 
reflection  certainly  occurred  as  if  light  con- 
sisted of  such  particles,  and  this  was  New- 
ton's sole  justification  for  introducing  them. 
--TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  45. 
(A.,  1898.) 


732.  DAWN   OF   MOTHERLY  VIR- 
TUES —  Patience  — Sympathy  — Carefulness- 
Tenderness. — Begin  at  the  beginning  again 
and    recall    the    fact    of    woman's    passive 
strain.      A    tendency    to    passivity    means, 
among  other  things,  a  capacity  to  sit  still. 
Be  it  but  for  a  minute  or  an  hour  does  not 
matter;    the  point  is  that  the  faintest  pos- 
sible' capacity    is    there.      For   this    is    the 
embryo  of  patience,  and  if  much  and  long 
nursed  a   fully  fledged  patience  will  come 
out  of  it.     Supply  next  to  this  new  virtue 
some  definite  object  on  which  to  practise,  let 
us    say    a    child.      When    this    child    is    in 
trouble  the  mother  will  observe  the  signs  of 
pain.    Its  cry  will  awaken  associations,  and 
in  some  dull  sense  the  mother  will  feel  with 
it.     But  "  feeling  with  another  "  is  the  lit- 
eral translation  of  the  name  of  a  second  vir- 
tue— sympathy.     From  feeling  with  it,  the 
parent  will  sooner  or  later  be  led  to  do  some- 
thing to  help  it ;    then  it  will  do  more  things 
to  help  it;    finally  it  will  be  always  helping 
it.     Now,  to  care  for  things  is  to  become 
careful;  to  tend  things  is  to  become  tender. 
Here  are  four  virtues — patience,  sympathy, 
carefulness,     tenderness — already     dawning 
upon  mankind. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
p.  288.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

733.  DAY'S    JOURNEY— A  Primitive 
Measure  of  Distance. — The  day's  journey  is 
often  mentioned  as  a  fixed  distance.     This 
is    only   true    within    wide    limits,    and    it 
scarcely  ever  exceeds  ten  miles  for  march- 
ing.   "  The  Indians,  finding  that  their  wives 
were  so  near  as  to  be  within  one  of  their 
ordinary  days'  work,  which  seldom  exceeded 
ten  or  twelve  miles,  determined  not  to  rest 
till  they  had  joined  them." — MASON  Aborigi- 
nal  American   Mechanics,   Memoirs   of   the 
International  Congress  of  Anthropology,  p. 
79.     (Sch.  P.  C.) 

734.  DEATH,  A  SCIENTIST'S  DEFI- 
NITION   OF— Frozen   Caterpillar  Revived.— 
I  would  define  death  as  an  arrest  of  life, 
from  which  no  lengthened  revival,  either  of 
the   whole   or   any   of   its   parts,    can   take 
place;    or,  to  put  it  concisely,  as  a  definite 
arrest  of  life.     .     .     .     For  the  conception 
itself  it  is  quite  immaterial  whether  we  are 
able  to  decide  if  death  has  really  taken  place 
in  any  particular  case;    however  uncertain 
we  might  be,  the  state  which  we  call  death 
would   be   not   less    sharply    and   definitely 
limited.     We  might  consider  the  caterpillar 
of  Euprepia  flavia  to  be  dead  when  frozen  in 
ice,  but  if  it  recovered  after  thawing  and 
became  an  imago,  we  should  say  that  it  had 
only  been  apparently  dead,  that  life  stood 
still  for  a  time,  but  had  not  ceased  forever. 
It  is  only  the  irretrievable  loss  of  life  in  an 
organism  which  we  call  death,  and  we  ought 
to  hold  fast  to  this  conception,  so  that  it 
will  not  slip  from  us,  and  become  worthless, 
because  we  no  longer  know  what  we  mean 
by  it.     ...     The  real  proof  of  death  is 
that    the    organized    substance    which    pre- 


Death 
Decay 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


150 


viously  gave  rise  to  the  phenomena  of  life 
forever  ceases  to  originate  such  phenomena. 
This,  and  this  alone,  is  what  mankind  has 
hitherto  understood  by  death. — WEISMANN 
Heredity,  vol.  i,  p.  114.  (Cl.  P.,  1891.) 

735.  DEATH,    SUDDEN,    STRANGE 
FORMS  OF — Persons  Engulfed  in  Earthquake 
Fissures. — During  the  convulsions  of-  1692 
which  destroyed  Port  Royal,  it  is  said  that 
many    of    the    fissures    which   were    formed 
opened  and  shut.     In  some  of  these,  people 
were  entirely  swallowed  up  and  buried.     In 
others  they  were  trapped  by  the  middle,  and 
even  by  the  neck,  where  if  not  killed  instan- 
taneously they  perished  slowly.  Subsequently 
their  projecting  parts  formed  food  for  dogs. 
The  earthquake  which,  July  18,  1880,  shook 
the  Philippines  caused  many  fissures  to  be 
found,  which  in  some  places  were  so  numer- 
ous  that   the   ground   was  broken   up   into 
steps.     Near  to  the  village  of  San  Antonio 
the  soil  was  so  disturbed  that  the  surface  of 
a  field  of  sugar-canes  was  so  altered  that  in 
some  cases  the  top  of  one  row  of  full-growrn 
plants  was  on  a  level  with  the  roots  of  the 
next.     Into  one  such  fissure  a  boat  disap- 
peared,  and  into   another   a  child.      Subse- 
quently  the   child   was   excavated,   and   its 
body,  which  was  found  a  short  distance  be- 
low the  surface,  was  completely  crushed. — 
MILNE   Earthquakes,   ch.    8,    p.    147.      (A., 
1899.) 

736.  DEATH,  THE  FEIGNING  OF,  BY 

ANIMALS—  The  Protective  Instinct  of  Immo- 
bility.— In  ordinary  fear,  one  may  either 
run  or  remain  semi-paralyzed.  The  latter 
condition  reminds  us  of  the  so-called  death- 
shamming  instinct  shown  by  many  animals. 
Dr.  Lindsay,  in  his  work  "Mind  in  Ani- 
mals," says  this  must  require  great  self- 
command  in  those  that  practise  it.  But  it 
is  really  no  feigning  of  death  at  all,  and  re- 
quires no  self-command.  It  is  simply  a  ter- 
ror-paralysis which  has  been  so  useful  as  to 
become  hereditary.  The  beast  of  prey  does 
not  think  the  motionless  bird,  insect,  or 
crustacean  dead.  He  simply  fails  to  notice 
them  at  all;  because  his  senses,  like  ours, 
are  much  more  strongly  excited  by  a  moving 
object  than  by  a  still  one.  It  is  the  same 
instinct  which  leads  a  boy  playing  "  I  spy  " 
to  hold  his  very  breath  when  the  seeker  is 
near,  and  which  makes  the  beast  of  prey 
himself  in  many  cases  motionlessly  lie  in 
wait  for  his  victim  or  silently  "stalk"  it, 
by  rapid  approaches  alternated  with  periods 
of  immobility. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  24,  p.  420.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

737.  DEATH  UNWARNED— Brain  De- 
stroyed before  Sensation  Can  Reach  It. — 
Now,  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  an  injury 
might  be  inflicted   so   rapidly  that  within 
the  time  required  by  the  brain  to  complete 
the  arrangements  necessary  to  consciousness 
its    power    of    arrangement    might    be    de- 
stroyed.    In   such   a   case,   tho   the   injury 


might  be  of  a  nature  to  cause  death,  this 
would  occur  without  pain.  Death  in  this 
case  would  be  simply  the  sudden  negation 
of  life,  without  any  intervention  of  con- 
sciousness whatever.  The  time  required  for 
a  rifle-bullet  to  pass  clean  through  a  man's 
head  may  be  roughly  estimated  at  a  thou- 
sandth of  a  second.  Here,  therefore,  we 
should  have  no  room  for  sensation  [see  SEN- 
SATION], and  death  would  be  painless. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch. 
21,  p.  440.  (A.,  1900.) 

738.  DEBT  OF  CHRISTIAN  CIVILI- 
ZATION TO  MOSLEMS— Algebra  Developed 
by  Arabs — Legacy  of  Orient  to  Occident. — 
Besides  making  laudatory  mention  of  that 
which  we  owe  to  the  natural  science  of  the 
Arabs  in  both  the  terrestrial  and  celestial 
spheres,  we   must   likewise   allude  to   their 
contributions  in  separate  paths  of  intellec- 
tual  development   to   the    general   mass    of 
mathematical  science.     According  to  recent 
works     ...     on    the    history    of    mathe- 
matics, we  learn  that  "the  algebra  of  the 
Arabs    originated    from    an    Indian    and    a 
Greek  source,   which  long  flowed  independ- 
ently of  one  another."     .     .     .     The  process 
of  establishing  a  conclusion  by  a  progress- 
ive   advance    from    one   proposition    to    an- 
other, which  seems  to  have  been  unknown  to 
the  ancient  Indian  algebraists,  was  acquired 
by  the  Arabs  from  the  Alexandrian  school. 
This  noble  inheritance,  enriched  by  their  ad- 
ditions, passed  in  the  twelfth  century  into 
the  European  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
"  In  the  algebraic  works  of  the  Indians,  we 
find  the  general  solution  of  indeterminate 
equations  of  the  first  degree,  and  a  far  more 
elaborate  mode  of  treating  those  of  the  sec- 
ond, than  has  been  transmitted  to  us  in  the 
writings   of  the  Alexandrian  philosophers ; 
there    is,    therefore,    no    doubt    that   if   the 
works   of  the  Indians  had  reached  us  two 
hundred   years   earlier,    and   were   not  now 
first  made  known  to  Europeans,  they  might 
have  acted  very  beneficially  in  favoring  the 
development  of  modern  analysis"  [Chasles]. 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  223. 
(H.,  1897.) 

739.  DEBT    OF    EUROPE   TO   THE 
EAST  IN  EARLY  DAYS—  The  Use  of  Bronze. 
— Another  circumstance  which  strongly  mili- 
tates against  the  theory  of  a  gradual  and 
independent    development    of    metallurgical 
knowledge  in  different  countries  is  the  fact 
that  whenever  we  find  the  bronze  swords  or 
celts,  "  whether  in  Ireland,  in  the  far  West, 
in  Scotland,  in  distant  Scandinavia,  in  Ger- 
many, or  still  further  east  in  the  Slavonic 
countries,   they  are   the   same,   not  similar 
in   character,   but  identical."     .     .     .     Tho 
there  are  certain  differences,  yet  several  va- 
rieties of  celts  found  throughout  Europe,  as 
well  as  some  of  the  swords,  knives,  daggers, 
etc.,  are  so  similar  that  they  seem  as  if  they 
must  have  been   cast  by  the   same  maker. 
.     .     .     Under   these   circumstances,   it   ap- 
pears most  probable  that  the  knowledge  of 


151 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Death 
Decay 


metal  is  one  of  those  great  discoveries  which 
Europe  owes  to  the  East,  and  that  the  use  of 
copper  was  not  introduced  into  our  continent 
until  it  had  been  observed  that  by  the  addi- 
tion of  a  small  quantity  of  tin  it  was  ren- 
dered harder  and  more  valuable. — AVEBUBY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  3,  pp.  56-57.  (A., 
1900.) 

740.  DEBT    OF    SCIENCE    TO    UN- 
LEARNED    CONTRIBUTOR— Discovery  of 
the  Mammoth. — It  was  an  eventful  day,  not 
only  for  science,  but  for  the  world,  when  a 
Siberian    fisherman    chanced    to    observe    a 
singular  mound  lying  near  the  mouth  of  the 
River  Lena,  where  it  empties  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  During  the  warmer  summer  weather, 
he    noticed    that,    as    the    snow    gradually 
melted,  this  mound  assumed  a  more  distinct 
and  prominent  outline,  and  at  length,  on  one 
side  of  it,  \vhere  the  heat  of  the  sun  was 
greatest,     a     dark    body    became     exposed, 
which,  when  completely  uncovered,  proved  to 
be  that  of  an  immense  elephant,  in  so  per- 
fect a  state  of  preservation  that  the  dogs 
and  wolves  were  attracted  to  it  as  by  the 
smell  of  fresh  meat,  and  came  to  feed  upon 
it  at  night.     The  man  knew  little  of  the 
value  of  his  discovery,  but  the  story  went 
abroad,    and    an    Englishman    traveling   in 
Russia,   being  curious  to  verify  it,  visited 
the   spot,   and   actually  found  the  remains 
where  they  had  been  reported  to  lie,  on  the 
frozen    shore    of    the    Arctic    Sea — strange 
burial-place    enough    for    an    animal    never 
known    to    exist    out   of   tropical    climates. 
Little  beside  the  skeleton  was  left,  tho  parts 
of   the    skin    remained    covered    with    hair, 
showing   how   perfect  must   have  been   the 
condition  of  the  body  when  first  exposed. 
The  tusks  had  been  sold  by  the  fisherman; 
but    Mr.    Adams    succeeded    in    recovering 
them;    and  collecting  all  the  bones,  except 
those  of  one  foot,  which  had  been  carried  off 
by  the  wolves,  he  had  them  removed  to  St. 
Petersburg,  where  the  skeleton  now  stands 
in  the  Imperial  Museum. — AGASSIZ  Geolog- 
ical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  182.    (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

741.  DECAY     OF     ANCIENT     LIFE 
MINISTERS  TO  MODERN—  Coal  and  Miner- 
al Springs — Unseen  Laboratories  of  Nature. 
— The  bottom  and  the  lower  slopes  of  the  val- 
ley are  occupied  by  the  bituminous  and  sul- 
fureous  schists  of  the  fish-bed,  and  in  these, 
largely  impregnated  with   the  peculiar  in- 
gredients of  the  formation,  the  famous  me- 
dicinal springs  of  the  Strath  have  their  rise. 
They  contain,  as  shown  by  chemical  analy- 
sis, the  sulfates  of  soda,  of  lime,  of  mag- 
nesia,  common  salt,  and,   above  all,  sulfu- 
reted  hydrogen  gas — elements  which  masses 
of   sea-mud,    charged   with    animal   matter, 
would  yield  as  readily  to  the  chemist  as  the 
medicinal  springs  of  Strathpeffer.    Is  it  not 
a    curious    reflection,    that   the    commercial 
greatness  of   Britain,    in   the   present   day, 
should  be  closely  connected  with  the  tower- 
ing  and  thickly   spread   forests   of   arbora- 


ceous ferns  and  gigantic  reeds — vegetables  of 
strange  form  and  uncouth  names — which 
nourished  and  decayed  on  its  surface,  age 
after  age,  during  the  vastly  extended  term 
of  the  Carboniferous  period,  ere  the  moun- 
tains were  yet  upheaved,  and  when  there 
was  as  yet  no  man  to  till  the  ground  ?  Is  it 
not  a  reflection  equally  curious  that  the 
invalids  of  the  present  summer  should  be 
drinking  health,  amid  the  recesses  of  Strath- 
peffer, from  the  still  more  ancient  mineral 
and  animal  debris  of  the  lower  ocean  of  the 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  strangely  elaborated  for 
vast  but  unreckoned  periods  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth? — MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch. 
10,  p.  183.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

742.  DECAY  OF  CREEDS— Severance 
of  Theology  from  Nature — This  Separation 
Not    Found    in    Scripture — Spiritual   Laws 
Are  Laws  of  Nature. — Perhaps  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  manifest  decay  which 
so  many  creeds  and  confessions  are  now  suf- 
fering,  arises   mainly    from   the   degree   in 
which  at  least  the  popular  expositions  of 
them  dissociate  the  doctrines  of  Christianity 
from    the    analogy   and    course    of    Nature. 
There  is  no  such  severance  in  Scripture — no 
shyness  of  illustrating  divine  things  by  ref- 
erence to  the  natural.     On  the  contrary,  we 
are  perpetually  reminded  that  the  laws  of 
the  spiritual  world  are  in  the  highest  sense 
laws  of  Nature,  whose  obligation,  operation, 
and  effect  are  all  in  the  constitution  and 
course  of  things.    Hence  it  is  that  so  much 
was  capable  of  being  conveyed  in  the  form 
of  parable — the  common  actions  and  occur- 
rences of  daily  life  being  often  chosen  as  the 
best  vehicle  and  illustration  of  the  highest 
spiritual    truths.      It    is    not    merely,    as 
Jeremy  Taylor  says,  that  "  all  things  are 
full  of  such  resemblances  " — it  is  more  than 
this — more  than  resemblance.    It  is  the  per- 
petual recurrence,  under  infinite  varieties  of 
application,  of  the  same  rules  and  principles 
of  divine  government — of  the   same  divine 
thoughts,  divine  purposes,  divine  affections. 
Hence  it  is  that  no  verbal  definitions  or  log- 
ical forms  can  convey  religious  truth  with 
the   fulness    or   accuracy  which  belongs   to 
narratives   taken   from   Nature — man's   na- 
ture and  life  being,  of  course,  included  in 
the  term: 

"  And  so,  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  Creed  of  creeds." 
TENNYSON  In  Memoriam. 
— ARGYLL    Reign    of    Law,    ch.   1,    p.    32. 
( Burt. ) 

743.  DECAY  OF  SPIRITUAL    FAC- 
ULTIES—  Moral  Parasites. —  So    far    from 
ministering  to  growth,  parasitism  ministers 
to  decay.     So  far  from  ministering  to  holi- 
ness, that  is  to  wholeness,  parasitism  minis- 
ters to  exactly  the  opposite.    One  by  one  the 
spiritual  faculties  droop  and  die,  one  by  one 
from  lack  of  exercise  the  muscles  of  the  soul 
grow  weak  and  flaccid,  one  by  one  the  moral 
activities  cease.    So  from  him  that  hath  not 


Decay 
Degeneracy 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


152 


is  taken  away  that  which  he  hath,  and  after 
a  few  years  of  parasitism  there  is  nothing 
left  to  save. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in 
the  Spiritual  World,  essay  9,  p.  302.  (H. 
Al.) 

744.  DECIMALS,  THE  SYSTEM  OF, 
PROVIDED   FOR    IN    CARBONIFEROUS 
PERIOD — Numerical  Relations  in  Nature. — 
The   leaves  of  plants  are  not  arranged  at 
random,  but  in  a  series  of  curiously  related 
spirals,  differing  in  different  plants,  but  al- 
ways the  same  in  the  same  species  and  regu- 
lated by  definite  laws.     Similar  definiteness 
regulates  the  ramification  of  plants,  which 
depends   primarily  on   the   arrangement   of 
the  leaves.    The  angle  of  ramification  of  the 
veins  of  the  leaf  is  settled  for  each  species 
of  plant ;    so  are  the  numbers  of  parts  in  the 
flower  and  the  angular  arrangement  of  these 
parts.     It  is  the  same  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, such  numbers  as  5,  6,  8,  10  being  se- 
lected to  determine  the  parts  in  particular 
animals  and  portions  of  animals.    Once  set- 
tled,   these   numbers    are   wonderfully   per- 
manent in  geological  time.    The  first  known 
land  reptiles  appear  in  the  Carboniferous 
period,  and  they  have  normally  five  toes; 
these  appear  in  the  earliest  known  species  in 
the  lowest  beds  of  the  Carboniferous.    Their 
predecessors,  the  fishes,  had  numerous  fin- 
rays;     but  when   limbs   for   locomotion  on 
land  were  contrived,  the  number  five  was 
adopted  as  the  typical  one.    It  still  persists 
in  the  five  toes  and  fingers  of  man  himself. 
From  these,  as  is  well  known,  our  decimal 
notation  is  derived.     It  did  not  originate  in 
any  special  fitness  of  the  number  ten,  but  in 
the  fact  that  men  began  to  reckon  by  count- 
ing their  ten  fingers.    Thus  the  decimal  sys- 
tem of  arithmetic,  with  all  that  follows  from 
it,  was  settled  millions  of  years  ago,  in  the 
Carboniferous  period,  either  by  certain  low- 
browed and  unintelligent  batrachians  or  by 
their  Maker. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies 
in  Modern  Science,  lect.  5,  p.  184.      (A.  B. 
P.  S.) 

745.  DECISION  TO  BE   MADE  HA- 
BITUAL— Habit  of  Indecision  To  Be  Avoided— 
Make  Nervous  System  an  Ally,  Not  an  En- 
emy.— The  great  thing,  then,  in  all  educa- 
tion, is  to  make  our  nervous  system  our  ally 
instead  of  our  enemy.     It  is  to  fund  and 
capitalize  our  acquisitions,  and  live  at  ease 
upon  the  interest  of  the  fund.     For  this  we 
must  make  automatic  and  habitual,  as  early 
as  possible,  as  many  useful  actions  as  we 
can,   and   guard   against  the   growing  into 
ways  that  are  likely  to  be  disadvantageous 
to    us,    as    we    should    guard    against    the 
plague.    The  more  of  the  details  of  our  daily 
life  we  can  hand  over  to  the  effortless  cus- 
tody of  automatism,   the  more  our  higher 
powers  of  mind  will  be  set  free  for  their  own 
proper  work.     There  is  no  more  miserable 
human  being  than  one  in  whom  nothing  is 

.  habitual  but  indecision,  and  for  whom  .  .  . 
the  drinking  of  every  cup.  the  time  of  rising 
and  going  to  bed  every  day,  and  the  begin- 


ning of  every  bit  of  work,  are  subjects  of  ex- 
press volitional  deliberation.  Full  half  the 
time  of  such  a  man  goes  to  the  deciding,  or 
regretting,  of  matters  which  ought  to  be  so 
ingrained  in  him  as  practically  not  to  exist 
for  his  consciousness  at  all.  If  there  be  such 
daily  duties  not  yet  ingrained  in  any  one  of 
my  readers,  let  him  begin  this  very  hour  to 
set  the  matter  right. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  122.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

746.  DECLINE  OF  CIVILIZATION— 

Better  Implements  Converted  into  Poorer  to 
Suit  a  Lower  Grade  of  Workers. — There  is 
an  instructive  lesson  to  be  learned  from  a  re- 
mark made  by  an  Englishman  at  Singapore, 
who  noticed  with  surprise  two  curious 
trades  flourishing  there.  One  was  to  buy 
old  English-built  ships,  cut  them  down,  and 
rig  them  as  junks;  the  other  was  to  buy 
English  percussion-muskets  and  turn  them 
into  old-fashioned  flintlocks.  At  first  sight 
this  looks  like  mere  stupidity,  but  on  con- 
sideration it  is  seen  to  be  reasonable  enough. 
It  was  so  difficult  to  get  Eastern  sailors  to 
work  ships  of  European  rig  that  it  an- 
swered better  to  provide  them  with  the 
clumsier  craft  they  were  used  to ;  and  as  for 
the  guns,  the  hunters  far  away  in  the  hot, 
damp  forests  were  better  off  with  gun-flints 
than  if  they  had  to  carry  and  keep  dry  a 
stock  of  caps.  In  both  cases,  what  they 
wanted  was  not  the  highest  product  of  civili- 
zation, but  something  suited  to  the  situation 
and  easiest  to  be  had.  Now  the  same  rule 
applies  both  to  taking  in  new  civilization 
and  keeping  up  old.  When  the  life  of  a  peo- 
ple is  altered  by  emigration  into  a  new 
country,  or  by  war  and  distress  at  k«me,  or 
mixture  with  a  lower  race,  the  culture  of 
their  forefathers  may  be  no  longer  needed  or 
possible,  and  so  dwindles  away. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  1-,  p.  19.  (A.,  1899.) 

747.  DECOMPOSITION,    BACTERIA 

OF — Cycle  of  Building  Up  and  Breaking  Down. 
— It  is  clear  that  there  is  in  all  animal  life 
a  double  process  continually  going  on ;  there 
is  a  building  up  (anabolism,  assimilation), 
and  there  is  a  breaking  down  Ckatabolism, 
dissimilation).  These  processes  will  not 
balance  each  other  throughout  the  whole 
period  of  animal  life.  We  have,  as  possi- 
bilities, elaboration,  balance,  degeneration; 
and  the  products  of  animal  life  will  differ  in 
degree  and  in  substance  according  to  which 
period  is  in  the  predominance.  These  prod- 
ucts we  may  subdivide  simply  into  excre- 
tions during  life  and  final  materials  of  dis- 
solution after  death,  both  of  which  may  be 
used  more  or  less  immediately  by  other 
forms  of  animal  or  vegetable  life,  or  medi- 
ately after  having  passed  to  the  soil.  .  .  . 
The  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  other  simple 
substances  like  them  will  return  to  Nature 
and  be  of  immediate  use  to  vegetable  life. 
But  otherwise  the  cycle  cannot  be  completed, 
for  the  more  complex  bodies  are  of  no  serv- 
ice as  such  to  plants  or  animals.  In  order 
that  this  complex  material  should  be  of 


153 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Decay 


generacy 


service  in  the  economy  of  Nature,  and  its 
constituents  not  lost,  it  is  necessary  that  it 
should  be  broken  down  again  into  simpler 
conditions.  This  prodigious  task  is  accom- 
plished by  the  agency  of  two  groups  of  or- 
ganisms, the  decomposition  and  denitrifying 
bacteria  [i.  e.,  bacteria  that  reduce  ni- 
trates].— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  148. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

748. Extensive  Group  of 

/Saprophytes  in  Soil.  —  This  group  [the 
saprophytic  bacteria  in  soil]  of  micro-or- 
ganisms is  by  far  the  most  abundant  as  re- 
gards number.  They  live  on  the  dead  or- 
ganic matter  of  the  soil,  and  their  function 
appears  to  be  to  break  it  down  into  simpler 
constitution.  Specialization  is  probably 
progressing  among  them,  for  their  name  is 
legion,  and  the  struggle  for  existence  keen. 
After  we  have  eliminated  the  economic  bac- 
teria, most  of  which  are  obviously  sapro- 
phytes, the  group  is  greatly  reduced.  .  .  . 
At  present  the  decomposition,  denitrifying, 
nitrifying,  and  nitrogen-fixing  organisms  are 
the  only  saprophytes  which  have  been  res- 
cued from  the  oblivion  of  ages,  and  brought 
more  or  less  into  daylight.  It  is  but  our 
lack  of  knowledge  which  requires  the  present 
division  of  saprophytes  whose  business  and 
place  in  the  world  is  unknown. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  166.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

749.  DEFENSE  OF  PLANT  AGAINST 
USELESS  INSECTS— Protection  Varied  with 
Situation. — Polygonum  amphibium  is  a  very 
interesting  case.    The  small  rosy  flowers  are 
richly  supplied  with  honey;    but  from  the 
structure  of  the  flower,  it  would  not  be  fer- 
tilized   by    creeping   insects    [but    only    by 
winged  insects] .    As  its  name  indicates,  this 
plant  grows  sometimes  on  land,  sometimes 
in  water.    Those  individuals,  however,  which 
grow  on  dry  land  are  covered  by  innumer- 
able glandular  viscid  hairs,  which  constitute 
an  effectual  protection.    On  the  other  hand, 
the   individuals   which   grow  in   water   are 
protected  by  their  situation.     To  them  the 
glandular  hairs  would  be  useless,  and  in  fact 
on  such  specimens  they  are  not  developed. — 
AVEBUBY  Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch.  3.  p.  56. 
(A.,  1900.) 

750.  DEFINITIONS     OF     GOD—  Con- 
spicuous Failure  of  Theology  (Is.  xl,  18,  25) 
— Primeval   Conceptions   Likely    To   Be   as 
True. — Professor  Max  Miiller  is  disposed  to 
deprecate  the  supposition  that  the  "  Heaven- 
Father  "    of    the    earliest    Vedic    hymns    is 
rightly  to  be  understood  as  having  meant 
"  what  we  mean  by  God."     Very  probably 
indeed  it  may  have  meant  something  much 
more  simple.     But  not  the  less  on  that  ac- 
count it  may  have  meant  something  quite  as 
true.    I  do  not  know,  indeed,  why  we  should 
set  any  very  high  estimate  on  the  success 
which  has  attended  the  most  learned  the- 
ologians  in  giving   anything   like   form   or 
substance   to   our   conceptions   of   the  God- 
head.    Christianity  solves  the  difficulty  by 
presenting,  as  the  type  of  all  true  concep- 


tions on  the  subject,  the  image  of  a  Divine 
Humanity,  and  the  history  of  a  perfect  life. 
.  .  .  When  we  come  to  the  abstract  defi- 
nitions of  subsequent  theology,  they  invari- 
ably end  either  in  self-contradictions  or  in 
words  in  which  beauty  of  rhythm  takes  the 
place  of  intelligible  meaning.  ...  I  do 
not  know,  therefore,  by  what  title  we  are  to 
assume  that  "  what  we  mean  by  God "  is 
certainly  so  much  nearer  the  truth  than  the 
simplest  conceptions  of  a  primeval  age. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  300. 
(Burt.) 

751.  DEGENERACY  BEYOND  POW- 
ER OF  RECOVERY—  Civilization  Blights  and 
Destroys — Decline  of  American  Indians  be- 
fore White  Man's  Advent. — It  is  another 
symptom  of  a  wrong  development  being  the 
real  secret  of  their  [the  savages']  condition 
that  the  lowest  of  them  seem  to  have  lost 
even  the  power  to  rise.  Tho  individually 
capable  of  learning  what  civilized  men  have 
taught  them,  yet  as  races  they  have  been  in- 
variably scorched  by  the  light  of  civilization, 
and  have  withered  before  it  like  a  plant 
whose  roots  have  failed.  The  power  of  as- 
similation seems  to  have  departed,  as  it  al- 
ways does  depart  from  an  organism  which 
is  worn  out.  This  has  not  been  the  result 
with  races  which,  tho  -very  barbarous,  have 
never  sunk  below  the  pastoral  or  the  agri- 
cultural stage.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
Indian  races  of  North  America  are  perhaps 
the  highest  which  have  exhibited  this  fatal 
and  irredeemable  incapacity  to  rise:  and  it 
is  precisely  in  their  case  that  we  have  the 
most  direct  evidence  of  degradation  by  de- 
velopment in  a  wrong  direction.  There  are 
abundant  remains  of  a  very  ancient  Ameri- 
can civilization,  which  was  marked  by  the 
construction  of  great  public  works  and  by 
the  development  of  an  agriculture  founded 
on  the  maize,  which  is  a  cereal  indigenous  to 
the  continent  of  America.  This  civilization 
was  subsequently  destroyed  or  lost,  and  then 
succeeded  a  period  in  which  man  relapsed 
into  partial  barbarism.  The  spots  which 
had  been  first  forest,  then,  perhaps,  sacred 
monuments,  and  thirdly,  cultivated  ground, 
relapsed  into  forest  once  more.  So  strong  is 
this  evidence  of  degradation  having  affected 
the  population  of  a  great  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent,  that  the  distinguished  author 
[Avebury,  in  "  Prehistoric  Times "]  from 
whom  these  words  are  quoted,  and  who  gen- 
erally represents  the  savage  as  the  nearest 
living  representative  of  primeval  man,  is 
obliged  to  ask,  "  What  fatal  cause  destroyed 
this  earlier  civilization?  Why  were  these 
fortifications  forsaken — these  cities  in 
ruins?  How  were  the  populous  nations 
which  once  inhabited  the  rich  American  val- 
leys reduced  to  the  poor  tribes  of  savages 
whom  the  European  found  there?  Did  the 
North  and  South  once  before  rise  up  in  arms 
against  one  another?  Did  the  terrible  ap- 
pellation, the  'Dark  and  Bloody  Land,'  ap- 
plied to  Kentucky,  commemorate  these  an- 
cient wars  ?  "  Whatever  may  have  been  the 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


154 


original  cause,  the  process  of  degradation 
has  been  going  on  within  the  historic  period. 
When  Europeans  first  came  in  contact  with 
the  Indian  tribes,  there  was  more  agricul- 
ture among  them  than  there  is  now.  They 
have  long  descended  to  the  condition  of  pure 
hunters.  The  most  fundamental  of  all  the 
elements  of  a  civilized  and  settled  life — the 
love  and  practise  of  agriculture — has  been 
lost.  Development  in  the  wrong  direction 
had  done  its  work. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
iure,  ch.  10,  p.  253.  (Burt.) 

752.  DEGENERACY    CONCEALED— 
Blind   Crustacea   of   Mammoth   Cave  Have 
Perfect  External  Eyes — The  Internal  Organ 
Ruined — Like    Decay    in    Moral    Realm. — 
When    one    examines    the    little    Crustacea 
which  have  inhabited  for  centuries  the  lakes 
of  the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky,  one  is 
at  first  astonished  to  find  these  animals  ap- 
parently endowed  with   perfect  eyes.     The 
pallor  of  the  head  is  broken  by  two  black 
pigment  specks,   conspicuous  indeed  as  the 
only  bits   of   color   on  the  whole  blanched 
body;     and   these,,    even   to   the   casual   ob- 
server,  certainly  represent  well-defined  or- 
gans of  vision.    But  what  do  they  with  eyes 
in  these  Stygian  waters?     There  reigns  an 
everlasting  night.     Is  the  law  for  once  at 
fault?     A  swift  incision  with  the  scalpel,  a 
glance  with  a  lens,  and  their  secret  is  be- 
trayed.   The  eyes  are  a  mockery.    Externally 
they  are  organs  of  vision — the  front  of  the 
«ye  is  perfect';    behind,  there  is  nothing  but 
a    mass    of   ruins.      The    optic    nerve   is    a 
shrunken,  atrophied,  and  insensate  thread. 
These  animals  have  organs  of  vision,  and  yet 
they  have  no  vision.     They  have  eyes,  but 
they  see  not.     .     .     .     The  soul  undergoing 
degeneration     .     .     .     possesses  the  power  of 
absolute  secrecy.    When  all  within  is  fester- 
ing decay  and  rottenness,  a  Judas,  without 
anomaly,  may  kiss  his  Lord.     This  invisible 
consumption,   like  its  fell  analogue  in  the 
natural   world,   may   even   keep   its   victim 
beautiful  while  slowly  slaying  it.     Exactly 
Avhat  Christ  said  of  men  [Matt,  xiii,  14,  15]. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  2,  p.  101.     (H.  Al.) 

753.  DEGENERACY  DUE  TO  REA- 
SON— False    Reasoning   Produces    Unnatural 
Vices — Evolution  of  Degradation. — The  gift 
of    reason    is    the   very   gift   by    means    of 
which  error  in  belief,  and  vice  in  character, 
are  carried  from  one  stage  of  development  to 
another,  until  at  last  they  may,  and  they 
often  do,  result  in  conditions  of  iife  and  con- 
duct removed  by  an  immeasurable  distance 
from  those  which  are  in  accordance  with  the 
order   and   with    the   analogies    of   Nature. 
These  are  the  conditions  of  life,  very  much 
lower,  as  we  have  seen,  than  those  which 
prevail  among  the  brutes,  which  it  is  now 
the  fashion  to  assume  to  be  the  nearest  type 
of  the  conditions  from  which  the  human  race 
began  its  course.     They  are,  in  reality  and 
on  the  contrary,  conditions  which  could  not 


possibly  have  been  reached  except  after  a 
very  long  journey.  They  are  the  goal  at 
which  men  have  arrived  after  running  for 
many  generations  in  a  wrong  direction. 
They  are  the  result  of  evolution — they  are 
the  product  of  development.  But  it  is  the 
evolution  of  germs  whose  growth  is  noxious. 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  262. 
(Burt.) 

754.  DEGENERATION  FROM  DIS- 
USE— Eyes  and  Wings. — It  is  clear  that 
degeneration  as  a  result  of  disuse  can  only 
take  place  in  an  organ  the  activity  of  which 
depends  upon  its  exercise,  so  that  a  real 
effect  is  produced  by  the  discharge  of  func- 
tion. The  act  of  seeing  involves  certain 
chemical  changes  in  the  retina  of  the  eye, 
and  perhaps  even  in  the  optic  nerve,  proc- 
esses which  do  not  take  place  when  the  eye 
is  no  longer  exposed  to  light.  Flying  in- 
volves metabolism  in  the  muscles  which 
move  the  wings,  and  this  also  ceases  when 
flight  is  at  an  end.  So  that  an  actual  retro- 
gressive influence  is  exerted  on  certain  parts 
of  the  eye  and  on  the  muscles  by  disuse. — 
WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  p.  18.  (Cl.  P., 
1892.) 


755. 


Inaction — Self-sup- 


porting Organs  of  Parasites  Perish — Ease 
the  Ruin  of  Man  and  Nations. — "  Any  new 
set  of  conditions,"  says  Ray  Lankester,  "  oc- 
curring to  an  animal  which  render  its  food 
and  safety  very  easily  attained  seems  to  lead 
as  a  rule  to  degeneration;  just  as  an  active 
healthy  man  sometimes  degenerates  when  he 
becomes  suddenly  possessed  of  a  fortune ;  or 
as  Rome  degenerated  when  possessed  of  the 
riches  of  the  ancient  world.  The  habit  of 
parasitism  clearly  acts  upon  animal  organi- 
zation in  this  way.  Let  the  parasitic  life 
once  be  secured,  and  away  go  legs,  jaws, 
eyes,  and  ears;  the  active,  highly  gifted 
crab,  insect,  or  annelid  may  become  a  mere 
sac,  absorbing  nourishment  and  laying 
eggs." — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  essay  10,  p.  310.  (H.  Al.) 

756.  DELIBERATION  AND  CHOICE 
FUNCTIONS  OF  CEREBRUM— Prudence  a 
Virtue  in  Higher  Animals — Few  of  Their 
Acts  Mechanical. — No  animal  without  it 
[the  cerebrum  or  higher  brain]  can  delib- 
erate, pause,  postpone,  nicely  weigh  one  mo- 
tive against  another,  or  compare.  Prudence, 
in  a  word,  is  for  such  a  creature  an  impos- 
sible virtue.  Accordingly  we  see  that  Nature 
removes  those  functions  in  the  exercise  of 
which  prudence  is  a  virtue  from  the  lower 
centers  and  hands  them  over  to  the  cere- 
brum. Wherever  a  creature  has  to  deal  with 
complex  features  of  the  environment,  pru- 
dence is  a  virtue.  The  higher  animals  have 
so  to  deal;  and  the  more  complex  the  fea- 
tures, the  higher  we  call  the  animals.  The 
fewer  of  his  acts,  then,  can  such  an  animal 
perform  without  the  help  of  the  organs  in 
question.  In  the  frog  many  acts  devolve 
wholly  on  the  lower  centers;  in  the  bird 


155 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


fewer;  in  the  rodent  fewer  still;  in  the  dog 
very  few  indeed;  and  in  apes  and  men 
hardly  any  at  all. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  2,  p.  21.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

757.  DELICACY  OF  ADJUSTMENT— 

Rostellum  of  Orchid  Set  Like  a  Hair-trigger. 
— To  show  how  delicate  a  touch  suffices  to 
cause  the  rostellum  [of  the  List  era  ovata] 
to  explode,  I  may  mention  that  I  found  an 
extremely  minute  hymenopterous  insect 
vainly  struggling  to  escape,  with  its  head 
cemented  by  the  hardened  viscid  matter  to 
the  crest  of  the  rostellum  and  to  the  tips 
of  the  pollinia.  The  insect  was  not  so  large 
as  one  of  the  pollinia,  and  after  causing  the 
explosion  had  not  strength  enough  to  re- 
move them;  it  was  thus  punished  for  at- 
tempting a  work  beyond  its  strength,  and 
perished  miserably.  [A  larger  insect  would 
have  carried  away  the  adhering  pollen  to 
drop  it  on  the  stigma  of  another  flower.] — 
DARWIN  Fertilisation  of  Orchids,  ch.  4,  p. 
120.  (A.,  1898.) 

758.  DELICACY     OF     ORGANIC 
STRUCTURE—  Vibrations  Caught  by  Eye  and 
Ear. — All    the    organs    of    sense    discharge 
their   functions   in  virtue  of  a  purely  me- 
chanical adjustment  between  the  structure 
of  the  organ  and  the  particular  form  of  ex- 
ternal force  which  it  is  intended  to  receive 
and  to  transmit.     How  fine  those   adjust- 
ments are  can  best  be  understood  when  we 
remember  that  the  retina  of  the  eye  is   a 
machine  which  measures  and  distinguishes 
between  vibrations  which  are  now  known  to 
differ  from  each  other  by  only  a  few  mil- 
lionths  of  an  inch.    Yet  this  amount  of  dif- 
ference is  recorded  and  made  instantly  ap- 
preciable in  the  sensations  of  color  by  the 
adjusted  mechanism   of  the  eye..    Another 
adjustment,  precisely  the  same  in  principle, 
between   the   vibrations    of    sound    and   the 
structure  of  the  ear,  enables  those  vibrations 
to    be    similarly    distinguished    in    another 
special   form   of  the  manifold  language   of 
sensation.    And  so  of  all  the  other  organs  of 
sense — they  all  perform  their  work  in  virtue 
of  that  purely  mechanical  adjustment  which 
places  them  in  a  given  relation  to  certain 
selected    manifestations    of    external    force, 
and  these  they  faithfully  transmit,  accord- 
ing to  a  code  of  signals  the  nature  of  which 
is  one  of  the  primary  mysteries  of  life,  but 
the  truthfulness  of  which   is   at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  most  certain  of  its  facts. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  p.  37.     (Burt.) 

759.  DELIVERER    BECOMES    A 
SCOURGE—  The  Pharaoh  Rat :  His  Uses  and 
Abuses. — A  dozen  years  ago  the  rats  multi- 
plied superabundantly  in  the  sugar  planta- 
tions of  Jamaica,   where  they  gnawed  the 
stalks,  sucked  the  sap  from  the  incision,  and 
as  soon  as  they  had  determined  the  fall  of 
one  cane   abandoned   it  for   another.     This 
manner  of  operating  had  entailed  a  consider- 
able loss  upon  the  planters,  and  they  con- 
cluded to  exterminate  the  rats  with  energy. 
For  this  purpose,     .     .     .     six  ichneumons 


were  imported  from  India  (Herpestes  ich- 
neumon, or  Pharoah's  rat,  a  kind  peculiar  to 
Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Tunis ) .  This  species 
is  the  hereditary  enemy  of  rats  and  ser- 
pents, so  that,  multiplying  rapidly,  they 
soon  cleared  the  devourers  from  the  planta- 
tions. The  rats  then  invaded  the  farms  and 
the  villages,  but  were  pursued  there  also  by 
the  ichneumons,  destroying  them  as  well  as 
their  offspring  in  the  nests.  ...  As  for 
the  ichneumons,  so  useful  oji  their  arrival, 
no  longer  having  rats  to  devour,  they  then 
began  to  turn  up  in  the  poultry-yards,  where 
they  destroyed  the  eggs  and  young  chickens ; 
they  have  also  totally  exterminated  the 
quail  and  the  partridge  of  the  island,  whose 
eggs,  deposited  upon  the  ground,  are  an 
easy  prey.  They  empty  the  eggs  by  making 
in  each  a  tiny  hole,  and  the  ignorant  mother 
bird  continues  to  cover  the  sterile  eggs.  The 
Jamaicans,  delivered  from  the  rats  by 
Pharoah's  rat,  are  now  seeking  a  new  animal 
to  deliver  them  from  their  deliverers. — 
Revue  des  Sciences  Naturelles  Appliquees,  p. 
960,  1890.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.} 

76O.  DELTA  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 
ANTIQUITY  OF—  Vast  Time  Required  for 
Deposition. — When  I  visited  New  Orleans, 
in  February,  1846,  I  found  that  Dr.  Eiddell 
had  made  numerous  experiments  to  ascer- 
tain the  proportion  of  sediment  contained  in 
the  waters  of  the  Mississippi;  and  he  con- 
cluded that  the  mean  annual  amount  of  solid 
matter  was  to  the  water  as  TTTTT  *n  weight, 
or  about  ^Vrr  ^n  volume.  From  the  obser- 
vations of  the  same  gentleman,  and  those  of 
Dr.  Carpenter  and  Mr.  Forshey,  .  .  .  the 
average  width,  depth,  and  velocity  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  thence  the  mean  annual  dis- 
charge of  water,  were  deduced.  I  assumed 
528  feet,  or  the  tenth  of  a  mile,  as  the 
probable  thickness  of  the  deposit  of  mud  and 
sand  in  the  delta;  founding  my  conjecture 
chiefly  on\  the  depth  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
between  the  southern  point  of  Florida  and 
the  Belize,  which  equals  on  an  average  100 
fathoms,  and  partly  on  some  borings  600 
feet  deep  in  the  delta,  near  Lake  Pontchar- 
train,  north  of  New  Orleans,  in  which  the 
bottom  of  the  alluvial  matter  is  said  not  to 
have  been  reached.  The  area  of  the  delta 
being  about  13,600  square  statute  miles,  and 
the  quantity  of  solid  matter  annually 
brought  down  by  the  river  3,702,758,400 
cubic  feet,  it  must  have  taken  67,000  years 
for  the  formation  of  the  whole;  and  if  the 
alluvial  matter  of  the  plain  above  be  264 
feet  deep,  or  half  that  of  the  delta,  it  must 
have  required  33,500  more  years  for  its  ac- 
cumulation, even  if  its  area  be  estimated  as 
only  equal  to  that  of  the  delta,  whereas  it  is 
in  fact  larger.  If  some  deduction  be  made 
from  the  time  here  stated,  in  consequence  of 
the  effect  of  the  driftwood,  which  must  have 
aided  in  filling  up  more  rapidly  the  space 
above  alluded  to,  a  far  more  important  al- 
lowance must  be  made,  on  the  other  hand, 
for  the  loss  of  matter,  owing  to  the  finer 


Delta 
Denial 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


156 


particles  of  mud  not  settling  at  the  mouths 
of  the  river,  but  being  swept  out  far  to  sea 
during  the  predominant  action  of  the  tides 
and  the  waves  in  the  winter  months,  when 
the  current  of  fresh  water  is  feeble.  Yet, 
however  vast  the  time  during  which  the 
Mississippi  has  been  transporting  its  earthy 
burden  to  the  ocean,  the  whole  period,  tho 
far  exceeding,  perhaps,  100,000  years,  must 
be  insignificant  in  a  geological  point  of  view, 
since  the  bluffs  or  cliffs  bounding  the  great 
valley,  and  therefore  older  in  date,  and 
which  are  from  50  to  250  feet  in  perpendicu- 
lar height,  consist  in  great  part  of  loam  con- 
taining land,  fluviatile,  and  lacustrine  shells 
of  species  still  inhabiting  the  same  country. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
18,  p.  273.  (A.,  1854.) 

761.  DELUGES,    ANCIENT    TRADI- 
TIONS OF — Floods  of  Ogyges  and  Deucalion. 
— The  traditions  which  have  come  down  to 
us  from  remote  ages  of  great  inundations, 
said  to  have  happened  in  Greece  and  on  the 
confines    of    the    Grecian    settlements,    had 
doubtless   their  origin  in  a  series  of  local 
catastrophes,   caused  principally  by   earth- 
quakes.     The    frequent    migrations    of    the 
earlier  inhabitants,  and  the  total  want  of 
written  annals  long  after  the  first  settlement 
of  each  country,  make  it  impossible  for  us  at 
this  distance  of  time  to  fix  either  the  true 
localities  or  probable  dates  of  these  events. 
The    first    philosophical    writers    of    Greece 
were,  therefore,  as  much  at  a  loss  as  our- 
selves to  offer  a  reasonable  conjecture  on 
these  points,  or  to  decide  how  many  catas- 
trophes might  sometimes  have  become  con- 
founded in  one  tale,  or  how  much  this  tale 
may  have  been  amplified,  in  after  times,  or 
obscured  by  mythological  fiction.    The  floods 
of  Ogyges  and  Deucalion  are  commonly  said 
to  have  happened  before  the  Trojan  war; 
that   of   Ogyges   more  than   seventeen   and 
that   of   Deucalion   more  than   fifteen   cen- 
turies before  our  era.     As  to  the  Ogygian 
flood,  it  is  generally  described  as  having  laid 
waste  Attica,  and  was  referred  by  some  wri- 
ters to  a  great  overflowing  of  rivers,  to  which 
cause  Aristotle  also  attributed  the  deluge  of 
Deucalion,   which,  he  says,  affected  Hellas 
only,  or  the  central  part  of  Thessaly.     Oth- 
ers imagined  the  same  event  to  have  been 
due    to    an   earthquake,    which    drew   down 
masses  of  rock,  and  stopped  up  the  course  of 
the   Peneus   in   the   narrow   defile   between 
mounts    Ossa    and   Olympus. — LYELL   Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  356.     (A., 
1854.) 

762.  DELUSION  BY  SYSTEM— Logic 
Disregarding  Fact. — Yet  the  essential   and 
fundamental  error  of  this  [former  medical] 
system  was,  and  still  continued  to  be,  the 
false  kind  of  logical  conclusion  to  which  it 
was  supposed  to  lead;    the  conception  that 
it  must  be  possible  to  build  a  complete  sys- 
tem which  would  embrace  all  forms  of  dis- 


ease, and  their  cure,  upon  any  one  simple 
explanation. — HELMIIOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  1,  p.  212.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

763.  DELUSIONS  BENEFICENT— Al- 
chemy Led  to  Chemistry — Greatness  in 
Spite  of  Errors. — Albertus  Magnus,  of  the 
family  of  the  Counts  of  Bollstadt,  must  be 
mentioned  as  an  independent  observer  in  the 
domain  of  analytic  chemistry.  It  is  true 
that  his  hopes  were  directed  to  the  transmu- 
tation of  the  metals,  but  in  his  attempts  to 
fulfil  this  object  he  not  only  improved  the 
practical  manipulation  of  ores,  but  he  also 
enlarged  the  insight  of  men  into  the  general 
mode  of  action  of  the  chemical  forces  of  Na- 
ture. His  works  contain  some  extremely 
acute  observations  on  the  organic  structure 
and  physiology  of  plants.  He  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  sleep  of  plants,  the  pe- 
riodical opening  and  closing  of  flowers,  the 
diminution  of  the  sap  during  evaporation 
from  the  surfaces  of  leaves,  and  with  the  in- 
fluence of  the  distribution  of  the  vascular 
bundles  on  the  indentations  of  the  leaves. 
.  .  .  In  his  own  observations,  we,  how- 
ever, unhappily  too  often  find  that  Albertus 
Magnus  shared  in  the  uncritical  spirit  of  his 
age.  He  thinks  he  knows  "  that  rye  changes 
on  a  good  soil  into  wheat;  that  from  a 
beech-wood  which  has  been  hewn  down  a 
birch-wood  will  spring  up  from  the  decayed 
matter;  and  that  from  oak  branches  stuck 
into  the  earth  vines  arise."  .  .  .  The  work 
of  Albertus  Magnus,  entitled  "  Liber  Cosmo- 
graphicus  de  Natura  Locorum,"  is  a  kind  of 
physical  geography.  I  have  found  in  it  ob- 
servations which  greatly  excited  my  sur- 
prise, regarding  the  simultaneous  depend- 
ence of  climate  on  latitude  and  elevation, 
and  the  effect  of  different  angles  of  incidence 
of  the  sun's  rays  in  heating  the  earth's  sur- 
face.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  pp. 
243-4.  (H.,  1897.) 

764. Columbus  Aided  by 

Ancient  Medieval  Error — Ocean  Supposed 
Less  than  Land. — In  the  present  condition 
of  the  surface  of  our  planet,  the  area  of 
the  solid  is  to  that  of  the  fluid  parts  as 
l:2fths  (according  to  Rigaud,  as  100:270). 
The  islands  form  scarcely  ^d  of  the  conti- 
nental masses,  which  are  so  unequally  di- 
vided that  they  consist  of  three  times  more 
land  in  the  northern  than  in  the  southern 
hemisphere,  the  latter  being,  therefore,  pre- 
eminently oceanic.  .  .  .  When  we  con- 
sider that  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  upper 
surface  of  our  planet  are  covered  with  water, 
we  shall  be  less  surprised  at  the  imperfect 
condition  of  meteorology  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  century.  ...  In  the 
Middle  Ages  the  opinion  prevailed  that  the 
sea  covered  only  one-seventh  of  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  an  opinion  which  Cardinal 
d'Ailly  ("  Imago  Mundi,"  cap.  8)  founded  on 
the  fourth  apocryphal  book  of  Esdras.  Co- 
lumbus, who  derived  a  great  portion  of  his 
cosmographical  knowledge  from  the  cardi- 
nal's work,  was  much  interested  in  uphold- 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Klta 
nial 


ing  this  idea  of  the  smallness  of  the  sea,  to 
which  the  misunderstood  expression  of  "  the 
ocean  stream  "  contributed  not  a  little.  — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  pp.  288-9.  (H., 


765.  DELUSIONS  DUE  TO  NATURAL 

CAUSES  —  Cause  of  Mirage  —  Reflection  from  a 
Surface  of  Heated  Air.  —  Total  reflection 
never  occurs  except  in  the  attempted  passage 
of  a  ray  from  a  more  refracting  to  a  less  re- 
fracting medium  ;  but  in  this  case,  when  the 
obliquity  is  sufficient,  it  always  occurs.  The 
mirage  of  the  desert,  and  other  phantasmal 
appearances  in  the  atmosphere,  are  in  part 
due  to  it.  When,  for  example,  the  sun  heats 
an  expanse  of  sand,  the  layer  of  air  in  con- 
tact with  the  sand  becomes  lighter  and  less 
refracting  than  the  air  above  it;  conse- 
quently, the  rays  from  a  distant  object, 
striking  very  obliquely  on  the  surface  of  the 
heated  stratum,  are  sometimes  totally  re- 
flected upwards,  thus  producing  images  simi- 
lar to  those  produced  by  water.  I  have  seen 
the  image  of  a  rock  called  Mont  Tombeline 
distinctly  reflected  from  the  heated  air  of 
the  strand  of  Normandy  near  Avranches; 
and  by  such  delusive  appearances  the  thirsty 
soldiers  of  the  French  army  in  Egypt  were 
greatly  tantalized.  —  TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  19.  (A.,  1898.) 

766.  DEMOCRACY  AND    ARISTOC- 
RACY AS  AFFECTING  SCHOLARLY  PUR- 
SUITS —  Social  Permanence  Favors  Study  of 
Pure  Science.  —  In  a  work  published  in  1850, 
De  Tocqueville  says  :    "  It  must  be  confessed 
that,  among  the  civilized  peoples  of  our  age, 
there  are  few  in  which  the  highest  sciences 
have  made  so  little  progress  as  in  the  United 
States."     He  declares  his  conviction  that, 
had  you   been   alone   in  the  universe,   you 
would  soon  have  discovered  that  you  cannot 
long    make    progress    in    practical    science 
without  cultivating  theoretic  science  at  the 
same  time.     But,   according  to  De  Tocque- 
ville, you  are  not  thus  alone.    He  refuses  to 
separate  America  from  its  ancestral  home; 
and  it  is  there,  he  contends,  that  you  collect 
the  treasures   of   the   intellect  without  ta- 
king the  trouble  to  create  them.    De  Tocque- 
ville   evidently    doubts    the    capacity    of    a 
democracy  to  foster  genius  as  it  was  fostered 
in  the  ancient  aristocracies.     "  The  future," 
he  says,  "  will  prove  whether  the  passion  for 
profound  knowledge,  so  rare  and  so  fruitful, 
can   be   born   and  developed    so   readily   in 
democratic  societies  as  in  aristocracies.     As 
for  me,"  he  continues,  "  I  can  hardly  believe 
it."     He  speaks  of  the  unquiet  feverishness 
of  democratic  communities,  not  in  times  of 
great  excitement,  for  such  times  may  give 
an  extraordinary  impetus  to  ideas,  but  in 
times  of  peace.     There  is  then,  he  says,  "  a 
small  and  uncomfortable   agitation,   a   sort 
of  incessant  attrition  of  man  against  man, 
which  troubles  and  distracts  the  mind  with- 
out imparting  to  it  either  loftiness  or  ani- 
mation." —  TYNDALL  Lectures   on   Light,   p. 
225.     (A.,  1898.) 


767.  DEMONSTRATION  DEFINED— 

Circumstantial  Evidence  May  Have  Equal 
Force. — What  we  call  "  demonstration  " 
rests  entirely  upon  our  mental  inability  to 
accept  as  true  anything  that  contravenes 
the  thing  affirmed;  and  if,  in  a  chain  of 
demonstrative  reasoning,  every  link  has  the 
strength  of  a  necessary  truth,  we  accept  its 
conclusion  as  having  the  same  validity  as 
the  datum  from  which  it  started.  Now,  I 
hold  that  exactly  the  same  state  of  "  convic- 
tion "  may  be  produced  by  a  Concurrence  of 
probabilities,  if  these  point  separately  and 
independently  to  the  same  conclusion — like 
radial  lines  that  converge  from  different 
parts  of  the  circumference  of  a  circle,  tho 
none  actually  reach  its  center.  For  the  re- 
sult of  that  concurrence  may  be  as  irresist- 
ibly probative  as  any  demonstration;  the 
conclusion  to  which  they  all  point  being  one 
which  we  are  compelled  to  accept  by  our  in- 
ability to  conceive  of  any  other  explanation 
of  the  whole  aggregate  of  evidentiary  facts, 
tho  any  one  of  them  may  be  otherwise  ac- 
counted for.  I  am  not  aware  that  this  prin- 
ciple has  been  discussed  in  any  treatise  on 
logic;  but  it  is  familiar  to  every  lawyer 
who  practises  in  courts  of  justice,  and  its 
validity  cannot,  I  think,  be  questioned  by 
any  one  who  has  studied  the  theory  of  what 
is  commonly  called  "  circumstantial "  evi- 
dence. Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  ad- 
duce a  more  remarkable  example  of  the 
stability  of  an  argument  erected  on  a  broad 
basis  of  independent  probabilities  than  is 
presented  in  the  wonderful  fabric  built  up 
by  the  genius  of  Darwin;  the  general  ac- 
ceptance of  the  evolution  doctrine  resting  on 
exactly  the  same  kind  of  evidence  as  that  on 
which  I  base  the  argument  from  design. — 
CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  415. 
(A.,  1889.) 

768.  DENIAL   OF  THEOLOGY  NOT 
ABANDONMENT  OF  RELIGION— Religious 
Habit  of  Mind  as  a  Survival. — Sects  or  in- 
dividuals, who  have  come  to  reject  all  defi- 
nite theological  conceptions  and  to  deny  the 
existence  of  a  living  God,"have,  nevertheless, 
been  able  to  retain  feelings  and  sentiments 
which  may  justly  claim  to  be  called  relig- 
ious.    In  the  first  place,  with  many  men  of 
this  kind,  their  denial  of  a  God  is  not  in 
reality  a  complete  denial.     What  they  deny 
is  very  often  only  some  particular  concep- 
tion of  the  Godhead,  which  is  involved,  or 
which  they  think  is  involved,  in  the  popular 
theology.    They  are  repelled,  perhaps,  by  the 
familiarity  with  which  the  least  elevated  of 
human  passions  are  sometimes  attributed  to 
the  Divine  Being.     Or  they  may  be  puzzled 
by  the  anomalies  of  Nature,  and  find  it  im- 
possible to  reconcile  them  intellectually  with 
any  definite  conception  of  a  Being  who  is 
both  all-powerful  and  all-good.     But  in  fal- 
tering under  this  difficulty,  or  under  other 
difficulties  of  the  same  kind,  and  denying  the 
possibility  of  forming  any  clear  or  definite 
conceptions  of  the  Godhead,  they  do  not  nec- 
essarily renounce  other  conceptions  which, 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


158 


tho  vague  and  indefinite,  are  nevertheless 
sufficient  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  hazy  at- 
mosphere of  religious  feeling  and  emotion. 
Such  men  may  or  may  not  recognize  the  fact 
that  these  feelings  and  emotions  have  been 
inherited  from  ancestors  whose  beliefs  were 
purely  theological,  and  that  it  is  in  the  high- 
est degree  doubtful  how  long  these  feelings 
can  be  retained  as  mere  survivals. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  269.  (Burt.) 

769.  DENSITY  OF  SUN  RELATIVE- 
LY SLIGHT — Contraction  and  Evolution  of 
Heat  Must  Still  Go  On. — And  the  sun  is  by 
no  means  so  dense  as  it  may  become.  Spec- 
trum analysis  demonstrates  the  presence  of 
large  masses  of  iron  and  of  other  known 
constituents  of  the  rocks.  The  pressure 
which  endeavors  to  condense  the  interior  is 
about  800  times  as  great  as  that  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  earth;-  and  yet  the  density  of  the 
sun,  owing  probably  to  its  enormous  tem- 
perature, is  less  than  a  quarter  of  the  mean 
density  of  the  earth. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular 
Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  182.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1898.) 

7  7  O.    DEPARTMENTS  OF  MEMORY— 

Interest  and  Habit  Control  Remembrance. — 
The  visual,  the  tactile,  the  muscular,  the 
auditory  memory  may  all  vary  independent- 
ly of  each  other  in  the  same  individual ;  and 
different'  individuals  may  have  them  de- 
veloped in  different  degrees.  As  a  rule,  a 
man's  memory  is  good  in  the  departments 
in  which  his  interest  is  strong;  but  those 
departments  are  apt  to  be  those  in  which  his 
discriminative  sensibility  is  high.  A  man 
with  a  bad  ear  is  not  likely  to  have  practi- 
cally a  good  musical  memory,  or  a  purblind 
person  to  remember  visual  appearances  well. 
[When  we  consider  the  differences  in  the 
power  of  imagination  in  different  men]  it  is 
obvious  that  the  machinery  of  memory  must 
be  largely  determined  thereby. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  684.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.') 

771.  DEPENDENCE,  'INSTINCTIVE, 
OF  INSECT  ON  PROTECTIVE  MIMICRY 

— A  Leaftike  Locust. — To  show  how  perfect 
is  the  protection  obtained  [by  protective 
mimicry]  and  how  important  it  is  to  the 
possessors  of  it,  the  following  incident,  ob- 
served by  Mr.  Belt  in  Nicaragua,  is  most 
instructive.  Describing  the  armies  of  fora- 
ging ants  in  the  forest  which  devour  every 
insect  they  can  catch,  he  says :  "  I  was  much 
surprised  with  the  behavior  of  a  green  leaf- 
like  locust.  This  insect  stood  immovably 
among  a  host  of  ants,  many  of  which  ran 
over  its  legs  without  ever  discovering  there 
was  food  within  their  reach.  So  fixed  was 
its  instinctive  knowledge  that  its  safety  de- 
pended on  its  immovability,  that  it  allowed 
me  to  pick  it  up  and  replace  it  among  the 
ants  without  making  a  single  effort  to  es- 
cape. This  species  closely  resembles  a  green 
leaf." — WALLACE  Darurinism,  ch.  8,  p.  138. 
(Hum.) 


772.  DEPENDENCE   OF  ORGANISM 
ON    ENVIRONMENT—  Of  Soul  on   God.— 
Powerlessness   is   the  normal   state     .     .     . 
of  every  organism  apart  from  its  environ- 
ment.   The  entire  dependence  of  the  soul  upon 
God  is  not  an  exceptional  mystery,  nor  is 
man's    helplessness    an    arbitrary    and    un- 
precedented phenomenon.     It  is  the  law  of 
all     Nature.     .     .     .     But     who     will     not 
rather   approve   the  arrangement  by  which 
man  in  his  creatural  life  may  have  unbroken 
access  to  an  Infinite  Power?    What  soul  will 
seek  to  remain  self-luminous  when  it  knows 
that  "  The  Lord  God  is  a  sun  "  ?    Who  will 
not  willingly  exchange  his  shallow  vessel  for 
Christ's  well  of  living  water?     Even  if  the 
organism,   launched  into  being  like  a  ship 
putting  out  to  sea,  possessed  a  full  equip- 
ment, its  little  store  must  soon  come  to  an 
end.    But  in  contact  with  a  large  and  boun- 
teous   environment   its   supply  is   limitless. 
In  every  direction  its  resources  are  infinite. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  7,  pp.  241-2.     (H.  Al.) 

773.  DEPENDENCE  OF  SCIENCE  ON 

MECHANICS— Scarcely  less  important  for 
the  practical  uses  of  astronomy  than  the 
optical  qualities  of  the  telescope  is  the  man- 
ner of  its  mounting.  The  most  admirable 
performance  of  the  optician  can  render  but 
unsatisfactory  service  if  its  mechanical  ac- 
cessories are  ill-arranged  or  inconvenient. 
Thus  the  astronomer  is  ultimately  depend- 
ent upon  the  mechanician;  and  so  excellently 
have  his  needs  been  served  that  the  history 
of  the  ingenious  contrivances  by  which  dis- 
coveries have  been  prepared  would  supply  a 
subject  (here  barely  glanced  at)  not  far  "in- 
ferior in  extent  and  instruction  to  the  his- 
tory of  those  discoveries  themselves. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6, 
p.  149.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

774.  DEPENDENCE  OF  THE  GREAT- 
EST  UPON   THE    LEAST -Microscopic  Or- 
ganisms Affect  the  Chief  Concerns  of  Life. — 
This  application  of  biology  to  life  and  its 
problems  has  in  recent  years » been  nowhere 
more  marked  than  in  the  realm  of  bacteriol- 
ogy.    This  comparatively  new  science,  asso- 
ciated  with    the    great    names    of   Pasteur, 
Koch,  and  Lister,  furnishes  indeed  a  stock 
illustration  of  the  applicability  of  pure  bi- 
ology.    Turn  where  we  will,  we  shall  find 
the  work   of  the   unseen   hosts   of  bacteria 
daily    claiming    more    and    more    attention 
from  practical  people.     Thus  biology,  even 
when    clothed    in   the    form   of   microscopic 
cells,  is  coming  to  occupy  a  new  place  in  the 
minds  of  men.     "  Its  evolution."  as  Profess- 
or Patrick  Geddes  declares,  "  forms  part  of 
the  general  social  evolution."     Certainly  its 
recent  rapid  development  forms  a  remark- 
able feature  in  the  practical  science  of  our 
time.     Not  only  in  the  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment of  disease,  nor  even  in  the  various  ap- 
plications   of    preventive    medicine,    but    in 
ever-increasing    degree   and    sphere,    micro- 
organisms are  recognized  as  agents  of  util- 


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Depth 


ity  or  otherwise  no  longer  to  be  ignored. 
They  occur  in  our  drinking  water,  in  our 
milk-supply,  in  the  air  we  breathe.  They 
ripen  cream  and  flavor  butter.  They  purify 
sewage,  and  remove  waste  organic  products 
from  the  land.  They  are  the  active  agents 
in  a  dozen  industrial  fermentations.  They 
assist  in  the  fixation  of  free  nitrogen,  and 
they  build  up  assimilable  compounds.  Their 
activity  assumes  innumerable  phases  and 
occupies  many  spheres,  more  frequently 
proving  themselves  beneficial  than  injurious. 
They  are  both  economic  and  industrious  in 
the  best  biological  sense  of  the  terms. — NEW- 
MAN Bacteria,  int.,  p.  11.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

775.  DEPOSIT  ON  DEEP-SEA  FLOOR 

— The  Globigerina-ooze. — The  globigerina- 
ooze  is  perhaps  the  best  known  of  all  the 
different  deep-sea  deposits.  It  was  discov- 
ered and  first  described  by  the  officers  of  the 
American  Coast  Survey  in  1853.  It  is  found 
in  great  abundance  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in 
regions  shallower  than  2,200  fathoms.  .  .  . 
It  is  probably  formed  partly  by  the  shells  of 
the  dead  Foraminifera  that  actually  live  on 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean  and  partly  by  the 
shells  of  those  that  live  near  the  surface  or 
in  intermediate  depths  and  fall  to  the  bot- 
tom when  their  lives  are  done. 

So  abundant  are  the  shells  of  these  Pro- 
tozoa that  nearly  95  per  cent,  of  the  globi- 
gerina-ooze  is  composed  of  carbonate  of 
lime. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
2,  p.  37.  (A.,  1894.) 


776. 


The  Red  Mud.— 


Of  all  the  deep-sea  deposits,  however,  the  so- 
called  "  red  mud  "  has  by  far  the  widest  dis- 
tribution. It  is  supposed  to  extend  over  one- 
third  of  the  earth's  surface.  It  is  essentially 
a  deep-sea  deposit,  and  one  that  is  found  in 
its  typical  condition  at  some  considerable 
distance  from  continental  land.  ...  To 
the  touch  it  is  plastic  and  greasy  when 
fresh,  but  it  soon  hardens  into  solid  masses. 
When  examined  with  the  microscope  it  is 
seen  to  be  composed  of  extremely  minute 
fragments  rarely  exceeding  0.05  mm.  in 
diameter.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of 
free  silica  that  is  probably  formed  by  the 
destruction  of  numerous  siliceous  skeletons, 
and  a  small  proportion  of  silicate  of  alu- 
mina.— HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
2,  p.  39.  (A.,  1894.) 

777.  DEPOSITS,  MODERN,  LIKE  AN- 
CIENT— Strata  Forming  Now — Land-building 
under  Sea. — For  more  than  two  centuries 
the  shelly  strata  of  the  Subapenine  hills 
afforded  matter  of  speculation  to  the  early 
geologists  of  Italy,  and  few  of  them  had  any 
suspicion  that  similar  deposits  were  then 
forming  in  the  neighboring  sea.  They  were 
as  unconscious  of  the  continued  action  of 
causes  still  producing  similar  effects  as  the 
astronomers,  in  the  case  above  supposed,  of 
the  existence  of  certain  heavenly  bodies  still 
giving  and  reflecting  light,  and  performing 
their  movements  as  of  old.  Some  imagined 


that  the  strata,  so  rich  in  organic  remains, 
instead  of  being  due  to  secondary  agents, 
had  been  so  created  in  the  beginning  of 
things  by  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty.  Others, 
as  we  have  seen,  ascribed  the  embedded  fossil 
bodies  to  some  plastic  power  which  resided 
in  the  earth  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world. 
In  what  manner  were  these  dogmas  at 
length  exploded?  The  fossil  relics  were 
carefully  compared  with  their  living  an- 
alogues, anH  all  doubts  as  to  their  organic 
origin  were  eventually  dispelled.  So,  also, 
in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  containing 
beds  of  mud,  sand,  and  limestone:  those 
parts  of  the  bottom  of  the  sea  were  examined 
where  shells  are  now  becoming  annually  en- 
tombed in  new  deposits.  Donati  explored 
the  bed  of  the  Adriatic,  and  found  the  clo- 
sest resemblance  between  the  strata  there 
forming  and  those  which  constituted  hills 
above  a  thousand  feet  high  in  various  parts 
of  the  Italian  peninsula.  He  ascertained  by 
dredging  that  living  testacea  were  there 
grouped  together  in  precisely  the  same  man- 
ner as  were  their  fossil  analogues  in  the  in- 
land strata ;  and  while  some  of  the  recent 
shells  of  the  Adriatic  were  becoming  in- 
crusted  with  calcareous  rock,  he  observed 
that  others  had  been  newly  buried  in  sand 
and  clay,  precisely  as  fossil  shells  occur  in 
the  Subapenine  hills.  This  discovery  of 
the  identity  of  modern  and  ancient  sub- 
marine operations  was  not  made  without  the 
aid  of  artificial  instruments,  which,  like  the 
telescope,  brought  phenomena  into  view  not 
otherwise  within  the  sphere  of  human  obser- 
vation.— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,. 
ch.  5,  p.  71.  (A.,  1854.) 

778.  DEPTH  OF  EARTHQUAKE 
SHOCK — Convulsion  Originates  Miles  below 
the  Surface. — The  first  calculations  of  the 
depth  at  which  an  earthquake  originated 
were  those  made  by  Mallet  for  the  Neapoli- 
tan earthquake  of  1857.  By  means  of  a 
number  of  lines  parallel  to  twenty-six  angles 
of  emergence,  drawn  in  towards  the  seismic 
vertical,  Mallet  found  that  twenty-three  of 
these  intersected  at  a  depth  of  7y8  geograph- 
ical miles.  The  maximum  depth  was  8y8 
geographical  miles,  and  the  minimum  depth 
2%  geographical  miles.  The  mean  depth 
was  taken  at  a  depth  of  5%  geographical 
miles  where,  within  a  range  of  12,000  feet, 
eighteen  of  the  wrave-paths  intersected  the 
seismic  vertical.  The  point  where  these 
wave-paths  start  thickest  is  at  a  depth  not 
greater  than  three  geographical  miles,  and 
this  is  considered  to  be  the  vertical  depth  of 
the  focal  cavity  itself.  For  the  Yokohama 
earthquake  of  1880.  from  the  indications  of 
seismometers,  and  by  other  means,  certain 
angles  of  emergence  were  obtained,  leading 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  depth  of  origin  of 
that  earthquake  might  be  between  1%  and  5 
miles.  Possibly,  perhaps,  the  earthquake 
may  have  originated  from  a  fissure  the  ver- 
tical dimensions  of  which  were  comprised 
between  these  depths. — MILNE  Earthquakes, 
ch.  11,  p.  213.  (A.,  1899.) 


Depths 


sign 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


160 


779.  DEPTHS    OF    OCEAN    PAVED 
WITH   VOLCANIC  DUST  (Job  xxxvi,  30) 
— Recent  deep-sea  soundings,  carried  on  in 
the   "  Challenger "  and   other  vessels,   have 
shown  that  the  bottom  of  the  deepest  por- 
tion of  the  ocean,  far  away  from  the  land, 
is    covered    with    these    volcanic    materials 
which  have  been  carried  through  the  air  or 
floated  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean.    To  these 
deeper  parts  of  the  ocean  no  sediments  car- 
ried down  by  the  rivers  are  borne,  and  the 
remains    of    calcareous    organisms    are,    in 
these  abysses,   soon  dissolved;     under   such 
conditions,   therefore,   almost  the  only  ma- 
terial accumulating  on  the  sea-bottom  is  the 
ubiquitous    wind-    and   wave-borne   volcanic 
products.     These  particles  of  volcanic  dust 
and  fragments  of  pumice  by  their  disintegra- 
tion give  rise  to  a  clayey  material,  and  the 
oxidation  of  the  magnetite,  which  all  lavas, 
contain,   communicates  to  the  mass  a  red- 
dish   tint.      This    appears    to    be    the    true 
origin  of  those  masses  of  "  red  clay  "  which, 
according  to  recent  researches,  are  found  to 
cover  all  the  deeper  parts  of  the  ocean. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  73.     (A.,  1899.) 

780.  DESERT,   PROTECTIVE    COL- 
ORS IN — Animals  Take  On  the  Tawny  Hues  of 
Sand  and  Rock. — In  the  desert  regions  of 
the  earth  we  find  an  even  more  general  ac- 
cordance of  color  with  surroundings.     The 
lion,  the  camel,  and  all  the  desert  antelopes 
have  more  or  less  the  color  of  the  sand  or 
rock  among  which  they  live.     The  Egyptian 
cat  and  the  pampas-cat  are  sandy  or  earth 
colored.     The  Australian  kangaroos  are  of 
similar  tints,  and  the  original  color  of  the 
wild  horse  is  supposed  to  have  been  sandy  or 
clay   colored.    Birds   are  equally  well  pro- 
tected   by    assimilative    hues ;     the     larks, 
quails,     goatsuckers,      and     grouse     which 
abound   in    the   North-African    and   Asiatic 
deserts  are  all  tinted  or  mottled  so  as  close- 
ly to  resemble  the  average  color  of  the  soil 
in    the    districts    they    inhabit. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  131.     (Hum.,  1889.) 

781.  DESERTS    TO    BE    TRANS- 
FORMED—Power,  Manufacturing  and  Polit- 
ical,  To  Be  Centered  There — Utilizing   the 
Direct  Heat  of  the  Sun. — Future  ages  may 
see   the   seat   of   empire  transferred   to   re- 
gions of  the  earth  now  barren  and  desolated 
under  intense  solar  heat — countries  which, 
for  that  very  cause,  will  not  improbably  be- 
come the  seat  of  mechanical  and  thence  of 
political  power.     Whoever  finds  the  way  to 
make  industrially  useful  the  vast  sun-power 
now  wasted  on  the  deserts  of  North  Africa 
or  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  will  effect  a 
greater   change  in  men's   affairs   than  any 
conqueror  in  history  has  done;    for  he  will 
once  more  people  those  waste  places  with 
the  life  that  swarmed  there  in  the  best  days 
of  Carthage  and  of  old  Egypt,   but  under 
another   civilization,  where  man  no   longer 
shall  worship  the  sun  as  a  god,  but  shall 


have  learned  to  make  it  his  servant. — LANG- 
LEY  Neiv  Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  115.  (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

782.  DESIGN,  APPARENT,    IN  SPI- 
DER'S CAPTURE  OF  INSECT— When  any 
large  insect,  as  a  grasshopper  or  wasp,   is 
caught,  the  spider  [Epeira  of  Brazil],  by  a 
dexterous  movement,  makes  it  revolve  very 
rapidly,  and  at  the  same  time  emitting  a 
band  of  threads  from  its  spinners,  soon  en- 
velops its  prey  in  a  case  like  the  cocoon  of 
a  silkworm.     The  spider  now  examines  the 
powerless  victim,   and  gives  the  fatal   bite 
on  the  hinder  part  of  its  thorax;    then,  re- 
treating, patiently  waits  till  the  poison  has 
taken  effect.     The  virulence  of  this  poison 
may  be  judged  of  from  the  fact  that  in  half 
a  minute  I  opened  the  mesh  and  found   a 
large  wasp  quite  lifeless. — DARWIN  Natural- 
ist's Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  2,  p.  36. 
(A.,  1898.) 

783.  DESIGN,   EVIDENCE    O¥—Eye 
Formed      by      Convergence      of      Opposite 
Growths. — Further  evidence  of  "  intelligent 
design  "  is  supplied  by  the  history  of  the 
development  of  any  one  of  the  highest  forms 
of  the  eye,  such  as  that  of  the  chick  in  ovo. 
For  it  has  been  ascertained  by  the  careful 
study  of  this  process  that  the  complete  or- 
gan is  the  joint  product  of  two  distinct  de- 
velopmental actions,  taking  place  in  oppo- 
site directions — a  growing  inwards  from  the 
skin    and    a    growing    outwards    from    the1 
brain:    the  former  supplying  the  optical  in- 
strument  for   the   formation  of   the   visual 
picture,  and  the  latter  furnishing  the  nerv- 
ous  apparatus    on    wrhich   this   is    received, 
and  by  which  its  impression  is  conveyed  to 
the.     sensorium. — CAKPENTER     Nature     and 
Man,  lect.  15,  p.  430.     (A.,  1889.) 


784. 


Fertilization  of  Or- 


chids.— Perhaps  no  illustration  more  stri- 
king of  this  principle  was  ever  presented 
than  in  the  curious  volume  published  by  Mr. 
Darwin  on  the  "  Fertilization  of  Orchids." 
It  appears  that  the  fertilization  of  almost 
all  orchids  is  dependent  on  the  transport  of 
the  pollen  from  one  flower  to  another  by 
means  of  insects.  It  appears,  further,  that 
the  structure  of  these  flowers  is  elaborately 
contrived,  so  as  to  secure  the  certainty  and 
effectiveness  of  this  operation.  Mr.  Dar- 
win's work  is  devoted  to  tracing  in  detail 
what  these  contrivances  are.  To  a  large  ex- 
tent they  are  purely  mechanical,  and  can  be 
traced  with  as  much  clearness  and  certainty 
as  the  different  parts  of  which  a  steam-en- 
gine is  composed.  The  complication  and  in- 
genuity of  these  contrivances  almost  exceed 
belief.  "  Moth-traps  and  spring-guns  set  on 
these  grounds  "  might  be  the  motto  of  the 
orchids.  There  are  baits  to  tempt  the  nec- 
tar-loving Lepidoptera,  with  rich  odors  ex- 
haled at  night,  and  lustrous  colors  to  shine 
by  day;  there  are  channels  of  approach 
along  which  they  are  surely  guided,  so  as 
to  compel  them  to  pass  by  certain  spots; 


161 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Depths 
Design 


there  are  adhesive  plasters  nicely  adjusted 
to  fit  their  proboscides,  or  to  catch  their 
brows;  there  are  hair-triggers  carefully 
set  in  their  necessary  path,  communicating 
with  explosive  shells,  which  project  the  pol- 
len-stalks with  unerring  aim  upon  their 
bodies.  There  are,  in  short,  an  infinitude  of 
adjustments,  for  an  idea  of  which  I  must 
refer  my  readers  to  Mr.  Darwin's  inimitable 
powers  of  observation  and  description — ad- 
justments all  contrived  so  as  to  secure  the 
accurate  conveyance  of  the  pollen  of  the  one 
flowTer  to  its  precise  destination  in  the  struc- 
ture of  another. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch. 
1,  p.  22.  (Burt.) 

785.  DESIGN  IN   EVOLUTION— Plan 
Extended     through    Ages — Development    of 
Bird. — So,  if  we  go  back  in  thought  to  the 
origin  of  the  race,  as  we  can  by  actual  ob- 
servation to  that  of  the  individual,  the  old 
conception  of  "  design  "  which  was  based  on 
the   idea   of  an   original  bird-creation   does 
not  lose  any  of  its  applicability,  if  we  find 
reason  to  believe  that  the  original  progenitor 
was  a  protoplasmic  "  jelly-speck,"  certain  of 
whose   descendants   have  passed   through   a 
series  of  forms  progressively  improving  in 
structure  and  capacity,  and  culminating  in 
the  perfected  bird.     We  merely  substitute  for 
the  idea  of  continuous  uniform  descent,  that 
of   the    "  progressive   development "    of   the 
race,  as  representing  the  mode  in  which  our 
present  bird  has  come  to  be;    deeming  the 
latter  the  more  probable,  because  we  find  it 
correspond  with   the   embryonic   history  of 
every  bird  now  existing.     The  original  pro- 
genitor was  just  as  "  potentially  "  the  race, 
whether   called   into   existence   as   a   proto- 
plasmic "jelly-speck,"  or  as  a  fully  devel- 
oped bird.     And  the  evidences  of  "  design," 
which  on  the  doctrine  of  "  special  creations  " 
we  find  in  the  construction  of  the  original 
bird,  and  in  the  provision  for  the  continu- 
ous propagation  of  its  own  type,  we  equally 
find  in  the  production  of  the  original  "  jelly- 
speck,"  and  in  the  evolutionary  process  by 
which  the  very  lowest  type  of  organization 
has  been  progressively  elevated  to  one  of  the 
highest.        The     marvelous     succession     of 
changes  by  which  a  chick  is  evolved  from  the 
germ-spot   of   the   fowl's    egg   in   the   short 
period    of   two-and-twenty    days     assuredly 
does  not  become  less  worthy  of  our  admira- 
tion   if  looked  at  as  the  abbreviated  repeti- 
tion of  one  which  has  extended  continuously 
over  millions  of  years. — CARPENTER  Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  432.     (A.,  1889.) 

786.  DESIGN   IN    NATURE— Difficul- 
ties   Unsolvable    when    We    Attribute    Our 
Thoughts  to  Cod — Limits  of  Human  Intelli- 
gence   (Is.    Iv,   8-9). — We   do   not   only   ac- 
knowledge the  impossibility  of  grasping  the 
management  of  this  divine  wisdom  on  our 
part,  but  we  also  gladly  acknowledge  that 
when  we  speak  of  divine  wisdom,  of  reason 
in  Nature,  of  having  an  end  in  view,  of  a 
world-plan,  or  of  an  object  in  the  world's 
development,    we    are    speaking    in    human 


terms  of  that  which,  after  all,  is  high  above 
everything  human,  that  we  are  anthropo- 
morphizing. Whether  we  speak  of  what  is 
conformable  to  a  design  or  the  part  of  a 
highest  reason,  or  of  a  divine  wisdom  in  Na- 
ture, we  are  in  both  instances  speaking  ac- 
cording to  human  intuitions  and  power  of 
thought,  of  that  of  which  we  have  no  cor- 
responding form,  have  absolutely  no  anal- 
ogy. And  he  who  thinks  of  the  divine 
wisdom  as  so  human  that  it  first  decides 
upon  an  object  and  an  aim  and  then  makes 
a  plan,  and  afterwards  considers  the  means 
for  the  attainment  of  this  aim,  and  finally 
applies  the  required  means,  is  dragging  the 
power  of  the  Eternal  down  within  the  limits 
and  the  changes  of  time.  Or  he  who  repre- 
sents to  himself  God's  management  as  if  he 
were  enthroned  in  some  high  place  from 
whence  he  invades  the  world  for  specific  pur- 
poses, now  here,  now  there,  in  order  to  remove 
some  disturbance,  or  to  repair  something 
that  human  beings  have  spoiled,  he  who 
draws  the  Infinite  Spirit  into  the  limits  of 
space  gets  himself  involved  in  unsolvable 
difficulties,  into  contradictions  from  which 
there  is  no  escape. — GRAUE  Darwinismus 
und  Sittlichkeit,  p.  65,  in  Deutsche  Zeit-  und 
Streit-Fragen,  vol.  viii,  p.  505.  (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

787.  DESIGN  IN  THE  SEA-ANEMONE 

— Coordination  of  Parts  for  Result. — Look, 
for  example,  at  a  sea-anemone  in  the  act  of 
feeding,  and  see  how  its  multiple  tentacles 
attach  themselves  to  a  piece  of  fish,  or  to  the 
shell  of  a  mussel  or  periwinkle,  and  draw  it 
by  their  united  contraction  into  the  crea- 
ture's stomach.  The  adaptation  is  not  less 
perfect  because  the  action  is  so  simple; 
nothing  could  be  conceived  more  suitable  to 
the  conditions  under  which  the  sea-anemone 
lives;  and  the  multiplication  of  similar 
parts  so  disposed  as  to  enable  them  to  work 
together  to  a  common  end  seems  to  me  as 
clear  an  evidence  of  "  designed  "  adaptation 
in  the  sea-anemone  as  it  is  admitted  to  be 
in  the  "  flint  implement "  [see  DESIGN 
PROVES  DESIGNER,  789-90], — CARPENTER  Na- 
ture  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  421.  (A.,  1889.) 

788.  DESIGN  IN  WORK  OF  MEN  OR 
BEAVER.S— Evidence  of  Purpose  in  Higher  or 
Lower  Mind. — A  dam  across  a  stream,  and 
the  appearance  of  the  stumps  of  trees  which 
entered  into   its   formation,   would   suggest 
design  quite  irrespective  of  and  antecedent 
to  the  considerable  knowledge  or  experience 
which  would  enable  the  beholder  to  decide 
whether   this  was   the  work   of  men   or   of 
beavers.     Why,  then,  should  the  judgment 
that  any  particular  structure  is  a  designed 
work  be  thought  illegitimate  when  attrib- 
uted to  a  higher  instead  of  a  lower  intelli- 
gence than  that  of  man? — GRAY  Darwini- 
ana,  art.  13,  p.  364.     (A.,  1889.) 

789.  DESIGN  PROVES  DESIGNER— 

Flint  Implements — Accident  Once  Assigned 
as  Their  Cause — Human  Origin  Now  Un- 
questioned.— About  thirty  years  ago  [i.  e., 


Design 
Destruction 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


162 


1854]  we  began  to  hear  a  good  deal  about 
"  flint  implements."  They  had  not  been  al- 
together unknown  previously,  as  specimens 
of  them  were  to  be  found  in  museums  of 
antiquities;  but  they  had  never  been 
brought  to  light  in  such  numbers,  and  un- 
der such  very  peculiar  circumstances,  as  in 
the  working  of  the  gravel-beds  of  the  valley 
of  the  Somme,  near  Abbeville  and  Amiens. 
The  matter  was  brought  into  notice  by  M. 
Boucher  de  Perthes,  a  distinguished  anti- 
quarian and  collector  at  Abbeville.  English 
men  of  science  went  over  to  study  the  con- 
ditions under  which  these  flint  implements 
were  found,  and  very  soon  satisfied  them- 
selves of  the  genuineness  and  importance  of 
this  discovery.  There  were  many  who  at 
first  denied  that  they  afforded  any  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  man  at  the  time  when 
these  gravel-beds  were  deposited,  maintain- 
ing that  their  peculiar  shapes  had  been 
given  by  accidental  collisions.  I  do  not 
know  that  any  sane  man  now  questions  their 
human  production. — CARPENTER  Nature  and 
Man,  lect.  15,  p.  416.  (A.,  1889.) 


790. 


Cumulative  Evidence 


of  Human  Handiwork. — If,  in  walking 
through  a  chalk  country,  you  look  at  a  heap 
of  flints  collected  by  the  roadside  for  mend- 
ing the  road,  you  will  find  the  greater  part 
of  them  entire,  having  shapes  that  suggest 
to  the  naturalist  the  forms  of  the  sponges, 
by  the  silicification  of  which  they  were  origi- 
nally produced.  You  will  doubtless  find  some 
broken;  but  you  will  never 'meet  with  one 
that  even  remotely  resembles  the  character- 
istic "  flint  implement "  of  the  Amiens  and 
Abbeville  gravels.  They  may  have  one  or 
two,  or  perhaps  half  a  dozen,  fractured  sur- 
faces; but  these  are  quite  irregular,  having 
no  relation  one  to  another.  Now,  a  "  flint 
implement"  exhibits,  perhaps,  fifty  frac- 
tures, and  they  are  all  so  related  in  size  and 
position  as  to  bring  out  a  very  definite 
shape.  Yet  this  consideration  alone 'did  not 
by  any  means  satisfy  those  who  were  unwill- 
ing to  admit  the  conclusion  that  this  shape 
had  been  worked  out  by  human  hands.  I 
well  remember  that  when  these  objects  were 
first  brought  into  public  notice  there  were 
many  persons  who  said,  "  The  shaping  of 
these  flints  is  merely  accidental;  the  flint 
fell  into  a  river  in  which  there  were  many 
stones  knocking  about,  and  the  fractures 
have  been  produced  by  the  flint  having  got, 
so  to  speak,  under  a  number  of  hammers; 
so  that,  a  bit  having  been  broken  away  here 
and  a  bit  there,  it  has  come  to  be  shaped  as 
it  is  now  found."  I  will  not  say  that  this  is 
an  absolutely  impossible  supposition  with 
respect  to  any  single  example ;  but  when  we 
find  numbers  of  these  flints,  all  showing  the 
same  form,  in  one  gravel-bed — when  we  meet 
with  forms  exactly  similar  in  other  gravel- 
beds — and  when  we  learn  that  exactly  simi- 
lar flints  are  used  at  the  present  time  by 
peoples  (some  of  the  hill  tribes  of  India,  for 
instance)  among  whom  iron  implements 
have  not  yet  found  their  way,  the  imple- 


ments being  held  in  a  cleft  stick  and  bound 
round  by  a  leather  thong — then,  I  think,  we 
have  an  accumulation  of  evidence  which 
makes  it  inconceivable  that  these  gravel- 
flints,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  owed  their 
shape  to  anything  else  than  human  handi- 
work.— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect. 
15,  p.  417.  (A.,  1889.) 

791.  DESIRE   OF   WEALTH    AP- 
PROVED— Modern    in   Contrast  to    Ancient 
Systems. — Since     the     dissolution     of     the 
Greek  and  Roman  commonwealths,  no  na- 
tion has  acted  on  the  one  great  error  of  all 
the  ancient  systems  of  political  philosophy 
— that  the  natural  desire  of  men  for  the  ac- 
cumulation   of    wealth    is    an    evil    to    be 
dreaded  and  repressed.     So  far  as  this  goes 
there  is  a  sharp  and  striking  contrast  be- 
tween the  spirit  of  ancient  and  of  modern 
policy.      The    great   object    of    the    ancient 
policy,  says  Dugald  Stewart,  "  was  to  coun- 
teract the  love  of  money  and  a  taste  for 
luxury  by  positive  institutions,  and  to  main- 
tain in  the  great  body  of  the  people  habits 
of  frugality  and  a  severity  of  manners.    The 
decline  of  states  is  uniformly  ascribed  by 
philosophers  and  historians,  both  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  to  the  influence  of  riches  on  na- 
tional character,  and  the  laws  of  Lycurgus, 
which,  during  a  course  of  ages,  banished  the 
precious  metals  from  Sparta,  are  proposed 
by  many  of  them  as  the  most  perfect  model 
of    legislation    devised   by   human    wisdom. 
How  opposite  to  this  is  the  doctrine  of  mod- 
ern politicians!     Far  from  considering  pov- 
erty   as    an    advantage    to    a    state,    their 
great  aim  is  to  open  new  sources  of  national 
opulence,  and  to  animate  the  activity  of  all 
classes  of  the  people  by  a  taste  for  the  com- 
forts and  accommodations  of  life." — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  199.     (Burt.) 

792.  DESTRUCTION,  AGENTS  OF— 

— Putrefaction  an  Impossibility  without 
Bacteria. — "  No  putrefaction,"  says  Cohn 
["Beitrage  zur  Biologic  der  Pflanzen/'zweites 
Heft,  1872,  p.  203],  "  can  occur  in  a  nitrog- 
enous substance  if  it  be  kept  free  from  the 
entrance  of  new  bacteria  after  those  which 
it  may  contain  have  been  destroyed.  Putre- 
faction begins  as  soon  as  bacteria,  even  in 
the  smallest  numbers,  are  accidentally  or 
purposely  introduced.  It  progresses  in  di- 
rect proportion  to  the  multiplication  of  the 
bacteria;  it  is  retarded  when  the  bacteria 
(for  example,  by  a  low  temperature)  de- 
velop a  small  amount  of  vitality,  and  is 
brought  to  an  end  by  all  influences  which 
either  stop  the  development  of  the  bacteria 
or  kill  them.  All  bactericidal  media  are 
therefore  antiseptic  and  disinfecting." — 
TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  essay 
2,  p.  48.  (A.,  1895.) 

793.  DESTRUCTION   BY  INDIRECT 

ACTION— Ornate  and  Garden  Plants.—  That 
climate  acts  in  main  part  indirectly  by  fa- 
voring other  species  we  clearly  see  in  the 
prodigious  number  of  plants  which  in  our 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Design 


truction 


gardens  can  perfectly  well  endure  our  cli- 
mate, but  which  never  become  naturalized, 
for  they  cannot  compete  with  our  native 
plants  nor  resist  destruction  by  our  native 
animals. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1, 
p.  65.  (Eurt.) 

794.  DESTRUCTION    BY    MEANS 
USED  FOR  SAFETY—  Sleep  Changed  to  Sud- 
den   Death — Mountain    Flung    Down    upon 
Plain. — The    destruction    of    the    Prince   of 
Scilla  and  a  great  number  of  his  vassals  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  attending 
[the  earthquake  in  Calabria,  1783].    He  had 
persuaded  his  servants  to  seek  their  fishing- 
boats   for  safety,   and  went  with   them  to 
encourage  them.      During  the  night  of  Febru- 
ary 5,  while  they  were  sleeping,  an  enormous 
mass  of  earth  was  flung  from  Mount  Jaci 
upon  the  plain  near  which  the  boats  were 
moored.      Immediately    the    sea    rose   more 
than  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain. 
Every  boat  was  sunk  or  dashed  upon   the 
beach,    and   hundreds   of   persons   who   had 
been  sleeping  on  the  plain  were  swept  out  to 
sea.     The  prince  and  1,430  of  his  servants 
perished. — PROCTOR  Notes  on  Earthquakes, 
p.  4.     (Hum.,  1887.) 

795.  DESTRUCTION  OF  AMERICA'S 

FORESTS— Exhaustion  of  England's  Coal- 
Sun's  Direct  Heat  May  Be  Reliance  of  the 
Future. — Your  mighty  forests  seem  capable 
of  supplying  all  the  timber  that  the  whole 
race  of  man  could  need  for  ages ;  yet  a  very 
moderate  computation  of  the  rate  at  which 
they  are  being  cut  down,  and  will  presuma- 
bly continue  to  be,  by  a  population  increas- 
ing rapidly  in  numbers  and  in  the  destruc- 
tive capabilities  which  characterize  modern 
civilization,  would  show  that  America  will 
be  denuded  of  its  forest  wealth  in  about  the 
same  period  which  we  in  England  have  cal- 
culated as  probably  limiting  the  effective 
duration  of  our  stores  of  coal.  That  period 
— a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  years — may 
seem  long  compared  with  the  life  of  indi- 
vidual men,  long  even  compared  with  the 
duration  of  any  nation  in  the  height  of 
power;  but  tho  men  and  nations  pass  away 
the  human  race  continues,  and  a  thousand 
years  are  as  less  than  a  day  in  the  history 
of  that  race.  .  .  .  Either  a  change  in 
their  mode  of  civilization  will  be  forced  on 
the  human  race,  or  else  it  will  then  have  be- 
come possible,  as  your  Ericsson  has  already 
suggested,  to  make  the  sun's  daily  heat  the 
mainspring  of  the  machinery  of  civilization. 
— PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infinities,  p. 
26.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

796.  DESTRUCTION  OF  ART  TREAS- 
URES DEPLORED— Wonders  of  Life  De- 
stroyed without  Protest. — The  large  avians, 
together  with  the  finest  of  the  mammalians, 
will  shortly  be  lost  to  the  pampas  utterly, 
as  the  great  bustard  is  to  England  and  as 
the  wild  turkey  and  bison  and  many  other 
species  will  shortly  be  lost  to  North  Amer- 
ica.    What   a  wail  there  would  be  in  the 
world  if  a  sudden  destruction  were  to  fall 


on  the  accumulated  art  treasures  of  the  Na- 
tional Gallery,  and  the  marbles  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum,  and  the  contents  of  the  King's 
Library — the  old  prints  and  medieval  illu- 
minations !  And  these  are  only  the  work  of 
human  hands  and  brains — impressions  of  in- 
dividual genius  on  perishable  material,  im- 
mortal only  in  the  sense  that  the  silken 
cocoon  of  the  dead  moth  is  so,  because  they 
continue  to  exist  and  shine  when  the  artist's 
hands  and  brain  are  dust — and  man  has  the 
long  day  of  life  before  him  in  which  to  do 
again  things  like  these,  and  better  than 
these,  if  there  is  any  truth  in  evolution. 
But  the  forms  of  life  in  the  two  higher  ver- 
tebrate classes  are  Nature's  most  perfect 
work;  and  the  life  of  even  a  single  species 
is  of  incalculably  greater  value  to  mankind, 
for  what  it  teaches  and  would  continue  to 
teach,  than  all  the  chiseled  marbles  and 
painted  canvases  the  world  contains. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  1.  p.  28. 
(C.  &H.,  1895.) 

797.  DESTRUCTION    OF    NOXIOUS 

INSECTS— Beneficial  Industry  of  Ants.— There 
are,  of  course,  many  cases  in  which  the  ac- 
tion of  ants  is  very  beneficial  to  plants. 
They  kill  off  a  great  number  of  small  cater- 
pillars and  other  insects.  Forel  found  in 
one  large  nest  that  more  than  twenty-eight 
dead  insects  were  brought  in  per  minute, 
which  would  give  during  the  period  of  great- 
est energy  more  than  100,000  insects  de- 
stroyed in  a  day  by  the  inhabitants  of  one 
nest  alone. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  59.  (A.,  1900.) 

798.  DESTRUCTION  OF  PLANTS  BY 

ANIMALS — Besides  this  direct  competition, 
there  is  one  not  less  powerful  arising  from 
the  exposure  of  almost  all  plants  to  destruc- 
tion by  animals.  The  buds  are  destroyed  by 
birds,  the  leaves  by  caterpillars,  the  seeds 
by  weevils;  some  insects  bore  into  the 
trunk,  others  burrow  in  the  twigs  and 
leaves;  slugs  devour  the  young  seedlings 
and  the  tender  shoots,  wireworms  gnaw  the 
roots.  Herbivorous  mammals  devour  many 
species  bodily,  while  some  uproot  and  devour 
the  buried  tubers. — WALLACE  Darwinism, 
ch.  2,  p.  11.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

799.  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  EARTH 
WOULD    BE    UNFELT    IN    UNIVERSE— 

Like  the  Falling  of  a  Leaf  in  the  Forest. 
— And  what  is  this  world  in  the  immensity 
which  teems  with  them — and  what  are  they 
who  occupy  it?  The  universe  at  large  would 
suffer  as  little,  in  its  splendor  and  variety, 
by  the  destruction  of  our  planet,  as  the  ver- 
dure and  sublime  magnitude  of  a  forest 
would  suffer  by  the  fall  of  a  single  leaf. 
The  leaf  quivers  on  the  branch  which  sup- 
ports it.  It  lies  at  the  mercy  of  the  slight- 
est accident.  A  breath  of  wind  tears  it  from 
its  stem,  and  it  lights  on  the  stream  of  wa- 
ter which  passes  underneath.  In  a  moment 
of  time,  the  life  which  we  know,  by  the 
microscope,  it  teems  with,  is  extinguished; 
and  an  occurrence  so  insignificant  in  the  eye 


Destruction 
Development 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


164 


of  man,  and  on  the  scale  of  his  observation, 
carries  in  it,  to  the  myriads  which  people 
this  little  leaf,  an  event  as  terrible  and  as 
decisive  as  the  destruction  of  a  world.  Now, 
on  the  grand  scale  of  the  universe,  we,  the 
occupiers  of  this  ball,  which  performs  its 
little  round  among  the  suns  and  the  systems 
that  astronomy  has  unfolded — we  may  feel 
the  same  littleness,  and  the  same  insecurity. 
We  differ  from  the  leaf  only  in  this  circum- 
stance, that  it  would  require  the  operation 
of  greater  elements  to  destroy  us.  But  these 
elements  exist. — CHALMERS  Astronomical 
Discourses,  p.  37.  (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

800.  DESTRUCTION    OF    TREES 
CHANGES    EARTH'S   SURFACE  —  When 
traveling  in  Georgia,  in  1846,  I  saw  the  com- 
mencement of  hundreds  of  valleys  in  places 
where  the  native  forest  had  recently  been  re- 
moved.    One  of  these  newly  formed  gullies 
or  ravines     .     .     .     occurs  on  the  road  to 
Macon.     Twenty  years  ago,  before  the  land 
was  cleared,  it  had  no  existence;    but  when 
the  trees  of  the  forest  were  cut  down,  cracks 
three   feet  deep   were  caused  by   the   sun's 
heat  in  the  clay;    and,  during  the  rains,  a 
sudden  rush  of  water  through  the  principal 
crack  deepened  it  at  its   lower   extremity, 
from  whence  the  excavating  power  worked 
backwards,    till,    in    the    course    of   twenty 
years,  a  chasm,  measuring  no  less  than  55 
feet  in  depth,  300  yards  in  length,  and  vary- 
ing in  width  from  20  to  180  feet,  was  the 
result.       The    highroad    has    been    several 
times  turned  to  avoid  this  cavity,  the  en- 
largement of  which  is  still  proceeding,  and 
the  old  line  of  road  may  be  seen  to  have  held 
its   course   directly  over   what   is   now   the 
wildest   part   of   the   ravine. — LYELL   Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  ch.  14,  p.  204.     (A.,  1854.) 

801.  DESTRUCTION,  VIEWLESS 
AGENT  OF— Frost  Disintegrates  Rocks  and 
Breaks  Down   Mountains. — The  disintegra- 
ting action  of  rain  in  temperate  and  high 
latitudes  is  greatly  aided  by  frost,  and  the 
same  is  the  case  in  the  elevated  tracts  of  more 
southern  latitudes.    Rain  renders  the  super- 
ficial portions  of  rock  more  porous,  and  thus 
enables  frost  to  act  more  effectually;    while 
frost,   by  widening  pores   and   fissures,   af- 
fords   readier    ingress    to    meteoric    water. 
.     .     .     The    great    heaps    or    "  screes "    of 
rock-rubbish  which  cloak  the  summits  and 
slopes  of  our  mountains,  and  gather  thickly 
along  the  base  of  precipice  and  cliff,  have 
been  dislodged  by  frost  and  rolled  down  from 
above,  their  progress  downward  being  often 
aided  by  torrential  rains,  melting  snow,  and 
the  alternate  freezing  and  thawing  of  the 
saturated      debris      itself. — GEIKIE      Earth 
Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  28.     (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

802.  DEVELOPMENT  DELAYED  FOR 
A  PURPOSE— Device  to  Secure  Cross-fertili- 
sation.— In    Spiranthes   the   young   flowers, 
which  have  their  pollinia  in  the  best  state 
for  removal,  cannot  possibly  be  fertilized; 
they  must  remain  in  a  virgin  condition  un- 


til they  are  a  little  older  and  the  column 
has  moved  away  from  the  labellum.  Here 
the  same  end  is  gained  by  widely  different 
means.  The  stigmas  of  the  older  flowers  are 
more  adhesive  than  those  of  the  younger 
flowers.  These  latter  have  their  pollinia  ready 
for  removal;  but  immediately  after  the  ros- 
tellum  has  exploded  it  curls  forwards  and 
downwards,  thus  protecting  the  stigma  for 
a  time;  but  it  slowly  becomes  straight 
again,  and  now  the  mature  stigma  is  left 
freely  exposed,  ready  to  be  fertilized  [by 
pollen  from  another  flower]. — DARWIN  Fer- 
tilization of  Orchids,  ch.  4,  p.  121.  (A., 
1898.) 

803.  DEVELOPMENT   FROM    THE 
CELL — Embryos  of  a  Sheep,    Tiger,   Lizard, 
Bird,  and  Ape  Indistinguishable — Each  Ani- 
mal Recapitulates  the  History  of  Its  Race. — 
Every  animal  or  plant  begins  its  existence 
as  a  cell,  which  develops  by  a  process  of  re- 
peated fission  and  growth  into  the  perfect 
form.     But  if  we  trace  the  different  types 
backward,  we  find  that  we  come  to  a  stage 
when  the  embryos  of  all  the  members  of  an 
order,  such  as  the  various  species  of  rumi- 
nants,   are   indistinguishable;     earlier   still 
all  the  members  of  a  class,  such  as  the  mam- 
malia,  are   equally  alike,   so  that  the  em- 
bryos of  a  sheep  and  a  tiger  would  be  al- 
most identical;    earlier  still  all  vertebrates, 
a  lizard,  a  bird,  and  a  monkey,  are  equally 
indistinguishable.       Thus    in    its    progress 
from  the  cell  to  the  perfect  form  every  ani- 
mal   recapitulates,    as    it    were,    the    lower 
forms  upon  its  line  of  descent,  thus  afford- 
ing one  of  the  strongest  indirect  proofs  of 
the  theory  of  evolution.     The  earliest  defi- 
nite result  of  cell-division  is  to  form  what  is 
termed  the  "  gastrula,"  which  is  a  sac  with 
a  narrow  mouth,  formed  of  two  layers  of 
cells.     All  the  higher  animals,  without  ex- 
ception, from  mollusk  to  man,  go  through 
this   "  gastrula "   stage,   which   again   indi- 
cates that  all  are  descended  from  a  common 
ancestral  form  of  this  general  type. — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  14,  p.  144. 
(D.  M.  &Co.,  1899.) 

804.  DEVELOPMENT,    GRADUAL— 

Of  Arts  and  Sciences — Antiquity  of  Egyp- 
tian and  Babylonian  Culture. — On  the  whole 
it  appears  that  wherever  there  are  found 
elaborate  arts,  abstruse  knowledge,  complex 
institutions,  these  are  results  of  gradual  de- 
velopment from  an  earlier,  simpler,  and 
ruder  state  of  life.  No  stage  of  civilization 
comes  into  existence  spontaneously,  but 
grows-  or  is  developed  out  of  the  stage  before 
it.  This  is  the  great  principle  which  every 
scholar  must  lay  firm  hold  of,  if  he  intends 
to  understand  either  the  world  he  lives  in 
or  the  history  of  the  past.  Let  us  now  see 
how  this  bears  on  the  antiquity  and  early 
condition  of  mankind.  The  monuments  of 
Egypt  and  Babylonia  show  that  toward 
5,000  years  ago  certain  nations  had  already 
come  to  an  advanced  state  of  culture.  No 
doubt  the  greater  part  of  the  earth  was  then 


165 


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Destruction 
Development 


peopled  by  barbarians  and  savages,  as  it  re- 
mained afterwards.  But  in  the  regions  of 
the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates  there  was  civili- 
zation.— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p.  20. 
(A.,  1899.) 


805. 


Of  Culture  through 


the  Ages. — Within  the  entire  economy  of  the 
Human  race  on  earth,  it  has  been  found  that 
just  that  which  had  its  origin  in  physical 
needs,  on  further  development  serves  ideal 
purposes.  But  before  this  distillation  of 
spirit  out  of  naturalism  can  take  place,  cen- 
turies, thousands  of  years,  must  elapse,  as 
we  observe  from  the  history  of  culture  in 
the  Orient,  or  may  perceive  in  any  peasant 
village. — HUMBOLDT,  quoted  "by  GOLTZ, 
Ethnologische  Studie  zur  Geschichte  und 
Charakterisirung  des  deutschen  Volkes,  p. 
130.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

806.  DEVELOPMENT  MAY  BE  RE- 
TROGRESSIVE— Nature  Discards  the  Most 
Elaborate  Structures  when  Disused. — Every- 
thing that  Nature  has  built  up  with  such 
elaborate  care — highly  developed  organs  of 
locomotion,  limbs  fitted  to  support  a  certain 
weight,  joints  with  their  complex  and  yet 
easy   movements,   the   exquisite   balance  of 
muscular  strength  required  for  rapid  motion 
on   the   ground,   wings   adapted   for   flying, 
with   all   the   marvelously  adjusted  organs 
which  overcome  gravity  and  render  rising 
into  the  air  a  possibility,  every  one  of  the 
adaptations  by  which  animals  are  placed  in 
communication  with  the  outer  world  which 
surrounds  them — eyes  of  the  most  delicate 
and  complex   structure,   organs   of  hearing 
and  smell  so  wonderfully  formed  that  it  has 
needed  long  years  of  the  combined  researches 
of  all  the  most  eminent  naturalists  to  under- 
stand  their   full   significance — each   one   of 
these  is  relinquished,   is  handed  over  to  a 
process  of  gradual  destruction,  the  moment 
it  ceases  to  be  essential  to  the  life  of  the 
species. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  ch.  9, 
p.  29.     (Cl.  P.,  1897.) 

807.  DEVELOPMENT   OF   EXPERI- 
MENTAL SCIENCE—  Greek  Study  Too  Sub- 
jective.— The  knowledge  of  Nature,  as  it  ex- 
isted among  the  Hellenic  nations  under  the 
most  ancient  forms  of  physics,  was  derived 
more  from  the  depth  of  mental  contempla- 
tion than  from  the  sensuous  consideration 
of  phenomena.    Thus  the  natural  philosophy 
of  the  Ionian  physiologists  was  directed  to 
the  fundamental  ground   of  origin,  and  to 
the    metamorphoses    of    one    sole    element, 
while  the  mathematical   symbolism   of  the 
Pythagoreans,    and    their    consideration    of 
numbers   and   forms,   disclose   a  philosophy 
of  measure  and  harmony.    The  Doric-Italian 
school,  by  its  constant  search  for  numerical 
elements,  and  by  a  certain  predilection  for 
the  numerical  relations  of  space  and  time, 
laid  the  foundation,  as  it  were,  of  the  subse- 
quent development  of  our  experimental  sci- 
ences.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p. 
108.     (H.,  1897.) 


808.  DEVELOPMENT    OF  INDIVID- 
UAL REPEATS  THAT  OF  RACE— The  his- 
tory of  the  development  of  the  individual  is 
a    repetition    of    the   history    of    the    race. 
That  is  to  say,  each  organic  being  in  its  de- 
velopment repeats  in  brief  the  entire  process 
the  ancestors  of  the  individual  have  passed 
through    from    the    origin    of    the    race. — 
VAIHINGER,    an    address.      (Translated    for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

809.  DEVELOPMENT  OF  REPTILE 
INTO    BIRD  —  Aimless    Variation    Not    an 
Explanation — Intentional      Prearrangement 
Necessary. — Let  us  grant,  for  the  sake  of  ar- 
gument, that  all  past  and  present  modifica- 
tions  of  the  original  bird   type  may  have 
thus  arisen   [i.  e.,  by  "  natural  selection  "] . 
But  on  the  mode  in  which  that  singularly 
specialized    type    came    into    existence — in 
which  that  most  wonderful   feature  of  its 
organization,  the  feather,  arose  out  of  the 
scaly  covering  of  its  reptilian  ancestors — in 
which  its  heart  came  to  be  divided  into  four 
chambers  instead  of  three,  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  its  blood-vessels  altered  accordingly, 
in  the  establishment  of  the  "  complete  double 
circulation/'  that  insures  the  perfect  aera- 
tion of  the  blood  needed  for  the  maintenance 
of   the   extraordinary   muscular   energy   by 
which  the  feathered  wings  can  sustain  the 
body  in  flight — I  cannot  see  that  "  natural 
selection  "  throws  the  least  light.    There  is, 
as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  an  adaptation 
in  the  several  parts  of  the  structure  of  the 
bird,  not  only  to  one  general  result,  but  to  a 
consentaneous  action  in  bringing  about  that 
result,  which  shows  itself  to  be  more  com- 
plete   the   more    closely    it    is    scrutinized. 
And  on  the  hypothesis  of  "natural   selec- 
tion "  among  "  aimless  "  variations,  I  think 
it  could  be  shown  that  the  probability  is  in- 
finitely small,   that  the  progressive  modifi- 
cations required  in  the  structure  of  each  in- 
dividual organ  to  convert  a  reptile  into  a 
bird,   could  have  taken  place  without  dis- 
turbing the  required  harmony  in  their  com- 
bined action;    nothing  but  intentional  pre- 
arrangement  being  competent  to  bring  about 
such  a  result.     And  the  point  on  which  I 
now  wish  to  fix  your  attention    is  the  evi- 
dence of  such  prearrangement  that  is  fur- 
nished by  the  orderly  sequence  of  variations 
allowing  definite  lines  of  advance. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  444.     (A., 
1889.) 

8 1 0.  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCIENCE— 

Advances  Made  in  Astronomy — Earth  Closer 
to  Other  Worlds. — We  stand  in  a  position 
much  more  favorable  for  the  formation  of 
just  views  on  the  subject  of  life  in  other 
worlds  than  that  from  which  men  surveyed 
the  planetary  and  stellar  systems  thirty  or 
forty  years  since.  Never,  since  men  first  ex- 
plored the  celestial  depths,  has  a  series  of 
more  startling  discoveries  rewarded  the  la- 
bors of  astronomers  and  physicists  than 
during  the  past  few  years.  Unhoped-for 
revelations  have  been  made  on  every  side. 


Development 
Dew 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


166 


Analogies  the  most  interesting  have  brought 
the  distant  orbs  of  heaven  into  close  rela- 
tionship with  our  own  earth  or  with  the  cen- 
tral luminary  of  the  planetary  scheme.  And 
a  lesson  has  been  taught  us  which  bears  even 
more  significantly  on  our  views  respecting 
the  existence  of  other  worlds :  we  have 
learned  to  recognize  within  the  solar  system, 
and  within  the  wondrous  galaxy  of  which 
our  sun  is  a  constituent  orb,  a  variety  of 
structure  and  a  complexity  of  detail  of 
which  but  a  few  years  ago  astronomers  had 
formed  but  the^most  inadequate  conceptions. 
— PROCTOR  Other  Worlds  than  Ours,  int.,  p. 
19.  (Burt.) 


811. 


Astronomy  Histor- 


ically the  First  of  the  Sciences — Next,  Me- 
chanics.— For  a  time — and  that  historically 
a  long  one — he  [man]  was  limited  to  mere 
observation,  accepting  what  Nature  offered, 
and  confining  intellectual  action  to  it  alone. 
The  apparent  motions  of  sun  and  stars  first 
drew  towards  them  the  questionings  of  the 
intellect,  and  accordingly  astronomy  was  the 
first  science  developed.  Slowly,  and  with 
difficulty,  the  notion  of  natural  forces  took 
root  in  the  human  mind.  Slowly,  and  with 
difficulty,  the  science  of  mechanics  had  to 
grow  out  of  this  notion;  and  slowly  at  last 
came  the  full  application  of  mechanical 
principles  to  the  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  We  trace  the  progress  of  astron- 
omy through  Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy;  and, 
after  a  long  halt,  through  Copernicus,  Gali- 
leo, Tycho  Brahe,  and  Kepler;  while  from 
the  high  table-land  of  thought  raised  by 
these  men  Newton  shoots  upward  like  a 
peak,  overlooking  all  others  from  his  domi- 
nant elevation. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  4.  (A.,  1898.) 

812.    DEVELOPMENT  OF  SENSES  AS 
WELL    AS    MUSCLES    BY    PRACTISE— 

Possible  Discrimination  of  Minute  Differ- 
ences of  Sensation. — That  "  practise  makes 
perfect "  is  notorious  in  the  field  of  motor 
accomplishments.  But  motor  accomplish- 
ments depend  in  part  on  sensory  discrimina- 
tion. Billiard-playing,  rifle- shooting,  tight- 
rope-dancing, demand  the  most  delicate 
appreciation  of  minute  disparities  of  sensa- 
tion, as  well  as  the  power  to  make  accu- 
rately graduated  muscular  response  thereto. 
In  the  purely  sensorial  field  we  have  the 
well-known  virtuosity  displayed  by  the  pro- 
fessional buyers  and  testers  of  various  kinds 
of  goods.  One  man  will  distinguish  by  taste 
between  the  upper  and  the  lower  half  of  a 
bottle  of  old  Madeira.  Another  will  recog- 
nize, by  feeling  the  flour  in  a  barrel,  whether 
the  wheat  was  grown  in  Iowa  or  Tennessee. 
The  blind  deaf-mute,  Laura  Bridgman,  had 
so  improved  her  touch  as  to  recognize,  after 
a  year's  interval,  the  hand  of  a  person  who 
once  had  shaken  hers ;  and  her  sister  in  mis- 
fortune, Julia  Brace,  is  said  to  have  been 
employed  in  the  Hartford  Asylum  to  sort 
the  linen  of  its  multitudinous  inmates,  after 


it  came  from  the  wash,  by  her  wonderfully 
educated  sense  of  smell. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  13,  p.  509.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

813.  DEVELOPMENT,  ORDERLY,  OF 

UNIVERSE— Astronomy,  Geology,  Zoology  Al- 
lied— One  Grand  Movement  Pervading  All 
Sciences. — It  was  not  until  the  nineteenth 
century  that  the  microscope  .  .  .  was 
perfected  as  an  instrument,  and  accom- 
plished for  zoology  its  final  and  most  im- 
portant service.  .  .  . 

On  the  other  hand,  the  astronomical  the- 
ories of  development  of  the  solar  system 
from  a  gaseous  condition  to  its  present  form, 
put  forward  by  Kant  and  by  Laplace,  had 
impressed  men's  minds  with  the  conception 
of  a  general  movement  of  spontaneous  prog- 
ress or  development  in  all  Nature ;  and,  tho 
such  ideas  were  not  new,  but  are  to  be  found 
in  some  of  the  ancient  Greek  philosophers, 
yet  now  for  the  first  time  they  could  be  con- 
sidered with  a  sufficient  knowledge  and  cer- 
tainty as  to  the  facts,  due  to  the  careful  ob- 
servation of  the  two  preceding  centuries. 
The  science  of  geology  came  into  existence, 
and  the  whole  panorama  of  successive  stages 
of  the  earth's  history,  each  with  its  distinct 
population  of  strange  animals  and  plants, 
unlike  those  of  the  present  day  and  simpler 
in  proportion  as  they  recede  into  the  past, 
was  revealed  by  Cuvier,  Agassiz,  and  others. 
The  history  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  was  ex- 
plained by  Lyell  as  due  to  a  process  of  slow 
development,  in  order  to  effect  which  he 
called  in  no  cataclysmal  agencies,  no  mys- 
terious forces  differing  from  those  operating 
at  the  present  day.  Thus  he  carried  on  the 
narrative  of  orderly  development  from  the 
point  at  which  it  was  left  by  Kant  and  La- 
place— explaining  by  reference  to  the  ascer- 
tained laws  of  physics  and  chemistry  the 
configuration  of  the  earth,  its  mountains 
and  seas,  its  igneous  and  its  stratified  rocks, 
just  as  the  astronomers  had  explained  by 
those  same  laws  the  evolution  of  the  sun 
and  planets  from  diffused  gaseous  matter  of 
high  temperature. 

The  suggestion  that  living  things  must 
also  be  included  in  this  great  development 
was  obvious. — LANKESTER  History  and 
Scope  of  Zoology,  p.  7.  (Hum.,  1893.) 

814.  DEVELOPMENT,    PSYCHICAL, 
ARRESTS      PHYSICAL  —  Future    Progress 
within   the    Mind,    Not    the   Body. — Alfred 
Russel  Wallace,  the  illustrious  codiscoverer 
of  natural  selection,  saw  that  along  with  the 
general  development  of  mammalian  intelli- 
gence a  point  must  have  been  reached  in  the 
history  of  one  of  the  primates    when  vari- 
ations of  intelligence  were  more  profitable 
to  him  than  variations  in  body.     From  that 
time  forth  that  primate's  intelligence  went 
on  by  slow  increments  acquiring  new  capac- 
ity, while  his  body  changed  but  little.  When 
once  he  could  strike  fire,  and  chip  a  flint, 
and  use  a  club,  and  strip  off  the  bear's  hide 
to  cover  himself,  there  was  clearly  no  further 
use  in  thickening  his  own  hide,  or  lengthen- 


167 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Development 
Dew 


ing  and  sharpening  his  claws.  Natural  se- 
lection is  the  keenest  capitalist  in  the  uni- 
verse; she  never  loses  an  instant  in  seizing 
the  most  profitable  place  for  investment,  and 
her  judgment  is  never  at  fault. — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  83. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

815.  DEVIATIONS  INHERITABLE— 

The  number  and  diversity  of  inheritable  de- 
viations of  structure,  both  those  of  slight 
and  those  of  considerable  physiological  im- 
portance, are  endless.  Dr.  Prosper  Lucas's 
treatise,  in  two  large  volumes,  is  the  fullest 
and  the  best  on  this  subject.  No  breeder 
doubts  how  strong  is  the  tendency  to  in- 
heritance; that  like  produces  like  is  his 
fundamental  belief:  doubts  have  been 
thrown  on  this  principle  only  by  theoretical 
writers.  [See  HEREDITY  OF  ACQUIRED  CHAR- 
ACTERS.]— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1, 
p.  12.  (Burt.) 

816.  DEVICE  COMMON  TO  DIVERSE 
PEOPLES— Falcons  of  the  Sea^A  Sucking- 
fish  as  Captor  of  Other  Fishes. — In  the  time 
of  Columbus  the  now  desolate  district  of  the 
Jardines  del  Rey  was  animated  by  a  singu- 
lar branch  of  industry  pursued  by  the  in- 
habitants   of   the    seacoasts    of    Cuba,    who 
availed  themselves  of  a  little  fish,   the  re- 
mora,    or   sucking-fish    (the   so-called   ship- 
holder),   probably  the  Echeneis  naucrates, 
for  catching  turtles.    A  long  and  strong  line, 
made  of  the  fibers  of  the  palm,  was  attached 
to  the  tail  of  the  fish.     The  remora  (called 
in  Spanish  reves,  or  reversed,  because  at  first 
sight  the  back  and  abdomen  might  easily  be 
mistaken  for  each  other)   attaches  itself  by 
suction  to  the  turtle  through  the  indented 
and    movable    cartilaginous    plates    of    the 
upper  shell  that  covers  the  head.     The  re- 
mora, says  Columbus,  would  rather  let  itself 
be  torn  to  pieces  than  relinquish  its  prey, 
and  the  little  fish  and  the  turtle  are  thus 
drawn  out  of   the  water  together.     .     .     . 
We   learn    from   Dampier    and   Commerson 
that  this  artifice  of  employing  a  sucking- 
fish  to  catch  other  fishes  is  very  common  on 
the    eastern    coasts    of    Africa,    near    Cape 
Natal  and  Mozambique,  as  well  as  on  the 
island    of    Madagascar.      An    acquaintance 
with  the  habits  of  animals,  and  the  same 
necessities,    lead    to    similar    artifices    and 
modes  of  capture  amongst  tribes  having  no 
connection    with    one    another. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  257.     (Bell,  1896.) 

817.  DEVICES     FOR    EXPLAINING 
THE    MYSTERY    OF   EVIL—  Comte   Would 
Have  Improved  the  Tilt  of  the  Earth's  Axis. 
— [To  explain  the  mystery  of  evil]   it  has 
usually  been  found  necessary  to  represent 
the  Creator  as  finite  either  in  power  or  in 
goodness,    altho    the    limitation    is    seldom 
avowed,  except  by  writers  who  have  a  lean- 
ing toward  atheism  and  take  a  grim  pleas- 
ure in  pointing  out  flaws  in  the  constitution 
of  things.     Among  modern  writers  the  most 


conspicuous  instance  of  this  temper  is  af- 
forded by  that  much  too  positive  philoso- 
pher, Auguste  Comte,  who  would  fain  have 
tipped  the  earth's  axis  at  a  different  angle 
and  altered  the  arrangements  of  Nature  in 
many  fanciful  ways.  He  was  like  Alphonso, 
the  learned  king  of  Castile,  who  regretted 
that  he  had  not  been  present  when  the  world 
was  created — he  could  have  given  such  ex- 
cellent advice! — FISKE  Through  Nature  to 
God,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  12.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

818.  DEVOTION  TO  SCIENCE  —  Von 

Buch  Traverses  Europe  on  Foot  for  Ge- 
ologic Study — Unites  the  Aqueous  and 
Igneous  Theories. — It  was  a  pupil  of  Wer- 
ner's who  at  last  set  at  rest  this  much-vexed 
question  [between  the  aqueous  and  the 
igneous  origin  of  rocks]. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  in  the  year  1790, 
Leopold  von  Buch  was  placed  under  Wer- 
ner's care  at  the  mining  school  of  Freiberg. 
.  .  .  Von  Buch  was  indefatigable.  For 
years  he  lived  the  life  of  an  itinerant  ge- 
ologist. With  a  shirt  and  a  pair  of  stock- 
ings in  his  pocket,  and  a  geological  hammer 
in  his  hand,  he  traveled  all  over  Europe  on 
foot.  The  results  of  his  foot-journey  to 
Scandinavia  were  among  his  most  important 
contributions  to  geology.  He  went  also  to 
the  Canary  Islands;  and  it  is  in  his  exten- 
sive work  on  the  geological  formations  of 
these  islands  that  he  showed  conclusively 
not  only  the  Plutonic  character  of  all  un- 
stratified  rocks,  but  also  that  to  their  action 
upon  the  stratified  deposits  the  inequalities 
of  the  earth's  surface  are  chiefly  due.  He 
first  demonstrated  that  the  melted  masses 
within  the  earth  had  upheaved  the  materials 
deposited  in  layers  upon  its  surface,  and  had 
thus  formed  the  mountains. — AGASSIZ  Ge- 
ological Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  111. 
(H.  M.  &Co.,  1896.) 

819.  DEW,   FORMATION     OF— Nice 
Balance  of  Atmospheric  Moisture  and  Tem- 
perature   Provided   for. — Dew    forms    more 
readily  and  more  abundantly  on  grass,  on 
account  of  the  numerous  centers  of  conden- 
sation   it   affords.     Dew,   however,   is    now 
formed  only  on  clear  cold  nights  after  warm 
or  moist  days.     The  air  near  the  surface  is 
warm  and  contains  much  vapor,  tho  below 
the  point  of  saturation.     But  the  innumer- 
able points  and  extensive  surfaces  of  grass 
radiate    heat    quickly,   and   becoming    cool, 
lower  the  temperature  of  the  adjacent  air, 
which    then    reaches    saturation-point    and 
condenses  the  contained  vapor  on  the  grass. 
Hence,  if  the  atmosphere  at  the  earth's  sur- 
face  became    supersaturated   with    aqueous 
vapor,  dew  would  be  continuously  deposited, 
especially  on  every  form  of  vegetation,  the 
result  being  that  everything,  including  our 
clothing,  would  be  constantly  dripping  wet. 
If  there  were  absolutely  no  particles  of  solid 
matter    in   the   upper    atmosphere,    all    the 
moisture  would  be  returned  to  the  earth  in 
the  form  of  dense  mists,  and  frequent  and 


fferences 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


168 


copious  dews,  which  in  forests  would  form 
torrents  of  rain  by  the  rapid  condensation 
on  the  leaves. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  9,  p.  78.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

8 2O.  DIFFERENCE  IN  HABITS  OF 
MALE  AND  FEMALE— Mother-bird  Seeks 
Protection  in  Silence. — A  scarlet-breasted 
troopial  of  La  Plata  perches  conspicuously 
on  a  tall  plant  in  a  field,  and  at  intervals 
soars  up  vertically,  singing,  and,  at  the 
highest  ascending  point,  flight  and  song  end 
in  a  kind  of  aerial  somersault  and  vocal 
flourish  at  the  same  moment.  Meanwhile, 
the  dull-plumaged  female  is  not  seen  and 
not  heard:  for  not  even  a  skulking  crake 
lives  in  closer  seclusion  under  the  herbage — 
so  widely  have  the  sexes  diverged  in  this 
species.  Is  the  female,  then,  without  an  in- 
stinct so  common? — has  she  no  sudden  fits 
of  irrepressible  gladness  ?  Doubtless  she  has 
them,  and  manifests  them  down  in  her  place 
of  concealment  in  lively  chirpings  and  quick 
motions — the  simple,  'primitive  form  in 
which  gladness  is  expressed  in  the  class  of 
birds.  In  the  various  species  of  the  genus 
Cnipolegus  .  .  .  the  difference  in  the 
sexes  is  just  as  great  as  in  the  case  of  the 
troopial;  the  solitary,  intensely  black,  sta- 
tuesque male  has  .  .  .  a  set  and  highly 
fantastic  performance;  but  on  more  than 
one  occasion  I  have  seen  four  or  five  females 
of  one  species  meet  together  and  have  a  lit- 
tle simple  performance  all  to  themselves — 
in  form  a  kind  of  lively  mock-fight. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  19,  p.  283. 
(C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

821 .  DIFFERENCE  IN  WEARING  OF 
ROCKS   BY  ICE  AND  BY  WATER— Na- 
ture's Distinctions  also  Those  of  Science. — 
The  leveling  and  abrading  action  of  water 
on  rock  has  an  entirely  different  character 
[from   glacier   action].      Tides   or    currents 
driven  powerfully  and  constantly  against  a 
rocky  shore,  and  bringing  with  them  hard 
materials,  may  produce  blunt,  smooth  sur- 
faces, such  as  the  repeated  blows  of  a  ham- 
mer on  stone  would  cause;    but  they  never 
bring  it  to  a  high  polish,  because  the  grind- 
ing materials  are  not  held  steadily  down  in 
firm  permanent  contact  with  the  rocky  sur- 
faces against  which  they  move,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  glacier.     On  the   contrary,  being 
dashed  to  and  fro,  they  strike  and  rebound, 
making  a  succession  of  blows,  and  never  a 
continuous,  uninterrupted  pressure  and  fric- 
tion.    The  same  is  true  of  all  the  marks 
made  on  rocky  shores  against  which  loose 
materials  are  driven  by  water-currents.  They 
are    separate,     disconnected,     fragmentary; 
whereas  the  lines  drawTi  by  the  hard  ma- 
terials set  in  the  glacier,  whether  light  and 
fine  or  strong  and  deep,  are  continuous,  often 
unbroken  for  long  distances  and  rectilinear. 
— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  35. 
(H.  M.  &Co,  1896.) 

822.  DIFFERENCE    OF    DEVELOP- 
MENT    PRODUCES     DIFFERENCE     OF 
CHARACTER  —  Among  Bees,  Workers    Are 


But  Undeveloped  Queens. — The  "  workers  " 
among  hive-bees  are  not  really  "neuters," 
but  are  undeveloped  females;  every  one  of 
them  being  originally  a  potential  queen. 
They  differ  from  the  queen,  or  fertile  female, 
however,  not  merely  in  the  non-development 
of  the  reproductive  organs  (which  shows  it- 
self in  the  inferior  length  of  the  abdomen ) , 
but  also  in  the  possession  of  the  "  pollen- 
baskets  "  on  the  thighs,  which  are  used  in 
the  collection  of  pollen  and  propolis,  and  in 
the  conformation  of  the  jaws  and  antennae. 
But  they  differ  yet  more  in  their  instincts,  for 
whilst  the  life-work  of  the  queen  is  to  lay 
eggs,  that  of  the  workers  is  to  build  cells 
for  their  reception,  to  collect  and  store  up 
food,  and  to  nurture  the  larvae — this  nur- 
turing process  being  continued  as  a  sort  of 
incubation  during  the  pupa-state.  The 
worker- larvae,  which  come  forth  from  the 
eggs  that  are  laid  in  ordinary  cells,  are  fed 
for  three  days  upon  a  peculiar  substance  of 
jelly  like  appearance,  prepared  in  the  stom- 
achs of  the  workers;  but  afterwards  upon 
"  bee-bread  "  composed  of  a  mixture  of  honey 
and  pollen.  The  queen-larvae,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  reared  in  larger  royal  cells  of  pe- 
culiar construction;  and  they  are  fed  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  the  larva-period  upon  the 
substance  prepared  by  the  workers,  which  is 
hence  known  as  "  royal  jelly."  The  length 
of  time  occupied  in  their  development  is  dif- 
ferent; the  preliminary  stages  of  the  queen 
being  passed  through  in  sixteen  days,  whilst 
those  of  the  worker  require  twenty-one. 

Now  it  sometimes  happens  that,  from 
some  causes  not  understood,  there  is  a  fail- 
ure in  the  production  of  young  queens,  so 
that  there  are  none  forthcoming  when 
wanted.  The  workers  then  select  either 
worker-eggs  or  worker-larvae  not  yet  three 
days  old,  and  around  these  they  construct 
"  royal  cells,"  by  throwing  together  several 
adjacent  worker-cells  and  destroying  the 
larvae  they  contain.  The  selected  larvae  are 
fed  with  the  "  royal  jelly,"  and  are  treated 
in  every  respect  as  queen-larvae;  and  in  due 
time  they  come  forth  as  perfect  queens — 
thus  having  had  not  only  their  bodily  or- 
ganization, but  their  psychical  nature,  essen- 
tially altered  by  the  nurture  they  have  re- 
ceived.— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch. 
2,  p.  61.  (A.,  1900.) 

823.  DIFFERENCE  OF  QUANTITY, 
NpT  OF  QUALITY-  Similarity  of  Feeble  and 
Violent  Volcanic  Eruptions. — We  are  thus 
led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  grand  and  ter- 
rible appearances  displayed  at  Vesuvius  and 
other  volcanoes  in  a  state  of  violent  erup- 
tion do  not  differ  in  any  essential  respect 
from  the  phenomena  which  we  have  wit- 
nessed accompanying  the  miniature  out- 
bursts of  Stromboli.  And  we  are  convinced, 
by  the  same  considerations,  that  the  forces 
which  give  rise  to  the  feeble  displays  in  the 
latter  case  would  produce,  if  acting  with 
greater  intensity  and  violence,  all  the  mag- 
nificent spectacles  presented  in  the  former. 
In  Vesuvius  and  Stromboli  alike,  the  active 


169 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


fiffi, 


cause  of  all  the  phenomena  exhibited  is 
found  to  be  the  escape  of  steam  from  the 
midst  of  masses  of  incandescent  liquefied 
rock.  The  violence,  and  therefore  the 
grandeur  and  destructive  effects,  of  an  erup- 
tion depend  upon  the  abundance  and  tension 
of  this  escaping  steam. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch. 
2,  p.  31.  (A.,  1899.) 

824.  DIFFERENCES,  ABSOLUTE 
AND  RELATIVE— Moonlight  vs.  Sunlight- 
Darkening   Shadow   Has   the  Effect   of  In- 
creasing Light. — If  we  compare  the  shadow 
thrown  by  an  object  in  moonlight  with  the 
shadow  cast  by  the  same  object  in  sunlight, 
it  will  be  at  once  seen  that  the  former  ap- 
pears much  darker  than  the  latter.     In  a 
landscape  seen  by  moonlight,  this  stronger 
contrast  of  light  and  shade  makes  the  illu- 
mination far  brighter,  altho  it  is  absolutely 
much  less  intense.     And  from  this  fact  we 
can  distinguish  at  the  first  glance  whether  a 
picture   represents   a   moonlight  or   a   day- 
light scene.     It  is  not  in  the  power  of  the 
artist  to  mark  this  difference  by  an  abso- 
lute difference  of  light-intensity.     Both  his 
paintings  are  equally  bright;    but  he  makes 
the    difference    between    light    and    shadow 
greater  in  the  first  picture  than  in  the  sec- 
ond, and  by  this  single  device  enables  us  to 
distinguish   in   a   moment   the   night   scene 
from    the    day   scene. — WUNDT   Psychology, 
lect.  4,  p.  58.     (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

825.  DIFFERENCES    AMONG     ANI- 
MALS IN  THE  PHILIPPINES— Supposing 
that  a  long  chain  of  islands  had  connected 
two    lands    lying    far    apart    and    differing 
widely  in  their  fauna,  it  might  be  expected, 
and  with  great  probability,  that  the  fauna 
of  this  group  could  have  retained  no  special 
homogeneous  character.    For  the  vicinity  of 
the  two  terminal  countries,  and  the  currents 
probably  existing,  might  easily  have  caused 
on  the  islands   a  mixture  of  the  two  dis- 
similar faunas.     This  is,  in  fact,  sometimes 
the  case.     The  Philippines  lie  very  nearly 
north  and  south;    the  northern  islands  are 
connected  with   China  by  the  Bashees  and 
Formosa,    while    the    southernmost    island, 
Mindanao,  is  connected  by  Celebes  and  some 
smaller  islands  with  the  Moluccas,  and  the 
southwestern  island,  Palawan,  hangs  on  to 
Borneo  by  Balabac.     ...     A  greater  con- 
trast can  hardly  be  conceived  of  than  that, 
for   instance,  between  the  fauna   of  Hong- 
kong, Amoy,  or  even  Siam,  on  one  side,  and 
Borneo,  ^  Java,  and  Sumatra,  on  the  other. 
And  this  difference  is  repeated   in  a  very 
striking  manner  in  the  Philippines,  where 
the  northern  district  displays  an  unmistak- 
able harmony  with  the  true  Chinese  fauna, 
while  the  southern  islands  show  a  marked 
resemblance    partly    to    Borneo,    partly    to 
Celebes  and  Gilolo,  and  partly  to  the  west- 
ern islands  of  the  Australian  region. — SEM- 
PER Animal  Life,  ch.  9,  p.  283.     (A.,  1881.) 

826.  DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  MAN 

AND  APE — An  Unbridged  Chasm — No  Inter- 
mediate Link. — Thus,  whatever  system  of 


organs  be  studied,  the  comparison  of  their 
modifications  in  the  ape  series  leads  to  one 
and  the  same  result — that  the  structural 
differences  which  separate  man  from  the 
gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee  are  not  so  great 
as  those  which  separate  the  gorilla  from  the 
lower  apes. 

But  in  enunciating  this  important  truth, 
I  must  guard  myself  against  a  form  of  mis- 
understanding which  is  very  prevalent.  I 
find,  in  fact,  that  those  who  endeavor  to 
teach  what  Nature  so  clearly  shows  us  in 
this  matter  are  liable  to  have  their  opinions 
misrepresented  and  their  phraseology  gar- 
bled until  they  seem  to  say  that  the  struc- 
tural differences  between  man  and  even  the 
highest  apes  are  small  and  insignificant.  Let 
me  take  this  opportunity,  then,  of  distinctly 
asserting,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  are 
great  and  significant;  that  every  bone  of  a 
gorilla  bears  marks  by  which  it  might  be 
distinguished  from  the  corresponding  bone 
of  a  man ;  and  that,  in  the  present  creation, 
at  any  rate,  no  intermediate  link  bridges 
over  the  gap  between  homo  and  troglodytes. 

It  would  be  no  less  wrong  than  absurd  to 
deny  the  existence  of  this  chasm;  but  it  is 
at  least  equally  wrong  and  absurd  to  exag- 
gerate its  magnitude,  and,  resting  on  the  ad- 
mitted fact  of  its  existence,  to  refuse  to  in- 
quire whether  it  is  wide  or  narrow. — HUX- 
LEY Man's  Place  'in  Nature,  p.  232.  (Hum.) 

827.  DIFFERENCES  OF  INSTRU- 
MENTS FOR  STUDY  OF  THE  HEAVENS 

— The  Transit  Instrument  and  the  Equa- 
torial— Each  Has  Its  Own  Special  Value — 
Analogy  of  Spiritual  Gifts  (1  Cor.  xiii,  4-6; 
Rom.  xii,  6-9 J. — There  are  two  chief  modes 
of  using  the  telescope,  to  which  all  others 
may  be  considered  subordinate.  Either  it 
may  be  invariably  directed  towards  the 
south,  with  no  motion  save  in  the  plane  of 
the  meridian,  so  as  to  intercept  the  heavenly 
bodies  at  the  moment  of  transit  across  that 
plane;  or  it  may  be  arranged  so  as  to  fol- 
low the  daily  revolution  of  the  sky,  thus 
keeping  the  object  viewed  permanently  in 
sight,  instead  of  simply  noting  the  instant 
of  its  flitting  across  the  telescopic  field.  The 
first  plan  is  that  of  the  "transit  instru- 
ment," the  second  that  of  the  "equa- 
torial." .  .  . 

The  uses  of  each  are  entirely  different. 
With  the  transit,  the  really  fundamental 
task  of  astronomy — the  determination  of  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies — is  main- 
ly accomplished;  while  the  investigation  of 
their  nature  and  peculiarities  is  best  con- 
ducted with  the  equatorial.  One  is  the 
instrument  of  mathematical  the  other  of  de- 
scriptive astronomy.  One  furnishes  the  ma- 
terials with  which  theories  are  constructed, 
and  the  tests  by  which  they  are  corrected; 
the  other  registers  new  facts,  takes  note  of 
new  appearances,  sounds  the  depths  and 
pries  into  every  nook  of  the  heavens. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6, 
p.  149.  (Bl.,  1893.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


170 


828.  DIFFICULTIES  IMPOSED  UPON 
RELIGION — Supernatural  Power  Not  Denied 
the    Use    of    Means. — By    "  supernatural " 
power,  do  we  not  mean  power  independent 
of  the  use  of  means,  as  distinguished  from 
power   depending  on   knowledge — even   infi- 
nite knowledge — of  the  means  proper  to  be 
employed?     This  is  the  sense — probably  the 
only  sense — in  which  the  supernatural  is,  to 
many  minds,  so  difficult  of  belief.     No  man 
can   have   any   difficulty   in   believing   that 
there  are  natural  laws  of  which  he  is  igno- 
rant;   nor  in  conceiving  that  there  may  be 
beings  who  do  know  them,  and  can  use  them, 
even  as  he  himself  now  uses  the  few  laws 
with  which  he  is  acquainted.    The  real  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  idea  of  will  exercised  with- 
out the  use  of  means — not  in  the  idea  of  will 
exercised  through  means  which  are  beyond 
our  knowledge,  or  beyond  our  reach.     Now, 
have  we  any  right  to  say  that  belief  in  this 
is  essential  to  all  religion  ?    If  we  have  not, 
then  it  is  only  putting,  as  so  many  other 
hasty  sayings  do  put,  additional  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  religion. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  1,  p.  9.     (Burt.) 

829.  DIFFICULTIES    WITH   THE 
ETHER — Seemingly  Incompatible  Qualities  In- 
volved.— Indeed,  I  cannot  agree  with  those 
who  regard  the  wave  theory  of  light  as  an 
established  principle  of  science.    That  it  is  a 
theory  of  the  very  highest  value  I  freely  ad- 
mit, and  that  it  has  been  able  to  predict  the 
phases   of   unknown   phenomena,  which   ex- 
periment has  subsequently  brought  to  light, 
is  a  well-known  fact.     All  this  is  true;    but 
then,  on  the  other  side,  the  theory  requires 
a  combination  of  qualities  in  the  ether  of 
space,  which  I  find  it  difficult  to  believe  are 
actually  realized.     For  instance,  the  rapid- 
ity with  which  wave-motion  is  transmitted 
depends,  other   things  being  equal,   on  the 
elasticity  of  the  medium.     Assuming  that 
two  media  have  the  same  density,  their  elas- 
ticities are  proportional  to  the  squares  of 
the  velocities  with   which   a  wave   travels. 
The  velocity   of  the   sound-wave   in   air   is 
about  1,100  feet  a  second  or  one-fifth  of  a 
mile,  that  of  the  light- wave  about  192,000 
miles  a  second,  or  about  one  million  times 
greater;    and,  if  we  take  into  account  cer- 
tain causes,  which,  tho  they  tend  to  increase 
the  velocity  of  sound,  can  have  no  effect  on 
the  luminiferous  ether,  the  difference  would 
be  even  greater  than  this.     .     .     .     It  is  a 
medium  so  thin  that  the  earth,  moving  in 
its  orbit   1,100  miles  a  minute,   suffers  no 
perceptible    retardation,    and    yet    endowed 
with  an  elasticity  in  proportion  to  its  den- 
sity a  million  million  times  greater  than  air. 
— COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1,  p.  14.     (A., 
1899.) 

830.  DIFFICULTY  A  SPUR  TO  AC- 
TION— Men  of  Northern  Lands  Lead  the  World. 
— Notwithstanding  the  obstacles  opposed  in 
northern  latitudes  to  the  discovery  of  the 
laws  of  Nature,  owing  to  the  excessive  com- 
plication of  phenomena   and  the  perpetual 


local  variations  that,  in  these  climates, 
affect  the  movements  of  the  atmosphere  and 
the  distribution  of  organic  forms,  it  is  to 
the  inhabitants  of  a  small  section  of  the 
temperate  zone  that  the  rest  of  mankind  owe 
the  earliest  revelation  of  an  intimate  and 
rational  acquaintance  with  the  forces  gov- 
erning the  physical  world.  Moreover,  it  is 
from  the  same  zone  (which  is  apparently 
more  favorable  to  the  progress  of  reason,  the 
softening  of  manners,  and  the  security  of 
public  liberty)  that  the  germs  of  civiliza- 
tion have  been  carried  to  the  regions  of  the 
tropics,  as  much  by  the  migratory  movement 
of  races  as  by  the  establishment  of  colonies. 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  36.  (H., 
1897.) 

831.  DIFFICULTY    OF    ATTAINING 
TO  TRUE  FAMILY  LIFE— Easy  Destruction 
of  the  Ideal — Without  It  Nations  Perish — 
The  Best  Family  Life  Has  Best  Promise  of 
Survival. — With  the  Christian  era  the  ma- 
chinery   was    complete;     the    circle    finally 
closed    in,    and    became    a    secluded    shrine 
where     the     culture     of     everything     holy 
and  beautiful  was  carried  on.     The  path  by 
which  this  ideal  consummation  was  reached 
was  not,  as  we  have  seen,  a  straight  path; 
nor  has  the  integrity  of  the  institution  been 
always  preserved  through  the  later  centu- 
ries.    The  difficulty  of  realizing  the   ideal 
may  be  judged  of  by  the  fewness  of  the  na- 
tions now  living  who  have  reached  it,  and 
by  the  multitude  of  peoples  and  tribes  who 
have  vanished  from  the  earth  without  at- 
taining it.     From  the  failure  to  fulfil  some 
one  or  other  of  the  required  conditions,  peo- 
ple   after    people    and   nation    after    nation 
have    come   together    only   to    disperse    and 
leave  no  legacy  behind  except  the  lesson — as 
yet  in  few  cases  understood — of  why  they 
failed. 

Yet  whether  the  road  be  straight  or  de- 
vious is  of  little  moment.  The  one  signifi- 
cant thing  is  that  it  rises.  We  have  reached 
a  stage  in  evolution  at  which  physiological 
gains  are  guarded  and  accentuated,  if  not  in 
an  ethical  interest,  at  least  by  ethical  fac- 
tors becoming  utilized  by  natural  selection. 
Henceforth  affection  becomes  a  power  in  the 
world;  and  whatever  physiological  adjust- 
ments continue  to  go  on  beneath  the  surface, 
the  most  attached  families  will  have  a  better 
chance  of  surviving  and  of  transmitting 
their  moral  characteristics  to  succeeding 
generations.  The  completion  of  the  arch  of 
family  life  forms  one  of  the  great,  if  not  the 
greatest,  of  the  landmarks  of  history. — 
DRTJMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  9,  p.  315. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

832.  DIFFICULTY    OF    EXPERI- 
MENTAL TESTS  ON  DEEP-SEA  ANIMALS 
— We  cannot  judge  at  all  of  the  amount  of 
light  given  out  by  an  animal  in  deep  water 
by   its   appearance  when    thrown   out   of  a 
dredge  upon  the  deck.     Whether  the  phos- 
phorescent light  given  out  by  an  alcyona- 
rian  or  a  crustacean  is  more  or  less  at  a  tern- 


171 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Bifliciilties 
igestion 


perature  of  40°  F.  and  a  pressure  of  one 
ton  per  square  inch  than  it  is  at  60°  F. 
and  the  ordinary  barometric  pressure  of  the 
sea-level  is  a  question  that  has  not  yet  been 
brought  to  an  experimental  test. 

Whatever  the  answer  to  this  question  may 
be,  the  fact  remains  that  a  greater  percent- 
age of  animals  from  the  deep  sea  exhibit 
some  sort  of  phosphorescent  light  when 
brought  on  deck  than  animals  that  live  in 
shallow  water. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  eh.  4,  p.  76.  (A.,  1894.) 

833.  DIFFICULTY    OF   OBTAINING 
KNOWLEDGE  OF  MANLIKE  APES— Sto- 
ries   Largely    Mythical. — Sound    knowledge 
respecting  the  habits  and  mode  of  life  of  the 
manlike  apes  has  been  even  more  difficult  of 
attainment  than  correct  information  regard- 
ing their  structure. 

Once  in  a  generation,  a  Wallace  may  be 
found  physically,  mentally,  and  morally 
qualified  to  wander  unscathed  through  the 
tropical  wilds  of  America  and  of  Asia,  to 
form  magnificent  collections  as  he  wanders, 
and  withal  to  think  out  sagaciously  the  con- 
clusions suggested  by  his  collections;  but, 
to  the  ordinary  explorer  or  collector,  the 
dense  forests  of  equatorial  Asia  and  Africa, 
which  constitute  the  favorite  habitation  of 
the  orang,  the  chimpanzee,  and  the  gorilla, 
present  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  magni- 
tude; and  the  man  who  risks  his  life  by 
even  a  short  visit  to  the  malarious  shores  of 
those  regions  may  well  be  excused  if  he 
shrinks  from  facing  the  dangers  of  the  inte- 
rior; if  he  contents  himself  with  stimula- 
ting the  industry  of  the  better-seasoned  na- 
tives, and  collecting  and  collating  the  more 
or  less  mythical  reports  and  traditions  with 
which  they  are  too  ready  to  supply  him. 

In  such  a  manner  most  of  the  earlier  ac- 
counts of  the  habits  of  the  manlike  apes 
originated;  and  even  now  a  good  deal  of 
what  passes  current  must  be  admitted  to 
have  no  very  safe  foundation.  The  best  in- 
formation we  possess  is  that  based  almost 
wholly  on  direct  European  testimony  re- 
specting the  gibbons ;  the  next  best  evidence 
relates  to  the  orangs;  while  our  knowledge 
of  the  habits  of  the  chimpanzee  and  the  go- 
rilla stands  much  in  need  of  support  and  en- 
largement by  additional  testimony  from  in- 
structed European  eye-witnesses. — HUXLEY 
Man's  Place  in  Nature,  p.  203.  (Hum.) 

834.  DIFFICULTY  OF  SOCIOLOGICAL 

STUDY— Positivism  Would  Assign  It  to  a 
Caste — Possibilities  of  Persecution  in  Name 
of  Science. — In  M.  Comte's  opinion,  the  pe- 
culiarly complicated  nature  of  sociological 
studies,  and  the  great  amount  of  previous 
knowledge  and  intellectual  discipline  requi- 
site for  them,  together  with  the  serious  con- 
sequences that  may  be  produced  by  even 
temporary  errors  on  such  subjects,  render  it 
necessary,  in  the  case  of  ethics  and  politics, 
still  more  than  of  mathematics  and  physics, 
that  whatever  legal  liberty  may  exist  of 
questioning  and  discussing,  the  opinions  of 


mankind  should  really  be  formed  for  them 
by  an  exceedingly  small  number  of  minds  of 
the  highest  class,  trained  to  the  task  by  the 
most  thorough  and  laborious  mental  prep- 
aration; and  that  the  questioning  of  their 
conclusions  by  any  one  not  of  an  equivalent 
grade  of  intellect  and  instruction  should  be 
accounted  equally  presumptuous,  and  more 
blamable,  than  the  attempts  occasionally 
made  by  sciolists  to  refute  the  Newtonian 
astronomy.  All  this  is,  in  a  spnse,  true;  but 
we  confess  our  sympathy  with  those  who  feel 
towards  it  like  the  man  in  the  story,  who, 
being  asked  whether  he  admitted  that  six 
and  five  make  eleven,  refused  to  give  an> 
answer  until  he  knew  what  use  was  to 
be  made  of  it. — MILL  Positive  Philosophy 
of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  70.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1887.) 

835.  DIFFICULTY  OF  WIDE-SPREAD 

REFORMS— Early  Fixedness  of  Mental  States 
— New  Conceptions  Rarely  Acquired  in  La- 
ter Life. — Most  men  begin  to  be  old  fogies 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five.  It  is  true  that  a 
grown-up  adult  keeps  gaining  well  into  mid- 
dle age  a  great  knowledge  of  details,  and  a 
great  acquaintance  with  individual  cases 
connected  with  his  profession  or  business 
life.  In  this  sense,  his  conceptions  increase 
during  a  very  long  period;  for  his  knowl- 
edge grows  more  extensive  and  minute.  But 
the  larger  categories  of  conception,  the  sorts 
of  thing,  and  wider  classes  of  relation  be- 
tween things,  of  which  wTe  take  cognizance, 
are  all  got  into  the  mind  at  a  comparatively 
youthful  date.  Few  men  ever  do  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  principles  of  a  new 
science  after  even  twenty-five.  If  you  do  not 
study  political  economy  in  college,  it  is  a 
thousand  to  one  that  its  main  conceptions 
will  remain  unknown  to  you  through  life. 
Similarly  with  biology,  similarly  with  elec- 
tricity. What  percentage  of  persons  now 
fifty  years  old  have  any  definite  conception 
whatever  of  a  dynamo,  or  how  the  trolley- 
cars  are  made  to  run  ?  Surely,  a  small  frac- 
tion of  one  per  cent.  But  the  boys  in  col- 
leges are  all  acquiring  these  conceptions. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  14,  p.  166.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

836.  DIGESTION  OF  ANIMAL  MAT- 
TER BY  PLANTS— Reversal  of  the  Common 
Order  of  Nature — Man  Cannot  Set  Bound- 
aries of  Possibility. — As  we  have  seen  that 
nitrogenous   fluids    act  very  differently   on 
the  leaves  of  Drosera    [the  sun-dew]    from 
non-nitrogenous  fluids,  and  as  the  leaves  re- 
main clasped  for  a  much  longer  time  over 
various  organic  bodies  than  over  inorganic 
bodies,  such  as  bits  of  glass,  cinder,  wood, 
etc.,     it    becomes     an     interesting     inquiry 
whether  they  can  only  absorb  matter  already 
in  solution,  or   render  it  soluble — that  is, 
have  the  power  of  digestion.     We  shall  im- 
mediately see  that  they  certainly  have  this 
power,   and   that   they   act   on    albuminous 
compounds  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as 
does  the  gastric  juice  of  mammals;    the  di- 


tion 
scovery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


172 


gested  matter  being  afterwards  absorbed. 
This  fact,  which  will  be  clearly  proved,  is  a 
wonderful  one  in  the  physiology  of  plants. — 
DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  6,  p.  71. 
(A.,  1900.) 

837.  DIRECTION,     SENSE     OF,    IN 
BEES  AND  WASPS— Difficulty  of  Learning 
by  Experience. — The  following  are  Sir  John 
Lubbock's     [Lord    Avebury's]     observations 
upon  this  subject  in  the  case  of  bees  and 
wasps : 

"  Every  one  has  heard  of  a  ( bee-line.'  It 
would  be  no  less  correct  to  speak  of  a  wasp- 
line.  On  August  6  I  marked  a  wasp,  the 
nest  of  which  was  round  the  corner  of  the 
house,  so  that  her  direct  way  home  was  not 
out  at  the  window  by  which  she  had  entered, 
but  in  the  opposite  direction,  across  the 
room  to  a  window  which  was  closed.  I 
watched  her  for  some  hours,  during  which 
time  she  constantly  went  to  the  wrong  win- 
dow, and  lost  much  time  in  buzzing  about 
at  it.  For  ten  consecutive  days  this  wasp 
paid  numerous  visits,  coming  in  at  the  open 
window,  and  always  trying,  tho  always  un- 
successfully, to  return  to  her  nest  in  the 
'  wasp-line '  of  the  closed  window — buzzing 
about  that  window  for  hours  at  a  time,  tho 
eventually  on  finding  it  closed  she  returned 
and  went  round  through  the  open  window 
by  which  she  always  entered." 

This  observation  shows  how  strong  must 
be  the  instinct  in  a  wasp  to  take  the  short- 
est way  home,  and  how  much  the  insect  de- 
pends upon  its  sense  of  direction  in  so  doing. 
It  also  shows  how  long  a  time  it  requires  to 
learn  by  individual  experience  the  proper- 
ties of  a  previously  unknown  substance,  such 
as  glass. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch. 
4,  p.  144.  (A.,  1899.) 

838.  DIRECTNESS    OF   RAYS   OF 
LIGHT — Ancients  Knew  the  Rectilinear  Propa- 
gation of  Light— Hence  the  Terms  "  Ray  " 
and  "  Beam" — The  ancients  were  aware  of 
the  rectilinear  propagation  of  light.     They 
knew  that  an  opaque  body,  placed  between 
the  eye  and  a  point  of  light,  intercepted  the 
light    of    the    point.      Possibly    the    terms 
"  ray  "   and   "  beam "  may  have  been   sug- 
gested  by    those    straight   spokes    of    light 
which,  in  certain  states  of  the  atmosphere, 
dart  from  the  sun  at  his  rising  and  his  set- 
ting.    The  rectilinear  propagation  of  light 
may  be  illustrated  by  permitting  the  solar 
light  to  enter,  by  a  small  aperture  in  a  win- 
dow-shutter, a  dark  room  in  which  a  little 
smoke  has  been  diffused.     In  pure  air  you 
cannot  see  the  beam,  but  in  smoke  you  can, 
because    the    light,    which    passes    unseen 
through  the  air,  is  scattered  and  revealed  by 
the  smoke  particles,  among  which  the  beam 
pursues   a   straight   course. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  9.    (A.,  1898.) 

839.  DISASTER  LEADS  TO  DISCOV- 
ERY— Exploaiveness  of  Niter  Demonstrated. — 
The  first  published  contribution  to  chemis- 
try [under  the  auspices  of  the  Smithsonian 


Institution]  was  the  "  Memoir  on  the  Ex- 
plosiveness  of  Niter,"  by  Robert  Hare. 
.  .  .  Its  history  is  interesting.  A  fire 
occurred  in  New  York  City  on  July  19,  1845, 
during  which  two  hundred  and  thirty  houses 
were  destroyed,  containing  merchandise 
valued  at  over  two  millions  of  dollars.  A 
peculiar  feature  of  this  catastrophe  was  a 
series  of  detonations  successively  increasing 
in  loudness,  and  followed  by  a  final  explo- 
sion which  tore  in  pieces  the  building  where 
it  occurred,  threw  down  several  houses  in 
the  vicinity,  and  forced  in  the  fronts  of 
houses  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
These  effects  were  attributed  to  gunpowder, 
but  the  owner  of  the  building  declared  that 
he  had  none  of  that  explosive,  altho  a  large 
quantity  of  niter  was  stored  in  the  house. 
Dr.  Hare  showed  by  numerous  experiments 
that  explosions  of  a  violent  character  could 
be  produced  by  forcibly  bringing  in  contact 
at  a  high  temperature  niter  and  substances 
of  an  inflammable  character. — MARCUS  BEN- 
JAMIN Chemistry  in  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, History  of  the  First  Half  Century, 
p.  612. 

840.  DISASTER,     POSSIBLE,     MAN 
PROVIDES  AGAINST— Houses  Built  to  With- 
stand Earthquakes. — In  South  America,  al- 
tho many  buildings  are  built  with  brick  and 
stone,   the   ordinary  houses,    and   even   the 
larger  edifices,  are  specially  built  to  with- 
stand earthquakes.    In  Mr.  James  Douglas's 
account    of    a    "Journey    Along   the    West 
Coast  of  South  America,"  we  read  the  fol- 
lowing :     "  The  characteristic  building  ma- 
terial of  Guayaquil  is  bamboo,  which  grows 
to    many   inches    in   thickness,    and   which, 
when  cut  partially  through  longitudinally 
at  distances  of  an  inch  or  so,  and  once  quite 
through,  can  be  opened  out  into  fine  elastic 
boards  of  serviceable  width.     Houses,   and 
even  churches,  of  a  certain  primitive  beauty 
are  built  of  such  reeds,  so  bound  together 
with  cords  that  few  nails  enter  into  the  con- 
struction,   and    which,    therefore,    yield    so 
readily  to  the  contortions  of  the  earth  dur- 
ing an  earthquake  as  to  be  comparatively 
safe." — MILNE   Earthquakes,  ch.   7,  p.   126. 
(A.,  1899.) 

841.  DISCOVERER  OF  BACTERIA— 

Plain  Business  Man  Makes  His  Own  Lenses 
— Advances  Microscopy. — The  first  scientist 
who  demonstrated  the  existence  of  micro- 
organisms was  Anton  van  Leeuwenhoek. 
He  was  born  at  Delft,  in  Holland,  in  1632, 
and  enthusiastically  pursued  microscopy 
with  primitive  instruments.  He  corrobo- 
rated Harvey's  discovery  of  the  circulation 
of  the  blood  in  the  web  of  a  frog's  foot;  he 
defined  the  red  blood-corpuscles  of  verte- 
brates, the  fibers  of  the  lens  of  the  human 
eye,  the  scales  of  the  skin,  and  the  structure 
of  hair.  He  was  neither  educated  nor 
trained  in  science,  but  in  the  leisure  time  of 
his  occupation  as  a  linen-draper  he  learned 
the  art  of  grinding  lenses,  in  which  he  be- 
came so  proficient  that  he  was  able  to  con- 
struct a  microscope  of  greater  power  than 


173 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Digestion 
Discovery 


had  been  previously  manufactured.  The 
compound  microscope  dates  from  1590,  and 
when  Leeuwenhoek  was  about  forty  years 
old  Holland  had  already  given  to  the  world 
both  microscope  and  telescope. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

842.    DISCOVERY  A  GROWTH— Many 

Contribute  Items — One  Mind  Focuses  All. — 
It  must  not  be  supposed  that  to  Pasteur  is 
due  the  whole  credit  of  the  knowledge  ac- 
quired respecting  the  cause  of  fermentation. 
He  did  not  first  discover  these  living  organ- 
isms; he  did  not  first  study  them  and  de- 
scribe them;  he  was  not  even  the  first  to 
suggest  that  they  were  the  cause  of  the  proc- 
esses of  fermentation  or  disease.  But,  never- 
theless, it  was  Pasteur  who  "  first  placed  the 
subject  upon  a  firm  foundation  by  proving 
with  rigid  experiment  some  of  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  others."  Thus  it  has  ever 
been  in  the  times  of  new  learning  and  dis- 
covery: many  contributors  have  added  their 
quota  to  the  mass  of  knowledge,  even  tho 
one  man  appearing  at  the  right  moment  has 
drawn  the  conclusions  and  proved  the  theory 
to  be  fact. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  4,  p.  113. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


843. 


Partial   Views  and 


Isolated  Facts  Combined  in  Grand  Total. — 
Whatever  the  uncertainty  of  the  field,  it  is 
due  to  these  pioneer  minds  to  treat  their 
labor  with  respect.  What  they  see  in  the 
unexplored  land  in  which  they  travel  be- 
longs to  the  world.  By  just  such  methods, 
and  by  just  such  men,  the  map  of  the  world 
of  thought  is  filled  in — here  from  the  tra- 
cing up  of  some  great  river,  there  from  a 
bearing  taken  roughly  in  a  darkened  sky, 
yonder  from  a  sudden  glint  of  the  sun  on  a 
far-off  mountain  peak,  or  by  a  swift  induc- 
tion of  an  adventurous  mind  from  a  mo- 
mentary glimpse  of  a  natural  law.  So 
knowledge  grows;  and  in  a  century  which 
has  added  to  the  sum  of  human  learning 
more  than  all  the  centuries  that  are  past  it 
is  not  to  be  conceived  that  some  further 
revelation  should  not  await  us  on  the  high- 
est themes  of  all. — DRTJMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  int.,  p.  2.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 


844. 


The  Sciences  Help 


One  Another. — Nothing  which  succeeds  is 
entirely  new.  The  new-born  is  unformed 
and  incapable.  The  greatest  things  are  born 
from  a  state  of  germ,  so  to  say,  and  increase 
unperceived.  Ideas  fertilize  each  other.  The 
sciences  help  each  other;  progress  marches. 
Men  often  feel  a  truth,  sympathize  with  an 
opinion,  touch  a  discovery,  without  knowing 
it.  The  day  arrives  when  a  synthetic  mind 
feels  in  some  way  an  idea,  almost  ripe,  be- 
coming incarnate  in  his  brain:  he  becomes 
enamored  of  it,  he  fondles  it,  he  contem- 
plates it.  It  grows  as  he  regards  it.  He  sees, 
grouping  round  it,  a  multitude  of  elements 
which  help  to  support  it.  To  him  the  idea 
becomes  a  doctrine.  Then,  like  the  apostles 
of  Good  Tidings,  he  becomes  an  evangelist, 
announces  the  truth,  proves  it  by  his  works, 


and  all  recognize  in  him  the  author  of  the 
new  contemplation  of  Nature,  altho  all  know 
perfectly  well  that  he  has  not  invented  the 
idea,  and  that  many  others  before  him  have 
foreseen  its  grandeur. — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  1,  p.  342.  (A.) 

845.  DISCOVERY  BEFORE  HISTORY 

— Origin  of  Fire. — The  life  of  the  human  race 
may  be  divided  into  two  great  periods,  the 
prehistoric  and  historic.  But  human  beings 
had  done  great  things  before  they  learned  to 
write  about  their  doings.  Among  other 
things,  they  had  discovered  the  use  of  fire, 
both  as  a  means  of  warming  their  bodies 
and  cooking  their  food.  Nobody  can  tell 
how  or  when  fire  was  first  introduced.  Lu- 
cretius has  a  story  which  ascribes  its  origin 
to  the  rubbing  together  of  dry  tree-branches ; 
but  this  is  not  a  likely  source  of  ignition. 
Forests  are  sometimes  set  ablaze  by  light- 
ning, and  this  is  a  possible  origin  of  our 
domestic  fires.  Again,  savages  have  every- 
where employed  stone  implements,  shaping 
pieces  of  flint  with  sharp  edges  for  knives, 
and  with  sharp  points  for  arrow-heads  and 
spears.  Sparks  were  certainly  thus  pro- 
duced, and  such  sparks  may  have  been  the 
ancestors  of  our  fires. — TYNDALL  Heat  a 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  1,  p.  11.  (A.,  1900.) 

846.  DISCOVERY  BY  PLAIN  PEOPLE 

— Accident  and  Wit  Combined. — In  the  fall 
of  1745,  the  German  artisans,  and  especially 
those  of  Leipsic,  probably  recognized  that 
the  electric  machine  had  come  into  good 
market  demand.  So  simple  was  the  appara- 
tus, and  so  astonishing  its  effects,  that  peo- 
ple who  made  no  pretense  to  being  scientific 
bought  it  out  of  curiosity,  and  amused  them- 
selves by  repeating  at  home  the  experiments 
which  the  philosophers  publicly  exhibited  in 
the  lecture-rooms  and  laboratories.  When  a 
device  is  thus  taken  to  the  popular  bosom, 
so  to  speak,  the  prediction  may  safely  be 
hazarded  that  before  long  some  one  in  an 
unexpected  quarter  will  discover  or  invent 
something  concerning  it  which  the  philoso- 
phers have  never  thought  of  or  completely 
missed.  And  the  more  complex  the  intel- 
lectual gymnastics  of  a  certain  class  of  these 
erudite  persons  around  it,  the  more  certain 
it  seems  to  be  that  the  discoverer  will  be 
found  to  have  solved  the  problem  either  by 
his  simple  wits  or  by  accident  and  his  wits 
combined. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual 
Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  15,  p.  511.  (J.  W., 
1898.) 

847.  DISCOVERY     BY    SPECTRUM 

ANALYSIS — Rubidium  and  Caesium  Found — 
Thallium  Added. — When  Bunsen  and  Kirch- 
hoff,  the  celebrated  founders  of  spectrum 
analysis,  after  having  established  by  an  ex- 
haustive examination  the  spectra  of  all 
known  substances,  discovered  a  spectrum 
containing  bands  different  from  any  known 
bands,  they  immediately  inferred  the  exist- 
ence of  a  new  metal.  They  were  operating 


Discovery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


174 


at  the  time  upon  a  residue,  obtained  by 
evaporating  one  of  the  mineral  waters  of 
Germany.  In  that  water  they  knew  the  un- 
known metal  was  concealed,  but  vast  quanti- 
ties of  it  had  to  be  evaporated  before  a  resi- 
due could  be  obtained  sufficiently  large  to 
enable  ordinary  chemistry  to  grapple  with 
the  metal.  They,  however,  hunted  it  down, 
and  it  now  stands  among  chemical  sub- 
stances as  the  metal  rubidium.  They  subse- 
quently discovered  a  second  metal  which  they 
called  caesium.  Thus,  having  first  placed 
spectrum  analysis  on  a  sure  foundation, 
they  demonstrated  its  capacity  as  an  agent 
of  discovery.  Soon  afterwards  Mr.  Crookes, 
pursuing  the  same  method,  discovered  the 
bright  green  band  of  thallium,  and  obtained 
the  salts  of  the  metal  which  yielded  it.  The 
metal  itself  was  first  isolated  in  ingots  by 
M.  Lamy,  a  French  chemist. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  195.  (A.,  1898.) 

848.  DISCOVERY   CONFIRMS  CON- 
JECTURE— The  Antarctic   Continent.— The 
cold  of  the  antarctic  regions  was  conjectured 
by  Cook  to  be  due  to  the  existence  of  a  large 
tract  of  land  between  the  seventieth  degree 
of  south  latitude  and  the  pole.    The  justness 
of  these  and  other  speculations  of  that  great 
navigator   have   since  been  singularly  con- 
firmed  by   the    investigation    made   by    Sir 
James   Ross   in    1841.     He  found   Victoria 
Land,  extending  from  71°  to  79°  S.  latitude, 
skirted  by  a  great  barrier  of  ice,  the  height 
of  the  land  ranging  from  4,000   to   14,000 
feet,  the  whole  entirely  covered  with  snow, 
except   a  narrow  ring  of  black  earth   sur- 
rounding the  huge  crater  of  the  active  vol- 
cano  of  Mount   Erebus,   rising    12,400   feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.     The  position  of 
a  mountainous  territory  of  such  altitude,  so 
near  the  pole,  and  so  obvious  a  source  of  in- 
tense cold,  fully  explains  why  Graham's  and 
Enderby's  Land,  discovered  by  Captain  Bis- 
coe  in  1831-2  (between  lat.  64°  and  68°  S.), 
presented  a  most  wintry  aspect,  covered  even 
in  summer  with  ice  and  snow,  and  nearly 
destitute  of  animal  life.     In  corresponding 
latitudes  of  the  northern  hemisphere  we  not 
only  meet  with  herds  of  wild  herbivorous 
animals,  but  with  land  which  man  himself 
inhabits,  and  where  he  has  even  built  ports 
and    inland   villages. — LYELL   Principles   of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  99.     (A.,  1854.) 

849.  DISCOVERY,  LONG  DELAY  TO 

REALIZE— Humanity  Waiting.— It  is  inter- 
esting, and  indeed  pathetic,  to  observe  how 
long  a  discovery  of  priceless  value  to  hu- 
manity may  be  hidden  away,  or  rather  lie 
openly  revealed,  before  the  final  and  appar- 
ently obvious  step  is  taken  towards  its  prac- 
tical application.  In  1837,  Schwann  clearly 
established  the  connection  between  putre- 
faction and  microscopic  life;  but  thirty 
years  had  to  elapse  before  Lister  extended 
to  wounds  the  researches  of  Schwann  on 
dead  flesh  and  animal  infusions. — TYNDALL 
Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  int.,  p.  9.  (A., 
1895.) 


850.  DISCOVERY  MISSED— Stopping 
with    an   Instance — Failure   of    Generaliza- 
tion.— Again,  at  Paris,  in  1849,  with  a  view 
to  testing  the  asserted  coincidence  between 
the  solar  D-line  and  the  bright  yellow  beam 
in  the  spectrum  of  the  electric  arc    (really 
due  to  the  unsuspected  presence  of  sodium ) , 
Leon    Foucault    threw    a    ray    of    sunshine 
across  the  arc  and  observed  its  spectrum. 
He  was  surprised  to  see  that  the  D-line  was 
rendered  more  intensely  dark  by  the  com- 
bination of  lights.     To  assure  himself  still 
further,  he  substituted  a  reflected  image  of 
one  of  the  white-hot  carbon-points  for  the 
sunbeam,    with    an    identical    result.      The 
same  ray  was  missing.     It  needed  but  an- 
otHer   step  to  have  generalized  this  result, 
and  thus  laid  hold  of  a  natural  truth  of  the 
highest  importance;    but  that  step  was  not 
taken.     Foucault,  keen  and  brilliant  tho  he 
was,  rested  satisfied  with   the   information 
that  the  voltaic  arc  had  the  power  of  stop- 
ping the  kind  of  light  emitted  by  it;     he 
asked  no  further  question,  and  was   conse- 
quently the  bearer  of  no  further  intelligence 
on  the  subject. — CLERKE  History  of  Astron- 
omy, pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  170.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

851.  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA  NOT 
AN  ISOLATED  EVENT—  Way  Prepared  by 
Science. — The  discovery  of  the  tropical  re- 
gions of  America  by  Christopher  Columbus 
.     .     .     cannot  be  regarded  in  the  history  of 
the  contemplation   of  the   universe  as   one 
isolated    event.     .     .     .     That    which     im- 
parted to  the  age  of  Columbus  its  peculiar 
character   of   uninterrupted   and   successful 
efforts  toward  the  attainment  of  new  dis- 
coveries and  extended  geographical  knowl- 
edge was   prepared  slowly  and  in  various 
ways.     The  means  which  contributed  most 
strongly  to  favor  these  efforts  were  a  small 
number  of  enterprising  men,  who  early  ex- 
cited a  simultaneous  and  general  freedom  of 
thought,  and  an  independence  of  investiga- 
tion into  the  separate  phenomena  of  Nature ; 
the  influence  exercised  on  the  deepest  sources 
of  mental  vigor  by  the  renewed  acquaintance 
formed  in  Italy  with  the  works  of  ancient 
Greek  literature;    the  discovery  of  an   art 
which  lent  to  thought  at  once  wings  of  speed 
and  powers  of  perpetuity;    and  the  more  ex- 
tended knowledge  of  eastern  Asia  acquired 
by  traveling  merchants,  and  by  monks  who 
had  been  sent  on  embassies  to  the  Mogul 
rulers,    and    which    was    diffused    by    them 
among   those   nations   of  the   southwest   of 
Europe  who  maintained  extensive  commer- 
cial relations  with  other  countries,  and  who 
were  therefore  most  anxious  to  discover  a 
nearer  route  to  the  Spice  Islands.     To  these 
means     ...     we   must   add  the   advance 
in  the  art  of  navigation,  the  gradual  per- 
fection of  nautical  instruments,  both  mag- 
netic   and    astronomical,    and,    finally,    the 
application    of    certain    methods     for     the 
determination    of   the   ship's    place. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  240.      (H., 
1897.) 


175 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Discovery 


852.  DISCOVERY  OF  AN  ANCIENT 
BEACH — Rock  Marked  by  Waves  of  Vanished 
Sea. — The  gunpowder  had  loosened  a  large 
mass  in  one  of  the  inferior  strata,  and  our 
first  employment,   on  resuming  our  labors, 
was  to  raise  it  from  its  bed.     I  assisted  the 
other  workmen  in  placing  it  on  edge,  and 
was  much  struck  by  the  appearance  of  the 
platform  on  which  it  had  rested.    The  entire 
surface  was  ridged  and  furrowed  like  a  bank 
of  sand  that  had  been  left  by  the  tide  an 
hour  before.     I  could  trace  every  bend  and 
curvature,  every  cross-hollow  and  counter- 
ridge  of  the  corresponding  phenomena;    for 
the  resemblance  was  no  half  resemblance — it 
was  the  thing  itself;    and  I  had  observed  it 
a  hundred  and  a  hundred  times,  when  sail- 
ing my  little  schooner  in  the  shallows  left 
by  the  ebb.     But  what  had  become  of  the 
waves  that  had  thus  fretted  the  solid  rock, 
or  of  what  element  had  they  been  composed  ? 
I   felt  as   completely  at  fault  as  Robinson 
Crusoe  did  on  his  discovering  the  print  of 
the  man's  foot  on  the  sand. — MILLER   The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  1,  p.  7.      (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

853.  DISCOVERY  OF  GRAVITATION 

— Newton — Story  of  the  Apple — Earth's  At- 
traction Already  Well  Understood — Newton 
Saw  the  Same  Law  Pervading  All  Space. — 
But  it  was  not  till  Newton  came  that  the  true 
meaning  of  these  laws  [of  Kepler]  was  as- 
certained, and  very  wonderful  is  the  history 
of  the  process  by  which  he  solved  the  noble 
problem  which  Nature  had  presented  to 
mankind  for  investigation.  Every  one  has 
heard  the  story  of  the  apple,  whose  fall  is 
said  to  have  suggested  to  Newton  the  great 
discovery  for  which  his  name  will  be  de- 
servedly celebrated  for  all  time.  The  story 
may  be  true  in  a  sense,  tho  not  in  the  sense 
usually  given  to  it.  Newton  certainly  did 
not  ask  why  the  apple  fell,  since  it  was  well 
understood  in  his  day,  and  had  been  known 
for  many  centuries,  that  bodies  fall  to  the 
earth  by  virtue  of  her  attractive  influence. 
But  it  is  quite  possible  that  Newton,  who 
had  long  been  engaged  in  profound  medita- 
tion on  the  laws  of  planetary  motion,  should 
have  suddenly  seen  revealed  to  him  the  pos- 
sibility that  a  far  wider  law  of  attraction 
exists.  His  mind  was  full  of  the  thoughts 
suggested  by  the  mysterious  energies  which 
appear  to  sway  the  motions  of  the  planets; 
and  here,  suddenly,  his  attention  was  called 
to  the  mysterious  energy  by  which  the  earth 
draws  bodies  to  her  surface.  What  if  one 
and  the  same  form  of  force  is  exerted  in  all 
such  cases?  What  if  the  sun  draws  the 
planets  towards  him,  as  the  earth  draws  un- 
supported bodies  towards  her  ?  What  if  the 
law  exemplified  in  the  fall  of  the  apple 
is  a  universal  law? — PROCTOR  Expanse  of 
Heaven,  p.  110.  (L.  G.  &  Co.) 

854.  DISCOVERY  OF  MAMMOTH— 

Remains  Preserved  in  Icy  Tomb. — In  1799  a 
Tungusian  hunter  discovered  the  body  of  a 
mammoth  embedded  in  a  cliff  of  frozen  soil, 


where  it  remained  for  several  years.  In  1806 
it  was  visited  by  Mr.  Adams,  who  found  it 
partly  devoured  by  wolves  and  other  wild 
animals,  and  partly  removed  by  the  Yakuts, 
who  used  it  as  food  for  their  dogs.  Fortu- 
nately, however,  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  animal  still  remained.  The  skin  was 
dark  gray,  covered  with  reddish  wool,  mixed 
with  long  black  bristles,  somewhat  thicker 
than  horsehair.  Another  frozen  mammoth 
was  discovered  in  1846,  besides  several  other 
well-preserved  portions,  and  it  was  probably 
from  earlier  finds  of  a  similar  nature  that 
the  Siberian  tribes  began  to  regard  the 
mammoth  as  a  gigantic  burrowing  animal. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that  the 
state  of  preservation  in  which  mammoths 
have  been  found  is  no  evidence  of  recent  ex- 
istence, for  when  once  enveloped  in  frozen 
soil  they  might  remain  unchanged  for  an 
indefinite  period. — AVEBTJRY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  9,  p.  273.  (A.,  1900.) 

855.  DISCOVERY  OF   MEN   THE 
CHIEF  NEED  —  Wealth  Can  Liberate  Genius 
from  Petty  Toil  and  Care. — Your  most  diffi- 
cult problem  [in  the  United  States]  will  be 
not  to   build  institutions,   but   to   discover 
men.     You  may  erect  laboratories  and  en- 
dow them;    you  may  furnish  them  with  all 
the  appliances  needed  for  inquiry;    in  so  do- 
ing you  are  but  creating  opportunity  for  the 
exercise  of  powers  which  come  from  sources 
entirely   beyond    your    reach.      You   cannot 
create  genius  by  bidding  for  it.     In  Biblical 
language,  it  is  the  gift  of  God;     and  the 
most  you  could  do,  were  your  wealth,  and 
your  willingness  to  apply  it,  a  millionfold 
what  they  are,  wrould  be  to  make  sure  that 
this  glorious  plant  shall  have  the  freedom, 
light,  and  warmth  necessary  for  its  develop- 
ment.    We  see  from  time  to  time  a  noble 
tree    dragged    down    by    parasitic    runners. 
These  the  gardener  can  remove,  tho  the  vital 
force  of  the  tree  itself  may  lie  beyond  him: 
and  so,  in  many  a  case,  you  men  of  wealth 
can  liberate  genius  from  the  hampering  toils 
which  the  struggle  for  existence  often  casts 
around  it. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  p. 
227.     (A.,  1898.) 

856.  DISCOVERY  OF   THE   GULF 
STREAM  —Franklin' 8  Wide    Inference  from 
Partial     Observation — Genius     Coordinates 
Facts. — It  was  Franklin  who  first  systemat- 
ically observed  these  facts,  tho  they  had  been 
noticed  long  before  by  navigators.     He  re- 
corded the  temperature  of  the  water  as  he 
left  the  American  continent  for  Europe,  and 
found  that  it  continued  cold  for  a  certain  dis- 
tance, then  rose  suddenly,  and  after  a  given 
time  sank  again  to  a  lower  temperature,  tho 
not  so  low  as  before.     With  the  comprehen- 
sive grasp  of  mind  characteristic  of  all  his 
scientific  results,  he  went  at  once  beyond  his 
facts.     He  inferred  that  the  warm  current, 
keeping   its    way   so    steadily   through    the 
broad  Atlantic,  and  carrying  tropical  pro- 
ductions to  the  northern  shores  of  Europe, 
must  take  its  rise  in  tropical  regions,  must 


Disfnufgiration 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


176 


be  heated  by  a  tropical  sun.  This  was  his 
inference:  to  work  it  out,  to  ascertain  the 
origin  and  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  has 
been,  in  a  great  degree,  the  task  of  the 
United  States  Coast  Survey,  under  the  di- 
rection of  his  descendant,  Dr.  Bache. — 
AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  1  p.  6.  (H. 
M.  &Co.,  1896.) 

857.  DISCOVERY   OF  THE  TRANS- 
PARENCY   OF   AlR—Smokelike  Clouds  of 
Darkness. — In    a    cylindrical    beam,    which 
strongly  illuminated  the  dust  of  the  labora- 
tory, I  placed  an  ignited  spirit-lamp.    Min- 
gling with  the  flame,  and  round  its  rim,  were 
seen  curious  wreaths  of  darkness  resembling 
an  intensely  black  smoke.     On  placing  the 
flame  at  some  distance  below  the  beam,  the 
same  dark  masses  stormed  upwards.     .     .     . 
What,   then,    was   the   blackness?      It   was 
simply  that  of  stellar  space ;    that  is  to  say, 
blackness  resulting  from  the  absence  from 
the  track  of  the  beam  of  all  matter  compe- 
tent to  scatter  its  light.    When  the  flame  was 
placed  below  the  beam  the  floating  matter 
was  destroyed  in  situ;    and  the  air,  freed 
from  this  matter,  rose  into  the  beam,  jostled 
aside  the  illuminated  particles,  and  substi- 
tuted for  their  light  the  darkness  due  to  its 
own  perfect  transparency.     Nothing   could 
more  forcibly  illustrate  the  invisibility  of 
the  agent  which  renders  all  things  visible. 
The  beam  crossed,  unseen,  the  black  chasm 
formed  by  the   transparent  air,    while,    at 
both    sides    of    the    gap,    the    thick- strewn 
particles   shone  out  like  a   luminous   solid 
under  the  powerful  illumination. — TYNDALL 
Floating   Matter   of    the   Air,   p.    3.      (A., 
1895.) 

858.  DISCpVERY,  PHYSICAL— Does 

Not  Affect  Spiritual  Truth — Enduring  Im- 
pressiveness  of  Scripture. — No  amount  of 
knowledge  of  the  kind  which  alone  physical 
science  can  impart  can  do  more  than  widen 
the  foundation  of  intelligent  spiritual  be- 
liefs. We  think  that  astronomy  and  geology 
have  given  to  us  in  these  latter  days  ideas 
wholly  new  in  respect  to  space  and  time. 
Yet,  after  all,  can  we  express  those  ideas,  or 
can  we  indicate  the  questions  they  suggest, 
in  any  language  which  approaches  in  power 
to  the  majestic  utterances  of  David  and  of 
Job  ?  We  know  more  than  they  knew  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  heavenly  bodies ;  but  what 
more  can  we  say  than  they  said  of  the  won- 
der of  them — of  Orion,  of  Arcturus,  and  the 
Pleiades?  [Job  ix,  9.]  We  know  that  the 
earth  moves,  which  they  did  not  know;  and 
we  know  that  the  rapid  rotation  of  a  globe 
on  its  own  axis  is  a  means  of  maintaining 
the  steadiness  of  that  axis  in  its  course 
through  space.  But  what  effect,  except  that 
of  increasing  its  significance,  has  this  knowl- 
edge upon  the  praise  which  David  ascribes 
to  that  ultimate  agency  which  has  made  the 
round  world  so  sure  "  that  it  cannot  be 
moved"?  [Ps.  xciii,  1.] — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  2,  p.  68.  ( Burt. ) 


859.  DISCOVERY,  THE  CHARM  OF 

— Compensation  in  Wonders  of  Science  for 
Lack  of  New  Lands  to  Explore. — They  err 
who  believe  that  the  conquistadores  were 
incited  by  love  of  gold  and  religious  fanati- 
cism alone.  Perils  always  exalt  the  poetry 
of  life;  and,  moreover,  the  remarkable  age, 
whose  influence  on  the  development  of  cos- 
mical  ideas  we  are  now  depicting,  gave  to 
all  enterprises,  and  to  the  natural  impres- 
sions awakened  by  distant  travels,  the 
charm  of  novelty  and  surprise,  which  is  be- 
ginning to  fail  us  in  the  present  well-in- 
structed age,  when  so  many  portions  of  the 
earth  are  opened  to  us.  Not  only  one  hemi- 
sphere, but  almost  two-thirds  of  the  earth, 
were  then  a  new  and  unexplored  world,  as 
unseen  as  that  portion  of  the  moon's  surface 
which  the  law  of  gravitation  constantly 
averts  from  the  glance  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth.  Our  deeply  inquiring  age  finds  in 
the  increasing  abundance  of  ideas  presented 
to  the  human  mind  a  compensation  for  the 
surprise  formerly  induced  by  the  novelty 
of  grand,  massive,  and  imposing  natural 
phenomena— a  compensation  which  will,  it 
is  true,  long  be  denied  to  the  many,  but  is 
vouchsafed  to  the  few  familiar  with  the  con- 
dition of  science.  To  them  the  increasing 
insight  into  the  silent  operation  of  natural 
forces,  whether  in  electro  magnetism  or  in 
the  polarization  of  light,  in  the  influence  of 
diathermanous  substances  or  in  the  physio- 
logical phenomena  of  vital  organisms,  gradu- 
ally unveils  a  world  of  wonders,  of  which  we 
have  scarcely  reached  the  threshold. — HTJM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  271.  (H., 
1897.) 

860.  DISCOVERY  VALUELESS  WITH- 
OUT   SCIENTIFIC    KNOWLEDGE— That 

this  first  discovery  of  America  [by  the 
Norsemen]  in  or  before  the  eleventh  century 
should  not  have  produced  the  important  and 
permanent  results  yielded  to  the  physical 
contemplation  of  the  universe  by  the  redis- 
covery of  the  same  continent  by  Columbus 
at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the 
necessary  consequence  of  the  uncivilized  con- 
dition of  the  people,  and  the  nature  of  the 
countries  to  which  the  early  discoveries  were 
limited.  The  Scandinavians  were  wholly  un- 
prepared, by  previous  scientific  knowledge, 
for  exploring  the  countries  in  which  they 
settled,  beyond  what  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  satisfaction  of  their  immediate 
wants.  Greenland  and  Iceland,  which  must 
be  regarded  as  the  actual  mother  countries 
of  the  new  colonies,  were  regions  in  which 
man  had  to  contend  with  all  the  hardships 
of  an  inhospitable  climate. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  236.  (H.,  1897.) 

861.  DISCRIMINATION  OF  SCIENCE 

— Surface  Indications  Not  Decisive — The 
Shell-mounds  of  Denmark. — The  Museum  of 
Northern  Antiquities  [of  Copenhagen]  con- 
tains an  immense  collection  of  specimens 
from  some  very  interesting  shell-mounds, 
which  are  known  in  Denmark  under  the 


177 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Discovery 
Disintegration 


name  of  "  Kjokkenmoddings  "  (derived  from 
Kjokken,  "  kitchen,"  and  mb'dding,  corre- 
sponding to  our  local  word  midding,  a 
"  refuse  heap " )  [in  English  commonly 
"kitchen-midden"  or  "-midding"],  and 
were  long  supposed  to  be  raised  beaches,  like 
those  which  are  found  at  so  many  points 
along  our  own  shores.  True  raised  beaches, 
however,  necessarily  contain  a  variety  of 
species;  the  individuals  are  of  different 
ages,  and  the  shells  are,  of  course,  mixed 
with  a  considerable  quantity  of  sand  and 
gravel.  But  it  was  observed,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, I  believe,  by  Professor  Steenstrup, 
that  in.  these  supposed  beaches  the  shells 
belonged  entirely  to  full-grown,  or  to  nearly 
full-grown  individuals;  that  they  consisted 
of  four  species  which  do  not  live  together, 
nor  require  the  same  conditions,  and  would 
not,  therefore,  be  found  together  alone  in  a 
natural  deposit;  and,  thirdly,  that  the 
stratum  contained  scarcely  any  gravel,  but 
consisted  almost  entirely  of  shells. — AVE- 
BURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  7,  p.  214.  (A., 
1900.) 

862.  DISEASE   DEALT  WITH  AS  A 
FUNCTION  OF  A  SOUL— Auscultation  and 
the  Like  All  Needless. — The  vitalistic  phy- 
sician considered  that  the  essential  part  of 
the  vital  processes  did  not  depend  upon  nat- 
ural forces,  which,  doing  their  work  with 
blind  necessity  and  according  to  a  fixed  law, 
determined  the  result.     What  these  forces 
could   do   appeared   quite   subordinate,   and 
scarcely   worthy   of   a    minute   study.      He 
thought  that  he  had  to  deal  with  a  soul-like 
being,   to   which   a  thinker,   a .  philosopher, 
and  an  intelligent  man  must  be   opposed. 
.     .     .     At  this  time  auscultation  and  per- 
cussion of  the  organs  of  the  chest  were  being 
regularly   practised   in   the   clinical   wards. 
But  I  have  often  heard  it  maintained  that 
they  were  a  coarse  mechanical  means  of  in- 
vestigation which  a  physician  with  a  clear 
mental  vision  did  not  need;    and  it  indeed 
lowered  and  debased  the  patient,  who  was 
anyhow  a  human  being,  by  treating  him  as 
a  machine. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  5,  p.  218.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

863.  DISEASE  ONCE  MYSTERIOUS 
NOW    EXPLAINED  —  Tetanus  or  Lockjaw 
Caused  by  Bacteria. — The  pathology  of  this 
terrible    disease    [tetanus   or   lockjaw]    has 
during  recent  years  been  considerably  eluci- 
dated.   It  was  the  custom  to  look  upon  it  as 
"  spontaneous,"   and   arising   no   one   knew 
how;    now,  however,  after  the  experiments 
of   Sternberg  and  Nicolaier,  the  disease  is 
known  to  be  due  to  a  micro-organism  com- 
mon in  the  soil  of  certain  localities,  existing 
there  either  as  a  bacillus  or  in  a  resting 
stage  of  spores.  Fortunately  tetanus  is  com- 
paratively rare,  and  one  of  the  peculiar  bio- 
logical characteristics  of  the  bacillus  is  that 
it    grows    only    in    the    absence    of    oxygen 
[whence  the  special  danger  of  a  punctured 
wound]. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  168. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


864.  DISEASES,    FUNCTIONAL, 

MAINTAINED  BY  HABIT—  Cure  by  Sudden 
Arrest. — We  find  how  many  so-called  func- 
tional diseases  seem  to  keep  themselves  go- 
ing simply  because  they  happen  to  have  once 
begun;  and  the  forcible  cutting  short  by 
medicine  of  a  few  attacks  is  often  sufficient 
to  enable  the  physiological  forces  to  get  pos- 
session of  the  field  again,  and  to  bring  the 
organs  back  to  functions  of  health.  Epilep- 
sies, neuralgias,  convulsive  affections  of 
various  sorts,  insomnias,  are  so  many  cases 
in  point.  And,  to  take  what  are  more  ob- 
viously habits,  the  success  with  which  a 
"  weaning "  treatment  can  often  be  applied 
to  the  victims  of  unhealthy  indulgence  of 
passion,  or  of  mere  complaining  or  irascible 
disposition,  shows  us  how  much  the  morbid 
manifestations  themselves  were  due  to  the 
mere  inertia  of  the  nervous  organs,  when 
once  launched  on  a  false  career. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  106.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

865.  DISINFECTION,  PROBLEM  OF 

— In  Many  Cases  to  Kill  Microbes  without 
Killing  Patient,  or  Destroying  Property. — 
It  should  at  the  outset  be  understood  that 
we  desire  in  practical  disinfection  to  in- 
hibit or  kill  micro-organisms  without  in- 
jury to  or  destruction  of  the  substance  har- 
boring the  germs  for  the  time  being.  If  this 
latter  is  of  no  moment,  as  in  rags  or  car- 
casses, burning  is  the  simplest  and  most 
thorough  treatment.  But  with  mattresses 
and  beddings,  bedclothes  and  garments,  as 
well  as  with  the  human  body,  it  is  obvious 
that  something  short  of  burning  is  required. 
— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  9,  p. -325.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

866.  DISINTEGRATION   OF  MOUN- 
TAINS—  Falling  Fragments  of  Matterhorn — 
A  Sudden  Avalanche  of  Rocks  (Job  xiv,  18). 
— Again  and  again  we  looked  to  the  cliffs  [of 
the  Matterhorn]   above  us,  ignorant  of  the 
treatment  that  we  were  to  receive  at  their 
hands.     We  had  gathered  up  our  traps,  and 
bent  to  the  work  before  us,  when  suddenly 
an  explosion  occurred  overhead.    We  looked 
aloft  and  saw  in  mid-air  a  solid  shot  from 
the  Matterhorn,  describing  its  proper  par- 
abola, and  finally  splitting  into  fragments  as 
it  smote  one  of  the  rocky  towers  in  front  of 
us.    Down  the  scattered  fragments  came  like 
a  kind  of  spray,  slightly  wide  of  us,  but  still 
near    enough    to    compel    a    sharp    lookout. 
Two  or  three  such  explosions  occurred,  but 
we  chose  the  back-fin  of  the  mountain  for 
our  track,  and  from  this  the  falling  stones 
were  speedily  deflected  right  or   left.     Be- 
fore the  set  of  sun  we  reached  our  place  of 
bivouac. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps,  ch.  14,  p.  158.     (A.,  1898.) 

867.  DISINTEGRATION   OF  ROCKS 

— Earth  and  Ocean-floor  Covered  with  Rock- 
debris. — The  disintegration  and  decomposi- 
tion of  rocks  is  a  process  everywhere  being 


Disintegration 
Distances 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


178 


carried  on — from  the  crests  of  the  moun- 
tains down  to  the  sea,  and  in  every  latitude 
under  the  sun.  No  exposed  rock-surface  es- 
capes attack.  In  parched  deserts  as  in  well- 
watered  regions,  in  the  dreary  barrens  of  the 
far  north  as  in  the  sunny  lands  of  the  south, 
at  lofty  elevations  as  in  low-lying  plains,  the 
work  of  rock-waste  never  ceases.  Here  it  is 
insolation  that  is  the  most  potent  agent  of 
destruction ;  there  it  is  rain  aided  by  humus 
and  carbonic  acids;  or  rain  and  frost  com- 
bine their  forces  to  shatter  and  pulverize 
the  rocks.  In  latitudes  where  frost  acts 
energetically,  the  most  conspicuous  proofs 
of  rock-waste  are  the  sheets  and  heaps  of 
debris  that  are  ever  traveling  down  moun- 
tain slopes,  or  gathering  at  the  base  of  cliff 
and  precipice.  In  lower  latitudes  the  most 
impressive  evidence  of  disintegration  is  the 
great  thickness  attained  by  rotted  rock  in 
positions  where  it  is  not  liable  to  be  readily 
swept  away  by  running  water. — GEIKIE 
Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  29.  (G.  P.  P., 
1898.) 


868. 


Heat  and  Cold  Break 


Down — Wind  Scatters  in  Dust. — Rocks  at 
the  surface  are  everywhere  subject  to 
changes  of  temperature — warmed  by  day 
and  during  summer,  cooled  at  night  and  dur- 
ing winter.  Thus  they  alternately  expand 
and  contract,  and  this  tends  to  disintegra- 
tion, for  the  materials  of  which  they  are 
composed  often  yield  unequally  to  strain  or 
tension.  In  the  rocky  deserts  of  tropical 
and  subtropical  regions,  bare  of  verdure 
and  practically  rainless,  the  effects  produced 
by  alternate  heating  and  cooling  are  very 
marked.  The  rocks  are  cracked  and  shat- 
tered to  a  depth  of  several  inches;  the  sur- 
faces peel  off,  and  are  rapidly  disintegrated 
and  pulverized.  Wind  then  catches  up  the 
loose  material  and  sweeps  it  away,  leaving 
fresh  surfaces  exposed  to  the  destructive  ac- 
tion of  insolation.  More  than  this,  the  grit, 
sand,  and  dust  carried  off  by  the  wind  are 
used  as  a  sand-blast  to  attack  and  erode  the 
rocks  against  which  they  strike. — GEIKIE 
Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  23.  (G.  P.  P., 
1898.) 

869.  DISORDERS  OF  SOCIETY 
FROM  TRANSGRESSION  OF  NATURAL 
LAW— Evil  Points  the  Way  to  Betterment.— 
Is  it  vain  to  hope  that  the  thoughtfulness 
and  candor  which  have  been  the  natural  in- 
heritance of  a  few  may  yet  be  more  common 
among  all  educated  men?  The  whole  consti- 
tution and  course  of  things  would  receive  an 
earlier  fulfilment  did  we  carry  about  with 
us  an  habitual  belief  in  the  inexhaustible 
treasures  which  it  holds — in  the  power  of 
the  agencies  which  it  offers  to  knowledge 
and  contrivance.  For  then  the  results  of 
natural  consequence  would  be  accepted  for 
that  which  they  teach,  and  not  simply  sub- 
mitted to  for  that  which  they  inflict.  The 
disorders  of  society  would  not  so  often  be 
supinely  regarded  as  the  result  of  inevitable 
laws,  but  would  be  seen  as  the  fruit  always 


of  some  ignorance  or  of  some  rebellion;  and 
so  the  exhilarating  conviction  would  be 
ours  that  those  disorders  are  within  the 
reach  of  remedy  through  larger  knowledge 
and  a  better  will. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  7,  p.  229.  (Burt.) 

87O.     DISPERSAL     OF    PLANTS— 

Effected  by  Animals. — Sometimes  an  express 
provision  is  found  in  the  structure  of  seeds 
to  enable  them  to  adhere  firmly  by  prickles, 
hooks,  and  hairs,  to  the  coats  of  animals, 
or  feathers  of  the  winged  tribe,  to  which 
they  remain  attached  for  weeks,  or  even 
months,  and  are  borne  along  into  every 
region  whither  birds  or  quadrupeds  may 
migrate.  Linnaeus  enumerates  fifty  genera 
of  plants,  and  the  number  now  known  to 
botanists  is  much  greater,  which  are  armed 
with  hooks,  by  which,  when  ripe,  they  ad- 
here to  the  coats  of  animals.  ...  A  deer 
has  strayed  from  the  herd  when  browsing 
on  some  rich  pasture,  when  he  is  suddenly 
alarmed  by  the  approach  of  his  foe.  He  in- 
stantly takes  to  flight,  dashing  through 
many  a  thicket,  and  swimming  across  many 
a  river  and  lake.  The  seeds  of  the  herbs  and 
shrubs  which  have  adhered  to  his  smoking 
flanks  are  washed  off  again  by  the  waters. 
The  thorny  spray  is  torn  off,  and  fixes  itself 
in  its  hairy  coat,  until  brushed  off  again  in 
other  thickets  and  copses. — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  ch.  37,  p.  624.  (A.,  1854.) 


871. 


Effected  by  Man.— 


Besides  the  plants  used  in  agriculture,  the 
numbers  which  have  been  naturalized  by  ac- 
cident, or  which  man  has  spread  uninten- 
tionally, are  considerable.  One  of  our  old 
authors,  Josselyn,  gives  a  catalog  of  such 
plants  as  had,  in  his  time,  sprung  up  in 
the  colony  since  the  English  planted  and 
kept  cattle  in  New  England.  They  were  two- 
and-twenty  in  number.  The  common  net- 
tle was  the  first  which  the  settlers  noticed; 
and  the  plantain  was  called  by  the  Indians 
"  Englishman's  foot,"  as  if  it  sprung  from 
their  footsteps. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geol- 
ogy, ch.  37,  p.  625.  (A.,  1854.) 

872.  DISPERSAL  OF  SEEDS  GRAD- 
UAL— Nature's  Thrashing-machine — Balls  of 
Buttomvood. — The  fruit  of  the  buttonwood, 
or  sycamore,  which  grows  along  streams, 
is  in  the  form  of  balls  an  inch  and  a  half 
in  diameter.  These  balls  grow  on  the  tops 
of  the  highest  branches,  and  hold  on  into 
winter  or  longer.  The  stems  are  about  two 
inches  long,  and  soon  after  drying,  through 
the  action  of  the  winds,  they  become  very 
flexible,  each  resembling  a  cluster  of  tough 
strings.  The  slightest  breeze  moves  them, 
and  they  bob  around  against  each  other  and 
the  small  branches  in  an  odd  sort  of  way. 
After  so  much  thrashing  that  they  can  hold 
no  longer,  the  little  nuts  become  loosened 
and  begin  to  drop  off  a  few  at  a  time.  Cer- 
tain birds  eat  a  few  and  loosen  others,  which 
escape,  .  .  .  each  supplied  with  a  ring 
of  bristles  about  the  base,  which  acts  as  a 


179 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Disintegration 
Distances 


parachute  to  permit  the  wind  the  easier  to 
carry  them  for  some  distance  before  falling, 
or  to  drift  them  on  the  surface  of  the  snow 
or  ice> — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  5,  p.  39. 
(G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

873.  DISPUTATION  ON  NAMES 
RATHER  THAN  THINGS— Agreement  amid 
Controversy. — A  man  that  is   of  judgment 
and  understanding  shall  sometimes  hear  ig- 
norant  men  differ,    and   know  well   within 
himself   that   those    which    so    differ   mean 
one  thing,  and  yet  they  themselves  would 
never  agree;   and  if  it  come  so  to  pass  in 
that  distance  of  judgment  which  is  between 
man  and  man,  shall  we  not  think  that  God 
above,  that  knows  the  heart,  doth  not  dis- 
cern that  frail  men,  in  some  of  their  con- 
tradictions, intend  the  same  thing;  and  ac- 
cepteth  of  both? — BACON  Essays,  essay  4, 
Of  Revenge,  p.  15.     (W.  L.  A.) 

874.  DISTANCE  OF  ONLY  ONE  STAR 
CERTAINLY  KNOWN— Tho    no    discredit 
whatever  can  attach  to  astronomers  for  fail- 
ing to  determine  exactly  quantities   which 
are  in  reality  all  but  evanescent,  yet  no  more 
reliance   must  be   placed   on   the   estimates 
of  star-distances  than  shall  appear  to  be  jus- 
tified by  the  accordance  of  different  and  in- 
dependent determinations.     ...     So  that 
the   startling   but   inevitable   conclusion   is 
deduced  that  there  is  but  one  star  in  the 
heavens  of  whose  distance  astronomers  have 
any   definite   ideas.      This    star   is   the   one 
known  as  Alpha  Centauri ;  and  hitherto  all 
observations   agree   in  placing  it   at   about 
twenty-two    millions    of    millions    of    miles 
from  the  earth. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among 
Infinities,  p.  167.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

875.  DISTANCE   OF    SUN    FROM 
EARTH — Expressed  in  Speed  of  Cannon-ball 
and  of  Railroad  Train. — As  to  the  distance 
of  ninety-three  million  miles,  a  cannon-ball 
would  travel  it  in  about  fifteen  years.     It 
may  help  us  to  remember  that  at  the  speed 
attained  by  the  limited  express  on  our  rail- 
roads a  train  which  had  left  the  sun  for  the 
earth  when  the  "  Mayflower "   sailed   from 
Delftshaven  with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and 
which  ran  at  that  rate  day  and  night,  would 
in   1887   still  be  a  journey   of  some  years 
away  from  its  terrestrial  station.     The  fare 
at  the  customary  rates,  it  may  be  remarked, 
would  be  rather  over  two  million  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,   so  that  it  is   clear 
that  we  should  need  both  money  and  leisure 
for  the  journey. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy, 
ch.  1,  p.  5.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

876.  DISTANCE       PENETRATED— 

Spectroscope  Measures  Orbits  and  Speed  of 
Stars  by  Light  That  Left  Them  Forty-seven 
Years  Ago. — [Dr.  Vogel]  from  his  study  of 
the  spectra  of  the  variable  star  Algol,  has 
been  able  to  determine  that  both  the  visible 
star  and  its  dark  companion  are  somewhat 
larger  than  our  sun,  tho  of  less  density; 
that  their  centers  are  3,230,000  miles  apart, 


and  that  they  move  in  their  orbits  at  rates 
of  55  and  26  miles  per  second  respectively; 
and  this  information,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, has  been  gained  as  to  objects  the 
light  of  which  takes  about  forty-seven  years 
to  reach  us! — WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Cen- 
tury, ch.  6,  p.  48.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

877.  DISTANCES,  INCONCEIVABLE, 
OF  THE  STARS — Light  Millions  of  Years  in 
Coming  Thence — Exalted  Ideas  of  Time  and 
Space. — Now,  light  takes— more  than  eight 
minutes  in  reaching  us  from  the  sun,  whose 
distance  is  more  than  91,000,000  of  miles; 
and  it  is  easily  calculated  that  the  long 
journey  from  Sirius  cannot  be  traversed  in 
less  than  fifteen  years.  More  probably  it  re- 
quires upwards  of  twenty  years;  and  the 
greater  number  of  the  stars  we  see  on  a  dark 
and  clear  night  lie  very  much  farther  away 
than  Sirius.  Some  of  them  certainly  lie  at 
distances  which  light  can  only  traverse  in 
hundreds  of  years.  So  soon  as  we  turn, 
however,  to  telescopic  stars,  the  range  of 
time  over  which  our  vision  extends  is  enor- 
mously increased,  and  it  is  certainly  not  too 
much  to  say  that  some  of  the  fainter  stars 
revealed  by  the  great  Rosse  telescope  lie  at 
distances  so  enormous  that  their  light  has 
taken  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  years 
in  reaching  us.  Then  beyond  these  stars  lie 
millions  and  millions  of  orbs  yet  farther 
away.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  range  of 
space  occupied  thus  with  the  work  of  God's 
hands.  All  that  has  been  taught  us  by  as- 
tronomy suggests  the  lesson  that  every  mo- 
ment light  reaches  this  earth  from  unseen 
orbs  so  far  away  that  the  journey  over  the 
vast  abysses  separating  us  from  them  has 
not  been  completed  in  less  than  millions  of 
years. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  202. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


878. 


Yet  Far-off  Stars 


Obey  Unchanging  Law. — But  it  was  not 
merely  in  the  region  of  the  attraction  of  our 
sun  that  the  law  of  gravitation  was  found  to 
hold.  With  regard  to  the  fixed  stars,  it  was 
found  that  double  stars  moved  about  each 
other  in  elliptical  paths,  and  that  therefore 
the  same  law  of  gravitation  must  hold  for 
them  as  for  our  planetary  system.  The  dis- 
tance of  some  of  them  could  be  calculated. 
The  nearest  of  them,  a  in  the  constellation  of 
the  Centaur,  is  270,000  times  further  from 
the  sun  than  the  earth.  Light,  which  has  a 
velocity  of  186,000  miles  a  second,  which 
traverses  the  distance  from  the  sun  to  the 
earth  in  eight  minutes,  would  take  four 
years  to  travel  from  a  Centauri  to  us.  The 
more  delicate  methods  of  modern  astronomy 
have  made  it  possible  to  determine  distances 
which  light  would  take  thirty-five  years  to 
traverse — as,  for  instance,  the  pole-star; 
but  the  law  of  gravitation  is  seen  to  hold, 
ruling  the  motion  of  the  double  stars,  at  dis- 
tances in  the  heavens,  which  all  the  means 
we  possess  have  hitherto  utterly  failed  to 
measure. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  4,  p.  149.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 


Distinction 
Division 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


180 


879.  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  SUC- 
CESSION AND  CAUSATION— Day  and  Night 
vs.  Rotation  of  the  Earth. — He  [Comte]  has 
an  objection  to  the  word  cause;  he  will  only 
consent  to  speak  of  laws  of  succession:  and 
depriving  himself  of  the  use  of  a  word  which 
has  a  positive  meaning,  he  misses  the  mean- 
ing it  expresses.  He  sees  no  difference  be- 
tween such  generalizations  as  Kepler's  laws 
and  such  as  the  theory  of  gravitation.  He 
fails  to  perceive  the  real  distinction  between 
the  laws  of  succession  and  coexistence  which 
thinkers  of  a  different  school  call  laws  of 
phenomena,  and  those  of  what  they  call  the 
action  of  causes:  the  former  exemplified  by 
the  succession  of  day  and  night,  the  latter 
by  the  earth's  rotation  which  causes  it.  The 
succession  of  day  and  night  is  as  much  an 
invariable  sequence  as  the  alternate  ex- 
posure of  opposite  sides  of  the  earth  to  the 
sun.  Yet  day  and  night  are  not  the  causes 
of  one  another;  why?  Because  their  se- 
quence, tho  invariable  in  our  experience,  is 
not  unconditionally  so :  those  facts  only  suc- 
ceed each  other,  provided  that  the  presence 
and  absence  of  the  sun  succeed  each  other ; 
and  if  this  alternation  were  to  cease,  we 
might  have  either  day  or  night  unfollowed 
by  one  another.  There  are  thus  two  kinds 
of  uniformities  of  succession,  the  one  uncon- 
ditional, the  other  conditional  on  the  first: 
laws  of  causation,  and  other  successions  de- 
pendent on  those  laws. — MILL  Positive  Phi- 
losophy of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  54.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1887.) 

880.  DISTINCTIONS  LITTLE  NOTED 
BY     AVERAGE    MIND— Horse-stealing  vs. 
Sheep-stealing.  —  Professor      de      Morgan, 
thinking,   it  is   true,   rather   of   conceptual 
than    of    perceptive    discrimination,    wrote, 
wittily  enough: 

"  The  great  bulk  of  the  illogical  part  of 
the  educated  community — whether  majority 
or  minority  I  know  not;  perhaps  six  of  one 
and  half  a  dozen  of  the  other — have  not 
power  to  make  a  distinction,  and  of  course 
cannot  be  made  to  take  a  distinction,  and  of 
course  never  attempt  to  shake  a  distinction. 
With  them  all  such  things  are  evasions, 
subterfuges,  come-offs,  loopholes,  etc.  They 
would  hang  a  man*  for  horse-stealing  under 
a  statute  against  sheep-stealing,  and  would 
laugh  at  you  if  you  quibbled  about  the  dis- 
tinction between  a  horse  and  a  sheep." — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  12,  p.  509. 
(H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

881.  DISTRACTION  OF  ATTENTION 
FROM  GRIEF— Help  to  Forgetfulness—  Voli- 
tion   the   Latest   Resource. — We    will    take 
the  case  of  a  man  who  has  sustained  a  great 
shock  by  the  loss  of  a  dearly  loved  wife, 
child,  or  friend,  a  disappointed  affection,  or 
commercial  ruin.     His  physical  condition  is 
lowered,  the  power  of  his  will  is  weakened, 
the  painful  impression  seems  branded  into 
his  innermost  nature,  he  cannot  help  feeling 
it  most  acutely,  he  seems  powerless  to  with- 
draw himself  from  it.     He  may  be  exhorted 


to  "  rouse  himself  " ;  every  conceivable  mo- 
tive may  be  suggested  to  him  for  doing  so; 
but  all  in  vain.  What  is  needed  is  the  com- 
plete distraction  of  his  attention  from 
brooding  over  his  misfortune ;  and  the  force 
which  the  weakened  will  cannot  of  itself 
exert  must  be  supplied  by  the  attractive  in- 
fluence of  new  scenes  and  persons,  and  the 
complete  severance  from  painful  associa- 
tions. He  yields  himself  passively  to  his 
advisers ;  at  first  "  all  seems  barren,  from 
Dan  to  Beersheba";  he  looks  up  into  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's,  or  down  into  the  crater 
of  Vesuvius,  and  finds  "  nothing  in  it."  But 
gradually  his  bodily  health  improves;  he 
begins  to  show  some  interest  in  what  he  sees 
and  hears;  and  a  judicious  companion,  like 
a  good  nurse,  watches  for  every  sign,  and 
encourages  every  movement  in  the  right  di- 
rection, noticing  what  proves  most  attract- 
ive, and  secretly  planning  to  bring  its  at- 
tractions into  play.  At  first  the  patient 
seems  ashamed  of  being  cheerful,  and  falls 
back  into  his  moodiness,  as  if  he  felt  it  a 
duty  to  hug  the  memory  of  his  lost  happi- 
ness; but  these  relapses,  after  a  time,  be- 
come less  and  less  frequent.  He  begins  to 
find  that  it  is  really  much  pleasanter  to  for- 
get himself,  and  to  make  himself  agreeable 
to  others,  than  it  is  to  brood  morosely  over 
his  troubles.  With  the  reinvigoration  of  his 
bodily  health,  his  volitional  power  gradually 
returns;  and  he  comes  to  feel  that  he  can 
resist  the  tendency  to  revert  to  them  by 
determinately  giving  his  attention  to  the 
objects  around  him.  The  resisting  power 
required  becomes  less  and  less  the  more  fre- 
quently it  is  exerted ;  and  at  length  the  men- 
tal health  is  completely  restored — the  brood- 
ing tendency,  however,  being  apt  to  recur, 
either  when  the  will  is  weakened  by  physical 
fatigue,  or  when  old  associations  are  revived 
with  peculiar  force  and  vividness. — CARPEN- 
TER Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  334. 
(A.,  1900.) 

882.  DISTRIBUTION,  GRADUAL,  OF 
MAMMALIA  OVER  THE   EARTH— It  is 

evident  that  the  distribution  of  animals  over 
the  earth's  surface  to-day,  or  their  distribu- 
tion through  past  time,  as  evidenced  by 
their  fossil  remains,  both  point  to  a  gradual 
and  natural  origin  and  distribution  of  every 
kind  of  beast  composing  the  mammalian 
class.  We  say  of  every  kind  of  beast,  be- 
cause as  regards  man  no  reasonable  opinion 
could  be  gathered  from  the  facts  set  down 
in  this  series  of  essays. — MIVART  Types  of 
Animal  Life,  ch.  12,  p.  374.  (L.  B.  &  Co., 
1893.) 

883.  DISTRIBUTION    OF    PLANTS 
STRIKINGLY     IRREGULAR— The  strug- 
gle   for    existence    in    plants    is,    therefore, 
threefold  in  character  and  infinite  in  com- 
plexity, and  the  result  is  seen  in  their  curi- 
ously irregular  distribution  over  the  face  of 
the  earth.     Not  only  has  each  country  its 
distinct  plants,  but  every  valley,  every  hill- 
side, almost  every  hedgerow,  has  a  different 


181 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Distinction 
Division 


set  of  plants  from  its  adjacent  valley,  hill- 
side, or  hedgerow — if  not  always  different  in 
the  actual  species,  yet  very  different  in  com- 
parative abundance,  some  which  are  rare  in 
the  one  being  common  in  the  other. — WAL- 
LACE Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  12.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

884.  DISTRIBUTION     OF    SEEDS— 

The  Milkweed. — Every  one  who  has  wan- 
dered along  a  country  road  has  noticed  the 
peculiar  seed-pods  of  the  common  milkweed. 
.  .  .  As  the  pods  open  there  is  revealed 
a  large  number  of  flattened  brown  seeds. 
.  .  .  Each  seed  bears  on  its  smaller  end 
a  tuft  of  silken  hairs.  When  the  pod  first 
opens  these  hairs  lie  straight  and  flat,  the 
ends  of  the  hairs  being  caught  in  the  folds 
of  the  membranous  partition  which  runs 
through  the  center  of  the  pod. 

On  exposure  to  the  air  the  folds  relax 
their  hold  upon  the  hairs,  which  thus  be- 
come free  at  their  upper  ends.  Then  each 
hair  curls  over  toward  the  other  end  of  the 
seed,  until  at  last  nearly  all  the  hairs  on  the 
upper  seeds  are  thus  curled  over,  forming  a 
beautiful  crown  almost  as  light  as  air. 
When  a  strong  wind  blows,  the  seeds  are 
picked  up  by  means  of  these  hairs  and  car- 
ried away  to  be  dropped  beside  some  fence 
or  tree  or  bush.  By  the  beautiful  device  of 
this  feathery  crown  the  milkweed  provides 
for  the  scattering  of  its  seeds.  It  seems  a 
simple  process,  but  as  you  think  it  over  you 
see  that  it  is  a  very  admirable  one. — WEED 
Seed-travellers,  pt.  i,  p.  1.  (G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

885.  DISTRIBUTION  OF  STARS  UN- 
EQUAL— Rich  and  Poor  Celestial  Regions — 
Magellanic   Clouds — Aggregations   of  Light 
and  Power. — In  working,  then,  by  the  meth- 
od of  charting  I  began   (for  I  may  as  well 
note  that  I  have  been  practically  alone  in 
this  work)    by  charting  the  stars  that  we 
can  see,  according  to  a  plan  by  which  the 
laws  of  distribution  should  be  clearly  recog- 
nized;   for  the  charts  I  drew  were  so  con- 
trived  that    equal    spaces   on   the   celestial 
sphere  should  be  represented  by  equal  spaces 
in  the  chart.     It  quickly  became  clear  that 
the  stars  are  not  scattered  at  all  uniformly 
over  the  heavens.     There  are  rich  and  poor 
regions;     and   these   are   so    arranged  that 
while  the  whole  of  the  galactic  region  is  ex- 
ceedingly rich  in  naked-eye  stars,  two  oppo- 
site rich  regions,  one  in  the  northern  and 
the  other  in  the  southern  heavens,  are  sepa- 
rated from  each   other    (except  where  the 
Milky  Way  on  opposite  sides  passes   from 
one  to  the  other)   by  singularly  barren  re- 
gions.     It    appears    a    noteworthy    circum- 
stance  that   near   the   center   of   the   great 
southern   rich  region  are   found  those  two 
wonderful    objects    called     the    Magellanic 
clouds,    vast    globe-shaped    conglomerations 
(scarcely  any  other  word  seems  so  suitable) 
in  which  are  contained  not  only  myriads  of 
stars  of  all  orders  of  magnitude  after  the 
seventh,  but  also  every  kind  of  star  cloudlet. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  268.     (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


886.  DIVING-BELL,    THE    FIRST— 

Home  of  the  Water-spider — Transporting 
and  Storing  Air. — The  water-spider  (Argyro- 
neta  aquatica),  as  is  well  known,  displays 
the  curious  instinct  of  building  her  nest  be- 
low the  surface  of  water,  and  constructing 
it  on  the  principle  of  a  diving-bell.  The  ani- 
mal usually  selects  still  waters  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  makes  her  nest  in  the  form  of  an 
oval  hollow,,  lined  with  web,  and  held  secure 
by  a  number  of  threads  passing  in  various 
directions  and  fastened  to  the  surrounding 
plants.  In  this  oval  bell,  which  is  open  be- 
low, she  watches  for  prey,  and,  according  to 
Kirby,  passes  the  winter  after  having  closed 
the  opening.  The  air  needful  for  respiration 
the  spider  carries  from  the  surface  of  the 
water.  To  do  this  she  swims  upon  her  back 
in  order  to  entangle  an  air-bubble  upon  the 
hairy  surface  of  her  abdomen.  With  this 
bubble  she  descends,  "  like  a  globe  of  quick- 
silver," to  the  opening  of  her  nest,  where  she 
liberates  it  and  returns  for  more. — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  6,  p.  211.  (A., 
1899.) 

887.  DIVISION     BY     DEPRESSION 
AMONG  THE  FAUNA  OF  THE  DEEP  SEA 

— It  would  be  quite  possible,  however,  to 
subdivide  the  [terrestrial]  geographical 
areas  into  zones  of  elevation  above  the  sea- 
level,  not  very  clearly  marked  off  from  one 
another,  it  is  true,  but  nevertheless  each 
showing  a  number  of  characteristic  features. 
This  idea  is  expressed,  for  example,  when  we 
speak  of  the  Alpine  fauna,  the  Himalayan 
fauna,  or  the  fauna  of  the  great  Andes. 

In  the  study  of  the  marine  fauna  and  flora 
we  must  notice,  it  is  the  depth  of  the  water, 
or  in  other  words  the  depression  of  the  habi- 
tats below  the  sea-level,  that  forms  the  most 
important  consideration.  Geographical  sub- 
regions  may  be  recognized  and  defined  with 
a  certain  amount  of  accuracy,  especially  in 
the  case  of  the  fauna  of  the  shallow  waters, 
but  by  far  the  most  important  changes  in 
the  general  characters  of  the  fauna  are 
found  when  we  pass  from  one  "  zone  "  of  de- 
pression to  another. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  3,  p.  46.  (A.,  1894.) 

888.  DIVISION  LESSENS  CONDUC- 
TIVITY— Red-hot  Iron  Ball  Held  in  the  Hand 
— Cause  of  Warmth  of  Fur. — Pure  silica,  in 
the  state  of  hard  rock-crystal,  is  a  better 
conductor  than  bismuth  or  lead ;    but  if  the 
crystal  be  reduced  to  powder,  the  propaga- 
tion of  heat  is  exceedingly  slow.     Through 
transparent  rock  salt  heat  is  copiously  con- 
ducted,   through    common    table    salt    very 
feebly.    Asbestos  is  composed  of  certain  sili- 
cates in  a  fibrous  condition;    I  place  some 
asbestos  on  my  hand,  and  on  it  a  red-hot 
iron  ball.    The  ball  can  be  thus  held  without 
inconvenience.      That    the    division    of    the 
substance  should  interfere  with  the  trans- 
mission might  reasonably  be  inferred;    for, 
heat  being  motion,  anything  which  disturbs 
the  continuity  of  the  molecular  chain,  along 
which  the  motion  is  conveyed,  must  affect 


Division 
Doing 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


182 


the  transmission.  In  the  case  of  the  as- 
bestos, the  fibers  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  spaces  of  air;  the  motion  has  to 
pass  from  solid  to  air,  and  from  air  to  solid. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  transmission  of 
vibratory  motion  through  this  composite 
texture  must  be  very  imperfect.  In  the  case 
of  an  animal's  fur  this  is  more  especially 
the  case ;  for  here,  not  only  do  spaces  of  air 
intervene  between  the  hairs,  but  the  hairs 
themselves,  unlike  the  fibers  of  the  asbestos, 
are  very  bad  conductors.  Lava  has  been 
known  to  flow  over  a  layer  of  ashes  under- 
neath which  was  a  bed  of  ice,  the  non-con- 
ductivity of  the  ashes  saving  the  ice  from 
fusion.  Red-hot  cannon-balls  have  been 
wheeled  to  the  gun's  mouth  in  wooden  bar- 
rows partially  filled  with  sand.  Ice  is 
packed  in  sawdust,  to  prevent  it  from  melt- 
ing; powdered  charcoal  is  also  an  eminent- 
ly bad  conductor. — TYNDAIX  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  9,  p.  258.  (A.,  1900.) 

889.     DIVISION  OF  BIELA'S  COMET 

— An  Unexpected  Astronomical  Spectacle. — 
It  [Biela's  comet]  was  seen  again  in  1845, 
on  November  25,  near  the  place  assigned  to 
it  by  calculation,  and  its  course  was  duly 
followed.  Everything  went  on  to  the  gen- 
eral satisfaction,  when — unexpected  spec- 
tacle!— on  January  13,  1846,  the  comet  split 
into  two!  What  had  passed  in  its  bosom? 
Why  this  separation?  What  was  the  cause 
of  such  a  celestial  cataclysm?  We  do  not 
know;  but  the  fact  is  that,  instead  of  one 
comet,  two  were  henceforth  seen,  which  con- 
tinued to  move  in  space  like  two  twin  sisters 
— two  veritable  comets,  each  having  its 
nucleus,  its  head,,  its  coma,  and  its  tail, 
slowly  separating  from  each  other ;  on  Feb- 
ruary 10  there  was  already  60,000  leagues 
(about  149,000  miles)  of  space  between  the 
two.  They  would  seem,  however,  to  have 
parted  with  regret,  and  during  several  days 
a  sort  of  bridge  was  seen  thrown  from  one 
to  the  other.  The  cometary  couple,  depart- 
ing from  the  earth,  soon  disappeared  in  the 
infinite  night. 

They  returned  within  view  of  the  earth  in 
the  month  of  September,  1852;  on  the  26th 
of  this  month  the  twins  reappeared,  but 
much  farther  apart,  separated  by  an  inter- 
val of  500,000  leagues  (about  1,250,000 
miles). — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  v,  ch.  2,  p.  499.  (A.) 

89O.  DIVISION  OF  LABOR—  Among 
Ancient  Organisms — Distinctive  Organs  Mark 
Higher  Type  of  Structure. — Other  species  of 
bivalves  were  also  introduced,  approaching 
more  nearly  our  clams  and  oysters.  .  .  . 
They  differ  from  the  brachiopods  chiefly  in 
the  higher  character  of  their  breathing  ap- 
paratus; for  they  have  free  gills,  instead  of 
the  network  of  vessels  -on  the  lining  skin 
which  serves  as  the  organ  of  respiration  in 
the  brachiopods.  We  shall  always  find  that 
in  proportion  as  the  functions  are  distinct, 
and,  as  it  were,  individualized  by  having 
special  organs  appropriated  to  them,  ani- 


mals rise  in  the  scale  of  structure. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  3,  p. 
85.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


891. 


Between  Associated 


Organisms — Lichens  Communities  of  Algce 
and  Fungi — Organisms  Mutually  Coopera- 
ting. —  Incredible  as  the  statement  once 
seemed,  it  is  a  statement  now  accepted,  that 
what  we  know  as  lichens,  and  used  to  con- 
sider as  plants  forming  a  certain  low  class, 
are  now  found  to  be  not  plants  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense  at  all,  but  compound  growths 
formed  of  minute  algae  and  minute  fungi, 
carrying  on  their  lives  together:  the  algae 
furnishing  to  the  fungi  certain  constituents 
they  need,  but  cannot  directly  obtain,  and 
the  fungi  profiting  by  certain  materials  they 
obtain  from  the  alga?,  either  while  living 
or  while  individually  decaying.  Whence  it 
would  seem  that  after  the  microscopic  vege- 
tal type  had  become  in  a  large  degree  dif- 
ferentiated into  two  main  types,  in  adapta- 
tion to  different  conditions  of  life,  and  had 
acquired  appropriate  specialties  of  nature, 
there  grew  up  this  communistic  arrange- 
ment between  certain  of  them,  enabling  each 
to  benefit  by  the  powers  which  the  other  had 
acquired :  evidently  an  exchange  of  services, 
a  physiological  division  of  labor,  a  mutual 
dependence  of  functions  analogous  to  that 
which  exists  between  functions  in  an  ordi- 
nary plant  or  animal. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt. 
v,  ch.  10A,  p.  339.  (A.,  1900.) 

892. Marks  the  Progress 

of  Nations. — A  comparative  survey  of  the 
history  of  nations,  or  what  is  called  "  uni- 
versal history,"  will  readily  yield  to  us,  as 
the  first  and  most  general  result,  evidence  of 
a  continually  increasing  variety  of  human 
activities,  both  in  the  life  of  individuals  and 
in  that  of  families  and  states.  This  differ- 
entiation or  separation,  this  constantly  in- 
creasing divergence  of  human  character  and 
the  form  of  human  life,  is  caused  by  the 
ever  advancing  and  more  complete  division 
of  labor  among  individuals.  While  the  most 
ancient  and  lowest  stages  of  human  civili- 
zation show  us  throughout  the  same  rude 
and  simple  conditions,  we  see  in  every  suc- 
ceeding period  of  history,  among  different 
nations,  a  greater  variety  of  customs,  prac- 
tises, and  institutions. — HAECKEL  History  of 
Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  12,  p.  319.  (K.  P.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

893.  DIVISION  OF  PERSONALITY 
BY  PHRENOLOGY— .Horse  Inside  of  Loco- 
motive.— "  We  have  [according  to  phrenol- 
ogy] a  parliament  of  little  men  together, 
each  one  of  whom,  as  happens  also  in  a  real 
parliament,  possesses  but  a  single  idea  which 
he  ceaselessly  strives  to  make  prevail  " — 
benevolence,  firmness,  hope,  and  the  rest. 
"  Instead  of  one  soul,  phrenology  gives  us 
forty,  each  alone  as  enigmatic  as  the  full  ag- 
gregate psychic  life  can  be.  Instead  of  divi- 
ding the  latter  into  effective  elements,  she 
divides  it  into  personal  beings  of  peculiar 
character.  .  .  .  '  Herr  Pastor,  sure  there 


183 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


EH- 


be  a  horse  inside,'  called  out  the  peasants  to 
X  after  their  spiritual  shepherd  had  spent 
hours  in  explaining  to  them  the  construc- 
tion of  the  locomotive.  With  a  horse  inside 
truly  everything  becomes  clear,  even  tho  it 
be  a  queer  enough  sort  of  horse — the  horse 
itself  calls  for  no  explanation!  Phrenology 
takes  a  start  to  get  beyond  the  point  of  view 
of  the  ghostlike  soul  entity,  but  she  ends  by 
populating  the  whole  skull  with  ghosts  of 
the  same  order."  [Quoted  from  Lange, 
"  Geschichte  des  Materialismus,"  2d  ed.,  vol. 
ii,  p.  345.] — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2, 
p.  29.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

894.  DOGMA  DANGEROUS  TO  DIS- 
PUTE— Air  in  Arteries  of  the  Dead — Therefore 
of  the  Living — The  Liver  a  Manufactory  of 
Blood. — The  fact  that  air  is  generally  found 
in  the  arteries  of  dead  bodies,  which  indeed 
only  penetrates  in  the  moment  in  which  the 
vessels  are  cut,  led  the  ancients  to  the  be- 
lief that  air  is  also  present  in  the  arteries 
during  life.     The  veins  only  remained  then 
in  which  blood  could  circulate.     It  was  be- 
lieved to  be  formed  in  the  liver,  to  move 
from  there  to  the  heart,  and  through  the 
veins  to  the  organs.     Any  careful  observa- 
tion of  the  operation  of  blood-letting  must 
have   taught   that,   in  the   veins,   it   comes 
from  the  periphery,  and  flows  towards  the 
heart.     But  this  false  theory  had  become  so 
mixed  up  with  the  explanation  of  fever  and 
of   inflammation   that   it   acquired  the  au- 
thority of  a  dogma,  which  it  was  dangerous 
to    attack. — HELMHOLTZ   Popular   Lectures, 
lect.  5,  p.  211.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

895.  DOGMAS    ONCE    IDENTIFIED 
WITH  RELIGION—  Christianity  Not  Shaken 
by    Their    Overthrow. — We    of   the    present 
time  can  only  wonder  at  the  obstinacy  with 
which  the  self-styled  "  orthodox  "  have  clung 
to  the  idea  that  the  world  with  its  living 
inhabitants   was   created   in   six   successive 
days  of  the  year  4004  B.   C.,  the  Creator 
resting  from  his  labors  on  the  seventh ;   that 
our  own  terrestrial  globe  is  the  fixed  center 
of  the  universe — sun  and  moon,  stars  and 
planets,  revolving  around  it  every  twenty- 
four  hours ;    that  not  more  than  6,000  years 
have  elapsed  since  man  was  first  called  into 
being;     and  that  the  Noachian   deluge  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  globe  and  destroyed 
all  the  animals  then  living  on  its  surface, 
except  the  few  pairs  that  found  a  refuge  in 
the  ark.    As  each  of  these  positions  has  been 
successively  impugned  by  scientific  research, 
theologians    have   raised   the   cry   that   the 
foundations  of  Christianity  were  being  un- 
dermined ;    and  yet  they  have  now,  tacitly  if 
not  openly,  agreed  to  abandon  them  all,  as 
ancient    traditions    altogether    destitute    of 
historical  value.     That  theology  has  gained 
and  not  lost  by  this  abandonment,  I  do  not 
suppose  that  any  one  now  doubts. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  410.     (A., 
1889.) 

896.  DOGMATISM   OF  SCIENTIST— 

Experience  to  Prove  Matter  Eternal. — Cre- 


ation in  the  former  sense,  as  the  coming  into 
existence  of  matter,  does  not  concern  us  here 
at  all.  This  process,  if  indeed  it  ever  took 
place,  is  completely  beyond  human  compre- 
hension, and  can  therefore  never  become  a 
subject  of  scientific  inquiry.  Natural  sci- 
ence teaches  that  matter  is  eternal  and  im- 
perishable, for  experience  has  never  shown 
us  that  even  the  smallest  particle  of  matter 
has  come  into  existence  or  passed  away. — • 
HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  8.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

897.  DOGS  INSEPARABLE  AND  UNI- 
VERSAL   COMPANIONS    OF    MEN— 
Since  the  discovery  of  flint  tools  in  the  su- 
perficial formations  of  many  parts  of  the 
world,  all  geologists  believe  that  barbarian 
men  existed  at  an  enormously  remote  period; 
and  we  know  that  at  the  present  day  there 
is  hardly  a  tribe  so  barbarous  as  not  to  have 
domesticated    at    least    the    dog. — DARWIN 
Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  16.     (Burt.) 

898.  DOGS  MADE    OBJECTS   OF 
WORSHIP—  Wild  Dogs  of  European  Extrac- 
tion— Native  Dogs   of  South  America. — In 
the  pampas  of  Buenos  Ayres  the  traveler 
meets  with  European  dogs,  which  have  be- 
come wild.     They  live  gregariously  in  holes 
and  excavations,  in  which  they  conceal  their 
young.     When  the  horde  becomes   too  nu- 
merous, several  families  go  forth,  and  form 
new  settlements  elsewhere.     The  European 
dog  barks  as  loudly  after  it  has  become  wild 
as    does    the    indigenous    American    hairy 
species.     Garcilaso  asserts  that,  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Peruvians  had 
a  race  of  dogs  called  Perros  gozques;    and 
he  calls  the  indigenous  dog  Allco.     In  order 
to  distinguish  this  animal  from  the  Euro- 
pean variety,  it  is  called  in  the  Qquichua 
language  Runa-allco,  Indian  dog,  or  dog  of 
the  natives.     The  hairy  Runa-allco  appears 
to  be  a  mere  variety  of  the  shepherd's  dog. 
It    is,    however,    smaller,    has    long   yellow- 
ochery  colored  hair,  is  marked  with  white 
and  brown  spots,  and  has  erect  and  pointed 
ears.    It  barks  continually,  but  seldom  bites 
the    natives,    however    it    may    attack    the 
whites.     When  the  Inca  Pachacutec,  in  his 
religious    wars,    conquered   the    Indians    of 
Xauxa  and  Huanca    (the  present  valley  of 
Huancaya  and  Jauja),  and  compelled  them 
by  force  to  submit  to  the  worship  of  the 
sun,  he  found  that  dogs  were  made  the  ob- 
jects of  their  adoration,  and  that  the  priests 
used  the  skulls  of  these  animals  as  wind-in- 
struments.    It  would  also  appear  that  the 
flesh  of  this  canine  divinity  was  eaten  by  the 
believers. — HUMBOLDT   Views  of  Nature,  p. 
85.     (Bell,  1896.) 

899.  DOING,  VALUE     OF  —  Contrast 
with    Mere    Saying — Determines    Character 
(Matt,  vii,  24-29). — The  most  colossal  im- 
provement which  recent  years  have  seen  in 
secondary  education  lies  in  the  introduction 
of  the  manual  training-schools;  not  because 
they  will  give  us  a  people  more  handy  and 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


184 


practical  for  domestic  life  and  better  skilled 
in  trades,  but  because  they  will  give  us  citi- 
zens with  an  entirely  different  intellectual 
fiber.  Laboratory  work  and  shop  work  en- 
gender a  habit  of  observation,  a  knowledge 
of  the  difference  between  accuracy  and  vague- 
ness, and  an  insight  into  Nature's  complexity 
and  into  the  inadequacy  of  all  abstract  ver- 
bal accounts  of  real  phenomena,  which,  once 
wrought  into  the  mind,  remain  there  as  life- 
long possessions.  They  confer  precision ;  be- 
cause, if  you  are  doing  a  thing,  you  must  do 
it  definitely  right  or  definitely  wrong.  They 
give  honesty;  for,  when  you  express  your- 
self by  making  things,  and  not  by  using 
words,  it  becomes  impossible  to  dissimulate 
your  vagueness  or  ignorance  by  ambiguity. 
They  beget  a  habit  of  self-reliance;  they 
keep  the  interest  and  attention  always 
cheerfully  engaged,  and  reduce  the  teacher's 
disciplinary  functions  to  a  minimum. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  5,  p.  35.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

900.  DOMESTICATION  OF  ANIMALS 

— Wonderful  Triumph  of  Humanity. — No- 
where has  man  pressed  his  hand  so  effect- 
ively upon  Nature  as  in  the  domestication 
of  animals.  It  is  almost  incredible  that 
ravening  wolves  and  merciless  felines  should 
become  faithful  dogs  and  purring  cats ;  that 
the  wild  sheep  and  goat  should  descend  from 
their  inaccessible  fastnesses,  and  yield  their 
fleece  and  flesh  and  milk ;  that  horses,  asses, 
camels,  elephants,  should  be  induced  to  lend 
their  backs  and  limbs  to  lighten  the  loads 
of  the  first  common  carrier.  This  process  of 
impressing  his  own  qualities  on  wild  crea- 
tures began  very  early  in  history  and  has 
continued  uninterruptedly  from  first  to  last. 
— MASON  The  Birth  of  Invention.  Address 
at  Centenary  of  Amer.  Patent  System, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  1891,  Proceedings  of  the 
Congress,  p.  410. 

901.  DOMESTICITY  —  Woman  Makes 
Home — A  Child  Its  Center. — With  the  phys- 
ical program  carried  out  to  the  last  detail, 
the  ethical  drama  opened.     An  early  result, 
partly  of  her  sex,  and  partly  of  her  passive 
strain,  is  the  founding  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  first  savage  mother  of  a 
new   and   a  beautiful   social   state — domes- 
ticity.    While  man,  restless,  eager,  hungry, 
is  a  wanderer  on  the  earth,  woman  makes  a 
home.    And  tho  this  home  be  but  a  platform 
of   sticks   and   leaves^    such   as   the   gorilla 
builds  on  a  tree,  it  becomes  the  first  great 
schoolroom  of  the  human  race.    For  one  day 
there    appears    in   this    roofless    room   that 
which  is  to  teach  the  teachers  of  the  world 
— a  little  child. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
ch.  8,  p.  280.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

902.  DOMINION  OF  MAN  OVER  NA- 
TURE— Power  of  Coordinating  Impressions — 
Analysis  and  Comparison  of  Ideas  the  Foun- 
dation   of    Human    Language. — Beyond    a 
doubt,  man     ...     in  some  way  possesses, 
by  virtue  of  his  superior  brain,  a  power  of 


coordinating  the  impressions  of  his  senses, 
which  enables  him  to  understand  the  world 
he  lives  in,  and  by  understanding  to  use,  re- 
sist, and  even  in  a  measure  rule  it.  No  hu- 
man art  shows  the  nature  of  this  human  at- 
tribute more  clearly  than  does  language. 
Man  shares  with  the  mammalia  and  birds 
the  direct  expression  of  the  feelings  by  emo- 
tional tones  and  inter jectional  cries;  the 
parrot's  power  of  articulate  utterance  al- 
most equals  his  own;  and,  by  association  of 
ideas  in  some  measure,  some  of  the  lower 
animals  have  even  learned  to  recognize  words 
he  utters.  But,  to  use  words  in  themselves 
unmeaning,  as  symbols  by  which  to  conduct 
and  convey  the  complex  intellectual  proc- 
esses in  which  mental  conceptions  are  sug- 
gested, compared,  combined,  and  even  an- 
alyzed, and  new  ones  created — this  is  a  fac- 
ulty which  is  scarcely  to  be  traced  in  any 
lower  animal. — DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropol- 
ogy, ch.  2,  p.  5.  (Hum.,  1885.) 


903. 


Control  by  Obedience 


to  Law. — A  great  philosopher  has  observed 
that  we  can  command  Nature  only  by  obey- 
ing her  laws;  and  this  principle  is  true 
even  in  regard  to  the  astonishing  changes 
which  are  superinduced  in  the  qualities  of 
certain  animals  and  plants  by  domestication 
and  garden  culture.  .  .  .  We  can  only 
effect  such  surprising  alterations  by  assist- 
ing the  development  of  certain  instincts,  or 
by  availing  ourselves  of  that  mysterious  law 
of  their  organization  by  which  individual 
peculiarities  are  transmissible  from  one  gen- 
eration to  another. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  151.  (A.,  1854.) 

9O4.  DOUBT  AS  A  DISEASE— Skep- 
ticism Carried  to  Absurdity — Discussion 
Preventing  Action. — "  To  one  whose  mind  is 
healthy  thoughts  come  and  go  unnoticed; 
with  me  they  have  to  be  faced,  thought 
about  in  a  peculiar  fashion,  and  then  dis- 
posed of  as  finished,  and  this  often  when  I 
am  utterly  wearied  and  would  be  at  peace; 
but  the  call  is  imperative.  This  goes  on  to 
the  hindrance  of  all  natural  action.  If  I 
were  told  that  the  staircase  was  on  fire  and 
I  had  only  a  minute  to  escape,  and  the 
thought  arose — '  Have  they  sent  for  fire-en- 
gines ?  Is  it  probable  that  the  man  who  has 
the  key  is  on  hand?  Is  the  man  a  careful 
sort  of  person?  Will  the  key  be  hanging  on 
a  peg?  Am  I  thinking  rightly?  Perhaps 
they  don't  lock  the  depot ' — my  foot  would 
be  lifted  to  go  down;  I  should  be  conscious 
to  excitement  that  I  was  losing  my  chance; 
but  I  should  be  unable  to  stir  until  all  these 
absurdities  were  entertained  and  disposed 
of.  In  the  most  critical  moments  of  my  life, 
when  I  ought  to  have  been  so  engrossed  as 
to  leave  no  room  for  any  secondary 
thoughts,  I  have  been  oppressed  by  the  ina- 
bility to  be  at  peace.  And  in  the  most  or- 
dinary circumstances  it  is  all  the  same.  Let 
me  instance  the  other  morning  I  went  to 
walk.  The  day  was  biting  cold,  but  I  was 
unable  to  proceed  except  by  jerks.  Once  I 


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Doing 
Dualisi 


got  arrested,  my  feet  in  a  muddy  pool.  One 
foot  was  lifted  to  go,  knowing  that  it  was 
not  good  to  be  standing  in  water,  but  there 
I  was  fast,  the  cause  of  detention  being  the 
discussing  with  myself  the  reasons  why  I 
should  not  stand  in  that  pool." — T.  S. 
CLOUSTON,  quoted  by  JAMES  in  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  21,  p.  284.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

905.  DOUBT    CONSECRATED    BY 

DESCARTES— .Hw*  Search  Still  for  Certainty. 
— The  central  propositions  of  the  whole 
"Discourse"  [of  Descartes  on  "The  Right 
Use  of  the  Reason  "]  are  these :  There  is .  a 
path  that  leads  to  truth  so  surely  that  any 
one  who  wi-1  follow  it  must  needs  reach  the 
goal,  whether  his  capacity  be  great  or  small. 
And  there  is  one  guiding  rule  by  which  a 
man  may  always  find  this  path,  and  keep 
himself  from  straying  when  he  has  found  it. 
This  golden  rule  is — give  unqualified  assent 
to  no  propositions  but  those  the  truth  of 
which  is  so  clear  and  distinct  that  they  can- 
not be  doubted.  The  enunciation  of  this 
great  first  commandment  of  science  conse- 
crated doubt.  .  .  .  When  I  say  that 
Descartes  consecrated  doubt,  you  must  re- 
member that  it  was  that  sort  of  doubt  which 
Goethe  has  called  "  the  active  skepticism, 
whose  whole  aim  is  to  conquer  itself  " ;  and 
not  that  other  sort  which  is  born  of  flip- 
pancy and  ignorance,  and  whose  aim  is  only 
to  perpetuate  itself,  as  an  excuse  for  idle- 
ness and  indifference.  But  it  is  impossible 
to  define  what  is  meant  by  scientific  doubt 
better  than  in  Descartes's  own  words.  After 
describing  the  gradual  progress  of  his  nega- 
tive criticism,  he  tells  us :  "  For  all  that,  I 
did  not  imitate  the  skeptics,  who  doubt  only 
for  doubting's  sake,  and  pretend  to  be  al- 
ways undecided ;  on  the  contrary,  my  whole 
intention  was  to  arrive  at  certainty,  and  to 
dig  away  the  drift  and  the  sand  until  I 
reached  the  rock  or  the  clay  beneath." — 
HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14,  p.  323.  (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.') 

906.  DREAD  OF  THE    IRREVO- 
CABLE— An  Undecided  Character. — Against 
this  impulse  [to  act  and  end  suspense]  we 
have  the  dread  of  the  irrevocable,  which  oft- 
en engenders  a  type  of  character  incapable 
of  prompt  and  vigorous  resolve,  except  per- 
haps when  surprised  into  sudden  activity. 
These   two   opposing   motives   twine   round 
whatever  other  motives  may  be  present  at 
the  moment  when  decision  is  imminent,  and 
tend  to  precipitate  or  retard  it.    The  conflict 
of  these  motives  so  far  as  they  alone  affect 
the  matter  of  decision   is  a   conflict  as  to 
when  it  shall  occur.     One  says  "  now,"  the 
other  says  "  not  yet." — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  530.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

907.  DREAM  A  BRIEF  INSANITY— 

Dreamer  Has  the  Corrective  of  Waking — 
The  Normal  Mind  Restored  ~by  Touch  of  Ex- 
ternal World. — The  parallelism  between 
dreams  and  insanity  has  been  pointed  out  by 
most  writers  on  the  subject.  Kant  observed 
that  the  madman  is  a  dreamer  awake,  and 


more  recently  Wundt  has  remarked  that, 
when  asleep,  we  "  can  experience  nearly  all 
the  phenomena  which  meet  us  in  lunatic 
asylums."  The  grotesqueness  of  the  com- 
binations, the  lack  of  all  judgment  as  to 
consistency,  fitness,  and  probability,  are 
common  characteristics  of  the  short  night- 
dream  of  the  healthy  and  the  long  day- 
dream of  the  insane.  But  one  great  differ- 
ence marks  off  the  two  domains.  When 
dreaming,  we  are  still  sane,  and  shall  soon 
prove  our  sanity.  After  all,  the  dream  of 
the  sleeper  is  corrected,  if  not  so  rapidly  as 
the  illusion  of  the  healthy  waker.  As  soon 
as  the  familiar  stimuli  of  light  and  sound 
set  the  peripheral  sense-organs  in  activity, 
and  call  back  the  nervous  system  to  its  com- 
plete round  of  healthy  action,  the  illusion 
disappears,  and  we  smile  at  our  alarms  and 
agonies,  saying,  "  Behold,  it  was  a  dream !  " 
—SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  7,  p.  182.  (A.,  1897.) 

908.  DREAM  -  LIFE     INFLUENCES 
OUR  WAKING  HOURS— Thus,  Paul  Rade- 
stock,   in   the  work  "  Schlaf  und   Traum " 
[Sleep  and  Dream],  tells  us:    "  When  I  have 
been  taking  a  walk,  with  my  thoughts  quite 
unfettered,  the  idea  has  often  occurred  to 
me  that  I  had  seen,  heard,   or  thought  of 
this  or  that  thing  once  before,  without  being 
able  to  recall  when,  where,  and  in  what  cir- 
cumstances.     This    happened    at   the    time 
when,    with   a   view   to    the   publication    of 
the   present  work,   I   was   in   the  habit   of 
keeping  an  exact  record  of  my  dreams.   Con- 
sequently I  was  able  to  turn  to  this  after 
these  impressions,  and  on  doing  so  I  gener- 
ally found  the  conjecture  confirmed  that  I 
had  previously  dreamed  something  like  it." 
Scientific  inquiry  is  often  said  to  destroy 
all   beautiful   thoughts    about    Nature   and 
life;   but  while  it  destroys  it  creates.     Is  it 
not  almost  a  romantic  idea  that  just  as  our 
waking  life  images  itself  in  our  dreams,  so 
our  dream-life  may  send  back  some  of  its 
shadowy  phantoms  into  our  prosaic  every- 
day wTorld,  touching  this  with  something  of 
its  own  weird  beauty? — SULLY  Illusions,  ch. 
10,  p.  275.     (A.,  1897.) 

909.  DRUDGERY  OF  ENGINE-ROOM 

LESSENED—  The  Mechanical  Stoker.— For  a 
good  many  years  mechanical  stokers  have 
been  devised  in  various  forms;  they  are 
steadily  coming  into  favor  in  improved  and 
economical  types,  completing  the  moderni- 
zation of  fuel-burning,  and  abolishing  a 
most  oppressive  form  of  drudgery.  As  the 
automatic  hopper,  filled  with  fine  coal,  glides 
to  and  fro  above  a  furnace  provided  with 
moving  grate-bars,  we  behold  the  latest  term 
of  that  marvelous  advance  which  began 
when  the  savage  first  laboriously  kindled  a 
blaze  to  warm  his  hands  or  to  cook  his 
breakfast. — ILES  Flame,  Electricity,  and  the 
Camera,  ch.  5,  p.  6.  (D.  &  McC.,  1900.) 

910.  DUALISM  OF  PLATO  AND  MILL 

— Calvinism  Truer  to  Scientific  Thought. — 
Now  in  these  strong  assertions  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  Calvinist  is  much  more  nearly 


lism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


186 


in  accord  with  our  modern  knowledge  than 
are  Plato  and  Mill.  It  is  not  wise  to  hazard 
statements  as  to  what  the  future  may  bring 
forth,  but  I  do  not  see  how  the  dualism  im- 
plied in  all  these  attempts  to  refer  good  and 
evil  to  different  creative  sources  can  ever  be 
seriously  maintained  again.  The  advance  of 
modern  science  carries  us  irresistibly  to 
what  some  German  philosophers  call  mon- 
ism, but  I  prefer  to  call  it  monotheism. — 
FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  22.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

911.  DUALITY    OF    THE   MIND— A 

Beneficent  Delusion. — A  gentleman  of  re- 
spectable birth,  excellent  education,  and 
ample  fortune,  engaged  in  one  of  the  high- 
est departments  of  trade,  .  .  .  and  be- 
ing induced  to  embark  in  one  of  the  plau- 
sible speculations  of  the  day  .  .  .  was 
utterly  ruined.  Like  other  men,  he  could 
bear  a  sudden  overwhelming  reverse  better 
than  a  long  succession  of  petty  misfortunes, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  conducted  himself 
on  the  occasion  met  with  unbounded  admira- 
tion from  his  friends.  He  withdrew,  how- 
ever, into  rigid  seclusion,  and  being  no 
longer  able  to  exercise  the  generosity  and 
indulge  the  benevolent  feelings  which  had 
formed  the  happiness  of  his  life,  made  him- 
self a  substitute  for  them  by  day-dreams, 
gradually  fell  into  a  state  of  irritable  de- 
spondency, from  which  he  only  gradually 
recovered  with  the  loss  of  reason.  He  now 
fancied  himself  possessed  of  immense  wealth, 
and  gave  without  stint  his  imaginary  riches. 
He  has  ever  since  been  under  gentle  re- 
straint, and  leads  a  life  not  merely  of  happi- 
ness, but  of  bliss;  converses  rationally, 
reads  the  newspapers,  where  every  tale  of  dis- 
tress attracts  his  notice,  and  being  furnished 
with  an  abundant  supply  of  blank  checks,  he 
fills  up  one  of  them  with  a  munificent  sum, 
sends  it  off  to  the  sufferer,  and  sits  down  to 
his  dinner  with  a  happy  conviction  that  he 
has  earned  the  right  to  a  little  indulgence 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  table;  and  yet,  on  a 
serious  conversation  with  one  of  his  old 
friends,  he  is  quite  conscious  of  his  real 
position,  but  the  conviction  is  so  exquisitely 
painful  that  he  will  not  let  himself  believe 
it. — WIGAN  Duality  of  the  Mind,  quoted  by 
JAMES  in  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  567. 
(H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

912.  DURATION  OF  LIFE  OF  ANTS 

— Science  Reverses  Popular  Estimate — 
Value  of  Experiment.— I  have  already  men- 
tioned that  the  previous  views  as  to  the  du- 
ration of  life  of  ants  turn  out  to  be  quite 
erroneous.  It  was  the  general  opinion  that 
they  lived  for  a  single  year.  Two  of  my 
queen  ants  lived,  the  one  nearly  fourteen, 
the  other  nearly  fifteen  years,  viz.,  from 
December,  1874,  to  July,  1887,  and  August, 
1888,  respectively.  During  the  whole  time 
they  enjoyed  perfect  health,  and  every  year 
have  laid  eggs  producing  workers,  a  fact 
which  suggests  physiological  conclusions  of 
great  interest.  I  have,  moreover,  little 


doubt  that  some  of  the  workers  now  in  this 
nest  were  among  those  originally  captured, 
the  mortality  after  the  first  few  weeks  hav- 
ing been  but  small.  This,  however,  I  cannot 
prove.  —  AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch. 
2,  p.  41.  (A.,  1900.) 

913.  DURATIONS  OF  THE   CELES- 
TIAL  PERIODS—  Millions  of  Ages  Are  But 
Seconds  of  the  Eternal  Clock.  —  These  dura- 
tions of  celestial  periods  exceed  the  ordinary 
idea  of  time  which  man  has  when  he  won- 
ders at  the  age  of  a  centenarian.    These  si- 
dereal  events,    which   are   only   reproduced 
after  thousands  of  centuries,  and  which  ap- 
pear to  us  very  rare  occurrences,  are,  on  the 
contrary,   frequent   phenomena   of   eternity. 
These  periods  of  millions  of  ages  are  but 
the    seconds    of   the   eternal    clock.  —  FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  p.  45.     (A.) 

914.  DUST  A  SOURCE  OF  BEAUTY 
AND  FERTILITY—  Tints  of  Spring  and  Au- 
tumnal Skies  —  Rain  Brings  Fertility  from 
Heaven.  —  In  spring  we  have  a  bluer  sky  and 
greater  transparency  of  the  atmosphere;    in 
autumn,  even  on  very  fine  days,  there  is  al- 
ways a  kind  of  yellowish  haze,  resulting  in 
a  want  of  clearness  in  the  air  and  purity 
of  color  in  the  sky.     These  phenomena  are 
quite  intelligible  when  we  consider  that  dur- 
ing winter  less  dust  is  formed,  and  more  is 
brought  down  to  the  earth  by  rain  and  snow, 
resulting  in  the  transparent  atmosphere  of 
spring,    while    exactly    opposite    conditions 
during    summer    bring    about    the    mellow 
autumnal    light.      Again,    the    well-known 
beneficial  effects  of  rain  on  vegetation  —  as 
compared  with  any  amount  of  artificial  wa- 
tering,   tho    no    doubt   largely   due   to   the 
minute  quantity  of  ammonia  which  the  rain 
brings  down  with  it  from  the  air  —  must  yet 
be  partly  derived  from  the  organic  or  min- 
eral particles  which  serve  as  the  nuclei  of 
every  raindrop,  and  which,  being  so  minute, 
are  more  readily  dissolved  in  the  soil  and 
appropriated  as  nourishment  by  the  roots  of 
plants.  —  WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century  , 
ch.  9,  p.  84.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

915.  DUST  MAKES  PATH  OF  SUN- 
BEAM   VISIBLE  —  Every  one  has  seen  the 
floating  dust  in  a  sunbeam  when  sunshine 
enters  a  partially  darkened  room;    but  it  is 
not  generally  known  that  if  there  was  abso- 
lutely no  dust  in  the  air  the  path  of  the 
sunbeam  would  be  totally  black  and  invis- 
ible, while  if  only  very  little  dust  was  pres- 
ent in  very  minute  particles  the  air  would 
be  as  blue  as  a  summer  sky.  —  WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9,  p.  70.     (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 


916.     DUST  OF  MOUNTAINS— 

Grinds  Rocks  to  Powder  —  Blue  of  Alpine 
Lake.  —  The  rocks  over  which  glaciers  pass 
are  finely  ground  and  pulverized  by  the  ice, 
or  the  stony  emery  embedded  in  it;  and  the 
river  which  issues  from  the  snout  of  every 
glacier  is  laden  with  suspended  matter. 
When  such  glacier-water  is  placed  in  a  tall 


187 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Dualism 
Dust 


glass  jar,  and  the  heavier  particles  are  per- 
mitted to  subside,  the  liquid  column,  when 
viewed  against  a  dark  background,  has  a  de- 
cidedly bluish  tinge.  The  exceptional  blue- 
ness  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  which  is  fed 
with  glacier-water,  may  be  due,  in  part,  to 
particles  small  enough  to  remain  suspended 
long  after  their  larger  and  heavier  com- 
panions have  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake. 
— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch. 
5,  p.  137.  (A.,  1897.) 

917.  DUST   OF  THE   AIR  PROVED 
TO  BE  ORGANIC — Germs  in  the  Air  a  Cause 
of  Disease. — It  was  Tyndall  who  first  laid 
down  the  general  principles  upon  which  our 
knowledge  of  organisms  in  the  air  is  based. 
That  the  dust  in  the  air  was  mainly  organic 
matter,  living  or  dead,  was  a  comparatively 
new  truth;    that  epidemic  disease  was  not 
due  to  "  bad  air  "  and  "  foul  drains,"  but  to 
germs  conveyed  in  the  air,  was  a  prophecy 
as  daring  as  it  was  correct.    From  these  and 
other  like  investigations  it  came  to  be  recog- 
nized that  putrefaction  begins  as   soon  as 
bacteria  gain  an  entrance  to  the  putrefiable 
substance,  that  it  progresses  in  direct  pro- 
portion  to  the   multiplication   of   bacteria, 
and  that  it  is  retarded  when  they  diminish 
or  lose  vitality. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  3, 
p.  101.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

918.  DUST  ON  HIGHEST  MOUN- 
TAINS— Granular  Snow  or  Neve. — The  neVe" 
is    composed    of    stratified    granular    snow 
which  is  white  or  grayish  white  in  color. 
The  snow  on  high  mountains  is  apt  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly   fine,    light,    and    dry    when    first 
formed ;   but  by  partial  melting  and  refreez- 
ing  it  acquires  a  coarse,  granular  texture, 
much  like  compacted  hail,  and  also  becomes 
consolidated  and  hard.     The  surface  of  the 
neve    is    many    times    so    softened    by    the 
warmth  between  summer  storms  that  a  thin 
crust  of  ice  is  formed  when  the  temperature 
is  again  lowered.     This  crust  is  buried  be- 
neath the  next  succeeding  snowfall  and  re- 
mains  in   the   growing   deposit   as    a    thin 
stratum  of  ice.     Neves  are  almost  entirely 
free  from  stones  or  dirt,  altho  even  on  the 
highest    mountains    the    dust    borne    from 
naked  cliffs  is  widely  spread  over  their  sur- 
faces and  diminishes  their  brilliancy.     This 
general  dust-covering  is  frequently  not  no- 
ticeable until  some  really  clean  snow  sur- 
face is  brought  in  contrast  with  it.    When  a 
lake  on  the  ne"ve"    is  drained  and  leaves  a 
fresh  surface  of  dazzling  whiteness,  the  sur- 
rounding area  frequently  shows  a  gray  tint 
by  contrast,  thus  revealing  the  presence  of 
dust    which    has    been    sprinkled    over    it. 
Sometimes  the  covering  of  dust,  especially 
on  the  lower  portions  of  the  nave's  of  Alpine 
glaciers,  is  sufficiently  pronounced  to  form 
a    definite   division    plane    when   buried   by 
subsequent  snowfalls.     Illustrations  of  such 
an  occurrence  may  frequently  be  seen  in  the 
walls     of    fissures. — RUSSELL     Glaciers    of 
North  America,  int.,  p.  4.    (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


919.  DUST   ON   THE  HIGH  SEAS— 
Volcanic  Products  Carried  Afar. — The  very 
finely  divided  volcanic  dust  is  often  borne 
to  enormous  distances  from  the  volcano  out 
of  which  it  has  been  ejected.     The  force  of 
the   steam-current   carrying   the   fragments 
into  the  atmosphere  is  often  so  great  that 
they   rise    to    the   height   of   several    miles 
above  the  mountain.     Here  they  may  actu- 
ally  pass   into    the  upper   currents   of  the 
atmosphere  and  be  borne  away  to  the  dis- 
tance  of  many  hundreds    or  thousands   of 
miles.     Hence  it  is  not  an  unusual  circum- 
stance  for  vessels   at  sea   to   encounter  at 
great  distances  from  land  falling  showers  of 
this    finely    divided,    volcanic    dust. — JUDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  71.     (A.,  1899.) 

920.  DUST,    VOLGA'S  1C— Carried 

Round  the  World — Skies  Long  Reddened  by 
Reflection — Eruption  of  Krakatau. — A  re- 
markable confirmation  of  this  theory  was 
given  during  the  two  or  three  years  after 
the  great  eruption  of  Krakatau,  near  Java. 
The  volcanic  debris  was  shot  up  from  the 
crater  many  miles  high,  and  the  heavier 
portion  of  it  fell  upon  the  sea  for  several 
hundred  miles  around,  and  was  found  to  be 
mainly  composed  of  very  thin  flakes  of  vol- 
canic glass.  Much  of  this  was  of  course 
ground  to  impalpable  dust  by  the  violence  of 
the  discharge,  and  was  carried  up  to  a 
height  of  many  miles.  Here  it  was  caught 
by  the  return  current  of  air  continually 
flowing  northward  and  southward  above  the 
equatorial  zone;  and  as  these  currents 
reach  the  temperate  zone  where  the  surface 
rotation  of  the  earth  is  less  rapid  they  con- 
tinually flow  eastward,  and  the  fine  dust 
was  thus  carried  at  a  great  altitude  com- 
pletely round  the  earth.  Its  effects  were 
traced  some  months  after  the  eruption  in 
the  appearance  of  brilliant  sunset  glows  of 
an  exceptional  character,  often  flushing  with 
crimson  the  whole  western  half  of  the  vis- 
ible sky.  These  glows  continued  in  dimin- 
ishing splendor  for  about  three  years,  they 
were  seen  all  over  the  temperate  zone;  and 
it  was  calculated  that,  before  they  finally 
disappeared,  some  of  this  fine  dust  must 
have  traveled  three  times  round  the  globe. — 
WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9,  p. 
77.  (D.  M.  &Co.,  1899.) 


921. 


Vast  Quantity — In- 


calculable Minuteness. — Mr.  Whymper  re- 
lates that,  while  standing  on  the  summit  of 
Chimborazo,  he  witnessed  an  eruption  of 
Cotopaxi,  which  is  distant  more  than  fifty 
miles  from  the  former  mountain.  The  fine 
volcanic  dust  fell  in  great  quantities  around 
him,  and  he  estimated  that  no  less  than  two 
millions  of  tons  must  have  been  ejected 
during  this  slight  outburst.  Professor  Bon- 
ney  has  examined  this  volcanic  dust  from 
Cotopaxi,  and  calculates  that  it  would  take 
from  4,000  to  25,000  particles  to  make  up  a 
grain  in  weight. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p. 
69.  (A.,  1899.) 


Duty 
Earth 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


188 


922.  DUTY    TO    HUMANITY  —  Con- 
quests  of  Science  Belong   to   the  Race. — I 
hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  naturalists,  not 
merely  to  meditate  upon  improvements  and 
discoveries   in  the  narrow  circle   to   which 
their  specialty  confines  them,  not  merely  to 
pore   over   their   one  study  with   love  and 
care,  but  also  to  seek  to  make  the  important 
general  results  of  it  fruitful  to  the  mass, 
and   to   assist  in   spreading  the  knowledge 
of  physical  science  among  the  people.     The 
highest  triumph   of  the  human  mind,   the 
true  knowledge  of  the  most  general  laws  of 
Nature,  ought  not  to  remain  the  private  pos- 
session of  a  privileged  class  of  learned  men, 
but  ought  to  become  the  common  property 
of  all  mankind. — HAECKEL  History  of  Crea- 
tion, vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  4.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

923.  DWELLINGS      DEFENSIBLE— 

Home  of  the  Trap-door  Spider. — Trap-door 
spiders  display  the  curious  instinct  of  pro- 
viding their  nests  with  trap-doors.  The 
nest  consists  of  a  tube  excavated  in  the 
earth  to  the  depth  of  half  a  foot  or  more. 
In  all  save  one  species  the  tube  is  un- 
branched;  it  is  always  lined  with  silk, 
which  is  continuous  with  the  lining  of 
the  trap-doors,  of  which  it  forms  the 
hinge.  In  the  species  which  constructs  a 
branching  tube,  the  branch  is  always  single, 
more  or  less  straight,  takes  origin  at  a 
point  situated  a  few  inches  from  the  orifice 
of  the  main  tube,  is  directed  upwards  at  an 
acute  angle  with  that  tube,  and  terminates 
blindly  just  below  the  surface  of  the  soil. 
At  its  point  of  junction  with  or  departure 
from  the  main  tube  it  is  provided  with  a 
trap-door  resembling  that  which  closes  the 
orifice  of  the  main  tube,  and  of  such  a  size 
and  arrangement  that  when  closed  against 
the  opening  of  the  branch  tube  it  just  fills 
that  opening;  while  when  turned  outwards, 
so  as  to  uncork  this  opening,  it  just  fills  the 
diameter  of  the  main  tube:  the  latter, 
therefore,  is  in  this  species  provided  with 
two  trap-doors,  one  at  the  surface  of  the 
soil,  and  the  other  at  the  fork  of  the 
branched  tube. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelli- 
gence, ch.  6,  p.  213.  (A.,  1899.) 

924.  DWELLINGS,     ELEVATED, 
MOST  HEALTHFUL— Babylonians  Built  on 
Artificial  Mounds. — It  was  Hippocrates,  head 
master  of  the  art  of  healing,  who  pointed 
out  that  elevated  situations   are  more  ad- 
vantageous as  the  site  of  dwellings  than  the 
low,  and  that  the  Babylonians  who  built  in 
the  valleys  of  rivers,  or  on  other  low  ground, 
as  a  rule  erected  their  dwellings  upon  artifi- 
cial mounds. — ALSBERG  Die  gesunde  Woh- 
nung.       (Translated     for     Scientific     Side- 
Lights.) 

925.  DYING-PLACE   OF  A   RACE— 

The  Huanacos'  Golgotha. — It  is  well  known 
that  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Pata- 
gonia the  huanacos  have  a  dying-place,  a 
spot  to  which  all  individuals  inhabiting  the 
surrounding  plains  repair  at  the  approach 
of  death  to  deposit  their  bones.  Darwin  and 


Fitzroy  first  recorded  this  strange  instinct 
in  their  personal  narratives,  and  their  obser- 
vations have  since  been  fully  confirmed  by 
others.  The  best  known  of  these  dying-  or 
burial-places  are  on  the  banks  of  the  Santa 
Cruz  and  Gallegos  rivers,  where  the  river 
valleys  are  covered  with  dense  primeval 
thickets  of  bushes  and  trees  of  stunted 
growth;  there  the  ground  is  covered  with 
the  bones  of  countless  dead  generations. 
"  The  animals,"  says  Darwin,  "  in  most  cases 
must  have  crawled,  before  dying,  beneath 
and  among  the  bushes."  A  strange  instinct 
in  a  creature  so  preeminently  social  in  its 
habits:  a  dweller  all  its  life  long  on  the 
open,  barren  plateaux  and  mountainsides! 
What  a  subject  for  a  painter!  The  gray 
wilderness  of  dwarf  thorn-trees,  aged  and 
grotesque  and  scanty-leaved,  nourished  for  a 
thousand  years  on  the  bones  that  whiten  the 
stony  ground  at  their  roots ;  the  interior  lit 
faintly  with  the  rays  of  the  departing  sun, 
chill  and  gray,  and  silent  and  motionless — 
the  huanacos'  Golgotha. — HUDSON  Natural- 
ist in  La  Plata,  ch.  21,  p.  316.  (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

926.  EARNESTNESS    OF    SCIENCE 
— Reaching  toward  the  Infinite. — The  great 
and  solemn  spirit  that  pervades  the  intel- 
lectual labor    [of  science]    arises   from   the 
sublime  consciousness  of  striving  toward  the 
infinite,  and  of  grasping  all  that  is  revealed 
to  us  amid  the  boundless  and  inexhaustible 
fulness  of  creation,  development,  and  being. 
This  active  striving,  which  has  existed  in  all 
ages,   must    frequently,   and  under   various 
forms,  have  deluded  men  into  the  idea  that 
they  had  reached  the  goal,   and  discovered 
the  principle  Avhich  could  explain  all  that  is 
variable  in  the  organic  world,  and  all  the 
phenomena  revealed  to  us  by  sensuous  per- 
ception.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  11. 
(H.,  1897.) 

927.  EARTH  A  MAGNET— Revolution 
of  Magnetic  Pole. — One  of  the  striking  exhi- 
bitions of  magnetism  is  found  in  the  earth. 
The   earth   itself   is   a   great   magnet;    and 
there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  it  is 
an  electromagnet  of  great  power.    The  mag- 
netic poles  of  the  earth  are  not  exactly  co- 
incident  with   the   geographical   poles,    and 
they  are  not  constant.     There  is  a  gradual 
deviation  going  on,  but  as  it  follows  a  cer- 
tain law  mariners  are  able  to  tell  just  what 
the  deviation  should  be  at  a  certain  time. 
The  magnetic  pole  revolves  around  the  polar 
axis  of  the  earth  once  in  about  320  years. — 
ELISHA    GRA-Y    Nature's    Miracles,   vol.    iii, 
ch.  4,  p.  32.     (P.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

928.  EARTH    AS    VIEWED    FROM 
WITHOUT — An  Imaginary  Description  by  a 
Scientist  of  the  Moon. — The  academicians  of 
the  moon  doubtless  say,  in  their  turn,  with 
an  assurance  no  less  convinced,  "  The  earth 
is  composed  of  elements  dissimilar  and  very 
extraordinary.      One,  which   forms   the  nu- 
cleus of  the  body  and  which  gives  birth  to 
fixed  spots,  appears  to  have  some  consist- 


189 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ency;  but  it  is  covered  with  another  ele- 
ment, of  a  strange  constitution,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  neither  body,  nor  stability, 
nor  continuance.  It  has  neither  color  nor 
density.  It  takes  all  forms,  moves  in  all  di- 
rections, obeys  all  shocks,  submits  to  all  im- 
pulses, is  extended,  contracted,  condensed, 
appears  and  disappears,  without  our  being 
able  to  imagine  such  strange  metamorpho- 
ses. This  is  the  world  of  instability,  the 
planet  of  revolutions.  It  experiences  in  turn 
all  imaginable  disasters.  It  seems  to  be 
matter  in  fermentation,  which  tends  to  dis- 
solve. We  only  see  storms,  cyclones,  whirl- 
winds, and  acts  of  violence  of  all  sorts. 
They  assert  that  there  are  inhabitants  on 
this  planet;  but  on  what  point  can  they 
live  ?  Is  it  on  the  solid  element  of  the  body  ? 
They  would  be  crushed,  suffocated,  asphyxi- 
ated, drowned  by  that  element  which  weighs 
on  them  from  all  sides.  Is  it  through  the 
openings  in  this  mobile  curtain  that  they 
can  enjoy,  as  we  do,  the  pure  ether  of  the 
heavens  ?  But  how  can  we  suppose  that 
they  might  not  at  any  moment  be  torn  from 
the  soil  by  the  violence  of  the  disorders 
which  torment  the  surface?  Do  they  wish 
to  place  them  on  the  light  and  mobile 
stratum  which  hides  from  us  so  often  the 
aspect  of  the  terrestrial  nucleus?  How  can 
they  be  maintained  upright  on  this  element 
without  solidity?  .  .  .  There  is  no  ne- 
cessity for  long  consideration  to  prove  con- 
clusively that  this  planet  is  very  vast,  but 
that  it  is  no  place  for  animated  beings. 
The  whole  earth  is  not  worth  the  soul  of  a 
single  Selenite.  If,  however,  they  will  insist 
that  it  may  have  inhabitants,  we  will  con- 
sent with  pleasure,  provided  that  they  com- 
pare them  with  fantastic  beings  floating  at 
the  pleasure  of  all  the  forces  which  contend 
with  each  other  on  this  aeriform  planet. 
There  can  only  exist  there  rather  coarse 
animals.  Such  are,  in  our  opinion,  the  only 
inhabitants  which  can  people  the  earth." 

The  scientists  of  the  moon  have,  as  we 
see,  the  ability  to  prove,  in  the  most  cate- 
gorical manner,  to  the  ignorant  who  sur- 
round them,  that  the  earth,  not  being  habit- 
able, should  not  be  inhabited,  and  that  it  is 
made  solely  to  serve  as  a  clock  to  the  moon 
and  to  shine  during  the  night. — FLAMMA- 
RION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  6,  p. 
159.  (A.) 

929.     EARTH,    CONVULSIONS    OF— 

Ancient  and  Modern  Catastrophes  Com- 
pared.— We  know  that  subterranean  move- 
ments and  volcanic  eruptions  are  often  at- 
tended not  only  by  incursions  of  the  sea,  but 
also  by  violent  rains,  and  the  complete  de- 
rangement of  the  river-drainage  of  the 
inland  country,  and  by  the  damming  up  of 
the  outlets  of  lakes  by  landslips,  or  obstruc- 
tions in  the  courses  of  subterranean  rivers, 
such  as  abound  in  Thessaly  and  the  Morea. 
We  need  not  therefore  be  surprised  at  the 
variety  of  causes  assigned  for  the  tradi- 
tional floods  of  Greece,  by  Herodotus,  Aris- 
totle, Diodorus,  Strabo,  and  others.  As  to 


the  area  embraced,  had  all  the  Grecian  del- 
uges occurred  simultaneously,  instead  of 
being  spread  over  many  centuries,  and  had 
they,  instead  of  being  extremely  local, 
reached  at  once  from  the  Euxine  to  the 
southwestern  limit  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and 
from  Macedonia  to  Rhodes,  the  devastation 
would  still  have  been  more  limited  than  that 
which  visited  Chile  in  1835,  when  a  volcanic 
eruption  broke  out  in-  the  Andes,  opposite 
Chiloe,  and  another  at  Juan  Fernandez,  dis- 
tant 720  geographical  miles,  at  the  same 
time  that  several  lofty  cones  in  the  Cor- 
dillera, 400  miles  to  the  eastward  of  that 
island,  threw  out  vapor  and  ignited  matter. 
Throughout  a  great  part  of  the  space  thus 
recently  shaken  in  South  America,  cities 
were  laid  in  ruins,  or  the  land  was  per- 
manently upheaved,  or  mountainous  waves 
rolled  inland  from  the  Pacific. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  357.  (A., 
1854.) 

930.  EARTH,  COOLING  AND   CON- 
TRACTION OF— Earthquakes  and  Volcanoes 
Mightier  in  Early  Times. — The  general  re- 
sult which  we  should  arrive  at  would  be  that 
in  past  ages  the  loss  of  heat  was  more  rapid 
than  it  is  at  present.     Now  the  contraction 
of  a  body  as  it  cools  is  for  low  tempera- 
tures proportional  to  its  loss  of  heat,  and 
this  law  is  also  probably  true  for  contrac- 
tion as  it  takes  place  from  high  tempera- 
tures.  Contraction  of  the  earth's  nucleus  be- 
ing more  rapid  than  it  is  at  present,  it  is 
probable  that  phenomena  like  elevations  and 
depressions  would  be  more  rapid  than  they 
are   at  present,   and  generally  all   changes 
due  to  Plutonic  action,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out  by  Lord  Kelvin    (Sir  William 
Thomson),  must  have  been  more  frequent 
and  intense  than  they  are  at  the  present 
day.     We  have,  therefore,  every  reason  to 
imagine  that  earthquakes  which  belong  to 
the  category  of  phenomena  here  referred  to 
were    also    numerous    and    occurred    on    a 
grander  scale  during  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  world's  history  than  they  do  at  present, 
and  seismic  and  volcanic  energy,  when  con- 
sidered in  reference  to  long  periods  of  time, 
is    probably    a    decreasing    energy. — MILNE 
Earthquakes,  ch.  13,  p.  236.     (A.,  1899.) 

931.  EARTH,  DESTRUCTION    AND 
RENOVATION  OF  ITS  SURFACE—  Theory 
of  Aristotle.  —  When  we  consider  the  ac- 
quaintance  displayed   by   Aristotle,    in   his 
various  works,  with  the  destroying  and  ren- 
ovating powers  of  Nature,  the  introductory 
and  concluding  passages  of  the  twelfth  chap- 
ter of  his  "  Meteorics  "  are  certainly  very 
remarkable.     In  the  first  sentence  he  says, 
"  The  distribution  of  land  and  sea  in  par- 
ticular regions  does  not  endure  throughout 
all  time,  but  it  becomes  sea  in  those  parts 
where  it  was  land,  and  again  it  becomes  land 
where  it  was  sea;    and  there  is  reason  for 
thinking  that  these  changes  take  place  ac- 
cording to  a  certain  system,  and  within  a 
certain  period."    The  concluding  observation 


Carth 
Zanh's 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


190 


is  as  follows :  "  As  time  never  fails,  and  the 
universe  is  eternal,  neither  the  Tanais  nor 
the  Nile  can  have  flowed  forever.  The 
places  where  they  rise  were  once  dry,  and 
there  is  a  limit  to  their  operations;  but 
there  is  none  to  time.  So  also  of  all  other 
rivers;  they  spring  up,  and  they  perish; 
and  the  sea  also  continually  deserts  some 
lands  and  invades  others.  The  same  tracts, 
therefore,  of  the  earth  are  not  some  always 
sea,  and  others  always  continents,  but  every- 
thing changes  in  the  course  of  time." — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p. 
13.  (A.,  1854.) 

932.  EARTH,  ELEVATION  AND  SUB- 
SIDENCE OF— Slow  Movement  through  Cen- 
turies.— Lyell    estimated    that   the    average 
rate  of  rise  in  Scandinavia  has  been  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  per  century.     At  the 
North  Cape  the  rise  may  have  been  as  much 
as   five  or   six  feet  per  century.     Observa- 
tions made  at  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Sera- 
pis,  between  October,  1822,  and  July,  1838, 
showed  that  the  ground  was  sinking  at  the 
rate  of  about  one  inch  in  four  years.     Since 
the   Roman  period,   when  this  temple  was 
built,  the  ground  has  sunk  twenty  feet  be- 
low the  waves.    Now  the  floor  of  the  temple 
is  on  the  level  of  the  sea.     Lyell  remarks 
that  if  we  reflect  on  the  dates  of  the  prin- 
cipal oscillations  at  this  place  there  appears 
to  be  connection  between  the  movements  of 
upheaval   and  a   local  development   of  vol- 
canic heat,  whilst  periods  of  depression  are 
concurrent  with  periods  of  volcanic  quies- 
cence.— MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  21,  p.  351. 
(A.,  1899.) 

933.  EARTH  ENRICHED  BY  MATE- 
RIALS FROM   AFAR— Matter  from  Distant 
Space  Continually  Drawn  In. — Let  it  suffice 
that  we   recognize,    as   one   of  the   earliest 
stages  of  our  earth's  history,  her  condition 
as  a  rotating  mass  of  glowing  vapor,  cap- 
turing then  as  now,  but  far  more  actively 
then  than  now,  masses  of  matter  which  ap- 
proached near  enough,  and  growing  by  these 
continual    indrafts    from    without.      From 
the  very  beginning,  as  it  would  seem,  the 
earth  grew  in  this  way.     This  firm  earth  on 
which  we  live  represents  an  aggregation  of 
matter  not  from  one  portion  of  space,  but 
from  all  space.    All  this  is  upon  and  within 
the  earth,  all  vegetable  forms  and  all  ani- 
mal   forms,    our    bodies,    our    brains,    are 
formed  of  materials  which  have  been  drawn 
in  from  those  depths  of  space  surrounding 
us  on  all  sides.     This  hand  that  I  am  now 
raising  contains  particles  which  have  trav- 
eled hither  from  regions  far  away  amid  the 
northern  and  southern  constellations,  par- 
ticles drawn  in  towards  the  earth  by  proc- 
esses continuing  millions  of  millions  of  ages, 
until  after  multitudinous  changes  the  chap- 
ter of  accidents  has  so  combined  them,  and 
so  disturbed  them  in  plants  and  animals, 
that  after  coming  to  form  portions  of  my 
food  they  are  here  present  before  you.    Pass- 
ing   from    the    mere    illustration    of    the 


thought,  is  not  the  thought  itself  striking 
and  suggestive,  that  not  only  the  earth  on 
which  we  move,  but  everything  we  see  or 
touch,  and  every  particle  in  body  and  brain, 
has  sped  during  countless  ages  through  the 
immensity  of  space? — PROCTOR  Our  Place 
among  Infinities,  p.  9.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

934.  EARTH  FEELS  CHANGES  ON 

SUN —  Cosmic  Influence — Auroras  Follow  Vari- 
ation of  Sun-spots. — The  relation  between 
the  aurora  borealis  and  the  sun-spots  was 
studied  and  finally  proved  by  Fritz,  Loomis, 
and  Levering.  Fritz  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  who  distinctly  laid  down  the  law 
that  the  number  and  importance  of  the 
auroras  follow  exactly  the  same  variation 
as  the  spots  on  the  sun,  so  that  the  epochs 
of  the  maxima  and  minima  coincide  almost 
exactly  for  the  two  orders  of  phenomena. — 
ANGOT  Aurora  Borealis,  ch.  5,  p.  96.  (A.. 
1897.) 

935.  EARTH  FORMING    STILL  — 

Ceaseless  Circulation  of  the  Solid  Materials 
of  the  Globe. — Over  every  part  of  the  earth's 
surface  these  three  grand  operations  of  the 
disintegration  of  old  rock-masses,  the  trans- 
port of  the  materials  so  produced  to  lower 
levels,  and  the  accumulation  of  these  ma- 
terials to  form  new  rocks,  are  continually 
going  on.  It  is  by  the  varied  action  of  these 
denuding  agents  upon  rocks  of  unequal 
hardness,  occupying  different  positions  in 
relation  to  one  another,  that  all  the  external 
features  of  hills,  and  plains,  and  mountains 
owe  their  origin. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p. 
284.  (A.,  1899.) 

936.  EARTH  HELD  TO  BE  A  GREAT 
METEORITE  —  But  in  recent  years  a  num- 
ber of  very  important  facts  have  been  dis- 
covered which  may  well  lead  us  to  devote  a 
closer    attention    to    the    composition    and 
structure  of  meteorites.     It  has  been  shown, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  some  meteorites  con- 
tain substances  precisely  similar  to   those 
which    are    sometimes    brought    from    the 
earth's  interior  during  volcanic  outbursts; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  there  have  been  de- 
tected, among  some  of  the  ejections  of  vol- 
canoes,   bodies    which    so    closely    resemble 
meteorites  that  they  were  long  mistaken  for 
them.     Both  kinds  of  observation  seem  to 
point  to  the  conclusion  that  the  earth's  in- 
terior is   composed  of  similar  materials  to 
those  which  we  find  in  the  small   planets 
called  meteorites. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.   11, 
p.  315.     (A.,  1899.) 

937.  EARTH,  HUMAN  DWELLINGS 
ENGULFED  IN— Fissures  Opened  and  Closed 
in    Earthquake. — Almost    all    large    earth- 
quakes have  produced  cracks  in  the  ground. 
The  cracks  which  were  found  in  the  ground 
at    Yokohama     (February    22,    1880)    were 
about  two  or  three  inches  wide,  and  from 
twenty  to  forty  yards  in  length.    They  could 
be  best  seen  as  lines  along  a  road  running 
near  the   upper  edge  of  some   cliffs  which 
overlook  the  sea  at  that  place.     The  reason 


191 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


that  cracks  should  have  occurred  in  such  a 
position  rather  than  in  others  was  probably 
owing  to  the  greater  motion  at  such  a  place, 
due  to  the  face  of  the  cliff  being  unsup- 
ported, and  there  being  no  resistance  op- 
posed to  its  forward  motion.  It  often  hap- 
pens that  earthquake  cracks  are  many  feet 
in  width.  Ac  the  Calabrian  earthquake  of 
1783,  one  or  two  of  the  crevasses  which  were 
formed  were  more  than  100  feet  in  width 
and  200  feet  in  depth.  Their  lengths  varied 
from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile.  Besides  these 
large  cracks,  many  smaller  ones  of  one  or 
two  feet  in  breadth  and  of  great  length  were 
formed.  In  the  large  fissures  many  hous- 
es were  engulfed.  Subsequent  excavations 
showed  that  by  the  closing  of  the  fissures 
these  had  been  jammed  together  to  form  one 
compact  mass. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  8, 
p.  147.  (A.,  1899.) 

938.  EARTH,  LONG  DURATION  OF 

— Coral  Reefs  Require  Vast  Periods  of  Time 
— Contrasted  Brevity  of  Human  Life. — The 
evidence  capable  of  being  adduced  from  the 
growth  of  coral  reefs  goes  far  to  prove  the 
constant  and  uniform  state  of  our  earth 
throughout  immense  periods  of  time.  The 
testimony  of  Mr.  Dana  with  regard  to  the 
rate  at  which  coral  grows  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  massive  corals  on  which  the  in- 
crease of  reef  depends  are  of  very  slow 
growth;  the  branching  and  certain  other 
kinds  growing  at  a  faster  rate.  One- 
eighth  of  an  inch  per  year  is  given  by  this 
author  as  "  the  average  upward  increase  of 
the  whole  reef-ground  per  year";  and  the 
estimate  appears  to  be  a  perfectly  just  one, 
when  judged  by  the  evidence  afforded  us  of 
the  rate  of  growth  in  corals.  All  authori- 
ties agree  in  stating  the  growth  of  massive 
corals  at  a  very  low  rate,  and  the  time  which 
has  been  occupied  in  the  formation  of  a 
reef  2,000  feet  thick  must,  therefore,  on  Mr. 
Dana's  estimate,  be  set  down  at  192,000 
years.  This  computation,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, is  one  dealing  with  the  work  of  mod- 
ern corals.  In  the  far-back  past,  coral  reefs 
existed  similar  in  every  respect  to  their 
modern  representatives;  these  fossil  reefs 
in  many  cases  evincing  an  immense  thick- 
ness. Hence  we  are  led  to  believe  that,  not- 
withstanding the  alteration  which  our  earth 
has  undergone,  it  has  had  prolonged  periods 
of  rest;  and  the  existence  of  a  modern  coral 
reef  may  therefore  afford  evidence,  not  only 
of  the  immensity  of  past  time,  but  also  of 
the  uniformity  of  Nature's  ways  and  works 
during  periods  compared  with  which  the 
farthest  limits  of  history  and  even  of  man's 
own  age  are  but  as  yesterday. — WILSON 
Facts  and  Fictions  of  Zoology,  p.  43.  (Hum., 
1882.) 

939.  EARTH  LOSING  HEAT—  Change 
and   Upbuilding   of  Surface   to  Cease — The 
Planet's  Old  Age. — The  earth's  nuclear  re- 
gions are  parting  with  their  heat,  and  as 
they  cannot  part  with   their  heat  without 
warming  the  surface-crust,  which  neverthe- 


less grows  no  warmer,  we  perceive  that  the 
surface-heat  is  maintained  from  a  source 
which  is  being  gradually  exhausted.  The  fit- 
ness of  the  earth  to  be  the  abode  of  life  will 
not  only  be  affected  directly  in  this  way,  but 
will  be  indirectly  affected  by  the  loss  of  that 
Vulcanian  energy  which  appears  to  be  one  of 
its  necessary  conditions.  At  present,  the 
surface  of  the  earth  is  like  the  flesh  clothing 
the  living  body;  it  does  not  wear  out  be- 
cause (through  the  life  which  is  within  it) 
it  undergoes  continual  change.  But  even  as 
the  body  itself  is  consumed  by  natural  proc- 
esses so  soon  as  life  has  passed  from  it,  so 
when  the  internal  heat  of  the  earth,  which  is 
its  life,  shall  have  passed  away,  her  surface 
will  "  grow  old  as  doth  a  garment"  (Ps.  cii, 
26)  ;  and  with  this  inherent  terrestrial  vi- 
tality will  pass  away  by  slow  degrees  the 
life  which  is  upon  the  earth. — PROCTOR  Our 
Place  among  Infinities,  p.  28.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

940.  EARTH  ONCE  A  MOLTEN  MASS 
— There  was  a  time  when  our  earth  was  in  a 
state    of    igneous    fusion,    when    no    ocean 
bathed  it  and  no  atmosphere  surrounded  it, 
when  no  wind  blew  over  it  and  no  rain  fell 
upon  it,  but  an  intense  heat  held  all  its  ma- 
terials in  solution.    In  those  days  the  rocks 
which  are  now  the  very  bones  and  sinews  of 
our  mother  earth — her  granites,  her  porphy- 
ries, her  basalts,  her  syenites — were  melted 
into   a  liquid  mass.  —  AGASSIZ    Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  2.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

941.  EARTH,  THE  FINISHING  OF, 

FOR  MAN — The  work  of  the  artist  is  not 
yet  finished  when  his  statue  is  blocked  out 
and  the  grand  outline  of  his  conception 
stands  complete;  and  there  still  remained, 
after  the  earth  was  rescued  from  the  water, 
after  her  framework,  of  mountains  was 
erected,  after  her  soil  was  clothed  with  field 
and  forest,  processes  by  which  her  valleys 
were  to  be  made  more  fruitful,  her  gulfs  to 
be  filled  with  the  rich  detritus  poured  into 
them  by  the  rivers,  her  whole  surface  to  be 
rendered  more  habitable  for  the  higher  races 
who  were  to  possess  it. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  204.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

942.  EARTH  UNINHABITABLE 
WITHOUT    BIRDS—  Our    Unconsidered  In- 
debtedness.— If  we  were  deprived  of  the  serv- 
ices of  birds  [in  the  destruction  of  insects], 
the  earth  would  soon  become  uninhabitable. 
Nevertheless,  the  feathered  protectors  of  our 
farms  and  gardens,  plains  and  forests,  re- 
quire so  little  encouragement  from  us — in- 
deed,   ask   only  tolerance — that   we    accept 
their  services   much  as  we  do  the  air  we 
breathe.     We  may  be  in  debt  to  them  past 
reckoning,  and  still  be  unaware  of  their  ex- 
istence.— CHAPMAN   Bird-Life,   ch.    1,   p.   9. 
(A.,  1900.) 

943.  EARTH'S  ANCIENT  COMPAN- 
ION— The  Moon  an  Object  of  Unique  Interest 
to    Man. — The    moon    possesses    for    us    an 


arthquake 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


192 


unique  interest.  She  in  all  probability 
shared  the  origin  of  the  earth ;  she  perhaps 
prefigures  its  decay.  She  is  at  present  its 
minister  and  companion.  Her  existence,  so 
far  as  we  can  see,  serves  no  other  purpose 
than  to  illuminate  the  darkness  of  terres- 
trial nights,  and  to  measure,  by  swiftly  re- 
curring and  conspicuous  changes  of  aspect, 
the  long  span  of  terrestrial  time.  Inquiries 
stimulated  by  visible  dependence,  and  aided 
by  relatively  close  vicinity,  have  resulted  in 
a  wonderfully  minute  acquaintance  with  the 
features  of  the  single  lunar  hemisphere  open 
to  our  inspection. — CLEBKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  7,  p.  322.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

944.  EARTH'S  GIRDLE— Electric  Tele- 
graph— Submarine    Lines    of    Telegraph. — 
About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  it  was 
perceived  by  a  few  students  of  electricity 
that  it  afforded  a  means  of  communication 
at  a  distance;    but  it  was  not  till  the  year 
1837  that  the  efforts  of  many  simultaneous 
workers   overcame   the   numerous   practical 
difficulties,  and  the  first  electric  telegraph 
was  established.     Its  utility  was  so  great, 
especially  in  the  working  of  the  railways 
then  being  rapidly  extended  over  the  king- 
dom,  that  it  soon  came  into  general  use. 
The    first    submarine    line    was    laid    from 
Dover  to  Calais  in  1851 ;    and  only  five  years 
afterward,  in  1856,  a  company  was  formed 
to  lay  an  electric  cable  across  the  Atlantic. 
The  cable,  2,500  miles  long  and  weighing  a 
ton  per  mile,  was  successfully  laid,  in  1858, 
from  Ireland  to  Newfoundland;    but  owing 
to  the  weakness  of  the  electric  current,  and 
perhaps  to  imperfections  in  the  cable,  it  soon 
became   useless,   and  had  to  be  abandoned. 
After  eight  years  more  of  invention  and  ex- 
periment,   another    cable    was    successfully 
laid   in   1866;     and  there  are  now  no  less 
than    fourteen    lines    across    the    Atlantic, 
while  all  the  other  oceans  have  been  elec- 
trically bridged,   so   that  messages   can  be 
sent  to  almost  any  part  of  the  globe  at  a 
speed   which    far    surpasses   the   imaginary 
power    of    Shakespeare's   sprite  Ariel,   who 
boasted  that  he  could  "  put  a  '  girdle  round 
about'  the  earth  in  forty  minutes." — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  3,  p.  21. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

945.  EARTH'S  RETURNING  FRAG- 
MENTS— Meteorites  Perhaps  of  Earthly  Origin. 
— Well,  these  stones  from  the  sky  being  of 
the   same   composition   as   the  minerals   of 
which  our  own  planet  is  formed,  is  it  not 
natural  to  ask  simply  whether  they  may  not 
have  had  the  earth  itself  for  their  origin? 
But  how  ?    May  not  the  violent  volcanoes  of 
geological  times,  the  eruptions,  the  tremen- 
dous conflagrations,  the  fierce  fires  of  the 
ancient  pandemonium,  have  shot  into  space 
lava,   scoria,   stones,  with   such   a   force  of 
projection  that  these  objects  would  be  des- 
patched to  thousands,  millions,  hundreds  of 
millions  of  miles,  in  orbits  which  would  not 
take  less  than  a  thousand,  ten  thousand,  a 
hundred  thousand  years  or  more  to  describe  ? 


If  our  planet  has  been  able  to  give  birth  to 
such  projectiles,  it  does  not  form  an  excep- 
tion in  the  universe,  and  the  other  celestial 
bodies  may  be  in  the  same  case.  Thus,  the 
sun  itself  is  seen  to  be  almost  constantly 
surrounded  with  tremendous  metallic  gase- 
ous eruptions,  which  are  shot  out  to  thou- 
sands and  even  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
miles  above  its  surface.  This  is  the  most 
rational  hypothesis.  Such  eruptions  may 
take  place  on  all  worlds.  However,  the  ter- 
restrial eruptions  would  make  the  products 
return  to  us,  whereas  the  others  would  be 
sent  in  all  directions.  Moreover,  the  iden- 
tity of  structure  of  most  of  the  uranoliths 
with  terrestrial  minerals  presents  itself  as 
an  eloquent  witness  in  favor  of  this  hypoth- 
esis, which  may  be  summed  up  thus : 

Most  of  the  stones  which  fall  from  the  sky 
may  be  natives  of  the  earth  itself,  having 
been  projected  into  space  by  the  volcanic 
eruptions  of  geological  times. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  4,  p.  549. 
(A.) 

946.  EARTH'S  SWIFT  REVOLUTION 

— The  Sun's  Ceaseless  Control. — If  the  earth 
could  be  suddenly  stopped  in  her  orbit,  and 
allowed  to  fall  unobstructed  toward  the  sun 
under  the  accelerating  influence  of  his  at- 
traction, she  would  reach  the  center  in  about 
two  months.  I  have  said  if  she  could  be 
stopped,  but  such  is  the  compass  of  her  orbit 
that,  to  make  its  circuit  in  a  year,  she  has 
to  move  nearly  19  miles  a  second,  or  more 
than  fifty  times  faster  than  the  swiftest 
rifle-ball;  and  in  moving  20  miles  her  path 
deviates  from  perfect  straightness  by  less 
than  one-eighth  of  an  inch.  And  yet,  over 
all  the  circumference  of  this  tremendous 
orbit,  the  sun  exercises  his  dominion,  and 
every  pulsation  of  his  surface  receives  its 
response  from  the  subject  earth. — YOUNG 
The  Sun,  ch.  1,  p.  37.  (A.,  1898.) 

947.  EARTH-CRUST  AFLOAT  ON  A 
PLASTIC    OCEAN—  The    Solid   Center  Has 
Different     Revolution. — Nevertheless,     inas- 
much as  solidification  would  occur  at  the 
surface,  where  the  radiation  of  heat  would 
take  place  most  rapidly,  and  as  the  descend- 
ing solid  matter  would  be  gradually  lique- 
fied, it  seems  certain  that  for  a  long  time 
the  solid  portions  of  the  earth,  tho  not  form- 
ing a  solid  crust,  would  occupy  the  exterior 
parts  of  the  earth's  globe.     After  a  time, 
the  whole  globe  would  have   so  far  cooled 
that  a  process  of  aggregation  of  solid  matter 
around  the  center  of  the  earth  would  take 
place.     The  matter  so  aggregated  consisted 
probably  of  metallic  and  metalloidal   com- 
pounds  denser   than   the   material    forming 
the  crust  of  the  earth.     Between  the  solid 
center  and  the  solidifying  crust  there  would 
be  a  shell  of  unconcealed  matter,  gradually 
diminishing  in  amount,  but  a  portion  prob- 
ably retaining  its  liquid  condition  even  to 
the  present  time,  whether  existing  in  iso- 
lated   reservoirs,     or    whether,     as     Scrope 
opines,  it  forms  still  a  continuous  sheet  sur- 


193 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


rthquake 


rounding  the  solid  nucleus.  One  strange 
fact  of  terrestrial  magnetism  may  be  men- 
tioned in  partial  confirmation  of  the  theory 
that  the  interior  of  the  earth  is  of  this  na- 
ture— a  great  solid  mass,  separated  from  the 
solid  crust  by  a  viscous  plastic  ocean:  the 
magnetic  poles  of  the  earth  are  changing  in 
position  in  a  manner  which  seems  only  ex- 
plicable on  the  supposition  that  there  is  an 
interior  solid  globe  rotating  under  the  outer 
shell,  but  at  a  slightly  different  rate,  gain- 
ing or  losing  one  complete  rotation  in  the 
course  of  about  650  years. — PROCTOR  Our 
Place  among  Infinities,  p.  17.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

948.  EARTH-CRUST,  CHANGES  IN, 
CEASELESS — However  constant  may  be  the 
relative  proportion  of  sea  and  land,  we  know 
that  there  is  annually  some  small  variation 
in  their  respective  geographical  positions, 
and  that  in  every  century  the  land  is  in  some 
parts  raised,  and  in  others  depressed  in 
level,  and  so  likewise  is  the  bed  of  the  sea. 
By  these  and  other  ceaseless  changes,  the 
configuration  of  the  earth's  surface  has  been 
remodeled  again  and  again,  since  it  was  the 
habitation  of  organic  beings,  and  the  bed  of 
the  ocean  has  been  lifted  up  to  the  height  of 
some  of  the  loftiest  mountains. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  102. 
(A.,  1851-.) 


949. 


Not  Alarming — Rela- 


tive Insignificance  of  Mountain  Height. — 
The  imagination  is  apt  to  take  alarm  when 
called  upon  to  admit  the  formation  of  such 
irregularities  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  after 
it  had  once  become  the  habitation  of  living 
creatures;  but,  if  time  be  allowed,  the  op- 
eration need  not  subvert  the  ordinary  repose 
of  Nature;  and  the  result  is  in  a  general 
view  insignificant,  if  we  consider  how 
slightly  the  highest  mountain  chains  cause 
our  globe  to  differ  from  a  perfect  sphere. 
Chimborazo,  tho  it  rises  to  more  than  21,000 
feet  above  the  sea,  would  be  represented,  on 
a  globe  of  about  six  feet  in  diameter,  by  a 
grain  of  sand  less  than  one-twentieth  of  an 
inch  in  thickness. 

The  superficial  inequalities  of  the  earth, 
then,  may  be  deemed  minute  in  quantity, 
and  their  distribution  at  any  particular 
epoch  must  be  regarded  in  geology  as  tem- 
porary peculiarities,  like  the  height  and  out- 
line of  the  cone  of  Vesuvius  in  the  interval 
between  two  eruptions.  But  altho,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  magnitude  of  the  globe,  the  un- 
evenness  of  the  surface  is  so  unimportant, 
it  is  on  the  position  and  direction  of  these 
small  inequalities  that  the  state  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  both  the  local  and  general  cli- 
mate, are  mainly  dependent. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  102.  (A., 
1854.) 

95O.     EARTH-CRUST  UNDERMINED 

— Caverns — Subterranean  Rivers. — In  coun- 
tries where  calcareous  rocks  largely  pre- 
dominate, acidulated  water  filtering  down 
from  the  surface  through  fissures  and  other 


division-planes  has  often  licked  out  a  com- 
plicated series  of  tortuous  tunnels  and  gal- 
leries. So  far  has  this  process  been  carried 
on  in  some  regions  that  the  whole  rainfall 
finds  its  way  into  subterranean  courses,  and 
the  entire  drainage  of  the  land  is  conducted 
underground.  The  dimensions  attained  by 
many  well-known  limestone  caverns,  and  the 
great  width  and  depth  of  the  channels 
through  which  subterranean  rivers  reach  the 
sea,  help  us  to  appreciate  the  amount  of 
rock-material  which  underground  water  is 
capable  of  removing.  From  the  surface  of 
certain  regions  hundreds  of  feet  of  various 
calcareous  rocks  have  thus  been  gradually 
removed;  while  in  other  cases  the  contour 
of  the  ground  has  been  notably  affected  by 
the  collapse  of  underground  channels  and 
chambers. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  2, 
p.  31.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

95 1 .  EARTH-LIGHT  ON  THE  MOON 

— The  "Ashy  Light" — Earth  Sees  Herself 
in  the  Mirror  of  the  Moon. — When  the  moon 
is  a  crescent,  during  the  first  days  of  the 
lunation,  we  notice  that  the  rest  of  the  lunar 
globe  is  visible,  illuminated  by  a  pale  light. 
This  is  the  lumiere  cendree  [the  ashy  light] . 
It  is  caused  by  the  earth  itself. 

In  fact,  the  earth  is  illuminated  by  the 
sun,  and  reflects  the  light  into  space.  When 
the  moon  is  in  conjunction  with  the  sun  the 
earth  is  in  "  opposition,"  as  seen  from  the 
moon;  it  is  the  epoch  of  full  earth  for  an 
observer  on  our  satellite.  The  light  which 
our  globe  then  sends  to  the  moon  exceeds 
about  fourteen  times  that  which  the  full 
moon  sends  to  us.  This  ashy  light,  reflection 
of  a  reflection,  resembles  a  mirror  in  which 
we  may  see  the  luminous  state  of  the  earth. 
In  winter,  when  a  great  part  of  the  terres- 
trial hemisphere  is  covered  with  snow,  it  is 
perceptibly  brighter.  Before  the  geographic- 
al discovery  of  Australia,  astronomers  sus- 
pected the  existence  of  that  continent  from 
the  ashy  light,  which  was  very  much 
brighter  than  could  be  produced  by  the  dark 
reflection  from  the  ocean.  This  lunar  light 
generally  presents  a  greenish-blue  tint,  indi- 
cating that  our  planet,  seen  from  a  distance, 
would  show  this  shade. — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  2,  p.  99.  (A.) 

952.  EARTHQUAKE   CHANGING 
LEVEL  OF  GROUND—  Houses  and  Persons 
Engulfed  in  Fissures. — The  soil  of  the  Cala- 
brian  plains  was  found  to  be  in  some  parts 
abnormally  raised,  in  others  as  strangely  de- 
pressed.   "  In  the  town  of  Terranova,"  says 
Sir  Charles  Lyell,  "  some  houses  were  seen 
uplifted  above  the  common  level,  and  others 
adjoining  sunk  down  into  the  earth.    In  sev- 
eral streets  the  soil  appeared  thrust  up,  and 
abutted  against  the  walls  of  houses ;    a  large 
circular    tower   of   solid   masonry,    part   of 
which    withstood    the    general    destruction, 
was  divided  by  a  circular  rent,  and  one  side 
was  upraised,  and  the  foundations  heaved 
out  of  the  ground."    As  might  be  expected, 
the  soil  did  not  continue  unbroken  by  the 


Earthquake 
Earthquakes 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


194 


violent  shocks  to  which  it  was  subjected.  In 
the  central  parts  of  the  disturbed  region 
the  earth  opened  so  widely  as  to  swallow  up 
large  houses.  In  Cannamaria  many  build- 
ings were  "  completely  engulfed  in  one 
chasm/'  insomuch  that  not  a  trace  of  them 
was  ever  seen  afterward.  So  violently  did 
these  chasms  close  their  yawning  jaws,  that 
afterward,  when  excavations  were  made  for 
the  recovery  of  valuables,  the  workmen 
found  the  contents  of  houses  crushed  into 
a  compact  mass  with  detached  portions  of 
masonry.  In  some  instances  persons  were 
engulfed  by  one  shock  and  thrown  out  again 
alive  by  the  following  one. — PROCTOR  Notes 
on  Earthquakes,  p.  3.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

953.  EARTHQUAKE     DESOLATING 
WIDE    D I S  T  R I C  T— Destruction,  Sudden, 
Swift,  and  without  Warning — Man  Power- 
less in  Grasp  of  Elemental  Forces. — One  of 
the  most  remarkable  earthquakes  ever   ex- 
perienced  was   that   which   overthrew  Rio- 
bamba  on  February  4,  1797.    A  district  120 
miles  long  and  60  broad  was  shaken  by  an 
undulatory   motion   which    lasted    for   four 
minutes,  and  a  far  wider  district  felt  the 
effects  of  the  disturbance.    Within  the  space 
first   named,   in   which   the  movement  was 
more  energetic,  every  town  and  village  was 
leveled   to   the  ground;     and   many   places 
were  buried  under  large  masses  flung  down 
from   the  surrounding  mountains.     Among 
these  was  the  flourishing  town  of  Riobamba. 
Preceded    and    accompanied    by  no    warn- 
ing noises  whatever,  the  terrific  concussion 
in  a  few  moments  effected  the  complete  deso- 
lation of  the  unhappy  district.     The  earth- 
quake was  a  singular  combination  of  per- 
pendicular,   horizontal,    and    rotary    vibra- 
tions.    So  violent  was  the  perpendicular,  or 
as  it  may  be  termed  the  explosive,  move- 
ment,  that   hundreds   of   the   wretched    in- 
habitants were  flung  upon  the  hill  La  Culla, 
several  hundred  feet  high,  on  the   further 
side  of  the  small  river  Lican.    Then  came  a 
horizontal  movement,  so  rapidly  succeeding 
the  other  that  in  many  instances  the  furni- 
ture of  one  house  was  found  beneath  the 
ruins  of  another.     In  some  cases  property 
was  removed  so  far  from  its  original  place, 
that  disputes  arose  among  the  survivors  of 
the  catastrophe,  and  the  Audiencia,  or  court 
of  justice,  was  for  some  time  occupied  in  ad- 
justing these  difficulties.     Not  less  remark- 
able were  the  effects  of  circular  or  rotary 
concussions.     Walls  beyond  the  town  were 
twisted  round  without  being  flung   down; 
rows  of  trees  which  had  been  parallel  were 
deflected  in  the  most  remarkable  manner; 
and  the  direction  of  the  ridges  of  fields  cov- 
ered with  various  kinds  of  grain  was   ob- 
served to  be  altered  by  the  effects  of  the 
earthquake. — PROCTOR     Notes     on     Earth- 
quakes, p.  4.     (Hum.,  1887.) 

954.  EARTHQUAKE   IN  THE    MIS- 
SISSIPPI  VALLEY  — Waves    Traversing  the 
Earth-crust — Chasms  Opening  Far  and  Wide 
— South    Carolina   and   New   Madrid,   Mis- 


souri, 1811-12. — Previous  to  the  destruction 
of  La  Guayra  and  Caracas,  in  1812,  earth- 
quakes were  felt  in  South  Carolina;  and 
the  shocks  continued  till  those  cities  were 
destroyed.  The  valley  also  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, from  the  village  of  New  Madrid  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  in  one  direction,  and  to 
the  St.  Francis  in  another,  was  convulsed  in 
such  a  degree  as  to  create  new  lakes  and 
islands.  It  has  been  remarked  by  Humboldt 
in  his  "  Cosmos,"  that  the  earthquake  of 
New  Madrid  presents  one  of  the  few  ex- 
amples on  record  of  the  incessant  quaking  of 
the  ground  for  several  successive  months  far 
from  any  volcano.  Flint,  the  geographer, 
who  visited  the  country  seven  years  after  the 
event,  informs  us  that  a  tract  of  many 
miles  in  extent,  near  the  Little  Prairie,  be- 
came covered  with  water  three  or  four  feet 
deep;  and  when  the  water  disappeared  a 
stratum  of  sand  was  left  in  its  place.  Large 
lakes  of  twenty  miles  in  extent  were  formed 
in  the  course  of  an  hour,  and  others  were 
drained.  The  graveyard  at  New  Madrid 
was  precipitated  into  the  bed  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi; and  it  is  stated  that  the  ground 
whereon  the  town  is  built,  and  the  river- 
bank  for  fifteen  miles  above,  sank  eight  feet 
below  their  former  level.  The  neighboring 
forest  presented  for  some  years  afterwards 
"  a  singular  scene  of  confusion ;  the  trees 
standing  inclined  in  every  direction,  and 
many  having  their  trunks  and  branches 
broken." 

The  inhabitants  relate  that  the  earth  rose 
in  great  undulations;  and  when  these 
reached  a  certain  fearful  height,  the  soil 
burst,  and  vast  volumes  of  water,  sand,  and 
pit-coal  were  discharged  as  high  as  the  tops 
of  the  trees.  Flint  saw  hundreds  of  these 
deep  chasms  remaining  in  an  alluvial  soil, 
seven  years  after.  The  people  in  the  coun- 
try, altho  inexperienced  in  such  convulsions, 
had  remarked  that  the  chasms  in  the  earth 
were  in  a  direction  from  southwest  to  north- 
east; and  they  accordingly  felled  the  tallest 
trees,  and  laying  them  at  right  angles  to  the 
chasms,  stationed  themselves  upon  them. 
By  this  invention,  when  chasms  opened  more 
than  once  under  these  trees,  several  persons 
were  prevented  from  being  swallowed  up. 
At  one  period  during  this  earthquake,  the 
ground  not  far  below  New  Madrid  swelled 
up  so  as  to  arrest  the  Mississippi  in  its 
course,  and  to  cause  a  temporary  reflux  of 
its  waves.  The  motion  of  some  of  the  shocks 
is  described  as  having  been  horizontal,  and 
of  others  perpendicular;  and  the  vertical 
movement  is  said  to  have  been  much  less 
desolating  than  the  horizontal. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  27,  p.  466. 
(A.,  1854.) 

955.  EARTHQUAKE  SHAKES  MAN'S 
CONFIDENCE  IN  THE  ORDER  OF  NA- 
TURE— "  The  Solid  Earth"  Proved  a  Delusion. 
— The  deep  and  peculiar  impression  left  on 
the  mind  by  the  first  earthquake  which  we 
experience  ...  is  not,  in  my  opinion, 
the  result  of  a  recollection  of  those  fearful 


195 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Earthquaki 


pictures  of  devastation  presented  to  our 
imaginations  by  the  historical  narratives  of 
the  past,  but  is  rather  due  to  the  sudden 
revelation  of  the  delusive  nature  of  the  in- 
herent faith  by  which  we  had  clung  to  a 
belief  in  the  immobility  of  the  solid  parts  of 
the  earth.  We  are  accustomed  from  early 
childhood  to  draw  a  contrast  between  the 
mobility  of  water  and  the  immobility  of  the 
soil  on  which  we  tread;  and  this  feeling  is 
confirmed  by  the  evidence  of  our  senses. 
When,  therefore,  we  suddenly  feel  the 
ground  move  beneath  us,  a  mysterious  and 
natural  force,  with  which  we  are  previously 
unacquainted,  is  revealed  to  us  as  an  active 
disturbance  of  stability.  A  moment  destroys 
the  illusion  of  a  whole  life;  our  deceptive 
faith  in  the  repose  of  Nature  vanishes,  and 
we  feel  transported,  as  it  were,  into  a  realm 
of  unknown  destructive  forces.  Every  sound 
— the  faintest  motion  in  the  air — arrests  our 
attention,  and  we  no  longer  trust  the  ground 
on  which  we  stand.  Animals,  especially 
dogs  and  swine,  participate  in  the  same 
anxious  disquietude;  and  even  the  croco- 
diles of  the  Orinoco,  which  are  at  other 
times  as  dumb  as  our  little  lizards,  leave 
the  trembling  bed  of  the  river,  and  run  with 
loud  cries  into  the  adjacent  forests.  To  man 
the  earthquake  conveys  an  idea  of  some  uni- 
versal and  unlimited  danger.  We  may  flee 
from  the  crater  of  a  volcano  in  active  erup- 
tion, or  from  the  dwelling  whose  destruction 
is  threatened  by  the  approach  of  the  lava 
stream;  but  in  an  earthquake,  direct  our 
flight  whithersoever  we  will,  we  still  feel 
as  if  we  trod  upon  the  very  focus  of  destruc- 
tion.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  215. 
(H.,  1897.) 

956.  EARTHQUAKE'S  WIDE- 
REACHING  EFFECT—  Vast  Destruction  of 
Human  Life. — The  great  earthquake  which 
destroyed  the  city  of  Lisbon  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1755,  was  felt  in  the  Alps,  on  the 
coast  of  Sweden,  in  the  Antilles,  Antigua, 
Barbados,  and  Martinique;  in  the  great 
Canadian  Lakes,  in  Thuringia,  in  the  flat 
country  of  Northern  Germany,  and  in  the 
small  inland  lakes  on  the  shores  of  the  Bal- 
tic. Remote  springs  were  interrupted  in  their 
flow,  a  phenomenon  attending  earthquakes 
which  had  been  noticed  among  the  ancients 
by  Demetrius  the  Callatian.  The  hot 
springs  of  Toplitz  dried  up,  and  returned, 
inundating  everything  around,  and  having 
their  waters  colored  with  iron  ocher.  In 
Cadiz  the  sea  rose  to  an  elevation  of  sixty- 
four  feet,  while  in  the  Antilles,  where  the 
tide  usually  rises  only  from  twenty-six  to 
twenty-eight  inches,  it  suddenly  rose  above 
twenty  feet,  the  water  being  of  an  inky 
blackness.  It  has  been  computed  that  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1755,  a  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface,  four  times  greater  than 
that  of  Europe,  was  simultaneously  shaken. 
As  yet  there  is  no  manifestation  of  force 
known  to  us,  including  even  the  murderous 
inventions  of  our  own  race,  by  which  a 
greater  number  of  people  have  been  killed 


in  the  short  space  of  a  few  minutes :  sixty 
thousand  were  destroyed  in  Sicily  in  1693, 
from  thirty  to  forty  thousand  in  the  earth- 
quake of  Riobamba  in  1797,  and  probably 
five  times  as  many  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria, 
under  Tiberius  and  Justinian  the  elder, 
about  the  years  19  and  526. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  211.  (H.,  1897.) 

95  7 .  EARTHQUAKES,  BENEFICENT 
EFFECTS  OF—  Continents  Maintained  by 
Their  Reproductive  Power — Good  from 
Seeming  Evil. — But  for  earthquakes  our  con- 
tinents would  continually — however  slowly 
— diminish  in  extent  through  the  action  of 
the  sea-waves  upon  their  borders,  and  of 
rain  and  rivers  on  their  interior  surfaces. 
"  Had  the  primeval  world  been  constructed 
as  it  now  exists,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel, 
"  time  enough  has  elapsed,  and  force  enough, 
directed  to  that  end,  has  been  in  activity,  to 
have  long  ago  destroyed  every  vestige  of 
land."  It  is  to  the  reproductive  energy  of 
the  earth's  internal  forces  that  we  are  alone 
indebted  for  the  very  existence  of  dry  land. 
To  the  same  cause,  undoubtedly,  we  owe  that 
gradual  process  of  change  in  the  configura- 
tion of  continents  and  oceans  which  has  been 
for  ages  and  still  is  in  progress — a  process 
the  benefit  derived  from  which  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  called  in  question.  Our  forests  and 
our  fields  derive  their  nourishment  from 
soils  prepared,  for  long  ages,  beneath  the 
waves  of  ocean;  our  stores  of  coal  and  of 
many  other*  important  minerals  have  been 
in  like  manner  prepared  for  our  use  during 
the  long  intervals  of  their  submergence ;  we 
build  our  houses  even  with  materials  many 
of  which  owe  their  perfect  adaptation  to 
our  wants  to  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
been  slowly  deposited  on  what  was  once  the 
bed  of  ocean,  and  compressed  to  a  due  solid- 
ity and  firmness  of  texture  beneath  its 
depths.  ...  So  far  from  dreading  lest 
the  earth's  subterranean  forces  should  ac- 
quire new  energies,  we  ought  rather  to  fear 
lest  they  should  lose  their  force. — PROCTOR 
Notes  on  Earthquakes,  p.  6.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

958.  EARTHQUAKES,  JAPANESE 
BUILDINGS  UNHARMED  BY— Peril  Ac- 
cepted as  a  Common  Incident  of  Life. — The 
ordinary  Japanese  house  consists  of  a  light 
framework  of  4-  or  5-inch  scantling,  built  to- 
gether without  struts  or  ties,  all  the  tim- 
bers crossing  each  other  at  right  angles. 
The  spaces  are  filled  in  with  wattlework  of 
bamboo,  and  this  is  plastered  over  with 
mud.  This  construction  stands  on  the  top 
of  a  row  of  boulders  or  of  square  stones, 
driven  into  the  surface  soil  to  a  distance 
varying  from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot.  The 
whole  arrangement  is  so  light  that  it  is  not 
an  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  large  house 
rolled  along  from  one  position  to  another  on 
wooden  rollers.  In  buildings  such  as  these, 
after  a  series  of  small  earthquake  shocks, 
we  could  hardly  expect  to  find  more  frac- 
tures than  in  a  wicker  basket.  ...  So 
far  as  my  own  experience  has  gone,  I  must 


uakes 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


196 


say  that  I  have  never  seen  any  signs  in  the 
Japanese  timber  buildings  which  could  be 
attributed  to  the  effects  of  earthquakes,  and 
His  Excellency  Yamao  Yozo,  Vice-Minister 
of  Public  Works,  who  has  made  the  study  of 
the  buildings  of  Japan  a  speciality,  told  me 
that  none  of  the  temples  and  palaces,  altho 
many  of  them  are  several  centuries  old,  and 
altho  they  have  been  shaken  by  small  earth- 
quakes and  also  by  many  severe  ones,  show 
any  signs  of  having  suffered.  The  greatest 
damage  wrought  by  large  earthquakes  ap- 
pears to  have  resulted  from  the  influx  of 
large  waves  or  from  fires. — MILNE  Earth- 
quakes, ch.  7,  p.  122.  (A.,  1899.) 

959.  EARTH-SCULPTURE  OF  PRIM- 
ITIVE MAN—' 'Animal Mounds  "—  The ' 'Alli- 
gator."— The  "  Animal  Mounds  "  which  have 
been   observed    out   of   Wisconsin   differ   in 
many  respects  from  the  ordinary  type.  Near 
Granville,  in  Ohio,  on  a  higher  spur  of  land, 
is  an  earthwork,  known  in  the  neighborhood 
as  the  "  Alligator."    It  has  a  head  and  body, 
four  sprawling  legs,  and  a  curled  tail.     The 
total  length  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet; 
the  breadth  of  the  body  forty  feet,  and  the 
length    of   the   legs   thirty-six  feet.     "The 
head,  shoulders,  and  rump  are  more  elevated 
than  the  other  parts  of  the  body,  an  attempt 
having  evidently  been  made  to  preserve  the 
proportions  of  the  object  copied."     The  av- 
erage height  is  four  feet,  at  the  shoulders 
six. — AVEBTJBY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p. 
256.     (A.,  1900.) 

960.  ECHOES  OF  THOUGHT— After- 
images— Each     Perception     or     Sensation 
Leaves  Its   Trace — Counting   Strokes  after 
Clock  Has  Struck. — In  the  nervous  system 
each  stimulus  leaves  some  latent  activity  be- 
hind it  which  only  gradually  passes  away. 
Psychological  proof  of  the  same  fact  is  af- 
forded by  those  "  after-images  "  which  we 
perceive  when  a  sensorial  stimulus  is  gone. 
We  may  read  off  peculiarities  in  an  after- 
image, left  by  an  object  on  the  eye,  which 
we  failed  to  note  in  the  original.     We  may 
•"  hark  back  "  and  take  in  the  meaning  of  a 
sound   several  seconds  after  it  has  ceased. 
Delay  for  a  minute,  however,  and  the  echo 
itself  of  the  clock  or  the  question  is  mute; 
present  sensations  have  banished  it  beyond 
recall.  With  the  feeling  of  the  present  thing 
there  must  at  all  times  mingle  the  fading 
echo  of  all  those  other  things  which  the  pre- 
vious   few   seconds   have    supplied. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p.  634.     (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

961.  ECLIPSE  OF  THE  SUN— Beauty 
of    the    Spectacle — Colored    Flames    of    the 
Chromosphere    Shine    Out    when    Disk    is 
Darkened — Source      of      the      "  Unnatural 
Light." — Those  who  were  at  leisure  to  watch 
the  coming  shadow  of  the  moon  described  its 
curved  outline  as  distinctly  visible  on  the 
plains.     "  A  rounded  ball  of  darkness  with 
an    orange-yellow    border,"    one    called    it. 
Those,  again,  who  looked  down  on  the  bright 
clouds  below  say  the  shadow  was  preceded 


by  a  yellow  fringe,  casting  a  bright  light 
over  the  clouds  and  passing  into  orange, 
pink,  rose-red,  and  dark  red,  in  about  twenty 
seconds.  This  beautiful  effect  was  noticed 
by  nearly  all  the  amateur  observers  present, 
who  had  their  attention  at  liberty,  and  was 
generally  unseen  by  the  professional  ones, 
who  were  shut  up  in  dark  tents  with  pho- 
tometers, or  engaged  otherwise  than  in  ad- 
miring the  glory  of  the  spectacle  as  a  spec- 
tacle merely.  This  strange  light,  forming  a 
band  of  color  about  the  shadow  as  seen  from 
above,  must  have  really  covered  ten  miles  or 
more  in  width,  and  have  occupied  a  consid- 
erable fraction  of  a  minute  in  passing  over 
the  heads  of  those  below,  to  whom  it  prob- 
ably constituted  that  lurid  light  on  their 
landscape  I  have  spoken  of  as  so  peculiar 
and  "  unnatural."  It  seems  to  be  due  to  the 
colored  flames  round  the  sun,  which  shine 
out  when  its  brighter  light  is  extinguished. 
— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  56. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.) 

962.    ECLIPSE,  TOTAL,  OF  THE  SUN 

— Once  Prolific  of  Superstition — Still  Weird 
and  Awe-inspiring — Man's  Conscious  De- 
pendence on  the  Orb  of  Day. — Of  all  as- 
tronomical phenomena,  there  are  few  which 
have  struck  the  human  imagination  so  much 
as  total  eclipses  of  the  sun.  •  What  spectacle 
more  strange,  in  fact,  than  that  of  the  sud- 
den disappearance  of  the  day-star  at  noon- 
day in  the  midst  of  a  clear  sky  ?  In  the  days 
when  humanity  was  ignorant  of  the  natural 
causes  of  these  effects,  such  a  disappearance 
was  considered  as  supernatural,  and  they 
saw  in  it  with  terror  a  manifestation  of  the 
divine  anger.  Since  the  natural  causes  have 
been  discovered,  and  these  phenomena  are 
seen  to  answer  to  our  calculations  with  the 
most  obedient  fidelity,  all  supernatural  ter- 
ror has  disappeared  from  cultivated  minds, 
but  the  grand  spectacle  does  not  the  less  im- 
press the  beholder. 

At  the  hour  predicted  by  the  astronomer 
we  see  the  brilliant  disk  of  the  sun  cut  into 
towards  the  west,  and  a  black  segment 
slowly  advancing,  eating  away  the  solar  disk 
until  it  is  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  thin 
luminous  crescent.  At  the  same  time  day- 
light diminishes;  from  all  sides  a  wan  and 
sinister  gleam  replaces  the  brilliant  light  in 
which  Nature  rejoiced,  and  an  infinite  sad- 
ness falls  upon  the  world.  Very  soon  there  re- 
mains nothing  of  the  radiant  star  but  a  nar- 
row arc  of  light,  and  hope  appears  disposed 
to  wing  its  flight  from  this  earth,  so  long 
illuminated  by  the  paternal  sun.  Life  seems 
still  connected  with  the  sky  by  an  invisible 
thread,  when  suddenly  the  last  ray  of  day- 
light dies  out,  and  a  darkness  as  profound 
as  it  is  sudden  spreads  all  around  us,  redu- 
cing the  whole  of  Nature  to  astonishment 
and  silence.  The  stars  shine  in  the  sky! 
The  man  who  would  still  speak  and  com- 
municate, his  impressions  while  attentively 
watching  the  phenomenon  cries  out  with 
surprise;  then  he  becomes  silent,  struck 
with  stupor.  The  singing-bird  crouches  un- 


197 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


der  the  leaf;  the  dog  takes  refuge  against 
the  legs  of  his  master;  the  hen  covers  the 
chickens  with  her  wings.  Living  nature  is 
hushed — dumb  with  astonishment.  Night  has 
come — a  night  sometimes  intense  and  pro- 
found, but  oftener  incomplete,  strange,  and 
extraordinary,  the  earth  remaining  vaguely 
illuminated  by  a  reddish  light  reflected  from 
distant  regions  of  the  atmosphere  situated 
outside  the  cone  of  the  lunar  shadow  which 
produces  the  eclipse.  Sometimes  we  see 
shining  during  the  eclipse  all  the  stars  of 
the  first  and  second  magnitude  which  are 
above  the  horizon,  sometimes  only  the 
brightest  of  the  planets.  The  temperature 
of  the  air  rapidly  sinks  several  degrees. — 
FLAMMAKION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
9,  p.  194.  (A.) 

963.  ECLIPSES     CALCULATED     IN 
FAR  ANTIQUITY—  Chinese  Astronomer*  Pun- 
ished for  Neglect. — Indeed,  each  of  the  great 
civilizations  of  the  ancient  world  seems  to 
have    had    its    own    system    of    astronomy 
strongly  marked  by  the  peculiar  character 
of  the  people  among  whom  it  was  found. 
Several    events    recorded   in   the   annals   of 
China  show  that  the  movements  of  the  sun 
and  the  laws  of  eclipses  were  studied  in  that 
country  at  a  very  early  age.     Some  of  these 
events   must  be  entirely  mythical.     .     .     . 
But  there  is   another  event  which,  even  if 
we  place  it  in  the  same  category,  must  be 
regarded      as      indicating     a      considerable 
amount   of  astronomical   knowledge   among 
the  ancient  Chinese.    We  refer  to  the  tragic 
fate  of  Hi  and  Ho,  astronomers  royal  to  one 
of  the  ancient  emperors  of  that  people.     It 
was  part  of  the  duty  of  these  men  to  care- 
fully  study  the  heavenly  movements,   and 
give  timely  warning  of  the  approach  of  an 
eclipse    or    other    remarkable    phenomenon. 
But,  neglecting  this  duty,  they  gave  them- 
selves up  to  drunkenness  and  riotous  living. 
In  consequence,   an  eclipse  of  the  sun  oc- 
curred without  any  notice  being  given;   the 
religious  rites  due  in  such  a  case  were  not 
performed,   and  China  was  exposed  to  the 
anger  of  the  gods.     To  appease  their  wrath, 
the  unworthy  astronomers  were  seized  and 
summarily    executed    by    royal    command. 
Some  historians  have  gone  so  far  as  to  fix 
the  date  of  this  occurrence,  which  is  vari- 
ously placed  at  from  2128  to  2159  before  the 
Christian  era.     If  this  is  correct,  it  is  the 
earliest  of  which  profane  history  has  left  us 
any  record. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy, 
pt.  i,  int.,  p.  2.     (H.,  1899.) 

964.  ECSTASY  OF  HEALTH— Animate 

Share  with  Man. — We  see  that  the  inferior 
animals,  when  the  conditions  of  life  are  fa- 
vorable, are  subject  to  periodical  fits  of  glad- 
ness, affecting  them  powerfully  and  standing 
in  vivid  contrast  to  their  ordinary  temper. 
And  we  know  what  this  feeling  is — this  pe- 
riodic intense  elation  which  even  civilized 
man  occasionally  experiences  when  in  per- 
fect health,  more  especially  when  young. 
There  are  moments  when  he  is  mad  with  joy, 


when  he  cannot  keep  still,  when  his  impulse 
is  to  sing  and  shout  aloud  and  laugh  at 
nothing,  to  run  and  leap  and  exert  himself 
in  some  extravagant  way.  Among  the  heav- 
ier mammalians  the  feeling  is  manifested  in 
loud  noises,  bellowings,  and  screamings,  and 
in  lumbering,  uncouth  motions — throwing 
up  of  heels,  pretended  panics,  and  ponder- 
ous mock  battles. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in 
La  Plata,  ch.  19,  p.  280.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

965.  EDIFICE  NOT  SEEN  TILL  SCAF- 
FOLDING   IS    REMOVED  —  Admission  of 
German  Scientist — Accumulation  of  Details 
Spoils  Perspective. — There  is,  perhaps,  some 
truth   in   the   accusation   advanced   against 
many   German   scientific   works,    that  they 
lessen  the  value  of  general  views  by  an  ac- 
cumulation of  detail,  and  do  not  sufficiently 
distinguish     between    those     great    results 
which  form,  as  it  were,  the  beacon-lights  of 
science,   and  the   long   series   of  means   by 
which  they  have  been  attained.   This  method 
of  treating  scientific  subjects  led  the  most 
illustrious  of  our  poets  [Goethe]  to  exclaim 
with  impatience,   "  The  Germans  have  the 
art  of  making  science  inaccessible."    An  edi- 
fice cannot  produce  a  striking  effect  until 
the  scaffolding  is  removed,  that  had  of  ne- 
cessity    been    used    during    its    erection. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  47.     (H., 
1897.) 

966.  EDIFICE  OF  A  HIDDEN  BUILD- 
ER— Crystal  Shaped  According  to  Law — Form 
Determined    by    Polarity    of    Molecules. — I 
wish  you  to  realize  intellectually  the  process 
of  crystalline  architecture.     Look  then  into 
a  granite  quarry,  and  spend  a  few  minutes 
in  examining  the  rock.    It  is  not  of  perfectly 
uniform  texture.    It  is  rather  an  agglomera- 
tion of  pieces,  which,  on  examination,  pre- 
sent curiously  defined  forms.    You  have  there 
what   mineralogists   call   quartz,    you   have 
felspar,  you  have  mica.    In  a  mineralogical 
cabinet,    where    these    substances    are    pre- 
served separately,  you  will  obtain  some  no- 
tion of  their  forms.    You  will  see  there,  also, 
specimens  of  beryl,  topaz,  emerald,  tourma- 
lin, heavy  spar,  fluor-spar,  Iceland  spar — 
possibly     a     full-formed     diamond.     .     .     . 
These  crystals,  you  will  observe,  are  put  to- 
gether   according    to    law;     they    are    not 
chance  productions;    and,  if  you  care  to  ex- 
amine them  more  minutely,   you  will  find 
their  architecture  capable  of  being  to  some 
extent  revealed.    They  often  split  in  certain 
directions     before    a    knife-edge,     exposing 
smooth    and    shining    surfaces,    which    are 
called  planes  of  cleavage;    and  by  following 
these  planes  you  sometimes  reach  an  inter- 
nal form,  disguised  beneath  the  external  form 
of  the  crystal.     Ponder  these  beautiful  edi- 
fices of  a  hidden  builder.     You  cannot  help 
asking  yourself  how  they  were  built;    and 
familiar  as  you  now  are  with  the  notion  of 
a  polar  force,  and  the  ability  of  that  force 
to  produce  structural  arrangement,  your  in- 
evitable answer  will  be  that  those  crystals 
are  built  by  the  play  of  polar  forces  with 


Edifice 
Effect 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


198 


which  their  molecules  are  endowed.  In  vir- 
tue of  these  forces,  atom  lays  itself  to  atom 
in  a  perfectly  definite  way,  the  final  visible 
form  of  the  crystal  depending  upon  this  play 
of  its  molecules. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  3,  p.  101.  (A.,  1898.) 

967.  EDUCATION  AND  MAN— Reac- 
tion on  Impressions. — Man  is  an  organism 
for   reacting   on  impressions:     his  mind  is 
there  to  help  determine  his  reactions,  and 
the  purpose  of  his  education  is  to  make  them 
numerous     and     perfect.       Our     education 
means,  in  short,  little  more  than  a  mass  of 
possibilities  of  reaction,  acquired  at  home, 
at  school,  or  in  the  training  of  affairs. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  6,  p.  38.     (H. 
H.  &Co.,  1900.) 

968.  EDUCATION  A  TEST— Capacity 
to  Receive  Differs  with  Race. — In  measuring 
the  minds  of  the  lower  races,  a  good  test  is, 
how  far  their  children  are  able  to  take  a 
civilized  education.     The  account  generally 
given  by  European  teachers  who  have  had 
the  children  of  lower  races  in  their  schools 
is  that,  tho  these  often  learn  as  well  as  the 
white  children  up  to  about  twelve  years  old, 
they  then  fall  off,  and  are  left  behind  by  the 
children  of  the  ruling  race.     This  fits  with 
what  anatomy  teaches  of  the  less  develop- 
ment of  brain  in  the  Australian  and  African 
than  in  the  European.     It  agrees  also  with 
what  the  history  of  civilization  teaches,  that 
up  to  a  certain  point  savages  and  barba- 
rians are  like  what  our  ancestors  were  and 
our  peasants  still  are,  but  from  this  common 
level  the  superior  intellect  of  the  progressive 
races  has  raised  their  nations  to  heights  of 
culture.    The  white  man,  tho  now  dominant 
over  the  world,  must  remember  that  intel- 
lectual progress  has  been  by  no  means  the 
monopoly  of  his  race.     At  the  dawn  of  his- 
tory the  leaders  of  culture  were  the  brown 
Egyptians,  and  the  Babylonians,  whose  Ac- 
cadian  is  not  connected  with  the  language 
of  white  nations,  while  the  yellow  Chinese, 
whose  Tatar  affinity  is  evident  in  their  hair 
and  features,  have  been  for  four  thousand 
years  or  more  a  civilized  and  literary  nation. 
The     dark-whites,     Assyrians,     Phoenicians, 
Persians,  Greeks,  Eomans,  did  not  start  but 
carried  on  the  forward  movement  of  culture, 
while  since  then  the  fair-whites,  as  part  of 
the   population    of    France,    Germany,    and 
England,  have  taken  their  share  not  meanly, 
tho  latest,  in  the  world's  progress. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  3,  p.  74.     (A.,  1899.) 

969.  EDUCATION  BASED  ON  ATTEN- 
TION —  Animals  and   Children  —  Idiots  and 
Deaf-mutes. — "  The   first   and   most   impor- 
tant, but  also  the  most  difficult,  task  at  the 
outset  of  an  education  is  to  overcome  gradu- 
ally   the    inattentive    dispersion    of    mind 
which  shows  itself  wherever  the  organic  life 
preponderates    over    the    intellectual.      The 
training  of  animals     .     .     .     must  be  in  the 
first  instance  based  on  the  awakening  of  at- 
tention   ( cf.    Adrian    Leonard,    '  Essai    sur 


TEducation  des  Animaux,'  Lille,  1842)  ; 
that  is  to  say,  we  must  seek  to  make  them 
gradually  perceive  separately  things  which, 
if  left  to  themselves,  would  not  be  attended 
to,  because  they  would  fuse  with  a  great  sum 
of  other  sensorial  stimuli  to  a  confused  total 
impression,  of  which  each  separate  item  only 
darkens  and  interferes  with  the  rest.  Simi- 
larly at  first  with  the  human  child.  The 
enormous  difficulty  of  deaf-mute-  and  espe- 
cially of  idiot-instruction  is  principally  due 
to  the  slow  and  painful  manner  in  which 
we  succeed  in  bringing  out  from  the  general 
confusion  of  perception  single  items  with 
sufficient  sharpness."  ( Waitz,  "  Lehrbuch 
der  Psychologic,"  p.  632.) — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  405.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

970.  EDUCATION  DEVELOPS  MEN- 
TAL ENDOWMENT—  Genius  Not  the  Result 
of   Training. — Fruits   and  vegetables    must 
have  good  nurture  to  reach  perfection,  but 
the  gardener  knowns  his  labor  will  be  vain 
unless  he  starts  with  seed  which  is  adapted 
by  nature  for  improvement  by  judicious  nur- 
ture;   and  while  it  is  hard  for  us  to  con- 
sider the  question  whether  the  arts  and  ac- 
complishments of  normal  men  are  due  to 
anything  else  than  training  and  education, 
we  feel  no  such  difficulty  when  the  faculties 
of  abnormal  or  exceptional  individuals  are 
in  question ;    for  the  restriction  of  the  pow- 
ers of  idiots  is  clearly  correlated  with  defi- 
cient structure,  and  training  and  education 
are  so  obviously  incompetent  to  account  for 
the  achievements  of  men  of  genius  that  we 
are  apt  to  believe  that  their  natural  or  in- 
nate powers  are  different  in  kind  from  any- 
thing in  our  own  more  commonplace  selves. 
— BROOKS  Foundations  of  Zoology,  lect.  10, 
p.  261.     (C.  U.  P.,  1899.) 

971.  EDUCATION     OF     MAN    FOR 
SPIRITUAL   LIFE— A    Creative  Purpose  in 
Nature — Material  Ends  Not  Supreme — Com- 
plexity   of    Light    and    Light-sensations. — 
This    question    of    absorption     [of    light], 
considered    with    reference    to    its    molec- 
ular mechanism,  is  one  of  the  most  subtle 
and  difficult  in  physics.     We  are  not  yet 
in  a  condition  to  grapple  with  it,  but  we 
shall  be  by  and  by.     We  have,  in  the  first 
place,  in  solar  light  an  agent  of  exceeding 
complexity,   composed   of   innumerable  con- 
stituents,   refrangible   in   different   degrees. 
We  find,  secondly,  the  atoms  and  molecules 
of  bodies  gifted  with  the  power  of  sifting 
solar  light  in  the  most  various  ways,  and 
producing  by  this  sifting  the  colors  observed 
in  Nature  and  art.     To  do  this  they  must 
possess  a  molecular  structure  commensurate 
in    complexity    with    that    of    light    itself. 
Thirdly,  we  have  the  human  eye  and  brain, 
so  organized  as  to  be  able  to  take  in  and  dis- 
tinguish the  multitude  of  impressions  thus 
generated.     The  light,  therefore,  at  starting 
is  complex;    to  sift  and  select  it  as  they  do, 
natural  bodies  must  be  complex;    while  to 
take  in  the  impressions  thus  generated,  the 


199 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Edifice 
Effect 


human  eye  and  brain,  however  we  may  sim- 
plify our  conceptions  of  their  action,  must 
be  highly  complex.  Whence  this  triple  com- 
plexity? If  what  are  called  material  pur- 
poses were  the  only  end  to  be  served,  a  much 
simpler  mechanism  would  be  sufficient;  but 
instead  of  simplicity,  we  have  prodigality  of 
relation  and  adaptation — and  this  apparent- 
ly for  the  sole  purpose  of  enabling  us  to  see 
things  robed  in  the  splendors  of  color. 
Would  it  not  seem  that  Nature  harbored  the 
intention  of  educating  us  for  other  enjoy- 
ments than  those  derivable  from  meat  and 
drink?  At  all  events,  whatever  Nature 
meant — and  it  would  be  mere  presumption 
to  dogmatize  as  to  what  she  meant — we  find 
ourselves  here,  as  the  upshot  of  her  opera- 
tions, endowed  writh  capacities  to  enjoy  not 
only  the  materially  useful,  but  endowed 
with  others  of  indefinite  scope  and  applica- 
tion, which  deal  alone  with  the  beautiful 
and  the  true. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  1,  p.  39.  (A.,  1898.) 

972.  EDUCATION,  VALUE  OF  NA- 
TURE-STUDY IN  —  Faculty  of  Observation 
Trained  Early  in  Childhood. — I  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  affirm  that  a  boy  or  girl  of,  say,  ten 
years  of  age  may  receive  a  certain  amount 
of  elementary  biological  instruction,  which 
will  be  of  the  greatest  service  in  the  train- 
ing of  the  child's  mind,  and  which  will  as- 
sist the  due  appreciation  of  its  other 
studies.  As  Sir  James  Paget  well  remarks, 
"  The  askings  of  children  seem  to  indicate  a 
natural  desire  after  a  knowledge  of  the  pur- 
poses fulfilled  in  Nature  " ;  and  even  where 
this  desire  is  most  feebly  developed,  the 
plain,  interesting  teaching  of  the  grand  yet 
simple  facts  of  biology  will  tend  to  arouse 
the  latent  curiosity  of  the  child,  and  to 
early  awaken  its  sympathies  with  the  things 
of  living  Nature.  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  his  evi- 
dence before  the  English  Public  Schools  Com- 
mission, lays  great  stress  upon  the  impor- 
tance of  enabling  children  to  begin  the 
study  of  physical  and  natural  science  at  an 
early  age.  He  says :  "  The  training  of  the 
observing  faculties  by  attention  to  the  phe- 
nomena of  Nature,  both  in  physical  and  in 
natural  science,  seems  to  me  to  be  the  nat- 
ural application  of  time  at  the  age  of,  say, 
from  eight  to  twelve."  Dr.  Carpenter  fur- 
ther exemplifies,  by  citing  his  own  case,  the 
value  of  an  early  training  in  science  as  tend- 
ing to  cultivate  the  observant  habits  more 
thoroughly  than  when  the  study  is  entered 
upon  at  a  later  period.  The  evidence  of  the 
late  Sir  Charles  Lyell  goes  to  support  Dr. 
Carpenter's  views  in  relation  to  the  advan- 
tages of  training  the  observant  faculties  in 
early  youth ;  the  age  of  nine  or  ten,  the  late 
distinguished  geologist  maintained,  being 
that  at  which  the  powers  of  observation  are 
sufficiently  developed,  and  when,  if  pupils 
be  taught  natural  science,  "  they  learn  a 
vast  deal  of  other  things  in  consequence." — 
ANDREW  WTILSON  Biology  in  Education,  p. 
16.  (Hum.,  1888.) 


973.  EFFECT  BEYOND  APPARENT 

CAUSE—  Change  Produced  by  Rise  in  Tem- 
perature of  Two  Degrees — Arctic  Desolation 
Succeeded  by  Life  and  Movement — One  Step 
above  Brute  Intelligence  Gives  Human  In- 
tellect.— In  part  of  the  arctic  regions  at  this 
moment  there  is  no  such  thing  as  liquid. 
Matter  is  only  known  there  in  the  solid 
form.  The  temperature  may  be  thirty-one 
degrees  below  zero  or  thirty-one  degrees 
above  zero  without  making  the  slightest  dif- 
ference; there  can  be  nothing  there  but  ice, 
glacier,  and  those  crystals  of  ice  which  we 
call  snow.  But  suppose  the  temperature 
rose  two  degrees,  the  difference  would  be  in- 
describable. While  no  change  for  sixty  de- 
grees below  that  point  made  the  least  dif- 
ference, the  almost  inappreciable  addition  of 
two  degrees  changes  the  country  into  a 
world  of  water.  The  glaciers,  under  the  new 
conditions,  retreat  into  the  mountains,  the 
vesture  of  ice  drops  into  the  sea,  a  garment 
of  greenness  clothes  the  land.  So,  in  the 
animal  world,  a  very  small  rise  beyond  the 
animal  maximum  may  open  the  door  for  a 
revolution. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch. 
5,  p.  186.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 


974. 


General    Tide-move- 


ment Increased  by  Local  Conditions. — The 
moon  raises  the  surface  of  the  sea  at  the 
equator  by  fifty  centimeters  [about  19.7 
inches],  and,  the  action  of  the  sun  being 
added,  the  elevation  reaches  74  centimeters 
[29.1  inches].  The  height  decreases  up  to 
the  poles,  where  the  amplitude  of  the  oscil- 
lations is  reduced  to  zero,  and  there  is  no 
tide,  even  when  the  sea  is  not  frozen. 

The  amount  by  which  the  surface  of  the 
sea  is  raised  and  lowered  successively  is,  in 
general,  very  much  greater  than  what  we 
have  stated,  assuming  that  this  surface 
takes  at  each  instant  the  figure  of  equilib- 
rium which  agrees  with  the  magnitude  and 
direction  of  the  attractions  of  the  sun  and 
moon.  We  have  seen  that  the  greatest  dif- 
ference of  level  which  can  exist,  on  this 
hypothesis,  between  high  water  and  the  fol- 
lowing low  water  is  only  2.43  feet  at  the 
equator,  if  the  sun  and  moon  are  at  their 
mean  distances.  Now,  there  exist  certain 
localities  where  the  same  difference  exceeds 
thirty-two  feet  in  the  vertical  direction. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
7,  p.  166.  (A.) 


975. 


Tides  Rise  Higher 


than  Attraction  of  Sun  and  Moon  Would 
Draw  Them — Momentum  Outlives  Incite- 
ment.— The  waters  of  the  sea,  contained  in  a 
space  limited  on  both  sides  by  the  conti- 
nents, oscillate  in  this  space,  which  forms  a 
sort  of  vessel  of  small  depth  relatively  to  its 
surface;  these  oscillations  are  kept  up  by 
the  disturbing  actions  of  the  moon  and  sun, 
of  which  the  intensity  and  the  direction 
change  every  instant.  When,  in  consequence 
of  these  actions,  the  surface  of  the  sea  is 
forced  to  rise  at  a  certain  side  of  the  basin 
which  contains  it,  the  water  is  carried  to 


Effect 
Egypt 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


200 


that  side,  and  the  velocity  with  which  the 
change  of  place  is  effected  is  the  reason  that 
it  does  not  stop  when  the  surface  has  at- 
tained equilibrium,  but  continues  to  move  in 
the  same  direction  until  the  velocity  is  com- 
pletely destroyed  by  the  action  of  gravity, 
and  by  the  friction  against  the  bottom;  so 
that  the  oscillatory  movement  in  the  verti- 
cal direction  thus  becomes,  on  the  borders 
of  the  sea,  of  much  greater  proportions  than 
if  the  sea  were  placed  at  each  instant  in 
equilibrium  under  the  action  of  the  forces 
which  are  applied  to  it.  We  understand 
from  this,  not  only  why  the  sea  is  raised 
and  lowered  much  more  than  seems  to  be 
caused  by  the  actions  of  the  moon  and  sun, 
but,  further,  why  ;  .  .  the  waters  which 
have  risen  by  these  actions  .  .  .  con- 
tinue still  to  rise  for  some  time  [after- 
wards] in  virtue  of  their  acquired  velocity. 
— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  8,  p.  167.  (A.) 


976. 


Unlocking  of  Energy 


— Spark  Produces  Conflagration.  —  To  ac- 
count for  the  propagation  of  fire  was  one  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  last  century.  A  spark 
was  found  sufficient  to  initiate  a  conflagra- 
tion. The  effect  here  seemed  beyond  all  pro- 
portion greater  than  the  cause,  and  herein 
lay  the  philosophical  difficulty.  By  a  stri- 
king analogy  Boscovich  made  clear  to  his 
own  mind  how  small  causes  produce  vast  ef- 
fects. He  pictures  a  high  mountain  rising  out 
of  the  sea,  with  sides  so  steep  that  blocks  of 
stone  are  just  able  to  rest  upon  them  with- 
out rolling  down.  He  supposes  such  blocks, 
diminishing  gradually  in  size,  to  be  strewn 
over  the  mountain — large  below,  moderate 
at  the  middle  height,  and  dwindling  to  sand- 
grains  at  the  top.  A  small  bird  touches 
with  its  foot  a  grain  on  the  summit;  it 
moves,  sets  the  next  large  grains  in  motion, 
these  again  let  loose  the  pebbles,  these  the 
larger  stones,  these  the  blocks ;  until  finally 
the  whole  mountainside  rolls  violently  into 
the  sea,  there  producing  mighty  waves. 
Here  the  foot  of  the  little  bird  unlocked  the 
energy,  the  rest  of  the  work  being  done  by 
gravitation.  This  he  regarded  as  an  image 
whereby  the  propagation  of  fire  might  be 
rendered  intelligible.  The  spark  acts  like 
the  foot  of  the  bird;  it  starts  a  process 
which  is  continued  and  vastly  augmented 
by  the  molecular  forces  of  the  fuel.  The 
force  which  moves  a  train  is  potential  in  the 
boiler  before  the  steam  is  turned  on.  The 
hand  of  the  engineer  releases  a  detent  and 
permits  the  potential  to  become  actual.  It, 
however,  like  the  bird  of  Boscovich,  only 
liberates  a  preexisting  power.  The  action 
of  the  nerves  in  unlocking  the  power  of 
the  muscles  also  falls  in  admirably  with 
the  conception  of  Boscovich  here  described. 
— TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  3, 
p.  64.  (A.,  1900.) 

977.     EFFECT,  MIGHTY,  FROM 
TRIVIAL  CAUSE—  Time  Multiplies  Results— 


Natural  Causes  Extended  through  Limitless 
Past. — Many  geologists  had  previously  im- 
agined that  the  highest  chains  of  mountains 
which  rise  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  could 
owe  their  origin  only  to  enormous  revolu- 
tions transforming  a  great  part  of  the 
earth's  surface,  especially  to  colossal  vol- 
canic eruptions.  Such  chains  of  mountains 
as  those  of  the  Alps  or  the  Cordilleras  were 
believed  to  have  arisen  direct  from  the  fiery 
fluid  of  the  interior  of  the  earth,  through 
an  enormous  chasm  in  the  broken  crust. 
Lyell,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  that  we 
can  explain  the  formation  of  such  enormous 
chains  of  mountains  quite  naturally  by  the 
same  slow  and  imperceptible  risings  and  de- 
pressions of  the  earth's  surface  which  are 
still  continually  taking  place,  and  the 
causes  of  which  are  by  no  means  miraculous. 
Altho  these  depressions  and  risings  may 
perhaps  amount  only  to  a  few  inches,  or  at 
most  a  few  feet,  in  the  course  of  a  century, 
still  in  the  course  of  some  millions  of  years 
they  are  perfectly  sufficient  to  raise  up  the 
highest  chains  of  mountains,  without  the 
aid  of  mysterious  and  incomprehensible 
revolutions.  In  like  manner,  the  meteoro- 
logical action  of  the  atmosphere,  the  influ- 
ence of  rain  and  snow,  and,  lastly,  the  break- 
ers on  the  coasts,  which  by  themselves  seem 
to  produce  an  insignificant  effect,  must  cause 
the  greatest  changes  if  we  only  allow  suffi- 
ciently long  periods  for  their  action.  The 
multiplication  of  the  smallest  causes  pro- 
duces the  greatest  effects.  Drops  of  water 
produce  a  cavity  in  a  rock. — HAECKEL  His- 
tory of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  130.  (K.  P. 
&Co.,  1899.) 

978.    EFFECT  OF  FIRE  ON  ANIMALS 

— Birds  Dashing  Themselves  against  Light- 
house.— The  fires  which  travelers  make  for 
their  protection  actually  serve  to  attract  the 
beasts  of  prey,  but  the  confusion  and  fear 
caused  by  the  bright  glare  make  it  safe  for 
the  traveler  to  lie  down  and  sleep  in  the 
light.  Mammals  do  not  lose  their  heads  al- 
together, because  they  are  walking  on  firm 
ground  where  muscular  exertion  and  an  ex- 
ercise of  judgment  are  necessary  at  every 
step ;  whereas  birds  floating  buoyantly  and 
with  little  effort  through  the  air  are  quickly 
bewildered.  Incredible  numbers  of  migra- 
tory birds  kill  themselves  by  dashing  against 
the  windows  of  lighthouses;  on  bright 
moonlight  nights  the  voyagers  are  compara- 
tively safe ;  but  during  dark  cloudy  weather 
the  slaughter  is  very  great;  over  six  hun- 
dred birds  were  killed  by  striking  a  light- 
house in  Central  America  in  a  single  night. 
On  insects  the  effect  is  the  same  as  on  the 
higher  animals:  on  the  ground  they  are  at- 
tracted by  the  light,  but  keep,  like  wolves 
and  tigers,  at  a  safe  distance  from  it ;  when 
rushing  through  the  air  and  unable  to  keep 
their  eyes  from  it  they  fly  into  it,  or  else 
revolve  about  it,  until,  coming  too  close, 
their  wings  are  singed. — HUDSON  Naturalist 
in  La  Plata,  ch.  13,  p.  176.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 


201 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Effect 


979.  EFFECT  OF  HEAT  AND  COLD 

RESISTLESS— Lead  Crawls  Down  Cathedral 
Roof. — A  very  curious  effect  of  expansion 
was  observed,  and  explained,  some  years 
ago,  by  the  late  Canon  Moseley.  The  choir 
of  Bristol  Cathedral  was  covered  with  sheet 
lead,  the  length  of  the  covering  being  60 
feet,  and  its  depth  19  feet  4  inches.  It  had 
been  laid  on  in  the  year  1851,  and  two  years 
afterwards  it  had  moved  bodily  down 
through  a  distance  of  eighteen  inches.  The 
descent  had  been  continually  going  on  from 
the  time  the  lead  had  been  laid  down,  and 
an  attempt  made  to  stop  it  by  driving  nails 
into  the  rafters  had  failed;  for  the  force 
of  descent  was  sufficient  to  draw  out  the 
nails.  The  roof  was  not  a  steep  one,  and 
the  lead  would  have  rested  on  it  forever, 
without  sliding.  What,  then,  was  the  cause 
of  the  descent  ?  Simply  this :  The  lead  was 
exposed  to  th'e  varying  temperatures  of  day 
and  night.  During  the  day  the  heat  im- 
parted to  it  caused  it  to  expand.  Had  it 
lain  upon  a  horizontal  surface,  it  would 
have  expanded  equally  all  round;  but  as  it 
lay  upon  an  inclined  surface,  it  expanded 
more  freely  downwards  than  upwards. 
When,  on  the  contrary,  the  lead  contracted 
at  night,  its  upper  edge  was  drawn  more 
easily  downwards  than  its  lower  edge  up- 
wards. Its  motion  was  therefore  that  of  a 
common  earthworm;  it  pushed  its  lower 
edge  forward  during  the  day,  and  drew  its 
upper  edge  after  it  during  the  night,  and 
thus  by  degrees  it  crawled  through  a  space 
of  eighteen  inches  in  two  years.  Every 
minor  change  of  temperature  during  the  day 
and  during  the  night  contributed  also  to  the 
result;  indeed  Canon  Moseley  afterwards 
found  the  main  effect  to  be  due  to  these 
quicker  alternations  of  temperature. — TYN- 
DALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  4,  p.  95. 
(A.,  1900.) 

980.  EFFECT  OF  HUMAN  INFANCY 
AND     CHILDHOOD—  Animal  Affection  for 
Offspring  Perishes  and  Is  Forgotten. — Till 
the  brain  arrived,  everything  was  too  brief, 
too  rapid  for  ethical  achievements ;    animals 
were  in  a  hurry  to  be  born,  children  thirsted 
to  be   free.     There  was  no  helplessness  to 
pity,  no  pain  to  relieve,  no  quiet  hours,  no 
watching ;   to  the  mother,  no  moment  of  sus- 
pense— the  most  educative  moment  of  all — 
when   the   spark   of   life   in  her   little   one 
burned  low.     Parents  could  be   [of]  no  use 
to  their  offspring  physically,   and .  the  off- 
spring could  be  [of]  no  use  to  their  parents 
psychically.      The    young    required    no    in- 
fancy;   the  old  acquired  no  sympathy.  Even 
among  the  other  mammalia  or  the  birds  the 
mother's  chance  was  small.     There,  infancy 
extends  to  a  few  days  or  weeks,  yet  is  but 
an    incident    in    a    life    preoccupied    with 
sterner  tasks.     A  lioness  will  bleed  for  her 
cub  to-day,  and  in  to-morrow's  struggle  for 
life  contend  with  it  to  the  death.     A  sheep 
knows  its  lamb  only  while  it  is  a  lamb.    The 
affection  in  these  cases,  fierce  enough  while 
it  lasts,  is  soon  forgotten,  and  the  traces  it 


left  in  the  brain  are  obliterated  before  they 
have  furrowed  into  habit. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  287.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

981.  EGG  PRODUCING  ALL  MATE- 
RIAL FOR  THE  CHICKEN— The  egg  itself 
contains  all  the  materials  of  a  complete  ani- 
mal.    Bones,  muscles,  viscera,  brain,  nerves, 
and   feathers   of   the  chicken — all   are   pro- 
duced from  the  egg,  nothing  being  added, 
and  little  or  nothing  taken  away. 

I  should,  however,  add  "that  in  eating  an 
egg  we  do  not  get  quite  so  much  of  it  as  the 
chicken  does.  Liebig  found  by  analysis  that 
in  the  white  and  the  yolk  there  is  a  defi- 
ciency of  mineral  matter  for  supplying  the 
bones  of  the  chick,  and  that  this  deficiency 
is  supplied  by  some  of  the  shell  being  dis- 
solved by  the  phosphoric  acid  which  is 
formed  inside  the  egg  by  the  combination  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  air  ( which  passes  through 
the  shell)  with  the  phosphorus  contained  in 
the  soft  matter  of  the  egg. 

By  comparing  the  shell  of  a  hen's  egg 
after  the  chicken  is  hatched  from  it  with 
that  of  a  freshly  laid  egg,  the  difference  of 
thickness  may  be  easily  seen. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  3,  p.  19.  (A., 
1900.) 

982.  EGOISM,    UNMITIGATED,    OF 
ANCIENT  GEOLOGIC  WORLD— "Dragons 
of  the  Prime  " — Slow  Attainment  of  Better 
Things. — What    spectacle    could    be    more 
dreary  than   that  of    the   Jurassic   period, 
with   its    lords   of   creation,    the   oviparous 
dinosaurs,    crawling   or  bounding   over   the 
land,    splashing    amid   the   mighty   waters, 
whizzing  bat-like  through  the  air,  horrible 
brutes  innumerable,  with  bulky  bodies  and 
tiny   brains,    clumsy,    coarse    in   fiber,    and 
cold-blooded. 

"  Dragons  of  the  prime, 

That  tare  each  other  in  their  slime." 
The  remnants  of  that  far-off  dismal  age 
have  been  left  behind  in  great  abundance, 
and  from  them  we  can  easily  reconstruct  the 
loathsome  picture  of  a  world  of  dominating 
egoism.  Nearly  nine-tenths  of  our  planet's 
past  life-history,  measured  in  duration,  had 
passed  away  without  achieving  any  higher 
result  than  this — a  fact  which  for  impatient 
reformers  may  have  in  it  some  crums  of 
consolation. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to 
God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  11,  p.  122.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1900.) 

983.  EGYPT,  SEEDS  AND  PLANTS 

OF — Superstition  Ministers  to  Science. —  The 
evidence  derived  from  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments was  not  confined  to  the  animal  king- 
dom; the  fruits,  seeds,  and  other  portions 
of  twenty  different  plants,  were  faithfully 
preserved  in  the  same  manner;  and  among 
these  the  common  wheat  was  procured  by 
Delille,  from  closed  vessels  in  the  sepulchers 
of  the  kings,  the  grains  of  which  retained  not 
only  their  form,  but  even  their  color ;  so  ef- 
fectual has  proved  the  process  of  embalming 
with  bitumen  in  a  dry  and  equable  climate. 


«ypt 
foment! 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


202 


No  difference  could  be  detected  between  this 
wheat  and  that  which  now  grows  in  the  East 
and  elsewhere;  and  in  regard  to  the  barley, 
I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Brown,  the  celebrated 
botanist,  that  its  identity  with  the  grain  of 
our  own  times  can  be  tested  by  the  closest 
comparison.  On  examining,  for  example, 
one  of  the  seeds  from  Mr.  Sam's  Egyptian 
collection  in  the  British  Museum,  it  is  found 
that  "  the  structure  of  the  husks,  or  that 
part  of  the  flower  which  is  persistent,  agrees 
precisely  with  the  barley  of  the  present  day, 
in  having  one  perfect  flower  and  the  filiform 
rudiments  of  a  second."  Some  naturalists 
believe  that  the  perfect  identification  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  cerealia  with  the  varieties 
now  cultivated  has  been  carried  still  further 
by  sowing  the  seeds  taken  out  of  the  cata- 
combs, and  raising  plants  from  them;  but 
we  want  more  evidence  of  this  fact.  Certain 
it  is,  that  when  the  experiment  was  recent- 
ly made  in  the  botanic  garden  at  Kew,  with 
100  seeds  of  wheat,  barley,  and  lentils,  from 
the  Egyptian  collection  before  mentioned  of 
the  British  Museum,  not  one  of  them  would 
germinate. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  34,  p.  587.  (A.,  1854.) 

984. Travelers  Imposed 

Upon — Evidence  Not  Carefully  Sifted. — I  by 
no  means  wish  to  express  an  opinion  that 
seeds  cannot  retain  their  vitality  after  an 
entombment  of  3,000  years;  but  one  of  my 
botanical  friends  who  entertained  a  philo- 
sophical doubt  on  this  subject,  being  desir- 
ous of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  three  or 
four  alleged  instances  of  the  germination  of 
"  mummy  wheat,"  discovered,  on  communi- 
cating with  several  Egyptian  travelers,  that 
they  had  produced  the  grains  in  question, 
not  directly  from  the  catacombs,  but  from 
the  Arabs,  who  are  always  ready  to  supply 
strangers  with  an  article  now  very  fre- 
quently in  demand.  The  presence  of  an  oc- 
casional grain  of  Indian  corn  or  maize  in 
several  of  the  parcels  of  grain  shown  to  my 
friend  as  coming  from  the  catacombs  con- 
firmed his  skepticism. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  34,  p.  587.  (A.,  1854.) 

985.  ELECTRICITY  A  FORM  OF  EN- 
ERGY— Electric  "Fluid"  and  "Current" 
Misnomers. — Electricity  is  not  a  fluid,  or 
any  form  of  material  substance,  but  a  form 
of  energy.  Energy  is  expressed  in  different 
ways,  and,  while  as  energy  it  is  one  and  the 
same,  we  call  it  by  different  names — as  heat 
energy,  chemical  energy,  electrical  energy, 
and  so  on.  They  will  all  do  work,  and  in 
that  respect  are  alike.  One  difficulty  in  ex- 
plaining electrical  phenomena  is  the  nomen- 
clature that  the  science  is  loaded  down  with. 
All  the  old  names  were  adopted  when  elec- 
tricity was  regarded  as  a  fluid,  hence  the 
word  "  current."  It  is  spoken  of  as  "  flow- 
ing" when  it  does  not  flow  any  more  than 
light  flows. — -ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mir- 
acles, vol.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  41.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 


986.  ELECTRICITY  A  RECENT  SCI- 
ENCE—  Electricity  as  a  well-developed  sci- 
ence is  not  old.     Those  of  us  who  have  lived 
fifty  years  have  seen  nearly  all  its  develop- 
ment so  far  as  it  has  been  applied  to  useful 
purposes,    and   those  who    have   lived   over 
twenty-five  years  have  seen  the  major  por- 
tion of  its  development. — ELISHA  GRAY  Na- 
ture's Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  2,  p.  6.     (F.  H. 
&  H.,  1900.) 

987.  ELECTRICITY  A  RESULT  OF 
EVERY  CHANGE— Perhaps  a  Mode  of  Mo- 
lecular Motion. — More  recently  it  has  been 
discovered  that  friction  is  by  no  means  the 
only  source  of  electricity,  and  it  seems  prob- 
able that  no  change,  either  chemical  or  phys- 
ical,  takes   place  in  Nature  without   some 
manifestation  of  this  agent.    It  was  at  first 
supposed  that  there  were  several  kinds  of 
electricity,  which  were  named  thermo-elec- 
tricity, magneto-electricity,  voltaic  electric- 
ity, and  animal  electricity,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  process  in  which  the  electric- 
al action  was  developed;    but  it  is  now  uni- 
versally conceded  that  all  are  only  different 
manifestations  of  the  same  agent,  and  most 
investigators  believe  that  electricity  will  in 
time  be  shown  to  be  a  form  of  molecular  mo- 
tion analogous  to  that  which  produces  the 
phenomena  of  light  and  heat,  altho  it  has 
not  as  yet  been  found  possible  to  frame  a 
comprehensive  and  intelligible  theory  based 
upon  this  hypothesis. — COOKE  Religion  and 
Chemistry,  ch.  2,  p.  59.     (A.,  1897.) 

988.  ELECTRICITY,  EVOLUTION  OF, 
FROM  STEAM — Theory  of  the  Thunder-cloud. 
— If    the   vaporization    of    the   water   were 
shown  to  be  the  source  of  the  electricity, 
Professor    Henry    thought    the    phenomena 
might  be  readily  explained  by  the  beautiful 
theory  of  Becquerel,  in  regard  to  the  produc- 
tion of  the  great  intensity  of  the  electricity 
in   the    thunder-cloud.      According   to    this 
theory,  each  particle  of  the  vapor  carries  up 
with  it  into  the  atmosphere  the  free  electric- 
ity which  it  receives  at  the  moment  of  the 
change  of  state :   this  being  diffused  through 
the  whole   capacity  of  the   air   is   of   very 
feeble  intensity,  altho  of  great  quantity ;  but 
the  condensation  of  the  vapor  in  a  cloud  af- 
fords   a   continuous    conductor,    and   conse- 
quently the  electricity  of  all  the  particles  of 
the   interior,    according   to   the   well-known 
principles  of  distribution,  rushes  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  cloud,  and  hence  the  great  inten- 
sity of  the  lightning.     Agreeably  with  this 
hypothesis,  the  insulated  conductor,  placed 
in  the  steam,  would  act  not  only  as  a  col- 
lector, but  also  as  a  condenser  of  the  free 
but  feeble  electricity  of  the  vapor. — HENRY 
Scientific    Writings,    p.    190.      (Sm.    Inst., 
1840.) 

989.  ELECTRICITY  GENERATED  BY 
VOLCANIC    ERUPTION— Elemental  Forces 
Joined. — It  is  well  known  that  when  high- 
pressure  steam  is  allowed  to  escape  through 
an  orifice,  electricity  is  abundantly  gener- 


203 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Jements 


ated  by  the  friction,  and  Sir  William  Arm- 
strong's hydro-electric  machine  is  con- 
structed on  this  principle.  Every  volcano  in 
violent  eruption  is  a  very  efficient  hydro- 
electric machine,  and  the  up-rushing  column 
is  in  a  condition  of  intense  electrical  excita- 
tion. This  result  is  probably  aided  by  the 
friction  of  the  solid  particles  as  they  are 
propelled  upwards  and  fall  back  into  the 
crater.  The  restoration  of  the  condition  of 
electrical  stability  between  this  column  and 
the  surrounding  atmosphere  is  attended 
with  the  production  of  frequent  lightning- 
flashes  and  thunderclaps,  the  sound  of  the 
latter  being  usually,  however,  drowned  in 
the  still  louder  roar  of  the  up-rushing 
steam-column. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  29. 
(A.,  1899.) 

990.  ELECTRICITY    GIVES   NEW 
PRODUCTS—  Carborundum.—  The     produc- 
tion of  electricity  in  such  enormous  quanti- 
ties as  are  generated  at  Niagara  Falls  has 
led  to  many  discoveries   and  will   lead   to 
many  more.     Products  that  at  one  time  ex- 
isted  only  in  the   chemical   laboratory  for 
experimental  purposes  have  been  so  cheap- 
ened by  utilizing  electrical  energy  in  their 
manufacture  as  to  bring  them  into  the  play 
of  every-day  life.     Still  other  products  have 
only  been   discovered   since   the   advent   of 
heavy  electrical  currents.  A  substance  called 
carborundum,  which  was  discovered  as  late 
as  1891,  has  now  become  the  basis  of  an  in- 
dustry of  no  small  importance.     It  is  a  sub- 
stance not  unlike  a  diamond  in  hardness, 
and  not  very  unlike  it  in  its  composition. 
The  chief  use  to  which  it  is  put  is  for  grind- 
ing metals  and  all  sorts  of  abrasive  work. 
It  is  manufactured  into  wheels,  in  structure 
like  the  emery-wheel,  and  serves  the  same 
purpose.     It  is  much  more  expensive  than 
the  emery-wheel,  but  it  is  claimed  that  it 
will   do   enough  more  and   better   work   to 
make  it  fully  as  economical. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's   Miracles,  vol.   iii,  ch.  25,   p.   209. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

991.  ELECTRICITY   IN  ANIMALS— 

Battery  of  the  Electric  Ray — Scientific 
Structure  in  Living  Organism. — The  electric 
ray,  or  torpedo,  has  been  provided  with  a 
battery  closely  resembling,  but  greatly  ex- 
ceeding in  the  beauty  and  compactness  of  its 
structure,  the  batteries  whereby  man  has 
now  learned  to  make  the  laws  of  electricity 
subservient  to  his  will.  There  are  no  less 
than  940  hexagonal  columns  in  this  battery 
like  those  of  a  bee's  comb,  and  each  of  these 
is  subdivided  by  a  series  of  horizontal 
plates,  which  appear  to  be  analogous  to  the 
plates  of  the  voltaic  pile.  The  whole  is 
supplied  with  an  enormous  amount  of  nerv- 
ous matter,  four  great  branches  of  which 
are  as  large  as  the  animal's  spinal  cord, 
and  these  spread  out  in  a  multitude  of 
threadlike  filaments  round  the  prismatic 
columns,  and  finally  pass  into  all  the  cells. 
This,  again,  seems  to  suggest  an  analogy 
with  the  arrangement  by  which  an  electric 


current,  passing  through  a  coil  and  round  a 
magnet,  is  used  to  intensify  the  magnetic 
force.  A  complete  knowledge  of  all  the  mys- 
teries which  have  been  gradually  unfolded 
from  the  days  of  Galvani  to  those  of  Fara- 
day, and  of  many  others  which  are  still  in- 
scrutable to  us,  is  exhibited  in  this  struc- 
ture.— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  61. 
(Burt.) 

992.  ELECTRICITY  IN  MEDICINE— 

Electric  Lamps  for  Pathological  Investiga- 
tion— Dentistry  Aided — Submarine  Boats. — 
Small  incandescent  lamps  are  now  used  for 
examinations  of  the  larynx  and  in  dentistry, 
and  a  lamp  has  even  been  introduced  into 
the  stomach  by  which  the  condition  of  that 
organ  can  be  examined.  For  this  last  pur- 
pose numerous  ingenious  arrangements  have 
to  be  made  to  prevent  possible  injury,  and 
by  means  of  prisms  at  the  bends  of  the  tube 
the  operator  can  inspect  the  interior  of  the 
organ  under  a  brilliant  light.  Other  inter- 
nal organs  have  been  explored  in  a  similar 
manner,  and  many  new  applications  in  this 
direction  will  no  doubt  be  made.  In  illu- 
minating submarine  boats  and  exploring  the 
interiors  of  sunken  vessels  it  does  what 
could  hardly  be  effected  by  any  other  means. 
— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  4, 
p.  29.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

993.  ELEMENTS,  CHEMICAL,  MAY 
BE     COMPOUNDS— Perhaps  Resolvable  on 
the  Sun  and  Stars — The  "  Dissociation  The- 
ory."— Professor    Lockyer's    view     [of    the 
separation  or  dissociation  of  chemical  ele- 
ments on  the  sun]   has  the  argument  from 
continuity  in  its  favor.     It  only  asks  us  to 
believe   that   processes   which   we   know  to 
take  place  on  the  earth  under  certain  condi- 
tions, are  carried  further  in  the  sun,  where 
the    same    conditions    are,   it  may  be   pre- 
sumed,  vastly   exalted.     We  find  that  the 
bodies  we  call  "  compound  "  split  asunder  at 
fixed  degrees  of  heat  within  the  range  of  our 
resources.     Why  should  we  hesitate  to  ad- 
mit that  the  bodies  we  call  "  simple "   do 
likewise    at    degrees    of    heat    without    the 
range   of   our   resources  ?      The   term   "  ele- 
ment "  simply  expresses  terrestrial  incapa- 
bility of  reduction.     That,  in  celestial  labo- 
ratories,   the   means    and   their   effect   here 
absent  should  be  present,  would  be  an  in- 
ference challenging,  in  itself,  no  expression 
of  incredulity. 

Yet  it  is,  in  point  of  fact,  a  revolutionary 
one,  and  its  acceptance  will  involve  the  re- 
construction of  more  than  one  fair  edifice  of 
scientific  thought. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  4,  p.  259.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

994.  ELEMENTS  IN  OTHER  SUNS— 
Spectrum*  of  Sirius. — The  spectrum  of  this 
brilliant  white  star  [Sirius]  is  very  intense; 
but  seen  at  its  small  altitude  above  the  hori- 
zon, even  when  it  is  most  favorably  situated, 
the  observation  of  the  finest  lines  is  rendered 
very  difficult  by  the  motions  of  the  atmos- 
phere.   Three,  if  not  four,  elementary  bodies 
show   spectra   in   which   the    lines    coincide 


laments 


fiSS 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


204 


with  those  of  Sirius;  these  are  sodium, 
magnesium,  hydrogen,  and  probably  iron. 
The  lines  of  hydrogen  are  abnormally  strong 
compared  to  those  which  exist  in  the  solar 
spectrum. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  vi,  ch.  6,  p.  609.  (A.) 

995.  ELEMENTS  OF  EARTHLY  SUB- 
STANCE FOUND  WIDELY  DIFFUSED  IN 
SPACE — Stitt  Surrounded  by  the  Unknown. — 
We  cannot,   indeed,    say  that  we  have  ex- 
plained  all  spectra;    many  fixed   stars  ex- 
hibit   peculiarly   banded    spectra,    probably 
belonging  to  gases  whose  molecules  have  not 
been  completely  resolved  into  their  atoms  by 
the    high    temperature.      In    the    spectrum 
of  the  sun,  also,  are  many  lines  which  we 
cannot  identify  with  those  of  terrestrial  ele- 
ments.    It  is  possible  that  they  may  be  due 
to  substances  unknown  to  us ;    it  is  also  pos- 
sible that  they  are  produced  by  the  excess- 
ively   high    temperature    of    the    sun,    far 
transcending  anything  we  can  produce.    But 
this  is  certain,  that  the  known  terrestrial 
substances  are  widely  diffused  in  space. — 
HELMIIOLTZ    Popular   Lectures,    lect.    4,    p. 
156.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

996.  ELEMENTS   OF   TERROR  AC- 
CUMULATED— lightnings    Attend    Volcanic 
Eruption. — Another     striking     phenomenon 
which  was  exhibited  in  the  great  eruption 
of  Vesuvius  in  1872  was  the  vivid  display  of 
lightning  accompanied  by  thunder.    The  up- 
rushing    current    of    steam    and    rock-frag- 
ments forms  a  vertical  column,  but  as  the 
steam  condenses  it  spreads  out  into  a  great 
horizontal  cloud  which  is  seen  to  be  made  up 
of  the  great  globes  of  vapor  emitted  at  suc- 
cessive explosions.     When  there  is  little  or 
no  wind  the  vertical  column  with  a  hori- 
zontal cloud  above  it  bears  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  stone-pine  trees  which  form  so 
conspicuous  a  feature  in  every  Neapolitan 
landscape.      Around   this    column   of  vapor 
the  most   vivid   lightning  constantly  plays 
and  adds  not  a  little  to  the  grand  and  awful 
character  of  the  spectacle  of  a  volcanic  erup- 
tion, especially  when  it  is  viewed  by  night. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  28.     (A.,  1899.) 

997.  ELEVATION  OF  BED  OF  NILE 

— Fertility  Encroaching  upon  the  Desert. — 
The  bed  of  the  Nile  always  keeps  pace  with 
the  general  elevation  of  the  soil,  and  the 
banks  of  this  river,  like  those  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  tributaries,  are  much  higher 
than  the  flat  land  at  a  distance,  so  that  they 
are  seldom  covered  during  the  highest  inun- 
dations. In  consequence  of  the  gradual  rise 
of  the  river's  bed,  the  annual  flood  is  con- 
stantly spreading  over  a  wider  area,  and 
the  alluvial  soil  encroaches  on  the  desert, 
covering,  to  the  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet, 
the  base  of  statues  and  temples  which  the 
waters  never  reached  3,000  years  ago.  Altho 
the  sands  of  the  Libyan  Desert  have  in  some 
places  been  drifted  into  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  yet  these  aggressions,  says  Wilkinson, 
are  far  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
fertilizing  effect  of  the  water  which  now 


reaches  farther  inland  towards  the  desert,  so 
that  the  number  of  square  miles  of  arable 
soil  is  greater  at  present  than  at  any  pre- 
vious period. — LYELL  Principles  of  -Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  262.  (A.,  1854.) 

998.  ELEVATION,    SLOW,    OF 
EARTH'S     CRUST— Streams   Cut  Down  as. 
Fast  as  Surface  Is  Lifted. — Yet,  strange  to 
say,    none    of    these    earth-movements    suc- 
ceeded in  deflecting  the  main  drainage  of  the 
[Grand  Canon]  district.     The  Colorado  and 
its  chief  affluents  continued  to  flow  in  the 
courses  they  had  attained  at  the  final  dis- 
appearance of  the  great  lake.     It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  the  bending  and  dislocation 
of    the    strata    must    have    proceeded    very 
slowly,  for  the  rivers  were  able  to  cut  their' 
way  across  both  flexures  and  faults  as  fast 
as    these    showed    at   the    surface. — GEIKIE 
Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  3,  p.  57.      (G.  P.  P., 
1898.) 

999.  EMBLEM  OF  DIVINE  FULNESS 
— Power  of  the  Sun's  Heat — Lavish  Benefi- 
cence.— Working    out    the    results    of    the 
Mount   Whitney   expedition,    he    [Langley] 
was  led  to  conclude  atmospheric  absorption 
to  be  fully  twice  as  effective  as  had  hitherto 
been  supposed.     Scarcely  sixty  per  cent.,  in 
fact,  of  those  solar  radiations  which  strike 
perpendicularly  through  a  seemingly  trans- 
lucent sky  attain  the  sea-level.   The  rest  are 
reflected,  dispersed,  or  absorbed.   This  discov- 
ery involved  a  large  addition  to  the  original 
supply   so  mercilessly   cut   down   in  trans- 
mission.    .     .     .     The   sun's  heat  reaching 
the  outskirts  of  our  atmosphere  is  capable 
of  doing  without  cessation  the  work  of  an 
engine  of  three  horse-power  for  each  square 
yard  of  the  earth's  surface.     Thus,  modern 
inquiries,  tho  they  give  no  signs  of  agree- 
ment, within  any  tolerable  limits  of  error, 
as  to  the  probable  temperature  of  the  sun, 
tend,    with    growing    certainty,    to    render 
more  and  more  evident  the  vastness  of  the 
thermal  stores  contained  in  the  great  central 
reservoir  of  our  system. — CLERKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  279.    (Bl.,  1893.) 

1000.  EMBRYO  SHAPED  BY  VIEW- 
LESS  ARTIST— The    student     of     Nature 
wonders  the  more  and  is  astonished  the  less, 
the  more   conversant  he  becomes  with  her 
operations ;  but  of  all  the  perennial  miracles 
she  offers  to  his  inspection,  perhaps  the  most 
worthy  of  admiration  is  the  development  of 
a  plant  or  of  an  animal  from  its  embryo. 
Examine  the  recently  laid  egg  of  some  com- 
mon  animal,    such   as   a   salamander   or    a 
newt.    It  is  a  minute  spheroid  in  which  the 
best  microscope  will  reveal  nothing  but   a 
structureless   sac,   enclosing  a  glairy  fluid, 
holding  granules  in  suspension.   But  strange 
possibilities  lie  dormant  in  that  semi-fluid 
globule.    Let  a  moderate  supply  of  warmth 
reach  its  watery  cradle,  and  the  plastic  mat- 
ter undergoes  changes  so  rapid  and  yet  so 
steady  and  purpose-like  in  their  succession, 
that  one  can  only  compare  them  to  those 
operated  by  a  skilled  modeler  upon  a  form- 


205 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Elements 


less  lump  of  clay.  As  with  an  invisible 
trowel,  the  mass  is  divided  and  subdivided 
into  smaller  and  smaller  portions,  until  it 
is  reduced  to  an  aggregation  of  granules  not 
too  large  to  build  withal  the  finest  fabrics 
of  the  naseent  organism.  And  then  it  is 
as  if  a  delicate  finger  traced  out  the  line 
to  be  occupied  by  the  spinal  column,  and 
molded  the  contour  of  the  body;  pinching 
up  the  head  at  one  end,  the  tail  at  the  other, 
and  fashioning  flank  and  limb  into  due  sala- 
mandrine  proportions,  in  so  artistic  a  way 
that,  after  watching  the  process  hour  by 
hour,  one  is  almost  involuntarily  possessed 
by  the  notion  that  some  more  subtle  aid  to 
vision  than  an  achromatic  would  show  the 
hidden  artist,  with  his  plan  before  him,  stri- 
ving with  skilful  manipulation  to  perfect  his 
work. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  12,  p. 
260.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1001.  EMOTION  AND  PASSION,  DE- 
VELOPMENT  DEPENDENT   OK— Mission 
of  Pain. — But   human  life   and  human  de- 
velopment, in  the  wider  and  higher  mean- 
ing of  those  words,  would  be  infinitely  less 
rich  and  interesting  were  it  not  for  so  varied 
and  mighty  emotions  and  passions,  with  all 
the  part  they  have  played  in  history,  art, 
and  religion.    In  a  grander  significance  than 
biology  or  comparative  psychology  can  prop- 
erly   recognize,    the    effective    forces    have 
been  "  serviceable  "  to  the  race.    If  the  final 
purpose  of  life  were  merely  to  conserve  and 
propagate  itself,  there  would  seem  to  be  as 
little  use  for  so  many  and  strong  emotions 
as  for  so  much  and  such  qualitatively  varied 
pain.      At   this   point,    psychology    is    com- 
pelled to  hand  over   to  ethical  philosophy 
rather  than  to  biology  the  larger  problems 
started  by  the  study  of  human  feeling.  Here 
we    find,    on    one    side,    the    conclusion   ex- 
pressed by  Matthew  Arnold,  as  follows : 

"  Fulness  of  life  and  power  of  feeling,  ye 
Are  for  the  happy,  for  the  souls  at  ease, 
Who  dwell  on  a  firm  basis  of  content." 

But,  on  the  other  side,  the  rational  faith  of 

Browning : 

"  Put  pain  from  out  the  world,  what  room 

were  left 
For  thanks  to  God,  for  love  to  man  ?  " 

— LADD   Psychology,    ch.    23,    p.    558.      (S., 

1899.) 

1002.  EMOTION,  FIELD  FOR  STUDY 

OF — Best  Observed  among  the  Common  People. 
— In  order  to  analyze  the  involuntary  move- 
ments occasioned  by  pain,  joy,  fear,  anger, 
and  other  emotions,  Leonardo  da  Vinci  coun- 
seled young  artists  to  mingle  with  the  com- 
mon people,  where  the  various  stirrings  of 
the  heart  are  naturally  imprinted  in  change 
of  countenance  and  of  gesture. — KAAT  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci  als  Naturforscher.  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1OO3      EMULATION   HAS  A  NOBLE 

SIDE— Rivalry  Leads  to  Magnanimity. — The 
feeling  of  rivalry  lies  at  the  very  basis  of 


our  being,  all  social  improvement  being 
largely  due  to  it.  There  is  a  noble  and 
generous  kind  of  rivalry,  as  well  as  a  spite- 
ful and  greedy  kind ;  and  the  noble  and  gen- 
erous form  is  particularly  common  in  child- 
hood. All  games  owe  the  zest  which  they 
bring  with  them  to  the  fact  that  they  are 
rooted  in  the  emulous  passion,  yet  they  are 
the  chief  means  of  training  in  fairness  and 
magnanimity. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers, 
ch.  7,  p.  52.  (H.  H.  &  CD.,  1900.) 

1004.  ENDOWMENT    CONDITIONS 
EXPERIENCE— Child    Learning  to    Walk— 
Chimpanzee — Dancing     Dog. — It     must     be 
clear  to   any  one  who  compares   the  erect 
progression  of  a  child  who  has  just  learned 
to  walk  with  that  of  a  "  dancing  dog,"  or 
even  of  a  chimpanzee,  that  while  experience 
makes  its  acquirement  possible  in  each  case, 
only  an  organism  which  is  at  the  same  time 
structurally  adapted  for  erect  progression, 
and  possessed  of  a  special  coordinating  fac- 
ulty,  can  turn  such  experience  to  full  ac- 
count.— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  11,  p.  474.    (A.,  1900.) 

1005.  ENDS   AND    MEANS    IN   SCI- 
ENCE— Each  Achievement  a  Step  to  New  Dis- 
covery.— The  growth  of  science  is  organic. 
That  which  to-day  is  an  end  becomes  to-mor- 
row a  means  to  a  remoter  end.     Every  new 
discovery  in  science  is  immediately  made  the 
basis  of  other  discoveries,  or  of  new  meth- 
ods of  investigation.    Thus  about  fifty  years 
ago,  Oersted,  of  Copenhagen,  discovered  the 
deflection  of  a  magnetic  needle  by  an  elec- 
tric   current;     and    about    the    same    time 
Thomas  Seebeck,  of  Berlin,  discovered  ther- 
mo-electricity.    These  great  discoveries  were 
soon  afterwards  turned  to  account  by  Nobili 
and  Melloni  in  the  construction  of  an  in- 
strument which  has  vastly  augmented  our 
knowledge  of  radiant  heat. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  5,  p.  179.     (A.,  1898.) 


1006. 


Magnetic  Attrac- 


tion vs.  Human — Man  Changes  Means  to 
Reach  Determined  End. — If  some  iron  filings 
be  sprinkled  on  a  table  and  a  magnet 
brought  near  them,  they  will  fly  through  the 
air  for  a  certain  distance  and  stick  to  its 
surface.  A  savage  seeing  the  phenomenon 
explains  it  as  the  result  of  an  attraction  or 
love  between  the  magnet  and  the  filings. 
But  let  a  card  cover  the  poles  of  the  magnet, 
and  the  filings  will  press  forever  against  its 
surface  without  its  ever  occurring  to  them 
to  pass  around  its  sides  and  thus  come  into 
more  direct  contact  with  the  object  of  their 
love.  ...  If  now  we  pass  from  such  ac- 
tions as  these  to  those  of  living  things,  we 
notice  a  striking  difference.  Romeo  wants 
Juliet  as  the  filings  want  the  magnet;  and 
if  no  obstacles  intervene  he  moves  towards 
her  by  as  straight  a  line  as  they.  But 
Romeo  and  Juliet,  if  a  wall  be  built  between 
them,  do  not  remain  idiotically  pressing 
their  faces  against  its  opposite  sides  like  the 
magnet  and  the  filings  with  the  card. 
Romeo  soon  finds  a  circuitous  way,  by 


;r«y 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


206 


scaling  the  wall  or  otherwise,  of  touching 
Juliet's  lips  directly.  With  the  filings  the 
path  is  fixed;  whether  it  reaches  the  end 
depends  on  accidents.  With  the  lover  it  is 
the  end  which  is  fixed,  the  path  may  be 
modified  indefinitely. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  6.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1007.  ENDURANCE  A  GROWTH— 

Ability  to  Sustain  Pressure  Gradually  Ac- 
quired— Deep-sea  Organisms  Perish  from 
Lack  of  Pressure  at  Surface. — It  is  but  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  the  ability  to  sus- 
tain this  enormous  pressure  [of  the  ocean 
depths]  can  only  be  acquired  by  animals 
after  generations  of  gradual  migrations 
from  shallow  waters.  Those  forms  that  are 
brought  up  by  the  dredge  from  the  depths 
of  the  ocean  are  usually  killed  and  distorted 
by  the  enormous  and  rapid  diminution  of 
pressure  in  their  journey  to  the  surface,  and 
it  is  extremely  probable  that  shallow- water 
forms  would  be  similarly  killed  and  crushed 
put  of  shape  were  they  suddenly  plunged 
into  very  deep  water. — HICKSON  Fauna  of 
the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  21.  (A.,  1894.) 

1008.  ENDURANCE  OF  HIGH  TEM- 
PERATURES   BY    HUMAN    BODY— Heat 
Converted  into  Work. — You  would  certainly 
suffer  if  you  lay  down  upon  a  plate  of  metal 
in  a  Turkish  bath;    but  you  do  not  suffer 
when  you  lie  down  on  a  bench  of  wood.     By 
preserving  the  body  from  contact  with  good 
conductors,  very  high  temperatures  may  be 
endured.      Eggs   may   be   boiled,   and   beef- 
steaks cooked,  by  the  heat  of  an  apartment, 
in  which  the  bodies  of  living  men  sustain  no 
injury.     The  philosophy  of  this  last  experi- 
ment is  worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration. 
With  it  the  names  of  Blagden  and  Chantrey 
are  associated,  those  eminent  men  having  ex- 
posed themselves  in  ovens  to  temperatures 
considerably    higher    than    that    of   boiling 
water.    Let  us  compare  the  condition  of  the 
two  living  human  beings  with  that  of  two 
marble   statues,    placed   in   the   same  oven. 
The  statues  become  gradually  hotter,  until 
finally  they  assume  the  temperature  of  the 
air  of  the  oven;    the  two  men,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  do  not  similarly  rise  in 
temperature.    If  they  did,  the  tissues  of  the 
body  would  be  infallibly  destroyed,  the  tem- 
perature endured  being  more  than  sufficient 
to   stew  the  muscles  in  their  own  liquids. 
Here  the  excess  of  heat,  instead  of  being  ap- 

C"  id  to  increase  the  temperature  of  the 
y,  is  applied  to  change  its  aggregation; 
the  heat  prepares  the  perspiration,  forces  it 
through  the  pores,  and  vaporizes  it.  Heat 
is  thus  consumed  in  work.  This  is  the 
waste-pipe,  if  I  may  use  the  term,  through 
which  the  excess  overflows.  Some  people  have 
professed  to  see,  in  this  power  of  the  living 
body  to  resist  a  high  temperature,  a  con- 
servative action  peculiar  to  the  vital  force. 
No  doubt  all  the  actions  of  the  animal  or- 
ganism are  connected  with  what  we  call  its 
vitality;  but  the  action  here  referred  to  is 
the  same  in  kind  as  the  melting  of  ice  or 


the  vaporization  of  water.  It  consists 
simply  in  the  diversion  of  heat  from  the 
purposes  of  temperature  to  the  performance 
of  work. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  9,  p.  242.  (A.,  1900.) 

1009.  ENEMIES  ESCAPED    BY  MI- 
GRATION— Plants    Thrive  in  New    Soil  — 
Every    horticulturist    knows    that    apples 
grown  in  a  new  country,  that  is  suited  to 
them,  are  healthy  and  fair;    but,  sooner  or 
later,  the  scab,  and  codling-moth,  and  bitter 
rot,  and  bark-louse  arrive,  each  to  begin  its 
particular  mode  of  attack.     Peach-trees  in 
new  places,  remote  from  others,  are  often 
easily  grown  and  free  from  dangers;    but 
soon  will   arrive   the   yellows,   borers,   leaf- 
curl   rot,   and   other   enemies.     For    a    few 
years  plums  may  be  grown,  in  certain  new 
localities,  without  danger  from  curculio,  or 
rot,  or  shot-hole  fungus.     It  has  long  been 
known  that  the  nicest  way  to  grow  a  few 
cabbages,  radishes,  squashes,  cucumbers,  or 
potatoes,  is  to  plant  a  few  here  and  there  in 
good    soil,    at    considerable   distances    from 
where  any  have  heretofore  been  grown.    For 
a  time  enemies  are  not  likely  to  find  them. 
— BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  9,  p.  85.     (G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

1010.  ENERGY  AMID  INHIBITIONS 
THE  HIGHEST  MENTAL  TYPE— Not  to 

proceed  immediately  to  extremities,  to  be 
still  able  to  act  energetically  under  an  array 
of  inhibitions — that  indeed  is  rare  and  diffi- 
cult. Cavour,  when  urged  to  proclaim  mar- 
tial law  in  1859,  refused  to  do  so,  saying: 
"  Any  one  can  govern  in  that  way.  I  will 
be  constitutional."  Your  parliamentary 
rulers,  your  Lincoln,  your  Gladstone,  are  the 
strongest  type  of  man,  because  they  accom- 
plish results  under  the  most  intricate  pos- 
sible conditions.  We  think  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  as  a  colossal  monster  of  will- 
power, and  truly  enough  he  was  so.  But, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  psychological 
machinery,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  whether 
he  or  Gladstone  was  the  larger  volitional 
quantity;  for  Napoleon  disregarded  all  the 
usual  inhibitions,  and  Gladstone,  passionate 
as  he  was,  scrupulously  considered  them  in 
his  statesmanship. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teach- 
ers, ch.  15,  p.  180.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1011.  ENERGY   AND    FORCE    DIS- 
CRIMINATED—  Work  the  Measure  of  Energy. 
— To  the  ordinary  mind  energy  and   force 
represent  the  same  thing.     And  it  has  not 
been  many  years,  comparatively,  since  even 
scientific  men  used  the  words  synonymously. 
Modern  chemistry  and  modern  physics  make 
a  distinction,  and  define  the  two  words  dif- 
ferently. 

"  Force  "  is  defined  as  the  cause  of  motion, 
or  the  generator  of  momentum,  while  "  en- 
ergy "  is  expressed  in  the  motion  itself,  in 
its  power  to  do  work.  Force  refers  to  the 
causes,  while  energy  refers  to  work  or  the 
capacity  to  do  work.  The  distinction  is  one 
that  is 'difficult  to  make  plain.  Strictly  de- 


207 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ends 
Ener 


ergy 


fined,  force  is  any  agency  that  can  cause  a 
motion,  arrest  a  motion,  or  change  the  direc- 
tion of  a  motion,  while  energy  is  motion  or 
the  capacity  to  become  motion,  and  this  car- 
ries with  it  the  idea  of  work. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (F. 
H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1012.  ENERGY  DERIVED  FROM  SUN 

—All  Work  Result  of  Heat.— This  great 
principle  [the  conservation  of  energy]  en- 
ables us  to  realize  the  absolute  interde- 
pendence of  all  the  forces  of  Nature.  It 
teaches  us  that  there  is  no  origination  of 
force  upon  the  earth,  but  that  all  energy 
either  now  comes  to  us  from  the  sun,  or  was 
originated  in  the  sun  before  our  earth  sepa- 
rated from  it;  and  we  are  thus  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  all  work,  all  motion,  every 
manifestation  of  power  we  see  around  us, 
are  alike  the  effects  of  heat  or  of  other  radi- 
ant forces  allied  to  it. — WALLACE  The  Won- 
derful Century,  ch.  vii,  p.  53.  (D.  M.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1013.  ENERGY,  ELECTRICAL,  BAT- 
TERY A  STORE  OF— Resemblance  of  Elec- 
tricity to  Fire — Force  Stored  in  Coal  or  Zinc 
— Production  of  Power  Costs  Destruction  of 
Material  (as  Such). — Again,  it  may  be  said, 
with  perfect  truth,  that  every  voltaic  bat- 
tery is  a  store  of  electrical  energy.     In  a 
voltaic  battery  some  metal  is  employed,  gen- 
erally zinc,  which,  when  the  battery  is  work- 
ing, is  acted  on  chemically  by  an  acid.    The 
effect  of   this   chemical  action   is   that  the 
atoms  of  the  metal  combine  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  acid;    and  by  the  act  of  combination 
an  electric  current  is  generated.     ...     In 
the  case  of  coal,  we  have  carbon  and  hydro- 
gen   existing    apart    from    oxygen,    with    a 
chemical  force  tending  to  make  them  com- 
bine, under  suitable  conditions.     We  set  up 
these  conditions  when  we  light  a  fire:    the 
chemical  force  then  comes  into  action;    the 
carbon  and  hydrogen  rush  to  meet  the  oxy- 
gen;    and   in   the   clash   of   atoms   heat  is 
developed.    Similarly,  in  the  voltaic  battery, 
we  have  zinc  existing  apart  from  oxygen, 
with  a  chemical  force  tending  to  pull  them 
together.     We  bring  this  force  into  action 
when  we  arrange  the  cells  of  our  battery 
and   make  the  necessary   connections;     the 
atoms   of   zinc   and   oxygen   then  clash    to- 
gether, and,  by  the  energy  of  their  collision, 
an  electric  current  is  generated.    Thus  it  is 
clear    that,    exactly   in   the    same  sense   in 
which  heat  energy  is  said  to  be  stored  in  a 
lump  of  coal,  it  may  also  be  said  that  elec- 
trical energy  is  stored  in  the  zinc  plates  of 
a  battery.     It  is  worth  observing,  too,  that 
both  cases  furnish  a  striking  illustration  of 
a  universal  law  of  Nature.     We  cannot  use 
our  store  of  energy,  and  keep  our  store,  at 
the  same  time.     We  cannot  get  heat  from 
coal  except  by  a  process  in  which  the  coal 
is  burned,  and  ceases  to  exist  as  coal.     And 
so,  too,  we  cannot  get  an  electric  current 
from  our  zinc  plates  except  by  a  process  in 


which  the  zinc  is  gradually  consumed,  and 
ceases  to  exist  as  zinc. — MOLLOT  The  Stor- 
ing of  Electrical  Energy,  p.  48.  (Hum., 
1889.) 

1014.  ENERGY,  MANUFACTURE  OF, 
IMPOSSIBLE — Fallacy  of  Perpetual  Motion. 
— One  result  of  the  due  apprehension  of  our 
personal  helplessness  will  be  that  we  shall 
no  longer  waste  our  time  over  the  impossible 
task  of  manufacturing  energy  for  ourselves. 
Our  science  will  bring  to  an  abrupt  end  the 
long  series  of  severe  experiments  in  which 
we  have  indulged  in  the  hope  of  finding  a 
perpetual  motion.    And  having  decided  upon 
this  once  for  all,  our  first  step  in  seeking  a 
more  satisfactory  state  of  things  must  be  to 
find  a  new  source  of  energy.    Following  Na- 
ture, only  one  course  is  open  to  us.     We 
must  refer  to  environment.    The  natural  life 
owes    all    to    environment,    so    must    the 
spiritual.      Now    the    environment    of    the 
spiritual  life  is  God.     As  Nature  therefore 
forms  the  complement  of  the  natural  life, 
God  is  the  complement  of  the  spiritual. — 
DBUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  7,  p.  244.    (H.  Al.) 

1015.  ENERGY  OF  POSITION— Wafer 

at  High  Level  Able  To  Do  Work — Crossbow 
Bent — Watch  Wound  Up. — Let  us  suppose 
there  are  two  mills,  one  with  a  large  pond  of 
water  near  it  and  at  a  high  level,  while  the 
other  has  also  a  pond,  but  at  a  lower  level 
than  itself.  We  need  hardly  ask  which  of 
the  two  is  likely  to  work — clearly  the  one 
with  the  pond  at  a  low  level  can  derive  from 
it  no  advantage  whatever,  while  the  other 
may  use  the  high-level  pond,  or  head  of 
water,  as  this  is  sometimes  called,  to  drive 
its  wheel  and  do  its  work.  There  is,  thus,  a 
great  deal  of  work  to  be  got  out  of  water 
high  up — real  substantial  work,  such  as 
grinding  corn  or  thrashing  it,  or  turning 
wood  or  sawing  it.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  no  work  at  all  to  be  got  from  a  pond  of 
water  that  is  low  down.  [By  virtue  of  the 
force  of  gravity]  a  stone  high  up,  or  a  head 
of  water,  is  in  a  position  of  advantage,  and 
has  the  power  of  doing  work  as  it  falls  to  a 
lower  level.  But  there  are  other  forces  be- 
sides gravity,  and,  with  respect  to  these, 
bodies  may  be  in  a  position  of  advantage 
and  be  able  to  do  work  just  as  truly  as  the 
stone,  or  the  head  of  water,  in  the  case  be- 
fore mentioned. 

Let  us  take,  for  instance,  the  force  of 
elasticity,  and  consider  what  happens  in  a 
crossbow.  When  this  is  bent,  the  bolt  is 
evidently  in  a  position  of  advantage  with 
regard  to  the  elastic  force  of  the  bow;  and, 
when  it  is  discharged,  this  energy  of  posi- 
tion of  the  bolt  is  converted  into  energy  of 
motion,  just  as,  when  a  stone  on  the  top  of 
a  house  is  allowed  to  fall,  its  energy  of  posi- 
tion is  converted  into  that  of  actual  motion. 

In  like  manner  a  watch  wound  up  is  in  a 
position  of  advantage  with  respect  to  the 
elastic  force  of  the  mainspring,  and  as  the 


Energy 
Enjoyment 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


208 


wheels  of  the  watch  move,  this  is  gradually 
converted  into  energy  of  motion. — STEWART 
The  Conservation  of  Energy,  ch.  2,  p.  377. 
(Hum.,  1880.) 


1O16. 


Water-wheel   vs. 


Windmill — Accumulated  Power  Gives  Inde- 
pendence— Analogy  of  Official  or  Social  Po- 
sition or  Wealth  in  Human  Life. — It  is,  in 
fact,-  the  fate  of  all  kinds  of  energy  of  posi- 
tion to  be  ultimately  converted  into  energy 
of  motion. 

The  former  may  be  compared  to  money  in 
a  bank,  or  capital,  the  latter  to  money  which 
we  are  in  the  act  of  spending;  and  just  as, 
when  we  have  money  in  a  bank,  we  can  draw 
it  out  whenever  we  want  it,  so,  in  the  case 
of  energy  of  position,  we  can  make  use  of 
it  whenever  we  please.  To  see  this  more 
clearly,  let  us  compare  together  a  water-mill 
driven  by  a  head  of  water  and  a  windmill 
driven  by  the  wind.  In  the  one  case  we  may 
turn  on  the  water  whenever  it  is  most  con- 
venient for  us,  but  in  the  other  we  must  wait 
until  the  wind  happens  to  blow.  The  former 
has  all  the  independence  of  a  rich  man ;  the 
latter  all  the  obsequiousness  of  a  poor  one. 
If  we  pursue  the  analogy  a  step  further,  we 
shall  see  that  the  great  capitalist  or  the 
man  who  has  acquired  a  lofty  position  is 
respected  because  he  has  the  disposal  of  a 
great  quantity  of  energy;  and  that  whether 
he  be  a  nobleman  or  a  sovereign  or  a  gen- 
eral in  command,  he  is  powerful  only  from 
having  something  which  enables  him  to 
make  use  of  the  services  of  others.  When 
the  man  of  wealth  pays  a  laboring  man  to 
work  for  him,  he  is  in  truth  converting  so 
much  of  his  energy  of  position  into  actual 
energy,  just  as  a  miller  lets  out  a  portion  of 
his  head  of  water  in  order  to  do  some  work 
by  its  means. — STEWART  Conservation  of 
Energy,  ch.  2,  p.  378.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

1O17.  ENERGY  OF  SUN—  Seemingly 
Undiminished — Immutability  in  the  Midst 
of  Change. — Multiplying  all  our  powers  by 
millions  of  millions,  we  do  not  reach  the 
sun's  expenditure.  And  still,  notwithstand- 
ing this  enormous  drain,  in  the  lapse  of 
human  history  we  are  unable  to  detect  a 
diminution  of  his  store.  Measured  by  our 
largest  terrestrial  standards,  such  a  reser- 
voir of  power  is  infinite ;  but  it  is  our  privi- 
lege to  rise  above  these  standards,  and  to  re- 
gard the  sun  himself  as  a  speck  in  infinite 
extension — a  mere  drop  in  the  universal  sea. 
We  analyze  the  space  in  which  he  is  im- 
mersed, and  which  is  the  vehicle  of  his 
power.  We  pass  to  other  systems  and 
other  suns,  each  pouring  forth  energy  like 
our  own,  but  still  without  infringement  of 
the  law,  which  reveals  immutability  in  the 
midst  of  change,  which  recognizes  incessant 
transference  or  conversion,  but  neither  final 
gain  nor  loss.  The  energy  of  Nature  is  a  con- 
stant quality,  and  the  utmost  man  can  do 
in  the  pursuit  of  physical  truth,  or  in  the 
applications  of  physical  knowledge,  is  to 
shift  the  constituents  of  the  never-varying 


total,  sacrificing  one  if  he  would  produce 
another.  The  law  of  conservation  rigidly 
excludes  both  creation  and  annihilation. 
Waves  may  change  to  ripples,  and  ripples  to 
waves — magnitude  may  be  substituted  for 
number,  and  number  for  magnitude — as- 
teroids may  aggregate  to  suns,  suns  may 
invest  their  energy  in  florae  and  faunae,  and 
florae  and  faunae  may  melt  in  air — the  flux 
of  power  is  eternally  the  same.  It  rolls  in 
music  through  the  ages,  while  the  manifesta- 
tions of  physical  life,  as  well  as  the  display 
of  physical  phenomena,  are  but  the  modula- 
tions of  its  rhythm. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  535.  (A.,  1900.) 

1018.  ENERGY  REQUIRED  TO  HOLD 
GASES    TOGETHER    IN  WATER— Prior 

to  experience,  no  one  could  suspect  that  two 
aeriform  substances  like  oxygen  and  hydro- 
gen could  be  obtained  from  water,  and  the 
discovery  of  the  fact,  near  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  marks  an  era  in  the  history  of 
science.  And  even  now,  familiar  as  it  is, 
this  truth  stands  out  as  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable facts  of  Nature.  Moreover,  the 
wonder  becomes  still  greater  when  we  learn 
that  water  yields  1,800  times  its  volume  of 
the  two  gases,  and  that  these  gases  retain 
their  aeriform  condition  so  persistently  that 
mechanical  pressure  alone  cannot  reduce 
them  to  the  liquid  condition ;  and  still  more 
the  wonder  grows  when  we  learn  further 
that  the  amount  of  energy  required  to  de- 
compose a  pound  of  water  into  its  constitu- 
ent gases  would  be  adequate  to  raise  a 
weight  of  5,314,200  pounds  one  foot  high; 
and  that,  when  these  gases  unite  and  the 
water  is  reproduced,  this  energy  again  be- 
comes active. — COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect. 
5,  p.  114.  (A.,  1899.) 

1019.  ENERGY,  SEEMING   WASTE 
OF — The  Sun's  Heat  Poured  into  Empty  Space 
— Might     Warm     Two     Thousand     Million 
Globes  Like  Ours. — We  have  just  seen  the  al- 
most incomprehensible  amount  of  heat  which 
the   sun  must  send  the  earth  in  order  to 
warm  its  oceans  and  make  green  its  con- 
tinents;    but   how   little    this   is    to    what 
passes  by  us !     The  earth  as  it  moves  on  in 
its  annual  path  continually  comes  into  new 
regions,  where  it  finds  the  same  amount  of 
heat  already  pouring  forth;    and  this  same 
amount  still  continues  to  fall  into  the  empty 
space  we  have  just  quitted,  where  there  is  no 
one  left  to  note  it,  and  where  it  goes  on  in 
what  seems  to  us  utter  waste.    If,  then,  the 
whole  annual  orbit  were  set  close  wfth  globes 
like  ours,  and  strung  with  worlds  like  beads 
upon  a  ring,  each  would  receive  the  same 
enormous  amount  the  earth  does  now.     But 
this  is  not  all ;    for  not  only  along  the  orbit, 
but  above  and  below  it,  the  sun  sends  its 
heat   in   seemingly  incredible  wastefulness, 
the   final   amount  being  expressible   in  the 
number   of  worlds  like  ours  that  it  could 
warm   like   ours,   which   is   2,200,000,000. — 
LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  95.     (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


209 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Energy 
Enjoyment 


1020.  ENERGY,  THE    CONSERVA- 
TION OF— The  sum  total  of  all  causes  work- 
ing in  Nature  that  can  produce  change  in 
the  physical  world  is  as  invariable  as  the 
totality  of  the  store  of  matter.     No  mani- 
festation of  force  can  arise  out  of  nothing, 
none  can  altogether  disappear.     All  of  the 
changes  we  observe  consist  in  the  fact  that 
such  a  manifestation  of  force  is  expressed  in 
some  other  way,   it  only  assumes   another 
form. — MEYER  Ueber  Bestrebungen  und  Ziele 
der     wissenschaftlichen      Chemie,     p.      34. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1021.  ENERGY,  THE  FORM-GIVING 
ELEMENT   IN   MATTER— Heat  Makes  the 
Difference  between  Solid,  Liquid,  and  Gas. — 
From  the  fact  that  all  gases  expand  with 
heat  and  contract  with  cold,  it  is  concluded 
that  the  ether-vibrations  we  term  heat  are 
the  cause  of  the  rapid  motions  of  the  gaseous 
molecules,  and  that  if  heat  was  entirely  ab- 
sent the  motion  would  cease,  and,  ordinary 
cohesive   attraction   coming   into   play,   the 
molecules  would  fall  together  and  form  a 
liquid  or  a  solid.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  by 
intense   cold,    combined   with    pressure,    all 
gases  can  be  liquefied  or  solidified;    and  as, 
on  the  other  hand,  all  the  solid  elements  can 
be  liquefied  or  vaporized  by  the  intense  heat 
of  the  electric  furnace,  we  conclude  that  all 
matter  when   entirely  deprived  of  heat   is 
solid,     and    with    sufficient    heat    becomes 
gaseous. — WALLACE     The     Wonderful    Cen- 
tury, ch.  7,  p.  55.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1022.  ENGINEERING  FEATS  OF  AN- 
TIQUITY—Power  of  Organized  Labor— Time 
A  o  Object. — In  the  earliest  engineering  feats 
two  facts  must  be  sharply  kept  before  the 
mind,  to  wit:    That  time  was  no  object,  and 
that  there  were  no  private  buildings.     Sup- 
pose that  every  laboring  person  in  Chicago 
should  be  immediately  withdrawn  from  all 
private  work,  and  that  they  all  should  be  or- 
ganized to  labor  for  ten  years  upon  some 
government  building  as  a  memorial  of  the 
city's  grandeur.     One  million  hand-laborers 
would   erect   a   pyramid   containing   fifteen 
thousand  milliards  of  tons  of  earth,  and  the 
mechanics   would  put   on   the  top   of   it   a 
structure  larger  than  all  the  monuments  in 
Egypt  combined. — MASON  Aboriginal  Ameri- 
can   Mechanics    (Memoirs   of   the   Interna- 
tional   Congress    of  Anthropology,   p.    82). 
(Sch.  P.  C.) 

1023.  ENJOYMENT  BY  ILLUSION— 

Made  Happy  by  Attempting  To  Seem  So. — 
Let  us  examine  one  of  these  active  illusions 
a  little  more  fully.  It  would  at  first  sight 
seem  to  be  a  perfectly  simple  thing  to  de- 
termine at  any  given  moment  whether  we 
are  enjoying  ourselves,  whether  our  emo- 
tional condition  rises  above  the  pleasure- 
threshold  or  point  of  indifference  and  takes 
on  a  positive  hue  of  the  agreeable  or  pleas- 
urable. Yet  there  is  good  reason  for  sup- 
posing th'at  people  not  unfrequently  deceive 
themselves  on  this  matter.  It  is,  perhaps, 
hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  most  of 


us  are  capable  of  imagining  that  we  are  hav- 
ing enjoyment  when  we  conform  to  the  tem- 
porary fashion  of  social  amusement.  It  has- 
been  cynically  observed  that  people  go  inta 
society  less  in  order  to  be  happy  than  to 
seem  so,  and  one  may  add  that  in  this  sem- 
blance of  enjoyment  they  may,  provided  they 
are  not  blase1,  deceive  themselves  as  well  as 
others.  The  expectation  of  enjoyment,  the 
knowledge  that  the  occasion  is  intended  to 
bring  about  this  result,  the  recognition  of 
the  external  signs  of  enjoyment  in  others — 
all  this  may  serve  to  blind  a  man  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  social  amusement  to  his 
actual  mental  condition. — SULLY  Illusions, 
ch.  8,  p.  200.  (A.,  1897.) 

1024.  ENJOYMENT  CONDUCIVE  TO 

BENEVOLENCE— -Desire  to  Impart  Pleasure. 
— We  do  not  conceive  life  to  be  so  rich  in 
enjoyments  that  it  can  afford  to  forego  the 
cultivation  of  all  those  which  address  them- 
selves to  what  M.  Comte  terms  the  egotistic 
propensities.  On  the  contrary,  we  believe 
that  a- sufficient  gratification  of  these,  short 
of  excess,  but  up  to  the  measure  which  ren- 
ders the  enjoyment  greatest,  is  almost  al- 
ways favorable  to  the  benevolent  affections. 
The  moralization  of  the  personal  enjoyment* 
we  deem  to  consist,  not  in  reducing  them  to 
the  smallest  possible  amount,  but  in  culti- 
vating the  habitual  wish  to  share  them  with 
others,  and  with  all  others,  and  scorning  ta 
desire  anything  for  oneself  which  is  in- 
capable of  being  so  shared.  There  is  only 
one  passion  or  inclination  which  is  per- 
manently incompatible  with  this  condition — 
the  love  of  domination,  or  superiority,  for 
its  own  sake;  which  implies,  and  is 
grounded  on,  the  equivalent  depression  of 
other  people.  As  a  rule  of  conduct  to  be  en- 
forced by  moral  sanctions,  we  think  no  more 
should  be  attempted  than  to  prevent  people 
from  doing  harm  to  others,  or  omitting  to 
do  such  good  as  they  have  undertaken.  De- 
manding no  more  than  this,  society  in  any 
tolerable  circumstances  obtains  much  more; 
for  the  natural  activity  of  human  nature, 
shut  out  from  all  noxious  directions,  will  ex- 
pand itself  in  useful  ones. — MILL  Positive 
Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  131.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

1025.  ENJOYMENT   OF   NATURE 
LESS  FREELY  EXPRESSED   IN  GREEK 
THAN  IN  HEBREW  POETRY- It  has  often 
been  remarked  that,  altho  the  enjoyment  de- 
rived from  the  contemplation  of  Nature  was 
not  wholly  unknown   to   the   ancients,   the 
feeling  was,  nevertheless,  much  more  rarely 
and  less  vividly  expressed  than  in  modern 
times.    In  his  considerations  on  the  poetry 
of  the  sentiments,   Schiller   thus   expresses 
himself:    "  If  we  bear  in  mind  the  beautiful 
scenery  with   which   the   Greeks  were   sur- 
rounded,   and    remember    the   opportunities 
possessed  by  a  people  living  in  so  genial  a 
climate  of  entering  into  the  free  enjoyment 
of  the  contemplation  of  Nature,  and  observe 
how     conformable     were     their     mode     of 


Enjoyment 
Environment 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


210 


thought,  the  bent  of  their  imaginations,  and 
the  habits  of  their  lives  to  the  simplicity  of 
Nature,  which  was  so  faithfully  reflected  in 
their  poetic  works,  we  cannot  fail  to  remark 
with  surprise  how  few  traces  are  to  be  met 
among  them  of  the  sentimental  interest  with 
which  we,  in  modern  times,  attach  ourselves 
to  the  individual  characteristics  of  natural 
scenery.  The  Greek  poet  is  certainly,  in  the 
highest  degree,  correct,  faithful,  and  circum- 
stantial in  his  descriptions  of  Nature,  but 
his  heart  has  no  more  share  in  his  words 
than  if  he  were  treating  of  a  garment,  a 
shield,  or  a  suit  of  armor.  Nature  seems  to 
interest  his  understanding  more  than  his 
moral  perceptions;  he  does  not  cling  to  her 
charms  with  the  fervor  and  the  plaintive 
passion  of  the  poet  of  modern  times."  How- 
ever much  truth  and  excellence  there  may  be 
in  these  remarks,  they  must  not  be  extended 
to  the  whole  of  antiquity;  and  I  moreover 
consider  that  we  take  a  very  limited  view  of 
antiquity  when,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
present  time,  we  restrict  the  term  exclu- 
sively to  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  A  pro- 
found feeling  of  Nature  pervades  the  most 
ancient  poetry  of  the  Hebrews  and  Indians, 
and  exists,  therefore,  among  nations  of  very 
different  descent — Semitic  and  Indo-Ger- 
manic. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p. 
21.  (H.,  1897.) 

1O26.  ENTHUSIASM  OF  YOUNG 
NATURALIST—  Fossil  Winged  Fi&h.—Of  all 
the  organisms  of  the  system  [the  Old  Red 
Sandstone],  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
.  .  .  is  the  Pterichthys,  or  winged  fish, 
an  ichthyolite  which  the  writer  had  the 
pleasure  of  introducing  to  the  acquaintance 
of  geologists  nearly  three  years  ago,  but 
which  he  first  laid  open  to  the  light  about 
seven  years  earlier.  ...  I  fain  wish  I 
could  communicate  to  the  reader  the  feeling 
with  which  I  contemplated  my  first  specimen. 
It  opened  with  a  single  blow  of  the  hammer ; 
and  there,  on  a  ground  of  light-colored  lime- 
stone, lay  the  effigy  of  a  creature  fashioned 
apparently  out  of  jet,  with  a  body  covered 
with  plates,  two  powerful  looking  arms,  ar- 
ticulated at  the  shoulders,  a  head  as  entirely 
lost  in  the  trunk  as  that  of  the  ray  or  the 
sunfish,  and  a  long,  angular  tail.  My  first- 
formed  idea  regarding  it  was,  that  I  had  dis- 
covered a  connecting  link  between  the  tor- 
toise and  the  fish — the  body  much  resembles 
that  of  a  small  turtle;  and  why,  I  asked,  if 
one  formation  gives  us  sauroid  fishes,  may 
not  another  give  us  chelonian  ones?  or  if  in 
the  Lias  we  find  the  body  of  the  lizard 
mounted  on  the  paddles  of  the  whale,  why 
not  find  in  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  the  body 
of  the  tortoise  mounted  in  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar manner?  The  idea  originated  in  error; 
but  as  it  was  an  error  which  not  many  nat- 
uralists could  have  corrected  at  the  time,  it 
may  be  deemed  an  excusable  one,  more  es- 
pecially by  such  of  my  readers  as  may  have 
seen  well-preserved  specimens  of  the  crea- 
ture.— MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  3, 
p.  42.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 


1O27. 


Traces  of  the  Ice- 


period  in  America. — In  the  autumn  of  1846, 
six  years  after  my  visit  to  Great  Britain  in 
search  of  glaciers,  I  sailed  for  America. 
When  the  steamer  stopped  at  Halifax,  eager 
to  set  foot  on  the  new  continent  so  full  of 
promise  for  me,  I  sprang  on  shore  and 
started  at  a  brisk  pace  for  the  heights  above 
the  landing.  On  the  first  undisturbed 
ground,  after  leaving  the  town,  I  was  met 
by  the  familiar  signs,  the  polished  surfaces, 
the  furrows  and  scratches,  the  line-engrav- 
ing of  the  glacier,  so  well  known  in  the  Old 
World;  and  I  became  convinced  of  what  I 
had  already  anticipated  as  the  logical  se- 
quence of  my  previous  investigations,  that 
here  also  this  great  agent  had  been  at  work, 
altho  it  was  only  after  a  long  residence  in 
America,  and  repeated  investigations  of  the 
glacial  phenomena  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  that  I  fully  understood  the  uni- 
versality of  its  action. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  77.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1028.  ENTpMOLOGIST  DECEIVED— 

Protective  Mimicry  of  Caterpillars. — Some 
of  the  most  curious  examples  of  minute  imi- 
tation are  afforded  by  the  caterpillars  of  the 
geometer  moths,  which  are  always  brown  or 
reddish,  and  resemble  in  form  little  twigs 
of  the  plant  on  which  they  feed.  They  have 
the  habit,  when  at  rest,  of  standing  out 
obliquely  from  the  branch,  to  which  they 
hold  on  by  their  hind  pair  of  prolegs  or 
claspers,  and  remain  motionless  for  hours. 
Speaking  of  these  protective  resemblances 
Mr.  Jenner  Weir  says :  "  After  being  thirty 
years  an  entomologist  I  was  deceived  myself, 
and  took  out  my  pruning-scissors  to  cut 
from  a  plum-tree  a  spur  which  I  thought  I 
had  overlooked.  This  turned  out  to  be  the 
larva  of  a  geometer  two  inches  long.  I 
showed  it  to  several  members  of  my  family, 
and  defined  a  space  of  four  inches  in  which 
it  was  to  be  seen,  but  none  of  them  could 
perceive  that  it  was  a  caterpillar." — WAL- 
LACE Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  139.  (Hum., 
1889.) 

1029.  ENVIRONMENT,  ADAPTATION 
TO    CHANGES   OF— Stomach  of  Sea-gull- 
Gizzard  of  Pigeon. — Hunter,  for  example,  in 
a  classical  experiment,  so  changed  the  en- 
vironment of  a  sea-gull  by  keeping  it  in  cap- 
tivity that  it  could  only  secure  a  grain  diet. 
The  effect  was  to  modify  the  stomach  of  the 
bird,  normally  adapted  to  a  fish  diet,  until 
in  time  it  came  to  resemble  in  structure  the 
gizzard  of  an  ordinary  grain-feeder,  such  as 
the  pigeon.    Holmgren,  again,  reversed  this 
experiment  by  feeding  pigeons  for  a  length- 
ened period  on  a  meat  diet,  with  the  result 
that  the  gizzard  became  transformed  into 
the  carnivorous  stomach. — DBUMMOND  Nat- 
ural Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  7,  p. 
232.    (H.  Al.) 

1030.  ENVIRONMENT    AFFECTING 

MAN — Adaptation  of  Races  to  Climate  and  Lo- 
cality.— That  certain  races  are  constitution- 
ally fit  and  others  unfit  for  certain  climates, 


211 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


_  .yment 
vironment 


is  a  fact  which  the  English  have  but  too 
good  reason  to  know,  when  on  the  scorching 
plains  of  India  they  themselves  become  lan- 
guid and  sickly,  while  their  children  have 
soon  to  be  removed  to  some  cooler  climate 
that  they  may  not  pine  and  die.  It  is  well 
known  also  that  races  are  not  affected  alike 
by  certain  diseases.  While  in  Equatorial 
Africa  or  the  West  Indies  the  coast  fever  and 
yellow  fever  are  so  fatal  or  injurious  to  the 
new-come  Europeans,  the  negroes  and  even 
mulattoes  are  almost  untouched  by  this 
scourge  of  the  white  nations.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  English  look  upon  measles  as  a 
trifling  complaint,  and  hear  with  astonish- 
ment of  its  being  carried  into  Fiji,  and 
there,  aggravated  no  doubt  by  improper 
treatment,  sweeping  away  the  natives  by 
thousands.  It  is  plain  that  nations  moving 
into  a  new  climate,  if  they  are  to  flourish, 
must  become  adapted  in  body  to  the  new 
state  of  life;  thus  in  the  rarefied  air  of  the 
high  Andes  more  respiration  is  required 
than  in  the  plains,  and  in  fact  tribes  living 
there  have  the  chest  and  lungs  developed  to 
extraordinary  size.  Races,  tho  capable  of 
gradual  acclimatization,  must  not  change  too 
suddenly  the  climate  they  are  adapted  to. 
With  this  adaptation  to  particular  climates 
the  complexion  has  much  to  do,  fitting  the 
negro  for  the  tropics  and  the  fair-white  for 
the  temperate  zone;  tho,  indeed,  color  does 
not  always  vary  with  climate,  as  where  in 
America  the  brown  race  extends  through  hot 
and  cold  regions  alike.  Fitness  for  a  special 
climate,  being  matter  of  life  or  death  to  a 
race,  must  be  reckoned  among  the  chief  of 
race-characters. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch. 
3,  p.  73.  (A.,  1899.) 

1O31.  ENVIRONMENT  ALONE  DOES 
NOT  DEVELOP  GENIUS— The  remarkable 
scientific  activity  manifested  by  the  Arabs 
in  all  branches  of  practical  astronomy  is  to 
be  ascribed  less  to  native  than  to  Chaldean 
and  Indian  influences.  Atmospheric  condi- 
tions merely  favored  that  which  had  been 
called  forth  by  mental  qualifications,  and  by 
the  contact  of  highly  gifted  races  with  more 
civilized  neighboring  nations.  How  many 
rainless  portions  of  tropical  America  enjoy 
a  still  more  transparent  atmosphere  than 
Egypt,  Arabia,  and  Bokhara !  A  tropical 
sky,  and  the  eternal  clearness  of  the  heavens, 
radiant  in  stars  and  nebulous  spots,  un- 
doubtedly everywhere  exercise  an  influence 
on  the  mind,  but  they  can  only  lead  to 
thought,  and  to  the  solution  of  mathemat- 
ical propositions,  where  other  internal  and 
external  incitements,  independent  of  cli- 
matic relation,  affect  the  national  character, 
and  where  the  requirements  of  religious  and 
agricultural  pursuits  make  the  exact  divi- 
sion of  time  a  necessity  prompted  by  social 
conditions.  Among  calculating  commercial 
nations  (as  the  Phenieians),  among  con- 
structive nations,  partial  to  architecture 
and  the  measurement  of  land  (as  the  Chal- 
deans and  Egyptians),  empirical  rules  of 
arithmetic  and  geometry  were  early  discov- 


ered; but  these  are  merely  capable  of  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  establishment  of 
mathematical  and  astronomical  science.  It 
is  only  in  the  later  phases  of  civilization 
that  the  established  regularity  of  the 
changes  in  the  heavens  is  known  to  be  re- 
flected in  terrestrial  phenomena.  .  .  . 
The  conviction  entertained  in  all  climates 
of  the  regularity  of  the  planetary  move- 
ments has  contributed  more  than  anything 
else  to  lead  man  to  seek  similar  laws  of 
order  in  the  moving  atmosphere,  in  the  oscil- 
lations of  the  ocean,  in  the  periodic  course 
of  the  magnetic  needle,  and  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  organisms  over  the  earth's  surface. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  221.  (H., 
1897.) 

1032.  ENVIRONMENT,  ARTIFICIAL, 
A    BONDAGE— Possessions  May  Possess.— 
Only   to   a    certain   extent   does   possession 
make   a   man   freer,   more  independent.     A 
step  farther  and  possession  becomes  master, 
the  possessor  a  slave  required  to  sacrifice  his 
time  and  thought,  and  find  himself  respon- 
sible to  connections,  nailed  to  place,  incorpo- 
rated in  a  state,  all  of  which  may  be  opposed 
to    the    essential    requirements    of    his    in- 
most nature. — SCHOPENHAUER,  according  to 
SCHWARZ,  Psychologic  des  Willens,  a  Lec- 
ture.      (Translated     for     Scientific     Side- 
Lights.) 

1033.  ENVIRONMENT,  BIRD'S  COR- 
RESPONDENCE   WITH— Man  a  Mass  of 
Correspondences. — The  bird,  again,  which  is 
higher  in  the  scale  of  life,  corresponds  with 
a  wider  environment.     The  stream  is  real 
to  it,  and  the  insect.     It  knows  what  lies 
behind  the  hill;    it  listens  to  the  love-song 
of  its  mate.     And  to  much  besides  beyond 
the  simple  world  of  the  tree  this  higher  or- 
ganism is  alive.    The  bird,  we  should  say,  is 
more  living  than  the  tree;    it  has  a  corre- 
spondence with  a  larger  area  of  environment. 
But  this  bird-life  is  not  yet  the  highest  life. 
Even    within    the    immediate    bird-environ- 
ment there  is  much  to  which  the  bird  must 
still  be  held  to  be  dead.    Introduce  a  higher 
organism,    place   man   himself   within   this 
same  environment,  and  see  how  much  more 
living  he  is.     A  hundred  things  which  the 
bird  never  saw  in  insect,  stream,  and  tree 
appeal  to  him.    Each  single  sense  has  some- 
thing   to   correspond   with.      Each    faculty 
finds   an   appropriate   exercise.     Man   is   a 
mass    of    correspondences,    and   because    of 
these,  because  he  is  alive  to  countless  objects 
and  influences  to  which  lower  organisms  are 
dead,  he  is  the  most  living  of  all  creatures. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  4,  p.  139.    (H.  Al.) 

1 034.  ENVIRONMENT      CANNOT 
ORIGINATE  ADAPTATION—  Tubular  Flow- 
er Cannot  Produce  Humming-bird's  Bill. — 
But  correlation  in  this  sense  [i.  e.,  between 
different  parts  of  the  same  organism]  helps 
but   a  little  way  indeed  in  conceiving  the 
origin  of  a  new  species.    There  might  be  the 
most  minute  and  perfect  harmony  between 


Environment 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


212- 


the  changes  effected  in  an  animal  newly 
born  without  those  changes  tending  even  in 
the  most  remote  degree  towards  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  form  of  life.  In  order  to 
that  establishment  there  must  be  another 
correlation,  and  a  correlation  of  a  higher 
kind.  There  must  be  a  correlation  between 
those  changes  and  all  the  outward  conditions 
amidst  which  the  new  form  is  to  be  placed 
and  live.  If  this  correlation  fails  the  new 
form  will  die.  Yet,  so  far  as  we  can  see, 
this  kind  of  correlation  is  without  any  phys- 
ical cause.  It  is  not  necessarily  involved,  as 
the  other  kind  of  correlation  is,  in  the  very 
idea  of  growth.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  not 
only  entirely  separable  in  thought,  but,  as 
we  see  in  monstrosities,  it  is  sometimes  sepa- 
rated in  fact.  We  have  no  conception  of 
any  force  emanating  from  external  things 
which  shall  mold  the  structure  of  an  organ- 
ism in  harmony  with  themselves.  Mr.  Dar- 
win freely  confesses  this,  and  says  that 
many  considerations  "  incline  him  to  lay 
very  little  weight  on  the  direct  action  of  the 
conditions  of  life  "  in  producing  variety  of 
form.  We  can  conceive,  dimly  indeed,  but 
still  we  can  conceive,  how  in  the  humming- 
birds a  special  form  of  wing  shall  be  corre- 
lated with  a  special  form  of  bill.  But  we 
have  no  conception  whatever  how  a  special 
form  of  bill  should  be  correlated  with  a 
special  form  of  flower  from  which  the  bill 
is  to  extract  its  food.  Mr.  Darwin  has 
shown  how  an  improved  bill,  when  once  pro- 
duced, will  be  preserved  by  finding  external 
conditions  to  which  it  is  adapted.  But  he 
has  not  shown,  and  he  frankly  confesses  he 
has  no  idea,  how  the  adapted  variation  of 
bill  comes  to  be  born  at  all. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  149.  (Burt.) 

1035.  ENVIRONMENT  CHANGED  BY 
EVOLUTION— A  Continually  New  Environ- 
ment  as   One   Climbs   the   Mountain. — For 
what  is  most  of  all  essential  to  remember  is 
that  not  only  is  environment  the  prime  fac- 
tor  in  development,  but  that  the  environ- 
ment itself  rises  with  every  evolution  of  any 
form  of  life.    To  regard  the  environment  as 
a  fixed  quantity  and  a  fixed  quality  is,  next 
to  ignoring  the  altruistic  factor,  the   car- 
dinal error  of  evolutional  philosophy.    With 
every  step  a  climber  rises  up  a  mountain- 
side his  environment  must  change. — DRUM- 
MOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  10,  p.  325.     ( J.  P., 
1900.) 

1036.  ENVIRONMENT,  CORRESPOND- 
ENCE   WITH— Man  May   Change  Environ- 
ment— Intelligent  Volition  May  Secure  More 
of   Life. — The  essential  characteristic  of  a 
living  organism,   according  to  these  defini- 
tions  [of  Herbert  Spencer's  "  Principles  of 
Biology,"  vol.  i,  p.  74],  is  that  it  is  in  vital 
connection  with  its  general  surroundings.    A 
human  being,  for  instance,  is  in  direct  con- 
tact with  the  earth  and  air,  with  all  sur- 
rounding things,   with  the  warmth   of  the 
sun,  with  the  music  of  birds,  with  the  count- 
less influences  and  activities  of  Nature  and 


of  his  fellow  men.  In  biological  language, 
he  is  said  thus  to  be  "  in  correspondence 
with  his  environment."  .  .  .  Now  it 
is  in  virtue  of  this  correspondence  that 
he  is  entitled  to  be  called  alive.  So 
long  as  he  is  in  correspondence  with  any 
given  point  of  his  environment,  he  lives.  To 
keep  up  this  correspondence  is  to  keep  up 
life.  If  his  environment  changes  he  must 
instantly  adjust  himself  to  the  change.  And 
he  continues  living  only  as  long  as  he  suc- 
ceeds in  adjusting  himself  to  the  "  simul- 
taneous and  successive  changes  in  his  en- 
vironment "  as  these  occur.  What  is  meant 
by  a  change  in  his  environment  may  be  un- 
derstood from  an  example,  which  will  at  the 
same  time  define  more  clearly  the  intimacy 
of  the  relation  between  environment  and  or- 
ganism. Let  us  take  the  case  of  a  civil- 
servant  whose  environment  is  a  district  in 
India.  It  is  a-  region  subject  to  occasional 
and  prolonged  droughts  resulting  in  period- 
ical famines.  When  such  a  period  of  scar- 
city arises,  he  proceeds  immediately  to  ad- 
just himself  to  this  external  change.  Hav- 
ing the  power  of  locomotion,  he  may  remove 
himself  to  a  more  fertile  district,  or,  pos- 
sessing the  means  of  purchase,  he  may  add 
to  his  old  environment  by  importation  the 
"  external  relations  "  necessary  to  continued 
life.  But  if  from  any  cause  he  fails  to  ad- 
just himself  to  the  altered  circumstances, 
his  body  is  thrown  out  of  correspondence 
with  his  environment,  his  "  internal  rela- 
tions "  are  no  longer  adjusted  to  his  "  ex- 
ternal relations,"  and  his  life  must  cease. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  4,  p.  132.  (H.  Al.) 

1037.  ENVIRONMENT,   RELATIONS 
OF    ANIMAL     TO— The  relation  between 
animals   and   their   environment   is   now   a 
question  of  such  great  interest  and  impor- 
tance that  it  is  necessary  in  any  description 
of  the  fauna  of  a  particular  region  to  con- 
sider its  physical  conditions  and  the  influ- 
ence that  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  had  in 
producing  the  characteristics  of  the  fauna. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p. 
18.     (A.,  1894.) 

1038.  ENVIRONMENT,  SINFUL,  CON- 
TACT   WITH— Linked  to  Evil  by  a   Single 
Correspondence. — As  a  general  rule  men  are 
linked    to    evil   mainly   by   a    single    corre- 
spondence.    Few  men  break  the  whole  law. 
Our    natures,    fortunately,    are    not    large 
enough  to  make  us  guilty  of  all,  and  the  re- 
straints of  circumstances  are  usually  such 
as  to  leave  a  loophole  in  the  life  of  each  in- 
dividual for  only  a  single  habitual  sin.    But 
it  is  very  easy  to  see  how  this  reduction  of 
our  intercourse  with  evil  to  a  single  corre- 
spondence blinds   us   to   our  true  position. 
Our   correspondences,   as   a  whole,   are  not 
with  evil,  and  in  our  calculations  as  to  our 
spiritual  condition  we  emphasize  the  many 
negatives   rather   than   the   single   positive. 
One  little  weakness,  we  are  apt  to  fancy,  all 
men  must  be  allowed,  and  we  even  claim  a 


213 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Environment 
Epoi-h 


certain  indulgence  for  that  apparent  neces- 
sity of  nature  which  we  call  our  besetting 
sin.  Yet  to  break  with  the  lower  environ- 
ment at  all,  to  many,  is  to  break  at  this 
single  point.  It  is  the  only  important  point 
at  which  they  touch  it,  circumstances  or  nat- 
ural disposition  making  habitual  contact  at 
other  places  impossible.  The  sinful  environ- 
ment, in  short,  to  them  means  a  small  but 
well-defined  area.  Now  if  contact  at  this 
point  be  not  broken  off,  they  are  virtually  in 
contact  still  with  the  whole  environment. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  5,  p.  167.  (H.  Al.) 

1039.  ENVIRONMENT,  SPIRITUAL— 

Lack  of  Correspondence  is  Spiritual  Death. 
— Now  follows  a  momentous  question.  Is 
man  in  correspondence  with  the  whole  en- 
vironment? When  we  reach  the  highest  liv- 
ing organism,  is  the  final  blow  dealt  to  the 
kingdom  of  death?  Has  the  last  acre  of  the 
infinite  area  been  taken  in  by  his  finite  fac- 
ulties? Is  his  conscious  environment  the 
whole  environment?  Or  is  there,  among 
these  outermost  circles,  one  which  with  his 
multitudinous  correspondences  he  fails  to 
reach.  If  so,  this  is  death.  The  question 
of  life  or  death  to  him  is  the  question  of  the 
amount  of  remaining  environment  he  is  able 
to  compass.  If  there  be  one  circle  or  one 
segment  of  a  circle  which  he  yet  fails  to 
reach,  to  correspond  with,  to  know,  to  be 
influenced  by,  he  is,  with  regard  to  that  cir- 
cle, or  segment,  dead. — DRUMMOND  Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  4,  p.  140. 
(H.A1.) 

1040.  ENVIRONMENT,  SUITABLE,  A 
NECESSITY  OF  LIFE— Injurious  Organisms 
Live   Only   Where  They  Find  a  Favorable 
Medium  Awaiting  Them. — In  the  very  earli- 
est days  of  the  study  of  micro-organisms  it 
was  observed  that  they  mostly  congregate 
where  there  is  pabulum  for  their  nourish- 
ment.    The  reason  why  fluids  such  as  milk, 
and  dead  animal  matter  such  as  a  carcass,  and 
living  tissues  such  as  a  man's  body  contain 
so  many  microbes  is  because  each  of  these 
three  media  is   favorable  to   their  growth. 
Milk  affords  almost  an  ideal  food  and  en- 
vironment   for   microbes.     Its    temperature 
and  constitution  frequently  meet  their  re- 
quirements.  Dead  animal  matter,  too,  yields 
a  rich  diet  for  some  species   (saprophytes). 
In  the  living  tissues  bacteria  obtain  not  only 
nutriment,  but  a  favorable  temperature  and 
moisture.     Outside  the  human  body  it  has 
been  the  endeavor  of  bacteriologists  to  pro- 
vide media  as  like  the  above  as  possible,  and 
containing  many  of  the   same  elements   of 
food.     Thus  the  life-history  may  be  carried 
on  outside  the  body  and  under  observation. 
— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  20.      (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 


1O41. 


Requisites  for  Nat- 


ural Life — Conditions  of  Vitality. — To  under- 
stand the  sustaining  influence  of  environment 
in  the  animal  world,  one  has  only  to  recall 
what  the  biologist  terms  the  extrinsic  or 


subsidiary  conditions  of  vitality.  Every  liv- 
ing thing  normally  requires  for  its  develop- 
ment an  environment  containing  air,  light, 
heat,  and  water.  In  addition  to  these,  if 
vitality  is  to  be  prolonged  for  any  length  of 
time,  and  if  it  is  to  be  accompanied  with 
growth  and  the  expenditure  of  energy,  there 
must  be  a  constant  supply  of  food.  When 
we  simply  remember  how  indispensable  food 
is  to  growth  and  work,  and  when  we  fur- 
ther bear  in  mind  that  4he  food-supply  is 
solely  contributed  by  the  environment',  we 
shall  realize  at  once  the  meaning  and  the 
truth  of  the  proposition  that  without  en- 
vironment there  can  be  no  life.  Seventy  per 
cent,  at  least  of  the  human  body  is  made  of 
pure  water,  the  rest  of  gases  and  earths. 
These  have  all  come  from  environment. 
Through  the  secret  pores  of  the  skin  two 
pounds  of  water  are  exhaled  daily  from 
every  healthy  adult.  The  supply  is  kept 
up  by  environment.  The  environment  is 
really  an  unappropriated  part  of  ourselves. 
Definite  portions  are  continuously  abstracted 
from  it  and  added  to  the  organism.  And  so 
long  as  the  organism  continues  to  grow,  act, 
think,  speak,  work,  or  perform  any  other 
function  demanding  a  supply  of  energy, 
there  is  a  constant,  simultaneous,  and  pro- 
portionate drain  upon  its  surroundings. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  7,  p.  234.  (H.  Al.) 


1042. 


Requisites  for  Spir- 


itual Life — The  Soul's  Environment  God. — 
Ii\  the  spiritual  world  especially,  he  will  be 
wise  who  courts  acquaintance  with  the  most 
ordinary  and  transparent  facts  of  Nature; 
and  in  laying  the  foundations  for  a  religious 
life  he  will  make  no  unworthy  beginning 
who  carries  with  him  an  impressive  sense 
of  so  obvious  a  truth  as  that  without  en- 
vironment there  can  be  no  life.  For  what 
does  this  amount  to  in  the  spiritual  world? 
Is  it  not  merely  the  scientific  restatement  of 
the  reiterated  aphorism  of  Christ,  "  Without 
Me  ye  can  do  nothing"?  There  is  in  the 
spiritual  organism  a  principle  of  life;  but 
that  is  not  self-existent.  It  requires  a  sec- 
ond factor,  a  something  in  which  to  live  and 
move  and  have  its  being,  an  environment. 
Without  this  it  cannot  live  or  move  or  have 
any  being.  Without  environment  the  soul  is 
as  the  carbon  without  the  oxygen,  as  the  fish 
without  the  water,  as  the  animal  frame 
without  the  extrinsic  conditions  of  vitality. 
And  what  is  the  spiritual  environment?  It 
is  God.  Without  this,  therefore,  there  is  no 
life,  no  thought,  no  energy,  nothing — "  with- 
out Me  ye  can  do  nothing." — DRUMMOND 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay 
7,  p.  237.  (H.  Al.) 

1O43.    EPOCH  CREATED  BY  GREAT 

DISCOVERIES—  The  Telescope,  Jupiter's  Sat- 
ellites, the  Disk  of  Venus,  Gravitation. — The 
whole  of  the  seventeenth  century,  whose 
commencement  was  brilliantly  signalized  by 
the  great  discovery  of  the  telescope,  together 
with  the  immediate  results  by  which  it  was 


Spoch 
Error 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


214 


attended — from  Galileo's  observation  of  Ju- 
piter's satellites,  of  the  crescentic  form  of 
the  disk  of  Venus,  and  the  spots  on  the  sun, 
to  the  theory  of  gravitation  discovered  by 
Newton — ranks  as  the  most  important  epoch 
of  a  newly  created  physical  astronomy. 
This  period  constitutes,  therefore,  from  the 
unity  of  the  efforts  made  toward  the  obser- 
vation of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  in 
mathematical  investigations,  a  sharply  de- 
fined section  in  the  great  process  of  intel- 
lectual development,  which,  since  then,  has 
been  characterized  by  an  uninterrupted 
progress. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii, 
p.  201.  (H.,  1897.) 

1044.  EPOCHS,  BREACHES  OF  CON- 
TINUITY—  Sudden  Developments  of  Human 
Power — Great   Men  in   Clusters. — It  is   an 
order  of  facts  observable  in  the  progress  of 
mankind,  that  long  ages  of  comparative  si- 
lence   and    inaction    are    broken    up,    and 
brought  to  an  end,  by  shorter  periods  of  al- 
most   preternatural     activity.       And    that 
activity  is  generally  spent  in  paths  of  inves- 
tigation, which,   tho  independent,   are  con- 
verging.   Different  minds,  pursuing  different 
lines   of   thought,   find   themselves   meeting 
upon  common  ground.     Such,  in  respect  to 
literature,  was  the  period  of  the  Revival  of 
Learning;    such,  in  respect  to  religion,  was 
the  period  of  the  Reformation;    such,  in  re- 
spect to  the  abstract  sciences,  was  the  period 
of   Tycho    Brahe,    of   Galileo,    and   Kepler. 
Hardly  less  memorable  than  these,  certainly 
not  less  powerful,  as  affecting  the  condition 
of  society,  were  those  few  years  in  the  last 
quarter    of    the    eighteenth    century   which 
were  marked  by  such  an  extraordinary  burst 
of  mechanical  invention.     Hargreaves,  and 
Arkwright,  and  Watt,  and  Crompton,  and 
Cartwright  were  all  contemporaries.     They 
were  all  working  at  the  same  time,  and  in 
the  same  direction.    Out  of  their  inventions 
there  arose  for  the  first  time  what  is  now 
known  as  the  factory  system;    and  out  of 
the    factory    system    arose    a    condition    of 
things,  as  affecting  human  labor,  which  was 
entirely  new  in  the  history  of  the  world. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  204.    (Burt.) 

1045.  EQUALITY,  MENTAL,  A  DE- 
LUSION— Cruel  Result  of  Such  Belief—  Tyran- 
ny of  Bad  Mental  Organization. — Perhaps  of 
all  the  erroneous  notions  concerning  mind 
which     metaphysics     has     engendered     or 
abetted,  there  is  none  more  false  than  that 
which  tacitly  assumes  or  explicitly  declares 
that  men  are  born  with  equal  original  men- 
tal capacity;    opportunities   and  education 
determining   the   differences    of    subsequent 
development.     The  opinion  is  as  cruel  as  it 
is  false.     What  man  can  by  taking  thought 
add  one  cubit  either  to  his  mental  or  to  his 
bodily  stature?     Multitudes  of  human  be- 
ings come  into  the  world  weighted  with  a 
destiny  against  which  they  have  neither  the 
will  nor  the  power  to  contend ;    they  are  the 
step-children   of  Nature,   and   groan  under 


the  worst  of  all  tyrannies — the  tyranny  of  a 
bad  organization.  Men  differ,  indeed,  in  the 
fundamental  characters  of  their  minds,  as 
they  do  in  the  features  of  their  counte- 
nances, or  in  the  habits  of  their  bodies ;  and 
between  those  who  are  born  with  the  poten- 
tiality of  a  full  and  complete  mental  devel- 
opment, under  favorable  circumstances,  and 
those  who  are  born  with  an  innate  incapac- 
ity of  mental  development,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, there  exists  every  gradation. 
What  teaching  could  ever  raise  the  congeni- 
tal idiot  to  the  common  level  of  human  in- 
telligence? WThat  teaching  could  ever  keep 
the  inspired  mind  of  the  man  of  genius  at 
that  level? — MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect. 
2,  p.  43.  (A.,  1898.) 

1046.  EQUILIBRIUM  OF  NATURE— 

Chance  Does  Not  Give  Order  and  Progress 
— The  Loaded  Dice. — It  has  been  well  said 
that  if  a  pair  of  dice  were  to  turn  up  aces 
a  hundred  times  in  succession,  any  reason- 
able spectator  would  conclude  that  they  were 
loaded  dice;  so  if  countless  millions  of 
atoms  and  thousands  of  species,  each  inclu- 
ding within  itself  most  complex  arrangement 
of  parts,  turn  up  in  geological  time  in  per- 
fectly regular  order  and  a  continued  gra- 
dation of  progress,  something  more  than 
chance  must  be  implied.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served here  that  every  species  of  animal  or 
plant,  of  however  low  grade,  consists  of 
many  coordinated  parts  in  a  condition  of 
the  nicest  equilibrium.  Any  change  occur- 
ring which  produces  unequal  or  dispropor- 
tionate development,  as  the  experience  of 
breeders  of  abnormal  varieties  of  animals 
and  plants  abundantly  proves,  imperils  the 
continued  existence  of  the  species.  Changes 
must,  therefore,  in  order  to  be  profitable, 
affect  the  parts  of  the  organism  simultane- 
ously and  symmetrically.  The  chances  of 
this  may  well  be  compared  to  the  casting  of 
aces  a  hundred  times  in  succession,  and  arc 
so  infinitely  small  as  to  be  incredible  under 
any  other  supposition  than  that  of  intelli- 
gent design. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in 
Modern  Science,  lect.  3,  p.  122.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

1047.  EQUIPMENT  FOR  DESTRUC- 
TION— Deceptive   Coloration  among  Birds. — 
Deceptive,  or,  as  Poulton  terms  it,  "  aggres- 
sive "  coloration  is  perhaps  best  illustrated 
by  common  flycatchers  (Tyrannidce).    Altho 
these  birds  live  in  and  about  trees,  they  are, 
as  a  rule,  quietly  attired  in  olive-green  or 
olive-gray,   and   are   quite  unlike  the   bril- 
liantly clad,   fruit-eating  tanagers,   orioles, 
parrots,  and  other  birds  that  may  be  found 
near  them.    Insects  are  therefore  more  likely 
to  come  within  snapping  distance  than  if 
these  birds  were  conspicuously  colored.     In 
the  same  manner  we  may  explain  the  colors 
of    hawks,    which    are    never   brightly    plu- 
maged.     It  is  well  known  that  many  arctic 
animals  become  white  on  the  approach   of 
winter.     With  ptarmigans  this  is  doubtless 
an  instance  of  protective  coloration,  but  the 


215 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Spoch 
Srror 


snowy  owl,  who  feeds  on  the  ptarmigan, 
may  be  said  to  illustrate  deceptive  colora- 
tion.— CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  3,  p.  44.  (A., 
1900.) 

1048.  EQUIVALENCE  OF  FORCES— 

Heat  and  Electricity. — If  I  should  set  an 
emery-wheel  to  revolving  and  hold  a  piece 
of  steel  against  it,  the  piece  of  steel  would 
become  heated  and  incandescent  particles 
would  fly  off,  making  a  brilliant  display  of 
fireworks.  The  heat  that  has  been  developed 
is  the  measure  of  the  mechanical  energy  that 
I  have  used  against  the  emery-wheel.  Now, 
let  us  substitute  for  the  emery-wheel  another 
wheel  of  the  same  size  made  of  vulcanized 
rubber,  glass,  or  resin.  I  set  it  to  revolving 
at  the  same  speed,  and  instead  of  the  piece 
of  steel,  I  now  hold  a  silk  handkerchief  or  a 
catskin  against  the  wheel  with  the  same 
force  that  I  did  the  steel.  If  now  I  provide 
a  Leyden  jar  and  some  points  to  gather  up 
the  electricity  that  will  be  produced  (instead 
of  the  heat  generated  in  the  other  case),  it 
would  be  found  that  the  energy  developed 
in  the  one  case  would  exactly  balance  that 
of  the  other,  if  it  were  all  gathered  up  and 
put  into  work.  The  electricity  stored  in  the 
jar  is  in  a  state  of  strain,  like  a  bent  bow, 
and  will  recoil,  when  it  has  a  chance,  with  a 
power  commensurate  with  the  time  it  has 
been  storing  and  the  amount  of  energy  used 
in  pressing  against  the  wheel.  If  now  I  con- 
nect my  two  hands,  one  with  the  inside  and 
the  other  with  the  outside  of  the  jar,  this 
stored  energy  will  strike  me  with  a  force 
equal  to  all  the  energy  I  have  previously 
expended  in  pressing  against  the  wheel, 
minus  the  loss  in  heat.  If  I  did  it  for  a 
long  enough  time  this  electrical  spring 
would  be  wound  up  to  such  a  tension  that 
the  recoil  would  destroy  life  if  one  put  him- 
self in  the  path  of  its  discharge. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  44. 
(F.  H.  &H.,  1900.) 

1049.  EROSION    BY   SAND-LADEN 

WATER— Minute  Particles  Cut  through  Solid 
Cliff — Mighty  Effect  from  Trivial  Cause. — 
This  power  of  erosion,  so  strikingly  dis- 
played when  sand  is  urged  by  air,  renders 
us  better  able  to  conceive  its  action  when 
urged  by  water.  The  erosive  power  of  a 
river  is  vastly  augmented  by  the  solid  mat- 
ter carried  along  with  it.  Sand  or  pebbles, 
caught  in  a  river  vortex,  can  wear  away  the 
hardest  rock ;  "  pot-holes  "  and  deep  cylin- 
drical shafts  being  thus  produced.  An  ex- 
traordinary instance  of  this  kind  of  erosion 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  Val  Tournanche,  above 
the  village  of  this  name.  The  gorge  at  Han- 
deck  has  been  thus  cut  out. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  196.  (A., 
1900.) 

1050.  ERROR,   CUMULATIVE   RE- 
SULT OF— Slight  Inaccuracy  Vitiates  All  Re- 
sults in  Space  and  Time. — Our  estimates  of 
the  masses  of  the  heavenly  bodies  also  de- 
pend upon  a  knowledge  of  the  sun's  distance 
from  the  earth.     The  quantity  of  matter  in 


a  star  or  planet  is  determined  by  calcula- 
tions whose  fundamental  data  include  the 
distance  between  the  investigated  body  and 
some  other  body  whose  motion  is  controlled 
or  modified  by  it;  and  this  distance  gen- 
erally enters  into  the  computation  by  its 
cube,  so  that  any  error  in  it  involves  a  more 
than  threefold  error  in  the  resulting  mass. 
An  uncertainty  of  one  per  cent,  in  the  sun's 
distance  implies  an  uncertainty  of  more 
than  three  per  cent,  in  every  celestial  mass 
and  every  cosmical  force. 

Error  in  this  fundamental  element  propa- 
gates itself  in  time  also,  as  well  as  in  space 
and  mass.  ...  If,  for  instance,  we 
should  find  as  the  result  of  calculation  with 
the  received  data,  that  two  millions  of  years 
ago  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  was 
at  a  maximum,  and  the  perihelion  so  placed 
that  the  sun  was  nearest  during  the  north- 
ern winter  (a  condition  of  affairs  which  it 
is  thought  would  produce  a  glacial  epoch  in 
the  southern  hemisphere),  it  might  easily 
happen  that  our  results  would  be  exactly 
contrary  to  the  truth,  and  that  the  state  of 
affairs  indicated  did  not  occur  within  ten 
thousand  years  of  the  specified  date — and  all 
because  in  our  calculation  the  sun's  distance, 
or  the  solar  parallax  by  which  it  is  meas- 
ured, was  assumed  half  of  one  per  cent,  too 
great  or  too  small. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  2, 
p.  11.  (A.,  1898.) 

1051.  ERROR,    DEFINITE,    MORE 
HELPFUL    THAN    INDECISION -None  of 

Bacon's  aphorisms  shows  a  clearer  insight 
into  the  relations  between  the  human  mind 
and  the  external  world  than  that  which  de- 
clares ["Novum  Organum,"  lib.  ii,  aph.  20], 
"  Truth  to  emerge  sooner  from  error  than 
from  confusion."  A  definite  theory  (even 
if  a  false  one)  gives  holding-ground  ta 
thought.  Facts  acquire  a  meaning  with  ref- 
erence to  it.  It  affords  a  motive  for  accu- 
mulating them  and  a  means  of  coordinating 
them;  it  provides  a  framework  for  their  ar- 
rangement, and  a  receptacle  for  their  pres- 
ervation, until  they  become  too  strong  and 
numerous  to  be  any  longer  included  within 
arbitrary  limits,  and  shatter  the  vessel 
originally  framed  to  contain  them. 

Such  was  the  purpose  subserved  by  Her- 
schel's  theory  of  the  sun.  It  helped  to- 
clarify  ideas  on  the  subject.  The  turbid 
sense  of  groping  and  viewless  ignorance  gave 
place  to  the  lucidity  of  a  plausible  scheme. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  3, 
p.  67.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1052.  ERROR,  HONEST,  LEADS  TO 
KNOWLEDGE— Alchemists  Discover    Chem- 
istry—  Atoms   in    Greek   Philosophy. — The 
Greek  philosophers  expressed  their  ideas  of 
the  states  of  matter  by  the  four  elements, 
fire,   air,  water,  earth;    and  they  also  had 
learned  or  invented  the  doctrine  of  matter 
being  made  up  of  atoms — a  principle  now 
more  influential   than  ever  in  modern  lec- 
ture-rooms.    The  successors  of  the  Greeks 
were  the  Arabic  alchemists,  and  their  dis- 


Grror 
Srrors 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


216 


ciples  in  medieval  Christendom.  Their  be- 
lief that  matter  might  be  transmuted  or 
transformed  led  many  of  them  to  spend  their 
lives  among  their  furnaces  and  alembics  in 
the  attempt  to  turn  baser  metals  into  gold. 
.  To  modern  chemists,  who  would  not  be  sur- 
prised to  find  all  the  many  so-called  ele- 
ments proved  to  be  forms  of  one  matter,  the 
alchemists'  idea  does  not  seem  quite  unrea- 
sonable in  itself,  and  practically  it  led  them 
to  the  pursuit  of  truth  by  experiment,  so 
that  tho  they  found  no  philosopher's  stone, 
they  were  repaid  by  discoveries  such  as  alco- 
hol, ammonia,  sulfuric  acid.  Their  method, 
being  founded  on  trials  of  real  fact,  cleared 
itself  more  and  more  from  the  magical  folly 
it  had  grown  up  with,  and  the  alchemist  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  later  chemist. — TYLOB 
Anthropology,  ch.  13,  p.  328.  (A.,  1899.) 

1053.  ERROR  INSEPARABLE  FROM 
INVESTIGATION— Cope    has    been     much 
criticized  for  the  mistakes  and  false  gener- 
alizations he  made.     Unquestionably  he  did 
make  many.    But  error  seems  to  be  insepa- 
rable  from  investigation,    and   if  he  made 
more  than  the  other  great  masters,  he  cov- 
ered more  ground  and  did  more  work.     He 
was  also,  it  must  be  admitted,  more  hasty 
than  some  others  in  that  he  availed  himself 
of  the  more  frequent  means  of  publication 
he  enjoyed. — GILL  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  vol.  xlvi.     (1897.) 

1054.  ERROR  MAGNIFIED  IN  POP- 
ULAR  BELIEF— Supposed  Hollow  Interior 
of  the  Earth — "Symmes's  Hole." — Leslie  has 
ingeniously    conceived    the    nucleus    of    the 
world  to  be  a  hollow  sphere,  filled  with  an 
assumed  "  imponderable  matter,  having  an 
enormous  force  of  expansion."     These  ven- 
turesome   and    arbitrary    conjectures    have 
given  rise,  in  wholly  unscientific  circles,  to 
still   more    fantastic   notions.     The   hollow 
sphere   has   by   degrees   been   peopled   with 
plants  and  animals,  and  two  small  subter- 
ranean revolving  planets — Pluto  and  Pros- 
erpine— were     imaginatively     supposed     to 
shed  over  it  their  mild  light;    as,  however, 
it  was  further  imagined  that  an  ever-uni- 
form temperature  reigned  in  these  internal 
regions,  the  air,  which  was  made  self-lumi- 
nous by  compression,  might  well  render  the 
planets  of  this  lower  world  unnecessary.  Near 
the  north  pole,  at  82°  latitude,  whence  the 
polar  light  emanates,  was  an  enormous  open- 
ing, through  which  a  descent  might  be  made 
into  the  hollow  sphere,  and   Sir  Humphry 
Davy  and  myself  were  even  publicly  and  fre- 
quently invited  by  Captain  Symmes  to  enter 
upon  this  subterranean  expedition:    so  pow- 
erful is  the  morbid  inclination  of  men  to  fill 
unknown    spaces    with    shapes    of    wonder, 
totally   unmindful    of   the   counter-evidence 
furnished   by   well-attested   facts   and  uni- 
versally acknowledged  natural  laws. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  171.     (H.,  1897.) 

1055.  ERROR   OF   CLAIMING   TOO 

MUCH — Unsupported  Assumptions   Discredit 
True  Doctrines — The  Atomic  Theory  Over- 


loaded.— Speculators  have  often  erred  in  at- 
tempting to  elaborate  their  hypotheses  too 
fully,  and,  by  making  assumptions  which 
have  afterwards  proved  to  be  improbable  or 
untenable,  have  brought  discredit  on  views 
which,  in  their  essentials,  were  of  great 
value.  .  .  .  All  we  can  say  at  present 
is  that  by  no  chemical  or  physical  process 
known  to  us  do  atoms  undergo  division  or 
transformation  to  an  extent  appreciable  by 
chemical  methods.  An  atom  of  carbon  al- 
ways acts  with  the  combining  weight  12 ;  if 
it  consist  of  several  independent  parts,  we 
do  not  know  it,  because,  in  all  reactions  thus 
far  known,  these  parts  always  act  together. 
The  idea  of  the  transmutation  of  the  ele- 
ments, while  resting  at  present  on  a  very 
slender  basis,  is  entirely  justifiable  as  a 
working  hypothesis. — STOKES  The  Atomic 
Theory  from  the  Chemical  Standpoint  in 
Science.  N.  S.  vol.  xi,  No.  277,  Apr.  20,  1900. 

1056.  ERROR  ONCE   UNIVERSAL— 

Frogs,  Eels,  Shell-fish,  Caterpillars,  Ser- 
pents, Rats,  and  Mice  Credited  with  Spon- 
taneous Generation. — The  checks  which  ex- 
perience alone  can  furnish  being  absent,  the 
spontaneous  generation  of  creatures  quite 
as  high  as  the  frog  in  the  scale  of  being  was 
assumed  for  ages  to  be  a  fact.  Here,  as  else- 
where, the  dominant  mind  of  Aristotle 
stamped  its  notions  on  the  world  at  large. 
For  nearly  twenty  centuries  after  him  men 
found  no  difficulty  in  believing  in  cases  of 
spontaneous  generation  which  would  now  be 
rejected  as  monstrous  by  the  most  fanatical 
supporter  of  the  doctrine.  Shell-fish  of  all 
kinds  were  considered  to  be  without  pa- 
rental origin.  Eels  were  supposed  to  spring 
spontaneously  from  the  fat  ooze  of  the  Nile. 
Caterpillars  were  the  spontaneous  products 
of  the  leaves  on  which  they  fed;  while 
winged  insects,  serpents,  rats,  and  mice  were 
all  thought  capable  of  being  generated  with- 
out sexual  intervention. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  290.  (A., 
1900.) 

1057.  ERRORS  OF  EDUCATORS— 

Man  Viewed  as  an  Instrument — Knowledge 
Valued  More  than  Culture. — Now  the  va- 
rious opinions  which  prevail  concerning  the 
comparative  utility  of  human  sciences  and 
studies,  have  all  arisen  from  two  errors. 
The  first  of  these  consists  in  viewing  man, 
not  as  an  end  unto  himself,  but  merely  as  a 
mean  organized  for  the  sake  of  something 
out  of  himself ;  and,  under  this  partial  view 
of  human  destination,  those  branches  of 
knowledge  obtain  exclusively  the  name  of 
useful  which  tend  to  qualify  a  human  being 
to  act  the  lowly  part  of  a  dexterous  instru- 
ment. The  second,  and  the  more  dangerous 
of  these  errors,  consists  in  regarding  the  cul- 
tivation of  our  faculties  as  subordinate  to 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  instead  of  re- 
garding the  possession  of  knowledge  as  sub- 
ordinate to  the  cultivation  of  our  faculties ; 
and,  in  consequence  of  this  error,  those 
sciences  which  afford  a  greater  number  of 


217 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Error 
Errors 


more  certain  facts  have  been  deemed  su- 
perior in  utility  to  those  which  bestow  a 
higher  cultivation  on  the  higher  faculties  of 
the  mind. — HAMILTON  Metaphysics,  lect.  1, 
p.  3.  (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

1O58.   ERRORS   OF   SCIENTISTS— A 

Classification  that  Would  Include  the  Hog 
among  Ruminants. — Cuvier  taught  that 
there  was  always  a  coordination  between  the 
various  systems  of  the  animal  frame  and 
that,  from  the  remains  or  impress  of  one 
part,  the  approximate  structure  of  the  other 
parts  could  be  inferred.  He  even  pushed 
this  doctrine  to  such  an  extreme  that  he 
overlooked  some  obvious  counter-facts.  One 
such  case  is  so  remarkable,  because  it  origi- 
nated with  Cuvier  and  was  indorsed  by  Hux- 
ley, that  it  is  worthy  of  mention  here,  and 
Huxley's  introduction  to  it  and  translation 
of  it  may  be  given  [from  his  "  Introduction 
to  the  Classification  of  Animals,"  1869, 
ch.  1]: 

"...  I  doubt  if  any  one  would  have 
divined,  if  untaught  by  observation,  that  all 
ruminants  have  the  foot  cleft,  and  that  they 
alone  have  it;  .  .  .  so  that  now,  whoso 
sees  merely  the  print  of  a  cleft  foot  may 
conclude  that  the  animal  which  left  this  im- 
pression ruminated,  and  this  conclusion  is 
as  certain  as  any  other  in  physics  or 
morals." 

Some  men,  with  much  less  knowledge  than 
either  Cuvier  or  Huxley,  may  at  once  re- 
call living  exceptions  to  the  positive  state- 
ments as  to  the  coordination  of  the  "  foot 
cleft "  with  the  other  characters  specified. 
One  of  the  most  common  of  domesticated 
animals — the  hog — would  come  up  before  the 
, "  mind's  eye,"  if  not  the  actual  eye  at  the 
moment,  to  refute  any  such  correlation  as 
was  claimed.  Nevertheless,  notwithstanding 
the  fierce  controversial  literature  centered 
on  Huxley,  no  allusion  appears  to  have  been 
made  to  the  lapsus.  Yet  every  one  will  ad- 
mit that  the  hog  has  the  "foot  cleft"  as 
much  as  any  ruminant,  but  the  "  form  of  the 
teeth  "  and  the  form  of  some  vertebrae  are 
quite  different  from  those  of  the  ruminants, 
and  of  course  the  multiple  stomach  and 
adaptation  for  rumination  do  not  exist  in 
the  hog.  That  any  one  mammalogist  should 
make  such  a  slip  is  not  very  surprising,  but 
that  a  second  equally  learned  should  follow 
in  his  steps  is  a  singular  psychological  curi- 
osity.— GILL  Edward  Drinker  Cope,  Natural- 
ist, in  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  vol.  xlvi,  p.  17.  (1897). 

1Q59.  , All  Nebula  Once 

Supposed  Resolvable — "  Island  Universes  " 
— Correction  of  Error  "by  Spectroscope. — 
Altho  Lord  Rosse  himself  rejected  the  in- 
ference that  because  many  nebula?  had  been 
resolved,  all  are  resolvable,  very  few  imi- 
tated his  truly  scientific  caution;  and  the 
results  of  Bond's  investigations  with  the 
Harvard  College  refractor  quickened  and 
strengthened  the  current  of  prevalent  opin- 
ion. It  is  now  certain  that  the  evidence  fur- 


nished on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  as  to  the 
stellar  composition  of  some  conspicuous  ob- 
jects of  this  class,  notably  the  Orion  and 
"  Dumb-bell  "  nebulae,  was  delusive ;  but  the 
spectroscope  alone  was  capable  of  meeting 
it  with  a  categorical  denial.  Meanwhile 
there  seemed  good  ground  for  the  persua- 
sion, which  now,  for  the  last  time,  gained 
the  upper  hand,  that  nebulae  are,  without  ex- 
ception, true  "  island  universes,"  or  assem- 
blages of  distant  suns. — CLERKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  147.  (BL,  1893.) 


1060. 


Astronomers  Once 


Denied  Satellites  to  Mars — Their  Discovery 
by  Persistent  Search. — We  know  now  that 
this  world  [Mars]  travels  round  the  sun  ac- 
companied by  two  satellites.  Their  discov- 
ery was  made  in  1877,  by  Professor  Asaph 
Hall,  at  the  Observatory  of  Washington,  by 
the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  telescope  which 
existed  at  that  time.  It  was  not  due  to 
chance,  like  that  of  a  great  number  of  small 
planets  and  comets,  but  it  was  the  result  of 
a  systematic  search.  Most  astronomers  were 
accustomed,  like  ordinary  mortals,  to  read 
in  the  standard  books  the  usual  phrase, 
"  Mars  has  no  satellites  " ;  however,  some, 
doubting  this  assertion,  continued  to  seek  to 
surprise  the  secrets  of  Nature,  which  always 
keeps  more  than  it  allows  us  to  grasp.  They 
had  already  searched  the  neighborhood  of 
Mars;  but  the  instruments  they  used  were 
much  inferior  to  the  equatorial  of  Washing- 
ton, of  which  the  object-glass  measures  no 
less  than  66  centimeters  (26  inches)  in 
diameter,  of  which  the  focal  length  is  10 
meters  (32.8  feet),  of  which  the  optical 
power  permits  a  magnification  of  1,300 
times,  and  which  is  moved  by  a  mechanism 
of  the  greatest  precision.  By  the  aid  of  this 
excellent  apparatus  the  eminent  American 
astronomer  undertook  the  attentive  exami- 
nation of  the  neighborhood  of  Mars  from  the 
beginning  of  the  month  of  August,  1877,  in 
order  to  observe  assiduously  this  neighbor- 
ing planet  during  the  favorable  epoch  of  its 
greatest  proximity  to  the  earth.  After  long 
evenings  of  barren  expectation,  he  was  about 
to  abandon  the  search,  when,  encouraged  by 
the  entreaties  of  his  wife,  he  persisted,  and 
discovered  a  satellite  during  the  night  of  the 
llth,  then  a  second  on  the  night  of  the  17th. 
— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv, 
ch.  4,  p.  393.  (A.) 


1O61. 


Comets  Styled  "Vis- 


ible Nothings  " — Solidity  of  Meteorites — 
Nuclei  of  Comets. — Ought  we,  then,  to  laugh 
at  them  [comets],  and,  with  Sir  John  Her- 
schel  and  Babinet,  treat  them  as  visible 
nothings?  No;  that  would  be  the  other  ex- 
treme. Several  comets  seem  to  have  solid 
nuclei.  Solid  bodies  have  already  encoun- 
tered the  earth,  have  fallen  on  its  surface, 
have  killed  men  and  set  fire  to  houses.  Most 
of  the  meteorites  collected  are,  it  is  true,  but 
small  fragments  of  some  few  pounds  in 
weight ;  but  some  have  been  met  with  which 
weigh  several  thousands  of  pounds.  This  is 


Errors 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


218 


not  a  question  of  principle,  but  only  a  rela- 
tion of  the  little  to  the  great.  Now,  bolides 
have  been  measured  which  have,  so  to  say, 
grazed  the  earth,  and  which  have  been  sev- 
eral miles  in  diameter.  The  nucleus  of  the 
comet  of  1811  was  690  kilometers  (428 
miles )  in  diameter ;  that  of  the  great  comet 
of  1843  measured  8,000  kilometers  (4,970 
miles)  ;  that  of  the  comet  of  1858,9,000  kilo- 
meters (5,580  miles)  ;  that  of  the  comet  of 
1769  measured  44,000  kilometers  (27,000 
miles,  11,000  leagues)  in  diameter!  What- 
ever may  be  the  intrinsic  nature  of  these 
nuclei,  it  is  not  doubtful  that,  if  one  of  them 
were  to  encounter  our  globe  in  its  passage, 
both  moving  with  a  velocity  of  more  than 
60,000  miles  an  hour,  we  should  certainly 
perceive  the  shock. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  3,  p.  529.  (A.) 

1O62. Emission  Theory 

of  Light — The  Fallibility  of  Newton. — Up  to 
his  demonstration  of  the  composition  of 
white  light,  Newton  had  been  everywhere 
triumphant-— triumphant  in  the  heavens,  tri- 
umphant on  the  earth — and  his  subsequent 
experimental  work  is,  for  the  most  part,  of 
immortal  value.  But  infallibility  is  not  the 
property  of  man,  and,  soon  after  his  discov- 
ery of  the  nature  of  white  light,  Newton 
proved  himself  human.  He  supposed  that 
refraction  and  dispersion  went  hand  in 
hand,  and  that  you  could  not  abolish  the  one 
without  at  the  same  time  abolishing  the 
other.  Here  Dollond  corrected  him.  But 
Newton  committed  a  graver  error  than  this 
in  deducing  his  emission  theory  of  light, 
which  he  held  to  consist  of  material  par- 
ticles. .  .  .  His  experiments  are  im- 
perishable, but  his  theory  has  passed  away. 
For  a  century  it  stood  like  a  dam  across  the 
course  of  discovery;  but,  like  all  barriers 
that  rest  upon  authority,  and  not  upon 
truth,  the  pressure  from  behind  increased, 
and  eventually  swept  the  barrier  away. 
This,  as  you  know,  was  done  mainly  through 
the  labors  of  Thomas  Young,  and  his  illus- 
trious French  fellow  worker  Fresnel. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  210. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1O63. FaM  of  Stones  from 

the  Sky  Once  Denied — Evidence  Finally  Ac- 
cepted.— A  rather  curious  fact  is  that,  altho 
the  ancient  traditions,  the  histories  of  an- 
tiquity and  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the 
popular  beliefs  had  distinctly  spoken  of 
stones  fallen  from  the  sky,  stones  of  the  air, 
aerolites,  the  savants  would  not  believe  in 
them.  Either  they  denied  the  fact  itself,  or 
they  interpreted  it  quite  otherwise,  regard- 
ing the  stones  fallen  on  the  earth  as  shot 
out  by  volcanic  eruptions,  raised  from  the 
ground  by  waterspouts,  or  even  produced  by 
certain  condensations  of  matter  in  the  midst 
of  the  atmosphere.  In  1790  the  illustrious 
Lavoisier,  and  in  1800  the  whole  Academy 
of  Sciences,  declared  these  facts  to  be  abso- 
lutely apocryphal.  In  1794  Chladni  proved 
the  extraterrestrial  origin  of  these  mysteri- 
ous objects. 


This  almost  general  incredulity  of  the 
savants  gave  way  when  Biot  read  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  his  report  on  the  mem- 
orable fall  which  took  place  at  Laigle,  in 
the  Department  of  the  Orne,  on  April  26, 
1803.  After  a  minute  inquiry  made  on  the 
spot,  the  perfect  accuracy  of  the  circum- 
stances related  by  public  rumor  of  this  very 
remarkable  fall  was  verified.  Numerous  wit- 
nesses affirmed  that  some  minutes  after  the 
appearance  of  a  great  bolide  moving  from 
southeast  to  northeast,  and  which  had  been 
perceived  at  Alengon,  Caen,  and  Falaise,  a 
fearful  explosion,  followed  by  detonations 
like  the  report  of  cannon  and  the  fire  of 
musketry,  proceeded  from  an  isolated  black 
cloud  in  a  very  clear  sky.  A  great  number 
of  meteoric  stones  were  then  precipitated  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  where  they  were 
collected,  still  smoking,  over  an  extent  of 
country  which  measured  no  less  than  seven 
miles  in  length.  The  largest  of  these  stones 
weighed  less  than  10  kilograms  (22  Ibs.). 
— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v, 
ch.  4,  p.  543.  (A.) 


1O64. 


False  Results  Con- 


firming Each  Other — The  Sun's  Distance. — 
Dr.  Matthew  Stewart,  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics in  the  University  of  Edinburg,  had 
made  a  futile  attempt  in  1763  to  deduce  the 
sun's  distance  from  his  disturbing  power 
over  our  satellite.  Tobias  Mayer,  of  Gb'ttin- 
gen,  however,  whose  short  career  was  so 
fruitful  of  suggestions,  struck  out  the  right 
way  to  the  same  end;  and  Laplace,  in  the 
seventh  book  of  the  "  Mecanique  Celeste," 
gave  a  solar  parallax  derived  from  the  lunar 
"  parallactic  inequality  "  substantially  iden- 
tical with  that  issuing  from  Encke's  subse- 
quent discussion  of  the  eighteenth-century 
transits.  Thus  two  wholly  independent 
methods — the  trigonometrical,  or  method  by 
survey,  and  the  gravitational,  or  method  by 
perturbation — seemed  to  corroborate  each 
the  upshot  of  the  use  of  the  other  until  the 
nineteenth  century  was  well  past  its  me- 
ridian. [It  was  refuted  in  1854-58.]  It  is 
singular  how  often  errors  conspire  to  lead 
conviction  astray. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  6,  p.  284.  (Bl.,  1893.) 


1065. 


Herschel  Recants 


His  Earlier  Views. — I  refer  to  the  theory, 
which  finds  a  place  in  all  our  text-books  of 
astronomy,  that  the  star-system  has  the 
form  of  a  cloven  flat  disk.  This  theory  was 
formed  by  Sir  William  Herschel  when  he 
was  as  yet  unaware  of  the  vastness  and  com- 
plexity of  the  star-system.  The  very  words 
used  in  describing  his  process  of  research 
indicate  that  the  great  astronomer  was  full 
of  confidence  in  the  power  of  his  great  tele- 
scopes to  fathom  all  the  profundities  of  the 
sidereal  system.  He  called  his  method  star- 
gaging,  he  spoke  of  the  distance  at  which 
the  boundary  of  the  star-system  lay  in  this 
or  that  direction,  and  he  discussed  the  nu- 
merical results  he  had  obtained,  without 


219 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Errors 


doubting  that  those  results  really  enabled 
him  to  determine  the  architecture  of  the 
galaxy. 

But  as  the  work  progressed  Sir  William 
Herschel  grew  less  confident.  He  began  to 
recognize  signs  of  a  complexity  of  structure 
which  set  his  method  of  star-gaging  at 
defiance.  It  became  more  and  more  clear  to 
him  also,  as  he  extended  his  survey,  that  the 
star-depths  were  in  fact  unfathomable — not 
only  by  his  gaging  telescope  (commonly 
known  as  the  twenty-feet  reflector),  but 
even  by  that  mighty  mirror  which  was  one 
of  the  chief  wonders  of  the  world,  until  the 
great  Rosse  telescope  dwarfed  it  into  rela- 
tive insignificance.  At  length  Sir  William 
Herschel  definitely  abandoned  the  principles 
on  which  his  star^gaging  had  been  based; 
and  his  observations,  as  well  as  his  theoret- 
ical researches,  were  thenceforth  directed  to 
the  determination  of  the  general  laws  which 
prevail  amid  the  star-depths. — PROCTOR  Our 
Place  among  Infinities,  p.  193.  (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 


1066. 


Herschel's  Concep- 


tion of  the  Sun. — A  cool,  dark,  solid  globe, 
its  surface  diversified  with  mountains  and 
valleys,  clothed  in  luxuriant  vegetation,  and 
"  richly  stored  with  inhabitants,"  protected 
by  a  heavy  cloud-canopy  from  the  intolerable 
glare  of  the  upper  luminous  region,  where 
the  dazzling  coruscations  of  a  solar  aurora 
some  thousands  of  miles  in  depth  evolved 
the  stores  of  light  and  heat  which  vivify  our 
world — such  was  the  central  luminary  which 
Herschel  constructed  with  his  wonted  in- 
genuity, and  described  with  his  wonted  elo- 
quence.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt. 
i,  ch.  3,  p.  65.  (Bl.,  1893.) 


1067. 


Liebig'8  Doctrine 


of  Fermentation. — Liebig  insisted  that  all 
albuminoid  bodies  were  unstable,  and  if  left 
to  themselves  would  fall  to  pieces — i.  e.,  fer- 
ment— without  the  aid  of  living  organisms, 
or  any  initiative  force  greater  than  dead 
yeast-cells.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that 
Pasteur  intervened  to  dispel  the  obscurities 
and  contradictory  theories  which  had  been 
propounded. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  4,  p. 
112.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


1O68. 


Light  Once  Believed 


to  Pass  Instantly  through  Space — Newton's 
Error  Regarding  Refraction. — By  Homer's 
discovery,  the  notion  entertained  by  Des- 
cartes, and  espoused  by  Hooke,  that  light 
is  propagated  instantly  through  space,  was 
overthrown.  But  the  establishment  of  its 
motion  through  stellar  space  led  to  specula- 
tions regarding  its  velocity  in  transparent 
terrestrial  substances.  The  index  of  refrac- 
tion of  a  ray  passing  from  air  into  water  is 
f.  Newton  assumed  these  numbers  to  mean 
that  the  velocity  of  light  in  water  being  4, 
its  velocity  in  a'ir  is  3 ;  and  he  deduced  the 
phenomena  of  refraction  from  this  assump- 
tion The  reverse  has  since  been  proved  to 
be  the  case — that  is  to  say,  the  velocity  of 


light  in  water  being  3,  its  velocity  in  air  is 
4;  but  both  in  Newton's  time  and  ours  the 
same  great  principle  determined,  and  de- 
termines, the  course  of  light  in  all  cases. 
In  passing  from  point  to  point,  whatever  be 
the  media  in  its  path,  or  however  it  may  be 
reflected,  light  takes  the  course  which  occu- 
pies least  time. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  23.  (A.,  1898.) 


1O69. 


Newton  Held  that 


Reflection  and  Refraction  Could  Not  Be 
Separated — Dollond  Proved  the  Contrary — 
The  Achromatic  Lens. — Newton  completed 
his  proof  [of  the  composite  nature  of  white 
light]  by  synthesis  in  this  way:  The  spec- 
trum now  before  you  is  produced  by  a  glass 
prism.  Causing  the  decomposed  beam  to 
pass  through  a  second  similar  prism,  but  so 
placed  that  the  colors  are  refracted  back  and 
reblended,  the  perfectly  white  luminous  disk 
is  restored.  In  this  case,  refraction  and  dis- 
persion are  simultaneously  abolished.  Are 
they  always  so  ?  Can  we  have  the  one  with- 
out the  other?  It  was  Newton's  conclusion 
that  we  could  not.  Here  he  erred,  and  his 
error,  which  he  maintained  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  retarded  the  progress  of  optical  discov- 
ery. Dollond  subsequently  proved  that,  by 
combining  two  different  kinds  of  glass,  the 
colors  can  be  extinguished,  still  leaving  a 
residue  of  refraction,  and  he  employed  this 
residue  in  the  construction  of  achromatic 
lenses — lenses  yielding  no  color — which  New- 
ton thought  an  impossibility. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  28.  (A.,  1898.) 


1070. 


Newton,  Linnaeus, 


Cuvier,  Owen,  Huxley,  and  Buffon. — As 
Homer  in  the  realm  of  poetry  sometimes 
nods,  so  there  is  hardly  a  man  of  science 
.  .  .  who  does  not  occasionally  offer  us 
some  prosaic  error.  Thus  Isaac  Newton 
strangely  boasted  that  he  made  no  hypoth- 
esis, Linnaeus  classed  together  the  walrus 
and  the  sloth,  Cuvier  fancied  that  from  a 
fossil  "  foot "  he  could  construct  an  extinct 
zoological  "  Hercules."  Moreover,  he  strange- 
ly failed  to  understand  the  true  affinities  of 
the  barnacle,  nor  were  pouched  beasts  by  any 
means  correctly  appreciated  by  him  in  spite 
of  his  zoological  and  anatomical  genius. 
Our  own  "  Prince  of  Anatomists,"  Owen, 
suffered  ruefully  from  his  failure  to  appre- 
ciate an  ape's  "  Hippocampus  Minor,"  while 
his  vigorous  opponent  Huxley  stood  sponsor 
for  that  never-to-be-forgotten  creature  of 
the  fancy,  "  Bathybius."  Similarly,  Buffon 
was  led  by  his  imagination  to  be  at  once 
unjust  to  Nature  and  to  such  a  marvelous 
product  of  Nature  as  the  sloth.  [See  ADAP- 
TATION TO  ENVIRONMENT — THE  SLOTH.] — 
MIVART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  9,  p.  247. 
(L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 


1071. 


Old  Belief  in  Phlo- 


giston— "Imponderable  Agents." — For  years 
after  Newton,  the  chemists  believed  univer- 
sally in  a  kind  of  matter  called  phlogiston, 
which  not  only  could  be  removed  from  a  sub- 


"Errors 

Eruption 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


220 


stance  without  diminishing  its  weight,  but 
whose  subtraction  actually  added  to  the 
weight.  It  is  the  great  merit  of  Lavoisier 
that  he  ...  was  the  first  to  see  clearly 
that,  in  every  chemical  process,  increase  of 
weight  means  increase  of  material,  and  loss 
of  weight  loss  of  material.  Iron,  in  rusting, 
gains  in  weight.  Hence,  said  Lavoisier,  it 
has  combined  with  some  material.  No,  said 
the  defenders  of  the  phlogiston  theory — such 
men  as  Cavendish,  Priestly,  and  Scheele — it 
has  only  lost  phlogiston.  You  are  making  too 
much  of  this  matter  of  weight.  Phlogiston 
differs  from  your  gross  forms  of  matter  in 
that  it  is  specifically  light,  and,  when  taken 
from  a  body,  increases  its  weight.  We  smile 
at  this  idea,  and  we  find  it  difficult  to  be- 
lieve that  these  men,  the  first  scientific 
minds  of  their  age,  could  believe  in  such  ab- 
surdity. But  we  must  remember  that  the 
idea  did  not  originate  with  them.  It  was  a 
part  of  the  old  Greek  philosophy,  and  from 
the  pages  of  Aristotle  was  taught  in  every 
school  of  Europe  until  within  two  hundred 
years;  and,  even  in  our  own  time,  we  still 
hear  of  imponderable  agents.  Text-books  of 
science  are  used  in  some  of  our  schools 
which  refer  the  phenomena  of  heat  and  elec- 
tricity to  attenuated  forms  of  matter,  that 
can  be  added  to  or  subtracted  from  bodies 
without  altering  their  weight.  Such  facts 
should  teach  us,  not  that  we  are  so  much 
wiser  than  our  fathers,  but  that  our  famil- 
iar ideas  of  the  composition  of  matter  are 
not  such  simple  deductions  from  the  phe- 
nomena of  Nature  as  they  appear  to  us ;  and 
this  discussion  of  the  evidence,  on  which 
these  conclusions  are  based,  is  therefore  by 
no  means  superfluous. — COOKE  New  Chemis- 
try, lect.  5,  p.  112.  (A.,  1899.) 


1072. 


The   Imagined 


"  Phlogiston,"  the  Principle  of  Fire. — They 
[ancient  philosophers]  termed  the  principle 
of  fire  phlogiston,  and  burning,  or  the  escape 
of  fire,  dephlogistication,  and  their  ingenious 
system  did  not  a  little  to  retard  the  progress 
of  truth.  The  philosophers  of  that  age 
either  took  no  account  of  the  increase  of 
weight  which  results  from  burning,  or  at- 
tempted to  explain  the  few  instances  in 
which  the  fact  was  forced  upon  their  atten- 
tion by  the  fanciful  notion  of  Aristotle — 
that  the  essence  of  fire  was  specifically  light. 
Hence,  they  reasoned,  phlogiston  buoys  up 
all  bodies  into  which  it  enters,  and  after  its 
escape  in  the  process  of  burning,  the  burnt 
material  must  weigh  more  than  before.  It 
was  not  until  1783  that  the  true  theory  of 
combustion  was  discovered,  and  from  this 
discovery  modern  chemistry  dates.  The  for- 
tunate discoverer  was  Lavoisier.  He  proved, 
by  simply  weighing  the  products  of  combus- 
tion, that  burning,  instead  of  being  a  loss  of 
phlogiston,  is  a  union  of  the  burning  sub- 
stance with  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  and  this 
theory  is  now  one  of  the  best  established 
principles  of  science. — COOKE  Religion  and 
Chemistry,  ch.  3,  p.  78.  (A.,  1897.) 


1O73. Theories  Aban- 
doned by  Sir  William  Herschel — Change 
upon  Evidence — Honest  Avowal  of  the 
Change — The  True  Scientist  Seeks  Fact  and 
Truth. — [Herschel]  wrote  thus  in  1802,  sev- 
enteen years  after  he  had  enunciated  the 
cloven-disk  theory  [which  regards  the  sidere- 
al universe  as  a  cloven  disk,  which  wre  look 
through  edgewise  in  the  Milky  Way] :  "  Al- 
tho  our  sun  and  all  the  stars  we  see  may 
truly  be  said  to  be  in  the  plane  of  the  Milky- 
Way,  yet  I  am  now  convinced  by  a  long  in- 
spection and  continued  examination  of  it, 
that  the  Milky  Way  itself  consists  of  stars 
very  differently  scattered  from  those  which 
are  immediately  about  us."  And  again  in 
1811  he  said:  "When  the  novelty  of  the 
subject  is  considered,  we  cannot  be  surprised 
that  many  things  formerly  taken  for  granted 
should,  on  examination,  prove  to  be  different 
from  what  they  were  generally,  but  incau- 
tiously, supposed  to  be.  For  instance,  an 
equal  scattering  of  the  stars  may  be  ad- 
mitted in  certain  calculations ;  but  when  we 
examine  the  Milky  Way,  or  the  closely  com- 
pressed clusters  of  stars,  this  supposed 
equality  of  scattering  must  be  given  up." — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  260.  (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 


1074. 


Theory  Not  a  Safe 


Guide  for  Vital  Processes — Bone-soup  of 
French  Academy. — There  are  other  juices 
besides  the  albumin;  these  are  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  flavoring  constituents,  and, 
with  the  other  constituents  of  animal  food, 
have  great  nutritive  value;  so  much  so 
that  animal  food  is  quite  tasteless  and  al- 
most worthless  without  them.  I  have  laid 
especial  emphasis  on  the  above  qualification, 
lest  the  reader  should  be  led  into  an  error 
originated  by  the  bone-soup  committee  of  the 
French  Academy,  and  propagated  widely  by 
Liebig — that  of  regarding  these  juices  as  a 
concentrated  nutriment  when  taken  alone. 
They  constitute  collectively  the  eaetractum 
carnis,  which,  with  the  addition  of  more  or 
less  gelatin  ( the  less  the  better ) ,  is  com- 
monly sold  as  Liebig's  "  Extract  of  Meat." 
It  is  prepared  by  simply  mincing  lean  meat, 
exposing  it  to  the  action  of  cold  water,  and 
then  evaporating  down  the  solution  of  ex- 
tract thus  obtained. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry 
of  Cookery,  ch.  3,  p.  25.  (A.,  1900.) 


1075. 


The  Theory  of  Cat- 


astrophism  in  Geology. — Cuvier  imagined 
that  the  whole  history  of  the  earth's  crust, 
since  the  time  when  living  creatures  had 
first  appeared  on  the  surface,  must  be  di- 
vided into  a  number  of  perfectly  distinct 
periods,  or  divisions  of  time,  and  that  the 
individual  periods  must  have  been  separated 
from  one  another  by  peculiar  revolutions  of 
an  unknown  nature  (cataclysms,  or  catas- 
trophes). Each  revolution  was  followed  by 
the  utter  annihilation  of  the  till  then  exist- 
ing animals  and  plants,  and  after  its  ter- 
mination a  completely  new  creation  of  or- 
ganic forms  took  place.  A  new  world  of 


221 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Errors 
Eruption 


animals  and  plants,  absolutely  and  specific- 
ally distinct  from  those  of  the  preceding 
historical  periods,  was  called  into  existence 
at  once,  and  now  again  peopled  the  globe  for 
thousands  of  years,  till  it  again  was  sud- 
denly destroyed  in  the  crash  of  a  new  revo- 
lution.— HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol. 
i,  ch.  3,  p.  60.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


1076. 


The  Will  Once 


Deemed  a  Separate  Faculty. — All  our  deeds 
were  considered  by  the  early  psychologists 
to  be  due  to  a  peculiar  faculty  called  the 
will,  without  whose  fiat  action  could  not 
occur.  Thoughts  and  impressions,  being  in- 
trinsically inactive,  were  supposed  to  pro- 
duce conduct  only  through  the  intermedia- 
tion of  this  superior  agent.  Until  they 
twitched  its  coat-tails,  so  to  speak,  no  out- 
ward behavior  could  occur.  This  doctrine 
was  long  ago  exploded  by  the  discovery  of 
the  phenomena  of  reflex  action,  in  which 
sensible  impressions,  as  you  know,  produce 
movement  immediately  and  of  themselves. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  15,  p.  170. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


1077. 


Volcanic  Confused 


with  Sedimentary  Rocks. — Thus  on  the 
shore  near  Portrush,  in  the  North  of  Ire- 
land, and  in  the  skerries  which  lie  off  that 
coast,  there  occur  great  rock-masses,  some 
of  which  undoubtedly  agree  with  basalt  in 
all  their  characters,  while  others  are  dark 
colored  and  crystalline,  and  are  frequently 
crowded  witu  Ammonites  and  other  fossils. 
We  now  know  that  the  explanation  of  these 
facts  is  as  follows:  Near  where  the  town 
of  Portrush  is  now  situated,  a  volcanic  vent 
was  opened  in  Miocene  times  through  rocks 
of  Lias  shale.  From  this  igneous  center, 
sheets  and  dikes  of  basaltic  lava  were  given 
off,  and  in  consequence  of  their  contact  with 
these  masses  of  lava,  the  Lias  shales  were 
baked  and  altered,  and  assumed  a  crystalline 
character,  tho  the  traces  of  the  fossils  con- 
tained in  them  were  not  altogether  obliter- 
ated. In  the  last  century  the  methods  which 
had  been  devised  for  the  discrimination  of 
rocks  were  so  imperfect  that  no  distinction 
was  recognized  between  the  true  basalt  and 
the  altered  ^  shale,  and  specimens  of  the  lat- 
ter containing  Ammonites  found  their  way 
to  almost  every  museum  in  Europe,  and 
were  used  as  illustrations  of  the  "  origin  of 
basalt  by  aqueous  precipitation." — JTJDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  9,  p.  249.  (A.,  1899.) 


1O78. 


Wild  Conjecture  of 


Sir  John  Herschel — Supposed  Living  Crea- 
tures on  the  Sun. — We  must  remember  how 
much  there  is  unknown  in  the  sun  still,  and 
what  a  great  mystery  even  yet  overhangs 
many  of  our  relations  to  that  body  which 
maintains  our  own  vital  action,  when  we 
read  the  following  words,  which  are  [Sir 
John]  Herschel's  own.  Speaking  of  these 
supposed  spindle-shaped  monsters  [shown  in 
certain  drawings  of  the  sun's  surface],  he 
says: 


"  The  exceedingly  definite  shape  of  these 
objects,  their  exact  similarity  to  one  an- 
other, and  the  way  in  which  they  lie  across 
and  athwart  each  other — all  these  charac- 
ters seem  quite  repugnant  to  the  notion  of 
their  being  of  a  vaporous,  a  cloudy,  or  a 
fluid  nature.  Nothing  remains  but  to  con- 
sider them  as  separate  and  independent 
sheets,  flakes,  or  scales,  having  some  sort  of 
solidity.  And  these  .  .  .  are  evidently 
the  immediate  sources  of  the  solar  light  and 
heat,  by  whatever  mechanism  or  whatever 
processes  they  may  be  enabled  to  develop, 
and  as  it  were  elaborate,  these  elements 
from  the  bosom  of  the  non-luminous  fluid  in 
which  they  appear  to  float.  Looked  at  in 
this  point  of  view,  we  cannot  refuse  to  re- 
gard them  as  organisms  of  some  peculiar 
and  amazing  kind;  and  tho  it  would  be  too 
daring  to  speak  of  such  organization  as  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  life,  yet  we  do  know 
that  vital  action  is  competent  to  develop  at 
once  heat  and  light  and  electricity." 

Such  are  his  words;  and  when  we  con- 
sider that  each  of  these  solar  inhabitants 
was  supposed  to  extend  about  two  hundred 
by  one  thousand  miles  upon  the  surface  of 
the  fiery  ocean,  we  may  subscribe  to  Mr. 
Proctor's  comment,  that  "Milton's  picture 
of  him  who  on  the  fires  of  hell  '  lay  floating 
many  a  rood,'  seems  tame  and  commonplace 
compared  with  Herschel's  conception  of 
these  floating  monsters,  the  least  covering  a 
greater  space  than  the  British  Islands." — 
LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  13,  p.  14.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1O79.  ERUPTION  OF  MONTE  NUOVO 

— Fish  Taken  on  Land — Birds  Falling  Dead. 
— Sir  William  Hamilton  has  given  us  two 
original  letters  describing  this  eruption  [by 
which  Monte  Nuovo  was  formed].  The  first, 
by  Falconi,  dated  1538,  contains  the  follow- 
ing passages :  "  It  is  now  two  years  since 
there  have  been  frequent  earthquakes  at 
Puzzuoli,  Naples,  and  the  neighboring  parts. 
On  the  day  and  in  the  night  before  the  erup- 
tion ( of  Monte  Nuovo ) ,  about  twenty  shocks, 
great  and  small,  were  felt.  The  eruption  be- 
gan on  the  29th  of  September,  1538.  It  was 
on  a  Sunday,  about  one  o'clock  in  the  night, 
when  flames  of  fire  were  seen  between  the 
hot  baths  and  Tripergola.  In  a  short  time 
the  fire  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
burst  open  the  earth  in  this  place,  and  threw 
up  so  great  a  quantity  of  ashes  and  pumice- 
stones,  mixed  with  water,  as  covered  the 
whole  country.  The  next  morning  (after 
the  formation  of  Monte  Nuovo)  the  poor  in- 
habitants of  Puzzuoli  quitted  their  habita- 
tions in  terror,  covered  with  the  muddy  and 
black  shower  which  continued  the  whole  day 
in  that  country — flying  from  death,  but  with 
death  painted  in  their  countenances.  Some 
with  their  children  in  their  arms,  some  with 
sacks  full  of  their  goods;  others  leading  an 
ass,  loaded  with  their  frightened  family, 
towards  Naples;  others  carrying  quantities 
of  birds,  of  various  sorts,  that  had  fallen 
dead  at  the  beginning  of  the  eruption ;  oth- 


Eruption 
Evidence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ers,  again,  with  fish  which  they  had  found, 
and  which  were  to  be  met  with  in  plenty  on 
the  shore,  the  sea  having  left  them  dry  for 
a  considerable  time.  I  accompanied  Signer 
Moramaldo  to  behold  the  wonderful  effects 
of  the  eruption.  The  sea  had  retired  on  the 
side  of  Baise,  abandoning  a  considerable 
tract,  and  the  shore  appeared  almost  en- 
tirely dry,  from  the  quantity  of  ashes  and 
broken  pumice-stones  thrown  up  by  the 
eruption.  I  saw  two  springs  in  the  newly 
discovered  ruins;  one  before  the  house  that 
was  the  queen's,  of  hot  and  salt  water,"  etc. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  23, 
p.  367.  (A.,  1854.) 

1O8O.     ERUPTION   OF   VESUVIUS— 

— Description  by  Pliny. — The  first  symptom 
of  the  revival  of  the  energies  of  this  volcano 
[Vesuvius]  was  the  occurrence  of  an  earth- 
quake in  the  year  63  after  Christ,  which  did 
considerable  injury  to  the  cities  in  its  vicin- 
ity. From  that  time  to  the  year  79  slight 
shocks  were  frequent ;  and  in  the  month  of 
August  of  that  year  they  became  numerous 
and  violent,  till  they  ended  at  length  in  an 
eruption.  The  elder  Pliny,  who  commanded 
the  Roman  fleet,  was  then  stationed  at  Mi- 
senum;  and  in  his  anxiety  to  obtain  a  near 
view  of  the  phenomena,  he  lost  his  life,  be- 
ing suffocated  by  sulfurous  vapors.  His 
nephew,  the  younger  Pliny,  remained  at 
Misenum,  and  has  given  us,  in  his  "  Let- 
ters," a  lively  description  of  the  awful  scene. 
A  dense  column  of  vapor  was  first  seen  ri- 
sing vertically  from  Vesuvius,  and  then 
spreading  itself  out  laterally,  so  that  its 
upper  portion  resembled  the  head  and  its 
lower  the  trunk  of  the  pine,  which  character- 
izes the  Italian  landscape.  This  black  cloud 
was  pierced  occasionally  by  flashes  of  fire,  as 
vivid  as  lightning,  succeeded  by  darkness 
more  profound  than  night.  Ashes  fell  even 
upon  the  ships  at  Misenum,  and  caused  a 
shoal  in  one  part  of  the  sea — the  ground 
rocked,  and  the  sea  receded  from  the  shores, 
so  that  many  marine  animals  were  seen  on 
the  dry  sand.  The  appearances  above  de- 
scribed agree  perfectly  with  those  witnessed 
in  more  recent  eruptions,  especially  those  of 
Monte  Nuovo,  in  1538,  and  of  Vesuvius  in 
1822. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  23,  p.  363.  (A.,  1854.) 


1081. 

Darkness    at 


Rain  of  Ashes — 
Midday. — Twenty-four    hours 


after  the  fall  of  the  cone  of  scoriae  [of  Vesu- 
vius, in  the  eruption  of  1822],  which  was 
426  feet  high,  and  when  the  small  but  nu- 
merous streams  of  lava  had  flowed  off,  on 
the  night  between  the  23d  and  24th  of  Octo- 
ber, there  began  a  fiery  eruption  of  ashes 
and  rapilli,  which  continued  uninterruptedly 
for  twelve  days,  but  was  most  violent  dur- 
ing the  first  four  days.  During  this  period 
the  explosions  in  the  interior  of  the  volcano 
were  so  loud  that  the  mere  vibrations  of  the 
air  caused  the  ceilings  to  crack  in  the  palace 
of  Portici,  altho  no  shocks  of  an  earthquake 


were  then  or  had  previously  been  experi- 
enced. A  remarkable  phenomenon  was  ob- 
served in  the  neighboring  villages  of  Resina, 
Torre  del  Greco,  Torre  del'  Annunziata,  and 
Bosche  Tre  Case.  Here  the  atmosphere  was 
so  completely  saturated  with  ashes  that  the 
whole  region  was  enveloped  in  complete 
darkness  during  many  hours  in  the  middle 
of  the  day.  The  inhabitants  were  obliged  to 
carry  lanterns  with  them  through  the 
streets,  as  is  often  done  in  Quito  during  the 
eruptions  of  Pichincha.  Never  had  the 
flight  of  the  inhabitants  been  more  general, 
for  lava  streams  are  less  dreaded  even  than 
an  eruption  of  ashes,  a  phenomenon  un- 
known here  in  any  degree  of  intensity,  and 
one  which  fills  the  imaginations  of  men  with 
images  of  terror  from  the  vague  tradition 
of  the  manner  in  which  Herculaneum,  Pom- 
peii, and  Stabise  were  destroyed. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  365.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1O82.   ETERNITY,  SUGGESTION   OF 

— Approach  and  Departure  of  a  Comet — 
Whence  and  Whither — To  Us  a  Journey  of 
Perhaps  Eight  Million  Years. — A  comet  is 
seen  in  the  far  distant  depths  of  space  as  a 
faint  and  scarcely  discernible  speck.  It 
draws  nearer  and  nearer  with  continually 
increasing  velocity,  growing  continually 
larger  and  brighter.  Faster  and  faster  it 
rushes  on,  until  it  makes  its  nearest  ap- 
proach to  our  sun,  and  then,  sweeping  around 
him,  it  begins  its  long  return  voyage  into 
infinite  space.  As  it  recedes  it  grows  fainter 
and  fainter,  until  at  length  it  passes  beyond 
the  range  of  the  most  powerful  telescopes 
made  by  man,  and  is  seen  no  more.  It  has 
been  seen  for  the  first  and  last  time  by  the 
generation  of  men  to  whom  it  has  displayed 
its  glories.  It  has  been  seen  for  the  first  and 
last  time  by  the  race  of  man  itself.  Nay 
more,  according  to  the  calculations  made  by 
astronomers,  the  comet  has  made  its  first 
and  last  visit  to  the  solar  system.  Of  all 
comets  this  cannot,  indeed,  be  affirmed;  but 
there  are  some  whose  motions  will  bear  no 
other  interpretation. 

Whence  came  the  comet?  Trace  back  its 
path,  and  we  find  no  place  from  which  it 
could  have  started  on  its  course  until  we 
consider  the  stars  in  the  region  of  the 
heavens  whence  the  comet  appeared  to 
travel.  It  would  be  idle  to  select  any  star 
in  particular  in  that  region  as  probably 
marking  the  spot  whence  the  comet  started. 
But  suppose  we  take  the  brightest,  some 
leading  orb,  lying  at  a  distance  not  abso- 
lutely unmeasurable  by  man;  suppose  even 
that  the  course  of  that  comet  as  it  ap- 
proached was  such  that  it  might  have  come 
from  the  star  Alpha  Centauri,  which,  so  far 
as  is  known,  is  the  nearest  of  all  in  the 
heavens;  then,  at  a  moderate  computation, 
the  journey  from  the  neighborhood  of  that 
star  has  not  occupied  less  than  eight  million 
years. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  134. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


223 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Eruption 
Evidence 


1083.  ETHER  PERVADES  ALL  BOD- 
IES—  Transparency  to  Different  Colors — Union 
of  Transparent  Substances  Producing  Dark- 
ness.— The   luminiferous    ether   fills   stellar 
space;    it  makes  the  universe  a  whole,  and 
renders  possible  the  intercommunication  of 
light  and  energy  between  star  and  star.  But 
the  subtle  substance  penetrates  farther;    it 
surrounds  the  very  atoms  of  solid  and  liquid 
substances.     Transparent  bodies   are   those 
which  are  so  related  to  the  ether  that  the 
waves  of  light  can  pass  through  them  with- 
out transference  of  motion  to  their  atoms. 
In    colored    bodies,    certain    waves    are    ab- 
sorbed;   but  those  which  give  the  body  its 
color  pass  without  absorption.     Through  a 
solution  of  sulfate  of  copper,  for  example, 
the  blue  waves  speed  unimpeded,  while  the 
red  waves  are  destroyed.    When  a  luminous 
beam  is  sent  through  this  solution,  the  red 
end  of  its  spectrum  is  cut  away.    Red  glass, 
on  the  contrary,  owes  its  color  to  the  fact 
that  its  substance  can  be  traversed  freely  by 
the   longer    undulations    of    red,    while    the 
shorter  waves  are  absorbed.     Placed  in  the 
path  of  the  light,  it  leaves  merely  a  vivid 
red  band  upon  the  screen.     The  blue  liquid, 
then,  cuts  off  the  rays  transmitted  by  the 
red  glass ;    and  the  .red  glass  cuts  off  those 
transmitted  by  the  liquid;    by  the  union  of 
both  we  ought  to  have  perfect  opacity,  and 
so  we  have.     When  both  are  placed  in  the 
path  of  the  beam,  the  entire  spectrum  disap- 
pears ;    the  union  of  the  two  partially  trans- 
parent bodies  producing  an  opacity  equal  to 
that  of  pitch  or  metal. — TYNDALL  Heat  a 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  11,  p.  304.    (A.,  1900.) 

1084.  ETHER  PERVADING  SPACE 
A  DOCTRINE  OF  ANCIENT  PHILOSOPHY 
— Held   by  Ionic  Philosophers  To   Be  Self- 
luminous. — In  the  dogmas  of  the  Ionic  phi- 
losophy of  Anaxagoras  and  Empedocles,  this 
ether  differed  wholly  from  the  actual   (den- 
ser)  vapor-charged  air  which  surrounds  the 
earth,  and  "  probably  extends  as  far  as  the 
moon."    It  was  of  "  a  fiery  nature,  a  bright- 
ly beaming,  pure  fire-air,  of  great  subtlety 
and  eternal  serenity." 

Considered  as  a  medium  filling  the  regions 
of  space,  the  ether  of  Empedocles  presents 
no  other  analogies  excepting  those  of  sub- 
tlety and  tenuity  with  the  ether,  by  whose 
transverse  vibrations  modern  physicists  have 
succeeded  so  happily  in  explaining,  on  pure- 
ly mathematical  principles,  the  propagation 
of  light,  with  all  its  properties  of  double  re- 
fraction, polarization,  and  interference.  The 
natural  philosophy  of  Aristotle  further 
teaches  that  the  ethereal  substance  pene- 
trates all  the  living  organisms  of  the  earth 
— both  plants  and  animals;  that  it  becomes 
in  these  the  principle  of  vital  heat,  the  very 
germ  of  a  psychical  principle,  which,  unin- 
fluenced by  the  body,  stimulates  men  to  in- 
dependent activity.  These  visionary  opin- 
ions draw  down  ether  from  the  higher  re- 
gions of  space  to  the  terrestrial  sphere,  and 
represent  it  as  a  highly  rarefied  substance 
constantly  penetrating  through  the  atmos- 


phere and  through  solid  bodies;  precisely 
similar  to  the  vibrating  light-ether  of  Huy- 
gens,  Hooke,  and  modern  physicists.  But 
what  especially  distinguishes  the  older  Ionic 
from  the  modern  hypothesis  of  ether  is  the 
original  assumption  of  luminosity,  a  view, 
however,  not  entirely  advocated  by  Aristotle, 
The  upper  fire-air  of  Empedocles  is  expressly 
termed  brightly  radiating  and  is  said  to  be 
seen  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  in  cer- 
tain phenomena,  gleaming  brightly  through 
fissures  and  chasms  which  occur  in  the 
firmament. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p. 
32.  (H.,  1897.) 

1085.  ETHICS  UNIVERSALLY  ASSO- 
CIATED   WITH    RELIGION— Religion  an 
Everlasting  Reality. — Universally  since  that 
[primeval]    time  the  notion  of   ethics   has 
been  inseparably  associated  with  the  notion 
of  religion,  and  the  sanction  for  ethics  has 
been    held    to   be   closely   related   with   the 
world  beyond  phenomena.    There  are  philos- 
ophers who  maintain  that  with  the  further 
progress  of  enlightenment  this  close  relation 
will  cease  to  be  asserted,  that  ethics  will  be 
divorced  from  religion,  and  that  the  groping 
of  the  human  soul  after  its  God  will  be  con- 
demned as  a  mere  survival  from  the  errors 
of  primitive  savagery,  a  vain  and  idle  reach- 
ing out  toward  a  world  of  mere  phantoms. 
I  mention  this  opinion  merely  to  express  un- 
qualified and  total  dissent  from  it.     I  be- 
lieve it  can  be  shown  that  one  of  the  strong- 
est implications  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
is  the  everlasting  reality  of  religion. — FISKE. 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  110. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1086.  EVIDENCE  MULTIPLIES  FOR 
WILLING    MINDS  —  Fall  of  Meteorites  in 
France    Attested    by    Academicians — Then 
Abundant    Instances     the     World     Over. — 
Stories  of  falling  stones,  then,  kept  arising 
from  time  to  time  during  the  last  century  as 
they  had  always  done,  and  philosophers  kept 
on   disbelieving  them   as   they  had   always 
done,  till  an  event  occurred  which  suddenly 
changed  scientific  opinion  to  compulsory  be- 
lief. 

On  the  26th  of  April,  1803,  there  fell,  not 
in  some  far-off  part  of  the  world,  but  in 
France,  not  one  alone,  but  many  thousand 
stones,  over  an  area  of  some  miles,  accom- 
panied with  noises  like  the  discharge  of  ar- 
tillery. A  committee  of  scientific  men 
visited  the  spot  on  the  part  of  the  French 
Institute,  and  brought  back  not  only  the 
testimony  of  scores  of  witnesses  or  auditors, 
but  the  stones  themselves.  Soon  after  stones 
fell  in  Connecticut,  and  here  and  elsewhere, 
as  soon  as  men  were  prepared  to  believe, 
they  found  evidence  multiplied;  and  such 
falls,  it  is  now  admitted,  tho  rare  in  any 
single  district,  are  of  what  may  be  called 
frequent  occurrence  as  regards  the  world  at 
large — for,  taking  land  and  sea  together,  the 
annual  stone-falls  are  probably  to  be  counted 
by  hundreds. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch. 
6,  p.  186.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


Evidence 
Evolution 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


224 


1087.  EVIDENCE  OF  PHOSPHORES- 
CENCE   IN    DEEP-SEA    ANIMALS -The 
subject  of  the  power  of  emitting  phosphores- 
cent light  possessed  by  some  deep-sea  ani- 
mals is  much  more  difficult  to  deal  with. 

The  presence  of  distinct  organs  in  many 
of  the  deep-sea  fish  that  can  only  be  reason- 
ably interpreted  as  phosphorescent  organs, 
the  presence  of  well-developed  and  evidently 
functional  eyes  in  many  deep-sea  animals, 
and  many  other  considerations  render  it 
very  highly  probable  that  some,  if  not  many, 
forms  emit  a  phosphorescent  light. 

The  power  and  constancy  of  the  light 
emitted,  however,  must  for  the  present  re- 
main a  matter  of  conjecture. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  75.  (A., 
1894.) 

1088.  EVIDENCE    OF  SELF-DE- 
TERMINING     POWER  —  Common-sense 
Proof  of  External  World. — The  writer  en- 
tirely agrees  with  Archbishop  Manning,  in 
maintaining  that  we  have  exactly  the  same 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  this  self-deter- 
mining power  within  ourselves,  that  we  have 
of  the  existence  of  a  material  world  outside 
ourselves.    For  however  intimate  may  be  the 
functional    correlation    between    mind    and 
brain — and  Archbishop  Manning  seems  dis- 
posed to  go  as  far  as  the  writer  in  recogni- 
zing this  intimacy — "there  is  still  another 
faculty,  and  more  than  this,  another  agent, 
distinct  from  the  thinking  brain."     .     .     . 
"  That  we  are  conscious  of  thought  and  will, 
is  a  fact  of  our  internal  experience.    It  is  a 
iact  also  of  the  universal  experience  of  all 
men;     this  is  an  immediate  and  intuitive 
truth  of  absolute  certainty.    Dr.  Carpenter 
lays  down  as  an  axiomatic  truth  '  that  the 
common-sense  decision  of  mankind,   in  re- 
gard to  the  existence  of  an  external  world, 
is  practically  worth  more  than  all  the  argu- 
ments  of  all   the   logicians   who  have   dis- 
cussed the  basis  of  our  belief  in  it.' " — CAR- 
PENTER Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  5. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1089.  EVIDENCE  THAT  CHALK  IS 

AN  ANCIENT  SEA-BOTTOM— The  evidence 
furnished  by  the  hewing,  facing,  and  super- 
position of  the  stones  of  the  pyramids,  that 
these  structures  were  built  by  men,  has  no 
greater  weight  than  the  evidence  that  the 
chalk  was  built  by  Globigerinw;  and  the  be- 
lief that  those  ancient  pyramid-builders 
were  terrestrial  and  air-breathing  creatures, 
like  ourselves,  is  not  better  based  than  the 
conviction  that  the  chalk-makers  lived  in  the 
sea.  But  as  our  belief  in  the  building  of  the 
pyramids  by  men  is  not  only  grounded  on 
the  internal  evidence  afforded  by  these  struc- 
tures, but  gathers  strength  from  multitudi- 
nous collateral  proofs,  and  is  clinched  by  the 
total  absence  of  any  reason  for  a  contrary 
belief;  so  the  evidence  drawn  from  the 
Globigerince,  that  the  chalk  is  an  ancient  sea- 
bottom,  is  fortified  by  innumerable  inde- 
pendent lines  of  evidence ;  and  our  belief  in 
the  truth  of  the  conclusion  to  which  all  posi- 


tive testimony  tends,  receives  the  like  nega- 
tive justification  from  the  fact  that  no  other 
hypothesis  has  a  shadow  of  foundation. — 
HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  9,  p.  187.  (G. 
P.P.,  1897.) 

1090.  EVIDENCE,   UNTRUSTWOR- 
THY— Excitement,   Credulity,  and  Inaccuracy 
May  Vitiate. — But,  in  dealing  with  the  de- 
scriptions of  these  grand  and  terrible  events, 
we  must  always  be  on  our  guard  against  ac- 
cepting as  literal  facts  the  statements  made 
by  witnesses,  often  writing  at  some  distance 
from  the  scene  of  action,  and  almost  always 
under   the   influence   of  violent   excitement 
and  terror.    The  desire  to  administer  to  the 
universal   love   of   the   marvelous,   and   the 
tendency  to  exaggeration,  will  usually  ac- 
count for  many  of  the  wonderful  statements 
contained  in  such  records;    and,  even  where 
the    witness    is   accurately  relating    events 
which  he  thinks  passed  before  his  eyes,  we 
must  remember  that  it  is  probable  he  may 
have  had  neither  the  opportunity  nor  the 
capacity  for  exact  observation. — JUDD  Vol- 
canoes, ch.  2,  p.  30.    (A.,  1899.) 

1091.  EVIL    DESTROYED    BY 
GROWTH   OF  GOOD— Scientific  Control  of 
Bacteria — Favorable  Germs  Planted  to  Ex- 
terminate the  Undesirable. — Recently,  how- 
ever,  a   new  method  has   been   introduced, 
largely  through  the  work  and  influence  of 
Professor  Storch  in  Denmark,  which  is  based 
upon  our  new  knowledge  respecting  bacterial 
action  in  cream-ripening.     We  refer  to  the 
artificial  processes  of  ripening  set  up  by  the 
addition  of  pure  cultures  of  favorable  germs. 
If   a   culture   of   organisms   possessing   the 
faculty  of  producing  in  cream  a  good  flavor 
be  added  to  the  sweet  cream,  it  is  clear  that 
advantage  will  accrue.    This  simple  plan  of 
starting  any  special  or  desired  flavor  by  in- 
troducing   the   specific    micro-organisms    of 
that  flavor  may  be  adopted  in  two  or  three 
different  ways.    If  cream  be  inoculated  with 
a  large,  pure  culture  of  some  particular  kind 
of  bacteria,  this  species  will  frequently  grow 
so  well  and  so  rapidly  that  it  will  check  the 
growth   of  the   other   bacteria   which   were 
present  in  the  cream  at  the  commencement 
and  before  the  starter  was  added.     That  is, 
perhaps,  the  simplest  method  of  adding  an 
artificial  culture. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6, 
p.  217.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1092.  EVIL,  MORAL,  A  UNIVERSAL 
FACT — Unworthiness  Distinct  from  Ignorance. 
— There  is  an  absolute  contrast  between  our 
sense  of  limitation  in  respect  to  intellectual 
power  (or  knowledge)  and  our  sense  of  un- 
worthiness   in  respect  to   moral   character. 
It  is  not  of  ignorance,  but  of  knowledge,  that 
we  are  conscious  here — even  the  knowledge 
of  the  distinction  between  good  and  evil,  and 
of  that  special  sense  which  in  our  nature  is 
associated    with    it,    namely,    the    sense    of 
moral   obligation.     Now   it  is   a   universal 
fact  of  consciousness  as  regards  ourselves, 
and  of  observation  in  regard  to  others,  that, 
knowing  evil  to  be  evil,  men  are  nevertheless 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Evidence 
Evolution 


prone  to  do  it,  and  that,  having  this  sense 
of  moral  obligation,  they  are  nevertheless 
prone  to  disobey  it.  This  fact  is  entirely  in- 
dependent of  the  particular  standard  by 
which  men  in  different  stages  of  society 
have  judged  certain  things  to  be  good  and 
other  thiners  to  be  evil.  It  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  infinite  variety  of  rules  ac- 
cording to  which  they  recognize  the  doing  of 
particular  acts,  and  the  abstention  from 
other  acts,  to  be  obligatory  upon  them. 
Under  every  variety  of  circumstance  in  re- 
gard to  these  rules,  under  every  diversity  of 
custom,  of  law,  or  of  religion  by  which  they 
are  stablished,  the  general  fact  remains  the 
same — that  what  men  themselves  recognize 
as  duty  they  continually  disobey,  and  what 
according  to  their  own  standard  they  ac- 
knowledge to  be  wrong  they  continually  do. 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  190. 
(Burt.) 

1093.  EVIL  OVERCOME   BY  GOOD 

— Inhibition  by  Substitution — Love  of  Right 
the  Highest  Victory  (Jer.  xxxi,  33). — It  is 
clear  that  in  general  we  ought,  whenever  we 
can,  to  employ  the  method  of  inhibition  by 
substitution.  He  whose  life  is  based  upon 
the  word  "  no,"  who  tells  the  truth  because 
a  lie  is  wicked,  and  who  has  constantly  to 
grapple  with  his  envious  and  cowardly  and 
mean  propensities,  is  in  an  inferior  situation 
in  every  respect  to  what  he  would  be  if  the 
love  of  truth  and  magnanimity  positively 
possessed  him  from  the  outset,  and  he  felt 
no  inferior  temptations. — JAMES  Talks  to 
Teachers,  ch.  15,  p.  194.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1900.) 

1094.  EVOLUTION  A  GENERAL  LAW 

— Recognized  in  Diverse  Realms  of  Being. — 
The  interpretation  of  phenomena  as  results 
of  evolution  has  been  independently  showing 
itself  in  various  fields  of  inquiry,  quite  re- 
mote from  one  another.  The  supposition 
that  the  solar  system  has  been  evolved  out 
of  diffused  matter  is  a  supposition  wholly 
astronomical  in  its  origin  and  application. 
Geologists,  without  being  led  thereto  by  as- 
tronomical considerations,  have  been  step 
by  step  advancing  towards  the  conviction 
that  the  earth  has  reached  its  present  varied 
structure  by  modification  upon  modification. 
The  inquiries  of  biologists  have  proved  the 
falsity  of  the  once  general  belief,  that  the 
germ  of  each  organism  is  a  minute  repeti- 
tion of  the  mature  organism,  differing  from 
it  only  in  bulk;  and  they  have  shown,  con- 
trariwise, that  every  organism  advances 
from  simplicity  to  complexity  through  in- 
sensible changes.  Among  philosophical  poli- 
ticians there  has  been  spreading  the  percep- 
tion that  the  progress  of  society  is  an  evolu- 
tion :  the  truth  that  "  constitutions  are  not 
made,  but  grow,"  is  seen  to  be  a  part  of  the 
more  general  truth  that  societies  are  not 
made,  but  grow.  It  is  now  universally  ad- 
mitted by  philologists  that  languages,  in- 
stead of  being  artificially  or  supernaturally 
formed,  have  been  developed.  And  the  his- 


tories of  religion,  of  science,  of  the  fine  arts, 
of  the  industrial  arts,  show  that  these  have 
passed  through  stages  as  unobtrusive  as 
those  through  which  the  mind  of  a  child 
passes  on  its  way  to  maturity. — SPENCER 
Biology,  pt.  iii,  ch.  3,  p.  432.  (A.,  1900.) 

1095.  EVOLUTION  A   STUDY  FOR 
THE  NURSERY— Every  Mother  an    Uncon- 
scious Evolutionist — The  Evolution  of  Man 
Read  in  the  Mind  of  a  Little  Child. — The 
most  beautiful  witness  to  4,he  evolution  of 
man   is   the   mind   of   a    little   child.      The 
stealing  in  of  that  inexplicable  light — yet 
not  more  light  than  sound  or  touch — called 
consciousness,  the   first  flicker  of  memory, 
the  gradual  governance  of  will,  the  silent 
ascendancy  of  reason — these  are  studies  in 
evolution  the  oldest,  the  sweetest',  and  the 
most  full  of  meaning  for  mankind.     Evolu- 
tion, after  all,  is  a  study  for  the  nursery. 
It  was  ages  before  Darwin  or  Lamarck  or 
Lucretius  that  maternity,  bending  over  the 
hollowed  cradle  in  the  forest  for  a  first  smile 
of  recognition  from  her  babe,  expressed  the 
earliest  trust  in  the  doctrine  of  development. 
Every  mother  since  then  is  an  unconscious 
evolutionist,  and  every  little  child  a  living 
witness    to    ascent. — DBUMMOND   Ascent    of 
Man,  ch.  4,  p.  119.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

1096.  EVOLUTION    CHANGES   ITS 
COURSE — From  a  Physical  to  a  Psychical 
Universe. — Once  it  was  a  physical  universe, 
now  it  is  a  psychical  universe.    And  to  say 
that  the  working  of  evolution  has  changed 
its  course,  and  set  its  compass  in  psychical 
directions,  is  to  call  attention  to  the  most 
remarkable    fact    in    Nature.      Nothing    so 
original  or  so  revolutionary  has  ever  been 
given  to  science  to  discover,  to  ponder,  or  to 
proclaim.    The  power  of  this  event  to  strike 
and  rouse  the  mind  will  depend  upon  one's 
sense  of  what  the  working  of  evolution  has 
been  to  the  world;    but  those  who  realize 
this  even  dimly  will  see  that  no  emphasis  of 
language  can  exaggerate  its  significance. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  117.    ( J. 
P.,  1900.) 

1097.  EVOLUTION    CONSISTENT 
WITH    CREATION— But  of  this  we  may  be 
sure,  that  if  men  should  indeed  ultimately 
become  convinced  that  species  have  been  all 
born  just  as  individuals  are  now  all  born, 
and  that  such  has  been  the  universal  method 
of  creation,  this  conviction  will  not  only  be 
found  to  be  soluble,  so  to  speak,  in  the  old 
beliefs  respecting  a  creative  mind,  but  it  will 
be  unintelligible  and  inconceivable  without 
them,  jso  that  men,  in  describing  the  history 
and  aim  and  direction  of  evolution,  will  be 
compelled  to  use  substantially  the  same  lan- 
guage in  which  they  have  hitherto  spoken  of 
the  history  of  creation. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
Nature,  ch.  8,  p.  173.     (Burt.) 

1098.  EVOLUTION     EXALTS    HU- 
MANITY—Man  the  Last   Victor  of  Ages  of 
Struggle — The  Fruit  and  Crown  of  a  Past 
Eternity. — Science    is    charged,    be    it    once 


Evolution 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


226 


more  recalled,  with  numbering  man  among 
the  beasts,  and  leveling  his  body  with  the 
duafe.  But  he  who  reads  for  himself  the  his- 
tory of  creation  as  it  is  written  by  the  hand 
of  evolution  will  be  overwhelmed  by  the 
glory  and  honor  heaped  upon  this  creature. 
To  be  a  man,  and  to  have  no  conceivable  suc- 
cessor; to  be  the  fruit  and  crown  of  the 
long  past  eternity,  and  the  highest  possible 
fruit  and  crown ;  to  be  the  last  victor  among 
the  decimated  phalanxes  of  earlier  exist- 
ences, and  to  be  nevermore  defeated;  to  be 
the  best  that  Nature  in  her  strength  and 
opulence  can  produce;  to  be  the  first  of  that 
new  order  of  beings  who,  by  their  dominion 
over  the  lower  world  and  their  equipment 
for  a  higher,  reveal  that  they  are  made  in 
the  image  of  God — to  be  this  is  to  'be  ele- 
vated to  a  rank  in  Nature  more  exalted  than 
any  philosophy  or  any  poetry  or  any  theol- 
ogy has  ever  given  to  man. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  115.  ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

1099.  EVOLUTION  INTERPRETED 
AS  BLANK  MATERIALISM— Modern  scien- 
tific thought  is  called  upon  to  decide  be- 
tween this  hypothesis  [of  evolution]  and  an- 
other;    and  public  thought  generally  will 
afterwards  be  called  upon  to  do  the  same. 
But,  however  the  convictions  of  individuals 
here  and  there  may  be  influenced,  the  proc- 
ess must  be  slow  and  secular  which  com- 
mends the  hypothesis  of  natural  evolution 
to  the  public  mind.     For  what  are  the  core 
and  essence  of  this  hypothesis?     Strip  it 
naked,  and  you  stand  face  to  face  with  the 
notion  that  not  alone  the  more  ignoble  forms 
of  animalcular  or  animal  life,  not  alone  the 
nobler  forms  of  the  horse  and  lion,  not  alone 
the  exquisite  and  wonderful  mechanism  of 
the  human  body,  but  that  the  human  mind 
itself — emotion,  intellect,  will,  and  all  their 
phenomena — were    once    latent    in    a    fiery 
cloud.     Surely  the  mere  statement  of  such  a 
notion  is  more  than  a  refutation.    But  the 
hypothesis  would  probably  go  even  farther 
than  this.     Many  who  hold  it  would  prob- 
ably assent  to  the  position  that,  at  the  pres- 
ent moment,  all  our  philosophy,  all  our  po- 
etry, all  our  science,  and  all  our  art — Plato, 
Shakespeare,  Newton,  and  Raphael — are  po- 
tential in  the  fires  of  the  sun.     We  long  to 
learn  something  of  our  origin.    If  the  evolu- 
tion hypothesis  be  correct,  even  this  unsat- 
isfied yearning  must  have  come  to  us  across 
the  ages  which  separate  the  primeval  mist 
from  the  consciousness  of  to-day.     I  do  not 
think  that  any  holder  of  the  evolution  hy- 
pothesis would  say  that  I  overrate  or  over- 
strain it  in  any  way.     I  merely  strip  it  of 
all   vagueness,    and   bring  before   you,   un- 
clothed   and    unvarnished,    the    notions    by 
which    it    must    stand    or    fall. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  130. 
(A.,  1897.) 

1100.  EVOLUTION     INVOLVES 
MORE   THAN  NATURAL  SELECTION— 

Morality  Rooted  in  the  Foundations  of  the 
Universe. — In  such  a  universe    [controlled 


solely  by  the  struggle  for  life  and  survival 
of  the  fittest]  we  may  look  in  vain  for  any 
sanction  for  morality,  any  justification  for 
love  and  self-sacrifice;  we  find  no  hope  in 
it,  no  consolation;  there  is  not  even  dignity 
in  it,  nothing  whatever  but  resistless  all- 
producing  and  all-consuming  energy.  Such 
a  universe,  however,  is  not  the  one  in  which 
we  live.  In  the  cosmic  process  of  evolution, 
whereof  our  individual  lives  are  part  and 
parcel,  there  are  other  agencies  at  work  be- 
sides natural  selection,  and  the  story  of  the 
struggle  for  existence  is  far  from  being  the 
whole  story.  I  think  it  can  be  shown  that 
the  principles  of  morality  have  their  roots 
in  the  deepest  foundations  of  the  universe, 
that  the  cosmic  process  is  ethical  in  the  pro- 
foundest  sense,  that  in  that  far-off  morning 
of  the  world  when  the  stars  sang  together 
and  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,  the 
beauty  of  self-sacrifice  and  disinterested  love 
formed  the  chief  burden  of  the  mighty 
theme. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  4,  p.  78.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1101.  EVOLUTION,   MAN    KNOWS 
THAT  IT  IS  A  PROCESS— Intelligently  Co- 
operates with  It. — Man  differs  from  every 
other  product  of  the  evolutionary  process  in 
being  able  to  see  that  it  is  a  process,  in 
sharing  and  rejoicing  in  its  unity,  and  in 
voluntarily    working    through    the    process 
himself.    If  he  is  part  of  it  he  is  also  more 
than  part  of  it,  since  he  is  at  once  its  spec- 
tator,  its   director,   and  its   critic. — DRUM- 
MOND Ascent  of  Man,  p.  12.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1 1 02 .  EVOLUTION,  MATERIALISTIC 

— A  Pillar  without  a  Capital — A  Process 
without  a  Purpose — Christianity  Supplies 
the  Goal. — Hitherto  evolution  had  no  fu- 
ture. It  was  a  pillar  with  marvelous  carv- 
ing, growing  richer  and  finer  towards  the 
top,  but  without  a  capital;  a  pyramid,  the 
vast  base  buried  in  the  inorganic,  towering 
higher  and  higher,  tier  above  tier,  life  above 
life,  mind  above  mind,  ever  more  perfect  in 
its  workmanship,  more  noble  in  its  sym- 
metry, and  yet  withal  so  much  the  more 
mysterious  in  its  aspiration.  The  most  cu- 
rious eye,  following  it  upwards,  saw  noth- 
ing. The  cloud  fell  and  covered  it.  Just 
what  men  wanted  to  see  was  hid.  The  work 
of  the  ages  had  no  apex.  But  the  work  be- 
gun by  Nature  is  finished  by  the  Supernat- 
ural — •  as  we  are  wont  to  call  the  higher 
natural.  And  as  the  veil  is  lifted  by  Chris- 
tianity it  strikes  men  dumb  with  wonder. 
For  the  goal  of  evolution  is  Jesus  Christ. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  8,  p.  280.  (H.  Al.) 

1 1 03.  EVpLUTION  NOT  ACCOUNT- 
ED FOR — To  give  an  account  of  evolution, 
it  need  scarcely  be  remarked,  is  not  to  ac- 
count  for   it.     No   living  thinker   has   yet 
found  it  possible  to  account  for  evolution. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  int.,  p.  4.   ( J.  P., 
1900.) 


227  , 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Evolution 


1 1 04 .  EVOLUTION  NOT  ATHEISTIC 

— Design  Not  Superseded — Place  of  Second 
Causes. — To  myself  the  conception  of  a  con- 
tinuity of  action  which  required  no  depar- 
ture to  meet  special  contingencies,  because 
the  plan  was  all-perfect  in  the  beginning,  is 
a  far  higher  and  nobler  one  than  that  of  a 
succession  of  interruptions,  such  as  would 
be  involved  in  the  creation  de  novo  of  the 
vast  series  of  new  types  which  paleontolog- 
ical  study  is  daily  bringing  to  our  knowl- 
edge. And  in  describing  the  process  of  evo- 
lution in  the  ordinary  language  of  science, 
as  due  to  "  secondary  causes,"  we  no  more 
dispense  with  a  First  Cause  than  we  do  when 
we  speak  of  those  physical  forces  Avhich, 
from  the  theistic  point  of  view,  are  so  many 
diverse  modes  of  manifestation  of  one  and 
the  same  power.  Nor  do  we  in  the  least  set 
aside  the  idea  of  an  original  design  when 
we  regard  these  adaptations,  which  are  com- 
monly attributed  to  special  exertions  of  con- 
triving power  and  wisdom,  as  the  outcome 
of  an  all-comprehensive  intelligence  which 
foresaw  that  the  product  would  be  "  good," 
before  calling  into  existence  the  germ  from 
which  it  would  be  evolved.  We  simply,  to 
use  the  language  of  Whewell,  "  transfer  the 
notion  of  design  and  end  from  the  region  of 
facts  to  that  of  laws,"  that  is,  from  the  par- 
ticular cases  to  the  general  plan:  and  find 
ourselves  aided  in  our  conception  of  the  in- 
finity of  creative  wisdom  and  power,  when 
we  regard  it  as  exerted  in  a  manner  which 
shows  that  not  only  the  peopling  of  the 
globe  with  the  plants  and  animals  suited  to 
every  phase  of  its  physical  conditions,  but 
the  final  production  of  man  himself — the 
heir  of  all  preceding  ages,  with  capacities 
that  enable  him  to  become  but  "  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels  " — was  comprehended 
in  the  original  scheme. — CARPENTER  Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  14,  p.  407.  (A.,  1889.) 

1105.  EVOLUTION  OF  EARTH'S 

CRUST—  Theory  of  Catastrophe  Abandoned- 
Past  Flows  Gradually  into  Present. — With 
increased  knowledge  ...  it  was  recog- 
nized that  no  hard-and-fast  line  separates 
past  and  present.  The  belief  in  world-wide, 
or  nearly  world-wide,  catastrophes  disap- 

E  eared.  Geologists  came  to  see  that  the 
ishioning  of  the  earth's  surface  had  been 
going  on  for  a  long  time,  and  is  still  in 
progress.  The  law  of  evolution,  they  have 
found,  holds  true  for  the  crust  of  the  globe 
just  as  it  does  for  the  myriad  tribes  of 
plants  and  animals  that  clothe  and  people 
it.  It  is  no  longer  doubted  that  the  exist- 
ing configuration  of  the  land  has  resulted 
from  the  action  of  forces  that  are  still  in 
operation,  and  by  observation  and  reasoning 
the  history  of  the  various  phases  in  the  evo- 
lution of  surface-features  can  be  unfolded. — 
GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1898.) 

1106.  EVOLUTION    OF    EVIL—  The 

Law  of  Degeneracy — Double  Aspect  of  De- 
velopment.— It  is  a  curious  misunderstand- 


ing of  what  that  law  [of  evolution]  really  is 
to  suppose  that  it  leads  only  in  one  direc- 
tion. It  leads  in  every  direction  in  which 
there  is  at  work  any  one  of  the  "  potential 
energies  "  of  Nature.  Development  is  the 
growth  of  germs,  and  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  germ  so  is  the  nature  of  the 
growth.  The  flowers  and  fruits  which  min- 
ister to  the  use  of  man  have  each  their  own 
seed,  and  so  have  the  briers  and  thorns 
which  choke  them.  Evil  lias  its  germs  as 
well  as  good,  and  the  evolution  of  them  is 
accompanied  by  effects  to  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  assign  a  limit.  Movement  is  the 
condition  of  all  being,  in  moral  as  well  as  in 
material  things.  Just  as  one  thing  leads 
to  another  in  knowledge  and  in  virtue,  so 
does  one  thing  lead  to  another  in  ignorance 
and  vice.  Those  gradual  processes  of  change 
which  arise  out  of  action  and  reaction  be- 
tween the  external  condition  and  the  inter* 
nal  nature  of  man  have  an  energy  in  them 
of  infinite  complexity  and  power.  We  stand 
here  on  the  firm  ground  of  observation  and 
experience.  In  the  shortest  space  of  time, 
far  within  the  limits  even  of  a  single  life, 
we  are  accustomed  to  see  such  processes 
effectual  both  to  elevate  and  degrade.  The 
weak  become  weaker  and  the  bad  become 
worse.  "  To  him  that  hath  more  is  given, 
and  from  him  that  hath  not  is  taken  even 
that  which  he  seemeth  to  have."  And  this 
law,  in  the  region  of  character  and  of  mor- 
als, is  but  the  counterpart  of  the  law  which 
prevails  in  the  physical  regions  of  Nature, 
where  also  development  has  its  double  as- 
pect. It  cannot  bring  one  organism  to  the 
top  without  sinking  another  organism  to  the 
bottom.  That  vast  variety  of  natural  causes 
which  have  been  grouped  and  almost  per- 
sonified under  the  phrase  "  natural  selec- 
tion "  are  causes  which  necessarily  include 
both  favorable  and  unfavorable  conditions. 
Natural  rejection,  therefore,  is  the  insepara- 
ble correlative  of  natural  selection. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  230.  (Burt.) 

1 1 0  7 .     EVOLUTION  OF  EVOLUTION 

— By  Its  Very  Nature  a  System  of  Progress. 
— This  is  the  age  of  the  evolution  of  evolu- 
tion. All  thoughts  that  the  evolutionist 
works  with,  all  theories  and  generalizations, 
have  been  themselves  evolved  and  are  now 
being  evolved.  Even  were  his  theory  per- 
fected, its  first  lesson  would  be  that  it  was 
itself  but  a  phase  of  the  evolution  of  further 
opinion,  no  more  fixed  than  a  species,  no 
more  final  than  the  theory  which  it  dis- 
placed. Of  all  men  the  evolutionist,  by  the 
very  nature  of  his  calling,  the  mere  tools  of 
his  craft,  his  understanding  of  his  hourly 
shifting-place  in  this  always  moving  and 
ever  more  mysterious  world,  must  be  hum- 
ble, tolerant,  and  undogmatic. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  int.,  p.  7.  ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

11O8.  EVOLUTION  OF  LANGUAGE 
TAUGHT  BY  COMPARATIVE  PHILOL- 
OGY—  Renan  —  Max  Mutter  —  Languages 
Seen  in  the  Making. — Comparative  philology 


Erolution 
Exactness 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


has  now  made  an  actual  investigation  into 
the  words  and  structure  of  all  known  lan- 
guages, and  the  information  sought  by  the 
evolutionist  lies  ready-made  to  his  hand.  So 
far  as  controversy  might  be  expected  to  arise 
here  on  the  theory  of  development  itself, 
there  is  none.  For  the  first  fact  to  interest 
us  in  this  new  region  is  that  every  student 
of  language  seems  to  have  been  compelled  to 
give  in  his  adherence  to  the  general  theory 
of  evolution.  All  agree  with  Renan  that 
"  Sans  doubte  les  langues,  comme  tout  ce  qui 
est  organise,  sont  sujettes  a  la  loi  du  de"- 
velopment  graduel "  [without  doubt  lan- 
guages, like  all  that  is  organized,  are  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  gradual  development]. 
And  even  Max  Miiller,  the  least  thorough- 
going from  an  evolutionary  point  of  view 
of  all  philologists,  asserts  that  "  no  student 
of  the  science  of  language  can  be  anything 
but  an  evolutionist,  for,  wherever  he  looks, 
he  sees  nothing  but  evolution  going  on  all 
around  him." — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
ch.  5,  p.  179.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1109.  EVOLUTION  OF  PHOSPHOR- 
ESCENT   ORGANS—  Gradation  Manifest  in 
Marine  Animals. — It   has   been   known   for 
some  years  now  that  the  slime  secreted  by 
the  skin-glands  of  certain  sharks  is  highly 
phosphorescent.     It  is  not  difficult,  then,  to 
understand  how  it  came  about  that  certain 
fish    developed    complicated   phosphorescent 
organs. 

From  the  phosphorescent  slime  secreted 
by  a  simple  skin-gland  to  the  most  compli- 
cated eyelike  phosphorescent  organ,  we  have 
a  series  of  intermediate  forms  that  are  quite 
sufficient,  even  in  the  imperfect  state  of  our 
knowledge  at  the  present  day,  to  enable  us 
to  understand  the  outlines  of  the  evolution 
of  these  peculiar  and  interesting  organs. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p. 
77.  (A.,  1894.) 

1110.  EVOLUTION  OF  SCIENCES— 

Mind  in  Relation  to  Environment. — At  a  cer- 
tain stage  in  the  development  of  every 
science  a  degree  of  vagueness  is  what  best 
consists  with  fertility.  On  the  whole,  few 
recent  formulas  have  done  more  real  service 
of  a  rough  sort  in  psychology  than  the 
Spencerian  one  that  the  essence  of  mental 
life  and  of  bodily  life  are  one,  namely,  "  the 
adjustment  of  inner  to  outer  relations."  Such 
a  formula  is  vagueness  incarnate;  but  be- 
cause it  takes  into  account  the^  fact  that 
minds  inhabit  environments  which  act  on 
them  and  on  which  they  in  turn  react;  be- 
cause, in  short,  it  takes  mind  in  the  midst 
of  all  its  concrete  relations,  it  is  immensely 
more  fertile  than  the  old-fashioned  "  ra- 
tional psychology,"  which  treated  the  soul 
as  a  detached  existent,  sufficient  unto  itself, 
and  assumed  to  consider  only  its  nature  and 
properties. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  6.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1111.  EVOLUTION  OUT  OF  FOCUS 

— Must  Sweep  in  Whole  Truth. — Evolution 


was  given  to  the  modern  world  out  of  focus, 
was  first  seen  by  it  out  of  focus,  and  has  re- 
mained out  of  focus  to  the  present  hour.  Its 
general  basis  has  never  been  reexamined 
since  the  time  of  Mr.  Darwin;  and  not  only 
such  speculative  sciences  as  teleology,  but 
working  sciences  like  sociology,  have  been 
led  astray  by  a  fundamental  omission.  An 
evolution  theory  drawn  to  scale,  and  with 
the  lights  and  shadows  properly  adjusted — 
adjusted  to  the  whole  truth  and  reality  of 
Nature  and  of  man — is  needed  at  present  as 
a  standard  for  modern  thought. — DRUM- 
MONO  Ascent  of  Man,  int.,  p.  6.  (J.  P., 
1900.) 

1112.  EXACTNESS,  NERVELESS,  OF 
THE  PHOTOGRAPH — Nervous  Tension  May 
Disqualify    the   Human    Observer. — To   the 
equatorial  telescopes  photographic  cameras 
are  attached  instead  of  the  eyepieces,  in  the 
hope  that  the  corona  may  be  made  to  im- 
press itself  on  the  plate  instead  of  on  the 
eye.    The  eye  is  an  admirable  instrument  it- 
self, no  doubt ;   but  behind  it  is  a  brain,  per- 
haps overwrought  with  excitement,  and  re- 
sponding too  completely  to  the  nervous  ten- 
sion which  most  of  us  experience  when  those 
critical    moments    are    passing    so    rapidly. 
The  camera  can  see  far  less  of  the  corona 
than  the  man,  but  it  has  no  nerves,   and 
what  it  sets  down  we  may  rely  on. — LANG- 
LEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  47.     (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

1113.  EXACTNESS   OF   SCIENCE— 

Astronomy  Depends  upon  Hairbreadths  and 
Fractions  of  a  Second. — Such  are  the  refine- 
ments upon  which  modern  astronomy  de- 
pends for  its  progress.  It  is  a  science  of 
hairbreadths  and  fractions  of  a  second.  It 
exists  only  by  the  rigid  enforcement  of  ardu- 
ous accuracy  and  unwearying  diligence. 
Whatever  secrets  the  universe  still  has  in 
store  for  man  will  only  be  communicated  on 
these  terms.  They  are,  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged, difficult  to  comply  with._  They  in- 
volve an  unceasing  struggle  against  the  in- 
firmities of  his  nature  and  the  instabilities 
of  his  position.  But  the  end  is  not  un- 
worthy the  sacrifices  demanded.  One  addi- 
tional ray  of  light  thrown  on  the  marvels 
of  creation — a  single,  minutest  encroach- 
ment upon  the  strongholds  of  ignorance — is 
recompense  enough  for  a  lifetime  of  toil. 
Or  rather,  the  toil  is  its  own  reward,  if 
pursued  in  the  lofty  spirit  which  alone  be- 
comes it.  For  it  leads  through  the  abysses 
of  space  and  the  unending  vistas  of  time  to 
the  very  threshold  of  that  infinity  and  eter- 
nity of  which  the  disclosure  is  reserved  for 
a  life  to  come. — CLERKE  History  of  Astron- 
omy, pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  153.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1114. Difficulty  o/  Se- 
curing a  Sample  of  Water — Infinitesimal 
Pollution  Will  Spoil  All  Results. — The  col- 
lection of  samples  [of  water],  tho  it  appears 
simple  enough,  is  sometimes  a  difficult  and 
responsible  undertaking.  Complicated  ap- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Evolution 
Exactness 


paratus  is  rarely  necessary,  and  fallacies 
will  generally  be  avoided  by  observing  two 
directions.  In  the  first  place,  the  sample 
should  be  chosen  as  representative  as  pos- 
sible of  the  real  substance  or  conditions  we 
wish  to  examine.  Some  authorities  advise 
that  it  is  necessary  to  allow  the  tap  to  run 
for  some  minutes  previous  to  collecting  the 
sample ;  but  if  we  desire  to  examine  for  lead 
chemically  or  for  micro-organisms  in  the 
pipes  biologically,  then  such  a  proceeding 
would  be  injudicious.  Hence  we  must  use 
common  sense  in  the  selection  and  obtaining 
of  a  sample,  following  this  one  guide,  name- 
ly, to  collect  as  nearly  as  possible  a  sample 
of  the  exact  water  the  quality  of  which  it  is 
desired  to  learn.  In  the  second  place,  we 
must  observe  strict  bacteriological  cleanli- 
ness in  all  our  manipulations.  This  means 
that  we  must  use  only  sterilized  vessels  or 
flasks  for  collecting  the  sample,  and  in  the 
manipulation  required  we  must  be  extremely 
careful  to  avoid  any  pollution  of  air  or  any 
addition  to  the  organisms  of  the  water  from 
unsterilized  apparatus.  A  flask  polluted  in 
only  the  most  infinitesimal  degree  will  en- 
tirely vitiate  all  results. — NEWMAN  Bac- 
terid,  ch.  2,  p.  37.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


1115. 


Disregarded  by 


Popular  Writers. — Hitherto  the  endeavor  of 
assigning  these  levels  [of  animal  intelli- 
gence] has  been  almost  exclusively  in  the 
hands  of  popular  writers;  and  as  these 
have,  for  the  most  part,  merely  strung  to- 
gether, with  discrimination  more  or  less  in- 
adequate, innumerable  anecdotes  of  the  dis- 
play of  animal  intelligence,  their  books  are 
valueless  as  works  of  reference.  So  much, 
indeed,  is  this  the  case  that  comparative 
psychology  has  been  virtually  excluded  from 
the  hierarchy  of  the  sciences.  If  we  except 
the  methodical  researches  of  a  few  dis- 
tinguished naturalists,  it  would  appear  that 
the  phenomena  of  mind  in  animals,  having 
constituted  so  much  and  so  long  the  theme 
of  unscientific  authors,  are  now  considered 
well-nigh  unworthy  of  serious  treatment  by 
scientific  methods. — ROMANES  Animal  Intel- 
ligence, pref.,  p.  6.  (A.,  1899.) 

1116. Early  Disinfecting 


Processes  Conspicuously  Inexact — Working 
without  a  Standard. — The  effects  of  chemical 
substances  as  solutions,  or  in  spray  form, 
upon  bacteria  have  been  observed  from  the 
earliest  days  of  bacteriology.  To  some  de- 
composing matter  or  solution  a  disinfectant 
was  added  and  subcultures  made.  If  bac- 
teria continued  to  develop,  the  disinfection 
had  not  been  efficient ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  subculture  remained  sterile,  disinfec- 
tion had  been  complete.  From  such  rough- 
and-ready  methods  large  deductions  were 
drawn,  and  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
no  branch  of  bacteriology  contains  such  a 
vast  mass  of  unassimilated  and  unassimi- 
lable  statements  as  that  relating  to  research 
into  disinfectants.  Most  of  the  tabulated 
and  recorded  results  are  conspicuous  in  hav- 


ing no  standard  as  regards  bacterial  growth. 
Yet  without  such  a  standard  results  are  not 
comparable. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  9,  p. 
329.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


1117. 


Influence  of  Height 


upon  Combustion — Ghostly  Flame  on  Sum- 
mit of  Mont  Blanc. — To  determine  the  influ- 
ence of  height  upon  the  rate  of  combustion 
was  one  of  the  problems  which  I  set  before 
myself  in  my  journey  to  the  Alps  in  1859. 
On  that  occasion  I  invited  Dr.  Frankland  to 
accompany  me,  and  to  undertake  the  experi- 
ments on  combustion,  while  I  devoted  my- 
self to  observations  on  solar  radiation.  The 
plan  pursued  was  this:  six  candles  were 
purchased  at  Chamouni  and  carefully 
weighed;  they  were  then  allowed  to  burn 
for  an  hour  in  the  H6tel  de  1'Union,  and  the 
loss  of  weight  was  determined.  The  same 
candles  were  taken  to  the  summit  of  Mont 
Blanc,  and,  on  the  morning  of  August  21, 
1859,  were  allowed  to  burn  for  an  hour  in  a 
tent,  which  shaded  them  from  the  sun  and 
sheltered  them  from  the  wind.  The  aspect 
of  the  six  flames  at  the  summit  surprised  us 
both.  They  seemed  the  mere  ghosts  of  the 
flames  produced  at  Chamouni — enlarged, 
pale,  feeble,  and  suggesting  a  greatly  dimin- 
ished energy  of  combustion.  The  candles 
being  carefully  weighed  on  our  return,  the 
unexpected  fact  was  revealed  that  the  quan- 
tity of  stearin  consumed  above  was  almost 
precisely  the  same  as  that  consumed  below. 
Thus,  tho  the  light-giving  power  of  the  flame 
was  diminished  in  an  extraordinary  degree, 
the  rapidity  of  the  combustion  was  un- 
changed. This  curious  result  is  to  be  as- 
cribed mainly  to  the  mobility  of  the  air  at 
this  great  height.  The  particles  of  oxygen 
could  penetrate  the  flame  with  comparative 
freedom,  thus  destroying  its  light,  and  ma- 
king atonement  for  the  smallness  of  their 
number  by  the  rapidity  of  their  action.  I 
find,  indeed,  that  by  reducing  the  density  of 
ordinary  atmospheric  air  to  one-half,  we 
nearly  double  the  mobility  of  its  atoms. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  3,  p. 
64.  (A.,  1900.) 


1118. 


Light  as  an  Indi- 


cator of  Motion — The  Faintest  Thrills  of 
Heat  or  Magnetism  Measured. — Now,  this 
law  of  angular  reflection  [the  law,  viz.: 
that  when  a  mirror  rotates,  the  angular  ve- 
locity of  a  beam  reflected  from  it  is  twice 
that  of  the  reflecting  mirror],  coupled  with 
the  fact  that  a  beam  of  light  possesses  no 
weight,  gives  us  the  means  of  magnifying 
small  motions  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 
Thus,  by  attaching  mirrors  to  his  suspended 
magnets,  and  by  watching  the  images  of  di- 
vided scales  reflected  from  the  mirrors,  the 
celebrated  Gauss  was  able  to  detect  the 
slightest  thrill  of  variation  on  the  part  of 
the  earth's  magnetic  force.  By  a  similar  ar- 
rangement the  feeble  attractions  and  repul- 
sions of  the  diamagnetic  force  have  been 
made  manifest.  The  minute  elongation  of  a 
bar  of  metal  by  the  mere  warmth  of  the 


Exactness 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


230 


hand  may  be  so  magnified  by  this  method  as 
to  cause  the  index-beam  to  move  through  20 
or  30  feet.  The  lengthening  of  a  bar  of  iron 
when  it  is  magnetized  may  be  also  thus 
demonstrated. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  1,  p.  12.  (A.,  1898.) 


1119. 


Lines  of  the  Spec- 


trum Made  to  Tell  Their  Story — Minerals  in 
the  Sun — Helium  Found  on  Earth. — It  was 
already  known  that  the  various  chemical 
elements,  when  heated  to  incandescence,  pro- 
duce spectra  consisting  of  a  group  of  colored 
bands,  and  it  had  been  noticed  that  some  of 
these  bands,  as  the  yellow  band  of  sodium, 
corresponded  in  position  with  certain  black 
lines  in  the  solar  spectrum.  KirchofFs  dis- 
covery consisted  in  showing  that,  when  the 
light  from  an  incandescent  body  passes 
through  the  same  substance  in  a  state  of 
vapor,  much  of  it  is  absorbed,  and  the  col- 
ored bands  become  replaced  by  black  lines. 
The  black  lines  in  the  solar  spectrum  are 
due,  on  this  theory,  to  the  light  from  the  in- 
candescent body  of  the  sun  being  partially 
absorbed  in  passing  through  the  vapors 
which  surround  it.  This  theory  led  to  a 
careful  examination  of  the  spectra  of  all 
the  known  elements,  and 'on  comparing  them 
with  the  solar  spectrum  it  was  found  that 
in  many  cases  the  colored  bands  of  the  ele- 
ments corresponded  exactly  in  position  with 
certain  groups  of  black  lines  in  the  solar 
spectrum.  Thus  hydrogen,  sodium,  iron, 
magnesium,  copper,  zinc,  calcium,  and  many 
other  elements  have  been  proved  to  exist  in 
the  sun.  Some  outstanding  solar  lines, 
which  did  not  correspond  to  any  known  ter- 
restrial element,  were  supposed  to  indicate 
an  element  peculiar  to  the  sun,  which  was 
therefore  named  helium.  Quite  recently  this 
element  has  been  discovered  in  a  rare  min- 
eral, and  its  colored  spectrum  is  found  to 
correspond  exactly  to  the  dark  lines  in  the 
solar  spectrum  on  which  it  was  founded, 
thus  adding  a  final  proof  of  the  correctness 
of  the  theory,  and  affording  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  its  value  as  an  instrument  of  re- 
search.— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century, 
ch.  6,  p.  43.  (D.  M.  &Co.,  1899.) 

11 2O.     Measurement  of 

Vision — Light-intensities  Measurable  by 
Galvanic  Current. — It  only  remains  for  us 
in  this  case  to  determine  the  least  light- 
intensity,  which  is  in  absolute  darkness  just 
noticeably  brighter  than  the  black  of  the 
field  of  vision.  We  can  most  easily  obtain 
very  weak  light-intensities  of  this  kind  by 
passing  a  constant  current  through  a  metal 
wire.  As  we  increase  the  intensity  of  the 
current,  the  wire  becomes  hotter  and  hotter, 
till  at  a  definite  temperature  it  begins  to  be 
luminous.  And  since  we  can  graduate  the 
strength  of  a  galvanic  current  at  our  pleas- 
ure, the  intensity  at  which  the  luminosity 
of  the  wire  becomes  just  noticeable  can  be 
readily  determined.  We  have  then  only  to 
compare  its  objective  value  with  that  of 
other  known  light-intensities.  It  has  been 


found  in  this  way  that  the  just  noticeable 
intensity  of  light  is  approximately  -$^-3 
of  the  light  of  the  full  moon  reflected  from 
white  paper. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  4,  p. 
54.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


1121. 


Measuring  the  Sal" 


mon's  Leap. — The  distances  up  rivers  to 
which  salmon  will  swim  in  the  spawning 
season  is  no  less  surprising  than  the  energy 
with  which  they  perform  the  feat,  and  the 
determination  with  which  they  overcome  all 
obstacles.  They  reach  Bohemia  by  the  Elbe 
and  Switzerland  by  the  Rhine.  On  encoun- 
tering a  waterfall  they  display  astonishing 
agility  and  perseverance  in  surmounting  the 
obstacle.  This  fact,  of  course,  is  well  known 
to  all  salmon-fishers;  but  the  actual  ver- 
tical height  to  which  a  well-grown  salmon  is 
able  to  leap  has  only  recently  (1886)  been 
made  the  subject  of  exact  measurement.  By 
means  of  upright  posts  fixed  upon  the  banks 
of  a  stream  on  either  side  of  a  waterfall  in 
Norway,  Prof essor  Landmark  has  determined 
that  this  fish  is  able  to  rise  through  the  air, 
by  a  single  spring,  a  vertical  distance  of 
sixteen  feet.  The  salmon,  therefore,  may  be 
said  to  have  no  competitor  in  its  perform- 
ance of  the  high  jump,  unless  it  be  the  kan- 
garoo, as  to  whose  powers  in  this  respect  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  trustworthy  in- 
formation.— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligencef 
ch.  8,  p.  249.  (A.,  1899.) 


1122. 


Minute  Displace- 


ment of  Sirius — Still  More  Minute  Correc- 
tion.— The  annual  displacement  of  Sirius 
may  be  thus  illustrated:  On  a  clear  moon- 
light night  let  the  reader  notice  the  appar- 
ent diameter  of  the  moon.  Next  let  him  try 
to  conceive  that  diameter  divided  into  about 
3,800  equal  parts.  Then  the  greatest  displace- 
ment of  Sirius  is  equal  to  one  of  those  mi- 
nute portions.  Sirius  in  fact  appears  to 
circle  round  a  minute  oval  path  on  the 
heavens,  having  for  its  longest  diameter  a 
space  equal  to  about  the  3,800th  part  of  the 
moon's  apparent  diameter.  Now,  the  error 
of  the  earlier  estimate  ( supposing  that  esti- 
mate erroneous )  consisted  in  setting  the  dis- 
placement of  Sirius  at  about  the  6,300th 
part  of  the  moon's  diameter — the  difference 
between  the  two  estimates  corresponding  to 
about  the  9,500th  part  of  the  moon's  appar- 
ent diameter.  If  the  reader  will  but  con- 
ceive the  moon's  apparent  diameter  divided 
into  about  100  parts,  and  one  of  these  parts 
again  into  100  parts,  he  will  be  able  to  form 
an  idea  of  the  exceeding  minuteness  of  the 
quantity  by  which  astronomers  suppose  that 
their  first  estimate  was  erroneous. — PROC- 
TOR Our  Place  among  Infinities,  p.  166.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


1123. 


Newton  Calculates 


the  Depth  of  Fine  Film  of  Air. — Newton 
compared  the  tints  obtained  in  this  way  [a 
plate  of  glass  with  a  plane  surface  being 
laid  on  a  plano-convex  glass  lens  of  very 
feeble  curvature]  with  the  tints  of  his  soap- 


231 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Exactness 


bubble,  and  he  calculated  the  corresponding 
thickness.  How  he  did  this  may  be  thus 
made  plain  to  you:  Suppose  the  water  of 
the  ocean  to  be  absolutely  smooth ;  it  would 
then  accurately  represent  the  earth's  curved 
surface.  Let  a  perfectly  horizontal  plane 
touch  the  surface  at  any  point.  Knowing 
the  earth's  diameter,  any  engineer  or  mathe- 
matician in  this  room  could  tell  you  how  far 
the  sea's  surface  will  lie  below  this  plane,  at 
the  distance  of  a  yard,  ten  yards,  a  hundred 
yards,  or  a  thousand  yards  from  the  point 
of  contact  of  the  plane  and  the  sea.  It  is 
common,  indeed,  in  leveling  operations,  to 
allow  for  the  curvature  of  the  earth.  New- 
ton's calculation  was  precisely  similar.  His 
plane  glass  was  a  tangent  to  his  curved  one. 
From  its  refractive  index  and  focal  distance 
he  determined  the  diameter  of  the  sphere  of 
which  his  curved  glass  formed  a  segment,  he 
measured  the  distances  of  his  rings  from  the 
place  of  contact,  and  he  calculated  the  depth 
between  the  tangent  plane  and  the  curved 
surface  exactly  as  the  engineer  would  calcu- 
late the  distance  between  his  tangent  plane 
and  the  surface  of  the  sea.  The  wonder  is 
that,  where  such  infinitesimal  distances  are 
involved,  Newton,  with  the  means  at  his  dis- 
posal, could  have  worked  with  such  marvel- 
ous exactitude. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  74.  (A.,  1898.) 


1124. 


Pasteur's  Care  in 


Experiments — No  Life  in  Glacier  Air. — The 
caution  exercised  by  Pasteur,  both  in  the 
execution  of  his  experiments  and  in  the  rea- 
soning based  upon  them,  is  perfectly  evident 
to  those  who,  through  the  practise  of  severe 
experimental  inquiry,  have  rendered  them- 
selves competent  to  judge  of  good  experi- 
mental work.  He  found  germs  in  the  mer- 
cury used  to  isolate  his  air.  He  was  never 
sure  that  they  did  not  cling  to  the  instru- 
ments he  employed,  or  to  his  own  person. 
Thus  when  he  opened  his  hermetically  sealed 
flasks  upon  the  Mer  de  Glace,  he  had  his  eye 
upon  the  file  used  to  detach  the  drawn-out 
necks  of  his  bottles,  and  he  was  careful  to 
stand  to  leeward  when  each  flask  was 
opened.  Using  these  precautions,  he  found 
the  glacier  air  incompetent,  in  nineteen 
cases  out  of  twenty,  to  generate  life;  while 
similar  flasks,  opened  amid  the  vegetation  of 
the  lowlands,  were  soon  crowded  with  living 
things. — TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the 
Air,  p.  33.  (A.,  1895.) 


1125. 


Precise  Quantita- 


tive Measurements  Needed — Refraction  of 
Light — Kepler  a  Theorist  on  the  Observa- 
tions of  Others — The  "  Personal  Equation  " 
in  Science. — As  regards  the  refraction  of 
light,  the  course  of  real  inquiry  was  re- 
sumed in  1100  by  an  Arabian  philosopher 
named  Alhazen.  Then  it  was  taken  up  in 
succession  by  Roger  Bacon,  Vitellio,  and 
Kepler.  One  of  the  most  important  occu- 
pations of  science  is  the  determination,  by 
precise  measurements,  of  the  quantitative 
relations  of  phenomena;  the  value  of  such 


measurements  depending  greatly  upon  the 
skill  and  conscientiousness  of  the  man  who 
makes  them.  Vitellio  appears  to  have  been 
both  skilful  and  conscientious,  while  Kep- 
ler's habit  was  to  rummage  through  the  ob- 
servations of  his  predecessors,  to  look  at 
them  in  all  lights,  and  thus  distil  from  them 
the  principles  which  united  them.  He  had 
done  this  with  the  astronomical  measure- 
ments of  Tycho  Brahe,  and  had  extracted 
from  them  the  celebrated  "  laws  of  Kepler." 
He  did  it  also  with  Vitellio's  measurements 
of  refraction.  But  in  this  case  he  was  not 
successful.  The  principle,  tho  a  simple  one, 
escaped  him,  and  it  was  first  discovered  by 
Willebrod  Snell,  about  the  year  1621. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  14. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1126. Specimens   Once 

Vaguely  Located — Loose  Methods  Now  Dis- 
carded.— Fifty  years  ago  the  exact  locality 
from  which  any  animal  came  seemed  an  un- 
important fact  in  its  scientific  history,  for 
the  bearing  of  this  question  on  that  of  origin 
was  not  then  perceived.  To  say  that  any 
specimen  came  from  South  America  was 
quite  enough;  to  specify  that  it  came  from 
Brazil,  from  the  Amazons,  the  San  Fran- 
cisco, or  the  La  Plata,  seemed  a  marvelous 
accuracy  in  the  observers.  In  the  museum 
at  Paris,  for  instance,  there  are  many  speci- 
mens entered  as  coming  from  New  York  or 
from  Para ;  but  all  that  is  absolutely  known 
about  them  is  that  they  were  shipped  from 
those  seaports.  Nobody  knows  exactly  where 
they  were  collected.  So  there  are  specimens 
entered  as  coming  from  the  Rio  San  Fran- 
cisco, but  it  is  by  no  means  sure  that  they 
came  exclusively  from  that  water-basin.  All 
this  kind  of  investigation  is  far  too  loose  for 
our  present  [1865]  object. — AGASSIZ  Jour- 
ney  in  Brazil,  ch.  1,  p.  9.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 


1127. 


Velocity  of  Light 


Determined. — The  velocity  of  light,  as  is 
well  known,  was  first  determined  by  irregu- 
larities in  the  time  of  the  eclipses  of  Jupi- 
ter's satellites,  which  were  found  to  occur 
earlier  or  later  than  the  calculated  times, 
according  as  we  were  near  to  or  far  from 
the  planet.  It  was  thus  found  that  it  re- 
quired [about]  eight  minutes  for  light  to 
travel  from  the  sun  to  the  earth,  a  distance 
of  a  little  more  than  ninety  millions  of 
miles;  so  that  light  travels  about  186,000 
miles  in  a  single  second  of  time.  It  would 
seem  at  first  sight  impossible  to  measure  the 
time  taken  by  light  in  traveling  a  mile,  yet 
means  have  been  discovered  to  do  this,  and 
even  to  measure  the  time  taken  for  light  to 
traverse  a  few  feet  from  one  side  of  a  room 
to  the  other.  Yet  more,  this  method  of 
measuring  the  velocity  of  light  has,  by  suc- 
cessive refinements,  become  so  accurate  that 
it  is  now  considered  to  be  the  most  satisfac- 
tory method  of  determining  the  mean  dis- 
tance of  the  sun  from  the  earth,  a  distance 


Exactness 

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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


232 


which  serves  as  the  unit  of  measurement  for 
the  solar  system  and  the  whole  stellar  uni- 
verse.— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century, 
ch.  8,  p.  60.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1128.  EXCESS  OF  CONCENTRATION 

— Pure  Waters  Evaporated  to  Bitterness. — 
The  streams  flowing  to  the  [Great  Salt]  lake 
rise  in  the  high  mountains  to  the  east  and 
are  clear  and  limpid,  and  of  such  purity 
that  only  chemical  tests  reveal  the  presence 
of  the  mineral  matter  they  have  dissolved 
from  the  rocks  and  soils.  Several  of  these 
streams  are  truly  rivers  in  volume,  as  well 
as  in  name,  and  send  a  never-ceasing  flood 
to  the  lake.  Their  combined  volumes  av- 
erage throughout  the  year  about  10,000 
cubic  feet  per  second.  .  .  .  None  of  the 
springs  supplying  the  lake,  with  a  single 
known  exception,  of  small  volumes,  are 
markedly  saline.  The  salts  they  contain  are 
acquired  largely  during  the  upward  passage 
of  the  water  through  the  sediment  of  former 
lakes;  and  their  influence  on  the  chemistry 
of  the  present  lake  is  more  important  than 
in  the  case  of  any  other  lake  in  the  same 
region.  It  is  safe  to  conclude,  however,  that 
the  combined  volumes  of  the  streams  and 
springs  now  tributary  to  the  lake,  if  not 
concentrated  by  evaporation,  would  form  a 
water  body  in  which  no  trace  of  saline  mat- 
ter would  be  apparent  to  the  taste. — RUS- 
SELL Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  4,  p.  80. 
(G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

1129.  EXCESS  OF  INCREASE  TENDS 
TO   EXTERMINATION— The   tendency   to 
multiply  rapidly,  so  advantageous  in  normal 
seasons,  becomes  almost  fatal  to  a  species 
in  seasons  of  exceptional  abundance.    Cover 
and  food  without  limit  enabled  the  mice  to 
increase  at  such  an  amazing  rate  that  the 
lesser  checks  interposed  by  predatory  species 
were  for  a  while  inappreciable.     But  as  the 
mice  increased,  so  did  their  enemies.     In- 
sectivorous and  other  species  acquired  the 
habits  of  owls  and  weasels,  preying  exclu- 
sively on  them;    while  to  this  innumerable 
army  of  residents  was  shortly  added  multi- 
tudes of  wandering  birds  coming  from  dis- 
tant regions.     No  sooner  had  the  herbage 
perished,  depriving  the  little  victims  of  cover 
and  food,  than  the  effects  of  the  war  became 
apparent.     In  autumn  the  earth  so  teemed 
with  them  that  one  could  scarcely  walk  any- 
where without  treading  on  mice;    while  out 
of   every   hollow    weed-stalk    lying   on    the 
ground  dozens  could  be  shaken;    but  so  rap- 
idly had  they  been  devoured  by  the  trained 
army  of  persecutors  that  in  spring  it  was 
hard  to  find  a  survivor,  even  in  the  barns 
and    houses. — HUDSON     Naturalist    in    La 
Plata,  ch.  3,  p.  67.     (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1130.  EXCITEMENT    AN    AID    TO 
FAITH—  Emotional  Thrill  Gives  Sense  of  Re- 
ality— Terror  on  Precipice's  Edge. — Speak- 
ing generally,  the  more  a  conceived  object 
(excites   us,   the  more  reality   it   has.     The 
eame  object  excites  us  differently  at  differ- 
ent times.    Moral  and  religious  truths  come 


"  home  "  to  us  far  more  on  some  occasions 
than  on  others.  As  Emerson  says,  "  There  is 
a  difference  between  one  and  another  hour 
of  life  in  their  authority  and  subsequent  ef- 
fect. Our  faith  comes  in  moments,  .  .  . 
yet  there  is  a  depth  in  those  brief  moments 
which  constrains  us  to  ascribe  more  reality 
to  them  than  to  all  other  experiences."  The 
"  depth "  is  partly,  no  doubt,  the  insight 
into  wider  systems  of  unified  relation,  but 
far  more  often  than  that  it  is  the  emotional 
thrill.  Thus,  to  descend  to  more  trivial  ex- 
amples, a  man  who  has  no  belief  in  ghosts 
by  daylight  will  temporarily  believe  in  them 
when,  alone  at  midnight,  he  feels  his  blood 
curdle  at  a  mysterious  sound  or  vision,  his 
heart  thumping,  and  his  legs  impelled  to 
flee.  The  thought  of  falling  when  we  walk 
along  a  curbstone  awakens  no  emotion  of 
dread;  so  no  sense  of  reality  attaches  to  it, 
and  we  are  sure  we  shall  not  fall.  On  a 
precipice's  edge,  however,  the  sickening  emo- 
tion which  the  notion  of  a  possible  fall 
engenders  makes  us  believe  in  the  latter's 
imminent  reality,  and  quite  unfits  us  to  pro- 
ceed.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  21,  p. 
307.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1131.  EXEMPTION    FROM    ATTACK 
INSURES  INCREASE—  The  Passenger-pigeon 
— The   Fulmar   Petrel. — It   is    usually    the 
amount  of  destruction  which  an  animal  or 
plant  is  exposed  to,  not  its  rapid  multipli- 
cation, that  determines  its  numbers  in  any 
country.     The  passenger-pigeon  (Ectopistes 
migratorius)   is,  or  rather  was,  excessively 
abundant    in     a    certain     area    in    North 
America,  and  its  enormous  migrating  flocks 
darkening  the  sky  for  hours  have  often  been 
described;    yet  this  bird  lays  only  two  eggs. 
The  fulmar  petrel  exists  in  myriads  at  St. 
Kilda  and  other  haunts  of  the  species,  yet  it 
lays    only    one    egg.     .     .     .     Some   of    the 
grasses  and  sedges,  the  wild  hyacinth,  and 
many  buttercups   occur  in  immense  profu- 
sion over  extensive  areas,  altho  each  plant 
produces    comparatively    few    seeds. — WAL- 
LACE Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  20.    (Hum.,  1889.) 

1132.  EXPANSION   EXPLAINED  AS 
VIBRATION— Planet  Viewed  through  Heated 
Air. — But  how  are  we  to  picture  such  dila- 
tation   [expansion   by  heat]    in  accordance 
with  the   theory   which  regards   heat  as   a 
mode  of  motion?    The  comparison  of  a  very 
great  thing  with  an  indefinitely  small  one 
will  here  help  us  to  a  clear  conception.     I 
once  approached  Gibraltar  on  a  fine  star- 
light  night  when   the   planet   Jupiter   was 
sharply  defined  on  a  clear  sky.    On  walking, 
however,  past  the  funnel  of  the  steamer,  so 
as  to  bring  the  heated  air  between  me  and  it, 
the  planet  suddenly  augmented  in  apparent 
size,   losing  at  the   same  time  part   of  its 
sharpness  of  definition.     The  expansion  was 
evidently  due  to  the  heated  air,  causing  the 
image  of  the  planet  to  quiver  on  the  retina. 
This  quivering  was  in  all  directions,  and  it 
was    so    rapid    that    the    various    motions 
blended  upon  the  retina  to  a  disk  of  aug- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Exactness 
Kxpendhu 


ture 


mented  size.  If,  instead  of  the  planet's  light 
being  acted  upon  by  heated  air,  the  planet 
itself  had  danced  in  all  directions  to  and 
fro,  ihe  same  apparent  augmentation  of  the 
disk  would  have  ensued.  Jupiter,  thus 
quivering,  would  virtually  fill  a  greater 
space  than  if  he  were  still.  The  case  is 
similar  with  our  dancing  atoms.  When,  in- 
stead of  a  motionless  atom,  we  have  a  vi- 
brating one,  we  must  make  room  not  only 
for  the  atom  itself,  but  also  for  the  distance 
over  which  its  motion  stretches.  The  case 
may  be  further  illustrated  by  a  tuning-fork. 
Motionless  as  it  is  at  present,  its  prongs  fit 
into  a  certain  space;  thrown  into  vibration, 
the  prongs  strike  against  their  boundaries, 
demanding  more  room. — TYNDALL  Heat  a, 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  4,  p.  92.  (A.,  1900.) 

1133.  EXPANSION    OF    WATER    IN 
FREEZING — One  Instance  under  General  Law. 
— At  this  temperature    [a   shade  over   39° 
F.]    water    attains    its    maximum    density. 
Seven   degrees   below   this   temperature,   or 
at  32°   F.,   the  liquid  begins  to  turn  into 
solid    crystals    of    ice,    which    swims    upon 
water    because    it    is    bulkier    for    a    given 
weight.  In  fact,  this  halt  of  the  approaching 
molecules  at  the  temperature  of  39°  is  but 
the  preparation  for  the  subsequent  act  of 
crystallization  in  which  the  expansion  by  cold 
culminates.  Up  to  the  point  of  solidification 
the  increase  of  volume  is  slow  and  gradual ; 
while  in  the  act  of  solidification  it  is  sud- 
den and  of  overwhelming  strength.    By  this 
force    of    expansion   the    Florentine    acade- 
micians long  ago  burst  a  sphere  of  copper 
nearly  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness.    .     .     . 

Water  is  not  a  solitary  exception  to  an 
otherwise  general  law.  There  are  other 
molecules  than  those  of  this  liquid  which 
require  more  room  in  the  solid  crystalline 
condition  than  in  the  adjacent  molten  con- 
dition. Iron  is  a  case  in  point.  Solid  iron 
floats  upon  molten  iron  exactly  as  ice  floats 
upon  water.  Bismuth  is  a  still  more  im- 
pressive case,  and  we  could  shiver  a  bomb 
as  certainly  by  the  solidification  of  bismuth 
as  by  that  of  water. — TYNDALL  Forms  of 
Water,  pp.  121-124.  (A.,  1899.) 

1134.  EXPANSION,    UNEQUAL,   OF 

GLASS — Apparent  Strength  a  Source  of  Weak- 
ness.— In  applying  heat  to  glass  vessels, 
thickness  is  a  source  of  weakness  or  lia- 
bility to  fracture,  on  account  of  the  unequal 
expansion  of  the  two  sides,  due  to  inequal- 
ity of  temperature,  which,  of  course,  in- 
creases with  the  thickness  of  the  glass.  Be- 
sides this,  the  thickness  increases  the  lever- 
age of  the  breaking  strain. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  2,  p.  8.  (A., 
1900.) 

1135.  EXPECTATION    OF    SCIENCE 

VERIFIED — Meteorites  the  Dust  of  Decaying 
Comets. — The  missing  comet  [Biela's]  was 
next  due  at  perihelion  in  the  year  1872,  and 
the  probability  was  contemplated  by  both 
Weiss  and  Galle  of  its  being  replaced  by  a 


copious  discharge  of  falling  stars.  The  pre- 
cise date  of  the  occurrence  was  not  easily 
determinable,  but  Galle  thought  the  chances 
in  favor  of  November  28.  The  event  antic- 
ipated the  prediction  by  twenty-four  hours. 
Scarcely  had  the  sun  set  in  Western  Europe 
on  November  27  when  it  became  evident  that 
Biela's  comet  was  shedding  over  us  the  pul- 
verized products  of  its  disintegration.  The 
meteors  came  in  volleys  from  the  foot  of  the 
Chained  Lady,  their  numbers  at  times  baf- 
fling the  attempt  to  keep  a  reckoning.  At 
Moncalieri,  about  8  p.  m.,  they  constituted 
(as  Father  Denza  said)  a  "real  rain  of 
fire."  Four  observers  counted,  on  an  av- 
erage, four  hundred  each  minute  and  a  half ; 
and  not  a  few  fire-balls,  equaling  the  moon" 
in  diameter,  traversed  the  sky. — CLEBKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  10,  p.  406. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

1136.  EXPECTATIONS,    EXTRAVA- 
GANT,   OF    NEW    INVENTION —Proposed 
Two-mile  Telescope. — The  advantages  which 
were  at  that  period  [17th  century]  supposed 
to  be  obtainable  only  by  gigantic  length  led 
great  minds,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  to 
extravagant   expectations.     Auzout   consid- 
ered it  necessary  to  refute  Hooke,  who  is 
said  to  have  proposed  the  use  of  telescopes 
having  a  length  of  upward  of  10,000  feet  (or 
nearly  two  miles ) ,  in  order  to  see  animals  in 
the  moon. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p. 
63.    (H.,  1897.) 

1137.  EXPECTATIONS  OF  NATURAL- 
ISTS DISAPPOINTED—  Ocean  Depths  Reveal 
No  Wholly  New  Life. — It  seemed  probable, 
before  the  despatch  of  the  "  Challenger  "  ex- 
pedition, that  when  the  dredge  and  the  trawl 
should  be  successfully  employed  in  depths  of 
over  2,000  fathoms,  a  new  and  remarkable 
fauna  would  be  brought  to  light.    Some  nat- 
uralists thought  it  even  possible  that,  not 
only  would  many  genera  be  found  alive  that 
are  known   to  us   only  by  their   fossilized 
skeletons    in    the    Secondary    and    Tertiary 
rocks,  but  that  there  might  be  many  other 
new  creatures  whose  anatomy  would  throw 
much  light  on  the  theories  of  the  evolution 
of  the  animal  series.    But  none  of  the  great 
expeditions  that  have  sailed  since  the  year 
1874  have  yet  succeeded  in  showing  that  the 
hopes  and  wishes  of  these  naturalists  were 
really  justified.    Altho  thousands  of  species 
of  animals  have  been  described  in  the  vol- 
umes  that   have   been   devoted   to   deep-sea 
work,  the  number  of  the  sub-kingdoms  and 
classes   remains  the   same,    and   indeed  the 
number  of  new  families  and  genera  has  not 
been  increased  in   any  very  unprecedented 
manner. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  5,  p.  86.     (A.,  1894.) 

1138.  EXPENDITURE,  PROFUSE,  IN 

NATURE— Advantages  of  Cross-fertilization— 
Species  That  Have  Perished. — Profuse  ex- 
penditure is  nothing  unusual  under  Nature, 
as  we  see  with  the  pollen  of  wind-fertilized 
plants,  and  in  the  multitude  of  seeds  and 
seedlings  produced  by  most  plants  in  com- 


Expenditure 
Experiment 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


234 


parison  with  the  few  that  reach  maturity. 
In  other  cases  the  paucity  of  the  flowers 
that  are  impregnated  may  be  due  to  the 
proper  insects  having  become  rare  under  the 
incessant  changes  to  which  the  world  is  sub- 
ject; or  to  other  plants,  which  are  more 
highly  attractive  to  the  proper  insects,  hav- 
ing increased  in  number.  We  know  that  cer- 
tain orchids  require  certain  insects  for  their 
fertilization.  ...  In  those  cases  in 
which  only  a  few  flowers  are  impregnated 
owing  to  the  proper  insects  visiting  only  a 
few,  this  may  be  a  great  injury  to  the  plant; 
and  many  hundred  species  throughout  the 
world  have  been  thus  exterminated,  those 
which  survive  having  been  favored  in  some 
other  way.  On  the  other  hand,  the  few  seeds 
which  are  produced  in  these  cases  will  be  the 
product  of  cross-fertilization,  and  this,  as  we 
now  positively  know,  is  an  immense  advan- 
tage to  most  plants. — DARWIN  Fertilization 
of  Orchids,  ch.  9,  p.  281.  (A.,  1898.) 

1139.  EXPERIENCE,   BEES    LEARN- 
ING BY— Defense  against  Deaths-head  Moth. 
— Huber   first   noticed  the  remarkable  fact 
that    when    beehives    are    attacked    by    the 
death's-head   moth    the   bees    close   the   en- 
trance of  their  hive  with  wax  and  propolis 
to  keep  out  the  marauder.     The  barricade, 
which  is  built  immediately  behind  the  gate- 
way, completely  stops  it  up — only  a  small 
hole  being  left  large  enough  to  admit  a  bee, 
and  therefore  of  course  too  small  to  admit 
the  moth.     Huber   specially  states  that  it 
was   not   until   the   beehives   had   been   re- 
peatedly attacked  and  robbed  by  the  death's- 
head  moth,  that  the  bees  closed  the  entrance 
of  their  hive  with  wax  and  propolis.     Pure 
instinct  would  have  induced  the  bees  to  pro- 
vide against  the  first  attack.     Huber  also 
observed  that  a  wall  built  in  1804  against 
the  death's-head  hawk-moth  was  destroyed 
in  1805.     In  the  latter  year  there  were  no 
death's-head  moths,  nor  were  any  seen  dur- 
ing the  following.     But  in  the  autumn  of 
1807   a  large  number  again  appeared,   and 
the  bees  at  once  protected  themselves  against 
their    enemies. — ROMANES    Animal    Intelli- 
gence, ch.  4,  p.  184.     (A.,  1899.) 

1140.  EXPERIENCE  INCLUDES  THE 
LAWS   OF    MIND — Instantaneous   Perception 
May  Teach  Eternal  Truth. — But  if  "  experi- 
ence "  is  to  be  upheld  as  in  any  sense  the 
ground  and  basis  of  all  our  knowledge,  it 
must  be  understood  as  embracing  that  most 
important  of  all  kinds  of  experience  in  the 
study  of  Nature — the  experience  we  have  of 
the  laws  of  mind.    It  is  one  of  the  most  cer- 
tain of  these  laws,  that  in  proportion  as  the 
powers   of  the  understanding  are  well   de- 
veloped, and  are  prepared  by  previous  train- 
ing for  the  interpretation  of  natural  facts, 
there  is  no  relation  whatever  between  the 
time    occupied   in   the   observation   of   phe- 
nomena and  the  breadth  or  sweep  of  the  con- 
clusions which  may  be  arrived  at  from  them. 
A  single  glance,  lasting  not  above  a  moment, 
may  awaken  the   recognition  of  truths   as 


wide  as  the  universe  and  as  everlasting  as 
time  itself. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4, 
p.  86.  (Burt.) 

1141.  EXPERIENCE,   LEARNING  BY, 
A  PROOF  OF  MIND— This  proof  [of  the  ex- 
istence of  mind]   is  in  all  cases  and  in  its 
last  analysis  the  fact  of  a  living  organism 
showing  itself  able  to  learn  by  its  own  indi- 
vidual experience.    Wherever  we  find  an  ani- 
mal able  to  do  this  we  have  the  same  right 
to  predicate  mind  as  existing  in  such  an  ani- 
mal that  we  have  to  predicate  it  as  existing 
in  any  human  being  other  than  ourselves. — 
ROMANES    Animal   Intelligence,    int.,    p.    7. 
(A.,  1899.) 

1142.  EXPERIENCE    THE    FOUNDA- 
TION OF  REMEMBRANCE- Phenomena  have 
absolutely  no  power  to  influence  our  ideas 
until  they  have  first  impressed  our  senses 
and  our  brain.    The  bare  existence  of  a  past 
fact  is  no  ground  for  our  remembering  it. 
Unless  we  have  seen  it,  or  somehow  under- 
gone it,  we  shall  never  know  of  its  having 
been. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  4. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1143.  EXPERIENCE  THE  STARTING- 
POINT  OF  SCIENCE  — We  are  far  distant 
from  the  period  when  it  was  thought  pos- 
sible to  concentrate  all  sensuous  perceptions 
into  the  unity  of  one  sole  idea  of  Nature. 
The  true  path  was  indicated  upward  of  a 
century  before  Lord  Bacon's  time,  by  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  in  these  few  words :  "Comin- 
ciare  dall'  esperienza  e  per  mezzo  di  questa 
scoprirne    la    ragione"     (commence    by    ex- 
perience, and  by  means  of  this  discover  the 
reason ) .     In  many  groups  of  phenomena  we 
must  still  content  ourselves  with  the  recog- 
nition of  empirical  laws;    but  the  highest 
and  more  rarely  attained  aim  of  all  natural 
inquiry  must  ever  be  the  discovery  of  their 
causal    connection.      The   most   satisfactory 
and    distinct   evidence   will    always    appear 
where  the  laws  of  phenomena  admit  of  being 
referred  to  mathematical  principles  of  ex- 
planation.— HUMBOLDT   Cosmos,  vol.   iii,  p. 
10.     (H.,  1897.) 

1 1 44.  EXPERIMENT  CHANGES  PRE- 
CONCEIVED   THEORY  —  Glacier-motion.  — 
Agassiz  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to 
commence,  in  1841,  a  series  of  exact  meas- 
urements to  ascertain  the  laws  of  glacier- 
motion,  and  he  soon  discovered,  contrary  to 
his  preconceived  notions,  that  the  stream  of 
ice  moved  more  slowly  at  the  sides  than  at 
the  center,  and  faster  in  the  middle  region 
of  the  glacier  than  at  its  extremity.     Pro- 
fessor  James   Forbes,  who   had  joined  Mr. 
Agassiz  during  his  earlier  investigations  in 
the  Alps,  undertook  himself  an  independent 
series  of  experiments,  which  he  followed  up 
with   great  perseverance,  to  determine  the 
laws  of  glacier-motion.     These  he  found  to 
agree  very  closely  with  the  laws  governing 
the   course   of   rivers,   their   progress   being 
greater  in  the  center  than  at  the  sides,  and 
more  rapid  at  the  surface  than  at  the  hot- 


235 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Expenditure 
Experiment 


torn.  This  fact  was  verified  by  carefully 
fixing  a  great  number  of  marks  in  the  ice, 
arranged  in  a  straight  line,  which  gradually 
assumed  a  beautiful  curve,  the  middle  part 
pointing  down  the  glacier,  and  showing  a 
velocity  there  double  or  treble  that  of  the 
lateral  parts.  He  ascertained  that  the  rate 
of  advance  by  night  was  nearly  the  same  as 
by  day,  and  that  even  the  hourly  march  of 
the  icy  stream  could  be  detected,  altho  the 
progress  might  not  amount  to  more  than  six 
or  seven  inches  in  twelve  hours.  By  the  in- 
cessant tho  invisible  advance  of  the  marks 
placed  on  the  ice,  "  time,"  says  Mr.  Forbes, 
"  was  marked  out  as  by  a  shadow  on  a  dial, 
and  the  unequivocal  evidence  which  I  ob- 
tained, that  even  while  walking  on  a  glacier 
we  are,  day  by  day,  and  hour  by  hour,  im- 
perceptibly carried  on  by  the  resistless  flow 
of  the  icy  stream,  filled  me  with  admira- 
tion."— LYELL  Geology,  ch.  15,  p.  224.  (A., 
1854.) 

1 145.  EXPERIMENT  CONFIRMS  THE- 
ORY— Galileo  with  Telescope  Verifies  Reason- 
ings of  Copernicus — Jupiter  with  His  Satel- 
lites a  Little  Universe. — In  1609  Galileo  con- 
structed his  telescope,  and  very  soon  discov- 
ered the  satellites  of  Jupiter.  This  at  once 
confirmed  the  Copernican  theory,  by  opening 
before  the  eyes  of  men  another  system, 
subordinate  to  the  solar,  of  heavenly  bodies 
revolving  about  their  primaries,  thus  giving 
an  analogon  of  the  greater.  The  subsequent 
discovery  by  the  same  instrument  of  the 
phases  of  Venus  at  once  confirmed  the  new 
theory  of  the  revolution  of  the  planets  about 
the  sun,  and  answered  an  objection  against 
it  by  explaining  why  Venus  did  not  appear 
larger  when  nearer  the  beholder.  Coperni- 
cus furnished  the  suggestion  by  reflecting  on 
the  known  fact  that  the  apparent  places  of 
objects  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  motion 
of  one  or  both,  and  that  the  solution  or  the- 
ory which  w*as  the  simplest  was  to  be  pre- 
ferred. Galileo,  by  his  telescope,  prepared 
the  way  for  the  experiment  by  enabling  ob- 
servers, in  a  certain  sense,  to  observe  for 
themselves  which  moved — the  sun  or  the 
earth. — PORTER  Human  Intellect,  pt.  iii,  ch. 
8,  p.  477.  (S.,  1899.) 

1146. Insectivorous  Plants 

"Fed"  and  "Starved" — Rapid  Growth 
Due  to  Animal  Food. — Since  the  publica- 
tion of  the  first  edition,  several  experiments 
have  been  made  to  determine  whether  in- 
sectivorous plants  are  able  to  profit  by  an 
animal  diet. 

My  experiments  were  published  in  Lin- 
nean  Society's  Journal,  and  almost  simul- 
taneously the  results  of  Kellermann  and 
Von  Raumer  were  given  in  the  Botanische 
Zeitung.  My  experiments  were  begun  in 
June,  1877,  when  the  plants  were  collected 
and  planted  in  six  ordinary  soup-plates. 
Each  plate  was  divided  by  a  low  partition 
into  two  sets,  and  the  least  flourishing  half 
of  each  culture  was  selected  to  be  "  fed," 
while  the  rest  of  the  plants  were  destined  to 


Weight  (without  flower-stems) . . 

Number  of  flower-stems , 

Weight  of  stems 

Number  of  capsules 

Total  calculated  weight  of  seed. . , 
Total  calculated  number  of  seeds 


be  "  starved."  The  plants  were  prevented 
from  catching  insects  for  themselves  by 
means  of  a  covering  of  fine  gauze,  so  that 
the  only  animal  food  which  they  obtained 
was  supplied  in  very  minute  pieces  of  roast 
meat  given  to  the  "  fed  "  plants,  but  with- 
held from  the  "  starved  "  ones.  After  only 
ten  days  the  difference  between  the  "  fed  " 
and  "  starved  "  plants  was  clearly  visible : 
the  fed  plants  were  of  brighter  green,  and 
the  tentacles  of  a  more  lively  red.  At  the 
end  of  August  the  plants  were  compared  by 
number,  weight,  and  measurement,  with  the 
following  striking  results : 

Starved.  Fed. 
100  121.5 
100  164.9 
100  231.9 
100  194.4 
100  379.7 
100  241.5 

— DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants  (addition  by 
FRANCIS  DARWIN),  ch.  1,  p.  15.  (A.,  1900.) 

1147.     Scientific  Assur- 
ance Fulfilled. — By  way  of  experiment,  the 
sinking  of  a  well  was  commenced  at  Paris 
in  1834,  which  had  reached,  in  November, 
1839,  a  depth  of  more  than  1,600  English 
feet,  and  yet  no  water  ascended  to  the  sur- 
face. The  government  were  persuaded  by  M. 
Arago   to    persevere,    if   necessary,    to    the 
depth  of  more  than  2,000  feet;    but  when 
they    had    descended    above    1,800    English 
feet    below    the    surface,    the    water    rose 
through    the    tube    (which    was    about    ten 
inches  in  diameter  j ,  so  as  to  discharge  half  a 
million   of   gallons   of   limpid   water   every 
twenty-four  hours.     The  temperature  of  the 
water  increased  at  the  rate  of  1°  8'  F.  for 
every  101  English  feet  as  they  went  down, 
the   result   agreeing  very  closely  with   the 
anticipations   of   the   scientific   advisers   of 
this     most     spirited     undertaking. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  16,  p.  234. 
(A.,  1854.) 

1148.  EXPERIMENT      NECESSARY 
FOR    THE    FULL    DEVELOPMENT    OF    A 
SCIENCE—  What  the  Ancients  Knew  of  Light. 
— But  other  objects  than  the  motions  of  the 
stars  attracted  the  attention  of  the  ancient 
world.     Light  was  a  familiar  phenomenon, 
and  from  the  earliest  times  we  find  men's 
minds  busy  with  the  attempt  to  render  some 
account    of    it.      But    without    experiment, 
which  belongs  to  a  later  stage  of  scientific 
development,  little  progress  could  be  made 
in  this  subject.     The  ancients,  accordingly, 
were  far  less  successful  in  dealing  with  light 
than  in  dealing  with  solar  and  stellar  mo- 
tions.    Still  they  did  make  some  progress. 
They  satisfied  themselves  that  light  moved 
in  straight  lines;    they  knew  also  that  light 
was   reflected   from   polished   surfaces,    and 
that  the  angle  of  incidence  of  the  rays  of 
light  was  equal  to  the  angle  of  reflection. 
These  two  results  of  ancient  scientific  curi- 
osity constitute  the  starting-point  of  [mod- 
ern scientific  knowledge  on  the  subject]. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  i,  p.  5. 
(A.,  1898.) 


Experiment 
Extension 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


236 


1149.  EXPERIMENT   REFUTES    AN- 
CIENT THEORY—  Scholastic  Dictum  Shattered 
at  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa. — The  notion  of 
the  attractive  force  of  the  earth,  unchecked 
by   any  right  conception  of  the  action   of 
force  in  producing  motion,  led  the  ancients 
into  a  very  strange  error.    As  the  "  weight " 
of  a  body  is  the  expression  of  the  downward 
"  pull "  which  the  earth  exerts  upon  it,  it 
seemed  natural  to  suppose  that  the  rate  of 
the  fall  of  any  heavy  body  to  the  ground 
would  increase  in  proportion  to  that  weight, 
so  that  a  body  weighing  ten  pounds  would 
fall  ten  times  as  fast  as  a  body  weighing  one 
pound.      And    this    was    formulated    as    a 
"  law  "  by  Aristotle,  and  accepted  by  "  edu- 
cated "    mankind   as    such    for    nearly   two 
thousand  years.     .     .     .     Galileo     .      .     . 
saw  that  it  must  be  erroneous,  as  taking  no 
account  of  the  very  obvious   consideration 
that  while  the  "  pull "  of  the  earth  on  the 
weight  of  ten  pounds  is  ten  times  as  great  as 
it  is  upon  the  weight  of  one  pound,  it  has  to 
give  motion  to  ten  times  the  mass ;    so  that 
the  rates  of  fall  of  the  two  bodies  would  be 
the  same.  His  teaching  on  this  subject  being 
opposed  by  his   colleagues,   Galileo,   in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  university,  ascended 
the  Leaning  Tower,  and,  dropping  from  its 
summit    bodies    of    different    weights,    tie 
showed  that  (with  an  inconsiderable  differ- 
ence, due  to  the  resistance  of  the  air)   they 
reached  the  bottom  in  the  same  times.     As 
the  monument  of  an  experiment  which  gave 
the  death-blow  to  the  unscientific  legislation 
of  Aristotle,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
scientific  legislation  of  Newton,  the   Lean- 
ing Tower  of  Pisa,  beautiful  in  itself  as  an 
architectural  work,  has  a  far  grander  inter- 
est for  all  who  can  appreciate  this  great 
step    in    the    emancipation    of    thought. — 
CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  p.  371.     (A., 
1889.) 

1150.  EXPERIMENT    SUPERIOR   TO 
ORDINARY  OBSERVATION— Electricity  and 
Thunder-storm. — When  the  scientific  inves- 
tigator  is   inquiring  into   the   causes   of  a 
phenomenon,  he  does  not  confine  himself  to 
the  investigation  of  things  as  they  are  given 
in  ordinary  perception.     That  would  never 
take  him  to  his  goal,  -tho  he  had  at  his  com- 
mand the  experiences  of  all  time.    Thunder- 
storms have  been  recorded,  indeed  carefully 
described,  since  the  first  beginnings  of  his- 
tory;   but  what  a  storm  was  could  not  be 
explained  until  the  phenomena  of  electricity 
had   become   familiar,   until   electrical   ma- 
chines had  been  constructed  and  experiments 
made   with    them.      Then    the    matter    was 
easy.    For  when  once  the  effects  of  a  storm 
had  been  observed  and  compared  with  the 
effect  of  an  electric  spark,  the  inference  was 
plain  that  the  discharge  of  the  machine  was 
simply  a  storm  in  miniature.    What  the  ob- 
servation of  a  thousand  years  had  left  un- 
explained was  understood  in  the  light  of  a 
single      experiment. — WTJNDT      Psychology, 
lect.  1,  p.  0.    (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


1151.  EXPERIMENT    THOUGHT  DE- 
GRADING—An  aged  and  learned  professor 
of  therapeutics,  who  occupied  himself  much 
with  the  reorganization  of  the  universities, 
was  urgent  with  me  to  divide  physiology,  in 
order  to  restore  the  good  old  time;    that  I 
myself  should  lecture  on  the  really  intellec- 
tual part,  and  should  hand  over  the  lower 
experimental  part  to  a  colleague  whom  he 
regarded  as  good  enough  for  the  purpose. 
He  quite  gave  me  up  when  I  said  that  I 
myself    considered    experiments    to    be    the 
true  basis  of  science. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular 
Lectures,  lect.   5,   p.   219.      (L.   G.   &   Co., 
1898.) 

1152.  EXPERIMENTER    DIFFERS 
FROM  OBSERVER — I   do  not  question  his 
[Pouchet's]  ability  as  an  observer,  but  the 
inquiry  needed  a  disciplined  experimenter. 
This    latter    implies    not    mere    ability    to 
look  at  things  as  Nature  offers  them  to  our 
inspection,  but  to  force  her  to  show  herself 
under  conditions  prescribed  by  the  experi- 
menter himself. — TYNDALL  Floating  Matter 
of  the  Air,  p.  284.     (A.,  1895.) 

1153.  EXPERIMENTS  CUMULATIVE 

— Demonstrations  of  Science  —  Pasteur 
Traces  Fermentation  to  Living  Organisms. — 
As  in  all  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  Pas- 
teur, so  in  those  relating  to  fermentation, 
there  were  a  number  of  different  experi- 
ments which  were  performed  by  him  to  eluci- 
date the  same  point.  We  will  choose  one  of 
many  in  relation  to  fermentation.  Jf  a 
sugary  solution  of  carbonate  of  lime  is  left 
to  itself,  after  a  time  it  begins  to  effervesce, 
carbonic  acid  is  evolved,  and  lactic  acid  is 
formed;  and  this  latter  decomposes  the  car- 
bonate of  lime  to  form  lactate  of  lime.  This 
lactic  acid  is  formed,  so  to  speak,  at  the 
expense  of  the  sugar,  which  little  by  little 
disappears.  Pasteur  demonstrated  the  cause 
of  this  transformation  of  suga'r  into  lactic 
acid  to  be  a  thin  layer  of  organic  matter  con- 
sisting of  extremely  small  moving  organ- 
isms. If  these  be  withheld  or  destroyed  in 
the  fermenting  fluid,  fermentation  will 
cease.  If  a  trace  of  this  gray  material  be 
introduced  into  sterile  milk  or  sterile  solu- 
tion of  sugar,  the  same  process  is  set  up, 
and  lactic  acid  fermentation  occurs. — NEW- 
MAN Bacteria,  ch.  4,  p.  112.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

1154.  EXPERT,   INTUITION  OF— Ac- 
cumulated Associations  from  Long  Experi- 
ence.— Saturated  with  experience  of  a  par- 
ticular class  of  materials,  an  expert  intui- 
tively feels  whether  a  newly  reported  fact  is 
probable  or  not,  whether  a  proposed  hypoth- 
esis  is   worthless    or   the   reverse.     He   in- 
stinctively knows  that,  in  a  novel  case,  this 
and  not  that  will  be  the  promising  course  of 
action.     The   well-known  story  of  the   old 
judge  advising  the  new  one  never  to  give 
reasons  for  his  decisions — "the  decisions  will 
probably  be  right,  the  reasons  will  surely  be 
wrong" — illustrates  this.     The  doctor  will 


237 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Experiment 
extension 


feel  that  the  patient  is  doomed,  the  dentist 
will  have  a  premonition  that  the  tooth  will 
break,  tho  neither  can  articulate  a  reason 
for  his  foreboding.  The  reason  lies  embedded, 
but  not  yet  laid  bare,  in  all  the  countless 
previous  cases  dimly  suggested  by  the  actual 
one,  all  calling  up  the  same  conclusion, 
which  the  adept  thus  finds  himself  swept  on 
to,  he  knows  not  how  or  why. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  365.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1155.  EXPLORATION    OF    ANCIENT 
GEOLOGIC  LANDS   AND   SEAS  -A   Future 
in  the  Study  of  the  Past. — As  the  ancient 
geographers  were  laying  the  foundation  for 
all   our   modern  knowledge   of  the   present 
conformation  of   the  globe,   so   are  the  ge- 
ologists of  the  nineteenth  century  preparing 
the  ground  for  future  investigators,  whose 
work  will  be  as  far  in  advance  of  theirs  as 
are  the  delineations  of  Carl  Hitter,  the  great 
master  of  physical  geography  in  our  age,  in 
advance  of  the  map  drawn  by  the  old  Alex- 
andrian   geographer.      We    shall    have    our 
geological  explorers  and  discoverers  in  the 
lands  and  seas  of  past  times,  as  we  have 
had   in  those    of  the  present — our    Colum- 
buses,  our  Captain  Cooks,  our  Livingstones 
in  geology,  as  we  have  had  in  geography. 
There  are  undiscovered  continents  and  riv- 
ers and  inland  seas  in  the   past  world  to 
exercise  the  ingenuity,  courage,  and  perse- 
verance of  men,  after  they  shall  have  solved 
all   the  problems,   sounded   all   the   depths, 
and    scaled   all  the   heights    of  the    present 
surface   of   the   earth. — AGASSIZ    Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  97.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

1156.  EXPLORATION  OF  DEEP  SEA 

— Required  Governmental  Aid — Science  De- 
mands Concentration  of  Human  Power. — 
But  the  men  of  science  fifty  years  ago,  push- 
ing their  inquiries  as  to  the  character  of  the 
sea-fauna  into  deeper  and  deeper  water,  at 
length  demanded  information  as  to  the  ex- 
istence of  forms  of  animal  life  in  the  great- 
est depths.  Unable  themselves  to  bear  the 
heavy  expenses  involved  in  such  an  investi- 
gation, they  sought  for  and  obtained  the  as- 
sistance of  the  government,  in  the  form  of 
national  ships,  for  the  work,  and  then  our 
knowledge  of  the  depths  of  the  great  ocean 
may  be  said  to  have  commenced. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  pref.,  p.  8.  (A., 

1157.  EXPORTATION  OF  PRODUCTS 
AND  EXHAUSTION  OF  SOIL— Home  Market 
Permits    Replacement — Poverty    of    Merely 
Agricultural     Communities. — The     exporta- 
tion of  agricultural  products  becomes,  there- 
fore, a  slow  but  certain  method  of  securing 
soil  exhaustion,   and  this  accounts  for  the 
fact   that   countries,    or    those    portions    of 
countries,  which  are  devoted  to  almost  ex- 
clusive agricultural  pursuits,  thus  causing 
a    continuous    exportation    of    agricultural 
products,  become  the  homes,  not  of  the  rich- 
est, but  of  the  poorest  communities. 


It  would  be  useless  to  deny,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  our  own  country,  with  a  soil 
enriched  by  centuries  of  accumulating  ni- 
trogen, has  grown  rich  from  its  agricultural 
exports.  But  when  the  last  of  our  virgin 
soil  shall  have  been  placed  under  cultiva- 
tion, a  continuous  stream  of  such  exports 
will  certainly  impoverish  the  nation,  and 
reduce  all  who  practise  such  agriculture  to 
the  condition  which  has  already  been  reached 
by  those  who  have  for  years  grown  tobacco, 
corn,  cotton,  and  wheat  oh  the  same  soil, 
and  sold  the  products  without  paying  back 
to  the  field  the  percentage  of  profits  which 
was  its  due. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer  who  is  for- 
tunate enough  to  be  permitted  to  patronize 
the  home  market,  wrho  sells  his  maize  and 
takes  home  a  load  of  manure,  adds  not  only 
to  the' plethora  of  his  purse,  but  also  to  the 
fertility  of  his  soil. 

Thus  in  the  light  of  agricultural  chemis- 
try we  see  clearly  the  deep  scientific  basis 
of  the  teachings  of  political  economy  which 
show  the  value  of  the  home  market.  Whiley 
therefore,  the  statement  made  at  the  com- 
mencement of  this  address,  that  the  chief 
factor  in  the  prosperity  of  a  country  is  its 
agriculture,  remains  in  every  sense  true,  yet 
from  the  data  discussed  it  as  readily  ap- 
pears that  agricultural  prosperity  is  most 
intimately  connected  with  the  advancement 
of  every  other  industry.  Agricultural 
chemistry  teaches  the  farmer  to  welcome  the 
furnace  and  the  mill,  for  in  their  proximity 
he  secures  a  sure  return  to  his  fields  of  the 
plant-foods  removed  in  his  crops. — WILEY 
Economical  Aspects  of  Agricultural  Chemis- 
try (Proceedings  of  the  Amer.  Assoc.  for 
Advancement  of  Science,  vol.  xxxv). 

1158.  EXTENSION  OF  INDIVIDUAL- 
ITY—Clothing  Is  Almost  Part  of  Self.— The 
body  is  the  innermost  part  of  the  material 
self  in  each  of  us;    and  certain  parts  of  the 
body  seem  more  intimately  ours  than  the 
rest.     The  clothes  come  next.     The  old  say- 
ing that  the  human  person  is  composed  of 
three    parts — soul,    body,    and    clothes — is 
more  than  a  joke.     We  so  appropriate  our 
clothes   and    identify   ourselves    with    them 
that  there  are  few  of  us  who,  if  asked  to 
choose  between  having  a  beautiful  body  clad 
in  raiment  perpetually  shabby  and  unclean, 
and  having  an  ugly  and  blemished  form  al- 
ways spotlessly  attired,  would  not  hesitate  a 
moment  before  making  a  decisive  reply. — 
JAMES   Psychology,  vol.   i,    ch.    10,   p.   292. 
(H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1159.  EXTENSION  OF  KNOWLEDGE 
THROUGH    CONTACT    WITH    EXTERNAL 
WORLD— Promise  for  Future.— If  art  may 
be  said  to  dwell  within  the  magic  circle  of 
the   imagination,   the   extension    of    knowl- 
edge, on  the  other  hand,  especially  depends 
on  contact  with  the  external  world,  and  this 
becomes   more   manifold   and   close   in   pro- 
portion with  the  increase  of  general  inter- 
course.    The  creation   of  new  organs    (in- 


Extension 
Extravagances 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


struments  of  observation)  increases  the  in- 
tellectual and  not  unfrequently  the  physical 
powers  of  man.  More  rapid  than  light,  the 
closed  electric  current  conveys  thought  and 
will  to  the  remotest  distance.  Forces,  whose 
silent  operation  in  elementary  nature,  and 
in  the  delicate  cells  of  organic  tissues,  still 
escape  our  senses,  will,  when  recognized, 
employed,  and  awakened  to  higher  activity, 
at  some  future  time  enter  within  the  sphere 
of  the  endless  chain  of  means  which  enable 
man  to  subject  to  his  control  separate  do- 
mains of  Nature,  and  to  approximate  to  a 
more  animated  recognition  of  the  universe 
as  a  whole. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii, 
pt.  ii,  p.  355.  (H.,  1897.) 

1160.  EXTENSION  OF  SUGGESTION 

— From  Waves  of  Sound  to  Waves  of  Light 
— The  Luminiferous  Ether — A  Priori  Judg- 
ment of  the  Creator's  Will. — It  was  known 
long  ago  that  sound  is  conveyed  in  waves 
or  pulses  through  the  air;  and  no  sooner 
was  this  truth  well  housed  in  the  mind 
than  it  was  transformed  into  a  theoretic 
conception.  It  was  supposed  that  light,  like 
sound,  might  also  be  the  product  of  wave- 
motion.  But  what,  in  this  case,  could  be 
the  material  forming  the  waves?  For  the 
waves  of  sound  we  have  the  air  of  our  at- 
mosphere; but  the  stretch  of  imagination 
which  filled  all  space  with  a  luminiferous 
ether  trembling  with  the  waves  of  light  was 
so  bold  as  to  shock  cautious  minds.  In  one 
of  my  latest  conversations  with  Sir  David 
Brewster,  he  said  to  me  that  his  chief  ob- 
jection to  the  undulatory  theory  of  light 
was  that  he  could  not  think  the  Creator 
guilty  of  so  clumsy  a  contrivance  as  the  fill- 
ing of  space  with  ether  in  order  to  produce 
light.  This,  I  may  say,  is  very  dangerous 
ground,  and  the  quarrel  of  science  with  Sir 
David,  on  this  point,  as  with  many  esti- 
mable persons  on  other  points,  is,  that  they 
profess  to  know  too  much  about  the  mind 
of  the  Creator. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  48.  (A.,  1898.) 

1161.  EXTENSION    OF    THE    SPEC- 
TRUM—  The  Invisible  Outnumber  the  Visible 
Rays. — A  layman  would  suppose  that  the 
endeavors  of  physicists  to  lengthen  out  the 
visible  spectrum  would  cease  with  the  very 
considerable    additions    due    to    the    direct 
photography  of  rays  ultraviolet  and  ultra- 
red.     But  the  lay  mind  knows  little  of  the 
persistence  and  address  of  the  accomplished 
physicist,  and  can  only  marvel  at  the  mode 
in  which  he  summons  fresh  resources  from 
points  of  the  compass  at  first  seeming  the 
farthest    removed    from    his    task. 

Prof.  S.  P.  Langley,  Secretary  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  at  Washington,  has  re- 
fined the  galvanometer  into  an  appliance 
which  he  styles  the  bolometer.  Its  delicate 
wire,  much  thinner  than  a  human  hair, 
through  which  an  electric  current  constant- 
ly passes,  and  sensitive  to  much  less  than 
the  ten-millionth  of  a  degree  centigrade, 
is  moved  by  minute  steps  through  the  in- 


visible areas  of  the  solar  spectrum;  each 
indication  of  temperature,  automatically 
photographed,  comes  out  as  a  line  which 
varies  in  depth  of  tone  with  the  intensity 
of  the  thermal  ray.  When  the  device  has 
finished  its  journey  the  larger  part  of  the 
whole  breadth  of  solar  radiation  rises  to 
view — in  all  fifteen  times  as  extensive  as 
the  spectrum  which  Newton  saw. — ILES 
Flame,  Electricity,  and  the  Camera,  ch. 
24,  p.  346.  (D.  &  McC.,  1900.) 

1162.  EXTERMINATION  BY  DIVER- 
SION OF  SUPPLIES—  Willows  on  Bank  De- 
stroy Watercress  in  Stream. — A  curious  ex- 
ample of  the  struggle  between  plants  has 
been    communicated    to    me    by    Mr.    John 
Ennis,    a   resident   in   New   Zealand.     The 
English   watercress    grows    so     luxuriantly 
in  that  country  as  to  completely  choke  up 
the  rivers,  sometimes  leading  to  disastrous 
floods,    and    necessitating   great    outlay    to 
keep  the  stream  open.     But  a  natural  rem- 
edy has  now  been   found  in  planting  wil- 
lows on  the  banks.    The  roots  of  these  trees 
penetrate  the  bed  of  the  stream  in  every 
direction,  and  the  watercress,  unable  to  ob- 
tain the  requisite  amount  of  nourishment, 
gradually    disappears. — WALLACE    Darwin- 
ism, ch.  2,  p.  17.     (Hum.,  1889.) 

1 163.  EXTERMINATION  OF  GAME  BY 
MODERN  WEAPONS— Survival  of  Hunting  as 
ran  Amusement. — The  modern  hunter  has  a 

vastly  increased  power  of  killing  game, 
from  the  use  of  firearms  instead  of  the 
bow  and  spear  which  came  down  from  sav- 
age times.  The  effect  of  bringing  in  guns 
is  seen  among  the  native  American  buffalo- 
hunters.  They  were  always  reckless  in 
destruction  when  they  once  came  within 
reach  of  the  herds,  but  now  with  the  help 
of  the  white  man  and  the  use  of  his  rifles 
there  is  such  slaughter  that  travelers  have 
found  the  ground  and  air  for  miles  foul 
with  the  carcasses  of  buffaloes,  killed  merely 
for  the  hides  and  tongues.  In  the  civilized 
world,  what  with  killing  off  game,  and  what 
with  the  encroachment  of  agriculture  on  the 
wild  lands,  both  the  supply  and  the  need 
of  game  for  man's  subsistence  have  much 
lessened.  But  the  hunter's  life  has  been 
from  the  earliest  times  man's  school  of  en- 
durance and  courage,  where  success  and 
even  trial  gives  pleasure  in  one  of  its  in- 
tensest  forms.  Thus  it  has  come  to  be  kept 
up  artificially  where  its  practical  use  has 
fallen  away.  In  civilized  countries  it  is 
seen  at  its"  best  where  it  keeps  closest  to 
barbaric  fatigue  and  danger,  like  grouse- 
shooting  in  Scotland,  or  boar-hunting  in 
Austria;  but  at  its  meanest,  where  it  has 
come  down  to  shooting  grain-fed  pheasants 
as  tame  as  barn-door  fowls. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  9,  p.  210.  (A.,  1899.) 

1164.  EXTERMINATION  OF  PLANT 
BY  PLANT  (Matt,  ariii,   7)— If  turf  which 
has   long  been   mown — and  the  case   would 
be  the  same  with  turf  closely  browsed  by 
quadrupeds — be  let  to  grow,  the  more  vig- 


239 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Extension 
Extravagances 


orous  plants  gradually  kill  the  less  vigor- 
ous tho  fully  grown  plants ;  thus  out 
of  twenty  species  grown  on  a  little  plot  of 
mown  turf  (three  feet  by  four)  nine  species 
perished,  from  the  other  species  being  al- 
lowed to  grow  up  freely. — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  63.  (Burt.) 

1165.  EXTINCTION   OF    BISON—  At- 
tempts to  Avert. — The  buffalo  should  be  a 
very    interesting    animal    to    all    American 
citizens    on    account    of   the    great    danger 
which  exists  of  its  becoming  utterly  extinct. 
Only  thirty-one  years  ago  they  still  num- 
bered several  millions,  more  than  five  mil- 
lions  at   the   least,  whereas   in    1889   there 
were  but  some  twenty  individuals  in  Texas, 
a  few  in  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana,  and 
Dakota,  and  two  hundred  preserved  by  the 
Government    in    the    Yellowstone    National 
Park.     We  have,  however,  recently  been  as- 
sured that  some  private  individual  citizens 
in  the  United  States  are  trying  to  preserve 
and  propagate  the  buffalo.     Canada,  which 
now  exhibits  such  interesting  examples  of 
political   and    social   "  survival,"   has   been 
practically  conservative  as  regards  the  bi- 
son, since  it  appears  that  some  500  individ- 
uals of  a  race  known  as  the  wood-bison  still 
survive    there. — MIVART    Types    of   Animal 
Life,  ch.  7,  p.  178.    (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

1 1 66.  EXTINCTION  OF  OTHER  SUNS 

— A  Like  Fate  Awaits  Our  Own. — In  other 
cases  obscure  heavenly  bodies  have  discov- 
ered themselves  by  their  attraction  on  ad- 
jacent bright  stars,  and  the  motions  of  the 
latter  thereby  produced.  Thus  there  are 
extinct  suns.  The  fact  that  there  are  such 
lends  new  weight  to  the  reasons  which  per- 
mit us  to  conclude  that  our  sun  also  is  a 
body  which  slowly  gives  out  its  store  of 
heat,  and  thus  will  some  time  become  ex- 
tinct.— HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect. 
4,  p.  190.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1167.  EXTINCTION  OF  OUR  SUN— 

Brevity  of  Human  Existence — Insignificance 
of  Man.  —  The  term  of  17,000,000  years 
which  I  have  given  may  perhaps  become 
considerably  prolonged  by  the  gradual 
abatement  of  radiation,  by  the  new  accre- 
tion of  falling  meteors,  and  by  still  greater 
condensation  than  that  which  I  have  as- 
sumed in  that  calculation.  But  we  know 
of  no  natural  process  which  could  spare 
our  sun  the  fate  which  has  manifestly  fall- 
en upon  other  suns.  This  is  a  thought 
which  we  only  reluctantly  admit;  it  seems 
to  us  an  insult  to  the  beneficent  Creative 
Power  which  we  otherwise  find  at  work  in 
organisms  and  especially  in  living  ones. 
But  we  must  reconcile  ourselves  to  the 
thought  that,  however  we  may  consider  our- 
selves to  be  the  center  and  final  object  of 
creation,  we  are  but  as  dust  on  the  earth ; 
which  again  is  but  a  speck  of  dust  in  the 
immensity  of  space;  and  the  previous  du- 
ration of  our  race,  even  if  we  follow  it  far 
beyond  our  written  history,  into  the  era  of 
the  lake-dwellings  or  of  the  mammoth,  is 


but  an  instant  compared  with  the  primeval 
times  of  our  planet  when  living  beings  ex- 
isted upon  it  whose  strange  and  unearthly 
remains  still  gaze  at  us  from  their  ancient 
tombs;  and  far  more  does  the  duration  of 
our  race  sink  into  insignificance  compared 
with  the  enormous  periods  during  which 
worlds  have  been  in  process  of  formation, 
and  wTill  still  continue  to  form  when  our 
sun  is  extinguished,  and  our  earth  is  either 
solidified  in  cold  or  is  united  with  the  ig- 
nited central  body  of  our  system. — HELM- 
HOLTZ Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  191. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1168.  EXTINCTION    OF    SPECIES— 

Fossils  Show  a  Succession  of  Types. — First, 
in  regard  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  living 
creation,  all  are  agreed  that  the  sedimen- 
tary strata  found  in  the  earth's  crust  are 
divisible  into  a  variety  of  groups,  more  or 
less  dissimilar  in  their  organic  remains 
and  mineral  composition.  The  conclusion 
universally  drawn  from  the  study  and 
comparison  of  these  fossiliferous  groups  is 
this,  that  at  successive  periods  distinct 
tribes  of  animals  and  plants  have  inhabited 
the  land  and  waters,  and  that  the  organic 
types  of  the  newer  formations  are  more 
analogous  to  species  now  existing  than  those 
of  more  ancient  rocks.  If  we  then  turn  to 
the  present  state  of  the  animate  creation, 
and  inquire  whether  it  has  now  become 
fixed  and  stationary,  we  discover  that,  on 
the  contrary,  it  is  in  a  state  of  continual 
flux — that  there  are  many  causes  in  action 
which  tend  to  the  extinction  of  species,  and 
which  are  conclusive  against  the  doctrine 
of  their  unlimited  durability.  But  natural 
history  has  been  successfully  cultivated  for 
so  short  a  period  that  a  few  examples  only 
of  local,  and  perhaps  but  one  or  two  of 
absolute,  extirpation  can  as  yet  be  proved, 
and  these  only  where  the  interference  of 
man  has  been  conspicuous.  It  will  never- 
theless appear  evident  .  .  .  that  man 
is  not  the  only  exterminating  agent;  and 
that,  independently  of  his  intervention,  the 
annihilation  of  species  is  promoted  by  the 
multiplication  and  gradual  diffusion  of  ev- 
ery animal  or  plant. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  13,  p.  181.  (A.,  1854.) 

1 1 69.  EXTRAVAGANCES  OF  NATURE 

— Possibilities  of  Existence  Outrun  Imag- 
ination.— "  Do  not  be  deterred,"  said  Agas- 
siz,  in  the  course  of  one  of  the  interviews 
in  which  he  obligingly  indulged  the  writer 
of  these  chapters,  who  had  mentioned  to 
him  that  one  of  his  opinions,  just  confirmed 
by  the  naturalist,  had  seemed  so  extraor- 
dinary that  he  had  been  almost  afraid  to 
communicate  it — "  do  not  be  deterred,  if 
you  have  examined  minutely,  by  any  dread 
of  being  deemed  extravagant.  The  possi- 
bilities of  existence  run  so  deeply  into  the 
extravagant  that  there  is  scarcely  any  con- 
ception too  extraordinary  for  Nature  to  re- 
alize."— MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sandstone, 
ch.  3,  p.  52.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 


Extremes 
Fact 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


240 


1 1 7  O .  EXTREMES  MEETING— Ice  Pre- 
served under  Molten  Rock. — A  thick  lava- 
stream  must  take  an  enormous  period  to 
cool  down — probably  many  hundreds  or  even 
thousands  of  years.  It  is  possible  to  walk 
over  lava-streams  in  which  at  a  few  inches 
below  the  surface  the  rock  is  still  red-hot, 
so  that  a  piece  of  stick  is  lighted  if  thrust 
into  a  crack.  Lava  is  a  very  bad  conductor 
of  heat,  and  loose  scoriae  and  dust  are  still 
worse  conductors.  During  the  eruption  of 
Vesuvius  in  1872,  masses  of  snow  which 
were  covered  with  a  thick  layer  of  scoriae, 
and  afterwards  by  a  stream  of  lava,  were 
found  three  years  afterwards  consolidated 
into  ice,  but  not  melted.  The  city  of  Ca- 
tania is  constantly  supplied  with  ice  from 
masses  of  snow  which  have  been  buried 
under  the  ejections  of  Etna. — JUDD  Vol- 
canoes, ch.  4,  p.  110.  (A.,  1899.) 

1171.  EXTREMES    OF    TEMPERA- 
TURE IN  AMERICA— In   China— "Insular 
Climates"    vs.    "Excessive    Climates." — In 
consequence  of  the  more  equal  temperature 
of  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  the  climate  of  is- 
lands and  of  coasts  differs  essentially  from 
that  of  the  interior  of  continents,  the  more 
maritime    climate    being    characterized    by 
mild  winters  and  more  temperate  summers ; 
for  the  sea-breezes  moderate  the  cold  of  win- 
ter as  well  as  the  heat  of  summer.     When, 
therefore,  we  trace  round  the  globe  those 
belts  in  which  the  mean  annual  temperature 
is  the  same,  we  often  find  great  differences 
in  climate;    for  there  are  insular  climates 
in  which  the  seasons  are  nearly  equalized, 
and  excessive  climates,  as  they  have  been 
termed,   where   the   temperature   of  winter 
and   summer   is   strongly   contrasted.     The 
whole  of  Europe,  compared  with  the  eastern 
parts  of  America  and  Asia,  has  an  insular 
climate.     The  northern  part  of  China,  and 
the  Atlantic  region  of  the  United   States, 
exhibit   "  excessive  climates."     We  find  at 
New  York,  says  Humboldt,  the  summer  of 
Rome    and   the  winter   of   Copenhagen;    at 
Quebec,  the  summer  of  Paris  and  the  winter 
of  Petersburg.     At  Peking,  in  China,  where 
the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  is  that 
of   the    coasts    of   Brittany,    the    scorching 
heats  of  summer  are  greater  than  at  Cairo, 
and  the  winters  as  rigorous  as  at  Upsala. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7, 
p.  94.      (A.,  1854.) 

1172.  EXTREMES,  OPPOSITE,  HAVE 
SIMILAR  EFFECTS— Drought  Produces  Tor- 
por  Like    Cold  —  Crocodile  —  Boa-constrict- 
or.— Gradually,    too,    the    pools    of    water, 
which  had  been  protected  from  evaporation 
by  the  now  seared  foliage  of  the  fan-palm, 
disappear.     As  in  the  icy  North,  animals 
become  torpid  from  cold,  so  here  the  croco- 
dile and  the  boa-constrictor  lie  wrapped  in 
unbroken  sleep,  deeply  buried  in  the  dried 
soil.      Everywhere    the    drought    announces 
death,    yet    everywhere    the   thirsting  wan- 
derer is  deluded  by  the  phantom  of  a  mov- 
ing, undulating,  watery  surface,  created  by 


the  deceptive  play  of  the  reflected  rays  of 
light  ( the  mirage ) .  A  narrow  stratum  sep- 
arates the  ground  from  the  distant  palm- 
trees,  which  seem  to  hover  aloft,  owing  to 
the  contact  of  currents  of  air  having  differ- 
ent degrees  of  heat  and  therefore  of  den- 
sity. Shrouded  in  dark  clouds  of  dust,  and 
tortured  by  hunger  and  burning  thirst,  oxen 
and  horses  scour  the  plain,  the  one  bellow- 
ing dismally,  the  other  with  outstretched 
necks  snuffing  the  wind,  in  the  endeavor 
to  detect,  by  the  moisture  in  the  air,  the 
vicinity  of  some  pool  of  water  not  yet 
wholly  evaporated. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of 
Nature,  p.  14.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1173. Thirst  in  Arctic 

Snow-fields,  as  in  Sahara.— Their  [the  Es- 
kimos'] drink  consists  of  blood  or  water: 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  they 
have  considerable  difficulty  in  obtaining 
sufficient  water  to  satisfy  their  thirst,  and 
it  is  much  too  precious  to  be  used  for  wash- 
ing. It  may  seem  surprising  that  people 
who  are  surrounded  by  snow  and  ice  should 
suffer  from  want  of  water,  but  the  amount 
of  heat  required  to  melt  snow  is  so  great 
that  a  man  without  the  means  of  obtaining 
fire  might  die  of  thirst  in  these  arctic  re- 
gions as  easily  as  in  the  sandy  deserts  of 
Africa.  Any  direct  "  resort  to  snow,"  says 
Kane,  "  for  the  purpose  of  allaying  thirst, 
was  followed  by  bloody  lips  and  tongue; 
it  burnt  like  caustic."  When  the  Eski- 
mos visited  Captain  Parry,  they  were  al- 
ways anxious  for  water,  which  they  drank 
in  such  quantities  "  that  it  was  impossible 
to  furnish  them  with  half  as  much  as  they 
desired." — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
14,  p.  476.  (A.,  1900.) 

1174.  EYE,  IMPERFECT   ACHROMA- 
TISM OF — Eyes  Differ  in  Perception  of  Color. 
— The  low  dispersive  power  of  water  masks, 
as  Helmholtz  has  remarked,  the  imperfect 
achromatism  of  the  eye.     With  the  naked 
eye  I  can  see  a  distant  blue  disk  sharply  de- 
fined, but  not  a  red  one.     I  can  also  see  the 
lines  which  mark  the  upper  and  lower  bound- 
aries of  a  horizontally  refracted  spectrum 
sharp  at  the  blue  end,  but  ill-defined  at  the 
red  end.    Projecting  a  luminous  disk  upon  a 
screen,  and  covering  one  semicircle  of  the 
aperture  with  a  red  and  the  other  with  a 
blue  or  green  glass,  the  difference  between 
the  apparent  sizes  of  the  two  semicircles  is 
in  my  case,  and  in  numerous  other  cases,  ex- 
traordinary.     Many   persons,   however,    see 
the  apparent  sizes  of  the  two  semicircles  re- 
versed.    If  with  a  spectacle-glass  I  correct 
the    dispersion    of    the   red    light   over    the 
retina,    then    the    blue    ceases    to    give    a 
sharply  defined  image.     Thus  examined  the 
departure  of  the  eye  from  achromatism  ap- 
pears very  gross  indeed. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  30.     (A.,  1898.) 

1175.  EYES  OF  DEEP-SEA  ANIMALS 

— Can  Sunlight  Reach  Them? — Within  the 
last  few  years  a  few  authors  have  main- 
tained that  it  is  quite  possible  that  a  few 


241 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


xtremes 


rays  of  sunlight  do  penetrate  even  to  the 
greatest  depths  of  the  ocean — a  view  mainly 
based  on  the  fact  that  so  many  deep-sea  ani- 
mals possess  extremely  perfect  and  compli- 
cated eyes  and  very  brilliant  color.  .  .  . 
There  seem  to  me  to  be  very  slight  grounds 
for  this  view. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  23.  (A.,  1894.) 


1176. 


Difference  in  Dif- 


ferent Zones. — In  the  majority  of  cases  [of 
deep-sea  animals]  we  find  that  the  eyes  are 
either  very  large  or  very  small.  Only  in  a 
small  minority  of  cases  do  we  find  that  the 
eyes  are  recorded  to  be  moderate  in  size. 
The  relation  between  the  large-eyed  forms 
and  the  small-eyed  forms  is  not  the  same  in 
all  the  regions  of  deep  seas.  In  depths  of 
300  to  600  fathoms  the  majority  are  large- 
eyed  forms.  In  depths  of  over  1,000  fath- 
oms, the  small-eyed  and  blind  forms  are  in 
a  majority,  altho  many  large-eyed  forms  are 
to  be  found. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  68.  (A.,  1894.) 

1177.  FABLE  FOUNDED  ON  FACT— 

Story  of  the  Avernian  Lake — Deadly  Exha- 
lations of  Volcanoes. — Many  volcanoes,  which 
have  sunk  into  a  state  of  quiescence  or  ex- 
tinction like  the  Solfatara  of  Naples,  exhibit 
the  same  tendency  to  give  off  great  quanti- 
ties of  the  powerfully  acid  gases  which  act 
upon  the  surrounding  rocks.  .  .  .  At 
the  so-called  Grotto  del  Cane,  beside  the 
Lago  Agnano,  it  is  the  custom  to  show  the 
presence  of  this  heavy  and  poisonous  gas  by 
thrusting  a  dog  into  it,  the  poor  animal 
being  revived  before  life  is  quite  extinct  by 
pouring  cold  water  over  it.  At  the  Biidos 
Hegy,  or  "  stinking  hill,"  of  Transylvania, 
carbonic  acid  and  sulfureted  hydrogen  are 
emitted  in  considerable  quantities,  and  it  is 
possible  to  take  a  bath  of  the  heavy  gas,  the 
head  being  kept  carefully  above  the  constant 
level  of  the  exhalations. 

Altho  the  stories  of  the  ancient  Avernian 
lake,  across  which  no  bird  could  fly  without 
suffocation,  and  of  the  Gu£vo  Upas,  or 
"  Poison  Valley,"  of  Java,  which  it  has  been 
said  no  living  being  can  cross,  may  not  im- 
probably be  exaggerations  of  the  actual 
facts,  yet  there  is  a  basis  of  truth  in  them 
in  the  existence  of  old  volcanic  fissures  and 
craters  which  evolve  the  poisonous  sulfu- 
reted hydrogen  and  carbonic  acid  gases. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  8,  p.  214.  (A.,  1899.) 

1178.  FABLES  ABOUT  ORANG— The 

orang  never  stands  on  its  hind  legs,  and  all 
the  pictures  representing  it  as  so  doing  are 
as  false  as  the  assertion  that  it  defends  it- 
self with  sticks  and  the  like. — HUXLEY 
Man's  Place  in  Nature,  p.  207.  (Hum.) 

1179.  FACILITY  BECOME  A  SNARE 

— Body  Holds  Perverted  Habit — The  Motor 
Memory  a  Source  of  Difficulty  as  well  as  of 
Advantage. — It  is  by  means  of  the  motor 
memory  that  we  are  able  to  walk,  ride,  and 
skate  with  ease,  and  if  it  were  not  for  it  we 
should  have  the  movement  cease  directly 


the  attention  was  suspended  or  temporarily 
transferred  to  some  other  object.  Occa- 
sionally, the  motor  memory  is  found  incon- 
venient, on  account  of  its  having  become  so 
firmly  established  in  an  erroneous  direction 
as  to  require  every  effort  of  the  will  to  over- 
come it  and  establish  a  new  action.  Every 
teacher  of  dancing,  riding,  or  boxing  knows 
how  difficult  it  is  to  break  a  pupil  of  any 
habit  he  may  have  formed.  A  boxer,  for 
instance,  who  has  for  some_considerable  time 
raised  his  right  arm  every  time  he  strikes 
with  the  left,  will  find  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  striking  with  the  left  and  keeping  the 
right  still.  Examples  might  be  given  from 
all  classes  of  coordinated  actions,  there  be- 
ing often  more  trouble  in  unlearning  some 
erroneous  movement  than  would  have  been 
required  to  learn  the  new  one  two  or  three 
times  over. — ELDRIDGE-GREEN  Memory  and 
Its  Cultivation,  pt.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  26.  (A., 
1900.) 

1180.  FACT   NEEDED   TO  CORRECT 
THEORY— Descartes  Supposed  Transmission 
of  Light  Instantaneous — Ingenious  Illustra- 
tion of  a  Staff. — Descartes  imagined  space 
to  be  filled  with  something  that  transmitted 
light  instantaneously.     Firstly,  because,  in 
his  experience,  no  measurable  interval  was 
known  to  exist  between  the  appearance  of 
a  flash  of  light,  however  distant,  and  its 
effect    upon    consciousness;    and    secondly, 
because,  as  far  as  his  experience  went,  no 
physical  power  is  conveyed  from  place  to 
place  without  a  vehicle.     But  his  imagina- 
tion helped   itself   farther  by   illustrations 
drawn  from  the  world  of  fact.     "  When," 
he  says,  "  one  walks  in  darkness  with  staff 
in  hand,  the  moment  the  distant  end  of  the 
staff  strikes  an  obstacle  the  hand  feels  it. 
This    explains    what    might    otherwise    be 
thought  strange,  that  the  light  reaches  us 
instantaneously  from  the  sun.     I  wish  thee 
to  believe  that  light  in  the  bodies  that  we 
call  luminous  is  nothing  more  than  a  very 
brisk  and  violent  motion,  which,  by  means 
of  the  air  and  other  transparent  media,  is 
conveyed  to  the  eye  exactly  as  the  shock 
through  the  walking-stick  reaches  the  hand 
of  a  blind  man.    This  is  instantaneous,  and 
would  be  so  even  if  the  intervening  distance 
were  greater  than  that  between  earth  and 
heaven.     It  is  therefore  no  more  necessary 
that  anything  material  should  reach  the  eye 
from  the  luminous  object  than  that  some- 
thing should  be  sent  from  the  ground  to 
the  hand  of  the  blind  man  when  he  is  con- 
scious of  the  shock  of  his  staff."     The  cele- 
brated Robert  Hooke  first  threw  doubt  upon 
this  notion  of  Descartes,  but  afterwards  sub- 
stantially espoused  it.    The  belief  in  instan- 
taneous transmission  was  destroyed  by  the 
discovery  of  Homer   [of  the  measurable  ve- 
locity   of    light].  —  TYNDALL    Lectures    on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  44.     (A.,  1898.) 

1181.  FACT  SURPASSES  THEORY— 

Life  in  Torrid  Heat  and  Arctic  Cold — Life 
in  Other  Worlds. — For  instance,  if  we  did 


Fact 
Failure 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


242 


not  know  that  the  torrid  zone  was  inhab- 
ited, and  could  not  visit  that  region,  but 
knew  nevertheless  how  tremendous  the  heat 
is  there,  how  short  the  interval  from  great- 
est to  least  heat,  and  so  on,  how  ready  we 
should  be  to  believe  that  neither  animal  nor 
vegetable  life  can  exist  there.  And  in  like 
manner  as  to  the  arctic  regions.  Supposing 
we  knew  only  that  there  are  parts  of  the 
earth  where  the  sun  is  sometimes  unseen 
for  several  successive  weeks,  and  sometimes 
remains  without  setting  for  as  long  a  pe- 
riod, while  even  in  the  heart  of  summer  a 
cold  more  intense  than  our  bitterest  winters 
prevails,  how  startling  would  be  the  thought 
(familiar  tho  it  now  seems  to  us)  that 
there  are  not  only  living  creatures  in  the 
arctic  regions,  but  that  a  race  of  men  exists 
and  thrives  there,  even  preferring  their 
strange  abode  to  the  temperate  regions 
which  seem  to  us  so  much  more  pleasant! 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  51.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1182.  FACTS  AND  THEORIES  OF  SCI- 
ENCE TO  BE  DISCRIMINATED— In  every 
physical  science  we  have  carefully  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  facts  which  form  its 
subject-matter   and  the   theories   by  which 
we    attempt    to    explain    these    facts    and 
group  them  in  our  scientific  systems.     The 
first    alone    can    be    regarded    as    absolute 
knowledge,  and  such  knowledge  is  immuta- 
ble, except  in  so  far  as  subsequent  obser- 
vation   may    correct    previous    error.      The 
last  are,  at  best,  only  guesses  at  truth,  and, 
even  in  their  highest  development,  are  sub- 
ject to  limitations  and  liable  to  change. — 
COOKE   The  New  Chemistry,   lect.    1,   p.    1. 
(A.,  1899.) 

1183.  FACTS,  DEALING  WITH,  DIS- 
PELS ILLUSIONS— Life  Real  and  Earnest.— 
Provided  that  he  remains  undisturbed  in  his 
study,  the  purely  theoretical  inquirer  may 
smile  with  calm  contempt  when,  for  a  time, 
vanity  and  conceit  seek  to  swell  themselves 
in  science  and  stir  up  a  commotion.     Or  he 
may  consider  ancient  prejudices  to  be  in- 
teresting and  pardonable,  as  remains  of  po- 
etic romance  or  of  youthful  enthusiasm.   To 
one  who  has   to  contend  with  the  hostile 
forces  of  fact,  indifference  and  romance  dis- 
appear;  that  which  he  knows  and  can  do 
is  exposed  to  severe  tests;  he  can  only  use 
the  hard  and  clear  light  of  facts,  and  must 
give   up   the   notion   of   lulling   himself   in 
agreeable     illusions. — HELMHOLTZ     Popular 
Lectures,lect.  5,  p.  203.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1184.  FACTS  MAY  BE  TESTED  ONE 
BY  ONE— A  Hypothesis  Must  Stand  or  Fall 
as  a  Whole — Hence  Intolerance  of  Compre- 
hensive Systems. — One  characteristic  of  the 
schools  which  built  up  their  system  on  such 
hypotheses,  which  they  assumed  as  dogmas, 
is  the  intolerance  of  expression  which  I  have 
already  partially  mentioned.     One  who  works 
upon    a    well-ascertained    foundation    may 
readily    adn:it    an    error;    he    loses,   by    so 
doing,  nothing  more  than  that  in  which  he 


erred.  If,  however,  the  starting-point  has 
been  placed  upon  a  hypothesis  which  either 
appears  guaranteed  by  authority  or  is  only 
chosen  because  it  agrees  with  that  which  it 
is  wished  to  believe  true,  any  crack  may 
then  hopelessly  destroy  the  whole  fabric  of 
conviction.  The  convinced  disciples  must 
therefore  claim  for  each  individual  part 
of  such  a  fabric  the  same  degree  of  infal- 
libility; for  the  anatomy  of  Hippocrates 
just  as  much  as  for  fever  crises;  every  op- 
ponent must  only  appear  then  as  stupid  or 
depraved,  and  the  dispute  will  thus,  accord- 
ing to  old  precedent,  be  so  much  the  more 
passionate  and  personal,  the  more  uncer- 
tain is  the  basis  which  is  defended.  We 
have  frequent  opportunities  of  confirming 
these  general  rules  in  the  schools  of  dog- 
matic deductive  medicine. — HELMHOLTZ  Pop- 
ular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  213.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1898.) 

1185.  FACTS  OF  EXTERNAL  WORLD 
CORRECTIVE    OF    ILLUSIONS  —Resolution 
Can  Hold  the  Mind  to  Realities. — However 
irresistible  our   sense-illusions  may  be,   so 
long  as  we  are  under  the  sway  of  particu- 
lar impressions  or  mental  images,  we  can, 
when  resolved  to  do  so,  undeceive  ourselves 
by  carefully  attending  to  the  actual  state 
of  things  about  us.     And  in  many   cases, 
when  once  the  correction  is  made,  the  il- 
lusion seems  an  impossibility.    By  no  effort 
of  imagination  are  we  able  to  throw  our- 
selves back  into  the  illusory  mental  condi- 
tion.    So  long  as  this  power  of  dispelling 
the  illusion  remains  with  us,  we  need  not  be 
alarmed  at  the  number  and  variety  of  the 
momentary  misapprehensions  to  which  we 
are  liable. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  6,  p.   125. 
(A.,  1897.) 

1186.  FACTS  OF  PAST   IN  FRAME 
OF    PRESENT— Memory's    Unconscious   Col- 
oring.— We    tend    to    project    our    present 
modes  of  experience  into  the  past.  We  paint 
our  past  in  the  hues  of  the  present.     Thus 
we  imagine  that  things  which  impressed  us 
in  some  remote  period  of  life  must  answer 
to  what  is  impressive  in  our  present  stage 
of    mental    development.      For    example,    a 
person  recalls  a  hill  near  the  home  of  his 
childhood,   and  has  the  conviction  that  it 
was  of  great  height.    On  revisiting  the  place 
he  finds  that  the  eminence  is  quite  insig- 
nificant.    How   can   we   account   for   this? 
For  one  thing,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  to 
his  undeveloped  childish  muscles  the  climb- 
ing to  the  top  meant  a  considerable  expend- 
iture of  energy,  to  be  followed  by  a  sense 
of  fatigue.     The  man  remembers  these  feel- 
ings,   and    "  unconsciously    reasoning "    by 
present  experience,   that  is  to  say,  by  the 
amount  of  walking  which  would  now  pro- 
duce this  sense  of  fatigue,  imagines  that  the 
height  was  vastly  greater  than  it  really  was. 
Another  reason  is,  of  course,  that  a  wider 
knowledge  of  mountains  has  resulted  in  a 
great  alteration  of  the  man's   standard  of 
height. — SULLY   Illusions,    ch.    10,   p.    268. 
(A.,  1897.) 


243 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Fact 


allure 


1187.  FACTS  OF  SCIENCE  NOT  TO 
BE  FEARED — All  Real  Knowledge  Increases 

Reverence — Gives  Higher  Conceptions  of  the 
Creator's  Power  and  Wisdom. — It  is  cer- 
tainly a  legitimate  exercise  of  the  powers 
given  to  man  to  follow  out  those  paths, 
whether  well  marked  or  as  yet  little  trod- 
den, which  seem  likely  to  lead  to  new  knowl- 
edge. We  need  not  be  troubled  by  doubts 
as  to  the  way  in  which  such  paths  may  lead 
us,  so  that  they  really  lead  to  the  recogni- 
tion of  facts.  We  may  learn  many  things 
inconsistent,  perchance,  with  our  present 
ideas  as  to  the  way  in  which  it  has  pleased 
the  Almighty  to  provide  for  his  worlds. 
We  may  have  to  abandon  some  conceptions 
which  had  appeared  very  accordant  with 
the  might  and  wisdom  of  the  Creator.  But 
we  may  be  sure  of  this,  that  whatever  new 
ideas  we  may  legitimately  be  led  to  will 
prove  not  less  worthy  of  him.  Increase  of 
knowledge  of  his  universe — whether  of  its 
various  parts  or  of  the  various  periods  of 
its  history — will  enhance  our  conceptions 
of  his  power  and  wisdom,  though  still  leav- 
ing those  conceptions  infinitely  poor  and 
feeble  compared  with  the  reality. — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  174.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

1188.  FACULTIES  UNUSED,  BUT  PER- 
SISTENT—  Opossum  on  Treeless  Plains. — 
It   is    indeed    strange   to   find   this   animal 
[the  opossum]  on  the  pampas.     ...     It 
shuffles  along  slowly  and  awkwardly  on  the 
ground,  but  is  a  great  traveler  nevertheless. 
.     .     .     In  every  way  it  is  adapted  to  an 
arboreal   life,   yet   it   is   everywhere   found 
on  the  level  country,  far  removed  from  the 
conditions  which  one  would  imagine  to  be 
necessary  to  its  existence.     For  how  many 
thousands  of  years  has  this  marsupial  been 
a  dweller  on  the  plain,  all  its  best  faculties 
unexercised,    its    beautiful   grasping   hands 
pressed  to  the  ground,   and  its  prehensile 
tail   dragged   like  an  idle  rope  behind   it! 
Yet,  if  one  is  brought  to  a  tree,  it  will  take 
to  it  as  readily  as  a  duck  to  water  or  an 
armadillo  to  earth,  climbing  up  the  trunk 
and  about  the  branches  with  a  monkey-like 
agility.     How   reluctant   Nature    seems   in 
some  cases  to  undo  her  own  work!     How 
long  she  will  allow  a  specialized  organ,  with 
the  correlated  instinct,  to  rest  without  use, 
yet    ready   to    flash    forth   on   the   instant, 
bright    and   keen-edged,    as    in   the   ancient 
days  of  strife,  ages  past,  before  peace  came 
to  dwell  on  earth! — HUDSON  Naturalist  in 
La  Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  18.     (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1189.  FAILURE  ACCOMPANYING  DE- 
VELOPMENT— Child's  "Common  Sense"  De- 
clining at  Maturity. — It  may  often  be  no- 
ticed that  children  display  a  power  of  bring- 
ing "  common  sense  "  to  bear  upon  the  or- 
dinary  affairs   of  life,   which   seems   much 
beyond  that  of  their  elders ;    and  yet  a  very 
sensible  child  will  often  grow  into  a  much 
less  sensible  man.     Now  the  reason  of  this 
seems  to  be  that  the  child  perceives  the  ap- 


plication of  "  self-evident "  considerations 
to  the  case  at  issue,  without  being  embar- 
rassed by  a  number  of  other  considerations 
(perhaps  of  a  trivial  or  conventional  na- 
ture) which  distract  the  attention  and  un- 
duly influence  the  judgment  of  the  adult. 
And  the  deliverances  of  a  child's  "  common 
sense  "  thus  often  resemble  those  of  the  old 
"  court  fools  "  or  "  jesters,"  whose  function 
seems  to  have  been  to  speak  out  "  home 
truths"  which  timid  courtiers  would  not 
venture  to  utter.  Moreorer,  as  has  been 
well  remarked,  "  it  is  quite  possible  for 
minds  of  limited  power  to  manage  a  small 
range  of  experience  much  better  than  a 
large,  to  get  confused  (as  it  were)  with  re- 
sources on  too  great  a  scale,  and  therefore 
to  show  far  more  common  sense  within  the 
comparatively  limited  field  of  childish  ex- 
perience than  in  the  greater  world  of  so- 
ciety or  public  life.  This  is  probably  the 
explanation  of  a  thing  often  seen — how 
very  sagacious  people  instinctively  shrink 
from  a  field  which  their  tact  tells  them  is 
too  large  for  them  to  manage,  and  keep  to 
one  where  they  are  really  supreme." — CAR- 
PENTER Mental  Physiology }  bk.  ii,  ch.  11, 
§  383,  p.  477.  (A.,  1900.) 

1190.  FAILURE     OF     MEMORY 

THROUGH  INATTENTION— Common  Facts 
Not  Noted  by  Consciousness — Names  Help 
Recollection. — I  was  taking  a  walk  with  a 
relation  who  was  very  much  interested  in 
botany  and  anxious  to  know  the  names  of 
the  different  trees  and  plants.  So  I  went 
up  an  avenue  (where  nearly  every  second 
tree  was  a  plane-tree),  and  pointed  out  the 
various  trees  and  shrubs,  mentioning  their 
names,  but  taking  no  notice  of  the  plane- 
trees.  I  then  turned  into  a  side  avenue 
of  a  similar  character,  and,  having  reached 
the  center  of  it,  stopped  in  front  of  a  plane- 
tree,  and  asked,  "  Have  you  ever  seen  a  simi- 
lar tree  to  that  before?"  and  received  the 
answer  I  expected :  "  No,  I  think  that  must 
be  a  very  rare  tree.  I  don't  remember  ever 
having  seen  one  like  it  before."  We  were  irf 
sight  of  two  or  three  dozen  at  the  time,  and 
the  great  surprise  expressed  at  finding  every 
other  tree  a  plane  was  amusing. 

The  reason  I  chose  a  plane-tree  was  that 
very  few  people  know  a  plane-tree,  and  so 
that  great  combiner  of  impressions,  a  name, 
was  absent. — ELDRIDGE-GREEN  Memory  and 
Its  Cultivation,  pt.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  147.  (A., 
1900.) 

1191.  FAILURE   OF  PAST  HYPOTH- 
ESES—A Warning  for  the  Present— Molecular 
Physics — The  Atomic  Theory. — In  reference 
to  atoms  in  molecular  physics,  Sir  W.  Thom- 
son says,  with  much  weight,  that  their  as- 
sumption  can  explain  no   property  of  the 
body    which    has    not    previously    been    at- 
tributed to  the  atoms.    Whilst  assenting  to 
this   opinion,   I   would   in  no  way  express 
myself  against  the  existence  of  atoms,  but 
only   against   the   endeavor   to    deduce   the 
principles  of  theoretical  physics  from  purely 


Failure 
Family 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


244 


hypothetical  assumptions  as  to  the  atomic 
structure  of  bodies.  We  now  know  that 
many  of  these  hypotheses,  which  found  fa- 
vor in  their  day,  far  overshot  the  mark. — 
HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  1,  p.  17. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1192.  FAILURE  THROUGH  LACK  OF 
WILL — Dreamy  Irresolution  of  Coleridge. — 
There  was  probably  no  man  of  his  time,  or 
perhaps  of  any  time,  who  surpassed  Cole- 
ridge in  the  combination  of  the  reasoning 
powers  of  the  philosopher  with  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  poet  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
seer;  and  there  was  perhaps  not  one  of  the 
last  generation  who  has  left  so  strong  an 
impress  of  himself  in  the  subsequent  course 
of  thought  of  reflective  minds  engaged  in 
the  highest  subjects  of  human  contempla- 
tion. And  yet  there  was  probably  never  a 
man  endowed  with  such  remarkable  gifts 
who  accomplished  so  little  that  was  worthy 
of  them — the  great  defect  of  his  character 
being  the  want  of  will  to  turn  his  gifts  to 
account;  so  that,  with  numerous  gigantic 
projects  constantly  floating  in  his  mind,  he 
never  brought  himself  even  seriously  to  at- 
tempt to  execute  any  one  of  them.  It  used 
to  be  said  of  him  that  whenever  either  nat- 
ural obligation  or  voluntary  undertaking 
made  it  his  duty  to  do  anything,  the  fact 
seemed  a  sufficient  reason  for  his  not  doing 
it.  Thus,  at  the  very  outset  of  his  career, 
when  he  had  found  a  bookseller  (Mr.  Cottle) 
generous  enough  to  promise  him  thirty 
guineas  for  poems  which  he  recited  to  him, 
and  might  have  received  the  whole  sum  im- 
mediately on  delivering  the  manuscript,  he 
went  on,  week  after  week,  begging  and  bor- 
rowing for  his  daily  needs  in  the  most  hu- 
miliating manner,  until  he  had  drawn  from 
his  patron  the  whole  of  the  promised  pur- 
chase-money, without  supplying  him  with 
a  line  of  that  poetry  which  he  had  only  to 
write  down  to  free  himself  from  obligation. 
— The  habit  of  recourse  to  nervine  stimu- 
lants (alcohol  and  opium)  which  he  early 
|ormed,  and  from  which  he  never  seemed 
able  to  free  himself,  doubtless  still  further 
weakened  his  power  of  volitional  self-con- 
trol; so  that  it  became  necessary  for  his 
welfare  that  he  should  yield  himself  to  the 
control  of  others. — CARPENTER  Mental  Phys- 
iology, bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  266.  (A.,  1900.) 

1 1 93.  FAILURES  PAVE  THE  WAY  TO 
SUCCESS— I  mention  these  failures  [of 
first  attempts  to  gage  depth  of  glaciers] 
because  they  give  some  idea  of  the  dis- 
couragements and  difficulties  which  meet 
the  investigator  in  any  new  field  of  re- 
search. The  student  must  remember,  for 
his  consolation  under  such  disappointments, 
that  his  failures  are  almost  as  important 
to  the  cause  of  science  and  to  those  who  fol- 
low him  in  the  same  road,  as  his  successes. 
It  is  much  to  know  what  we  cannot  do  in 
any  given  direction — the  first  step,  indeed, 
toward  the  accomplishment  of  what  we  can 
do. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i, 
ch.  8,  p.  295.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


1194.  FAINTNESS  OF  IMPRESSION 
SUGGESTS  DISTANCE  IN  TIME— There  is 
an  opposite  effect  in  the  case  of  recent  oc- 
currences that,  for  some  reason  or  another, 
have    left   but   a    faint   impression    on   the 
memory,    tho    this    fact    is    not,    perhaps, 
so  familiar  as  the  other.     I  met  a  friend, 
we  will   suppose,  a  few  days  since  at  my 
club,  and  we  exchanged  a  few  words.     My 
mind  was  somewhat  preoccupied  at  the  time, 
and  the  occurrence  did  not  stamp  itself  on 
my  recollection.     To-day  I  meet  him  again, 
and  he  reminds  me  of  a  promise  I  made 
him  at  the  time.     His  reminder  suffices  to 
restore  a   dim   image  of  the   incident,   but 
the  fact  of  its  dimness  leads  to  the  illusion 
that  it  really  happened  much  longer   ago, 
and   it   is   only  on  my   friend's   strong   as- 
surances, and  on  reasoning  from  other  data 
that  it  must  have  occurred  the  day  he  men- 
tions, that  I  am  able  to  dismiss  the  illu- 
sion.— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10,  p.  258.     (A., 
1897.) 

1195.  FAITH  OF  SCIENCE— Assump- 
tions of  Psychology. — Every  natural  science 
assumes  certain  data  uncritically,  and  de- 
clines   to    challenge    the    elements    between 
which   its    own   "  laws "    obtain,   and    from 
which   its  own   deductions   are  carried  on. 
Psychology,  the  science  of  finite  individual 
minds,   assumes   as   its  data    ( 1 )    thoughts 
and  feelings,  and    (2)    a  physical  world  in 
time  and  space  with  which  they  coexist  and 
which    (3)   they  know. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  pref.,  p.  5.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1 196.  FAITH,  SCIENCE  FOUNDED  ON 

— The  First  Law  of  Motion — Not  One  In- 
stance of  Its  Operation  Ever  Known. — The 
law  is,  that  all  motion  is  in  itself  (that  is  to 
say,  except  as  affected  by  extraneous  forces ) 
uniform  in  velocity  and  rectilinear  in  direc- 
tion. Thus  according  to  this  law  a  body 
moving,  and  not  subject  to  any  extraneous 
force,  would  go  on  moving  forever  at  the 
same  rate  of  velocity  and  in  an  exactly 
straight  line. 

Now,  there  is  no  such  motion  as  this  ex- 
isting on  the  earth  or  in  the  heavens.  It 
is  an  abstract  idea  of  motion  which  no  man 
has  ever,  or  can  ever,  see  exemplified.  Yet 
a  clear  apprehension  of  this  abstract  idea 
was  necessary  to  a  right  understanding  and 
to  the  true  explanation  of  all  the  motions 
which  are  actually  seen.  It  was  long  before 
this  idea  was  arrived  at.  There  was  a  real 
difficulty  in  conceiving  it,  because  not  only 
is  there  no  such  motion  in  Nature,  but  there 
is  no  possibility  by  artificial  means  of  pro- 
ducing it.  It  is  impossible  to  release  any 
moving  body  from  the  impulses  of  extrane- 
ous force.  The  first  law  of  motion  is  there- 
fore a  purely  abstract  idea.  It  represents 
a  rule  which  never  operates  as  we  conceive 
it  in  itself,  but  is  always  complicated  with 
other  rules  which  produce  a  corresponding 
complication  in  result.  Like  many  other 
laws  of  the  same  class,  it  was  discovered, 


245 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Allure 
family 


not  by  looking  outward,  but  by  looking  in- 
ward; not  by  observing,  but  by  thinking. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  65.  (Burt.) 

1197.  FAITH,  SCIENCE    TEACHES 

NEED  OF — Our  System  but  a  Corner  of  Space 
— All  History  but  a  Moment  of  Time. — Ho\v, 
then,  are  we  to  view  the  startling  fact  thus 
brought  before  us  ?  Must  we  admit  that  so 
much  of  the  Creator's  work  is  vain  in  truth 
as  in  appearance?  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  we  reject  the  evidence  of  science?  As 
it  seems  to  me,  we  need  do  neither  one  nor 
the  other.  We  have  before  us  a  great  mys- 
tery; but  it  is  not  a  new  thing  to  find  the 
ways  of  God  unsearchable  by  man.  Our 
faith  in  the  wisdom  of  God  need  not  be 
shaken  unless  we  assume  that  our  science 
teaches  us  the  whole  of  that  which  is.  But 
inasmuch  as  science  itself  has  taught  us 
over  and  over  again  how  little  we  really 
know,  how  little  we  can  know,  I  think  that 
we  may  very  well  believe  in  this  instance 
that  the  seeming  mystery  arises  from  the 
imperfectness  of  our  knowledge.  If  we  could 
see  the  whole  plan  of  the  Creator,  instead 
of  the  minutest  portion;  if  we  could  scan 
the  whole  of  space,  instead  of  the  merest 
corner;  if  all  time  were  before  us,  instead 
of  a  span — we  might  pronounce  judgment. 
As  it  is,  what,  after  all,  has  science  taught 
us  but  what  we  had  already  learned  ?  "  The 
judgments  of  God  are  unsearchable,  and 
his  ways  past  finding  out"  (Rom.  xi,  33; 
1  Cor.  xiii,  12). — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among 
Infinities,  p.  43.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1198.  FAITHFULNESS  THROUGH  ALL 

THINGS—  The  Magnetic  Needle —  Wonderful 
Power  of  Magnetism. — This  study  of  the 
magnetism  of  our  wandering  planet  is  very 
interesting,  and  one  which  is  still  very  little 
known.  Here  is  a  weak  needle,  a  slip  of 
magnetic  iron,  which  with  its  restless  and 
agitated  finger  incessantly  seeks  a  region 
near  the  north.  Carry  this  needle  in  a  bal- 
loon up  to  the  higher  aerial  regions,  where 
human  life  begins  to  be  extinguished;  shut 
it  up  in  a  tomb  closely  separated  from  the 
light  of  day;  take  it  down  into  the  pit  of  a 
mine,  to  more  than  a  thousand  yards  in 
depth,  and  incessantly,  day  and  night,  with- 
out fatigue  and  without  rest,  it  watches, 
trembles,  throbs,  seeks  the  point  which  at- 
tracts it  across  the  sky,  through  the  earth, 
and  through  the  night. — FLAMMARION  Pop- 
ular Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  289.  (A.) 

1199.  FAMILY  AND  HOME  PART  OF 

SELF—  The  Broadening  of  Individual  Life.— 
Our  immediate  family  is  a  part  of  ourselves. 
Our  father  and  mother,  our  wife  and  babes, 
are  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh. 
When  they  die,  a  part  of  our  very  selves  is 
gone.  If  they  do  anything  wrong,  it  is  our 
shame.  If  they  are  insulted,  our  anger 
flashes  forth  as  readily  as  if  we  stood  in 
their  place.  Our  home  comes  next.  Its 
scenes  are  part  of  our  life;  its  aspects  awa- 
ken the  tenderest  feelings  of  affection;  and 


we  do  not  easily  forgive  the  stranger  who, 
in  visiting  it^  finds  fault  with  its  arrange- 
ments or  treats  it  with  contempt.  All  these 
different  things  are  the  objects  of  instinc- 
tive preferences  coupled  with  the  most  im- 
portant practical  interests  of  life. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  292.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1200.  FAMILY   THE  EDUCATOR   OF 

MANKIND — Love  and  Righteousness. — Look- 
ing at  the  mere  dynamics  of  the  question, 
the  family  contains  all  the  machinery  and 
nearly  all  the  power  for  the  moral  educa- 
tion of  mankind.  Feebly,  but  adequately, 
in  the  early  chapters  of  man's  history,  it 
fulfilled  its  function  of  nursing  love,  the 
mother  of  all  morality;  and  righteousness, 
the  father  of  all  morality,  so  preparing  a 
parentage  for  all  the  beautiful  spiritual 
children  which  in  later  years  should  spring 
from  them.  If  life  henceforth  is  to  go  on 
at  all,  it  must  be  a  better  life,  a  more  loving 
life,  a  more  abundant  life;  and  this  pre- 
mium upon  love  means — if  it  means  any- 
thing— that  evolution  is  taking  henceforth 
an  ethical  direction. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  ch.  9,  p.  316.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1 20 1 .  FAMILY  THE  FOUNDATION  OF 
SOCIAL  PROGRESS—  The  Masterpiece  of  Evo- 
lution.— If   the   crowning  work  of  organic 
evolution  is  the  mammalia,  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  mammalia  is  the  family.    Physic- 
ally,   psychically,    ethically,    the    family    is 
the  masterpiece  of  evolution.     The  creation 
of  evolution,  it  was  destined  to  become  the 
most  active  instrument  and  ally  which  evo- 
lution has  ever  had.    For  what  is  its  evolu- 
tionary  significance?     It   is   the  generator 
and  the  repository  of  the  forces  which  alone 
can  carry  out  the  social  and  moral  progress 
of  the  world.     There  they  rally  when  they 
become  enfeebled,   there  their  excesses   are 
counterbalanced,    and    thence    they   radiate 
out,  refined  and  reenforced,  to  do  their  holy 
work. — DRUMMOND  Ascent   of  Man,  ch.   9, 
p.  316.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1202.  FAMILY,    THE    HUMAN,    EN- 
DURES   THROUGHOUT    THE    YEAR— Ad- 
vance from  Conditions  of  Lower  Animals. — 
But  when  man's  evolution  made  a  certain 
progress,    and     when     the     mother's     care 
reached  mature  perfection,  it  was  no  longer 
imperative  for  children  to  be  born  only  when 
the  sun  was  shining  and   the  fruits  grew 
ripe.    The  parents  could  now  make  provision 
for  any  weather  and  for  any  dearth.     They 
could   give   their   little   ones    clothes   when 
nights  grew  cold;     they  could  build  barna 
and  granaries  against  times  of  famine.     In 
any  climate,  and  at  any  time,  their  young 
were  safe ;    and  the  old  marriage  dates,  with 
their    subsequent     desertions,    were    struck 
from  the  human  calendar.     So  arose,  or  at 
least  was  inaugurated,  family  life,  the  first 
and    the   last   nursery   of  the   higher   sym- 
pathies, and  the  home  of  all  that  was  after- 
wards holy  in  the  world.     One  could  not 


imily 

m  im 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


246 


find  a  simpler  instance  of  the  growing  j 
eierntv  of  mind  over  the  powers  of  N* 


sover- 
eignty of  mind  over  the  powers  of  Nature. 
So  remote  a  cause  as  the  inclination  of  the 
earth's  axis,  and  the  consequent  changes  of 
the  seasons,  determines  the  time  of  marriage 
for  almost  the  whole  animal  creation,  while 
man,  and  a  few  other  forms  of  life  whose 
environment  is  exceptional,  are  able  to  re- 
fuse all  such  dictations.  It  was  when  man's 
mind  became  capable  of  making  its  own 
provisions  against  the  weather  and  the 
crops  that  the  possibilities  of  fatherhood, 
motherhood,  and  the  family  were  realized. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  9,  p.  298. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

1203.  FAMILY  THE  UNIT  OF  SOCIETY 

— Lengthened  Infancy  the  Bond  of  Home 
Life. — The  primordial  unit  of  human  society 
is  the  family,  and  it  was  by  the  establish- 
ment of  definite  and  permanent  family  re- 
lationships that  the  step  was  taken  which 
raised  man  socially  above  the  level  of  gre- 
garious apehood.  This  great  point  was  at- 
tained through  that  lengthening  of  the 
period  of  helpless  childhood  which  accom- 
panied the  gradually  increasing  intelligence 
of  our  half-human  ancestors.  When  child- 
hood had  come  to  extend  over  a  period  of 
ten  or  a  dozen  years — a  period  which  would 
be  doubled,  or  more  than  doubled,  where 
several  children  were  born  in  succession  to 
the  same  parents — the  relationships  between 
father  and  mother,  brethren  and  sisters, 
must  have  become  firmly  knit ;  and  thus  the 
family,  the  unit  of  human  society,  gradually 
came  into  existence. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man, 
ch.  9,  p.  67.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1204.  FAMINE,  RESOURCE  AGAINST 

— Aphid-life  Concurrent  with  Ant-life  in 
Winter. — [Ants]  are  benumbed  in  the  great 
cold,  but  when  the  season  is  not  too  rigorous 
the  depth  of  their  nest  places  them  out  of 
reach  of  the  frost.  I  have  seen  them  pacing 
about  on  the  snow  and  pursuing  their  habits 
at  this  temperature.  They  would  be  exposed 
to  the  horrors  of  famine  if  they  did  not  have 
resources  against  such  a  contingency  when- 
ever they  are  not  benumbed,  and  these  re- 
sources are  no  other  than  the  plant-lice, 
which,  by  an  admirable  concurrence  of  cir- 
cumstances that  we  cannot  attribute  to 
chance,  fall  into  lethargy  at  the  same  degree 
of  cold  as  the  ants  and  are  revived  at  the 
same  time  as  they;  this  the  ants  always 
recognize  whenever  they  have  need  of  food. 
— HUBER  Recherches  sur  les  Mceurs  des 
Fourmis  indigenes,  p.  202.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

12O5. Hunting  of  Aphids 

When  These  Are  Not  Domesticated. — Those 
ants  that  do  not  know  how  to  collect  these 
useful  insects  into  their  own  habitations,  at 
least  know  their  retreats,  following  them  to 
the  foot  of  trees,  or  upon  the  roots  of  shrubs 
formerly  frequented  at  the  first,  then  dart- 
ing along  the  hedges,  following  the  path 
that  will  conduct  them  to  their  supplies,  and 
carrying  back  to  the  republic  a  little  of  the 


honey-colored  food,  for  in  winter  it  requires 
very  little  to  maintain  them. — HUBER  Re- 
cherches sur  les  Mceurs  des  Fourmis  indi- 
genes, p.  202.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

1206.  FARMING    OF    INSECTS—  The 

Harvesting-ants — Their  Providence  and  In- 
dustry.— A  Texan  ant,  Pogonomymex  bar- 
batus,  is  a  harvesting  species,  storing  up 
especially  the  grains  of  Aristida  oligantha, 
the  so-called  "  ant-rice,"  and  of  a  grass, 
Buchloe  dactyloides.  These  ants  clear  disks, 
ten  or  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  round  the  • 
entrance  to  their  nest,  a  work  of  no  small 
labor  in  the  rich  soil  and  under  the  hot  sun 
of  Texas.  I  say  "  clear  disks,"  but  some, 
tho  not  all,  of  these  disks  are  occupied,  espe- 
cially round  the  edge,  by  a  growth  of  ant- 
rice.  These  ants  were  first  noticed  by  Mr. 
Buckley  [Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Philadelphia, 
1860],  and  their  habits  were  some  time 
afterwards  described  in  more  detail  by  Dr. 
Lincecum  [Linnean  Journal,  1861,  p.  29], 
who  maintained  not  only  that  the  ground 
was  carefully  cleared  of  all  other  species  of 
plants,  but  that  this  grass  was  intentionally 
cultivated  by  the  ants.  Mr.  McCook  ["  The 
Nat.  Hist,  of  the  Agricultural  Ants  of 
Texas,"  p.  38],  by  whom  this  subject  has 
been  recently  studied,  fully  confirms  Dr. 
Lincecum  that  the  disks  are  kept  carefully 
clean,  that  the  ant-rice  alone  is  permitted  to 
grow  on  them,  and  that  the  produce  of  this 
crop  is  carefully  harvested;  but  he  thinks 
that  the  ant-rice  sows  itself,  and  is  not 
actually  cultivated  by  the  ants.  I  have  my- 
self observed  in  Algeria  that  certain  species 
of  plants  are  allowed  by  the  ants  to  grow 
on  their  nests. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  61.  (A.,  1900.) 

1207.  FASCINATION  OF  FLAME— In- 
fant and  Insect  Alike  Attracted — Experience 
Has    Taught    Man    Caution. — A    brilliant 
flame  is  the  first  object  to  fix  the  gaze  of 
the  young  infant;    and  in  manhood  we  still 
continue  to  feel  a  strange  fascination  under 
the  influence  of  the  same  phenomenon.  Even 
phosphorescence,  unaccompanied  as  it  is  by 
flame,    has    an    irresistible    charm    for    us; 
while  the  vivid  combustion  of  inflammable 
matter  embodies  a  power  and  impetuosity 
which  rivet  the  attention  of  the  most  stolid 
observer.    We  smile  at  the  stupidity  of  the 
moth  that  singes  its  wings  in  the  candle- 
flame;     but   there   is   within   us    a   similar 
mysterious  impulse  that  would  impel  us  into 
the  burning  mass  but  for  the  consciousness 
of  resulting  injury,  derived  solely,  as  meta- 
physicians tell  us,  from  knowledge  gained 
by  experience. — LOWE  Nature-Studies,  p.  1. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 


12O8. 


Lighthouse  a  Bea- 


con of  Death — Birds  of  Passage  Allured  to 
Destruction. — The  keeper  of  the  lighthouse 
at  Atlantic  City  describes  the  migratory 
birds  as  following  the  New  Jersey  coast  all 
the  way  up  and  down  in  their  flights.  At 


247 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Family 
Fauna 


night  they  fly  high,  and  when  they  see  Ab- 
irecon  Inlet  light,  which  is  167  feet  above  the 
ground,  they  head  directly  for  it.  They 
seem  to  be  attracted  in  the  same  way  that 
the  moths  which  flicker  around  a  candle  are. 
If  carried  along  by  a  heavy  wind,  they  dart 
against  the  plate-glass  windows  surrounding 
the  lens,  and  drop  to  the  ground  dead,  be- 
spattering the  panes  with  their  blood,  to 
prevent  which  a  wire  netting  has  been  con- 
structed on  the  north  and  south  sides  of  the 
lantern.  Not  long  ago  a  large  duck,  which 
was  sailing  along  in  a  furious  storm,  was 
dashed  against  this  netting  with  such  force 
as  to  indent  it  six  square  inches.  When  the 
weather  is  clear  immense  numbers  of  small 
birds  hover  about  the  light  after  dark,  and 
then,  as  soon  as  they  have  rested  on  the  rail 
surrounding  it,  fly  off,  but  soon  return 
again.  A  large  snipe  landed  so  violently 
against  the  wirework  that  he  plunged 
through  one  of  the  meshes  and  stripped 
himself  of  all  his  feathers  as  far  back  as  the 
shoulders. — BROWN  Nature-Studies,  p.  13. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

1209.  FATALISM,  FAILURE  OF,  IN- 
EVITABLE— Impulse  To  Take  Life  Strivingly 
Js  Indestructible. — Nothing  could  be  more 
absurd  than  to  hope  for  the  definitive  tri- 
umph of  any  philosophy  which  should  refuse 
to  legitimate,  and  to  legitimate  in  an  em- 
phatic manner,  the  more  powerful  of  our 
emotional  and  practical  tendencies.     Fatal- 
ism, whose  solving  word  in  all  crises  of  be- 
havior is  "All  striving  is  vain,"  will  never 
reign  supreme,  for  the  impulse  to  take  life 
strivingly    is    indestructible    in    the    race. 
Moral  creeds  which  speak  to  that  impulse 
will  be  widely  successful  in  spite  of  incon- 
sistency, vagueness,   and  shadowy  determi- 
nation of  expectancy.    Man  needs  a  rule  for 
his  will,  and  will  invent  one  if  one  be  not 
given  him. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
21,  p.  315.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1 2 1 0 .  FATHERHOOD  ESSENTIAL  TO 
FAMILY  LIFE—  The  Goal  of  Evolution.— Now 
here  is  a  very  pretty  problem  for  evolution. 
She  has  at  once  to  make  good  husbands  and 
good  fathers  out  of  lawless  savages.    Unless 
this  problem  is  solved  the  higher  progress 
of  the  world  is  at  an  end.    It  is  the  mature 
opinion  of  every  one  who  has  thought  upon 
the  history  of  the  world,  that  the  thing  of 
highest  importance  for  all  times  and  to  all 
nations  is  family  life.    When  the  family  was 
instituted,  and  not  till  then,  the  higher  evo- 
lution of  the  world  was  secured.    Hence  the 
exceptional  value   of  the   father's   develop- 
ment.    As  the  other  half  of  the  arch   on 
which  the  whole  higher  world  is  built,  his 
taming,   his    domestication,   his   moral  dis- 
cipline,   are  vital;     and   in   the   nature   of 
things  this  was  the  next  great  operation  un- 
dertaken by  evolution. — DRTJMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  p.  295.    (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1211.  FATHERHOOD   OF   GOD— Prim- 
itive Conception  of  Deity  as  Recorded  in  the 
Vedas — A   Descending  Evolution   Thence. — 


One  of  the  most  remarkable  schools  of 
Christian  thought  which  has  arisen  in  recent 
times  is  that  which  has  made  the  idea  of 
the  "  Fatherhood  of  God  "  the  basis  of  its 
distinctive  teaching.  Yet  it  is  nothing  but 
a  reversion  to  the  simplest  of  all  ideas,  the 
most  rudimentary  of  all  experiences — that 
which  takes  the  functions  and  the  authority 
of  a  father  as  the  most  natural  image  of  the 
invisible  and  infinite  being  to  whom  we  owe 
"  life  and  breath  and  all  things."  In  the 
facts  of  Vedic  literature,  tts  now  sifted  and 
presented  to  us  by  scholars,  when  we  care- 
fully separate  these  facts  from  theories 
about  them,  there  is  really  no  symptom  of 
any  time  when  the  idea  of  some  living  being 
in  the  nature  of  God  had  not  yet  been  at- 
tained. On  the  contrary,  the  earliest  indi- 
cations of  this  conception  are  indications  of 
the  sublimest  character,  and  the  process  of 
evolution  seems  distinctly  to  have  been  a 
process,  not  of  an  ascending,  but  of  a  de- 
scending order.  Thus  it  appears  that  the 
great  appellative  "  Dyaus,"  which  in  the 
earliest  Vedic  literature  is  masculine  and 
stood  for  "  the  Bright  or  Shining  One,"  or 
the  Living  Being  whose  dwelling  is  the 
light,  had  in  later  times  become  a  feminine 
and  stood  for  nothing  but  the  sky. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  302.  (Burt.) 


1212. 


Sublimity  of  Early 


Conceptions — A  Personal  God  Addressed  in 
the  Vedas. — It  is  quite  evident  that  in  the 
oldest  times  of  the  Aryan  race,  in  so  far  as 
those  times  have  left  us  any  record,  not  only 
had  the  idea  of  a  personal  God  been  fully 
conceived,  but  such  a  being  had  been  de- 
scribed and  addressed  in  language  and  under 
symbols  which  are  comparable  with  the  sub- 
limest imagery  in  the  visions  of  Patmos. 
How  firmly,  too,  and  how  naturally  these 
conceptions  of  a  God  were  rooted  in  the 
analogies  of  our  own  human  personality  is 
attested  by  the  additional  fact  that  pater- 
nity was  the  earliest  Vedic  idea  of  creation, 
and  Dyaus  was  invoked  not  only  as  the 
heaven-father,  but  specially  as  the  "  Dyaush 
pita  ganita,"  which  is  the  Sanskrit  equiva- 
lent of  the  Greek  Zei>£  nar^p  ye^p  [Zeus, 
the  All-producing  Father]. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  302.  (Burt.) 

1213.  FAUNA,  RANGE  OF,  DETER- 
MINED BY  CLIMATE—  Arctic,  Temperate, 
and  Tropical  Varieties — Buffalo,  Opossum, 
Raccoon. — The  predominant  influence  of 
climate  over  all  the  other  causes  which  limit 
the  range  of  species  in  the  mammalia  is  per- 
haps nowhere  so  conspicuously  displayed  as 
in  North  America.  The  arctic  fauna,  so  ad- 
mirably described  by  Sir  John  Richardson, 
has  scarcely  any  species  in  common  with  the 
fauna  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  is 
600  miles  farther  south,  and  comprises 
about  forty  distinct  mammifers.  If  again 
we  travel  farther  south  about  600  miles,  and 
enter  another  zone,  running  east  and  west, 
in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  and 
the  contiguous  States,  we  again  meet  with  a 


Fauna 

Ferments 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


248 


new  assemblage  of  land  quadrupeds,  and 
this  again  differs  from  the  fauna  of  Texas, 
where  frosts  are  unknown.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  on  this  continent  there  are  no 
great  geographical  barriers  running  east 
and  west,  such  as  high  snow-clad  mountains, 
barren  deserts,  or  wide  arms  of  the  sea, 
capable  of  checking  the  free  migration  of 
species  from  north  to  south.  But  notwith- 
standing the  distinctness  of  those  zones  of 
indigenous  mammalia,  .there  are  some 
species,  such  as  the  buffalo  (Bison  ameri- 
canus),  the  raccoon  (Procyon  lotor),  and 
the  Virginian  opossum  (Didelphys  virgini- 
ana),  which  have  a  wider  habitation,  ran- 
ging almost  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico;  but  they  form  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule.  The  opossum  of  Texas  (Di- 
delphys carnivora)  is  different  from  that  of 
Virginia,  and  other  species  of  the  same 
genus  inhabit  westward  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, in  California,  for  example,  where  al- 
most all  the  mammalia  differ  from  those 
of  the  United  States. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  37,  p.  634.  (A.,  1854.) 

1214.  FEAR  OF   MAN   AMONG  ANI- 
MALS— An  Acquired  Propensity. — We  learn 
from   Mr.    Darwin   that   in   the    Galapagos 
archipelago,  placed  directly  under  the  equa- 
tor,   and    nearly    600    miles    west    of    the 
American  continent,  all  the  terrestrial  birds, 
as  the  finches,  doves,  hawks,  and  others,  are 
so   tame  that  they  may  be   killed  with   a 
switch.      One    day,    says    this    author,    "  a 
mocking-bird    alighted    on    the    edge    of    a 
pitcher  which  I  held  in  my  hand,  and  began 
quietly  to  sip  the  water,  and  allowed  me  to 
lift  it  with  the  vessel  from  the  ground."  Yet 
formerly,  when  the  first  Europeans  landed, 
and  found  no  inhabitants  in  these  islands, 
the  birds  were  even  tamer  than  now:    al- 
ready they   are  beginning  to  acquire  that 
salutary  dread  of  man  which  in  countries 
Iong4  settled  is  natural  even  to  young  birds 
which  have  never  received  any  injury.     So 
in  the  Falkland  Islands,  both  the  birds  and 
foxes    are    entirely   without   fear    of   man; 
whereas,  in  the  adjoining  mainland  of  South 
America,  many  of  the  same  species  of  birds 
are  extremely  wild ;    for  there  they  have  for 
ages  been  persecuted  by  the  natives. 

Dr.  Richardson  informs  us,  in  his  able 
history  of  the  habits  of  the  North  American 
animals,  that,  "  in  the  retired  parts  of  the 
mountains  where  the  hunters  had  seldom 
penetrated,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  ap- 
proaching the  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  which 
there  exhibit  the  simplicity  of  character  so 
remarkable  in  the  domestic  species;  but 
where  they  have  been  often  fired  at  they  are 
exceedingly  wild,  alarm  their  companions  on 
the  approach  of  danger  by  a  hissing  noise, 
and  scale  the  rocks  with  a  speed  and  agility 
that  baffle  pursuit." — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  35,  p.  597.  (A.,  1854.) 

1215.  FEAR    TAUGHT    BY   PARENT 
BIRD — Young  in  Shell  Know  Warning  Cry. — 
This  fear  caused  by  the  parent  bird's  warn- 


ing note  begins  to  manifest  itself  even  be- 
fore the  young  are  hatched — and  my  obser- 
vations on  this  point  refer  to  several  species 
in  three  widely  separated  orders.  When  the 
little  prisoner  is  hammering  at  its  shell,  and 
uttering  its  feeble  peep,  as  if  begging  to  be 
let  out,  if  the  warning  note  is  uttered,  even 
at  a  considerable  distance,  the  strokes  and 
complaining  instantly  cease,  and  the  chick 
will  then  remain  quiescent  in  the  shell  for  a 
long  time,  or  until  the  parent,  by  a  changed 
note,  conveys  to  it  an  intimation  that  the 
danger  is  over. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  90.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1216.  FEAR    WITHOUT    REASON  — 

Stage-fright  and  Shyness. — Both  stage- 
fright  and  servile  terror  may  exist  with  the 
most  indefinite  apprehensions  of  danger, 
and,  in  fact,  when  our  reason  tells  us  there 
is  no  occasion  for  alarm.  We  must,  there- 
fore, admit  a  certain  amount  of  purely  in- 
stinctive perturbation  and  constraint,  due  to 
the  consciousness  that  we  have  become  ob- 
jects for  other  people's  eyes.  Mr.  Darwin 
goes  on  to  say :  "  Shyness  comes  on  at  a 
very  early  age.  In  one  of  my  own  children, 
two  years  and  three  months  old,  I  saw  a 
trace  of  what  certainly  appeared  to  be  shy- 
ness directed  toward  myself,  after  an  ab- 
sence from  home  of  only  a  week."  Every 
parent  has  noticed  the  same  sort  of  thing. 
Considering  the  despotic  powers  of  rulers  in 
savage  tribes,  respect  and  awe  must,  from 
time  immemorial,  have  been  emotions  excited 
by  certain  individuals;  and  stage-fright, 
servile  terror,  and  shyness  must  have  had  as 
copious  opportunities  for  exercise  as  at  the 
present  time.  Whether  these  impulses  could 
ever  have  been  useful,  and  selected  for  use- 
fulness, is  a  question  which,  it  would  seem, 
can  only  be  answered  in  the  negative.  Ap- 
parently they  are  pure  hindrances,  like 
fainting  at  sight  of  blood  or  disease,  sea- 
sickness, a  dizzy  head  on  high  places, 
and  certain  squeamishnesses  of  esthetic 
taste.  They  are  incidental  emotions,  in 
spite  of  which  we  get  along. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  432.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1217.  FEELING    A   SUM    OF   EXPE- 
RIENCES— Experience     is     remolding     us 
every  moment,  and  our  mental  reaction  on 
every  given  thing  is  really  a  resultant  of  our 
experience  of  the  whole  world  up  to  that 
date. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p. 
234.     (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1218.  FEELING,  THE    DOMINANT— 

Molds  Images  in  Dreams. — The  analogy  of 
feeling  is  a  common  link  between  dream- 
images.  Now,  if  any  shade  of  feeling  be- 
comes fixed  and  dominant  in  the  mind,  it 
will  tend  to  control  all  the  images  of  the 
time,  allowing  certain  congruous  ones  to 
enter,  and  excluding  others.  If,  for  ex- 
ample, a  feeling  of  distress  occupies  the 
mind,  distressing  images  will  have  the  ad- 
vantage in  the  struggle  for  existence  which 


249 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Fauna 
Ferments 


goes  on  in  the  world  of  mind  as  well  as  in 
that  of  matter.  We  may  say  that  atten- 
tion, which  is  here  wholly  a  passive  proc- 
ess, is  controlled  by  the  emotion  of  the 
time,  and  bent  in  the  direction  of  congruent 
or  harmonious  images. — SULLY  Illusions, 
ch.  7,  p.  164.  (A.,  1897.) 

1219.  FEELINGS    MANIFESTED    BY 
EXPRESSION   AND  ATTITUDE— Art  Rec- 
ognizes  Bodily   Manifestation   of   Spiritual 
Attributes. — The    interest    of    the    human 
presence,   in  all   its   various   workings,   re- 
garded as  symptomatic  of  mental  processes, 
is  laid  hold  of  and  heightened  in  the  fine  art 
of  cultivated  nations.     To  the  painter,  the 
sculptor,  and  the  poet,  every  feeling  has  its 
appropriate  manifestation.     Not  merely  are 
the  grosser  forms  of  feeling  thus  linked  with 
material  adjuncts;  in  the  artist's  view,  the 
loftiest,  the  noblest,  the  holiest  of  the  hu- 
man emotions  have  their  marked  and  insep- 
arable attitude  and  deportment.     In  the  ar- 
tistic conceptions  of  the  Middle  Ages,  more 
especially,  the  most  divine  attributes  of  the 
immaterial   soul   had  their   counterpart   in 
the  material  body:    the  martyr,  the  saint, 
the    Blessed    Virgin,    the    Savior    himself, 
manifested  their  glorious  nature  by  the  sym- 
pathetic movements   of   the   mortal   frame- 
work.    So  far  as  concerns  the  entire  com- 
pass of  our  feelings  or  emotions,  it  is  the 
universal  testimony  of  mankind  that  these 
have  no  independent  spiritual  subsistence, 
but  are  in  every  case  embodied  in  our  fleshly 
form.    This  very  strong  and  patent  fact  has 
been  usually  kept  out  of  view  in  the  multi- 
farious   discussions    respecting    the    imma- 
terial soul.    Apparent  as  it  is  to  the  vulgar, 
and  intently  studied  as  it  has  been  by  the 
sculptor,  the  painter,  and  the  poet,  it  has 
been    disregarded    both    by   metaphysicians 
and  by  theologians  when  engaged  in  settling 
the  boundaries   of   mind   and  body. — BAIN 
Mind  and  Body,  ch.  2,  p.  3.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

10 2O.  FEINT    OF    MONKEY— Pretense 

of  Throwing  Things  at  Enemy. — When  he  is 
angry,  and  has  at  hand  only  those  things 
which  he  wishes  to  keep,  he  makes  a  great 
show  of  throwing  them  at  people,  but  always 
retains  a  hold.  Thus  if  he  has  had  a  play- 
thing a  long  time  and  is  tired  of  it,  he 
throws  it  right  at  a  person  without  the  least 
hesitation;  but  if  he  has  a  new  thing  which 
he  values,  he  goes  through  all  the  appropri- 
ate motions  for  throwing,  but  only  brings 
the  object  down  with  a  noise  upon  the 
ground,  taking  care  not  to  let  go  his  hold. — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence  [extract  from 
diary  of  author's  sister],  ch.  17,  p.  493.  (A., 
1899.) 

1221.  FERMENTATION    THE    PROD- 
UCT OF  LIVING  ORGANISMS— Fermentation 
Involves     a     Breaking-down     of     Complex 
Bodies. — We  may  now  return  to  the  work 
of  Pasteur  and  the  question  of  organized  fer- 
ments [omitting  unorganized  ferments  like 
the  pepsin  of  the  gastric  juice].     Let  us 


preface  further  remark  with  an  axiom  with 
which  Professor  Frankland  sums  up  the 
vitalistic  theory  of  fermentation,  which  was 
supported  by  the  researches  of  Pasteur: 
"  No  fermentation  without  organisms ;  in 
every  fermentation  a  particular  organism." 
From  these  words  we  gather  that  there  is  no 
one  particular  organism  or  vegetable  cell  to 
be  designated  the  micro-organism  of  fermen- 
tation, but  that  there  are  a  number  of  fer- 
mentations each  started  by  some  specific 
form  of  agent.  It  is  true  that  the  chemical 
changes  induced  by  organized  ferments  de- 
pend on  the  life-processes  of  micro-organ- 
isms which  feed  upon  the  sugar  or  other 
substance  in  solution,  and  excrete  the  prod- 
uct of  the  fermentation.  Fermentation 
nearly  always  consists  of  a  process  of  break- 
ing-down of  complex  bodies,  like  sugar,  into 
simpler  ones,  like  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid. 
— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  4,  p.  115.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

1222.    FERMENTS  IN  THE  DAIRY— 

Inoculation  of  Cream — Choice  Bacilli  Pre- 
served and  Indefinitely  Multiplied — Science 
Gives  New  Meaning  to  the  Parable  of  the 
Leaven. — The  so-called  ripening  of  cream 
and  of  cheese  consists  solely  in  the  develop- 
ment of  active  ferments  and  in  the  results 
of  the  oxidation  which  they  produce.  In  a 
successful  dairy  the  ferments  which  are 
favorable  to  the  production  of  the  best 
quality  of  cream  and  cheese  are  alone  al- 
lowed to  act.  In  a  poorly  kept  dairy  every 
kind  of  a  ferment  is  allowed  to  grow  at  will, 
and  the  results  of  such  a  slipshod  method  of 
control  are  shown  in  the  bad  character  of 
the  cheese  and  the  rancid  flavor  of  the  but- 
ter which  are  produced.  The  development 
of  the  theory  of  fermentation,  and  its  appli- 
cation to  so  many  practical  purposes,  led 
chemists  to  investigate  the  character  of  the 
organisms  which  were  found  to  be  active  in 
the  dairy.  These  studies  led  speedily  to  the 
isolation  of  the  ferments  of  a  favorable  na- 
ture, and  to  methods  of  destroying  those 
which  produced  undesirable  products.  At 
the  present  day  we  find  realized  that  condi- 
tion of  affairs  which  I  have  just  alluded  to 
as  possible  in  the  future  of  the  fertilization 
of  the  soil.  A  bacillus  which  is  capable  of 
exciting  the  very  best  character  of  fermenta- 
tion in  cream  has  already  been  prepared  in 
a  pure  state  and  can  be  delivered  to  the 
practical  dairymen  of  the  country.  This 
minute  and  invisible  particle  of  vital  matter, 
when  added  to  sterilized  cream,  sets  up  a 
fermentation  which,  in  its  results,  produces 
the  most  delicious  flavor  that  the  best  butter 
can  have.  A  sample  of  cream  thus  inocu- 
lated is  mixed  with  large  quantities  of  or- 
dinary cream,  thus  securing  the  proper  fer- 
mentation throughout  the  whole  mass. 
.  .  .  Portions  of  these  inoculated  masses 
may  be  kept  in  cold  storage.  ...  In 
this  manner  a  minute  drop  of  liquid  con- 
taining a  few  of  the  bacilli  in  question  may 
serve  to  impart  to  thousands  of  pounds  of 
butter,  made  during  a  considerable  period 


Tiuem* 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


250 


of  time,  a  most  delicious  and  desirable 
flavor. — WILEY  Relations  of  Chemistry  to 
Industrial  Progress  (Address  at  Purdue 
University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  40). 

1223.  FERNS,  ANCIENT,  PRESERVED 
IN  COAL — Enduring  Record  of  the  Evanescent. 
— There*  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  true  na- 
ture of  the  Carboniferous  forests;    for  the 
structural    character    of    the    trees    is    as 
strongly  marked  in  their  fossil  remains  as 
in  any  living  plants  of  the  same  character. 
We  distinguish  the  ferns  not  only  by  the  pe- 
culiar form  of  their  leaves,  often  perfectly 
preserved,  but  also  by  the  fructification  on 
the  lower  surface  of  the  leaves,  and  by  the 
distinct  marks  made  on  the  stem  at  their 
point  of  juncture  with  it.     The  leaf  of  the 
fern,  when  falling,  leaves  a  scar  on  the  stem 
varying  in  shape  and  size  according  to  the 
kind  of  fern,   so  that  the  botanist  readily 
distinguishes  any  particular  species  of  fern 
by  this  means — a  birthmark,  as  it  were,  by 
which  he  detects  the  parentage  of  the  indi- 
vidual.— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i, 
ch.  3,  p.  76.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1224.  FERTILITY    DUE   TO    MICRO- 
ORGANISMS— Vitality  of  the  Soil— Plants  Die 
in  Sterilized  Earth. — These  organisms  have 
been  found  to  exist  in  innumerable  colonies 
in  the  soil.     The  soil  is  no  longer  regarded 
as  dead  matter,  but  in  the  highest  degree 
as    a   vital    organism.      The   possibility   of 
growing  plants   has  been  found  to  depend 
directly   upon   the    activity    of   the   micro- 
organisms   of   the    soil.     The    progress    of 
chemistry  has  thus  revealed  in  a  new  light 
the  relations  which  it  holds  to  the  very  base 
of  society.     If  the  activity  of  the  micro- 
organisms producing  oxidations  in  the  soil 
were  destroyed  for  a  single  year,  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  animal  life  of  the  earth  would 
perish  of  hunger.    Already  practical  results 
of  immense  importance  have  grown  out  of 
these    achievements    of    chemical    research. 
They  have  profoundly  impressed  the  meth- 
ods of  agriculture  and  systems  of  fertiliza- 
tion.    If  pease  or  beans  be  planted  in  a 
sterilized  soil   the  growth  of  the   plantlet 
produced  will  be  limited  by  the  nourishment 
contained  in  the  seed.     After  a  few  days 
of    apparently    vigorous    evolution,    during 
which  time  the  reserve  stores  of  plant-food 
in  the  seeds  have  been  consumed,  the  young 
plant  will   wither   and   die. — WILEY   Rela- 
tions of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Progress 
(Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette, 
Ind.,  1896,  p.  36). 

1225.  FERTILITY  OF  LAND  DETER- 
MINED BY  MOUNTAINS—  Their  Effect  on 
the   Rainfall. — Imagine    a    southwest   wind 
blowing  across  the  Atlantic  towards  Ireland. 
In  its  passage  it  charges  itself  with  aqueous 
vapor.     In  the  south  of  Ireland  it  encoun- 
ters the  mountains  of  Kerry:   the  highest 
of  these  is  Magillicuddy's  Reeks,  near  Kil- 
larney.     Now   the   lowest  stratum   of  this 
Atlantic  wind  is  that  which  is  most  fully 


charged  with  vapor.  WThen  it  encounters 
the  base  of  the  Kerry  mountains  it  is  tilted, 
up  and  flows  bodily  over  them.  Its  load 
of  vapor  is  therefore  carried  to  a  height, 
it  expands  on  reaching  the  height,  it  is 
chilled  in  consequence  of  the  expansion,  and 
comes  down  in  copious  showers  of  rain. 
From  this,  in  fact,  arises  the  luxuriant  veg- 
etation of  Killarney;  to  this,  indeed,  the 
lakes  owe  their  water-supply.  The  cold 
crests  of  the  mountains  also  aid  in  the  work 
of  condensation. 

Note  the  consequence.  There  is  a  town 
called  Cahirciveen  to  the  southwest  of  Ma- 
gillicuddy's Reeks,  at  which  observations  of 
the  rainfall  have  been  made,  and  a  good  dis- 
tance farther  to  the  northeast,  right  in  the 
course  of  the  southwest  wind,  there  is  an- 
other town,  called  Portarlington,  at  which 
observations  of  rainfall  have  also  been 
made.  But  before  the  wind  reaches  the 
latter  station  it  has  passed  over  the  moun- 
tains of  Kerry  and  left  a  great  portion  of 
its  moisture  behind  it.  What  is  the  result? 
At  Cahirciveen,  as  shown  by  Dr.  Lloyd,  the 
rainfall  amounts  to  59  inches  in  a  year, 
while  at  Portarlington  it  is  only  21  inches. 
— TYNDALL  Forms  of  Wetter,  §  8,  par.  81,  p. 
27.  (A.,  1899.) 

1226.  FERTILITY  TURNED  TO  BAR- 
RENNESS— Land  Upheaved  across  Bed  of 
Stream. — On  the  mainland  near  Lima,  and 
on  the  neighboring  island  of  San  Lorenzo, 
Mr.  Darwin  found  proofs  that  the  ancient 
bed  of  the  sea  had  been  raised  to  the  height 
of  more  than  eighty  feet  above  water  within 
the  human  epoch,  strata  having  been  dis- 
covered at  that  altitude  containing  pieces 
of  cotton  thread  and  plaited  rush,  together 
with  seaweed  and  marine  shells.    The  same 
author  learnt  from  Mr.  Gill,  a  civil  engi- 
neer, that  he  discovered  in  the  interior  near 
Lima,    between    Casma    and    Huaraz,    the 
dried-up  channel  of  a  large  river,  sometimes 
worn  through  solid  rock,  which,  instead  of 
continually   ascending  towards    its   source, 
has,  in  one  place,  a  steep  downward  slope  in 
that  direction,  for  a  ridge  or  line  of  hills 
has  been  uplifted   directly  across  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  which   is  now  arched.     By 
these   changes   the  water   has   been   turned 
into  some  other  course;  and  a  district,  once 
fertile,   and   still    covered   with   ruins,   and 
bearing  the  marks   of   ancient  cultivation, 
has  been   converted   into   a   desert. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  502. 
(A.,   1854.) 

1227.  FETISHISM,  ORIGIN  OF  IDEA 

AND  NAME*— Hasty  Generalizations  in  Study 
of  Religions. — Professor  Max  Miiller  has 
done  memorable  service  in  the  analysis  and 
in  the  exposure  which  he  has  given  us  of 
the  origin  and  use  of  the  word  "  fetishism," 
and  of  the  theory  which  represents  it  as  a 
necessary  stage  in  the  development  of  relig- 
ion. It  turns  out  that  the  word  itself,  and 
the  fundamental  idea  it  embodies,  is  a 
word  and  an  idea  derived  from  one  of  those 


251 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ferments 
Fig 


popular  superstitions  which  are  so  common 
in  connection  with  Latin  Christianity.  The 
Portuguese  sailors  who  first  explored  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa  were  themselves  ac- 
customed to  attach  superstitious  value  to 
beads,  or  crosses,  or  images,  or  charms,  and 
amulets  of  their  own.  These  were  called 
'"'  feitigos."  They  saw  the  negroes  attach- 
ing some  similar  value  to  various  objects  of 
a  similar  kind,  and  these  Portuguese  sail- 
ors therefore  described  the  negro  worship 
as  the  worship  of  "  feitic.os."  President  De 
Brosses,  a  French  philosopher  of  the  Vol- 
tairean  epoch  in  literature,  then  extended 
the  term  "  fetish  "  so  as  to  include  not  only 
artificial  articles,  but  also  such  great  nat- 
ural features  as  trees,  mountains,  rivers, 
and  animals.  In  this  way  he  was  enabled 
to  classify  together,  under  one  indiscrim- 
inate appellation,  many  different  kinds  of 
worship  and; many  different  stages  in  the 
history  of  religious  development  or  decay. 
This  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  crude 
theories  and  false  generalizations  which 
have  been  prevalent  on  the  subject  of  the 
origin  of  religion.  First,  there  is  the  as- 
sumption that  whatever  is  lowest  in  sav- 
agery must  have  been  primeval — an  assump- 
tion which  is  in  all  cases  improbable,  and 
in  many  cases  must  necessarily  be  false. 
Next  there  is  great  carelessness  in  ascer- 
taining what  is  really  true  even  of  existing 
savages  in  respect  to  their  religious  beliefs. 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  284. 
( Burt. ) 

1228.  FICTIONS  OF  LAMARCK— No 
Kno'wn  Instance  of  Acquisition  of  New  Or- 
gans.— I  must  here  interrupt  the  author's 
[Lamarck's]  argument,  by  observing  that 
no  positive  fact  is  cited  to  exemplify  the 
substitution  of  some  entirely  new  sense,  fac- 
ulty, or  organ  in  the  room  of  some  other 
suppressed  as  useless.  All  the  instances  ad- 
duced go  only  to  prove  that  the  dimen- 
sions and  strength  of  members  and  the  per- 
fection of  certain  attributes  may,  in  a  long 
succession  of  generations,  be  lessened  and 
enfeebled  by  disuse;  or,  on  the  contrary,  be 
matured  and  augmented  by  active  exertion; 
just  as  we  know  that  the  power  of  scent  is 
feeble  in  the  greyhound,  while  its  swiftness 
of  pace  and  its  acuteness  of  sight  are  re- 
markable— that  the  harrier  and  staghound, 
on  the  contrary,  are  comparatively  slow  in 
their  movements,  but  excel  in  the  sense  of 
smelling. 

It  was  necessary  to  point  out  to  the 
reader  this  important  chasm  in  the  chain 
of  evidence,  because  he  might  otherwise 
imagine  that  I  had  merely  omitted  the  il- 
lustrations for  the  sake  of  brevity;  but 
the  plain  truth  is  that  there  were  no  ex- 
amples to  be  found;  and  when  Lamarck 
talks  "  of  the  efforts  of  internal  sentiment/' 
"  the  influence  of  subtle  fluids,"  and  "  acts 
of  organization,"  as  causes  whereby  animals 
and  plants  may  acquire  new  organs,  he  sub- 
stitutes names  for  things;  and,  with  a  dis- 
regard to  the  strict  rules  of  induction,  re- 


sorts to  fictions,  as  ideal  as  the  "  plastic 
virtue,"  and  other  phantoms  of  the  geolo- 
gists of  the  Middle  Ages. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  33,  p.  571.  (A., 
1854.) 

1229.  FIG,    DOMESTIC,  IN  THE 
UNITED    STATES—  Great  Fig-tree  of  Chico, 
California. — Fig-culture  has  never  amount- 
ed to  much  as  an  industry  in  this  country. 
Fig-trees   grow   abundantly  throughout  the 
South   and   in   California—  having  been   in- 
troduced by  the  early  French  and  Spanish 
settlers,  and  there  have  been  more  or  less 
frequent  importations  since.    As  a  domestic 
fruit,  the  fig  is  of  considerable  importance 
in  all  the  Gulf  and  South  Atlantic  States. 
It  is  a  common  dooryard  tree  throughout 
this  region.     It  has  been  grown  with  more 
or  less  success  as  far  north  as  the  lower 
Hudson  River  Valley,  and  where  well  cared 
for  during  the  winter  it  will  bear  well  for 
years,  even   at   these   northern   limits.     In 
the  South  figs  are  used  almost  entirely  for 
household  purposes.     They  are  eaten  fresh 
from  the  tree  and  are  served  on  the  table 
with  sugar  and  cream.  They  are  also  stewed 
and  made  into  puddings  and  pies,  and  are 
canned  and  preserved.     In  this  section  figs 
are  occasionally,  but  seldom,  dried  for  house- 
hold use,   as  they  ripen   at   the  period  of 
summer  showers,  which  makes  drying  dif- 
ficult.    Much  more  of  an  effort  to  produce 
a  salable  dried  fig  has  been  made  in  Cali- 
fornia than  in  the  South,  especially  during 
the  last  twenty  years,  and  a  greater  suc- 
cess has  been  secured,  probably  on  account 
of  the  drier  climate.     Fig-trees  were  grown 
in  California  by  the  early  Spanish  padres, 
probably  as  early  as  1710,  and  have  flour- 
ished throughout  the  southern  part  of  the 
State,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  remark- 
able trees  in  America  growing  as  far  north 
as   Chico    (130   miles   north   of   San   Fran- 
cisco), on  the  Bidwell  place,  where  it  was 
planted  in  1856. 

The  writer  saw  this  tree  in  1898,  and  it 
is  certainly  one  of  the  great  horticultural 
curiosities  of  the  country.  It  is  11  feet  in 
circumference  near  the  base  of  the  trunk; 
branches  have  grown  down  into  the  ground 
and  sent  up  new  shoots,  and  the  process  has 
been  repeated  until  a  ground  space  of  150 
feet  in  diameter  is  covered  by  this  one 
tree,  giving  a  dense  shade  over  a  space  big 
enough  to  accommodate  a  large  picnic  party. 
— HOWARD  Smyrna  Fig  Culture  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  (Year-book  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  1900,  p.  79). 

1230.  FIG,  THE  SMYRNA,  NATURAL- 
IZED IN  CALIFORNIA— Failure  of  Fruit  to 
Mature  —  Utility  of   the   Wild   Variety,   or 
Caprifig,    Discovered. — After    the   early   at- 
tempts to  dry  figs  in  California  had  pro- 
gressed for  some  years  it  was  gradually  real- 
ized that  with  the  varieties  then  growing 
it  was   impossible  to   arrive  at  a  product 
which  should   compare  in  quality  or   com- 
mercial value  with  the  Smyrna  fig  of  com- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


252 


merce.  As  a  result,  in  1880  and  1882,  Mr. 
Gulian  P.  Rixford,  of  the  San  Francisco 
Bulletin,  imported  into  California,  by  the 
aid  of  E.  F.  Smithers,  United  States  Con- 
sul at  Smyrna,  and  A.  Sida,  an  American 
merchant  in  Smyrna,  about  14,000  cuttings 
of  the  supposedly  best  varieties  of  Smyrna 
fig-trees.  These  cuttings  were  widely  dis- 
tributed and  were  known  as  the  "  Bulletin  " 
cuttings.  This  effort  received  wide  news- 
paper notoriety,  and  much  was  expected  of 
it,  but  when  the  trees  came  into  bearing 
it  was  found  that  the  fruit  invariably 
dropped  on  or  before  reaching  the  size  of 
a  marble.  .  .  . 

In  1886  Mr.  F.  Roeding,  a  banker  in  San 
Francisco  and  proprietor  of  the  Fancher 
Creek  Nurseries  of  Fresno,  having  become 
convinced  that  California  could  be  made 
to  grow  as  good  a  fig  as  could  be  grown 
in  Smyrna,  sent  his  foreman,  Mr.  W.  C. 
West,  to  Smyrna  for  the  purpose  of  investi- 
gating the  fig  industry  on  the  spot.  Mr. 
West  remained  in  Smyrna  four  months 
and  succeeded  in  securing  several  thousand 
Smyrna  fig  cuttings,  as  well  as  cuttings  of 
wild  figs  and  a  few  of  such  varieties  as  are 
grown  for  home  consumption.  He  was 
watched  by  the  people  constantly.  He  was 
refused  the  sale  of  cuttings,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded only  by  buying  through  a  foreign  res- 
ident, who  was  not  suspected  of  any  inten- 
tion to  export.  After  a  journey  of  several 
months  the  cuttings  arrived  in  Fresno  in 
good  condition  and  were  planted  in  1888 
in  the  Fancher  Creek  Nursery,  20  acres 
being  planted  that  year,  20  more  in  1889, 
and  in  1891  an  additional  20  acres. 

The  importation  at  this  time  of  the  wild, 
or  caprifig,  cuttings  was  the  most  important 
step  which  had  yet  been  taken  toward  the 
solution  of  the  problem.  This  importation 
was  due  to  the  tardy  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  the  Smyrna  fig,  the  standard  fig  of 
commerce,  owes  its  peculiar  flavor  to  the 
number  of  ripe  seeds  which  it  contains,  and 
that  these  ripe  seeds  are  only  to  be  gained 
by  the  fertilization  of  the  flowers  of  the 
Smyrna  fig  with  pollen  derived  from  the 
wild  fig,  or  caprifig.  [This,  it  was  discov- 
ered, is  effected  through  the  interposition 
of  an  insect.  See  INSECTS.]  —  HOWARD 
Smyrna  Fig  Culture  in  the  United  States 
(Year-look  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, 1900,  p.  80). 

1231.  FIRE  AND  BROOM  AS  TOOLS 
OF  WOMAN — Primitive  Cooking  Utensils. — 
As  soon  as  the  tree  was  felled,  or  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  wind-giant's  sport,  [women] 
burned  and  hacked  off  a  convenient  length  of 
the  trunk;  then,  gathering  from  the  forests 
a  supply  of  fat  pine  knots,  they  burned  out 
the  cavity  of  the  future  boiler.  They  care- 
fully watched  the  progress  of  the  fire,  and 
when  it  threatened  to  spread  laterally  they 
checked  its  course  in  that  direction  by 
means  '  of  strips  of  green  bark  or  mud  or 
water.  As  soon  as  the  ashes  and  charred 
wood  prevented  the  further  action  of  the 


fire,  this  marvelous  Gill-at-all-trades  re- 
moved the  fire  and  brushed  out  the  debris 
with  an  improvised  broom  of  grass.  Then, 
by  means  of  a  scraper  of  flint  which  she  had 
made,  she  dug  away  the  charcoal  until  she 
had  exposed  a  clean  surface  of  wood.  The 
firing  and  scraping  were  repeated  until  the 
"  dugout "  assumed  the  desired  form.  The 
trough  completed,  it  was  ready  to  do  the 
boiling  for  the  family  as  soon  as  the  meat 
could  be  prepared  and  the  stones  heated. 
This  apprenticeship  of  fire  in  wood-working 
calls  for  woman's  help  in  more  industries 
than  one  not  strictly  her  own. — MASON 
Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2, 
p.  32.  (A.,  1894.) 

1232.  FIRE  AND  ITS  USES— Fires  of 
Cave-men  in   the  Mammoth  Period — Great 
Agency  Utilized  by  Man  Alone. — Man  under- 
stands fire  and  deals  with  it  in  ways  quite 
beyond  the  intelligence  of  the  lower  animals. 
There  is  an  old  story  how,  in  the  forests  of 
equatorial  Africa,  when  travelers  had  gone 
away  in  the  morning  and  left  their   fires 
burning,  the  huge  manlike  apes  called  pon- 
gos  (probably  our  gorillas)  would  come  and 
sit  round  the  burning  logs  till  they  went 
out,  not  having  the  sagacity  to  lay  more 
wood  on.     This  story  is  often  repeated  to 
contrast  human  intelligence  with  the  dul- 
ness   of  even  the  highest  apes.     Of  course 
there   had   been   forest-fires   in  ages  before 
man,    as   when  the  trees   had  been   set   in 
flames   by   lightning   or   by   a    lava-stream. 
But  of  all  creatures  man  alone  has  known 
how  to  manage  fire,  to  carry  it  from  place 
to  place  with  burning  brands,  and  when  it 
went  out  to  produce  it  afresh.     No  savage 
tribe   seems   really  to  have  been   found  so 
low  as  to  be  without  fire.     In  the  limestone 
caverns,  among  the  relics  of  the  mammoth 
period,  morsels  of  charcoal  and  burnt  bones 
are  found  embedded,  which  show  that  even 
in  that  remote  antiquity  the  rude  cave-men 
made   fires   to   cook   their   food   and   warm 
themselves  by. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  11, 
p.  260.     (A./ 1899.) 

1233.  FIRE  A   NECESSITY  OF  CIV- 
ILIZATION—Once    Deified— Primitive    Fire- 
worship. — Remember  now  that  fire  is  one  of 
the    most    valuable    servants    of    mankind; 
that  it  is  the  source  of  all  artificial  heat 
and  light;    that  in  the  steam-engine  it  is 
the   apparent  origin   of  that  power  which 
animates  the  commerce  and  the  industry  of 
the  civilized  world ;    that  under  its  influence 
iron  becomes  plastic,  and  the  ores  give  up 
their  metallic  treasures ;    that  it  is,  in  fine, 
the  agent  of  all  the  arts — and  you  cannot 
wonder   that  in   a   ruder   age  the   Romans 
should  have  enthroned  its  presiding  deity  on 
Olympus,    or    the    Persians    worshiped    its 
supposed  essence  as  divinity  itself.— COOKE 
Religion  and  Chemistry,  ch.  3,  p.  84.     (A., 
1897.) 

1234.  FIRE  ENABLES  MAN  TO  SUB- 
DUE THE  EARTH — It   is   scarcely  possible 
to  conceive  of  man  without  fire.    Very  early 


253 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


IK. 


in  history  he  discovered  the  Promethean 
spark,  and  a  train  of  blessings  came  with  its 
advent.  The  light  and  warmth  of  the  sun 
were  let  into  his  cheerless  dwelling.  Forests 
and  jungles,  with  their  poisonous  malaria, 
noxious  insects,  venomous  serpents,  and 
ravening  beasts  were  subdued  or  quickly  re- 
moved. Life  was  prolonged  by  the  cooking 
of  food  and  by  the  ability  to  preserve  it  for 
future  use  through  drying,  smoking,  roast- 
ing, etc.  In  the  open  the  hunter  sleeps  se- 
cure from  ravenous  beasts  so  long  as  his  fire 
is  burning. 

In  old  archeological  sites  in  Europe,  rep- 
resenting the  remains  of  the  cave-men  of  the 
Mousterian  epoch  in  France  and  Belgium, 
are  found  flints  that  have  been  cracked  by 
fire,  fragments  of  charcoal,  burnt  bones  that 
have  been  split  for  the  marrow. — MASON 
Origins  of  Invention,  ch.  3,  p.  84.  (S., 
1899.) 

1235.  FIRE  FROM  FLINT  AND  STEEL 

— Progress  to  Friction  Matches,  Argand 
Burner,  Gas  and  Electric  Lighting. — One  of 
the  most  vivid  recollections  of  my  childhood 
is  of  seeing  the  cook  make  tinder  in  the 
evening  by  burning  old  linen  rags,  and  in 
the  morning,  with  flint  and  steel,  obtaining 
the  spark  which,  by  careful  blowing,  spread 
sufficiently  to  ignite  the  thin  brimstone 
match  from  which  a  candle  was  lit  and  fire 
secured  for  the  day.  The  process  was,  how- 
ever, sometimes  a  tedious  one,  and  if  the 
tinder  had  accidentally  got  damp,  or  if  the 
flint  were  worn  out,  after  repeated  failures 
a  light  had  to  be  obtained  from  a  neighbor. 
At  that  time  there  were  few  savages  in  any 
part  of  the  world  but  could  obtain  fire  as 
easily  as  the  most  civilized  of  mankind. 
.  .  .  About  1834,  phosphorus  began  to  be 
used  with  other  materials  to  cause  more 
easy  ignition,  and  by  1840  these  matches 
became  so  cheap  as  to  come  into  general  use 
in  place  of  the  old  flint  and  steel.  .  .  . 
Whereas  down  to  the  end  of  the  last  century 
our  modes  of  producing  and  utilizing  light 
were  almost  exactly  the  same  as  had  been  in 
use  for  the  preceding  two  or  three  thousand 
years,  in  the  present  century  we  have  made 
no  less  than  three  new  departures,  all  of 
which  are  far  superior  to  the  methods  of  our 
forefathers.  These  are:  (1)  the  improve- 
ment in  lamps  by  the  use  of  the  principle  of 
the  Argand  burner  and  chimney;  (2)  light- 
ing by  coal-gas ;  and  ( 3 )  the  various  modes 
of  electric  lighting. — WALLACE  The  Wonder- 
ful Century,  ch.  4,  pp.  26-30.  (D.  M.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1236.  FIRE,  ITS    SERVICE   TO  SCI- 
ENCE—Maw's  Friend  and  Servant^A   Chief 
Factor   of    Civilization — Gives   Power   over 
Nature. — Looking    back    through    the    long 
dark  vista  of  human  history,  the  one  step 
in  material  progress  that  seems  to  be  really 
comparable  in  importance  with  several  of 
the  steps  we  have  just  made,  was,  when  fire 
was  first  utilized,  and  became  the  servant 
and  the  friend,  instead  of  being  the  master 


and  the  enemy,  of  man.  From  that  far  dis- 
tant epoch  even  down  to  our  day,  fire,  in 
various  forms  and  in  ever-widening  spheres 
of  action,  has  not  only  ministered  to  the 
necessities  and  the  enjoyments  of  man,  but 
has  been  the  greatest,  the  essential  factor, 
in  that  continuous  increase  of  his  power 
over  Nature  which  has  undoubtedly  been  a 
chief  means  of  the  development  of  his  in- 
tellect and  a  necessary  condition  of  what  we 
term  civilization.  Without  fire  there  would 
have  been  neither  a  bronze  nor  an  iron  age, 
and  without  these  there  could  have  been  no 
effective  tools  or  weapons,  with  all  the  long 
succession  of  mechanical  discoveries  and  re- 
finements that  depended  upon  them.  With- 
out fire  there  could  be  no  rudiment  even  of 
chemistry,  and  all  that  has  arisen  out  of  it. 
Without  fire  much  of  the  earth's  surface 
would  be  uninhabitable  by  man,  and  much 
of  what  is  now  wholesome  food  would  be 
useless  to  him.  Without  fire  he  must  al- 
ways have  remained  ignorant  of  the  larger 
part  of  the  world  of  matter  and  of  its  mys- 
terious forces.  He  might  have  lived  in  the 
warmer  parts  of  the  earth  in  a  savage  or  even 
in  a  partially  civilized  condition,  but  he 
could  never  have  risen  to  the  full  dignity 
of  intellectual  man,  the  interpreter  and  mas- 
ter of  the  forces  of  Nature. — WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1237.  FIRE  KINDLED  BY  PRIMITIVE 
MAN — Australian  Devices. — The  Australians 
obtain  fire  by  rubbing  together  two  pieces  of 
wood.  The  process,  however,  being  one  of 
considerable  labor,  particularly  in  damp 
weather,  great  care  is  taken  to  prevent  the 
fire,  when  once  lighted,  from  becoming  ex- 
tinguished. For  this  reason  they  often  carry 
with  them  a  cone  of  Banksia,  which  burns 
slowly. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  13, 
p.  425.  (A.,  1900.) 


1238. 


Origin  of  Flint  and 


Steel — The  Fire-drill. — The  fire-drill  is  a 
means  of  converting  mechanical  force  into 
heat  till  the  burning-point  of  wood  is 
reached.  But  all  that  is  really  wanted  is 
a  glowing  hot  particle  or  spark,  and  this 
can  be  far  more  easily  got  in  other  ways. 
Breaking  a  nodule  of  iron  pyrites  picked 
up  on  the  seashore,  and  with  a  bit  of  flint 
striking  sparks  from  it  on  tinder,  is  a  way 
of  firemaking  quite  superior  to  the  use  of 
the  wooden  drill.  It  was  known  to  some 
modern  savages,  even  the  miserable  natives 
of  Terra  del  Fuego;  to  the  prehistoric  men 
of  Europe,  as  appears  from  the  bits  of  py- 
rites found  in  their  caves;  and  of  course  to 
the  old  civilized  world,  as  witness  the  Greek 
name  of  the  mineral,  purites,  or  "fiery." 
Substitute  for  this  a  piece  of  iron,  and  we 
have  the  flint  and  steel,  the  ordinary  appa- 
ratus of  nations  from  their  entry  into  the 
iron  age  till  modern  times.  Yet  even  this 
has  now  been  so  discarded  that  the  old- 
fashioned  kitchen  tinder-box  with  its  flint 
and  U-shaped  steel,  and  damper  for  pre- 


Fire 

Fish 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


254 


paring  the  tinder  from  scraps  of  burnt  linen 
to  light  the  brimstone-match  with,  has  be- 
come a  curiosity  worth  securing  when  found 
by  chance  in  some  farmhouse. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  11,  p.  262.  (A.,  1899.) 

1239.  FIRE,  KINDLING  OF,  IN  BRA- 
ZILIAN FOREST— Primitive  Methods  Still  in 
Use — Simple  Comfort  of  Life  in  Wilderness. 
— We   landed   and  prepared   for   breakfast. 
It  was  a  pretty  spot — a  clean,  white,  sandy 
beach  beneath  the  shade  of  wide-spreading 

trees.  Joaquim  made  a  fire.  He  first 
scraped  fine  shavings  from  the  midrib  of  a 
bacaba-palm  leaf;  these  he  piled  into  a  lit- 
tle heap  in  a  dry  place,  and  then  struck  a 
light  in  his  bamboo  tinder-box  with  a  piece 
of  an  old  file  and  a  flint,  the  tinder  being 
a  felt-like,  soft  substance  manufactured  by 
an  ant  (Polyrhachis  bispinosus).  By  gentle 
blowing  the  shavings  ignited,  dry  sticks 
were  piled  on  them,  and  a  good  fire  soon 
resulted.  He  then  singed  and  prepared  the 
cutfa,  finishing  by  running  a  spit  through 
the  body,  and  fixing  one  end  in  the  ground 
in  a  slanting  position  over  the  fire.  We 
had  brought  with  us  a  bag  of  farinha  and 
a  cup  containing  a  lemon,  a  dozen  or  two 
of  fiery  red  peppers,  and  a  few  spoonfuls 
of  salt'.  We  breakfasted  heartily  when  our 
cutia  was  roasted,  and  washed  the  meal 
down  with  a  calabash-full  of  the  pure  water 
of  the  river. — BATES  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  5,  p.  663.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

1240.  FIRE  LIFTS  PALL  OF  NIGHT 

— Makes  a  Way  through  Darkness. — Until 
the  savage  could  command  fire,  the  clouded 
evening  sky  left  him  as  if  sightless  for  toil, 
for  sport,  for  escape  from  ravening  beasts 
and  sudden  tempests.  If  his  feet  found  a 
beaten  path,  it  was  easy  to  stray  from  it 
in  darkness,  perchance  to  pay  the  penalty 
with  his  life.  His  lowly  hearth,  heaped 
with  crackling  boughs,  cheered  even  more 
with  its  light  than  with  its  warmth.  It 
drew  to  its  rays  the  industries  of  flint  and 
needle;  its  fitful  beam  created  man's  first 
home. — ILES  Flame,  Electricity,  and  the 
Camera,  ch.  3,  p.  25.  (D.  &  McC.,  1900.) 

1241.  FIRE,  RIVERS  OF— Modern  Street 
Quarried  through  Lava — Man's  Inattention 
to  Warnings  of  Nature. — Burning  torrents 
have  often  taken  their  course  through  the 
streets   of  Torre  del  Greco,   and   consumed 
or  enclosed  a  large  portion  of  the  town  in 
solid  rock.     It  seems  probable  that  the  de- 
struction of  three  thousand  of  its  inhabit- 
ants in  1631,  which  some  accounts  attribute 
to  boiling  water,  was  principally  due  to  one 
of    those    alluvial    floods    which    we    before 
mentioned:    but,    in    1737,    the    lava    itself 
flowed  through  the  eastern  side  of  the  town, 
and   afterwards    reached   the    sea;    and,    in 
1794,  another  current,  rolling  over  the  west- 
ern side,  filled  the  streets  and  houses,  and 
killed  more  than  four  hundred  persons.   The 
main   street   is  now  quarried  through  this 
lava,  which  supplied  building-stones  for  new 


houses  erected  where  others  had  been  an- 
nihilated. The  church  was  half  buried  in 
a  rocky  mass,  but  the  upper  portion  served 
as  the  foundation  of  a  new  edifice. 

The  number  of  the  population  at  present 
is  estimated  at  fifteen  thousand;  and  a 
satisfactory  answer  may  readily  be  re- 
turned to  those  who  inquire  how  the  in- 
habitants can  be  so  "  inattentive  to  the 
voice  of  time  and  the  warnings  of  Nature," 
as  to  rebuild  their  dwellings  on  a  spot  so 
often  devastated.  No  neighboring  site  un- 
occupied by  a  town,  or  which  would  not 
be  equally  insecure,  combines  the  same  ad- 
vantages of  proximity  to  the  capital,  to  the 
sea,  and  to  the  rich  lands  on  the  flanks  of 
Vesuvius.  If  the  present  population  were 
exiled,  they  would  immediately  be  replaced 
by  another,  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
Maremma  of  Tuscany  and  the  Campagna 
di  Roma  will  never  be  depopulated,  altho 
the  malaria  fever  commits  more  havoc  in 
a  few  years  than  the  Vesuvian  lavas  in  as 
many  centuries.  The  district  around  Naples 
supplies  one  amongst  innumerable  examples, 
that  those  regions  where  the  surface  is  most 
frequently  renewed,  and  where  the  renova- 
tion is  accompanied,  at  different  intervals 
of  time,  by  partial  destruction  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  may  nevertheless  be 
amongst  the  most  habitable  and  delightful 
on  our  globe. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  394.  (A.,  1854.) 

1242.  FJRE,  SACRED,  KINDLING  OF 

BY  BRAHMANS  —  Superstition  Consecrates 
Ancient  Usage. — [In  India]  tho  people  have 
for  ages  kindled  fire  for  practical  use  with 
the  flint  and  steel,  yet  the  Brahmans,  to 
make  the  sacred  fire  'for  the  daily  sacrifice, 
still  use  the  barbaric  art  of  violently  bor- 
ing a  pointed  stick  into  another  piece  of 
wood  till  a  spark  comes.  Asked  why  they 
thus  waste  their  labor  when  they  know  bet- 
ter, they  answer  that  they  do  it  to  get  pure 
and  holy  fire.  But  to  us  it  is  plain  that 
they  are  really  keeping  up  by  unchanging 
custom  a  remnant  of  the  ruder  life  once 
led  by  their  remote  ancestors. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  1,  p.  16.  (A.,  1899.) 

1243.  FIRE  STARTED   WITH  ICE— 

A  Paradox  of  Science. — And  now  I  will  sub- 
stitute for  our  glass  lens  one  of  a  more 
novel  character.  In  a  smooth  iron  mold 
a  lens  of  pellucid  ice  has  been  formed. 
Placing  it  in  the  position  occupied  a  mo- 
ment ago  by  the  glass  lens,  I  can  see  the 
beam  brought  to  a  sharp  focus.  At  the 
focus  I  place  a  bit  of  black  paper,  with  a 
little  gun-cotton  folded  up  within  it.  The 
paper  immediately  ignites  and  the  cotton 
explodes.  Strange,  is  it  not,  that  the  beam 
should  possess  such  heating  power  after 
having  passed  through  so  cold  a  substance? 
In  his  arctic  expeditions  Dr.  Scoresby  suc- 
ceeded in  exploding  gunpowder  by  the  sun's 
rays  converged  by  large  lenses  of  ice;  here 
we"  have  succeeded  in  producing  the  effect 


255 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Fire 
Fish 


with  a  small  lens,  and  with  a  terrestrial 
source  of  heat. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  5,  p.  170.  (A.,  1898.) 

1244.  FIRE,  THE  BEAUTY,  MAJES- 
TY, AND  UTILITY  OF— A  Destroying  Power 
Tamed  To  Minister  to  Human  Needs. — Who 
is  not  struck  with  the  splendor  of  a  bril- 
liantly lighted  hall  or  theater?     Indeed,  the 
beauty  and  luster  imparted  to  large  rooms 
by  judicious  lighting  have  no  small  share 
in  the  production  of  the  vivacity   felt  by 
the   audience   generally.     Turning  to    com- 
bustion on  a  large  scale,  with  flames  raging 
in    uncontrollable    fury,    and   material    un- 
dergoing rapid  destruction,   there   is   prob- 
ably no  phenomenon  in  Nature,  except,  per- 
haps, the  electric  discharge,  that  impresses 
us  with  a  stronger  feeling  of  awe.     A  con- 
flagration, from  a  bonfire  to  a  building  in 
flames,  from  a  chimney  on  fire  to  a  blast- 
furnace   belching    forth    its    fiery    tongues 
high  into  the  air,   is  a  fit  emblem  of  un- 
governable fury  and  relentless  destruction. 
But  it  is  more  to  our  present  purpose  to 
regard    flame    as    an    instrument    for    good 
rather  than  evil.    Most  of  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  and  even  necessities  of  modern  civ- 
ilized life  are  due  directly  or  indirectly  to 
its    agency;    indeed,    it    would    be    difficult 
to  name  an  art  or  manufacture  which  does 
not  owe  to  flame  its  very  birth.     At  home 
and  abroad,   in  the  house,  the  street,  and 
the  mart,  we  are  surrounded  by  a  multitude 
of  substances  which  have  been  produced  by 
the  application  of  heat  in  one  form  or  an- 
other.— LOWE  Nature- Studies,  p.  1.     (Hum., 
1888.) 

1245.  FIRMNESS  OF    THE    "SOLID 
EARTH"— Its  Rigidity  as  Great  as  that  of 
Steel. — [Since    the    attraction    of    sun    and 
moon  acts  on  land  as  really  as  on  water, 
it  was  suggested  in  1868]  that  this  criterion 
might,  by  the  aid  of  a  prolonged  series  of 
exact  tidal  observations,  be  practically  ap- 
plied to  test  the  interior  condition  of  our 
planet.     In  1882,  accordingly,  suitable  data 
extending    over    thirty-three    years    having 
at    length    become    available,    Professor    G. 
H.  Darwin  performed  the  laborious  task  of 
their  analysis,  with  the  general  result  that 
the  "  effective  rigidity  "  of  the  earth's  mass 
must  be  at  least  as  great  as  that  of  steel. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  7, 
p.  317.      (Bl.,  1893.) 

1 246.  FISH  CANNOT  LIVE  IN  GREAT 
SALT  LAKE— Lower  Organisms  Flourish — 
Aquatic  Birds  Find  Food. — The  brine  of  the 
[Great  Salt]    lake  is  so  concentrated  that 
fish  cannot  live  in  it,  but  it  furnishes  a  con- 
genial home  for  small  crustaceans  known  as 
brine  shrimps  (Artemia)  and  for  the  larvae 
of  dipterous  insects.    These  are  abundant  at 
certain  seasons,  but  not  in  such  vast  num- 
bers as  in  some  of  the  more  alkaline  lakes 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  Basin.    It  has 
been  stated  that  the  vast  numbers  of  crusta- 
ceans and  of  larvae  in  these  waters  are  due 


to  the  fact  that  there  are  no  fishes  or  other 
animals  in  the  lakes  that  could  prey  upon 
them;  aquatic  birds,  however,  feed  upon 
them  in  great  numbers,  but  still  they  swarm 
in  countless  myriads.  Their  food  seems  to 
be  minute  algae,  of  which  several  species 
have  been  described. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of 
North  America,  ch.  4,  p.  83.  (G.  &  Co., 
1895.) 

1247.  FISH  EJECTED  FROM  VOLCA- 
NOES— Life  in  Subterranean  Lakes — Deluges 
of  Mud  in  the  Andes. — Deluges  are  often 
caused  in  the  Andes  by  the  liquefaction  of 
great  masses  of  snow,  and  sometimes  by  the 
rending  open,  during  earthquakes,  of  sub- 
terranean cavities  filled  with  water.  In 
these  inundations  fine  volcanic  sand,  loose 
stones,  and  other  materials  which  the  water 
meets  with  in  its  descent  are  swept  away, 
and  a  vast  quantity  of  mud,  called  "  moya," 
is  thus  formed  and  carried  down  into  the 
lower  regions.  Mud  derived  from  this 
source  descended,  in  1797,  from  the  sides  of 
Tungurahua  in  Quito,  and  filled  valleys  a 
thousand  feet  wide  to  the  depth  of  six  hun- 
dred feet,  damming  up  rivers  and  causing 
lakes.  In  these  currents  and  lakes  of  moya, 
thousands  of  small  fish  are  sometimes  en- 
veloped, which,  according  to  Humboldt,  have 
lived  and  multiplied  in  subterranean  cavi- 
ties.— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  22,  p.  348.  (A.,  1854.) 


1248. 


Pestilence  Resulting 


from  Decay  of  Volcanic  Fishes. — Subter- 
ranean lakes,  communicating  by  various 
channels  with  the  mountain  streams,  are 
frequently  formed  in  deep  and  vast  cavities, 
either  on  the  declivity  or  at  the  base  of  vol- 
canoes. When  the  whole  mass  of  the  volcano 
is  powerfully  shaken  by  those  earthquakes 
which  precede  all  eruptions  of  fire  in  the 
Andes,  the  subterranean  vaults  open  and 
pour  forth  streams  of  water,  fishes,  and  tu- 
faceous  mud.  This  singular  phenomenon 
brings  to  mind  the  Pimelodes  Cyclopum,  or 
the  Silures  of  the  Cyclops,  which  the  in- 
habitants of  the  plateau  of  Quito  call 
Prenadilla,  and  of  which  I  gave  a  circum- 
stantial account  soon  after  my  return  to 
Europe.  When,  on  the  night  between  the 
19th  and  20th  of  June,  1698,  the  summit  of 
Mount  Carguairazo,  situated  to  the  north  of 
Chimborazo,  and  having  an  elevation  of 
more  than  19,000  feet,  fell  in,  all  the  coun- 
try for  nearly  32  square  miles  was  covered 
with  mud  and  fishes.  A  similar  eruption  of 
fish  from  the  volcano  of  Imbaburu  was  sup- 
posed to  have  caused  the-  putrid  fever  which, 
seven  years  before  this  period,  raged  in  the 
town  of  Ibarra. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Na- 
ture,-p.  367.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1 249.    FISH  ITS  OWN  LIGHT-BEARER 

— In  Opostomias  micr>'pnus,&  dark  black  fish 
living  at  a  depth  of  over  2,000  fathoms, 
there  are  two  rows  of  ocellar  organs  running 
down  the  sides  of  the  body  from  the  head  to 
the  tail.  In  the  living  animal  they  are  said 


lood 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


256 


to  shine  with  a  reddish  luster. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  78.  (A., 
1894.) 

1250.  FISH  KILLING   HORSES— The 

Electric  Eel — Electricity  in  the  Waters. — 
The  crocodile  and  the  jaguar  are  not,  how- 
ever, the  only  enemies  that  threaten  the 
South- American  horse;  for  even  among  the 
fishes  it  has  a  dangerous  foe.  The  marshy 
waters  of  Bera  and  Rastro  are  filled  with 
innumerable  electric  eels,  who  can  at  pleas- 
ure discharge  from  every  part  of  their  slimy, 
yellow-speckled  bodies  a  deadening  shock. 
This  species  of  Gymnotus  is  about  five  or  six 
feet  in  length.  It  is  powerful  enough  to 
kill  the  largest  animals  when  it  discharges 
its  nervous  organs  at  one  shock  in  a  favor- 
able direction.  It  was  once  found  necessary 
to  change  the  line  of  road  from  Uritucu 
across  the  steppe,  owing  to  the  number  of 
horses  which,  in  fording  a  certain  rivulet, 
annually  fell  a  sacrifice  to  these  gymnoti, 
which  had  accumulated  there  in  great  num- 
bers. All  other  species  of  fish  shun  the  vi- 
cinity of  these  formidable  creatures.  Even 
the  angler,  when  fishing  from  the  high  bank, 
is  in  dread  lest  an  electric  shock  should  be 
conveyed  to  him  along  the  moistened  line. 
Thus,  in  these  regions,  the  electric  fire 
breaks  forth  from  the  lowest  depths  of  the 
waters. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  17. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

1251.  FISHES  ENTICED  WITHIN  NET 

— With  a  humoristic  sideglance  at  human 
relations,  Aelian  describes  how  a  delicate 
Mediterranean  fish,  called  Scarus,  was 
caught.  A  female  fish  was  fastened  to  a  line 
weighted  with  lead  and  then  dragged  to  the 
spot  over  which  the  nets  had  been  spread. 
Then  after  the  males,  in  their  fatal  amo- 
rousness, had  followed  close  enough,  the 
fisher  would  drop  his  lead  into  the  net,  and 
the  female  together  with  the  whole  of  her 
dazzled  following  would  be  dragged  within. 
— HOFFMAN  Das  Blei  bei  den  Volkern  des 
Alterthums.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 

1252.  FISSURES,  VAST  AND  DEEP, 
FORMED  BY  EARTHQUAKES— Fragility  of 
the  "  Solid  Earth." — The  magnitude  of  some 
of   the    fissures    formed   during    [the    Cala- 
brian]   earthquake  affords  startling  indica- 
tions   of    the    tremendous    violence    of    the 
earth's  internal  throes.    Grimaldi  observed  in 
the  territory  of  San  Fili  a  newly  formed  ra- 
vine half  a  mile  long  and  twenty-five  feet 
deep,  and  another  of  similar  dimensions  in 
Kosarno.     In  the  district  of  Plaisano  three 
enormous  fissures  were  formed:    one  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  long,  about  thirty  feet  in  width, 
and  225  feet  deep;   the  second,  three-quar- 
ters of  a  mile  long,  150  feet  broad,  and  100 
feet  deep ;    and  the  third,  nearly  a  mile  long, 
105  feet  broad,  and  thirty  feet  deep.     If  any 
evidence  were  required  as  to  the  true  nature 
of  the  disturbance,  it  would  be  found  in  the 
remarkable  motions  of  masses  slightly  at- 
tached   to    the    surface-soil.      Paving-stones 


were  flung  into  the  air,  masses  of  loose  soil 
flung  in  showers  over  the  surrounding  ob- 
jects.— PROCTOR  Notes  on  Earthquakes,  p. 
4.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

1253.  FIXITY  IN  CHANGE—  The  Cloud 
about  a  Mountain-top. — Mr.  Daniell  has  ob- 
served, in  his  meteorological  essays,  that  a 
cloud  sometimes  appears  fixed  on  a  moun- 
tain summit,  while  the  wind  continues  to 
blow  over  it.     The  same  phenomenon  here 
presented    a    slightly    different    appearance. 
In  this  case  the  cloud  was  clearly  seen  to 
curl  over,  and  rapidly  pass  by  the  summit, 
and    yet    was    neither    diminished    nor    in- 
creased in  size.    The  sun  was  setting,  and  a 
gentle  southerly  breeze,  striking  against  the 
southern  side  of  the  rock,  mingled  its  cur- 
rent with   the   colder   air   above;     and   the 
vapor  was  thus  condensed:    but  as  the  light 
wreaths  of  cloud  passed  over  the  ridge,  and 
came  within  the  influence  of  the  warmer  at- 
mosphere of  the  northern  sloping  bank,  they 
were    immediately    redissolved.  —  DARWIN 
Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the  World,  ch. 
2,  p.  28.    (A.,  1898.) 

1254.  FIXITY  OF  SOLIDS  DELUSIVE 

— The  Flowing  of  Metals — Lead  and  Gold 
Interpenetrate  Each  Other. — One  of  the 
most  characteristic  properties  of  gases  and 
liquids  is  that  of  readily  mixing  together 
when  placed  in  contact.  But  it  has  recent- 
ly been  shown  that  solids  also  mix,  tho 
very  much  more  slowly.  If  a  cube  of  lead 
is  placed  upon  one  of  gold,  the  surfaces 
of  contact  being  very  smooth  and  true,  and 
be  left  without  any  pressure  but  their  own 
weight,  and  at  ordinary  temperatures,  for 
about  a  month,  a  minute  quantity  of  gold 
will  be  found  to  have  permeated  through 
the  lead,  and  can  be  detected  in  any  part 
of  it.  Metals  may  thus  be  said  to  flow 
into  each  other. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  7,  p.  56.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1255.  FIXITY  OF  THE  EARTH  ONCE 
ASSUMED — Cosmogony  of  Homer — Thought 
of  the  Earth  as  Detached  a  Surprise — All 
Subterfuges  of  Support  Fail — "  He  Stretch- 
eth  Out  the  North  over  the  Empty  Place, 
and  Hangeth  the  Earth  upon  Nothing  "  (Job 
xxvi,  7). — At  the  epoch  of  Homer  (about 900 
years  before  our  era)    it  was  believed  that 
the  earth,  surrounded  by  the  river  Okeanos, 
filled  the  lower  half  of  the  celestial  sphere, 
while  the   upper   half  extended   above,   and 
that  Helios  (the  sun)  extinguished  his  fires 
each  evening  and  relit  them  in  the  morning 
after    bathing    in    the   deep   waters    of   the 
ocean.     .     .     .      Many    Greek    astronomers 
still    believed,    2,000    years    ago,    that    the 
stars    were    fires    fed    by   exhalations    from 
the   earth.     They   were  soon   forced  to   re- 
mark that  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  planets, 
and  the  stars  rise  and  set,  and  that  during 
the  hours  which  elapse  between  their  setting 
and  their  rising  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  stars  should  pass  under  the  earth. 
Under  the  earth !     What  a  revolution  is  in 
these  three  words!     Up  to  that  time  they 


257 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Fish 
Flood 


had  supposed  that  the  world  extended  to 
infinity  below  our  feet,  solidly  founded  for- 
ever, and,  without  comprehending  this  in- 
finite extension  of  matter,  they  remained 
in  ignorance  and  believed  in  the  firm  solid- 
ity of  the  earth.  But  when  the  curves  de- 
scribed by  the  stars  above  our  heads  were 
continued"  after  they  set  below  the  horizon, 
to  start  again  when  they  rose,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  imagine  the  earth  pierced  right 
through  with  tunnels  large  enough  to  per- 
mit the  passage  of  the  celestial  torches. 
.  .  .  But  the  idea  of  supporting  the 
earth  on  mountains  or  otherwise  only  evades 
the  difficulty,  for  these  mountains,  ele- 
phants, or  columns  would,  of  course,  re- 
quire to  rest  on  some  lower  foundation.  As, 
moreover,  the  sky  seems  to  turn  round  in 
one  piece,  the  subterfuges  invented  in  order 
to  preserve  for  the  earth  something  of  its 
[supposed]  original  stability  at  last  disap- 
peared by  the  force  of  circumstances,  and 
they  were  obliged  to  admit  that  the  earth  is 
isolated  in  all  its  parts. — FLAMMARION  Pop- 
ular Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (A.) 

1256.  FLAME  THE  FRANKENSTEIN 
OF  ALCHEMISTS—  The  Real  Wonder-worker 
— Man  Must  Work  with  Nature's  Laws. — 
Flame    was    the    mighty    Frankenstein    to 
whom  the  old  alchemists  looked  for  aid  in 
their  visionary  schemes  of  transmutation; 
but  since  the  time  of  those  assiduous  but 
misguided   philosophers,    flame   has   worked 
greater  wonders  than  ever  entered  into  their 
wildest  fancies.     The  diligent  experimenter 
may  be  assured  that  much  still  remains  un- 
disclosed, and  that  by  means  of  the  Bunsen 
burner,    blowpipe,    and    blast-gas    furnace, 
discoveries  have  yet  to  be  made  which  will, 
at   the   same  time,   startle   and  benefit  the 
world.      Our    experiments,    however,    must 
not  be  simply  tentative;   they  must  be  be- 
gun,   continued,    and    ended    in    accordance 
with  physical  laws,  which  will  never  change, 
whatever    may   be   the    ultimate   revolution 
in  scientific  theories.     By  heat  the  elements 
can  be  separated,  and  by  the  same  agency 
they   can   be   combined;    the   more   perfect, 
therefore,  our  knowledge  of  chemical  action 
and   reaction,   the  more   likely   are  our   re- 
searches   to    terminate    in    satisfactory    re- 
sults.— LOWE  Nature-Studies,  p.  10   (Hum.. 
1888.) 

1257.  FLAVORS   AND  ODORS  CHEM- 
ICALLY   PRODUCED  —  Fruit -sirups  —  Old 
Wines  and  Whiskies  Successfully  Imitated. 
— The  delicious  fruit-sirups  expressly  pre- 
pared from  the  fruits  themselves,  which  we 
find  advertised  at  the  alleged  soda-fountains, 
are,  in  most  cases,  the  products  of  the  chem- 
ical laboratory.     The  achievements  of  syn- 
thetic  conquest  have  been   pushed  even   to 
a  greater  extent,  and  we  find  it  possible  to 
produce   mixtures    of    ethers    and    essential 
oils,  the  pure  fabrications  of  the  chemist, 
which  resemble  in  every  respect  the  natural 
products  arising  from  the  aging  of  whisky 
and  wine.     With  a  half-dozen  bottles  of  es- 


sences which  you  may  purchase  in  Cincin- 
nati, a  barrel  of  alcohol  which  you  can  get 
from  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  bonded  warehouses, 
and  a  pound  of  burnt  sugar  which  you  can 
make  yourself,  you  can  in  a  few  hours  make 
two  barrels  and  a  half  of  ten-year-old  Bour- 
bon. In  this  day,  when  great  universities 
spring  up  in  a  night,  with  all  the  facilities 
and  appointments  which  centuries  were  sup- 
posed to  produce,  it  is  not  so  strange  to 
find  the  chemist  also  annihilating  time 
and  obliterating  space. — WILEY  Relations 
of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Progress  (Ad- 
dress'at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Ind., 
1896,  p.  30). 

1258.  FLIGHT  OF  BIRDS  A  NATURAL 
GIFT —  Young  Swallows  Fly  Perfectly  with  No 
Instruction. — Mr.     Spalding's     observations 
on    this    point    are    conclusive   as    to    birds 
(Nature,  xii,  507)  : 

"  Birds,"  he  says,  "  do  not  learn  to  fly. 
Two  years  ago  I  shut  up  five  unfledged  swal- 
lows in  a  small  box,  not  much  larger  than 
the  nest  from  which  they  were  taken.  The 
little  box,  which  had  a  wire  front,  was 
hung  on  the  wall  near  the  nest,  and  the 
young  swallows  were  fed  by  their  parents 
through  the  wires.  In  this  confinement, 
where  they  could  not  even  extend  their 
wings,  they  were  kept  until  after  they  were 
fully  fledged.  .  .  .  On  going  to  set  the 
prisoners  free,  one  was  found  dead.  .  .  . 
The  remaining  four  were  allowed  to  escape 
one  at  a  time.  Two  of  these  were  percep- 
tibly wavering  and  unsteady  in  their  flight. 
One  of  them,  after  a  flight  of  some  ninety 
yards,  disappeared  among  some  trees."  No. 
3  and  No.  4  "never  flew  against  anything, 
nor  was  there,  in  their  avoiding  objects, 
any  appreciable  difference  between  them  and 
the  old  birds.  No.  3  swept  round  the  Wel- 
lingtonia,  and  No.  4  rose  over  the  hedge, 
just  as  we  see  the  old  swallows  doing  every 
hour  of  the  day.  I  have  this  summer  veri- 
fied these  observations.  Of  two  swallows 
I  had  similarly  confined,  one,  on  being  set 
free,  flew  a  yard  or  two  close  to  the  ground, 
rose  in  the  direction  of  a  beech-tree,  which 
it  gracefully  avoided ;  it  was  seen  for  a  con- 
siderable time  sweeping  round  the  beeches 
and  performing  magnificent  evolutions  in 
the  air  high  above  them.  The  other,  which 
was  observed  to  beat  the  air  with  its  wings 
more  than  usual,  was  soon  lost  to  sight 
behind  some  trees.  Titmice,  tomtits,  and 
wrens  I  have  made  the  subjects  of  similar 
observations,  and  with  similar  results." — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  406. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1259.  FLOOD  AT  TTVOLI— Church  and 

Dwellings  Destroyed — Ancient  Pagan  Tem- 
ple Spared. — The  younger  Pliny,  it  will  be 
remembered,  describes  a  flood  on  the  Anio, 
which  destroyed  woods,  rocks,  and  houses, 
with  the  most  sumptuous  villas  and  works 
of  art.  For  four  of  five  centuries  consec- 
utively, this  "headlong  stream,"  as  Horace 
truly  called  it,  has  often  remained  within 


Flood 
Food 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


258 


its  bounds,  and  then,  after  so  long  an  in- 
terval of  rest,  has  at  different  periods  inun- 
dated its  banks  again,  and  widened  its 
channel.  The  last  of  these  catastrophes 
happened  15th  Nov.,  1826,  after  [continu- 
ous] heavy  rains.  .  .  .  The  waters  appear 
also  to  have  been  impeded  by  an  artificial 
dike,  by  which  they  were  separated  into  two 
parts,  a  short  distance  above  Tivoli.  They 
broke  through  this  dike,  and  leaving  the  left 
trench  dry,  precipitated  themselves,  with 
their  whole  weight,  on  the  right  side.  Here 
they  undermined,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours,  a  high  cliff,  and  widened  the  river's 
channel  about  fifteen  paces.  On  this  height 
stood  the  church  of  St.  Lucia,  and  about 
thirty-six  houses  of  the  town  of  Tivoli, 
which  were  all  carried  away,  presenting, 
as  they  sank  into  the  roaring  flood,  a  ter- 
rific scene  of  destruction  to  the  spectators 
on  the  opposite  bank.  As  the  foundations 
were  gradually  removed,  each  building, 
some  of  them  edifices  of  considerable  height, 
was  first  traversed  with  numerous  rents, 
which  soon  widened  into  large  fissures,  un- 
til at  length  the  roofs  fell  in  with  a  crash, 
and  then  the  walls  sunk  into  the  river,  and 
were  hurled  down  the  cataract  below. 

The  destroying  agency  of  the  flood  came 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  precipice 
on  which  the  beautiful  temple  of  Vesta 
stands;  but  fortunately  this  precious  relic 
of  antiquity  was  spared,  while  the  wreck 
of  modern  structures  was  hurled  down  the 
abyss. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  14,  p.  212.  (A.,  1854.) 

126O.  FLOOD  IN  THE  WHITE  MOUN- 
TAINS— Mountain  Stream  Becomes  a  Torrent 
— Death  Found  in  Seeking  Refuge. — Two 
dry  seasons  in  the  White  Mountains,  in  New 
Hampshire  (United  States),  were  followed 
by  heavy  rains  on  the  28th  of  August,  1826, 
when  from  the  steep  and  lofty  declivities 
which  rise  abruptly  on  both  sides  of  the 
River  Saco  innumerable  rocks  and  stones, 
many  of  sufficient  size  to  fill  a  common 
apartment,  were  detached,  and  in  their  de- 
scent swept  down  before  them,  in  one  pro- 
miscuous and  frightful  ruin,  forests,  shrubs, 
and  the  earth  which  sustained  them.  Altho 
there  are  numerous  indications  on  the  steep 
sides  of  these  hills  of  former  slides  of  the 
same  kind,  yet  no  tradition  had  been  handed 
down  of  any  similar  catastrophe  within  the 
memory  of  man,  and  the  growth  of  the 
forest  on  the  very  spots  now  devastated 
clearly  showed  that  for  a  long  interval  noth- 
ing similar  had  occurred.  One  of  these 
moving  masses  was  afterwards  found  to 
have  slid  three  miles,  with  an  average 
breadth  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  natural 
excavations  commenced  generally  in  a 
trench  a  few  yards  in  depth  and  a  few  rods 
in  width,  and  descended  the  mountains,  wi- 
dening and  deepening  till  they  became  vast 
chasms.  At  the  base  of  these  hollow  ravines 
was  seen  a  confused  mass  of  ruins,  consist- 
ing of  transported  earth,  gravel,  rocks,  and 
trees.  Forests  of  spruce-fir  and  hemlock,  a 


kind  of  fir  somewhat  resembling  our  yew  in 
foliage,  were  prostrated  with  as  much  ease 
as  if  they  had  been  fields  of  grain;  for, 
where  they  disputed  the  ground,  the  torrent 
of  mud  and  rock  accumulated  behind  till  it 
gathered  sufficient  force  to  burst  the  tem- 
porary barrier. 

The  valleys  of  the  Ammonoosuc  and  Saco 
presented,  for  many  miles,  an  uninterrupted 
scene  of  desolation,  all  the  bridges  being 
carried  away,  as  well  as  those  over  their 
tributary  streams.  In  some  places  the  road 
was  excavated  to  the  depth  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet;  in  others  it  was  covered 
with  earth,  rocks,  and  trees  to  as  great  a 
height.  The  water  flowed  for  many  weeks 
after  the  flood,  as  densely  charged  with 
earth  as  it  could  be  without  being  changed 
into  mud,  and  marks  were  seen  in  various 
localities  of  its  having  risen  on  either  side 
of  the  valley  to  more  than  twenty- five  feet 
above  its  ordinary  level.  Many  sheep  and 
cattle  were  swept  away,  and  the  Willey 
family,  nine  in  number,  who  in  alarm  had 
deserted  their  house,  were  destroyed  on  the 
banks  of  the  Saco;  seven  of  their  mangled 
bodies  were  afterwards  found  near  the  river, 
buried  beneath  driftwood  and  mountain 
ruins. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  14,  p.  209.  (A.,  1854.) 

1261.  FOOD  DEEPLY   AFFECTS    OR- 
GANISM— Diet  Changes  Color  of  Birds.— In 
some   instances   it   is   known  that   a   bird's 
color  is  affected  by  the  nature  of  its  food. 
It  is  a  common  practise  among  bird  fanciers 
to  alter  the  color  of  canaries  from  yellow  to 
orange-red  by  feeding  them  on  red  pepper. 
This  food,  however,  is  said  to  have  no  effect 
upon  adult  birds,  but  must  be  fed  to  nest- 
lings.    Sauermann's  experiments,  as  quoted 
by  Beddard,  show  that  the  red  color  is  not 
caused  by  the  capsicin  or  red  pigment  in  the 
pepper,    but   by   a    fatty    substance    termed 
triolein.     Fed  to  white  fowls,  their  breasts 
became  red,  while  the  rest  of  the  plumage  re- 
mained unchanged.     It  is  also  stated  that 
dealers  alter  the  color  of  green  parrots  to 
yellow  by  feeding  them  on  the  fat  of  certain 
fishes. — CHAPMAN   Bird-Life,   ch.    3,   p.    39. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1262.  FOOD,  DEFINITION  AND  PUR- 
POSE OF — Heat  and  Energy  Partial  Results — 
The  Building-up  of  the  Body — Construction 
of    Protoplasm    the    Great    Requisite. — We 
must  decide  what  we  mean  by  a  food,  and 
upon  what  depend  its  nourishing  qualities. 
The  answer  of  the  current  doctrines  is  that 
the  purpose  of  a  food  is  to  supply,  by  its 
oxidation,   energy  to   the  organism   for  its 
activity  and  heat.    This  definition  is,  to  say 
the   least,   one-sided,  because  it  completely 
ignores  another  very  important  function  of 
food ;    namely,  its  purpose  of  serving  for  the 
construction    of    the    organism.      We    know 
that  the  growing  organism  can  grow  only  by 
means  of  the  substances  furnished  by  food ; 
accordingly,  that  every  organism,  including 
the   full-grown,    can    replace   what    is    lost 


259 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Flood 
Food 


through  physiological  functions  or  disease 
only  by  food.  For  this  function  of  food, 
which,  unfortunately,  is  often  neglected  in 
the  theoretical  discussions,  it  is  not  the  ca- 
loric value,  the  latent  energy,  contained  in  a 
substance,  but  its  constructive  value,  i,  e., 
its  power  to  take  part  in  the  building-up 
of  tne  body,  that  is  of  importance.  The 
same  holds  good  for  all  the  substances  serv- 
ing as  food  for  green  plants,  which  consist 
of  completely  oxidized  compounds,  and  which 
hence  possess  no  fuel-value.  Yet  plants 
live  and  breathe  as  well  as  animals;  their 
protoplasm  shows  irritability  as  well  as 
that  of  animals,  and  also  develops  heat  and 
other  vital  energies  by  its  activity.  In  this 
case  we  see  the  customary  theory,  that  food 
is  the  bearer  of  energy,  does  not  hold  good, 
because  here  the  nourishment  does  not  con- 
tain energy  and  can  only  serve  to  build 
up  the  vegetable  organism. 

Moreover,  certain  inorganic  substances 
are  indispensable  for  the  animal  organism, 
the  growing  as  well  as  the  full-grown  one, 
and  these  are  in  part  the  same,  potassium, 
calcium,  magnesium,  and  iron  compounds, 
which  the  plants  require  for  their  growth. 
These  facts  are  inexplicable  on  the  basis 
of  the  theory  that  the  purpose  of  food  is 
to  furnish  the  body  with  energy,  but  they 
are  at  once  clear  when  we  assume  that 
these  combinations  are  used  by  the  animal 
as  well  as  the  vegetable  organism  for  the 
formation  and  replacing  of  protoplasm. 

The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  the  or- 
ganic elements  of  animal  food.  As  long  as 
we  think  they  are  simply  consumed  in  the 
fluids  of  the  body  for  the  purpose,  as  we 
have  heard,  of  furnishing  material  for  heat 
and  energy,  the  doctrine  of  nutrition  will 
labor  with  a  list  of  enigmas  and  contra- 
dictions which  submit  to  solution  in  the 
simplest  way  as  soon  as  we  recognize  the 
other  possibility  that  they  are  also  em- 
ployed for  the  construction  and  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  living  and  working  protoplasm. 
— KASSOWITZ  Is  Alcohol  a  Food  or  a  Poi- 
son,?  A  paper,  p.  9.  (Translation  by  Mrs. 
J.  H.  W.  STUCKENBERG.  ) 

1263.  FOOD,  FALLACIES  REGARDING 
— Analysis  of  Substances  in  Raw  State — 
Cookery  Ignored — Assimilation  Unheeded. — 
A  great  many  fallacies  are  continually  per- 
petrated not  only  by  ignorant  people,  but 
even  by  eminent  chemists  and  physiolo- 
gists. In  many  chemical  and  physiolog- 
ical works  may  be  found  elaborately  minute 
tables  of  the  chemical  composition  of  cer- 
tain articles  of  food,  and  with  these  the 
assumption  (either  directly  stated  or  im- 
plied as  a  matter  of  course)  that  such 
tables  represent  the  practical  nutritive 
value  of  the  food.  The  illusory  character 
of  such  assumption  is  easily  understood. 
In  the  first  place  the  analysis  is  usually 
that  of  the  article  of  food  in  its  raw  state, 
and  thus  all  the  chemical  changes  involved 
in  the  process  of  cookery  are  ignored. 

Secondly,  the  difficulty  or  facility  of  as- 


similation is  too  often  unheeded.  This  de- 
pends both  upon  the  original  condition  of 
the  food  and  the  changes  which  the  cookery 
has  produced — changes  which  may  double 
its  nutritive  value  without  effecting  more 
than  a  small  percentage  of  alteration  in  its 
chemical  composition  as  revealed  by  labor- 
atory analysis. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of 
Cookery,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (A.,  1900.) 

1264.  FOOD,    NATURAL    CONSTITU- 
ENTS   NEEDED   IN— Gelatin  Will  Not  Sup- 
port  Life — The   "  Bone-soup  "   Experiments 
of    the    French    Academy. — About    fifty    or 
sixty  years  ago  the  French  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences   appointed    a    bone-soup    commission, 
consisting    of    some    of    the    most    eminent 
savants    of   the    period.      They  worked   for 
above  ten  years  upon  the  problem  submit- 
ted to  them,  that  of  determining  whether  or 
not  the  soup  made  by  boiling  bones  until 
only   their  mineral  matter  remained  solid, 
is,  or  is  not,  a  nutritious  food  for  the  in- 
mates of  hospitals,  etc.     In  the  voluminous 
report  which  they  ultimately  submitted  to 
the  Academy  they  decided  in  the  negative. 
Baron  Liebig  became  the  popular  exponent  of 
their  conclusions,  and  vigorously  denounced 
gelatin  as  not  merely  a  worthless  article  of 
food,  but  as  loading  the  system  with  ma- 
terial that  demands  wasteful  effort  for  its 
removal.      The    academicians    fed    dogs    on 
gelatin  alone  [and]  found  that  they  speedily 
lost  flesh,  and  ultimately  died  of  starvation. 
A  multitude  of  similar  experiments  showed 
that  gelatin  alone  will  not  support  animal 
life,  and  hence  the  conclusion  that  pure  gel- 
atin is  worthless  as  an  article  of  food,  and 
that  ordinary  soups  containing  gelatin  owed 
their    nutritive    value    to    their    other    con- 
stituents.— WILLIAMS    Chemistry    of    Cook- 
ery, ch.  4,  p.  36.      (A.,  1900.) 

1265.  FOOD,  NECESSITY  OF,  A  CAUSE 
OF  MIGRATION— Prevision  of  Unknown  Peril 
— Food,  and  the  necessity  for  obtaining  it, 
have  been  adduced  as  the  principal  causes 
of  migration  from  north  to  south  or  from 
east  to  west,  and  to  a  certain  extent  this  is 
true.     The  birds  which  breed  in  the  arctic 
regions,  and  along  the  shores  of  Russia,  Si- 
beria,   and   the   "  barren    lands "    of   North 
America,  the  snow  buntings,  the  geese,  the 
ducks,  the  turnstones,  and  a  host  of  others, 
must    necessarily    seek    milder    latitudes    if 
they  are  to  live  when  the  snow  covers  their 
feeding-grounds,  while  it  is  equally  evident 
that   insect-eating  birds,   like   the   swallow, 
cannot  remain  long  in  regions  from  which 
insect  life  disappears  for  several  months  in 
the    year. — BROWN    Nature- Studies,    p.    16. 
(Hum.,   1888.) 

1 266.  FOOD  OF  DEEP-SEA  ANIMALS 

— Must  Descend  from  Surface. — The  absence 
of  vegetable  life  is  an  important  point  in 
the  consideration  of  the  abysmal  fauna,  for 
it  is  in  consequence  necessary  to  bear  in 
mind  that  the  food  of  deep-sea  animals  must 
be  derived  from  the  surface.  It  is  possible 
that  deep-sea  fish,  in  some  cases,  feed  upon 


Food 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


260 


one  another  and  upon  deep-sea  Crustacea, 
that  deep-sea  Crustacea  feed  upon  deep-sea 
worms,  that  deep-sea  echinoderms  feed  upon 
deep-sea  foraminifera,  and  so  on  through 
all  the  different  combinations;  but  the 
fauna  would  soon  become  exhausted  if  it 
had  no  other  source  of  food-supply.  This 
other  source  of  food-supply  is  derived  from 
the  bodies  of  pelagic  organisms  that  fall 
from  the  upper  waters  of  the  ocean,  and  is 
composed  of  protozoa,  floating  tunicates, 
Crustacea,  fish,  and  other  animals,  together 
with  diatoms  and  fragments  of  seaweed. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p. 
43.  (A.,  1894.) 

1267.  FOOD  OF  ENTOMBED  RHINOC- 
EROS— Science  Brings  Past  to  Present.— In 
1772,   Pallas   obtained  from   Wiljuiskoi,   in 
lat.   64°,  from  the  banks  of  the  Wiljui,   a 
tributary  of  the  Lena,  the  carcass  of  a  rhi- 
noceros (R.  tichorhinus),  taken  from  the  sand 
in  which  it  must  have  remained  congealed 
for  ages,  the  soil  of  that  region  being  always 
frozen  to  within  a  slight  depth  of  the  sur- 
face.    This  carcass  was  compared  to  a  nat- 
ural   mummy,    and    emitted    an    odor    like 
putrid  flesh,   part  of  the  skin   being   still 
covered  with  black  and  gray  hairs.   So  great, 
indeed,  was  the  quantity  of  hair  on  the  foot 
and  head  conveyed  to  St.  Petersburg,  that 
Pallas  asked  whether  the  rhinoceros  of  the 
Lena  might  not  have  been  an  inhabitant  of 
the  temperate  regions  of  middle  Asia,   its 
clothing  being  so  much  warmer  than  that 
of  the  African  rhinoceros. 

Professor  Brandt,  of  St.  Petersburg,  in  a 
letter  to  Baron  Alexander  yon  Humboldt, 
dated  1846,  adds  the  following  particulars 
respecting  this  wonderful  fossil  relic :  "  I 
have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  extract  from 
cavities  in  the  molar  teeth  of  the  Wiljui  rhi- 
noceros a  small  quantity  of  its  half-chewed 
food,  among  which  fragments  of  pine-leaves, 
one-half  of  the  seed  of  a  polygonaceous  plant, 
and  very  minute  portions  of  wood  with  por- 
ous cells  (or  small  fragments  of  coniferous 
wood), were  still  recognizable. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  80.  (A., 
1854.) 

1268.  FOOD  OF  PLANT  PRESERVED 
TILL  CONSUMED— Antiseptic  Power  of  Se- 
cretion of  Sundew. — The  secretion  seems  to 
possess,  like  the  gastric  juice  of  the  higher 
animals,    some    antiseptic    power.      During 
very  warm  weather  I  placed  close  together 
two   equal-sized  bits   of   raw  meat,   one   on 
a   leaf  of  the  Drosera    [sundew],   and  the 
other  surrounded  by  wet  moss.     They  were 
thus  left  for  48  hours,  and  then  examined. 
The  bit    on  the  moss    swarmed   with   infu- 
soria,  and  was   so  much   decayed  that  the 
transverse    strice    on    the    muscular    fibers 
could   no   longer   be   clearly   distinguished; 
whilst  the  bit  on  the  leaf,  which  was  bathed 
by  the  secretion,  was   free  from   infusoria, 
and  its  strice  were  perfectly  distinct  in  the 
central    and   undissolved   portion.      In    like 
manner  small  cubes  of  albumin  and  cheese 


placed  on  wet  moss  became  threaded  with 
filaments  of  mold,  and  had  their  surfaces 
slightly  discolored  and  disintegrated;  whilst 
those  on  the  leaves  of  Drosera  remained 
clean,  the  albumin  being  changed  into  trans- 
parent fluid. — DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants, 
ch.  1,  p.  12.  (A.,  1898.) 

1269.  FOOD    OF    SAVAGES  —Snakes, 
Lizards,   Grubs,   and  Ants  Eaten  by  Rude 
Tribes — Dearth    in   Lack   of   Agriculture. — 
His    [man's]    first  need  is  to  get  his  daily 
food.     In  tropical  forests,  savages  may  eas- 
ily live  on  what  Nature  provides,  like  the 
Andaman  Islanders,  who  gather  fruits  and 
honey,   hunt   wild   pigs   in  the  jungle,   and 
take   turtle   and   fish   on  the   coast.     Many 
forest  tribes   of  Brazil,   tho  they  cultivate 
a   little,   depend  mostly  on  wild  food.     Of 
such  the  rude  man  has  no  lack,  for  there 
is    game    in    plenty   and   the   rivers    swarm 
with  fish,  while  the  woods  yield  him  a  sup- 
ply of   roots   and  bulbs,   calabashes,   palm- 
nuts,  beans,  and  many  other  fruits;  he  col- 
lects wild  honey,  birds'  eggs,  grubs  out  of 
rotten   wood,   nor   does   he    despise    insects, 
even  ants.     In  less  fertile  lands  savage  life 
goes  on  well  while  game  and  fish  abound, 
but  when  these  fail  it  becomes  an  unceasing 
quest   for    food,    as   where   the   Australians 
roam    over    their    deserts    on    the    lookout 
for  every  eatable  root  or  insect,  or  the  low 
Rocky  Mountain  tribes  gather  pine-nuts  and 
berries,  catch  snakes,  and  drag  lizards  out  of 
their  holes  with  a  hooked  stick. — TYLOB  An- 
thropology, ch.  9,  p.  206.     (A.,  1899.) 

1270.  FOOD  OF  THE  WORLD  FOUND 
IN  FRUITS  AND  SEEDS  —  Vegetable  Altru- 
ism— The  Plant  Lives  for  Others. — All  ani- 
mals, in  the  long  run,  depend  for  food  upon 
fruits   and  seeds,   or  upon  lesser   creatures 
which  have  utilized  fruits  and  seeds.  Three- 
fourths    of    the    population    of    the    world 
at  the  present  moment  subsist  upon  rice. 
What  is  rice?     It  is  a  seed;   a  product  of 
reproduction.     Of   the  other  fourth,   three- 
fourths    live    upon    grains — barley,    wheat, 
oats,  millet.    What  are  these  grains  ?    Seeds 
— stores  of  starch  or  albumin  which,  in  the 
perfect  forethought  of  reproduction,  plants 
bequeath  to  their  offspring.     The  foods   of 
the   world,    especially   the   children's   foods, 
are  the  foods  of  the  children  of  plants,  the 
foods  which  unselfish  activities  store  round 
the  cradles  of  the  helpless,  so  that  when  the 
sun  wakens  them  to  their  new  world  they 
may  not  want.     Every  plant  in  the  world 
lives  for   others.     It  sets  aside  something, 
something  costly,  cared  for,  the  highest  ex- 
pression of  its  nature. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  228.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

1271.  FOOD,  ONE  ARTICLE  OF,  UNI- 
VERSAL— The  Value  of  Bread.— If  it  is  a 
fact    that    the    kind    and    variety    of   nour- 
ishment    exercise     the     greatest     influence 
upon    the    state    of    health,    the    capacity 
for    work    and    endurance,    it    must    be    of 
very    special     importance     to     become     ac- 


261 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Food 


quainted  with  the  dietetic  value  of  bread. 
Among  all  nations  throughout  the  temper- 
ate zone  it  is  the  principal  means  of  nour- 
ishment for  every  one,  rich  as  well  as  poor, 
high  as  well  as  lowly,  young  and  old.  It 
forms  the  basis  of  the  entire  nourishment; 
it  is  never  wanting  on  the  table,  morning, 
midday,  or  evening;  it  accompanies  the  la- 
borer to  his  work,  the  child  to  school,  the 
traveler  on  his  journey,  and,  altho  eaten 
every  day,  always  remains  popular,  is  al- 
ways desired. — UFFELMANN  Das  Brod  und 
dessen  dietetischer  Werth.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1272.  FOOD,   PERMANENT    SUPPLY 

OF  — Granaries  the  Invention  of  Woman. — 
There  is  abundant  proof  among  the  three 
typical  divisions  of  humanity  still  living  in 
savagery — the  American  Indian,  the  negroid 
races,  and  the  Malayo-Polynesians — that 
women  were  the  builders  and  owners  of 
the  first  caches,  granaries,  and  storehouses 
of  provisions. — MASON  Woman's  Share  in 
Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2,  p.  18.  (A.,  1894.) 

1273.  FOOD  RATHER  THAN  STIMU- 
LANT —  Sustaining  Properties  of  Cocoa  or 
Chocolate  —  A     Traveler's    Resource.  —  An- 
other essential  difference  between  cocoa  and 
tea  or  coffee  is  that  cocoa  is,  strictly  speak- 
ing, a  food.     We   do  not  merely  make  an 
infusion  of  the  cacao-bean,  but  eat  it  bodily 
in  the  form  of  a  soup.     It  is  .highly  nutri- 
tious, one  of  the  most  nutritious  foods  in 
common   use.      When   traveling   on   foot   in 
mountainous  and  other  regions,  where  there 
was  a  risk  of  spending  the  night  al  fresco 
and   supperless,    I    have   usually    carried   a 
cake  of  chocolate   in  my  knapsack,   as  the 
most    portable    and    unchangeable    form    of 
concentrated  nutriment,  and  have  found  it 
most  valuable.   On  one  occasion  I  went  astray 
on  the  Kjolenfjeld,  in  Norway,  and  strug- 
gled   for    about    twenty  -  four    hours    with- 
out  food    or    shelter.      I    had   no    chocolate 
then,  and  sorely  repented  my  improvidence. 
Many  other  pedestrians  have  tried  chocolate 
in  like  manner,  and  all  I  know  have  com- 
mended its  great  "  staying  "  properties,  sim- 
ply regarded  as  food.     I  therefore  conclude 
that  Linnaeus  was  not  without  strong  jus- 
tification   in   giving   it   the   name    of    theo- 
broma    (food  for  the  gods),  but  to  confirm 
this  practically  the  pure  nut,  the  whole  nut, 
and    nothing   but    the    nut     (excepting    the 
milk    and    sugar    added   by   the    consumer) 
should   be   used.      Some   miserable   counter- 
feits are  offered — farinaceous  paste,  flavored 
with  cocoa  and  sugar.     The  best  sample    I 
have  been  able  to  procure  is  the  ship  cocoa 
prepared  for  the  navy.     This  is  nothing  but 
the    whole    nut    unsweetened,    ground,    and 
crushed  to  an  impalpable  paste. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  15,  p.  263.      (A., 
1900.) 

1274.  FOOD,  SAVORY,  THE  MORE  NU- 
TRITIOUS— Bone-soup  Problem —  Conclusions 
from  Experiments  of  French  Academy — Sci- 
ence Increases  Human  Sustenance. — The  in- 


ferences drawn  by  M.  Edwards  [from  the  ex- 
periments of  the  French  Academy  on  bone 
soup]  are  that,  to  render  gelatin  soup  equal 
in  nutritive  and  digestible  qualities  to  that 
prepared  from  meat  alone,  it  is  sufficient  to 
mix  one-fourth  of  meat  soup  with  three- 
fourths  of  gelatin  soup;  and  that,  in  fact, 
no  difference  is  perceptible  between  soup 
thus  prepared  and  that  made  solely  from 
meat;  that  in  preparing  soup  in  this  way, 
the  great  advantage  remains  that  while 
the  soup  itself  is  equally  nourishing  with 
meat  soup,  three-fourths  of  the  meat  which 
would  be  requisite  for  the  latter  by  the  com- 
mon process  of  making  soup  are  saved  and 
made  useful  in  another  way — as  by  roasting, 
etc.;  that  jellies  ought  always  to  be  associ- 
ated with  some  other  principles  to  render 
them  both  nutritive  and  digestible.  A  young 
dog  that  had  ceased  growing,  and  had  lost 
one-fifth  of  its  original  weight  when  fed  en 
bread  and  gelatin  for  thirty  days,  was  next 
supplied  with  the  same  food,  but  to  which 
was  added,  twice  a  day,  only  two  table- 
spoonfuls  of  soup  made  from  horseflesh. 
There  was  an  increase  of  weight  on  the  first 
day,  and  "  in  twenty-three  days  the  dog 
had  gained  considerably  more  than  its  orig- 
inal weight,  and  was  in  the  enjoyment  of 
vigorous  health  and  strength."  All  this  dif- 
ference was  due  to  the  savory  constituents 
of  the  four  tablespoonfuls  of  meat  soup, 
which  soup  contained  the  juices  of  the  flesh, 
to  which,  as  already  stated,  its  flavor  is 
due. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch. 
4,  p.  38.  (A.,  1900.) 

1275.  FOOD,  TOXIC  SUBSTANCE  NOT 

A — Alcohol  Not  Nutritious — An  Undesirable 
Saving. — It  is  therefore  wholly  inappropri- 
ate to  speak  of  alcohol  as  fat-saving,  and 
there  is  still  less  sense  in  regarding  a  toxic 
substance  as  food  because  the  protoplasm 
it  has  destroyed  is  no  longer  capable  of  ta- 
king part  in  the  vital  processes  and  the  oxi- 
dations associated  with  them.  Nor  is  there 
any  reason  for  speaking  of  a  desirable  sa- 
ving, or,  indeed,  of  a  nourishing  function  of 
alcohol,  if  by  benumbing  the  brain-centers 
it  lowers  the  functional  activity  of  the  or- 
gans innervated  by  them,  and  thus  causes 
a  diminution  of  the  oxidation  process  ac- 
companying their  activity. — KASSOWITZ  7s 
Alcohol  a  Food  or  a  Poison f  p.  14.  (Trans- 
lation by  Mrs.  J.  H.  W.  STUCKENBERG.  ) 

1276.  FOOD,  VARIETY  OF,  A  NECES- 
SITY— Balance  of  Carbon  and   Nitrogen  — 
Waste    of    Tissues    Must   Be    Supplied. — In 
order  that  life  may  be  maintained  it  is  nec- 
essary   that   the   body    should   be    supplied 
with  food  in  proper  quality  and  quantity. 

The  food  taken  in  by  the  animal  body  is 
used  for  the  purpose  of  replacing  the  waste 
of  the  tissues.  And  to  arrive  at  a  reason- 
able estimation  of  the  proper  diet  in  twen- 
ty-four hours  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
the  amount  of  the  excreta  daily  eliminated 
from  the  body.  The  excreta  contain  chiefly 
carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  but 


Food 
Force 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


also,  to  a  less  extent,  sulfur,  phosphorus, 
chlorin,  potassium,  sodium,  and  certain 
other  of  the  elements.  Since  this  is  the 
case  it  must  be  evident  that,  to  balance  this 
waste,  foods  must  be  supplied  containing 
all  these  elements  to  a  certain  degree,  and 
some  of  them,  viz.,  those  which  take  the 
principal  part  in  forming  the  excreta,  in 
large  amount.  .  .  .  The  quantity  of  car- 
bon daily  lost  from  the  body  amounts  to 
about  281.2  grams  or  nearly  4,500  grains, 
and  of  nitrogen  18.8  grams,  or  nearly  300 
grains;  and  if  a  man  could  be  fed  by  these 
elements,  as  such,  the  problem  would  be 
a  very  simple  one;  a  corresponding  weight 
of  charcoal,  and,  allowing  for  the  oxygen 
in  it,  of  atmospheric  air,  would  be  all  that 
is  necessary.  But  an  animal  can  live  only 
upon  these  elements  when  they  are  arranged 
in  a  particular  manner  with  others,  in  the 
form  of  an  organic  compound,  as  albumin, 
starch,  and  the  like;  and  the  relative  pro- 
portion of  carbon  to  nitrogen  in  either  of 
these  compounds  alone  is,  by  no  means,  the 
proportion  required  in  the  diet  of  man. 
Thus,  in  albumin  the  proportion  of  carbon 
to  nitrogen  is  only  as  3.5  to  1.  If,  there- 
fore, a  man  took  into  his  body,  as  food, 
sufficient  albumin  to  supply  him  with  the 
needful  amount  of  carbon,  he  would  re- 
ceive more  than  four  times  as  much 
nitrogen  as  he  wanted ;  and  if  he  took  only 
sufficient  to  supply  him  with  nitrogen,  he 
would  be  starved  for  want  of  carbon.  It 
is  plain,  therefore,  that  he  should  take  with 
the  albuminous  part  of  his  food,  which  con- 
tains so  large  a  relative  amount  of  nitrogen 
in  proportion  to  the  carbon  he  needs,  sub- 
stances in  which  the  nitrogen  exists  in  much 
smaller  quantities  relatively  to  the  carbon. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  diet  must 
consist  of  several  substances,  not  of  one 
alone,  and  we  must  therefore  turn  to  the 
available  food-stuffs. — BAKER  Handbook  of 
Physiology,  vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  212.  (W.  W., 
1885.) 

1277.     FOODS,  ADULTERATION  OF— 

The  Perversion  of  Science — Injurious  or 
Dangerous  Preservatives. — In  the  adultera- 
tion of  foods,  unfortunately,  the  fraud  is 
not  always  confined  to  matters  harmless  to 
health.  Bad  as  any  adulteration  of  an  ar- 
ticle of  food  or  drink  may  be,  it  is  not  of 
the  highest  class  of  criminality  when  the 
fraudulent  practises  consist  in  the  addition 
of  harmless  substances,  but  the  health  of 
the  consumer  becomes  endangered  when 
adulterations  assume  a  poisonous  character 
or  are  of  a  nature  which  by  constant  use 
will  produce  disturbances  in  the  vital  func- 
tions. Many  bodies  which  have  poisonous 
qualities  are  often  introduced  into  foods 
either  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  them 
or  of  adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  their 
appearance.  Among  preservatives  which 
are  commonly  found,  and  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  injurious,  may  be  mentioned  sul- 
furous  and  salicylic  acids  and  borax.  These 
bodies,  when  taken  in  minute  quantities  and 


for  short  intervals  of  time,  produce  no  dele- 
terious effects  whatever.  When,  however, 
they  are  used  for  an  indefinite  period,  they 
tend  to  derange  the  digestive  organs  and  im- 
pair health.  .  .  .  The  seemingly  natural 
red  color  of  preserved  meats  is  secured  by 
the  use  of  niter  and  other  similar  objection- 
able agents. — WILEY  Relations  of  Chemis- 
try to  Industrial  Progress  (Address  at  Pur- 
due University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  42). 

1278.    FOODS ,  NUTRITIVE  VALUE  OF 

— Advantage  of  Scientific  Analysis — Benefit 
to  Animals  and  Man. — In  the  matter  of 
foods  the  chemist  has  also  made  investiga- 
tions in  another  direction  which  are  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  industrial  progress. 
He  has  investigated,  first,  from  a  purely 
scientific  basis,  the  problems  of  nutrition. 
He  has  shown  that  certain  characters  of 
foods  in  the  animal  economy  tend  to  pro- 
duce certain  results,  and  as  a  result  of  these 
investigations  is  able  to  prepare  a  ration 
which  in  any  given  case  will  meet  the  re- 
quirements desired.  The  pig  which  is  fed 
for  market  requires  quite  a  different  ratio 
in  the  ingredients  of  its  food-principles 
from  the  cow  that  is  fed  for  milk  or  butter. 
Three  great  food-principles  are  recognized, 
viz.,  fats,  carbohydrates,  and  proteids.  It 
is  possible,  by  a  judicious  combination  of 
these  great  food-principles,  to  produce  in 
any  given  case  a  ration  which  will  secure 
the  effect  desired  in  the  most  economical 
way.  By  following  rigidly  the  principles 
which  have  thus  been  established  by  scien- 
tific research,  it  is  possible  at  the  present 
day  to  prepare  a  hundred  pounds  of  pork 
for  market  at  a  cost  fully  one-third  less 
than  was  required  by  the  haphazard  meth- 
od pursued  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 
.  .  .  Wider  fields  of  utility,  however, 
open  up  before  the  possibilities  of  chemical 
investigation  in  the  matter  of  human  foods. 
If  pigs  deserve  to  be  fed  on  balanced  ra- 
tions, and  steers  stand  in  wait  for  the  man- 
dates of  science  before  they  chew  their  cuds, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  ask  that  man  himself 
should  receive  some  consideration. — WILEY 
Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Prog- 
ress (Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafay- 
ette, Ind.,  1896,  p,  44). 

1279.     FOODS,  THE  CHEMISTRY  OF— 

The  Body  Heated  Like  a  Stove. — The  food 
of  man  and  animals  consists  of  two  classes 
of  substance  differing  essentially  in  compo- 
sition. The  one  class  (consisting  of  nitrog- 
enous substances,  albumin,  etc.)  serves  in 
the  formation  of  blood  and  in  building  up 
the  various  organs  of  the  body;  this  is 
called  plastic  food.  The  other  (consisting 
of  non-nitrogenous  substances,  the  fatty 
bodies,  and  the  so-called  carbohydrates)  re- 
sembles ordinary  fuel  and  serves  in  the  gen- 
eration of  heat;  this  is  designated  by  the 
term  respiratory  food.  Sugar,  starch,  or 
gum  may  be  looked  upon  as  modified  woody 
fiber,  from  which  it  is  known  that  they  are 
capable  of  being  formed.  Fat,  from  the 


263 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Food 
Force 


quantity  of  carbon  it  contains,  stands  near- 
est to  coal.  We  heat  our  bodies  precisely 
as  we  heat  a  stove,  with  fuel  that  contains 
the  same  elements  as  wood  and  coal,  but 
differs  essentially  from  the  latter  substances 
in  being  soluble  in  the  juices  of  the  body. — 
LIEBIG  Ucber  die  Verwandlung  der  Krdfte 
(Sammlung  wissenschaftlicher  Vortrdge,  ge- 
halten  zu  Miinchen,  1858,  p.  594).  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1280.  FORCE    A    REFLECTION    OF 
MAN'S  CONSCIOUS   EFFORT— If  we  trace 
all  our  conceptions  on  the  nature  of  force 
to   their   fountain-head,  we   shall   find  that 
they  are  formed  on  our  own  consciousness 
of  living  effort — of  that  force  which  has  its 
seat  in  our  own  vitality,  and  especially  on 
that  kind  of  it  which  can  be  called  forth  at 
the  bidding  of  the  will. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  2,  p.  72.     (Burt.) 

1281.  FORCE,  ATOMIC,   EXCEEDS 
GRAVITATION— Energy  Required  to  Heat  a 
Pound  Would  Lift  Tons. — As  measured  by 
any  ordinary  mechanical  standard,  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  forces  engaged  in  this  atomic 
motion  and  interior  work  is  enormous.     A 
pound  of  iron,  on  being  heated  from  0°  C. 
to   100°   C.,  expands  by  about  ^th  of  the 
volume  which  it  possesses  at  6°.     Its  aug- 
mentation would  certainly  escape  the  most 
acute  eye;    still,  to  give  its  atoms  the  mo- 
tions corresponding  to  this  increase  of  tem- 
perature,   and   to    shift   them   through   the 
small  space  indicated,  an  amount  of  heat  is 
requisite    which    would    raise    a    weight    of 
about  eight  tons  one  foot  high.     The  force 
of   gravity   almost  vanishes    in    comparison 
with  these  molecular  forces;    the  pull  of  the 
earth  upon  our  pound  weight,  as  a  mass,  is 
as  nothing  compared  with  the  mutual  pull 
of  its  own  atoms. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  7,  p.  185.     (A.,  1900.) 

1282.  FORCE,  BRUTE,  AT  HIGHEST 
POINT    ERE   MAN   APPEARS— Human  In- 
telligence   Conquers  —  Giant    Mammals    Be- 
come Extinct. — The  earlier  mammalia  were 
giants  in  comparison  with  those  now  living. 
The  mastodon  and  mammoth   as  compared 
with  the  modern  elephant,  the  megatherium 
as   compared  with   the   sloth   or   ant-eaters 
of  present  times,   the  hyenas  and  bears   of 
the   European    caverns,    and    the   fossil    elk 
of  Ireland,  by  the  side  of  which  even  the 
moose  of  our   Northern  woods  is  belittled, 
are  remarkable  instances   in  proof  of  this. 
One    cannot   but   be    struck   with    the    fact 
that  this  first  representation  of  mammalia, 
the   very    impersonation    of   brute    force   in 
power,  size,  and  ferocity,   immediately  pre- 
ceded the  introduction  of  man,  with  whose 
creation  intelligence  and  moral  strength  be- 
came  the   dominant   influences   on   earth. — 
AGASSIZ    Geological    Sketches,    ser.    i,    ch. 
7,  p.  195.      (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1283.  FORCE,    ELECTRICAL  —  Fara- 
day's   Discovery  —  Marvelous    Applications 
within  Fifty  Years. — It  is  only  a  little  over 


half  a  century  since  Faraday  made  his 
disco  very  [of  the  production  of  an  electrical 
current  by  the  movement  of  a  conducting 
body  in  a  magnetic  field].  As  a  result  of 
this  observation,  so  apparently  unimpor- 
tant, we  see  to-day  an  entirely  new  curric- 
ulum of  study  in  all  of  our  great  schools. 
The  science  of  electrical  engineering  is  a 
direct  outgrowth  of  Faraday's  observation. 
We  have  seen  already  a  complete  revolution 
in  the  methods  of  transporting  passengers 
in  cities,  growing  out  of  this  discovery.  Rap- 
idly are  coming  changes  in  the  transmis- 
sion of  energy  and  in  the  utilization  of  the 
waste  forces  of  Nature.  Torrents  and  cata- 
racts are  made  to  do  valuable  work  for  hu- 
manity hundreds  of  miles  from  their  locali- 
ties. A  new  system  of  illumination  has 
sprung  up  over  the  whole  civilized  world, 
displacing  oil  and  gas.  It  requires  no  proph- 
et to  foresee  the  day  when  the  development 
of  electrical  energy  made  possible  by  Fara- 
day's discovery  will  be  accomplished  far 
more  economically  than  at  the  present, 
perhaps  even  permitting  the  direct  conver- 
sion of  burning  fuel  into  electrical  force. 
.  .  Could  there  be  a  more  striking  il- 
lustration of  what  a  discovery  in  pure  sci- 
ence, developed  by  skilful  technologists,  can 
do  in  the  promotion  of  human  industry? 
— WILEY  Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Indus- 
trial Progress  (Address  at  Purdue  Univer- 
sity, Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  21). 

1 284.  FORCE,  ENORMOUS,  OF  CHEM- 
ICAL COMBINATION— Measured  in  Terms  of 
Falling  Body. — It  has  been  stated  that  when 
a  body  falls  to  the  earth  it  is  warmed  by 
the   shock.      Here,    to   use   the   terminology 
of  Mayer,   we  have  a  mechanical  combina- 
tion of  the  earth  and  the  body.     Let  us  suf- 
fer the  falling  body  and  the  earth  to  dwin- 
dle   in    imagination   to   the   size   of    atoms, 
and  for  the  attraction  of  gravity  let  us  sub- 
stitute that  of  chemical  affinity;    we   have 
then  what  is  called  a  chemical  combination. 
The  effect  of  the  union  in  this  case  also  is  the 
development  of  heat,  and  from  the  amount 
of  heat  generated  we  can  infer  the  inten- 
sity of  the  atomic  pull.     Measured  by  or- 
dinary mechanical   standards,   this   is  enor- 
mous.     Mix   eight   pounds   of   oxygen   with 
one  of  hydrogen,  and  pass  a  spark  through 
the   mixture;    the  gases   instantly  combine, 
their  atoms  rushing  over  the  little  distances 
which    separate   them.      Take   a    weight   of 
47,000  pounds  to  an  elevation  of  1,000  feet 
above  the  earth's   surface,  and  let  it  fall; 
the   energy   with   which    it   will   strike   the 
earth    will    not    exceed    that    of    the    eight 
pounds    of    oxygen    atoms    as    they    dash 
against   one   pound   of   hydrogen   atoms    to 
form   water. — TYNDALL   Fragments    of   Sci- 
ence, vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  10.     (A.,  1897.) 

1285.  FORCE    EXPENDED    TO    CON- 
VERT WATER  INTO    STEAM— In  order  to 
pull    apart    the    molecules    of    a    pound    of 
water,   that   is,   convert   it   into   steam,   we 
must   exert   a    mechanical    power    which    is 


Fore* 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


264 


the  equivalent  of  822,600  foot-pounds;  that 
is,  a  power  which  would  raise  nearly  four 
tons  to  the  height  of  one  hundred  feet. — 
COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1,  p.  25.  (A., 
1899.) 

1286.  FORCE,  FIELD  OF,  ABOUT  A 

MAGNET  —  Iron-Mings  Supposed  Raving  to 
Escape. — Even  more  remarkable  than  this 
is  his  [Lucretius's]  statement  that  iron- 
filings  "  will  rave  within  brass  basins  "  when 
the  stone  is  placed  beneath.  This  was  the 
first  perception  of  the  field  of  force  about 
a  magnet,  by  noting  not  merely  the  effect 
of  its  attraction  or  repulsion  exerted  upon 
the  pole  of  another  magnet  brought  into 
it,  but  upon  loose  iron-filings  free  to  dis- 
pose themselves  therein  along  the  lines  of 
force.  Then,  under  the  astonished  gaze  of 
the  poet,  the  particles  of  metal  arranged 
themselves  in  the  curious  curves  of  the  mag- 
netic spectrum,  and  rose  like  bristles  in 
front  of  the  poles.  And  as  he  moved  the 
stone  beneath  the  brass  basin  which  held 
them,  he  saw  them  fly  from  one  side  of  it 
to  the  other,  sometimes  grouping  themselves 
for  an  instant  in  dense  bunches,  then  leap- 
ing apart  and  scattering  all  so  incoherently 
and  so  wildly  that  it  is  small  wonder  that 
he  regarded  them  as  raving  in  their  fran- 
tic desire  to  break  away  from  the  myste- 
rious force. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual 
Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  2,  p.  50.  (J.  W., 
1898.) 

1287.  FORCE,  LIVING,    OF    MOVING 
BODIES — Vis  Viva — Increase  as   Square   of 
Velocity. — In  mechanics,  the  product  of  the 
mass  of  a  moving  body  into  the  square  of 
its   velocity    expresses    what    is    called    the 
vis  viva,  or  living  force.     It  is  also  some- 
times  called   the   "  mechanical   effect."     If, 
for  example,  a  cannon  pointed  to  the  zenith 
urge  a  ball  upwards  with  twice  the  velocity 
imparted  to  a  second  ball,  the  former  will 
rise  to   four  times  the  height  attained  by 
the  latter.     If  directed  against  a  target,  it 
will  also  do  four  times  the  execution.   Hence 
the  importance  of  imparting  a  high  velocity 
to  projectiles  in  war. — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  15.      (A.,  1897.) 

1288.  FORCE,  MAGNETIC,  LINES  OF 

— Iron-filings  Grouped  around  Poles  of  Mag- 
net. — Placing  a  sheet  of  paper  or  glass  over 
a  bar  magnet  and  showering  iron-filings  upon 
the  paper,  I  notice  a  tendency  of  the  filings 
to  arrange  themselves  in  determinate  lines. 
They  cannot  freely  follow  this  tendency,  for 
they  are  hampered  by  the  friction  against 
the  paper.  They  are  helped  by  tapping  the  pa- 
per ;  each  tap  releasing  them  for  a  moment, 
and  enabling  them  to  follow  their  tendencies. 
.  .  .  The  aspect  of  these  curves  so  fas- 
cinated Faraday  that  the  greater  portion 
of  his  intellectual  life  was  devoted  to  pon- 
dering over  them.  He  invested  the  space 
through  which  they  run  with  a  kind  of 
materiality;  and  the  probability  is  that  the 
progress  of  science,  by  connecting  the  phe- 
nomena of  magnetism  with  the  luminiferous 


ether,  will  prove  these  "  lines  of  force,"  as 
Faraday  loved  to  call  them,  to  represent  a 
condition  of  this  mysterious  substratum  of 
all  radiant  action. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  3,  p.  98.  (A.,  1898.) 

1289.  FORCE,   MAN  UTILIZES,  BUT 
DOES  NOT  CREATE— Property  in  Forces- 
Wind  and  Stream. — We  cannot  create  me- 
chanical   force,  but  we  may  help  ourselves 
from  the  great  storehouse  of  Nature.     The 
brook  and  the  wind  which  drive  our  mills, 
the   forest  and  the   coal-bed  which   supply 
our  steam-engines  and  warm  our  rooms,  are 
to  us  the  bearers  of  a  small  proportion  of 
the   great   natural   supply   which   we   draw 
upon  for  our  purposes,   and  the  action  of 
which   we   can   apply   as   we   see    fit.     The 
possessor   of  a  mill   claims  the   gravity   of 
the  descending  rivulet  or  the  living  force 
of  a  moving  wind  as  his  possession.     These 
portions   of  the   store  of  Nature  are   what 
give   his   property   its   chief  value. — HELM- 
HOLTZ    Interaction    of    Natural    Forces,    p. 
227.    (Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1290.  FORCE  MISAPPLIED— Lubrica- 
tion   Converges   Power   on   Work. — So   also 
with  regard  to  the  greasing  of  a  saw  by  a 
carpenter.     He  applies  his   force  with  the 
express  object  of  cutting  through  the  wood. 
He  wishes  to  overcome  mechanical  cohesion 
by  the  teeth  of  his  saw,  and,  when  it  moves 
stiffly,  the  same  amount  of  effort  may  pro- 
duce a  much  smaller  effect  than  when  the 
implement  moves  without  friction.     But  in 
what  sense  smaller?    Not  absolutely  so,  but 
smaller  as  regards  the  act  of  sawing.     The 
force  not  expended  in  sawing  is  misapplied, 
not  lost;    it  is  converted  into  heat.     Here 
again,  if  we  could  collect  the  heat  engen- 
dered by  the  friction,  and  apply  it  to  the 
urging  of  the  saw,  we  should  make  good  the 
precise  amount  of  work  which  the  carpen- 
ter, by  neglecting  the  lubrication  of  his  im- 
plement, had  simply  converted  into  another 
form  of  power. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  1,  p.  9.     (A.,  1900.) 

1291.  FORCE  OF  CRYSTALLIZATION 

— Wonderful  Property  of  Lifeless  Matter. — 
Gravitation  .  .  .  consists  of  an  attrac- 
tion of  every  particle  of  matter  for  every 
other  particle.  You  know  that  planets  and 
moons  are  held  in  their  orbits  by  this  at- 
traction. But  gravitation  is  a  very  simple 
affair  compared  to  the  force,  or  rather 
forces,  of  crystallization.  For  here  the  ulti- 
mate particles  of  matter,  inconceivably 
small  as  they  are,  show  themselves  possessed 
of  attractive  and  repellent  poles,  by  the  mu- 
tual action  of  which  the  shape  and  structure 
of  the  crystal  are  determined.  In  the  solid 
condition  the  attracting  poles  are  rigidly 
locked  together ;  but  if  sufficient  heat  be  ap- 
plied the  bond  of  union  is  dissolved,  and  in 
the  state  of  fusion  the  poles  are  pushed  so 
far  asunder  as  to  be  practically  out  of  each 
other's  range.  The  natural  tendency  of  the 
molecules  to  build  themselves  together  is 
thus  neutralized.  This  is  the  case  with 


265 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Force 


water,  which  as  a  liquid  is  to  all  appear- 
ance formless.  When  sufficiently  cooled  the 
molecules  are  brought  within  the  play  of  the 
crystallizing  force,  and  they  then  arrange 
themselves  in  forms  of  indescribable  beauty. 
— TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water,  §  88,  p.  30. 
(A.,  1899.) 

1292.  FORCE    OF    EXPANSION    RE- 
SISTLESS— Freezing  Water  Shatters  Iron.— 
The    force    with    which    water    expands    in 
freezing   is   all  but  irresistible.      With   the 
view  of  giving  you  an  illustration  of  this 
fact,  water  has  been  confined  in   this  iron 
bottle   which   is   fully  half   an  inch   thick; 
the  quantity  of  water  being  small,  tho  suffi- 
cient to  lill  the  bottle.     The  bottle  is  closed 
by  a  screw  firmly  fixed  in  its  neck.     Two 
bottles  thus  prepared  are  placed  in  a  copper 
vessel,  and  surrounded  with  a  freezing  mix- 
ture.   They  cool  gradually,  the  water  within 
them    approaching    its    point    of    maximum 
density.    No  doubt,  at  this  moment,  a  small 
vacuous    space    exists    within    each    bottle. 
But  soon  the  contraction  ceases,  and  expan- 
sion sets  in.     The  vacuous  space  is  slowly 
filled,    the    water    gradually    changes    from 
liquid  to  solid.     To  accomplish  this  change 
it  requires  more  room,  which  the  rigid  iron 
refuses  to  grant.     But  its  rigidity  is  power- 
less   in    the    presence    of    these    molecular 
forces,    and  the  sound  you  now  hear  indi- 
cates that  the  bottle  is  shivered  by  the  crys- 
tallizing molecules.      The   other   bottle   fol- 
lows;    and  here   are  the   fragments  of  the 
vessels,    showing   their    thickness,    and    im- 
pressing you  with  the  vastness  of  the  expan- 
sive  force  by   which   they  have  been  thus 
riven.      While   I   have   been    speaking,    you 
have  heard  a  louder  explosion  in  front  of 
the  table.     That  was  due  to  the  rupture  of 
a  thick  bombshell  kindly  prepared  for  me  at 
Woolwich  by  Professor  Abel.     It  was  filled 
Avith  water,  screwed  up  tight,  placed  in  a 
bucket,  and  surrounded  by  a  freezing  mix- 
ture.    Taken   from   the  mixture,   the   frag- 
ments of  the  bomb  are  placed  here  before 
you.     Care  must  be  taken  in  repeating  this 
experiment  to  cover  the  bucket  with  a  thick 
cloth.     Wanting  such  protection  I  have  seen 
the    stopper    of    a    broken    bomb    projected 
nearly   as   high    as    this   ceiling. — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  4,  p.  105      (A 
1900.) 

1293.  FORCE  OF  GRAVITY  AT  THE 

SUN'S  SURFACE— The  sun  attracts  ob- 
jects at  its  surface  twenty-seven  times  more 
strongly  than  the  earth  does.  This  calcula- 
tion would  be  the  same  for  the  investigation 
of  gravity  at  the  surface  of  all  the  planets. 
A  human  body,  if  it  could  be  transported  to 
the  sun,  would  be  immediately  flattened  by 
gravity  into  a  thin  leaf.  But,  in  point  of 
fact,  it  would  be  vaporized  long  before  it 
could  arrive  there. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  2,  p.  242.  (A.) 

1294. All  Earthly  Ad- 
justments Changed. — If  we  calculate  the 
force  of  gravity  at  the  sun's  surface,  which 


is  easily  done  by  dividing  its  mass,  330,000, 
by  the  square  of  109y2  (the  number  of  times 
the  sun's  diameter  exceeds  the  earth's),  we 
find  it  to  be  27 %  times  as  great  as  on  the 
earth ;  a  man  who  on  the  earth  would  weigh 
150  pounds  would  there  weigh  nearly  two 
tons;  and,  even  if  the  footing  were  good, 
would  be  unable  to  stir.  A  body  which  at 
the  earth  falls  a  little  more  than  16  feet  in 
a  second  would  there  fall  443.  A  pendulum 
which  here  swings  once  a  second  would  there 
oscillate  more  than  five  "limes  as  rapidly, 
like  the  balance-wheel  of  a  watch — quiver- 
ing rather  than  swinging. — YOUNG  The  Sun, 
ch.  1,  p.  41.  (A.,  1898.) 

1295.  FORCE  OF  RUNNING  WATER 

— Sand  and  Pebbles  Give  -Cutting  Power. — 
The  mechanical  force  exerted  by  running 
water  in  undermining  cliffs  and  rounding 
off  the  angles  of  hard  rock  is  mainly  due  to 
the  intermixture  of  foreign  ingredients. 
Sand  and  pebbles,  when  hurried  along  by 
the  violence  of  the  stream,  are  thrown 
against  every  obstacle  lying  in  their  way, 
and  thus  a  power  of  attrition  is  acquired, 
capable  of  wearing  through  the  hardest  si- 
licious  stones,  on  which  water  alone  could 
make  no  impression. — LYELL  Geology,  ch. 
14,  p.  204.  (A.,  1854.) 

1296.  FORCE,   ORIGIN  AND  EXTEN- 
SION OF  IDEA  OF — Power  an  Essential  Ele- 
ment of  Causation. — When,  however,  we  not 
only  look  at  bodies  in  motion,  but  try  to 
resist  their  motion  by  an  exertion  of  our 
own,  or  use  a  similar  exertion  in  giving  mo- 
tion to  a  body  at  rest,  we  are  led,  by  our 
own  sense  of  effort  in  making  it,  to  an  en- 
tirely new  conception,  that  of  force ;    and  no 
advance   in  the    philosophy   of   science  has 
been   greater  than  that  which  has  of  late 
years   extended   the  notion    of   force,    from 
the  agency  which    produces   or   resists   the 
motion    of    masses,    to    the    agencies    which 
are  concerned   in   producing  the   molecular 
changes  which  we  refer  to  heat,  light,  elec- 
tricity, magnetism,  etc.    The  man -of  science 
of  the  present  day  is  thus  enabled  to  attach 
a    distinct  idea   to   that  efficient   causation 
which  logicians  have  continually  denied,  but 
which   the   common   sense   of  mankind   has 
universally  recognized.     When  the  cause  of 
any  event  is  spoken  of,  in  common  parlance, 
we  certainly  attach  to  the  term  the  idea  of 
power,  at  the  same  time  that  we  include  the 
notion  of  the  conditions  under  which  that 
power  operates;    and  this  view  of  the  case 
can  be  shown  to  be  scientifically  correct. — 
CARPENTER    Mental   Physiology,   ch.    20,    p. 
693.     (A.,  1900.) 

1297.  FORCE,  THE  DIRECTION  OF— 

Importance  of  Initiative — Early  Metal- 
lurgy— Heat-engines. — When  a  savage  sof- 
tened or  melted  a  lump  of  copper  in  a  blaze, 
his  act  was  one  of  direction  rather  than  of 
execution;  to  have  warmed  the  metal  by 
repeated  blows  would  have  been  a  toilsome 
and  unrewarded  task;  while  to  place  the 
copper  in  the  flame  and  duly  to  remove  it 


•wee 

•"oresta 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


266 


was  labor  of  an  unexacting  and  most  fruit- 
ful kind.  So,  too,  when  heat-engines  of  con- 
stantly improved  types  came  into  the  mines, 
the  shops,  and  factories  of  the  world,  and 
were  last  of  all  adapted  to  transportation, 
the  work  that  a  skilful  man  could  direct  be- 
came immensely  greater  and  bolder  than  the 
task  he  could  perform  by  dint  of  exerting 
his  own  muscles.  In  this  passing  to  more 
and  more  of  initiative  consists  an  important 
phase  of  civilization. — ILES  Flame,  Electric- 
ity, and  the  Camera,  ch.  5,  p.  63.  (D.  & 
McC.,  1900.) 

1298.  FORCES,  ELEMENTAL,  MADE 
TO   WORK    FOR   MAN  —  Transformation  of 
Industry — From  Shadoof  to  Water-wheel. — 
In  the  period  of  ancient  civilization  there 
appear    the    beginnings    of    that    immense 
change    which    is    remodeling    modern    life, 
by  inventions  which  set  the  forces  of  Nature 
to    do    man's    heavy   work   for   him.      This 
great  change  seems  to  have  been  especially 
brought    on    by    contrivances    to    save    the 
heavy  toil  of  watering  the  fields.     A  simple 
hand-labor  contrivance  of  this  kind  is  the 
shadoof  of  the  Nile  Valley,  where  a  long  pole 
with  a  counterpoise  at  one  end  is  supported 
on  posts,  and  carries  a  bucket  hanging  to 
the  longer  end  to  dip  up  water  from  below. 

.  For  irrigation,  it  was  mechan- 
ically an  improvement  on  this  to  set  a  gang 
of  slaves  to  turn  a  great  wheel  with  buckets 
or  earth ern  jars  at  its  circumference,  which 
rose  full  from  the  water  below,  and  as  they 
turned  over  emptied  themselves  into  a 
trough  at  a  higher  level.  But  when  such  a 
wheel  was  built  to  dip  in  a  running  stream, 
then  the  current  itself  would  turn  the  wheel, 
and  thus  would  come  into  existence  the 
noria,  or  irrigating  water-wheel,  often  men- 
tioned in  ancient  literature,  and  to  be  seen 
still  at  work  both  in  the  East  and  in  Eu- 
rope. -  By  these  or  some  similar  steps  of  in- 
vention the  water-wheel  was  made  a  source 
of  power  for  doing  other  work,  such  as 
grinding  corn,  instead  of  the  women  at  the 
quern  or  the  slaves  at  the  treadmill,  or  the 
mill-horse  in  his  everlasting  round.  As 
the  Greek  epigram  says,  "  Cease  your  work, 
ye  maids  who  labored  at  the  mills,  sleep  and 
let  the  birds  sing  to  the  returning  dawn,  for 
Demeter  has  bidden  the  water-nymphs  to  do 
your  task;  obedient  to  her  call,  they  throw 
themselves  on  the  wheel  and  turn  the  axle 
and  the  heavy  mill." — TYLOB  Anthropology, 
ch.  8,  p.  203.  (A.,  1899.) 

1299.  FORCES,  MATERIAL  AND  MEN- 
TAL— Every  Force  Perhaps  a  Manifestation  of 
Will. — Undoubtedly  the  first  thought  which 
suggests  itself  to  the  mind  is,  that  a  ma- 
terial force  and  a  moral  or  intellectual  force 
are  essentially  different  in  kind — not  sub- 
ject to  conditions  the  same,  or  even  similar. 
But  are  we  sure  of  this?    Are  we  sure  that 
the  forces  which  we  call  material  are  not, 
after  all,  but  manifestations  of  mental  en- 
ergy and  will?    We  have  already  seen  that 
such  evidence  as  we  have  is  all  tending  the 


other  way.  The  conclusions  forced  upon  us 
have  been  these:  First,  that  the  more  we 
know  of  Nature  the  more  certain  it  appears 
that  a  multiplicity  of  separate  forces  does 
not  exist,  but  that  all  her  forces  pass  into 
each  other,  and  are  but  modifications  of 
some  one  force  which  is  the  source  and  cen- 
ter of  the  rest;  secondly,  that  all  of  them 
as-e  governed  in  their  mutual  relations  by 
principles  of  arrangement  which  are  purely 
mental;  thirdly,  that  of  the  ultimate  seat 
of  force  in  any  form  we  know  nothing  di- 
rectly; and  fourthly,  that  the  nearest  con- 
ception we  can  ever  have  of  force  is  derived 
from  our  own  consciousness  of  vital  power. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  6,  p.  164. 
(Burt.) 

1300.  FORCES  OF  NATURE    NOT 
BLIND—  The.   Blindness   Is  in  Man  —  Snow- 
crystals. — When  snow  is  produced  in  calm 
air,  the  icy  particles  build  themselves  into 
beautiful  stellar  shapes,  each  star  possessing 
six  rays.     There  is  no  deviation  from  this 
type,  tho  in  other  respects  the  appearances  of 
the  snow-stars  are  infinitely  various.     .     .     . 
It  is  worth  pausing  to  think  what  wonderful 
work  is  going  on  in  the  atmosphere  during 
the   formation  and   descent  of  every   snow- 
shower:    what    building    power    is    brought 
into    play!    and    how    imperfect    seem    the 
productions    of    human    minds    and    hands 
when   compared  with   those   formed  by  the 
blind  forces  of  Nature! 

But  who  ventures  to  call  the  forces  of 
Nature  blind?  In  reality,  when  we  speak 
thus,  we  are  describing  our  own  condition. 
The  blindness  is  ours;  and  what  we  really 
ought  to  say,  and  to  confess,  is  that  our 
powers  are  absolutely  unable  to  compre- 
hend the  origin  or  the  end  of  the  operations 
of  Nature. — TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water,  §  89, 
p.  31.  (A.,  1899.) 

1301.  FORCES,  TITANIC,  OF  NATURE 

— Kocks  Ground  to  Impalpable  Powder. — 
During  their  upward  discharge  and  down- 
ward fall,  the  cindery  fragments  are  by  at- 
trition continually  reduced  to  smaller  di- 
mensions. The  noise  made  by  these  frag- 
ments, as  they  strike  against  one  another 
in  the  air  during  their  rise  and  fall,  is  one 
of  the  most  noteworthy  accompaniments  of 
volcanic  eruptions.  It  has  been  noticed 
that  in  many  cases  there  is  a  constant  dim- 
inution in  the  size  of  the  fragments  ejected 
during  a  volcanic  outburst,  this  being  doubt- 
less due  to  the  friction  of  the  masses  as 
they  are  ejected  and  reejected  from  the 
vent.  Thus  it  is  related  by  Mr.  Poulett 
Scrope,  who  watched  the  Vesuvian  eruption 
of  1822,  which  lasted  for  nearly  a  month, 
that  during  the  earlier  stages  of  the  out- 
burst fragments  of  enormous  size  were 
thrown  out  of  the  crater,  but  by  constant 
reejection  these  were  gradually  reduced  in 
size,  till  at  last  only  the  most  impalpable 
dust  issued  from  the  vent.  This  dust  filled 
the  atmosphere,  producing  in  the  city  of 
Naples  "  a  darkness  that  might  be  felt," 


267 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


*orce 
^orests 


and  so  excessively  finely  divided  was  it 
that  it  penetrated  into  all  drawers,  boxes, 
and  the  most  closely  fastened  receptacles, 
filling  them  completely. — JUDD  Volcanoes, 
ch.  4,  p.  68.  (A.,  1899.) 

1302.  FORCES  UNSEEN  IN  THE  AIR 
WE  BREATHE—  Mountains  Precipitate  Invis- 
ible Vapor. — The  atmospheric  change  [after 
crossing  the  Simplon  to  the  Italian  lakes] 
was  wonderful ;  and  still  the  clear  air  which 
wre  enjoyed  below  was  the  selfsame  air  that 
heaped   clouds    and   snow   upon   the   moun- 
tains.    It  came  across  the  heated  plains  of 
Lombardy  charged  with  moisture,   but  the 
moisture  was  in  the  transparent  condition 
of  true  vapor,  and  hence  invisible.     Tilted 
by  the  mountains,  the  air  rose,  and  as  it 
expanded  it  became   chilled,   and  as   it  be- 
came chilled  it  discharged  its  vapor  as  vis- 
ible  cloud,    the   globules    of   which    swelled 
by  coalescence  into  raindrops  on  the  moun- 
tain flanks,  or  were  frozen  to  snow  upon  the 
mountain. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in 
the  Alps,  ch.  22,  p.  261.     (A.,  1898.) 

1303.  FORCES,  UNSEEN,  POWER  OF 
— Bonds  of   Wire  or  Steel   to  Equal  Sun's 
Attraction. — As  for  the  attraction  between 
the  sun  and  earth,  it  amounts  to  thirty-six 
hundred    quadrillions    of    tons:    in    figures, 
36  followed  by  seventeen  ciphers.     On  this 
point  we  borrow  an  impressive  illustration 
from    a    careful    calculation   by   Mr.    C.    B. 
Warring.     We  may  imagine  gravitation  to 
cease,  and  to  be  replaced  by  a  material  bond 
of  some  sort,  holding  the  earth  to  the  sun 
and  keeping  her  in  her  orbit.     If  now  we 
suppose  this  connection  to  consist  of  a  web 
of  steel  wires,  each  as  large  as  the  heaviest 
telegraph-wires    used,    then   to   replace   the 
sun's  attraction  these  wires  would  have  to 
cover  the  whole  sunward  hemisphere  of  our 
globe   about  as   thickly   as  blades   of  grass 
upon  a  lawn.    It  would  require  nine  to  each 
square  inch.     Putting  it  a  little  differently, 
•the  attraction  between  the  sun  and  earth  is 

equal  to  the  breaking  strain  of  a  steel  rod 
about  3,000  miles  in  diameter. — YOUNG  The 
Sun,  ch.  1,  p.  41.  (A.,  1898.) 

1304.  FORCES,  VITAL  AND    MATE- 
RIAL—  Terms  Ill-understood. — What  is  a  vi- 
tal force?     It  is  something  which  we  can- 
not see,  but  of  whose  existence  we  are  as 
certain  as  we  are  of  its  visible  effects — nay, 
which  our  reason  tells  us  precedes   and  is 
superior  to  these.     We  often  speak  of  ma- 
terial   forces    as    if   we   could   identify   any 
kind  of  force  with  matter.     But  this  is  only 
one  of  the  many  ambiguities  of  language. 
All  that  we  mean  by  a  material  force  is  a 
force  which  acts  upon  matter,  and  produces 
in  matter  its  own  appropriate  effects.     We 
must  go  a  step  further,  therefore,  and  ask 
ourselves,  what  is  force?     What  is  our  con- 
ception   of   it?      What   idea    can    we   form, 
for  example,  of  the  real  nature  of  that  force 
the  measure  of  whose  operation  has  been  so 
exactly    ascertained — the    force   of   gravita- 
tion ?    It  is  invisible — imponderable — all  our 


words  for  it  are  but  circumlocutions  to  ex- 
press its  phenomena  or  effects. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  71.  (Burt.) 

1 3O5.  FORCES  WORKING  IN  UNISON 

— Light,  Heat,  and  Electricity  Inseparably 
Connected  with  Motion  and  Life. — Light, 
and  radiating  heat,  which  is  inseparable 
from  it,  constitute  a  main  cause  of  mo- 
tion and  organic  life,  both  in  the  non-lumi- 
nous celestial  bodies  and  on  the  surface  of 
our  planet.  Even  far  from  its  surface,  in 
the  interior  of  the  earth's  crust,  penetrating 
heat  calls  forth  electromagnetic  currents, 
which  exert  their  exciting  influence  on  the 
combinations  and  decompositions  of  mat- 
ter— on  all  formative  agencies  in  the  min- 
eral kingdom — on  the  disturbance  of  the 
equilibrium  of  the  atmosphere — and  on  the 
functions  of  vegetable  and  animal  organ- 
isms. If  electricity  moving  in  currents  de- 
velops magnetic  forces,  and  if,  in  accordance 
with  an  early  hypothesis  of  Sir  William 
Herschel,  the  sun  itself  is  in  the  condition 
of  "  a  perpetual  northern  light "  ( I  should 
rather  say  of  an  electromagnetic  storm ) , 
we  should  seem  warranted  in  concluding 
that  solar  light,  transmitted  in  the  regions 
of  space  by  vibrations  of  ether,  may  be  ac- 
companied by  electromagnetic  currents. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  34.  (H., 
1897.) 

1306.  FOREST,  PRIMEVAL— Brazil— 
Terra  del  Fuego — Silent  Message  of  the  God 
of   Nature. — Among   the    scenes    which    are 
deeply  impressed  on  my  mind,  none  exceed 
in  sublimity  the  primeval  forests  undefaced 
by  the  hand  of  man;  whether  those  of  Bra- 
zil, where  the  powers  of  life  are  predomi- 
nant,  or  those  of  Terra   del   Fuego,  where 
death  and  decay  prevail.     Both  are  temples 
filled  with  the  varied  productions  of  the  God 
of  Nature — no  one  can  stand  in  these  soli- 
tudes unmoved,  and  not  feel  that  there  is 
more  in  man  than  the  mere  breath  of  his 
body. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around 
the  World,  ch.  21,  p.  503.    (A.,  1898.) 

1307.  FORESTS     BURIED    UNDER 

DRIFT — The  Elephant,  Rhinoceros,  and  Hip- 
popotamus Once  Ranged  in  England. — At 
one  of  the  most  charming  spots  on  the  coast 
of  Norfolk,  Cromer,  you  will  see  the  boul- 
der-clay forming  a  vast  mass,  which  lies 
upon  the  chalk,  and  must  consequently  have 
come  into  existence  after  it.  I  have  spoken 
of  the  boulder-clay  and  drift  as  resting  upon 
the  chalk.  That  is  not  strictly  true.  In- 
terposed between  the  chalk  and  the  drift 
is  a  layer  containing  vegetable  matter.  But 
that  layer  tells  a  wonderful  history.  It  is 
full  of  stumps  of  trees  standing  as  they 
grew.  Fir-trees  are  there  with  their  cones, 
and  hazel-bushes  with  their  nuts;  there 
stand  the  stools  of  oak-  and  yew-trees, 
beeches  and  alders.  Hence  this  stratum  is 
appropriately  called  the  "  forest-bed." 

It  is  obvious  that  the  chalk  must  have 
been  upheaved  and  converted  into  dry  land 
before  the  timber  trees  could  grow  upon  it. 


Forests 
Forms 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


As  the  boles  of  some  of  these  trees  are  from 
two  to  three  feet  in  diameter,  it  is  no  less 
clear  that  the  dry  land  thus  formed  re- 
mained in  the  same  condition  for  long  ages. 
And  not  only  do  the  remains  of  stately 
oaks  and  well-grown  firs  testify  to  the  du- 
ration of  this  condition  of  things,  but  ad- 
ditional evidence  to  the  same  effect  is 
afforded  by  the  abundant  remains  of  ele- 
phants, rhinoceroses,  hippopotamuses,  and 
other  great  wild  beasts. — HUXLEY  Lay  Ser- 
mons, serm.  9,  p.  193.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1308.  FORESTS  BURIED  UNDER  ICE 

— Return  after  Centuries  to  the  Sunlight. — 
The  glacier,  now  in  its  full  strength,  ad- 
vances from  the  extremity  of  the  valley  that 
sheltered  its  youth  and  guided  its  early  life, 
and  invades  the  piedmont  plain.  The  low 
lands  are  densely  forested.  Majestic  spruce- 
trees  and  aged  moss-covered  hemlocks  stand 
in  thick,  serrate  ranks  across  the  glacier's 
path,  but  are  mowed  down  as  easily  as  the 
grass  before  a  scythe.  Crushed,  broken,  and 
splintered,  the  trunks  are  piled  in  huge  con- 
fused heaps  and  overriden  and  buried  by  the 
slow  but  resistless  march  of  the  ice.  Where 
the  waters  flowing  from  the  glacier  are 
abundantly  loaded  with  sand  and  gravel, 
they  build  alluvial  deposits  about  its  mar- 
gin. The  streams  in  their  passage  over 
these  alluvial  cones  subdivide  and  send  off 
distributaries  into  the  forest  to  the  right 
and  left,  and  the  trees  are  surrounded  and 
buried  by  sand  and  gravel  while  yet  stand- 
ing. A  fringe  of  dead  trees,  in  part  denuded 
of  their  branches,  marks  the  areas  where 
the  stream-borne  deposits  have  made  recent 
conquests.  Under  these  conditions  the  gla- 
cier advances  over  the  buried  forests,  and 
all  vestiges  of  its  existence  are  blotted  out. 
Centuries  later  the  still  erect  trunks  may 
be  revealed  [as  now  at  Muir  Glacier,  Alas- 
ka].— RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America, 
ch.  10,  p.  199.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1309.  FORESTS    BURIED     UNDER 
STRATA — Gradual    Subsidence    of   Earth's 
Crust. — The  supposition  of  a  gradual  sub- 
sidence over  large  areas  is  by  no  means  im- 
probable.    We  have  the  clearest  proof  that 
a  movement  of  this  kind  is  possible,  in  the 
upright    trees    buried    under    strata    many 
thousand  feet   in   thickness;    we  have  also 
everyreason  for  believing  that  there  are  now 
large  areas  gradually  sinking,  in  the  same 
manner   as   others    are   rising.      And   when 
we  consider  how  many  parts  of  the  surface 
of  the  globe  have  been  elevated  within  re- 
cent geological  periods,  we  must  admit  that 
there    have    been    subsidences    on    a    corre- 
sponding   scale,    for    otherwise    the    whole 
globe  would  have  swollen.     It  is  very  re- 
markable that  Sir  C.  Lyell,  even  in  the  first 
edition  of  his  "  Principles  of  Geology,"  in- 
ferred that  the  amount  of  subsidence  in-  the 
Pacific  must  have  exceeded  that  of  eleva- 
tion, from  the  area  of  land  being  very  small 
relatively   to   the   agents   there   tending   to 


form  it,  namely  the  growth  of  coral  and 
volcanic  action. — DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch. 
5,  p.  128.  (A.,  1900.) 

131O.     FORGETFULNESS,     HUMAN— 

Changes  in  Earth  Unrecorded — A  Moslem 
Parable. — A  manuscript  work,  entitled  the 
"  Wonders  of  Nature,"  is  preserved  in  the 
Royal  Library  at  Paris,  by  an  Arabian  wri- 
ter, Mohammed  Kazwini,  who  flourished  in 
the  seventh  century  of  the  Hegira,  or  at 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  of  our 
era.  Besides  several  curious  remarks  on 
aerolites,  earthquakes,  and  the  successive 
changes  of  position  which  the  land  and  sea 
have  undergone,  we  meet  with  the  following 
beautiful  passage  which  is  given  as  the  nar- 
rative of  Kidhz,  an  allegorical  personage: 
"  I  passed  one  day  by  a  very  ancient  and 
wonderfully  populous  city,  and  asked  one  of 
its  inhabitants  how  long  it  had  been  found- 
ed. '  It  is  indeed  a  mighty  city,'  replied  he; 
'  we  know  not  how  long  it  has  existed,  and 
our  ancestors  were  on  this  subject  as  igno- 
rant as  ourselves.'  Five  centuries  after- 
wards, as  I  passed  by  the  same  place,  I 
could  not  perceive  the  slightest  vestige  of 
the  city.  I  demanded  of  a  peasant,  who  was 
gathering  herbs  upon  its  former  site,  how 
long  it  had  been  destroyed.  '  In  sooth  a 
strange  question!'  replied  he.  'The  ground 
here  has  never  been  different  from  what 
you  now  behold  it.'  *  Was  there  not  of  old,' 
said  I,  *  a  splendid  city  here  ? '  *  Never,'  an- 
swered he,  '  so  far  as  we  have  seen,  and 
never  did  our  fathers  speak  to  us  of  any 
such.'  On  my  return  there,  500  years  after- 
wards, I  found  the  sea  in  the  same  place, 
and  on  its  shores  were  a  party  of  fisher- 
men, of  whom  I  inquired  how  long  the  land 
had  been  covered  by  the  waters.  '  Is  this  a 
question,'  said  they,  *  for  a  man  like  you  ? 
This  spot  has  always  been  what  it  is  now.' 
I  again  returned  500  years  afterwards,  and 
the  sea  had  disappeared;  I  inquired  of  a 
man  who  stood  alone  upon  the  spot,  how* 
long  ago  this  change  had  taken  place,  and 
he  gave  me  the  same  answer  as  I  had  re- 
ceived before.  Lastly,  on  coming  back  again 
after  an  equal  lapse  of  time,  I  found  there 
a  flourishing  city,  more  populous  and  more 
rich  in  beautiful  buildings  than  the  city 
I  had  seen  the  first  time,  and  when  I  would 
fain  have  informed  myself  concerning  its 
origin,  the  inhabitants  answered  me,  '  Its 
rise  is  lost  in  remote  antiquity;  wre  are  ig- 
norant how  long  it  has  existed,  and  our 
fathers  were  on  this  subject  as  ignorant  as 
ourselves.' " — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  19.  (A.,  1854.) 

1311.  FORMATION  OF  ROCKS  IN  THE 
PRESENT  ERA—  Nature  Seen  at  Work.— 
Some  of  the  springs  which  issue  from  the 
ichthyolite  beds  along  the  shores  of  the 
Moray  Frith  are  largely  charged,  not  with 
iron,  .  .  .  but  with  carbonate  of  lime. 
When  employed  for  domestic  purposes,  they 
choke  up,  in  a  few  years,  with  a  stony  dep- 
osition, the  spouts  of  tea-kettles.  On  a 


269 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Forests 
Forms 


similar  principle,  they  plug  up  their  older 
channels,  and  then  burst  out  in  new  ones; 
nor  is  it  uncommon  to  find  among  the  cliffs 
little  hollow  recesses,  long  since  divested  of 
their  waters  by  this  process,  that  are  still 
thickly  surrounded  by  coral-like  incrusta- 
tions of  moss  and  lichens,  grass  and  nettle- 
stalks,  and  roofed  with  marble-like  stalac- 
tites. I  am  acquainted  with  at  least  one  of 
these  springs  of  very  considerable  volume, 
and  dedicated  of  old  to  an  obscure  Roman 
Catholic  saint,  whose  name  it  still  bears 
(St.  Bennet),  which  presents  phenomena 
not  unworthy  the  attention  of  the  young 
geologist.  It  comes  gushing  from  out  the 
ichthyolite  bed,  where  the  latter  extends,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cromarty,  along  the 
shores  of  the  Moray  Frith;  and  after  de- 
positing in  a  stagnant  morass  an  accumu- 
lation of  a  grayish-colored  and  partially 
consolidated  travertin,  escapes  by  two  open- 
ings to  the  shore,  where  it  is  absorbed 
among  the  sand  and  gravel.  A  storm  about 
three  years  ago  swept  the  beach  several  feet 
beneath  its  ordinary  level,  and  two  little 
moles  of  conglomerate  and  sandstone,  the 
work  of  the  spring,  were  found  to  occupy 
the  two  openings.  Each  had  its  fossils — 
comminuted  sea-shells  and  stalks  of  hard- 
ened moss;  and  in  one  of  the  moles  I  found 
embedded  a  few  of  the  vertebral  joints  of  a 
sheep.  It  was  a  recent  formation  on  a  small 
scale,  bound  together  by  a  calcareous  cement 
furnished  by  the  fish-beds  of  the  inferior 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  and  composed  of  sand 
and  pebbles,  mostly  from  the  granitic  gneiss 
of  the  neighboring  hill,  and  organisms,  vege- 
table and  animal,  from  both  the  land  and 
the  sea. — MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  10, 
p.  184.  (G.  &L.,  1851.) 

1312.  FORMATION    OF    SCIENTIFIC 

THEORIES— Mind  Demands  a  Cause. —  Scien- 
tific theories,  in  the  first  place,  take  their 
rise  in  the  desire  of  the  mind  to  penetrate 
to  the  sources  of  phenomena.  From  its  in- 
finitesimal beginnings,  in  ages  long  past, 
this  desire  has  grown  and  strengthened  into 
an  imperious  demand  of  man's  intellectual 
nature.  It  long  ago  prompted  Caesar  to  say 
that  he  would  exchange  his  victories  for  a 
glimpse  of  the  sources  of  the  Nile;  it 
wrought  itself  into  the  atomic  theories  of 
Lucretius;  it  impels  Darwin  to  those  dar- 
ing speculations  which  of  late  years  have  so 
agitated  the  public  mind.  But  in  no  case 
in  framing  theories  does  the  imagination 
create  its  materials.  It  expands,  dimin- 
ishes, molds,  and  refines,  as  the  case  may  be, 
materials  derived  from  the  world  of  fact  and 
observation. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  3,  p.  95.  (A.,  1898.) 

1313.  FORMATION  OF  WATER  FROM 

GAS  —  Mechanics  of  Explosion  —  Speed  of 
Sound. — Let  us  fill  a  soap-bubble  with  oxy- 
gen and  hydrogen  gases  in  the  proportion  of 
two  parts  of  hydrogen  to  one  of  oxygen.  If 
we  ignite  it  the  result  will  be  an  explosion. 
When  the  ignition  takes  place  there  is  a 


sudden  generation  of  heat,  which  suddenly 
expands  the  air,  causing  it  to  be  highly  rare- 
fied at  the  point  of  explosion.  The  air  im- 
mediately surrounding  it  is  driven  violently 
outward  in  every  direction.  The  first  layer 
of  air-particles,  surrounding  the  bubble,  is 
driven  against  the  second,  and  then  swings 
back  to  its  place,  for  the  force  that  drove 
it  outward  is  no  longer  present.  The  second 
layer  swings  against  the  third,  and  the  third 
against  the  fourth,  and  so  on;  each  layer 
after  making  its  excursion  outward  returns 
to  its  original  position.  The  air-particles 
are  not  fired  at  the  ear  as  from  a  gun ;  they 
simply  vibrate  to  and  fro.  The  sound-pulse 
moves  outward  like  an  expanding  globe  at 
the  rate  of  about  1,100  feet  per  second  in 
air,  the  speed  depending  upon  the  medium 
through  which  it  travels. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  6,  p.  59.  (F. 
H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1314.  FORMS    OF    LIFE    LOST  AND 
REINTRODUCED— Remains  of  Extinct  Race 
of  Horses  in  South  America. — In  the  pam- 
pean   deposit  at   the    Bajada    [Entre  Rios, 
South  America]  I  found     .     .     .     [with  re- 
mains of  the  mastodon,  etc.]  also  one  tooth 
of  a  horse,  in  the  same  stained  and  decayed 
state.     This  latter  tooth  greatly  interested 
me,  and  I  took  scrupulous  care  in  ascertain- 
ing that  it  had  been  embedded  contempo- 
raneously  with   the   other   remains;     for   I 
was  not  then  aware  that  amongst  the  fossils 
from  Bahia  Blanca  there  was  a  horse's  tooth 
hidden    in   the    matrix:     nor   was    it   then 
known  with  certainty  that  the  remains  of 
horses  are  common  in  North  America.     Mr. 
Lyell  has   lately  brought  from  the  United 
States  a  tooth  of  a  horse;    and  it  is  an  in- 
teresting,  fact    that    Professor    Owen   could 
find  in  no  species,  either  fossil  or  recent,  a 
slight  but  peculiar  curvature  characterizing 
it,  until  he  thought  of  comparing  it  with 
my  specimen  found  here:    he  has  named  this 
American  horse  Equus  curvidens.     There  is 
good  evidence  against  any  horse  living  in 
America  at  the  time  of  Columbus.   Certainly 
it  is  a  marvelous  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
mammalia,  that  in  South  America  a  native 
horse  should  have  lived  and  disappeared,  to 
be  succeeded  in  after-ages  by  the  countless 
herds    descended    from    the    few   introduced 
with  the  Spanish  colonists! — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  7,  p. 
130.     (A.,  1898.) 

1315.  FORMS  OF  LIFE,  SEEMINGLY 
INDEPENDENT,    IN    THE    BLOOD  —  White 
Cells  {Leucocytes}  Battling  with  Germs  of 
Disease. — We  possess  in  our  blood  millions 
of  little  living  bodies,  which  are,  in  a  sense, 
independent  of  us — autonomous  subjects,  as 
it  were,  of  the  body  at  large.     They  are  not 
under  our  control  in  any  sense,  but  live  and 
move,  and  discharge  their  duties  as  freely 
as  if  they  recognized   no  right  or  title  of 
their  possessor  to  question  their  acts.     .     .     . 
Watching  one  of  these  living  particles  on  a 
miscroscope    slide    especially    kept    at    the 


florins 
Freedom 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


270 


blood's  own  temperature,  we  can  see  it  liter- 
ally to  flow  from  one  shape  to  another.  It 
imitates  in  this  way  the  movements  of  many 
an  animalcule  in  the  pools.  We  may  also 
see  our  independent  white  corpuscle  seizing 
and  digesting  food-particles,  as  if,  in  very 
truth,  it  were  an  independent  animalcule. 
This  power  of  feeding,  we  shall  see,  is  an 
important  characteristic  of  our  wandering 
particle.  .  .  .  For  it  is  now  a  matter  of 
certainty  that  among  all  the  servants  of  our 
bodies  we  possess  none  more  active,  none 
more  faithful,  and  none  more  necessary 
than  our  wandering  cells.  .  .  .  There  is 
a  battle  between  our  white  cells  [leucocytes] 
and  the  germs  of  disease.  If  the  latter  are 
victorious,  we  fall  ill  of  the  fever  or  other 
ailment;  if  we  escape  the  fever,  our  im- 
munity is  due  to  the  victory  of  our  micro- 
scopic friends  over  the  germs. — WILSON 
Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  23,  p.  74.  (Hum., 
1892.) 

1316.  FOSSILS  AS  MEMENTOES  OF 
THE  PAST— Surpass  Coins  and  Medals  in 
Interest. — "  However  trivial  a  thing,"  he 
[Robert  Hooke,  1688]  says,  "  a  rotten  shell 
may  appear  to  some,  yet  these  monuments 
of  Nature  are  more  certain  tokens  of  an- 
tiquity than  coins  or  medals,  since  the  best 
of  those  may  be  counterfeited  or  made  by 
art  and  design,  as  may  also  books,  manu- 
scripts, and  inscriptions,  as  all  the  learned 
are  now  sufficiently  satisfied  has  often  been 
actually  practised,"  etc. ;  "  and  tho  it  must 
be  granted  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  read 
them  (the  records  of  Nature)  and  to  raise  a 
chronology  out  of  them,  and  to  state  the  in- 
tervals of  the  time  wherein  such  or  such 
-catastrophes  and  mutations  have  happened, 
yet  it  is  not  impossible." — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  27.  (A.,  1854.) 

I  1317.  FOSSILS,  MAGICAL  VIRTUES 
ATTRIBUTED  TO — "Unicorn's  Horn"— Hu- 
man Remains  in  Ancient  Caves — Man  Con- 
temporary with  Extinct  Animals. — The  ex- 
istence of  fossil  remains  of  animals  in  the 
caves  of  Europe  has  long  been  known.  In 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  they 
were,  under  the  name  of  "  ebur  fossile,"  or 
unicorn's  horn,  greatly  esteemed  as  a  medi- 
cine, and  were  obtained  in  great  quantity 
from  the  caves  of  the  Hartz  district  and  of 
Hungary  and  Franconia.  Baumann's  Hole 
in  the  Hartz  had  already  become  famous  at 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  de- 
scriptions of  other  caves  and  of  their  con- 
tents followed  at  intervals,  until  at  last  a 
new  branch  of  investigation  sprang  up,  the 
importance  of  which  can  hardly  be  exag- 
gerated when  its  bearings  upon  the  early 
history  of  man  are  considered.  It  was  long, 
however,  before  the  possibility  of  man's  ex- 
istence contemporaneously  with  the  extinct 
animals  found  in  some  of  the  oldest  caves 
was  entertained  by  the  majority  of  scientific 
men;  but  the  doubt  was  finally  set  at  rest 
in  1858  upon  the  discovery  of  undoubted 
human  relics  in  the  celebrated  Brixham 


Cave  in  Devonshire. — DALLAS  Nature- 
Studies,  p.  45.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

1318.  FOSSILS  OF  THE  COAL  PERIOD 

— Evidence  of  Warm  and  Uniform  Climate. 
— The  flora  of  the  coal  appears  to  indicate 
a  uniform  and  mild  temperature  in  the 
air,  while  the  fossils  of  the  contemporaneous 
mountain  limestone,  comprising  abundance 
of  lamelliferous  corals,  large-chambered  ceph- 
alopods,  and  Crinoidea,  naturally  lead  us 
to  infer  a  considerable  warmth  in  the  wa- 
ters of  the  northern  sea  of  the  Carboniferous 
period.  So  also  in  regard  to  strata  older 
than  the  coal,  they  contain  in  high  north- 
ern latitudes  mountain  masses  of  corals 
which  must  have  lived  and  grown  on  the 
spot,  and  large-chambered  univalves,  such 
as  OrthoceraJa  and  Nautilus,  all  seeming  to 
indicate,  even  in  regions  bordering  on  the 
arctic  circle,  the  former  prevalence  of  a 
temperature  more  elevated  than  that  now 
prevailing. 

The  warmth  and  humidity  of  the  air, 
and  the  uniformity  of  climate,  both  in  the 
different  seasons  of  the  year  and  in  dif- 
ferent latitudes,  appear  to  have  been  most 
remarkable  when  some  of  the  oldest  of  the 
fossilif erous  strata  were  formed.  —  LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  91. 
(A.,  1854.) 

1319.  FOSSILS    OF   THE   OLD    RED 
SANDSTONE— Fantastic  Forms    That  Have 
Become  Extinct. — Half  my  closet  walls  are 
covered  with  the  peculiar  fossils  of  the  Lower 
Old  Red  Sandstone;   and  certainly  a  stran- 
ger assemblage  of  forms  have   rarely  been 
grouped  together — creatures  whose  very  type 
is  lost,   fantastic  and  uncouth,   and  which 
puzzle  the  naturalist  to  assign  them  even 
their    class — boat-like    animals,    furnished 
with   oars   and   a   rudder — fish-plated  over, 
like  the  tortoise,  above  and  below,  with  a 
strong  armor  of  bone,  and  furnished  with 
but  one  solitary  rudder-like  fin;  other  fish 
less  equivocal  in  their  form,  but  with  the 
membranes    of    their    fins    thickly    covered 
with   scales — creatures  bristling   over  with 
thorns;    others   glistening   in    an   enameled 
coat,  as  if  beautifully  japanned — the  tail, 
in  every  instance  among  the  less  equivocal 
shapes,   formed  not  equally,   as  in  existing 
fish,  on  each  side  the  central  vertebral  col- 
umn,   but    chiefly    on    the    lower    side — the 
column  sending  out  its  diminished  vertebrae 
to  the  extreme  termination  of  the  fin.     All 
the  forms  testify  of  a  remote  antiquity — 
of   a   period   whose   "  fashions   have  passed 
away."     The  figures  on  a  Chinese  vase  or 
an  Egyptian  obelisk  are  scarce  more  unlike 
what  now  exists  in  Nature  than  the  fossils 
of  the  Lower  Old  Red  Sandstone. — MILLER 
'The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  2,  p.  30.      (G. 
&  L.,  185L) 

1320.  FOUNDERS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCI- 
ENCE— Arabs  Deserve  the  Title.— The  Arabs, 
a  people  of  Semitic  origin,  partially  dispelled 
the  barbarism  which  had  shrouded  Europe 
for  upward  of  two  hundred  years  after  the 


271 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Forms 
Freedom 


storms  by  which  it  had  been  shaken,  from 
the  aggressions  of  hostile  nations.  The  Ar- 
abs lead  us  back  to  the  imperishable  sources 
of  Greek  philosophy;  and  besides  the  in- 
fluence thus  exercised  on  scientific  cultiva- 
tion, they  have  also  extended  and  opened 
new  paths  in  the  domain  of  natural  investi- 
gation. .  .  .  The  Arabs  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  actual  founders  of  physical 
science,  considered  in  the  sense  which  we 
now  apply  to  the  words. 

It  is  undoubtedly  extremely  difficult  to 
associate  any  absolute  beginning  with  any 
definite  epoch  of  time  in  the  history  of  the 
mental  world  and  of  the  intimately  con- 
nected elements  of  thought.  Individual  lumi- 
nous points  of  knowledge,  and  the  processes 
by  which  knoAvledge  was  gradually  attained, 
may  be  traced  scattered  through  very  early 
periods  of  time.  How  great  is  the  difference 
that  separates  Discorides,  who  distilled  mer- 
cury from  cinnabar,  from  the  Arabian  chem- 
ist Dscheber;  how  widely  is  Ptolemy,  as  an 
optician,  removed  from  Alhazen;  but  we 
must,  nevertheless,  date  the  foundation  of 
the  physical  sciences,  and  even  of  natural 
science,  from  the  point  where  new  paths 
were  first  trodden  by  many  different  in- 
vestigators, altho  with  unequal  success. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  pp.  201- 
209.  (H.,  1897.)  ' 

1321.  FRAGMENT    OF    ANCIENT 
EARTH — Mountain  Carved  from  Vaster  Mass. 
— How  this  wondrous  mountain   [the  Mat- 
terhorn]   has  been  formed  will  be  the  sub- 
ject of  subsequent  inquiry.   It  is  not  a  spurt 
of  molten  matter  ejected  from  the  nucleus 
of  the   earth ;    from  base  to   summit  there 
is  no  truly  igneous  rock.     It  has  no  doubt 
been  upraised  by  subterranean   forces,  but 
that  it  has  been  lifted  as  an  isolated  mass 
is   not  conceivable.     It  must   have   formed 
part   of   a   mighty  boss   or   swelling,   from 
which  the  mountain  was  subsequently  sculp- 
tured.— TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps,  ch.  14,  p.  164.     (A.,  1898.) 

1322.  FRAGMENT  PRESERVED  FROM 
LOST  WORK  OF  ARISTOTLE— Description 

of  Natural  Beauty — An  Argument  for  Cre- 
ative Power. — We  possess  a  genuine  frag- 
ment which  Cicero  ["  De  Natura  Deorum," 
ii,  37]  has  preserved  to  us  from  a  lost  work 
of  Aristotle.  It  runs  thus :  "  If  there  were 
beings  who  lived  in  the  depths  of  the  earth, 
in  dwellings  adorned  with  statues  and  paint- 
ings and  everything  which  is  possessed  in 
rich  abundance  by  those  whom  we  esteem 
fortunate;  and  if  these  beings  could  receive 
tidings  of  the  power  and  might  of  the  gods, 
and  could  then  emerge  from  their  hidden 
dwellings  through  the  open  fissures  of  the 
earth  to  the  places  which  we  inhabit;  if 
they  could  suddenly  behold  the  earth,  and 
the  sea,  and  the  vault  of  heaven;  could  rec- 
ognize the  expanse  of  the  cloudy  firmament, 
and  the  might  of  the  winds  of  heaven,  and 
admire  the  sun  in  its  majesty,  beauty,  and 
radiant  effulgence;  and,  lastly,  when  night 


veiled  the  earth  in  darkness,  they  could 
behold  the  starry  heavens,  the  changing 
moon,  and  the  stars  rising  and  setting  in 
the  unvarying  course  ordained  from  eter- 
nity— they  would  surely  exclaim,  '  There  are 
gods,  and  such  great  things  must  be  the 
work  of  their  hands.'  "  It  has  been  justly 
observed  that  this  passage  is  alone  sufficient 
to  corroborate  Cicero's  opinion  of  "  the  gold- 
en flow  of  Aristotle's  eloquence,"  and  that 
his  words  are  pervaded  by  something  of  the 
inspired  force  of  Plato's  genius.  Such  a 
testimony  to  the  existence  of  the  heavenly 
powers,  drawn  from  the  beauty  and  stu- 
pendous greatness  of  the  works  of  creation, 
is  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  the  works  of 
antiquity. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt. 
i,  p.  29.  (H.,  1897.) 

1323.  FREEDOM  AND    INDEPEND- 
ENCE   OF    THE    SEXES    IN    AMERICA— 

Youthful  Acquaintanceships  —  Coeducation. 
— It  has  been  given  especially  to  one  nation 
to  lead  the  world  in  its  assault  upon  this 
mistaken  law  [of  separation  of  sexes  in 
youth],  and  to  demonstrate  to  mankind  that 
in  the  unconstrained  and  artless  relations 
of  youth  lie  higher  safeguards  than  the 
polite  conventions  of  society  can  afford.  The 
people  of  America  have  proved  that  the 
blending  of  the  sweet  currents  of  different 
family  lives  in  social  intercourse,  in  recre- 
ation, and — most  original  of  all — in  educa- 
tion, can  take  place  freely  and  joyously  with- 
out any  sacrifice  of  man's  reverence  for 
woman,  or  woman's  reverence  for  herself; 
and,  springing  out  of  these  naturally  min- 
gled lives,  there  must  more  and  more  come 
those  sacred  and  happy  homes  which  are 
the  surest  guaranties  for  the  moral  prog- 
ress of  a  nation.  So  long  as  the  first  con- 
cern of  a  country  is  for  its  homes,  it  mat- 
ters little  what  it  seeks  second  or  third. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  9,  p.  304. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

1324.  FREEDOM  AND  NECESSITY— 

Freedom  To  Do  Right. — I  protest  that  if 
some  great  Power  would  agree  to  make  me 
always  think  what  is  true  and  do  what  is 
right,  on  condition  of  being  turned  into  a 
sort  of  clock  and  wound  up  every  morning 
before  I  got  out  of  bed,  I  should  instantly 
close  with  the  offer.  The  only  freedom  I 
care  about  is  the  freedom  to  do  right;  the 
freedom  to  do  wrong  I  am  ready  to  part 
with  on  the  cheapest  terms  to  any  one  who 
will  take  it  of  me. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons, 
serin.  14,  p.  340.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1325.  FREEDOM  NOT  ABSOLUTE— 

Exemption  from  Some  Special  Restraint. — 
Is  man's  voluntary  agency  a  delusion,  or  is 
it,  on  the  contrary,  just  what  we  feel  it  to 
be,  and  is  it  only  from  misconception  of  its 
nature  that  we  puzzle  over  its  relation  to 
law?  We  speak,  and  speak  truly,  of  our 
wills  being  free;  but  free  from  what?  It 
seems  to  be  forgotten  that  freedom  is  not  an 
absolute,  but  a  relative  term.  There  is  no 
such  thing  existing  as  absolute  freedom — 


Freedom 
Future 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


272 


that  is  to  say,  there  is  nothing  existing  in 
the  world,  or  possible  even  in  thought,  which 
is  absolutely  alone — entirely  free  from  in- 
separable relationship  to  some  other  thing 
or  things.  Freedom,  therefore,  is  only  intel- 
ligible as  meaning  the  being  free  from  some 
particular  kind  of  restraint. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  6,  p.  179.  (Burt.) 

1326.  FREEDOM   OF   CHANGE— Hon- 
esty and  Truth  Better  than  Consistency. — 
He    [Cope]    has  been  much  blamed   on    ac- 
count of  the  constant  changes  of  his  views 
and  because  he  was  inconsistent.     Unques- 
tionably he  did  change  his  views  very  often. 
Doubtless   some  of  those  changes  were  ne- 
cessitated by  too  great  haste  in  formulation 
and  too  great  rashness  in  publication.     The 
freedom     to     change    which     he     exercised 
.     .     .     was  an  offset  to  his  rashness.     He 
exercised  a  proper  scientific  spirit  in  refu- 
sing to  be  always  consistent  at  the  expense  of 
truth. — GILL  Address  in  Memory  of  Edward 
Drinker  Cope  in  Proceedings  of  Amer.  Assoc. 
for  Advancement  of  Science,  vol.  xlvi,  1897. 

1327.  FREEDOM    OF    SAVAGES    AN 
ILLUSION — Slavery  to  Barbarous  Customs — 
Irrational  Demands  on  Devotee. — The  truth 
is  that  nowhere  is  the  evidence  of  develop- 
ment in  a  wrong  direction  so  strong  as  in 
the  many  customs  of  savage  and  barbarous 
nations  which  are  more  or  less  directly  con- 
nected   with   religion.      The   idea   has   long 
been  abandoned  that  the  savage  lives  in  a 
condition  of  freedom  as  compared  with  the 
complicated  obligations  imposed  by  civiliza- 
tion.    Savages,  on  the  contrary,  are  under 
the  tyranny  of  innumerable  customs  which 
render  their  whole  life  a  slavery  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.     And  what  is  most  re- 
markable is  the  irrational  character  of  most 
of  these  customs,  and  the  difficulty  of  even 
imagining  how  they  can  have  become  estab- 
lished.     They    bear    all    the    marks    of    an 
origin  far  distant  in  time — of  a  connection 
with  doctrines  which  have  been   forgotten, 
and  of  conceptions  which  have  run,  as  it 
were,  to  seed.     They  bear,  in  short,  all  the 
marks  of  long  attrition,  like  the  remnants 
of  a  bed  of  rock  which  has  been  broken  up 
at  a  distant  epoch  of  geological  time,  and 
has  left  no  other  record  of  itself  than  a  few 
worn  and  incoherent  fragments  in  some  far- 
off  conglomerate.     Just  as  these  fragments 
are  now  held  together  by  common  materials 
which  are  universally  distributed,   such  as 
sand  or  lime,  so  the  worn  and  broken  frag- 
ments of  old  religions  are  held  together,  in 
the  shape  of  barbarous  customs,  by  those 
common  instincts  and  aspirations  of  the  hu- 
man mind  which  follow  it  in  all  its  stages, 
whether    of   growth   or    of    decay. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  285.     (Burt.) 

1328.  FREEMAN,  MORAL,  VS.  MORAL 
SLAVE   (John  viii,  32-36) — Avoiding  Evil 
through  Love  of  Good. — Spinoza   long  ago 
wrote  in  his  "  Ethics  "  that  anything  that  a 
man  can  avoid  under  the  notion  that  it  is 
bad  he  may  also  avoid  under  the  notion  that 


something  else  is  good.  He  who  habitually 
acts  sub  specie  mali,  under  the  negative  no- 
tion, the  notion  of  the  bad,  is  called  a  slave 
by  Spinoza.  To  him  who  acts  habitually 
under  the  notion  of  good  he  gives  the  name 
of  freeman. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch. 
15,  p.  194.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1329.  FREEZING    BY   RADIATION— 
Formation    of    Artificial    Ice   in   Bengal. — 
Wells  was  the  first  to  explain  the  formation, 
artificially,  of  ice  in  Bengal,  where  the  sub- 
stance is  never  formed  naturally.     Shallow 
pits  are  dug,  which  are  partially  filled  with 
straw,  and  on  the  straw  flat  pans  containing 
water  are  exposed  to  the  clear  firmament. 
The  water  is  a  powerful  radiant,  and  sends 
off  its  heat  copiously  into  space.     The  heat 
thus  lost  cannot  be  supplied  from  the  earth 
— this  source  being  cut  off  by  the  non-con- 
ducting straw.    Before  sunrise  a  cake  of  ice 
is  formed  in  each  vessel.     This  is  the  ex- 
planation of  Wells,  and  it  is,  no  doubt,  the 
true  one.     I  think,  however,  it  needs  supple- 
menting.    It  appears,  from  the  description, 
that  the  condition  most  suitable  for  the  for- 
mation of  ice  is  not  only  a  clear  air,  but  a 
dry  air.     The  nights,  says  Sir  Robert  Bar- 
ker, most  favorable  for  the  production   of 
ice,  are  those  which  are  clearest  and  most 
serene,  and  in  which  very  little  dew  appears 
after    'midnight.      The    italicized    phrase    is 
very    significant.      To    produce   the    ice    in 
abundance,  the  atmosphere  must  not  only 
be  clear,  but  it  must  be  comparatively  free 
from  aqueous  vapor.      When  the  straw  on 
which  the  pans  were  laid  became  wet,  it  was 
always  changed  for  dry  straw ;    and  the  rea- 
son Wells   assigned  for  this  was,  that  the 
straw,  by  being  wetted,  was  rendered  more 
compact  and  efficient  as  a  conductor.     This 
may  have  been  the  case,  but  it  is  also  cer- 
tain  that  the   vapor   rising   from   the  wet 
straw,   and  overspreading   the  pans   like   a 
screen,  would  check  the  chill  and  retard  the 
congelation. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Mo- 
tion, lect.  17,  p.  500.     (A.,  1900.) 

1330.  FREEZING  BY  RAREFACTION 
— Joseph     Henry     read     a     communication 
[March  2,  1825]   on  the  production  of  cold 
by  the  rarefaction  of  air,  accompanied  with 
experiments. 

One  of  these  experiments  most  strikingly 
illustrated  the  great  reduction  of  tempera- 
ture which  takes  place  on  the  sudden  rare- 
faction of  condensed  air.  Half  a  pint  of 
water  was  poured  into  a  strong  copper  ves- 
sel, of  a  globular  form,  and  having  a  capac- 
ity of  five  gallons;  a  tube  of  one-fourth  of 
an  inch  in  caliber,  with  a  number  of  holes 
near  the  lower  end  and  a  stop-cock  attached 
to  the  other  extremity,  was  firmly  screwed 
into  the  neck  of  the  vessel;  the  lower  end 
of  the  tube  dipped  into  the  water,  but  a 
number  of  the  holes  were  above  the  surface 
of  the  liquid,  so  that  a  jet  of  air  mingled 
with  water  might  be  thrown  from  the  foun- 
tain. The  apparatus  was  then  charged  with 
condensed  air,  by  means  of  a  powerful  con- 
densing-pump,  until  the  pressure  was  esti- 


273 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Freedom 
Future 


mated  at  nine  atmospheres;  during  the  con- 
densation the  vessel  became  sensibly  warm. 
After  suffering  the  apparatus  to  cool  down 
to  the  temperature  of  the  room,  the  stop- 
cock was  opened;  the  air  rushed  out  with 
great  violence,  carrying  with  it  a  quantity 
of  water,  which  was  instantly  converted  into 
snow;  after  a  few  seconds  the  tube  became 
filled  with  ice,  which  almost  entirely  stopped 
the  current  of  air.  The  neck  of  the  vessel 
was  then  partially  unscrewed,  so  as  to  al- 
low the  condensed  air  to  rush  out  around 
the  sides  of  the  screw;  in  this  state  the 
temperature  of  the  whole  atmosphere  was 
so  much  reduced  as  to  freeze  the  remaining 
water  in  the  vessel;  the  stop-cock  and  tube 
at  the  same  time  became  so  cold  that  the 
fingers  adhered  to  them,  in  the  same  manner 
that  they  are  sometimes  found  to  stick  to 
the  latch  of  a  door  on  an  intensely  cold 
morning.  This  experiment  was  exhibited  to 
the  Institute  within  six  feet  of  a  large 
stove,  and  in  a  room  the  temperature  of 
which  was  not  less  than  eighty  degrees  of 
Fahrenheit's  thermometer. — HENRY  Proceed- 
ings of  Albany  Institute,  vol.  i,  p.  39. 

1331.  FREEZING  NOT  DESTRUCTIVE 
OF  MICRO-ORGANISMS— Bacteria  in  Ice.— 
Ice  contains  bacteria  in  varying  quantities 
from  20  per  c.  c.  to  10,000  or  more.     Nor  is 
variation  in  number  affected  alone  by  the 
condition    of    the    water,    for    samples    col- 
lected from  one  and  the  same  place  differ 
widely.     The  quality  follows  in  large  meas- 
ure the  standard  of  the  water. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  238.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1332.  FREEZING,  SUDDEN,  OF 
NORTHERN  RIVER—  Wild   Oxen  Frozen  in 
Tibet    in    Act    of    Swimming. — A    herd    of 
mammoths    returning    from    their    summer 
pastures  in  the  north  may  have  been  sur- 
prised, while  crossing  a  stream,  by  the  sud- 
den congelation  of  the  waters.    The  mission- 
ary Hue  relates,  in  his  travels  in  Tibet  in 
1846,  that,  after  many  of  his  party  had  been 
frozen  to  death,  they  pitched  their  tents  on 
the   banks   of   the    Mouroui-Ousson    (which 
lower     down     becomes     the     famous     Blue 
River ) ,    and    saw    from    their   encampment 
"  some  black  shapeless  objects  ranged  in  file 
across  the  stream.    As  they  advanced  nearer 
no  change  either  in  form  or  distinctness  was 
apparent;    nor  was  it  till  they  were  quite 
close. that  they  recognized  in  them  a  troop 
of  the  wild  oxen,  called  yak  by  the  Tibet- 
ans.    There  were  more  than  fifty  of  them 
incrusted  in  the  ice.     No   doubt  they  had 
tried  to  swim  across  at  the  moment  of  con- 
gelation, and  had  been  unable  to  disengage 
themselves.       Their    beautiful    heads,    sur- 
mounted by  huge  horns,  were  still  above  the 
surface,  but  their  bodies  were  held  fast  in 
the  ^  ice,  which  was  so  transparent  that  the 
position  of  the  imprudent  beasts  was  easily 
distinguishable;     they    looked    as    if    still 
swimming,  but  the  eagles  and  ravens  had 
pecked   out  their   eyes." — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  85.     (A.,  1854.) 


1333.  FRENZY  AN  OUTCOME  OF  IN- 
FIRMITY— Indulgence  Destroys  Self-control — 
Responsibility     at     Outset. — The     habit     of 
yielding  to   a   natural   infirmity  of  temper 
often  leads  into  paroxysms  of  ungovernable 
rage,  which,  in  their  turn,  pass  into  a  state 
of  maniacal  excitement.     The  poor  girl  who 
drowns    herself    after    a    quarrel    with    her 
lover,  or  the  nurse-maid  who  cuts  the  throat 
of  a  child  to  whom  she  is  tenderly  attached, 
because   her   mistress   has-  rebuked   her   for 
wearing  too   fine   a  bonnet,   may  be   really 
laboring    under    a    "  temporary    insanity " 
which    drives    her    irresistibly    to    a    great 
crime;   yet,  just  as  the  man  who  commits 
a  murder  in  a  state  of  drunken  frenzy  is 
responsible  for  his  irresponsibility,  so  is  the 
suicide  or  the  murderess,  in  so  far  as  she 
has  habitually  neglected  to  control  the  way- 
ward feelings  whose  strong  excitement  has. 
impelled  her  to  the  commission  of  her  crime. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  7,  p- 
323.      (A.,  1900.) 

1334.  FUSION  OF  ROCKS— Graniteand 
Porphyry    Cooled   under    Pressure — Subter- 
ranean Lakes  of  Melted  Lava  Now  Exist- 
ing.— It  may  indeed  be  said  that  we  have 
as  yet  no  data  for  estimating  the  relative 
volume  of  matter  simultaneously  in  a  state 
of  fusion  at  two  given  periods,  as  if  we  were 
to   compare  the  columnar  basalt  of  Staffa 
and  its  environs  with  the  lava  poured  out 
in  Iceland  in  1783;  but  for  this  very  reason 
it  would  be  rash  and  unphilosophical  to  as- 
sume   an    excess    of    ancient    as    contrasted 
with  modern  outpourings  of  melted  matter 
at  particular  periods  of  time.     It  would  be 
still  more  presumptuous  to  take  for  granted 
that  the  more  deep-seated  effects  of  subter- 
ranean heat  surpassed  at  remote  eras  the 
corresponding    effects    of    internal    heat    in 
our    own    times.      Certain    porphyries    and 
granites,  and  all  the  rocks  commonly  called 
Plutonic,    are    now    generally    supposed    to 
have  resulted  from  the  slow  cooling  of  ma- 
terials fused  and  solidified  under  great  pres- 
sure;   and   we   cannot   doubt   that   beneath 
existing    volcanoes    there    are    large    spaces 
filled   with   melted   stone,   which    must   for 
centuries   remain  in  an  incandescent  state, 
and  then  cool  and  become  hard  and  crystal* 
line  when   the   subterranean   heat   shall   be 
exhausted.     That  lakes  of  lava  are  contin- 
uous for  hundreds  of  miles  beneath  the  Chil- 
ean   Andes    seems    established    by    observa- 
tions made  in  the  year  1835. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  161.     (A., 
1854.) 

1335.  FUTURE  MUST  BE  BASED  UP- 
ON A  PAST—  The  Masses  a  Rising  Power.— 
We    fail    to    see    any    scientific    connection 
between  his    [Comte's]   theoretical  explana- 
tion of  the  past  progress  of  society  and  his. 
proposals  for  future  improvement.    The  pro- 
posals are  not,  as  we  might  expect,  recom- 
mended as  that  towards  which  human  so- 
ciety has  been  tending  and  working  through 
the  whole  of  history.    It  is  thus  that  think- 
ers have  usually  proceeded  who  formed  the- 


Future 

Generation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


274 


ories  for  the  future  grounded  on  historical 
analysis  of  the  past.  Tocqueville,  for  ex- 
ample, and  others,  finding,  as  they  thought, 
through  all  history,  a  steady  progress  in 
the  direction  of  social  and  political  equality, 
argued  that,  to  smooth  this  transition,  and 
make  the  best  of  what  is  certainly  coming, 
is  the  'proper  employment  of  political  fore- 
sight. We  do  not  find  M.  Comte  supporting 
his  recommendations  by  a  similar  line  of  ar- 
gument. They  rest  as  completely,  each  on 
its  separate  reasons  of  supposed  utility,  as 
with  philosophers  who,  like  Bentham,  theo- 
rize on  politics  without  any  historical  basis 
at  all.  The  only  bridge  of  connection  which 
leads  from  his  historical  speculations  to  his 
practical  conclusions  is  the  inference  that, 
since  the  old  powers  of  society,  both  in  the 
region  of  thought  and  of  action,  are  decli- 
ning and  destined  to  disappear,  leaving  only 
the  two  rising  powers — positive  thinkers 
on  the  one  hand,  leaders  of  industry  on  the 
other — the  future  necessarily  belongs  to 
these:  spiritual  power  to  the  former,  tem- 
poral to  the  latter.  As  a  specimen  of  his- 
torical forecast  this  is  very  deficient;  for 
are  there  not  the  masses  as  well  as  the 
leaders  of  industry?  and  is  not  theirs  also 
a  growing  power? — MILL  Positive  Philos- 
ophy of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  107.  (H.  H. 
&  Co.,  1887.) 

1336.  FUTURE  OF  ASTRONOMY— All 

Present  Knowledge  But  a  Beginning  —  A 
Reaching-up  toward  God. — Outside  the  solar 
system,  the  problems  which  demand  a  prac- 
tical solution  are  all  but  infinite  in  number 
and  extent.  And  these  have  all  arisen  and 
crowded  upon  our  thoughts  within  less  than 
a  hundred  years.  For  sidereal  science  be- 
came a  recognized  branch  of  astronomy  only 
through  Herschel's  discovery  of  the  revolu- 
tions of  double  stars  in  1802.  Yet  already 
it  may  be  and  has  been  called  "  the  astron- 
omy of  the  future  " :  so  rapidly  has  the  de- 
velopment of  a  keen  and  universal  inter- 
est attended  and  stimulated  the  growth  of 
power  to  investigate  this  sublime  subject. 
What  has  been  done  is  little — is  scarcely  a 
beginning;  yet  it  is  much  in  comparison 
with  the  total  blank  of  a  century  past.  And 
our  knowledge  will,  we  are  easily  persuaded, 
appear  in  turn  the  merest  ignorance  to  those 
who  come  after  us.  Yet  it  is  not  to  be 
despised,  since  by  it  we  reach  up  groping 
fingers  to  touch  the  hem  of  the  garment 
of  the  Most  High. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  528.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1337.  FUTURE  OF  EARTH  NOT  TO 
BE  SUNLESS— Provision  for  Vast  Duration 
of  the  Sun. — We  may  therefore  assume  with 
great  probability  that  the  sun  will  still  con- 
tinue  in  its   condensation,   even   if  it  only 
attained    the    density    of    the    earth  —  tho 
it  will  probably  become   far  denser  in  the 
interior  owing  to  the  enormous  pressure — 
this  would  develop  fresh  quantities  of  heat, 
which  would  be  sufficient  to  maintain  for  an 
additional  17,000,000  of  years  the  same  in- 


tensity of  sunshine  as  that  which  is  now 
the  source  of  all  terrestrial  life. — HELM- 
HOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  182.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1338.  FUTURE  TO  SURPASS  PRES- 
ENT— Even  in  our  own  time  we  may  hope 
to  see  some  improvement;  but  the  unselfish 
mind  will   find  its  highest  gratification  in 
the  belief  that,  whatever  may  be  the  case 
with  ourselves,  our  descendants  will  under- 
stand many  things  which  are  hidden  from 
us  now,  will  better  appreciate  the  beautiful 
world  in  which  we  live,  avoid  much  of  that 
suffering   to    which    we    are    subject,    enjoy 
many   blessings    of  which   we   are  not  yet 
worthy,  and  escape  many  of  those  tempta- 
tions which  we  deplore,  but  cannot  wholly 
resist. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times ,  ch.  16, 
p.  577.     (A.,  1900.) 

1339.  GAMBLING,  FOLLY  OF— Math- 
ematical Calculation  of  Bank's  Sure  Win- 
nings.— Games  which  exercise  either  body  or 
mind  have  been  of  high  value  in  civilization 
as  trainers  of  man's  faculties.     Games  of 
pure    chance    played    for    money    stand    on 
quite   a   different   footing;    they  have  been 
from  the  first  a  delusion  and  a  curse.     In 
our  own  time  there  is  perhaps  no  more  piti- 
able sign  of  the  slowness  with  which  scien- 
tific  ideas   spread   than   to   hear   the   well- 
dressed   crowds  round  the  gaming-table  at 
Monaco  talking  about  runs  of  luck,  and  fan- 
cying that   it   makes   a   difference   whether 
one  backs  the  black  or  the  red.     This  goes 
on,    altho    schoolboys    are    now   taught   the 
real  doctrine  of  chances,  and  how  to  reckon 
the  fixed  percentage  of  each  week's  stakes 
that  will  be  raked  in  by  the  croupier,  and 
not   come   back. — TYLOR  Anthropology,   ch. 
12,  p.  308.      (A.,  1898.) 

1340.  GANGES   WASHING   DOWN  A 
CONTINENT— Soil    Transported    by     Great 
River — Iluman     Building    Insignificant     in 
Comparison. — The   Rev.   Mr.   Everest   insti- 
tuted, in  1831-2,  a  series  of  observations  on 
the    earthy   matter    brought    down    by    the 
Ganges,  at  Ghazepoor,  500  miles  from  the 
sea.     He  found  that,  in  1831,  the  number 
of   cubic   feet   of  water   discharged  by   the 
river  per  second  at  that  place  was,  during 
the 

Rains    (4   months) 494,208 

Winter    (5  months) 71,200 

Hot  weather   (3  months) 36,330 

so  that  we  may  state  in  round  numbers  that 
500,000  cubic  feet  per  seqond  flow  down  dur- 
ing the  four  months  of  the  flood  season, 
from  June  to  September,  and  less  than  60,- 
000  per  second  during  the  remaining  eight 
months. 

The  average  quantity  of  solid  matter  sus- 
pended in  the  water  during  the  rains  was, 
by  weight,  -3-5^ th  part;  but  as  the  water  is 
about  one-half  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
dried  mud,  the  solid  matter  discharged  is 
¥fsth  part  in  bulk,  or  577  cubic  feet  per 
second.  This  gives  a  total  of  6,082,041,600 
cubic  feet  for  the  discharge  in  the  122  days 


275 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Future 
Generation 


of  the  rain.  The  proportion  of  sediment  in 
the  waters  at  other  seasons  was  compara- 
tively insignificant,  the  total  amount  dur- 
ing the  five  winter  months  being  only  247,- 
881,600  cubic  feet,  and  during  the  three 
months  of  hot  weather  38,154,240  cubic  feet. 
The  total  annual  discharge,  then,  would  be 
6,368,077,440  cubic  feet. 

This  quantity  of  mud  would  in  one  year 
raise  a  surface  of  228 1/2  square  miles,  or  a 
square  space  each  side  of  which  should 
measure  15  miles,  a  height  of  one  foot.  To 
give  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  this 
result,  we  will  assume  that  the  specific  grav- 
ity of  the  dried  mud  is  only  one-half  that 
of  granite  (it  would,  however,  be  more)  ; 
in  that  case,  the  earthy  matter  discharged 
in  a  year  would  equal  3,184,038,720  cubic 
feet  of  granite.  Now  about  12%  cubic  feet 
of  granite  weigh  one  ton;  and  it  is  com- 
puted that  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Egypt,  if 
it  were  a  solid  mass  of  granite,  would  weigh 
about  600,000,000  tons.  The  mass  of  matter, 
therefore,  carried  down  annually  would,  ac- 
cording to  this  estimate,  more  than  equal  in 
weight  and  bulk  forty-two  of  the  great  pyr- 
amids of  Egypt,  and  that  borne  down  in 
the  four  months  of  the  rains  would  equal 
forty  pyramids.  But  if,  without  any  con- 
jecture as  to  what  may  have  been  the  spe- 
cific gravity  of  the  mud,  we  attend  merely 
to  the  weight  of  solid  matter  actually  proved 
by  Mr.  Everest  to  have  been  contained  in 
the  water,  we  find  that  the  number  of  tons' 
weight  which  passed  down  in  the  122  days 
of  the  rainy  season  was  339,413,760,  which 
would  give  the  weight  of  fifty-six  pyramids 
and  a  half;  and  in  the  whole  year  355,361,- 
464  tons,  or  nearly  the  weight  of  sixty  pyra- 
mids. The  base  of  the  Great  Pyramid  of 
Egypt  covers  eleven  acres,  and  its  perpen- 
dicular height  is  about  five  hundred  feet. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  18, 
p.  282.  (A.,  1854.) 

1341. Work  of  Nature 

and  of  Man  Compared. — It  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  present  any  picture  to  the  mind 
which  will  convey  an  adequate  conception 
of  the  mighty  scale  of  this  operation,  so 
tranquilly  and  almost  insensibly  carried  on 
by  the  Ganges,  as  it  glides  through  its  al- 
luvial plain,  even  at  a  distance  of  500  miles 
from  the  sea.  It  may,  however,  be  stated, 
that  if  a  fleet  of  more  than  eighty  Indiamen, 
each  freighted  with  about  1,400  tons'  weight 
of  mud,  were  to  sail  down  the  river  every 
hour  of  every  day  and  night  for  four 
months  continuously,  they  would  only  trans- 
port from  the  higher  country  to  the  sea 
a  mass  of  solid  matter  equal  to  that  borne 
down  by  the  Ganges,  even  in  this  part  of 
its  course,  in  the  four  months  of  the  flood 
season.  Or  the  exertions  of  a  fleet  of  about 
2,000  such  ships  going  down  daily  with  the 
same  burden,  and  discharging  it  into  the 
gulf,  would  be  no  more  than  equivalent  to 
the  operations  of  the  great  river. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  282. 
(A.,  1854.) 


1342.  GEMS,  ARTIFICIAL,  INFERIOR 

— Nature's  Laboratories  Surpass  Those  of 
Alan. — But  most  of  the  crystals  of  minerals 
which  have  been  thus  artificially  formed  are 
of  minute,  indeed  often  of  microscopic,  di- 
mensions. In  the  underground  reservoirs 
beneath  volcanoes,  however,  we  have  all  the 
necessary  conditions  for  the  formation  of 
crystals  of  minerals  on  a  far  grander  scale. 
High  temperatures,  pressures  far  greater 
than  any  we  can  command  at  the  earth's 
surface,  the  action  of  superheated  steam 
and  many  acid  gases  on  the  various  con- 
stituents of  both  igneous  and  sedimentary 
rocks,  and,  above  all,  time  of  almost  un- 
limited duration;  these  constitute  such  a 
set  of  conditions  as  may  fairly  be  expected 
to  result  in  the  formation  of  crystals  simi- 
lar to  those  artificially  produced,  but  of  far 
greater  size  and  beauty. — JUDD  Volcanoes, 
ch.  5,  p.  148.  (A.,  1899.) 

1343.  GENERATION,  SPONTANEOUS 

— Science  Finds  A'o  Evidence  of. — If  you  ask 
me  whether  there  exists  the  least  evidence 
to  prove  that  any  form  of  life  can  be  de- 
veloped out  of  matter,  without  demonstrable 
antecedent  life,  my  reply  is  that  evidence 
considered  perfectly  conclusive  by  many  has 
been  adduced;  and  that  were  some  of  us 
who  have  pondered  this  question  to  follow 
a  very  common  example,  and  accept  testi- 
mony because  it  falls  in  with  our  belief,  we 
also  should  eagerly  close  with  the  evidence 
referred  to.  But  there  is  in  the  true  man 
of  science  a  desire  stronger  than  the  wish 
to  have  his  beliefs  upheld;  namely,  the  de- 
sire to  have  them  true.  And  this  stronger 
wish  causes  him  to  reject  the  most  plau- 
sible support  if  he  has  reason  to  suspect  that 
it  is  vitiated  by  error.  Those  to  whom  I 
refer  as  having  studied  this  question,  believ- 
ing the  evidence  offered  in  favor  of  "  spon- 
taneous generation "  to  be  thus  vitiated, 
cannot  accept  it.  They  know  full  well  that 
the  chemist  now  prepares  from  inorganic 
matter  a  vast  array  of  substances  which 
were  some  time  ago  regarded  as  the  sole 
products  of  vitality.  They  are  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  structural  power  of 
matter,  as  evidenced  in  the  phenomena  of 
crystallization.  They  can  justify  scientific- 
ally their  belief  in  its  potency,  under  the 
proper  conditions,  to  produce  organisms. 
But,  in  reply  to  your  question,  they  will 
frankly  admit  their  inability  to  point  to 
any  satisfactory  experimental  proof  that 
life  can  be  developed  save  from  demon- 
strable antecedent  life. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science  (the  Belfast  Address),  vol. 
ii,  ch.  9,  p.  191.  (A.,  1900.) 

1344. Theory  of ,  Refuted 

— Biogenesis  and  Abiogenesis — Pasteur  and 
TyndalL — Scientific  men  began  to  believe 
that  no  form  of  life  arose  de  novo  (abiogen- 
esis),  but  had  its  source  in  previous  life 
(biogenesis).  It  remained  to  Pasteur  and 
Tyndall  to  demonstrate  this  beyond  dispute 
and  put  to  rout  the  fresh  arguments  for 
spontaneous  generation  which  Pouchet  had 


Generation 
Genius 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


276 


advanced  as  late  as  1859.  Pasteur  collected 
the  floating  dust  of  the  air,  and  found  by 
means  of  the  microscope  many  organized 
particles,  which  he  sowed  on  suitable  infu- 
sions, and  thus  obtained  rich  crops  of  "  ani- 
malculse."  He  also  demonstrated  that  these 
organisms  existed  in  different  degrees  in 
different  atmospheres,  few  in  the  pure  air 
of  the  Mer  de  Glace,  more  in  the  air  of  the 
plains,  most  in  the  air  of  towns.  He  fur- 
ther proved  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  in- 
sist upon  hermetic  sealing  or  cotton  filters 
to  keep  these  living  organisms  in  the  air 
from  gaining  access  to  a  flask  of  infusion. 
If  the  neck  of  the  flask  were  drawn  out  into 
a  long  tube  and  turned  downwards,  and  then 
a  little  upwards,  even  tho  the  end  be  left 
open,  no  contamination  gained  access. 
Hence,  if  the  infusion  were  boiled,  no  putre- 
faction would  occur.  The  organisms  which 
fell  into  the  open  end  of  the  tube  were  ar- 
rested in  the  condensation  water  in  the 
angle  of  the  tube;  but  even  if  that  were 
not  so,  the  force  of  gravity  acting  upon 
them  prevented  them  from  passing  up  the 
long  arm  of  the  tube  into  the  neck  of  the 
flask.  [See  PASTEUR.] — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  1,  p.  4.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1345. Universal  Ancient 

Belief  in — Lucretius. — It  did  not  enter  their 
minds  even  to  doubt  that  these  low  forms  of 
life  were  generated  in  the  matters  in  which 
they  made  their  appearance.  Lucretius, 
who  had  drunk  deeper  of  the  scientific  spirit 
than  any  poet  of  ancient  or  modern  times 
except  Goethe,  intends  to  speak  as  a  philoso- 
pher, rather  than  as  a  poet,  when  he  writes 
that  "  with  good  reason  the  earth  has  gotten 
the  name  of  mother,  since  all  things  are  pro- 
duced out  of  the  earth.  And  many  living 
creatures,  even  now,  spring  out  of  the  earth, 
taking  form  by  the  rains  and  the  heat  of 
the  sun." — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serai.  15, 
p.  346.  (A.,  1895.) 

1346.  GENIUS  ACCOMPANIED  BY 
TIRELESS  INDUSTRY—  Herschel  Making 
His  Own  Reflectors — Undaunted  by  Many 
Failures — A  Sister's  Devotion. — Having  pur- 
chased the  apparatus  of  a  Quaker  optician, 
he  [Herschel]  set  about  the  manufacture  of 
specula  with  a  zeal  which  seemed  to  antici- 
pate the  wonders  they  were  to  disclose  to 
him.  It  was  not  until  fifteen  years  later 
that  his  grinding  and  polishing  machines 
were  invented,  so  the  work  had  at  that  time 
to  be  entirely  done  by  hand.  During  this 
tedious  and  laborious  process  (which  could 
not  be  interrupted  without  injury,  and 
lasted  on  one  occasion  sixteen  hours),  his 
strength  was  supported  by  morsels  of  food 
put  into  his  mouth  by  his  sister,  and  his 
mind  amused  by  her  reading  aloud  to  him  the 
"  Arabian  Nights,"  "  Don  Quixote,"  or  other 
light  works.  At  length,  after  repeated  fail- 
ures, he  found  himself  provided  with  a  re- 
flecting telescope — a  5%-foot  Gregorian — of 
his  own  construction.  ~A  copy  of  his  first 
observation  with  it  on  the  great  nebula  in 


Orion — an  object  of  continual  amazement 
and  assiduous  inquiry  to  him — is  preserved 
by  the  Royal  Society.  It  bears  the  date 
March  4,  1774. — CLEBKE  History  of  Astron- 
omy, ch.  1,  p.  14.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1347.  GENIUS  DEVELOPED  BY  LABOR 
— Studious  Industry  of  Mozart. — That,  not- 
withstanding   the    exuberance    of    his    own 
creative    power,    Mozart    constantly    disci- 
plined it  by  the  most  sedulous  study,  and 
that  he  could,  without  being  chargeable  with 
imitation,  assimilate  (so  to  speak)   into  his 
own  musical  constitution  all  that  he  found 
suitable  in  the  works  of  others  as  pabulum 
for  his  genius,  is  one  of  its  most  remarkable 
features.     "  It   is   a  very  great  error,"  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  to  suppose  that  my  art 
has  become  so  exceedingly  easy  to  me.     I 
assure  you  there  is  scarcely  any  one  who 
has  worked  at  the  study  of  composition  as  I 
have.     You  could  hardly  mention  any  fa- 
mous composer  whose  writings  I  have  not 
diligently  and  repeatedly  studied  through- 
out."    And,  in  this   self-education,   as  Mr. 
Holmes    remarks,    "whatever    of    striking, 
new,  or  beautiful  he  met  with  in  the  works 
of  others,  left  its  impression  on  him;    and 
he  often  reproduced   these  effects,  not  ser- 
vilely,   but    mingling   his    own    nature    and 
feeling   Avith   them,    in    a   manner   not   less 
surprising     than     delightful." — CARPENTER 
Mental    Physiology,    ch.    6,    p.    274.       (A., 
1900.) 

1348.  GENIUS,    INSPIRATION    OF— 
How  Mozart  Composed. — We  shall  now  en- 
deavor to  trace  out  the  manner  in  which  he 
[Mozart]  worked;    and  of  this  we  fortunate- 
ly have  a  pretty  full  account  from  himself 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend: 

"  You  say  you  should  like  to  .know  my 
way  of  composing,  and  what  method  I  fol- 
low in  writing  works  of  some  extent.  I  can 
really  say  no  more  on  the  subject  than  the 
following,  for  I  myself  know  no  more  about 
it,  and  cannot  account  for  it.  When  I  am, 
as  it  were,  completely  myself,  entirely  alone, 
and  of  good  cheer,  say,  traveling  in  a  car- 
riage, or  walking  after  a  good  meal,  or  dur- 
ing the  night  when  I  cannot  sleep ;  it  is  on 
such  occasions  that  my  ideas  flow  best  and 
most  abundantly.  Whence  and  how  they 
come  I  know  not,  nor  can  I  force  them. 
Those  ideas  that  please  me  I  retain  in  my 
memory,  and  am  accustomed  (as  I  have 
been  told)  to  hum  them  to  myself.  If  I 
continue  in  this  way,  it  soon  occurs  to  me 
how  1  may  turn  this  or  that  morceau  to  ac- 
count, so  as  to  make  a  good  dish  of  it,  that 
is  to  say,  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  counter- 
point, to  the  peculiarities  of  the  various  in- 
struments, etc. 

"  All  this  fires  my  soul,  and,  provided  I 
am  not  disturbed,  my  subject  enlarges  itself, 
becomes  methodized  and  defined,  and  the 
whole,  tho  it  be  long,  stands  almost  complete 
and  finished  in  my  mind,  so  that  I  can  sur- 
vey it  like  a  fine  picture,  or  a  beautiful 
statue,  at  a  glance.  Nor  do  I  hear  in  my 
imagination  the  parts  successively,  but  I 


277 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Generation 
Genius 


hear  them,  as  it  were,  all  at  once  (gleich 
alles  zusammen).  What  a  delight  this  is  I 
cannot  tell!  All  this  inventing,  this  pon- 
dering, takes  place  in  a  pleasing  lively 
dream.  Still  the  actual  hearing  of  the  tout 
ensemble  is  after  all  the  best.  What  has 
been  thus  produced  I  do  not  easily  forget, 
and  this  is  perhaps  the  best  gift  I  have  my 
Divine  Maker  to  thank  for. 

"  When  I  proceed  to  write  down  my  ideas 
I  take  out  of  the  bag  of  my  memory,  if  I 
may  use  that  phrase,  what  has  previously 
been  collected  into  it  in  the  way  I  have  men- 
tioned. For  this  reason,  the  committing  to 
paper  is  done  easily  enough;  for  everything 
is,  as  I  said  before,  already  finished;  and  it 
rarely  differs  on  paper  from  what  it  was  in 
my  imagination." — HOLMES  Life  of  Mozart, 
quoted  by  CARPENTER  in  Mental  Physiology, 
ch.  6,  p.  272.  (A.,  1900.) 

1349.  GENIUS OF  DISCOVERY— Aris- 
totle's Absurd  Physics  and  Immortal  Logic. 
— The    genius    of    discovery    depends    alto- 
gether on  the  number  of  these  random  no- 
tions  and  guesses  which  visit   the  investi- 
gator's mind.     To  be  fertile  in  hypotheses 
is  the  first  requisite,  and  to  be  willing  to 
throw   them   away   the   moment   experience 
contradicts  them  is  the  next.     .     .     .     The 
important  thing  to  notice  is  that  the  good 
flashes  and  the  bad  flashes,  the  triumphant 
hypotheses  and  the  absurd  conceits,  are  on 
an  exact  equality  in  respect  of  their  origin. 
Aristotle's  absurd  physics  and  his  immortal 
logic  flow  from  one  source:  the  forces  that 
produce  the  one  produce  the  other. — JAMES 
Essays  in  Popular  Philosophy,  p.  249.     (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1350.  GENIUS    OF    PRIMITIVE    ME- 
CHANICS— Wonderful  Results  with  Meager  Re- 
sources.— The  first  of  them  [mechanics]  had 
a  poorly  furnished  workshop.     "  His  body," 
as   Emerson  says,    "  was   a  whole   chest  of 
tools."     But  he  had  not  the  knack  of  using 
them.     He  was  naked  and  houseless.     His 
needs,    out   of  which   all   arts   in   all   ages 
spring,  were  few.     His  mission  was  to  sub- 
due the  earth  and  to  redeem  it.     Compared 
with  his  progeny  of  our  day,  he  would  seem 
an  object  of  pity.     But  his  brain  was  super- 
abundant.    His  soul  was  full  of  capacities. 
He  was  the  father  of  us  all. — MASON  Aborig- 
inal American  Mechanics  in  Memoirs  of  Int. 
Congress  of  Anthropology,  p.  69.    ( Sch.  P.  C. ) 

1351.  GENIUS   QUENCHED—  Crushing 
Power  of  Hostile  Criticism — Great  Discov- 
erer Ridiculed. — It  is  quite  true,  as  Helm- 
holtz  says,  that  Young  was  in  advance  of 
his  age ;   but  something  is  to  be  added  which 
illustrates  the  responsibility  of  our  public 
writers.      For    twenty    years    this    man    of 
genius  was  quenched — hidden  from  the  ap- 
preciative   intellect    of    his    countrymen — 
deemed  in  fact  a  dreamer,  through  the  vig- 
orous  sarcasm   of   a   writer   who  had   then 
possession  of  the  public  ear,  and  who  in  the 
Edinburgh    Review    poured    ridicule    upon 
Young  and  his  speculations.     To  the  cele- 


brated Frenchmen  Fresnel  and  Arago  he 
was  first  indebted  for  the  restitution  of  his 
rights;  for  they,  especially  Fresnel,  remade 
independently,  as  Helmholtz  says,  and 
vastly  extended  his  discoveries.  To  the 
students  of  his  works  Young  has  long  since 
appeared  in  his  true  light,  but  these  twenty 
blank  years  pushed  him  from  the  public 
mind,  which  became  in  turn  filled  with  the 
fame  of  Young's  colleague  at  the  Royal  In- 
stitution, Davy,  and  afterwards  with  the 
fame  of  Faraday.  Carlyle  refers  to  a  re- 
mark of  Novalis,  that  a  man's  self-trust  is 
enormously  increased  the  moment  he  finds 
that  others  believe  in  him.  If  the  opposite 
remark  be  true — if  it  be  a  fact  that  public 
disbelief  weakens  a  man's  force — there  is 
no  calculating  the  amount  of  damage  these 
twenty  years  of  neglect  may  have  done  to 
Young's  productiveness  as  an  investigator. 
It  remains  to  be  stated  that  his  assailant 
was  Mr.  Henry  Brougham,  afterwards  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  51.  (A.,  1898.) 

1352.  GENIUS   SEES   ABSTRACT 
TRUTH  —  Phenomena  Moved  by  an    Unseen 
Something  behind  Them. — The  human  mind, 
in   the   exercise    of   its    own    faculties    and 
powers,    sometimes    by    careful    reasoning, 
sometimes  by  the  intuitions  of  genius  uncon- 
scious of  any  process,  is  able,  from  time  to 
time,   to   reach    now  one,   now  another,   of 
those  purely  intellectual  conceptions  which 
are  the  basis  of  all  that  is  intelligible  to  us 
in  the  order  of  the  material  world.    We  look 
for  an  ideal  order  or  simplicity  in  material 
law;    and  the  very  possibility  of  exact  sci- 
ence depends  upon  the  fact  that  such  ideal 
order  does  actually  prevail,  and  is  related 
to  the  abstract  conceptions  of  our  own  in- 
tellectual nature.     It  is  in  this  way  that 
many  of  the  greatest  discoveries  of  science 
have  been  made.    Especially  have  the  great 
pioneers  in  new  paths  of  discovery  been  led 
to  the  opening  of  those  paths  by  that  fine 
sense  for  abstract  truths  which  is  the  no- 
blest gift  of  genius.   Copernicus,  Kepler,  and 
Galileo  were   all  guided  in  their  profound 
interpretations    of    visible    phenomena    by 
those  intuitions  wrhich  arise  in  minds  finely 
organized,  brought  into  close  relations  with 
the  mind  of  nature,  and  highly  trained  in 
the  exercise  of  speculative  thought.     They 
guessed  the  truth  before  they  proved  it  to 
be  true;    and  those  guesses  had  their  origin 
in  abstract  ideas  of  the  mind,  which  turned 
out  to  be  ideas  really  embodied  in  the  order 
of  the  universe.     So  constantly  has  this  re- 
curred in  the  history  of  science  that,  as  Dr. 
Whewell    ["  History   of   the   Inductive    Sci- 
ences," 2d  edition,  vol.  i,  p.  434]  says,  it  is 
not  to  be  considered  as  an  exception,  but  as 
the  rule. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p. 
66.     (Burt.) 

1353.  GENIUS    UNFAVORABLE    TO 
VOLUNTARY  ATTENTION— Holding  Atten- 
tion upon  One  Subject  Gives  Mastery. — It  is 
probable  that  genius  tends  actually  to  pre- 


Genius 
Germ 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


278 


vent  a  man  from  acquiring  habits  of  volun- 
tary attention,  and  that  moderate  intellec- 
tual endowments  are  the  soil  in  which  we 
may  best  expect,  here  as  elsewhere,  the  vir- 
tues of  the  will,  strictly  so  called,  to  thrive. 
But,  whether  the  attention  come  by  grace  of 
genius  or  by  dint  of  will,  the  longer  one 
does  attend  to  a  topic  the  more  mastery  of 
it  one  has.  And  the  faculty  of  voluntarily 
bringing  back  a  wandering  attention,  over 
and  over  again,  is  the  very  root  of  judg- 
ment, character,  and  will.  No  one  is 
compos  sui  if  he  have  it  not. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  424.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1354.  GEOGRAPHY  AND  ETHNOLOGY, 

MEDIEVAL—  Travelers  of  Middle  Ages—  Their 
Works  Dramatic — The  Public  Ignorant  and 
Credulous. — The  earlier  travelers  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  for  instance  John  Mande- 
ville  (1353),  Hans  Schiltberger  of  Munich 
(1425),  and  Bernhard  von  Breytenback 
(1486),  delight  us  even  in  the  present  day 
by  their  charming  simplicity,  their  freedom 
of  style,  and  the  self-confidence  with  which 
they  step  before  a  public,  who,  from  their 
utter  ignorance,  listen  with  the  greater 
curiosity  and  readiness  of  belief,  because 
they  have  not  as  yet  learned  to  feel 
ashamed  of  appearing  ignorant,  amused, 
or  astonished.  The  interest  attached  to 
the  narratives  of  travels  was  then  al- 
most wholly  dramatic,  and  the  necessary 
and  easily  introduced  admixture  of  the  mar- 
velous gave  them  almost  an  epic  coloring. 
The  manners  of  foreign  nations  are  not  so 
much  described  as  they  are  rendered  in- 
cidentally discernible  by  the  contact  of  the 
travelers  with  the  natives.  The  vegetation 
is  unnamed  and  unheeded,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  an  occasional  allusion  to  some  pleas- 
antly flavored  or  strangely  formed  fruit,  or 
to  the  extraordinary  dimensions  of  particu- 
lar kinds  of  stems  or  leaves  of  plants. 
Among  animals,  they  describe,  with  the 
greatest  predilection,  first,  those  which  ex- 
hibit most  resemblance  to  the  human  form, 
and  next,  those  which  are  the  wildest  and 
most  formidable.  The  contemporaries  of 
these  travelers  believed  in  all  the  dangers 
which  few  of  them  had  shared,  and  the 
slowness  of  navigation  and  the  want  of 
means  of  communication  caused  the  Indies, 
as  all  the  tropical  regions  were  then  called, 
to  appear  at  an  immeasurable  distance.  Co- 
lumbus was  not  yet  justified  in  writing  to 
Queen  Isabella,  "  the  world  is  small,  much 
smaller  than  people  suppose." — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p.  78.  (H.,  1897.) 

1355.  GEOLOGY  AND  HISTORY,  ANAL- 
OGY OF—  The  Present  in  the  Past.— By  these 
researches  into  the  state  of  the  earth  and  its 
inhabitants   at   former   periods,   we   acquire 
a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  its  present  con- 
dition, and  more  comprehensive  views  con- 
cerning the  laws  now  governing  its  animate 
and  inanimate  productions.    When  we  study 
history,  we  obtain  a  more  profound  insight 


into  human  nature,  by  instituting  a  com- 
parison between  the  present  and  former 
states  of  society.  We  trace  the  long  series 
of  events  which  have  gradually  led  to  the 
actual  posture  of  affairs;  and  by  connecting 
effects  with  their  causes,  we  are  enabled  to 
classify  and  retain  in  the  memory  a  multi- 
tude of  complicated  relations — the  various 
peculiarities  of  national  character — the  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  moral  and  intellectual  re- 
finement, and  numerous  other  circumstances, 
which,  without  historical  associations,  would 
be  uninteresting  or  imperfectly  understood. 
As  the  present  condition  of  nations  is  the 
result  of  many  antecedent  changes,  some 
extremely  remote  and  others  recent,  some 
gradual,  others  sudden  and  violent;  so  the 
state  of  the  natural  world  is  the  result  of 
a  long  succession  of  events ;  and  if  we  would 
enlarge  our  experience  of  the  present  econ- 
omy of  Nature,  we  must  investigate  the  ef- 
fects of  her  operations  in  former  epochs. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p. 
1.  (A.,  1854.) 

1356. Relative  Utility  Yet 

To  Be  Proved. — The  discovery  of  other  sys- 
tems in  the  boundless  regions  of  space  was 
the  triumph  of  astronomy;  to  trace  the 
same  system  through  various  transforma- 
tions— to  behold  it  at  successive  eras  adorned 
with  different  hills  and  valleys,  lakes  and 
seas,  and  peopled  with  new  inhabitants,  was 
the  delightful  meed  of  geological  research. 
By  the  geometer  were  measured  the  regions 
of  space  and  the  relative  distances  of  the 
heavenly  bodies;  by  the  geologist  myriads 
of  ages  were  reckoned,  not  by  arithmetical 
computation,  but  by  a  train  of  physical 
events — a  succession  of  phenomena  in  the 
animate  and  inanimate  worlds — signs  which 
convey  to  our  minds  more  definite  ideas 
than  figures  can  do  of  the  immensity  of 
time. 

Whether  our  investigation  of  the  earth's 
history  and  structure  will  eventually  be  pro- 
ductive of  as  great  practical  benefits  to  man- 
kind as  a  knowledge  of  the  distant  heavens, 
must  remain  for  the  decision  of  posterity. 
It  \vas  not  till  astronomy  had  been  en- 
riched by  the  observations  of  many  centu- 
ries, and  had  made  its  way  against  popular 
prejudices  to  the  establishment  of  a  sound 
theory,  that  its  application  to  the  useful 
arts  was  most  conspicuous.  The  cultivation 
of  geology  began  at  a  later  period;  and  in 
every  step  which  it  has  hitherto  made  to- 
wards sound  theoretical  principles  it  had 
to  contend  against  more  violent  preposses- 
sions. The  practical  advantages  already  de- 
rived from  it  have  not  been  inconsiderable; 
but  our  generalizations  are  yet  imperfect, 
and  they  who  come  after  us  may  be  expected 
to  reap  the  most  valuable  fruits  of  our 
labor.  Meanwhile,  the  charm  of  first  discov- 
ery is  our  own ;  and,  as  we  explore  this  mag- 
nificent field  of  inquiry,  the  sentiment  of  a 
great  historian  of  our  times  may  continu- 
ally be  present  to  our  minds,  that  "  he  who 
calls  what  has  vanished  back  again  into 


279 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


§eniu» 
erm 


being  enjoys  a  bliss  like  that  of  creating " 
(Niebuhr,  "History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i,  p.  5). 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  61.  (A.,  1854.) 

1357.  GEOLOGY    HAS    INDUSTRIAL 

VALUE— Money  Wasted  in  Vain  Search  for 
Coal — Knowledge  of  Formations  Would  Save 
Outlay. — "  Whatever  withdraws  us  from 
the  power  of  the  senses,"  says  the  moralist 
[Johnson],  "  whatever  makes  the  past,  the 
distant,  or  the  future  predominate  over 
the  present,  advances  us  in  the  dignity  of 
thinking  beings."  And  geology,  in  a  pe- 
culiar manner,  supplies  to  the  intellect  an 
exercise  of  this  ennobling  character.  But 
it  has,  also,  its  cash  value.  The  time  and 
money  squandered  in  Great  Britain  alone 
in  searching  for  coal  in  districts  where  the 
well-informed  geologist  could  have  at  once 
pronounced  the  search  hopeless,  would  much 
more  than  cover  the  expense  at  which  geo- 
logical research  has  been  prosecuted  through- 
out the  world. — MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone, 
ch.  10,  p.  177.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

1358.  GEOLOGY,  ONCE  A  SYSTEM  OF 
CATASTROPHES— Now  Accords  with  the  Har- 
mony of  Nature — Theology  Seeks  the  Same 
Harmony. — A  century  ago  there  was  none 
[geology].     Science  went  out  to  look  for  it, 
and  brought  back  a  geology  which,  if  Nature 
were  a  harmony,  had  falsehood  written  al- 
most on  its  face.    It  was  the  Geology  of  Cat- 
astrophism — a  geology  so  out  of  line  with 
Nature,  as  revealed  by  the  other  sciences, 
that  on  a  priori  grounds  a  thoughtful  mind 
might  have  been  justified  in  dismissing  it 
as   a   final   form   of   any   science.      And   its 
fallacy   was   soon   and   thoroughly  exposed. 
The  advent  of  modified  uniformitarian  prin- 
ciples all  but  banished  the  word  "  catastro- 
phe "  from  science,  and  marked  the  birth  of 
geology  as  we  know  it  now.     Geology,  that 
is  to  say,  •  had  fallen  at  last  into  the  great 
scheme  of  law.     Religious  doctrines,  many 
of  them  at  least,  have  been  up  to  this  time 
all  but  as  catastrophic  as  the  old  geology. 
They  are  not  on  the  lines  of  Nature  as  we 
have  learned  to  decipher  her.     If  any  one 
feels,  as  science  complains  that  it  feels,  that 
the  lie  of  things  in  the  spiritual  world  as 
arranged    by    theology    is    not    in    harmony 
with  the  world  around,  is  not,  in  short,  sci- 
entific, he  is  entitled  to  raise  the  question 
whether    this    be    really    the    final    form   of 
those    departments    of    theology    to    which 
his  complaint  refers.     He  is  justified,  more- 
over, in  demanding  a  new  investigation  with 
all    modern    methods    and    resources;     and 
science  is  bound  by  its  principles,  not  less 
than  by  the  lessons  of  its  own  past,  to  sus- 
pend judgment  till  the  last  attempt  is  made. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  17.     (H.  Al.) 

1359.  GEOLOGY,  ORIGIN  OF— Ancient 
Egyptians — Herodotus     Knew     that     Egypt 
Had  Been  Once  Submerged. — We  know  that 
the  Egyptian  priests  were  aware,  not  only 
that  the  soil  beneath  the  plains  of  the  Nile, 


but  that  also  the  hills  bounding  the  great 
valley,  contained  marine  shells;  and  Herod- 
otus inferred  from  these  facts  that  all  lower 
Egypt,  and  even  the  highlands  above  Mem- 
phis, had  once  been  covered  by  the  sea 
["Euterpe,"  12].  As  similar  fossil  remains, 
occur  in  all  parts  of  Asia  hitherto  explored, 
far  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  as  well 
as  near  the  sea,  they  could  hardly  have 
escaped  detection  by  some  Eastern  sages 
not  less  capable  than  the  Greek  historian 
of  reasoning  philosophically  on  natural  phe- 
nomena.— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  2,  p.  6.  (A.,  1854.) 

1360.  GEOLOGY    TESTIFIES    TO    A 

BEGINNING— The  chain  of  life  in  geologic- 
al time  presents  a  wonderful  testimony  to 
the  reality  of  a  beginning.  Just  as  we  know 
that  any  individual  animal  must  have  had 
its  birth,  its  infancy,  its  maturity,  and 
will  reach  an  end  of  life,  so  we  trace  species 
and  groups  of  species  to  their  beginning, 
watch  their  culmination,  and  perhaps  fol- 
low them  to  their  extinction.  .  .  .  But 
its  revelation  of  the  fact  that  nearly  all 
the  animals  and  plants  of  the  present  day 
had  a  very  recent  beginning  in  geological 
time,  and  its  disclosure  of  the  disappear- 
ance of  one  form  of  life  after  another  as 
we  go  back  in  time,  till  we  reach  the  com- 
paratively few  forms  of  life  of  the  Lower 
Cambrian,  and  finally  have  to  rest  over  the 
solitary  grandeur  of  Eozoon,  oblige  it  to  say 
that  nothing  known  to  it  is  self-existent 
and  eternal. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  In- 
Modern  Science,  lect.  3,  p.  118.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

1361.  GEOMETRY  A  GROWTH  FROM 
BUILDER'S  ARTS—  The  Straight  Line  Is  the 
Stretched  Line. — It  must  be  clearly  under- 
stood   that    elementary    geometry    was    not 
actually  invented  by  means  of  definitions, 
axioms,    and    demonstrations    like    Euclid's. 
Its  beginnings  really  arose  out  of  the  daily 
practical   work   of   land-measurers,   masons, 
carpenters,   tailors.      This   may   be   seen    in 
the  geometrical  rules   of  the  altar-builders 
of  ancient  India,  which  do  not  tell  the  brick- 
layer to  draw  a  plan  of  such  and  such  lines, 
but  to  set  up  poles  at  certain  distances,  and 
stretch  cords  between  them.     It  is  instruct- 
ive to  see  that  our  term  straight  line  still 
shows    traces    of    such    an    early    practical 
meaning;   line  is  linen  thread,  and  straight 
is  the  participle  of  the  old  verb  to  stretch. 
If  we  stretch   a  thread  tight  between  two 
pegs,  we  see  that  the  stretched  thread  must 
be    the    shortest    possible;    which    suggests 
how  the   straight   line   came   to   be   defined 
as  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points. 
Also,  every  carpenter  knows  the  nature  of 
a  right  angle,  and  he  is  accustomed  to  par- 
allel lines,  or  such   as   keep  the  same  dis- 
tance   from    one    another. — TYLOR    Anthro- 
pology, ch.  13,  p.  319.      (A.,  1899.) 

1362.  GERM   A    SEED— Each   Propa- 
gates Only  Its  Kind. — From  their  respect- 
ive  viruses   you   may   plant   typhoid   fever, 
scarlatina,  or  smallpox.     Wrhat  is  the  crop 


Germ 
Germs 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


280 


that  arises  from  this  husbandry?  As  sure- 
ly as  a  thistle  rises  from  a  thistle  seed, 
as  surely  as  the  fig  comes  from  the  fig,  the 
grape  from  the  grape,  the  thorn  from  the 
thorn,  so  surely  does  the  typhoid  virus  in- 
crease and  multiply  into  typhoid  fever,  the 
scarlatina  virus  into  scarlatina,  the  small- 
pox virus  into  smallpox.  What  is  the  con- 
clusion that  suggests  itself  here?  It  is  this: 
That  the  thing  which  we  vaguely  call  a 
virus  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  seed. 
Excluding  the  notion  of  vitality,  in  the 
whole  range  of  chemical  science  you  cannot 
point  to  an  action  which  illustrates  this 
perfect  parallelism  with  the  phenomena  of 
life — this  demonstrated  power  of  self-mul- 
tiplication and  reproduction.  The  germ 
theory  alone  accounts  for  the  phenomena. — 
TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  essay 
1,  p.  41.  (A.,  1895.) 

1363.  GERM-DESTROYERS— WhiteCor- 
puscles    or    Leucocytes — The    Wise    Provi- 
dence of  the  Creator — High  Purpose  Found 
for   Supposedly    Useless    Organ. — Quite   re- 
cently  it  has   been  proved   that   the  white 
corpuscles  of  the  blood,  whose  function  was 
previously  unknown,  are  really  independent 
living    organisms.      They    are    produced    in 
large  numbers  by  the  spleen,  an  organ  which 
has  long  been  a  puzzle  to  physiologists,  but 
whose  function   and  importance  to  the  or- 
ganism seem  to  be  now  made  clear.     They 
are  much  smaller  and  less  numerous  than 
the    red    blood-globules;    they    move    about 
quite    independently;    and    they    behave    in 
a  manner  which  shows  that  they  are  closely 
allied  to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  ameba) 
found    abundantly   in   stagnant  water,   and 
which  form  such  interesting  microscopic  ob- 
jects.      These    minute     animal     organisms, 
which    inhabit   not    only    our   blood-vessels, 
but  all  the  tissues  of  the  body,  have  an  im- 
portant function  to  perform  on  which  our 
very  lives  depend.     This  function  is,  to  de- 
vour and  destroy  the  bacteria  or  germs  of 
disease  which  may  gain  an  entrance  to  our 
blood  or  tissues,  and  which,  when  their  in- 
crease   is    unchecked,    produce   various    dis- 
orders and  even  death.     Under  the  higher 
powers  of  the  microscope  the  leucocytes,  as 
they  are  termed,  can  be  observed  continually 
moving   about,    and    on    coming   in    contact 
with  any  of  these  bacteria  or  their  germs, 
or  other  hurtful  substances,  they  send  out 
pseudopodia   from   their   protoplasm   which 
envelops  the  germ  and  soon  causes  it  to  dis- 
appear; but  they  also  appear  sometimes  to 
produce  a  secretion  which  is  injurious  to  the 
bacteria,   and   so   destroys  them,   and  these 
may  perhaps  be  distinct  organisms. — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  14,  p.  145. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1 364.  GERM  -  THEORY  —  Micro-organ- 
isms in  the  Air — Treatment  of  Wounds. — 
Schwann  was  one  of  the  first  to  point  out 
that  when  a  decoction  of  meat  is  effectually 
screened   from   the   air,    or   supplied   solely 
with  calcined  air,  putrefaction  does  not  set 


in.  Helmholtz  and  Pasteur  confirmed  this, 
but  it  may  be  said  with  some  truth  that 
Schwann  originated  the  germ- theory,  and 
Lister  applied  it  in  the  treatment  of  wounds. 
Lister  believed  that  if  he  could  surround 
wounds  with  filtered  air  the  results  would 
be  as  good  as  if  they  were  shut  off  from 
the  air  altogether. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch. 
3,  p.  101.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1 365.  GERM,  WONDERFUL  DEVELOP- 
MENT  OF— The   Unseen  Artist.  —"  Strange 
possibilities,"  he    [Huxley]    says,  "  lie  dor- 
mant in  that  semifluid  globule.     Let  a  mod- 
erate supply   of  warmth   reach  its  watery 
cradle    and    the    plastic    matter    undergoes 
changes  so  rapid  and  yet  so  steady  and  pur- 
pose-like  in  their   succession   that  one   can 
only  compare  them  to  those  operated  by  a 
skilled   modeler   upon    a   formless   lump   of 
clay.     As  with  an  invisible  trowel  the  mass 
is  divided  and  subdivided  into  smaller  and 
smaller  portions,  until  it  is  reduced  to  an 
aggregation   of   granules    not   too   large   to 
build  withal  the  finest  fabrics  of  the  nascent 
organism.     And  then  it  is  as  if  a  delicate 
finger  traced  out  the  line  to  be  occupied  by 
the  spinal  column,  and  molded  the  contour 
of  the  body;    pinching  up  the  head  at  one 
end,  the  tail  at  the  other,  and  fashioning 
flank  and  limb  into  due  proportions  in  so 
artistic    a    way    that,    after    watching    the 
process  hour  by  hour,  one  is  almost  involun- 
tarily  possessed   by   the   notion   that   some 
more  subtle   aid  to  vision  than   an  achro- 
matic would  show  the  hidden  artist,  with 
his   plan   before  him,   striving  with   skilful 
manipulation  to  perfect  his  work." — DRUM- 
MONO  Natural  Laic  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
essay  8,  p.  260.    (H.  Al.) 

1366.  GERMS  DESTROYED  BY  DIS- 
CONTINUOUS   BOILING—  Softening  Period 
Seized   for  Each   Kind — Theory   Proved   by 
Experiment — The    Test    of    Prevision. — An 
infusion  infected  with  the  most  powerfully 
resistant    germs,    but    otherwise    protected 
against  the  floating  matters  of  the  air,  is 
gradually  raised  to  its  boiling-point.     Such 
germs  as  have  reached  the  soft  and  plastic 
state   immediately  preceding  their  develop- 
ment into  bacteria  are  thus  destroyed.     The 
infusion  is  then  put  aside  in  a  warm  room 
for  ten  or  twelve  hours.     If  for  twenty-four, 
we  might  have  the  liquid  charged  with  well- 
developed  bacteria.     To  anticipate  this,  at 
the  end  of  ten  or  twelve  hours  we  raise  the 
infusion  a  second  time  to  the  boiling-tem- 
perature,   which,    as    before,    destroys    all 
germs  then  approaching  their  point  of  final 
development.      The    infusion    is    again    put 
aside  for  ten  or  twelve  hours,  and  the  proc- 
ess of  heating  is  repeated.    We  thus  kill  the 
germs  in  the  order  of  their  resistance,  and 
finally  kill  the  last  of  them.     No  infusion 
can  withstand  this  process  if  it  be  repeated 
a  sufficient  number  of  times.    Artichoke,  cu- 
cumber,   and   turnip    infusions,    which    had 
proved    specially    obstinate    when    infected 
with  the  germs  of  desiccated  hay,  were  com- 


281 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Germ 
Germs 


pletely  broken  down  by  this  method  of  dis- 
continuous heating,  three  minutes  being 
found  sufficient  to  accomplish  what  three 
hundred  minutes'  continuous  boiling  failed 
to  accomplish.  I  applied  the  method,  more- 
over, to  infusions  of  various  kinds  of  hay, 
including  those  most  tenacious  of  life.  Not 
one  of  them  bore  the  ordeal.  These  results 
were  clearly  foreseen  before  they  were  real- 
ized, so  that  the  germ-theory  fulfils  the  test 
of  every  true  theory,  that  test  being  the 
power  of  prevision. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  321.  (A.,  1900.) 

1367.  GERMS  EVADE  EXPERIMENT- 
ERS—  Unharmed  by  Supposed  Fatal  Processes 
— Possibility     of     Exclusion. — Germs     will 
pass  unwetted  and  unscathed  through  sul- 
furic acid  unless  the  most  special  care  is 
taken    to    detain    them.     .     .     .     The    air 
passes  in  bubbles  through  the  bulbs ;    and  to 
make  the  method  [of  purifying  air  by  pass- 
ing  it   through    sulfuric    acid]    secure,    the 
passage  of  the   air  must  be  so  slow  as  to 
cause  the  whole  of  its  floating  matter,  even 
to  the  very  core  of  each  bubble,  to  touch  the 
surrounding  liquid.     But  if  this  precaution 
be  observed,   water  will  be  found  quite  as 
effectual   as   sulfuric   acid.      By  the   aid  of 
an  air-pump,  in  a  highly  infective  atmos- 
phere I  have  thus  drawn  air  for  weeks  with- 
out  intermission,   first   through   bulbs   con- 
taining water,  and  afterwards  through  ves- 
sels  containing   organic  infusions,   without 
any  appearance  of  life.    The  germs  were  not 
killed  by  the  water,  but  they  were  effectu- 
ally  intercepted,   while   the    objection   that 
the  air  had  been  injured  by  being  brought 
into   contact   with    strongly    corrosive    sub- 
stances   was    annulled. — TYNDALL    Floating 
Matter  of  the  Air,  essayS,  p.281.  (A.,  1895.) 

1368.  GERMS    INDISTINGUISHABLE 

— Structural  Differences  Notwithstanding — 
Oak  —  Palm,  —  Lichen.  —  If  a  botanist  be 
asked  the  difference  between  an  oak,  a  palm- 
tree,  and  a  lichen,  he  will  declare  that  they 
are  separated  from  one  another  by  the 
broadest  line  known  to  classification.  'With- 
out taking  into  account  the  outward  differ- 
ences of  size  and  form,  the  variety  of  flower 
and  fruit,  the  peculiarities  of  leaf  and 
branch,  he  sees  even  in  their  general  archi- 
tecture types  of  structure  as  distinct  as 
Norman,  Gothic,  and  Egyptian.  But  if  the 
first  young  germs  of  these  three  plants  are 
placed  before  him.  and  he  is  called  upon  to 
define  the  difference,  he  finds  it  impossible. 
He ^ cannot  even  say  which  is  which.  Ex- 
amined under  the  highest  powers  of  the 
microscope,  they  yield  no  clue.  Analyzed  by 
the  chemist  with  all  the  appliances  of  his 
laboratory,  they  keep  their  secret. — DRUM- 
MONO  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
essay  8,  p.  257.  (H.  Al.) 

1369.     Uniformity,    Ap- 
parent, of.  All  in  Earliest  Stage — Gradual 
Differentiation  through  Class,  Order,  Fam- 
ily,   Genus,    Species — Individual   Repeating 
History  of  Race. — All  animals  start  together 


as  a  single  cell,  so  that  man  cannot  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  lobster  or  mollusk.  An 
embryo  arises  from  this  cell,  which  shows 
itself  to  be  a  vertebrate  in  distinction  from 
an  invertebrate,  but  is  as  yet  not  a  mammal, 
but  more  like  a  fish.  With  further  develop- 
ment it  shows  a  slight  approximation  to- 
ward the  reptiles,  but,  instead  of  becoming 
a  member  of  this  class,  takes  a  different 
course,  and  declares  itself  to  be  a  mammal. 
Next,  it  turns  toward  the  direction  of  the 
primates  rather  than  rodents  or  ungulates; 
then  it  exhibits  the  characteristics  of  an 
ape,  in  distinction  from  the  lemurs;  and 
finally,  just  before  birth,  it  takes  on  the 
features  of  man.  And  this  story  is  repeated 
in  all  cases,  the  line  of  development  being 
the  sub-kingdom,  the  class,  the  subclass,  the 
order,  the  family,  the  genus,  the  species — 
thus  coinciding  with  one  treelike  classifica- 
tion of  animals. — CONN  Evolution  of  To- 
day, ch.  4,  p.  148.  (G.  P.  P.,  1886.) 


1370. 


Vegetable  and  Ani- 


mal— Worm  wn,d  Mam,. — Compare  next  the 
two  sets  of  germs,  the  vegetable  and  the  ani- 
mal. And  there  is  still  no  shade  of  differ- 
ence. Oak  and  palm,  worm  and  man,  all 
start  life  together.  No  matter  into  what 
strangely  different  forms  they  may  after- 
wards develop,  no  matter  whether  they  are 
to  live  on  sea  or  land,  creep  or  fly,  swim  or 
walk,  think  or  vegetate,  in  the  embryo  as  it 
first  meets  the  eye  of  science  they  are  indis- 
tinguishable. The  apple  which  fell  in  New- 
ton's garden,  Newton's  dog  Diamond,  and 
Newton  himself  began  life  at  the  same 
point. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  essay  8,  p.  258.  (H.  Al.) 

1371.  GERMS     INNUMERABLE— The 

Air  Thick  with  Microscopic  Life. — It  has 
been  a  common  objection  of  abiogenists 
that,  if  the  doctrine  of  biogeny  is  true,  the 
air  must  be  thick  with  germs;  and  they  re- 
gard this  as  the  height  of  absurdity.  But 
Nature  occasionally  is  exceedingly  unrea- 
sonable, and  Professor  Tyndall  has  proved 
that  this  particular  absurdity  may  never- 
theless be  a  reality.  He  has  demonstrated 
that  ordinary  air  is  no  better  than  a  sort  of 
stirabout  of  excessively  minute  solid  par- 
ticles; that  these  particles  are  almost 
wholly  destructible  by  heat,  and  that  they 
are  strained  off,  and  the  air  rendered  optic- 
ally pure,  by  being  passed  through  cotton- 
wool.— HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  15,  p. 
360.  (A.,  1895.) 

1372.  GERMS,    SIZE    OF,    BAFFLES 
DESCRIPTION— Infinitesimal  Minuteness  with 
Power  To  Accomplish  Vast  Results. — Ques- 
tions of  size  are  always  difficult  to  settle  or 
determine   from   a    popular   point   of   view, 
and,  when  we  seek  to  gain  some  adequate 
idea  of  the  dimensions  of  germs,  we  are  met 
with  the' difficulty  of  translating  into  terms 
of  common  life  those  of  the  infinitely  little. 
If  we  speak  of  a  germ  which  in  length  is  the 
one-ten-thousandth  part  of  an  inch — that  is, 
equals  one  part  of  an  inch  which  has  been 


'Germs 
Glaciers 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


282 


divided,  as  to  its  length,  into  ten  thousand 
parts — we  utterly  fail  to  grasp  any  notion 
of  the  size  indicated.  An  appeal  to  figura- 
tive description,  while  more  graphic  in  char- 
acter perchance,  yet  leaves  us  with  the  dim- 
mest conceptions  of  the  dimensions  of  germs. 
One  writer  tells  us  that  on  the  area  of  a 
single  square  inch  we  could  place,  in  a 
single  layer,  a  population  of  common  germs 
cr  bacteria  one  hundred  times  as  great  as 
the  population  of  London.  Graphic  as  is 
this  estimate,  the  idea  of  the  actual  size 
of  the  individual  germs  remains  simply  un- 
attainable. It  is  this  diminutive  size  com- 
pared with  the  great  results  in  the  way  of 
disease  certain  of  these  germs  may  and  do 
produce,  which  is  more  than  sufficient  to 
appal  us. — WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch. 
26,  p.  84.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

1373.  GIANTS  AMONG  THE  SUNS— 
Alpha  Ccntauri — Sirius  Equals  Two  Thou- 
sand Suns  Like  Ours  in  Size. — We  have 
seen,  however,  that  Alpha  Centauri  gives  out 
about  three  times  as  much  light  as  our  sun. 
It  follows  that  Sirius  shines  in  reality  three 
hundred  times  more  brightly  than  the  sun. 
Now,  this  implies  that  if  the  surface  of 
Sirius  is  of  the  same  intrinsic  brightness  as 
the  sun's — that  is,  if  on  the  average  each 
square  mile  of  the  surface  of  Sirius  gives 
out  the  same  quantity  of  light  as  each  square 
mile  of  the  sun's  surface — then  the  surface 
of  Sirius  must  be  300  times  as  large  as  the 
sun's.  It  would  follow  that  the  diameter  of 
Sirius  is  between  17  and  18  times  as  large 
as  the  sun's.  (For  17  times  17  are  less 
than  300,  and  18  times  18  are  greater  than 
300.)  Hence  the  volume  of  Sirius  would  be 
about  2,200  times  as  great  as  the  sun's 
(this  number  2,200  being  obtained  by  multi- 
plying 300  by  17£,  which  is  nearly  equiva- 
lent to  multiplying  17^,  twice  into  itself). 
This  is  on  the  supposition  of  equal  surface- 
luster  ;  and  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  certain 
that  Sirius  is  not  considerably  brighter  than 
our  sun  as  respects  his  actual  surface.  Of 
course  if  this  is  the  case  we  cannot  assume 
that  Sirius  is  larger  in  so  great  a  proportion 
as  when  we  suppose  his  intrinsic  luster  the 
same  as  the  sun's. 

But  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  emi- 
nent French  physicist  Ste.-Clair-Deville  con- 
siders it  impossible  that  under  any  circum- 
stances a  surface  can  be  much  hotter  or 
more  luminous  than  the  solar  surface.  We 
shall  probably  be  within  the  limits  of  fact 
if  we  regard  the  surface  of  Sirius  as  not 
more  than  twice  as  bright  as  the  sun's. 
This  would  leave  his  surface  150  times 
larger  than  the  sun's,  or,  for  convenience  of 
reckoning,  say  144  times;  his  diameter 
would  thus  be  twelve  times  the  sun's,  and 
his  volume  1,728  times  the  sun's. 

Have  I  not  rightly  called  Sirius  a  "  king 
of  suns"?  From  that  glorious  orb,  nearly 
2,000  such  orbs  as  the  sun,  that  great  and 
mighty  globe,  instinct  with  fire  and  life, 
might  be  formed,  each  fit  to  be  the  center  of 
a  scheme  of  circling  worlds  as  important  as 


that  over  which  our  sun  bears  sway! — PROC- 
TOR Expanse  of  Heaven,  pp.  243-245.  (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

1374.  GIANTS  OF  PRIMEVAL   DAYS 

— The  Old  Man  of  Cromagnon. — The  reader, 
reflecting  on  what  he  has  learned  from  his- 
tory may  be  disposed  here  to  ask :  "  Must 
we  suppose  Adam  to  have  been  one  of  these 
Turanian  men,  like  '  the  old  man  of  Cromag- 
non '  "  ?  In  answer,  I  would  say  that  there 
is  no  good  reason  to  regard  the  first  man  as 
having  resembled  a  Greek  Apollo  or  an 
Adonis.  He  was  probably  of  sterner  and 
more  muscular  mold.  But  the  gigantic 
paleolithic  men  of  the  European  caves  are 
more  probably  representatives  of  that  fear- 
ful and  powerful  race  who  filled  the  ante- 
diluvian world  with  violence,  and  who  re- 
appear in  postdiluvian  times  as  the  Anakim 
and  traditional  giants,  who  constitute  a  fea- 
ture in  the  early  history  of  so  many  coun- 
tries. Perhaps  nothing  is  more  curious  in 
the  revelations  as  to  the  most  ancient  cave- 
men than  that  they  confirm  the  old  belief 
that  there  were  "  giants  in  those  days." — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  4,  p.  169.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

1375.  GIANTS  OF  THE  VEGETABLE 
KINGDOM— Plants  and  Flowers  of  the  Tropics. 
— In  the  tropics,  plants  are  more  succulent, 
of   a    fresher   green,    and   have    larger    and 
more  glossy  leaves,  than  in  the  northern  re- 
gions.     Social    plants,    which    give    such    a 
character  of  uniformity  to  European  vege- 
tation,   are    almost    wholly    absent    in    the 
equatorial  zone.    Trees,  almost  twice  as  high 
as   our  oakSj   there  bloom  with  flowers   as 
large  and  splendid  as  our   lilies.     On  the 
shady   banks   of    the   Magdalena   Kiver,    in 
South  America,  grows  a  climbing  Aristolo- 
chia,  whose  blossoms,  measuring  four  feet 
in  circumference,  the  Indian  children  sport- 
ively draw  on  their  heads  as  caps.     In  the 
South  Indian  Archipelago,  the  flower  of  the 
Rafflesia  is  nearly  three  feet  in   diameter, 
and  weighs  above  fourteen  pounds. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  230.    ( Bell,  1896. ) 

1376.  GIBRALTAR,    STRAITS    OF— 

Current  Flowing  from  Atlantic  into  Medi- 
terranean— Supply  -without  Return — A 
Problem  in  Nature. — It  is  well  known  that 
a  powerful  current  sets  constantly  from  the 
Atlantic  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  its 
influence  extends  along  the  whole  southern 
borders  of  that  sea,  and  even  to  the  shores 
of  Asia  Minor.  Captain  Smyth  found,  dur- 
ing his  survey,  that  the  central  current  ran 
constantly  at  the  rate  of  from  three  to  six 
miles  an  hour  eastward  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  body  of  water  being  three  miles 
and  a  half  wide.  But  there  are  also  two 
lateral  currents — one  on  the  European  and 
one  on  the  African  side,  each  of  them  about 
two  miles  and  a  half  broad,  and  flowing  at 
about  the  same  rate  as  the  central  stream. 
These  lateral  currents  ebb  and  flow  with  the 
tide,  setting  alternately  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  into  the  Atlantic.  The  excess 


283 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Gfaciers 


of  water  constantly  flowing  in  is  very  great, 
and  there  is  only  one  cause  to  which  this 
can  be  attributed,  the  loss  of  water  in  the 
Mediterranean  by  evaporation.  That  the 
level  of  this  sea  should  be  considerably  de- 
pressed by  this  cause  is  quite  conceivable, 
since  we  know  that  the  winds  blowing  from 
the  shores  of  Africa  are  hot  and  dry;  and 
hygrometric  experiments  recently  made  in 
Malta  and  other  places  show  that  the  mean 
quantity  of  moisture  in  the  air  investing 
the  Mediterranean  is  equal  only  to  one-half 
of  that  in  the  atmosphere  of  England.  The 
temperature  also  of  the  great  inland  sea  is 
upon  an  average  higher,  by  3y2°  of  Fahren- 
heit, than  the  eastern  part  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  in  the  same  latitude,  which  must 
greatly  promote  its  evaporation.  The  Black 
"Sea  being  situated  in  a  higher  latitude,  and 
being  the  receptable  of  rivers  flowing  from 
the  north,  is  much  colder,  and  its  expendi- 
ture far  less;  accordingly  it  does  not  draw 
any  supply  from  the  Mediterranean,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  contributes  to  it  by  a  current 
flowing  outwards,  for  the  most  part  of  the 
year,  through  the  Dardanelles.  The  dis- 
charge, however,  at  the  Bosporus  is  so 
small,  when  compared  to  the  volume  of 
water  carried  in  by  rivers,  as  to  imply  a 
great  amount  of  evaporation  in  the  Black 
Sea. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  20,  p.  333.  (A.,  1854.) 

1377.  GLACIER  CHANGING  SHAPE— 

Fracture  and  Regelation. — All  the  phenom- 
ena of  motion,  on  which  the  idea  of  viscos- 
ity [a  view  still  held  by  eminent  observers, 
as  at  least  a  partial  explanation  of  glacial 
phenomena — see  Russell,  "  Glaciers  of  North 
America  "]  has  been  based,  are  brought  by 
such  experiments  as  the  above  [of  breaking 
and  freezing  together  the  fragments  of  ice] 
into  harmony  with  the  demonstrable  prop- 
erties of  ice.  In  virtue  of  this  property,  the 
glacier  accommodates  itself  to  its  bed  while 
preserving  its  general  continuity,  crevasses 
are  closed  up,  and  the  broken  ice  of  a  cas- 
cade, such  as  that  of  the  Talefere  or  the 
Rhone,  is  recompacted  to  a  solid  continuous 
mass. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps  (Notes  on  Ice  and  Glaciers),  ch.  1,  p. 
355.  (A.,  1898.) 

1378.  GLACIER,  DISTINCTIVE  CARV- 
ING OF— Markings  Could  Not  Be  the  Work  of 
Floating  Ice. — In  the  State  of  Maine  I  have 
followed,  compass  in  hand,  the  same  set  of 
furrows,   running   from   north   to    south   in 
one  unvarying  line,  over   a  surface  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles,  from  the  Katah- 
din    Iron    Range    to    the    seashore.      These 
furrows   follow   all   the   inequalities   of  the 
country,   ascending  ranges  of  hills  varying 
from    twelve    to    fifteen    hundred    feet    in 
height,  and  descending  into  the  intervening 
valleys  only  two  or  three  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea,  or  sometimes  even  on  a  level  with 
it.     I  take  it  to  be  impossible  that  a  float- 
ing mass  of  ice  should  travel  onward  in  one 
rectilinear  direction,  turning  neither  to  the 


right  nor  to  the  left,  for  such  a  distance. 
Equally  impossible  would  it  be  for  a  de- 
tached mass  of  ice,  swimming  on  the  surface 
of  the  water,  or  even  with  its  base  sunk  con- 
siderably below  it,  to  furrow  in  a  straight 
line  the  summits  and  sides  of  the  hills,  and 
the  bottoms  of  the  intervening  valleys.  It 
would  be  carried  over  the  inequalities  of 
the  country  without  touching  the  lowest 
depressions. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil, 
ch.  13,  p.  402.  (H.  M.  &  CD.,  1896.) 

1379.  GLACIER    OF    CONTINENTAL 
MAGNITUDE—  Greenland  a  Type  of  Ancient 
North    America. — The    vast    ice-sheet    cov- 
ering   nearly    all    of    Greenland    is    of    the 
continental  type,  and,,  as  is  well  known,  is 
the  largest  existing  ice-body  in  the  northern 
hemisphere.      Its    extension   northward   has 
not  been   fully   determined,   but   as   nearly 
as    can   be   judged    it   terminates    in    about 
latitude  82°.     Its  area  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood   of    600,000    square    miles.      If    trans- 
ferred bodily  to  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
United  States,  it  would  extend  from  north- 
ern Maine  to  Georgia,  and  cover  a  belt  of 
country  500  miles  broad.     Vast  as  this  ice- 
sheet  is  known  to  be,   it  takes  what  may 
be  said  to  be  second   or  third  rank  when 
contrasted  with  the  continental  glaciers  that 
occupied  Canada  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
United    States    in    Pleistocene    times.      The 
exploration  of  existing  glaciers  derives  one 
of   its   principal   attractions   from  the   fact 
that  such  studies  assist  in  interpreting  the 
records  left  by  ancient  glaciers  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.     This  in  turn  brings  one 
to    the    consideration    of   the    still    broader 
problems  of  the  cause  of  climatic  changes 
which  favored  the  growth  of  vast  Pleisto- 
cene glaciers  in  regions  now  enjoying  a  tem- 
perate climate,  and  inhabited  by  the  most 
civilized  people  of  the  earth. — RUSSELL  Gla- 
ciers of  North  America,  ch.  2,  p.  35.     (G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

1380.  GLACIERS,   FORMING    AND 
MOVEMENT    OF  —  Rivers    Flowing    Under 
Arches  of  Ice. — In  the  temperate  zone  the 
snow  lies  for  months  in  winter  on  the  sum- 
mit of  every  high   mountain,  while   in  the 
arctic  regions  a  long  summer's  day  of  half 
a  year's  duration  is  insufficient  to  melt  the 
snow,  even  on  land  just  raised  above  the 
level   of  the  sea.      It  is  therefore  not  sur- 
prising, since  the  atmosphere  becomes  colder 
in  proportion  as  we  ascend  in  it,  that  there 
should  be  heights,  even  in  tropical  countries, 
where  the   snow  never  melts.     The  lowest 
limit  to  which  the  perpetual  snow  extends 
downwards  from  the  tops  of  mountains  at 
the  equator  is  an  elevation  of  not  less  than 
16,000  feet  above  the  sea;  while  in  the  Swiss 
Alps,  in  lat.  46°   N.,  it  reaches  as  low  as 
8,500  feet  above  the  same  level,  the  loftier 
peaks  of  the  Alpine  chain  being  from  12,000 
to  15,000  feet  high.     The  frozen  mass  aug- 
menting from   year  to  year  would   add  in- 
definitely to  the  altitude  of  Alpine  summits 
were  it  not  relieved  by  its  descent  through 


Glaciers 
God's 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


284 


the  larger  and  deeper  valleys  to  regions  far 
below  the  general  snow-line.  To  these  it 
slowly  finds  its  way  in  the  form  of  rivers 
of  ice,  called  glaciers,  the  consolidation  of 
which  is  produced  by  pressure  and  by  the 
congelation  of  water  infiltered  into  the  por- 
ous mass,  which  is  always  undergoing  par- 
tial liquefaction,  and  receiving  in  summer 
occasional  showers  of  rain  on  its  surface. 
In  a  day  of  hot  sunshine  or  mild  rain,  in- 
numerable rills  of  pure  and  sparkling  water 
run  in  icy  channels  along  the  surface  of  the 
glaciers,  which  in  the  night  shrink  and 
come  to  nothing.  They  are  often  precipi- 
tated in  bold  cascades  into  deep  fissures  in 
the  ice,  and  contribute  together  with  springs 
to  form  torrents,  which  flow  in  tunnels  at 
the  bottom  of  the  glaciers  for  many  a  league, 
and  at  length  issue  at  their  extremities  from 
beneath  beautiful  caverns  or  arches.  The 
waters  of  these  streams  are  always  densely 
charged  with  the  finest  mud,  produced  by 
the  grinding  of  rock  and  sand  under  the 
weight  of  the  moving  mass. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  222.  (A., 
1854.) 

1381.  GLACIERS  NOW  IN  ACTION— 

Present  Agree  with  Ancient  Results — Con- 
tinuity of  Nature. — Certainly,  no  one  fa- 
miliar with  the  facts  could  suppose  that 
floating  ice  or  icebergs  had  abraded,  pol- 
ished, and  furrowed  the  bottom  of  narrow 
valleys  as  we  find  them  worn,  polished,  and 
grooved  by  glaciers.  And  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  is  a  theory  founded  not  upon 
hypothesis,  but  upon  the  closest  comparison. 
I  have  not  become  acquainted  with  these 
marks  in  regions  where  glaciers  no  longer 
exist,  and  made  a  theory  to  explain  their 
presence.  I  have,  on  the  contrary,  studied 
them  where  they  are  in  process  of  forma- 
tion. I  have  seen  the  glacier  engrave  its 
lines,  plow  its  grooves  and  furrows  in 
the  solid  rock,  and  polish  the  surfaces  over 
which  it  moved,  and  was  familiar  with  all 
this  when  I  found  afterwards  appearances 
corresponding  exactly  to  those  which  I  had 
investigated  in  the  home  of  the  present  gla- 
ciers. I  could  therefore  say,  and  I  think 
with  some  reason,  that  "  this  also  is  the 
work  of  the  glacier  acting  in  ancient  times 
as  it  now  acts  in  Switzerland." — AGASSIZ 
Geological  Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  39.  (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

1382.  GLASS-MAKING  IN  NATURE'S 
LABORATORIES— But  when  the  lava  con- 
tains no  ready-formed  crystals,  but  consists 
entirely   of  a   glassy   substance   in   a   more 
or  less  perfect  state  of  fusion,  the  liberation 
of  steam  gives  rise  to  the  formation  of  the 
beautiful    material    known    as    "  pumice." 
Pumice  consists  of  a  mass  of  minute  glass 
bubbles ;  these  bubbles  have  not  usually,  how- 
ever, retained  their  globular  form,  but  have 
been  elongated  in  one  direction  through  the 
movement  of  the  mass  while  it  was  still  in  a 
plastic  state. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  68. 
(A.,  1899.) 


1383.  GLORY,  REFLECTED—  The  Light 
of  Planets  Not  Their  Own. — Our  ancestors 
were   far   from  imagining  that  these   lumi- 
nous points  wandering  among  the  stars  do 
not  possess  any  real  light  of  their  own;  that 
they  are  dark  like  the  earth,  and  as  large 
as  she  is;  that  several  are  even  much  larger 
and  heavier  than  our  world;  that  they  are 
illuminated  by  the  sun,  like  the  earth  and 
moon,  neither  more  nor  less;  that  their  dis- 
tance is  small  compared  to  that  which  sepa- 
rates  us   from  the   stars;    that  they   form, 
with  the  earth,  a  family  of  which  the  sun 
is   the   father!      Yes,  that  luminous  point, 
for    example,   which    shines    like    a    star    is 
Jupiter.     It  has  itself  no  light,  any  more 
than  the  earth  has,  but  it  is  illuminated  by 
the  sun;  and  as  the  earth  shines  from  afar 
on  account  of  this  illumination,  so  it  shines 
a  luminous  point  in  which  is  condensed  all 
the  light  scattered  over   its  immense  disk. 
Place  a  stone  on  a  black  cloth  in  a  chamber 
completely    closed    to    the    daylight,    throw 
upon  it  the  rays  of  the  sun  by  means  of 
an  opening  suitably  arranged,  and  this  stone 
will  shine  like  the  moon  and  like  Jupiter. 
The  planets  are  dark  worlds  like  ours,  and 
only  shine  by  the  solar  light  which  they  re- 
ceive and  reflect  into  space. — FLAMMAKIOX 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  l,p. 330.    (A.) 

1384.  GLORY  VEILED   FOR  HUMAN 
WEAKNESS— Blinding  Effect  of  Sun's  Light 
Overcome — Polarizing    Eyepiece. — The    pro- 
jecting apparatus  is  next  removed  and  re- 
placed   by    the    polarizing    eyepiece.       Sir 
William  Herschel  used  to  avoid  the  blinding 
effects    of   the   concentrated   solar   light   by 
passing  the   rays   through    ink   and   water, 
but  the  phenomena  of  "  polarization  "  have 
been   used   to   better   advantage   in   modern 
apparatus.      [In  this  instrument]   the  light 
is  polarized  with  three  successive  reflections 
through  three  tubes.    By  its  aid  the  eye  can 
be  safely  placed  where  the  concentrated  heat 
would  otherwise  melt  iron.     In  practise  I 
have   often  gazed  through   it   at  the   sun's 
face  without  intermission  from  four  to  five 
hours,  with  no  more  fatigue  or  harm  to  the 
eye  than  in  reading  a  book.     By  its  aid  the 
observer    fills    in   the    outline    already   pro- 
jected   on    the    paper. — LANGLEY    New    As- 
tronomy, ch.  1,  p.  18.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1385.  GOD    CAN   REVEAL   HIMSELF 

TO  MAN— Intuitive  Perception  of  the  Divine. 
— The  existence  of  a  Being  from  whom  our 
own  being  has  been  derived  involves,  at 
least,  the  possibility  of  some  communication 
direct  or  indirect.  Yet  the  impossibility  or 
the  improbability  of  any  such  communica- 
tion is  another  of  the  assumptions  contin- 
ually involved  in  current  theories  about  the 
origin  of  religion.  Yet  it  is  quite  certain 
that  no  such  assumption  can  be  reasonably 
made.  The  perceptions  of  the  human  mind 
are  accessible  to  the  intimations  of  exter- 
nal truth  through  many  avenues  of  ap- 
proach. In  its  very  structure  it  is  made  to 
be  responsive  to  some  of  these  intimations 


285 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Glaciers 

God's 


by  immediate  apprehension.  Man  has  that 
within  him  by  which  the  invisible  can  be 
seen,  and  the  inaudible  can  be  heard,  and 
the  intangible  can  be  felt.  Not  as  the  result 
of  any  reasoning,  but  by  the  same  power 
by  which  it  sees  and  feels  the  postulates  on 
which  all  reasoning  rests,  the  human  mind 
may  from  the  very  first  have  felt  that  it 
was  in  contact  with  a  Mind  which  was  the 
fountain  of  its  own. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  11,  p.  266.  (Burt.) 

1386.  GOD,  LATIN    IDEA    OF— Sepa- 
rateness    of    the   Deity   vs.    Greek    Idea    of 
Immanence. — The  general  effect  of  this  in- 
tellectual  movement   has   been  to   discredit 
more   than    ever   before   the   Latin   idea   of 
God   as   a   power   outside   of  the   course   of 
Nature    and    occasionally    interfering    with 
it.     In  all  directions  the  process  of  evolu- 
tion   has    been    discovered,    working    after 
similar  methods,  and  this  has  forced  upon 
us  the  belief  in  the  unity  of  Nature.     We 
are  thus  driven  to  the  Greek  conception  of 
God  as  the  power  working  in  and  through 
Nature,  without   interference   or   infraction 
of  law. — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt. 
iii,  ch.  2,  p.  147.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1387.  GOD,  SCIENTIFIC  CONCEPTION 

OF  —  Theologians  Have  Often  Narrowed  the 
Thought — Science  Makes  It  Sublime. — The 
author  of  "  Ecce  Homo  "  may  be  partially 
right  when  he  says :  "  I  think  a  bystander 
would  say  that,  tho  Christianity  had  in 
it  something  far  higher  and  deeper  and 
more  ennobling,  yet  the  average  scien- 
tific man  worships  just  at  present  a  more 
awful,  and,  as  it  were,  a  greater  deity  than 
the  average  Christian.  In  so  many  Chris- 
tians the  idea  of  God  has  been  degraded  by 
childish  and  little-minded  teaching;  the 
Eternal  and  the  Infinite  and  the  All-embra- 
cing has  been  represented  as  the  head  of  the 
clerical  interest,  as  a  sort  of  clergyman,  as 
a  sort  of  schoolmaster,  as  a  sort  of  philan- 
thropist. But  the  scientific  man  knows  him 
to  be  eternal;  in  astronomy,  in  geology,  he 
becomes  familiar  with  the  countless  millen- 
niums of  his  lifetime.  The  scientific  man 
strains  his  mind  actually  to  realize  God's 
infinity.  As  far  off  as  the  fixed  stars  he 
traces  him,  '  distance  inexpressible  by  num- 
bers that  have  name.'  Meanwhile,  to  the 
theologian,  infinity  and  eternity  are  very 
much  of  empty  words  when  applied  to  the 
object  of  his  worship.  He  does  not  realize 
them  in  actual  facts  and  definite  computa- 
tions "  ("Natural  Religion,"  p.  20).— 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  4,  p.  147.  (H.  Al.) 

1388.  GOD   WORKS   THROUGH  SEC- 
OND CAUSES— Beyond  the  Reach  of  Science 
the  Fiat  and  Finger  of  God. — "  Whatsoever 
the  Lord  pleased,  that  did  he  in  heaven,  and 
in  earth,  in  the  seas,  and  all  deep  places. 
He  causeth  the  vapors  to  ascend  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth;  he  maketh  lightnings  for 
the  rain ;   he  bringeth  the  wind  out  of  his 
treasuries  "    ( Psalm  cxxxv,  6-7 ) . 


Here,  without  any  change  of  translation, 
we  are  told  of  the  subserviency  of  the  vis- 
ible instruments  to  the  invisible  but  real 
agency  of  him  who  wields  them  at  his  pleas- 
ure. In  this  passage  the  winds  are  plainly 
represented  to  us  as  the  messengers  of  God, 
and  the  flaming  fire  as  his  servant.  He 
changes  no  properties  and  no  visible  proc- 
esses— working,  not  without  the  wind,  but 
by  it — not  without  the  electric  matter,  but 
by  it — not  without  the  rain,  but  by  it — 
not  without  the  vapor,  but  by  it.  Let  the 
philosopher  tell  how  far  back  he  can  go  in 
exploring  the  method  and  order  of  these 
respective  agencies.  Then  we  have  only  to 
point  further  back  and  ask  on  what  evi- 
dence he  can  tell  that  the  fiat  and  the  finger 
of  a  God  are  not  there.  We  grant  the  ob- 
served order  to  be  invariable,  save  when 
God  chooses  to  interpose  by  miracle.  But 
whether  he  does  or  not — from  that  chamber 
of  his  hidden  operations  which  philosophy 
has  not  found  its  way  to,  can  he  so  direct 
all,  so  subordinate  all,  that  whatever  the 
Lord  pleases,  that  does  he  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  in  the  seas,  and  all  deep  places. — 
CHALMERS  Astronomical  Discourses,  Suppl. 
Disc,  ii,  p.  244.  (E.  Ct.,  1848.) 

1389.    GOD'S    ETERNAL   NOW—  The 

Past  of  Our  Earth  May  Be  Present  Fact  in 
Distant  Worlds — An  Ever-new  Present  as 
Light  Speeds  On. — Events  have  happened  on 
our  earth  and  have  been  forgotten  which, 
'nevertheless,  are  at  this  very  instant  of  my 
writing  visible  from  some  one  or  other  of 
the  orbs  which  people  space,  if  only  there 
are  creatures  on  those  orbs  possessing  such 
enhanced  powers  of  vision  as  I  have  spoken 
of;  and  there  is  no  «vent  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  be  visible  from  standpoints  without 
the  earth  which  has  not  been  thus  rendered 
visible  over  and  over  again  as  the  light- 
messages  conveying  its  history  have  passed 
beyond  star  after  star  (in  all  directions 
from  the  side  of  the  earth  on  which  such 
events  took  place)  ;  no  such  event  which 
will  not  be  thus  rendered  visible  over  and 
over  again  hereafter  as  the  light-messages 
travel  onwards  into  the  star  depths  for 
years,  for  centuries,  for  millions  on  mil- 
lions of  ages,  until  time  shall  be  no  more. 

Now,  the  conception  of  such  powers  of 
vision  in  creatures  made  by  God's  hands 
may  be  regarded  as  fanciful,  tho  I  ap- 
prehend that  our  ideas  in  such  matters  are 
very  imperfect  and  feeble,  and  afford  no 
measure  of  what  is  possible.  But  that  the 
Almighty  himself  is  cognizant  of  all  these 
light-messages  who  can  question?  To  him 
who  is  everywhere  the  light-record  of  all 
that  has  taken  place  on  earth  is  being  con- 
tinually conveyed,  the  remembrance  is  ever 
present  with  him,  "  the  eyes  of  the  Lord 
are  in  every  place  beholding  the  evil  and  the 
good "  [Prov.  xv,  3] ;  "  His  eyes  are  upon 
the  ways  of  man  and  he  seeth  all  his 
goings"  [Job  xxxiv,  21]. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  209.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


gods 
randeur 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


28$ 


1390.  GODS   OF   SAVAGES    LIKE 
THEIR  WORSHIPERS—  Cannibal  Divinities. 
— Their  [the  Fijian]  temples  were  pyramid- 
al in  form,  and  were  often  erected  on  ter- 
raced mounds,  like  those  of  Central  Amer- 
ica.     They   also   venerated   certain   upright 
stones,  resembling  those  which  we  call  dru- 
idical.     "  The  Feegeeans,"   says  Mr.  Hazle- 
wood,  "  consider  the  gods  as  beings  of  like 
passions   with   themselves.      They   love   and 
hate;    they   are  proud  and  revengeful,   and 
make  war,  and  kill  and  eat  each  other,  and 
are,    in    fact,    savages    and    cannibals    like 
themselves."     "  Cruelty,"   says  Captain  Er- 
skine,  "  a  craving  for  blood,  and  especially 
for  human  flesh  as  food,  are  characteristic 
of  the  gods." — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times, 
ch.  13,  p.  433.      (A.,  1900.) 

1391.  GOLD  MAN'S  FIRST  METAL— 

Treasure  among  Savages — Progress  from  the 
Brilliant  to  the  Useful. — It  is  probable  that 
gold  was  the  metal  which  first  attracted 
the  attention  of  man;  it  is  found  in  many 
rivers,  and  by  its  bright  color  would  cer- 
tainly strike  even  the  rudest  savages,  who 
are  known  to  be  very  fond  of  personal  dec- 
oration. Silver  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  discovered  until  long  after  gold,  and 
was  apparently  preceded  by  both  copper 
and  tin;  for  it  rarely,  if  ever,  occurs  in 
tumuli  of  the  Bronze  Age;  but  however  this 
may  be,  copper  seems  to  have  been  the 
metal  which  first  became  of  real  importance 
to  man;  no  doubt  owing  to  the  fact  that 
its  ores  are  abundant  in  many  countries, 
and  can  be  smelted  without  difficulty;  and 
that,  while  iron  is  hardly  ever  found  except 
in  the  form  of  ore,  copper  often  occurs  in  a 
native  condition,  and  can  be  beaten  at 
once  into  shape.  Thus,  for  instance,  the 
North-American  Indians  obtained  pure  cop- 
per from  the  mines  near  Lake  Superior  and 
elsewhere,  and  hammered  it  at  once  into 
axes,  bracelets,  and  other  objects.^ AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (A.,  1900.) 

1392.  GOOD  OUT  OF  SEEMING  EVIL 

— Terrible  and  Destructive  Volcanic  Forces 
Part  of  a  Wise  Economy. — It  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  the  annual  average  of  de- 
struction to  life  and  property  caused  by  all 
kinds  of  subterranean  action  exceeds  that 
produced  either  by  floods  or  by  hurricanes. 
Yet  we  know  that  the  circulation  of  water 
and  air  over  our  globe  are  beneficial  and 
necessary  operations,  and  that  the  mischief 
occasionally  wrought  by  the  moving  bodies 
of  water  and  air  is  quite  insignificant  com- 
pared with  the  good  which  they  effect. 

In  the  same  way,  we  shall  be  able  to  show 
that  the  subterranean  energies  are  necessary 
to  the  continued  existence  of  our  globe  as  a 
place  fitted  for  the  habitation  of  living 
beings,  and  that  the  mischievous  and  de- 
structive effects  of  these  energies  bear  but 
a  small  and  insignificant  proportion  to  the 
beneficial  results  with  which  they  must  be 
credited. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  282. 
(A.,  1899.) 


1393.  GOVERNMENT  BY  ABSTRACT 

REASONING— PZato's  "Republic  "—Oblitera- 
tion of  Family  Life. — The  ancient  lawgivers 
were  always  aiming  at  standards  of  polit- 
ical society  framed  according  to  some  ab- 
stract notions  of  their  own  as  to  how  things 
ought  to  be,  rather  than  upon  any  attempt 
to  investigate  the  constitution  of  human 
nature  as  it  actually  is.  ...  Perhaps,, 
all  things  considered,  the  most  odious  con- 
ceptions of  human  society  which  the  world 
has  ever  seen  were  the  conceptions  of  an  in- 
tellect certainly  among  the  loftiest  which 
has  ever  exercised  its  powers  in  speculative 
thought.  Plato's  Republic  is  an  ideal  state, 
founded  on  abstract  conceptions  of  the  mind, 
and  one  of  its  leading  ideas  is  the  destruc- 
tion of  family  life  and  the  annihilation  of 
the  family  affections.  And  yet  this  result, 
odious  and  irrational  as  it  is,  was  arrived 
at  from  reasoning  which  is  not  in  itself  odi- 
ous, but  which  is  false,  chiefly  because  it 
takes  no  account  of  the  facts  of  Nature. 
The  welfare  of  the  state  was  to  be  the  one 
object  of  desire  in  every  mind.  All  sepa- 
rate interests  and  affections  were  to  be  sup- 
pressed, and  amongst  these  the  very  idea  of 
special  property  in  wife  or  child.  The  high- 
est type  of  man  was  to  be  bred  by  the  Re- 
public as  the  highest  type  of  dogs  and  horses, 
is  bred  by  an  intelligent  owner.  [Grote's. 
"Plato,"  vol.  iii,  p.  203.]  Such  are  the 
humiliating  results  of  abstract  reasoning, 
pursued  in  ignorance  of  the  great  law  that 
no  purpose  can  be  attained  in  Nature  except 
by  legitimate  use  of  the  means  which  Na- 
ture has  supplied.  For,  as  in  the  material 
world  all  her  forces  must  be  acknowledged 
and  obeyed  before  they  can  be  made  to  serve, 
so  in  the  realm  of  mind  there  can  be  no 
success  in  attaining  the  highest  moral  ends, 
until  due  honor  has  been  assigned  to  those 
motives  which  arise  out  of  the  universal 
instincts  of  our  race. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  194.  (Burt.) 

1394.  GOVERNMENT    BY    PHILOSO- 
PHERS —Liberty  Not  To  Be  Permitted. — A 
few  words  will  sufficiently  express  the  out- 
line of  [Comte's]  scheme.    A  corporation  of 
philosophers,    receiving    a    modest    support 
from  the  state,  surrounded  by  reverence,  but 
peremptorily  excluded,  not  only  from  all  po- 
litical power  or  employment,  but  from  all 
riches,    and    all    occupations    except    their 
own,    are   to   have   the   entire   direction   of 
education,  together  with,  not  only  the  right 
and    duty    of    advising    and    reproving    all 
persons    respecting   both    their    public    and 
their     private     life,     but     also     a     control 
(whether    authoritative    or    only    moral    is 
not  defined)    over  the  speculative  class  it- 
self,   to   prevent    them    from   wrasting   time 
and  ingenuity  on  inquiries  and  speculations 
of  no  value  to  mankind    (among  which  he 
includes  many  now  in  high  estimation),  and 
compel  them  to  employ  all  their  powers  on 
the  investigations  which  may  be  judged,  at 
the   time,   to  be  the  most  urgently  impor- 
tant to  the  general  welfare.     The  temporal 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Gods 
Grandeur 


government  which  is  to  coexist  with  this 
spiritual  authority  consists  of  an  aristoc- 
racy of  capitalists,  whose  dignity  and  au- 
thority are  to  be  in  the  ratio  of  the  degree 
of  generality  of  their  conceptions  and  oper- 
ations— bankers  at  the  summit,  merchants 
next,  then  manufacturers,  and  agricultur- 
ists at  the  bottom  of  the  scale.  No  repre- 
sentative system,  or  other  popular  organi- 
zation, by  way  of  counterpoise  to  this 
governing  power,  is  ever  contemplated.  The 
checks  relied  upon  for  preventing  its  abuse 
are  the  counsels  and  remonstrances  of  the 
spiritual  power,  and  unlimited  liberty  of 
discussion  and  comment  by  all  classes  of 
inferiors.  Of  the  mode  in  which  either  set 
of  authorities  should  fulfil  the  office  as- 
signed to  it,  little  is  said  in  this  treatise; 
but  the  general  idea  is,  while  regulating  as 
little  as  possible  by  law,  to  make  the  pres- 
sure of  opinion,  directed  by  the  spiritual 
power,  so  heavy  on  every  individual,  from 
the  humblest  to  the  most  powerful,  as  to 
render  legal  obligation,  in  as  many  cases 
as  possible,  needless.  Liberty  and  spon- 
taneity on  the  part  of  individuals  form  no 
part  of  the  scheme.  M.  Comte  looks  on 
them  with  as  great  jealousy  as  any  scho- 
lastic pedagogue,  or  ecclesiastical  director 
of  consciences.  Every  particular  of  conduct, 
public  or  private,  is  to  be  open  to  the  pub- 
lic eye,  and  to  be  kept,  by  the  power  of 
opinion,  in  the  course  which  the  spiritual 
corporation  shall  judge  to  be  the  most 
right.  This  is  not  a  sufficiently  tempting 
picture  to  have  much  chance  of  making  con- 
verts rapidly,  and  the  objections  to  the 
scheme  are  too  obvious  to  need  stating. — 
MILT.  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte, 
p.  110.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

1395.  GOVERNMENT,  HARMONIOUS, 
OF  THE  UNIVERSE  TAUGHT  BY  ARIS- 
TOTLE —  Germ  of  Undulatory  Theory  of 
Light. — The  idea  of  the  harmonious  gov- 
ernment of  the  universe  reveals  itself  in  a 
distinct  and  exalted  tone  throughout  the 
writings  of  Aristotle.  All  the  phenomena 
of  Nature  are  depicted  in  the  "  Physical  Lec- 
tures "  ("  Auscultationes  Physicse")  as 
moving,  vital  agents  of  one  general  cosmical 
force.  Heaven  and  Nature  (the  telluric 
sphere  of  phenomena )  depend  upon  the  "  un- 
moved motus  of  the  universe."  The  "  or- 
daiher  "  and  the  ultimate  cause  of  all  sensu- 
ous changes  must  be  regarded  as  something 
non-sensuous  and  distinct  from  all  matter. 
Unity  in  the  different  expressions  of  ma- 
terial force  is  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  main 
principle,  and  these  expressions  of  force  are 
themselves  always  reduced  to  motions.  Thus 
we  find  already  in  "  The  Book  of  the  Soul  " 
the  germ  of  the  undulatory  theory  of  light. 
The  sensation  of  sight  is  occasioned  by  a 
vibration — a  movement  of  the  medium  be- 
tween the  eye  and  the  object  seen — and  not 
by  emissions  from  the  object  or  the  eye. 
Hearing  is  compared  with  sight,  as  sound 
is  likewise  a  consequence  of  the  vibration 


of  the  air.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p. 
13.  (H.,  1897.) 

1396.  GOVERNMENT,  PATERNAL,  A 
BLESSING  TO  SAVAGES— Like    so    many 
other    savage    races,    the    North   Americans 
are   rapidly    disappearing.      Left   to    them- 
selves they  would  perhaps  have  developed 
an  indigenous  civilization,  but  for  purs  they 
are  unfit.     Unable  to   compete  with   Euro- 
peans as  equals,  and  too  proud  to  work  as. 
inferiors,  they  have  profited  by  intercourse 
with  the  superior  race  only  where  the  pa- 
ternal   government    of    the    Hudson's    Bay 
Company  has  protected  them  both  from  the 
settlers    arid   from   themselves,   has   encour- 
aged hunting,  put  an  end  to  war,  prevented 
the  sale  of  spirits,  and,   in  times  of  scar- 
city,   provided    food.      Erelong    almost    the 
only  remains  of  the  Indian  blood  will,  per- 
haps, be  found  in  the  territories  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  14,  p.  505.     (A.,  1900.) 

1397.  GRAIN    STORED    BY    ANTS— 

Confirmation  of  Solomon's  Observation. — 
Sykes,  in  his  account  of  an  Indian  ant, 
Pheidole  providens,  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  of  modern  scientific  authors  to  con- 
firm the  statements  of  Solomon.  He  state* 
that  the  above-named  species  collects  large 
stores  of  grass- seeds,  on  which  it  subsists 
from  February  to  October.  On  one  occasion 
he  even  observed  the  ants  bringing  up  their 
stores  of  grain  to  dry  them  after  the  clo- 
sing thunder-storms  of  the  monsoon ;  an  ob- 
servation which  has  been  since  confirmed 
by  other  naturalists. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,, 
and  Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  60.  (A.,  1900.) 

1398.  GRANDEUR   OF   THE  HUMAN 

SOUL— Man,  Astronomically  Petty,  Is  Yet  Great 
Enough  To  Measure  the  Universe. — We  see 
that  the  varied  horizons  discovered  from 
the  height  of  the  elevated  paths  which  the 
study  of  astronomy  has  led  us  to  follow 
are  not  less  interesting  than  astronomy  it- 
self. The  attraction,  almost  universal, which 
draws  the  human  mind  towards  the  most 
abstruse  and  less  usual  results  of  science 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  singular  trait  of  that 
restless  curiosity  which  has  been  given  to 
us  in  order  that  we  may  observe  and  know. 
Pythagoras  was  asked  what  was  the  char- 
acteristic mark  of  man.  He  replied,  "  The 
knowledge  of  truth  for  truth's  sake."  Is  it 
not  remarkable  to  see  the  human  species, 
living  on  the  productions  of  the  fostering 
earth,  according  to  the  expression  of  Homer, 
applying  itself  in  preference  to  purely  in- 
tellectual sciences,  and  giving  to  them  the 
greatest  part  of  its  attention,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  those  which  have  for  their  object 
health,  feeding,  material  welfare,  and,  in 
short,  all  the  arts  without  which  the  pow- 
erful organization  of  modern  society  cannot 
subsist?  We  feel  a  more  lively  and  pro- 
found interest  in  studying  astronomical  con- 
quests— as  the  distance  of  the  stars,  the  na- 
ture of  the  sun,  the  planetary  humanities, 
the  destinies  which  await  us  in  infinity  and 


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288 


eternity — than  in  a  new  route  opened  to 
commerce,  a  new  sort  of  eatable,  or  a  chemi- 
cal discovery  which  may  afterwards  disturb 
numerous  interests.  Thus,  of  the  three  ele- 
ments which  form  the  essence  of  man — his 
wants,  his  affections,  and  his  intelligence — 
it  is  the  last-named  faculty  which  obtains 
the  preference.  It  is  an  advantage,  es- 
pecially to  the  young,  to  comprehend  in 
their  totality  truths  the  possession  of  which 
does  honor  to  the  human  mind.  It  is  thus 
that  we  learn  to  rise  above  the  petty  in- 
terests of  life,  towards  the  higher  regions 
to  which  the  divine  patriotism  of  the  soul 
aspires. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  7,  p.  326.  (A.) 

1399.     GRAVITATION  A  MYSTERY— 

A  Mental  Inference  to  Explain  Phenomena. 
— Yet  of  the  force  of  gravitation  all  we 
know  is  that  it  is  a  force  of  attraction  oper- 
ating between  all  the  particles  of  matter 
in  the  exact  measure  which  was  ascertained 
by  Newton — that  is,  "  directly  as  the  mass, 
and  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance." 
This  is  the  law.  But  it  affords  no  sort  of 
explanation  of  itself.  What  is  the  cause 
of  this  force — what  is  its  source — what  are 
the  media  of  its  operation — how  is  the  exact 
uniformity  of  its  proportions  maintained? 
— these  are  questions  which  it  is  impossible 
not  to  ask,  but  which  it  is  quite  as  impos- 
sible to  answer.  Sir  John  Herschel,  in 
speaking  of  this  force,  has  indicated  in  a 
passing  sentence  a  few  questions  out  of 
the  many  which  arise.  "-No  matter,"  he 
says,  "  from  what  ultimate  causes  the  power 
called  gravitation  originates — be  it  a  vir- 
tue lodged  in  the  sun  as  its  receptacle,  or 
be  it  pressure  from  without,  or  the  resultant 
of  many  pressures,  or  solicitation  of  un- 
known kinds,  magnetic  or  electric,  ethers  or 
impulses,"  etc.,  etc.  How  little  we  have  as- 
certained in  this  law,  after  all!  Yet  there 
is  an  immense  and  an  instinctive  pleasure 
in  the  contemplation  of  it.  To  analyze  this 
pleasure  is  as  difficult  as  to  analyze  the 
pleasure  which  the  eye  takes  in  beauty  of 
form,  or  the  pleasure  which  the  ear  takes 
in  the  harmonies  of  sound. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  44.  (Burt.) 


140O. 


A   Statement    of 


Conditions — The  Cause  Still  To  Seek — The 
Falling  of  an  Apple  Not  Yet  Accounted  For. 
— "  Why  does  an  apple  fall  to  the  ground  ?  " 
is  a  question  which  has  as  great  a  signifi- 
cance to  us  now  as  it  had  before  Newton  was 
led,  by  pondering  upon  it,  to  the  discovery 
of  the  law  of  gravitation.  For  that  law 
only  expresses  the  conditions  of  action  of  a 
universal  force  tending  to  draw  together  all 
masses  of  matter,  while  of  the  force  itself 
it  gives  no  account  whatever.  We  recognize 
it  by  our  own  consciousness  of  effort  in  lift- 
ing a  weight  from  the  ground;  and  this 
recognition  carries  us  from  the  sphere  of 
physical  into  that  of  moral  causation.  For, 
as  Sir  John  Herschel  long  ago  pointed  out, 
our  consciousness  of  direct  personal  causa- 


tion in  the  performance  of  a  voluntary  act 
leads  us  to  regard  what  we  call  the  "  Forces 
of  Nature  "  as  the  emanations  of  an  all-per- 
vading will,  and  those  uniformities  in  their 
action  which  we  term  her  "  laws "  as  the 
manifestations  of  its  unchanging  continuity. 
— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p. 
411.  (A.,  1889.) 

14O1.     GRAVITATION    A    SIGN    OF 

UNITY— -Moves  Whole  Mechanism  of  Heavens. 
— There  is  one  sign  of  unity  which,  of 
itself,  carries  us  very  far  indeed.  It  is  the 
sign  given  to  us  in  the  ties  by  which  this 
world  of  ours  is  bound  to  the  other  worlds 
around  it.  There  is  no  room  for  fancy 
here.  The  truths  which  have  been  reached 
in  this  matter  have  been  reached  by  walk- 
ing in  the  paths  of  rigorous  demonstration. 
This  earth  is  part  of  the  vast  mechanism  of 
the  heavens.  The  force,  or  forces,  by  which 
that  mechanism  is  governed  are  forces  which 
prevail  not  only  in  our  own  solar  system, 
but,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  through 
all  space,  and  are  determining,  as  astron- 
omers tell  us,  the  movement  of  our  sun, 
with  all  its  planets,  round  some  distant  cen- 
ter, of  which  we  know  neither  the  nature 
nor  the  place.  Moreover,  these  same  forces 
are  equally  prevailing  on  the  surface  of  this 
earth  itself.  The  whole  of  its  physical  phe- 
nomena are  subject  to  the  conditions  which 
they  impose. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch. 
1,  p.  5.  (Burt.) 

1 4O  2 .  GRAVITATION  ENABLES 
BIRDS  TO  FLY— Difference  between  a  Bird 
and  a  Balloon. — It  is  remarkable  that  the 
force  which  seems  so  adverse — the  force  of 
gravitation  drawing  down  all  bodies  to  the 
earth — is  the  very  force  which  is  the  prin- 
cipal one  concerned  in  flight,  and  without 
which  flight  would  be  impossible.  It  is 
curious  how  completely  this  has  been  for- 
gotten in  almost  all  human  attempts  to 
navigate  the  air.  Birds  are  not  lighter  than 
the  air,  but  immensely  heavier.  If  they 
were  lighter  than  the  air  they  might  float, 
but  they  could  not  fly.  This  is  the  differ- 
ence between  a  bird  and  a  balloon.  A  bal- 
loon rises  because  it  is  lighter  than  the  air, 
and  floats  upon  it.  Consequently  it  is  in- 
capable of  being  directed,  because  it  pos- 
sesses in  itself  no  active  force  enabling  it  to 
resist  the  currents  of  the  air  in  which  it  is 
immersed,  and  because,  if  it  had  such  a 
force,  it  would  have  no  fulcrum,  or  resisting 
medium  against  which  to  exert  it.  It  be- 
comes, as  it  were,  part  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  must  go  with  it  where  it  goes.  No  bird 
is  ever  for  an  instant  of  time  lighter  than 
the  air  in  which  it  flies;  but  being,  on  the 
contrary,  always  greatly  heavier,  it  keeps 
possession  of  a  force  capable  of  supplying 
momentum,  and  therefore  capable  of  over- 
coming any  lesser  force,  such  as  the  ordi- 
nary resistance  of  the  atmosphere,  and  even 
of  heavy  gales  of  wind.  The  law  of  gravi- 
tation, therefore,  is  used  in  the  flight  of 
birds  as  one  of  the  most  essential  of  the 


289 


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Grandeur 
Growth 


forces  which  are  available  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  end  in  view. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p.  78,  (Burt.) 

1403.  GRAVITATION    PROVED   UNI- 
VERSAL— The  Work  of  a  Century  of  Astron- 
omy— Laborious  Climbing  to  Noio  Familiar 
Conception. — The  advance  of  astronomy  in 
the  eighteenth   century  ran  in   general   an 
even  and  logical  course.     The  age  succeed- 
ing  Newton's   had   for   its   special  task  to 
demonstrate     the     universal     validity     and 
trace   the    complex   results    of   the   law   of 
gravitation.      The    accomplishment   of   that 
task  occupied  just  one  hundred  years.     It 
was  virtually  brought  to  a  close  when  La- 
place   explained    to    the    French    Academy, 
November  19,  1787,  the  cause  of  the  moon's 
accelerated  motion.    As  a  mere  machine,  the 
solar  system,  so  far  as  it  was  then  known, 
was  found  to  be  complete  and  intelligible  in 
all    its    parts ;      and    in    the    "  Me"canique 
Celeste "    its    mechanical    perfections    were 
displayed  under  a  form  of  majestic   unity 
which  fitly  commemorated  the  successive  tri- 
umphs of   analytical  genius  over  problems 
among  the  most  arduous  ever  dealt  with  by 
the  mind  of  man. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, int.,  p.  2.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

1404.  GRAVITATION  SURPASSED  BY 
MOLECULAR    FORCES — Power  Involved  in 
Expansion  of  Iron. — The  constituent  mole- 
cules of  bodies  do  not  touch.    It  is  thus,  and 
thus    only,    that    the    expansion    and    the 
change  of  state  of  bodies  under  the  influence 
of  heat  can  be  explained.     We  do  not  doubt 
the  energy  of  the  atomic  forces  in  action 
around  us.     Let  us  heat  1  Ib.  of  iron  from 
0  to  100  degrees,  it  will  expand  about  ^, 
a  span  imperceptible  to  the  eye,  and  yet  the 
force   which    has    produced    this    expansion 
would  be  capable  of  lifting  12,000  K»s.,  and 
raising  them  to  the  height  of  one  yard.    The 
power    of    gravitation    almost   vanishes    in 
comparison  with  these  molecular  forces ;   the 
attraction   exercised  by   the   earth   on    the 
weight  of  half  a  kilogram  (about  a  pound) 
taken  in  a  mass  is  nothing  compared  to  the 
mutual  attraction  of  its  own  molecules.     In 
the  combination  of  1  Ib.  of  hydrogen  with  8 
Tbs.  of  oxygen  to  form  water,  work  is  per- 
formed capable  of  raising  by   1  degree  the 
temperature  of  34,000  Ibs.  of  water;    or  of 
lifting    15,000,000    Ibs.    to    1    yard    high! 
These  nine  pounds  of  water  in  being  formed 
have    fallen   molecularly   down   a   precipice 
equal  to  that  which  would  be  passed  over 
by  a  ton  of  1,000  kilograms  rolling  down  to 
46,000  feet  of  depth. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  7,  p.  320.     (A.) 

1405.  GREED  BRINGS  DESTRUCTION 

—  The  Puma  and  Its  Prey. — The  puma,  after 
eating  its  fill,  covers  the  carcass  with  many 
large  bushes,  and  lies  down  to  watch  it. 
This  habit  is  often  the  cause  of  its  being  dis- 
covered; for  the  condors,  wheeling  in  the 
air,  every  now  and  then  descend  to  partake 
of  the  feast,  and  being  angrily  driven  away, 
rise  all  together  on  the  wing.  The  Chileno 


Guaso  then  knows  there  is  a  lion  watching 
his  prey — the  word  is  given — and  men  and 
dogs  hurry  to  the  chase.  Sir  F.  Head  says 
that  a  Gaucho  in  the  pampas,  upon  merely 
seeing  some  condors  wheeling  in  the  air, 
cried  "  A  lion !  " — DARWIN  Naturalist's 
Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  12,  p.  269. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1406.  GROWTH    AND    DECAY    PER- 
VADE ALL  NATURE—  "In  the  Beginning."— 
"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth.     And  the  earth  was  without 
form,  and  void." 

Whatever  our  speculations  may  be  in  re- 
gard to  a  "  beginning,"  and  when  it  was,  it 
is  written  in  the  rocks,  that,  like  the  ani- 
mals and  plants  upon  its  surface,  the  earth 
itself  grew;  that  for  countless  ages,  meas- 
ured by  years  that  no  man  can  number,  the 
earth  has  been  gradually  assuming  its  pres- 
ent form  and  composition,  and  that  the 
processes  of  growth  and  decay  are  active 
every  hour. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mir- 
acles, vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1407.  GROWTH  COMES  ONLY  FROM 

LIFE  (Matt,  vi,  27) — Growth  vs.  Accretion 
— Christian  Life  a  Growth. — A  boy  not  only 
grows  without  trying,  but  he  cannot  grow 
if  he  tries.  No  man  by  taking  thought  has 
ever  added  a  cubit  to  his  stature;  nor  has 
any  man  by  mere  working  at  his  soul  ever 
approached  nearer  to  the  stature  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  The  stature  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
was  not  itself  reached  by  work,  and  he  who 
thinks  to  approach  its  mystical  height  by 
anxious  effort  is  really  receding  from  it. 
Christ's  life  unfolded  itself  from  a  divine 
germ,  planted  centrally  in  his  nature,  which 
grew  as  naturally  as  a  flower  from  a  bud. 
This  flower  may  be  imitated;  but  one  can 
always  tell  an  artificial  flower.  The  human 
form  may  be  copied  in  wax,  yet  somehow 
one  never  fails  to  detect  the  difference.  And 
this  precisely  is  the  difference  between  a 
native  growth  of  Christian  principle  and  the 
moral  copy  of  it.  The  one  is  natural,  the 
other  mechanical.  The  one  is  a  growth,  the 
other  an  accretion. — DRUMMOND  Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  3,  p.  114. 
(H.  Al.) 

1408.  GROWTH,  GRADUAL,  OF  TRUTH 
— Sudden    Harvest    of    Discovery — Limited 
Work  of  Any  Single  Discoverer — Total  Re- 
sult Fulfils  Divine  Plan. — Slowly,  it  is  true', 
does  the  power  of  the  mind  give  to  man  the 
mastery  over  the  more  hidden  ways  of  Na- 
ture.    One  after  another  tries  and  fails,  tho 
gradually   accumulating  the  knowledge  by 
which,  in  the  end,  the  secret  will  be  learned. 
At  length  the  master-mind  arrives  which  is 
to  utilize  the  garnered  knowledge  of  ages. 
On  a  sudden  the  scattered  portions  of  the 
chain  of  evidence  are  linked  together,  and 
the  chain  is  complete.     A  great  work  has 
then  been  achieved — a  work  which  the  Al- 
mighty had  as  fully  intended  that  the  hu- 
man race  should  accomplish  as  any  of  those 
material  successes  by  which  men  have  ob- 


BBS 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


290 


tained  mastery  over  Nature  and  the  forces 
of  Nature. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p. 
106.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

14O9.     GROWTH  OF  CORAL,  RATE  OF 

— Anchor  Preserved  in  Coral. — At  the  island 
called  Taaopoto,  in  the  South  Pacific,  the 
anchor  of  a  ship,  wrecked  about  50  years 
before,  was  observed  in  seven  fathoms  of  wa- 
ter, still  preserving  its  original  form,  but 
entirely  incrusted  by  coral.  This  fact  would 
seem  to  imply  a  slow  rate  of  augmentation; 
but  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the  aver- 
age rate  must  be  very  difficult,  since  it  must 
vary  not  only  according  to  the  species  of 
coral,  but  according  to  the  circumstances 
under  which  each  species  may  be  placed; 
such,  for  example,  as  the  depth  from  the 
surface,  the  quantity  of  light,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water,  its  freedom  from  sand  or 
mud,  or  the  absence  or  presence  of  breakers, 
which  is  favorable  to  the  growth  of  some 
kinds  and  is  fatal  to  that  of  others. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  ch.  50,  p.  778.  (A., 
1854.) 


141O. 


Experiment  to  De- 


termine.— To  ascertain  the  rise  and  prog- 
ress of  the  coral  family,  and  fix  the  num- 
ber of  species  met  with  at  Foul  Point  (lat. 
17°  40'),  twenty  species  of  coral  were  taken 
off  the  reef  and  planted  apart  on  a  sand- 
bank three  feet  deep  at  low  water.  Each 
portion  weighed  ten  pounds,  and  was  kept 
in  its  place  by  stakes.  Similar  quantities 
were  placed  in  a  clump  and  secured  as  the 
rest.  This  was  done  in  December,  1830.  In 
July  following,  each  detached  mass  was 
nearly  level  with  the  sea  at  low  water, 
quite  immovable,  and  several  feet  long, 
stretching,  like  the  parent  reef,  in  the  line 
of  the  coast-current  from  north  to  south. 
The  masses  accumulated  in  a  clump  were 
found  equally  increased,  but  some  of  the 
species  in  such  unequal  ratios  as  to  be  grow- 
ing over  each  other.  [Quoted  from  MS. 
thesis  of  Dr.  Allan,  of  Forres,  deposited  in 
the  library  of  Edinburgh  University.] — 
DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch.  4,  p.  104.  (A., 
1900.) 

1411.  GROWTH  OF  ELECTRIC  AND 
MAGNETIC  DISCOVERY— A  True  Intellectual 
Rise. — After  the  lapse  of  centuries  a  new 
capacity  of  the  lodestone  became  revealed 
in  its  polarity,  or  the  appearance  of  oppo- 
site effects  at  opposite  ends;  then  came  the 
first  utilization  of  the  knowledge  thus  far 
gained,  in  the  mariner's  compass,  leading  to 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  and  the 
throwing  wide  of  all  the  portals  of  the  Old 
to  trade  and  civilization. 

The  predominance  of  the  magnet  in  hu- 
man thought  was  yielded  to  the  amber,  when 
the  strange  power  of  the  latter  was  found 
to  exist  also  in  other  things.  The  keen- 
eyed  discoverers  saw  this  new  force  an- 
nihilate time  and  space,  and  flash  into 
light;  pursued  it  even  to  its  hiding-place  in 
the  clouds;  beheld  it  grow  from  the  feeble 
amber-soul  into  the  mighty  thunderbolt; 


watched  it  until  the  whole  universe  showed 
itself  pervaded  with  it. 

This  was  a  true  intellectual  rise.  It  was 
the  intellect  at  work  building  the  universe 
of  which  it  is  the  key;  finding  anew  that 
Nature  also  is  working  in  every  detail  after 
the  laws  of  the  human  mind. — PARK  BEX- 
JAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  int., 
p.  13.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

1412.  GROWTH  OF  LOYALTY,  HERO- 
ISM, AND  PATRIOTISM— As  the  maternal 
instinct  had  been  cultivated  for  thousands 
of    generations    before    clanship    came    into 
existence,   so   for   many  succeeding  ages   of 
turbulence    the     patriotic     instinct,     which 
prompts  to  the  defense  of  home,  was   cul- 
tivated under  penalty  of  death.     Clans  de- 
fended by   weakly   loyal   or   cowardly  war- 
riors were  sure  to  perish.     Unflinching  bra- 
very  and    devoted   patriotism   were   virtues 
necessary  to  the  survival  of  the  community, 
and  were  thus  preserved  until  at  the  dawn 
of  historic  times,  in  the  most  grandly  mili- 
tant of  clan  societies,  we  find  the  word  vir- 
tus connoting  just  these  qualities,  and  no 
sooner  does  the  fateful  gulf  yawn  open  in 
the   forum   than    a    Curtius   joyfully    leaps 
into  it,  that  the  commonwealth  may  be  pre- 
served from  harm. — FISKE  Through  Nature 
to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  104.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1900.) 

1413.  GROWTH,  SLOW,  OF  PATER- 
NAL VIRTUES— .Bird  Parents  United  in  Love 
— Little    Fatherhood    among    Mammalia — 
Among    Carnivora    Fathers    Dangerous    to 
Their   Offspring.  —  If   maternity   was    at   a 
feeble  level  in  the  lower  reaches  of  Nature, 
paternity  was  non-existent.     Among  a  few 
invertebrates  the  male  parent  took  a  pass- 
ing share  in  the  care  of  the  egg,  but  it  is 
not  until  we  are  all  but  at  the  top  that 
fatherly  interest  finds  any  real  expression. 
Among  the  birds,  the  parents  unite  together 
in  most  cases  to  build  the  nest,  the  father 
doing  the  rough  work  of  bringing  in  moss 
and   twigs,   while  the   more   trusty   mother 
does  the  actual  work.    When  the  eggs  are 
laid,  the  male  parent  also  takes  his  turn  at 
incubation;    supplies    food    and    protection, 
and  lingers  round  the  place  of  birth  to  de- 
fend the  fledglings  to  the  last.     When  we 
leave  the   birds,   however,   and   pass   on    to 
the   mammals,    the    fathers    are   nearly    all 
backsliders.     Many  are  not  only  indifferent 
to  their  young,  but  hostile;  and  among  the 
carnivora   the   mothers   have    frequently   to 
hide  their  little  ones  [lest  the  father  should 
eat  them]. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch. 
9,  p.  294.      (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1414.  GULF    ASSUMED    BETWEEN 
MAN  AND  NATURE—  The  Human  Mind  a 
Part  of  Nature. — It  [the  charge  of  anthro- 
pomorphism]  assumes  that  the  relation  be- 
tween the  human  mind  and  the  system  of 
Nature  in  which  we  live  is  fundamentally  a 
relation  of  contrast  and  not  of  harmony — 
a    relation    of    difference    so    deep    and    so 
complete   that  the   intellectual   impressions 


291 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ban?11 


which  Nature  gives  to  us  are  not  presu- 
mably right,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  pre- 
sumably wrong.  .  .  .  Man  is  no  part 
of  Nature.  His  mind  does  not  reflect  her 
laws.  On  the  contrary,  his  intellect  is  sep- 
arated by  such  a  gulf  from  those  laws  that 
it  tends  of  necessity  to  misinterpret  and 
misconceive  them.  The  very  forms  in  which 
our  perceptions  and  our  conceptions  are 
molded  are  forms  which  [are  assumed  to] 
have  no  counterpart  outside  the  organism 
through  which  we  see  and  think. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  5,  p.  102.  (Burt.) 

1415.  GULF    BETWEEN    MAN    AND 
BRUTE — No  one  is  more  strongly  convinced 
than  I  am  of  the  vastness  of  the  gulf  be- 
tween civilized  man  and  the  brutes;    or  is 
more  certain  that  whether  from  them  or  not, 
he  is  assuredly  not  of  them.     No  one  is  less 
disposed  to  think  lightly  of  the  present  dig- 
nity, or  despairingly  of  the  future  hopes,  of 
the  only  consciously  intelligent  denizen  of 
this  world. — HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in  Nature, 
p.  234.    (Hum.) 

1416.  GULF  BETWEEN  ORGANIC  AND 
INORGANIC — Between    the    living    and    the 
non-living  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed;   and 
the  indissoluble  connection  which  somehow, 
nevertheless,  we  know  to  exist  between  them 
is  a  connection  which  does  not  fill  up  that 
gulf,  but  is  kept  up  by  some  bridge  being, 
as  it  were,  artificially  built  across  it.     This 
unity,  like  the  other  unities  of  nature,  is 
not  a  unity  consisting  of  mere  continuity 
of  substance.     It  is  not  founded  upon  same- 
ness, but,  on  the  contrary,  rather  upon  dif- 
ference,  and   even  upon  antagonisms. — AR- 
GYLL Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  33.     ( Burt. ) 

1417.  GULF  STREAM,  INFLUENCE  OF 

— Moderates  Climate  of  Western  Europe. — 
But  the  effects  of  the  Gulf  Stream  on  the  cli- 
mate of  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  are  far 
more  remarkable.  This  most  powerful  of 
known  currents  has  its  source  in  the  Gulf  or 
Sea  of  Mexico,  which,  like  the  Mediterranean 
and  other  close  seas  in  temperate  or  low  lat- 
itudes, is  warmer  than  the  open  ocean  in 
the  same  parallels.  The  temperature  of  the 
Mexican  sea  in  summer  is,  according  to 
Rennel,  86°  P.,  or  at  least  7°  above  that 
of  the  Atlantic  in  the  same  latitude.  From 
this  great  reservoir  or  caldron  of  warm 
water  a  constant  current  pours  forth 
through  the  Straits  of  Bahama  at  the  rate 
of  3  or  4  miles  an  hour;  it  crosses  the 
ocean  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  skirt- 
ing the  great  Bank  of  Newfoundland,  where 
it  still  retains  a  temperature  of  8°  above 
that  of  the  surrounding  sea.  It  reaches  the 
Azores  in  about  78  days,  after  flowing  near- 
ly 3,000  geographical  miles,  and  from  thence 
it  sometimes  extends  its  course  a  thousand 
miles  farther,  so  as  to  reach  the  Bay  of 
Biscay,  still  retaining  an  excess  of  5°  above 
the  mean  temperature  of  that  sea.  As  it 
has  been  known  to  arrive  there  in  the 
months  of  November  and  January,  it  may 
tend  greatly  to  moderate  the  cold  of  winter 


in  countries  on  the  west  of  Europe. — LYELL. 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.   i,   ch.   7,  p.   95. 

(A.,  1854.) 

1418.  HABIT  A  RESULT  OF  BODILY 
ORGANISM— I  believe  that  we  are  subject  to 
the  law  of  habit  in  consequence  of  the  fact 
that  we  have  bodies.     The  plasticity  of  the 
living    matter    of    our    nervous    system,    in 
short,  is  the  reason  why  we  do  a  thing  with 
difficulty    the    first    time,    but    soon    do    it 
more    and    more    easily,~and    finally,    with 
sufficient  practise,  do  it  semi-mechanically, 
or    with    hardly    any    consciousness    at    all. 
Our  nervous  systems  have    (in  Dr.  Carpen- 
ter's  words)    grown   to   the  way   in   which 
they  have  been   exercised,  just   as   a   sheet 
of  paper  or  a  coat,  once  creased  or  folded, 
tends    to    fall    forever    afterward    into    the 
same  identical  folds.     Habit  is  thus  a  sec- 
ond nature. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch. 
8,  p.  65.      (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1419.  HABIT  BEST  CONQUERED  BY 
SHARP  AND  SUDDEN  CHANGE—  "  Tapering- 
off "   Rarely   Practicable. — The   question    of 
"  tapering-off,"    in   abandoning   such   habits 
as    drink    and    opium-indulgence,    comes    in 
here,  and  is  a  question  about  which  experts 
differ  within  certain  limits,  and  in  regard 
to  what  may  be  best  for  an  individual  case. 
In   the   main,   however,   all   expert  opinion 
would  agree  that  abrupt  acquisition  of  the 
new  habit  is  the  best  way,  if  there  be  a  real 
possibility  of  carrying  it  out.     We  must  be 
careful  not  to  give  the  will  so  stiff  a  task 
as  to  insure  its  defeat  at  the  very  outset; 
but,  provided  one  can  stand  it,  a  sharp  pe- 
riod of  suffering,  and  then  a  free  time,  is 
the  best  thing  to  aim  at,  whether  in  giving 
up  a  habit  like  that  of  opium,  or  in  simply 
changing  one's  hours  of  rising  or  of  work. 
It  is  surprising  how  soon  a  desire  will  die 
of  inanition  if  it  be  never  fed. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.   i,   ch.   4,   p.    124.      (H.   H.   ft. 
Co.,  1899.) 

1420.  HABIT,  HEREDITY  OF— Horses, 
Dogs,  and  Birds,  Apparent  Heredity  among* 
— Darwin  says,  "A  horse  is  trained  to  cer- 
tain paces,  and  the  colt  inherits  similar  con- 
sensual movements."     But  selection  of  the 
constitutional  tendency  to  these  paces,  and 
imitation  of  the  mother  by  the  colt,  may 
have  been  the   real  causes.     The  evidence, 
to  be   satisfactory,   should  show  that  such 
influences  were  excluded.     Men  acquire  pro- 
ficiency   in    swimming,    waltzing,    walking, 
smoking,    languages,    handicrafts,    religious 
beliefs,  etc.,  but  the  children  only  appear  to 
inherit  the  innate  abilities  or  constitutional 
proclivities  of  their  parents.  Even  the  songs 
of  birds,  including  their  call-notes,  are  no 
more    inherited   than    is    language   by    man 
("  Descent  of  Man,"  p.  47) .  They  are  learned 
from  the  parent.     Nestlings,  which  acquire 
the  song  of  a  distinct  species,  "  teach  and 
transmit  their  new  song  to  their  offspring." 
If  use-inheritance  has  not  fixed  the  song  of 
birds,    why    should   we   suppose   that   in   a 
single  generation  it  has  transmitted  a  new- 


iabit 
alf-truth 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


292 


ly  taught  method  of  walking  or  trotting? 
It  is  alleged  that  dogs  inherit  the  intelli- 
gence acquired  by  association  with  man,  and 
that  retrievers  inherit  the  effects  of  their 
training.  But  selection  and  imitation  are 
so  potent  that  the  additional  hypothesis  of 
use- inheritance  seems  perfectly  superfluous. 
Where  intelligence  is  not  highly  valued  and 
carefully  promoted  by  selection,  the  intelli- 
gence derivable  from  association  with  man 
does  not  appear  to  be  inherited.  Lap-dogs, 
for  instance,  are  often  remarkably  stupid. — 
BALL  Are  the  Effects  of  Use  and  Disuse  In- 
herited? p.  31.  (Hum.,' 1891.) 

1421.  HABIT,  HYPNOTIC,  FASCINA- 
TION OF — Frequent   hypnotizing    may   lead 
in  the   long  run  to  an  irresistible  passion 
for  the  hypnotic  sleep,  in  which  case  the 
impulse  to  obtain  it  acts  like  the  morphin 
habit  or  habituation  to  any  particular  stim- 
ulant or  sedative.     The  confirmed  hypnotic 
will  try  in  every  possible  way  to  procure 
the    enjoyment    which    he    craves. — WUNDT 
Psychology,  lect.  22,  p.  331.      (Son.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

1422.  HABIT,  IMPERIOUSNESS  OF 

— Unconscious  Profanity — Anecdote  of  Mil- 
itary Officer. — The  following  case,  recently 
communicated  to  the  writer,  shows  how 
strongly  the  mode  of  expression  of  our 
ideas  is  influenced  by  habit;  and  how,  after 
the  chain  would  seem  to  have  been  com- 
pletely broken,  it  may  come  to  renew  itself 
when  the  circumstances  recur  under  which 
it  had  been  formed: 

A  military  officer,  who  had  seen  much 
hard  service  at  a  time  when  a  command 
was  scarcely  ever  given  without  the  ac- 
companiment of  an  oath,  and  who  had  thus 
acquired  the  habit  of  continual  swearing, 
determined,  on  retiring  into  private  life, 
to  do  his  best  to  forego  this  practise;  and 
by  keeping  a  constant  check  upon  himself, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  friendly  moni- 
tions of  others,  he  entirely  succeeded.  After 
the  lapse  of  many  years,  however,  he  found 
himself  called  upon  to  perform  some  mili- 
tary duty;  and,  in  the  discharge  of  it,  he 
used  much  of  the  bad  language  to  which 
he  had  formerly  accustomed  himself.  A 
friend  who  happened  to  notice  this,  hav- 
ing afterwards  expressed  his  regret  that  he 
should  have  relapsed  into  his  old  habit  of 
swearing,  the  officer  assured  him  (and  he 
was  a  man  whose  word  could  be  implicitly 
relied  on)  that  he  was  not  at  the  time  in 
the  least  degree  conscious  of  uttering  an 
oath,  and  that  he  had  not  the  slightest  rec- 
ollection of  having  done  so. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  282.  (A., 
1900.) 

1423.  HABIT    OF    DOING    RIGHT— 

Preparation  for  Instantaneous  Action — The 
Habits  of  a  Nation. — I  consider  the  great 
object  of  intellectual  education  to  be,  not 
only  to  teach  the  pupils  how  to  think,  but 
how  to  act  and  to  do,  and  I  place  great  stress 


upon  the  early  education  of  the  habits.  And 
this  kind  of  training  may  be  extended  be- 
yond the  mental  processes  to  the  moral  prin- 
ciples; the  pupil  may  be  taught  on  all  oc- 
casions habitually  and  promptly,  almost 
without  thought,  to  act  properly  in  any 
case  that  may  occur,  and  this  in  the  prac- 
tical duties  of  life  is  of  the  highest  im- 
portance. We  are  frequently  required  to 
act  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and 
have  no  time  to  deduce  our  course  from 
the  moral  principles  of  the  act.  An  in- 
dividual can  be  educated  to  a  strict  regard 
for  truth,  to  deeds  of  courage  in  rescuing 
others  from  danger,  to  acts  of  benevolence, 
of  generosity,  and  justice;  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  tho  his  mind  may  be  well  stored 
with  moral  precepts,  he  may  be  allowed 
to  fall  into  opposite  habits  alike  prejudicial 
to  himself  and  to  those  with  whom  he  is 
associated.  He  may  "  know  the  right,  and 
yet  the  wrong  pursue." 

Man  is  the  creature  of  habit;  it  is  to  him 
more  than  second  nature;  but  unfortu- 
nately, while  bad  habits  are  acquired  with 
readiness,  on  account  of  the  natural  desire 
to  gratify  our  passions  and  appetites,  good 
habits  can  only  be  acquired  by  unremitting 
watchfulness  and  labor.  The  combined 
habits  of  individuals  form  the  habits  of  a 
nation,  and  these  can  only  be  molded  .  .  . 
by  the  coercive  labor  of  the  instructor  judi- 
ciously applied. — HENRY  Thoughts  on  Edu- 
cation (Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  340). 
(Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1424.  HABITAT,   ADAPTATION    OF 

ANIMALS  TO  —  Protective  Mimicry.  — 'Even 
the  popular  mind  has  been  struck  with  the 
curious  adaptation  of  nearly  all  animals  to 
their  habitat,  for  example  in  the  matter  of 
color.  The  sandy  hue  of  the  sole  and  floun- 
der, the  white  of  the  polar  bear,  with  its 
suggestion  of  arctic  snows,  the  stripes  of 
the  Bengal  tiger — as  if  the  actual  reeds  of 
its  native  jungle  had  nature-printed  them- 
selves on  its  hide — these,  and  a  hundred 
others  which  will  occur  to  every  one,  are 
marked  instances  of  adaptation  to  environ- 
ment induced,  by  natural  selection  or  other- 
wise, for  the  purpose,  obviously  in  these 
cases  at  least,  of  protection. — DRUMMOND 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay 
7,  p.  233.  (II.  Al.) 

1425.  HABITAT  OF  HUMMING-BIRDS 

— Species  Limited  to  a  Single  Mountain. — 
In  contrast  with  these  species  of  extended 
range,  there  are  many  species  [of  humming- 
birds] whose  habitat  is  confined,  perhaps,  to 
a  single  mountain,  and  there  are  a  few 
which  never  have  been  seen  beyond  the  edges 
of  some  extinct  volcano,  whose  crater  is  now 
filled  with  a  special  flora.  Many  of  the 
great  mountains  of  the  Andes  have  each  of 
them  species  peculiar  to  themselres.  On 
Chimborazo  and  Cotopaxi,  and  other  sum- 
mits, special  forms  of  humming-birds  are 
found  in  special  zones  of  vegetation  even 
close  up  to  the  limits  of  perpetual  snow. 


293 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


•truth 


Again,  many  of  the  islands  have  species  pe- 
culiar to  themselves.  The  little  island  of 
Juan  Fernandez,  300  miles  from  the  main- 
land, has  three  species  peculiar  to  itself,  of 
which  two  are  so  distinct  from  all  others 
known  that  they  cannot  for  a  moment  be 
confounded  with  any  of  them. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  135.  (Burt.) 

1426.  HABITS    FIXED    IN   YOUTH— 

All  Later  Life  Dependent  on  Early  Years. — 
If  a  boy  grows  up  alone  at  the  age  of  games 
and  sports,  and  learns  neither  to  play  ball, 
nor  row,  nor  sail,  nor  ride,  nor  skate,  nor 
fish,  nor  shoot,  probably  he  will  be  seden- 
tary to  the  end  of  his  days;  and,  tho  the 
best  of  opportunities  be  afforded  him  for 
learning  these  things  later,  it  is  a  hundred 
to  one  but  he  will  pass  them  by  and  shrink 
back  from  the  effort  of  taking  those  neces- 
sary first  steps  the  prospect  of  which,  at  an 
earlier  age,  would  have  filled  him  with  eager 
delight.  The  sexual  passion  expires  after 
a  protracted  reign;  but  it  is  well  known 
that  its  peculiar  manifestations  in  a  given 
individual  depend  almost  entirely  on  the 
habits  he  may  form  during  the  early  period 
of  its  activity.  Exposure  to  bad  company 
then  makes  him  a  loose  liver  all  his  days; 
chastity  kept  at  first  makes  the  same  easy 
later  on. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24, 
p.  401.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1427.  HABITS,  GOOD  AS   WELL  AS 

BAD — The  fact  is  that  our  virtues  are  hab- 
its as  much  as  our  vices.  All  our  life,  so 
far  as  it  has  definite  form,  is  but  a  mass  of 
habits — practical,  emotional,  and  intellec- 
tual— systematically  organized  for  our  weal 
or  woe,  and  bearing  us  irresistibly  toward 
our  destiny,  whatever  the  latter  may  be. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  8,  p.  64.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1428.  HABITS    SHOW   MAN'S   COM- 
POSITE NATURE— There    is    no    part    of 
man's  composite  nature  in  which  the  inti- 
mate  relation   between   mind   and   body  is 
more  obvious  than  it  is  in  the  formation 
of    habitual    modes    of    activity,    whether 
psychical  or  corporeal;  the  former,  like  the 
latter,    being    entirely    conformable    to    the 
laws  which  express  the  ordinary  course  of 
the  nutritive  operations. — CARPENTER  Men- 
tal Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.   8,  p.  337.      (A., 
1900.) 

1429.  HAECKEL  AND  MONISM— Body 
without  a  Soul — Universe  without  a  Spirit. 
— Ernst  Haeckel  is  an  eminent  comparative 
anatomist  and  physiologist,  who  has  earned 
a  wide  and  deserved  reputation  by  his  able 
and    laborious    studies    of    the    calcareous 
sponges,    the    radiolarians,    and   other    low 
forms  of  life.     .     .     .     He  is  not  merely  an 
evolutionist,  but  what  he  terms  a  "  monist," 
and  the  monistic  philosophy,  as  defined  by 
him,  ^includes  certain  negations  and  certain 
positive  principles  of  a  most  comprehensive 
and   important   character.      It   implies    the 
denial  of  all  spiritual  or  immaterial  exist- 


ence.' Man  is  to  the  monist  merely  a  physio- 
logical machine,  and  Nature  is  only  a 
greater  self-existing  and  spontaneously  mov- 
ing aggregate  of  forces.  Monism  can  thus 
altogether  dispense  with  a  creative  will  as 
originating  Nature,  and  adopts  the  other 
alternative  of  self-existence  or  causelessness 
for  the  universe  and  all  its  phenomena. 
Again,  the  monistic  doctrine  necessarily  im- 
plies that  man,  the  animal,  the  plant,  and 
the  mineral  are  only  successive  stages  of  the 
evolution  of  the  same  primordial  matter, 
constituting  thus  a  connected  chain  of  be- 
ing, all  the  parts  of  which  sprang  spontane- 
ously from  each  other.  Lastly,  as  the  ad- 
mixture of  primitive  matter  and  force  would 
itself  be  a  sort  of  dualism,  Haeckel  regards 
these  as  ultimately  one,  and  apparently  re- 
solves the  origin  of  the  universe  into  the 
operation  of  a  self-existing  energy  having  in 
itself  the  potency  of  all  things.  After  all, 
this  may  be  said  to  be  an  approximation  to 
the  idea  of  a  Creator,  but  not  a  living  and 
willing  Creator. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fan- 
cies in  Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  54.  (A. 
B.  P.  S.) 

143O.     HALF-TRUTH,    A,   TERRIFIES 

— Biela's  Comet  Crosses  the  Earth's  Orbit — 
False  Alarm  Given  by  Pseudo-science. — In 
calculating  the  epoch  of  the  reappearance  of 
the  new  body  [Biela's  comet],  Damoiseau 
had  found  that  the  comet  would,  on  October 
29,  1832,  before  midnight,  cross  the  plane 
in  which  the  earth  moves  at  the  only  place 
where  a  comet  would  be  likely  to  encounter 
the  earth.  The  passage  of  the  body  would, 
according  to  calculation,  take  place  in  the 
plane,  but  a  little  inside  the  earth's  orbit, 
and  at  a  distance  equal  to  four  and  two- 
thirds  terrestrial  radii.  As  the  length  of 
the  comet's  radius  was  equal  to  five  and  one- 
third  terrestrial  radii,  it  was  probable  from 
all  the  evidence  that  on  October  29,  1832, 
before  midnight,  a  part  of  the  terrestrial* 
orbit  would  be  occupied  by  the  comet. 

These  results,  supported  by  all  desirable 
scientific  authority,  were  brought  by  the 
newspapers  to  the  notice  of  the  public;  we 
may  imagine  the  profound  sensation  which 
they  produced.  It  was  a  fact!  the  end  of 
time  was  near!  the  earth  was  about  to  be 
shattered,  pulverized,  annihilated  by  the 
shock  of  the  comet!  Such  was  the  subject 
of  all  conversation.  The  strongest  minds 
were  for  a  moment  disturbed. 

But  a  question  remained  to  be  asked,  and 
the  newspapers  had  neither  stated  it  nor 
even  anticipated  it.  At  what  place  in  its 
immense  orbit  would  the  earth  be  found  on 
October  29,  1832,  before  midnight,  at  the  mo- 
ment when  the  comet  would  cross  this  orbit 
at  one  of  its  nodes  ?  Calculation  very  quick- 
ly settled  this  difficulty.  Arago  wrote  in  the 
Annuaire  for  1832:  "The  passage  of  the 
comet  will  take  place  very  near  a  certain 
point  of  the  terrestrial  orbit  on  October  29, 
before  midnight;  well,  the  earth  will  not 
reach  the  same  point  till  the  morning  of 
November  30 — that  is  to  say,  more  than  a 


Half-truth 
Harp 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


294 


month  after.  -We  have  now  only  to  recollect 
that  the  mean  velocity  of  the  earth  in  its 
orbit  is  1,670,000  miles  a  day,  and  a  very 
simple  calculation  will  prove  that  the  comet 
will  pass  at  fifty  millions  of  miles  from  the 
earth." — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  v,  ch.  1,  p.  483.  (A.) 

1431.  HALLUCINATION     PRODUCED 
BY  ACONITE—  Unreality  Recognized.— [The 
following  incident]  is  recorded  of  himself  by 
Dr.  Laycock: 

"  On  a  certain  night,  when  a  sufferer  from 
severe  pain  and  great  weakness,  he  took  one 
drop  of  Fleming's  tincture  of  aconite,  and 
slept.  About  midnight  he  became  sensible 
of  a  novel  state  of  perception,  obscure  at 
first,  but  shaped  at  last  into  strains  of 
grand  aerial  music  in  cadences  of  exquisite 
harmony,  now  dying  away  round  mountains 
in  infinite  perspective,  now  pealing  along 
oceanlike  valleys.  Knowing  by  previous 
studies  that  it  was  a  hallucination  of  per- 
ception, he  at  last  listened  to  ascertain  the 
cause,  and  found  it  was  the  rattle  of  a  mid- 
night train  entering  an  adjoining  railway 
station.  Thus,  under  the  changes  induced 
in  the  brain  by  a  drop  of  tincture  of  aconite, 
the  harsh  rattle  of  the  iron  vibrating  on  the 
air  in  the  silence  of  a  summer  midnight  was 
changed  into  harplike  aerial  music,  such  not 
only  as  *  ear  had  not  heard,'  but  no  conceiv- 
able art  of  man  could  realize.  Associated 
therewith  was  also  a  suggested  terrestrial 
vision  of  space  of  infinite  extent  and  gran- 
deur."— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  17,  p.  643.  (A.,  1900.) 

1432.  HAMMER  A  RELIC  OF  STONE 

AGE— History  Preserved  in  Its  Name.—  While 
the  club  has  been  generally  a  weapon,  the 
hammer  has  been  generally  an  implement. 
Its  history  begins  with  the  smooth  heavy 
pebble  held  in  the  hand,  such  as  African 
.blacksmiths  to  this  day  forge  their  iron 
with,  on  another  smooth  stone  as  anvil.  It 
was  a  great  improvement  to  fasten  the  stone 
hammer  on  a  handle;  this  was  done  in  very 
ancient  times,  as  is  seen  by  the  stone  heads 
being  grooved  or  bored  on  purpose.  .  .  . 
Tho  the  iron  hammer  has  superseded  these, 
a  trace  of  the  older  use  of  stone  remains  in 
our  very  name  hammer,  which  is  the  old 
Scandinavian  hamarr,  meaning  both  rock 
and  hammer. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  8, 
p.  184.  (A.,  1899.) 

1433.  HAND    GIVES    MAN    PREEMI- 
NENCE— The  Use  of  the  Hands  Develops  the 
Intellect. — How  far  the  value  of  the  hand  as 
a   mechanical    instrument   depends   on   this 
opposability   [of  the  thumb,  found  only  in 
the  human  hand],  any  one  may  satisfy  him- 
self by  using  his  hand  with  the  thumb  stiff. 
It  is  plain  that  man's  hand,  enabling  him  to 
shape  and  wield  weapons  and  tools  to  sub- 
due Nature  to  his  own  ends,  is  one  cause  of 
his  standing  first  among  animals.     It  is  not 
so  obvious,  but  it  is  true,  that  his  intellec- 
tual   development    must    have   been    in    no 
small  degree  gained  by  the  use  of  his  hands. 


From  handling  objects,  putting  them  in  dif- 
ferent positions,  and  setting  them  side  by 
side,  he  was  led  to  those  simplest  kinds  of 
comparing  and  measuring  which  are  the 
first  elements  of  exact  knowledge,  or  science. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  2,  p.  43.  (A., 
1899.) 

1434.  HAPPINESS  INVOLVES  AN  ELE- 
MENT OF  PATN—Love  Makes  Sacrifice  Pain- 
less.— In  our  best  happiness,  then,  what  we 
otherwise  term  pain  is  swallowed  up.     It  is 
embodied  and  mixed  up  in  the  joy.     For  do 
we  not  despise  and  loathe  a  man  whose  only 
thought  in  that  which  he  calls  love  is  of  the 
pleasure  he  can  receive?     And,  further,  by 
taking  away  the  love,  its  sacrifices  would  be 
felt  as  pain:    pain  emerges,  or  comes  out, 
from  this  joy  by  a  taking  away,  or  absence. 
And  its  presence,  to  one  who  should  be  lov- 
ing, might  imply  no  evil  state  around  him, 
but    only    something    wanting    in    himself. 
For   the  very   same  things   may  be   to  us 
either  painful,  or  in  the  highest  degree  pro- 
ductive of  delight,  of  a  delight  which  could 
not  be  without  them. — HINTON  The  Mystery 
of  Pain,  p.  21.     (Hum.,  1893.) 

1435.  HAPPINESS  VS.  PERFECTED 
CHARACTER — A  world  of  completed  hap- 
piness might  well  be  a  world  of  quiescence, 
of  stagnation,  of  automatism,  of  blankness; 
the  dynamics  of  evolution  would  have  no 
place  in  it.     But  suppose  we  say  that  the 
ultimate  goal  of  the  ethical  process  is  the 
perfecting  of  human  character?     This  form 
of   statement   contains   far   more  than   the 
other.    Consummation  of  happiness  is  a  nat- 
ural outcome  of  the  perfecting  of  character, 
but  that   perfecting   can   be   achieved   only 
through       struggle,       through       discipline, 
through  resistance.    It  is  for  him  that  over- 
cometh  that  the  crown  of  life  is  reserved. 
The  consummate  product  of  a  world  of  evo- 
lution is  the  character  that  creates  happi- 
ness, that  is  replete  with  dynamic  possibili- 
ties of  fresh  life  and  activity  in  directions 
forever  new.      Such  a   character  is  the  re- 
flected image  of  God,  and  in  it  are  contained 
the  promise  and  potency  of  life  everlasting. 
— FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
9,  p.  115.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1436.  HARBORS  FORMED  BY  CORAL 
REEFS — Great  Prospective  Value. — The  har- 
bors which  are  produced  by  the  reef-building 
corals,    together    with    the    various    marine 
animals    and    plants    which    are    associated 
with  them,  are  among  the  most  interesting 
and  important  of  all  classes  of  havens.   They 
are  not  only  in  origin  the  most  peculiar  of 
all  inlets  of  the  sea,  but  the  conditions  of 
their    development    and    the    circumstances 
which    lead   to   their   preservation   and   de- 
struction are  also  curious  and  noteworthy. 
Moreover,  in  the  district  of  southern  Florida 
organic  reefs  of  this  nature  are  numerous 
and    extensive,    and    the    ports    which    they 
form,  tho  as  yet  relatively  little  used,  are 
destined   in  course  of  time  to  have  great 
value   to    this    country. — SHALER    Sea   and 
Land,  p.  203.     (S.,  1894.) 


295 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Half-truth 
Harp 


1437.  HARMONY    AMID   DIVERSITY 

— Relative  Size  of  Sun  and  Planets — Great 
find  Small  in  Balanced  Movement. — Let 
the  reader  consider  a  terrestrial  globe  three 
inches  in  diameter,  and  search  out  on  that 
globe  the  tiny  triangular  speck  which  rep- 
resents Great  Britain.  Then  let  him  en- 
deavor to  picture  the  town  in  which  he  lives 
as  represented  by  the  minutest  pin-mark 
that  could  possibly  be  made  upon  this  speck. 
He  will  then,  have  formed  some  conception, 
tho  but  an  inadequate  one,  of  the  enormous 
dimensions  of  the  earth's  globe,  compared 
with  the  scene  in  which  his  daily  life  is  cast. 
Now,  on  the  same  scale,  the  sun  would  be 
represented  by  a  globe  about  twice  the 
height  of  an  ordinary  sitting-room.  A  room 
about  twenty-six  feet  in  length,  and  height, 
and  breadth,  'would  be  required  to  contain 
the  representation  of  the  sun's  globe  on  this 
scale,  while  the  globe  representing  the  earth 
could  be  placed  in  a  moderately  large  goblet. 
Such  is  the  body  which  sways  the  motions 
of  the  solar  system.  The  largest  of  his 
family,  the  giant  Jupiter,  tho  of  dimensions 
which  dwarf  those  of  the  earth  or  Venus  al- 
most to  nothingness,  would  yet  only  be  rep- 
resented by  a  thirty-two-inch  globe  on  the 
scale  which  gives  to  the  sun  the  enormous 
volume  I  have  spoken  of.  Saturn  would 
have  a  diameter  of  about  twenty-eight 
inches,  his  ring  measuring  about  five  feet 
in  its  extreme  span.  Uranus  and  Neptune 
would  be  little  more  than  a  foot  in  diameter, 
and  all  the  minor  planets  would  be  less  than 
the  three-inch  earth.  .  .  .  The  sun  out- 
Aveighs  fully  730  times  the  combined  mass 
of  all  the  planets  which  circle  around  him. — 
PROCTOR  Other  Worlds  than  Ours,  ch.  2,  p. 
S3.  (Burt.) 

1438.  HARMONY    OF    NATURE— An- 
cient   and    Recent    Features    of    Landscape 
Perfectly  Blend. — There  is  nothing,  indeed, 
so   calculated  to   instruct  the  geologist   as 
the    striking   manner    in   which    the    recent 
volcanic  hills  of  Ischia     ...     blend  with 
the  surrounding  landscape.     Nothing  seems 
wanting  or   redundant;    every   part  of  the 
picture   is    in    such   perfect   harmony   with 
the  rest  that  the  whole  has  the  appearance 
of  having  been   called  into   existence  by  a 
single  effort  of  creative  power.     Yet  what 
other   result   could   we   have   anticipated   if 
Nature  has  ever  been  governed  by  the  same 
laws?      Each    new   mountain    thrown    up — 
each  new  tract  of  land  raised  or  depressed 
by   earthquakes — should    be    in    perfect    ac- 
cordance   with    those   previously    formed. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  23, 
p.  373.     (A.,  1854.) 


1439. 


Flowers — The  Whole  Earth  Enlisted 
the  Snowdrop  in  Position — Our 
Could  Not  Grow  on  Mars. — Another 
tion,  and  a  very  beautiful  one,  is 
out  by  Whewell  in  the  positions  of 
"  Some  flowers  grow  with  the  hollow 
cup  upwards;  others  'hang  the 


Gravity  and  the 
To  Hold 
Flowers 
illustra- 
pointed 
flowers, 
of  their 
pensive 


head '  and  turn  the  opening  downwards." 
It  is  obvious  that  an  increase  of  gravity 
would  force  the  upright  plants  to  hang 
their  heads,  while  a  decrease  to  the  value 
of  gravity  which  actually  exists  in  Mars 
would  cause  the  drooping  heads  to  stand 
erect.  But  it  has  been  shown  by  Linnaeus 
that  on  the  position  of  the  heads  of  flowers, 
combined  with  the  greater  or  less  length 
of  the  pistil  and  stamens,  depends  the  fer- 
tility of  the  plant.  So-fchat,  as  Whewell 
remarks,  "  the  whole  mass  of  the  earth, 
from  pole  to  pole,  and  from  circumference 
to  center,  is  employed  in  keeping  a  snow- 
drop in  the  position  most  suited  to  the  pro- 
motion of  its  vegetable  health." — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  72.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

1440.  HARMONY    OF   NATURE  AND 
OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND— How    can    it    be 
true  that  man  is  so  outside  of  that  unity 
[of  Nature]   that  the  very  notion  of  seeing 
anything  like  himself  in  it  is  the  greatest 
of  all  philosophical  heresies?    Does  not  the 
very   possibility   of   science   consist   in   the 
possibility  of  reducing  all  natural  phenom- 
ena  to    purely   natural    conceptions,    which 
must  be  related  to  the  intellect  of  man  when 
they  are  worked  out  and  apprehended  by 
it?    And  if,  according  to  the  latest  theories, 
man  is  himself  a  product  of  evolution,  and 
is,  therefore,  in  every  atom  of  his  body  and 
in  every  function  of  his  mind  a  part  and 
a  child  of  Nature,  is  it  not  in  the  highest 
degree    illogical    so   to    separate   him   from 
it  as  to  condemn  him  for  seeing  in  it  some 
image  of  himself?     If  he  is  its  product  and 
its  child,  is  it  not  certain  that  he  is  right 
when    he    sees    and    feels    the    indissoluble 
bonds    of    unity    which    unite    him    to    the 
great  system  of  things  in  which  he  lives? 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  8,  p.   165. 
(Burt.) 

1441.  HARMONY  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 

— Gravitation  Proved  Universal  —  Discov- 
ery of  Neptune — Newton  Finds  a  Law — The 
Law  Enables  Astronomers  To  Find  an  Un- 
known World. — This  discovery  [of  Neptune] 
seems  to  me  in  some  respects  even  more 
striking  than  Newton's  discovery  of  the 
law  of  gravitation.  Newton  explained  the 
laws  according  to  which  known  objects 
move;  Adams  and  Le  Verrier  showed  where 
a  hitherto  unknown  object  would  be  found 
when  telescopes  were  turned  to  that  part 
of  the  heavens.  Newton  recognized  laws 
hitherto  unknown.  Adams  and  Le  Verrier 
by  abstract  reasoning  inferred  the  existence 
of  a  world  which  men  as  yet  had  never 
seen. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  122. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1442.  HARP   DERIVED   FROM  BOW- 
STRING— The  Piano  a  Perfected  Harp. —It  is 
told  in  the  "Odyssey"   (xxi,  410)   how  the 
avenging    hero,    when    he    has    strung    his 
mighty    bow    compact    of    wood   ^nd    horn, 
gives    the    stretched    string    a    twang    that 
makes  it  sing  like  a  swallow  in  a  soft  tone 


Sarp 
eat 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


296 


beautifully.  One  might  well  guess  that 
the  strung  bow  of  the  warrior  would  nat- 
urally become  a  musical  instrument,  but, 
what  is  more,  it  really  is  so  used.  The 
Damara  in  South  Africa  finds  pleasure  in 
the  faint  tones  heard  by  striking  the  tight 
bowstring  with  a  little  stick.  The  Zulu  de- 
spises the  bow  as  a  cowardly  weapon,  but 
he  still  uses  it  for  music;  his  music-bow 
has  a  ring  slid  along  the  string  to  alter 
the  note,  and  is  also  provided  with  a  hol- 
low gourd  [held  behind  the  bow  against  the 
breast]  acting  as  a  resonator  or  sounding- 
box  to  strengthen  the  feeble  twang.  The 
ancient  Egyptian  harp  [simply  a  curved 
strip  of  wood,  with  a  few  strings  stretched 
across  it]  may  have  been  developed  from 
such  a  rude  music-bow,  the  wooden  back 
being  now  made  hollow  so  as  to  be  bow 
and  resonator  in  one,  while  across  it  are 
strung  several  strings  of  different  lengths. 
All  ancient  harps,  Assyrian,  Persian,  even 
old  Irish,  were  made  on  this  plan,  yet  we 
can  see  at  a  glance  that  it  was  defective, 
the  bending  of  the  wooden  back  putting  the 
strings  out  of  tune.  It  was  not  till  modern 
ages  that  the  improvement  was  made  of 
completing  the  harp  with  the  front  pillar, 
which  makes  the  whole  frame  rigid  and 
firm.  .  .  .  The  harp/  tho  now  made 
more  perfect  than  of  old,  is  losing  its  an- 
cient place  in  music;  but  the  reason  of  this 
is  easy  to  see — it  has  been  supplanted  by 
modern  instruments  which  have  come  from 
it.  The  very  form  of  a  grand  piano  shows 
that  it  is  a  harp  laid  on  one  side  in  a 
case,  and  its  strings  not  plucked  with  the 
fingers,  but  struck  with  hammers  worked 
from  a  keyboard.  It  is  the  latest  develop- 
ment from  the  bowstring  of  the  prehistoric 
warrior. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p. 
295.  (A.,  1899.) 

1443.  HARVEST,    GREAT,    FROM 
SCANTY  SOWING— Few  Original  Concepts  in 
Sanskrit — All  India's  Languages  Therefrom. 
— In  analyzing  the  Sanskrit  language,  Pro- 
fessor Max  Miiller   ["  Science  of  Thought," 
p.  549]  reduces  its  whole  vocabulary  to  121 
roots — the  121  "  original  concepts."   "  These 
121    concepts    constitute    the   stock-in-trade 
with  which  I  maintain  that  every  thought 
that  has  ever  passed  through  the  mind  of 
India,  so  far  as  known  to  us  in  its  litera- 
ture,  has   been   expressed.      It   would   have 
been    easy    to    reduce    that    number     still 
further,  for  there  are  several  among  them 
which  could  be  ranged  together  under  more 
general  concepts.     But  I  leave  this  further 
reduction    to    others,    being    satisfied    as    a 
first  attempt  with  having  shown  how  small 
a   number   of  seeds   may   produce,   and   has 
produced,  the  enormous  intellectual  vegeta- 
tion that  has  covered  the  soil  of  India  from 
the  most  distant  antiquity  to  the  present 
day." — DRUMMOND    Ascent"  of   Man,    ch.    5, 
p.  180.     (J.  P.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1444.  HAWAII,  VOLCANOES  OF—  Vast 
River    of    Melted    Rock — Mauna    Loa. — We 


learn  from  the  valuable  observations  made 
by  Mr.  Dana  on  the  active  volcanoes  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  that  large  sheets  of 
compact  basaltic  lava  have  been  poured 
out  of  craters  at  the  top  or  near  the  sum- 
mits of  flattened  domes  higher  than  Etna, 
as  in  the  case  of  Mount  Loa,  for  example, 
where  a  copious  stream  two  miles  broad  and 
twenty- five  miles  long  proceeded  from  an 
opening  13,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  usual  slope  of  these  sheets  of  lava 
is  between  5°  and  10° ;  but  Mr.  Dana  con- 
vinced himself  that,  owing  to  the  sudden- 
ness with  which  they  cool  in  the  air,  some 
lavas  may  occasionally  form  on  slopes  equal- 
ing 25°,  and  still  preserve  a  considerable 
compactness  of  texture.  It  is  even  proved, 
he  says,  from  what  he  saw  in  the  great 
lateral  crater  of  Kilauea,  on  the  flanks  of 
Mount  Loa,  that  a  mass  of  such  melted  rock 
may  consolidate  at  an  inclination  of  30°, 
and  be  continuous  for  300  or  400  feet.  Such 
masses  are  narrow,  he  admits,  "  but  if  the 
source  had  been  more  generous,  they  would 
have  had  a  greater  breadth,  and  by  a  suc- 
cession of  ejections,  overspreading  each 
cooled  layer,  a  considerable  thickness  might 
have  been  attained."  The  same  author  has 
also  shown  .  .  .  that  in  the  "  cinder 
cones"  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  the  strata 
have  an  original  inclination  of  between  35° 
and  40°. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  24,  p.  383.  (A.,  1854.) 

1445.  HAWK  THE  FARMER'S  ALLY 

— "  Chicken-hawk  "  Lives  Chiefly  on  Mice 
and  Batrachians  and  Insects. — The  voices  of 
hawks  are  in  keeping  with  their  disposi- 
tions, and,  while  their  lives  typify  all  that 
is  fierce  and  cruel,  no  birds  are  more  often 
wrongly  accused  and  falsely  persecuted  than 
our  birds  of  prey.  To  kill  one  is  regarded 
as  an  act  of  special  merit;  to  spare  one 
seems  to  place  a  premium  on  crime.  Still, 
these  birds  are  among  the  best  friends  of 
the  farmer.  There  are  but  two  of  our  com- 
mon species,  Cooper's  and  the  sharp-shinned, 
who  habitually  feed  on  birds  and  poultry. 
Our  other  common  species  are,  without  ex- 
ception, invaluable  aids  to  the  agriculturist 
in  preventing  the  undue  increase  of  the 
small  rodents  so  destructive  to  crops.  .  .  . 
The  red-shouldered  hawk,  to  which  the 
name  chicken-  or  hen-hawk  is  often  applied, 
has  been  found  to  live  largely  on  small 
mammals,  reptiles,  batrachians,  and  insects. 
— CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  7,  p.  116.  (A., 
1900.) 

1446.  HEALTH  BY  REMOVAL  OF  IM- 
PURITIES —  The  Elbe  below  Hamburg.— In 
1893  Koch  brought  out  his  monograph  upon 
"  Water   Filtration   and   Cholera,"   and   his 
work  had  a  deservedly  great  influence  upon 
the  whole  question.    He  shows  how  the  care- 
ful  filtration  of  water  supplied  to   Altona 
from  the  Elbe  saved  the  town  from  the  epi- 
demic  of    cholera   which    came   upon   Ham- 
burg as  a  result  of  drinking  unfiltered  wa- 
ter, altho  Altona   is  situated  several  miles 


297 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


below  Hamburg,  and  its  drinking-water  is 
taken  from  the  river  after  it  has  received 
the  sewage  of  Hamburg. — NEWMAN  Bac- 
teria, eh.  2,  p.  75.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1447.  HEALTH    CONDUCES    TO    MO- 
RALITY— Interaction  of  Matter  and  Spirit. — 
There  is  assuredly  morality  in  the  oxygen 
of  the  mountains,  as  there  is  immorality  in 
the  miasma  of  a  marsh,  and  a  higher  power 
than  mere  brute  force  lies  latent  in  Alpine 
mutton.    We  are  recognizing  more  and  more 
the    influence    of  physical   elements    in   the 
conduct  of  life,   for  when  the  blood   flows 
in  a  purer  current  the  heart  is  capable  of 
a  higher  glow.     Spirit  and  matter  are  in- 
terfused; the  Alps  improve  us  totally,  and 
we   return   from   their   precipices   wiser   as 
well  as  stronger  men. — TYNDALL  Hours  of 
Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  14,  p.  155.      (A., 
1898.) 

1448.  HEALTH  IN  TROPICAL  LANDS 
— Danger    of    Excesses    in    Food — Alcoholic 
Stimulants    Perilous.  —  Englishmen,    accus- 
tomed  to    an    active    life    at   home,    and    a 
climate  demanding  much   fuel-food   for   the 
maintenance   of   animal  heat,  go   to   India, 
crammed,  maybe,  with  Latin,  but  ignorant 
of  the  laws  of  health;   cheap  servants  pro- 
mote   indolence,    tropical    heat    diminishes 
respiratory     oxidation,     and     the     appetite 
naturally    fails. 

Instead  of  understanding  this  failure  as 
an  admonition  to  take  smaller  quantities 
of  food,  or  food  of  less  nutritive  and  com- 
bustive  value,  such  as  carbohydrates  instead 
of  hydrocarbons  and  albuminoids,  they  re- 
gard it  as  a  symptom  of  ill-health,  and  take 
curries,  bitter  ale,  and  other  tonics  or  appe- 
tizing condiments,  which,  however  mischie- 
vous in  England,  are  far  more  so  here. 

I  know  several  men  who  have  lived  ra- 
tionally in  India,  and  they  all  agree  that 
the  climate  is  especially  favorable  to  lon- 
gevity, provided  bitter  beer  and  all  other 
alcoholic  drinks,  all  peppery  condiments, 
and  flesh  foods  are  avoided.  The  most  re- 
markable example  of  vigorous  old  age  I 
have  ever  met  was  a  retired  colonel  eighty- 
two  years  of  age,  who  had  risen  from  the 
ranks,  and  had  been  fifty-five  years  in  In- 
dia without  furlough;  drunk  no  alcohol 
during  that  period;  was  a  vegetarian  in 
India,  tho  not  so  in  his  native  land. 
I  guessed  his  age  to  be  somewhere  about 
sixty.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  and  an  ar- 
dent student  of  the  works  of  both  George 
and  Dr.  Andrew  Combe. — WILLIAMS  Chem- 
istry of  Cookery,  ch.  15,  p.  261.  (A.,  1900.) 

1449.  HEARING,  SENSE  OF,  IN  BEES 
— Seemingly  Too  Fine  for  Human  Discern- 
ment.— As    in    ants,    so    in    bees,    Sir    John 
[Lubbock's]  experiments  failed  to  yield  any 
evidence  of  a  sense  of  hearing.     But  in  this 
connection    we    must    not    forget   the    well- 
known  fact,  first  observed  by  Huber,   that 
the    queen   bee   will    answer   by    a    certain 
sound  the  peculiar  piping  of  a  pupa  queen ; 
and  again,  by  making  a  certain  cry  or  hum- 


ming noise,  will  strike  consternation  sud- 
denly on  all  the  bees  in  the  hive — these 
remaining  for  a  long  time  motionless  as 
if  stupefied. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence, 
ch.  4,  p.  144.  (A.,  1899.) 

1450.  HEARTH  AS  TYPE   OF  HOME 

— Wood  as  Fuel — Exhaustion  of — The  In- 
dian's Guess. — When  in  the  savage  hut  the 
logs  are  piled  on  the  earthen  floor,  this  sim- 
ple hearth  already  becomes  the  gathering- 
place  of  the  family  and  the  type  of  home. 
But  in  treeless  districts  the  want  of  fuel  is 
one  of  the  difficulties  of  life,  as  where  on  the 
desert  plains  the  buffalo-hunter  has  to  pick 
up  for  the  evening  fire  the  droppings  which 
he  calls  "  buffalo-chips "  or  bois  de  vache. 
Even  in  woodland  countries,  as  soon  as  peo- 
ple collect  in  villages,  the  fire-wood  near  by 
is  apt  to  run  short.  When  some  American 
Indians  were  asked  what  reason  they  sup- 
posed had  brought  the  white  men  to  their 
country,  they  answered  quite  simply  that  no 
doubt  we  had  burnt  up  all  our  wood  at 
home  and  had  to  move.  The  guess  was  so 
far  good  that  something  of  the  kind  must 
really  have  happened  had  we  depended  on 
the  fuel  from  our  forests  and  peat-bogs,  for 
the  supply  in  England  was  giving  out. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  11,  p.  270.  (A., 
1899.) 

1451.  HEAT   A  MODE  OF  MOTION— 

Recent  Theory  Foreshadowed. — By  this  cor- 
puscular or  mechanical  philosophy  Boyle 
[1626-1692]  explains  such  things  as  he  re- 
gards as  natural  phenomena — such  as  heat 
and  cold,  tastes,  corrosiveness,  fixedness, 
volatility,  chemical  precipitation,  and, 
finally,  magnetism  and  electricity.  Thus, 
heat,  he  says,  is  "  that  mechanical  affection 
of  matter  we  call  local  motion,  mechanically 
modified  "  in  three  ways :  first,  by  the  vehe- 
ment agitation  of  the  parts;  second,  that 
the  motions  be  very  various  in  direction; 
and  third,  that  the  agitated  particles,  or  at 
least  the  greatest  number  of  them,  be  so 
minute  as  to  be  singly  insensible. 

It  is  singular  how  the  mechanical  theory 
— or,  as  we  now  term  it,  the  dynamical 
theory,  as  applied  to  heat — impressed  itself 
upon  the  philosophers  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Bacon  defines  heat  as  "  a  motion 
acting  in  its  strife  upon  the  smaller  par- 
ticles of  bodies."  Boyle  saw  clearly  that 
when  heat  is  generated  by  mechanical  means 
new  heat  is  called  into  existence,  and  be- 
lieved that  the  production  of  heat  and  elec- 
tricity were  somehow  correlated.  Locke,  in 
his  "  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding," 
says  that  "  what  in  our  sensation  is  heat,  in 
the  object  is  nothing  but  motion."  Hooke 
plainly  perceived  heat  as  a  vibration,  and 
denies  the  existence  of  anything  without 
motion,  and  hence  perfectly  cold.  Yet  it 
was  the  material  and  not  the  mechanical 
theory  which  prevailed  and  which  held  the 
beliefs  of  the  world  up  to  our  own  time. — 
PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity, ch.  13,  p.  416.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 


Heat 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


298 


1452. 


The  Atomic  Theory 


in  Chemistry. — As  long  as  distance  sepa- 
rates [atoms  or  molecules]  they  can  move 
across  it  in  obedience  to  the  attraction;  and 
the  motion  thus  produced  may,  by  proper 
appliances,  be  caused  to  perform  mechanical 
work.  When,  for  example,  two  atoms  of 
hydrogen  unite  with  one  of  oxygen,  to  form 
water,  the  atoms  are  first  drawn  towards 
each  other — they  move,  they  clash,  and  then, 
by  virtue  of  their  resiliency,  they  recoil  and 
quiver.  To  this  quivering  motion  we  give 
the  name  of  heat.  This  atomic  vibration  is 
merely  the  redistribution  of  the  motion  pro- 
duced by  the  chemical  affinity;  and  this  is 
the  only  sense  in  which  chemical  affinity  can 
be  said  to  be  converted  into  heat.  We  must 
not  imagine  the  chemical  attraction  de- 
stroyed or  converted  into  anything  else. 
For  the  atoms,  when  mutually  clasped  to 
form  a  molecule  of  water,  are  held  together 
by  the  very  attraction  which  first  drew  them 
towards  each  other.  That  which  has  really 
been  expended  is  the  pull  exerted  through 
the  space  by  which  the  distance  between  the 
atoms  has  been  diminished. — TYNDALI,  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  25.  (A., 
1897.) 

1453.  HEAT  AND  ELECTRICITY— Elec- 
tric Conduction  Increased  by  Cold — Atomic 
Theory  of  Electricity. — If  we  make  a  com- 
parison of  electric  conductors  we  find  that 
the  metals  that  conduct  heat  best  also  con- 
duct electricity  best.     This,  it  seems  to  me, 
is  a  confirmation  of  the  atomic  theory  of 
electricity  so  far  as  it  means  anything.     If 
a  good  conductor,  as  silver,  is  subjected  to 
intense  cold  by  putting  it  into  liquid  air,  its 
conductivity  is  greatly  increased.     It  is  well 
known  that  heating  a  conductor  ordinarily 
diminishes  its  power  to  conduct  electricity. 
This  shows  that,  in  order  that  electrical  mo- 
tion of  the  atom  may  have  free  play,  the 
heat  motion  must  be  suppressed. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  47. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1454.  HEAT  A  RESULT  OF  MOTION 

— Water  of  Cataract  Warmed  by  the  Fall — 
Ocean  Made  Warmer  by  Storm. — This  small 
basin  contains  a  quantity  of  mercury  which 
has  been  cooled  in  the  next  room.  One  of 
the  faces  of  the  thermo-electric  pile  is 
plunged  into  the  liquid  metal.  The  deflec- 
tion of  the  needle  proves  that  the  mercury 
is  cold.  Two  glasses  are  swathed  thickly 
round  with  listing,  to  prevent  the  warmth 
of  the  hands  from  reaching  the  mercury.  I 
pour  the  cold  mercury  into  one  of  the 
glasses,  and  then  from  the  one  glass  into 
the  other,  and  back.  Its  motion  is  de- 
stroyed, but  heat  is  developed.  The  amount 
of  heat  generated  by  a  single  pouring  out  is 
extremely  small;  so  we  will  repeat  the 
process  ten  or  fifteen  times.  The  pile  being 
now  plunged  into  the  liquid,  the  needle 
moves;  and  its  motion  declares  that  the 
mercury,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  ex- 
periment was  cooler,  is  now  warmer  than 
the  pile.  We  here  introduce  into  the  lec- 


ture-room an  effect  which  occurs  at  the  base 
of  every  waterfall.  There  are  friends  be- 
fore me  who  have  stood  amid  the  foam  of 
Niagara,  and  I  have  done  so  myself.  Had 
we  dipped  sufficiently  sensitive  thermometers 
into  the  water  at  the  top  and  at  the  bottom 
of  the  cataract,  we  should  have  found  the 
latter  warmer  than  the  former.  The  sailor's 
tradition,  also,  is  theoretically  correct;  the 
sea  is  rendered  warmer  by  a  storm,  the  me- 
chanical dash  of  its  billows  being  ultimately 
converted  into  heat. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  1,  p.  6.  (A.,  1900.) 

1455.  HEAT  DEVELOPED   BY  CHEM- 
ISTRY AND  ELECTRICITY— It  has  already 
been  stated  that  chemical  changes  develop 
electricity;     which,  in  its  turn,  becomes  a 
powerful  disturbing  cause.     As  a  chemical 
agent,  says  Davy,  its  silent  and  slow  opera- 
tion in  the  economy  of  Nature  is  much  more 
important   than  its   grand   and   impressive 
operation  in  lightning  and  thunder.     It  may 
be  considered  not  only  as  directly  producing 
an  infinite  variety  of  changes,  but  as  influ- 
encing almost  all  which  take  place ;  it  would 
seem,  indeed,  that  chemical  attraction  itself 
is  only  a  peculiar  form  of  the  exhibition  of 
electrical    attraction. — LYELL   Principles   of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  31,  p.  542.     (A.,  1854.) 

1456.  HEAT,    FRICTION    AN    INEX- 
HAUSTIBLE SOURCE  OF— Count  Rumford's 
Argument. — With  Rumford,  however,  a  new 
and  powerful  factor  appeared  on  the  scene. 
He  began  by  proving  the  hypothetical  mat- 
ter of  heat  to  be  imponderable,  but  the  main 
drift  of  his  experiments  was  to  prove  fric- 
tion to  be  an  inexhaustible  source  of  heat, 
while  the  whole  force  of  his  logic  went  to 
show  that  an  inexhaustible  emission  is   ir- 
reconcilable with  the  notion  that  heat  is  a 
kind  of  matter. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  2,  p.  39.     (A.,  1900.) 

1457.  HEAT  OF  EARTH,  LOSS  OF— 

No  Sensible  Diminution  in  Two  Thousand 
Tears. — The  gradual  diminution  of  the  sup- 
posed primitive  heat  of  the  globe  has  been 
resorted  to  by  many  geologists  as  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  alterations  of  climate.  The 
matter  of  our  planet  is  imagined,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  conjectures  of  Leibnitz,  to 
have  been  originally  in  an  intensely  heated 
state,  and  to  have  been  parting  ever  since 
with  portions  of  its  heat,  and  at  the  same 
time  contracting  its  dimensions.  There  are, 
undoubtedly,  good  grounds  for  inferring 
from  recent  observation  and  experiment  that 
the  temperature  of  the  earth  increases  as 
we  descend  from  the  surface  to  that  slight 
depth  to  which  man  can  penetrate:  but 
there  are  no  positive  proofs  of  a  secular  de- 
crease of  internal  heat  accompanied  by  con- 
traction. On  the  contrary,  Laplace  has 
shown,  by  reference  to  astronomical  observa- 
tions made  in  the  time  of  Hipparchus,  that 
in  the  last  two  thousand  years  at  least  there 
has  been  no  sensible  contraction  of  the  globe 
by  cooling ;  for  had  this  been  the  case,  even 
to  an  extremely  small  amount,  the  day 


299 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Heat 


would  have  been  shortened,  whereas  its 
length  has  certainly  not  diminished  during 
that  period  by  ^iUth  of  a  second. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  129. 
(A.,  1854.) 

'  1458.  HEAT  OF  HUMAN  BODY— En- 
ergy Expended  in  Maintaining — Other  Ex- 
penditures of  Energy. — The  amount  of  en- 
ergy daily  manifested  by  the  adult  human 
body  in  (a)  the  maintenance  of  its  tem- 
perature ;  (b)  in  internal  mechanical  work, 
as  in  the  movements  of  the  respiratory  mus- 
cles, the  heart,  etc.;  and  (c)  in  external 
mechanical  work,  as  in  locomotion  and  all 
other  voluntary  movements,  has  been  reck- 
oned at  about  3,400  foot-tons.  Of  this 
amount  only  one-tenth  is  directly  ex- 
pended in  internal  and  external  mechanical 
work,  the  remainder  being  employed  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  body's  heat.  The  latter 
amount  represents  the  heat  which  would  be 
required  to  raise  48.4  Ibs.  of  water  from  the 
freezing-  to  the  boiling-point;  or,  if  con- 
verted into  mechanical  power,  it  would  suf- 
fice to  raise  the  body  of  a  man  weighing 
about  150  Ibs.  through  a  vertical  height  of 
8%  miles. 

To  the  foregoing  amounts  of  expenditure 
must  be  added  the  quite  unknown  quantity 
expended  in  the  various  manifestations  of 
nerve-force,  and  in  the  work  of  nutrition 
and  growth  (using  these  terms  in  their 
widest  sense).  By  comparing  the  amount 
of  energy  which  should  be  produced  in  the 
body,  from  so  much  food  of  a  given  kind, 
with  that  which  is  actually  manifested  (as 
shown  by  the  various  products  of  combus- 
tion in  the  excretions ) ,  attempts  have  been 
made,  indeed,  to  estimate,  by  a  process  of 
exclusion,  these  unknown  quantities;  but 
all  such  calculations  must  be  at  present  con- 
sidered only  very  doubtfully  approximate. — 
BAKER  Handbook  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
17,  p.  65.  (W.  W.,  1885.) 


1459. 


Loss  of,  in  Exercise 


— Exertion  Creates  New  Supply. — It  would 
appear  .  .  .  that  the  body  ought  to 
grow  colder,  in  the  act  of  climbing  or  of 
working  [since  heat  is  thrown  off  from  the 
body  into  space],  whereas  universal  experi- 
ence proves  it  to  grow  warmer.  The  solu- 
tion of  this  seeming  contradiction  is  found 
in  the  fact  that,  when  the  muscles  are  ex- 
erted, augmented  respiration  and  increased 
chemical  action  set  in.  The  fan  which  urges 
oxygen  into  the  fire  within  is  more  briskly 
moved;  and  thus,  tho  heat  actually  disap- 
pears as  we  climb,  the  loss  is  more  than 
covered  by  the  increased  activity  of  the 
chemical  processes. — TYNDAIX  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  531.  (A.,  1900.) 

146O. Loss  of,   through 

Inanition — Death  by  Starvation  Is  Death  by 
Cold — External  Warmth  in  Exhaustive  Dis- 
eases.— It  has  been  often  said,  and  with 
truth,  altho  the  statement  requires  some 
qualification,  that  death  by  starvation  is 
really  death  by  cold;  for  not  only  has  it 


been  found  that  differences  of  time  with  re- 
gard to  the  period  of  the  fatal  result  are 
attended  by  the  same  ultimate  loss  of  heat 
[about  30°  P.],  but  the  .  .  .  applica- 
tion of  external  warmth  to  animals  cold  and 
dying  from  starvation  is  [found  to  be]  more 
effectual  in  reviving  them  than  the  adminis- 
tration of  food.  In  other  words,  an  animal 
exhausted  by  deprivation  of  nourishment  is 
unable  so  to  digest  food  as  to  use  it  as  fuel, 
and  therefore  is  depenctent  for  heat  on  its 
supply  from  without.  Similar  facts  are 
often  observed  in  the  treatment  of  exhaust- 
ive diseases  in  man. — BAKER  Handbook  of 
Physiology,  vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  220.  (W.  W., 
1885.) 

1461.  HEAT  OF   THE  ATMOSPHERE 

— Chill  of  Upper  Air — Absolute  Zero  of 
Space. — If  we  suddenly  compress  a  cubic 
foot  of  air  at  ordinary  pressure  into  a  cubic 
inch  of  space,  that  cubic  inch  will  be  very 
hot  because  it  contains  all  the  heat  that  was 
distributed  through  the  entire  cubic  foot  be- 
fore the  compression  took  place.  Now  let  it 
remain  compressed  until  the  heat  has  radi- 
ated from  it,  as  it  soon  will,  and  the  air  be- 
comes of  the  same  temperature  as  the  sur- 
rounding air.  What  ought  to  happen  if 
then  we  should  suddenly  allow  this  cubic 
inch  of  air  to  expand  to  its  normal  pressure, 
when  it  will  occupy  a  cubic  foot  of  space? 
Inasmuch  as  we  allowed  the  heat  to  escape 
from  it  when  in  the  condensed  form,  when 
it  expands  it  will  be  very  cold,  because  the 
heat  of  the  cubic  inch,  now  reduced  to  the 
normal  temperature  of  the  surrounding  air, 
is  distributed  over  a  cubic  foot  of  space. 
This  is  precisely  what  takes  place  when 
heated  air  at  the  surface  of  the  earth 
(which  is  condensed  to  a  certain  extent) 
rises  to  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere. There  is  a  gradual  expansion  as  it 
ascends,  and  consequently  a  gradual  cooling, 
because  a  given  amount  of  heat  is  being  con- 
stantly distributed  over  a  greater  amount  of 
space.  At  an  altitude  of  forty-five  miles  it 
will  have  expanded  about  25,000  times, 
which  will  bring  the  temperature  down  to 
between  200  and  300  degrees  below  zero. 
When  we  get  beyond  the  limits  of  the  atmos- 
phere we  get  into  the  region  of  absolute 
cold,  because  heat  is  atomic  motion,  and 
there  can  be  no  atomic  motion  where  there 
are  no  atoms. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's 
Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  54.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 

1462.  HEAT,    PLANTS    NEED    UNI- 
FORM— Light  May  Vary  More. — There  is  every 
reason  to  conclude  that  the  range  of  inten- 
sity of  light  to  which  living  plants  can  ac- 
commodate   themselves    is    far    wider    than 
that  of  heat.     No  palms  or  tree-ferns  can 
live  in  our  temperate  latitudes  without  pro- 
tection from  the  cold;    but  when  placed  in 
hothouses  they  grow  luxuriantly,  even  un- 
der a  cloudy  sky,  and  where  much  light  is 
intercepted   by   the   glass   and    frame-work. 
At    St.    Petersburg,    in    lat.    60°    N.,    these 
plants  have  been  successfully  cultivated  in 


Beat 
elpless 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


300 


hothouses,  altho  there  they  must  exchange 
the  perpetual  equinox  of  their  native  re- 
gions for  days  and  nights  which  are  alter- 
nately protracted  to  nineteen  hours  and 
shortened  to  five.  How  much  farther  to- 
wards the  pole  they  might  continue  to  live, 
provided  a  due  quantity  of  heat  and  mois- 
ture were  supplied,  has  not  yet  been  deter- 
mined; but  St.  Petersburg  is  probably  not 
the  utmost  limit,  and  we  should  expect  that 
in  lat.  65°  at  least,  where  they  would  never 
remain  twenty-four  hours  without  enjoying 
the  sun's  light,  they  might  still  exist. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p. 
89.  (A.,  1854.) 

1463.  HEAT  PRODUCING  COLD— Re- 
frigeration   Improves    Food    of    Nations. — 
Since    heat    is    transformable    into    motive 
power,    and    motive    power    can    force    am- 
monia to  chill  itself,  a  ton  of  coal,  accord- 
ing to  quality,   can  make  six  to  ten  tons 
of  ice  in  competition  with  the  frosts  of  win- 
ter.     Because    their    product    is    pure,    re- 
frigerating-machines  are  finding  more  and 
more    favor   in   cities   once   supplied   exclu- 
sively  with    ice   from   ponds    and   streams. 
.     .     .     Cold,  so  singular  an  issue  of  heat, 
has   high    commercial    value.      Apples    and 
grapes  harvested  in  September  and  October 
are   sent   from   the   cold-storage   warehouse 
to  the  table  in  perfect  order  as  late  as  May. 
The  fruit-grower  and  the  dairyman  have  a 
new    opportunity    to    choose    the    time    for 
marketing     their     products.       Refrigerator 
steamships  now  carry  Canadian  butter  and 
New  Zealand  meat  in  vast  quantities  to  the 
markets    of    Great    Britain.      Within    the 
shorter  distances  traversed  by  the  railroads 
of   the   United    States   the   strawberries   of 
Oregon  find  their  way  unbruised  and  fresh 
to  St.  Paul  and  Chicago,  while  the  kitchen- 
gardeners    of    Florida    and    Louisiana    look 
for   their   customers   in   New  England   and 
New    York.      There    is    more    in    all    this 
than  the  mere  purveying  of  luxuries;  there 
is    an    increase    of    individual    health    and 
strength  when  a  national  bill  of  fare  is  at 
once  diversified  and  made  more  wholesome. 
Whereas  heat  in  the  hands   of  early  man 
served  to   multiply  his   foods  by  primitive 
methods   of  roasting,  of  smoking,  of  pres- 
ervation in  grease — as  pemmican — the  later 
applications  of  heat  by  the  modern  engineer 
are  of  incomparable  service  in  multiplying 
the    food-resources    of    the    civilized    world. 
Cold  storage  and  quick  transportation  sup- 
plement   in    remarkable    fashion    every    de- 
vice  that   has   sprung   from  the   aboriginal 
grill    and   kettle. — ILES    Flame,   Electricity, 
and  the  Camera,  ch.  5,  p.  66.    (D.  &  McC., 
1900.) 

1464.  HEAT  PROVED   NOT   A    SUB- 
STANCE —  Thermal    Vibration   Compared  to 
Sound  of  Bell. — With  regard  to  the  illustra- 
tion   which    compared    heat    to    water    con- 
tained in  a  sponge,  Rumford  replied  thus: 
*'  A  sponge  filled  with  water   and  hung  by 
a  thread  in  the  middle  of  a  room  filled  with 
dry  air  communicates   its  moisture  to  the 


air,  it  is  true,  but  soon  the  water  evaporates 
and  the  sponge  can  no  longer  give  out  mois- 
ture." The  case,  he  contended,  is  not  at 
all  similar  to  heat;  for  here,  by  renewed 
mechanical  action,  we  can  cause  the  heat 
to  flow  out  at  will.  "  A  bell,"  he  says, 
"  sounds  without  intermission  when  it  is 
struck,  and  gives  out  its  sound  as  often 
as  we  please,  without  any  perceptible  loss. 
Moisture  is  a  substance,  sound  is  not." 
Heat,  he  contended,  was  typified  by  the  vi- 
brating bell  and  not  by  the  evaporating 
sponge. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  2,  p.  46.  (A.,  1900.) 

1 465.  HEAT,  SUPPLY  OF,  WITHIN  THE 
EARTH— Science  May  Yet  Mine  for  Heat— A 
City  Receives  Hot  Water  from  Underground. 
— So  marked  is  this  steady  increase  of  tem- 
perature as  we  go  downwards,  that  it  has 
been  seriously  proposed  to  make  very  deep 
borings  in  order  to  obtain  supplies  of  warm 
water  for  heating  our  towns.  Arago  and 
Walferdin  suggested  this  method  for  warm- 
ing the  Jardin  des  Plantes  at  Paris;  and 
now  that  such  important  improvements 
have  been  devised  in  carrying  borings  to 
enormous  depths,  the  time  may  not  be  far 
distant  when  we  shall  draw  extensively 
upon  these  supplies  of  subterranean  heat. 
At  the  present  time  the  city  of  Budapest 
is  extensively  supplied  with  hot  water  from 
an  underground  source.  Should  our  coal- 
supply  ever  fail,  it  may  be  well  to  remember 
that  we  have  these  inexhaustible  supplies 
of  heat  everywhere  beneath  our  feet.— JUDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  12,  p.  335.  (A.,  1899.) 

1466.  HEAT  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  MAT- 
TER— Phlogiston — Count  Rumford' s  Experi- 
ment— Heat  Proved  To  Be  Motion — Errors 
of  Early  Scientists. — Down  to  the  beginning 
of  this  century  heat  was  generally  considered 
to  be  a  form  of  matter,  termed  caloric  or 
phlogiston.  The  presence  of  phlogiston  was 
supposed  to  -render  substances  combustible, 
but  when  the  chemical  theory  of  combustion 
was  discovered  by  Lavoisier,  phlogiston,  as 
the  cause  of  combustion,  disappeared,  al- 
tho caloric,  as  the  material  basis  of  heat, 
still  held  its  ground.  Close  to  the  end  of 
the  last  century  Count  Rumford  showed 
that  in  boring  a  brass  cannon  the  heat  de- 
veloped in  2y2  hours  was  sufficient  to  raise 
26%  Ibs.  of  water  from  the  freezing-  to  the 
boiling-point.  But  during  the  operation  the 
metal  had  lost  no  weight  nor  undergone  any 
other  change;  and  as  the  production  of  heat 
by  this  process  appeared  to  be  unlimited  he 
concluded  that  heat  could  not  be  matter,  but 
merely  a  kind  of  motion  set  up  in  the  par- 
ticles of  matter  by  the  force  exerted.  .  .  . 
Such  facts  led  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
was  a  mechanical  equivalent  of  heat — that 
is,  that  a  certain  amount  of  force  exerted 
or  work  done  would  produce  a  corresponding 
amount  of  heat;  and  Joule  was  the  first 
to  determine  this  accurately  by  a  number 
of  ingenious  experiments.  The  result  was 
found  to  be  that  a  pound  of  water  can  be 
raised  1°  C.  by  an  amount  of  work  equal 


301 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


to  that  required  to  raise  one  pound  to  the 
height  of  1,392  feet,  or  1,392  Bbs.  one  foot. 
Various  experiments  with  different  mate- 
rials were  found  always  to  lead  to  the  same 
result,  and  thus  the  final  blow  was  given 
to  the  material  theory  of  heat,  which  was 
thenceforth  held  to  be  a  mode  of  motion 
of  the  molecules  of  bodies. — WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  7,  p.  51.  (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1467.  HEAT     TRANSFORMED    INTO 
FORCE,  AND  FORCE  AGAIN  INTO  HEAT— 

The  doctrine  of  heat  as  due  to  vibration  ex- 
plains how  heat  is  transformed  force,  so 
that  the  steam-hammer  worked  by  the  heat 
used  in  the  furnace  can  be  set  to  beat  cold 
iron  till  it  is  white-hot;  thus  part  of  the 
force  which  came  from  heat  has  gone  back 
into  heat,  and  with  the  heat  reappears  the 
other  form  of  radiant  energy,  light. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  13,  p.  327.  (A.,  1899.) 

1468.  HEAT    TRANSFORMED    INTO 
MOTION,  AND  VICE   VERSA— We   derive 
the  muscle  and  fat  of  our  bodies  from  what 
we  eat.     Animal  heat  you  know  to  be  due 
to  the  slow  combustion  of  this  fuel.     My 
arm  is  now  inactive,  and  the  ordinary  slow 
combustion  of  my  blood  and  tissue  is  going 
on.     For  every  grain  of  fuel  thus  burnt  a 
perfectly  definite  amount  of  heat  has  been 
produced.    I  now  contract  my  biceps  muscle 
without    causing    it    to    perform    external 
work.      The    combustion    is    quickened    and 
the  heat  is  increased,  this  additional  heat 
being  liberated  in  the  muscle  itself.     I  lay 
hold  of  a  56-lb.  weight,  and  by  the  contrac- 
tion of  my  biceps  lift  it  through  the  verti- 
cal space  of  a  foot.     The  blood  and  tissue 
consumed  during  this  contraction  have  not 
developed  in  the  muscle  their  due  amount 
of  heat.     A  quantity  of  heat  is  at  this  mo- 
ment missing  in   the  muscle   which   would 
raise  the  temperature  of  an  ounce  of  water 
somewhat    more    than    1°    F.      I    liberate 
the  weight;  it  falls  to  the  earth,  and  by  its 
collision  generates  the  missing  heat.     Mus- 
cular heat  is  thus  transferred  from  its  local 
hearth  to  external  space.     The  fuel  is  con- 
sumed in  the  body,  but  the  heat  of  combus- 
tion   is    produced    outside    the    body.      The 
case   is   substantially  the  same  as  that  of 
the   voltaic   battery   when    it    performs   ex- 
ternal   work   or   produces   external   heat. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  3,  p. 
83.     (A.,  1900.) 

1469.  HEIGHTS    ATTAINED  BY  IN- 
SECTS— Butterflies  on  Mont  Blanc— Flies  on 
Chimborazo. — Saussure  found  butterflies  on 
Mont  Blanc,  and  Ramond  observed  them  in 
the  solitudes  around  the  summit  of  Mont 
Perdu.     When  MM.  Bonpland,  Carlos  Mon- 
tufar,  and  myself,  on  the  23d  of  June,  1802, 
ascended    the    eastern    declivity    of    Mount 
Chimborazo,  to  a  height  of  19,286  feet,  and 
where   the   barometer   had    fallen    to    14.84 
inches,    we    found    winged    insects    buzzing 
around  us.     We  recognized  them  to  be  Dip- 
tera,  resembling  flies,  but  it  was  impossible 


to  catch  these  insects  standing  on  the  rocky 
ledges  (cuchilla),  often  less  than  a  foot  in 
breadth,  and  between  masses  of  snow  pre- 
cipitated from  above.  The  elevation  at  which 
we  observed  these  insects  was  almost  the 
same  as  that  in  which  the  naked  trachytic 
rock, which  projected  from  the  eternal  snows 
around,  exhibited  the  last  traces  of  vege- 
tation in  Lecidea  geographica.  These  in- 
sects were  flying  at  an  elevation  of  18,225 
feet,  or  nearly  2,660  feet  higher  than  the 
summit  of  Mont  Blanc;  and  somewhat  be- 
low this  height,  at  an  elevation  of  16,626 
feet,  and  therefore  also  above  the  region  of 
snow,  M.  Bonpland  saw  yellow  butterflies 
flying  close  to  the  ground.  —  HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  232.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1470.  HELP   TO  THE  NEEDY—  Good 
Samaritan   in   the   Ant    World. — One    day, 
watching  a  small  column  of  these  ants  (i.  e., 
Eciton  hamata),  I  placed  a  little  stone  on 
one  of  them  to  secure  it.    The  next  that  ap- 
proached, as  soon  as  it  discovered  its  situ- 
ation, ran  backwards  in  an  agitated  man- 
ner, and  soon  communicated  the  intelligence 
to  the  others.     They  rushed  to  the  rescue; 
some  bit  at  the  stone  and  tried  to  move  it, 
others  seized  the  prisoner  by  the  legs  and 
tugged  with  such  force  that  I  thought  the 
legs  would  be  pulled  off,  but  they  persevered 
until  they  got  the  captive  free.    I  next  cov- 
ered one  up  with  a  piece  of  clay,  leaving 
only  the  ends  of  its  antennae  projecting.     It 
was   soon  discovered  by  its  fellows,  which 
set  to  work  immediately,  and  by  biting  off 
pieces  of  the  clay  soon  liberated  it.   Another 
time  I  found  a  very  few  of  them  passing 
along  at  intervals.     I  confined  one  of  these 
under  a  piece  of  clay  at  a  little  distance 
from   the    line,    with    his    head    projecting. 
Several  ants  passed  it,  but  at  last  one  dis- 
covered  it   and   tried   to    pull   it   out,   but 
could  not.    It  immediately  set  off  at  a  great 
rate,  and  I  thought  it  had  deserted  its  com- 
rade, but  it  had  only  gone  for  assistance, 
for  in  a  short  time  about  a  dozen  ants  came 
hurrying  up,  evidently  fully  informed  of  the 
circumstances   of   the  case,   for   they   made 
directly  for  their  imprisoned  comrade  and 
soon  set  him  free.     I  do  not  see  how  this 
action  could  be   instinctive.     It  was   sym- 
pathetic help,  such  as  man  only  among  the 
higher   mammalia    shows.      The    excitement 
and  ardor  with  which  they  carried  on  their 
unflagging  exertions  for  the  rescue  of  their 
comrade  could  not  have  been  greater  if  they 
had  been  human  beings. — ROMANES  Animal 
Intelligence,  ch.   3,  p.  47.      (A.,   1899.) 

1471.  HELPLESS    DESTROYED    BY 
STRONG—  The  Herd  Gores  the  Disabled  Cow 
to  Death. — It  remains  now  to  speak  of  that 
seemingly  most  cruel  of  instincts  [that  leads 
a,  herd  to  kill  the  injured].     It  is  very  com- 
mon among  gregarious  animals  that  are  at 
all  combative  in  disposition,  and  still  sur- 
vives in  our  domestic  cattle,  altho  very  rare- 
ly witnessed  in  England.     My  first  experi- 
ence of  it  was  just  before  I  had  reached  the 


Jelpless 
eredity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


302 


age  of  five  years.  I  was  not  at  that  early 
period  trying  to  find  out  any  of  Nature's 
secrets,  but  the  scene  I  witnessed  printed 
itself  vividly  on  my  mind,  so  that  I  can  re- 
call it  as  well  as  if  my  years  had  been  five- 
and-twenty;  perhaps  better.  It  was  on  a 
summer's  evening,  and  I  was  out  by  myself 
at  some  distance  from  the  house,  playing 
about  the  high  exposed  roots  of  some  old 
trees;  on  the  other  side  of  the  trees  the 
cattle,  just  returned  from  pasture,  were 
gathered  on  the  bare  level  ground.  Hearing 
a  great  commotion  among  them,  I  climbed 
on  to  one  of  the  high  exposed  roots,  and 
looking  over  saw  a  cow  on  the  ground,  ap- 
parently unable  to  rise,  moaning  and  bellow- 
ing in  a  distressed  way,  while  a  number  of 
her  companions  were  crowding  round  and 
goring  her.  [Interpreted  by  Romanes  and 
others  as  a  protection  of  the  herd  against 
being  followed  by  beasts  of  prey;  by  Hud- 
son as  a  frenzy  of  instinct  misdirected.] — 
HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  22,  p. 
339.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1472.  HELPLESSNESS  A  SOURCE  OF 
POWER — Prolongation  of  Infancy  Accompanied 
by  Increase  of  Brain-surface — Gulf  between 
Man  and  Ape. — The  gulf  by  which  the  low- 
est known  man  is  separated  from  the  high- 
est known  ape  consists  in  the  great  increase 
of  his  cerebral  surface,  with  the  accompany- 
ing intelligence,  and  in  the  very  long  dura- 
tion of  his  infancy.     These  two  things  have 
gone  hand  in  hand.     The  increase  of  cere- 
bral surface,  due  to  the  working  of  natural 
selection  in  this  direction  alone,  has  entailed 
a  vast  increase  in  the  amount  of  cerebral 
•organization  that  must  be  left  to  be  com- 
pleted after  birth,  and  thus  has  prolonged 
the  period  of  infancy.     And,  conversely,  the 
prolonging  of  the  plastic  period  of  infancy, 
entailing  a  vast   increase  in   teachableness 
and    versatility,    has    contributed    to     the 
further    enlargement    of    the    cerebral    sur- 
face.— FISKE  Destiny  of  Han,  ch.  6,  p.  54. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1473.  HELPLESSNESS    OF    HUMAN 
BABE — Contrast  with  Baby  Monkey — Bodily 
Development  Retarded   by  the  Demands  of 
the  Finer  Brain — This  Trains  Motherhood. 
— In  a  few  days  or  weeks  the  baby  monkey 
is  almost  able  to  leave  its  mother.    Already 
it  can  climb   and  eat  and  chatter  like  its 
parents,  and  in  a  few  weeks  more  the  crea- 
ture   is    as    independent    of    them    as    the 
winged  seed  is  of  the  parent  tree.     Mean- 
time, and  for  many  months  to  come,  its  lit- 
tle twin  is  unable  to  feed  itself,  or  clothe 
itself,  or  protect  itself;   it  is  a  mere  semi- 
unconscious    chattel,    a    sprawling    ball    of 
helplessness,    the   world's    one    type   of    im- 
potence.    The  body  is  there  in  all  its  parts, 
bone  for  bone  and  muscle  for  muscle,  like 
the  other.     But  somehow  this  body  will  not 
do  its  work.     Something  as  yet  hangs  fire. 
The  body  has  eyes,  but  they  see  not;  ears, 
but  they  hear  not ;  limbs,  but  they  walk  not. 
This  body  is  a  failure.     Why  does  the  hu- 


man infant  lie  like  a  log  on  the  forest-bed 
while  its  nimble  prototype  mocks  it  from 
the  bough  above?  ...  It  was  necessary 
for  moral  training  that  the  human  child 
should  have  the  longest  possible  time  by 
its  mother's  side — but  what  determines  it 
on  the  physical  side?  The  thing  that  con- 
stitutes the  difference  between  the  baby 
monkey  and  the  baby  man  is  an  extra  piece 
of  machinery  which  the  last  possesses  and 
the  first  does  not.  It  is  this  which  is  keep- 
ing back  the  baby  man.  What  is  that  piece 
of  machinery?  A  brain,  a  human  brain. 
The  child,  nevertheless,  is  not  using  it. 
Why?  Because  it  is  not  quite  fitted  up. 
Nature  is  working  hard  at  it;  but  owing 
to  its  intricacy  and  delicacy  the  process 
requires  much  time,  and  till  all  is  ready 
the  babe  must  remain  a  thing.  And  why 
does  the  monkey  brain  get  ready  first?  Be- 
cause it  is  an  easier  machine  to  make.  And 
why  should  it  be  easier  to  make?  Because 
it  is  only  required  to  do  the  life-work  of 
an  animal;  the  other  has  to  do  the  life-work 
of  a  man. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8, 
p.  282.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 


1474. 


Prolonged  Infancy 


Gives  Time  to  Elaborate  the  Brain — Child- 
hood a  Time  of  Installations  and  Trials. — 
Now  infancy,  physiologically  considered, 
means  the  fitting  up  of  this  extra  machin- 
ery within  the  brain;  and  according  to  its 
elaborateness  will  be  the  time  required  to 
perfect  it.  A  sailing-vessel  may  put  to  sea 
the  moment  the  rigging  is  in;  a  steamer 
must  wait  for  the  engines.  And  the  com- 
pensation to  the  steamer  for  the  longer  time 
in  dock  is  discovered  by  and  by  in  its  vastly 
greater  usefulness,  its  power  of  varying  its 
course  at  will,  and  in  its  superior  safety  in 
time  of  war  or  storm.  For  its  greater  after- 
usefulness  also,  its  more  varied  career,  its 
safer  life,  humanity  has  to  pay  tribute  to 
evolution  by  a  delayed  and  helpless  infancy, 
a  prolonged  and  critical  constructive  proc- 
ess. Childhood  in  its  early  stage  is  a  series 
of  installations  and  trials  of  the  new  ma- 
chinery, a  slow  experimenting  with  powers 
and  faculties  so  fresh  that  heredity  in  hand- 
ing them  down  has  been  unable  to  accom- 
pany them  with  full  directions  as  to  their 
use. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p. 
285.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1475.  HELPLESSNESS  RESULTING 
FROM  INDOLENCE—  Slaveholding  Ants  For- 
get How  To  Feed  Themselves. — In  conse- 
quence of  being  constantly  fed  by  their 
slaves,  the  red  ants  have  entirely  forgotten 
how  to  procure  food  for  themselves.  If 
they  are  shut  up  and  supplied  with  honey, 
which  is  their  favorite  food,  they  will  not 
touch  it,  but  will  suffer  hunger,  become 
weak  and  feeble,  and  ultimately  die  of 
starvation,  unless  pity  is  taken  upon  them 
and  they  are  given  one  of  their  dusky  slaves. 
Directly  this  is  done  the  slave  falls  to  work, 
eats  a  quantity  of  the  honey,  and  then  pro- 
ceeds to  feed  its  masters,  which  are  per- 


303 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Belpleea 
eredity 


fectly  willing  to  be  saved  from  starvation 
in  this  manner. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  9,  p.  26.  (01.  P.,  1897.) 

1476.  HEMISPHERES  OF  BRAIN  CON- 
TROL  OPPOSITE    SIDE    OF   BODY— Elec- 
trical currents  of  small  intensity  applied  to 
the  surface  of  the  said  convolutions  [of  the 
brain]  in  dogs,  monkeys,  and  other  animals 
produce    well-defined    movements    in    face, 
fore-limb,  hind-limb,  tail,  or  trunk,  accord- 
ing as  one  point  or  another  of  the  surface  is 
irritated.      These  movements   affect   almost 
invariably   the   side   opposite  to   the   brain 
irritations:     If  the  left  hemisphere  be  ex- 
cited the  movement  is  of  the  right  leg,  side 
of  face,  etc. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  31.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1477.  HERCULANEUM  BURIED  IN 
LAVA — Nearer  than  Pompeii  to  the  Volcano — 
Cast    of   Buried    Mask — Ancient    Buildings 
Enclosed  in  Rock. — It  was  remarked  that  no 
lava  has  flowed  over  the   site   of   Pompeii 
since  that  city  was  built,  but  with  Hercu- 
laneum  the  case  is  different.    Altho  the  sub- 
stance which  fills  the  interior  of  the  houses 
and  the  vaults  must  have  been  introduced 
in  a  state  of  mud,  like  that  found  in  similar 
situations  in  Pompeii,  yet  the  superincum- 
bent mass  differs  wholly  in  composition  and 
thickness.     Herculaneum  was  situated  sev- 
eral miles  nearer  to  the  volcano,  and  has, 
therefore,  been  always  more  exposed  to  be 
covered,  not  only  by  showers  of  ashes,  but 
by  alluviums  and  streams  of  lava.     Accord- 
ingly, masses  of  both  have  accumulated  on 
each  other  above  the  city  to  a  depth  of  no- 
where less  than  70,  and  in  many  places  of 
112  feet. 

The  tuff  which  envelops  the  buildings  con- 
sists of  comminuted  volcanic  ashes,  mixed 
with  pumice.  A  mask  embedded  in  this 
matrix  has  left  a  cast,  the  sharpness  of 
which  was  compared  by  Hamilton  to  those 
in  plaster  of  Paris;  nor  was  the  mask  in 
the  least  degree  scorched,  as  if  it  had  been 
embedded  in  heated  matter.  This  tuff  is 
porous;  and,  when  first  excavated,  is  soft 
and  easily  worked,  but  acquires  a  consider- 
able degree  of  induration  on  exposure  to  the 
air. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
24,  p.  389.  (A.,  1854.) 

1478.  HERCULANEUM,  RELICS  IN— 

Remarkable  Preservation  of  Ancient  Objects 
— Perishable  Goods  Remaining  of  Owners 
Who  Vanished  Centuries  Ago. — The  wooden 
beams  in  the  houses  at  Herculaneum  are 
black  on  the  exterior,  but,  when  cleft  open, 
they  appear  to  be  almost  in  the  state  of 
ordinary  wood,  and  the  progress  made  by 
the  whole  mass  towards  the  state  of  lignite 
is  scarcely  appreciable.  Some  animal  and 
vegetable  substances  of  more  perishable 
kinds  have,  of  course,  suffered  much  change 
and  decay,  yet  the  state  of  preservation  of 
these  is  truly  remarkable.  Fishing-nets  are 
very  abundant  in  both  cities,  often  quite 
entire;  and  their  number  at  Pompeii  is  the 
more  interesting  from  the  sea  being  now,  as 


we  stated,  a  mile  distant.  Linen  has  been 
found  at  Herculaneum,  with  the  texture  well 
defined;  and  in  a  fruiterer's  shop  in  that 
city  were  discovered  vessels  full  of  almonds, 
chestnuts,  walnuts,  and  fruit  of  the  "  caru- 
biere,"  all  distinctly  recognizable  from  their 
shape.  A  loaf,  also,  still  retaining  its  form, 
was  found  in  a  baker's  shop,  with  his  name 
stamped  upon  it.  On  the  counter  of  an 
apothecary  was  a  box  of  pills  converted  into 
a  fine  earthy  substance,  and  by  the  side  of  it 
a  small  cylindrical  roll  evidently  prepared 
to  be  cut  into  pills.  By  the  side  of  these 
was  a  jar  containing  medicinal  herbs.  In 
1827,  moist  olives  were  found  in  a  square 
glass  case,  and  "  caviare,"  or  roe  of  a  fish, 
in  a  state  of  wonderful  preservation.  An 
examination  of  these  curious  condiments  has 
been  published  by  Covelli,  of  Naples,  and 
they  are  preserved  hermetically  sealed  in 
the  museum  there. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  392.  (A.,  1854.) 

1479.  HEREDITY,  ALCOHOLIC—  Statis- 
tics of  Idiocy  and  Insanity. — There  is  one 
class  of  cases,  moreover,  in  which  a  particu- 
lar abnormal  form  of  nutrition  that  is  dis- 
tinctly acquired  by  the  individual  exerts  a 
most  injurious  influence  upon  the  offspring 
— that,  namely,  which  is  the  result  of  such 
habitual  alcoholic  excess  as  modifies  the 
nutrition  of  the  nervous  system. 

We  have  a  far  larger  experience  of  the 
results  of  habitual  alcoholic  excess  than  we 
have  in  regard  to  any  other  "  nervine  stimu- 
lant " ;  and  all  such  experience  is  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  hereditary  transmission  of 
that  acquired  perversion  of  the  normal  nu- 
trition which  it  has  engendered  in  the  indi- 
vidual. That  this  manifests  itself  some- 
times in  congenital  idiocy,  sometimes  in  a 
predisposition  to  insanity,  which  requires 
but  a  very  slight  exciting  cause  to  develop 
it,  and  sometimes  in  a  strong  craving  for 
alcoholic  drinks,  which  the  unhappy  subject 
of  it  strives  in  vain  to  resist,  is  the  concur- 
rent testimony  of  all  who  have  directed 
their  attention  to  the  inquiry.  Thus  Dr. 
Howe,  in  his  report  on  the  statistics  of 
idiocy  in  Massachusetts,  states  that  the 
habits  of  the  parents  of  300  idiots  having 
been  learned,  145,  or  nearly  one-half,  were 
found  to  be  habitual  drunkards.  In  one  in- 
stance, in  which  both  parents  were  drunk- 
ards, seven  idiotic  children  were  born  to 
them.  Dr.  Down,  whose  experience  of  idiocy 
is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  man  in 
this  country,  has  assured  the  writer  that  he 
does  not  consider  Dr.  Howe's  statement  as 
at  all  exaggerated.  Dr.  W.  A.  F.  Browne, 
the  first  Medical  Lunacy  Commissioner  for 
Scotland,  thus  wrote  when  himself  in  charge 
of  a  large  asylum :  "  The  drunkard  not  only 
injures  and  enfeebles  his  own  nervous  sys- ' 
tern,  but  entails  mental  disease  upon  his 
family.  His  daughters  are  nervous  and  hys- 
terical; his  sons  are  weak,  wayward,  ec- 
centric, and  sink  under  the  pressure  of  ex- 
citement of  some  unforeseen  exigency,  or  the 
ordinary  calls  of  duty."  Dr.  Howe  remarks 


Heredity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


304 


that  the  children  of  drunkards  are  deficient 
in  bodily  and  vital  energy,  and  are  predis- 
posed by  their  very  organization  to  have 
cravings  for  alcoholic  stimulants.  If  they 
pursue  the  course  of  their  fathers,  which 
they  have  more  temptation  to  follow,  and 
less  power  to  avoid,  than  the  children  of 
the  temperate,  they  add  to  their  hereditary 
weakness,  and  increase  the  tendency  to 
idiocy  or  insanity  in  their  constitution,  and 
this  they  leave  to  their  children  after  them. 
[See  ALCOHOL.] — CARPENTER  Mental  Physi- 
ology, ch.  8,  p.  370.  (A.,  1900.) 

1480.  HEREDITY  AND  ENVIRONMENT 
— Master-influences    of    Life. — These    two, 
heredity  and  environment,  are  the  master- 
influences  of  the  organic  world.    These  have 
made  all  of  us  what  we  are.     These  forces 
are  still   ceaselessly  playing  upon   all   our 
lives.     And  he  who  truly  understands  these 
influences;    he  who  has  decided  how  much 
to  allow  to  each;    he  who  can  regulate  new 
forces  as  they  arise,  or  adjust  them  to  the 
old,  so  directing  them  as  at  one  moment  to 
make  them  cooperate,  at  another  to  counter- 
act one  another,  understands  the  rationale 
of  personal  development.     To  seize  continu- 
ously the  opportunity  of  more  and  more  per- 
fect adjustment  to  better  and  higher  condi- 
tions, to  balance  some  inward  evil  with  some 
purer  influence  acting  from  without,  in  a 
word  to  make  our  environment  at  the  same 
time  that  it  is  making  us — these  are  the 
secrets  of  a  well-ordered  and  successful  life. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  7,  p.  229.    (H.  Al.) 

1481.  HEREDITY    EVERYTHING  IN 
LOWEST  TYPE   OF   ANIMAL—  Starts  with 
Nothing   To   Learn. — The   psychical   life   of 
the  lowest  animals  consists  of  a  few  simple 
acts   directed  toward  the  securing  of  food 
and  the  avoidance  of  danger,  and  these  acts 
we  are  in  the  habit  of  classing  as  instinc- 
tive.    They  are  so  simple,  so  few,  and  so 
often  repeated    that  the  tendency  to  per- 
form them  is   completely  organized  in  the 
nervous   system  before  birth*     The  animal 
takes  care  of  himself  as  soon  as  he  begins  to 
live.     He  has  nothing  to  learn,  and  his  ca- 
reer is  a  simple  repetition  of  the  careers  of 
countless  ancestors.     With  him  heredity  is 
everything,  and  his  individual  experience  is 
next  to  nothing. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch. 
4,  p.  39.     ( H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900. ) 

1482.  HEREDITY    IN    ASTRONOMIC 

RESEARCH —  The  Younger  Carries  on  the  Re- 
searches of  the  Elder  Herschel. — In  his 
special  line  as  a  celestial  explorer  of  the 
most  comprehensive  type,  Sir  William  Her- 
schel had  but  one  legitimate  successor,  and 
that  successor  was  his  son.  John  Frederick 
William  Herschel  was  born  at  Slough, 
March  17,  1792,  graduated  with  the  highest 
honors  from  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge, 
in  1813,  and  entered  upon  legal  studies  with 
a  view  to  being  called  to  the  bar.  But  his 
share  in  an  early  compact  with  Peacock  and 


Babbage,  "  to  do  their  best  to  leave  the 
world  wiser  than  they  found  it,"  was  not 
thus  to  be  fulfilled.  The  acquaintance  of 
Dr.  Wollaston  decided  his  scientific  voca- 
tion. .  .  . 

The  full  results  of  [Sir  John]  Herschel's 
journey  to  the  Cape  were  not  made  public 
until  1847,  when  a  splendid  volume  embody- 
ing them  was  brought  out  at  the  expense  of 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  They  form  a 
sequel  to  his  father's  labors  such  as  the  in- 
vestigations of  one  man  have  rarely  received 
from  those  of  another.  What  the  elder  ob- 
server did  for  the  northern  heavens,  the 
younger  did  for  the  southern. — CLERKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  2,  pp.  54, 
56.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1483.  HEREDITY    MAY    TRANSMIT 
PREDISPOSITION  TO  ,  DISEASE— Environ- 
ment a  Predisposing  Cause. — We  know  from 
experience  that  a  full  measure  of  health  is- 
not  often  the  happy  condition  of  human  tis- 
sues; we  have,  in  short,  a  variety  of  circum- 
stances which,  as  we  say,  predispose  the  indi- 
vidual to   disease.     One  of  the  commonest 
forms  of  predisposition  is  that  due  to  hered- 
ity. Probably  it  is  true  that  what  are  known 
as  hereditary  diseases  are  due  far  more  to  a 
hereditary  predisposition  than  to  any  trans- 
mission   of   the  virus   itself  in   any   form. 
Antecedent  disease  predisposes  the  tissues 
to  form  a  nidus  for  bacteria;    conditions  of 
environment  or  personal   habits   frequently 
act  in  the  same  way.     Damp  soils  must  be 
held    responsible    for    many    disasters    to 
health,  not  directly,  but  indirectly,  by  pre- 
disposition;   dusty  trades  and  injurious  oc- 
cupations have  a  similar  effect.    Any  one  of 
these   three   different   influences   may   in    a ' 
variety  of  ways  affect  the  tissues  and  in- 
crease their  susceptibility  to  disease.     Not 
infrequently  we  may  get  them  combined. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  8,  p.  268.     (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

1484.  HEREDITY   OF   ACQUIRED 
CHARACTERS — Cope's  Advocacy  of  the  Doc- 
trine.— Cope  early  adopted  the  doctrine  of 
transmutation  of  species,  and  recognized  the 
truth  that  all  the  animals  of  the  present 
epoch   are  descendants   from  those  of  past 
times,    with    modifications    which    separate 
them  as  species,  and  eventually  as  represent- 
atives of  genera,  of  families  and  orders  dif- 
fering from  the  earlier  ones  as  we  retrace 
the  steps  of  time  farther  and  farther  back. 
He  was   not,  however,    satisfied  with   Dar- 
win's theory,  and  denied  that  natural  selec- 
tion was  a  sufficient  factor  for  differentia- 
tion.     He   would   not   admit   that   animals 
were  passive  subjects   and   that  the   slight 
variations  which  were  manifest  in  the  prog- 
eny of  species  were  sufficient  to  enable  Na- 
ture to   select  from   and  to  fit  for  future 
conditions.      He    contended    that    the   voli- 
tion and  endeavors  of  an  animal  had  much 
to  do  with   future  progeny  as  well   as  its 
own  brief  life.     In  short,  he  claimed  that 
characters    acquired    by    animals    through 
their  own  efforts,  or  forced  on  them  by  vari- 


305 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Heredity 


cms  external  agencies  or  accidents,  might  be 
transmitted  to  their  offspring.  [See  DEVI- 
ATION'S INHERITABLE.]  —  GILL  Address  in 
Memory  of  Edward  Drinker  Cope  in  Pro- 
ceedings of  Amer.  Assoc.  for  Advancement 
of  Science,  vol.  xlvi,  1897. 


1485. 


Epileptic  Guinea- 


pigs. — A  very  curious  example  of  the  trans- 
mission of  tendencies  to  special  automatic 
movements,  the  secondary  acquirement  of 
which  tendencies  is  altogether  beyond  doubt, 
is  afforded  by  the  following  curious  fact  es- 
tablished by  the  researches  of  M.  Brown- 
Sequard:  In  the  course  of  his  masterly  ex- 
perimental investigations  on  the  functions 
of  the  nervous  system,  he  discovered  that, 
after  a  particular  lesion  of  the  spinal  cord 
of  guinea-pigs,  a  slight  pinching  of  the  skin 
of  the  face  would  throw  the  animals  into  a 
kind  of  epileptic  convulsion.  That  this  arti- 
ficial epilepsy  should  be  constantly  produ- 
cible in  guinea-pigs,  and  not  in  any  other 
animals  experimented  upon,  was  in  itself 
sufficiently  singular;  and  it  was  not  less 
surprising  that  the  tendency  to  it  persisted, 
after  the  lesion  of  the  spinal  cord  seemed  to 
have  been  entirely  recovered  from.  But  it 
was  far  more  wonderful  that  when  these 
epileptic  guinea-pigs  bred  together,  their 
offspring  showed  the  same  predisposition, 
without  having  been  themselves  subjected 
to  any  lesion  whatever;  whilst  no  such 
tendency  showed  itself  in  any  of  the  large 
number  of  young,  which  were  bred  by  the 
same  accurate  observer  from  parents  that 
had  not  thus  been  operated  on. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  ch.  8,  p.  371.  (A., 
1900.) 


1486. 


How  Limited. — 


In  [many]  exercises  of  [animal]  intelligence 
we  may  trace  the  manifestations  of  a 
hereditary  transmission  of  aptitudes  for 
particular  kinds  of  mental  action  which 
have  been  originally  acquired  by  habit. 
Dogs  of  other  breeds  cannot  be  taught  to 
herd  sheep  in  the  manner  which  "  comes 
naturally"  to  the  young  of  the  shepherd's 
dog.  And  it  is  well  known  that  young 
pointers  and  retrievers,  when  first  taken 
into  the  field,  will  often  "  work  "  as  well  as 
if  they  had  been  long  trained  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  sportsman.  The  curious  fact 
was  observed  by  Mr.  Knight  that  the  young 
of  a  breed  of  springing  spaniels  which  had 
been  trained  for  several  successive  genera- 
tions to  find  woodcocks,  seemed  to  know  as 
well  as  the  old  dogs  what  degree  of  frost 
would  drive  the  birds  to  seek  their  food  in 
unfrozen  springs  and  rills.  Among  the  de- 
scendants of  the  dogs  originally  introduced 
into  South  America  by  the  Spaniards  there 
are  breeds  which  have  learned  by  their  own 
experience,  without  any  human  training,  the 
best  modes  of  attacking  the  wild  animals 
they  pursue;  and  since  young  dogs  have 
been  observed  to  practise  these  methods  the 
very  first  time  they  engage  in  the  chase, 
with  as  much  address  as  old  dogs,  it  can 


scarcely  be  questioned  that  the  tendency  to 
the  performance  of  them  has  been  embodied 
in  the  organization  of  the  race,  and  is  thus, 
transmitted  hereditarily.  There  seems  rea- 
son to  believe  that  such  hereditary  trans- 
mission is  limited  to  acquired  peculiarities 
which  are  simply  modifications  of  the  nat- 
ural constitution  of  the  race,  and  would  not 
extend  to  such  as  may  be  altogether  foreign, 
to  it.  But  the  foregoing  facts  would  seem 
to  justify  the  belief  that  the  like  hereditary 
transmission  of  acquired  aptitudes  may  take 
place  in  man;  and  that,  in  accordance  with 
the  far  wider  range  of  his  faculties,  it  may 
become  the  means  of  a  far  higher  exaltation 
of  them. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology, 
ch.  2,  p.  102.  (A.,  1900.) 


1487. 


Inherited  Effect  of 


Changed  Habits. — Changed  habits  produce 
an  inherited  effect,  as  in  the  period  of  the 
flowering  of  plants  when  transported  from 
one  climate  to  another.  With  animals  the 
increased  use  or  disuse  of  parts  has  had  a 
more  marked  influence;  thus*"!  find  in  the 
domestic  duck  that  the  bones  of  the  wing 
weigh  less  and  the  bones  of  the  leg  more,  in 
proportion  to  the  whole  skeleton,  than  do- 
the  same  bones  in  the  wild  duck;  and  this, 
change  may  be  safely  attributed  to  the  do- 
mestic duck  flying  much  less,  and  walking 
more,  than  its  wild  parents.  [See  INHERIT- 
ANCE.]— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1,  p. 
10.  (Burt.) 

1488. Mental  Habitudes 

Transmitted  as  Tendencies. — Now,  as  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  the  hereditary  trans- 
mission in  man  of  acquired  constitutional 
peculiarities,  which  manifest  themselves 
alike  in  tendencies  to  bodily  and  to  mental 
disease,  so  it  seems  equally  certain  that 
acquired  mental  habitudes  often  impress 
themselves  on  his  organization  with  suffi- 
cient force  and  permanence  to  occasion  their 
transmission  to  the  offspring  as  tendencies 
to  similar  modes  of  thought.  And  thus, 
while  all  admit  that  knowledge  cannot  thus 
descend  from  one  generation  to  another,  an 
increased  aptitude  for  the  acquirement, 
either  of  knowledge  generally,  or  of  some 
particular  kind  of  it,  may  be  thus  inherited. 
These  tendencies  and  aptitudes  will  acquire 
additional  strength,  expansion,  and  perma- 
nence in  each  new  generation,  from  their 
habitual  exercise  upon  the  materials  sup- 
plied by  a  continually  enlarged  experience; 
and  thus  the  acquired  habitudes,  produced 
by  the  intellectual  culture  of  ages  will  be- 
come a  "  second  nature  "  to  every  one  who 
inherits  them. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  6,  p.  197.  (A.,  1889.) 


1489. 


New  Instincts  the 


Result  of  Changed  Circumstances. — This  ex- 
planation of  the  origin  of  the  migratory 
instinct,  and  the  reason  why  birds  take 
certain  determinate  routes  over  the  sea,  is 
in  perfect  agreement  with  the  conclusion 
at  which  Mr.  Darwin  arrived  at  an  even 
earlier  date,  tho  the  facts  were  not  pub- 


fle 


1-edlty 
tory 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


306 


lished  until  after  his  death.  Instincts,  he 
shows,  can  be  acquired.  Birds  which  were 
once  perfectly  fearless  of  man  now  display 
the  usual  terror,  since  the  oceanic  islands 
which  they  inhabit  have  been  visited  or 
settled,  and  transmit  their  prudent  instinct 
to  their  offspring.  On  the  other  hand,  while 
at  first  frightened  by  passing  railway  trains, 
they  soon  learn  that  these  novelties  betoken 
no  danger,  and  so  in  time  the  birds  along- 
side the  lines  view  them  with  the  most  per- 
fect equanimity.  The  sheep,  which  in  Spain 
are  taken  every  summer  to  pastures  in 
another  part  of  the  country,  acquire  by  and 
by  an  instinct  for  this  artificial  migration, 
which  is  displayed  by  curious  uneasy  mo- 
tions, so  strong  that  about  the  time  when 
they  ought  to  be  off  it  requires  all  the 
vigilance  of  the  shepherds  to  prevent  them 
escaping,  and  there  are  cases  in  which  the 
journey  has  been  performed,  the  animals 
reaching  their  old  feeding-grounds  without 
assistance. — BROWN  Nature-Studies,  p.  21. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

149O. The  Question  Sta- 
ted —  Government  and  Philanthropy  In- 
volved.— It  is  obvious  that  we  can  produce 
important  changes  in  the  individual.  We 
can,  for  example,  improve  his  muscles  by 
athletics  and  his  brain  by  education.  The 
use  of  organs  enlarges  and  strengthens 
them;  the  disuse  of  parts  or  faculties 
weakens  them.  And  so  great  is  the  power 
of  habit  that  it  is  proverbially  spoken  of 
as  "  second  nature."  It  is  thus  certain  that 
we  can  modify  the  individual.  We  can 
strengthen  (or  weaken)  his  body;  we  can 
improve  (or  deteriorate)  his  intellect,  his 
habits,  his  morals.  But  there  remains  the 
still  more  important  question  which  we  are 
about  to  consider.  Will  such  modifications 
be  inherited  by  the  offspring  of  the  modi- 
fied individual?  Does  individual  improve- 
ment transmit  itself  to  descendants  inde- 
pendently of  personal  teaching  and  ex- 
ample? Have  artificially  produced  changes 
of  structure  or  habit  any  inherent  tendency 
to  become  congenitally  transmissible  and  to 
be  converted  in  time  into  fixed  traits  of 
constitution  or  character?  Can  the  philan- 
thropist rely  on  such  a  tendency  as  a  hope- 
ful factor  in  the  evolution  of  mankind? 
the  only  sound  and  stable  basis  of  a  higher 
and  happier  state  of  things  being,  as  he 
knows  or  ought  to  know,  the  innate  and 
constitutionally  fixed  improvement  of  the 
race  as  a  whole.  If  acquired  modifications 
are  impressed  on  the  offspring  and  on  the 
race,  the  systematic  moral  training  of  in- 
dividuals will  in  time  produce  a  constitu- 
tionally moral  race.  .  .  .  But  if  acquired 
modifications  do  not  tend  to  be  transmitted, 
if  the  use  or  disuse  of  organs  or  faculties 
does  not  similarly  affect  posterity  by  in- 
heritance, then  it  is  evident  that  no  innate 
improvement  in  the  race  can  take  place 
without  the  aid  of  natural  or  artificial  se- 
lection.— BALL  Are  the  Effects  of  Use  and 
Disuse  Inherited?  p.  7.  (Hum.,  1891.) 


1491. 


Views  of  Spencer 


and  Mill — Brain-states  Transmissible. — This 
doctrine  [of  heredity  of  acquired  char- 
acters] was  first  explicitly  put  forth  by 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  whose  philosophical 
treatises  it  will  be  found  most  ably  de- 
veloped. I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  append 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  which 
Mr.  John  Mill,  the  great  master  of  the 
experiential  school,  was  good  enough  to 
write  to  me  a  few  months  since,  with  ref- 
erence to  the  attempt  I  had  made  to  place 
"  common  sense "  upon  this  basis  (Contem- 
porary Review,  February,  1872):  "When 
states  of  mind  in  no  respect  innate  or 
instinctive  have  been  frequently  repeated, 
the  mind  acquires,  as  is  proved  by  the 
power  of  habit,  a  greatly  increased  fa- 
cility of  passing  into  those  states;  and 
this  increased  facility  must  be  owing  to 
some  change  of  a  physical  character  in  the 
organic  action  of  the  brain.  There  is  also 
considerable  evidence  that  such  acquired  fa- 
cilities of  passing  into  certain  modes  of 
cerebral  action  can,  in  many  cases,  be  trans- 
mitted, more  or  less  completely,  by  inherit- 
ance. The  limits  of  this  power  of  trans- 
mission, and  the  conditions  on  which  it 
depends,  are  a  subject  now  fairly  before  the 
scientific  world,  and  we  shall  doubtless  in 
time  know  much  more  about  them  than  we 
do  now.  But  so  far  as  my  imperfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject  qualifies  me  to  have  an 
opinion,  I  take  much  the  same  view  of  it 
that  you  do,  at  least  in  principle." — CAR- 
PENTER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  6,  p.  197. 
(A.,  1889.) 

1492.  HEREDITY  OF  AN  IDIOT— Four 
Steps  from  Immorality  to  Imbecility — Alco- 
holic Excess  from   the   Outset. — Morel   has 
traced  through  four  generations  the  family 
history  of  a  youth  who  was  admitted  into 
the  asylum  at  Rouen  in  a  state  of  stupidity 
and  semi-idiocy;  the  summary  of  which  may 
fitly  illustrate  the  natural  course  of  degen- 
eracy when  it  goes  on  through  generations. 

First  generation:  Immorality,  depravity, 
alcoholic  excess,  and  moral  degradation,  in 
the  great-grandfather,  who  was  killed  in  a 
tavern  brawl. 

Second  generation:  Hereditary  drunken- 
ness, maniacal  attacks,  ending  in  general 
paralysis,  in  the  grandfather. 

Third  generation :  Sobriety,  but  hypochon- 
driacal  tendencies,  delusions  of  persecutions, 
and  homicidal  tendencies  in  the  father. 

Fourth  generation:  Defective  intelligence. 
First  attack  of  mania  at  sixteen;  stupidity 
and  transition  to  complete  idiocy. — MAUDS- 
LEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  2,  p.  45.  (A., 
1898.) 

1493.  HEREDITY    MOLDS    CHARAC- 
TER— Improvement  and  Adaptation. — The  set- 
ting-dog is  taught  to  set;   he  squats  down 
and  points  at  the  game;   but  the  habit  is 
an  acquired  one — a  mere  trick  of  education. 
What,  however,  is  merely  acquired  habit  in 
the  progenitor  is  found  to  pass  into  instinct 


307 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Heredity 
History 


in  the  descendant;  the  puppy  of  the  set- 
ting-dog squats  down  and  sets  untaught — 
the  educational  trick  of  the  parent  is  mys- 
teriously transmuted  into  an  original  prin- 
ciple in  the  offspring.  The  adaptation  which 
takes  place  in  the  forms  and  constitution  of 
plants  and  animals  when  placed  in  circum- 
stances different  from  their  ordinary  ones  is 
equally  striking.  The  woody  plant  of  a  warm- 
er climate  when  transplanted  into  a  colder 
frequently  exchanges  its  ligneous  stem  for 
a  herbaceous  one,  as  if  in  anticipation  of 
the  killing  frosts  of  winter;  and,  dying  to 
.  the  ground  at  the  close  of  autumn,  shoots 
up  again  in  spring.  The  dog,  transported 
from  a  temperate  into  a  frigid  region,  ex- 
changes his  covering  of  hair  for  a  covering 
of  wool ;  when  brought  back  again  to  his 
former  habitat  the  wool  is  displaced  by  the 
original  hair.  And  hence,  and  from  similar 
instances,  the  derivation  of  an  argument, 
good  so  far  as  it  goes,  for  changes  in  adap- 
tation to  altered  circumstances  of  the  or- 
ganization of  plants  and  animals,  and  for 
the  improvability  of  instinct. — MILLER  The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  3,  p.  36.  (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

1494.  HEREDITY,  UNIVERSAL  REC- 
OGNITION OF — The  transmission  of  charac- 
teristics of  species  and  race  is  admitted  by 
everybody  who  deals  with  the  body  or  the 
soul.     Nobody  fears  to  admit  within  these 
limits  the  fatality  of  birth.     It  is  thus  that 
every  historian  refers  to  the  national  char- 
acter in  explaining  the  events  in  the  lives 
of  a  people,  recognizing  its  persistence,  and 
pronouncing   the    consequences    often    inevi- 
table.     The   French    of   this    day   recognize 
themselves  in  the  portrait  of  the  Gauls  as 
drawn  by  Julius  Csesar.    The  modern  Greeks 
are   in    many    respects    the    same   as    those 
whom  Demosthenes  addressed.     If  you  take 
a  young  savage  whose  parents  were  hunters, 
vain  will  be  your  efforts  to  cultivate  him 
and   adapt  him   to   the   habits    of   civilized 
life.     The  voice  of  his   ancestor  speaks  to 
him,    incessantly   recalling   him   to    the   in- 
stinct and  adventures  of  forest  life. 

Heredity  is  the  result  of  a  very  general 
law,  by  virtue  of  which  all  the  anatomical 
elements  of  the  body  possess  the  property 
of  giving  direct  birth  to  similar  elements, 
or  of  determining  in  their  own  vicinity  a 
generation  of  elements  of  the  same  kind 
(Littre  et  Robin).  The  phenomena  of  nu- 
trition depend  upon  this  same  law,  by  vir- 
tue of  which  the  human  body,  incessantly 
renewed,  remains  always  identical  with  it- 
self from  the  redistribution  of  atomic  ele- 
ments.— LORIN  General  View  of  the  Laws 
of  Heredity  (Thesis  for  the  Degree  in  Medi- 
cine, 1S75). 

1495.  HEROISM  AND  ASCETICISM  IN 
DAILY    LIFE — Preparation    for    Unforeseen 
Emergency. — It    is    not    simply    particular 
lines   of   discharge,  but  also   general   forms 
of  discharge,  that  seem  to  be  grooved  out 
by  habit  in  the  brain.     Just  as,  if  we  let 


our  emotions  evaporate,  they  get  into  a  way 
of  evaporating,  so  there  is  reason  to  sup.- 
pose  that  if  we  often  flinch  from  making 
an  effort,  before  we  know  it  the  effort- 
making  capacity  will  be  gone,  and  that  if 
we  suffer  the  wandering  of  our  attention, 
presently  it  will  wander  all  the  time.  .  .  . 
As  a  final  practical  maxim  relative  to  these 
habits  of  the  will,  we  may,  then,  offer  some- 
thing like  this:  Keep  the  faculty  of  effort 
alive  in  you  by  a  little  gratuitous  exercise 
every  day.  That  is,  be  systematically  as- 
cetic or  heroic  in  little  unnecessary  points, 
do  every  day  or  two  something  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  you  would  rather  not  do 
it,  so  that  when  the  hour  of  dire  need  draws 
nigh  it  may  find  you  not  unnerved  and 
untrained  to  stand  the  test.  Asceticism  of 
this  sort  is  like  the  insurance  which  a  man 
pays  on  his  house  and  goods.  The  tax  does 
him  no  good  at  the  time,  and  possibly  may 
never  bring  him  a  return.  But  if  the  fire 
does  come,  his  having  paid  it  will  be  his 
salvation  from  ruin.  So  with  the  man 
who  has  daily  inured  himself  to  habits  of 
concentrated  attention,  energetic  volition, 
and  self-denial  in  unnecessary  things.  He 
will  stand  like  a  tower  when  everything 
rocks  around  him,  and  when  his  softer  fel- 
low mortals  are  winnowed  like  chaff  in  the 
blast. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p. 
126.  (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1496.  HIGHWAYS,  MODERN,  FOLLOW 
ANCIENT  BEACHES—  The  "Ridge  Road."— 
Long  curving  ridges   of  gravel   having  the 
appearance  of  great  railroad  embankments, 
following  the   general  trend   of  the   shores 
of  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  but  usually  at 
a  distance  of  several  miles  from  their  pres- 
ent borders,  were  noticed  at  an  early  day  in 
the  settlement  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  On- 
tario, and  correctly  interpreted  as  being  the 
records  of  previous  high-water  stages  of  the 
lakes    they   encircle.      These   ridges  became 
highways  of  travel  as  civilization  advanced, 
and  gave  origin  to  the  term  "  ridge  road," 
still  to  be  seen  on  local  maps  of  the  region 
referred, to.     These  ridges  and  other  associ- 
ated records  have  claimed  the  attention  of 
geologists  and  others,  and  have  been  made 
the  subject  of  special  inquiry.     The  terri- 
tory traversed  by  them  is  so  extensive,  how- 
ever, that  their  study  is  still  far  from  com- 
plete.— RUSSELL  Lakes  of   North  America, 
ch.  6,  p.  96.      (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

1497.  HISTORY  AND  PHILOSOPHY— 

Their  Provinces  Distinct. — In  the  first  place 
I  have  discarded  the  title  of  the  "  doctrine 
of  creation,"  because  my  present  business 
is  not  with  the  question  why  the  objects 
which  constitute  Nature  came  into  exist- 
ence, but  wrhen  they  came  into  existence  and 
in  what  order.  This  is  as  strictly  a  historic- 
al question  as  the  question  when  the  An- 
gles and  the  Jutes  invaded  England,  and 
whether  they  preceded  or  followed  the  Ro- 
mans. But  the  question  about  creation  is 
a  philosophical  problem,  and  one  which  can- 


iistory 
one 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


308 


not  be  solved  or  even  approached  by  the 
historical  method.  What  we  want  to  learn 
is  whether  the  facts,  so  far  as  they  are 
known,  afford  evidence  that  things  arose 
in  the  way  described  by  Milton,  or  whether 
they  do  not;  and  when  that  question  is 
settled  it  will  be  time  enough  to  inquire  into 
the  causes  of  their  origination. — HUXLEY 
American  Addresses, lect.  l,p.  18.  (A.,  1.877.) 

1498.  HISTORY  HAS  NO  RECORDS  OF 
AGE  OF  STONE — Altho   our  knowledge  of 
ancient  times  has  of  late  years  greatly  in- 
creased, it  is  still  very  imperfect,  and  we 
cannot  afford  to  neglect  any  possible  source 
of  information.     It  is  evident  that  history 
cannot  throw  much  light  on  the  early  con- 
dition of  man,  because  the  discovery — or,  to 
speak  more  correctly,  the  use — of  metal  has 
in  all  cases  preceded  that  of  writing.     Even 
as  regards  the  Age  of  Bronze,  we  derive  little 
information  from  history;  and  altho,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  Age  of  Stone  is  vaguely  al- 
luded to  in  the  earliest  European  writers, 
their  statements  have  generally  been  looked 
upon  as  imaginative  rather  than  historical, 
and   contain,   indeed,   little  more   than  the 
bare  statement  that  there  was  a  time  when 
metal  was  unknown. — AVEBUKY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  13,  p.  404.     (A.,  1900.) 

1499.  HISTORY    IN    THE    ROCKS— 

Geological  Evidences  of  Life  in  the  Past. — 
The  geologist  has  been  able  to  turn  back  a 
few  leaves  of  the  earth's  past  history,  and 
tho  the  pages  have  been  defaced  and  mu- 
tilated by  Time's  unsparing  hand,  he  is  yet 
able  to  read  in  them  of  many  strange  vicis- 
situdes to  which  the  continents  and  oceans 
of  our  globe  have  been  exposed.  .  .  .  He 
can,  indeed,  find  the  scattered  remains  of 
only  a  few  of  those  old-world  creatures;  but 
he  recognizes  in  those  which  have  been  pre- 
served the  clearest  evidence  that  thousands 
of  others  must  have  existed  around  them. 
He  knows  that  of  a  million  creatures  now  ex- 
isting scarcely  one  will  leave  to  future  ages 
any  record  of  its  existence;  he  sees  whole 
races  vanishing  from  the  earth,  leaving  no 
trace  behind  them;  and  he  is  thus  able  to 
form  an  estimate  of  the  enormous  extent  by 
which  the  creatures  and  races  of  which  he 
can  learn  nothing  mast  have  outnumbered 
those  whose  scattered  remains  attest  their 
former  existence  upon  the  earth. — PROCTOR 
Other  Worlds  than  Ours,  vol.  i,  p.  22. 
(Burt.) 

1500.  HISTORY  OF  MAN  A  HISTORY 
OF  PROGRESS — Taken    as    a    whole,    the 
history  of  man   is  the  history  of  his  pro- 
gressive development.     It  is  true  that  ev- 
erywhere   and    at    all    times    we    may    no- 
tice   individual    retrogressions,    or    observe 
that  crooked  roads   towards   progress   have 
been   taken  which   lead    only    towards    one- 
sided   and    external    perfecting,    and    thus 
deviate  more  and  more  from  the  higher  goal 
of  internal  and  enduring  perfecting.     How- 
ever, on  the  whole,  the  movement  of  develop- 
ment of  all  mankind  is  and  remains  a  pro- 


gressive one. — HAECKEL  History  of  Crea- 
tion, vol.  i,  ch.  12,  p.  320.  (K.  P.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1501.  HOME,  DECORATION    OF—  The 

Original  Form  of  Carpets. — On  festival  oc- 
casions the  floor  had  to  be  decorated  with 
green,  through  which  flowers  were  worked. 
In  the  winter  that  could  only  be  accom- 
plished imperfectly,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  be  satisfied  with  a  layer  of  hay;  but 
in  the  summer  there  were  grass  and  leaves 
and  flowers  in  plenty,  and  no  house  was  so 
rich  or  poor  but  that  on  every  festival  the 
floor  was  thus  decorated.  The  Edda  testifies 
to  this  ancient  custom. — GOETZ  Altnordisches 
Kleinleben  und  die  Renaissance  (a  lecture). 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1502.  HOME    OF    THE    CONDOR— A 

Dweller  in  the  Upper  Air — Capacity  for 
Change  of  Atmospheric  Pressure. — The  re- 
gion which  may  be  regarded  as  the  common 
resort  of  the  condor  begins  at  the  elevation 
of  Mount  Etna.  It  embraces  atmospheric 
strata  which  are  from  10,000  to  19,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Humming-birds 
also,  which  in  their  summer  flights  advance 
as  far  as  61°  north  lat.  on  the  western  coast 
of  America,  and  are  on  the  other  hand  found 
in  the  Archipelago  of  the  Terra  del  Fuego, 
were  seen  by  Von  Tschudi  in  Puna  at  an  ele- 
vation of  14,600  feet.  There  is  a  pleasure 
in  comparing  the  largest  and  the  smallest 
of  the  feathered  inhabitants  of  the  air.  The 
largest  among  the  condors  found  in  the  Cor- 
dilleras, near  Quito,  measure  nearly  15  feet 
across  the  expanded  wings.  This  size  and 
the  visual  angle  at  which  the  birds  are  seen 
vertically  above  one's  head  afford  an  idea 
of  the  enormous  height  to  which  the  con- 
dor soars  in  a  clear  sky.  A  visual  angle 
of  four  minutes,  for  instance,  would  give 
a  vertical  elevation  of  7,330  feet.  The  cav- 
ern (Mackay)  of  Antisana,  opposite  the 
mountain  of  Chussulongo,  and  where  we 
measured  the  birds  soaring  over  the  chain 
of  the  Andes,  lies  at  an  elevation  of  nearly 
16,000  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  Pa- 
cific; the  absolute  height  which  the  condor 
reached  must  therefore  be  23,273  feet,  a 
height  at  which  the  barometer  scarcely 
stands  at  12.7  inches,  but  which,  however, 
does  not  exceed  that  of  the  loftiest  summit 
of  the  Himalaya.  It  is  a  remarkable  physi- 
ological phenomenon  that  the  same  bird, 
which  wheels  for  hours  together  through 
these  highly  rarefied  regions,  should  be  able 
suddenly,  as  for  instance  on  the  western 
declivity  of  the  volcano  of  Pichincha,  to  de- 
scend to  the  seashore,  and  thus  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours  traverse,  as  it  were, 
all  climates.  At  heights  of  23,000  feet  and 
upwards  the  membranous  air-sacs  of  the 
condor  must  undergo  a  remarkable  degree 
of  inflation  after  being  filled  in  lower  re- 
gions of  the  atmosphere. — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  237.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1503.  HOMES,    MIGRATORY    BIRDS 
RETURN  TO — Wonderful  Local  Memory  of 
Swalloius  Proved. — The  individual  swallow, 


309 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


BBS," 


it  is  now  ascertained,  returns  from  the  Ca- 
naries or  North  Africa  to  the  very  spot  on 
which  it  built  its  little  mud  mansion  the 
previous  summer,  and  according  to  the  ob- 
servations of  the  celebrated  Jenner  marked 
birds  were  caught  at  their  old  nests  every 
year  for  three  successive  seasons.  This  fact 
is  so  remarkable  that,  even  after  allowing 
that  the  swallow  tribe  are  gifted  with  ex- 
traordinary powers  of  localization,  and  that 
their  summer  homes  are  well  denned,  it  is 
something  wonderful  to  remember  that  a 
bird  after  seven  months'  absence  can  still 
have  treasured  up  in  its  memory,  through 
the  varied  fortunes  and  vicissitudes  of  two 
long  journeys,  the  recollection  of  the  land- 
marks necessary  to  guide  it  to  and  from  its 
summer  home. — BROWN  Nature-Studies,  p. 
15.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

1504.  HOMOGENEOUSNESS,     AS- 
SUMED, OF  MICROSCOPIC  CELLS— Proper- 
ties  of   Water  Elude   Microscope. — Let   me 
say   here   that   many   of   our   physiological 
observers  appear  to  form  a  very  inadequate 
estimate  of  the  distance  which  separates  the 
microscopic  from  the  molecular   limit,  and 
that,  as  a  consequence,  they  sometimes  em- 
ploy a   phraseology   calculated   to   mislead. 
When,   for  example,  the  contents  of  a  cell 
are  described   as  perfectly  homogeneous  or 
as  absolutely  structureless,  because  the  mi- 
croscope   fails    to    discover    any    structure; 
or  when  two  structures  are  pronounced  to 
be    without    difference,    because    the    micro- 
scope can  discover  none,  then  I  think  the 
microscope    begins    to    play    a    mischievous 
part.     A  little   consideration  will  make  it 
plain  that  the  microscope  can  have  no  voice 
in  the  question  of  germ  structure.     Distilled 
water  is  more  perfectly  homogeneous  than 
any  possible  organic  germ.     What  is  it  that 
causes   the   liquid   to    cease   contracting   at 
39°    F.,    and    to    expand    until    it    freezes? 
We  have  here  a  structural  process  of  which 
the  microscope  can  take  no  note,  nor  is  it 
likely  to  do  so  by  any  conceivable  extension 
of  its  powers. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Sci- 
ence, vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  125.     (A.,  1897.) 

1505.  HOPE    AND    FAITH    OPPOSE 

MATERIALISM  —  For  there  are  two  great 
enemies  to  materialism — one  rooted  in  the 
affections,  the  other  in  the  intellect.  One  is 
the  power  of  things  hoped  for — a  power 
which  never  dies;  the  other  is  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen — and  this  evidence 
abounds  in  all  we  see.  In  reenforcing  this 
evidence,  and  in  adding  to  it,  science  is 
doing  boundless  work  in  the  present  day. 
It  is  not  the  extent  of  our  knowledge,  but 
rather  the  limits  of  it,  that  physical  research 
teaches  us  to  see  and  feel  the  most.  Of 
course,  in  so  far  as  its  discoveries  are  really 
true,  its  influence  must  be  for  good.  To 
doubt  this  were  to  doubt  that  all  truth  is 
true,  its  influence  must  be  for  good.  To 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  69.  ( Burti ) 

1506.  HOPE   FOR   HUMANITY'S   FU- 
TURE— Past   Gives  Assurance. — Thus,   then, 


the  most  sanguine  hopes  for  the  future  are 
justified  by  the  whole  experience  of  the  past. 
It  is  surely  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  a 
process  which  has  been  going  on  for  so  many 
thousand  years  should  have  now  suddenly 
ceased;  and  he  must  be  blind  indeed  who 
imagines  that  our  civilization  is  unsus- 
ceptible of  improvement,  or  that  we  our- 
selves are  in  the  highest  state  attainable  by 
man. — AVEBTJRY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  16, 
p.  576.  (A.,  1900.) 

1507.  HOPEFULNESS  OF  SCIENCE— 

Perplexities  Yet  Remaining. — It  must  be 
admitted  that  we  do  not  at  present  appear 
to  have  the  means  for  framing  a  complete 
and  consistent  theory  of  volcanic  action,  but 
we  may  hopefully  look  forward  to  the  time 
when  further  observation  and  experiment 
shall  have  removed  many  of  the  existing 
difficulties  which  beset  the  question,  and 
when  by  the  light  of  such  future  researches 
untenable  hypotheses  shall  be  eliminated 
and  the  just  ones  improved  and  established. 
— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  12,  p.  360.  (A., 
1899.) 

1508.  HORIZON,  MENTAL,  EXTEND- 
ED— Individual    Experience   Not  the   Limit — 
History,    Etymology,    Mythology,    and    Re- 
ligion Tributary  to  Psychology. — But  how  is 
it  possible  to  extend  our  experience  of  sen- 
sations,   feelings,    and   thoughts?      Did   not 
mankind  feel  and  think  thousands  of  years 
ago  as  it  feels  and  thinks  to-day?     It  does, 
indeed,    seem    as    tho    our    observation    of 
what  goes  on  in  the  mind  could  never  extend 
beyond   the   circle  to   which    our   own   con- 
sciousness confines  it.    But  appearances  are 
deceptive.      Long   ago    the   step   was   taken 
which  raised  the  science  of  psychology  above 
the  level  of  this  its  first  beginning,  and  ex- 
tended its  horizon  almost  indefinitely.     His- 
tory,   dealing    with    the    experience    of    all 
times,  has   furnished  us  with  a  picture  in 
the  large  of  the  character,  the  impulses,  and 
the  passions  of  mankind.     More  especially 
is  it  the  study  of  language  and  linguistic 
development,  of  mythology,  and  the  history 
of    religion    and    custom,    which    has    ap- 

Eroached  more  and  more  closely,  as  histor- 
ial  knowledge  has  increased,  to  the  stand- 
point    of     psychological     inquiry. — WUNDT 
Psychology,    lect.    1,   p.    10.      (Son.   &   Co., 
1896.) 

1509.  HORSE  A   MIGHTY  ENGINE— 

Adaptation  to  Needs  of  Man. — The  teeth  of 
a  horse  are  not  less  peculiar  than  its  limbs. 
The  living  engine,  like  all  others,  must  be 
well  stoked  if  it  is  to  do  its  work;  and  the 
horse,  if  it  is  to  make  good  its  wear  and 
tear,  and  to  exert  the  enormous  amount  of 
force  required  for  its  propulsion,  must  be 
well  and  rapidly  fed.  To  this  end,  good  cut- 
ting instruments  and  powerful  and  lasting 
crushers  are  needful.  Accordingly,  the 
twelve  cutting  teeth  of  a  horse  are  close-set 
and  concentrated  in  the  fore  part  of  its 
mouth,  like  so  many  adzes  or  chisels.  The 
grinders  or  molars  are  large,  and  have  an 


lorse 
[unting 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


310 


extremely  complicated  structure,  being  com- 
posed of  a  number  of  different  substances 
of  unequal  hardness.  The  consequence  of 
this  is  that  they  wear  away  at  different 
rates;  and,  hence,  the  surface  of  each 
grinder  is  always  as  uneven  as  that  of  a 
good  millstone. — HUXLEY  American  Ad- 
dresses, lect.  3,  p.  76.  (A.,  1898.) 

1 5 1 0.  HORSES ,  EXTINCT ,  IN  AMER- 
ICA BEFORE  COLUMBUS— It  is  a  singular 
fact  that,  altho  no  horse  inhabited  America 
when   discovered   by   Europeans,   yet   abun- 
dance of  remains  of  extinct  horses  have  been 
found  both  in  North  and  South  America  in 
post-Tertiary  and  Upper  Pliocene  deposits; 
and  from  these  an  almost  continuous  series 
of  modified  forms  can  be  traced  in  the  Ter- 
tiary formation,  till  we  reach,  at  the  very 
base  of  the  series,  a  primitive  form  so  un- 
like our  perfected  animal  that,  had  we  not 
the  intermediate  links,   few  persons  would 
believe  that  the  one  was  the  ancestor  of  the 
other. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  13,  p.  260. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

1511.  HOST  OF  MINUTE  PARTICLES, 
INNUMERABLE—  Unbroken  Blue  of  Sky.— 
Small  in  mass,  the  vastness  in  point  of  num- 
ber of  the  particles  of  our  sky  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  continuity  of  its  light.    It  is 
not    in    broken    patches,    nor    at    scattered 
points,  that  the  heavenly  azure  is  revealed. 
To   the   observer   on   the   summit   of  Mont 
Blanc,  the  blue  is  as  uniform  and  coherent 
as  if  it  formed  the  surface  of  the  most  close- 
grained  solid.     A  marble  dome  would   not 
exhibit    a    stricter   continuity.     .     .     .     By 
day,  this  light  quenches  the  stars;    even  by 
moonlight  it  is  able  to  exclude  from  vision 
all  stars  between  the  fifth  and  the  eleventh 
magnitude.     It  may  be  likened  to  a  noise, 
and  the  feebler  stellar  radiance  to  a  whisper 
drowned  by  the  noise. — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  122.     (A.,  1897.) 

1512.  HUES  OF  ANIMALS  IN  OCEAN 
DEPTHS  OFTEN  RICH  AND  BRILLIANT— 

Agassiz,  in  his  narrative  of  the  voyage  of 
the  "  Blake,"  records  that  "  some  of  the 
deep-sea  corals  are  scarlet,  deep  flesh-col- 
ored, pinkish  orange,  and  of  other  colors," 
and  in  referring  to  the  Gorgonian  Irido- 
gorgia  he  says :  "  The  species  are  remark- 
able for  their  elegance  of  form  and  for  the 
brilliant  luster  and  iridescent  colors  of  the 
axis,  in  some  of  a  bright  emerald  green,  in 
others  like  burnished  gold  or  mother-of- 
pearl." — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  4,  p.  66.  (A.,  1894.) 

1513.  HUMANITY,    ASCENDING 
SCALE  OF—  The  Highest  Man  Serves  Distant 
Ends. — Within  the  psychic  life  due  to  the 
cerebrum  itself  the  same  general  distinction 
obtains,  between  considerations  of  the  more 
immediate  and  considerations  of  the  more 
remote.     In  all  ages  the  man  whose  deter- 
minations  are   swayed   by  reference  to   the 
most  distant  ends  has  been  held  to  possess 
the   highest  intelligence.     The  tramp   who 


lives  from  hour  to  hour;  the  bohemian 
whose  engagements  are  from  day  to  day; 
the  bachelor  who  builds  but  for  a  single 
life;  the  father  who  acts  for  another  gen- 
eration; the  patriot  who  thinks  of  a  whole 
community  and  many  generations;  and 
finally,  the  philosopher  and  saint  whose 
cares  are  for  humanity  and  for  eternity — 
these  range  themselves  in  an  unbroken  hier- 
archy, wherein  each  successive  grade  results 
from  an  increased  manifestation  of  the  spe- 
cial form  of  action  by  which  the  cerebral 
centers  are  distinguished  from  all  below 
them. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p. 
23.  (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1514.  HUMANITY  DETHRONED— Athe- 
ism    and    Materialism     Result. — Once     de- 
throne humanity,  regard  it  as  a  mere  local 
incident  in  an  endless  and  aimless  series  of 
cosmical  changes,  and  you  arrive  at  a  doc- 
trine which,  under  whatever  specious  name 
it  may  be  veiled,  is  at  bottom  neither  more 
nor  less  than  atheism.     On  its  metaphysical 
side    atheism    is    the    denial    of    anything 
psychical  in  the  universe  outside  of  human 
consciousness;    and  it  is  almost  inseparably 
associated  with  the  materialistic  interpreta- 
tion of  human  consciousness  as  the  ephem- 
eral result  of  a  fleeting  collocation  of  par- 
ticles of  matter.     Viewed  upon  this  side,  it 
is  easy  to  show  that  atheism  is  very  bad 
metaphysics,   while   the   materialism   which 
goes  with  it  is  utterly  condemned  by  modern 
science. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  1,  p.  12. 
(H.  M.  &Co.,  1900.) 

1515.  HUMANITY  IN  ACCORD  WITH 
HIGHER    LAW  —  Wholesome    Restrictions  on 
Labor. — But  as  it  needed  the  practical  re- 
sults    of     restriction — distress,     discontent, 
and  the  danger  of  civil  commotion — to  bring 
home    to    the    national    understanding    the 
economic  error  of  the  old  commercial  sys- 
tems [the  Corn  Laws,  etc.]  ;    so  also  as  re- 
gards  the  grievous   results   of  unrestricted 
competition  in  human  labor,  our  only  effect- 
ive teaching  has  been  that  of  hard  experi- 
ence.    The  doctrines  of  Adam  Smith,  when 
applied  here,  were  a  hindrance  and  not  a 
help.     The  political  economists  were,  almost 
to  a  man,  hostile  to  restrictive  legislation. 
They  did  not  see  what  would  be  the  working 
of  natural  law  upon  the  human  will,  when 
that  will  was  exposed  to  overpowering  mo- 
tives   under    debased    conditions    of    under- 
standing and  of  heart.     They  did  not  see 
the  higher  law  which  Parliament  was  assert- 
ing when  it  was  driven,  by  sheer  instinctive 
horror  of  actual  results,  to  prohibit  "  free  " 
laborers  from  disposing  as  they  pleased  of 
the  labor  of  their  children. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  216.    (Burt.) 

1516.  HUMANITY  RESULTS  IN  UTIL- 
ITY— Anesthetics   Deaden   Pain  for  Patient — 
Give   Surgeon   Calmness   and   Confidence. — 
Anesthetics  were  first  used  in  dentistry  in 
1846,   the  agent  being  ether,  while  chloro- 
form,  for  more  severe  surgical  operations, 


311 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Horse 
Hunting 


was  adopted  in  1848;  and  tho  their  primary 
effect  is  only  to  abolish  pain,  they  get  rid  of 
so  much  nervous  irritation  as  greatly  to  aid 
in  the  subsequent  recovery.  The  use  of 
anesthetics  thus  renders  it  possible  for 
many  operations  to  be  safely  performed 
which,  without  it,  would  endanger  life  by 
mere  shock  to  the  system;  while  to  the 
operating  surgeon  it  gives  confidence,  and 
enables  him  to  work  more  deliberately  and 
carefully,  from  the  knowledge  that  the 
longer  time  occupied  will  not  increase  the 
suffering  of  the  patient  or  render  his  recov- 
ery less  probable. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  14,  p.  147.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1517.  HUMMING-BIRDS,  HYBRIDISM 
NOT    FOUND    AMONG  —  Numerous    Species 
Keep    Distinct.  —  We    have    the    emphatic 
declaration  of  Mr.   Gould  that  among  the 
thousands  of  specimens  which  have  passed 
through  his  hands,  from  all  the  genera  of 
this  great  family,  he  has  never  seen  one  case 
of  mixture  or  hybridism  between  any  two 
species,    however    nearly    allied.      But    this 
passage  is  so  important  that  I  quote  it  en- 
tire :     "  It  might  be  thought  by  some  per- 
sons that  four  hundred  species  of  birds  so 
diminutive  in  size,  and  of  one  family,  could 
scarcely  be  distinguished  from  each  other; 
but  any  one  who  studies  the  subject  will 
soon    perceive    that    such    is    not   the    case. 
Even    the    females,   which   assimilate   more 
closely  to  each  other  than  the  males,  can 
be   separated  with  perfect  certainty;     nay, 
even  a  tail-feather  will  be  sufficient  for   a 
person  well  versed  in  the  subject  to  say  to 
what  genus  and  species  the  bird  from  which 
it  has  been  taken  belongs.     I  mention  this 
fact    to    show   that    what   we    designate    a 
species  has  really  distinctive  and  constant 
characters;    and  in  the  whole  of  my  experi- 
ence,   with    many    thousands    of   humming- 
birds   passing   through    my   hands,    I    have 
never  observed  an  instance  of  any  variation 
which  would  lead  me  to  suppose  that  it  was 
the   result   of    a   union    of   two   species.     I 
write    this    without    bias    one   way    or    the 
other   as  to  the  question  of  the   origin  of 
species.     I  am  desirous  of  representing  Na- 
ture in  her  wonderful  ways  as  she  presents 
herself  to  my  attention  at  the  close  of  my 
work,  after  a  period  of  twelve  years  of  in- 
cessant   labor,    and    not    less    than    twenty 
years  of  interesting  study." — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  141.     (Burt.) 

1518.  HUMMING-BIRDS     IN    SNOW- 
STORM— Insect  Food  of  Flower-loving  Birds. 
— Two   species   of  humming-birds   are  com- 
mon.    Trochilus  forficatus  is  found  over  a 
space  of  2,500  miles  on  the  west  coast,  from 
the  hot,  dry  country  of  Lima  to  the  forests 
of  Terra  del  Fuego — where  it  may  be  seen 
flitting  about  in  snow-storms.     In  the  wooded 
island  of   Chiloe,   which   has   an   extremely 
humid    climate,    this    little    bird,    skipping 
from  side  to  side  amidst  the  dripping  foli- 
age, is  perhaps  more  abundant  than  almost 
any  other  kind.     I  opened  the  stomachs  of 


several  specimens,  shot  in  different  parts  of 
the  continent,  and  in  all  remains  of  insects 
were  as  numerous  as  in  the  stomach  of  a 
creeper.  When  this  species  migrates  in  the 
summer  southward,  it  is  replaced  by  the 
arrival  of  another  species  coming  from  the 
north.  This  second  kind  (Trochilus  gigas) 
is  a  very  large  bird  for  the  delicate  family 
to  which  it  belongs;  when  on  the  wing  its 
appearance  is  singular.  Like  others  of  the 
genus,  it  moves  from  pla£e  to  place  with  a 
rapidity  which  may  be  compared  to  that  of 
Syrphus  amongst  flies,  and  Sphinx  among 
moths ;  but  whilst  hovering  over  a  flower,  it 
flaps  its  wings  with  a  very  slow  and  power- 
ful movement,  totally  different  from  that 
vibratory  one  common  to  most  of  the 
species,  which  produces  the  humming  noise. 
I  never  saw  any  other  bird  where  the  force 
of  its  wings  appeared  (as  in  a  butterfly)  so 
powerful  in  proportion  to  the  weight  of  its 
body.  When  hovering  by  a  flower  its  tail 
is  constantly  expanded  and  shut  like  a  fan, 
the  body  being  kept  in  a  nearly  vertical 
position.  This  action  appears  to  steady  and 
support  the  bird,  between  the  slow  move- 
ments of  its  wings.  Altho  flying  from 
flower  to  flower  in  search  of  food,  its  stom- 
ach generally  contained  abundant  remains 
of  insects,  which  I  suspect  are  much  more 
the  object  of  its  search  than  honey.  The 
note  of  this  species,  like  that  of  nearly  the 
whole  family,  is  extremely  shrill. — DARWIN 
Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the  World,  ch. 
12,  p.  271.  (A.,  1893.) 

1519.  HUNTING,  A  NATURAL  IM- 
PULSE —  Inherited  Tendencies  to  Cruelty  — 
Resolute  Endeavor  Needed  to  Overcome. — 
The  hunting  instinct  has  a  remote  origin  In 
the  evolution  of  the  race.  The  hunting  and 
the  fighting  instinct  combine  in  many  mani- 
festations. They  both  support  the  emotion 
of  anger;  they  combine  in  the  fascination 
which  stories  of  atrocity  have  for  most 
minds;  and  the  utterly  blind  excitement  of 
giving  the  rein  to  our  fury  when  'our  blood 
is  up  (an  excitement  whose  intensity  is 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  human  pas- 
sion save  one)  is  only  explicable  as  an  im- 
pulse aboriginal  in  character,  and  having 
more  to  do  with  immediate  and  overwhelm- 
ing tendencies  to  muscular  discharge  than 
to  any  possible  reminiscences  of  effects  of 
experience  or  association  of  ideas.  I  say 
this  here  because  the  pleasure  of  disinter- 
ested cruelty  has  been  thought  a  paradox, 
and  writers  have  sought  to  show  that  it  is 
no  primitive  attribute  of  our  nature,  but 
rather  a  resultant  of  the  subtile  combina- 
tion of  other  less  malignant  elements  of 
mind.  This  is  a  hopeless  task.  If  evolution 
and  the  survival  of  the  fittest  be  true  at  all, 
the  destruction  of  prey  and  of  human  rivals 
must  have  been  among  the  most  important 
of  man's  primitive  functions,  the  fighting 
and  the  chasing  instincts  must  have  become 
ingrained.  .  .  .  It  is  just  because  hu- 
man bloodthirstiness  is  such  a  primitive 


Kunting 
:e 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


312 


part  of  us  that  it  is  so  hard  to  eradicate, 
especially  where  a  fight  or  a  hunt  is  prom- 
ised as  p*art  of  the  fun. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  411.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1520.  HYPNOTISM,    EFFECTS    OF— 

Power  of  Resistance  Diminished — Mind  Fol- 
lows Accustomed  Track — Judgment  Be- 
clouded.— It  [hypnotism]  must  be  looked 
upon,  not  as  a  remedy  of  universal  service- 
ability, but  as  a  poison  whose  effect  may  be 
beneficial  under  certain  circumstances.  We 
find,  of  course,  not  only  the  dabbler  in  hyp- 
notism— who  has  no  claim  to  a  judgment  on 
the  question,  and  in  whose  hands  the  prac- 
tise of  suggestion  becomes  a  public  nui- 
sance— but  also  the  physician — to  whom 
thinking  men  will  no  more  deny  the  right  to 
employ  this  dangerous  remedy  in  certain 
circumstances  than  that  of  using  any  other 
— asserting  that  the  hypnotic  sleep  is  not 
injurious,  because  it  is  not  in  itself  a  patho- 
logical condition.  But  surely  the  facts  of 
post-hypnotic  hallucination  and  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  power  of  resistance  to  suggestive 
influences  furnish  a  refutation  of  this  state- 
ment which  no  counter-arguments  can 
shake.  It  is  a  phenomenon  of  common  ob- 
servation that  frequently  hypnotized  indi- 
viduals can  when  fully  awake  be  persuaded 
of  the  wildest  fables,  and  thenceforth  re- 
gard them  as  passages  from  their  own  ex- 
perience.— WUNDT  Human  and  Animal  Psy- 
chology, lect.  22,  p.  335.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1521.  HYPNOTISM    MAY    INJURE 
BODY  AND    MIND— The  chief  danger  of  all 
this     [unregulated    use    of    hypnotism],    it 
seems  to  me,  does  not  lie  in  the  abuse  of 
post-hypnotic  suggestion  for  criminal  pur- 
poses, which  may  happen  once  in  a  while. 
Crimes  have  hardly  as  yet  been  committed 
by  "  mediums  "  as  a  result  of  suggestion. 
No!    the   great   danger   is   that   persons    of 
insufficient   medical   training,   working   not 
for  therapeutic  ends,  but  "  in  the  interests 
of    science" — tho    there    is    absolutely    no 
guaranty    of    the    real    existence    of    their 
scientific  devotion — may  exert  an  influence 
upon  the  mental  and  bodily  life  of  their 
fellow   men   such   as,   if   continued   for   any 
length  of  time  together,  cannot  fail  to  be 
injurious. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  22,  p. 
336.    (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1522.  HYPOTHESIS  OF  A  DESIGNING 
MIND — The  idea  or  hypothesis  of  a  design- 
ing mind,  as  the  author  of  Nature — however 
we   came  by   it — having  possession   of  the 
field,  and  being  one  which  man,  himself  a 
designer,  seemingly  must  needs  form,  cannot 
be  rivaled  except  by  some  other  equally  ade- 
quate for  explanation,  or  displaced  except 
by  showing  the  illegitimacy  of  the  inference. 
— GRAY  Darwiniana,  art.   13,  p.  360.      (A., 
1889.) 

1523.  HYPOTHESIS   OF   A  SOUL  IS 
SATISFYING— I  confess,  therefore,  that  to 
posit  a  soul  influenced  in  some  mysterious 
way  by  the  brain-states,  and  responding  to 


them  by  conscious  affections  of  its  own, 
seems  to  me  the  line  of  least  logical  resist- 
ance, so  far  as  we  yet  have  attained. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  181.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1524.  HYPOTHESIS  OF   PRIMARY 

ELEMENTS — Originated  Probably  in  India — 
Natural  Tendency  of  Human  Mind  To  Seek 
Underlying  Principles  of  the  Universe. — 
After  men  had  for  a  long  time,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  earliest  ideas  of  the  Hellenic 
people,  venerated  the  agency  of  spirits,  em- 
bodied in  human  forms,  in  the  creative, 
changing,  and  destructive  processes  of  Na- 
ture, the  germ  of  a  scientific  contemplation 
developed  itself  in  the  physiological  fan- 
cies of  the  Ionic  school.  The  first  principle 
of  the  origin  of  things,  the  first  principle  of 
all  phenomena,  was  referred  to  two  causes — 
either  to  concrete  material  principles,  the 
so-called  elements  of  Nature,  or  to  processes 
of  rarefaction  and  condensation,  sometimes 
in  accordance  with  mechanical,  sometimes 
with  dynamic  views.  The  hypothesis  of 
four  or  five  materially  differing  elements, 
which  was  probably  of  Indian  origin,  has 
continued,  from  the  era  of  the  didactic  poem 
of  Empedocles  down  to  the  most  recent 
times,  to  imbue  all  opinions  on  natural 
philosophy — a  primeval  evidence  and  monu- 
ment of  the  tendency  of  the  human  mind  to 
seek  a  generalization  and  simplification  of 
ideas,  not  only  with  reference  to  the  forces, 
but  also  to  the  qualitative  nature  of  matter. 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  11.  (H., 
1897.) 

1525.  HYPOTHESIS,   THE  NEBULAR 
— Formation  of  the  Earth — A  Gaseous  Ring 
Detached   from    the   Sun. — Thus   the   earth 
was  formed  by  the  slow  condensation  of  a 
gaseous  ring  detached  from  the  sun,  which, 
continuing   afterwards   to   contract   and   to 
condense,  gave  birth  later  on  to  Venus  and 
to    Mercury.      The    terrestrial    nebula    had 
from   that   time   an   independent   existence. 
It   proceeded   slowly   to    form    an   immense 
gaseous    globe    turning    upon    itself;     thus 
condensed,  heated  by  the  molecular  and  con- 
stant clashing  together  of  all  the  materials 
which  compose  it,  the  new-born  earth  shone 
with  a  feeble  glimmer  in  the  gloomy  night 
of  space. 

From  a  gaseous  condition  it  became 
liquid,  then  solid,  and  doubtless  it  continues 
to  cool  and  contract  even  now.  But  its 
mass  increases  from  age  to  age  by  the 
meteoric  stones  and  shooting  stars  which 
continually  fall  upon  it  (more  than  a  hun- 
dred thousand  millions  per  annum).  Will 
the  sun  give  birth  to  a  new  earth  ?  This 
is  not  probable.  For  this  purpose  it  would 
be  necessary  that  its  rotation  should  be 
enormously  accelerated:  it  should  be  219 
times  more  rapid. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  pp.  73-74.  (A.) 

1526. Directions  Stated 

— The  Best  Theory  That  Which  Best  Ac- 
counts for  All  the  Facts. — But  this  ingeni- 


313 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Hunting 
:e 


ous  theory  [the  nebular  hypothesis]  does 
not  account  for  some  peculiarities  which  are 
scarcely  less  remarkable  than  those  on  which 
it  has  been  based.  In  particular  it  does  not 
account  for  the  strange  disposition  of  the 
masses  of  the  solar  system.  Why  should 
the  inner  family  consist  of  minor  bodies,  in 
the  main  unattended,  while  the  outer  con- 
sists of  giant  orbs  with  extensive  families  of 
satellites  ?  Why  should  the  innermost  mem- 
bers of  the  outer  family  of  planets  be  the 
largest,  while  just  within  there  lies  the 
family  of  asteroids,  not  only  individually 
minute,  but  collectively  less  (as  Le  Verrier 
has  proved)  than  Mars  or  even  Mercury? 
Why  should  the  two  middle  planets  of  the 
inner  family  be  the  largest  members  of  that 
family?  Laplace's  theory  gives  no  account 
of  these  peculiarities,  nor  perhaps  could  it 
be  insisted  that  these  peculiarities  should  be 
explained;  yet,  if  any  other  theory  should 
give  an  account  of  these  features,  explain- 
ing also  the  features  which  we  have  seen 
accounted  for,  then  such  theory  would  have 
a  decided  advantage  over  Laplace's.  It  is 
to  be  noticed  also  that  Laplace's  great  nebu- 
lous contracting  mass  is  a  very  unsatisfac- 
tory conception  to  begin  with.  No  such 
mass  could  rotate  as  a  whole.  And  lastly, 
Laplace's  theory  does  not  in  any  way  corre- 
spond with  processes  still  taking  place 
within  the  solar  system.  It  gives  no  ac- 
count of  the  immense  number  of  meteor- 
flights  and  comets  still  existing  within  the 
solar  domain. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  182.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


1527. 


Opposed  by  Anal- 


ysis of  Existing  Nebula?. — We  have  vast 
gaseous  masses  intermingled  with  and  sur- 
rounding groups  of  stars,  and  apparently 
spread  with  exceptional  richness  where 
these  stars  or  suns  are  most  densely  aggre- 
gated. But  this  is  not  what  we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  if  stars  were  formed  out  of  this 
gaseous  matter.  On  the  contrary,  we  should 
expect  that  where  stars  were  most  numerous 
there  the  nebulous  matter  would  have  been 
most  completely  used  up,  so  to  speak — ex- 
hausted, as  it  were,  in  the  work  of  star- 
making.  Nor,  again,  can  we  recognize  in  the 
substances  which  appear  to  constitute  the 
gaseous  nebulae  the  fitting  materials  for 
making  stars.  So  far  as  the  spectroscopic 
analysis  of  the  gaseous  nebulae  extends,  their 
chief  constituent  would  appear  to  be  the 
gas  nitrogen,  the  element  next  in  impor- 
tance in  their  constitution  being  the  gas 
hydrogen,  while  a  third  element,  as  yet  not 
identified,  seems  to  be  present  in  their  sub- 
stance. I  would  not  insist  too  much  on  this 
evidence;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
it  is  all  the  evidence  we  have;  and  it  must 
be  regarded  as  at  least  an  unsatisfactory 
basis  on  which  to  rear  the  hypothetical  de- 
velopment of  suns  like  our  own,  in  whose 
orb  exist  the  glowing  vapors  of  iron,  copper, 
and  zinc,  sodium,  antimony,  and  mercury, 
barium,  carbon,  silicon,  and  sulfur,  and 


probably  every  single  element  known  to  our 
chemists. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  In- 
finities, p.  229.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1528.  HYPOTHESIS    VERIFIED    BY 

EXPERIMENT— The  Undulalory  Theory  of 
Light — Conflicting  Waves  of  Light  Produce 
Darkness. — Every  new  hypothesis  of  scien- 
tific value  must  not  only  furnish  an  exact 
explanation  of  known  facts,  but  must  also 
enable  us  to  predict  in  kind  and  quantity — 
the  phenomena  which  will  be  exhibited  un- 
der any  given  combination  of  circumstances. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  the  undulatory  hypoth- 
esis of  light,  it  was  inferred  as  a  logical  con- 
sequence that  if  the  supposition  were  true 
that  light  consisted  of  waves  of  an  ethereal 
medium,  then  two  rays  of  light,  like  two 
waves  of  water  under  certain  conditions, 
should  annihilate  each  other,  and  darkness 
be  produced.  The  experiment  was  tried, 
and  the  anticipated  result  was  obtained.  It 
is  this  exact  agreement  of  the  deduction 
with  the  actual  result  of  experience  that 
constitutes  the  verification  of  a  hypothesis, 
and  which  alone  entitles  it  to  the  name  of  a 
theory,  and  to  a  place  in  the  transactions  of 
a  scientific  institution.  It  must  be  recol- 
lected that  it  is  much  easier  to  speculate 
than  to  investigate,  and  that  very  few  of 
all  the  hypotheses  imagined  are  capable  of 
standing  the  test  of  scientific  verification. — 
HENRY  Organization  of  Smithsonian  Insti- 
lution,  Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  276. 
(Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1529.  ICE  A  MILE  AND  A  HALF  IN 
DEPTH — Interior  of  Greenland  an  Unknown 
Land.  —  The    interior    of    Greenland    is    re- 
ported by  the  few  bold  explorers  who  have 
crossed  it  to  be  completely  buried  beneath 
a  featureless  plain  of  snow.     This  covering 
has  reached  such  a  depth  in  all  of  the  cen- 
tral part  that  not  a  single  mountain  peak 
is   known   to   break   the  even   monotony   of 
its  surface.     The  snow  is  highest  and  prob- 
ably  deepest   in  the  central   area,   and   de- 
scends toward  the  coast,  thus  giving  the  is- 
land a  convex  surface.     The  general  eleva- 
tion of  the  central  portion  is  from  7,000  to 
8,000  feet,  decreasing  gradually  toward  the 
coast,  especially  to  the  east  and  west,  where 
the  glaciers,  protruding  like  great  tongues 
of  ice  from  the  central  region,  come  down 
to  the  sea.     The  only  mountain  peaks  that 
rise  above  the  surface  of  the  general  cover- 
ing of  snow  are  within  from  50  to  75  miles 
of  the  coast.     These  partially  buried  peaks 
rise  like  islands  in  the  sea  of  white.     They 
are  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  coast 
as   nunataks,   a  convenient   name   that   has 
found   a  place  in  geological  literature. 

The  depth  of  the  nearly  universal  cover- 
ing of  snow  and  ice  under  which  Green- 
land is  buried  cannot  be  told,  as  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  the  topography  of  the 
land  beneath.  The  best  estimates  that  can 
be  made  place  its  depth  at  several  thou- 
sand feet.  In  the  central  portion,  where 
the  covering  is  apparently  thickest,  its 


ce 

ce-clouds 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


314 


depth  may  be  fully  equal  to  the  height  of 
the  surface  above  the  sea,  or  about  8,000 
feet. — RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America, 
ch.  7,  p.  133.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1530.  ICE,  CONTINUED  ACTIVITY  OF 

— At  the  first  freezing,  water,  like  any  other 
substance,  shrinks,  but  with  increasing  cold 
it  expands,  and  in  fact  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  breaks  every  limiting  barrier,  a  pro- 
ceeding during  which  it  actually  becomes 
lighter,  consequently  it  must  be  constantly 
changing  its  inner  structure,  must  be  con- 
stantly developing.  It  is  by  means  of  this 
activity  of  ice  that  it  gradually  works  to 
the  surface  the  immense  granite  blocks 
which  sink  deep  under  the  ice  high  up  on 
the  glacier.  Glacial  ice  never  contains  en- 
closed fragments  of  rock. — BUCHHEISTER 
Eine  wissenschaftliche  Alpenreise  im  Win- 
ter, 1832,  p.  16.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

1531.  ICE  EXPANDS  BY  MEANS  OF 
AIR-BUBBLES — Glacier-ice    is    everywhere 
found  honeycombed  by  a  system  of  air-bub- 
bles.     Every   icy   surface   that   forms    over 
quiet  water  contains  a  countless  number  of 
air-holes   in  very  regular   layers,   of  which 
the   upper    are   all   thin   and   pointed,    like 
a  bodkin,  all  of  whose  outermost  sharp  points 
turn   toward   the    atmosphere.      All    of   the 
fundamental    strata   of   river-ice   contain    a 
complication  of  bubbles  and  nets  of  bubbles, 
that  remind  one  of  cell-tissues.     The  active 
development  of  these  bubbles  increases  with 
the    degree   of   cold   and   the   formation   of 
ice,  and  is  the  obvious  reason  why  ice  ex- 
pands. —  BUCHHEISTER    Eine    wissenschaft- 
liche Alpenreise  im  Winter,  1832.      (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1532.  ICE,  FAIRY-LAND   OF— Beauty 
of  Alaskan  Glaciers — Rich  and  Varied  Col- 
ors— The  Blue  of   the   Crystal   Mass. — The 
color    of   the    fractured    and   cleft   ice-cliffs 
[of  Taku  glaciers]    is  as  varied  and  beau- 
tiful as  their  ever-changing  forms.    The  sur- 
faces that  have  been  longest  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere  are  white  and  glittering,  on  ac- 
count of  the  multitude  of  vesicles  formed  in 
the  partially  melted  ice;  but  the  clefts  and 
caverns  reveal  the  intense  blue  of  the  crys- 
tal mass  within.     In  the  deeper  recesses  the 
light   issuing   from   the   interior    is   of   the 
darkest    ultramarine,    so    deep    that    it    ap- 
pears almost  black  in  contrast  with  the  bril- 
liant outer  surface.     In  the  full  glory  of  an 
unclouded  summer  day  the  scene  becomes  re- 
splendent with  the  reflected  glories  of  the 
sea  and  sky.    The  ice-cliffs  blaze  and  flash  in 
the  sunlight  until  one  can  scarcely  believe 
that  it  is  an  every-day,  earthly  scene  that 
meets  his  admiring  gaze.     The  observer  to 
whom  such  wonders  are  novel  may  well  fan- 
cy that  the  picture  before  him  is  but  the 
fantasy  of  a  dream.     One  is  awakened  from 
such  reverie,  however,  by  a  crash  like  the 
roar   of   artillery,  when  an   avalanche  falls 
from  the  cliffs  of  light  and  is  engulfed  in 
the  turbid  waters  below.     The  white  foam 


shot  upwards  by  the  avalanche  rises  high 
on  the  icy  precipice,  and  perhaps  dislodges 
other  tottering  pinnacles,  which  reawaken 
the  echoes  in  the  neighboring  mountains. 
After  each  crash,  crested  waves,  starting 
away  from  the  scene  of  commotion,  set  nu- 
merous bergs  rocking,  and  break  in  lines  of 
foam  on  the  adjacent  shore. — RUSSELL  Gla- 
ciers of  North  America,  ch.  6,  p.  79.  (G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

1533.  ICE  REMOLDED  BY  BREAKING 
AND  FREEZING — Fracture  and  Regelation. — 
[Investigation]    suggested  the  thought  that 
if  a  piece  of  ice — a  straight  prism,  for  ex- 
ample— were  placed  in  a  bent  mold  and  sub- 
jected to  pressure  it  would  break,  but  that 
the  force  would  also  bring  its  ruptured  sur- 
faces into  contact,  and  thus  the  continuity 
of   the  mass   might  be  reestablished.     Ex- 
periment    .     .     .     completely  confirmed  this 
surmise;   the  ice  passed  from  a  continuous 
straight  bar  to  a  continuous  bent  one,  the 
transition  being  effected,  not  by  a  viscous 
movement  of  the  particles,  but  through  frac- 
ture and  regelation. 

Let  the  transition  from  curve  to  curve 
be  only  gradual  enough,  and  we  have  the 
exact  case  of  a  transverse  slice  of  a  glacier. 
— TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps, 
ch.  1,  p.  354.  (A.,  1898.) 

1534.  ICE  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  FORMED 
BY   HEAT — Physical  Conceptions  of  the  An- 
cients— Supposed  Law   of   Contraries. — The 
ideas   that    fire   has   the  power   of   making 
rigid,     .     .     .     and  that  the  formation   of 
ice    itself    may   be   promoted   by   heat,    are 
deeply  rooted  in  the  physics  of  the  ancients 
and  based  on  a  fanciful  theory  of  contraries 
(Antiperistasis) — on  obscure  conceptions  of 
polarity    (of  exciting  opposite  qualities  or 
conditions).     .     .     .     The  quantity  of  hail 
produced  was  considered  to  be  proportional 
to   the   degree   of  heat  of  the   atmospheric 
strata.     In  the  \vinter  fishery  on  the  shores 
of  the  Euxine,  warm  water  was  used  to  in- 
crease the  ice  formed  in  the  neighborhood  of 
an  upright  tube. — HUMBOLDT   Cosmos,  vol. 
iii,  p.  125.    (H.,  1897.) 

1535.  ICE,  TRANSPORTING  POWER 

OF— Rocks  Borne  Along  Like  Chips. — In  Can- 
ada, where  the  winter's  cold  is  intense, 
in  a  latitude  corresponding  to  that  of  central 
France,  several  tributaries  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence begin  to  thaw  in  their  upper  course, 
while  they  remain  frozen  over  lower  down, 
and  thus  large  slabs  of  ice  are  set  free  and 
thrown  upon  the  unbroken  sheet  of  ice  be- 
low. Then  begins  what  is  called  the  packing 
of  the  drifted  fragments;  that  is  to  say,  one 
slab  is  made  to  slide  over  another,  until  a 
vast  pile  is  built  up,  and  the  whole,  being 
frozen  together,  is  urged  onwards  by  the 
force  of  the  dammed-up  waters  and  drift- 
ice.  Thus  propelled,  it  not  only  forces  along 
boulders,  but  breaks  off  from  cliffs,  which 
border  the  rivers,  huge  pieces  of  projecting 
rock.  By  this  means  several  buttresses  of 
solid  masonry,  which  up  to  the  year  1836 


315 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ice-clouds 


supported  a  wooden  bridge  on  the  St.  Mau- 
rice, which  falls  into  the  St.  Lawrence  near 
the  town  of  Trois  Rivieres,  lat.  46°  20',  were 
thrown  down  and  conveyed  by  the  ice  into 
the  main  river;  and  instances  have  occurred 
at  Montreal  of  wharfs  and  stone  buildings, 
from  30  to  50  feet  square,  having  been  re- 
moved in  a  similar  manner.  We  learn  from 
Captain  Bay  field  that  anchors  laid  down 
within  high-water  mark,  to  secure  vessels 
hauled  on  shore  for  the  winter,  must  be 
cut  out  of  the  ice  on  the  approach  of  spring, 
or  they  would  be  carried  away.  In  1834  the 
, "  Gulnare's  "  bower-anchor,  weighing  half 
a  ton,  was  transported  some  yards  by  the 
ice,  and  so  firmly  was  it  fixed  that  the  force 
of  the  moving  ice  broke  a  chain  cable  suited 
for  a  10-gun  brig,  and  which  had  rode  the 
•"  Gulnare  "  during  the  heaviest  gales  in  the 
gulf.  Had  not  this  anchor  been  cut  out  of 
the  ice  it  would  have  been  carried  into  deep 
water  and  lost. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, bk.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  220.  (A.,  1854.) 

1536.  ICE,  TROPICAL  ANIMALS  EM- 
BALMED IN — Glacial  Epoch  Came  as  a  Sur- 
prise.— The    long   summer    was    over.      For 
ages  a  tropical  climate  had  prevailed  over  a 
great  part  of  the  earth,  and  animals  whose 
home   is   now  beneath   the   equator   roamed 
over  the  world  from  the  far  south  to  the 
very  borders   of  the  arctics.     The  gigantic 
quadrupeds,    the    mastodons,    elephants,    ti- 
gers,   lions,    hyenas,   bears,   whose   remains 
are  found  in  Europe  from  its  southern  prom- 
ontories to  the  northernmost  limits  of  Sibe- 
ria and  Scandinavia,  and  in  America  from 
the   Southern   States  to  Greenland  and  the 
Melville  Islands,  may  indeed  be  said  to  have 
possessed  the  earth  in  those  days.    But  their 
reign  was  over.     A  sudden  intense  winter, 
that  wras  also  to  last  for  ages,  fell  upon  our 
globe;    it    spread    over    the   very    countries 
where  these  tropical  animals  had  their  homes, 
and   so    suddenly   did    it   come    upon    them 
that  they  were  embalmed  beneath  masses  of 
snow   and   ice,   without   time   even   for   the 
decay   which   follows  death. — AGASSIZ    Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  208.      (H. 
M.  &  Co.,   1896.) 

1537.  ICEBERGS,  COLORS  OF— Blue, 

Gray,  and  White — Color  Changed  by  Sudden 
Revolution — Buoyancy  Causes  Overthrow. — 
In  sailing  up  Muir  Inlet  or  any  other  arm 
of  the  sea  on  the  wild  Alaskan  shore  where 
tide-water  glaciers  discharge,  one  notices 
that  the  bergs  vary  in  character,  but  may  be 
grouped  in  three  quite  well-defined  classes. 
Some  are  of  dazzling  whiteness;  others  are 
of  the  color  of  turquoise  or  beryl;  others 
again  are  dark  with  dirt  and  stones.  On 
watching  the  ice-cliffs  where  these  children 
of  the  glaciers  are  born,  we  find  that  when 
pinnacles  already  whitened  by  exposure  to 
the  air  fall  into  the  sea,  they  float  away  as 
white  bergs.  If  we  watch  them  drifting  over 
the  still  water  and  appearing  in  the  distance 
like  a  fleet  of  gleaming  sails,  we  note  that 
occasionally  a  white  berg  suddenly  turns 


over  with  great  commotion  and  joins  the 
fleet  having  blue  for  their  banner.  The  rea- 
son for  the  change  in  color  is  that,  previous 
to  turning  over,  the  porous  exterior  of  the 
submerged  portion  of  the  berg  was  dissolved 
away  so  as  to  expose  the  compact  ice  of  the 
interior.  The  sudden  reversion  of  position 
is  due  to  unequal  melting,  which  changes 
the  center  of  gravity  of  the  mass.  A  cone 
of  ice  in  which  the  height  is  about  equal  to 
the  diameter  of  the  base  with  float  with  its 
apex  down.  When  a  berg  approaches  a 
conical  form  the  position  of  greatest  stabil- 
ity is  one  in  which  the  side  having  the 
larger  mass  is  uppermost.  Bergs  do  not 
become  top-heavy  and  turn  over,  as  is  some- 
times stated,  but  become  bottom-buoyant 
and  tend  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  me- 
dium in  which  they  float. — RUSSELL  Gla- 
ciers of  North  America,  ch.  6,  p.  83.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

1538. The   Blue   Bergs 

from  under  Sea — Commotion  Attends  Eman- 
cipation.— Blue  bergs  are  also  formed  by  the 
breaking  away  of  portions  of  the  submerged 
ice-foot  of  tide-water  glaciers.  These  are 
frequently  of  large  size,  and  rise  from  below 
the  surface  of  the  water  well  in  advance  of 
the  visible  end  of  the  glacier.  Their  emer- 
gence is  sudden.  They  bound  to  the  surface, 
and  rising  well  above  it  carry  tons  of  water 
with  them.  After  rocking  to  and  fro  for 
several  minutes,  as  if  to  be  sure  of  their 
freedom  after  centuries  of  imprisonment,  they 
quiet  down  and  float  slowly  away  as  shim- 
mering islands  of  the  most  exquisite  blue. — 
RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America,  ch.  6, 
p.  84.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1539.    ICE-CLOUDS  OF  UPPER  AIR— 

There  is  another  form  of  cloud  that  is  seen 
at  this  season  of  the  year  [summer]  called 
cirrus  ( a  curl ) .  It  takes  the  form  of  a  curl 
at  its  ends.  This  cloud  usually  has  a  thread- 
ed shape  and  sometimes  takes  the  form  of 
a  feather,  and  frequently  forms  are  seen 
that  remind  you  of  frost-pictures  on  a  win- 
dow-pane. These  clouds  float  very  high  in 
the  atmosphere,  away  above  the  tops  of  the 
highest  mountains,  from  six  to  eight  miles 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  They  are  formed 
only  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  the  at- 
mospheric conditions  are  most  uniform.  At 
certain  times  of  the  day  and  night  the 
moisture  will  rise  to  this  height  before  it 
condenses,  and  when  it  does  condense  it  im- 
mediately freezes,  which  makes  it  take  on 
these  peculiar  forms  that  would  no  doubt 
conform  very  closely  to  the  frost-pictures 
on  the  window-pane  if  it  were  not  for  the 
disturbing  influences  of  air  currents  at  this 
altitude.  The  fact  that  they  are  ice-  or 
frost-clouds  instead  of  water-clouds  gives 
them  that  peculiar  whiteness  and  brightness 
of  appearance.  If  ordinary  clouds  are  water- 
dust,  these  high  clouds  may  be  called  ice- 
dust.  Sometimes  we  see  them  lying  in 
bands  or  threads  running  across  the  sky  in 
the  direction  that  the  wind  blows.  Their 


lee-clouds 
Identification 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


316 


form  is  undoubtedly  a  resultant  of  the 
struggle  between  the  air  currents  and  the 
tendency  of  crystallized  water  to  arrange 
itself  in  certain  definite  lines  or  forms. — 
ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch. 
9,  p.  73.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1540.  ICE-CRYSTALS    SHOWN    IN 
SOLID  BLOCK — Revealing  Power  of  Light—- 
Hidden Structure  Made  Manifest. — There  is 
a    way    of    showing   the    regularity    in    the 
structure    of    ice,    a    very    simple    and  in- 
genious method  devised  by  Professor  Tyn- 
dall.     His  plan  is  this:   he  takes  a  slab  of 
ice  and  causes  a  ray  of  light  to  pass  through 
it  at  right  angles  to  the  surface  of  freezing, 
and   then    fall   on    a   white    screen   behind. 
Now   this   ray  of  light  is  accompanied   by 
heat,  and  the  heat  serves  partially  to  melt 
the  ice  through  which  it  passes;  but  it  does 
not  melt  a  hole  right  through  the  ice;  it  melts 
a  particle   here   and  a   particle  there,   and 
in  doing  so  reveals  the  structure  that  was 
previously  undiscernable.   By  melting  a  par- 
ticle here  and  there  the  transparency  of  the 
ice  is  interrupted,  and  the  screen  now  re- 
veals  a   number   of   figures   known   as    ice- 
flowers,  each  of  which  has  a  bright  spot  in 
the  center,  and,  like  a  snow-crystal,  has  six 
rays,   inclined  to  one   another  at  precisely 
the  same  angle,  and  variously  adorned  with 
symmetrical    outgrowths.  —  CHISHOLM    Na- 
ture-Studies, p.  27.      (Hum.,  1888.) 

1541.  ICE-HOUSE,  A  NATURAL— Fro- 
zen Drifts  Buried  for  Ages — Siberian  Mam- 
moths.— If  it  be  true  that  the  carcass   of 
the   mammoth   was   embedded   in   pure   ice, 
there  are  two  ways  in  which  it  may  have 
been  frozen  in.     We  may  suppose  the  ani- 
mal   to    have   been    overwhelmed   by   drift- 
snow.     I  have  been  informed  by  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson that  in  the  northern  parts  of  Amer- 
ica,   comprising   regions   now    inhabited   by 
many    herbivorous    quadrupeds,    the    drift- 
snow    is    often    converted    into    permanent 
glaciers.      It   is   commonly   blown  over   the 
edges  of  steep  cliffs,  so  as  to  form  an  in- 
clined   talus    hundreds    of    feet    high;    and 
when  a  thaw  commences,  torrents  rush  from 
the  land  and  throw  down  from  the  top  of 
the  cliff  alluvial  soil  and  gravel.     This  new 
soil  soon  becomes  covered  with  vegetation, 
and  protects  the  foundation  of  snow  from 
the   rays    of   the   sun.      Water   occasionally 
penetrates    into   the   crevices    and  pores   of 
the  snow;  but,  as  it  soon  freezes  again,  it 
serves  the  more  rapidly  to  consolidate  the 
mass  into  a  compact  iceberg.     It  may  some- 
times happen  that  cattle  grazing  in  a  val- 
ley at  the  base  of  such  cliffs,  on  the  borders 
of  a  sea  or  river,  may  be  overwhelmed  and 
at  length    enclosed   in   solid   ice,   and  then 
transported    towards    the    polar    regions. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p. 
85.      (A.,  1854.) 

1542.  ICE-SHEET  OVER  NORTHERN 
ITALY—  The  Glacial  Epoch.— The  glaciers  on 
the  southern  sides  of  the  Alps  were  hardly 
less  extensive  than  on  the  northern.     They 


descended  the  valleys,  they  passed  over  the 
sites  of  the  Italian  lakes  and  on  to  the 
plains  of  Piedmont  and  Lombardy.  Round 
one  group  of  moraines  the  tide  of  battle 
ebbed  and  flowed  in  the  struggle  of  Sol- 
ferino. — BONNEY  Ice-work,  Present  and  Past, 
pt.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  35.  (A.,  1896.) 

1543.  ICE-STORMS    IN    FORESTS— 

Melting  Snow  Congealed  on  Trees — Blocks 
of  Ice  Hurled  Down. — Snow  may  act  de- 
structively ...  by  giving  rise  to  what 
are  known  as  ice-storms  in  forests.  When 
snow  falls  in  forests,  and  especially  in  for- 
ests of  coniferous  trees,  such  as  are  most 
abundant  in  those  regions  where  snow  falls 
most  plentifully,  the  branches  of  these  ever- 
greens become  laden  with  a 'heavy  weight  of 
snow,  which  they  may  bear  until  the  snow 
has  been  converted  by  partial  melting  and 
subsequent  refreezing  into  solid  lumps  of 
ice.  These  present  a  still  greater  surface 
for  the  reception  of  fresh  snow,  which  may 
be  converted  into  ice  in  its  turn.  Some- 
times these  accumulations  attain  such  a 
weight  that  the  branches  can  no  longer  sup- 
port them.  The  topmost,  weakest  branches 
give  way  and  fall  down  with  the  lumps  of 
ice  that  they  carry.  These,  acquiring  im- 
petus as  they  fall,  strike  against  the  lower 
branches  and  break  them  off.  Thus  the 
process  of  destruction  is  accelerated.  The 
agitation  is  communicated  to  the  contigu- 
ous trees,  and  from  these  to  others,  and  thus 
in  a  brief  space  of  time  large  areas  in  a 
forest  may  be  in  great  part  destroyed. — 
CHISHOLM  'Nature- Studies,  p.  32.  (Hum., 
1888.) 

1544.  IDEA  BEHIND  PHENOMENA— 

The  First  Law  of  Motion — Not  One  In- 
stance of  Its  Operation  Ever  Known — Re- 
vealed to  Scientific  Faith  Only. — The  law  is 
that  all  motion  is  in  itself  (that  is  to  say, 
except  as  affected  by  extraneous  forces)  uni- 
form in  velocity  and  rectilinear  in  direc- 
tion. Thus  according  to  this  law  a  body 
moving,  and  not  subject  to  any  extraneous 
force,  would  go  on  moving  forever  at  the 
same  rate  of  velocity,  and  in  an  exactly 
straight  line. 

Now,  there  is  no  such  motion  as  this  ex- 
isting on  the  earth  or  in  the  heavens.  It  is 
an  abstract  idea  of  motion  which  no  man 
has  ever  or  can  ever  see  exemplified.  Yet 
a  clear  apprehension  of  this  abstract  idea 
was  necessary  to  a  right  understanding  and 
to  the  true  explanation  of  all  the  motions 
which  are  actually  seen.  It  was  long  before 
this  idea  was  arrived  at.  There  was  a  real 
difficulty  in  conceiving  it,  because  not  only 
is  there  no  such  motion  in  Nature,  but  there 
is  no  possibility  by  artificial  means  of  pro- 
ducing it.  It  is  impossible  to  release  any 
moving  body  from  the  impulses  of  extra- 
neous force.  The  first  law  of  motion  is 
therefore  a  purely  abstract  idea.  It  repre- 
sents a  rule  which  never  operates  as  we  con- 
ceive it  in  itself,  but  is  always  complicated 
with  other  rules  which  produce  a  corre- 


317 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ice-clouds 
Identification 


spending  complication  in  result.  Like  many 
other  laws  of  the  same  class,  it  was  discov- 
ered, not  by  looking  outward,  but  by  looking 
inward;  not  by  observing,  but  by  thinking. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of.  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  65. 
(Burt.) 

1545.  IDEA    OF    MATHEMATICIAN 
REALIZED  IN  CRYSTAL—  Theory  of  Undu- 
lations   Verified.  —  Effects     [of    refraction] 
which,  without  a  theoretic  clue,  would  leave 
the  human  mind  in  a  jungle  of  phenomena 
without  harmony  or  relation,  were  organic- 
ally connected  by  the  theory  of  undulation. 

The  theory  was  applied  and  verified  in  all 
directions,  Airy  being  especially  conspicuous 
for  the  severity  and  collusiveness  of  his 
proofs.  The  most  remarkable  verification 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  late  Sir  William  Ham- 
ilton, of  Dublin,  who,  taking  up  the  theory 
where  Fresnel  had  left  it,  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  at  four  special  points  of 
the  "  wave-surface "  in  double-refracting 
crystals  the  ray  was  divided,  not  into  two 
parts,  but  into  an  infinite  number  of  parts, 
forming  at  these  points  a  continuous  conical 
envelope  instead  of  two  images.  No  human 
eye  had  ever  seen  this  envelope  when  Sir 
William  Hamilton  inferred  its  existence. 
He  asked  Dr.  Lloyd  to  test  experimentally 
the  truth  of  his  theoretic  conclusion.  Lloyd, 
taking  a  crystal  of  aragonite,  and  following 
with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness  the  in- 
dications of  theory,  cutting  the  crystal 
where  theory  said  it  ought  to  be  cut,  ob- 
serving it  where  theory  said  it  ought  to 
be  observed,  discovered  the  luminous  envel- 
ope which  had  previously  been  a  mere  idea 
in  the  mind  of  the  mathematician. — TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  p.  212.  (A.,  1898.) 

1546.  IDEAS,  ABSTRACT,  OF  SLOW 
GROWTH— Not  To  Be  Attributed  to  Primitive 
Man — Conception  of  Energy  or  Force  Late 
and  Difficult — Powers  of  Nature  Regarded 
as  Energies  of  Persons. — When,   again,  we 
are  told  by  Sanskrit  scholars  that  the  ear- 
liest religious  conceptions  of  the  Aryan  race, 
as  exhibited  in  the  Veda,  were  pantheistic, 
and    that    the    gods    they    worshiped    were 
"  deifications "   of   the  forces   or  powers  of 
Nature,  we  are  to  remember  that  this  is  an 
interpretation,  and  not  a  fact.     It  is  an  in- 
terpretation, too,  which  assumes  the  famili- 
arity of  the  human  mind,  in  the  ages  of  its 
infancy,  with  one  of  the  most  doubtful  and 
difficult    conceptions    of    modern    science — 
namely,   the  abstract   conception  of   energy 
or  force  as  an  inseparable  attribute  of  mat- 
ter. ^  The  only  fact,  divested  of  all  precon- 
ceptions,  which  these   scholars  have  really 
ascertained   is   that  in  compositions   which 
are  confessedly  poetical  the  energies  of  Na- 
ture were  habitually  addressed  as  the  ener- 
gies of  personal  or  living  beings.     But  this 
fact  does  not  in  the  least  involve  the  sup- 
position that  the  energies  of  Nature  which 
are  thus  addressed  had,  at  some  still  earlier 
epoch,   been  regarded   under   the   aspect   of 
material   forces,   and  had  afterwards   come 


to  be  personified;  nor  does  it  in  the  least 
involve  the  other  supposition  that,  when 
so  personified,  they  were  really  regarded  as 
so  many  different  beings  absolutely  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  from  each  other.  Both 
of  these  suppositions  may  indeed  be  matter 
of  argument,  but  neither  of  them  can  be 
legitimately  assumed. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
Nature,  ch.  12,  p.  303.  (Burt.) 

1547.  IDEAS    NOT   DEJECTS,    BUT 

PROCESSES— Comparison  of  Thinking  to  Wri- 
ting.— As  a  matter  of  fact,  ideas,  like  all 
other  mental  experiences,  are  not  objects, 
but  processes,  occurrences.  The  idea  which 
we  refer  back  to  a  previous  one,  when  we 
apprehend  it  as  similar  to  that,  is  no  more 
the  earlier  idea  itself  than  the  word  which 
we  write  or  the  picture  which  we  draw  is 
identical  with  the  same  word  which  we 
wrote  previously  or  the  similar  drawing 
which  we  made  some  time  ago.  Indeed,  you 
will  see,  if  you  consider  the  complex  con- 
ditions under  which  our  inner  experience 
arises,  that  nothing  like  the  same  degree 
of  similarity  between  the  earlier  and  the 
later  product  can  be  expected  here  as  may 
be  found  under  certain  circumstances  in  the 
field  of  external  actions  like  writing  and 
drawing.  The  circumstance  that  new  proc- 
esses exhibit  relations  and  similarity  to 
others  previously  existing  can  no  more  prove 
the  continued  existence  of  the  idea  as  such 
than  it  can  be  inferred  from  the  similarity 
of  the  movement  of  the  pen  in  writing  a 
definite  word  now  to  that  involved  on  a  for- 
mer occasion,  that  this  movement  has  con- 
tinued to  exist  in  an  invisible  form  from 
the  time  it  was  first  made,  and  has  simply 
become  visible  again  when  we  have  written 
the  word  anew. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect. 
16,  p.  236.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1548.  IDENTIFICATION  OFTEN  FAL- 
LACIOUS— Witness  Sees  the  Expected— Forma 
Recognized    in    "  Materializing    Seances." — 
Testimony   to    personal    identity   is    prover- 
bially fallacious  for  similar  reasons  [viz. :  il- 
lusion through  preconception].     A  man  has 
witnessed   a   rapid   crime   or   accident,   and 
carries  away  his  mental   image.     Later  he 
is  confronted  by  a  prisoner  whom  he  forth- 
with perceives  in  the  light  of  that  image, 
and   recognizes,   or   "  identifies,"    as    a   par- 
ticipant,   altho    he    may    never    have    been 
near  the   spot.      Similarly   at   the   so-called 
"  materializing   stances  "   which   fraudulent 
mediums  give:   in  a  dark  room  a  man  sees 
a  gauze-robed  figure  who  in  a  whisper  tells 
him  she  is  the  spirit  of  his  sister,  mother, 
wife,  or  child,  and  falls  upon  his  neck.    The 
darkness,  the  previous   forms,  and  the  ex- 
pectancy have  so  filled  his  mind  with  pre- 
monitory images   that  it  is  no  wonder  he 
perceives  what  is  suggested.     These  fraudu- 
lent "  stances  "  would  furnish  most  precious 
documents  to  the  psychology  of  perception, 
if  they  could  only  be  satisfactorily  inquired 
into. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  19,  p. 
97.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


Idiocy 
Illusion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


318 


1549.  IDIOCY  A  MANUFACTURED 
ARTICLE — Recompense  of  Violated  Law — In- 
temperance a  Fruitful  Cause  of  Imbecility. 
— The   congenital    idiot   is   deprived   of   his 
human  birthright;  for  he  is  born  with  such 
a   defect   of  brain  that  he   cannot   display 
any   or   can   only   display  very   feeble   and 
imperfect  mental  functions.     From  no  fault 
of  his  own  is  he  thus  afflicted,  seeing  that 
he  must  be  held  innocent  of  all  offense  but 
the  offense  of  his  share  of  original  sin;  but 
it  is  nowise  so  clear  that  it   is  not  from 
some   fault   of   his   parents.     It  is   all   too 
true    that    in    many    cases    there    has    ob- 
servably been  a  neglect  or  disregard  of  the 
laws  which  govern  the  progress  of  human  de- 
velopment through  the  ages.  Idiocy  is  indeed 
a  manufactured  article ;  and  altho  we  are  not 
always  able  to  tell  how  it  is  manufactured, 
still    its   important   causes   are   known   and 
are   within   control.     Many  cases   are   dis- 
tinctly traceable   to  parental   intemperance 
and   excess.      Out  of    300  idiots   in   Massa- 
chusetts, Dr.  Howe  found  as  many  as   145 
to  be  the  offspring  of  intemperate  parents; 
and  there  are  numerous  scattered  observa- 
tions which  prove  that   chronic  alcoholism 
in  the  parent  may  directly  occasion  idiocy  in 
the  child.      [See  ALCOHOL  and  HEREDITY.] 
I   think,   too,   that   there   is    no   reasonable 
question   of  the  ill-effects   of  marriages   of 
consanguinity;    that    their    tendency    is    to 
produce  degeneracy  of  the  race,  and  idiocy 
as  the  extremest  form  of  such  degeneracy. — 
MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  2,  p.  44. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1550.  IGNORANCE,    CONSCIOUS,    A 
STEP  TOWARD  KNOWLEDGE— It  [Profes- 
sor Lockyer's  theory  of  dissociation  of  chem- 
ical elements]   brings  us  face  to  face  with 
the  mysteries  of  the  ultimate  constitution 
of  matter,   and  of  its  relations  to  the  vi- 
brating medium  filling  space.    It  makes  our 
ignorance   on   these   subjects   seem   at   once 
more   dense   and  more   definite.      Neverthe- 
less, this  in  itself   (tho  the  saying  appears 
paradoxical)    constitutes  an  advance.     Un- 
felt  ignorance  persists.     Ignorance  that  is 
stricken   with    uneasy   self-consciousness    is 
already  on  the  way  to  be  turned  into  knowl- 
edge.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  4,  p.  261.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

1551.  IGNORANCE,    HUMAN,    IMAG- 
INES CAPRICE  IN  NATURE— The  flowers  of 
orchids,  in  their  strange  and  endless  diver- 
sity  of   shape,  may  be  compared  with  the 
great  vertebrate  class  of  fish,  or  still  more 
appropriately  with  tropical  homopterous  in- 
sects, which  appear   to  us   as   if  they  had 
been   modeled    in   the   wildest   caprice,   but 
this  no  doubt   is  due  to  our  ignorance  of 
their  requirements  and  conditions  of  life. — 
DARWIN  Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  7,  p. 
224.     (A.,  1898.) 

1552.  IGNORANCE  NOT  THE  MOTHER 
OF  THE  SUBLIME— Science  Exalts  to  a  Truer 
Sublimity — The    Facts    of   Astronomy    Sur- 
pass All  Poetic  Ideals. — Writers  who  know 


nothing  of  the  true  poetry  of  modern  science 
have  supposed  that  the  perception  of  the 
sublime  is  born  of  ignorance,  and  that  to 
admire  it  is  necessary  not  to  know.  This, 
is  assuredly  a  strange  error,  and  the  best 
proof  of  it  is  found  in  the  captivating  charm 
and  the  passionate  admiration  which  divine 
science  now  inspires,  not  in  some  rare  minds, 
only,  but  in  thousands  of  intellects,  in  a 
hundred  thousand  readers  impassioned  in 
the  search  for  truth,  surprised,  almost 
ashamed,  at  having  lived  in  ignorance  of 
and  indifference  to  those  splendid  realities, 
anxious  to  incessantly  enlarge  their  con- 
ception of  things  eternal,  and  feeling  ad- 
miration increasing  in  their  dazzled  minds 
in  proportion  as  they  penetrate  farther  into 
infinitude.  What  was  the  universe  of  Moses, 
of  Job,  of  Hesiod,  or  of  Cicero,  compared  to 
ours !  Search  through  all  the  religious  mys- 
teries, in  all  the  surprises  of  art,  painting, 
music,  the  theater,  or  romance;  search  for 
an  intellectual  contemplation  which  pro- 
duces in  the  mind  the  impression  of  truth, 
of  grandeur,  of  the  sublime,  like  astronom- 
ical contemplation !  —  FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  1,  p.  554.  (A.) 

1553.  IGNORANCE  OF   MAN   AS   TO 
RELATIONS    OF   ORGANIC    LIFE—  Allevia- 
tions   of    Struggle    for    Life.  —  It    is    good 
thus    to    try    in    imagination    to    give    any 
one    species    an    advantage    over    another. 
Probably   in   no   single  instance   should   we 
know  what  to  do.     This  ought  to  convince 
us  of  our  ignorance  on  the  mutual  relations 
of  all  organic  beings,  a  conviction  as  neces- 
sary as  it  is  difficult  to  acquire.     All  that 
we  can  do  is  to  keep  steadily  in  mind  that 
each  organic  being   is   striving  to  increase 
in  a  geometrical  ratio;   that  each,  at  some 
period   of   its   life,   during   some   season    of 
the  year,  during  each  generation,  or  at  in- 
tervals, has  to  struggle  for  life  and  to  suffer 
great  destruction.     When  we  reflect  on  this 
struggle  we  may  console  ourselves  with  the 
full  belief  that  the  war  of  Nature  is  not  in- 
cessant, that  no  fear  is  felt,  that  death  is 
generally    prompt,    and   that   the   vigorous, 
the  healthy,  and  the  happy  survive  and  mul- 
tiply.— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  3,  p. 
72.      (Burt.) 

1554.  IGNORANCE  OF  NATURAL  LAWS 

— Air  Not  To  Be  Navigated  by  Buoyancy. — 
On  the  earth  and  on  the  sea  man  has  at- 
tained to  powers  of  locomotion  with  which 
in  strength,  endurance,  and  in  velocity,  no 
animal  movement  can  compare.  But  the  air 
is  an  element  on  which  he  cannot  travel — 
an  ocean  which  he  cannot  navigate.  The 
birds  of  heaven  are  still  his  envy,  and  on 
the  paths  they  tread  he  cannot  follow.  As 
yet!  for  it  is  not  certain  that  this  exclusion 
is  to  be  perpetual.  His  failure  has  resulted 
quite  as  much  from  his  ignorance  of  natural 
laws  as  from  his  inability  to  meet  the  con- 
ditions which  they  demand.  All  attempts 
to  guide  bodies  buoyant  in  the  air  must 
be  fruitless.  Balloons  are  mere  toys.  No 


319 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


{-toe. 


usion 


flying  animal  has  ever  been  formed  on  the 
principle  of  buoyancy.  Birds  and  bats  and 
dragons  have  been  all  immensely  heavier 
than  the  air,  and  their  weight  is  one  of  the 
forces  most  essential  to  their  flight.  Yet 
there  is  a  real  impediment  in  the  way  of 
man  navigating  the  air — and  that  is  the  ex- 
cessive weight  of  the  only  great  mechanical 
moving  powers  hitherto  placed  at  his  dis- 
posal. When  science  shall  have  discovered 
some  moving  power  greatly  lighter  than 
any  we  yet  know,  in  all  probability  the 
problem  will  be  solved.  But  of  one  thing 
we  may  be  sure — that  if  man  is  ever  des- 
tined to  navigate  the  air  it  will  be  in  ma- 
chines formed  in  strict  obedience  to  the  me- 
chanical laws  which  have  been  employed 
by  the  Creator  for  the  same  purpose  in 
flying  animals. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch. 
3,"  p.  101.  (Burt.) 

1555.  ILLUMINATION  OF  OCEAN  BY 
PHOSPHORESCENT  ANIMALS— To  give  an 
example  of  the  extent  to  which  the  illumina- 
tion due  to  phosphorescent  organisms  may 
reach,  I  may  quote  a  passage  from  the  wri- 
tings of  the  late  Sir  Wyville  Thomson: 

"  After  leaving  the  Cape  Verde  Islands 
the  sea  was  a  perfect  blaze  of  phosphores- 
cence. There  was  no  moon,  and  altho  the 
night  was  perfectly  clear  and  the  stars 
shone  brightly,  the  luster  of  the  heavens 
was  fairly  eclipsed  by  that  of  the  sea.  It 
was  easy  to  read  the  smallest  print,  sitting 
at  the  after-port  in  my  cabin,  and  the  bows 
shed  on  either  side  rapidly  widening  wedges 
of  radiance  so  vivid  as  to  throw  the  sails 
and  rigging  into  distinct  lights  and  shad- 
ows."— HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  2,  p.  26.  (A.,  1894.) 

1556.  ILLUSION  AT  SEA— Empty  Cap 
and  Coat  Assume  Guise  of  Engineer. — I  was 
lying  in  my  berth  in  a  steamer  listening  to 
the  sailors  holystone  the  deck  outside,  when, 
on  turning  my  eyes  to  the  window,  I  per- 
ceived   with    perfect    distinctness    that    the 
chief  engineer  of  the  vessel  had  entered  my 
stateroom,      and      was      standing      looking 
through  the  window  at  the  men   at  work 
upon  the  guards.   Surprised  at  his  intrusion, 
and  also  at  his  intentness  and  immobility,  I 
remained  watching  him  and  wondering  how 
long  he  would  stand  thus.     At  last  I  spoke ; 
but  getting  no  reply  sat  up  in  my  berth,  and 
then   saw  that  what  I   had   taken   for  the 
engineer  was  my  own  cap  and  coat  hanging 
on  a  peg  beside  the  window.     The  illusion 
was  complete;  the  engineer  was  a  peculiar- 
looking  man,  and  I  saw  him  unmistakably; 
but  after  the  illusion  had  vanished  I  found 
it  hard   voluntarily  to  make   the   cap   and 
coat  look  like  him  at  all. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  ii,  ch.  19,  p.  101.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1557.  ILLUSION  DUE  TO  RELATIVE 

SENSATIONS— Opposes,  as  Heat  and  Cold, 
Combine  in  a  Contradiction. — Another  stri- 
king example  is  that  of  our  sense  of  the 
temperature  of  objects,  which  is  known  to 


be  strictly  relative  to  a  previous  sensation, 
or  more  correctly  to  the  momentary  condi- 
tion of  the  organ.  Yet,  tho  every  intel- 
ligent person  knows  this,  the  deeply  root- 
ed habit  of  making  sensation  the  measure 
of  objective  quality  asserts  its  sway,  and 
frequently  leads  us  into  illusion.  The  well- 
known  experiment  of  first  plunging  one 
hand  in  cold  water,  the  other  in  hot,  and 
then  dipping  them  both  in  tepid,  is  a  start- 
ling example  of  this  organized  tendency. 
For  here  we  are  strongly  disposed  to  accept 
the  palpable  contradiction  that  the  same 
water  is  at  once  warm  and  cool. — SULLY 
Illusions,  ch.  4,  p.  65.  (A.,  1897.) 

1558.  ILLUSION    OF    ABSENCE    OF 
LIFE — Earth  at  Few  Miles'  Distance  Seems  a. 
Dead  World. — When   [astronomers]    declare 
that  the  moon  is  uninhabited  because  they  see 
nothing  moving,  they  are  singularly  deceived 
in  the  value  of  telescopic  testimony.    At  some 
miles  high  in  a  balloon,  with  a  clear  sky 
and  beautiful  sunshine,  we  distinguish  with 
the  naked  eye  towns,  woods,  fields,  mead- 
ows,   rivers,    roads;     but    we    see    nothing 
moving,  and  the  impression  felt  directly  (I 
have  often  experienced  it  in  my  aerial  voy- 
ages)   is   of   silence,   solitude,   and  the   ab- 
sence of  life.     Living  beings  are  no  longer 
visible,  and  if  we  did  not  know  that  there 
are  harvest-men  in  the  fields,  flocks  in  the 
meadows,  birds  in  the  woods,    fish  in   the 
waters,  there  is  nothing  to  make  us  realize 
their  existence.     If,  then,  the  earth  seems 
like  a  dead  world  when  seen  from  only  a  few 
miles'  distance,  what  is  it  but  illusion  to 
assert  that  the  moon  is  truly  a  dead  world, 
because  we  view  it  at  120  miles  or  more? 
for  it  is  only  exceptionally  that  we  can  use 
the  highest  magnifying  powers,  and  in  gen- 
eral we  do  not  apply  to  the  observation  of 
the    moon    powers    exceeding    a    thousand. 
What,  then,  can  we  see  of  life  at  such  a, 
distance?      Assuredly   nothing,    for    forests, 
plants,  cities,  all  would  disappear. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  6,  p. 
148.     (A.) 

1559.  ILLUSION    OF    MOVEMENT— 

Stationary  Train  Thought  To  Be  in  Motion 
— Sensation  Due  to  Mental  Inference. — 
There  is  an  illusion  of  movement  of  the  op- 
posite sort  with  which  every  one  is  familiar 
at  railway  stations.  Habitually,  when  we 
ourselves  move  forward,  our  entire  field  of 
view  glides  backward  over  our  retina. 
When  our  movement  is  due  to  that  of  the 
windowed  carriage,  car,  or  boat  in  which  we 
sit,  all  stationary  objects  visible  through  the 
window  give  us  a  sensation  of  gliding  in 
the  opposite  direction.  Hence,  whenever  we 
get  this  sensation,  of  a  window  with  all  ob- 
jects visible  through  it  moving  in  one  direc- 
tion, we  react  upon  it  in  our  customary  way, 
and  perceive  a  stationary  field  of  view,  over 
which  the  window,  and  we  ourselves  inside 
of  it,  are  passing  by  a  motion  of  our  own. 
Consequently  when  another  train  comes 
alongside  of  ours  in  a  station,  and  fills  the 


lluaion 
magination 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


320 


entire  window,  and,  after  standing  still 
awhile,  begins  to  glide  away,  we  judge  that 
it  is  our  train  which  is  moving,  and  that  the 
other  train  is  still.  If,  however,  we  catch 
a  glimpse  of  any  part  of  the  station  through 
the  windows,  or  between  the  cars  of  the 
other  train,  the  illusion  of  our  own  move- 
ment instantly  disappears,  and  we  perceive 
the  other  train  to  be  the  one  in  motion. 
This,  again,  is  but  making  the  usual  and 
probable  inference  from  our  sensation. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  19,  p.  90. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1560.  ILLUSION   OF   PERCEPTION— 

A  Mother's  Needless  Terror — The  Seeing  of 
Complementary  Colors. — The  eye  also  under 
some  circumstances  may  lose  its  sensibility 
for  particular  colors,  or  be  thrown  into  such 
an  unusual  state  as  to  present  all  objects  to 
the  mind  under  the  appearance  of  a  false 
color.  Thus,  if  a  person  looks  fixedly  for  a 
time  at  a  bright  red  object  and  then  turns 
his  eye  to  a  white  wall,  he  will  perceive  a 
green  image  of  the  red  object  depicted  on 
the  white  surface.  A  lady  of  our  acquaint- 
ance was  once  thrown  into  an  alarming  but 
laughable  paroxysm  of  terror  by  an  effect  of 
this  kind.  She  had  been  for  some  hours  at- 
tentively sewing  on  a  bright  crimson  dress, 
when  her  attention  was  directed  towards  her 
child,  who  in  its  sport  had  thrown  itself  on 
the  carpet;  its  face  appeared  of  the  most 
ghastly  hue,  and  the  affrighted  mother 
screamed  in  agony  that  her  child  was  in  con- 
vulsions; the  other  inmates  of  the  house 
hastened  to  her  assistance,  but  they  were 
surprised  to  find  the  little  one  smiling  in 
perfect  health.  The  sanity  of  the  mother 
became  the  natural  object  of  solicitude  until 
the  effect  was  properly  referred  to  the  im- 
pression made  on  her  eye  by  the  crimson 
cloth. — HENRY  Color-Blindness,  Scientific 
Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  234.  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1561.  ILLUSION    THE  LOT   OF   ALL 

MEN— Absolute  Truth  Sought  in  Fain. —Not- 
withstanding the  flattering  supposition  of 
common  sense,  that  illusion  is  essentially  an 
incident  in  abnormal  life,  the  careful  ob- 
server knows  well  enough  that  the  case  is 
far  otherwise.  There  is,  indeed,  a  view  of 
our  race  diametrically  opposed  to  the  flat- 
tering opinion  referred  to  above,  namely,  the 
humiliating  judgment  that  all  men  habitu- 
ally err,  or  that  illusion  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  natural  condition  of  mortals.  This  idea 
has  found  expression  not  only  in  the  cynical 
exclamation  of  the  misanthropist  that  most 
men  are  fools,  but  also  in  the  cry  of  despair 
that  sometimes  breaks  from  the  weary 
searcher  after  absolute  truth,  and  from  the 
poet  when  impressed  with  the  unreality  of 
his  early  ideals. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  1,  p. 
2.  (A.,  1897.) 

1562.  ILLUSION  THROUGH  MENTAL 
SUGGESTION  — The  following,  related  by  Dr. 
Tuke,  shows  in  an  admirable  manner  how 
similar  impressions  may  be  revived,  and  fal- 
sify the  perceptions  of  a  number  of  persons : 


"  During  the  conflagration  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  in  the  winter  of  1866-67,  when  the 
animals  were  destroyed  by  the  fire,  it  was 
supposed  that  the  chimpanzee  had  succeeded 
in  escaping  from  its  cage.  Attracted  to  the 
roof  with  the  expectation  in  full  force,  men 
saw  the  unhappy  animal  holding  on  to  it 
and  writhing  in  asrony  to  get  astride  one  of 
the  iron  ribs.  It  need  not  be  said  that  its 
struggles  were  watched  by  those  below  with 
breathless  suspense,  and,  as  the  newspapers 
informed  us,  *  with  sickening  dread.'  But 
there  was  no  animal  whatever  there;  and 
all  this  feeling  was  thrown  away  upon  a 
tattered  piece  of  blind,  so  torn  as  to  re- 
semble to  the  eye  of  fancy  the  body,  arms, 
and  legs  of  an  ape!" — ELDRIDGE -GREEN 
Memorv  and  Its  Cultivation,  pt.  i,  ch.  7,  p. 
172.  (A.,  1900.) 

1563.  ILLUSION  THROUGH  PRECON- 
CEPTION— Seeing  the  Expected.— We  [some- 
times] perceive  a  wrong  object  because  our 
mind  is   full   of  the  thought  of  it  at  the 
time,   and   any   sensation   which    is   in   the 
least  degree  connected  with  it  touches  off, 
as  it  were,  a  train  already  laid,  and  gives 
us  a  sense  that  the  object  is  really  before 
us.     Here  is  a  familiar  example : 

"If  a  sportsman,  while  shooting  wood- 
cock in  cover,  sees  a  bird  about  the  size  and 
color  of  a  woodcock  get  up  and  fly  through 
the  foliage,  not  having  time  to  see  more 
than  that  it  is  a  bird  of  such  a  size  and 
color,  he  immediately  supplies  by  inference 
the  other  qualities  of  a  woodcock,  and  is 
afterwards  disgusted  to  find  that  he  has 
shot  a  thrush.  I  have  done  so  myself,  and 
could  hardly  believe  that  the  thrush  was  the 
bird  I  had  fired  at,  so  complete  was  my  men- 
tal supplement  to  my  visual  perception." 

As  with  game,  so  with  enemies,  ghosts, 
and  the  like.  Any  one  waiting  in  a  dark 
place  and  expecting  or  fearing  strongly  a 
certain  object,  will  interpret  any  abrupt  sen- 
sation to  mean  that  object's  presence.  The 
boy  playing  "  I  spy,"  the  criminal  skulking 
from  his  pursuers,  the  superstitious  person 
hurrying  through  the  woods  or  past  the 
churchyard  at  midnight,  the  man  lost  in  the 
woods,  the  girl  who  tremulously  has  made 
an  evening  appointment  with  her  swain,  all 
are  subject  to  illusions  of  sight  and  sound 
which  make  their  hearts  beat  till  they  are 
dispelled. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  19, 
p.  95.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1564.  ILLUSIONS   IN   NATURE—  The 

Specter  of  the  Brocken. — There  is  a  wonder- 
ful exhibition  of  shadow  to  be  seen  under 
certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  on  one 
of  the  peaks  of  the  Hartz  Mountains,  called 
the  Brocken.  If  one  or  more  people  stand 
on  the  summit  at  sunrise  they  can  see  an 
enlarged  shadow  of  themselves  as  well  as 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  together  with  a 
house  with  a  tower  on  it,  standing  out 
against  the  sky  in  enormous  proportions; 
the  clouds  and  mist  form  a  screen  to  catch 
the  shadows,  and,  while  it  is  as  easily  ex- 


321 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Illusion 
Imagination 


plained  as  the  shadow  of  a  tree  in  the  sum- 
mer sunshine,  it  has  an  uncanny  appear- 
ance. It  is  called  the  "  Specter  of  the 
Brocken,"  and  has  been  looked  upon  with 
superstitious  awe  by  the  ignorant  people  for 
ages  past.  This  specter  may  be  seen  both 
at  sunrise  and  at  sunset,  but  of  course  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  mountain. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  27,  p. 
215.  (F.  H.  &H.,  1900.) 

1565.  ILLUSIONS    OF    SIGHT—  Spec- 
trum Seen  in  Darkness — Newton's  Experi- 
ence.— Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  able  to  recall 
[the  spectrum]  by  going  into  the  dark  and 
directing  his  mind  intensely,   "  as  when  a 
man  looks  earnestly  to  see  a  thing  which  is 
difficult  to  be  seen,"  and  this  [image],  after 
a  frequent  repetition  of  this  process,  came 
( he  says )  to  return  "  as  often  as  I  began  to 
meditate  on  the  phenomena,  even  tho  I  lay 
in    bed    at    midnight    with    my    curtains 
drawn."    For  altho  phenomena  of  this  class 
are  often  regarded  as  ocular  spectra   pro- 
duced by  retinal  change,  their  reproduction 
by  mental  states  seems  to  place  them  in  the 
same    category    as    the    visual    sensations 
which  are  distinctly  reproduced  by  memory 
— that  is,  by  cerebral  change.    In  fact,  there 
is  such  a  gradational  transition  from  the 
one  state  to  another  that  it  seems  clear  that 
they   have    a    common   origin. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  165.    (A., 
1900.) 

1566.  ILLUSIONS    OF   TOUCH— False 

Interpretation  of  True  Perception. — The  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  sensitiveness  possessed  by 
different  parts  may  give  rise  to  errors  of 
judgment  in  estimating  the  distance  between 
two  points  where  the  skin  is  touched.  Thus, 
if  blunted  points  of  a  pair  of  compasses 
(maintained  at  a  constant  distance  apart) 
be  slowly  drawn  over  the  skin  of  the  cheek 
toward  the  lips,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
resist  the  conclusion  that  the  distance  be- 
tween the  points  is  gradually  increasing. 
When  they  reach  the  lips  they  seem  to  be 
considerably  further  apart  than  on  the 
cheek.  Thus,  too,  our  estimate  of  the  size 
of  a  cavity  in  a  tooth  is  usually  exaggerated 
when  based  upon  sensation  derived  from  the 
tongue  alone.  Another  curious  illusion  may 
here  be  mentioned.  If  we  close  the  eyes,  and 
place  a  small  marble  or  pea  between  the 
crossed  fore  and  middle  fingers,  we  seem  to 
be  touching  two  marbles.  This  illusion  is 
due  to  an  error  of  judgment.  The  marble  is 
touched  by  two  surfaces  which,  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  could  only  be  touched 
by  two  separate  marbles,  hence  the  mind, 
taking  no  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  the 
fingers  are  crossed,  forms  the  conclusion 
that  two  sensations  are  due  to  two  marbles. 
—BAKER  Handbook  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  19,  p.  165.  (W.  W.,  1885.) 

1567.  ILLUSIONS  USED  IN  HEATHEN 
RITES— Images  of  Gods  Formed  by  Concave 
Mirrors. — A  stick  half  immersed  in  water 


always  looks  broken,  however  well  we  may 
know  that  the  appearance  is  due  to  the 
bending  of  the  rays  of  light.  Similarly,  an 
echo  always  sounds  as  tho  it  came  from 
some  object  in  the  direction  in  which  the 
air-waves  finally  travel  to  the  ear,  tho  we 
are  perfectly  sure  that  these  undulations 
have  taken  a  circuitous  course.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
deeply  organized  tendency^  to  mistake  the 
direction  of  the  visible  or  audible  object  in 
these  cases  has  from  remote  ages  been  made 
use  of  as  a  means  of  popular  delusion. 
Thus,  we  are  told  by  Sir  D.  Brewster,  in  his 
entertaining  "  Letters  on  Natural  Magic " 
(letter  iv),  that  the  concave  mirror  was 
probably  used  as  the  instrument  for  bring- 
ing the  gods  before  the  people.  The  throw- 
ing of  the  images  formed  by  such  mirrors 
upon  smoke  or  against  fire,  so  as  to  make 
them  more  distinct,  seems  to  have  been  a 
favorite  device  in  the  ancient  art  of  necro- 
mancy.— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  5,  p.  73.  (A., 
1897.) 

1568.  IMAGES    OF    MEMORY    MAY 
HAVE  A  KIND  OF  OBJECTIVE  PRESENT 
EXISTENCE— It  is  only  when  the  sting  of 
the  recollection  is  removed,  when,  for  ex- 
ample, the  calling-up  of  the  image  of  a  lost 
friend  is  no   longer  accompanied  with   the 
bitterness  of  futile  longing,  that  a  healthy 
mind  ventures   to  nourish   recollections    of 
such   remote  events   and  to  view  these   as 
part  of  its  recent  experiences.    In  this  case 
the  mnemonic   image  becomes   transformed 
into  a  kind  of  present  emotional  possession, 
an  element  of  that  idealized  and  sublimated 
portion   of   our   experience  with   which   all 
imaginative  persons  fill  up  the  emptiness  of 
their  actual  lives,  and  to  which  the  poet  is 
wont  to  give   an  objective  embodiment  in 
his  verse. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10,  p.  261. 
(A.,  1897.) 

1569.  IMAGINATION,  CREATIVE— Mo- 
zart's   Composing. — Mozart    describes    thus 
his  manner  of  composing:    First,  bits  and 
crums  of  the  piece  come  and  gradually  join 
together  in  his  mind;   then,  the  soul  getting 
warmed  to  the  work,  the  thing  grows  more 
and  more,  "  and  I  spread  it  out  broader  and 
clearer,  and  at  last  it  gets  almost  finished 
in  my  head,  even  when  it  is  a  long  piece,  so 
that  I  can  see  the  whole  of  it  at  a  single 
glance  in  my  mind,  as  if  it  were  a  beautiful 
painting  or  a  handsome  human  being;    in 
which  way  I  do  not  hear  it  in  my  imagina- 
tion at  all  as  a  succession — the  way  it  must 
come  later — but  all  at  once,  as  it  were.     It 
is    a   rare    feast!      All    the   inventing   and 
making  goes   on   in  me  as   in   a   beautiful 
strong  dream.     But  the  best  of  all  is  the 
hearing  of  it  all  at  once." — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,    ch.   9,  p.  255.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

15  7O.      IMAGINATION     DISTORTING 

FACT — Seaman's  Strange  Tale — Scientific  Ba- 
sis of  Story. — Another  animal,  a  zoophyte, 
consists  of  a  thin,  straight,  fleshy  stem, 


Imagination 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


322 


with  alternate  rows  of  polypi  on  each  side, 
and  surrounding  an  elastic  stony  axis,  vary- 
ing in  length  from  eight  inches  to  two  feet. 
The  stem  at  one  extremity  is  truncate,  but 
at  the  other  is  terminated  by  a  vermiform 
fleshy  appendage.  .  .  .  At  low  water 
hundreds  of  these  zoophytes  might  be  seen, 
projecting  like  stubble,  with  the  truncate 
end  upwards,  a  few  inches  above  the  surface 
of  the  muddy  sand.  When  touched  or  pulled 
they  suddenly  drew  themselves  in  with  force, 
so  as  nearly  or  quite  to  disappear.  .  .  . 
It  is  always  interesting  to  discover  the  foun- 
dation of  the  strange  tales  of  the  old  voy- 
agers; and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the 
habits  of  this  Virgularia  explain  one  such 
case.  Captain  Lancaster,  in  his  voyage  in 
1601,  narrates  that  on  the  sea-sands  of  the 
Island  of  Sombrero,  in  the  East  Indies,  he 
"  found  a  small  twig  growing  up  like  a 
young  tree,  and  on  offering  to  pluck  it  up  it 
shrinks  down  to  the  ground,  and  sinks,  un- 
less held  very  hard.  On  being  plucked  up,  a 
great  worm  is  found  to  be  its  root,  and 
as  the  tree  groweth  in  greatness,  so  doth 
the  worm  diminish;  and  as  soon  as  the 
worm  is  entirely  turned  into  a  tree  it  root- 
eth  in  the  earth,  and  so  becomes  great. 
This  transformation  is  one  of  the  strangest 
wonders  that  I  saw  in  all  my  travels:  for 
if  this  tree  is  plucked  up  while  young,  and 
the  leaves  and  bark  stripped  off,  it  becomes 
a  hard  stone  when  dry,  much  like  white 
coral :  thus  is  this  worm  twice  transformed 
into  different  natures.  Of  these  we  gathered 
and  brought  home  many." — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's  Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  5,  p. 
99.  (A.,  1898.) 

1571.  IMAGINATION  ELIMINATED— 

Photography  vs.  Drawing — The  Artist  Has 
More  Discretion — The  Camera  More  Abso- 
lute Faithfulness — Conflict  of  Testimony  be- 
tween Conscientious  Observers. — -The  skilful 
draftsman  can  show  in  the  same  picture 
details  differing  to  any  extent  in  intensity, 
while  the  photograph  is,  so  to  speak,  limited 
to  the  reproduction  of  only  one  certain  class 
of  details  at  a  time.  Still  we  can  always  be 
sure  that  whatever  a  photograph  does  show 
is  an  autographic  representation  of  fact,  and 
not  a  figment  of  the  imagination.  This  is 
not  the  case  with  drawings;  for  it  is  re- 
markable how  widely  two  conscientious  art- 
ists will  differ  in  their  representations  of 
the  same  object,  seen  by  both  with  the  same 
telescope,  and  under  the  same  circumstances. 
As  an  accurate  record  of  the  number,  posi- 
tion, and  magnitude  of  the  solar  spots  at 
any  given  time,  the  photograph  is,  of  course, 
unexceptionable.— YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  2,  p. 
51.  (A.,  1898.) 

1572.  IMAGINATION  ESSENTIAL  TO 
SCIENTIFIC    RESEARCH— An  intellectual 
and  ideal  combination  of  the  facts  already 
established    often   guides   almost   impercep- 
tibly the  course  of  presage,  elevating  it  as 
by  a  power  of  inspiration.     How  much  has 
been     enounced     among    the     Indians     and 


Greeks  and  during  the  Middle  Ages,  regard- 
ing the  connection  of  natural  phenomena, 
which,  at  first  either  vague  or  blended  with 
the  most  unfounded  hypotheses,  has,  at  a 
subsequent  epoch,  been  confirmed  by  sure 
experience  and  then  been  recognized-  as  a 
scientific  truth !  The  presentient  fancy  and 
the  vivid  activity  of  spirit  which  animated 
Plato,  Columbus,  and  Kepler  must  not  be 
disregarded,  as  if  they  had  effected  nothing 
in  the  domain  of  science,  or  as  if  they 
tended,  of  necessity,  to  draw  the  mind  from 
the  investigation  of  the  actual. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  107.  (H.,  1897.) 

1573.  IMAGINATION  IMPORTS  FALSE 
MATERIAL  INTO  SCENES  OF  MEMORY— 

Not  only  does  our  idea  of  the  past  become 
inexact  by  the  mere  decay  and  disappear- 
ance of  essential  features:  it  becomes  posi- 
tively incorrect  through  the  gradual  incor- 
poration of  elements  that  do  not  properly 
belong  to  it.  Sometimes  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  these  extraneous  ideas  get  imported 
into  our  mental  representation  of  a  past 
event.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  man 
has  lost  a  valuable  scarf-pin.  His  wife  sug- 
gests that  a  particular  servant,  whose  repu- 
tation does  not  stand  too  high,  has  stolen  it. 
When  he  afterwards  recalls  the  loss,  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  confuse  the  fact 
with  the  conjecture  attached  to  it,  and  say 
he  remembers  that  this  particular  servant 
did  steal  the  pin.  Thus,  the  past  activity 
of  imagination  serves  to  corrupt  and  par- 
tially falsify  recollections  that  have  a  genu- 
ine basis  of  fact. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10, 
p.  264.  (A.,  1897.) 

1574.  IMAGINATION   IN   SCIENCE— 

A  Constructive  Power — Ideas  of  Cause, 
Gravitation,  Atomic  Theory,  and  Kepler's 
Laws,  Its  Products. — With  accurate  experi- 
ment and  observation  to  work  upon,  imagi- 
nation becomes  the  architect  of  physical 
theory.  Newton's  passage  from  a  falling 
apple  to  a  falling  moon  was  an  act  of  the 
prepared  imagination,  without  which  the 
"  laws  of  Kepler "  could  never  have  been 
traced  to  their  foundations.  Out  of  the 
facts  of  chemistry  the  constructive  imagina- 
tion of  Dalton  formed  the  atomic  theory. 
Davy  was  richly  endowed  with  the  imagina- 
tive faculty,  while  with  Faraday  its  exer- 
cise was  incessant,  preceding,  accompanying, 
and  guiding  all  his  experiments.  His 
strength  and  fertility  as  a  discoverer  are  to 
be  referred  in  great  part  to  the  stimulus  of 
his  imagination.  Scientific  men  fight  shy  of 
the  word  because  of  its  ultrascientific  con- 
notations ;  but  the  fact  is  that  without  the 
exercise  of  this  power  our  knowledge  of 
Nature  would  be  a  mere  tabulation  of  co- 
existences and  sequences.  We  should  still 
believe  in  the  succession  of  day  and  night, 
of  summer  and  winter;  but  the  conception 
of  force  would  vanish  from  our  universe; 
causal  relations  would  disappear,  and  with 
them  that  science  which  is  now  binding  the 


323 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Imagination 


parts  of  Nature  into  an  organic  whole. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
8,  p.  104.  (A.,  1897.) 

1575. Checks  of  Reason 

and  Observation. — Imagination  is  necessary 
to  the  man  of  science,  and  we  could  not 
reason  on  our  present  subject  without  the 
power  of  presenting  mentally  a  picture  of 
the  earth's  crust  cracked  and  fissured  by 
the  forces  which  produced  its  upheaval. 
Imagination,  however,  must  be  strictly 
checked  by  reason  and  by  observation. — 
TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch. 
20,  p.  230.  (A.,  1898.) 

1576. Mythology  Sug- 
gests Botanical  Names. — Linnseus  gave  the 
name  Andromeda  after  the  Ethiopian  maid 
whose  mother's  over-great  boasts  of  the 
daughter's  beauty  made  her  the  victim  of 
Poseidon's  wrath.  Linnaeus  justified  his 
procedure  by  a  remarkable  play  of  fancy: 
"  This  most  choice  and  beautiful  virgin 
gracefully  erects  her  long  and  shining  neck 
(the  peduncle),  her  face  with  its  rosy  lips 
(the  corolla)  far  excelling  the  best  pigment. 
She  kneels  on  the  ground  with  her  feet 
bound  (the  lower  part  of  the  stem  incum- 
bent ) ,  surrounded  with  water,  and  fixed  to 
a  rock  (a  projecting  clod),  exposed  to 
frightful  dragons  ( frogs  and  newts ) .  She 
bends  her  sorrowful  face  (the  flower)  to- 
wards the  earth,  stretches  up  her  innocent 
arms  (the  branches)  toward  heaven,  worthy 
of  a  better  place  and  happier  fate,  until  the 
welcome  Perseus  ( summer ) ,  after  conquer- 
ing the  monster,  draws  her  out  of  the  water 
and  renders  her  a  fruitful  mother,  when  she 
raises  her  head  (the  fruit)  erect." — GILL 
Address  before  the  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  Smithsonian  Report 
for  1896,  pp.  457-83. 


1577. 


Producing  Effects 


in  the  World  of  Fact. — This  conception  of 
physical  theory  [of  light]  implies,  as  you 
perceive,  the  exercise  of  the  imagination. 
Do  not  be  afraid  of  this  word,  which  seems 
to  render  so  many  respectable  people,  both 
in  the  ranks  of  science  and  out  of  them, 
uncomfortable.  That  men  in  the  ranks  of 
science  should  feel  thus  is,  I  think,  a  proof 
that  they  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  mis- 
led by  the  popular  definition  of  a  great 
faculty  instead  of  observing  its  operation  in 
their  own  minds.  Without  imagination  we 
cannot  take  a  step  beyond  the  bourn  of  the 
mere  animal  world,  perhaps  not  even  to  the 
edge  of  this  one.  But,  in  speaking  thus  of 
imagination,  I  do  not  mean  a  riotous  power 
which  deals  capriciously  with  facts,  but  a 
well-ordered  and  disciplined  power,  whose 
sole  function  is  to  form  conceptions  which 
the  intellect  imperatively  demands.  Imagi- 
nation, thus  exercised,  never  really  severs 
itself  from  the  world  of  fact.  This  is  the 
storehouse  from  which  the  materials  for  all 
its  pictures  are  derived ;  and  the  magic  of 
its  art  consists,  not  in  creating  things  anew, 
but  in  so  changing  the  magnitude,  position, 


and  other  relations  of  sensible  things  as  to 
render  them  fit  for  the  requirements  of  the 
intellect  in  the  subsensible  world. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  43.  (A.,  1898.) 

1578.  IMAGINATION    MAY    MAKE 
IDEAL  WORLD  ALMOST  REAL— The  higher 
feelings  or  emotions  are  distinguished  from 
the   simple    sense-feelings   in   being   largely 
representative.     Thus,  a  feeling  of  content- 
ment at  any  moment,  tho^  no  doubt  condi- 
tioned by  the  bodily  state  and  the  character 
of   the   organic   sensations,    or    coenesthesis, 
commonly  depends  for  the  most  part  on  in- 
tellectual   representations    of    external    cir- 
cumstances or  relations,  and  may  be  called 
an   ideal   foretaste   of   actual   satisfactions, 
such   as   the  pleasures   of   success,   of   com- 
panionship, and  so  on.     This  being  so,  it  is 
easy  for  imagination  to  call  up  a  semblance 
of  these  higher  feelings.     Since  they  depend 
largely   on   representation,    a   mere    act   of 
representation  may  suffice  to  excite  a  degree 
of  the  feeling  hardly  distinguishable  from 
the  actual  one.    Thus,  to  imagine  myself  as 
contented   is   really   to   see   myself   at   the 
moment  as  actually  contented.     Again,  the 
actor,  tho     .     .     .     he  does  not  feel  all  that 
the  spectator  is   apt  to   attribute  to   him, 
tends,  when  vividly  representing  to  himself 
a  particular  shade  of  feeling,  to  regard  him- 
self as  actually  feeling  in  this  way.     Thus, 
it   is    said    of   Garrick,    that   when    acting 
Richard  III,  he  felt  himself  for  the  moment 
to  be  a  villain. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  8,  p. 
199.    (A.,  1897.) 

1579.  IMAGINATION,  P  0  E  T I C ,  OF 
GREAT  •  DISCOVERER  —  Scientific    Insight 
Penetrates  the  Unknown — Columbus  Infers 
a  Continent — Orinoco   Thought  a  River  of 
Paradise. — The    appearance    of    this    region 
[near  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco]   first  con- 
vinced the  bold  navigator  Columbus  of  the 
existence  of  an  American  continent.     "  Such 
an    enormous    body    of    fresh    water,"    con- 
cluded this  acute  observer  of  Nature,  "  could 
only  be  collected  from  a  river  having  a  long 
course;   the  land,  therefore,  which  supplied 
it  must  be  a  continent  and  not  an  island." 
As,  according  to  Arrian,  the  companions  of 
Alexander,  when  they  penetrated  across  the 
snow-crowned  summits  of  Paropamisus,  be- 
lieved that  they  recognized  in  the  crocodile- 
teeming  Indus  a  part  of  the  Nile,  so  Colum- 
bus, in  his  ignorance  of  the  similarity  of 
physiognomy    which    characterizes    all    the 
products  of  the  climate  of  palms,  imagined 
that    the    new    continent   was    the    eastern 
coast  of  the  far-projecting  Asia.    The  grate- 
ful coolness  of  the  evening  air,  the  ethereal 
purity  of  the  starry  firmament,  the  balmy 
fragrance  of  flowers,  wafted  to  him  by  the 
land  breeze — all  led  him  to  suppose  (as  we 
are  told  by  Herrera,  in  the  "  Decades  " )  that 
he  was  approaching  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the 
sacred  abode  of  our  first  parents.     The  Ori- 
noco seemed  to  him  one  of  the  four  rivers 
which,  according  to  the  venerable  tradition 
of  the  ancient  world,  flowed  from  Paradise 
to  water  and  divide  the  surface  of  the  earth, 


Imagination 
Imperfection 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


324 


newly  adorned  with  plants.  This  poetical 
passage  in  the  Journal  of  Columbus,  or 
rather  in  a  letter  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
written  from  Haiti  in  October,  1498,  pre- 
sents a  peculiar  psychological  interest.  It 
teaches  us  anew  that  the  creative  fancy  of 
the  poet  manifests  itself  in  the  discoverer 
of  a  world  no  less  than  in  every  other  form 
of  human  greatness. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of 
Nature,  p.  155.  (Bell,  1896.) 

1580.  IMAGINATION    PRODUCING 
FAINTNESS  — "A  clergyman  told  me  that 
some  time  ago  suspicions  were  entertained 
in  his  parish  of  a  woman  who  was  supposed 
to  have  poisoned  her  newly-born  infant.   The 
coffin    was    exhumed,    and    the    procurator- 
fiscal,  who  attended  with  the  medical  men 
to  examine  the  body,  declared  that  he  al- 
ready perceived  the  odor  of  decomposition, 
which   made  him  feel  faint,  and  in  conse- 
quence he  withdrew.     But  on  opening  the 
coffin  it  was  found  to  be  empty,  and  it  was 
afterwards    ascertained   that  no   child   had 
been  born,  and  consequently  no  murder  com- 
mitted."—  BENNET    quoted    by    CARPENTER 
in   Nature  and  Man,  bk.   i,  ch.   4,  p.    158. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1581.  IMAGINATION    STIMULATED 
BY    STUDY    OF    NATURE— Sublimity  of  a 
Tropical  Night. — If  I  might  be  allowed  to 
abandon  myself  to  the  recollections  of  my 
own  distant  travels  I  would  instance,  among 
the  most  striking  scenes  of  Nature,  the  calm 
sublimity  of  a  tropical  night  when  the  stars, 
not  sparkling  as  in  our  northern  skies,  shed 
their    soft    and    planetary    light    over    the 
gently  heaving  ocean,  or  I  would  recall  the 
deep  valleys  of  the  Cordilleras,  where  the 
tall  and  slender  palms  pierce  the  leafy  veil 
around    them,    and    waving   on    high    their 
feathery  and  arrow-like  branches,  form,  as 
it  were,   "  a  forest  above  a   forest " ;   or   I 
would  describe  the  summit  of  the  peak  of 
Teneriffe  when  a  horizontal  layer  of  clouds, 
dazzling  in  whiteness,  has  separated  the  cone 
of  cinders  from  the  plain  below,  and  sud- 
denly   the    ascending    current    pierces    the 
•cloudy  veil,  so  that  the  eye  of  the  traveler 
may  range   from   the  brink   of  the   crater, 
along  the  vine-clad  slopes  of  Orotava,  to  the 
orange-gardens     and     banana-groves     that 
skirt  the  shore.     In  scenes  like  these  it  is 
not   the   peaceful    charm   uniformly   spread 
over   the    face    of   Nature   that   moves   the 
heart,  but  rather  the  peculiar  physiognomy 
and  conformation  of  the  land,  the  features 
of  the  landscape,   the  ever-varying  outline 
of  the  clouds,  and  their  blending  with  the 
horizon  of  the  sea,  whether   it  lies  spread 
before  us   like  a  smooth  and  shining  mir- 
ror or  is  dimly  seen  through  the  morning 
mist.    All  that  the  senses  can  but  imperfect- 
ly comprehend,   all   that  is  most  awful  in 
such  romantic  scenes  of  Nature,  may  become 
a  source  of  enjoyment  to  man,  by  opening  a 
wide    field    to    the    creative   powers    of   his 
imagination.     Impressions  change  with  the 
varying   movements    of   the   mind,    and   we 


are  led  by  a  happy  illusion  to  believe  that 
we  receive  from  the  external  world  that 
with  which  we  have  ourselves  invested  it. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  26.  (H., 
1897.) 

1582.  IMITATION  A   CONTROLLING 

HUMAN  IMPULSE—  Civilisation  Founded  up- 
on It. — The  instinct  of  imitating  gestures 
develops  earlier  than  that  of  imitating 
sounds  [and]  usually  falls  well  inside  the 
limits  of  the  first  year.  Later  come  all  the 
various  imitative  games  in  which  childhood 
revels,  playing  "  horse,"  "  soldiers,"  etc., 
etc.  And  from  this  time  onward  man  is 
essentially  the  imitative  animal.  His  whole 
educability  and  in  fact  the  whole  history  of 
civilization  depend  on  this  trait,  which  his 
strong  tendencies  to  rivalry,  jealousy,  and 
acquisitiveness  reenforce.  "  Humani  nihil  a 
me  alienum  puto  "  is  the  motto  of  each  indi- 
vidual of  the  species,  and  makes  him,  when- 
ever another  individual  shows  a  power  or 
superiority  of  any  kind,  restless  until  he 
can  exhibit  it  himself.  .  .  .  And  there 
is  the  imitative  tendency  which  shows  itself 
in  large  masses  of  men,  and  produces  panics 
and  orgies  and  frenzies  of  violence,  and 
which  only  the  rarest  individuals  can  act- 
ively withstand.  This  sort  of  imitativeness 
is  possessed  by  man  in  common  with  other 
gregarious  animals,  and  is  an  instinct  in 
the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  being  a  blind 
impulse  to  act  as  soon  as  a  certain  percep- 
tion occurs.  It  is  particularly  hard  not  to 
imitate  gaping,  laughing,  or  looking  and 
running  in  a  certain  direction  if  we  see 
others  doing  so.  Certain  mesmerized  sub- 
jects must  automatically  imitate  whatever 
motion  their  operator  makes  before  their 
eyes.  A  successful  piece  of  mimicry  gives 
to  both  bystanders  and  mimic  a  peculiar 
kind  of  esthetic  pleasure. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  408.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1583.  IMITATION  INSTINCTIVE  AND 

UNIVERSAL — The  Chief  Element  in  the  Learn- 
ing of  Language. — From  the  first  days  of 
life  we  are  surrounded  by  our  fellow  men 
and  imitate  their  actions.  And  these  mim- 
etic movements  are  instinctive  in  charac- 
ter. As  soon  as  the  child's  consciousness  is 
aroused  from  its  first  sleepy  passivity,  it  be- 
gins to  perceive  the  expressions  of  others' 
emotions,  and  to  respond  to  them  by  similar 
emotions  with  corresponding  impulses.  The 
continued  imitation  by  which  a  child  comes 
to  learn  the  language  that  is  spoken  round 
it  is  impulsive,  not  voluntary. — WUNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  27,  8  1,  p.  396.  (Son.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

1584.  IMITATION   SECURES   THE 
CONTINUITY  OF  RACIAL  LIFE—  Social  He- 
redity.— Man  has  always  been  recognized  as 
the  imitative  animal  par  excellence.     And 
there  is  hardly  a  book  on  psychology,  how- 
ever old,  which  has  not  devoted  at  least  one 
paragraph  to  this  fact.     .     .     .    Each  of  us 
is    in    fact   what  he   is    almost   exclusively 


325 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


imagination 
mperfeciion 


by  virtue  of  his  imitativeness.  We  become 
conscious  of  what  we  ourselves  are  by  imi- 
tating others — the  consciousness  of  what  the 
others  are  precedes — the  sense  of  self  grows 
by  the  sense  of  pattern.  The  entire  accu- 
mulated wealth  of  mankind — languages, 
arts,  institutions,  and  sciences — is  passed 
on  from  one  generation  to  another  by  what 
Baldwin  has  called  social  heredity,  each  gen- 
eration simply  imitating  the  last. 
Invention,  using  the  term  most  broadly,  and 
imitation  are  the  two  legs,  so  to  call  them, 
on  which  the  human  race  historically  has 
walked. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  7, 
p.  48.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1585.  IMMIGRATION    OF    ANIMALS 
FROM  SHALLOW  WATER  TO  THE  DEEP 

SEA— Gradual  Adaptation  to  Their  New  Home. 
— Nor  can  we  consider  for  a  moment  that 
the  abyss  was  the  original  source  of  the 
shallow-water  fauna ;  for  not  only  do  we  find 
but  few  types  that  can  be  considered  fo  be, 
in  any  sense  of  the  word,  ancestral  in  char- 
acter, but  on  the  contrary  most  of  the  ani- 
mals of  the  deep  sea  seem  to  be  specially 
modified  types  of  shallow-water  forms.  The 
most  probable  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
the  deep-sea  fauna  is  the  one  that  was  put 
forward  by  Moseley  and  has  been  since 
supported  by  almost  every  authority  on  the 
subject,  namely,  that  the  fauna  of  the  deep 
sea  has  been  derived  from  successive  immi- 
grations of  the  animals  from  the  shallow 
water. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  3,  p.  54.  (A.,  1894.) 

1586.  IMMORTALITY  OF  GRATEFUL 
REMEMBRANCE  A  SHAM— Delusion  of  Posi- 
tivism.— The   positivist  argument   that  the 
only  worthy  immortality  is  survival  in  the 
grateful  remembrance  of  one's  fellow  crea- 
tures would  hardly  be  regarded  as  anything 
but  a   travesty  and  trick.     If  the  world's 
long-cherished  beliefs  are  to  fall,  in  God's 
name  let  them  fall,  but  save  us  from  the  in- 
tellectual   hypocrisy   that   goes    about   pre- 
tending  we    are    none    the    poorer! — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  170. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1587.  IMMORTALITY,  RACIAL,  A  DE- 
LUSIVE HOPE—  The  Moon  a  Dead  World— 
Perhaps   a   Cemetery. — The   moon,   then,   is 
dead;  and  if  it  ever  was  the  home  of  a  race 
like   ours   that  race  is   dead,   too.     I   have 
said  that  our  New  Astronomy  modifies  our 
view  of  the  moral  universe  as  well  as   of 
the  physical  one;   nor  do  we  need  a  more 
pregnant  instance  than  in  this  before  us.    In 
these   days   of   decay   of   old   creeds   of   the 
eternal,  it  has  been  sought  to  satisfy  man's 
yearning  toward  it  by  founding  a  new  relig- 
ion whose  god  is  humanity,  and  whose  hope 
lies  in  the  future  existence  of  our  own  race, 
in  whose  collective  being  the  individual  who 
must  die  may  fancy  his  aims  and  purpose 
perpetuated    in   an   endless   progress.      But, 
alas  for  hopes  looking  to  this  alone !  we  are 
here   brought   to    face   the    solemn    thought 
that,    like   the   individual,    tho    at   a    little 


further  date,  humanity  itself  may  die! — 
LAJSTGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  5,  p.  171.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1588.  IMMUNITY,  NATURAL,  OF 
SOME  PERSONS  AND  RACES— Relative  Im- 
munity of  Children  and  Adults — Plague  and 
Leprosy  Rare  in  English  Race. — The  term 
'•  natural  immunity  "  is  used  to  denote  nat- 
ural resistance  to  some  particular  specific 
disease.    It  may  refer  to  race,  or  age,  or  indi- 
vidual idiosyncrasies.     We~not  infrequently 
meet  with  examples  of  this  freedom   from 
disease.     Certain  races  of  men  do  not,  as  a 
rule,    take  certain   diseases.     For  example, 
plague  and  leprosy,  tho  epidemic   in  some 
countries,  fail  to  get  a  footing  in  England. 
This,  of  course,  is  due  in  great  measure  to 
the  sanitary  organization  and  cleanly  cus- 
toms of  the  English  people.    Still,  it  is  also 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  English  appear  in 
some  degree  to  be  immune.     Some  authori- 
ties  hold   that   the   immunity   against   lep- 
rosy is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  disease  has 
exhausted  itself  in  the  English  race.     How- 
ever that  may  be,  we  know  that  immunity, 
entire  or  partial,  exists.     Children,   again, 
are  susceptible  to  certain  diseases  and  in- 
susceptible to  certain  others  to  which  older 
people  are  susceptible.     We  know,  too,  that 
some  individuals  have  a  marked  protection 
against  some  diseases.     Some  people  coming 
into  the  way  of  infection  at  once  fall  vic- 
tims to  the  disease,  whilst  others  appear  to 
be  proof  against  it. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch. 
7,  p.  240.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1589.  IMPERFECTION   OF   HUMAN 

SENSES— Dependence  on  Speed  of  Light- 
Only  the  Past  of  the  Stars  Known — And 
That  in  Fragments — Gravity  Would  Be  a 
Swifter  Messenger. — We  learn  by  a  view  of 
the  heavens  that  twenty  years  ago  Sirius 
was  shining  with  such  and  such  brightness; 
that  a  hundred  years  ago  some  other  star 
was  shining  with  its  degree  of  luster,  and 
so  on;  but  the  star  depths  are  never  re- 
vealed to  us  exactly  as  they  are  at  the  mo- 
ment, or  exactly  as  they  were  at  any  mo- 
ment. Yet  this  is  merely  due  to  the  imper- 
fection of  our  senses.  We  judge  by  the  light 
of  these  objects,  and  this  light  travels  at 
such  and  such  a  rate.  It  is  conceivable  that 
creatures  might  have  a  sense  enabling  them 
to  judge  by  some  other  form  of  action,  ex- 
erted by  the  stars,  as  for  instance  by  the 
action  of  gravity.  If  gravity  were  the  ac- 
tion thus  effective,  the  information  conveyed 
respecting  the  universe  would  be  far  more 
nearly  contemporaneous,  since  the  action 
of  gravity  certainly  travels  many  thousands 
of  times  faster  than  light,  even  if  it  do  not 
travel  with  infinite  velocity  as  some  philoso-  . 
phers  suppose. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heav- 
en, p.  207.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1590.  IMPERFECTION    OF    INSTRU- 
MENTS— Diffusion  of  Light  Weakens  Optical 
Image    in    Giant    Telescope  —  Atmospheric 
Hindrances. — Lord    Rosse's    telescope    pos- 
sesses a  nominal  power   of   6,000 — that  is, 


m  perfection 
mprint 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


it  shows  the  moon  as  if  viewed  with  the 
naked  eye  at  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  But 
this  seeming  advantage  is  neutralized  by  the 
weakening  of  the  available  light  through  ex- 
cessive diffusion,  as  well  as  by  the  troubles 
of  the  surging  sea  of  air  through  which  the 
observation  must  necessarily  be  made.  Pro- 
fessor Newcomb,  in  fact,  doubts  whether 
with  any  telescope  our  satellite  has  ever 
been  seen  to  such  advantage  as  it  would 
be  if  brought  within  500  miles  of  the  un- 
armed eye. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy, 
pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  148.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1591.  IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEO- 
LOGICAL   RECORD  —  Destructive  Agencies 
Obliterate  the  Remains. — It  can  be  demon- 
strated that  the  geological  record  must  be 
incomplete,   that   it   can   only   preserve   re- 
mains found  in  certain  favorable  localities 
and   under    particular    conditions;    that    it 
must  be  destroyed  by  processes  of  denuda- 
tion, and  obliterated  by  processes  of  meta- 
morphosis.    Beds  of  rock  of  any  thickness, 
crammed  full  of  organic  remains,  may  yet, 
either  by  the  percolation  of  water  through 
them  or  by  the  influence  of  subterranean 
heat,  lose  all  trace  of  these  remains,   and 
present    the    appearance    of    beds    of    rock 
formed    under    conditions    in   which    living 
forms  were  absent.   Such  metamorphic  rocks 
occur   in   formations   of   all   ages;     and  in 
various  cases  there  are  very  good  grounds 
for  the  belief  that  they  have  contained  or- 
ganic remains,  and  that  those  remains  have 
been  absolutely  obliterated. — HUXLEY  Ameri- 
can Addresses,  lect.  2,  p.  42.    (A.,  1898.) 

1592.  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    THE 

EYE—  Yet  a  Marvel  to  the  Reflecting  Mind.— 
And  here,  in  passing,  I  am  reminded  of  the 
common  delusion  that  the  works  of  Nature, 
the  human  eye  included,  are  theoretically 
perfect.  The  eye  has  grown  for  ages  to- 
wards perfection;  but  ages  of  perfecting 
may  be  still  before  it.  ...  A  long  list  of 
indictments  might  indeed  be  brought  against 
the  eye — its  opacity,  its  want  of  symmetry, 
its  lack  of  achromatism,  its  absolute  blind- 
ness, in  part.  All  these  taken  together 
caused  Helmholtz  to  say  that  if  any  opti- 
cian sent  him  an  instrument  so  full  of  de- 
fects he  would  be  justified  in  sending  it  back 
with  the  severest  censure.  But  the  eye  is 
not  to  be  judged  from  the  standpoint  of 
theory.  It  is  not  perfect,  as  I  have  said, 
but  on  its  way  to  perfection.  As  a  prac- 
tical instrument,  and  taking  the  adjust- 
ments by  which  its  defects  are  neutralized 
into  account,  it  must  ever  remain  a  marvel 
to  the  reflecting  mind. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  8.  (A.,  1898.) 

1593.  IMPERIpUSNESS  OF  WRONG 
HABIT — Student  Revisiting  Paris  Unconscious- 
ly   Seeks    Old   Room. — Not   only    is    it   the 
right  thing  at  the  right  time  that  we  thus 
involuntarily  do   [when  a  habit  has  become 
fixed],  but  the  wrong  thing  also,   if   it  be 
an  habitual  thing.     Who  is  there  that  has 
never  wound  up  his  watch  on  taking  off  his 


waistcoat  in  the  daytime,  or  taken  his 
latch-key  out  on  arriving  at  the  door-step 
of  a  friend?  Very  absent-minded  persons 
in  going  to  their  bedroom  to  dress  for  din- 
ner have  been  known  to  take  off  one  gar- 
ment after  another  and  finally  to  get  into 
bed,  merely  because  that  was  the  habitual 
issue  of  the  first  few  movements  when  per- 
formed at  a  later  hour.  The  writer  well  re- 
members how,  on  revisiting  Paris  after  ten 
years'  absence,  and  finding  himself  in  the 
street  in  which  for  one  winter  he  had  at- 
tended school,  he  lost  himself  in  a  brown 
study,  from  which  he  was  awakened  by  find- 
ing himself  upon  the  stairs  which  led  to 
the  apartment  in  a  house  many  streets 
away  in  which  he  had  lived  during  that 
earlier  time,  and  to  which  his  steps  from 
the  school  had  then  habitually  led. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  114.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1594.  IMPERSONATION  —  The  Dra- 
matic   Impulse    Strong    in    Children. — The 
dramatic  impulse,  the  tendency  to  pretend 
one  is  some  one  else,  contains  this  pleasure 
of  mimicry  as  one  of  its  elements.    Another 
element   seems    to   be   a   peculiar    sense   of 
power  in  stretching  one's  own  personality  so 
as  to  include  that  of  a  strange  person.     In 
young  children  this  instinct  often  knows  no 
bounds.     For  a  few  months  in  one  of  my 
children's    third   year,    he   literally    hardly 
ever  appeared  in  his  own  person.     It  was 
always,  "  Play  I  am  So-and-so,  and  you  are 
So-and-so,   and  the  chair  is  such  a  thing, 
and  then  we'll  do  this  or  that."     If  you 
called   him   by   his   name,   H.,   you  invari- 
ably  got   the   reply,   "  I'm   not  H:,    I'm   a 
hyena,    or    a    horse-car/'    or    whatever   the 
feigned  object  might  be.     He  outwore  this 
impulse  after  a  time;    but  while  it  lasted 
it  had  every  appearance  of  being  the  auto- 
matic  result  of  ideas,    often  suggested  by 
perceptions,  working  out  irresistible  motor 
effects. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p. 
409.    (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1595.  IMPERSONATION  CREATING 

MYTHS—  Origin  of  the  Three  Fates— Past, 
Present,  Future. — Another  well-known 
mythic  group  shows  again  how  what  to  us 
moderns  are  but  ideas  expressed  in  words, 
took  personal  form  in  the  minds  of  the  an- 
cients. In  the  classic  books  of  Greece  and 
Eome  we  read  of  the  three  fate-spinners,  the 
Moirai  or  Parcse,  and  their  Scandinavian 
counterparts  appear  in  the  Edda  as  the 
three  wise  women  whose  dwelling  is  near  the 
spring  under  the  world-ash  Ygdrasill,  the 
Norns  who  fix  the  lives  of  men.  The  ex- 
planation of  these  three  mythic  beings  is 
that  they  are  in  personal  shape  the  Past, 
Present,  and  Future,  as  is  shown  by  the 
names  they  bear — Was,  Is,  Shall  (Urdhr, 
Verdhandi,  Skuld). — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  15,  p.  396.  (A.,  1899.) 

1596.  IMPLEMENTS,      NATURAL, 
EFFECTIVENESS  Of—Bill  of  Macaw  Sur- 
passes Hammer — Hardest  Nuts  Crushed  to 


327 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


imperfection 
mprint 


Pulp. — We  saw  here,  for  the  first  time,  the 
splendid  hyacinthine  macaw  (Macrocercus 
hyacinthinus,  Lath.,  the  araruna  of  the 
natives ) ,  one  of  the  finest  and  rarest  species 
of  the  parrot  family.  It  only  occurs  in  the 
interior  of  Brazil,  from  16°  S.  lat.  to  the 
southern  border  of  the  Amazons  Valley.  It 
is  three  feet  long  from  the  beak  to  the  tip 
of  the  tail,  and  is  entirely  of  a  soft  hya- 
cinthine blue  color,  except  round  the  eyes, 
where  the  skin  is  naked  and  white.  It  flies 
in  pairs,  and  feeds  on  the  hard  nuts  of  sev- 
eral palms,  but  especially  of  the  "  mucuja  " 
(Acrocomia  lasiospatha).  These  nuts,  which 
are  so  hard  as  to  be  difficult  to  break  with  a 
heavy  hammer,  are  crushed  to  a  pulp  by  the 
powerful  beak  of  this  macaw. — BATES  Nat- 
uralist on  the  River  Amazon,  ch.  4,  p.  649. 
(Hum.,  1880.) 

1597.  IMPOSTURE  PRACTISED  BY 
COWBIRD— We  often  see  these  birds  feed- 
ing near  cattle  in  the  pastures,  always  in 
small  flocks,  for  they  do  not  pair  nor  even 
construct  a  nest,  the  female  laying  her  egg 
in  the  nest  of  another  and  generally  smaller 
species.     Few  birds  seem  aware  of  the  im- 
posture, and  not  only  do  they  incubate  the 
egg,  but  they  may  attend  to  the  demands  of 
the  young  eowbird  at  the  expense  of  their 
own  offspring,  who  sometimes  die  of  star- 
vation.    Even   after    leaving   the   nest   the 
young  parasite  continues  its  call  for  food, 
and  when  seeing  a  Maryland  yellowthroat 
or  some  other  small  bird  feeding  a  clumsy 
fledgling  twice  its  size,  one  wonders  it  does 
not  detect  the  deception. — CHAPMAN  Bird- 
Life,  ch,  7,  p.  174.    (A.,  1900.) 

1598.  IMPRESSION  ON  PREPARED 
NERVE-CENTER  —  Apperception  —  The  Lov- 
ers   Tap — The  Friend's    Voice. — This   reen- 
forcement  of  ideas  and  impressions  by  the 
preexisting  contents  of  the  mind  was  what 
Herbart  had  in  mind  when  he  gave  the  name 
of  "  apperceptive  attention  "  to  the  variety 
we  describe.    We  easily  see  now  why  the  lov- 
er's tap  should  be  heard — it  finds  a  nerve- 
center   half   ready   in   advance   to   explode. 
We  see  how  we  can  attend  to  a  companion's 
voice  in  the  midst  of  noises  which  pass  un- 
noticed tho  objectively  much  louder  than  the 
words  we  hear.     Each  word  is  doubly  awa- 
kened ;  once  from  without  by  the  lips  of  the 
talker,  but  already  before  that  from  within 
by    the    premonitory    processes    irradiating 
from  the  previous  words,  and  by  the   dim 
arousal  of  all  processes  that  are  connected 
with  the  "  topic  "  of  the  talk.     The  irrele- 
vant noises,   on  the  other  hand,   are   awa- 
kened only  once.    They  form  an  unconnected 
train.     The  boys  at  school,  inattentive  to 
the  teacher  except  when  he  begins  an  anec- 
dote,  and  then  all  pricking  up  their  ears, 
are  as  easily  explained.     The  words  of  the 
anecdote  shoot  into  association  with   exci- 
ting objects  which  react  and  fix  them;    the 
other  words  do  not. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  11,  p.  450.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


1599.  IMPRESSION,  WEAK,  OBLIT- 
ERATED  BY   STRONG—  Tick  of  Clock  — 
Light   of   Stars — Slight    Weight   Added    to 
Heavier  Weight. — Every  one  knows  that  in 
the  stillness  of  night  we  hear  things  which 
are  unperceived  in  the  noise  of  day.     The 
gentle    ticking    of    the    clock,    the    distant 
bustle  of  the  streets,  the  creaking   of  the 
chairs  in  the  room,  impress  themselves  upon 
our  ear.     And  every  one  knows  that  amid 
the    confused  hubbub    of  -the   market-place 
or  the  roar  of  a  railway-train  we  may  lose 
what  our  neighbor  is  saying  to  us,  or  even 
fail   to   hear   our   own   voice.     .     .     .     The 
tick  of  the  clock  is  a  weak  stimulus  for  our 
auditory  nerves,  which  we  hear  plainly  when 
it  is  given  by  itself,  but  not  when  it  is  added 
to  a  strong  stimulus  of  rattling  wheels  and 
all   the   other    turmoil.     The   light   of   the 
stars  is  a  stimulus  for  the  eye;    but  if  its 
stimulation  is  added  to  the  strong  stimulus 
of  daylight,  we  do  not  notice  it,  altho  we 
sense  it  clearly  when   it  is  joined  to   the 
weak    stimulus    of    twilight.      The    gram 
weight  is  a  stimulus  for  our  skin  which  we 
sense  when  it  is  united  to  a  present  stimulus 
of  equal  strength,  but  which  vanishes  when 
it  is  combined  with  a  stimulus  of  a  thou- 
sand times  its  own  intensity. — WUNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  2,  p.  22.    (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1600.  IMPRESSIONS  OF   CHILD- 
HOOD   A    STIMULUS     TO    SCIENTIFIC 
PURSUITS  —  Stories  of  Adventure  Combine 
with  Love  of  Science. — The  longing  wish  I 
felt   to  behold   the  Pacific   from   the   lofty 
ridges  of  the  Andes  was  mingled  with  recol- 
lections of  the  interest  with  which,  as  a  boy, 
I  had  dwelt  on  the  narrative   of  the   ad- 
venturous   expedition    of    Vasco    Nunez    de 
Balboa.     That  happy  man,  whose  track  Pi- 
zarro  followed,  was  the  first  to  behold,  from 
the  heights  of  Quarequa,  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,    the    eastern    part    of    the    great 
"  South  Sea."    The  reedy  shores  of  the  Cas- 
pian, viewed  from  the  point  whence  I  first 
beheld   them,   viz.,   from   the   delta    formed 
by  the  mouths  of  the  Volga,  cannot  certainly 
be  called  picturesque,  yet  the  delight  I  felt 
on  first  beholding  them  was  enhanced  by  the 
recollection  that,  in  my  very  earliest  child- 
hood, I  had  been  taught  to  observe,  on  the 
map,   the   form  of  the  Asiatic  inland  sea. 
The  impressions  aroused  within  us  in  early 
childhood,  or  excited  by  the  accidental  cir- 
cumstances   of    life,    frequently,    in    after- 
years,  take  a  graver  direction,  and  become 
stimulants  to  scientific  labors  and  great  en- 
terprises.— HUMBOLDT   Views  of  Nature,  p. 
417.    (Bell,  1896.) 

1601.  IMPRINT  OF  RAIN-DROPS— 
Enduring     Record     of     the     Evanescent. — 
When   a  shower  of  rain   falls,   the  highest 
portion  of  the  mud-covered  flat  is  usually 
too  hard  to  receive  any  impressions ;    while 
that  recently  uncovered  by  the  tide  near  the 
water's    edge   is    too    soft.      Between   these 
areas  a  zone  occurs,  almost  as  smooth  and 
even    as    a    looking-glass,    on    which    every 
drop  forms  a  cavity  of  circular  or  oval  form, 


Imprint 
Incandescence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


328 


and,  if  the  shower  be  transient,  these  pits 
retain  their  shape  permanently,  being  dried 
by  the  sun,  and  being  then  too  firm  to  be 
effaced  by  the  action  of  the  succeeding  tide, 
which  deposits  upon  them  a  new  layer  of 
mud.  Hence  we  often  find,  in  splitting  open 
a  slab  an  inch  or  more  thick,  on  the  upper 
surface  of  which  the  marks  of  recent  rain 
.occur,  that  an  inferior  layer,  deposited  dur- 
ing some  previous  rise  of  the  tide,  exhibits 
on  its  under  side  perfect  casts  of  rain- 
prints,  which  stand  out  in  relief,  the  molds 
of  the  same  being  seen  on  the  layer  ^below. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  14, 
p.  202.  (A.,  1854.) 

1602.  IMPROVEMENT     CEASES 
WITH    LACK     OF   COMPETITION  —  The 

Humming-bird  Has  No  Rival  in  Its  Own 
Field. — It  is  perhaps  a  law  of  Nature  that 
when  a  species  (or  group)  fits  itself  to  a 
place  not  previously  occupied,  and  in  which 
it  is  subject  to  no  opposition  from  beings 
of  its  own  class,  or  where  it  attains  so  great 
a  perfection  as  to  be  able  easily  to  overcome 
all  opposition,  the  character  eventually 
loses  its  original  plasticity,  or  tendency  to 
vary,  since  improvement  in  such  a  case 
would  be  superfluous,  and  becomes,  so  to 
speak,  crystallized  in  that  form  which  con- 
tinues thereafter  unaltered.  It  is,  at  any 
rate,  clear  that  while  all  other  birds  rub 
together  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  the 
humming-bird,  owing  to  its  aerial  life  and 
peculiar  manner  of  seeking  its  food,  is  abso- 
lutely untouched  by  this  kind  of  warfare, 
and  is  accordingly  as  far  removed  from  all 
competition  with  other  birds  as  the  solitary 
savage  is  removed  from  the  struggle  of  life 
affecting  and  modifying  men  in  crowded 
communities.  The  lower  kind  of  competi- 
tion affecting  humming-birds,  that  with  in- 
sects, and,  within  the  family,  of  species  with 
species,  has  probably  only  served  to  inten- 
sify their  unique  characteristics,  and,  per- 
haps, to  lower  their  intelligence. — HUDSON 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  16,  p.  217.  (C. 
&  H.,  1895.) 

1603.  IMPULSE     FOR    HABITUAL 
MOVEMENT  SUPPLIED  BY  LAST  PRE- 
CEDING   MOVEMENT  — In  action  grown 
habitual,  what  instigates  each  new  muscular 
contraction  to  take  place  in  its  appointed 
order  is  not  a  thought  or  a  perception,  but 
the   sensation   occasioned  by  the   muscular 
contraction  just  finished.     A  strictly  volun- 
tary act  has  to  be  guided  by  idea,  percep- 
tion,   and    volition,    throughout    its    whole 
course.     In  an  habitual  action,  mere  sensa- 
tion is  a  sufficient  guide,  and  the  upper  re- 
gions of  the  brain  and  mind  are  set  com- 
paratively free. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i, 
ch.  4,  p.  115.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1604.  IMPULSE,  MIGRATORY,    IN 
CAGE-BIRDS— Desertion  of  Young  by  Mother- 
birds — An  Instinct  Stronger  than  Maternal 
Affection. — Nearly    every    bird    is,    indeed, 
more  or  less  migratory;    that  is,  it  changes 
its  quarter  to  a  certain  extent  according  to 


the  season  of  the  year.  Even  cage-birds, 
reared  from  the  eggs  of  parents  who  never 
knew  what  freedom  was,  get  as  uneasy  as  a 
Londoner  in  August,  and  if  their  prison- 
doors  are  left  open  will  sometimes  desert 
their  helpless  young  in  order  not  to  be  too 
late  for  the  winter  hegira.  The  house- 
martin  has  been  known  to  do  so  repeatedly; 
and  if  the  autumn  is  colder  than  usual,  the 
swallow  and  the  Carolina  waxwing  will 
suddenly  take  their  departure  from  Canada, 
leaving  their  callow  brood  to  die  of  starva- 
tion, the  instinct  of  self-preservation  being 
evidently  stronger  than  that  of  maternal  af- 
fection.— BROWN  Nature-Studies,  p.  14. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

1605.  IMPULSE  TO  ACQUISITION— 
Loss  Involves  Seeming  Shrinkage  of  Our- 
selves. — An      .      .      .      instinctive    impulse 
drives  us  to  collect  property;  and  the  collec- 
tions thus  made  become,  with  different  de- 
grees of  intimacy,   parts  of  our  empirical 
selves.     The  parts  of  our  wealth  most  inti- 
mately ours  are  those  which  are  saturated 
with   our   labor.     There  are  few  men  who 
would  not  feel  personally  annihilated  if  a 
lifelong    construction    of    their    hands    or 
brains — say  an  entomological  collection  or 
an  extensive  work  in  manuscript — were  sud- 
denly swept  away.     The  miser   feels  simi- 
larly towards  his  gold,  and  altho  it  is  true 
that  a  part  of  our  depression  at  the  loss  of 
possessions  is  due  to  our  feeling  that  we 
must  now  go  without  certain  goods  that  we 
expected  the  possessions  to  bring  in  their 
train,  yet  iri  every  case  there  remains,  over 
and  above  this,  a  sense  of  the  shrinkage  of 
our  personality,  a  partial  conversion  of  our- 
selves  to   nothingness,   which   is  a   psycho- 
logical phenomenon  by  itself.    We  are  all  at 
once  assimilated   to  the  tramps   and   poor 
devils  whom  we  so  despise,  and  at  the  same 
time  remove  farther  than  ever  away  from 
the  happy  sons  of  earth  who  lord  it  over 
land   and   sea   and  men  in  the   full-blown 
lustihood  that  wealth  and  power  can  give, 
and  before   whom,   stiffen  ourselves   as   we 
will    by    appealing    to    anti-snobbish    first 
principles,    we    cannot   escape   an    emotion, 
open  or  sneaking,  of  respect  and  dread. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  293.    (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1606.  IMPULSES   RIPEN   SUCCES- 
SIVELY— The  Flowering-time  an  Opportunity 
To   Be   Seised. — In   children   we   observe   a 
ripening  of  impulses  and  interests  in  a  cer- 
tain determinate  order.     Creeping,  walking, 
climbing,  imitating  vocal  sounds,  construct- 
ing, drawing,  calculating,  possess  the  child 
in    succession;     and   in   some   children   the 
possession,  while  it  lasts,  may  be  of  a  semi- 
frantic  and  exclusive  sort.    Later,  the  inter- 
est in  any  one  of  these  things  may  wholly 
fade  away.    Of  course,  the  proper  pedagogic 
moment  to  work  skill  in,  and  to  clench  the 
useful  habit,  is  when  the  native  impulse  is 
most  acutely  present.     Crowd  on  the   ath- 
letic opportunities,   the  mental  arithmetic, 
the  verse-learning,  the  drawing,  the  botany, 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Imprint 

Incandescence 


or  what  not,  the  moment  you  have  reason  to 
think  the  hour  is  ripe.  The  hour  may  not 
last  long,  and  while  it  continues  you  may 
safely  let  all  the  child's  other  occupations 
take  a  second  place.  In  this  way  you 
economize  time  and  deepen  skill;  for  many 
an  infant  prodigy,  artistic  or  mathematical, 
has  a  flowering  epoch  of  but  a  few  months. 
— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  7,  p.  61. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1607.  IMPURITIES  REJECTED  BY 
GLACIER— Popular  Belief  Founded  on  Scien- 
tific Fact. — A  notion  [has  been]  long  enter- 
tained by  the  inhabitants  of  the  high  Alps, 
that  glaciers  possess  the  power  of  thrusting 
out  all  impurities  from  them.    On  the  Mer 
de  Glace  I  have  noticed  large  patches  of  clay 
and  black  mud  which  evidently  came  from 
the  body  of  the  glacier,  and  can  therefore 
understand  how  natural  was  this  notion  of 
extrusion  to  people  unaccustomed  to  close 
observation.     But  the  power  of  the  glacier 
in  this  respect  is  in  reality  the  power  of  the 
sun,  which  fuses  the  ice  above  concealed  im- 
purities, and,  like  the  bodies  of  the  guides 
on  the  Glacier  des  Bossons,  brings  them  to 
the  light  of  day. — TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water, 
p.  144.    (A.,  1899.) 

1608.  IMPURITY  OF    NATURAL 
COLORS—  Green  Leaves  Seen  Red  and  Blue. 
— The   impurity   of   natural   colors   is    stri- 
kingly illustrated  by  an  observation  recently 
communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Woodbury.    On 
looking  through  a  blue  glass  at  green  leaves 
in   sunshine,    he   saw   the    superficially   re- 
flected light,  blue.     The  light,  on  the  con- 
trary,  which   came   from   the  body  of  the 
leaves    was    crimson.      On    examination,    I 
found  that  the  glass  employed  in  this  ob- 
servation   transmitted    both    ends    of    the 
spectrum,  the  red  as  well  as  the  blue,  and 
that  it  quenched  the  middle.    This  furnished 
an  easy  explanation  of  the  effect.     In  the 
delicate  spring  foliage  the  blue  of  the  solar 
light  is  for  the  most  part  absorbed,  and  a 
light,  mainly  yellowish  green,  but  contain- 
ing a  considerable  quantity  of  red,  escapes 
from  the  leaf  to  the  eye.    On  looking  at  such 
foliage  through  the  violet  glass,  the  green 
and  the  yellow  are  stopped,   and  the  red 
alone  reaches  the  eye.    Thus  regarded,  there- 
fore, the  leaves  appear  like  faintly  blushing 
roses,  and  present  a  very  beautiful  appear- 
ance.    With   the  blue   ammonia-sulfate   of 
copper,  which  transmits  no  red,  this  effect 
is  not  obtained.     As  the  year  advances  the 
crimson  gradually  hardens  to  a  coppery  red ; 
and  in  the  dark-green  leaves  of  old  ivy  it  is 
almost  absent.     Permitting  a  concentrated 
beam  of  white  light  to  fall  upon  fresh  leaves 
in  a  dark  room,  the  sudden   change  from 
green  to  red,  and  from  red  back  to  green, 
when  the  violet  glass  is  alternately  intro- 
duced across  the  beam  and  withdrawn,   is 
very    surprising.     Looked    at   through    the 
same  glass,  the  meadows  in  May  appear  of 
a    warm     purple.— TYNDALL     Lectures    on 
Light,  leet.  1,  p.  38.     (A.,  1898.) 


1609.  INATTENTION   TO  THE  UN- 
IMPORTANT— Habitual    Sensations  IgnoreA 
— Din  of  Foundry  Unnoticed  by  Its  Workers. 
— We  do  not  notice  the  ticking  of  the  clock, 
the  noise  of  the  city  streets,  or  the  roaring 
of  the  brook  near  the  house;  and  even  the 
din  of  a  foundry  or  factory  will  not  mingle 
with  the  thoughts  of  its  workers,   if  they 
have  been  there  long  enough.    When  we  first 
put  on  spectacles,  especially  if  they  be  of 
certain    curvatures,    the  ^bright    reflections 
they  give  of  the  windows,  etc.,  mixing  with 
the  field  of  view,  are  very  disturbing.     In  a 
few  days  we  ignore  them  altogether.     Vari- 
ous entoptic  images,  muscce  volitantes  [flit- 
ting specks  before  the  eyes],  etc.,  altho  con- 
stantly   present,    are    hardly    ever    known. 
The  pressure  of  our  clothes  and  shoes,  the 
beating    of    our    hearts    and    arteries,    our 
breathing,  certain  stedfast  bodily  pains,  ha- 
bitual odors,  tastes  in  the  mouth,  etc.,  are 
examples    from    other    senses    of   the    same 
lapse  into  unconsciousness  of  any  too  un- 
changing content — a  lapse  which  Hobbes  has 
expressed  in  the  well-known  phrase,  "  Sem- 
per idem  sentire   ac  non   sentire   ad   idem 
revert unt "  [To  feel  always  and  not  to  feel 
at   all   come   to   the    same   thing]. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  455.     (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1610.  INCANDESCENCE,     COLORS 
OF,  NO    PICTURE    CAN  REPRESENT— 

Splendor  of  Sun's  Corona  Defies  Artist's 
Skill. — Pictures  are  sometimes  drawn  which 
attempt  to  show  the  color  of  these  [solar] 
flames.  Some  of  these  have  been  made  at 
the  Observatory  of  Harvard  College,  United 
States,  where  these  phenomena  are  observed 
with  the  greatest  care.  On  one  of  these 
plates  two  magnificent  prominences  of  more 
than  60,000  miles  in  height  are  shown,  the 
first  observed  on  April  29,1872,  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning  (25  minutes  later  it  had 
so  much  changed  that  it  was  not  to  be  rec- 
ognized) ;  the  second,  on  April  15  of  the 
same  year,  at  the  same  hour.  We  may  thus 
gain  a  better  impression  of  them  than  by 
black  figures.  But  there  is  something  which 
a  picture  can  never  reproduce — the  vivacity 
of  the  tints  which  these  enormous  masses 
present,  and  the  rapidity  of  the  motions 
with  which  they  are  animated.  The  best 
drawings  will  always  be  bodies  without  life, 
veritable  corpses,  if  we  compare  them  with 
the  grand  phenomena  of  Nature.  These  in- 
candescent masses  are  animated  with  an  in- 
ternal activity,  from  which  life  seems  to 
breathe.  They  shine  with  a  vivid  light,  and 
the  colors  which  adorn  them  form  a  specific 
character,  by  which  we  can  recognize,  thanks 
to  spectrum  analysis,  the  chemical  nature  of 
the  substances  which  compose  them.  Could 
the  most  perfect  drawings  depict  this  solar 
life? — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk. 
iii,  ch.  4,  p.  275.  (A.) 

1611.  INCANDESCENCE,  PHENOM- 
ENA   OF— Black  Bodies  Emit  Most  Intense 
Light. — We  have  employed  as  our  source  of 


incandescence 
ncredulity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


light  in  these  lectures  the  ends  of  two  rods 
of  coke,  rendered  incandescent  by  electricity. 
Coke  is  particularly  suitable  for  this  pur- 
pose, because  it  can  bear  intense  heat  with- 
out fusion  or  vaporization.  It  is  also  black, 
which  helps  the  light;  for  other  circum- 
stances being  equal,  as  shown  experimentally 
by  Professor  Balfour  Stewart,  the  blacker 
the  body  the  brighter  will  be  its  light  when 
incandescent. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  6,  p.  192.  (A.,  1898.) 

1612.  INCLUSION  VS.  EXCLUSION 

— Value  of  Each  in  Scientific  Research 
— Newton  United  Caution  and  Intrepid- 
ity.— He  [Sir  Isaac  Newton]  wanted  no 
other  recommendation  for  any  one  article 
of  science  than  the  recommendation  of  evi- 
dence— and,  with  this  recommendation,  he 
opened  to  it  the  chamber  of  his  mind,  tho 
authority  scowled  upon  it,  and  taste  was 
disgusted  by  it,  and  fashion  was  ashamed 
of  it,  and  all  the  beauteous  speculation  of 
former  days  was  cruelly  broken  up  by  this 
new  announcement  of  the  better  philosophy, 
and  scattered  like  the  fragments  of  an  aerial 
vision,  over  which  the  past  generations  of 
the  world  had  been  slumbering  their  pro- 
found and  their  pleasing  reverie.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  should  the  article  of  science 
want  the  recommendation  of  evidence,  he 
shut  against  it  all  the  avenues  of  his  un- 
derstanding, and  tho  all  antiquity  lent  their 
suffrages  to  it,  and  all  eloquence  had  thrown 
around  it  the  most  attractive  brilliancy,  and 
all  habit  had  incorporated  it  with  every 
system  of  every  seminary  in  Europe,  and 
all  fancy  had  arrayed  it  in  graces  of  the 
most  tempting  solicitation,  yet  was  the 
steady  and  inflexible  mind  of  Newton  proof 
against  this  whole  weight  of  authority  and 
allurement,  and,  casting  his  cold  and  unwel- 
come look  at  the  specious  plausibility,  he 
rebuked  it  from  his  presence.  The  strength 
of  his  philosophy  lay  as  much  in  refusing 
admittance  to  that  which  wanted  evidence 
as  in  giving  a  place  and  an  occupancy  to 
that  which  possessed  it. — CHALMERS  Astro- 
nomical Discourses,  p.  48.  (R.  Ct.,  48.) 

1613.  INCOMPATIBILITY  OF  MEN- 
TAL QUALITIES  -Activity  vs.  Sensibility- 
Intellect  vs.  Emotion — Each  Form  of  Great- 
ness Has  Its  Own  Sphere. — Great  activity 
and   great   sensibility    are   extreme   phases, 
each  using  a  large  amount  of  power,  and 
therefore  scarcely  to  be  coupled  in  the  same 
system.     The  active,  energetic  man,  loving 
activity  for  its  own  sake,  moving  in  every 
direction,  wants  the  delicate  circumspection 
of  another  man  who  does  not  love  activity 
for  its  own  sake,  but  is  energetic  only  at 
the  spur  of  his  special  ends.  And,  once  more, 
great   intellect   as  a   whole   is   not  readily 
united  with  a  large  emotional  nature.    The 
incompatibility    is    best    seen    by   inquiring 
whether  men  of  overflowing  sociability  are 
deep  and  original  thinkers,  great  discoverers, 
accurate  inquirers,  great  organizers   in  af- 
fairs,   or    whether    their    greatness    is    not 


limited  to  the  spheres  where  feeling  performs 
a  part — poetry,  eloquence  and  social  ascend- 
ency.— BAIN  appendix  to  Conservation  of 
Energy  by  STEWART,  p.  431.  (Hum.) 

1614.  INCREASE  BY  DESTRUCTION 

— Gas  Weighs  More  than  the  Coal  Pro- 
ducing It. — A  large  part  of  the  structure  of 
the  earth's  crust  is  formed  of  a  substance 
called  limestone.  Ordinary  limestone  is  a 
compound  of  common  lime  and  carbon  diox- 
id,  a  gas  that  is  found  mixed  with  the  air 
to  a  very  small  degree.  Carbon  dioxid  will 
be  better  known  by  the  older  people  as  car- 
bonic acid.  It  is  a  gas  that  is  given  off 
whenever  wood  and  coal  are  burned,  or  any 
substance  containing  carbon.  It  is  composed 
of  one  atom  of  carbon  to  two  of  oxygen. 
Every  ton  of  carbon  that  is  burned  sends  off 
three  and  two-thirds  tons  of  this  gas.  The 
increase  in  weight  comes  from  the  fact  that 
every  atom  of  carbon  unites  with  two  of 
oxygen,  which  it  takes  from  the  air,  and 
the  oxygen  is  heavier  than  the  carbon.  In 
comparing  the  relative  weights  of  atoms 
(the  smallest  combinable  particle  of  a  solid, 
liquid,  or  gas)  we  use  the  hydrogen  atom 
as  the  unit  of  comparison  and  call  it  "  one," 
because  it  is  the  lightest  of  all  atoms.  The 
carbon  atom  is  twelve  times  and  the  oxy- 
gen atom  sixteen  times  as  heavy  as  the  hy- 
drogen atom.  Hence  it  will  be  seen  readily 
how  a  ton  of  carbon  will  form  three  and 
two-thirds  times  its  weight  of  carbon  di- 
oxid. Lime,  having  a  strong  affinity  or  at- 
traction for  this  gas,  has  absorbed  it  from 
the  air  and  water,  forming  what  is  known 
as  carbonate  of  lime,  which  is  the  ordinary 
limestone. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles, 
vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  12.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

1615.  INCREASE  OF  ANIMALS  UN- 
DER    PROTECTION—  The  South-American 
Coypu — Change  of  Habits — Sudden  Extermi- 
nation.— The  coypu  was  much  more  abun- 
dant fifty  years  ago  than  now,  and  its  skin, 
which  has  a  fine  fur  under  the  long  coarse 
hair,  was  largely  exported  to  Europe.  About 
that  time  the  dictator  Rosas  issued  a  decree 
prohibiting  the  hunting  of  the  coypu.     The 
result  was  that  the  animals  increased  and 
multiplied  exceedingly,  and  abandoning  their 
aquatic  habits  they  became  terrestrial  and 
migratory,     and     swarmed     everywhere     in 
search  of  food.    Suddenly  a  mysterious  mal- 
ady fell  on  them,  from  which  they  quickly 
perished,  and  became  almost  extinct. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.   1,  p.   12. 
(C.  &H.,  1895.) 

1616.  INCREASE    OF    EUROPEAN 
CATTLE  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD— Colum- 
bus, in  his  second  voyage,  left  a  few  black 
cattle  at  Santo  Domingo,  and  these  ran  wild 
and   increased   so   much   that   twenty-seven 
years    afterwards   herds    of   from    4,000   to 
8,000  head  were  not  uncommon.    Cattle  were 
afterwards  taken  from  this  island  to  Mexico 
and  to  other  parts  of  America,  and  in  1587, 
sixty-five  years  after  the  conquest  of  Mexico, 


331 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


{ncandescenc 
ncredulity 


the  Spaniards  exported  64,350  hides  from 
that  country  and  35,444  from  Santo  Domin- 
go, an  indication  of  the  vast  numbers  of  these 
animals  which  must  then  have  existed  there, 
since  those  captured  and  killed  could  have 
been  only  a  small  portion  of  the  whole. — 
WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  18.  (Hum., 
1889.) 

1617.  INCREASE  OF  HEAT  FROM 
VIOLET  TO  RED  AND  BEYOND— Throw- 
ing a  small  and  concentrated  spectrum  upon 
a  screen,  by  means  of  an  endless  screw  we 
move  [a  thermopile]     .     .     .     through  the 
entire  spectrum,  and  determine  in  succession 
the  thermal  power  of  all  its  colors.     When 
this  instrument  is  brought  to  the  violet  end 
of   the   spectrum   the  heat  is   found   to  be 
almost   insensible.      As   the   pile   gradually 
moves  from  the  violet  towards  the  red,  it 
encounters    a    gradually    augmenting    heat. 
The  red  itself  possesses  the  highest  heating 
power   of   all   the   colors   of   the   spectrum. 
Pushing  the  pile  into  the  dark  space  beyond 
the  red,  the  heat  rises  suddenly  in  intensity, 
and  at  some  distance  beyond  the  red  it  at- 
tains  a    maximum.      From   this    point   the 
heat  falls  somewhat  more  rapidly  than  it 
rose,  and  afterwards  gradually  fades  away. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  5,  p.  189. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1618.  INCREASE  OF  SURFACE   IN 
LUNG — Device  of  the  Diaphragm — Respiratory 
Power  in  Small  Compass. — In  the  lung  of 
man,  as  of  mammals  generally,  an  extraor- 
dinary  increase  is   given   to  the  extent  of 
aerating  surface,  by  the  excessively  minute 
subdivision  of  the  cavity  into   air-cells,  of 
which  thousands  are  clustered  round  the  end 
of  each  terminal  twig  of  the  bronchial  tree. 
But  this  increase  would  be  without  effect 
if  there  were  not  at  the  same  time  a  most 
elaborate   provision  in  the  skeleton  of  the 
trunk,  in  the  disposition  of  its  muscles,  and 
in  the  mode  in  which  these  are  acted  on  by 
the  nervous  apparatus,  for  alternately  filling 
and  emptying  the  lungs,   so  as  to  take  in 
fresh  supplies  of  oxygen  for  the  aeration  of 
the  blood,  and  to  get  rid  of  the  carbonic  acid 
which  it  gives  off.    The  chief  feature  in  this 
provision  is  the  enclosure  of  the  lungs  in  a 
distinct  cavity    (that  of  the  chest)    cut  off 
from  the  abdomen  by  a  muscular  partition, 
the   diaphragm,    the   contraction    of   which, 
by  increasing  the  capacity  of  the  chest,  pro- 
duces  an   inrush  of  air   down  the  air-pas- 
sages, which  penetrates  to  the  remotest  parts 
of   the  minutely   subdivided   cavity   of   the 
lungs.     By  no   other   action  could  the   air 
contained  in  that  cavity  be  so  effectually  re- 
newed.    Thus  the  pulmonary  apparatus  of 
the  mammal  is  the  most  perfect  form  that 
could  be  devised  for  obtaining  the  highest 
amount   of    respiratory    power    within    the 
smallest  compass. — CARPENTER  Nature  and 
Man,  lect.  15,  p.  461.     (A.,  1889.) 

1619.  INCREASE,  SIMULTANEOUS, 
OF    BUMBLEBEES    AND    MICE  —  Fowls 
Made  Rapacious  Mousers. — In  the  summer 


of  1872-73  we  had  plenty  of  sunshine,  with 
frequent  showers,  so  that  the  hot  months 
brought  no  dearth  of  wild  flowers,  as  in 
most  years.  The  abundance  of  flowers  re- 
sulted in  a  wonderful  increase  of  humble- 
bees.  I  have  never  known  them  so  plentiful 
before;  in  and  about  the  plantation  adjoin- 
ing my  house  I  found  during  the  season  no 
fewer  than  seventeen  nests.  The  season  was 
also  favorable  for  mice — that  is,  of  course, 
favorable  for  the  time  being,  unfavorable 
in  the  long  run,  since  the  short-lived,  un- 
due preponderance  of  a  species  is  invari- 
ably followed  by  a  long  period  of  un- 
due depression.  These  prolific  little  crea- 
tures were  soon  so  abundant  that  the  dogs 
subsisted  almost  exclusively  on  them;  the 
fowls  also,  from  incessantly  pursuing  and 
killing  them,  became  quite  rapacious  in 
their  manner,  whilst  the  sulfur  tyrant-birds 
(Pitangus)  and  the  Guira  cuckoos  preyed  on 
nothing  but  mice. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in 
La  Plata,  ch.  3,  p.  59.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1620.  INCREASE,  VAST  POSSIBLE, 
OF   BIRDS  —  Vast   Consequent  Destruction- 
Slaughter    Unperceived. — Let    us    now    con- 
sider a  less  extreme  and  more  familiar  case. 
We  possess  a  considerable  number  of  birds 
which,  like  the  redbreast,  sparrow,  the  four 
common  titmice,  the  thrush,  and  the  black- 
birdj  stay  with  us  all  the  year  round.   These 
lay  on  an  average  six  eggs,  but  as  several  of 
them  have  two  or  more  broods  a  year  ten 
will  be  below  the  average  of  the  year's  in- 
crease.    Such  birds  as  these  often  live  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  years  in  confinement,  and 
we  cannot  suppose  them  to  live  shorter  lives 
in  a  state  of  nature,  if  unmolested;  but  to 
avoid    possible    exaggeration    we    will    take 
only  ten  years  as  the  average  duration  of 
their  lives.     Now,  if  we  start  with  a  single 
pair,  and  these  are  allowed  to  live  and  breed, 
unmolested,  tilj  they  die  at  the  end  of  ten 
years,    .    .    .    their  numbers  would  amount 
to  more  than  twenty  millions.    But  we  know 
very  well   that  our   bird   population   is   no 
greater,   on  the  average,  now  than  it  was 
ten  years  ago.     .    .    .     What,  then,  becomes 
of  the  enormous  surplus  population  annually 
produced?     It  is  evident  they  must  all  die 
or  be  killed,  somehow;  and  as  the  increase 
is,  on  the  average,  about  five  to  one,  it  fol- 
lows that  if  the  average  number  of  birds  of 
all   kinds    in    our   islands   is   taken   at   ten 
millions — and    this    is    probably    far    under 
the  mark — then  about  fifty  millions  of  birds, 
including  eggs  as  possible  birds,  must  an- 
nually   die    or   be   destroyed.      Yet    we    see 
nothing,  or  almost  nothing,  of  this  tremen- 
dous  slaughter   of  the   innocents   going   on 
all  around  us. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2, 
p.  17.     (Hum.,  1889.) 

1621.  INCREDULITY  HINDERS  IN- 
VESTIGATION—AM Evidence  of  Meteorites 
Once  Rejected. — That  arrogant  spirit  of  in- 
credulity  which    rejects    facts   without   at- 
tempting  to    investigate    them   is    in    some 
cases  almost  more  injurious  than  an  unques- 


Individual!! 


ty 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


332 


tioning  credulity.  Both  are  alike  detrimen- 
tal to  the  force  of  investigation.  Notwith- 
standing that  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years  the  annals  of  different  nations  had  re- 
corded falls  of  meteoric  stones,  many  of 
which  had  been  attested  beyond  all  doubt 
by  the  evidence  of  irreproachable  eye-wit- 
nesses; notwithstanding  the  important  part 
enacted  by  the  baetyli  in  the  meteor- wor- 
ship of  the  ancients;  notwithstanding  the 
fact  of  the  companions  of  Cortez  having 
seen  an  aerolite  at  Cholula  which  had  fallen 
on  the  neighboring  pyramid;  notwithstand- 
ing that  califs  and  Mongolian  chiefs  had 
caused  swords  to  be  forged  from  recently 
fallen  meteoric  stones;  nay,  notwithstand- 
ing that  several  persons  had  been  struck 
dead  by  stones  falling  from  heaven,  as,  for 
instance,  a  monk  at  Crema  on  the  4th  of 
September,  1511,  another  monk  at  Milan  in 
1650,  and  two  Swedish  sailors  on  board  ship 
in  1674 — yet  this  great  cosmical  phenome- 
non remained  almost  wholly  unheeded,  and 
its  intimate  connection  with  other  planetary 
systems  unknown,  until  attention  was  drawn 
to  the  subject  by  Chladni. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  i,  p.  135.  (H.,  1897.) 

1622.  INDEPENDENCE  WEAKENED 
BY    SURVEILLANCE  —  "Mother's  Apron- 
strings  " — Lack  of  Moral  Perspective. — It  is 
an   old   and  just  observation    that  youths 
who  have  been  "  brought  up  at  their  moth- 
ers' apron-strings  "  are  the  most  likely  to 
"  go  wrong  "  when  first  thrown  upon  their 
own   guidance;     and  that  when  such  once 
begin  to  go  astray  they  soonest  run  into 
wild  excesses.     The  rationale  of  this  seems 
to  be  that  the  tendency  of  such  an  education 
is  usually  to  repress,  instead  of  fostering, 
habits  of  independence  and  self-regulation; 
and  too    frequently  to  weaken,    instead   of 
strengthening,  the  force  of  moral  obligation, 
by  attaching  to  small  things  the  same  im- 
portance as  to  great.    If  a  lad  is  constantly 
watched   and   never   trusted,    he   is    almost 
sure  to  abuse  his  liberty  when  he  first  ac- 
quires it.     And  if  he  is  taken  to  task  as 
severely  for  spilling  ink  on  a  table-cloth  or 
for  tearing  his  clothes,  as  for  telling  a  lie  or 
appropriating  what  does  not  belong  to  him, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  should 
come  to  regard  the  graver  offenses  in  the 
same  light   as  those  which  he  feels   to  be 
venial. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  9,  p.  427.    (A.,  1900.) 

1623.  INDESTRUCTIBILITY  OF  THE 
ATOM — An  Unproved  Assumption. — The  sup- 
posed indestructibility  of  the  atom  amounts 
merely  to  this,  that  with  our  limited  range 
of  experimental  methods    we  have  not  been 
able   to   cause   any   appreciable   portion   of 
matter  to  disappear,  as  such,  permanently, 
but  can  always  recover  it  unchanged  in  mass 
and   chemical    properties.      To    assert   that 
matter  cannot,  under  any  circumstances,  be 
made  to  disappear  as  matter,  seems  to  me  to 
be    the    most    unjustifiable    dogma    imagi- 


nable.— STOKES  The  Atomic  Theory  from  the 
Chemical  Standpoint,  in  Science,  N.  S.,  vol. 
xi,  No.  277,  April  20,  1900. 

1624.  INDESTRUCTIBILITY      OF 
THREE  GREAT  POWERS— Matter,  Energy, 
Intelligence       Imperishable. — All       modern 
chemistry  rests  on  the  great  truth  that  mat- 
ter is   indestructible,   and  is  measured  by 
weight.      .      .      .      Another    great    central 
truth,    more    recently    discovered,    is    not 
less    far  -  reaching    or    important,    namely, 
energy  is  indestructible,  and  is  measured  by 
work.     Add  to  these  two  [truths]   a  third, 
namely,    intelligence   is   indestructible,   and 
is  measured  by  adaptation,  and  you  have, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  the  three  great  manifes- 
tations of  Nature:    Matter,  energy,  and  in- 
telligence.    These  great  truths  explain  and 
supplement  each  other.    Give  to  each  its  due 
weight   in   your    philosophy,   and   you   will 
avoid  the  extremes  of  idealism  on  the  one 
side,    and   of   materialism   on   the   other. — 
COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect.  10,  p.  235.    (A., 
1899.) 

1625.  INDIFFERENCE   TO    CATAS- 
TROPHE— Lack  of  Record  Is  Not  Disproof  of 
Event. — We  must  not  conclude  without  al- 
luding  to   a    moral   phenomenon   connected 
with  this  tremendous  catastrophe  [the  vol- 
canic eruption  in  Sumbawa  in  1815],  which 
we  regard  as  highly  deserving  the  attention 
of  geologists.    It  is  stated  by  Sir  A.  Burnes 
that   "  these   wonderful   events   passed   un- 
heeded by  the  inhabitants  of  Cutch";    for 
the  region  convulsed,  tho  once  fertile,  had 
for  a  long  period  been  reduced  to  sterility 
by  want  of  irrigation,  so  that  the  natives 
were  indifferent  as  to  its  fate.    Now  it  ^is  to 
this  profound  apathy  which  all  but  highly 
civilized  nations  feel,  in  regard  to  physical 
events  not  having  an  immediate  influence  on 
their  worldly  fortunes,  that  we  must  ascribe 
the  extraordinary  dearth  of  historical  infor- 
mation  concerning   changes   of   the  earth's 
surface,    which    modern    observations    show 
to  be  by  no  means  of  rare  occurrence  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  Nature. 

Since  the  above  account  was  written,  a 
description  has  been  published  of  more  re- 
cent geographical  changes  in  the  district  of 
Cutch,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Koree,  or  east- 
ern branch  of  the  Indus,  which  happened  in 
June,  1845.  A  large  area  seems  to  have  sub- 
sided, and  the  Sindree  Lake  has  become  a 
salt  marsh. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  27,  p.  464.  (A.,  1854.) 

1626.  INDIGO  MANUFACTURED  BY 
CHEMICAL  PROCESS— Indigo  Farms  Aban- 
doned.— To  such  an  extent  has  this  [manu- 
facture of  substances  like  the  organic]  been 
the  case  that  in  several  instances  the  old 
methods  of  producing  certain  chemical  com- 
pounds through  the  medium  of  cultivated 
plants  has  been  entirely  abandoned.     Per- 
haps the  most  striking  illustration  of  this 
is  in  the  case  of  the  indigo-plant.     The  cul- 
tivation ol  this  plant  and  the  manufacture 
of  indigo  therefrom  were  once  profitable  in- 


333 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Incredulit 


Incredulity 
Individuality 


dustries,  but  the  manufacture  of  synthetic 
indigo  and  its  substitutes  in  the  chemical 
laboratory  has  so  cheapened  the  price  of 
this  product  as  to  render  unprofitable  the 
old  processes.  The  indigo  farms  are  there- 
fore abandoned,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
indigo  of  commerce  is  now  manufactured  by 
the  chemist. — WILEY  Relations  of  Chemistry 
to  Industrial  Progress  (Address  at  Purdue 
University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  28). 

1627.  INDIVIDUALISM  CONTRARY 
TO    NATURE'S   PLAN —Care  Bestowed  in 
Preparing  Pollen — Precautions  against  Self- 
fertilization    of    Flowers. — If    we    consider 
how  precious  a  substance  pollen  is,  and  what 
care  has  been  bestowed  on  its  elaboration 
and  on  the  accessory  parts  in  the  Orchidece 
— considering  how  large  an  amount  is  nec- 
essary for  the  impregnation  of  the  almost 
innumerable  seeds  produced  by  these  plants 
— considering  that  the  anther  stands  close 
behind  or  above  the  stigma,  self-fertilization 
would  have  been  an  incomparably  safer  and 
easier  process  than  the  transportal  of  pollen 
from  flower  to  flower.     Unless  we  bear  in 
mind    the    good    effects    which    have    been 
proved  to  follow  in  most  cases  from  cross- 
fertilization,  it  is  an  astonishing  fact  that 
the  flowers  of  the  Orchidece  should  not  have 
been  regularly  self-fertilized.     It  apparently 
demonstrates  that  there  must  be  something 
injurious  in  this   latter  process,   of  which 
fact  I  have  elsewhere  given  direct  proof.     It 
is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  Na- 
ture tells  us,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner, 
that  she  abhors  perpetual  self-fertilization. 
— DARWIN  Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  9,  p. 
293.    (A.,  1898.) 

1628.  INDIVIDUALISM   GIVES 
PLACE  TO  ALTRUISM— Now  the  moment 
a  man's  voluntary  actions  are  determined 
by  conscious  or  unconscious  reference  to  a 
standard  outside  of  himself  and  his  selfish 
motives,  he  has  entered  the  world  of  ethics, 
he  has  begun  to  live  in  a  moral  atmosphere. 
Egoism   has   ceased   to   be   all   in    all,    and 
altruism — it  is  an  ugly-sounding  word,  but 
seems  to  be  the  only  one  available — altruism 
has  begun  to  assert  its  claim  to  sovereignty. 
— FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
9,  p.  104.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1629.  INDIVIDUALITY  A  LAW  OF 

NATURE— No  Organism  Exactly  Like  Parent. 
— Equally  conspicuous  with  the  truth  that 
every  organism  bears  a  general  likeness  to 
its  parents,  is  the  truth  that  no  organism  is 
exactly  like  either  parent.  Tho  similar  to 
both  in  generic  and  specific  traits,  and 
usually,  too,  in  those  traits  which  distin- 
guish the  variety,  it  diverges  in  numerous 
traits  of  minor  importance.  No  two  plants 
are  indistinguishable;  and  no  two  animals 
are  without  differences.  Variation  is  co- 
extensive with  heredity. — SPENCER  Biology, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  320.  (A.,  1900.) 

1630.  INDIVIDUALITY  INDE- 
STRUCTIBLE— No  Complete  Transference  of 
Thought. — The  only  states  of  consciousness 


that  we  naturally  deal  with  are  found  in 
personal  consciousnesses,  minds,  selves,  con- 
crete particular  I's  and  you's.  Each  of 
these  minds  keeps  its  own  thoughts  to  itself. 
There  is  no  giving  or  bartering  between 
them.  No  thought  even  comes  into  direct 
sight  of  a  thought  in  another  personal  con- 
sciousness than  its  own.  Absolute  insula- 
tion, irreducible  pluralism,  is  the  law.  It 
seems  as  if  the  elementary  psychic  fact  were 
not  thought  or  this  thoucjht  or  that  thought, 
but  my  thought,  every  thought  being  owned. 
Neither  contemporaneity,  nor  proximity  in 
space,  nor  similarity  of  quality  and  content 
are  able  to  fuse  thoughts  together  which  are 
sundered  by  this  barrier  of  belonging  to  dif- 
ferent personal  minds.  The  breaches  be- 
tween such  thoughts  are  the  most  absolute 
breaches  in  Nature. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  226.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1631.  INDIVIDUALITY  IN  SCIENCE 

— Variations  and  Discrepancies  between  Com- 
petent Observers — The  "Personal  Equation" 
in  Observations. — It  was  in  1823  that  Bessel 
drew  attention  to  discrepancies  in  the  times 
of  transits  given  by  different  astronomers. 
The  quantities  involved  were  far  from  insig- 
nificant. He  was  himself  nearly  a  second 
in  advance  of  all  his  contemporaries,  Arge- 
lander  lagging  behind  him  as  much  as  a 
second  and  a  quarter.  Each  individual,  in 
fact,  was  found  to  have  a  certain  definite 
rate  of  perception,  which,  under  the  name 
of  "  personal  equation,"  now  forms  so  im- 
portant an  element  in  the  correction  of  ob- 
servations that  a  special  instrument  for  ac- 
curately determining  its  amount  in  each 
case  is  in  actual  use  at  Greenwich. — CLERKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  152. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

1632.  INDIVIDUALITY  OF   A    RE- 
GION— Each  Has  a  Character  of  Its  Own. — 
As   in   some   individual   organic  beings   we 
recognize   a   definite   physiognomy,    and   as 
descriptive  botany  and  zoology  are,  strictly 
speaking,  analyses  of  animal  and  vegetable 
forms,   so   also   there  is   a   certain   natural 
physiognomy  peculiar  to  every  region  of  the 
earth.     That  which  the  painter  designates 
by    the    expressions    "  Swiss    scenery "    or 
"  Italian  sky "  is  based  on  a  vague  feeling 
of  the  local  natural  character.     The  azure 
of  the  sky,  the  effects  of  light  and  shade,  the 
haze   floating   on   the   distant  horizon,    the 
forms  of  animals,  the  succulence  of  plants, 
the  bright  glossy  surface  of  the  leaves,  the 
outlines  of  mountains,  all  combine  to  pro- 
duce the  elements  on  which  depends  the  im- 
pression   of    any    one    region. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  217.    (Bell,  1896.) 

1633.  INDIVIDUALITY  OF  MEMORY 

— Seems  Intuitive  as  Consciousness  Itself. — 
To  challenge  the  veracity  of  a  person's 
memory  is  one  of  the  boldest  things  one  can 
do  in  the  way  of  attacking  deep-seated  con- 
viction. Memory  is  the  peculiar  domain  of 
the  individual.  In  going  back  in  recollec- 
tion to  the  scenes  of  other  years  he  is  draw- 


Individuality 
Industry 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


334 


ing  on  the  secret  storehouse  of  his  own 
consciousness,  with  which  a  stranger  must 
not  intermeddle.  To  cast  doubt  on  a  per- 
son's memory  is  commonly  resented  as  an 
impertinence,  hardly  less  rude  than  to  ques- 
tion his  reading  of  his  own  present  mental 
state.  Even  if  the  challenger  professedly 
bases  his  challenge  on  the  testimony  of  his 
own  memory,  the  challenged  party  is  hardly 
likely  to  allow  the  right  of  comparing  testi- 
monies. He  can  in  most  cases  boldly  assert 
that  those  who  differ  from  him  are  lacking 
in  his  power  of  recollection.  The  past,  in 
becoming  the  past,  has,  for  most  people, 
ceased  to  be  a  common  object  of  reference; 
it  has  become  a  part  of  the  individual's  own 
inner  self,  and  cannot  be  easily  dislodged  or 
shaken. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10,  p.  232. 
(A.,  1897.) 

1634.  INDIVIDUALITY,  STRONG,  IN 
CAT  TRIBE—  Cats  Never  Hunt  in  Packs.— 
Cats  never  hunt  in  packs  as  dogs  and  wolves 
do,  and  rarely  pursue  their  prey  in  open 
ground,    but    spring    upon    it    from    some 
hiding-place.     They   are   mostly   nocturnal, 
and  the  greater  number,  especially  of  the 
smaller  kinds,  habitually  live  in  trees. — Mi- 
VART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  8,  p.  226. 
(L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

1635.  INDIVIDUALITY,     VARYING 
ASPECTS     OF  —  Men  Discriminate  between 
Their  Own  Different  Selves — One's  "  Fame  " 
and  "  Honor." — A  man's  fame,  good  or  bad, 
and  his  honor  or  dishonor    are  names  for 
one  of  his  social  selves.     The  particular  so- 
cial self  of  a  man  called  his  honor  is  usually 
the  result  of  one  of  those  splittings  of  which 
we  have  spoken.    It  is  his  image  in  the  eyes 
of  his  own  "  set "  which  exalts  or  condemns 
him  as  he  conforms  or  not  to  certain  re- 
quirements that  may  not  be  made  of  one  in 
another  walk  of  life.     Thus  a  layman  may 
abandon  a  city  infected  with  cholera ;   but  a 
priest  or  a  doctor  would  think  such  an  act 
incompatible  with  his   honor.     A   soldier's 
honor  requires  him  to  fight  or  to  die  under 
circumstances  where  another  man  can  apolo- 
gize or  run  away  with  no  stain  upon  his 
social  self.     A  judge,  a  statesman,  are  in 
like  manner  debarred  by  the  honor  of  their 
<;loth    from    entering    into    pecuniary    rela- 
tions   perfectly    honorable    to    persons    in 
private  life.     Nothing  is  commoner  than  to 
liear  people  discriminate  between  their  dif- 
ferent selves  of  this  sort:     "As  a  man  I 
pity  you,  but  as  an  official  I  must  show  you 
no  mercy;    as  a  politician  I  regard  him  as 
an  ally,  but  as  a  moralist  I  loathe  him," 
etc.,  etc. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10, 
p.  294.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1636.  INDUCTION    AND     DEDUC- 
TION MUST  COMBINE— No  Single  Method 
Leads  to  Truth. — We  must  welcome  as  one 
of  the  most  fortunate  steps  in  the  direction 
of  a  solution  of  the  great  cosmic  problems 
the  fact  that  of  recent  years  there  is  a  grow- 
ing  tendency   to    recognize    the   two   paths 
which    alone    lead    thereto — experience    and 


thought,  or  speculation — to  be  of  equal  value 
and  mutually  complementary.  Philosophers 
have  come  to  see  that  pure  speculation — 
such,  for  instance,  as  Plato  and  Hegel  em- 
ployed for  the  construction  of  their  idealist 
systems — does  not  lead  to  knowledge  of  re- 
ality. On  the  other  hand,  scientists  have 
been  convinced  that  mere  experience — such 
as  Bacon  and  Mill,  for  example,  made  the 
basis  of  their  realist  systems — is  sufficient 
of  itself  for  a  complete  philosophy.  For 
these  two  great  paths  of  knowledge,  sense- 
experience  and  rational  thought,  are  two  dis- 
tinct cerebral  functions;  the  one  is  elabo- 
rated by  the  sense-organs  and  the  inner 
sense-centers,  the  other  by  the  thought-cen- 
ters, the  great  "  centers  of  association  in  the 
cortex  of  the  brain,"  which  lie  between  the 
sense-centers.  True  knowledge  is  only  ac- 
quired by  combining  the  activity  of  the 
two. — HAECKEL  Riddle  of  the  Universe,  ch. 
1,  p.  18.  (H.,  1900.) 

1637.  INDUCTION  GIVES  A  LAW— 
Deduction    Supposes    a     Case — Experiment 
Furnishes  the  Test. — To  acquire  [scientific] 
foreknowledge    of   what   is    coming,   but   of 
what  has  not  been  settled  by  observations, 
no   other  method  is  possible  than   that  of 
endeavoring  to  arrive  at  the  laws  of  facts 
by  observations ;  and  we  can  only  learn  them 
by  induction,  by  the  careful  selection,  col- 
lation, and  observation  of  those  cases  which 
fall  under  the  law.    When  we  fancy  that  we 
have  arrived  at  a  law  the  business  of  deduc- 
tion commences.     It  is  then  our  duty  to  de- 
velop the  consequences  of  our  law  as  com- 
pletely as  may  be,  but  in  the  first  place  only 
to  apply  to  them  the  test  of  experience,  so 
far  as  they  can  be  tested,  and  then  to  de- 
cide by  this  test  whether  the  law  holds,  and 
to  what  extent.    This  is  a  test  which  really 
never  ceases. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
ser.  ii,  lect.  5,  p.  226.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1638.  INDUCTION  RECOGNIZED  BY 
ARISTOTLE— Rules  Given  Only  for  Deduc- 
tion.— Altho  the  duality  of  the  complex  oper- 
ation whereof  induction  is  the  first  and  de- 
duction the  second  half,  as  well  as  the  espe- 
cial necessity  for  the   inductive  part,   was 
recognized  by  Aristotle  both  in  actual  dec- 
larations and  by  his  unwearied  industry  in 
collecting   facts;    altho,    moreover,    he   per- 
ceived that  all  science  or  theory  must  rest 
upon  this  foundation  as  a  whole,  neverthe- 
less he  devotes  himself  only  to  the  analysis 
and  to  the  formulating  of  the  rules  of  the 
deductive  part.    Thus  it  was,  as  Grote  points 
out,  that  science  afterwards  became  disjoined 
from  experience  and  was  presented  as  con- 
sisting in  deduction  alone,  while  everything 
not  deduction  became  degraded  into  unscien- 
tific experience. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellec- 
tual Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  2,  p.  39.        (J. 
W.,  1898.) 

1639.  INDULGENCE,  EXCUSES  FOR 
— Mental  Ingenuity  in  Finding  Reasons  for 
Wrong-doing — Fault  Must  Be  Branded  with 
the  Name — "Being  a  Drunkard." — Where, 


335 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Individuality 
Industry 


however,  the  right  conception  is  an  anti- im- 
pulsive one,  the  whole  intellectual  ingenuity 
of  the  man  usually  goes  to  work  to  crowd 
it  out  of  sight,  and  to  find  names  for  the 
emergency,  by  the  help  of  which  the  dispo- 
sitions of  the  moment  may  sound  sanctified, 
and  sloth  or  passion  may  reign  unchecked. 
How  many  excuses  does  the  drunkard  find 
when  each  new  temptation  comes!  It  is  a 
new  brand  of  liquor  which  the  interests  of 
intellectual  culture  in  such  matters  oblige 
him  to  test;  moreover  it  is  poured  out  and 
it  is  sin  to  waste  it;  or  others  are  drinking 
and  it  would  be  churlishness  to  refuse;  or 
it  is  but  to  enable  him  to  sleep,  or  just  to 
get  through  this  job  of  work;  or  it  isn't 
drinking,  it  is  because  he  feels  so  cold;  or  it 
is  Christmas  day;  or  it  is  a  means  of  stimu- 
lating him  to  make  a  more  powerful  resolu- 
tion in  favor  of  abstinence  than  any  he  has 
hitherto  made;  or  it  is  just  this  once,  and 
once  doesn't  count,  etc.,  etc.,  ad  lihitum — it 
is,  in  fact,  anything  you  like  except  being  a 
drunkard.  That  is  the  conception  that  will 
not  stay  before  the  poor  soul's  attention. 
But  if  he  once  gets  able  to  pick  out  that  way 
of  conceiving  from  all  the  other  possible 
ways  of  conceiving  the  various  opportunities 
which  occur,  if  through  thick  and  thin  he 
holds  to  it  that  this  is  being  a  drunkard  and 
is  nothing  else,  he  is  not  likely  to  remain 
one  long.  The  effort  by  which  he  succeeds 
in  keeping  the  right  name  unwaveringly 
present  to  his  mind  proves  to  be  his  saving 
moral  act. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
26,  p.  565.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1640.  INDUSTRY  AND  PREVISION 
AMONG   ANIMALS— Storehouses  and  Gar- 
dens of  Ants. — The  species  of  Messor   (Eu- 
rope), Pogonomyrme®  (America),  and  Hol- 
comyrmex     (India)     construct    very     large 
chambers,   or  granaries,   underground,   at  a 
considerable  depth,  often  at  the  depth  of  a 
yard,    in  which   they  store   the   seeds   they 
have  collected.     In  the  same  way  the  species 
of  the  American  genus   Atta  excavate  ex- 
tremely  deep   and   extensive  passages,   and 
make  immense  chambers,  in  which  they  store 
the  leaves  they  have  cut  from  the  trees  for 
the  purpose  of  laying  out  upon  them  the 
fungus-gardens    from    which    they    supply 
thousands  with  food.     This  discovery,  first 
made  by  Belt,  and  subsequently  declared  by 
MacCook  to  be  incorrect,  has  recently  been 
confirmed  by  Dr.  Moller,  of  Blumenau,  in  its 
full  extent  as  the  result  of  superb  experi- 
ments.— Forel,  Article  on  Ants'  Nests,  p.  483 
(Report    of    Smithsonian    Institute,    1894). 

1641.  INDUSTRY  DEPENDENT  ON 
SCIENTIFIC    STUDY—  As  in  nobler  spheres 
of  thought  and  sentiment,  in  philosophy,  po- 
etry, and  the  fine  arts,  the  object  at  which 
we  aim  ought  to  be  an  inward  one — an  en- 
noblement of  the  intellect — so  ought  we  like- 
wise,  in   our   pursuit  of   science,   to   strive 
after  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  unity  that  pervade  the  vital  forces 
of  the  universe;  and  it  is  by  such  a  course 


that  physical  studies  may  be  made  subser- 
vient to  the  progress  of  industry,  which  is 
a  conquest  of  mind  over  matter.  By  a  hap- 
py connection  of  causes  and  effects  we  often 
see  the  useful  linked  to  the  beautiful  and  the 
exalted.  The  improvement  of  agriculture  in 
the  hands  of  freemen,  and  on  properties  of 
a  moderate  extent — the  flourishing  state  of 
the  mechanical  arts  freed  from  the  trammels 
of  municipal  restrictions — the  increased  im- 
petus imparted  to  commerce  by  the  multi- 
plied means  of  contact  of  nations  with  each 
other  are  all  brilliant  results  of  the  intel- 
lectual progress  of  mankind  and  of  the  ame- 
lioration of  political  institutions  in  which 
this  progress  is  reflected.  The  picture  pre- 
sented by  modern  history  ought  to  convince 
those  who  are  tardy  in  awakening  to  the 
truth  of  the  lesson  it  teaches. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  54.  (H.,  1897.) 

1642.  INDUSTRY  OF  ANTS— System- 
atic and  Persevering  Labor  of  Red  Ants  in 
India. — Meer  Hassan  Ali,  in  his  "  History 
of  the  Mussulmans,"  expressly  mentions  that 
"  More   industrious   little   creatures   cannot 
exist  than  the  small  red  ants  which  are  so 
abundant  in  India.    I  have  watched  them  at 
their  labors  for  hours  without  tiring.    They 
are  so  small  that  from  eight  to  twelve  in 
number  labor  with  great  difficulty  to  con- 
vey a  grain  of  wheat  or  barley,  yet  these 
are  not  more  than  half  the  size  of  a  grain 
of  English  wheat.     I  have  known  them  to 
carry  one  of  these  grains  to  their  nest,  at 
a  distance  from  600  to  1,000  yards.     They 
travel  in  two  distinct  lines  over  rough  or 
smooth  ground,  as  it  may  happen,  even  up 
and  down  steps,  at  one  regular  pace.     The 
returning  unladen  ants  invariably  salute  the 
burthened  ones  who  are  making  their  way  to 
the  general  storehouse;   but  it  is   done   so 
promptly   that   the   line   is   neither   broken 
nor  their  progress  impeded  by  the  saluta- 
tion."— AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees  and  Wasps,  ch. 
3,  p.  60.     (A.,  1900.) 

1643.  INDUSTRY    OF    PRIMITIVE 

MAN — Toil  under  Disadvantages. — After  hav- 
ing chosen  a  favorable  situation  the  first 
step  in  the  construction  of  the  lake-habita- 
tions was  to  obtain  the  necessary  timber. 
To  cut  down  a  tree  with  a  stone  hatchet 
must  have  been  no  slight  undertaking.  It 
is,  indeed,  most  probable  that  use  was  made 
of  fire  in  the  same  manner  as  is  done  by 
existing  savages  in  felling  trees  and  making 
canoes.  Burning  the  wood  and  then  scra- 
ping away  the  charred  portion  renders  the 
task  far  more  easy,  and  the  men  of  the 
Stone  period  appear  to  have  avoided  the  use 
of  large  trees,  except  in  making  their  ca- 
noes. Their  piles  were  embedded  in  the  mud 
from  one  to  five  feet,  and  must  also  have 
projected  from  four  to  six  feet  above  the 
water  level,  which  cannot  have  been  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  it  is  at  present.  They 
must,  therefore,  have  had  a  length  of  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  feet,  and  they  were  from 
three  to  nine  inches  in  diameter.  The  point- 


Sustry 
nity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


336 


ed  extremity  which  entered  into  the  mud 
still  bears  the  marks  of  the  fire  and  the  rude 
cuts  made  by  the  stone  hatchets.  The  piles 
belonging  to  the  Bronze  period,  being  pre- 
pared with  metal  axes,  were  much  more 
regularly  pointed,  and  the  differences  be- 
tween the  two  have  been  ingeniously  com- 
pared to  those  shown  by  lead  pencils  well 
and  badly  cut. — AVEBUEY  Prehistoric  Times, 
ch.  6,  p.  176.  (A.,  1900.) 

1644.  INDUSTRY,    SEPARATE    VS. 
GREGARIOUS  —  Ancient    Implements  Long 
Perpetuated — The  Spindle  of  Egypt  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland. — In  1760  the  spin- 
ning-wheel and  the  common  loom,  as  used 
by  the  people  of  Yorkshire,  were  little  in 
advance  of  the  implements  for  the  same  pur- 
pose which  had  been  in  use  beyond  the  reach 
of  history.     The  spindle  which  is  depicted 
on   the   monuments   of  Egypt  was   until   a 
few  years   ago  familiar   in  the  Highlands. 
The  essential  feature  of  this  ancient  indus- 
try, so  far  as  its  effects  upon  social  condi- 
tions are  concerned,  was  that  it  was  sepa- 
rate and  not  gregarious.     It  did  not  inter- 
fere   with,    but    rather    was    congenial    to, 
family  life  for  thousands  of  years. 

"  Maids  at  the  wheel,  the  weaver  at  his  loom, 

Sat  blithe  and  happy." 
— ARGYLL   Reign    of   Law,    ch.    7,    p.    206. 
(Burt.) 

1645.  INDUSTRY  THE   CORRECT- 
IVE   OF   PHILANTHROPY— Evolution  Hu- 
manized.— Men  very  naturally  and  very  hon- 
estly disagree  in  respect  to  the  activity  of 
those  causes  which  have  helped  the  human 
race  forward.    Most  of  us  accept  the  theory 
of  evolution  to  account  for  the  diversity  and 
development  of  life,  but  when  reason,  edu- 
cation, and  religion  appear,  they   serve  to 
counteract  the  forces  which  have  produced 
evolution,  and,  in  fact,  to  undo  much  of  the 
work  which  the  uninterrupted  operation  of 
natural  law  has  performed.     The  tendency 
of  civilization  is  therefore  almost  directly 
in   opposition   to   those   forces   which   have 
made  humanity  possible.    As  an  illustration 
of  this,  attention  may  be  called  to  the  grand 
system  of  organized  philanthropy  which  is 
found   in   every  civilized   community.     The 
care  which  we  bestow  in  public  and  in  pri- 
vate on  the  old,  the  imbecile,  and  the  sick 
secures  precisely  what  the  great  forces  of 
evolution     would     eliminate     and     destroy. 
Were  it  not,  then,  for  other  forces  to  coun- 
teract  the   deteriorating  effects   of  philan- 
thropy, the  human  race,  through  its  own  ex- 
cellence   of    heart,    would    rapidly    regress. 
Fortunately,  therefore,  in  the  progress  of  hu- 
man industry  we  find  a  factor  which  tends 
to  correct  or  neutralize  the  enervating  ef- 
fects of  philanthropy.     The  necessity  of  ef- 
fort and  the  pleasure  of  labor  drive  men 
into  pursuits  which  develop  their  faculties, 
increase   their   power,   and   eliminate,   to   a 
certain  degree,  the  deteriorating  effects  of 
care,  of  helpfulness,  of  sympathy  and  affec- 
tion. 


In  this  respect  the  progress  of  industry 
must  be  regarded  as  the  great  helper  of  hu- 
manity. Just  in  proportion  as  the  indus- 
tries of  a  nation  broaden  and  develop,  just 
in  that  proportion  does  the  character  of  its 
citizens  gain  strength  and  their  brains  and 
muscles  skill  and  power. — WILEY  Relations 
of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Progress  (Ad- 
dress at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Ind., 
1896),  p.  13. 

1 646.  INEQUALITY  A  LAW  OF  HU- 
MAN NATURE— There  is,   for  example,   a 
law — an  observed  order  of  facts — in  respect 
to  man,  which  the  working  classes  too  often 
forget,   but  which  can  neither   be  violated 
nor  neglected  with  impunity.     That  law  is 
the  law  of  inequality — the  various  degrees 
in  which  the  gifts  bdth  of  body  and  of  mind 
are  shared  among  men.     This  is  one  of  the 
most  fundamental  facts  of  human  nature. 
Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  how  it  should  be 
also  one  of  the  most  beneficent.     But  it  is 
a  fact  against  which  the  spirit  of  combina- 
tion is  very  apt  to  assume  an  attitude  of 
permanent  insurrection. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  224.     (Burt.) 

1647.  INFALLIBILITY,    ASSUMED, 
OF  SCIENTISTS— Many  an  anthropologist 
has  described  a  skull  of  peculiar  form  as  the 
only  one  of  its  kind,  perhaps  discovering  in 
it  greater  or  minor  animal  similarities,  when 
typically  it  might  have  been  mistaken  for 
the  one  upon  his  own  shoulders! — RANKE 
Somatische    anthropologische    Beobachtun- 
gen   (an  address).      (Translated   for   Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

1648.  INFANCY    A    PERIOD   OF 
PLASTICITY—  Calls  Out  Parents'   Unselfish- 
ness.— The  first  appearance  of  infancy  in  the 
animal  world  heralded  the  new  era  which 
was  to  be  crowned  by  the  development  of 
man.     With  the  beginnings  of  infancy  there 
came  the  first  dawning  of  a  conscious  life 
similar   in  nature  to  the  conscious  life  of 
human   beings,    and   there   came,   moreover, 
on  the  part  of  parents,  the  beginning  of  feel- 
ings and  actions  not  purely  self-regarding. 
But,  still  more,  the  period  of  infancy  was  a 
period  of  plasticity.    The  career  of  each  in- 
dividual   being    no    longer    wholly    prede- 
termined by  the  careers  of  its  ancestors,  it 
began  to  become  teachable.    Individuality  of 
character  also  became  possible  at  the  same 
time,  and  for  the  same  reason. — FISKE  Des- 
tiny of  Man,ch.  6,  p.  51.    (H.M.&  Co.,  1900.) 

1649.  INFANCY  PROLONGED— No- 
ticeable   Fact    among    Apes. — The    young 
orangs  seem  to  remain  unusually  long  under 
their  mother's  protection,  probably  in  conse- 
quence of  their  slow  growth.     While  climb- 
ing the  mother  always  carries   her  young 
against  her  bosom,  the  young  holding  on  by 
his  mother's  hair. — HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in 
Mature,  p.  206.    (Hum.) 

165O. The  Chief  Fact  in 

Man's  Development. — In  the  genesis  of  hu- 
manity  the  central   fact  has   been   the  in- 


337 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Industry 
Infinity 


creased  duration  of  infancy.  Now,  can  we 
assign  for  that  increased  duration  an  ade- 
quate cause?  I  think  we  can.  The  increase 
of  intelligence  is  itself  such  a  cause.  A 
glance  at  the  animal  kingdom  shows  us  no 
such  thing  as  infancy  among  the  lower 
orders.  It  is  with  warm-blooded  birds  and 
mammals  that  the  phenomena  of  infancy 
and  the  correlative  parental  care  really  be- 
gin.— FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  6,  p.  87.  (H.  M.  &Co.,  1900.) 

1651.  INFECTION    CAUSED  BY 
EARTHWORMS— Pasteur  held  that  earth- 
worms   are    responsible    for    conveying   the 
spores  and  anthrax  from  buried   carcasses 
to  the  surface,  and  thus  bringing  about  re- 
infection.— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  17. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1652.  INFECTION    WIDELY   DIS - 
TRIBUTED— Mistaken  Attempt  at  Cleanliness 
Caused  Pollution. — Within  the  last  twelve 
months  much  attention  has  been  drawn  to  a 
milk-source  of  typhoid  infection  by  the  epi- 
demic   of    typhoid    at   Bristol.      Dr.   D.    S. 
Davies  has  pointed  out  that  a  brook  received 
the  sewage  of  thirty-seven  houses,  the  over- 
flow of  a  cesspool  serving  twenty-two  more, 
the   washings    from   fields   over   which   the 
drainage  of  several  others  was  distributed, 
and   the   direct   sewage   from   at   least   one 
other,  and  then  flowed  directly  through  a 
certain   farm.     The   water   of   this    stream 
supplied    the   farm   pump,    and    the    water 
itself,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  was 
highly  charged  with  putrescent  organic  mat- 
ter and  micro-organisms.     This  water  was 
used  for  washing  the  milk-cans  from  this 
particular    farm,    otherwise    the    dairy    ar- 
rangements were  efficient.     Part  of  the  milk 
was  distributed  to  fifty-seven  houses  in  Clif- 
ton;   in  forty-one  of  them  cases  of  typhoid 
occurred.     Another   part   of   the  milk  was 
sold  over  the  counter ;    twenty  households  so 
obtaining    it    were    attacked    with    typhoid 
fever,   and  a  number  of  further  infections 
and    complications    arose.      This    evidence 
would  appear  to  support  the  fact  that  milk 
may  act  in  the  same  way,  tho  not  in  such  a 
high  degree,  as  water  in  the  conveyance  of 
typhoid  fever. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p. 
199.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899i) 

1653.  INFINITUDE,  RICHTER'S 
VISION  OF— "End  There  Is  None !  "—Truly, 
the  German  poet  Kichter  has  spoken  well  in 
those  wonderful  words  which  our  own  prose 
poet  De  Quincey  has  so  nobly  translated; 
his    splendid    vision    aptly    expresses    the 
feebleness  of  man's  conceptions  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  infinite  wonders  of  creation: 

"  God  called  up  from  dreams  a  man  into 
the  vestibule  of  heaven,  saying,  '  Come  thou 
hither,  and  see  the  glory  of  my  house/ 
And  to  the  angels  which  stood  around  his 
throne  he  said :  *  Take  him,  strip  from  him 
his  robes  of  flesh;  cleanse  his  vision,  and 
put  a  new  breath  into  his  nostrils,  only 
touch  not  with  any  change  his  human  heart, 
the  heart  that  weeps  and  trembles.'  It  was 


done ;  and  with  a  mighty  angel  for  his  guide 
the  man  stood  ready  for  his  infinite  voyage ; 
and  from  the  terraces  of  heaven,  without 
sound  or  farewell,  at  once  they  wheeled 
away  into  endless  space.  Sometimes  with, 
the  solemn  flight  of  angel  wings  they  passed 
through  Zaharas  of  darkness,  through  wil- 
dernesses of  death,  that  divided  the  worlds 
of  life ;  sometimes  they  swept  over  frontiers 
that  were  quickening  under  prophetic  mo- 
tions from  God.  Then  from  a  distance 
which  is  counted  only  in  heaven,  light 
dawned  for  a  time  through  a  shapeless  film; 
by  unutterable  pace  the  light  swept  to  them, 
they  by  unutterable  pace  to  the  light.  In  a 
moment  the  rushing  of  planets  was  upon 
them;  in  a  moment  the  blazing  of  suns  was 
around  them. 

"  Then  came  eternities  of  twilight,  that 
revealed,  but  were  not  revealed.  On  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left  towered  mighty 
constellations,  that  by  self-repetitions  and 
answers  from  afar,  that  by  counter-posi- 
tions, built  up  triumphal  gates,  whose  ar- 
chitraves, whose  archways,  horizontal,  up- 
right, rested,  rose,  at  altitude,  by  spans  that 
seemed  ghostly  from  infinitude.  Without 
measure  were  the  architraves,  past  number 
were  the  archways,  beyond  memory  the 
gates.  Within  were  stairs  that  scaled  the 
eternities  around;  above  was  below  and  be- 
low was  above,  to  the  man  stripped  of 
gravitating  body;  depth  was  swallowed  up 
in  height  insurmountable,  height  was  swal- 
lowed up  in  depth  unfathomable.  Suddenly, 
as  thus  they  rode  from  infinite  to  infinite, 
suddenly,  as  thus  they  tilted  over  abysmal 
worlds,  a  mighty  cry  arose  that  systems 
more  mysterious,  that  worlds  more  billowy, 
other  heights  and  other  depths,  were  com- 
ing, were  nearing,  were  at  hand. 

"  Then  the  man  sighed  and  stopped,  shud- 
dered, and  wept.  His  overladen  heart  ut- 
tered itself  in  tears,  and  he  said,  '  Angel,  I 
will  go  no  farther;  for  the  spirit  of  man 
acheth  with  this  infinity.  Insufferable  is 
the  glory  of  God.  Let  me  lie  down  in  the 
grave,  and  hide  me  from  the  persecution  of 
the  Infinite,  for  end  I  see  there  is  none.' 
And  from  all  the  listening  stars  that  shone 
around  issued  a  choral  voice,  '  The  man 
speaketh  truly:  end  there  is  none  that  ever 
yet  we  heard  of ! '  '  End  is  there  none  ?' 
the  angel  solemnly  demanded ;  '  is  there  in- 
deed no  end?  And  is  this  the  sorrow  that 
fills  you?'  But  no  voice  answered,  that  he 
might  answer  himself.  Then  the  angel 
threw  up  his  glorious  hands  to  the  heaven 
of  heavens,  saying:  'End  is  there  none  to 
the  universe  of  God.  Lo!  also,  there  is  no 
beginning.' " — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  304.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1654.  INFINITY  A  NECESSITY  OF 
HUMAN  THOUGHT  —  Space  and  Time  — 
Matter  and  Force. — When  now  we  consider 
the  place  in  the  whole  system  of  our  knowl- 
edge which  is  occupied  by  these  great  funda- 
mental conceptions  of  time  and  space,  and 
of  matter  and  of  force,  and  when  we  con- 


Kfinity 
fluence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


338 


sider  that  we  cannot  even  think  of  any  one 
of  these  realities  as  capable  of  coming  to  an 
end,  we  may  well  be  assured  that,  whatever 
may  be  the  limits  of  the  human  mind,  they 
certainly  do  not  prevent  us  from  apprehend- 
ing infinity.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  rather 
appear  that  this  apprehension  is  the  in- 
variable and  necessary  result  of  every  inves- 
tigation of  Nature. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  4,  p.  84.  (Burt.) 

1655.  INFINITY  NOT    AN    OBJECT 
OF  WORSHIP— Infinite  Space,   Time,  Num- 
ber Not  Religious — Misfortune  of  Ambigu- 
ity. — The  phrase,  now  often  used  to  express 
the  objects  of  religious   thought   and  feel- 
ing, "the  Infinite,"  is     ...     ambiguous, 
not  merely  as  "  the  Supernatural  "  is  am- 
biguous, by  reason  of  its  involving  a  sepa- 
rate and  adventitious  meaning  besides  the 
meaning  which  is  prominent  and  essential; 
but  it  is  ambiguous  by  reason  of  not  nec- 
essarily containing  at  all  the  one  meaning 
which  is  essential  to  religion.     "  The  Infi- 
nite "  is  a  pure  and  bare  abstraction,  which 
may  or  may  not  include  the  one  only  object 
of  religious  consciousness  and  thought.    An 
Infinite  Being,   if  that  be  the  meaning  of 
"the  Infinite,"  is,  indeed,  the  highest  and 
most  perfect  object  of  religion.     But  an  in- 
finite space  is  no  object  of  religious  feeling. 
An  infinite  number  of  material  units  is  no 
object  of  religious  thought.    Infinite  time  is 
no  object  of  religious  thought.    On  the  other 
hand,  infinite  power  not  only  may  be,  but 
must  be,  an  object  of  religious  contempla- 
tion in  proportion  as  it  is  connected  with 
the  idea  of  power  in  a  living  will.     Infinite 
goodness   must   be   the    object   of  religious 
thought  and  emotion,   because  in   its  very 
nature  this   conception   involves  that  of  a 
personal  being.     But  if  all  this  is  what  is 
intended  by  "  the  Infinite,"  then  it  would  be 
best  to  say  so  plainly.    The  only  use  of  the 
phrase,  as  the  one  selected  to  indicate  the 
object  of  religion,  is  that  it  may  be  under- 
stood in  a  sense  that  is  kept  out"  of  sight. — 
ARGYLL    Unity   of  Nature,    ch.    11,   p.   272. 
(Burt.) 

1656.  INFINITY  OF  SPACE,  MAT- 
TER, AND  ENERGY— Science  Leads  Out  to 
the  Infinite. — Infinity  of  space  and  of  mat- 
ter  occupying   space,    of   time    and   of  the 
processes  with  which  time  is  occupied,  and 
infinity  of  energy  as  necessarily  implied  by 
the  infinities  of  matter  and  of  the  operations 
affecting    matter — these    infinities     science 
brings  clearly  before  us.    For  science  directs 
our  thoughts  to  the  finites  to  which  these 
infinites    correspond.       It    shows    us    that 
there  can  be  no  conceivable  limits  to  space 
or  time,  and  tho  finiteness  of  matter  or  of 
operation  may  be  conceivable,  there  is  mani- 
fest incongruity  in  assuming  an  infinite  dis- 
proportion between  unoccupied  and  occupied 
space,  or  between  void  time  and  time  occu- 
pied with  the  occurrence  of  events  of  what 
sort  soever.    So  that  the  teachings  of  science 


bring  us  into  the  presence  of  the  unques- 
tionable infinities  of  time  and  of  space,  and 
the  presumable  infinities  of  matter  and  of 
operation — hence,  therefore,  into  the  pres- 
ence of  infinity  of  energy.  But  science 
teaches  us  nothing  about  these  infinities,  as 
such.  They  remain  none  the  less  inconceiv- 
able, however  clearly  we  may  be  taught  to 
recognize  their  reality. — PROCTOR  Our  Place 
among  Infinities,  p.  1.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1657.  INFINITY  REVEALED  IN  NA- 
TURE—The   earnest   and   solemn   thoughts 
awakened    by    a    communion    with    Nature 
intuitively  arise  from  a  presentiment  of  the 
order  and  harmony  pervading  the  whole  uni- 
verse, and  from  the  contrast  we  draw  be- 
tween the  narrow  limits  of  our  own  exist- 
ence and  the  image  of  infinity  revealed  on 
every  side,  whether  we  look  upward  to  the 
starry  vault  of  heaven,  scan  the  far-stretch- 
ing plain  before  us,  or  seek  to  trace  the  dim 
horizon  across  the  vast  expanse  of  ocean. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  25.     (H., 
1897.) 

1658.  INFINITY    SUGGESTED     BY 
THE  OCEAN — However  much  this  richness 

[of  the  ocean]  in  animated  forms,  and  this 
multitude  of  the  most  various  and  highly 
developed  microscopic  organisms  may  agree- 
ably excite  the  fancy,  the  imagination  is 
even  more  seriously,  and,  I  might  say,  more 
solemnly  moved  by  the  impression  of  bound- 
lessness and  immeasurability  which  are 
presented  to  the  mind  by  every  sea-voyage. 
All  who  possess  an  ordinary  degree  of  men- 
tal activity,  and  delight  to  create  to  them- 
selves an  inner  world  of  thought,  must  be 
penetrated  with  the  sublime  image  of  the 
infinite  when  gazing  around  them  on  the 
vast  and  boundless  sea,  when  involuntarily 
the  glance  is  attracted  to  the  distant  hori- 
zon, where  air  and  water  blend  together,  and 
the  stars  continually  rise  and  set  before  the 
eyes  of  the  mariner.  This  contemplation  of 
the  eternal  play  of  the  elements  is  clouded, 
like  every  human  joy,  by  a  touch  of  sadness 
and  of  longing. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i, 
p.  310.  (H.,  1897.) 

1659.  INFINITY,  THE  CONCEPTION 

OF — A  Necessity  of  Human  Thought. — "  That 
the  finite  cannot  comprehend  the  infinite  " 
is  a  proposition  constantly  propounded  as 
an  undoubted  and  all-comprehensive  truth. 
Such  truth  as  does  belong  to  it  seems  to 
come  from  the  domain  of  physics,  in  which 
it  represents  the  axiom  that  a  part  cannot 
be  equal  to  the  whole.  From  this,  in  the 
domain  of  mind,  it  comes  to  represent  the 
truth,  equally  undeniable,  that  we  cannot 
know  all  that  infinity  contains.  But  the 
meaning  into  which  it  is  liable  to  pass  when 
applied  to  mind  is  that  man  cannot  con- 
ceive infinity.  And  never  was  any  proposi- 
tion so  commonly  accepted  which,  in  this 
sense,  is  so  absolutely  devoid  of  all  founda- 
tion. Not  only  is  infinity  conceivable  by  us, 
but  it  is  inseparable  from  conceptions  which 


339 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Infinity 
Influence 


are  of  all  others  the  most  familiar.  Both 
the  great  conceptions  of  space  and  time  are, 
in  their  very  nature,  infinite.  We  cannot 
conceive  of  either  of  these  as  subject  to 
limitation.  We  cannot  conceive  of  a  mo- 
ment after  which  there  shall  be  no  more 
time,  nor  of  a  boundary  beyond  which  there 
is  no  more  space.  This  means  that  we  can- 
not but  think  of  space  as  infinite  and  of 
time  as  everlasting. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  4,  p.  79.  (Burt.) 

166O.     INFIRMITY  UNCONSCIOUS— 

Color-blindness  Only  Discovered  by  Compari- 
son.— It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  reference 
to  the  dependence  of  at  least  one  class  of 
our  knowledge  on  sensation,  that  many 
persons  are  born  with  defective  vision  and 
yet  remain  for  years  of  their  lives  without 
being  conscious  of  the  deficiency.  We  know 
a  gentleman  who  had  probably  been  always 
near-sighted,  but  who  did  not  discover  the 
peculiarity  of  his  vision  until  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  when  it  was  accidentally  made 
known  by  looking  at  a  distant  object 
through  a  concave  lens.  Many  persons 
whose  eyes  are  sound  and  capable  of  exerci- 
sing the  most  delicate  functions,  are  perma- 
nently unable  to  distinguish  certain  colors. 
And  the  number  of  such  persons  is  much 
more  considerable  than  we  would  be  led  to 
imagine  from  the  little  attention  this  defect 
of  vision  has  excited.  It  is  often  unknown 
to  the  individual  himself,  and  indeed  only 
becomes  revealed  by  comparing  his  powers 
of  discriminating  different  colors  with  those 
of  other  persons. — HENRY  Color-Blindness 
(Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  233).  (Sm. 
Inst.,  1886.) 


1661. 


Experience  of  a 


Child  with  Color-blindness. — An  account  is 
given  ...  of  a  shoemaker,  in  Cumber- 
land, who  could  distinguish  in  different  col- 
ors only  a  greater  or  less  intensity  of  light, 
calling  all  bright  tints  white  and  all  dull 
ones  black.  His  peculiarity  of  vision  was 
unknown  to  him  until  one  day,  while  a  boy, 
playing  in  the  street,  he  found  a  stocking, 
and  for  the  first  time  was  struck  with  the 
fact  that  it  was  called  by  his  companions 
red,  whereas  to  his  mind  it  was  capable  of 
no  farther  description  than  that  designated 
by  the  word  "  stocking  " ;  he  was  thus  led 
to  conclude  that  there  was  something  else 
besides  the  form  and  position  in  the  leaves 
and  fruit  of  a  cherry-tree,  perceived  by  his 
playmates,  but  not  seen  by  himself. — HENRY 
Color-Blindness  (Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i, 
p.  235).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1662.  INFLUENCE  EXERTED  IN 
VAIN — Air  Unwarmed  by  Burning  Solar  Rays. 
— On  a  sunny  day  you  may  see  the  summits 
of  the  high  Alps  glistening  with  the  water 
of  liquefaction.  The  air  above  and  around 
the  mountains  may  at  the  same  time  be 
many  degrees  below  the  freezing-point  in 
temperature.  .  .  .  Solar  beams  power- 
ful enough  to  fuse  the  snows  and  blister  the 
human  skin,  nay,  it  might  be  added,  power- 


ful enough,  when  concentrated,  to  burn  up 
the  human  body  itself,  may  pass  through  the 
air,  and  still  leave  it  at  an  icy  temperature. 
— TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water,  pp.  100-102. 
(A.,  1899.) 

1663.  INFLUENCE,  FAR-REACHING, 
OF    ONE   GREAT  MAN— Roger  Bacon  the 
Scientific  Light  of  the  Middle  Ages. — In  all 
that  has  directly  operated  on  the  extension 
of  the  natural  sciences,  and  on  their  estab- 
lishment on  a  mathematical  basis,  and  by 
the  calling  forth  of  phenomena  by  the  proc- 
ess of  experiment,  Roger  Bacon,  the  cotem- 
porary  of  Albertus  of  Bollstadt,  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  most  important  and  influen- 
tial man  of  the  Middle  Ages.     These   two 
men  occupy  almost  the  whole  of  the  thir- 
teenth   century;     but  to   Roger   Bacon   be- 
longs the  merit  that  the  influence  which  he 
exercised  on  the  form  of  the  mode  of  treat- 
ing the  study  of  Nature  has  been  more  bene- 
ficial and  lasting  than  the  various  discover- 
ies which,  with  more  or  less  justice,  have 
been  ascribed  to  him.    Stimulating  the  mind 
to  independence  of  thought,  he  severely  con- 
demned the  blind  faith  attached  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  schools,  yet,  far  from  neglect- 
ing the  investigations  of  the  ancient  Greeks, 
he  directed  his  attention  simultaneously  to 
philological  researches,  and  the  application 
of  mathematics  and  of  the  Scientia  experi- 
mentalis,  to  which  last  he  devoted  a  special 
section  of   the   "  Opus   Majus."     Protected 
and  favored  by  one  pope  ( Clement  IV. ) ,  and 
accused   of  magic   and   imprisoned  by  two 
others    (Nicholas  III.  and  IV.),  he  experi- 
enced  the   changes   of   fortune   common   to 
great  minds  in  all  ages. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos, 
vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  245.    (H.,  1897.) 

1664,  INFLUENCE   FROM   AFAR— 

Attraction  of  the  Sun  for  the  Magnetic 
Needle. — It  had  long  been  noticed  that  dur- 
ing the  course  of  a  single  day  the  magnetic 
needle  exhibits  a  minute  change  of  direction, 
taking  place  in  an  oscillatory  manner.  And 
when  the  character  of  this  vibration  came 
to  be  carefully  examined,  it  was  found  to 
correspond  to  a  sort  of  effort  on  the  needle's 
part  to  turn  toward  the  sun.  For  example, 
when  the  sun  is  on  the  magnetic  meridian, 
the  needle  has  its  mean  position.  This  hap- 
pens twice  in  the  day,  once  when  the  sun  is 
above  the  horizon,  and  once  when  he  is  below 
it.  Again,  when  the  sun  is  midway  between 
these  two  positions — which  also*  happens 
twice  in  the  day — the  needle  has  its  mean 
position,  because  the  northern  and  the 
southern  ends  make  equal  efforts,  so  to 
speak,  to  direct  themselves  toward  the  sun. 
Four  times  in  the  day,  then,  the  needle  has 
its  mean  position,  or  is  directed  toward  the 
magnetic  meridian.  But  when  the  sun  is 
not  in  one  of  the  four  positions  considered, 
that  ^end  of  the  needle  which  is  nearest  to 
him  is  slightly  turned  away  from  its  mean 
position,  toward  him.  The  change  of  posi- 
tion is  very  minute,  and  only  the  exact 
methods  of  observation  made  use  of  in  the 
present  age  would  have  sufficed  to  reveal  it. 


Influence 
Inheritance 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


340 


There  it  is,  however,  and  this  minute  and 
seemingly  unimportant  peculiarity  has  been 
found  to  be  full  of  meaning. — PROCTOR 
Other  Worlds  than  Ours,  ch.  2,  p.  41. 
(Burt.) 

1665.  INFLUENCE,     MYSTERIOUS, 
OF  THE  SUN  ON  THE  MAGNETIC  NEE- 
DLE— Correspondence    of  Oscillations  of  the 
Needle  with  Sun-spots. — The  amplitude  of 
these  diurnal  oscillations   [of  the  magnetic 
needle]  varies  every  day,  every  month,  every 
year.    If  we  take  the  mean  of  the  observa- 
tions for  a  whole  year,   we  ascertain  that 
this  oscillation  may  lengthen  from  single  to 
double  in  a  period  of  about  1 1  years,  -which 
period — a  fact  eminently  worthy  of  atten- 
tion— corresponds  to  that  of  the  solar  spots, 
the  mawimum  of  the  oscillations  coinciding 
with  the  maximum   of  the  spots,  and  the 
minimum  with  the  minimum  !    All  the  other 
elements  of  magnetism,  inclination,  and  in- 
tensity  show  the  same  relation.     Further, 
the  magnetic  needle  manifests  from  time  to 
time     abnormal    variations,     perturbations 
caused  by  magnetic  storms;    these  pertur- 
bations also  coincide  with  the  great  agita- 
tions  observed  in   the  sun! — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  288. 
(A.) 

1666.  INFLUENCE   OF   AN  EN- 
LIGHTENED MONARCH—  Ornithology  En- 
couraged   by    Queen    Isabella.  —  Columbus 
brought  home  from  his  first  voyage  of  dis- 
covery  some  natural   products,   as,   for  in- 
stance, fruits  and  the  skins  of  animals.     In 
a    letter    written    from    Segovia     (August, 
1494),  Queen  Isabella  enjoins  on  the  admiral 
to  persevere  in  his  collections ;  and  she  espe- 
cially requires  of  him  that  he  should  bring 
with  him.  specimens  of  "  all  the  coast  and 
forest  birds  peculiar  to  countries  which  have 
a   different  climate  and  different  seasons." 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  274. 
(H.,  1897.) 

1667.  INFLUENCE    OF     CULTIVA- 
TION— Evolution  of  the  Cabbage— Cause  Still 
To  Seek — Plants  that  Stubbornly  Resist  Im- 
provement.— There  is  no   more  remarkable 
example  of  the  alteration  produced  by  more 
abundant  supply  of  food  and  more  regulated 
temperature  than  that  exhibited  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  wild  Brassica  oleracea,  a 
rambling   seashore  plant,   into   the  various 
kinds  of  cabbage,  broccoli,  and  cauliflower. 
Why  will  not  culture  produce  the  like  effect 
upon  other  plants?     It  is  quite  illogical  to 
say  that  this  transformation  has  been  the 
effect  of  "  physical  causes,"  when  the  most 
essential  factor  in  that  entire  "  aggregate  of 
antecedents,"  which  (according  to  J.  S.  Mill) 
constitutes  the  "  cause,"  is  the  "  unknown 
quantity  "  which  we  designate  as  the  "  con- 
stitution "  of  the  organism  itself.    As  I  have 
already   pointed    out,    we    do    not   get    any 
nearer  to  the  explanation  of  this  constitu- 
tion by  tracing  it  backwards   ancestrally; 
for  supposing  Rosa,  Rubus,  Salix,  and  Bras- 
sica to  have  derived  their  respective  pecu- 


liarities by  "  natural  selection  "  from  among 
previous  varieties,  the  question  recurs, 
Whence  those  varietal  modifications?  No 
physical  agencies  can  be  assigned,  at  any 
stage  whatever  of  the  descent,  as  an  ade- 
quate account  of  them ;  since,  for  those  agen- 
cies to  take  effect  there  must  have  been  a 
concurrent  capacity  for  variation,  either  in 
the  organism  itself  or  in  its  germ,  in  virtue 
of  which  its  varietal  forms  were  engendered. 
The  necessity  for  this  factor  is  evinced  by 
the  negative  results  of  its  deficiency,  shown 
in  the  "  rareness  "  of  many  wild  plants,  and 
the  unconquerable  resistance  made  by  others 
to  all  improvement  by  cultivation. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  437.  (A., 
1889.) 

1668.  INFLUENCE  OF  GEOGRAPHIC 
CONDITIONS    ON  HISTORY— This   triple 
constriction  of  the  Mediterranean  [into  M- 
gean,  Syrtic,  and  Tyrrhenian  basins]  has  ex- 
ercised a  great  influence  on  the  earliest  lim- 
itations   and    the    subsequent    extension    of 
Phenician  and  Greek  voyages  of  discovery. 
The  latter  were  long  limited  to  the  jEgean 
and  Syrtic  seas.     In  the  Homeric  times  the 
continent  of  Italy  was  still  an  "  unknown 
land."     The  Phocseans  opened  the  Tyrrhe- 
nian basin  west  of   Sicily,   and  Tartessian 
mariners   reached   the   Pillars   of  Hercules. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Carthage  was 
founded  at  the  boundary  of  the  Tyrrhenian 
and  Syrtic  basins.     The  physical  configura- 
tion of  the  coast  line  influenced  the  course 
of  events,  the  direction  of  nautical  under- 
takings, and  the  changes  in  the  dominion 
of  the  sea;  and  the  latter  reacted  again  on 
the  enlargement  of  the   sphere   of  ideas. — 
HUMBOLDT   Cosmos,   vol.   ii,  pt.   ii,  p.    120. 
(H.,  1897.) 

1669.  INFLUENCE   OF   HEAT  AND 
COLD  ON  WATER— Ice  Lighter  than  Water. 
— Like  almost  all  other  substances,  water  is 
expanded  by  heat  and  contracted  by  cold. 
.     .     .      A  small  flask  is  filled  with  colored 
water  and   stopped  with  a  cork.     Through 
the  cork  passes   a  glass   tube,  water-tight, 
the  liquid  standing  at  a  certain  height  in 
the  tube.  The  flask  and  its  tube  resemble  the 
bulb  and  stem  of  a  thermometer.     Applying 
the  heat  of  a  spirit-lamp,  the  water  rises 
in    the    tube   and    finally   trickles    over   the 
top.     Expansion  by  heat  is  thus  illustrated. 
Removing  the   lamp   and  piling  a   freezing 
mixture  round  the  flask  the  liquid  column 
falls,  thus  showing  the  contraction  of  the 
water  by  the  cold.    But  let  the  freezing  mix- 
ture continue  to  act,  the  falling  of  the  col- 
umn continues  to  a  certain  point;   it  then 
ceases.    The  top  of  the  column  remains  sta- 
tionary  for   some   seconds,   and   afterwards 
begins  to  rise.     The  contraction  has  ceased, 
and  expansion  by  cold  sets  in.    Let  the  ex- 
pansion continue  till  the  liquid  trickles  a 
second  time  over  the  top  of  the  tube.     The 
freezing  mixture  has  here  produced  to  all 
appearance   the    same    effect   as   the   flame. 
In   the  case  of  water,   contraction  by  cold 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Influence 
Inheritance 


ceases  and  expansion  by  cold  sets  in  at  the 
definite  temperature  of  39°  F.  Crystalliza- 
tion has  virtually  here  commenced,  the  mole- 
cules preparing  themselves  for  the  subse- 
quent act  of  solidification  which  occurs  at 
32°,  and  in  which  the  expansion  suddenly 
culminates.  In  virtue  of  this  expansion,  ice, 
as  you  know,  is  lighter  than  water  in  the 
proportion  of  8  to  9. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  3,  p.  107.  (A.,  1898.) 

1 6  7  O .     INFLUENCE  OF  NATURE  ON 

POETRY — Cicero's  Descriptions  True  to  Fact. 
— In  Cicero's  smaller  sketches  of  Nature  we 
find,  as  has  been  remarked,  all  things  de- 
scribed as  they  still  exist  in  the  actual  land- 
scape; we  see  the  Liris  shaded  by  lofty  pop- 
lars; and  as  we  descend  from  the  steep 
mountain  behind  the  old  towers  of  Arpinum 
we  see  the  grove  of  oaks  on  the  margin  of 
the  Fibrenus,  and  the  island  now  called  Isola 
di  Carnello,  which  is  formed  by  the  division 
of  the  stream,  and  whither  Cicero  retired 
in  order,  as  he  said,  to  "  give  himself  up  to 
meditation,  reading,  and  writing."  Arpinum, 
situated  on  the  Volscian  Hills,  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  great  statesman,  and  its 
noble  scenery  no  doubt  exercised  an  influence 
on  his  character  in  boyhood.  Unconsciously 
to  himself  the  external  aspect  of  the  sur- 
rounding scenery  impresses  itself  upon  the 
soul  of  man  with  an  intensity  corresponding 
to  the  greater  or  less  degree  of  his  natural 
susceptibility,  and  becomes  closely  inter- 
woven with  the  deep  original  tendencies  and 
the  free  natural  disposition  of  his  mental 
powers. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p. 
31.  (H.,  1897.) 

1671.  INFLUENCE    TRANSMITTED 
— Color-photography — Telephone  and  Phono- 
graph.— The     principle     [of     color  -  photog- 
raphy]   is  the  same  for  the  light-waves  as 
that  of  the  telephone  for  sound-waves.    The 
voice  sets  up  vibrations  in  the  transmitting 
diaphragm,  which  by  means  of  an  electric 
current  are  so  exactly  reproduced  in  the  re- 
ceiving diaphragm  as  to  give  out  the  same 
succession  of  sounds.    An  even  more  striking 
and  perhaps   closer  analogy  is  that  of  the 
phonograph,    where    the   vibrations    of    the 
diaphragm  are  permanently  registered  on  u 
wax  cylinder,  which  at  any  future  time  can 
be  made  to  set  up  the  same  vibrations  of  the 
air,  and  thus  reproduce  the  same  succession 
of  sounds,  whether  words  or  musical  notes. 
— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  5, 
p.  36.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1672.  INGENUITY  OF  A  SPIDER— 

Web  Stayed  by  Suspended  Weight. — J.  G. 
Wood  ("Glimpses  into  Petland")  [relates 
the  following  incident] :  "  One  of  my  friends," 
says  Wood,  "  was  accustomed  to  grant  shelter 
to  a  number  of  garden  spiders  under  a  large 
veranda,  and  to  watch  their  habits.  One 
day  a  sharp  storm  broke  out  and  the  wind 
raged  so  furiously  through  the  garden  that 
the  "spiders  suffered  damage  from  it,  altho 
sheltered  by  the  veranda.  The  main-yards  of 
one  of  these  webs,  as  the  sailors  would  call 


them,  were  broken,  so  that  the  web  was  blown 
hither  and  thither  like  a  slack  sail  in  a 
storm.  The  spider  made  no  fresh  threads, 
but  tried  to  help  itself  in  another  way.  It 
let  itself  down  to  the  ground  by  a  thread 
and  crawled  to  a  place  where  lay  some  splin- 
tered pieces  of  a  wooden  fence  thrown  down 
by  the  storm.  It  fastened  a  thread  to  one 
of  the  bits  of  wood,  turned  back  with  it,  and 
hung  it  with  a  strong  thread  to  the  lower 
part  of  its  nest,  about  -five  feet  from  the 
ground.  The  performance  was  a  wonderful 
one,  for  the  weight  of  the  wood  sufficed  to 
keep  the  nest  tolerably  firm,  while  it  was 
yet  light  enough  to  yield  to  the  wind  and 
so  prevent  further  injury.  The  piece  of  wood 
was  about  two  and  a  half  inches  long  and  as 
thick  as  a  goose-quill.  On  the  following  day 
a  careless  servant  knocked  her  head  against 
the  wood  and  it  fell  down,,  But  in  the  course 
of  a  few  hours  the  spider  had  found  it  and 
brought  it  back  to  its  place.  When  the 
storm  ceased  the  spider  mended  her  web, 
broke  the  supporting  thread  in  two,  and  let 
the  wood  fall  to  the  ground!" — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  6,  p.  221.  (A., 
1899.) 

1673.  INGENUITY   OF   PRIMITIVE 

MAN— Picks  Made  of  Deer's  Horns.— The  im- 
plements used  in  making  these  excavations 
were  deer's  horns,  the  brow  tine  being  used 
as  a  pick,  and  the  others  removed.  Thus 
treated,  a  deer's  horn  closely  resembles  in 
form  a  modern  pick,  but  of  course  it  is  sub- 
ject to  rapid  wear  by  use,  which  accounts 
for  the  large  numbers  of  worn-out  imple- 
ments found  by  Mr.  Greenwell  among  the 
rubbish.  —  AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
4,  p.  79.  (A.,  1900.) 

1674.  INGRATITUDE—  The  Sun  an 

Unrecognized  Benefactor  —  Unappreciated 
Beneficence.— The  sun  is  an  emblem  of  the 
Almighty  in  the  manner  in  which  he  be- 
stows benefits  upon  us  and  is  forgotten.  Day 
after  day  we  enjoy  the  sun's  light  and  heat; 
clouds  may  conceal  him  from  our  view,  much 
as  troubles  may  cause  us  to  forget  God; 
and  the  heat  he  pours  out  may  seem  some- 
times insufficient  or  excessive,  even  as  in 
our  ignorance  we  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
blessings  bestowed  by  the  Almighty. — PROC- 
TOR Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  12.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

1675.  INHERITANCE  OF  MENTAL 
DISEASE— Insanity  in  Royal  Families.— It  is 
in  reigning  families  that  mental  disorders 
are  hereditary  in  an  unusual  degree.     Thus 
Esquirol,    distinguished    for    his    knowledge 
of  mental  diseases,  proved  that  the  number 
of  insane  individuals  in  the  reigning  houses 
was,   in   proportion   to   the  number   among 
the  ordinary  population,  as  60  to  1 ;  that  is, 
that  disorders  of  the  brain  occur  60  times 
more  frequently  in  the  privileged  families 
of  the  ruling  nouses  than  among  ordinary 
people.     This  phenomenon  can  scarcely  as- 
tonish   us   when   we   consider   what    injury 
these   privileged    castes   inflict   upon    them- 


Inheritance 
Insect-life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


342 


selves  by  their  unnatural,  one-sided  educa- 
tion, and  by  their  artificial  separation  from 
the  rest  of  mankind.  By  this  means  many 
dark  sides  of  human  nature  are  specially 
developed  and,  as  it  were,  artificially  bred, 
and  according  to  the  laws  of  transmission 
by  inheritance  are  propagated  through  series 
of  generations  with  ever-increasing  force  and 
dominance. — HAECKEL  History  of  Creation, 
vol.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  186.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1676,  INHERITANCE  THE  RULE— 

Non-inheritance  the  Anomaly. — If  strange 
and  rare  deviations  of  structure  are  really 
inherited,  less  strange  and  commoner  devia- 
tions may  be  freely  admitted  to  be  inherit- 
able. Perhaps  the  correct  way  of  viewing 
the  whole  subject  would  be  to  look  on  the 
inheritance  of  every  character  whatever  as 
the  rule,  and  non-inheritance  as  the  anom- 
aly. [See  also  HEREDITY.] — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (Burt.) 

1677.  INHERITANCE    THROUGH 
COUNTLESS  GENERATIONS— Bobolink  of 
Utah  Follows  Ancestral  Path  Southward. — 
Existing  conditions  [of  bird-migration]   are 
the  result  of  changes  which  have  been  active 
for  ages.    No  species,  therefore,  has  acquired 
its  present  summer  range  at  one  step,  but  by 
gradually  adding  new  territory  to  its  breed- 
ing-ground.     For   example,    certain    of   our 
Eastern  birds  are  evidently  derived  through 
Mexico,   and  in  returning  to  their  winter 
quarters    in    Central    America    they   travel 
through  Texas  and  Mexico,  and  are  unknown 
in  Florida  and  the  West  Indies.  Others  have 
come  to  us  through  Florida,  and  in  returning 
to  their  winter  quarters  do  not  pass  through 
either  Texas  or  Mexico.     This  is  best  illus- 
trated   by    the    bobolink,    an    Eastern   bird 
which,  breeding  from  New  Jersey  northward 
to  Nova  Scotia,  has  spread  westward  until 
it  has  reached  Utah  and  northern  Montana. 
But — and    here    is   the    interesting   point — 
these  birds  of  the  Far  West  do  not  follow 
their     neighbors     and     migrate     southward 
through  the  Great  Basin  into  Mexico,  but, 
true  to  their  inherited  habit,  retrace  their 
steps  and  leave  the  United  States  by  the 
roundabout  way  of  Florida,  crossing  thence 
to  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  Yucatan,  and  winter- 
ing south  of  the  Amazon.    The  bobolinks  of 
Utah  did  not  learn  this  route  in  one  genera- 
tion; they  inherited  the  experience  of  count- 
less generations,  slowly  acquired  as  the  spe- 
cies extended  its  range  westward,  and  in  re- 
turning across  the  continent  they  give  us 
an  excellent  illustration  of  the  stability  of 
routes  of  migration. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life, 
ch.  4,  p.  60.     (A.,  1900.) 

1678.  INHUMANITY  AMID  PERIL 
AND  SUFFERING— Robbers  Plunder  Victims 
of  Earthquake. — It  is  supposed  that  [in  the 
great  Calabrian  earthquake,  1783]  about  a 
fourth  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Polistina, 
and  of  some  other  towns,  were  buried  alive, 
and  might  have  been  saved  had  there  been 
no  want  of  hands;  but  in  so  general  a  ca- 


lamity, where  each  was  occupied  with  his 
own  misfortunes  or  those  of  his  family,  aid 
could  rarely  be  obtained.  Neither  tears  nor 
supplications  nor  promises  of  high  rewards 
were  listened  to.  Many  acts  of  self-devotion, 
prompted  by  parental  and  conjugal  tender- 
ness, or  by  friendship  or  the  gratitude  of 
faithful  servants,  are  recorded;  but  indi- 
vidual exertions  were,  for  the  most  part,  in- 
effectual. It  frequently  happened  that  per- 
sons in  search  of  those  most  dear  to  them 
could  hear  their  moans,  could  recognize  their 
voices,  were  certain  of  the  exact  spot  where 
they  lay  buried  beneath  their  feet,  yet  could 
afford  them  no  succor.  The  piled  mass  re- 
sisted all  their  strength  and  rendered  their 
efforts  of  no  avail. 

At  Terranuova  four  Augustin  monks,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  a  vaulted  sacristy,  the 
arch  of  which  continued  to  support  an  im- 
mense pile  of  ruins,  made  their  cries  heard 
for  the  space  of  four  days.  One  only  of 
the  brethren  of  the  whole  convent  was  saved, 
and  "  of  what  avail  was  his  strength  to  re- 
move the  enormous  weight  of  rubbish  which 
had  overwhelmed  his  companions "  ?  He 
heard  their  voices  die  away  gradually,  and 
when  afterwards  their  four  corpses  were 
disinterred  they  were  found  clasped  in  each 
other's  arms.  Affecting  narratives  are  pre- 
served of  mothers  saved  after  the  fifth,  sixth, 
and  even  seventh  day  of  their  interment, 
when  their  infants  or  children  had  perished 
with  hunger. 

It  might  have  been  imagined  that  the 
sight  of  sufferings  such  as  these  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  awaken  sentiments  of  hu- 
manity and  pity  in  the  most  savage  breasts ; 
but  while  some  acts  of  heroism  are  related, 
nothing  could  exceed  the  general  atrocity 
of  conduct  displayed  by  the  Calabrian  peas- 
ants; they  abandoned  the  farms  and  flocked 
in  great  numbers  into  the  towns — not  to  res- 
cue their  countrymen  from  a  lingering  death, 
but  to  plunder.  They  dashed  through  the 
streets,  fearless  of  danger,  amid  tottering 
walls  and  clouds  of  dust,  trampling  beneath 
their  feet  the  bodies  of  the  wounded  and 
half-buried,  and  often  stripping  them,  while 
yet  living,  of  their  clothes. — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  28,  p.  491.  (A., 
1854.) 

1679.  INITIATIVE,  DESTRUCTION 
OF — Gutting  Off  Cerebral  Hemispheres  of  Frog 
— Animal  Becomes  Automatic  Machine. — 
When  a  frog's  cerebral  hemispheres  alone 
are  cut  off  by  a  section  between  them  and 
the  thalami,  which  preserves  the  latter,  an 
unpractised  observer  would  not  at  first  sus- 
pect anything  abnormal  about  the  animal. 
Not  only  is  he  capable,  on  proper  instigation, 
of  all  the  acts  already  described  [of  ordinary 
life],  but  he  guides  himself  by  sight,  so  that 
if  an  obstacle  be  set  up  between  him  and 
the  light,  and  he  be  forced  to  move  forward, 
he  either  jumps  over  it  or  swerves  to  one 
side.  .  .  .  Thus  far,  as  aforesaid,  a  per- 
son unfamiliar  with  frogs  might  not  suspect 
a  mutilation;  but  even  such  a  person  would 


343 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Inheritance 
Insect-life 


soon  remark  the  almost  entire  absence  of 
spontaneous  motion — that  is,  motion  un- 
provoked by  any  present  incitation  of  sense. 
The  continued  movements  of  swimming  per- 
formed by  the  creature  in  the  water  seem  to 
be  the  fatal  result  of  the  contact  of  that 
fluid  with  its  skin.  They  cease  when  a  stick, 
for  example,  touches  his  hands.  This  is  a 
sensible  irritant  towards  which  the  feet  are 
automatically  drawn  by  reflex  action,  and  on 
which  the  animal  remains  sitting.  He  mani- 
fests no  hunger  and  will  suffer  a  fly  to  crawl 
over  his  nose  unsnapped  at.  Fear,  too,  seems 
to  have  deserted  him.  In  a  word,  he  is  an 
extremely  complex  machine  whose  actions, 
so  far  as  they  go,  tend  to  self-preservation; 
but  still  a  machine,  in  this  sense — that  it 
seems  to  contain  no  incalculable  element. 
By  applying  the  right  sensory  stimulus  to 
him  we  are  almost  as  certain  of  getting  a 
fixed  response  as  an  organist  is  of  hearing 
a  certain  tone  when  he  pulls  out  a  certain 
stop.— -JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  17. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1680.  INJURY  BY  INDIRECTION— 

Products  of  Bacteria  More  Harmful  than  the 
Organisms  Themselves — Toxins. — Yet  there 
is  something  of  far  greater  importance  than 
the  mere  presence  of  bacteria  in  human  or 
animal  tissues;  for  the  secondary  action  of 
disease-producing  germs — and  possibly  it  is 
present  in  all  bacteria — is  due  to  their  poi- 
sonous products,  or  toxins,  as  they  have  been 
termed.  These  may  be  of  the  nature  of  fer- 
ments, and  they  become  diffused  throughout 
the  body,  whether  the  bacteria  themselves 
occur  locally  or  generally.  They  may  bring 
about  very  slight  and  even  imperceptible 
changes  during  the  course  of  the  disease,  or 
they  may  kill  the  patient  in  a  few  hours. 
Latterly  bacteriologists  have  come  to  under- 
stand that  it  is  not  so  much  the  presence 
of  organisms  which  is  injurious  to  man  and 
other  animals,  as  it  is  their  products  which 
cause  the  mischief;  and  the  amount  of  toxic 
product  bears  no  known  proportion  to  the 
degree  of  invasion  by  the  bacteria.  The 
various  and  widely  differing  modes  of  action 
in  bacteria  are  therefore  dependent  upon 
these  three  elements :  the  tissues  or  medium, 
the  bacteria,  and  the  products  of  the  bac- 
teria; and  in  all  organismal  processes  these 
three  elements  act  and  react  upon  each 
other. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  28.  (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.) 

1681.  INSANITY,  MORAL,  MAY  BE 
CONGENITAL  —  Children  of  Better   Classes 
Sometimes  Hopelessly  Depraved. — From  time 
to  time  we  are  consulted  about  perplexing 
cases  of  what  might  be  called  moral  insanity, 
or,  more  properly,  moral  imbecility,  in  chil- 
dren of  the  better  classes.    Tho  born  in  good 
circumstances  of  life  and  having  every  ad- 
vantage of  education,  they  cannot,  by  any 
care  or  training,  be  made  to  learn  and  be- 
have like  other  children;    they  display  no 
affection  whatever  for  parents,  brothers,  or 
Bisters,  and  no  real  appreciation  of  the  dif- 


ference between  right  and  wrong — no  love 
for  the  one,  no  remorse  for  the  other;  they 
are  inherently  vicious,  and  steal  and  lie  with 
a  skill  that  it  is  hard  to  believe  could  ever 
have  been  acquired — are,  in  fact,  instinctive 
thieves  and  liars;  everything  that  their  vi- 
cious nature  prompts  them  to  desire  is  for 
them  right,  and  they  exhibit  a  remarkable 
cunning  in  gratifying  their  evil  propensi- 
ties; they  are  the  hopeless  pupils  of  any 
master  who  has  anything  to  do  with  them, 
and  are  sure  to  be  expelled  from  any  school 
to  which  they  may  be  sent.  In  the  end  all 
those  who  have  to  do  with  them  are  con- 
strained to  ascribe  to  defect  what  at  first 
seemed  simple  badness.  Now,  what  we  com- 
monly find  in  these  cases,  when  we  are  able 
to  push  satisfactory  inquiry  into  their  he- 
reditary antecedents,  is  that  they  come  of 
families  in  which  insanity  or  some  allied 
neurosis  prevails.  —  MAUDSLEY  Body  and 
Mind,  lect.  4,  p.  111.  (A.,  1898.) 

1682.  INSECT   WITH    BIRD -LIKE 

HABIT— Wasp  Feeding  Its  Young.— Its  [the 
Monedula  wasp's]  singular  habits  and  in- 
telligence give  it  a  still  better  claim  to  no- 
tice. It  is  a  big,  showy,  loud-buzzing  insect, 
with  pink  head  and  legs,  wings  with  brown 
reflections,  and  body  encircled  with  alter- 
nate bands  of  black  and  pale  gold,  and  has 
a  preference  for  large  composite  flowers,  on 
the  honey  of  which  it  feeds.  Its  young  is, 
however,  an  insect-eater;  but  the  Monedula 
does  not,  like  other  burrowing  or  sand  wasps, 
put  away  a  store  of  insects  or  spiders,  par- 
tially paralyzed,  as  a  provision  for  the  grub 
till  it  reaches  the  pupa  state;  it  actually 
supplies  the  grub  with  fresh-caught  insects 
as  long  as  food  is  required,  killing  the  prey 
it  captures  outright,  and  bringing  it  in  to 
its  young,  so  that  its  habits,  in  this  particu- 
lar, are  more  bird-  than  wasp-like. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  12,  p.  163, 
(C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1 683.  INSECT-LIFE,  RICHNESS  OF, 
IN  TROPICS— Number  and  Splendor  of  But- 
terflies in  Brazil — Luxuriance  of  Beauty  in 
Wilderness. — It   will    convey   some   idea    of 
the  diversity  of  butterflies  when  I  mention 
that   about   700    species   of    that   tribe   are 
found  within  an  hour's  walk  of  the  town 
[Para],  while  the  total  number  found  in  the 
British  Islands  does  not  exceed  66,  and  the 
whole  of  Europe  supports  only  321.     Some 
of    the    most    showy    species,    such    as    the 
swallow-tailed  kinds,  Papilio  polycaon,  tho- 
as,   torquatus,  and  others,   are  seen  flying 
about  the  streets  and   gardens;    sometimes, 
they  come  through  the  open  windows,   at- 
tracted by  flowers  in  the  apartments.    Those 
species  of  Papilio  which  are  most  character- 
istic of  the  country,  so  conspicuous  in  their 
velvety-black,   green   and  rose-colored  hues, 
which  Linnaeus,  in  pursuance  of  his  elegant 
system  of  nomenclature — naming  the  differ- 
ent kinds  after  the  heroes  of  Greek  myth- 
ology— called  Trojans,  never  leave  the  shadea 
of  the  forest.     The  splendid  metallic  blue 


InaecMif" 
Ii 


Insight 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


344 


morphos,  some  of  which  measure  seven 
inches  in  expanse,  are  generally  confined  to 
the  shady  valleys  of  the  forest.  They  some- 
times come  forth  into  the  broad  sunlight. 
When  we  first  went  to  look  at  our  new  resi- 
dence in  Nazareth  a  Morpho  menelaus,  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  kinds,  was  seen  flap- 
ping its  huge  wings  like  a  bird  along  the 
veranda.  This  species,  however,  altho  much 
admired,  looks  dull  in  color  by  the  side  of 
its  congener,  the  Morpho  rhetenor,  whose 
wings,  on  the  upper  face,  are  of  quite  a 
dazzling  luster. — BATES  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  3,  p.  643.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

1684.  INSECTS,  ACUTE  SENSES  OF 
— Bees,  Butterflies,   and  Wasps   Guided   by 
Sight  or  Scent. — That  bees  and  butterflies 
have  this  power  [of  distinguishing  between 
colors]   is  manifest.     They  may  be  watched 
flying   from   flower   to   flower,    disregarding 
all  other  parts  of  the  plants.    .    .    .    Odors, 
like  colors,  draw  insects  to  flowers.     After 
observing  how  bees  come  swarming  into   a 
house  where   honey   is   largely   exposed,   or 
how  wasps  find  their  way  into  a  shop  con- 
taining much  ripe  fruit,  it  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned that  insects  are  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent guided  by  scent.     Being  thus  sensitive 
to  the  aromatic  substances  which  flowers  ex- 
hale,   they  may,   when   the   flowers    are    in 
large   masses,   be    attracted   by   them    from 
distances   at  which  the  flowers   themselves 
are   invisible. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  v,   ch. 
3,  p.  268.     (A.,  1900.) 

1685.  INSECTS,  CAPTURE  OF,  BY 

SUNDEW—  Tentacles  of  Leaf  Close  as  if  by 
Design  upon  Victim — Action  Irresistible  of 
Natural  Mechanism. — When  an  insect 
alights  on  the  central  disk  [of  the  sundew 
leaf],  it  is  instantly  entangled  by  the  viscid 
secretion,  and  the  surrounding  tentacles 
after  a  time  begin  to  bend,  and  ultimately 
«lasp  it  on  all  sides.  Insects  are  generally 
killed,  according  to  Dr.  Nitschke,  in  about 
a  quarter  of  an  hour,  owing  to  their  tracheae 
being  closed  by  the  secretion.  If  an  insect 
adheres  to  only  a  few  of  the  glands  of  the 
exterior  tentacles,  these  soon  become  in- 
flected and  carry  their  prey  to  the  tentacles 
next  succeeding  them  inwards;  these  then 
bend  inwards,  and  so  onwards,  until  the  in- 
sect is  ultimately  carried  by  a  curious  sort 
of  rolling  movement  to  the  center  of  the 
leaf.  Then,  after  an  interval,  the  tentacles 
on  all  sides  become  inflected  and  bathe  their 
prey  with  their  secretion,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  if  the  insect  had  first  alighted  on  the 
central  disk.  It  is  surprising  how  minute 
an  insect  suffices  to  cause  this  action:  for 
instance,  I  have  seen  one  of  the  smallest 
species  of  gnats  (culex),  which  had  just 
settled  with  its  excessively  delicate  feet  on 
the  glands  of  the  outermost  tentacles,  and 
these  were  already  beginning  to  curve  in- 
wards, tho  not  a  single  gland  had  as  yet 
touched  the  body  of  the  insect.  Had  I  not 
interfered,  this  minute  gnat  would  assuredly 
have  been  carried  to  the  center  of  the  leaf 


and  been  securely  clasped  on  all  sides. — 
DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  1,  p.  13. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1686.  INSECTS  FERTILIZING 
FLOWERS— Horticulturist  Aided  by  Science 
— The  Smyrna  Fig  Culture  Made  Possible  in 
the  United  States. — That  an  article  bearing 
this  title  ["  Smyrna  Fig  Culture  in  the 
United  States  "]  should  be  prepared  by  an 
entomologist  may  seem  at  first  glance  un- 
usual, not  to  say  curious;  but  as  is  well 
known  to  those  informed  on  the  subject,  and 
as  will  be  readily  seen  by  the  readers  of  this 
article,  the  problem  of  establishing  the 
Smyrna  fig  industry  in  the  United  States 
has  been  very  largely  an  entomological  prob- 
lem. .  .  .  Since  time  immemorial  it  has 
been  known  that  in  Oriental  regions  it  has 
been  the  custom  of  the  natives  to  break  off 
the  fruits  of  the  capifig,  bring  them  to  the 
edible-fig  trees,  and  tie  them  to  the  limbs. 
From  the  caprifigs  thus  'brought  in  there  is- 
sues a  minute  insect,  which,  covered  with 
pollen,  crawls  .into  the  flower  receptacles  of 
the  edible  fig,  fertilizes  them;  and  thus  pro- 
duces a  crop  of  seeds  and  brings  about  the 
subsequent  ripening  of  the  fruit.  ..  .  . 
In  the  caprifig  there  is  said  to  exist  in 
Mediterranean  regions  three  crops  of  fruit — 
the  spring  crop,  known  as  "  profichi,"  the 
second  as  "  mammoni,"  and  the  third  as 
"  mamme,"  the  latter  remaining  upon  the 
trees  through  the  winter.  The  fig  insects 
(the  Oriental  species  being  known  as  Blasto- 
phaga  grossorum,  Gravenhorst)  overwinter 
in  the  mamme,  oviposit  in  the  profichi,  de- 
velop a  generation  within  it,  each  individual 
living  in  the  swelling  of  a  gall-flower  (a 
modified  and  infertile  female  flower),  and 
issue  from  it  covered  with  pollen,  enter  the 
young  flower-receptacles  of  the  Smyrna  fig, 
which  are  at  that  time  of  the  proper  size, 
and  make  an  attempt  to  oviposit  in  the  true 
female  flowers,  fertilizing  them  at  the  same 
time  by  means  of  the  pollen  adhering  to 
their  bodies. 

[As  the  result  of  the  researches  and  ex- 
periments of  the  Entomological  Division  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  this  insect 
(the  Blastophaga)  has  now  been  naturalized 
in  California,  so  that  in  the  year  1889-1900 
more  than  six  tons  of  edible  figs  were  pre- 
pared for  market,  as  the  result  of  the  insect- 
life  contained  in  less  than  450  winter  figs, 
where  previously  the  fruit  of  thrifty 
Smyrna  fig-trees  had  always  fallen  and  per- 
ished while  immature.] 
— HOWARD  Smyrna  Fig  Culture  in  the 
United  States  (Year-book  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  1900,  pp.  79-106.) 

1687. Profitable  Result 

of  Scientific  Experiments — A  Great  Indus- 
try Resulting  from  Microscopic  Research. — 
Chemical  analysis  made  by  Professor  Hil- 
gard,  of  the  University  of  California, 
showed  that  figs  submitted  to  him  by  Mr. 
Roeding  contained  1.42  per  cent,  more  sugar 
than  the  best  imported  Smyrna  figs.  Samples 
which  the  writer  has  received  are  of  excep- 


345 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Insect-life 
Insight 


tional  edibility.  The  flavor  is  delicious  and 
precisely  comparable  to  that  of  the  imported 
figs,  except  for  the  lack  of  the  slight  acidity 
noticed  in  those  ordinarily  bought  on  the 
market,  and  which  is  of  a  rather  disagree- 
able quality.  Wholesale  grocers  to  whom 
the  writer  has  shown  samples  speak  with 
strong  approval  of  their  quality,  and  there 
seems  little  doubt  that  a  great  and  profit- 
able trade  in  figs  of  this  grade  can  readily 
be  gained  in  the  United  States.  .  .  . 
But  this  feature  by  no  means  comprises  all 
the  possibilities  of  the  industry.  America 
will  compete  with  the  Mediterranean  coun- 
tries in  the  open  markets  of  the  world.  The 
character  of  the  product,  even  of  this  first 
year's  crop,  shows  it  to  be  superior  to  the 
Oriental  product,  both  from  chemical  anal- 
ysis and  from  expert  opinion. 
Cleanliness  in  packing,  prevention  of  the 
disgusting  worms  so  often  found  in  the  im- 
ported Smyrna  figs,  and  other  similar  points 
will  be  carefully  attended  to  by  American 
packers.  .  .  .  The  right  varieties  [of 
trees]  will  be  planted  by  the  thousands  dur- 
ing the  coming  year,  and  in  four  or  five 
years  will  be  producing  substantial  crops. 
[See  FIG,  SMYRNA.] — HOWARD  Smyrna,  Fig 
Culture  in  the  United  States  (Year-book  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  1900,  pp.  79- 
106). 

1688.  INSECTS  FLEEING  BEFORE 
WIND — Dragon-flies  and  the  Pampero. — The 
pampero   is   a   dry,   cold  wind,   exceedingly 
violent.     It  bursts  on  the  plains  very  sud- 
denly, and  usually  lasts  only  a  short  time, 
sometimes  not  more  than  ten  minutes;    it 
comes  irregularly,  and  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  but  is  most  frequent  in  the  hot  season, 
and  after  exceptionally  sultry  weather.     It 
is  in  summer  and  autumn  that  the  large 
dragon-flies  appear ;    not  with  the  wind,  but 
— and  this  is  the  most  curious  part  of  the 
matter — in  advance  of  it;    and  inasmuch  as 
these  insects  are  not  seen  in  the  country  at 
other  times,  and  frequently  appear  in  sea- 
sons   of   prolonged    drought,    when    all    the 
marshes   and  watercourses   for   many   hun- 
dreds of  miles  are  dry,  they  must  of  course 
traverse  immense  distances,  flying  before  the 
wind  at  a  speed  of  seventy  or  eighty  miles 
an  hour.     On   some  occasions  they  appear 
almost  simultaneously  with  the  wind,  going 
by  like  a  flash,  and  instantly  disappearing 
from  sight.     You  have  scarcely  time  to  see 
them  before  the  wind  strikes  you. — HUDSON" 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  9,  p.  131.    (C.  & 
H.,  1895.) 

1689.  INSECURITY,    SENSE    OF, 
PRODUCED   BY  EARTHQUAKE—  The 
"Solid  Ground"  Quivers  Like  Thin  Ice. — Feb- 
ruary 20th,  1835. — This  day  has  been  mem- 
orable  in   the   annals   of   Valdivia   for   the 
most  severe  earthquake  experienced  by  the 
oldest    inhabitant.      I    happened   to   be    on 
shore,  and  was  lying  down  in  the  wood  to 
rest    myself.      It    came    on    suddenly,    and 
lasted  two  minutes,  but  the  time  appeared 
much  longer.     The  rocking  of  the  ground 


was  very  sensible.  The  undulations  ap- 
peared to  my  companion  and  myself  to  come 
from  due  east,  whilst  others  thought  they 
proceeded  from  southwest:  this  shows  how 
difficult  it  sometimes  is  to  perceive  the  di- 
rection of  the  vibrations.  There  was  no  dif- 
ficulty in  standing  upright,  but  the  motion 
made  me  almost  giddy:  it  was  something 
like  the  movement  of  a  vessel  in  a  little 
cross-ripple,  or  still  more  like  that  felt  by  a 
person  skating  over  thin:  ice,  which  bends 
under  the  weight  of  his  body.  A  bad  earth- 
quake at  once  destroys  our  oldest  associa- 
tions: the  earth,  the  very  emblem  of  solid- 
ity, has  moved  beneath  our  feet  like  a  thin 
crust  over  a  fluid — one  second  of  time  has- 
created  in  the  mind  a  strange  idea  of  inse- 
curity, which  hours  of  reflection  would  not 
have  produced. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voy- 
age around  the  World,  ch.  14,  p.  301.  (A., 
1898.) 

1690.  INSENSIBILITY  DUE  TO  AB- 
SENCE OF  MIND— Power  of  Mental  Absorp- 
tion over  the  Bodily  Life. — Archimedes,  it  is 
well  known,  was  so  absorbed  in  geometrical 
meditation  that  he  was  first  aware  of  the 
storming   of    Syracuse   by   his    own    death- 
wound,  and  his  exclamation  on  the  entrance 
of  the  Roman  soldiers  was:    Noli  turbare 
circulos  meos!  In  like  manner  Joseph  Scali- 
ger,  the  most  learned  of  men,  when  a  Prot- 
estant student  in  Paris  was  so  engrossed  in 
the  study  of  Homer  that  he  became  aware  of 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  of  his 
own  escape,  only  on  the  day  subsequent  to 
the  catastrophe.    The  philosopher  Carneades 
was  habitually  liable  to  fits  of  meditation  so 
profound  that,  to  prevent  him  sinking  from 
inanition,   his  maid  found  it  necessary  to 
feed  him  like  a  child.    And  it  is  reported  of 
Newton  that,  while  engaged  in  his  mathe- 
matical researches,  he  sometimes  forgot  to 
dine.    Cardan,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of 
philosophers  and  mathematicians,  was  once, 
upon  a  journey,  so  lost  in  thought  that  he 
forgot  both  his  way  and  the  object  of  his 
journey.      To    the   questions   of   his    driver 
whether    he    should    proceed,    he    made    no 
answer;    and  when  he  came  to  himself  at 
nightfall,  he  was  surprised  to  find  the  car- 
riage at  a  standstill,  and  directly  under  a 
gallows.      The    mathematician    Vieta    was 
sometimes  so  buried  in  meditation  that  for 
hours  he  bore  more  resemblance  to  a  dead 
person  than  to  a  living,  and  was  then  wholly 
unconscious  of  everything  going  on  around 
him.    On  the  day  of  his  marriage  the  great 
Budseus  forgot  everything  in  his  philological 
speculations,  and  he  was  only  awakened  to 
the  affairs  of  the  external  world  by  a  tardy 
embassy     from     the     marriage-party,     who 
found  him  absorbed  in  the  composition  of 
his  "  Commentarii." — HAMILTON  Metaphys- 
ics, lect.  14,  p.  180.    (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

1691.  INSIGHT,    SCIENTIFIC,    EN- 
LARGED— Mental  Advance  Attends  Opening 
of  the  Pacific.— The  Sandwich  Islands,  Pa- 
pua or  New  Guinea,  and  some  portions  of 


Instinct 


SCIENTIFIC   SIDE-LIGHTS 


346 


New  Holland  were  all  discovered  in  the 
early  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  .  .  . 
The  Pacific  no  longer  appeared  as  it  had 
done  to  Magellan,  a  desert  waste;  it  was 
now  animated  by  islands,  which,  however, 
for  want  of  exact  astronomical  observations, 
appeared  to  have  no  fixed  position,  but 
floated  from  place  to  place  over  the  charts. 
The  Pacific  remained  for  a  long  time  the  ex- 
clusive theater  of  the  enterprises  of  the 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese.  It  was  not  until 
the  Dutch  power  acquired  the  ascendency  in 
the  Moluccas  that  Australia  began  to 
emerge  from  its  former  obscurity  and  to 
assume  a  definite  form  in  the  eyes  of  ge- 
ographers. In  a  short  space  of  time  and  in 
continuous  connection,  two-thirds  of  the 
earth's  surface  were  opened  to  the  appre- 
hension of  men,  in  consequence  of  the  sud- 
denly awakened  desire  to  reach  the  wide,  the 
unknown,  and  the  remote  regions  of  our  globe. 
An  enlarged  insight  into  the  nature  and 
the  laws  of  physical  forces,  into  the  dis- 
tribution of  heat  over  the  earth's  surface, 
the  abundance  of  vital  organisms  and  the 
limits  of  their  distribution,  was  developed 
simultaneously  with  this  extended  knowl- 
edge of  land  and  sea. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos, 
Tol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  272.  (H.,  1897.) 

1692.  INSPIRATION    NEEDED    IN 
SCIENCE — Knowledge  Supplemented  by  Re- 
flection.— In  his  efforts  to  cross  the  common 
bourn  of  the  known  and  the  unknown,  the 
effective  force  of  the  man  of  science  must 
depend,  to  a  great  extent,  upon  his  acquired 
knowledge.     But  knowledge  alone  will  not 
do;    a  stored  memory  will  not  suffice;    in- 
spiration must  lend  its  aid.     Scientific  in- 
spiration, however,  is  usually,  if  not  always, 
the    fruit   of   long   reflection — of   patiently 
"  intending  the  mind,"  as  Newton  phrased 
it,  and  as  Copernicus,  Newton,  and  Darwin 
practised  it,  until  outer  darkness  yields  a 
glimmer,  which  in  due  time  opens  out  into 
perfect    intellectual    day. — TYNDALI,    Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  132.    (A., 
1897.) 

1693.  INSPIRATION    OF  GENIUS— 
Compared  to'  the  Gift  of  the  Spirit  (John  Hi, 
8) — The  Joy  of  Discovery — The  "Eureka" 
of  Archimedes. — Working  backwards  from  a 
limited  number  of  phenomena,  genius,  by  its 
own  expansive  force,  reaches  a  conception 
which  covers  them  all.     There  is  no  more 
wonderful  performance  of  the  intellect  than 
this;    but  we  can  render  no  account  of  it. 
Like  the  Scriptural  gift  of  the   Spirit,  no 
man  can  tell  whence  it  cometh.    The  passage 
from   fact  to   principle   is   sometimes   slow, 
sometimes  rapid,  and  at  all  times  a  source 
of  intellectual  joy.     When  rapid,  the  pleas- 
ure is  concentrated  and  becomes  a  kind  of 
ecstasy  or  intoxication.    To  any  one  who  has 
experienced  this  pleasure,  even  in  a  moder- 
ate degree,  the  action  of  Archimedes  when 
he  quitted  the  bath,  and  ran  naked,  crying 
*'  Eureka !  "  through  the  streets  of  Syracuse, 
becomes  intelligible. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on- 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  47.     (A.,  1898.) 


1694.  INSTABILITY  OF  THE  EARTH 

— The  Eruption  of  Krakatoa  Felt  around 
the  Globe — The  Dust  Thrown  into  the  At- 
mosphere Would  Bury  Washington  Monu- 
ment.— The  eruption  of  Krakatoa  occurred 
in  1883,  and  it  will  be  remembered  the 
air-wave  started  by  the  explosion  was  felt 
around  the  globe,  and  that  probably  owing 
to  the  dust  and  water-vapor  blown  into  the 
atmosphere,  the  sunsets  even  in  America 
became  of  that  extraordinary  crimson  we  all 
remember  [as  occurring  at  that  time] ;  and, 
coincidently,  that  dim  reddish  halo  made 
its  appearance  about  the  sun  the  world 
over.  .  .  .  Very  careful  estimates  of  the 
amount  of  ashes  ejected  have  been  made; 
and  tho  most  of  the  heavier  particles  are 
known  to  have  fallen  into  the  sea  within  a 
few  miles,  a  certain  portion — the  lightest — 
was  probably  carried  by  the  explosion  far 
above  the  lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere,  to 
descend  so  slowly  that  some  of  it  may  still 
be  there.  Of  this  lighter  class  the  most 
careful  estimates  must  be  vague;  but  ac- 
cording to  the  report  of  the  official  investi- 
gation by  the  Dutch  Government,  that  which 
remained  floating  is  something  enormous. 
An  idea  of  its  amount  may  be  gained  by 
supposing  these  impalpable  and  invisible 
particles  to  condense  again  from  the  upper 
sky,  and  to  pour  down  on  the  highest  edifice 
in  the  country,  the  Washington  Monument. 
If  the  dust  were  allowed  to  spread  out  on  all 
sides,  till  the  pyramidal  slope  was  so  flat  as 
to  be  permanent,  the  capstone  of  the  monu- 
ment would  not  only  be  buried  before  the 
supply  was  exhausted,  but  buried  as  far  be- 
low the  surface  as  that  pinnacle  is  now 
above  it. — LANGLEY  Neiv  Astronomy,  ch.  6, 
p.  181.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1695.  INSTINCT    AND    REASON  — 

Human  Organism  Like  Keyed  Instrument — 
Lower  Animal  Like  Barrel-organ — Cater- 
pillar and  Its  Hammock. — Thus,  then,  while 
the  human  organism  may  be  likened  to  a 
keyed  instrument,  from  which  any  music  it 
is  capable  of  producing  can  be  called  forth 
at  the  will  of  the  performer,  we  may  com- 
pare a  bee  or  any  other  insect  to  a  barrel- 
organ,  which  plays  with  the  greatest  exact- 
ness a  certain  number  of  tunes  that  are  set 
upon  it,  but  can  do  nothing  else.  The  fol- 
lowing fact,  mentioned  by  Pierre  Huber,  af- 
fords a  curious  example  of  the  purely  auto- 
matic nature  of  instinctive  action : 

There  is  a  caterpillar  that  makes  a  very 
complicated  hammock,  the  construction  of 
which  may  be  divided  into  six  stages.  One 
of  these  caterpillars  which  had  completed 
its  own  hammock,  having  been  transferred 
to  another  carried  only  to  its  third  stage, 
completed  this  also  by  reperforming  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  stages.  But  another 
caterpillar  taken  out  of  a  hammock  which 
had  been  only  carried  to  its  third  stage,  and 
put  into  one  already  completed,  appeared 
much  embarrassed,  and  seemed  forced  to  go 
back  to  the  point  at  which  it  had  itself  left 
off,  executing  anew  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 


347 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Insight 
Instinct 


sixth  stages  which  had  been  already 
wrought  out. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiol- 
ogy, bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  61.  (A.,  1900.) 

1696.  INSTINCT  DYING  OF  INANI- 
TION— Men  without  the  Desire  of  Hunting. — 
The  latter   [hunting]   instinct  is  easily  re- 
stricted by  habit  to  certain  objects,  which 
become    legitimate    "game,"    while    other 
things  are  spared.     If  the  hunting  instinct 
be  not  exercised  at  all,  it  may  even  entirely 
die  out,  and  a  man  may  enjoy  letting  a  wild 
creature  live,  even  tho  he  might  easily  kill 
it.     Such  a  type  is  now  becoming  frequent. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  415. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1697.  INSTINCT  FOLLOWS  INFLEX- 
IBLE  ROUTINE—  The  Sphex-wasp.—'Flie 
hutcher-wasps  paralyze  their  prey  [that  it 
jnay  become  food  for  their  larvae].     Fabre 
removed    from    a    so-called    sphex-wasp    a 
killed  grasshopper,  which  it  was  conveying 
to  its  nest  and  had  momentarily  laid  down 
at  the  mouth  of  the  burrow — as  these  in- 
sects always  do  on  returning  with  prey,  in 
order  to  see  that  nothing  has  intruded  into 
the   burrow   during   their   absence.      Fabre 
carried  the  dead  or  paralyzed  grasshopper 
to   a   considerable  distance   from   the  hole. 
On  coming  out  the  insect  searched  about 
until  it  found  its  prey.     It  then  again  car- 
ried it  to  the  mouth  of  its  burrow,  and  again 
laid  it  down  while  it  once  more  went  in  to 
see   that   all   was   right   at  home.     Again 
Fabre  removed  the  grasshopper,  and  so  on 
for   forty  times   in   succession — the   sphex 
never    omitting    to    go    through    its    fixed 
routine  of  examining  the  interior  of  its  bur- 
row every  time  that  it  brought  the  prey  to 
its  mouth. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence, 
ch.  4,  p.  181.    (A.,  1899.) 

1 698.  INSTINCT  INDEPENDENT  OF 
EDUCATION — Automatic  Adaptation  to  Ends. 
— Instinct  is  usually  defined  as  the  faculty 
of  acting  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  cer- 
tain ends,  without  foresight  of  the  ends,  and 
without  previous  education  in  the  perform- 
ance.    That  instincts,  as  thus  ^defined,  exist 
on  an  enormous  scale  in  the  animal  kingdom 
needs   no  proof.     They  are  the  functional 
correlatives  of  structure.    With  the  presence 
of  a  certain  organ  goes,  one  may  say,  almost 
always  a  native  aptitude  for  its  use.     [In 
his  work  on  "  Instinct,"  P.  A.  Chadbourne 
says]  : 

"  Has  the  bird  a  gland  for  the  secretion  of 
oil?  She  knows  instinctively  how  to  press 
the  oil  from  the  gland,  and  apply  it  to  the 
feather.  Has  the  rattlesnake  the  grooved 
tooth  and  gland  of  poison  ?  He  knows  with- 
out instruction  how  to  make  both  structure 
and  function  most  effective  against  his 
enemies.  Has  the  silkworm  the  function  of 
secreting  the  fluid  silk  ?  At  the  proper  time 
she  winds  the  cocoon  such  as  she  has  never 
seen,  as  thousands  before  have  done,  and 
thus,  without  instruction,  pattern,  or  ex- 
perience, forms  a  safe  abode  for  herself  in 
the  period  of  transformation.  Has  the  hawk 


talons  ?  She  knows  by  instinct  how  to  wield 
them  effectively  against  the  helpless  quar- 
ry."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p. 
383.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1699.  INSTINCT  IN  MAN— Existing, 
out  Controlled. — It  is  often  said  that  man 
is  distinguished  from  the  lower  animals  by 
having  a  much  smaller  assortment  of  native 
instincts  and  impulses  than  they,  but  this 
is  a  great  mistake.  .  —  .  If  we  compare 
him  with  the  mammalia,  we  are  forced  to 
confess  that  he  is  appealed  to  by  a  much 
larger  array  of  objects  than  any  other  mam- 
mal; that  his  reactions  on  these  objects  are 
characteristic  and  determinate  in  a  very 
high  degree.  The  monkeys,  and  especially 
the  anthropoids,  are  the  only  beings  that 
approach  him  in  their  analytic  curiosity 
and  width  of  imitativeness.  His  instinctive 
impulses,  it  is  true,  get  overlaid  by  the  sec- 
ondary reactions  due  to  his  superior  reason- 
ing power;  but  thus  man  loses  the  simply 
instinctive  demeanor.  But  the  life  of  in- 
stinct is  only  disguised  in  him,  not  lost. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  6,  p.  43.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

17  GO. Less  Imperious 

than  in  the  Inferior  Animals — Differences 
Exceed  Resemblances — The  Migrating  Im- 
pulse.— To  measure  the  differences  between 
beast  and  man  is  really  more  difficult  than 
tracing  their  resemblances.  One  plain  mark 
of  the  higher  intellectual  rank  of  man  is 
that  he  is  less  dependent  on  instinct  than 
the  animals  which  migrate  at  a  fixed  season, 
or  build  nests  of  a  fixed  and  complicated 
pattern  peculiar  to  their  kind.  Man  has 
some  instincts  plainly  agreeing  with  those 
of  inferior  animals,  such  as  the  child's  un- 
taught movements  to  ward  off  danger,  and 
the  parental  affection  which  preserves  the 
offspring  during  the  first  defenseless  period 
of  life.  But  if  man  were  possessed  by  a  re- 
sistless longing  to  set  off  wandering  south- 
ward before  winter,  or  to  build  a  shelter  of 
boughs  laid  in  a  particular  way,  this  would 
be  less  beneficial  to  his  species  than  the  use 
of  intelligent  judgment  adapting  his  actions 
to  climate,  supply  of  food,  danger  from 
enemies,  and  a  multitude  of  circumstances 
differing  from  district  to  district,  and 
changing  from  year  to  year. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  2,  p.  50.  (A.,  1899.) 

17O1.     INSTINCT,  LIMITATIONS  OF 

— Bees  Know  Locality  Rather  than  Hive. — 
Mr.  George  Turner  found  that  when  he  re- 
moved a  beehive  only  a  yard  or  two  from  its 
accustomed  site,  the  bees,  on  returning 
home,  flew  in  swarms  around  the  latter,  and 
for  a  long  time  were  unable  to  find  the  hive. 
And  several  other  similar  cases  might  be 
adduced.  Lastly,  Thompson  says: 

It  is  highly  remarkable  that  they  [bees] 
know  their  hive  more  from  its  locality  than 
from  its  appearance,  for,  if  it  be  removed 
during  their  absence  and  a  similar  one  be 
substituted,  they  enter  the  strange  one.  If 
the  position  of  a  hive  be  changed,  the  bees 


Instinct 
Intellect 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


348 


for  the  first  day  take  no  distant  flight  till 
they  have  thoroughly  scrutinized  every  ob- 
ject in  its  neighborhood. — ROMANES  Animal 
Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p.  149.  (A.,  1899.) 

17  O2.      Dog    Tries    To 

Bury  Food  under  Carpet — Automatic  Action 
without  Purpose — Transitoriness  of  Impulse. 
— I  have  observed  a  Scotch  terrier,  born  on 
the  floor  of  a  stable  in  December,  and  trans- 
ferred six  weeks  later  to  a  carpeted  house, 
make,  when  he  was  less  than  four  months 
old,  a  very  elaborate  pretense  of  burying 
things,  such  as  gloves,  etc.,  with  which  he 
had  played  till  he  was  tired.  He  scratched 
the  carpet  with  his  forefeet,  dropped  the 
object  from  his  mouth  upon  the  spot,  and 
then  scratched  all  about  it  (with  both  fore- 
and  hind-feet,  if  I  remember  rightly),  and 
finally  went  away  and  let  it  lie.  Of  course 
the  act  was  entirely  useless.  I  saw  him  per- 
form it  at  that  age,  some  four  or  five  times, 
and  never  again  in  his  life.  The  conditions 
were  not  present  to  fix  a  habit  which  should 
last  when  the  prompting  instinct  died  away. 
But  suppose  meat  instead  of  a  glove,  earth 
instead  of  a  carpet,  hunger-pangs  instead  of 
a  fresh  supper  a  few  hours  later,  and  it  is 
easy  to  see  how  this  dog  might  have  got 
into  a  habit  of  burying  superfluous  food, 
which  might  have  lasted  all  his  life.  Who 
can  swear  that  the  strictly  instinctive  part 
of  the  food-burying  propensity  in  the  wild 
Canidce  may  not  be  as  short-lived  as  it  was 
in  this  terrier? — JAMES  Psychology*  vol.  ii, 
ch.  24,  p.  399.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1703.  INSTINCT,    MATERNAL,    OF 
THE    SPIDER— The  courage  and  rapacity 
of  spiders  as  a  class  are  too  well  and  gen- 
erally known  to  require  special  illustration. 
One   instance,   however,   may   be   quoted   to 
show  the  strength   of  their  maternal  emo- 
tions.    Bonnet  threw  a  spider  with  her  bag 
of   eggs   into  the  pit  of   an  ant-lion.     The 
latter  seized  the  eggs  and  tore  them  away 
from  the  spider;  but  altho  Bonnet  forced  her 
out  of  the  pit  she  returned,  and  chose  to 
be  dragged  in  and  buried  alive  rather  than 
leave  her  charge. — ROMANES  Animal  Intel- 
ligence, ch.  6,  p.  205.     (A.,  1899.) 

1704.  INSTINCTS   COMPLEX—  Div- 
ing   Spider — Carrying   Air    to    Its    Watery 
Home. — [The]   strangest  of  all  [spiders  is] 
the  Argyroneta  that  has  its  luminous  dwell- 
ing at  the  bottom  of  streams;    and  just  as  a 
mason    carries    bricks    and    mortar    to    its 
building,    so    does    this    spider   carry   down 
bubbles  of  air  from  the  surface  to  enlarge 
its  mysterious  house  in  which  it  lays   its 
eggs  and  rears  its  young.     Community  of 
descent  must  be  supposed  of  species  having 
such    curious    and    complex    instincts;     but 
how  came  these  feeble  creatures,  unable  to 
transport  themselves   over   seas   and   conti- 
nents   like   the   aerial    gossamer,    to   be   so 
widely    distributed   and    inhabiting    regions 
with   such   different   conditions?     This   can 
only    be    attributed    to    the    enormous    an- 


tiquity of  the  species. — HUDSON  Naturalist 
in  La  Plata,  ch.  14,  p.  195.    (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

1705.  INSTINCTS    INNATE  —  Young 
Animals   Follow   Ancestral   Habits   without 
Instruction. — Among     the     lower     animals, 
young   ones   taken    from   the   litter   or    the 
nest  and  brought  up  under  conditions  wholly 
removed  from  the  teaching  of  their  parents, 
whether  by  imitation  or  otherwise,  will  re- 
produce exactly  all  those  habits  of  their  race 
which  belong  to  their  natural  modes  of  life. 
Many  of  these  habits — perhaps   it  may  be 
safely  said  all  of  them — imply  ideas — that 
is  to  say,  they  imply  instincts ;  and  instincts 
are  in  the  nature  of  ideas — that  is  to  say, 
they  belong  to  the  phenomena  of  mind.    And 
of  this  there  is  another  indication  in  a  fact 
which  at  first  sight  may  seem  trivial  or  ir- 
relevant.    It  has  been  often   said  that  one 
great  difficulty  in  reasoning  on  this  subject 
is  the  inaccessibility  to  observation  of  the 
mental    condition    of    all    infant    creatures. 
But  even   if   this   were  more  true   than   it 
really  is  there  are  some  creatures,  not  low 
in  the  scale  of  creation,   of  which   it  may 
be  said  that,   comparatively,  they  have  no 
infancy  at  all.     These  are  the  gallinaceous 
birds  in  general,  and  some  species  in  particu- 
lar.    They  come  forth  from  the  egg  perfect 
miniatures  of  their  parents,  and  with  minds 
as   fully   equipped   with    parental    instincts 
as  their  bodies  are  provided  with  feathers 
or  their  wings  with  quills.     Antecedent  to 
all   experience  of  injury  they  exhibit  fear, 
and  not  only  fear,  but  fear  of  the  proper 
objects.      They   will    flee   when   they   see    a 
hawk,  and  they  will  carefully  avoid  a  sting- 
ing  insect.      In    Europe   the  young   of   the 
wood-grouse  or  gelinotte  are  able  to  fly  from 
the  moment  they  break  the  shell. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  6,  p.  176.      (Burt.) 

1706.  INSTINCTS,  NATURAL,  FOL- 
LOWED  IN    DOMESTICATION— An  ani- 
mal in  domesticity,   says  M.   F.   Cuvier,   is 
not  essentially  in  a  different  situation,  in 
regard  to  the  feeling  of  restraint,  from  one 
left  to  itself.     It  lives  in  society  without 
constraint,  because,  without  doubt,  it  was  a 
social  animal;  and  it  conforms  itself  to  the 
will  of  man  because  it  had  a  chief  to  which, 
in  a  wild  state,  it  would  have  yielded  obe- 
dience.    There  is   nothing  in  its  new  situ- 
ation that   is   not  conformable  to   its   pro- 
pensities; it  is  satisfying  its  wants  by  sub- 
mission to  a  master,  and  makes  no  sacrifice 
of  its  natural  inclinations.     All  the  social 
animals  when  left  to  themselves  form  herds 
more  or  less  numerous;  and  all  the  individ- 
uals of  the  same  herd  know  each  other,  are 
mutually   attached,    and    will   not   allow   a 
strange  individual  to  join  them.     In  a  wild 
state,  moreover,  they  obey  some  individual, 
which  by  its  superiority  has  become  the  chief 
of  the  herd.     Our  domestic  species  had  orig- 
inally this  sociability  of  disposition,  and  no 
solitary  species,  however  easy  it  may  be  to 
tame  it,  has  yet  afforded  true  domestic  races. 
We  merely,   therefore,   develop  to   our  own 


349 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Instinct 
Intellect 


advantage  propensities  which  propel  the  in- 
dividuals of  certain  species  to  draw  near 
to  their  fellows. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, bk.  iii,  ch.  35,  p.  596.  (A.,  1854.) 

1 7  O  7 .    INSTINCTS  OF  LABOR  BLIND 

AND  RECKLESS— Deadly  Trades  Never  Lack 
Recruits. — There  are  certain  results  for  the 
attainment  of  which  the  natural  instincts 
of  individual  men  not  only  may  be  trusted, 
but  must  be  trusted  as  the  best  and  indeed 
the  only  guide.  There  are  other  results  of 
which  as  a  rule  those  instincts  will  take  no 
heed  whatever,  and  for  the  attainment  of 
which,  if  they  are  to  be  attained  at  all,  the 
higher  faculties  of  our  nature  must  impose 
their  will  in  authoritative  expressions  of 
human  law.  In  all  that  wide  circle  of  oper- 
ations which  have  for  their  immediate  result 
the  getting  of  wealth  there  is  a  sagacity  and 
a  cunning  in  the  instincts  of  labor  and  in 
the  love  of  gain  compared  with  which  all 
legislative  wisdom  is  ignorance  and  folly. 
But  the  instincts  of  labor,  having  for  their 
conscious  purpose  the  acquisition  of  wealth, 
are  instincts  which,  under  the  stimulus  and 
necessities  of  modern  society,  are  blind  to 
all  other  results  whatever.  They  override 
even  the  love  of  life;  they  silence  even  the 
fear  of  death.  Trades  in  which  the  laborers 
never  reach  beyond  middle  life — trades  in 
which  the  work  is  uniformly  fatal  within 
a  few  years — trades  in  which  those  who 
follow  them  are  liable  to  loathsome  and 
torturing  disease — all  are  filled  by  the  en- 
listment of  an  unfailing  series  of  recruits. 
If,  therefore,  there  be  some  things  desirable 
or  needful  for  a  community  other  than  the 
acquisition  of  wealth — if  mental  ignorance 
and  physical  degeneracy  be  evils  dangerous 
to  social  and  political  prosperity,  then  these 
results  cannot  and  must  not  be  trusted  to 
the  instincts  of  individual  men.  And  why? 
Because  the  few  motives  which  bear  upon 
them,  and  which  consequently  determine 
their  conduct,  have  become  almost  as  imperi- 
ous as  the  motives  which  determine  the  con- 
duct of  the  lower  animals. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  213.  (Burt.) 

1708.     INSTINCTS    VS.   IMPULSES— 

Memory  and  Reason  Regulate  Human  Im- 
pulses— Blindness  of  Mere  Instincts. — Noth- 
ing is  commoner  than  the  remark  that  man 
differs  from  lower  creatures  by  the  almost 
total  absence  of  instincts,  and  the  assump- 
tion of  their  work  in  him  by  "reason." 
.  .  .  Man  has  a  far  greater  variety  of 
impulses  than  any  lower  animal;  and  any 
one  of  these  impulses  taken  in  itself  is  as 
"  blind  "  as  the  lowest  instinct  can  be ;  but 
owing  to  man's  memory,  power  of  reflection, 
and  power  of  inference,  they  come  each  one 
to  be  felt  by  him  after  he  has  once  yielded 
to  them  and  experienced  their  results  in 
connection  with  a  foresight  of  those  results. 
In  this  condition  an  impulse  acted  out  may 
be  said  to  be  acted  out,  in  part  at  least, 
for  the  sake  of  its  results. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy,vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  389.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


1709.  INSTRUCTION  MIGHT  SAVE 
LIFE— Need  of  Object-lessons— The  Miners 
Safety-lamp. — Sir     Humphry    Davy,     after 
having  assured  himself  of  the  action  of  wire 
gauze  [in  cutting  off  a  gas-flame],  applied  it 
to  the  construction  of  a  lamp  which  should 
enable  the  miner  to  carry  his  light  into  an 
explosive    atmosphere.      He    surrounded    a 
common    oil-lamp    by    a    cylinder    of    wire 
gauze.     So  long  as  this  lamp  is  fed  by  pure 
air  the  flame  burns  with  tire  ordinary  bright- 
ness of  an  oil  flame;  but  when  the  miner 
comes  into  an  atmosphere  containing  "  fire- 
damp "  his  flame  enlarges  and  becomes  less 
luminous.     This   enlargement  of  the   flame 
ought  to  be  taken  as  a  warning  to  retire. 
Still,    tho    a    continuous    explosive    atmos- 
phere extends  from  the  air  outside  through 
the  meshes  of  the  gauze  to  the  flame  within, 
ignition  is  not  propagated  across  the  gauze. 
A  defect  in  the  gauze,  the  destruction  of  the 
wire  at  any  point  by  oxidation,  would  cause 
explosion.     The  rapid  motion  of  the  lamp 
through  the  air,  or  the  impact  of  a  "  blow- 
er "   upon  the   lamp,   might  also   force  the 
flame  through  the  meshes.     In  short,  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  intelligence  and  caution  is 
necessary  in  using  the  lamp.     This  intelli- 
gence, unhappily,   is  not  always  possessed, 
nor   is   this   caution  always   exercised,   and 
the  consequence  is  that  even  with  the  safety- 
lamp  explosions  still  occur.     Before  permit- 
ting a  man  or  boy  to  enter  a  mine  would 
it  not  be  well  to  place  these  results,  by  ex- 
periment, visibly  before  him?     Mere  advice 
will  not  enforce  caution;  but  let  the  miner 
have  the  physical  image  of  what  he  is  to 
expect  clearly  and  vividly  before  his  mind 
and  he  will  find  it  a  restraining  force  and  a 
monitory  influence  long  after  the  effect  of 
cautioning  words  has   passed   away. — TYN- 
DALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  9,  p.  262. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1710.  INTELLECT,  BOUNDARY- 
LINE  OF— Ordinary  Lessons  of  Science  Fail. 
— The  reverse  process  of  the  production  of 
motion  by  consciousness   is   equally  unpre- 
sentable to  the  mind.     We  are  here,  in  fact, 
on  the  boundary-line  of  the  intellect,  where 
the  ordinary  canons  of  science  fail  to  extri- 
cate us.     If  we  are  true  to  these  canons  we 
must  deny  to  subjective  phenomena  all  in- 
fluence on  physical  processes.     The  mechan- 
ical philosopher,   as  such,  will  never  place 
a  state  of  consciousness  and  a  group  of  mole- 
cules in  the  relation  of  mover  and  moved. 
Observation  proves  them  to  interact ;  but  in 
passing  from  the  one  to  the  other  we  meet 
a  blank  which  the  logic  of  deduction  is  un- 
able  to   fill. — TYNDALL   Fragments    of   Sci- 
ence, vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  408.     (A.,  1900.) 

1711.  INTELLECT  DEVELOPED  BY 
STRUGGLE  FOR  LIFE  AMONG  MEN— A 
Struggle  of  Brains. — The  result  of  the  strug- 
gle for   life  is  that  in  the  long  run   that 
which  is  better  because  more  perfect  con- 
quers that  which  is  weaker  and  imperfect. 
In  human  life,  however,  this   struggle  for 


Intellect 
Intelligence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


350 


life  will  ever  become  more  and  more  of  an 
intellectual  struggle,  not  a  struggle  with 
weapons  of  murder.  The  organ  which  above 
all  others  in  man  becomes  more  perfect  by 
the  ennobling  influence  of  natural  selection 
is  the  brain.  The  man  with  the  most  perfect 
understanding,  not  the  man  with  the  best 
revolver,  will  in  the  long  run  be  victorious; 
he  will  transmit  to  his  descendants  the  quali- 
ties of  the  brain  which  assisted  him  in  the 
victor y.  Thus  then  we  may  justly  hope, 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  retrograde  forces, 
that  the  progress  of  mankind  towards  free- 
dom, and  thus  to  the  utmost  perfection,  will, 
by  the  happy  influence  of  natural  selec- 
tion, become  more  and  more  a  certainty. — 
HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  7, 
p.  179.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1712.  INTELLECT    HAS    OUT- 
STRIPPED   HEART— There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  in  respect  of  justice  and  kind- 
ness the  advance  of  civilized  man  has  been 
less  marked  than  in  respect  of  quick-witted- 
ness. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  10,  p.  74. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1713.  INTELLECT,      LIMITATIONS 

OF  — Mathematical  Faculty  Defective  among 
Savages. — We  have  ample  evidence  that  in 
all  the  lower  races  of  man  what  may  be 
termed  the  mathematical  faculty  is  either 
absent  or,  if  present,  quite  unexercised. 
The  bushmen  and  the  Brazilian  wood-In- 
dians are  said  not  to  count  beyond  two. 
Many  Australian  tribes  only  have  words  for 
one  and  two,  which  are  combined  to  make 
three,  four,  five,  or  six,  beyond  which  they  do 
not  count.  The  Damaras  of  South  Africa 
only  count  to  three;  and  Mr.  Galton  gives  a 
curious  description  of  how  one  of  them  was 
hopelessly  puzzled  when  he  had  sold  two 
sheep  for  two  sticks  of  tobacco  each  and 
received  four  sticks  in  payment.  He  could 
only  find  out  that  he  was  correctly  paid  by 
taking  two  sticks  and  then  giving  one  sheep, 
then  receiving  two  sticks  more  and  giving 
the  other  sheep. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch. 
15,  p.  312.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

1714.  INTELLECT    OF   MAN   CON- 
QUERS THE  EARTH— Superiority  to  Local 
and  Climatic  Changes. — Man  differs  essen- 
tially from  all  other  mammals  in  this  re- 
spect: that  whereas  any  important  adapta- 
tion to  new  conditions   can  be  effected   in 
them  only  by  a  change  in  bodily  structure, 
man  is  able  to  adapt  himself  to  much  great- 
er changes  of  conditions  by  a  mental  develop- 
ment leading  him  to  the  use  of  fire,  of  tools, 
of  clothing,  of  improved  dwellings,  of  nets 
and  snares,  and  of  agriculture.    By  the  help 
of  these,  without  any  change  whatever  in  his 
bodily  structure,  he  has  been  able  to  spread 
over  and  occupy  the  whole  earth;  to  dwell 
securely  in  forest,  plain,  or  mountain;   to 
inhabit  alike  the  burning  desert  or  the  arctic 
wastes;    to   cope  with   every   kind   of   wild 
beast,  and  to  provide  himself  with  food  in 
districts  where,   as   an  animal  trusting  to 


Nature's  unaided  productions,  he  would  have 
starved. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  15,  p. 
307.  (Hum.,  1889.) 

1715.  INTELLECT  REQUIRED    TO 
MAKE    A    UNIVERSE  WHICH    INTEL- 
LECT IS  REQUIRED  TO  COMPREHEND 

— There  is  a  singular  lack  of  logic,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  in  the  views  of  the  materialistic 
naturalists.  While  they  consider  classifica- 
tion, or,  in  other  words,  their  expression  of 
the  relations  between  animals  or  between 
physical  facts  of  any  kind,  as  the  work  of 
their  intelligence,  they  believe  the  relations 
themselves  to  be  the  work  of  physical  causes. 
The  more  direct  inference  surely  is,  that 
if  it  requires  an  intelligent  mind  to  recog- 
nize them  it  must  have  required  an  intelli- 
gent mind  to  establish  them.  These  rela- 
tions existed  before  man  was  created;  they 
have  existed  ever  since  the  beginning  of  time ; 
hence  what  we  call  the  classification  of  facts, 
is  not  the  work  of  his  mind  in  any  direct 
original  sense,  but  the  recognition  of  an 
intelligent  action  prior  to  his  own  existence. 
— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  22.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1716.  INTELLIGENCE  AND     BAR- 
BARISM   COEXISTING—  The  Old  Man  of 

Cromagnon — Cave  -  dwellers  Like  American 
Indians. — Professor  Broca,  who  seems  by  no 
means  disinclined  to  favor  a  simian  origin 
for  men,  has  the  following  general  conclu- 
sions, which  refer  to  the  Cromagnon  skulls: 
"  The  great  volume  of  the  brain,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  frontal  region,  the  fine  el- 
liptical profile  of  the  anterior  portion  of 
the  skull,  and  the  orthognathous  form  of 
the  upper  facial  region  are  incontestably 
evidences  of  superiority  which  are  met  with 
usually  only  in  the  civilized  races.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  great  breadth  of  face,  the 
alveolar  prognathism,  the  enormous  develop- 
ment of  the  ascending  ramus  of  the  lower 
jaw,  the  extent  and  roughness  of  the  mus- 
cular insertions,  especially  of  the  mastica- 
tory muscles,  give  rise  to  the  idea  of  a  vio- 
lent and  brutal  race."  He  adds  that  this 
apparent  antithesis,  seen  also  in  the  limbs 
as  well  as  in  the  skull,  accords  with  the  evi- 
dence furnished  by  the  associated  weapons 
and  implements  of  a  rude  hunter-life,  and 
at  the  same  time  of  no  mean  degree  of  taste 
and  skill  in  carving  and  other  arts.  He 
might  have  added  that  this  is  precisely  the 
antithesis  seen  in  the  American  tribes,  among 
whom  art  and  taste  of  various  kinds,  and 
much  that  is  high  and  spiritual  even  in 
thought,  coexisted  with  barbarous  modes  of 
life  and  intense  ferocity  and  cruelty.  The 
god  and  the  devil  were  combined  in  these 
races,  but  there  was  nothing  of  the  mere 
brute. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Mod- 
ern Science,  lect.  4,  p.  162.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

1717.  INTELLIGENCE  AND  ENTER- 
PRISE OF  PRIMITIVE  MAN— Paleolithic 
implements  abound  in  the  drift  gravels ;  the 
surface  is  strewn  with  flint  flakes  and  frag- 


351 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


intellect 
ntelligence 


ments  of  flint  implements ;  and  at  the  present 
time  it  [Brandon]  is  the  only  place  in  Eng- 
land where  gun-flints  are  still  made.  For 
this  purpose  one  particular  layer  of  flint  is 
found  to  be  peculiarly  well  adapted,  on  ac- 
count of  its  hardness  and  fineness  of  grain, 
while  another  layer,  less  suitable  for  gun- 
flints,  is  known  as  "  wall-stone,"  being  much 
used  for  building  purposes.  Now  it  is  in- 
teresting to  find  that  even  in  very  early 
times  the  merits  of  the  gun-flint  layer  were 
well  known  and  appreciated;  for  altho  there 
is  abundance  of  flint  on  the  surface  the 
ancient  flint-men  sank  their  shafts  down 
past  the  layer  of  "  wall-stone,"  which  oc- 
curs at  a  depth  of  19%  feet,  to  the  gun-flint 
layer,  which  at  the  spot  in  question  is  39 
feet  deep. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
4,  p.  78.  (A.,  1900.) 

1718.  INTELLIGENCE  IN  LOWER 
FORMS  OF  LIFE— Worms  Show  Method  in 
Plugging  Up  Their  Burrows — Difficulty  of 
Drawing  Dividing  Line  between  the  Intelli- 
gent and  the  Automatic. — If  we  consider 
the  cases  [specified]  we  can  hardly  escape 
from  the  conclusion  that  worms  show  some 
degree  of  intelligence  in  their  manner  of 
plugging  up  their  burrows.  Each  particular 
object  is  seized  in  too  uniform  a  manner, 
and  from  causes  which  we  can  generally 
understand,  for  the  result  to  be  attributed 
to  mere  chance.  That  every  object  has  not 
been  drawn  in  by  its  pointed  end  may  be 
accounted  for  by  labor  having  been  saved 
through  some  being  inserted  by  their  broader 
or  thicker  ends.  No  doubt  worms  are  led 
by  instinct  to  plug  up  their  burrows;  and 
it  might  have  been  expected  that  they  would 
have  been  led  by  instinct  how  best  to  act 
in  each  particular  case,  independently  of  in- 
telligence. We  see  how  difficult  it  is  to  judge 
whether  intelligence  comes  into  play,  for 
even  plants  might  sometimes  be  thought 
to  be  thus  directed;  for  instance,  when  dis- 
placed leaves  redirect  their  upper  surfaces 
towards  the  light  by  extremely  complicated 
movements  and  by  the  shortest  course.  With 
animals  actions  appearing  due  to  intelli- 
gence may  be  performed  through  inherited 
habit  without  any  intelligence,  altho  aborigi- 
nally thus  acquired.  Or  the  habit  may  have 
been  acquired  through  the  preservation  and 
inheritance  of  beneficial  variations  of  some 
other  habit;  and  in  this  case  the  new  habit 
will  have  been  acquired  independently  of 
intelligence  throughout  the  whole  course  of 
its  development.  There  is  no  a  priori  im- 
probability in  worms  having  acquired  special 
instincts  through  either  of  these  two  latter 
means.  Nevertheless,  it  is  incredible  that 
instincts  should  have  been  developed  in  ref- 
erence to  objects,  such  as  the  leaves  or  peti- 
oles of  foreign  plants,  wholly  unknown  to 
the  progenitors  of  the  worms  which  act  in 
the  described  manner.  Nor  are  their  actions 
so  unvarying  or  inevitable  as  are  most  true 
instincts. — DARWIN  The  Formation  of  Vege- 
table Mould,  ch.  2,  p.  26.  (Hum.,  1887.) 


1719.     INTELLIGENCE  OF  ANIMALS 

— Known  to  Man  Only  by  Inference. — By 
mind  we  may  mean  two  very  different  things,, 
according  as  we  contemplate  it  in  our  own 
individual  selves  or  in  other  organisms.  For 
if  we  contemplate  our  own  mind  we  have 
an  immediate  cognizance  of  a  certain  flow 
of  thoughts  or  feelings,  which  are  the  most 
ultimate  things,  and  indeed  the  only  things, 
of  which  we  are  cognizant.  But  if  we  con- 
template mind  in  other  persons  or  organisms, 
we  have  no  such  immediate  cognizance  of 
thoughts  or  feelings.  In  such  cases  we  can. 
only  infer  the  existence  and  the  nature  of 
thoughts  and  feelings  from  the  activities 
of  the  organisms  which  appear  to  exhibit 
them.  .  .  .  All  our  knowledge  of  their 
operations  is  derived,  as  it  were,  through 
the  medium  of  ambassadors,  these  ambassa- 
dors being  the  activities  of  the  organism. 
Hence  it  is  evident  that  in  our  study  of  ani- 
mal intelligence  we  are  wholly  restricted 
to  the  objective  method.  Starting  from  what 
I  know  subjectively  of  the  operations  of  my 
own  individual  mind  and  the  activities 
which  in  my  own  organism  they  prompt,  I 
proceed  by  analogy  to  infer  from  the  ob- 
servable activities  of  other  organisms  what 
are  the  mental  operations  that  underlie 
them. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  int., 
p.  1.  (A.,  1899.) 

17 2O. limitations  of— 

Ceaseless  Surprise  of  the  Casarita — Vain 
Toil  without  Understanding. — Another  and 
smaller  species  of  Furnarius  (F.  cunicu- 
larius)  resembles  the  oven-bird  in  the  gen- 
eral reddish  tint  of  its  plumage,  in  a  pe- 
culiar shrill  reiterated  cry,  and  in  an  odd 
manner  of  running  by  starts.  From  its  af- 
finity, the  Spaniards  call  it  "  casarita  "  (or 
little  house-builder).  .  .  .  The  casarita 
builds  its  nest  at  the  bottom  of  a  narrow 
cylindrical  hole,  which  is  said  to  extend 
horizontally  to  nearly  six  feet  underground. 
Several  of  the  country  people  told  me  that 
when  boys  they  had  attempted  to  dig  out 
the  nest,  but  had  scarcely  ever  succeeded  in 
getting  to  the  end  of  the  passage.  The 
bird  chooses  any  low  bank  of  firm  sandy  soil 
by  the  side  of  a  road  or  stream.  Here  (at 
Bahia  Blanca)  the  walls  round  the  houses 
are  built  of  hardened  mud;  and  I  noticed 
that  one,  which  enclosed  a  courtyard  where 
I  lodged,  was  bored  through  by  round  holes 
in  a  score  of  places.  On  asking  the  owner 
the  cause  of  this  he  bitterly  complained 
of  the  little  casarita,  several  of  which  I 
afterwards  observed  at  work.  It  is  rather 
curious  to  find  how  incapable  these  birds 
must  be  of  acquiring  any  notion  of  thickness, 
for  altho  they  were  constantly  flitting  over 
the  low  wall  they  continued  vainly  to  bore 
through  it,  thinking  it  an  excellent  bank 
for  their  nests.  I  do  not  doubt  that  each  > 
bird,  as  often  as  it  came  to  daylight  on  the 
opposite  side,  was  greatly  surprised  at  the 
marvelous  fact. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voy- 
age around  the  World,ch.5,p.95.  (A.,  1898.) 


Intelligence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


352 


1721. 


Modification  of  In- 


stinct in  Birds — Jackdaws  Build  Buttress 
for  Their  Nest. — A  pair  of  jackdaws  en- 
deavored to  construct  their  nest  in  one  of 
the  small  windows  that  lighted  the  spiral 
staircase  of  an  old  church-tower.  As  is 
usual,  however,  in  such  windows,  the  sill 
sloped  inwards  with  a  considerable  inclina- 
tion; and,  consequently,  there  being  no  level 
base  for  the  nest,  as  soon  as  a  few  sticks  had 
been  laid,  and  it  was  beginning  to  acquire 
weight,  it  slid  down.  This  seems  to  have 
happened  two  or  three  times;  nevertheless 
the  birds  clung  with  great  pertinacity  to 
the  site  they  had  selected,  and  at  last  de- 
vised a  most  ingenious  method  of  overcoming 
the  difficulty.  Collecting  a  great  number  of 
sticks,  they  built  up  a  sort  of  cone  upon 
the  staircase,  the  summit  of  which  rose  to 
the  level  of  the  window-sill  and  afforded  the 
requisite  support  to  the  nest;  this  cone  was 
not  less  than  six  feet  high,  and  so  large  at 
its  base  as  quite  to  obstruct  the  passage  up 
the  staircase ;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  large 
amount  of  material  which  it  contained,  it 
was  known  to  have  been  constructed  within 
four  or  five  days.  Now  as  this  was  a  device 
quite  foreign  to  the  natural  habit  of  the 
bird,  and  only  hit  upon  after  the  repeated 
failure  of  its  ordinary  method  of  nest-build- 
ing, the  curious  adaptation  of  means  to  ends 
which  it  displayed  can  scarcely  be  regarded 
in  any  other  light  than  as  proceeding  from  a 
design  in  the  minds  of  the  individuals  who 
executed  it. — CAEPENTEE  Mental  Physiology, 
ch.  2,  p.  86.  (A.,  1900.) 


1722. 


The  Ants  Rank 


Near  to  Man — Superior  to  the  Anthropoid 
Apes. — The  anthropoid  apes  no  doubt  ap- 
proach nearer  to  man  in  bodily  structure 
than  do  any  other  animals;  but  when  we 
consider  the  habits  of  ants,  their  social  or- 
ganization, their  large  communities  and 
elaborate  habitations ;  their  roadways,  their 
possession  of  domestic  animals,  and  even,  in 
some  cases,  of  slaves,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  they  have  a  fair  claim  to  rank  next  to 
man  in  the  scale  of  intelligence. — AVEBTJRY 
Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (A., 
1900.) 


1723. 


The  Cat^Skill  in 


Dealing  with  Mechanical  Contrivances. — I 
have  received  some  half-dozen  instances  of 
this  display  of  intelligence  [the  opening  of  a 
thumb-latch]  on  the  part  of  cats.  These  in- 
stances are  all  such  precise  repetitions  of 
one  another  that  I  conclude  the  fact  to  be 
one  of  tolerably  ordinary  occurrence  among 
cats,  while  it  is  certainly  very  rare  among 
dogs.  I  may  add  that  my  own  coachman 
once  had  a  cat  which,  certainly  without 
tuition,  learned  thus  to  open  a  door  that 
led  into  the  stables  from  a  yard  into  which 
looked  some  of  the  windows  of  the  house. 
Standing  at  these  windows  when  the  cat  did 
not  see  me,  I  have  many  times  witnessed  her 
modus  operandi.  Walking  up  to  the  door 
with  a  most  matter-of-course  kind  of  air, 


she  used  to  spring  at  the  half-hoop  handle 
just  below  the  thumb-latch.  Holding  on  to 
the  bottom  of  this  half-loop  with  one  fore- 
paw,  she  then  raised  the  other  to  the  thumb- 
piece,  and,  while  depressing  the  latter,  finally 
with  her  hind  legs  scratched  and  pushed  the 
doorposts  so  as  to  open  the  door.  Precisely 
similar  movements  are  described  by  my  cor- 
respondents as  having  been  witnessed  by 
them. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch. 
14,  p.  420.  (A.,  1899.) 

1724.  The  Elephant- 
Rapid  Domestication — Limited  Attainment 
— Education  Early  Becomes  Complete. — No 
animal  affords  a  more  striking  illustration 
of  the  principal  points  which  I  have  been 
endeavoring  to  establish  than  the  elephant; 
for,  in  the  first  place,  the  wonderful  sagacity 
with  which  he  accommodates  himself  to  the 
society  of  man,  and  the  new  habits  which  he 
contracts,  are  not  the  result  of  time,  nor  of 
modifications  produced  in  the  course  of 
many  generations.  [Tho]  these  animals 
will  breed  in  captivity,  ...  it  has  al- 
ways been  the  custom,  as  the  least  expensive 
mode  of  obtaining  them,  to  capture  wild  in- 
dividuals in  the  forests,  usually  when  full 
grown;  and  in  a  few  years  after  they  are 
taken — sometimes,  it  is  said,  in  the  space  of 
a  few  months — their  education  is  completed. 

Had  the  whole  species  been  domesticated 
from  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  man, 
like  the  camel,  their  superior  intelligence 
would,  doubtless,  have  been  attributed  to 
their  long  and  familiar  intercourse  with  the 
lord  of  the  creation,  but  we  know  that  a  few 
years  is  sufficient  to  bring  about  this  won- 
derful change  of  habits,  and  altho  the  same 
individual  may  continue  to  receive  tuition 
for  a  century  afterwards,  yet  it  makes  no 
farther  progress  in  the  development  of  its 
faculties. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
iii,  ch.  35,  p.  598.  (A.,  1854.) 


1725. 


The  Shepherd  Dog 


— Story  of  the  "  Ettrick  Shepherd  " — Recov- 
ery of  Lost  Sheep. — The  following  is  a  very 
remarkable  case  of  this  kind,  which  occurred 
in  the  experience  of  James  Hogg,  the  "  Et- 
trick Shepherd,"  the  associate  of  Walter 
Scott  and  Christopher  North: 

Mr.  Hogg  goes  on  to  narrate  the  follow- 
ing, among  other  remarkable  exploits,  in 
illustration  of  Sirrah's  sagacity.  About 
seven  hundred  lambs,  which  were  at  •  once 
under  his  care  at  weaning-time,  broke  up  at 
midnight,  and  scampered  off  in  three  divi- 
sions across  the  hills,  in  spite  of  all  that  the 
shepherd  and  an  assistant  lad  could  do  to 
keep  them  together.  "  Sirrah,"  cried  the 
shepherd  in  great  affliction,  "my  man, 
they're  a*  awa."  The  night  was  so  dark  that 
he  did  not  see  Sirrah;  but  the  faithful  ani- 
mal had  heard  his  master's  words — words 
such  as  of  all  others  were  sure  to  set  him 
most  on  the  alert;  and  without  any  delay, 
he  silently  set  off  in  quest  of  the  recreant 
flock.  Meanwhile  the  shepherd  and  his  com- 
panion did  not  fail  to  do  all  that  was  in 


353 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Intelligence 


their  power  to  recover  their  lost  charge; 
they  spent  the  whole  night  in  scouring  the 
hills  for  miles  around,  but  of  neither  the 
lambs  nor  Sirrah  could  they  obtain  the 
slightest  trace.  "  It  was  the  most  extraor- 
dinary circumstance,"  says  the  shepherd, 
"  that  had  ever  occurred  in  the  annals  of  the 
pastoral  life.  We  had  nothing  for  it  (day 
having  dawned)  but  to  return  to  our  mas- 
ter, and  inform  him  that  we  had  lost  his 
whole  flock  of  lambs,  and  knew  not  what 
was  become  of  one  of  them.  On  our  way 
home,  however,  we  discovered  a  body  of 
lambs  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  ravine,  called 
the  Flesh  Clench,  and  the  indefatigable  Sir- 
rah standing  in  front  of  them,  looking  all 
around  for  some  relief,  but  still  standing 
true  to  his  charge.  The  sun  was  then  up; 
and  when  we  first  came  in  view  of  them,  we 
concluded  that  it  was  one  of  the  divisions  of 
the  lambs,  which  Sirrah  had  been  unable  to 
manage  until  he  came  to  that  commanding 
situation.  But  what  was  our  astonishment, 
when  we  discovered  by  degrees  that  not  one 
lamb  of  the  whole  flock  was  wanting!  How 
he  had  got  all  the  divisions  collected  in  the 
dark  is  beyond  my  comprehension.  The 
charge  was  left  entirely  to  himself,  from 
midnight  until  the  rising  of  the  sun ;  and  if 
all  the  shepherds  in  the  forest  had  been 
there  to  have  assisted  him,  they  could  not 
have  effected  it  with  greater  propriety.  All 
that  I  can  further  say  is  that  I  never  felt  so 
grateful  to  any  creature  below  the  sun  as  I 
did  to  my  honest  Sirrah  that  morning." — 
CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  2,  p.  102. 
(A.,  1900.) 


1726. 

king    Bearings — Starting 


The  Wasp—Ta- 
Fresh    When    at 


Fault. — A  specimen  of  Polistes  carnifex  [or 
sand-wasp]  was  hunting  about  for  cater- 
pillars in  my  garden.  I  found  one  about  an 
inch  long,  and  held  it  out  towards  it  on  the 
point  of  a  stick.  It  seized  it  immediately, 
and  commenced  biting  it  from  head  to  tail, 
soon  reducing  the  soft  body  to  a  mass  of 
pulp.  It  rolled  up  about  one-half  of  it  into 
a  ball,  and  prepared  to  carry  it  off.  Being 
at  the  time  amidst  a  thick  mass  of  a  fine- 
leaved  climbing  plant,  it  proceeded,  before 
flying  away,  to  take  note  of  the  place  where 
it  was  leaving  the  other  half.  To  do  this,  it 
hovered  in  front  of  it  for  a  few  seconds,  then 
took  small  circles  in  front  of  it,  then  larger 
ones  round  the  whole  plant.  I  thought  it 
had  gone,  but  it  returned  again,  and  had  an- 
other look  at  the  opening  in  the  dense  foli- 
age down  which  the  other  half  of  the  cater- 
pillar lay.  It  then  flew  away,  but  must 
have  left  its  burden  for  distribution  with 
its  comrades  at  the  nest,  for  it  returned  in 
less  than  two  minutes,  and,  making  one 
circle  around  the  bush,  descended  to  the 
opening,  alighted  on  a  leaf,  and  ran  inside. 
The  green  remnant  of  the  caterpillar  was 
lying  on  another  leaf  inside,  but  not  con- 
nected with  the  one  on  which  the  wasp 
alighted,  so  that  in  running  in  it  missed  it, 
and  soon  got  hopelessly  lost  in  the  thick 


foliage.  Coming  out  again,  it  took  another 
circle,  and  pounced  down  on  the  same  spot 
again,  as  soon  as  it  came  opposite  to  it. 
Three  small  seed-pods,  which  here  grew  close 
together,  formed  the  marks  that  I  had  my- 
self taken  to  note  the  place,  and  these  the 
wasp  seemed  also  to  have  taken  as  its  guide, 
for  it  flew  directly  down  to  them,  and  ran 
inside;  but  the  small  leaf  on  which  the 
fragment  of  caterpillar  lay  jiot  being  direct- 
ly connected  with  any  on  the  outside,  it 
again  missed  it,  and  again  got  far  away 
from  the  object  of  its  search.  It  then  flew 
out  again,  and  the  same  process  was  re- 
peated again  and  again.  Always  when  in 
circling  round  it  came  in  sight  of  the  seed- 
pods,  down  it  pounced,  alighted  near  them, 
and  recommenced  its  quest  on  foot.  I  was 
surprised  at  its  perseverance,  and  thought  it 
would  have  given  up  the  search ;  but  not  so, 
it  returned  at  least  half  a  dozen  times,  and 
seemed  to  get  angry,  hurrying  about  with 
buzzing  wings.  At  last  it  stumbled  across 
its  prey,  seized  it  eagerly,  and,  as  there  was 
nothing  more  to  come  back  for,  flew  straight 
off  to  its  nest,  without  taking  any  further 
note  of  the  locality.  Such  an  action  is  not 
the  result  of  blind  instinct,  but  of  a  thinking 
mind;  and  it  is  wonderful  to  see  an  insect 
so  differently  constructed  using  a  mental 
process  similar  to  that  of  man. — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p.  150.  (A., 
1899.) 

1727.  INTELLIGENCE    OF   HIGH 
ORDER—  Only  Developed  After  Birth.— When 
a  creature's  intelligence  is  high  and  its  ex- 
perience varied  and  complicated,  the  regis- 
tration of  all  this  experience  in  the  nerve- 
centers  of  its  offspring  does  not  get  accom- 
plished   before   birth.      There    is    not   time 
enough.     The  most  important  registrations, 
such    as    those    needed    for    breathing    and 
swallowing  and  other  indispensable  acts,  are 
fully  effected;    others,  such  as  those  needed 
for  handling  and  walking,  are  but  partially 
effected;    others,  such  as  those  involved  in 
the  recognition  of  creatures  not  important 
as   enemies   or  prey,   are  left  still   further 
from  completion.     Much  is  left  to  be  done 
by  individual  experience  after  birth.     The 
animal,  when  first  born,  is  a  baby  dependent 
upon  its  mother's  care.     At  the  same  time 
its  intelligence  is  far  more  plastic,  and  it 
remains  far  more  teachable,  than  the  lower 
animal     that     has     no     babyhood. — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  7,  p.  92. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1728.  INTELLIGENCE   REQUISITE 
FOR  COOK— Economy    of   Fuel.—"!    well 
know,  from  my  own  experience,  how  difficult 
it  is  to  persuade  cooks  of  this  truth  [of  the 
utility  of  boiling-hot  water],  but  it  is   so 
important  that  no  pains  should  be  spared  in 
endeavoring  to  remove  their  prejudices  and 
enlighten  their  understandings.    This  may  be 
done  most  effectually  in  the  case  before  us 
by  a  method  I  have  several  times  put  in 
practise   with   complete    success.      It   is    as 
follows :    Take  two  equal  boilers,  containing 


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354 


equal  quantities  of  boiling  hot  water,  and 
put  into  them  two  equal  pieces  of  meat  taken 
from  the  same  carcass — two  legs  of  mutton, 
for  instance — and  boil  them  during  the  same 
time.  Under  one  of  the  boilers  make  a  small 
fire,  just  barely  sufficient  to  keep  the  water 
boiling  hot,  or  rather  just  beginning  to  boil ; 
under  the  other  make  as  vehement  a  fire  as 
possible,  and  keep  the  water  boiling  the 
whole  time  with  the  utmost  violence.  The 
meat  in  the  boiler  in  which  the  water  has 
been  kept  only  just  boiling  hot  will  be  found 
to  be  quite  as  well  done  as  that  in  the  other. 
It  will  even  be  found  to  be  much  better 
cooked,  that  is  to  say,  tenderer,  more  juicy, 
and  much  higher  flavored." — EUMFOBD  quot- 
ed by  WILLIAMS  in  Chemistry  of  Cookery, 
ch.  2,  p.  17.  (A.,  1900.) 

1729.  INTELLIGENCE    SHOWN    IN 
RELICS   OF    STONE    AGE— Language  the 
True  Mold  of  Mind. — The  flints  and  arrow- 
heads, the  celts  and  hammers,  of  early  man 
are    fossil    intelligence;      the    remains    of 
primitive  arts  and  industries  are  petrified 
mind.     But  there  is  one  mold  into  which 
mind  has  run  more  large  and  beautiful  than 
any  of  these.     When  its  contents  are  exam- 
ined they  carry  us  back  not  only  to  what 
men   worked   at   with   their   hands,   but  to 
what    they    said    to    one    another    as    they 
worked    and    what    they   thought    as    they 
spoke.    That  mold  is  language. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  p.  147.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

1730.  INTELLIGENCE   THE  FINAL 
VICTOR—  The  Evolution  of  Mind.— Nature  is 
full    of   new   departures;     but  never    since 
time  began  was  there  anything  approaching 
in  importance  that  period  when  the  slumber- 
ing animal  brain  broke  into  intelligence,  and 
the  creature  first  felt  that  it  had  a  mind. 
From  that  dateless  moment  a  higher  and 
swifter  progress  of  the  world  began.   Hence- 
forth, intelligence  triumphed  over  structural 
adaptation.   The  wise  were  naturally  selected 
before  the  strong.  The  mind  discovered  better 
methods,  safer  measures,  shorter  cuts.     So 
the  body  learned  to  refer  to  it,  then  to  defer 
to  it.     As  the  mind  was  given  more  to  do,  it 
enlarged  and  did  its  work  more  perfectly. 
Gradually  the  favors  of  evolution — exercise, 
alteration,    differentiation,    addition — which 
were    formerly    distributed    promiscuously 
among  the  bodily  organs — were  now  lavished 
mainly  upon  the  brain.     The  gains  accumu- 
lated  with    accelerating   velocity;     and   by 
sheer  superiority  and  fitness  for  its  work 
the  intellect  rose  to  commanding  power  and 
entered  into  final  possession  of  a  monopoly 
which  can  never  be  disturbed. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  116.    (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1731.  INTEMPERANCE,  DEBASING 
EFFECT  OF — Special  Degradation  of  Wom- 
an— Moral   Influence    Defeated    by    Morbid 
Physical   Craving. — The   debasing  effect  of 
continued  alcoholic  excess  is,  unfortunately, 
but  too  apparent.     Cases  like  that  of  Hart- 
ley Coleridge,  in  which  it  seems  only  to  ex- 
cite the  higher  part  of  the  intellectual  and 


moral  nature  to  an  irregular  activity,  are 
extremely  rare.  Far  more  generally,  while 
weakening  the  will  and  exciting  the  lower 
propensities,  it  blunts  the  moral  sense  also ; 
and  the  wretched  victim  becomes  so  com- 
pletely the  slave  of  his  tyrannical  appetite 
for  drink  that  he  is  ready  to  gratify  it  at 
any  sacrifice.  This  moral  degradation  is 
perhaps  even  more  marked  in  women  than 
in  men;  for  the  drunkenness  of  the  former 
(especially  in  the  upper  ranks  of  society) 
being  usually  secret — at  least  in  the  first 
instance — whilst  in  the  latter  it  is  generally 
open,  it  can  only  be  practised  by  deceit  and 
fraud;  and  when  the  habit  has  obtained 
such  a  dominance  that  the  customary  re- 
straints are  thrown  aside,  there  is  a  more 
complete  abandonment  of  self-respect.  In 
either  sex,  it  is  the  physical  craving  pro- 
duced by  the  continued  action  of  the  stimu- 
lant upon  the  nutrition  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem which  renders  the  condition  of  the 
habitual  drunkard  one  with  which  it  is  pe- 
culiarly difficult  to  deal  by  purely  moral 
means.  Vain  is  it  to  recall  the  motives  for 
a  better  course  of  conduct,  to  one  who  is 
already  familiar  with  them  all,  but  is  desti- 
tute of  the  will  to  act  upon  them ;  the  seclu- 
sion of  such  persons  from  the  reach  of  alco- 
holic liquors,  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  free  the  blood  from  its  contamination,  to 
restore  the  healthful  nutrition  of  the  brain, 
and  to  enable  the  recovered  mental  vigor  to 
be  wisely  directed,  seems  to  afford  the  only 
prospect  of  reformation;  and  this  cannot  be 
expected  to  be  permanent,  unless  the  patient 
determinately  adopts  and  steadily  acts  on 
the  resolution  to  abstain  entirely  from  that 
which,  if  again  indulged  in,  will  be  poison 
alike  to  his  body  and  to  his  mind,  and  will 
transmit  its  pernicious  influence  to  his  off- 
spring.— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch. 
17,  p.  652.  (A.,  1900.) 

1732.  INTEMPERANCE,    MORTAL- 
ITY RESULTING    FROM—  Effects  of  the 
Use  of  Alcohol  in  Switzerland. — In  the  cities 
of  Switzerland  every  ninth  man  dies,  direct- 
ly   or    indirectly,    of    the    consequences    of 
drunkenness.     What  objection  can  be  made 
against  these  statistics?     No  one  dares  as- 
sert that  they  are  the  production  of  bias. 
Our  physicians  are  not  temperance  fanatics. 
At  most,  one  might  object  that  the  causal 
relations  are  not  demonstrated  in  all  cases, 
that  many  of  the  patients  would  have  died 
even  without  alcohol,  perhaps  only  a  little 
later.    I  do  not  deny  that.    But  what  cannot 
be  denied  is  the  fact  of  drunkenness.     The 
physicians  cannot  report  drunkenness  as  the 
only,  or  the  contributing,  cause  of  death  if 
the  patient  has  not  been  given  to  drunken- 
ness.    It  is  therefore  a  fact  that  every  ninth 
man  in  the  cities  of  Switzerland  becomes  a 
drunkard. — VON   BUNGE  Der  Kampf  gegen 
die  Trinksitten    (an  address).     (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1733.  INTERCHANGE    OF    LAND 
AND  SEA—  Cities  Where  Ocean  Once  Rolled. 
— Imperfect  as  is  our   information  of  the 


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Intervention 


changes  which  they  [deltas]  have  undergone 
within  the  last  three  thousand  years,  they 
are  sufficient  to  show  how  constant  an  in- 
terchange of  sea  and  land  is  taking  place  on 
the  face  of  our  globe.  In  the  Mediterranean 
alone,  many  flourishing  inland  towns,  and  a 
still  greater  number  of  ports,  now  stand 
where  the  sea  rolled  its  waves  since  the  era 
of  the  early  civilization  of  Europe.  If  we 
could  compare  with  equal  accuracy  the  an- 
cient and  actual  state  of  all  the  islands  and 
continents,  we  should  probably  discover  that 
millions  of  our  race  are  now  supported  by 
lands  situated  where  deep  seas  prevailed  in 
earlier  ages.  In  many  districts  not  yet  oc- 
cupied by  man,  land  animals  and  forests 
now  abound  where  ships  once  sailed ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  shall  find,  on  inquiry, 
that  inroads  of  the  ocean  have  been  no  less 
considerable. — LYELL  Geology,  ch.  18,  p.  289. 
(A.,  1854.) 


1734. 


Coal-beds  Buried 


under  Ocean-rocks. — All  of  the  formations 
of  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  periods  are  on 
top  of  the  coal — and  this  shows  that  after 
the  age  of  rank  vegetable  growth  there  was 
a  sinking  of  the  earth  in  many  places  far 
down  into  the  ocean — so  that  vast  layers  of 
rock  formed  on  top  of  these  beds  of  vegetable 
matter.  In  England  great  chalk-beds  crop 
out  in  cliffs  on  the  southern  coast,  and,  as 
we  have  seen,  these  chalk-rocks  are  largely 
made  up  of  the  shells  of  marine  animals. 
London  stands  on  a  chalk-bed  from  six  hun- 
dred to  eight  hundred  feet  thick.  Indeed, 
England  has  been  poetically  called  Albion, 
White-land,  from  this  appearance  of  her 
coast.  All  of  the  great  chalk-beds  were 
formed  ages  after  the  coal-beds,  as  the  latter 
are  found  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  Pale- 
ozoic period. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mir- 
acles, vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  26.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 

1735.  INTEREST,  ACQUIRED,  BE- 
COMES   CONTROLLING— An  adult  man's 
interests  are  almost  every  one  of  them  in- 
tensely   artificial:    they   have    slowly    been 
built  up.     The  objects  of  professional  inter- 
est are  most  of  them,  in  their  original  na- 
ture, repulsive ;  but  by  their  connection  with 
such  natively  exciting  objects  as  one's  per- 
sonal  fortune,   one's   social  responsibilities, 
and   especially   by  the   force   of   inveterate 
habit,  they  grow  to  be  the  only  things  for 
which  in  middle  life  a  man  profoundly  cares. 
— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  10,  p.  98. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

1736.  INTEREST  IN  THE  DIVINE 
RECORD — To   me   it   seems    that   to   look 
on  the  first  land  that  was  ever  lifted  above 
the  waste   of  waters,   to   follow   the   shore 
where  the  earliest  animals  and  plants  were 
created  when  the  thought  of  God  first  ex- 
pressed itself  in  organic  forms,  to  hold  in 
one's  hand  a  bit  of  stone  from  an  old  sea- 
beach,  hardened  into  rock  thousands  of  cen- 
turies ago,  and  studded  with  the  beings  that 
once  crept  upon  its  surface  or  were  stranded 


there  by  some  retreating  wave,  is  even  of 
deeper  interest  to  men  than  the  relics  of 
their  own  race,  for  these  things  tell  more 
directly  of  the  thoughts  and  creative  acts  of 
God. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i, 
ch.  2,  p.  29.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.)  J 

1737.  INTEREST  OF  MAN  IN  ANI- 
MALS —  Pigeons  Carefully  Bred  by  Ancient 
Egyptians — A  Pastime  of  Nobles  and  Kings. 
— The  art  of  and  fancy  foT  pigeon-breeding 
is  very  ancient.    Even  more  than  3,000  years 
before  Christ  it  was  carried  on  by  the  Egyp- 
tians.    The   Romans,   under   the   emperors, 
laid  out  enormous  sums  upon  the  breeding 
of  pigeons,  and  kept  accurate  pedigrees  of 
their  descent,  just  as  the  Arabs  keep  gene- 
alogical pedigrees  of  their  horses,  and  the 
Mecklenburg  aristocracy  of  their   own   an- 
cestors.    In  Asia,  too,  among  the  wealthy 
princes,  pigeon-breeding  was  a  very  ancient 
fancy;    in  1600,  the  court  of  Akber  Khan 
possessed  more  than  20,000  pigeons.     Thus 
in  the  course  of  several   centuries,   and  in 
consequence  of  the  various  methods  of  breed- 
ing practised  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
world,  there  has  arisen  out  of  one  single 
originally  tamed  form  an  immense  number 
of  different  races   and  varieties,   which  in 
their   most  divergent  forms  are  extremely 
different  from  one  another,   and  are  often 
curiously  characterized. — HAECKEL  History 
of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  144.    (K.  P.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1738.  INTERPRETATION  INSTINC- 
TIVE—  The  Less  Known  Explained  by  the  Better 
Known — The  Concave  Seen  in  Relief. — Now, 
it  may  be  asked,  why  should  we  tend  to 
transform    the    concave    into    the    convex 
rather  than  the  convex  into  the  concave? 
.     .     .     We    are    rendered    much    more    fa- 
miliar,  both  by  Nature  and  by  art,   with 
raised  (cameo)  design  than  with  depressed 
design   (intaglio),  and  we  instinctively  in- 
terpret the  less  familiar  form  by  the  more 
familiar.     .     .     .     [An]  illustration  of  this 
kind    of   illusion   recently   occurred   in   my 
own  experience.    Nearly  opposite  to  my  win- 
dow came  a  narrow  space  between  two  de- 
tached houses.    This  was,  of  course,  darker 
than  the  front  of  the  houses,  and  the  rece- 
ding parallel  lines  of  the  bricks  appeared  to 
cross  this  narrow  vertical  shaft  obliquely. 
I  could  never  look  at  this  without  seeing  it 
as  a  convex  column,  round  which  the  par- 
allel lines  wound  obliquely.     Others  saw  it 
as  I  did,  tho  not  always  with  the  same  over- 
powering effect.    I  can  only  account  for  this 
illusion  by  help  of  the  general  tendency  of 
the  eye  to  solidify  impressions  drawn  from 
the  flat,  together  with  the  effect  of  special 
types  of  experience,   more  particularly  the 
perception    of    cylindrical    forms   in    trees, 
columns,  etc. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  5,  p.  85. 
(A.,  1897.) 

1739.  INTERVENTION    OF    NATU- 
RAL CAUSES— Not  the  Negation  of  Divine 
Power. — The  reluctance  to  admit,  as  belong- 
ing to  the  domain  of  Nature,  any  special 


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356 


exertion  of  divine  power  for  special  pur- 
poses, stands  really  in  very  close  relation- 
ship to  the  converse  notion,  that  where  the 
operation  of  natural  causes  can  be  clearly 
traced,  there  the  exertion  of  divine  power 
and  will  is  rendered  less  certain  and  less 
convincing.  This  is  the  idea  which  lies  at 
the  root  of  Gibbon's  famous  chapters  on  the 
spread  of  Christianity.  He  labors  to  prove 
that  it  was  due  to  natural  causes.  In  prov- 
ing this,  he  evidently  thinks  he  is  disposing 
of  the  notion  that  Christianity  spread  by 
divine  power,  whereas  he  only  succeeds  in 
pointing  out  some  of  the  means  which  were 
employed  to  effect  a  divine  purpose. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (Burt.) 

1 74O.  INTOLERANCE  OF  INFIDEL- 
ITY—  Voltaire  Denied  Existence  of  Fossils — 
Mingled  Ignorance  and  Inconsistency. — 
Voltaire  had  used  the  modern  discoveries  in 
physics  as  one  of  the  numerous  weapons  of 
attack  and  ridicule  directed  by  him  against 
the  Scriptures.  He  found  that  the  most 
popular  systems  of  geology  were  accommo- 
dated to  the  sacred  writings,  and  that  much 
ingenuity  had  been  employed  to  make  every 
fact  coincide  exactly  with  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count of  the  creation  and  deluge.  It  was, 
therefore,  with  no  friendly  feelings  that  he 
contemplated  the  cultivators  of  geology  in 
general,  regarding  the  science  as  one  which 
had  been  successfully  enlisted  by  theologians 
as  an  ally  in  their  cause.  He  knew  that  the 
majority  of  those  who  were  aware  of  the 
abundance  of  fossil  shells  in  the  interior  of 
continents  were  still  persuaded  that  they 
were  proofs  of  the  universal  deluge;  and  as 
the  readiest  way  of  shaking  this  article  of 
faith,  he  endeavored  to  inculcate  skepticism 
as  to  the  real  nature  of  such  shells,  and  to 
recall  from  contempt  the  exploded  dogma 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  they  were 
sports  of  Nature.  He  also  pretended  that 
vegetable  impressions  were  not  those  of  real 
plants.  Yet  he  was  perfectly  convinced  that 
the  shells  had  really  belonged  to  living  Tes- 
tacea,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  essay  "  On  the 
Formation  of  Mountains."  He  would  some- 
times, in  defiance  of  all  consistency,  shift 
his  ground  when  addressing  the  vulgar,  and, 
admitting  the  true  nature  of  the  shells  col- 
lected in  the  Alps  and  other  places,  pretend 
that  they  were  Eastern  species,  which  had 
fallen  from  the  hats  of  pilgrims  coming 
from  Syria.  The  numerous  essays  written 
by  him  on  geological  subjects  were  all  calcu- 
lated to  strengthen  prejudices,  partly  be- 
cause he  was  ignorant  of  the  real  state  of 
the  science,  and  partly  from  his  bad  faith. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  who  knew  that  his 
attacks  were  directed  by  a  desire  to  invali- 
date Scripture,  and  who  were  unacquainted 
with  the  true  merits  of  the  question,  might 
well  deem  the  old  diluvian  hypothesis  incon- 
trovertible, if  Voltaire  could  adduce  no  bet- 
ter argument  against  it  than  to  deny  the 
true  nature  of  organic  remains. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  54. 
(A.,  1854.) 


1741.  INTOLERANCE  OF  PAGANISM 

— Science  under  Ban — Underestimate  De- 
nounced as  Exaggeration — Persecution  of 
Anaxagoras. — The  astronomers  of  the  school 
of  Pythagoras,  who  thought  they  gave  a 
grand  idea  of  the  day  star  by  estimating  its 
distance  at  72,000  kilometers  (44,740 
miles),  and  its  diameter  at  618  kilometers 
(384  miles),  were  as  far  from  the  reality 
as  an  ant  who  believed  itself  the  size  of  a 
horse.  And  yet  to  estimate  the  sun  as  of 
the  size  of  the  Peloponnesus  was  then  such 
boldness  in  the  eyes  of  the  classical  conser- 
vatives and  the  teaching  doctors  that  for 
having  asserted  this  beginning  of  truth  the 
philosopher  Anaxagoras  was  outrageously 
persecuted  and  condemned  to  death — a  sen- 
tence commuted  to  a  decree  of  exile,  on  the 
petition  of  Pericles!  The  trial  of  Galileo 
was,  later  on,  a  repetition  of  that  of  Anax- 
agoras.— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  3,  p.  244.  (A.) 

1742.  INTOLERANCE    OF  THE 

SCHOOLMEN — Discoveries  in  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  Met  by  Persecution. — The  more 
rigid  the  system,  the  fewer  and  the  more 
thorough  were  the  methods  to  which  the 
healing  art  was  restricted.  The  more  the 
schools  were  driven  into  a  corner  by  the  in- 
crease in  actual  knowledge,  the  more  did 
they  depend  upon  the  ancient  authorities, 
and  the  more  intolerant  were  they  against 
innovation.  The  great  reformer  of  anatomy, 
Vesalius,  was  cited  before  the  theological 
faculty  of  Salamanca;  Servetus  was  burned 
at  Qeneva  along  with  his  book,  in  which  he 
described  the  circulation  of  the  lungs;  and 
the  Paris  faculty  prohibited  the  teaching  of 
Harvey's  doctrine  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  in  its  lecture-rooms. — HELMHOLTZ 
Popular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  210.  (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

1743.  INTOLERANCE,  PARALYZING 
EFFECT  OF — Abdication  of  Galileo — Science 
under  Ban  of  Church. — "Having  held  and 
believed  that  the  sun  is  the  center  of  the 
universe  and  immovable,  and  that  the  earth 
is  not  the  center  of  the  same  and  that  it 
does   move,     ...     I    abjure   with    a   sin- 
cere heart  and  unfeigned  faith,  I  curse  and 
detest  the  said  errors  and  heresies  and  gen- 
erally all  and  every  error  and  sect  contrary 
to  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,"  wrote  Galileo 
Galilei,  in  mortal  terror  of  the  Inquisition; 
that   was   in    1633.      Twenty  years   before, 
under  the  protection  of  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,   he   had   asserted   the  heliocentric 
doctrine,  with  no  worse  result  than  a  friend- 
ly  admonition    from    Cardinal    Bellarmine, 
and  he  had  agreed  not  to  promulgate  it  fur- 
ther.     But,    as    the   world   grew   wiser,    it 
smiled  at  the  theological  claims  to  infalli- 
bility in  matters  of  physics,  and  at  last,  in 
1620,   the  church  itself  yielded   sufficiently 
to  sanction  the  discussion  of  the  Coperni- 
can  theory  as  an  hypothesis  merely.     This 
gave  Galileo  a  safe  opportunity,  as  he  be- 
lieved,  once  more  publicly  to  reaffirm  hia 
belief  therein.     He  went  too  far,  and  tried 


357 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Intervention 
Introspection 


to  prove  it  orthodox.  However  the  ecclesi- 
astical authorities  may  have  intended  to 
deal  with  others,  the  fact  of  his  having  vio- 
lated, as  they  claimed,  his  earlier  promise 
gave  them  a  reason  for  coming  upon  him 
despite  the  permissory  decree.  He  was  the 
most  shining  of  all  shining  marks.  To 
crush  him  would  do  more  to  paralyze  inde- 
pendent philosophical  thought,  at  least 
within  the  pale  of  the  church,  than  any 
random  anathema  that  Rome  could  hurl. 

The  effect  upon  all  Europe  was  profound. 
The  faithful,  who  found  themselves  in  the 
van  of  philosophical  progress,  stopped  and 
drew  back.  The  blight  of  uncertainty  fell 
upon  them.  If,  after  years  of  free  discus- 
sion, Copernicanism  had  come  to  be  heresy, 
inviting  the  dread  visit  of  the  Holy  Office, 
what  then  might  be  safely  taught  and 
studied  ? — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise 
of  Electricity,  ch.  12,  p.  355.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

1744. Buffon  Recants 

His  "  Theory  of  the  Earth." — Soon  after  the 
publication  of  his  "  Natural  History,"  in 
which  was  included  his  "  Theory  of  the 
Earth,"  [Buffon]  received  an  official  letter 
(January,  1751)  from  the  Sorbonne,  or  Fac- 
ulty of  Theology  in  Paris,  informing  him 
that  fourteen  propositions  in  his  works 
"  were  reprehensible  and  contrary  to  the 
creed  of  the  church."  The  first  of  these 
obnoxious  passages,  and  the  only  one  re- 
lating to  geology,  was  as  follows :  "  The 
waters  of  the  sea  have  produced  the  moun- 
tains and  valleys  of  the  land — the  waters  of 
the  heavens,  reducing  all  to  a  level,  will  at 
last  deliver  the  whole  land  over  to  the  sea, 
and  the  sea  successively  prevailing  over  the 
land  will  leave  dry  new  continents  like  those 
which  we  inhabit."  Buffon  was  invited  by 
the  college,  in  very  courteous  terms,  to  send 
in  an  explanation,  or  rather  a  recantation 
of  his  unorthodox  opinions.  To  this  he 
submitted,  and  a  general  assembly  of  the 
faculty  having  approved  of  his  "  Declara- 
tion," he  was  required  to  publish  it  in  his 
next  work.  The  document  begins  with  these 
words :  "  I  declare  that  I  had  no  intention 
to  contradict  the  text  of  Scripture;  that  I 
believe  most  firmly  all  therein  related  about 
the  creation,  both  as  to  order  of  time  and 
matter  of  fact;  and  I  abandon  everything 
in  my  book  respecting  the  foundation  of  the 
earth,  and  generally  all  which  may  be  con- 
trary to  the  narration  of  Moses." — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  3.  p.  39.  (A., 
1854.) 

1745.     INTOXICATION    ONE    WITH 

INSANITY— Difference  Only  in  Duration— Poi- 
son Gradually  Eliminated  from  the  Blood. — 
The  states  of  mind  temporarily  produced 
by  intoxicating  agents — alcohol,  opium,  hash- 
ish, and  the  like — are  closely  akin  to  one 
another  in  this  fundamental  character,  as 
they  are  also  to  the  delirium  of  fevers  or 
other  diseases,  which  is  due  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  morbid  matter  into  the  blood, 
whereby  a  zymosis  or  fermentation  of  its 


own  materials  is  produced  which  gives  it  a 
poisonous  action  on  the  brain.  In  the  sec- 
ond case,  as  in  the  first,  the  effect  is  tran- 
sient, the  poison  being  gradually  eliminated 
from  the  circulation  by  the  excretory  appa- 
ratus ( including  the  respiratory  organs ) , 
so  that  the  blood  regains  its  original  puri- 
ty. And  it  is  this  temporary  character  alone 
which  differentiates  the  mental  perversion  of 
intoxication  and  delirium  from  that  which  is 
persistent  in  insanity. — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  637.  (A.,  1900.) 


1746. 


Monomania — Sea 


Captain  Shooting  Sailors  to  Suppress  Imagi- 
nary Mutiny — Small  Portion  of  Stimulant 
Harmful — Heredity. — The  closeness  of  the 
affinity  between  the  states  of  insanity  and 
alcoholic  intoxication  is  further  made  ap- 
parent by  the  extreme  readiness  with  which 
the  balance  of  reason  is  disturbed  by  a  small 
quantity  of  liquor  in  those  unfortunate  in- 
dividuals in  whom  there  exists  a  predispo- 
sition to  mental  derangement.  The  power 
of  volitional  control  being  already  feeble  it 
is  easily  overthrown;  and  the  propensities 
or  passions  which  are  always  unduly  ex- 
citable are  readily  aroused  into  morbid  ac- 
tivity by  this  provocation,  so  that  a  very  few 
glasses  of  wine  or  a  small  quantity  of  spirits 
are  sufficient  to  induce  what  may  be  re- 
garded either  as  a  fit  of  drunkenness  or  a 
paroxysm  of  insanity — the  two  influences 
concurring  to  produce  the  mental  disturb- 
ance which  neither  of  them  would  have  alone 
sufficed  to  bring  about.  Not  unfrequently 
the  state  thus  induced  is  one  of  temporary 
monomania,  the  mind  becoming  possessed 
by  a  particular  emotional  state  which  gov- 
erns the  conduct  and  leads  to  the  perpetra- 
tion of  atrocious  crimes.  Thus  at  least  two 
instances  of  this  kind  have  occurred  within 
the  recollection  of  the  writer  in  which  the 
captain  of  a  ship,  having  been  thus  seized 
with  the  belief  that  his  crew  was  in  a  state 
of  mutiny,,  has  killed  one  of  them  after 
another  in  (as  he  believed)  rightful  self- 
defense.  Such  a  predisposition  may  arise 
from  previous  injury  or  disease  affecting  the 
brain  (tropical  sunstroke  being  often  al- 
leged as  the  cause  of  it),  or  it  may  be  in- 
herited; and  it  exists  in  peculiar  force  in 
those  who  have  an  hereditary  tendency  to  in- 
sanity derived  from  drunkenness  on  the  part 
of  the  parents.  Cases  are  continually  occur- 
ring in  which  drunken  outrages  are  commit- 
ted by  individuals  thus  circumstanced,  in 
whose  excuse  it  is  alleged  that  a  very  small 
quantity  of  liquor  is  sufficient  to  inflame 
their  passions  and  destroy  their  self-control. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,,  ch.  17,  p. 
651.  (A.,  1900.) 

1747.  INTROSPECTION  A  MARVEL- 
OUS POWER— Evidence  of  Mental  Growth. 
— There  is  nothing  more  wonderful  in  the 
constitution  of  our  minds  than  the  power 
we  have  of  standing  aside,  as  it  were,  for 
a  time  from  the  ordinary  channel  of  our  own 
thoughts  and  of  looking  back  upon  their  cur- 


Introspection 
Invention 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


358 


rents  coming  down  from  the  hills  of  mem- 
ory and  association  to  join  their  issues 
in  our  present  life.  But  this  sort  of  looking 
in  upon  ourselves  and  treating  ourselves  as 
a  subject  of  natural  history  is  to  all  men 
a  difficult  and  to  most  men  an  impossible 
operation.  They  have  neither  time  for  it 
nor  thought  for  it.  The  conscious  energies 
of  the  will  are  so  near  us  and  so  ever  pres- 
ent with  us  that  they  shut  out  our  view  of 
the  forces  which  lie  behind.  Yet  there  are 
some  facts  common  in  the  experience  of  all 
men  which  may  help  us  to  a  conception  of 
the  truth.  One  of  these  is  the  fact  of  mind 
growing  with  the  growth  of  years — a  fact 
determined  by  the  recollection  of  childhood, 
of  youth,  and  of  maturity.  By  comparing 
ouselves  with  ourselves  at  former  periods 
of  life — by  the  memory  of  feelings  and  of 
opinions,  and  of  methods  of  thought  which 
we  have  outgrown  and  left  behind  us,  we 
can  detect  the  action  of  forces  which  have 
told  upon  our  minds — traces,  in  short,  of 
the  laws  to  which  they  have  been  subject. 
Some  of  these  laws  have  been  nothing  more 
than  laws  of  physical  growth — the  concep- 
tions of  the  mind  undergoing  a  development 
consequent  on  the  growth  of  our  material 
organism. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  6,  p. 
171.  (Burt.) 

1748.  INTUITIONS  NOT  EXPLAINED 
BY  EXPERIENCE  OF  INDIVIDUAL  OR 
OF  RACE—  The  Ancient^  Explanation  (Job 
xxxii,  8). — It  is  a  familiar  truth  that  some 
propositions  are  necessary.  We  must  attach 
the  predicate  "  equal "  to  the  subject  "  op- 
posite sides  of  a  parallelogram  "  if  we  think 
those  terms  together  at  all,  whereas  we  need 
not  in  any  such  way  attach  the  predicate 
"  rainy,"  for  example,  to  the  subject  "  to- 
morrow." The  dubious  sort  of  coupling  of 
terms  is  universally  admitted  to  be  due  to 
"  experience " ;  the  certain  sort  is  ascribed 
to  the  "  organic  structure "  of  the  mind. 
This  structure  is  in  turn  supposed  by  the 
so-called  apriorists  to  be  of  transcendental 
origin,  or  at  any  rate  not  to  be  explicable 
by  experience;  whilst  by  evolutionary  em- 
piricists it  is  supposed  to  be  also  due  to 
experience,  only  not  to  the  experience  of  the 
individual,  but  to  that  of  his  ancestors  as 
far  back  as  one  may  please  to  go. 
Taking  the  word  "  experience  "  as  it  is  uni- 
versally understood,  the  experience  of  the 
race  can  no  more  account  for  our  necessary 
or  a  priori  judgments  than  the  experience  of 
the  individual  can. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  28,  p.  617.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1749.      INUNDATION     POSSIBLE  — 

Subsidence  of  Land  Might  Empty  Lake  Su- 
perior.— If  we  restrict  ourselves  to  combi- 
nations of  causes  at  present  known  it  would 
seem  that  the  two  principal  sources  of  ex- 
traordinary inundations  are,  first,  the  escape 
of  the  waters  of  a  large  lake  raised  far  above 
the  sea;  and,  secondly,  the  pouring  down  of 
a  marine  current  into  lands  depressed  below 
the  mean  level  of  the  ocean. 


As  an  example  of  the  first  of  these  cases 
we  may  take  Lake  Superior,  which  is  more 
than  400  geographical  miles  in  length  and 
about  150  in  breadth,  having  an  average 
depth  of  from  500  to  900  feet.  The  surface 
of  this  vast  body  of  fresh  water  is  no  less 
than  600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean; 
the  lowest  part  of  the  barrier  which  sepa- 
rates the  lake  on  its  southwest  side  from 
those  streams  which  flow  into  the  head  wa- 
ters of  the  Mississippi  being  about  600  feet 
high.  If,  therefore,  a  series  of  subsidences 
should  lower  any  part  of  this  barrier  600 
feet,  any  subsequent  rending  or  depression, 
even  of  a  few  yards  at  a  time,  would  allow 
the  sudden  escape  of  vast  floods  of  water 
into  a  hydrographical  basin  of  enormous  ex- 
tent. If  the  event  happened  in  the  dry  sea- 
son, when  the  ordinary  channels  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  tributaries  are  in  a  great 
degree  empty,  the  inundation  might  not  be 
considerable;  but  if  in  the  flood  season,  a 
region  capable  of  supporting  a  population 
of  many  millions  might  be  suddenly  sub- 
merged.— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  10,  p.  156.  (A.,  1854.) 

175O.  INVENTION  AMONG  SAVAGES 

— Devices  for  Deluding  Game — Origin  of  the 
"  Stalking-horse" — The  Australian  hunter 
takes  the  wallaby  (a  small  kangaroo)  by 
fastening  to  a  long  rod  like  a  fishing-rod  a 
hawk's  skin  and  feathers,  making  the  sham 
bird  hover  with  its  proper  cry  till  it  drives 
the  game  into  a  bush  where  it  can  be 
speared.  Of  devices  of  stalking  with  an  imi- 
tated animal  one  of  the  most  perfect  is  that 
of  the  Dogrib  Indians,  when  a  pair  of  hunt- 
ers go  after  reindeer;  the  foremost  carries 
a  reindeer's  head,  while  in  the  other  hand 
he  has  a  bunch  of  twigs  against  which  he 
makes  the  head  rub  its  horns  in  a  lifelike 
way,  and  the  two  men,  walking  as  the  deer's 
fore  and  hind  legs,  get  among  the  herd  and 
bring  down  the  finest.  In  England,  till  of 
late  years,  fowlers  used  to  hide  behind  a 
wooden  horse  moved  along  on  wheels,  and  a 
relic  of  this  survives  in  the  phrase  "  to  make 
a  stalking-horse  of  one,"  often  now  used  by 
people  who  have  no  idea  what  the  word 
meant. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  209. 
(A.,  1899.) 


1751. 


Possibilities  of  New 


Implement  Exhausted  —  Mechanical  Prog- 
ress.— I  find  that  in  the  employment  of  the 
curved  knife  the  Eskimo,  the  Canadian 
tribes,  together  with  their  kindred  on  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
and,  more  than  all,  the  North  Pacific  tribes 
on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  have  exhausted 
the  possibilities  of  an  implement  that  has 
been  in  the  hands  of  some  only  a  century 
or  two.  The  arts  of  all  these  tribes  were 
bettered  and  not  degraded  by  the  curved 
knife.  In  every  case  they  were  immensely 
improved.  The  form  of  knife  with  straight, 
short  blade  made  it  possible  for  the  north- 
ern and  western  tribes  to  become  better 
carvers  and  engravers.  Before  the  possession 


359 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Invention 


of  iron  there  is  meager  evidence  that  either 
of  these  areas  possessed  other  than  the  most 
trivial  carvings  in  hard  material.  Their 
best  results  were  in  soft  wood  and  slate,  by 
means  of  beaver-tooth  or  shark's- tooth 
knives.  The  curved  knife  serves  to  confirm 
the  opinion  that  as  soon  as  any  process  or 
device  came  within  the  scope  of  a  people's 
intelligence  they  have  mastered  it  and 
brought  it  to  a  climax,  from  which  time 
on  new  ideas  and  new  inventions  replaced 
the  old. — MASON  The  Man's  Knife  among 
the  North  American  Indians  (Report  of 
U.  8.  National  Museum  for  1897,  p.  742). 

1752.  INVENTION  AND  DISCOVERY 

— The  Discoverer  Rarely  an  Inventor. — By  a 
discovery  in  science  is  understood  the  de- 
velopment of  a  knowledge  of  the  existence 
of  some  principle  in  Nature  not  before 
known  or  but  partially  understood,  while 
the  term  invention  indicates  the  application 
of  this  knowledge,  either  simply  or  in  com- 
bination with  other  knowledge,  to  some  use- 
ful purpose  in  the  arts.  For  example,  Frank- 
lin discovered  the  principle  of  electrical  in- 
duction, or  the  action  at  a  distance  of  a 
charged  body  on  a  conductor,  and  on  this 
founded  his  invention  of  the  lightning-rod. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  mind  and  training  neces- 
sary to  the  successful  prosecution  of  these 
two  branches  of  labor  are  found  combined 
in  the  same  individual.  Of  a  happy  combi- 
nation of  this  kind  James  Watt  affords  a 
striking  example,  the  like  of  which  will  be- 
come more  common  in  proportion  as  the 
means  of  intellectual  improvement  afforde.d 
to  workmen  are  extended.  Generally,  how- 
ever, the  two  faculties  exist  in  the  greatest 
degree  of  development  in  separate  individu- 
als. The  successful  investigation  of  a  new 
principle  in  science  generally  requires  much 
previous  study  and  preparation  and  a  logical 
training,  which  few  men,  however  vigorous 
may  be  their  native  intellect,  can  dispense 
with,  and  to  acquire  which  the  oppor- 
tunities of  the  workmen  are  inadequate.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  successful  introduction 
to  common  use  of  an  invention  requires  a 
contest  with  the  world  from  which  the  sen- 
sitive student  of  abstract  science  shrinks 
with  repugnance.  I  consider  these  remarks 
of  some  importance,  because  in  this  country, 
where  there  is  so  great  a  demand  for  im- 
mediate practical  results,  the  value  of  labor 
in  the  line  of  abstract  science  is  not  prop- 
erly appreciated  or  encouraged. — HENRY  Im- 
provement of  the  Mechanical  Arts  (Scientific 
Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  319).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1753.  INVENTION     A     NECESSITY 
FOR    PRIMITIVE    WOMAN— To  feed  the 
flock  under  her  immediate  care  woman  had 
to   become   an   inventor,    and   it   is   in   this 
activity  of  her  mind  that  she  is  specially 
interesting  here.     The  hen  scratches  for  her 
chicks    all    day   long,    because    Nature   has 
fastened   her   hoes    and    rakes    and   cutting 
apparatus  upon  her  body.     But  here  stands 


a  creature  on  the  edge  of  time  who  had  to 
create  the  implements  of  such  industry.  It 
is  true  that  all  the  ages  and  all  experiences 
and  examples  of  the  zoological  world  were 
around  her.  So  had  they  been  around  other 
creatures.  But  the  power  to  associate  new 
ideas  constantly  and  independently  was  to 
be  for  the  nrst  time  her  peculiar  endowment 
as  a  bringer  of  food. — MASON  Woman's  Share 
in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2,  p.  14.  (A., 
1894.) 

1 754.  INVENTION  DRIVING  TO  IN- 
VENTION— Scattered    Workers   Crowded    To- 
gether— Time  and  Cost  of  Collection  Fatal 
— The  Factory  System  Becomes  a  Necessity. 
— Towards    the    middle    of    the    eighteenth 
century  the  greatest  difficulty  was   experi- 
enced by  weavers  and  spinners  in  England 
in  maintaining  their  position  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world.     It  is  curious  how  each 
new  mechanical  invention  gave  rise  to  the 
necessities  out  of  which  the  next  arose.    The 
invention  of  the  fly-shuttle  in  weaving,  so 
early  as  1733,  seems  to  have  given  the  first 
impulse  to  all  that  followed.     By  means  of 
this  invention  the  power  of  weaving  over- 
took the  power  of  spinning.     An  adequate 
supply  of  yarn  could  not  be  procured  under 
the  ancient  methods  of  that  most  ancient 
industry.     New  conditions  gave  rise  to  new 
motives,  and  new  motives  called  into  play 
the  latent  energies  of  mind.     The  time  and 
the   cost  of    collecting   the   products   of   so 
many    scattered    laborers    enhanced    unduly 
the  cost  of  manufacture,  and  even  when  the 
remuneration  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  point 
compatible  with  existence  that  cost  was  still 
too  high.     Something  was  imperatively  re- 
quired   to    economize    the   work    of    human 
hands — some  more  elaborate  contrivance  to 
make  that  work  go  further  than  before.  And 
so  Hargreaves's  invention  arose,  not  before 
the  time.    And  when  his  spinning-jenny  had 
been   invented,   a   still  more  elaborate   and 
powerful    combination    of    mechanical    ad- 
justments was  soon  perfected  in  the  hands 
of   Arkwright.      When    the    spinning-frame 
was  invented,  and  when  Crompton's  farther 
invention    of   the   mule-jenny    speedily    fol- 
lowed,  the   new   order   of   things   had   been 
fairly  inaugurated.     The  great  change  had 
come,    and    the    survivance   of   the    ancient 
domestic    industries    of   so    many    centuries 
was  no   longer   possible. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  206.     (Burt.) 

1755.  INVENTION  GIVES  INCREAS- 
ING POWER—  Great  Results  from  Small  Be- 
ginning— Magnetic  Induction. — The  story  of 
the  discovery  of  magnetic  induction  by  Fara- 
day and  Henry  is  most  instructive,  for  it 
shows  how  an  apparently  slight  and  unim- 
portant manifestation  of  energy  can  be  ex- 
alted by   proper  means   into   a  tremendous 
one.     Faraday  remarked,  after  detailing  his 
experiments   on   magnetic   induction:   "The 
various  experiments  of  this  section  prove,  I 
think,    most   completely   the   production    of 
electricity  from  ordinary  magnetism.     That 


Invention 
Invisible 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


360 


its  intensity  should  be  very  feeble  and  quan- 
tity small  cannot  be  considered  wonderful 
when  it  is  remembered  that,  like  thermo- 
electricity, it  is  evolved  entirely  within  the 
substance  of  metals  retaining  all  their  con- 
ducting power."  The  steam-engine  has  ex- 
alted this  apparently  feeble  effect  discov- 
ered by  Faraday  into  a  power  which  is  only 
limited  by  that  of  the  steam-engine  or  the 
water-power  which  we  employ. — TROWBRIDGE 
What  is  Electricity?  ch.  1,  p.  9.  (A.,  1899.) 

1756.  INVENTION  INDIGENOUS  IN 

MAN — Invention  is  indigenous  in  the  na- 
ture of  man.  The  first  being  on  this  earth 
worthy  of  that  name  was  an  inventor.  The 
only  moment  in  the  life  of  an  individual  or 
a  people  in  which  the  distinction  of  true  hu- 
manity may  be  worthily  bestowed  on  them 
is  that  in  which  something  new  is  added  to 
the  stock  of  knowledge  or  experience.  When 
men  or  nations  originate,  they  live  and 
grow;  when  they  cease  to  do  that,  they  de- 
cay and  die.  This  has  been  true  from  the 
beginning. — MASON  Origins  of  Invention, 
ch.  12,  p.  410.  (S.,  1899.) 

1757.  INVENTION  OF  THE   SAND- 
BLAST—Man  Taught  by  Processes  of  Nature. 
— The  sphinx  of  Egypt  is  nearly  covered  up 
by  the  sand  of  the  desert.     The  neck  of  the 
sphinx  is  partly  cut  across,  not,  as  I  am 
assured  by  Mr.  Huxley,  by  ordinary  weather- 
ing, but  by  the  eroding  action  of  the  fine 
sand  blown  against  it.     In  these  cases  Na- 
ture furnishes  us  with  hints  which  may  be 
taken  advantage  of  in  art;  and  this  action 
of  sand  has  been  recently  turned  to  extraor- 
dinary account  in  the  United  States.    When 
in  Boston  [1872]  I  was  taken  by  my  cour- 
teous and  helpful  friend,  Mr.  Josiah  Quin- 
cey,  to  see  the  action  of  the  sand-blast.     A 
kind  of  hopper  containing  fine  silicious  sand 
was    connected    with    a    reservoir    of    com- 
pressed air,  the  pressure  being  variable  at 
pleasure.     The  hopper  ended  in  a  long  slit, 
from  which  the  sand  was  blown.     A  plate 
of  glass  was  placed   beneath  this  slit  and 
caused  to  pass  slowly  under  it;  it  came  out 
perfectly  depolished,  with  a  bright  opales- 
cent glimmer,   such   as  could  only  be  pro- 
duced by  the  most  careful  grinding.    Every 
little    particle   of    sand   urged    against   the 
glass,    having    all    its    energy    concentrated 
on  the  point  of  impact,  formed  there  a  little 
pit,  the  depolished  surface  consisting  of  in- 
numerable   hollows    of    this    description. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch. 
7,  p.  193.     (A.,  1897.) 

1758.  INVENTION  UNSUCCESSFUL 

— Destructibility  of  Lava — Artificial  Stone 
Lacks  Endurance. — Some  years  ago  a  very 
ingenious  invention  was  submitted  to  trial 
in  the  works  of  the  Messrs.  Chance,  of  Bir- 
mingham. It  had  been  suggested  that  if 
certain  lavas  of  easy  fusibility  were  melted 
and  poured  into  molds  we  might  thus  ob- 
tain elaborately  ornamented  stonework, 
composed  of  the  hardest  material,  without 


the  labor  of  the  mason.  The  molten  rock 
when  quickly  cooled  was  found  to  assume 
the  form  of  a  black  glass,  but  when  very 
slowly  cooled  passed  into  a  stony  material. 
Unfortunately,  it  was  found  that  this  ma- 
terial did  not  withstand  the  weather  like 
ordinary  building  stones,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  manufacture  had  to  be  aban- 
doned.— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  3,  p.  5.  (A., 
1899.) 

1759.  INVENTIONS  OF  PRIMITIVE 
MAN — The  Roller  and  the  Pulley  among  Ameri- 
can Aborigines. — The   roller    I   have   found 
certainly  in  two   areas.     The  Eskimos,    in 
landing  a  heavily  laden  skin-boat,  accord- 
ing to  Elliott,  lay  down  on  the  beach,  in  a 
row,  inflated  sealskins,  used  as  floats  with 
their   harpoons.      Upon   these   the   craft    is 
beached  without  the  vexation  of  unloading 
her.     A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that 
in    this    apparatus    the    pneumatic    tire    is 
foreshadowed.      The   other    example   of   the 
roller  is  the  use  made  of  it  on  the  North 
Pacific    coast    in    moving    the    great    logs 
to  be   used   in   constructing  the   communal 
houses.     The  pulley  in  its  simplest  form  i* 
described  as  an  invention  of  tepee-dwelling 
Indians   of  the  plains.      When  the   women 
had  set  up  the  three  chief  poles  of  the  tent, 
the  skin  cover  was  hauled  up  by  a  line  fast- 
ened  to   the   top    margin,   passed   over    the 
fork  of  the  poles  above,  and  hauled  by  wom- 
en at  the  other  end.     When  the  time  came 
to  strike  tent,  the  line  was  loosed  and  the 
poles  drawn  together  at  their  bases.    Elliott, 
however,  figures  a  group  of  Eskimos  landing 
a  huge  walrus  by  means  of  a  compound  pul- 
ley.   A  long,  stout  walrus  line  passes  around 
greasy  pegs  driven  between  the  rocks   and 
through    slits    cut  in  the    animal's   hide. — 
MASON     Aboriginal     American     Mechanics 
(Memoirs  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Anthropology,  p.  76).    (Sch.  P.  C.) 

1760.  INVESTIGATIpN,    ORIGINAL 

— The  Mainspring  of  Technical  Education. — 
At  the  present  time  there  is  a  cry  in  Eng- 
land for  technical  education,  and  it  is  a  cry 
in  which  the  most  commonplace  intellect  can 
join,  its  necessity  is  so  obvious.  But  there 
is  no  cry  for  original  investigation.  Still 
without  this,  as  surely  as  the  stream  dwin- 
dles when  the  spring  dies,  so  surely  will 
"  technical  education "  lose  all  force  of 
growth,  all  power  of  reproduction.  Our 
great  investigators  have  given  us  sufficient 
work  for  a  time;  but  if  their  spirit  die 
out  we  shall  find  ourselves  eventually  in 
the  condition  of  those  Chinese  mentioned 
by  De  Tocqueville,  who,  having  forgotten 
the  scientific  origin  of  what  they  did,  were 
at  length  compelled  to  copy  without  varia- 
tion the  inventions  of  an  ancestry  wiser  than 
themselves  who  had  drawn  their  inspiration 
direct  from  Nature. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  p.  218.  (A.,  1898.) 

1761.  INVESTIGATION,    UNTIRING 
SPIRIT  OF,  IN  MONKEY— Patient  Industry 
Evinced. — In  conclusion,  I  should  say  that 


361 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Invention 
Invisible 


much  the  most  striking  feature  in  the  psy- 
chology of  this  animal  [a  brown  capuchin 
monkey],  and  the  one  which  is  least  like 
anything  met  with  in  other  animals,  was 
the  tireless  spirit  of  investigation.  The 
hours  and  hours  of  patient  industry  which 
this  poor  monkey  has  spent  in  ascertain- 
ing all  that  his  monkey  intelligence  could  of 
the  sundry  unfamiliar  objects  that  fell  into 
his  hands  might  well  read  a  lesson  in  care- 
fulness to  many  a  hasty  observer.  And  the 
keen  satisfaction  which  he  displayed  when 
he  had  succeeded  in  making  any  little  dis- 
covery, such  as  that  of  the  mechanical  prin- 
ciple of  the  screw,  repeating  the  results  of 
his  newly  earned  knowledge  over  and  over 
again,  till  one  could  not  but  marvel  at  the  in- 
tent abstraction  of  the  "  dumb  brute  " — this 
was  so  different  from  anything  to  be  met 
with  in  any  other  animal*  that  I  confess  I 
should  not  have  believed  what  I  saw  unless 
I  had  repeatedly  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes. 
As  my  sister  once  observed  while  we  were 
watching  him  conducting  some  of  his  re- 
searches, in  oblivion  to  his  food  and  all  his 
other  surroundings,  "  When  a  monkey  be- 
haves like  this  it  is  no  wonder  that  man  is 
a  scientific  animal!" — ROMANES  Animal  In- 
telligence, ch.  17,  p.  497.  (A.,  1899.) 

1762.  INVESTIGATION  VS.  DOGMA 

— The  Scientific  Spirit. — The  history  of 
science  teaches  us  the  difficulties  that  have 
opposed  the  progress  of  this  active  spirit  of 
inquiry.  Inaccurate  and  imperfect  obser- 
vations have  led,  by  false  inductions,  to  the 
great  number  of  physical  views  that  have 
been  perpetuated  as  popular  prejudices 
among  all  classes  of  society.  Thus  by  the 
side  of  a  solid  and  scientific  knowledge  of 
natural  phenomena  there  has  been  preserved 
a  system  of  the  pretended  results  of  obser- 
vation, which  is  so  much  the  more  difficult 
to  shake,  as  it  denies  the  validity  of  the 
facts  by  which  it  may  be  refuted.  This 
empiricism,  the  melancholy  heritage  trans- 
mitted to  us  from  former  times,  invariably 
contends  for  the  truth  of  its  axioms  with  the 
arrogance  of  a  narrow-minded  spirit.  Phys- 
ical philosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  when 
based  upon  science,  doubts  because  it  seeks 
to  ^investigate,  distinguishes  between  that 
which  is  certain  and  that  which  is  merely 
probable,  and  strives  incessantly  to  perfect 
theory  by  extending  the  circle  of  observa- 
tion.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  38. 
(H.,  1897.) 

1 763.  INVESTIGATORS  OFTEN  BAD 
LECTURERS—  Advanced  Thinker  Sees  Things 
in   Masses — Anecdote   of  Laplace. — An   ad- 
vanced   thinker    sees    the    relations    of   his 
topics  in  such  masses  and  so  instantaneously 
that  when  he  comes  to  explain  to  younger 
minds  it  is  often  hard  to  say  which  grows 
the  more  perplexed,   he  or   the  pupil.     In 
every  university  there  are  admirable  inves- 
tigators who  are  notoriously  bad  lecturers. 
The  reason  is  that  they  never  spontaneously 
*ee  the  subject  in  the  minute  articulate  way 


in  which  the  student  needs  to  have  it  offered 
to  his  slow  reception.  They  grope  for  the 
links,  but  the  links  do  not  come.  Bowditch, 
who  translated  and  annotated  Laplace's 
"  Me"canique  Celeste,"  said  that  whenever 
his  author  prefaced  a  proposition  by  the 
words  "  it  is  evident,"  he  knew  that  many 
hours  of  hard  study  lay  before  him. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  369.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1764.  INVIGORATION  OF  NEGA- 
TIVE CHARACTER—  Overcoming,    Not  Re- 
moval  of   Difficulties — Self-reliance   To    Be 
Fostered. — With  a  character  of   [the  nega- 
tive] type,  the  object  of  the  judicious  edu- 
cator will  be  to  invigorate  the  whole  nature, 
corporeal  as  well  as  physical;    to  find  out 
what  worthy   objects   of  pursuit  have  the 
most  attraction  for  his  pupil,  and  to  aid  and 
encourage  his  steady  pursuit  of  them,  not 
by  removing  difficulties  from  his  path,  but 
by  helping  him  to  surmount  them,  and  in 
this  manner  to  foster  habits  of  self-reliance, 
which,  when  once  formed,  whether  in  regard 
to  manly  exercises  or  to  the  work  of  the 
intellect,  may  be  looked  to  as  available  for 
the  moral  direction  of  the  conduct. — CAR- 
PENTER Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  9,  p. 
428.    (A.,  1900.) 

1765.  INVISIBLE,  THE,  MADE  VISI- 
BLE—  Ultraviolet  Waves  Revealed  by  Fluores- 
cence.— As    a    general    rule,    bodies    either 
transmit  light  or  absorb  it;    but  there  is  a 
third  case  in  which  the  light  falling  upon 
the    body    is    neither    transmitted    nor    ab- 
sorbed, but  converted  into  light  of  another 
kind.    Professor  Stokes,  the  occupant  of  the 
chair  of  Newton  in  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, has  demonstrated  this  change  of  one 
kind  of  light  into  another,  and  has  pushed 
his  experiments  so  far  as  to  render  the  in- 
visible rays  visible.    A  large  number  of  sub- 
stances examined  by  Stokes,  when  excited 
by  the  invisible  ultraviolet  waves,  have  been 
proved  to  emit  light.    You  know  the  rate  of 
vibration  corresponding  to  the  extreme  vio- 
let of  the  spectrum;    you  are  aware  that  to 
produce   the   impression  of  this   color,   the 
retina  is  struck  789  millions  of  millions  of 
times  in  a  second.    At  this  point,  the  retina 
ceases  to  be  useful  as  an  organ  of  vision,  for 
tho  struck  by  waves  of  more  rapid  recur- 
rence, they  are  incompetent  to  awaken  the 
sensation    of   light.    '  But   when    such   non- 
visual  waves  are  caused  to  impinge  upon  the 
molecules  of  certain  substances — on  those  of 
sulfate  of  quinin,   for  example — they  com- 
pel   those    molecules,    or    their    constituent 
atoms,  to  vibrate;     and  the  peculiarity  is, 
that  the  vibrations  thus  set  up  are  of  slower 
period   than   those   of   the   exciting   waves. 
By  this  lowering  of  the  rate  of  vibration 
through  the  intermediation  of  the  sulfate  of 
quinin,     the     invisible    rays     are    brought 
within  the  range  of  vision.     .     .     .     Cast- 
ing by  means  of  a  prism  a  spectrum     .     .     . 
upon  a  sheet  of  paper  which  has  been  wetted 
with  a  saturated  solution  of  the  sulfate  of 


Invisible 

Isolation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


quinin.  and  afterwards  dried,  an  obvious 
extension  of  the  spectrum  is  revealed.  We 
have,  in  the  first  instance,  a  portion  of  the 
violet  rendered  whiter  and  more  brilliant; 
but,  besides  this,  we  have  the  gleaming  of 
the  color  where,  in  the  case  of  unprepared 
paper,  nothing  is  seen.  Other  substances 
produce  a  similar  effect.  A  substance,  for 
example,  recently  discovered  by  President 
Morton,  and  named  by  him  thallene,  pro- 
duces a  very  striking  elongation  of  the  spec- 
trum, the  new  light  generated  being  of  pe- 
culiar brilliancy.  .  .  .  [Stokes]  called 
this  rendering  visible  of  the  ultraviolet  rays 
fluorescence. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  4,  p.  163.  (A.,  1898.) 

1766.  IRON  AMONG  THE  HEBREWS 

— Discovery  of  Dim  Antiquity. — It  has  been 
suggested  that  such  iron  as  has  been  found 
in  Egypt,  and  referred  to  Pharaonic  times, 
may  have  been  made  and  used  by  the  He- 
brews during  their  servitude,  and  that  when 
they  left  the  country  they  carried  their 
knowledge  with  them.  That  they  were  fa- 
miliar with  the  metal  at  the  period  of 
Moses,  and  hence  at  about  1500  years  B.  C., 
and  possibly  had  known  of  it  then  for  a  long 
time,  is  shown  by  the  mention  of  Tubal 
Cain,  "  an  instructor  of  every  artificer  in 
brass  and  iron,"  as  a  personage  of  great  an- 
tiquity, at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch. Their  continuing  knowledge  of  it, 
over  many  centuries,  is  further  shown  by  the 
Biblical  references  to  the  bed  of  iron  of  Og, 
the  iron  chariots  of  Javin,  the  miraculous 
floating  ax-head  of  Elisha,  the  question 
"  shall  iron  break  the  northern  iron  and  the 
steel "  in  the  Jeremiad,  and  many  other  in- 
stances, easily  found. — PARK  BENJAMIN  In- 
tellectual Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  1,  p.  28. 
(J.  W.,  1898.) 

1767.  IRRELIGION    MAY   RESULT 
FROM    DEGENERACY  —  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  even  if  it  had  been  true  that 
some  savages  do  exist  with  no  conception 
whatever  of  living  beings  higher  than  them- 
selves, it  would  be  no  proof  whatever  that 
such  was  the  primeval  condition  of  man. 
The    .     .     .     most  degraded  savagery  of  the 
present  day  is  or  may  be  the  result  of  evo- 
lution working  upon  highly  unfavorable  con- 
ditions.    .     .     .     Degradation  being  a  proc- 
ess which  has  certainly  operated,  and  is  now 
operating  upon  some  races,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent, it  must  always  remain  a  question  how 
far  this  process  may  go  in  paralyzing  the 
activity  of  our  higher  powers,  or  in  setting 
them,  as  it  were,  to  sleep. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
"Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  281.    (Burt.) 

1768.  IRRIGATION,    SYSTEM     OF, 
AMONG  NORTH-AMERICAN   INDIANS- 
No  aborigines,  unaided  by  domestic  animals, 
have  displayed  so  much  patience  and  inge- 
nuity in  the  storage  and  conducting  of  wa- 
ter as  the  Indians  of  the  arid  region  of  the 
United     States.      Throughout    the    jmblic 
region,   says  Mr.   Hodge,   works   of  irriga- 
tion abound  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  moun- 


tain slopes,  especially  along  the  drainage 
of  the  Gila  and  the  Salado,  in  Southern 
Arizona,  where  the  inhabitants  are  engaged 
in  agriculture  to  a  vast  extent  by  this 
means.  The  arable  tract  of  the  Salado  com- 
prises 450,000  acres,  and  the  ancient  in- 
habitants controlled  the  watering  of  at  least 
250,000  acres.  The  outlines  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  ancient  main  irrigating 
ditches  may  be  readily  traced,  some  of  which 
meander  southward  a  distance  of  fourteen 
miles.  In  one  place  the  main  canal  was 
found  to  be  a  ditch  within  a  ditch,  the  bed 
being  seven  feet  deep.  The  lower  section 
was  only  four  feet  wide,  but  the  sides  broad- 
ened in  their  ascent  to  a  "  bench  "  three  feet 
wide  on  each  side  of  the  canal.  Remains  of 
balsas  were  recovered,  showing  that  the 
transportation  of  material  was  also  carried 
on.  Remains  of  flood-gates  were  found  by 
Mr.  Gushing,  and  great  reservoirs  for  stor- 
age of  water,  one  example  being  200  feet 
long  and  15  feet  in  depth. — MASON  Aborig- 
inal American  Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  the 
International  Congress  of  Anthropology,  p. 
82).  (Sch.  P.  C.) 

1769.  IRRITATION    OF     SKIN    BY 
ALPINE    SUNSHINE  —  Power  of  Chemical 
Rays. — There  would  seem  to  be  some  specific 
quality  in  the  sun's  rayg  which  produces  the 
irritation   of   the   skin   experienced   in   the 
Alps.     The  solar  heat  may  be  compared,  in 
point  of  quantity,  with  that  radiated  from  a 
furnace;    and  the  heat  encountered  by  the 
mountaineer  on  Alpine  snows  is  certainly 
less  intense  than  that  endured  by  workmen 
in  many  of  our  technical  operations.     But 
the    terrestrial    heat    appears    to    lack    the 
quality   which    gives   the    solar    rays    their 
power.     The  sun  is  incomparably  richer  in 
what  are  called  chemical  rays  than  are  our 
fires,  and  to  such  rays  the  irritation  may  be 
due. — TYNDALL   Hours   of   Exercise  in   the 
Alps,  ch.  15,  p.  169.    (A.,  1898.) 

1770.  ISLAND   CREATED    IN    ONE 
GENERATION— There  can  be  little  doubt, 
from  the  account  given  by  Captain  Beechey, 
that  Matilda  Atoll  in  the  Low  Archipela- 
go has  been  converted  in  the  space  of  thirty- 
four  years  from  being,  as  described  by  the 
crew  of  a  wrecked  whaling-vessel,  a  "  reef 
of    rocks,"    into    a    lagoon-island    fourteen 
miles  in  length,  with  "  one  of  its  sides  cov- 
ered nearly  the  whole  way  with  high  trees." 
The  islets,  also,  on  Keeling  Atoll,  it  has  been 
shown,  have  increased  in  length,  and  since 
the  construction  of  an  old  chart  several  of 
them    have    become    united    into    one    long 
islet. — DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch.  4,  p.   101. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1771.  ISLAND    RISES    AMONG 
AZORES—  Wide-spread  Earthquakes— Distant 
Echo  of  Eruption. — The  sudden  appearance, 
on  the  30th  of  January,  1811,  of  the  island 
of  Sabrina,  in  the  group  of  the  Azores,  was 
the  precursor  of  the  dreadful   earthquakes 
which,  further  westward,  shook,  from  May, 
1811,  to  June,  1813,  almost  uninterruptedly, 


363 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


latio 


first  the  Antilles,  then  the  plains  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  lastly  the  oppo- 
site coasts  of  Venezuela  or  Caracas.  Thirty 
days  after  the  total  destruction  of  the  beau- 
tiful capital  of  the  province  there  was  an 
eruption  of  the  long  inactive  volcano  of  St. 
Vincent,  in  the  neighboring  islands  of  the 
Antilles.  A  remarkable  phenomenon  accom- 
panied this  eruption;  at  the  moment  of  this 
explosion,  which  occurred  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1811,  a  terrible  subterranean  noise 
was  heard  in  South  America,  over  a  district 
of  more  than  35,000  square  miles.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  banks  of  the  Apure,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Rio  Nula,  and  those  living 
on  the  remote  seacoast  of  Venezuela,  agreed 
in  comparing  this  sound  to  the  noise  of 
heavy  artillery.  The  distance  from  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Rio  Nula  with  the  Apure  (by 
which  I  entered  the  Orinoco)  to  the  volcano 
of  St.  Vincent,  measured  in  a  straight  line, 
is  no  less  than  628  miles.  This  noise  was 
certainly  not  propagated  through  the  air, 
and  must  have  arisen  from  some  deep-seated 
subterranean  cause ;  its  intensity  was,  more- 
over, hardly  greater  on  the  shores  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  near  the  seat  of  the  raging 
volcano,  than  in  the  interior  of  the  country 
in  the  basin  of  the  Apure  and  the  Orinoco. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  361.  (Bell, 
1896.) 

1772.  ISLANDS  OF  CORAL— Growing 
in  Spite  of  Beating  Surge — Advance  against 
Resistance. — Of  thirty-two  of  these  coral  is- 
lands visited  by  Beechey  in  his  voyage  to  the 
Pacific,  twenty-nine  had  lagoons  in  their 
centers.  The  largest  was  30  miles  in  di- 
ameter and  the  smallest  less  than  a  mile. 
All  were  increasing  their  dimensions  by  the 
active  operations  of  the  lithophytes,  which 
appeared  to  be  gradually  extending  and 
bringing  the  immersed  parts  of  their  struc- 
ture to  the  surface.  The  scene  presented 
by  these  annular  reefs  is  equally  striking 
for  its  singularity  and  beauty.  A  strip  of 
land  a  few  hundred  yards  wide  is  covered 
by  lofty  coconut-trees,  above  which  is  the 
blue  vault  of  heaven.  This  band  of  verdure 
is  bounded  by  a  beach  of  glittering  white 
sand,  the  outer  margin  of  which  is  encircled 
with  a  ring  of  snow-white  breakers,  beyond 
which  are  the  dark,  heaving  waters  of  the 
ocean.  The  inner  beach  encloses  the  still  clear 
water  of  the  lagoon,  resting  in  its  greater 
part  on  white  sand,  and,  when  illuminated 
by  a  vertical  sun,  of  a  most  vivid  green.  Cer- 
tain species  of  zoophytes  abound  most  in 
the  lagoon,  others  on  the  exterior  margin 
where  there  is  a  great  surf.  "  The  ocean," 
says  Mr.  Darwin,  "  throwing  its  breakers 
on  these  outer  shores,  appears  an  invincible 
enemy,  yet  we  see  it  resisted  and  even  con- 
quered by  means  which  at  first  seem  most 
weak  and  inefficient.  No  periods  of  repose 
are  granted,  and  the  long  swell  caused  by 
the  steady  action  of  the  trade-wind  never 
ceases.  The  breakers  exceed  in  violence 
those  of  our  temperate  regions,  and  it  is 


impossible  to  behold  them  without  feeling 
a  conviction  that  rocks  of  granite  or  quartz 
would  ultimately  yield  and  be  demolished 
by  such  irresistible  forces.  Yet  these  low, 
insignificant  coral  islets  stand  and  are  vic- 
torious, for  here  another  power,  as  antago- 
nist to  the  former,  takes  part  in  the  con- 
test. The  organic  forces  separate  the  atoms 
of  carbonate  of  lime  one  by  one  from  the 
foaming  breakers,  and  unite  them  into  a 
symmetrical  structure;  myriads  of  archi- 
tects are  at  work  night  and  day,  month 
after  month,  and  we  see  their  soft  and  gelat- 
inous bodies  through  the  agency  of  the 
vital  laws  conquering  the  great  mechanical 
power  of  the  waves  of  an  ocean,  which 
neither  the  art  of  man  nor  the  inanimate 
works  of  Nature  could  successfully  resist." 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch. 
50,  p.  780.  (A.,  1854.) 

1773.  ISLANDS  OF  FLOATING  SEA- 
WEED —  The    Sargasso    Fauna  —  Floating 
Homes    of    Marine    Animals. — The    pelagic 
zone  may  be  divided  into  several  geograph- 
ical regions  and  subregions,  which  it  would 
be  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book  to  enumer- 
ate here,  but  there  is  one  that  calls  for  a 
few  brief  remarks.     In  many  parts  of  the 
ocean  there  may  be  found  vast  areas  of  float- 
ing seaweed    [sargasso]    which   carry  with 
them  a  population  of  Crustacea  and  other 
animals   peculiarly  their   own.     This   Sar- 
gasso  fauna  presents  so  many  characteris- 
tics and  so  many  features  different  from  that 
of  the  ordinary  pelagic  fauna  that  the  tracts 
of  sea  bearing  this  weed  must  be  considered 
to  rank  as  a  special  region  of  the  pelagic 
zone,  which  may  be  called  the  "  Sargasso 
region." — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  3,  p.  48.      (A.,   1894.) 

1774.  ISOLATION   OF   OUR  SUN— 

Distance  from  Alpha  Centauri — Seventy-five 
Million  Years  by  Express  Train.— Our  sun, 
a  star  in  the  immensity,  is  isolated  in  in- 
finitude, and  the  nearest  sun  reigns  at  10 
trillions  of  leagues  (25  billions  of  miles) 
from  our  terrestrial  abode.  Notwithstand- 
ing its  unimaginable  velocity  of  186,400 
miles  a  second,  light  moves,  flies,  during 
four  years  and  128  days  to  come  from  this 
sun  to  us.  Sound  would  take  more  than  3 
millions  of  years  to  cross  the  same  abyss. 
At  the  constant  velocity  of  60  kilometers 
(37  miles)  an  hour  an  express  train  start- 
ing from  the  sun  Alpha  Centauri  would 
not  arrive  here  till  after  an  uninterrupted 
course  of  nearly  75  millions  of  years. — 
FLAMMABION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch. 
5,  p.  599.  (A.) 


1775. 


Independence  of 


Each  Sun  in  Its  Own  Domain. — Thus  our 
sun  and  the  neighboring  suns  are  isolated. 
Each  is  an  independent  king  in  its  own 
province,  and  if  they  feel  each  other  across 
the  infinite,  and  are  subject  to  the  influence 
of  their  reciprocal  attraction,  it  is  but  a 
suzerainty  of  little  effect.  The  motions 


Isolation 
Knives 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


864 


which  animate  them  are  of  an  order  superior 
to  their  respective  attractions. — FLAMMARI- 
ON  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  5,  p.  600. 
(A.) 

1776.  ISOLATION  OF  SEQUOIAS— 
Origin    of    the    Redwood    Mysterious. — One 
notable  thing  about  the  sequioa-trees  is  their 
isolation.    Most  of  the  trees  associated  with 
them  are  of  peculiar  species,  and  some  of 
them  are  nearly  as  local.     Yet  every  pine, 
fir,   and   cypress   of   California   is   in   some 
sort  familiar,  because  it  has  near  relatives 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.     But  the  red- 
woods have  none.     The  redwood — including 
in  that  name  the  two  species  of  "  big  trees  " 
— belongs  to  the  general  cypress  family,  but 
is  sui  generis.    Thus  isolated  systematically, 
and  extremely  isolated  geographically,  and 
so  wonderful  in  size  and  port,  they  more 
than  other  trees   suggest  questions. — GRAY 
Darwiniana,  art.  5,  p.  208.     (A.,  1899.) 

1777.  ISOLATION  OF  THE  SOLAR 

SYSTEM— Stellar  Distances.— The  solar  sys- 
tem seems  to  us  very  vast,  the  abyss  which 
separates  our  world  from  Mars,  Jupiter, 
Saturn,  and  Neptune  appears  to  us  immense ; 
relatively  to  the  fixed  stars,  however,  our 
whole  system  represents  but  an  isolated  fam- 
ily immediately  surrounding  us ;  a  sphere  as 
vast  as  the  whole  solar  system  would  be 
reduced  to  the  size  of  a  simple  point  if  it 
were  transported  to  the  distance  of  the 
nearest  star.  The  space  which  extends  be- 
tween the  solar  system  and  the  stars,  and 
which  separates  the  stars  from  each  other, 
seems  to  be  entirely  void  of  visible  matter, 
with  the  exception  of  nebulous  fragments, 
cometary  or  meteoric,  which  circulate  here 
and  there  in  the  immense  voids.  Nine  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  fifty  systems  like  ours 
(bounded  by  Neptune)  would  be  contained 
in  the  space  which  isolates  us  from  the 
nearest  star! 

If  a  terrible  explosion  occurred  in  this 
star,  and  if  the  sound  could  traverse  the 
void  which  separates  it  from  us,  this  sound 
would  take  more  than  three  millions  of  years 
to  reach  us. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astrono- 
my, bk.  vi,  ch.  1,  p.  553.  (A.) 

1778.  JOURNEY  THROUGH  TRACK- 
LESS SPACE— Migration  of  Oriole,  and  Bobo- 
link.— The  oriole,  who   builds  his  swinging 
nest  in  your  elm-tree,  will  winter  in  Central 
America;   the  bobolink,  who  seems  so  care- 
free in  your  meadows,  must  journey  to  his 
winter   quarters    in  southern   Brazil.     But, 
unless  accident  befalls,  both  birds  will  re- 
turn to  you  the  following  spring.    'We  are 
so  accustomed  to  these  phenomena  that  we 
accept  them  as  part  of   the  changing  sea- 
sons without  realizing  how  wonderful  they 
are.     But  look  for  a  moment  at  a  map  and 
try  to  form  a  mental  picture  of  the  bobo- 
link's    route.^      Over     valleys,     mountains, 
marshes,    plains,    and    forests,    over    straits 
and   seas  hundreds   of  miles   in    width,   he 
pursues    a    course    through    trackless    space 
with  a  regularity  and  certainty  which  bring 


him  to  the  same  place  at  nearly  the  same 
time  year  after  year.  How  much  of  hia 
knowledge  of  the  route  he  has  inherited, 
and  how  much  learned  during  his  own  life- 
time, is  a  question. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch. 
4,  p.  54.  (A.,  1900.) 

1779.  JOY  EXALTS  AS  GRIEF  DE- 
PRESSES— Muscles,  Arteries,  and  Nutrition 
Affected  by  Mental  States. — The  familiar  ob- 
servations— first,  that  a  lively  hope  or  joy 
exerts  an  enlivening  effect  upon  the  bodily 
life,  quiet  and  equable  when  moderate,  but, 
when  stronger,  evinced  in  the  brilliancy  of 
the  eye,  in  the  quickened  pulse  and  respira- 
tion, in  an  inclination  to  laugh  and  sing; 
and,  secondly,  that  grief  or  other  depressing 
passion  has  an  opposite  effect,  relaxing  the 
arteries,  enfeebling  the  heart,  making  the  eye 
dull,  impeding  digestion,  and  producing  an 
inclination  to  sigh  and  weep — these  familiar 
observations  of  opposite  effects  indicate  the 
large  part  which  mental  states  may  play, 
not  in  the  causation  of  all  sorts  of  diseases 
alone,  but  in  aiding  recovery  from  them.    A 
sudden  and  great  mental  shock  may,  like  a 
great  physical   shock,   and  perhaps   in   the 
same  way,  paralyze  for  a  time  all  the  bodily 
and  mental  functions,  or  cause  instant  death. 
It  may,  again,  produce  epilepsy,  apoplexy, 
or  insanity,  while  a  prolonged  state  of  de- 
pression and  anxiety  is  sometimes  an  im- 
portant agent  in  the  causation  of  chronic 
disease,  such  as  diabetes  and  heart-disease. 
Can  it  be  doubted,  too,  that  the  strong  belief 
that  a  bodily  disorder  will  be  cured  by  some 
appliance,  itself  innocent  of  good  or  harm, 
may  so  affect  beneficially  the  nutrition  of 
the  part  as  actually  to  effect  a  cure?     To 
me   it   seems   not  unreasonable   to   suppose 
that  the  mind  may  stamp  its  tone,  if  not 
its  very  features,  on  the  individual  elements 
of  the  body,  inspiring  them  with  hope  and 
energy,  or  infecting  them  with  despair  and 
feebleness. — MATJDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect. 
1,  p.  38.     (A.,  1898.) 

1780.  JOY   OF  DISCOVERY— There 

is  a  certain  form  of  emotion  called  intel- 
lectual pleasure  which  may  be  excited  by 
poetry,  literature,  Nature,  or  art.  But  F 
doubt  whether  among  the  pleasures  of  the 
intellect  there  is  any  more  pure  and  con- 
centrated than  that  experienced  by  the  scien- 
tific man  when  a  difficulty  which  has  chal- 
lenged the  human  mind  for  ages  melts  be- 
fore his  eyes  and  recrystallizes  as  an  il- 
lustration of  natural  law. — TYNDALL  New 
Fragments,  p.  202.  (A.,  1897.) 

1781.  JOY  OR  SORROW  EXAGGER- 
ATED IN  MEMORY— Minds  Differ  in  Choice 
of  Images  Retained. — Besides  the  impossibil- 
ity of  getting  at  the  average  and  prevailing 
mental    tone    of   a    distant    section    of    life, 
there  is  a  special  difficulty  in  determining 
the  degree  of  happiness  of  the  past,  arising 
from  the  fact  that  our  memory  for  pleasures 
and   for   pains    may  not   be   equally   good. 
Most  people,  perhaps,  can  recall  the  enjoy- 
ments of  the  past  much  more  vividly  than 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Isolation 
Knives 


the  sufferings.  On  the  other  hand  there 
seem  to  be  some  who  find  the  retention  of 
the  latter  the  easier  of  the  two.  This  fact 
should  not  be  forgotten  in  reading  the  nar- 
rative of  early  hardships  which  some  recent 
autobiographies  have  given  us. — SULLY  Illu- 
sions, ch.  10,  p.  264.  (A.,  1897.) 

1782.  JUDGMENT    OF    INTENSITY 
OF    SENSATION—  Quantitative,  but  with  No 
Degrees — Merely    "  More  "    or    "  Less." — If 
we  compare  with  each  other  two  different 
sensations  of  the  same  modality  we  are  un- 
doubtedly able  to  pass  judgment  regarding 
their  intensities.  Our  judgment  runs  either: 
the   sensations   are  of  equal   intensity,   or, 
they  are  not  of  equal  intensity.    The  midday 
sun  we  assert  to  be  brighter  than  the  moon, 
the  roar  of  a  cannon  louder  than  the  crack 
of  a  pistol,  a  hundredweight  heavier  than  a 
pound.     These   comparative  judgments   are 
taken  directly  from  sensation.     We  really 
state  in  them  merely  this:   that  the  sensa- 
tions which  the  sunshine,  the  cannon,  and 
the  hundredweight  arouse  in  us   are  more 
intensive  than  the  sensations  which  we  have 
from  the  moon,  a  pistol-shot,  or  a  pound- 
weight.     There  is  therefore  possible  a  quan- 
titative comparison  of  sensations.     We  can 
say  of  two  sensations  that  they  are  of  equal 
intensity,  or  that  this  one  is  of  a  greater  or 
less   intensity  than  the   other.     There  our 
measurement  of  sensation  ordinarily  rests. 
We  are  not  able  to  say  how  much  stronger 
or  how  much  weaker  one  is  than  another. 
We   cannot  estimate   in   the  least  whether 
the  sun  is  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  times 
brighter  than  the  moon,  the  cannon  a  hun- 
dred or  a  thousand  times  louder  than  the 
pistol.     Our  ordinary  measurement  of  sen- 
sation  tells   us   only   of   "  equality,"    of   a 
"  more  "  or  of  a  "  less,"  never  of  a  "  so  much 
more  "  or  "  less." — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect. 
2,  p.  17.     (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1783.  KAIAK    VERSUS     OCEAN 

STEAMER — What  is  more  beautiful  than 
an  ocean  steamer,  with  skin  of  steel  drawn 
over  ribs  of  steel  and  closed  above  against 
the  intrusion  of  the  waves  ?  Have  you  never 
seen  the  picture  of  the  Eskimo,  still  in  the 
Stone  Age,  who,  over  a  framework  of  drift- 
wood or  whale's  rib,  stretches  a  covering 
of  sealskin  and  learned  therein  to  defy  the 
waves  hundreds  of  years  ago? — MASON  The 
Birth  of  Invention  (Address  at  Centenary  of 
American  Patent  System,  Washington,  D. 
C.,  1891,  Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p. 
407). 

1784.  KINDRED  WITH  THE  DIVINE 
— Kinship  with  Beasts  Cannot  Satisfy  the 
Soul — Exaltation  ~by  Influence  of  Higher  In- 
telligence— The  Dog  and  His  Master. — They 
that  deny  a  God  destroy  a  man's  nobility; 
for  certainly  man  is  of  kin  to  the  beasts  by 
his  body;    and  if  he  be  not  of  kin  to  God  by 
his  spirit,  he  is  a  base  and  ignoble  creature. 
It  destroys  likewise  magnanimity,  and  the 
raising  of  human  nature;    for  take  an  ex- 
ample of  a  dog,  and  mark  what  a  generosity 


and  courage  he  will  put  on  when  he  finds 
himself  maintained  by  a  man,  who  to  him 
is  instead  of  a  god,  or  "  melior  natura"; 
which  courage  is  manifestly  such  as  that 
creature,  without  that  confidence  of  a  better 
nature  than  his  own,  could  never  attain. 
So  man,  when  he  resteth  and  assureth  him- 
self upon  divine  protection  and  favor,  gath- 
ereth  a  force  and  faith,  which  human  nature 
in  itself  could  not  obtain;  therefore,  as 
atheism  is  in  all  respects  hateful,  so  in  this, 
that  it  depriveth  human  nature  of  the  means 
to  exalt  itself  above  human  frailty. — 
BACON  Essays,  essay  16,  Of  Atheism,  p.  61. 
(W.  L.  A.) 

1785.  KINGDOM,    DISTINCT,    RE- 
QUIRED FOR   PSYCHOLOGICAL  MAN— 
Gulf  between  Man  and  Ape. — Mr.   Mivart 
has  truly  said  that,  with  regard  to  their 
total  value  in  Nature,  the  difference  between 
man  and  ape  transcends  the  difference  be- 
tween ape  and  blade  of  grass.    I  should  be 
disposed  to  go  further  and  say  that  while 
for  zoological  man  you  can  hardly  erect  a 
distinct  family  from  that  of  the  chimpanzee 
and  orang,  on  the  other  hand,  for  psycho- 
logical man  you  must  erect  a  distinct  king- 
dom;   nay,  you  must  even  dichotomize  the 
universe,  putting  man  on  one  side  and  all 
things  else  on  the  other. — FISKE  Through 
Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  82.    (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 

1786.  KITCHEN,  THE,  A  CHEMICAL 
LABORATORY  —  Crude    Materials     Trans- 
formed for  Food. — The  kitchen  is  a  chemi- 
cal  laboratory   in   which   are   conducted    a 
number  of  chemical  processes  by  which  our 
food  is  converted  from  its  crude  state  to  a 
condition   more   suitable   for   digestion  and 
nutrition,  and  made  more  agreeable  to  the 
palate. — WILLIAMS    Chemistry  of   Cookery, 
ch.  1,  p.  4.    (A.,  1900.) 

1787.  KLEPTOMANIA  A  REAL  IN- 
SANITY— Hoarding   of  Useless    Treasures. — 
Kleptomania,  as  it  is  called,  is  an  uncon- 
trollable impulse  to  appropriate,  occurring 
in  persons  whose  "  associations   of  ideas " 
would  naturally  all  be  of  a  counteracting 
sort.      Kleptomaniacs    often    promptly    re- 
store or  permit  to  be  restored  what  they 
have  taken;    so  the  impulse  need  not  be  to 
keep,    but    only    to    take.      But    elsewhere 
hoarding  complicates  the  result.     A  gentle- 
man with  whose  case  I  am  acquainted  was 
discovered,  after  his  death,  to  have  a  hoard 
in  his  barn  of  all  sorts  of  articles,  mainly 
of  a  trumpery  sort,  but  including  pieces  of 
silver  which  he  had  stolen   from  his   own 
dining-room,    and    utensils    which    he    had 
stolen  from  his  own  kitchen,  and  for  which 
he  had  afterward  bought   substitutes  with 
his  own  money. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  24,  p.  425.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1 788.  KNIVES  OF  SHARKS'  TEETH 

— Gain  Attending  the  Iron  Blade. — It  will 
be  found  in  the  study  of  industrial  knives 
that  in  the  long  run  they  become  the 


Lnives 
Lnowledge 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


carver's  and  engraver's  tools,  the  drawing- 
knife,  the  spoke-shave,  the  pjane,  and  the 
planing-mill.  In  some  styles  of  the  last- 
named,  however,  the  operative  part  of  the 
machine  is,  more  properly  speaking,  a  ma- 
chine adz  than  a  knife.  Carving  in  wood 
and  other  substances  by  the  American  ab- 
origines differentiated  the  adz  from  the 
knife.  It  is  probable  that  before  the  intro- 
duction of  iron  into  America  the  adz  was 
used  more  than  the  knife  in  dressing  down 
wood;  but  when  the  iron  blade  came  into 
vogue  it  was  possible  for  the  savage  work- 
man to  carve  out  hollow  dishes  and  boxes 
and  other  objects  with  his  knife  by  simple 
pressure.  Notable  exceptions  to  this  are 
those  regions  where  soft  wood  came  into  alli- 
ance with  sharks'  teeth  and  the  incisors  of 
rodents.  This  is  shown  in  all  the  curved 
knives  of  the  collections  in  the  United  States 
National  Museum  from  the  two  hemispheres, 
especially  those  from  wooded  areas. — MA- 
SON The  Man's  Knife  among  the  North 
American  Indians  (Report  of  U.  8.  National 
Museum  for  1897,  p.  727). 

1789.  KNOWLEDGE  ACQUIRED  BY 
LEARNING  TO  DOUBT— Boiling  of  Food 
for  the  Table — Cooking  of  Food  Man's  Im- 
memorial Custom. — "  The  process  by  which 
food  is  most  commonly  prepared  for  the 
table — boiling — is  so  familiar  to  every  one, 
and  its  effects  are  so  uniform  and  appar- 
ently so  simple,  that  few,  I  believe,  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  inquire  how  or  in  what 
manner  these  effects  are  produced;  and 
whether  any,  and  what,  improvements  in 
that  branch  of  cookery  are  possible.  So  little 
has  this  matter  been  an  object  of  inquiry 
that  few,  very  few,  indeed,  I  believe,  among 
the  millions  of  persons  who  for  so  many 
ages  have  been  daily  employed  in  this  proc- 
ess have  ever  given  themselves  the  trouble 
to  bestow  one  serious  thought  upon  the  sub- 
ject. 

"  The  cook  knows  from  experience  that  if 
his  joint  of  meat  be  kept  a  certain  time 
immersed  in  boiling  water  it  will  be  done, 
as  it  is  called  in  the  language  of  the 
kitchen;  but  if  he  be  asked  what  is  done 
to  it,  or  how  or  by  what  agency  the  change 
it  has  undergone  has  been  effected — if  he 
understands  the  question — it  is  ten  to  one 
but  he  will  be  embarrassed.  If  he  does  not 
understand  he  will  probably 'answer  without 
hesitation,  that  *  The  meat  is  made  tender 
and  eatable  by  being  boiled.'  Ask  him  if  the 
boiling  of  the  water  be  essential  to  the  proc- 
ess. He  will  answer,  '  Without  doubt.' 
Push  him  a  little  further  by  asking  him 
whether,  were  it  possible  to  keep  the  water 
equally  hot  without  boiling,  the  meat  would 
not  be  cooked  as  soon  and  as  well  as  if  the 
water  were  made  to  boil.  Here  it  is  prob- 
able he  will  make  the  first  step  towards  ac- 
quiring knowledge  by  learning  to  doubt." — 
COUNT  RUMFORD,  quoted  by  WILLIAMS  in 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  2,  p.  16.  (A., 
1900. ) 


1 7  9O.  KNOWLEDGE,  ANCIENT,  OF 
THE  HEAVENS  —  Constellations  Gradually 
Arranged. — The  primitive  Greek  sphere  had 
become  gradually  filled  with  constellations, 
without  being  in  any  degree  considered  with 
relation  to  the  ecliptic.  Thus  Homer  and 
Hesiod  designate  by  name  individual  stars 
and  groups;  the  former  mentions  the  con- 
stellation of  the  Bear  ( "  otherwise  known 
as  the  Celestial  Wain,  and  which  alone  never 
sinks  into  the  bath  of  Oceanos"),  Bootes, 
and  the  Dog  of  Orion;  the  latter  speaks  of 
Sirius  and  Arcturus,  and  both  refer  to  the 
Pleiades,  the  Hyades,  and  Orion.  Homer's 
twice-repeated  assertion,  that  the  constella- 
tion of  the  Bear  alone  never  sinks  into  the 
ocean,  merely  allows  us  to  infer  that  in  his 
age  the  Greek  sphere  did  not  yet  comprise 
the  constellations  of  Draco,  Cepheus,  and 
Ursa  Minor,  which  likewise  do  not  set.  The 
statement  does  not  prove  a  want  of  ac- 
quaintance with  the  existence  of  the  sepa- 
rate stars  forming  these  three  catasterisms, 
but  simply  an  ignorance  of  their  arrange- 
ment into  constellations.  A  long  and  fre- 
quently misunderstood  passage  of  Strabo 
.  .  .  specially  proves  .  .  .  that  in 
the  Greek  sphere  the  stars  were  only  gradu- 
ally arranged  in  constellations.  Homer  has 
been  unjustly  accused  of  ignorance,  says 
Strabo,  as  if  he  had  known  of  only  one  in- 
stead of  two  Bears.  It  is  probable  that  the 
lesser  one  had  not  yet  been  arranged  in  a 
separate  group,  and  that  the  name  did  not 
reach  the  Hellenes  until  after  the  Pheni- 
cians  had  specially  designated  this  constel- 
lation, and  made  use  of  it  for  the  purposes 
of  navigation. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii, 
p.  119.  (H.,  1897.) 

1791.     KNOWLEDGE   AND   BELIEF 

— Comparison  to  House  and  Furniture. — 
Our  beliefs  must  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  our  knowledge;  and  they  seem  to  me 
to  bear  much  the  same  relation  to  it  that 
our  furniture  has  to  the  building  in  which 
we  put  it.  The  walls  are  or  ought  to  be 
solid  and  enduring;  so  is  everything  that 
deserves  to  be  called  knowledge.  Each  stone 
supports  and  is  supported  by  the  rest;  and 
nothing  but  a  weakness  of  its  foundation 
or  a  decay  of  its  material  can  make  our  fab- 
ric of  thought  uninhabitable.  But  the  be- 
liefs with  which  we  furnish  it  have  not  the 
same  durability.  Adapted  to  meet  our  tem- 
porary needs,  they  may  be  either  poor  in 
material  or  but  slightly  put  together.  A 
carpet  wears  out,  and,  when  past  shifting 
and  patching,  must  be  replaced  by  a  new 
one;  a  table  or  a  chair  breaks  down,  and, 
after  successive  repairs,  is  discarded  as  no 
longer  serviceable.  Or  perhaps  our  require- 
ments change;  and  some  article  which  was 
at  first  made  expressly  in  accordance  with 
them  proves  no  longer  suitable  to  our 
needs;  so  that,  finding  it  in  our  way,  we 
wish  to  get  rid  of  it.  Some  pieces  of  our 
furniture,  again,  originally  of  more  sub- 
stantial make,  have  become  faded  and  old- 
fashioned;  but  they  may  be  family  heir- 


367 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Knives 
Knowledge 


looms,  or  we  may  have  ourselves  become  at- 
tached to  them;  and  so,  not  liking  to  dis- 
card them  altogether,  we  put  them  away  in 
some  dark  corner,  or  perhaps  consign  them 
to  a  seldom-visited  lumber-room,  where  they 
rest  almost  forgotten  in  their  obscurity. 
But  at  last  some  ray  of  sunshine  throws  a 
brighter  light  than  usual  upon  our  dark 
corner;  or  the  opening  of  the  shutters  of 
our  lumber-room  lets  into  it  the  unwonted 
light  of  day;  and  we  then  find  our  old  sofas 
and  four-post  beds  so  moth-eaten  and  de- 
cayed that  we  turn  them  out  of  our  house 
instanter. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  7,  p.  215.  (A.,  1889.) 

1792.  KNOWLEDGE  A  SAFEGUARD 

— Biology  Guards  the  Young  against  Pit- 
falls.— If,  however,  the  study  of  life-science 
has  one  prominent  advantage  over  all  other 
studies,  it  is  that  in  its  nature  it  acts  most 
powerfully  in  bringing  the  present  world 
and  its  constitution  plainly  and  vividly  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  boys  and  girls.  It  excites 
their  interest  in  life  and  living  things;  it 
suggests  trains  of  thought  which  extend  al- 
most into  every  department  of  knowledge 
which  has  a  claim  on  human  sympathy  and 
regard.  And  it  can  provide  the  young  with 
that  knowledge  of  themselves  which  is  the 
surest  safeguard  against  the  numerous  pit- 
falls that  in  this  exhausting  age  threaten 
the  physical  and  mental  health  at  every 
epoch  of  life. — ANDREW  WILSON  Biology  in 
Education,  p.  24.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

1793.  KNOWLEDGE,  HUMAN,  LIMI- 
TATIONS   OF — Science  Enforces   Lesson  of 
Experience — Unseen     Forces     Control     the 
World. — It  is  evident  that  all  the  effects  of 
the  events  with  which  we  are  concerned  are 
not   and  could  not  possibly  be    perceived  by 
us.    We  see  and  feel  things — alike  the  great 
ones  and  the  small  ones,  as  we  esteem  them 
— only  as  they  affect  our  senses;    that  is, 
only  in  small  part  and  for  a  short  time. 
They  soon  pass  beyond  our  sight,  and  while 
they  are  within  it  they  never  show  us  all 
they  are,  often  those  which  are  the  greatest 
seeming  to  us  the  least.     How  little  we  are 
able,  often,  to  calculate  the  influence  even 
upon  our  own  future  of  events  or  actions  of 
which  we   seem  to  have  the  most  perfect 
knowledge  at  the  time.     And  of  the  effects 
of  these  events  on  others,  which  must  go  on, 
so  far  as  we  can  estimate,  without  any  end, 
only  the   smallest  fragment  is  within  our 
view.     It  is  one  of  the  first  lessons  taught 
men  by  experience,  not  to  judge  of  events  by 
what  they  seem  alone,  but  to  remember  that 
there  may  be  much  more  involved  in  them 
than  appears.     To  judge  of  our  life,  there- 
fore, merely  by  that  which  is  seen  of  it,  is 
to  commit  ourselves  to  certain  error.    .    .    . 

And  this  principle  is  established  not  only 
by  experience ;  it  is  the  lesson  which,  almost 
more  than  any  other,  science  teaches  us 
also.  In  exploring  the  material  world,  we 
soon  find  that,  in  order  to  understand  any 
part  of  it  aright,  we  must  recognize  things 


which  are  unseen,  and  have  regard  to  condi- 
tions or  to  actions  which  do  not  come  within 
our  direct  perception.  It  is  enough  to  in- 
stance the  pressure  of  the  air,  of  which  we 
have  no  consciousness;  the  motion  of  the 
earth,  equally  unperceivable  by  us;  the 
hidden  force,  lurking  in  unseen  atoms,  of 
chemical  affinity,  or  electricity;  the  vibra- 
tions which  traverse  the  universal  ether;  and, 
in  fine,  that  invisible  unity  which  makes 
all  her  forces  one,  whereby  (holding  to  the 
unseen)  man  has  traced  out  in  Nature  a 
perfect  order  amid  all  confusion. — HINTON 
The  Mystery  of  Pain,  p.  15.  (Hum.,  1893.) 


1794. 


Tentative  Explana- 


tions Alone  Yet  Possible  of  Volcanic  Phe- 
nomena.— That  these  operations,  like  all 
others  going  on  upon  the  globe,  are  gov- 
erned by  great  natural  laws  we  cannot  for 
a  moment  doubt.  And  that,  in  all  proba- 
bility, more  careful  and  exact  observation 
and  reasoning  will  at  some  future  time  lead 
us  to  the  recognition  of  these  laws,  every 
student  of  Nature  is  sanguine.  But  at  the 
present  time,  it  must  be  confessed,  we  are 
very  far  indeed  from  being  able  to  afford 
that  crowning  proof  of  the  truth  of  our 
theories  of  volcanic  action  which  is  implied 
in  the  power  of  predicting  the  period  and 
degree  of  intensity  of  their  manifestations. 
— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  32.  (A.,  1899.) 

1795.  KNOWLEDGE   IS    POWER— 

For  Nations  as  Well  as  Individuals. — Bacon 
has  said  that,  in  human  societies,  knowledge 
is  power.  Both  must  rise  and  sink  together. 
But  the  knowledge  that  results  from  the  free 
action  of  thought  is  at  once  the  delight  and 
the  indestructible  prerogative  of  man;  and 
in  forming  part  of  the  wealth  of  man- 
kind, it  not  unfrequently  serves  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  natural  riches,  which  are  but 
sparingly  scattered  over  the  earth.  Those 
states  which  take  no  active  part  in  the  gen- 
eral industrial  movement,  in  the  choice  and 
preparation  of  natural  substances,  or  in  the 
application  of  mechanics  and  chemistry,  and 
among  whom  this  activity  is  not  appreciated 
by  all  classes  of  society,  will  infallibly  see 
their  prosperity  diminish  in  proportion  as 
neighboring  countries  become  strengthened 
and  invigorated  under  the  genial  influence  of 
arts  and  sciences. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
i,  int.,  p.  53.  (H.,  1897.) 

1796.  KNOWLEDGE  LIMITED   BY 
PRECONCEPTIONS— When  the  question  of 
the  range  of  consciousness  was  first  raised, 
these  conditions   [of  the  subjective  and  ob- 
jective limitations  of  knowledge]   were  en- 
tirely overlooked,  and  the  general  method  of 
investigation   pursued   was   not   one   which 
could  lead  to  any  certain  results.     Conclu- 
sions   were    either    deduced    from    certain 
metaphysical    postulates — e.    g.,    that    the 
mind,  as  a  simple  being,  could  only  contain 
a  single  idea  at  a  given  moment — or  the  in- 
vestigations were  based  solely  on  introspec- 
tion.— WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  16,  p.  240. 
(Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


ike 


ledge 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


1797.  KNOWLEDGE  MADE  PRAC- 
TICAL— Daguerreotype  Founded  on  Old-time 
Discovery. — The  fact  that  certain  salts  of 
silver  were  darkened  by  exposure  to  sun- 
light was  known  to  the  alchemists  in  the 
sixteenth     century,     and    this    observation 
forms  the  rudiment  from  which  the  whole 
art  has  been  developed.     The  application  of 
this  fact  to  the  production  of  pictures  be- 
longs, however,  wholly  to  our  own  time.    In 
the  year  1802,  Wedgewood  described  a  mode 
of  copying  paintings  on  glass  by  exposure  to 
light,    but    neither    he    nor    Sir    Humphry 
Davy  could  find  any  means  of  rendering  the 
copies  permanent.    This  was  first  effected  in 
1814  by  M.  Niepce,  of  Chalons,  but  no  im- 
portant   results    were    obtained    till    1839, 
when  Daguerre  perfected  the  beautiful  proc- 
ess known  as  the  daguerreotype.    Permanent 
portraits   were   taken   by   him    on    silvered 
plates,  and  they  were  so  delicate  and  beauti- 
ful that  probably  nothing  in  modern  pho- 
tography  can   surpass   them.      For   several 
years  they  were  the  only  portraits  taken  by 
the   agency   of    light,    but   they   were   very 
costly,  and  were  therefore  completely  super- 
seded  when   cheaper   methods   were   discov- 
ered.— WALLACE    The    Wonderful    Century, 
ch.  5,  p.  32.    (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1798.  KNOWLEDGE,  MAN  YET  BUT 
ON  THRESHOLD  OF—"  We  Are  Ancients  of 
the  Earth,  in  the  Morning  of  the  Times."* 
— We  are  in  reality  but  on  the  threshold 
of  civilization.     Far  from  showing  any  in- 
dication   of    having   come   to    an    end,    the 
tendency  to  improvement  seems  latterly  to 
have  proceeded  with  augmented  impetus  and 
accelerated  rapidity.     Why,  then,  should  we 
suppose  that  it  must  now  cease?    Man  has 
surely  not  reached  the  limits  of  his  intel- 
lectual development,  and  it  is  certain  that 
he  has  not  exhausted  the  infinite  capabili- 
ties of  Nature.    There  are  many  things  which 
are  not  as  yet  dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy; 
many    discoveries    which    will    immortalize 
those  who  make  them,  and  confer  upon  the 
human  race  advantages  which  as  yet,  per- 
haps, we  are  not  in  a  condition  to  appreciate. 
We  may  still  say  with  our  great  country- 
man, Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  we  have  been 
but  like  children  playing  on  the  seashore, 
and  picking  up  here  and  there  a  smoother 
pebble   or   a   prettier    shell   than   ordinary, 
while  the  great  ocean  of  truth  lies  all  undis- 
covered   before    us. — AVEBURY    Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  16,  p.  575.    (A.,  1900.) 

1799.  KNOWLEDGE    NOT    SUFFI- 
CIENT  FOR   CONDUCT— Right  Desire  the 
Chief  Need. — Right  conduct  is  usually  come 

*  "  To  sleep  through  terms  of  mighty  wars, 
Arid  wake  on  science  grown  to  more, 

On  secrets  of  the  brain,  the  stars, 
As  wild  as  aught  of  fairy  lore  ; 

And  all  that  elsetlie  years  will  show ; 

"  Titanic  forces  taking  birth 

In  divers  seasons,  divers  climes, 
For  we  are  Ancients  of  tlie  earth, 

And  in  the  morning  of  the  timee." 
—TENNYSON  The  Day-Dream,  IS  Envoi,  st.  1, 11.  9-20. 


short  of  more  from  defect  of  will  than  defect 
of  knowledge.  For  the  right  coordination  of 
those  complex  actions  which  constitute  hu- 
man life  in  its  civilized  form,  there  goes 
not  only  the  prerequisite,  recognition  of 
the  proper  course,  but  the  further  pre- 
requisite, a  due  impulse  to  pursue  that 
coarse.  On  calling  to  mind  our  daily  fail- 
ures to  fulfil  often-repeated  resolutions,  we 
shall  perceive  that  lack  of  the  needful  de- 
sire, rather  than  lack  of  the  needful  insight, 
is  the  chief  cause  of  faulty  action. — SPEN- 
CER Biology,  pt.  vi,  ch.  13,  p.  525.  (A., 
1900.) 

1800.  KNOWLEDGE  OF  FIRE  UNI- 
VERSAL AMONG  MEN— It  cannot  be  said 
to    be    satisfactorily   proved   that   there    is 
at   present,    or    has   been   within   historical 
times,  any  race  of  men  entirely  ignorant  of 
fire.     It  is  at  least  certain  that  as  far  back 
as  the  earliest  Swiss  lake  villages  and  Da- 
nish shell-mounds  the  use  of  fire  was  well 
known    in    Europe.  —  AVEBURY    Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  15,  p.  535.     (A.,  1900.) 

1801.  "  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  CON- 
STRUCTION  OF    THE    HEAVENS"— Tfa! 

Ambition  of  the  Elder  Herschel — The  In- 
quiring Spirit  of  Man. — When  we  look 
around  us  into  the  regions  which  surround 
the  solar  system  and  see  the  myriads  of 
myriads  of  stars  which  are  spread  through 
space,  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  strongly 
the  desire  to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  the 
star-strewn  depths.  We  have  learned  much 
respecting  the  earth  on  which  we  live,  and 
not  a  little  of  the  system  to  which  the  earth 
belongs.  We  have  at  least  so  far  solved  the 
problems  presented  to  us  by  the  planetary 
scheme  as  to  recognize  the  subordinate  posi- 
tion which  our  earth  holds  within  it,  and 
that  the  sun  is  the  mighty  ruler  whose  sway 
guides  all  the  planets  in  their  courses.  But 
the  inquiring  spirit  of  man  is  not  satisfied 
with  these  discoveries.  No  sooner  has  he 
learned  to  regard  the  earth  as  but  one  of  a 
system  of  worlds  circling  round  the  sun,  and 
that  that  system  has  such  and  such  propor- 
tions, and  presents  such  and  such  forms  of 
motion,  than  he  desires  to  regard  our  sun  as 
but  one  of  a  system  of  suns,  and  to  ascertain 
what  may  be  the  nature  and  the  scale  of  this 
higher  system,  what  the  movements  taking 
place  within  it.  This  was  the  noble  prob- 
lem which  the  elder  Herschel  set  as  the 
great  end  and  aim  of  all  his  labors :  "  A 
knowledge  of  the  construction  of  the  heav- 
ens," he  said,  towards  the  end  of  his  won- 
derful career  as  an  observer,  "  has  always 
been  the  ultimate  object  of  my  observa- 
tions."— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  256. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1802.  LABOR  ESSENTIAL  TO  HU- 
MAN PROGRESS— Rigorous  Climates  Stimu- 
late— Improvement    in   Conditions    and   Re- 
sults of  Work — Evil  with  Good. — We  do  not 
wish  to  draw  upon  ourselves  the  imputation 
of  advocating  the  inevitable  progress  of  the 
human  race.     The  world  is  subject  to  evil 


369 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Knowledge 
Lakes 


impressions  as  well  as  good,  and  whatever 
advance  is  made  in  the  line  of  true  progress 
will  not  be  the  result  of  a  blind  law  of  ne- 
cessity, but  of  a  providential  design  through 
human  agency  and  properly  directed  human 
labor.  Without  labor  nothing  of  value  can 
be  accomplished.  It  is  the  essential  pre- 
requisite of  well-being,  the  original  curse 
which  proves  a  blessing  in  disguise.  The 
remark  has  been  properly  made,  that  could 
all  the  wants  of  man  be  supplied  without 
labor,  there  would  be  reason  to  fear  that  he 
would  become  a  brute  for  the  want  of  some- 
thing to  do,  rather  than  a  philosopher  from 
an  abundance  of  leisure.  In  all  countries 
where  Nature  does  the  most,  man  does  the 
least.  The  sterile  soil  and  the  inclement  sky 
seem  to  be  the  stimulants  to  mental  and 
physical  exertion  when  once  the  necessary 
impulse  has  been  given.  True  progress  does 
not  consist  in  obviating  the  necessity  of 
labor,  but  in  changing,  by  means  of  im- 
provements in  the  arts,  its  character,  in 
rendering  it  more  conducive  to  the  supply 
of  the  wants  and  comforts  of  man,  and  to 
the  development  of  his  mental  and  moral 
nature. — HENRY  Improvement  of  the  Me- 
chanical Arts  (Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p. 
323).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1 8O3.  LABOR,  FALLACIES  REGARD- 
ING— "Free  Labor"  Often  a  Misnomer — Com- 
petition Despotic. — Had  not  the  working 
classes  a  right  to  employ  their  children  as 
they  pleased?  Who  were  better  able  to 
judge,  than  fathers  and  mothers,  of  the  ca- 
pacities of  their  children?  Why  interfere 
for  the  protection  of  those  who  already  had 
the  best  and  most  natural  of  all  protec- 
tions? Such  were  some  of  the  arguments 
against  interfering  with  "free  labor."  Now 
in  what  sense  was  this  labor  free?  It  was 
free  from  legal  compulsion — that  is  to  say, 
it  was  free  from  that  kind  of  compulsion 
which  arises  out  of  the  public  will  of  the 
whole  community  imposed  by  authority  upon 
the  conduct  of  individuals.  But  there  was 
another  kind  of  force  from  which  this  labor 
was  not  free — the  force  of  overpowering  mo- 
tive operating  on  the  will  of  the  laborers 
themselves.  If  one  parent,  more  careful 
than  others  of  the  welfare  of  his  children, 
and  moved  less  exclusively  by  the  desire 
of  gain,  withdrew  his  children  at  an  earlier 
hour  than  others  from  factory  work,  his 
children  were  liable  to  be  dismissed  and  not 
employed  at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  motives 
hardly  less  powerful  were  in  constant  oper- 
ation on  the  masters.  The  ceaseless,  and 
increasing,  and  unrestricted  competition 
amongst  themselves — the  eagerness  with 
which  human  energies  rush  into  new  open- 
ings for  capital,  for  enterprise,  and  for 
skill — made  them,  as  a  class,  insensible  to 
the  frightful  evils  which  were  arising  from 
that  competition  for  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence which  is  the  impelling  motive  of  labor. 
—ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  210. 
(Burt.) 


1804.  LACK    OF   EVIDENCE    NOT 
IMPEACHMENT  OF  EVIDENCE— Manifest 
Adjustment  Stands  as  Fact. — The  relations 
of  adjustment  between  a  given  number  of 
elements   are  none  the   less   a  certain  fact 
because  similar  elements  may  be  found  else- 
where without  any  such  adjustment  being 
visible  to  us.    It  is  the  very  fact  of  their  not 
being   separate,   but   combined,   in   the   one 
case  which  justifies  and  compels  a  conclu- 
sion different  from  that  whfrh  arises  in  the 
other  case.     This  is  the  law  of  evidence  on 
which  we  act  and  judge  in  other  matters 
with  conviction  which  is  both  intuitive  and 
capable  of  being  confirmed  by  the  rules  of 
reason.     And  this  reply  is  applicable  to  all 
objections  of  the  same  kind.    Those  portions 
of  the  system  of  Nature  which  are  wholly 
dark  to  us  do  not  necessarily  cast  any  shad- 
ow on  those  other  portions  of  that  system 
which    are    luminous    with    inherent    light. 
Rather  the  other  way.     The  shining  tracts 
which  thus  reflect  the  light  of  reason  and 
of  mind   send   abundant  rays  into   all   the 
dark  places  round  them. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  1,  p.  21.    (Burt.) 

1805.  LAKE-DWELLINGS   OF  LIV- 
ING PEOPLE— One   feature  in  their    [the 
Amazonian  Indians']    mode  of  building  de- 
serves to  be  mentioned.     Owing  to  the  sub- 
merged state  of  the  ground  on  which  they 
live   the    Indians    often   raise    their   houses 
on  piles  sunk  in  the  water.     Here  we  have 
the  old  lacustrine  buildings,   so  much  dis- 
cussed of  late  years,  reproduced  for  us.    One 
even  sees  sometimes  a  little  garden  lifted  in 
this  way  above  the  water. — AGASSIZ  Journey 
in  Brazil,  ch.  5,  p.  162.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1806.  LAKES   HAVE    LIFE-HISTO- 
RIES— Duration  Varying  from  a  Day  to  Ages 
— The  Oldest  Lake  Recent  for  the  Geologist. 
— Lakes,   like   mountains   and  rivers,   have 
life-histories   which   exhibit  varying  stages 
from   youth   through  maturity  to   old  age. 
The  span  of  their  existence  varies  as  do  the 
lives  of  animals  and  plants.    In  arid  regions 
they  are  frequently  born  of  a  single  shower 
and  disappear  as  quickly  when  the  skies  are 
again  bright;   their  brief  existence  may  be 
said  to  resemble  the  lives  of  the  Ephemera. 
Again,   the  conditions   are  such  that   lakes 
perhaps  hundreds  of  square  miles  in  area 
are  formed  each  winter,   and  evaporate  to 
dryness  during  the  succeeding  summer ;  these 
may  be  compared  with  the  annual  plants, 
so   regular   are  their  periods.      Still   others 
exist  for  a  term  of  years  and  only  disappear 
during  seasons  of  exceptional  aridity;   but 
the  greater  number  of  inland  water  bodies 
resemble  the   Sequoia   and  endure  for  cen- 
turies with  but  little  apparent  change.     So 
long  are  the  lives  of  many  individuals  that 
human    history    has    recorded    only    slight 
changes  in  their  outlines,  but  to  the  geologist 
even  these  are  seen  to  be  of  recent  origin 
and  the  day  of  their  extinction  not  remote. 
— RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America,  int.,  p. 
7.     (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 


Jjarn 

Lain 


n  ji»  age 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


370 


1807.  LAMPS,   CLASSICAL    AND 
SAVAGE,    ESSENTIALLY    THE    SAME— 
In    all    essential    particulars    the    Eskimo 
woman's  lamps  at  Bristol  Bay  are  similar 
to  the  ones  tended  long  ago  in  the  Pryta- 
neum  at  Athens  and  in  the  Temple  of  Vesta 
at  Rome;    and  many  hundreds  of  extremely 
rude  examples  are  now  in  use  all  about  the 
lands    bordering    on    the    Mediterranean. — 
MASON    Woman's  Share  in  Primitive   Cul- 
ture, ch.  5,  p.  92.     (A.,  1894.) 

1808.  LAND,  DWELLERS    pN— 

Changes  beneath  Sea  Hard  to  Imagine — 
8tone  Quarried  for  Distant  Building. — The 
first  and  greatest  difficulty,  then,  consists 
in  an  habitual  unconsciousness  that  our 
position  as  observers  is  essentially  unfavor- 
able when  we  endeavor  to  estimate  the  na- 
ture and  magnitude  of  the  changes  now  in 
progress.  In  consequence  of  our  inattention 
to  this  subject  we  are  liable  to  serious  mis- 
takes in  contrasting  the  present  with  former 
states  of  the  globe.  As  dwellers  on  the  land, 
we  inhabit  about  a  fourth  part  of  the  sur- 
face, and  that  portion  is  almost  exclusively 
a  theater  of  decay  and  not  of  reproduction. 
We  know,  indeed,  that  new  deposits  are 
annually  formed  in  seas  and  lakes,  and  that 
every  year  some  new  igneous  rocks  are  pro- 
duced in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  but  we 
cannot  watch  the  progress  of  their  forma- 
tion; and  as  they  are  only  present  to  our 
minds  by  the  aid  of  reflection,  it  requires 
an  effort  both  of  the  reason  and  the  imagi- 
nation to  appreciate  duly  their  importance. 
It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  we  esti- 
mate very  imperfectly  the  result  of  oper- 
ations thus  invisible  to  us;  and  that,  when 
analagous  results  of  former  epochs  are  pre- 
sented to  our  inspection  we  cannot  imme- 
diately recognize  the  analogy.  He  who  has 
observed  the  quarrying  of  stone  from  a 
rock,  and  has  seen  it  shipped  for  some  dis- 
tant port,  and  then  endeavors  to  conceive 
what  kind  of  edifice  will  be  raised  by  the 
materials,  is  in  the  same  predicament  as 
a  geologist  who,  while  he  is  confined  to  the 
land,  sees  the  decomposition  of  rocks  and 
the  transportation  of  matter  by  rivers  to  the 
sea,  and  then  endeavors  to  picture  to  him- 
self the  new  strata  which  Nature  is  building 
beneath  the  waters. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  68.  (A.,  1854.) 

1809.  LAND  FROM  BENEATH  THE 
WATERS  (Gen.  i,  9;   Ps.  civ.  6-7).— It  re- 
sults from  the  simplest  methods  of  interpre- 
tation   that,    leaving    out    of    view    certain 
patches  of  metamorphosed  rocks  and  certain 
volcanic  products,  all  that  is  now  dry  land 
has  once  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  waters. 
It  is  perfectly  certain  that  at  a  comparative- 
ly recent  period  of  the  world's  history — the 
Cretaceous  epoch — none  of  the  great  phys- 
ical features  which  a{;  present  mark  the  sur- 
face of  the  globe  existed.     It  is  certain  that 
the  Rocky  Mountains  were  not.  It  is  certain 
that  the  Himalaya  Mountains  were  not.     It 
is  certain  that  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees 


had  no  existence.  The  evidence  is  of  the 
plainest  possible  character,  and  is  simply 
this:  We  find  raised  up  on  the  flanks  of 
these  mountains,  elevated  by  the  forces  of 
upheaval  which  have  given  rise  to  them, 
masses  of  cretaceous  rock  which  formed  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  before  those  mountains  ex- 
isted. It  is  therefore  clear  that  the  elevatory 
forces  which  gave  rise  to  the  mountains 
operated  subsequently  to  the  Cretaceous 
epoch,  and  that  the  mountains  themselves 
are  largely  made  up  of  the  materials  depos- 
ited in  the  sea  which  once  occupied  their 
place. — HUXLEY  American  Addresses,  lect.  1, 
p.  27.  (A.,  1898.) 

1 81O.  LANDSCAPE,  PHYSIOGNOMY 

OF — Each  Geological  Formation  Marked  by 
Features  of  Its  Own. — Physiognomy  is  no 
idle  or  doubtful  science  in  connection  with 
geology.  The  physiognomy  of  a  country  in- 
dicates, almost  invariably,  its  geological 
character.  There  is  scarce  a  rock  among  the 
more  ancient  groups  that  does  not  affect  its 
peculiar  form  of  hill  and  valley.  Each  has 
its  style  of  landscape ;  and  as  the  vegetation 
of  a  district  depends  often  on  the  nature  of 
the  underlying  deposits,  not  only  are  the 
main  outlines  regulated  by  the  mineralogy 
of  the  formations  which  they  define,  but  also 
in  many  cases  the  manner  in  which  these 
outlines  are  filled  up.  The  coloring  of  the 
landscape  is  well-nigh  as  intimately  con- 
nected with  its  geology  as  the  drawing. — 
MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  11,  p.  190. 
(G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

1811.  LANDS,    REMOTE,    VISITED 
BY  MIGRATING  BIRDS— Desolation  of  Arc- 
tic Regions  in  Winter. — The  chimney-swal- 
low which  in  October  was  twittering  under 
the  eaves  of  the  manor-house  in  Kent  may 
possibly   be    recognizing   the    squire    as    he 
suns   himself   in   the   Algerine  town   which 
they    have    both    chosen    for    their    winter 
quarters,   and  the  night- jar,  which  was   in 
such  a  hurry  to  leave  us  that  she  had  no 
time  to  build  a  nest,  is  perhaps  a  week  after 
taking  her  departure  from  Surrey  compar- 
ing notes  with  her  vocal  rivals  among  those 
palmetto  groves  beyond  which  peep  the  mina- 
rets of  the  Great  Mosque  of  Morocco.     In 
July  every  arctic  cliff  is  moving  with  bird 
life;  by  October  or  November,  at  latest,  the 
raven   and  the  snowy  owl   are   almost   the 
only  fowls  left  to  give  a  semblance  of  the 
busy  world  to  the  snow  wastes  glittering  un- 
der the  cold  moon  and  the  weird-like  north- 
ern lights. — BROWN   Nature-Studies,   p.    14. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

1812.  LANGUAGE    AMONG    THE 
LOWER     ANIMALS—  Cooperation  Involves 
Language — Rapid     Communication     among 
Ants — Antenna  Language. — Any  means  by 
which    information    is    conveyed    from    one 
mind  to  another  is  language.    And  language 
existed  on  the  earth  from  the  day  that  ani- 
mals began  to  live  together.    The  mere  fact 
that  animals  cling  to  one  another,  live  to- 
gether,  move   about  together,   proves   that 


871 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Lam 
Lan< 


ps 
guage 


they  communicate.  Among  the  ants,  per- 
haps the  most  social  of  the  lower  animals, 
this  power  is  so  perfect  that  they  are  not 
merely  endowed  with  a  few  general  signs, 
but  seem  able  to  convey  information  upon 
matters  of  detail.  Sweeping  across  country 
in  great  armies  they  keep  up  communica- 
tion throughout  the  whole  line,  and  succeed 
in  conveying  to  one  another  information  as 
to  the  easiest  routes,  the  presence  of  enemies 
or  obstacles,  the  proximity  of  food  supplies, 
and  even  of  the  numbers  required  on  emer- 
gencies to  leave  the  main  band  for  any 
special  service.  Every  one  has  observed  ants 
stop  when  they  meet  one  another  and  ex- 
change a  rapid  greeting  by  means  of  their 
waving  antennae,  and  it  is  possibly  through 
these  perplexing  organs  that  definite  inter- 
course between  one  creature  and  another 
first  entered  the  world.  The  exact  nature  of 
the  antenna  language  is  not  yet  fathomed, 
but  the  perfection  to  which  it  is  carried 
proves  that  the  idea  of  language  generally 
has  existed  in  Nature  from  the  earliest  time. 
— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  5,  p.  157. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

1813.  LANGUAGE    A    SOURCE  OF 

MYTH—  Confusion  of  Name  Leads  to  Confu- 
sion of  Nature — The  Bernicle-tree  and  Its 
Progeny  of  Geese. — Professor  Max  Miiller, 
after  discussing  various  theories  of  the 
origin  of  the  barnacle  myth  [of  the  produc- 
tion of  geese  from  barnacles]  declares  in  fa- 
vor of  the  idea  that  confusion  of  language 
and  alteration  of  names  lie  at  the  root  of 
the  error.  The  learned  author  of  the  "  Sci- 
ence of  Language  "  argues  that  the  true  bar- 
nacles were  named,  properly  enough,  Ber- 
naculce,  and  lays  stress  on  the  fact  that 
bernicle  geese  were  first  caught  in  Ireland. 
That  country  becomes  Hibernia  in  Latin, 
and  the  Irish  geese  were  accordingly  named 
Hibernicce  or  Hiberniculce.  By  the  omission 
of  the  first  syllable — no  uncommon  opera- 
tion for  words  to  undergo — we  obtain  the 
name  Berniculce  for  the  geese,  this  term  be- 
ing almost  synonymous  [or  rather  homony- 
mous]  with  the  name  Bernaculce  already  ap- 
plied, as  we  have  seen,  to  the  barnacles. 
Bernicle-geese  and  bernicle-shells,  confused 
in  name,  thus  became  confused  in  Nature; 
and,  once  started,  the  ordinary  process  of 
growth  was  sufficient  to  further  intensify 
and  render  more  realistic  the  story  of  the 
bernicle-tree  and  its  wonderful  progeny. — 
WILSON  Facts  and  Fictions  of  Zoology,  p.  8. 
(Hum.,  1882.) 

1814.  LANGUAGE    BANKS  THE 
GAINS    OF    INTELLECT— Progress   Trans- 
mitted   by   Speech   as   Not    by   Heredity. — 
When  it  is  asked,  What  brought  about  this 
sudden  rise  of  intelligence  in  the  case  of 
man?  there  is  a  wonderful  unanimity  among 
men  of  science  as  to  the  answer.     It  came 
about,  it  is  supposed,  in  connection  with  the 
acquisition  by  man  of  the  power  to  express 
his  mind,  that  is  to  speak.    Evolution,  up  to 
this  time,  had  only  one  way  of  banking  the 


gains  it  won — heredity.  To  hand  on  any 
improvement  physically  was  a  slow  and  pre- 
carious work.  But  with  the  discovery  of 
language  there  arose  a  new  method  of  pass- 
ing on  a  step  in  progress.  Instead  of  sowing 
the  gain  on  the  wind  of  heredity,  it  was 
fastened  on  the  wings  of  words.  The  way  to 
make  money  is  not  only  to  accumulate  small 
gains  steadily,  but  to  put  them  out  at  a 
good  rate  of  interest.  Animals  did  the 
first  with  their  mental  acquisitions:  man 
did  the  second.  At  a  comparatively  early 
date  he  found  out  a  first-rate  and  permanent 
investment  for  his  money,  so  that  he  could 
not  only  keep  his  savings  and  put  them  out 
at  the  highest -rate  of  interest,  but  have  a 
Bhare  in  all  the  gain  that  was  made  by 
other  men.  That  discovery  was  language. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p.  150. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

1815.  LANGUAGE,  BRUTES  ATTAIN 
ONLY  RUDIMENTS  OF— Word  as  Sign  of 
Idea  Only  in  Human  Mind. — As  yet,  how- 
ever, no  observer  has  been  able  to  follow  the 
workings    of   mind    even    in   the    dog   that 
jumps  up  for  food  and  barks  for  the  door 
to  be  opened.    It  is  hard  to  say  how  far  the 
dog's  mind  merely  associates  jumping  up 
with  being  fed,  and  barking  with  being  let 
in,  or  how  far  it  forms  a  conception  like 
ours  of  what  it  is  doing  and  why  it  does  it. 
Anyhow,  it  is  clear  that  the  beasts  and  birds 
go   so   far  in  the  natural   language   as   to 
make   and   perceive   gestures   and   cries   as 
signals.     But  a  dog's  mind  seems  not  to  go 
beyond  this  point,  that  a  good  imitation  of 
a  mew  leads  it  to  look  for  a  cat  in  the  room ; 
whereas  a   child  can  soon  make  out  from 
the  nurse  saying  "miaou"  that  she  means 
something  about  some  cat,  which  need  not 
even  be  near  by.    That  is,  a  young  child  can 
understand  what  is  not  proved  to  have  en- 
tered  into   the   mind   of  the   cleverest   dog, 
elephant,  or  ape,  that  a  sound  may  be  used 
as  the  sign  of  a  thought  or  idea.     Thus, 
while  the  lower  animals  share  with  man  the 
beginnings   of  the   natural   language,    they 
hardly  get  beyond  its  rudiments,  while  the 
human  mind  easily  goes  on  to  higher  stages. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  4,  p.  123.     (A., 
1899.) 

1816.  LANGUAGE    CONTINUALLY 
GENERATED— A  Living  Force— Writing "D8. 
Speech. — The  true  solution  of  the  contrast- 
ing stability  and  fluctuation  that  we  find  in 
language  lies  in  the  unity  of  human  nature. 
No  one  assigns  to  a  word  precisely  the  same 
meaning  that  another  does,  and  a  shade  of 
meaning,  be  it  ever  so  slight,  ripples  on  like 
a  circle  in  the  water  through  the  entirety  of 
language.    Even  the  preservation  of  a  lan- 
guage by  means  of  writing  keeps  it  only  in 
an  incomplete  way,  mummy-like,  in  which  it 
can  only  gain  vitality  by  means  of  timely 
recitation.     In  itself  it  is  not  a  completed 
work,  but  an  internal  energy  in  the  soul  be- 
getting new  creations. — WTLHELM  VON  HUM- 
BOLDT  Ueber  die  Verschiedenheit  des  mensch- 
lichen  Sprachbaues  und  ihren  Einfluss  auf 


Language 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


373 


die  geistige  Entwickelung  des  Menschen- 
geschlechts.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

1817.  LANGUAGE  CONTROLS  CUS- 
TOMS AND  TRADE— The  French  language 
produces  French  habits,  French  habits  in- 
troduce French  products.     Those  who  know 
French  become  the  patrons  of  France. — Bul- 
letin de  V Alliance  frangaise.      (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1818.  LANGUAGE,  GRADUAL   AC- 
QUISITION OF— Vocabulary  of  English  Lan- 
guage— Number  of  Words  in  Common  Use — 
Vocabulary    Varies    with    Education. — The 
vocabulary    of   a    rich    and    long-cultivated 
language  like  the  English  may  be  roughly 
estimated   at   about    100,000   words    (altho 
this  excludes  a  great  deal  which,,  if  "  Eng- 
lish "  were  understood  in  its  widest  sense, 
would  have  to  be  counted  in)  ;    but  thirty 
thousand  is  a  very  large  estimate  for  the 
number  ever  used,  in  writing  or  speaking, 
by  a  well-educated  man;    three  to  five  thou- 
sand, it  has  been  carefully  estimated,  cover 
the  ordinary  needs  of  cultivated  intercourse; 
and  the  number  acquired  by  persons  of  low- 
est training  and  narrowest  information  is 
considerably  less  than  this.     Nowhere  more 
clearly  than  here  does  it  appear  that  one 
gets  his  language  by  a  process  of  learning, 
and  only  thus ;    for  all  this  gradual  increase 
of  one's  linguistic  resources  goes  on  in  the 
most   openly  external   fashion,   by   dint  of 
hearing  and  reading  and  study;    and  it  is 
obviously  only  a  continuation,  under  some- 
what changed  circumstances,  of  the  process 
of  acquisition  of  the  first  nucleus:     while 
the  whole  is  parallel  to  the  beginning  and 
growth  of  one's  command  of  a  "  foreign " 
tongue. — WHITNEY  Life  and  Growth  of  Lan- 
guage, ch.  2,  p.  26.    (A.,  1900.) 

1819.  LANGUAGE    INVOLVES    EN- 
TIRE MIND— No  Single  Faculty   Competent 
to    the   Work. — Its    [phrenology's]    "  facul- 
ties," as  a  rule,  are  fully  equipped  persons 
in  a  particular  mental  attitude.     Take,  for 
example,  the  "  faculty  "  of  language.    It  in- 
volves in  reality  a  host  of  distinct  powers. 
We    must    first    have    images    of    concrete 
things  and  ideas  of  abstract  qualities  and 
relations ;  we  must  next  have  the  memory  of 
words  and  then  the  capacity  so  to  associate 
each  idea  or  image  with  a  particular  word 
that,  when  the  word  is  heard,  the  idea  shall 
forthwith  enter  our  mind.     We  must,  con- 
versely, as  soon  as  the  idea  arises  in  our 
mind,  associate  with  it  a  mental  image  of 
the  word,  and  by  means  of  this  image  we 
must  innervate  our  articulatory  apparatus 
so   as   to  reproduce  the  word   as   physical 
sound.     To  .read  or  to  write  a  language,  other 
elements  still  must  be  introduced.    But  it  is 
plain  that  the  faculty  of  spoken  language 
alone  is  so  complicated  as  to  call  into  play 
almost  all  the  elementary  powers  which  the 
mind    possesses — memory,    imagination,    as- 
sociation, judgment,  and  volition.     A  por- 


tion of  the  brain  competent  to  be  the  ade- 
quate seat  of  such  a  faculty  would  needs  be 
an  entire  brain  in  miniature — just  as  the 
faculty  itself  is  really  a  specification  of  the 
entire  man. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  28.  (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1820.  LANGUAGE     MADE     MEAN- 
INGLESS   BY    AUTOMATIST  THEORY— 

"  Ought  "  —  "  Duty  "  —  "  Responsibility  " 
— Individual  Deemed  Victim  of  Circum- 
stances.— It  seems  to  me  .  .  .  quite 
clear  that  on  the  automatist  or  determinist 
theory,  such  words  as  "  ought,"  "  duty," 
"  responsibility,"  have  to  be  used,  if  used  at 
all,  in  new  significations.  The  welfare  of 
that  aggregate  of  automata  which  we  call 
"society"  may  require  that  every  individual 
automaton  shall  be  prevented  from  doing 
what  is  injurious  to  it;  and  punishment  for 
offenses  actually  committed  may  be  reason- 
ably inflicted  as  a  deterrent  from  the  repeti- 
tion of  such  offenses  by  the  individual  or  by 
others.  But  if  the  individual  has  in  him- 
self no  power  either  to  do  the  right  or  to 
avoid  the  wrong,  and  if  the  potency  of  that 
aggregate  of  feelings  about  actions  as  being 
"  right  or  wrong,"  which  is  termed  "  con- 
science," entirely  depends  upon  "  circum- 
stances "  over  which  he  neither  has  nor  ever 
has  had  any  control,  I  fail  to  see  in  what 
other  sense  he  should  be  held  "  responsible  " 
for  doing  what  he  knows  that  he  "  ought 
not "  to  have  done,  or  for  not  doing  what  he 
knows  that  he  "  ought "  to  have  done,  than 
a  steam-engine,  which  breaks  away  from  its 
"  governor  "  in  consequence  of  a  sudden  in- 
crease of  steam-pressure,  or  which  comes  to 
a  stop  through  the  bursting  of  its  steam- 
pipe,  can  be  accounted  responsible  for  the 
damage  thence  arising. — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  pref.,  p.  46.  (A.,  1900.) 

1821.  LANGUAGE  MAKES  KNOWL- 
EDGE   HEREDITARY—  The    Son  Begins 
Where  the  Father  Ends. — Language  formed 
the  trellis  on  which  mind  climbed  upward, 
which  continuously  sustained  the  ripening 
fruits    of    knowledge    for    later    minds    to 
pluck.      Before   the    savage's    son    was    ten 
years  old  he  knew  all  that  his  father  knew. 
The  ways  of  the  game,  the  habits  of  birds 
and    fish,    the    construction    of    traps    and 
snares — all  these  would  be  taught  him.    The 
physical  world,  the  changes  of  season,  the 
location  of  hostile  tribes,  the  strategies  of 
war,  all  the  details  and  interests  of  savage 
life  would  be  explained.    And  before  the  boy 
was  in  his  teens  he  was  equipped  for  the 
struggle  for  life  as  his  forefathers  had  never 
been  even  in  old  age.     The  son,  in  short, 
started  to  evolve  where  his  father  left  off. 
Try  to  realize  what  it  would  be  for  each  of 
us  to  begin  life  afresh,  to  be  able  to  learn 
nothing  by  the  experiences  of  others,  to  live 
in  a  dumb  and  illiterate  world,  and  see  what 
chance    the    animal    had    of    making    pro- 
nounced progress   until  the   acquisition   of 
speech. — DRTJMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p. 
152.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 


373 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Language 


1822.  LANGUAGE,  MYSTERY  OF— 
There   could   be   no   invention   of   language 
unless  its  type  already  existed  in  the  human 
understanding.    Man  is  man  only  by  means 
of  speech,  but,   in   order  to   invent  speech, 
he   must   be   already  man. — WILHELM   VON 
HUMBOLDT    Einleitung,    Ueber    die    Kawi- 
sprache  auf  der  Insel  Java.     (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1823.  LANGUAGE    OF    ANIMALS 
MERELY  RUDIMENTARY— Animals  pos- 
sess certain  elements  of  language,  just  as 
they  possess  certain  elements  of  conscious- 
ness which  might  serve  as  the  basis  of  in- 
tellectual function,  but  they  do  not  possess 
language  itself.     So  that  the  mere  absence 
of  this  external  mark  would  justify  us  in 
inferring  the  absence  of  those  mental  func- 
tions of  which  it  is  the  mark.    As  a  rule,  it 
is  not  any  physical  obstacle,  as  is  so  often 
thought,  which  prevents  animals  from  talk- 
ing.   In  very  many  animals  the  development 
of  the  organs  of  speech  has  gone  far  enough 
to  enable  them  to  clothe  thought  in  words,  if 
the  thought  were  there  to  clothe.    The  ques- 
tion why  the  animals  do  not  talk  is  most 
correctly  answered  in  the  old  way — because 
they  have  nothing  to  say.     Only  we  must 
add    that    certain    movements    and    sounds 
characteristic  of  feelings  and  ideas  seem  to 
be   the   forerunners   of  language,   and   that 
animals  give  signs  that  in  this  connection, 
as  in  others,  their  mental  life  is  the  imme- 
diate precursor  of  our  own. — WUNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  24,  p.  363.    (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1824.  LANGUAGE  OF  EXPRESSION, 

NATURAL— Emotion  Manifested  through  the 
Body. — It  has  been  noted  in  all  ages  and 
countries  that  the  feelings  possess  a  natural 
language  or  expression.  So  constant  are 
the  appearances  characterizing  the  different 
classes  of  emotions  that  we  regard  them  as  a 
part  of  the  emotions  themselves.  The  smile 
of  joy,  the  puckered  features  in  pain,  the 
stare  of  astonishment,  the  quivering  of  fear, 
the  tones  and  glance  of  tenderness,  the 
frown  of  anger,  are  united  in  seemingly  in- 
separable association  with  the  states  of  feel- 
ing that  they  indicate.  If  a  feeling  arises 
without  its  appropriate  sign  or  accompani- 
ment, we  account  for  the  failure  either  by 
voluntary  suppression  or  by  the  faintness  of 
the  excitement,  there  being  a  certain  degree 
or  intensity  requisite  to  affect  the  bodily 
organs.  On  this  uniformity  of  connection 
between  feelings  and  their  bodily  expression 
depends  our  knowledge  of  each  other's  mind 
and  character.  When  any  one  is  pleased,  or 
pained,  or  loving,  or  angry,  unless  there  is 
purposed  concealment  we  are  aware  of  the 
fact,  and  can  even  estimate  in  any  given 
case  the  degree  of  the  feeling. — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  2,  p.  2.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

1825.  LANGUAGE    OF   GESTURE— 

Natural  Signs  Understood  ~by  All  Races  of 
Men. — Communication  by  gesture  signs  be- 
tween persons  unable  to  converse  in  vocal 
language  is  an  effective  system  of  expression 


common  to  all  mankind.  Thus  the  signs 
used  to  ask  a  deaf-and-dumb  child  about  his 
meals  and  lessons,  or  to  communicate  with 
a  savage  met  in  the  desert  about  game  or 
enemies,  belong  to  codes  of  gesture  signals 
identical  in  principle  and  to  a  great  ex- 
tent independent  both  of  nationality  and 
education;  there  is  even  a  natural  syntax, 
or  order  of  succession,  in  such  gesture  signs. 
To  these  gestures  let  there  be  added  the 
use  of  the  inter  jectional  Tvries,  such  as  oh! 
ugh!  hey!  and  imitative  sounds  to  repre- 
sent the  cat's  mew,  the  click  of  a  trigger, 
the  clap  or  thud  of  a  blow,  etc.  The  total 
result  of  this  combination  of  gesture  and 
significant  sound  will  be  a  general  system 
of  expression,  imperfect  but  serviceable,  and 
naturally  intelligible  to  all  mankind  with- 
out distinction  of  race.  .  .  .  The  lower 
animals  make  no  approach  to  the  human 
system  of  natural  utterance  by  gesture  signs 
and  emotional-imitative  sounds,  while  the 
practical  identity  of  this  human  system 
among  races  physically  so  unlike  ,as  the 
Englishman  and  the  native  of  the  Australian 
bush  indicates  extreme  closeness  of  mental 
similarity  throughout  the  human  species. 
—  DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropology,  ch.  6,  p. 
22.  (Hum.,  1885.) 


1826.  LANGUAGE  OF  TOUCH— 

Communicate  by  Antennae.  —  Language  is  the 
key  to  the  union  we  remark  in  this  numer- 
ous family.  It  is  not  by  means  of  sounds 
or  visible  signs,  but  by  touch,  that  it  mani- 
fests itself;  it  is  especially  the  antennae, 
those  organs  that  distinguish  insects  from 
all  other  animals,  that  serve,  whenever  the 
species  meets  in  society,  the  noble  use  of 
communicating  impressions  from  one  indi- 
vidual to  another,  their  wishes,  necessities, 
and  the  situation.  No  doubt  the  antennal 
language  is  imperfect,  if  compared  with  our 
requirements,  but  it  suffices  very  well  for 
ants.  —  HUBER  Recherches  sur  les  Meurs  des 
Fourmis  indigenes,  p.  310.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1827.  LANGUAGE,  PLACE    OF,  IN 
EARLY  EDUCATION—  The    several    facul- 
ties of  the  human  mind  are  not  simultane- 
ously developed,  and  in  educating  an  indi- 
vidual we  ought  to  follow  the  order  of  Na- 
ture, and  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the 
age  and  mental  stature  of  the  pupil.     If  we 
reverse  this  order  and  attempt  to  cultivate 
faculties  which  are  not  sufficiently  matured, 
while  we  neglect  to  cultivate  those  which 
are,  we  do  the  child  an  irreparable  injury. 
Memory,    imitation,   imagination,    and   the 
faculty   of  forming  mental  habits  exist  in 
early  life,  while  the  judgment  and  the  reason- 
ing powers  are  of  slower  growth.     It  is  a 
fact  abundantly  proved  by  observation  that 
the  mere  child,  by  the  principle  which  has 
been    denominated     sympathetic    imitation, 
may   acquire   the   power    of   expressing   his 
desires   and   emotions   in   correct  and   even 
beautiful  language  without  knowing  or  being 
able  to  comprehend  the  simplest  principles 


Language 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


374 


of  philology.  He  even  seizes,  as  if  by  a  kind 
of  instinct,  upon  abstract  terms,  and  applies 
them  with  ease  and  correctness ;  but  as  life 
advances,  the  facility  of  verbal  acquisition 
declines,  and  with  some  it  entirely  disap- 
pears. Hence  the  plan  appears  to  me  to  be 
wise  and  in  accordance  with  Nature,  which 
makes  the  acquisition  of  language  an  es- 
sential part  of  early  elemental  education. 
The  same  child  which  acquires  almost  with- 
out effort  his  vernacular  tongue  may  by  a 
similar  process  be  taught  to  speak  the  prin- 
cipal ancient  and  modern  languages. — HEN- 
RY Thoughts  on  Education  (Scientific  Wri- 
tings, vol.  i;  p.  335).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1828.  LANGUAGE,    PROCESS     OF 
CHANGE  IN — The  organs  of  speech  are  dif- 
ferently framed  by  Nature  in  different  cli- 
mates and  countries;  and  even  in  the  same 
countries  some  men  pronounce  their  words 
broader,   softer,  harder,   quicker,   or  slower 
than   others,   and   some  are  unable  to  pro- 
nounce this  or  that  letter.    These  accidents, 
by  example  and  imitation,  bring  on  a  change 
of  vowels  and  consonants,  whence  a  language 
becomes  unlike  what  it  was  at  first. — Pref- 
ace  to  Boucher's  Dictionary.      (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1829.  LANGUAGE,    RACE-STRUG- 
GLES FOR  EXTENSION  OF— German  and 
Slav   Contend  for  Control  of  Education. — 
The   Germans   are   doing  among   the   Slavs 
what  the  French  are  doing  in  Syria.     Both 
in  Germany  and  Austria  they  have  societies 
called    German    school    associations.      They 
establish  schools  in  Bohemia,  in  Moravia,  in 
Styria,  and  elsewhere,  seeking  to  attract  to 
them  the  Slav  children  by  means  of  gratui- 
ties, good   organization   of  the  instruction, 
hygienic  management  of  the  buildings,  etc. 
The  expenses  of  these  schools   are  covered 
by  assessment  of  the  members  of  the  associ- 
ation.    Naturally  the  Slavs  resist,  and  in 
order  to  struggle  against  the  Germans  they 
also   found   societies   of  the   same   kind   to 
maintain    Slav    schools.      In   this    struggle 
evidently  the  school  that  is  most  perfect  will 
triumph   in   the  long  run.      And  this  will 
displace  the  linguistic  frontier  to  the  profit 
of  the  nation  that  is  most  energetic.    Aside 
from  the  schools,  societies  of  all  kinds  are 
being  formed  for  the  propaganda  of  a  lan- 
guage,  such,   for   example,  as  the  Alliance 
frangaise,  which  has  been  in  existence  since 
1883. — Novicow  Les   Luttes  entre  Societes 
humaines,  p.    101.      (Translated  for   Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

1830.  LANGUAGE,  THE   EVOLU- 
TION    OF— Archbishop    Trench— How  Lan- 
guage is  Divine — God  Gave,  Not  Names,  but 
a  Power  of  Naming  (Gen.  ii,  19-20) — Man 
Not  a  Parrot. — Even  Trench  at  this  point 
succumbs  to  the  theory  of  development,  and 
his  testimony  is  the  more  valuable  that  it 
is  evidently  so  very  much  against  the  grain 
to  admit  it.    He  begins  by  stating  apparent- 


ly the  opposite :  "  The  truer  answer  to  the 
inquiry  how  language  arose  is  this:  God 
gave  man  language  just  as  he  gave  him 
reason,  and  just  because  he  gave  him  rea- 
son; for  what  is  man's  word  but  his  reason 
coming  forth  that  it  may  behold  itself? 
They  are  indeed  so  essentially  one  and  the 
same  that  the  Greek  language  has  one  word 
for  them  both.  He  gave  it  to  him  because 
he  could  not  be  man — that  is,  a  social  being 
— without  it."  Yet  he  is  too  profound  a  stu- 
dent of  words  to  fail  to  qualify  this.  .  .  . 
"  Yet,"  he  continues,  "  this  must  not  be  ta- 
ken to  affirm  that  man  started  at  the  first 
furnished  with  a  full-formed  vocabulary  of 
words,  and,  as  it  were,  with  his  first  diction- 
ary and  first  grammar  ready  made  to  his 
hands.  He  did  not  thus  begin  the  world 
with  names,  but  with  the  power  of  naming: 
for  man  is  not  a  mere  speaking  machine; 
God  did  not  teach  him  words,  as  one  of  us 
teaches  a  parrot,  from  without,  but  gave 
him  a  capacity,  and  then  evoked  the  ca- 
pacity which  he  gave  "  [Trench,  "  The  Study 
of  Words,"  pp.  14-15]. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  5,  p.  177.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1831.  LANGUAGE  THE    NATURAL 
STUDY  OF  CHILDHOOD— Science  Requires 
Maturity  of  Mind. — The  study  of  language 
should  be  prosecuted  in  childhood,  as  it  is, 
in  fact,  in  the  acquisition  of  the  mother- 
tongue.      .      .      .      The   memory    for    words 
should  be  exercised  and  stimulated.     Choice 
tales,  poems  (narrative  and  lyric)  should  be 
learned  for  recitation.     Natural  history  in 
all    its   branches,    as    contrasted   with    the 
sciences    of    Nature    or    scientific    physics, 
should  be  mastered  with  the  objects  before 
the  eye — flowers,  minerals,  shells,  birds,  and 
beasts.    These  studies  should  all  be  mastered 
in  the  springtime  of  life,  when  the  tastes 
are  simple,  the  heart  is  fresh,  and  the  eye 
is   sharp    and  clear.     The  facts  of  history 
and  geography  should  be  fixed  by  repetition 
and  stored  away  in  order.     But  science  of 
every  kind — whether  of  language,  of  Nature, 
of  the  soul,  or  of  God — as  science,  should  not 
be  prematurely  taught.    For  the  consequence 
is  either  disgust  and  hostility  to  all  study, 
on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  superficial 
thinking,  presumptuous  conceit,  and,  worst 
of  all,  sated  curiosity.     The  law  of  intellec- 
tual progress  involves  effort  and  discipline 
severely  imposed  and  constantly  maintained, 
but  the  effort  and  discipline  should  follow 
the  guidance  of  Nature. — PORTER  Human  In- 
tellect, §  61,  p.  74.     (S.,  1893.) 

1832.  LANGUAGE,    THE    SCIENCE 
OF,  UNITES  THE  AGES—  Value-of  Philology. 
— Philology  recognized  its  calling  to  be  me- 
diator between  the  remotest  ages,  to  afford 
us    the    enjoyment    of    preserving    through 
thousands   of    years    an    unbroken    identity 
with  the  noblest  and  greatest  nations  of  the 
world,  by  familiarizing  us  through  the  me- 
dium   of    grammar    and    history    with    the 
works  of  their  minds  and  the  course  of  their 


375 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Language 
aw 


destinies,  as  if  there  were  no  gulf  to  divide 
us  from  them. — NIEBTJHB  Romische  Ge- 
schichte,  preface.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

1833.  LANGUAGE     UNFOLDED 
FROM    DEPTHS    OF    THOUGHT  —  Lan- 
guages, as  intellectual  creations  of  man,  and 
as  closely  interwoven  with  the  development 
of  mind,  are,  independently  of  the  national 
form    which   they   exhibit,    of   the  greatest 
importance  in  the  recognition  of  similarities 
or    differences    in   races.      This    importance 
is  especially  owing  to  the  clew  which  a  com- 
munity of  descent  affords  in  threading  that 
mysterious   labyrinth  in  which  the  connec- 
tion   of    physical    powers    and    intellectual 
forces  manifests  itself  in  a  thousand  differ- 
ent forms.     .     .     .    Language  is  a  part  and 
parcel  of  the  history  of  the  development  of 
mind;   and  however  happily  the  human  in- 
tellect, under  the  most  dissimilar  physical 
conditions,   may   unfettered   pursue   a   self- 
chosen  track,  and  strive  to  free  itself  from 
the  dominion  of  terrestrial  influences,  this 
emancipation  is  never  perfect.     There  ever 
remains,   in  the  natural   capacities  of  the 
mind,   a  trace  of  something  that  has  been 
derived   from  the   influences   of  race  or   of 
climate,  whether  they  be  associated  with  a 
land  gladdened  by  cloudless  azure  skies  or 
with  the  vapory  atmosphere  of  an  insular 
region.    As,  therefore,  richness  and  grace  of 
language  are  unfolded  from  the  most  luxu- 
riant depths  of  thought,  we  have  been  un- 
willing wholly  to  disregard  the  bond  which 
so  closely  links  together  the  physical  world 
with  the  sphere  of  intellect  and  of  the  feel- 
ings  by   depriving   this   general   picture   of 
Nature  of  those  brighter  lights   and  tints 
which  may  be  borrowed  from  considerations, 
however  slightly  indicated,  of  the  relations 
existing    between    races    and    languages. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  357.    (H.,  1897.) 

1 834.  LANGUAGE,  VALUE  OF  THE 
STUDY    OF  —  Versatility  and  Flexibility  of 
Mind — The  End  To  Be  Aimed  at  in  Second- 
ary Instruction. — All  experts  agree  that  the 
preparatory  training  of  students  of  the  gym- 
nasium  is   superior  to   that   of   those   who 
graduate    from    any    other    institution    of 
learning,    because    it    produces    greater    fa- 
cility in  the  faculty  of  thinking,  furnishing 
more  power  in  finding  one's  way  in  the  do- 
main of  the  various  new  disciplines  that 
are  taken  up.    If  that  is  true — and  the  fact 
cannot  be  denied — the  reason  for  it  can  only 
be  traced  to  the  language-instruction  which 
is  the  thing  that  distinguishes  the  plan  of 
instruction  in  the  gymnasium  from  the  other 
secondary  schools.    And,  in  fact,  instruction 
in  language  can  be  designated  a  most  emi-. 
nent  means  of  training.     ...     By  means 
of  it  the  student  attains  a  certain  versatility 
and  flexibility  of  mind  that  enable  him  al- 
ways  to   find   his   way   in   those    forms   of 
thought  best  corresponding  to   the   specific 
departments  of  knowledge  or  to  the   fields 
of  research. — KLEINWACHTER  Zur  Frage  des 


naturivissenschaftlichen  Unterrichts 
(Deutsche  Zeit-  und  Streit-Fragen,  p.  246 ) . 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1835.  LANGUAGE   WOMAN'S  SPE- 
CIALTY— Source  of  Man's  Taciturnity.— The 
Mexicans  say,  "  A  woman  is   the  best  dic- 
tionary."     This   unpremeditated   confession 
is  based  upon  an  early  induction  made  by 
the  aborigines  of  that  country  centuries  ago. 
Savage   men,    in    hunting   and    fishing,    are 
much   alone,   and   have   to   be  quiet,    hence 
their  taciturnity;  but  women  are  together, 
and  chatter  all  day  long.     Away  from  the 
centers  of  culture  women  are  still  the  best 
dictionaries,   talkers,   and   letter  -  writers. — 
MASON   Woman's  Share  in  Primitive   Cul- 
ture, ch.  9,  p.  190.     (A.,  1894.) 

1836.  LAVA,  CAVERNS  IN— Subter- 
ranean Grottoes  and  Vaults  of  Etna. — Men- 
tion was  made  of  the  entrance  of  a  lava- 
stream  into  a  subterranean  grotto,  whereby 
the  foundations  of  a  hill  were  partially  un- 
dermined.    Such  underground  passages  are 
among  the  most  curious  features  on  Etna, 
and  appear  to  have  been  produced  by  the 
hardening  of  the  lava  during  the  escape  of 
great  volumes  of  elastic  fluids,  which   are 
often  discharged  for  many  days  in  succession 
after  the  crisis  of  the  eruption  is  over.    Near 
Nicolosi,  not  far  from  Monti  Rossi,  one  of 
these  great  openings  may  be  seen,  called  the 
Fossa  della  Palomba,  625  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence at  its  mouth,  and  seventy-eight  deep. 
After  reaching  the  bottom  of  this  we  enter 
another  dark  cavity,  and  then  others  in  suc- 
cession, sometimes  descending  precipices  by 
means  of  ladders.    At  length  the  vaults  ter- 
minate in  a  great  gallery  ninety  feet  long 
and  from  fifteen  to  fifty  broad,  beyond  which 
there  is  still  a  passage  never  yet  explored, 
so  that  the  extent  of  these  caverns  remains 
unknown.      The   walls    and    roofs    of    these 
great    vaults    are    composed    of   rough    and 
bristling  scoriae  of  the  most  fantastic  forms. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  25, 
p.  401.     (A.,  1854.) 

1837.  LAW  AS  AN  OBSERVED  OR- 
DER OF  FACTS—  Cause  of  Chemical  Phe- 
nomena   Unknown.— The    first    and,    so    to 
speak,  the  lowest  sense  in  which  law  is  ap- 
plied to  natural  phenomena  is  that  in  which 
it  is  used  to  express  simply  "  an  observed 
order  of  facts  " — that  is  to  say,  facts  which 
under    the   same    conditions    always    follow 
each  other  in  the  same  order.    In  this  sense 
the  laws  of  Nature  are  simply  those  facts 
of  Nature  which  recur  according  to  a  rule. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  the  legitimate  appli- 
cation of  law  in  this  sense  that  the  cause 
of  any  observed   order   of   facts   should   be 
at  all  known  or  even  guessed  at.     The  force 
or  forces  to  which  that  order  is  due  may  be 
hid  in  total  darkness.    ...    A  very  large 
proportion  of  the  laws  of  every  science  are 
laws  of  this  kind  and  in  this  sense.     For 
example,  in  chemistry  the  behavior  of  dif- 
ferent substances  towards  each  other,  in  re- 


Law 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


376 


spect  to  combination  and  affinity,  is  reduced 
to  system  under  laws  of  this  kind,  and 
of  this  kind  only.  Because,  altho  there 
is  a  probability  that  electric  or  galvanic 
force  is  the  cause  or  one  of  the  causes  of 
the  series  of  facts  exhibited  in  chemical  phe- 
nomena, this  is  as  yet  no  better  than  a 
probability,  and  the  laws  of  chemistry  stand 
no  higher  than  facts  which  by  observation 
and  experiment  are  found  to  follow  certain 
rules. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  40. 
(Burt.) 

1838.  LAW    CONSISTENT    WITH 
DESIGN—  Will  Adapts  Natural  Laws  to  Its 
Purpose. — Our   own    experience   shows   that 
the  universal  reign  of  law  is  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  a  power  of  making  those  laws 
subservient  to  design — even  when  the  knowl- 
edge of  them  is  but  slight,  and  the  power 
over  them  slighter  still.     How  much  more 
easy,  how  much  more  natural,  to  conceive 
that   the    same    universality    is    compatible 
with  the  exercise  of  that  Supreme  Will  be- 
fore which  all  are  known  and  to  which  all 
are  servants!     What  difficulty  in  this  view 
remains  in  the  idea  of  the  Supernatural? 
Is  it  any  other  than  the  difficulty   in  be- 
lieving in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Will — 
in  a  living  God? — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch. 
1,  p.  13.     (Burt.) 

1839.  LAW   DOES   NOT    NEGLECT 
THE  LEAST—  Gravitation  Holds  Even  Micro- 
scopic Germs. — The  influence  of  gravity  upon 
bacteria  in  the  air  may  be  observed  in  vari- 
ous ways,  in  addition  to  its  action  within 
a  limited  area  like  a  sewer  or  a  room.    Mi- 
quel  found  in  some  investigations  in  Paris 
that,  whereas  on  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  750  germs 
were  present  in  a  cubic  meter,  yet  at  the 
summit  of  the  Pantheon  only  28  were  found 
in  the  same  quantity  of  air.    At  the  tops  of 
mountains    air    is    germ-free,    and   bacteria 
increase  in  proportion  to  descent.     As  Tyn- 
dall  has  pointed  out,  even  ultramicroscopic 
cells  obey  the  law  of  gravitation.     This  is 
equally  true  in  the  limited  areas  of  a  labora- 
tory or  warehouse  and  in  the  open  air. — NEW- 
MAN Bacteria,  ch.  3,  p.  106.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1840.  LAW  EXALTS  PHENOMENA 

— The  Same  Smoke  Column  Blue  and  Red. — 
Touched  by  the  wand  of  law,  the  dross  of 
facts  becomes  gold,  the  meanest  being  raised 
thereby  to  brotherhood  with  the  highest. 
Thus  the  smoke  of  an  Irish  cabin  lifts  our 
speculations  to  the  heavenly  dome.  .  . 
The  selfsame  column  of  smoke  may  be  pro- 
jected against  a  bright  and  a  dark  portion 
of  the  same  cloud,  and  thus  made  to  appear 
blue  and  red  at  the  same  time.  The  blue 
belongs  to  the  light  reflected  from  the  smoke; 
the  red  to  the  light  transmitted  through 
it.  In  like  manner  the  hues  of  the  atmos- 
phere are  not  due  to  coloring  matter,  but  to 
the  fact  of  its  being  a  turbid  medium. 
Through  this  we  look  at  the  blackness  of 
unillumined  space  and  see  the  blue  at  the 
western  heaven  at  sunset,  and  meet  that 
light  which  steeps  the  clouds  of  evening  in 


orange  and  crimson  dyes. — TYNDALL  Hours 
of  Exercise  in  the  Alps  (Notes,  etc.,  Kil- 
larney),  p.  420.  (A.,  1898.) 

1841.  LAW  HOLDS    EVEN    THE 
WANDERING  COMETS-  They  Move  Obedi- 
ent to  the  Primal  Impulse  and  Gravitation 
— Comets    of    Solar    System,    Perhaps    Ex- 
pelled   from    Giant    Planets. — Since    these 
comets  are  associated  in  so  peculiar  a  man- 
ner with  the  giant  planets  [Jupiter,  Saturn, 
Uranus,  and  Neptune]  of  the  solar  system, 
may  it  not  be  that  they  bear  a  relation  to 
these    planets    somewhat    resembling    that 
which   the   large   comets   bear   to   the   suns 
which  people  space?     As  the  large  comets 
would  seem  to  have  been  expelled  from  these 
suns,  may  not  the  small  comets  have  been 
expelled  from  the  giant  planets?     We  need 
not    necessarily    assume    that    these    giant 
planets  are  still  in  the  active  and  sunlike 
state   necessary,   we  may   suppose,   for   the 
expulsion  of  comets.    ...    It  may  be  that 
the  birth  of  the  comet  families  of  the  giant 
planets  took  'place  in  far  distant  eras  when 
these  orbs  were  not  merely,  as  now,  instinct 
with  an  intense  heat,  but  also  aglow  with 
light,  so  as  to  present,  when  viewed  from 
other  systems,  the  aspect  which  the  small 
companions  of  unequal  double  stars  present 
to    our    telescopists. — PROCTOR    Expanse    of 
Heaven,  p.  156.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1842.  LAW  IN  LEAF-MOVEMENTS 

— Leaves  Vertical  in  Sleeping  Plants. — 
Leaves,  when  they  go  to  sleep,  move  either 
upwards  or  downwards,  or,  in  the  case  of  the 
leaflets  of  compound  leaves,  forwards,  that 
is,  towards  the  apex  of  the  leaf ,  or  backwards, 
that  is,  towards  its  base;  or,  again,  they 
may  rotate  on  their  own  axes  without  mov- 
ing either  upwards  or  downwards.  But  in 
almost  every  case  the  plane  of  the  blade 
is  so  placed  as  to  stand  nearly  or  quite  verti- 
cally at  night.  Therefore  the  apex,  or  the 
base,  or  either  lateral  edge  may  be  directed 
towards  the  zenith.  Moreover,  the  upper 
surface  of  each  leaf,  and  more  especially  of 
each  leaflet,  is  often  brought  into  close  con- 
tact with  that  of  the  opposite  one ;  and  this 
is  sometimes  effected  by  singularly  compli- 
cated movements.  This  fact  suggests  that 
the  upper  surface  requires  more  protection 
than  the  lower  one. — DARWIN  Power  of  Move- 
ment in  Plants,  ch.  6,  p.  281.  (A.,  1900.) 

1843.  LAW    INVARIABLE    UNDER 
SAME  CONDITIONS—  Variable  When  Condi- 
tions  Vary — Purpose  Adapted   to    Changed 
Relations. — We    hear   of   rigid   and    univer- 
sal sequence — necessary — invariable;   of  un- 
broken chains  of  cause  and  effect,  no  link  of 
which  can,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  ever 
broken.    And  this  idea  grows  upon  the  mind, 
until  in  some  confused  manner  it  is  held  as 
casting  out  the  idea  of  purpose  in  creation, 
and  inconsistent  with  the  element  of  will. 
If  it  be  so,  the  difficulty  cannot  be  evaded 
by  denying  the  uniformity,  any  more  than 
the  universality,  of  law.    It  is  perfectly  true 
that  every  law  is  in  its  own  nature  invari- 


377 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Law 


able,  producing  always  precisely  and  neces- 
sarily the  same  effects — that  is,  provided  it 
is  worked  under  the  same  conditions.  But 
then,  if  the  conditions  are  not  the  same 
the  invariableness  of  effect  gives  place  to  ca- 
pacities of  change  which  are  almost  infinite. 
It  is  by  altering  the  conditions  under  which 
any  given  law  is  brought  to  bear,  and  by 
bringing  other  laws  to  operate  upon  the 
same  subject,  that  our  own  wills  exercise 
a  large  and  increasing  power  over  the  ma- 
terial world.  And  be  it  observed — to  this 
end  the  uniformity  of  laws  is  no  impedi- 
ment, but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition.  Laws  are  in  themselves 
— if  not  unchangeable — at  least  unchanging, 
and  if  they  were  not  unchanging  they  could 
not  be  used  as  the  instruments  of  will.  If 
they  were  less  rigorous  they  would  be  less 
certain,  and  the  least  uncertainty  would 
render  them  incapable  of  any  service.  No 
adjustment,  however  nice,  could  secure  its 
purpose  if  the  implements  employed  were 
of  uncertain  temper. 

The  notion,  therefore,  that  the  uniformity 
or  invariableness  of  the  laws  of  Nature  can- 
not be  reconciled  with  their  subordination 
to  the  exercise  of  will,  is  a  notion  contrary 
to  our  own  experience. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  2,  p.  58.  (Burt.) 

1844.  LAW  OF  CONSTANCY  OR 
CONTINUITY— Exemplified  by  Action  of  the 
Voltaic  Battery — Effect  Exerted  at  a  Dis- 
tance from  the  Cause. — Before  you  is  an  in- 
strument— a  small  voltaic  battery — in  which 
zinc  is  immersed  in  a  suitable  liquid.  An 
attractive  force  is  at  this  moment  exerted 
between  the  metal  and  the  oxygen  of  the 
liquid,  actual  union,  however,  being  in  the 
first  instance  avoided.  Uniting  the  two 
ends  of  the  battery  by  a  thick  wire,  the  at- 
traction is  satisfied,  the  oxygen  unites  with 
the  metal,  zinc  is  consumed,  and  heat,  as 
usual,  is  the  result  of  the  combustion.  A 
power  which,  for  want  of  a  better  name,  we 
call  an  electric  current,  passes  at  the  same 
time  through  the  wire.  Cutting  the  thick 
wire  in  two,  let  the  severed  ends  be  united 
by  a  thin  one.  It  glows  with  a  white  heat. 
.  .  .  Suppose  in  the  first  instance,  when 
the  thick  wire  is  employed,  that  we  permit 
the  action  to  continue  until  100  grains  of 
zinc  are  consumed,  the  amount  of  heat  gen- 
erated in  the  battery  would  be  capable  of  ac- 
curate numerical  expression.  Let  the  action 
then  continue,  with  the  thin  wire  glowing, 
until  100  grains  of  zinc  are  consumed. 
.  .  .  The  amount  of  heat  generated  in 
the  battery  .  .  .  will  be  less  by  the  pre- 
cise amount  generated  in  the  thin  wire  out- 
side the  battery.  In  fact,  by  adding  the 
internal  heat  to  the  external,  we  obtain  for 
the  combustion  of  100  grains  of  zinc  a  total 
which  never  varies.  We  have  here  a  beauti- 
ful example  of  that  law  of  constancy  as  re- 
gards natural  energies,  the  establishment  of 
which  is  the  greatest  achievement  of  modern 
scientific  philosophy.  By  this  arrangement, 
then,  we  are-  able  to  burn  our  zinc  at  one 


place,  and  to  exhibit  the  effects  of  its  com- 
bustion at  a  distance.  In  New  York,  for 
example,  we  may  have  our  grate  and  fuel; 
but  the  heat  and  light  of  our  fire  may  be 
made  to  appear  at  San  Francisco. — TYNDALL. 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  6.  (A.,  1898.) 


1845. 


Suddenness    in 


Na ture — Lightning — Chemical  Combination. 
— The  same  ultimate  conceptions,  and  no 
other,  appear  to  constitute  all  the  truth 
that  is  to  be  found  in  a  favorite  doctrine 
among  the  cultivators  of  physical  science — 
the  so-called  "Law  of  Continuity."  This- 
phrase  is  indeed  often  used  with  such  loose- 
ness of  meaning  that  it  is  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  understand  the  primary  signification 
attached  to  it.  One  common  definition,  or 
rather  one  common  illustration,  of  this  law 
is  said  to  be  that  Nature  does  nothing  sud- 
denly— nothing  "  per  saltum  "  [literally,  by 
a  leap].  Of  course,  this  can  only  be 
accepted  under  some  metaphorical  or  tran- 
scendental meaning.  In  Nature  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  this  is 
generally  recognized  as  sufficiently  sudden- 
.  .  .  The  action  of  chemical  affinity  is  al- 
ways rapid,  and  very  often  even  instantane- 
ous. Yet  these  are  among  the  most  common 
and  the  most  powerful  factors  in  the  mech- 
anism of  Nature.  They  have  the  most  inti- 
mate connection  with  the  phenomena  of  life, 
and  we  know  only  too  well  that  in  these  the 
profoundest  changes  are  often  determined  in 
moments  of  time.  For  many  purposes  to 
which  this  so-called  "Law  of  Continuity" 
is  often  applied  in  argument  no  idler  dogma 
was  ever  invented  in  the  schools. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  83.  (Burt.) 

1846.  LAW;    OF     DEATH—  Natural 
Tendencies    to   Dissolution — Life   a  Tempo- 
rary Resistance  of  Disorganizing  Forces. — 
There  is  in  every  living  organism  a  law  of 
death.     We  are  wont  to  imagine  that  Na- 
ture is  full  of  life.     In  reality  it  is  full  of 
death.     One  cannot  say  it  is  natural  for  a 
plant  to   live.     Examine   its   nature   fully, 
and  you  have  to  admit  that  its  natural  tend- 
ency is  to  die.     It  is  kept  from  dying  by  a, 
mere  temporary  endowment,  which  gives  it 
an  ephemeral  dominion  over  the  elements — 
gives  it  power  to  utilize  for  a  brief  span  the 
rain,  the  sunshine,  and  the  air.     Withdraw 
this   temporary   endowment   for   a   moment 
and  its  true  nature  is  revealed.    Instead  of 
overcoming  Nature  it  is  overcome.    The  very 
things  which  appeared  to   minister   to   its- 
growth  and  beauty  now  turn  against  it  and 
make   it   decay   and    die.      The    sun   which 
warmed    it    withers    it;    the    air    and    rain 
which  nourished  it   rot  it.     It  is  the  very 
forces  which  we  associate  with  life  which, 
when  their  true  nature  appears,  are  discov- 
ered to  be  really  the  ministers  of  death. — 
DRUMMOND   Natural  Law  in   the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  2,  p.  92.    (H.  Al.) 

1847.  LAW  OF  GROWTH  IN  STRUC- 
TURE   OF   THE  EARTH— Formerly    men 
looked  upon  the  earth  as  a  unit  in  time,  as 


^aw 
^aws 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


the  result  of  one  creative  act,  with  all  its 
outlines  established  from  the  beginning.  It 
has  been  the  work  of  modern  science  to  show 
that  its  inequalities  are  not  contemporane- 
ous or  simultaneous,  but  successive,  includ- 
ing a  law  of  growth — that  heat  and  cold, 
and  the  consequent  expansion  and  contrac- 
tion of  its  crust,  have  produced  wrinkles  and 
folds  upon  the  surface,  while  constant  os- 
cillations, changes  of  level  which  are  even 
now  going  on,  have  modified  its  conforma- 
tion, and  molded  its  general  outline  through 
successive  ages.  —  AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  98.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

1848.  LAW  OF  MAN  TO  FOLLOW 
LAW  OF   NATURE—  Control  by   Change  of 
Conditions — A  Recent  Conception. — Just  as 
the  will  of  the  individual  can  operate  upon 
itself  by  the  use  of  means,  some  of  which 
are  known  instinctively,  whilst  others  are 
found  out  by  reason;    so  can  the  collective 
will  of  society  operate  upon  the  conduct  of 
its  members  in  two  ways — first,  directly  by 
authority;    and  secondly,  indirectly  by  al- 
tering the  conditions  out  of  which  the  most 
powerful    motives   spring.     This  last   is   a 
principle    of    government    which    has    been 
distinctly  recognized  only  in  modern  times, 
and  which  admits  of  applications  not  yet 
foreseen.     The  idea  of  founding  human  law 
upon  the  laws  of  Nature  is  an  idea  which, 
tho  sometimes  instinctively  acted  upon,  was 
never  systematically  entertained  in  the  an- 
cient world.    Indeed,  the  true  conception  of 
natural  law  is  one  founded  on  the  progress 
of  physical  investigation,  and  growing  out 
of  the  habits  of  scientific  thought. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  194.    (Burt.) 

1849.  LAW,     ORDINARY    ACTION 
OF,  REVERSED — Death  by  Falling  Upwards 
— Peculiar  Peril  of  Deep-sea  Fish. — The  fish 
that  live  at  these  enormous  depths  are,  in 
consequence  of  the  enormous  pressure,  liable 
to  a  curious  form  of  accident.     If,  in  cha- 
sing their  prey  or  for  any  other  reason,  they 
rise   to   a   considerable   distance   above   the 
floor  of  the  ocean,  the  gases  of  their  swim- 
ming-bladder become  considerably  expanded 
and  their  specific  gravity  very  greatly  re- 
duced.   Up  to  a  certain  limit  the  muscles  of 
their  bodies  can  counteract  the  tendency  to 
float  upwards  and  enable  the  fish  to  regain 
its  proper  sphere  of  life  at  the  bottom ;   but 
beyond  that  limit  the  muscles  are  not  strong 
enough  to  drive  the  body  downwards,  and 
the  fish,  becoming  more  and  more  distended 
as  it  goes,  is  gradually  killed  on  its  long 
and  involuntary  journey  to  the  surface  of 
the  sea.    The  deep-sea  fish,  then,  are  exposed 
to  a  danger  that  no  other  animals  in  this 
world  are  subject  to,  namely  that  of  tum- 
bling upwards. 

That  such  accidents  do  occasionally  occur 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  some  fish, 
which  are  now  known  to  be  true  deep-sea 
forms,  were  discovered  dead  and  floating  on 
the  surface  of  the  ocean  long  before  our 


modern  investigations  were  commenced. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  21. 
(A.,  1894.) 

185O.  LAW,  UNIVERSAL  —  Courses 
of  Shooting-stars  Obey — Why  Not  Each 
Human  Life? — Such  is  the  course  of  these 
minute  shooting- stars,  a  course  now  per- 
fectly determined.  A  lesson  as  profound  as 
unexpected,  the  shooting-star  itself  does  not 
glide  by  chance,  borne  along  by  an  arbitrary 
wind;  it  describes  a  mathematical  orbit  as 
well  as  the  earth  or  the  colossal  Jupiter. 
All  is  ruled,  decreed  by  the  supreme  Law; 
and — who  knows  ? — perhaps  each  of  our  frail 
existences,  each  of  our  ephemeral  actions,  is 
also  determined  by  the  invisible  Nature 
which  places  the  star  in  the  sky,  the  infant 
in  the  cradle,  the  old  man  in  the  tomb. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch. 
4,  p.  541.  (A.) 

1851. Holds  Every  Par- 
ticle of  Matter — The  Lost  Comet — Every 
Fragment  Would  Follow  Path  of  Total 
Mass. — Since  the  comet  [Biela's]  was  last 
seen  it  has  thrice  traversed  the  enormous 
orbit  here  described,  passing  from  a  least 
distance  of  about  eighty  millions  of  miles 
to  its  greatest  distance,  amounting  nearly 
to  six  hundred  millions  of  miles.  Whether 
it  has  been  destroyed  as  a  comet,  or  whether 
it  has  only  been  so  far  dissipated  as  to  be 
invisible  in  our  most  powerful  telescopes, 
we  do  not  know.  But  in  either  case  it  has 
pursued  the  same  general  course,  for  the 
minutest  fragment  of  its  substance  would 
obey  as  implicitly  the  law  of  gravity  as  the 
once  complete  comet,  or  even  as  the  staider 
members  of  the  solar  family — the  planets. — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  132.  (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

1852.  LAWS,  DESIGN   TRANS- 
FERRED FROM  PHENOMENA  TO— The 

question  now  before  us — whether  the  evi- 
dences of  intelligent  design,  which  theology 
has  hitherto  recognized  in  the  structure  of 
organized  beings,  are  or  are  not  any  longer 
tenable,  when  viewed  under  the  new  light 
thrown  upon  them  by  the  Darwinian  lamp — 
is  one  which,  tho  science  has  much  to  say 
upon  it,  it  is  beyond  the  province  of  sci- 
ence to  decide.  Newton  and  Laplace  were 
both  accused  of  atheism  by  their  contem- 
poraries for  setting  up  their  own  concep- 
tions in  the  place  of  the  action  of  the  Crea- 
tor; and  you  well  know  that  the  same 
charge  has  been  brought  against  Darwin. 
I  shall  endeavor  to  show  you  that  in  his 
case,  as  in  that  of  his  great  predecessors, 
the  real  result  of  his  scientific  work  has  been 
to  effect  for  biology  what  they  are  well  said 
by  Dr.  Whewell  to  have  effected  for  astron- 
omy— the  "  transfer  of  the  notion  of  design 
and  end  from  the  region  of  facts  to  that  of 
laws." — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect. 
15,  p.  413.  (A.,  1889.) 

1853.  LAWS,  INDUSTRIAL    AND 
MORAL—  In  All  Industries  Man  Is  Still  Man. 
— We  do  not  regard  the  industrial  life  as 


379 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Law 
Laws 


isolated,  nor  as  the  isolated  result  of  speci- 
fically economic  forces  having  natural  laws 
peculiar  to  itself.  The  industrial  life  is  a 
free  product  of  the  human  spirit;  the  total 
industrial  activity  of  a  people  is  only  one 
side  of  the  national  life  standing  in  the 
closest  causal  relations  with  the  other  phe- 
nomena of  the  national  spirit;  the  indus- 
trial forces  are  general  forces  working  in 
man  and  in  Nature,  which  are  only  produ- 
cing particular  forms,  and  in  these  forms 
particular  effects.  Above  all  things  we  em- 
phasize that  our  dealings  are  with  persons, 
with  people  who,  being  active  in  the  family, 
the  state,  and  society,  are  also  active  indus- 
trially; but  with  people  who  are  not  some- 
thing else  in  this  department  than  they  are 
elsewhere.  And  for  that  reason  we  do  not 
recognize  any  motives  that  are  peculiarly 
industrial,  and  cannot  admit  that  industrial 
life  is  a  domain  to  which  the  general  moral 
teachings  and  the  categorical  imperative  of 
moral  duty  do  not  apply.  On  the  contrary 
we  affirm  that  the  moral  law  and  devotion 
to  moral  duty  must  become  the  determining 
force  here  also  as  well  as  in  the  remainder 
of  the  national  life,  if  society  is  to  develop 
prosperous  conditions. 

Our  so-called  laws  are  historic  and  rela- 
tive, our  solutions  are  relative,  only  possible 
of  execution  by  means  of  exact  information, 
of  consideration  of  the  actual  concrete  cir- 
cumstances.— SCHONBEBG  Die  Volkswirth- 
schaftslehre  (Sammlung  wissenschaftlicher 
Vortrdge,  Serie  viii).  (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

1854.  LAWS    OF    HISTORY    LIKE 
THOSE  OF  SCIENCE— Merely  Statements  of 
Cause  and  Effect. — It  is  folly,  then,  to  speak 
of  the  "  laws  of  history "  as  of  something 
inevitable,   which    science   has   only  to   dis- 
cover, and  whose  consequences  any  one  can 
then  foretell,  but  do  nothing  to  alter  or  avert. 
Why,  the  very  laws  of  physics  are  condi- 
tional and  deal  with  ifs.    The  physicist  does 
not  say,  "  The  water  will  boil,  anyhow  " ;  he 
only  says  it  will  boil  if  a  fire  be  kindled 
beneath  it.     And  so  the  utmost  the  student 
of  sociology  can  ever  predict  is  that  if  a 
genius  of  a  certain  sort  show  the  way,  so- 
ciety will  be  sure  to  follow. — JAMES  Essays 
in  Popular  Philosophy,  p.   244.      (L.   G.   & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1855.  LAWS     OF     NATURE  —  Con- 
trasted with  Laws  of  Man — A  Deadlock  Re- 
sults  in   Public   Misfortune. — The    laws    of 
man  are  also  laws  of  Nature  when  founded 
on  a  true  perception  of  natural  tendencies 
and  a  just  appreciation  of  combined  results. 
On  the  other  hand,  human  laws  are  at  vari- 
ance with   or   antagonistic  to   the  laws   of 
Nature  when  founded  either  on  the  desire 
of  attaining  a  wrong  end,  or  on  the  attempt 
to  reach   a   right   end  by  mistaken   means. 
In  either  of  these  cases  positive  institution 
and  natural  law  become  opposed,  and  thus  a 
bad  contrivance  in   legislation,   like   a  bad 
contrivance  in  mechanics,  comes  always  to 


some  deadlock  at  last.  Time  and  natural 
consequence  are  great  teachers  in  politics 
as  in  other  things.  Our  sins  and  our  ig- 
norances find  us  out.  Both  in  conduct  and 
in  opinion  natural  law  is  ever  working  to 
convict  error,  to  reveal  and  to  confirm  the 
truth. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  212. 
(Burt.) 


1850. 


Never  Subverted 


by  Human  Agency — Moral  Ends  Proposed 
in^  Life  of  Man.— If,  then,  an  intelligent 
being,  after  observing  the  order  of  events 
for  an  indefinite  series  of  ages,  had  witnessed 
at  last  so  wonderful  an  innovation  as  this 
[the  introduction  of  man  upon  the  planet], 
to  what  extent  would  his  belief  in  the  regu- 
larity of  the  system  be  weakened?  Would 
he  cease  to  assume  that  there  was  perma- 
nency in  the  laws  of  Nature?  Would  he  no 
longer  be  guided  in  his  speculations  by  the 
strictest  rules  of  induction  ?  To  these  ques- 
tions it  may  be  answered  that  had  he  pre- 
viously presumed  to  dogmatize  respecting 
the  absolute  uniformity  of  the  order  of  Na- 
ture he  would  undoubtedly  be  checked  by 
witnessing  this  new  and  unexpected  event, 
and  would  form  a  more  just  estimate  of  the 
limited  range  of  his  own  knowledge  and  the 
unbounded  extent  of  the  scheme  of  the  uni- 
verse. But  he  would  soon  perceive  that  no 
one  of  the  fixed  and  constant  laws  of  the 
animate  or  inanimate  world  was  subverted 
by  human  agency,  and  that  the  modifications 
now  introduced  for  the  first  time  were  the 
accompaniments  of  new  and  extraordinary 
circumstances,  and  those  not  of  a  physical 
but  of  a  moral  nature.  The  deviation  permit- 
ted would  also  appear  to  be  as  slight  as  was 
consistent  with  the  accomplishment  of  the 
new  moral  ends  proposed,  and  to  be  in  a 
great  degree  temporary  in  its  nature,  so  that 
whenever  the  power  of  the  new  agent  was 
withheld,  even  for  a  brief  period,  a  relapse 
would  take  place  to  the  ancient  state  of 
things;  the  domesticated  animal,  for  ex- 
ample, recovering  in  a  few  generations  its 
wild  instinct,  and  the  garden-flower  and 
fruit-tree  reverting  to  the  likeness  of  the 
parent  stock. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  152.  (A.,  1854.) 


1857. 


Not  Agents — Hu- 


man Generalizations  from  Phenomena — Ori- 
gin of  Force  Unknown. — The  laws  of  Nature 
are  merely  mental  generalizations  of  our 
own,  and  so  far  as  they  go  show  a  remark- 
able harmony  between  our  mental  nature 
and  that  manifested  in  the  universe.  They 
are  not  themselves  powers  capable  of  pro- 
ducing effects,  but  merely  express  what  we 
can  ascertain  of  uniformity  of  action  in 
Nature.  The  law  of  gravitation,  for  ex- 
ample, gives  no  clue  to  the  origin  of  that 
force,  but  merely  expresses  its  constant 
mode  of  action  in  whatever  way  that  may 
have  been  determined  at  first.  Nor  are 
natural  laws  decrees  of  necessity.  They 
might  have  been  otherwise — nay,  many  of 
them  may  be  otherwise  in  parts  of  the  uni- 


IWS 

earning 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


380 


verse  inaccessible  to  us,  or  they  may  change 
in  process  of  time ;  for  the  period  over  which 
our  knowledge  extends  may  be  to  the  plans 
of  the  Creator  like  the  lifetime  of  some 
minute  insect  which  might  imagine  human 
arrangements  of  no  great  permanence  to  be 
of  eternal  duration. — DAWSON  Facts  and 
Fancies  in  Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  39. 
(A.  B.  P.  S.) 

1858. Not  Matters  of 

Experience — Faith  Demanded  by  Scientific 
Doctrines. — The  most  persistent  outer  rela- 
tions which  science  believes  in  are  never 
matters  of  experience  at  all,  but  have  to 
be  disengaged  from  under  experience  by  a 
process  of  elimination — that  is,  by  ignoring 
conditions  which  are  always  present.  The 
elementary  laws  of  mechanics,  physics,  and 
chemistry  are  all  of  this  sort.  The  principle 
of  uniformity  in  Nature  is  of  this  sort;  it 
has  to  be  sought  under  and  in  spite  of  the 
most  rebellious  appearances;  and  our  con- 
viction of  its  truth  is  far  more  like  a  re- 
ligious faith  than  like  assent  to  a  demon- 
stration.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  28, 
p.  636.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1859. The  Methods  of 

God — Science  Does  Not  Reach  Causes. — In 
the  use  of  this  word  law,  as  applied  to  Na- 
ture, we  are  often  grossly  misunderstood. 
Says  a  recent  writer,  somewhat  contemptu- 
ously, "  The  philosopher  knows  no  better  the 
cause  of  the  law  of  gravitation  than  the  ig- 
norant man."  The  author,  in  his  simplicity., 
is  unaware  that  laws,  not  causes,  are  the 
end  of  true  philosophy.  We  seek  to  study 
out  the  method  of  God's  doings  in  Nature, 
and  enunciations  of  this  his  method  or 
will  are  what  is  meant  by  the  "  laws  of 
Nature."  If  those  who  look  coldly  on  sci- 
ence knew  better  its  aims,  we  should  hear 
less  of  the  infidelity  of  the  term  law,  and 
find  fewer  infidels  or  rejecters  of  that  revela- 
tion which  God  has  spread  before  us. 

We  know  that  this  is  not  the  only  revela- 
tion ;  that  another  tells  man  of  his  duties  and 
responsibilities,  of  the  celestial  sympathy 
which  surrounds  him  and  his  immortal  des- 
tiny— subjects  far  beyond  the  teachings  of 
physical  or  brute  nature.  The  one  is  but 
the  complement  of  the  other;  the  two  har- 
monious in  their  truths,  as  in  their  exalted 
origin. — DANA  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
1855,  voL  ix,  p.  1. 

I860. The  Thoughts  of 

God. — Let  me  not  Be  understood  to  imply  a 
belief  that  man  cannot  attain  to  any  abso- 
lute scientific  truth;  for  I  believe  that  he 
can,  and  I  feel  that  every  great  generaliza- 
tion brings  him  a  step  nearer  to  the  prom- 
ised goal.  Moreover,  I  sympathize  with  that 
beautiful  idea  of  Oersted  which  he  expressed 
in  the  now  familiar  phrase,  "  The  laws  of 
Nature  are  the  thoughts  of  God  ";  but  then 
I  also  know  that  our  knowledge  of  these 
laws  is  as  yet  very  imperfect,  and  that  our 
human  systems  must  be  at  the  best  but  very 


partial  expressions  of  the  truth.  Still,  it  is 
a  fact  worthy  of  our  profound  attention 
that  in  each  of  the  physical  sciences,  as  in 
astronomy,  the  successive  great  generaliza- 
tions which  have  marked  its  progress  have 
included  and  expanded  rather  than  super- 
seded those  which  went  before  them.  Through 
the  great  revolutions  which  have  taken  place 
in  the  forms  of  thought  the  elements  of 
truth  in  the  successive  systems  have  been 
preserved,  while  the  error  has  been  as  con- 
stantly eliminated;  and  so,  as  I  believe, 
it  always  will  be,  until  the  last  generaliza- 
tion of  all  brings  us  into  the  presence  of 
that  law  which  is  indeed  the  thought  of 
God. — COOKE  The  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1,  p. 
2.  (A.,  1899.) 


1861. 


Used   in   Works 


of  Nature  as  in  Works  of  Man — Struc- 
ture Adapted  to  Their  Demands — Design  in 
Structure  of  Barnacles. — Now,  the  laws  of 
Nature  appear  to  be  employed  in  the  system 
of  Nature  in  a  manner  precisely  analogous 
to  that  in  which  we  ourselves  employ  them. 
The  difficulties  and  obstructions  which  are 
presented  by  one  law  in  the  way  of  accom- 
plishing a  given  purpose  are  met  and  over- 
come exactly  on  the  same  principle  on  which 
they  are  met  and  overcome  by  man,  viz.,  by 
knowledge  of  other  laws  and  by  resource  in 
applying  them — that  is,  by  ingenuity  in  me- 
chanical contrivance.  It  cannot  be  too  much 
insisted  on  that  this  is  a  conclusion  of  pure 
science.  The  relation  which  an  organic 
structure  bears  to  its  purpose  in  Nature 
can  be  recognized  as  certainly  as  the  same 
relation  between  a  machine  and  its  purpose 
in  human  art.  It  is  absurd  to  maintain,  for 
example,  that  the  purpose  of  the  cellular  ar- 
rangement of  material  in  combining  light- 
ness with  strength  is  a  purpose  legitimately 
cognizable  by  science  in  the  Menai  Bridge, 
but  is  not  as  legitimately  cognizable  when 
it  is  seen  in  Nature,  actually  serving  the 
same  use.  The  little  barnacles  which 
crust  the  rocks  at  low  tide,  and  which 
to  live  there  at  all  must  be  able  to  re- 
sist the  surf,  have  the  building  of  their 
shells  constructed  strictly  with  reference 
to  this  necessity.  It  is  a  structure  all  hol- 
lowed and  chambered  on  the  plan  which  en- 
gineers have  so  lately  discovered  as  an  ar- 
rangement of  material  by  which  the  power 
of  resisting  strain  or  pressure  is  multiplied 
in  an  extraordinary  degree.  That  shell  is  as 
pure  a  bit  of  mechanics  as  the  bridge,  both 
being  structures  in  which  the  same  arrange- 
ment is  adapted  to  the  same  end. — AEGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  59.  (Burt.) 

1862.  LAWS,  ORDINARY,  SUPER- 
SEDED— The  Preservation  of  the  Jews — Result 
Yet  Reached  by  the  Use  of  Means. — The 
preservation  of  the  Jews  as  a  distinct  peo- 
ple during  so  many  centuries  of  complete 
dispersion  is  a  fact  standing  nearly,  if  not 
absolutely,  alone  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
It  is  at  variance  with  all  other  experience 
of  the  laws  which  govern  the  amalgamation 


381 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Laws. 

Learning 


with  each  other  of  different  families  of  the 
human  race.  .  .  .  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  the  preservation  of  the  Jews, 
partly  from  the  relation  in  which  it  stands 
to  the  apparent  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  and 
partly  from  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the 
fact  itself,  is  tacitly  assumed  by  many  per- 
sons to  come  strictly  within  the  category  of 
miraculous  events.  Yet  in  itself  it  is  noth- 
ing more  than  a  striking  illustration  how  a 
departure  from  the  "  ordinary  course  of  Na- 
ture "  may  be  effected  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  means  which  are  natural  and 
comprehensible.  An  extraordinary  resisting 
power  has  been  given  to  the  Jewish  people 
against  those  dissolving  and  disintegrating 
forces  which  have  caused  the  disappearance 
of  every  other  race  placed  under  similar 
conditions.  They  have  been  torn  from  home 
and  country  and  removed,  not  in  a  body, 
but  in  scattered  fragments  over  the  world. 
Yet  they  are  as  distinct  from  every  other 
people  now  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Solo- 
mon. Nevertheless  this  resisting  power,  won- 
derful tho  it  be,  is  the  result  of  special 
laws,  overruling  those  in  ordinary  opera- 
tion. It  has  been  effected  by  the  use  of 
means.  Those  means  have  been  superhuman 
— they  have  been  beyond  human  contrivance 
and  arrangement.  But  they  belong  to  the 
region  of  the  natural.  They  belong  to  it 
not  the  less,  but  all  the  more,  because  in 
their  concatenation  and  arrangement  they 
seem  to  indicate  the  purpose  of  a  living 
will  seeking  and  effecting  the  fulfilment  of 
its  designs.  This  is  the  manner  after  which 
our  own  living  wills  in  their  little  sphere 
effect  their  little  objects.  Is  it  difficult  to 
believe  that  after  the  same  manner  also  the 
divine  will,  of  which  ours  is  the  image  only, 
works  and  effects  its  purposes? — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (Burt.) 

1863.      LEAD -FRONDS     GROWING 
LIKE  FERNS  AROUND  VOLTAIC  WIRE 

— By  sending  a  voltaic  current  through  a 
liquid  you  know  that  we  decompose  the 
liquid,  and  if  it  contains  a  metal  we  liber- 
ate this  metal  by  the  electrolysis.  .  .  . 
Into  the  cell  [containing  a  solution  of  ace- 
tate of  lead]  are  dipped  two  very  thin  plat- 
inum wires,  and  these  are  connected  by 
other  wires  with  a  small  voltaic  battery. 
On  sending  the  voltaic  current  through  the 
solution  the  lead  will  be  slowly  severed 
from  the  atoms  with  which  it  is  now  com- 
bined; it  will  be  liberated  upon  one  of  the 
wires,  and  at  the  moment  of  its  liberation 
it  will  obey  the  polar  forces  of  its  atoms 
and  produce  crystalline  forms  of  exquisite 
beauty,  .  .  .  sprouting  like  ferns  from 
the  wire,  appearing,  indeed,  like  vegetable 
growths  rendered  so  rapid  as  to  be  plainly 
visible  to  the  naked  eye.  On  reversing  the 
current  these  wonderful  lead-fronds  will  dis- 
solve, while  from  the  other  wire  filaments 
of  lead  dart  through  the  liquid.  In  a  mo- 
ment or  two  the  growth  of  the  lead-trees 


recommences,  but  they  now  cover  the  other 
wire. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3, 
p.  105.  (A.,  1898.) 

1864.  LEAF-TRACERY  IN  THE  AN- 
CIENT ROCKS— Enduring  Record  of  the  Eva- 
nescent.— The  earth  had  already  its  seasons, 
its  spring  and  summer,  its  autumn  and  win- 
ter, its  seed-time  and  harvest,  tho  neither 
sower   nor    reaper    was    there;    the    forests 
then,  as  now,  dropped  their  thick  carpet  of 
leaves  upon  the  ground  in  the  autumn,  and 
in  many  localities  they  remain  where  they 
originally  fell,  with  a  layer  of  soil  between 
the    successive    layers    of    leaves — a    leafy 
chronology,  as  it  were,  by  which  we  read 
the  passage  of  the  years  which  divided  these 
deposits  from  each  other.    Where  the  leaves 
have  fallen  singly  on  a  clayey  soil  favorable 
for    receiving    such    impressions   they   have 
daguerreotyped    themselves    with    the    most 
wonderful  accuracy,  and  the  oaks,  poplara, 
willows,  maples,  walnuts,  gum-  and  cinna- 
mon-trees,   etc.,    of    the    Tertiaries    are    as 
well  known  to  us  as  are  those  of  our  own 
time. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i, 
ch.  7,  p.  182.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1865.  LEAPS  OF  NATURAL  PROC- 
ESSES— The  Metamorphoses  of  Insects. — When 
we  think   of   the  mystery  involved   in   the 
metamorphoses  of  insects  and  in  the  corre- 
sponding phenomena  of  alternate  generation 
in  other  classes  of  the  animal  kingdom,  we 
must  see  what  unlimited  possibilities  of  cre- 
ation lie  open  in  methods  which  are  in  full 
operation  round  us.     In  the  higher  animals 
the  development  of  germs  is  carried  on  in 
vital  and  physical  connection  with  the  per- 
fected organism  of  the  mother,  and  the  cycle 
of  changes  which  lead  up  to  the  completion 
of  the  parent  form  is  a  cycle  which  thus 
appears  to  be  wholly  governed  by  the  sur- 
rounding medium.    But  when  we  look  at  the 
metamorphoses  of  insects  no  such  delusion 
is  possible.    A  creature  which  to  all  appear- 
ance is  fully  formed,  and  which  has  led  a 
separate  and  independent  existence,  suddenly 
lays  itself  to  sleep.    In  that  condition,  with- 
out  any   food — without   any   contact   with 
any  directing  physical   agency  external  to 
itself — its  organization  is  wholly  altered,  its 
whole  body  is  rearranged,  its  old  members 
dissolve  and  disappear,  new  members  emerge, 
and  in  a  few  days  or  weeks  are  perfected  in 
form  and  in  power.     Moreover,  that  form 
and  that  power  are  both  for  uses  which,  so 
far  as  the  creature's  previous  "  experience  " 
is  concerned,  are  absolutely  new.    With  such 
"  leaps  "  as  this  in  the  creative  work  going 
on  in  every  field  and  stream  and  sea  around 
us,  we  may  have  the  utmost  confidence  that 
the  same  work  has  involved  the  same  prin- 
ciples through  all  time. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
Nature,  ch.  7,  p.  161.      (Burt.) 

1866.  LEARNING,  NO  ROYAL  ROAD 

TO — Archimedes  Instructing  the  King. — One  day 
the  Tyrant  of  Syracuse  ordered  the  illustri- 
ous Archimedes  to  omit  the  principal  mathe- 
matics in  a  lesson  on  astronomy  which  prom- 


Learning 
Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


382 


ised  well,  but  commenced  a  little  severely. 
"  Let  us  proceed,"  replied  Archimedes,  with- 
out modifying  his  professorial  tone — "  let 
us  proceed:  there  is  here  no  privileged  road 
for  kings."  In  astronomy  there  is  no  privi- 
leged road  for  any  one,  and  if  we  wish  to 
gain  information  it  is  indispensable  that  we 
should  first  understand  the  principles  of 
geometrical  measurements.  —  FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  85. 
(A.) 

1867.  LEARNING  THE  WAY  NEC- 
ESSARY  FOR    BEES—  Sense  of  Direction 
Not   a  Blind  Instinct. — Sir   John   Lubbock 
[Lord  Avebury]    observes :    "  I  never  found 
bees  to  return  if  brought  any  considerable 
distance  at  once.    By  taking  them,  however, 
some  twenty  yards  each  time  they  came  to 
the  honey  I  at  length  trained  them  to  come 
to  my  room";  that  is  to  say,  bees  require 
to  learn  their  way  little  by  little  before  they 
can  return  to  a  store  of  honey  which  they 
may  have  been   fortunate  enough  to   find; 
their  general  sense  of  direction  is  not  in  it- 
self a  sufficient  guide.    This,  at  least,  is  the 
case  where,  as  in  the  experiments  in  ques- 
tion, the  bees  are  carried  from  the  hive  to 
the  store  of  honey   (here  a  distance  of  less 
than  200  yards )  ;  possibly  if  they  had  found 
the  honey  by  themselves  flying  towards  it, 
and  so  probably  taking  note  of  objects  by 
the   way,   one   journey   might  have   proved 
sufficient    to    teach    them    the    way.      But 
whether   or  not  this  would  have  been  the 
case,   the  fact  that  when   carried  they  re- 
quired also  to  be  taught  the  way  piece  by 
piece   is   conclusive   proof  that   their   sense 
of  direction  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  enable 
them  to  traverse  a  route  of  200  yards  a  sec- 
ond  time. — ROMANES    Animal   Intelligence, 
ch.  4,  p.  145.     (A.,  1899.) 

1868.  LEAVEN  AN  INVENTION  OF 
WOMAN — "  If  there  be  any  one  discovery 
owing  to  chance  it  is  that  of  leaven.     The 
world  was  indebted  to  the  economy  of  some 
person  or  other  for  this  happy  discovery, 
who,  in  order  to  save  a  little  dough,  mixed 
it  with  the  new.     They  would,  no  doubt,  be 
surprised  to  find  that  this  old  dough,  so  sour 
and    distasteful    itself,    rendered    the    new 
bread  so  much  lighter,  more  savory,  and  easy 
of  digestion.     More  probably  leaven  arose 
in  hot  countries,  in  the  preference  shown  for 
the  acid  flavor  of  stale  porridge    (compare 
the  practise  of  adding  curds  to  fresh  milk 
in  order  to  turn  it  sour  for  immediate  con- 
sumption ) ,  as  in  the  caff  a  or  porridge-ball 
of  Guinea,  which  is  considered  insipid  while 
fresh." — LANDER,  quoted  by  MASON  in  Wom- 
an's Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2,  p.  30. 
(A.,  1894.) 

1869.  LEAVES  ON  THE  MARCH— 

Procession  of  Sauba  or  Leaf-cutting  Ants — 
Relays  of  Workers  Supplement  Each  Other. 
— In  course  of  time  I  had  plenty  of  oppor- 
tunities of  seeing  them  [the  sauba-ants] 
at  work.  They  mount  the  tree  in  multi- 


tudes, the  individuals  being  all  worker-mi- 
nors [the  workers  of  smallest  size].  Each 
one  places  itself  on  the  surface  of  a  leaf  and 
cuts  with  its  sharp  scissor-like  jaws  a  nearly 
semicircular  incision  on  the  upper  side;  it 
then  takes  the  edge  between  its  jaws  and  by 
a  sharp  jerk  detaches  the  piece.  Sometimes 
they  let  the  leaf  drop  to  the  ground,  where 
a  little  heap  accumulates,  until  carried  off 
by  another  relay  of  workers;  but  generally 
each  marches  off  with  the  piece  it  has  oper- 
ated upon,  and  as  all  take  the  same  road 
to  their  colony  the  path  they  follow  becomes 
in  a  short  time  smooth  and  bare,  looking 
like  the  impression  of  a  cart-wheel  through 
the  herbage.  .  .  .  When  employed  on  this 
work  their  processions  look  like  a  multitude 
of  animated  leaves  on  the  march.  In  some 
places  I  found  an  accumulation  of  such 
leaves,  all  circular  pieces,  about  the  size 
of  a  sixpence,  lying  on  the  pathway  unat- 
tended by  ants,  and  at  some  distance  from 
any  colony.  Such  heaps  are  always  found 
to  be  removed  when  the  place  is  revisited 
the  next  day. — BATES  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  1,  p.  627.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

187O.  LIFE,  ABUNDANCE  OF,  IN 
GEOLOGIC  TIMES^-Fossil  Fishes  Numerous 
and  Diversified. — The  fossil  fishes  which 
have  been  found,  and  which  I  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  examining  in  certain  circum- 
scribed regions,  form  a  very  favorable  basis 
for  comparison  and  estimate.  At  Mount 
Vulcan,  near  Verona,  is  a  celebrated  quarry, 
not  many  miles  in  extent,  from  which  alone 
have  been  taken  over  one  hundred  different 
kinds  of  fossil  fishes.  The  Adriatic  in  its 
whole  extent  does  not  furnish  as  many  dif- 
ferent species  as  are  found  in  this  quarry. 
I  have  examined  the  fossil  fishes  of  the 
neighborhood  of  Riga  on  the  Baltic,  and  they 
are  more  numerous  than  the  present  living 
species  of  the  Baltic  and  German  Ocean. 
Here,  then,  we  have  direct  evidence  that  in 
former  periods,  within  similar  areas,  there 
was  as  great  a  diversity  of  animals  as  now 
exists. — AGASSIZ  Structure  of  Animal  Life, 
lect.  5,  p.  94.  (S.,  1883.) 


1871. 


Fossils  in  Silurian 


Deposits — The  Ancient  Earth  Everywhere 
Teemed  with  Life. — Altho  the  early  geolog- 
ical periods  are  more  legible  in  North 
America,  because  they  are  exposed  over  such 
extensive  tracts  of  land,  yet  they  have  been 
studied  in  many  other  parts  of  the  globe. 
In  Norway,  in  Germany,  in  France,  in  Rus- 
sia, in  Siberia,  in  Kamchatka,  in  parts  of 
South  America,  in  short,  wherever  the  civi- 
lization of  the  white  race  has  extended, 
Silurian  deposits  have  been  observed,  and 
everywhere  they  bear  the  same  testimony 
to  a  profuse  and  varied  creation.  The  earth 
was  teeming  then  with  life  as  now,  and  in 
whatever  corner  of  its  surface  the  geologist 
finds  the  old  strata,  they  hold  a  dead  fauna 
as  numerous  as  that  which  lives  and  moves 
above  it.  Nor  do  we  find  that  there  was  any 
gradual  increase  or  decrease  of  any  organic 


383 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Learning- 
Life 


forms  at  the  beginning  and  close  of  the  suc- 
cessive periods.  On  the  contrary,  the  open- 
ing scenes  of  every  chapter  in  the  world's 
history  have  been  crowded  with  life,  and  its 
last  leaves  as  full  and  varied  as  its  first. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  2,  p. 
60.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1872.  LIFE,   ADVANCED,    FRUIT- 
FULNESS  OF— Haydn's   Success  at   Sixty- 
Diligence     Rivaling     Genius. — Comfortably 
settled  in  the  palace  of  Eisenstadt,  in  Hun- 
gary [as  Maestro  di  Capella  to  Prince  Es- 
terhazy],  enjoying  in  moderation  his  favor- 
ite diversions  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and 
relieved   from  care  for   the  future,   Haydn 
there  composed  the  long  series  of  works  in 
various  styles  which  he  produced  before  his 
visit  to  London  at  nearly  sixty  years  of  age ; 
which  visit  was  the  immediate  occasion  of 
his  bringing  out  his  "  Twelve  Grand  Sym- 
phonies," and  indirectly  (by  the  impression 
which  his  hearing  of  Handel's  music  made 
upon  him)  prompted  the  composition  of  the 
"  Creation,"  which  he  produced  in  his  sixty- 
fifth  year.     During  the  whole  period  of  his 
residence  with  Prince  Esterhazy,  he  may  be 
said  to  have  been  educating  himself,  under 
peculiar  advantages,  for  those  great  works 
of  his  advanced  life  on  which  his  reputation 
now  chiefly  rests.    He  had  a  full  and  choice 
band  living  under  the  same  roof  with  him, 
at  his  command  every  hour  in  the  day;    he 
had  only  to  order,  and  they  were  ready  to 
try  the  effect  of  any  piece,  or  even  of  any 
passage  which,  quietly  seated  in  his  study, 
he  might  commit  to  paper.    Thus  at  leisure 
he  heard,  corrected,  and  refined  whatever  he 
conceived,  and  never  sent  forth  his  compo- 
sitions until  they  were  in  a  state  to  fear- 
lessly challenge  criticism. 

There  can  be  no  question  of  Haydn's  in- 
feriority to  Mozart  in  creative  power;  but 
the  steadiness  of  his  application  to  his  art, 
and  the  advantage  he  possessed  in  being  con- 
stantly able  to  test  his  productions  by 
actual  trial,  enabled  him  ultimately  to  at- 
tain a  place  among  the  first  of  modern  musi- 
cians, which  Mozart  had  reached  at  a  bound. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  6,  p. 
277.  (A.,  1900.) 

1873.  LIFE  AND  DEATH  DEPEND 
ON    NUMBER    OF    ATOMS  —  Elements  of 
Theine  and  Strychnin  Identical. — The  same 
elements    combined   in   one   proportion   are 
sometimes  a  nutritious  food  or  a  grateful 
stimulant,  soothing  and  sustaining  the  pow- 
ers of  life ;   whilst,  combined  in  another  pro- 
portion, they  may  be  a  deadly  poison,  par- 
alyzing the  heart  and  carrying  agony  along 
every  nerve  and  fiber  of  the  animal  frame. 
This  is  no  mere  theoretical  possibility.    It  is 
actually  the  relation,  for  example,  in  which 
two   well-known   substances   stand   to   each 
other — tea  and  strychnin.     The  active  prin- 
ciples of  these  two  substances,  "  theine  "  and 
"  strychnin,"   are   identical   so   far   as  their 
elements  are  concerned,  and  differ  from  each 
other  only  in  the  proportions  in  which  they 


are  combined.  Such  is  the  power  of  num- 
bers in  the  laboratory  of  Nature!  What 
havoc  in  this  world,  so  full  of  life,  would  be 
made  by  blind  chance  gambling  with  such 
powers  as  these!  What  confusion,  unless 
they  were  governed  by  laws  whose  certainty 
makes  them  capable  of  fine  adjustment,  and 
therefore  subject  to  accurate  control! — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  57.  (Burt.) 

1874.  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  PLANTS 
DEPENDENT    ON    THEIR    "SLEEP"— 

Complicated  Movements  to  Avoid  Radiation 
— How  the  Object  Is  Secured. — From  the 
several  cases  above  given  [in  the  record 
of  experiments  where  leaves  were  prevented 
from  turning,  and  died  in  consequence], 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  position  of 
the  leaves  at  night  affects  their  temperature 
through  radiation  to  such  a  degree  that 
when  exposed  to  a  clear  sky  during  a 
frost,  it  is  a  question  of  life  and  death.  We 
may  therefore  admit  as  highly  probable,  see- 
ing that  their  nocturnal  position  is  so  well 
adapted  to  lessen  radiation,  that  the  object 
gained  by  their  often  complicated  sleep 
movements,  is  to  lessen  the  degree  to  which 
they  are  chilled  at  night.  It  should  be  kept 
in  mind  that  it  is  especially  the  upper  sur- 
face which  is  thus  protected,  as  it  is  never 
directed  towards  the  zenith,  and  is  often 
brought  into  close  contact  with  the  upper 
surface  of  an  opposite  leaf  or  leaflet. — DAR- 
WIN Power  of  Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  6,  p. 
297.  (A.,  1900.) 

1875.  LIFE    A    WARFARE  —  Body 
and  Mind  Must  Contend  or  Be  Crushed — 
Trials  Strengthen  the  Strong,  Destroy  the 
Weak. — Life  is   surrounded  by  forces  that 
are  always  tending  to  destroy  it,  and  with 
which  it  may  be  represented  as  in  a  con- 
tinued warfare:    so  long  as  it  contends  suc- 
cessfully with  them,  winning  from  them  and 
constraining  them  to   further    its   develop- 
ment,  it  flourishes;     but  when  it  can   no 
longer  strive,  when  they  succeed  in  winning 
from  it  and  increasing  at  its  expense,  it  be- 
gins to  decay  and  die.    So  it  is  with  mind  in. 
the  circumstances  of  its  existence :    the  indi- 
vidual who  cannot  use  circumstances,  or  ac- 
commodate himself  successfully  to  them,  and 
in  the  one  way  or  the  other  make  them  fur- 
ther his  development,  is  controlled  and  used 
by  them ;   being  weak,  he  must  be  miserable, 
must  be  a  victim;    and  one  way  in  which 
his  suffering  and  failure  will  be  manifest 
will  be  in  insanity.     Thus  it  is  that  mental 
trials  which  serve  in  the  end  to  strengthen 
a   strong   nature  break  down   a   weak   one 
which  cannot  fitly  react,  and  that  the  effi- 
ciency of  a  moral  cause  of  insanity  betrays 
a   conspiracy   from   within   with   the   unfa- 
vorable outward  circumstances. — MATTDSLEY 
Body  and  Mind,  lect.  3,  p.  93.    (A.,  1898.) 

1876.  LIFE    COMPARED   TO    THE 
COMMANDER  OF  AN  ARMY— An  Unseen 
Controlling     Influence — Power     in     Skilled 
Conformity    to    Nature's    Laws.  —  Let    us 
.     .     .     suppose  that  a  war  is  being  carried 


Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


384 


on  by  a  vast  army,  at  the  head  of  which 
there  is  a  very  great  commander.  Now,  this 
commander  knows  too  well  to  expose  his 
person ;  in  truth,  he  is  never  seen  by  any  of 
Ms  subordinates.  He  remains  at  work  in  a 
well-guarded  room,  from  which  telegraphic 
wires  lead  to  the  headquarters  of  the  va- 
rious divisions.  He  can  thus,  by  means  of 
these  wires,  transmit  his  orders  to  the  gen- 
erals of  these  divisions,  and  by  the  same 
means  receive  back  information  as  to  the 
condition  of  each.  Thus  his  headquarters 
becomes  a  center  into  which  all  information 
is  poured,  and  out  of  which  all  commands 
are  issued.  Now,  that  mysterious  thing 
called  life,  about  the  nature  of  which  we 
know  so  little,  is  probably  not  unlike  such 
a  commander.  Life  is  not  a  bully,  who 
swaggers  out  into  the  open  universe,  upset- 
ting the  laws  of  energy  in  all  directions,  but 
rather  a  consummate  strategist,  who,  sitting 
in  his  secret  chamber,  before  his  wires,  di- 
rects the  movements  of  a  great  army. — 
STEWART  Conservation  of  Energy,  ch.  6,  p. 
412.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

1877.  LIFE  DIFFUSED  THROUGH- 
OUT   THE    ATMOSPHERE— If  the  unas- 
sisted    eye    shows    that    life     is     diffused 
throughout  the  whole  atmosphere,  the  mi- 
croscope    reveals     yet     greater     wonders. 
Wheel-animalcules,  Irachioni,  and  a  host  of 
microscopic  insects  are  lifted  by  the  winds 
from  the  evaporating  waters  below.   Motion- 
less and  to  all  appearance  dead,  they  float 
on  the  breeze,  until  the  dew  bears  them  back 
to  the  nourishing  earth.     .     .     .     The  yel- 
low meteoric  sand  or  mist    (dust  nebulae) 
often  observed  to  fall  on  the  Atlantic  near 
the    Cape    Verde    Islands,    and    not    infre- 
quently borne  in  an  easterly  direction  as 
far  as  Northern  Africa,  Italy,  and  Central 
Europe,  consists,  according  to  Ehrenberg's 
brilliant    discovery    of    agglomerations    of 
silicious  -  shelled    microscopic    organisms.     . 
.     .     Together   with   these   developed  crea- 
tures,   the    atmosphere    contains    countless 
germs  of  future  formations ;   eggs  of  insects, 
and   seeds   of   plants,   which,   by   means  of 
hairy  or  feathery  crowns,  are  borne  forward 
on  their  long  autumnal  journey.     Even  the 
vivifying   pollen    scattered    abroad   by    the 
male    blossoms    is    carried    by    winds    and 
winged  insects  over  sea  and  land,  to  the  dis- 
tant   and    solitary    female    plant.      Thus, 
wheresoever   the   naturalist  turns   his   eye, 
life  or  the  germ  of  life  lies  spread  before 
him. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  211. 
(Bell,  1896.') 

1878.  LIFE,    ESTIMATED     DURA- 
TION OF — Long  or  Short,  According  to  Succes- 
sion of  Events — Sense  of  Duration  Relative. 
— We  have  every  reason  to  think  that  crea- 
tures may  possibly  differ  enormously  in  the 
amounts  of  duration  which  they  intuitively 
feel,  and  in  the  fineness  of  the  events  that 
may  fill  it.    Von  Baer  has  indulged  in  some 
interesting   computations    of   the    effect   of 
such  differences  in  changing  the  aspect  of 


Nature.  Suppose  we  were  able,  within  the 
length  of  a  second,  to  note  10,000  events 
distinctly,  instead  of  barely  10,  as  now;  if 
our  life  were  then  destined  to  hold  the  same 
number  of  impressions,  it  might  be  1,000 
times  as  short.  We  should  live  less  than  a 
month,  and  personally  know  nothing  of  the 
change  of  seasons.  If  born  in  winter,  we 
should  believe  in  summer  as  we  now  believe 
in  the  heats  of  the  Carboniferous  era.  The 
motions  of  organic  beings  would  be  so  slow 
to  our  senses  as  to  be  inferred,  not  seen. 
The  sun  would  stand  still  in  the  sky,  the 
moon  be  almost  free  from  change,  and  so  on. 
But  now  reverse  the  hypothesis  and  suppose 
a  being  to  get  only  one  1,000th  part  of  the 
sensations  that  we  get  in  a  given  time,  and 
consequently  to  live  1,000  times  as  long. 
Winters  and  summers  will  be  to  him  like 
quarters  of  an  hour.  Mushrooms  and  the 
swifter-growing  plants  will  shoot  into  being 
so  rapidly  as  to  appear  instantaneous  crea- 
tions ;  annual  shrubs  will  rise  and  fall  from 
the  earth  like  restlessly  boiling  water- 
springs;  the  motions  of  animals  will  be  as 
invisible  as  are  to  us  the  movements  of  bul- 
lets and  cannon-balls;  the  sun  will  scour 
through  the  sky  like  a  meteor,  leaving  a 
fiery  trail  behind  him. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p.  639.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1879.  LIFE,  ETERNAL— Scientific  and 
Christian    Definitions    of,    Compared. — The 
exact  terms  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  defini- 
tion of  eternal  life  may  now  be  given.    And 
it  will  be  seen  that  they  include  essentially 
the    conditions   here    laid   down.      "  Perfect 
correspondence  would  be  perfect  life.     Were 
there  no   changes   in   the   environment  but 
such  as  the  organism  had  adapted  changes 
to  meet,  and  were  it  never  to  fail  in  the  effi- 
ciency with  which  it  met  them,  there  would 
be  eternal  existence  and  eternal  knowledge." 
Reserving  the  question   as  to   the  possible 
fulfilment  of  these  conditions,  let  us  turn 
for  a  moment  to  the  definition  of  eternal  life 
laid  down  by  Christ.    Let  us  place  it  along- 
side the  definition  of  science,  and  mark  the 
points  of  contact.  Uninterrupted  correspond- 
ence with  a  perfect  environment  is  ^  eternal 
life  according  to  science.    "  This  is  life  eter- 
nal,"  said   Christ,   "that   they   may  know 
thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  thou  has  sent."     Life  eternal  is   to 
know   God.      To   know    God  is   to    "  corre- 
spond "  with  Gcd.    To  correspond  with  God 
is  to  correspond  with  a  perfect  environment. 
And  the  organism  which  attains  to  this,  in 
the  nature  of  things  must  live  forever.  Here 
is    "  eternal    existence    and    eternal    knowl- 
edge."—  DBUMMOND    Natural   Law   in    the 
Spiritual  World,  essay  6,  p.  193.     (H.  Al.) 

1880.  LIFE     EVIDENCED     BY 
CHANGE— Actions  of  Living  Things  Tend  to 
Self-preservation. — We     habitually     distin- 
guish between  a  live  object  and  a  dead  one 
by   observing  whether   a   change  which  we 
make  in  the  surrounding  conditions,  or  one 
which  Nature  makes  in  them,  is  or  is  not 


385 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 


followed  by  some  perceptible  change  in  the 
object.  By  discovering  that  certain  things 
shrink  when  touched,  or  fly  away  when  ap- 
proached, or  start  when  a  noise  is  made,  the 
child  first  roughly  discriminates  between  the 
living  and  the  not-living.  .  .  .  Vegetal 
and  animal  life  are  alike  primarily  recog- 
nized by  this  process.  The  tree  that  puts 
out  leaves  when  the  spring  brings  increase 
of  temperature,  the  flower  which  opens  and 
closes  with  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun, 
the  plant  that  droops  when  the  soil  is  dry 
and  reerects  itself  when  watered,  are  con- 
sidered alive  because  of  these  induced 
changes.  .  .  . 

Not  only,  however,  do  we  look  for  some 
response  when  an  external  stimulus  is  ap- 
plied to  a  living  organism,  but  we  expect  a 
fitness  in  the  response.  Dead  as  well  as  liv- 
ing things  display  changes  under  certain 
changes  of  condition:  instance,  a  lump  of 
carbonate  of  soda  that  effervesces  when 
dropped  into  sulfuric  acid;  a  cord  that 
contracts  when  wetted;  a  piece  of  bread 
that  turns  brown  when  held  near  the  fire. 
But  in  these  cases  we  do  not  see  a  connec- 
tion between  the  changes  undergone  and  the 
preservation  of  the  things  that  undergo 
them.  ...  In  vital  changes,  however, 
such  relations  are  manifest.  Light  being 
necessary  to  vegetal  life,  we  see  in  the 
action  of  a  plant  which,  when  much  shaded, 
grows  towards  the  unshaded  side,  an  appro- 
priateness which  we  should  not  see  did  it 
grow  otherwise.  Evidently  the  proceedings 
of  a  spider  which  rushes  out  when  its  web 
is  gently  shaken  and  stays  within  when  the 
shaking  is  violent,  conduce  better  to  the  ob- 
tainment  of  food  and  the  avoidance  of  dan- 
ger than  were  they  reversed.  The  fact  that 
we  feel  surprise  when,  as  in  the  case  of  a 
bird  fascinated  by  a  snake,  the  conduct 
tends  towards  self-destruction,  at  once 
shows  how  generally  we  have  observed  an 
adaptation  of  living  changes  to  changes  in 
surrounding  circumstances. — SPENCER  Biol- 
ogy,  pt.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  91.  (A.,  1900.) 

1881.  LIFE,  EXPERIMENTS     FOR 
RESTORATION    OF— Have  I  the  Bright  to 
conclude  from  these  tests  that  the  injection 
of  blood  deprived  of  its  fibrin  could  suffice 
to  support  irritability  indefinitely  and  per- 
fectly, that  is  to  say,  the  local  life  of  a  mem- 
ber separated  from  the  body?    At  the  least, 
this  seems  very  probable,  for,  I  repeat  it, . 
there  never  was  any  sensible  difference  in 
the  degree  of  muscular  irritability  fifty  and 
some  hours  from  ten  minutes  after  death. — 
BKOWN-SEQUARD  Recherches  eocperimentales 
sur  les  Proprieties  physiologiques  et  les  Usa- 
ges du  Sang  Rouge  et  du  Sang  Noir  (Journal 
de   la  Physiologic  de  I'Homme  et  des  Ani- 
maux,  1858,  vol.  i,  p.   367).       (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1882.  LIFE,  FECUNDITY  OF  LOWER 
FORMS  OF— Progeny  Numberless— Gradual 
Diminution  in  Rising  toward  Higher  Mam- 
malia— Care  and  Love  Concentrated. — When 


we  examine  the  progeny  of  the  lowest  plants 
we  find  ourselves  among  figures  so  high  that 
no  microscope  can  count  them.  The  Proto- 
coccus  nivalis  shows  its  exuberant  reproduc- 
tive power  by  reddening  the  arctic  landscape 
with  its  offspring  in  a  single  night.  When 
we  break  or  shake  the  puff-ball  of  the  well- 
known  fungus  the  cloud  of  progeny  darkens 
the  air  with  a  smoke  made  up  of  uncount- 
able millions  of  spores.  Hydatina  senta, 
one  of  the  Rotifera,  propagates  four  times 
in  thirty-four  hours,  and  in  twelve  days  is 
the  parent  of  sixteen  million  young.  Among 
fish  the  number  is  still  very  great.  The 
herring  and  the  cod  give  birth  to  a  million 
ova,  the  frog  spawns  eggs  by  the  thousand, 
and  most  of  the  creatures  at  and  below  that 
level  in  a  like  degree.  Then  comes  a  gradual 
change.  When  we  pass  on  to  the  reptiles 
the  figures  fall  into  hundreds.  On  reaching 
the  birds  the  young  are  to  be  counted  by 
tens  or  units.  In  the  highest  of  mammals 
the  rule  is  one.  This  bringing-down  of  the 
numbers  is  a  remarkable  circumstance.  It 
means  the  calling-in  of  a  diffused  care,  to 
focus  it  upon  one,  and  concentrate  it  into 
love. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p. 
273.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1883.  LIFE  FIGHTS  OFF  CORRUP- 
TION —  Bacteria  Cannot    Thrive  on  Normal 
Living  Tissues. — The  normal  living  tissues 
have  an  inimical  effect  upon  bacteria.  Sapro- 
phytic  bacteria   of  various   kinds   are  nor- 
mally present  on  exposed  surfaces  of  skin 
or  mucous  membrane.     Tissues  also  which 
are  dead  or  depressed  in  vitality  from  in- 
jury or  previous  disease,  but  which  are  still 
in  contact  with  the  tissues,  afford  an  excel- 
lent nidus  for  the  growth  of  bacteria.     Still 
these  have  not  the  power,  unless  specific,  to 
thrive  in  the  normal  living  tissue.     It  has 
been  definitely  shown  that  the  blood-fluids 
of  the  body  have  in  their  fresh  state  the 
germicidal  power   .    .    .   which  prevents  bac- 
teria  from   flourishing  in   them. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  8,  p.  267.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1 884.  LIFE,  FORCES  OF,  DESTROY 
USELESS    ORGANS—  White   Cells    (Leuco- 
cytes)  Devour  Tadpole's   Tail  and   Gills. — 
When  the  young  frog  or  tadpole  attains  a 
certain  stage  of  development,  and  when  it  is 
about    to    exchange    its    water-life    for    the 
higher   land  existence,  the   fishlike   tail   re- 
quires repression  and  demands  extinction  as 
part  and  parcel  of  frog-advance.     Of  old  we 
believed  the  disappearance  of  the  frog's  tail 
was  due  to  a  simple  process  of  atrophy  or 
wasting  away.    We  know  better  to-day.    By 
close  microscopic  investigation  we  are  able 
to  see  a  curious  work  proceeding  in  the  tad- 
pole's   appendage.      It   swarms    with    white 
cells  which  have  migrated  into  its  substance 
from  the  bleed- vessels.     They  are  there  for 
a  purpose,  and  they  work  with  a  will.    They 
are  seen  in  the  act  of  eating  and  devouring 
the  substance  of  their  possessor.     The  tad- 
pole in  this  sense,  and  through  its  semi-in- 
dependent white-blood  cells,  is  living  upon 


Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


386 


itself,  and  eating  up  life's  "  principal "  in 
place  of  living  upon  the  interest  represented 
by  its  food.  Within  the  bodies  of  these 
white  cells  in  the  tadpole's  tail  microscopists 
have  been  enabled  actually  to  see  the  frag- 
ments of  muscle  and  nerve  they  have  torn 
from  the  tail  substance.  Little  wonder  that 
the  tail  "  grows  small  by  degrees  and  beau- 
tifully less"  under  such  a  vigorous  attack; 
and  in  the  gills  of  the  tadpole  ( which  disap- 
pear with  the  tail)  the  same  devouring  pro- 
cess is  seen  to  proceed.  Thus  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  tail  is  a  matter  of  vital  action — 
as  much  so,  indeed,  in  one  sense,  as  its 
growth.  It  is  a  new  experience  of  life  to 
find  certain  of  the  living  particles  of  the 
body  set  apart,  as  in  the  case  of  the  frog, 
for  the  work  of  ridding  that  body  of  its  en- 
cumbrance, and  of  assisting  it  to  rise  in  the 
scale  of  life. — WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature, 
ch.  23,  p.  76.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

1885.  LIFE  FOR  OTHERS— A  Natu- 
ral   Law.  —  They    who    perceive    that    all 
the    nature    of    living   things    is    primarily 
for    the  good    of    others     .     .     .     can    no 
longer    wonder    if    something    in    our    own 
nature    should    impel    us    to    acts    which 
are    not    to    our    personal    liking    or    ad- 
vantage; nor  need  they  fear  lest  the  discov- 
ery of  the  natural  history  of  the  moral  sense 
may  destroy  its  value.    Should  it  not  rather 
"  seem  to  follow  that  reasonable  creatures 

.were,  as  the  philosophical  emperor  observes, 
made  one  for  another ;  and  consequently  that 
man  ought  not  to  consider  himself  as  an 
independent  individual,  whose  happiness  is 
not  connected  with  that  of  other  men;  but 
rather  as  a  part  of  a  whole,  to  the  common 
good  of  which  he  ought  to  conspire,  and  or- 
der his  ways  and  actions  suitably,  if  he 
would  live  according  to  nature"?  [Berkeley, 
"  Alciphron,"  i,  16]. — BROOKS  Foundations 
of  Zoology,  lect.  5,  p.  119. 

1886.  LIFE,    FUTURE    POSSIBILI- 
TIES    INVOLVED    IN  — Difference  between 
Crystal   and  Shell. — The   difference   on   the 
score  of  beauty  between  the  crystal  and  the 
shell,  let  us  say  once  more,  is  imperceptible. 
But  fix  attention  for  a  moment,  not  upon 
their  appearance,  but  upon  their  possibili- 
ties, upon  their  relation  to  the  future,  and 
upon  their  place  in  evolution.     The  crystal 
has  reached  its  ultimate  stage  of  develop- 
ment.    It  can  never  be  more  beautiful  than 
it  is  now.    Take  it  to  pieces  and  give  it  the 
opportunity   to  beautify  itself   afresh,   and 
it  will  just  do  the  same  thing  over  again. 
It  will  form  itself  into  a  six-sided  pyramid, 
and  go  on  repeating  this  same  form  ad  in- 
finitum  as  often  as  it  is  dissolved,  and  with- 
out ever  improving  by  a  hair's  breadth.     Its 
law  of  crystallization  allows  it  to  reach  this 
limit,  and  nothing  else  within  its  kingdom 
can  do  any  more  for  it.    In  dealing  with  the 
crystal,  in  short,  we  are  dealing  with  the 
maximum   beauty   of   the   inorganic   world. 
But  in  dealing  with  the  shell  we  are  not 
dealing  with  the  maximum  achievement  of 


the  organic  world.  In  itself  it  is  one  of  the 
humblest  forms  of  the  invertebrate  sub-king- 
dom of  the  organic  world;  and  there  are 
other  forms  within  this  kingdom  so  different 
from  the  shell  in  a  hundred  respects  that 
to  mistake  them  would  simply  be  impossible. 
— DBUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  11,  p.  345.  (H.  Al.) 

1887.  LIFE,    HIGHER,    MENACED 
BY     LOWER— Garden  Plants  Destroyed  by 
Bacteria. — Reference  has  been  made  to  the 
associated  work  of  higher  vegetable  life  and 
bacteria.     The  converse  is  also  true.     Just 
as  we  have  bacterial  diseases  affecting  man 
and  animals,  so  also  plant-life  has  its  bac- 
terial diseases.     .     .     .     Hyacinth  disease 
is  due  to  a  flagellated  bacillus.     The  wilt 
of  cucumbers   and  pumpkins  is  a  common 
disease  in  some  districts  of  the  world,  and 
may  cause  wide-spread  injury.    It  is  caused 
by  a  white  microbe  which  fills  the  water- 
ducts.     Wilting  vines  are  full  of  the  same 
sticky  germs.  Desiccation  and  sunlight  have 
a  strongly  prejudicial  effect  upon  these  or- 
ganisms.    Bacterial   brown-rot  of   potatoes 
and  tomatoes  is  another  plant-disease  proba- 
bly due  to  a  bacillus.     The  bacillus  passes 
down  the  interior  of  the  stem  into  the  tu- 
bers,   and    brown-rots    them    from    within. 
There  is  another  form  of  brown-rot  which 
affects  cabbages.     It  blackens  the  veins  of 
the  leaves,  and  a  woody  ring  which  is  formed 
in  the  stem  causes  the  leaves  to   fall  off. 
This  also  is  due  to  a  micro-organism  which 
gains  entrance  through  the  water-pores  of 
the  leaf,  and  subsequently  passes  into  the 
vessels    of  the   plants. — NEWMAN   Bacteria, 
ch.  1,  p.  35.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1888.  LIFE,  HUMAN,  WHOLESALE 
DESTRUCTION  OF— Earthquake  Followed  by 
Pestilence. — In  this  [Calabrian]  earthquake 
40,000   persons   are   supposed  to   have   per- 
ished,  and   about   20,000  by  the  epidemics 
which    followed.      Dolomieu    gives    a    pain- 
ful  account  of  the   appearance  of  the   Ca- 
labrian   cities.      "  When    I   passed    over    to 
Calabria,"    he    writes,    "and    first    beheld 
Polistina,   the   scene   of   horror   almost   de- 
prived me  of  my  faculties;   my  mind  was 
filled  with  mingled  horror  and  compassion; 
nothing  had  escaped;    all  was  leveled  with 
the   dust;    not  a   single   house   or  piece   of 
wall  remained;   on  all  sides  were  heaps  of 
stone  so  destitute  of  form  that  they  afforded 
no  idea  of  there  having  ever  been   a  town 
on  this  spot.     The  stench  of  the  dead  bodies 
still  arose  from  the  ruins.     I  conversed  with 
many  persons  who  had  been  buried  for  three, 
four,  or  even  five  days;   I  questioned  them 
respecting  their  sensations  in  so  dreadful  a 
situation,  and  they  agreed  that  of  all  the 
physical  evils  they  endured  thirst  was  the 
most    intolerable;    and    that    their    mental 
agony  was  increased  by  the  idea  that  they 
were  abandoned  by  their  friends,  who  might 
have    rendered   them    assistance." — PROCTOR 
Notes  on  Earthquakes,  p.  4.     (Hum.,  1887.) 


387 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 


1889.  LIFE,  INDIVIDUAL  —  Fitting 
into  Broad  Scheme  of  Nature — Bee  Seeking 
Honey  Fertilizes  Flowers  for  Future  Gen- 
erations.— At  Torquay  I  watched  for  about 
half  an  hour  a  number  of  these  flowers 
(Spiranthes)  growing  together,  and  saw 
three  bumblebees  of  two  kinds  visit  them. 
I  caught  one  and  examined  its  proboscis: 
on  the  superior  lamina,  some  little  way 
from  the  tip,  two  perfect  pollinia  were  at- 
tached, and  three  other  boat-formed  disks 
without  pollen;  so  that  this  bee  had  re- 
moved the  pollinia  from  five  flowers,  and 
had  probably  left  the  pollen  of  three  on  the 
stigmas  of  other  flowers.  The  next  day  I 
watched  the  same  flowers  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  and  caught  another  bumblebee  at 
work;  one  perfect  pollinium  and  four  boat- 
formed  disks  adhered  to  its  proboscis,  one  on 
the  top  of  the  other,  showing  how  exactly 
the  same  part  of  the  rostellum  had  each 
time  been  touched. 

The  bees  always  alighted  at  the  bottom 
of  the  spike,  and,  crawling  spirally  up  it, 
sucked  one  flower  after  the  other.  I  believe 
bumblebees  generally  act  in  this  manner 
when  visiting  a  dense  spike  of  flowers,  as  it 
is  the  most  convenient  method ;  on  the  same 
principle  that  a  woodpecker  always  climbs 
up  a  tree  in  search  of  insects.  .  .  .  The 
bee  goes  first  to  the  lowest  flower,  and, 
crawling  spirally  up  the  spike,  effects  noth- 
ing on  the  first  spike  which  she  visits  till 
she  reaches  the  upper  flowers,  and  then  she 
withdraws  the  pollinia.  She  soon  flies  to 
another  plant,  and,  alighting  on  the  lowest 
and  oldest  flower,  into  which  a  wide  passage 
will  have  been  formed  from  the  greater  re- 
flection of  the  column,  the  pollinia  strike  the 
protuberant  stigma.  If  the  stigma  of  the 
lowest  flower  has  already  been  fully  fertil- 
ized, little  or  no  pollen  will  be  left  on  its 
dried  surface ;  but  on  the  next  succeeding 
flower,  of  which  the  stigma  is  adhesive, 
large  sheets  of  pollen  will  be  left.  Then  as 
soon  as  the  bee  arrives  near  the  summit  of 
the  spike  she  will  withdraw  fresh  pollinia, 
will  fly  to  the  lower  flowers  on  another 
plant,  and  fertilize  them;  and  thus,  as  she 
goes  her  rounds  and  adds  to  her  store  of 
honey,  she  continually  fertilizes  fresh  flow- 
ers and  perpetuates  the  race  of  our  au- 
tumnal Spiranthes,  which  will  yield  honey  to 
future  generations  of  bees. — 'DARWIN  Fer- 
tilization of  Orchids,  ch.  4,  p.  113.  (A., 
1898.) 


1890. 


Within  Life  of 


Organization — Leucocytes  and  Ciliated  Cells 
in  the  Body. — The  individual  lives  of  the 
units  [cells]  are  subordinate  to  the  general 
life  in  proportion  as  this  is  high.  .  .  . 
Even  in  the  highest  types,  however,  and 
even  when  they  are  fully  developed,  unit 
life  does  not  wholly  disappear:  it  is  clearly 
shown  in  ourselves.  .  .  .  [In  the  blood] 
the  white  corpuscles  or  leucocytes,  retaining 
the  primitive  and  ameboid  character,  ex- 
hibit individual  activities:  send  out  pro- 
longations like  pseudopodia,  take  in  organic 


particles  as  food,  and  are  independently 
locomotive.  Tho  far  less  numerous  than  the 
red  corpuscles,  yet,  as  ten  thousand  are  con- 
tained in  a  cubic  millimeter  of  blood — a 
mass  less  than  a  pin's  head — it  results  that 
the  human  body  is  pervaded  throughout  all 
its  blood-vessels  by  billions  of  these  sepa- 
rately living  units.  In  the  lymph,  too, 
.  .  .  these  ameboid  units  are  found. 
Then  we  have  the  curious  transitional  stage 
in  which  units  partially  embedded  and  par- 
tially free  display  a  partial  unit  life.  These 
are  the  ciliated  epithelium-cells,  lining  the 
air-passages.  .  .  .  The  inner  parts  of 
these  unite  with  their  fellows  to  form  an 
epithelium,  and  the  outer  parts  of  them, 
immersed  either  in  liquid  or  semi-liquid 
(mucus),  bear  cilia  that  are  in  constant 
motion  and  "  produce  a  current  of  fluid  over 
the  surface  they  cover,"  thus  simulating  in 
their  positions  and  actions  the  cells  lining 
the  passages  ramifying  through  a  sponge. 
The  partially  independent  lives  of  these 
units  is  further  seen  in  the  fact  that  after 
being  detached  they  swim  about  in  water 
for  a  time  by  the  aid  of  their  cilia. — SPEN- 
CER Biology,  pt.  ii,  ch.  2A,  p.  186.  (A., 
1900.) 

1891.  LIFE,  INFINITE  AND  ETER- 
NAL— Light  Transports  Us  into. — The  rays  of 
light  which  fall  in  silence  from  the  distant 
splendors  of  the  starry  night  bring  to  us, 
then,  the  most  curious  revelations   on  the 
state  of  creation  in  these  inaccessible  uni- 
verses, and  prove  to  us  that  the  substances 
and  forces  which  we  see  in  activity  around 
us  exist  there  as  well  as  here,  producing  ef- 
fects analogous  to  those  which  surround  our 
field  of  view,  developing  the  sphere  of  our 
conceptions  at  the  same  time  as  that  of  our 
observations,   and  permitting  us  to  divine 
the  things,  the  beings,  the  populations,  the 
unknown  works  which  reproduce  in  infini- 
tude the  spectacles  of  life,  the  sports  of  Na- 
ture, and  the  varied  operations  of  which  our 
solar  system  presents  but  an  ordinary  and 
incomplete  scene.     Light  transports  us  into 
the  infinite  life.    It  transports  us  also  into 
the  eternal  life. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  vi,  ch.  6,  p.  616.     (A.) 

1892.  LIFE   IN  INCESSANT  PERIL 

— Provision  against  Earthquakes — "  Earth- 
quake Lamps  "  —  "  Earthquake  Coats."  — 
The  great  danger  of  fire  [as  the  result  of 
earthquake]  may  partially  be  obviated  by 
the  use  of  "  earthquake  lamps,"  which  are 
so  constructed  that  before  they  overturn 
they  are  extinguished.  It  is  said  that  in 
South  America  some  of  the  inhabitants  are 
ready  at  any  moment  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
streets,  and  they  have  coats  prepared, 
stocked  with  provisions  and  other  necessa- 
ries, which,  if  occasion  demands,  will  enable 
them  to  spend  the  night  in  the  open  air. 
These  coats  [are]  called  "  earthquak^ 
coats." — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  7,  p.  129. 
(A.,  1899.) 


Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


1893      LIFE   IN   INFUSIONS— Errors 

of  Experiment — Lifelessness  Presumes  Cor- 
rect Manipulation. — As  regards  workman- 
ship, moreover,  he  [the  investigator]  will 
not  fail  to  bear  in  mind  that  fruitfulness 
may  be  due  to  errors  of  manipulation,  while 
barrenness  involves  the  presumption  of  cor- 
rect experiment.  It  is  only  the  careful 
worker  that  can  secure  the  latter,  while  it  is 
open  to  every  novice  to  obtain  the  former. 
Barrenness  is  the  result  at  which  the  con- 
scientious experimenter,  whatever  his  the- 
oretic convictions  may  be,  ought  to  aim, 
omitting  no  pains  to  secure  it,  and  resorting 
only  when  there  is  no  escape  from  it  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  life  observed  comes  from 
no  source  which  correct  experiment  could 
neutralize  or  avoid. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  318.  (A.,  1900.) 

1894.     LIFE    IN    OCEAN  DEPTHS— 

A  Few  Fossil  Forms  Still  Living — Most 
Forms  Modern  Modified. — Besides  proving 
the  existence  of  a  fauna  in  the  sea  at  all 
depths  and  in  all  regions,  the  expedition  [of 
the  "  Challenger,"  1873]  further  proved  that 
the  abysmal  fauna,  taken  as  a  whole,  does 
not  possess  characters  similar  to  those  of 
the  fauna  of  any  of  the  Secondary  or  even 
Tertiary  rocks.  A  few  forms,  it  is  true, 
known  to  us  up  to  that  time  only  as  fossils, 
were  found  to  be  still  living  in  the  great 
depths,  but  a  large  majority  of  the  animals 
of  these  regions  were  found  to  be  new  and 
specially  modified  forms  of  the  families  and 
genera  inhabiting  shallow  waters  of  modern 
times.  No  trilobites,  no  blastoids,  no  cys- 
toids,  no  new  ganoids,  and  scarcely  any 
deep-sea  elasmobranchs  were  brought  to 
light,  but  the  fauna  was  found  to  consist 
mainly  of  teleosteans,  Crustacea,  coelentera, 
and  other  creatures  unlike  anything  known 
to  have  existed  in  Paleozoic  times,  specially 
modified  in  structure  for  their  life  in  the 
great  depths  of  the  ocean. — HICKSON  Fauna 
of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  1,  p.  14.  (A.,  1894.) 


1895. 


How  the  Mighty 


Pressure  Is  Borne — Glass  Crushed  to  Pow- 
der.— In  regard  to  the  animal  life  of  the 
deep  sea,  the  "  Challenger  "  researches  do  not 
seem  likely  to  yield  any  new  general  result 
of  striking  interest.  Our  previous  work  had 
shown  that  a  depth  of  three  miles,  a  pres- 
sure of  three  tons  on  the  square  inch,  an 
entire  absence  of  sunlight,  and  a  tempera- 
ture below  32°  might  be  sustained  by  a 
considerable  number  and  variety  of  animal 
types,  and  this  conclusion  has  been  fully 
confirmed  and  widely  extended.  Many  speci- 
mens have  been  brought  up  alive  from  depths 
exceeding  four  miles,  at  which  the  pressure 
was  four  tons  on  the  square  inch,  consider- 
ably exceeding  that  exerted  by  the  hydraulic 
presses  used  for  packing  Manchester  goods. 
Even  the  "  protected  "  thermometers  special- 
ly constructed  for  deep-sea  sounding  were 
frequently  crushed;  and  a  sealed  glass  tube 
containing  air,  having  been  lowered  (within 
a  copper  case)  to  a  deptfi  of  2,000  fathoms, 


was  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  almost  like 
snow  by  what  Sir  Wyville  Thomson  inge- 
niously characterized  as  an  implosion,  the 
pressure  having  apparently  been  resisted  un- 
til it  could  no  longer  be  borne,  and  the 
whole  having  been  then  disintegrated  at  the 
same  moment.  The  rationale  of  the  resist- 
ance afforded  by  soft-bodied  animals  to  a 
pressure  which  thus  affects  hard  glass  is 
simply  that  they  contain  no  air,  but  consist 
of  solids  and  liquids  only;  and  that  since 
their  constituent  parts  are  not  subject  to 
more  than  a  very  trifling  change  of  bulk, 
while  the  equality  of  the  pressure  in  every 
direction  will  prevent  any  change  in  their 
form,  there  is  really  nothing  to  interfere 
with  the  ordinary  performance  of  their  vital 
functions.  —  CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  11,  p.  344.  (A.,  1889.) 

1896.  LIFE    IN    UNEXPECTED 

PLACES— Worms  that  Live  in  Brine — Every 
Part  of  the  World  Habitable — Why  Not  Life 
in  Other  Worlds? — The  mud  in  many  places 
[about  the  salt  lakes]  was  thrown  up  by 
numbers  of  some  kind  of  worm,  or  annel- 
idous  animal.  How  surprising  it  is  that 
any  creatures  should  be  able  to  exist  in 
brine,  and  that  they  should  be  crawling 
among  crystals  of  sulfate  of  soda  and 
lime!  And  what  becomes  of  these  worms 
when  during  the  long  summer  the  surface 
is  hardened  into  a  solid  layer  of  salt?  Fla- 
mingoes in  considerable  numbers  inhabit  this 
lake  and  breed  here;  throughout  Patagonia, 
in  northern  Chile,  and  at  the  Galapagos  Is- 
lands I  met  with  these  birds  wherever  there 
were  lakes  of  brine.  1  saw  them  here  wa- 
ding about  in  search  of  food — probably  for 
the  worms  which  burrow  in  the  mud;  and 
these  latter  probably  feed  on  infusoria  or 
confervse.  Thus  we  have  a  little  living  world 
within  itself,  adapted  to  these  inland  lakes 
of  brine.  .  .  . 

Well  may  we  affirm  that  every  part  of  the 
world  is  habitable !  Whether  lakes  of  brine, 
or  those  subterranean  ones  hidden  beneath 
volcanic  mountains — warm  mineral  springs 
— the  wide  expanse  and  depths  of  the  ocean 
— the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
even  the  surface  of  perpetual  snow — all  sup- 
port organic  beings. — DARWIN  Naturalist's 
Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  4,  p.  66.  (A., 
1898.) 

1897.  LIFE,    ITS    TRANSFORMING 
POWER — Exchange  of  Functions  among  Vital 
Organs. — The  roots  and  leaves  of  plants  are 
widely  differentiated  in  their  functions:    by 
the  roots,  water  and  mineral  substances  are 
absorbed,  while  the  leaves  take  in  and  de- 
compose carbonic  acid.     Nevertheless,  some 
leaves  can  absorb  water,   and  in  what  are 
popularly  called  "  air-plants "  the   absorp- 
tion of  water  is  mainly  carried  on  by  them 
and  by  the  stems.     Conversely,  the  under- 
ground parts  can  partially  assume  the  func- 
tions of  leaves.     The  exposed  tuber  of  a  po- 
tato develops  chlorophyl  on  its  surface,  and 
in    other   cases,    as   in   that   of  the   turnip, 
roots,  properly   so  called,  do  the  like.     In 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 


trees  the  trunks,  which  have  in  great  meas- 
ure ceased  to  produce  buds,  recommence 
producing  them  if  the  branches  are  cut  off; 
sometimes  aerial  branches  send  down  roots 
to  the  earth,  and  under  some  circumstances 
the  roots,  tho  not  in  the  habit  of  developing 
leaf-bearing  organs,  send  up  numerous 
suckers.  When  the  excretion  of  bile  is  ar- 
rested, part  goes  to  the  skin  and  some  to  the 
kidneys,  which  presently  suffer  under  their 
new  task.  .  .  .  The  excretion  of  car- 
bonic acid  and  absorption  of  oxygen  are 
mainly  performed  by  the  lungs,  in  creatures 
which  have  lungs;  but  in  such  creatures 
there  continues  a  certain  amount  of  cutane- 
ous respiration,  and  in  soft-skinned  batra- 
chians  like  the  frog  this  cutaneous  respira- 
tion is  important. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  3,  p.  208.  (A.,  1900.) 

1898.  LIFE,  MICROSCOPIC,  IN  THE 
ALPINE    LAKES  —  Organisms   Invisible  by 
Transparency. — Perhaps    few    of   the   many 
thousands  of  people  who  annually  rock  upon 
the  blue  lakes  among  the  Alps,  feeling  per- 
fectly at  home,  ever  dream  that  in  this  crys- 
tal flood  there  also  float  myriads  of  active 
animals.    But  the  very  monotony  of  the  con- 
ditions   of    life    there    corresponds    to    the 
composition  of  the  pelagic  fauna.     Besides 
wheel-animalculse,     representatives     of     the 
smallest     life     (Infusoria     flagellata)     are 
frolicking  among  the  countless  numbers  of 
microscopic  algae;    and   a  few  varieties  of 
tiny  crabs  from  a  few  millimeters  to  two 
centinjeters  in  length  also  inhabit  these  high 
lakes    in    tremendous    numbers.      They    are 
queer  fellows  with  immense  paddle  arms  and 
long  projections  of  the  body  that  serve  as 
balancing  poles,  for  they  are  condemned  for 
life  to  swim  without  ever  resting  in  their 
fluid  element,  whose   specific  gravity  is   of 
course   only   a   little  greater   than   that   of 
their  bodies.    '  Any  one  confronted  for  the 
first  time  with  these  animalcule  in  a  glass 
of  water  would  seek  in  vain  for  them,  even 
if  there  were  hundreds,  as  it  is  only  after 
the  most  minute  observation  that  the  dark 
pigment  of  the  eyes  or  the  faintest  coloring 
of  the  contents  of  the  intestines  will  betray 
their   presence.      The   transparency   of    the 
bodily  substance  of  the  pelagic  sea  animals 
has  long  been  known.     Here,  as  there,  this 
adaptation  to  the  constitution  of  the  water 
is  a  means  of  protecting  the  delicate  crea- 
tures from  extermination,  because  it  with- 
draws them  from  the  view  of  their  pursuer. 
Since,  from  the  tenderness  of  their  bodies, 
they  would  not  be  able  to  endure  the  beating 
of  the  waves,  the  minutest  crinkling  of  the 
water's  surface,  the  gentlest  breath  of  wind, 
will  drive  them  into  depths  where  the  move- 
ments on  the  surface  of  the  water  are  no 
longer  experienced. — GRAFF  Die  Fauna  der 
Alpenseen,  p.  12.     (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

1 899.  LIFE  MOLDS  ENVIRONMENT 

— Beavers  Changing  Surface  of  Continent. — 
Beaver-dams  afford  still  another  illustration 


of  the  manner  in  which  drainage  is  ob- 
structed and  lakes  formed  by  organic 
agencies.  Beavers  formerly  lived  over  near- 
ly the  whole  of  North  America,  and  are  still 
found  in  limited  numbers  in  the  Northern 
States  and  Canada,  and  extending  south- 
ward along  the  Cordilleras  at  least  as  far 
as  New  Mexico.  The  dams  they  constructed 
with  great  intelligence  and  skill,  across 
small  streams,  retained  drift  logs  and 
floating  leaves,  thus  leading  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  deposits  which  obstructed  the 
drainage  for  a  long  time  after  they  had  been 
abandoned  by  the  animals  that  built  them. 
The  ponds  and  swamps  due  to  the  work  of 
beavers  number  tens  of  thousands,  and  have 
produced  important  changes  in  the  minor 
features  of  the  surface  of  the  continent. 
Many  of  these  ponds,  after  becoming  choked 
with  vegetation  and  converted  into  peat 
swamps,  have  been  drained  and  furnish  rich 
garden-lands. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North 
America,  ch.  1,  p.  27.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

1 9OO.  LIFE,  NATURAL,  DEFINED— 

The  Sum  Total  of  the  Functions  that  Resist 
Death— Life,  Spiritual,  the  Sum  Total  of  the 
Functions  that  Resist  Sin. — This  law,  which 
is  true  for  the  whole  plant-world,  is  also 
valid  for  the  animal  and  for  man.  Air  is 
not  life,  but  corruption — so  literally  corrup- 
tion that  the  only  way  to  keep  out  corrup- 
tion, when  life  has  ebbed,  is  to  keep  out  air. 
Life  is  merely  a  temporary  suspension  of 
these  destructive  powers;  and  this  is  truly 
one  of  the  most  accurate  definitions  of  life 
we  have  yet  received — "  the  sum  total  of  the 
functions  which  resist  death." 

Spiritual  life,  in  like  manner,  is  the  sum 
total  of  the  functions  which  resist  sin.  The 
soul's  atmosphere  is  the  daily  trial,  circum- 
stance, and  temptation  of  the  world.  And 
as  it  is  life  alone  which  gives  the  plant 
power  to  utilize  the  elements,  and  as,  with- 
out it,  they  utilize  it,  so  it  is  the  spiritual 
life  alone  which  gives  the  soul  power  to 
utilize  temptation  and  trial;  and  without 
it  they  destroy  the  soul. — DRTJMMOND  Nat- 
ural Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  2,  p. 
93.  (H.  Al.) 

1901.  LIFE,  NATURE    OF,  UN- 
KNOWN TO  SCIENCE— Science  has  cast  no 
light  on  the  ultimate  nature  of  life.     But 
whatever    it    be,    it    has    evidently    funda- 
mental    elements     which     are     the     same 
throughout  the  whole  circle  of  the  organic 
world. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p. 
29.     (Burt.) 

1902.  LIFE,  NONE,  WITHOUT  AN- 
TECEDENT LIFE— Refutation  of  the  Theory 
of    Spontaneous    Generation. — Standing    on 
the  Mer  de  Glace,  near  the  Montanvert,  he 
[Pasteur]  snipped  off  the  ends  of  a  number 
of  hermetically  sealed  flasks  containing  or- 
ganic infusions.     One  out  of  twenty  of-  the 
flasks  thus  supplied  with  glacier  air  showed 
signs  of  life  afterwards,  while  eight  out  of 
twenty  of  the  same  infusions,  supplied  with 
the  air  of  the  plains,  became  crowded  with 


Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


390 


life.  He  took  his  flasks  into  the  caves  under 
the  Observatory  of  Paris,  and  found  the  still 
air  in  these  caves  devoid  of  generative 
power.  These  and  other  experiments,  carried 
out  with  a  severity  perfectly  obvious  to  the 
instructed  scientific  reader,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  logic  equally  severe,  restored  the 
conviction  that,  even  in  these  lower  reaches 
of  the  scale  of  being,  life  does  not  appear 
without  the  operation  of  antecedent  life. — 
TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  essay 
5,  p.  285.  (A.,  1895.) 

1903.  LIFE     NOT     IN    MATERIAL 
ELEMENTS—  The   Water  Is  Left,   the  Wave 
Goes  On — Spirit  Not  Revealed  to  Sense. — 
Just  as  the  flame  remains  the  same  in  ap- 
pearance, and  continues  to  exist  with  the 
same   form   and   structure,   altho   it  draws 
every  minute  fresh  combustible  vapor,  and 
fresh  oxygen  from  the  air,  into  the  vortex  of 
its  ascending  current;    and  just  as  the  wave 
goes  on  in  unaltered  form,  and  is  yet  being 
reconstructed  every  moment  from  fresh  par- 
ticles of  water,  so  also  in  the  living  being,  it 
is  not  the  definite  mass  of  substance,  which 
now  constitutes  the  body,  to  which  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  individual  is  attached.     For 
the  material  of  the  body,  like  that  of  the 
flame,  is  subject  to  continuous  and  compara- 
tively   rapid    change — a    change    the    more 
rapid,  the  livelier  the  activity  of  the  organs 
in  question.     Some  constituents  are  renewed 
from  day  to  day,  some  from  month  to  month, 
and  others  only  after  years.     That  which 
continues  to  exist  as  a  particular  individual 
is  like  the  flame  and  the  wave — only  the 
form  of  motion  which  continually  attracts 
fresh  matter  into  its  vortex  and  expels  the 
old.     The   observer   with    a   deaf   ear    only 
recognizes  the  vibration  of  sound  as  long  as 
it  is  visible  and  can  be  felt,  bound  up  with 
heavy  matter.    Are  our  senses,  in  reference 
to  life,  like  the  deaf  ear  in  this  respect? — 
HELMHOLTZ   Popular   Lectures,   lect.    4,   p. 
195.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

1904.  LIFE  OF  WANDERING  GERMS 

— Unseen  Perils — Long-enduring  Menace  of 
Evil  Once  Set  Afloat — The  Source  of  Life 
Infected. — So  essentially  does  the  bacterial 
content  of  air  depend  upon  the  facility  with 
which  certain  bacteria  withstand  drying 
that  Dr.  Eduardo  Germano  has  addressed 
himself  first  to  drying  various  pathogenic 
species  and  then  to  mixing  the  dried  residue 
with  sterilized  dust  and  observing  to  what 
degree  the  air  becomes  infected.  Typhoid 
appears  to  withstand  comparatively  little 
desiccation  without  losing  its  virulence. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  able  to  retain  vitality  in 
a  semidried  condition,  and  it  is  owing  to 
this  circumstance  in  all  probability  that  it 
possesses  such  power  of  infection.  Diph- 
theria [is],  on  the  other  hand,  capable  of 
lengthened  survival  outside  the  body.  .  .  . 
This  is  not  the  case  with  cholera  or  plague. 
Dr.  Germano  classifies  bacteria,  as  a  result 
of  his  researches,  into  three  groups:  first, 
those  like  plague,  typhoid,  and  cholera,  which 


cannot  survive  drying  for  more  than  a  few 
hours ;  second,  those  like  the  bacilli  of  diph- 
theria, .  .  .  which  can  withstand  it  for  a 
longer  period;  thirdly,  those  like  tubercle, 
which  can  very  readily  resist  drying  for 
months  and  yet  retain  their  virulence.  .  .  . 
Miquel  has  recently  demonstrated  that  soil 
bacteria  or  their  spores  can  remain  alive  in 
hermetically  sealed  tubes  for  as  long  a  time 
as  sixteen  years.  Even  at  the  end  of  that 
period  the  soil  inoculated  into  a  guinea-pig 
produced  tetanus. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  3, 
p.  108.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1905.  LIFE    ON    THE    MOONS    OF 
JUPITER— Glorious  Aspect  of  Jupiter  as  Seen 
from   His   Satellites — The   Giant   Planet   a 
Minor  Sun. — Why  should  not  the  moons  of 
Jupiter    be    inhabited,    instead    of    Jupiter 
himself,  and  Jupiter  be  appointed  to  com- 
pensate them  (not  they  him)  for  the  small- 
ness  of  the  direct  supply  of  solar  light  and 
heat?     .     .     .     For   to  them  the   sun  is   a 
minute  body,  showing  a  disk  scarcely  equal 
to  one  twenty-fifth  of  the  sun's  disk  as  we 
see  him;    but  the  glorious  disk  of  Jupiter, 
varying  at  the  several  moons  from  an  area 
1,600  times  as  great  as  their  sun  to  an  area 
35,000  times  his,  and  marked  by  the  won- 
derfully beautiful  colors  of  which  our  tele- 
scopes afford  a  faint  idea,  must  be  an  ama- 
zing object  of  contemplation.     The  changes 
also  which  take  place   in  his  aspect  as  he 
turns  round  on  his  axis,  and  also  as  real 
changes   take   place   in   his   cloud   envelope, 
must  be  singularly  impressive  and  suggest- 
ive.   We  may  well  believe  that  if  there  are 
reasoning    creatures    on    the    worlds    which 
circle  around   Jupiter,    they  have   as   good 
reason  as  we  ourselves  to  say,  "  The  heavens 
declare   the   glory   of   God,    the   firmament 
showeth  his  handiwork." — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  pp.  88-93.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1906.  LIFE,  PHYSICAL,  COOPERA- 
TION IN—  The  Human  Body  a  Colony  of  Cell- 
workers — Division  Resulting  in  Harmony. — 
If    we    think    of    the    countless   operations 
which  have  to  be  undertaken  from  hour  to 
hour  to  maintain  our  bodies  in  action,  we 
may  begin  to  realize  what  perfect  coopera- 
tion really  means,   and  what  this  colonial 
constitution  of  ours  implies.     For  example, 
saliva  has  to  be  secreted,  for  the  purpose  of 
digestion,  in  the  mouth,  and  for  other  func- 
tions  as  well.     This   fluid  is   supplied  by 
three  pairs  of  salivary  glands.     Now,   the 
working  and  essential  parts  of  these  glands 
are  living  cells,  which,  out  of  the  blood  (as 
the  raw  material)    supplied  to  the  glands, 
secrete   saliva,   which   is   the  manufactured 
product.     Again,  tears  have  perpetually  to 
be  made  for  washing  the  eyes.     This  secre- 
tion is  supplied  by  a  couple  of  tear  glands. 
Here,  again,  are  cells,  different  from  those 
of  the  salivary  glands,  and  making  out  of 
the  blood  a  very  different  secretion  to  that 
of    the    mouth.      The    cells    of    the    gastric 
glands  of  the  stomach  make,  from  the  blood, 
gastric  juice.     .     .     .     The  brain-cells  guide 


391 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 


and  direct  the  body's  highest  acts  equally 
with  lower  nervous  operations.  Cells  in  the 
skin  repair  our  wounds  and  throw  off  other 
cells  which  are  cast  away  as  the  outer  skin 
wears.  The  bone-cells  renew  and  repair  that 
dense  structure,  and  build  up  the  solid  por- 
tions of  the  frame.  In  a  word,  every  act  of 
life  is  performed  by  the  cells,  each  group  of 
which  -remains  distinct  as  a  colony  of  work- 
ers charged  with  the  performance  of  a 
specific  duty.  Truly,  then,  it  may  be  held 
that  our  life  is  a  divided  existence  physic- 
ally; while  from  another  point  of  view  it  is 
an  harmonious  existence,  because  of  the  per- 
fect cooperation  of  these  wonderful  workers 
of  the  body — the  living  cells. — ANDREW  WIL- 
SON Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  25,  p.  82. 
(Hum.,  1892.) 

1907.  LIFE,  PROCESSES    OF,    BE- 
YOND VOLITION—  The  Physical  Man  Largely 
an   Automaton — Natural   Laws   Bear    Him 
On. — Men  need  only  reflect  on  the  automatic 
processes  of  their  natural  body  to  discover 
that  this  is  the  universal  law  of  life.    What 
does  any  man  consciously  do,  for  instance, 
in   the   matter   of   breathing?      What   part 
does  he   take  in  circulating  the  blood,   in 
keeping  up  the  rhythm  of  his  heart?    What 
control  has  he  over  growth?    What  man  by 
taking  thought  can  add  a  cubit  to  his  stat- 
ure?   What  part  voluntarily  does  man  take 
in  secretion,  in  digestion,  in  the  reflex  ac- 
tions?    In  point  of  fact  is  he  not  after  all 
the  veriest  automaton,  every  organ  of  his 
body  given  him,  every  function  arranged  for 
him,  brain  and  nerve,  thought  and  sensa- 
tion, will  and  conscience,  all  provided  for 
him  ready  made  ? — DKUMMOND  Natural  Law 
in   the   Spiritual   World,   essay   8,   p.    275. 
(H.  Al.) 

1908.  LIFE  REVERSES  RULES  OF 
THE     INORGANIC  —  Motion    Characterizes 
Life. — The  chemist  equally  regards  chemical 
change  in  a  body  as  the  effect  of  the  action 
of  something  external  to  the  body  changed. 
A  chemical   compound  once   formed  would 
persist  forever  if  no  alteration  took  place 
in  surrounding  conditions. 

But  to  the  student  of  life  the  aspect  of 
Nature  is  reversed.  Here,  incessant,  and,  so 
far  as  we  know,  spontaneous  change  is  the 
rule,  rest  the  exception — the  anomaly  to  be 
accounted  for.  Living  things  have  no 
inertia  and  tend  to  no  equilibrium. — HUX- 
LEY Lay  Sermons,  serm.  5,  p.  73.  (A., 
1895.)  " 

1909.  LIFE  RUNS  IN  GROOVES  OF 
HABIT — Instinct  and  Reason. — When  we  look 
at  living  creatures  from  an  outward  point  of 
view,  one  of  the  first  things  that  strike  us  is 
that  they  are  bundles  of  habits.     In  wild 
animals,  the  usual  round  of  daily  behavior 
seems   a  necessity  implanted  at  birth;     in 
animals    domesticated,     and    especially    in 
man.  it  seems,  to  a  great  extent,  to  be  the 
result  of  education.     The  habits  to  which 
there  is  an  innate  tendency  are  called  in- 
stincts;    some   of   those   due   to   education 


would  by  most  persons  be  called  acts  of  rea- 
son. It  thus  appears  that  habit  covers  a 
very  large  part  of  life,  and  that  one  engaged 
in  studying  the  objective  manifestations  of 
mind  is  bound  at  the  very  outset  to  define 
clearly  just  what  its  limits  are. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  104.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1910.  LIFE,  SOCIAL,  DEPENDS  UP- 
ON MOTHERHOOD— So  Ethics  and  Religion 
— Through  Infancy  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heav- 
en.— See  then  what  the  savage  mother  and 
her  babe  have  brought  into  the  world.    When 
the  first  mother  awoke  to  her  first  tender- 
ness and  warmed  her  loneliness  at  her  in- 
fant's love,  when  for  a  moment  she  forgot 
herself  and  thought  upon  its  weakness  or  its 
pain,  when  by  the  most  imperceptible  act  or 
sign  or  look  of  sympathy  she  expressed  the 
unutterable  impulse  of  her  motherhood,  the 
touch  of  a  new  creative  hand  was  felt  upon 
the  world.     However  short  the  earliest  in- 
fancies,   however    feeble    the    sparks    they 
fanned,  however  long  heredity  took  to  gather 
fuel  enough  for  a  steady  flame,  it  is  certain 
that  once  this  fire  began  to  warm  the  cold 
hearth  of  Nature  and  give  humanity  a  heart, 
the  most  stupendous  task  of  the  past  was 
accomplished.    ..."  From  of  old  we  have 
heard  the  monition,  *  Except  ye  be  as  babes 
ye  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ' ;  the 
latest  science  now  shows  us — tho  in  a  very 
different  sense  of  the  words — that  unless  we 
had  been  as  babes,  the  ethical  phenomena 
which  give  all  its  significance  to  the  phrase 
'  Kingdom  of  heaven '  would  have  been  non- 
existent for  us.    Without  the  circumstances 
of  infancy  we  might  have  become  formidable 
among  animals  through  sheer  force  of  sharp- 
wittedness.     But  except  for  these   circum- 
stances we  should  never  have  comprehended 
the  meaning  of  such  phrases  as  '  self-sacri- 
fice '  or  '  devotion.'  The  phenomena  of  social 
life  would  have  been  omitted  from  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  and  with  them  the  phe- 
nomena   of    ethics    and   religion."      [Fiske, 
"Cosmic    Philosophy,"   vol.    ii,    p.    363.]— 
DBUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man.  ch.  8,  p.  290.    ( J. 
P.,  1900.) 

1911.  LIFE,    SOCIAL,    QUALITIES 
THAT  GIVE  PREEMINENCE  IN— Struggle 
in     Conversation. — In     every     conversation 
there  is  a  victor  and  a  vanquished,  not  alone 
because  for  the  moment,  or  later,  the  inter- 
locutor renounces  [his  own]  ideas  for  those 
of  others,  but  still  more  because  one  of  the 
speakers  takes,  as  we  say,  the  de  [the  die — 
i.  e.,  the  engrossing  share]  of  the  conversa- 
tion.    The   one  takes   it,   the   other   allows 
him    to.      In    general,    mental    superiority 
establishes     this     subordination,     but     su- 
periority alone  is  not  sufficient.     There  is 
also  necessary  a  certain  eloquence,  a  certain 
dash  of  assurance  and  audacity.    In  the  gen- 
eral conversations  of  the  salons  these  subsid- 
iary qualities   are   still  more   indispensable 
than  in  friendly  chat  between  two.    One  who 
is  obscure  or  unknown  discovers  that  even 


Life 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


392 


in  society  it  would  be  impossible  to  seize  the 
•uorld  and  keep  it  long  enough  to  set  forth 
his  ideas.  In  the  salon,  eloquence  and  au- 
dacity are  indispensable.  We  often  see  also 
a  chatterer  not  possessing  a  single  original 
idea  exercising  great  influence  upon  the 
drawing-room,  while  men  of  real  merit  are 
completely  effaced  by  reason  of  modesty  and 
timidity. — Novicow  Les  Luttes  entre  So- 
cietes  humaines  et  leur  Phases  successives. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 

1912.  LIFE,  SPIRITUAL,  OF  MAN— 
Mysterious   Communion  of   Nature  with. — 
The  impression  which  is  left  on  the  mind  by 
the  aspect  of  natural  scenery  is  less  deter- 
mined by  the  peculiar  character  of  the  re- 
gion than  by  the  varied  nature  of  the  light 
through    which    we   view,    or    mountain    or 
plain,  sometimes  beaming  beneath  an  azure 
sky,   sometimes  enveloped  in  the  gloom  of 
lowering  clouds.     Thus,  too,  descriptions  of 
Nature  affect  us  more  or  less  powerfully  in 
proportion  as  they  harmonize  with  the  con- 
dition of  our  own  feelings.     For  the  phys- 
ical world  is  reflected  with  truth  and  ani- 
mation on  the  inner  susceptible  world  of  the 
mind.     Whatever  marks  the  character  of  a 
landscape — the  profile  of  mountains,  which 
in  the  far  and  hazy  distance  bound  the  hori- 
zon;   the  deep  gloom  of  pine  forests;    the 
mountain  torrent,  which  rushes  headlong  to 
its  fall  through  overhanging  cliffs — all  stand 
alike    in   an    ancient   and   mysterious   com- 
munion   with    the    spiritual    life    of    man. 
From  this  communion  arises  the  nobler  por- 
tion of  the  enjoyment  which  Nature  affords. 
— HUMBOLDT     Views    of    Nature,    p.     154. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

1913.  LIFE  SUBJUGATES  CHEMIS- 
TRY—  Whatever    the   relationship    may   be 
between  living  organisms  and  the  elements, 
or  elementary  forces  of  external  Nature,  it 
certainly   is   not  the   relationship   of   mere 
chemical    affinities.     On   the   contrary,   the 
union  which  these   affinities  by  themselves 
produce  can  only  be  reached  through  the  dis- 
solution  and   destruction   of   living  bodies. 
The    subjugation   of   chemical   forces  under 
some  higher  form   of   energy  which   works 
them   for   the   continued  maintenance   of   a 
separate  individuality — this  is  of  the  very 
essence    of   life.      The    destruction    of    that 
separateness  or  individuality  is  of  the  very 
essence  of  death. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  2,  p.  34.     (Burt.) 

1914.  LIFE   SURROUNDED  BY  AN 
ATMOSPHERE   OF  DESTRUCTION— Dis- 
ease a  Conflict  between  Victim  and  Bacteria. 
— But  the  action  of  living  contagia  extends 
beyond    the    domain    of  the    surgeon.      The 
power   of  reproduction   and   indefinite   self- 
multiplication  which  is  characteristic  of  liv- 
ing  things,    coupled   with   the   undeviating 
fact  of  contagia  "  breeding  true,"  has  given 
strength  and  consistency  to  a  belief  long  en- 
tertained by  penetrating  minds,    that  epi- 
demic  diseases   generally   are   the   concomi- 
tants of  parasitic  life.    "  There  begins  to  be 


faintly  visible  to  us  a  vast  and  destructive 
laboratory  of  Nature  wherein  the  diseases 
which  are  most  fatal  to  animal  life,  and 
the  changes  to  which  dead  organic  matter  is 
passively  liable,  appear  bound  together  by 
what  must  at  least  be  called  a  very  close 
analogy  of  causation."  According  to  this 
view,  which,  as  I  have  said,  is  daily  gaining 
converts,  a  contagious  disease  may  be  de- 
fined as  a  conflict  between  the  person  smit- 
ten by  it  and  a  specific  organism  which  mul- 
tiplies at  his  expense,  appropriating  his  air 
and  moisture,  disintegrating  his  tissues,  or 
poisoning  him  by  the  decompositions  inci- 
dent to  its  growth. — TYNDALL  Floating  Mat- 
ter of  the  Air,  essay  5,  p.  288.  (A.,  1895.) 

1915.  LIFE,  TENACITY  OF—  The  Old- 
est Thing  Alive  in  Germany. — Of  all  things 
in  the  soil  of  Germany  the  most  tenacious 
of  life  is  a  tender  rose.     More  than  eight 
hundred    years    ago    the    rose-bush    at    the 
Cathedral    of    Hildesheim    received    special 
care   and    regard    as    a   venerable,    antique 
monument      of     the     past. — PFUHL      Was 
geboren  1st  auf  Erden  muss  zu  Erd-Asche 
werden  (17  Serie).     (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

1916.  LIFE  THE   CAUSE    OF    OR- 
GANIZATION— Science  Has  No  Explanation 
of  Vital  Force. — This   [that  mind  is  incon- 
ceivable  except  in   connection  with   a   ma- 
terial organ]  would  be  a  very  unsafe  conclu- 
sion   even    if    the    connection    between    our 
bodies  and  our  minds  were  of  such  a  nature 
that  we  could  not  conceive  the  separation  of 
the  two.     But  so  far  is  this  from  being  the 
case  that,  as  Professor  Tyndall  most  truly 
says,   "  it  is  a  connection  which  we  know 
only  as  an  inexplicable  fact,  and  we  try  to 
soar  in  a  vacuum  when  we  seek  to  compre- 
hend    it."       The     universal     testimony     of 
human  speech — that  sure  record  of  the  deep- 
est   metaphysical    truths — proves    that    we 
cannot  but  think  of  the  body  and  the  mind 
as    separate — of   the    mind    as    our    proper 
selves,  and  of  the  body  as  indeed  external  to 
it.      Let  us   never   forget  that   life,    as   we 
know  it  here  below,  is  the  antecedent  or  the 
cause  of  organization,  and  not  its  product; 
that   the   peculiar    combinations    of   matter 
which  are  the  homes  and  abodes  of  life  are 
prepared  and  shaped  under  the  control  and 
guidance  of  that  mysterious  power  which  we 
know  as  vitality;    and  that  no  discovery  of 
science  has  ever  been  able  to  reduce  it  to  a 
lower  level,  or  to  identify  it  with  any  purely 
material   force. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  8,  p.  182.    (Burt.) 

1917.  LIFE    THE    MIGHTIEST    OF 
FORCES— Living  Plants  Wedge  Dead  Rocks 
Asunder — Prepare  New  Soil  for  Their  Own 
Growth. — Living   plants    themselves    attack 
rocks,  and  by  means  of  the  acids  in  their 
roots  dissolve  out  the  mineral  matters  re- 
quired  by   the    organisms.      Further,    their 
roots  penetrate  the  natural  division-planes 
of  rocks  and  wedge  these  asunder ;    and  thus, 
by  allowing  freer  percolation  of  water,  they 


393 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 


prepare  the  way  for  more  rapid  disintegra- 
tion. Nor  can  we  neglect  the  action  of  tun- 
neling and  burrowing  animals,  some  of 
which  aid  considerably  in  the  work  of  de- 
struction. There  can  be  no  doubt,  for  ex- 
ample, that  worms,  as  Darwin  has  shown, 
play  an  important  part  in  the  formation  of 
soil,  which  is  simply  rotted  rock  plus  or- 
ganic matter. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch. 
2,  p.  29.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

1918.  LIFE,  TRANSITORINESS  OF 

— Leaves  Scarce  a  Trace  on  Earth. — As  to 
the  dry  land,  so  far  from  being  the  recep- 
tacle of  fresh  accessions  .of  matter,  it  is  ex- 
posed almost  everywhere  to  waste  away. 
Forests  may  be  as  dense  and  lofty  as  those 
of  Brazil,  and  may  swarm  with  quadrupeds, 
birds,  and  insects,  yet  at  the  end  of  ten 
thousand  years  one  layer  of  black  mold,  a 
few  inches  thick,  may  be  the  sole  representa- 
tive of  those  myriads  of  trees,  leaves,  flow- 
ers, and  fruits,  those  innumerable  bones  and 
skeletons  of  birds,  quadrupeds,  and  reptiles, 
which  tenanted  the  fertile  region.  Should 
this  land  be  at  length  submerged,  the  waves 
of  the  sea  may  wash  away  in  a  few  hours 
the  scanty  covering  of  mold,  and  it  may 
merely  impart  a  darker  shade  of  color  to  the 
next  stratum  of  marl,  sand,  or  other  matter 
newly  thrown  down. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  13,  p.  188.  (A.,  1854.) 

1919.  LIFE,  ULTIMATE  FACTS  OF 

— Sensation,  perception,  consciousness,  and 
thought — these,  if  they  are  not  the  very  es- 
sence of  life,  are  at  least — in  their  order — 
its  highest  accompaniments  and  result. 
They  are  the  ultimate  facts,  they  are  the 
final  realities,  to  which  all  lesser  adjust- 
ments are  themselves  adjusted. — ABGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  34.  (Burt.) 

^  192O.  LIFE,  UNIVERSAL  DIFFU- 
SION OF — Insects  on  Highest  Mountain  Peaks 
— Condor  Soars  Above  the  Andes. — When 
the  active  spirit  of  man  is  directed  to  the 
investigation  of  Nature,  or  when  in  imagi- 
nation he  scans  the  vast  fields  of  organic 
creation,  among  the  varied  emotions  excited 
in  his  mind  there  is  none  more  profound  or 
vivid  than  that  awakened  by  the  universal 
profusion  of  life.  Everywhere — even  near 
the  ice-bound  poles — the  air  resounds  with 
the  song  of  birds  and  with  the  busy  hum  of 
insects.  Not  only  the  lower  strata,  in  which 
the  denser  vapors  float,  but  also  the  higher 
and  ethereal  regions  of  the  air,  teem  with 
animal  life.  Whenever  the  lofty  crests  of 
the  Peruvian  Cordilleras,  or  the  summit  of 
Mont  Blanc,  south  of  Lake  Leman,  have 
been  ascended,  living  creatures  have  been 
found  even  in  these  solitudes.  On  the  Chim- 
borazo,  which  is  upwards  of  eight  thousand 
feet  higher  than  Mount  Etna,  we  saw  butter- 
flies and  other  winged  insects.  Even  if  they 
are  strangers  carried  by  ascending  currents 
of  air  to  those  lofty  regions,  whither  a  rest- 
less spirit  of  inquiry  leads  the  toilsome  steps 
of  man,  their  presence  nevertheless  proves 


that  the  more  pliant  organization  of  ani- 
mals may  subsist  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  vegetable  world.  The  condor,  that  giant 
among  the  vultures,  often  soared  above  us 
at  a  greater  altitude  than  the  summits  of 
the  Andes. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p. 
210.  (Bell,  1896.) 


1921. 


Vegetation  on  Snow, 


in  Caves  and  Mines,  and  Under  Glaciers. — 
The  strong  and  beneficial  influence  exercised 
on  the  feelings  of  mankind  by  the  considera- 
tion of  the  diffusion  of  life  throughout  the 
realms  of  Nature  is  common  to  every  zone, 
but  the  impression  thus  produced  is  most 
powerful  in  the  equatorial  regions,  in  the 
land  of  palms,  bamboos,  and  arborescent 
ferns,  where  the  ground  rises  from  the  shore 
of  seas  rich  in  mollusca  and  corals  to  the 
limits  of  perpetual  snow.  The  local  distri- 
bution of  plants  embraces  almost  all  heights 
and  all  depths.  Organic  forms  not  only  de- 
scend into  the  interior  of  the  earth  where 
the  industry  of  the  miner  has  laid  open  ex- 
tensive excavations  and  sprung  deep  shafts, 
but  I  have  also  found  snow-white  stalactitic 
columns  encircled  by  the  delicate  web  of  an 
Usnea  in  caves  where  meteoric  water  could 
alone  penetrate  through  fissures.  Podurellce 
penetrate  into  the  icy  crevices  of  the  gla- 
ciers on  Mount  Kosa,  the  Grindelwald,  and 
the  Upper  Aar;  the  Chioncea  araneoides  de- 
scribed by  Dalman,  and  the  microscopic 
Discerea  nivalis  (formerly  known  as  Proto- 
coccus),  exist  in  the  polar  snow  as  well  as 
in  that  of  our  high  mountains.  The  redness 
assumed  by  the  snow  after  lying  on  the 
ground  for  some  time  was  known  to  Aris- 
totle, and  was  probably  observed  by  him  on 
the  mountains  of  Macedonia. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  344.  (H.,  1897.) 

1922.  LIFE,  VEGETABLE,  LACKING 
IN  OCEAN  DEPTHS— It  has  not  been  de- 
termined yet  with  any  degree  of  accuracy 
where  we  are  to  place  the  limit  of  vegetable 
life,  but  it  seems  probable  that  below  a  hun- 
dred fathoms  no  organisms,  excepting  a  few 
parasitic  fungi,  are  to  be  found  that  can  be 
included  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.     While 
then   the  researches   of  recent   times   have 
proved   beyond    a    doubt   that    there  is   no 
depth  of  the  ocean  that  can  be  called  azoic, 
they  have  but  confirmed  the  perfectly  just 
beliefs  of  the  older  naturalists  that  there  is 
a  limit  where  vegetable  life  becomes  extinct. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  see  the  reason  for  this. 
All  plants,  except  a  few  parasites  and  sapro- 
phytes, are  dependent  upon  the  influence  of 
direct  sunlight,  and  as  it  has  been  shown 
.     .     .     that  the  sunlight  cannot  penetrate 
more  than  a  few  hundred  fathoms  of  sea- 
water,  it  is  impossible  for  plants  to  live  be- 
low  that    depth. — HICKSON    Fauna   of    the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  42.    (A.,  1894.) 

1 923.  LIFE  VIEWED  AS  CONTINU- 
OUS— Reproduction  an  Essential  Attribute.— 
Reproduction  is  in  truth  an  essential  attri- 
bute of  living  matter,  just  as  is  the  growth 
which  gives  rise  to  it.     It  is  as  impossible 


,ife 
,ight 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


394 


to  imagine  life  enduring  without  reproduc- 
tion as  it  would  be  to  conceive  life  lasting 
without  the  capacity  for  absorption  of  food 
and  without  the  power  of  metabolism.  Life 
is  continuous  and  not  periodically  inter- 
rupted :  ever  since  its  first  appearance  upon 
the  earth,  in  the  lowest  organisms,  it  has 
continued  without  break;  the  forms  in 
which  it  is  manifested  have  alone  undergone 
change.  Every  individual  alive  to-day — 
even  the  very  highest — is  to  be  derived  in  an 
unbroken  line  from  the  first  and  lowest 
forms. — WEISSMAN  Heredity,  vol.  i,  p.  161. 
(C.  U.  P.,  1892.) 

1924.  LIFE,  WANTON     DESTRUC- 
TION OF— Grace  of  Form  and  Motion  of  the 
Great  Blue  Heron — Irreparable  Loss. — The 
presence  of  a  stately  great  blue  heron  or 
"  crane  "  adds  an  element  to  the  landscape 
which  no  work  of  man  can  equal.     Its  grace 
of  form  and  motion,  emphasized  by  its  large 
size,  is  a  constant  delight  to  the  eye;    it  is  a 
symbol  of  the  wild  in  Nature;    one  never 
tires   of   watching   it.      What   punishment, 
then,  is  severe  enough  for  the  man  who  robs 
his  fellows  of  so  pure  a  source  of  enjoyment? 
A  rifle-ball  turns  this  noble  creature  into  a 
useless  mass  of  flesh  and  feathers;    the  loss 
is  irreparable.     Still,  we  have  no  law  to  pre- 
vent it.     Herons  are  said  to  devour  large 
numbers  of  small  fish.     But  is  not  the  la- 
borer worthy  of  his  hire  ?    Are  the  fish  more 
valuable  than  this,  one  of  the  grandest  of 
birds?— CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,   ch.   7,  p.   95. 
(A.,  1900.) 

1925.  LIFE  WITHOUT  MOTIVE  OR 
PURPOSE  —  Sensations  without  Ideas  —  The 
Brainless  Pigeon — Spontaneity  Destroyed. — 
To  illustrate  this  sensori-motor  or  instinc- 
tive   action,    we    may   take   the   results    of 
Flourens's  well-known  experiment  of  remov- 
ing the  cerebral  hemispheres  of  a  pigeon. 
What  happens  ?    The  pigeon  seemingly  loses 
at   once  all   intelligence   and   all   power  of 
spontaneous  action.    It  appears  as^if  it  were 
asleep;    yet,  if  thrown  into  the  air,  it  will 
fly.     If  laid  on  its  back,  it  struggles  on  to 
its  legs  again;    the  pupil  of  the  eye  con- 
tracts  to  light,   and,  if  the  light  be  very 
bright,  the  eyes  are  shut.     It  will  dress  its 
feathers  if  they  are  ruffled,  and  will  some- 
times follow  with  a  movement  of  its  head 
the  movement  of  a  candle  before  it;    and, 
when  a  pistol  is  fired  off,  it  will  open  its 
eyes,   stretch   its  neck,   raise  its  head,    and 
then  fall  back  into  its  former  attitude.     It 
is  quite  evident  from  this  experiment  that 
general    sensibility    and    special    sensations 
are  possible  after  the  removal  of  the  hemi- 
spheres;   but  they  are  not  then  transformed 
into  ideas.     The  impressions  of  sense  reach 
and  affect  the  sensory  centers,  but  they  are 
not  intellectually  perceived ;    and  the  proper 
movements  are  excited,  but  these  are  reflex 
or  automatic.     There  are  no  ideas,  there  is 
no  true  spontaneity;    and  the  animal  would 
die  of  hunger  before  a  plateful  of  food,  tho 
it  will  swallow  it  when  pushed  far  enough 


into  its  mouth  to  come  within  the  range  of 
the  reflex  acts  of  deglutition. — MAUDSLEY 
Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  20,  (A.,  1898.) 

1926.  LIFTING  OF  HEAVY  STONES 
BY   PRIMITIVE    MAN  —  Wedges  and    Cob- 
work. — The  only  puzzle  the  modern  student 
can   have   is   to   conceive   how   the   ancient 
engineer  lifted  [such]  great  weights.     If  he 
could   lift   them  he  could   move   them.      It 
was   within  the   ability   of    a   company   of 
American  Indians  in  several  areas  to  ham- 
mer down  any  great  stone  into  any  form. 
It  was  customary  for  them,  as  tribes,  to  all 
engage   in   the  same   operation   in    hauling 
logs,  or  seines,  or  boats,  or  stones,  in  rowing 
and  dancing.    The  problem  is  somewhat  like 
that  of  Archimedes.     "  Given  a  rope  long 
enough  and  a  cribwork  strong  enough,"  and 
any  modern  savage  people  will  undertake  to 
set  up  the  monuments  of  Brittany.    In  point 
of  fact  the  ancient  Americans  did  quarry 
single  stones  weighing  three  hundred  tons, 
did  move  them  great  distances  and  set  them 
in  place.     In  the  copper  mines  of  Michigan 
was  discovered  a  huge  nugget  of  copper  rest- 
ing still   on   a  mass   of  cobwork.      Around 
were  wedges  and  mauls,  and,  by  means  of 
shoring  up  alternate  sides  after  lifting  them 
by  wedges,   the  engineers   had  hoisted   the 
mass  twenty-six  feet.     This  is  the  only  his- 
toric example  I  have  found  of  actual  work 
done. — MASON     Aboriginal    American     Me- 
chanics (Memoirs  of  the  Inter  national  Con- 
gress of  Anthropology,  p.  83).     (Sch.  P.  C.) 

1927.  LIGHT   AND    SOUND   NOT 
MERE    SENSATIONS— Existent  Waves  Ex- 
ternal to  Human  Organism. — Until  modern 
science  had  established  its  methods  of  phys- 
ical   investigation,    light    and    sound    were 
known  as  sensations  only;   that  is  to  say, 
they  were  known  in  terms  of  the  mental  im- 
pressions which  they  immediately  produce 
upon  us,  and  in  no  other  terms  whatever. 
There  was  no  proof  that  in  these  sensations 
we  had  any  knowledge  "  in  themselves  "  of 
the  external  agencies  which  produce  them. 
But  now  all  this  is  changed.     Science  has 
discovered  what  these  two  agencies  are  "  in 
themselves  " ;    that  is  to  say,  it  has  defined 
them  under  aspects  which  are  totally  dis- 
tinct from  seeing  or  hearing,  and  is  able  to 
describe  them  in  terms  addressed  to  wholly 
different  faculties  of  conception.    Both  light 
and  sound  are  in  the  nature  of  undulatory 
movements  in  elastic  media — to  which  un- 
dulations our  organs  of  sight  and  hearing 
are  respectively  adjusted  or  "  attuned."    In 
these  organs,  by  virtue  of  that  adjustment 
or    attuning,    these    same    undulations    are 
"  translated  "  into  the  sensations  which  we 
know.      It  thus  appears  that  the  facts  as 
described  to  us  in  this  language  of  sensation 
are  the  true  equivalent  of  the  facts  as  de- 
scribed  in    the   very  different   language   of 
intellectual  analysis.    The  eye  is  now  under- 
stood to  be  an  apparatus  for  enabling  the 
mind   instantaneously  to   appreciate   differ- 
ences of  motion  which  are  of  almost  incon- 


395 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Life 
Light 


ceivable  minuteness.  The  pleasures  we  de- 
rive from  the  harmonies  of  color  and  of 
sound,  altho  mere  sensations,  do  correctly 
represent  the  movement  of  undulations  in  a 
definite  order ;  whilst  those  other  sensations 
which  we  know  as  discords  represent  the 
actual  clashing  and  disorder  of  interfering 
waves.  Thus  it  is  that  in  breathing  the 
healthy  air  of  physical  discoveries  such  as 
these,  altho  the  limitations  of  our  knowl- 
edge continually  haunt  us,  we  gain  never- 
theless a  triumphant  sense  of  its  certainty 
and  of  its  truth. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  4,  p.  94.  (Burt.) 

1928.  LIGHT  A  RESULT  OF  COR- 
RELATION— The  Retina  Attuned  to  Ethereal 
Vibrations. — Light  itself,  therefore,  is  dis- 
covered  to   be  merely  a   relative  term — a 
word,  in  short,  denoting  nothing  but  an  ex- 
ternal  correlation  between  the  retina   and 
vibrations   of  a  certain  kind   and   quality. 
Now  what  is  the  language  which  Professor 
Tyndall  is  constrained  to  use  in  explanation 
of  facts  so  difficult  of  conception?    It  is  the 
language  of  mechanism,  of  mental  purpose 
and  design.    "  It  is  not,"  he  says,  "  the  size 
of  a   wave  which  determines  its  power  of 
producing  light ;   it  is,  broadly  speaking,  the 
fitness  of  the  wave  to  the  retina.    The  ethe- 
real pulses  must  follow  each  other  with  a 
certain   rapidity  of  succession  before  they 
can  produce  light,  and  if  their  rapidity  ex- 
ceed a  certain  limit,  they  also  fail  to  pro- 
duce light.     The  retina  is  attuned,  if  I  may 
use  the  term,  to  a  certain  range  of  vibra- 
tions, beyond  which,  in  both  directions,  it 
ceases  to  be  of  use."    These  are  indeed  won- 
derful correlations  which  reveal  to  us  fit- 
tings and  adjustments  of  which  we  had  no 
previous  conception;    but  they  give  us  no 
glimmering,  even,   of  knowledge  as   to  the 
physical   causes   which   have  "  attuned "    a 
material  organ  so  as  to  catch  certain  ethe- 
real pulsations  in  the  external  world,  and 
to  make  these  the  means  of  conveying  to 
man's   intelligence  the   enjoyment   and   the 
power  of  sight. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch. 
5,  p.  153.    (Burt.) 

1929.  LIGHT,    ARTIFICIAL— Primi- 
tive Methods  Lasted   Till  Recent   Times — 
The  Link-boys  of  London. — The  first  illumi- 
nants  were  probably  torches  made  of  resin- 
ous woods,  which  will  give  a  flame  for  a 
considerable  time.     Then  the  resin  exuding 
from  many  kinds  of  trees  would  be  collected 
and  applied  to  sticks  or  twigs,  or  to  some 
fibrous  materials  tied  up  in  bundles,  such  as 
are  still  used  by  many  savage  peoples,  and 
were  used  in  the  old  baronial  halls.     For 
outdoor    lights    torches    were    used    almost 
down  to  our  times,  an  indication  of  which  is 
seen  in  the  iron  torch-extinguishers  at  the 
doors    of    many    of    the    older    West    End 
houses  [of  London]  ;    while,  before  the  in- 
troduction of  gas,  link-boys  were  as  com- 
mon in  the  streets  as  match-sellers  are  now. 
Then  came  lamps,  formed  of  small  clay  cups, 
holding    some    melted    animal    fat    and    a 


fibrous  wick;  and,  somewhat  later,  rush- 
lights and  candles;  .  .  .  but  the  three 
modes  of  obtaining  illumination  for  domes- 
tic purposes  remained  entirely  unchanged  in 
principle,  and  very  little  improved,  through- 
out the  whole  period  of  history  down  to  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  4,  p.  27.  (D.  M. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 

1930.  LIGHT  A  SIGN  OF  UNITY— 

Its  Waves  Pervade  All  Space. — Nor  is  gravi- 
tation the  only  agency  which  brings  home 
to  us  the  unity  of  the  conditions  which  pre- 
vail among  the  worlds.  There  is  another: 
light — that  sweet  and  heavenly  messenger 
which  comes  to  us  from  the  depths  of  space, 
telling  us  all  we  know  of  other  worlds,  and 
giving  us  all  that  we  enjoy  of  life  and 
beauty  on  our  own.  .  .  .  Light  is  a 
wave,  or  an  undulatory  vibration,  and  such 
vibrations  can  only  be  propagated  in  a  me- 
dium which,  however  thin,  must  be  material. 
That  this  substance  is  at  all  like  the  chemi- 
cal substance  that  we  call  "  ether,"  is  of 
course  a  metaphor.  It  is  a  good  metaphor 
only  in  so  far  as  the  vapor  of  ether  repre- 
sents to  us  a  form  of  matter  which  is  very 
thin,  invisible,  and  impalpable. 
Light,  therefore,  reveals  to  us  the  fact  that 
we  are  united  with  the  most  distant  worlds, 
and  with  all  intervening  space,  by  some 
ethereal  atmosphere,  which  embraces  and 
holds  them  all. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  1,  p.  6.  (Burt.) 

1931.  LIGHT  AS  KNOWN  TO  AN- 
CIENTS— Lens  at  Nineveh — Combination  of 
Lenses  Modern — Telescope  and  Microscope. 
— About  light  the  ancients  knew  more  [than 
about  sound].     Their  polished   metal   mir- 
rors, flat  and  curved,  had  taught  them  the 
first  principles  of  reflection.    Nor  were  they 
ignorant  of  refraction;    they  already  knew 
the  familiar  experiment  of  putting  a  ring 
in  a  basin  and  pouring  in  water  till  it  be- 
comes visible.    A  rock-crystal  lens  has  been 
dug  up   at  Nineveh,   and   the   Greeks    and 
Romans    were   well    acquainted   with   glass 
lenses.     One  is  surprised  that  neither  the 
Arab  astronomers,  who  knew  a  good  deal  of 
optics,  nor  Roger  Bacon,  who  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  gave  an  intelligent  account  of 
their  science,  ever  seem  to  have  combined 
two  lenses  into  a  telescope.    It  was  not  till 
the  seventeenth  century  that  a  telescope  is 
plainly  mentioned  in  Holland,  and  Galileo, 
hearing  of  it,  made  the  famous  instrument 
with   which   he   saw   Jupiter's   moons,   and 
revolutionized  men's  ideas  of  the  universe. 
The  microscope  and  telescope  may  be  called 
inverted  forms  of  one  another,  and  their  in- 
ventions  came  nearly  together.     By  these 
two  instruments  the  range  of  man's  vision 
has  been  so  vastly  extended  beyond  his  un- 
aided  eyesight    that    animalcules    under    a 
ten-thousandth  of  an  inch  long  can  now  be 
watched  through  all  the  stages  of  their  life, 
while  stars  whose  distance  from  the  earth  is 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  billions  of  miles 


Light 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


396 


are    within    the    maps    of    the    universe. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  13,  p.  326.      (A., 
1899.) 
1932.  LIGHT,  DEPOLARIZATION  OF 

— A  New  Solid  Interposed  Scatters  Dark- 
ness. —  When  the  tourmalins  [tourmalin 
prisms  placed  in  the  path  of  a  ray  of  light] 
are  crossed,  the  space  where  they  cross  each 
other  is  black.  But  the  least  obliquity  on 
the  part  of  the  crystals  permits  light  to  get 
through  both.  Now  suppose,  when  the  two 
plates  are  crossed,  that  we  interpose  a  third 
plate  of  tourmalin  between  them,  with  its 
axis  oblique  to  both.  A  portion  of  the  light 
transmitted  by  the  first  plate  will  get 
through  this  intermediate  one.  But,  after 
it  has  got  through,  its  plane  of  vibration  is 
changed:  it  is  no  longer  perpendicular  to 
the  axis  of  the  crystal  in  front.  Hence  it 
will  get  through  that  crystal.  Thus,  by  pure 
reasoning,  we  infer  that  the  interposition  of 
a  third  plate  of  tourmalin  will  in  part 
abolish  the  darkness  produced  by  the  per- 
pendicular crossing  of  the  other  two  plates. 
I  have  not  a  third  plate  of  tourmalin;  but 
the  talc  or  mica  which  you  employ  in  your 
stoves  is  a  more  convenient  substance,  which 
acts  in  the  same  way.  Between  the  crossed 
tourmalins  I  introduce  a  film  of  this  crys- 
tal with  its  axis  oblique  to  theirs.  You  see 
the  edge  of  the  film  slowly  descending,  and, 
as  it  descends,  light  takes  the  place  of  dark- 
ness. The  darkness,  in  fact,  seems  scraped 
away,  as  if  it  were  something  material.  This 
effect  has  been  called,  naturally  but  improp- 
erly, depolarization. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  3,  p.  122.  (A.,  1898.) 

1933.  LIGHT,   DOUBLE     REFLEC- 
TION OF,  FROM  FILMS— Bubbles  as  Teach- 
ers of  Science — Extinction  of  Waves  by  In- 
terference Gives  Prismatic  Colors. — Whence, 
then,   are  derived  the   colors   of  the   soap- 
bubble?     Imagine  a  beam  of  white  light  im- 
pinging on  the  bubble.   When  it  reaches  the 
first  surface  of  the  film,  a  known  fraction  of 
the  light  is  reflected  back.    But  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  beam  enters  the  film,  reaches  its 
second  surface,  and  is  again  in  part  reflected. 
The  waves  from  the  second  surface  thus  turn 
back  and  hotly  pursue  the  waves  from  the 
first  surface.     And,  if  the  thickness  of  the 
film  be  such  as  to  cause  the  necessary  re- 
tardation, the  two  systems  of  waves  inter- 
fere with  each  other,  producing  augmented 
or  diminished  light,  as  the  case  may  be. 

But,  inasmuch  as  the  waves  of  light  are 
of  different  lengths,  it  is  plain  that,  to 
produce  self-extinction  in  the  case  of  the 
longer  waves,  a  greater  thickness  of  film  is 
necessary  than  in  the  case  of  the  shorter 
ones.  Different  colors,  therefore,  must  ap- 
pear at  different  thicknesses  of  the  film. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  66. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1934.  LIGHT,  ELECTRIC— Advantages 
of — Oxygen  Not  Consumed — Air  Not   Viti- 
ated— Science  Increases   Healthfulness   and 
Safety. — Every    other    artificial    source    of 


light,  whether  gas,  or  candles,  or  oil,  takes 
out  of  the  air  the  oxygen  which  is  necessary 
for  the  support  of  life,  and  gives  back,  in 
return,  carbonic  acid,  which  tends  to  pro- 
duce suffocation;  whereas  the  incandescent 
lamp  takes  nothing  from  the  air,  and  it 
gives  nothing  to  it  but  pure  and  simple 
light.  Again,  the  incandescent  lamp  pro- 
duces far  less  heat  .  .  .  for  a  given 
amount  of  illumination  than  other  sources 
of  light.  Once  more,  oil  and  candles  and  gas 
often  produce  a  disagreeable  smell,  and  al- 
ways produce  more  or  less  smoke,  which  dis- 
colors the  walls  and  ceilings  of  your  rooms, 
injures  your  paintings  and  the  bindings  of 
your  books,  and  disfigures  every  kind  of 
decorative  work.  The  incandescent  lamp 
produces  no  smoke,  and  what  to  many  is, 
perhaps,  even  more  important,  it  produces 
no  smell. 

A  very  remarkable  testimony  to  the 
healthfulness  of  the  incandescent  lamp,  as 
compared  with  gas,  was  given  by  Mr.  Preece, 
at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association 
recently  held  in  Bath.  About  two  years  ago, 
the  electric  light  was  introduced  into  the 
Central  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  in  London, 
and  since  that  time  the  leaves  of  absence, 
on  account  of  illness,  of  members  of  the  staff 
have  been  reduced  by  an  amount  equal  to  an 
average  of  two  days  a  year  for  each  person. 
This,  he  said,  was  equivalent  to  a  gain  to 
the  service  of  the  time  of  eight  clerks,  and 
represented  a  saving  of  about  £640  a  year 
in  salaries. 

As  regards  the  danger  of  fire,  it  is  not 
easy  to  exaggerate  the  extraordinary  safety 
of  the  incandescent  lamp.  I  would  only  call 
your  attention  to  one  fact.  In  dealing  with 
gas  and  candles  we  are  dealing  with  a  naked 
flame,  whose  function  it  is  to  set  fire  to 
whatever  touches  it;  in  the  case  of  the  in- 
candescent lamp  we  are  dealing  with  a  light 
shut  up  in  a  prison-house  of  glass,  and  if  we 
chance  to  break  the  glass  we  at  the  same 
moment  put  out  the  light. — MOLLOY  The 
Electric  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  37.  (Hum.,  1889.) 


1935. 


Scarcely  Affects 


Germs. — It  has  been  found  that  the  electric 
light  has  but  little  action  upon  bacteria, 
tho  that  which  it  has  is  similar  to  sunlight 
[i.  e.}  destructive].  Recent  experiments 
with  the  Rontgen  rays  have  given  negative 
results. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  25. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1936.  LIGHT  ESSENTIAL  TO 
GROWTH  OF  PLANTS—  Sun  the  Source  of 
Plant-life. — Light,  which  is  now  known  to 
modify  many  inorganic  compounds — light, 
which  works  those  mechanical  changes 
utilized  in  photography,  causes  the  combina- 
tions of  certain  gases,  alters  the  molecular 
arrangements  of  many  crystals,  and  leaves 
traces  of  its  action  even  on  substances  that 
are  extremely  stable — may  be  expected  to 
produce  marked  effects  on  substances  so 
complex  and  unstable  as  those  which  make 
up  organic  bodies.  .  .  .  The  molecular 


397 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Light 


changes  wrought  by  light  in  animals  are  of 
but  secondary  moment.  .  .  . 

On  plants,  however,  the  solar  rays  that 
produce  in  us  the  impression  of  yellow,  are 
the  immediate  agents  of  those  molecular 
changes  through  which  are  hourly  accumu- 
lated the  materials  for  further  growth.  Ex- 
periments have  shown  that  when  the  sun 
shines  on  living  leaves,  they  begin  to  exhale 
oxygen  and  to  accumulate  carbon  and  hydro- 
gen— results  which  are  traced  to  the  decom- 
position, by  the  solar  rays,  of  the  carbonic 
acid  and  water  absorbed.  It  is  now  an  ac- 
cepted conclusion  that,  by  the  help  of  cer- 
tain classes  of  the  ethereal  undulations 
penetrating  their  leaves,  plants  are  enabled 
to  separate  from  the  associated  oxygen  those 
two  elements  of  which  their  tissues  are 
chiefly  built  up. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  30.  (A.,  1900.) 

1937.     LIGHT   IN    OCEAN   DEPTHS 

— Few  Animals  Wholly  Blind. — The  condi- 
tions in  the  deep  sea  are  not  quite  the  same 
[as  in  terrestrial  caves].  In  some  regions 
there  is  probably  a  very  considerable  illu- 
mination by  phosphorescent  light,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  many  of  the  character- 
istic deep-sea  forms  may  occasionally  wan- 
der into  shallower  regions  where  faint  rays 
of  sunlight  penetrate,  or  even  that  the  young 
stages  of  some  species  may  be  passed  at  or 
near  the  surface  of  the  sea.  Taking  these 
points  into  consideration,  then,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  find  that,  in  the  deep  seas,  there 
are  very  few  animals,  belonging  to  families 
usually  provided  with  eyes,  that  are  quite 
blind. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
4,  p.  68.  (A.,  1894.) 


1938. 


Illumination  by 


Phosphorescent  Animals — Like  a  City  Street 
at  Night. — if  we  may  be  allowed  to  compare 
the  light  of  abysmal  animals  with  that  of 
surface  forms,  we  can  readily  imagine  that 
some  regions  of  the  sea  may  be  as  brightly 
illuminated  as  a  European  street  is  at  night 
— an  illumination  with  many  very  bright 
centers  and  many  dark  shadows,  but  quite 
sufficient  for  a  vertebrate  eye  to  distinguish 
readily  and  at  a  considerable  distance  both 
form  and  color. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  25.  (A.,  1894.) 

1939.  LIGHT,  LAW  OF  ITS  ABSORP- 
TION— Each  Substance  Selects  and  Stops  Its 
Own  Kind  of  Light — Identification  by  Spec- 
troscope.— A  general  principle  first  enun- 
ciated by  Kirchhoff  in  a  communication  to 
the  Berlin  Academy,  December  15,  1859,  and 
afterwards  more  fully  developed  by  him  .  .  . 
may  be  expressed  as  follows :  Substances  of 
every  kind  are  opaque  to  the  precise  rays 
which  they  emit  at  the  same  temperature; 
that  is  to  say,  they  stop  the  kinds  of  light 
or  heat  which  they  are  then  actually  in  a 
condition  to  radiate.  But  it  does  not  follow 
that  cool  bodies  absorb  the  rays  which  they 
would  give  out  if  sufficiently  heated.  Hy- 
drogen at  ordinary  temperatures,  for  in- 
stance, is  almost  perfectly  transparent,  but 


if  raised  to  the  glowing  point — as  by  the 
passage  of  electricity — it  then  becomes 
capable  of  arresting,  and  at  the  same  time 
of  displaying  in  its  own  spectrum,  light  of 
four  distinct  colors. — CLEBKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  168.  (BL,  1893.) 

1940.  LIGHT    OF   PHOSPHORES- 
CENCE  IN  THE    BANDA   SEAS— In  the 
Baiida  Seas,  on  calm  nights,  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  ocean  seems  to  be  a  sheet   of 
milky  fire.    The  light  is  not  only  to  be  seen 
where  the  crests  of  waves  are  breaking,  or 
the  surface  disturbed  by  the  bows  of  the 
boat,  but  the  phosphorescence  extends  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach  in  all  directions.     It  is 
impossible,  of  course,  to  say  with  any  de- 
gree of  certainty  whether  phosphorescence 
such  as  this  exists  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep 
sea,  but  it  is  quite  probable  that  it  does  in 
some  places,  and  hence  the  well-developed 
eyes  and  brilliant  colors  of  some  of  the  deep- 
sea  animals. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  26.     (A.,  1894.) 

1941.  LIGHT  OF  SUN  HAS  HEALTH- 
FUL INFLUENCE— -.Represses  or  Destroys 
Bacteria. — Light   acts   as  an   inhibitory  or 
even  germicidal  agent.     This  fact  was  first 
established    by    Downes    and    Blunt    in    a 
memoir  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1877.    They 
found  by  exposing  cultures  to  different  de- 
grees of  sunlight  that  thus  the  growth  of  the 
culture  was  partially  or  entirely  prevented, 
being  most  damaged  by  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun,  altho  diffuse  daylight  acted  preju- 
dicially.    Further,  these  same  investigators 
proved   that   of  the  rays   of   the  spectrum 
which  acted  inimically  the  blue  and  violet 
rays  acted  most  bactericidally,  next  to  the 
blue    being    the    red    and    orange-red    rays. 
The  action  of  light,  they  explain,  is  due  to 
the  gradual  oxidation  which  is  induced  by 
the  sun's  rays  in  the  presence  of  oxygen. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  24.     (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

1942.  LIGHT  PASSES  UNCHANGED 
IN    QUALITY    THROUGH    ABYSMAL 
SPACES — Spectrum  Analysis  in  Astronomy. — 
Spectrum  analysis  may  be  shortly  described 
as   a   mode    of    distinguishing   the   various 
species  of  matter  by  the  kind  of  light  pro- 
ceeding from  each.     This  definition  at  once 
explains  how  it  is  that,  unlike  every  other 
system  of  chemical  analysis,  it  has  proved 
available  in  astronomy.     Light,   so   far  as 
quality  is  concerned,  ignores  distance.     No 
intrinsic  change,  that  we  yet  know   of,  is 
produced  in  it  by  a  journey  from  the  far- 
thest bounds  of  the  visible  universe ;  so  that, 
provided  only  that  in  quantity   it  remain 
sufficient  for  the  purpose,  its  peculiarities 
can   be   equally   well   studied   whether   the 
source  of  its  vibrations  be  one  foot  or  a  hun- 
dred billion  miles  distant.     Now  the  most 
obvious  distinction  between  one  kind  of  light 
and^  another  resides  in  color.     But  of  this 
distinction  the  eye  takes  cognizance  ir   an 
esthetic,  not  in  a  scientific  sense.     Tt  finds 
gladness  in  the  "  thousand  tints  "  of  Nature, 


Lig 
Lig 


..•ht 

tihininir 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


but  can  neither  analyze  nor  define  them. 
Here  the  refracting  prism — or  the  combina- 
tion of  prisms  known  as  the  "  spectroscope  " 
— comes  to  its  aid,  teaching  it  to  measure  as 
well  as  to  perceive. — CLEKKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  161.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

1943.  LIGHT  SIFTED  BY  NATURAL 
OBJECTS—  The  Color   We  See  Is  the   Color 
They  Reject. — Having  unraveled  the  inter- 
woven constituents  of  white  light,  we  have 
next  to  inquire  what  part  the  constitution 
so  revealed  enables  this   agent  to  play  in 
Nature  ?    To  it  we  owe  all  the  phenomena  of 
color,   and  yet  not  to  it  alone;     for  there 
must  be  a  certain  relationship  between  the 
ultimate    particles    of    natural    bodies    and 
white  light,  to  enable  them  to  extract  from 
it  the  luxury  of  color.     But  the  function  of 
natural  bodies  is  here  selective,  not  creative. 
There  is  no  color  generated  by  any  natural 
body  whatever.     Natural  bodies  have  show- 
ered upon  them,  in  the  white  light  of  the 
sun,  the  sum  total  of  all  possible  colors,  and 
their  action  is  limited  to  the  sifting  of  that 
total,  the  appropriating  from  it  of  the  colors 
which  really  belong  to  them,  and  the  reject- 
ing of  those  which  do  not.     It  will  fix  this 
subject  in  your  minds  if  I  say  that  it  is  the 
portion  of  light  which  they  reject,  and  not 
that  which  belongs  to  them,  that  gives  bodies 
their  colors. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  1,  p.  31.     (A.,  1898.) 

1944.  LIGHT,  TERRESTRIAL,  VA- 
RIED SOURCES  OF — Phosphorescence  of  the 
Ocean. — As   in   polar   light   or   the   electro- 
magnetic storm,  a  current  of  brilliant  and 
often  colored  light  streams  through  the  at- 
mosphere in  high  latitudes,  so  also  in  the 
torrid  zones  between  the  tropics,  the  ocean 
simultaneously  develops  light  over  a  space 
of  many  thousand  square  miles.     Here  the 
magical  effect  of  light  is  owing  to  the  forces 
of  organic  Nature.    Foaming  with  light,  the 
eddying     waves     flash     in     phosphorescent 
sparks    over   the   wide   expanse    of   waters, 
where  every  scintillation  is  the  vital  mani- 
festation of  an  invisible  animal  world.     So 
varied  are  the  sources  of  terrestrial  light! — 
HUMBOLDT    Cosmos,    vol.    i,    p.    202.      (H., 
1897.) 

1945.  LIGHT  TRAVERSING  PURE 
WATER —  Undimmed  Reflection  through  Moun- 
tain Lake. — This  "  gem  of  the  Sierra  "  [Lake 
Tahoe]   is  situated  at  an  elevation  of  6,200 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  is  enclosed  in  all 
directions  by   rugged,   forest-covered  moun- 
tain slopes  which  rise  from  two  to  over  four 
thousand  feet  above  its  surface.    Its  expanse 
is  unbroken  by  islands  and  has  an  area  of 
between  192  and  195  square  miles.    .     .    . 

On  looking  down  on  Lake  Tahoe  from  the 
surrounding  pine-covered  heights,  one  be- 
holds a  vast  plain  of  the  most  wonderful 
blue  that  can  be  imagined.  Near  shore, 
where  the  bottom  is  of  white  sand,  the 
waters  have  an  emerald  tint,  but  are  so  clear 
that  objects  far  beneath  the  surface  may 
be  readily  distinguished.  Farther  lakeward 


the  tints  change  by  insensible  gradation 
until  the  water  is  a  deep  blue,  unrivaled 
even  by  the  color  of  the  ocean  in  its  deepest 
and  most  remote  parts.  On  calm  summer 
days  the  sky,  with  its  drifting  cloud-banks, 
and  the  rugged  mountains,  with  their  bare 
and  usually  snow-covered  summits,  are  mir- 
rored in  the  placid  waters  with  such  won- 
derful distinctness  and  such  accuracy  of  de- 
tail that  one  is  at  a  loss  to  tell  where  the 
real  ends  and  the  duplicate  begins.  While 
floating  on  the  lake  in  a  boat,  the  transpar- 
ency of  the  water  gives  the  sensation  that 
one  is  suspended  in  mid-air,  as  every  detail 
on  the  bottom,  fathoms  below,  is  clearly  dis- 
cernible. 

In  experimenting  on  the  transparency 
of  the  waters,  Professor  John  Le  Conte 
found  that  a  white  disk  9.5  inches  in 
diameter,  when  fastened  to  a  line  and  low- 
ered beneath  the  surface,  was  clearly  visible 
at  a  depth  of  108  feet.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  light  reaching  the  eye  in  such 
an  experiment  traverses  through  water 
twice  the  distance  to  which  the  disk  is  sub- 
merged, or,  in  the  experiment  referred  to, 
216  feet.  The  only  instance  in  this  country 
in  which  waters  have  been  found  to  be  more 
transparent  is  in  the  great  limestone-water 
springs  of  Florida. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North 
America,  ch.  4,  p.  64.  (Gr.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

1946.  LIGHT,  "UNNATURAL,"  IN 
SOLAR  ECLIPSE— Hungry  Dog  Refuses  Food 
— Courtiers  of  Louis  XV. — I  have  spoken  of 
the  "  unnatural "  appearance  of  the  light 
just  before  totality.  This  is  not  due  to  ex- 
cited fancy,  for  there  is  something  so  essen- 
tially different  from  the  natural  darkness 
of  twilight  that  the  brute  creation  shares 
the  feeling  with  us.  Arago,  for  instance, 
mentions  that  in  the  eclipse  of  1842,  at  Per- 
pignan,  where  he  was  stationed,  a  dog  which 
had  been  kept  from  food  twenty-four  hours 
was,  to  test  this,  thrown  some  bread  just 
before  "  totality "  began.  The  dog  seized 
the  loaf,  began  to  devour  it  ravenously,  and 
then,  as  the  appearance  already  described 
came  on,  he  dropped  it.  The  darkness  lasted 
some  minutes,  but  not  till  the  sun  came 
forth  again  did  the  poor  creature  return  to 
the  food.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  men 
also,  whether  educated  or  ignorant,  do  not 
escape  the  impression.  A  party  of  the  cour- 
tiers of  Louis  XV.  is  said  to  have  gathered 
round  Cassini  to  witness  an  eclipse  from  the 
terrace  of  the  Paris  Observatory,  and  to  have 
been  laughing  at  the  populace,  whose  cries 
were  heard  as  the  light  began  to  fade ;  when, 
as  the  unnatural  gloom  came  quickly  on,  a 
sudden  silence  fell  on  them  too,  the  panic 
terror  striking  through  their  laughter. 
Something  common  to  man  and  the  brute 
speaks  at  such  times,  if  never  before  or 
again;  something  which  is  not  altogether 
physical^  apprehension,  but  more  like  the 
moral  dismay  when  the  shock  of  an  earth- 
quake is  felt  for  the  first  time,  and  we  first 
know  that  startling  doubt,  superior  to  rea- 
son, whether  the  solid  frame  of  earth  is  real, 


399 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Light 
Lightning 


and  not  "  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a  vision." 
— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  41. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

1947.  LIGHT,  WAVES  OF,  ABOLISH 
EACH  OTHER-  Motion  of  Light  Differs  from 
That  of  Sound. — On  the  assumption  that 
light  was  wave-motion,  all  his  [Thomas 
Young's]  experiments  on  interference  were 
explained;  on  the  assumption  that  light 
was  flying  particles,  nothing  was  explained. 
In  the  time  of  Huyghens  and  Euler  a  me- 
dium had  been  assumed  for  the  transmission 
of  the  waves  of  light;  but  Newton  raised 
the  objection  that,  if  light  consisted  of  the 
waves  of  such  a  medium,  shadows  could  not 
exist.  The  waves,  he  contended,  would  bend 
round  opaque  bodies  and  produce  the  motion 
of  light  behind  them,  as  sound  turns  a  cor* 
ner  or  as  waves  of  water  wash  round  a  rock. 
It  was  proved  that  the  bending-round  re- 
ferred to  by  Newton  actually  occurs,  but 
that  the  inflected  waves  abolish  each  other 
by  their  mutual  interference.  Young  also 
discerned  a  fundamental  difference  Jbetween 
the  waves  of  light  and  those  of  sound. 
Could  you  see  the  air  through  which  sound- 
waves are  passing,  you  would  observe  every 
individual  particle  of  air  oscillating  to  and 
fro  in  the  direction  of  propagation.  Could 
you  see  the  luminiferous  ether,  you  would 
also  find  every  individual  particle  making  a 
small  excursion  to  and  fro;  but  here  the 
motion  .  .  .  would  be  across  the  line 
of  propagation.  The  vibrations  of  the  air 
are  longitudinal,  those  of  the  ether  trans- 
versal.— TYNDALL  Lectures  en  Light,  lect. 
2,  p.  59.  (A.,  1898.) 

1948.  LIGHT  WHERE  SUITS  RAYS 
NEVER  COME— Rows  of  Lights  on  Sides  of 
Deep-sea  Fish — The  Scopelus. — We  can  dis- 
tinguish two  kinds  of  phosphorescent  organs 
in  the  deep-sea  fish.     There  are  the  curious 
eye-like  or  ocellar  organs  situated  usually  in 
one  or  more  rows   down   the   sides   of  the 
fish's  body,  forming  as  it  were  a  series  of 
miniature  bull's-eye  lanterns  to  illuminate 
the  surrounding  sea,  and  various  glandular 
organs  that  may  be  situated  at  the  extrem- 
ity of  the  barbels  or  in  broad  patches  behind 
the  eyes  or  in  other  prominent  places  on  the 
head   and  shoulders.     Ocellar  organs   have 
been  known  for  many  years  to  occur  on  the 
sides  of  the  interesting  pelagic  fish,  Scopelus. 
Most  of  the  species  of  this  genus  live  in  the 
open  sea  at  moderate  depths,  coming  to  the 
surface  only  at  night,  but  other  species  are 
found  in  almost  every  depth  down  to  2,000 
fathoms  of  water. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  77.     (A.,  1894.) 

1949.  «  LIGHTHOUSE  OF  THE  MED- 
ITERRANEAN "  —  The    Island    Volcano    of 
Stromboli. — Viewed    at    night-time,    Strom- 
boli  presents  a  far  more  striking  and  singu- 
lar spectacle.     The  mountain,  owing  to  its 
great  elevation,  is  visible  over  an  area  hav- 
ing a  radius  of  more  than  100  miles.    When 
watched  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel  anywhere 
within  this  area,  a  glow  of  red  light  [caused 


by  the  light  of  internal  fires  reflected  from 
the  overhanging  cloud  of  vapor]  is  seen  to 
make  its  appearance  from  time  to  time 
above  the  summit  of  the  mountain;  this 
glow  of  light  may  be  observed  to  increase 
gradually  in  intensity,  and  then  as  gradu- 
ally to  die  away.  After  a  short  interval  the 
same  appearances  are  repeated,  and  this 
goes  on  till  the  increasing  light  of  the  dawn 
causes  the  phenomenon  io  be  no  longer 
visible.  The  resemblance  presented  by 
Stromboli  to  a  "flashing  light"  on  a  most 
gigantic  scale  is  very  striking,  and  the 
mountain  has  long  been  known  as  "the 
lighthouse  of  the  Mediterranean." — JUDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  10.  (A.,  1899.) 

1950.  LIGHTING,  METHODS    OF— 

Torches  Reach  Down  to  Modern  Days — 
Greek  and  Roman  Lamps — The  Argand 
Burner. — Till  this  century  we  used  torches 
much  as  the  ancient  Romans  did,  but  they 
are  now  seldom  to  be  seen,  and  by  their  dis- 
use the  picturesque  side  of  life  loses  many 
striking  effects  of  torchlight  glare  and 
shadow  on  banquet  and  procession — the  de- 
light of  painters  and  poets.  Not  half  the 
passers-by  in  old-fashioned  streets  now  know 
that  the  extinguishers  on  the  iron  railings 
were  to  put  out  the  links  or  torches  carried 
to  light  the  company  to  their  coaches.  The 
candle  looks  as  tho  it  might  have  been  in- 
vented from  the  torch.  The  rushlight,  made 
of  the  pith  of  the  rush  dipped  in  melted  fat, 
was  in  common  use  in  Pliny's  time,  as  was 
also  the  wax  or  tallow  candle  with  its  yarn 
wick.  The  old  classic  lamp  was  a  flattish 
oval  vessel  with  a  nozle  (i.  e.,  nostril)  at 
one  end  for  the  wick  to  come  out  at.  Simple 
as  this  construction  is,  it  has  had  a  long 
unchanged  use.  Museums  have  few  Greek 
and  Roman  objects  more  plentiful  than  such 
earthenware  lamps,  nor  more  exquisite 
specimens  of  metal-work  than  the  bronze 
ones;  and  to  this  day  the  traveler  off  the 
main  road  in  Spain  or  Italy  is  lighted  to 
his  bedroom  with  a  brass  stand-lamp  much 
after  the  manner  of  the  ancients,  with  its 
pickwick  hanging  to  it  by  a  chain.  The 
lamp  only  came  into  its  improved  modern 
make  about  a  century  ago,  when  Argand  let 
the  air  in  from  below,  and  put  on  the  glass 
chimney  to  set  up  a  draft. — TYLOB  Anthro- 
pology, ch.  11,  p.  272.  (A.,  1899.) 

1951.  LIGHTNING,  PHENOMENA  OF 

— House  Struck  by — Sleeper  Strangely  Pre- 
served.— Professor  Henry  .  .  .  stated  that 
he  had  lately  examined  a  house  struck  by 
lightning,  which  exhibited  some  effects  of  an 
interesting  kind.  The  lightning  struck  the 
top  of  the  chimney,  passed  down  the  interior 
of  the  flue  to  a  point  opposite  a  mass  of  iron 
placed  on  the  floor  of  the  garret,  where  it 
pierced  the  chimney;  thence  it  passed  ex- 
plosively (breaking  the  plaster)  into  a  bed- 
room below,  where  it  came  in  contact  with 
a  copper  bell-wire,  and  passed  along  this 
horizontally  and  silently  for  about  six  feet; 
thence  it  leaped  explosively  through  the  air 


imit 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


400 


a  distance  of  about  ten  feet,  through  a  dor- 
mer window,  breaking  the  sash,  and  scatter- 
ing the  fragments  across  the  street.  It  was 
evidently  attracted  to  this  point  by  the 
upper  end  of  a  perpendicular  gutter,  which 
was  near  the  window.  It  passed  silently 
down  the  gutter,  exhibiting  scarcely  any 
mark  of  its  passage  until  it  arrived  at  the 
termination,  about  a  foot  from  the  ground. 
Here  again  an  explosion  appeared  to  have 
taken  place,  since  the  windows  of  the  cellar 
were  broken.  A  bed,  in  which  a  man  was 
sleeping  at  the  time,  was  situated  against 
the  wall,  immediately  under  the  bell- wire; 
and  altho  his  body  was  parallel  to  the  wire, 
and  not  distant  from  it  more  than  four  feet, 
he  was  not  only  uninjured,  but  not  sensibly 
affected.  The  size  of  the  hole  in  the  chim- 
ney, and  the  fact  that  the  lightning  passed 
along  the  copper  wire  without  melting  it, 
show  that  the  discharge  was  a  small  one, 
and  yet  the  mechanical  effects,  in  breaking 
the  plaster,  and  projecting  the  window- 
frame  across  the  street,  were  astonishingly 
great. — HENRY  On  the  Protection  of  Houses 
from  Lightning,  Scientific  "Writings,  p.  232. 
(Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

1952.  LIKENESS  OF  EMBRYOS  OF 
DIVERSE  BEINGS— Separation  Attendant  on 
Development. — It  has  been  shown  that  gen- 
erally   the    embryos    of   the    most    distinct 
species    belonging    to    the    same    class    are 
closely  similar,  but  become,  when  fully  de- 
veloped, widely  dissimilar.     A  better  proof 
of  this  latter  fact  cannot  be  given  than  the 
statement  by  Von  Baer  that  "  the  embryos 
of  mammalia,  of  birds,  lizards,  and  snakes, 
probably  also  of  Chelonia,  are  in  the  earliest 
states  exceedingly  like  one  another,  both  as 
a  whole  and  in  the  mode  of  development  of 
their  parts;    so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  we 
can  often  distinguish  the  embryos  only  by 
their  size.    In  my  possession  are  two  little 
embryos    in    spirit,    whose    names    I    have 
omitted  to  attach,  and  at  present  I  am  quite 
unable  to  say  to   what  class   they  belong. 
They  may  be  lizards  or  small  birds,  or  very 
young  mammalia,  so  complete  is  the  simi- 
larity in  the  mode  of  formation  of  the  head 
and  trunk  in  these  animals.     The  extremi- 
ties, however,  are  still  absent  in  these  em- 
bryos.   But  even  if  they  had  existed  in  the 
earliest    stage    of    their    development    we 
should  learn  nothing,  for  the  feet  of  lizards 
and  mammals,  the  wings  and  feet  of  birds, 
no  less  than  the  hands  and  feet  of  men,  all 
arise    from    the    same    fundamental    form." 
[Compare  GERMS,  1368-70.] — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  14,  p.  458.     ( Burt. ) 

1953.  LIKENESS,    REMARKABLE, 
OF  ANIMAL  AND  PLANT— Digestive  Fluid 
of  Sundew  Resembles  Gastric  Juice  of  Ani- 
mals— A     Common     Thought     Unites    Two 
Kingdoms. — The    glands    of    Drosera    [sun- 
dew] absorb  matter  from  living  seeds  which 
are  injured  or  killed  by  the  secretion.    They 
likewise    absorb    matter    from    pollen    and 
from  fresh  leaves;    and  this  is  notoriously 


the  case  with  the  stomachs  of  vegetable- 
feeding  animals.  Drosera  is  properly  an  in- 
sectivorous plant;  but  as  pollen  cannot  fail 
to  be  often  blown  on  to  the  glands,  as  will 
occasionally  the  seeds  and  leaves  of  sur- 
rounding plants,  Drosera  is,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, a  vegetable  feeder.  .  .  .  There  is  a 
remarkable  accordance  in  the  power  of  di- 
gestion between  the  gastric  juice  of  animals 
with  its  pepsin  and  hydrochloric  acid,  and 
the  secretion  of  Drosera  with  its  ferment 
and  acid  belonging  to  the  acetic  series.  We 
can,  therefore,  hardly  doubt  that  the  fer- 
ment in  both  cases  is  closely  similar,  if  not 
identically  the  same.  That  a  plant  and  an 
animal  should  pour  forth  the  same,  or 
nearly  the  same,  complex  secretion,  adapted 
for  the  same  purpose  of  digestion,  is  a  new 
and  wonderful  fact  in  physiology. — DARWIN 
Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  6,  p.  110.  (A., 
1900.) 

1954.  LIMBS,  LOST,REMNANTS  OF 

— Rudimentary  Organs — Hind  Legs  of  Ser- 
pents and  Fishes. — An  abundance  of  the 
most  interesting  examples  of  rudimentary 
organs  is  furnished  by  comparative  osteol- 
ogy, or  the  study  of  the  skeletons  of  verte- 
brate animals,  one  of  the  most  attractive 
branches  of  comparative  anatomy.  In  most 
of  the  vertebrate  animals  we  find  two  pairs 
of  limbs  on  the  body,  a  pair  of  fore  legs  and 
a  pair  of  hind  legs.  Very  often,  however, 
one  or  the  other  pair  is  imperfect ;  it  is  sel- 
dom that  both  are,  as  in  the  case  of  serpents 
and  some  varieties  of  eel-like  fish.  But 
some  serpents,  viz.,  the  giant  serpents  (boa, 
python),  have  still  in  the  hinder  portion  of 
the  body  some  useless  little  bones,  which  are 
the  remains  of  lost  hind  legs.  In  like  man- 
ner the  mammals  of  the  whale  tribe 
(Cetacea),  which  have  only  fore  legs  fully 
developed  (breast  fins),  have  further  back 
in  their  body  another  pair  of  utterly  super- 
fluous bones,  which  are  remnants  of  unde- 
veloped hind  legs.  The  same  thing  occurs  in 
many  genuine  fishes,  in  which  the  hind  legs 
have  in  like  manner  been  lost. — HAECKEL 
History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  14.  (K. 
P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1955.  LIMESTONE,  HILLS  OF,  ONCE 
BENEATH  SEA— Historical  Antiquity  Is  Geo- 
logically  Recent. — We   observe   in    Sicily   a 
lofty  table-land  and  hills,  sometimes  rising 
to  the  height  of  3,000  feet,  capped  with  a 
limestone,  in  which  from  70  to  85  per  cent, 
of  the  fossil  Testacea  are  specifically  iden- 
tical with  those  now  inhabiting  the  Mediter- 
ranean.    These  calcareous  and  other  argil- 
laceous strata  of  the  same  age  are  inter- 
sected   by    deep    valleys    which    have   been 
gradually  formed  by  denudation,  but  have 
not   varied  materially   in   width    or    depth 
since    Sicily    was    first    colonized    by    the 
Greeks.     The  limestone,  moreover,  which  is 
of  so  late  a  date  in  geological  chronology, 
was  quarried  for  building  those  ancient  tem- 
ples of  Girgenti  and  Syracuse  of  which  the 
ruins   carry  us  back  to   a  remote  era  in 


401 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Lightning 
Limit 


human  history.  If  we  are  lost  in  conjec- 
tures when  speculating  on  the  ages  required 
to  lift  up  these  formations  to  the  height  of 
several  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  how 
much  more  remote  must  be  the  era  when  the 
same  rocks  were  gradually  formed  beneath 
the  waters! — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.i,  ch.  13,  p.  185.  (A.,  1854.) 

1956.  LIMIT  OF  HUMAN  POWERS 

— Measuring  Star  Distances — The  Earth's 
Orbit  Too  Narrow — The  Distance  of  but 
One  Star  Fairly  Measured. — To  measure 
star  distances  the  earth's  dimensions  are 
altogether  too  small.  No  instrument  which 
man  will  ever  make  would  show  the  slightest 
difference  in  the  direction  of  any  star  as 
seen  from  opposite  sides  of  the  earth.  But 
precisely  as  the  measurer  of  the  moon's  dis- 
tance need  not  leave  his  observatory,  or  have 
a  companion  observer  working  at  a  distant 
station,  if  he  prefers  to  trust  to  the  earth's 
rotation  to  sway  his  station  from  one  side 
to  the  other — so  the  astronomer,  unable  to 
leave  the  earth  to  seek,  as  he  would  wish,  a 
station  millions  of  miles  away,  can  never- 
theless avail  himself  of  the  earth's  motion 
of  revolution  around  the  sun,  which  in  the 
course  of  six  months  will  carry  the  earth 
from  one  side  of  her  path  to  the  opposite 
side,  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  millions 
of  miles  away.  One  place  and  the  other 
(any  two  opposite  points  of  the  earth's 
orbit)  may  be  regarded  as  two  observing 
stations  at  the  ends  of  a  base-line  of  this 
enormous  length,  laid  down,  as  it  were,  to 
extend  astronomical  survey  from  the  solar 
system  to  the  stars. 

It  might  be  thought  that  this  base-line 
could  not  but  be  amply  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose in  view.  But  so  much  vaster  are  the 
distances  of  the  stars  that  until  quite  re- 
cent years  this  base-line  proved  altogether 
too  short  for  effective  measurements,  and 
even  now  only  one  star  has  had  its  distance 
fairly  measured,  while  some  nine  or  ten  have 
had  their  distances  roughly  estimated.  All 
the  rest  which  have  been  tried  lie  so  far  be- 
yond our  means  of  measurement  as  to  show 
no  signs  whatever  of  change  of  place  as  the 
earth  circuits  around  that  orbit  which  to 
our  conceptions  seems  so  enormous  in  ex- 
tent.— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  241. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1957.  LIMIT  OF  "PERPETUAL 
SNOW  "—Snow-line  Highest  under  the  Equator 
— Southern  and  Northern  Slopes  Compared 
— Silent    Victory  of  Sunshine. — That  tem- 
perature is  a  very  important  factor  in  de- 
termining the  height  of  that  line  [the  snow- 
line]  is  obvious,  and  hence  it  follows  that 
as  a  rule  J-he  snow-line  is  higher  the  nearer 
the  mountains  are  to  the  equator.     On  the 
south  side  of  Mont  Blanc,  in  the  Alps,  the 
limit  of  perpetual  snow  is  about  9,000  feet 
above  sea-level,  while  on  the  Andes,  near  the 
equator,  it  is  situated  at  about  the  height 
of  16,000  feet— higher  than  the  highest  sum- 
mit of  the  Alps.     For  the  same  reason  the 


snow-line  is  usually  higher  on  the  side  of  a 
mountain  exposed  to  the  sun  than  on  the 
side  turned  away  from  it.  It  is,  for  ex- 
ample, about  1,000  feet  higher  on  the  south 
than  on  the  north  side  of  the  Alps. — Cms- 
HOLM  Nature-Studies,  p.  34.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

1958.  LIMIT  OF  SENSITIVENESS  IN 
RETINA— Ready  Motion  Compensates— Wide 
Field  of  Vision  Secured. — An  optical  defect 
which  has  long  been  known-  to  ophthalmol- 
ogists— the  inferiority  in  the  sensitiveness 
of  the  retinal  surface  generally  to  that  of 
the  central  spot  known  as  the  macula  lutea 
— is   shown  by  Professor   Helmholtz   to   be 
fully  compensated  by  the  facility  and  rapid- 
ity with  which  we  move  the  eye,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  bring  the  image  of  the  object, 
or  of  any  part  of  the  object,  which  we  wish 
to   examine   minutely,   upon   this    sensitive 
spot;    whilst  the  field  over  which  our  vision 
ranges  with  sufficient  distinctness  to  see  our 
special  object  in  combination  with  its  sur- 
roundings, is  far  larger  than  is  attainable  in 
any    optical    instrument   of   human   contri- 
vance.— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect. 
15,  p.  423.      (A.,  1889.) 

1959.  LIMIT  OF  THE  POWER  OF 
THE    MICROSCOPE— Structure  that  Defies 
Microscopic  Analysis. — Have  the   diamond, 
the  amethyst,  and  the  countless  other  crys- 
tals formed  in  the  laboratories  of   Nature 
and  of  man  no  structure?     Assuredly  they 
have;   but  what  can  the  microscope  make  of 
it?     Nothing.     It  cannot  be  too  distinctly 
borne  in  mind  that  between  the  microscopic 
limit  and  the  true  molecular  limit  there  is 
room  for  infinite  permutations  and  combina- 
tions.    .     .     .     This  first  marshaling  of  the 
atoms,  on  which  all  subsequent  action  de- 
pends, baffles  a  keener  power  than  that  of 
the  microscope.     When  duly  pondered,  the 
complexity  of  the  problem  raises  the  doubt, 
not  of  the  power  of  our  instrument,  for  that 
is  nil,  but  whether  we  ourselves  possess  the 
intellectual  elements  which  will  ever  enable 
us  to  grapple  with  the  ultimate  structural 
energies  of  Nature. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  125.    (A.,  1897.) 

1960.  LIMIT    OF    VISUAL    FIELD 
CONCENTRATES  ATTENTION  —  Practical 
Perfection  of  the  Eye. — Now  while  the  dis- 
advantage   of    the    limitation    of    distinct 
vision  to   the  macula  lutea    [the   sensitive 
spot  of  the  retina]    is  thus  fully  compen- 
sated, I  hold  that  this  limitation  is  posi- 
tively advantageous  in  this  way — that  we 
see  the  object,  or  the  part  of  the  object,  at 
which  we  will  to  look  with  much  greater 
distinctness  than  we  should  do  if  the  whole 
of  the  visual  picture  which  we  receive  at 
one  time  were  as  complete  and  vivid  as  that 
portion  of  it  which  is  formed  on  the  central 
spot  of  the  retina.     For  our  mental  recep- 
tivity of  this  picture  depends  upon  the  at- 
tention we  give  it;    so  that  the  more  com- 
pletely our  attention  is  concentrated  upon 
the  thing  at  which  we  specially  wish  to  look, 
the  more  distinctly  we  see  it.     The  micro- 


imit 
imits 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


402 


scopist  well  knows  the  great  advantage  of 
limiting  his  field  of  view  when  he  is  exam- 
ining objects  of  the  greatest  difficulty.  And 
every  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  visit 
picture-galleries  is  aware  how  much  more 
fully  he  is  able  to  appreciate  a  picture  when 
he  looks  at  it  in  such  a  manner  that  its  sur- 
roundings are  kept  out  of  his  view. 

To  be  able  to  bring  our  fullest  measure  of 
visual  power  to  bear  upon  any  object  we  de- 
sire to  examine,  and  at  the  same  time  to  see 
surrounding  objects  with  sufficient  distinct- 
ness for  the  recognition  of  their  local  rela- 
tion to  it,  is,  thus,  far  more  advantageous 
to  us  than  would  be  the  extension  of  that 
highest  degree  of  visual  power  over  the 
whole  range  at  once.  Here  again,  therefore, 
the  asserted  imperfection  of  the  eye  as  an 
optical  instrument  proves  to  be  the  very  con- 
trary, when  its  structure  and  action  are  re- 
garded in  their  relations  to  the  use  we  make 
of  the  organ,  added  force  being  thus  given  to 
the  .final  conclusion  drawn  by  Professor 
Helmholtz  that  "  the  adaptation  of  the  eye 
to  its  function  is  most  complete,  and  is  seen 
in  the  very  limits  which  are  set  in  its  de- 
fects." Those  who  quote  his  previous  state- 
ment, for  the  purpose  of  depreciating  the 
perfection  of  the  organ,  are  bound  in  hon- 
esty to  cite  this  also. — CARPENTER  Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  426.  (A.,  1889.) 

1961 .  LIMITATION,  LAW  OF— Abso- 
lute Satisfaction  Possible. — We  feel  our  own 
ignorance    and    our    own    helplessness,    not 
because  we  have  reached,   but  because  we 
cannot  reach,  the  limits  of  our  intellectual 
powers,  and  because  the  desires  which  corre- 
spond to  them  are  consequently  left  unsatis- 
fied.    This   is   the   difference   between   our- 
selves and  the  lower  animals.     We  can  per- 
fectly understand  the  absolute  limitations 
under  which  they  lie,  because  in  many  of 
our  lower  faculties  we  share  these  limita- 
tions with  the  beasts.    All  their  powers  and 
many  of  our  own  are  exerted  without  any 
sense  of  limitation,  and  this  because  of  the 
very  fact  that  the   limitation   of  them  is 
absolute  and  complete.    In  their  own  nature 
they  admit  of  no  larger  use.     The  field  of 
effort  and  of  attainable  enjoyment  is,  as  re- 
gards them,  coextensive  with  the  whole  field 
in  view.    Nothing  is  seen,  or  felt,  or  wished 
for  by  them  which  may  not  be  possessed.    In 
such   possession   all   exertion   ends   and   all 
desire  is  satisfied.    This  is  the  law  of  every 
faculty  subject  to  a  limit  which  is  absolute; 
and  where  this  law  does  not  apply,  there  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  limitation  is  not  abso- 
lute, but  conditional. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  4,  p.  77.    (Burt.) 

1962.  LIMITATION     OF    IMPULSE 
AND  MOVEMENT— Fatigue  Diminished  by 
Habit. — The  first  result  of  habit  is  that  it 
simplifies  the  movements  required  to  achieve 
a  given  result,  makes  them  more  accurate, 
and  diminishes  fatigue. 

"  The  beginner  at  the  piano  not  only 
moves  his  finger  up  and  down  in  order  to 


depress  the  key,  he  moves  the  whole  hand, 
the  forearm,  and  even  the  entire  body, 
especially  moving  its  least  rigid  part,  the 
head,  as  if  he  would  press  down  the  key 
with  that  organ  too.  Often  a  contraction  of 
the  abdominal  muscles  occurs  as  well.  Prin- 
cipally, however,  the  impulse  is  determined 
to  the  motion  of  the  hand  and  of  the  single 
finger.  This  is,  in  the  first  place,  because 
the  movement  of  the  finger  is  the  movement 
thought  of,  and,  in  the  second  place,  because 
its  movement  and  that  of  the  key  are  the 
movements  we  try  to  perceive,  along  with 
the  results  of  the  latter  on  the  ear.  The 
more  often  the  process  is  repeated,  the  more 
easily  the  movement  follows,  on  account  of 
the  increase  in  permeability  of  the  nerves 
engaged.  But  the  more  easily  the  move- 
ment occurs,  the  slighter  is  the  stimulus 
required  to  set  it  up;  and  the  slighter  the 
stimulus  is,  the  more  its  effect  is  confined 
'to  the  fingers  alone.  Thus,  an  impulse 
which  originally  spread  its  effects  over  the 
whole  body,  or  at  least  over  many  of  its 
movable  parts,  is  gradually  determined  to  a 
single  definite  organ,  in  which  it  effects  the 
contraction  of  a  few  limited  muscles.  In 
this  change  the  thoughts  and  perceptions 
which  start  the  impulse  acquire  more  and 
more  intimate  causal  relations  with  a  par- 
ticular group  of  motor  nerves." — SCHNEIDER 
Der  menschliche  Wille,  quoted  by  JAMES 
in  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  112.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

1963.  LIMITS,  FIXED,  OF  NATURAL 
SCIENCE—  Ultimate  Entities  beyond  Human 
.Knowledge. — Natural  philosophy  has  a  fixed 
boundary  that  she  is  not  permitted  to  step 
across.     It  must  be  continually  remembered 
in  spite  of  all  discoveries  that  such  things 
as  light,  electricity,  and  magnetism  cannot 
be    brought    into    experience    because    the 
human  intellect  has  nothing  but  a  represen- 
tation of  things  that  possess  materiality. — 
LIEBIG  Thierchemie,   p.   8.     (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1964.  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  KNOWL- 
EDGE— Chemistry  Stops  at  Elements— No  Hu- 
man Discovery  Goes  Beyond. — When  we  at- 
tempt  to   break   up   the  various   materials 
around  us  into  simpler  parts  we  soon  reach 
a  class  of  substances  which  cannot  be  further 
decomposed.      Simple   inspection   will   show 
that  granite  rock,  for  example,  is  a  mixture 
of  three  minerals,  called  feldspar,  mica,  and 
quartz.     We  know,  also,  that  feldspar  con- 
sists  of  alumina,    potash,   and   silica;    that 
mica  contains  the  same  materials  in  differ- 
ent proportions,   and  that  quartz  is  silica 
alone.     Lastly,  the  chemists  have  discovered 
that  alumina  is  composed  of  aluminum  and 
oxygen,    potash    of   potassium   and   oxygen, 
and  silica  of  silicon  and  oxygen.     But  here 
Ave  must  stop;  for  when  you  ask  us  of  what 
these  last-named  materials  are  made  we  find 
ourselves  in  the  condition  of  the  old  phi- 
losopher, who  got  on  very  well  with  his  flat 
earth,  supporting  it  on  an  elephant,  and  the 


403 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Li 

Li 


mit 

mits 


elephant  on  a  tortoise,  until  he  came  to  seek 
a  resting-place  for  the  tortoise ;  but  then  his 
theory  failed.  So  is  it  with  our  science. 
These  undecomposed  materials  are  the  blocks 
on  which  the  whole  is  built,  and  we  are 
totally  ignorant  of  what  lies  below.  We 
call  all  substances  which  have  never  yet 
been  decomposed,  whatever  may  be  their 
nature,  chemical  elements,  and  of  such  some 
seventy  are  now  known. — COOKE  Religion  and 
Chemistry,  ch.  3,  p.  86.  (A.,  1897.) 


1965. 


Differences  Unrec- 


ognised— Embryonic  Cells  Not  Identical  in 
Structure. — When  we  are  told  that  a  moner 
or  an  embryo-cell  is  the  early  stage  of  all 
animals  alike,  we  naturally  ask,  Is  it  meant 
that  all  these  cells  are  really  similar,  or  is 
it  only  that  they  appear  similar  to  us,  and 
may  actually  be  as  profoundly  unlike  as  the 
animals  which  they  are  destined  to  produce  ? 
.  .  .  There  is,  indeed,  the  best  ground 
to  suppose  that  the  one-celled  animals  and 
the  embryo-cells  referred  to  have  little 
in  common  except  their  general  form.  We 
know  that  the  most  minute  cell  must  in- 
clude a  sufficient  number  of  molecules  of 
protoplasm  to  admit  of  great  varieties  of 
possible  arrangement,  and  that  these  may  be 
connected  with  most  varied  possibilities  as 
to  the  action  of  forces.  Further,  the  em- 
bryo-cell which  is  produced  by  a  particular 
kind  of  animal,  and  whose  development  re- 
sults in  the  reproduction  of  a  similar  ani- 
mal, must  contain  potentially  the  parts  and 
structures  which  are  evolved  from  it;  and 
fact  shows  that  this  may  be  affirmed  of  both 
the  embryo-  and  the  sperm-cells  where  there 
are  two  sexes.  Therefore  it  is  in  the  high- 
est degree  probable  that  the  eggs  of  a  worm 
and  those  of  man,  tho  possibly  alike  to 
our  coarse  methods  of  investigation,  are  as 
dissimilar  as  the  animals  that  result  from 
them. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Mod- 
ern Science,  lect.  1,  p.  76.  (A.  B.  P.  S.,) 

1966. Interior  of  Our 

Own  Earth  Unknown — Trivial  "Explorations. 
— In  entering  upon  any  speculations  or  in- 
quiries concerning  the  nature  of  the  interior 
of  our  globe  it  is  necessary  before  all  things 
that  we  should  clearly  realize  in  our  minds 
how  small  and  almost  infinitesimal  is  that 
part  of  the  earth's  mass  which  can  be  sub- 
jected to  direct  examination.  The  distance 
from  the  surface  to  the  center  of  our  globe 
is  nearly  4,000  miles,  but  the  deepest  mines 
do  not  penetrate  to  much  more  than  half 
a  mile  from  the  surface,  and  the  deepest 
borings  fall  far  short  of  a  mile  in  depth. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  11,  p.  307.  (A.,  1899.) 


1967. 


Memory  an  Ulti- 


mate Fact  of  Consciousness — Science  Has 
No  Explanation. — When,  for  instance,  I  re- 
call my  graduation-day,  and  drag  all  its  in- 
cidents and  emotions  up  from  death's  date- 
less night,  no  mechanical  cause  can  explain 
this  process,  nor  can  any  analysis  reduce 
it  to  lower  terms  or  make  its  nature  seem 


other  than  an  ultimate  datum,  which, 
whether. we  rebel  or  not  at  its  mysterious- 
ness,  must  simply  be  taken  for  granted  if 
we  are  to  psychologize  at  all.  However  the 
associationist  may  represent  the  present  ideas 
as  thronging  and  arranging  themselves,  still, 
the  spiritualist  insists,  he  has  in  the 
end  to  admit  that  something,  be  it  brain, 
be  it  "  ideas,"  be  it  "  association,"  knows 
past  time  as  past,  and  fills  it  out  with  this 
or  that  event.  And  when  the  spiritualist 
calls  memory  an  "  irreducible  faculty  "  he 
says  no  more  than  this  admission  of  the  as- 
sociationist already  grants. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

1968. Science  Must  Leave 

Some  Transcendent  Problems  Unsolved — 
Great  Value  of  the  Saying,  "  I  Don't 
Know." — The  astronomer  has  no  choice  but 
to  deal  with  the  evidence  supplied  to  him. 
It  would  be  very  convenient  if  he  would 
invent  evidence,  and  he  might  in  this  way 
give  a  much  more  striking  and  satisfactory 
account  of  the  mysteries  of  the  star  depths. 
But  what  we  want  is  the  truth;  and  the 
truthful  astronomer  must  often  be  content 
to  give  that  answer  which  was  the  favorite 
reply,  we  are  told,  of  the  eminent  French 
mathematician,  Lagrange,  "  I  don't  know." 

I  remember  how  on  one  occasion  I  was 
asked,  at  the  close  of  a  lecture  on  the  star 
depths,  why  I  had  not  told  my  audience  the 
true  shape  of  the  sidereal  universe — that  is, 
its  relative  length,  breadth,  and  depth.  I 
replied  in  effect  that  before  I  could  give 
this  information  I  must  first  possess  it  my- 
self, and  that  as  yet  no  man  possessed  it. 
I  could  perceive  that  the  audience  were 
very  far  from  satisfied  with  this  reply.  But 
I  might  have  occasioned  even  more  dissatis- 
faction if  I  had  said,  what  is  in  all  proba- 
bility the  real  truth,  that  not  only  is  man 
now  ignorant  of  the  configuration  of  the 
sidereal  universe,  but  he  can  never  hope  to 
attain  exact  knowledge  on  the  subject. — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  80.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

1 969.  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  PERCEP- 
TION HIDE  CELESTIAL  GLORY— Saturn 
as  Revealed  by  Telescope. — We  turn  on  Sat- 
urn a  powerful  telescope  on  some  calm, 
clear  night,  when  the  air  is  well  suited  for 
observation,  and  we  see  the  most  beautiful 
picture  conceivable — a  glorious  orb,  the  sur- 
face resplendent  with  the  most  beautiful 
colors,  blue  at  the  poles,  yellow  elsewhere, 
crossed  by  a  creamy  white  central  belt,  and 
flecked  with  spots  which  under  favorable 
circumstances  show  brown,  and  purple,  and 
ruddy  tints.  The  most  wonderful  part  of 
the  picture,  however,  is  the  amazing  ring- 
system,  not  a  mere  ring,  as  it  is  so  often 
shown,  but  a  complex  system  of  rings,  each 
curiously  variegated  in  color,  while  the  in- 
nermost (richly  purple  under  favorable  ob- 
serving conditions)  is  unique  among  celes- 
tial objects  in  being  transparent,  so  that 


Limits 
Logic 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


404 


the  orb  of  the  planet  can  be  seen  through 
this  "  crape-veil  ring,"  as  astronomers  have 
called  it. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p. 
94.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

197O.  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  THOUGHT 

— Infinite  Minuteness  and  Infinite  Vastness 
Baffle. — What  notion  can  you  form  of  the 
magnitude  of  such  particles  [the  ulti- 
mate particles  of  matter]  ?  The  distances 
of  stellar  space  give  us  simply  a  be- 
wildering sense  of  vastness,  without  leav- 
ing any  distinct  impression  on  the  mind; 
and  the  magnitudes  with  which  we  have 
here  to  do  bewilder  us  equally  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  We  are  dealing  with  in- 
finitesimals, compared  with  which  the  test- 
objects  of  the  microscope  are  literally  im- 
mense.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  8,  p.  122.  (A.,  1897.) 

1971. The  Infinity  of 

Space. — We  cannot  think  of  space  as  finite, 
for  wherever  in  imagination  we  erect  a 
boundary  we  are  compelled  to  think  of  space 
as  existing  beyond  it.  Thus  by  the  incessant 
dissolution  of  limits  we  arrive  at  a  more  or 
less  adequate  idea  of  the  infinity  of  space. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  3.  (A.,  1897.) 

1972. The  Universe  Un- 
solved.— I  compare  the  mind  of  man  to  a 
musical  instrument  with  a  certain  range  of 
notes,  beyond  which  in  both  directions  ex- 
ists infinite  silence.  The  phenomena  of  mat- 
ter and  force  come  within  our  intellectual 
range;  but  behind,  and  above,  and  around 
us  the  real  mystery  of  the  universe  lies  un- 
solved, and,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  is 
incapable  of  solution. — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  393.  (A.,  1900.) 

1973.  LIMITS    OF   PHYSICAL  SCI- 
ENCE— Never  Satisfies  Soul— Lunge   consid- 
ers  the   relation    of   Epicurus   to   the   gods 
subjective;   the  indication,  probably,  of  an 
ethical  requirement  of  his  own  nature.     We 
cannot  read  history  with  open  eyes  or  study 
human  nature  to  its  depths,  and  fail  to  dis- 
cern such   a   requirement.     Man  never   has 
been   and   he   never   will   be    satisfied   with 
the  operations  and  products  of  the  under- 
standing alone;  hence  physical  science  can- 
not cover  all  the  demands  of  his  nature. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
9,  p.   141.      (A.,   1897.) 

1974.  LIMITS  OF  THE  DOCTRINE 
OF    EVOLUTION— Facts  of  this  kind  [per- 
manence  of   various   species   from   geologic 
times]  are  undoubtedly  fatal  to  any  form  of 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  wrhich  postulates 
the  supposition  that  there  is  an  intrinsic 
necessity,  on  the  part  of  animal  forms  which 
have  once  come  into  existence,  to  undergo 
continual  modification ;    and  they  are  as  dis- 
tinctly opposed  to  any  view  which  involves 
the  belief   that   such   modification   as  may 
occur  must  take  place  at  the  same  rate  in 
all  the  different  types   of  animal  or  vege- 
table life.    The  facts,  as  I  have  placed  them 


before  you,  obviously  directly  contradict  any 
form  of  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  which 
stands  in  need  of  these  two  postulates. — 
HUXLEY  American  Addresses,  lect.  ii,  p.  38. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1975.  LIMITS    TO    EDUCATIONAL 
USE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  THEORIES— I  have 
never    advocated    the    introduction    of    the 
theory    of    evolution    into    our    schools.      I 
should  even  be  disposed  to  resist  its  intro- 
duction before  its  meaning  had  been  better 
understood  and  its  utility  more  fully  recog- 
nized than  it  is  now  by  the  great  body  of  the 
community.     The  theory  ought,  I  think,  to 
bide  its  time  until  the  free  conflict  of  dis- 
covery, argument,  and  opinion  has  won  for 
it  this  recognition. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  399.    (A.^  1900.) 

1976.  LIMITS   TO    MAGNIFYING 
POWER  OF  TELESCOPE— The  exceedingly 
high  magnifying  powers  employed  by  Her- 
schel   constituted  a   novelty  in   optical   as- 
tronomy to  which  he  attached  great  impor- 
tance.  Yet  the  work  of  ordinary  observation 
would   be  hindered  rather   than  helped   by 
them.    The  attempt  to  increase  in  this  man- 
ner the  efficacy  of  the  telescope  is  speedily 
checked  by  atmospheric,  to  say  nothing  of 
other  difficulties.    Precisely  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  an  object  is  magnified,  the  dis- 
turbances of  the  medium  through  which  it 
is  seen   are  magnified  also.     Even   on  the 
clearest  and  most  tranquil  nights  the  air  is 
never  for  a  moment  really  still.    The  rays  of 
light  traversing  it  are  continually  broken  by 
minute     fluctuations     of     refractive     power 
caused  by  changes  of  temperature  and  pres- 
sure, and  the  currents  which  these  engender. 
With  such  luminous  quiverings  and  waver- 
ings the  astronomer  has  always  more  or  less 
to  reckon;    their  absence  is  simply  a  ques- 
tion   of    degree;     if   sufficiently    magnified, 
they  are  at  all  times  capable  of  rendering 
observation  impossible. — CLERKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  137.    (Bl.,  1893.) 

1977.  LINKS    BETWEEN   EURO- 
PEAN AND  AMERICAN  SPECIES— Bison 
and  Bear  in  New  and  Old  World. — If  species 
were  in  reality  unconnected  by  common  an- 
cestors,   then    it    would    necessarily    follow 
that,   as   our   knowledge  of   any   group   in- 
creased, the  separations  between  the  differ- 
ent species   would  become  more  and  more 
unmistakable.     On  the  contrary,  however,  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  difficult  genera 
become  still  more  difficult  as  they  are  more 
profoundly  studied.     If,  indeed,  we  consider 
existing  forms  only,  no  doubt  the   distinc- 
tions between  the  greater  number  of  species 
are  well  marked,  nor  does  any  one  expect  to 
find  a  living  series  of  links  between  them. 
The  intermediate  forms  lived  in  Tertiary  and 
Quaternary  times.     Thus,  directly  we  com- 
mence to  study  the  extinct   forms,   all  the 
convenient    lines    of    separation    gradually 
thin  out.     ...     To  take  only  two  cases 
from  the  group  of  Quaternary  mammalia, 

.     .     .     the  European  and  American  bisons, 


405 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Limits 
Logic 


which  are  now  quite  distinct,  are  connected 
by  the  Bison  prisons,  while  between  our 
brown  bear  and  the  grizzly  bear  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  a  series  of  links  has  been 
discovered  among  the  abundant  remains  in 
the  bone-caves. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times, 
ch.  9,  p.  289.  (A.,  1900.) 

1978.  LISBON,   EARTHQUAKE   OF 

— Sixty  Thousand  Persons  Perish  in  Six 
Minutes. — In  no  part  of  the  volcanic  region 
of  southern  Europe  has  so  tremendous  an 
earthquake  occurred  in  modern  times  as 
that  which  began  on  the  1st  of  November, 
1755,  at  Lisbon.  A  sound  of  thunder  was 
heard  underground,  and  immediately  after- 
wards a  violent  shock  threw  down  the 
greater  part  of  that  city.  In  the  course  of 
about  six  minutes  sixty  thousand  persons 
perished.  The  sea  first  retired  and  laid  the 
bar  dry;  it  then  rolled  in,  rising  fifty  feet 
or  more  above  its  ordinary  level.  The  moun- 
tains of  Arrabida,  Estrella,  Julio,  Marvan, 
and  Cintra,  being  some  of  the  largest  in 
Portugal,  were  impetuously  shaken,  as  it 
were,  from  their  very  foundations ;  and  some 
of  them  opened  at  their  summits,  which 
were  split  and  rent  in  a  wonderful  manner, 
huge  masses  of  them  being  thrown  down 
into  the  subjacent  valleys.  Flames  are  re- 
lated to  have  issued  from  these  mountains, 
which  are  supposed  to  have  been  electric; 
they  are  also  said  to  have  smoked,  but  vast 
clouds  of  dust  may  have  given  rise  to  this 
appearance. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  495.  (A.,  1854.) 

1979.  LOCATION  OF   OBJECTS  IN 
SPACE— Due  to  Joint  Action  of  the  Two  Eyes. 
— With  the  reference  of  objects  to  different 
distances  in  space,  the  world  of  perception  is 
placed  outside  of  us,  and  is  differentiated 
into  an  infinite  diversity  of  content.     Altho 
the  spatial  relations  which   we  ascribe  to 
external  objects  may  at  the  outset  often  be 
incomplete  and  deceptive,  still  the  decisive 
step  has  been  taken  with  the  very  introduc- 
tion of  those  relations.    The  ceaseless  activ- 
ity of  our  sense-perception  is  constantly  at 
work  in  the  endeavor  to  perfect  our  ideas. 
It  furnishes  us  with  new  ideational  groups, 
and  corrects  the  most  serious  errors  in  those 
already  acquired.     All  the  senses  cooperate 
in  this  work,  each  revising  and  supplement- 
ing  the   others.      But  it   is   primarily   the 
common  action  of  the  two  coordinate  organs 
of  vision  to  which  we  owe  the  greatest  part 
of  our  ideational  development.     There  are 
no  other  organs  which  so  directly  supple- 
ment and  correct  each  other's  perceptions, 
and  which  thus  give  so  great  an  impulse  to 
the   fusion   of   separate   perceptions   into   a 
single  idea,  as  the  two  eyes. — WTJNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  12,  p.  181.    (Son.  &  Co..  1896.) 

1980.  LOCKJAW,  OR  TETANUS,  IN 
GRASP    OF    SCIENCE— Infection,  Insignifi- 
cant,  Producing   Terrible  Result — Cure   by 
Opposing  Evil  in  Its  Stronghold. — Tetanus 
occurs  in  man  and  horses  most  commonly, 
tho  it  may  affect  other  animals.     There  is 


usually  a  wound,  often  an  insignificant  one, 
which  may  occur  in  any  part  of  the  body. 
The  popular  idea  that  a  severe  cut  between 
the  thumb  and  the  index-finger  leads  to 
tetanus  is  without  scientific  foundation.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  wound  is  nearly  always 
on  one  or  other  of  the  limbs,  and  is  infected 
simply  because  they  come  more  into  contact 
with  soil  and  dust  than  does  the  trunk.  It 
is  not  the  locality  of  the  wound  nor  its  size 
that  affects  the  disease.  A  etit-with  a  dirty 
knife,  a  gash  in  the  foot  from  the  prong  of  a 
gardener's  fork,  the  bite  of  an  insect,  or 
even  the  prick  of  a  thorn  has  before  now 
set  up  tetanus.  Wounds  which  are  jagged, 
and  occurring  in  absorptive  tissues,  are 
those  most  fitted  to  allow  the  entrance  of 
the  bacillus.  The  wound  forms  a  local 
manufactory,  so  to  speak,  of  the  bacillus 
and  its  secreted  poisons;  the  bacillus  al- 
ways remains  in  the  wound,  but  the  toxins 
may  pass  throughout  the  body,  and  are 
especially  absorbed  by  the  cells  of  the  cen- 
tral nervous  system,  and  thus  give  rise  to 
the  spasms  which  characterize  the  disease. 
.  .  .  Evidence  has  recently  been  forth- 
coming at  the  Pasteur  Institute  to  support 
the  theory  that  tetanus  is  a  nervous  disease, 
more  or  less  allied  to  rabies,  and  is  best 
treated  by  intracerebral  injections  of  anti- 
toxin, which  then  has  an  opportunity  of  op- 
posing the  toxins  at  their  favorite  site. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  168.  (Gr.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

1981.  LOCOMOTION,  PRIMITIVE— 
Men  as   Carriers — First    Carriage  in  Eng- 
land— First  Stage-coaches. — In  all  previous 
ages  the  only  modes  of  traveling  or  of  con- 
veying  goods    for    long   distances   were   by 
employing  either  men  or  animals  as  the  car- 
riers.    Wherever  the  latter  were  not  used 
all  loads  had  to  be  carried  by  men,  as  is  still 
the  case  over  a  large  part  of  Africa,  and  as 
was    the    case    over    almost    the    whole    of 
America  before  its  discovery  by  the  Span- 
iards. 

But  throughout  Europe  and  Asia  the 
horse  was  domesticated  in  very  early  times, 
and  was  used  for  riding  and  in  drawing  war 
chariots;  and  throughout  the  Middle  Ages 
packhorses  were  in  universal  use  for  carry- 
ing various  kinds  of  goods  and  produce,  and 
saddle-horses  for  riding.  All  journeys  were 
then  made  on  horseback,  and  it  was  in  com- 
paratively recent  times  that  wheeled  ve- 
hicles for  traveling  in  came  into  general  use 
in  England.  The  very  first  carriage  waa 
made  for  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1568;  the  first 
that  plied  for  hire  in  London  were  in  1625, 
and  the  first  stage-coaches  in  1659. — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  1,  p.  5. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1982.  LOGIC  AND  SCIENCE—  Inva- 
riability of  Natural  Law. — There  are  scien- 
tific men  who  assert  that  the  interposition 
of  Providence  is  impossible  and  prayer  an 
absurdity,  because  the  laws  of  Nature  are 
proved  invariable.    Inferences  are  drawn  not 
so  much  from  particular  sciences  as  from 


Logic 

Loss 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


406 


the  logical  nature  of  science  itself.  Now  I 
may  state  that  my  own  studies  in  logic  lead 
me  to  call  in  question  such  negative  infer- 
ences. Laws  of  Nature  are  uniformities  ob- 
served to  exist  in  the  action  of  certain 
material  agents,  but  it  is  logically  impos- 
sible to  show  that  all  other  agents  must 
behave  as  they  do. — JEVONS  quoted  by 
STUCKENBERG  Int.  to  the  Study  of  Philoso- 
phy, p.  403.  (A.  &  S.,  1892.) 

1983.  LOGIC    NO    GUARANTY    OF 
TRUTH — That  a  conclusion  is  deduced  by 
the  strictest  logical  method  from  an  uncer- 
tain   premise    does    not    give    it    a    hair's 
breadth   of  certainty  or  of  value. — HELM- 
HOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  213.    (L. 
G.  &Co.,  1898.) 

1984.  LOGIC   OF  PLAY— Founds  on 
Native  Impulses. — The  impulse  to  play  in 
special  ways  is  certainly  instinctive.    .    .    . 
All   simple   active   games    are   attempts   to 
gain    the    excitement    yielded    by    certain 
primitive   instincts,   through   feigning   that 
the  occasions   for  their  exercise  are  there. 
They    involve    imitation   hunting,    fighting, 
rivalry,    acquisitiveness,    and    construction, 
combined   in   various   ways;     their    special 
rules    are    habits,    discovered    by    accident, 
selected  by  intelligence,  and  propagated  by 
tradition;    but  unless  they  were  founded  in 
automatic  impulses,  games  would  lose  most 
of  their  zest.— -JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
24,  p.  427.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

1985.  LONELINESS,  DELIGHT  IN— 

Larger  Fellowship  with  Universe. — I  was 
soon  upon  the  ice,  once  more  alone,  as  I 
delight  to  be  at  times.  As  a  habit  going 
alone  is  to  be  deprecated,  but  sparingly  in- 
dulged in  it  is  a  great  luxury.  There  are  no 
doubt  moods  when  the  mother  is  glad  to  get 
rid  of  her  offspring,  the  wife  of  her  hus- 
band, the  lover  of  his  mistress,  and  when  it 
is  not  well  to  keep  them  together.  And  so, 
at  rare  intervals,  it  is  good  for  the  soul  to 
feel  the  full  influence  of  that  "  society  where 
none  intrudes."  When  the  work  is  clearly 
within  your  power,  when  long  practise  has 
enabled  you  to  trust  your  own  eye  and  judg- 
ment in  unraveling  crevasses,  and  your  own 
ax  and  arm  in  subduing  their  more  serious 
difficulties,  it  is  an  entirely  new  experience 
to  be  alone  amid  those  sublime  scenes.  The 
peaks  wear  a  more  solemn  aspect,  the  sun 
shines  with  a  more  effectual  fire,  the  blue 
of  heaven  is  more  deep  and  awful,  and  the 
hard  heart  of  man  is  often  made  as  tender 
as  a  child's.  You  contract  a  closer  friend- 
ship for  the  universe  in  virtue  of  your  more 
intimate  contact  with  its  parts. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  10,  p.  116. 
(A.,  1898.) 

1986.  LONGEVITY    AMONG     THE 

JEWS— Relatively  Slight  Infant  Mortality.— 
The  duration  of  life  among  the  Israelites  is 
notably  much  greater  than  that  among 
Christians.  Even  in  infancy  the  mortality 
of  the  first  is  relatively  less  than  that  of  the 
latter.  In  the  county  of  Wieselburg,  where 


observations  were  made  for  twenty-three 
years,  the  mortality  during  the  first  year 
of  life  was  as  follows: 

Among  1 ,000  Jewish  children '. 41     deaths 

"        l,OuOGerman       M       123          " 

"        ], 000  Hungarian  "       ...167          " 

1,000  Croatian      "       146.9       •• 

The  age  of  twenty  is  attained  : 
By  520.0  Jews  in  a  thousand. 
"   513.0  Germans  in  Altenburg. 
"    445.8  Hungarians  in  Mether. 
"   395.4  Croats  in  Galtendorf. 

According  to  these  results,  the  average 
life  for  the  Israelites  is  46.5  years,  for  the 
Germans  26.7,  for  the  Croats  20.2;  for  the 
Hungarians  the  absence  of  statistics  of  birth 
prevents  an  estimate.  For  Austria  the  av- 
erage age  is  27.5. — WALTERS  Die  Lebens- 
Chancen  der  Israeliten  gegenuber  den  christ- 
lichen  Confessionen :  biostatische  Studien 
(Vierteljahrsschrift  fur  die  praktische  Heil- 
kunde,  Band  ii,  p.  19).  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1987.  LONGEVITY  A   RESULT  OF 
ADVANCED    CIVILIZATION  —  Science 
Lengthens    Human    Life. — Systems    of    phi- 
losophy and  forms  of  religion  find  a  meas- 
ure of  their  influence  on  humanity  in  census 
returns.      ...     As  Dr.  Jarvis,  in  his  re- 
port to  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Health, 
has  stated,  at  the  epoch   of  the  Reforma- 
tion, "  the  average  longevity  in  Geneva  was 
21.21  years;  between  1814  and  1833  it  was 
40.68;    as  large  a  number  of  persons  now 
live  to  seventy  years  as  lived  to  forty  three 
hundred    years   ago.      In    1693   the    British 
Government  borrowed  money  by  selling  an- 
nuities on  lives  from  infancy  upward,  on  the 
basis  of  the  average  longevity.    The  contract 
was    profitable.      Ninety-seven    years    later 
another  tontine,  or  scale  of  annuities,  on  the 
basis  of  the  same  expectation  of  life  as  in 
the    previous    century,    was    issued.      These 
latter   annuitants,  however,  lived  so  much 
longer  than  their  predecessors  that  it  proved 
to  be  a  very  costly  loan  for  the  government. 
It  was   found  that  while  ten  thousand  of 
each  sex  in  the  first  tontine  died  under  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  only  five  thousand  seven 
hundred,  and    seventy- two    males    and    six 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixteen  females 
in  the  second  tontine  died  at  the  same  age 
one  hundred  years  later." — DRAPER  Conflict 
between  Religion  and  Science.     (A.,  1875.) 

1 988.  LOSS,  APPARENT,  OF  NITRO- 
GEN— Bacteria  Restore  It  to  the  Soil— In  the 
ordinary  processes  of  vegetation  there  is  a 
gradual  draining  of  the  soil  and  a  passing 
of  nitrogen  into  the  sea ;  the  products  of  de- 
composition pass  from  the  soil  by  this  drain- 
age, and  are  "  lost "  as  far  as  the  soil  is 
concerned.    Many  of  the  methods  of  sewage- 
disposal  are  in  reality  depriving  the  land 
of  the  return  of  nitrogen  which  is  its  neces- 
sity.   Again,  nitrogen  is  freed  in  explosions 
of  gunpowder,  nitroglycerin,  and  dynamite, 
for  whatever  purpose  they  are  used.    Hence 
the  great  putrefactive  "  loss  "  of  nitrogen, 


407 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Lojric 
Loss 


with  its  subsidiary  losses,  contributes  to 
reduce  this  essential  element  of  all  life;  and 
if  there  were  no  method  of  bringing  it  back 
again  to  the  soil  it  would  seem  that  plant- 
life,  and  therefore  animal-life,  would  speed- 
ily terminate. 

It  is  at  this  juncture,  and  to  perform  this 
vital  function,  that  the  nitrogen-fixing  [ni- 
trifying] bacteria  play  their  wonderful 
part:  they  bring  back  the  free  nitrogen 
and  fix  it  in  the  soil. — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  5,  p.  160.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

1989.  LOSS  NOT  EASILY  REPAIRED 

— Removal  of  Earth's  Vegetable  Covering — 
Deserts  Hay  Remain  Desolate  for  Ages. — 
The  origin  of  this  absence  of  plants  over 
large  tracts  of  land,  in  regions  characterized 
on  every  side  by  the  most  exuberant  vegeta- 
tion, is  a  geological  phenomenon  which  has 
hitherto  received  but  little  attention;  it  un- 
doubtedly arises  from  former  revolutions 
of  Nature,  such  as  inundations,  or  from  vol- 
canic convulsions  of  the  earth's  surface. 
When  once  a  region  loses  its  vegetable  cov- 
ering, if  the  sand  is  loose  and  devoid  of 
springs,  and  if  vertically  ascending  currents 
of  heated  air  prevent  the  precipitation  of 
vapor,  thousands  of  years  may  elapse  be- 
fore organic  life  can  penetrate  from  the 
green  shores  to  the  interior  of  the  dreary 
waste. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  216. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

1990.  LOSS    OF    PRIMITIVE     SIM- 
PLICITY— Civilisation  Not  an  Unmixed  Gain 
— Womanly    Arts    Not    Improved.  —  There 
ought  to  be  no   doubt  that  in  every   case 
where  the  savage  was  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  the  knife,  his  carving  and  whittling 
were  better  done.    There  is  a  marvelous  dif- 
ference between  carving,  on  the  one  hand, 
man's  work  chiefly,  and  basketry  or  pottery, 
on  the   other,   conservative   woman's   work. 
In  no  tribes  were  the  two  last-named  arts 
bettered  by  contact  with  the   higher  race. 
The  work  was  done  with  the  hands  almost 
wholly.      The   tools    were    of   the    simplest 
character.     The  harsh  iron  awl  was  not  to 
good   as   the   smooth -pointed   bone    awl,    of 
which  hundreds  have  been  found,  and  the 
pride   in   personal   endeavor   departed   with 
the  quenching  of  the  tribal  spirit.    The  pot- 
ter's wheel,  such  as  it  was  three  centuries 
ago,  was  only  a  barrier  to  the  unmechanical 
sex.     Therefore  those  who  constantly  assert 
that  prejudice  made  it  impossible  for  the 
savage  to  better  himself  in  the  adoption  of 
the  white  man's  devices  catch  only  half  a 
truth. — MASON  The  Man's  Knife  among  the 
North    American    Indians    (Report    of    the 
V.  8.  National  Museum  for  1897,  p.  727). 

1991.  LOSS    THROUGH    DISUSE— 

Atrophy  of  Optic  Nerve — The  Mole  Has  True 
Eyes. — This  animal  [the  mole],  whose  pe- 
culiar habits  are  known  to  every  one,  has 
true  eyes,  from  which  none  of  the  essential 
parts  of  the  eyes  of  the  Vertebrata  are 
absent,  altho  these  parts  are  all  of  the 


simplest,  almost  of  embryonic  structure. 
The  whole  eye  is  very  small,  deeply  embed- 
ded in  muscles,  and  quite  covered  by  the 
skin,  so  that  it  is  quite  invisible  externally. 
The  lens  consists  of  a  very  small  number 
of  minute  and  little  altered  embryonic  cells; 
the  retina,  in  the  same  way,  is  much  simpler 
than  in  the  eyes  of  other  Vertebrata.  True 
degeneration,  then,  such  as  makes  the  eye 
incapable  of  seeing,  has  not  taken  place; 
nevertheless  the  eye  of  the  mole  is  reduced 
to  almost  total  inefficiency  even  when  by 
chance  it  has  an  opportunity  for  using  it. 
This  almost  total  blindness  in  the  mole  is 
the  result  solely  of  complete  degeneration 
of  the  optic  nerve,  so  that  the  images  which 
are  probably  formed  in  the  eye  itself  can 
never  be  transmitted  to  the  animal's  con- 
sciousness. Occasionally,  however,  the  mole 
even  can  see  a  little,  for  it  has  been  found 
that  both  optic  nerves  are  not  always  de- 
generate in  the  same  individual,  so  that  one 
eye  may  remain  in  communication  with  the 
brain  while  the  other  has  no  connection  with 
it.  In  the  embryo  of  the  mole,  however,  and 
without  exception,  both  eyes  are  originally 
connected  with  the  brain  by  well-developed 
optic  nerves,  and  so  theoretically  efficient. 
This  may  indeed  be  regarded  as  a  perfectly 
conclusive  proof  that  the  blind  mole  is  de- 
scended from  progenitors  that  could  see;  it 
would  seem,  too,  to  prove  that  the  blindness 
of  the  fully  grown  animal  is  the  result,  not 
of  inheritance,  but  of  the  directly  injurious 
effects  of  darkness  on  the  optic  nerve  in 
each  individual. — SEMPER  Animal  Life,  ch. 
3,  p.  79.  (A.,  1881.) 


1992. 


Atrophy  of  Wings 


of  Great  Auk. — One  of  the  characteristic 
water-birds  of  our  North  Atlantic  coasts  is 
the  razor-billed  auk.  .  .  .  During  the 
winter  it  migrates  southward  as  far  as  Long 
Island.  Flight  is  therefore  a  necessary  fac- 
ulty, and  we  find  the  bird  with  well-de- 
veloped wings,  which  it  uses  effectively. 
We  can,  however,  imagine  conditions  un- 
der which  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  the 
razor-bill  to  fly.  It  might  become  a  per- 
manent resident  of  isolated  islands,  laying 
its  egg  on  accessible  beaches.  Already  an 
expert  diver,  obtaining  its  food  in  the  wa- 
ter, it  would  not  be  obliged  to  rise  into 
the  air,  and,  as  a  result  of  disuse,  the  wings 
would  finally  become  too  small  to  support 
it  in  aerial  flight,  tho  fully  answering  the 
purpose  of  oars.  Apparently  this  is  what 
has  happened  in  the  case  of  the  razor-billed 
auk's  relative,  the  flightless,  extinct  great 
auk.  The  razor-bill  is  sixteen  inches  long 
and  its  wing  measures  eight  inches,  while 
the  great  auk,  with  a  length  of  thirty  inches, 
has  a  wing  only  five  and  three- fourths  inches 
in  length.  Aside  from  this  difference  in 
measurements  these  birds  closely  resemble 
each  other.  So  far  as  we  are  familiar  with 
the  great  auk's  habits,  they  agreed  with 
those  of  the  hypothetical  case  I  have,  just 
mentioned,  and  we  are  warranted,  I  think, 


achine 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


408 


in  assuming  that  the  bird  lost  the  power  of 
flight  through  disuse  of  its  wings. — CHAP- 
MAN Bird-Life,  ch.  2,  p.  20.  (A.,  1900.) 


1993. 


Maqnet  Must  Work 


or  Perish — Man  Made  for  Usefulness. — If 
made  of  the  best  of  steel  for  the  purpose, 
and  hardened  and  tempered  in  just  the  right 
way,  [the  magnet]  will  hold  its  charge  if  it 
is  given  something  to  do.  If  a  piece  of  iron 
is  placed  across  its  poles  it  also  becomes  a 
magnet,  and  its  molecules  turn  and  work  in 
harmony  with  those  of  the  mother-magnet. 
These  magnetic  lines  of  force  reach  around 
in  a  circuit.  Even  before  the  iron,  or  "  keep- 
er," as  it  is  called,  is  put  across  its  poles 
there  are  lines  of  force  reaching  around 
through  the  air  or  ether  from  one  pole  to 
another.  ...  As  long  as  we  give  our 
magnet  something  to  do,  up  to  the  measure 
of  its  capacity,  it  will  keep  up  its  power. 
We  may  make  other  magnets  with  it — 
thousands,  yea,  millions  of  them — and  it 
not  only  does  not  lose  its  power,  but  may 
be  even  stronger  for  having  done  this  work. 
If,  however,  we  hang  it  up  without  its 
"  keeper,"  and  give  it  nothing  to  do,  it  grad- 
ually returns  to  its  natural  condition  in 
the  home  circle  of  molecular  rings.  Little 
by  little  the  coercive  force  is  overcome  by 
the  constant  tendency  of  the  molecule  to 
go  back  to  its  natural  position  among  its 
fellows. 

The  magnet  furnishes  many  beautiful  les- 
sons, as  indeed  do  all  the  natural  phenome- 
na. Every  man  has  within  him  a  latent 
power  that  needs  only  to  be  aroused  and 
directed  in  the  right  way  to  make  his  in- 
fluence felt  upon  his  fellows.  Like  the  mag- 
net, the  man  who  uses  his  power  to  help  his 
fellows  up  to  the  measure  of  his  limitations 
not  only  has  been  a  benefactor  to  his  race, 
but  is  himself  a  stronger  and  better  man 
for  having  done  so.  But,  again,  like  the 
magnet,  if  he  allows  these  God-given  pow- 
ers to  lie  still  and  rust  for  want  of  legiti- 
mate use  he  gradually  loses  the  power  he 
had  and  becomes  simply  a  moving  thing 
without  influence  or  use  in  a  world  in  which 
he  vegetates. — EIJSHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mir- 
acles, vol.  iii,  ch.  4,  p.  30.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 

1994. Parasites  among 

Plants. — Among  a  number  of  plants  the 
power  of  self-assimilation  has  been  entirely 
lost.  They  develop  no  green  leaves,  but 
have  the  peculiarity  of  penetrating  the  roots 
and  the  main  stalk  of  other  plants  with 
their  rootlets,  of  intergrowing  with  them 
completely,  and  of  employing  for  themselves 
the  combinations  of  carbon  prepared  by 
other  plants  for  their  own  use. — ENGLER 
Ueber  das  Pflanzenleben  unter  der  Erde. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

1995.  LOVE  CONVERTS  PAIN  TO 
JOY— Any  Strong  Emotion  Makes  Man  Insen- 
sible to  Pain. — It  is  as  truly  our  nature  not 
to  feel  pain  from  the  ordinarily  painful 


things  at  some  times  as  it  is  to  feel  them 
painful  at  others.  In  this  respect,  the  power 
of  love  to  take  away  pain  is  not  peculiar. 
Love,  when  it  is  strong,  can  banish  pain; 
but  in  this  it  is  only  like  all  strong  emo- 
tions: it  is  peculiar  in  its  power  of  ma- 
king what  is  ordinarily  painful  a  source  of 
joy,  and  this  a  joy  of  the  highest  and  most 
exquisite  kind.  We  all  know  this.  We  not 
only  are  willing,  we  rejoice,  to  bear  an  or- 
dinarily painful  thing  for  the  benefit  or 
pleasure  of  one  whom  we  intensely  love. 
Within  certain  limits,  indeed,  but  still  most 
truly,  the  bearing  pain  for  such  an  end  is 
a  privilege  to  be  sought,  not  a  sorrow  to  be 
shunned.  Universal  experience  proves  this: 
it  is  one  of  the  broad,  familiar  features  of 
human  life. — HINTON  The  Mystery  of  Pain, 
p.  20.  (Hum.,  1893.) 

1996.  LOVE  NOT  A  PRODUCT  OF 

SEX  OR  MARRIAGE  —  Loveless  Wedlock 
among  Savages — The  Child  Awakened  Love 
— United  Parents. — With  all  [other]  bar- 
riers removed  it  might  now  be  supposed  that 
the  process  was  at  last  complete.  But  one  of 
the  surprises  of  evolution  here  awaits  us. 
All  the  arrangements  are  finished  to  fan  the 
flame  of  love,  yet  out  of  none  of  them  was 
love  itself  begotten.  The  idea  that  the  ex- 
istence of  sex  accounts  for  the  existence  of 
love  is  untrue.  Marriage  among  early  races 
.  .  .  has  nothing  to  do  with  love.  Among 
savage  peoples  the  phenomenon  everywhere 
confronts  us  of  wedded  life  without  a  grain 
of  love.  Love,  then,  is  no  necessary  ingredi- 
ent of  the  sex  relation;  it  is  not  an  out- 
growth of  passion.  Love  is  love,  and  has 
always  been  love,  and  has  never  been  any- 
thing lower.  Whence,  then,  came  it?  If 
neither  the  husband  nor  the  wife  bestowed 
this  gift  upon  the  world,  who  did?  It  was 
a  little  child.  Till  this  appeared,  man's  af- 
fection was  non-existent;  woman's  was  fro- 
zen. The  man  did  not  love  the  woman; 
the  woman  did  not  love  the  man.  But  one 
day  from  its  mother's  very  heart,  from  a 
shrine  which  her  husband  never  visited  nor 
knew  was  there,  which  she  herself  dared 
scarce  acknowledge,  a  child  drew  forth  the 
first  fresh  bud  of  a  love  which  was  not  pas- 
sion, a  love  which  was  not  selfish,  a  love 
which  was  an  incense  from  its  Maker,  and 
whose  fragrance  from  that  hour  went  forth 
to  sanctify  the  world.  Later,  long  later, 
through  the  same  tiny  and  unconscious  in- 
termediary, the  father's  soul  was  touched. 
And  one  day,  in  the  love  of  a  little  child, 
father  and  mother  met. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  9,  p.  305.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

1997.  LOVE,  THE  MOTHER'S,  UN- 
RIVALED —  The  passionate  devotion  of  a 
mother — ill   herself,  perhaps — to  a  sick   or 
dying    child    is    perhaps    the    most    simply 
beautiful  moral   spectacle  that  human   life 
affords.    Contemning  every  danger,  triumph- 
ing over  every  difficulty,  outlasting  all  fa- 
tigue, woman's  love  is  here  invincibly  su- 


409 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


lachine 


perior  to  anything  that  man  can  show. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  440. 
(H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

1998.  LUXURIANCE  OF  NATURE— 

Rapid  Growth  of  Coral. — The  reefs  on  which 
these  corals  grow  are  very  irregular  in  form, 
are  full  of  cavities,  and  have  not  a  solid  flat 
surface  of  dead  rock,  like  that  surrounding 
the  lagoon ;  nor  can  they  be  nearly  so  hard, 
for  the  inhabitants  by  the  aid  of  crowbars 
made,  a  channel  of  considerable  length 
through  these  reefs,  in  which  a  schooner, 
built  on  the  southeast  islet,  was  floated  out. 
It  is  a  very  interesting  circumstance  that 
this  channel,  altho  made  less  than  ten  years 
before  our  visit,  was  then,  as  we  saw,  almost 
choked  up  with  living  coral,  so  that  fresh 
excavations  would  be  absolutely  necessary 
to  allow  another  vessel  to  pass  through  it. — 
DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch.  1,  p.  19.  (A., 
1900.) 

1999.  LUXURIANCE    OF   TROPICS 

— Forest  Superimposed  on  Forest. — There 
seems  to  be  no  forest  region  in  the  world 
comparable  with  that  of  Brazil;  for  the 
dreary  one  of  Africa,  described  by  Stanley, 
appears  far  inferior  in  the  development  of 
its  trees.  But  in  Brazil,  as  Alfred  Wallace 
has  so  graphically  described,  forest  is  fitted 
to  and  superimposed  on  forest.  At  a  great 
height  a  waving  sea  of  verdure,  rich  with 
animal  life,  is  spread  out  in  the  dazzling 
sunshine,  borne  up  on  columns  which  tower 
through  the  obscurity  of  the  vast  space  be- 
neath, wherein  a  second  growth  of  what 
would  elsewhere  seem  noble  trees  finds  a 
congenial  home.  Beneath  these,  again,  there 
may  yet  be  another  similar  but  smaller 
growth,  while  lycopods  and  a  multitude  of 
humbler  herbs  clothe  the  soil. — MIVART 
Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (L.  B.  & 
Co.,  1893.) 

2000.  LUXURY  A   CAUSE  OF  DE- 
GENERACY—When  a  bird  which  has  been 
accustomed   to  seek  its   food  in  trees  and 
bushes   finds   upon   the   ground  supplies   so 
rich  as  to  afford  better  sustenance,  it  will 
gradually  come  to  live  more  and  more  upon 
the  ground,  and  less  and  less  in  trees,  a  fact 
which   taken   alone  will   entirely   alter  the 
conditions  of  its  life.     It  will  not  require  to 
fly,  and  will  consequently  fly  less  and  less 
often,  and  after  the  lapse  of  generations  will 
cease  to  fly  altogether.     And  to  bring  all 
this  about,  the  wood  in  which  it  lives,  the 
climate,  the  surrounding  animals,  need  not 
have  undergone  any   changes;    merely  the 
adoption  of  a  new  habit  by  the  bird  itself 
will  suffice. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  p. 
4.    (Cl.  P.,  1892.) 

2001 .  MACHINE  DISTRIBUTES  EN- 
ERGY— The   Coiled   Spring.— Another  form 
of  stored  energy  is  manifested  in  the  wind- 
ing up  of  a  weight  or  spring;    the  amount 
of  power  that  has  been  expended  in  winding 
up  the  weight  may  be  utilized  in  its  descent 
when  released  to  drive  machinery,  as  of  a 
clock,  and  perform  various  kinds  of  work. 


The  function  of  a  machine,  and  its  only 
function,  is  to  distribute  energy  that  has 
been  stored,  in  a  manner  that  will  be  most 
convenient  for  our  purposes. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  2,  p.  22.  (F. 
H.  &H.,  1900.) 

2OO2.  MACHINE  HAS  NO  INHER- 
ENT POWER— A  Product  of  Mind,  but  Ex- 
ternal and  Objective. — [The]  essential  ele- 
ment in  our  idea  of  a  machine  is  that  its 
powers,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  derived, 
and  not  original.  There  may  be  great 
knowledge  in  the  work  done  by  a  machine, 
but  the  knowledge  is  not  in  it.  There  may 
be  great  skill,  but  the  skill  is  not  in  it; 
great  foresight,  but  the  foresight  is  not  in 
it;  in  short,  great  exhibition  of  all  the 
powers  of  mind,  but  the  mind  is  not  in  the 
machine  itself.  Whatever  it  does  is  done 
in  virtue  of  its  construction,  which  con- 
struction is  due  to  a  mind  which  has  de- 
signed it  for  the  exhibition  of  certain 
powers  and  the  performance  of  certain 
functions.  These  may  be  very  simple  or 
they  may  be  very  complicated ;  but  whether 
simple  or  complicated,  the  whole  play  of 
its  operations  is  limited  and  measured 
by  the  intentions  of  its  constructor.  If 
that  constructor  be  himself  limited  either  in 
opportunity,  or  knowledge,  or  in  power, 
there  will  be  a  corresponding  limitation  in 
the  things  which  he  invents  and  makes.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  regard  to  man,  he  cannot  make 
a  machine  which  has  any  of  the  gifts  and 
the  powers  of  life.  He  can  construct  noth- 
ing which  has  sensibility  or  consciousness 
or  any  other  of  even  the  lowest  attributes  of 
living  creatures.  And  this  absolute  desti- 
tution of  even  apparent  originality  in  a 
machine — this  entire  absence  of  any  share 
of  consciousness,  or  of  sensibility,  or  of  will 
— is  one  part  of  our  very  conception  of  it. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  3,  p.  57. 
(Burt.) 

2003.  MACHINE  NEVER  CREATES 
POWER— No   engine,    however    subtly   de- 
vised, can  evade  this  law  of  equivalence,  or 
perform   on   its   own  account  the   smallest 
modicum  of  work.     The  machine  distributes, 
but    it    cannot    create. — TYNDALL    Heat    a 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  3,  p.  83.     (A.,  1900.) 

2004.  MACHINE,  THE    HUMAN 
BODY  A— Digestion  of  Food— Breathing— 
Voluntary   Movements. — Most  undoubtedly, 
the  digestion  of  food  in  the  human  body  is 
a  purely  chemical  process;    and  the  passage 
of  the  nutritive  parts  of  that  food  into  the 
blood,    a    physical    operation.      Beyond    all 
question,    the    circulation    of    the  'blood    is 
simply  a  matter  of  mechanism,  and  results 
from  the  structure  and  arrangement  of  the 
parts  of  the  heart  and  vessels,  from  the  con- 
tractility  of   those    organs,    and    from    the 
regulation  of  that  contractility  by  an  auto- 
matically  acting   nervous   apparatus.     The 
progress   of  physiology  has   further   shown 
that  the  contractility  of   the  muscles   and 
the  irritability  of  the  nerves  are  purely  the 


Machin 


Machine 
Mammalia 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


410 


results  of  the  molecular  mechanism  of  those 
organs;  and  that  the  regular  movements  of 
the  respiratory,  alimentary,  and  other  in- 
ternal organs  are  governed  and  guided  as 
mechanically  by  their  appropriate  nervous 
centers.  The  even  rhythm  of  the  breathing 
of  every  one  of  us  depends  upon  the  struc- 
tural integrity  of  a  particular  region  of  the 
medulla  oblongata,  as  much  as  the  ticking 
of  a  clock  depends  upon  the  integrity  of  the 
escapement.  You  may  take  away  the  hands 
of  a  clock  and  break  up  its  striking  machin- 
ery, but  it  will  still  tick;  and  a  man  may 
be  unable  to  feel,  speak,  or  move,  and  yet 
he  will  breathe. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons, 
serm.  14,  p.  334.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2OO5. Soul  the  Directing 

Agent,  Not  the  Motive  Power. — The  human 
body  is  itself  an  admirably  contrived  com- 
plex machine,  furnished  with  levers,  pulleys, 
cords,  valves,  and  other  appliances  for  the 
application  and  modification  of  the  power 
derived  from  the  food.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  loco- 
motive-engine, impelled  by  the  same  power 
which  under  another  form  gives  activity  and 
energy  to  the  iron  horse  of  the  railway.  In 
both,  the  power  is  derived  from  combustion 
of  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  the  organic 
matter  employed  for  food  or  fuel.  In  both, 
the  direction  of  power  is  under  the  influence 
of  an  immaterial,  thinking,  willing  prin- 
ciple called  the  soul.  But  this  must  not  be 
confounded,  as  it  frequently  is,  with  the 
motive  power.  The  soul  of  a  man  no  more 
moves  his  body  than  the  soul  of  the  engineer 
moves  the  locomotive  and  its  attendant 
train  of  cars.  In  both  cases  the  soul  is  the 
directing,  controlling  principle,  not  the  im- 
pelling power.  Let.  for  example,  a  locomo- 
tive-engine be  placed  upon  the  track,  with 
water  in  the  boiler  and  fire  in  the  grate — in 
short,  with  all  the  potentials  of  motion,  and 
it  will  still  remain  quiescent.  In  this  state 
let  the  engineer  enter  the  tender  and  touch 
the  valve;  the  machine  instantly  becomes 
instinct  with  life  and  volition ;  it  has  now  a 
soul  to  govern  its  power  and  direct  its 
operations;  and  indeed  as  a  whole  it  may 
be  considered  as  an  enormous  animal,  of 
which  the  wheels  and  other  parts  are  addi- 
tions to  the  body  of  the  engineer. — HENRY 
Improvement  of  the  Mechanical  Arts,  Scien- 
tific Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  312.  (Sm.  Inst., 
1886.) 

2OO6.  MACHINERY,  PRIMITIVE 
SUBSTITUTES  FOR— Predecessor  of  the  Suc- 
tion-pump— Storage  of  Water  by  African 
Women. — Whether  women  invented  the  suc- 
tion-pump may  remain  in  doubt,  but  the 
Bakalahari  dames  [according  to  Living- 
stone], when  they  wish  to  draw  water,  pro- 
vide twenty  or  thirty  ostrich-egg  shells  and 
place  them  in  a  net.  They  tie  a  bunch  of 
grass  to  one  end  of  a  short  reed  for  a 
strainer,  and  insert  the  apparatus  in  a  hole 
as  deep  as  the  arm  will  reach,  then  ram 
down  the  wet  sand  firmly  round  it.  Apply- 
ing the  mouth  to  the  free  end  of  the  reed, 
they  draw  the  water  upward  by  sucking,  and 


discharge  it  into  an  ostrich  shell,  guiding 
the  stream  by  means  of  a  straw.  The  whole 
stock  of  water  passes  through  the  woman's 
mouth  as  a  pump.  The  shells  are  taken 
home  and  buried  in  wet  sand  for  future  use. 
— MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  25.  (A.,  1894.) 

2007.  MAGNET    AND    AMBER    IN 
CHINA— A  "Breath"  Animating  Both.— The 
earliest  reference  to   [the]    attractive  prop- 
erty [of  amber]  is  also  apparently  the  first 
mention  of  the  like  property  of  the  magnet, 
and  appears  in  a  "  Eulogy  of  the  Magnet," 
written  by  Kouo  pho  in  324  A.  D.,  in  the 
following  words: 

"  The  magnet  draws  the  iron,  and  the 
amber  extracts  mustard-seeds.  There  is  a 
breath  which  penetrates  secretly  and  with 
velocity,  and  which  communicates  itself  im- 
perceptibly to  that  which  corresponds  to  it  in 
the  other  object.  It  is  an  inexplicable  thing." 

But  this  is  nothing  more  than  a  restate- 
ment of  the  European  notion  of  the  flow,  or 
virtue,  or  current,  or  soul,  emanating  from 
the  stone  or  the  amber,  with  which  theory 
the  Western  civilized  world  was  then  fa- 
miliar, and  which,  it  is  safe  to  say,  involves 
a  power  of  abstract  conception  which  the 
Chinese  mind  has  never  possessed. — PARK 
BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity, 
ch.  3,  p.  74.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

2008.  MAGNET  IN   GREEK  CLAS- 
SICS— Simile  of  Plato—  Transmitted  Attraction. 
— The  first  mention  of  the  magnet  in  the 
Greek  classics  is  apparently  that  made  in 
the    fragmentary    "(Eneus "    of    Euripides, 
which  Suidas  quotes,  and  which  distinctly 
refers  to  the  attraction  of  the  lodestone  for 
the  iron.     The  subject  takes  definite  form, 
however,  in  the  "  Ion  "  of  Plato ;    and  there, 
in  the  following  words,   Socrates   describes 
the  famous  rings: 

"  The  gift  which  you  have  of  speaking  ex- 
cellently about  Homer  is  not  an  art,"  says 
the  sage,  "  but,  as  I  was  just  saying,  an  in- 
spiration: there  is  a  divinity  moving  you, 
like  that  in  the  stone  which  Euripides  calls 
a  magnet,  but  which  is  commonly  known  as 
the  stone  of  Heraclea.  For  that  stone  not 
only  attracts  iron  rings,  but  also  imparts  to 
them  similar  power  of  attracting  other 
rings:  and  sometimes  you  may  see  a  num- 
ber of  pieces  of  iron  and  rings  suspended 
from  one  another,  so  as  to  form  quite  a  long 
chain ;  and  all  of  these  derive  their  powers 
of  suspension  from  the  original  stone.  Now, 
this  is  like  the  muse  who  first  gives  to  men 
inspiration  herself,  and  from  those  inspired, 
her  sons,  a  chain  of  other  persons  is  sus- 
pended, who  will  take  the  inspiration  from 
them." 

Plato  lived  between  the  years  429  and  348 
B.  C.,  and  from  his  time  forward  the  rings 
of  Samothrace  are  described  again  and 
again. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise 
in  Electricity,  ch.  1,  p.  23.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

2009.  MAGNET,  TEMPORARY  OR 

PERMANENT— Plasticity  of  Iron— Coercive 


411 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Machine 
Mammalia 


Force  in  Steel  —  Molecular  Movement. — 
There  is  another  kind  of  magnet,  called 
a  permanent  magnet,  that  will  remain  a 
magnet  after  the  current  is  taken  away. 
The  permanent  magnet  is  made  of  steel  and 
hardened;  then  its  poles  are  placed  to  the 
poles  of  a  powerful  magnet,  either  electro  or 
permanent,  when  its  molecular  rings  are 
wrenched  apart  and  arranged  in  a  polarized 
position,  as  heretofore  described.  Now  take 
it  away  from  the  magnet  and  it  will  be 
found  to  retain  its  magnetism.  The  mole- 
cules tend  to  fly  back  the  same  as  those  of 
the  soft  iron,  but  they  cannot  because  hard- 
ened steel  is  so  much  finer  grained  than 
soft  iron,  and  the  molecules  are  so  close  to- 
gether that  they  are  held  in  position  by  a 
friction  that  is  called  its  coercive  force. 
The  soft  iron  is  comparatively  free  from 
this  coercive  force,  because  its  molecules  are 
free  to  move  on  each  other,  so  that  when 
they  are  wrenched  out  of  their  natural  posi- 
tion they  fly  back  by  their  own  attractions 
as  soon  as  the  force  holding  them  apart  is 
taken  away.  The  molecules  of  hardened 
steel  are  unable  to  fly  back,  altho  they  tend 
to  do  it  just  as  much  as  in  the  iron,  and  so 
it  is  called  a  permanent  magnet.  Its  mole- 
cules also  are  under  a  strain  like  a  bent 
bow.  (The  form  of  such  a  magnet  is  usu- 
ally that  of  a  horseshoe  or  U.) — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  4,  p.  28. 
(F.  H.  &  H..  1900.) 

20 1O.  MAGNITUDE  OF    MOUND- 
BUILDER'S  WORKS—  Impressive  in  Vast- 
ness  and  Simplicity. — The  most  remarkable 
group  [of  North- American  mounds]    is  that 
near  Newark,  in  the  Scioto  Valley,  which 
covers  an  area  of  four  square  miles !    A  plan 
of  these  gigantic  works  is  given  by  Messrs. 
Squier    and    Davis,    and    another,    from    a 
later  survey,  by  Mr.  Wilson.     They  consist 
of  an  octagon,  with  an  area  of  fifty,  a  square 
occupying  twenty  acres,  and  two  large  cir- 
cles occupying  respectively  thirty  and  twenty 
acres.     From  the  octagon  an  avenue  formed 
by  parallel   walls   extends   southwards    for 
two  miles  and  a  half;    there  are  two  other 
avenues  which  are  rather  more  than  a  mile 
in  length,  one  of  them  connecting  the  octa- 
gon   with   the   square.     .     .     .     The   whole 
area _ is  covered  with  "gigantic  trees   of  a 
primitive  forest "  ;  and,  say  Messrs.  Squier 
and  Davis,  "  in  entering  the  ancient  avenue 
for  the  first  time,  the  visitor  does  not  fail  to 
experience  a   sensation  of  awe,  such  as  he 
might    feel    in    passing   the    portals    of    an 
Egyptian  temple  or  gazing  upon  the  silent 
ruins    of   Petra   of  the  Desert." — AVEBUBY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  246.     (A.,  1900.) 

2011.  MAGNITUDE   OF   SUN— Illus- 
trated by  Distance  from  Earth  to  Moon. — 
Since  the  diameter  of  the  sun  is   858,000 
miles,  there  are  429,000  miles  from  its  cen- 
ter to  its  surface.     Now,  there  are  238,000 
miles  from  here  to  the  moon.     If,  then,  we 
could  place  the  earth  at  the  center  of  the 
sun,  like  a  small  kernel  in  the  middle  of  a 
colossal  fruit,  the  moon  would  revolve  in 


the  interior  of  the  solar  globe,  and  the  dis- 
tance of  the  moon  would  hardly  represent 
more  than  half  the  way  from  the  center  to 
the  solar  surface;  to  reach  this  surface 
from  the  lunar  orbit  there  would  still  re- 
main 191,000  miles  to  pass  over! — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  2,  p. 
237».  (A.) 

20 1 2.  MAGNITUDE,  REAL  AND  AP- 
PARENT—  First  Impressions  Do   Not  Give 
Deepest   Truth. — In  April   there  shines  to- 
wards the  west  a  star  so  far  surpassing  all 
others  in  the  heavens  in  brightness,  that  it 
might  well  be  believed  to  be  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all  the  orbs  discernible  by  us.     It  is 
Hesperus,  tne  star  of  the  evening,  the  planet 
Venus;    and,  in  reality,  so  far  from  being 
the  largest  of  all  the  orbs  we  see,  there  are 
but  two  celestial  bodies,  besides  the  moon, 
which     are     smaller     than     this     beautiful 
planet.     The  planet  Jupiter,    [tho]      .     .     . 
far   inferior   in  brightness  to  Venus,  is  in 
reality  a  globe  surpassing  her   more  than 
thirteen  hundred  times  in  volume,     .     .     . 
while  the  splendid  Sirius,  which  shines  less 
brightly    far    than    Jupiter,    probably    sur- 
passes Venus  in  bulk  more  than  a  thousand 
millions    of    times. — PROCTOR    Expanse    of 
Heaven,  p.  47.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2013.  MAMMALIA    IN     GEOLOGIC 

TIME—  Elephants  in  Northern  Lands— Masto- 
don and  Dinotherium. — Mammalian  life 
probably  culminated  or  attained  to  its 
maximum  in  the  Miocene  and  the  Early 
Pliocene  periods.  Then  there  were  more 
numerous,  larger,  and  better-developed 
quadrupeds  on  our  continents  than  we  now 
find.  For  example,  the  elephants,  the 
noblest  of  the  mammals,  are  at  present  rep- 
resented by  two  species  confined  to  India 
and  parts  of  Africa.  In  the  Middle  Tertiary 
there  were,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  ele- 
phants, two  other  genera,  Mastodon  and 
Dinotherium,  and  there  were  many  species 
which  were  distributed  over  the  whole  north- 
ern hemisphere.  The  sub-Himalayan  de- 
posits of  India  alone  have,  I  believe,  af- 
forded seven  species,  some  of  them  of 
grander  dimensions  than  either  of  those  now 
existing.  We  have  no  trustworthy  evidence 
as  yet  that  man  lived  at  this  period.  If  he 
had,  he  either  would  have  required  the  pro- 
tection of  a  special  Eden,  or  would  have 
needed  superhuman  strength  and  sagacity. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, ch.  4,  p.  147.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2014.  MAMMALIA  OF  THE  WATERS 

— The  Whale  and  Porpoise  Not  Fishes. — It 
is  very  difficult,  for  example,  to  persuade 
persons  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  anat- 
omy, that  the  whale  and  the  porpoise  are  not 
fish,  that  they  breathe  with  lungs  as  man 
breathes,  that  they  would  be  drowned  if  kept 
long  under  water,  and  that,  as  they  suckle 
their  young,  they  belong  to  the  same  great 
class,  Mammalia.  Living  in  the  same  ele- 
ment as  fish,  and  feeding  very  much  as  fishes 
feed,  a  similar  outward  form  has  been  given 


Mammal!: 
Man 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


412 


to  them,  because  that  form  is  the  best 
adapted  for  progression  through  the  water. 
But  that  form  has  been,  so  to  speak,  put  on 
round  the  mammalian  skeleton,  and  covers 
all  the  organs  proper  to  the  mammalian 
class.  Whales  and  porpoises,  notwithstand- 
ing their  form,  and  their  habitat,  and  their 
food,  are  as  separate  from  fishes  as  the  ele- 
phant, or  the  hippopotamus,  or  the  giraffe. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  119. 
(Burt.) 

2  0 1 5 .  MAMMALIA  THE  CROWN  OF 
ANIMAL  DEVELOPMENT  —  Nature's  Su- 
preme Purpose  to  Create  the  Mother  and  the 
Family. — Ask  the  zoologist  what,  judging 
from  science  alone,  Nature  aspired  to  from 
the  first,  he  could  but  answer,  Mammalia—- 
mothers. In  as  real  a  sense  as  a  factory  is 
meant  to  turn  out  locomotives  or  clocks,  the 
machinery  of  Nature  is  designed  in  the  last 
resort  to  turn  out  mothers.  You  will  find 
mothers  in  lower  nature  at  every  stage  of 
imperfection;  you  will  see  attempts  being 
made  to  get  at  better  types;  you  find 
old  ideas  abandoned  and  higher  models  com- 
ing to  the  front.  And  when  you  get  to  the 
top  you  find  the  last  great  act  was  but  to 
present  to  the  world  a  physiologically  per- 
fect type.  It  is  a  fact  which  no  human 
mother  can  regard  without  awe,  which  no 
man  can  realize  without  a  new  reverence  for 
woman  and  a  new  belief  in  the  higher  mean- 
ing of  Nature,  that  the  goal  of  the  whole 
plant  and  animal  kingdoms  seems  to  have 
been  the  creation  of  a  family,  which  the 
very  naturalist  has  had  to  call  Mammalia. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  268. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

20 16.  M.AMMOTH     LINKS    OLD 
WORLD    WITH    NEW  —  Giant   Organisms 
Perishable. — The     mammoth,     or     Elephas 
primigenius,  had  very  extensive  geograph- 
ical range.    Its  remains  are  found  in  North 
America,  but  not  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains nor  south  of  Columbia  River;    in  the 
Old  Continent,  from  the  farthest  extremity 
of  Siberia  to  the  extreme  west  of  Europe, 
occurring,   tho  rarely,  even  in  Ireland;    it 
crossed  the  Alps,  and  established  itself  in 
Italy  as  far  southward  as  Rome,  but  it  has 
not  yet  been  discovered  in  Naples,  in  any  of 
the   Mediterranean   islands,    or   in    Scandi- 
navia.    In  Spain  and  Denmark  it  occurs, 
but    is    very    rare. — AVEBURY    Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  9,  p.  273.     (A.,  1900.) 

2017.  MAN,  ADAPTATION   OF,  TO 
ERECT    POSTURE  —  Structure  of  Manlike 
Apes  Brings  Body  Down. — In  man  the  open- 
ing at  the  base  of  the  skull  (occipital  fora- 
men ) ,  through  which  the  spinal  cord  passes 
up  into  the  brain,  is  farther  to  the  front 
than  in  the  apes,  so  that  his  skull,  instead 
of  pitching  forward,  is  balanced  on  the  top 
of  the  atlas  vertebra    (so  called  from  At- 
las supporting  the  globe).     ...     As  he 
stands  upright,  the  feet  serve -as  bases,  en- 
abling the  legs  to  carry  the  trunk.     Thus 
the  erect  posture,  only  imitated  with  diffi- 


cult effort  by  the  showman's  performing 
animals,  is  to  man  easy  and  unconstrained. 
.  .  .  Of  the  monkey  tribes,  many  walk 
fairly  on  all  fours  as  quadrupeds,  with  legs 
bent,  arms  straightened  forward,  soles  and 
palms  touching  the  ground.  But  the  higher 
manlike  apes  are  adapted  by  their  structure 
for  a  climbing  life  among  the  trees,  whose 
branches  they  grasp  with  feet  and  hands. 
When  the  orang-utan  takes  to  the  ground  he 
shambles  clumsily  along,  generally  putting 
down  the  outer  edge  of  the  feet  and  the  bent 
knuckles  of  the  hands.  The  orang  and 
gorilla  have  the  curious  habit  of  resting  on 
their  bent  fists,  so  as  to  draw  their  bodies 
forward  between  their  long  arms,  like  a 
cripple  between  his  crutches.  The  nearest 
approach  that  apes  naturally  make  to  the 
erect  attitude  is  where  the  gibbon  will  go 
along  on  its  feet,  touching  the  ground  with 
its  knuckles  first  on  one  side  and  then  on 
the  other,  or  will  run  some  distance  with  its 
arms  thrown  back  above  its  head  to  keep 
the  balance,  or  when  the  gorilla  will  rise  on 
its  legs  and  rush  forward  to  attack.  .  .  . 
The  apes  thus  present  interesting  intermedi- 
ate stages  between  quadruped  and  biped. 
But  only  man  is  so  formed  that,  using  his 
feet  to  carry  him,  he  has  his  hands  free  for 
their  special  work. — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  2,  p.  40.  (A.,  1899.) 

2O18.  MAN  A  MACHINE  OF  INFI- 
NITE DELICACY—  The  Rifle  Calculable,  the 
Sportsman  Incalculable — Human  Actions 
Defy  Prediction. — Altho  it  is  undoubtedly  a 
delicately  constructed  machine,  yet  a  rifle 
does  not  represent  the  same  surpassing  deli- 
cacy as  that,  for  instance,  which  character- 
izes an  egg  balanced  on  its  longer  axis. 
Even  if  at  full  cock,  and  with  a  hair-trigger, 
we  may  be  perfectly  certain  it  will  not  go 
off  of  its  own  accord.  Altho  its  object  is  to 
produce  a  sudden  and  violent  transmutation 
of  energy,  yet  this  requires  to  be  preceded 
by  the  application  of  an  amount  of  energy, 
however  small,  to  the  trigger,  and  if  this  be 
not  spent  upon  the  rifle  it  will  not  go  off. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  delicacy  of  construction, 
but  this  has  not  risen  to  the  height  of  incal- 
culability,  and  it  is  only  when  in  the  hands 
of  the  sportsman  that  it  becomes  a  machine 
upon  the  condition  of  which  we  cannot  cal- 
culate. Now,  in  making  this  remark,  we 
define  the  position  of  the  sportsman  himself 
in  the  universe  of  energy.  The  rifle  is  deli- 
cately constructed,  but  not  surpassingly  so ; 
but  sportsman  and  rifle  together  form  a  ma- 
chine of  surpassing  delicacy,  ergo  the  sports- 
man himself  is  such  a  machine.  We  thus 
begin  to  perceive  that  a  human  being,  or  in- 
deed an  animal  of  any  kind,  is  in  truth  a 
machine  of  a  delicacy  that  is  practically 
infinite,  the  condition  or  motions  of  which 
we  are  utterly  unable  to  predict.  In  truth, 
is  there  not  a  transparent  absurdity  in  the 
very  thought  that  a  man  may  become  able 
to  calculate  his  own  movements,  or  even 
those  of  his  fellow? — STEWART  Conservation 
of  Energy,  ch.  6,  p.  412.  (Hum.,  1880.) 


413 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mammalia 

Mail 


2O19.  MAN  AND  APE— No  Trace  of 
the  Missing  Link. — In  vain  have  we  sought 
for  the  connecting  links  between  man  and 
the  apes;  the  ancestor  of  man,  the  real 
Proanthropos,  has  not  been  found.  Twenty 
years  ago  it  seemed  as  if  the  process  of 
descent  from  the  ape  to  man  could  be  con- 
structed by  storm.  Now,  however,  we  can- 
not even  trace  the  descent  of  the.  different 
races  from  one  another.  At  this  moment 
we  can  say  that  among  people  of  ancient 
times  none  have  been  found  who  were  nearer 
the  apes  than  we  are.  I  can  affirm  at  pres- 
ent that  there  is  no  absolutely  unknown 
race  of  men  on  earth.  Every  living  race  is 
human;  none  has  been  found  which  we 
could  either  call  simian  or  between  the  ape 
and  man.  So  far  as  the  pile  structures  are 
concerned,  I  have  been  able  to  examine 
nearly  all  the  skulls  found,  and  the  result  is 
that  we  find  differences  between  the  various 
tribes,  but  that  not  one  of  these  tribes  lies 
outside  of  the  range  of  still  existing  people. 
It  can  be  definitely  proved  that  in  the  course 
of  five  thousand  years  no  change  of  types 
worthy  of  mention  has  occurred. — VIBCHOW 
Address  before  the  Anthropological  Congress 
in  Vienna,  1889.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 


2020. 


with  Mental  Remoteness. — One  of  the  chief 
factors  in  the  production  of  man  was  the 
change  that  occurred  in  the  direction  of  the 
working  of  natural  selection,  whereby  in 
the  line  of  man's  direct  ancestry  the  vari- 
ations in  intelligence  came  to  be  seized 
upon,  cherished,  and  enhanced,  to  the  com- 
parative neglect  of  variations  in  bodily 
structure.  The  physical  differences  between 
man  and  ape  are  less  important  than  the 
physical  differences  between  African  and 
South  -  American  apes.  The  latter  belong 
to  different  zoological  families,  but  the  for- 
mer do  not.  Zoologically,  man  is  simply 
one  genus  in  the  Old- World  family  of  apes. 
Psychologically,  he  has  traveled  so  far  from 
apes  that  the  distance  is  scarcely  meas- 
urable.— FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt. 
i,  ch.  9,  p.  49.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


2O21. 


Unfilled  Gap  be- 


tween.— Even  Haeckel  admits  that  there  is 
a  wide  gap,  unfilled  by  any  recent  or  any  fos- 
sil creature,  between  man  and  the  highest 
apes. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern 
Science,  lect.  4,  p.  142.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2O22.     MAN  AND  MIMOSA— .ftfem  Has 

What  Is  in  Mimosa — Mimosa  Has  Not  What 
Is  in  Man. — To  say  that  self-consciousness 
has  arisen  from  sensation,  and  sensation 
from  the  function  of  nutrition,  let  us  say, 
in  the  Mimosa  pudica,  or  sensitive  plant, 
may  be  right  or  wrong;  but  the  error  can 
only  be  serious  when  it  is  held  that  that 
accounts  either  for  self-consciousness  or  for 
the  transition.  Mimosa  can  be  defined  in 
terms  of  man;  but  man  cannot  be  defined 
in  terms  of  Mimosa.  The  first  is  possible 


because  there  is  the  least  fraction  in  that 
which  is  least  in  man  of  that  which  is  great- 
est in  Mimosa;  the  last  is  impossible  be- 
cause there  is  nothing  in  Mimosa  of  that 
which  is  greatest  in  man.  .  .  .  Man,  in 
the  last  resort,  has  self-consciousness,  Mi- 
mosa sensation,  and  the  difference  is.  quali- 
tative as  well  as  quantitative. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p.  126.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2023.  MAN  AND  WOMAN  TAUGHT 
BY  DIFFERENT  ANIMAL   TEACHERS— 

In  contact  with  the  animal  world,  and  ever 
taking  lessons  from  them,  men  watched  the 
tiger,  the  bear,  the  fox,  the  falcon,  learned 
their  language  and  imitated  them  in  cere- 
monial dances.  But  women  were  instructed 
by  the  spiders,  the  nest-builders,  the  storers 
of  food,  and  the  workers  in  clay,  like  the 
mud-wasp  and  the  termites.  It  is  not  meant 
that  these  creatures  set  up  schools  to  teach 
dull  women  how  to  work,  but  that  their 
quick  minds  were  on  the  alert  for  hints 
coming  from  these  sources.  Even  tho  we 
disarm  our  soldiery,  we  do  not  seem  to  be 
able  to  dissociate  men  from  the  works  that 
bring  violent  death.  It  is  in  the  apotheosis 
of  industrialism  that  woman  has  borne  her 
part  so  persistently  and  well.  At  the  very 
beginning  of  human  time  she  laid  down  the 
lines  of  her  duties,  and  she  has  kept  to  them 
unremittingly. — MASON  Woman's  Share  in 
Primitive  Culture,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (A.,  1894.) 

2024.  MAN,  ANTIQUITY    OF— Lan- 
guages Developed  in  Prehistoric  Time. — The 
main  work  of  language-making  was  done  in 
the  ages  before  history.     Going  back  as  far 
as  philology  can  take  us,  we  find  already 
existing  a  number  of  language-groups,  dif- 
fering in  words  and  structure,  and,  if  they 
ever  had  any  relationship  with  one  another, 
no  longer  showing  it  by  signs  clear  enough 
for  our  skill  to  make  out.     Of  an  original 
primitive   language   of   mankind,   the   most 
patient  research  has  found  no  traces.     The 
oldest  types  of  language  we  can  reach  by 
working  back  from  known  languages  show 
no  signs  of  being  primitive  tongues  of  man- 
kind.    Indeed,  it  may  be  positively  asserted 
that  they  are  not  such,   but  that  ages  of 
growth  and   decay  have  mostly  obliterated 
the  traces  how  each  particular  sound  came 
to  express  its  particular  sense.     Man,  since 
the  historical  period,  has  done  little  in  the 
way  of  absolute  new  creation  of  language, 
for  the  good  reason  that  his  wants  were  al- 
ready supplied  by  the  words  he  learnt  from 
his  fathers,  and  all  he  had  to  do  when  a 
new  idea  came  to  him  was  to  work  up  old 
words  into  some  new  shape.    Thus  the  study 
of  languages  gives  much  the  same  view  of 
man's  antiquity  as  has  been  already  gained 
from  the  study  of  races.     The  philologist, 
asked  how  long  he  thinks  mankind  to  have 
existed,  answers  that  it  must  have  been  long 
enough    for   human    speech   to   have   grown 
from  its  earliest  beginnings  into  elaborate 
languages,   and  for  these  in  their  turn  to 
have  developed  into  families  spread  far  and 


Man 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


414 


wide  over  the  world.  This  immense  work 
had  been  already  accomplished  in  ages  be- 
fore the  earliest  inscriptions  of  Egypt,  Baby- 
lon, Assyria,  Phenicia,  Persia,  Greece,  for 
these  show  the  great  families  of  human 
speech  already  in  full  existence. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  1,  p.  12.  (A.,  1899.) 


2O25. 


Stone  Age   Co- 


eval with  Buried  Pine-forests. — The  ques- 
tion is  how  long  ago  tribes  who  made  such 
stone  implements  were  living  in  Europe. 
As  to  this,  we  may  fairly  judge  from  the 
position  in  which  they  are  found  in  Den- 
mark. The  forests  of  that  country  are  main- 
ly of  beeches,  but  in  the  peat-mosses  lie  in- 
numerable trunks  of  oaks,  which  show  that 
at  an  earlier  period  oak  forests  prevailed, 
and  deeper  still  there  lie  trunks  of  pine- 
trees,  which  show  that  they  were  pine  for- 
ests still  older  than  the  oak  forests.  Thus 
there  have  been  three  successive  forest-peri- 
ods, the  beech,  the  oak,  and  the  pine;  and 
the  depth  of  the  peat -mosses,  which  in 
places  is  as  much  as  thirty  feet,  shows  that 
the  period  of  the  pine-trees  was  thousands 
of  years  ago.  While  the  forests  have  been 
changing,  the  condition  of  the  people  living 
among  them  has  changed  also.  The  modern 
woodman  cuts  down  the  beech-trees  with  his 
iron  ax,  but  among  the  oak-trunks  in  the 
peat  are  found  bronze  swords  and  shield- 
bosses,  which  show  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country  were  then  in  the  Bronze  Age; 
and,  lastly,  a  flint  hatchet  taken  out  from 
where  it  lay  still  lower  in  the  peat  beneath 
the  pine-trunks,  proves  that  Stone- Age  men 
in  Denmark  lived  in  the  pine-forest  period, 
which  carries  them  back  to  high  antiquity. 
In  England  the  tribes  who  have  left  such 
stone  implements  were  in  the  land  before 
the  invasion  of  that  Celtic  race  whom  we 
call  the  ancient  Britons,  and  who  no  doubt 
came  armed  with  weapons  of  metal.  The 
stone  hatchet-blades  and  arrow-heads  of  the 
older  population  lie  scattered  over  our  coun- 
try, hill  and  dale,  moor  and  fen,  near  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  or  deeper  under- 
ground in  peat-mosses  or  beds  of  mud  and 
silt. — TYLOR  Antropology,  ch.  1,  p.  26.  (A., 
1899.) 

2026.     MAN  A  PART  OF  NATURE— 

Type  of  the  Supernatural. — All  the  analo- 
gies of  human  thought  are  in  themselves 
analogies  of  Nature;  and  in  proportion  as 
they  are  built  up  or  are  perceived  by  mind 
in  its  higher  attributes  and  work,  they  are 
part  and  parcel  of  natural  truth.  Man — 
he  whom  the  Greeks  call  Anthropos,  be- 
cause, as  it  has  been  supposed,  he  is  the  only 
being  whose  look  is  upward — man  is  a  part 
of  Nature,  and  no  artificial  definitions  can 
separate  him  from  it.  And  yet  in  another 
sense  it  is  true  that  man  is  above  Nature — 
outside  of  it;  and  in  this  aspect  he  is  the 
very  type  and  image  of  the  "  supernatural." 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  8,  p.  183. 
(Burt.) 


2027.  MAN  AS   A   MEAT-EATER— 
Helvetius   claimed   that  man   was   intended 
to   be   carnivorous;    J.    J.    Rousseau    main- 
tained, on  the  contrary,  that,  like  the  an- 
thropoids and  the  primates  in  general,  man 
is   herbivorous,    and   tends    to   become   car- 
nivorous in  proportion  as  he  develops.    The 
prehistoric   man  was  herbivorous   and   fru- 
givorous.     Later,  the  invention  of  stone  in- 
struments fitted  him  to  pursue  fishing  and 
the    chase.      Finally,    the    domestication    of 
certain  animals  furnished  him  with  a  con- 
stant provision  of  meat.     It  was  thus  that 
from  being  herbivorous  man  has  become  om- 
nivorous. But  for  a  long  period  meat  played 
only  a   secondary  r6le  in  the  alimentation 
of   the   superior   races.      It   is   only  within 
the  last  century  that  this  role  has  increased 
to  such  proportions  that  Europe  has  become 
actually  more  carnivorous  than  herbivorous. 
In  France,  for  example,  the  food,  which  was 
almost  exclusively  vegetable  up  to  a  hundred 
years  ago,  tends  more  and  more  to  become 
animal. — DELAUNAY     jfitudes     de     Biologie 
comparees,    2e    partie,   p.    34.     (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2028.  MAN    AS   AN    INSTRUMENT 
OF  RESEARCH— Specialists  in  German  Uni- 
versities.— The     German     universities     are 
proud  of  the  number   of  young  specialists 
whom  they  turn  out  every  year,  not  necessa- 
rily men  of  any  original  force  of  intellect, 
but  men  so  trained  to  research  that  when 
their  professor  gives  them  an  historical  or 
philological  thesis  to  prepare,  or  a  bit  of 
laboratory  work  to  do,  with  a  general  in- 
dication as  to  the  best  method,  they  can  go 
off  by  themselves    and   use   apparatus   and 
consult  sources  in  such  a  way  as  to  grind 
out  in  the  requisite  number  of  months  some 
little  pepper-corn  of  new  truth  worthy  of 
being  added  to  the  store  of  extant  human  in- 
formation  on  that  subject.     Little  else   is 
recognized  in  Germany  as  a  man's  title  to 
academic  advancement  than  his  ability  thus 
to  show  himself  an  efficient  instrument  of 
research. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  4, 
p.  31.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2029.  MAN  AS   A   SEED-DISTRIB- 
UTER—  Commerce  and  Agriculture — Good  and 
Evil  Spread  Abroad. — The  agency  of  man  in 
the   distribution    of   plants   exceeds    in    im- 
portance that  of  all  other  means  combined. 
He  buys   and   sells   seeds   and   plants,    and 
sends   them   to    all   parts   of   the   habitable 
globe.      He    exterminates    many    plants    in 
large  areas,  and  substitutes  in  large  meas- 
ure those  of  his  choice.    Mixed  with  seeds  of 
grasses,    clovers,    or    grains,    he    introduces 
many  weeds  and  sows   them  to  grow  with 
his   crops. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.   8,  p. 
81.      (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2030.  MAN  A  UNITY,  AS  A   TREE 
IS  NOT — Nervous   System  Makes  the  Differ- 
ence.— If  I  begin  chopping  the  foot  of  a  tree 
its  branches  are  unmoved  by  my  act,   and 
its  leaves  murmur  as  peacefully  as  ever  in 


415 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Man 


the  wind.  If,  on  the  contrary,  I  do  violence 
to  the  foot  of  a  fellow  man,  the  rest  of  his 
body  instantly  responds  to  the  aggression 
by  movements  of  alarm  or  defense.  The  rea- 
son of  this  difference  is  that  the  man  has 
a  nervous  system,  whilst  the  tree  has  none; 
and  the  function  of  the  nervous  system  is 
to  bring  each  part  into  harmonious  co- 
operation with  every  other. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, Tol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2031 .  MAN  A  UNIVERSAL  DWELL- 
ER ON  THE  EARTH—  Unity  of  the  Race.  — 
From  the  earliest  times  when  civilized  men 
began  to  explore  distant  regions,  they  found 
everywhere  other  races  of  men  already  es- 
tablished.    And  this  has  held  true  down  to 
the  latest  acquisitions  of  discovery.     When 
the  New  World  was  discovered  by  Columbus 
he  found  that  it  must  have  been  a  very  old 
world   indeed   to  the   human   species.     Not 
only  every  great  continent,  but,  with  rare 
exceptions,  even  every  habitable  island  has 
been  found  peopled  by  the  genus  Homo.    The 
explorers  might  find,  and  in  many  cases  did 
actually  find,  everything  else  in  Nature  dif- 
ferent from  the  country  of  their  birth.    Not 
a  beast,  or  bird,  or  plant,  not  an  insect,  or  a 
reptile,  or  a  fish,  might  be  the  same  as  those 
of  which  they  had  any  previous  knowledge. 
The  whole  face  of  Nature  might  be  new  and 
strange — but  always  with  this  one  solitary 
exception,   that  everywhere  man  was   com- 
pelled to  recognize  himself — represented,  in- 
deed, often  by  people  of  strange  aspect  and 
of  strange  speech,  but  by  people,  neverthe- 
less, exhibiting  all  the  unmistakable  charac- 
ters of  the  human  race. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
'Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  234.     (Burt.) 

2032.  MAN  BEHIND  INSTRUMENT 

— Great  Discoveries  with  Small  Telescopes. 
— We  know  that  Galileo  made  his  discover- 
ies of  Jupiter's  satellites  with  an  instrument 
that  magnified  only  seven  diameters,  and 
that  he  never  could  have  used  one  of  a  high- 
er power  than  thirty-two.  .  .  . 

During  the  many  years  I  passed  at  the 
Paris  Observatory  I  frequently  had  in  my 
hands  the  instruments  made  by  Campani, 
which  were  in  such  great  repute  during  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV. ;  and  when  we  consider 
the  faint  light  of  Saturn's  satellites,  and 
the  difficulty  of  managing  instruments 
worked  by  strings  only,  we  cannot  sufficient- 
ly admire  the  skill  arid  the  untiring  perse- 
verance of  the  observer. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  61.  (H.,  1897.) 

2033.  MAN  BUILDS  CIVILIZATION 
BY  CHANGING  THE  PLACES  OF  THINGS 

— The  miner  moves  the  ore  and  the  fuel  from 
their  subterranean  resting-places,  then  they 
are  moved  into  the  furnace,  and  by  another 
moving  of  combustibles  the  working  of  the 
furnace  is  started;  then  the  metals  are 
moved  to  the  foundries  and  forges,  then  un- 
der hammers,  or  squeezers,  or  into  melting- 
pots,  and  thence  to  molds.  The  workman 
shapes  the  bars,  or  plates,  or  castings  by 


removing  a  part  of  their  substance,  and  by 
more  and  more  movings  of  material  pro- 
duces the  engine,  which  does  its  work  when 
fuel  and  water  are  moved  into  its  fireplace 
and  boiler.  The  statue  is  within  the  rough 
block  of  marble;  the  sculptor  merely  moves 
away  the  outer  portions,  and  thereby  ren- 
ders his  artistic  conception  visible  to  his 
fellow  men.  The  agriculturist  merely  moves 
the  soil  in  order  that  it  may  receive  the 
seed,  which  he  then  moves  into  it,  and  when 
the  growth  is  completed  he  moves  the  result, 
and  thereby  makes  his  harvest.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  every  other  operation.  Man 
alters  the  position  of  physical  things  in  such 
wise  that  the  forces  of  Nature  shall  operate 
upon  them,  and  produce  the  changes  or 
other  results  that  he  requires. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery, ch.  1,  p.  1.  (A.,  1900.) 

2034.  MAN   CAN    NEVER   APPRE- 
HEND   FIRST    CAUSES— All    our    knowl- 
edge is  limited,  and  we  can  never  apprehend 
the   first    causes   of   any    phenomena.      The 
force  of  crystallization,  the  force  of  gravi- 
tation and  chemical  affinity  remain  in  them- 
selves just  as  incomprehensible  as  adapta- 
tion and  inheritance  or  will  and  conscious- 
ness.— HAECKEL   History   of    Creation,   vol. 
i,  ch.  2,  p.  33.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2035.  MAN   CHANGING  NATURAL 
PRODUCTS — Nature's  Changes  Slow — Those 
Wrought  by  Human  Agency  Sudden. — What 
Nature  brings   about   in   a   great   lapse   of 
time  we  occasion  suddenly  by  changing  the 
circumstances  in  which  a  species  has  been 
accustomed  to  live.  All  are  aware  that  vege- 
tables taken  from  their  birthplace  and  cul- 
tivated in  gardens  undergo  changes  which 
render  them  no  longer  recognizable  as  the 
same  plants.     Many  which  were  naturally 
hairy  become  smooth,  or  nearly  so;  a  great 
number  of  such  as  were  creepers  and  trailed 
along  the  ground  rear  their  stalks  and  grow 
erect.     Others  lose  their  thorns  or  asperi- 
ties; others,  again,  from  the  ligneous  state 
which  their  stem  possessed  in  hot  climates, 
where  they  were  indigenous,  pass  to  the  her- 
baceous ;  and,  among  them,  some  which  were 
perennials  become  mere  annuals.     So  well 
do    botanists    know    the    effects    of    such 
changes    of    circumstances    that    they    are 
averse  to  describe  species  from  garden  speci- 
mens, unless  they  are  sure  that  they  have 
been  cultivated  for  a  very  short  period. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  33, 
p.  569.     (A.,  1854.) 

2036.  MAN,  CIVILIZED,  BECOMES 
MASTER    OF   HIS  ENVIRONMENT— The 
serious  mistake  made  by  Buckle  is  that  he 
thought  what  is  true  of  man  in  his  savage 
state   is   also   true   of  him   during  all   the 
stages  of  his  development — namely,  that  man 
always  remains  under  the  dominion  of  his 
environment.     The  truth,  however,  is  that 
man  frees  himself  from  his  environment  in 
proportion  as  he  rises  in  civilization,  so  that 
instead  of  being  Nature's  slave  he  becomes 
its  master. — BASTIAN  Remark  While  Guid- 


Man 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


416 


ing  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Berlin 
through  the  Ethnographical  Museum. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2037.  MAN,    CIVILIZED,    CONSU- 
MING THE  EARTH'S  CAPITAL— It  seems 
to     me    impossible     to     consider     what    is 
actually    taking    place    on    the    earth    at 
present  without  perceiving  that  within  peri- 
ods, short,  indeed,  by  comparison  with  geo- 
logical eras,  and  still  shorter  compared  with 
the  intervals  to  which  the  astronomical  his- 
tory  of   our   earth   has    introduced   us,   the 
condition  of  the  earth  as  an  abode  of  life 
will  be  seriously  modified  by  the  ways  and 
works  of  man.     .     .     .     Civilized  man  is  not 
content  to  take  his  share  of  the  earth's,  in- 
come— he  uses  the  garnered  wealth  which  is 
the  earth's  capital,  and  this  at  a  rate  which 
is  not  only  ever  increasing,  but  is  increasing 
at  an  increasing  rate.     The  rapid  consump- 
tion of  coal  is  but  a  single  instance  of  his 
wasteful    expenditure    of   the    stores   which 
during   countless   ages   have   been   gathered 
together   seemingly   for   the   use  of  man. — 
PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infinities,  p.  25. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2038.  MAN    COMPARED    WITH 
LOWER  ANIMALS— Resemblance  and  Con- 
trast.— It  is   now   more   than   thirty  years 
since   Dr.    Pritchard,   who,   perhaps,    of   all 
others  merits  the  title  of  founder  of  modern 
anthropology,  stated  in  the  following  forci- 
ble passage,  which  opens  his  "  Natural  His- 
tory of  Man,"  the  closeness  of  man's  phys- 
ical relation   to   the  lower  animals :    "  The 
organized  world  presents  no  contrasts  and 
resemblances    more  remarkable   than   those 
which  we  discover  on  comparing  mankind 
with    the    inferior    tribes.      That    creatures 
should  exist  so  nearly  approaching  to  each 
other  in  all  the  particulars  of  their  physic- 
al structure,  and  yet  differing  so  immeasur- 
ably in  their  endowments  and  capabilities, 
would  be  a  fact  hard  to  believe  if  it  were 
not  manifest  to  our  observation.     The  dif- 
ferences are  everywhere  striking;  the  resem- 
blances are  less  obvious   in  the  fulness  of 
their    extent,    and   they   are   never    contem- 
plated without  wonder  by  those  who,  in  the 
study  of  anatomy  and  physiology,  are  first 
made  aware  how  near  is  man  in  his  physical 
constitution  to  the  brutes.     In  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  internal  structure,  in  the  com- 
position and  functions  of  his  parts,  man  is 
but  an  animal.     The  lord  of  the  earth,  who 
contemplates  the  eternal  order  of  the  uni- 
verse,  and  aspires  to  communion  with   its 
invisible  Maker,  is  a  being  composed  of  the 
same   materials,    and   framed   on    the   same 
principles,    as   the   creatures   which   he   has 
tamed  to  be  the  servile  instruments  of  his 
will,  or  slays  for  his  daily  food.    The  points 
of  resemblance  are   innumerable;    they  ex- 
tend to  the  most  recondite  arrangements  of 
that  mechanism  which  maintains  instrumen- 
tally  the  physical   life  of  the  body,  which 
brings   forward  its  early  development,   and 
admits,  after  a  given  period,  its  decay,  and 


by  means  of  which  is  prepared  a  succession 
of  similar  beings  destined  to  perpetuate 
the  race." — DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropology, 
ch.  2,  p.  2.  (Hum.,  1885.) 

2039.  MAN    CONSTRUCTS    IMAGI- 
NARY    CHARACTER  —  Imagines    Himself 
What  He  Would  Have  Men  Believe  Him. — 
It  is  plain  that  the  external  conditions  of 
life  impose  on  the  individual  certain  habits 
of  feeling  which  often  conflict  with  his  per- 
sonal propensities.     As  a  member  of  society 
he  has  a  powerful  motive  to  attribute  cer- 
tain   feelings    to    himself,    and   this   motive 
acts  as  a  bias   in  disturbing  his  vision  of 
what  is  actually  in  his  mind.     While  this 
holds   good   of   lighter  matters,   as  that  of 
enjoyment,   it  applies  still  more  to  graver 
matters.      Thus,   for   example,    a  man   may 
'easily    persuade    himself    that    he    feels    a 
proper  sentiment  of  indignation  against  a 
perpetrator  of  some  mean  or  cruel  act,  when 
as    a   matter    of    fact  his    feeling   is   much 
more  one  of  compassion  for  the  previously 
liked  offender.     In  this  way  we  impose  on 
ourselves,  disguising  our  real  sentiments  by 
a   thin   veil    of   make-believe. — SULLY   Illu- 
sions, ch.  8,  p.  202.     (A.,  1897.) 

2040.  MAN  CONTEMPORARY  WITH 
EXTINCT  ANIMALS—  The  Irish  Elk  in  Eng- 
land and  France. — It  must  be  regarded  as  a 
well-ascertained  fact  that  even  during  the 
human  period  the  pleasant  and  sunny  val- 
leys of  England  and  of  France  have  been  in- 
habited by  the  gigantic  Irish  elk,  two  spe- 
cies  of  elephant,   and   three   of   rhinoceros, 
together    with    the   reindeer,    a    large    bear 
closely  resembling  the  grizzly  bear   of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,   a   bison   scarcely  distin- 
guishable from  that  of  the  American  prai- 
ries,   the  musk-ox   of   Arctic   America,   the 
lemming  of  the  Siberian  steppes,  the  lion  of 
the  tropics,  the  hyena  of  the  Cape,  and  a 
hippopotamus  closely  resembling  that  of  the 
great  African  rivers. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  9,  p.  289.     (A.,  1900.) 

2041.  MAN  DEVELOPS    IN    MIND, 
AS  ANIMALS    IN    BODY— Increasing  Har- 
mony with  Environment. — [That]   principle 
of  natural  selection  which  in  animals  affects 
the  body  and  seems  to  have  little  influence 
on  the  mind,  in  man  affects  the  mind  and 
has  little  influence  on  the  body.    In  the  first, 
it  tends  mainly  to  the  preservation  of  life; 
in  the   second,  to  the  improvement  of  the 
mind,   and  consequently  to  the  increase  of 
happiness.     It  insures,  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Herbert  Spencer,  "  a  constant  progress   to- 
wards a  higher  degree  of  skill,  intelligence, 
and    self-regulation,    a    better    coordination 
of  actions,  a  more  complete  life." 

The  tendency  of  recent  improvements  and 
discoveries  is  less  to  effect  any  rapid  change 
in  man  himself  than  to  bring  him  into  har- 
mony with  Nature;  less  to  confer  upon  him 
new  powers  than  to  teach  him  how  to  apply 
the  old. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  16, 
p.  576.  (A.,  1900.) 


417 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Man 


2042.  MAN    EMPHASIZES    NA- 
TURE'S   VARIATIONS  —  We  cannot  sup- 
pose that  all  the  breeds  were  suddenly  pro- 
duced as  perfect  and  as  useful  as  we  now 
see  them;    indeed,  in  many  cases,  we  know 
that  this  has  not  been  their  history.     The 
key  is  man's  power  of  accumulative  selec- 
tion:    Nature   gives    successive  variations; 
man  adds  them  up  in  certain  directions  use- 
ful to  him.    In  this  sense  he  may  be  said  to 
have    made    for    himself    useful    breeds. — 
DARWIN    Origin    of   Species,   ch.    1,   p.    26. 
(Burt.) 

2043.  MAN,    EVIDENCES    OF    HIS 
RECENT  ORIGIN— Fossils  of  Existing  Or- 
ganisms  Where   Still   No   Human    Trace. — 
Thus,  for  example,  in  the  deposits  called  the 
"  northern  drift,"  or  the  glacial  formation 
of   Europe  and  North   America,   the   fossil 
marine  shells  can  easily  be  identified  with 
species  either  now  inhabiting  the  neighbor- 
ing sea,  or  living  in  the  seas  of  higher  lati- 
tudes.    Yet  they  exhibit  no  memorials  of 
the  human  race,  or  of  articles  fabricated  by 
the  hand  of  man.     Some  of  the  newest  of 
these  strata,  passing  by  the  name  of  "  raised 
beaches,"  occur  at  moderate  elevations  on 
the  coast  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 
Other  examples  are  met  with  on  a  more  ex- 
tended scale  in  Scandinavia,  as  at  the  height 
of  200  feet  at  Uddevalla  in  Sweden,  and  at 
twice    that    elevation    near    Christiania    in 
Norway,  also  at  an  altitude  of  600  or  700 
feet  in  places  farther  north.     They  consist 
of  beds  of  sand  and  clay,  filling  hollows  in  a 
district  of  granite  and  gneiss,  and  they  must 
closely  resemble  the  accumulations  of  shelly 
matter  now  in  progress  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Norwegian  fiords.     The  rate  at  which  the 
land  is  now  rising  in  Scandinavia  is  far  too 
irregular  in  different  places  to  afford  a  safe 
standard   for   estimating  the   minimum   of 
time  required  for  the  upheaval  of  the  funda- 
mental granite,  and  its  marine  shelly  cover- 
ing, to  the  height  of  so  many  hundred  feet; 
but  according  to  the  greatest  average,  of  five 
or  six  feet  in  a  century,  the  period  required 
would  be  very  considerable,  and  nearly  the 
whole  of  it,  as  well  as  the  antecedent  epoch 
of  submergence,  seems  to  have  preceded  the 
introduction  of  man  into  these  parts  of  the 
earth. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i, 
ch.  13,  p.  184.    (A.,  1854.) 

2044.  MAN,  FOSSIL  REMAINS  OF— 
Not  an  Ape-like  Creature — Tools  and  Im- 
plements Show  Primeval  Man   Thoroughly 
Human. — In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  the 
fossil  remains   of  man  hitherto  discovered 
do  not  seem  to  me  to  take  us  appreciably 
nearer  to  that  lower  pithecoid  form  by  the 
modification  of  which  he  has,  probably,  be- 
come what  he  is.     And  considering  what  is 
now   known   of   the   most   ancient  races   of 
men;    seeing  that  they  fashioned  flint  axes 
and  flint  knives  and  bone-skewers  of  much 
the  same  pattern  as  those  fabricated  by  the 
lowest  savages  at  the  present  day,  and  that 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  the  habits 
and  modes  of  living  of  such  people  to  have 


remained  the  same  from  the  time  of  the 
mammoth  and  the  tichorhine  rhinoceros  till 
now,  I  do  not  know  that  this  result  is  other 
than  might  be  expected. — HUXLEY  Man's 
Place  in  Nature,  p.  253.  (Hum.) 

2045.  MAN     HAS     MYSTERIOUS 
POWER    OVER    PUMA— Even   Child   Safe 
with   South- American   Lion. — How    strange 
that   this    most   cunning,   bold,    and   blood- 
thirsty of  the  Felidce  [the  puma],  the  perse- 
cutor of  the  jaguar  and  the  scourge  of  the 
ruminants  in  the  regions  it  inhabits,  able 
to  kill  its  prey  with  the  celerity  of  a  rifle- 
bullet,  never  attacks  a  human  being!     Even 
the   cowardly,   carrion-feeding  dog  will  at- 
tack a  man  when  it  can  do  so  with  impu- 
nity;   but  in  places  where  the  puma  is  the 
only  large  beast  of  prey,  it  is  notorious  that 
it  is  there  perfectly  safe  for  even  a  small 
child  to  go  out  and  sleep  on  the  plain.    At 
the  same  time  it  will  not  fly  from  man  ( tho 
the  contrary  is  always  stated  in  books  of 
natural  history)    except  in  places  where  it 
is  continually  persecuted.     Nor  is  this  all : 
it  will  not,   as   a   rule,    even  defend   itself 
against  man,  altho  in  some  rare  instances  it 
has  been  known  to  do  so. — HUDSON  Natural- 
ist in  La  Plata,  ch.  2,  p.   36.     (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

2046.  MAN  HAS  SELECTING  POW- 
ER— Abstract  Conceptions — Self-contemplation. 
— There  is  such  a  gulf  between  the  faculties 
of  his  [man's]  mind  and  those  of  the  lower 
animals  that  the  forces  acting  on  the  human 
spirit  become,  by  comparison,  innumerable, 
and  involve  motives  belonging  to  a  wholly 
different  class  and  order.    He  is  exposed,  in- 
deed, to  the  lower  motives  in  common  with 
the  beasts.      But   there    are    others    which 
operate  largely  upon  him  which  never  can 
and  never  do  operate  upon  them.    Foremost 
among  these  are  the  motives  which  man  has 
the  power  of  bringing  to  bear  upon  himself, 
arising  out  of  his  power  of  forming  abstract 
ideas,  out  of  his  possession  of  beliefs,  and, 
above   all,    out   of   his   sense  of   right   and 
wrong.     So  strong  are  these  motives  that 
they  are  able  constantly  to  overpower,  and 
sometimes    almost    to    destroy,    the    forces 
which    are   related  to   his    lower    faculties. 
Again,    among   the   motives   which   operate 
upon  him  man  has  a  selecting  power.     He 
can,  as  it  were,  stand  out  from  among  them 
— look    down    from    above    them — compare 
them  among  each  other,  and  bring  them  to 
the  test  of  conscience.     Nay,  more,  he  can 
reason  on  his  own  character  as  he  can  on  the 
character  of  another  being — estimating  his 
own  weakness  with  reference  to  this  and  the 
other  motive,  as  he  is  conscious  how  each 
may  be  likely  to  tell  upon  him.     When  he 
knows  that  any  given   motive  will  be  too 
strong  for  him,  if  he  allow  himself  to  think 
of  it,  he  can  shut  it  out  from  his  mind  by 
"  keeping  the  door  of  his   thoughts."     He 
can,  and  he  often  does,  refuse  the  thing  he 
sees,   and  hold  by  another  thing  which  he 
cannot   see.     He   may,   and   he   often    does, 
choose   the   invisible   in   preference   to   the 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


418 


visible.  He  may,  and  he  often  does,  walk 
by  faith  and  not  by  sight. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  6,  p.  182.  (Burt.) 

2047.  MAN,    HIS    BODY    UNDER- 
GOES    INCESSANT    CHANGE  —  Spiritual 
Identity     Constitutes     the     Personality. — 
Science  proves  that  the  elements  constitu- 
ting our  bodies,  even  those  which  seem  to 
have  most   resistance,   are   renewing  them- 
selves all  the  while,  so  that  within  a  given 
period  there  is   not  one  molecule  but  has 
been  transformed;    yet  in  spite  of  this  in- 
cessant evolution  of  atoms  there  is  a  being 
(and  that  is  each   one  of  us)    feeling  its 
own  identity,  remembering  what  it  thought, 
felt,  intended,  and  performed,  ten,  twenty, 
thirty  years  ago,  recognizing  itself  as  the 
responsible  author,  accusing  or  congratula- 
ting itself.    Without  this  identity,  of  which 
memory  is  the  guardian,  there  is  no  longer 
human  personality,  nothing  but  a  transient 
aggregation  of  molecules  remaining  united 
during  the  space  of  a  human  life. — BERSIEB 
"Souviens  Toi"  (a  Sermon).   (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2048.  MAN,    HIS    DEVELOPMENT 
DISTINGUISHES     HIM     FROM    OTHER 

ANIMALS— The  attitude  of  the  human  be- 
ing toward  Nature  is  entirely  different  from 
that  of  all  other  animate  creatures  upon 
earth.  With  difficulty  and  only  with  the 
help  of  adults  does  the  child  learn  the  use  of 
its  members,  and  he  requires  a  longer  time 
than  any  animal  to  acquire  skill  in  the  most 
necessary  functions  of  life.  Human  knowl- 
edge and  skill  do  not  develop  in  all  indi- 
viduals as  the  blossoms  and  fruit  of  plants 
from  the  seed:  human  individuals  do  not, 
like  the  animals  of  the  same  species,  attain 
to  the  same  facility.  More  especially  it  is 
the  peculiar  gifts,  the  position  in  society, 
and  the  destiny  of  life  affecting  individual 
human  beings  that  produce  the  greatest  dif- 
ferences in  the  cultivation  of  their  physical 
and  mental  powers. — DROBISCH  Darwinis- 
mus  und  Sittenlehre.  (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

2049.  MAN,  HIS  INFLUENCE  UPON 
THE  EARTH— Effect  of  Enclosure  of  Land- 
Fertility  Waiting  for  Protection. — But  how 
important  an  element  enclosure  is  I  plainly 
saw  near  Farnham,  in  Surrey.     Here  there 
are  extensive  heaths,  with  a  few  clumps  of 
old    Scotch    firs    on    the    distant    hilltops; 
within  the  last  ten  years  large  spaces  have 
been  enclosed,  .and   self-sown   firs   are  now 
springing  up  in  multitudes,  so  close  together 
that  all  cannot  live.     When  I  ascertained 
that  these  young  trees  had  not  been  sown  or 
planted  I  was  so  much  surprised  at  their 
numbers  that  I  went  to  several  points  of  . 
view,  whence  I  could  examine  hundreds  of 
acres  of  the  unenclosed  heath,  and  literally 
I  could  not  see  a  single  Scotch   fir  except 
the   old   planted   clumps.      But  on  looking 
closely  between  the  stems  of  the  heath,   I 
found  a  multitude   of  seedlings   and   little 
trees  which  had  been  perpetually  browsed 


down  by  the  cattle.  In  one  square  yard,  at 
a  point  some  hundred  yards  distant  from 
one  of  the  old  clumps,  I  counted  thirty-two 
little  trees;  and  one  of  them,  with  twenty- 
six  rings  of  growth,  had  during  many 
years  tried  to  raise  its  head  above  the  stems 
of  the  heath,  and  had  failed.  No  wonder 
that,  as  soon  as  the  land  was  enclosed,  it 
became  thickly  clothed  with  vigorously 
growing  young  firs.  Yet  the  heath  was  so 
extremely  barren  and  so  extensive  that  no 
one  would  ever  have  imagined  that  cattle 
would  have  so  closely  and  effectually 
searched  it  for  food. — DARWIN  Origin  of 
Species,  ch.  1,  p.  67.  (Burt.) 

2050.  MAN,    HIS    SUPREME    DIS- 
TINCTION IN  THE   ANIMAL   WORLD— 
— Love   of   and  Sacrifice   for   Truth. — Man 
strives  after  the  truth  for  the  sake  of  truth  ; 
he  wants  to  know  for  the  sake  of  knowing; 
his  impulsion  for  knowledge,  his  tendency 
after    light   and   truth,    is   so   strong   that, 
whether  knowledge  of  the  truth  is  produc- 
tive of  injury  or  advantage,  he  strives  for  it. 
And  even  if  he  foresees  that  the  knowledge 
he  has  foreboded  and  sought  after  will  only 
excite  ridicule,  hatred,  contempt,  and  perse- 
cution as  soon  as  found  and  communicated 
to  others,  he  nevertheless  persists  until  he 
finds  and  brings  it  to  light.     Have  not  men 
suffered  severe  affliction,  not  shunning  cruel 
martyrdom,  from  love  of  the  truth?     But 
where   in   the   entire  realm   of   the   animal 
world  do  you  find  any  trace  of  this  quality? 
— GRAUE     Darwinismus     und     Sittlichkeit 
(Deutsche  Zeit-  und  Streit-Fragen,  p.  454). 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2051.  MAN    KINDRED    TO    THE 
STARS — The  Human  Body  Analyzed — Spec- 
troscopic   Analysis    of    Heavenly   Bodies. — 
In  the  South  Kensington  Museum  there  is, 
as  everybody  knows,  an  immense  collection 
of  objects,  appealing  to  all  tastes  and  all 
classes,  and  we  find  there  at  the  same  time 
people  belonging  to  the  wealthy  and  culti- 
vated  part    of    society    lingering    over    the 
Louis  Seize  cabinets  or  the  old  majolica,  and 
the  artisan  and  his  wife  studying  the  state- 
ments as  to  the  relative  economy  of  baking- 
powders,  or  admiring  Tippoo  Saib's  wooden 
tiger. 

There  is  one  shelf,  however,  which  seems 
to  have  some  attraction  common  to  all  social 
grades,  for  its  contents  appear  to  be  of  equal 
interest  to  the  peer  and  the  costermonger. 
It  is  the  representation  of  a  man  resolved 
into  his  chemical  elements,  or  rather  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  materials  of  which  the 
human  body  is  composed.  There  is  a  defi- 
nite amount  of  water,  for  instance,  in  our 
blood  and  tissues,  and  there  on  the  shelf  are 
just  so  many  gallons  of  water  in  a  large 
vessel.  Another  jar  shows  the  exact  quan- 
tity of  carbon  in  us;  smaller  bottles  con- 
tain our  iron  and  our  phosphorus  in  just 
proportion,  while  others  exhibit  still  other 
constituents  of  the  body;  and  the  whole  re- 
poses on  the  shelf  as  if  ready  for  the  coming' 
of  a  new  Frankenstein  to  re-create  the 


419 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


original  man  and  make  him  walk  about 
again  as  we  do.  The  little  vials  that  contain 
the  different  elements  which  we  all  bear 
about  in  small  proportions  are  more  numer- 
ous, and  they  suggest  not  merely  the  com- 
plexity of  our  constitutions,  but  the  iden- 
tity of  our  elements  with  those  we  have 
found  by  the  spectroscope,  not  alone  in  the 
sun,  but  even  in  the  distant  stars  and 
nebula?;  for  this  wonderful  instrument  of 
the  new  astronomy  can  find  the  traces  of 
poison  in  a  stomach  or  analyze  a  star,  and 
its  conclusions  lead  us  to  think  that  the 
ancients  were  nearly  right  when  they  called 
man  a  microcosm,  or  little  universe.  We 
have  literally  within  our  own  bodies  samples 
of  the  most  important  elements  of  which  the 
great  universe  without  is  composed,  and  you 
and  I  are  not  only  like  each  other,  and 
brothers  in  humanity,  but  children  of  the 
sun  and  stars  in  a  literal  sense,  having 
bodies  actually  made  in  large  part  of  the 
same  things  that  make  Sirius  and  Alde- 
baran.  They  and  we  are  near  relatives. — 
LANGLEY  The  New  Astronomy,  ch.  8,  p.  221. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2052.  MAN   MODIFYING   NATURE 
— Domestic  Animals  Remolded  to  His  Will. 
— It  appears   as  if  any  special  quality  or 
modification  in  an  animal  can  be  obtained 
if  we  only  breed  it  in  sufficient  quantity, 
watch  carefully  for  the  required  variations, 
and   carry  on   selection  with   patience   and 
skill  for  a  sufficiently  long  period.    Thus,  in 
sheep    we    have    enormously    increased   the 
wool,  and  have  obtained  the  power  of  rapid- 
ly forming  flesh  and  fat;    in  cows  we  have 
increased  the  production  of  milk ;    in  horses 
we   have   obtained   strength,   endurance,    or 
speed,  and  have  greatly  modified  size,  form, 
and    color;      in    poultry    we    have    secured 
various  colors  of  plumage,  increase  of  size, 
and  almost  perpetual  egg-laying. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  4,  p.  63.    (Hum.) 

2053.  MAN,  MORAL  NATURE  OF— 

Human  Conduct  the  Subject-matter  of  the 
Moral  Sense. — What  is  the  subject-matter 
of  the  moral  sense?  or,  in  other  words,  what 
is  the  kind  of  thing  of  which  alone  it  takes 
any  cognizance,  and  in  which  alone  it  recog- 
nizes the  qualities  of  right  and  wrong? 

To  this  fundamental  question  one  answer, 
and  one  answer  only,  can  be  given.  The 
things,  and  the  only  things,  of  which  the 
moral  sense  takes  cognizance  are  the  actions 
of  man.  It  can  take  no  cognizance  of  the 
actions  of  machines,  nor  of  the  actions  of  the 
inanimate  forces  of  Nature,  nor  of  the  ac- 
tions of  beasts,  except  in  so  far  as  a  few  of 
these  may  be  supposed  to  possess  in  a  low 
and  elementary  degree  some  of  the  charac- 
teristic powers  of  man.  Human  conduct  is 
the  only  subject-matter  in  respect  of  which 
the  perceptions  of  the  moral  sense  arise. 
They  are  perceptions  of  the  mind  which  have 
no  relation  to  anything  whatever  except  to 
the  activities  of  another  mind  constituted 
like  itself. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9, 
p.  196.  (Burt.) 


2054.  MAN  MORE  FEARFUL  THAN 
NATURE  —  Spartacus    in   Vesuvius. — What 
was  the  real  condition  of  Campania  during 
those   years   of   dire   convulsion    [of   Vesu- 
vius] ?     "  A  climate  where  heaven's  breath 
smells  sweet  and  wooingly — a  vigorous  and 
luxuriant  Nature  unparalleled  in  its  produc- 
tions— a  coast  which  was  once  the  fairy-land 
of  poets  and  the  favorite  retreat  of  great 
men.    Even  the  tyrants  of  the  creation  loved 
this  alluring  region,  spared  it,  adorned  it, 
lived  in  it,  died  in  it."     [Forsyth's  "  Italy," 
vol.  ii.]   The  inhabitants,  indeed,  have  enjoyed 
no  immunity  from  the  calamities  which  are 
the  lot  of  mankind;    but  the  principal  evils 
which  they  have  suffered  must  be  attributed 
to  moral,  not  to  physical,  causes — to  disas- 
trous  events   over   which  man  might  have 
exercised  a  control,  rather  than  to  the  in- 
evitable catastrophes  which  result  from  sub- 
terranean   agency.      When    Spartacus    en- 
camped his  army  of  ten  thousand  gladiators 
in  the  old  extinct  crater  of  Vesuvius,  the 
volcano  was  more  justly  a  subject  of  terror 
to  Campania  than  it  has  ever  been  since  the 
rekindling  of  its  fires. — LYELL  Geology,  ch. 
24,  p.  395.    (A.,  1854.) 

2055.  MAN     MUST    ACQUIRE    IN- 
STINCTS— Habit  the  Process  of  Acquisition— 
Economy  of  Automatism. — Man  is  born  with 
a  tendency  to  do  more  things  than  he  has 
ready-made  arrangements  for  in  his  nerve- 
centers.    Most  of  the  performances  of  other 
animals    are   automatic.      But   in   him   the 
number  of  them  is  so  enormous  that  most  of 
them  must  be  the   fruit  of  painful   study. 
If  practise  did  not  make  perfect,  nor  habit 
economize  the  expense  of  nervous  and  mus- 
cular  energy,   he   would   therefore  be    in   a 
sorry  plight.    As  Dr.  Maudsley  says : 

"  If  an  act  became  no  easier  after  being 
done  several  times,  if  the  careful  direction 
of  consciousness  were  necessary  to  its  ac- 
complishment on  each  occasion,  it  is  evident 
that  the  whole  activity  of  a  lifetime  might 
be  confined  to  one  or  two  deeds — that  no 
progress  could  take  place  in  development. 
A  man  might  be  occupied  all  day  in  dressing 
and  undressing  himself;  the  attitude  of  his 
body  would  absorb  all  his  attention  and 
energy;  the  washing  of  his  hands  or  the 
fastening  of  a  button  would  be  as  difficult 
to  him  on  each  occasion  as  to  the  child  on 
its  first  trial;  and  he  would,  furthermore, 
be  completely  exhausted  by  his  exertions. 
Think  of  the  pains  necessary  to  teach  a  child 
to  stand,  of  the  many  efforts  which  it  must 
make,  and  of  the  ease  with  which  it  at  last 
stands,  unconscious  of  any  effort.  For  while 
secondarily  automatic  acts  are  accomplished 
with  comparatively  little  weariness — in  this 
regard  approaching  the  organic  movements, 
or  the  original  reflex  movements — the  con- 
scious effort  of  the  will  soon  produces  ex- 
haustion."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  113.  (H.  H.  &Co.,  1899.) 

2056.  MAN  NOT  A  MERE  AUTOM- 
ATON— His  Automatic  Actions    Subordinate 
and    Subsidiary — Each    Generation    Starts 


Man 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


420 


Anew. — An  apparatus  for  controlling  one  of 
the  lower  animals  can  be  turned  out  from 
the  workshop  of  Nature  sometimes  in  a  day. 
The  wheels  are  few,  the  works  are  simple, 
the  connections  require  little  time  for  ad- 
justment or  correction.  Everything  that  a 
humble  organism  will  do  has  been  done  a 
million  times  by  its  parents,  and  already 
the  faculties  have  been  carefully  instructed 
by  heredity  and  will  automatically  repeat 
the  whole  life  and  movement  of  their  race. 
But  when  a  man  is  made  it  is  not  an  autom- 
aton that  is  made.  This  being  will  do  new 
things,  think  new  thoughts,  originate  new 
ways  of  life.  .  .  .  For  half  the  life, 
therefore,  that  lies  before  the  human  off- 
spring no  storage  of  habit  has  been  handed 
down  from  the  past.  .  .  .  Into  the  in- 
fant's frame  must  be  fitted  not  only  the  ap- 
paratus for  automatic  repetition  of  what  its 
parents  have  done,  but  the  apparatus  for  in- 
telligent initiation;  not  only  the  machinery 
for  carrying  on  the  involuntary  and  reflex 
actions — involuntary  and  reflex  because 
they  have  been  done  so  often  by  its  ancestors 
as  to  have  become  automatic — but  for  the 
voluntary  and  self-conscious  life  which  will 
do  new  things,  choose  fresh  alternatives, 
seek  higher  and  more  varied  ends.  The  in- 
strument which  will  attend  to  breathing 
even  when  we  forget  it;  the  apparatus 
which  will  make  the  heart  beat  even  tho  we 
try  to  stop  it;  the  self-acting  spring  which 
makes  the  eyelid  close  the  moment  it  is 
threatened — these  and  a  hundred  others  are 
old  and  well-tried  inventions  which,  from 
ceaseless  practise  generation  after  genera- 
tion, work  perfectly  in  each  new  individual 
from  the  start.  .  .  .  But  the  higher 
brain  is  comparatively  a  new  thing  in  the 
world.  It  has  to  undertake  a  vaster  range 
of  duties,  often  totally  new  orders  of  duties ; 
it  has  to  do  things  which  its  forerunners 
had  not  quite  learned  to  do,  or  had  not  quite 
learned  to  do  unthinkingly,  and  the  incon- 
ceivably complex  machinery  requires  time  to 
settle  to  its  work. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  ch.  8,  p.  283.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2057.  MAN    NOT     PERFECT,  BUT 
PERFECTIBLE— For  the  creation  of  man 
was  by  no  means  the  creation  of  a  perfect 
being.    The  most  essential  feature  of  man  is 
his  improvableness. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man, 
ch.  10,  p.  71.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2058.  MAN,  PRIMEVAL  —  Not  Like 
Modern     Degraded     Races — Fuegians     and 
Tasmanians    Not    Types — Brain    Power    of 
Earliest  Men. — Thus  it  would  appear  that 
these  earliest  known  men  are  not  specifically 
distinct  from  ourselves,  but  are  a  distinct 
race,  most  nearly  allied  to  that  great  Tura- 
nian stock  which  is  at  the  present  day,  and 
has   apparently  from   the   earliest   historic 
times  been,  the  most  widely  spread  of  all. 
Tho   rude   and   uncultured,   they  were   not 
either  physically  or  mentally  inferior  to  the 
average  men  of  to-day,  and  were  indeed  in 
several   respects   men  of  high   type,  whose 


great  cranial  capacity  might  lead  us  to  sup- 
pose that  their  ancestors  had  recently  been 
in  a  higher  state  of  civilization  than  them- 
selves. It  is,  however,  possible  that  this 
characteristic  was  rather  connected  with 
great  energy  and  physical  development  than 
with  high  mental  activity. 

To  the  hypothesis  of  evolution,  as  applied 
to  man,  these  facts  evidently  oppose  great 
difficulties.  They  show  that  such  modern 
degraded  races  as  the  Fuegians  or  the  Tas- 
manians cannot  present  to  us  the  types  of 
our  earlier  ancestors,  since  the  latter  were 
men  of  a  different  and  higher  style.  Nor  do 
these  oldest  known  men  present  any  approx- 
imation in  physical  characters  to  the  lower 
animals.  Further,  we  may  infer  from  their 
works,  and  from  what  we  know  of  their  be- 
liefs and  habits,  that  they  were  not  crea- 
tures of  instinct,  but  of  thought  like  our- 
selves, and  that  materialistic  doctrines  of 
automatism  and  brain  force  without  mind 
would  be  quite  as  absurd  in  their  applica- 
tion to  them  as  to  their  modern  representa- 
tives.— DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Mod- 
ern Science,  ch.  4,  p.  172.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 


2O59. 


The  Embodiment 


of  Helplessness  and  Homelessness. — Go  with 
me  to  that  early  day  when  the  first  being 
worthy  to  be  called  man  stood  upon  this 
earth.  How  economical  has  been  his  endow- 
ment. There  is  no  hair  on  his  body  to  keep 
him  warm,  his  jaws  are  the  feeblest  in  the 
world,  his  arm  is  not  equal  to  that  of  a 
gorilla,  he  cannot  fly  like  the  eagle,  he  can- 
not see  into  the  night  like  the  owl,  even  the 
hare  is  fleeter  than  he.  He  has  no  clothing, 
no  shelter.  "  Foxes  had  holes,  and  the  birds 
of  the  air  had  nests,  but  this  man  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head."  He  had  no  tools  or 
industries  or  experience,  no  society  or  lan- 
guage or  arts  of  pleasure;  he  had  yet  no 
theory  of  life  and  poorer  conceptions  of  the 
life  beyond.  All  Nature  laughed  at  him. 
The  sun  said,  I  will  blister  his  skin.  The 
storm  said,  I  will  spit  upon  him.  The  sea 
said,  I  will  drown  him.  The  noxious  mal- 
aria said,  I  will  parch  him  with  fevers. 
The  lion,  the  wolf,  the  tiger  said,  I  will  de- 
vour him.  The  mountain-sheep  withheld 
her  fleece  and  lambs.  The  wild  ass  and  the 
wild  horse  fled  away  in  scorn.  The  silly 
fish  said,  I  know  you  not,  and  the  birds 
skimmed  the  air  around  him  in  mockery. 
There  were  no  waving  grain  fields,  nor 
golden  corn  fields,  nor  tempting  vineyards, 
nor  fragrant  orchards. 

"  Poor  naked  wretches,  on  the  edge  of  time, 
That    bide    the    pelting    of    this    pitiless 

storm, 
How  shall  your  houseless  heads  and  unfed 

sides  defend  you 
From  seasons  such  as  these  ?  " 

King  Lear,  iii,   1. 

Whatever  we  may  say  of  our  own  golden 
age,  surely  his  was  not  around  him  nor 
above  him.  If  he  had  one  at  all  it  was 
within  him. — MASON  The  Birth  of  Invention 


421 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Man 


(Address  at  Centenary  of  the  American  Pat- 
ent System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891;  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Congress,  p.  404.) 


2O6O. 


The  Neanderthal 


Skull  Thoroughly  Human — No  Link  between 
Man  and  Ape. — Under  whatever  aspect  we 
view  this  [Neanderthal]  cranium,  whether 
we  regard  its  vertical  depression,  the  enor- 
mous thickness  of  its  supraciliary  ridges,  its 
sloping  occiput,  or  its  long  and  straight 
squamosal  suture,  we  meet  with  ape-like 
characters,  stamping  it  as  the  most  pithe- 
coid of  human  crania  yet  discovered.  But 
Professor  Schaaffhausen  states  that  the 
cranium,  in  its  present  condition,  holds 
1,033.24  cubic  centimeters  of  water,  or  about 
63  cubic  inches,  and  as  the  entire  skull 
could  hardly  have  held  less  than  an  addi- 
tional 12  cubic  inches,  its  capacity  may  be 
estimated  at  about  75  cubic  inches,  which  is 
the  average  capacity  given  by  Morton  for 
Polynesian  and  Hottentot  skulls. 

So  large  a  mass  of  brain  as  this  would 
alone  suggest  that  the  pithecoid  tendencies, 
indicated  by  this  skull,  did  not  extend  deep 
into  the  organization ;  and  this  conclusion  is 
borne  out  by  the  dimensions  of  the  other 
bones  of  the  skeleton  given  by  Professor 
Schaaffhausen,  which  show  that  the  absolute 
height  and  relative  proportions  of  the  limbs 
were  quite  those  of  an  European  of  middle 
stature.  The  bones  are  indeed  stouter,  but 
this  and  the  great  development  of  the  mus- 
cular ridges  noted  by  Dr.  Schaaffhausen  are 
characters  to  be  expected  in  savages.'  The 
Patagonians,  exposed  without  shelter  or  pro- 
tection to  a  climate  possibly  not  very  dis- 
similar from  that  of  Europe  at  the  time 
during  which  the  Neanderthal  man  lived, 
are  remarkable  for  the  stoutness  of  their 
limb  bones. 

In  no  sense,  then,  can  the  Neanderthal 
bones  be  regarded  as  the  remains  of  a 
human  being  intermediate  between  men  and 
apes.  At  most,  they  demonstrate  the  ex- 
istence of  a  man  whose  skull  may  be  said  to 
revert  somewhat  toward  the  pithecoid  type. 
— HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  p.  253. 
(Hum.) 

2O61.  MAN,  PRIMITIVE— Adopts  Orna- 
ment before  Clothing. — Man  has  been  de- 
fined as  the  animal  that  is  fond  of  finery. 
Before  he  manifests  any  care  for  clothing, 
unless  compelled  by  the  inclemency  of  his 
climate,  he  thinks  of  his  ornament. — BAS- 
TIAN  Allgemeine  Grundziige  der  Ethnologic, 
p.  24.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 

2O62. Camel  the  Insepa- 
rable Companion  of — The  One  Great  Essen- 
tial of  Patriarchal  Life — Long  Historic  Rec- 
ord of  an  Animal — "Ship  of  the  Desert." — In 
the  poetry  of  the  East,  the  camel  is  desig- 
nated as  the  land  ship,  or  the  ship  of  the 
desert  (Sefynet-el-badyet).  The  camel  is, 
however,  not  only  the  carrier  in  the  desert, 
and  the  medium  for  maintaining  communi- 
cation between  different  countries,  but  is 


also,  as  Carl  Putter  has  shown  ["  Asien,"  § 
610,  .  .  .  "  the  main  requirement  of  a 
nomadic  mode  of  life  in  the  patriarchal 
stage  of  national  development,  in  the  torrid 
regions  of  our  planet,  where  rain  is  either 
wholly  or  in  a  great  degree  absent.  No  ani- 
mal's life  is  so  closely  associated  by  natural 
bonds  with  a  certain  primitive  stage  of  the 
development  of  the  life  of  man  as  that  of 
the  camel  among  the  Bedouin  tribes,  nor 
has  any  other  been  established  in  like  man- 
ner by  a  continuous  historical  evidence  of 
several  thousand  years." — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  51.  (Bell,  1896.) 


2OO3. 


Fancy  Sketch  of— 


What  Remains  Indicate.  —  Carrying  our 
imagination  back  into  the  past,  we  see 
before  us  on  the  low  shores  of  the  Da- 
nish Archipelago  a  race  of  small  men, 
with  heavy  overhanging  brows,  round  heads, 
and  faces  probably  much  like  those  of 
the  present  Laplanders.  As  they  must  evi- 
dently have  had  some  protection  from  the 
weather,  it  is  most  probable  that  they  lived 
in  tents  made  of  skins.  The  total  absence 
of  metal  in  the  Kjokkenmoddings  [kitchen- 
middens]  indicates  that  they  had  not  yet 
any  weapons  except  those  made  of  wood, 
stone,  horn,  and  bone.  Their  principal  food 
must  have  consisted  of  shell-fish,  but  they 
were  able  to  catch  fish,  and  often  varied 
their  diet  by  game  caught  in  hunting.  It  is 
evident  that  marrow  was  considered  a  great 
delicacy,  for  every  single  bone  which  con- 
tained any  was  split  open  in  the  manner 
best  adapted  to  extract  the  precious  morsel. 
— AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  7,  p.  229. 
(A.,  1900.) 


2064. 


Incapable  of  Ab- 


stract Conceptions — The  Infinite — The  In- 
visible— Personality  Nearer  and  Simpler  as 
Well. — Those  who  approach  the  subject  with 
the  assumption  that  the  idea  of  a  divine  Be- 
ing or  a  superhuman  personality  must  be  a 
derivative,  and  cannot  be  a  primary  concep- 
tion, allow  all  their  language  to  be  colored 
by  the  theory  that  vague  perceptions  of 
"  The  Invisible  "  or  "  The  Infinite  "  in  rivers, 
or  in  mountains,  or  in  sun  and  moon  and 
stars,  were  the  earliest  religious  conceptions 
of  the  human  mind.  But  this  theory  cannot 
be  accepted  by  those  who  remember  that 
there  is  nothing  in  Nature  so  near  to  us  as 
our  own  nature — nothing  so  mysterious  and 
yet  so  intelligible — nothing  so  invisible,  yet 
so  suggestive  of  energy  and  of  power  over 
things  that  can  be  seen.  Nothing  else  in 
Nature  speaks  to  us  so  constantly  or  so  di- 
rectly. Neither  the  infinite  nor  the  invisible 
contains  any  religious  element  at  all,  unless 
as  conditions  of  a  being  of  which  invisibility 
and  infinitude  are  attributes.  There  is  no 
probability  that  any  abstract  conceptions 
whatever  about  the  nature  or  properties  of 
material  force  can  have  been  among  the 
earliest  conceptions  of  the  human  mind. 
Still  less  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
such  conceptions  were  more  natural  and 


fan's 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


422 


more  easy  conceptions  than  those  founded 
on  our  own  personality  and  on  the  person- 
ality of  parents. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  12,  p.  300.  (Burt.) 

2O  65. Remains  Showing 

His  Daily  Domestic  Life — The  Kitchens  of 
the  Stone  Age. — The  discovery  of  rude  flint 
implements,  and  of  bones  still  bearing  the 
marks  of  knives,  confirmed  the  supposition 
that  these  beds  [the  Kjb'kkenmoddings, 
kitchen-middens,  or  shell-mounds  of  Den- 
mark] were  not  natural  <  formations,  and 
it  subsequently  became  evident  that  they 
were,  in  fact,  the  sites  of  ancient  vil- 
lages; the  primitive  population  having 
lived  on  the  shore  and  fed  principally  on 
shell-fish,  but  partly  also  on  the  proceeds  of 
the  chase.  In  many  places  hearths  were  dis- 
covered consisting  of  flat  stones,  arranged  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  form  small  platforms, 
and  bearing  all  the  marks  of  fire.  The 
shells  and  bones  not  available  for  food 
gradually  accumulated  round  the  tents  and 
huts,  until  they  formed  deposits  generally 
from  three  to  five  feet,  but  sometimes  as 
much  as  ten  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  some 
cases  more  than  three  hundred  yards  in 
length,  with  a  breadth  of  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  feet. — AVEBUEY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  7,  p.  215.  (A.,  1900.) 

2O66.  MAN,  RECENT  ORIGIN  OF— 
His  Exposure  to  Special  Dangers — Enduring 
Memorials  of  His  Existence. — No  inhabitant 
of  the  land  exposes  himself  to  so  many 
dangers  on  the  waters  as  man,  whether  in  a 
savage  or  a  civilized  state;  and  there  is  no 
animal,  therefore,  whose  skeleton  is  so  li- 
able to  become  embedded  in  lacustrine  or 
submarine  deposits ;  nor  can  it  be  said  that 
his  remains  are  more  perishable  than  those 
of  other  animals;  for  in  ancient  fields  of 
battle,  as  Cuvier  has  observed,  the  bones  of 
men  have  suffered  as  little  decomposition  as 
those  of  horses  which  were  buried  in  the 
same  grave.  But  even  if  the  more  solid 
parts  of  our  species  had  disappeared,  the 
impression  of  their  form  would  have  re- 
mained engraven  on  the  rocks,  as  have  the 
traces  of  the  tenderest  leaves  of  plants,  and 
the  soft  integuments  of  many  animals. 
Works  of  art,  moreover,  composed  of  the 
most  indestructible  materials,  would  have 
outlasted  almost  all  the  organic  contents  of 
sedimentary  rocks.  Edifices,  and  even  en- 
tire cities,  have,  within  the  times  of  history, 
been  buried  under  volcanic  ejections,  sub- 
merged beneath  the  sea,  or  engulfed  by 
earthquakes;  and  had  these  catastrophes 
been  repeated  throughout  an  indefinite  lapse 
of  ages,  the  high  antiquity  of  man  would 
have  been  inscribed  in  far  more  legible  char- 
acters on  the  framework  of  the  globe  than 
are  the  forms  of  the  ancient  vegetation 
which  once  covered  the  islands  of  the  north- 
ern ocean,  or  of  those  gigantic  reptiles  which 
at  still  later  periods  peopled  the  seas  and 
rivers  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 

But  so  far  as  our  interpretation  of  phys- 


ical movements  has  yet  gone,  we  have  every 
reason  to  infer  that  the  human  race  is  ex- 
tremely modern,  even  when  compared  to  the 
larger  number  of  species  now  our  contem- 
poraries on  the  earth. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  9,  pp.  147-48.  (A.,  1854.) 

2067.  MAN    TESTS    RESULTS    OF 
OBSERVATION  —  Knows    Nature    To  Be  a 
Whole. — Nature  considered  rationally — that 
is    to    say,    submitted    to    the    process    of 
thought — is    a    unity   in    diversity    of    phe- 
nomena;  a  harmony,  blending  together  all 
created  things,  however  dissimilar  in  form 
and  attributes ;  one  great  whole  (TO  jrav)   ani- 
mated  by    the   breath    of    life.      The    most 
important  result  of  a  rational  inquiry  into 
nature  is,  therefore,  to  establish  the  unity 
and   harmony   of   this   stupendous   mass   of 
force  and  matter,  to  determine  with  impar- 
tial justice  what  is  due  to  the  discoveries 
of  the  past  and  to  those  of  the  present,  and 
to  analyze  the  individual  parts  of  natural 
phenomena  without  succumbing  beneath  the 
weight  of  the  whole.     Thus  and  thus  alone 
is   it  permitted  to   man,  while  mindful   of 
the  high  destiny  of  his  race,  to  comprehend 
Nature,  to   lift  the  veil  that  shrouds   her 
phenomena,  and,  as  it  were,  submit  the  re- 
sults of  observation  to  the  test  of  reason 
and  of  intellect. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i, 
int.,  p.  24.      (H.,  1897.) 

2068.  MAN  THE  CROWN  OF  EVO- 
LUTION— Not  To  Be  Surpassed,  but  Perfected. 
— Who  can  fail  to  see  that  the  selection  of 
.psychical    variations,    to    the    comparative 
neglect  of  physical  variations,  was  the  open- 
ing of  a  new  and  greater  act  in  the  drama 
of  creation?     Since  that  new  departure  the 
Creator's    highest   work   has    consisted   not 
in  bringing  forth  new  types  of  body,  but  in 
expanding  and  perfecting  the  psychical  at- 
tributes of  the  one  creature  in  whose  life 
those  attributes  have  begun  to  acquire  pre- 
dominance.    Along  this  human  line  of  as- 
cent there  is  no  occasion  for   any  further 
genesis  of  species;  all  future  progress  must 
continue  to  be  not  zoological,  but  psycholog- 
ical; organic  evolution  gives  place  to  civili- 
zation.    Thus  in  the  long  series  of  organic 
beings  man  is  the  last;  the  cosmic  process, 
having  once  evolved  this  masterpiece,  could 
thenceforth  do  nothing  better  than  to  per- 
fect him. — FISKE   Through   Nature  to   God, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  84.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2069.  MAN,  THE    DESCENT    OF— 

Man  might  just  as  well  have  descended  from 
the  sheep  or  the  elephant  as  from  the  ape. 
— VIRCHOW  Address  before  the  Anthropo- 
logical Congress  in  Vienna.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2070.  MAN  THE  HIGHEST   BEING 
POSSIBLE    UNDER    EARTHLY    CONDI- 
TIONS — Compktes  Design  of  Animal  Kingdom. 
— To  me  the  animal  kingdom  appears  not 
in  indefinite  growth  like  a  tree,  but  a  tem- 
ple with  many  minarets,  none  of  them  capa- 
ble of   being   prolonged,   while   the   central 


423 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


!an 
an' 8 


dome  is  completed  by  the  structure  of  man. 
The  development  of  the  animal  kingdom  is 
the  development  of  intelligence  chained  to 
matter;  the  animals  in  which  the  nervous 
system  has  reached  the  greatest  perfection 
are  the  vertebrates,  and  in  man  that  part 
of  the  nervous  system  which  is  the  organ 
of  intelligence  reaches,  as  I  have  sought  to 
show,  the  highest  development  possible  to 
a  vertebrate  animal,  while  intelligence  has 
grown  to  reflection  and  volition.  On  these 
grounds,  I  believe,  not  that  man  is  the  high- 
est possible  intelligence,  but  that  the  human 
body  is  the  highest  form  of  human  life  pos- 
sible, subject  to  the  conditions  of  matter 
on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  that  the 
structure  completes  the  design  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom. — CLELAND,  quoted  by  DRUM- 
MONO  in  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  113.  (J. 
P.,  1900.) 

2071.  MAN    TRANSFORMS    THE 
EARTH — Makes  New  Environment. — The  des- 
tinies  of  all  other  living  things   are  more 
and  more  dependent  upon  the  will  of  man. 
It  rests  with  him  to  determine,  to  a  great 
degree,  what  plants  and  animals  shall  re- 
main  upon    the    earth    and   what   shall   be 
swept  from  its  surface.     By  unconsciously 
imitating  the  selective  processes  of  Nature 
he  long  ago  wrought  many  wild  species  into 
forms  subservient  to  his  needs.    He  has  cre- 
ated new  varieties  of  fruit  and  flower  and 
cereal  grass,  and  has  reared  new  breeds  of 
animals  to  aid  him  in  the  work  of  civiliza- 
tion, until  at  length  he  is  beginning  to  ac- 
quire a  mastery  over  mechanical  and  molec- 
ular and  chemical  forces  which  is  doubtless 
destined  in  the  future  to  achieve  marvelous 
results    whereof    to-day    we    little    dream. 
Natural    selection    itself    will    by    and    by 
occupy  a   subordinate  place   in  comparison 
with  selection  by  man,  whose  appearance  on 
the  earth   is   thus   seen   more   clearly  than 
ever  to  have  opened  an  entirely  new  chap- 
ter in  the  mysterious  history  of  creation. — 
FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  3,  p.  33.     (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1900.) 

2072.  MAN   UNITED    BY    BODILY 
CONSTITUTION  WITH   ALL   ANIMAL 
AND  VEGETABLE  LIFE— "O/  the  Dust  of 
the  Ground  "  (Gen.  ii,  7). — Man  is  included 
in  the  unity  of  Nature,  in  the  first  place, 
as  regards  the  composition  of  his  body.    Out 
of   the  ordinary   elements   of   the  material 
world   is   that   body   made,   and   into   those 
elements  it  is  resolved  again.     With  all  its 
beauties  of  form  and  of  expression,  with  all 
its   marvels   of  structure   and   of   function, 
there  is  nothing  whatever  in  it  except  some 
few  of  the  elementary  substances  which  are 
common    in    the   atmosphere    and   the   soil. 
The  three  commonest  gases,  oxygen,  hydro- 
gen,   and   nitrogen,   with    carbon    and   with 
sulfur,     are     the     foundation  -  stones.       In 
slightly  different  proportions  these  elements 
constitute    the    primordial    combination    of 
matter  which  is  the  abode  of  life.     In  the 
finished    structure    there    appear,    besides, 


lime,  potash,  and  a  little  iron,  sodium,  and 
phosphorus.  These  are  the  constituents  of 
the  human  body — of  these  in  different  com- 
binations [it  consists] — and,  so  far  as  we 
know,  of  nothing  else.  The  same  general 
composition,  with  here  and  there  an  ingredi- 
ent less  or  more,  prevails  throughout  the 
whole  animal  and  vegetable  world,  and  its 
elements  are  the  commonest  in  the  inor- 
ganic kingdom  also. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  28.  (Burt.) 

2073.  MAN    WITHOUT    AGRICUL- 
TURE —  Shell-mound    Builders  —  Spirituous 
Liquors  Unknown. — If  the  absence  of  cereal 
remains  justifies   us,   as   it  appears  to  do, 
in    concluding   that   they    [the  shell-mound 
builders]   had  no  knowledge  of  agriculture, 
they    must   certainly    have    sometimes    suf- 
fered from  periods  of  great  scarcity,  indica- 
tions of  which  may,  perhaps,  be  seen  in  the 
bones  of  the  fox,  wolf,  and  other  carnivora, 
which  would  hardly  have  been  eaten  from 
choice;  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  blessed 
in  the  ignorance  of  spirituous  liquors,  and 
saved  thereby  from  what  is  at  present  the 
greatest  scourge  of  Northern  Europe. — AVE- 
BURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1,  p.  231.     (A., 
1900.) 

2074.  MAN'S   CONSCIOUSNESS    OF 
POWER— Similar  Results  in  Nature  Referred 
to  Supreme  Conscious  Power. — We  are  con- 
scious of  the  exertion  of  a  power  when  we 
either  produce  or  resist  motion;  whenever, 
therefore,  we  see  bodies  in  motion  we  infer 
that  only  by  a  like  exertion  of  power  could 
that  motion  have  originated;   so  when  the 
retardation  of  motion  gives  rise  to  heat,  or 
heat  (in  ceasing  to  manifest  itself  as  such) 
gives  rise  to  expansive  force,   we  perceive 
that  it  is   only  the  manifestation   that   is 
changed,  the  fundamental  power  remaining 
the  same.     And  as  we  are  thus  led  by  the 
"  correlation  "  doctrine  to  consider  the  vari- 
ous agencies  of  Nature  as  the  expression  of 
a  conscious  will,  we  find  the  highest  science 
completely   according  with   the  highest  re- 
ligion, in  directing  us  to  recognize  the  om- 
nipresent and  constantly  sustaining  energy 
of  a  personal  Deity  in  every  phenomenon  of 
the  universe  around  us,  the  pantheistic  and 
anthropomorphic  conceptions  of  his  charac- 
ter being  thus  brought  into  harmony  when 
we  view  "  Nature  "  as  the  embodiment  of  the 
divine  volition,  the  "  forces  of  Nature "  as 
so  many  diversified  modes  of  its  manifesta- 
tion, and  the  "  laws  of  Nature  "as  nothing 
but  man's  expressions   of  the  uniformities 
which   his  limited   observation   can   discern 
in  its  phenomena. — CARPENTER  Nature  and 
Man,  lect.  5,  p.  183.    (A.,  1889.) 

2075.  MAN'S  EAGERNESS  TO  KNOW 

— Paralysis  of  Investigation  for  a  Thousand 
Years — Modern  Scientific  Revival.  —  Our 
present  mastery  over  the  laws  and  phenom- 
ena of  light  has  its  origin  in  the  desire  of 
man  to  know.  We  have  seen  the  ancients 
busy  with  this  problem,  but,  like  a  child 
who  uses  his  arms  aimlessly,  for  want  of  the 


[an's 
[ariner  8 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


424 


necessary  muscular  exercise,  so  these  early 
men  speculated  vaguely  and  confusedly  re- 
garding natural  phenomena,  not  having  had 
the  discipline  needed  to  give  clearness  to 
their  insight  and  firmness  to  their  grasp  of 
principles.  They  assured  themselves  of  the 
rectilinear  propagation  of  light,  and  that  the 
angle  of  incidence  was  equal  to  the  angle  of 
reflection.  For  more  than  a  thousand  yeara 
— I  might  say,  indeed,  for  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  years  subsequently — the  scientific 
intellect  appears  as  if  smitten  with  paral- 
ysis, the  fact  being  that  during  this  time 
the  mental  force,  which  might  have  run 
in  the  direction  of  science,  was  diverted  into 
other  directions. 

The  course  of  investigation,  as  regards 
light,  was  resumed  in  1100  by  an  Arabian 
philosopher  named  Alhazan.  Then  it  was 
taken  up  in  succession  by  Roger  Bacon, 
Vitellio,  and  Kepler.  These  men,  tho  failing 
to  detect  the  principle  which  ruled  the 
facts,  kept  the  fire  of  investigation  con- 
stantly burning.  Then  came  the  funda- 
mental discovery  of  Snell,  that  corner-stone 
of  optics,  and  immediately  afterwards  we 
have  the  application  by  Descartes  of  Snell's 
discovery  to  the  explanation  of  the  rainbow. 
Following  this  we  have  the  overthrow,  by 
Homer,  of  the  notion  of  Descartes  that  light 
was  transmitted  instantaneously  through 
space.  Then  came  Newton's  crowning  ex- 
periments on  the  analysis  and  synthesis  of 
white  light,  by  which  it  was  proved  to  be 
compounded  of  various  kinds  of  light  of 
different  degrees  of  refrangibility. — TYN- 
DALL  Lectures  on  Light,  p.  209.  (A.,  1898.) 

2076.  MAN'S  LIKENESS  TO  LOWER 
ORGANISMS    SPRINGS    FROM    SOME 
DEEP    NECESSITY— Whether     man     has 
been    separately    created    out    of    the    inor- 
ganic elements  of  which  his  body  is  com- 
posed,  or   whether   it  was  born   of   matter 
previously   organized   in   lower   forms,   this 
community    of   structure   must  equally   in- 
dicate   a    corresponding    community   of    re- 
lations with  external  things,  and  some  an- 
tecedent necessity  deeply  seated  in  the  very 
nature  of  those  things,  why  his  bodily  frame 
should    be    like    to    theirs. — ARGYLL,    Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  32.     (Burt.) 

2077.  MAN'S  ORIGINAL  HOME— A 

Garden  of  Eden — Rejection  and  Degeneracy. 
— In  the  nature  of  things  the  original  set- 
tlements of  man  must  of  necessity  have  been 
the  most  highly  favored  in  the  conditions  he 
requires.  If,  on  the  commonly  received 
theory  of  development,  those  conditions  pro- 
duced him,  they  must  have  reached,  at  the 
time  when  and  in  the  place  where  he  arose, 
the  very  highest  degree  of  perfect  adapta- 
tion. He  must  have  been  happy  in  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  found  himself 
placed,  and  presumably  he  must  have  been 
contented  to  remain  there.  Equally  on  the 
theory  of  man  being  a  special  creation,  we 
must  suppose  that  when  weakest  and  most 
ignorant  he  must  have  been  placed  in  what 


was  to  him  a  garden — that  is  to  say,  in 
some  region  where  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
were  abundant  and  easily  accessible. 
Whether  this  region  were  wide  or  narrow, 
he  would  not  naturally  leave  it  except  from 
necessity.  On  every  possible  supposition, 
therefore,  as  to  the  origin  of  man,  those  who 
in  the  dispersion  of  the  race  were  first  sub- 
jected to  hard  and  unfavorable  conditions 
would  naturally  be  those  who  had  least 
strength  to  meet  them,  and  upon  whom  they 
would  have  accordingly  the  most  depressing 
effect.  This  is  a  process  of  natural  rejection 
which  is  the  inseparable  correlative  of  the 
process  of  natural  selection.  It  tends  to  de- 
velopment in  a  wrong  direction  by  the  com- 
bined action  of  two  different  circumstanced 
which  are  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  case. 
First,  it  must  be  always  the  weaker  men 
who  are  driven  out  from  comfortable 
homes;  and,  secondly,  it  must  be  always 
to  comparatively  unfavorable  regions  that 
they  are  compelled  to  fly.  Under  the  opera- 
tion of  causes  so  combined  as  these  it  would 
be  strange,  indeed,  if  the  physical  and  men- 
tal condition  of  the  tribes  which  have  been 
exposed  to  them  should  remain  unchanged. 
— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  250. 
(Burt.) 

2078.  MAN'S  SOCIAL  SELF—  Torture 
of   Ostracism. — A   man's   social    self   is   the 
recognition  which  he  gets  from  his  mates. 
We  are  not  only  gregarious  animals,  liking 
to  be  in  sight  of  our  fellows,  but  we  have 
an   innate  propensity  to  get   ourselves   no- 
ticed, and  noticed  favorably,  by  our  kind. 
No  more  fiendish  punishment  could  be  de- 
vised, were  such  a  thing  physically  possible, 
than  that  one  should  be  turned  loose  in  so- 
ciety   and   remain    absolutely   unnoticed  by 
all  the  members  thereof.     If  no  one  turned 
round  when  we  entered,  answered  when  we 
spoke,  or  minded  what  we  did,  but  if  every 
person  we  met  "  cut  us  dead,"  and  acted  as 
if  we  were  non-existing  things,  a  kind  of 
rage  and  impotent  despair  would  ere   long 
well  up  in  us,  from  which  the  cruelest  bodily 
tortures  would  be  a  relief;  for  these  would 
make  us  feel  that,  however  bad  might  be  our 
plight,  we  had  not  sunk  to  such  a  depth  as 
to  be  unworthy  of  attention  at  all. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.   10,  p.  293.      (H.  H. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 

20 7 9.  MAN'S  WORLD-WIDE  UNITY 

— Makes  the  Entire  Earth  His  Province. — 
There  is  only  one  species  of  the  genus  man; 
and  all  people  of  every  time  and  every  clime 
with  which  we  are  acquainted  might  have 
originated  from  one  common  stock.  His 
residence  and  his  diet  are  both  unrestricted ; 
he  inhabits  the  whole  habitable  earth  and 
feeds  upon  the  varied  materials  derived 
from  organized  creation.  Relatively  to  his 
moderate  bulk,  and  in  comparison  with  other 
mammifera,  he  attains  a  very  advanced  age. 
— BLUMENBACH  Manual  of  Natural  History, 
p.  35.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 


425 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Man's 
Mariner's 


2080.  MANIA,  THE  COLLECTING— 

Miser  a  Victim  of  This  Blind  Impulse — The 
Same  Seen  in  Lower  Animals — A  Wood-rat's 
Collection. — Every  one  collects  money,  and 
when  a  man  of  petty  ways  is  smitten  with 
the  collecting  mania  for  this  object  he  neces- 
sarily becomes  a  miser.  .  .  .  The  hoard- 
ing instinct  prevails  widely  among  animals 
as  well  as  among  men.  Professor  Silliman 
has  thus  described  one  of  the  hoards  of  the 
California  wood-rat,  made  in  an  empty  stove 
of  an  unoccupied  house:  "  I  found  the  out- 
side to  be  composed  entirely  of  spikes,  all 
laid  with  symmetry,  so  as  to  present  the 
points  of  the  nails  outward.  In  the  center 
of  this  mass  was  the  nest,  composed  of  fine- 
ly divided  fibers  of  hemp  packing.  Inter- 
laced with  the  spikes  were  the  following: 
about  two  dozen  knives,  forks,  and  spoons; 
all  the  butchers'  knives,  three  in  number; 
a  large  carving-knife,  fork,  and  steel;  sev- 
eral large  plugs  of  tobacco,  ...  an  old 
purse  containing  some  silver,  matches,  and 
tobacco ;  nearly  all  the  small  tools  from  the 
tool-closets,  with  several  large  augers,  .  .  . 
all  of  which  must  have  been  transported 
some  distance,  as  they  were  originally  stored 
in  different  parts  of  the  house.  .  .  .  The 
outside  casing  of  a  silver  watch  was  dis- 
posed of  in  one  part  of  the  pile,  the  glass 
of  the  same  watch  in  another,  and  the  works 
in  still  another." — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  24,  p.  424.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2081.  MANUFACTURE   OF  NUTRI- 
TION— The  Struggle  for  Food  To  Be  Reduced  to 
a  Minimum. — At  the  present  moment  chem- 
istry is  devoting  itself  to  the  experiment  of 
manufacturing  nutrition,   and  with  an  en- 
thusiasm  which   only   immediate   hope   be- 
gets.    It  is  not  the  visionaries  who  have 
dared  to  prophesy  here.    In  a  hundred  labo- 
ratories   the    problem    is   being   practically 
worked  out,  and,  as  one  of  the  highest  au- 
thorities assures  us,  "  The  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  the  artificial  preparation   of 
articles  of  food  will  be  accomplished."  [Rem- 
sen,    McClure's   Magazine,    January,    1894.] 
Already,   through   the  labors   of   other   sci- 
ences, the  struggle  for  food  has  been  made 
infinitely  easier  than  it  was;  but  when  the 
immediate  quest  succeeds,  and  the  food  of 
man  is  made  direct  from  the  elements,  the 
struggle  in  all  its  coarser  forms  will  prac- 
tically   be    abolished.      Civilization    cannot 
ease  the  whole  burden  at  once;  the  strug- 
gle for  life  will  go  on,  but  it  will  be  the 
struggle  with  its  fangs  drawn. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  6,  p.  213.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

2082.  MANUFACTURES  CONDUCT- 
ED  BY  PRIMITIVE  WOMAN— Her   shop 
was  ample  enough,  for  it  was  the  vaulted 
sky;  but  her  tools  and  materials  and  meth- 
ods were  of  the  simplest  kind.    What  we  do 
in  hours  she  accomplished  in  years.     But  if 
you  could  from  some  exalted  position  take 
in  the  exploitation  of  the  earth  and  sea,  the 
transformation  of  raw  material  into  things 
of  use,  the  transportation  of  these  products 


in  all  directions,  the  commercial  transac- 
tions involved  in  the  sale  of  these  commodi- 
ties, you  would  be  astonished  to  know  how 
many  of  these  wheels  were  set  a-going  by 
women  in  prehistoric  times. — MASON  Wom- 
an's Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  1,  p. 
4.  (A.,  1894.) 

2083.  MARCH  OF  INSECT  ARMIES 

— The  Leaf-bearing  Ants. — No  one  can  see 
without  astonishment  one~of  these  ant  ar- 
mies traveling  along  the  road  they  have 
worn  so  neatly  for  themselves,  those  who 
are  coming  from  the  trees  looking  like  a 
green  procession,  almost  hidden  by  the  frag- 
ments of  leaves  they  carry  on  their  backs, 
while  the  returning  troops,  who  have  al- 
ready deposited  their  burden,  are  hurrying 
back  for  more.  There  seems  to  be  another 
set  of  individuals  running  to  and  fro,  whose 
office  is  not  quite  so  clear,  unless  it  be  to 
marshal  the  whole  swarm  and  act  as  a  kind 
of  police.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  an  an- 
ecdote related  by  an  American  resident  here, 
who  told  us  that  he  once  saw  an  ant,  return- 
ing without  his  load  to  the  house,  stopped 
by  one  of  these  anomalous  individuals,  se- 
verely chastised,  and  sent  back  to  the  tree 
apparently  to  do  his  appointed  task. — AGAS- 
siz  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  3,  p.  105.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2084.  MARINER'S  COMPASS,  FIRST 
RECORD  OF — Now  follows  in  this  old  trea- 
tise of  an  English  monk   [Neckham,   1157- 
1217]    probably  the  first  of  all  known  de- 
scriptions of  the  mariner's  compass.     Here 
it  is: 

"  The  sailors,  moreover,  as  they  sail  over 
the  sea,  when  in  cloudy  weather  they  can 
no  longer  profit  by  the  light  of  the  sun, 
or  when  the  world  is  wrapped  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  shades  of  night,  and  they  are 
ignorant  to  what  part  of  the  horizon  the 
prow  is  directed,  place  the  needle  over  the 
magnet,  which  is  whirled  round  in  a  circle, 
until,  when  the  motion  ceases,  the  point 
of  it  (the  needle)  looks  to  north." 

The  paragraph  from  the  "De  Utensilibus " 
may  be  best  considered  simultaneously  with 
the  foregoing.  The  Latin  words  present 
many  obscurities,  to  which  it  is  needless  to 
refer  in  detail  here,  since  they  are  consid- 
ered in  the  following  translation: 

"  If,  then,  one  wishes  a  ship  well  pro- 
vided with  all  things,  one  must  have  also 
a  needle  mounted  on  a  dart.  The  needle 
will  be  oscillated  and  turn  until  the  point 
of  the  needle  directs  itself  to  the  east 
(north),  thus  making  known  to  the  sailors 
the  route  which  they  should  hold  while 
the  Little  Bear  is  concealed  from  them  by 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  atmosphere;  for  it 
never  disappears  under  the  horizon  because 
of  the  smallness  of  the  ,circle  which  it  de- 
scribes."— PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise 
in  Electricity,  ch.  5,  p.  128.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

2O85. Probability    that 

Occident  Led  Orient — A  Chinese  Copy. — The 
presence  of  the  compass  in  the  early  Euro- 


Materialism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


426 


pean  fleets,  manned  by  natural  and  instinc- 
tive seafarers,  can  be  reasonably  accounted 
for,  .  .  .  while  the  presence  of  the  com- 
pass on  the  contemporary  Chinese  junks, 
manned  by  people  having  no  inborn  incli- 
nation for  the  sea,  is  a  circumstance  seem- 
ingly destitute  of  ancestry. 

The  identity  of  construction  of  the  two 
instruments,  European  and  Chinese,  renders 
inevitable  the  presumption  that  one  is  an 
imitation  of  the  other.  As  between  people 
whose  skill  lies  in  originating  and  people 
whose  skill  lies  in  the  wonderful  minuteness 
and  accuracy  of  their  copies,  few,  I  imagine, 
will  hesitate  in  deciding  which  was  probably 
the  reproducer;  or  fail  to  reach  a  reason- 
able conviction  that  the  mariner's  compass 
of  the  East  is  literally  a  "  Chinese  copy " 
of  the  instrument  which  led,  not  the  indo- 
lent Asiatic,  but  the  daring  mariners  of 
England  and  Spain  and  Portugal  and  Italy 
to  the  most  magnificent  achievements  of  the 
human  race. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual 
Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  3,  p.  85.  (J.  W., 
1898.) 

2086.  MARINERS  PERPLEXED  BY 
MYSTERIOUS  LIGHT— A  Limited  Aurora. 
— The   following  case  is  thus  described  by 
Arago     ("(Euvres    completes,"    vol.    iv,    p. 
146):  "Major  Sabine  and  Captain  J.  Ross 
were  returning  in  the  autumn   from  their 
first   arctic    expedition    they    were    still    in 
the  Greenland  seas,  during  one  of  the  dark 
nights    of   those    regions,    when   they    were 
summoned  to  the  bridge  by   the  officer   of 
the   watch,    who   had   just   seen   something 
very  strange.     This  was,  ahead  of  the  ves- 
sel and  precisely  on  their  course,  a  station- 
ary light,  which  rose  to  a  great  height  from 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  while  in  all  other 
directions    the    sky    and    horizon    appeared 
black  as  pitch.    There  was  no  known  danger 
in  those  regions,  and  the  direction  of  the 
vessel    was    therefore   not    changed.      When 
the  vessel   entered  the  circle   of   light  the 
whole   crew   was    silent,    attentive,    on   the 
alert.     The  highest  parts  of  the  masts  and 
sails   could  then  be   seen  and  all  the  rig- 
ging.    The  meteor  appeared  to  extend  for 
about  four  hundred  yards.     When  the  stern 
of  the  vessel  left  it  it  was  again  in  dark- 
ness;  there  was  no  gradual  decline  in  the 
intensity  of  the  light.    The  luminous  region 
could  be   seen   from  the  stern   of  the  ship 
for  a  long  time." — ANGOT  Aurora  Borealis, 
ch.  2,  p.  19.     (A.,  1897.) 

2087.  MARKINGS   OF  ANIMALS— 

Colors  Serving  for  Recognition — Bird-colors 
that  Are  Visible  Only  in  Flight. — Recogni- 
tion marks  during  flight  are  very  important 
for  all  birds  which  congregate  in  flocks  or 
which  migrate  together ;  and  it  is  essential 
that,  while  being  as  conspicuous  as  possible, 
the  marks  shall  not  interfere  with  the  gen- 
eral protective  tints  of  the  species  when  at 
rest.  Hence  they  usually  consist  of  well- 
contrasted  markings  on  the  wings  and  tail, 
which  are  concealed  during  repose,  but  be- 


come fully  visible  when  the  bird  takes  flight. 
— WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  151. 
(Hum.) 

2O88. Stripes  and  Spots 

Serve  for  Concealment  in  Jungle  and  Forest. 
— An  experienced  tiger-hunter,  Major  Wai- 
ford,  states  in  a  letter  that  the  haunts  of 
the  tiger  are  invariably  full  of  the  long 
grass,  dry  and  pale  yellow,  for  at  least  nine 
months  of  the  year,  which  covers  the  ground 
wherever  there  is  water  in  the  rainy  season, 
and  he  adds :  "  I  once,  while  following  up  a 
wounded  tiger,  failed  for  at  least  a  minute 
to  see  him  under  a  tree  in  grass  at  a  dis- 
tance of  about  twenty  yards — jungle  open — 
but  the  natives  saw  him,  and  I  eventually 
made  him  out  well  enough  to  shoot  him,  but 
even  then  I  could  not  see  at  what  part  of 
him  I  was  aiming.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  color  of  both  the  tiger  and 
the  panther  renders  them  almost  invisible, 
especially  in  a  strong  blaze  of  light,  when 
among  grass,  and  one  does  not  seem  to  no- 
tice stripes  or  spots  till  they  are  dead."  It 
is  the  black  shadows  of  the  vegetation  that 
assimilate  with  the  black  stripes  of  the 
tiger ;  and,  in  like  manner,  the  spotty  shad- 
ows of  leaves  in  the  forest  so  harmonize 
with  the  spots  of  ocelots,  jaguars,  tiger-cats, 
and  spotted  deer  as  to  afford  them  a  very 
perfect  concealment. — WALLACE  Darwinism, 
ch.  8,  p.  136.  (Hum.) 

2089.  MARTYRS  OF    SC IE NCE- 
Bacon  Packing  Fowl  with  Snow — Discovery 
of    the    Refrigerating    Process. — The    great 
apostle  of  experimental  philosophy  wyas  des- 
tined  to   be    its   martyr.      It   had   occurred 
to  him  that  snow  might  be  used  with  ad- 
vantage for  the  purpose  of  preventing  ani- 
mal substances  from  putrefying.     On  a  very 
cold   day,   early  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
1626,  he  alighted  from  his  coach  near  High- 
gate,  in  order  to  try  the  experiment.     He 
went    into   a   cottage,   bought   a   fowl,   and 
with  his  own  hands  stuffed  it  with  snow. 
While  thus  engaged  he  felt  a  sudden  chill, 
and  was  soon   so  much   indisposed  that  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  return  to  Gray's 
Inn.     The  Earl  of  Arundel,  with  whom  he 
was  well  acquainted,  had  a  house  at  High- 
gate.      To   that  house    Bacon   was   carried. 
The  earl  was  absent,  but  the  servants  who 
were  in   charge  of  the  place  showed  great 
respect    and    attention    to    the    illustrious 
guest.     Here,   after   an   illness   of   about   a 
week,  he  expired  early  on  the  morning  of 
Easter    day,    1626.      His    mind    appears   to 
have  retained  its  strength  and  liveliness  to 
the  end.     He  did  not  forget  the  fowl  which 
had   caused   his  death.      In  the   last   letter 
that  he  ever  wrote,  with  fingers  which,  as 
he  said,  could  not  steadily  hold  a  pen,  he 
did  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  experiment 
of    the    snow    had    succeeded    "  excellently 
well." — MACATJLAY  Essays,  Lord  Bacon,  p. 
270.     (A.,  1876.) 

2090.     Prudence    Must 

Guide  Study — Volcanoes  Best  Investigated 


427 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mariner's 
Materialism 


in  Their  Mildest  Moods. — At  the  first  re- 
corded eruption  of  Vesuvius  the  elder  Pliny 
lost  his  life  in  an  attempt  to  approach  the 
mountain  and  examine  the  action  which  was 
taking  place  there;  and  during  the  last 
great  outburst  of  the  same  volcano  a  band 
of  Neapolitan  students,  whose  curiosity  was 
greater  than  their  prudence,  shared  the 
same  fate. 

But  in  both  these  cases  the  inquirers  paid 
the  penalty  of  having  adopted  a  wrong 
method.  If  we  wish  to  examine  the  mode 
of  working  of  a  complicated  steam-engine,  it 
will  be  of  little  avail  for  us  to  watch  the 
machinery  when  the  full  blast  of  steam  is 
turned  on,  and  the  rapid  movements  of  lev- 
ers, pinions,  and  slides  baffle  all  attempts 
to  follow  them,  and  render  hopeless  every 
effort  to  trace  their  connection  with  one 
another.  But  if  some  friendly  hand  turn 
off  the  greater  part  of  the  steam- supply, 
then,  as  the  rods  move  slowly  backwards 
and  forwards,  as  the  wheels  make  their 
measured  revolutions,  and  the  valves  are 
seen  gradually  opening  and  shutting,  we 
may  have  an  opportunity  of  determining  the 
relations  of  the  several  parts  of  the  machine 
to  one  another,  and  of  arriving  at  just  con- 
clusions concerning  the  plan  on  which  it  is 
constructed. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  7. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2091.  MARVELOUS,  THE,   TRANS- 
FORMED— Newton's  Discovery  of  the  Laws 
of  the  Cometary  Motions. — In  order  to  upset 
the  theory  of  prodigies  it  was  necessary  to 
find  the  laws  of  the  motion  of  comets.    This 
is  what  Newton  did  in  the  case  of  the  comet 
of  1680.    Having  ascertained  that,  according 
to   the  laws  of  universal   gravitation,    the 
path  of  the  comet  should  be  a  very  elonga- 
ted curve,  he  attempted,  assisted  by  Halley, 
his  coadjutor  and  friend,  to  represent  math- 
ematically the  course  of  the  new  body,  and 
completely  succeeded.     Halley  energetically 
took  up  this  branch  of  astronomy,  and  find- 
ing later  on  that  the  comet  of  1682  was 
similar  in  its  path  round  the  sun  to  two 
comets    previously    observed,    in    1531    and 
1607,  recognized  it  as  undoubtedly  the  same 
comet,    which    should,    therefore,    reappear 
about  1758. 

By  the  theoretical  labors  of  Newton  and 
by  the  calculations  of  Halley  the  prediction 
of  Seneca  was  fulfilled;  comets,  or  at  least 
some  of  them,  follow  regular  orbits.  Their 
return  could  be  foreseen;  they  ceased  to  be 
accidental  apparitions;  they  were  true 
celestial  bodies  with  a  fixed  and  regular 
course.  The  marvelous  disappeared,  or, 
to  speak  more  correctly,  it  was  transformed. 
— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy.,  bk.  v, 
ch.  1,  p.  485.  (A.) 

2092.  MASS  ENVELOPING  HERCU- 
LANEUM  AND  POMPEII— Rivera  of  Mud 
or  Alluvium — Aqueous  Lava. — In  addition 
to  the  ejections  which  fall  on  the  cone,  and 
that  much  greater  mass  which  finds  its  way 
gradually  to  the  neighboring  sea,  there  is  a 
third   portion,   often   of   no    inconsiderable 


thickness,  composed  of  alluviums,  spread 
over  the  valleys  and  plains  at  small  dis- 
tances from  the  volcano.  Aqueous  vapors 
are  evolved  copiously  from  volcanic  craters 
during  eruptions,  and  often  for  a  long  time 
subsequently  to  the  discharge  of  scoriae  and 
lava :  these  vapors  are  condensed  in  the  cold 
atmosphere  surrounding  the  high  volcanic 
peak,  and  heavy  rains  are  thus  caused.  The 
floods  thus  occasioned  sweep  along  the  im- 
palpable dust  and  light  scori*  till  a  current 
of  mud  is  produced,  which  is  called  in  Cam- 
pania "  lava  d'  acqua,"  and  is  often  more 
dreaded  than  an  igneous  stream  (lava  di 
fuoco ) ,  from  the  greater  velocity  with  which 
it  moves.  So  late  as  the  27th  of  October, 
1822,  one  of  these  alluviums  descended  the 
cone  of  Vesuvius,  and,  after  overspreading 
much  cultivated  soil,  flowed  suddenly  into 
the  villages  of  St.  Sebastian  and  Massa, 
where,  filling  the  streets  and  interior  of 
some  of  the  houses,  it  suffocated  seven  per- 
sons. It  will,  therefore,  happen  very  fre- 
quently that,  towards  the  base  of  a  volcanic 
cone,  alternations  will  be  found  of  lava, 
alluvium,  and  showers  of  ashes. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  385. 
(A.,  1854.) 

2093.  MASTERY,  PROGRESSIVE,  OF 
BODY   BY   MIND— The    combined   use   of 
anesthetics     and     antiseptics     has     almost 
robbed  the  surgeon's  knife  of  its  terrors,  and 
has  enabled  the  most  deeply  seated  organs 
to  be  laid  open  and  operated  upon  with  suc- 
cess.    As  a  result,  more  lives  are  probably 

'now  saved  by  surgery  than  by  any  other 
branch  of  medicine. — WALLACE  The  Wonder- 
ful Century,  ch.  14,  p.  149.  (D,  M.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2094.  MATERIALISM  AND  IDEAL- 
ISM— Contrasted  Claims — Possible  Reconcilia- 
tion.— But  when  the  materialists  stray  be- 
yond the  borders  of  their  path  and  begin  to 
talk  about  there  being  nothing  else  in  the 
universe  but  matter  and  force  and  necessary 
laws,  I  decline  to  follow  them.     I  go  back 
to  the  point  from  which  we  started,  and  to 
the  other  path  of  Descartes.     I  remind  you 
that  we  have  already  seen  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly, and  in  a  manner  which  admits  of  no 
doubt,  that  all  our  knowledge  is  a  knowledge 
of  states  of  consciousness.     "  Matter  "  and 
"  force "  are,  so  far  as  we  can  know,  mere 
names  for  certain  forms   of  consciousness. 
"  Necessary  "  means  that  of  which  we  can- 
not conceive  the  contrary.     "  Law  "  means 
a  rule  which  we  have  always  found  to  hold 
good,  and  which  we  expect  always  will  hold 
good.    Thus  it  is  an  indisputable  truth  that 
what  we  call   the  material   world   is   only 
known  to  us  under  the  forms  of  the  ideal 
world;     and,    as    Descartes    tells    us,    our 
knowledge  of  the  soul  is  more  intimate  and 
certain  than  our  knowledge  of  the  body.     If 
I  say  that  impenetrability  is  a  property  of 
matter,  all  that  I  can  really  mean  is  that 
the  consciousness  I  call  extension  and  the 
consciousness    I    call    resistance    constantly 
accompany  one  another.    Why  and  how  they 


[aterialism 
[at  emit  y 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


428 


are  thus  related  is  a  mystery.  And  if  I  say 
that  thought  is  a  property  of  matter,  all 
that  I  can  mean  is  that,  actually  or  possibly, 
the  consciousness  of  extension  and  that  of 
resistance  accompany  all  other  sorts  of  con- 
sciousness. But,  as  in  the  former  case,  why 
they  are  thus  associated  is  an  insoluble  mys- 
tery. From  all  this  it  follows  that  what  I 
may  term  legitimate  materialism,  that  is, 
the  extension  of  the  conceptions  and  of  the 
methods  of  physical  science  to  the  highest 
as  well  as  the  lowest  phenomena  of  vitality, 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  sort  of  short- 
hand idealism;  and  Descartes's  two  paths 
meet  at  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  tho 
they  set  out  on  opposite  sides  of  it. — HUX- 
LEY Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14,  p.  340.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

2095.  MATERIALISM  A  TENDENCY 
OF    INDIVIDUAL    MINDS— Abstract   Con- 
ceptions Personified  as  Living  Powers. — We 
can  see  how  much  and  how  little  is  really 
meant  when  it  is  said  that  law  can  be  traced 
in  all  things,  and  all  things  can  be  traced  to 
law.    It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that, 
in  establishing  this  conclusion,  the  progress 
of   modern    investigation   is   in  a   direction 
tending  to  materialism.     This  may  be  and 
always  has  been  the  tendency  of  individual 
minds.    There  are  men  who  would  stare  into 
the  very  burning  bush  without  a  thought 
that  the  ground  on  which  they  stand  must 
be  holy  ground.     It  is  not  now  of  wood  or 
stone  that  men  make  their  idols,  but  of  their 
own    abstract    conceptions.      Before    these, 
borrowing  for  them  the  attributes  of  per- 
sonality,   they    bow    down    and    worship. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  67.    (Burt.) 

2096.  MATERIALISM  BAFFLED  BY 

CONSCIOUSNESS— "You  may  say  or 
think  that  this  [assumed]  issue  of  con- 
sciousness from  the  clash  of  atoms  is  not 
more  incongruous  than  the  flash  of  light 
from  the  union  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen. 
But  I  beg  to  say  that  it  is.  For  such  incon- 
gruity as  the  flash  possesses  is  that  which  I 
now  force  upon  your  attention.  The  '  flash  ' 
is  an  affair  of  consciousness,  the  objective 
counterpart  of  which  is  a  vibration.  It  is  a 
flash  only  by  your  interpretation.  You  are 
the  cause  of  the  apparent  incongruity;  and 
you  are  the  thing  that  puzzles  me.  .  .  . 
"  Your  difficulty,  then,  as  I  see  you  are 
ready  to  admit,  is  quite  as  great  as  mine. 
You  cannot  satisfy  the  human  understand- 
ing in  its  demand  for  logical  continuity  be- 
tween molecular  processes  and  the  phe- 
nomena of  consciousness.  This  is  a  rock  on 
which  materialism  must  inevitably  split 
whenever  it  pretends  to  be  a  complete  phi- 
losophy of  life."  [Supposed  quotation  from 
Bishop  Butler.] — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science  (the  Belfast  Address),  vol.  ii,  ch.  9, 
p.  168.  (A.,  1900.) 

2097.  MATERIALISM  CARRIED  TO 
LOGICAL  RESULT— Personality  Obliterated 
— Reductio   ad   Absurdum. — To   comprehend 
completely  the  consequences  of  the  dogma  so 


confidently  enunciated,  one  should  unflinch- 
ingly apply  it  to  the  most  complicated  ex- 
amples. The  movements  of  our  tongues  and 
pens,  the  flashings  of  our  eyes  in  conversa- 
tion, are  of  course  events  of  a  material  or- 
der, and  as  such  their  causal  antecedents 
must  be  exclusively  material.  If  we  knew 
thoroughly  the  nervous  system  of  Shake- 
speare, and  as  thoroughly  all  his  environing 
conditions,  we  should  be  able  to  show  why  at 
a  certain  period  of  his  life  his  hand  came  to 
trace  on  certain  sheets  of  paper  those  crab- 
bed little  black  marks  which  we  for  short- 
ness's  sake  call  the  manuscript  of  "  Hamlet." 
We  should  understand  the  rationale  of  every 
erasure  and  alteration  therein,  and  we 
should  understand  all  this  without  in  the 
slightest  degree  acknowledging  the  existence 
of  the  thoughts  in  Shakespeare's  mind.  The 
words  and  sentences  would  be  taken,  not  as 
signs  of  anything  beyond  themselves,  but  as 
little  outward  facts,  pure  and  simple.  In 
like  manner  we  might  exhaustively  write  the 
biography  of  those  two  hundred  pounds, 
more  or  less,  of  warmish  albuminoid  matter 
called  Martin  Luther,  without  ever  implying 
that  it  felt. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
5,  p.,  132.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2098.  MATERIALISM     CONFUSES 
THINGS   ESSENTIALLY  UNLIKE—  Voice, 
Man,  and  Brain  Are  Not  the  Thought. — This 
equating  of  mental  process  and  brain  func- 
tion, which  makes  psychology  a  department 
of  cerebral  physiology,  and  therefore  a  part 
of  a  general  atomic  mechanics,  sins  against 
the  very  first  rule  of  scientific  logic — that 
only  those  connections  of  facts  may  be  re- 
garded as  causal  which  obtain  between  ge- 
rierically  similar  phenomena.     Our  feelings, 
thoughts,  and  volitions  cannot  be  made  ob- 
jects of  sensible  perception.     We  can  hear 
the  word  which  expresses  the  thought,  we 
can  see  the  man  who  has  thought  it,  we  can 
dissect  the  brain  in  which  it  arose;    but  the 
word,  the  man,  and  the  brain  are  not  the 
thought.    And  the  blood  which  circulates  in 
the  brain,  the  chemical  changes  which  take 
place  there,   are  wholly  different  from  the 
act  of  thought  itself. — WUNDT  Psychology, 
lect.  1,  p.  6.    (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2099.  MATERIALISM    GIVES    HY- 
POTHESES   WITHOUT     FACTS  —  Brain 
Function  and  Mental  Activity  Connected — 
Mental    Force    Assimilated    to     Light    or 
Electricity. — There    are    numerous    experi- 
ences which  put  beyond  all  doubt  the  con- 
nection of  physiological  cerebral  function  on 
the  one  hand  and  of  mental  activity  on  the 
other.    And  to  investigate  this  connection  by 
means  of  experiment  and  observation  is  as- 
suredly a  task  worth  undertaking.     But  we 
do  not  find  that  materialism,  even  in  this 
connection,  has  made  a   single  noteworthy 
contribution  to  our  positive  knowledge.     It 
has  been  content  to  set  up  baseless  hypoth- 
eses   regarding   the    dependence    of    mental 
function  upon  physical  process;    or  it  has 
been  concerned  to  refer  the  nature  of  mental 
forces  to  some  known  physical  agency.     No 


429 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Materialism 
Maternity 


analogy  has  been  too  halting,  no  hypothesis 
too  visionary,  for  its  purpose.  It  was  for 
some  time  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  the 
mental  force  had  more  resemblance  to  light 
or  to  electricity.  Only  on  one  point  was 
there  general  agreement — that  it  was  not 
ponderable. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  1,  p. 
9.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

21  GO.  MATERIALISM  INCOMPRE- 
HENSIBLE—  Mechanical  Evolution  of  Con- 
sciousness Not  Presentable  in  Thought. — 
This  avowal  is  repeated  with  emphasis  in 
the  passage  to  which  Professor  Virchow's 
translator  draws  attention.  What,  I  there 
ask,  is  the  causal  connection  between  the 
objective  and  the  subjective — between  molec- 
ular motions  and  states  of  consciousness? 
My  answer  is :  I  do  not  see  the  connection, 
nor  am  I  acquainted  with  anybody  who  does. 
It  is  no  explanation  to  say  that  the  objective 
and  subjective  are  two  sides  of  one  and  the 
same  phenomenon.  Why  should  the  phe- 
nomenon have  two  sides?  This  is  the  very 
core  of  the  difficulty.  There  are  plenty  of 
molecular  motions  which  do  not  exhibit  this 
two-sidedness.  Does  water  think  or  feel 
when  it  runs  into  frost-ferns  upon  a  window 
pane?  If  not,  why  should  the  molecular 
motion  of  the  brain  be  yoked  to  this  mys- 
terious companion — consciousness?  We  can 
form  a  coherent  picture  of  all  the  purely 
physical  processes — the  stirring  of  the  brain, 
the  thrilling  of  the  nerves,  the  discharging 
of  the  muscles,  and '  all  the  subsequent  mo- 
tions of  the  organism.  We  are  here  dealing 
with  mechanical  problems  which  are  men- 
tally presentable.  But  we  can  form  no  pic- 
ture of  the  process  whereby  consciousness 
emerges,  either  as  a  necessary  link  or  as  an 
accidental  by-product  of  this  series  of  ac- 
tions.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  15,  p.  408.  (A.,  1900.) 

21O1.  MATERIALISM  MEANS  PAR- 
ALYSIS—There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  further  science  advances,  the  more  ex- 
tensively and  consistently  will  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  Nature  be  represented  by  ma- 
terialistic formula  and  symbols.  But  the 
man  of  science,  who,  forgetting  the  limits  of 
philosophical  inquiry,  slides  from  these 
formulae  and  symbols  into  what  is  commonly 
understood  by  materialism,  seems  to  me  to 
place  himself  on  a  level  with  the  mathema- 
tician who  should  mistake  the  ac's  and  t/'s, 
with  which  he  works  his  problems,  for  real 
entities — and  with  this  further  disadvan- 
tage, as  compared  with  the  mathematician, 
that  the  blunders  of  the  latter  are  of  no 
practical  consequence,  while  the  errors  of 
systematic  materialism  may  paralyze  the 
energies  and  destroy  the  beauty  of  a  life. — 
HUXLEY  The  Physical  Basis  of  Life,  in  Lay 
Sermons,  p.  146.  (A.,  1895.) 

2 1 0  2 .  MATERIALISM,  TENDENCY 
TO — A  large  part  of  the  age  feels  profound 
hatred  for  what  is  called  spirit.  Hence  the 
effort  to  make  man  a  brute  and  to  lose  his 
soul  in  matter. — LOTZE  An  Address.  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 


2103.  MATERIALIST'S   ANALOGY 

FALSE  —  Thought  Not  a  Secretion.  —  The 
phosphorus  philosophers  have  often  com- 
pared thought  to  a  secretion.  "  The  brain 
secretes  thought,  as  the  kidneys  secrete  urine 
or  as  the  liver  secretes  bile,"  are  phrases 
which  one  sometimes  hears.  The  lame  anal- 
ogy need  hardly  be  pointed  out.  The  ma- 
terials which  the  brain  pours  into  the 
blood  ( cholesterin,  creatin,  xanthin,  or  what- 
ever they  may  be)  are  the  analogues  of  the 
urine  and  the  bile,  being  in  fact  real  mate- 
rial excreta.  As  far  as  these  matters  go,  the 
brain  is  a  ductless  gland.  But  we  know  of 
nothing  connected  with  liver  and  kidney 
activity  which  can  be  in  the  remotest  degree 
compared  with  the  stream  of  thought  that 
accompanies  tne  brain's  material  secretions. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  102. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2 1 04.  MATERIALIST'S  TRIUMPH— 

Delight  in  the  Mechanical  and  the  Ani- 
mal.— The  immense  value  of  the  theory  of 
descent  in  regard  to  biology  consists,  as 
I  have  already  remarked,  in  its  explaining 
to  us  the  origin  of  organic  forms  in  a 
mechanical  way,  and  pointing  out  their 
active  causes.  But  however  highly  and 
justly  this  service  of  the  theory  of  de- 
scent may  be  valued,  yet  it  is  almost 
eclipsed  by  the  immense  importance  which 
a  single  necessary  inference  from  it  claims 
for  itself  alone.  This  necessary  and  un- 
avoidable inference  is  the  theory  of  the  ani- 
mal descent  of  the  human  race. 

The  determination  of  the  position  of  man 
in  Nature,  and  of  his  relations  to  the  to- 
tality of  things — this  question  of  all  ques- 
tions for  mankind,  as  Huxley  justly  calls 
it — is  finally  solved  by  the  knowledge  that 
man  is  descended  from  animals.  As  a  con- 
sequence of  the  theory  of  descent  or  trans- 
mutation, we  are  now  in  a  position  to  estab- 
lish scientifically  the  groundwork  of  a  non- 
miraculous  history  of  the  development  of  the 
human  race. — HAECKEL  History  of  Creation, 
vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  6.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

21 05.  MATERNITY    FORESHAD- 
OWED— "Mothering  Plants" — The  Phanero- 
gam,s  Highest  in  the  Vegetable  Kingdom. — 
In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  from  the  mother- 
lessness   of   the    early   cryptogams,    we   rise 
to   find  a   first  maternity  foreshadowed   in 
the  flowering  tree.     It  elaborates  a  seed  or 
nut  or  fruit  with  infinite  precaution,   sur- 
rounding the  embryo  with  coat  after  coat 
of  protective  substance,  and  storing  around 
it  the  richest  foods  for  its  future  use.    And 
rudimentary  tho  the  manifestation  'be,  when 
we    remember    that    this    is    not    an    inci- 
dent in  the  tree's  life,  but  its  whole  blos- 
som and  crown,  it  is  impossible  but  to  think 
of  this  solicitude  and  motherhood  together. 
So  exalted  in  the  tree's  life  is  this  provision 
for  others  that  the  botanist,  like  the  zoolo- 
gist, places  the  mothering  plants  at  the  top 
of  his  department  of  Nature.     His  highest 
division  is  the  phanerogams — named,  liter- 


Maternity 
Matter 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


430 


ally,  in  terms  of  their  reproductive  special- 
ization.— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8. 
p.  268.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

21O6.  MATERNITY  VS.  MOTHER- 
HOOD—  The  Butterfly  Cares  for  Its  Egg — Does 
Rot  and  Could  Not  Care  for  Its  Young — 
Could  Not  Even  Recognize  It  as  Its  Own. — 
There  is  a  solicitude  for  the  egg  of  the  most 
extreme  kind — for  its  being  placed  exactly 
in  the  right  spot,  at  the  right  time,  pro- 
tected from  the  weather,  shielded  from  ene- 
mies, and  provided  with  a  first  supply  of 
food.  The  butterfly  places  the  eggs  of  its 
young  on  the  very  leaves  which  the  coming 
caterpillar  likes  the  most,  and  on  the  under 
side  of  the  leaf  where  they  will  be  least 
exposed — a  case  which  illustrates  in  a  pal- 
pable way  the  essential  difference  between 
motherhood  and  maternity.  Maternity  here, 
in  the  restricted  sense  of  merely  adequate 
physical  care,  is  carried  to  its  utmost  per- 
fection. Everything  that  can  be  done  for 
the  egg  is  done.  Motherhood,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  non-existent,  is  even  an  anatomical 
impossibility.  If  a  butterfly  could  live  till 
its  egg  was  hatched — which  does  not  happen 
— it  would  see  no  butterfly  come  out  of  the 
egg,  no  airy  likeness  of  itself,  but  an  earth- 
bound  caterpillar.  If  it  recognized  this  crea- 
ture as  its  child,  it  could  never  play  the 
mother  to  it.  The  anatomical  form  is  so 
different  that  were  it  starving  it  could  not 
feed  it,  were  it  threatened  it  could  not  save 
it,  nor  is  it  possible  to  see  any  direction  in 
which  it  could  be  of  the  slightest  use  to  it. 
It  is  obvious  that  Nature  never  intended 
to  make  a  mother  here;  that  all  that  she 
desired  as  yet  was  to  perfect  the  first  ma- 
ternal instinct.  And  the  tragedy  of  the 
situation  is  that  on  that  day  when  her  train- 
ing to  be  a  true  mother  should  begin  she 
passes  out  of  the  world. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  270.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2 1 0  7 .     MATHEMATICS,  BEAUTY  OF 

— In  Music,  Sunset,  Snow-crystals — Har- 
mony of  Nature. — The  notes  of  the  gamut 
are,  besides,  nothing  else  but  ratios  of  num- 
ber between  the  sonorous  vibrations.  Com- 
bined in  a  certain  order,  these  numbers  give 
perfect  accord.  Here  the  major  mode  rouses 
and  enraptures  us;  there  the  minor  mode 
affects  us  and  plunges  us  into  melancholy 
reverie.  And  yet  there  is  here  but  a  matter 
of  figures!  We  can  not  only  hear  these 
sounds,  but  may  even  see  them.  Let  ^us 
make  two  tuning-forks  vibrate  by  the  in- 
genious method  of  Lissajous,  one  vertical, 
the  other  horizontal,  fitted  with  little  mir- 
rors reflecting  a  luminous  point  on  a  screen. 
If  the  two  tuning-forks  are  in  unison  and 
give  exactly  the  same  note,  the  combination 
of  the  two  vibrations  rendered  visible  on  the 
screen  by  the  little  mirrors,  which  inscribe 
them  in  lines  of  light,  produces  a  perfect 
circle — that  is  to  say,  the  simplest  geo- 
metrical figure;  as  the  amplitude  of  the  vi- 
brations diminishes,  the  circle  flattens,  be- 
comes an  ellipse,  then  a  straight  line.  .  .  . 


Yes,  in  everything  and  everywhere  numbers 
rule  the  world. 

Why,  however,  seek  in  scientific  analysis 
testimony  to  the  harmony  which  Nature  has 
shed  over  all  her  works?  Altho  it  may  be 
necessary  for  us  to  rise  to  the  ideal  of  music, 
to  contemplate  the  beautiful  colors  of  the 
sky  or  the  splendor  of  the  setting  sun,  we 
may  on  a  dull  winter  day,  in  the  gray  and 
monotonous  hours  when  the  snow  falls  in 
innumerable  flakes,  examine  with  the  micro- 
scope some  of  these  flakes,  and  the  geomet- 
rical beauty  of  these  light  crystals  will  fill 
us  with  admiration.  As  Pythagoras  said: 
"  God  works  everywhere  by  geometry," 

del    6    0eos    vew/uterpri FLAMMARION  PopU- 

lar  Astronomy,  bk.   iii,   ch.    1,   pp.   223-26. 
(A.) 

2108.  MATHEMATICS,     DEVELOP- 
MENT OF — Arithmetic  Narrowly  Limited  be- 
fore   Decimal    System. — The     Greeks,     the 
Romans,  the  Egyptians,  the  Jews,  and  the 
Chinese  had  all  such  cumbrous  systems  that 
anything  like  a   science   of  arithmetic,   be- 
yond very  simple  operations, was  impossible; 
and  the  Roman  system,  by  which  the  year 
1888  would  be  written  MDCCCLXXXVIII, 
was  that  in  common  use  in  Europe  down 
to    the    fourteenth    or    fifteenth    centuries, 
and     even    much     later     in     some     places. 
Algebra,  which  was  invented  by  the  Hindus, 
from  whom  also  came  the  decimal  notation, 
was  not  introduced  into  Europe  till  the  thir- 
teenth century,  altho  the  Greeks  had  some 
acquaintance  with  it;    and  it  reached  West- 
ern Europe  from  Italy  only  in  the  sixteenth 
century.    It  was,  no  doubt,  owing  to  the  ab- 
sence of  a  sound  system  of  numeration  that 
the  mathematical  talent  of  the  Greeks  was 
directed    chiefly     to    geometry,     in    which 
science  Euclid,  Archimedes,  and  others  made 
such  brilliant  discoveries.     It  is,  however, 
during  the  last  three  centuries  only  that  the 
civilized  world  appears  to  have  become  con- 
scious   of   the    possession    of    a    marvelous 
faculty,     .     .     .     the  full  grandeur  of  which 
can  be  appreciated  only  by  those  who  have 
devoted  some  time  (even  if  unsuccessfully) 
to  the  study. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  15, 
p.  313.    (Hum.) 

2109.  MATHEMATICS    MINISTERS 
TO  ALL  SCIENCE— While   the    algebra   of 
the  Arabs,  by  means  of  that  which  they  had 
acquired  from  the  Greeks  and  Indians,  com- 
bined with  the  portions  due  to  their  own 
invention,  acted  so  beneficially  on  the  bril- 
liant epoch  of  the   Italian  mathematicians 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  notwithstanding  a  great 
deficiency    in    symbolical    designations,    we 
likewise  owe  to  the  same  people  the  merit 
of  having  furthered  the  use  of  the  Indian 
numerical  system  from  Bagdad  to  Cordova 
by  their  writings  and  their  extended  com- 
mercial relations.     Both   these  effects — the 
simultaneous  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of 
the   science   of   numbers    and    of   numerical 
symbols  with  value  by  position — have  vari- 
ously, but  powerfully,  favored  the  advance 
of  the  mathematical  portion  of  natural  sci- 


431 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Maternity 
Matter 


ence,  and  facilitated  access  to  the  more  ab- 
struse departments  of  astronomy,  optics, 
physical  geography,  and  the  theories  of  heat 
and  magnetism,  which,  without  such  aids, 
would  have  remained  unopened. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  227.  (H.,  1897.) 

20 1O.  MATHEMATICS  OF  THE  UNI- 
VERSE— Full  Realization  Possible  Only  to  the 
Divine   Mind. — But   ascend   with   me   above 
the  dust,  above  the  cloud,  to  the  realms  of 
the  higher  geometry,  where  the  heavens  are 
never  obscured;   where  there  is  no  impure 
vapor,  and  no  delusive  or  imperfect  obser- 
vation;  where  the  new  truths  are  already 
arisen,  while  they   are  yet  dimly  dawning 
upon  the  earth  below;  where  the  earth  is  a 
little  planet;   where  the  sun  has  dwindled 
to  a  star;   where  all  the  stars  are  lost  in 
the  Milky  Way,  to  which  they  belong;  where 
the    Milky    Way    is    seen    floating   through 
space    like    any    other    nebula;    where    the 
whole  great  girdle  of  the  nebulae  has  dimin- 
ished to  an  atom,  and  has  become  as  readily 
and  as  completely  submissive  to  the  pen  of 
the  geometer,  and  the  slave  of  his  formula, 
as    the    single    drop   which    falls    from   the 
cloud,   instinct  with   all   the   forces   of   the 
material  world.     Try  with  me  the  precision 
of    measure  with    which   the    universe    has 
been   meted   out;    observe   how  exactly   all 
the  parts  are  fitted  to  the  whole  and  to  each 
other,  and  then  declare  who  was  present  in 
the  council-chamber  when  the  Lord  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  earth. — BENJAMIN  PIERCE 
Address  on  retiring  from  the  duties  of  Presi- 
dent (Proceedings  of  Amer.  Assoc.  for  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  vol.  viii,  1854,  p.  2). 

2111.  MATHEMATICS    ON    WORD 
OF  HONOR— Story^  of  the  Due  d'Angouleme. 
— I  can  hardly  imitate  here  that  Academi- 
cian who,  in  order  to  prove  a  mathematical 
truth,  was  contented  to  give  his  word  of  hon- 
or because  the  intelligence  of  his  pupil  was 
not  equal  to  comprehending  the  demonstra- 
tion.   This  pupil  was  the  Duke  d'Angouleme, 
and  I  venture  to  hope  that  my  readers  are 
somewhat  superior  to  him  in  that  respect. 
We  know  that  when  he  was  nominated  Chief 
Minister  of  Marine  it  was  perceived  with 
dismay  that  he  could  hardly  count  up  to  a 
hundred.     The  most  celebrated  geometer  of 
France  was  at  once  sent  for  to  instruct  him 
in   the   mathematics,    as   they    said   in   old 
times.     But  it  was  in  vain  that  he  tried  to 
prove  the  most  elementary  principles  to  his 
august  pupil.     The  latter  listened  with  ex- 
quisite politeness,  but  shook  his  head  with 
a  mild  air  of  incredulity.     One  day,  at  the 
end  of  the  arguments,  the  poor  master  ex- 
claimed, "My  lord,  I  give  you  my  word!" 
"  Why  did  you  not  say  so  sooner,  sir  ?"  said 
the  Duke,   bowing;    "  I   shall  never  permit 
myself  to  doubt  it." — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  2,  p.  491.     (A.) 

2112.  MATHEMATICS,  POWER  OF, 
IN  ASTRONOMY— Discovery  of  Neptune.— 
It  has  been  said,  with  reason,  that  the  la- 
bors of  astronomy  are  those  which  give  the 


highest  measure  of  the  powers  of  the  human 
mind.  The  discovery  of  Neptune,  due  to  the 
sole  power  of  numbers,  is  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  witnesses  of  this  truth.  The  ex- 
istence of  this  planet  in  the  sky  was  re- 
vealed by  mathematics.  This  world,  distant 
more  than  2,700  millions  of  miles  from  our 
terrestrial  station,  is  absolutely  invisible  to 
the  naked  eye.  The  perturbations  manifest- 
ed by  the  motion  of  the  planet  Uranus  per- 
mitted the  mathematician  to  say  that  the 
cause  of  these  perturbations  was  an  un- 
known planet  which  revolved  beyond  Uranus 
at  abou£  such  a  distance,  and  which,  to  pro- 
duce the  effect  observed,  should  be  found  at  a 
certain  point  of  the  starry  sky.  A  telescope 
was  directed  towards  the  point  indicated, 
the  unknown  was  searched  for,  and  in  less 
than  an  hour  it  was  found! — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  9,  p.  463.  (A.) 

2113.  MATTER    AND    FORCE    IN- 
FERIOR TO  mat-Probability  that  Higher 
Attributes  Exist  in  the  Universe. — No  phi- 
losophy can  be  true  which  allows  that  we 
see  in  Nature  the  most  intimate  relations 
with  our   intellectual  conceptions   of  space 
and  time  and  force  and  numerical  propor- 
tion, but  denies  that  we  can  ever  see  any 
similar    relation    with    our    conceptions    of 
purpose  and  design,  or  with  those  still  higher 
conceptions  which  are  embodied  in  our  sense 
of  justice  and  in  our  love  of  righteousness, 
and  in  our  admiration  of  the  "  quality  of 
mercy."'    These  elements  in  the  mind  of  man 
are  not   less    certain   than   others   to   have 
some  correlative  in  the  mind  which  rules  in 
Nature.     Assuredly,  in  the  supreme  govern- 
ment of  the  universe  these  are  not  less  likely 
than  other  parts  of  our  mental  constitution 
to  have   some  part  of  the  natural   system 
related  to  them — so  related  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  that  system  shall  be  at  once  their 
interpretation  and  fulfilment.  Neither  brute 
matter    nor    inanimate    force    can    supply 
either  the  one  or  the  other.    If  there  be  one 
truth  more  certain  than  another,  one  con- 
clusion more  securely  founded  than  another, 
not  on  reason  only,  but  on  every  other  fac- 
ulty of  our  nature,   it  is   this — that  there 
is  nothing  but  mind  that  we  can  respect; 
nothing  but  heart  that  we  can  love,  nothing 
but  a  perfect  combination  of  the  two  that 
we  can  adore. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch. 
8,  p.  184.     (Burt.) 

2114.  MATTER  AND  MOTION— Made 
by  Descartes  the  Basis  of  All  Phenomena  of 
the  Universe. — Descartes  saw  that  the  dis- 
coveries of  Galileo  meant  that  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  universe  were  governed  by  me- 
chanical laws,  while  those  of  Harvey  meant 
that  the  same  laws  presided  over  the  opera- 
tions of  that  portion  of  the  world  which  is 
nearest  to  us,  namely,  our  own  bodily  frame. 
And  crossing  the  interval  between  the  center 
and  its  vast  circumference  by  one  of  the 
great  strides  of  genius,  Descartes  sought  to 
resolve  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe 
into  matter  and  motion,  or  forces  operating 


latter 
leasure 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


according  to  law.  This  grand  conception, 
which  is  sketched  in  the  "  Discours,']  and 
more  fully  developed  in  the  "  Principes " 
and  in  the  "  Traite"  de  rHomme,"  he  worked 
out  with  extraordinary  power  and  knowl- 
edge ;  and  with  the  effect  of  arriving,  in  the 
last-named  essay,  at  that  purely  mechanical 
view  of  vital  phenomena  towards  which 
modern  physiology  is  striving. — HUXLEY 
Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14,  p.  331.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

2115.  MATTER,  ATOMIC  CONSTI- 
TUTION OF— Hypothesis  of  Centers  of  Force 
— Phenomena  Not  So  Explained. — Accord- 
ing to  this  celebrated  hypothesis  [the  cor- 
puscular hypothesis  of  Boscovich],  a  portion 
of  matter  consists  of  an  assemblage  in  space 
of  an  indefinite  number  of  points  kept  at  a 
given  distance  by  attracting  and  repelling 
forces:  these  points  have  relative  position, 
but  not  magnitude,  and  are  merely  centers 
of  action  of  the  forces  which  affect  our 
senses,  and  since  all  our  knowledge  of  mat- 
ter is  derived  from  the  action  of  these  forces, 
to  infer  that  these  points  are  anything  more 
than  the  centers  of  forces  is  going  beyond 
our  premises. 

This  hypothesis  readily  explains  the 
statical  properties  of  bodies,  such  as  elas- 
ticity, porosity,  impenetrability,  solidity, 
liquidity,  crystallization,  resistance  to  com- 
pression when  a  force  is  applied  to  either 
side  of  the  body,  etc.;  but  it  fails  to  ac- 
count for  the  dynamic  phenomena  of  masses 
of  matter,  or  those  which  are  referable  to 
the  three  laws  of  motion.  It  is  not  there- 
fore enough  that  we  assume,  as  the  elements 
of  matter,  an  assemblage  of  points  in  space 
from  which  merely  emanate  attracting  and 
repelling  forces ;  we  must  also  suppose  these 
points  to  be  endowed  with  inertia,  or  a 
tendency  to  resist  a  change  of  state,  whether 
of  rest  or  motion,  and  a  tendency  to  move 
in  a  straight  line ;  also  to  possess  the  prop- 
erty of  preserving  the  effects  of  a  number  of 
impulses,  as  well  as  that  of  transforming 
motion  from  one  point  to  another,  the  one 
losing  as  much  motion  as  the  other  gains. 
But  the  admission  of  the  existence  of  points 
with  such  qualities  brings  us  back  to  the 
Newtonian  hypothesis  of  matter. — HENRY 
The  Atomic  Constitution  of  Matter,  Scien- 
tific Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  256.  (Sm.  Inst., 
1886.) 

2116. Hypothesis  of  New- 
ton— One  Kind  of  Matter  throughout  All 
Space — Its  Four  States — The  Imponder- 
ables— Ether  Cannot  Exhibit  Weight. — We 
may  assume,  with  Newton,  the  existence  of 
one  kind  of  matter  diffused  throughout  all 
space,  and  existing  in  four  states,  namely, 
the  ethereal,  the  aeriform,  the  liquid,  arid 
the  solid.  This  method  of  presenting  the 
atomic  hypothesis  of  the  constitution  of 
matter  may  at  first  sight  appear  startling; 
but  on  a  little  reflection  it  will  be  found  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  attempt  to  ex- 
plain the  mechanical  phenomena  of  matter 
by  an  assemblage  of  separate  atoms.  It  may 


be  objected  to  the  assumption  of  one  kind  of 
matter  that  the  fact  of  the  imponderable 
nature  of  light,  heat,  electricity,  and  mag- 
netism require  at  least  two  kinds  of  matter ; 
but  if  we  adopt  the  theory  of  undulation, 
the  phenomena  of  the  "  imponderables  "  ( as 
they  are  called)  are  merely  the  results  of 
the  motions  of  the  atoms  of  the  ethereal 
medium  combined  in  some  cases  with  the 
motion  of  the  atoms  of  the  body;  and  since 
the  vibrations  of  the  atoms  of  a  mass  of 
matter  do  not  increase  the  attraction  of  the 
earth  on  the  mass,  an  increase  of  tempera- 
ture in  a  body  cannot  change  its  weight; 
and  also  because  the  ethereal  medium  fills 
all  space,  a  portion  of  this  medium  can  no 
more  exhibit  weight  than  a  quantity  of  air 
when  weighed  in  the  midst  of  the  atmos- 
phere.— HENRY  Atomic  Constitution  of  Mat- 
ter, Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  257.  ( Sm. 
Inst.;  1886.) 

2117. Materiality  of  Atoms 

— The  Ether  a  Form  of  Matter,  Filling  All 
Space. — According  to  the  view  we  have 
given,  a  portion  of  matter  consists  of  an 
assemblage  of  indivisible  and  indestructible 
atoms  endowed  with  attracting  and  repel- 
ling forces,  and  with  the  property  of  obedi- 
ence to  the  three  laws  of  motion  [viz.: 
inertia,  coexistence  of  separate  motions, 
and  equality  of  action  and  reaction].  All 
the  other  properties,  and  indeed  all  the 
mechanical  phenomena  of  matter,  so  far  as 
they  have  been  analyzed,  are  probably  ref- 
erable to  the  action  of  such  atoms,  ar- 
ranged in  groups  of  different  orders,  .  .  . 
the  distance  in  all  cases  between  any  two 
atoms  being  much  greater  than  the  diam- 
eter of  the  atoms  or  molecules.  We  are 
obliged  to  assume  the  existence  of  an  ethe- 
real medium  formed  of  atoms,  which  are 
endowed  with  precisely  the  same  properties 
as  those  we  have  assigned  to  common  mat- 
ter; and  this  assumption  leads  us  to  the 
inference  that  matter  is  diffused  through  all 
space. 

That  something  exists  between  us  and  the 
sun,  possessing  the  properties  of  matter, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  simple  fact  that 
time  is  required  for  the  transmission  of 
light  and  heat  through  the  intervening  space. 
.  .  .  That  the  phenomena  of  light  and 
heat  from  the  sun  are  not  the  effect  of  the 
transmission  of  mere  force  (without  inter- 
vening matter),  such  as  that  of  attraction 
and  repulsion,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
these  [latter]  actions  require  no  perceptible 
time  for  their  transmission  to  the  most  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  solar  system.  If  the  sun 
were  to  be  at  once  annihilated,  the  planet 
Neptune  would  at  the  same  instant  begin  to 
move  in  a  tangent  to  its  present  orbit. — 
HENRY  The  Atomic  Constitution  of  Matter, 
Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  257.  (Sm. 
Inst.,  1886.) 

2118.  MATTER  IN  SPACE  AND  IN 
TIME — "There  are  only  two  different  as- 
pects," says  Dr.  Thomas  Brown,  "  in  which 
matter  can  be  viewed.  We  may  consider  it 


433 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Matter 
Measure 


simply  as  it  exists  in  space  or  as  it  exists 
in  time.  As  it  exists  in  space  we  inquire 
into  its  composition,  or,  in  other  words,  en- 
deavor to  discover  what  are  the  elementary 
bodies  that  coexist  in  the  space  which  it  oc- 
cupies; as  it  exists  in  time,  we  inquire 
into  its  susceptibilities  or  its  powers,  or,  in 
other  words,  endeavor  to  trace  all  the  va- 
rious changes  which  have  already  passed 
over  it,  or  of  which  it  may  yet  become  the 
subject." — MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch. 
12,  p.  211.  (G.  &L.,  1851.) 

2119.  MATTER,  MORAL  RELA- 
TIONS   OF  —  Man   Communicates  His   Own 
Character — Use    or    Abuse    of    Material. — 
Nothing,  however  indifferent  in  itself,  can 
come  into  human  hands  without  acquiring 
thereby  an  ethical,  social,  political,  or  even 
religious  significance.     An  ounce  of  lead  or 
a   dynamite   cartridge   may  be   in   itself   a 
thing    altogether    destitute    of    any    higher 
significance  than  that  depending  on  physical 
properties;    but  let  it  pass  into  the  power 
of  man,  and  at  once  infinite  possibilities  of 
good  and  of  evil  cluster  round  it  according 
to  the  use  to  which  it  may  be  applied.    This 
depends  on  essential  powers  and  attributes 
of  man  himself,  of  which  he  can  no  more  be 
deprived  than  matter  can  be  denuded  of  its 
inherent  properties;    and   if  the   evils   ari- 
sing from  misuse  of  these  powers  trouble  us, 
we  may  at  least  console  ourselves  with  the 
reflection  that  the  possibility  of  such  evils 
shows  man  to  be  a  free  agent,  and  not  an 
automaton.    All  this  is  eminently  applicable 
to  science. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in 
Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  12.    (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2 1 2O.  MATTER,  MUTABILITY  OF— 

Change  Alone  Is  Constant. — All  things  in 
existence  are  nothing  but  temporary  phases 
of  the  transition  of  matter,  appearing 
greater  or  smaller,  of  longer  or  shorter  dura- 
tion. Nothing  but  change  is  constant. — 
MERSHALL  (A  Lecture).  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-LigJits.) 

2121.  MATTER  RECOGNIZED  BY 

RESISTANCE—  The  Not-me—The  Putt  of  Air 
on  a  Sail. — We  must,  therefore,  seek  a  satis- 
factory definition  of  matter  elsewhere;  and 
we  find  the  clue  to  it  in  the  consideration 
that  the  sense  of  effort  we  experience  in  an- 
tagonizing the  downward  pressure  of  a  body, 
is  but  a  particular  case  of  our  more  general 
cognition  of  resistance.  When  we  project 
our  hand  against  a  hard  and  fixed  solid 
body,  our  consciousness  of  its  resistance  to 
our  pressure  is  exactly  that  which  we  ex- 
perience when  we  try  to  raise  a  weight  that 
we  have  not  strength  to  lift;  whilst  if  that 
solid  be  either  yielding  in  its  parts  or  mov- 
able as  a  whole,  we  measure  its  resistance, 
as  in  lifting  a  weight,  by  our  sense  of  the 
effort  necessary  to  overcome  it.  When  we 
move  our  hand  through  a  liquid,  we  are  con- 
scious of  a  resistance  to  its  motion,  which  is 
greater  or  less  according  to  the  "  viscosity  " 
of  the  liquid.  And  when  we  move  our  open 
hand  through  air  at  rest,  we  are  still  con- 


scious of  a  resistance,  our  sense  of  it  being 
augmented  by  an  extension  of  the  surface 
moved,  as  in  the  act  of  fanning;  whilst  if 
the  air  is  in  motion,  we  feel  its  pressure  on 
the  sail  of  a  boat  by  the  "  pull  "  of  the  sheet 
we  hold  in  our  hand,  or  on  the  sails  of  a 
windmill  by  the  rotation  it  imparts,  the 
force  of  which  we  can  estimate  by  the  effort 
we  must  put  forth  to  resist  it.  Attenuate 
any  kind  of  air  or  gas  as  we  may,  its  resist- 
ance can  still  be  made  apparent  by  the  like 
communication  of  its  own  motion  to  solid 
bodies. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect. 
12,  p.  356.  (A.,  1889.) 

2122.  MAZE  OF  ASTEROIDAL  OR- 
BITS— Labyrinth  of  the  Heavens. — The  crowd 
of    orbits    [of    asteroids]    invites    attentive 
study.     D'Arrest  remarked  in   1851,   when 
only  thirteen   minor   planets    were   known, 
that  supposing  their  paths  to  be  represented 
by  solid  hoops,  not  one  of  the  thirteen  could 
be  lifted  from  its  place  without  bringing  the 
others   with  it.     The  complexity  of  inter- 
woven tracks  thus  illustrated  has  grown  al- 
most in   the  numerical   proportion  of  dis- 
covery.    Yet  no  two  actually  intersect,  be- 
cause no  two  lie  exactly  in  the  same  plane, 
so  that  the  chances  of  collision  are  at  pres- 
ent nil.     There  is  only  one  case,  indeed,  in 
which   it   seems   to  be   eventually  possible. 
M.  Lespiault  has  pointed  out  that  the  curves 
traversed    by    "  Tide's  "    and    "  Maia "    ap- 
proach so  closely  that  a  time  may  arrive 
when    the   bodies    in    question    will    either 
coalesce  or  unite  to  form  a  binary  system. 

The  maze  threaded  by  the  375  asteroids 
contrasts  singularly  with  the  harmoniously 
ordered  and  rhythmically  separated  orbits 
of  the  larger  planets.  Yet  the  seeming  con- 
fusion is  not  without  a  plan. — CLERKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  347.  (Bl., 
1893.) 

2123.  MEANING  OF  HISTORY— 
Character  and  Achievement  Transcend  Psy- 
chology.— Does  history  really  mean  for  us 
what  psychological  and  economical  and  sta- 
tistical laws  put  in  its  place  ?     Are  "  hero- 
ism and  hero-worship  "  empty  words  ?    Have 
Kant    and    Fichte,    Carlyle    and    Emerson, 
really  nothing  to   say  any  more,   and   are 
Comte  and  Buckle  our  only  apostles?     Do 
we    mean,    in    speaking    of    Napoleon    and 
Washington,  Newton  and  Goethe,  those  com- 
plicated chemical  processes  which  the  phys- 
iologist sees  in  their  life,  and  those  accom- 
panying psychical  processes  which  the  psy- 
chologist   enumerates    between    their    birth 
and  their  death?     Do  we  really  still  think 
historically  if  we  consider  the  growth  of  the 
nations    and    this    gigantic    civilization    on 
earth  as  the  botanist  studies  the  growth  of 
the  mold  which  covers  a  rotten  apple?    Is  it 
really  only  a  difference  of  complication? — 
MUNSTERBERG  Psychology  and  Life,  ch.  1.  p. 
17.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  18990 

2124.  MEASURE  OF  ANCIENT  GLA- 
CIER— A  Mountain  for  a  Plummet. —  Mount 
Washington,  for  instance,  is  over  six  thou- 
sand feet  high,  and  the  rough,  unpolished 


leasure 
[echamcs 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


434 


surface  of  its  summit,  covered  with  loose 
fragments,  just  below  the  level  of  which 
glacier-marks  come  to  an  end,  tells  us  that 
it  lifted  its  head  alone  above  the  desolate 
waste  of  ice  and  snow.  In  this  region,  then, 
the  thickness  of  the  sheet  cannot  have  been 
much  less  than  six  thousand  feet,  and  this  is 
in  keeping  with  the  same  kind  of  evidence 
in  other  parts  of  the  country;  for,  wherever 
the  mountains  are  much  below  six  thousand 
feet,  the  ice  seems  to  have  passed  directly 
over  them,  while  the  few  peaks  rising  to 
that  height  are  left  untouched.  And  while 
we  can  thus  sink  our  plummet  from  the 
summit  to  the  base  of  Mount  Washington 
and  measure  the  thickness  of  the  mass  of 
ice,  we  have  a  no  less  accurate  indication  of 
its  extension  in  the  undulating  line  marking 
the  southern  termination  of  the  drift. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  98. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2125.  MEASURE  OF  THE  POWER 
OF   HEAT — It  is  singular  how  a  modern 
investigator  will  repeat  an  experiment  that 
dates  almost  from  the  dawn  of  human  skill, 
and  discover  a  significance  in  it  concealed 
until  the  hour  of  his  interrogation.     Ages 
ago  the  savage  must  have  remarked  that 
the  hard  work   of  grinding   and   polishing 
stone  gave  rise  to  heat.     It  remained  for 
James  Prescott  Joule,  of  Manchester,  as  re- 
cently as  1843,  to  carry  forward  by  a  de- 
cisive step  the  experiments  which  had  begun 
with  the  savage  and  had  been  brought  to  a 
new  meaning  by  Count  Rumford.    Joule  set 
himself  to  find  out  exactly  how  much  heat  is 
equivalent  to  a  given  amount  of  work.    He 
applied  sinking  weights  to  the  agitation  of 
water,    and,    taking    elaborate    precautions 
against  the  escape  of  heat,  he  found  that 
1,390  pounds  in  descending  one  foot  could 
raise  the  temperature  of  a  pound  of  water 
by  1°  C.    Here  at  last  was  rendered  an  accu- 
rate account  of  the  enormous  debt  due  to  the 
ability  to   kindle   fire. — ILES   Flame,   Elec- 
tricity, and  the  Camera,  ch.  7,  p.  82.    (D.  & 
McC.,  1900.) 

2126.  MEASUREMENT     AMONG 
NORTH-AMERICAN  MOUND-BUILDERS 

— Exactness  of  Lines,  Angles,  and  Circles. — 
The  squares  or  other  rectangular  works 
never  have  a  ditch,  and  the  earth  of  which 
they  are  composed  appears  to  have  been 
taken  up  evenly  from  the  surface,  or  from 
large  pits  in  the  neighborhood.  They  vary 
much  in  size;  five  or  six  of  them,  however, 
are  "  exact  squares,  each  side  measuring  one 
thousand  and  eighty  feet — a  coincidence 
which  could  not  possibly  be  accidental,  and 
which  must  possess  some  significance."  The 
circles  also,  in  spite  of  their  great  size,  are 
so  nearly  round  that  the  American  archeol- 
ogists  consider  themselves  justified  in  con- 
cluding that  the  mound-builders  must  have 
had  some  standard  of  measurement,  and 
some  means  of  determining  angles. — AVE- 
BUBY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  246.  (A., 
1900.) 


2127.  MEASUREMENT  OF  ENERGY 

— The  Foot-pound — Exactness  of  Science. — 
This  brings  us  to  the  discussion  of  what  is 
called  the  "  mechanical  equivalent  "  of  heat. 
It  has  been  proven  by  experiment  that  the 
quantity  of  heat  necessary  to  raise  one 
pound  of  water  to  the  temperature  of  one 
degree  F.  is  equal  to  that  generated  by  a 
pound  weight  falling  from  a  height  of  772 
feet  against  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Con- 
versely, an  amount  of  heat  necessary  to  raise 
a  pound  of  water  one  degree  F.  in  tempera- 
ture would,  if  all  is  converted  into  mechan- 
ical energy,  be  sufficient  to  raise  a  pound 
weight  772  feet  above  the  earth.  The  unit 
of  measurement  called  the  "  foot-pound " 
has  been  adopted  as  a  means  of  determining 
the  amount  of  energy  expended  in  doing  a 
given  piece  of  work.  The  foot-pound  is  a 
unit  of  energy  as  expressed  in  work,  and  is 
that  amount  of  energy  which  is  necessary  to 
raise  one  pound  weight  one  foot  high  against 
the  force  of  gravity.  It  follows  from  this 
that  the  amount  of  heat  necessary  to  raise 
a  pound  of  water  one  degree  F.  is  equal  to 
772  foot-pounds,  which  constitutes  the  me- 
chanical equivalent  of  heat.  We  thus  have 
a  means  of  measuring  energy,  whether  me- 
chanical or  molecular. — ELISHA  GRAY  Na- 
ture's Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  13.  (F.  H. 
&  H.,  1900.) 

2128.  MEASUREMENTS  OF  HEAT 
OF  SUN—  Coal  Needed  for  Equal  Supply.— 
The  total  amount  of  solar  heat  received  by 
the  earth  in  a  year,  if  distributed  uniformly 
over  the  earth's  surface,  would  be  sufficient 
to  liquefy  a  layer  of  ice  100  feet  thick,  cover- 
ing the  whole  earth.    The  heat  of  the  sun,  if 
used  to  melt  a  stratum  of  ice  applied  to  the 
sun's  surface,  would  liquefy  it  at  the  rate  of 
2,400  feet  an  hour.     It  would  boil  per  hour 
700,000  millions  of  cubic  miles  of  ice-cold 
water.    Expressed  in  another  form,  the  heat 
given  out  every  hour  by  the  sun  is  equal  to 
that  which  would  be  generated  by  the  com- 
bustion of  a  layer  of  coal,  ten  feet  thick, 
entirely    surrounding    the    sun;    hence    the 
heat  emitted  in  a  year  is  equal  to  that  which 
would  be  produced  by  the  combustion  of  a 
layer  of  coal  seventeen  miles  in  thickness. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p. 
516.    (A.,  1900.) 

2129.  MEASURES  AMONG  PRIMI- 
TIVE MEN—  The  Human  Body  the  Universal 
Standard. — These     ancient     manufacturers 
and  builders  had  no  government  standards 
of  measuring  their  work,  but  referred  every- 
thing to  their  bodies.     This  system  was  far 
more  accurate   among  rude   peoples,   where 
anthropometric     differences     between     the 
sexes    and    between    individuals    were    very 
slight.    Many  witnesses  confirm  the  opinion 
that  every  weapon  or  chungke-pole  had  its 
proportion  to  the  owner.    Dr.  Mathews  says 
that  the   Navajo   pole   for   the   great   hoop 
game  was  twice  the  span  long,  and  Mr.  Dor- 
sey  found  that  the  Omaha   arrow  had  to 
measure  from  the  inner  angle  of  the  elbow 
to  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger,  and  thence 


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Measure 
Mechanics 


over  the  back  of  the  hand  to  the  wrist  bone. 
I  have  examined  many  hundreds  of  quivers, 
and  have  always  found  the  arrows  to  be  of 
the  same  length,  while  those  of  the  tribe  re- 
semble in  general  appearance,  but  vary 
slightly  in  length  for  each  man.  Dr.  Dorsey 
found  the  Naltunne,  on  Siletz  Agency,  in  • 
Oregon,  using  the  double  arm's  length,  the 
single  arm's  length,  half  the  span,  the  cubit, 
the  half-cubit,  the  hand-length,  the  hand- 
width,  the  finger-width,  and  from  the  tip  of 
the  elbow  across  the  body  to  the  end  of  the 
middle  finger  of  the  other  hand.  In  most 
of  these  cases  the  starting-point  is  the 
meeting  of  the  tips  of  the  thumb  and  index- 
finger.  .  .  . 

Quite  a  series  of  measures  were  recog- 
nized from  the  ground  to  the  upper  portions 
of  the  body,  to  the  ankle,  to  the  upper  por- 
tion of  the  calf,  to  the  knee-cap,  to  the 
girdle,  etc. — MASON  Aboriginal  American 
Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  the  International 
Congress  of  Anthropology,  p.  77).  (Sch. 
P.  C.) 

21 3D.  MEASURES,  ANCIENT  —  The 
Human  Body  Furnished  the  Early  Stand- 
ards— The  Cubit,  Foot,  Span,  Nail,  Ell,  and 
Pace. — It  may  be  fairly  guessed  that  man 
first  measured,  as  he  first  counted,  on  his 
own  body.  When  barbarians  tried  by  finger- 
breadths  how  much  one  spear  was  longer 
than  another,  or  when  in  building  huts  they 
saw  how  to  put  one  foot  before  the  other  to 
get  the  distance  right  between  two  stakes, 
they  had  brought  mensuration  to  its  first 
stage.  We  sometimes  use  this  method  still 
for  rough  work,  as  in  taking  a  horse's  height 
by  hands,  or  stepping  out  the  size  of  a  car- 
pet. If  care  is  taken  to  choose  men  of  av- 
erage size  as  measures,  some  approach  may 
be  made  to  fair  measurement  in  this  way. 
That  it  was  the  primitive  way  can  hardly  be 
doubted,  for  civilized  nations  who  have  more 
exact  means  still  use  the  names  of  the  body- 
measures.  Besides  the  cubit,  hand,  foot, 
span,  nail,  .  .  .  we  have  in  English  the 
ell  (of  which  the  early  meaning  of  arm  or 
forearm  is  seen  in  eZ-bow,  the  arm-bend), 
also  the  fathom  or  cord  stretched  by  the  out- 
spread arms  in  sailors'  fashion,  and  the  pace 
or  double  step  (Latin  passus)  of  which  a 
thousand  (mille)  made  the  mile. — TYLOB 
Anthropology,  ch.  13,  p.  316.  (A.,  1899.) 

2131.  MECHANIC  MASTER  OF  THE 
EARTH—  Wonders  Wrought  by  Command  of 
Natural  Forces. — A  mechanic  is  one  who  is 
skilled  in  the  use  of  tools,  who  works  habitu- 
ally in  some  kind  of  material  to  shape  it, 
who  makes  thereof  something  useful.  He  is, 
therefore,  an  artisan  or  artificer.  He  prac- 
tises always  some  kind  of  elaborative  indus- 
try, by  which  materials  are  changed  in  form 
to  adapt  them  to  the  use  of  others.  Finally, 
he  is  a  utilitarian.  His  works  are  designed 
to  supply  some  need.  As  distinguished  from 
an  artist,  who  works  in  order  to  give  pleas- 
ure, this  man  toils  to  feed  the  hungry,  to 
clothe  the  naked,  to  house  the  shelterless,  to 
enable  all  mankind  to  do  their  work,  what- 


ever  it  may  be.  The  modern  mechanic  is 
absolute  master  of  the  earth.  There  is  little 
that  he  cannot  lift,  remove,  dissolve,  pene- 
trate, transform.  A  catalog  of  his  tools  and 
appliances  would  define  all  the  trades  and 
industries  of  the  world.  All  the  material 
resources  of  the  earth,  mineral,  vegetable, 
animal,  are  his.  The  winds,  the  waters,  the 
fire,  the  sunlight,  the  lightning  are  his  serv- 
ants. He  understands  the  nature  and 
transformations  of  forces,  "the  constitution 
and  molecular  activities  of  matter,  the  na- 
ture of  living  beings.  He  has  devised  means 
of  multiplying  himself,  of  converting  space 
and  time  and  weight,  one  into  the  other. 
And  now  he  dreams  of  new  applications  of 
force  and  combines  with  his  fellows  to  con- 
struct and  govern  society.  The  most  fa- 
vored nations  have  not  always  been  so  blest, 
but  the  mechanic,  like  every  other  product 
of  Nature  or  of  culture,  is  the  result  of 
many  evolutions. — MASON  Aboriginal  Ameri- 
can Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  International 
Congress  of  Anthropology,  p.  69).  (Sch. 
P.  C.) 

2132.  MECHANICS,  A  MONKEY'S 
COMPREHENSION  OF  —  Perseverance  in 
Learning. — To-day  he  [a  brown  capuchin 
monkey]  obtained  possession  of  a  hearth- 
brush,  one  of  the  kind  which  has  the  handle 
screwed  into  the  brush.  He  soon  found  the 
way  to  unscrew  the  handle,  and  having  done 
that  he  immediately  began  to  try  to  find  out 
the  way  to  screw  it  in  again.  This  he  in 
time  accomplished.  At  first  he  put  the 
wrong  end  of  the  handle  into  the  hole,  but 
turned  it  round  and  round  the  right  way  for 
screwing.  Finding  it  did  not  hold,  he  turned 
the  other  end  of  the  handle  and  carefully 
stuck  it  into  the  hole,  and  began  again  to 
turn  it  the  right  way.  It  was  of  course  a 
very  difficult  feat  for  him  to  perform,  for 
he  required  both  his  hands  to  hold  the 
handle  in  the  proper  position  and  to  turn  it 
between  his  hands  in  order  to  screw  it  in, 
and  the  long  bristles  of  the  brush  prevented 
it  from  remaining  steady  or  with  the  right 
side  up.  He  held  the  brush  with  his  hind 
hand,  but  even  so  it  was  very  difficult  for 
him  to  get  the  first  turn  of  the  screw  to  fit 
into  the  thread;  he  worked  at  it,  however, 
with  the  most  unwearying  perseverance  un- 
til he  got  the  first  turn  of  the  screw  to 
catch,  and  he  then  quickly  turned  it  round 
and  round  until  it  was  screwed  up  to  the 
end.  The  most  remarkable  thing  was  that, 
however  often  he  was  disappointed  in  the 
beginning,  he  never  was  induced  to  try  turn- 
ing the  handle  the  wrong  way;  he  always 
screwed  it  from  right  to  left.  As  soon  as  he 
had  accomplished  his  wish,  he  unscrewed  it 
again,  and  then  screwed  it  in  again  the  sec- 
ond time  rather  more  easily  than  the  first, 
and  so  on  many  times.  When  he  had  be- 
come by  practise  tolerably  perfect  in  screw- 
ing and  unscrewing,  he  gave  it  up  and  took 
to  some  other  amusement.  One  remarkable 
thing  is  that  he  should  take  so  much  trouble 
to  do  that  which  is  no  material  benefit  to 


Mechanics 
emory 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


him.  The  desire  to  accomplish  a  chosen  task 
seems  a  sufficient  inducement  to  lead  him  to 
take  any  amount  of  trouble.  This  seems  a 
very  human  feeling,  such  as  is  not  shown,  I 
believe,  by  any  other  animal.  It  is  not  the 
desire  of  praise,  as  he  never  notices  people 
looking  on;  it  is  simply  the  desire  to 
achieve  an  object  for  the  sake  of  achieving 
an  object,  and  he  never  rests  nor  allows  his 
attention  to  be  distracted  until  it  is  done. — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence  (extract  from 
diary  of  author's  sister),  ch.  17,  p.  490.  (A., 
1899.) 

2133.  MECHANICS     OF   AMERICA 
BEFORE  COLUMBUS—  Variety  of  Tools— 
A  True  Stone  Age. — The  handy  tools  of  our 
day  do  not  change  the  mode  of  action,  they 
do  not  add  many  new  ideas  out  and  out. 
They  substitute  better  material,  work  more 
rapidly,  and  introduce  cooperation  in  their 
actions.    They  are  more  often  now  driven  by 
power  rather  than  by  hand.    But  the  Ameri- 
can mechanic  before  the  days  of  Columbus 
had  a  respectable  tool-chest,   as  his  works 
will    testify.      The    knives,    shears,    planes, 
axes,  adzes,  chisels,  gouges,  and  saws  of  the 
aborigines  of  the  Western  Continent  were  of 
stone  for  the  most  part.     The  use  of  teeth, 
shell,  and  copper  for  such  purposes  was  lim- 
ited.    Bronze  may  have  sparingly  entered 
into  the  list  of  cutting-tools  among  the  ad- 
vanced nations.     For  cutting,  the  Americans 
used  both  chipped  and  polished  implements, 
and  had  a  great  variety  of  forms  for  work- 
ing in  hides  or  wood,  or  in  ivory,  antler, 
horn,  slate,  and  such  hard  materials.    These 
tools  were  best  developed  in  the  places  where 
the  best  material  abounded,  such  as  British 
Columbia  or  the  West  Indies.     .     .     .     Mor- 
tars for  paint,  tobacco,  and  food,  and  me- 
tates  for  food  and  clay  and  chocolate,  are  to 
be  found  in  all  latitudes.     From  a  hole  in  a 
natural    boulder,    in    which    an    elongated 
pebble  was   worked,   to   the   intricate   Cali- 
fornia   acorn-grinding   apparatus,    with    its 
exquisite  basketry  hopper,  or  to  a  Mexican 
metate,  tastefully  carved,  there  are  several 
grades  of  technical  education,  filled  by  the 
triturating  and  rubbing  apparatus  of  other 
tribes.    There  were  no  mills  in  America  four 
hundred  years  ago,  turned  either  by  man  or 
beast.    The  grinding  was  done  with  metates 
and  in  mortars.    For  making  holes,  the  im- 
plement  of   chief  importance   is  universal, 
namely,  a  sharpened  bone,  used  as  a  mar- 
linespike,  is  employed  by  sailors.     The  skin- 
sewer   and  the  basket-maker   could  not  do 
without  it,   and  hundreds  of  examples  are 
found  in  their  graves. — MASON  Aboriginal 
American  Mechanics   (Memoirs  of  Interna- 
tional   Congress    of   Anthropology,    p.    72). 
(Sch.   P.  C.) 

2134.  MEDITERRANEAN,  ABYSSES 

OF — Unsolved  Problems  of  Science. — The  cen- 
tral abysses,  therefore,  of  this  sea  [the 
Mediterranean]  are,  in  all  likelihood,  at 
least  as  deep  as  the  Alps  are  high;  and,  as 
at  the  depth  of  seven  hundred  fathoms  only, 
water  has  been  found  to  contain  a  propor- 


tion of  salt  four  times  greater  than  at  the 
surface,  we  may  presume  that  the  excess  of 
salt  may  be  much  greater  at  the  depth  of 
two  or  three  miles.  After  evaporation,  the 
surface-water  becomes  impregnated  with  a 
slight  excess  of  salt,  and,  its  specific  gravity 
being  thus  increased,  it  instantly  falls  to  the 
bottom,  while  lighter  water  rises  to  the  top, 
or  flows  in  laterally,  being  always  supplied 
by  rivers  and  the  current  from  the  Atlantic. 
The  heavier  fluid,  when  it  arrives  at  the 
bottom,  cannot  stop  if  it  can  gain  access  to 
any  lower  part  of  the  bed  of  the  sea,  not 
previously  occupied  by  water  of  the  same 
density. 

How  far  this  accumulation  of  brine  can 
extend  before  the  inferior  strata  of  water 
will  part  with  any  of  their  salt,  and  what 
difference  in  such  a  chemical  process  the  im- 
mense pressure  of  the  incumbent  ocean,  or 
the  escape  of  heated  vapors,  thermal 
springs,  or  submarine  volcanic  eruptions, 
might  occasion,  are  questions  which  cannot 
be  answered  in  the  present  state  of  science. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
20,  p.  336.  (A.,  1854.) 

2135.  MELODY     AND    MOTION 
UNITED — Many  songsters  in  widely  differ- 
ent families  possess  the  habit  of  soaring  and 
falling    alternately    while    singing,    and    in 
some  cases  all  the  aerial  postures  and  move- 
ments, the  swift  or  slow  descent,  vertical, 
often  with  oscillations,  or  in  a  spiral,  and 
sometimes    with    a    succession    of    smooth 
oblique  lapses,  seem  to  have  an  admirable 
correspondence  with  the  changing  and  fall- 
ing voice — melody  and  motion  being  united 
in  a  more  intimate  and  beautiful  way  than 
in   the   most   perfect    and   poetic   forms    of 
human  dancing. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  19,  p.  274.    (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

2136.  MEMORY  A  MARVELOUS 
PHENOMENON  —  Pvemember !     Have    you 
ever  reflected  on  the  marvelous  phenomenon 
we  call  memory?    There  is  nothing  we  know 
better,  nothing  more  familiar.     There  is  no 
greater   mystery.      Every   hour,    every   mo- 
ment,   external    facts,    scenes,    utterances, 
physical    sensations,   ideas,    and   moral    im- 
pressions are  engraving  themselves  upon  our 
minds  and  contributing  to  form  the  being 
which  is  ourself.     Without  memory  we  evi- 
dently should  be  nothing,   for^the  present 
moment   is   continually  vanishing,    and   we 
oscillate  perpetually  between  the  past  and 
the  future.     It  is  our  past  that  makes  some- 
thing of  us,  that  imparts  to  us  intellectual 
or  moral  value;    every  judgment  we  form 
presupposes    memory. — BERSIER    "  Souviens 
Toi"   (a  Sermon).      (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

2137.  MEMORY    A     MYSTERY— A 
Resurrection  of  the  Buried  Past. — The  mys- 
tery of  memory  lies  in  the  apparent  imme- 
diateness   of   the   mind's   contact   with   the 
vanished  past.     In  "  looking  back  "  on  our 
life,  we  seem  to  ourselves  for  the  moment  to 
rise  above  the  limitations  of  time,  to  undo 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mechanics 
Memory 


its  work  of  extinction,  seizing  again  the 
realities  which  its  on-rushing  stream  had 
borne  far  from  us.  Memory  is  a  kind  of 
resurrection  of  the  buried  past:  as  we  fix 
our  retrospective  glance  on  it,  it  appears  to 
start  anew  into  life ;  forms  arise  within  our 
minds  which,  we  feel  sure,  must  faithfully 
represent  the  things  that  were. — SULLY  Illu- 
sions, ch.  10,  p.  231.  (A.,  1897.) 

2138.  MEMORY   AND  THOUGHT— 

Dependence  of,  on  Bodily  Condition — Evi- 
dence of  Old  Age,  Delirium,  and  Sleep. — The 
memory  rises  and  falls  with  the  bodily  con- 
dition, being  vigorous  in  our  fresh  moments, 
and  feeble  when  we  are  fatigued  or  ex- 
hausted. It  is  related  by  Sir  Henry  Holland 
that  on  one  occasion  he  descended,  on  the 
same  day,  two  deep  mines  in  the  Hartz 
Mountains,  remaining  some  hours  in  each. 
In  the  second  mine  he  was  so  exhausted  with 
inanition  and  fatigue  that  his  memory  ut- 
terly failed  him;  he  could  not  recollect  a 
single  word  of  German.  The  power  came 
back  after  taking  food  and  wine.  Old  age 
notoriously  impairs  the  memory  in  ninety- 
nine  men  out  of  a  hundred.  In  the  delirium 
of  fever  the  sense  of  hearing  sometimes  be- 
comes extraordinarily  acute.  Among  the 
premonitory  symptoms  of  brain  disease  has 
been  noticed  an  unusual  delicacy  of  the 
sense  of  sight;  the  physician  suspects  that 
there  is  already  congestion  of  blood,  to  be 
followed  perhaps  by  effusion.  Any  person 
fancying  that  trains  of  thinking  have  little 
dependence  on  the  bodily  organs  should  also 
reflect  on  such  facts  as  these.  When  walk- 
ing, or  engaged  in  any  bodily  occupation,  if 
an  interesting  idea  occurs  to  the  mind,  or  is 
imparted  to  us  by  another  person,  we  sud- 
denly stop,  and  remain  at  rest,  until  the  ex- 
citement has  subsided.  .  .  .  Why  should 
sleep  suspend  all  thought,  except  the  inco- 
herency  of  dreaming  (absent  in  perfect 
sleep),  if  a  certain  condition  of  the  bodily 
powers  were  not  indispensable  to  the  intel- 
lectual functions  ? — BAIN  Mind  and  Body, 
ch.  2,  p.  3.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2139.  MEMORY,  ANOMALIES  OF— 

Sudden  Recollection  of  Something^  Sought  in 
Vain. — There  are  many  irregularities  in  the 
process  of  forgetting  which  are  as  yet  un- 
accounted for.  A  thing  forgotten  on  one 
day  will  be  remembered  on  the  next.  Some- 
thing we  have  made  the  most  strenuous  ef- 
forts to  recall,  but  all  in  vain,  will,  soon 
after  we  have  given  up  the  attempt,  saunter 
into  the  mind,  as  Emerson  somewhere  says, 
as  innocently  as  if  it  had  never  been  sent 
for.  Experiences  of  bygone  date  will  revive 
after  years  of  absolute  oblivion,  often  as 
the  result  of  some  cerebral  disease  or  acci- 
dent which  seems  to  develop  latent  paths  of 
association,  as  the  photographer's  fluid  de- 
velops the  picture  sleeping  in  the  collodion 
film.  The  oftenest  quoted  of  these  cases  is 
Coleridge's : 

"  In  a  Roman  Catholic  town  in  Germany, 
a  young  woman,  who  could  neither  read  nor 


write,  was  seized  with  a  fever,  and  was  said 
by  the  priests  to  be  possessed  of  a  devil,  be- 
cause she  was  heard  talking  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew.  Whole  sheets  of  her  ravings 
were  written  out,  and  found  to  consist  of 
sentences  intelligible  in  themselves,  but  hav- 
ing slight  connection  with  each  other.  Of 
her  Hebrew  sayings,  only  a  few  could  be 
traced  to  the  Bible,  and  most  seemed  to  be 
in  the  rabbinical  dialect.  All  trick  was  out 
of  the  question;  the  woman  was  a  simple 
creature;  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  the 
fever.  It  was  long  before  any  explanation, 
save  that  of  demoniacal  possession,  could  be 
obtained.  At  last  the  mystery  was  unveiled 
by  a  physician,  who  determined  to  trace 
back  the  girl's  history,  and  who,  after  much 
trouble,  discovered  that  at  the  age  of  nine 
she  had  been  charitably  taken  by  an  old 
Protestant  pastor,  a  great  Hebrew  scholar, 
in  whose  house  she  lived  till  his  death.  On 
further  inquiry  it  appeared  to  have  been  the 
old  man's  custom  for  years  to  walk  up  and 
down  a  passage  of  his  house  into  which  the 
kitchen  opened,  and  to  read  to  himself  with 
a  loud  voice  out  of  his  books.  The  books 
were  ransacked,  and  among  them  were  found 
several  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers,  to- 
gether with  a  collection  of  rabbinical  wri- 
tings. In  these  works  so  many  of  the  pas- 
sages taken  down  at  the  young  woman's 
bedside  were  identified  that  there  could  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  their  source." — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  681. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2140.  MEMORY      COEXTENSIVE 
WITH  INTEREST— The  attention  which  we 
lend  to  an  experience  is  proportional  to  its 
vivid  or  interesting  character;    and  it  is  a 
notorious  fact  that  what  interests  us  most 
vividly  at  the  time  is,  other  things  equal, 
what   we   remember   best.      An    impression 
may  be  so  exciting  emotionally  as  almost  to 
leave   a   scar   upon   the   cerebral   tissues. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  670.    (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2141.  MEMORY  DEPENDS  ON  MUL- 
TIPLE ASSOCIATIONS— Inherent  Absurdity 
of   Cramming   System. — You  now   see   why 
"  cramming  '*  must  be   so  poor   a  mode  of 
study.     Cramming  seeks  to  stamp  things  in 
by  intense   application  immediately  before 
the  ordeal.     But  a  thing  thus  learned  can 
form  but  few  Associations.     On  the   other 
hand,  the  same  thing  recurring  on  different 
days,  in  different  contexts,  read,  recited  on, 
referred  to  again  and  again,  related  to  other 
things  and  reviewed,  gets  well  wrought  into 
the  mental  structure.     This   is  the  reason 
why    you    should    enforce    on    your    pupils 
habits  of  continuous  application.     There  is 
no  moral  turpitude  in  cramming.     It  would 
be  the  best,   because  the  most  economical, 
mode  of  study  if  it  led  to  the  results  desired. 
But  it  does  not,  and  your  older  pupils  can 
readily  be  made  to   see  the  reason  why. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  12,  p.  129.    (H. 
H.  &Co.,  1900.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


438 


2142.  MEMORY  ESSENTIAL  TO  ALL 
MENTAL    ACTION— No  Personal  Identity, 
fro  Real  Mind  without  Memory. — Memory  is 
the  most  important  function  of  the  brain; 
without  it,  life  would  be  a  blank.    Our  knowl- 
edge is  all  based  on  memory.  Every  thought, 
every  action,   our  very  conception   of  per- 
sonal identity,  is  based  on  memory.  Without 
memory,   all   experience  would  be  useless; 
reasoning   would    be    based    on    insufficient 
data,  and  would  be,  therefore,  fallacious.     A 
bad  memory  makes  an  otherwise  able  man 
appear  foolish;    he  looks  his  acquaintances 
in  the  face  without  recognizing  them;    he 
forgets  his  appointments,  and  tho  he  may 
be  well  acquainted  with  the  ordinary  rules 
of  society,  he  forgets  what  to  do  under  par- 
ticular     circumstances.  —  ELDRIDGE-GBEEN 
Memory  and  Its   Cultivation,   ch.    1,  p.   1. 
(A.,  1900.  \ 

2143.  MEMORY,  FREAKS  OF— Re- 
tracing Links  of  Association. — When  a  man 
tries  to  retrace  some  "  train  of  thought " 
which  has  formerly  passed  through  his  mind, 
but  of  which  he  only  remembers  that  the 
subject  of  it  had  been  before  him,  he  may 
often  recover  it  by  following  it  out  (as  it 
were)     from    the    original    starting-point; 
when  the  whole,  with  its  conclusions,  will 
often  flash  into  the  mind  at  once. 

Thus,  the  writer  well  recollects  that,  when 
going  to  register  the  birth  of  one  of  his  own 
children,  he  found,  when  approaching  the 
office,  that  he  had  entirely  forgotten  the  in- 
tended name,  which  had  been  decided  on 
after  a  considerable  amount  of  domestic  dis- 
cussion, and  only  brought  it  to  his  re- 
membrance by  "  trying  back  "  over  the  rea- 
sons which  had  determined  the  one  finally 
selected. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology, 
ch.  10,  p.  449.  (A.,  1900.) 

2144.  MEMORY,  LAPSE  OF— Shock 
May  Cause — Questions  of  Veracity  May  Be 
So  Explained. — Numerous  cases  are  on  rec- 
ord of  a  person  receiving  some  great  shock, 
and  on  recovery  being  found  to  have  lost  the 
memory  not  only  of  the  circumstance  which 
gave  rise  to  the  shock,  but  also  of  a  certain 
period  of  time  directly  preceding  it,  all  the 
events   and   circumstances   which  happened 
during  that  time  being  forgotten,  the  last 
circumstance     remembered,     preceding    the 
blank,    often    being    some    trivial    incident. 
.     .     .     A  young  lady,  having  ascended  an 
iron  staircase,  became  giddy  and  fell  down, 
being   afterwards    found    insensible    at   the 
bottom.     After   her   recovery,    she   had   no 
recollection  of  the  cause  of  her  illness  or  the 
place   where    she   had    fallen    down.      Five 
years  afterwards  she  happened  to  go  to  the 
same  place  again  and  immediately  the  whole 
flashed  into  her  mind;    she  remembered  be- 
coming giddy  and  falling. — ELDRIDGE-GREEN 
Memory  and  Its  Cultivation,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  pp. 
20-22.    (A.,  1900.) 

2145. Work  Forgotten 

"by  Author — Experience  of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
—One  of  the  most  curious  examples  of  this 


limited  loss  of  memory  occurred  in  the  case 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who,  having  produced 
one  of  his  best  works  ["  The  Bride  of  Lam- 
mermoor  "]  under  the  pressure  of  severe  ill- 
ness, was  afterwards  found  to  have  entirely 
forgotten  what  he  had  thus  constructed. 

"The  book  (says  James  Ballantyne)  was 
not  only  written,  but  published,  before  Mr. 
Scott  was  able  to  rise  from  his  bed,  and  he 
assured  me  that  when  it  was  first  put  into 
his  hands  in  a  complete  shape,  he  did  not 
recollect  one  single  incident,  character,  or 
conversation  it  contained!  He  did  not  de- 
sire me  to  understand,  nor  did  I  understand, 
that  his  illness  had  erased  from  his  memory 
the  original  incidents  of  the  story,  with 
which  he  had  been  acquainted  from  his  boy- 
hood. These  remained  rooted  where  they 
had  ever  been ;  or,  to  speak  more  explicitly, 
he  remembered  the  general  facts  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  father  and  mother,  of  the  son 
and  daughter,  of  the  rival  lovers,  of  the  com- 
pulsory marriage,  and  the  attack  made  by 
the  bride  upon  the  hapless  bridegroom,  with 
the  general  catastrophe  of  the  whole.  All 
these  things  he  recollected,  just  as  he  did 
before  he  took  to  his  bed;  but  he  literally 
recollected  nothing  else — not  a  single  char- 
acter woven  by  the  romancer,  not  one  of  the 
many  scenes  and  points  of  humor,  nor  any- 
thing with  which  he  was  himself  connected, 
as  the  writer  of  the  work."  ("  Life  of  Wal- 
ter Scott,"  ch.  44.)  — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  ch.  10,  p.  443.  (A.,  1900.) 

2 1 46.  MEMORY,  MENDACITY  OF— 
Experience  Compels  to  Reluctant  Doubt. — 
Yet,  altho  people  in  general  are  naturally 
disposed  to  be  very  confident  about  matters 
of  recollection,  reflective  persons  are  pretty 
sure  to  find  out,  sooner  or  later,  that  they 
occasionally  fall  into  errors  of  memory.    It 
is  not  the  philosopher  who  first  hints  at  the 
mendacity  of  memory,  but  the  "  plain  man  " 
who  takes  careful  note  of  what  really  hap- 
pens in  the  world  of  his  personal  experience. 
Thus    we    hear    persons    quite    innocent    of 
speculative   doubt   qualifying   an    assertion 
made  on  personal  recollection  by  the  pro- 
viso,  "  unless  my  memory  has  played   me 
false."    And  even  less  reflective  persons,  in- 
cluding many  who  pride  themselves  on  their 
excellent  memory,  will,  when  sorely  pressed, 
make  a  grudging  admission  that  they  may, 
after  all,  be  in  error. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch. 
10,  p.  233.    (A.,  1897.) 

2147.  MEMORY    OF    TOTALS— "A 
Woman's  Reason." — Students  of  any  branch 
of  practical  science,  medicine,  botany,  con- 
ch ology,  etc.,  soon  find  that  they  are  able  to 
recognize  a  specimen  without  going  through 
the  processes  which  were  at  first  necessary 
to  come  to  an  opinion — that  is,  they  "  see  it 
at  a  glance,"  as  it  is  called.    Now,  if  a  per- 
son always  revives  a  whole  as  a  whole,  and 
never  splits  it  up  into  components,  these 
components  will  never  occur  to  his   mind. 
.     .    .    An  example  of  this  is  found  in  what 
is  called  "woman's  reason" — that  is,  she 
feels  sure  that  a  certain  thing  is  so  and  so 


439 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Memory 
Mermaid 


"  because  it  is  " ;  thus  a  critic  might  feel 
utterly  unable  to  say  why  a  certain  picture 
was  a  forgery,  but  feel  perfectly  sure  in  his 
own  mind  that  it  was  not  genuine,  the  rea- 
son being  that  the  picture  in  question  did 
not  possess  the  whole  of  the  qualities  of  one 

painted  by ,  and  so  would  not  revive 

the  requisite  impression. — ELDRIDGE-GBEEN 
Memory  and  Its  Cultivation,  pt.  ii,  p.  257. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2148.  MEMORY,  PECULIARITIES  OF 
— Seeming  Anomalies — Psychology  Seeks  to 
Explain  Conditions  of  Its  Action. — For  why 
should  this  absolute  God-given  faculty    [of 
memory]   retain  so  much  better  the  events 
of  yesterday  than  those  of  last  year,  and, 
best  of  all,  those  of  an  hour  ago?     Why, 
again,  in  old  age  should  its  grasp  of  child- 
hood's  events   seem   firmest?     Why   should 
illness   and   exhaustion  enfeeble  it?     Why 
should  repeating  an  experience  strengthen 
our  recollection  of  it?     Why  should  drugs, 
fevers,  asphyxia,  and  excitement  resuscitate 
things  long  since  forgotten?     If  we  content 
ourselves    with    merely    affirming   that   the 
faculty  of  memory  is  so  peculiarly  consti- 
tuted by  Nature   as  to  exhibit  just   these 
oddities,  we  seem  little  the  better  for  having 
invoked  it,  for  our  explanation  becomes  as 
complicated  as  that  of  the  crude  facts  with 
which  we  started.     Moreover  there  is  some- 
thing grotesque  and  irrational  in  the  sup- 
position that  the  soul  is  equipped  with  ele- 
mentary powers  of  such  an  ingeniously  in- 
tricate sort.    Why  should  our  memory  cling 
more  easily  to  the  near  than  the  remote? 
Why    should    it    lose    its    grasp    of    proper 
sooner  than  of  abstract  names?     Such  pe- 
culiarities seem  quite  fantastic;    and  might, 
for  aught  we  can  see  a  priori,  be  the  precise 
opposites  of  what  they  are.    Evidently,  then, 
the  faculty  does  not  exist  absolutely,  but 
works  under  conditions;    and  the  quest  of 
the    conditions    becomes    the    psychologist's 
most  interesting  task. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  2.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2149.  MEMORY,  REVIVAL  OF— 

Childhood's  Early  Impression  Recalled. — 
[The  following  incident  was  personally  men- 
tioned to  the  writer  by  the  subject  of  it:] 
Several  years  ago,  the  Rev.  S.  Hansard, 
now  rector  of  Bethnal  Green,  was  doing 
clerical  duty  for  a  time  at  Hurstmonceaux, 
in  Sussex ;  and  while  there  he  one  day  went 
over  with  a  party  of  friends  to  Pevensey 
Castle,  which  he  did  not  remember  to  have 
ever  previously  visited.  As  he  approached 
the  gateway,  he  became  conscious  of  a  very 
vivid  impression  of  having  seen  it  before; 
and  he  "  seemed  to  himself  to  see  "  not  only 
the  gateway  itself,  but  donkeys  beneath  the 
arch,  and  people  on  the  top  of  it.  His  con- 
viction that  he  must  have  visited  the  castle 
on  some  former  occasion — altho  he  had 
neither  the  slightest  remembrance  of  such  a 
visit,  nor  any  knowledge  of  having  ever  been 
in  the  neighborhood  previously  to  his  resi- 
dence at  Hurstmonceaux — made  him  inquire 
from  his  mother  if  she  could  throw  any 


light  on  the  matter.  She  at  once  informed 
him  that,  being  in  that  part  of  the  country 
when  he  was  about  eighteen  months  old,  she 
had  gone  over  with  a  large  party  and  had 
taken  him  in  the  pannier  of  a  donkey ;  that 
the  elders  of  the  party,  having  brought 
lunch  with  them,  had  eaten  it  on  the  roof  of 
the  gateway  where  they  would  have  been 
seen  from  below,  wrhilst  he  had  been  left  on 
the  ground  with  the  attendants  and  don- 
keys. This  case  is  remarkable  for  the  vivid- 
ness of  the  sensorial  impression  (it  may  be 
worth  mentioning  that  Mr.  Hansard  has  a 
decidedly  artistic  temperament ) ,  and  for  the 
reproduction  of  details  which  were  net  like- 
ly to  have  been  brought  up  in  conversation, 
even  if  he  had  happened  to  hear  the  visit 
itself  mentioned  as  an  event  of  his  child- 
hood, and  of  such  mention  he  has  no  re- 
membrance whatever. — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  ch.  10,  p.  430.  (A.,  1900.) 

2150.  MEMORY,     UNCONSCIOUS— 
Automatic  Action    Gains  in  Rapidity  and 
Ease — Separate    Volitions   Involve   Delay — 
Language  and  Music. — The  more  sure  and 
perfect,  indeed,  memory  becomes,  the  more 
unconscious  it  becomes;    and,  when  an  idea 
or  mental  state  has  been  completely  organ- 
ized, it  is  revived  without  consciousness,  and 
takes  its  part  automatically  in  our  mental 
operations,   just   as  an  habitual  movement 
does  in  our  bodily  activity.    We  perceive  in 
operation  here  the  same  law  of  organization 
of    conscious    acquisitions    as    unconscious 
power  which  we  observed  in  the  functions 
of  the  lower  nerve-centers.     A  child,  while 
learning  to  speak  or  read,  has  to  remember 
the  meaning  of  each  word,  [and]  must  tedi- 
ously exercise  its  memory;    but  which  of  us 
finds  it  necessary  to  remember  the  meanings 
of  the  common  words  which  we  are  daily 
using,  as  we  must  do  those  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage with  which  we  are  not  very  familiar? 
We  do  remember  them,  of  course,  but  it  is  by 
an  unconscious  memory.     In  like  manner  a 
pupil,   learning  to  play  the   pianoforte,    is 
obliged  to  call  to  mind  each  note;    but  the 
skilful  player  goes  through  no  such  process 
of  conscious  remembrance;    his  ideas,  like 
his  movements,  are  automatic,  and  both  so 
rapid  as  to  surpass  the  rapidity  of  succes- 
sion of  conscious  ideas   and  movements. —  • 
MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  25. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2151.  MERMAID,  ORIGIN  OF  FA- 
BLE OF—  TheDugong—  Truth  Underlying  Fic- 
tion.— In  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great 
and    afterwards    under    the    Seleucidae,    the 
ancient  Greeks  became  acquainted  with  the 
northwestern  part  of  India.    Then  and  there 
they  heard  many  strange  tales,  which,   as 
usual    (especially  when  two  different  races 
and  languages  are  concerned),  lost  nothing 
in  the  telling.     Among  other  things,  they 
heard  that  the  seas  about  Ceylon  were  peo- 
pled with  mermaids.    In  this  case,  as  in  the 
case  of  so  many  other  wonderful  tales,  there 
was  a  certain  amount  of  truth  underlying 
the  fiction;    for  those  seas  are  peopled  by 


Mermaid 
Meteorites 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


440 


creatures  [the  dugong]  (as  big  or  bigger 
than  human  beings),  which  have  a  habit  of 
raising  themselves  up  vertically  out  of  the 
water,  when  they  present  a  very  startling 
appearance  to  an  unscientifically  critical 
eye.  Astonished  travelers  beheld  beings 
with  rounded,  human-looking  heads,  show- 
ing their  body  down  to  the  bust  out  of  the 
water,  displaying  a  pair  of  rounded  promi- 
nent breasts,  and  not  seldom  holding  a  baby 
in  their  arms.  After  remaining  some  time 
in  this  attitude,  they  would  suddenly  dive, 
and  then  a  tail  like  a  fish's  became  exposed 
to  view.  Small  wonder,  then,  that  sailors 
should  imagine  they  were  beholding  crea- 
tures half  woman  and  half  fish,  for  the 
vivacity  of  a  sailor's  imagination  is  pro- 
verbial.— MIVAKT  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch. 
11,  p.  303.  (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

2152.  METAL   USED    AS   STONE— 

Transition  from  Stone  to  Bronze. — On  the 
whole,  tho  it  would  seem  that  they  [the 
American  Indians]  sometimes  at  any  rate 
softened  the  metal  by  heat,  we  have  not,  I 
think,  at  present  any  sufficient  evidence  that 
the  redskins  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of 
casting.  This  is  the  more  surprising  be- 
cause, as  Schoolcraft  tells  us,  "  in  almost  all 
the  works  lately  opened  there  are  heaps  of 
coals  and  ashes,  showing  that  fire  had  much 
to  do  with  their  operations."  Thus,  tho 
they  were  acquainted  with  metal,  they  did 
not  know  how  to  use  it;  and,  as  Professor 
Dana  has  well  observed  in  a  letter  with 
which  he  has  favored  me,  they  may  in  one 
sense  be  said  to  have  been  in  an  age  of 
stone,  since  they  used  the  copper,  not  as 
metal,  but  as  stone.  This  intermediate  con- 
dition between  an  age  of  stone  and  one  of 
metal  is  most  interesting. — AVEBUEY  Pre- 
historic Times,  ch.  8,  p.  240.  (A.,  1900.) 

2153.  METALS,    COMBUSTIBLE  — 

Burning  of  Iron  and  Zinc. — The  rusting  of 
iron  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  slow 
burning  of  iron.  It  develops  heat,  and,  if 
the  heat  be  preserved,  a  high  temperature 
may  be  thus  attained.  The  destruction  of 
the  first  Atlantic  cable  was  probably  due  to 
heat  developed  in  this  way.  Other  metals 
are  still  more  combustible  than  iron.  You 
may  light  strips  of  zinc  in  a  candle  flame 
and  cause  them  to  burn  almost  like  strips  of 
paper. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1, 
p.  5.  (A.,  1898.) 

2154.  METALS,  DIFFUSION  OR 
FLOWING  OF — Gold  Sinking  into  Copper — 
Old  Coins  Buried  Increase  in  Purity. — It  is 
well  known  to  the  jeweler  that  articles  of 
copper,   plated   with   gold,    lose   their  'bril- 
liancy after  a  time,  and  that  it  can  be  re- 
stored by  boiling  them  in  ammonia;     this 
effect  is  probably  produced  by  the  ammonia 
acting  on  the  copper,  and  dissolving  ^off  its 
surface  so  as  to  expose  the  gold,  which,  by 
diffusion,  has  entered  into  the  copper. 

A  slow  diffusion  of  one  metal  through  an- 
other probably  takes  place  in  cases  of  alloys. 
Silver  coins,  after  having  lain  long  in  the 


earth,  have  been  found  covered  with  a  salt 
of  copper.  This  may  be  explained,  by  sup- 
posing that  the  alloy  of  copper,  at  the  sur- 
face of  the  coin,  enters  into  combination  with 
the  carbonic  acid  of  the  soil,  and  being  thus 
removed,  its  place  is  supplied  by  a  diffusion 
from  within,  and  in  this  way  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
alloy  may  be  exhausted  in  the  process  of 
time;  and  the  purity  of  the  coin  be  consid- 
erably increased. — HENRY  Capillarity  of 
Metals,  Scientific  Writings,  p.  229.  (Sm. 
Inst.,  1888.) 

2155. Silver  Sinking 

into  Pores  of  Copper — Recovery  by  Acid — 
Man  of  Science  Instructs  "Practical"  Work- 
men.— [To  test  his  theory  of  metals]  he 
[Henry]  inquired  of  Mr.  Cornelius,  of  Phila- 
delphia, if  in  the  course  of  his  experience  in 
working  silver-plated  copper  in  his  extensive 
manufactory  of  lamps  he  had  ever  observed 
the  silver  to  disappear  from  the  copper  when 
the  metal  was  heated.  The  answer  was  that 
the  silver  always  disappears  when  the  plate 
is  heated  above  a  certain  temperature,  leav- 
ing a  surface  of  copper  exposed ;  and  that  it 
was  generally  believed  by  the  workmen  that 
the  silver  evaporates  at  this  temperature. 

Professor  Henry  suggested  that  the  silver, 
instead  of  evaporating,  merely  sunk  into  the 
pores  of  the  copper,  and  that  by  carefully 
removing  the  surface  of  the  latter,  by  the 
action  of  an  acid  the  silver  would  reappear. 
To  verify  this  by  experiment,  Mr.  Cornelius 
heated  one  end  of  a  piece  of  thick  plated 
copper  to  nearly  the  melting-point  of  the 
metal;  the  silver  at  this  end  disappeared, 
and  when  the  metal  was  cleaned  by  a  solu- 
tion of  dilute  sulfuric  acid,  the  end  which 
had  been  heated  presented  a  uniform  surface 
of  copper,  whilst  the  other  end  exhibited  its 
proper  coating  of  silver.  The  unsilvered  end 
of  the  plate  was  next  placed,  for  a  few  min- 
utes, in  a  solution  of  muriate  of  zinc,  by 
which  the  exterior  surface  of  copper  was  re- 
moved, and  the  surface  of  silver  was  again 
exposed.  This  method  of  recovering  the  sil- 
ver (before  the  process  of  plating  silver  by 
galvanism  came  into  use)  would  have  been 
of  much  value  to  manufacturers  of  plated 
ware,  since  it  often  happened  that  valuable 
articles  were  spoiled,  in  the  process  of  sol- 
dering, by  heating  them  to  a  degree  at  which 
silver  disappears. — HENRY  Capillarity  of 
Metals,  Scientific  Writings,  p.  228.  (Sm. 
Inst.,  1886.) 

2156.  METALS  THE  GIFT  OF  VOL- 
CANOES— Brought  from  Depths  of  Earth. — 
But  it  is  not  only  the  finely  crystallized 
minerals  and  gems  which  we  owe  to  volcanic 
action.  The  various  metallic  minerals  have 
nearly  all  been  brought  from  deep-seated 
portions  of  the  earth's  crust  and  deposited 
upon  the  sides  of  rock-fissures  by  the  agency 
of  the  same  volcanic  forces.  It  is  these 
forces  which  have,  in  the  first  instance, 
opened  the  cracks  through  the  solid  rock- 
masses  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  have 
brought  the  metallic  sulfids,  oxids,  and 


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Meteorites 


salts — either  in  fusion,  in  solution,  or  in  a 
vaporized  condition — from  the  deep-seated 
masses  within  the  earth,  causing  them  to 
crystallize  upon  the  sides  of  the  fissures,  and 
thus  form  those  metallic  lodes  and  veins 
which  are  within  reach  of  our  mining  opera- 
tions.— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  5,  p.  149.  (A., 
1899.) 

2157.  METAPHOR    CONVEYS  ES- 
SENTIAL TRUTH— All  Language  Metaphor- 
ical—Adaptation Best  Expressed  in  Terms 
of  Design. — For  what  purpose  are  metaphors 
used  ?    Is  it  not  as  a  means  of  making  plain 
to  our  own  understandings  the  principle  of 
things,  and  of  tracing  amid  the  varieties  of 
phenomena  the  essential  unities  of  Nature? 
In  this  sense  all  language  is  full  of  meta- 
phor, being,  indeed,  composed  of  little  else. 
.     .     .     Accordingly,  when  naturalists,  de- 
scribing plants  or  animals,  use  the  language 
of  contrivance  to  describe  the  adaptations 
of  function,  they  must  use  it  because  they 
feel  it  to  be  a  help  in  the  understanding  of 
the  facts.     When,  for  example,  we  are  told 
that  flowers  are  constructed  in  a  peculiar 
manner   "  in   order   that "  they  may  catch 
the  proboscides  of  moths  or  the  backs  of  bees, 
and  that  this  adaptation,  again,  is  necessary 
"  in  order  that "  these  insects  should  carry 
the  fertilizing  pollen  from  flower  to  flower, 
nothing  more  may  be  immediately  intended 
by  the  writer  than  that  all  this  elaborate 
mechanism  does  as  a  matter  of  fact  attain 
this  end,  and  that  it  may  be  fitly  described 
"  as   if "   it   had  been   arranged   "  in   order 
that "  these  things  might  happen.     But  this 
use  of  language  is  none  the  less  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  truth  that  the  facts  of  Na- 
ture are  best  brought  home  and  explained 
to  the  understanding,  and  to  the  intelligence 
of  man,  by  stating  them  in  terms  of  the  rela- 
tion which  they  obviously  bear  to  the  famil- 
iar operations  of  our  own  mind  and  spirit. — 
ARGYLL    Unity   of   Nature,    ch.    8,    p.    174. 
(Burt.) 

2158.  METAPHOR,  LANGUAGE  OF, 
A  NECESSITY  OF  SCIENCE— Natural  Selec- 
tion— Elective    Affinity. — Others     have    ob- 
jected  that   the   term   "  selection "   implies 
conscious   choice  in  the  animals  which  be- 
come modified;    and  it  has  even  been  urged 
that,    as   plants   have   no  volition,   natural 
selection  is  not  applicable  to  them!     In  the 
literal  sense  of  the  word,  no  doubt,  "  natural 
selection  "  is  a  false  term ;    but  who  ever  ob- 
jected to  chemists  speaking  of  the  "  elective 
affinities  "    of    the    various    elements  ? — and 
yet    an    acid    cannot    strictly    be    said    to 
"  elect  "  the  base  with  which  it  in  preference 
combines.     It  has  been  said  that  I  speak  of 
"  natural  selection  "  as  an  active  power  or 
deity;    but  who  objects  to  an  author  speak- 
ing   of    the    "  attraction    of    gravity "    as 
"  ruling "   the   movements   of   the    planets  ? 
Every  one  knows  what  is  meant  and  is  im- 
plied by  such  metaphorical  expressions,  and 
they  are  almost  necessary  for  brevity.     So, 
again,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  personifying 
the  word  "Nature";    but  I  mean  by  "Na- 


ture "  only  the  aggregate  action  and  prod- 
uct of  many  natural  laws,  and  by  "  laws  " 
the  sequence  of  events  as  ascertained  by  us. 
— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  4,  p.  74. 
(Burt.) 

2159.  METAPHYSICS,    BAD     OR 
GOOD  ?  —  Positivism    Also    Metaphysical.  — 
Scientific    men    are    accustomed    to    reckon 
such  laws  as  the  first  law  of  motion  among 
the  surest  possessions  of  pure  intellect,  and 
the   faculty   by   which   they   are   conceived 
among  the  noblest  proofs  of  its  energy  and 
power.    Positivism,  on  the  contrary,  regards 
such  laws  as  mere  "  artifices  "  of  thought, 
and  the  power  by  which  they  are  conceived 
not  as  a  strength,  but  as  an  "  infirmity  "  of 
mind.     I  do  not  deny  that  the  process  by 
which  these  abstractions  are  attained  is  a 
metaphysical  process — that  is  to  say,  they 
are    purely    mental    conceptions.      But    the 
process  which  denies  "  reality  "  to  these  con- 
ceptions is  also  purely  a  metaphysical  proc- 
ess, with  this  only  difference,  that  it  is  bad 
metaphysics  instead  of  good. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  67.     (Burt.) 

2160.  METEORITES,     CELESTIAL 
SPACES  FULL  OF  — Millions  Fall  on  the 
Earth. — We   may   now    remark   that   these 
meteors  play  a  much  more  important  part 
than  we  were  formerly  disposed  to  believe. 
A  single  night,  a  single  hour,  a  single  min- 
ute,  does   not  pass   without  the   fall   of  a 
star.      The    terrestrial    globe    sails    in    the 
midst  of  a  space  full  of  diverse  corpuscles 
circulating  in  all  directions — some  in  ellip- 
tical streams  of  various  inclinations,  others 
even  in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  as  we  see 
by  the  zodiacal  light  which  extends  from  the 
sun   to   beyond    the    terrestrial    orbit.      By 
enumerating  the  number  of  shooting  stars 
which  are  seen  above  a  given  horizon  during 
the  different  nights  of  the  year,  calculating 
the  number  of  similar  horizons  which  would 
comprise  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe,  and 
taking  into  account  the  directions  of  the 
shooting  stars,  the  monthly  variations,  etc., 
an     eminent     American     astronomer,     Mr. 
Simon  Newcomb,  has  demonstrated  that  no 
fewer  than  one  hundred  and  forty-six  thou- 
sand millions  (146,000,000,000)   of  shooting 
stars  fall  per  annum  on  the  earth. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  4,  p. 
535.    (A.) 

2161.  METEORITES,  THEIR  FALL 
RECORDED   IN   ANCIENT  TIMES  — The 
Greek  natural  philosophers,  who  were  but 
little  disposed  to  pursue  observations,  but 
evinced  inexhaustible  fertility  of  imagina- 
tion in  giving  the  most  various  interpreta- 
tion of  half-perceived  facts,  have,  however, 
left    some    hypotheses    regarding    shooting 
stars  and  meteoric  stones  which  strikingly 
accord  with  the  views  now  almost  univer- 
sally  admitted   of  the   cosmical   process   of 
these    phenomena.      "  Falling    stars,"    says 
Plutarch,  in  his  life  of  Lysander,  "  are,  ac- 
cording to  the  opinion  of  some  physicists, 
not   eruptions   of   the   ethereal   fire  extin- 


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442 


guished  in  the  air  immediately  after  its  ig- 
nition, nor  yet  an  inflammatory  combustion 
of  the  air,  which  is  dissolved  in  large  quan- 
tities in  the  upper  regions  of  space,  but 
these  meteors  are  rather  a  fall  of  celestial 
bodies,  which,  in  consequence  of  a  certain 
intermission  in  the  rotatory  force,  and  by 
the  impulse  of  some  irregular  movement, 
have  been  hurled  down  not  only  to  the  in- 
habited portions  of  the  earth,  but  also  be- 
yond it  into  the  great  ocean,  where  we  can- 
not find  them."  Diogenes  of  Apollonia 
expresses  himself  still  more  explicitly.  Ac- 
cording to  his  views,  "  Stars  that  are  invis- 
ible, and,  consequently,  have  no  name,  move 
in  space  together  with  those  that  are  visible. 
These  invisible  stars  frequently  fall  to  the 
earth  and  are  extinguished,  as  the  stony 
star  which  fell  burning  at  Egos  Potamos." 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  133.  (H., 
1897.) 

2162.  METEORS,  FALL  OF,  UPON 
THE  SUN — Cannot  Supply  His  Heat.—^ow 
we  may  assume  with  great  probability  that 
very  many  more  meteors  fall  upon  the  sun 
than    upon    the    earth,    and    with    greater 
velocity,  too,  and  therefore  give  more  heat. 
Yet  the  hypothesis  that  the  entire  amount 
of  the  sun's  heat  which  is  continually  lost 
by   radiation    is    made    up   by   the    fall    of 
meteors,  a  hypothesis  which  was  propounded 
by  Mayer,  and  has  been  favorably  adopted 
by  several  other  physicists,  is  open,  accord- 
ing to  Sir  W.  Thomson's  investigations,  to 
objection;     for,    assuming   it    to   hold,    the 
mass  of  the  sun  should  increase  so  rapidly 
that    the    consequences    would   have    shown 
themselves  in  the  accelerated  motion  of  the 
planets.     The  entire  loss  of  heat  from  the 
sun  cannot  at  all  events  be  produced  in  this 
way ;   at  the  most  a  portion,  which,  however, 
may    not    be    inconsiderable. — HELMHOLTZ 
Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  180.    (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

2163.  METEORS  IN  TRACK  OF  LOST 
COMET  —  To  be  lost   is   interesting,   espe- 
cially for  a  comet;    but  this,  doubtless,  was 
not  enough,  for  it  reserved  for  us  a  still 
more  complete  surprise.    Its  orbit  intersects 
the  terrestrial  orbit  at  a  point  which  the 
earth  passes  on  November  27,  1872.     Well, 
nothing  more  was  thought  about  it;    it  was 
given  up  as  hopeless,  when,  on  the  evening 
of  November  27,  1872,  there  fell  from  the 
sky  a  veritable  rain  of  shooting  stars.    The 
expression  is  not  exaggerated;    they  fell  in 
great   flakes;     lines    of    fire   glided    almost 
vertically  in  swarms  and  showers,  here  with 
dazzling  globes  of  light,  there  with  silent 
explosions  recalling  to  mind  those  of  rock- 
ets ;    and  this  rain  lasted  from  seven  o'clock 
in  the  evening  till  one  o'clock  next  morning, 
the    maximum   being    attained    about   nine 
o'clock.     At  the  observatory  of  the  Roman 
College  13,892  were  counted;    at  Montcali- 
eri,  33,400;     in  England  a  single  observer 
counted  10,579,  etc.     The  total  number  has 
been  estimated  at  a  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand.    They  all  came  from  the  same  point 


of  the  sky,  situated  near  the  beautiful  star 
Gamma  of  Andromeda.  .  .  .  What  was 
this  shower  of  stars?  Evidently — and  this 
is  not  doubtful — the  encounter  with  the 
earth  of  myriads  of  corpuscles  moving  in 
space  along  the  orbit  of  Biela's  comet.  The 
comet  itself,  if  it  still  existed,  would  have 
passed  twelve  weeks  before.  It  was  not, 
then,  to  speak  correctly,  the  comet  itself 
which  we  encountered,  but  perhaps  a  frac- 
tion of  its  decomposed  parts,  which,  since 
the  breaking-up  of  the  comet  in  1846,  would 
be  dispersed  along  its  orbit  behind  the  head 
of  the  comet. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  v,  ch.  2,  p.  500.  (A.) 

2164.  METHOD,  IMPORTANCE  OF, 
IN  PREPARATORY  TRAINING— It  does 
not  matter  so  much  what  a  scholar  learns 
in  the  secondary  school  as  how  he  learns. 
In  other  words,  the  method  according  to 
which  the  pupil  is  instructed  and  learns  to 
think  is  decisive,  as  regards  his  preparatory 
training,  of  his  capacity  for  future  study. — 
ERDMANN  Ueber  des  Studium  der  Chemie,  p. 
11.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2165.  METHOD  OF  ATTAINING  SCI- 
ENTIFIC CONCLUSION—  Growth  of  Coral 
Only  at  Small  Depths. — The  circumstance  of 
a  gradual  change  from  a  field  of  clean  coral 
to  a  smooth  sandy  bottom  is  far  more  im- 
portant in  indicating  the  depth  at  which  the 
larger  kinds  of  coral  flourish  than  almost 
any  number  of  separate  observations  on  the 
depth  at  which  certain  species  have  been 
dredged  up.  For  we  can  understand  the 
gradation  only  as  a  prolonged  struggle 
against  unfavorable  conditions.  If  a  person 
were  to  find  the  soil  clothed  with  turf  on  the 
banks  of  a  stream  of  water,  but  on  going  to 
some  distance  on  one  side  of  it  he  observed 
the  blades  of  grass  growing  thinner  and 
thinner  with  intervening  patches  of  sand, 
until  he  entered  a  desert  of  sand,  he  would 
safely  conclude,  especially  if  changes  of  the 
same  kind  were  noticed  in  other  places,  that 
the  presence  of  the  water  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  formation  of  a  thick  bed  of 
turf:  so  may  we  conclude,  with  the  same 
feeling  of  certainty,  that  thick  beds  of  coral 
are  formed  only  at  small  depths  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  sea. — DARWIN  Coral  Reefs, 
ch.  4,  p.  111.  (A.,  1900.) 

2166.  METHOD    OF   SCIENCE   VS. 
THAT  OF  RELIGION— In  matters   of  sci- 
ence,  light  descends  from  the  head  to  the 
heart;    but  in  religion  light  ascends  from 
the  heart  to  the  head.     Only  so  far  as  we 
live    in    God    can    we    understand    him. — 
THOUICK  Inscription  in  a  Book.      (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2167.  METHOD,  THE  VALUE  OF— 

Science  Works  to  Definite  Results. — Two 
things  are  of  particular  remark  in  the  dis- 
coveries in  the  Roman  catacombs  during  the 
last  thirty-eight  years.  First,  they  are  the 
works  of  a  single  man;  no  one,  this  may  be 
asserted,  shares  the  fame  of  Giovanni 


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Battista  de  Rossi.  And  then,  this  is  char- 
acteristic; accident  has  played  no  r6le  here. 
They  are  the  reward  of  science,  conscious  of 
its  aim,  well  devised,  according  to  definite 
rules.  De  Rossi  never  proceeds  at  random; 
he  knows  what  he  is  doing,  whither  his  way 
is  leading,  and  always  announces  before- 
hand what  he  is  going  to  find.  Nothing 
illustrates  better  than  the  brilliant  results 
of  these  excavations  the  value  such  labors 
derive  from  a  good  method. — MEYER  Die 
romischen  Katakomben.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2168.  MICROBES,  INCONCEIVABLE 
MULTIPLICATION    OF— Death  from  Sting 
of  a  Fly. — A  man  had  died.     Around  the 
dead    body,    already    disfigured,    there    was 
haste  in  order  to  withdraw  from  the  living 
the  spectacle  of  decomposition  rapidly  and 
profoundly  taking  place.   Three  days  before, 
this  man  entered  his  home  full  of  strength 
and  of  life,  and  a  fly  lighting  upon  his  lip 
made  an  imperceptible  prick — and  behold,  he 
was  killed  by  a  fly!     No,  the  fly  is  a  giant 
compared  to  what  really  produced  this  ef- 
fect.     It   was    the    bacteridee   cherbonneuse 
whose  dipterous  prick  introduced  the  germ 
into    the    unfortunate    victim.      Two    hours 
after   the  visit  of  the   fly  you  might  have 
counted  two  of  these  bacteria  only  in  the 
blood  of  this  man,  four  hours  afterward  it 
contained   only    four,    six  hours   afterward, 
eight.      The    following    day,    when    twenty- 
four  hours  had  elapsed  and  he  had  banished 
from  his  mind   all  recollection   of  the  un- 
fortunate fly,  he  was  still  joyous  and  alert, 
but   you   might   perhaps   have   clouded   his 
gaiety  by  whispering  in  his  ear  that  4,996 
of   these   bacteria    were   subsisting   in   his 
blood.     You   would   have  struck   terror   to 
his  heart  if  the  following  day  you  had  in- 
formed him  that  he  now  carried  in  his  veins 
and    arteries     16,000,000    of    these    germs. 
From  the  sixtieth  to  the  seventy-second  hour 
it  would  have  been   superfluous   to   try  to 
comprehend    that   seventy-one    milliards    of 
bacteria  had  poisoned  his  vigorous  constitu- 
tion,  and  that  by  the  seventy- fourth  hour 
they  had  attained  the  enormous  number  of 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  milliards.    .    .    . 
You  are  not  surprised   that  the  man  was 
obliged    to    succumb.      In    fact    there    had 
taken  place  in  his  veins  a  magnificent  strug- 
gle for  which  he  was  the  stake. — COUTANCE 
La  Lutte  pour  V Existence.     (Translated  for 
Scientific   Side-Lights.) 

2169.  MICRO-ORGANISMS    FOSSIL 
IN  CHALK— The  slice  of  chalk  presents  a 
[very  remarkable]    appearance  when  placed 
under  the  microscope.    The  general  mass  of 
it  is  made  up  of  very  minute  granules ;    but, 
embedded  in  this  matrix,   are  innumerable 
bodies,  some  smaller  and  some  larger,  but, 
on  a  rough  average,  not  more  than  a  hun- 
dredth of  an  inch  in  diameter,  having  a  well- 
defined  shape  and  structure.     A  cubic  inch 
of    some   specimens   of   chalk   may   contain 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  bodies,  com- 
pacted together  with  incalculable  millions  of 


the  granules.  .  .  .  The  chambered  bodies 
are  of  various  forms.  One  of  the  common- 
est is  something  like  a  badly  *grown  rasp- 
berry, being  formed  of  a  number  of  nearly 
globular  chambers  of  different  sizes  congre- 
gated together.  It  is  called  Globigerina,  and 
some  specimens  of  chalk  consist  of  little 
else  than  Globigerince  and  granules.  .  .  * 
It  so  happens  that  calcareous  specimens  ex- 
actly similar  to  the  Globigerince  of  the  chalk 
are  being  formed  at  the  present  moment  by 
minute  living  creatures,  which  flourish  in 
multitudes,  literally  more  numerous  than 
the  sands  of  the  seashore,  over  a  large  ex- 
tent of  that  part  of  the  earth's  surface 
which  is  covered  by  the  ocean. — HUXLEY 
Lay  Sermons,  serm.  9,  pp.  178-180.  (G.  P. 
P.,  1899.) 

20 7O.  MICRO-ORGANISMS    FOUND 
LIVING  IN  OCEAN  BED  — In    1853,   Lieu- 
tenant Brooke  obtained  mud  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  North  Atlantic,  between  New- 
foundland and  the  Azores,   at  a   depth   of 
more  than  10,000  feet,  or  two  miles,  by  the 
help  of  [his]  sounding  apparatus.   The  speci- 
mens were  sent  for  examination  to  Ehren- 
berg,    of    Berlin,    and    to    Bailey,    of    West 
Point,   and  those  able  microscopists   found 
that  this  deep-sea  mud  was  almost  entirely 
composed  of  the  skeletons  of  living  organ- 
isms— the  greater  proportion  of  these  being 
just  like  the  Globigerince  already  known  to 
occur  in  the  chalk. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons, 
serm.  9,  p.  181.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2171.  MICROSCOPE,    EARLY    DIS 
COVERIES  OF— Fostered  Belief  in  Spontane- 
ous   Generation. — The    discovery    and    im- 
provement of  the  microscope,  tho  giving  a 
death-blow  to  much  that  had  been  previous- 
ly written  and  believed  regarding  spontane- 
ous  generation,   brought   also   into  view   a 
world  of  life  formed  of  individuals  so  mi- 
nute— so  close,  as  it  seemed,  to  the  ultimate 
particles  of  matter — as  to  suggest  an  easy 
passage  from  atoms  to  organisms.     Animal 
arid  vegetable  infusions  exposed  to  the  air 
were  found  clouded  and  crowded  with  crea- 
tures far  beyond  the  reach  of  unaided  vision, 
but  perfectly  visible  to  an  eye  strengthened 
by  the  microscope.     With  reference  to  their 
origin  these  organisms  were  called  "  Infu- 
soria."    Stagnant  pools  were  found  full  of 
them,  and  the  obvious  difficulty  of  assigning 
a  germinal  origin  to  existences  so  minute 
furnished  the  precise  condition  necessary  to 
give  new  play  to  the  notion  of  heterogenesis 
or  spontaneous  generation. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  290.    (A., 
1900.) 

2172.  MICROSCOPE,  SERVICE  OF, 
TO  SCIENCE— Power  of  the  Infinitely  Little. 
— As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  no  field  of 
inquiry  which  has  yielded  such  a  large  har- 
vest to  the  truth-seeker  of  late  years  as  that 
of  microscopic  research.    There  is  scarcely  a 
great  discovery  which  has  been  made  within 
the  past  decade  in  which  our  knowledge  of 
the  infinitely  little,  as  shown  forth  by  the 
microscope,    has    not    figured    most    promi- 


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444 


nently.  Disease-germs  and  countless  other 
lower  forms  of  life  have  been  traced  out  in 
their  development  and  tracked  to  their 
origin.  Living  things,  whose  dimensions  are 
to  be  estimated  by  the  thousandth  parts  of 
inches,  are  as  well  known  to  us  to-day  as  is 
the  ostrich  or  the  elephant.  So  far  from  the 
"  little  things  "  of  the  universe  escaping  our 
attention,  I  should  be  inclined  to  maintain 
that  they  largely  monopolize  science,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  big  things.  We  are  begin- 
ning to  find  out,  in  fact,  that  only  by  know- 
ing something  of  the  actions  which  proceed 
in  the  lower  byways  of  life  can  existence  in 
the  main  be  understood  at  all. — ANDREW 
WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  25,  p.  80. 
(Hum.,  1892.) 

2173.  MIGRATION,  IRRATIONAL— 

Blind  Instinct  of  Progression  of  Lemmings. 
- — The  lemming  of  Norway  is  a  sort  of  vole, 
very  celebrated  on  account  of  its  sudden 
and  marvelous  migrations.  WTien  a  con- 
juncture of  favorable  circumstances  en- 
ables them  to  multiply  to  an  enormous  ex- 
tent a  migratory  instinct  becomes  developed 
in  them,  whereby  they  are  led  to  descend 
to  lower-lying  lands  than  those  they  nor- 
mally frequent.  They  migrate  slowly  and 
intermittently,  journeying  only  by  night, 
and  increasing  frequently  as  they  go.  Their 
journey  may  last  for  three  years  before 
they  reach  the  seacoast,  according  to  the 
route  they  may  happen  to  have  followed. 
When  they  reach  the  coast  they  go  on  into 
the  sea  and  so  perish.  As  they  journey  along 
they  are  preyed  upon  by  bears,  wolves,  foxes, 
dogs,  wildcats,  weasels,  eagles,  hawks,  and 
owls.  They  are  also  destroyed  by  man,  and 
even  domestic  animals,  such  as  goats  and 
reindeer,  will  spring  upon  and  kill  them. 
Numbers  also  die  of  disease,  but  they  never 
turn  back — they  proceed  ever  onwards  to 
their  ultimate  destination. — MIVART  Types 
of  Animal  Life,  ch.  12,  p.  356.  (L.  B.  & 
Co.,  1893.) 

2174.  MIGRATION  OF  BIRDS,  EX- 
TENT OF — Subsistence  an  Important  Factor 
— Change  of  Diet  of  Non-migratory  Birds. — 
The  extent  of  a  bird's  migration  is,  in  most 
cases,    dependent    upon    the    nature    of    its 
food.     Birds  that  are  resident  in  one  place 
throughout  the  year  generally  change  their 
fare  with  the  season,  and  apparently  feed 
with  equal  relish  on  seeds  or  insects.    Those 
that  are  dependent  upon  fruit  must  migrate 
far  enough  to  find  a  supply  of  berries,  while 
the  insect-eaters  are  obliged  to  travel  even 
farther  south.    Most  of  the  migratory  birds 
of  our  Western  States  pass  the  winter  in 
Mexico.      Our    Eastern    sparrows    and    our 
berry-eaters,    like    the   robin   and   bluebird, 
winter  from  the  Middle  States  to  the  Gulf 
coast,  while  the  majority  of  our  purely  in- 
sectivorous species  cross  to  Cuba  and  win- 
ter in  the  West  Indies,  or  continue  to  Cen-' 
tral    America    and    even    northern     South 
America.     Snipe  and  plover  make  the  most 
extended  migrations,  some  species  breeding 


within  the  arctic  circle  and  wintering  along 
the  coasts  of  Patagonia. — CHAPMAN  Bird- 
Life,  ch.  4,  p.  49.  (A.,  1900.) 

2175.  MIGRATION     OF    PLANTS— 

The  Struggle  for  Life  Lessened — Cross-fer- 
tilization Secured. — The  various  devices  by 
which  plants  are  shifted  from  place  to  place 
are  not  merely  to  extend  and  multiply  the 
species  and  reach  a  fertile  soil,  but  to  enable 
them  to  flee  from  the  great  number  of  their 
own  kind  and  from  their  enemies  among 
animals  and  parasitic  plants.  The  adven- 
turers among  plants  often  meet  with  the 
best  success,  not  because  the  seeds  are  larger, 
or  stronger,  or  better,  but  because  they  find, 
for  a  time,  more  congenial  surroundings. 
We  must  not  overlook  the  fact,  so  well  es- 
tablished, that  one  of  the  greatest  points 
to  be  gained  by  plant  migration  is  to  enable 
different  stocks  of  a  species  to  be  cross-fer- 
tilized, and  thereby  improved  in  vigor  and 
productiveness. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  9, 
p.  85.  (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2176.  MILDNESS  OF   THE   EURO- 
PEAN CLIMATE— Heated  Air  from  Tropits 
Descending. — Gradually,  however,  as  the  up- 
per  stream,  which  rises   from  the  equator 
and  flows  towards  the  poles,  becomes  chilled 
and  dense,  it  sinks  towards  the  earth;    at 
the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  it  has  already  sunk 
below  the  summit  of  the  mountain.     With 
the  contrary  wind  blowing  at  the  base,  the 
traveler  often  finds  the  wind  from  the  equa- 
tor blowing  strongly  over  the  top.     Farther 
north     the    equatorial     wind     sinks     lower 
still,  and  finally  reaches  the  surface  of  the 
earth.     Europe,  for  the  most  part,  is  over- 
flowed by  this  equatorial  current.    Here,  in 
London,   for   eight   or  nine  months   in   the 
year,     southwesterly    winds     prevail.      But 
mark    what    an    influence    this    must    have 
upon    our    climate.      The   moisture    of    the 
equatorial  ocean  comes  to  us  endowed  with 
potential   energy;    it  comes,   if  you   prefer 
the  language,  charged  with  latent  heat.     In 
our    atmosphere    condensation   takes   place, 
and  the  heat  liberated  is  a  main  source  of 
warmth  to   our  climate.     Were  it  not  for 
the  rotation  of  the  earth  we  should  have 
over  us  the  hot,  dry  blasts  of  Africa;  but, 
owing  to  this  rotation,  the  wrind  which  starts 
northward  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  de- 
flected to  Europe.     Europe  is,  therefore,  the 
recipient  of  those  stores  of  latent  heat  which 
were  amassed  in  the  western  Atlantic.     The 
British  Isles  come  in  for  the  greatest  share 
of  this  moisture  and  heat,  and  this  circum- 
stance   adds    itself    to    that    already   dwelt 
upon — the  high  specific  heat  of  water — to 
preserve  our  climate  from  extremes. — TYN- 
DALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  8,  p.  212. 
(A.,    1900.) 

2177.  MILK  NORMALLY  STERILE 
— Can   Be    So    Drawn — Yet    Commonly   In- 
fested with  Bacteria — Cleanliness  the  First 
Great  Need. — There  are  few  liquids  in  gen- 
eral use  which  contain  such  enormous  num- 
bers of  germs  as  milk.    To  begin  with,  milk 


445 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Microscope 
Mimicry 


is  in  every  physical  way  admirably  adapted 
to  be  a  favorable  medium  for  bacteria.  It 
is  constituted  of  all  the  chief  elements  of 
the  food  upon  which  bacteria  live.  It  is 
frequently  at  a  temperature  favorable  to 
their  growth.  It  is  par  excellence  an  ab- 
sorptive fluid.  .  .  .  Yet,  whilst  this  gen- 
eral fact  is  true,  we  must  emphasize  at  the 
outset  the  possibility  and  practicability  of 
securing  absolutely  pure  sterile  milk.  Re- 
cently some  milking  was  carried  out  under 
strict  antiseptic  precautions,  with  the  above 
sterile  result.  The  udder  was  thoroughly 
cleansed,  the  hands  of  the  milker  washed 
with  corrosive  sublimate  and  then  pure  wa- 
ter, the  vessels  which  were  to  receive  the 
milk  had  been  carefully  sterilized,  and  the 
whole  process  was  carried  out  in  strict  clean- 
liness. The  result  was  that  the  sample  of 
milk  remained  sweet  and  good  and  con- 
tained no  germs.  It  should  be  stated  that 
the  first  flow  of  milk,  washing  out  the  milk- 
ducts  of  the  udder,  was  rejected.  This  fact 
of  the  sterility  of  cleanly  drawn  milk  is  not 
a  new  one,  and  has  been  established  by  many 
bacteriologists.  Milk,  then,  is  normally  a 
sterile  secretion. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6, 
p.  180.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2178.  MIMICRY,  PROTECTIVE— 

Brilliant,  Inedible  Moths  Mimicked  by 
Others. — [A  showy]  protected  group  in  the 
Eastern  tropics  is  that  of  the  beautiful  day- 
flying  moths  forming  the  family  Agaristidce. 
These  are  usually  adorned  with  the  most 
brilliant  colors  or  conspicuous  markings, 
they  fly  slowly  in  forests  among  the  butter- 
flies and  other  diurnal  insects,  and  their 
great  abundance  sufficiently  indicates  their 
possession  of  some  distastefulness  which 
saves  them  from  attack.  Under  these  con- 
ditions we  may  expect  to  find  other  moths 
which  are  not  so  protected  imitating  them, 
and  this  is  the  case.  One  of  the  common 
and  wide-ranging  species  (Ophthalmis  lin- 
cea),  found  in  the  islands  from  Amboyna  to 
New  Ireland,  is  mimicked  in  a  wonderful 
manner  by  one  of  the  Liparidce.  .  .  .  Both 
insects  are  black,  with  the  apex  of  the  fore 
wings  ocher-colored,  and  the  outer  half  of 
the  hind  wings  bright  orange. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  9,  p.  167.  (Hum.) 

2179. Colors  of  Grouse 

and  Ptarmigan. — The  close  imitation  in  the 
plumage    of    these    birds    [the    grouse    and 
ptarmigan  of  Scotland]  of  the  general  tint- 
ing and  mottling  of  the  ground  on  which 
they  lie  and  feed  is  apparent  at  a  glance, 
and  is  best  known  to  those  who  have  tried 
to  see  grouse  or  ptarmigan  when  sitting,  and 
when  their  position   is   indicated  within   a 
few  feet  or  a  few  inches  by  the  trembling 
nostrils    and   dilated   eyeballs   of   a    steady 
pointer   dog.      In   the   case   of  the   common 
grouse,  as  the  ground  is  nearly  uniform  in 
color  throughout  the  year,  the  coloring  of 
the  bird  is  constant  also.     But  in  the  case 
of    the    ptarmigan,     it    changes    with    the 
changing  seasons.     The  pearly  grays,  which 


in  summer  match  so  exactly  with  the  lichens 
of  the  mountain  peaks,  give  place  in  winter 
to  the  pure  white  which  matches  not  less 
perfectly  with  the  wreaths  of  snow. — AR- 
GYLL Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  110.  (Burt.) 

218O. Dependent  on  Will 

— Moth  Purposely  Folds  in  His  Brilliant 
Wings.- — There  are  some  forms  of  mimicry 
which  are  wholly  independent  of  any  action 
on  the  part  of  the  animals-themselves,  and 
this  kind  of  mimicry  is  especially  common 
in  this  class  of  insects.  They  are  often 
made  of  the  shape  and  of  the  color  which 
are  most  like  those  of  the  surrounding  ob- 
jects in  their  habitat.  They  have  nothing 
to  do  except  to  sit  still,  or  perhaps  to 
crouch.  But  there  are  other  forms  of  mimic- 
ry in  which  the  completeness  of  the  decep- 
tion depends  on  some  cooperation  of  the 
animal's  own  will.  This  [the  sudden  disap- 
pearance of  a  brilliant  Italian  moth,  appar- 
ently transformed  into  a  withered  leaf]  was 
one  of  these.  The  splendid  margins  of  the 
upper  wings,  with  the  peculiar  shape  and 
their  shining  color,  had  to  be  concealed;  and 
so,  by  an  effort  which  evidently  required  the 
exertion  of  special  muscles,  these  margins 
were  somehow  folded  down — reverted — cov- 
ered up,  and  thus  hidden  out  of  sight.  The 
remainder  of  the  wings,  or  the  under-sur- 
faces  which  were  now  made  uppermost,  were 
so  colored  and  so  crumpled  up  that  they  imi- 
tated exactly  the  dried  and  withered  leaves 
around. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  3,  p. 
52.  (Burt.) 

2181. Grasshopper  Re- 
sembling Wasp. — A  [special]  case  of  mimic- 
ry not  yet  noticed  by  any  naturalist  is  seen 
in  [a  species  of]  grasshopper  common  in  La 
Plata  (Rhcmalea  speciosa,  of  Thunberg). 
This  is  an  extremely  elegant  insect;  the 
head  and  thorax  chocolate,  with  cream-col- 
ored markings;  the  abdomen  steel-blue  or 
purple,  a  color  I  have  not  seen  in  any  other 
insects  of  this  family.  The  fore  wings  have 
a  protective  coloring;  the  hind  wings  are 
bright  red.  When  at  rest,  with  the  red  and 
purple  tints  concealed,  it  is  only  a  very 
pretty  grasshopper,  but  the  instant  it  takes 
wing  it  becomes  the  facsimile  of  a  very 
common  wasp  of  the  genus  Pepris.  These 
wasps  vary  greatly  in  size,  some  being  as 
large  as  the  hornet;  they  are  solitary,  and 
feed  on  the  honey  of  flowers  and  on  fruit, 
and,  besides  being  furnished  with  stings  like 
other  wasps — though  their  sting  is  not  so 
venomous  as  in  other  genera — they  also, 
when  angry,  emit  a  most  abominable  odor, 
and  are  thus  doubly  protected  against  their 
enemies.  Their  excessive  tameness,  slow 
flight,  and  indolent  motions  serve  to  show 
that  they  are  not  accustomed  to  be  inter- 
fered with.  All  these  strong-smelling  wasps 
have  steel-blue  or  purple  bodies  and  bright 
red  wings.  So  exactly  does  the  Rhomalea 
grasshopper  mimic  the  Pepris  when  flying 
that  I  have  been  deceived  scores  of  times. 
I  have  even  seen  it  on  the  leaves,  and  after 


icry 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


446 


it  has  flown  and  settled  once  more  I  have 
gone  to  look  at  it  again,  to  make  sure  that 
my  eyes  had  not  deceived  me. — HUDSON  Nat- 
uralist in  La  Plata,  ch.  8,  p.  127.  (C.  & 
H.,  1895.) 

2182.  — Leaf-insects— 

Stick-insect. — The  well-known  leaf-insects 
of  Ceylon  and  of  Java,  species  of  Phyllium, 
are  so  wonderfully  colored  and  veined,  with 
leafy  expansions  on  the  legs  and  thorax, 
that  not  one  person  in  ten  can  see  them 
when  resting  on  the  food-plant  close  befieath 
their  eyes.  Others  resemble  pieces  of  stick 
with  all  the  minutise  of  knots  and  branches, 
formed  by  the  insects'  legs,  which  are  stuck 
out  rigidly  and  unsymmetrically.  I  have 
often  been  unable  to  distinguish  between 
one  of  these  insects  and  a  real  piece  of  stick 
till  I  satisfied  myself  by  touching  it  and 
found  it  to  be  alive. — WALLACE  Darwinism, 
ch.  8,  p.  138.  (Hum.) 

2183. Sand-colored  Lizard 

of  Seashore. — Of  lizards  there  were  many 
kinds,  but  only  one  (Proctotretus  multi- 
maculatus)  remarkable  from  its  habits.  It 
lives  on  the  bare  sand  near  the  seacoast, 
and  from  its  mottled  color,  the  brownish 
scales  being  speckled  with  white,  yellowish 
red,  and  dirty  blue,  can  hardly  be  distin- 
guished from  the  surrounding  surface.  When 
frightened,  it  attempts  to  avoid  discovery 
by  feigning  death,  with  outstretched  legs, 
depressed  body,  and  closed  eyes;  if  further 
molested,  it  buries  itself  with  great  quick- 
ness in  the  loose  sand.  This  lizard,  from  its 
flattened  body  and  short  legs,  cannot  run 
quickly.  —  DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage 
around  the  World,  ch.  5,  p.  97.  (A.,  1898.) 

2184. Stick-insect— Fly 

and  Humblebee. — The  stick-insect  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  perfect  example  where  re- 
semblance to  an  inanimate  object  has  been 
the  result  aimed  at,  so  to  speak,  by  Nature ; 
the  resemblance  of  the  volucella  fly  to  th« 
humblebee,  on  which  it  is  parasitical,  is  the 
most  familiar  example  of  one  species  grow- 
ing like  another  to  its  own  advantage,  sines 
only  by  means  of  its  deceptive  likeness  to  the 
humblebee  is  it  able  to  penetrate  into  the 
nest  with  impunity. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in 
La  Plata,  ch.  8,  p.  127.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

2185.  MIND  AND  BODY,  ON  EARTH 
INSEPARABLE— Magnetism  and  the  Needle. 
— In  such  a  question  as  the  connection  of 
mind  and  body  the  potent  method  of  re- 
moving the  cause  is  not  applicable.  We 
cannot  dissect  the  compound,  man,  into  body 
apart  and  mind  apart;  we  cannot  remove 
mind  so  as  to  see  if  the  body  will  vanish. 
We  may  remove  the  body,  and  in  so  doimr 
we  find  that  mind  has  disappeared;  but  the 
experiment  is  not  conclusive:  for  in  remov- 
ing the  body  we  remove  our  indicator  of  the 
mind,  namely,  the  bodily  manifestations — 
as  if  in  testing  for  magnetism  we  should 
set  aside  the  needle  and  other  tokens  of 
its  presence. — BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  ,3, 
p.  5.  (Hum.,  1880.) 


2186.  MIND   AND   BRAIN  —  Mental 
Power  Not  Measured  by  Size  of  Brain — In- 
crease of  Intellectual  Force   Geometrical. — 
Comparing  the  increasing  size  of  the  brain 
with  the  increase  in  mental  power,  we  are 
struck  with  the  smallness  of  the  one  increase 
as  compared  with  the  other.     An  ordinary 
male  human  brain  is  48  oz. ;  the  brains  of 
extraordinary    men    seldom    reach    Cuvier's 
figure,  64  oz.     Now  the  intellectual  force  of 
the  ordinary  man  is  surpassed  by  Cuvier  in 
a  far  higher  ratio  than  this.     Taking  the 
mere  memory,  which  is  the  basis  of  intel- 
lect, an  ordinary  man  could  not  retain  one- 
third  or  one-fourth,  perhaps  not  one-tenth, 
of   the   facts   stored   up   in   the   mind   of   a 
Cuvier.      The   comparison   of   animals    with 
human  beings   would  sustain  a   similar   in- 
ference.     There  would   be   no   exaggeration 
in  saying  that  while  size  of  brain  increases 
in  arithmetical  proportion,  intellectual  range 
increases   in  geometrical  proportion. — BAIN 
Mind  and  Body,  ch.  3,  p.  6.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

2187.  MIND  AND  MATTER,  ALLI- 
ANCE OF— Thought,  Incapable  of  Extertsion, 
Allied  with  Extended  Matter — Contrast  and 
Mystery. — This,  then^  as  it  appears  to  me, 
is  the  only  real  difficulty  of  the  physical  and 
mental   relationship.     There  is   an  alliance 
with  matter,  with  the  object,   or  extended 
world;      but    the    thing    allied,    the    mind 
proper,  has  itself  no  extension,  and  cannot 
be  joined  in  local  union.     Now,  we  have  a 
difficulty  in  providing  any  form  of  language, 
any  familiar  analogy,  suited  to  this  unique 
conjunction;     in   comparison  with  all  ordi- 
nary unions,  it  is  a  paradox  or  a  contradic- 
tion.    We  understand  union  in  the  sense  of 
local  connection;   here  is  a  union  where  local 
connection  is  irrelevant,  unsuitable,  contra- 
dictory;   for  we  cannot  think  of  mind  with- 
out putting  ourselves  out  of  the  world  of 
place:     When,  as  in  pure  feeling — pleasure 
or  pain — we  change  from  the  object  attitude 
to  the  subject  attitude  we  have  undergone  a 
change  not  to  be  expressed  by  place;    the 
fact  is  not  properly  described  by  the  transi- 
tion from  the  external  to  the  internal,  for 
that  is  still  a  change  in  the  region  of  the 
extended.     The  only  adequate  expression  is 
a  change  of  state :  *a  change  from  the  state 
of  the  extended  cognition  to  a  state  of  un- 
oxtended  cognition.     By  various  theologians 
heaven  has  been  spoken  of  as  not  a  place, 
but  a  state;    and  this   is  the  only  phrase 
that  I  can  find  suitable  to  describe  the  vast 
tho  familiar  and  easy  transition  from  the 
material  or  extended  to  the  immaterial  or 
unexterded  side  of  our  being. — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  6,  p.  34.      (Hum.,  1880.) 

2188.  MIND  AND  NATURE,  INTER- 
ACTION  OF— Progress  from  Effect  to  Cause, 
Thence  to  New  Effect. — Our  senses  stand  be- 
tween these  phenomena   and  the  reasoning 
mind.     We   observe   the   fact,   but   are   not 
satisfied  with  the  mere  act  of  observation; 
the  fact  must  be  accounted  for — fitted  into 
its  position  in  the  line  of  cause  and  effect. 


447 


SCIENTIFIC   SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mimicry 
Mind 


Taking  our  facts  from  Nature,  we  transfer 
them  to  the  domain  of  thought:  look  at 
them,  compare  them,  observe  their  mutual 
relations  and  connections,  and  bringing  them 
ever  clearer  before  the  mental  eye,  finally 
alight  upon  the  cause  which  unites  them. 
This  is  the  last  act  of  the  mind,  in  this  cen- 
tripetal direction — in  its  progress  from  the 
multiplicity  of  facts  to  the  central  cause  on 
which  they  depend.  But,  having  guessed  the 
cause,  we  are  not  yet  contented.  We  set  out 
from  the  center  and  travel  in  the  other  di- 
rection. If  the  guess  be  true,  certain  conse- 
quences must  follow  from  it,  and  we  appeal 
to  the  law  and  testimony  of  experiment 
whether  the  thing  is  so.  Thus  is  the  circuit 
of  thought  completed — from  without  inward, 
from  multiplicity  to  unity,  and  from  within 
outward,  from  unity  to  multiplicity. — TYN- 
DALL  Fragments  of  Science,  ch.  11,  p.  282. 
(A.,  1897.) 

2189.  MIND,  AN  OBJECT  OF  SCIEN- 
TIFIC STUDY — Improved  Treatment  of  Insan- 
ity— Intelligent    Investigation    of    Nervous 
Disease. — The  habit  of  viewing  mind  as  an 
intangible    entity    or    incorporeal    essence, 
which  science  inherited  from  theology,  pre- 
vented men  from  subjecting  its  phenomena 
to  the  same  method  of  investigation  as  other 
natural     phenomena;     its     disorders     were 
thought  to  be  an  incomprehensible  affliction 
and,  in  accordance  with  the  theological  no- 
tion, due  to  the  presence  of  an  evil  spirit 
in   the   sufferer,   or   to   the  enslavement   of 
the  soul  by  sin,  or  to  anything  but  their 
true   cause — bodily   disease.      Consequently, 
the  treatment  of  the  insane  was  not  in  the 
hands  of  intelligent  physicians,  who  aimed 
to  apply  the  resources  of  medicine  to  the  al- 
leviation or  cure  of  bodily  illness,  but  was 
given    up    to    coarse    and  ignorant    jailers, 
wkose  savage  cruelties  will  for  all  time  to 
come  be   a  great   and  ugly   blot   upon   the 
enlightenment   of   the   age   which   tolerated 
them.     Matters   are  happily  changed   now. 
On  all  hands  it  is  admitted  that  the  mani- 
festations of  mind  take  place  through  the 
nervous  system,  and  that  its  derangements 
are  the  result  of  nervous  disease,  amenable 
to  the  same  method  of  investigation  as  other 
nervous  diseases.     Insanity  has  accordingly 
become   a    strictly   medical    study,    and    its 
treatment    a    branch    of    medical    practise. 
Still,  it  is  all  too  true  that,  notwithstanding 
we  know  much  and  are  day  by  day  learn- 
ing more  of  the  physiology  of  the  nervous 
system,  we  are  only  on  the  threshold  of  the 
study   of    it   as    an    instrument   subserving 
rental     function. — MAUDSLEY     Body     and 
Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  12.     (A.,  1898.) 

2190.  MIND  A  PART  OF  NATURE— 

Mental  Laws  Are  also  Natural  Laws. — If 
the  mind  is  so  spoken  of  and  represented 
PS  to  suggest  the  idea  of  something  apart 
from  the  genera  1  system  of  Nature,  and  if 
its  laws  of  thought  are  looked  upon  as 
"  forms  "  or  molds  into  which,  by  some  ar- 
tificial arrangement  or  by  some  mechanical 


necessity,  everything  from  outside  must  be 
squeezed  and  made  to  fit,  then  it  will  nat- 
urally occur  to  us  to  doubt  whether  con- 
ceptions cut  out  and  manufactured  under 
such  conditions  can  be  any  trustworthy  rep- 
resentation of  the  truth.  Such,  unfortu- 
nately, has  been  the  mode  of  representation 
adopted  by  many  philosophers,  and  such,  ac- 
cordingly, has  been  the  result  of  their  teach- 
ing. This  is  the  great  source  of  error  in 
every  form  of  the  idealistic  philosophy,  but 
it  is  a  source  of  error  which  can  be  per- 
fectly eliminated,  leaving  untouched  and 
undoubted  the  large  body  of  truths  which 
has  made  that  philosophy  attractive  to  so 
many  powerful  minds. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  89.  (Burt.) 

2191.  MIND  CONSCIOUS  OF  ITS  OWN 
LIMITATIONS— Limits  of  Opportunity  Rather 
than  of  Power — Appetite  Can  Be  Satisfied, 
but  Mind  or  Spirit  Cannot. — Nothing,  cer- 
tainly, in  the  human  mind  is  more  wonder- 
ful than  this — that  it  is  conscious  of  its 
own  limitations.     For  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  such  consciousness  would  be  impossible 
if  these  limitations  were  in  their  nature  ab- 
solute.    The  bars  which  we  feel  so  much, 
and  against  which  we  so  often  beat  in  vain, 
are  bars  which  could  not  be  felt  at  all  Un- 
less there  were  something  in  us  which  seeks 
a  wider  scope.     It  is  as  if  these  bars  were  a 
limit  of  opportunity  rather  than  a  boundary 
of  power.     No  absolute  limitation  of  mental 
faculty  ever  is,  or  ever  could  be,  felt  by  the 
creatures  whom  it  affects.     Of  this  we  have 
abundant  evidence  in  the  lower  animals,  and 
in  those  lower  faculties  of  our  own  nature 
which  are  of  like  kind  to  theirs.    Our  bodily 
appetites  can  seek  nothing  beyond  or  beside 
the  objects  of  their  desire.     To  the  attain- 
ment of  these  objects  that  desire  is  limited, 
and   with    this    attainment    it   is   satisfied. 
Moreover,  when  a  bodily  appetite  is  satis- 
fied, it  for  the  time  ceases  to  exist,  and  may 
even  be  converted  into  nausea  and  disgust 
towards  that  which  had  been  the  object  of 
pursuit.  This  is  the  necessary  effect  of  a  lim- 
itation which  is  absolute.     But  the  case  is 
very    different    with    the    appetites    of   the 
mind,  and  still  more  with  the  cravings  of 
the  spirit.     Even  in  the  purest  physical  in- 
vestigations we  are  perpetually  encounter- 
ing some  mental  barrier  through  which  we 
cannot  break  and  over  which  we  cannot  see. 
And  yet  we  know  it  and  feel  it  to  be  a  bar- 
rier and  nothing  more.    We  stop  in  front  of 
it  not  because  we  are  satisfied,  but  because 
it  bars  our  way. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,, 
ch.  4,  p.  76.    (Burt.) 

2192.  MIND  CONTROLLING  BODY 

— Confident  Belief  an  Aid  fo  Recovery. — 
Perhaps  we  do  not,  as  physicians,  consider 
sufficiently  the  influence  of  mental  states  in 
the  production  of  disease,  and  their  impor- 
tance as  symptoms,  or  take  all  the  advan- 
tage which  we  might  take  of  them  in  our 
efforts  to  cure  it.  Quackery  seems  to  have 
here  got  hold  of  a  truth  which  legitimate 


Mind 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


448 


medicine  fails  to  appreciate  and  use  ade- 
quately. Assuredly  the  most  successful 
physician  is  he  who,  inspiring  the  greatest 
confidence  in  his  remedies,  strengthens  and 
exalts  the  imagination  of  his  patient :  if  he 
orders  a  few  drops  of  peppermint-water  with 
the  confident  air  of  curing  the  disease,  will 
he  not  really  do  more  sometimes  for  the 
patient  than  one  who  treats  him  in  the  most 
approved  scientific  wray,  but  without  inspir- 
ing a  conviction  of  recovery?  Ceremonies, 
charms,  gesticulations,  amulets,  and  the 
like  have  in  all  ages  and  among  all  nations 
been  greatly  esteemed  and  largely  used  in 
the  treatment  of  disease;  and  it  may  be 
speciously  presumed  that  they  have  derived 
their  power,  not  from  any  contract  with  the 
supernatural,  but,  as  Bacon  observes,  by 
strengthening  and  exalting  the  imagination 
of  him  who  used  them.  Entirely  ignorant 
as  we  are,  and  probably  ever  shall  be,  of  the 
nature  of  mind,  groping  feebly  for  the  laws 
of  its  operation,  we  certainly  cannot  venture 
to  set  bounds  to  its  power  over  those  inti- 
mate and  insensible  molecular  movements 
which  are  the  basis  of  all  our  visible  bodily 
functions,  any  more  than  we  can  justly  ven- 
ture to  set  bounds  to  its  action  in  the  vast 
and  ever  progressing  evolution  of  Nature,  of 
which  all  our  thoughts  and  works  are  but  a 
part. — MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p. 
38.  (A.,  1898.) 

2193.  MIND  DOMINATED  BY  PRE- 
CONCEIVED IDEA— Misreading  of  Words. 
— A  tendency  to  read  a  particular  meaning 
into  a  word  may  lead  to  the  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  word.    To  give  an  illustration :  I 
was  lately  reading  the  fifth  volume  of  G.  H. 
Lewes's  "  Problems  of  Life  and  Mind."     In 
reading  the  first  sentence  of  one  of  the  sec- 
tions, I  again  and  again  fell  into  the  error 
of  taking  "  The  great  Lagrange  "  for  "  The 
great  Language."  On  glancing  back  I  saw  that 
the  section  was  headed  "  On  Language,"  and 
I  at  once  recognized  the  cause  of  my  error 
in  the  preexistence  in  my  mind  of  the  repre- 
sentative   image   of   the   word   "  language." 
— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  9,  p.  228.     (A.,  1897.) 

2194.  MIND  INFINITELY   VARIED 
— Mental   Qualities  of  Ants. — Does   it   not 
seem  as  if  Nature  wants  to  play  with  our 
judgment  by  the  variety  and  superiority  of 
conceptions  of  which  she  offers  an  example, 
in  the  details  as  well  as  in  the  whole?     We 
can  only  judge  according  to  known  facts,  but 
Nature  never  imitates   herself  and  has  no 
need  to  imitate.     The  fecundity  of  under- 
standing that  has  dictated  these  laws  is  not 
•known  to  possess  limits ;  each  species  has  its 
habits,  each  individual  its  peculiar  constitu- 
tion.   That  is  why  we  fall  into  errors  with- 
out number,  why  our  observations  cause  us  to 
deviate  in  deciding  which  rules  appear  the 
most   general.      [This   is   observable   in   the 
case  of]    the  ants,  whose  history  furnishes 
so  many  examples  of  the  insufficiency  of  our 
conjectures. — HUBER     Recherches     sur     les 
Mozurs     des     Fourmis     indigenes,     p.     102. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 


2195.  MIND,    IS    IT    LIMITED    TO 
BRAIN  ?— Intelligence  in  Reflex  Movements.— 
Is  the  brain  the  exclusive  organ  of  mind? 
If  it  be  so,  to  what  category  of  functions 
shall  we  refer  the  reflex  acts  of  the  spinal 
cord,  which  take  place  independently  of  the 
brain,  and  which  often  achieve  as  definite 
an  end,  and  seem  to  display  as  intelligent  an 
aim,   as   any   conscious    act   of   volition? — • 
MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.   1,  p.  15. 
(A.,  1898.) 

21 96.  MIND,  LIMITATIONS  OF— Ar- 
tistic and  Scientific  Genius  Not  Conjoined — 
Mastery  in  One  Line  Compatible  with  Abil- 
ity in  Many. — A  great  mind  may  be  great  in 
many    things,    because    the    same    kind    of 
power    may    have    numerous    applications. 
The  scientific  mind  of  a  high  order  is  also 
the  practical  mind;    it  is  the  essence  of  rea- 
son in  every  mode  of  its  manifestation — the 
true  philosopher  in  conduct  as  well  as  in 
knowledge.     On  such  a  mind  also  a  certain 
amount  of  artistic  culture  may  be  superin- 
duced; its  powers  of  acquisition  may  be  ex- 
tended so  far.    But  the  spontaneous,  exuber- 
ant,   imaginative  flow,   the   artistic   nature 
at  the  core,  never  was,  cannot  be,  included 
in  the  same  individual.    Aristotle  could  not 
be  also  a  tragic  poet,  nor  Newton  a  third- 
rate  portrait-painter.    The  cost  of  one  of  the 
two  modes  of  intellectual  greatness  is  all 
that  can  be  borne  by  the  most  largely  en- 
dowed personality;    any  appearances  to  the 
contrary    are    hollow    and    delusive. — BAIN" 
app.  to  Conservation  of  Energy  by  STEWART, 
p.  431.    (Hum.,  1880.) 

2197.  MIND,  LIMITS  OF,  UNKNOWN 

— Worms  Seeming  to  Exceed  Ants  in  Intel- 
ligence.— As  worms  are  not  guided  by  spe- 
cial instincts  in  each  particular  case,  tho 
possessing  a  general  instinct  to  plug  up 
their  burrows,  and  as  chance  is  excluded, 
the  next  most  probable  conclusion  seems  to 
be  that  they  try  in  many  different  ways  to 
draw  in  objects,  and  at  last  succeed  in  some 
one  way.  But  it  is  surprising  that  an  ani- 
mal so  low  in  the  scale  as  a  worm  should 
have  the  capacity  for  acting  in  this  manner, 
as  many  higher  animals  have  no  such  ca- 
pacity. For  instance,  ants  may  be  seen 
vainly  trying  to  drag  an  object  transversely 
to  their  course,  which  could  be  easily  drawn 
longitudinally;  tho  after  a  time  they  gen- 
erally act  in  a  wiser  manner. — DARWIN  For- 
mation of  Vegetable  Mould,  ch.  2,  p.  26. 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

2198.  MIND,  LITTLE  DEVELOPMENT 
OF,  WITHOUT  SPEECH  —  The  Greatness  of 
Mind  Is  Due  to  the  Tongue. — It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  speech,  if  mental  evolution 
is  to  come  to  anything  or  is  to  be  worth 
anything,   is   a  necessary  condition.     By  it 
alone,  in  any  degree  worth  naming,  can  the 
fruits  of  observation  and  experience  of  one 
generation    be    husbanded    to    form    a    new 
starting-point  for  a  second,  nor  without  it 
could  there  be  any  concerted  action  or  so- 
cial life.    The  greatness  of  the  human  mind. 


449 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mind 


after  all,  is  due  to  the  tongue,  the  material 
instrument  of  reason,  and  to  language,  the 
outward  expression  of  the  inner  life. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p.  152. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

2199.  MIND   MUST  BE   TRAINED 
TO  SOUND  THINKING— Science    Cultivates 
Orderly  Habits  of  Thought. — The  system  of 
mind-gymnastics  is  one  which  is  imperative 
on  all  ages  and  conditions.     In  no  age  can 
its .  advantages  be  more   thoroughly   under- 
stood than  in  this  controversial  epoch,  when 
the  oldest  and  most  respected  of  ideas  are 
ruthlessly   deposed   from   their   niches,   and 
supplanted  by  new  and  advanced  codes  of 
opinion.      To    have    our    young    trained    to 
"  think,"  and  our  elders  to  judiciously  weigh 
and  consider  all  the  matters  of  life;  to  teach 
men  and  women  how  to  use  their  reason;  to 
enable  them  successfully  to  grapple  with  the 
great  difficulties  of  trade  and  labor,  of  sci- 
ence and  art,  of  morality  and  religion — such 
are  the  objects  which  this  system  of  mind- 
training  has    in   view.     And  the   study   of 
natural    science    accomplishes    these    great 
ends  chiefly  by   inducing  orderly  habits   of 
thought.     The   very   essence   of   this    study 
lies  in  the  cultivation  of  the  observant  facul- 
ties, and  in  the  true  culture  of  the  senses 
to  appreciate,  and,  through  appreciation,  to 
understand  and  enjoy  the  objects  which  are 
set  before  the  mind. — ANDREW  WILSON  Sci- 
ence-Culture  for  the  Masses,  p.  27.     (Hum., 
1888.) 

2200.  MIND,  MYSTERIES  OF,  RE- 
VEALED IN  MUSIC— It  has  always  struck 
me  as  a  mystery  peculiarly  interesting  and 
wonderful  that  in  the  .theory  of  music,  in 
the   physical   and   technical    foundations   of 
this  art,  which   above   all  others  seems  to 
create   in   the   mind   the   most   immaterial, 
evanescent,  and  tender  states  of  conscious- 
ness, incalculable  and  indescribable,  that  es- 
pecially in  this,  the  science  of  purest  and 
strictest    thought  —  mathematics  —  should 
prove  itself  preeminently  productive.     Thor- 
ough-bass is  a  kind  of  applied  mathematics. 
As  for  musical  intervals,  divisions  of  time, 
and  so  forth,  numerical  fractions  and  even 
at  times  logarithms  play  a  prominent  part. 
Mathematics   and  music — the  most  glaring 
opposites  possible  in  human  thought!     And 
yet  they  are  connected,  mutually  sustained. 
It    is    as    if   they   would    demonstrate   that 
hidden    consensus    of    all    activities    of    our 
mind  which  in  the  revelations  of  genius  en- 
ables  us  to  forefeel  the  unconscious  utter- 
ances of  an  intelligence  mysteriously  active. 
— HELMHOLTZ  On  the  Physiological  Causes 
of   Harmony  in   Music   (Popular   Scientific 
Lectures,  p.  63.J      (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

2201.  MIND    NOT    DEGRADED  BY 
ASSOCIATION    WITH     THE     ANIMAL 
BODY— Electricity  Not  Materialized  by  Pass- 
ing   through    Metal. — So    godlike    a    gift   is 
intellect,  so  wondrous  a  thing  is  conscious- 
ness,   that   to    link   them   with    the   animal 


world  seems  to  trifle  with  the  profoundest 
distinctions  in  the  universe.  Yet  to  associ- 
ate these  supersensuous  things  with  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  is  not  to  identify  them  with 
the  animal  body.  Electricity  is  linked  with 
metal  rods;  it  is  not,  therefore,  metallic. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p.  20.  ( J. 
P.,  1900.) 

2202.  MIND  OF  MAN  AND  BEAST 

— Resemblance  in  Action  Indicates  Mental 
Likeness- — Monkeys  and  Children. — At  the 
Zoological  Gardens  one  may  sometimes  see 
a  handful  of  nuts  divided  between  the  mon- 
keys inside  the  bars  and  the  children  out- 
side, and  it  is  instructive  to  notice  how  near- 
ly both  go  through  the  same  set  of  move- 
ments, looking,  approaching,  elbowing,  grasp- 
ing, cracking,  munching,  swallowing,  hold- 
ing out  their  hands  for  more.  Up  to  this 
level  the  monkeys  show  all  the  mental  like- 
ness to  man  that  their  bodily  likeness  would 
lead  us  to  expect.  .  .  .  The  boy  knows 
a  nut  by  sight,  wishes  to  renew  the  pleasant 
taste  of  former  nuts,  and  directs  his  hands 
and  mouth  to  grasp,  crack,  and  eat.  But 
here  are  complicated  mental  processes. 
Knowing  a  nut  by  sight,  or  having  an  idea 
of  a  nut,  means  that  there  are  grouped  to- 
gether in  the  child's  mind  memories  of  a 
number  of  past  sensations,  which  have  so 
become  connected  by  experience  that  a  par- 
ticular form  and  color,  feel  and  weight, 
lead  to  the  expectation  of  a  particular  fla- 
vor. Of  what  here  takes  place  in  the  boy's 
mind  we  can  judge,  tho  by  no  means  clearly, 
from  what  we  know  about  our  own  thoughts 
and  what  others  have  told  us  about  theirs. 
What  takes  place  in  the  monkeys'  minds  we 
can  only  guess  by  watching  their  actions, 
but  these  are  so  like  the  human  as  to  be 
most  readily  explained  by  considering  their 
brain-work  also  to  be  like  the  human,  tho 
less  clear  and  perfect.  It  seems  as  tho  a 
beast's  idea  or  thought  of  an  object  may 
be,  as  our  own,  a  group  of  remembered  sen- 
sations compacted  into  a  whole. — TYLOR  An- 
thropology, ch.  2,  p.  48.  (A.,  1899.) 

2203.  MIND    OF   OBSERVER    DE- 
TERMINES   HIS  VIEW    OF    NATURE— 

It  may  seem  a  rash  attempt  to  endeavor  to 
separate  into  its  different  elements  the  mag- 
ic power  exercised  upon  our  minds  by  the 
physical  world,  since  the  character  of  the 
landscape  and  of  every  imposing  scene  in 
Nature  depends  so  materially  upon  the  mu- 
tual relation  of  the  ideas  and  sentiments 
simultaneously  excited  in  the  mind  o'f  the 
observer.  The  powerful  effect  exercised  by 
Nature  springs,  as  it  were,  from  the  con- 
nection and  unity  of  the  impressions  and 
emotions  produced;  and  we  can  only  trace 
their  different  sources  by  analyzing  the  in- 
dividuality of  objects  and  the  diversity  of 
forces.  The  richest  and  most  varied  ele- 
ments for  pursuing  an  analysis  of  this  na- 
ture present  themselves  to  the  eyes  of  the 
traveler  in  the  scenery  of  Southern  Asia,  in 
the  Great  Indian  Archipelago,  and  more  es- 


Mind 
Minerals 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


450 


pecially,  too,  in  the  New  Continent,  where 
the  summits  of  the  lofty  Cordilleras  pene- 
trate the  confines  of  the  aerial  ocean  sur- 
rounding our  globe,  and  where  the  same 
subterranean  forces  that  once  raised  these 
mountain  chains  still  shake  them  to  their 
foundation  and  threaten  their  downfall. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  27.  (H., 
1897.) 

2204.  MIND    OVERWHELMED  BY 
VAST  PERIODS  OF  TIME— The  chief  cause 
of  our  natural  unwillingness  to  admit  that 
one  species  has  given  birth  to  other  and  dis- 
tinct species  is  that  we  are  always  slow  in 
admitting  great  changes  of  which  we  do  not 
see  the  steps.     The  difficulty  is  the  same  as 
that  felt  by  so  many  geologists,  when  Lyell 
first  insisted  that  long  lines  of  inland  cliffs 
had  been  formed  and  great  valleys  excavated 
by  the  agencies  which  we  still  see  at  work. 
The   mind    cannot    possibly   grasp    the    full 
meaning  of  the  term  of  even  a  million  years ; 
it  cannot  add  up  and  perceive  the  full  effects 
of  many  slight  variations,  accumulated  dur- 
ing  an   almost   infinite   number    of   genera- 
tions.— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  15,  p. 
497.    (Burt.) 

2205.  MIND  PREFERS  CONCRETE 
TO  ABSTRACT — I  can   consider  the  hand, 
the  eye,  the  nose,  each  by  itself  abstracted 
or    separated    from   the    rest  •  of   the   body. 
But  then,  whatever  hand  or  eye  I  imagine, 
it  must  have  some  particular  shape  and  col- 
or.   Likewise  the  idea  of  man  that  I  frame 
to  myself  must  be  either  of  a  white,  or  a 
black,  or  a  tawny,  a  straight,  or  a  crooked, 
a  tall,  or  a  low,  or  a  middle-sized  man.     I 
cannot  by   any   effort   of   thought   conceive 
the  abstract  idea  above  described.     And  it 
is   equally   impossible   for  me   to   form  the 
abstract   idea   of  motion  distinct  from   the 
body   moving,    and   which   is   neither   swift 
nor   slow,    curvilinear   nor  rectilinear;    and 
the  like  may  be  said  of  all  other  abstract 
general  ideas  whatsoever. — BERKELEY  Prin- 
ciples  of  Human   Knowledge,   int.,   p.    178. 
(L.,  1874.) 

2206.  MIND  READILY  REPRODUCES 
FAMILIAR  IMPRESSIONS— -fo  Artist's  Few 
Lines  Spectator  Sees  the  Face — Hence  Ready 
Illusion. — Another  great  fact  that  has  come 
to  light  in  the  investigation  of  these  illu- 
sions   is    that    oft-recurring    and    familiar 
types    of    experience    leave    permanent    dis- 
positions in  the  mind.     What  has  been  fre- 
quently   perceived    is    perceived    more    and 
more  readily.     It  follows  from  this  that  the 
mind   will  be  habitually   disposed  to   form 
the  corresponding  mental  images,  and  to  in- 
terpret impressions  by  help  of  these.     The 
range  of  artistic  suggestion  depends  on  this. 
A    clever    draftsman    can    indicate    a    face 
by  a  few  rough  touches,  and  this  is  due  to 
the    fact   that   the    spectator's    mind    is    so 
familiarized,   through    recurring   experience 
and  special   interest,  with  the  object,  that 
it  is  ready  to  construct  the  requisite  mental 
image  at  the  slightest  external  suggestion. 


And  hence  the  risk  of  hasty  and  illusory 
interpretation. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  5,  p. 
91.  (A.,  1897.) 

2207.  MIND    REVEALED    THROUGH 

MATTER— Care  of  Body  Important — Oxygen. 
Ministers  to  Mental  and  Spiritual  Life. — 
Mind,  like  force,  is  known  to  us  only 
through  matter.  Take,  then,  what  hypoth- 
esis you  will — consider  matter  as  an  instru- 
ment through  which  the  insulated  mind  ex- 
ercises its  powers,  or  consider  both  as  so 
inextricably  mixed  that  they  stand  or  fall 
together;  from  both  points  of  view  the  care 
of  the  body  is  equally  important.  The  mo- 
rality of  clean  blood  ought  to  be  one  of  the 
best  lessons  taught  us  by  our  pastors  and 
masters.  The  physical  is  the  substratum  of 
the  spiritual,  and  this  fact  ought  to  give  to 
the  food  we  eat  and  to  the  air  we  breathe  a 
transcendental  significance.  Boldly  and 
truly  writes  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  Whenever  you 
throw  your  window  wide  open  in  the  morn- 
ing, you  let  in  Athena,  as  wisdom  and  fresh 
air  at  the  same  instant;  and  whenever  you 
draw  a  pure,  long,  full  breath  of  right 
heaven,  you  take  Athena  into  your  heart, 
through  your  blood,  and  with  the  blood  into- 
thoughts  of  the  brain."  No  higher  value 
than  this  could  be  assigned  to  atmospheric 
oxygen. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the- 
Alps,  ch.  25,  p.  301.  (A.,  1898.) 

2208.  MIND,  THE  EVOLUTION  OF— 

Illustrated  in  a  Savage — An  Incalculable 
Creature  to  Civilized  Man. — No  one  should 
pronounce  upon  the  evolution  of  mind  till 
he  has  seen  a  savage.  By  this  is  not  meant 
the  show  savage  of  an  Australian  town,  or 
the  quay  Kafir  of  a  South-African  port,  or 
the  Reservation  Indian  of  a  Western  State; 
but  the  savage  as  he  is  in  reality,  and  as  he- 
may  be  seen  to-day  by  any  who  care  to  look 
upon  so  weird  a  spectacle.  No  study  from 
the  life  can  compare  with  this  in  interest  or 
in  pathos,  nor  stir  so  many  strange  emotions 
in  the  mind  of  a  thoughtful  man.  To  sit 
with  this  incalculable  creature  in  the  heart 
of  the  great  forest;  to  live  with  him  in  his 
natural  home  as  the  guest  of  Nature,  to 
watch  his  ways  and  moods  and  try  to  resolve 
the  ceaseless  mystery  of  his  thoughts — this, 
whether  the  existing  savage  represents  the 
primitive  savage  or  not,  is  to  open  one  of 
the  workshops  of  creation  and  behold  the 
half-finished  product  from  which  humanity 
has  been  evolved. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  p.  142.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2209.  MIND,  THE  MECHANICAL  THE- 
ORY OF— Ideas  Like  Bricks  of  the  Structure.— 
An  influential  school  of  psychology,  seeking 
to  avoid  haziness   of  outline,   has  tried  to 
make  things  appear  more  exact  and  scien- 
tific by  making   the   analysis   more    sharp. 
The  various  fields  of  consciousness,  accord- 
ing to   this   school,   result  from   a  definite 
number     of    perfectly    definite    elementary 
mental  states,  mechanically  associated  inta 
a  mosaic  or  chemically  combined.     Accord- 
ing to  some  thinkers — Spencer,  for  example, 


451 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mind 
Minerals 


or  Taine — these  resolve  themselves  at  last 
into  little  elementary  psychic  particles  or 
atoms  of  "  mind-stuff,"  out  of  which  all  the 
more  immediately  known  mental  states  are 
said  to  be  built  up.  Locke  introduced  this 
theory  in  a  somewhat  vague  form.  Simple 
"  ideas  "  of  sensation  and  reflection,  as  he 
called  them,  were  for  him  the  bricks  of 
which  our  mental  architecture  is  built  up. 
.  .  .  Whether  it  be  true  or  false,  it  is 
at  any  rate  only  conjectural;  and,  for 
practical  purposes,  the  more  unpretending 
conception  of  the  stream  of  consciousness, 
with  its  total  waves  or  fields  incessantly 
changing,  will  amply  suffice. — JAMES  Talks 
to  Teachers,  ch.2,  p.  19.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

20 1O.  MIND    UNLIKE    THE    HUMAN 
UNKNOWN    TO    THE    HUMAN— If  it  can 
be  said  with  truth  that  "  the  universal  mind 
is  essentially  other  than  the  human  mind," 
so  that  no  recognizable  relations  can  exist 
between  them,  then  that  universal  mind  is 
to  us  as  if  it  were  not. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  2,  p.  63.    (Burt.) 

2211.  MIND,  UNTRAINED,  PREFERS 
THE  MARVELOUS  TO  THE  TRUE  —  Won- 
derful and  Terrible  Agencies  Excite  Super- 
stition.— It   is    not   difficult   to   understand 
how  false  notions  on  the  subject  of  volcanic 
action  have  come  to  be  so  generally  preva- 
lent.    In  the  earlier  stages  of  its  develop- 
ment, the  human  mind  is  much  more  con- 
genially employed  in  drinking  in  that  which 
is    marvelous    than    in    searching    for    that 
which  is  true.     It  must  be  admitted,  too, 
that  the  grand  and  striking  phenomena  dis- 
played by  volcanoes  are  especially  calculated 
to  inspire  terror  and  to  excite  superstition, 
and  such  feelings  must  operate  in  prevent- 
ing those   close   and   accurate   observations 
\\hich  alone  can  form  the  basis  of  scientific 
reasoning. — JTJDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  1,  p.  2.    (A., 
1899.) 

2212.  MIND  WELL  FURNISHED    IS 
CAPABLE  OF  SUSTAINED  ATTENTION— 
We  can  see  why  it  is  that  what  is  called 
sustained  attention   is  the  easier,  the  rich- 
er   in    acquisitions    and    the    fresher    and 
more   original   the   mind.      In   such   minds, 
subjects    bud    and    sprout    and    grow.     At 
every  moment,  they  please  by  a  new  conse- 
quence and  rivet  the  attention  afresh.     But 
an    intellect    unfurnished    with    materials, 
stagnant,  unoriginal,  will  hardly  be  likely 
to  consider  any  subject  long.     A  glance  ex- 
hausts its  possibilities  of  interest.   Geniuses 
are  commonly  believed  to  excel  other  men  in 
their    power    of    sustained    attention.      In 
most  of  them,   it  is  to  be   feared,   the  so- 
called  "  power  "  is  of  the  passive  sort.  Their 
ideas  coruscate,  every  subject  branches  in- 
finitely before  their  fertile  minds,  and  so  for 
hours  they  may  be  rapt. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  423.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2213.  MINERALS    HELD   INVISIBLE 
IN  WATER—  Calcareous  Substances  Deposited 
by   Boiling — Opposite   Results   of   a   Single 
Process. — Spring-water  and  river-water  that 


have  passed  through  or  over  considerable 
distances  in  calcareous  districts  suffer 
change  in  boiling.  The  origin  and  nature 
of  this  change  may  be  shown  by  an  experi- 
ment as  follows :  Buy  a  pennyworth  of  lime- 
water  from  a  druggist  and  procure  a  small 
glass  tube  of  about  quill  size,  or  the  stem  of 
a  fresh  tobacco-pipe  may  be  used.  Half  fill 
a  small  wine-glass  with  the  lime-water,  and 
blow  through  it  by  menus  of  the  tube  or 
tobacco-pipe.  Presently  it  will  become  tur- 
bid. Continue  the  blowing,  and  the  turbid- 
ity will  increase  up  to  a  certain  degree  of 
.milkiness.  Go  on  blowing  with  "  commend- 
able perseverance,"  and  an  inversion  of  ef- 
fect will  follow;  the  turbidity  diminishes, 
and  at  last  the  water  becomes  clear  again. 

The  chemistry  of  this  is  simple  enough. 
From  the  lungs  a  mixture  of  nitrogen, 
cxygen,  and  carbonic  acid  is  exhaled.  The 
carbonic  acid  combines  with  the  soluble  lime, 
and  forms  a  carbonate  of  lime,  which  is  in- 
soluble in  mere  water.  But  this  carbonate 
of  lime  is  to  a  certain  extent  soluble  in 
water  saturated  with  carbonic  acid,  and 
such  saturation  is  effected  by  the  continu- 
ation of  blowing. 

Take  some  lime-water  that  has  been  thus 
treated,  place  it  in  a  clean  glass  flask,  and 
boil  it.  After  a  short  time  the  flask  will  be 
found  incrusted  with  a  thin  film  of  some- 
thing. This  is  the  carbonate  of  lime  which 
has  been  thrown  down  again  by  the  action 
of  boiling,  which  has  driven  off  its  solvent, 
the  carbonic  acid.  This  crust  will  effervesce 
if  a  little  acid  is  added  to  it. — WILLIAMS 
Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  2,  p.  10.  (A., 
1900.) 

2214.      MINERALS    OF    VESUVIUS— 

A  great  variety  of  minerals  are  found  in  the 
lavas  of  Vesuvius  and  Somma;  augite, 
leucite,  feldspar,  mica,  olivin,  and  sulfur  are 
most  abundant.  It  is  an  extraordinary  fact 
that  in  an  area  of  three  square  miles  round 
Vesuvius  a  greater  number  of  simple  min- 
erals have  been  found  than  in  any  spot  of 
the  same  dimensions  on  the  surface  of  the 
globe.  Hauy  enumerated  only  380  species  of 
simple  minerals  as  known  to  him;  and  no 
less  than  eighty-two  had  been  found  on  Ve- 
suvius and  in  the  tuffs  on  the  flanks  of 
Somma  before  the  end  of  the  year  1828. 
Many  of  these  are  peculiar  to  that  locality. 
Some  mineralogists  have  conjectured  that 
the  greater  part  of  these  were  not  of  Vesu- 
vian  origin,  but  thrown  up  in  fragments 
from  some  older  formation,  through  which 
the  gaseous  explosions  burst.  But  none  of 
the  older  rocks  in  Italy  or  elsewhere  con- 
tain such  an  assemblage  of  mineral  prod- 
ucts ;  and  the  hypothesis  seems  to  have  been 
prompted  by  a  disinclination  to  admit  that, 
in  times  so  recent  in  the  earth's  history,  the 
laboratory  of  Nature  could  have  been  so 
prolific  in  the  creation  of  new  and  rare  com- 
pounds. Had  Vesuvius  been  a  volcano  of 
high  antiquity,  formed  when  Nature 

Wantpn'd  as  in  her  prime,  and  play'd  at  will 
Her  virgin  fancies, 


Mi-'ernls 
Missiles 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


452 


it  would  have  been  readily,  admitted  that 
these,  or  a  much  greater  variety  of  sub- 
stances, had  been  sublimed  in  the  crevices  of 
kiva,  just  as  several  new  earthy  and  metallic 
compounds  are  known  to  have  been  produced 
by  fumaroles,  since  the  eruption  of  1822. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p. 
385.  (A.,  1854.) 

2215.  MINES ,    ANCIENT  —  Trees    of 
Great  Age  Growing  on  Excavated  Earth. — 
[A  group  of  mining-works  of  very  great  an- 
tiquity]   appears  to  have  been  first  discov- 
ered in  1847  by  Mr.  Knapp,  the  agent  of  the 
Minnesota  Mining  Company.     His  observa- 
tions have  "  brought  to  light  ancient  exca- 
vations   of    great    extent,    frequently    from 
twenty- five  to  thirty  feet  deep,  and  scattered 
over  an  area  of  several  miles.     He  counted 
three  hundred  and  ninety-five  annular  rings 
on  a  hemlock-tree  which  grew  on  one  of  the 
mounds  of  earth  thrown  out  of  an  ancient 
mine.     Mr.  Foster  also  notes  the  great  size 
and  age  of  a  pine  stump,  which  must  have 
grown,  flourished,  and  died  since  the  works 
were  deserted;    and  Mr.  C.  Whittesley  not 
only  refers  to  living  trees  upwards  of  three 
hundred  years  old,   now  flourishing  in  the 
gathered  soil  of  the  abandoned  trenches,  but 
adds,  '  On  the  same  spot  there  are  the  de- 
cayed trunks  of  a  preceding  generation  or 
generations   of  trees   that  have   arrived   at 
maturity  and  fallen  down  from  old  age.'  " — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  247. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2216.  MINUTENESS  INCONCEIVABLE 

— Dimensions  of  Waves  of  Light — Micro- 
scopic Infinity. — Whether,  however,  there 
are  such  things  as  waves  of  ether  or  not, 
there  is  something  concerned  in  the  phe- 
nomena of  light  which  has  definite  dimen- 
sions, that  have  been  measured  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  the  dimensions  of  astron- 
omy, altho  they  are  at  the  opposite  extreme 
of  the  scale  of  magnitude.  We  represent 
these  dimensions  to  our  imagination  as 
wave-lengths,  that  is,  as  the  distances  from 
crest  to  crest  of  our  assumed  ether-waves, 
and  we  shall  find  it  difficult  to  think  clearly 
upon  the  subject  without  the  aid  of  this 
wave  theory,  and  every  student  of  physics 
will  bear  me  out  in  the  statement  that,  tho 
our  theory  may  be  a  fantom  of  our  scien- 
tific dreaming,  these  magnitudes  must  be  the 
dimensions  of  something.  Here  they  are: 

Dimensions  of  Light-waves. 


COLORS. 

Number  of 
waves  in 
one  inch. 

Number  of 
oscillations  in  one 
second. 

Red 

39  000 

477  000  000  000  000 

Orange  

42,000 

5^6,000  000,000  000 

Yellow 

4t,OfO 

535  000  000  000  000 

47  000 

577  000  000  000  COO 

Blue        

51  000 

622  000,000,000,000 

Indigo 

54  000 

(i58  000  000  000  0<^0 

Violet  .  .  . 

57.000 

699.000.000.000.000 

.  .  .  These  values  always  create  a  smile 
with  a  popular  audience,  which  makes  it  evi- 
dent that,  by  those  unfamiliar  with  the  sub- 


ject, they  are  looked  upon  as  unreal,  if  not 
absurd.  But  this  is  a  prejudice.  In  our 
universe  the  very  small  is  as  real  as  the 
very  great;  and  if  science  in  astronomy  can 
measure  distances  so  great  that  this  same 
swift  messenger,  light,  traveling  192,000 
miles  a  second,  requires  years  to  cross  them, 
we  need  not  be  surprised  that,  at  the  other 
end  of  the  scale,  it  can  measure  magnitudes 
like  these. — COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1, 
p.  15.  (A.,  1899.) 

2217.  MIRACLE    AN    EXERCISE    OF 

SUPERHUMAN  POWER— Locke  [in  his 
"  Discourse  on  Miracles "]  recognizes  the 
great  truth  that  we  can  never  know  what  is 
above  Nature  unless  we  know  all  that  is 
within  Nature.  But  he  misses  another  truth, 
quite  as  important,  that  a  miracle  would 
still  be  a  miracle  even  tho  we  did  know  the 
la\vs  through  which  it  was  accomplished, 
provided  those  laws,  tho  not  beyond  human 
knowledge,  were  beyond  human  control.  We 
might  know  the  conditions  necessary  to  the 
performance  of  a  miracle,  altho  utterly  un- 
able to  bring  those  conditions  about.  Yet  a 
work  performed  by  the  bringing  about  of 
conditions  which  are  out  of  human  reach 
would  certainly  be  a  work  attesting  super- 
human power. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1, 
p.  15.  (Burt.) 

2218.  MIRACLE,  DIVINE  AGENCY 
WITHOUT — God  Working  in  and  through  Nat- 
ural  Law. — "  These   see   the   works   of   the 
Lord  and  his  wonders  in  the  deep.     For  he 
commandeth   and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind 
which   lifteth   up  the  waves  thereof"    (Ps. 
cvii,  24-25). 

He  raises  the  tempest,  not  without  the 
wind,  but  by  the  wind.  In  the  one  way  it 
would  have  been  a  miracle,  in  the  other  way 
it  is  alike  effectual,  but  without  any  change 
in  the  properties  or  laws  of  visible  Nature — 
without  what  we  commonly  understand  by 
a  miracle. — CHALMERS  Astronomical  Dis- 
courses, suppl.  disc.  2,  p.  243.  (R.  Ct., 
1848.) 

2219.  MIRAGE  AMONG  ICE-FLOES— 

Cities  and  Towers  of  Cloudland. — The  truly 
wonderful  scenery  of  Glacier  Bay  appeals 
most  forcibly  to  the  imagination  during  the 
lengthened  twilights  of  summer.  The  lati- 
tude corresponds  with  that  of  the  extreme 
north  of  Scotland.  In  summer  the  sun  de- 
clines but  a  few  degrees  below  the  northern 
horizon,  and  the  nights  are  sufficiently  light 
to  reveal  the  white-robed  mountains  in  half- 
tones of  the  most  delicate  beauty.  At  such 
times  the  thousands  of  bergs  and  the  broad 
ice-floes  are  transformed  by  the  tricks  of  the 
mirage  into  shapes  of  the  most  remarkable 
description.  Vast  cities,  with  colonnades  and 
ruined  temples,  towers  and  battlements,  ap- 
pear with  marvelous  realism  where  only  a 
few  moments  before  there  was  but  a  glassy 
plain  of  water  studded  with  fragments  of 
floating  ice.  Sheaf-like  fountains  and  monu- 
mental shafts  appear  with  such  faithful 
imagery  that  one  is  more  than  half  inclined 


453 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Minerals 
Missiles 


to  yield  to  the  delusion  and  believe  that  the 
apparitions  are  real.  The  weird  beauty  of 
the  expanse  of  ice- freighted  waters  and  the 
cold,  stern,  snow-covered  mountains,  as  well 
as  the  lively  anticipation  of  what  is  to  come, 
make  a  sail  on  those  northern  waters,  in 
brilliant  weather,  an  event  that  thrills  the 
fancy  and  leaves  an  indelible  picture  on  the 
memory. — RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North 
America,  ch.  6,  p.  81.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2220.  "MISCHIEF"  IN  CHILDREN— 

Result  of  Constructive  Instinct. — Construct- 
iveness  is  as  genuine  and  irresistible  an  in- 
stinct in  man  as  in  the  bee  or  the  beaver. 
Whatever  things  are  plastic  to  his  hands, 
those  things  he  must  remodel  into  shapes  of 
his  own,  and  the  result  of  the  remodeling, 
however  useless  it  may  be,  gives  him  more 
pleasure  than  the  original  thing.  The 
mania  of  young  children  for  breaking  and 
pulling  apart  whatever  is  given  them  is 
more  often  the  expression  of  a  rudimentary 
constructive  impulse  than  of  a  destructive 
one.  "  Blocks  "  are  the  playthings  of  which 
they  are  least  apt  to  tire.  Clothes,  weapons, 
tools,  habitations,  and  works  of  art  are  the 
result  of  the  discoveries  to  which  the  plastic 
instinct  leads,  each  individual  starting 
where  his  forerunners  left  off,  and  tradition 
preserving  all  that  once  is  gained. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  426.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

2221.  MISER    A    LUNATIC  —  Typical 
Hoard  of  Miser  in  Boston. — In  every  lunatic 
asylum  we  find  the  collecting  instinct  devel- 
oping itself  in  an  equally  absurd  way.     Cer- 
tain patients  will  spend  all  their  time  pick- 
ing pins  from  the  floor  and  hoarding  them. 
Others    collect   bits   of   thread,    buttons,    or 
rags,    and    prize    them    exceedingly.      Now, 
"  the  miser "  par  excellence  of  the  popular 
imagination  and  of  melodrama,  the  monster 
of  squalor  and  misanthropy,  is  simply  one 
of  these  mentally  deranged  persons.     .     .     . 
Even  as  I  write,  the  morning  paper  gives  an 
account  of  the  emptying  of  a  miser's  den  in 
Boston  by  the  City  Board  of  Health.     What 
the  owner  hoarded  is  thus  described: 

"  He  gathered  old  newspapers,  wrapping- 
paper,  incapacitated  umbrellas,  canes,  pieces 
of  common  wire,  cast-off  clothing,  empty 
barrels,  pieces  of  iron,  old  bones,  battered 
tinware,  fractured  pots,  and  bushels  of  such 
miscellany  as  is  to  be  found  only  at  the  city 
*  dump/  The  empty  barrels  were  filled, 
shelves  were  filled,  every  hole  and  corner 
was  filled,  and  in  order  to  make  more 
storage-room,  '  the  hermit '  covered  his 
storeroom  with  a  network  of  ropes,  and 
hung  the  ropes  as  full  as  they  could  hold  of 
his  curious  collections.  There  was  nothing 
one  could  think  of  that  wasn't  in  that  room. 
As  a  wood-sawyer  the  old  man  had  never 
thrown  away  a  saw-blade  or  a  wood-buck. 
The  bucks  were  rheumatic  and  couldn't 
stand  up,  and  the  saw-blades  were  worn 
down  to  almost  nothing  in  the  middle.  Some 
had  been  actually  worn  in  two,  but  the  ends 
were  carefully  saved  and  stored  away.  As 


a  coal-heaver  the  old  man  had  never  cast 
off  a  worn-out  basket,  and  there  were  dozens 
of  the  remains  of  the  old  things,  patched  up 
with  canvas  and  rope-yarns,  in  the  store- 
room. There  were  at  least  two  dozen  old 
hats,  fur,  cloth,  silk,  and  straw,"  etc. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  424. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2222.  MISINTERPRETATION,  POPU- 
LAR,  OF    SCIENTIFIC  PHENOMENON— 

I  found  an  opinion  prevalent  among  the 
sailors  of  the  Spanish  ships  of  the  Pacific, 
that  the  age  of  the  moon  might  be  deter- 
mined before  the  first  quarter  by  looking  at 
it  through  a  piece  of  silk  and  counting  the 
multiplied  images.  Here  we  have  a  phe- 
nomenon of  diffraction  observed  through  fine 
slits. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  129. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2223.  MISSILES,  METEORIC— Air  as 

Armor — A  Soft  but  Sure  Defense — The 
Ceaseless  Rain  of  Meteors  Shed  Harmlessly 
Away. — How,  then,  is  it,  it  may  be  asked, 
that  we  never  hear  of  even  an  accident  from 
ordinary  meteors,  tho  accidents  from  aero- 
lites have  not  been  altogether  unknown? 
Here  is  this  great  vessel,  the  earth,  sailing 
through  space,  and  saluted  every  twenty- 
four  hours  by  400  millions  of  missiles,  each 
flying  towards  her  with  many  times  the  ve- 
locity of  the  swiftest  cannon-ball.  This  goes 
on  by  day  and  by  night,  when  living  crea- 
tures are  far  from  shelter  as  well  as  when 
they  are  protected  in  their  various  abodes; 
and  yet  the  inhabitants  of  earth  are  perfect- 
ly safe  from  all  danger.  It  is  not  merely 
that  they  have  been  so  far  fortunate  as  to 
escape  hitherto,  but  that  they  really  are  as 
safe  as  tho  the  earth  were  protected  by  those 
three-feet  armor-plates  which  will  one  day, 
we  are  told,  defend  our  floating  batteries. 

The  real  protection  of  the  earth  is  the  air 
which  surrounds  her.  Soft  as  the  air  is,  the 
resistance  it  opposes  to  swift  motion  is  very 
great.  The  swifter  the  motion  the  more  ef- 
fective is  the  resistance.  In  the  case  of  the 
meteoric  missiles  falling1  on  the  earth  the 
resistance  is  so  great,  owing  to  their  enor- 
mous velocity,  that  they  are  consumed  and 
presently  vaporized  in  their  rush  through 
the  upper  parts  of  the  air.  Thus  the  air 
forms  a  perfect  protection  to  our  earth. — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  164.  (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

2224. Unseen  Dangers — 

We  Live  Safely  under  an  Annual  Rain  of 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Thousand  Millions 
of  Meteors. — It  is  perhaps  sufficiently  start- 
ling to  be  told  at  the  outset  that  nearly  all 
shooting  stars — nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  out  of  every  thousand,  certainly — are 
missiles  which  rush  towards  the  earth  with 
a  velocity  far  exceeding  that  of  the  swiftest 
cannon-ball.  They  are  not  missiles  which 
miss  their  mark.  They  do  not,  as  was  once 
thought,  merely  graze  our  atmosphere.  They 
come  straight  towards  the  earth,  and  many 
among  them  must  make  straight  towards 


Missiles 
Molecules 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


454 


living  creatures  on  the  earth.  And  tho  they 
are  for  the  most  part  small,  they  are  by  no 
means  so  small  as  to  be  unable  to  destroy 
life.  Their  swift  motions  make  up  for  their 
smallness,  and  the  actual  momentum  of 
some  of  the  tiniest  of  these  bodies  is  equiv- 
alent to  the  momentum  of  a  cannon- 
ball.  .  .  . 

It  has  been  estimated  by  Professor  Simon 
Newcomb,  of  America,  on  grounds  which  are 
perfectly  reliable,  that  including  telescopic 
meteors  (that  is,  meteors  so  small  as  only 
to  be  visible  when  they  happen  to  pass 
across  the  field  of  view  of  a  telescope)  no 
less  than  146,000  millions  of  meteoric  bodies 
fall  each  year  upon  the  earth.  If  one  in  a 
thousand  struck  a  human  being  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  earth  would  be  decimated  in  a 
single  year. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  163.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2225.  MISSILES   OF   DESTRUCTION 

— Treasure  Lavished  for  Defense — Expense 
of  Modern  Steel  Guns. — There  are  great  steel 
rifles  now  in  place  on  our  coasts,  with  a  bore 
of  twelve  inches,  that  will  fire  a  shot  twelve 
miles,  and  no  steel  armor  used  for  ship 
protection  could  withstand  such  a  shot. 
These  guns  are  mounted  on  disappearing 
carriages.  They  are  loaded  and  aimed  be- 
hind the  earthworks  and  then  elevated  and 
fired,  after  which  they  immediately  disap- 
pear to  a  place  of  safety.  The  gunners  are 
not  exposed  to  the  direct  fire  of  the  enemy, 
and  the  gun  itself  only  for  a  short  time. 
We  are  told  that  the  United  States  has  now 
under  construction  a  still  larger  gun  that 
will  shoot  still  farther,  and  one  shot  well 
aimed  will  be  sufficient  to  disable  the  strong- 
est battle-ship  that  floats.  This  gun  will 
weigh  140  tons  when  completed,  and  will 
have  a  bore  of  sixteen  inches  in  diameter. 
Each  shot  will  cost  the  government  $1,000, 
but  it  will  be  much  more  economical  to  fire 
$1,000  shots  than  $500  shots  if  the  former 
sinks  a  $2,000,000  ship  each  time  it  strikes 
the  target,  while  the  latter  only  makes  an 
indentation  in  the  armor,  without  piercing 
it.  The  present  12-inch-bore  guns  require 
520  pounds  of  powder  to  fire  them. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  31,  p. 
242.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2226.  MISSILES,  USE  OF,  BY  MON- 
KEY— He   [a  brown   capuchin   monkey]    be- 
came very  angry  and  threw  at  her  [a  stran- 
ger  who   had    laughed   at  him]    everything 
he  could  lay  his  hands  on;  first  the  nut,  then 
the    hammer,    then    a    coffee-pot    which    he 
seized  out  of  the  grate,  and,  lastly,  all  his 
own  shawls.     He  throws  things  with  great 
force  and  precision  by  holding  them  in  both 
hands,    and   extending   his   long   arms   well 
back   over   his   head   before   projecting   the 
missile,  standing  erect  the  while. 

There  is  continual  war  between  him  and 
Sharp  [a  small  terrier],  but  they  both  seem 
to  have  a  certain  mutual  respect  for  each 
other.  The  dog  makes  snatches  at  nuts, 
etc.,  and  runs  away  with  them  beyond  the 


reach  of  his  chain,  and  the  monkey  catches 
at  the  dog,  but  seems  afraid  to  hold  him 
or  hurt  him.  He,  however,  pelts  him  with 
nuts  or  bits  of  carrot,  and  chatters  at  him. 
[At  a  later  date :  ]  When  he  throws  things 
at  people  now  he  first  runs  up  the  bars 
of  the  clothes-horse;  he  seems  to  have  found 
out  that  people  do  not  much  care  for  having 
things  thrown  at  their  feet,  and  he  is  not 
strong  enough  to  throw  such  heavy  objects 
as  a  poker  or  a  hammer  at  people's  heads; 
he  therefore  mounts  to  a  level  with  his 
enemy's  head,  and  thus  succeeds  in  sending 
his  missile  to  a  greater  height  and  also  to 
a  greater  distance. — ROMANES  Animal  In- 
telligence (extracts  from  diary  of  author's 
sister),  ch.  17,  pp.  485,  490.  (A.,  1899.) 

2227.  MISTLETOE  AS  A  PARASITE 

— Idle  Appropriation  of  Stores  Gathered  by 
Another  Organism. — I  have  before  me  a 
piece  of  an  apple-tree's  branch.  It  has  been 
cut  through  dexterously  enough,  and  the 
relations  of  a  sprig  of  mistletoe  which  has 
attached  itself  to  the  bough  are  rendered 
clear  and  distinct.  The  mistletoe  is  not 
merely  a  lodger  on  the  apple;  it  is  a  boarder 
likewise.  Like  certain  dissatisfied  tenants 
nowadays,  it  insists  on  holding  to  its  land- 
lord, while  it  declines  to  pay  rent  in  any 
shape  or  form.  Into  the  substance  of  the 
apple-tree  the  parasite  has  dipped  its  suck- 
ing roots,  and  a  whole  array  of  these  roots 
is  seen  in  my  section,  serving  to  drink  up 
into  the  mistletoe-plant  the  sap  which  the 
apple-tree  has  made  and  elaborated  for  its 
own  use.  There  is  no  intermingling  here 
of  parasite  and  prey.  It  is  an  attachment 
pure  and  simple  for  purposes  of  lodgment 
and  food. — WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch. 
21,  p.  69.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

2228.  MIXTURE  VS.  UNION,  DIFFER- 
ENCE ILLUSTRATED— Expansive  Force  of 
Gunpowder — Air  Not  Necessary  for  Explo- 
sion.— Gunpowder  before  it  is  burned  is  sim- 
ply a  mixture ;  when  it  is  burned  the  carbon 
unites  with  the  oxygen  of  the  niter,  creating 
carbon    dioxid    as    well    as    setting    free    a 
large  amount   of  nitrogen   gas.     One  cubic 
inch  of  gunpowder  will  produce  207   cubic 
inches  of  gas  at  ordinary  atmospheric  pres- 
sure and  when  the  temperature  is  only  60° 
F.    Of  course  when  the  gunpowder  is  burned 
in  a  confined  space  the  gases  are  intensely 
heated   and   will   therefore   occupy   a   much 
larger  space  than  at  a  lower  temperature. 
By  keeping  the  fact  in  mind  that  powder, 
in  its  gaseous  state,  occupies  so  much  more 
room   than   it   does   in  the   solid   state,  the 
reader    can    readily    understand    where    the 
gunpowder  gets  its  energy  when  it  is  burned. 
Its  gases  must  expand  instantly  and  enor- 
mously.     Gunpowder   does   not   require   air 
to  explode  it,  because  the  niter  that  is  in 
the  mixture  is  very  rich  in  oxygen,  so  that 
when  it  is  heated  to  the  point  of  ignition 
there    is    an    instantaneous    union    between 
the  carbon  of  the  charcoal  and  the  oxygen 


455 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


lecules 


of  the  niter,  producing  a  gas. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  27,  p.  221. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2229.  MOBILITY  OF  ATTENTION  IN 
CHILDHOOD — Lack  of  Organized  Activities — 
Preoccupation    by    Immediate    Sensation. — 
Sensitiveness   to   immediately   exciting   sen- 
sorial  stimuli  characterizes  the  attention  of 
childhood   and   youth.      In   mature    age   we 
liave  generally  selected  those  stimuli  which 
are   connected   with   one  or   more   so-called 
permanent  interests,  and  our  attention  has 
grown  irresponsive  to  the  rest.     But  child- 
hood is  characterized  by  great  active  energy, 
and  has   few   organized  interests  by  which 
to  meet  new  impressions  and  decide  whether 
they  are  worthy  of  notice  or  not,  and  the 
consequence  is  that  extreme  mobility  of  the 
attention  with   which   we   are   all   familiar 
in    children,    and   which    makes    their    first 
lessons  such  rough  affairs.     Any  strong  sen- 
sation   whatever    produces    accommodation 
of  the  organs  which  perceive  it,  and  abso- 
lute oblivion,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  task 
in  hand.     This  reflex  and  passive  character 
of  the  attention,  which,  as  a  French  writer 
says,  makes  the  child  seem  to  belong  less  to 
himself    than   to    every    object'  which    hap- 
pens to  catch  his  notice,  is  the  first  thing 
which  the  teacher  must  overcome.     It  never 
is  overcome  in  some  people,  whose  work,  to 
the  end  of  life,  gets  done  in  the  interstices 
of    their     mind  -  wandering.  —  JAMES     Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  417.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2230.  MODIFICATION    OF    ANIMAL 
STRUCTURES  —  Adaptation  to  New  Condi- 
tions— Changes  of  Form  in  Ocean  Depths. — 
The  abysmal  fauna  is  not,  in  fact,  remark- 
able for  possessing  a  large  number  of  primi- 
tive or  archaic   forms.      It  is  mainly  com- 
posed of  a  number  of  species  belonging  to 
the    families    and    genera    of    our    shallow- 
water  fauna  that  have,  from  time  to  time, 
migrated    into   greater    depths    and  become 
modified    in    their    structure   in    accordance 
with  the  extraordinary  conditions   of  their 
new  habitat.     There  is  very  good  reason  to 
believe  that  this  migration  has  been  going 
on  from  time  immemorial,  and  consequently 
wre  find  a  few  forms  typical  of  the  bygone 
times,  left  to  struggle  for  existence  with  the 
more  recent  immigrants   from  shallow  wa- 
ters.— HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch. 
5,  p.  87.      (A.,  1894.) 

2231.  MODIFICATION  OF  PARTS  IN 
ORCHIDS  —  Evidence,    of  Gradual   Change  — 
Adaptation   "by  Alteration  of  Function. — It 
is  interesting  to  look  at  one  of  the  magnifi- 
cent exotic  species    [of  orchids]   or,  indeed, 
at  one  of  our  humblest  forms,  and  observe 
how  profoundly  it  has  been  modified,  as  com- 
pared  with    all    ordinary    flowers,    with    its 
great    labellum,    formed    of    one    petal    and 
two    petaloid    stamens — with    its    singular 
pollen-masses      .      .      .     — with    its   column 
formed  of  seven  cohering  organs,  of  which 
three     alone    perform    their     proper     func- 


tion, namely,  one  anther  and  two  gen- 
erally confluent  stigmas — with  the  third  stig- 
ma modified  into  the  rostellum  and  incapa- 
ble of  being  fertilized — and  with  three  of 
the  anthers  no  longer  functionally  active, 
but  serving  either  to  protect  the  pollen  of 
the  fertile  anther,  or  to  strengthen  the  col- 
umn, or  existing  as  mere  rudiments,  or  en- 
tirely suppressed.  What  an  amount  of  modi- 
fication, cohesion,  abortion,  and  change  of 
function  do  we  here  see!  Yet  hidden  in 
that  column,  with  its  surrounding  petals 
and  sepals,  we  know  that  there  are  fifteen 
groups  of  vessels,  arranged  three  within 
three,  in  alternate  order,  which  probably 
have  been  preserved  to  the  present  time 
from  being  developed  at  a  very  early  period 
of  growth,  before  the  shape  or  existence 
of  any  part  of  the  flower  is  of  importance 
for  the  well-being  of  the  plant. — DARWIN 
Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  8,  p.  245.  (A., 
1898.) 

2232.  MODIFICATIONS  WROUGHT  BY 
MAN   ON   THE  EARTH— Limits  of  Human 
Power. — The  modifications  in  the  system  of 
which  man  is  the  instrument  do  not,  perhaps, 
constitute  so  great  a  deviation  from  previous 
analogy  as  we  usually  imagine;    we  often, 
for  example,  form  an  exaggerated  estimate 
of  the  extent  of  our  power  in   extirpating 
some  of  the   inferior   animals,  and  causing 
others  to  multiply,   a  power  which  is   cir- 
cumscribed within  certain  limits,  and  which, 
in  all  likelihood,  is  by  no  means  exclusively 
exerted  by  our  species.     The  growth  of  hu- 
man population  cannot  take  place  without 
diminishing    the    numbers    or    causing    the 
entire   destruction   of   many   animals.      The 
larger    beasts    of   prey,    in   particular,    give 
way   before    us;    but    other    quadrupeds    of 
smaller  size,  and  innumerable  birds,  insects, 
and  plants,  which  are  inimical  to  our  inter- 
ests, increase  in  spite  of  us,  some  attacking 
our  food,  others  our  raiment  and  persons, 
and  others  interfering  with  our  agricultural 
and   horticultural    labors.      We   behold    the 
rich  harvest  which  we  have  raised  by  the 
sweat  of  our  brow  devoured  by  myriads  of 
insects,   and  are  often  as  incapable  of   ar- 
resting their  depredations  as  of  staying  the 
shock  of  an  earthquake  or  the  course  of  a 
stream   of   lava. — LYELL   Principles   of    Ge- 
ology, bk.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  150. 

2233.  MOLECULES   OF   GASES— Dis- 
tance and  Size  Infinitely  Small — Molecular 
Theory — Infinite  Minuteness  Overwhelms  the 
Mind. — The  very   remarkable   properties   of 
gases,  their  apparently  unlimited  elasticity 
and    indefinite    powers    of    expansion,    were 
very  difficult  to  explain   on   any  theory  of 
their   molecules   being   subject   to    such    at- 
tractive and  repulsive  forces  as  seem  to  ex- 
ist in  other  states  of  matter.     A  considera- 
tion of  these  properties,  together  with  the 
power  of  diffusion  by  which  gases  of  very 
different   densities  form   a   perfect   mixture 
when  in  contact,  and  the  fact  that  by  the 
application  of  heat  almost  all  liquids  and 


Molecules 
Morality 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


456 


many  solids  can  be  changed  into  gases,  led 
to  the  conception  that  they  owed  their  pe- 
culiar properties  to  their  molecules  being 
in  a  state  of  intensely  rapid  motion  in  all 
directions.  On  this  theory  the  molecules  are 
very  far  apart  in  proportion  to  their  size, 
and  are  continually  coming  in  contact  with 
each  other.  Owing  to  their  perfect  elas- 
ticity they  rebound  without  loss  of  motion 
or  energy,  and  their  continual  impact  against 
the  sides  of  the  vessel  containing  them  is 
what  gives  to  gases  their  great  expansibility. 
From  a  study  of  these  various  properties 
it  has  been  calculated  that  at  ordinary  tem- 
peratures there  are  some  hundreds  of  tril- 
lions of  molecules  in  a  cubic  inch  of  gas, 
and  that  these  collide  with  each  other  eight 
thousand  millions  of  times  in  a  second. 
The  average  length  of  the  path  between  two 
collisions  of  a  molecule  is  less  than  the  two- 
hundred-thousandth  of  an  inch,  yet  this 
small  length  is  supposed  to  be  at  least  a 
hundred  times  as  great  as  the  diameter  of 
each  molecule. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  7,  p.  54.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2234.  MOLECULES    OF    IRON    MAG- 
NETIC—  Magnetism  an  Inherent  Property — 
Ampere's    Theory. — Iron    and    steel    have   a 
peculiar  property  called  magnetism.     It  is 
an  attraction  in  many  ways  unlike  the  at- 
traction   of    cohesion    or    the   attraction    of 
gravitation.     It  is  very   certain  that  mag- 
netism is  an  inherent  property  of  the  mole- 
cules of  iron  and  steel,  and,  to  a  small  de- 
gree,  other    forms   of   matter.     That   is  to 
say,  the  molecules  are  little  natural  mag- 
nets   of   themselves.      It   is   as   unnecessary 
to   inquire  why  they  are  magnets   as  it  is 
to  inquire  why  the  molecules  of  all  ordinary 
substances  possess  the  attraction  of  cohesion. 
The  one  is  as  easy  to  explain  as  the  other. 
People  of  all  ages  have  insisted  upon  ma- 
king a  greater  mystery  of  all  electrical  and 
magnetic  phenomena  than  they  do  of  other 
natural    forces.      Ampere's    theory    is    that 
electric    currents    are    flowing    around    the 
molecules  which  render  them  magnetic;  but 
it  is.  just  as  easy  to  suppose  that  magnetism 
is  an  inherent  quality  of  the  molecule.    (The 
word  "  molecule  "  is  here  used  as  referring 
to  the  smallest  particle  of  iron.) 

These  little  molecular  magnets,  so  small 
that  100,000  million  million  million  of  them 
can  be  put  into  a  cubic  inch  of  space,  have 
their  attractions  satisfied  by  forming  into 
little  molecular  rings,  with  their  unlike 
poles  together,  so  that  when  the  iron  is  in 
a  natural  or  unmagnetized  condition  it  does 
not  attract  other  iron. — ELISHA  GRAY  ^a- 
ture's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch.  4,  p.  25.  (F. 
H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2235.  MONKEY  TRAINED  TO  GATHER 

NUTS — Limited  Intelligence —  Unwilling  Obedi- 
ence.— The  orang-outan,  indeed,  which  for 
its  resemblance  in  form  to  man,  and  ap- 
parently for  no  other  good  reason,  has  been 
assumed  by  Lamarck  to  be  the  most  perfect 
of  the  inferior  animals,  has  been  tamed  by 


the  savages  of  Borneo  and  made  to  climb 
lofty  trees,  and  to  bring  down  the  fruit. 
But  he  is  said  to  yield  to  his  masters  an 
unwilling  obedience,  and  to  be  held  in  sub- 
jection only  by  severe  discipline.  We  know 
nothing  of  the  faculties  of  this  animal  which 
can  suggest  the  idea  that  it  rivals  the  ele- 
phant in  intelligence,  much  less  anything 
which  can  countenance  the  dreams  of  those 
who  have  fancied  that  it  might  have  been 
transmuted  into  the  *'  dominant  race."  One 
of  the  baboons  of  Sumatra  (Simia  carpole- 
gus)  appears  to  be  more  docile,  and  is  fre- 
quently trained  by  the  inhabitants  to  ascend 
trees  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  coco- 
nuts, a  service  in  which  the  animal  is  very 
expert.  He  selects,  says  Sir  Stamford 
Raffles,  the  ripe  nuts  with  great  judgment, 
and  pulls  no  more  than  he  is  ordered.  The 
capuchin  and  cacajao  monkeys  are,  accord- 
ing to  Humboldt,  taught  to  ascend  trees  in 
the  same  manner,  and  to  throw  down  fruit, 
on  the  banks  of  the  lower  Orinoco. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  35,  p.  599. 
(A.,  1854.) 

2236.  MONOTONY  OF  SOUTH- AMER- 
ICAN PLAINS— Birds   Subdued  by  Nature's 
Silence. — The  general  aspect  of  the  plain  is 
monotonous,  and  in  spite  of  the  unobstruct- 
ed   view    and    the    unfailing    verdure    and 
sunshine,  somewhat  melancholy,  altho  never 
somber;    and    doubtless    the    depressed    and 
melancholy   feeling   the   pampa    inspires    in 
those  who   are    unfamiliar   with    it   is    due 
in   a  great  measure  to  the  paucity  of   life 
and  to  the  profound  silence.     The  wind,  as 
may    well    be    imagined    on    that    extensive 
level  area,  is  seldom  at  rest;  there,  as  in  the 
forest,  it  is  a  "  bard  of  many  breathings," 
and  the  strings   it  breathes  upon  give  out 
an  endless  variety  of  sorrowful  sounds,  from 
the  sharp,  fitful  sibilations  of  the  dry,  wiry 
grasses   on   the  barren   places   to   the   long, 
mysterious  moans  that  swell  and  die  in  the 
tall,   polished   rushes   of  the  marsh.      It   is 
also  curious  to  note  that,  with  a  few,  excep- 
tions, the  resident  birds  are  comparatively 
very  silent,  even  those  belonging  to  groups 
which  elsewhere  are  highly  loquacious.    .    .    . 
As  a   rule,  their  voices  are   strangely   sub- 
dued;   Nature's   silence  has   infected   them, 
and    they   have   become    silent    by   habit. — 
HUDSON   Naturalist   in  La  Plata,  ch.   1,  p. 
8.      (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

2237.  MONSTERS     OF    SENTIMEN- 
TALITY—  Woman  Weeping  in  Theater —  Coach- 
man  Freezing   Outside — Resolute  Doing    to 
Keep  Character  Real  (Matt,  vii,  24-29). — 
All   goods    are   disguised   by   the   vulgarity 
of    their    concomitants    in    this    workaday 
world;  but  woe  to  him  who  can  only  recog- 
nize them  when  he  thinks  them  in  their  pure 
and  abstract  form!     The  habit  of  excessive 
novel-reading    and    theatergoing    will    pro- 
duce true  monsters  in  this  line.     The  weep- 
ing of  a  Russian  lady  over  the  fictitious  per- 
sonages in  the  play,  while  her  coachman  is 
freezing  to  death  on  his  seat  outside,  is  the 


457 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Molecules 
Morality 


sort  of  thing  that  everywhere  happens  on 
a  less  glaring  scale.  Even  the  habit  of  ex- 
cessive indulgence  in  music,  for  those  who 
are  neither  performers  themselves  nor  mu- 
sically gifted  enough  to  take  it  in  a  purely 
intellectual  way,  has  probably  a  relaxing 
effect  upon  the  character.  One  becomes 
filled  with  emotions  which  habitually  pass 
without  prompting  to  any  deed,  and  so  the 
inertly  sentimental  condition  is  kept  up. 
The  remedy  would  be  never  to  suffer  one's 
self  to  have  an  emotion  at  a  concert  with- 
out expressing  it  afterwards  in  some  active 
way.  Let  the  expression  be  the  least  thing 
in  the  world — speaking  genially  to  one's 
aunt,  or  giving  up  one's  seat  in  a  horse- 
car,  if  nothing  more  heroic  offers — but  let 
it  not  fail  to  take  place. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  4,  p.  125.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2238.  MONUMENTS      CONFIRMING 
HISTORIAN'S    ACCURACY— Herodotus  and 
Persian  Impostor. — The  way  in  which  mod- 
ern   discoveries    have    come    in    to    confirm 
Ms   [Herodotus's]  statements  justifies  us  in 
relying    on    ancient    historians    when,    like 
him,  they   are  careful  to   distinguish   mere 
legend    or    hearsay    from    what    they    have 
themselves  inquired  into.     Thus  Herodotus 
tells  the  strange  story  of  the  impostor  who 
passed  himself  off  as   Smerdis,  and  sat  on 
the  throne  of  Persia  till  he  was  detected  by 
his    cropped    ears,    and    Darius    slew    him. 
When,  a  few  years  ago,  the  cuneiform  char- 
acters   of   the   inscription   sculptured    in   a 
high  wall  of  rock  near  Behistan.  in  Persia 
were   deciphered,   it  proved  to  be  the  very 
record   set  up   by  Darius   the   king   in  the 
three  languages  of  the  land,  and  it  matches 
the    account    given    by    Herodotus    closely 
enough  to  show  what  a  real  grasp  he  had 
of  the  course  of  events  in  Persia  a  century 
before  his   time. — TYLOE  Anthropology,  ch. 
15,  p.  386.      (A.,   1899.) 

2239.  MOON,  PHASES  OF,  THE  BASIS 
OF   THE  CALENDAR— "-He  Appointeth  the 
Moon  for  Seasons"  (Ps.  civ,  19). — The  proper 
motion  of  the  moon  from  west  to  east,  and 
the  succession  of  phases,  may  be  considered 
as  the  most  ancient  facts  of  observation  of 
the  sky,  and  as  the  first  basis  of  measure- 
ment of  time  and  of  the  calendar. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  1,  p. 
«5.      (A.) 

2240.  MOON,  SUPPOSED  PERNICIOUS 
EFFECT   OF — Blindness  Ascribed  to  Moon- 
beams— The   Chill   of   Celestial   Space. — My 
face  [when  attempting  to  sleep  at  night  on 
the    Weisshorn]    was   turned    towards    the 
moon  until  it  became  so  chilled  that  I  was 
forced  to  protect  it  by  a  light  handkerchief. 
The  power  of  blinding  the  eyes  is  ascribed 
to  the  moonbeams,  but  the  real  mischief  is 
that  produced  by  radiation   from  the  eyes 
into  clear  space,  and  the  inflammation  con- 
sequent upon  the  chill. — TYNDALL  Hours  of 
Exercise   in    the   Alps,   ch.    9,   p.    96.      (A., 
1898.) 


2241.  MORALITY    AND    SCIENCE  — 

Evolution  as  Prophecy — Progress  in  Future 
as  in  Past. — The  doctrine  of  evolution  pre- 
sents its  greatest  attractiveness  when  viewed, 
not  merely  in  its  scientific  aspect,  as  the 
highest  form  of  the  intellectual  interpreta- 
tion of  Nature,  but  in  its  moral  bearings, 
as  one  which  leads  man  ever  onwards  and 
upwards,  and  encourages  his  brightest  antic- 
ipations of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  truth 
over  error,  of  knowledge  over  ignorance,  of 
right  over  wrong,  of  good  over  evil,  thus 
claiming  the  earnest  advocacy  of  every  one 
who  accepts  it  as  scientifically  true. — -CAR- 
PENTER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  14,  p.  408. 
(A.,  1889.) 

2242.  MORALITY  DEMANDS  ACTION 
IN   LINE  OF  GREATEST  RESISTANCE— 

Ease  of  Following  Propensities — A  Struggle 
for  Ideals. — When  outer  forces  impinge 
upon  a  body,  we  say  that  the  resultant  mo- 
tion is  in  the  line  of  least  resistance,  or  of 
greatest  traction.  But  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  our  spontaneous  language  never  speaks 
of  volition  with  effort  in  this  way.  .  .  . 
He  who  under  the  surgeon's  knife  represses 
cries  of  pain,  or  he  who  exposes  himself  to 
social  obloquy  for  duty's  sake,  feels  as  if  he 
were  following  the  line  of  greatest  tempo- 
rary resistance.  He  speaks  of  conquering 
and  overcoming  his  impulses  and  tempta- 
tions. 

But  the  sluggard,  the  drunkard,  the  cow- 
ard, never  talk  of  their  conduct  in  that  way 
or  say  they  resist  their  energy,  overcome 
their  sobriety,  conquer  their  courage,  and  so 
forth.  If  in  general  we  class  all  springs  of 
action  as  propensities  on  the  one  hand  and 
ideals  on  the  other,  the  sensualist  never  says 
of  his  behavior  that  it  results  from  a  victory 
over  his  ideals,  but  the  moralist  always 
speaks  of  his  as  a  victory  over  his  propen- 
sities. The  sensualist  uses  terms  of  inac- 
tivity, says  he  forgets  his  ideals,  is  deaf  to 
duty,  and  so  forth;  which  terms  seem  to 
imply  that  the  ideal  motives  per  se  can  be 
annulled  without  energy  or  effort,  and  that 
the  strongest  mere  traction  lies  in  the  line 
of  the  propensities.  .  .  .  And  if  a  brief 
definition  of  ideal  or  moral  action  were  re- 
quired, none  could  be  given  which  would 
better  fit  the  appearances  than  this:  It  is 
action  in  the  line  of  the  greatest  resistance. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  548. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2243.  MORALITY     DISTINCTIVE  — 

Contrasted  with  Habit  and  Expediency. — 
The  difference  between  the  habitual,  the 
prudential,  and  the  moral  aspects  of  the 
very  same  action  may  be  made  apparent  by 
a  very  simple  illustration:  We  will  suppose 
that  a  man  has  been  accustomed  to  take  a 
ride  every  day  at  a  particular  hour;  his 
whole  nature  so  accommodates  itself  to  the 
habit  that  he  feels  both  mentally  and  phys- 
ically uncomfortable  at  any  interruption  to 
the  usual  rhythm.  But  suppose  that,  just 
as  the  appointed  hour  comes  round,  the  sky 


Morality 
Motion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


458 


becomes  overcast,  threatening  the  rider  with 
a  drenching  if  he  perseveres  in  his  inten- 
tion; his  decision  will  then  be  founded  on  a 
prudential  consideration  of  the  relative 
probabilities  of  his  escaping  or  of  his  being 
exposed  to  the  shower,  and  of  how  far  the 
enjoyment  he  may  derive  from  his  ride  is 
likely  to  be  replaced  by  the  discomfort  of  a 
thorough  wetting.  But  suppose,  further, 
that  instead  of  taking  a  mere  pleasure  ride, 
a  medical  man  is  about  to  set  forth  on  a 
professional  visit  to  a  patient  whose  condi- 
tion requires  his  aid;  a  new  motive  is  thus 
introduced,  which  alters  the  condition  of  the 
whole  question,  making  it  no  longer  one  of 
prudence  only,  but  one  of  morality. — CAR- 
PENTER Mental  Physiology,  ch.  9,  p.  416. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2244.  MORALITY,  ELEMENTAL,  OF 
LOWER   ANIMALS— "  Man  the   God  of  the 
Dog." — Of  these  elementary  moral  feelings, 
those  of  the  lower  animals  which  associate 
most  closely  with  man  are  obviously  capable. 
The   sense   of   duty   towards   a   being   of   a 
higher  nature,  which  shows  itself  in  the  ac- 
tions of  the  young  child  towards  its  parent 
or  nurse,  long  before  any  ideational  compre- 
hension of  it  can  have  been  attained,  is  ex- 
actly paralleled  by  that  of  the  dog  or  the 
horse  towards  its  master.    "  Man,"  as  Burns 
truly  says,  "  is  the  god  of  the  dog." — CAR- 
PENTER Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  5,  § 
190,  p.  212.    (A.,  1900.) 

2245.  MORALITY  INDEPENDENT  OF 
REWARD    OR    PUNISHMENT— It  is  true, 
indeed,     that     these     rightful     authorities, 
which  are  enthroned  in  Nature,  are  fortified 
by  power  to  enforce  their  commands,  and  to 
punish  violations  of  the  duty  of  obedience. 
It  is  true,  therefore,  that  from  the  first  mo- 
ments of  our  existence  the  sense  of  obliga- 
tion is  reenforced  by  the  fear  of  punishment. 
And  yet  we  know,  both  as  a  matter  of  in- 
ternal  consciousness,    and   as   a   matter   of 
familiar    observation    in    others,    that    this 
sense   of   obligation   is   not   only    separable 
from  the  fear  of  punishment,  but  is   even 
sharply   contradistinguished   from   it.      Not 
only  is  the  sense  of  obligation  powerful  in 
cases  where  the  fear  of  punishment  is  im- 
possible, but  in  direct  proportion  as  the  fear 
of  punishment  mixes  or  prevails,  the  moral 
character  of  an   act  otherwise  good   is   di- 
minished or  destroyed.     The  fear  of  punish- 
ment and  the  hope  of  reward  are,   indeed, 
auxiliary  forces  which  cannot  be  dispensed 
with  in  society.     But  we  feel  that  complete 
goodness  and  perfect  virtue  would  dispense 
with    them    altogether. — ARGYLL    Unity    of 
Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  211.    (Burt.) 

2246.  MORALITY    IN    INTENTION- 

There  can  be  no  moral  character  in  any 
action,  so  far  as  the  individual  actor  is  con- 
cerned, apart  from  the  meaning  and  inten- 
tion of  the  actor.  The  very  same  deed  may 
be  good  or,  on  the  contrary,  devilishly  bad, 
according  to  the  inspiring  motive  of  him 
who  does  it.  The  giving  of  a  cup  of  cold 


water  to  assuage  suffering,  and  the  giving 
it  to  prolong  life  in  order  that  greater  suf- 
fering may  be  endured,  are  the  same  out- 
ward deeds,  but  are  exactly  opposite  in 
moral  character. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,. 
ch.  9,  p.  197.  (Burt.) 

2247.  MORALITY   NOT    A    MATTER 

OF  SEX — Pugnacity  of  Men  and  Women.— 
Tho  the  female  sex  is  often  said  to  have  less 
pugnacity  than  the  male,  the  difference 
seems  connected  more  with  the  extent  of  the 
motor  consequences  of  the  impulse  than  with 
its  frequency.  Women  take  offense  and  get 
angry,  if  anything,  more  easily  than  men,, 
but  their  anger  is  inhibited  by  fear  and 
ether  principles  of  their  nature  from  ex- 
pressing itself  in  blows. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  415.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2248.  MORALS,  FOUNDATION    OF— 

Imaginary  Laws  of  Nature — Rousseau — The 
French  Revolution. — M.  Comte  was  right  in 
affirming  that  the  prevailing  schools  of 
moral  and  political  speculation,  when  not 
theological,  have  been  metaphysical.  They 
affirmed  that  moral  rules,  and  even  political 
institutions,  were  not  means  to  an  end,  the 
general  good,  but  corollaries  evolved  from 
the  conception  of  natural  rights.  This  was- 
especially  the  case  in  all  the  countries  in 
which  the  ideas  of  publicists  were  the  off- 
spring of  the  Roman  law.  The  legislators 
of  opinion  on  these  subjects,  when  not  the- 
ologians, were  lawyers :  and  the  Continental 
lawyers  followed  the  Roman  jurists,  who* 
followed  the  Greek  metaphysicians,  in  ac- 
knowledging as  the  ultimate  source  of  right 
and  wrong  in  morals,  and  consequently  in 
institutions,  the  imaginary  law  of  the  imagi- 
nary being  Nature.  The  first  systematizers. 
of  morals  in  Christian  Europe,  on  any  other 
than  a  purely  theological  basis,  the  writers, 
on  international  law,  reasoned  wholly  from 
these  premises,  and  transmitted  them  to  a 
long  line  of  successors.  This  mode  of 
thought  reached  its  culmination  in  Rous- 
seau, in  whose  hands  it  became  as  powerful 
an  instrument  for  destroying  the  past  as  it 
was  impotent  for  directing  the  future.  The 
complete  victory  which  this  philosophy 
gained  in  speculation  over  the  old  doctrines, 
was  temporarily  followed  by  an  equally  com- 
plete practical  triumph,  the  French  Revolu- 
tion; when,  having  had,  for  the  first  time, 
a  full  opportunity  of  developing  its  tend- 
encies, and  showing  what  it  could  not  do,  it 
failed  so  conspicuously  as  to  determine  a, 
partial  reaction  to  the  doctrines  of  feudal- 
Ism  and  Catholicism. — MILL  Positive  Phi- 
losophy of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  64.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1887.) 

2249.  MOTH    ASSUMES    INSTANT 
INVISIBILITY — Protective  Mimicry. —  It  was 
in  the  beautiful  Riviera,  where  insect  life 
continues  much  more  active  at  that  season 
than  it  can  be  anywhere  in  the  north   of 
Europe.    But  even  there,  altho  bees  are  busy 
during  the  greater  part  of  winter,  and  some 
of  our  own  Sylviadce  find  an  abundant  living 


459 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Morality 
Motion 


throughout  the  season,  the  order  of  the 
Lepidoptera  are  generally  dormant.  I  was 
surprised,  therefore,  late  in  the  month  of 
November,  to  see  a  large  insect  of  this  order 
come  from  above  the  olive-trees  overhead 
with  the  wild,  dashing  flight  of  the  larger 
moths.  Attracted  apparently  by  a  sheltered 
and  sunny  recess  in  which  scarlet  geraniums 
and  bignonias  were  in  full  flower,  the  moth 
darted  downwards,  and,  after  a  little  hover- 
ing, settled  suddenly  on  the  bare  ground  un- 
derneath a  geranium-plant.  I  then  saw  that 
it  was  a  very  handsome  species,  with  an 
elaborate  pattern  of  light  and  dark  choco- 
late browns.  But  the  margins  of  the  upper 
or  anterior  wings,  which  were  deeply  waved 
in  outline,  had  a  lustrous  yellow  color,  like 
a  brilliant  gleam  of  light.  In  this  position 
the  moth  was  a  conspicuous  object.  After 
resting  for  a  few  seconds,  apparently  enjoy- 
ing the  sun,  it  seemed  to  notice  some  move- 
ment which  gave  it  alarm.  It  then  turned 
slightly  round,  gave  a  violent  jerk  to  its 
wings,  and  instantly  became  invisible.  If  it 
had  subsided  into  a  hole  in  the  ground,  it 
could  not  have  more  completely  disappeared. 
As,  however,  my  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the 
spot,  I  soon  observed  that  all  the  interstices 
among  the  little  clods  around  were  full  of 
withered  and  crumpled  leaves  of  a  deep 
blackish  brown.  I  then  further  noticed  that 
the  spot  where  the  moth  had  sat  was  ap- 
parently occupied  by  one  of  these,  and  it 
then  flashed  upon  me  in  a  moment  that  I 
had  before  me  one  of  the  great  wonders  and 
mysteries  of  Nature. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  3,  p.  52.  (Burt.) 

225O.  MOTH  TRUSTING  ITS  INVIS- 
IBILITY— Protective  Mimicry  a  Source  of  Con- 
fidence.— And  now  I  tried  an  experiment 
to  test  another  feature  in  the  wonderful  in- 
stincts which  are  involved  in  all  these  oper- 
ations. That  feature  is  the  implicit  confi- 
dence in  its  success  which  is  innate  in  all 
creatures  furnished  with  any  apparatus  of 
concealment.  I  advanced  in  the  full  sun- 
light close  up  to  the  moth — so  close  that  I 
could  see  the  prominent  "  beaded  eyes,"  with 
the  watchful  look,  and  the  roughened  out- 
lines of  the  thorax,  which  served  to  com- 
plete the  illusion.  So  perfect  was  the  decep- 
tion that  I  really  could  not  feel  absolutely 
confident  that  the  black  spot  I  was  examin- 
ing was  what  I  believed  it  to  be.  Only  one 
little  circumstance  reassured  me.  There 
was  a  small  hole  in  the  outer  covering 
through  which  a  mere  point  of  the  inner 
brilliant  margin  could  be  seen  shining  like  a 
star.  Certain  now  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
moth,  I  advanced  still  nearer,  and  finally  I 
found  that  it  was  not  till  the  point  of  a 
stick  was  used  to  touch  and  shake  the  earth 
on  which  it  lay  that  the  creature  could  be- 
lieve that  it  was  detected  and  in  danger. 
Then  in  an  instant,  by  movements  so  rapid 
as  to  escape  the  power  of  vision,  the  dried 
and  crumpled  leaf  became  a  living  moth, 
with  energies  of  flight  defying  all  attempts 


at  capture.  [See  MIMICRY,  PROTECTIVE.] — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  3,  p.  52. 
(Burt.) 

2251.  MOTHERHOOD,    THE    EVOLU- 
TION OF  —  Elementary  Animals   Orphans. — 
Crossing  into  the  animal  kingdom  we  ob- 
serve   the    same    motherless    beginning    [as 
among  the  plants].    All  elementary  animals 
are  orphans;    they  know  neither  home  nor 
care;    the  earth  is  their  only  mother  or  the 
inhospitable  sea;    they  waken  to  isolation, 
to  apathy,  to  the  attentions  only  of  those 
who    seek   their    doom.      But    as    we   draw 
nearer  the  apex  of  the  animal  kingdom,  the 
spectacle  of  a   protective  maternity   looms 
into  view.     At  what  precise  point  it  begins 
it  is  difficult  to  say.     But  that  it  does  not 
begin    at   once — that  there   is    a   long   and 
gradual  evolution  of  maternity — is  clear. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  269. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

2252.  MOTHERHOOD  THE  MOST  STU- 
PENDOUS   TASK    OF    EVOLUTION  —  The 

evolution  of  a  mother,  in  spite  of  its  half- 
humorous,  half-sacrilegious  sound,  is  a  seri- 
ous study  in  biology.  Even  on  its  physical 
side  this  was  the  most  stupendous  task  evo- 
lution ever  undertook.  It  began  when  the 
first  bud  burst  from  the  first  plant-cell,  and 
was  only  completed  when  the  last  and  most 
elaborately  wrought  pinnacle  of  the  temple 
of  Nature  crowned  the  animal  creation. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  267. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

2253.  MOTHERHOOD,  TRAINING  FOR 

— Care  of  Dolls  an  Inadequate  Preparation. — 
You  present  a  little  girl  in  her  cradle  with 
a  doll,  and  let  her  play  with  it  until  she 
grows  older.  Then  you  add  a  doll's  house 
and  furnish  it  with  every  appurtenance  you 
can  find.  Why?  Because  you  want  to  pre- 
pare the  child  in  her  play  for  the  activities 
of  her  future  calling  as  a  woman,  because 
you  desire  to  awaken  the  sensibilities  of 
womanhood  and  direct  them  to  the  usages 
of  the  nursery.  Very  good !  But  after  that 
there  comes  a  great  vacuum.  The  doll  is 
relegated  to  a  corner.  The  entire  world  ap- 
pears to  the  maiden  in  disguise,  veiled.  Not 
until  she  faces  her  own  child  is  the  young 
mother  placed  before  the  real  object.  Do 
you  not  perceive  that  we  have  here  a  great 
error,  the  greatest  that  society  makes?  Do 
you  not  see  that  it  is  a  sin  to  entrust  a 
living  child  to  a  mother  whose  training  for 
the  earnest  duty  she  now  faces  was  received 
in  a  doll's  house?  And  that,  too,  to  a 
mother  in  such  complicated  circumstances  as 
those  of  the  society  of  our  day,  with  all  of 
its  distractions,  its  quixotic  fashions,  its 
dislocated  and  superstitious  traditions? — 
VIRCHOW  (a  Lecture}.  (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

2254.  MOTION,  APPARENT,  OF  THE 
SUN  AMONG  THE  STARS— If  we  observe, 
night  after  night,  the  exact  hour  and  min- 
ute at  which  a  star  passes  any  point  by  its 


Motion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


460 


diurnal  revolution,  we  shall  find  that  pas- 
,sage  to  occur  some  four  minutes  earlier 
every  evening  than  it  did  the  evening  be- 
fore. The  starry  sphere  therefore  revolves, 
not  in  24  hours,  but  in  23  hours  56  minutes. 
In  consequence,  if  we  note  its  position  at 
the  same  hour  night  after  night,  we  shall 
find  it  to  be  farther  and  farther  to  the  west. 
Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  brightest  star 
in  the  constellation  Leo,  .  .  .  and  com- 
monly known  as  Regulus.  If  we  watch  it  on 
the  22d  of  March,  we  shall  find  that  it 
passes  the  meridian  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  On  April  22d  it  passes  at  eight 
o'clock,  and  at  ten  it  is  two  hours  west  of 
the  meridian.  On  the  same  day  of  May  it 
passes  at  six,  before  sunset,  so  that  it  can- 
not be  seen  on  the  meridian  at  all.  When  it 
first  becomes  visible  in  the  evening  twilight, 
it  will  be  an  hour  or  more  west  of  the 
meridian.  In  June  it  will  be  three  hours 
west,  and  by  the  end  of  July  it  will  set  dur- 
ing twilight,  and  will  soon  be  entirely  lost 
in  the  rays  of  the  sun.  This  shows  that  dur- 
ing the  months  in  question  the  sun  has  been 
approaching  the  star  from  the  west,  and  in 
August  has  got  so  near  it  that  it  is  no 
longer  visible.  Carrying  forward  our  com- 
putation, we  find  that  on  August  21st  the 
star  crosses  the  meridian  at  noon,  and  there- 
fore at  nearly  the  same  time  with  the  sun. 
In  September  it  crosses  at  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing, while  the  sun  is  on  the  eastern  side. 
The  sun  has  therefore  passed  from  the  west 
to  the  east  of  the  star,  and  the  latter  can  be 
seen  rising  in  the  morning  twilight  before 
the  sun.  It  constantly  rises  earlier  and 
earlier,  and  therefore  farther  from  the  sun, 
until  February,  when  it  rises  at  sunset  and 
sets  at  sunrise,  and  is  therefore  directly  op- 
posite the  sun.  In  March  the  star  would 
cross  the  meridian  at  ten  o'clock  once  more, 
showing  that  in  the  course  of  a  year  the  sun 
and  star  had  resumed  their  first  position. 
But,  while  the  sun  has  risen  and  set  365 
times,  the  star  has  risen  and  set  366  times, 
the  sun  having  lost  an  entire  revolution  by 
the  slow  backward  motion  we  have  de- 
scribed. .  .  .  The  path  which  the  sun 
describes  among  the  stars  in  his  annual 
revolution  is  called  the  ecliptic.  ...  A 
belt  of  the  heavens,  extending  a  few  degrees 
en  each  side  of  the  ecliptic,  is  called  the 
zodiac. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy,  ch. 
1,  p.  14.  (H.,  1899.) 

2255.  MOTION  AS  ESSENTIAL  IN 
THE  SIDEREAL  WORLD  AS  IN  THE  OR- 
GANIC-— If,  .  .  .  ,  we  imagine  the  acute- 
ness  of  our  senses  preternaturally  height- 
ened to  the  extreme  limits  of  telescopic 
vision,  bringing  together  events  separated 
by  wide  intervals  of  time,  the  apparent  re- 
pose which  reigns  in  space  will  suddenly 
vanish.  Countless  stars  will  be  seen  moving 
in  groups  in  various  directions ;  nebulae  wan- 
dering, condensing,  and  dissolving  like  cos- 
mical  clouds;  the  Milky  Way  breaking  up 
in  parts  and  its  veil  rent  asunder.  In  every 


point  of  the  celestial  vault  we  should  recog- 
nize the  dominion  of  progressive  movement 
just  as  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where 
vegetation  is  constantly  putting  forth  leaves 
and  buds  and  unfolding  into  blossoms.  The 
celebrated  Spanish  botanist,  Cavanilles,  first 
conceived  the  possibility  of  seeing  grass 
grow  by  placing  the  horizontal  micrometer 
wire  of  a  telescope  with  a  high  magnifying 
power  at  one  time  on  the  point  of  a  bamboo 
shoot,  at  another  on  the  rapidly  unfolding 
flowering  stem  of  an  American  aloe,  precise- 
ly as  the  astronomer  places  the  cross  of 
wires  on  a  culminating  star.  Throughout 
the  whole  life  of  physical  nature  in  the  or- 
ganic, as  in  the  sidereal  world,  existence, 
preservation,  production,  and  development, 
are  alike  associated  with  motion  as  their 
essential  condition. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
i,  p.  139.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.J 

2256.  MOTION,  ATOMIC,  NOT  CON- 
VERTIBLE INTO  CONSCIOUSNESS— In  his 

celebrated  "  Address  to  the  Congress  of  Ger- 
man Naturforscher,"  delivered  at  Leipsic 
[in  1872]  Du  Bois-Reymond  speaks  thus: 
"  What  conceivable  connection  subsists  be- 
tween definite  movements  of  definite  atoms 
in  my  brain,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  hand  such  primordial,  indefinable,  un- 
deniable facts  as  these:  I  feel  pain  or  pleas- 
ure; I  experience  a  sweet  taste,  or  smell  a 
rose,  or  hear  an  organ,  or  see  something  red. 
It  is  absolutely  and  forever  inconceivable  that 
a  number  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and 
oxygen  atoms  should  be  otherwise  than  in- 
different as  to  their  own  position  and  mo- 
tion, past,  present,  or  future.  It  is  utterly 
inconceivable  how  consciousness  should  re- 
sult from  their  joint  action." — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  11,  p.  226. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2257.  MOTION,  CEASELESS,  OF  LU- 
MINIFEROUS  ETHER— We    on    the   earth's 
surface  live  night  and  day  in  the  midst  of 
ethereal  commotion.     The  medium  is  never 
still.     The  cloud  canopy  above  us  may  be 
thick  enough  to  shut  out  the  light  of  the 
stars,    but    this    canopy    is    itself    a    warm 
body,    which    radiates    its    thermal    motion 
through  the  ether.     The  earth  also  is  warm, 
and  sends  its  heat-pulses  incessantly  forth. 
It   is    the   waste    of   its    molecular   motion 
in  space  that  chills  the  earth  upon  a  clear 
night;   it  is  the  return  of  thermal  motion 
from  the  clouds  which  prevents  the  earth's 
temperature  on  a  cloudy  night  from  falling 
so  low.     To  the  conception  of  space  being 
filled  we  must,  therefore,  add  the  conception 
of  its  being  in  a  state  of  incessant  tremor. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch. 
1,  p.  8.     (A.,  1897.) 

2258.  MOTION    CONVERTED  INTO 

HEAT — Iron  Made  Hot  by  Hammering. — Rob- 
ert Boyle  appears  to  have  seen  as  clearly 
as  we  do  to-day  that  when  heat  is  generated 
by  mechanical  means,  new  heat  is  called  into 
existence.  In  describing  one  of  his  experi- 


461 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Motion 


ments  he  uses  the  following  remarkable 
language :  "  It  will  be  convenient  to  begin 
with  an  instance  or  two  of  the  production 
of  heat,  wherein  there  appears  not  to  inter- 
vene anything  on  the  part  of  the  agent  or 
patient  but  local  motion  and  the  natural 
effects  of  it.  When,  for  example,  a  smith 
does  hastily  hammer  a  nail  or  such  like 
piece  of  iron  the  hammered  metal  will  grow 
exceedingly  hot;  and  yet  there  appears  not 
anything  to  make  it  so,  save  the  forcible 
motion  of  the  hammer,  which  impresses  a 
vehement  and  variously  determined  agita- 
tion of  the  small  parts  of  the  iron,  which, 
being  a  cold  body  before,  by  that  superin- 
duced commotion  of  its  small  parts,  be- 
comes in  divers  senses  hot;  first,  in  a  more 
lax  acceptation  of  the  word  in  reference  to 
some  other  bodies,  in  respect  of  whom  it 
was  cold  before,  and  then  sensibly  hot; 
because  this  newly  gained  agitation  sur- 
passes that  of  the  parts  of  our  fingers. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  1,  p. 
34.  (A.,  1900.) 

2259.  MOTION    CREATING   HEAT— 

Fire  Kindled  by  Friction. — Taking  an  elastic 
stick  about  eighteen  inches  long,  he  [the 
Guacho  on  the  pampas]  presses  one  end  on 
his  breast  and  the  other  (pointed)  end  into 
a  hole  in  a  piece  of  wood,  and  then  rapidly 
turns  the  curved  part,  like  a  carpenter's 
center-bit. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage 
around  the  World,  ch.  18,  p.  409.  (A., 
1898.) 

2260.  MOTION  ESSENTIAL  TO  LIFE 

— Air  and  Water  Made  Habitable  by  Move- 
ment.— It  is  not  enough  that  we  have  the 
air  in  which  we  live  and  move,  with  all 
of  its  properties,  as  we  have  described: 
something  more  is  needed  which  is  abso- 
lutely essential  both  to  animal  and  vege- 
table life,  and  this  essential  is  motion.  If 
the  air  remained  perfectly  still,  with  no 
lateral  movement  or  upward  and  downward 
currents  of  any  kind,  we  should  have  a  per- 
fectly constant  condition  of  things,  subjected 
only  to  such  gradual  changes  as  the  ad- 
vancing and  receding  seasons  would  produce 
owing  to  the  change  in  the  angle  of  the  sun's 
rays.  No  cloud  would  ever  form,  no  rain 
would  ever  fall,  and  no  wind  would  ever 
blow.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance  not 
only  that  the  wind  shall  blow,  but  that  com- 
paratively sudden  changes  of  temperature 
take  place  in  the  atmosphere,  in  order  that 
vegetation  as  well  as  animal  life  may  exist 
upon  the  surface  of  the  globe.  The  only 
place  where  animal  life  could  exist  would 
be  in  the  great  bodies  of  water,  and  it  is 
even  doubtful  if  water  could  remain  habit- 
able unless  there  were  means  provided 
for  constant  circulation — motion. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  45. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2261.  MOTION,  HEAT  LONG  KNOWN 
AS — Locke  Foreshadows  Molecular  Theory. — 
In  his  "  Essay  on  the  Human  Understand- 
ing "    Locke    frequently    refers    to    heat    as 


being  a  kind  of  motion.  But  the  very  re- 
markable utterance  which  of  late  years  has 
been  most  widely  circulated  is  the  follow- 
ing: "Heat,"  says  Locke,  "is  a  very  brisk 
agitation  of  the  insensible  parts  of  the  ob- 
ject, which  produces  in  us  that  sensation 
from  whence  we  denominate  the  object  hot; 
so  what  in  our  sensation  is  heat,  in  the 
object  is  nothing  but  motion.  This  appears 
by  the  way  heat  is  produced;  for  we  see 
that  the  rubbing  of  a  brass  nail  upon  a 
board  will  make  it  very  hot,  and  the  axle- 
trees  of  carts  and  coaches  are  often  hot, 
and  sometimes  to  a  degree  that  it  sets  them 
on  fire,  by  the  rubbing  of  the  naves  of  the 
wheels  upon  them.  On  the  other  side,  the 
utmost  degree  of  cold  is  the  cessation  of  that 
motion  of  the  insensible  particles,  which 
to  our  touch  is  heat." — LOCKE  Works,  vol. 
iv,  p.  597,  ed.  of  1768,  quoted  by  TYNDALL 
in  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  2,  p.  37. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2262.  MOTION  MAGNIFIED  EQUALS 
TIME  EXTENDED—  The  Telescope  Gives  the 
Astronomer    a    Record    of    Ten    Thousand 
Tears. — The  magnifying  power  of  the  tele- 
scope in  reality  acts  to  magnify  any  effects 
of  star  motion.      So  that  if  a  magnifying 
power  of  100  is  used,  the  astronomer  could 
detect  in  one  year  any  motion  which,  to  the 
naked  eye,  would  only  be  discernible  in  one 
hundred  years. 

Very  few  motions  are  discernible  to  ordi- 
nary vision  (aided,  of  course,  by  an  instru- 
mental index  devised  to  determine  a  star's 
place)  in  so  short  a  time  as  one  hundred 
years.  But  notice  that  in  twenty  or  thirty 
years  a  telescopist,  using  the  very  moderate 
power  named,  would  be  able  to  detect  a  mo- 
tion which  ordinary  vision  would  be  able  to 
recognize  [only]  after  the  lapse  of  two  thou- 
sand or  three  thousand  years.  And  our  as- 
tronomers are  not  limited  to  twenty  or  thirty 
years.  They  can  compare  their  observations 
with  those  made  by  such  observers  as  Brad- 
ley and  his  contemporaries  nearly  a  century 
and  a  half  ago.  This  amounts,  with  moder* 
ate  telescopic  power,  to  the  observation  of 
effects  equivalent  to  those  which  would  be 
presented  to  the  naked  eye  in  the  course  of 
more  than  ten  thousand  years. — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  281.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

2263.  MOTION  NOT  TO  BE  TRANS- 
MUTED INTO  SENSATION—  Thought  Can- 
not Be  Expressed  in  Terms  of  Chemistry. — 
We  can  prove  that  bile  arises  in  the  liver  by 
chemical   processes   which   we   are   able,   in 
part  at  least,  to  follow  out  in  detail.     We 
can  show,  too,  that  movement  is  produced  in 
muscles    by    definite    processes,    which    are 
again    the    immediate    result    of    chemical 
transformation.       But     cerebral     processes 
give  us  no  shadow  of  indication  as  to  how 
our  mental  life  comes  into  being.     For  the 
two  series  of  phenomena  are  not  comparable. 
We  can  conceive  how  one  motion  may  be 
transformed  into  another,  perhaps  also  how 


lotion 
[ound-builder's 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


462 


one  sensation  or  feeling  is  transformed  into 
a  second.  But  no  system  of  cosmiq  mechan- 
ics can  make  plain  to  us  how  a  motion  can 
pass  over  into  a  sensation  or  feeling. — 
WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  1,  p.  6.  (Son.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

2264.  MOTION   OF  STARS   AND 
WORLDS  HARMONIOUS— A  Shower  of  Stars 
— Pettiness  of  Merely  Personal  and  Selfish 
Life. — Thus    perpetual    motion    bears    the 
world    along!       The    sun    moves    through 
space;    the  earth  moves  round  him,  letting 
herself  be  carried  along  in  his  flight;    the 
moon  moves,  circulating  round  us,  while  we 
gravitate  round  the  radiant  hearth   which 
precipitates    itself    into    the    eternal    void. 
Like  a   shower   of  stars   the  worlds  whirl, 
borne  along  by  the  winds  of  heaven,  and  are 
carried    down    through    immensity;     suns, 
earths,    satellites,    comets,    shooting    stars, 
humanities,  cradles,  graves,  atoms  of  the  in- 
finite,    seconds     of     eternity,     perpetually 
transform  beings  and  things;    all  move  on, 
all  wing  their  flight  under  the  breath  divine 
— while  trade  goes  on,  or  the  investor  counts 
his  gold  and  piles  it  up,  believing  that  he 
holds  the  entire  universe  in  his  casket.     O 
folly  of  terrestrial  manikins!   folly  of  busy 
merchants,  folly  of  the  miser,  folly  of  the 
suitor,  folly  of  the  pilgrim  to  Mecca  or  to 
Lourdes,  folly  of  the  blind !     When  shall  the 
inhabitant  of  the  earth  open  his  eyes  to  see 
where  he  is,  to  live  the  life  of  the  mind,  and 
to  base  his  happiness  on  intellectual  con- 
templations?    When  shall  he  throw  off  the 
old  man,  the  animal  cover,  to  free  himself 
from  the  fetters  of  the  flesh  and  soar  in  the 
heights  of  knowledge? — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  3,,  p.  109.     (A.) 

2265.  MOTION    OF    STARS   DETER- 
MINED— Spectroscopic  Evidence  of  Approach 
or  Recession. — If  the  star  is  approaching  or 
receding,  the  motion  is  reflected  in  the  spec- 
trum in  a  singular  way.     Let  us  suppose 
that    it    approaches.      The    lengths    of    the 
••waves,  which  give  rise  to  the  diversity  of 
colors,   diminish,  and  the  refrangibility  of 
each  color  increases.     If,  then,  we  observe 
with  a  spectroscope  two  luminous  sources, 
the  one  fixed   ( the  electric  tube ) ,  the  other 
moving  (the  star),  both  giving,  for  example, 
the  line  ("  D  ")  so  characteristic  of  sodium, 
we  see  in  the  two  superposed  spectra  the 
rays  of  this  metal,  which  will  not  coincide. 
The  line  D  shown  by  the  spectrum  of  the 
star  will  deviate  from  the  line  D  shown  by 
the  tube,  and  the  displacement  will  be  to- 
wards   the   violet   end    if    the    star    is    ap- 
proaching the  earth,  and  towards  the  red 
end  if  it  is  receding.     The  difference  will 
serve  not  only  to  ascertain  whether  the  star 
is  approaching  or  receding,  but  even    to  de- 
termine the  velocity. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  9,  p.  648.    (A.) 

2266      MOTION  PRODUCED  BY  HEAT 

• — Reconverted  into  Heat — Steam  the  Me- 
dium of  Change. — Those  who  have  walked 
through  the  workshops  of  Woolwich,  or 


through  any  of  our  great  factories  where 
machinery  is  extensively  employed,  will 
have  been  sufficiently  impressed  with  the 
aid  which  the  mighty  power  of  heat  renders 
to  man.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  every 
wheel  which  revolves,  every  chisel,  and 
plane,  and  punch,  which  passes  through 
solid  iron  as  if  it  were  so  much  cheese,  de- 
rives its  moving  energy  from  the  clashing 
atoms  in  the  furnace.  The  motion  of  these 
atoms  is  communicated  to  the  boiler,  thence 
to  the  water,  whose  molecules  are  shaken 
asunder,  flying  from  each  other  with  a  repel- 
lent energy  commensurate  with  the  heat 
communicated.  The  steam  is  simply  the  ap- 
paratus, through  the  intermediation  of 
which  the  atomic  motion  is  converted  into 
mechanical  motion.  And  the  motion  thus 
generated  always,  in  the  long  run,  repro- 
duces its  parent.  Look  at  the  planing-tools 
and  boring-instruments — streams  of  water 
gush  over  them  to  keep  them  cool.  Take  up 
the  curled  iron  shavings  which  the  planing- 
tool  has  pared  off;  you  cannot  hold  them  in 
your  hand,  they  are  so  hot.  Here  the  mov- 
ing force  is  restored  to  its  first  form;  the 
energy  of  the  machine  has  been  consumed  in 
reproducing  the  power  from  which  that 
energy  was  derived. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  6,  p.  165.  (A.,  1900.) 

2267.  MOTION  TRANSFORMED  INTO 

HEAT — Heat  Is  Molecular  Motion — Constancy 
of  Force. — In  firing  a  ball  against  a  target 
the  projectile,  after  collision,  is  often  found 
hot.  Mr.  Fairbairn  informs  me  that  in  the 
experiments  at  Shoeburyness  it  is  a  common 
thing  to  see  a  flash,  even  in  broad  daylight, 
when  the  ball  strikes  the  target.  And  if 
our  lead  weight  be  examined  after  it  has 
fallen  from  a  height  it  is  also  found  heated. 
.  .  .  When  a  violin  bow  is  drawn  across 
a  string,  the  sound  produced  is  due  to  mo- 
tion imparted  to  the  air,  and  to  produce 
that  motion  muscular  force  has  been  ex- 
pended. We  may  here  correctly  say  that  the 
mechanical  force  of  the  arm  is  converted 
into  music.  In  a  similar  way  we  say  that 
the  arrested  motion  of  our  _  descending 
weight,  or  of  the  cannon-ball,  is  converted 
into  heat.  The  mode  of  motion  changes,  but 
motion  still  continues;  the  motion  of  the 
mass  is  converted  into  a  motion  of  the  atoms 
of  the  mass;  and  these  small  motions,  com- 
municated to  the  nerves,  produce  the  sen- 
sation we  call  heat. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  371.  (A.,  1897.) 

2268.  MOTION,  VIBRATION,  AND 
HARMONY  PERVADE  ALL  NATURE— Cor- 
respondence of  Music  and  Color. — A  univer- 
sal motion  bears  along  the  stars,  atoms  of 
the  infinite.    The  moon  gravitates  round  the 
earth,  the  earth  gravitates  round  the  sun, 
the  sun  carries  along  all  its  planets   and 
their    satellites    towards    the    constellation 
Hercules;     and  these  motions  are  executed 
according  to  determined  laws,  like  the  hand 
of  a  watch  which  turns  round  its  center,  and 
like  the  circular  undulations  which  are  de- 


463 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Motion 
Mouud-builder'B 


veloped  on  the  surface  of  still  water  when  a 
point  has  been  struck.  This  is  a  universal 
harmony  which  the  physical  ear  cannot 
hear,  as  Pythagoras  supposed,  but  which  the 
Intellectual  ear  can  understand.  And  is  it 
not  music  itself  which  vaguely  lulls  us  on 
its  seraphic  wings,  and  so  easily  transports 
our  minds  into  those  ethereal  regions  of  the 
ideal  where  we  forget  the  fetters  of  matter? 
Do  not  the  sonorous  modulations  of  the  or- 
gan, the  sweet  quiverings  of  the  bow  on  the 
violin,  the  nervous  languors  of  the  cithara, 
or  the  still  more  captivating  charm  of  the 
human  voice,  unite  the  raptures  of  life  with 
the  warm  colors  of  harmony?  What  is  it 
except  an  undulatory  motion  of  the  air  con- 
trived to  reach  the  mind  in  the  depths  of  the 
brain  and  to  impress  it  with  emotions  of  a 
special  order?  When  the  martial  tones  of 
the  spirited  *'  Marseillaise  "  are  borne  in  the 
heat  of  the  conflict  to  the  excited  battalions, 
or  when,  under  the  Gothic  vault,  the  sad 
"  Stabat "  pours  out  its  mournful  notes,  it 
is  the  vibration  which  affects  us  by  speaking 
a  mysterious  language.  Now,  all  in  Nature 
is  motion,  vibration,  and  harmony.  The 
flowers  of  the  garden  sing,  and  the  effect 
which  they  produce  depends  on  the  number 
and  agreement  of  their  vibrations  relatively 
to  those  which  emanate  from  surrounding 
Nature.  In  violet  light  the  atoms  of  the 
ether  oscillate  with  the  unheard-of  rapidity 
of  740  billions  of  vibrations  per  second;  red 
light,  slower,  is  produced  by  undulations  vi- 
brating still  at  the  rate  of  380  billions  per 
second.  The  violet  color  is,  in  the  case  of 
light,  what  the  highest  notes  are  in  the  case 
of  sound,  and  the  red  color  represents  the 
lowest  tones.  As  we  see  an  object  floating  in 
the  water  obeying  \vith  docility  the  waves 
which  come  from  different  sides,  so  the 
atom  of  the  ether  undulates  under  the  influ- 
ence of  light  and  heat,  the  atom  of  air  undu- 
lates under  the  influence  of  sound,  and  the 
planet  and  satellite  circulate  under  the  in- 
fluence, of  gravitation. — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  1,  p.  221.  (A.) 

2269.  MOTION  WITHIN  THE  WALLS 
OF  PLANTS—  Varied  and  Intense  Activity.— 
Without  entering  on  the  difficult  question  of 
spontaneous  motion,  or,  in  other  words,  on 
the  difference  between  vegetable  and  animal 
life,  we  would  remark  that  if  Nature  had 
endowed  us  with  microscopic  powers  of 
\ision,  and  the  integuments  of  plants  had 
been  rendered  perfectly  transparent  to  our 
eyes,  the  vegetable  world  would  present  a 
very  different  aspect  from  the  apparent  im- 
mobility and  repose  in  which  it  is  now 
manifested  to  our  senses.  The  interior  por- 
tion of  the  cellular  structure  of  their  or- 
gans is  incessantly  animated  by  the  most 
varied  currents,  .  .  .  rotating,  ascending 
and  descending,  ramifying,  and  ever  chan- 
ging their  direction.  ...  If  to  these 
manifold  currents  and  gyratory  movements 
we  add  the  phenomena  of  endosmosis,  nutri- 
tion, and  growth,  we  shall  have  some  idea 
of  those  forces  which  are  ever  active  amid 


the    apparent    repose    of    vegetable    life. — 
HUMBOLDT    Cosmos,    vol.    i,    p.    341.       (H., 

1897.) 

2270.  MOTIVE  AND  VOLITION  NOT 
MECHANICALLY   CONNECTED  —  Character 
Determines    Decision. — The    uncertainty    of 
the  connection  of  motive  and  volition  is  due, 
and  due  only,  to  the  existence  of  the  per- 
sonal factor.  In  consequence  of  this,  all  mo- 
tives are  seen  to  be  insufficient  for  the  com- 
plete explanation  of  a  voluntary  action;  they 
can   never   be  constraining   causes,   but   re- 
remain  as  partial  determinants.     And   the 
motives  of  volition  are  insufficient  for  its  ex- 
planation, simply  because  the  nature  of  the 
personal  factor  itself  and  the  manner  of  its 
cooperation  with  external  factors  are  wholly 
unknown.     At  the  same  time  the  fact  that 
an  ineffectual  motive  leaves  no  trace  upon 
the  completed  volition  points  towards  the 
inference  that  external  motive  and  internal 
factor  do  not  cooperate  as  does  a  plurality 
of  causes  in  Nature,  but  that  personality  is 
the   only  immediate  cause  of  action,   i.   e., 
that  the  only  direct  effect  of  a  motive  is  ex- 
erted upon  the  personality.    Properly  speak- 
ing, therefore,  we  may  not  talk  of  a  "per- 
sonal factor,"  since  that  expression  implies 
the  simultaneous  cooperation  of  other  fac- 
tors.  Rather,  since  all  the  immediate  causes 
of  voluntary   action   proceed   from   person- 
ality, we  must  look  for  the  origin  of  volition 
in    the    inmost    nature    of    personality — in 
character. — WUNDT     Human     and     Animal 
Psychology,  lect.  29,  p.  433.     (Son.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

2271.  MOUND-BUILDERS'      STRUC- 
TURES—Arti8tic  Earthworks— The  "Animal 
Mounds." — Not  the  least  remarkable  of  the 
American  antiquities  are  the  so-called  "  ani- 
mal   mounds,"    which    are    principally,    tho 
not  exclusively,  found  in  Wisconsin.    In  this 
district   "  thousands   of  examples   occur   of 
gigantic  basso-relievos  of  men,  beasts,  birds, 
and  reptiles,  all  wrought  with  persevering 
labor  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,"  while  en- 
closures and  works  of  defense  are   almost 
entirely    wanting.  —  AVEBUBY    Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  8,  p.  253.    (A.,  1900.) 


2272. 


Silent  Evidence  of 


Dense  Agricultural  Population  —  A  Race 
without  a  Record. — No  proof  of  a  knowledge 
of  letters,  no  trace  of  a  burnt  brick,  have  yet 
been  discovered;  and  so  far  as  we  may 
judge  from  their  arms,  ornaments,  and  pot- 
tery, the  mound-builders  closely  resembled 
the  more  advanced  of  the  recent  Indian 
tribes,  and  the  earthworks  agree  in  form 
with,  if  they  differ  in  magnitude  from,  those 
still,  or  until  lately,  in  use.  Yet  this  very 
magnitude  is  sufficient  to  show  that,  at  some 
early  period,  the  great  river  valleys  of  the 
United  States  must  have  been  more  densely 
populated  than  they  were  when  first  discov- 
ered by  Europeans.  .  .  .  The  Newark 
constructions;  the  mound  near  Florence  in 
Alabama,  which  is  forty-five  feet  in  height 
by  four  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  circumfer- 


Mound-builder's 
Movement 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ence  at  the  base,  with  a  level  area  at  the 
summit  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference; .  .  .  these  works,  and 
many  others  which  might  have  been  quoted, 
indicate  a  population  both  large  and  sta- 
tionary; for  which  hunting  cannot  have 
supplied  enough  food,  as  it  has  been  esti- 
mated that  in  a  forest  country  each  hunter 
requires  an  area  of  not  less  than  50,000 
acres  for  his  support;  and  which  must, 
therefore,  have  derived  its  support,  in  a 
great  measure,  from  agriculture. — AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  259.  (A.,  1900.) 

2273.  MOUNTAIN    ENGULFED  IN 
EARTH — Earthquake  in  Java — Truncation  of 
a  Lofty  Cone. — In  the  year  1772,  Papanda- 
yang,  formerly  one  of  the  loftiest  volcanoes 
in  the  island  of  Java,  was  in  eruption.     Be- 
fore all  the  inhabitants  on  the  declivities  of 
the    mountain    could    save    themselves    by 
flight,  the  ground  began  to  give  way,  and  a 
great  part  of  the  volcano  fell  in  and  disap- 
peared.    It  is  estimated  that  an  extent  of 
ground  of  the  mountain  itself  and  its  imme- 
diate environs,  fifteen  miles  long  and  full  six 
broad,  was  by  this  commotion  swallowed  up 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.     Forty  villages 
were   destroyed,   some  being  engulfed,   and 
some  covered  by  the  substances  thrown  out 
on  this   occasion,   and   2,957   of   the   inhab- 
itants   perished.     .     .     .     This    catastrophe 
appears  to  have  resembled,  tho  on  a  grander 
scale,  that  of  the  ancient  Vesuvius  in  the 
year  79. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  29,  p.  493.     (A.,  1854.) 

2274.  MOUNTAIN  SLOWLY  SINKING 

— Wider  Prospect  from  Neighboring 
Heights — Earth's  Crust  Changing  Now. — 
Two  examples  of  rapid  earth-movement  are 
taken  from  Professor  Rossi's  "  Meteorologia 
Endogena."  Professor  D.  Seghetti,  writing 
to  Professor  Rossi,  says  that  a  few  lusters 
ago  (one  luster  =  twenty  years)  Mount  S. 
Giovanni  hid  the  towns  Jenne  and  Subiaco 
from  each  other.  From  Subiaco  the  church 
at  Jenne  is  now  visible,  which  a  few  years 
ago  was  invisible.  The  people  at  Jenne  also 
can  see  more  than  formerly.  The  supposi- 
tion is  that  the  side  of  Mount  S.  Giovanni  is 
lowered.  This  fact  corresponds  to  a  fact 
stated  by  Professor  Carina,  who  says  that 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago  from  Granaiola  you 
could  not  see  either  the  church  of  S.  Maria 
Assunta  di  Citrone  or  the  church  of  S.  Pietro 
di  Corsena.  Now  you  can  see  both. — MILNE 
Earthquakes,  ch.  21,  p.  351.  [A.  1899.] 

2275.  MOUNTAIN-BUILDING  A  LONG 
AND    COMPLICATED    PROCESS  —  Extends 
through  Ages  (Ps.  xc,  2). — Mountain  chains 
may  be  regarded  as  cicatrized  wounds  in  the 
earth's    solid    crust.      A    line    of    weakness 
first  betrays  itself  at  a  certain  part  of  the 
earth's  surface  by  fissures,  from  which  vol- 
canic outbursts  take  place;  and  thus  the  po- 
sition of  the  future  mountain  chain  is  de- 
termined.     Next,    subsidence    during   many 
millions  of  years  permits  of  the  accumula- 
tion of  the  raw  materials  out  of  which  the 


mountain  range  is  to  be  formed;  subsequent 
earth-movements  cause  these  raw  materials 
to  be  elaborated  into  the  hardest  and  most 
crystalline  rock-masses,  and  place  them  in 
elevated  and  favorable  positions;  and  lastly, 
denudation  sculptures  from  these  hardened 
rock-masses  all  the  varied  mountain  forms. 
Thus  the  work  of  mountain-making  is  not, 
as  was  formerly  supposed  by  geologists,  the 
result  of  a  simple  upheaving  force,  but  is 
the  outcome  of  a  long  and  complicated  series 
of  operations. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p. 
300.  (A.,  1899.) 

2276.  MOUNTAINS  AS  A  DEFENSE 
AGAINST  EARTHQUAKES— Shocks  Limited 
by   Mountain  Ranges. — All  earthquake  dis- 
turbances have  probably  a  tendency  to  radi- 
ate in  a  uniform  manner  from  their  source, 
and   are  only  prevented  from  doing  so  by 
meeting  with  heavy  mountainous   districts, 
which  by  their  mass  and  structure  absorb 
the   energy  communicated  to  them.     Much 
energy  is  also  lost  by  emergence  on  the  open 
flanks    of    a    range    of   mountains.      Rather 
than  say  that  high  mountains  often  bound 
the    extension    of    an    earthquake,    or    that 
earthquakes  appear  to  run  along  the  flanks, 
of  such  mountains,  we  might  say  that  earth- 
quakes have  boundaries  parallel  to  the  strike 
of  the  rocks  in  a  given  district,  that  such 
a  direction  is  the  one  in  which  the  propaga- 
tion is  the  easier. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch. 
12,  p.  230.      (A.,  1899.) 

2277.  MOUNTAINS   OF    ETERNAL 

LIGHT — At  the  lunar  poles  (where,  more- 
over, we  see  neither  snow  nor  ice)  there 
are  mountains  so  strangely  situated  that 
their  summits  know  no  night;  the  sun 
never  sets  on  them.  They  may  be  called 
the  mountains  of  eternal  light. — FLAMMA- 
RION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  4,  p. 
123.  (A.) 

2278.  MOUNTAINS   PILED   BY  VOL- 
CANIC  ERUPTIONS—  Caverns  Hollowed  be- 
neath the  Earth — Earthquakes  Due  to  Col- 
lapse of  Caverns. — By  the  ejection  of  ashes, 
and  lava  from  volcanic  vents  an  extensive 
evisceration  of  the  neighboring  ground  might 
be  expected.    When  we  look  at  a  volcano  like 
Fujiyama,  nearly  13,000  feet  in  height,  and 
at   least   fifty  miles   in   circumference,    and 
remember  that  the  mass  of  cinders  and  slag 
of  which  it  is  composed  came  from  beneath 
the  area  on  which  it  rests,  the  point  to  be 
wonderered  at   is  that   earthquakes,   conse- 
quent on  the. collapse  of  subterranean  hol- 
lows, are  not  more  frequent  than  they  are. 
At  the  time  of  a  single  eruption  of  a  vol- 
cano the  quantity  of  lava  ejected  amounts 
to   many   thousand   millions    of   cubic   feet. 
In   1783  the  quantity  of  lava  ejected  from 
Skaptar   Jokul,   in   Iceland,   was   estimated 
as   surpassing  "  in  magnitude   the  bulk   of 
Mont    Blanc."     .     .     .     Beneath    a    volcano 
it  is  probable  that  viscous  material  imme- 
diately  takes    the   place   of   that   which    is 
ejected,   and   that  hollows    are   not   formed 
as  in  the  case  of  chemical  degradation.     If 


465 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mound-builder's 
Movement 


a  eavern  becomes  too  large  it  eventually 
collapses. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  17,  p. 
285.  (A.,  1899.) 

2279.  MOUNTAINS     SHATTERED— 
Mountainsides   Denuded — Rivers    Checked — 
Fish  Taken  on  Land. — The  Blue,  and  other 
of  the   highest  mountains    [in  Jamaica,   in 
the   earthquake    of    1692],    are   declared   to 
have  been  strangely  torn   and  rent.     They 
appeared    shattered    and    half    naked,    no 
longer     affording     a     fine    green    prospect, 
as    before,    but    stripped    of    their    woods 
and  natural  verdure.     The  rivers  on  these 
mountains    first   ceased    to    flow    for    about 
twenty-four  hours,  and  then  brought  down 
into  the  sea,  at  Port  Royal  and  other  places, 
several   hundred   thousand   tons   of   timber, 
which   looked   like   floating   islands    on   the 
ocean.     The  trees  were  in  general  barked, 
most  of  their  branches  having  been  torn  off 
in  the  descent.     It  is  particularly  remarked 
in   this   as    in   the  narratives  of   so   many 
earthquakes,  that  fish  were  taken  in  great 
numbers    on   the   coast   during   the   shocks. 
The  correspondents  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  who 
collected  with  care  the  accounts  of  eye-wit- 
nesses of  the  catastrophe,  refer   constantly 
to  subsidences,  and  some  supposed  the  whole 
of  Jamaica  to  have  sunk  down. — LYELLjPrw- 
ciples  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  505.     (A., 
1854.) 

2280.  MOUNTAINS    SNOW-CLAD  — 
Meaning   of  "Perpetual  Snow" — Perpetual 
Change  and  Renewal. — The  term  "  perpetual 
snow  "  should  not  lead  any  one  to  suppose 
that  there  is  any  elevation  at  which  snow, 
after  falling,  remains  absolutely  unchanged. 
All  the  snow  that  falls  on  the  mountains, 
however  high,   is   destined  to   disappear   in 
course  of  time.     It  may  gradually  be  forced 
down  by  the  weight  of  new  accumulations 
to  levels  at  which  it  melts  and  runs  away 
as  water;   it  may  be  blown  down  to  lower 
and  warmer  levels,  and  in  this  way  great 
quantities    of   snow    are   removed  by   every 
high  wind  on  snow-clad  mountains;  it  may 
be  melted  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  far  above 
the  snow-line,  or  it  may  evaporate  or  dis- 
appear  insensibly  in  the  form  of  invisible 
vapor.     .     .     . 

It  is  not,  then,  because  the  snow  that  falls 
on  the  tops  of  mountains  remains  always 
the  same,  that  there  is  a  limit  of  perpetual 
snow  on  the  highest  mountains,  even  in  the 
tropics.  But  this  limit  is  that  at  which 
snow  never  altogether  disappears  before 
fresh  snow  has  fallen  to  take  its  place. 
It  is  for  that  reason  that  it  is  not  tempera- 
ture alone  that  determines  the  height  of 
the  snow-line. — CHISHOLM  Nature-Studies, 
p.  33.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

2281.  MOVEMENT,  MOLECULAR, 
CONTAINS    NO    SUGGESTION    OF    CON- 
SCIOUSNESS— The   consensus  of   scientific 
opinion    here    is    extraordinary.      "  I    know 
nothing,"  says  Huxley,  in  the  name  of  bi- 
ology, "  and  never  hope  to  know  anything, 
of    the   steps   by    which   the    passage   from 


molecular  movement  to  states  of  conscious- 
ness is  effected."  "The  two  things,"  em- 
phasizes the  physicist,  "  are  on  two  utterly 
different  platforms:  the  physical  facts  go 
along  by  themselves,  and  the  mental  facts  go- 
along  by  themselves."  "  It  is  all  through 
and  forever  inconceivable,"  protests  the 
German  physiologist  [Du  Bois-Reymond]  „ 
"  that  a  number  of  atoms  of  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, nitrogen,  oxygen,  and  so  on,  shall  be 
other  than  indifferent  as  to  how  they  are 
disposed  and  how  they  move,  how  they  were 
disposed  and  how  they  moved,  how  they 
will  be  disposed  and  how  they  will  be  moved. 
It  is  utterly  inconceivable  how  consciousness 
shall  arise  from  their  joint  action."  [Com- 
pare MOTION,  ATOMIC,  2256.] — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4,  p.  124.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2282.  MOVEMENT  OF  A  DAY  CHAN- 
GES FACE  OF  THE  EARTH— Lava-stream 
Forming  Lake — Plastic  Current  Hardens  to 
Rock. — A   lava-stream   may    cross    a   valley 
so  as  to  obstruct  its  drainage  and  cause  a 
lake  to  form  above   it,  in  much  the  same 
way  as  glaciers  dam  lateral  valleys.    A  large 
lake  was  formed  in  this  manner,  probably 
in  Pleistocene  times,  on  the  Yukon  River, 
Alaska,  where  it  is  joined  by  Pelly  River.    A 
series  of  lava-flows  there  filled  the  river  val- 
ley from  side  to  side  to  a  depth  of  several 
hundred  feet,  and  formed  a  dam  which  re- 
tained the  waters  of  the  Yukon,  and  gave 
origin  to  a  broad  water  body  known  as  Lake 
Yukon.     The  obstruction  has  since  been  cut 
through  along  the  southern  margin  of  the 
old    channel,    leaving    a    series    of    basaltic 
precipices  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river. — 
RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  1,  p. 
17.     (G.  &Co.,  1895.) 

2283.  MOVEMENT  OF  ENTIRE  SOLAR 
SYSTEM   THROUGH   SPACE—  Swiftness  of 
the  Motion — We  Are  Part  of  a   Universal 
System. — Sir  W.  Herschel  first,  and  after- 
wards  several   other  astronomers,  have,   by 
the  careful  study  of  the  stars'  movements, 
ascertained,  with  what  amounts  practically 
to  absolute  certainty,  that  our  sun,  with  his 
whole  family  of  planets,  is  moving  towards 
the   part   of   the   heavens    occupied   by  the 
constellation  Hercules.     Every  investigation 
of  the  evidence  has  led  to  the  same  general 
result  in  this  respect.     ...     It  has  been 
said  that  the  sun  is  traveling  at  the  rate 
of  three  or  four  miles   in  every  second  of 
time.     But  when  one  examines  the  evidence 
one  finds  that  this  conclusion  depends  on  as- 
sumptions as  to  the  average  real  magnitude 
of  the  stars  of  various  orders  of  apparent 
brightness.    I  was  long  since  led  to  conclude 
that  such  assumptions  were  unsafe,  and  also 
to  infer  from  certain  evidence  which  I  had  col- 
lected that  our  sun  moves  much  more  swiftly 
than  had  been  supposed. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  289.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2284.  MOVEMENT    OF    MUTILATED 
ANIMAL — Reflex  Action  Becomes  Purely  Me- 
chanical.— Surely  the  reasoning  is  bad  which 
argues  that  because  a  given  movement  goes 


Movement 
Movements 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


466 


on  after  the  animal  has  been  mutilated,  this 
movement  must  therefore  continue  to  pos- 
sess all  the  same  elements  of  character 
which  accompanied  it  when  the  animal  was 
complete.  And  not  only  is  the  reasoning 
bad,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  conclusion 
has  been  proved  to  be  erroneous.  Farther 
investigations  have  shown  that  when  the 
cerebral  hemispheres  have  been  removed  the 
*'  reflex  action "  in  a  frog's  leg  acquires  a 
new  character.  It  becomes  a  mere  result 
of  physical  causation,  and  is  consequently 
as  certain  and  inevitable  as  the  action  of 
a  coiled  spring.  Accordingly,  it  can  be  pre- 
dicted and  foreseen  with  certainty.  In  short, 
the  mental  element  has  been .  eliminated 
along  with  that  part  of  the  machinery  which 
is  the  organ  of  consciousness  and  will.  But 
when  that  part  of  the  machinery  remains 
untouched,  then  "  reflex  action "  loses  its 
character  of  necessity  as  the  result  of  mere 
mechanical  causation.  It  cannot  be  pre- 
dicted with  certainty,  because  altho  the 
"  stimulus  "  may  be  the  same,  and  the  ani- 
mal impulse  may  be  the  same,  there  is  a 
controlling  apparatus  to  which  has  been 
given  the  free  and  incalculable  power  of 
resisting  both  stimulus  and  impulse.  Both 
parts  of  the  apparatus  are  equally  machin- 
ery. But  the  one  has  a  mental  function,  and 
the  other  has  a  function  purely  physical. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  3,  p.  65. 
(Burt.) 

2285.  MOVEMENT,  SUSTAINED, 
WITH  SLIGHT  EXERTION—  The  Condor's 
Flight. — When  the  condors  are  wheeling  in 
a  flock  round  and  round  any  spot,  their  flight 
is  beautiful.  Except  when  rising  from  the 
ground  I  do  not  recollect  ever  having  seen 
one  of  these  birds  flap  its  wings.  Near 
Lima  I  watched  several  for  nearly  half  an 
hour  without  once  taking  off  my  eyes ;  they 
moved  in  large  curves,  sweeping  in  circles, 
descending  and  ascending  without  giving  a 
single  flap.  As  they  glided  close  over  my 
head  I  intently  watched  from  an  oblique 
position  the  outlines  of  the  separate  and 
great  terminal  feathers  of  each  wing;  and 
these  separate  feathers,  if  there  had  been 
the  least  vibratory  movement,  would  have 
appeared  as  if  blended  together;  but  they 
were  seen  distinct  against  the  blue  sky. 
The  head  and  neck  were  moved  frequently 
and  apparently  with  force;  and  the  ex- 
tended wings  seemed  to  form  the  fulcrum 
on  which  the  movements  of  the  neck,  body, 
and  tail  acted.  If  the  bird  wished  to  de- 
scend, the  wings  were  for  a  moment  col- 
lapsed; and  when  again  expanded  with  an 
altered  inclination  the  momentum  gained  by 
the  rapid  descent  seemed  to  urge  the  bird 
upwards  with  the  even  and  steady  move- 
ment of  a  paper  kite.  In  the  case  of  any 
bird  soaring,  its  motion  must  be  sufficiently 
rapid  so  that  the  action  of  the  inclined 
surface  of  its  body  on  the  atmosphere  may 
counterbalance  its  gravity.  The  force  to 
keep  up  the  momentum  of  a  body  moving 


in  a  horizontal  plane  in  the  air  (in  which 
there  is  so  little  friction)  cannot  be  great, 
and  this  force  is  all  that  is  wanted.  The 
movement  of  the  neck  and  body  of  the  con- 
dor, we  must  suppose,  is  sufficient  for  this. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  truly  wonderful 
and  beautiful  to  see  so  great  a  bird,  hour 
after  hour,  without  any  apparent  exertion, 
wheeling  and  gliding  over  mountain  and 
river. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around 
the  World,  ch.  9,  p.  186.  (A.,  1898.) 

2286.  MOVEMENT    UNIVERSAL    IN 
PLANTS — Generally  Spiral  in  Character — 
Circumnutation. — The    most    widely    preva- 
lent movement   is   essentially   of   the   same 
nature  as   that  of  the  stem  of  a  climbing 
plant,  which  bends  successively  to  all  points 
of   the   compass,   so   that  the  tip   revolves. 
This   movement   has   been   called   by   Sachs 
"  revolving  nutation  " ;   but  we  have  found 
it  much  more  convenient  to  use  the  terms 
circumnutation   and   circumnutate.     As   we 
shall  have  to  say  much   about  this  move- 
ment, it  will  be  useful  here  briefly  to  de- 
scribe its  nature.     If  we  observe  a  circum- 
nutating  stem,  which  happens  at  the  time 
to  be  bent,  we  will  say,  towards  the  north, 
it   will   be   found   gradually   to   bend   more 
and  more  easterly,  until  it  faces  the  east; 
and  so  onwards  to  the  south,  then  to  the 
west,  and  back  again  to  the  north.     If  the 
movement  had  been  quite  regular  the  apex 
would  have  described  a  circle,  or  rather,  as 
the  stem  is  always  growing  upwards,  a  cir- 
cular spiral.     But  it  generally  describes  ir- 
regular  elliptical   or   oval   figures;    for   the 
apex,   after  pointing  in  any  one  direction, 
commonly  moves  back  to  the  opposite  side, 
not,  however,  returning  along  the  same  line. 
Afterwards  other  irregular  ellipses  or  ovals 
are  successively  described,  with  their  longer 
axes  directed  to  different  points  of  the  com- 
pass.     Whilst    describing   such    figures    the 
apex  often  travels  in  a  zigzag  line,  or  makes 
small    subordinate   loops    or   triangles.      In 
the  case  of  leaves  the  ellipses  are  generally 
narrow. — DARWIN    Power   of    Movement    in 
Plants,  ch.  1,  p.  1.     (A.,  1900.) 

2287.      New    Results 

Reached   by   Ceaseless   Striving — Effects   of 
Circumnutation. — Apparently  every  growing 
pirt  of  every  plant  is  continually  circumnu- 
tating  [see  2286],  tho  often  on  a  small  scale. 
Even    the    stems    of    seedlings    before   they 
have  broken  through  the  ground,  as  well  as 
their  buried  radicles,  circumnutate,  as  far 
as   the   pressure  of  the  surrounding  earth 
permits.     In  this  universally  present  move- 
ment we  have  the  basis  or  groundwork  for 
the  acquirement,   according  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  plant,  of  the  most  diversified 
movements.     Thus,  the  great  sweeps  made 
by  the  stems  of  twining  plants,  and  by  the 
tendrils    of    other    climbers,    result   from    a 
mere  increase  in  the  amplitude  of  the  or- 
dinary  movement  of   circumnutation.     The 
position  which  young  leaves  and   other  or- 
gans ultimately  assume  is  acquired  by  the 


467 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Movement 
Movements 


circumnutating  movement  being  increased 
in  some  one  direction.  The  leaves  of 
various  plants  are  said  to  sleep  at  night, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  their  blades 
then  assume  a  vertical  position  through 
modified  circumnutation,  in  order  to  pro- 
tect their  upper  surfaces  from  being 
chilled  through  radiation.  The  movements 
of  various  organs  to  the  light,  which  are  so 
.general  throughout  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
and  occasionally  from  the  light,  or  trans- 
versely with  respect  to  it,  are  all  modified 
forms  of  circumnutation,  as  again  are  the 
equally  prevalent  movements  of  stems,  etc., 
towards  the  zenith,  and  of  roots  towards 
the  center  of  the  earth. — DARWIN  Power  of 
Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (A.,  1900.) 

2288.    MOVEMENTS,    AUTOMATIC— 

Education  Makes  Reflex  Action  Habitual 
<ind  Easy — Superfluous  Activity  Eliminated. 
— In  our  first  attempts  to  write,  to  cipher, 
to  play  on  an  instrument,  to  speak,  or  in 
any  other  work  of  mechanical  skill,  the  in- 
ward sense  of  labor  and  difficulty  is  corre- 
sponded to  by  the  number  of  awkward  and 
irrelevant  gesticulations.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  the  last  stage  of  consummated  facility 
and  routine,  the  consciousness  is  almost 
nothing;  and  the  general  quietude  of  the 
body  demonstrates  that  the  course  of  power 
lias  now  become  narrowed  to  the  one 
channel  necessary  for  the  exact  movements 
required.  This  is  a  sort  of  educated  imita- 
tion of  the  primitive  reflex  movement  ad- 
duced at  the  outset;  the  comparison  is  so 
striking  as  to  suggest  to  physiologists  the 
designation  of  secondary  reflex  or  automat- 
ic for  the  habitual  movements.  A  man  at 
a  signal-post,  after  long  habit,  is  subjected 
to  little  or  no  nervous  influence,  except  in 
the  single  thread  of  connection  between  a 
certain  figure  depicted  on  the  eye  and  a  cer- 
tain movement  of  the  hand;  the  collaterals 
of  the  primitive  wave  have  died  away,  and 
the  accompanying  consciousness  has  fallen 
to  a  barely  discernible  trace. — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  4,  p.  14.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2289. Mental  Association 

Tends  to  Repeat  Itself  —  Greek  Verbs 
Learned  by  Hearing  Recitation. — A  series 
of  movements  repeated  in  a  certain  order 
tend  to  unroll  themselves  with  peculiar  ease 
in  that  order  forever  afterward.  Num- 
ber one  awakens  number  two,  and  that  awa- 
kens number  three,  and  so  on,  till  the  last 
is  produced.  A  habit  of  this  kind  once  be- 
come inveterate  may  go  on  automatically. 
And  so  it  is  with  the  objects  with  which 
our  thinking  is  concerned.  With  some  per- 
sons each  note  of  a  melody,  heard  but  once, 
will  accurately  revive  in  its  proper  sequence. 
Small  boys  at  school  learn  the  inflections 
of  many  a  Greek  noun,  adjective,  or  verb 
from  the  reiterated  recitations  of  the  upper 
classes  falling  on  their  ear  as  they  sit  at  their 
desks.  All  this  happens  with  no  voluntary 
effort  on  their  part,  and  with  no  thought 


of  the  spelling  of  the  words. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  14,  p.  554.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

229O. Muscular  Activities 

Repressed  or  Reenforced  by  Volition — Fa- 
tigue Requires  Exertion  of  the  Will. — Each 
individual  movement  [in  walking]  suggests 
the  succeeding  one,  and  the  repetition 
continues  until,  the  attention  having  been 
recalled,  the  automatic  impulse  is  super- 
seded by  the  control  of  the  will.  Further, 
the  direction  of  the  movement  is  given  by 
the  sense  of  sight,  which  so  guides  the 
motions  of  our  legs  that  we  do  not  jostle 
our  fellow  passengers  or  run  up  against 
lamp-posts ;  •  and  the  same  sense  directs 
also  their  general  course  along  the  line 
that  habit  has  rendered  most  familiar, 
altho  at  the  commencement  of  our  walk  we 
may  have  intended  to  take  some  other.  Sup- 
pose our  walk  to  be  so  prolonged,  however, 
that  the  sense  of  fatigue  comes  on  before 
we  have  reached  its  appointed  conclusion. 
This  calls  off  our  attention  from  what  is 
going  on  in  the  mind  to  the  condition  of  the 
body;  and  in  order  to  sustain  the  move- 
ments of  locomotion  a  distinct  exertion  of 
the  will  comes  to  be  requisite  for  each. 
With  the  increasing  sense  of  fatigue  an  in- 
creased effort  becomes  necessary,  and  at  last 
even  the  most  determined  volition  may  find 
itself  unable  to  evoke  a  respondent  move- 
ment from  the  exhausted  muscles. — CARPEN- 
TER Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  §  16,  p. 
18.  (A.,  1900.) 

2291. Voluntary  and  In- 
voluntary Activity  Combined — Walking,  Run- 
ning, Writing,  Etc.,  Done  Chiefly  by  Reflex 
Action — Volition  May  Become  a  Hindrance. 
— Reflex  acts  performed  under  the  influence 
of  the  reflecting  power  of  the  spinal  cord 
are  essentially  independent  of  the  brain,  and 
may  be  performed  perfectly  when  the  brain 
is  separated  from  the  cord.  [It  may  be  af- 
firmed] that  these  include  a  much  larger 
number  of  the  natural  and  purposive  move- 
ments of  the  lower  animals  than  of  the 
warm-blooded  animals  and  man ;  and  that 
over  nearly  all  of  them  the,  mind  may  exer- 
cise, through  the  higher  nerve-centers,  some 
control,  determining,  directing,  hindering, 
or  modifying  them,  either  by  direct  action, 
or  by  its  power  over  associated  muscles. 

To  these  instances  of  spinal  reflex  action 
some  add  yet  many  more,  including  nearly 
all  the  acts  which  seem  to  be  performed 
unconsciously,  such  as  those  of  walking, 
running,  writing,  and  the  like,  for  these 
are  really  involuntary  acts.  It  is  true  that 
at  their  first  performances  they  are  volun- 
tary, that  they  require  education  for  their 
perfection,  and  are  at  all  times  so  constantly 
performed  in  obedience  to  a  mandate  of  the 
will  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  in  their 
essentially  involuntary  nature.  But  the 
will  really  has  only  a  controlling  power 
over  their  performance;  it  can  hasten  or 
stay  them,  but  it  has  little  or  nothing  to 


Movements 
Music 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


468 


do  with  the  actual  carrying  out  of  the  effect. 
And  this  is  proved  by  the  circumstance  that 
these  acts  can  be  performed  with  complete 
mental  abstraction;  and, more  than  this,  that 
the  endeavor  to  carry  them  out  entirely 
by  the  exercise  of  the  will  is  not  only  not 
beneficial,  but  positively  interferes  with  their 
harmonious  and  perfect  performance.  Any 
one  may  convince  himself  of  this  fact  by 
trying  to  take  each  step  as  a  voluntary  act 
in  walking  down-stairs,  or  to  form  each  let- 
ter or  word  in  writing  by  a  distinct  exercise 
of  the  will. — BAKER  Handbook  of  Physi- 
ology, vol.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  102.  ( W.  W.,  1885.) , 

2292.  MOVEMENTS     OF     EARTH'S 

CRUST— "Term  Firma"  a  Delusion.—  The 
folds  and  corrugations  of  the  strata  and 
the  numerous  dislocations  by  which  rocks 
of  all  kinds  are  traversed  clearly  demon- 
strate that  movements  of  the  solid  crust 
have  taken  place.  Such  crustal  disturbances 
are  probably  in  chief  measure  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  earth  is  a  cooling  body.  As 
the  solid  crust  sinks  down  upon  the  cooling 
and  contracting  nucleus,  it  must  occupy  less 
superficial  space.  Hence  its  rocky  frame- 
work becomes  subjected  to  enormous  tan- 
gential squeezing  and  compression,  to  which 
it  yields  by  bending  and  folding,  by  frac- 
ture and  displacement.  —  GEIKIE  Earth 
Sculpture,  ch.  1,  p.  13.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

2293.  MOVEMENTS  OF  FLYING-FISH 

— A  True  Flight — Fear  Drives  the  Fish  into 
Alien  Element  of  Air. — I  have  had  frequent 
occasions  to  observe  the  flying-fishes  atten- 
tively. I  am  confident  not  only  that  they 
change  the  direction  of  their  flight,  but  that 
they  raise  or  lower  their  line  of  movement 
repeatedly,  without  returning  to  the  water. 
I  avoid  the  word  "  falling "  designedly,  for 
all  the  acts  of  these  fishes  during  their  flight 
seem  to  me  completely  voluntary.  They 
raise  themselves  from  the  surface  of  the 
v.ater  by  rapidly  repeated  blows  with  the 
tail,  and  more  than  once  have  I  seen  them 
descend  again  to  the  surface  of  the  water  in 
order  to  repeat  this  movement;  thus  renew- 
ing the  impulse  .and  enabling  themselves  to 
continue  for  a  longer  time  their  passage 
through  the  air.  Their  changes  of  direction, 
either  to  the  right  and  left  or  in  rising  and 
descending,  are  not  due  to  the  beating  of  the 
wings,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  great  pectoral 
fins,  but  simply  to  an  inflection  of  the  whole 
surface,  in  one  or  the  other  direction,  by  the 
contraction  of  the  muscles  controlling  the 
action  of  the  fin-rays,  their  pressure  against 
the  air  determining  the  movement.  The 
flying-fish  is  in  fact  a  living  shuttlecock, 
capable  of  directing  its  own  course  by  the 
bending  of  its  large  fins.  It  probably  main- 
tains itself  in  the  air  until  the  necessity  of 
breathing  compels  it  to  return  to  the  water. 
The  motive  of  its  flight*  seems  to  me  to  be 
fear;  for  it  is  always  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  and  in  front  of  the  vessel  that 
they  are  seen  to  rise;  or  perhaps  at  a  dis- 


tance when  they  are  pursued  by  some  large 
fish. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  2, 
app.,  p.  522.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2294.  MOVEMENTS    OF    MUSCLES 
ASSIGNED  TO  CENTERS  IN  THE  BRAIN— 

Dr.  R.  W.  Amidon  in  1880  [succeeded  in 
localizing]  the  heat  produced  [in  the  brain] 
by  voluntary  muscular  contractions.  Apply- 
ing a  number  of  delicate  surface-thermom- 
eters simultaneously  against  the  scalp,  he 
found  that  when  different  muscles  of  the 
body  were  made  to  contract  vigorously  for 
ten  minutes  or  more,  different  regions  of  the 
scalp  rose  in  temperature,  that  the  regions 
were  well  localized,  and  that  the  rise  of  tem- 
perature was  often  considerably  over  a 
Fahrenheit  degree.  As  a  result  of  his  inves- 
tigations he  gives  a  diagram  in  which  num- 
bered regions  represent  the  centers  of  high- 
est temperature  for  the  various  special 
movements  which  were  investigated.  To  a 
large  extent  they  correspond  to  the  centers, 
for  the  same  movements  assigned  by  Ferrier 
and  others  on  other  grounds;  only  they 
cover  more  of  the  skull. — JAMES  Psychology? 
vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  100.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2295.  MOVEMENTS    WITH    REFER- 
ENCE TO  ENDS— A  Faculty  of  Plants  as  Well 
as  of  Animals — Venus's  Fly-trap — Climbing 
Tendril. — The  faculty  of  making  movements 
in  reference  to  ends,   affirmed  of  animals, 
was    long    denied    to    plants.     ...     To 
show  the  breaking-down  of  the  distinction, 
it  would  suffice  to  contrast  the  rooted  fixity 
and  vegetative  growth  of  very  many  lower 
animals  with  the  free  locomotion  of  most 
microscopic  aquatic  plants  and  of  the  germs 
of  those  not  microscopic.     Is  there  not  an 
independent  movement,   in   response  to   an 
external  impression,  and  in  reference  to  an 
end,    when    the    two    sides    of    the   trap    of 
Dioncea   [or  Venus's  fly-trap]    suddenly  en- 
close an  alighted  fly,  cross  their  fringe  of 
marginal  bristles  over  the  only  avenue  of 
escape,    remain    quiescent   in    this    position 
long  enough  to  give  a  small  fly  full  oppor- 
tunity to  crawl  out,  soon  open  if  this  hap- 
pens,   but    after    due    interval    shut    down 
firmly  upon  one  of  greater  size  which  cannot 
get  out,  then  pour  out  digestive  juices,  and 
in  due  time  reabsorb  the  whole?     So,    ... 
when  a  free  revolving  tendril  avoids  wind- 
ing up  itself  uselessly  around  the  stem  it  be- 
longs   to     ...     by    changing    from    the 
horizontal  to  the  vertical  position  until  it 
passes  by  it,  and  then  rapidly  resumes  its 
horizontal   sweep,   to   result   in   reaching   a 
distant  support — is  it  possible  to  think  that 
these    are   not   movements    in    reference    to 
ends? — ASA  GRAY  Natural  Science  and  Re- 
ligion, lect.  1,  p.  22.    (S.,  1891.) 

2296.  MULTIPLICATION  BY  DIVISION 
AMONG  BACTERIA— Division,  or  fission,  is 
the  commonest  method  of  reproduction   [of 
bacteria].     It  occurs  transversely.     A  small 
indentation  occurs  in  the  capsule,  which  ap- 
pears to  make  its  way  slowly  through  the 
whole  body  of  the  bacillus  or  micrococcus 


469 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


[ovoments 

I  ii  sic 


until  the  two  parts  are  separate,  and  each 
contained  in  its  own  capsule. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  16.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2297.  MULTIPLICATION,  INCONCEIV- 
ABLY RAPID,  OF  BACTERIA— Simple  fission 
requires  but  a  short  period  of  time  to  be 
complete.       Hence    multiplication    is    very 
rapid,  for  within  half  an  hour  a  new  adult 
individual   can   be   produced.      It   has   been 
estimated  that  at  this  rate  one  bacillus  will 
in    twenty- four    hours    produce    17,000,000 
similar   individuals;     or,    expressed   in    an- 
other way,   Cohn  calculated  that  in  three 
days,    under    favorable    circumstances,    this 
rate  of  increase  would  form  a  mass  of  living 
organisms  weighing  7,300  tons,  and  number- 
ing about  4,772  billions.     Favorable  condi- 
tions do  not  occur,  fortunately,  to  allow  of 
such  increase,  which,  of  course,  can  only  be 
roughly  estimated.     But  the  above   figures 
illustrate  the  enormous  fertility  of  micro- 
organic  life.     When  we  remember  that  in 
some   species   it   requires    10,000   or    15,000 
fully  grown   bacilli   placed    end   to   end   to 
stretch  the  length  of  an  inch,  we  see  also 
Tiow  exceedingly  small  are  the  individuals 
composing    these    unseen    hosts. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  16.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2298.  MULTIPLICATION    OF  PESTS 

— Unintended  Results  of  Commerce. — Some- 
times we  unintentionally  promote  the  mul- 
tiplication of  inimical  species,  as  when  we 
introduced  the  rat,  which  was  not  indige- 
nous in  the  New  World,  into  all  parts  of 
America.  They  have  been  conveyed  over  in 
ships,  and  now  infest  a  great  multitude  of 
islands  and  parts  of  that  continent.  In  like 
manner  the  Norway  rat  (Mus  decumanus) 
has  been  imported  into  England,  where  it 
plunders  our  property  in  ships  and  houses. 
— LYELL  Geology,  ch.  39,  p.  663.  (A.,  1854.) 

2299.  MULTITUDE    OF    BIRDS    BY 
NIGHT   IN   UPPER  AIR—  Telescope  Reveals 
Them   against   the   Moon. — Some    idea   may 
be  formed  of  the  multitude  of  birds  which 
throng  the  upper   air  on   favorable  nights, 
during  their  migration,  by  using  a  telescope. 
One  having  a  two-inch  object-glass  will  an- 
swer the  purpose.     It  should  be  focused  on 
the    moon    when    the   birds    in   passing   are 
silhouetted  against  the  glowing  background. 
At  the  proper   focal   distance   they   appear 
with  startling  distinctness.     In  some  cases 
each  wing-beat  can  be  detected,  and  with  a 
large  glass  it  is  even  possible  to  occasionally 
recognize    the    kind    of    bird.  —  CHAPMAN 
Bird-Life,  ch.  4,  p.  56.      (A.,  1900.) 

2300.  MUSEUM,  ANCIENT,  OF  NAT- 
URAL   CURIOSITIES  —  Cooperation  of  Con- 
queror   and    Philosopher — Alexander    Aids 
Aristotle — The  Lykeum  at  Athens. — In  the 
spring  of  B.  C.  334,  Alexander  of  Macedon 
crossed  the  Hellespont  and  began  the  famous 
campaign  which  left  .him  master  of  all  the 
countries  between  the  Danube  and  the  Gan- 

.  ges.      At    about    the    same    time    Aristotle, 
who  had  been  his  preceptor,   established   a 


school  at  the  Lykeum  at  Athens,  and  be- 
gan to  gather  collections  of  plants,  animals, 
and  minerals,  wherewith  he  illustrated  his 
lectures,  delivered  while  walking  up  and 
down  the  leafy  paths  which  wound  through 
the  adjacent  gardens.  In  this  undertaking 
he  found  in  his  powerful  disciple  a  most 
willing  ally;  for  Alexander  not  only  con- 
tributed a  vast  sum  of  money  for  the  pur- 
chase pf  rare  objects,  but  employed  thou- 
sands of  men  to  collect  and  transport  to 
Athens  all  that  was  strange  to  the  Greeks 
in  the  distant  countries  which  had  yielded 
to  his  arms. 

To  the  gathering  of  this  stupendous  mass 
of  material  may  be  traced  three  results  of 
the  highest  import:  first,  the  acquisition  of 
the  multitudinous  physical  facts  which  fill 
the  Aristotelian  treatises  on  natural  sci- 
ences; second,  the  foreshadowing  of  the  in- 
ductive method  of  reasoning;  third,  the  pro- 
duction by  Theophrastus,  the  Lesbian,  of 
a  history  of  stones,  probably  based  directly 
upon  the  study  of  Aristotle's  collections. — 
PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity, ch.  2,  p.  38.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

23O1.  MUSIC,  NATURAL  INSTRU- 
MENTS OF—  The  Wood-cricket  of  Brazil  (the 
TanandJ — Contrivance  as  of  Violin  and 
Bow. — A  strange  kind  of  wood-cricket  is 
found  in  this  neighborhood,  the  males  of 
which  produce  a  very  loud  and  not  unmu- 
sical noise  by  rubbing  together  the  overlap- 
ping edges  of  their  wing-cases.  The  notes 
are  certainly  the  loudest  and  most  extraor- 
dinary that  I  ever  heard  produced  by  an 
orthopterous  insect.  The  natives  call  it  the 
Tanand,  in  allusion  to  its  music,  which  is  a 
sharp,  resonant  stridulation  resembling  the 
syllables  "  ta-na-na,  ta-na-na,"  succeeding 
each  other  with  little  intermission.  It  seems 
to  be  rare  in  the  neighborhood.  When  the 
natives  capture  one  they  keep  it  in  a  wicker- 
work  cage  for  the  sake  of  hearing  it  sing. 
A  friend  of  mine  kept  one  six  days.  It  was 
lively  only  for  two  or  three,  and  then  its 
loud  note  could  be  heard  from  one  end  of 
the  village  to  the  other.  When  it  died  he 
gave  me  the  specimen,  the  only  one  I  was 
able  to  procure.  It  is  a  member  of  the 
family  Locustidce,  a  group  intermediate  be- 
tween the  crickets  (Achetidce)  and  the  grass- 
hoppers ( Acridiidce ) .  The  total  length  of 
the  body  is  two  inches  and  a  quarter;  when 
the  wings  are  closed  the  insect  has  an  in- 
flated vesicular  or  bladder-like  shape,  owing 
to  the  great  convexity  of  the  thin  but  firm 
parchmenty  wing-cases,  and  the  color  is 
wholly  pale  green.  The  instrument  by  which 
the  tananfi  produces  its  music  is  curiously 
contrived  out  of  the  ordinary  nervures  of 
the  wing-cases.  In  each  wing-case  the  inner 
edge,  near  its  origin,  has  a  horny  expansion 
or  lobe;  on  one  wing  this  lobe  has  sharp 
raised  margins;  on  the  other  the  strong 
nervure  which  traverses  the  lobe  on  the 
other  side  is  crossed  by  a  number  of  fine 
sharp  furrows  like  those  of  a  file.  When 


Music 
Mystery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


470 


the  insect  rapidly  moves  its  wings  the  file 
of  the  one  lobe  is  scraped  sharply  across 
the  horny  margin  of  the  other,  thus  pro- 
ducing the  sounds,  the  parehmenty  wing- 
cases  and  the  hollow  drum  like  space  which 
they  enclose  assisting  to  give  resonance  to 
the  tones. — BATES  The  Naturalist  on  the 
River  Amazon,  ch.  G,  p.  672.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2302 .  MUSIC  OF  PRIMITIVE  WOMAN 

— Domestic  and  Maternal  Type  Controls. — It 
was  with  genuine  pleasure  that  the  author 
heard  Mr.  Gushing  say  that  the  women  of 
Zuni,  tho  they  never  play  upon  any  of  the 
musical  instruments  of  the  tribe,  sing  songs 
of  their  own,  which  are  invariably  associ- 
ated with  domestic  and  industrial  pursuits. 
As  they  nurse  their  children  they  croon  a 
lullaby,  and  more  novel  than  that  are  the 
little  melodies  which  they  chant  as  they 
plant  the  corn  or  beans  or  melons  to  en- 
courage their  growth.  The  theory  of  the 
Zuni  woman  seems  to  be  that  there  is  some 
mysterious  connection  between  the  voices  or 
sounds  of  things  and  their  increase.  When 
she  kneels  by  her  stone  bread-making  trough 
she  sings  a  song  which  has  many  little  imi- 
tations of  the  mealing-stone.  The  theory 
in  her  mind  is  that  the  implement  will  do 
far  better  work  under  those  circumstances. 
It  is  the  same  when  she  sings  to  her  baby. 
Her  boy  she  calls  her  little  man,  and  speaks 
of  all  she  hopes  he  may  become,  believing 
that  these  are  necessary  to  his  growth. 
This  serious  intent  goes  through  all  her 
music. — MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primi- 
tive Culture,  ch.  8,  p.  176.  (A.,  1894.) 

2303.  MUSIC,  PLAINTIVE— Melancholy 
Appeals   to   the   Common  People. — Even   on 
joyous  occasions  the  lower  classes  love  melo- 
dies that  are  mournful,  and  their  music  in 
general     tends     to     plaintive    feelings     and 
melancholy. — FLACH  Der  Tans  lei  den  Orie- 
chen  (a  Lecture).    (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side- Lights.) 

2304.  MYRIADS  OF  SUNS—  One  Hun- 
dred Million  Stars. — We  find  for  the  total 
of  stars  down  to  the  14th  magnitude  inclu- 
sive the  number,  already  difficult  to  imagine, 
of  forty-four  millions. 

But  these  are  not  all  the  stars.  Already 
even  the  powerful  telescopes  constructed  in 
recent  years  have  penetrated  the  depths  of 
immensity  so  far  as  to  discover  stars  of  the 
15th  magnitude,  and  the  stellar  statistics 
have  now  risen  to  one  hundred  millions! 
Celestial  photography  penetrates  further 
still,  and  the  numbers  become  so  enormous 
that  we  are  overwhelmed  by  their  weight 
without  understanding  them. 

One  hundred  millions  of  stars!  This  gives 
17,000  stars  for  each  of  those  which  we  see 
with  the  naked  eye — seventeen  times  more 
than  we  can  count  in  both  hemispheres.  We 
shall  shortly  estimate  the  distances  which 
separate  them,  and  the  incomparable  space 
over  which  their  empire  extends. 

One  hundred  millions  of  suns  similar  to 
ours,  and  surrounded  by  worlds  counted 


by  thousands  of  millions!  These  are,  un- 
questionably, very  amazing  numbers,  and  it 
would  not  be  surprising  if  they  should  not 
be  at  once  realized  in  their  prodigious  mag- 
nitude by  our  brains,  unaccustomed  to  such 
enormous  figures.  We  may  remark,  how- 
ever, in  passing,  that  a  number  well  under- 
stood tells  more  than  the  finest  phrases. — 
FLAMMAKION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
4,  p.  587.  (A.) 

2305.  MYSTERIES  OF  ARCHEOLOGY 

— A  Race  Vanished  without  a  Record. — 
When,  why,  or  by  whom  [the  mounds  of 
North  America]  were  erected  as  yet  we  know 
not.  The  Indian  tribes,  tho  they  look  upon 
them  with  reverence,  have  thrown  no  light 
upon  their  origin.  Nor  do  the  contents  of 
the  mounds  themselves  assist  us  in  this 
inquiry.  Several  of  them  have  been  opened, 
and  in  making  the  streets  of  Milwaukee 
many  of  the  mounds  have  been  entirely  re- 
moved ;  but  the  only  result  has  been  to  show 
that  they  are  not  sepulchral,  and  that,  ex- 
cepting by  accident,  they  contain  no  imple- 
ments or  ornaments. 

Under  these  circumstances  speculation 
would  be  useless ;  we  can  but  wait,  and  hope 
that  time  and  perseverance  may  solve  the 
problem,  and  explain  the  nature  of  these 
remarkable  and  mysterious  monuments. — 
AVEBUBY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  257. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2306.  MYSTERY  AMID  THE  MOUN- 
TAINS— Lake  without   Tributary  or  Outlet— 
Crater  Lake — A  Mountain  Peak  Obliterated. 
— Crater  Lake  has  been  described  by  C.  E. 
Button,  and  is  considered  by  him  as  worthy 
of  a  high  rank  among  the  wonders  of  the 
world.     It  is  situated  in  the  Cascade  Moun- 
tains, in  northwestern  Oregon,  thirty  miles 
north  of  Klamath  Lake,  at  an  elevation  of 
6,239  feet  above  the  sea.     It  is  nearly  cir- 
cular, without  bays  or  promontories,    .    .    . 
and  is  from  five  to  six  miles  in  diameter. 
The  cliffs  of  dark  basaltic  rock  encircling  it 
rise  precipitously  to  heights  varying  from 
900  to  2,200  feet,  and  nowhere  offer  an  easy 
means  of  access  to  the  basin  within.     They 
plunge    at   once   into   deep   water,   without 
leaving  even  a  platform  at  the  water's  edge 
wide  enough  for  one  to  walk  on.     There  are 
no   streams   tributary  to  the  lake,   and  no 
visible  outlet.     The  waters  probably  escape 
by  percolation,  as  the  precipitation  of  the 
region  is  in  excess  of  evaporation,  and  if  an 
escape  were  not  furnished  the  basin  would 
be  filled  to  overflowing.     .     .     . 

The  sounding-line  has  shown  that  Crater 
Lake  has  a  maximum  depth  of  2,000  feet 
and  is  the  deepest  lake  now  known  in  North 
America,  its  nearest  rival  being  Lake  Tahoe. 
The  full  depth  of  the  basin,  measured  from 
the  crest  of  the  enclosing  cliffs,  is  from 
2,900  to  4,200  feet.  .  .  . 

More  remarkable,  however,  than  the 
unique  scenic  features  of  Crater  Lake  is  the 
story  of  its  origin.  The  site  of  the  great 
depression  was  once  occupied  by  a  volcanic 


471 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Music 
Mystery 


mountain  which  reached  far  above  the  high- 
est point  on  the  cliffs  now  enclosing  it,  and 
was  probably  as  conspicuous  a  member  of 
the  sisterhood  of  mountains  of  which  it 
formed  a  part  as  any  of  the  neighbor- 
ing peaks,  but  the  once  prominent  pile  has 
been  removed  so  as  to  leave  the  profound 
gulf  that  now  fascinates  and  startles  the  ob- 
server. The  character  of  the  sculpturing  on 
the  outer  slope  of  the  truncated  mountain 
shows  that  it  was  eroded,  both  by  streams 
and  by  glaciers,  before  the  catastrophe  that 
carried  away  its  summit  and  left  only  a 
hollow  stump  to  mark  the  site  of  the  ice- 
crowned  peak  that  formerly  gleamed  in  the 
sky. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America,  ch. 
1,  p.  20.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

2307.  MYSTERY  AS  TO  CONSTITU- 
TION OF  THE  EARTH— An  Unsolved  Prob- 
lem— No  Dogmatism  upon  the  Unknown, — 
From  this  summary  of  the  speculative  views 
which  have  been  entertained  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  physical  condition  of  the  earth's 
interior,  it  will  be  clear  that  at  present  we 
have  not  sufficient  evidence  for  arriving  at 
anything    like    a    definite    solution    of    the 
problem.      The    conditions    of    temperature 
and  pressure  which  exist  in  the  interior  of  a 
globe  of  such  vast  dimensions  as  our  earth 
are  so  far  removed  from  those  which  we  can 
imitate  in  our  experimental  inquiries,  and 
it  is  so  unsafe  to  push  the  application  of 
laws  arrived  at  by  the  latter  to  the  extreme 
limits  required  by  the  former,  that  we  shall 
do  well  to  pause  before  attempting  to  dog- 
matize on  such  a  difficult  question. — JUDD 
Volcanoes,  ch.  11,  p.  329.    (A.,  1899.) 

2308.  MYSTERY  AWAITING  SOLU- 
TION— Science  Ever  Looks  toward  the  Future. 
— It  is  believed  that  we  understand  how  the 
more  compact  and  stonelike  variety  of  tuff 
was  deposited,  since  similar  accumulations 
are    formed    where    waters    saturated    with 
calcium  carbonate  deposit  that  salt  on  ac- 
count of  the  loss  of  carbonic  acid.    The  den- 
dritic tuff  may  also  have  been  precipitated 
in   a   similar   manner,   or   perhaps   through 
the  agency  of  low  forms  of  plant  life.     The 
mode  of  origin  of  the  tuff  with  well-defined 
crystals,   however,   is   still   unknown,   altho 
both   geologists   and   chemists   have   sought 
diligently  to  discover  the  secret  of  its  forma- 
tion.     The   open   cellular   structure   of   the 
crystals,  as  well  as  their  forms,  suggest  that 
they  are  pseudomorphs ;   that  is,  having  a 
false  form,  or  a  form  not  assumed  by  cal- 
cium carbonate  on  crystallizing,  but  result- 
ing from  the  alteration  or  replacement  of 
some  other  mineral.     This  suggestion  only 
removes  the  difficulty  one  step  farther,  how- 
ever, since  the  nature  of  the  original  min- 
eral  is   still   unknown. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of 
North  America,  ch.   6,  p.   111.     (G.  &  Co., 
1895.) 

2309.  MYSTERY  BEHIND  EVOLU- 
TION— Cause  Carried  Further  Back  in  Time. 
— It  [the  evolutionary  hypothesis]   does  not 
sclve — it  does  not  profess  to  solve — the  ulti- 


mate mystery  of  this  universe.  It  leaves,, 
in  fact,  that  mystery  untouched.  For,  grant- 
ing the  nebula  and  its  potential  life,  the 
question  whence  they  came  would  still  re- 
main to  baffle  and  bewilder  us.  At  bottom 
the  hypothesis  does  nothing  more  than 
"  transport  the  conception  of  life's  origin  to 
an  indefinitely  distant  past." — TYNDALL. 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  133. 
(A.,  1897.) 

2310.  MYSTERY  EXPLAINED—  The. 

Sinking  of  Great  Stones  through  the  Action 
of  Worms. — Farmers  in  England  are  well 
aware  that  objects  of  all  kinds,  left  on  the 
surface  of  pasture-land,  after  a  time  disap- 
pear, or,  as  they  say,  work  themselves  down- 
wards. How  powdered  lime,  cinders,  and 
heavy  stones  can  work  down,  and  at  the 
same  rate,  through  the  matted  roots  of  a 
grass-covered  surface,  is  a  question  which 
has  probably  never  occurred  to  them.  .  .  . 
When  a  stone  of  large  size  and  of  irregular 
shape  is  left  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  it 
rests,  of  course,  on  the  more  protuberant 
parts;  but  worms  soon  fill  up  with  their 
castings  all  the  hollow  spaces  on  the  lower 
side;  for,  as  Hensen  remarks,  they  like  the 
shelter  of  stones.  As  soon  as  the  hollows 
are  filled  up  the  worms  eject  the  earth  which 
they  have  swallowed  beyond  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  stones,  and  thus  the  surface  of 
the  ground  is  raised  all  round  the  stone.  As- 
the  burrows  excavated  directly  beneath  the 
stone  after  a  time  collapse,  the  stone  sinks 
a  little.  Hence  it  is  that  boulders  which  at 
some  ancient  period  have  rolled  down  from 
a  rocky  mountain  or  cliff  on  to  a  meadow  at 
its  base,  are  always  somewhat  embedded  in 
the  soil;  and,  when  removed,  leave  an  ex- 
act impression  of  their  lower  surfaces  in  the 
underlying  fine  mold.  If,  however,  a  boulder 
is  of  such  huge  dimensions  that  the  earth 
beneath  is  kept  dry,  such  earth  will  not  be 
inhabited  by  worms,  and  the  boulder  will 
not  sink  into  the  ground. — DARWIN  Forma- 
tion of  Vegetable  Mould,  ch.  3,  p.  42* 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

2311.  MYSTERY    LIES    BEHIND 
EVERY    THEORY— Limitations  of  Human. 
Mind. — It  is  very  frequently  said,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  transmutation  theory   [or  de- 
velopment hypothesis],  that  it  does  indeed 
fully  explain  those  phenomena  by  inherit- 
ance and  adaptation,  but  that  it  does  not  at 
the  same  time  explain  these  properties  of 
organic  matter,  and  that  therefore  we  do  not 
arrive    at   first    causes.      This    objection   is 
quite  correct,  but  it  applies  equally  to  all 
explanations   of   phenomena.     We   nowhere 
arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  first  causes.     The 
origin  of  every  simple  salt-crystal,  which  we 
obtain  by  evaporating  its  mother-liquor,  is. 
no  less  mysterious  to  us,  as  far  as  concerns, 
its  first  cause,  and  in  itself  no  less  incom- 
prehensible than  the  origin  of  every  animal 
which  is  developed  out  of  a  simple  cell.    In 
explaining    the    most    simple    physical    or 
chemical    phenomena,    as    the    falling    of   a> 


Mystery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


472 


stone,  or  the  formation  of  a  chemical  com- 
bination, we  arrive,  by  discovering  and  es- 
tablishing the  active  causes — for  example, 
the  gravitation  or  the  chemical  affinity — at 
other  remoter  phenomena,  which  in  them- 
selves are  mysterious.  This  arises  from  the 
limitation  or  relativity  of  our  powers  of  un- 
derstanding. We  must  not  forget  that  hu- 
man knowledge  is  absolutely  limited,  and 
possesses  only  a  relative  extension.  It  is, 
in  its  essence,  limited  by  the  very  nature  of 
our  senses  and  of  our  brains. — HAECKEL 
History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  31.  (K. 
P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2312.  MYSTERY     OF     CHEMICAL 
ACTION  —  Force  Apparently  Inoperative  or 
Lost — Faith  in  Law  Leads  to  New  Discover- 
ies.— It  is  perfectly  true  that  we  cannot  al- 
ways trace  a  force  by  its  actions,  tho  we 
admit  its  conservation.     Oxygen  and  hydro- 
gen may  remain  mixed  for  years  without 
showing    any    signs    of    chemical    activity; 
they  may  be  made  at  any  given  instant  to 
exhibit  active  results,   and   then  assume  a 
new  state,  in  which  again  they  appear  as 
passive  bodies.    Now,  tho  we  cannot  clearly 
explain  what  the  chemical  force  is  doing, 
that  is  to  say,  what  are  its  effects  during 
the  three  periods  before,  at,  and  after  the 
active  combination,  and  only  by  very  vague 
assumption  can  approach  to  a  feeble  concep- 
tion of  its  respective  states,  yet  we  do  not 
suppose  the  creation   of  a  new  portion  of 
force  for  the  active  moment  of  time,  or  the 
less  believe  that  the  forces  belonging  to  the 
oxygen    and   hydrogen    exist   unchanged   in 
their  amount  at  all  these  periods,  tho  vary- 
ing in  their  results.     A  part  may  at  the 
active  moment  be  thrown  off  as  mechanical 
force,  a  part  as  radiant  force,  a  part  dis- 
posed of  we  know  not  how;    but  believing, 
by  the  principle  of  conservation,  that  it  is 
not  increased  or  destroyed,  our  thoughts  are 
directed  to  search  out  what  at  all  and  every 
period  it  is  doing,  and  how  it  is  to  be  recog- 
nized and  measured.    A  problem,  founded  on 
the  physical  truth  of  Nature,  is  stated,  and, 
being  stated,  is  on  the  way  to  its  solution. — 
FARADAY    The    Conservation    of    Force    (in 
Correlation  and  Conservation  of  Forces),  p. 
380.     (A.,  1898.) 

2313.  MYSTERY    OF    CONSCIOUS- 
NESS— Memory  Admits  of  No  Explanation. — 
A  word,  in  closing,  about  the  metaphysics 
involved  in  remembering.     According  to  the 
assumptions  of  this  book,  thoughts  accom- 
pany    the     brain's     workings,     and     those 
thoughts    are    cognitive    of    realities.      The 
whole   relation   is   one   which   we   can   only 
write  down  empirically,  confessing  that  no 
glimmer  of  explanation  of  it  is  yet  in  sight. 
That  brains  should  grive  rise  to  a  knowing 
consciousness  at  all,  this  is  the  one  mystery 
which  returns,  no  matter  of  what  sort  the 
consciousness  and  of  what  sort  the  knowl- 
edge may  be. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
16,  p.  687.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


2314. Molecular  Motion 

Cannot  Explain  Thought  and  Feeling — Two 
Incomprehensibles. — Four  years  ago  I  wrote 
thus :  "  Do  states  of  consciousness  enter  as 
links  into  the  chain  of  antecedence  and  se- 
quence which  gives  rise  to  bodily  actions? 
Speaking  for  myself  it  is  certain  that  I  have 
no  power  of  imagining  such  states  inter- 
posed between  the  molecules  of  the  brain 
and  influencing  the  transference  of  motion 
among  the  molecules.  The  thing  "  eludes  all 
mental  presentation."  Hence  an  iron 
strength  seems  to  belong  to  the  logic  which 
claims  for  the  brain  an  automatic  action 
uninfluenced  by  consciousness.  But  it  is,  I 
believe,  admitted  by  those  who  hold  the 
automaton  theory  that  states  of  conscious- 
ness are  produced  by  the  motion  of  the  mole- 
cules of  the  brain;  and  this  production  of 
consciousness  by  molecular  motion  is  to  me 
quite  as  unpresentable  to  the  mental  vision 
as  the  production  of  molecular  motion  by 
consciousness.  If  I  reject  one  result  I  must 
reject  both.  /,  however,  reject  neither,  and 
thus  stand  in  the  presence  of  two  Incompre- 
hensibles instead  of  one  Incomprehensible." 
Here  I  secede  from  the  automaton  theory, 
tho  maintained  by  friends  who  have  all  my 
esteem,  and  fall  back  upon  the  avowal  which 
occurs  with  such  wearisome  iteration 
throughout  the  foregoing  pages;  namely, 
my  own  utter  incapacity  to  grasp  the  prob- 
lem.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  15,  p.  407.  (A.,  1900.) 


2315. 


The  All-embracing 


Problem — Explanations  that  Do  Not  Ex- 
plain.— Why  not  "  pool "  our  mysteries 
into  one  great  mystery,  the  mystery  that 
brain-processes  occasion  knowledge  at  all? 
It  is  surely  no  different  mystery  to  feel  my- 
self by  means  of  one  brain-process  writing 
at  this  table  now,  and  by  means  of  a  differ- 
ent brain-process  a  year  hence  to  remember 
myself  writing.  All  that  psychology  can  do 
is  to  seek  to  determine  what  the  several 
brain-processes  are.  .  .  .  But  of  "  im- 
ages reproduced,"  and  "  claiming  to  repre- 
sent," and  "  put  together  by  a  unifying 
actus,"  I  have  been  silent  because  such  ex- 
pressions either  signify  nothing  or  they  are 
cnly  roundabout  ways  of  simply  saying  that 
the  past  is  known  when  certain  brain  con- 
ditions are  fulfilled,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  straightest  and  shortest  way  of  saying 
that  is  the  best. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i, 
ch.  16,  p.  689.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2316.  MYSTERY  OF  EVIL— Optimism 
of  Leibnitz — Limitation  of  the  Divine  Power 
— Plato  Finds  Matter  the  Source  of  All 
Evil. — Leibnitz,  in  his  famous  theory  of 
optimism,  argued  that  a  perfect  world  is  in 
the  nature  of  things  impossible,  but  that 
the  world  in  which  we  live  is  the  best  of  pos- 
sible worlds.  The  limitation  of  the  Crea- 
tor's power  is  made  somewhat  more  explicit- 
ly by  Plato,  who  regarded  the  world  as  the 
imperfect  realization  of  a  divine  idea  that 
in  itself  is  perfect.  It  is  owing  to  the  in- 


473 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mystery 


tractableness  and  vileness  of  matter  that  the 
divine  idea  finds  itself  so  imperfectly  real- 
ized. Thus  the  Creator's  power  is  limited 
by  the  nature  of  the  material  out  of  which 
he  makes  the  world.  In  other  words,  the 
world  in  which  we  live  is  the  best  the  Crea- 
tor could  make  out  of  the  wretched  material 
at  his  disposal.  Matter  is  endowed  with  a 
diabolical  character  of  its  own. — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  13. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2317.  MYSTERY    OF     EVOLUTION 

— Is  Part  of  the  Mystery  of  Life — Problems 
Unanswered. — The  process  of  organic  evolu- 
tion is  far  from  being  fully  understood.  We 
can  only  suppose  that  as  there  are  devised 
by  human  beings  many  puzzles  apparently 
unanswerable  till  the  answer  is  given,  and 
many  necromantic  tricks  which  seem  impos- 
sible till  the  mode  of  performance  is  shown; 
so  there  are  apparently  incomprehensible 
results  which  are  really  achieved  by  natural 
processes.  Or,  otherwise,  we  must  conclude 
that  since  life  itself  proves  to  be  in  its  ulti- 
mate nature  inconceivable,  there  is  probably 
an  inconceivable  element  in  its  ultimate 
workings. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  iii,  ch.  14A, 
p.  574.  (A.,  1900.) 

2318.  MYSTERY     OF     EXTENDED 
CONSCIOUSNESS—  Feeling  through  Tools  and 
Implements. — With  the  point  of  a  cane  we 
can  trace  letters  in  the  air  or  on  a  wall  just 
as  with  the  finger-tip,  and  in  so  doing  feel 
the  size  and  shape  of  the  path  described  by 
the  cane's  tip  just  as  immediately  as,  with- 
out a  cane,  wTe  should  feel  the  path  described 
by   the   tip    of   our    finger.      Similarly   the 
draftsman's  immediate  perception  seems  to 
be  of  the  point  of  his  pencil,  the  surgeon's 
of  the  end  of  his  knife,  the  duelist's  of  the 
tip  of  his  rapier  as  it  plunges  through  his 
enemy's  skin.     When  on  the  middle  of  a  vi- 
brating ladder,  we  feel  not  only  our  feet  on 
the  round,  but  the  ladder's  feet  against  the 
ground   far  below.     If  we  shake  a  locked 
iron  gate  we  feel  the  middle,  on  which  our 
hands   rest,  move,  but  we  equally  feel  the 
stability  of  the  ends  where  the  hinges  and 
the  lock  are,  and  we  seem  to  feel  all  three 
at  once.     And  yet  the  place  where  the  con- 
tact is  received  is  in  all  these  cases  the  skin, 
whose  sensations  accordingly  are  sometimes 
interpreted  as  objects  on  the  surface,  and  at 
other  times  as  objects  a  long  distance  off. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  37.    (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2319.  MYSTERY  OF  FLIGHT— Seem- 
ing Defiance  of  Gravitation. — "  The  way  of 
an  eagle  in  the  air  "  was  one  of  the  things 
of   which   Solomon   said  that   "  he  knew  it 
not."     No  wonder  that  the  wise  king  reck- 
oned it  among  the  great  mysteries  of  Na- 
ture!    The  force  of  gravitation,  tho  its  ex- 
act  measure   was   not   ascertained   till    the 
days  of  Newton,  has  been  the  most  familiar 
of  all  forces  in  all  ages  of  mankind.     How, 
then,  in  violation  of  its  known  effects  could 
heavy  bodies   be   supported   upon  the   thin 


air,  and  be  gifted  with  the  power  of  sustain- 
ing and  directing  movements  more  easy,, 
more  rapid,  and  more  certain  than  the  move- 
ments of  other  animals  upon  the  firm  and 
solid  earth?  No  animal  motion  in  Nature 
is  so  striking  or  so  beautiful  as  the 

Scythe-like  sweep  of  wings,  that  dare 
The  headlong  plunge  through  eddying  gulfs  of  air. 

—LONGFELLOW,  Wayside  Inn. 

Nor  will  the  wonder  jcease  when,  so  far 
as  the  mechanical  problem  is  concerned, 
the  mystery  of  flight  is  solved.  If  we  wish 
to  see  how  material  laws  can  be  bent  to 
purpose,  we  shall  study  this  problem. — AR- 
GYLL Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p.  77.  (Burt.) 

2320.  MYSTERY     OF    GEOLOGY— 

Lake  of  Unexplained  Origin — We  Find  It 
Amid  the  Mountains — Lake  Basin  Once  the 
Bed  of  a  Glacier. — The  sounding-line  has. 
shown  that  Lake  Chelan  is  over  eleven  hun- 
dred feet  deep,  but  its  full  depth  remains- 
to  be  determined.  In  several  soundings, 
made  by  the  writer  in  its  central  and  west- 
ern portions,  no  bottom  was  reached  at  the 
depth  indicated.  The  surface  of  the  lake  is. 
but  950  feet  above  the  sea,  so  that  the  bot- 
tom of  the  trough  is  below  sea-level.  .  .  . 
How  the  great  gash  in  the  mountain,  fully 
one  hundred  miles  long,  and  now  filled  for 
more  than  a  thousand  feet  in  depth  by  the 
lake,  was  formed  is  not  easy  to  explain. 
Previous  to  the  birth  of  the  present  lake  the 
valley  was  occupied  by  a  large  glacier  which 
flowed  through  it  and  joined  another  great 
ice-stream  in  the  canon  of  the  Columbia. 
The  ice  smoothed  the  precipices  of  rock  and 
piled  up  moraines  on  the  more  gentle  slopes 
at  the  east  end  of  the  valley,  but  that  the 
main  depression  existed  before  the  glacial 
invasion  is  evident  and  is  in  harmony  with 
the  histories  of  many  other  valleys  in  the 
Cordilleran  region.  The  valley  has  a  still 
more  ancient  history,  and  in  Tertiary,  or  in 
part  perhaps  in  pre-Tertiary  times,  was  ex- 
cavated in  the  hard  granite,  now  seen  in  its 
enclosing  walls  by  the  slow  wear  of  streams. 
It  is  a  stream-cut  channel,  but  where  the 
stream  rose  that  did  the  work,  or  whence  it 
flowed,  remains  to  be  determined  by  a  care- 
ful study  of  all  the  facts  bearing  on  the 
problem. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America* 
ch.  4,  p.  66.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

2321.  MYSTERY     OF     GLACIAL 

EPOCH— We  have  as  yet  no  clue  to  the 
source  of  this  great  and  sudden  change  of 
climate  [that  produced  the  Glacial  epoch]. 
Various  suggestions  have  been  made,  among- 
others  that  formerly  the  inclination  of  the 
earth's  axis  was  greater,  or  that  a  submer- 
sion of  the  continents  under  water  might 
have  produced  a  decided  increase  of  cold; 
but  none  of  these  explanations  are  satisfac- 
tory, and  science  has  yet  to  find  any  cause 
which  accounts  for  all  the  phenomena  con- 
nected with  it.  It  seems,  however,  unques- 
tionable that  since  the  opening  of  the 
Tertiary  Age  a  cosmic  summer  and  winter 
have  succeeded  each  other,  during  which  a 


Mystery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


474 


tropical  heat  and  an  arctic  cold  have  alter- 
nately prevailed  over  a  great  portion  of  the 
present  temperate  zone. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  210.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

2322. The  different  ex- 
planations of  this  wide-spread  refrigeration 
[of  the  Glacial  epoch]  are  stated  and  briefly 
discussed.  To  account  for  it  seems  to  me, 
in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  the 
most  perplexing  of  all  the  problems  which 
this  epoch  presents.  —  BONNEY  Ice -work, 
Present  and  Past,  pref.,  p.  9.  (A.,  1896.) 

2323.  MYSTERY  OF    HEREDITY— 

In  the  case  of  self-division,  where  the  whole 
organism  falls  into  two  halves,  in  the  for- 
mation of  buds,  where  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  whole  body,  already  more  or  less 
•developed,  separates  from  the  producing  in- 
dividual, we  easily  understand  that  the 
forms  and  vital  phenomena  should  be  the 
same  in  the  producing  and  produced  organ- 
ism. It  is  much  more  difficult  to  understand 
in  the  formation  of  germ-buds,  and  more 
difficult  still  in  the  formation  of  germ-cells, 
how  this  very  small,  quite  undeveloped  por- 
tion of  the  body,  this  group  of  cells,  or  this 
single  cell,  not  only  directly  takes  with  it 
•certain  parental  qualities  into  its  independ- 
ent existence,  but  also  after  its  separation 
from  the  parental  individual  develops  into 
a  many-celled  body,  and  in  this  repeats  the 
iorms  and  vital  phenomena  of  the  original 
producing  organism. — HAECKEL  History  of 
Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  199.  (K.  P.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2324.  MYSTERY  OF  INTERACTION 
OF   MIND   AND   BRAIN— Incorporation  of 
the  Two  Impossible — Succession  in  Time — 
Interchange  of  Subject  and  Object. — When, 
therefore,    we    talk    of    incorporating   mind 
with  brain  we  must  be  held  as  speaking  un- 
der  an   important  reserve  or  qualification. 
Asserting  the  union  in  the  strongest  manner, 
we  must  yet  deprive  it  of  the  almost  invin- 
cible association  of  union  in  place.     An  ex- 
tended   organism    is    the    condition    of   our 
passing  into  a  state  where  there  is  no  exten- 
sion.    A  human  being  is  an  extended  and 
material    mass,   attached    to    which    is    the 
power    of    becoming    alive    to    feeling    and 
thought,  the  extreme  remove  from  all  that 
is  material;   a  condition  of  trance  wherein, 
while   it  lasts,   the  material    drops   out   of 
view — so   much    so   that   we  have  not   the 
power    to    represent    the    two    extremes    as 
lying   side   by   side,   as   container   and   con- 
tained, or  in  any  other  mode  of  local  con- 
junction.     The    condition    of    our    existing 
thoroughly   in    the    one    is    the    momentary 
eclipse   or    extinction   of   the    other. — BAIN 
Mind  and  Body,  ch.  6,  p.  34.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

2325.  MYSTERY  OF  LIFE— Scientific 
Explanation  Often  Mere  Restatement. — Not 
to  speak  of  the  connection  of  the  body  and 
the   mind,   not   to   speak   of  the   nature   of 
life,  or  still  more   of  the  nature  of  death, 
the  simplest  questions   connected  with   our 


own  organization  are  unanswered  and  unan- 
swerable. Science  gives  us  no  help,  because 
the  explanations  which  to  it  are  ultimate 
are  not  ultimate  at  all  to  the  faculties 
which  seek  for  more  light  concerning  them. 
The  very  language  of  science  is,  in  this 
respect,  often  more  deceptive  than  helpful, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  the  fashion  of  scientific 
men  to  pass  off  as  explanations  the  mere 
restatement  of  facts  concealed  under  words 
derived  from  the  dead  languages.  Perhaps 
it  is  all  that  they  can  do;  but  at  least  the 
poverty  of  the  device  should  be  seen  and 
known.  The  "  atoms  "  and  the  "  molecules," 
the  "  cells  "  and  the  "  differentiated  struc- 
tures," are  these  the  builders,  or  are  they 
only  the  bricks  and  stones?  And  the  forces 
and  the  energies  which  work  in  these  and 
upon  these,  what  are  they?  And  if  these 
are  undying  and  inexhaustible,  how  are  all 
the  forms  in  which  they  are  embodied  so 
fugitive  and  evanescent? — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  77.  (Burt.) 

2326.  MYSTERY  OF  LIGHT— Its  Mo- 
tion Incomprehensible. — What  is  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  light?  How  do  we  see  the 
universe?  How  does  a  luminous  body  radi- 
ate, and  by  what  vehicle  do  its  rays  reach 
our  eyes?  What  are  even  these  rays?  Man 
has  discussed  this  great  problem  for  thou- 
sands of  years.  The  ancients  believed  that 
the  rays  might  be  shot  forth  from  our  eyes 
to  lay  hold  of  objects  far  away;  Newton 
thought,  on  the  contrary,  that  objects  emit- 
ted luminous  particles  which  pass  through 
space  and  strike  our  retina;  Young  and 
Fresnel  have  since  shown  that  luminous 
bodies  do  not  emit  any  material  particle, 
but  cause  the  surrounding  fluid  to  vibrate, 
as  a  bell  makes  the  air  vibrate.  This  has 
led  us  to  imagine  as  indispensable  to  the 
propagation  of  light  a  certain  fluid  named 
ether,  which  is  extremely  light,  and  dissemi- 
nated through  the  whole  of  space. 

Just  as  we  see  the  circular  waves  of  a 
piece  of  water  succeed  each  other  round  the 
point  where  the  water  has  been  struck,  as 
air  condenses  and  dilates  in  spherical  waves 
round  the  resounding  tuning-fork,  so  the 
ethereal  fluid  which  fills  space  gives  birth 
to  a  series  of  spherical  waves,  succeeding 
each  other  all  round  a  luminous  body.  The 
waves  of  water  are  transmitted  so  slowly 
that  the  eye  easily  follows  their  motion; 
those  of  air  fly  with  the  velocity  of  1,100 
feet  per  second,  varying  with  the  tempera- 
ture and  the  density  of  the  atmosphere; 
those  of  the  ether  pass  through  immensity 
with  the  dizzy  velocity  of  186,000  miles  per 
second.  The  most  marvelous  fact  is  that 
every  star,  every  sun  in  space,  is  the  center 
of  constant  undulations,  which  thus  perpetu- 
ally cross  each  other  through  immensity, 
without  ever  being  confused  or  mutually 
mingled.  I  confess,  for  my  part,  that  this 
fact  appears  to  me  absolutely  incomprehen- 
sible. —  FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  7,  p.  316.  (A.) 


475 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mystery 


2327.  MYSTERY     OF     ROENTGEN 

RAYS—  Their  Nature  Unexplained— Defy  Re- 
fraction or  Reflection. — What  is  it  that 
constitutes  the  difference  between  the  Roent- 
gen rays  and  rays  of  ordinary  light  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  one  are  not  refracted, 
or  only  in  an  infinitesimal  degree,  while  the 
other  are  freely  refracted?  .  .  .  How  is 
it  that  light  travels  more  slowly  through 
refracting  medium  than  through  vacuum? 
There  are  different  conjectures  which  have 
been  advanced.  One  is  that  the  ether  within 
refracting  media  is  more  dense  than  the 
«ther  in  free  space.  Another  is  that  while 
the  density  is  the  same  the  elasticity  is  less. 
Then,  there  have  been  speculations  as  to  the 
•ether  being  loaded  with  particles  of  matter. 
— G.  G.  STOKES,  quoted  by  BARKER  in  Roent- 
gen Rays,  essay  4,  p.  58.  (H.,  1899.) 

2328.  MYSTERY    OF    SLEEP— Awe- 
inspiring  Contrast  to   Waking  Life. — There 
is  the  mystery  of  sleep,  which  quietly  shuts 
all  the  avenues  of  sense  and  so  isolates  the 
mind  from  contact  with  the  world  outside. 
To  gaze  at  the  motionless  face  of  a  sleeper 
temporarily    rapt    from    the    life    of    sight, 
sound,    and    movement — which,    being    com- 
mon  to    all,    binds    us    together    in   mutual 
recognition    and   social    action — has    always 
something  awe-inspiring.     This  external  in- 
action, this  torpor  of  sense  and  muscle,  how 
unlike   to    the    familiar    waking    life,    with 
its  quick  responsiveness  and  its  overflowing 
energy! — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  7,  p.  127.    (A., 
1897.) 

2329.  MYSTERY  OF  THE  SEAT  OF 
THE   SOUL  —  Relation  of  Consciousness  to 
Space. — This  is  the  problem  known   in  the 
history    of   philosophy    as    the   question   of 
the  seat  of  the  soul.     It  has  given  rise  to 
much  literature,  but  we  must  ourselves  treat 
it  very  briefly.    Everything  depends  on  what 
we  conceive  the  soul  to  be,  an  extended  or 
an  inextended  entity.     .     .     . 

The  truth  is  that  if  the  thinking  principle 
is  extended  we  neither  know  its  form  nor  its 
seat,  whilst  if  unextended  it  is  absurd  to 
speak  of  its  having  any  space-relations  at 
all. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  214. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2330.  MYSTERY    OF     THE    SUN'S 
CORONA— Spectroscope  Fails  to  Solve— Finds 
There   a   Yet    Unknown    Gas. — The   spectro- 
scope informs  us  that,  in  great  part  at  least, 
the  elements  which  exist  in  the  lower  regions 
of  the  solar  atmosphere  in  the  state  of  va- 
por are  metals  we  are  familiar  with  upon 
the  earth,  while  it  shows  the  chromosphere 
and  prominences  to  consist  mainly  of  hydro- 
gen and  helium,   and  makes   it  possible  to 
observe  them  even  when  the  sun  is  not  hid- 
den by  the  moon.     The  secret  of  the  corona 
it  fails  to  unlock  as  yet,  tho  it  informs  us 
of  the  presence  in  it  of  an  unknown  gas  of 
inconceivable     tenuity. — YOUNG     The     Sun, 
int.,  p.  8.      (A.,  1898.) 

2331.  MYSTERY    OF     THE     SUN'S 
UPLIFTING   POWER— Plants   Built   Up  in 


Defiance  of  Gravitation. — Did  the  reader 
ever  consider  that  next  to  the  mystery  of 
gravitation,  which  draws  all  things  on  the 
earth's  surface  down,  comes  that  mystery — 
not  seen  to  be  one  because  so  familiar — of 
the  occult  force  in  the  sunbeams  which  lifts 
things  up?  The  incomprehensible  energy  of 
the  sunbeam  brought  the  carbon  out  of  the 
air,  put  it  together  in  the  weed  or  the  plant, 
and  lifted  each  tree-trunk  -above  the  soil. 
The  soil  did  not  lift  it,  any  more  than  the 
soil  in  Broadway  lifted  the  spire  of  Trinity. 
Men  brought  stones  there  in  wagons  to  build 
the  church,  and  the  sun  brought  the  ma- 
terials in  its  own  way,  and  built  up  alike 
the  slender  shaft  that  sustains  the  grass- 
blade  and  the  column  of  the  pine.  If  the 
tree  or  the  spire  fell  it  would  require  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  work  of  men  or  horses  or 
engines  to  set  it  up  again.  So  much  actual 
work,  at  least,  the  sun  did  in  the  original 
building,  and  if  we  consider  the  number  of 
trees  in  the  forest  we  see  that  this  alone 
is  something  great. — LANGLEY  Neiv  Astrono- 
my, ch.  3,  p.  72.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2332.  MYSTERY  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 

— One  or  Many  Systems? — Is  the  visible  uni- 
verse organized  in  one  or  in  several  systems  ? 
.  .  .  A  problem  so  vast  as  this  is  still  far 
from  receiving  even  an  approximate  solution. 
From  whatever  point  of  view  we  consider 
it  we  find  ourselves  face  to  face  with  the 
infinite  in  space  and  time.  The  present 
aspect  of  the  universe  immediately  brings 
into  question  its  past  and  its  future  state, 
and  then  the  whole  of  united  human  learn- 
ing supplies  us  in  this  great  research  with 
but  a  pale  light  scarcely  illuminating  the 
first  steps  of  the  dark  and  unknown  road 
on  which  we  are  traveling. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  10,  p.  652. 
(A.) 

2333.  MYSTERY  OF  VOLCANO  AND 
EARTHQUAK  E— Boundary  of  Darkness 
around  Circle  of  Light. — I  shall  endeavor  to 
point  out    .    .     .    that  the  general  tendency 
of  subterranean  movements,  when  their  ef- 
fects are  considered  for  a  sufficient  lapse  of 
ages,  is  eminently  beneficial,  and  that  they 
constitute  an  essential  part  of  that  mecha- 
nism by  which  the  integrity  of  the  habit- 
able surface  is  preserved,  and  the  very  exist- 
ence and  perpetuation  of  dry  land  secured. 
Why  the  working  of  this  same  machinery 
should  be  attended  with  so  much  evil  is  a 
mystery  far  beyond  the  reach   of  our  phi- 
losophy, and  must  probably  remain  so  until 
we   are   permitted    to    investigate,   not   our 
planet  alone  and  its  inhabitants,  but  other 
parts  of  the  moral   and  material   universe  - 
with  which  they  may  be  connected.       Could 
our  survey  embrace  other  worlds,   and  the 
events,  not  of  a  few  centuries  only,  but  of 
periods  as   indefinite   as   those  with   which 
geology  renders  us  familiar,  some  apparent 
contradictions  might  be  reconciled,  and  some 
difficulties   would   doubtless   be   cleared   up. 
But  even  then,  as  our  capacities  are  finite, 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


476 


while  the  scheme  of  the  universe  may  be  in- 
finite, both  in  time  and  space,  it  is  presump- 
tuous to  suppose  that  all  sources  of  doubt 
and  perplexity  would  ever  be  removed.  On 
the  contrary,  they  might,  perhaps,  go  on 
augmenting  in  number,  altho  our  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  o'f  the  plan  of  Nature  should 
increase  at  the  same  time;  for  it  has  been 
justly  said  that  the  greater  the  circle  of 
light  the  greater  the  boundary  of  darkness 
by  which  it  is  surrounded. — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  493.  (A., 
1854.) 

2334.  MYSTERY    REMAINS   EVEN 
TO  THE  MONIST—  The  Riddle  of  the  Uni- 
verse Unread. — We  grant  at  once  that  the 
innermost   character   of   Nature   is   just  as 
little  understood  by  us   as   it  was  by  An- 
aximander  and  Empedocles  twenty-four  hun- 
dred years  ago,  by  Spinoza  and  Newton  two 
hundred  years  ago,  and  by  Kant  and  Goethe 
one  hundred  years  ago.    We  must  even  grant 
that  this  essence  of  substance  becomes  more 
mysterious    and    enigmatic    the    deeper    we 
penetrate  into  the  knowledge   of   its   attri- 
butes,   matter    and    energy,    and   the    more 
thoroughly  we  study  its  countless  phenom- 
enal forms  and  their  evolution.     We  do  not 
know  the   "  thing   in    itself "   that    lies   be- 
hind these  knowable  phenomena. — HAECKEL 
Riddle  of  the  Universe,  concl.,  p.  380.      (H., 
1900.) 

2335.  MYSTERY,    SCIENTIFIC  — A 
Zone    of    Darkness — The    Unknown    Every- 
where   Surrounds    the    Known. — Lest    this 
proclamation  of  mystery  should  seem  alarm- 
ing, let  us  add  that  this  mystery  also  is  sci- 
entific.    The  one  subject  on  which  all  sci- 
entific  men  are   agreed,   the   one  theme   on 
which    all    alike   become   eloquent,    the   one 
strain   of  pathos   in   all  their   writing   and 
speaking  and  thinking,  concerns  that  final 
uncertainty,   that  utter   blackness   of  dark- 
ness  bounding    their    work    on    every    side. 
If  the  light  of  Nature  is  to  illuminate  for 
us  the  spiritual  sphere,  there  may  well  be  a 
black   unknown,   corresponding,   at  least  at 
some  points,  to  this  zone  of  darkness  round 
the  natural  world. — DKUMMOND  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  int.,  p.  25.     (H.  Al.) 

2336.  MYSTERY    SOLVED  —  Comets1 
Tails  Not  Ethereal,  but  Subject  to  Ordinary 
Laws  of   Matter. — The   mystery   of   comets' 
tails  has  been  to  some  extent  penetrated; 
so    far,    at   least,    that   by   making   certain 
assumptions   strongly  recommended   by   the 
facts  of  the  case  their  forms  can  be,  with 
very   approximate  precision,   calculated   be- 
forehand.     We    have,    then,    the    assurance 

^that  these  extraordinary  appendages  are 
composed  of  no  ethereal  or  supersensual 
stuff,  but  of  matter  such  as  we  know  it, 
and  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  motion, 
tho  in  a  state  of  extreme  tenuity.  This 
is  unquestionably  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able discoveries  of  our  time. — CLERKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  11,  p.  417. 
iBl.,  1893.) 


2337. 


Electric  Repulsion 


the  Producing  Cause  of  Comets'  Tails — Con- 
flict of  Forces. — It  is  perfectly  well  ascer- 
tained that  the  energy  of  the  push  or  pull 
produced  by  electricity  depends  (other  things, 
being  the  same)  upon  the  surface  of  the 
body  acted  on;  that  of  gravity  upon  its 
mass.  The  efficacy  of  solar  electrical  re- 
pulsion relatively  to  solar  gravitational  at- 
traction grows,  consequently,  as  the  size  of 
the  particle  diminishes.  Make  this  small 
enough,  and  it  will  virtually  cease  to  gravi- 
tate, and  will  unconditionally  obey  the  im- 
pulse to  recession.  This  principle  Zollner 
was  the  first  to  realize  in  its  application 
to  comets.  It  gives  the  key  to  their  con- 
stitution. Admitting  (as  we  seem  bound 
to  do)  that  the  sun  and  they  are  similarly 
electrified,  their  more  substantially  aggre- 
gated parts  will  still  follow  the  solicitations 
of  his  gravity,  while  the  finely  divided  par- 
ticles escaping  from  them  will,  simply  by 
reason  of  their  minuteness,  fall  under  the 
sway  of  his  repellent  electric  power.  They 
will,  in  other  words,  form  "  tails."  Nor  is 
any  extravagant  assumption  called  for  as 
to  the  intensity  of  the  electrical  charge 
concerned  in  producing  these  effects.  Zoll- 
ner, in  fact,  showed  that  it  need  not  be 
higher  than  that  attributed  by  the  best 
authorities  to  the  terrestrial  surface. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  11, 
p.  418.  (BL,  1893.) 

2338. Hospitals    No 

Longer  Charnel-houses — Exclusion  of  Bac- 
teria Helps  Surgeon  and  Patient.  —  It 
was  these  organisms  [bacteria]  acting  in 
wound  and  abscess  which  so  frequently  con- 
verted our  hospitals  into  charnel-houses,  and 
it  is  their  destruction  by  the  antiseptic  sys- 
tem that  now  renders  justifiable  operations 
which  no  surgeon  would  have  attempted  a 
few  years  ago.  The  gain  is  immense  to  the 
practising  surgeon  as  well  as  to  the  patient 
practised  upon.  Contrast  the  anxiety  of 
never  feeling  sure  whether  the  most  brilliant 
operation  might  not  be  rendered  nugatory 
by  the  access  of  a  few  particles  of  unseen 
hospital-dust,  with  the  comfort  derived  from 
the  knowledge  that  all  power  of  mischief 
on  the  part  of  such  dust  has  been  surely 
and  certainly  annihilated. — TYNDALL  Float- 
ing Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  5,  p.  287.  (A., 
1895.) 

2339.  MYSTERY  SURROUNDS 
FACTS  OF  SCIENCE—  The  Great  Ice  Age  Un- 
explained.— It  follows  [from  previous  ex- 
planations] that  the  low  temperature  which 
undoubtedly  prevailed  during  the  Glacial 
Epoch  has  not  yet  received  any  satisfac- 
tory explanation.  Each  one  that  has  been 
proposed  is  either  inadequate  or  attended 
by  grave  difficulties.  It  is  therefore  prob- 
able that  some  factor  which  is  essential  for 
the  complete  solution  of  the  problem  is  as 
yet  undiscovered,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  im- 
portance of  one  which  is  already  known  has 


477 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Mystery 


Bar 


not  been  duly  recognized. — BONNET  Ice-work, 
Present  and  Past,  pt.  iii,  ch.  2,  p.  260.  (A., 
1896.) 

2340.  MYSTERY    UNEXPLAINED— 
Darwin's    Conjecture    Unfounded — The    Eu- 
calyptus on  South-American  Pampas. — Sci- 
entists have  not  yet  been  able  to  explain  why 
the  pampas,  with  a  humid  climate  and  a  soil 
exceedingly  rich,  have  produced  nothing  but 
grass,  while  the  dry,  sterile  territories   on 
their   north,  west,   and  south  borders  have 
an    arborescent   vegetation.      Darwin's    con- 
jecture   that    the    extreme    violence   of    the 
pampero,  or  southwest  wind,  prevented  trees 
from  growing,  is  now  proved  to  have  been 
ill-founded    since    the    introduction    of    the 
Eucalyptus  globulus;  for  this  noble  tree  at- 
tains to  an  extraordinary  height  on  the  pam- 
pas, and  exhibits  there  a  luxuriance  of  foli- 
age never  seen  in  Australia. — HUDSON  Nat- 
uralist in  La  Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  4.      (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

2341.  MYSTERY  UNFATHOMABLE 
— Distances    of    Few    Stars    Known — Most 
Forever  Unknown. — Even  the  mighty  instru- 
ments of  our  own  day,  wielded  with  all  the 
skill  and  acumen  which  a  long  experience 
has  generated,  have  not  sufficed  to  enable  us 
to  measure  the  distances  of  more  than  about 
a   dozen   stars.     Nor  probably  will   it  ever 
he  possible  for  man  to  count  by  the  hun- 
dred the   number  of  stars  whose  distances 
are  known.     Of  all  the  millions  of  stars  re- 
vealed by  the   telescope,   not  the   ten-thou- 
sandth  part  will   have  their   true  position 
in  space  assigned  to  them,  however  roughly. 
The  real  architecture  of  the  stellar  system 
must   remain    forever    unknown   to    us,    ex- 
cept  as   respects   a   relatively   minute   por- 
tion lying  within  certain  limits  of  distance 
from  the  earth. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among 
Infinities,  p.  188.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2342.  MYTHOLOGY    APPROPRIA- 
TED   ANCIENT    VOLCANOES—  The  Forge 
of   Vulcan. — The   ancients   were   acquainted 
only  with  the  four  or  five  active  volcanoes 
IP  the  Mediterranean  area,  the  term  "vol- 
cano "  being  the  name  of  one  of  these  (Vul- 
cano,   or   Volcano,   in  the   Lipari   Islands), 
which  has  come  to  be  applied  to  all  similar 
phenomena.      It   is    only    in    comparatively 
modern  times  that  it  has  become  a  known 
fact  that  many  hundreds  of  volcanoes  exist 
upon  the  globe,  and  are  scattered  over  al- 
most every  part  of  its   surface.     Classical 
mythology    appropriated    Vulcano    as     the 
forge  of  Hephaestus,  and  his  Roman  repre- 
sentative Vulcan,  while  Etna  was  regarded 
as  formed  by  the  mountains  under  which  the 
vengeful    deity    had    buried    the    rebellious 
Typhon ;  it  may  be  imagined,  therefore,  that 
any  endeavor  to  more  closely  investigate  the 
phenomena     displayed    at    these    localities 
would  be  regarded  not  simply  as  an  act  of 
temerity,   but   as   one   of  actual   impiety. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  1,  p.  3.    (A.,  1899.) 

2343.  MYTHOLOGY  OF  GREEKS— 

The  Simplicity  of  Nature  Spoiled — Sense  of 


Natural  Beauty  Fitfully  Expressed. — The 
Greek  regarded  the  vegetable  world  as 
standing  in  a  manifold  and  mythical  rela- 
tion to  heroes  and  to  the  gods,  who  were 
supposed  to  avenge  every  injury  inflicted  on 
the  trees  and  plants  sacred  to  them.  Im- 
agination animated  vegetable  forms  with 
life,  but  the  types  of  poetry  to  which  the 
peculiar  direction  of  mental  activity  among 
the  ancient  Greeks  limited  them  gave  only 
a  partial  development  to  the  descriptions  of 
natural  scenery.  Occasionally,  however, 
even  in  the  writings  of  their  tragic  poets,  a 
deep  sense  of  the  beauty  of  Nature  breaks 
forth  in  animated  descriptions  of  scenery  in 
the  midst  of  the  most  excited  passions  or 
the  deepest  tones  of  sadness.  Thus,  when 
(Edipus  is  approaching  the  grove  of  the 
Eumenides,  the  chorus  sings,  "  the  noble 
resting  -  place  of  the  illustrious  Colonos, 
where  the  melodious  nightingale  loves  to 
tarry  and  pour  forth  its  clear  but  plaintive 
note."  Again  it  sings,  "  the  verdant  gloom 
of  the  thickly  mantling  ivy,  the  narcissus 
steeped  in  heavenly  dew,  the  golden-beaming 
crocus,  and  the  hardy  and  ever  fresh- 
sprouting  olive-tree.''  Sophocles  strives  to 
extol  his  native  Colonos  by  placing  the  lofty 
form  of  the  fated  and  royal,  wanderer  by  the 
brink  of  the  sleepless  waters  of  Cephisus, 
surrounded  by  soft  and  bright  scenery.  The 
repose  of  Nature  heightens  the  impression 
of  pain  called  forth  by  the  image  of  the 
noble  form  of  the  blind  sufferer,  the  victim 
of  mysterious  and  fatal  passion.  Euripides 
also  delights  in  picturesque  descriptions  of 
"  the  pastures  of  Messenia  and  Laconia, 
which,  under  an  ever-mild  sky,  arfe  refreshed 
by  a  thousand  fountains  and  by  the  waters 
of  the  beautiful  Pamisos." — HTJMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  ii,  pt.  i,  p.  25.  (H.,  1897.) 

2344.  MYTHS,  DISAPPEARANCE 
OF,  NO  LOSS — Science  Makes  Nature  Not 
Less  Grand — A  Higher  Poetry  and  a 
Mightier  Philosophy. — To  a  right-thinking 
and  right-feeling  mind,  the  beauty,  the 
grandeur,  the  mystery  of  Nature  are  aug- 
mented, not  lessened,  by  each  new  glimpse 
into  the  secret  recesses  of  her  operations. 
The  sun  going  forth  from  its  chamber  in  the 
east  to  run  its  course  is  not  less  glorious  in 
majesty  because  we  have  discovered  the  law 
of  gravitation,  and  are  able  by  spectral 
analysis  to  detect  the  metals  which  enter 
into  its  composition — because  it  is  no  longer 
Helios  driving  his  golden  chariot  through 
the  pathless  spaces  of  the  heavens.  The 
mountains  are  not  less  imposing  in  their 
grandeur  because  the  oreads  have  deserted 
them,  nor  the  groves  less  attractive  nor  the 
streams  more  desolate  because  science  has 
banished  the  dryads  and  the  naiads.  No, 
science  has  not  destroyed  poetry,  nor  ex- 
pelled the  divine  from  Nature,  but  has  fur- 
nished the  materials  and  given  the  presages 
of  a  higher  poetry  and  a  mightier  philos- 
ophy than  the  world  has  yet  seen.  The 
grave  of  each  superstition  which  it  slays  is 
the  womb  of  a  better  birth.  And  if  it  come 


Myths 
Nation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


478 


to  pass  in  its  onward  march — as  it  may  well 
be  it  will  come  to  pass — that  other  super- 
stitions shall  be  dethroned  as  the  sun-god 
has  been  dethroned,  we  may  rest  assured 
that  this  also  will  be  a  step  in  human  prog- 
ress and  in  the  beneficent  evolution  of  the 
Power  which  ruleth  alike  the  courses  of  the 
stars  and  the  ways  of  men. — MAUDSLEY 
Body  and  Mind,  lect.  3,  p.  96.  (A.,  1898.) 

2345.  MYTHS,    MODERN,  MATCH- 
ING ANCIENT—  The  Odyssey  Finds  Parallel 
in  New  Zealand. — The  Tahitians  tell  tales 
of    their    sea  -  god    Hiro,    whose    followers 
were    sailing    on    the    ocean    while    he    was 
lulled  to   sleep   in   a   cavern   in  the   depths 
below;    then  the  wind-god  raised  a  furious 
storm  to  destroy  the  canoe,  but  the  sailors 
cried  to  Hiro,  till,  rising  to  the  surface,  he 
quelled  the  storm,  and  his  votaries  came  safe 
to  port.    So  in  Homer,  Poseidon  the  sea-god, 
dweller  in  caves  of  ocean,  sets  on  the  winds 
to  toss  the  frail  bark  of  Odysseus  among  the 
thundering    waves,    till    Ino    comes    to    his 
rescue  and  bids  him  strip  and  swim  for  the 
Phaiakian  shore.     Both  tales  are  word-pic- 
tures of  the  stormy  sea  told  in  the  language 
of  nature-myths,  only  with  different  turns. 
The  New  Zealanders  have  a  story  of  Maui 
imprisoning  the  winds,  all  but  the  wild  west 
wind,  whom  he  cannot  catch  to  shut  into  its 
cavern  by  a  great  stone  rolled  against  its 
mouth;    all  he  can  do  is  to  chase  it  home 
sometimes,  and  then  it  hides  in  the  cavern 
and  for  a  while  dies  away.     All  this  ie  a 
mythic  description  of  the  weather,  meaning 
that  other  winds  are  occasional,  but  the  west 
wind  prevalent  and  strong.    These  New  Zea- 
landers had  never  heard  of  the  classic  myth 
of   .ZEolus  and  the  cave  of  the  winds,  yet 
how    nearly   they    had    come    to   the    same 
mythic  fancy,   that  it  is   from  such  blow- 
holes in  the  hillsides  that  the  winds  come 
forth. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  15,  p.  392. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2346.  MYTHS  OF  ZOOLOGY— Hair- 
worms— Toads   in    Rock — Barnacle    Geese — 
Popular    Credulity    Unlimited. — When    the 
country  swain,   loitering  along  some  lane, 
comes  to  a  standstill  to  contemplate,  with 
awe  and  wonder,  the  spectacle  of  a  mass  of 
the   familiar  "  hair-eels  "   or   "  hairworms  " 
wriggling  about  in  a  pool,  he  plods  on  his 
way  firmly  convinced  that,  as  he  has  been 
taught  to  believe,  he  has  just  witnessed  the 
results     of    the    transformation     of    some 
horse's  hairs  into  living  creatures.     So  fa- 
miliar is  this  belief  to  people  of  professedly 
higher   culture  than   the  countryman,   that 
the  transformation  just  alluded  to  has  to 
all,  save  a  few  thinking  persons  and  zoolo- 
gists, become  a  matter  of  the  most  common- 
place kind.    When  some  quarrymen,  engaged 
in  splitting  up  the  rocks,  have  succeeded  in 
dislodging  some  huge  mass  of  stone,  there 
may  sometimes  be  seen  to  hop  from  among 
the  de"bris  a  lively  toad  or  frog,  which  comes 
to  be  regarded  by  the  excavators  with  feel- 
ings akin  to  those  of  superstitious  wonder 


and  amazement.  The  animal  may  or  may 
not  be  captured;  but  the  fact  is  duly 
chronicled  in  the  local  newspapers,  and  peo- 
ple wonder  for  a  season  over  the  phenom- 
enon of  a  veritable  Rip  Van  Winkle  of  a 
frog,  which,  to  all  appearance,  has  lived  for 
"  thousands  of  years  in  the  solid  rock."  Nor 
do  the  hairworm  and  the  frog  stand  alone 
in  respect  of  their  marvelous  origin.  Popu- 
lar zoology  is  full  of  such  marvels.  We  find 
unicorns,  mermaids,  and  mermen;  geese  de- 
veloped from  the  shell-fish  known  as  "bar- 
nacles " ;  we  are  told  that  crocodiles  may 
weep,  and  that  sirens  can  sing — in  short, 
there  is  nothing  so  wonderful  to  be  told  of 
animals  that  people  will  not  believe  the  tale. 
— ANDREW  WILSON  Facts  and  Fictions  of 
Zoology,  p.  1.  (Hum.,  1882.) 


2347. 


Ludicrous  Fiction- 


about  the  Skunk. — In  that  not  always  trust- 
worthy book,  "  The  Natural  History  of 
Chili,"  Molina  tells  us  how  they  deal  with 
the  animal  in  the  transandine  regions. 
"  When  one  appears,"  he  says,  "  some  of  the 
company  begin  by  caressing  it,  until  an  op- 
portunity offers  for  one  of  them  to  seize  it 
by  the  tail.  In  this  position  the  muscle* 
become  contracted,  the  animal  is  unable  to 
eject  its  fluid,  and  is  quickly  despatched." 
One  might  just  as  well  talk  of  caressing  a 
cobra  de  capello;  yet  this  laughable  fiction 
finds  believers  all  over  South  and  North 
America.  Professor  Baird  gravely  intro- 
duces it  into  his  great  work  on  the  mam- 
malia. .  .  .  The  Indians  are  grave  jo- 
kers, they  seldom  smile;  and  this  old  tra- 
ditional skunk-joke,  which  has  run  the 
length  of  a  continent,  finding  its  way  into- 
•many  wise  books,  is  their  revenge  on  a  su- 
perior race. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La- 
Plata,  ch.  6,  p.  118.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 


2348. 


Romantic  Tales  of 


the  Gorilla — Inventions  to  Amuse  Children. - 
Mr.  Ford  discredits  the  house-building  and 
elephant-driving  stories  [viz.:  that  the  go- 
rillas build  houses  to  live  in,  and  that  bands, 
of  them  unite,  arm  themselves  with  clubs, 
and  drive  elephants  through  the  forest],  and 
says  that  no  well-informed  natives  believe 
them.  They  are  tales  told  to  children. — 
HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  p.  212. 
(Hum.) 


2349. 


South- American 


Legend  of  a  Tree-creeper's  Nest. — One 
species,  Erythrothorax,  in  Yucatan,  makes 
so  large  a  nest  of  sticks,  that  the  natives  do 
not  believe  that  so  small  a  bird  can  be  the 
builder.  They  say  that  when  the  tzapatan 
begins  to  sing,  all  the  birds  in  the  forest  re- 
pair to  it,  each  one  carrying  a  stick  to  add 
to  the  structure;  only  one,  a  tyrant-bird, 
brings  two  sticks,  one  for  itself  and  one  for 
the  urubu  or  vulture,  that  bird  being  con- 
sidered too  large,  heavy,  and  ignorant  of 
architecture  to  assist  personally  in  the 
work. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch. 
18,  p.  245.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 


479 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Myths 
Nation 


235O.  MYTHS,  ORIGIN  OF— Imagina- 
tion  among  Barbarians — Supposed  Remains 
of  Giants. — We  know  how  strong  our  own 
desire  is  to  account  for  everything.  This  de- 
sire is  as  strong  among  barbarians,  and  ac- 
cordingly they  devise  such  explanations  as 
satisfy  their  minds.  But  they  are  apt  to  go 
a  stage  further,  and  their  explanations 
turn  into  the  form  of  stories  with  names  of 
places  and  persons,  thus  becoming  full-made 
myths.  Educated  men  do  not  now  consider 
it  honest  to  make  fictitious  history  in  this 
way,  but  people  of  untrained  mind,  in  what 
is  called  the  myth-making  stage,  which  has 
lasted  on  from  the  savage  period  and  has  not 
quite  disappeared  among  ourselves,  have  no 
such  scruples  about  converting  their  guesses 
at  what  may  have  happened  into  the  most 
lifelike  stories  of  what  they  say  did  happen. 
Thus,  when  comparative  anatomy  was  hard- 
ly known,  .the  finding  of  huge  fossil  bones  in 
the  ground  led  people  to  think  they  were  the 
remains  of  huge  beasts  and  enormous  men, 
or  giants,  who  formerly  lived  on  the  earth. 
Modern  science  decides  that  they  were  right 
as  to  the  beasts,  which  were  ancient  species 
of  elephant,  rhinoceros,  etc.,  but  wrong  as  to 
the  giants,  none  of  the  great  bones  really 
belonging  to  any  creature  like  man.  But 
while  the  belief  lasted  that  they  were  bones 
of  giants,  men's  imagination  worked  in  ma- 
king stories  about  these  giants  and  their 
terrific  doings,  stories  which  are  told  still  in 
all  quarters  of  the  globe  as  tho  they  were 
traditions  of  real  events. — TYLOB  Anthropol- 
ogy, ch.  15,  p.  388.  (A.,  1899.) 


2351. 


Observer  Held  To 


Be  Ruler  of  the  Winds — jEolus  Made  a  God. 
— In  the  Lipari  Islands  there  has  prevailed 
a  belief,  from  the  very  earliest  period  of 
history,  that  the  feeble  eruptions  of  Strom- 
boli  are  in  some  way  dependent  upon  the 
condition  of  the  atmosphere.  These  islands 
were  known  to  the  ancients  as  the  jEolian 
Isles,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  once 
ruled  over  by  a  king  of  the  name  of  JSolus. 
It  seems  not  improbable  that  ^E'olus  was 
gifted  with  natural  powers  of  observation 
and  reasoning  far  in  advance  of  those  of  his 
contemporaries.  A  careful  study  of  the 
vapor-cloud  which  covers  Stromboli  would 
certainly  afford  him  information  concerning 
the  hygrometric  condition  of  the  atmos- 
phere; the  form  and  position  assumed  by 
this  vapor-cloud  would  be  a  no  less  perfect 
index  of  the  direction  and  force  of  the  wind ; 
and,  if  the  popular  belief  be  well  founded, 
the  frequence  and  violence  of  the  explosions 
taking  place  from  the  crater  would  indicate 
the  barometric  pressure.  From  these  data 
an  acute  observer  would  be  able  to  issue 
"  storm- warnings  "  and  weather  prognostics 
of  considerable  value.  In  the  vulgar  mind, 
the  idea  of  the  prediction  of  natural  events 
is  closely  bound  up  with  that  of  their  pro- 
duction; and  the  shrewd  weather-prophet 
of  Lipari  was  after  his  death  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  god,  and  invested  with  the  sov- 


ereignty of  the  winds. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch. 
2,  p.  34.  (A.,  1899.) 

2352.  NAME,    IMPORTANCE    OF— 

Science  and  Morality  Unite — Redemption  of 
the  Drunkard. — The  hackneyed  example  of 
moral  deliberation  is  the  case  of  an  habitual 
drunkard  under  temptation.  He  has  made  a 
resolve  to  reform,  but  he  is  now  solicited 
again  by  the  bottle.  His  moral  triumph  or 
failure  literally  consists  in  his  finding  the 
right  name  for  the  case.  If  he  says  that  it 
is  a  case  of  not  wasting  good  liquor  already 
poured  out,  or  a  case  of  not  being  churlish 
and  unsociable  when  in  the  midst  of  friends, 
or  a  case  of  learning  something  at  last  about 
a  brand  of  whisky  which  he  never  met  be- 
fore, or  a  case  of  celebrating  a  public  holi- 
day, or  a  case  of  stimulating  himself  to  a 
more  energetic  resolve  in  favor  of  absti- 
nence than  any  he  has  ever  yet  made,  then 
he  is  lost.  His  choice  of  the  wrong  name 
seals  his  doom.  But  if,  in  spite  of  all  the 
plausible  good  names  with  which  his  thirsty 
fancy  so  copiously  furnishes  him,  he  un- 
waveringly clings  to  the  truer  bad  name, 
and  apperceives  the  case  as  that  of  "  being  a, 
drunkard,  being  a  drunkard,  being  a  drunk- 
ard," his  feet  are  planted  on  the  road  to 
salvation.  He  saves  himself  by  thinking 
rightly. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  15, 
p.  187.  (H.  H.  &Co.,  1900.) 

2353.  NARROWNESS  OF  SPECIAL- 
IST— Specialty  Disqualifies  for  Comprehensive 
Reasonings. — Science  has  in  the   course   of 
its  growth  become  divided  into  a  great  num- 
ber of  small  specialties,   each   pursued   ar- 
dently by  its  own  votaries.     This  is  benefi- 
cial in  one  respect;   for  much  more  can  be 
gained  by  men  digging  downward,  each  on 
his  own  vein  of  valuable  ore,  than  by  all 
merely  scraping  the  surface.     But  the  spe- 
cialist, as  he  descends  fathom  after  fathom 
into  his  own  mine,  however  rich  and  rare  the 
gems  and  metals  he  may  discover,  becomes 
more  and  more  removed  from  the  ordinary 
\\ays  of  men,  and  more  and  more  regardless 
of  the  products  of  other  veins  as  valuable  as 
his  own.     The  specialist,  however  profound 
he  may  become  in  the  knowledge  of  his  own 
limited  subject,  is  on  that  very  account  less 
fitted  to  guide  his  fellow  men  in  the  pursuit 
of  general  truth.     When  he  ventures  to  the 
boundaries  between  his  own  and  other  do- 
mains of  truth,   or  when  he   conceives  the 
idea  that  his  own  little  mine  is  the  sole  de- 
posit of  all  that  requires  to  be  known,  he 
sometimes  makes  grave  mistakes ;    and  these 
pass  current  for  a  time  as  the  dicta  of  high 
scientific    authority. — DAWSON    Facts    and 
Fancies  in   Modern   Science,   lect.    1,   p.    17. 

(A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2354.     NATION    GREATER  THAN 

COUNTRY— Power  and  Influence  of  the  Danes. 
—Denmark  occupies  a  larger  space  in  the 
history  than  on  the  map  of  Europe;  the  na- 
tion is  greater  than  the  country.  With  the 
growth  of  physical  power  in  surrounding 
populations,  she  has  lost  much  of  her  infill- 


Nation 
Nature 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


480 


ence  in  political  councils,  and  has  been  re- 
cently deprived  of  a  great  part  of  her  an- 
cient possessions,  but  the  Danes  of  to-day 
are  no  unworthy  representatives  of  their 
ancestors.  Many  a  larger  nation  might  envy 
them  the  position  they  hold  in  science  and 
art,  and  few  have  contributed  more  to  the 
progress  of  human  knowledge.  Copenhagen 
may  well  be  proud  both  of  her  museums  and 
of  her  professors,  and  I  would  especially 
point  to  the  celebrated  Museum  of  Northern 
Antiquities  as  being  most  characteristic  and 
unique. — AVEBUBY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  7, 
p.  213.  (A.,  1900.) 

2355.  NATURALISTS    HAD    REA- 
SONS FOR  DENYING  DEEP-SEA  LIFE— 

Fact  Contradicts  Reasonable  Theory. — It  is 
not  surprising  that  the  naturalists  of  the 
tarly  part  of  the  present  century  could  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  a  fauna  at  the 
bottom  of  the  deep  seas.  The  extraordinary 
conditions  of  such  a  region — the  enormous 
pressure,  the  absolute  darkness,  the  probable 
absence  of  any  vegetable  life  from  want  of 
direct  sunlight — might  very  well  have  been 
considered  sufficient  to  form  an  impassable 
barrier  to  the  animals  migrating  from  the 
shallow  waters  and  to  prevent  the  develop- 
ment of  a  fauna  peculiarly  its  own. — HICK- 
SON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  17. 
(A.,  1894.) 

2356.  NATURE  A  COSMOS—  The  Study 
of  Ages. — He  who   can  trace,   through   by- 
gone times,  the  stream  of  our  knowledge  to 
its  primitive  source,  will  learn  from  history 
how,  for  thousands  of  years,  man  has  la- 
bored,  amid   the  ever-recurring   changes   of 
form,  to  recognize  the  invariability  of  nat- 
ural laws;    and  has  thus,  by  the  force  of 
mind,  gradually  subdued  a  great  portion  of 
the  physical  world  to  his  dominion.     In  in- 
terrogating the  history  of  the  past,  we  trace 
the  mysterious  course  of  ideas  yielding  the 
first    glimmering    perception    of    the    same 
image  of  a  cosmos,  or  harmoniously  ordered 
whole,  which,  dimly  shadowed  forth  to  the 
human  mind  in  the  primitive  ages  of  the 
world,  is  now  fully  revealed  to  the  maturer 
intellect  of  mankind  as  the  result  of  long 
and  laborious  observation. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  i,  int.,  p.  23.    (H.,  1897.) 

2357.  NATURE  AIDS  INDUSTRIES 

— Native  Copper  Waiting  for  Primitive  Man 
to  Pick  Up. — In  the  neighborhood  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  in  some  other  still  more 
northern  localities,  copper  is  found  native  in 
large  quantities,  and  the  Indians  had  there- 
fore nothing  to  do  but  to  break  off  pieces 
and  hammer  them  into  the  required  shape. 
Hearne's  celebrated  journey  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Coppermine  River,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was  undertaken 
in  order  to  examine  the  locality  whence  the 
natives  of  that  district  obtained  the  metal. 
In  this 'case  it  occurred  in  lumps  actually  on 
the  surface,  and  the  Indians  seem  to  have 
picked  up  what  they  could,  without  attempt- 


ing anything  that  could  be  called  mining. — 
AVEBUBY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  8,  p.  243. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2358.  NATURE  AN  ARMORY— Inva- 
riable Law  Admits  of  Varying  Adjustment 
— Will,     Contrivance,     and    Purpose    Find 
Place.  —  Nature     is     a     great     armory     of 
weapons    and    implements    for    the    service 
and  the  use  of  will.     Many  of  them  are  too 
ponderous  for  man  to  wield.     He  can  only 
look    with    awe    on   the    tremendous    forces 
which  are  everywhere  seen  yoked  under  the 
conditions   of   adjustment — on  the  smooth- 
ness  of   their   motions — on   the   magnitude 
and  the  minuteness,  on  the  silence  and  the 
perfection,    of  their   work.      But   there   are 
also  many   weapons   hung   upon   the   walls 
which   lend   themselves   to   human   hands — 
lesser  tools  which  man  can  use.     He  cannot 
alter  or  modify  them  in  shape  or  pattern,  in 
quality  or  in  power.     The  fashion  of  them 
and  the  nature  of  them  are  fixed  forever. 
These  are,  indeed,  invariable.     Only  if  we 
know  how  to  use  them,  then  that  use  is  ours. 
Then  also  the  lesser  contrivances  which  we 
can  set  in  motion  are  ever  found  to  work  in 
perfect  harmony  with  the  vaster  mechanisms 
which  are  moving  overhead.     And  as  in  the 
material  world  no  effort  gives  so  fully  the 
sense  of  work  achieved  as  the  subjugation  of 
some  natural  force  under  the  command  of 
will,  so  in  the  world  of  mind  no  triumphs  of 
the  spirit  are  happier  than  those  by  which 
some  natural  tendency  of  human  character 
is  led  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  purpose 
\vhich  is  wise  and  good. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  227.    (Burt.) 

2359.  NATURE  ANTICIPATES  HU- 
MAN INVENTION—  The  Bees  Invented  Can- 
ning.— With    their    honey-cells    sealed    air- 
tight, into  which  some  observers  believe  that 
a  drop  of  formic  acid  is  injected,  the  bee 
folk  were  actually  the  first  in  the  world  to 
found  a  canning  factory. — GLOCK  Die  Sym- 
bolik   der  Bienen,   p.    20.     (Translated    for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2360.  "  NATURE  "  A  PSEUDONYM 
FOR  GOD— An  Intelligent   Creative  Mind.— 
An  able  writer  of  the  agnostic  school,  in  a 
popular   lecture   on   coal,     .     .     .     apostro- 
phizes "  Nature  "  as  the  cunning  contriver 
who  stored  up  this  buried  sunlight  by  her 
strange    and    mysterious    alchemy,    kept    it 
quietly  to  herself  through  all  the  long  ge- 
ological   periods    when    reptiles    and   brute 
mammals     were     lords     of     creation,     and 
through  those  centuries  of  barbarism  when 
savage  men  roamed  over  the  productive  coal- 
districts  in  ignorance  of  their  treasures,  and 
then    revealed    her    long-hidden    stores    of 
wealth  and  comfort  to  the  admiring  study 
of    science    and    civilization,    and    for    the 
benefit  of  the  millions  belonging  to  densely 
peopled  and  progressive  nations.     It  is  plain 
that  lf  Nature  "  in  such  .a  connection  repre- 
sents  either   a   poetical   fiction,   a  ^supersti- 
tious  fancy,  or  an  intelligent  creative  mind. 
It  is  further  evident  that  such  creative  mind 


481 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ration 
Mature 


must  be  in  harmony  with  that  of  man,  tho 
vastly  greater  in  its  scope  and  grasp  in  time 
and  space. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in 
Modern  Science,  lect.  5,  p.  182.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2361.  NATURE,  BEAUTY  AND  VA- 
RIETY OF — Natural   Selection  Not  an  Ex- 
planation.— Now,  what  explanation  does  the 
law  of  natural  selection  give — I  will  not  say 
of  the  origin,  but  even  of  the  continuance 
and  preservation — of  such  specific  varieties 
as  these  [of  humming-birds]  ?     None  what- 
ever.    A  crest  of  topaz  is  no  better  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  than  a  crest  of  sap- 
phire.    A  frill  ending  in   spangles  of  the 
emerald  is   no  better  in  the  battle  of  life 
than  a  frill  ending  in  the  spangles  of  the 
ruby.    A  tail  is  not  affected  for  the  purposes 
of  flight,  whether  its  marginal  or  its  central 
feathers  are  decorated  with  white.    It  is  im- 
possible to  bring  such  varieties  into  relation 
with  any  physical  law  known  to  us.    It  has 
relation,     however,    to    a    purpose,    which 
stands  in  close  analogy  with  our  own  knowl- 
edge of  purpose  in  the  works  of  man.    Mere 
beauty  and  mere  variety,  for  their  own  sake, 
are  objects  which  we  ourselves  seek  when  we 
can  make  the  forces  of  Nature  subordinate 
to  the  attainment  of  them.    There  seems  to 
be    no   conceivable   reason   why   we    should 
doubt  or  question  that  these  are  ends  and 
aims  also  in  the  forms  given  to  living  or- 
ganisms,  when   the   facts   correspond   with 
this  view,  and  with  no  other.    In  this  sense 
we  can  trace  a  creative  law;    that  is,  we 
can  see  that  these  forms  of  life  do  fulfil  a 
purpose  and  intention  which  we  can  appre- 
ciate   and    understand. — ARGYLL    Reign    of 
Law,  ch.  5,  p.  139.    (Burt.) 

2362.  NATURE,  CALM  OF,  DELU- 
SIVE— Quiet  Intervals  of  Volcanoes.— While 
the  volcano  Stromboli   (Strongyle)  has  been 
incessantly   active  since  the  Homeric  ages, 
and  has  served  as  a  beacon-light  to  guide 
the  mariner  in  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  loftier 
volcanoes  have  been  characterized  by  long 
intervals  of  quiet.    Thus  we  see  that  a  whole 
century  often  intervenes  between  the  erup- 
tions of  most  of  the  colossi  which   crown 
the  summits  of  the  Cordilleras  of  the  An- 
des.— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  229.     (H., 
1897.) 

2363.  NATURE  DOES  NOT  EXPLAIN 

MAN — A  glance  at  our  logical  behavior 
demonstrates  that  we  cannot  find  the  clue 
to  human  nature  by  considering  man  from 
the  standpoint  of  natural  science  alone. 
Man  is  more  than  merely  a  product  of  Na- 
ture. An  inner  principle,  the  spiritual 
norm,  following  special  laws  of  their  own, 
are  also  determining  factors. — SCHWARZ 
Psychologic  des  Willens  (a  Lecture).  (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 

2364.  NATURE,  EXTERNAL— Percep- 
tion of,  Depends  upon  Mind  of  Observer. — 
External  Nature  may  be  opposed  to  the  in- 
tellectual world,  as  if  the  latter  were  not 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  former, 


or  Nature  may  be  opposed  to  art  when  the 
latter  is  defined  as  a  manifestation  of  the 
intellectual  power  of  man;  but  these  con- 
trasts, which  we  find  reflected  in  the  most 
cultivated  languages,  must  not  lead  us  to 
separate  the  sphere  of  Nature  from  that  of 
mind,  since  such  a  separation  would  reduce 
the  physical  science  of  the  world  to  a  mere 
aggregation  of  empirical,  specialties.  Sci- 
ence does  not  present  itself  to  man  until 
mind  conquers  matter  in  striving  to  sub- 
ject the  result  of  experimental  investiga- 
tion to  rational  combinations.  Science  is 
the  labor  of  mind  applied  to  Nature,  but 
the  external  world  has  no  real  existence 
for  us  beyond  the  image  reflected  within 
ourselves  through  the  medium  of  the  senses. 
As  intelligence  and  forms  of  speech,  thought 
and  its  verbal  symbols,  are  united  by  secret 
and  indissoluble  links,  so  does  the  external 
world  blend  almost  unconsciously  to  our- 
selves with  our  ideas  and  feelings. — HUM- 
BOLDT Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  70.  (H.,  1897.) 

2365.  NATURE,  HUMAN,  KNOWL- 
EDGE OF— How  Wise  Men  Learn.— Confu- 
cius said   (like  Socrates)  :  "  I  am  not  wise. 
But  if  any  man,  of  humble  condition,  comes 
for   information  to   me,   who  am  empty,   1 
make    of   him   an   object  of   research   from 
every  point,  and  exhaust  him,  while  I  enrich 
my    own    knowledge   of   human   nature." — 
HAUG  Confucius  der  Weise  (an  Address  in 
Virchow  und  Holtzendorfs  Sammlung  wis- 
senschaftlicher  Vortrage).      (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2366.  NATURE  IGNORES    MAN'S 
DIVIDING  LINES  —  Fauna  of  One  Region 
Overlaps  That  of  Another. — In  the  study  of 
the  geographical  distribution  of  terrestrial 
animals  one  of  the  great  difficulties  met  with 
is  the  impossibility  of  defining  exactly  the 
limits  of  the  regions  into  which  we  divide 
the  surface  of  the  earth.     In  a  general  way 
we   recognize   that   there   is   an   Australian 
region,  an  Ethiopian  region,  etc. ;  but,  when 
we  come  to  discuss  the  exact  position  of  the 
frontier    lines    that   separate   these   regions 
from  their  neighbors,  we  find  all  kinds  of 
difficulties  to  overcome  and  inconsistencies 
to  meet. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  it  is  useful 
to  adopt  certain  arbitrary  limits  for  these 
regions,  notwithstanding  these  difficulties 
and  inconsistencies,  but  we  must  recognize 
the  fact  that  Nature  recognizes  no  such 
limits,  that  every  region  overlaps  its  neigh- 
bors to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  that 
there  are  many  debatable  grounds  in  the 
world  where  the  fauna  characteristic  of  one 
region  is  mixed  with  that  characteristic  of 
another. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  3,  p.  45.  (A.,  1894.) 

2367.  NATURE  IGNORES  THE  EX- 
ISTENCE   OF    MAN— Drought  and  Volcano 
Regard  Him  ^rot. — If  the  barren  soil  around 
Sydney  had  at  once  become  fertile  upon  the 
landing   of   our    first   settlers;    if,    like    the 


Nature 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


482 


happy  isles  whereof  the  poets  have  given 
such  glowing  descriptions,  those  sandy 
tracts  had  begun  to  yield  spontaneously  an 
annual  supply  of  grain,  we  might  then,  in- 
deed, have  fancied  alterations  still  more  re- 
markable in  the  economy  of  Nature  to  have 
attended  the  first  coming  of  our  species 
into  the  planet.  Or  if,  when  a  volcanic  is- 
land like  Ischia  was,  for  the  first  time, 
brought  under  cultivation  by  the  enterprise 
and  industry  of  a  Greek  colony,  the  inter- 
nal fire  had  become  dormant,  and  the  earth- 
quake had  remitted  its  destructive  violence, 
there  would  then  have  been  some  ground 
for  speculating  on  the  debilitation  of  the 
subterranean  forces,  when  the  earth  was  first 
placed  under  the  dominion  of  man.  But 
after  a  long  interval  of  rest  the  volcano 
bursts  forth  again  with  renewed  energy,  an- 
nihilates one-half  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
compels  the  remainder  to  emigrate.  The 
course  of  Nature  remains  evidently  un- 
changed; and,  in  like  manner,  we  may  sup- 
pose the  general  condition  of  the  globe  im- 
mediately before  and  after  the  period  when 
our  species  first  began  to  exist  to  have  been 
the  same,  with  the  exception  only  of  man's 
presence. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  9,  p.  150.  (A.,  1854.) 

2368.  NATURE,   INCITEMENTS  TO 
STUDY    OF  —  Early   Impressions   Determine 
Life-work. — In  the  simple  consideration  of 
the  incitements  to  a  scientific  study  of  Na- 
ture,   I    would   not   omit   calling   attention 
to  the  fact  that   impressions   arising  from 
apparently    accidental    circumstances    often 
— as  is  repeatedly  confirmed  by  experience 
— exercise    so    powerful    an    effect    on    the 
youthful  mind   as   to   determine   the   whole 
direction    of   a    man's    career    through    life. 
The  child's   pleasure  in   the   form   of  coun- 
tries,   and    of    seas    and    lakes,    as    deline- 
ated in  maps;  the  desire  to  behold  southern 
stars,  invisible  in  our  hemisphere;  the  rep- 
resentation of  palms  and  cedars  of  Lebanon 
as  depioted  in   our  illustrated  Bibles,  may 
all  implant  in  the  mind  the  first   impulse 
to  travel  into  distant  countries.     If  I  might 
be  permitted  to  instance  my  own  experience, 
and  recall  to  mind  the  source  from  whence 
sprang  my  early  and   fixed  desire  to  visit 
the    land    of    the    tropics,    I    should    name 
George  Forster's  "  Delineations  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands,"  the  pictures  of  Hodge,  which 
represented  the  shores  of  the  Ganges,  and 
which  I  first  saw  at  the  house  of  Warren 
Hastings,  in  London,  and  a  colossal  dragon- 
tree  in  an  old  tower  of  the  Botanical  Gar- 
den at  Berlin. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii, 
pt.  i,  p.  20.     (H.,  1897.) 

2369.  NATURE,  MUNIFICENCE  OF 

— Power  of  Sun's  Whole  Radiance — Would 
Melt  in  One  Instant  an  Ice-bridge  That 
Reached  to  the  Moon. — Let  us  suppose  that 
we  could  sweep  up  from  the  earth  all  the 
ice  and  snow  on  its  surface,  and,  gathering 
in  the  accumulations  which  lie  on  its  arctic; 
and  antarctic  poles,  commence  building  with 


it  a  tower  greater  than  that  of  Babel,  fifteen 
miles  in  diameter,  and  so  high  as  to  exhaust 
our  store.  Imagine  that  it  could  be  pre- 
served untouched  by  the  sun's  rays,  while 
we  built  on  with  the  accumulations  of  suc- 
cessive winters,  until  it  stretched  out  240,000 
miles  into  space,  and  formed  an  ice-bridge 
to  the  moon,  and  that  then  we  concentrated 
on  it  the  sun's  whole  radiation,  neither 
more  nor  less  than  that  which  goes  on  every 
moment.  In  one  second  the  whole  wTould 
be  gone,  melted,  boiled,  and  dissipated  in 
vapor.  And  this  is  the  rate  at  which  the 
solar  heat  is  being  (to  human  apprehension) 
wasted! — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  4, 
p.  96.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2370.  NATURE  NAMED  "  MATTER » 

— Mystery  Not  the  End  of  Inquiry — Aris- 
totle on  "  the  Divine." — What  is  generally 
called  Nature  Professor  Tyndall  names  mat- 
ter— a  peculiar  nomenclature,  requiring  new 
definitions  (as  he  avers),  inviting  misun- 
derstanding, and  leaving  the  questions  we 
are  concerned  with  just  where  they  were. 
For  it  is  still  to  ask:  Whence  this  rich 
endowment  of  matter?  Whence  conies  that 
of  which  all  we  see  and  know  is  the  out- 
come? That  to  which  potency  may  in  the 
last  resort  be  ascribed,  Professor  Tyndall, 
suspending  further  judgment,  calls  mystery 
— using  the  word  in  one  of  its  senses,  name- 
ly, something  hidden  from  us  which  we  are 
not  to  seek  to  know.  But  there  are  also 
mysteries  proper  to  be  inquired  into  and  to 
be  reasoned  about;  and  altho  it  may  not 
be  given  unto  us  to  know  the  mystery  of 
causation,  there  can  hardly  be  a  more  legiti- 
mate subject  of  philosophical  inquiry.  Most 
scientific  men  have  thought  themselves  in- 
tellectually authorized  to  have  an  opinion 
about  it.  "  For,  by  the  primitive  and  very 
ancient  men,  it  has  been  handed  down  in 
the  form  of  myths,  and  thus  left  to  later 
generations,  that  the  Divine  it  is  which  holds 
together  all  Nature  " ;  and  this  tradition,  of 
which  Aristotle,  both  naturalist  and  philoso- 
pher, thus  nobly  speaks — continued  through 
succeeding  ages,  and  illuminated  by  the  light 
which  has  come  into  the  world — may  still 
express  the  worthiest  thoughts  of  the  mod- 
ern scientific  investigator  and  reasoner. — 
ASA  GRAY  Darwiniana,  art.  13,  p.  389.  (A., 
1889.) 

2371.  NATURE    OF    FORCE   UN- 
KNOWN— Gravitation  Ascribed  to  a  Supreme 
Will. — We    know    nothing    of    the   ultimate 
nature    or    of    the    ultimate    seat  of    force. 
Science,  in  the  modern  doctrine  of  the  con- 
servation of  energy,  and  the  convertibility 
of  forces,  is  already  getting  something  like 
a  firm  hold  of  the  idea  that   all   kinds  of 
force    are    but   forms   or   manifestations    of 
some  one  central   force   issuing   from   some 
one  fountainhead  of  power.     Sir  John  Her- 
schel  has  not  hesitated  to  say  that  "  it  is 
but  reasonable  to  regard  the  force  of  gravi- 
tation   as    the    direct    or     indirect    result 
of     a     consciousness     or     a     will     existing 


483 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


IVatui'e 


somewhere."  ["  Outlines  of  Astronomy," 
5th  ed.,  p.  291.]  And  even  if  we  cannot 
certainly  identify  force  in  all  its  forms  with 
the  direct  energies  of  One  Omnipresent  and 
All-pervading  Will,  it  is  at  least  in  the 
highest  degree  unphilosophical  to  assume 
the  contrary — to  speak  or  to  think  as  if 
the  forces  of  Nature  were  either  independent 
of  or  even  separate  from  the  Creator's 
power. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  73. 
(Burt.) 

2372.  NATURE  PAINTED  IN  SHAD- 
OW— Earth  an  Inferno  or  a  Slaughter-house. 
— The  final   result    [of  the  doctrine  of   the 
struggle  for  life,  as  commonly  stated]   is  a 
picture  of  Nature  wholly  painted  in  shadow 
— a  picture  so  dark  as  to  be  a  challenge  to 
its  Maker,  an  unanswered  problem  to  phi- 
losophy, an  abiding  offense  to  the  moral  na- 
ture of  man.     The  world  has  been  held  up 
to  us  as  one  great  battle-field  heaped  with 
the  slain,  an  inferno  of  infinite  suffering,  a 
slaughter-house  resounding  with  the  cries  of 
a    ceaseless    agony. — DRUMMOND    Ascent    of 
Man,  int.,  p.  19.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2373.  NATURE,   SECRETS    OF,  TO 
WHOM  REVEALED— Scientist  Must  Become 
as  a  Little  Child. — In  the  law-book  of  re- 
search  on   which   natural    science   is   based 
we  read  the  same  command  as  in  the  Scrip- 
tures :    "  Verily  I   say  unto  you,  except  ye 
become  as  little  children  ye  shall  not  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."     Accordingly, 
we  see  the  investigator  everywhere  striving 
to  turn  back  to  the  standpoint  of  a  child 
that  forgets  all  sorrow  whenever  something 
that   moves    is    given   him    to    look   at;    it 
matters    little   whether    a    tin-plate   set   to 
spin,    or    a    pussy    in    her   play.      Only,    of 
course,   between   the  manner   in   which   the 
scientist  marvels  at  these  phenomena   and 
that  of  a  child  there  lies  the  chasm  that 
separates  the  moral  value  of  a  human  being 
ripened   by    experience    from    the    innocence 
of    a    child. — Du    BOIS-REYMOND    Tierische 
Bei&egung    (a    Lectutfe).       (Translated    for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2374.  NATURE  SEEN  AT  WORK— 

Formation  of  Peat  within  a  Human  Life- 
time.— George,  first  Earl  of  Cromarty,  seems 
...  to  have  been  a  man  of  an  eminently 
active  and  inquiring  mind.  He  found  lei- 
sure, in  the  course  of  a  very  busy  life,  to 
write  several  historical  dissertations  of  great 
research.  .  .  .  His  life  was  extended  to 
extreme  old  age;  and  as  his  literary  ardor 
remained  undiminished  till  the  last,  some 
of  his  writings  were  produced  at  a  period 
when  most  other  men  are  sunk  in  the  in- 
curious indifferency  and  languor  of  old  age. 
And  among  these  later  productions  are  his 
remarks  on  peat.  He  relates  that  when  a 
very  young  man  he  had  marked,  in  passing 
on  a  journey  through  the  central  Highlands 
of  Ross-shire,  a  wood  of  very  ancient  trees, 
doddered  and  moss-grown,  and  evidently 
passing  into  a  state  of  death  through  the 


last  stages  of  decay.  He  had  been  led  by 
business  into  the  same  district  many  years 
after,  when  in  middle  life,  and  found  that 
the  wood  had  entirely  disappeared,  and  that 
the  heathy  hollow  which  it  had  covered  was 
now  occupied  by  a  green,  stagnant  morass, 
unvaried  in  its  tame  and  level  extent  by 
either  bush  or  tree.  In  his  old  age  he  again 
visited  the  locality,  and  saw  the  green  sur- 
face roughened  with  dingy-colored  hollows, 
and  several  Highlanders  engaged  in  it  in 
cutting  peat  in  a  stratum  several  feet  in 
depth.  What  he  had  once  seen  an  aged  for- 
est had  now  become  an  extensive  peat-moss. 
— MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  10,  p. 
173.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

2375.  NATURE  STIRS  VARIED  HU- 
MAN   EMOTIONS  —  The  contemplation  of 
the   individual   characteristics  of  the  land- 
scape, and  of  the  conformation  of  the  land 
in   any  definite   region  of  the   earth,  gives 
rise    to    a    different    source    of    enjoyment. 
.     .     .     At  one   time  the  heart  is   stirred 
by  a  sense  of  the  grandeur  of  the  face  of 
Nature,  by  the  strife  of  the  elements,  or, 
as    in    Northern    Asia,    by    the    aspect    of 
the  dreary  barrenness  of  the  far-stretching 
steppes;  at  another  time  softer  emotions  are 
excited  by   the   contemplation  of  rich   har- 
vests wrested  by  the  hand  of  man  from  the 
wild  fertility  of  Nature,  or  by  the  sight  of 
human  habitations  raised  beside  some  wild 
and    foaming   torrent. — HUMBOLDT    Cosmos, 
vol.  i,  int.,  p.  25.     (H.,  1897.) 

2376.  NATURE,  STUDY  OF,  INTER- 
ESTS   CHILDREN—  General   Phenomena  of 
Life   Readily   Learned — Lessons   in   Insects, 
Plants,  or  Shells. — From  pupils   of  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age  who  have  been  properly 
instructed  in   the  elements  of  biology,   one 
may  obtain  a  surprising  accuracy  in  the  an- 
swers given  to  both  written  and  oral  ques- 
tions.    The  chief  idea,  however,  to  be  borne 
in  mind  in  teaching  pupils  of  this  early  age 
is  that  the  instruction  must  be 'limited  to 
broad  and  general  details,  and,  save  in  very 
exceptional  cases,  must  not  include  attempts 
at    specializing    the    science.      The    general 
phenomena   of   plant   and   animal   life;    the 
broad  relations  of  the  organic  and  inorganic 
worlds,  and  the  general  details  of  the  struc- 
ture and  life  history  of  the  more  familiar 
groups  of  animals  and  plants,  present  sub- 
jects  which   may  be   made,   with   sufficient 
means    of    illustration,    to    convey    a    great 
amount  of  solid  information  to  the  youngest 
pupil  who  is  able  to  think  for  himself  or 
herself.     For  example,  I  do  not  see  that  an 
intelligent  teacher,  with  a  good  set  of  dia- 
grams and  a  few  specimens,  should  have  the 
slightest    difficulty    in    interesting    a    very 
youthful    auditory    in    the    structure    and 
metamorphosis  of  insects,  and  in  the  general 
course  of  insect  life.     He  would  find  in  the 
details   furnished  by  the   common   observa- 
tion  of  his   pupils   a  ready  assent  to  and 
illustration  of  most  of  the  facts  he  would 


Sature 
ature's 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


484 


set  before  them;  and  he  would  send  them 
back  with  renewed  interest  from  his  class- 
room to  study  the  caterpillars  in  the  garden, 
or  the  development  of  the  silkworm's  eggs, 
which  formerly  had  been  kept  as  mere  play- 
things. A  lecture  on  "  Shells  and  their  In- 
mates "  would  in  like  manner  be  readily 
illustrated;  and  with  the  aid  of  a  few  mi- 
croscopes and  some  stagnant  water  the  won- 
der and  interest  of  the  pupils  might  be 
excited  over  the  description  of  lesser  worlds 
than  ours. — ANDREW  WILSON  Biology  in 
Education,  p.  17.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

2377.  NATURE  SURPASSES  HUMAN 
ESTIMATE— A  Hundred  Feet  of  Iron  Rods  to 
Sound  a  Glacier. — When  I  first  began  my 
investigations  upon  the  glaciers,  now  more 
than    twenty-five    years    ago,    scarcely    any 
measurements  of  their  size  or  their  motion 
had  been  made.     One  of  my  principal  ob- 
jects, therefore,  was  to  ascertain  the  thick- 
ness of  the  mass  of  ice,  generally  supposed 
to  be   from  eighty  to  a  hundred   feet,   and 
even  less.     The  first  year  I  took  with  me 
a  hundred  feet  of  iron  rods   (no  easy  mat- 
ter, where  it  had  to  be  transported  to  the 
upper  part  of  a  glacier  on  men's  backs ) , 
thinking   to  bore   the  glacier   through   and 
through.     As   well   might   I   have  tried   to 
sound   the   ocean   with    a    ten-fathom    line. 
The    following    year    I    took    two    hundred 
feet  of  rods  with  me,  and  again  I  was  foiled. 
Eventually   I    succeeded   in    carrying   up    a 
thousand  feet  of  line,  and  satisfied  myself, 
after  many  attempts,  that  this  was  about 
the  average  thickness  of  the  glacier  of  the 
Aar,  on  which  I  was  working. — AGASSIZ  Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  294.      (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2378.  NATURE  SURPASSES  MAN— 

Natural  Surpasses  Human  Selection. — As 
man  can  produce  and  certainly  has  produced 
a  great  result  by  his  methodical  and  un- 
conscious means  of  selection,  what  may  not 
natural  selection  effect?  Man  can  act  only 
on  external  and  visible  characters;  Nature, 
if  I  may  be  allowed  to  personify  the  natural 
preservation  or  survival  of  the  fittest,  cares 
nothing  for  appearances,  except  in  so  far  as 
they  are  useful  to  any  being.  She  can  act  on 
every  internal  organ,  on  every  shade  of  con- 
stitutional difference,  on  the  whole  machin- 
ery of  life.  Man  selects  only  for  his  own 
good;  Nature  only  for  that  of  the  being  which 
she  tends.  .  .  .  Under  Nature  the  slight- 
est differences  of  structure  or  consititution 
may  well  turn  the  nicely  balanced  scale  in 
the  struggle  for  life,  and  so  be  preserved. 
How  fleeting  are  the  wishes  and  efforts  of 
man !  How  short  his  time,  and  consequently 
how  poor  will  be  his  results,  compared  with 
those  accumulated  by  Nature  during  whole 
geological  periods!  Can  we  wonder,  then, 
that  Nature's  productions  should  be  far 
"  truer "  in  character  than  man's  produc- 
tions; that  they  should  be  infinitely  better 
adapted  to  the  most  complex  conditions  of 


life,  and  should  plainly  bear  the  stamp  of 
far  higher  workmanship? — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  4,  p.  76.  (Burt.) 

2379.  NATURE'S    BOATS  HAVE 
WATER-TIGHT  COMPARTMENTS—  Seeds 
That  Bide   Their  Time. — In  the   driftwood 
may  be  found  dry  fruits  of  the  bladdernut, 
brown  and  light,  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diam- 
eter.    See  how  tough  they  are;    they  seem 
to  be  perfectly  tight,  and,  even  if  one  hap- 
pens to  have  a  hole  punched  in  its  side,  there 
are  probably  two  cells  that  are  still  tight, 
for  there  are  three  in  all.    Within  are  a  few 
seeds,  hard  and  smooth.     Why  are  they  so 
hard?    WTill  it  not  be  difficult  for  such  seeds 
to  get  moist  enough  and  soft  enough  to  en- 
able them  to  germinate?     The  hard  coats 
enable  the  seeds  to  remain  uninjured  for  a 
long  time  in  the  water,  in  case  one  or  two 
cells  of  the  papery  pods  are  broken  open; 
and  after  the  tough  pod  has  decayed  and  the 
seeds  have  sunken  to  the  moist  earth  among 
the  sticks  and  dead  leaves,  they  can  have  all 
the  time  they  need  for  the  slow  decay  of 
their  armor.    Sooner  or  later  a  tiny  plant  is 
likely  to   appear   and  produce  a  beautiful 
bush.     .     .     .     But  this  is  not  all.     Many 
of  the  dry  nuts  hang  on  all  winter,  or  for  a 
part  of  it,  rattling  in  the  wind,  as  tho  loath 
to  leave.     Some  of  them  are  torn  loose,  and 
in  winter  there  will  be  a  better  chance  than 
at  any  other  time  for  the  wind  to  do  the 
seeds  a  favor,  especially  when  there  is  snow 
on   the  ground,   for   then   they  will   bound 
along  before  the  breeze  till  something  inter- 
rupts them. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  4,  p. 
22.    (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2380.  NATURE'S    CARVING— Rocks 
Cut  and  Polished  by  Glacier. — This  Grimsel 
is  a  weird  region — a  monument  carved  with 
hieroglyphics  more  ancient  and  more  grand 
than  those  of  Nineveh  or  the  Nile.     It  is  a 
world  disinterred  by  the  sun  from  a  sepul- 
cher  of  ice.    All  around  are  evidences  of  the 
existence    and    the    might    of    the    glaciers 
which  once  held  possession  of  the  place.    All 
around  the  rocks  are  carved,  and  fluted,  and 
polished,  and  scored.     Here  and  there  angu- 
lar pieces  of  quartz,  held  fast  by  the  ice, 
inserted    their    edges    into    the    rocks    and 
scratched  them  like  diamonds,  the  scratches 
varying  in  depth  and  width  according  to  the 
magnitude    of   the    cutting    stone.      Larger 
masses,  held  similarly  captive,  scooped  lon- 
gitudinal   depressions    in    the    rocks    over 
which  they  passed,  while  in  many  cases  the 
polishing  must  have  been  effected  by  the  ice 
itself.    A  raindrop  will  wear  a  stone  away; 
much  more  would  an  ice  surface,  squeezed 
into  perfect  contact  by  enormous  pressure, 
rub  away  the  asperities  of  the  rocks  over 
which  for  ages  it  was  forced  to  slide.     The 
rocks  thus  polished  by  the  ice  itself  are  so 
exceedingly  smooth  and  slippery  that  it  ^  is 
impossible  to  stand  on  them  where  their  in- 
clination  is   at  all   considerable. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  7,  p.  75. 
(A.,  1808.) 


485 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Nature 
Nature's 


2381.  NATURE'S  CONFORMITY  TO 
LAW,  THE  FASCINATION  OF— The  great- 
est instance  of  what  the  human  mind  can 
effect  by  means  of  a  well-recognized  law  of 
natural  phenomena  is  that  afforded  by  mod- 
ern   astronomy.      The    one    simple    law    of 
gravitation    regulates    the    motions    of    the 
heavenly  bodies  not  only  of  our  own  planet- 
ary system,  but  also  of  the  far  more  distant 
double  stars,  from  which  even  the  ray  of 
light,  the  quickest  of  all  messengers,  needs 
years  to  reach  our  eye ;    and  just  on  account 
of  this  simple  conformity  with  law  the  mo- 
tions of  the  bodies  in  question  can  be  accu- 
lately  predicted  and  determined  both  for  the 
past  and  for  future  years  and  centuries  to  a 
fraction  of  a  minute. 

On  this  exact  conformity  with  law  de- 
pends also  the  certainty  with  which  we  know 
how  to  tame  the  impetuous  force  of  steam 
and  to  make  it  the  obedient  servant  of  our 
wants.  On  this  conformity  depends,  more- 
over, the  intellectual  fascination  wrhich 
chains  the  physicist  to  his  subjects. — HELM- 
HOLTZ  On  the  Conservation  of  Force,  Popu- 
lar Scientific  Lectures,  p.  318.  (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2382.  NATURE'S   FURNACES—  Crar 

ter  of  Volcano  Filled  with  Boiling  Lava. — 
No  one  can  look  down  on  the  mass  of  seeth- 
ing material  in  violent  agitation  within  the 
fissures  at  the  bottom  of  the  crater  of 
Stromboli,  without  being  forcibly  reminded 
of  the  appearances  presented  by  liquids  in  a 
state  of  boiling  or  ebullition.  The  glowing 
material  seems  to  be  agitated  by  two  kinds 
of  movements,  the  one  whirling  or  rotatory, 
the  other  vertical  or  up-and-down  in  its  di- 
rection. The  fluid  mass  in  this  way  appears 
to  be  gradually  impelled  upwrards  till  it  ap- 
proaches the  lips  of  the  aperture,  when  vast 
bubbles  are  formed  upon  its  surface,  and  to 
the  sudden  bursting  of  these  the  phenomena 
of  the  eruption  are  due. — JUDD  Volcanoes, 
eh.  2,  p.  19.  (A.,  1899.) 

2383.  NATURE'S  GREAT  RESOLVENT 

— Except  in  very  rare  cases  Nature  never 
makes  use  of  any  other  acid  than  carbonic 
acid  to  bring  about  decompositions,  trans- 
formations, or  new  formations. — TIBKEL  Die 
Umwandlungsprocesse  im  Mineralreich,  p. 
30.  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2384.  NATURE'S    MANY    HUES 
FROM  THREE    PRIMARY    COLORS— 

Young,  Helmholtz,  and  Maxwell  reduce  all 
differences  of  hue  to  combinations  in  differ- 
ent proportions  of  three  primary  colors.  It 
is  demonstrable  by  experiment  that  from 
the  red,  green,  and  violet  all  the  other  colors 
of  the  spectrum  may  be  obtained. — TYNDALL 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  40.  (A.,  1898.) 

2385.  NATURE'S     MASTERPIECES 

OF  LIFE— Inheritance  from  Ancient  Ages. — 
Above  all  other  [forms],  we  should  protect 
and  hold  sacred  those  types,  Nature's  mas- 
terpieces, which  are  first  singled  out  for  de- 
struction on  account  of  their  size,  or 


splendor,  or  rarity,  and  that  false  detestable 
glory  which  is  accorded  to  their  most  suc- 
cessful slayers.  In  ancient  times  the  spirit 
of  life  shone  brightest  in  these;  and  when 
others  that  shared  the  earth  with  them  were 
taken  by  death  they  were  left,  being  more 
worthy  of  perpetuation.  Like  immortal 
flowers  they  have  drifted  down  to  us  on  the 
ocean  of  time,  and  their  strangeness  and 
beauty  bring  to  our  imaginations  a  dream 
and  a  picture  of  that  unknown  world,  im- 
measurably far  removed,  where  man  was 
not:  and  when  they  perish,  something  of 
gladness  goes  out  from  Nature,  and  the  sun- 
shine loses  something  of  its  brightness.  — 
HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  29. 
(C.  &H.,  1895.) 

2386.     NATURE'S  NON-CONDUCT- 

ING MEDIUM—  Experiment  with  Molten  Iron. 
—  Mr.  Nasmyth,  the  inventor  of  the  steam- 
hammer,  has  lately  illustrated,  by  a  very 
striking  experiment,  the  non-conductibility 
of  a  thin  layer  of  dry  sand  and  clay.  Into 
a  caldron  of  iron  one-fourth  of  an  inch 
thick,  lined  with  sand  and  clay  five-eighths 
of  an  inch  thick,  he  poured  eight  tons  of 
melted  iron  at  a  white  heat.  After  the  fused 
metal  had  been  twenty  minutes  in  the  cal- 
dron the  palm  of  the  hand  could  be  applied 
to  the  outside  without  inconvenience,  and 
aiter  forty  minutes  there  was  not  heat 
enough  to  singe  writing-paper.  This  fact 
may  help  us  to  explain  how  strata  in  contact 
with  dikes,  or  beds  of  fused  matter,  have 
sometimes  escaped  without  perceptible  alter- 
ation by  heat.  —  LYELL  Geology,  ch.  25,  p. 
413.  (A.,  1854.) 


2387.  NATURE'S  PARADOX— 

an  Unyielding  Substance  —  Bacon  First 
Proved  It  Incompressible  —  "  The  Florentine 
Experiment  "  a  Later  Copy.  —  Water  yields 
so  freely  to  the  hand  that  you  might  sup- 
pose it  to  be  easily  squeezed  into  a  smaller 
space.  That  this  is  not  the  case  was  proved 
more  than  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago 
by  Lord  Bacon.  He  filled  a  hollow  globe  of 
lead  with  the  liquid,  and,  soldering  up  the 
aperture,  tried  to  flatten  the  globe  by  the 
blows  of  a  heavy  hammer.  He  continued 
hammering  "  till*  the  water,  impatient  of 
further  pressure,  exuded  through  the  solid 
lead  like  a  fine  dew."  Water  was  thus 
proved  to  offer  an  immense  resistance  to 
compression.  Nearly  fifty  years  afterwards, 
a  similar  experiment,  with  the  same  result, 
was  made  by  the  members  of  the  Academy 
Del  Cimento  in  Florence.  They,  however, 
used  a  globe  of  silver  instead  of  a  globe  of 
lead.  This  experiment  is  everywhere  known 
as  "  the  Florentine  experiment  "  ;  but  Ellis 
and  Spedding,  the  eminent  biographers  of 
Bacon,  have  clearly  shown  that  it  ought  to 
be  called  "the  Baconian  experiment."  — 
TYNDALL  New  Fragments,  p.  343.  (A., 
1897.) 

2388.  NATURE'S  PICTURE-BOOK— 

Wonders  of  Geology.  —  We  may  turn  over 
these  wonderful  leaves  [strata]  one  after 


Nature's 
Necessity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


486 


one,  like  the  leaves  of  a  herbarium,  and  find 
the  pictorial  records  of  a  former  creation  in 
every  page.  Scallops,  and  gryphites,  and 
ammonites,  of  almost  every  variety  peculiar 
to  the  formation,  and  at  least  some  eight  or 
ten  varieties  of  belemnite;  twigs  of  wood, 
leaves  of  plants,  cones  of  an  extinct 
species  of  pine,  bits  of  charcoal,  and  the 
scales  of  fishes;  and,  as  if  to  render  their 
pictorial  appearance  more  striking,  tho  the 
leaves  of  this  interesting:  volume  are  of  a 
deep  black,  most  of  the  impressions  are  of  a 
chalky  whiteness.  I  was  lost  in  admiration 
and  astonishment,  and  found  my  very  imagi- 
nation paralyzed  by  an  assemblage  of  won- 
ders that  seemed  to  outrival,  in  the  fan- 
tastic and  the  extravagant,  even  its  wildest 
conceptions.  I  passed  on  from  ledge  to 
ledge,  like  the  traveler  of  the  tale  through 
the  city  of  statues. — MILLER  The  Old  Red 
Sandstone,  ch.  1,  p.  10.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

2389.  NATURE'S    PREMIUM    ON 
GOOD  MOTHERS—  The  Survival  of  the  Fit- 
test Forces  Altruism   upon  the  World. — A 
mother  who  did  not  care  for  her  children 
would  have  feeble  and  sickly  children.  Their 
children's  children  would  be  feeble  and  sick- 
ly   children.      And    the    day    of    reckoning 
would  come  when  they  would  be  driven  off 
the  field  by  a  hardier,  that  is  a  better-moth- 
ered, race.     Hence  the  premium .  of  Nature 
upon  better  mothers.     Hence  the  elimina- 
tion of  all  the  reproductive  failures,  of  all 
the  mothers  who  fell  short  of  completing  the 
process  to  the  last  detail.    And  hence,  by  the 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  altruism, 
which  at  this  stage  means  good-motherism, 
is  forced  upon  the  world. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  265.    (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2390.  NATURE'S   PURIFIER— Sand 
the  Great  Filter. — So  convinced  was  Koch  of 
the  efficiency  of  sand- filtration  as  protection 
against  disease-producing  germs  that  he  ad- 
vocated an  adaptation  of  this  plan  in  places 
where  it  was  found  that  a  well  yielded  in- 
fected water.     Such  pollution  in  a  well  may 
be  due  to  various  causes;    surface-polluted 
water  oozing  into  the  well  is  probably  the 
commonest,   but  decaying   animal   or   vege- 
table matter  might  also  raise  the  number  of 
micro-organisms  present  almost  indefinitely. 
Koch's  proposal  for  such  a  polluted  well  was 
to  fill  it  up  with  gravel  to  its  highest  water- 
level,  and  above  that,  up  to  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  with  fine  sand.    Before  the  well 
is    filled    up    in    this    manner    it    must,    of 
course,  be  fitted  with  a  pipe  passing  to  the 
bottom  and  connected  with  a  pump.     This 
simple  procedure  of  filling  up  a  well  with 
gravel    and    sand    interposes    an    effectual 
filter-bed  between  the  subsoil  water  and  any 
foul  surface  water  percolating  downwards. 
Such  an  arrangement  yields  as  good,  if  not 
better,  results  than  an  ordinary  filter-bed, 
on  account  of  there  being  practically  no  dis- 
turbance of  the  bed  nor  injury  done  to  it  by 
frost. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  77.    (G. 
P.  P.,  1809.) 


2391.  NATURE'S  STEAM-JETS— Fast 

Masses  of  Rock  Ejected  from  Volcano. — A 
volcano  is  essentially  a  steam- jet,  and  the 
steam  almost  certainly  is  derived  from 
water  buried  in  the  rocks  at  the  time  of 
their  formation.  The  quantity  of  matter 
extruded  by  a  volcano  is  very  great.  We  get 
an  inadequate  sense  of  its  mass  from  the 
cones  which  are  accumulated  about  the  point 
of  ejection.  Thus  in  the  case  of  Etna,  a 
volcano,  vast  tho  it  is,  of  the  second  order 
of  magnitude  in  terrestrial  cones,  we  find 
in  and  around  the  elevation  a  mass  of 
ejected'  rocky  material  which  amounts  in 
volume  to  somewhere  near  one  thousand 
cubic  miles;  yet  this  prodigious  mass  of 
matter  is  only  a  small  part  of  that  which 
has  been  ejected  from  the  vent. — SHALER 
Nature  and  Man  in  America,  ch.  2,  p.  62. 
(S.,  1899.) 

2392.  NAVIGATION,  ANCIENT—  The 

Merchant  Princes  of  Other  Days — Pheni- 
cians  and  Sidonians.  —  The  [Phenicians] 
.  .  .  widened  the  domain  of  knowledge  in 
several  directions  by  independent  inventions 
of  their  own.  A  state  of  industrial  pros- 
perity, based  on  an  extensive  maritime  com- 
merce, and  on  the  enterprise  manifested  at 
Sidon  in  the  manufacture  of  white  and  col- 
ored glasswares,  tissues,  and  purple  dyes, 
necessarily  led  to  advancement  in  mathe- 
matical and  chemical  knowledge,  and  more 
particularly  in  the  technical  arts.  "  The 
Sidonians,"  writes  Strabo,  "  are  described  as 
industrious  inquirers  in  astronomy,  as  well 
as  in  the  science  of  numbers,  to  which  they 
have  been  led  by  their  skill  in  arithmetical 
calculation,  and  in  navigating  their  vessels 
by  night,  both  of  which  are  indispensable  to 
commerce  and  maritime  intercourse." — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  129.  (H., 
1897.)' 

2393.  NAVIGATION  BY  SPIDERS— 

The  Raft  of  the  Hunting-spider. — The  fol- 
lowing is  quoted  from  Biichner: 

"  Less  idyllic  than  the  water-spider  is  our 
native  hunting-spider,  Dolomedes  fimbriata, 
which  belongs  to  those  species  which  spin  no 
web,  but  hunt  their  victims  like  animals  of 
prey.  As  the  Argyroneta  is  the  discoverer 
of  the  diving-bell,  so  may  this  be  regarded 
as  the  discoverer  or  first  builder  of  a  float- 
ing raft.  It  is  not  content  with  hunting  in- 
sects on  land,  but  follows  them  on  the  water, 
on  the  surface  of  which  it  runs  about  with 
ease.  It,  however,  needs  a  place  to  rest  on, 
and  makes  it  by  rolling  together  dry  leaves 
and  such  like  bodies,  binding  them  into  a 
firm  whole  with  its  silken  threads.  On  this 
laftlike  vessel  it  floats  at  the  mercy  of  wind 
and  waves ;  and  if  an  unlucky  water-insect 
comes  for  an  instant  to  the  surface  of  the 
water  to  breathe,  the  spider  darts  at  it  with 
lightning  speed,  and  carries  it  back  to  its 
raft  to  devour  at  its  ease. — ROMANES  Ani- 
mal Intelligence,  ch.  6,  p.  213.  (A.,  1899.) 

2394.  NAVIGATION     GUIDED     BY 

THE  STARS— Mariners  of  Tyre  and  Sidon— 


487 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Nature's 
Necessity 


The  Cynosure. — At  the  epoch  when  the  mari- 
time power  of  the  Phenicians  was  at  its 
apogee,  about  3,000  years  ago,  or  twelve  cen- 
turies before  our  era,  it  was  the  star  0  of 
the  Little  Bear  .  .  .  which  was  the 
nearest  bright  star  to  the  pole,  and 
the  skilful  navigators  of  Tyre  and  Sidon 
(O  purpled  kings  of  former  times!  what  re- 
mains of  your  pride?)  had  recognized  the 
seven  stars  of  the  Little  Bear,  which  they 
named  the  Tail  of  the  Dog,  "  Cynosura  " ; 
they  guided  themselves  by  the  pivot  of  the 
diurnal  motion,  and  during  several  centuries 
they  surpassed  in  precision  all  the  mariners 
of  the  Mediterranean.  The  dog  had  given 
place  to  a  bear,  doubtless  on  account  of  the 
resemblance  of  the  configuration  of  these 
seven  stars  to  the  seven  of  the  Great  Bear, 
but  the  tail  remains  long  and  curled  up,  in 
spite  of  the  nature  of  the  new  animal. 

Thus  the  stars  of  the  north  at  first  served 
as  points  of  reference  for  the  first  men  who 
dared  to  venture  on  the  seas.  But  they 
served  at  the  same  time  as  guides  on  the 
mainland  for  the  nomadic  tribes  who  car- 
lied  their  tents  from  country  to  country. 
In  the  midst  of  savage  nature,  the  first  war- 
riors themselves  had  nothing  but  the  Little 
Bear  to  guide  their  steps. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  1,  p.  556. 
(A.) 

2395.  NAVY,  BRITISH,  STOPPAGE 
OF  GROG  IN— Reduction  of  Crimes  of  Vio- 
lence— Dangers  of  Incipient  Intoxication. — 
It  would  seem  that  in  whatever  way  the 
exertion  of  volitional  power  is  related  to  the 
condition  of  the  brain,  this  exertion  is  inter- 
fered with  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  agents, 
before  there  is  any  serious  perversion  of  the 
automatic  [muscular]  activity.  ...  It 
is  in  this  primary  stage  of  alcoholic  excite- 
ment that  a  large  number  of  "  crimes  of 
violence,"  as  well  as  of  minor  offenses,  are 
committed,  as  is  shown  by  the  remarkable 
reduction  in  these  which  took  place  in  the 
navy  immediately  that  the  "  evening  grog  " 
was  stopped.  The  following  very  charac- 
teristic instance  of  this  kind  was  related 
to  the  Admiralty  Committee  on  whose  rec- 
ommendation this  change  was  made: 

"  I  had  a  marine,"  said  Captain  Drew, 
"  who  was  constantly  complained  against  for 
quarreling  and  fighting  and  disobedience  to 
the  orders  of  his  sergeant.  At  length  I  be- 
gan with  flogging  him,  and  told  him  that  I 
would  increase  his  punishment  every  time 
that  I  had  a  complaint  against  him.  This  I 
had  to  do  twice;  and  as  the  man  was  con- 
stantly excited  it  appeared  to  me  that  the 
man's  reason  must  be  affected.  I  therefore 
applied  to  the  surgeon  and  asked  him  to 
examine  the  man  to  see  whether  he  was  not 
a  fit  subject  for  invaliding,  but  the  surgeon 
reported  that  he  was  as  fine  and  healthy  a 
young  man  as  there  was  in  the  ship.  I  then 
did  not  think  myself  justified  in  flogging 
him  again,  but  took  upon  myself  to  do  an 
illegal  act  with  a  good  intention,  and  when 
we  came  into  harbor  (in  the  West  Indies)  I 


hired  a  cell  in  the  gaol  and  kept  him  there 
three  days  upon  bread  and  water.  When 
the  man  came  out  of  gaol  I  told  him  that 
whenever  I  had  a  complaint  against  him,  as 
sure  as  we  came  into  harbor  I  would  send 
him  to  gaol;  but  that  if  he  would  choose  to 
alter  his  conduct  I  would  start  afresh  with 
him  and  forget  everything  that  had  hap- 
pened. He  said  that  he  was  very  much 
obliged  to  me,  and  he  came  to  me  the  next 
day  and  asked  me  if  I  would  stop  his  allow- 
ance of  grog  and  let  him  be  paid  for  it.  I 
did  so,  and  never  had  another  complaint 
against  the  man  while  I  was  in  the  ship." — 
CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch.  17,  p. 
649.  (A.,  1900.) 

2396.  NEARNESS  IN  TIME  ASCRIBED 
TO  GREAT   PUBLIC    EVENTS—  Vividness 
Suggests  Proximity. — The  most  striking  ex- 
amples of  the  illusory  effect  of  mere  vivid- 
ness, involving  a  complete  detachment  of  the 
event  from  the  prominent  landmarks  of  the 
past,  are  afforded  by  public  events  which  lie 
outside  the  narrower  circle  of  our  personal 
life,  and  which  do  not  in  the  natural  course 
of  things  become   linked  to   any  definitely 
localized    points    in    the    field    of    memory. 
These  events  may  be  very  stirring  and  en- 
grossing for  the  time,  but  in  many  cases 
they  pass  out  of  the  mind  just  as  suddenly 
as  they  entered  it.     We  have  no  occasion  to 
revert  to  them,   and  if  by  chance   we   are 
afterwards  reminded  of  them  they  are  pretty 
certain  to  look  too  near,  just  because  the 
fact   of  their   having  greatly   interested   us 
has  served  to  render  their  images  particu- 
larly vivid. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10,  p.  258. 

(A.,  1897.) 

2397.  NEBULAE     NOT    WHOLLY 
COMPOSED  OF  STARS—  Gaseous  Constitu- 
ents— Perhaps  Systems  in  Pro.cess  of  For- 
mation.— In  many  nebulse  small  stars  can 
be  seen.     .     .     .     More  stars  are  continually 
being  discovered  in  them,  the  better  are  the 
telescopes  used  in  their  analysis.     Thus,  be- 
fore the  discovery  of  spectrum  analysis,  Sir 
W.    HerscheFs    former    view    might    be    re- 
garded   as    the    most    probable,    that    that 
which  we  see  to  be  nebulse  are  only  heaps  of 
very   fine    stars,    of   other    "  Milky   Ways." 
Now,  however,  spectrum  analysis  has  shown 
a  gas  spectrum  in  many  nebulae  which  con- 
tain  stars. — HELMHOLTZ   Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  4,  p.  187.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2398.  NECESSITY     OF     CONFLICT 
AND  WAR — Combativeness  Inherent  in  Man. 
— In  many  respects  man  is  the  most  ruth- 
lessly   ferocious    of    beasts.      As    with    all 
gregarious  animals,  "  two  souls,"  as  Faust 
says,  "  dwell  within  his  breast,"  the  one  of 
sociability    and    helpfulness,    the    other    of 
jealousy  and  antagonism  to  his  mates.    Tho 
in   a  general  way  he   cannot   live  without 
them,  yet,  as  regards  certain  individuals,  it 
often  falls  out  that  he  cannot  live  with  them 
either.     Constrained  to  be  a  member  of  a 
tribe,  he  still  has  a  right  to  decide,  as  far  as 
in   him   lies,   of   which   other   members   the 


Necessity 
jferves 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


tribe  shall  consist.  Killing  off  a  few  ob- 
noxious ones  may  often  better  the  chances  of 
those  that  remain.  And  killing  off  a  neigh- 
boring tribe  from  whom  no  good  thing 
comes,  but  only  competition,  may  materially 
better  the  lot  of  the  whole  tribe.  Hence  the 
gory  cradle,  the  bellum  omnium  contra 
omnes,  in  which  our  race  was  reared;  hence 
the  fickleness  of  human  ties,  the  ease  with 
which  the  foe  of  yesterday  becomes  the  ally 
of  to-day,  the  friend  of  to-day  the  enemy  of 
to-morrow;  hence  the  fact  that  we,  the 
lineal  representatives  of  the  successful  en- 
actors  of  one  scene  of  slaughter  after  an- 
other, must,  whatever  more  pacific  virtues 
we  may  also  possess,  still  carry  about  with 
us,  ready  at  any  moment  to  burst  into  flame, 
the  smoldering  and  sinister  traits  of  char- 
acter by  means  of  which  they  lived  through 
so  many  massacres,  harming  others,  but 
themselves  unharmed. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  409.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2399.  NECESSITY  OF  PAIN— Its  Chief 
Use   Not   for   the   Individual,    but   for   the 
Race. — We  must,  therefore,  accept  pain  as  a 
fact  existing  by  a  deep  necessity,  having  its 
root  in  the  essential  order  of  the  world.     If 
we  are  to  understand  it,  we  must  learn  to 
look  on  it  with  different  eyes.    And  does  not 
a  different  thought  suggest  itself  even  while 
we  recognize  that  the  others  fail?     For  if 
the  reason  and  the  end  of  pain  lie  beyond 
the  results  that  have  been  mentioned,  then 
they  lie  beyond  the  individual.     Pain,  if  it 
exist  for  any  purpose,  and  have  any  end  or 
use — and  of  this  what  sufferer  can  endure  to 
doubt? — must  have  some  purpose  which  ex- 
tends beyond  the  interest  of  the  person  who 
is  called  upon  to  bear  it.     ... 

These  uses  of  pain,  which  concern  the  one 
who  suffers  only  [as  leading  to  avoidance  of 
danger,  etc.],  must  fail  and  be  found  insuffi- 
cient. .  .  .  But  when  we  extend  our 
thought,  and  recognise  not  only  that  there 
are,  in  pain,  ends  unseen  by  us,  but  that 
these  ends  may  not  be  confined  within  the 
circle  of  our  own  interests,  surely  a  light 
begins  to  glimmer  through  the  darkness. 
While  we  look  only  at  that  which  directly 
concerns  the  individual  who  suffers,  no  real 
explanation  of  suffering,  no  satisfaction 
that  truly  satisfies,  can  be  found.  But  if  we 
may  look  beyond  and  see  in  our  own  suffer- 
ings, and  in  the  sufferings  of  all,  something 
in  which  mankind  also  has  a  stake,  then 
they  are  brought  into  a  region  in  which  the 
heart  can  deal  with  them  and  find  them 
good.  And  if  the  heart,  the  reason  also. 
For  here  it  is  the  soul  that  is  the  judge ; 
and  if  the  heart  is  satisfied,  the  reason  also 
is  content. — HINTON  The  Mystery  of  Pain, 
p.  19.  (Hum.,  1893.) 

2400.  NEEDLE,  MAGNETIC,  AN- 
CIENT   KNOWLEDGE    OF— Early  Chinese 
Record     of     "  Needle    Pointing     South " — 
Polarity  a  Puzzle. — No  definite  statement, 
however,  is  found  until  the  end  of  the  elev- 
enth century  is  reached,  and  then  in  a  work 


entitled   "  Mung-Khi-pithan "   we   meet  the 
following  extraordinary  passage : 

"  The  soothsayers  rub  a  needle  with  the 
magnet  stone  so  that  it  may  mark  the 
south;  however,  it  declines  constantly  a  lit- 
tle to  the  east.  It  does  not  indicate  the 
south  exactly.  When  this  needle  floats  on 
the  water  it  is  much  agitated.  If  the  finger- 
nails touch  the  upper  edge  of  the  basin  in 
which  it  floats  they  agitate  it  strongly,  only 
it  continues  to  slide  and  falls  easily.  It  is 
better,  in  order  to  show  its  virtues  in  the 
best  way,  to  suspend  it  as  follows:  Take  a 
single  filament  from  a  piece  of  new  cotton 
and  attach  it  exactly  to  the  middle  of  the 
needle  by  a  bit  of  wax  as  large  as  a  mustard- 
seed.  Hang  it  up  in  a  place  where  there  is 
no  wind.  Then  the  needle  constantly  shows 
the  south;  but  among  such  needles  there 
are  some  which,  being  rubbed,  indicate  the 
north.  Our  soothsayers  have  some  which 
show  south  and  some  which  show  north.  Of 
this  property  of  the  magnet  to  indicate  the 
south,  like  that  of  the  cypress  to  show  the 
west,  no  one  can  tell  the  origin." — BENJA- 
MIN Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  3,  p. 
75.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 


24O1. 


Occident  Indebted 


to  Orient. — While  the  gradually  developed 
knowledge  of  relations  in  space  incited  men 
to  think  of  shorter  sea  routes,  the  means  for 
perfecting  practical  navigation  were  like- 
wise gradually  increased  by  the  application 
of  mathematics  and  astronomy,  the  inven- 
tion of  new  instruments  of  measurement, 
and  by  a  more  skilful  employment  of  mag- 
netic forces.  It  is  extremely  probable  that 
Europe  owes  the  knowledge  of  the  northern 
and  southern  directing  powers  of  the  mag- 
netic needle — the  use  of  the  mariner's  com- 
pass— to  the  Arabs,  and  that  these  people 
were  in  turn  indebted  for  it  to  the  Chinese. 
.  .  .  In  the  third  century  of  our  era,  un- 
der the  dynasty  of  Han,  there  is  a  descrip- 
tion given  in  Hiutschin's  dictionary  Schue- 
\ven  of  the  manner  in  which  the  property  of 
pointing  with  one  end  toward  the  south  may 
be  imparted  to  an  iron  rod  by  a  series  of 
methodical  blows.  Owing  to  the  ordinary 
southern  direction  of  navigation  at  that 
period,  the  south  pointing  of  the  magnet  is 
always  the  one  especially  mentioned.  A  cen- 
tury later,  under  the  dynasty  of  Tsin, 
Chinese  ships  employed  the  magnet  to  guide 
their  course  safely  across  the  open  sea,  and 
it  was  by  means  of  these  vessels  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  compass  was  carried  to 
India,  and  from  thence  to  the  eastern  coasts 
of  Africa. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii, 
p.  253.  (H.,  1897.) 

24O2.  NEGATION  OF  FIXED  MODES 
GIVES  MAN  PREEMINENCE— New  Prin- 
ciples for  New  Cases. — In  them  [the  lower 
animals]  fixed  habit  is  the  essential  and 
characteristic  law  of  nervous  action.  The 
brain  grows  to  the  exact  modes  in  which  it 
has  been  exercised,  and  the  inheritance  of 
these  modes — then  called  instincts — would 


489 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Necessity 
Nerves 


have  in  it  nothing  surprising.  But  in  man 
the  negation  of  all  fixed  modes  is  the  essen- 
tial characteristic.  He  owes  his  whole  pre- 
eminence a.-?  a  reasoner,  his  whole  human 
quality  of  intellect,  we  may  say,  to  the  facil- 
ity with  which  a  given  mode  of  thought  in 
him  may  suddenly  be  broken  up  into  ele- 
ments which  recombine  anew.  Only  at  the 
price  of  inheriting  no  settled  instinctive 
tendencies  is  he  able  to  settle  every  novel 
case  by  the  fresh  discovery  by  his  reason  of 
novel  principles. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  22,  p.  368.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2403.  NEGLECT,  DETERIORATION 

THE  PENALTY  OF— Effort  Needed  for  Ex- 
cellence (Heb.  ii,  3). — If  we  neglect  a  gar- 
den plant,  then  a  natural  principle  of  deteri- 
oration comes  in  and  changes  it  into  a  worse 
plant.  And  if  we  neglect  a  bird,  by  the 
same  imperious  law  it  will  be  gradually 
changed  into  an  uglier  bird.  Or  if  we  neg- 
lect almost  any  of  the  domestic  animals, 
they  will  rapidly  revert  to  wild  and  worth- 
less forms  again. 

Now  the  same  thing  exactly  would  hap- 
pen in  the  case  of  you  or  me.  Why  should 
man  be  an  exception  to  any  of  the  laws  of 
Nature?  Nature  knows  him  simply  as  an 
animal  —  subkingdom  Vertebrata,  class 
Mammalia,  order  Bimana.  And  the  law  of 
reversion  to  type  runs  through  all  creation 
If  a  man  neglect  himself  for  a  few  years 
he  will  change  into  a  worse  man  and  a 
lower  man.  If  it  is  his  body  that  he  neg- 
lects, he  will  deteriorate  into  a  wild  and 
bestial  savage,  like  the  dehumanized  men 
who  are  discovered  sometimes  upon  desert 
islands.  If  it  is  his  mind  it  will  degenerate 
into  imbecility  and  madness — solitary  con- 
finement has  the  power  to  unmake  men's 
minds  and  leave  them  idiots.  If  he  neglect 
his  conscience,  it  will  run  off  into  lawless- 
ness and  vice.  Or,  lastly,  if  it  is  his  soul, 
it  must  inevitably  atrophy,  drop  off  in  ruin 
and  decay. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  essay  2,  p.  88.  (H.  Al.) 

2404.  NEGLECT     OF    SANITATION 
INVITES  ZYMOTIC  DISEASE— Oppression 
Opens    the    Way    for    Pestilence  —  Human 
Brotherhood  May  Involve  the  Most  Discreet 
with   the   Most   Degraded. — We   learn   from 
this  marvelous  discovery  [of  the  destruction 
of  disease-germs  by  the  leucocytes  or  white 
blood-corpuscles]    that   so    long   as   we   live 
simply   and   naturally,   and   obey   the   well- 
known  laws  of  sanitation,  so  as  to  secure 
a  healthy  condition  of  the  body,  the  more 
dreaded  zymotic  diseases  will  be  powerless 
against  us.     But  if  we  neglect  these  laws 
of  health,  or  allow  of  conditions  which  com- 
pel large  bodies  of  our  fellow  men  to  neg- 
lect them,  these  disease-germs  will  be  pres- 
ent in  such  quantities  in  the  air  and  the 
water  around  us  that  even  those  who  per- 
sonally live   comparatively  wholesome  lives 
will  not  always  escape  them. — WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  14,  p.  146.     (D.  M. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 


2405.  NEIGHBOR,   ANCIENT   IDEA 

OF— Moral  Obligation  Limited  to  Tribe.— It 
must  be  clearly  understood  also  that  the 
Old- World  rules  of  moral  conduct  were  not 
the  same  towards  all  men.  A  man  knew 
his  duty  to  his  neighbor,  but  all  men  were 
not  his  neighbors.  This  is  very  clearly  seen 
in  the  history  of  men's  ideas  of  manslaugh- 
ter and  theft.  .  .  .  The  old  state  of 
things  is  well  illustrated-  in  the  Latin  word 
hostis, which,  meaning  originally  "stranger," 
passed  quite  naturally  into  the  sense  of 
"  enemy."  Not  only  is  slaying  an  enemy  in 
open  war  looked  on  as  righteous,  but  ancient 
law  goes  on  the  doctrine  that  slaying  one's 
own  tribesman  and  slaying  a  foreigner  are 
crimes  of  quite  different  order,  while  killing 
a  slave  is  but  a  destruction  of  property. 
Nor  even  now  does  the  colonist  practically 
admit  that  killing  a  brown  or  black  man 
is  an  act  of  quite  the  same  nature  as  killing 
a  white  countryman.  Yet  the  idea  of  the 
sacredness  of  human  life  is  ever  spreading 
more  widely  in  the  world,  as  a  principle 
applying  to  mankind  at  large. 

The  history  of  the  notion  of  theft  and 
plunder  follows  partly  the  same  lines.  In 
the  lower  civilization  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  steal,"  is  not  unknown,  but  it  applies 
to  tribesmen  and  friends,  not  to  strangers 
and  enemies. — TYLOB  Anthropology,  ch.  16, 
p.  411.  (A.,  1899.) 

2406.  NERVE-FORCE  CAPABLE  OF 

EXHAUSTION— Sensations  More  Vivid  after 
Remission — Maximum  of  Power  Follows  Re- 
pose.— The  nerve-pores  and  corpuscles,  on 
being  stimulated,  undergo  a  process  of 
change,  whereby  their  power  is  gradually 
exhausted,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
need  remission  and  repose.  Hence,  the 
first  moments  of  a  stimulus  are  always 
the  freshest,  and  give  birth  to  the  most 
vivid  degrees  of  consciousness.  This  is  the 
condition  more  especially  requisite  for  main- 
taining a  state  of  pleasurable  sensibility. 
The  nervous  system  should  be  duly  refreshed 
or  invigorated  by  nourishment  and  repose, 
and  never  pushed  in  any  part  to  the  extreme 
limits  of  exhaustion.  The  same  condition 
applies  to  our  power  of  active  energy  in 
every  department,  whether  intellectual,  vol- 
untary, or  emotional.  Power  is  at  the  maxi- 
mum, under  a  fresh  start  of  renovated 
nerves,  and  fails  as  we  approach  the  point 
of  exhaustion.  There  are  certain  exception- 
al manifestations,  as  in  the  common  ex- 
perience of  "  growing  warm  "  to  one's  work ; 
the  maximum  of  energy  usually  shows  itself 
some  time  after  commencing,  an  effect  due 
entirely  to  the  increased  supply  of  blood  fol- 
lowing on  a  certain  amount  of  exercise. — 
BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  4,  p.  12.  (Hum., 
1880.) 

2407.  NERVES     COMMUNICATE 
THROUGH  CENTERS— Illustration  of  Mail   ' 
Sent  through  Distributing  Office. — The  plan 
of  communicating  from  one  part  of  the  body 
to  another — as  from  the  skin  of  the  hand 


Nerves 
Night 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


490 


to  the  muscles  of  the  arm — is  not  by  a  di- 
rect route  from  the  one  spot  to  the  other, 
but  by  a  nervous  center.  Every  nerve-fiber 
rising  from  the  surface  of  the  body,  or  from 
the  eye  or  the  ear,  goes  first  of  all  to  the 
spinal  cord  or  to  some  part  of  the  brain; 
and  any  influence  exerted  on  the  movements 
by  stimulating  these  fibers  passes  out  from 
some  nervous  center.  As  in  the  circulation 
of  letters  by  post,  there  is  no  direct  comuni- 
cation  between  one  street  and  another,  but 
every  letter  passes  first  to  the  central  office, 
so  the  transmission  of  influence  from  one 
member  of  the  body  to  another  is  exclusively 
through  a  center,  or  (with  a  few  exceptions) 
through  some  part  of  the  nervous  substance 
contained  in  the  head  and  backbone.  Every 
communication  is  centralized,  and  in  con- 
sequence there  is  not  only  great  economy  of 
the  conducting  machinery,  but  also  an  avoid- 
ance of  conflicting  messages. — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  3,  p.  8.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2408.  NERVES,  SPECIFIC  ACTION 

OF— Senses  Never  Confused— Eye  Tells  Only 
of  Light,  Ear  of  Sound. — Every  nerve  of 
sense  has  a  peculiar  kind  of  sensation.  We 
know  that  each  nerve  can  be  rendered  active 
by  a  vast  number  of  exciting  agents,  and 
that  the  same  agent  may  affect  different 
organs  of  sense;  but  no  matter  how  it  may 
be  brought  about,  we  never  receive  from 
nerves  of  sight  any  other  sensation  than 
that  of  light,  nor  from  the  nerves  of  the 
ear  any  other  sensation  than  that  of  sound. 
In  short,  we  derive  from  each  individual 
nerve  of  sense  that  sensation  only  that  cor- 
responds to  its  specific  action.  The  most 
marked  differences  in  the  qualities  of  sen- 
sation, that  is  to  say,  those  between  sen- 
sations from  different  senses,  are  consequent- 
ly in  no  way  dependent  on  the  nature  of  the 
exciting  agent,  but  only  on  the  nerve  appa- 
ratus that  is  operated  upon. — HELMHOLTZ 
Aim  and  Progress  of  Physical  Science 
(Popular  Lectures  on  Scientific  Subjects,  p. 
391).  (Translated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2409.  NERVES  THE  INTERPRETERS 
OF  THE  WORLD  TO  THE  MIND— Be 

tween  the  mind  of  man  and  the  outer  world 
are  interposed  the  nerves  of  the  human  body, 
which  translate,  or  enable  the  mind  to  trans- 
late, the  impressions  of  that  world  into 
facts  of  consciousness  and  thought. — TYN- 
DALI.  Fragments  of  Science,  ch.  2,  p.  28. 
(A.,  1897.) 

241 0.  NESTLINGS    NOT    TIMID    IF 
GENTLY    APPROACHED  —  No  Instinctive 
Fear  of  Man. — To   return  to  what  may  be 
seen   in  nestling  birds.     When  very  young, 
and  before  their  education  has  well  begun, 
if  quietly  approached  and  touched,  they  open 
their  bills  and  take  food  as  readily  from  a 
man  as  from  the  parent  bird.     But  if  while 
being  thus  fed  the  parent  returns  and  emits 
the  warning  note  they  instantly  cease  their 
hunger  cries,  close  their  gaping  mouths,  and 


crouch  down  frightened  in  the  nest. — HUD- 
SON Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  89.  (C. 
&  H.,  1895.) 

2411.  NESTS  REBUILT    ON    SAME 
SITES  —  Migratory  Birds  Return    to  Early 
Homes. — For    many   years    in    succession    a 
pair  of  blue  titmice  built  their  nest  in  an 
earthenware  bottle  placed  in  the  branches 
of  a  tree  in  a  garden  at  Oxbridge,  near  Stock- 
ton-on-Tees,  and  even  where  the  surface  of 
the     country    has    undergone    a     complete 
change  some  species  will  continue  breeding 
on   the   beloved   spot.      In   America   orioles 
and  vireos   appear   to   return  to   the   same 
tree,  or  even  to  affix  their  nest  to  the  same 
branch,  for  many  successive  years;   and   in 
like  manner  Allen  has  noticed  how  the  wren, 
the  pewee,  and  the  robin  repeatedly  occupy 
the    same    nesting    sites. — BROWN    Nature- 
Studies,  p.  16.      (Hum.,  1888.) 

2412.  NET,    THE,   COEVAL    WITH 
HISTORY  —  Egyptian  Monuments   Show  Its 
Skilful  Use. — The  net  is  one  of  the  things 
known  to  almost  all  men  so  far  as  history 
can  tell.     The  native  Australians  net  game 
like  ancient  Assyrians  or  English  poachers, 
and    are    not    less    skilled    in    netting    wild 
fowl.     To  see  this  art  at  its  height  we  may 
look   at  the   pictures   of   fowling-scenes    on 
the    monuments    of    ancient    Egypt,    which 
show   the   great   clap-nets    taking    geese   by 
scores;   even  the  souls  of  the  dead  are  de- 
picted   rejoicing    in   this    favorite    sport   in 
the  world  beyond  the  tomb. — TYLOR  Anthro- 
pology, ch.  9,  p.  212.     (A.,  1899.) 

2413.  NEWS  "AHEAD    OF   TIME " 

— Electricity  Outtravels  the  Sun. — We  are 
now  able  to  receive  accounts  of  great  events 
almost  while  they  are  happening  on  the 
other  side  of  the  globe;  and,  owing  to  dif- 
ference of  longitude,  we  sometimes  can  hear 
of  an  event  apparently  before  it  has  hap- 
pened. If  some  great  official  were  to  die 
at  Calcutta  at  sunset,  we  should  receive 
the  news  soon  after  noon  on  the  same  day. 
— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  3, 
p.  21.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2414.  NEWS    BY    TELEPHONE— 

Printing  of  Extras  Dispensed  with. — The 
telephone  is  actually  in  operation  at  Buda- 
pest in  the  form  of  a  telephonic  newspaper. 
At  certain  fixed  hours  throughout  the  day 
a  good  reader  is  employed  to  send  definite 
classes  of  news  along  the  wires  which  are 
laid  to  subscribers'  houses  and  offices,  so 
that  each  person  is  able  to  hear  the  particu- 
lar items  he  desires,  without  the  delay  of 
its  being  printed  and  circulated  in  successive 
editions  of  a  newspaper.  It  is  stated  that 
the  news  is  supplied  to  subscribers  in  this 
way  at  little  more  than  the  cost  of  a  daily 
newspaper,  and  that  it  is  a  complete  suc- 
cess.— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch. 
3,  p.  23.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2415.  NEWTON  SECURES  A  FILM 
THAT  IS  VARIABLE  AND  MEASURABLE 


491 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


— Newton's  Rings — Illustrate  Interference 
of  Light-waves. — Newton  .  .  .  determined 
by  accurate  measurements  the  relation  of 
the  thickness  of  the  film  to  the  color  of  dis- 
plays. [See  COLORS  OF  THIN  PLATES; 
PLATES.]  In  doing  this  his  first  care  was 
to  obtain  a  film  of  variable  and  calculable 
depth.  On  a  plano-convex  glass  lens  .  .  . 
of  very  feeble  curvature  he  laid  a  plate  of 
glass  .  .  .  with  a  plane  surface,  thus 
obtaining  a  film  of  air  of  gradually  increas- 
ing depth  from  the  point  of  contact  ...  . 
outwards.  On  looking  at  the  film  in  mono- 
chromatic light  he  saw,  with  the  delight 
attendant  on  fulfilled  prevision,  surrounding 
the  place  of  contact  a  series  of  bright  rings 
separated  from  each  other  by  dark  ones 
and  becoming  more  closely  packed  together 
as  the  distance  from  the  point  of  contact 
augmented.  .  .  .  When  he  employed  red 
light,  his  rings  had  certain  diameters;  when 
he  employed  blue  light,  the  diameters  were 
less.  In  general  terms,  the  more  refrangible 
the  light  the  smaller  were  the  rings.  Caus- 
ing his  glasses  to  pass  through  the  spectrum 
from  red  to  blue,  the  rings  gradually  con- 
tracted; when  the  passage  was  from  blue 
to  red,  the  rings  expanded.  This  is  a  beauti- 
ful experiment,  and  appears  to  have  given 
Newton  the  most  lively  satisfaction.  When 
white  light  fell  upon  the  glasses,  inasmuch 
as  the  colors  were  not  superposed,  a  series 
of  iris-colored  circles  was  obtained.  .  .  . 
In  monochromatic  light  the  rings  run  closer 
and  closer  together  as  they  recede  from  the 
center.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  at  a 
distance  the  film  of  air  thickens  more  rapid- 
ly than  near  the  center.  When  white  light 
is  employed  this  closing  up  of  the  rings 
causes  the  various  colors  to  be  superposed, 
so  that  after  a  certain  thickness  they  are 
blended  together  to  white  light,  the  rings 
then  ceasing  altogether. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  72.  (A.,  1898.) 

2416.  NICHE    OF    SCIENCE  UN- 
FILLED— Why  Not  a  Shrine  of  Deity  (Ps. 
xc,    2).—"  Does    the    vital,"    he    [Professor 
Knight]    asks,  "  proceed  by  a   still   remoter 
development  from  the  non-vital?     Or  was  it 
created  by  a  fiat  of  volition  ?  Or  " — and  here 
he  emphasizes  his  question — "  has  it  always 
existed  in  some  form  or  other  as  an  eter- 
nal constituent  of  the  universe  f     I  do  not 
see,"  he  replies,  "  how  we  can  escape  from 
the  last  alternative."     With  the  whole  force 
of  my  conviction  I  say,  Nor  do  I,  tho  our 
modes  of  regarding  the  "  eternal   constitu- 
ent "  may  not  be  the  same. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  376.     (A., 
1900.) 

2417.  NIGHT,    ADAPTATION    TO— 

Colors  of  Nocturnal  Animals. — Nocturnal 
animals  supply  another  illustration  of  the 
same  rule  [of  protective  coloration]  in  the 
dusky  colors  of  mice,  rats,  bats,  and  moles, 
and  in  the  soft-mottled  plumage  of  owls  and 
goat-suckers  which,  while  almost  equally 


inconspicuous  in  the  twilight,  are  such  as  to 
favor  their  concealment  in  the  daytime. — 
WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  8,  p.  131.  (Plum.) 

2418.  NIGHT    AND    DAY,    MYTHS 
WOVEN  AROUND— Story  of  Little  Red  Rid- 
ing-hood an  Ancient  Relic. — Of  all  the  na- 
ture-myths of  the  world  few  are  so  widely 
spread  as  those  on  this  theme  of  night  and 
day,  where  with  mythicjruth  the  devoured 
victims    were    afterwards    disgorged    or    set 
free.      The    Zulu    story-tellers   describe   the 
maw    of  the   monster   as   a   country   where 
there  are  hills   and  houses  and  cattle  and 
people  living,  and,  when  the  monster  is  cut 
open,  all  the  creatures  come  out  from  the 
darkness;    with    a    neat    touch    of    nature, 
which  shows  that  the  story-teller  is  think- 
ing of  the  dawn,  the  cock  comes  out  first, 
crying  "kukuluku!  I  see  the  world!"     Our 
English    version    of    the    old    myth    is    the 
nursery    tale    of    Little    Red    Riding  -  hood, 
but  it  is  spoilt  by  leaving  out  the  proper 
end  «( which   German  nurses  have  kept  up 
with  better  memory),  that  when  the  hunter 
ripped  up  the  sleeping  wolf  out  came  the 
little  damsel  in  her  red  satin  cloak,  safe  and 
sound. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  15,  p.  392. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2419.  NIGHT  A  TIME  OF  ANXIETY 
TO  PRIMEVAL  MAN—  What  if  Day  Should 
Return  No  More? — Joyous  Welcome  to  the 
Rising   Sun. — The   ancient   poems   of   India 
have  even  preserved  for  us  the  last  echoes 
of  the   fears   of   primeval   man    at  the   ap- 
proach  of  night.      The   sun.   the   good   sun, 
has  completely  disappeared  in  the  west;  is 
it   certain    that   he   will    return   to-morrow 
morning  in  the  east?     If  he  should  return 
no  more!  no  more  light,  no  more  heat;  the 
frozen  night,  gloomy  night,  covers  the  world ! 
How  shall  we  recover  the  lost  fire?    How  re- 
place  the   beneficent   sun    and   his   celestial 
light?     The  stars   from   the   height  of  the 
heavens    shed    their   melancholy   light;    the 
moon  pours  out  in  the  vacuities  of  the  at- 
mosphere that  rosy,  silvery  light  which  dif- 
fuses such  a  charm  upon  the  sleep  of  Na- 
ture; but  this  is  not  the  sun,  this  is  not  the 
day.      .      .      .      Ah,    see    the    dawn,    which 
brightens  slowly!      Behold  the  light,  behold 
the  day!      Sun!      King  of  the  heavens,  be 
blessed !       Oh !    never    forget    to    return !  — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  13.      (A.) 

2420.  NIGHT  IN  TROPICAL  FOREST 

— Discordant  Cries — Wide-spread  Conflict 
among  Animals. — After  eleven  o'clock,  such 
a  noise  began  in  the  contiguous  forest  that 
for  the  remainder  of  the  night  all  sleep  was 
impossible.  The  wild  cries  of  animals  rung 
through  the  woods.  Among  the  many  voices 
which  resounded  together,  the  Indians  could 
only  recognize  those  which,  after  short 
pauses,  were  heard  singly.  There  was  the 
monotonous,  plaintive  cry  of  the  Aluates 
(howling  monkeys),  the  whining,  flutelike 
notes  of  the  small  sapajous,  the  grunting 
murmur  of  the  striped  nocturnal  ape 


Nu 


ht 
mber 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


492 


(Nyctipithecus  trivirgatus.  .  .  .  )y  the 
fitful  roar  of  the  great  tiger  (the  cougar  or 
maneless  American  lion ) ,  the  peccary,  the 
sloth,  and  a  host  of  parrots,  parraquas 
(Ortalides),  and  other  pheasant-like  birds. 
Whenever  the  tigers  approached  the  edge  of 
the  forest,  our  dog,  who  before  had  barked 
incessantly,  came  howling  to  seek  protection 
under  the  hammocks.  Sometimes  the  cry  of 
the  tiger  resounded  from  the  branches  of  a 
tree,  and  was  then  always  accompanied  by 
the  plaintive  piping  tones  of  the  apes,  who 
were  endeaA'oring  to  escape  from  the  un- 
wonted pursuit. 

If  one  asks  the  Indians  why  such  a  con- 
tinuous noise  is  heard  on  certain  nights, 
they  answer,  with  a  smile,  that  "  the  ani- 
mals are  rejoicing  in  the  beautiful  moon- 
light and  celebrating  the  return  of  the  full 
moon."  To  me  the  scene  appeared  rather  to 
be  owing  to  an  accidental,  long-continued, 
and  gradually  increasing  conflict  among  the 
animals.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  jaguar  will 
pursue  the  peccaries  and  the  tapirs,  which, 
densely  crowded  together,  burst  through  the 
barrier  of  treelike  shrubs  which  opposes 
their  flight.  Terrified  at  the  confusion,  the 
monkeys  on  the  tops  of  the  trees  join  their 
cries  with  those  of  the  larger  animals.  This 
arouses  the  tribes  of  birds  who  build  their 
nests  in  communities,  and  suddenly  the 
whole  animal  world  is  in  a  state  of  commo- 
tion. Further  experience  taught  us  that  it 
was  by  no  means  always  the  festival  of 
moonlight  that  disturbed  the  stillness  of  the 
forest ;  for  we  observed  that  the  voices  were 
loudest  during  violent  storms  of  rain,  or 
when  the  thunder  echoed  and  the  lightning 
flashed  through  the  depths  of  the  woods. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  199.  (Bell, 
1896.) 

2421.  NIGHT,  NEED  OF—  Celestial 
Splendors  Revealed  Only  in  Darkness — As- 
tronomers on  Worlds  Lighted  by  Double 
Suns  Journeying  Afar  to  Obtain  More  Night 
— The  Starry  Heavens  Deemed  More  Mag- 
nificent if  Seldom  Seen. — Very  singular  also 
must  be  the  aspect  of  the  different  planets 
which  are  variously  illuminated  by  the  orange 
and  blue  suns.  Instead  of  shining  as  the 
planets  of  the  solar  system  shine,  with  a 
nearly  constant  color — their  own  inherent 
color — the  planets  of  a  double-sun  system 
must  vary  in  aspect  according  to  their  posi- 
tions with  respect  tc>  the  two  suns  which 
illuminate  them. 

There  is  but  one  circumstance  in  which 
the  celestial  scenery  presented  to  ourselves 
surpasses  that  which  must  be  exhibited  to  the 
inhabitants  of  such  a  world  as  we  have  been 
considering.  The  glories  of  the  star-depths 
are  seldom  seen  from  such  a  world;  night 
is  the  exception,  and  often  for  many  weeks 
in  succession  there  can  be  no  real  night,  but 
an  alternation  of  colored  days  scarcely  sepa- 
rated by  brief  periods  of  colored  twilight 
when  the  orange  and  blue  suns  are  but 
slightly  below  opposite  horizons.  It  may  be 
that  on  this  very  account  night,  being  rare, 


is  more  valued,  and  the  significance  of  the 
night-sky  more  imposing  than  with  our- 
selves. But  it  is  a  strange  thought  that  the 
astronomers  of  those  distant  worlds — for 
such  worlds  we  must  believe  there  are — 
may,  in  their  zeal  for  science,  undertake 
long  journeys  to  obtain  more  night  during 
\vhich  they  may  study  the  wonders  of  the 
starlit  heavens. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heav- 
en, p.  233.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2422.  NIGHT  VOCAL  WITH  BIRDS 
OF  PASSAGE— Aerial  Armies  Crossing  Land 
and  Sea — Nocturnal  Migration  of  Birds. — 
But  marked  tho  the  migratory  season  is  in 
England,  we  see  less  of  it  than  do  our  Con- 
tinental neighbors,  especially  those  who  in- 
habit  countries    on    the    line    of    the    great 
spring  and  autumn  flights  to  and  from  the 
north  of  Europe.    Morning  and  evening,  and, 
indeed,  all  day  long,  the  Heligolander  may 
watch  from  his  red  rock  in  the  North  Sea 
the  wild  ducks  winging  their  way  in  long 
"  badelynges,"  led  by  an  elderly  drake  per- 
forming the  part  of  a  personal  conductor, 
and  quaking  with  joy  at  the   sight  of  the 
river-mouth  which  they  had  in  memory  ever 
since   they   left   the  Lapland   lakes    or   the 
Siberian  tundra.     Every  night — unless   the 
sky    is    clear    and    the    moon    enables    the 
migrants    to   continue   their   flight  without 
trepidation — there    is    a    Babel-like    clamor 
overhead,  and  the  lighthouse  lantern  is  sur- 
rounded  by   myriads   of  larks,   snipes,   and 
plover,  which  have  beat  against  it  on  their 
dreary    night- journey    from    the    north,    or 
by  the  mysterious-mannered  knots  returning 
from  their  philanderings  in  some  nameless 
land  around  the  pole.     In  one  night  some- 
times as   many  as    15,000  larks  have  been 
caught,  and  tho  the  resident  birds  of  Heli- 
goland do  not  exceed  a  dozen  species,  it  is, 
perhaps,   no   exaggeration  to   say  that  the 
visitors  exceed  those  of  the  greatest  country 
in  Europe. — BROWN   Nature-Studies,  p.    13. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

2423.  NIGHTMARE    OF    ANTHRO- 
POMORPHISM— Conception  of  Supreme  In- 
telligence     Treated     as     an     Absurdity. — 
Another  nightmare  meets  us  here — another 
suggestion  of  hopeless  doubt  respecting  the 
very  possibility  of  knowledge  touching  ques- 
tions such  as  these.     .     .     .     The  sugges- 
tion, in  short,  is  not  merely  that  the  answer 
to  these  questions  is  inaccessible,  but  that 
there  is  no  answer  at  all.     The  objection  is 
a   fundamental  one,   and  is   summed   up   in 
the  epithet  applied  to  all  such  inquiries — 
that   they   are    "  anthropomorphic."       They 
assume    authorship    in    a    personal    sense, 
which  is  a  purely  human  idea;  they  assume 
causation,    which    is    another    human    idea, 
and  they  assume  the  use  of  means  for  the 
attainment    of   ends,   which   also   is   purely 
human.     It  is  considered  by  some  persons 
as  a  thing  in  itself  absurd  that  we  should 
thus    shape   our   conceptions   of   the   ruling 
Power  in  Nature,  or  of  a  Divine  Being,  upon 
the    conscious    knowledge    we   have    of    our 


493 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Night 
Number 


own  nature  and  attributes.  Anthropomor- 
phism is  the  phrase  employed  to  condemn 
this  method  of  conception — an  opprobrious 
epithet,  as  it  were,  which  is  attached  to 
every  endeavor  to  bring  the  higher  attri- 
butes of  the  human  mind  into  any  recog- 
nizable relation  with  the  supreme  agencies 
in  Nature. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  5, 
p.  99.  (Burt.) 

2424.  NITROGEN,  LOSS  OF,  AS  AF- 
FECTED BY  ALCOHOL  —  Recent  Experi- 
ments in  Germany. — Miura  justly  drew  the 
conclusion  that  in  his  experiments  alcohol 
had  not  only  proved  itself  as  not  albumin- 
saving,  but  as  a  protoplasm  poison. 

Finally,  we  have  also  the  most  recent 
experiments  by  Schmidt  and  Schb'neseiffen, 
performed  with  the  greatest  precautions  un- 
der Rosemann  at  Greifswald.  Schmidt  add- 
ed alcohol  to  the  food  by  which  he  had 
obtained  his  nitrogenous  equilibrium  in  such 
quantity  that  if  the  number  of  calories  had 
been  furnished  by  carbohydrates  they  cer- 
tainly would  have  produced  a  considerable 
storing  up  of  nitrogen,  whereas  the  addition 
of  alcohol  produced  a  considerable  loss  of 
body-albumin.  [Schmidt,  "  Inaugural  Dis- 
sertation," Greifswald,  1898.] 

Schb'neseiffen  adopted  another  method  in 
his  experiments.  At  first  an  insufficient 
amount  of  food  was  given,  so  that  daily 
there  was  a  slight  loss  of  nitrogen.  After 
this,  alcohol  was  given  in  such  a  quantity 
that  the  number  of  calories  were  not  only 
compensated,  but  supplied  in  more  than 
double  the  number  required.  This  would 
have  led  to  a  storing  up  of  nitrogen  if  the 
calories  had  been  supplied  by  carbohydrates. 
But  the  experiment  showed  that  not  even 
the  loss  of  nitrogen  was  stopped  by  alco- 
hol. Hence,  here  again,  alcohol  has  not 
manifested  any  albumin-saving  properties. 
[Schoneseiffen,  idem,  1899.] 

If  we  sum  up  the  results  of  these  experi- 
ments we  certainly  must  agree  with  Rose- 
mann, when,  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
previous  statement  by  Binz,  he  regards  as 
demonstrated  that  alcohol  has  not  the  power 
of  preventing  the  waste  of  albumin  in  the 
body.  [Aside  from  these  valuable  investi- 
gations, Rosemann  has  rendered  important 
service  by  an  elaborate  review  of  some  re- 
cent experiments  upon  the  albumin-saving 
action  of  alcohol.  ...  In  this  connec- 
tion we  would  refer  the  reader  to  his 
two  articles  in  Pfliiger's  "  Archiv,"  vols. 
Ixxvii  and  Ixxix.] — KASSOWITZ  Is  Alcohol  a 
Food  or  a  Poison ?  (a  Paper),  p.  6.  (Trans- 
lation by  Mrs.  J.  H.  W.  STUCKENBEBG.  ) 

2425.  NITROGEN  OF  ATMOSPHERE 
UNLIMITED,  BUT  UNASSIMILABLE— 

Must  Be  Fixed  in  Soil  for  Plants. — The 
store  of  nitrogen  in  the  atmosphere  is  prac- 
tically unlimited,  but  it  is  fixed  and  ren- 
dered assimilable  only  by  cosmic  processes 
of  extreme  slowness.  .  .  .  It  is  upon 
these  processes,  plus  a  return  to  the  soil 
of  sewage,  that  we  must  depend  in  the  fu- 


ture for  storing  nitrogen  as  nitrates  [in 
which  condition  only  it  can  be  of  service  to 
plants]. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  161. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2426.  NITROGEN     SUPPLIED     TO 
PLANTS  BY  BACTERIA— Nitrification  and 
Denazification. — The  chief  results  of  decom- 
position and  denitrification  are  as  follows: 
Free  nitrogen,  carbonic-acid  gas  and  water, 
ammonia    bodies,    and    sometimes    nitrites. 
The    nitrogen    passes    into    the    atmosphere 
and  is  "  lost "  ;  the  carbonic  acid  and  water 
return  to  Nature  and  are  at  once  used  by 
vegetation.   The  ammonia  and  nitrites  await 
further  changes.     These  further  changes  be- 
come necessary  on  account  of  the  fact,  al- 
ready discussed,   that   plants   require   their 
nitrogen  to  be  in  the  form  of  nitrates  in 
order  to  use  it.     Nitrates  obviously  contain 
a  considerable  amount  of  oxygen,  but  am- 
monia contains  no  oxygen,  and  nitrites  very 
much  less  than  \nitrates.     Hence  a  process 
of  oxidation  is  required  to  change  the  am- 
monia  into   nitrites,   and   the   nitrites   into 
nitrates.    This  oxidation  is  performed  by  the 
nitrifying  micro-organisms,  and  the  process 
is  known  as  "  nitrification."     It  should  be 
clearly  understood  that  the  process  of  nitri- 
fication may,  so  to  speak,  dovetail  with  the 
process    of    denitrification. — NEWMAN    Bac- 
teria, ch.  5,  p.  152.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2427.  NOTES  OF  SONG-BIRD—  Tuned 
to    Soaring   and  Falling   Motion. — He    [the 
South- American  field-finch]   sits  perched  on 
a   stalk  above  the  grass,   and  at  intervals 
soars  up  forty  or  fifty  yards  high;   rising, 
he  utters  a  series  of  long,  melodious  notes; 
then  he  descends  in  a  graceful  spiral,  the 
set  of  the  motionless  wings  giving  him  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  slowly  falling  parachute;  the 
voice  then  also  falls,  the  notes  coming  lower, 
sweeter,  and  more  expressive  until  he  reaches 
the  surface.     After  alighting,  the  song  con- 
tinues, the  strains  becoming  longer,  thinner, 
and  clearer,  until  they  dwindle  to  the  finest 
threads  of  sound  and  faintest  tinklings,  as 
from    a    cithern   touched   by    fairy    fingers. 
The  great  charm  of  the  song  is  in  this  slow 
gradation  from  the  somewhat  throaty  notes 
emitted  by  the  bird  when  ascending"  to  the 
excessively  attenuated  sounds  at  the  close. 
— HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  19,  p. 
275.      (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

2428.  NUMBER  OF  OBJECTS  POS- 
SIBLE   IN    CONSCIOUSNESS  — Conscious- 
ness will  be  at  its  maximum  of  intensity 
when  attention  is  concentrated  on  a  single 
object;  and  the  question  comes  to  be,  how 
many  single   objects   can   the   mind   simul* 
taneously    survey,    not    with    vivacity,    but 
without  absolute  confusion  ?   I  find  the  prob- 
lem stated  and  differently  answered  by  dif- 
ferent  philosophers,    and    apparently   with- 
out a  knowledge  of  each  other.     By  Charles 
Bonnet  the  mind  is  allowed  to  have  a  dis- 
tinct   notion    of    six    objects    at    once;    by 
Abraham  Tucker  the  number  is  limited  to 


SSiV, 


her 
teratiou 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


494 


four,  while  Destutt-Tracy  again  amplifies 
it  to  six.  The  opinion  of  the  first  and  last 
of  these  philosophers  appears  to  me  cor- 
rect. You  can  easily  make  the  experiment 
for  yourselves,  but  you  must  beware  of 
grouping  the  objects  into  classes.  If  you 
throw  a  handful  of  marbles  on  the  floor  you 
will  find  it  difficult  to  view  at  once  more 
than  six  or  seven  at  most,  without  con- 
fusion; but  if  you  group  them  into  twos 
or  threes  or  fives  you  can  comprehend  as 
many  groups  as  you  can  units,  because  the 
mind  considers  these  groups  only  as  units 
— it  views  them  as  wholes,  and  throws  their 
parts  out  of  consideration. — HAMILTON 
Metaphysics,  lect.  14,  p.  176.  (Sh.  &  Co., 
1859.) 


2429. 


Experiments 


show  that  four  and  sometimes  even  five 
disconnected  impressions  (letters,  numerals, 
or  lines  of  different  direction)  may  be  dis- 
tinctly perceived.  If  the  separate  impres- 
sions are  so  arranged  that  they  enter  into 
combination  with  one  another  in  idea,  the 
number  becomes  three  times  as  great.  Thus 
we  are  able  to  cognize  instantly  two  dis- 
syllabic words  of  six  letters  each. — WUNDT 
Psychology,  lect.  16,  §  2,  p.  343.  (Son.  & 
Co.,  189G.) 

243O.  NURSERY,  RIMES  OF,  AS 
HISTORY—  Cradle  in  Tree-top.— The  first  en- 
gine was  run  by  man-power;  then  man  sub- 
dued the  horse,  the  ass,  the  camel,  and 
invented  engines  for  those  to  propel.  He 
next  domesticated  the  winds,  the  waters, 
the  steam,  the  lightning;  but  the  first  com- 
mon carriers  and  machine-power  were  men 
and  women.  The  first  burden  train  was 
women's  backs;  the  first  passenger-car  was 
a  papoose- frame.  And  even  now,  while  I 
am  .speaking  to  you,  more  heavy  loads  are 
resting  on  human  shoulders  than  upon  all 
the  pack-animals  in  the  world.  Hence  our 
nursery  rime: 

Rock  a  by  baby  on  a  tree-top, 
When  the  wind  blows 
The  cradle  will  rock. 
When  the  bou^h  bends 
The  cradle  will  fall. 
Down  will  come  cradle, 
And  baby  and  all . 

The  poetry  of  to-day  is  the  fact  of  yes- 
terday, the  dream  of  yesterday  is  the  fact  of 
to-day.  When  the  savage  woman  a  century 
or  two  ago,  upon  this  very  spot,  strapped 
her  dusky  offspring  to  a  rude  frame,  hung 
it  upon  the  nearest  sapling  for  the  winds 
to  rock,  or  lifted  the  unfortunate  suckling 
from  the  ground  to  which  it  had  been  hurled 
by  the  bending  of  an  unsafe  bough,  that 
was  a  fact,  a  stage  in  the  history  of  inven- 
tion. In  our  nowadays  couches  of  down, 
swung  from  gilded  hinges,  we  have  got 
far  ahead  of  the  papoose-cradle,  the  mem- 
ory of  which  we  perpetuate  in  nursery 
rimes  sung  to  children,  who  wonder  why 
babies  should  be  hung  in  the  tops  of  trees, 
and  think,  doubtless,  that  the  falling  cradle 
was  a  just  retribution  on  the  silly  parents. 


— MASON  The  Birth  of  Invention  (Address 
at  Centenary  of  American  Patent  System, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  1891,  Proceedings  of  the 
Congress,  p.  408). 

2431.  NUTRITION,    RESPONSE   OF 

PLANT  TO— Rapid  Absorption  of  Nutritious 
Matter  by  Sundew  Leaf — Neglect  of  Use- 
less Material. — That  the  glands  [of  the  sun- 
dew leaf]  possess  the  power  of  absorption 
is  shown  by  their  almost  instantaneously  be- 
coming dark  colored  when  given  a  minute 
quantity  of  carbonate  of  ammonia,  the 
change  of  color  being  chiefly  or  exclusively 
due  to  the  rapid  aggregation  of  their  con- 
tents. When  certain  other  fluids  are  added 
they  become  pale  colored.  Their  power  of 
absorption  is,  however,  best  shown  by  the 
widely  different  results  which  follow,  from 
placing  drops  of  various  nitrogenous  and 
non-nitrogenous  fluids  of  the  same  density 
on  the  glands  of  the  disk,  or  on  a  single 
marginal  gland,  and  likewise  by  the  very 
different  lengths  of  time  during  which  the 
tentacles  remain  inflected  over  objects 
which  yield  or  do  not  yield  soluble  nitrog- 
enous matter.  This  same  conclusion  might 
indeed  have  been  inferred  from  the  struc- 
ture and  movements  of  the  leaves,  which 
are  so  admirably  adapted  for  capturing  in- 
sects.— DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  1, 
p.  14.  (A.,  1900.) 

2432.  OAK  THE  MODEL  FOR  THE 
EDDYSTONE—  The  Engineering  of  Nature.— 
To  what  example,  then,  can  we  look?     What 
better  can  we  wish  for  than  is  supplied  by 
that  wonderful  edifice  which,  for  more  than 
a  century,  braving  the  violence  of  the  most 
destructive  storms,  has  calmly  and  uninter- 
mittingly  displayed  its  guiding  light  to  the 
wave-tossed    mariner,    and    which    has    fur- 
nished the  pattern  of  every  similar  beacon 
elsewhere  erected  for  the  direction  and  warn- 
ing of  the  navigator?     I  need  not  tell  you 
to  what  I  refer;  for  Smeaton  and  the  Eddy- 
stone  are  household  words  to  every  Briton. 
.     .     .     It  was  to  Nature,  not  to  the  time- 
honored   traditions   of   his   profession,   that 
this  great  practical  philosopher  went,  when 
he  had  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  the  Eddy- 
stone.    He  saw  in  the  bole  of  the  oak,  which 
had  stood  the  blasts  of  centuries,  the  shape 
that  would  not  only  give  to  his  tower  the 
greatest  inherent  strength,  but  would  pro- 
ject  upwards    instead   of   directly  resisting 
the  dash  of  the  impetuous  waves.     And  he 
then  brought  all  the  resources  of  construc- 
tive skill  to  carry  out  this  sagacious  design, 
erecting    on    a    broad    and    solid    founda- 
tion   that    beautifully    formed    superstruc- 
ture,  which   not  only  bears   aloft   the   far- 
shining   and   welcome   light,    but   serves    as 
the  dwelling-place  for  those  who  are  charged 
with    its   maintenance. — CARPENTER    Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  7,  p.  212.      (A.,  1889.) 

2433.  OBJECTION     TO     NEBULAR 
HYPOTHESIS — Impossible  Cohesion  Required 
of  Caseous  Mass — Would  Give  Meteors  In- 


495 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


teration 


stead  of  Planets. — It  was  objected  by  Pro- 
fessor Kirk  wood  in  1869  that  there  could 
be  no  sufficient  cohesion  in  such  an  enor- 
mously diffused  mass  as  the  planets  are  sup- 
posed to  have  sprung  from,  to  account  for 
the  wide  intervals  between  them.  The  mat- 
ter separated  through  the  growing  excess 
of  centrifugal  speed  would  have  been  cast 
off,  not  by  rarely  recurring  efforts,  but  con- 
tinually, fragmentarily,  pari  passu  with 
condensation  and  acceleration.  Each  wisp 
of  nebula,  as  it  found  itself  unduly  hurried, 
would  have  declared  its  independence,  and 
set  about  revolving  and  condensing  on  its 
own  account.  The  result  would  have  been 
a  meteoric,  not  a  planetary  system. — CLERKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  382. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

2434. Involves  Retrograde 

Motion  of  All  Planets. — M.  Faye's  leading 
contention  is  that,  under  the  circumstances 
assumed  by  Laplace,  not  the  two  outer 
planets  alone,  but  the  whole  company  must 
have  been  possessed  of  retrograde  rotation. 
For  they  were  formed — ex  hypothesi — after 
the  sun;  central  condensation  had  reached 
an  advanced  stage  when  the  rings  they  were 
derived  from  separated;  the  principle  of  in- 
verse squares  consequently  held  good,  and 
Kepler's  laws  were  in  full  operation.  Now 
particles  circulating  in  obedience  to  these 
laws  can  only — since  their  velocity  decreases 
outward  from  the  center  of  attraction — co- 
alesce into  a  globe  with  a  backward  axial 
movement.  Nor  was  Laplace  blind  to  this 
flaw  in  his  theory;  but  his  effort  to  remove 
it,  tho  it  passed  muster  for  the  best  part 
of  a  century,  was  scarcely  successful.  His 
planet-forming  rings  were  made  to  rotate 
all  in  one  piece, 'their  outer  parts  thus  neces- 
sarily traveling  at  a  swifter  linear  rate  than 
their  inner  parts,  and  eventually  uniting, 
equally  of  necessity,  into  a  forward-spinning 
body.  The  strength  of  cohesion  involved 
may,  however,  safely  be  called  impossible, 
especially  when  it  is  considered  that  nebu- 
lous materials  were  in  question. — CLERKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  383. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

2435.  OBJECTS  HELP  REALIZA- 
TION— Portraits  and  Toys — Explanation  of 
Tendency  to  Idol-worship. — Who  does  not 
"  realize "  more  the  fact  of  a  dead  or  dis- 
tant friend's  existence  at  the  moment  when 
a  portrait,  letter,  garment,  or  other  material 
reminder  of  him  is  found?  The  whole  no- 
tion of  him  then  grows  pungent  and  speaks 
to  us  and  shakes  us  in  a  manner  unknown 
at  other  times.  In  children's  minds,  fancies 
and  realities  live  side  by  side.  But  how- 
ever lively  their  fancies  may  be,  they  still 
gain  help  from  association  with  reality. 
The  imaginative  child  identifies  its  dramatis 
persona?  with  some  doll  or  other  material 
object,  and  this  evidently  solidifies  belief, 
little  as  it  may  resemble  what  it  is  held  to 
stand  for.  A  thing  not  too  interesting  by 
its  own  real  qualities  generally  does  the 


best  service  here.  The  most  useful  doll  I 
ever  saw  was  a  large  cucumber  in  the 
hands  of  a  little  Amazonian-Indian  girl; 
she  nursed  it  and  washed  it  and  rocked  it 
to  sleep  in  a  hammock,  and  talked  to  it  all 
day  long — there  was  no  part  in  life  which 
the  cucumber  did  not  play. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  21,  p.  303.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

2436.  OBLIGATION  TO  MORALITY 
A  PRIMAL  CONVICTION— All  Attempts  at 
Explanation  Vain. — Just  as  in  the  physical 
world  there  are  bodies  or  substances  which 
are  (to  us)   elementary,  so  in  the  spiritual 
world    there    are    perceptions,    feelings,    or 
emotions    which    are    equally    elementary — 
that  is  to  say,  which  resist  all  attempts  to 
resolve  them  into  a  combination  of  other  and 
simpler    affections    of    the    mind.      And    of 
this  kind  is  the  idea,  or  the  conception,  or 
the   sentiment   of   obligation.      That   which 
we    mean   when   we    say,    "  I    ought,"    is   a 
meaning    which    is    incapable   of   reduction. 
It  is  a  meaning  which  enters  as  an  element 
into  many  other  conceptions,  and  into  the 
import  of  many  other  forms  of  expression,  but 
it  is  itself  uncompounded.  All  attempts  to  ex- 
plain it  do  one  or  other  of  these  two  things 
— either  they  assume  and  include  the  idea 
of  obligation  in  the  very  circumlocutions  by 
which   they   profess   to   explain   its    origin, 
or   else  they   build   up   a   structure   which, 
when  completed,  remains  as  destitute  of  the 
idea  of  obligation  as  the  separate  materials 
of  which  it  is  composed.     In  the  one  case, 
they  first   put  in  the  gold,   and  then  they 
think  that  by  some  alchemy  they  have  made 
it;    in  the  other  case,  they  do  not  indeed 
first  put  in  the  gold,  but  neither  in  the  end 
do  they  ever  get  it.    No  combination  of  other 
things  will  give  the  idea  of  obligation,  un- 
less with   and  among  these  things  there  is 
some  concealed  or  unconscious  admission  of 
itself. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p. 
191.      (Burt.) 

2437.  OBLITERATION  OF  INSTINCT 
IN  HEMISPHERELESS  PIGEONS- Schra- 
der  gives  a  striking  account  of  the  instinct- 
less  condition  of  his  brainless  pigeons,  active 
as  they  were  in  the  way  of  locomotion  and 
voice.     "  The  hemisphereless   animal  moves 
in  a  world  of  bodies  which     .     .     .     are  all 
of  equal  value  for  him.     .     .     .     He  is,  to 
use  Goltz's  apt  expression,  impersonal.    .    .   . 
Every  object  is  for  him  only  a  space-occupy- 
ing mass ;  he  turns  out  of  his  path  for  an  or- 
dinary pigeon  no  otherwise  than  for  a  stone. 
He  may  try  to  climb  over  both.    All  authors 
agree  that  they  never  found  any  difference, 
whether  it  was  an  inanimate  body,  a  cat,  a 
dog,  or  a  bird  of  prey  which  came  in  their 
pigeon's  way.     The  creature  knows  neither 
friends  nor  enemies ;    in  the  thickest  com- 
pany it  lives  like  a  hermit.     ...    As  the 
male  pays  no  attention  to  the  female,  so  she 
pays  none   to  her  young.     The  brood  may 
follow    £he    mother,    ceaselessly    calling    for 
food,  but  they  might  as  well  ask  it  from  a 


Obliteration 
Ocean 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


496 


stone.  .  .  .  The  hemisphereless  pigeon 
is  in  the  highest  degree  tame,  and  fears 
man  as  little  as  cat  or  bird  of  prey." — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  77.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2438.  OBSERVATION     MISINTER- 
PRETED— Ant  Recognized  by  Mates  after  Ab- 
sence— Recognition  Specific,  Not  Individual. 
— How   easy   it   is   to    misinterpret   an   ob- 
servation  if  the  very  greatest  care  is  not 
taken  in  recording  it,  and  if  it  is  impossible 
to   vary  the   circumstances   by   experiment, 
and   so    obtain    accurate   knowledge    of    its 
conditions,  is  well  shown  by  the  following 
facts :  Pierre  Huber,  one  of  the  most  reliable 
students  of  the  habits  of  ants,  stated  that 
he  had  assured  himself  that  an  ant,  if  taken 
from  the  nest  and  returned  after  an  interval 
of  four  months,  was  recognized  by  its  former 
companions;  for  they  received  it  friendlily, 
while  members  of  a  different  nest,  even  tho 
they    belonged    to    the    same    species,    were 
driven   away.     Huber   regards   this   as  evi- 
dence of  the  extraordinary  accuracy  of  mem- 
ory in  these  insects.     Now  the  correctness 
of  his  observation  cannot  be  doubted;  and, 
besides,   it  has  been  confirmed   by  another 
experienced  investigator — Sir  John  Lubbock 
[Lord  Avebury].     At  first  sight,  therefore, 
the    conclusion    seems    perfectly   justifiable. 
But  if  a  single  individual  were  really  rec- 
ognized   after    so    long    an    interval,    think 
what   the   general   mental    capacity   of  the 
ants  must  be!     Fortunately,  Lubbock  made 
the    matter    a    subject   of   experiment.      He 
took  ant  larvae  from  the  nest  and  did 'not 
put  them  back  again  till  they  were  fully  de- 
veloped.    The  result  was  that  they  too  were 
quite  friendlily  received.  Plainly,  then,  there 
can  be  no  question  of  an  act  of  individual 
recognition.     There  must  be  some  character- 
istic peculiar  to  all  the  members  of  a  par- 
ticular nest,  possibly  a  specific  odor,  which 
determines    the    instinctive    expression    of 
"  friendship." — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  23, 
§  1,  p.  344.     (M.,  1898.) 

2439.  OBSERVATION,    SCIENCE 
TEACHES  CORRECT   HABITS  OF— Mind 
as  an  Orderly  Storehouse. — To  observe  right- 
ly and  truly,  and  as  science  teaches  us  to 
observe,  is  a  habit  which  lies  at  the  foun- 
dation  of  all  order  in  mental  things;   and 
without  this  habit  of  looking  at  things  in 
their  due  sequence,  thoughts  and  thinking 
can  only  appear  as  acts  and  processes  which 
exist  but  to  confuse  and  bewilder  the  think- 
er.    And  to  the  young,  in  their  responsible 
duty — too  little   thought   of   in   its   serious 
nature  both  by  pupil  and  teachers — of  lay- 
ing up  stores  of  mental  wealth  for   future 
use,  how  great  a  boon  must  be  the  acquire- 
ment of  these  orderly  habits   in  the  work 
of  the  mind!     The  great  difficulty,  I  pre- 
sume, of  every  educator  of  youth  is  not  to 
arouse  his  pupils'   thoughts,   not  to   incite 
them  to  think,  but  to  train  them  so  to  think 
that  they  shall  understand,  appreciate  for 
themselves,   and   in  due  order   arrange,   for 


future  use,  the  material  which  their  edu- 
cation furnishes.  For  the  well-balanced 
mind  is  like  a  duly  arranged  storehouse, 
where  the  fruits  of  each  year's  industry  are 
not  only  duly  arranged  within,  but  are  capa- 
ble of  being  brought  forth  for  use  in  good 
order  and  at  the  proper  season  and  time. — 
ANDREW  WILSON  Science-Culture  for  the 
Masses,  p.  28.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

2440.  OBSTACLES  UNIMAGINED— 

Boats  Checked  by  Floating  Rock — Drifting 
Pumice  Covering  the  Sea. — Every  one  is  fa- 
miliar with  the  fact  that  pumice  floats  upon 
water;  this  it  does,  not  because  it  is  a  ma- 
terial specifically  lighter  than  water,  but 
because  cavities  filled  with  air  make  up  a 
great  part  of  its  bulk.  If  we  pulverize  pum- 
ice we  find  the  powder  sinks  readily  in  wa- 
ter, but  the  rock  in  its  natural  condition 
floats  for  the  same  reason  that  an  iron  ship 
does — because  of  the  air-chambers  which  it 
encloses.  When  this  pumice  is  ejected  from 
a  volcano  and  falls  into  a  river  or  the 
ocean,  it  floats  for  a  long  time,  till  decom- 
position causes  the  breaking-down  of  the 
thin  glassy  partitions  between  the  air-cham- 
bers, and  causes  the  admission  of  water  into 
the  latter,  by  which  means  the  whole  mass 
gets  water-logged.  Near  the  Liparis  and 
other  volcanic  islands  the  sea  is  sometimes 
covered  with  fragments  of  pumice  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  is  difficult  for  a  boat  to 
make  progress  through  it,  and  the  same 
substance  is  frequently  found  floating  in  the 
open  ocean  and  is  cast  up  on  every  shore. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  73.  (A.,  1899.) 

2441.  OBSTACLES,  WAVES  OF 
LIGHT   FLOW   AROUND— Newton's  Objec- 
tion   Answered — Diffraction. — Newton,    who 
was    familiar   with    the    idea    of   an   ether, 
and  who  introduced  it  in  some  of  his  specu- 
lations, objected  [nevertheless]  that  if  light 
consisted  of  waves,    shadows  could  not  ex- 
ist,  for   that  the  waves  would  bend  round 
the  edges  of  opaque  bodies  and  agitate  the 
ether  behind  them.     He  was  right  in  affirm- 
ing that  this  bending  ought  to   occur,  but 
wrong  in  supposing  that  it  does  not  occur. 
The   bending   is    real,    tho    in    all    ordinary 
cases  it  is  masked  by  the  action  of  inter- 
ference.    This  inflection  of  the  light  receives 
the    name    of   diffraction. — TYNDALL   Light, 
lect.  2,  p.  80.     (A.,  1898.) 

2442.  OCCIDENT    AND    ORIENT 
UNITED    BY    MEDITERRANEAN—  The 

Sea  a  Bond  of  Union. — That  which  has  ren- 
dered the  geographical  position  of  the  Medi- 
terranean most  beneficial  in  its  influence  on 
the  intercourse  of  nations  is  the  proximity 
of  the  eastern  continent,  where  it  projects 
into  the  peninsula  of  Asia  Minor;  the  num- 
ber of  islands  in  the  JSgean  Sea,  which 
have  served  as  a  means  for  facilitating 
the  spread  of  civilization,  and  the  fissure  be- 
tween Arabia,  Egypt,  and  Abyssinia,  through 
which  the  great  Indian  Ocean  penetrates 
under  the  name  of  the  Arabian  Gulf  or  the 


497 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Obliterate 
Ocean 


Red  Sea,  and  which  is  separated  by  a  nar- 
row isthmus  from  the  Delta  of  the  Nile  and 
the  southeastern  coasts  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. By  means  of  all  these  geographical 
relations  the  influence  of  the  sea  as  a  con- 
necting element  was  speedily  manifested 
in  the  growing  power  of  the  Phenicians,  and 
subsequently  in  that  of  the  Hellenic  nations, 
and  in  the  rapid  extension  of  the  sphere 
of  general  ideas.  Civilization,  in  its  early 
seats  in  Egypt,  on  the  Euphrates,  and  the 
Tigris,  in  Indian  Pentapotamia  and  China, 
had  been  limited  to  lands  rich  in  navigable 
rivers;  the  case  was  different,  however,  in 
Phenicia  and  Hellas.  The  active  life  of  the 
Greeks,  especially  of  the  Ionian  race,  and 
their  early  predilection  for  maritime  expe- 
ditions, found  a  rich  field  for  its  develop- 
ment in  the  remarkable  configuration  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  in  its  relative  position 
to  the  oceans  situated  to  the  south  and 
west. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  p.  122. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2443.  OCEAN     BLOCKADED    BY 
FLOATING     ROCK— A   Raft  of  Pumice.— 
During    the   year    1878    masses    of    floating 
pumice  were  reported  as  existing  in  the  vi- 
cinity  of   the   Solomon  Isles,   and   covering 
the  surface  of  the  sea  to  such  extent  that  it 
took   ships  three   days   to   force   their   way 
through  them.     Sometimes  these  masses  of 
pumice  accumulate  in  such  quantities  along 
coasts  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the 
position  of  the  shore  within  a  mile  or  two, 
as    we  may   land   and   walk   about   on   the 
great    floating  raft   of   pumice. — JUDD    Vol- 
canoes, ch.  4,  p.  73.      (A.,  1899.) 

2444.  OCEAN,  FREEDOM  OF  COM- 
MUNICATION IN— Fauna  of  the  Sea— More 
Difficult  to  Divide  than  That  of  the  Land. — 
On  the  dry  land  we  find  mountain  ranges, 
forests,  deserts,  and  other  barriers  that  to 
a  very  considerable  extent  prevent  the  mix- 
ing of  one  fauna  with  another,  but  in  the 
sea  there  are  no  barriers  of  anything  like 
the  same  importance,  but  one  fauna  gradu- 
ally merges  into  the  neighboring  fauna  ac- 
cording to  the  temperature,  the  pressure,  the 
amount  of  light,  the  salinity  of  the  water, 
or  the  food-supply.     This,  then,   is   one  of 
the  difficulties  met  with  in  the  study  of  the 
geographical     distribution     of    the    marine 
fauna. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the   Deep   Sea, 
ch.  3,  p.  46.      (A.,  1894.) 

2445.  OCEAN,  PHOSPHORESCENCE 

OF— Manifold  Light  and  Life  of  the  Deep.— 
As  the  moon  passes  behind  a  cloud,  and 
the  night  grows  darker  for  the  obscuring 
of  the  Queen  of  the  Night,  this  strange  light 
on  the  waves  literally  glows  with  its  fiery 
sheen.  .  .  .  Look  how  every  fleck  of 
spray  seems  tinged  with  a  radiance  as  of 
jeweled  kind.  Flashes  of  lambent  fire  play 
among  the  foam,  and  now  and  then  a  long 
ripple  of  flame  shoots  along  the  whole 
course  of  the  wave  that  rushes  aft  from  the 
bow. 


Suppose  you  could  lift  a  bucket  of  water 
from  the  sea  to-night,  and  that  in  your 
deck-cabin  you  had  your  microscope  in  full 
array,  let  us  endeavor  to  see  what  such  a 
scrutiny  of  the  waves  would  tell  us  about 
the  cause  of  the  phosphorescence  of  the  deep. 
The  water  would  be  seen  to  be  alive  with 
animalcules,  each  the  mere  fraction  of  an 
inch  in  length.  .  .  . 

Swarming  in  myriads  i«-  the  waters  of  the 
ocean,  these  animalcules,  under  favorable 
conditions  of  heat  and  other  phases  relating 
to  their  vital  activity,  give  forth  the  strange, 
weird  gleam  you  see  shooting  along  the 
crest  of  the  waves.  You  can  recall  Cole- 
ridge's lines  with  apt  force  when  on  this 
quiet  night  you  sit  and  watch  the  play  of 
phosphorescence  on  the  sea: 

Beyond  the  shadow  of  the  ship  I  watched  the  water- 
snakes  ; 

They  moved  in  tracks  of  shining  white, 
And  when  they  neared  the  elfish  light 

Veil  off  in  hoary  flakes. 

Beyond  the  shadow  of  the  ship  I  watched  their  rich 

attire  ; 

Blue,  glossy  green,  and  velvet  black, 
They  coiled  and  swam,  and  every  track 

Was  a  flash  of  golden  fire. 

How  and  why  these  and  other  animals 
exhibit  a  phosphorescent  light  is  a  prob- 
lem towards  the  solution  of  which  science 
has,  at  least,  advanced  within  reasonable 
distance.  The  noctiluca  is  undoubtedly  the 
cause  of  the  diffused  phosphorescence  of  the 
sea.  The  myriads  of  animalcules  give  to 
the  ocean  the  appearance  of  a  universal 
effulgence. — ANDREW  WILSON  Glimpses  of 
Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  11.  (Hum.,  1892.) 


2446. 


Night  Made  Glori- 


ous —  Luxuriance  of  Beauty.  —  The  phos- 
phorescence of  the  ocean  is  one  of  those 
splendid  phenomena  of  Nature  which  ex- 
cite our  admiration,  even  when  we  be- 
hold its  recurrence  every  night  for  months 
together.  The  ocean  is  phosphorescent  in 
all  zones  of  the  earth,  but  he  who  has 
not  witnessed  the  phenomenon  in  the  trop- 
ics, and  especially  in  the  Pacific,  can  form 
but  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  the  maj- 
esty of  this  brilliant  spectacle.  The  trav- 
eler on  board  a  man-of-war,  when  plowing 
the  foaming  waves  before  a  fresh  breeze, 
feels  that  he  can  scarcely  satisfy  himself 
with  gazing  on  the  spectacle  presented  by 
the  circling  waves.  Wherever  the  ship's 
side  rises  above  the  waves,  bluish  or  red- 
dish flames  seem  to  flash  lightning-like  up- 
wards from  the  keel.  The  appearance  pre- 
sented in  the  tropical  seas  on  a  dark  night 
is  indescribably  glorious,  when  shoals  of  dol- 
phins are  seen  sporting  around,  and  cutting 
the  foaming  waves  in  long  and  circling  lines, 
gleaming  with  bright  and  sparkling  light. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  245.  (Bell, 
1896.) 

2447.  OCEAN,  POSSIBLE  IRRUP- 
TION OF — The  second  case  [of  a  possible 
deluge]  is  where  there  are  large  tracts 
of  dry  land  beneath  the  mean  level  of 


;ean 
»positen 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


498 


the  ocean.  It  seems,  after  much  contro- 
versy, to  be  at  length  a  settled  point  that 
the  Caspian  is  really  83  feet  6  inches  lower 
than  the  Black  Sea.  As  the  Caspian  covers 
an  area  about  equal  to  that  of  Spain,  and 
as  its  shores  are  in  general  low  and  flat, 
there  must  be  many  thousand  square  miles 
of  country  less  than  83  feet  above  the  level 
of  that  inland  sea,  and  consequently  de- 
pressed below  the  Black  Sea  and  Mediter- 
ranean. This  area  includes  the  site  of  the 
populous  city  of  Astrakhan  and  other  towns. 
Into  this  region  the  ocean  would  pour  its 
waters,  if  the  land  now  intervening  between 
the  Sea  of  Azof  and  the  Caspian  should  sub- 
side. Yet  even  if  this  event  should  occur, 
it  is  most  probable  that  the  submergence  of 
the  whole  region  would  not  be  accomplished 
simultaneously,  but  by  a  series  of  minor 
floods,  the  sinking  of  the  barrier  being 
gradual. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  10,  p.  156.  (A.,  1854.) 

2448.  OCEAN  DEPTHS  SUPPOSED 
TO    BE    LIFELESS— Our  knowledge  of  the 
natural   history   of   the   deep   seas   may   be 
said  to  have  commenced  not  more  than  fifty 
years  ago.    There  are,  it  is  true,  a  few  frag- 
ments  of  evidence  of  a   fauna   existing   in 
depths  of  more  than  a  hundred  fathoms  to 
be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  earlier  navi- 
gators, but  the  methods  of  deep-sea  investi- 
gation were  so  imperfect  in  those  days  that 
naturalists  were  disposed  to  believe  that  in 
the   abysses   of   the  great   oceans    life   was 
practically    non-existent. — HICKSON    Fauna 
of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  1,  p.  2.     (A.,  1894.) 

2449.  OCEAN    FLOOR  OF  THE 
NORTH  ATLANTIC— A  Vast  Plain— Depths 
Where   Mont  Blanc  Might   Be  Sunk. — The 
result  of  all  these  operations  [soundings  for 
the   cable]    is   that  we   know   the   contours 
and  the  nature  of  the  surface-soil  covered  by 
the  North  Atlantic,  for  a  distance  of  1,700 
miles  from  east  to  west,  as  well  as  we  know 
that  of  any  part  of  the  dry  land.     It  is  a 
prodigious    plain — one    of    the    widest    and 
most  even  plains  in  the  world.     If  the  sea 
were  drained  off  you  might  drive  a  wagon 
all  the  way  from  Valentia,  on  the  west  coast 
of   Ireland,   to   Trinity  Bay,   in  Newfound- 
land.    And,  except  upon  one  sharp  incline 
about  200  miles  (from  Valentia,   I  am  not 
quite  sure  that  i*t  would  even  be  necessary 
to  put  the  skid  on,  so  gentle  are  the  ascents 
and  descents  upon  that  long  route.     From 
Valentia   the  road  would  lie   down-hill   for 
about  200  miles  to  the  point  at  which  the 
bottom  is  now  covered  by  1,700  fathoms  of 
sea-water.      Then    would    come    the    central 
plain,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  wide,  the 
inequalities  of  the  surface  of  which  would 
be  hardly  perceptible,  tho  the  depth  of  water 
upon  it  now  varies  from   10,000  to   15,000 
feet;    and  there  are  places   in  which  Mont 
Blanc  might  be  sunk  without   showing  its 
peak  above  water.     Beyond  this,  the  ascent 
on  the  American  side  commences  and  gradu- 


ally leads  for  about  300  miles  to  the  New- 
foundland shore. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons, 
?erm.  14,  p.  182.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2450.  OLD   AND   NEW   UNITE  TO 
MAKE  CONSISTENT  SYSTEM— The  great 
merit  of  Cope's  work  on  mammals  is  that 
he    always    considered    the    old   and   new — 
the  extinct  and  recent — forms  together.     He 
refused  to  be  bound  by  consistency   or   by 
precedent,  either  set  by  himself  or  others. 
Fresh  discoveries  opened  new  vistas  to  him, 
and  he  modified  his  views  from  time  to  time 
and  as  often  as  he  received  new  evidence. — 
GILL  Address  in  Memory  of  Edward  Drink- 
er Cope  in  Proceedings  of  Amer.  Assoc.  for 
Advancement  of  Science,  vol.  xlvi,  1897. 

2451.  OMEN     FULFILS     ITSELF— 

Halley's  Comet  at  Battle  of  Hastings. — The 
comet  of  Halley  appeared  again  in  1066, 
at  the  time  when  William  the  Conqueror 
invaded  England.  The  chroniclers  unani- 
mously write,  "  The  Normans,  guided  by 
a  comet,  invaded  England."  The  Duchess- 
Queen  Matilda,  wife  of  William,  has  repre- 
sented this  comet  and  the  amazement  of  her 
subjects  on  the  tapestry  (230  feet  long), 
which  may  be  seen  at  Bayeux.  Queen  Vic- 
toria has  in  her  crown  a  jewel  the  design 
of  which  was  suggested  by  the  tail  of  this 
comet,  which  had  the  greatest  influence 
on  the  victory  at  Hastingsv — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  1,  p.  479. 
(A.) 

2452.  OMEN    REVERSED   BY  SCI- 
ENCE— Serviceableness  of  the  Screech-owl. — 
We  do  not  think  of  owls  as  being  insectiv- 
orous birds,  but  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher  tells  U3 
that  of  225  screech-owls'  stomachs  examined, 
100    contained    insects.      As    91    of   the   re- 
maining   125    contained    mice,    and   poultry 
was  found  in  only  one  stomach,  the  farmer 
may  well  consider  the  screech-owl  a  bird  of 
good  repute  rather  than  of  ill  omen. — CHAP- 
MAN Bird-Life,  ch.  7,  p.  130.     (A.,  1900.) 

2453.  OMISSION  BY  ANCIENT  WRI- 
TER— A  Common  Bird  Left  without  Mention. 
— It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  Molina,  tho 
describing  in  detail  all  the  birds  and  ani- 
mals   of    Chile,    never    once    mentions    this 
genus   [Pteroptochos],  the  species  of  which 
are  so  common  and  so  remarkable  in  their 
habits.     Was  he  at  a  loss  how  to  classify 
them,  and  did  he  consequently  think  that 
silence  was  the  more  prudent  course?      It 
is   one   more   instance   of  the   frequency    of 
omissions   by   authors,    on    those  very   sub- 
jects    where     it    might     have    been     least 
expected.  —  DARWIN     Naturalist's     Voyage 
around   the   World,  ch.    12,  p.   271    (note). 
(A.,  1893.) 

2454.  OMNISCIENCE    IS  FORE- 
KNOWLEDGE—Owe  Knowing  All  Factors  of 
Decision    Could   Predict    Result. — Processes 
[of  will]   may  be  compared  to  a  man  on  a 
journey  who  proceeds  from  a  certain  point 
on  foot  by  short  stages,  at  any  given  time, 


499 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ocean 
Opi>o«ites 


and  in  any  direction.  He  has  then  the  choice 
of  an  infinite  number  of  routes  over  the 
whole  earth.  If  such  a  man  begins  his  wan- 
derings in  obedience  to  the  impulse  of  his 
own  will,  his  own  pleasure  or  interest — 
proceeding  forwards,  to  the  right  or  left,  or 
even  backwards,  with  longer  or  shorter 
pauses,  and  starting  at  any  particular  time 
— it  is  obvious  that  the  route  taken  lies  in 
the  man  himself  and  is  determined  by  his 
own  peculiar  temperament.  His  judgment, 
experience,  and  inclination  will  influence  his 
course  at  each  turn  of  his  journey,  as  new 
circumstances  arise.  He  will  turn  aside 
from  a  mountain  which  he  considers  too 
lofty  to  be  climbed;  he  will  incline  to  the 
right  if  this  direction  appears  to  afford  a 
better  passage  over  a  swollen  stream;  he 
will  rest  when  he  reaches  a  pleasant  halt- 
ing-place, and  will  hurry  on  when  he  knows 
that  enemies  beset  him.  And  in  spite  of  the 
perfectly  free  choice  open  to  him,  the  course 
he  takes  is  in  fact  decided  by  both  the  place 
and  time  of  his  starting  and  by  circum- 
stances which — always  occurring  at  every 
part  of  the  journey — impel  him  one  way  or 
the  other;  and  if  all  the  factors  could  be 
ascertained  in  the  minutest  detail  his  course 
could  be  predicted  from  the  beginning. — 
WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  i,  p.  138.  (Cl.  P., 
1891.) 

2455.  ONTOGENESIS  AND  PHYLO- 
GENESIS —  Embryological  Development  Not 
Parallel  with  Geological. — Ontogenesis  is  tha 
embryonic  development  of  the  individual 
animal,  and  is,  of  course,  a  short  process, 
depending  on  the  production  of  a  germ  by 
a  parent  animal  or  parent  pair,  and  the 
further  growth  of  this  germ  in  connection 
more  or  less  with  the  parent  or  with  pro- 
vision made  by  it.-  This  is,  of  course,  a 
fact  open  to  observation  and  study,  tho  some 
of  its  processes  are  mysterious  and  yet  in- 
volved in  doubt  and  uncertainty.  Phylo- 
genesis is  the  supposed  development  of  a 
species  in  the  course  of  geological  time  and 
by  the  intervention  of  long  series  of  species, 
each  in  its  time  distinct  and  composed  of 
individuals  each  going  regularly  through 
a  genetic  circle  of  its  own. 

The  latter  is  a  process  not  open  to  ob- 
servation within  the  time  at  our  command — 
purely  hypothetical,  therefore,  and  of  which 
the  possibility  remains  to  be  proved;  while 
the  causes  on  which  it  must  depend  are  nec- 
essarily altogether  different  from  those  at 
work  in  ontogenesis,  and  the  conditions  of 
a  long  series  of  different  kinds  of  animals, 
each  perfect  in  its  kind,  are  equally  dis- 
similar from  those  of  an  animal  passing 
through  the  regular  stages  from  infancy  to 
maturity.  The  similarity,  in  some  impor- 
tant respects,  of  ontogenesis  to  phylogenesis, 
was  inevitable,  provided  that  animals  were 
to  be  of  different  grades  of  complexity,  since 
the  development  of  the  individual  must  nec- 
essarily be  from  a  more  simple  to  a  more 
complex  condition.  On  any  hypothesis,  the 


parallelism  between  embryological  facts  and 
the  history  of  animals  in  geological  time 
affords  many  interesting  and  important  co- 
incidences. Yet  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that 
the  causes  and  the  conditions  of  these  two 
successions  cannot  have  been  the  same. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  1,  p.  65.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2456.  OPINIONS  ONAUTHORITY- 

Agreement  of  Specialists  the  Test. — It  is, 
without  doubt,  the  necessary  condition  of 
mankind  to  receive  most  of  their  opinions 
on  the  authority  of  those  who  have  specially 
studied  the  matters  to  which  they  relate. 
The  wisest  can  act  on  no  other  rule,  on 
subjects  with  which  they  are  not  themselves 
thoroughly  conversant;  and  the  mass  of 
mankind  have  always  done  the  like  on  all 
the  great  subjects  of  thought  and  conduct, 
acting  with  implicit  confidence  on  opinions 
of  which  they  did  not  know,  and  were  often 
incapable  of  understanding  the  grounds,  but 
on  which,  as  long  as'  their  natural  guides 
were  unanimous,  they  fully  relied,  growing 
uncertain  and  skeptical  only  when  these  be- 
came divided,  and  teachers  who,  as  far  as 
they  could  judge,  were  equally  competent, 
professed  contradictory  opinions.  Any  doc- 
trines which  come  recommended  by  the  near- 
ly universal  verdict  of  instructed  minds  will 
no  doubt  continue  to  be,  as  they  have  hither- 
to been,  accepted  without  misgiving  by  the 
rest. — MILL  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste 
Comte,  p.  90.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

2457.  OPPORTUNITY  IN  LINE  OF 
NATURAL  TENDENCY— J.  Time  When  Each 
Acquirement  Is  Easy. — In  all  pedagogy  the 
great  thing  is  to  strike  the  iron  while  hot, 
and  to  seize  the  wave  of  the  pupil's  interest 
in  each  successive  subject  before  its  ebb  has 
come,  so  that  knowledge  may  be  got  and  a 
habit  of  skill   acquired — a   headway  of   in- 
terest, in  short,  secured,  on  which  afterward 
the  individual  may  float.     There  is  a  happy 
moment    for    fixing    skill    in    drawing,    for 
making  boys   collectors  in  natural   history, 
and  presently  dissectors  and  botanists;  then 
for   initiating  them   into  the  harmonies   of 
mechanics  and  the  wonders  of  physical  and 
chemical  law.     Later,  introspective  psychol- 
ogy and  the  metaphysical  and  religious  mys- 
teries take  their  turn;  and,  last  of  all,  the 
drama  of  human  affairs  and  worldly  wisdom 
in  the  widest  sense  of  the  term.     In  each 
of  us  a  saturation-point  is  soon  reached  in 
all  these  things;  the  impetus  of  our  purely 
intellectual  zeal  expires,  and  unless  the  topic 
be  one  associated  with  some  urgent  personal 
need  that  keeps  our  wits  constantly  whetted 
about    it,    we    settle    into    an    equilibrium 
and    live    on    what    we    learned    when    our 
interest  was  fresh  and  instinctive,  without 
adding  to  the  store. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  24,  p.  401.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2458.  OPPOSITES  CONNECTED  BY 
INSENSIBLE      GRADATIONS  —  Circle,  El- 
lipse,   Parabola,    Hyperbola,    Straight    Line 


Opposites 
Organisms 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


500 


Merge  into  Each  Other. — There  is  no  ap- 
parent similarity  between  a  straight  line 
and  a  circle.  The  one  is  a  curve;  the  other 
is  defined  as  without  curvature.  The  one 
encloses  a  space;  the  other  will  not  enclose 
a  space,  tho  produced  forever.  The  one 
is  finite;  the  other  may  be  infinite.  Yet, 
opposite  as  the  two  are  in  their  characters, 
they  may  be  connected  together  by  a  series 
of  lines  no  one  of  which  differs  from  the 
adjacent  ones  in  any  appreciable  degree. 
Thus,  if  a  cone  be  cut  by  a  plane  at  right 
angles  to  its  axis  we  get  a  circle.  If,  instead 
of  being  perfectly  at  right  angles,  the  plane 
subtends  with  the  axis  an  angle  of  89°  59', 
we  have  an  ellipse  which  no  human  eye,  even 
when  aided  by  an  accurate  pair  of  com- 
passes, can  distinguish  from  a  circle.  De- 
creasing the  angle  minute  by  minute,  this 
closed  curve  becomes  perceptibly  eccentric, 
then  manifestly  so,  and  by  and  by  acquires 
so  immensely  elongated  a  form  as  to  bear 
no  recognizable  resemblance  to  a  circle.  By 
continuing  this  process  the  ellipse  changes 
insensibly  into  a  parabola.  On  still  further 
diminishing  the  angle  the  parabola  becomes 
an  hyperbola.  And  finally,  if  the  cone  be 
made  gradually  more  obtuse,  the  hyperbola 
passes  into  a  straight  line  as  the  angle  of 
the  cone  approaches  180°.  Here,  then,  we 
have  five  different  species  of  line — circle,  el- 
lipse, parabola,  hyperbola,  and  straight  line 
— each  having  its  peculiar  properties  and  its 
separate  equation,  and  the  first  and  last 
of  which  are  quite  opposite  in  Nature,  con- 
nected together  as  members  of  one  series,  all 
producible  by  a  single  process  of  insensible 
modification. — SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  iii,  ch. 
3,  p.  433.  (A.,  1900.) 

2459.     OPPOSITES  UNITED—  The  Lu- 

miniferous  Ether  Has  Gaseous  Tenuity, 
with  Properties  of  a  Solid. — The  notion  of 
this  medium  must  not  be  considered  as  a 
vague  or  fanciful  conception  on  the  part 
of  scientific  men.  Of  its  reality  most  of 
them  are  as  convinced  as  they  are  of  the 
existence  of  the  sun  and  moon.  The  lu- 
miniferous  ether  has  definite  mechanical 
properties.  It  is  almost  infinitely  more  at- 
tenuated than  any  known  gas,  but  its  prop- 
erties are  those  of  a  solid  rather  than  of  a 
gas.  It  resembles  jelly  rather  than  air. 
This  was  not  the  first  conception  of  the 
ether,  but  it  is  that  forced  upon  us  by  a 
more  complete  knowledge  of  its  phenomena. 
A  body  thus  constituted  may  have  its  boun- 
daries; but,  altho  the  ether  may  not  be  co- 
extensive with  space,  it  must  at  all  events 
extend  as  far  as  the  most  distant  visible 
stars.  In  fact,  it  is  the  vehicle  of  their 
light,  and  without  it  they  could  not  be 
seen.  This  all-pervading  substance  takes  up 
their  molecular  tremors,  and  conveys  them 
with  inconceivable  rapidity  to  our  organs 
of  vision.  It  is  the  transported  shiver  of 
bodies  countless  millions  of  miles  distant, 
which  translates  itself  in  human  conscious- 
ness into  the  splendor  of  the  firmament  at 


night. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
i,  ch.  1,  p.  4.  (A.,  1897.) 

2460.  OPPOSITION,  DELIGHT  IN— 

Mental  as  Distinguished  from  Physical  Com- 
bativeness — Perception  of  Dangers  and  Dif- 
ficulties.— There  are  individuals  who  never 
manifest  the  least  degree  of  physical  com- 
bativeness,  who  yet  show  a  remarkable  love 
of  opposition  in  all  their  psychical  relations 
with  others.  That  objections  will  be  raised 
by  such  persons  to  any  plan  that  may  be 
proposed  we  can  always  feel  sure,  tho  we 
may  not  have  the  remotest  idea  as  to  what 
the  objection  may  be  in  each  particular  case. 
Persons  in  whom  this  tendency  exists  in  a 
less  prominent  degree  are  apt  to  see  objec- 
tions and  difficulties  first,  altho  their  good 
sense  may  subsequently  lead  them  to  con- 
sider these  as  of  less  account  or  to  be  out- 
weighed by  the  advantages  of  the  scheme. 
Such  was  the  case  with  the  late  Sir  Robert 
Peel.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  are 
spoken  of  as  of  sanguine  temperament  are 
apt  to  lose  sight  of  the  intervening  difficul- 
ties, in  the  pleasurable  anticipation  of  the 
result. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch. 
7,  p.  317.  (A.,  1900.) 

2461.  OPPRESSION  HATEFUL— So- 

ence  Despises  Tyrants'  Petty  Grandeur — So- 
licitude for  Humanity. — I  have  said  that  no 
arts  of  importance  have  been  lost,  but  per- 
haps this  assertion  is  rather  too  general. 
There  is  one  which  may  be  considered  an 
exception:  I  allude  to  the  ancient  art  pos- 
sessed by  the  few  of  enslaving  and  brutal- 
izing the  many,  the  art  by  which  a  single 
individual,  invested  with  the  magic  of  king- 
ly power,  was  enabled  to  compel  thousands 
of  his  subjects,  through  the  course  of  a  long 
reign,  like  beasts  of  burden,  to  haul  ma- 
terials and  heap  up  huge  piles  of  stone, 
which  might  transmit  to  posterity  the  fact 
that  a  worm  like  himself  had  lived  and 
died.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt,  venerable  as 
they  are  with  the  age  of  accumulated  cen- 
turies, are  melancholy  monuments  of  hu- 
man degradation,  of  human  vanity  and  cruel- 
ty.— HENRY  Improvement  of  the  Mechanical 
Arts,  Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  321. 
(Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

2462.  ORDER  AMID  SEEMING  ACCI- 
DENTS— Periodicity  of  Sun-spots. — Schwabe 
found   that   in   the   course   of  about   eleven 
years  the  solar  spots  pass  through  a  com- 
plete cycle  of  changes.    They  become  gradu- 
ally more  and  more  numerous  up  to  a  cer- 
tain maximum,  and  then   as  gradually  di- 
minish.    At  length  the  sun's   face  becomes 
not  only  clear  of  spots,  but  a  certain  well- 
marked  darkening  around  the  border  of  his 
disk  disappears  altogether  for  a  brief  season. 
At  this   time  the  sun  presents  a  perfectly 
uniform  disk.     Then  gradually  the  spots  re- 
turn, become  more  and  more  numerous,  and 
so  the  cycle  of  changes  is  run  through  again. 

The  astronomers   who   have   watched   the 
sun  from  the  Kew  Observatory  have  found 


501 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Opposite** 
Organisms 


that  the  process  of  change  by  which  the 
spots  sweep  in  a  sort  of  "  wave  of  increase  " 
over  the  solar  disk  is  marked  by  several 
minor  variations.  As  the  surface  of  a  great 
sea-wave  will  be  traversed  by  small  ripples, 
so  the  gradual  increase  and  diminution  in 
the  number  of  the  solar  spots  is  character- 
ized by  minor  gradations  of  change,  which 
are  sufficiently  well  marked  to  be  distinctly 
cognizable.  There  seems  every  reason  for 
believing  that  the  periodic  changes  thus  no- 
ticed are  due  to  the  influence  of  the  planets 
upon  the  solar  photosphere,  tho  in  what  way 
that  influence  is  exerted  is  not  at  present 
perfectly  clear.  —  PROCTOR  Other  Worlds 
than  Ours,  ch.  2,  p.  39.  (Burt.) 

2463.  ORDER  OF  EVOLUTION  RE- 
VERSED —  Mental  Disorder   Wrecks  Higher 
Structures    First. — We    may,    perhaps,    ex- 
press this  point  of  connection  between  the 
illusions  of  normal  life  and  insanity  by  help 
of  a  physiological  hypothesis.     If  the  nerv- 
ous system  has  been  slowly  built  up,  dur- 
ing the  course  of  human   history,  into  its 
present  complex  form,  it  follows  that  those 
nervous    structures   and   connections    which 
have  to  do  with  the  higher  intellectual  proc- 
esses,   or   which   represent   the    larger    and 
more   general    relations    of    our    experience, 
have   been   most   recently    evolved.      Conse- 
quently, they  would  be  the  least  deeply  or- 
ganized, and  so  the  least  stable;  that  is  to 
say,  the  most  liable  to  be  thrown  hors  de 
combat.     This  is  what  happens  temporarily 
in  the  case  of  the  sane,  when  the  mind  is 
held  fast  by  an  illusion.     And  in  states  of 
insanity  we  see  the  process  of  nervous  dis- 
solution beginning  with  these  same  nervous 
structures,  and  so  taking  the  reverse  order 
of  the  process  of  evolution.     And  thus,  we 
may   say   that   throughout  the   mental  life 
of   the   most  sane  of   us  these  higher   and 
more  delicately  balanced  structures  are  con- 
stantly in  danger  of  being  reduced  to  that 
state  of  inefficiency  which  in  its  full  mani- 
festation   is    mental    disease. — SULLY    Illu- 
sions, ch.  6,  p.   122.      (A.,  1897.) 

2464.  ORDER  REQUIRES  ORGAN- 
IZING 'MIND— Philosophy  an  Antidote  to  Athe- 
ism.— I  had  rather  believe  all  the  fables  in 
the  legend,  and  the  Talmud  and  the  Alcoran, 
than  that  this  universal  frame  is  without  a 
mind;    and,   therefore,   God   never   wrought 
miracle    to    convince    atheism,    because    his 
ordinary  works  convince  it.     It  is  true  that 
a  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to 
atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy  bringeth 
men's  minds  about  to  religion ;  for  while  the 
mind   of   man    looketh   upon   second   causes 
scattered,   it  may   sometimes   rest   in   them 
and  go  no  further;   but  when  it  beholdeth 
the   chain   of  them   confederate   and  linked 
together  it  must  needs  fly  to  Providence  and 
Deity:  nay,  even  that  school  which  is  most 
accused  of  atheism  doth  most  demonstrate 
religion:    that  is,  the  school  of  Leucippus. 
and  Democritus,  and  Epicurus;   for  it  is  a 
thousand  times  more  credible  that  four  mu- 


table elements  and  one  immutable  fifth  es- 
sence, duly  and  eternally  placed,  need  no 
God,  than  that  an  army  of  infinite  small 
portions,  or  seeds  unplaced,  should  have 
produced  this  order  and  beauty  without  a 
divine  marshal. — BACON  Essays,  essay  16, 
Of  Atheism,  p.  58.  (W.  L.  A.) 

2465.  ORDER,    UNCHANGING,    OF 
THE  STARRY  HOST—  The  Pleiades.— When 
we  look  up   at  the  heavens  we  see,   if   we 
watch  through  the  night,  the  host  of  stars 
rising  in  the  east  and  passing  above  us  to 
sink  in  the  west,  always  at  the  same  dis- 
tance and  in  unchanging  order,  each  seem- 
ing a  point  of  light  as  feeble  as  the  glow- 
worm's   shine    in    the   meadow    over    which 
they  are  rising,  each  flickering  as  tho  the 
evening  wind  would  blow  it  out.     The  in- 
fant  stretches    out   its   hand   to   grasp   the 
Pleiades;    but  when  the   child  has  become 
an    old   man    the   "  seven   stars "    are   still 
there  unchanged,  dim  only  in  his  aged  sight, 
and  proving  themselves   the   enduring  sub- 
stance, while  it  is  his  own  life  which  has 
gone,  as  the  shine  of  the  glowworm  in  the 
night.     They   were  there   just  the   same   a 
hundred  generations  ago,  before  the  pyramids 
were  built,  and  they  will  tremble  there  still, 
when  the  pyramids  have  been  worn  down  to 
dust   with  the  blowing  of  the  desert  sand 
against  their  granite  sides.     They  watched 
the  earth  grow  fit  for  man  long  before  man 
came,   and   they  will   doubtless   be   shining 
on  when   our   poor   human  race    itself   has 
disappeared  from  the  surface  of  this  planet. 
— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  5,  p.  117. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2466.  ORGANISM    DETERMINES 

DISEASE — Bacteria  Exciting  Causes. — What- 
ever may  be  said  with  regard  to  the  power 
of  micro-organisms  to  cause  disease,  we 
must  understand  one  cardinal  point,  namely, 
that  bacteria  are  never  more  than  causes, 
for  the  nature  of  disease  depends  upon  the 
behavior  of  the  organs  or  tissues  with  which 
the  bacteria  or  their  products  meet. — NEW- 
MAN Bacteria,  ch.  8,  p.  267.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

2467.  ORGANISM  MORE  CONTROL- 
LING  THAN    CpNDITIONS— In  variation 
under  domestication  there  are  two  factors, 
namely,  the  nature  of  the  organism  and  the 
nature  of  the  conditions.     The  former  seems 
to  be  much  the  more  important;  for  nearly 
similar    variations    sometimes    arise   under, 
as   far  as   we  can  judge,   dissimilar   condi- 
tions;   and,  on  the   other  hand,   dissimilar 
variations  arise  under  conditions  which  ap- 
pear to  be  nearly  uniform. — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  9.      (Burt.) 

2468.  ORGANISMS,  HIGHER,  MAY 
COOPERATE  WITH  LOWER— Higher  or- 
ganisms  [may  be]   associated  for  a  specific 
purpose  with  bacteria.     .     .      .      [It  is  be- 
lieved  that   these]    perform    a    preliminary 
disintegration  of  organic  matter  before  the 
decomposing    bacteria    commence    their    la- 


Organisms 
Organs 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


502 


bors.  This  occurs  apparently  in  the  self- 
purification  of  rivers,  as  well  as  in  polluted 
soils. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  33.  (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.) 

2469.  ORGANISMS,  LOWER,  HELP 

HIGHER— Microbes  Fix  Nitrogen  for  Plants 
— Nitrates.  —  Until  comparatively  recently 
it  was  held  that  plant  life  could  not  be 
maintained  in  a  soil  devoid  of  nitrogen  or 
compounds  thereof.  But  it  has  been  found 
that  certain  classes  of  plants  (the  Legu- 
minosce,  for  example),  when  they  are  grown 
in  a  soil  which  is  practically  free  from  ni- 
trogen at  the  commencement,  do  take  up 
this  gas  into  their  tissues.  One  explanation 
of  this  fact  is  that  free  nitrogen  becomes 
converted  into  nitrogen  compounds  in  the 
soil  through  the  influence  of  micro-organ- 
isms present  there.  Another  explanation 
attributes  this  fixation  of  free  nitrogen  to 
micro-organisms  existing  in  the  rootlets  of 
the  plant.  .  .  .  The  main  supply  of  this 
gas,  absolutely  necessary  to  the  existence  of 
vegetable  life  upon  the  earth,  is  drawn  not 
from  the  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere,  but 
from  that  contained  in  nitrogen  compounds 
in  the  soil.  The  most  important  of  these 
are  the  nitrates.  Here,  then,  we  have  the 
necessary  food  of  plants  expressed  in  a  sen- 
tence: water,  gases,  salts,  the  most  impor- 
tant and  essential  gas  and  some  of  the  salts 
being  combined  in  nitrates. — NEWMAN  Bac- 
teria, ch.  5,  p.  147.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2470.  ORGANISMS,   MICROSCOPIC, 
INCONCEIVABLY    NUMEROUS -Protected 
Infusions  Void  of  Life. — Sixty  flasks  filled, 
boiled,  and  sealed   [hermetically],  and  con- 
taining  strong   infusions    of   beef,    mutton, 
turnip,  and  cucumber,  are  carefully  packed 
in   sawdust,   and   transported   to   the  Alps. 
.     .     .     We  open  our  box  at  the  Bel  Alp 
and  count  out  fifty- four  flasks,  with  their 
liquids  as  clear  as  filtered  drinking-water. 
In  six  flasks,  howrever,  the  infusion  is  found 
muddy.     We  closely  examine  these,  and  dis- 
cover that  every  one  of  them  has  had   its 
fragile   end  broken  off  in  the  transit  from 
London.     Air   has   entered   the   flasks,   and 
the  observed  muddiness  is  the  result.     .    .     . 
Examined  with  a  pocket  lens,  or  even  with 
a  microscope  of  insufficient  power,  nothing 
living    is    seen    in    the    muddy    liquid;    but 
regarded    with    a    magnifying    power    of    a 
thousand  diameters   or  so,  what  an   aston- 
ishing appearance  does  it  present !    Leeuwen- 
hoek  estimated  the   population  of  a   single 
drop    of    stagnant    water    at    500,000,000: 
probably  the  population  of   a  drop   of  our 
turbid   infusion  would  be  this  many  times 
multiplied.     The  field  of  the  microscope  is 
crowded    with    organisms,     some    wabbling 
slowly,   others   shooting  rapidly   across   the 
microscopic    field.      They    dart    hither    and 
thither   like   a   rain   of  minute   projectiles; 
they   pirouette   and   spin   so   quickly   round 
that  the  retention  of  the  retinal  impression 
transforms  the  little  living  rod  into  a  twirl- 
ing  wheel.      And   yet   the    most    celebrated 


naturalists  tell  us  they  .  are  vegetables. 
From  the  rod-like  shape  which  they  so  fre- 
quently assume,  these  organisms  are  called 
"  bacteria  " — a  term,  be  it  here  remarked, 
which  covers  organisms  of  very  diverse 
kinds. — TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the 
Air,  essay  3,  p.  292.  (A.,  1895.) 

2471.  ORGANISMS  NEITHER  PLANT 
NOR  ANIMAL— Moving  Plants  among  Rooted 
Animals — Animals    Secreting    Chlorophyl — 
Plants   Eating   Insects. — There    is    a    limbo 
filled  with  organisms  which  never  rise  high 
enough  in  the  scale  to  be  manifestly  either 
animal  or  plant,  unless  it  may  be  said  of 
some  of  them  that  they  are  each  in  turn  and 
neither  long.     There  are  undoubted  animals 
which    produce    the    essential    material    of 
vegetable  fabric,  or  build  up  a  part  of  their 
structure  of  it,  or  elaborate  the  character- 
istic   leaf-green    [chlorophyl]    which,    under 
solar    light,    assimilates    inorganic    into   or- 
ganic matter,  the  most  distinguishing  func- 
tion of  vegetation.    On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  plants — microscopic,  indeed,  but  unques- 
tionable— which    move    spontaneously    and 
freely  around  and  among  animals  that  are 
fixed    and   rooted.      And,   to    come   without 
further  parley  to  the  matter  in  hand,  while 
the  majority  of  animals  feed  directly  upon 
plants,  "  for  'tis  their  nature  to,"  there  are 
plants  which  turn  the  tables  and  feed  upon 
them.      Some,   being   parasitic   upon    living 
animals,     feed    insidiously    and    furtively; 
these,  altho  really  cases   in  point,   are  not 
so  extraordinary,  and,  as  they  belong  to  the 
lower  orders,  they  are  not  much  regarded, 
except   for   the   harm   they   do.      There   are 
others,    and    those    of    the    highest    orders, 
which  lure  or  entrap  animals  in  ways  which 
may  well  excite  our  special  wonder,  all  the 
more  so  since  we  are  now  led  to  conclude 
that    they   not   only    capture    but   consume 
their  prey. — GRAY  Darwiniana,   art.   10,  p. 
289.      (A.,    1889.) 

2472.  ORGANISMS,  SOCIAL,  IN 
ECONOMY  OF  NATURE—  Coral  Reefs  and 
Islands. — As   minute    social   organisms,   the 
corals  play  an  important  part  in  the  gen- 
eral economy  of  Nature,  altho  they  do  not, 
as    people   began   to   believe    after    Captain 
Cook's   voyages    of   discovery,   build   up    is- 
lands   or    enlarge    continents    from    almost 
unfathomable   depths    of   the   ocean.      They 
excite  the  liveliest  interest,  whether  regard- 
ed as  physiological  objects,  and  as  illustra- 
ting the  various  gradations  of  animal  form, 
or    in    connection    with    the    geography    of 
plants   and  the  geognostic  relations  of  the 
earth's  crust.     According  to  the  comprehen- 
sive views  of  Leopold  von  Buch,  the  whole 
Jura-formation  consists  of  "  large   elevated 
coral-banks  of  the  ancient  world,  surround- 
ing at  a  certain  distance  the  old  mountain 
chains." — HUMBOLDT    Views    of    Nature,    p. 
252.      (Bell,  1896.) 

2473.  ORGANIZATION  NOT  THE 
CAUSE    OF    LIFE—  Vital  Force   Organizes 
Matter. — We   never    see    the   phenomena    of 


503 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


8 


rgaiiisms 


life  dissociated  from  organization.  Yet  the 
profoundest  physiologists  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  organization  is  not  the 
cause  of  life,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  life 
is  the  cause  of  organization — life  being 
something — a  force  of  some  kind,  by  what- 
ever name  we  may  call  it — which  precedes 
organization,  and  fashions  it,  and  builds  it 
up.  This  was  the  conclusion  come  to  by 
the  great  anatomist  Hunter,  and  it  is  the 
conclusion  indorsed  in  our  own  day  by  such 
men  as  Dr.  Carpenter  and  Professor  Huxley 
— men  neither  of  whom  have  exhibited  in 
their  philosophy  any  undue  bias  towards 
either  theological  or  metaphysical  explana- 
tions.— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  71. 
(Burt.j 

2474.  ORGANIZATION  OF  INDUSTRY 
— Cooperative  Building  among  Primitive 
Men. — To  drag  the  piles  to  the  lake,  and 
fix  them  firmly  [as  supports  for  lake- 
dwellings],  must  also  have  required  much 
labor,  especially  when  their  number  is 
considered.  At  Wangen  alone  M.  Lohle 
has  calculated  that  50,000  piles  were  used; 
but  we  must  remember  that  these  were 
probably  not  all  planted  at  one  time  nor  by 
one  generation.  Wangen,  indeed,  was  cer- 
tainly not  built  in  a  day,  but  was,  no  doubt, 
gradually  enlarged  as  the  population  in- 
creased. Herodotus  informs  us  that  the 
Poeonians  [an  ancient  race  of  lake-dwellers] 
made  the  first  platform  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, but  that,  subsequently,  at  every  mar- 
riage ( and  polygamy  was  permitted ) ,  the 
bridegroom  was  expected  to  add  a  certain 
number  of  piles  to  the  common  support. — 
AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  6,  p.  177. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2475.     ORGANIZATION    OF  LABOR 

— Combination  against  Competition. — A  mo- 
ment's consideration  will  convince  us  that 
the  same  necessities  of  labor  which  were 
found  to  determine  so  fatally  the  condition 
of  women  and  children  are  necessities  which 
apply  without  any  abatement  to  the  labor  of 
adult  men.  ...  If  a  man  is  placed  under 
such  conditions  that  he  cannot  save  his 
wife  and  child  from  exhausting  labor  it  is 
certain  that  the  same  conditions  will  im- 
pose a  like  necessity  upon  himself.  Never- 
theless, Parliament  has  resolutely  and  wise- 
ly refused  to  interfere  on  his  behalf.  And 
why?  Because  the  argument  is  that  the 
adult  man  is  able,  or  ought  to  be  able,  to 
defend  himself.  And  so  he  can;  but  how? 
Only  by  combination.  The  "  law "  which 
results  in  excessive  labor  is  the  law  of  com- 
petition— that  is,  it  is  the  attraction  ex- 
erted upon  the  wills  of  a  multitude  of  in- 
dividual men  by  the  rewards  of  labor.  The 
pressure  of  this  attraction  can  only  be  light- 
ened by  bringing  those  wills  under  the  power 
of  counter-motives,  which  may  induce  them 
to  postpone,  to  some  higher  interest,  the 
immediate  appetites  of  gain.  And  this  is 
the  work  which  combination  does. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  221.  (Burt.) 


2476.  ORGANS  OF  SENSE  BEYOND 
MAN'S  KEN— Mysterious  Power  of  Antenna. 
— The  antennae  appear  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  sense-organs  [of  ants],  as 
their  removal  produces  an  extraordinary  dis- 
turbance in  the  intelligence  of  the  animal. 
An  ant  so  mutilated  can  no  longer  find  its 
way  or  recognize  companions,  and  therefore 
is  unable  to  distinguish  between  friends  and 
foes.  It  is  also  unable  to^  find  food,  ceases 
to  engage  in  any  labor,  and  loses  all  its 
regard  for  larvae,  remaining  permanently 
quiet  and  almost  motionless.  A  somewhat 
similar  disturbance,  or  rather  destruction, 
of  the  mental  faculties  is  observable  as  a 
result  of  the  same  mutilation  in  the  case  of 
bees. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  3, 
p.  142.  (A.,  1899.) 

247  7.     ORGANS,  RUDIMENTARY— A 

True  Teleology — Unity  of  Plan. — By  the 
adoption  of  the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  or 
something  like  it,  which  we  incline  to  favor, 
many  of  the  difficulties  are  obviated  and 
others  diminished.  In  the  comprehensive 
and  far-reaching  teleology  which  may  take 
the  place  of  the  former  narrow  conceptions, 
organs  and  even  faculties,  useless  to  the  in- 
dividual, find  their  explanation  and  reason 
of  being.  Either  they  have  done  service  in 
the  past,  or  they  may  do  service* in  the  fu- 
ture. They  may  have  been  essentially  use- 
ful in  one  way  in  a  past  species,  and,  tho 
now  functionless,  they  may  be  turned  to 
useful  account  in  some  very  different  way 
hereafter.  In  botany  several  cases  come  to 
our  mind  which  suggest  such  interpreta- 
tion.— ASA  GRAY  Darwiniana,  art.  13,  p. 
375.  (A.,  1889.) 


2478. 


Muscles  for  Mov- 


ing the  Ears  in  Man. — Moreover,  most  of 
the  higher  animals  possess  muscles  which 
are  never  employed;  even  man  has  such 
rudimentary  muscles.  Most  of  us  are  in- 
capable of  moving  our  ears  as  we  wish,  al- 
tho  the  muscles  for  this  movement  exist, 
and  altho  individual  persons  who  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  exercise  these  muscles 
do  succeed  in  moving  their  ears.  It  is  still 
possible,  by  special  exercise,  by  the  perse- 
vering influence  of  the  will  upon  the  nervous 
system,  to  reanimate  the  almost  extinct  ac- 
tivity in  the  existing  but  imperfect  organs, 
which  are  on  the  road  to  complete  disap- 
pearance.— HAECKEL  History  of  Creation, 
vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  12.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


2479. 


One  Vast  Plan  of 


Organic  Life. — These  useless  members,  these 
rudimentary  or  aborted  limbs  which  puzzled 
us  so  much,  are  parts  of  an  universal  plan. 
On  this  plan  the  bony  skeletons  of  all  living 
animals  have  been  put  together.  The  forces 
which  have  been  combined  for  the  molding 
of  organic  forms  have  been  so  combined  as 
to  mold  them  after  certain  types  or  pat- 
terns. And  when  comparative  anatomy  has 
revealed  this  fact  as  affecting  all  the  ani- 
mals of  the  existing  world,  another  branch 


Orgai 
Origii 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


504 


of  the  same  science  comes  in  to  confirm  the 
generalization,  and  extend  it  over  the  innu- 
merable creatures  which  have  existed  and 
have  passed  away.  This  one  plan  of  organic 
life  has  never  been  departed  from  since  time 
began. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  117. 
(Burt.) 

2480.  ORGANS,      STIMULUS, 
GROWTH^  AND  DECAY  OF— Some  Laws 
in   Pedagogy. — "  A   vigorously    used    organ 
withdraws  nourishment  from  the  neighbor- 
ing organs  and  hinders  their  development." 

"  An  organ  that  is  not  used  loses  its 
energy." 

"  An  organ  overstrained  easily  becomes 
useless." 

"  When  a  single  function  suffers,  all  the 
others  suffer  with  it,  and  harmonious  de- 
velopment is  out  of  the  question." 

"  Organic  development  proceeds  from  the 
inner  to  the  outer;  the  reverse  process  is 
impossible." 

"  Artificial  stimulus  to  growth  leads  to 
decay." 

"  The  separate  functions  succeed  each 
other,  but  they  do  not  appear  simultane- 
ously." 

"  Only  that  which  develops  slowly  is 
capable  of  long  development." — VAIHINGER 
Address  Tfefore  Scientists.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2481.  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF 

MAN — Likeness  to  and  Difference  from  Lower 
Animals — Unity  of  Nature  a  Unity  of  Plan. 
— Man,  when  regarded  merely  as  an  organ- 
ism, is  closely  related  to  the  lower  animals. 
His  body  is  constructed  on  the  same  general 
plan  with  theirs.  More  especially,  he  is 
near  akin  to  the  other  members  of  the  class 
Mammalia.  But  we  must  not  forget  that 
even  as  an  animal  man  is  somewhat  widely 
separated  from  his  humbler  relations. 
.  .  .  It  is  easy  to  say  that  every  bone, 
every  muscle,  every  convolution  of  his  brain, 
has  its  counterpart  in  the  corresponding 
parts  of  an  orang  or  a  gorilla.  But,  ad- 
mitting this,  it  is  also  true  that  every  one 
of  these  parts  is  different,  and  that  the  ag- 
gregate of  all  the  differences  mounts  up  to 
an  enormous  sum  total,  more  especially  in 
relation  to  habits  and  to  capacities  for  ac- 
tion. Those  remarkable  homologies  or  like- 
nesses of  plan  which  obtain  in  the  animal 
kingdom  are  very  wonderful,  and  the  study 
of  them  greatly  enlarges  our  conceptions  of 
the  unity  of  Nature;  but  we  must  never 
forget  that  such  general  agreements  in  plan 
cover  the  most  profound  differences  in  de- 
tail and  in  adaptation  to  use,  and  that, 
while  they  indicate  a  common  type,  this 
may  rather  point  to  a  unity  of  design  than 
to  a  mere  accidental  unity  of  descent. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  4,  p.  139.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2482.  ORIGIN  OF  DEEP-SEA  LIFE 

— No  Close  Resemblance  to  Geologic  Fauna. 
— Whence  came  the  curious  creatures  that 


live  mostly  in  total  darkness  and  can  sus- 
tain without  injury  to  their  delicate  and 
complicated  organization  the  enormous  pres- 
sure of  the  great  depths?  Are  they  the 
remnants  of  the  fauna  of  shallow  prehis- 
toric seas  that  have  reached  their  present 
position  by  the  gradual  sinking  of  the  ocean 
basins?  Or,  are  we  to  look  upon  the  abys- 
mal region  as  the  nursery  of  the  marine 
fauna,  the  place  whence  the  population  of 
the  shallow  waters  was  derived  ?  Neither  of 
these  answers  is  supported  by  the  facts 
with  which  we  are  now  well  acquainted. 
The  fauna  of  the  abysmal  region  does  not 
show  a  close  resemblance  to  that  of  any  of 
the  past  epochs  as  revealed  to  us  by  geology, 
nor  are  we  justified  in  assuming,  without 
much  stronger  evidence  than  we  now  pos- 
sess, that  the  oceans  have  undergone  any 
such  great  depression  as  this  first  theory 
presupposes.  —  HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep 
Sea,  ch.  3,  p.  54.  (A.,  1894.) 


2483.  ORIGIN  OF  GEOMETRY— 

Loves  to  Divide  Space.  —  The  whole  science 
of  geometry  may  be  said  to  owe  its  being 
to  the  exorbitant  interest  which  the  human 
mind  takes  in  lines.  We  cut  space  up  in 
every  direction  in  order  to  manufacture 
them.  —  JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  20,  p. 
150.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2484.  ORIGIN    OF    MARINER'S 
COMPASS     FOREVER     LOST—  Magnetism 
Known,     Polarity     Unsuspected.  —  How     or 
when   the   tendency   of   a   freely  suspended 
magnet    to    set    itself    in    a    nearly    north 
and    south    direction    was    first    discovered 
is    a    question,/  the    answer    to    which    is 
probably  forever  lost.     The  civilized  world 
remained  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  for  nearly 
eighteen  centuries  after  the  attractive  effect 
of   the   lodestone   had  become   well   known. 
Altho,  as  I  have  already  stated,  it  is  not  im- 
possible to  conjecture  that  the  phenomenon 
was  familiar  to  the  ancestors  of  primitive 
civilization,    who,    from    the    highlands    of 
Central  Asia,  dispersed  in  many  races  over 
the  earth;    yet  the  knowledge  came  to  the 
people   of  the  Middle  Ages   anew,   through 
the  invention   of  the  first  and  greatest  of 
electrical   instruments  —  the  mariner's   com- 
pass; first,  in  its  utilization  of  the  mysteri- 
ous force  existing  in  the  magnet;    greatest, 
in  that  it  has  contributed  more  than   any 
other  product  of  human  intelligence  to  the 
progress    and    welfare    of    mankind.  —  PARK 
BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity, 
ch.  3,  p.  53.    (J.  W.,  1898.) 

2485.  ORIGIN  OF  NAME  «  GORIL- 
LA" —  Voyage    of   Hanno  from   Carthage.  — 
About  twenty-five  centuries  ago  a  voyager 
called  Hanno   is  said  to  have  sailed  from 
Carthage,  between  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  — 
that  is,  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  — 
along  the  shores  of  Africa.     "  Passing  the 
Streams  of  Fire,"  says  the  narrator,  "we 
came  to  a  bay  called  the  Horn  of  the  South. 
In  the  recess  there  was  an  island,     .     .     . 


505 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Organ* 
Griffin 


having  a  lake,  and  in  this  there  was 
another  island  full  of  wild  men.  But  much 
the  greater  part  of  them  were  women  with 
hairy  bodies,  whom  the  interpreters  called 
'  Gorillas.'  Pursuing  them,  we  were  not 
able  to  take  the  men;  they  all  escaped,  be- 
ing able  to  climb  the  precipices,  and  de- 
fended themselves  with  pieces  of  rock.  But 
three  women,  who  bit  and  scratched  those 
who  led  them,  were  not  willing  to  follow. 
However,  having  killed  them,  we  flayed 
them  and  conveyed  the  skins  to  Car- 
thage. .  .  ." 

In  the  opinion  of  many  naturalists,  the 
wild  men  of  this  story  were  the  anthropoid 
or  manlike  apes  which  are  now  called  go- 
rillas, rediscovered  recently  by  Du  Chaillu. 
.  .  .  I  must  confess  these  inferences 
seem  to  me  somewhat  open  to  question,  and 
the  account  of  Hanno's  voyage  only  inter- 
esting in  its  relation  to  the  gorilla  as  hav- 
ing suggested  the  name  now  given  to  this 
race  of  apes.  It  is  not  probable  that  Hanno 
sailed  much  further  than  Sierra  Leone. 
.  .  .  The  behavior  of  the  "  wild  men," 
again,  does  not  correspond  with  the  known 
habits  of  the  gorilla. — PROCTOR  Pleasant 
Ways  in  Science,  p.  296.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

2486.  ORIGIN    OF    RELIGION-^s- 

sumptions  Regarding  a  Divine  Being. — Men 
have  been  very  busy  of  late  in  speculating 
on  the  origin  of  religion.  In  asking  this 
question  they  generally  make,  often  as  it 
seems  unconsciously,  one  or  other  of  two 
assumptions.  One  is  the  assumption  that 
there  is  no  God,  and  that  it  must  have 
taken  a  long  time  to  invent  him.  The  other 
is  that  there  is  a  God,  but  that  men  were 
born,  or  created,  or  developed,  without  any 
sense  or  feeling  of  his  existence,  and  that 
the  acquisition  of  such  a  sense  must  of  ne- 
cessity have  been  the  work  of  time. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  265. 
(Burt.) 

2487.  ORIGIN  OF  STATES  OF  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS   UNKNOWN  —  It    must    be 
frankly   confessed   that  in   no   fundamental 
sense  do  we  know  where  our  successive  fields 
of   consciousness   come   from,    or   why   they 
have   the  precise   inner   constitution*  which 
they  do  have.     They  certainly  follow  or  ac- 
company our  brain  states,  and,   of  course, 
their  special  forms  are  determined  by  our 
past  experiences  and  education.     But,  if  we 
ask  just  how  the  brain  conditions  them,  we 
have  not  the  remotest  inkling  of  an  answer 
to  give. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  2,  p. 
16.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2488.  ORIGIN  OF  VARIATIONS  UN- 
EXPLAINED— Darwin  Admits  Profound  Ig- 
norance.— Darwin  does  not  pretend  to  have 
discovered    any   law    or   rule    according   to 
which  new  forms  have  been  born  from  old 
forms.    He  does  not  hold  that  outward  con- 
ditions,  however  changed,   are   sufficient  to 
account  for  them.    Still  less  does  he  connect 
them  with  the  effort  or  aspirations  of  any 


organism  after  new  faculties  and  powers. 
He  frankly  confesses  that  "  our  ignorance 
of  the  laws  of  variation  is  profound,"  and 
says  that  in  speaking  of  them  as  due  to 
chance  he  means  only  "  to  acknowledge 
plainly  our  ignorance  of  the  cause  of  each 
particular  variation."  ["  Origin  of  Species," 
p.  131  (first  edition).]  Again  he  says:  "I 
believe  in  no  law  of  necessary  development." 
[Ibid.,  p.  351.]  This  distinction  between 
Mr.  Darwin's  theory  and  other  theories  of 
development  has  not,  I  think,  been  suffi- 
ciently observed.  His  theory  seems  to  be 
far  better  than  a  mere  theory — to  be  an  es- 
tablished scientific  truth — in  so  far  as  it 
accounts,  in  part  at  least,  for  the  success 
and  establishment  and  spread  of  new  forms 
when  they  have  arisen.  But  it  does  not 
even  suggest  the  law  under  which,  or  by 
which,  or  according  to  which  such  new 
forms  are  introduced. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  5,  p.  130.  (Burt.) 


2489. 


Natural  Selection 


Not  a  Cause. — It  cannot  be  too  often  re- 
peated that  natural  selection  can  produce 
nothing  whatever,  except  the  conservation 
or  preservation  of  some  variation  otherwise 
originated.  The  true  origin  of  species  does 
not  consist  in  the  adjustments  which  help 
varieties  to  live  and  to  prevail,  but  in  those 
previous  adjustments  which  cause  those  va- 
rieties to  be  born  at  all.  Now  what  are 
these?  Can  they  be  traced  or  even  guessed 
at?  Mr.  Darwin  has  a  whole  chapter  on  the 
"  Laws  of  Variation " ;  and  it  is  here,  if 
anywhere,  that  we  look  for  any  suggestion 
as  to  the  physical  causes  which  account  for 
the  origin  as  distinguished  from  the  mere 
preservation  of  species.  He  candidly  ad- 
mits that  his  doctrine  of  natural  selection 
takes  cognizance  of  variations  only  after 
they  have  arisen,  and  that  it  regards  those 
variations  as  purely  accidental  in  their 
origin,  or,  in  other  words,  as  due  to  chance. 
This,  of  course,  he  adds,  is  a  supposition 
wholly  incorrect,  and  only  serves  "  to  indi- 
cate plainly  our  ignorance  of  the  cause  of 
each  particular  variation." — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  143.  (Burt.) 

249O.     ORIGIN,   SUPPOSED     INDE- 
PENDENT, OF    SIMILAR    STRUCTURES 

— Nor  is  it  clear  that  the  apes  of  the  New 
World  and  those  of  the  Old  ever  had  any 
ape  ancestors  common  to  both.  Possibly 
further  discoveries  in  the  Eocene  deposits 
of  North  America  (which  are  such  veritable 
treasure-houses  of  relics  of  ancient  life) 
will  reveal  to  us  the  past  existence  of 
transitional  forms  between  the  monkeys  of 
America  and  of  Asia  and  Africa;  but,  in 
spite  of  all  that  has  been  published,  this  has 
not,  to  our  minds,  been  done,  and  we  think 
it  quite  possible  that  these  two  families 
have  had  different  origins,  and  have  come  to 
resemble  each  other  independently. — MIVART 
Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  1,  p.  34.  (L.  B.  & 
Co.,  1893.) 


Originators 
Painting 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


506 


2491.  ORIGINATORS  AND  FOLLOW- 
ERS— Brutes   Not  Inventive. — Reflect  a  mo- 
ment upon  your  own  daily  life  and  you  will 
recognize  two  sets  of  activity,  those  which 
you  originate,  and  those  in  which  you  fol- 
low suit.    Animals  can  learn  to  follow  suit, 
and  to  a  very  limited  extent  can  originate. 
But  it   is   the    divine   spark   of   originality 
which  underlies  every  thought  or  device  in 
this  world.     As  one  man  invents  a  machine 
and  others  by  thousands  fall  into  the  use  of 
it,  as  the  musician  composes  a  song  and  mil- 
lions sing  it,  so  was  it  in  the  cradle-land  of 
humanity:    the   inventor,   touched  with  fire 
from  the  divine  altar,  set  new  examples  to 
be   followed. — MASON   The  Birth  of  Inven- 
tion (Address  at  Centenary  of  American  Pat- 
ent System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891,  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Congress,  p.  407 ) . 

2492.  OSTRICH  OF  AMERICA—  The 

"  Ship  of  the  Wilderness " — Invisible  ~by 
Protective  Coloring. — Among  the  feathered 
inhabitants  of  the  pampas  the  grand  archaic 
ostrich  of  America  survives. 

The  rhea  possesses  a  unique  habit,  which 
is  a  puzzle  to  us,  altho  it  probably  once  had 
some  significance — namely,  that  of  running, 
when  hunted,  with  one  wing  raised  verti- 
cally, like  a  great  sail — a  veritable  "  ship  of 
the  wilderness."  In  every  way  it  is  adapted 
to  the  conditions  of  the  pampas.  .  .  . 
Its  commanding  stature  gives  it  a  wide 
horizon;  and  its  dim,  pale,  bluish-gray  color 
assimilates  to  that  of  the  haze,  and  renders 
it  invisible  at  even  a  moderate  distance.  Its 
large  form  fades  out  of  sight  mysteriously, 
and  the  hunter  strains  his  eyes  in  vain  to 
distinguish  it  on  the  blue  expanse.  Its  fig- 
ure and  carriage  have  a  quaint  majestic 
grace,  somewhat  unavian  in  character,  and 
peculiar  to  itself.  There  are  few  more 
strangely  fascinating  sights  in  Nature  than 
that  of  the  old  black-necked  cock-bird, 
standing  with  raised  agitated  wings  among 
the  tall  plumed  grasses,  and  calling  to- 
gether his  scattered  hens  with  hollow  boom- 
ings  and  long  mysterious  suspirations,  as  if 
a  wind  blowing  high  up  in  the  void  sky  had 
found  a  voice. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  26.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

2493.  OUTCASTS  OF  HUMANITY— 

Evidence  of  Vanished  Civilization — Figures . 
on  the  Rocks. — The  South- American  steppes 
are  the  boundaries  of  a  European  semi- 
civilization.  To  the  north,  between  the 
mountain  chain  of  Venezuela  and  the  Carib- 
bean Sea,  lie,  crowded  together,  industrial 
cities,  clean  and  neat  villages,  and  carefully 
tilled  fields.  Even  a  taste  for  arts,  scien- 
tific culture,  and  a  noble  love  of  civil  free- 
dom have  long  since  been  awakened  within 
these  regions. 

To  the  south,  a  drear  and  savage  wilder- 
ness bounds  the  steppe.  Forests,  the  growth 
of  thousands  of  years,  in  one  impenetrable 
thicket,  overspread  the  marshy  region  be- 
tween the  rivers  Orinoco  and  Amazon. 


Huge  masses  of  lead-colored  granite  con- 
tract the  beds  of  the  foaming  rivers.  Moun- 
tains and  forests  reecho  with  the  thunder  of 
rushing  waters,  the  roar  of  the  tiger-like 
jaguar,  and  the  dull  rain-foreboding  howl 
of  the  bearded  ape.  .  .  . 

In  this  grand  and  wild  condition  of  Na- 
ture dwell  numerous  races  of  men.  Sepa- 
rated by  a  remarkable  diversity  of  lan- 
guages, some  are  nomadic,  unacquainted 
with  agriculture,  and  living  on  ants,  gums, 
and  earth,  mere  outcasts  of  humanity, 
.  .  .  such  as  the  Ottomaks  and  Jarures; 
others,  for  instance  the  Maquiritares  and 
Macos,  have  settled  habitations,  live  on 
fruits  cultivated  by  themselves,  are  intelli- 
gent, and  of  gentler  manners.  Extensive 
tracts  between  the  Cassiquiare  and  the  Ata- 
bapo  are  inhabited  solely  by  the  tapir  and 
social  apes;  not  by  man.  Figures  graven 
on  the  rocks  .  .  .  attest  that  even  these 
deserts  were  once  the  seat  of  a  higher  civi- 
lization. They  bear  testimony,  as  do  also 
the  unequally  developed  and  varying  lan- 
guages (which  are  amongst  the  oldest  and 
most  imperishable  of  the  historical  records 
of  man),  to  the  changing  destinies  of  na- 
tions.— HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  19. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

2494.  OUTLOOK  ON  THE  UNIVERSE 
ENLARGED  BY  TELESCOPE— Satellites  of 
Jupiter  and  Ring  of  Saturn  Discovered. — 
The  increased  power  of  vision,  yielded  nearly 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  by  the  in- 
vention of  the  telescope,  has  afforded  to  the 
eye,  as  the  organ  of  sensuous  cosmical  con- 
templation, the  noblest  of  all  aids  toward  a 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  space,  and  the 
investigation  of  the  configuration,  physical 
character,  and  masses  of  the  planets  and 
their  satellites.  The  first  telescope  was  con- 
structed in  1608,  seven  years  after  the  death 
of  the  great  observer,  Tycho  Brahe.  Its 
earliest  fruits  were  the  successive  discovery 
of  the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  the  sun's  spots, 
the  crescent  shape  of  Venus,  the  ring  of 
Saturn  as  a  triple  planetary  formation,  .  .  . 
telescopic  stellar  swarms,  and  the  nebulae  in 
Andromeda.  In  1634,  the  French  astron- 
omer Morin,  eminent  for  his  observations  on 
longitude,  first  conceived  the  idea  of  mount- 
ing a  telescope  on  the  index-bar  of  an  in- 
strument of  measurement,  and  seeking  to 
discover  Arcturus  by  day.  The  perfection 
in  the  graduation  of  the  arc  would  have 
failed  entirely,  or  to  a  considerable  extent, 
in  affording  that  greater  precision  of  obser- 
vation at  which  it  aimed,  if  optical  and 
astronomical  instruments  had  not  been 
brought  into  accord,  and  the  correctness  of 
vision  made  to  correspond  with  that  of 
measurement.  The  micrometer  application 
of  fine  threads  stretched  in  the  focus  of  the 
telescope,  to  which  that  instrument  owes  its 
real  and  invaluable  importance,  was  first 
devised  six  years  afterward  (1640).  by  the 
young  and  talented  Gascoigne. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  41.  (H.,  1897.) 


507 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Originators 
Painting 


2495.  OWNERSHIP,  SENSE  OF,  ES- 
SENTIAL   TO    MENTAL    HEALTH  — The 

sense  of  ownership  begins  in  the  second 
year  of  life.  Among  the  first  words  which 
an  infant  learns  ,to  utter  are  the  words 
"  my  "  and  "  mine,"  and  woe  to  the  parents 
of  twins  who  fail  to  provide  their  gifts 
in  duplicate.  The  depth  and  primitiveness 
of  this  instinct  would  seem  to  cast  a  sort  of 
psychological  discredit  in  advance  upon  all 
radical  forms  of  communistic  utopia.  Pri- 
vate proprietorship  cannot  be  practically 
abolished  until  human  nature  is  changed. 
It  seems  essential  to  mental  health  that  the 
individual  should  have  something  beyond 
the  bare  clothes  on  his  back  to  which  he 
can  assert  exclusive  possession,  and  which 
he  may  defend  adversely  against  the  world. 
— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  7,  p.  55. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2496.  PAIN    DUE    TO    DISCORD    OR 

EXCESS—  Conflict  and  Violence  Distressing. 
— Conflict  and  violence  are  two  principal 
modes  of  painful  stimulation,  and  explain 
a  very  considerable  number  of  our  pains. 
In  most,  if  not  in  all,  of  the  painful  sen- 
sations of  three  of  the  senses — namely, 
touch,  hearing,  and  sight — the  pain  is  either 
discord  or  excess.  The  smarting  acuteness 
of  a  blow  on  the  skin,  of  a  railway  whistle 
close  to  the  ear,  of  a  glare  of  light,  are 
due  to  the  mere  degree  or  excess  of  the 
stimulus.  In  hearing  and  in  sight  there 
are,  in  addition,  the  pains  of  discord.  In 
the  two  remaining  senses,  taste  and  smell, 
we  cannot  make  the  same  affirmation.  We 
do  not  know  what  is  the  mode  of  nervous 
action  in  a  bitter  taste,  as  quinin  or  soot, 
and  we  cannot  say  that  the  transition  from 
sweet  to  bitter  is  a  transition  from  moderate 
stimulus  to  an  excessive  one.  It  may  be 
that  the  power  of  the  nerve  is  exhausted 
under  a  different  kind  of  influence  from 
mere  violence  of  stimulation ;  but  no  certain 
knowledge  exists  on  the  subject.  The  same 
remarks  apply  to  smell. — BAIN  Mind  and 
Body,  ch.  4,.  p.  18.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2497.  PAIN  LATENT  IN  JOY— Suffer- 
ing and  Sacrifice  Conditions  of  the  Highest 
Good — The  Mother's  Devotion. — Do  we  not 
see    that   our    natural    feelings    mislead   us 
when  they  pronounce  pleasant  things  to  be 
the  good  ones,   and  the  painful   ones   evil? 
So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  things  that 
we   call    painful,    that    are    painful    in    our 
ordinary   state,   are   essential   conditions   of 
our   highest  good.      To   us   there   could  not 
be  love  without  them.     We  could  never  have 
felt  the  joy,  never  have  had  even  the  idea, 
of  love,  if  sacrifice  had  been  impossible  to 
us.      In    our   truest   and    intense   happiness 
that  which  is  otherwise  felt  as  pain  is  pres- 
ent.     Pain,   we  may   say,   is  latent   in   our 
highest  state.     It  lies  hidden  and  unfelt  in 
the  form  of  devoted  sacrifice ;  but  it  is  there, 
and  it  would  make  itself  felt  as  pain  if  the 
love  which  finds  joy  in  bearing  it  were  ab- 
sent.   Take,  for  example,  the  offices  rendered 


with  joy  by  a  mother  to  her  babe;  let 
the  love  be  wanting,  and  what  remains? 
Not  mere  indifference,  but  vexation,  labor, 
annoyance.  A  gladly  accepted  pain  is  in  the 
mother's  love;  it  is  in  all  love  that  does  not 
contradict  the  name.  To  take  away  from 
us  the  possibility  of  that  which  we  feel  as 
pain  were  to  take  its  best  part  from  life, 
to  render  it  almost — surely  altogether — 
worthless.  The  possibility  of  love  is  given 
to  us  in  our  power  of  sacrifice,  and  loving 
brings  the  power  into  immediate  action. — 
HINTON  The  Mystery  of  Pain,  p.  21.  (Hum., 
1893.) 

2498.  PAINLESSNESS  OF  VIOLENT 
DEATH — Livingstone   and  the  Lion. —  In  all 
cases  in  which  persons  have  escaped  after 
being  seized  by  a  lion  or  tiger  they  declare 
that  they  suffered  little  or  no  pain,  physical 
or  mental.     A  well-known  instance  is  that 
of  Livingstone,  who  thus  describes  his  sen- 
sations  when   seized  by   a   lion :    "  Starting 
and  looking  half  round,  I  saw  the  lion  just 
in  the  act  of  springing  on  me.     I  was  upon 
a  little  height;   he  caught  my  shoulder   as 
he  sprang,  and  we  both  came  to  the  ground 
below  together.     Growling  horribly  close  to 
my  ear,  he  shook  me  as  a  terrier  dog  does 
a  rat.    The  shock  produced  a  stupor  similar 
to  that  which  seems  to  be  felt  by  a  mouse 
after  the  first  shake  of  the  cat.     It  causes 
a   sort  of  dreaminess,   in   which  there  was 
no  sense  of  pain  or  feeling  of  terror,  tho 
I  was  quite  conscious  of  all  that  was  hap- 
pening.    It  was  like  what  patients  partially 
under  the  influence  of  chloroform  describe, 
who  see  all  the  operation,  but  feel  not  the 
knife.     This  singular  condition  was  not  the 
result  of   any   mental   process.     The   shake 
annihilated   fear,   and   allowed  no   sense  of 
horror    in    looking   round    at   the    beast." — 
WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  25.     (Hum.) 

2499.  PAINTING,    EGYPTIAN,    CON- 
VENTIONAL FETTERS  OF— Greek  Pictures 
Excel  in  Freedom  and  Naturalness. — In  col- 
or-drawing or  painting  the  Egyptian  wall- 
paintings  show  a  style  half-way  between  the 
lowest  and  the  highest.     Here  the  scenes  of 
old  Egyptian  life  are  caught  at  their  char- 
acteristic moments,   the   shoemaker   is   seen 
drawing  his  thread,  the  fowler  throwing  at 
the    ducks,    the   lords    and   ladies    feasting, 
and  the  flute-players  and  tumblers  perform- 
ing before  them.     Yet  with  all  their  clever 
expressiveness,  the  Egyptian  paintings  have 
not  quite   left  behind   the   savage    stage   of 
art.     In  fact,  they  are  still  picture-writings 
rather  than  pictures,  repeating  rows  of  fig- 
ures with  heads,  legs,  and   arms   drawn  to 
pattern,    and   colored   in   childish   daubs   of 
color — hair   all   black,,  skin    all    red-brown, 
clothing  white,  and  so  on.    The  change  from 
these  to  the  Greek  paintings  is  surprising; 
now  we  have  no  more  rows  of  man-patterns, 
but  grouped  studies  of  real  men.     The  best 
works  of  the  Greek  painters  are  only  known 
to  moderns  by  the  admiring  descriptions  of 
the   ancients,  but  more  ordinary  specimens 


Painting 
Parsimony 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


508 


which  have  been  preserved  give  an  idea 
what  the  paintings  of  Zeuxis  and  Apelles 
may  have  been.  The  tourist  visiting  for  the 
first  time  the  museum  of  Naples  comes  with 
a  shock  of  surprise  in  face  of  Alexander  of 
Athens'  picture  of  the  goddesses  at  play, 
the  boldly  drawn  frescos  of  scenes  from  the 
"  Iliad,"  and  the  groups  of  dancers  elegant 
in  drawing  and  coloring.  Most  of  these  pic- 
tures from  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  were 
done  by  mere  house  decorators,  but  these 
tenth-rate  Greek  painters  had  the  traditions 
of  the  great  classic  school,  and  they  show 
plainly  that  from  the  same  source  we  also 
have  inherited  the  art  of  design. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p.  303.  (A.,  1899.) 

2500.  PAIRS,  STRANGELY  ASSORT- 
ED— Bright  Star  with  Dark  Companion — Fitful 
and    Intermittent     Light. — "  Eclipse-stars  " 
are  actually  found  in  the  heavens.    The  best 
and  longest-known  member  of  the  group  is 
Algol  in  the  head  of  Medusa,  the  "  Demon- 
star  "  of  the  Arabs.    This  remarkable  object, 
normally  of  the  second  magnitude,  loses  and 
regains  three-fifths  of  its  light  once  in  68. S 
hours,  the  change  being  completed  in  about 
ten  hours.     Its  definite  and  limited  nature 
and  punctual  recurrence  suggested  to  Good- 
ricke  of  York,  by  whom  the  periodicity  of 
the  star  was  discovered  in  1783,  the  inter- 
position of  a  large,  dark  satellite.     But  the 
conditions  involved  by  the  explanation  were 
first  seriously  investigated  by  Pickering  in 
1880.     He  found  that  the  phenomena  could 
be  satisfactorily  accounted  for  by  supposing 
an  obscure  body  0.764  of  the  bright  star's 
diameter   to   revolve   round  it  in-  a  period 
identical    with    that   of    its    observed    vari- 
ation.    This  theoretical   forecast  was  veri- 
fied with  singular  exactitude  at  Potsdam  in 
1889. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  12,  p.  469.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

2501.  PARABLE     A    NECESSITY  — 

Truth  Veiled,  Not  Dismembered. — Edward 
Irving  [says] :  "  We  must  speak  in  parables, 
or  we  must  present  a  wry  and  deceptive 
form  of  truth,  of  which  choice  the  first  is 
to  be  preferred,  and  our  Lord  adopted  it.  Be- 
cause parable  is  truth  veiled,  not  truth  dis- 
membered; and  as  the  eye  of  the  under- 
standing grows  more  piercing,  the  veil  is 
seen  through,  and  the  truth  stands  revealed/' 
Nature  is  the  great  parable,  and  the  truths 
which  she  holds  within  her  are  veiled,  but 
not  dismembered.  The  pretended  separation 
between  that  which  lies  within  Nature  and 
that  which  lies  beyond  Nature  is  a  dismem- 
berment of  the  truth.  Let  both  those  who 
find  it  difficult  to  believe  in  anything  which 
is  "  above  "  the  natural,  and  those  who  in- 
sist on  that  belief,  first  determine  how  far 
the  natural  extends.  Perhaps  in  going  round 
these  marches  they  will  find  themselves 
meeting  upon  common  ground.  For,  indeed, 
long  before  we  have  searched  out  all  that  the 
natural  includes,  there  will  remain  little  in 
the  so-called  supernatural  which  can  seem 
hard  of  acceptance  or  belief — nothing  which 


is  not  rather  essential  to  our  understanding 
of  this  otherwise  "  unintelligible  world." — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  32.  (Burt.) 

2502.  PARADOX  OF  NATURE— Racier 

Preserved  under  Lava-stream. — A  remark- 
able discovery  was  made  on  Etna  in  1828  of 
a  great  mass  of  ice,  preserved  for  many 
years,  perhaps  for  centuries,  from  melting, 
by  the  singular  accident  of  a  current  of 
red-hot  lava  having  flowed  over  it.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  facts  in  attestation  of  a  phe- 
nomenon which  must  at  first  sight  appear  of 
so  paradoxical  a  character.  The  extraordi- 
nary heat  experienced  in  the  south  of  Eu- 
rope during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1828 
caused  the  supplies  of  snow  and  ice  which 
had  been  preserved  in  the  spring  of  that 
year  for  the  use  of  Catania  ...  to  fail 
entirely.  .  .  .  The  magistrates  of  Catania 
applied  to  Signer  M.  Gemmellaro,  in  the 
hope  that  his  local  knowledge  of  Etna  might 
enable  him  to  point  out  some  crevice  or 
natural  grotto  on  the  mountain  where  drift- 
snow  was  still  preserved.  Nor  were  they 
disappointed;  for  he  had  long  suspected 
that  a  small  mass  of  perennial  ice  at  the 
foot  of  the  highest  cone  was  part  of  a  large 
and  continuous  glacier  covered  by  a  lava 
current.  Having  procured  a  large  body  of 
workmen,  he  quarried  into  this  ice,  and 
proved  the  superposition  of  the  lava  for 
several  hundred  yards,  so  as  completely  to 
satisfy  himself  that  nothing  but  the  sub- 
sequent flowing  of  the  lava  over  the  ice 
could  account  for  the  position  of  the  glacier. 
.  .  .  We  may  suppose  that  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eruption  a  deep  mass  of 
drift-snow  had  been  covered  by  volcanic 
sand  showered  down  upon  it  before  the  de- 
scent of  the  lava.  A  dense  stratum  of  this 
fine  dust  mixed  with  scoriae  is  well  known 
to  be  an  extremely  bad  conductor  of  heat; 
and  the  shepherds  in  the  higher  regions  of 
Etna  are  accustomed  to  provide  water  for 
their  flocks  during  summer,  by  strewing  a 
layer  of  volcanic  sand  a  few  inches  thick 
over  the  snow,  which  effectually  prevents 
the  heat  of  the  sun  from  penetrating.  Sup- 
pose the  mass  of  snow  to  have  been  pre- 
served from  liquefaction  until  the  lower 
part  of  the  lava  had  consolidated,  we  may 
then  readily  conceive  that  a  glacier  thus 
protected,  at  the  height  of  ten  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  would  en- 
dure as  long  as  the  snows  of  Mont  Blanc. — 
LYELL  Geology,  ch.  25,  p.  412.  (A.,  1854.) 

2503.  PARALLAX    OF    STARS— Diffi- 
culties   that    Beset    the    Problem — Patience 
and  Exactness   of  Science.  —  In   the   whole 
of    sidereal    astronomy    there    is,    perhaps, 
nothing    more    difficult    to    determine    than 
the    parallax    of    a    star.      To    think    that 
among  all  the  stars  in  the  sky  there  is  not 
one  which  shows  a  parallax  of  one  second — 
that  is   to  say,   an   annual   motion   of  two 
seconds!     Now,  two  seconds  is.  a  millimeter 
seen  at  a  hundred  meters,  it  is  a  hair  of 
a  tenth  of  a  millimeter  seen  at  10  meters 


509 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Painting 
Parsimony 


(32.8  feet)  !  Well,  it  is  in  this  width  that 
the  annual  motion  of  a  star  is  performed. 
The  telescope  magnifies  it,  of  course;  with- 
out this  it  would  be  absolutely  impercepti- 
ble; but  how  easily  it  can  be  concealed  by 
the  imperceptible  motions  of  the  telescope, 
by  the  influences  of  temperature,  by  refrac- 
tion, precession,  nutation,  aberration,  and 
by  the  proper  motion  of  the  star  itself 
in  space!  All  these  united  influences 
amount  to  several  seconds,  and  are  them- 
selves subject  to  some  uncertainties,  and 
instrumental  errors  must  still  be  added  to 
them.  How,  then,  shall  we  extricate  trust- 
worthy indications  of  the  minute  displace- 
ment due  to  the  effect  of  the  earth's  motion  ? 
Astronomers  have,  however,  succeeded  in 
doing  so  for  some  stars. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  5,  p.  596. 
(A.) 

2504.  PARASITE,  DEFINITION  OF— 
Food  and  Shelter  at  Second  Hand. — In  gen- 
eral, we  term  every  living  creature  a  para- 
site, in  the  widest  sense,  that  takes  shelter 
and  food  within  a  living  creature  of  another 
sort.     The  shelter  may  be  temporary  or  per- 
manent, and  the  food  may  either  be  derived 
directly  from  the  fluids  or  the  tissues  of  the 
host,   or  from  his  gains,  or  even  from  his 
secretions  or  excretions,  and  offal.    The  only 
requisite  for  being  a  parasite  is  that  by  na- 
ture it  should  be  assigned  to  such  a  host 
that  it  must  be  unable  to  maintain  existence 
without  such  an  organism  to  entertain  it, 
and  it  is  immaterial  whether  the  parasite 
is  inconvenient  or  not  to  the  host,  or  whether 
he  causes  any  visible  injury  or  not,  or  even 
whether  he  may  be  useful  in  any  respect. — 
HELLER  Die  Schmarotzer,  mit  l)esonderer  Be- 
rucksichtigung  der  filr  den  Menschen  wich- 
tigen,  p.  3.     (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 

2505.  PARASITE,  INJURY  TO  SILK- 
WORM FROM— If,  in  1870,  any  one  had  af- 
firmed that  a  miserable  little  insect  from 
across    the   water   were  going   to   cause   to 
France  an  injury  of  an  importance  pecuni- 
arily equal  to,  in  fact  even  greater  than,  that 
incurred  by  the  war  indemnity  paid  to  Ger- 
many, people  would  have  protested  against 
such  a  prophecy  as  pessimistic — altogether 
nonsensical.     Nevertheless,  it  is  true,  or  at 
least    will    come    true. — BEAULIEU,    quoted, 
p.     204,     in     HELLER'S     Die     Schmarotzer. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2506.  PARASITISM  A  CAUSE  OF  DE- 
GENERACY— Many  groups  of  animals  con- 
tain certain  genera,  families,  or  even  whole 
orders,  which  live  at  the  expense  of  other 
animals,  feeding  on  their  blood  or  tissues, 
yet  not  killing  them   after  the  manner  of 
beasts  of  prey.     Such  are  the  parasites,  some 
of    which    only    seek    their    unwilling    host 
when  impelled  by  hunger,   and  leave  it  as 
soon  as  they  are  satisfied,  while  others  take 
up   their   abode   in  or  upon   it,  only  to  be 
driven  thence  by  its  death.    The  great  group 


of  worms  includes  very  many  parasites,  and 
they  are  almost  as  numerous  among  the 
Crustacea.  Most  crustaceans  are  free-swim- 
ming or  actively  running  inhabitants  of  the 
water,  especially  of  the  sea,  and  their  food 
is  partly  of  a  vegetable  nature  and  partly 
consists  of  living  or  dead  animals ;  but  near- 
ly every  order  includes  some  parasitic  form, 
in  which  the  effects  of  disuse  resulting  from 
parasitism  are  plainly  traceable. — WEIS- 
MANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  p.  10.  (Cl.  P.,  1892.) 

25O7. Inaction  Entails 

Loss  of  -Function — Idleness  Ends  in  Degra- 
dation.— That  something  of  the  lower  na- 
ture often  commingles  with  higher  things 
is,  unfortunately,  a  fact  of  life  that  needs 
no  new  illustration.  Mistletoe  is  a  "  para- 
site "  on  apple  and  oak,  and  parasites 
belong  to  the  groundlings  among  life's  chil- 
dren. There  is  no  nobility  in  the  charac- 
ter of  animal  or  plant  which  attaches 
itself  to  another  living  being,  either  as 
a  lodger  or  a  boarder,  or  in  the  double  ca- 
pacity of  an  unbidden  guest.  Plant  morals, 
like  animal  morals,  are  often  of  the  grossly 
utilitarian  type.  If  a  living  being  is  cun- 
ning enough  to  take  life  easy  by  absorbing 
the  food  which  another  child  of  life  prepares 
for  its  own  use,  the  parasite  doubtless  bene- 
fits by  its  assumption  of  the  role  of  unwel- 
come guest.  .  .  .  But  there  is  a  stern 
decree  of  that  implacable  female,  Madre 
Natura,  which  declares  that  parasitism  in- 
cludes the  lowering  of  the  form  which  sac- 
rifices its  vital  independence  to  luxurious 
comfort  and  inglorious  ease.  In  animals, 
legs,  stomachs,  eyes,  and  other  belongings 
are  swept  away  when  the  parasite,  attaching 
itself  to  another  animal,  is  found  to  have 
no  use  for  the  organs  of  free  and  normal 
existence.  This  is  the  penalty  of  parasitism 
everywhere — degradation  and  backsliding  in 
the  vital  scale. — ANDREW  WILSON  Glimpses 
of  Nature,  ch.  21,  p.  69.  (Hum.,  1892.) 

25O8.  PARSIMONY  IN  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS— Perceptions  Needless  to  Notice  Become 
Unconscious — The  Goal  Becomes  All. — It  is 
a  general  principle  in  psychology  that  con- 
sciousness deserts  all  processes  where  it  can 
no  longer  be  of  use.  The  tendency  of  con- 
sciousness to  a  minimum  of  complication  is 
in  fact  a  dominating  law.  The  law  of  par- 
simony in  logic  is  only  its  best  known  cause. 
We  grow  unconscious  of  every  feeling  which 
is  useless  as  a  sign  to  lead  us  to  our  end. 
.  .  .  So  in  acquiring  any  art  or  voluntary 
function.  The  marksman  ends  by  thinking 
only  of  the  exact  position  of  the  goal,  the 
singer  only  of  the  perfect  sound,  the  balancer 
only  of  the  point  of  the  pole  whose  oscilla- 
tions he  must  counteract.  The  associated 
mechanism  has  become  so  perfect  in  all 
these  persons  that  each  variation  in  the 
thought  of  the  end  is  functionally  corre- 
lated with  the  one  movement  fitted  to  bring 
the  latter  about.  Whilst  they  were  tyros 
they  thought  of  their  means  as  well  as  their 
end:  the  marksman  of  the  position  of  his 


Parsimony 
Past 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


510 


gun  or  bow  or  the  weight  of  his  stone;  the 
pianist  of  the  visible  position  of  the  note  on 
the  keyboard;  the  singer  of  his  throat  or 
breathing;  the  balancer  of  his  feet  on  the 
rope,  or  his  hand  or  chin  under  the  pole. 
But  little  by  little  they  succeeded  in  drop- 
ping all  this  supernumerary  consciousness, 
and  they  became  secure  in  their  movements 
exactly  in  proportion  as  they  did  so. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  496. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2509.  PARTHENOGENESIS,  NATURE 
FURNISHES   INSTANCES    OF  —  Successive 
Generations  of  a  Single  Sex. — One  of   the 
most  remarkable  deviations  from  the  normal 
law  of  development  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the 
little  aphides,  or  plant-lice,  the  insects  so 
familiar  to  all  as  the  pests  of  the  gardener. 
At  the  close  of  the  autumn  season  winged 
males  and  females  of  these  insects  appear 
amongst   their   neighbor-aphides,   and  these 
produce  eggs,  which,  however,   lie  dormant 
throughout   the   winter.      Waking   into   life 
and  development  with  the  returning  spring, 
these  eggs  give  birth  each  to  a  wingless  fe- 
male,   no    insect   of    the   sterner    sex   being 
found    amongst   the    developed    progeny    of 
these  insects.     The  presence  of  both  sexes 
is  throughout  the  animal  world  regarded  as 
necessary  for  the  production  of  eggs  capable 
of    developing    into    offspring.       Strangely 
enough,  however,  these  wingless  females  not 
only    produce    eggs,    hatching   them    within 
their  bodies,  but  the  eggs  develop  into  beings 
exactly  resembling  themselves,  not  a  single 
male  aphis  being  represented  within  the  lim- 
its   of   this   amazonian   population.     Seven, 
eight,   nine,   or   even   eleven  generations   of 
these  wingless  females  may  be  produced  in 
this  manner,  and  the  swarms  of  plant-lice 
which  infest  our  vegetation  attest  the  fer- 
tility of  the  race.     But  in  the  last  brood 
of  these  insects,  produced  toward  the  close 
of  autumn,  winged  males  appear  in  addition 
to   the   females,    which   latter   also   possess 
wings.      The    members    of    this    last   brood 
produce  eggs  of  ordinary  nature,  which  lie 
dormant   during  the   winter,  but   which   in 
the  succeeding  spring  will   inaugurate   the 
same    strange    life    history    through    which 
their  progenitors  passed.     .     .     .     The  law 
of  heredity  appears  to  operate  in  this   in- 
stance in  a  somewhat  abnormal,  or  at  any 
rate  in  a  very  unusual  manner.     The  true 
similitude  of  the  winged  parents  is  not  at- 
tained until  after  the  lapse  of  months,  and 
through  the  interference,  as  it  were,  of  many 
generations  of  dissimilar  individuals. — AN- 
DREW WILSON  The  Law  of  Likeness,  p.  37. 
(Hum.,   1888.) 

20 1O.  PARTICLES    SMALLER  THAN 
LIGHT-WAVES— Microscope  Does  Not  Reveal 
Them. — Our    best    microscopes    can    readily 
reveal  objects  not  more  than    B0fl00  of  an 
inch    in   diameter.     This    is    less    than   the 
length   of  a  wave  of  red  light.     Indeed,   a 
first-rate    microscope    would    enable    us    to 
discern   objects   not   exceeding  in   diameter 


the  length  of  the  smallest  waves  of  the  visi- 
ble spectrum.  By  the  microscope,  therefore, 
we  can  test  our  particles.  If  they  be  as 
large  as  the  light-waves  they  will  infallibly 
be  seen;  and  if  they  be  not  so  seen,  it  is 
because  they  are  smaller.  Some  months  ago 
I  placed  in  the  hands  of  our  president  a 
liquid  containing  Briicke's  precipitate  [of 
resin  from  alcoholic  solution  let  fall  in 
water].  The  liquid  was  milky  blue,  and 
Mr.  Huxley  applied  to  it  his  highest  micro- 
scopic power.  He  satisfied  me  tRat  had 

particles  of  even  yWtnnj-  of  an  inch  in  di~ 
ameter  existed  in  the  liquid  they  could  not 
have  escaped  detection.  But  no  particles 
were  seen.  Under  the  microscope  the  tur- 
bid liquid  was  not  to  be  distinguished  from 
distilled  water. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Sci- 
ence, vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  119.  (A.,  1897.) 

2511.  PARTICLES,    SUPPOSED,    OF 
LIGHT — Newton's   "Emission  Theory" — Mis- 
taken   Analogy    of    Gravitation. — Newton's 
conceptions   regarding  the   nature   of   light 
were  influenced  by  his  previous  knowledge. 
He  had  been  pondering  over  the  phenomena 
of   gravitation,    and   had   made   himself   at 
home  amid  the  operations  of  this  universal 
power.     Perhaps  his  mind  at  this  time  was 
too    freshly    and    too    deeply    imbued    with 
these  notions  to  permit  of  his  forming  an 
unfettered  judgment  regarding  the   nature 
of  light.     Be  that  as  it  may,  Newton  saw  in 
refraction  the  action  of  an  attractive  force 
exerted  on  the  light-particles.     He  carried 
his    conception    out   with    the    most    severe 
consistency.   Dropping  vertically  downwards 
towards  the  earth's  surface,  the  motion  of  a 
body    is    accelerated    as    it    approaches    the 
earth.     Dropping  in  the  same  manner  down- 
wards on  a  horizontal  surface,  say  through 
air  on  glass  or  water,   the  velocity  of  the 
light-particles,  when  they  came  close  to  the 
surface,  was,  according  to  Newton,  also  ac- 
celerated.      Approaching     such     a     surface 
obliquely,  he  supposed  the  particles,   when 
close  to  it,  to  be  drawn  down  upon  it,  as  a 
projectile  is  drawn  by  gravity  to  the  surface 
of  the  earth.     This   deflection  was,   accord- 
ing to  Newton,     .     .     .     refraction.     .     .     . 
Finally,  it  was  supposed  that  differences  of 
color  might  be  due  to  differences  in  the  size 
of   the    particles.      This    was    the    physical 
theory  of  light  enunciated  and  defended  by 
Newton;      and    you    will    observe    that    it 
simply  consists  in  the  transference  of  con- 
ceptions born  in  the  world  of  the  senses  to 
a  subsensible  world. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  46.     (A.,  1898.) 

2512.  PARTICLES,    VIEWLESS,    OF 
ODOR — Rotary  Motion  of  Odorous  Substances. 
— Since  the  interesting  discovery  of  Romieu, 
in  1756,  that  very  small  bits  of  camphor  on 
the  surface  of  water  have  a  curious  rotary 
motion,    the    same    phenomenon    has    been 
noticed  by  a  number  of  observers  in  several 
hundred  odorous  substances  of  either  vege- 
table or  animal  structure.     This,  of  course, 
strengthens  the  belief  that  the  stimulus  of 


511 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Parsimony 
Past 


smell  is  thrown  off  from  these  substances  in 
the  form  of  invisible  and  imponderable  par- 
ticles. If  paper  be  tied  in  front  of  the  nos- 
trils of  dogs,  they  cannot  "  track  "  game  or 
follow  their  masters  by  the  sense  of  smell. — 
LADD  Psychology,  ch.  6,  p.  100.  (S.,  1899.) 

2513.  PARTNERSHIP  OF  HEAT  AND 
COLD — Each  in  Turn  Contributes  to  Purity  of 
Milk. — While    the    heating    process    is    of 
course  the  essential  feature  of  efficient  pas- 
teurization, it  must  not  be   forgotten  that 
rapid     and     thorough     cooling     is     almost 
equally   important.     .     .     .     Pasteurization 
differs  from  complete  sterilization  in  that  it 
leaves  behind  a  certain  number  of  microbes 
or  their  spores.     Cooling  inhibits  the  ger- 
mination   and    growth    of    this    organismal 
residue.      If   after   the  heating  process   the 
milk  is  cooled  and  kept  in  a  refrigerator,  it 
will  probably  keep  sweet  from  three  to  six 
days,    and   may    do    so    for    three   weeks. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  211.    (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

2514.  PARTNERSHIPS  IN  THE  VEGE- 
TABLE KINGDOM — Combination  for  Mutual 
Advantage  Not  Parasitism. — Bacterial  life 
in  several  ways  is  able  to  reclaim  from  the 
atmosphere  this  free  nitrogen,  which  would 
otherwise  be  lost.  The  first  method  to  which 
reference  may  be  made  is  that  involving 
symbiosis.  This  term  signifies  "  a  living  to- 
gether "  of  two  different  forms  of  life,  gen- 
erally for  a  specific  purpose.  It  may  be  to 
mutual  advantage,  a  living  for  one  another, 
or  it  may  be,  by  means  of  an  interchange 
of  metabolism  or  products,  finally  to  pro- 
duce or  obtain  some  remote  chemical  result. 
.  .  .  The  partnerships  between  hermit 
crabs  and  sea-anemones  and  the  like  are 
sometimes  defined  by  the  term  commensal- 
ism  (joint  diet).  Symbiosis  and  commen- 
salism  must  be  distinguished  from  parasi- 
tism, which  indicates  that  all  the  advantage 
is  on  the  side  of  the  parasite,  and  noth- 
ing but  loss  on  the  side  of  the  host.  The 
distinction  between  symbiosis  and  commen- 
sal ism  cannot  be  rigid,  but  between  these 
conditions,  which  are  advantageous  to  the 
partners,  and  parasitism,  there  is  an  obvious 
and  radical  difference.  The  example  of 
bacteriological  symbiosis,  with  which  we  are 
concerned  here,  is  that  partnership  between 
bacteria  and  some  of  the  higher  plants 
(Leguminosce)  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
nitrogen  in  the  plant  and  in  the  surround- 
ing soil. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  162. 

(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2515.  PASSAGE  FROM  ONE  KINGDOM 
TO  ANOTHER  IMPOSSIBLE— Inorganic  Shut 
from,  Organic  ;  Natural  from  Spiritual. — The 
passage  from  the  natural  world  to  the  spiri- 
tual world  is  hermetically  sealed  on  the 
natural  side.  The  door  from  the  inorganic 
to  the  organic  is  shut,  no  mineral  can  open 
it;  so  the  door  from  the  natural  to  the 
spiritual  is  shut,  and  no  man  can  open  it. 
This  world  of  natural  men  is  staked  off 


from  the  spiritual  world  by  barriers  which 
have  never  yet  been  crossed  from  within. 
No  organic  change,  no  modification  of  en- 
vironment, no  mental  energy,  no  moral  ef- 
fort, no  evolution  of  character,  no  progress 
of  civilization  can  endow  any  single  human 
soul  with  the  attribute  of  spiritual  life. 
The  spiritual  world  is  guarded  from  the 
world  next  in  order  beneath  it  by  a  law  of 
biogenesis — except  a  man_  be  born  again 
.  .  .  he  cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of 
God. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  int.,  p.  64.  (H.  Al.) 

2516.     PASSING  OF  UNSEEN  HOSTS 

— The  Nocturnal  Journeys  of  Birds. — This 
nocturnal  journey  of  birds  may  also  be 
studied  from  lighthouses.  On  September 
26,  1891,  I  visited  the  Bartholdi  Statue  of 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  in  New  York  Bay, 
for  this  purpose.  The  weather  was  most 
favorable.  The  first  bird  was  observed  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  for  the  succeeding  two 
hours  others  were  constantly  heard,  tho 
comparatively  few  were  seen.  At  ten  o'clock 
it  began  to  rain ;  and  almost  simultaneously 
there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the  number 
of  birds  about  the  light,  and  within  a  few 
minutes  there  were  hundreds  where  before 
there  was  one,  while  the  air  was  filled  with 
the  calls  of  the  passing  host.  From  the 
balcony  which  encircles  the  torch  the  scene 
was  impressive  beyond  description.  We 
seemed  to  have  torn  aside  the  veil  which 
shrouds  the  mysteries  of  the  night,  and  with 
the  searching  light  exposed  the  secrets  of 
Nature.  By  far  the  larger  number  of  birds 
hurried  onward;  others  hovered  before  us, 
like  humming-birds  before  a  flower,  then 
flew  swiftly  by  into  the  darkness;  and 
some,  apparently  blinded  by  the  brilliant 
rays,  struck  the  statue  slightly,  or  with  suf- 
ficient force  to  cause  them  to  fall  dead  or 
dying.  At  daybreak  a  few  stragglers  were 
still  winging  their  way  southward,  but  be- 
fore the  sun  rose  the  flight  was  over. — 
CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  4,  p.  57.  (A., 
1900.) 

2517.     PAST  A  GUIDE  FOR  FUTURE 

— Volcanic  Eruptions — Etna. — However  nat- 
ural it  may  be  that  the  force  of  running 
water  in  numerous  valleys,  and  of  tides  and 
currents  in  many  tracts  of  the  sea,  should 
now  be  spent,  it  is  by  no  means  so  easy 
to  explain  why  the  violence  of  the  earth- 
quake and  the  fire  of  the  volcano  should 
also  have  become  locally  extinct  at  suc- 
cessive periods.  We  can  look  back  to  the 
time  when  the  marine  strata,  whereon  the 
great  mass  of  Etna  rests,  had  no  existence; 
and  that  time  is  extremely  modern  in  the 
earth's  history.  This  alone  affords  ground 
for  anticipating  that  the  eruptions  of  Etna 
will  one  day  cease. 

Nee  qnae  sulfureis  ardet  fornacibus  Etna 

Ignea  semper  erit,  neque  enim  fuit  ignea  semper, 

(OViD  Meiam.,  lib.  15, 1.  340.) 
[Nor  JDtna,  vomiting  sulfureus  fire, 
Will  ever  belch;  for  sulfer  will  expire. 

— Dryden^s  Trans.~\ 


Rffc 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


513 


are  the  memorable  words  which  are  put  into 
the  mouth  of  Pythagoras  by  the  Roman 
poet,  and  they  are  followed  by  speculations 
as  to  the  cause  of  volcanic  vents  shifting 
their  positions.  Whatever  doubts  the  phi- 
losopher expresses  as  to  the  nature  of  these 
causes,  it  is  assumed,  as  incontrovertible, 
that  the  points  of  eruption  will  hereafter 
vary,  because  they  have  formerly  done  so; 
a  principle  of  reasoning  which,  as  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  in  former  chapters,  has 
been  too  much  set  at  naught  by  some  of  the 
earlier  schools  of  geology,  which  refused  to 
conclude  that  great  revolutions  in  the 
earth's  surface  are  now  in  progress,  or  that 
they  will  take  place  hereafter,  because  they 
have  often  been  repeated  in  former  ages. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22, 
p.  345.  (A.,  1854.) 

2518.  PAST  INHARMONIOUS   WITH 
PRESENT  SEEMS  REMOTE— Thus,   when 
we  have  lost  something  we  cherished  dearly, 
and   the  recollection   of  it  brings   fruitless 
longing,  we  instinctively  seek  to  expel  the 
recollection  from  our  minds.    The  very  feel- 
ing that  what  has  been  can  never  again  be 
seems  to  induce  this  idea  of  a  vast  remote- 
ness of  the  vanished  reality.     When,  more- 
over, the  lost  object  was  fitted  to  call  forth 
the    emotion   of  reverence,   the   impulse   to 
magnify  the  remoteness  of  the  loss  may  not 
improbably   be    reenforced    by    the    circum- 
stance that  everything  belonging  to  the  dis- 
tant past  is  fitted  on  that  account  to  excite 
a  feeling  akin  to  reverence.     So,  again,  any 
rupture   in   our    mental    development    may 
lead  us  to  exaggerate  the  distance  of  some 
past  portion  of  our  experience.     When  we 
have  broken  with  our  former  selves,  either 
in  the  way  of  worsening  or  bettering,   we 
tend  to  project  these  further  into  the  past. 
— SULLY    Illusions,    ch.    10,    p.    260.      (A., 
1897.) 

2519.  PAST,  TRIUMPHS  OF  EVOLU- 
TION IN  THE— Nature  Always  Succeeds — The 
Pledge   of  What  Is  To  Be. — All  the  other 
kingdoms  of  Nature  culminated;    evolution 
always  attains;    always  rounds  off  its  work. 
It  spent  an  eternity  over  the  earth,  but  fin- 
ished it.     It  struggled  for  millenniums  to 
bring  the  vegetable  kingdom  up  to  the  flow- 
ering plants,  and  succeeded.     In  the  animal 
kingdom   it   never   paused   until  the   possi- 
bilities  of  organization  were  exhausted  in 
the  mammalia.     Kindled  by  this  past,  man 
may  surely  say,  "  I  shall  arrive."    The  fur- 
ther evolution  must  go  on,  the  higher  king- 
dom come — first  the  blade,  where  we  are  to- 
day;   then  the  ear,  where  we  shall  be  to- 
morrow;    then    the   full    corn    in    the    ear, 
which   awaits   our   children's   children,    and 
which  we  live  to  hasten. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  10,  p.  346.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

2520.  PATH   OF  AMAZON  SCOOPED 
FROM  A  VAST  PLAIN— Hills  Mark  Ancient 
Level. — It  is  delightful  to  Mr.   Agassiz,  in 
returning  to  this  locality,  to  find  that  phe- 
nomena, which  were  a  blank  to  him  on  our 


voyage  up  the  river,  are  perfectly  explicable 
now  that  he  has  had  an  opportunity  of 
studying  the  geology  of  the  Amazonian  Val- 
ley. When  we  passed  these  singular  flat- 
topped  hills  before,  he  had  no  clue  to  their 
structure  or  their  age,  whether  granite,  as 
they  have  been  said  to  be,  or  sandstone  or 
limestone;  whether  primitive,  secondary,  or 
tertiary:  and  their  strange  form  made  the 
problem  still  more  difficult.  Now  he  sees 
them  simply  as  the  remnants  of  a  plain 
which  once  filled  the  whole  valley  of  the 
Amazons,  from  the  Andes  to  the  Atlantic, 
from  Guiana  to  Central  Brazil.  Denuda- 
tions on  a  colossal  scale,  hitherto  unknown 
to  geologists,  have  turned  this  plain  into  a 
labyrinth  of  noble  rivers,  leaving  only  here 
and  there,  where  the  formation  has  resisted 
the  rush  of  waters,  low  mountains  and 
chains  of  hills  to  tell  what  was  its  thick- 
ness.— AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  12,  p. 
374.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2521.  PATHWAYS    FOR   LIGHT 
THROUGH  SOLIDS — Magnetism  Opens  a  Way. 
— To  the  ether  the  glass  is  like  a  sieve,  and 
so    is    any    substance.     Light-waves    fly    in 
straight  lines.     The  openings  through  the 
glass  are  probably  straight,  so  the  light  can 
pass    directly    through,    but    the    openings 
through  an  opaque  body  are  crooked;    the 
molecules  overlap  in  such  a  way  that  there 
is    no    direct    line    through    the    substance, 
hence  the  light  will  either  be  absorbed  or 
reflected   when  it   strikes   upon   an  opaque 
body. 

Some  idea  of  what  we  mean  by  the  over- 
lapping of  molecules  may  be  had  by  the  fol- 
lowing experiment.  Fill  a  tube  with  finely 
pulverized  iron  filings  made  into  a  thin 
paste.  Let  the  two  ends  of  the  tube  be 
stopped  with  glass  heads.  Throw  a  strong 
beam  of  light  on  one  end  so  that  the  direc- 
tion of  the  beam  will  be  in  the  direction  of 
the  length  of  the  tube.  Place  the  tube  into 
a  helix  (a  coil  of  wire),  and  pass  a  current 
of  electricity  through  the  wire  of  the  helix. 
Now  so  direct  the  arrangement  that  the 
beam  of  light  strikes  upon  a  screen,  and 
a  spot  of  light  will  appear  on  the  screen  as 
long  as  the  current  is  passing;  when  the 
current  is  broken,  the  spot  of  light  will  dis- 
appear. The  magnetism  rearranges  the  par- 
ticles of  the  naturally  opaque  mass  of  iron 
filings  so  that  light  can  pass  between  them; 
they  are  transparent.  When  the  current  is 
taken  off,  the  magnetism  disappears,  and 
the  particles  arrange  themselves  again  in 
such  a  way  as  to  shut  off  the  light.  The  body 
becomes  opaque. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's 
Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  23,  p.  191.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 

2522.  PATIENCE  AND  EXACTNESS 
OF    SCIENCE  — Through    the    precautions, 
variations,    and    repetitions    observed    and 
executed  with  the  view  of  rendering  its  re- 
sults secure,  the  separate  vessels  employed 
in  this  inquiry   [as  to  spontaneous  genera- 
tion]   have  mounted   up   in   two   years  to 


513 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Past 
Patience 


nearly  ten  thousand. — TYNDALL  Floating 
Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  3,  p.  318.  (A., 
1895.) 

2523. Calculation  of  Time 

of  Halley's  Comet. — Halley  calculated,  with 
great  pains,  that  the  influence  of  the  planets 
would  delay  the  next  return  of  the  comet, 
and  he  predicted  it  for  the  end  of  1758  or 
the  beginning  of  1759.  It  was  necessary, 
with  the  improved  mathematical  formulae, 
to  calculate  exactly  the  epoch  of  this  return. 
Clairaut  undertook  this,  and  performed  in 
a  masterly  manner  the  algebraical  part  of 
the  problem;  but  there  remained  the  im- 
mense task  of  calculating  the  formulae  nu- 
merically. Two  computers  had  the  courage 
to  do  this — the  astronomer  Lalande  and 
Madame  Hortense  Lepaute.  During  six 
.months  the  two  calculators,  hardly  taking 
time  to  eat,  put  into  numbers  the  alge- 
braical formulae  of  Clairaut.  Lalande  fin- 
ished the  calculation,  and  found  that  Saturn 
would  delay  its  return  by  100  days  and 
Jupiter  by  518  days,  in  all  618  days'  delay 
— that  is  to  say,  that  its  revolution  would 
be  a  year  and  eight  months  longer  than  its 
previous  revolution;  and  that,  in  fact,  its 
perihelion  passage  would  take  place  within 
a  month  of  the  middle  of  April,  1759. 

Never  did  scientific  prediction  excite  more 
lively  curiosity  from  one  end  of  Europe  to 
the  other.  The  comet  reappeared;  it  trav- 
ersed the  course  announced  among  the  con- 
stellations; it  passed  its  perihelion  on 
March  12,  1759,  just  a  month  before  the  day 
indicated.  "  We  have  all  observed  it,"  wrote 
Lalande,  "  so  that  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
comets  are  truly  planets  which  revolve,  like 
the  others,  round  the  sun."  Halley's  comet, 
in  fulfilling  the  prediction  of  the  astron- 
omers, opened  a  new  era  in  cometary  as- 
tronomy.— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  v,  ch.  1,  p.  486.  (A.) 

2524. Identification  of  the 

Metals  of  the  Sun. — There  have  been  iden- 
tified, line  for  line,  in  the  sun  the  460  lines 
of  the  spectrum  of  iron,  the  118  of  titanium, 
75  of  calcium,  57  of  manganese,  33  of  nickel, 
etc.,  so  that  we  now  know  certainly  that 
there  are  at  the  surface  of  that  dazzling 
star,  and  in  the  gaseous  state,  iron,  tita- 
nium, calcium,  manganese,  nickel,  cobalt, 
chromium,  sodium,  barium,  magnesium, 
copper,  potassium;  but  we  still  cannot  rec- 
ognize any  trace  of  gold,  silver,  antimony, 
arsenic,  or  mercury.  Hydrogen  was  discov- 
ered in  1868.  Oxygen  must  exist  in  this 
furnace,  but  the  oxygen  lines  which  have 
been  found  in  the  solar  spectrum  proceed 
from  our  own  atmosphere  (Janssen,  1888). 
—FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii, 
ch.  7,  p.  326.  (A.) 


2525. 


Minute  Adjustments 


— Delicacy  of  Eye  and  Hand. — Nine  years 
later  Dr.  Henry  Draper,  of  New  York,  got 
an  impression  of  four  lines  in  the  spectrum 
of  Vega.  Then  Dr.  Huggins  attacked  the 
subject  again  in  1876,  when  the  18-inch 


speculum  of  the  Royal  Society  had  come 
into  his  possession,  using  prisms  of  Iceland 
spar  and  lenses  of  quartz,  and  this  time 
with  better  success.  A  photograph  of  the 
spectrum  of  Vega  showed  seven  strong 
lines.  Still  he  was  not  satisfied.  He  waited 
and  worked  for  three  years  longer.  At 
length,  on  December  18,  1879,  he  was  able 
to  communicate  with  the  Royal  Society  re- 
sults answering  to  his  expectations.  The 
delicacy  of  eye  and  hand  needed  to  attain 
them  may  be  estimated  from  the  single  fact 
that  the  image  of  a  star  had  to  be  kept,  by 
continual  minute  adjustments,  exactly  pro- 
jected upon  a  slit  T£v  of  an  inch  in  width 
during  nearly  an  hour,  in  order  to  give  it 
time  to  imprint  the  characters  of  its  an- 
alyzed light  upon  a  gelatin  plate  raised  to 
the  highest  pitch  of  sensitiveness. — CLERKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  12,  p.  462. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

2526. Tracing  Gradations 

of  Species. — For  five  consecutive  years  I 
have  investigated  this  small  but  highly  in- 
structive group  of  animals  [the  calcareous 
sponges]  in  all  its  forms  in  the  most  care- 
ful manner.  .  .  .  With  a  view  to  these 
facts,  I  made  two  journeys  to  the  seacoast 
(1869  to  Norway,  1871  to  Dalmatia),  in  or- 
der to  study  as  large  a  number  of  individuals 
as  possible  in  their  natural  circumstances, 
and  to  collect  specimens  for  comparison. 
Of  many  species  I  compared  several  hun- 
dred individuals  in  the  most  careful  way. 
I  examined  with  the  microscope  and 
measured  in  the  most  accurate  manner 
the  details  of  form  of  all  the  species.  As 
the  final  result  of  these  exhaustive  and  al- 
most endless  examinations  and  measure- 
ments it  appeared  that  "good  species,"  in 
the  ordinary  dogmatic  sense  of  the  system- 
atists,  have  no  existence  at  all  among  the 
calcareous  sponges;  that  the  most  different 
forms  are  connected  one  with  another  by 
numberless  gradational  transition  forms; 
and  that  all  the  different  species  of  calcare- 
ous sponges  are  derived  from  a  single  ex- 
ceedingly simple  ancestral  form,  the  olyn- 
thus. — HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i, 
pref.,  p.  17.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2527.     PATIENCE   OF  ASTRONOMER 

— -  Vast  Endeavor  for  Limited  Result — Five 
Minutes'  Observation  the  Reward  of  a  Day's 
Watching. — The  surface  of  the  sun  may  be 
compared  to  an  elaborate  engraving,  filled 
with  the  closest  and  most  delicate  lines  and 
hatchings,  but  an  engraving  which  during 
ninety-nine  hundredths  of  the  time  can  only 
be  seen  across  such  a  quivering  mass  of 
heated  air  as  makes  everything  confused 
and  liable  to  be  mistaken,  causing  what  is 
definite  to  look  like  a  vaguely  seen  mottling. 
It  is  literally  true  that  the  more  delicate 
features  .  .  .  are  only  distinctly  visible 
even  by  the  best  telescope  during  less  than 
one-hundredth  of  the  time,  coming  out  as 
they  do  in  brief  instants  when  our  dancing 
air  is  momentarily  still,  so  that  one  who  has 


Patience 
Perception 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


514 


sat  at  a  powerful  telescope  all  day  is  ex- 
ceptionally lucky  if  he  has  secured  enough 
glimpses  of  the  true  structure  to  aggregate 
five  minutes  of  clear  seeing,  while  at  all 
other  times  the  attempt  to  magnify  only 
produces  a  blurring  of  the  image.  This 
study,  then,  demands  not  only  fine  telescopes 
and  special  optical  aids,  but  endless  pa- 
tience.— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p. 
17.  '  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2528.  PEACE,  WOMAN'S  INFLUENCE 

FOR — A  charming  confession  is  made  by 
[E.  H.  Man]  with  reference  to  the  moral 
influence  of  woman's  presence.  He  says: 
"  Experience  has  taught  us  that  one  of  the 
most  effective  means  of.  inspiring  confidence 
when  endeavoring  to  make  acquaintance 
with  these  savages  is  to  show  that  we  are 
accompanied  by  women,  as  they  at  once 
infer  that,  whatever  may  be  our  intentions, 
they  are  at  least  not  hostile." — MASON  Wom- 
an's Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  int.,  p.  7. 
(A.,  1894.) 

2529.  PEAKS,  VOLCANIC,  THE  WORK 
OF  TIME—  The  Slow  Building  of  Mountains. 
— All  volcanic   mountains   are  nothing  but 
heaps  of  materials  ejected  from  fissures  in 
the  earth's  crust,  the  smaller  ones  having 
been  formed  during  a  single  volcanic  out- 
burst, the  larger  ones  being  the  result  of 
repeated   eruptions    from  the   same   orifice, 
which  may,  in  some  cases,  have  continued 
in  action  for  tens  or  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  years. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  75.     (A., 
1899.) 

2530.  PECULIARITIES  OF  GEOGRAPH- 
IC DISTRIBUTION — Humming-birds  Confined 
to   the  American   Continent. — We  come   on 
the    curious    facts    of    geographical    distri- 
bution,  a   class   of   facts   which,    as    much 
as  any  other,  suggest  some  specific  methods 
as  having  been  followed  in  the  work  of  cre- 
ation.    Humming-birds   are  absolutely  con- 
fined to  the  great  continent  of  America,  with 
its   adjacent  islands.     Within  those  limits 
there  is  every  range  of  climate,  and  there 
are     particular     species    of     humming-bird 
adapted  to  every  region  where  a  flowering 
vegetation    can    subsist.       It    is    therefore 
neither    climate    nor    food    which    confines 
the  humming-birds  to  the  New  World.  What 
is  it,  then  ?     The  idea  of  "  centers  of  cre- 
ation "   is  at  once  suggested  to  the  mind. 
It  seems  as  if  the  humming-birds  were  in- 
troduced at  one  spot,   and  as  if  they  had 
spread  over  the  whole  continent  which  was 
accessible  to  them   from   that  spot.     They 
are  absent  elsewhere,  simply  because  from 
that  spot  the  other  continents  of  the  world 
were   inaccessible  to  them. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  133.     (Burt.) 

2531 .  PENALTY  OF  DISUSE— Eyes  of 
Cave- fish  Atrophied. — For  instance,  if  a  spe- 
cies  which   had   always   lived  in  the   light 
were  to  find  its  way  into  some  new  habi- 
tat where  there  was  complete  darkness,  its 
eyes   would  become  useless  to   it;    and  ac- 


cordingly we  commonly  find  that  in  such 
species  the  eyes  have  more  or  less  complete- 
ly atrophied. 

This  is  the  case,  for  instance,  with  ani- 
mals which  live  in  dark  caves.  ...  In 
the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky,  among 
other  blind  animals  we  find  a  blind  fish 
and  a  blind  fresh  -  water  crayfish.  It  is 
almost  superfluous  to  offer  any  further  proof 
that  these  species  are  descended  from  an- 
cestors which  possessed  the  power  of  sight, 
beyond  the  fact  that  the  caverns  in  ques- 
tion have  not  existed  from  the  beginnings 
of  organic  life,  and  that  therefore  the  ani- 
mals must  have  lived  in  the  light  before 
they  entered  them.  Nevertheless,  in  many 
of  these  animals  direct  proof  exists  in  the 
fact  that  they  still  possess  vestiges  of  what 
have  once  been  eyes.  The  proteus  and  the 
blind  fish  of  the  Mammoth  Cave  have  small, 
imperfectly  developed  eyes  under  the  skin, 
which  are  no  longer  of  any  use  as  organs 
of  sight.  In  the  case  of  the  blind  crayfish 
the  eyes  have  entirely  disappeared,  altho 
the  movable  stalks  upon  which  they  were 
placed  still  remain. — WEISMANN  Heredity, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  9.  (Cl.  P.,  1897.) 

2532.  PENDULUM  TELLS  FORM  OF 
EARTH—  Galileo  and  the  Chandeliers. — Gali- 
leo, who  first  observed  when  a  boy  (having, 
probably,   suffered  his  thoughts  to  wander 
from   the   service)    that  the  height   of  the 
vaulted  roof  of  a  church  might  be  measured 
by  the  time  of  the  vibration  of  the  chande- 
liers suspended  at  different  altitudes,  could 
hardly  have  anticipated  that  the  pendulum 
would    one    day    be    carried    from    pole    to 
pole,  in  order  to  determine  the  form  of  the 
earth. — HUMBOLDT    Cosmos,   vol.   i,  p.    167. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2533.  PENETRATION    AND    ACUTE- 
NESS  OF  A  GREAT  MIND— Scientific  Spirit 
of  Columbus. — Among  the  characteristics  of 
Christopher    Columbus   we   must   especially 
notice  the  penetration  and   acuteness  with 
which,    without    intellectual    culture,    and 
without  any  knowledge  of  physical  and  nat- 
ural   science,    he    could    seize   and   combine 
the  phenomena  of  the  external  world.     On 
his  arrival  in  a  new  world  and  under  a  new 
heaven  he  examined  with  care  the  form  of 
continental    masses,    the    physiognomy    of 
vegetation,  the  habits  of  animals,  and  the 
distribution  of  heat  and  the  variations  in 
terrestrial  magnetism.     W7hile  the  old  ad- 
miral strove  to  discover  the  spices  of  India, 
and  the  rhubarb  (ruibarba),  which  had  al- 
ready  acquired    a    great    celebrity    through 
the    Arabian    and    Jewish    physicians,    and 
through  the  account  of  Rubruquis  and  the 
Italian    travelers,    he    also    examined    with 
the  greatest  attention  the  roots,  fruits,  and 
leaves  of  the  different  plants.     ...     In 
the  journal   of  his  voyage   and   in  his    re- 
ports     ...     we   find    almost    all   those 
circumstances   touched   upon   to  which   sci- 
entific enterprise  was  directed  in  the  latter 
half   of   the    fifteenth    and   throughout   the 


515 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


'atience 
•erception 


whole  of  the  sixteenth  centuries. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  263.  (H., 
1897.) 

2534.  PENETRATION  OF  LIGHT 
THROUGH   WATER— No  Sunlight  in  Ocean 
Depths. — The  entire  absence  of  solar  light, 
which   constitutes   another   most   important 
peculiarity  in  the  conditions  of  deep-sea  life, 
would  seem  at  first  sight  to  be  an  absolute 
bar  to  its  maintenance.     Experimental  evi- 
dence has  not  yet,  I  believe,  been  obtained 
of  the  direct  penetration  of  the  solar  rays 
to  more  than  100  fathoms;  but  as  I  dredged 
slow-growing  red  calcareous  algae   (true  cor- 
allines)  in  the  Mediterranean  at  a  depth  of 
150   fathoms    (at   or   below  which   Edward 
Forbes  also  would  seem  to  have  met  with 
them),  the  actinic,  if  not  the  luminous,  rays 
must  probably  penetrate  to  that  range.    Be- 
low what  Edward  Forbes  termed  the  coral- 
line zone  it  would  seem  impossible  that  any 
other  type  of  vegetable  life  can  be  sustained 
than  such  as  has  the  capacity  of  the  fungi 
for  growing  in  the  dark,  living,  like  them, 
upon  material  supplied  by  the  decomposition 
of   organic  compounds.     Such   lowly   plants 
have  been  found  by  Professor  P.  M.  Duncan 
in    corals    dredged    from    more    than    1,000 
fathoms'    depth. — CARPENTER    Nature    and 
Man,  lect.  11,  p.  345.     (A.,  1889.) 

2535.  PENTATEUCH    IN    HARMONY 
WITH    ARCHEOLOGY  —  Bronze  before  Iron 
— Progress  from   the  Ductile   to   the  Stub- 
lorn  Metal. — The  forms   of  early  weapons 
indicate  that  those  of  iron  were  copied  from 
bronze,  not  those  of  bronze  from  iron.    Hesi- 
od's  poems,  as  well  as  those  of  Homer,  show 
that  nearly  three  thousand  years   ago  the 
value  of  iron  was  known  and  appreciated. 
It  is  true  that,  as  we  read  in  Dr.  Smith's 
"  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiqui- 
ties," bronze  "  is  represented  in  the  "  Iliad  " 
and  "  Odyssey  "  as  the  common  material  of 
arms,   instruments,   and   vessels   of  various 
sorts;  the  latter    (iron)   is  mentioned  much 
more   rarely."     While,   however,   the   above 
statement  is  strictly  correct,  we  must  re- 
member  that   among  the   Greeks   the   word 
iron  (<riSr}po£)  was  used,  even  in  the  time 
of  Homer,  as  synonymous  with  a  sword,  and 
that  steel  also  appears  to  have  been  known 
to  them  under  the  name  of  afia/maf,  and  per- 
haps also  of    Kvavo£,  as  early  as  the  time 
of  Hesiod.    We  may,  therefore,  consider  that 
the  Trojan  war  took  place  during  the  period 
of  transition  from  the  Bronze  to  the  Iron 
Age. 

In  the  Pentateuch,  including  Deuteron- 
omy, bronze,  or,  as  it  is  unfortunately  trans- 
lated, "  brass,"  is  mentioned  thirty-eight 
times,  and  iron  only  four  times. — AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (A.,  1900.) 

2536.  "PEPPER-POT"  OF  TROPICAL 
AMERICA— An  Invention  of  Woman. — The  In- 
dian women  of  Guiana  are  excellent  purvey- 
ors.   They  have  but  one  way  of  cooking  meat 
or  fish,  and  that  is  by  boiling  it  down  into 
a  sort  of  thick  soup,  with  peppers  and  cas- 


sareep,  or  the  juice  of  strained  cassava 
boiled  down  to  a  sirup.  The  cassareep  re- 
duces all  meat  to  one  common  flavor — its 
own — and  has  antiseptic  qualities  which 
keep  meat  boiled  in  it  good  for  a  long  time. 
The  result  is  the  far-famed  pepper-pot, 
which  all  settlers  in  the  West  Indies  have 
learned  to  make  and  to  like. — MASON  Wom- 
an's Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  2,  p.  38. 
(A.,  1894.) 

2537.  PERCEPTION  INCREASED  BY 
HABITUAL    ATTENTION—  Deaf-and-dumb 
Lip-reading. — It  has  long  been  known  that 
individuals  among  the  deaf  and  dumb  have 
acquired  the  power  of  "  lip-reading " ;  that 
is,  of  so  interpreting  the  visible  movements 
of  the  mouth  and  lips  of  a  speaker  as  to 
apprehend  the  words  he  utters,  no  less  ac- 
curately than  if  they  were  heard.     And  it 
has  been  latterly  proposed  to  make  this  a 
matter   of   systematic   instruction,    so   that 
every  deaf-mute  should  be  enabled  to  under- 
stand what  is  said,  without  the  aid  of  the 
"sign-language"   or  the  "finger-alphabet." 
It  appears,  however,  that  it  is  not  every  one 
who  is  capable  of  acquiring  this  power,  and 
it  is   still   questionable  whether   it  can   be 
even  generally  attained  by  any  amount  of 
practise.     [It  has  been  done  on  a  consider- 
able scale.]     But  that  it  should  have  been 
even  exceptionally  acquired   shows  the   ex- 
traordinary improvability  of  the  perceptive 
faculty. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk. 
i,  ch.  5,  p.  204.     (A.,  1900.) 

2538 .  PERCEPTION,  JUDGMENT,  AND 
PERSEVERANCE  NEEDED  FOR  SUCCESS- 
FUL SELECTION— Accumulation  of  Almost 
Imperceptible  Differences. — When  a  cross  [in 
breeding]  has  been  made,  the  closest  selection 
is  far  more  indispensable  even  than  in  ordi- 
nary cases.    If  selection  consisted  merely  in 
separating  some  very  distinct  variety   and 
breeding  from  it,  the  principle  would  be  so 
obvious  as  hardly  to  be  worth  notice;   but 
its  importance  consists  in  the  great  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  accumulation  in  one  direction, 
during  successive  generations,  of  differences 
absolutely   inappreciable  by  an  uneducated 
eye — differences  which  I  for  one  have  vainly 
attempted  to  appreciate.     Not  one  man  in 
a  thousand  has  accuracy  of  eye  and  judg- 
ment sufficient  to  become  an  eminent  breed- 
er.    If  gifted  with  these  qualities,  and  he 
studies  his   subject  for  years,   and  devotes 
his  lifetime  to  it  with  indomitable  persever- 
ance, he  will  succeed,  and  may  make  great 
improvements;    if   he   wants   any   of   these 
qualities,  he  will  assuredly  fail.    Few  would 
readily  believe  in  the  natural  capacity  and 
years  of  practise  requisite  to  become  even 
a    skilful    pigeon-fancier. — DARWIN    Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  27.     (Burt.) 

2539.  PERCEPTION  LARGELY  PSY- 
CHIC— We  See  What  We  Know  or  Believe  To 
Be. — The  grass  out  of  the  window  now  looks 
to  me  of  the  same  green  in  the  sun  as  in 
the  shade,  and  yet  a  painter  would  have  to 


Perc 
Perf 


erception 
Action 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


516 


paint  one  part  of  it  dark  brown,  another 
part  bright  yellow,  to  give  its  real  sensa- 
tional effect.  We  take  no  heed,  as  a  rule, 
of  the  different  way  in  which  the  same 
things  look  and  sound  and  smell  at  different 
distances  and  under  different  circumstances. 
The  sameness  of  the  things  is  what  we  are 
concerned  to  ascertain,  and  any  sensations 
that  assure  us  of  that  will  probably  be  con- 
sidered, in  a  rough  way,  to  be  the  same  with 
each  other. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
9,  p.  231.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2540.  PERCEPTION  OF  COLORS  LIM- 
ITED— Chemical  or  Ultraviolet   Waves  Invis- 
ible.— The   first  question   that  we  have  to 
consider  to-night  is  this:   Is  the  eye,  as  an 
organ    of    vision,    commensurate    with    the 
whole  range  of  solar  radiation — is  it  capa- 
ble of  receiving  visual  impressions  from  all 
the  rays  emitted  by  the  sun?     The  answer 
is   negative.      If   we    allowed   ourselves    to 
accept  for  a  moment  that  notion  of  gradual 
growth,  amelioration,  and  ascension  implied 
by  the  term  "  evolution,"  we  might  fairly 
conclude  that  there  are  stores  of  visual  im- 
pressions   awaiting  man,   far   greater   than 
those   now   in   his   possession.      Hitter   dis- 
covered  in    1801   that   beyond   the  extreme 
violet  of  the  spectrum  there  is  a  vast  efflux 
of  rays  which  are  totally  useless  as  regards 
our  present  powers  of  vision.     These  ultra- 
violet waves,  however,  tho  incompetent  to 
awaken  the  optic  nerve,  can  shake  asunder 
the    molecules    of    certain    compound    sub- 
stances  on  which  they  impinge,  thus  pro- 
ducing   chemical    decomposition. — TYNDALL 
Lectures   on   Light,    lect.    5,   p.    162.      (A., 
1898.) 

2541.  PERCEPTION    OF    LIGHT    IN 
PAINTING  ILLUSIVE— Relative  Judgment  of 
Light  and  Shade  Determines  Mental  Effect. 
— It  is  found  that  the  degree  of  luminosity 
or  brightness  of  a  pictorial  representation 
differs  in  general  enormously  from  that  of 
the  actual  objects.     Thus,  according  to  the 
calculations  of  Helmholtz,  a  picture  repre- 
senting a  Bedouin's  white  raiment  in  blind- 
ing sunshine  will,  when  seen  in  a  fairly  lit 
gallery,  have  a  degree  of  luminosity  reach- 
ing only  to  about  one-thirtieth  of  that  of 
the   actual   object.     On  the   other  hand,   a 
painting  representing  marble  ruins  illumi- 
nated by  moonlight  will,   under   the   same 
conditions  of  illumination,  have  a  luminos- 
ity amounting  to  as  much  as  from  ten  to 
twenty  thousand  times  that  of  the  object. 
Yet  the  spectator  does  not  notice  these  stu- 
pendous discrepancies.     The  representation, 
in  spite  of  its  vast  difference,  at  once  car- 
ries the  mind  on  to  the  actuality,  and  the 
spectator   may  even  appear   to   himself,  in 
moments  of  complete  absorption,  to  be  look- 
ing at  the  actual  scene. — SULLY  Illusions, 
ch.  5,  p.  88.     (A.,  1897.) 

2542.  PERCEPTION    OF   TIME    AND 
SPACE  DISTURBED  BY  HASHISH— Minutes 
Seem  Hours — Distance  Seems  Interminable. 
— The  disturbance  of  the  perceptive  facul- 


ties [by  hashish]  is  remarkably  shown  in 
regard  to  time  and  space.  Minutes  seem 
hours,  and  hours  are  prolonged  into  years; 
and  at  last  all  idea  of  time  seems  obliter- 
ated, and  the  past  and  present  are  con- 
founded together.  M.  Moreau  mentions  as 
an  illustration  that  on  one  evening  he  was 
traversing  the  passage  of  the  opera  when 
under  the  influence  of  a  moderate  dose  of 
hashish:  he  had  made  but  a  few  steps, 
when  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  had  been 
there  two  or  three  hours;  and,  as  he 
advanced,  the  passage  appeared  to  him  in- 
terminable, its  extremity  receding  as  he 
pressed  forwards.  But  he  gives  another 
more  remarkable  instance.  In  walking 
along  the  boulevards,  he  has  frequently 
seen  persons  and  things  at  a  certain  dis- 
tance presenting  the  same  aspect  as  if  he 
had  viewed  them  through  the  large  end  of 
an  opera-glass ;  that  is,  diminished  in  ap- 
parent size,  and  therefore  suggesting  the 
idea  of  increased  distance.  This  erroneous 
perception  of  space  is  one  of  the  effects  of 
the  Amanita  muscaria,  an  intoxicating 
fungus  used  by  the  Tatars;  a  person  under 
its  influence  being  said  to  take  a  jump  or  a 
stride  sufficient  to  clear  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
when  he  wishes  only  to  step  over  a  straw  or 
a  small  stick.  Such  erroneous  perceptions  are 
common  enough  among  lunatics,  and  become 
the  foundations  of  fixed  illusions;  whilst 
in  the  person  intoxicated  by  hashish  there 
is  still  a  certain  consciousness  of  their  decep- 
tive character. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiol- 
ogy, bk.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  642.  (A.,  1900.) 

2543.  PERCEPTION,  POWER  OF, 
AMONG  SAVAGES— Arab  Knows  Footprint 
of  His  Own  Camels.— In  reading  almost  any 
account  of  savages  it  is  impossible  not  to 
admire  the  skill  with  which  they  use  their 
weapons  and  implements,  their  ingenuity  in 
hunting  and  fishing,  and  their  close  and  ac- 
curate powers  of  observation.     Some  savages 
even  recognize  individuals  by  their  footsteps. 
Thus  Mr.  Laing  mentions  that  one  day  while 
traveling  near  Moreton  Bay,  in  Australia, 
he  pointed  to  a  footstep  and  asked  whose 
it  was.     The  guide  "glanced  at  it  without 
stopping  his   horse  and   at  once  answered, 
'  White  fellow  call  him  Tiger.'  "    This  turned 
out  to  be  correct,  which  was  the  more  re- 
markable as  the  two  men  belonged  to  differ- 
ent tribes,  and  had  not  met  for  two  years. 
Among  the  Arabs,  Burckhardt  asserts  that 
some  men  know  every  individual  in  the  tribe 
by  his  footstep.     "  Besides  this,  every  Arab 
knows  the  printed  footsteps  of  his  own  cam- 
els and  of  those  belonging  to  his  immediate 
neighbors.    He  knows  by  the  depth  or  slight- 
ness  of  the  impression  whether  a  camel  was 
pasturing  and   therefore  not  carrying  any 
load,    or   mounted  by   one   person   only,   or 
heavily      loaded."  —  AVEBURY      Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  15,  p.  519.     (A.,  1900.) 

2544 .  PERCEPTION    RELATIVE— 

Light  and  Dark  Determined  by  Contrast. — 
What    appeals    to    our    attention   far   more 


517 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Perception 
Perfection 


than  the  absolute  quality  or  quantity  of  a 
given  sensation  is  its  ratio  to  whatever  other 
sensations  we  may  have  at  the  same  time. 
When  everything  is  dark,  a  somewhat  less 
Jark  sensation  makes  us  see  an  object  white. 
Helmholtz  calculates  that  the  white  marble 
painted  in  a  picture  representing  an  archi- 
tectural view  by  moonlight  is,  when  seen 
by  daylight,  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand 
times  brighter  than  the  real  moonlit  marble 
would  be. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9, 
p.  231.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899. j 

2545.  PERFECTION,  MATHEMAT- 
ICAL, OF  HONEY-BEE'S  CELL— [As  stated 
by  Dr.  Reid]  there  are  only  three  possible 
figures  of  the  cells  which  can  make  them  all 
equal  and  similar,  without  any  useless  in- 
terstices. These  are  the  equilateral  tri- 
angle, the  square,  and  the  regular  hexagon. 
Mathematicians  know  that  there  is  not  a 
fourth  way  possible  in  which  a  plane  may 
be  cut  into  little  spaces  that  shall  be  equal, 
similar,  and  regular,  without  useless  spaces. 
Of  the  three  figures,  the  hexagon  is  the  most 
proper  for  convenience  and  strength.  Bees, 
as  if  they  knew  this,  make  their  cells  regu- 
lar hexagons. 

Again,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that,  by 
making  the  bottoms  of  the  cells  to  consist 
of  three  planes  meeting  in  a  point,  there  is 
a  saving  of  material  and  labor  in  no  way 
inconsiderable.  The  bees,  as  if  acquainted 
with  these  principles  of  solid  geometry,  fol- 
low them  most  accurately.  It  is  a  curious 
mathematical  problem,  at  what  precise 
angle  the  three  planes  which  compose  the 
bottom  of  a  cell  ought  to  meet,  in  order  to 
make  the  greatest  possible  saving  or  the 
least  expense  of  material  and  labor.  This 
is  one  of  the  problems  which  belong  to  the 
higher  parts  of  mathematics.  It  has  ac- 
cordingly been  resolved  by  some  mathema- 
ticians, particularly  by  the  ingenious  Mac- 
laurin,  by  a  fluctionary  calculation,  which  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London.  He  has  deter- 
mined precisely  the  angle  required,  and  he 
found,  by  the  most  exact  mensuration  the 
subject  would  admit,  that  it  is  the  very 
angle  in  which  the  three  planes  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  cell  of  a  honeycomb  do  actually 
meet. — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4, 
p.  171.  (A.,  1899.) 

2546.  PERFECTION,  MECHANICAL, 
OF  INSECT'S  WORK— Larva  Spinning  Its 
Shroud. — For  some  time  Mr.  Agassiz  has 
been  trying  to  get  living  specimens  of  the 
insect  so  injurious  to  the  coffee-tree,  the 
larva  of  a  little  moth  akin  to  those  which 
destroy  the  vineyards  in  Europe.  Yester- 
day he  succeeded  in  obtaining  some,  and 
among  them  one  just  spinning  his  cocoon  on 
the  leaf.  We  watched  him  for  a  long  time 
with  the  lens  as  he  wove  his  filmy  tent.  He 
had  arched  the  threads  upwards  in  the  cen- 
ter, so  as  to  leave  a  little  hollow  space  into 
which  he  could  withdraw;  this  tiny  vault 
seemed  to  be  completed  at  the  moment  we 


saw  him,  and  he  was  drawing  threads  for- 
ward and  fastening  them  at  a  short  distance 
beyond,  thus  lashing  his  house  to  the  leaf,  as 
it  were.  The  exquisite  accuracy  of  the  work 
was  amazing.  He  was  spinning  the  thread 
with  his  mouth,  and  with  every  new  stitch 
he  turned  his  body  backward,  attached  his 
thread  to  the  same  spot,  then  drew  it  for- 
ward and  fastened  it  exactly  on  a  line  with 
the  last,  with  a  precision  and  rapidity  that 
machinery  could  hardly  imitate. — AGASSIZ 
Journey  in  Brazil  (extract  from  Journal  of 
Mrs.  Agassis),  ch.  3,  p.  117.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

2547.  PERFECTION  OF  APPARATUS, 
IMPORTANCE  OF—  Velocity  of  Light— Error 
as  to  Sun's  Distance  Vitiated  Early  Meas- 
urements— A  Terrestrial  Distance,  That  Can 
Be  Surely  Measured,  Now  Made  the  Basis 
of  Calculation. — Fizeau,  and  quite  recently 
Cornu,  employing  not  planetary  or  stellar 
distances,  but  simply  the  breadth  of  the  city 
of  Paris,  determined  the  velocity  of  light: 
while  Foucault — a   man  of  the  rarest  me- 
chanical genius — solved  the  problem  with- 
out quitting  his  private  room.    Owing  to  an 
error   in   the   determination  of   the   earth's 
distance  from  the  sun,  the  velocity  [192,500 
miles  per  second]  assigned  to  light  by  both 
Romer  and  Bradley  is  too  great.     With  a 
close  approximation  to  accuracy  it  may  be 
regarded  as  186,000  miles  a  second.     [From 
a   discussion   of  all   observations   in    1891, 
Professor  Harkness  found  186,337  -H  49.722 
miles  (J.  E.  Gore,  in  Flammarion's"7'  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,"  p.  318) .    Flammarion  takes 
300,000  kilometers,  or  186,414  miles,  as  an 
accurate  statement  "  in  round  numbers."] — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  23. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2548.  PERFECTION    OF    EARLY   IN- 
STINCT—Common  Spiders.— Mr.  Blackwall, 
speaking  of  British  spiders,   says :     "  Com- 
plicated as  the  processes  are  by  which  these 
symmetrical  nets  are  produced,  nevertheless 
young  spiders,  acting  under  the  influence  of 
instinctive  impulse,  display,    even  in   their 
first  attempts  to  fabricate  them,  as  consum- 
mate   skill    as   the   most   experienced    indi- 
viduals."— ROMANES     Animal     Intelligence, 
ch.  6,  p.  216.     (A.,  1899.) 

2549. Trap-door  Spiders. 

— Speaking  of  trap-door  spiders,  Moggridge 
says: 

"  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  these  very 
small  nests,  built  as  they  are  by  minute 
spiders  probably  not  very  long  hatched  from 
the  egg,  must  rank  among  the  most  mar- 
velous structures  of  this  kind  with  which 
we  are  acquainted.  That  so  young  and 
weak  a  creature  should  be  able  to  excavate 
a  tube  in  the  earth  many  times  its  own 
length,  and  know  how  to  make  a  perfect 
miniature  of  the  nest  of  its  parents,  seems 
to  be  a  fact  which  has  scarcely  a  parallel  In 
Nature."— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence. 
ch.  6,  p.  217.  (A.,  1899.) 


Perfection 
eril 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


518 


255O. 


Veteran  Hunter 


Foiled  by  Newly  Hatched  Bird. — On  a  se- 
cluded lake  in  one  of  the  Hebrides  I  ob- 
served a  dun  diver,  or  female  of  the  red- 
breasted  merganser  (Hergus  serrator),  with 
her  brood  of  young  ducklings.  On  giving 
chase  in  the  boat,  we  soon  found  that  the 
young,  altho  not  above  a  fortnight  old,  had 
such  extraordinary  powers  of  swimming  and 
diving  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  cap- 
ture them.  The  distance  they  went  under 
water,  and  the  unexpected  places  in  which 
they  emerged,  baffled  all  our  efforts  for  a 
considerable  time.  At  last  one  of  the  brood 
made  for  the  shore,  with  the  object  of  hi- 
ding among  the  grass  and  heather  which 
fringed  the  margin  of  the  lake.  We  pur- 
sued it  as  closely  as  we  could,  but  when  the 
little  bird  gained  the  shore  our  boat  was 
still  about  twenty  yards  off.  Long  drought 
had  left  a  broad  margin  of  small  flat  stones 
and  mud  between  the  water  and  the  usual 
bank.  I  saw  the  little  bird  run  up  about  a 
couple  of  yards  from  the  water,  and  then 
suddenly  disappear.  Knowing  what  was 
likely  to  be  enacted,  I  kept  my  eye  fixed  on 
the  spot,  and  when  the  boat  was  run  upon 
the  beach  I  proceeded  to  find  and  pick  up 
the  chick.  But  on  reaching  the  place  of 
disappearance,  no  sign  of  the  young  mer- 
ganser was  to  be  seen.  The  closest  scrutiny, 
with  the  certain  knowledge  that  it  was 
there,  failed  to  enable  me  to  detect  it.  Pro- 
ceeding cautiously  forwards,  I  soon  became 
convinced  that  I  had  already  overshot  the 
mark;  and,  on  turning  round,  it  was  only 
to  see  the  chick  rise  like  an  apparition  from 
the  stones,  and,  dashing  past  the  stranded 
boat,  regain  the  lake,  where,  having  now 
recovered  its  wind,  it  instantly  dived  and 
disappeared.  The  tactical  skill  of  the  whole 
of  this  maneuver,  and  the  success  with 
which  it  was  executed,  were  greeted  with 
loud  cheers  from  the  whole  party,  and  our 
admiration  was  not  diminished  when  we  re- 
membered that  some  two  weeks  before  that 
time  the  little  performer  had  been  coiled  up 
inside  the  shell  of  an  egg,  and  that  about  a 
month  before  it  was  apparently  nothing  but 
a  mass  of  albumen  and  of  fatty  oils. — 
ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  3,  p.  50. 
(Burt.) 

2551.    PERFECTION  OF  MAN  AS  MAN 

— Liberal  vs.  Professional  Education — Bread- 
and-butter  Sciences. — Now,  the  perfection  of 
man  as  an  end,  and  the  perfection  of  man 
as  a  mean  or  instrument,  are  not  only  not 
the  same;  they  are,  in  reality,  generally  op- 
posed. And  as  these  two  perfections  are 
different,  so  the  training  requisite  for  their 
acquisition  is  not  identical,  and  has,  ac- 
cordingly, been  distinguished  by  different 
names.  The  one  is  styled  liberal,  the  other 
professional,  education;  the  branches  of 
knowledge  cultivated  for  these  purposes 
being  called,  respectively,  liberal  and  profes- 
sional, or  liberal  and  lucrative,  sciences.  By 
the  Germans  the  latter  are  usually  distin- 


guished as  the  Brodwissenschaften,  which 
we  may  translate  the  "  Bread-and-butter 
sciences."  A  few  of  the  professions,  indeed, 
as  requiring  a  higher  development  of  the 
higher  faculties,  and  involving,  therefore,  a 
greater  or  less  amount  of  liberal  education, 
have  obtained  the  name  of  liberal  professions. 
We  must,  however,  recollect  that  this  is  only 
an  accidental  and  a  very  partial  exception. 
But  tho  the  full  and  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  our  faculties  be  the  high  and  nat- 
tural  destination  of  all,  while  the  cultiva- 
tion of  any  professional  dexterity  is  only 
a  contingency,  tho  a  contingency  incumbent 
upon  most,  it  has,  however,  happened  that 
the  paramount  and  universal  end  of  man — 
of  man  absolutely — has  been  often  ignorant- 
ly  lost  sight  of,  and  the  term  "  useful "  ap- 
propriated exclusively  to  those  acquirements 
which  have  a  value  only  to  man  considered 
in  his  relative,  lower,  and  accidental  char- 
acter of  an  instrument. — HAMILTON  Meta- 
physics, lect.  1,  p.  4.  (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

2552.  PERFECTION    OF    MAN    THE 
GOAL   OF   NATURE— Evolution  Exalts  Hu- 
manity.— To  pursue  unflinchingly  the  meth- 
ods of  science  requires  dauntless  courage  and 
a  faith  that  nothing  can  shake.     Such  cour- 
age and  such  loyalty  to  Nature  bring  their 
own   reward.      For   when   once   the   formid- 
able theory  [of  natural  selection]   is  really 
understood,  when  once  its  implications  are 
properly   unfolded,    it   is    seen   to   have   no 
such  logical  consequences   as  were  at   first 
ascribed  to  it.    As  with  the  Copernican  as- 
tronomy, so  with  the  Darwinian  biology,  we 
rise  to   a  higher  view  of  the  workings   of 
God  and  of  the  nature   of  man  than  was 
ever    attainable    before.      So    far    from    de- 
grading humanity,  or  putting  it  on  a  level 
with  the  animal  world  in  general,  the  Dar- 
winian theory   shows  us  distinctly  for  the 
first   time  how   the  creation   and   the   per- 
fecting of  man   is   the  goal   toward  which 
Nature's  work  has  all  the  while  been  tend- 
ing.     It    enlarges    tenfold    the    significance 
of  human  life,  places  it  upon  even  a  loftier 
eminence  than  poets  or  prophets  have  imag- 
ined,   and   makes    it   seem   more   than    ever 
the    chief   object   of   that   creative   activity 
which    is    manifested   in   the   physical    uni- 
verse.— FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  2,  p.  24. 
(H.M.  &Co.,  1900.) 

2553.  PERFECTION    OF    THE    GEO- 
LOGICAL RECORD— Life  History  of  the  Trilo- 

bite  in  Stone. — Their  [the  trilobites']  geo- 
logical history  has  been  very  thoroughly 
studied;  not  only  are  we  familiar  with  all 
their  adult  characters,  but  even  their  em- 
bryology is  well  known  to  naturalists.  It 
is,  indeed,  wonderful  that  the  mode  of 
growth  of  animals  Which  died  out  in  the 
Carboniferous  period  should  be  better  known 
to  us  than  that  of  many  living  types.  But 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  their  embryonic 
forms  have  been  found  perfectly  preserved 
in  the  rocks.  ...  So  complete  is  the 
sequence  that  the  plate  on  which  their  em- 


519 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Perfection 


bryonic  changes  are  illustrated  contains 
more  than  thirty  figures,  all  representing 
different  phases  of  their  growth.  There  is 
not  a  living  crab  represented  so  fully  in  any 
of  our  scientific  works  as  is  that  one  species 
of  trilobite  whose  whole  story  Barrande  has 
traced  from  the  egg  to  its  adult  size. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  2,  p. 
53.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2554.  PERFECTION    SHEDS    LIGHT 
ON    IMPERFECTION  —  Complete  Specimens 
Give  Meaning  to  Fragments. — But  cases,  tho 
few  and  rare,  do  occur  in  which,  through 
some  favorable  accident  connected  with  the 
death  or  sepulture  of  some  individual  exist- 
ence of  the  period,   its  remains  have  been 
preserved  almost  entire;  and  one  such  speci- 
men serves  to  throw  light  on  whole  heaps 
of  the  broken  remains  of  its  contemporaries. 
The   single   elephant,    preserved   in    an    ice- 
berg beside  the  Arctic  Ocean,  illustrated  the 
peculiarities  of  the  numerous  extinct  family 
to  which  it  belonged,  whose  bones  and  huge 
tusks   whiten   the  wastes  of   Siberia.     The 
human  body  found  in  an  Irish  bog,  with  the 
ancient  sandals  of  the  country  still  attached 
to  its  feet  by  thongs,  and  clothed  in  a  gar- 
ment of  coarse  hair,  gave  evidence  that  bore 
generally  on  the  degree  of  civilization   at- 
tained by  the  inhabitants  of  an  entire  dis- 
trict in  a  remote  age.    In  all  such  instances 
the  character  and  appearance  of  the  indi- 
vidual bear  on  those  of  the  tribe.     In  at- 
tempting to  describe  the  organisms  of  the 
lower  old  red  sandstone,  where  the  fossils 
lie  as  thickly  in  some  localities  as  herrings 
on  our  coasts  in  the  fishing  season,.!  felt 
as  if  I  had  whole  tribes  before  me. — MILLER 
The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  9,  p.  152.     (G. 
&  L.,  1851.) 

2555.  PERIL   DEFIED   OR    IGNORED 

— "  Sporting  on  the  Volcano's  Edge " — 
Prosperity  and  Happiness  in  the  Endangered 
Lands. — The  first  impression  which  is  pro- 
duced upon  the  mind,  when  the  phenomena 
of  volcanic  action  are  studied,  is  that  here 
we  have  exhibitions  of  destructive  violence 
the  effects  of  which  must  be  entirely  mis- 
chievous and  disastrous  to  the  living  beings 
occupying  the  earth's  surface.  A  little  con- 
sideration will  convince  us,  however,  that 
the  grand  and  terrible  character  of  the  dis- 
plays of  volcanic  energy  have  given  rise 
to  exaggerated  notions  concerning  their  de- 
structive effects.  The  fact  that  districts 
situated  over  the  most  powerful  volcanic 
foci,  like  Java  and  Japan,  are  luxuriant  in 
their  productions,  and  thickly  inhabited,  may 
well  lead  us  to  pause  ere  we  condemn  vol- 
canic action  as  productive  only  of  mischief 
to  the  living  beings  on  the  earth's  surface. 
The  actual  slopes  of  Vesuvius  and  Etna, 
and  many  other  active  volcanoes,  are  abun- 
$antly  clothed  with  vineyards  and  forests, 
and  are  thickly  studded  with  populous  vil- 
lages.— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p.  281.  (A., 
1899.) 


2556.  PERIL,  FICTITIOUS— -M>  Lions 
in  the  Deserts — Vipers  and  Mosquitoes  the 
Real  Terrors. — Of  larger  wild  animals,  only 
gazelles,  wild  asses,  and  ostriches  are  to  be 
met  with  [in  the  Desert  of  Sahara].    "  That 
lions  exist  in  the  desert,"  says  M.  Carette 
["Exploration  Scientif.  de  1'Algerie,"  t.  ii, 
p.    332],    "is    a    myth    popularized   by   the 
dreams  of  artists  and  poets,  and  has  no  foun- 
dation but  in  their  imagination.  This  animal 
does  not  quit  the  mountains,  where  it  finds 
shelter,  food,  and  drink.    When  the  traveler 
questions  the  natives  concerning  these  wild 
beasts,  which  Europeans  suppose  to  be  their 
companions  in  the  desert,  they  reply,  with 
imperturbable  sang-froid,  '  Have  you,  then, 
lions  in  your  country  which  can  drink  air 
and  eat  leaves?    With  us,  lions  require  run- 
ning water  and  living  flesh;   and  therefore 
they  only  appear  where  there  are  wooded 
hills   and  water.     We  fear  only   the  viper 
(lefa),  and,  in  humid  spots,  the  innumerable 
swarms  of  mosquitoes  which  abound  there.' " 
— HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  90.     (Bell, 
1896.) 

2557.  PERIL    IN   EXALTATION  — In 

Earthquake  Countries,  Lowliness  Is  Safety 
— Spaniards  "  Building  Their  Own  Sepul- 
chers." — Another  plan  adopted  in  South 
America  can  be  gathered  from  the  same  au- 
thor's [James  Douglas,  in  his  "  Journey  along 
the  West  Coast  of  South  America  "]  writings 
upon  Lima,  about  which  he  says :  "  To  build 
high  houses  would  be  to  erect  structures  for 
the  first  earthquake  to  make  sport  of,  and, 
therefore,  in  order  to  obtain  space,  safety, 
and  comfort,  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  sur- 
round court  after  court,  filled  with  flowers 
and  cooled  with  fountains,  connected  one 
with  another  with  wide  passages  which  give 
a  vista  from  garden  to  garden." 

History  would  indicate  that  houses  of 
this  type  have  been  arrived  at  as  the  re- 
sults of  experience,  for  it  is  said  that  when 
the  inhabitants  of  South  America  first  saw 
the  Spaniards  building  tall  houses  they  told 
them  they  were  building  their  own  sepul- 
chers. 

In  Jamaica  we  find  that  even  as  early  as 
1692  experience  had  taught  the  Spaniards 
to  construct  low  houses,  which  withstood 
shakings  better  than  the  tall  ones. — MILNE 
Earthquakes,  ch.  7,  p.  127.  (A.,  1899.) 

2558.  PERIL  UNIMAGINED— A  Slum- 
bering Volcano — Vesuvius  before  the  Erup- 
tion of  A.  D.  79 — Its  Slopes  Vineyards — Its 
Crater  a  Fortress. — Nothing  is  more  certain 
than  the  fact  that  the  Vesuvius  upon  which 
the  ancient  Romans  and  the  Greek  settlers 
of  southern   Italy  looked,   was  a  mountain 
differing  entirely  in  its  form  and  appear- 
ance from  that  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
The  Vesuvius  known  to  the  ancients  was  a 
great  truncated  cone,  having  a  diameter  at 
its  base  of  eight  or  nine  miles,  and  a  height 
of  about  4,000   feet.     The  summit  of  this 
mountain    was    formed    by    a    circular    de- 
pressed plain,  nearly  three  miles  in  diam- 


Fffli 


stence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


520 


eter,  within  which  the  gladiator  Spartacus 
and  his  followers  were  besieged  by  a  Roman 
army.  There  is  no  evidence  that  at  this 
time  the  volcanic  character  of  the  mountain 
was  generally  recognized,  and  its  slopes  are 
described  by  the  ancient  geographers  as  be- 
ing clothed  with  fertile  fields  and  vineyards, 
while  the  hollow  at  the  top  was  a  waste 
overgrown  with  wild  vines. 

But  in  the  year  79  a  terrible  and  unex- 
pected eruption  occurred,  by  which  .  .  . 
the  cities  of  Pompeii,  Herculaneum,  and 
Stabise  were  overwhelmed  and  buried. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  83.  (A.,  1899.) 

2559.  PERILS  OF  THE  SNOW—  Trav- 
eler's Sense  of  Direction  Destroyed  ~by  Swirl- 
ing    Eddies. — Snow     is     not     always     our 
friend.     ...     In  thinly  inhabited  coun- 
tries there  is  no  greater  danger  than  to  be 
overtaken  by  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  or  caught 
in  storms  of  snow-dust,  raised  from  ground 
on  which   snow   has  previously  fallen   and 
whirled  along  by  the  wind.     In  such  cases 
one's  only  safety  is  to  make  at  once  for  the 
nearest  human  dwelling  in  sight.     If  there 
is  none  in  sight,  the  danger  of  being  lost  is 
great,  for  nothing  so  destroys  one's  sense  of 
direction  as  the  confused  eddies  of  falling 
snow    or     swirling    snow-dust. — CHISHOLM 
Nature-Studies,  p.  31.    (Hum.,  1888.) 

2560.  PERMANENCE,    APPARENT— 

Mountain  Seems  Eternal — A  First  View  of 
the  Matterhorn. — Above  us  rise  the  towers 
and  pinnacles  of  the  Matterhorn,  certainly 
a  tremendous  array.  Actual  contact  im- 
mensely increases  one's  impressions  of  this, 
the  hardest  and  strongest  of  all  the  moun- 
tain masses  of  the  Alps;  its  form  is  more 
remarkable  than  that  of  other  mountains, 
not  by  chance,  but  because  it  is  built  of 
more  massive  and  durable  materials,  and 
more  solidly  put  together:  nowhere  have  I 
seen  such  astonishing  masonry.  The  broad 
gneiss  blocks  are  generally  smooth  and  com- 
pact, with  little  appearance  of  splintering 
or  weathering.  Tons  of  rock,  in  the  shape 
of  boulders,  must  fall  almost  daily  down 
its  sides,  but  the  amount  of  these,  even 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  is  as  nothing 
compared  with  the  mass  of  the  mountain; 
the  ordinary  processes  of  disintegration  can 
have  little  or  no  effect  on  it.  If  one  were  to 
follow  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  speculating  on  the 
manner  in  which  the  Alpine  peaks  can  have 
assumed  their  present  shape,  it  seems  as  if 
such  a  mass  as  this  can  have  been  blocked 
out  only  while  rising  from  the  sea,  under 
the  action  of  waves  such  as  beat  against  the 
granite  headlands  of  the  Land's  End.  Once 
on  dry  land  it  must  stand  as  it  does  now, 
apparently  forever. — HAWKINS  in  TYN- 
DALL'S  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  3, 
p.  39.  (A.,  1898.) 

2561. Transition  Unper- 

ceived — Changing  Cloud  on  Mountain  Peak. 
— You  frequently  see  a  streamer  of  cloud 
many  hundred  yards  in  length  drawn  out 
from  an  Alpine  peak.  Its  steadiness  ap- 


pears perfect,  tho  a  strong  wind  may  be 
blowing  at  the  same  time  over  the  mountain- 
head.  Why  is  the  cloud  not  blown  away? 
It  is  blown  away;  its  permanence  is  only 
apparent.  At  one  end  it  is  incessantly  dis- 
solved, at  the  other  end  it  is  incessantly  re- 
newed: supply  and  consumption  being  thus 
equalized,  the  cloud  appears  as  changeless 
as  the  mountain  to  which  it  seems  to  cling. 
When  the  red  sun  of  the  evening  shines 
upon  these  cloud  streamers  they  resemble 
vast  torches  with  their  flames  blown 
through  the  air. — TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water, 
p.  29.  (A.,  1899.) 

2562.  PERMANENCE    OF    CONCEP- 
TIONS— Change  of  Conceptions  Is  Not  Altera- 
tion,but  Substitution. — Each  conception  thus 
eternally  remains  what  it  is,  and  never  can 
become  another.     The  mind  may  change  its 
states  and  its  meanings  at  different  times, 
may  drop  one  conception  and  take  up  an- 
other, but  the  dropped  conception  can  in  no 
intelligible  sense  be  said  to  change  into  its 
successor.    The  paper,  a  moment  ago  white, 
I  may  now  see  to  have  been  scorched  black. 
But     my     conception     "  white "     does     not 
change  into  my  conception  "  black."    On  the 
contrary,  it  stays  alongside  of  the  objective 
blackness,    as    a    different    meaning    in    my 
mind,  and  by  so  doing  lets  me  judge  the 
blackness  as  the  paper's  change.     Unless  it 
stayed,   I    should   simply   say   "  blackness " 
and  know  no  more.    Thus,  amid  the  flux  of 
opinions  and  of  physical  things,  the  world 
of    conceptions,    or    things    intended   to    be 
thought  about,  stands  stiff  and  immutable, 
like    Plato's    "Realm    of    Ideas." — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  12,  p.  432.    (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

2563.  PERMANENCE  OF  LEVEL   OF 
SWISS    LAKES  —  Extends  at  Least  to  the 
Bronze  Age. — As  piles   [in  the  remains  of 
Swiss    lake-dwellings]    of    the    Bronze    Age 
are  sometimes  found  at  a  depth  of  as  much 
as  fifteen  feet,  and  as  it  is  manifest  that 
buildings  cannot  have  been  constructed  over 
water  much  deeper  than  this,  it  is  evident 
that  the  Swiss  lakes  cannot  then  have  stood 
at   a    much   higher   level   than   at   present. 
This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  position 
of  Roman  remains  at  Thonon,  on  the  Lake 
of  Geneva,  and  we  thus  obtain  satisfactory 
evidence  that  the  height  of  the  Swiss  lakes 
must  have  remained  almost  unaltered  for  a 
very     long     period. — AVEBURY     Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  6,  p.  17C.    (A.,  1900.) 

2564.  PERPLEXITIES  OF  ETYMOLO- 
GY— Children  Generalize  from  Different  Start- 
ing-points— "  Moon  "    and   "  Star  " — So    the 
Savage  Children  of  the  World. — Examples 
of  generalization  among  children  abound  in 
every  nursery.    A  child  is  taken  to  the  win- 
dow by  his  nurse  to  see  the  moon.    The  easy 
monosyllable  is  caught  up  at  once,  and^for 
some  time  the  child  applies  it  indiscrimi- 
nately to   anything  bright  or   shining — the 
gas,  the  candle,  the  firelight  are  each  "  the 
moon."  Mr.  Romanes  records  a  case  where  a 


521 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


RSI 


stence 


child  made  a  similar  use  of  the  word  "  star  " 
— the  gas,  the  candle,  the  firelight  were  each 
"  a  star."  If  the  makers  of  language  pro- 
ceeded on  this  principle,  no  wonder  the 
philologist  has  riddles  to  read.  How  often 
must  the  savage  children  of  the  world  have 
started  off  naming  things  from  two  such 
different  points !  —  DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  ch.  5,  p.  171.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2565.  PERSEVERANCE  OF  INVENT- 
OR— Courage  of  Conviction  —  Self-sacrificing 
Enthusiasm. — Somewhere    about    the    time 
that  Herschel  set  about  polishing  his  first 
speculum,    Pierre   Louis   Guinand,   a   Swiss 
artisan  living  near  Chaux-de-Fonds,  in  the 
canton  of  Neuchatel,  began  to  grind  spec- 
tacles for  his  own  use,  and  was  thence  led 
on  to  the  rude  construction  of  telescopes  by 
fixing  lenses  in  pasteboard  tubes.    The  sight 
of  an  English  achromatic,  however,  stirred 
a  higher  ambition,  and  he  took  the  first  op- 
portunity of  procuring  some  flint-glass  from 
England   (then  the  only  source  of  supply), 
with  the  design  of  imitating  an  instrument 
the  full  capabilities  of  which  he  was  des- 
tined to  be  the  humble  means  of   develop- 
ing.    The  English  glass  proving  of  inferior 
quality,    he    conceived    the    possibility,    un- 
aided and  ignorant  of  the  art  as  he  was,  of 
himself    making    better,    and    spent    seven 
years   (1784-90)  in  fruitless  experiments  di- 
rected to  that  end.    Failure  only  stimulated 
him  to  enlarge  their  scale.    He  bought  some 
land  near  Les  Brenets,  constructed  upon  it 
a  furnace  capable  of  melting  two  quintals  of 
glass,  and  reducing  himself  and  his  family 
to  the  barest  necessaries  of  life,  he  poured 
his    earnings    (he  at  this  time  made  bells 
for    repeaters)    unstintingly   into    his    cru- 
cibles.      His     undaunted     resolution     tri- 
umphed.    In  1799  he  carried  to  Paris  and 
there   showed  to   Lalande   several   disks   of 
flawless  crystal  four  to  six  inches  in  diam- 
eter.    Lalande  advised  him  to  keep  his  se- 
cret, but  in  1805  he  was  induced  to  remove 
to  Munich,  where  he  became  the  instructor 
of  the  immortal  Fraunhofer.    His  return  to 
Les  Brenets  in  1814  was  signalized  by  the 
discovery  of  an  ingenious  mode  of  removing 
striated  portions  of  glass  by  breaking  and  re- 
soldering  the  product  of  each  melting,  and 
he  eventually  attained  to  the  manufacture 
of  perfect  disks  up  to  18  inches  in  diameter. 
An  object-glass  for  which  he  had  furnished 
the  material  to  Cauchoix,  procured  him,  in 
1823,  a  royal  invitation  to  settle  in  Paris; 
but  he  was  no  longer  equal  to  the  change, 
and  died  at  the  scene  of  his  labors  February 
13   following. — CLEBKE   History   of  Astron- 
omy, pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  142.    (Bl.,  1893.) 

2566.  PERSEVERANCE  OF  SCIENCE 

— The  grand  campaign  [for  world-wide  ob- 
servation of  the  transit  of  Venus,  1874] 
had  come  to  nothing.  Nevertheless,  no  sign 
of  discouragement  was  apparent.  There 
was  a  change  of  view,  hut  no  relaxation  of 
purpose.  The  problem,  it  was  seen,  could 
be  solved  by  no  single  heroic  effort,  but  by 


the  patient  approximation  of  gradual  im- 
provements. Astronomers,  accordingly, 
looked  round  for  fresh  means,  or  more  re- 
fined expedients  for  applying  those  already 
known.  A  new  phase  of  exertion  was  en- 
tered upon. — CLEEKE  History  of  Astronomy, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  6,  p.  292.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

2567.  Fossils  Found 

after  Ten  Years'  Search.  —  Immediately 
above  the  conglomerate  there  is  a  hundred 
and  fourteen  feet  more  of  coarse  sandstone 
strata,  of  a  reddish  yellow  hue,  with  oc- 
casionally a  few  pebbles  enclosed,  and  then 
twenty-seven  feet  additional  of  limestone 
and  stratified  clay.  There  are  no  breaks,  no 
faults,  no  thinning  out  of  strata — all  the 
beds  lie  parallel,  showing  regular  deposition. 
I  had  passed  over  the  section  twenty  times 
before,  and  had  carefully  examined  the  lime- 
stone and  the  clay,  but  in  vain.  On  this 
occasion,  however,  I  was  more  fortunate.  I 
struck  off  a  fragment.  It  contained  a  vege- 
table impression  of  the  same  character  with 
those  of  the  ichthyolite  beds;  and  after  an 
hour's  diligent  search,  I  had  turned  out  from 
the  heart  of  the  stratum  plates  and  scales 
enough  to  fill  a  shelf  in  a  museum — the  hel- 
met-like snout  of  an  Osteolepis,  the  thorn- 
like  spine  of  a  Cheiracanthus,  and  a  Coccos- 
teus  well-nigh  entire.  I  had  at  length,  after 
a  search  of  nearly  ten  years,  found  the  true 
place  of  the  ichthyolite  bed. — MILLER  The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  7,  p.  121.  (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

2568 Kepler  and  the  Orbit 

of  Mars. — It  was  this  great  eccentricity  [of 
the  orbit  of  Mars]  which  led  Kepler  to  dis- 
cover the  true  form  of  the  planetary  orbits, 
till  then  considered  as  perfectly  circular;  he 
took  no  less  than  seventeen  years  of  labor 
to  attain  it,  and  very  often"  he  despaired 
of  success. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astrono- 
my, bk.  iv,  ch.  4,  p.  374.  (A.) 

2569.  PERSISTENCE,  GENUINE  AND 
SPURIOUS—  Decision  of  Character.— There 
is  no  more  remarkable  difference  in  human 
character  than  that  between  resolute  and 
irresolute  natures.  .  .  .  Whereas  in  the 
irresolute  all  decisions  are  provisional  and 
liable  to  be  reversed,  in  the  resolute  they 
are  settled  once  for  all  and  not  disturbed 
again.  Now  into  every  one's  deliberations 
the  representation  of  one  alternative  will 
often  enter  with  such  sudden  force  as  to 
carry  the  imagination  with  itself  exclusive- 
ly, and  to  produce  an  apparently  settled  de- 
cision in  its  own  favor.  These  premature 
and  spurious  decisions  are  of  course  known 
to  every  one.  They  often  seem  ridiculous 
in  the  light  of  the  considerations  that  suc- 
ceed them.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
in  the  resolute  type  of  character  the  acci- 
dent that  one  of  them  has  once  been  made 
does  afterwards  enter  as  a  motive  additional 
to  the  more  genuine  reasons  why  it  should 
not  be  revoked,  or,  if  provisionally  revoked, 
why  it  should  be  made  again.  How  many 
of  us  persist  in  a  precipitate  course  which, 


Persistence 
Phenomena 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


522 


but  for  a  moment  of  heedlessness,  we  might 
never  have  entered  upon,  simply  because 
we  hate  to  "  change  our  mind!"— JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  530.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

20 7O.  PERSISTENCE  OF  A  STRONG 
CURRENT    IN   ITS   COURSE— Rivera  Saw 
Mountains  Asunder. — It  is  remarkable   .   .   . 
how  persistent  are  great  rivers  in  maintain- 
ing their  direction.     When  it  has  been  once 
fairly  established  a  large  river  may  outlive 
many    revolutions    of    the    surface.      River- 
valleys  are  not  seldom  older  than  the  moun- 
tain ridges  which  they  sometimes  traverse; 
or,  to  put  it  in  another  way,  new  mountains 
may  come  into  existence  without  deflecting 
the  rivers   across  whose  valleys  they  may 
seem  at  one  time  to  have  extended,  for  the 
rivers  have  simply  sawed  their  way  through 
the   ridges   as    these   were   being   gradually 
developed. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  3, 
p.  45.      (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

2571.  PERSONALITY  AFFECTS  SCI- 
ENTIFIC OBSERVATION— Every  time  that, 
in  a  given  country,  there  is  a  change  of  ob- 
server   we   remark    a    sudden   variation   in 
the  annual  number  of  auroras.     It  is  neces- 
sary, therefore,  as  far  as  possible,  to  collect 
the  observations  over  a  whole  region,  and 
not  content  ourselves  with  a  single  station, 
for  it  often  happens  that  in  two  neighbor- 
ing places  an  aurora  will  be  noted  in  the 
one  which  is  unperceived  at  the  other  by  a 
less  attentive  observer. — ANGOT  Aurora  Bo- 
realis,  ch.  5,  p.  91.     (A.,  1897.) 

2572.  PERSONALITY  AN  INEVITABLE 
CONCEPTION — Natural  Agencies  and  Powers 
Personified. — It   is   the    simplest   and   most 
natural  of  all  conceptions  that  the  agency 
of  which  we  are  most  conscious  in  ourselves 
is  like  the  agency  which  works  in  the  world 
around  us.     Even  supposing  this  conception 
to   be   groundless,    and  that,   as   some  now 
maintain,  a  more  scientific  investigation  of 
natural  agencies  abolishes  the  conception  of 
design  or  purpose,  or  of  personal  will  being 
at    all    concerned    therein — even    supposing 
this,  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  the  transfer 
of  conceptions  founded  on  our  own  conscious- 
ness of  agency  and  of  power  within  us  to 
the  agencies  and  powers  around  us,  is  a  nat- 
ural, if  it  be  not  indeed  a  necessary,  con- 
ception.    That  it  is  a  natural  conception  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  it  has  been,  and 
still  is,  so  widely  prevalent,  as  well  as  by 
the  fact  that  what  is  called  the  purely  scien- 
tific conception  of  natural  agencies  is  a  mod- 
ern conception,  and  one  which  is  confessedly 
of  difficult  attainment.     So  difficult,  indeed, 
is  it  to  expel  from  the  mind  the  conception 
of  personality  in  or  behind  the  agencies  of 
Nature,   that   it  may   fairly  be   questioned 
whether  it  has  ever  been  effectually  done. 
Verbal  devices  for  keeping  the  idea  out  of 
sight   are   indeed   very   common;    but   even 
these  are  not  very  successful.    .    .    .    Those 
naturalists  and  philosophers  who  are  most 
opposed   to  all   theological  explanations   or 


conceptions  of  natural  forces  do,  neverthe- 
less, habitually,  in  spite  of  themselves,  have 
recourse  to  language  which  derives  its  whole 
form,  as  well  as  its  whole  intelligibility, 
from  those  elements  of  meaning  which  refer 
to  the  familiar  operations  of  our  own  mind 
and  will.  The  very  phrase  "  natural  selec- 
tion "  is  one  which  likens  the  operations 
of  Nature  to  the  operations  of  a  mind  exer- 
cising the  power  of  choice.  The  whole  mean- 
ing of  the  phrase  is  to  indicate  how  Nature 
attains  certain  ends  which  are  like  "  selec- 
tion."— ARGTLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p. 
275.  (Burt.) 

2573.  PERSONALITY  A  PRIMITIVE 
CONCEPTION — Aryan  Impersonations  of  Ele- 
mentary  Powers. — From    this   evidence,    as 
we  find  it  in  the  facts  reported  respecting 
the  earliest  forms  of  Aryan  speech,  it  seems 
certain  that  the  most  ancient  conceptions 
of  the  energies  of  Nature  were  conceptions 
of    personality.      In    that   dim    and   far-off 
time,  when  our  prehistoric  ancestors  were 
speaking  in  a  language  long  anterior  to  the 
formation   of   the   oldest   Sanskrit,   we   are 
told  that  they  called  the  sun  the  illuminator, 
or  the  warmer,  or  the  nourisher;  the  moon, 
the  measurer;  the  dawn,  the  awakener;  the 
thunder,  the  roarer;   the  rain,  the  rainer; 
the    fire,    the   quick-runner.      We    are    told 
further   that   in   these   personifications   the 
earliest  Aryans    did  not   imagine  them   as 
possessing  the  material  or  corporeal  forms 
of   humanity,  but  only  that  the   activities 
they  exhibited  were  most  easily  conceived 
as  comparable  with  our  own.     Surely  this 
is  a  fact  which  is  worth  volumes  of  specu- 
lation.   What  was  most  easy  and  most  nat- 
ural then  must  have  been  most  easy  and 
most   natural    from    the    beginning.      With 
such   a   propensity   in   the  earliest  men   of 
whom  we  have  any  authentic  record  to  see 
personal  agency  in  everything,  and  with  the 
general  impression  of  unity  and  subordina- 
tion under  one  system  which  is  suggested 
by  all   the   phenomena   of   Nature,    it  does 
not  seem  very  difficult  to  suppose  that  the 
fundamental  conception  of  all  religion  may 
have  been  in  the  strictest  sense  primeval. — 
AKGYLL    Unity  of   Nature,   ch.    12,   p.    304. 
(Burt.) 

2574.  PERSONALITY,  DESTRUCTION 
OF  —  Animal  Made  a  True  Automaton — In- 
stinctless  Condition  of  Brainless  Pigeons. — 
Schrader   gives   a    striking   account   of   the 
instinctless   condition  of  his  brainless   pig- 
eons,  active   as   they  were    in   the  way   of 
locomotion  and  voice.    "  The  hemisphereless 
animal  moves   in  a  world  of  bodies  which 
.    .    .    are  all  of  equal  value  for  him.    .    .    . 
He   is,   to  use   Goltz's   apt  expression,    im- 
personal.    .     .     .     Every  object  is  for  him 
only  a  space-occupying  mass;  he  turns  out 
of  his  path  for  an  ordinary  pigeon  no  other- 
wise than  for  a  stone.    He  may  try  to  climb 
over  both.  All  authors  agree  that  they  never 
found   any    difference,   whether    it   was    an 
inanimate  body,  a  cat,  a  dog,  or  a  bird  of 


523 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Persistence 
Phenomena 


prey  which  came  in  their  pigeon's  way.  The 
creature  knows  neither  friends  nor  enemies; 
in  the  thickest  company  it  lives  like  a  her- 
mit.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  77. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2575.  PERSONALITY     EMBODIED  — 

The  Secret  of  Idolatry. — The  universality 
of  this  tendency  to  connect  some  material 
objects  with  religious  worship,  and  the  im- 
mense variety  of  modes  in  which  this  tend- 
ency has  been  manifested,  are  facts  which 
receive  a  full  and  adequate  explanation  in 
our  natural  disposition  to  conceive  of  all 
personal  agencies  as  living  in  some  form 
and  in  some  place,  or  as  having  some  other 
special  connection  with  particular  things 
in  Nature.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  understand 
how  the  embodiments,  or  the  symbols,  or  the 
abodes,  which  may  be  imagined  and  devised 
by  men,  will  vary  according  as  their  mental 
condition  has  been  developed  in  a  good  or 
in  a  wrong  direction.  And  as  these  imagin- 
ings and  devices  are  never  as  we  see  them 
now  among  savages,  the  work  of  any  one 
generation  of  men,  but  are  the  accumulated 
inheritance  of  many  generations,  all  existing 
systems  of  worship  among  them  must  be 
regarded  as  presumably  very  wide  depar- 
tures from  the  conceptions  which  were  pri- 
meval.— ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p. 
283.  (Burt.) 

2576.  PERSONALITY     INDIVIDUAL 
AND  INCOMMUNICABLE— Limit  to  the  Pos- 
sibility of  Human  Sympathy — A  Lesson  of 
Charity. — There  is  a  something  in  the  in- 
timacy  of   a   man's   own   experience   which 
he    cannot    make   to    pass    entire    into    the 
heart  and  mind  even  of  his  most  familiar 
companion,  and  thus  it  is  that  he  is  so  often 
defeated  in  his  attempts  to  obtain  a   full 
and  a  cordial  possession  of  his  sympathy. 
He  is  mortified,  and  he  wonders  at  the  ob- 
tuseness    of    the    people    around    him,    and 
that,  with  every  human  being  he  addresses, 
justness  of  his  complainings,  nor  to  feel  the 
point  upon  which  turn  the  truth  and  the 
reason    of   his    remonstrances,   nor   to   give 
their    interested    attention   to    the    case    of 
his  peculiarities  and  of  his  wrongs,  nor  to 
kindle,  in  generous  resentment,  along  with 
him,  when  he  starts  the  topic  of  his  indig- 
nation.    He  does  not  reflect,  all  the  while, 
that,  with  every  human  being  he  addresses, 
there  is  an  inner  man,  which  forms  a  theater 
of   passions,   and   of   interests   as   busy,   as 
crowded,   and  as   fitted   as  his   own  to   en- 
gross the  anxious  and  the  exercised  feelings 
of  a  heart,  which  can  alone  understand  its 
own  bitterness,  and  lay  a  correct  estimate 
on  the  burden  of  its  own  visitations.    Every 
man  we  meet  carries  about  with  him,  in  the 
unperceived  solitude  of  his  bosom,  a  little 
world  of  his  own,  and  we  are  just  as  blind, 
and  as  insensible,  and  as  dull,  both  of  per- 
ception and  of  sympathy,  about  his  engross- 
ing objects  as  he   is   about  ours;    and,  did 
we  suffer   this  observation  to  have  all   its 
weight  upon  us,  it  might  serve  to  make  us 


more  candid,  and  more  considerate  of  others. 
It  might  serve  to  abate  the  monopolizing 
selfishness  of  our  nature. — CHALMERS  Astro- 
nomical Discourses,  p.  42.  (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

2577.  PHANTOMS  KNOWN  AS  ILLU- 
SIONS— Specters    Haunting  a  Scholar.— We 
knew  a  gentleman   of  strong  mind,   and  a 
most    accomplished    scholar,    who    was    for 
many  years  subject  to  such  fantasms,  some 
sufficiently  grotesque,   and   he   would   occa- 
sionally   laugh    heartily    at    their    antics. 
Sometimes    it    appeared    as    if    they    inter- 
rupted a  conversation  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged;  and  then,  if  with  his  family  or  in- 
timate   friends,    he   would    turn    to    empty 
space,  and   say,   "  I   don't  care   a   farthing 
for  ye;  ye  amuse  me  greatly  sometimes,  but 
you  are  a  bore  just  now."  His  spectra,  when 
so  addressed,  would  to  his  eye  resume  their 
antics,   at  which  he  would  laugh,  turn  to 
his   friend,   and   continue  his   conversation. 
In  other  respects  he  was  perfectly  healthy, 
his  mind  was  of  more  than  ordinary  strength, 
and  he  would   speak   of   his   fantoms,    and 
reason   upon    their    appearance,    being   per- 
fectly conscious  that  the  whole  was  illusive. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch. 
4,  p.  167.     (A.,  1900.) 

2578.  PHANTOMS  OF  IMAGINATION 

— The  Illusions  of  Desire. — Long  before  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World  it  was  believed 
that  new  lands  in  the  far  West  might  be 
seen  from  the  shores  of  the  Canaries  and  the 
Azores.  These  illusive  images  were  owing, 
not  to  any  extraordinary  refraction  of  the 
rays  of  light,  but  produced  by  an  eager  long- 
ing for  the  distant  and  the  unattained.  The 
philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  the  physical  views 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  even  those  of  a 
more  recent  period  have  been  eminently 
imbued  with  the  charm  springing  from  simi- 
lar illusive  fantoms  of  the  imagination. 
At  the  limits  of  circumscribed  knowledge, 
as  from  some  lofty  island  shore,  the  eye  de- 
lights to  penetrate  to  distant  regions.  The 
belief  in  the  uncommon  and  the  wonder- 
ful lends  a  definite  outline  to  every  mani- 
festation of  ideal  creation;  and  the  realm 
of  fancy — a  fairy-land  of  cosmological,  geog- 
nostical,and  magnetic  visions — becomes  thus 
involuntarily  blended  with  the  domain  of 
reality. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  81. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2579.  PHENOMENA  MANIFESTA- 
TIONS  OF  ONE  OMNIPRESENT   POWER 

— Conservation  of  Energy. — All  those  who 
have  most  carefully  studied  the  subject  have 
arrived  at  the  same  results.  There  is,  there- 
fore, every  reason  to  believe  that  the  prin- 
ciple we  have  been  illustrating  is  univer- 
sally true.  Let  us  then  embody  it  in  a  defi- 
nite statement.  All  natural  phenomena  are 
the  manifestation  of  the  same  omnipresent 
energy,  which  is  transferred  from  one  por- 
tion of  matter  to  another  without  loss. 

But   if  the   principle   as   thus   stated   be 
accepted   we   cannot   rest   here,    for   it   in- 


lenomena 
lotography 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


524 


volves  this  further  conclusion,  which,  how- 
ever marvelous,  must  be  true:  The  sum 
total  of  all  the  active  and  latent  energies 
in  the  universe  is  constant  and  invariable. 
In  other  words,  power  is  as  indestructible 
as  matter. 

This  grand  truth  is  generally  called  the 
law  of  conservation  of  energy,  and  if  it 
cannot  as  yet  be  regarded  as  absolutely 
verified  there  can  be  no  question  that  it 
stands  on  a  better  basis  to-day  than  did 
the  law  of  gravitation  one  hundred  years 
ago. — COOKE  Religion  and  Chemistry,  ch.  10, 
p.  302.  (A.,  1897.) 

2580.  PHENOMENA,  NATURAL, 
RANGED  UNDER  LAW— Religious  Phenom- 
ena Need  Like  Classification. — The  effect  of 
the  introduction  of  law  among  the  scattered 
phenomena   of  Nature  has   simply  been  to 
make  science,  to  transform  knowledge  into 
eternal  truth.    The  same  crystallizing  touch 
is  needed  in  religion.     Can  it  be  said  that 
the  phenomena   of  the  spiritual  world  are 
other    than    scattered?      Can   we    shut   our 
eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  religious  opinions 
of  mankind  are  in  a   state  of  flux?     And 
when  we  regard  the  uncertainty  of  current 
beliefs,  the  war  of  creeds,  the  havoc  of  in- 
evitable  as  well  as  of  idle  doubt,   the  re- 
luctant abandonment  of  early  faith  by  those 
who  would  cherish  it  longer  if  they  could, 
is  it  not  plain  that  the  one  thing  thinking 
men  are  waiting  for  is  the  introduction  of 
law  among  the  phenomena  of  the  spiritual 
world?     When  that  comes  we  shall  offer  to 
such  men  a  truly  scientific  theology.     And 
the  reign  of  law  will  transform  the  whole 
spiritual   world    as    it   has    already    trans- 
formed the  natural  world. — DRUMMOND  Nat- 
ural Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  pref.,  p. 
8.     (H.  Al.) 

2581.  PHENOMENA  OF  NATURE  MIS- 
INTERPRETED— Aurora  Borealis  Mistaken 
for     Conflagration.  —  Seneca      ( "  Naturales 
Questiones,"  i,  14,  15)   says:  "Among  these 
phenomena  should  be  ranged  those  appear- 
ances  as   of   the   heavens   on   fire   so    often 
reported  by  historians ;  sometimes  these  fires 
are  high  enough  to  shine  among  the  stars; 
at  others,  so  low  that  they  might  be  taken 
for  the  reflection  of  a  distant  burning  home- 
stead or  city.     This  is  what  happened  un- 
der Tiberius,  when  the  cohorts  hurried  to 
the  succor  of  the  colony  of  Ostia,  believing 
it  to  be  on  fire.     During  the  greater  part 
of    the    night   the    heaven    appeared    to    be 
illuminated  by  a   faint  light  resembling  a 
thick  smoke." — ANGOT  Aurora  Borealis,  ch. 
1,  p.  5.     (A.,  1897.) 

2582.  PHENOMENA    REDUCED     TO 
LAW—  Divested    of  Superstition.  —  It  is  no 
small  gain  to  have  established  the  fact  that 
volcanic   phenomena,   divested   of   all   those 
wonderful    attributes   with   which   supersti- 
tion   and  the   love   of   the   marvelous   have 
surrounded  them,  are  operations  of  Nature 
obeying  definite  laws,  which  laws  we  may 
hope  by   careful   observation  and   accurate 


reasoning  to  determine;  and  that  the  varied 
appearances,  presented  alike  in  the  grandest 
and  feeblest  outbursts,  can  all  be  referred 
to  one  simple  cause — namely,  the  escape, 
from  the  midst  of  masses  of  molten  ma- 
terials, of  imprisoned  steam  or  water-gas. — 
JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  2,  p.  38.  (A.,  1899.) 

2583.  PHILOSOPHY,  ENDLESS  PROB- 
LEM   OF— The  Mystery  of  Evil.—  Well-nigh 
universally  has  philosophy  proceeded  upon 
the   assumption,   whether   tacit  or   avowed, 
that  pain  and  wrong  are  things  hard  to  be 
reconciled  with  the  theory  that  the  world 
is   created   and  ruled  by   a   Being  at  once 
all-powerful  and  all-benevolent.     Why  does 
such  a  Being  permit  the  misery  that  we  be- 
hold encompassing  us  on  every  side?    .    .    . 
If  this  question  could  be  fairly  answered, 
does   it  not  seem  as  if  the  burden  of  life, 
which    so    often    seems    intolerable,  .  would 
forthwith  slip  from  our  shoulders  and  leave 
us,  like  Bunyan's  pilgrim,  free  and  bold  and 
light-hearted  to  contend  against  all  the  ills 
of   the   world? — FISKE   Through   Nature   to 
God,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  11.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2584.  PHILOSOPHY  OF    HABIT- Dr. 

Carpenter's  phrase  that  our  nervous  system 
grows  to  the  modes  in  which  it  has  been 
exercised  expresses  the  philosophy  of  habit 
in  a  nutshell. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
4,  p.  112.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2585.  PHOSPHORESCENCE,    BACTE- 
RIAL— Cause  of,    Unknown. — Several  species 
of    sea-water    bacteria    themselves    possess 
powers  of  phosphorescence.    Pfliiger  was  the 
first  to  point  out  that  it  was  such  organ- 
isms   which    provided    the    phosphorescence 
upon    decomposing   wood    or    decaying   fish. 
To  what  this  light  is  due,  whether  capsule, 
or  protoplasm,  or  chemical  product,  is  not 
yet  known.    The  only  facts  at  present  estab- 
lished are  to  the  effect  that  certain  kinds 
of  media  and  pabulum  favor  or  deter  phos- 
phorescence.— NEWMAN   Bacteria,   ch.    1,   p. 
26.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2586.  PHOSPHORESCENCE  OF  DEEP 

SEA — Animals  Light  Their  Own  Abode. — 
Altho  it  is  highly  probable  that  not  a  glim- 
mer of  sunlight  ever  penetrates  to  the  depths 
of  the  ocean,  there  is  in  some  places,  un- 
doubtedly, a  very  considerable  illumination 
due  to  the  phosphorescence  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  deep  waters.  All  the  alcyonari- 
ans  are,  according  to  Moseley,  brilliantly 
phosphorescent  when  brought  to  the  surface. 
Many  deep-sea  fish  possess  phosphorescent 
organs,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  many  of 
the  deep-sea  protozoa,  tunicates,  jellyfish, 
and  Crustacea  are  in  their  native  haunts 
capable  of  giving  out  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  phosphorescent  light. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  25.  (A., 
1894.) 

2587. Light  Not  Uni- 
versal— Caves  of  Darkness — Eyeless  Organ- 
isms.— The  entire  absence  or  rudimentary 
condition  of  the  eyes  of  a  very  considerable 


525 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Phenomena 
Photography 


proportion  of  deep-sea  animals  seems  to 
prove  that  the  phosphorescent  illumination 
is  not  universally  distributed,  and  that  there 
must  be  some  regions  in  which  the  darkness 
is  so  absolute  that  it  can  only  be  compared 
with  the  darkness  of  the  great  caves. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p. 
27.  (A.,  1894.) 

2588.  PHOSPHORESCENCE    OF    THE 
OCEAN  —  Porpoises  Swimming  in  Paths  of 
Light. — Standing   at   the  bow   and   looking 
forwards,   at  a    distance   of   forty   or   fifty 
yards  from  the  ship,  a  number  of  luminous 
streamers    were   seen    rushing   towards    us. 
On  nearing  the  vessel  they  rapidly  turned, 
like   a   comet   round   its   perihelion,   placed 
themselves  side  by  side,  and  in  parallel  trails 
of  light  kept  up  with  the  ship.    One  of  them 
placed  itself  right  in  front  of  the  bow  as  a 
pioneer.    These  comets  of  the  sea  were  joined 
at  intervals  by  others.     Sometimes  as  many 

^  as  six  at  a  time  would  rush  at  us,  bend  with 
*  extraordinary  rapidity  round  a  sharp  curve, 
and  afterwards  keep  us  company.  I  leaned 
over  the  bow  and  scanned  the  streamers 
closely.  The  frontal  portion  of  each  of  them 
revealed  the  outline  of  a  porpoise.  The  rush 
of  the  creatures  through  the  water  had 
started  the  phosphorescence,  every  spark  of 
which  was  converted  by  the  motion  of  the 
retina  into  a  line  of  light.  Each  porpoise 
was  thus  wrapped  in  a  luminous  sheath. 
The  phosphorescence  did  not  cease  at  the 
creature's  tail,  but  was  carried  many  por- 
poise-lengths behind  it. — TYNDALL  Frag- 
ments of  Science,  ch.  6,  p.  149.  (A.,  1897.) 

2589.  — - —    'Radiance  from 

Death. — Sometimes   one   cannot,   even   with 
high  magnifying  powers,  discover  any  ani- 
malcules in  the  luminous  water;    and  yet, 
wherever   a   wave   breaks    in   foam    against 
a  hard  body,  and,   indeed,   wherever  water 
is  violently  agitated,  flashes  of  light  become 
visible.     The  cause  of  this  phenomenon  de- 
pends probably  on  the  decomposing  fibers  of 
dead   mollusca,   which    are  diffused    in   the 
greatest   abundance  throughout   the   water. 
If  this  luminous  water  be  filtered  through 
finely  woven  cloths  the  fibers  and  membranes 
appear     like     separate     luminous     points. 
When  we  bathed  at  Cumana,  in  the  Gulf  of 
Cariaco,  and  walked  naked  on  the  solitary 
beach  in  the  beautiful  evening  air,  parts  of 
our    bodies    remained    luminous    from    the 
bright  fibers  and  organic  membranes  which 
adhered  to  the  skin,  nor  did  they  lose  this 
light  for  some  minutes.     If  we  consider  the 
enormous  quantity  of  mollusca  which  ani- 
mate all  tropical  seas,  we  can  hardly  won- 
der that  sea-water  should  be  luminous,  even 
where  no  fibers  can  be  visibly  separated  from 
it. — HUMBOLDT    Views    of    Nature,    p.    249. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

2590.  PHOSPHORUS,   DELUSION   OF 

— Chemistry  of  Brain  Action  Little  Known. 
— Chemical  action  must  of  course  accom- 
pany brain  activity.  But  little  definite  is 
known  of  its  exact  nature.  Cholesterin  and 


creatin  are  both  excrementitious  products, 
and  are  both  found  in  the  brain.  The  sub- 
ject belongs  to  chemistry  rather  than  to  psy- 
chology, and  I  only  mention  it  here  for  the 
sake  of  saying  a  word  about  a  wide-spread 
popular  error  about  brain  activity  and  phos- 
phorus. "  Ohne  Phosphor  kein  Gedanke 
[no  thought  without  phosphorus]  "  was  a 
noted  war-cry  of  the  "  materialists  "  during 
the  excitement  on  that  subject  which  filled 
Germany  in  the  '60s.  The  brain,  like  every 
other  organ  of  the  body,  contains  phos- 
phorus and  a  score  of  other  chemicals  be- 
sides. Why  the  phosphorus  should  be 
picked  out  as  its  essence,  no  one  knows. 
It  would  be  equally  true  to  say  "  Ohne  Was- 
ser  kein  Gedanke  [no  thought  without  wa- 
ter]," or  "  Ohne  Kochsalz  kein  Gedanke  [no 
thought  without  salt]  ";  for  thought  would 
stop  as  quickly  if  the  brain  should  dry  up 
or  lose  its  NaCl  as  if  it  lost  its  phosphorus. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  101. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2591 .  PHOTOGRAPHY  AS  AN  AID  TO 
ASTRONOMY— A  Photographic  Survey  of  the 
Heavens. — Perhaps  the  most  marvelous   of 
all  achievements  of  photography  is  in  the 
field  of  astronomy.     Every  increase  in  the 
size  and  power  of  the  telescope  has  revealed 
to  us  ever  more   and  more  stars  in  every 
part  of  the  heavens ;  but  by  the  aid  of  pho- 
tography stars  are  shown  which  no  telescope 
that  has  been  or  that  probably  ever  will  be 
constructed,  can  render  visible  to  the  human 
eye.    For  by  exposing  the  photographic  plate 
in   the   focus   of   the   object-glass   for   some 
hours  almost  infinitely  faint  stars  impress 
their  image,  and  the  modern  photographic 
star-maps  show  us  a  surface  densely  packed 
with    white    points    that    seem    almost    as 
countless    as    the    sands    of    the    seashore. 
.     .     .     A  photographic  survey  of  the  heav- 
ens   is    now    in    progress    on    one    uniform 
system,  which  when  completed  will  form  a 
standard  for  future  astronomers,  and  thus 
give  to  our  successors  some  definite  knowl- 
edge of  the  structure  and  perhaps   of  the 
extent  of   the    stellar    universe. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  5,  p.  32.      (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2592.  PHOTOGRAPHY,  CUMULATIVE 
EFFECT    OF—  Extending   Time  of  Exposure 
Compensates   for   Feebleness    of   Light — No 
Cumulative  Power  in  the  Eye — Vision  the 
Recognition  of  a  Series  of  Photographs. — 
Seeing  may  be  described,  not  wholly  inaptly, 
as  the  recognition  of  a  series  of  brief  suc- 
cessive photographs  taken  by  the  optic  lens 
on  the  retina;  but  the  important  difference 
between    seeing    and    photographing,    which 
we  now  ask  attention  to,  is  this:  When  the 
eye    looks   at   a   faint  object,    such    as   the 
spectrum  of  a  star,  or  at  the  still  fainter 
nebula,  this,  as  we  know,  appears  no  bright- 
er at  the  end  of  half  an  hour  than  at  the 
end  of  the  first  half-second.    In  other  words, 
after  a  brief  fraction  of  a  second,  the  visual 
effect  does  not  sensibly  accumulate.    But  in 


ft' 


otography 
ots 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


526 


the  action  of  the  photograph,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  effect  does  accumulate,  and  in  the 
case  of  a  weak  light  accumulates  indefi- 
nitely. It  is  owing  to  this  precious  property 
that,  supposing  (for  illustration  merely) 
the  lightning  flash  to  have  occupied  the  one- 
thousandth  part  of  a  second  in  impressing 
itself  on  the  plate,  to  get  a  nearly  similar 
effect  from  a  continuous  light  one  thousand 
times  weaker,  we  have  only  to  expose  the 
plate  a  thousand  times  as  long — that  is,  for 
one  second;  while  from  a  light  a  million 
times  weaker  we  should  get  the  same  result 
by  exposing  it  a  million  times  as  long — that 
is,  for  a  thousand  seconds. — LANGLEY  New 
Astronomy, ch.  8,  p.  244.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2593.  PHOTOGRAPHY    FINDS   NO 
TRACE  OF   SUNLIGHT   IN    DEEP  SEA— 

The  more  recent  experiments  that  have  been 
made  tend  to  show  that  no  sunlight  what- 
ever penetrates  to  a  greater  depth,  to  take 
an  extreme  limit,  than  500  fathoms.  Fol 
and  Sarasin,  experimenting  with  very  sensi- 
tive bromo-gelatin  plates,  found  that  there 
was  no  reaction  after  ten  minutes'  exposure 
at  a  depth  of  400  meters  on  a  sunny  day 
in  March. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  2,  p.  25.  (A.,  1894.) 

2594.  PHOTOGRAPHY  PICTURES  THE 
INVISIBLE— Finds  Stars  in  the  Blackness  of 
Space. — Mr.   H.   C.   Russell,   at   Sydney,   in 
1890,  successfully   imitated   Professor   Bar- 
nard's   example.      His    photographs    of    the 
southern  Milky  Way  have  many  points  of 
interest.     They  show  the  great  rift,  so  black 
to   the   eye,   as   densely   star-strewn  to   the 
perception    of    the    chemical    retina,    while 
the    "  Coal-sack "    appears    absolutely    dark 
only  in  its  northern  portion. — CLERKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.   12,  p.  508. 
(BL,  1893.) 

2595.     The  Photograph 

Secures  What  the  Telescope  Fails  to  Reveal 
— One  Hour  of  Photographic  Exposure  Sur- 
passes Years  of  an  Astronomer's  Labor. — 
The    writer    remembers    the    interest    with 
which  he  heard  Dr.  Draper,  not  long  before 
his   lamented    death,    speak    of   the    almost 
incredible    sensitiveness   of    these    most   re- 
cent photographic  processes,  and  his  belief 
that   we    were    fast    approaching   the   time 
when  we  should  photograph  what  we  could 
not  even  see.     The  time  has  now  arrived. 
At    Cambridge,    in    Massachusetts,    and    at 
the  Paris  Observatory,  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  cumulative  action  we  have  referred 
to,  and  by  long  exposures,  photographs  have 
recently  been  taken  showing  stars  absolutely 
invisible  to  the  telescope,  and  enabling  us 
to  discover  faint  nebulae  whose  previous  ex- 
istence had  not  been  suspected;    and  when 
we   consider  that  an  hour's  exposure  of  a 
plate  now  not  only  secures  a   fuller   star- 
chart  than  years  of  an  astronomer's  labor, 
but  a  more  exact  one,  that  the  art  is  every 
month  advancing  perceptibly  over  the  last, 
.and  that  it  is  already,  as  we  may  say,  not 


only  making  pictures  of  what  we  see,  but  of 
what  we  cannot  see  even  with  the  telescope, 
we  have  before  us  a  prospect  whose  possi- 
bilities no  further  words  are  needed  to  sug- 
gest.— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  8,  p. 
247.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2596.  PHRENOLOGY,  ABSOLUTE  LIM- 
IT OF — Power  of  Brain  Dependent  on  Convo- 
lutions.— No    account    can    be    taken     [by 
phrenology]  of  an  increased  number  of  con- 
volutions.    Supposing  that  the  size  of  each 
faculty  be  due  to  the  amount  of  gray  mat- 
ter in  the  convolution,  then  an  additional 
convolution  will  greatly  increase  the  amount 
of  gray  matter,  but  will  not  alter  the  shape 
of  the  skull  situated  above  this  portion  of 
the  brain.     This  is  important,  as,  from  ob- 
servations which  have  been  made,  it  is  found 
that  the  brain  is  more  convoluted  in  persons 
of   superior    intelligence. — ELDBIDGE  -  GREEN 
Memory  and  Its  Cultivation,  ch.  5,  p.   38. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2597.  PHRENOLOGY   IGNORES   ELE- 
MENTS— Answers  Problem  by  Restatement. — 
Phrenology  hardly  does  more  than  restate 
the  problem.    To  answer  the  question,  "  Why 
do  I  like  children?"  by  saying,  "Because  you 
have  a  large  organ  of  philoprogenitiveness," 
but    renames    the    phenomenon    to    be    ex- 
plained.    What  is  my  philoprogenitiveness? 
Of  what  mental   elements   does   it  consist? 
And  how  can  a  part   of  the  brain  be  its 
organ?    A  science  of  the  mind  must  reduce 
such  complex  manifestations  as  "  philopro- 
genitiveness "  to  their  elements.     A  science 
of  the  brain  must  point  out  the  functions 
of  its  elements.     A  science  of  the  relations 
of  mind  and  brain  must  show  how  the  ele- 
mentary   ingredients    of    the   former    corre- 
spond  to  the  elementary   functions   of  the 
latter.     But  phrenology,  except  by  occasion- 
al coincidence,  takes  no  account  of  elements 
at  all. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p. 
28.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2598.  PHYSICS,  CELESTIAL—  The  New 

Contrasted  with  the  Old  Astronomy — Study 
of  the  Nature,  and  Not  Merely  of  the  Po- 
sition, of  the  Heavenly  Bodies. — The  prime 
object  of  astronomy,  until  very  lately,  in- 
deed, has  still  been  to  say  where  any  heaven- 
ly body  is,  and  not  what  it  is.  It  is  this 
precision  of  measurement,  then,  which  has 
always — and  justly — been  a  paramount  ob- 
ject of  this  oldest  of  the  sciences,  not  only 
as  a  good  in  itself,  but  as  leading  to  great 
ends;  and  it  is  this  which  the  poet  of  Urania 
has  chosen  rightly  to  note  as  its  character- 
istic when  he  says: 

That  little  vernier,  on  whose  alender  lines 

The  midnight  taper  trembles  as  it  shines, 

Tells  through  the  mist  where  dazzled  Mercury  burns, 

And  marks  the  point  where  Uranus  returns. 

But  within  a  comparatively  few  years  a 
new  branch  of  astronomy  has  arisen  which 
studies  sun,  moon,  and  stars  "for  what  they 
are  in  themselves  and  in  relation  to  our- 
selves. Its  study  of  the  sun,  beginning  with 
its  external  features  (and  full  of  novelty 


527 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Photography 


and  interest,  even,  as  regards  those),  led 
to  the  further  inquiry  as  to  what  it  was 
made  of,  and  then  to  finding  the  unexpected 
relations  which  it  bore  to  the  earth  and  our 
own  daily  lives  on  it,  the  conclusion  being 
that,  in  a  physical  sense,  it  made  us  and 
re-creates  us,  as  it  were,  daily,  and  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  intimate  ties  which  unite 
man  with  it  brings  results  of  the  most  prac- 
tical and  important  kind,  which  a  genera- 
tion ago  were  unguessed  at. 

This  new  branch  of  inquiry  is  sometimes 
called  celestial  physics,  sometimes  solar 
physics,  and  is  sometimes  more  rarely  re- 
ferred to  as  the  new  astronomy. — LANGLEY 
The  New  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

2599.  PHYSIOLOGY    AGAINST    THE 
MATERIALIST—  Thought  Not  in  Brain  — 
Molecular  Movements  Are  "but  Concomitants 
of   Mental   Action. — The   only   thing  which 
cerebral  physiology  tells  us,  when   studied 
with  the  aid  of  molecular  physics,  is  against 
the  materialist,  so  far  as  it  goes.     It  tells 
us  that  during  the  present  life,  altho  thought 
and  feeling  are  always  manifested  in  con- 
nection   with    a    peculiar    form    of   matter, 
yet  by  no  possibility  can  thought  and  feel- 
ing be  in  any  sense  the  products  of  matter. 
Nothing  could  be  more  grossly  unscientific 
than  the  famous  remark  of  Cabanis,  that 
the  brain  secretes  thought  as  the  liver  se- 
cretes bile.     It  is  not  even  correct  to  say 
that  thought  goes  on  in  the  brain.     What 
goes  on  in  the  brain  is  an  amazingly  com- 
plex   series    of    molecular   movements    with 
which  thought  and  feeling  are  in  some  un- 
known way  correlated,  not  as  effects  or  as 
causes,  but  as  concomitants. — FISKE  Destiny 
of  Man,  ch.  16,  p.  109.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2600.  PICTURE  DRAWN  BY  LIGHT- 
NING STROKE—  Form  Photographed  in  Death. 
— When  a  disruptive  discharge  takes  place 
through    the    air    between    two    conductors, 
in  many  cases  a  part  of  the  matter  of  each 
conductor  is  transferred  to  the  other.     [Ac- 
counts have  been]    received     .     .     .     from 
different  sources  of  a  remarkable  phenome- 
non connected  with  this  action.    In  the  case 
of  a  person  killed  many  years  ago  by  light- 
ning, while  standing  near  to  the  whitewashed 
wall  of  a  room,  the  discharge  took  place  be- 
tween his  body  and  the  wall,   and  on  the 
latter  was  depicted,  in  dark  color,  an  image 
of  his  person.    Other  cases  of  the  same  kind 
had  been  observed. — HENRY  Scientific  Wri- 
tings, vol.  i,  p.  293.     (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

2601.  PICTURE-WRITING—  Transition 
from  Hieroglyph  to  Sound-sign — Phonograph 
Returns  to  the  Actual  Sound. — In  examining 
the  methods  of  writing,  we  began  with  the 
rude  hunter's   pictures,   passing  on   to  the 
Egyptian's  use  of  a  picture  to  represent  the 
sound   of   its   name,   then   to   the  breaking 
down  of  the  picture  into  a  mere  sound-sign, 
till  in  this  last  stage  the  connection  between 
figure  and  sound  becomes  so  apparently  ar- 


bitrary that  the  child  has  to  be  taught,  this 
sign  stands  for  A,  this  for  B.  In  curious 
contrast  with  this  is  the  modern  invention 
of  the  phonograph,  where  the  actual  sound 
spoken  into  the  vibrating  diaphragm  marks 
indentations  in  the  traveling  strip  of  tin- 
foil, by  which  the  diaphragm  can  be  after- 
wards caused  to  repeat  the  vibrations  and 
reutter  the  sound.  When  one  listens  to  the 
tones  coming  forth  from  the  strip  of  foil  the 
South  Sea  Islander's  fancy  of  the  talking 
chip  seems  hardly  unreasonable. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  7,  p.  181.  (A.,  1899.) 

2602.  PIGMENTS     DIFFER     FROM 
RAYS— No  Natural  Color  la  Pure— Blue  and 
Yellow  Lights  Do   Not   Make  Green. — You 
will  find  it  stated  in  many  books  that  blue 
and   yellow   lights   mixed   together   produce 
green.     But  blue  and  yellow  have  been  just 
proved  to  be  complementary  colors,  produ- 
cing white  by  their  mixture.     The  mixture 
of   blue    and   yellow   pigments   undoubtedly 
produces  green,  but  the  mixture  of  pigments 
is    totally    different    from    the   mixture    of 
lights.     Helmholtz  has   revealed   the   cause 
of  the  green  in  the  case  of  a   mixture  of 
blue  and  yellow  pigments.    No  natural  color 
is  pure.     A  blue  liquid  or  a  blue  powder 
permits  not  only  the  blue  to  pass  through 
it,    but    a    portion    of    the    adjacent   green. 
A  yellow   powder  is   transparent  not  only 
to  the  yellow  light,  but  also  in  part  to  the 
adjacent  green.    Now,  when  blue  and  yellow 
are   mixed   together   the  blue   cuts   off   the 
yellow,   the  orange,  and  the  red;    the  yel- 
low, on  the  other  hand,  cuts  off  the  violet, 
the  indigo,  and  the  blue.    Green  is  the  only 
color   to  which   both   are   transparent,   and 
the  consequence  is  that  when  white  light 
falls   upon   a   mixture  of  yellow   and   blue 
powders  the  green  alone  is  sent  back  to  the 
eye. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,   lect.    1, 
p.  37.     (A.,  1898.) 

2603.  PILOTS    OF    CIVILIZATION— 

The  Buffalo  a  Pioneer — Bison-tracks  Show 
the  Best  Passes  over  Mountains. — It  is  also 
a  remarkable  fact  that  the  North- American 
bison,  or  buffalo,  has  exerted  an  influence 
on  geographical  discoveries  in  pathless  moun- 
tain districts.  These  animals  advance  in 
herds  of  many  thousands  in  search  of  a 
milder  climate,  during  winter,  in  the  coun- 
tries south  of  the  Arkansas  River.  Their 
size  and  cumbrous  forms  render  it  difficult 
for  them  to  cross  high  mountains  on  these 
migratory  courses,  and  a  well-trodden  buf- 
falo-path is  therefore  followed  wherever  it 
is  met  with,  as  it  invariably  indicates  the 
most  convenient  passage  across  the  moun- 
tains. Thus  buffalo-paths  have  indicated 
the  best  tracks  for  passing  over  the  Cumber- 
land Mountains  in  the  southwestern  parts 
of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  and  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains  between  the  sources  of 
the  Yellowstone  and  Platte  rivers,  and  be- 
tween the  southern  branch  of  the  Columbia 
and  the  Californian  Rio  Colorado. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  42.  (Bell,  1896.) 


itch 

lanet 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


528 


2604.  PITCH  LAKE  OF  TRINIDAD— 

Dead  Forests  Decomposed  by  Volcanic  Fires. 
— Fluid  bitumen  is  seen  to  ooze  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  on  both  sides  of  the  island 
of  Trinidad,  and  to  rise  up  to  the  surface  of 
the  water.  Near  Cape  La  Braye  there  is  a 
vortex  which,  in  stormy  weather,  according 
to  Captain  Mallet,  gushes  out,  raising  the 
water  five  or  six  feet,  and  covers  the  surface 
for  a  considerable  space  with  petroleum  or 
tar;  and  the  same  author  quotes  Gumilla  as 
stating,  in  his  "  Description  of  the  Orinoco," 
that  about  seventy  years  ago  a  spot  of  land 
on  the  western  coast  of  Trinidad,  near  half- 
way between  the  capital  and  an  Indian  vil- 
lage, sank  suddenly  and  was  immediately 
replaced  by  a  small  lake  of  pitch,  to  the 
great  terror  of  the  inhabitants. 

It  is  probable  that  the  great  pitch  lake 
of  Trinidad  owes  its  origin  to  a  similar 
cause;  and  Dr.  Nugent  has  justly  remarked 
that  in  that  district  all  the  circumstances 
are  now  combined  from  which  deposits  of 
pitch  may  have  originated.  The  Orinoco  has 
for  ages  been  rolling  down  great  quantities 
of  woody  and  vegetable  bodies  into  the  sur- 
rounding sea,  where,  by  the  influence  of 
currents  and  eddies,  they  may  be  arrested 
and  accumulated  in  particular  places.  The 
frequent  occurrence  of  earthquakes  and  other 
indications  of  volcanic  action  in  those  parts 
lend  countenance  to  the  opinion  that  these 
vegetable  substances  may  have  undergone, 
by  the  agency  of  subterranean  fire,  those 
transformations  and  chemical  changes  which 
produce  petroleum;  and  this  may,  by  the 
same  causes,  be  forced  up  to  the  surface, 
where,  by  exposure  to  the  air,  it  becomes 
inspissated,  and  forms  the  different  varie- 
ties of  pure  and  earthy  pitch,  or  asphaltum, 
so  abundant  in  the  islands. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  16,  p.  250.  (A., 
1854.) 

2605.  PITILESSNESS  OF  NATURAL 
FORCES — Contrast  with  Human  Power — The 
Sense  of  the  Sublime. — The  air  [on  the  Mat- 
terhorn]    was   preternaturally  still;    an  oc- 
casional gust  came  eddying  round  the  cor- 
ner  of  the  mountain,  but  all   else  seemed 
strangely  rigid  and  motionless  and  out  of 
keeping  with  the  beating  heart  and  moving 
limbs,  the  life  and  activity,  of  man.    Those 
stones  and  ice  have  no  mercy  in  them,  no 
sympathy  with  human  adventure;  they  sub- 
mit passively  to  what  man  can  do ;  but  let 
him  go  a  step  too  far,  let  heart  or  hand 
fail,  mist  gather  or  sun  go  down,  and  they 
will    exact   the    penalty    to   the   uttermost. 
The  feeling  of  "  the  sublime  "  in  such  cases 
depends  very  much,  I  -think,  on  a  certain  bal- 
ance between  the  forces  of  Nature  and  man's 
ability  to  cope  with  them:   if  they  are  too 
weak,  the  scene  fails  to  impress;  if  they  are 
too  strong  for  him,  what  was   sublime  be- 
comes only  terrible. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Ex- 
ercise in  the  Alps,  ch.  3,  p.  44.     (A.,  1898.) 

2606.  PLACE  OF  BACTERIA  IN  NA- 
TURE— First  Deemed  Animals — Now  Ascer- 


tained To  Be  Plants — Animals  Have  No 
Monopoly  of  Motion. — For  a  considerable 
period  of  time  after  their  first  detection 
these  unicellular  organisms  [bacteria]  were 
considered  to  be  members  of  the  animal 
kingdom.  As  late  as  1838,  when  Ehrenberg 
and  Dujardin  drew  up  their  classification, 
bacteria  were  placed  among  the  infusorians. 
This  was  in  part  due  to  the  powers  of  mo- 
tion which  these  observers  detected  in  bac- 
teria. It  is  now,  of  course,  recognized  that 
animals  have  no  monopoly  of  motion.  But 
what,  after  all,  are  the  differences  between 
animals  and  vegetables  so  low  down  in  the 
scale  of  life  ?  Chiefly  two :  there  is  a  differ- 
ence in  life  history  (in  structure  and  de- 
velopment), and  there  is  a  difference  in 
diet.  ...  It  is  true,  they  [bacteria] 
possess  motion,  are  free  from  chlorophyl, 
and  even  feed  occasionally  upon  products  of 
decomposition — three  physiological  charac- 
ters which  would  ally  them  to  the  animal 
kingdom.  Yet  by  their  structure  and  cap- 
sule of  cellulose  and  by  their  life  history 
and  mode  of  growth  they  unmistakably  pro- 
claim themselves  to  be  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  In  1853  Cohn  arrived  at  a  con- 
clusion to  this  effect,  and  since  that  date 
they  have  become  more  and  more  limited  in 
classification  and  restricted  in  definition. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

2607.  PLACE  OF  EXPERIMENTS    IN 
SCIENCE — The  Investigator  Addresses  Inquir- 
ies to  Nature — The   Teacher  Presents  Her 
Answers  to  the  Public. — Experiments  have 
two  great  uses — a  use  in  discovery  and  veri- 
fication, and  a  use  in  tuition.     They  were 
long  ago  defined  as  the  investigator's  lan- 
guage  addressed   to   Nature,   to  which   she 
sends    intelligible    replies.      These    replies, 
however,    usually   reach    the    questioner    in 
whispers  too  feeble  for  the  public  ear.     But 
after    the    discoverer    comes    the    teacher, 
whose  function  it  is  so  to  exalt  and  modify 
the  experiments  of  his  predecessor  as  to  ren- 
der them  fit  for  public  presentation. — TYN- 
DALL Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  3.      (A., 
1898.) 

2608.  PLACE  OR  PERSON  JUMBLED 
IN  MEMORY — Accidental  Association — Light 
on  Some  Questions  of  Veracity. — Thus,  for 
example,  I  may  have  lent  a  book  to  a  friend 
last   week.     I  really   remember   the   act  of 
lending  it,  but  have  forgotten  the  person. 
But  I  am  not  aware  of  this.    The  picture  of 
memory   has   unknowingly   to   myself   been 
filled    up    by    this    unconscious    process    of 
shifting  and  rearrangement,  and  the  idea  of 
another   person  has  by   some   odd   accident 
got   substituted   for  that   of   the   real   bor- 
rower.    If  we  could  go  deeply  enough  into 
the  matter,  we  should,  of  course,  be  able  to 
explain  why  this  particular  confusion  arose. 
We  might  find,  for  example,  that  the  two 
persons  were  associated  in  my  mind  by  a 
link  of  resemblance,  or  that  I  had  dealings 
with  the  other  person  about  the  same  time. 


529 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


itch 
lanet 


Similarly,  when  we  manage  to  join  an  event 
to  a  wrong  place,  we  may  find  that  it  is  be- 
cause we  heard  of  the  occurrence  when  stay- 
ing at  the  particular  locality,  or  in  some 
other  way  had  the  image  of  the  place  close- 
ly associated  in  our  minds  with  the  event. 
But  often  we  are  wholly  unable  to  explain 
the  displacement. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10, 
p.  266.  (A.,  1897.) 

2609.  PLAN   AND   PURPOSE    MARK 
HUMANITY — Passion,    Appetite,    and  Desire 
Subdued    to     One    Supreme     Volition. — To 
plan,  to  purpose,     .     .     .     is  to  exercise  all 
the  faculties  of  developed  manhood,  under 
the  control  of  will.    Yet  this,  like  all  other 
complex  manifestations  of  those  faculties,  is 
also  matter  of  degrees.  We  should  not,  there- 
fore, by  any  means  confine  our  estimate  of 
such  products  of  will  to  those  who  can  say 
with  the  Paracelsus  of  Browning: 

I  have  subdued  my  life  to  the  one  purpose 
Whereto  I  ordained  it ; 
or,  again: 

I  have  made  my  life  consist  of  one  idea, 

however  grand  the  idea  and  noble  the  senti- 
ment belonging  to  the  plan.  The  lower 
order  of  savages,  and  the  average  man  of 
the  civilized  community,  do  indeed  suffer 
themselves  to  be  swayed  by  internal  pas- 
sions and  external  circumstances  rather 
than  "  subdue  "  their  lives  to  any  "  one  pur- 
pose." And  yet  there  is  another  side  to  all 
this.  They,  too,  as  sharers  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  development,  habitually 
take  large  sections,  as  it  were,  of  their  own 
lives  into  their  own  keeping ;  they  "  or- 
dain" them  to  some  one  purpose  (tho  it 
may  be  no  nobler  purpose  than  to  take  ven- 
geance on  an  enemy;  to  excel  in  trapping 
game,  or  in  outdressing  and  outranking 
others,  or  in  bulling  or  bearing  the  market)  ; 
and  they  subdue  ideas  and  feelings  and 
minor  volitions  to  this  one  purpose.  They 
thus  rise  above  the  lower  animals  and  show 
the  leading  characteristics  of  a  distinctively 
human  development. — LADD  Psychology,  ch. 
26,  p.  630.  (S.,  1899.) 

2610.  PLAN   FOR   SCIENTIFIC  CON- 
QUEST   OF    THE    GLOBE— Humboldt  gave 
the  first  impulse,  at  the  Scientific  Congress 
of  Berlin  in  1828,  to  a  great  international 
movement  for  attacking  simultaneously,  in 
various    parts    of    the    globe,    the    complex 
problem  of  terrestrial  magnetism.    Through 
the  genius  and  energy  of  Gauss,  Gottingen 
became  its   center.     Thence  new  apparatus 
and  a  new  system  for  its  employment  is- 
sued.     .      .      .      The    letter    addressed    by 
Humboldt  in  April,   1836,   to  the  Duke  o'f 
Sussex  as  president  of  the  Royal   Society, 
enlisted  the  cooperation  of  England.    A  net- 
work of  magnetic  stations  was  spread  all 
over  the  British  dominions,  from  Canada  to 
Van   Diemen's   Land;     measures   were   con- 
certed with  foreign  authorities,  and  an  ex- 
pedition was  fitted  out,  under  the  able  com- 
mand of  Captain    (afterwards   Sir  James) 
Clark  Ross,  for  the  special  purpose  of  bring- 
ing intelligence  on  the  subject  from  the  dis- 


mal neighborhood  of  the  south  pole.  In 
1841  the  elaborate  organization  created  by 
the  disinterested  efforts  of  scientific  "  agita- 
tors "  was  complete;  Gauss's  "magnetom- 
eters "  were  vibrating  under  the  view  of 
attentive  observers  in  five  continents,  and 
simultaneous  results  began  to  be  recorded. 
— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
1,  p.  157.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

2611.  PLAN  MANIFESTED  BY  BEES 

— Scouts  Select  Home  for  New  Colony. — M. 
de  Fravifere  had  the  opportunity  of  observ- 
ing the  manner  in  which  such  an  examina- 
tion [of  a  new  hive>  by  bees]  is  carried  on, 
and  with  what  prudence  and  accuracy.  He 
placed  an  empty  beehive,  made  in  a  new 
style,  in  front  of  his  house,  so  that  he  could 
exactly  watch  from  his  own  window  what 
went  on  inside  and  out  without  disturb- 
ance to  himself  or  to  the  bees.  A  single  bee 
came  and  examined  the  building,  flying  all 
round  it  and  touching  it.  It  then  let  itself 
down  on  the  board,  and  walked  carefully 
and  thoroughly  over  the  interior,  touching 
it  continually  with  its  antennae  so  as  to  sub- 
ject it  on  all  sides  to  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion. The  result  of  its  examination  must 
have  been  satisfactory,  for  after  it  had  gone 
away  it  returned  accompanied  by  a  crowd 
of  some  fifty  friends,  which  now  together 
went  through  the  same  process  as  their 
guide.  This  new  trial  must  also  have  had 
a  good  result,  for  soon  a  whole  swarm  came, 
evidently  from  a  distant  spot,  and  took 
possession.  Still  more  remarkable  is  the 
behavior  of  the  scouts  when  they  take  pos- 
session of  a  satisfactory  hive  or  box  for  an 
imminent  or  approaching  swarm.  Altho  it 
is  not  yet  inhabited  they  regard  it  as  their 
property,  watch  it  and  guard  it  against 
stranger  bees  or  other  assailants,  and  busy 
themselves  earnestly  in  the  most  careful 
cleansing  of  it,  so  far  as  this  cleansing  is 
impossible  to  the  setter  up  of  the  hive. 
Such  a  taking  possession  sometimes  occurs 
eight  days  before  the  entrance  of  the  swarm. 
— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p. 
168.  (A.,  1899.) 

2612.  PLAN    REVEALED    IN    RUDI- 
MENTARY ORGANS— History  or  Prophecy. 
— In    this    point    of    view    rudimentary    or 
aborted   organs   need  no   longer   puzzle   us, 
for  in  respect  to  purpose  they  may  be  read 
either    in   the    light   of   history    or    in    the 
light  of  prophecy.     They  may  be  regarded 
as   indicating   always   either  what  had   al- 
ready been  or  what  was   yet  to  be.     Why 
new  creations  should  never  have  been  made 
wholly   new;    why   they   should   have   been 
always  molded  on  some  preexisting  forms; 
why   one   fundamental   ground-plan   should 
have  been  adhered  to  for  all  vertebrate  ani- 
mals— we  cannot  understand.   But  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  it  is  so. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  4,  p.   122.      (Burt.) 

2613.  PLANET  COOLED   BY   CELES- 
TIAL SPACES—  Crust  Wrinkling  into  Moun- 
tains.— Astronomy    shows    us    our     planet 


Planet 

Plants 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


530 


thrown  off  from  the  central  mass  of  which 
it  once  formed  a  part,  to  move  henceforth 
in  an  independent  orbit  of  its  own.  That 
orbit,  it  tells  us,  passed  through  celestial 
spaces  cold  enough  to  chill  this  heated 
globe,  and  of  course  to  consolidate  it  ex- 
ternally. .  .  .  The  first  effect  of  cool- 
ing the  surface  of  our  planet  must  have 
been  to  solidify  it,  and  thus  to  form  a  film 
or  crust  over  it.  That  crust  would  shrink 
as  the  cooling  process  went  on;  in  conse- 
quence of  the  shrinking,  wrinkles  and  folds 
would  arise  upon  it;  and  here  and  there, 
where  the  tension  was  too  great,  cracks  and 
fissures  would  be  produced.  In  proportion 
as  the  surface  cooled,  the  masses  within 
would  be  affected  by  the  change  of  tempera- 
ture outside  of  them,  and  would  consolidate 
internally  also,  the  crust  gradually  thick- 
ening by  thia  process. — AGASSIZ  Geological 
Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  6.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

2614.  PLANETS    REVOLVE    ROUND 
OTHER    SUNS — Variation  of  Algol  Due  to 
Eclipse. — The  most  celebrated  variable  star, 
Algol,  or    /5    Persei,  examined  many  times 
at  the  epoch  of  its  minimum  brightness,  has 
always   shown   the   type   of   Vega      .     .     . 
from  which  we  may  conclude  that  the  vari- 
ation of  the  star  is  not  due  to  a  chemical 
phenomenon,  that  the  star  does  not  change, 
and  is  doubtless  eclipsed  by  a  planet  of  its 
system  which  passes  in  front  of  it.     This 
idea,    previously   suggested,   of    attributing 
the  periodical  diminution  of  the  brightness 
of    Algol    to    an    eclipse    produced    by    an 
opaque    body    revolving    round     the    star, 
agrees,  moreover,  very  well  with  the  regu- 
larity of  the  phenomenon  and  with  the  short 
duration  of  the  phase  of  light-diminution. — 
FLAMMABION   Popular   Astronomy,   bk.    vi, 
ch.  6,  j>.  612.    (A.) 

2615.  PLANS,  VAST   AND  IMPRES- 
SIVE, OF  PRIMITIVE  MAN  —  The  Mound- 
builders'   Creations. — The   enclosure  known 
as  "  Clark's  Work,"  in  Koss  County,  Ohio, 
is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  interesting. 
It  consists  of  a  parallelogram,  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  feet  by  eighteen  hundred,  and 
enclosing    about    one    hundred    and    eleven 
acres.     To  the  right  of  this,  the  principal 
work  is  a  perfect  square,  containing  an  area 
of  about  sixteen  acres.     Each  side  is  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  in  the 
middle   of   each   is    a   gateway   thirty   feet 
wide,  covered  by  a  small  mound.     Within 
the    area    of    the    great    work    are    several 
smaller   mounds   and  enclosures,   and   it  is 
estimated  that  not  less  than  three  millions 
of  cubic  feet  of  earth  were  used  in  this  great 
undertaking.     Yet  from  the  peculiarly  mot- 
tled character  of  the  earth  forming  these 
mounds,    it    would    appear    to    have    been 
brought  in  bags  or  small  parcels.     It  has 
also  been  observed  that  water  is  almost  in- 
variably found  within  or  close  to  these  en- 
closures.— AVEBUBY    Prehistoric   Times,   ch. 
8,  p.  245.    (A.,  1900.) 


2616.  PLANT,  INSECTIVOROUS,  CLO- 
SING ON   ITS  PREY  —  Struggles  of  Victim 
Seal  Its  Doom. — If  a  small  organic  or  inor- 
ganic object  be  placed  on  the  glands  in  the 
center  of  a  leaf   [of  sundew],  these  trans- 
mit a  motor  impulse  to  the  marginal  ten- 
tacles.    The  nearer  ones  are  first  affected 
and   slowly  bend  towards   the   center,    and 
then  those  farther  off,  until  at  last  all  be- 
come closely  inflected  over  the  object.     This 
takes  place  in  from  one  hour  to  four  or  five 
or  more  hours.     The  difference  in  the  time 
required   depends    on   many   circumstances; 
namely,  on  the  size  of  the  object  and  on  its 
nature,  that  is,  whether  it  contains  soluble 
matter  of  the  proper  kind ;    on  the  vigor  and 
age  of  the  leaf;    whether  it  has  lately  been 
in  action;    and,  according  to  Nitschke,  on 
the    temperature    of    the    day,    as   likewise 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  case.     A  living  in- 
sect is  a  more  efficient  object  than  a  dead 
one,  as  in  struggling  it  presses  against  the 
glands  of  many  tentacles.     An  insect,  such 
as   a   fly,   with   thin   integuments,   through 
which  animal  matter  in  solution  can  read- 
ily pass  into  the  surrounding  dense  secre- 
tion, is  more  efficient  in  causing  prolonged 
inflection  than  an  insect  with  a  thick  coat, 
such  as  a  beetle.     The  inflection  of  the  ten- 
tacles takes  place  indifferently  in  the  light 
and  darkness;    and  the  plant  is  not  subject 
to    any    nocturnal    movement    of    so-called 
sleep. — DABWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  1, 
p.  7.    (A.,  1900.) 

2617.  PLANT   LIFTS    MINERAL    TO 
LIVING  WORLD  —  Divine  Life  Must   Uplift 
from    Natural   to   Spiritual    World. — There 
being    no    passage    from    one    kingdom    to 
another,  whether  from  inorganic  to  organic, 
or  from  organic  to  spiritual,  the  interven- 
tion  of   life   is    a   scientific   necessity    if   a 
stone  or  a  plant  or  an  animal  or  a  man  is 
to  pass   from  a  lower  to  a  higher  sphere. 
The  plant  stretches  down  to  the  dead  world 
beneath  it,  touches  its  minerals  and  gases 
with  its  mystery  of  life,  and  brings  them 
up  ennobled  and  transformed  to  the  living 
sphere.     The  breath  of  God,  blowing  where 
it  listeth,  touches  with  its  mystery  of  life 
the  dead  souls  of  men,  bears  them  across 
the  bridgeless  gulf  between  the  natural  and 
the  spiritual,  between  the  spiritually  inor- 
ganic  and   the   spiritually   organic,   endows 
them  with  its  own  high  qualities,  and  de- 
velops  within   them   those   new   and   secret 
faculties  by  which  those  who  are  born  again 
are  said  to  "  see  the  kingdom  of  God." — 
DBUMMOND   Natural  Law  in   the   Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  64.     (H.  Al.) 

2618.  PLANTS  EXTENDED  BY  RUN- 
NERS— Numerous  Progeny  of  a,  Singh  Plant. 
— The  spreading  of  strawberries  by  runners 
must  be  familiar  to  every  observer.    In  1894 
a  student  reported  that  a  wild  strawberry 
plant  in  the  botanic  garden  had  produced 
in  that  year  1,230  plants.     Weeds  were  all 
kept  away,   the  season  was   favorable,   the 
soil  sandy;  but  on  one  side,  within  a  foot 


531 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


lanet 
hint* 


and  a  half,  progress  was  checked  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  large  plant  of  another  kind. — 
BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  3,  p.  13.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

2619.  PLANTS  IN  SUBTERRANEAN 
CAVITIES — Ejected  in  Volcanic  Eruption. — 
In  what  manner  did  the  solid  coverings  of 
these  most  minute  plants  and  animalcules, 
which   can   only  originate   and   increase   at 
the   surface  of   the  earth,   sink   down   and 
penetrate  into  subterranean  cavities,  so  as 
to    be    ejected    from    the    volcanic   orifices? 
We  have  of  late  years  become  familiar  with 
the  fact,  in  the  process  of  boring  Artesian 
wells,  that  the  seeds  of  plants,  the  remains 
of  insects,  and  even  small  fish,  with  other 
organic  bodies,  are  carried  in  an  uninjured 
state    by    the    underground    circulation    of 
waters,  to  the  depth  of  many  hundred  feet. 
With    still   greater    facility    in    a    volcanic 
region  we  may  conjecture  that  water  and 
mud  full  of  invisible  infusoria  maybe  sucked 
down,  from  time  to  time,  into  subterranean 
rents  and  hollows  in  cavernous  lava  which 
has  been  permeated  by  gases,  or   in  rocks 
dislocated  by   earthquakes.      It   often   hap- 
pens that  a  lake  which  has  endured  for  cen- 
turies in  a  volcanic  crater  disappears  sud- 
denly on  the  approach  of  a  new  eruption. 
Violent  shocks  agitate  the  surrounding  re- 
gion, and  ponds,  rivers,  and  wells  are  dried 
up.     Large  cavities  far  below  may  thus  be- 
come filled  with  fen  mud  chiefly  composed 
of  the  more  indestructible  and  silicious  por- 
tions of  infusoria,  destined,  perhaps,  to  be 
one  day  ejected  in  a  fragmentary  or  half- 
fused  state,  yet  without  the  obliteration  of 
all  traces  of  organic  structure. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  389.     (A., 
1854.) 

2620.  PLANTS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 
FOUND  IN  JAPAN— Poison-ivy  and  Poison- 
oak — Correspondence  of  Far-off  Lands. — Our 
Rhus  Toxicodendron,  or  poison-ivy,  is  very 
exactly  repeated  in  Japan,  but  is  found  in 
no  other  part  of  the  world,  altho  a  species 
much   like  it   abounds   in   California.     Our 
other  poisonous  rhus   (R.  venenata),   com- 
monly called  poison-dogwood,  is  in  no  way 
represented  in  Western  America,  but  has  so 
close  an  analog  in  Japan  that  the  two  were 
taken  for  the  same  by  Thunberg  and  Lin- 
naeus, who  called  them  both  R.  vernix. — ASA 
GRAY  Darwiniana,  art.  5,  p.  221.    (A.,  1889.) 

2621.  PLANTS  PROTECTED  AGAINST 
USELESS  INSECTS— Slippery  Surfaces  an 
Impassable   Barrier. — Protection    [of   many 
flowers  against  ants  is  secured]    by  means 
of  slippery  surfaces.     In  this  case,  also,  the 
leaves  often  form  a  collar  round  the  stem, 
with  curved  surfaces  over  which  ants  can- 
not climb.     "  I  have  assured  myself,"  says 
Kerner,   "not  only  by  observation,  but  by 
experiment,  that  wingless  insects,  and  nota- 
bly ants,   find   it  impossible  to  mount  up- 
wards over  such  leaves  as  these.     The  little 
creatures  run   up  the  stem,   and  may  even 
not  unfrequently  traverse  the  undersurface 


of  the  leaves,  if  not  too  smooth;  but  the 
reflexed  and  slippery  margin  is  more  than 
the  best  climbers  among  them  can  get  over, 
and  if  they  attempt  it  they  invariably  fall 
to  the  ground.  There  is  no  necessity  for  the 
lamina  of  the  leaf  to  be  very  broad;  even 
narrow  leaves,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  Gen- 
tiana  firma,  are  enough  for  the  purpose, 
supposing,  of  course,  that  the  margin  is  bent 
backwards  in  the  way  described."  Of  this 
mode  of  protection  the  cyclamen  and  snow- 
drop offer  familiar  examples.  In  vain  do 
ants  attempt  to  obtain  access  to  such  flow- 
ers: the  curved  surfaces  baffle  them;  when 
they  come  to  the  edge  they  inevitably  drop 
off  to  the  ground  again.  In  fact,  these 
pendulous  flowers  protect  the  honey  as  ef- 
fectually from  the  access  of  ants  as  the 
hanging  nests  of  the  weaver  and  other  birds 
protect  their  eggs  and  young  from  the  at- 
tacks of  reptiles. — AVEBUBY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  52.  (A.,  1900.) 

2622.  PLANTS  SUPPLIED  WITH  NI- 
TROGEN BY  MICRO-ORGANISMS— Bacteria 
of  Nitrification. — Nitrification  occurs  in  two 
stages,  each  stage  performed  by  a  distinct 
organism.   By  one  (nitrosomonas),  ammonia 
is    converted    into    nitrite;    by    the    other 
(nitrobacter),  the  nitrite  is  converted  into 
nitrate    [in    which    latter    form    alone    the 
plant    can    use    it].      Both    organisms    are 
widely   and   abundantly   distributed   in   the 
superficial    soils.      They    act    together    and 
in    conjunction   and   for   one   common   pur- 
pose.     They    are    separable    by    employing 
favorable    media.      .      .      .      They    belong 
to  the  soil,  river-water,  and  sewage.     They 
are    also    said    to    be    frequently    present 
in  well-water.     From  some  experiments  at 
Rothamsted  it  appears  that  the  organisms 
occur  mostly  in  the  first  twelve  inches,  and 
in  subsoils  of  clay  down  to  three  or  four 
feet.    In  sandy  soils  nitrification  may  prob- 
ably  occur   at   a   greater   depth. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  158.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2623.  PLANTS  WITH  GOOD  INTEN- 
TIONS— A  Relapse  into  Parasitism— The  Dod- 
der.— There  are  certain  plants — the  dodder, 
for  instance — which  begin  life  with  the  best 
intentions,   strike  true  roots  into  the  soil, 
and  really  appear  as  if  they  meant  to  be 
independent  for  life.     But  after  supporting 
themselves  for  a  brief  period  they  fix  curious 
sucking  disks  into  the  stem  and  branches 
of  adjacent  plants.     And  after  a  little  ex- 
perimenting, the  epiphyte  finally  ceases  to 
do  anything  for  its  own  support,  thenceforth 
drawing  all    its   supplies   ready-made   from 
the  sap  of  its  host.     In  this  parasitic  state 
it  has  no  need  for  organs  of  nutrition  of  its 
own,  and  Nature  therefore  takes  them  away. 
Henceforth,  to  the  botanist,  the  adult  dodder 
presents  the  degraded  spectacle  of  a  plant 
without  a  root,  without  a  twig,  without  a 
leaf,   and  having  a  stem   so  useless   as  to 
be    inadequate   to   bear    its    own    weight. — 
DRTJMMOND  Natural  Law  in   the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  9,  p.  285.     (H.  Al.) 


flag 


city 
e 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


532 


2624.  PLASTICITY  CHARACTERIZES 

LIFE— The  Crystal  Changeless— The  Plant  Im- 
mobile— The  Animal  Free — The  Soul  More 
Mobile  Still. — Now  plasticity  is  not  only  a 
marked  characteristic  of  all  forms  of  life, 
but  in  a  special  sense  of  the  highest  forms. 
It  increases  steadily  as  we  rise  in  the  scale. 
The  inorganic  world,  to  begin  with,  is  rigid. 
A  crystal  of  silica  dissolved  and  redissolved 
a  thousand  times  will  never  assume  any 
other  form  than  the  hexagonal.  The  plant 
next,  tho  plastic  in  its  elements,  is  com- 
paratively insusceptible  of  change.  The  very 
fixity  of  its  sphere,  the  imprisonment  for 
life  in  a  single  spot  of  earth,  is  the  symbol 
of  a  certain  degradation.  The  animal  in  all 
its  parts  is  mobile,  sensitive,  free;  the  high- 
est animal,  man,  is  the  most  mobile,  the 
most  at  leisure  from  routine,  the  most 
impressionable,  the  most  open  for  change. 
And  when  we  reach  the  mind  and  soul  this 
mobility  is  found  in  its  most  developed 
form.  Whether  we  regard  its  susceptibility 
to  impressions,  its  lightning-like  response 
even  to  influences  the  most  impalpable  and 
subtle,  its  power  of  instantaneous  adjust- 
ment, or  whether  we  regard  the  delicacy  and 
variety  of  its  moods  or  its  vast  powers  of 
growth,  we  are  forced  to  recognize  in  this 
the  most  perfect  capacity  for  change.  This 
marvelous  plasticity  of  mind  contains  at 
once  the  possibility  and  prophecy  of  its 
transformation. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  8,  p.  269.  (H. 
Al.) 

2625.  PLATES,  THIN,  COLORS  OF— 

Illustrated  by  Colored  Films  on  Molten  Lead. 
— "  We  took  a  quantity  of  clean  lead  and 
melted  it  with  a  strong  fire,  and  then  im- 
mediately pouring  it  out  into  a  clean  vessel 
of  convenient  shape  and  matter  (we  used 
one  of  iron,  that  the  great  and  sudden  heat 
might  not  injure  it),  and  then  carefully 
and  nimbly  taking  off  the  scum  that  floated 
on  the  top  we  perceived,  as  we  expected,  the 
smooth  and  glossy  surface  of  the  melted 
matter  to  be  adorned  with  a  very  glorious 
color,  which  being  as  transitory  as  delight- 
ful did  almost  immediately  give  place  to 
another  vivid  color,  and  that  was  as  quickly 
succeeded  by  a  third,  and  this,  as  it  were, 
chased  away  by  a  fourth;  and  so  these  won- 
derfully vivid  colors  successively  appeared 
and  vanished  till  the  metal,  ceasing  to  be  hot 
enough  to  hold  any  longer  this  pleasing 
spectacle,  the  colors  that  chanced  to  adorn 
the  surface  when  the  lead  thus  began  to  cool 
remained  upon  it,  but  were  so  superficial 
that  how  little  soever  we  scraped  off  the  sur- 
face of  the  lead  we  did,  in  such  places, 
scrape  off  all  the  color."  [See  FILMS; 
COLORS;  LIGHT,  DOUBLE  REFLECTION  OF.] — 
BOYLE  Experimental  History  of  Colors,  quo- 
ted by  TYNDALL  in  Lectures  on  Light,  lect. 
2,  p.  68.  (A.,  1898.) 

2626.  PLAY  AN  INDICATION  OF  IN- 
TELLIGENCE—  Over  against  the  countless 
varieties  of  the  play  of  children,  reflecting 


all  conceivable  relations  of  life,  stands  the 
single  form  of  mock  fighting  among  the 
animals.  ( Trained  animals  do  not,  of  course, 
concern  us;  their  performances  are  not  real 
play.)  Dogs,  cats,  and  monkeys,  even  when 
they  are  playing  with  their  young,  show 
their  affection  by  pretending  to  fight  with 
them.  And  tho  it  is  true  that  play  is  an 
indication  of  high  mental  development,  and 
brings  the  animal  nearer  to  ourselves  than 
any  other  activity,  it  is  rather  the  fact  that 
it  plays  than  the  nature  of  the  play  itself 
which  is  the  important  point.  .  .  .  Ani- 
mal play  never  shows  any  inventiveness, 
any  regular  and  orderly  working  out  of 
some  general  idea. — WUNDT  PsycholoQy,  lect. 
24,  p.  358.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2627.  PLAY  AS  AN  ART  OF  PLEAS- 
URE— Sports  of  Children  Imitative. — Play  is 
one  of  the  arts  of  pleasure.     It  is  doing  for 
the  sake   of   doing,   not  for  what  is   done. 
One  class   of  games   is   spontaneous  every- 
where, the  sports  in  which  children  imitate 
the  life  they  will  afterwards   have   to   act 
in  earnest.     Eskimo  children  play  at  build- 
ing  snow-huts,   and   their   mothers   provide 
them  with  a  tiny  oil-lamp  with  a  bit  of  wick 
to  set  burning  inside.     Among  the  savages 
whose  custom  it  is  to  carry  off  their  wives 
by  force  from  neighboring  tribes,  the  chil- 
dren play  at  the  game  of  wife-catching,  just 
as,  with  us,  children  play  at  weddings  with 
a  clergyman  and  bridesmaids.     All  through 
civilization    toy    weapons    and    implements 
furnish  children  at  once  play  and  education ; 
the  North-American  warrior  made  his  boy 
a  little  bow  and  arrow  as  soon  as  he  could 
draw  it,  and  the  young  South  Sea  Islander 
learned  by  throwing  a  reed  at  a  rolling  ring 
how  in  after-life  to  hurl  his  spear.     It  is 
curious  to  see  that  when  growing  civiliza- 
tion has  cast  aside  the  practical  use  of  some 
ancient  contrivance  it  may  still  survive  as 
a  toy,  as  where  Swiss  children  to  this  day 
play  at  making  fire  by  the  Old- World  plan 
of  drilling  one  piece  of  wood  into  another; 
and  in  our  country  lanes  the  children  play 
with  bows  and  arrows  and  slings,  the  seri- 
ous   weapons    of    their    forefathers. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p.  305.     (A.,  1899.) 

2628.  PLAY    OF    YOUNG    ANIMALS 
AND    OF    CHILDREN —The  play  of  man  and 
the  animals  differs  in  the  same  way  as  their 
"  intelligence."     We  regard  certain  actions 
of  the  higher  animals  as  playful  when  they 
take  the   form   of   imitations   of  purposive 
voluntary  actions.     We  know  that  they  are 
imitations  because  the  end  pursued  is  only  a 
fictitious  end — the  real  end  being  excitation 
of  joyous  emotions  similar  to  those  which 
follow    as    secondary    effects    from    genuine 
purposive  action.    That  means,  you  see,  that 
the  play  of  animals  is,  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses, identical  with  play  among  mankind. 
Our  own  play,  at  least  in  its  simpler  forms 
— e.  g.,  in  the  play  of  children — is  merely  an 
imitation   of  the   actions  of   every-day   life 


533 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Plasticity 
Pledge 


stripped  of  its  original  purpose,  and  result- 
ing in  pleasurable  emotion. — WUNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  24,  p.  357.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2629.  PLAYHOUSES  OF  THE  BOWER- 
BIRD—  Love  of  the  Beautiful— Esthetic  Sense 
in  Animals — Stealing  of  Bright  and  Attract- 
ive   Objects.  —  Some    animals    exhibit   emo- 
tions   of   the   beautiful.      The    following   is 
Mr.     Gould's     description,     in     extenso,     of 
the  habits  of  the  bower-bird  of  New  South 
Wales :    The  extraordinary  bower-like  struc- 
ture,   alluded    to    in    my    remarks    on    the 
genus,   first  came  under  my  notice  in  the 
Sydney  Museum,  to  which  an  example  had 
been  presented  by  Charles  Cox,  Esq.     .     .     . 
On  visiting  the  cedar  bushes  of  the  Liver- 
pool  Range,    I   discovered   several   of   these 
bowers    or    playing-houses    on   the   ground, 
under   the   shelter   of  the  branches   of  the 
overhanging  trees,  in  the  most  retired  part 
of  the  forest;  they  differed  considerably  in 
size,  some  being  a  third  larger  than  others. 
The  base  consists  of  an  extensive  and  rather 
convex    platform    of    sticks    firmly    inter- 
woven,  on  the  center  of  which   the  bower 
itself  is  built.     This,  like  the  platform  on 
which  it  is  placed,  and  with  which  it  is  in- 
terwoven, is  formed  of  sticks  and  twigs,  but 
of  a  more  slender  and  flexible  description, 
the  tips  of  the  twigs  being  so  arranged  as  to 
curve  inwards  and  nearly  meet  at  the  top ;  in 
the  interior  the  materials  are  so  placed  that 
the  forks  of  the  twigs  are  always  presented 
outwards,    by   which    arrangement   not   the 
slightest  obstruction  is  offered  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  birds.     The  interest  of  this  curi- 
ous bower  is  much  enhanced  by  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  decorated  with  the  most  gaily 
colored  articles  that  can  be  collected,  such  as 
the  blue  tail-feathers  of  the  Rose-hill  and 
Pennantian  parrakeets,  bleached  bones,  and 
shells  of  snails,  etc.;  some  of  the  feathers 
are  inserted  among  the  twigs,  while  others, 
with  the  bones  and  shells,  are  strewed  near 
the  entrances.    The  propensity  of  these  birds 
to  fly  off  with  any  attractive  object  is  so  well 
known  to  the  natives  that  they  always  search 
the  runs  for  any  small  missing  article  that 
may  have  been  accidentally  dropped  in  the 
bush.     I   myself  found   at  the  entrance   of 
one  of  them  a  small,  neatly  worked  stone 
tomahawk  of  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length, 
together  with  some  slips  of  blue  cotton  rag, 
which  the  birds  had  doubtless  picked  up  at 
a  deserted  encampment  of  the  natives. — RO- 
MANES Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  10,  p.  279. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2630.  PLEASURE  AND   PAIN,    EX- 
PRESSION   OF—  Tension  or  Relaxation  of 
Muscles. — In  this  law  of  pleasure  and  pain 
we  have  the  key  to  the  leading  varieties  of 
expression  of  the  feelings.     The  organs  of 
expression  by  movement  are  primarily  the 
features,    next   the   voice,   lastly   the   move- 
ments and  gestures  of  the  body  at  large — 
head,  trunk,  and  extremities.   In  pleasurable 
emotions  these  are  unquestionably  rendered 
active;  the  grimaces,  gestures,  and  attitudes 


show  an  accession  of  active  power.  The 
notable  circumstances  in  this  display  are 
the  general  erection  of  the  body,  the  open- 
ing up  of  the  features,  the  powerful  exer- 
cise of  the  voice;  all  showing  that  the  ex- 
tensor muscles,  which  are  by  far  the  largest, 
are  strongly  stimulated.  When  we  have 
surplus  energy  to  expend  we  stretch  and  ex- 
tend the  body  in  preference  to  bending  and 
relaxing  it;  the  weight  of  4he  body  itself  is 
borne  in  the  one  case  and  not  in  the  other. 
Any  additional  strain,  as  in  walking,  lifting 
weights,  rowing  a  boat,  is  borne  by  the 
extensor  muscles.  It  is  the  size  of  these 
that  makes  the  muscular  figure,  the  ful- 
ness of  the  calves,  the  thighs,  and  the  hips. 
On  the  other  hand,  pain  (not  violently 
acute),  dejection,  depression,  leads  to  the 
relaxation  of  all  these  powerful  muscles; 
hence  a  general  stooping  and  collapse  of  the 
figure,  showing  that  the  springs  of  muscular 
force  have  dried  up.  The  difference  of  the 
two  situations,  as  regards  the  carriage  of 
the  whole  body,  is  most  marked.  Compare 
the  victor  in  a  triumph  with  one  of  his 
captives — the  attitude  of  the  beater  with 
the  beaten.  And  as  regards  the  face,  how 
much  is  suggested  by  the  one  descriptive 
trait,  "His  countenance  fell"! — BAIN  Mind 
and  Body,  ch.  4,  p.  17.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

2631.  PLEASURE,     STRANGE,     IN 
DESOLATION—  The   Question  of  the  Wilder- 
ness.—  The    plain    as    usual    consisted    of 
gravel,  mingled  with  soil  resembling  chalk 
in   appearance,   but  very   different   from   it 
in  nature.     From  the  softness  of  these  ma- 
terials   it    was    worn    into    many    gulleys. 
There  was   not  a  tree,   and,   excepting  the 
guanaco,    which    stood    on    the    hilltop,    a 
watchful  sentinel  over  its  herd,  scarcely  an 
animal   or   a   bird.     All   was   stillness   and 
desolation.    Yet  in  passing  over  these  scenes, 
without  one  bright  object  near,  an  ill-defined 
but  strong  sense  of  pleasure  is  vividly  ex- 
cited.    One  asked  how  many  ages  the  plain 
had  thus  lasted,  and  how  many  more  it  was 
doomed  thus  to  continue. 

None  can  reply — all  seems  eternal  now. 
The  wilderness  has  a  mysterious  tongue, 
Which  teaches  awful  doubt. 

— SHELLEY,  Lines  on  Mont  Blanc. 

— DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the 
World,  ch.  8,  p.  168.  (A.,  1898.) 

2632.  PLEDGE,  UTILITY  OF— A  Strong 
Initiative. — In    the    acquisition    of    a    new 
habit  or  the  leaving  off  of  an  old  one,  we 
must  take  care  to  launch  ourselves  with  as 
strong  and  decided  an  initiative  as  possible. 
Accumulate   all   the   possible   circumstances 
which  shall  reenforce  the  right  motives;  put 
yourself  assiduously  in  conditions  that  en- 
courage  the   new  way;    make   engagements 
incompatible   with   the   old;    take   a  public 
pledge,  if  the  case  allows;  in  short,  envelop 
your  resolution  with  every  aid  you  know. 
This  will  give  your  new  beginning  such  a 
momentum    that    the    temptation    to    break 
down  will  not  occur  as  soon  as  it  otherwise 


Ple 
Poi 


dge 
sons 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


534 


might;  and  every  day  during  which  a  break- 
down is  postponed  adds  to  the  chances  of  its 
not  occurring  at  all. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teach- 
ers, ch.  8,  p.  67.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2633.  PLEIADES,   ORIGIN    OF    THE 

NAME — The  Mariner's  Guide  in  Heaven. — 
The  Pleiades  [were]  doubtless  known  to  the 
rudest  nations  from  the  earliest  times;  the 
mariner's  stars — Pleias,  airb  TOO  ir^eiv  ( from 
ir\flv,  to  sail),  according  to  the  etymology 
of  the  old  scholiast  of  Aratus,  who  is  prob- 
ably more  correct  than  those  modern  writers 
who  would  derive  the  name  from  irAerff 
plenty.  The  navigation  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean lasted  from  May  to  the  beginning  of 
November,  from  the  early  rising  to  the  early 
setting  of  the  Pleiades. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos, 
vol.  iii,  p.  141.  (H.,  1897.) 

2634.  POET    SHOWS    TRUE   SCIEN- 
TIFIC   INSIGHT— The  description  given  by 
Strabo  and  Pausanias  of  this  elevation  [the 
Hill  of  Methone,  now  Methana,  in  the  penin- 
sula   of   Troezene]    led    one    of   the    Roman 
poets,  most  celebrated  for  his  richness  of 
fancy,  to  develop  views  which  agree  in  a  re- 
markable manner  with  the  theory  of  modern 
geognosy.     "Near   Troezene  is   a   tumulus, 
steep  and  devoid^of  trees,  once  a  plain,  now 
a  mountain.     The  vapors  enclosed  in  dark 
caverns   in  vain   seek  a  passage  by  which 
they  may  escape.     The  heaving  earth,   in- 
flated by  the  force  of  the  compressed  vapors, 
expands 'like  a  bladder  filled  with  air,  or 
like  a  goatskin.     The  ground  has  remained 
thus  inflated,  and  the  high  projecting  emi- 
nence  has   been   solidified   by   time  into   a 
naked   rock."     Thus   picturesquely   and,   as 
analogous  phenomena  justify  us  in  believ- 
ing,   thus    truly   has    Ovid    described    that 
great  natural   phenomenon  which   occurred 
282  years  before  our  era. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  i,  p.  240.    (H.,  1897.) 

2635.  POETRY  HAS  EXISTED  WITH- 
OUT SCIENCE— Knowledge  Increases  Appre- 
ciation of  the  Order,  Rhythm,  and  Beauty  of 
Nature. — I  do  not  thus  think  well,  or  indeed 
anything,    of    the    doctrine    that    a    poetry 
nursed  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  scientific 
aspects  of  Nature  presents  us  with  an  essen- 
tially   typical    development    of    the    poetic 
faculty.     No  one  can  deny  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  all  scientific  knowledge,  that  fac- 
ulty may  be  developed  to   sing  in  loftiest 
strains  and  fullest  measure.     But  I  enter  a 
strong   protest   against   the   misrepresenta- 
tion that  the  scientific  faculty  destroys  the 
poetic,  or  that,  of  necessity,  an  exact  meth- 
od of  looking  at  things  should  utterly  annul 
the  sense  wherewith  we  discover  their  exter- 
nal   beauty    or    the    wondrous    and    subtle 
rhythm  and  measure  that  pervade  the  uni- 
verse  at   large. — ANDREW   WILSON   Science 
and  Poetry,  p.  10.    (Hum.,  1888.) 

2636.  POETRY,  INDESTRUCTIBLE 
POWER  OF— Science  Not  to  Supersede— The 
Poetry  of  Science. — That  poetry  must  ever 


assert  a  powerful  influence  on  man's  estate, 
no  reasonable  being  may  doubt.  It  is  too 
closely  bound  up  with  the  personal  history 
of  man  in  all  stages  of  civilization,  too 
nearly  related  to  his  inmost  mind,  as  the 
expression  of  his  deepest  emotions,  to  fall 
into  decay  even  when  it  lights  upon  a  gross- 
Iv  utilitarian  time.  The  song  of  victory, 
the  paean  of  joy,  the  "  lo  triumphe  "  of  the 
conqueror,  or  the  coronach  and  lament  for 
the  dead,  are  expressions  wherein  the  true 
poetry  of  our  nature  bursts  forth  in  spite  of 
ourselves;  whilst  developing  from  these 
more  rugged  and  primitive  sources,  as  a 
softened  stream  passes  sidewards  from  a 
mountain  torrent,  we  find  the  cultured  soul 
of  the  poet  communing  with  Nature,  and 
teaching  us  new  and  better  feelings,  and  the 
glory  of  a  higher  life.  It  is  not  saying  too 
much,  then,  to  predict  that  the  true  mission 
of  poetry  is  that  of  leading  us  to  see  fairer 
aspects  of  things,  to  cultivate  the  beauty- 
sense,  and  to  lead  us  to  see  Nature  in  her 
thousand  moods,  even  if  the  thoughts  it 
evokes  are  ofttimes  "  too  deep  for  tears." 
Poetry  thus  becomes  the  handmaid  of  cul- 
ture, and  still  more  of  religion.  Science  it 
may  never  attempt  to  supersede,  altho  there 
is  and  must  be  a  poetry  of  knowledge. 
.  .  .  But  poetry,  as  the  expression  of  the 
deepest  emotions  of  the  human  soul,  can 
never  fade.  In  her  records  lie  embalmed, 
as  in  a  treasure-house,  the  thoughts  of  the 
far-back  past,  and  the  noblest  sentiments 
which  humanity  may  express.  Such  are  the 
functions  of  true  poesy,  and  such  the  mission 
of  those 

Who  on  earth  have  made  us  heirs 
Of  truth  and  pure  delight  by  heavenly  lays  ! 

— ANDREW  WILSON  Science  and  Poetry,  p. 
11.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

2637.  POINTS,  DEBATABLE,  SET- 
TLED—Many  Nebulce  Are  Star-clusters— Some 
Are   Certainly    Gas-clouds. — I    have    spoken 
hitherto    of    nebulae    as    star-cloudlets,    and 
unquestionably  large  numbers  of  these  ob- 
jects are  really  composed  of  stars,  and  give 
forth  the  same  sort  of  light  (in  general  re- 
spects)   as  our  sun  and  other  single  stars. 
But  others  have  been  shown  by  the  research- 
es of  our  great  physicist,  Dr.  Huggins,  to  be 
composed  of  luminous  gas  or  vapor.     The 
famous  nebula  in  Orion  is  among  the  num- 
ber thus  constituted;   so  are  the  dumb-bell 
nebula    in    Vulpecula,    the    ring   nebula    in 
Lyra,  and  other  well-known  objects.     In  the 
southern    hemisphere    the   great   nebula    in 
Argo    has   been    shown   to   be   gaseous    (by 
Captain  Herschel),  and  the  fine,  irregular 
nebula  in  the  greater  Magellanic  Cloud  is 
another  of  these  gaseous  masses.  The  strange 
objects  called  the  planetary  nebulae  are  also 
all  gaseous,  so  far  as  these  researches  have 
yet    extended. — PROCTOK    Our  Place   among 
Infinities,  p.  227.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2638.  POISON,  ALCOHOL  A— Is  It  also 
a  Food  ? — The  reader  of  this  paper  may  criti- 
cize the  wording  of  the  question  contained 


535 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


fifi 


Be 
son* 


in  the  title,  for  no  one  can  dispute  that  al- 
cohol is  a  poison,  that  it  can  destroy  animal 
or  vegetable  protoplasm,  that  if  taken  in 
large  doses  it  produces  disease  and  has  a 
paralyzing  action,  and,  like  all  other  poisons, 
if  taken  in  small  doses  it  has  a  stimulating 
effect.  The  question,  therefore,  ought  to  read : 
Can  alcohol,  despite  its  unquestionable  toxic 
properties,  also  act  as  a  food? — KASSOWITZ 
Is  Alcohol  a  Food  or  a  Poison?  (a  Lecture), 
p.  1.  (Translation  by  Mrs.  J.  H.  W.  STUCK- 

ENBERG. ) 

2639.     Phosphorus  Has 

Closely    Similar    Effects — Neither     To    Be 
Classed  as  a  Food. — Since  alcohol  has  a  de- 
structive action  upon  protoplasm,  and  since 
the  process  of   oxidation   of  protoplasm   is 
intimately  connected  with  its  activity,  it  is 
self-evident  that  a  diminution  in  the  amount 
of  protoplasm  must  entail  a  diminished  de- 
composition of  protoplasm  due  to  this  ac- 
tivity, and  hence,  also,  a  diminished  oxida- 
tion of  its  decomposition  products. 

That  the  action  of  a  poison  actually  can 
lead  to  such  results  is  plainly  evident  in  the 
consequences  of  phosphoric  poisoning,  which, 
precisely  like  alcoholic  poisoning,  leads,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  an  increased  excretion  of 
nitrogen,  an  expression  of  toxic  destruction 
of  protoplasm,  and,  on  the  other,  to  a  very 
considerable  decrease  in  the  taking  in  of 
oxygen  and  the  giving  out  of  carbon  di- 
oxid.  Of  course,  it  is  not  to  be  thought  of 
that  the  oxidation  of  the  small  quantity  of 
phosphorus  ample  to  produce  that  effect 
could  save  fat  by  withdrawing  the  oxygen 
at  its  disposal;  rather,  it  is  perfectly  clear 
that  the  protoplasm  destroyed  by  the  poi- 
sonous action  of  phosphorus  (while  fat  is 
split  off  and  nitrogen  excreted)  can  no  long- 
er take  part  in  the  vital  processes  of  oxi- 
dation. Hence,  if  we  chose  to  call  the  toxic 
alcohol  a  food  on  the  ground  that  it  lim- 
its physiological  processes  of  oxidation  by 
means  of  destroying  protoplasm,  we  should 
be  obliged  to  declare  phosphorus  a  much 
more  valuable  food,  because  much  smaller 
doses  diminish  the  normal  processes  of  oxi- 
dation by  destroying  protoplasm.  But  even 
the  most  rigid  doctrinaire  could  scarcely  be 
made  to  agree  with  this  view. — KASSOWITZ 
7s  Alcohol  a  Food  or  a  Poison?  (a  Paper), 
p.  13.  (Translation  by  Mrs.  J.  H.  W. 
STUCKENBEEG.  ) 

2640.  POISON  OF  CAYENNE— Aids  to 
Digestion — Dinner  Pills — Attempt  to  Evade 
Penalty   of   Overindulgence — Illness    in   In- 
dia.— The  mere  condiment  is  a  stimulating 
drug  that  does  its  work  directly  upon  the 
inner  lining  of  the  stomach  by  exciting  it  to 
increased   and   abnormal   activity.      A   dys- 
peptic may  obtain  immediate  relief  by  using 
Cayenne  pepper.    Among  the  advertised  pat- 
ent  medicines    is    a   pill   bearing   the   very 
ominous  name  of  its  compounder,  the  active 
constituent  of  which  is  Cayenne.     Great  re- 
lief and  temporary  comfort  are   commonly 
obtained  by  using  it  as  a  "  dinner  pill."    If 


thus  used  only  as  a  temporary  remedy  for 
an  acute  or  temporary  or  exceptional  at- 
tack of  indigestion,  all  is  well,  but  the  Cay- 
enne, whether  taken  in  pills  or  dusted  over 
the  food  or  stewed  with  it  in  curries  or  any 
other  wise,  is  one  of  the  most  cruel  of  slow 
poisons  when  taken  habitually.  Thousands 
of  poor  wretches  are  crawling  miserably  to- 
wards their  graves,  the  victims  of  the  mul- 
titude of  maladies  of  both-  mind  and  body 
that  are  connected  with  chronic,  incurable 
dyspepsia,  all  brought  about  by  the  habitual 
use  of  Cayenne  and  its  condimental  cousins. 
The  usual  history  of  these  victims  is  that 
they  began  by  overfeeding,  took  the  condi- 
ment to  force  the  stomach  to  do  more  than 
its  healthful  amount  of  work,  using  but  a 
little  at  first.  Then  the  stomach  became 
tolerant  of  this  little,  and  demanded  more; 
then  more,  and  more,  and  more,  until  at 
last  inflammation,  ulceration,  torpidity,  and 
finally  the  death  of  the  digestive  powers,  ac- 
companied with  all  that  long  train  of  mise- 
ries to  which  I  have  referred.  India  is  their 
special  fatherland. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of 
Cookery,  ch.  15,  p.  260.  (A.,  1900.) 

2641.  POISONING,  CUMULATIVE, 
FROM  SUPPOSEDLY   INNOCENT   SUB- 
STANCE— Boracic  Acid  as  a  Preservative  of 
Milk. — Boracic  acid  is  one  of  the  most  use- 
ful antiseptics  with  which  to  wash  sore  eyes 
or  preserve  tinned  foods  or  milk.     It  is  not 
a  strong  germicide,  but  an  unirritating  and 
effective  wash.     Many  cases  of  its  addition 
to  milk  have  found  their  way  into  the  law 
courts,  owing  to  cumulative  poisoning,  and1 
it  should  only  be  used  with  the  very  great- 
est care  as  a  food  preservative. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  9,  p.  322.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2642.  POISONS   OF   MICROBES   MU- 
TUALLY   DESTRUCTIVE—  Antagonisms  of 
Bacteria. — Whatever  [direct]  opposition  one 
species  affords  to  another  it  is  able  to  exer- 
cise by  means  of  its  poisonous  properties. 
These  are  of  two  kinds.    There  is,  as  is  now 
widely  known,  the  poisonous  product  named 
the  toacin.     .     .     .     There  is  also  in  many 
species,    as   Dr.   Klein   has   pointed   out,   a 
poisonous    constituent    or    constituents    in- 
cluded in  the  body  protoplasm  of  the  bacil- 
lus, and  which  he  therefore  terms  the  in- 
tracellular  poison.     Now,  whilst  the  former 
is  different  in  every  species,  the  latter  may 
be   a   property  common   to   several    species. 
Hence  those  having  a  similar  intracellular 
poison  are  antagonistic  to  each  other,  each 
member  of  such  a  group  being  unable  to  live 
in  an  environment  of  its  own  intracellular 
poison.     Further,  it  has  been  suggested  that, 
there  are  organisms  possessing  only  one  poi- 
sonous  property,    namely,   their   toxin — for 
example,   the  bacilli   of  tetanus   and   diph- 
theria— whilst   there   are    other   species,   as 
above,  possessing  a  double  poisonous  prop- 
erty, an  intracellular  poison  and  a  toxin. 
In  this  latter  class  would  be  included  the 
bacilli  of  anthrax  and  tubercle. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  34.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


Polarization 
Poverty 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


536 


2643.  POLARIZATION    OF    LIGHT  — 

Tourmalin  Quenches  All  but  One  Set  of 
Vibrations  —  Two  Crossed  Plates  Produce 
Darkness. — We  may  begin  the  study  of  the 
polarization  of  light,  with  ease  and  profit, 
by  means  of  a  crystal  of  tourmalin.  But 
we  must  start  with  a  clear  conception  of  an 
ordinary  beam  of  light.  It  has  been  al- 
ready explained  that  the  vibrations  of 
the  individual  ether-particles  are  executed 
across  the  line  of  propagation.  In  the  case 
of  ordinary  light  we  are  to  figure  the  ether- 
particles  as  vibrating  in  all  directions,  or 
azimuths,  as  it  is  sometimes  expressed, 
across  this  line.  Now,  in  the  case  of  a  plate 
of  tourmalin  cut  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the 
crystal,  a  beam  of  light  incident  upon  the 
plate  is  divided  into  two,  the  one  vibrating 
parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  crystal,  the  other 
at  right  angles  to  the  axis.  The  grouping 
of  the  molecules  and  of  the  ether  associated 
with  the  molecules  reduces  all  the  vibra- 
tions incident  upon  the  crystal  to  these  two 
directions.  One  of  these  beams,  namely, 
that  whose  vibrations  are  perpendicular  to 
the  axis,  is  quenched  with  exceeding  rapid- 
ity by  the  tourmalin.  To  such  vibrations 
many  specimens  of  the  crystal  are  highly 
opaque,  so  that,  after  having  passed  through 
a  very  small  thickness  of  the  tourmalin, 
the  light  emerges  with  all  its  vibrations 
reduced  to  a  single  plane.  In  this  condition 
it  is  what  we  call  plane  polarised  light. 
A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that,  if 
what  is  here  stated  be  correct,  on  placing 
a  second  plate  of  tourmalin  with  its  axis 
parallel  to  the  first,  the  light  will  pass 
through  both;  but  that,  if  the  axes  be 
crossed,  the  light  that  passes  through  the 
one  plate  will  be  quenched  by  the  other, 
a  total  interception  of  the  light  being  the 
consequence. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  3,  p.  115.  (A.,  1898.) 

2644.  POLITICS    AN    EDUCATION— 

Increasing  Knowledge  of  Social  Laws — Pro- 
vision against  Pauperism. — The  very  at- 
tempt of  the  working  classes  to  govern 
through  combination  their  own  affairs,  and 
to  determine  their  own  condition,  is  an  edu- 
cation in  itself.  On  the  extended  scale  on 
which  that  attempt  is  being  made  it  must 
accustom  them  to  consider  great  general 
causes,  and  to  estimate  the  manner  and 
the  degree  in  which  these  can  be  effected 
by  the  methods  of  adjustment.  Last,  not 
least,  it  must  lead  them  to  study  and  to 
recognize  the  moral  duties  which  are  indeed 
the  most  fundamental  of  all  natural  laws. 
For  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  first 
and  most  important  object  of  combinations 
is  one  against  which  there  can  be  no  oppo- 
sition founded  on  the  doctrines  of  economic 
science.  That  object  is  to  secure  for  the 
working  classes  those  provisions  against 
misfortune,  sickness,  accident,  and  age  which 
are  amongst  the  first  duties  of  all  organized 
societies  of  men.  How  far  through  such 
agency  the  causes  of  pauperism  may  be  suc- 


cessfully attacked  is  a  question  on  which 
we  are  only  entering.  In  like  manner,  the 
conditions  and  limitations  under  which  com- 
bination may  succeed  in  blending  the  func- 
tions and  in  uniting  the  profits  of  capital 
and  of  labor — this  also  is  a  question  to  be 
determined  by  natural  laws,  not  yet  fully 
explored  or  understood. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  226.  (Burt.) 

2645.  POLLUTION  AT  THE  SOURCE 

— Foul  Springs  and  Wells  Spread  Disease. 
— Gathering-grounds  are  frequently  the  lo- 
cality of  the  pollution.  The  recent  Maid- 
stone  epidemic  is  an  example.  Here  some 
of  the  springs  supplying  the  town  with  wa- 
ter were  contaminated  by  se\«eral  typhoid 
patients.  Frequently  on  the  gathering- 
ground  one  may  find  a  number  of  houses 
the  waste  and  refuse  of  which  will  furnish 
ample  surface  pollution,  which  in  its  turn 
may  readily  pass  into  a  collecting  reservoir 
or  a  well.  Only  recently  the  writer  inves- 
tigated the  cause  of  typhoid  in  a  large  coun- 
try house,  and  traced  it  to  pollution  of  the 
private  well  by  surface  washings  from  the 
stable  quarters.  Leakage  of  house-drains 
into  wells  is  not  an  infrequent  source  of 
contamination. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p. 
82.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2646.  POLYGAMY  NOT  PRIMEVAL- 

General  Equality  of  the  Sexes. —  We  have 
seen  that  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  female 
sex  is  almost  universal  among  savages,  and 
that  it  is  entirely  unknown  among  the  lower 
animals.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  im- 
probable and  unnatural  to  suppose  that  this 
habit  can  have  been  primeval.  But  the 
same  considerations  carry  us  a  great  deal 
farther.  They  raise  a  presumption  in  favor 
of  the  later  origin  of  other  habits  and  cus- 
toms which  are  not  confined  to  the  savage 
state,  but  have  prevailed  and  do  now  prevail 
among  nations  comparatively  civilized  [such 
as  polygamy  and  marriage  by  capture.] 
There  can  have  been  no  polygamy  when 
as  yet  there  was  only  a  single  pair,  or  when 
there  were  several  single  pairs  widely  sepa- 
rated from  each  other.  The  presumption,  if 
not  the  certainty,  therefore,  is  that  primeval 
man  must  have  been  monogamous.  It  is  a 
presumption  supported  by  the  general  equal- 
ity of  the  sexes  in  respect  to  the  num- 
bers born,  with  only  just  such  an  excess  of 
the  male  sex  as  tends  to  maintain  that 
equality  against  the  greater  risks  to  life 
arising  out  of  manly  pursuits  and  duties. 
Thus  the  facts  of  Nature  point  to  polygamy 
as  in  all  probability  a  departure  from  the 
habits  of  primeval  times. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  229.  (Burt.) 

2647.  POTTER'S    WHEEL    KNOWN 
FROM   EARLY   ANTIQUITY— All  power  at 
first    was    hand    power;    the   machinery   of 
the  world  was  moved  only  by  human  mus- 
cles.     .      .      .     Winds   and   water   currents 
gradually  have  been  domesticated  for  human 
uses    in   savagery.     The   study   of   these   is 


537 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Polarization 
Poverty 


essential  to  a  knowledge  of  industrial  prog- 
ress. The  Zuni  woman's  extremely  simple 
potter's  wheel,  which  is  nothing  more  than 
the  turning  of  her  vessel  about  in  a  box 
of  dry  sand  as  the  work  goes  on,  is  only 
a  little  more  rude  than  the  fashion  in  the 
interior  of  China  of  putting  a  lump  of  clay 
on  the  top  of  a  revolving  shaft  which  they 
turn  with  one  hand  while  the  pot  is  formed 
with  the  other.  The  potter's  wheel  was 
known  in  the  world  from  high  antiquity. 
The  Africans  push  a  mass  of  clay  around 
with  one  hand  and  form  it  with  the  other. 
— MASON  Aboriginal  American  Mechanics 
(Memoirs  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Anthropology,  p.  80).  (Sch.  K.  C.) 

2648.  POTTERY,    ANCIENT,    MOD- 
ELED   ON    BASKETWORK  —  Prompted,  it 
may  be,  by  the  very  act  of  making  a  coiled 
basket,  the  ancient  potter  rolled  out  a  fillet 
or  slender  cylinder  of  prepared  paste  about 
the  thickness,  say,  of  a  chalk  crayon.    Every 
one  who   reads  these   lines  has  more  than 
once  seen  children  playing  with  putty,  roll- 
ing it  out  into  fillets  and  then  coiling  it.  The 
cook  also  makes  little  cakes  after  the  same 
process,    and    the    tidy    housewife    supplies 
herself  thus  with  mats  for  her  tables. 

The  ancient  potter  also  coiled  her  fillet  of 
soft  clay  around  and  around  in  an  orderly 
manner,  pinching  as  she  went.  .  .  .  This 
work  was  done  occasionally  on  the  outside 
of  a  basket,  bowl,  or  another  vase.  But  the 
work  was  more  frequently  built  up  by  the 
hands,  guided  chiefly  by  the  eye,  until  the 
vessel  was  finished.  Luckily  for  the  student, 
many  vessels  are  left  in  the  corrugated  con- 
dition produced  by  the  pinching  and  coiling. 
These  examples  not  only  show  the  process 
here  referred  to,  but  they  evidence  a  mar- 
velous variety  of  finger-nail  and  finger-tip 
work. — MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive 
Culture,  ch.  5,  p.  98.  (A.,  1894.) 

2649.  POTTERY,    IMPORTANCE    OF, 
TO    PRIMITIVE    MAN— Before  the  intro- 
duction of  metallic  vessels  the  art  of  the 
potter  was  more  important  even  than  it  is 
at   present.     Accordingly,   the   sites   of   all 
ancient   habitations    are    generally    marked 
by  numerous  fragments  of  pottery;  this  is 
as   true   of  the  ancient   Indian  settlements 
as  of  the  Celtic  towns  of  England  or  the 
lake  villages  of  Switzerland. — AVEBUBY  Pre- 
historic Times,  ch.  8,  p.  242.     (A.,  1900.) 

2650.  POTTERY,  ORIGIN  OF,  LOST  IN 
PREHISTORIC    TIMES—  The  Potter's  Wheel 
in  Egypt — A  Type  of  Creation — Hand-made 
Pottery   in   Hebrides. — In    Europe,    as    any 
museum   of   antiquities   shows,   the   funeral 
urns  and  other  earthen  vessels  of  the  Stone 
and  Bronze  ages  were  hand-made;  and  even 
now   tourists   who   visit   the   Hebrides   buy 
earthen  cups  and  bowls  of  an  old  woman 
who  makes  them  in  ancestral  fashion  with- 
out a  potter's  wheel,  and  ornaments  them 
with  lines  drawn  with  a  pointed  stick.    Yet 
the  potter's  wheel  was  known  in  the  world 


from  high  antiquity  .  .  .  ,  as  shown  in 
the  wall-paintings  of  the  Tombs  of  the 
Kings.  It  is  seen  that  they  turned  the 
wheel  by  hand.  So  the  Hindu  potter  is 
described  as  now  going  down  to  the  river- 
side when  a  flood  has  brought  him  a  deposit 
of  fine  clay,  when  all  he  has  to  do  is  to 
knead  a  batch  of  it,  stick  up  his  pivot  in  the 
ground,  balance  the  heavy  wooden  table 
on  the  top,  give  it  a  spin  round,  and  set  to 
work.  It  was  an  improvement  on  this  sim- 
plest wheel  to  work  it  from  below  by  the 
foot,  and  in  our  potteries  a  laborer  drives 
it  with  a  wheel  and  band,  but  the  principle 
remains  unchanged.  As  we  watch  with  un- 
tiring pleasure  the  potter  with  this  simple 
machine  so  easily  bringing  shape  out  of 
shapelessness,  we  can  well  understand  how 
in  the  ancient  world  it  seemed  the  very  type 
of  creation,  so  that  the  Egyptians  pictured 
one  of  their  deities  as  a  potter  molding 
man  on  the  wheel. — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  11,  p.  274.  (A.,  1899.) 

2651.     POTTERY,    PRIMITIVE  —  The 

Work  of  Woman — Made  To  Meet  the  De- 
mand for  Cooking. — Women  were  the  first 
ceramic  artisans  and  developed  all  the  tech- 
nic,  the  forms,  and  the  uses  of  pottery.  The 
inventions  concerned  in  this  industrial  prog- 
ress are  far-reaching  in  their  own  extent, 
in  the  influence  which  they  have  had  in  the 
refinement  and  development  of  women,  and 
in  the  rewards  of  happiness  which  they 
brought  to  the  races  and  tribes  favored  by 
their  presence.  .  .  .  Pottery  or  earlier 
substitutes  therefor  had  no  place  in  the 
kitchen  until  the  mush-making  or  meat- 
seething  stage  of  cookery  had  arrived. — 
MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture, 
ch.  5,  p.  91.  (A.,  1894.) 


2652. 


Once  Made  by  Wom- 


en, Still  Made  for  Women. — Long  ago  wom- 
en made  pottery  for  themselves  to  wear 
out  and  only  a  little  for  the  convenience 
or  delight  of  men.  The  very  first  woman 
that  made  pottery,  perhaps,  set  the  vessel 
on  her  head  and  went  to  the  spring  for 
water.  A  procession  of  women  have  been 
walking  about  over  the  earth  ever  since 
with  jars  on  their  heads.  This  first  woman 
used  another  jar  to  cook  food  and  another 
to  serve  it,  and  another  to  keep  it  clean 
and  away  from  vermin  and  insects.  Pray, 
what  are  millions  of  her  great-grandchildren 
doing  this  very  day  but  the  selfsame  things  ? 
It  matters  not  who  makes  pottery,  they  are 
making  it  for  women.  Their  convenience 
alone  is  consulted  in  its  form,  its  temper 
and  material.  Its  decorations  are  borrowed, 
and,  tho  her  hands  be  no  longer  grimed 
with  the  paste,  her  wants  and  her  imagina- 
tion preside  over  the  wheel. — MASON  Wom- 
an's Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  5,  p. 
113.  (A.,  1894.) 

2653.     POVERTY  AND  THE  STARS— 

Enthusiasm  for  Science — A  Life  Course 
Changed. — It  was  not  without  a  struggle 


R 


verty 
ower 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


538 


that  he  [Bessel]  resolved  to  exchange  the 
desk  for  the  telescope.  His  reputation  with 
his  employers  was  of  the  highest;  he  had 
thoroughly  mastered  the  details  of  the  busi- 
ness, which  his  keen,  practical  intelligence 
followed  with  lively  interest;  his  years  of 
apprenticeship  were  on  the  point  of  expiring, 
and  an  immediate  and  not  unwelcome  pros- 
pect of  comparative  affluence  lay  before  him. 
The  love  of  science,  however,  prevailed;  he 
chose  poverty  and  the  stars,  and  went  to 
Lilienthal  with  a  salary  of  a  hundred  tha- 
lers  yearly.  Looking  back  over  his  life's 
work,  Olbers  long  afterwards  declared  that 
the  greatest  service  which  he  had  rendered 
to  astronomy  was  that  of  having  discerned, 
directed,  and  promoted  the  genius  of  Bessel. 
— CLEBKE  History  of  Astronomy)  pt.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  36.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

2654.  POWER   ACCOMPANIES    COM- 
PLEXITY— Convolutions  Few  in  Idiot's  Brain 
— Reversion  to  Animal  Type. — Mr.  Marshall 
has    recently    examined    and    described    the 
brains   of  two  idiots   of  European  descent. 
He  found  the  convolutions  to  be  fewer  in 
number,  individually  less  complex,  broader 
and  smoother  than  in  the  apes.     "  In  this 
respect,"  he  says,  "  the  idiots'  brains  are  even 
more  simple  than  that  of  the  gibbon,  and 
approach   that   of   the   baboon."     The  con- 
dition was  the  result  neither  of  atrophy  nor 
of  mere  arrest  of  growth,  but  consisted  es- 
sentially in  an  imperfect  evolution  of  the 
cerebral    hemispheres    or    their    parts,    de- 
pendent on  an  arrest  of  development.     The 
proportion  of  the  weight  of  brain  to  that 
of    body    was    extraordinarily    diminished. 
We  learn,  then,  that  when  man  is  born  with 
a  brain  no  higher — indeed,  lower — than  that 
of  an   ape,  he  may  have   the  convolutions 
fewer  in  number,  and  individually  less  com- 
plex, than  they  are  in  the  brain  of  a  chim- 
panzee and  an  orang;  the  human  brain  may 
revert  to  or  fall  below  that  type  of  develop- 
ment from  which,  if  the  theory  of  Darwin 
be  true,  it  has  gradually  ascended  by  evolu- 
tion   through    the    ages. — MAUDSLEY    Body 
and  Mind,  lect.  2,  p.  46.     (A.,  1898.) 

2655.  POWER,    CONSTRUCTIVE,   OF 
LOWER  ORGANISMS— Worms  Build  Tunnels 
Lined  with  Cement. — The  burrows  [of  earth- 
worms] run  down  perpendicularly,  or  more 
commonly  a  little  obliquely.    .    .    .   The  walls 
of  fresh  burrows  are  often  dotted  with  little 
globular  pellets   of  voided  earth,   still  soft 
and   viscid,   and   these,   as   it   appears,   are 
spread  out  on  all  sides  by  the  worm  as  it 
travels  up  or  down  its  burrow.     The  lining 
thus    formed    becomes    very    compact    and 
smooth  when  nearly  dry,  and  closely  fits  the 
worm's  body.     The  minute  reflexed  bristles 
which    project   in   rows   on    all   sides    from 
the  body  thus  have  excellent  points  of  sup- 
port, and  the  burrow  is  rendered  well  adapt- 
ed for  the  rapid  movement  of  the  animal. 
The  lining  appears   also  to  strengthen  the 
walls,  and  perhaps  saves  the  worm's  body 
from   being  scratched.     I  think  so  because 


several  burrows  which  passed  through  a 
layer  of  sifted  coal-cinders  spread  over  turf 
to  a  thickness  of  iy2  inch,  had  been  thus 
lined  to  an  unusual  thickness.  In  this  case 
the  worms,  judging  from  the  castings,  had 
pushed  the  cinders  away  on  all  sides  and 
had  not  swallowed  any  of  them.  In  another 
place  burrows  similarly  lined  passed  through 
a  layer  of  coarse  coal-cinders  3%  inches  in 
thickness.  We  thus  see  that  the  burrows 
are  not  mere  excavations,  but  may  rather 
be  compared  with  tunnels  lined  with  cement. 
— DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable  Mold,  ch. 
2,  p.  32.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

2656.  POWER,   ECONOMY    OF— Auto- 
matic and  Voluntary  Actions  of  the  Oyster. 
— Look  at  the  empty  valve   or   shell   from 
which    you    have   just   removed    its    tenant 
[the  oyster].  You  notice  the  oval  impression 
on  the  inside  of  the  valve  showing  where 
the  muscle  was  attached,  and  you  observe 
on  the  other  and  companion  valve  the  neigh- 
bor impression.     Between  the  two  valves  of 
the  shell,  then,  there  stretches  this  strong 
band  of  muscular  fibers,  so  strong  that  it 
requires  the  deft  hand  of  the  oyster-opener 
to  detach  them.     This  muscle,  which  closes 
the  valves  and  keeps  them  shut,  is  called  the 
"  abductor  " ;  and  while  our  oyster  has  but 
one,    the    mussels    themselves    possess    two. 
It  is  a  voluntary  muscle  this  of  the  oyster, 
and  quite  as  much  at  the  command  of  the 
animal  as  your  own  biceps  is  placed  under 
your  behest. 

But  the  abductor  muscle  of  the  oyster  is 
not  an  organ  which  is  frequently  in  use. 
If  the  shell  is  closed  by  its  action,  how,  you 
inquire,  are  the  valves  opened?  Look  once 
again  at  the  empty  shell.  You  observe  at 
its  beak  or  apex  the  remains  of  a  brownish 
substance.  That  is  the  "  ligament "  of  the 
shell.  It  is  an  elastic  band,  which  is  put 
on  the  stretch  when  the  shell  is  closed  by  the 
abductor  muscle.  If  that  muscle  relaxes, 
you  see  what  will  happen.  The  elastic  liga- 
ment will  come  into  play,  and  by  that  elas- 
ticity will  keep  the  shell  open. 

Now,  as  an  open  shell  is  the  oyster's  nat- 
ural condition,  we  can  note  in  this  contri- 
vance a  saving  of  power.  The  shell  is  kept 
unclosed  by  the  purely  elastic  and  mechan- 
ical action  of  the  ligament.  The  oyster  has 
no  need  to  bother  itself  over  this  duty.  But 
it  is  when  the  more  unusual  work  of  closing 
the  shell  has  to  be  accomplished  that  the 
vital  and  muscular  act  comes  into  play. 
Then  the  muscle  acts,  and  "  shuts  up  shop," 
so  to  speak,  without  delay.  Nature  is  al- 
ways economical  in  her  distribution  of  pow- 
er, and  our  oyster  is  kept  gaping  without 
the  expenditure  of  any  vital  activity. — WIL- 
SON Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  18.  (Hum., 
1892.) 

2657.  POWER,  ENORMOUS,  STORED 
IN  COAL — Measured  by  Comparison  with  Hu- 
man Labor. — The  most  important  source  of 
mechanical  power  among  those  we  have  men- 
tioned, and  which  promises  almost  to  super- 


539 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Poverty 
Power 


sede  all  others,  is  that  of  burning  coal.  This 
material,  like  a  watch  wound  up,  is  matter 
in  a  state  of  power,  or  in  a  state  of  unstable 
equilibrium,  ready  to  rush  into  combination 
with  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere  as  soon 
as  the  initial  action  is  given,  and  to  evolve 
power  in  the  form  of  heat  until  the  whole 
is  consumed.  It  has  been  proved  that  on 
an  average  four  ounces  of  coal  is  sufficient 
to  draw,  on  a  railway,  one  ton  a  mile.  It 
has  also  been  found  by  experiment  that  a 
man  working  on  a  tread-mill  continuously 
for  eight  hours  will  elevate  one  and  a  half 
million  of  pounds  one  foot  high.  Now,  good 
Cornish  engines  will  perform  the  same  work 
by  the  expenditure  of  the  power  of  a  pound 
and  a  half  of  coal.  It  follows  from  these 
data  that  about  five  tons  of  coal  would 
evolve  as  much  power  during  its  combustion 
as  would  be  equal  to  the  continued  labor  of 
an  able-bodied  man  for  twenty  years,  at  the 
rate  of  eight  hours  per  day;  or,  in  other 
words,  to  the  average  power  of  a  man  during 
the  active  period  of  his  life.  Providence 
has  therefore  stored  away  in  the  form  of 
coal,  for  the  use  of  man,  an  incalculable 
amount  of  mechanical  power.  Beneath  the 
soil  of  our  own  great  coal-basins  there  re- 
poses power  equivalent  to  the  united  force 
of  myriads  of  giants,  ready  (like  Aladdin's 
genius)  to  be  called  into  activity  by  the 
lamp  of  science,  and  as  its  obedient  slave 
to  build  cities,  to  transport  palaces,  or  to 
remove  mountains.  There  is  no  other  loco- 
motive power  over  which  man  has  any  pros- 
pect of  control  in  the  least  degree  compara- 
ble with  this. — HENRY  Improvement  of  the 
Mechanical  Arts,  Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i, 
p.  314.  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

2658.  POWER,   EXPULSIVE  —  Comets 
Shot   Forth   from   Stars — Proved    by   Para- 
bolic Orbits. — Every  comet  or  meteor  which 
follows  a  parabolic  orbit  possesses  a  velocity 
greater  than  that  which  the  sun's  attraction 
could  give   it,   and  it  certainly   enters  the 
sphere  of  the  solar  attraction  with  a  con- 
siderable original  velocity.     There  is,  then, 
no  other  way  of  explaining  the  interstellar 
velocities  of  comets  and  hyperbolic  bolides 
but  by  tracing  back  their  course  to  the  time 
when   their    substance   was    projected    from 
a  star  with  a  velocity  exceeding  by  several 
miles  per  second  that  with  which   a  body 
would  reach  that  star  if  it  had  been  drawn 
by  gravity  alone  from  an  infinite  distance. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch. 
3,  p.  527.     (A.) 

2659.  POWER,    IMPULSIVENESS    A 
SOURCE    OF  —  Readiness    and    Promptness 
Achieve — Contrasted  Advantages  of  the  Re- 
flective Character. — As  mental  evolution  goes 
on,  the  complexity  of  human  consciousness 
grows  ever  greater,  and  with  it  the  multi- 
plication of  the  inhibitions  to  which  every 
impulse  is  exposed.     But  this  predominance 
of  inhibition  has  a  bad  as  well  as  a  good 
side;    and   if  a  man's   impulses   are   in  the 
main  orderly  as  well  as  prompt,  if  he  has 


courage  to  accept  their  consequences,  and 
intellect  to  lead  them  to  a  successful  end, 
he  is  all  the  better  for  his  hair-trigger  or- 
ganization, and  for  not  being  "  sicklied  o'er 
with  the  pale  cast  of  thought."  Many  of 
the  most  successful  military  and  revolution- 
ary characters  in  history  have  belonged  to 
this  simple  but  quick-witted,  impulsive  type. 
Problems  come  much  harder  to  reflective 
and  inhibitive  minds.  They  "can,  it  is  true, 
solve  much  vaster  problems,  and  they  can 
avoid  many  a  mistake  to  which  the  men  of 
impulse  are  exposed.  But  when  the  latter 
do  not  make  mistakes,  or  when  they  are 
always  able  to  retrieve  them,  theirs  is  one 
of  the  most  engaging  and  indispensable  of 
human  types. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  26,  p.  538.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2660.  POWER  LOST  IN  TRANSMIS- 
SION— Reflection  of  Light  Only   Partial— In 
all   cases  where  the  light  is  incident  from 
air  upon  the  surface  of  a  solid  or  a  liquid, 
or,  more  generally  still,  when  the  incidence 
is  from  a  less  highly  refracting  to  a  more 
highly  refracting  medium,  the  reflection  is 
partial.     In  this  case  the  most  powerfully 
reflecting  substances  either  transmit  or  ab- 
sorb a  portion  of  the  incident  light.     At  a 
perpendicular  incidence  water  reflects  onlj 
18   rays  out  of  everj  1,000;    glass  reflects 
only    25    rays,   while   mercury   reflects    666. 
When  the  rays   strike  the  surface  oblique- 
ly   the    reflection    is    augmented.      At    an 
incidence    of    40°,    for    example,    water    re- 
flects  22   rays,   at  60°    it  reflects   65   rays, 
at  80°   333  rays;   while  at  an  incidence  of 
89^°,   where   the   light   almost   grazes    the 
surface,   it   reflects   721    rays   out   of   every 
1,000.     Thus,  as  the  obliquity  increases,  the 
reflection  from  water  approaches  and  finally 
quite  overtakes  the  reflection  from  mercury; 
but  at  no   incidence,   however  great,   when 
the  incidence  is  from  air,  is  the  reflection 
from  water,  mercury,  or  any  other  substance 
total. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1, 
p.  17.     (A.,  1898.) 

2661.  POWER,  MECHANICAL,  IN  THE 
SUN'S    RAYS  —  The  Noontide   Sunshine  of 
Manhattan  Would  Drive  All  the  Engines  of 
the   World. — From   recent   measures    it   ap- 
pears that  from  every  square  yard  of  the 
earth  exposed  perpendicularly  to  the  sun's 
rays,  in  the  absence  of  an  absorbing  atmos- 
phere,   there    could    be    derived    more    than 
one  horse-power,  if  the  heat  were  all  con- 
verted into  this  use,  and  that  even  on  such 
a  little  area  as  the  island  of  Manhattan,  or 
that   occupied  by  the  city  of  London,   the 
noontide  heat  is  enough,  could  it  all  be  util- 
ized, to  drive  all  the  steam-engines  in  the 
world.     It  will  not  be  surprising,  then,  to 
hear  that  many  practical  men  are  turning 
their  attention  to  this  as  a  source  of  power, 
and  that,  tho  it  has  hitherto  cost  more  to 
utilize  the  power  than  it  is  worth,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  some  of  the  greatest 
changes  which  civilization  has  to  bring  may 


Power 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


540 


yet  be  due  to  such  investigations. — LANGLEY 
New  Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  111.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

2662.     POWER    NOT    PRODUCED    BY 

MACHINE—  The  Craze  of  Perpetual  Motion.— 
It  was  an  old  notion  that  power  could  be 
gained  by  machinery,  and  many  men  have 
spent  years  of  time  as  well  as  fortunes  in 
pursuing  this  will-o'-the-wisp,  which,  if  true, 
would  enable  us  to  construct  a  machine  that 
would  propel  itself.  From  their  standpoint 
an  animal  or  a  man  seemed  to  be  a  realiza- 
tion of  a  perpetual  motion.  They  did  not 
take  into  account  the  fact  that  the  food 
which  an  animal  eats  and  the  air  that  it 
breathes  sustain  the  relation,  in  a  sense,  to 
animal  locomotion  that  coal  burned  under 
a  boiler  does  to  the  propulsion  of  a  steam- 
engine.  In  both  cases  there  is  oxidation 
caused  by  the  union  of  oxygen  with  the 
carbon,  the  result  of  which  is  the  produc- 
tion of  heat.  Many  ingenious  automatons 
were  .constructed  that  would  simulate  the 
movements  of  men  and  animals  in  the 
performance  of  certain  kinds  of  work;  and 
their  ingenious  constructors  had  in  view 
the  solution  of  a  greater  problem  than  that 
of  the  construction  of  a  mere  mechanical 
toy. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  2,  p.  23.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2663.  POWER  NOT  PROPORTIONED  TO 

SIZE  —  Bacteria  Inconceivably  Minute. — This 
[the  coccus]  is  the  group  of  round  cells. 
They  vary  in  size  as  regards  species  and 
as  regards  the  conditions,  artificial  or  nat- 
ural, under  which  they  have  been  grown. 
Some  are  less  than  ^fo^  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter; others  are  half  as  large  again,  if  the 
word  "  large  "  may  be  used  to  describe  such 
minute  objects.  No  regular  standard  can 
be  laid  down  as  reliable  with  regard  to  their 
size.  Hence  the  subdivisions  of  the  cocci  are 
dependent  not  upon  the  individual  elements 
so  much  as  upon  the  relation  of  those  ele- 
ments to  each  other. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch. 
1,  p.  8.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2664.  POWER    OF   ADAPTATION— 

What  is  a  "Common  Plant  "  ?— "  What," 
said  Professor  Lindley,  fifty  years  ago,  "  is 
a  *  common '  plant  but  one  which  can  grow 
and  propagate  itself  in  almost  any  kind  of 
soil,  and  under  almost  every  range  of  tem- 
perature ;  and  what  is  a  '  rare '  plant  but 
one  which  cannot  flourish  and  produce  seed, 
except  under  certain  special  conditions  ? " 
Every  botanist  knows  that  among  our  own 
wild  plants,  Rosa,  Rubus,  and  Salix  are 
alike  the  most  "  variable "  and  the  most 
"  common  "  types ;  "  common,"  because  they 
have  the  capacity  for  adapting  themselves 
to  different  conditions  of  growth ;  "  vari- 
able," because  of  the  influence  of  those  vary- 
ing conditions  upon  their  organization.  Out 
of  the  forms  of  rose,  bramble,  and  willow, 
ranked  as  "  varietal  "  by  Mr.  Bentham,  our 
ablest  student  of  them,  previous  systematists 


had  created  more  than  three  hundred  "  spe- 
cies."— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15, 
p.  437.  (A.,  1889.) 

2665.    POWER  OF  A  GREAT  TEACHER 

— Work  of  Agassis  in  America — Influence 
Long  Enduring. — With  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  the  elder  Silliman,  the  influence  of 
Louis  Agassiz  on  the  development  of  science 
in  our  country  has  been  greater  than  that 
of  any  other  single  man.  .  .  .  The  son 
of  a  Protestant  clergyman,  he  was  born  in 
Switzerland  in  1807,  and  his  early  academic 
education  was  obtained  in  Bienne,  Lausanne, 
and  Zurich,  whence  he  passed  to  the  great 
German  universities  of  Heidelberg,  Munich, 
and  Erlangen.  Even  in  those  days  he  was 
a  leader.  ...  In  1846  an  invitation  to 
deliver  a  course  of  lectures  before  the  Lowell 
Institute  in  Boston  was  obtained  for  him 
through  the  interest  of  his  friend,  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  and  he  agreed,  with  Mr.  John 
A.  Lowell,  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  on 
the  "  Plan  of  the  Creation,"  especially  in  the 
animal  kingdom.  He  arrived  in  Boston  in 
October,  and  in  December  delivered  his  first 
lecture.  "  He  carried  his  audience  captive." 
.  .  .  Enthusiastic  audiences  greeted  him 
in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  and 
elsewhere,  and  yielding  to  the  irresistible 
opportunities  offered  to  him  he  severed  the 
ties  that  bound  him  to  the  land  of  his  birth, 
and  accepted  the  chair  of  zoology  and  ge- 
ology in  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School. 

Guyot,  his  friend  from  boyhood,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  immense  power  he  exerted  in  this 
country  in  spreading  the  taste  for  natural 
science  and  elevating  the  standard,  says: 

"How  many  leading  students  of  Nature 
are  found  to  call  themselves  his  pupils,  and 
gratefully  acknowledge  their  great  indebted- 
ness to  his  judicious  training?  How  many 
who  now  occupy  scientific  chairs  in  our  pub- 
lic institutions  multiply  his  influence  by 
inculcating  his  methods,  thus  rendering  fu- 
ture success  sure." 

In  this  connection  I  want  to  quote  from 
a  letter  of  one  of  his  students  who  wrote 
me  concerning  his  teaching  as  follows: 

"  The  ideal  of  a  young  scientific  student, 
and  of  every  great  teacher,  is  a  devotion  to 
scientific  research  for  its  own  sake.  Agassiz 
had  that  ideal  extraordinarily  developed,  and 
on  that  account  the  student  was  drawn  to 
him  and  felt  in  a  corresponding  degree  a 
great  influence  on  his  life.  Agassiz  made 
many  and  important  contributions  to  sci- 
ence, but  the  greatest  of  all  was  a  life  which 
embodied  the  ideal  that  scientific  research 
is  an  unselfish  study  of  truth  for  truth's 
sake.  Every  student  who  was  brought  in 
contact  with  Agassiz  recognized  this  ideal, 
and  was  profoundly  influenced  by  it." 

The  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  in 
Cambridge  is  his  most  conspicuous  monu- 
ment, but  his  influence,  more  powerful  than 
bricks  or  mortar,  will  live  forever. 

A  boulder  from  the  glacier  of  the  Aar 
marks  his  last  resting-place  in  Mount  Au- 


541 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Power 


burn,  and  so  "  the  land  of  his  birth  and  the 
land  of  his  adoption  are  united  in  his 
grave."  —  MARCUS  BENJAMIN  Early  Presi- 
dents of  the  American  Association  (Proceed- 
ings of  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  1899). 

2666.  POWER   OF  AIR-CURRENTS— 
Birds  and  Insects  Blown  off  Shore — Insects 
Borne     to     Mountain-tops. — Small     singing 
birds,  and  even  butterflies  (as  I  have  myself 
witnessed    in    the    Pacific),    are    often   met 
with  at  great  distances  from  the  shore  dur- 
ing storms  blowing  off  land.     In  a  similar 
manner  insects  are  involuntarily  carried  into 
the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  to  an 
elevation  of  17,000  to  19,000  feet  above  the 
plains.      The   light   bodies   of   these   insects 
are  borne  upwards  by  the  vertically  ascend- 
ing currents  of  air  caused  by  the  heated  con- 
dition of  the  earth's  surface.     M.  Boussin- 
gault,  an  admirable  chemist,  who  ascended 
the  Gneiss  Mountains  of  Caracas,  while  hold- 
ing  the   appointment    of    Professor   in    the 
newly  established  Mining  Academy  at  Santa 
Fe  de  Bogota,  witnessed,  during  his  ascent 
to  the  summit  of  the  Silla,  a  phenomenon 
which  confirmed  in  a  most  remarkable  man- 
ner this  vertical  ascent  of  air.     He  and  his 
companion,  Don  Mariano  de  Bivero,  observed 
at    noon    a    number    of    luminous,    whitish 
bodies  rise  from  the  valley  of  Caracas  to  the 
summit  of  the  Silla,  an  elevation  of  5,755 
feet,   and   then   sink   towards   the  adjacent 
seacoast.      This    phenomenon    was    uninter- 
ruptedly prolonged  for  a  whole  hour,  when 
it  was  discovered  that  the  bodies,  at  first 
mistaken  for  a  flock  of  small  birds,  were  a 
number    of    minute    balls    of   grass  -  haulm. 
Boussingault  sent  me   some   of  this   grass, 
which  was  immediately  recognized  by  Pro- 
fessor Kunth  as  a  species  of  Vilfa. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  232.    (Bell,  1896.J 

2667.  POWER   OF  CONTROLLED  IN- 
TENSITY— Impulsiveness    Easy.— The  high- 
est form  of  character,  however,   abstractly 
considered,  must  be  full  of  scruples  and  in- 
hibitions.    But  action,  in  such  a  character, 
far   from  being  paralyzed,   will  succeed   in 
energetically    keeping    on    its    way,    some- 
times   overpowering   the   resistances,    some- 
times   steering   along   the   line   where   they 
lie    thinnest.      .      .      .      The    mind    of   him 
whose   fields  of  consciousness   are  complex, 
and  who,  with  the  reasons  for  the  action, 
sees  the  reasons  against  it,  and  yet,  instead 
of  being  palsied,  acts  in  the  way  that  takes 
the  whole  field   into  consideration — such  a 
mind    is   the   ideal    sort    of   mind   that   we 
should    seek    to    reproduce    in    our    pupils. 
Purely  impulsive  action,  or  action  that  pro- 
ceeds   to    extremities    regardless    of    conse- 
quences, on  the  other  hand,  is  the  easiest 
action  in  the  world  and  the  lowest  in  type. 
— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  15,  p.  179. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,   1900.) 

2668.  POWER  OF  ELEMENTAL  FOR- 
CES —  Nature's   Glassmaking  —  Fulgurites  — 
Man's  Imitations  Feeble. — In  a  broad  band 


of  sand-hillocks  [near  the  Rio  Plata]  .  .  . 
I  found  a  group  of  those  vitrified,  siliceous 
tubes  which  are  formed  by  lightning  enter- 
ing loose  sand.  These  tubes  resemble  in 
every  particular  those  from  Drigg,  in  Cum- 
berland, .  .  .  one  of  which  was  traced 
to  a  depth  of  not  less  than  thirty  feet.  The 
internal  surface  is  completely  vitrified,  glos- 
sy, and  smooth.  .  .  .  Their  circumference 
is  about  two  inches,  but  in  some  fragments, 
which  are  cylindrical  and  without  any  fur- 
rows, it  is  as  much  as  four  inches.  .  .  . 
At  Paris  M.  Hachette  and  M.  Beudant  suc- 
ceeded in  making  tubes,  in  most  respects 
similar  to  these  fulgurites,  by  passing  very 
strong  shocks  of  galvanism  through  finely- 
powdered  glass.  .  .  .  One  tube,  formed 
with  pounded  glass,  was  very  nearly  an  inch 
long,  namely,  .982,  and  had  an  internal  di- 
ameter of  .019  of  an  inch.  When  we  hear 
that  the  strongest  battery  in  Paris  was  used, 
and  that  its  power  on  a  substance  of  such 
easy  fusibility  as  glass  was  to  form  tubes 
so  diminutive,  we  must  feel  greatly  aston- 
ished at  the  force  of  a  shock  of  lightning 
which,  striking  the  sand  in  several  places, 
has  formed  cylinders,  in  one  instance  of  at 
least  thirty  feet  long,  and  having  an  internal 
bore,  where  not  compressed,  of  full  an  inch 
and  a  half;  and  this  in  a  material  so  ex- 
traordinarily refractory  as  quartz! — DAR- 
WIN Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the  World, 
ch.  3,  p.  58.  (A.,  1898.) 

2669.  POWER  OF  EVIL  DEPENDENT 
ON  WHAT  IT  FINDS— Bacteria  Produce  Dis- 
ease   in    Disordered    System. — It    has    been 
known  for  some  time  past  that  not  all  wa- 
ters   polluted    with    disease-germs    produce 
disease.     .     .    .    This  may  depend  upon  the 
infective   agent,    its   quantity   and   quality, 
the  body  being  able  in  many  cases  to  resist 
a  small  dose  of  poison.    It  is,  however,  nec- 
essary to  infection,  especially  in  water-borne 
disease,  -that  the  tissues  shall  be  in  some 
degree  disordered.     The  perverted  action  of 
the  stomach  influences  the  acid  secretion  of 
the  gastric  juice,  through  which  bacilli  might 
then  pass  uninjured.    Particularly  must  this 
be  so  in  the  bacillus  of  cholera,  which   is 
readily  killed  by  the  normal  acid  reaction 
of  the  stomach. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2, 
p.   83.      (G.  P.  P.,   1899.) 

2670.  POWER  OF  EXPANSION— Bun- 
ker Hill  Monument  Bent  by  Sunshine. — Every 
day  when  the  sun  shines  the  top  of  Bunker 
Hill  monument  is  thrown  out  of  plumb  sev- 
eral inches  by  the  power  of  expansion.    The 
same  is  true  of  any  tower  or  shaft  construct- 
ed in  the  same  way.    The  side  that  the  sun's 
rays  fall  upon  is  expanded,  while  the  oppo- 
site remains  practically  the  same.     All  the 
molecules  on  the  sunny  side  are  thrown  into 
greater  activity,  and          .          require  more 
space  in  which  to  move.     This   causes  the 
column  to  bend  away  from  the  sun  in  the 
form  of  a   curve. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's 
Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  14,  p.  120.      (F.  H.  & 
H.,  1900.) 


Power 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


542 


2671.  POWER  OF  EXPECTANT  AT- 
TENTION— Officer  Awakes  at  the  Word  "Sig- 
nal"— The    following    remarkable    example 
.     .     .     was  mentioned  to  the  writer  by  the 
late  Sir  Edward  Codrington: 

When  a  young  man,  he  was  serving  as 
signal-lieutenant  under  Lord  Hood  at  the 
time  of  the  investment  of  Toulon ;  and  being 
desirous  of  obtaining  the  favorable  notice 
of  his  commander,  he  applied  himself  to  his 
duty — that  of  watching  for  signals  made  by 
the  "  lookout "  frigates — with  such  energy 
and  perseverance  that  he  often  remained  on 
deck  eighteen  or  nineteen  hours  out  of  the 
twenty-four,  going  below  only  to  sleep. 
During  the  few  hours  which  he  spent  in  re- 
pose his  slumber  was  so  profound  that  no 
noise  of  an  ordinary  kind,  however  loud, 
would  awake  him,  and  it  used  to  be  a  favor- 
ite amusement  with  his  comrades  to  try 
various  experiments  devised  to  test  the 
soundness  of  his  sleep.  But  if  the  word 
"  signal "  was  even  whispered  in  his  ear  he 
was  instantly  aroused,  and  was  fit  for  im- 
mediate duty,  the  constant  direction  of  his 
mind  towards  this  one  object  having  given 
to  the  impression  produced  by  the  softest 
mention  of  its  name  a  power  over  his  brain 
which  no  other  could  exert. 

It  seems  impossible  to  account  for  these 
facts  in  any  other  way  than  by  attributing 
to  the  nerve-centers  a  peculiar  physical  re- 
ceptivity for  impressions  of  some  particular 
class,  which  they  have  acquired  in  virtue  of 
the  previous  direction  of  the  mind  to  them. 
— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
15,  p.  582.  (A.,  1900.) 

2672.  POWER  OF  FLIGHT  LOST  BY 
DISUSE — Wingless  Moths,  Flies,  and  Beetles. 
— Kerguelen    Island     .      .      .     was   visited 
by  the  transit  of  Venus  expedition.     It  is 
one  of  the   stormiest  places   on   the  globe, 
being    subject    to    almost    perpetual    gales, 
while,   there  being  no  wood,    it   is*  almost 
entirely  without  shelter.     The   Rev.   A.   E. 
Eaton,    an    experienced    entomologist,    was 
naturalist  to  the  expedition,  and  he  assidu- 
ously  collected   the   few  insects   that  were 
to  be  found.     All  were  incapable  of  flight, 
and  most  of  them  entirely  without  wings. 
They    included    a    moth,    several    flies,    and 
numerous   beetles.     As  these   insects   could 
hardly  have  reached  the  islands  in  a  wing- 
less   state,    even    if   there   were    any    other 
known  land  inhabited  by  them — which  there 
is  not — we  must  assume  that     .     .     .     they 
were  originally  winged,  and  lost  their  power 
of  fligkt  because  its  possession  was  injurious 
to  them. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  5,  p.  74. 
( Hum. ) 

2673.  POWER   OF    GOOD    INVOLVES 
CAPACITY  OF  FAILURE  —  The  Automaton 
Sure,  but  Helpless. — A  high  brain  may  do 
many  things,  and  may  do  each  of  them  at 
a  very  slight  hint.     But  its  hair-trigger  or- 
ganization  makes    of    it   a   happy-go-lucky, 
hit-or-miss  affair.     It  is  as  likely  to  do  the 
crazy  as  the  sane  thing  at  any  given  mo- 


ment. A  low  brain  does  few  things,  and  in 
doing  them  perfectly  forfeits  all  other  use. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  140. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2674.  POWER  OF  GROWTH—  Growing 
Root  Divides  Earth,  as  Wooden  Wedge  Splits 
Rock. — With    these    facts    before    us,    there 
seems  little  difficulty  in  understanding  how 
a  radicle  penetrates  the  ground.     The  apex 
is  pointed  and  is  protected  by  the  root-cap ; 
the  terminal  growing  part  is  rigid  and  in- 
creases in  length  with  a  force  equal,  as  far 
as  our  observations  can  be  trusted,  to  the 
pressure  of  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  pound, 
probably  with  a  much  greater  force  when 
prevented  from  bending  to  any  side  by  the 
surrounding  earth.     Whilst  thus  increasing 
in  length  it  increases  in  thickness,  pushing 
away  the  damp  earth  on  all  sides,  with  a 
force  of  above  8  pounds  in  one  case,  of  3 
pounds  in  another  case.   It  was  impossible  to 
decide  whether  the  actual  apex  exerts,  rela- 
tively to  its  diameter,  the  same  transverse 
strain  as  the  parts  a  little  higher  up;  but 
there  seems  no  reason  to   doubt  that  this 
would  be  the  case.    The  growing  part,  there- 
fore, does  not  act  like  a  nail  when  hammered 
into  a  board,  but  more  like  a  wedge  of  wood, 
which  whilst  slowly  driven  into   a  crevice 
continually  expands  at  the  same  time  by  the 
absorption  of  water;  and  a  wedge  thus  act- 
ing will  split  even  a  mass  of  rock. — DARWIN 
Power  of  Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  2,  p.  78. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2675.  POWER   OF  HABIT— Automatic 
Action — Without   Reflection   or   Even    Con- 
sciousness Accomplishes  the  Ends  of  Voli- 
tion.— Actions  originally  prompted  by  con- 
scious intelligence  may  grow  so  automatic 
by  dint  of  habit  as  to  be  apparently  uncon- 
sciously performed.    Standing,  walking,  but- 
toning and  unbuttoning,  piano-playing,  talk- 
ing, even  saying  one's  prayers,  may  be  done 
when  the  mind  is  absorbed  in  other  things. 
The  performances  of  animal  instinct  seem 
semi-automatic,  and  the  reflex  acts  of  self- 
preservation  certainly  are  so.     Yet  they  re- 
semble intelligent  acts  in  bringing  about  the 
same  ends  at  which  the  animal's  conscious- 
ness, on  other  occasions,  deliberately  aims. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  5.     (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2676.  POWER  OF  HIGHER  FACULTIES 

— More  Persistent  than  That  of  Lower — In- 
tellect Rallies  from  Shock  before  Sense-per- 
ception.— Under  ordinary  circumstances  the 
discharge  from  a  small  Ley  den  jar  is  exceed- 
ingly unpleasant  to  me.  Some  time  ago  I 
happened  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  nu- 
merous audience,  with  a  battery  of  fifteen 
large  Leyden  jars  charged  beside  me. 
Through  some  awkwardness  on  my  part  I 
touched  a  wire  leading  from  the  battery, 
and  the  discharge  went  through  my  body. 
Life  was  absolutely  blotted  out  for  a  very 
sensible  interval,  without  a  trace  of  pain. 
In  a  second  or  so  consciousness  returned; 


543 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Power 


I  vaguely  discerned  the  audience  and  ap- 
paratus, and  by  the  help  of  these  external 
appearances  immediately  concluded  that  I 
had  received  the  battery  discharge.  The  in- 
tellectual consciousness  of  my  position  was 
restored  with  exceeding  rapidity,  but  not  so 
the  optical  consciousness.  To  prevent  the 
audience  from  being  alarmed  I  observed  that 
it  had  often  been  my  desire  to  receive  acci- 
dentally such  a  shock,  and  that  my  wish 
had  at  length  been  fulfilled.  But  while  ma- 
king this  remark  the  appearance  which  my 
body  presented  to  my  eyes  was  that  of  a 
number  of  separate  pieces.  The  arms,  for 
example,  were  detached  from  the  trunk,  and 
seemed  suspended  in  the  air.  In  fact,  mem- 
ory and  the  power  of  reasoning  appeared 
to  be  complete  long  before  the  optic  nerve 
was  restored  to  healthy  action. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  21,  p.  442. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2677.  POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY 

— Pain  from  Imaginary  Wound. — "  A  butcher 
was  brought  into  the  shop  of  Mr.  Macfarlan, 
the  druggist,  from  the  market-place  oppo- 
site, laboring  under  a  terrible  accident.  The 
man,  on  trying  to  hook  up  a  heavy  piece  of 
meat  above  his  head,  slipped,  and  the  sharp 
hook  penetrated  his  arm,  so  that  he  himself 
was  suspended.  On  being  examined  he  was 
pale,  almost  pulseless,  and  expressed  him- 
self as  suffering  acute  agony.  The  arm  could 
not  be  moved  without  causing  excessive  pain, 
and  in  cutting  off  the  sleeve  he  frequently 
cried  out;  yet  when  the  arm  was  exposed,  it 
was  found  to  be  quite  uninjured,  the  hook 
having  only  traversed  the  sleeve  of  his 
coat." — BENNET  The  Mesmeric  Mania  of 
1851,  quoted  by  CARPENTER  in  Nature  and 
Man,  bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  158.  (A.,  1900.) 

2678.  POWER    OF    MUSCLES    IN- 
STANTLY AVAILABLE—  Tension  Maintained 
in  Rest. — During  rest  or  inactivity  a  mus- 
cle has  a  slight  but  very  perfect  elasticity; 
it   admits   of   being  considerably  stretched, 
but  returns   readily  and  completely  to   its 
normal    length.      In    the    living    body    the 
muscles  are  always  stretched  somewhat  be- 
yond their  natural  length;  they  are  always 
in  a  condition  of  slight  tension,  an  arrange- 
ment which  enables  the  whole  force  of  the 
contraction  to  be  utilized  in  approximating 
the  points  of  attachment.    It  is  obvious  that 
if  the  muscles  were  lax  the   first   part  of 
the  contraction  till  the  muscle  became  tight 
would    be    wasted.  —  BAKER    Handbook    of 
Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  22.      (W.  W., 
1885.) 

2679.  POWER  OF  QUIET  PROCESS— 

Simmering  Water  Cooks  Food  Effectually. 
— As  a  medium  for  heating  the  substances 
to  be  cooked,  simmering  water  is  just  as  ef- 
fective as  "  walloping "  water.  There  are 
exceptional  operations  of  cookery,  wherein 
useful  mechanical  work  is  done  by  violent 
boiling;  but  in  all  ordinary  cookery  sim- 
mering is  just  as  effective.  The  heat  that 


is  applied  to  do  more  than  the  smallest  de- 
gree of  simmering  is  simply  wasted  in  con- 
verting water  into  useless  steam.  The 
amount  of  such  waste  may  be  easily  esti- 
mated. To  raise  a  given  quantity  of  water 
from  the  freezing-  to  the  boiling-point  de- 
mands an  amount  of  heat  represented  by 
180°  in  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  or  100° 
centigrade.  To  convert  this  into  steam  990° 
F.,  or  550°  C.,  is  necessary — just  five  and  a 
half  -times  as  much. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry 
of  Cookery,  ch.  2,  p.  15.  (A.,  1900.) 


268O. 


The  Spring  vs.  the 


Volcano. — Altho  the  violent  and  paroxysmal 
outbursts  of  volcanic  mountains  arrest  the 
attention,  and  powerfully  impress  us  with 
a  sense  of  the  volcanic  activity  going  on 
beneath  the  earth's  surface,  yet  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  quantity  of  heat 
which  the  earth  gets  rid  of  by  their  means 
at  all  approaches  in  amount  that  which  is 
quietly  dissipated  by  means  of  the  numerous 
"  stufas,"  gaseous  exhalations,  and  thermal 
springs  which  occur  in  such  abundance  all 
over  its  surface.  For  while  the  former  are 
intermittent  in  their  action,  and  powerful 
outbursts  are  interrupted  by  long  periods 
of  rest,  the  action  of  the  latter,  tho  feeble, 
is  usually  continuous. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch. 
8,  p.  218.  (A.,  1899.) 

2681.  POWER    OF    SLOW-MOVING 

MASS — Glacier  Plows  Away  Hill.  —  The 
snout  of  a  glacier  is  potent  to  remove  any- 
thing against  which  it  can  fairly  abut;  and 
this  power,  notwithstanding  the  slowness  of 
the  motion,  manifests  itself  at  the  end  of 
the  Morteratsch  glacier.  A  hillock,  bearing 
pine-trees,  was  in  front  of  the  glacier  when 
Mr.  Hirst  and  myself  inspected  its  end,  and 
this  hillock  is  being  bodily  removed  by  the 
thrust  of  the  ice.  Several  of  the  trees  are 
overturned,  and  in  a  few  years,  if  the  gla- 
cier continues  its  reputed  advance,  the 
mound  will  certainly  be  plowed  away. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  ch.  9,  p.  249. 
(A.,  1897.) 

2682.  POWER  OF  THE  INVISIBLE— 

Energy  of  Molecules — Their  Rebound  Turns 
the  Radiometer. — The  radiometer,  to  be  seen 
in  almost  every  optician's  window,  was  in- 
vented by  Sir  William  Crookes  in  1873,  and 
consists  of  an  exceedingly  delicate  windmill, 
formed  of  four  very  slender  arms  supporting 
thin  metal  or  pith  disks,  one  side  of  which 
is  blackened,  the  whole  turning  on  a  fine 
central  point,  so  as  to  revolve  with  hardly 
any  friction.  The  little  machine  is  enclosed 
in  a  glass  bulb  from  which  nearly  all  the  air 
has  been  extracted ;  and  when  exposed  to  the 
sun,  or  even  to  diffused  daylight,  the  disks 
revolve  with  considerable  speed.  At  first 
this  motion  was  supposed  to  be  caused  by 
the  direct  impact  of  the  rays  of  light,  .the 
almost  complete  vacuum  only  serving  to 
diminish  friction;  but  the  explanation  now 
generally  adopted  is  that  the  black  surfaces 
of  the  vanes,  absorbing  heat,  become  slightly 


Power 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


544 


warmer  than  the  white  surfaces,  and  this 
greater  warmth  is  communicated  to  the  air- 
molecules,  and  causes  them  to  rebound  with 
greater  rapidity  from  the  dark  surfaces  and 
back  again  from  the  glass  of  the  vessel,  and 
the  reaction,  being  all  in  one  direction, 
causes  the  arms  to  revolve.  The  near  ap- 
proach to  a  vacuum  is  necessary,  both  to  di- 
minish resistance,  and  by  greatly  reducing 
the  number  of  molecules  in  the  vessel,  to 
allow  the  very  small  differential  action  to 
produce  a  sensible  effect.  Sir  William 
Crookes  has  found  that  there  is  a  degree 
of  rarefaction  where  the  action  is  at  a  maxi- 
mum, and  that  when  a  nearer  approach 
to  a  perfect  vacuum  is  attained  the  motion 
rapidly  diminishes.  A  proof  is  thus  given 
of  the  correctness  of  the  explanation,  and 
the  instrument  may,  therefore,  be  considered 
to  afford  us  an  experimental  illustration  of 
the  molecular  theory  of  gases. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  8,  p.  59.  (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


2683 


Heat-waves   Con- 


trasted with  Rays  of  Light. — Besides  those 
which  produce  light,  the  sun  sends  forth  in- 
cessantly a  multitude  of  waves  which  pro- 
duce no  light.  The  largest  waves  which  the 
sun  sends  forth  are  of  this  non-luminous 
character,  tho  they  possess  the  highest  heat- 
ing power. 

A  common  sunbeam  contains  waves  of  all 
kinds,  but  it  is  possible  to  sift  or  filter  the 
beam  so  as  to  intercept  all  its  light,  and  to 
allow  its  obscure  heat  to  pass  unimpeded. 
For  substances  have  been  discovered  which, 
while  intensely  opaque  to  the  light-waves, 
are  almost  perfectly  transparent  to  the 
others.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible, 
by  the  choice  of  proper  substances,  to  inter- 
cept in  a  great  degree  the  pure  heat-waves, 
and  to  allow  the  pure  light-waves  free  trans- 
mission. .  .  .  Supposing,  then,  that  we 
withdraw,  in  the  first  instance,  the  large 
heat-waves  and  allow  the  light-waves  alone 
to  pass.  These  may  be  concentrated  by 
suitable  lenses  and  sent  into  water  without 
sensibly  warming  it.  Let  the  light-waves 
now  be  withdrawn  and  the  larger  heat-waves 
concentrated  in  the  same  manner;  they  may 
be  caused  to  boil  the  water  almost  instanta- 
neously. .  .  .  The  light- waves,  even  when 
concentrated  to  the  uttermost,  are  unable 
to  melt  the  most  delicate  hoar-frost. — TYN- 
DALL  Forms  of  Water,  p.  12.  (A.,  1899.) 


2684. 


The  Sun's  Attract- 


ive Energy. — The  sun,  besides  sustaining  us 
by  his  light-giving  and  heat-supplying  pow- 
ers, keeps  us  always  near  to  him  by  that 
mighty  force  of  attraction  which  his  vast 
bulk  enables  him  to  exert.  When  we  look 
at  the  sun  as  he  rises  ( even  as  "  the  glory 
of  God  coming  from  the  way  of  the  east ") 
how  seldom  is  the  thought  present  in  our 
minds  that  in  that  ruddy  orb  there  exists 
the  most  tremendous  power,  swaying  not 
only  this  vast  globe  on  which  we  live,  but 


orbs  yet  vaster  than  she  is  and  traveling 
on  far  wider  courses. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of 
Heaven,  ch.  2,  p.  13.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


2685. 


Transporting  Ac- 


tion of  the  Wind — Granite  Cliffs  Blown 
Away. — The  transporting  action  of  the  wind, 
or  "  deflation,"  as  it  is  termed,  goes  on  with- 
out ceasing  day  and  night  and  during  all 
seasons;  and  the  result  is  seen  in  the  deep- 
ly eroded  rocks,  enormous  masses  of  which, 
it  can  be  shown,  have  been  thus  gradually 
removed.  The  evidence  of  denudation  is  con- 
spicuous, but  its  products  have  for  the  most 
part  been  carried  away.  In  some  places,  as 
Professor  Walther  remarks  of  the  Libyan 
Desert,  are  great  walls  of  granite  rising  to 
heights  of  6,000  feet,  but  showing  no  slopes 
of  de"bris  below,  as  would  infallibly  be  pres- 
ent under  temperate  conditions  of  climate. 
In  other  places,  again,  are  deeply  excavated 
wadies  containing  no  beds  of  gravel,  grit, 
and  sand,  such  as  would  not  fail  to  show 
themselves  had  the  depressions  in  question 
been  formed  by  water-action  alone.  Every- 
where deep,  cavelike  hollows  have  been  worn 
out  in  the  rocks,  and  yet  these  hold  no  sedi- 
ment or  detritus,  but  are  swept  bare.  The 
wind  tends,  in  short,  to  transport  all  loose 
material  from  the  scene  of  its  origin  to  the 
borders  of  the  desert. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculp- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  24.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 


2686. 


Unseen  Rays  of 


Spectrum  Rich  in  Heat. — The  great  pioneer 
in  this  domain  of  science  [the  study  of  radi- 
ation] was  Sir  William  Herschel.  Causing 
a  beam  of  solar  light  to  pass  through  a 
prism,  he  resolved  it  into  its  colored  con- 
stituents; he  formed  what  is  technically 
called  the  solar  spectrum.  Exposing  ther- 
mometers to  the  successive  colors,  he  de- 
termined their  heating  power,  and  found  it 
to  augment  from  the  violet  or  most  re- 
fracted end  to  the  red  or  least  refracted 
end  of  the  spectrum.  But  he  did  not  stop 
here.  Pushing  his  thermometers  into  the 
dark  space  beyond  the  red,  he  found  that, 
tho  the  light  had  disappeared,  the  radiant 
heat  falling  on  the  instruments  was  more 
intense  than  that  at  any  visible  part  of  the 
spectrum.  In  fact,  Sir  William  Herschel 
showed,  and  his  results  have  been  verified 
by  various  philosophers  since  his  time,  that, 
besides  its  luminous  rays,  the  sun  pours 
forth  a  multitude  of  other  rays,  more  pow- 
erfully calorific  than  the  luminous  ones,  but 
entirely  unsuited  to  the  purposes  of  vision. 
— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  ch.  2,  p. 
32.  (A.,  1897.) 

2687. Unseen  Rays  of 

Spectrum  Yield  Chemical  Energy,  as  Well  as 
Heat. — At  the  less  refrangible  end  of  the 
solar  spectrum,  then,  the  range  of  the  sun's 
radiation  is  not  limited  by  that  of  the  eye. 
The  same  statement  applies  to  the  more  re- 
frangible end.  Hitter  discovered  the  exten- 
sion of  the  spectrum  into  the  invisible  region 
beyond  the  violet,  and  in  recent  times  this 


545 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Power 


ultraviolet  emission  has  had  peculiar  inter- 
est conferred  upon  it  by  the  admirable  re- 
searches of  Professor  Stokes.  The  complete 
spectrum  of  the  sun  consists,  therefore,  of 
three  distinct  parts:  first,  of  ultrared  rays 
of  high  heating  power,  but  unsuited  to  the 
purposes  of  vision;  secondly,  of  luminous 
rays  which  display  the  succession  of  colors, 
red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo,  vio- 
let; thirdly,  of  ultraviolet  rays  which,  like 
the  ultrared  ones,  are  incompetent  to  excite 
vision,  but  which,  unlike  the  ultrared  rays, 
possess  a  very  feeble  heating  power.  In 
consequence,  however,  of  their  chemical  en- 
ergy these  ultraviolet  rays  are  of  the  ut- 
most importance  to  the  organic  world. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  ch.  2,  p.  32, 
(A.,  1897.) 

2688.  POWER  OF  THE  &UTX— Greater 
than  the  Conjectures  of  Its  Ancient  Worship- 
ers.— At  the  return  of  the  equinox  the  ris- 
ing of  the  sun,  the  god  of  day,  the  king  of 
light,   was   saluted   by   the   Incas  from  the 
heights    of   their    cyclopean    terraces.      The 
same  adoration,  the  same  worship,   is  met 
with  among  all  the  ancient  peoples.     With- 
out yet  taking   into  account  the   real   size 
and  the  incomparable  importance  of  the  daz- 
zling star,  they  already  knew  that  he  is  the 
father  of  terrestrial  Nature;  they  knew  that 
it  is  his  heat  which  supports  life ;  they  knew 
that  it  is  he  who  makes  the  trees  in  the 
forests  to  grow,  the  stream  to  flow  in  the 
valley,  the  flowers  of  the  meadow  to  bloom, 
the  bird  to   sing  in  the  wood,  the   cereals 
and  the  vines  to  ripen,  and  they  hailed  in 
him    their    father,    their   friend,    and    their 
protector. 

Modern  science  has  not  only  confirmed 
but  increased  tenfold,  a  hundredfold,  the 
ancient  conjectures.  The  sun's  light,  heat, 
and  power  are  as  much  above  the  an- 
cient ideas  as  the  poetry  of  Nature 
is  above  our  interpretation.  No  light  cre- 
ated by  human  industry  can  be  compared 
with  his.  Interposed  before  his  disk,  the 
brilliant  electric  light  appears  black.  The 
highest  temperatures  of  our  furnaces,  that 
of  the  melting  of  gold,  of  silver,  of  platinum, 
of  iron,  are  but  ice  compared  with  the  solar 
heat. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk. 
iii,  ch.  3,  p.  243.  (A.) 

2689.  POWER     OF    TWINING    OR 
CLIMBING  INNATE—  Wonderful  Adaptations. 
— That  the   movements   of   climbing   plants 
consist   of   ordinary    circumnutation,    modi- 
fied by  being  increased  in  amplitude,  is  well 
exhibited  whilst  the  plants  are  very  young; 
for  at  this  early  age  they  move  like  other 
seedlings,  but  as  they  grow  older  their  move- 
ments   gradually    increase    without    under- 
going any  other  change.     That  this   power 
is  innate,  and  is  not  excited  by  any  external 
agencies,  beyond  those  necessary  for  growth 
and  vigor,  is  obvious.     No  one  doubts  that 
this    power   has   been   gained    for    the   sake 
of  enabling  climbing  plants  to  ascend  to  a 
height,  and  thus  to  reach  the  light.     This 


is  effected  by  two  very  different  methods — 
first  by  twining  spirally  round  a  support, 
but  to  do  so  their  stems  must  be  long  and 
flexible;  and  secondly,  in  the  case  of  leaf- 
climbers  and  tendril-bearers,  by  bringing 
these  organs  'into  contact  with  a  support, 
which  is  then  seized  by  the  aid  of  their 
sensitiveness.  It  may  be  here  remarked  that 
these  latter  movements  have- no  relation,  as 
far  as  we  can  judge,  with  circumnutation. 
In  other  cases  the  tips  of  tendrils,  after 
having  been  brought  into  contact  with  a  sup- 
port, become  developed  into  little  disks 
which  adhere  firmly  to  it. — DARWIN  Power 
of  Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  5,  p.  267.  (A., 
1900.) 

2690.  POWER  OF  UNAIDED  VISION 

— May  Even  Surpass  Telescope — Visibility 
of  Distant  Objects — White  on  Black  More 
Distinct  than  Black  on  White. — During  my 
visit  at  a  charming  country-seat  .  .  .  not 
far  from  Quito,  where  the  long-extended 
crests  of  the  volcano  of  Pichincha  lay 
stretched  before  me  at  a  horizontal  distance 
trigonometrically  determined  at  more  than 
90,000  feet,  I  was  much  struck  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  Indians  who  were  stand- 
ing near  me  distinguished  the  figure  of  my 
traveling  companion  Bonpland  (who  was 
engaged  in  an  expedition  to  the  volcano) 
as  a  white  point  moving  on  the  black  ba- 
saltic sides  of  the  rock,  sooner  than  we  could 
discover  him  with  our  telescopes.  The  white 
moving  image  was  soon  detected  with  the 
naked  eye  both  by  myself  and  by  my  friend. 
.  .  .  Bonpland  was  enveloped  in  a  white 
cotton  mantle,  the  poncho  of  the  country; 
assuming  the  breadth  across  the  shoulders 
to  vary  from  three  to  five  feet,  according  as 
the  mantle  clung  to  the  figure  or  fluttered 
in  the  breeze,  and  judging  from  the  known 
distance,  we  found  that  the  angle  at  which 
the  moving  object  could  be  distinctly  seen 
varied  from  7"  to  12".  White  objects  on  a 
black  ground  are,  according  to  Hueck's  re- 
peated experiments,  distinguished  at  a  great- 
er distance  than  black  objects  on  a  white 
ground.  .  .  .  Gauss's  heliotrope  light, 
which  has  become  so  important  an  element 
in  German  trigonometrical  measurements, 
has  been  seen  with  the  naked  eye  reflected 
from  the  Brocken  on  Hohenhagen,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  about  227,000  feet,  or  more  than 
42  miles. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  55. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2691.  POWER,  PHILOSOPHIC,  COM- 
BINED   WITH    MEMORY— If     ...     we 

consider  the  brain  to  be  the  organic  condi- 
tion by  which  the  vestiges  of  our  experience 
are  associated  with  each  other,  we  may 
suppose  that  some  brains  are  "  wax  to 
receive  and  marble  to  retain."  The  slightest 
impressions  made  on  them  abide.  Names, 
dates,  prices,  anecdotes,  quotations,  are  in- 
delibly retained,  their  several  elements  fixed- 
ly cohering  together,  so  that  the  individual 
soon  becomes  a  walking  cyclopedia  of  in- 
formation. .  .  .  And  when  both  memory 


p?, 


wer 
'rayer 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


546 


and  philosophy  combine  together  in  one  per- 
son, then,  indeed,  we  have  the  highest  sort  of 
intellectual  efficiency.  Your  Walter  Scotts, 
your  Leibnitzes,  your  Gladstones,  and  your 
Goethes,  all  your  folio  copies  of  mankind, 
belong  to  this  type.  Efficiency  on  a  colossal 
scale  would  indeed  seem  to  require  it.  For, 
altho  your  philosophic  or  systematic  mind 
without  good,  desultory  memory  may  know 
how  to  work  out  results  and  recollect  where 
in  the  books  to  find  them,  the  time  lost 
in  the  searching  process  handicaps  the 
thinker,  and  gives  to  the  more  ready  type 
of  individual  the  economical  advantage. — 
JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  12,  p.  120. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2692.  POWER    STORED    IN    COAL- 
FIELDS— Millions  of  Horses  Could  Not  Equal. 
— We  dig  annually  84  millions  of  tons   of 
coal  from  our  pits.     The  amount  of  mechan- 
ical  force   represented  by  this  quantity  of 
coal  seems  perfectly  fabulous.     The  combus- 
tion of  a  single  pound  of  coal,  supposing  it 
to  take  place  in  a  minute,  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  the  work  of  300  horses;   and  if  we 
suppose  108  millions  of  horses  working  day 
and  night  with  unimpaired  strength   for  a 
year,    their    united    energies    would    enable 
them  to  perform  an  amount  of  work  just 
equivalent  to  that  which  the  annual  produce 
of  our  coal-fields   would  be  able  to  accom- 
plish.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
i,  ch.  16,  p.  373.     (A.,  1897.) 

2693.  POWER  UNDESIRABLE  WITH- 
OUT BENEFICENCE  —  A    cold    and    inert 
mass  of  matter,  however,  would  be  able  to 
do  all  that  the  sun  does  by  his  mere  mass, 
and  yet  be  utterly  unfit  to  be,  like  him,  the 
ruler  over  a  scheme  of  circling  worlds.     The 
glory  of  the  sun  is  not  in  his  strength  alone. 
As  Sir  John  Herschel  has  well  said,  "  Giant 
size  and  giant  strength   are  ugly  qualities 
without  beneficence."     But  the  sun   is  the 
almoner  of  the  Almighty,  the  delegated  dis- 
penser to  us  of  light  and  warmth,  as  well 
as  the  center   of   attraction. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  ch.  2,  p.  15.     (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

2694.  POWERS,  MECHANICAL,  ALL 
USED  BY  PRIMITIVE  MAN— The  mechan- 
ical powers,  in  the  order  of  their  simplicity, 
are  the  inclined  plane,  the  wedge,  lever,  the 
roller,  the  pulley,  the  wheel  and  axle,  and 
the  screw.    These  devices  for  converting  time 
and    weight   and   velocity    into   momentum, 
and  for  changing  the  direction  and  character 
of  momentum,  are  at  the  foundation  of  the 
modern  intricate  machinery.     But  the  sim- 
plest forms  of  all  these  useful  things  were 
elaborated  by  primitive  mechanics  with  what 
little   suggestion   they   could  get   from    the 
animal  world.     The  inclined  plane,  both  for 
rolling  and  sliding  friction,  as  well  as  for 
convenience  in  walking,  is  too  easy  to  dwell 
upon.     The  Eskimo  sledge  men,  the  hunter 
dragging  his  game,  the  fishermen  on  a  slo- 
ping beach  landing  a  great  sea  monster  or  a 


canoe,  the  Indians  of  the  canons  making  a 
trail,  the  Caribs  launching  a  pirogue,  the 
mound-builders  or  the  Mexicans  ascending 
a  great  ceremonial  earthwork,  were  equally 
skilled  in  selecting  a  gentle  slope  or  in  ma- 
king one.  The  natives  of  British  Columbia 
make  skids  of  stout  saplings,  and  on  them 
roll  up  the  logs  that  are  to  form  the  plate 
pieces  of  their  communal  dwellings,  holding 
them  in  position  by  means  of  shore  poles. 
The  great  stone  buildings  of  Mexico,  Central 
America,  and  Peru  were  the  work  of  men's 
hands,  with  no  aid  from  animals  or  nat- 
ural powers.  The  invariable  association  of 
all  such  structures  with  sloping  earthworks 
and  pyramids  points  to  the  chief  mechanic- 
al power  known  to  the  builders.  An  addi- 
tional value  is  given  to  the  inclined  plane 
in  that  it  allows  the  cooperation  of  as  many 
individuals  as  are  necessary,  and  it  also 
lends  itself  to  cooperation  with  the  other 
powers.  The  wedge  was  in  universal  use 
among  the  American  native  mechanics.  .  .  . 
The  wedges  were  always  made  of  the  hard- 
est material  known  in  any  region.  Wood, 
ivory,  elkhorn,  bone,  and  even  hammered 
copper  did  service. — ~M,Aso?f  Aboriginal  Amer- 
ican Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  the  Internation- 
al Congress  of  Anthropology,  p.  74).  (Sch. 
P.  C.) 

2695.  POWERS,    MECHANICAL,  AN- 
TEDATE HISTORY—  The  Lever,  Roller,  In- 
dined  Plane,  and  Pulley  Known  in  Ancient 
Egypt. — As  to  how  simple  mechanical  pow- 
ers were   first   learned,   it  is  of  no  use   to 
guess  in  what  rude  and  early  age  men  found 
that   stones   or   blocks   too   weighty   to   lift 
by  hand  could  be  prized  up  and  moved  along 
with  a  stout  stick,  or  rolled  on  two  or  three 
round  poles,  or  got  up  a  long,  gentle  slope 
more  easily  than  up  a  short,  steep  rise.  Thus 
such  discoveries  as  those  of  the  lever,  roller, 
and  inclined  plane  are  quite  out  of  historical 
reach.     The  ancient  Egyptians  used  wedges 
to  split  off  their  huge  blocks  of  stone,  and 
one  wonders   that,   knowing  the  pulleys   as 
they  did,  it  never  appears  in  the  rigging  of 
their  ships.     ...     A  draw-well,  with  a 
pulley,  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Assyrian  sculp- 
tures, where  also  a  huge  winged  bull  is  being 
heaved  along  with  levers,  and  dragged  on  a 
sledge  with  rollers  laid  underneath. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  8,  p.  198.      (A.,  1899.) 

2696.  POWERS,  UNUSED,  PERISH— 

The  Eyes  of  the  Mole  Atrophied — Blind 
Fishes  in  Caves. — There  are  certain  bur- 
rowing animals — the  mole,  for  instance — 
which  have  taken  to  spending  their  lives 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground.  And 
Nature  has  taken  her  revenge  upon  them  in 
a  thoroughly  natural  way — she  has  closed 
up  their  eyes.  If  they  mean  to  live  in  dark- 
ness, she  argues,  eyes  are  obviously  a  super- 
fluous function.  By  neglecting  them  these 
animals  made  it  clear  they  do  not  want 
them.  And  as  one  of  Nature's  fixed  prin- 
ciples is  that  nothing  shall  exist  in  vain, 
the  eyes  are  presently  taken  away,  or  re- 


547 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Power 
Prayer 


duced  to  a  rudimentary  state.  There  are 
fishes  also  which  have  had  to  pay  the  same 
terrible  forfeit  for  having  made  their  abode 
in  dark  caverns,  where  eyes  can  never  be 
required.  And  in  exactly  the  same  way  the 
spiritual  eye  must  die  and  lose  its  power  by 
purely  natural  law  if  the  soul  choose  to 
walk  in  darkness  rather  than  in  light. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  2,  p.  99.  (H.  Al.) 

2697.  PRACTISE,    EFFECT    OF— Ma- 
chine Runs  More  Easily  by   Use — Exertion 
Secures   Increased   Supply — Nerve   Stimula- 
tion  More  Readily   Set    Up. — A   movement 
which  takes  place  again  and  again  in  the 
same  direction  comes  by  degrees  to  follow 
this  direction  more  readily  than  any  other, 
and  will   presently  be   unaffected   by   influ- 
ences which  at  first  would  have  had  no  dif- 
ficulty   in    diverting    it.      When    water    is 
poured  upon  the  ground  it  forms  a  channel 
for   itself.      Its   initial   direction  may  have 
been  determined  by  the  merest  accident,  but, 
once  determined,  is  adhered  to,  and  the  more 
certainly  the  oftener  we  pour.     When  a  ma- 
chine is  set  in  motion  there  is  always  the 
same  resistance  of  mass  to  be  overcome  in 
its  various   parts;   but  friction   is   lessened 
by    the    wearing    and    smoothing    of    part 
against  part,  so  that  a  machine  which  has 
been  going  for  some  time  usually  runs  more 
easily  than  a  new  one  or  cne  which  has  lain 
for   a   long  time  unused.     If  you   let  your 
watch  run  down,  and  do  not  wind  it  up  for 
a   fortnight,    you    know    that   it    is  always 
liable  to  stop  until  it  has  been  going  again 
for  a  week  or  so.     Now  there  is  good  evi- 
dence for  the  view  that  the  same  thing  holds 
of  neural  processes.     If  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  executing  some  definite  muscular  move- 
ment we  know  that  it  gradually  becomes 
easier — t.  e.,  can  be  made  with  less  expendi- 
ture   of    force.      What   we   call    "  practise " 
consists  simply  in  changes  of  this  sort.     The 
execution  of  a  practised  movement  becomes 
easier    because    the    stimulation-process    in 
nerve  and  muscle  is  the  more  easily  set  up 
the   more   frequently   it   is   repeated.      This 
process  is  originated  by  an   increased  sup- 
ply of  the  elements  essential  to  the  tissues; 
so  that  exercised  muscles  show  an  increase 
in  the  mass  of  their  contractile  substance. — 
WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  9,  p.   144.      (Son. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

2698.  PRACTISE   MUST  BE  SUP- 
PORTED BY  THEORY—  Closet  Workers  Need- 
ful to  Sustain  Industrial  Achievement. — To 
keep  society  as  regards  science  in  healthy 
play,  three  classes  of  workers  are  necessary : 
Firstly,   the   investigator   of  natural   truth, 
whose  vocation  it  is  to  pursue  that  truth, 
and  extend   the   field   of   discovery   for   the 
truth's  own  sake,  and  without  reference  to 
practical    ends.      Secondly,    the    teacher    of 
natural  truth,  whose  vocation  it  is  to  give 
public   diffusion   to   the   knowledge    already 
won  by  the  discoverer.     Thirdly,  the  applier 
of   natural   truth,   whose   vocation   it  is   to 


make  scientific  knowledge  available  for  the 
needs,  comforts,  and  luxuries  of  civilized 
life.  These  three  classes  ought  to  coexist 
and  interact.  Now,  the  popular  notion  of 
science,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Eng- 
land, often  relates  not  to  science  strictly 
so  called,  but  to  the  applications  of  science. 
Such  applications,  especially  on  this  conti- 
nent, are  so  astounding — they  spread  them- 
selves so  largely  and  umbrageously  before 
the  public  eye — that  they  often  shut  out 
from  view  those  workers  who  are  engaged 
in  the  quieter  and  profounder  business  of 
original  investigation. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  219.  (A.,  1898.) 

2699.  PRACTISE  TRANSFORMS 
VOLUNTARY  INTO  AUTOMATIC  MOVE- 
MENT —  Practise  always  implies  that  an 
action  which  at  first  was  performed  volun- 
tarily has  gradually  become  reflex  and  au- 
tomatic. Thus  when  the  child  learns  to 
walk,  the  taking  of  each  single  step  is  ac- 
companied by. a  considerable  effort  of  will; 
but  after  a  time  and  by  slow  degrees  it  be- 
comes able  to  initiate  a  whole  series  of  move- 
ments without  attending  to  their  execution 
in  detail.  In  the  same  way  we  learn  to 
play  the  pianoforte  or  to  execute  other  com- 
plicated movements  of  the  hands  by  frequent 
repetition  of  particular  and  connected  acts, 
and  their  consequent  transformation  into  a 
chain  of  effects  which  follow  each  other 
with  mechanical  certainty  when  once  the 
appropriate  impulse  has  been  given.  Now 
the  modifications  which  the  nervous  system 
undergoes  during  the  life  of  the  individual, 
in  consequence  of  the  mechanizing  of  these 
practised  movements,  must  naturally,  like 
all  other  modifications  of  the  same  kind, 
be  summated  and  intensified  in  the  course 
of  generations.  The  purposive  character  of 
the  reflexes  becomes  then  readily  intelligible, 
if  we  regard  them  as  resulting  from  the 
voluntary  action  of  previous  generations. — 
WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  15,  p.  227.  (Son. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

2 7 GO.  PRAYER  A  UNIVERSAL  IM- 
PULSE— Will  Persist  Spite  of  All  Discussion. 
— We  hear,  in  these  days  of  scientific  en- 
lightenment, a  great  deal  of  discussion  about 
the  efficacy  of  prayer;  and  many  reasons 
are  given  us  why  we  should  not  pray,  whilst 
others  are  given  us  why  we  should.  But 
in  all  this  very  little  is-  said  of  the  reason 
why  we  do  pray,  which  is  simply  that  we 
cannot  help  praying.  It  seems  probable  that, 
in  spite  of  all  that  "  science "  may  do  to 
the  contrary,  men  will  continue  to  pray  to 
the  end  of  time,  unless  their  mental  nature 
changes  in  a  manner  which  nothing  we  know 
should  lead  us  to  expect.  The  impulse  to 
pray  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  fact 
that  whilst  the  innermost  of  the  empirical 
selves  of  a  man  is  a  self  of  the  social  sort, 
it  yet  can  find  its  only  adequate  socius  in 
an  ideal  world. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i, 
ch.  10,  p.  316.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


lyer 

•cisioii 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


548 


2  7  0 1 .  PRAYER  CANNOT  BENEFIT  BY 
FALSE  PRETENSE  —Preaching  to  Oneself 
under  Guise  of  Praying  to  God. — We  find 
many  men  now  facing  the  consequences  to 
which  they  have  given  their  intellectual 
assent,  and  taking  their  stand  upon  the 
ground  that  prayer  to  God  has  no  other 
value  or  effect  than  so  far  as  it  may  be  a 
good  way  of  preaching  to  ourselves.  It  is 
a  useful  and  helpful  exercise  for  our  own 
spirits,  but  it  is  nothing  more.  But  how 
can  they  pray  who  have  come  to  this?  Can 
it  ever  be  useful  or  helpful  to  believe  a  lie? 
That  which  has  been  threatened  as  the  worst 
of  all  spiritual  evils  would  then  become 
the  conscious  attitude  of  our  "  religion," 
the  habitual  condition  of  our  worship.  This 
must  be  a  bad  science,  as  it  is  bad  re- 
ligion. It  is  in  violation  of  a  law  the  high- 
est known  to  man — the  law  which  insepara- 
bly connects  earnest  conviction  of  the  truth 
in  what  we  do  or  say  with  the  very  foun- 
tains of  all  intellectual  and  moral  strength. 
No  accession  of  force  can  come  to  us  from 
doing  anything  in  which  we  disbelieve. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  37.  (Burt.) 

*  27O2.  PRECESSION  OF  THE  EQUI- 
NOXES—  Changes  Wrought  during  That  Long 
Duration — Transit oriness  of  Human  Life — 
The  Transforming  Work  of  Time. — Immense 
and  slow  revolution  of  the  skies!  What 
events  occur  on  our  globe  during  the  course 
of  one  of  these  periods !  The  last  time  that 
the  pole  occupied  the  place  which  it  does  to- 
day, 25,765  years  ago,  none  of  the  present 
countries  existed.  None  of  the  nations  who 
dispute  to-day  for  supremacy  on  the  planet 
had  then  left  the  cradle  of  Nature.  Al- 
ready, doubtless,  there  were  men  upon  the 
earth,  but  the  social  unions  which  they 
formed  have  left  no  trace  of  the  degree  of 
civilization  to  which  they  had  attained,  and 
it  is  very  probable  that  these  uncultured 
and  savage  beings  were  then  in  the  midst  of 
the  primitive  Stone  Age,  of  which  so  many 
proofs  have  recently  been  collected.  Where 
ishall  we  be  in  our  turn  when,  after  another 
period  of  equal  duration,  the  pole  will  have 
again  returned  to  its  present  position? 
Trench,  English,  Germans,  Italians,  Span- 
iards, may  then  join  hands  in  a  common 
obscurity.  None  of  our  contemporary  na- 
tions will  have  resisted  the  transforming 
work  of  time.  Other  nations,  other  lan- 
guages, other  religions  will  have  long  since 
replaced  the  present  state  of  things.  One 
day  a  traveler  wandering  on  the  banks  of 
the  Seine  will  be  attracted  by  a  heap  of 
ruins,  seeking  the  place  where  Paris  had, 
during  so  many  ages,  shed  its  light.  Per- 
haps he  will  find  the  same  difficulty  in  re- 
covering places  formerly  famous  that  the 
antiquary  now  finds  in  identifying  the  site 
of  Thebes  or  of  Babylon.  Our  nineteenth 
century  will  be  then,  in  antiquity,  very 
much  further  back  than  are  for  us  the  ages 
of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  ancient  Egyptian 
dynasties.  A  new  human  race  intellectually 


superior  to  ours  will  have  won  its  way  to 
the  sunlight;  and  we  shall  perhaps  be  very 
surprised,  you  and  I,  O  studious  and  thought- 
ful readers!  to  meet  each  other,  side  by 
side — blanched  and  carefully  labeled  skele- 
tons— installed  in  a  glass  case  of  a  mu- 
seum, by  a  naturalist  of  the  two  hundred 
and  seventy-sixth  century,  as  curious  speci- 
mens of  an  ancient  race,  rather  wild,  but 
already  endowed  with  a  certain  aptitude  for 
the  study  of  the  sciences.  Vanity  of  vani- 
ties !  O  noisy  ambitions  of  a  day,  who  pass 
our  life  disputing  about  tinsel,  about  empty 
titles  and  many-colored  decorations,  ask 
yourselves  what  philosophy  must  think  of 
your  ephemeral  vainglory  when  it  compares 
your  puerile  rivalries  with  the  majestic 
work  of  Nature,  which  bears  us  all  to  the 
same  destiny! — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  41.  (A.) 

2703.  PRECIOUS    DESTROYED    BY 
WORTBXESS  —  Weeds  Kill  Pasturage.— The 
most  noxious  weed  in  New  Zealand  appears, 
.     .     .     to   be   the   Hypochceris   radicata,    a 
coarse,  yellow-flowered  composite  not  uncom- 
mon in  our  meadows  and  waste  places.    This 
has  been  introduced  with  grass  seeds  from 
England,    and    is    very    destructive.      It    is 
stated  that  excellent  pasture  was  in  three 
years  destroyed  by  this  weed,  which  abso- 
lutely  displaced  every    other   plant  on   the 
ground. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  20. 
(Hum.,  1889.) 

2704.  PRECIOUSNESS    OF    LOWLY 
LIFE — Biology  Values  the  Humblest. — It  is  a 
well  -  established    fact    in   biology    that   the 
humblest   creature   is   just   as    important   a 
link  in  the  chain  of  creation  as  the  highest 
mammal.      The   higher    forms    are    so   well 
known,    and   so    little   has   been    found  out 
concerning  some  of  the  more  lowly  creatures, 
that  the  naturalist  is  very  glad  to  leave  the 
ninety-and-nine  and  go  into  the  wilderness 
to  seek  the  one  that  is  lost. — MASON  Origins 
of  Invention,  ch.  12,  p.  413.      (S.,  1899.) 

2705.  PRECIPITATION  OF  MINERALS 
KEEPS  WATER  PURE— Rocks  Now  Forming 
in  the  Rhone,  the  Adriatic,  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean.— The  Rhone,  the  Po,  the  Nile,  and 
many  hundred  minor  streams   and   springs 
pour  annually  into  the  Mediterranean  large 
quantities    of    carbonate    of    lime,    together 
with  iron,  magnesia,  silica,  alumina,  sulfur, 
and  other  mineral  ingredients  in  a  state  of 
chemical  solution.     To  explain  why  the  in- 
flux of  this  matter  does  not  alter  the  com- 
position of  this  sea  has  never  been  regarded 
as   a   difficulty;    for   it  is   known   that  cal- 
careous rocks  are  forming  in  the  delta  of 
the  Rhone,  in  the  Adriatic,  on  the  coast  of 
Asia  Minor,   and  in  other  localities.     Pre- 
cipitation is  acknowledged  to  be  the  means 
whereby  the  surplus  mineral  matter  is  dis- 
posed of,  after  the  consumption  of  a  certain 
portion    in  the   secretions   of   testacea,   zoo- 
phytes,  and  other  marine  animals. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  20,  p.  335. 
(A.,  1854.) 


549 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Prayer 
Precision 


2 7 GO.  PRECISION  OF  SCIENCE— Mi- 
nute Exactness  of  Measurement  Led  to  Dis- 
covery of  Velocity  of  Light — The  Satellites 
of  Jupiter. — Romer  watched  this  moon  [of 
Jupiter],  saw  it  move  round  in  front  of  the 
planet,  pass  to  the  other  side  of  it,  and  then 
plunge  into  Jupiter's  shadow,  behaving  like 
a  lamp  suddenly  extinguished;  at  the  second 
edge  of  the  shadow  he  saw  it  reappear,  like 
a  lamp  suddenly  lighted.  The  moon  thus 
acted  the  part  of  a  signal-light  to  the  as- 
tronomer, and  enabled  him  to  tell  exactly 
its  time  of  revolution.  The  period  between 
two  successive  lightings-up  of  the  lunar 
lamp  he  found  to  be  42  hours,  28  minutes, 
and  35  seconds.  This  measurement  of  time 
was  so  accurate  that,  having  determined  the 
moment  when  the  moon  emerged  from  the 
shadow,  the  moment  of  its  hundredth  ap- 
pearance could  also  be  determined.  In  fact, 
it  would  be  100  times  42  hours,  28  minutes, 
35  seconds  after  the  first  observation.  Ro- 
mer's  first  observation  was  made  when  the 
earth  was  in  the  part  of  its  orbit  nearest 
Jupiter.  About  six  months  afterwards, 
the  earth  being  then  at  the  opposite  side 
of  its  orbit,  when  the  little  moon  ought 
to  have  made  its  hundredth  appearance,  it 
was  found  unpunctual,  being  fully  15  min- 
utes behind  its  calculated  time.  Its  ap- 
pearance, moreover,  had  been  growing  gradu- 
ally later  as  the  earth  retreated  towards 
the  part  of  its  orbit  most  distant  from  Ju- 
piter. Romer  reasoned  thus :  "  Had  I  been 
able  to  remain  at  the  other  side  of  the 
earth's  orbit  the  moon  might  have  appeared 
always  at  the  proper  instant;  an  observer 
placed  there  would  probably  have  seen  the 
moon  15  minutes  ago,  the  retardation  in 
my  case  being  due  to  the  fact  that  the  light 
requires  15  minutes  to  travel  from  the  place 
where  my  first  observation  was  made  to  my 
present  position." 

This  flash  of  genius  was  immediately 
succeeded  by  another.  "  If  this  surmise 
be  correct,"  Romer  reasoned,  "  then  as  I 
approach  Jupiter  along  the  other  side  of 
the  earth's  orbit  the  retardation  ought 
to  become  gradually  less,  and  when  I  reach 
the  place  of  my  first  observation  there  ought 
to  be  no  retardation  at  all."  He  found  this 
to  be  the  case,  and  thus  not  only  proved  that 
light  required  time  to  pass  through  space, 
but  also  determined  its  rate  of  propagation. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  20. 
(A.,  1898.) 


2707. 


Observation  Needs 


Correction  by  Deeper  Knowledge — The  Ap- 
parent Not  the  Real. — Direct  observation 
furnishes  only  what  has  been  called  the  "raw 
material "  of  the  positions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  A  number  of  highly  complex  cor- 
rections have  to  be  applied  before  their  mean 
can  be  disengaged  from  their  apparent  places 
on  the  sphere.  Of  these,  the  most  consider- 
able and  familiar  is  atmospheric  refraction, 
by  which  objects  seem  to  stand  higher  in 
the  sky  than  they  in  reality  do,  the  effect 


being  evanescent  at  the  zenith,  and  attain- 
ing, by  gradations  varying  with  conditions 
of  pressure  and  temperature,  a  maximum  at 
the  horizon.  Moreover,  the  points  to  which 
measurements  are  referred  are  themselves 
in  motion,  either  continually  in  one  direc- 
tion, or  periodically  to  and  fro.  The  pre- 
cession of  the  equinoxes  is  slowly  progress- 
ive, or  rather  retrogressive;  the  nutation 
of  the  pole  oscillatory  in  a  period  of  about 
eighteen  years — added  to  which,  the  non- 
instantaneous  transmission  of  light,  com- 
bined with  the  movement  of  the  earth  in 
its  orbit,  causes  a  minute  displacement 
known  as  aberration.  Now  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  any  uncertainty  in  the  application  of 
these  corrections  saps  the  very  foundations 
of  exact  astronomy. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  37.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

27O8. Telegraphic  Nota- 
tion of  Time — Buoy  of  Sunken  Cable  Found 
on  the  High  Sea. — To  show  what  could  be 
done  if  there  were  perfect  means  of  de- 
termining the  time,  the  following  narrative 
may  be  cited:  When  the  "Great  Eastern" 
is  carrying  a  telegraph  cable  across  the 
Atlantic,  her  captain,  of  course,  knows  the 
true  Greenwich  time  within  a  single  second, 
for  it  is  flashed  to  him  from  Valentia.  He 
can  therefore  determine  his  true  place  with 
great  accuracy.  Now  it  chanced  that  on 
one  occasion  the  captain  of  the  "  Great 
Eastern,"  while  thus  in  telegraphic  com- 
munication with  Greenwich  through  Valen- 
tia, had  occasion  to  search  for  a  buoy  which 
had  been  left  floating  (attached  to  a  sunk 
cable)  in  a  particular  latitude  and  longi- 
tude. He  made  for  the  spot  according  to 
his  calculated  latitude  and  longitude,  and 
(according  to  the  account)  after  the  final 
directions  had  been  given  to  the  effect  that 
the  ship  should  fojlow  a  certain  course  for 
a  certain  time  he  went  below  to  examine 
a  chart.  When  the  time  came  he  was  about 
to  go  on  deck,  hoping  to  have  made  his 
course  so  truly  that  the  buoy  would  be  in 
sight;  but  at  that  very  instant  the  ship's 
side  was  struck  by  the  buoy. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  p.  34.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

27O9.     . Volcanic  Dust  of 

Iceland,  Fallen  in  Nonuay,  Identified  in 
Germany. — We  sometimes  meet  with  this 
far-traveled,  volcanic  dust  under  very  un- 
expected circumstances.  Thus,  in  the 
spring  of  1875  I  had  occasion  to  visit  Pro- 
fessor Vom  Rath,  of  Bonn,  who  showed  me 
a  quantity  of  fine  volcanic  dust  which  had 
during  the  past  winter  fallen  in  considerable 
quantities  in  certain  parts  of  Norway.  This 
dust,  upon  microscopic  examination,  proved 
to  be  so  similar  to  what  was  known  to  be 
frequently  ejected  from  the  Icelandic  vol- 
canoes that  a  strong  presumption  was  raised 
that  volcanic  outbursts  had  been  going  on 
in  that  island.  On  returning  to  England 
I  found  that  the  first  steamer  of  the  season 
had  just  reached  Leith  from  Iceland,  bring- 
ing the  intelligence  that  very  violent  erup- 


Precision 
Present 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


550 


tions  had  taken  place  during  the  preceding 
months. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  72.  (A., 
1899.) 

2  7 1C.  PREDICTION  OF  CONDUCT— 
Perfect  Knowledge  Would  Be  Perfect  Fore- 
knowledge.— We  can  predict  conduct  with  al- 
most perfect  certainty  when  we  know  char- 
acter with  an  equal  measure  of  assurance, 
and  when  we  know  the  influences  to  which 
that  character  will  be  exposed.  In  propor- 
tion as  we  are  sure  of  character,  in  the  same 
proportion  we  are  sure  of  conduct.  Yet  we 
never  think  of  the  will  being  the  less  free 
because  we  can  predict  its  course.  What  we 
know  in  such  cases  is  simply  the  use  which, 
under  given  conditions,  will  be  made  of  free- 
dom. There  is  no  certainty  in  the  world  of 
physics  more  absolute  than  some  certainties 
in  the  world  of  mind.  We  know  that  a 
humane  man  will  not  do  a  uselessly  cruel 
action.  We  know  that  an  honorable  man 
will  not  do  a  base  action.  And  if  in  such 
cases  we  are  deceived  in  the  result,  we  know 
that  it  is  because  we  were  ignorant  of  some 
weakness  or  of  some  corruption;  that  is  to 
say,  we  were  ignorant  of  some  elements  of 
character.  But  we  never  doubt  that  if  those 
had  been  known  we  could  have  foreseen  the 
resulting  lapse.  Perfect  knowledge  must 
therefore  be  perfect  foreknowledge.  To  know 
the  present  perfectly  is  to  know  the  future 
certainly.  To  know  all  that  is,  is  to  know 
all  that  will  be.  To  know  the  heart  of  man 
completely  is  to  know  his  conduct  completely 
also ;  for  "  out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues 
of  life."  So  far  from  this  conclusion  being 
dangerous  or  hostile  to  any  part  of  the 
Christian  system,  it  is  a  conclusion  which 
enables  us,  in  a  dim  way,  not  merely  to 
hold  as  a  belief,  but  to  see  as  a  necessary 
truth  that  there  can  be  no  chance  in  this 
world — and  how  it  is,  and  must  be,  that  to 
the  All-seeing  and  All-knowing  the  future 
is  as  open  as  the  present  and  the  past.  But 
none  of  these  ideas  involve  the  idea  of  com- 
pulsion, and  the  absence  of  Compulsion  is  all 
that  can  be  meant  by  freedom. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  6,  p.  185.  (Burt.) 

2711.  PREDICTION  OF  EARTH- 
QUAKES— True  Prophecies  Remembered,  Er- 
roneous Forgotten. — Certain  persons  with 
whom  I  am  intimate  appear  to  have  per- 
suaded themselves  that  they  can  foretell 
the  coming  of  an  earthquake  by  the  sultry 
state  of  the  atmosphere  or  a  certain  op- 
pressiveness they  feel,  and  an  instinctive 
feeling  arises  that  an  earthquake  is  at  hand. 
.  .  .  The  author  has  had  such  sensations 
himelf,  due,  perhaps,  to  a  knowledge  that 
it  was  the  earthquake  season,  that  there 
had  been  no  disturbance  for  some  weeks, 
and  a  consequent  increasing  state  of  nervous 
presentiment.  In  consequence  of  this  not 
only  has  he  carefully  prepared  his  instru- 
ments for  the  coming  shock,  but  he  has 
written  and  telegraphed  to  friends  to  do  the 
same.  Sometimes  these  guesses  have  proved 
correct.  One  remarkable  instance  was  a  few 


hours  prior  to  the  severe  shock  of  February 
22,  1880,  when  he  wired  to  his  friends  in 
Yokohama  and  asked  them  to  see  that  their 
instruments  were  in  good  order.  Oftener, 
however,  his  prognostications  have  been  in- 
correct. The  point  in  connection  with  this 
subject  which  he  wishes  to  be  remarked  is, 
that  the  instances  where  earthquakes  oc- 
curred shortly  after  the  receipt  of  his  let- 
ters are  carefully  remembered,  and  often 
mentioned,  but  the  instances  in  which  earth- 
quakes did  not  occur  appear  to  be  entirely 
forgotten.  He  is  led  to  mention  these  facts 
because  they  appear  to  be  an  experimental 
proof  of  what  has  taken  place  in  bygone 
times,  and  what  still  takes  place,  especially 
amongst  savages — namely,  that  the  record 
of  that  which  is  remarkable  survives,  whilst 
that  which  is  of  every-day  occurrence  quickly 
dies. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  18,  p.  302. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2712.  PREDICTION,  SCIENTIFIC,  FUL- 
FILLED —  Pasteur  and  Silkworms.  —  It  was 
not  .  .  .  easy  to  make  the  [silkworm] 
cultivators  accept  new  guidance.  To  strike 
their  imagination,  and  if  possible  determine 
their  practise,  Pasteur  hit  upon  the  expedi- 
ent of  prophecy.  In  1866  he  inspected,  at  St. 
Hippolyte-du-Fort,  fourteen  different  par- 
cels of  eggs  intended  for  incubation.  Hav- 
ing examined  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
moths  which  produced  these  eggs,  he  wrote 
out  the  prediction  of  what  would  occur  in 
1867,  and  placed  the  prophecy  as  a  sealed 
letter  in  the  hands  of  the  Mayor  of  St. 
Hippolyte.  In  1867  the  cultivators  com- 
municated to  the  mayor  their  results.  The 
letter  of  Pasteur  was  then  opened  and  read, 
and  it  was  found  that  in  twelve  out  of  four- 
teen cases  there  was  absolute  conformity 
between  his  prediction  and  the  observed 
facts.  Many  of  the  groups  had  perished 
totally:  the  others  had  perished  almost  to- 
tally; and  this  was  the  prediction  of  Pas- 
teur. In  two  out  of  the  fourteen  cases,  in- 
stead of  the  prophesied  destruction,  half  an 
average  crop  was  obtained. — TYNDALL  Float- 
ing Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  1,  p.  13.  (A., 
1895.) 

2713. Scientist  Foretells 

Result  of  Ignoring  Scientific  Laws — Light- 
ing-mast on  Capitol  Destroyed  by  Electric- 
ity.— [An]  apparatus  had  been  erected  at 
great  expense  for  the  purpose  of  lighting 
the  public  grounds.  It  consisted  of  a  mast 
reaching  to  the  height  of  ninety  feet  above 
the  apex  of  the  dome  of  the  Capitol  [at 
Washington],  terminated  by  a  lantern  about 
five  feet  in  diameter  and  six  or  seven  feet 
high.  In  this  were  jet  gas-burners,  equal 
in  illuminating  power,  according  to  the 
statement  of  the  projector  of  the  arrange- 
ment, to  six  thousand  wax  candles. 

After  the  whole  apparatus  had  been  pre- 
pared, the  speaker  was  requested  to  give  an 
opinion  as  to  the  effect  which  the  lightning 
might  have  upon  it.  His  answer  was  that 
it  would  attract  the  lightning  from  the 


551 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Precision 
Present 


heavens,  and  tho  the  building  might  be 
protected  by  good  conductors  from  the  lan- 
tern to  the  earth,  yet  no  protection  which 
the  present  state  of  science  could  devise 
would  be  as  safe  as  no  exposure;  the  very 
idea  of  protection  involving  that  of  a  less 
degree  of  danger.  Tho  in  the  case  of  the 
ordinary  lightning-rod  the  lightning  is  sel- 
dom or  never  attracted  from  the  cloud  by 
the  conductor,  yet  in  this  case  the  great 
height  of  the  mast,  the  height  of  the  dome 
above  the  ground,  and  the  elevated  position 
cf  the  building  itself  gave  a  total  elevation 
bearing  a  considerable  ratio  to  the  height 
of  the  cloud:  add  to  this  the  great  amount 
of  metallic  surface,  and,  above  all,  the  large 
gas-burner,  and  we  have  an  arrangement 
well  calculated  to  elicit  a  discharge  from 
the  cloud  when  under  ordinary  influences 
no  effect  of  the  kind  would  take  place.  .  .  . 
The  fixture  on  the  Capitol  was  indeed  an 
exploring  apparatus  on  a  magnificent  scale. 
The  result  was  such  as  had  been  anticipated. 
The  first  thunder-storm  which  passed  over 
the  city  after  the  erection  of  the  lantern 
discharged  itself  upon  it,  put  out  the  light, 
and  when  the  whole  was  taken  down  sev- 
eral perforations  were  found  melted  in  the 
copper  ball  which  surmounted  the  lantern. 
— HENRY  Remarks  on  the  Form  of  Light- 
ning-Rods (Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p. 
291).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

2714.  PREOCCUPATION  OF  MIND  PRO- 
DUCES INSENSIBILITY  TO  PAIN— The 
writer  has  himself  frequently  begun  a  lec- 
ture whilst  suffering  neuralgic  pain  so  se- 
vere as  to  make  him  apprehend  that  he 
would  find  it  impossible  to  proceed;  yet  no 
sooner  has  he  by  a  determined  effort  fairly 
launched  himself  into  the  stream  of  thought 
than  he  has  found  himself  continuously 
borne  along  without  the  least  distraction 
until  the  end  has  come  and  the  attention 
has  been  released,  when  the  pain  has  re- 
curred with  a  force  that  has  overmastered 
all  resistance,  making  him  wonder  how  he 
could  have  ever  ceased  to  feel  it. — CARPEN- 
TER Mental  Physiology,  ch.  3,  p.  138.  (A., 
1900.) 

2715.  PREPARATION,  NATURE'S,  FOR 
MOTHERHOOD— Four  Great  Steps—  The  Young 
Fewer  in  Number,  Recognizable  at  Birth, 
Needing  Mothers  Care,  and  Necessary  to 
Mother's  Comfort. — Now,  before  maternal 
love  can  be  evolved  out  of  this  first  care, 
before  love  can  be  made  a  necessity,  and 
carried  past  the  unhatched  egg  to  the  living 
thing  which  is  to  come  out  of  it,  Nature 
must  alter  all  her  ways.  Four  great  changes 
at  least  must  be  introduced  into  her  pro- 
gram. In  the  first  place  she  must  cause 
fewer  young  to  be  produced  at  a  birth.  In 
the  second  place  she  must  have  these  young 
produced  in  such  outward  form  that  their 
mothers  will  recognize  them.  In  the  third 
place,  instead  of  producing  them  in  such 
physical  perfection  that  they  are  able  to 
go  out  into  life  the  moment  they  are  born, 


she  must  make  them  helpless,  so  that  for 
a  time  they  must  dwell  with  her  if  they 
are  to  live  at  all.  And  fourthly,  it  is  re- 
quired that  she  shall  be  made  to  dwell  with 
them;  that  in  some  way  they  also  should 
be  made  necessary — physically  necessary — to 
her  to  compel  her  to  attend  to  them.  All 
these  beautiful  arrangements  we  find  car- 
ried out  to  the  last  detail.  A  mother  is 
made,  as  it  were,  in  four-processes.  She 
requires,  like  the  making  of  a  colored  pic- 
ture, four  separate  paintings,  each  adding 
some  new  thing  to  the  effect. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  272.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2716.  PRESENCE    THAT   FILLS  IM- 
MENSITY, THE— Exalted  Conception  of  the  Di- 
vine Majesty. — Shall  we  say,  then,  of  these 
vast  luminaries  that  they  were  created  in 
vain?     Were  they  called  into  existence  for 
no  other   purpose  than  to  throw  a  tide  of 
useless   splendor   over   the   solitudes  of   im- 
mensity?     Our    sun    is    only   one    of    these 
luminaries,  and  we  know  that  he  has  worlds 
in  his  train.     Why  should  we  strip  the  rest 
of  this  princely  attendance?     Why  may  not 
each  of  them  be  the  center  of  his  own  sys- 
tem, and  give  light  to  his  own  worlds?     It 
is  true  that  we  see  them  not;  but  could  the 
eye  of  man  take  its  flight  into  those  distant 
regions  it  would  lose  sight  of  our  little  world 
before   it   reached   the  outer   limits   of  our 
system — the  greater  planets  would  disappear 
in    their    turn — before    it    had   described    a 
small  portion  of  that  abyss  which  separates 
us  from  the  fixed  stars,  the  sun  would  de- 
cline into  a  little  spot,  and  all  its  splendid 
retinue  of  worlds  be  lost  in  the  obscurity 
of  distance;  he  would  at  last  shrink  into  a 
small,  indivisible  atom,  and  all  that  could 
be  seen  of  this   magnificent   system   would 
be   reduced   to   the   glimmering   of   a    little 
star.     Why  resist  any  longer  the  grand  and 
interesting  conclusion?     Each  of  these  stars 
may  be  the  token  of  a  system  as  vast  and 
as   splendid   as   the   one  which  we   inhabit. 
Worlds    roll   in   these   distant   regions,    and 
these  worlds  must  be  the  mansions  of  life 
and  of  intelligence.     In  yon  gilded  canopy 
of  heaven  we  see  the  broad  aspect  of  the  uni- 
verse, where  each  shining  point  presents  us 
with  a  sun,  and  each  sun  with  a  system  of 
worlds;    where    the   Divinity   reigns    in    all 
the   grandeur   of   his   attributes;    where   he 
peoples    immensity   with   his    wonders,    and 
travels    in    the    greatness    of    his    strength 
through  the  dominions  of  one  vast  and  un- 
limited monarchy. — CHALMERS  Astronomical 
Discourses,  p.  31.     (Rc  Ct.,  1848.) 

2717.  PRESENT,  THE  ETERNAL— A 

Spirit  Projected  Timelessly  through  Space 
Would  See  Ancient  Deeds  and  Scenes  as 
Present  Fact  —  The  Omnipresent  also  the 
Omniscient — "  The  High  and  Lofty  One  That 
Inhabiteth  Eternity"  (Is.  Ivii,  15). — A  man, 
a  spirit,  leaving  the  earth,  either  by  death 
or  otherwise,  this  year,  and  transported  in 
some  hours  or  days  to  a  great  distance, 
would  see  the  earth  of  former  times,  and 


Prevision 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


553 


would  see  himself  again  a  child,  for  the 
aspect  of  the  earth  would  not  arrive  where 
he  was  till  after  a  long  delay. 

There  is  here  neither  a  vision,  nor  a  phe- 
nomenon of  memory,  nor  a  marvelous  or 
supernatural  action,  but  an  actual,  posi- 
tive, natural,  and  incontestable  fact;  what 
has  been  .for  a  long  time  the  past  for  the 
earth  is  only  the  present  for  a  distant  ob- 
server in  space.  This  vision  is,  none  the 
less,  very  astonishing.  Indeed,  it  is  a  singu- 
lar fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  stars 
as  they  are  at  the  moment  when  we  examine 
them,  and  that  we  are  only  able  to  see  their 
past! 

Thus  the  progressive  motion  of  light  car- 
ries with  it  through  infinitude  the  ancient 
history  of  all  the  suns  and  all  the  worlds 
expressed  in  an  eternal  present. 

The  metaphysical  reality  of  this  vast 
problem  is  such  that  we  can  now  conceive 
the  omnipresence  of  the  world  in  all  its  du- 
ration. Events  vanish  for  the  place  which 
brings  them  forth,  but  they  remain  in  space. 
This  successive  and  endless  projection  of  all 
the  facts  accomplished  on  each  of  the  worlds 
is  performed  in  the  bosom  of  the  Infinite 
Being  whose  omnipresence  thus  maintains 
everything  in  an  eternal  permanence. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
7,  p.  617.  (A.) 

2718.  PRESENT  THE  KEY  TO  PAST 

— Rocks  Worn  Down  Now  as  in  Ancient 
Days. — The  present,  geologists  tell  us,  con- 
tains the  key  to  the  past.  If  we  wish  to  find 
out  how  rocks  have  been  removed,  and  what 
has  since  become  of  them,  we  must  observe 
what  is  taking  place  under  the  influence  of 
existing  agents  of  change.  How,  then,  are 
rocks  being  affected  at  present?  We  do  not 
proceed  far  in  our  investigation  before  we 
discover  that  they  are  everywhere  becoming 
disintegrated.  In  one  place  they  are  break- 
ing up  into  angular  fragments;  in  another, 
crumbling  down  into  grit,  sand,  or  clay. 
Brooks  and  rivers  and  the  waves  upon  our 
coasts  are  constantly  undermining  them; 
everywhere,  in  short,  rocks  are  being  as- 
saulted and  reduced. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculp- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  18.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

2719.  PRESERVATION  OF  STATUES 
IN    BED   OF   LAVA— Long-enduring  Heat.— 
But    it    must    not    be    supposed    that    this 
complete  fusion  of  rocky  matter  coming  in 
contact  with  lava  is  of  universal  or  even  com- 
mon occurrence.     It  probably  happens  when 
fresh  portions  of  incandescent  matter  come 
successively   in   contact  with   fusible   mate- 
rials.    In  many  of  the  dikes  which  intersect 
the  tuffs  and  lavas  of  Etna  there  is  scarcely 
any  perceptible  alteration  effected  by  heat 
on  the  edges  of  the  horizontal  beds,  in  con- 
tact with  the  vertical  and  more  crystalline 
mass.     On   the  side  of  Mompiliere,  one  of 
the  towns  overflowed  in   [a  previous]   erup- 
tion    .     .     .     ,  an  excavation  was  made  in 
1704,   and  by  immense  labor  the  workmen 
reached,  at  the  depth  of  thirty-five  feet,  the 


gate  of  the  principal  church,  where  were 
three  statues,  held  in  high  veneration.  One 
of  these,  together  with  a  bell,  some  money, 
and  other  articles,  was  extracted  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation  from  beneath  a  great 
arch  formed  by  the  lava.  It  .seems  very  ex- 
traordinary that  any  works  of  art,  not  en- 
cased with  tuff,  like  those  in  Herculaneum, 
should  have  escaped  fusion  in  hollow  spaces, 
left  open  in  this  lava-current,  which  was  so 
hot  at  Catania  eight  years  after  it  entered 
the  town  that  it  was  impossible  to  hold  the 
hand  in  some  of  the  crevices. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  25,  p.  401.  (A., 
1854.) 

2  7  2O.  PRESSURE  IN  DEPTHS  OF 
OCEAN— At  a  depth  of  2,500  fathoms  the 
pressure  is,  roughly  speaking,  two  and  a  half 
tons  per  square  inch — that  is  to  say,  several 
times  greater  than  the  pressure  exerted  by 
the  steam  upon  the  piston  of  our  most  pow- 
erful engines.  Or,  to  put  the  matter  in 
other  words,  the  pressure  per  square  inch 
upon  the  body  of  every  animal  that  lives  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  about 
twenty-five  times  greater  than  the  pressure 
that  will  drive  a  railway  train. — HICKSON 
Fauna  of  the  Deep  £ea,ch.  2,  p.  19.  (A.,  1894.) 


2721. 


Drives  Water  into 


Pores  of  Sunken  Wood. — If  wood  be  sunk 
to  vast  depths  in  the  sea  it  may  be  impreg- 
nated with  water  suddenly.  Captain  Scores- 
by  informs  us,  in  his  "  Account  of  the  Arctic 
Regions,"  that  on  one  occasion  a  whale,  on 
being  harpooned,  ran  out  all  the  lines  in  the 
boat,  which  it  then  dragged  under  water, 
to  the  depth  of  several  thousand  feet,  the 
men  having  just  time  to  escape  to  a  piece 
of  ice.  When  the  fish  returned  to  the  sur- 
face "  to  blow  "  it  was  struck  a  second  time, 
and  soon  afterwards  killed.  The  moment 
it  expired  it  began  to  sink — an  unusual  cir- 
cumstance, which  wras  found  to  be  caused 
by  the  weight  of  the  sunken  boat,  which 
still  remained  attached  to  it.  By  means  of 
harpoons  and  ropes  the  fish  was  prevented 
from  sinking  until  it  wras  released  from  the 
weight  by  connecting  a  rope  to  the  lines  of 
the  attached  boat,  which  was  no  sooner 
done  than  the  fish  rose  again  to  the  surface. 
The  sunken  boat  was  then  hauled  up  with 
great  labor,  for  so  heavy  was  it  that,  altho 
before  the  accident  it  would  have  been  buoy- 
ant when  full  of  water,  yet  it  now  required 
a  boat  at  each  end  to  keep  it  from  sinking. 
"  When  it  was  hoisted  into  the  ship  the  paint 
came  off  the  wood  in  large  sheets,  and  the 
planks,  which  were  of  wainscot,  were  as 
completely  soaked  in  every  pore  as  if  they 
had  lain  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  since  the 
flood!  A  wooden  apparatus  that  accom- 
panied the  boat  in  its  progress  through 
the  deep,  consisting  chiefly  of  a  piece  of 
thick  deal  about  fifteen  inches  square,  hap- 
pened to  fall  overboard,  and  tho  it  originally 
consisted  of  the  lightest  fir,  sank  in  the 
water  like  a  stone.  The  boat  was  rendered 
useless;  even  the  wood  of  which  it  was 


553 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Present 
Prevision 


built,  on  being  offered  to  the  cook  for  fuel, 
was  tried  and  rejected  as  incombustible." — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  47, 
p.  743.  (A.,  1854.) 

2722. Glass  Crushed  to 

Powder — Implosion  vs.  Explosion. — A  most 
beautiful  experiment  to  illustrate  the  enor- 
mous force  of  this  pressure  was  made  during 
the  voyage  of  H.  M.  S.  "  Challenger."  I  give 
the  description  of  it  in  the  words  of  the 
late  Professor  Moseley: 

"  Mr.  Buchanan  hermetically  sealed  up  at 
Tjoth  ends  a  thick  glass  tube  full  of  air, 
several  inches  in  length.  He  wrapped  this 
sealed  tube  in  flannel  and  placed  it,  so 
wrapped  up,  in  a  wide  copper  tube,  which 
was  one  of  those  used  to  protect  the  deep- 
sea  thermometers  when  sent  down  with  the 
sounding  apparatus. 

"  This  copper  tube  was  closed  by  a  lid 
fitting  loosely,  and  with  holes  in  it,  and  the 
•copper  bottom  of  the  tube  similarly  had 
holes  bored  through  it.  The  water  thus  had 
free  access  to  the  interior  of  the  tube  when 
it  was  lowered  into  the  sea,  and  the  tube 
was  necessarily  constructed  with  that  object 
in  view,  in  order  that  in  its  ordinary  use 
the  water  should  freely  reach  the  contained 
thermometer. 

"  The  copper  case  containing  the  sealed 
glass  tube  was  sent  down  to  a  depth  of  2,000 
fathoms  and  drawn  up  again.  It  was  then 
found  that  the  copper  wall  of  the  case  was 
bulged  and  bent  inwards  opposite  the  place 
where  the  glass  tube  lay,  just  as  if  it  had 
Tjeen  crumpled  inward  by  being  violently 
squeezed. 

"  The  glass  tube  itself,  within  its  flannel 
wrapper,  was  found  when  withdrawn  re- 
duced to  a  fine  powder,  like  snow  almost. 
What  had  happened  was  that  the  sealed 
glass  tube,  when  sinking  to  gradually  in- 
creasing depths,  had  held  out  long  against 
the  pressure,  but  this  at  last  had  become 
too  great  for  the  glass  to  sustain,  and  the 
tube  had  suddenly  given  way  and  been 
•crushed  by  the  violence  of  the  action  to  a 
fine  powder.  So  violent  and  rapid  had  been 
the  collapse  that  the  water  had  not  had 
time  to  rush  in  by  means  of  the  holes  at 
both  ends  of  the  copper  cylinder,  and  thus 
fill  the  empty  space  left  behind  by  the  col- 
lapse of  the  glass  tube,  but  had  instead 
crushed  in  the  copper  wall  and  brought 
equilibrium  in  that  manner.  The  process 
is  exactly  the  reverse  of  an  explosion,  and 
is  termed  by  Sir  Wyville  Thomson  an  '  im- 
plosion.' " — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
ch.  2,  p.  19.  (A.,  1894.) 

2723.  PRESSURE  OF  GLACIER—  Giant 
Power  of  Natural  Agencies. — The  glacier 
does  more  than  abrade.  Rocks  are  not 
homogeneous:  they  are  intersected  by  joints 
and  places  of  weakness,  which  divide  them 
into  virtually  detached  masses.  A  glacier 
is  undoubtedly  competent  to  root  such 
masses  bodily  away.  Indeed,  the  mere 
a  priori  consideration  of  the  subject  proves 


the  competence  of  a  glacier  to  deepen  its 
bed.  Taking  the  case  of  a  glacier  1,000  feet 
deep  (and  some  of  the  older  ones  were 
probably  three  times  this  depth),  and  al- 
lowing 40  feet  of  ice  to  an  atmosphere,  we 
find  that  on  every  square  inch  of  its  bed 
such  a  glacier  presses  with  a  weight  of 
375  Ibs.,  and  on  every  square  yard  of  its  bed 
with  a  weight  of  486,000  K>s.  With  a  ver- 
tical pressure  of  this  amount  the  glacier 
is  urged  down  its  valley  by  the  pressure 
from  behind.  We  can  hardly,  I  think,  deny 
to  such  a  tool  a  power  of  excavation. — TYN- 
DALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  20, 
p.  239.  (A.,  1898.) 

2724. Its  Grinding  Power. 

— The  movement  of  glacial  ice  causes  fric- 
tion and  leads  to  the  grinding,  smoothing, 
and  scratching  of  the  rocks  over  which  it 
passes.  The  intensity  of  this  grinding  can 
be  appreciated  to  some  extent  by  considering 
the  force  with  which  a  thick  ice  mass  presses 
on  the  rocks  beneath.  The  weight  of  a  cubic 
foot  of  ice  is  about  fifty-seven  pounds,  hence 
a  glacier  1,000  feet  thick,  which  is  by  no 
means  the  maximum,  would  exert  a  pressure 
on  its  bed  of  twenty-eight  tons  to  the  square 
foot.  A  movement  of  ice  charged  with  sand 
and  stones  under  such  a  pressure  cannot  fail 
to  produce  abrasion  of  the  rocks  beneath. — 
RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America,  int.,  p. 
18.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2725.  PREVISION    IN    BIRDS    AND 

INSECTS — Mystery  of  Lower  Organisms. — 
Those  birds  and  insects  whose  young  are 
hatched  by  the  heat  of  fermentation  have 
an  intuitive  impulse  to  select  the  proper 
materials,  and  to  gather  them  for  the  pur- 
pose. All  creatures,  guided  sometimes  ap- 
parently by  senses  of  which  we  know  noth- 
ing, are  under  like  impulses  to  provide  ef- 
fectually for  the  nourishing  of  their  young. 
It  is.  moreover,  most  curious  and  instructive 
to  observe  that  the  extent  of  prevision  which 
is  involved  in  this  process  and  in  the  se- 
curing of  the  result  seems  very  often  to  be 
greater  as  we  descend  in  the  scale  of  Na- 
ture, and  in  proportion  as  the  parents  are 
dissociated  from  the  actual  feeding  or  per- 
sonal care  of  their  young.  The  mammalia 
have  nothing  to  provide  except  food  for 
themselves,  and  have  at  first,  and  for  a  long 
time,  no  duty  to  perform  beyond  the  dis- 
charge of  a  purely  physical  function.  Milk 
is  secreted  in  them  by  a  purely  unconscious 
process,  and  the  young  need  no  instruction 
in  the  art  of  sucking.  Birds  have  much 
more  to  do — in  the  building  of  nests,  in  the 
choice  of  sites  for  these,  and,  after  incuba- 
tion, in  the  choice  of  food  adapted  to  the 
period  of  growth.  Insects,  much  lower  in 
the  scale  of  organization,  have  to  provide 
very  often  for  a  much  more  distant  future, 
and  for  various  stages  of  development. — AR- 
GYLL Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  2,  p.  40.  (Burt.) 

2726.  PREVISION  IN  INSECTS— Ants 
Caring  for  Eggs  of  Aphides. — Here  are  aph- 
ides, not  living  in  the  ants'  nests,  but  out- 


•revision 
•roblem 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


554 


side,  on  the  leaf-stalks  of  plants.  The  eggs 
are  laid  early  in  October  on  the  food-plant 
of  the  insect.  They  are  of  no  direct  use  to 
the  ants,  yet  they  are  not  left  where  they 
are  laid,  exposed  to  the  severity  of  the 
weather  and  to  innumerable  dangers,  but 
brought  into  their  nests  by  the  ants,  and 
tended  by  them  with  the  utmost  care 
through  the  long  winter  months  until  the 
following  March,  when  the  young  ones  are 
brought  out  and  again  placed  on  the  young 
shoots  of  the  daisy.  This  seems  to  me  a 
most  remarkable  case  of  prudence.  Our  ants 
may  not,  perhaps,  lay  up  food  for  the  win- 
ter, but  they  do  more,  for  they  keep  during 
six  months  the  eggs  which  will  enable  them 
to  procure  food  during  the  following  sum- 
mer, a  case  of  prudence  unexampled  in  the 
animal  kingdom. — AVEBUKY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  4,  p.  73.  (A.,  1900.) 


2727. 


The  Carpenter-bee 


— Remarkable  Congenital  Instinct  of  Lar- 
VCB. — The  carpenter-bee  was  first  observed 
and  described  by  Reaumur.  It  makes  a  long 
cylindrical  tube  in  the  wood  of  beams,  pa- 
lings, etc.  This  it  divides  into  a  number 
of  successive  chambers  by  partitions  made 
of  agglutinated  sawdust  built  across  the 
tube  at  right  angles  to  its  axis.  In  each 
chamber  there  is  deposited  a  single  egg, 
together  with  a  store  of  pollen  for  the  nour- 
ishment of  the  future  larva.  The  larvae 
hatch  out  in  succession  and  in  the  order 
of  their  age — i.  e.,  the  dates  at  which  they 
were  deposited.  To  provide  for  this,  the 
bee  bores  a  hole  from  the  lower  cell  to  the 
exterior,  so  that  each  larva,  when  ready  to 
escape  from  its  chamber,  finds  an  open  way 
from  the  tube.  The  larvse  have  to  cut  their 
own  way  out  through  the  walls  of  their 
respective  chambers,  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  they  always  cut  through  the  wall  that 
faces  the  tubular  passage  left  by  the  parent ; 
they  never  bore  their  way  out  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  which,  were  they  to  do  so, 
would  entail  the  destruction  of  all  the  other 
and  immature  larvse. — ROMANES  Animal  In- 
telligence, ch.  4,  p.  179.  (A.,  1899.) 

2728.    PREVISION  OF  THOUGHT-^w- 

phasis  in  Reading  Shoivs  Sense  of  Words  to 
Come. — How  comes  it  about  that  a  man 
reading  something  aloud  for  the  first  time 
is  able  immediately  to  emphasize  all  his 
words  aright,  unless  from  the  very  first 
he  have  a  sense  of  at  least  the  form  of  the 
sentence  yet  to  come,  which  sense  is  fused 
with  his  consciousness  of  the  present  word, 
and  modifies  its  emphasis  in  his  mind  so  as 
to  make  him  give  it  the  proper  accent  as  he 
utters  it?  Emphasis  of  this  kind  is  almost 
altogether  a  matter  of  grammatical  con- 
struction. If  we  read  "  no  more  "  we  expect 
presently  to  come  upon  a  "  than  " ;  if  we 
read  "  however  "  at  the  outset  of  a  sentence 
it  is  a  "  yet,"  a  "  still,"  or  a  "  nevertheless  " 
that  we  expect.  A  noun  in  a  certain  posi- 
tion demands  a  verb  in  a  certain  mood  and 


number,  in  another  position  it  expects  a 
relative  pronoun.  Adjectives  call  for  nouns, 
verbs  for  adverbs,  etc.,  etc.  And  this  fore- 
boding of  the  coming  grammatical  scheme 
combined  with  each  successive  uttered  word 
is  so  practically  accurate  that  a  reader  in- 
capable of  understanding  four  ideas  of  the 
book  he  is  reading  aloud  can  nevertheless 
read  it  with  the  most  delicately  modulated 
expression  of  intelligence. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  253.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2729.    PRIDE  OF  HALF-KNOWLEDGE 

— Scientific  Basis  for  Practical  Precaution — 
Thin  Coverings  Protect  from  Frost.- — We 
have  the  following  beautiful  passage  in  the 
"Essay"  of  Wells:  "I  had  of  ten,  in  the  pride 
of  half-knowledge,  smiled  at  the  means  fre- 
quently employed  by  gardeners  to  protect 
tender  plants  from  cold,  as  it  appeared  to 
me  impossible  that  a  thin  mat  or  any  such 
flimsy  substance  could  prevent  them  from 
attaining  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere, 
by  which  alone  I  thought  them  liable  to  be 
injured.  But  when  I  had  learned  that  bodies 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth  become,  during 
a  still  and  serene  night,  colder  than  the 
atmosphere,  by  radiating  their  heat  to  the 
heavens,  I  perceived  immediately  a  just  rea- 
son for  the  practise  which  I  had  before 
deemed  useless." — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  500.  (A.,  1900.) 

2  7  3D.     PRINCIPLE     OF     LIFE     ONE 
THROUGH  ALL  NATURE  AND  ALL  TIME 

— Whatever  else  may  be  true,  the  conviction 
is  brought  home  to  us  that  in  all  this  endless 
multifariousness  there  is  one  single  prin- 
ciple at  work,  that  all  is  tending  toward 
an  end  that  was  involved  from  the  very  be- 
ginning, if  one  can  speak  of  beginnings  and 
ends  where  the  process  is  eternal.  The 
whole  universe  is  animated  by  a  single  prin- 
ciple of  life;  and  whatever  we  see  in  it, 
whether  to  our  half- trained  understanding 
and  narrow  experience  it  may  seem  to  be 
good  or  bad,  is  an  indispensable  part  of 
the  stupendous  scheme. — FISKE  Through  Na- 
ture to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  24.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 

2731.  PRINCIPLES,  NEW,  OF  LOCO- 
MOTION— Changes  in  Habits  and  Speech. — 
During  the  nineteenth  century  three  distinct 
modes  of  locomotion  have  been  originated 
and  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 
Two  of  them,  the  locomotive  and  the  steam- 
ship, are  altogether  different  in  principle 
from  what  had  gone  before.  Up  to  the 
very  times  of  men  now  living,  all  our  loco- 
motion was  on  the  same  old  lines  which 
had  been  used  for  thousands  of  years.  It 
had  been  improved  in  details,  but  without 
any  alteration  of  principle  and  without  any 
very  great  increase  of  efficiency.  The  prin- 
ciples on  which  our  present  methods  rest 
are  new;  they  already  far  surpass  anything 
that  could  be  effected  by  the  older  methods; 
with  wonderful  rapidity  they  have  spread 


555 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Prevision 
Problem 


over  the  whole  world,  and  they  have  in 
many  ways  modified  the  habits  and  even  the 
modes  of  speech  of  all  civilized  peoples.  — 
WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  1,  p. 
10.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2732.     PRINTING    INVENTED    IN 

CHINA  —  Block-books.  —  This  [printing]  was 
a  process  simple  enough  in  itself,  and  in- 
deed well  known  from  remote  ages.  Ever)7 
Egyptian  or  Babylonian  who  smeared  some 
black  on  his  signet-ring  or  engraved  cylin- 
der, and  took  off  a  copy,  had  made  the  first 
step  towards  printing.  But  easy  as  the 
further  application  now  seems  to  us,  no  one 
in  the  Old  World  saw  it.  It  appears  to  have 
been  the  Chinese  who  invented  the  plan  of 
engraving  a  whole  page  of  characters  on  a 
wood-block  and  printing  off  many  copies. 
They  may  have  begun  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century,  and  at  any  rate  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury they  were  busy  printing  books.  The 
Chinese  writing,  from  its  enormous  diversity 
of  characters,  is  not  well  suited  to  printing 
by  movable  types,  but  there  is  a  record  that 
this  plan  was  early  devised  among  them, 
having  been  carried  on  with  separate  terra- 
cotta types  in  the  eleventh  century.  Moslem 
writers  early  in  the  fourteenth  century  de- 
scribe Chinese  printing,  so  that  it  was  proba- 
bly through  them  that  the  art  found  its 
way  to  Europe,  where  not  long  afterwards 
the  so-called  "  block-books,"  printed  from 
whole-page  wood-blocks  after  the  Chinese 
manner,  make  their  appearance,  followed 
by  books  printed  with  movable  types.  Few 
questions  have  been  more  debated  by  anti- 
quaries than  the  claims  of  Gutenberg,  Faust, 
and  the  others  to  their  share  of  honor  as 
the  inventors  of  printing.  Great  as  was  the 
service  these  worthies  did  to  the  world,  it 
is  only  fair  to  remember  that  what  they  did 
was  but  to  improve  the  practical  application 
of  a  Chinese  invention.  Since  their  time 
progress  has  been  made  in  cheapening  types, 
making  paper  by  machinery,  improving  the 
presses,  and  working  them  by  steam-power, 
but  the  idea  remains  the  same.  —  TYLOB  An- 
thropology, ch.  7,  p.  180.  (A.,  1899.) 


.  PRIORITY  OF  DISCOVERY, 
SPURIOUS  CLAIMS  OF—  Everything  Said 
by  Some  One  Somewhere  —  Chance  Utter- 
ance Is  Not  Discovery.  —  In  the  hundreds  of 
books  and  pamphlets  which  are  every  year 
published  about  ether,  the  structure  of 
atoms,  the  theory  of  perception,  as  well  as 
on  the  nature  of  the  asthenic  fever  and 
carcinoma,  all  the  most  refined  shades  of 
possible  hypotheses  are  exhausted,  and 
among  these  there  must  necessarily  be  many 
fragments  of  the  correct  theory.  But  who 
knows  how  to  find  them  ?  I  insist  upon  this 
in  order  to  make  clear  to  you  that  all  this 
literature,  of  untried  and  unconfirmed  hy- 
potheses, has  no  value  in  the  progress  of 
science.  One  who  wants  to  publish  some- 
thing really  new  —  facts  —  sees  himself  open 
to  the  danger  of  countless  claims  of  prior- 


ity, unless  he  is  prepared  to  waste  time 
and  power  in  reading  beforehand  a  quantity 
of  absolutely  useless  books,  and  to  destroy 
his  readers'  patience  by  a  multitude  of  use- 
less quotations. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lec- 
tures, lect.  5,  p.  229.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2734. Truth  May  Appear 

by  Accident  amid  Any  Flood  of  Error — Dis- 
covery Gives  Reason  and  Proof  of  Truth. — 
To  find  superficial  resemblances  'is  easy;  it 
is  amusing  in  society,  and  witty  thoughts 
soon  procure  for  their  author  the  name  of 
a  clever  man.  Among  the  great  number  of 
such  ideas  there  must  be  some  which  are 
ultimately  found  to  be  partially  or  wholly 
correct;  it  would  be  a  stroke  of  skill  always 
to  guess  falsely.  In  such  a  happy  chance 
a  man  can  loudly  claim  his  priority  for  the 
discovery;  if  otherwise,  a  lucky  oblivion 
conceals  the  false  conclusions.  The  adher- 
ents of  such  a  process  are  glad  to  certify 
the  value  of  a  first  thought.  Conscientious 
workers  who  are  shy  at  bringing  their 
thoughts  before  the  public  before  they  have 
tested  them  in  all  directions,  solved  all 
doubts,  and  have  firmly  established  the 
proof,  these  are  at  a  decided  disadvantage. — 
HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  228. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2735.  PROBLEM  OF  LAW  AND  LIB- 
ERTY—#bw  Much  Control  by  Government  ?— 
How  Much  Freedom,  Even  if  Abused f — As 
the  motives  which  determine  individual  con- 
duct   are    not    always    reasonable    motives, 
so  it  is  clear  that  what  men  naturally  do 
is  no  sure  test  either  of  what  they  ought  to  do 
or  of  what  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to  do. 
It  is  their  nature,  under  certain  conditions, 
to  do  all  that  is  bad  and  injurious  to  them- 
selves and  others.    Hence  it  is  the  most  dif- 
ficult of  all  problems  In  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment to  determine  when,  where,  and  how 
it  is  wise  to  interfere  by  the  authority  of 
law    with    the    motives    which    are    usually 
called    the   natural    motives    of   men.      The 
question   is   no   other   than   this:    How    far 
the  abuse  of  those  motives  can  be  checked 
and  resisted  by  that  public  authority  whose 
duty  and  function  it  is  to  place  itself  above 
the    influences    which,    in    individual    men, 
overpower  the  voice  of  reason  and  of  con- 
science.— ARGYLL   Reign   of  Law,   ch.    7,   p. 
199.       (Burt.) 

2736.  PROBLEM  OF   MORAL  EVIL— 

Why  Is  Righteousness  Not  Automatic? — 
The  question  then  arises,  as  one  of  the 
greatest  of  all  mysteries,  how  it  is  and  why 
it  is  that  the  higher  gifts  of  man's  nature 
should  not  have  been  associated  with  cor- 
responding dispositions  to  lead  as  straight 
and  as  unerringly  to  the  crown  and  consum- 
mation of  his  course  as  the  dispositions 
of  other  creatures  do  lead  them  to  the 
perfect  development  of  their  powers  and  the 
perfect  discharge  of  their  functions  in  the 
economy  of  Nature? — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  9,  p.  219.  (Burt.) 


Problem 
Progress 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


556 


2737.  PROBLEM    OF    SCIENCE,    A— 

Flowers  and  Trees  Absorb  Different  Colors 
• — 1 8  the  Plant  Affected  by  the  Difference? — 
Both  in  foliage  and  in  flowers  we  have  stri- 
king differences  of  absorption.  The  copper 
beech  and  the  green  beech,  for  example,  take 
in  different  rays.  But  the  very  growth  of 
the  tree  is  due  to  some  of  the  rays  thus 
taken  in.  Are  the  chemical  rays,  then,  the 
same  in  the  copper  and  the  green  beech? 
In  two  such  flowers  as  the  primrose  and  the 
violet,  where  the  absorptions,  to  judge  by 
the  colors,  are  almost  complementary,  are 
the  chemically  active  rays  the  same?  The 
general  relation  of  color  to  chemical  action 
is  worthy  of  the  application  of  the  method 
by  which  Dr.  Draper  proved  so  conclusively 
the  chemical  potency  of  the  yellow  rays. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  39. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2738.  PROBLEM    OR     HYPOTHESIS 
NOT  TO  BE  MADE  DOCTRINE—"  We  must 
draw     [it     is     said]     a     strict     distinction 
between  what  we  wish  to  teach  and  what  we 
wish  to  search  for.     The  objects  of  our  re- 
search  are  expressed  as   problems    (or   hy- 
potheses).   We  need  not  keep  them  to  our- 
selves; we  are  ready  to  communicate  them 
to   all   the  world,   and   say,   '  There    is   the 
problem ;  that  is  what  we  strive  for.'    .     .     . 
The  investigation  of  such  problems,  in  which 
the  whole  nation  may  be  interested,  cannot 
be  restricted  to  any  one.     This  is  freedom 
of  inquiry.     But  the  problem    (or  hypothe- 
sis)   is  not,  without  further  debate,  to  be 
made  a  doctrine." — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  397.     (A.,  1900.) 

2739.  PROBLEMS    OF   THE   DEEP— 

When  it  was  found  that  animals  can  and 
do  live  even  at  the  greatest  depths  of  the 
ocean,  the  interest  of  naturalists  was  con- 
centrated on  the  solution  of  the  following 
problems.  Firstly,  do  the  animals  consti- 
tuting the  fauna  of  the  abyss  exhibit  any 
striking  and  constant  modification  in  corre- 
lation with  the  physical  conditions  of  their 
strange  habitat?  And,  secondly,  from  what 
source  was  the  fauna  of  the  abyss  derived? 
Was  it  derived  from  the  shallow  shore 
waters,  or  from  the  surface  of  the  sea?  Is 
it  of  very  ancient  origin,  or  the  result  of, 
comparatively  speaking,  recent  immigra- 
tions?— HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea, 
pref.,  p.  10.  (A.,  1898.) 

2  7  4O.    PROBLEMS  YET  UNSOLVED— 

Decision  of  Science  Waits  for  Facts — Ten- 
tative Hypotheses. — It  must  be  admitted, 
then,  that  the  questions  of  the  nature  of 
the  earth's  interior  and  the  cause  of  the 
high  temperatures  which  produce  volcanic 
phenomena  are  still  open  ones.  We  have  not 
yet  got  beyond  the  stage  of  endeavoring  to 
account  for  the  facts  observed  by  means 
of  tentative  hypotheses.  Some  of  these,  as 
we  have  seen,  agree  with  the  facts,  so  far 
as  they  are  at  present  known,  much  better 
than  others;  but  the  decision  between  them, 
or  the  rejection  of  the  whole  of  them  in 


favor  of  some  new  hypothesis,  must  depend 
on  the  results  of  future  observation  and 
inquiry. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  12,  p.  352. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2741. Vain  Search  for 

Intra  -  Mercurian  Planet — Perturbations  of 
Mercury  Still  Unexplained.  —  Intra  -  Mer- 
curian planets  have  .  .  .  been  diligently 
searched  for  when  the  opportunity  of  a  to- 
tal eclipse  offered,  especially  during  the 
long  obscuration  at  Caroline  Island.  Not 
only  did  Professor  Holden  "  sweep  "  in  the 
solar  vicinity,  but  Palisa  and  Trouvelot 
agreed  to  divide  the  field  of  exploration, 
and  thus  make  sure  of  whatever  planetary 
prey  there  might  be  within  reach;  yet 
with  only  negative  results.  Belief  in  the 
presence  of  any  considerable  body  or  bodies 
within  the  orbit  of  Mercury  is,  accordingly, 
now  at  a  low  ebb.  Yet  the  existence  of  the 
anomaly  in  the  Mercurian  movements  indi- 
cated by  Le  Verrier  has  been  made  only 
surer  by  further  research.  Its  elucidation 
constitutes  one  of  the  "  pending  problems  " 
of  astronomy. — CLERKE  History  of  Astrono- 
my, pt.  ii,  ch.  7,  p.  308.  (BL,  1893.) 

2742.  PROCESS    OF   CRYSTALLIZA- 
TION   SEEN   BY   MEANS   OF  SOLAR  MI- 
CROSCOPE —  Cleansing    perfectly    a   glass 
plate,  the  solution  of  the  chlorid   [common 
sal  ammoniac,   or  ammonium,   dissolved   in 
water]   is  poured  over  the  glass,  to  which, 
when  the  plate  is  set  on  edge,  a  thin  film 
of  the  liquid  adheres.     Warming  the  glass 
slightly,    evaporation    is    promoted,    but  by 
evaporation  the  water  only  is  removed.    The 
plate  is  then  placed  in  a  solar  microscope, 
and  an  image  of  the  film  is  thrown  upon  a 
white  screen.     The  warmth  of  the  illumina- 
ting beam  adds  itself  to  that  already   im- 
parted to  the  glass  plate,  so  that  after  a 
moment   or  two   the   dissolved   salt  can  no 
longer  exist  in  the  liquid  condition.     Mole- 
cule   then    closes    with    molecule,    and   you 
have  a  most  impressive  display  of  crystal- 
lizing energy  overspreading  the  whole  screen. 
You  may  produce  something  similar  if  you 
breathe    upon    the    frost-ferns    which    over- 
spread  your   window-panes    in   winter,    and 
then  observe  through  a  pocket-lens  the  sub- 
sequent recongelation  of  the  film.     In  this 
case  the  crystallizing  force  is  hampered  by 
the  adhesion  of  the  film  to  the  glass;  never- 
theless, the  play  of  power  is  strikingly  beau- 
tiful.— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3, 
p.   103.      (A.,  1898.) 

2743.  PROCESS     SUCCESSFULLY 
USED,  WHILE  REASON  UNKNOWN— Real 
Cause  of  Fermentation  Discovered  by  Pas- 
teur: — It  was  Pasteur  who  in  1857  first  pro- 
pounded the  true  cause  and  process  of  fer- 
mentation.     The    breaking  -  down    of    sugar 
into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid  gas  had  been 
known,  of  course,  for  a  long  period.     Since 
the  time  of  Spallanzani    (1776)    the  putre- 
factive changes  in  liquids  and  organic  mat- 
ter   had    been    prevented    by    boiling    and 
subsequently  sealing  the  flask  or  vessel  con- 


557 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Problem 
Progress 


taining  the  fluid.  Moreover,  this  successful 
preventive  practise  had  been  in  some  meas- 
ure correctly  interpreted  as  due  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  atmosphere,  but  wrongly 
credited  to  the  exclusion  of  the  oxygen  of 
the  air.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century  that  authorities  modi- 
fied their  view  and  declared  in  favor  of 
yeast-cells  as  the  agents  in  the  production 
of  fermentation. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  4, 
p.  111.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2744.  PRODUCT    OF    EVOLUTION 
MORE  IMPORTANT  THAN  THE  PROCESS 

— Love  the  Final  and  Supreme  Result. — But, 
after  all,  the  miracle  of  evolution  is  not  the 
process,  but  the  product.  Beside  the  won- 
der of  the  result,  the  problem  of  the  process 
is  a  mere  curiosity  of  science.  For  what 
is  the  product?  It  is  not  mountain  and  val- 
ley, sky  and  sea,  flower  and  star,  this  glori- 
ous and  beautiful  world  in  which  man's 
body  finds  its  home.  It  is  not  the  godlike 
gift  of  mind  nor  the  ordered  cosmos  where 
it  finds  so  noble  an  exercise  for  its  illimit- 
able powers.  It  is  that  which  of  all  other 
things  in  the  universe  commends  itself,  with 
increasing  sureness  as  time  goes  on,  to  the 
reason  and  to  the  heart  of  humanity — love. 
Love  is  the  final  result  of  evolution.  This 
is  what  stands  out  in  Nature  as  the  supreme 
creation. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  10, 
p.  335.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2745.  PRODUCT   OF   SLIGHT  FORCE 
BY  VAST  PERIOD— Power  of  "  Patient  Con- 
tinuance "  (Rom,  ii,  7j — -The  Silent  Activi- 
ties.— There  is  no  fact  which  the  geological 
student  is  more  constantly  called  upon  to 
bear  in  mind  than  that  of  the  potency  of 
seemingly    insignificant    causes    which    con- 
tinue   in    constant   operation    through    long 
periods   of   time.      Indeed,   these   small   and 
almost  unnoticed  agencies  at  work  upon  the 
earth's  crust  are  often  found,   in  the  long 
run,   to    produce    far   grander    effects    than 
those    of   which    the    action    is    much    more 
striking   and   obvious.      It   is   to  the   silent 
and    imperceptible    action    of    atmospheric 
moisture  and  frost  that  the  disintegration 
of   the   solid    rock-masses    must   be    mainly 
ascribed;   and  the  noisy  cataract  and  ocean 
billow  produce   effects  which   are  quite  in- 
significant compared  with  those  which  must 
be   ascribed   to   the   slight   and   almost  un- 
noticed forces.     Great  masses  of  limestone 
are  built  up  of  the  remains  of  microscopic 
organisms,  while  the  larger  and  higher  life 
forms  contribute  but  little  to  the  great  work 
cf  rock-building. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  10,  p. 
302.     (A.,  1899.) 

2746.  PROFICIENCY  INCREASED  BY 
REST — We  notice  after  exercising  our  mus- 
cles or  our  brain  in  a  new  way  that  we  can 
do  so  no  longer  at  that  time;  but  after  a 
day   or   two   of  rest,   when   we   resume  the 
discipline,  our  increase  in  skill  not  seldom 
surprises  us.     I  have  often  noticed  this  in 
learning  a  tune;  and  it  has  led  a  German 


author  to  say  that  we  learn  to  swim  during 
the  winter  and  to  skate  during  the  sum- 
mer.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p. 
110.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2747.  PROGENY  OF  LOWER  ANIMALS 
MULTITUDINOUS— Love  Then  Impossible— 
ATo  Ethical  Result  Attained. — The  humbler 
denizens    of    the    world    produce    offspring, 
not  by  units  or  tens,  but  by  thousands  and 
millions;  and  with  populations  so  vast,  ma- 
ternal protection  is  not  required  to  sustain 
the  existence  of  the  species.    It  was  probably 
on  the  whole  a  better  arrangement  to  pro- 
duce   a    million   and    let   them    take    their 
chance,  than  to  produce  one  and  take  special 
trouble  with   it.      It  was   easier,  moreover, 
a  thousand  times  easier,  for  Nature  to  make 
a  million  young  than  one  mother.     But  the 
ethical  effect,  if  one  may  use  such  a  term 
here,    of    this    early   arrangement   was    nil. 
All  this  saving  of  motherly  trouble  meant 
for  a  long  space  in  Nature  complete  absence 
of  maternal  training.     With  children  of  this 
sort  motherhood  had  no  chance.     There  was 
no  time  to  love,  no  opportunity  to  love,  and 
no  object  to  love.     It  was  a  period  of  phys- 
ical installations;    and  of  psychical  instal- 
lations only  as  establishing  the  first  stages 
of  the  maternal  instinct — the  prenatal  care 
of  the  egg.     This  is  a  necessary  beginning, 
but  it  is  imperfect;  it  arrests  itself  at  the 
critical  point,  where  care  can  react  upon  the 
mother. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  8, 
p.  271.      (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2748.  PROGRESS  BY  DISREGARD  OF 
PLEASURE  AND  PAIN— Pleasure  and  pain 
are     undoubtedly    powerful     as     spur     and 
bridle  and  bit  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 
But  whatever  biology  and  certain  doctrines 
of  political  economy  may  see  fit  to  hold  on 
this  subject,  psychology  cannot  find  that  the 
facts  testify  to  this  side  of  life  as  being  by 
life  any  means  all-powerful.     Indeed,  all  hu- 
man life  develops  largely  by  relegating  the 
immediate  effects  of  our  activity,  as  respects 
the  quantities  of  pleasure  or  pain  evoked, 
more  and  more  into  the  background. — LADI> 
Psychology,  ch.  10,  p.  197.      (S.,  1899.) 

2749.  PROGRESS  BY  INTERCOURSE 
AND    INTERCHANGE—  A    Prophet    without 
Honor    in    His    Own    Country. — Humanity 
would  probably  not  have  progressed  very  far 
from  its  original  state  if  the  separate  tribes 
and   peoples    had   not   mutually   exchanged 
their  small  steps  of  progress,  and  constantly 
enriched  their  scanty  possessions  in  culture 
by  borrowing  from  others.     Just  the  rigid- 
ness  of  the  people's  soul  that  timidly  refuses 
every  venture,  everything  untried,  justifies 
the  assumption  that  every  nation  has  de- 
rived a  great  percentage  of  its  endowments 
and  opinions  at  second  hand;    [and  this  is. 
further  evident  from  the  fact  that]  natural- 
ly the  example  of  an  entire  neighboring  tribe 
exercises    a    stronger    and   more   convincing 
effect   than   the   most   living  demonstration 
from  a  member  of  one's  own  society,  whose 


Progress 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


558 


ideas  in  the  eyes  of  his  comrades  "  haven't 
traveled  from  a  distance."  The  ancient  say- 
ing, "  A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save 
in  his  own  country,"  illumines  the  situation. 
This  borrowing  would  be  still  more  frequent 
if  the  petty  tribal  animosities,  which  among 
peoples  of  higher  culture  take  the  form  of 
national  pride,  did  not  hinder  a  more  ener- 
getic leaning  toward  foreign  standards. — 
SCHUBTZ  Urgeschichte  der  Kultur,  p.  58. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2750.  PROGRESS  CHARACTERIZES 

TRUE  SCIENCE— The  beauty  of  all  truly 
scientific  work  is  to  get  to  ever  deeper  levels. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  25,  p.  448. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2751.  PROGRESS  FROM  IMPLEMENT 
TO  MACHINE — From  Hand-power  to  Use  of 
Elemental   Forces. — The    ingenuity   of   man 
has  been  eminent  in  the  art  of  destroying 
his  fellow  men.     In  surveying  the  last  group 
of  deadly  weapons,   from  the  stone  hurled 
by  hand  to  the  rifled  cannon,  there  comes 
well   into  view  one  of  the  great  advances 
of  culture.     This  is  the  progress  from  the 
simple  tool  or  implement,  such  as  the  club 
or  knife,   which   enables   man   to   strike   or 
cut   more   effectively   than    with   hands    or 
teeth,  to  the  machine  which,  when  supplied 
with  force,  only  needs  to  be  set  and  directed 
by  man  to  do  his  work.    Man  often  himself 
provides  the  power  which  the  machine  dis- 
tributes more  conveniently,  as  when  the  pot- 
ter turns  the  wheel  with  his  own  foot,  using 
his  hands  to  mold  the  whirling  clay.     The 
highest  class  of  machines  are  those  which 
are  driven  by  the  stored-up  forces  of  Na- 
ture,  like  the  sawmill,  where  the  running 
stream  does  the  hard  labor,  and  the  sawyer 
has  only  to  provide  the  timber  and  direct 
the  cutting. — TYLOB  Anthropology,  ch.  8,  p. 
197.      (A.,   1899.) 

2752.  PROGRESS,  MENTAL,  SUPER- 
SEDES   PHYSICAL— Mind   Gives  Man  Do- 
minion.— No  fact  in  Nature  is  fraught  with 
deeper  meaning  than  this  two-sided  fact  of 
the  extreme  physical   similarity   and  enor- 
mous psychical  divergence  between  man  and 
the   group    of   animals   to   which   he   traces 
his  pedigree.     It  shows  that  when  humanity 
began  to  be  evolved  an  entirely  new  chapter 
in  the  history  of  the  universe  was  opened. 
Henceforth  the  life  of  the  nascent  soul  came 
to  be  first  in  importance,  and  the  bodily  life 
became  subordinated   to   it.     Henceforth   it 
appeared   that,    in   this   direction    at   least, 
the  process  of  zoological  change  had  come 
to  an  end,  and  a  process  of  psychological 
change  was  to  take  its  place.     Henceforth 
along  this  supreme  line  of  generation  there 
was    to    be    no    further    evolution    of    new 
species     through     physical     variation,     but 
through  the  accumulation  of  psychical  vari- 
ations   one    particular    species    was    to    be 
indefinitely  perfected  and  raised  to  a  totally 
different  plane  from  that  on  which  all  life 
had  hitherto  existed.     Henceforth,  in  short, 


the  dominant  aspect  of  evolution  was  to  be 
not  the  genesis  of  species,  but  the  progress 
of  civilization. — FISKE  Destiny  of  Man,  ch. 
3,  p.  29.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2753.     PROGRESS    OF    HUMANITY— 

Guides  for  the  Study  of  Types  of  Ancient 
Culture  Now  Existent. — There  are  five 
guides  [from  helplessness  to  power]  whose 
services  we  have  to  engage  on  our  interest- 
ing journey.  The  first  is  History,  who  does 
not  know  the  way  very  far  back — not  over 
three  thousand  years — with  much  certainty. 
The  second  is  Philosophy,  the  study  of  which 
in  our  own  century  has  enabled  us  to  find 
the  cradle-land  of  many  peoples.  The  third 
is  Folk-lore,  the  survival  of  belief  and  cus- 
tom among  the  uneducated.  The  fourth  is 
Archeology,  history  written  in  things.  The 
fifth  is  Ethnology,  which  informs  us  that 
in  describing  this  arc  of  civilization  some 
races  have  only  marked  time,  while  others 
have  moved  with  radii  of  varying  lengths. 
The  result  of  this  is  that  we  now  have  on 
the  earth  types  of  every  sort  of  culture 
it  has  ever  known. — MASON  The  Birth  of  In- 
vention (Address  at  Centenary  of  American 
Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891; 
Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  406). 


2754. 


Improvement  by  In- 


dividual Effort — Civilization  a  Condition  of 
Unstable  Equilibrium  —  Hopeful  Result  of 
Education. — There  have  been  various  centers 
and  periods  of  civilization.  Egypt,  Greece, 
and  Rome,  tho  they  have  left  an  impress 
upon  the  world  which  extends  even  to  our 
time,  and  modifies  all  the  present,  have 
themselves  "  moldered  down."  It  appears, 
therefore,  that  civilization  itself  may  be 
considered  as  a  condition  of  unstable  equi- 
librium, which  requires  constant  effort  to  be 
sustained,  and  a  still  greater  effort  to  be 
advanced.  It  is  not,  in  my  view,  the  mani- 
fest destiny  of  humanity  to  improve  by  the 
operation  of  an  inevitable  necessary  law  of 
progress;  but  while  I  believe  that  it  is  the 
design  of  Providence  that  man  should  be 
improved,  this  improvement  must  be  the  re- 
sult of  individual  effort,  or  of  the  com- 
bined effort  of  many  individuals,  animated 
by  the  same  feeling,  and  cooperating  for  the 
attainment  of  the  same  end.  The  world  is 
still  in  a  degraded  condition;  ignorance, 
want,  rapine,  murder,  superstition,  fraud, 
uncleanliness,  inhumanity,  and  malignity 
abound.  We  thank  God,  however,  that  he 
has  given  us  the  promise,  and  in  some  cases 
the  foretaste,  of  a  happier  and  holier  con- 
dition; that  he  has  vouchsafed  to  us  as 
individuals,  each  in  his  own  sphere,  the 
privilege,  and  has  enjoined  upon  us  the 
duty,  of  becoming  his  instruments,  and  thus 
coworkers  in  ameliorating  the  condition  of 
ourselves  and  our  fellow  men ;  and  above  all, 
that  he  has  enabled  us  through  education  to 
improve  the  generations  which  are  to  follow 
us.  If  we  sow  judiciously  in  the  present  the 
world  will  assuredly  reap  a  beneficent  har- 


559 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Progress 


vest  in  the  future;  and  he  has  not  lived 
in  vain  who  leaves  behind  him  as  his  suc- 
cessor a  child  better  educated  morally,  in- 
tellectually, and  physically  than  himself. — 
HENRY  Thoughts  on  Education  (Scientific 
Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  327).  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

2755.  PROGRESS   OF  LIFE  IN  GEO- 
LOGIC TIME — Prolific  Periods  and  Epochs. — 
Just    as    the   growth    of   trees   is    promoted 
or  arrested  by  the  vicissitudes  of  summer 
and  winter,  so  in  the  course  of  the  geological 
history   there  have   been   periods    of   pause 
and   acceleration   in   the   work   of   advance- 
ment.    This  is  in  accordance  with  the  gen- 
eral  analogy  of  the  operations   of  Nature, 
and  is  in  no  way  at  variance  with  the  doc- 
trine of  uniformity  already  referred  to.   Nor 
has   it  anything   in   common  with   the   un- 
founded  idea,   at   one  time   entertained,   of 
successive  periods  of  entire  destruction  and 
restoration  of  life.     Prolific  periods  of  this 
kind  appear  in  the  marine  invertebrates  of 
the  early  Cambrian,  the  plants   and  fishes 
of  the  Devonian,  the  batrachians  of  the  Car- 
boniferous,   the    reptiles   of   the   Trias,   the 
broad-leaved  trees  of  the  Cretaceous,  and  the 
mammals  of  the  early  Tertiary.     A  remark- 
able contrast  is  afforded  by  the  later  Ter- 
tiary and  modern  time,  in  which,  with  the 
exception    of   man   himself,   and   perhaps    a 
very    few   other    species,    no   new    forms    of 
life  have  been   introduced,  while  many  old 
forms   have  perished. — DAWSON   Facts   and 
Fancies  in  Modern  Science,  lect.  3,  p.   124. 
(A.   B.  P.   S.) 

2756.  PROGRESS   OF   SCIENCE— Ad- 
vance by  Rejection  of  Ancient  Dogmas — Lan- 
guage Still  Preserves  Old  Forms. — The  dog- 
mas  of   former   ages    survive   now    only    in 
the    superstitions    of    the    people    and    the 
prejudices  of  the  ignorant,  or  are  perpetua- 
ted in  a  few  systems,  which,  conscious  of 
their  weakness,  shroud  themselves  in  a  veil 
of  mystery.     We  may  also  trace  the  same 
primitive  intuitions  in  languages  exuberant 
in  figurative  expressions;   and  a  few  of  the 
best  chosen  symbols  engendered  by  the  hap- 
py inspiration  of  the  earliest  ages,  having 
by  degrees   lost  their  vagueness  through  a 
better  mode  of  interpretation,  are  still  pre- 
served  among   our   scientific   terms.— rHuM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  24.     (H.,  1897.) 


2757. 


A  Rhythmic  Move- 


ment— Retardation  the  Prelude  to  Swifter 
Advance. — Newton's  espousal  of  the  emis- 
sion theory  [of  light]  is  said  to  have  re- 
tarded scientific  discovery.  It  might,  how- 
ever, be  questioned  whether,  in  the  long  run, 
the  errors  of  great  men  have  not  really  their 
effect  in  rendering  intellectual  progress 
rhythmical,  instead  of  permitting  it  to  re- 
main uniform,  the  "  retardation "  in  each 
case  being  the  prelude  to  a  more  impetuous 
advance.  It  is  confusion  and  stagnation, 
rather  than  error,  that  we  ought  to  avoid. 
Thus,  tho  the  undulatory  theory  was  held 
back  for  a  time,  it  gathered  strength  in  the 


interval,  and  its  development  within  the 
last  half  century  has  been  so  rapid  and  tri- 
umphant as  to  leave  no  rival  in  the  field. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  80. 

(A.,  1898.) 


2758. 


New  Methods  of 


Research. — Comparing  the  methods  now 
available  for  astronomical  inquiries  with 
those  in  use  thirty  years  _ago,  we  are  at 
once  struck  with  the  fact  that  they  have 
multiplied.  The  telescope  has  been  supple- 
mented by  the  spectroscope  and  the  photo- 
graphic camera.  Now  this  really  involves 
a  whole  world  of  change.  It  means  that  as- 
tronomy has  left  the  place  where  she  dwelt 
apart  in  rapt  union  with  mathematics,  in- 
different to  all  things  on  earth  save  only 
to  those  mechanical  improvements  which 
should  aid  her  to  penetrate  further  into  the 
heavens,  and  has  descended  into  the  forum 
of  human  knowledge,  at  once  a  suppliant 
and  a  patron,  alternately  invoking  help  from 
and  promising  it  to  each  of  the  sciences,  and 
patiently  wraiting  upon  the  advance  of  all. 
The  science  of  the  heavenly  bodies  has,  in  a 
word,  become  a  branch  of  terrestrial  physics, 
or  rather  a  higher  kind  of  integration  of 
all  their  results. — CLERKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt:  ii,  ch.  13,  p.  512.  (BL,  1893.) 

2759.  PROGRESS,  SOCIAL— Intellectual 
Beliefs  Direct — Feelings  Impel  to  Action — 
Steam  and  Steersman. — It  was  not  human 
emotions  and  passions  which  discovered  the 
motion  of  the  earth,  or  detected  the  evidence 
of  its  antiquity;   which  exploded  scholasti- 
cism,   and   inaugurated   the    exploration   of 
Nature;  which  invented  printing,  paper,  and 
the  mariner's  compass.     Yet  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  English  and  French  Revolutions, 
and  still  greater  moral  and  social  changes 
yet  to  come,  are  direct  consequences  of  these 
and  similar  discoveries.     Even  alchemy  and 
astrology  were  not  believed  because  people 
thirsted  for  gold  and  were  anxious  to  pry 
into    the   future,    for    these   desires   are   as 
strong  now  as  they  were  then;  but  because 
alchemy  and  astrology  were  conceptions  nat- 
ural to  a  particular  stage  in  the  growth  of 
human     knowledge,     and    consequently    de- 
termined during  that  stage  the  particular 
means  whereby  the  passions  which  always 
exist  sought  their  gratification.    To  say  that 
men's  intellectual  beliefs  do  not  determine 
their  conduct  is  like  saying  that  the  ship 
is  moved  by  the  steam  and  not  by  the  steers- 
man.     The    steam,    indeed,    is    the    motive 
power;  the  steersman,  left  to  himself,  could 
not  advance  the  vessel  a  single  inch,  yet  it 
is  the  steersman's  will  and  the  steersman's 
knowledge  which   decide  in  what  direction 
it   shall   move   and   whither    it   shall   go. — 
MILL  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte, 
p.  96.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

2760.  PROGRESS,    UNCONSCIOUS— 

The  Greatest  Movements  Least  Perceptible 
to  Those  Borne  Onward  ~by  Them. — If  we 
ride  in  a  well-appointed  carriage  with  good 


Progress 
Protection 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


560 


springs,  upon  a  railway  which  is  in  excellent 
order,  the  movement  is  almost  imperceptible 
to  us,  and  the  rate  of  speed  may  be  increased 
indefinitely  without  making  itself  apparent 
to  our  senses.  The  smallest  impediment  to 
the  evenness  of  the  movement — such  as  that 
produced  by  a  small  object  placed  upon  the 
rails — at  once  makes  itself  felt  by  a  violent 
jar  and  vibration.  How  perfectly  insensible 
we  may  be  of  the  grandest  and  most  rapid 
movements  is  taught  us  by  the  facts  demon- 
strated by  the  astronomer.  By  the  earth's 
daily  rotation  we  are  borne  along  at  a  rate 
which  in  some  places  amounts  to  over  1,000 
miles  an  hour,  and  by  its  annual  revolution 
we  are  every  hour  transported  through  a 
distance  of  70,000  miles;  yet  concerning  the 
fact  and  direction  of  these  movements  we 
are  wholly  unconscious. — JUDD  Volcanoes, 
ch.  10,  p.  285.  (A.,  1899.) 

2761.  PROOF,  FIRST,  OF  DEEP-SEA 
FAUNA — Commercial  Industry  Aids  Science. — 
The   first  direct  proof  of  the  existence  of 
an    invertebrate    fauna    in    deep    seas    was 
found    by    the    expedition    that    was    sent 
to  repair  the  submarine  cable  of  the  Medi- 
terranean   Telegraph   Company.     The   cable 
had  broken  in  deep  water,  and  a  ship  was 
sent  out  to  examine  and  repair  the  damage. 
When  the  broken  cable  was  brought  on  deck 
it  bore   several   forms   of   animal   life  that 
must  have  become  attached  to  it  and  lived 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  in  water  extending 
down  to  a  depth  of  1,200  fathoms.     Among 
other   forms  a   caryophyllia  was   found  at- 
tached to  the  cable  at  1,100  fathoms,  an  oys- 
ter   (Ostrea  cochlear),  two   species   of  pec- 
ten,  two  gasteropods,  and  several  worms. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  1,  p. 
7.     (A.,  1894.) 

2762.  PROOFS  FROM  THE  VAST  AND 
THE  MINUTE  UNITE — Gases  Imprisoned  in 
the    Fluid    Rock    of    Volcanoes. — That    the 
molten  materials  which  issue  from  volcanic 
vents    have    absorbed    enormous    quantities 
of  steam  and  other  gases  we  have  the  most 
undisputable  evidence.     The  volume  of  such 
gases   given   off  during  volcanic   outbursts, 
and  while  the  lava-streams  are  flowing  and 
consolidating,  is  enormous,  and  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  supposing  that  the  masses 
of  fluid  rock  have  absorbed  many  times  their 
volume  of  the  gases.     But  we  have  another 
not  less  convincing  proof  of  the  same  fact 
in  the  circumstance  that  volcanic  materials 
which  have  consolidated  under  great  pres- 
sure— such  as  granites,  gabbros,  porphyries, 
etc. — exhibit   in  their   crystals   innumerable 
cavities  containing  similar  gases  in  a  lique- 
fied state. 

It  is  to  the  violent  escape  of  these  gases 
from  the  molten  rock-masses,  as  the  pressure 
upon  them  is  relieved,  that  nearly  all  the 
active  phenomena  of  volcanoes  must  be  re- 
ferred.—-Juno  Volcanoes,  ch.  12,  p.  357.  (A., 
1899.) 

2763.  PROPAGATION,  RECTILINEAR, 
OF  LIGHT — Crossing  of  Rays  with  Inversion 


of  Image — Overlapping  Images. — The  fol- 
lowing instructive  experiment  depends  on 
the  rectilinear  propagation  of  light.  Make 
a  small  hole  in  a  closed  window-shutter, 
before  which  stands  a  house  or  a  tree,  and 
place  within  the  darkened  room  a  white 
screen  at  some  distance  from  the  orifice. 
Every  straight  ray  proceeding  from  the 
house  or  tree  stamps  its  color  upon  the 
screen,  and  the  sum  of  all  the  rays  will, 
therefore,  be  an  image  of  the  object.  But,, 
as  the  rays  cross  each  other  at  the  orifice,, 
the  image  is  inverted.  At  present  we  may 
illustrate  and  expand  the  subject  thus: 
In  front  of  our  camera  is  a  large  opening 
from  which  the  lens  has  been  re- 
moved, and  which  is  closed  at  present  by  a, 
sheet  of  tin-foil.  Pricking  by  means  of  a 
common  sewing-needle  a  small  aperture  in 
the  tin- foil,  an  inverted  image  of  the  car- 
bon-points starts  forth  upon  the  screen.  A 
dozen  apertures  will  give  a  dozen  images,  a 
hundred  a  hundred,  a  thousand  a  thousand. 
But,  as  the  apertures  come  closer  to  each 
other,  that  is  to  say,  as  the  tin-foil  between 
the  apertures  vanishes,  the  images  overlap 
more  and  more.  Removing  the  tin-foil  al- 
together, the  screen  becomes  uniformly  il- 
luminated. Hence  the  light  upon  the  screen 
may  be  regarded  as  the  overlapping  of  in- 
numerable images  of  the  carbon-points.  In 
like  manner  the  light  upon  every  white  wall 
on  a  cloudless  day  may  be  regarded  as  pro- 
duced by  the  superposition  of  innumerable 
images  of  the  sun. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  1,  p.  9.  (A.,  1898.) 

2764.  PROPERTIES    OF    MATTER 
TREATED  AS  CAUSES— The  physicist  who 
deduces  from  the  activities  of  different  forms 
of   matter    certain    "  properties "    which   he 
attributes  to  them,  and  then  uses  these  very 
"  properties "   to   account   for   those   activi- 
ties,  is   obviously    reasoning   in   a   circle. — 
CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  411. 
(A.,   1889.) 

2765.  PROPHECY  IN  SCIENCE—  Spec- 
tral   Lines — Foreseeing    Discovery    of    ~New 
Planet — God  Communicating  with  Rational 
Creatures. — If  the  possibility  of  God  com- 
municating with   his   rational   creatures  be 
conceded,     then    the     objections     taken     to 
prophecy  lose  all  value.     If  anything  known 
to  God  and  unknown  to  man  can  be  revealed, 
things  past  and  future  may  be  revealed  as 
well  as  things  present.     Science  abounds  in 
prophecy.     All  through  the  geological  his- 
tory there  have  been  prophetic  types,  mute 
witnesses  to  coming  facts.     Minute  disturb- 
ances  of  heavenly  bodies,   altogether   inap- 
preciable by   the   ordinary   observer,   enable 
the  astronomer  to  predict  the  discovery  of 
new  planets.     A  line  in  a  spectrum,  without 
significance    to   the  uninitiated,   foretells   a 
new    element.      The   merest    fragment,    suf- 
ficient   only    for    microscopic    examination, 
enables  the  paleontologist  to  describe  to  in- 
credulous auditors  some  organism  altogether 
unknown    in    its    entire    structures.      What 


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Progress 
Protection 


possible  reason  can  there  be  for  excluding 
such  indications  of  the  past  and  the  future 
from  a  revelation  made  by  him  who  knows 
perfectly  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and 
to  whom  the  future  results  of  human  ac- 
tions to  the  end  of  time  must  be  as  evident 
as  the  simplest  train  of  causes  and  effects 
is  to  us?  [See  PREDICTION.] — DAWSON  Facts 
and  Fancies  in  Modern  Science,  lect.  6,  p. 
231.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2766.  PROPORTION    BETWEEN    EX- 
TENT OF  AURORA  AND  ITS    HEIGHT— 

It  must  be  noted  that  the  extent  of  the 
aurora  appears  to  bear  a  certain  relation 
to  its  height.  The  extensive  auroras — those, 
for  instance,  which  are  seen  simultaneously 
in  the  two  hemispheres — appear  to  shine 
from  an  immense  height.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  auroras  which  are  at  low  levels 
are  always  very  limited  in  area,  or  even 
purely  local.  This  appears  to  be  another 
point  in  favor  of  the  opinion  already  stated, 
namely,  that  these  two  categories  of  auroras 
are  really  distinct  phenomena,  both  in  their 
properties  and  in  their  origin. — ANGOT  Au- 
rora Borealis,  ch.  4,  p.  56.  (A.,  1897.) 

2767.  PROSPERITY  MADE  POSSIBLE 
BY  SOCIAL  ORDER— Utility  of  Ancient  Creeds 
and   Cults. — Even  the   creeds   and  cults   of 
mankind,   whatever  view  you  may  take  of 
the  divine  element  underneath   them,  have 
been    thought    out    and    wrought    out    with 
infinite  pains  from  time  to  time  by  earnest 
souls.      But   they   had   their    origin    in    the 
cradle-land  and  in  the  infancy  of  our  race. 
What  we  enjoy  is  only  the  full-blown  flower, 
the  perfected  fruit  of  which  they  possessed 
the  germ.     Let  me  enforce  this  idea,  as  we 
glorify  the  material  prosperity  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  that  many  centuries  ago  men 
sat  down  and  with  great  pains  and  sorrow 
invented  the  language,  the   art,  the  indus- 
tries, the  social  order  which  made  our  ma- 
chines feasible  and  desirable. — MASON   The 
Birth  of  Invention  (Address  at  Centenary  of 
American  Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C., 
1891;  Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  407). 

2768.  PROSPERITY   OF    NATIONS 
THE  RESULT  OF  SCIENTIFIC  PROGRESS 

— An  equal  appreciation  of  all  branches  of 
the  mathematical,  physical,  and  natural  sci- 
ences is  a  special  requirement  of  the  present 
age,  in  which  the  material  wealth  and  the 
growing  prosperity  of  nations  are  principal- 
ly based  upon  a  more  enlightened  employment 
of  the  products  and  forces  of  Nature.  The 
most  superficial  glance  at  the  present  con- 
dition of  Europe  shows  that  a  diminution 
or  even  a  total  annihilation  of  national  pros- 
perity must  be  the  award  of  those  states 
who  shrink  with  slothful  indifference  from 
the  great  struggle  of  rival  nations  in  the 
career  of  the  industrial  arts.  It  is  with  na- 
tions as  with  Nature,  which,  according  to 
a  happy  expression  of  Goethe,  "  knows  no 
pause  in  progress  and  development,  and  at- 
taches her  curse  on  all  inaction."  The 


propagation  of  an  earnest  and  sound  knowl- 
edge of  science  can  therefore  alone  avert  th& 
dangers  of  which  I  have  spoken.  Man  can- 
not act  upon  Nature,  or  appropriate  her 
forces  to  his  own  use,  without  comprehend- 
ing their  full  extent  and  having  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  the 
physical  world. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,. 
int.,  p.  53.  (H.,  1897.) 

2769.  PROTECTION    BY    DESTRUC- 
TION OF  ENEMIES—  The  Sparrow-hawk  De- 
vours  Destroyers   of   Crops. — The   sparrow- 
hawk  has  a  perfectly  clean  record,  as  far  as, 
chickens  go,  not  one  of  the  320  whose  stom- 
achs were   examined  by  Dr.   Fisher  having, 
partaken    of    poultry,    while    no    less    than 
215  had  eaten  insects  and  89  had  captured 
mice.     Grasshoppers  are  the  sparrow-hawk's 
chief  food,  and  we  may  often  see  him  hover- 
ing   over    the    fields    with    rapidly    moving 
wings.   Then,  dropping  lightly  down  on  some 
unsuspecting   victim    below,    he    returns   to 
the  bare  limb  or  stub  he  uses  for  a  lookout 
station,  uttering  an  exultant  killy — killy — 
killy  as  he  flies. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch. 
7,  p.  120.     (A.,  1900.) 

2770.  PROTECTION   BY  DISTASTE- 
FULNESS  —  Even  Parasites  Avoid  the  Mon- 
arch   Butterfly. — Mr.    Samuel    H.    Scudder,, 
who  has  largely  bred  North- American  but- 
terflies, has  found  so  many  of  the  eggs  and 
larvae  destroyed  by  hymenopterous  and  dip- 
terous parasites  that  he  thinks  at  least  nine- 
tenths,  perhaps  a  greater  proportion,  never 
reach  maturity.    Yet  he  has  never  found  any 
evidence  that  such  parasites  attack  either  the: 
egg  or  the  larva  of  the  inedible  Danais  ar- 
chippus,  so  that  in  this  case  the  insect  is. 
distasteful   to   its   most    dangerous    foes    in 
all  the  stages  of  its  existence,  a  fact  which 
serves  to  explain   its  great  abundance  and 
its  extension  over  almost  the  whole  world. — 
WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  9,  p.  161.     (Hum.,, 
1897.) 

2771.  PROTECTION    BY   MIMICRY— 
Spiders  Resembling  Leaves  Both  in  Action 
and   Appearance. — Green-leafed    bushes    are 
frequented    by    vividly   green    epeiras    [spi- 
ders],  but   the   imitative   resemblance   does 
not    quite    end    here.      The    green    spider's 
method  of  escape,  when  the  bush  is  roughly 
shaken,  is  to  drop  itself  down  on  the  earth, 
where  it  lies  simulating  death.     In  falling, 
it  drops  just  as   a  green   leaf  would  drop, 
that  is,   not  quite   so   rapidly   as   a   round, 
solid  body  like  a  beetle  or  a  spider.     Now 
in   the  bushes   there   is    another   epeira,   in 
size   and   form   like  the  last,   but   differing 
in  color;   for  instead  of  a  vivid  green  it  is 
of  a  faded  yellowish  white — the  exact  hue  of 
a  dead,  dried-up  leaf.     This  spider,  when  it 
lets   itself  drop — for  it  has   the  same  pro- 
tective   habit    as    the    other — falls    not    so 
rapidly   as  a  green  freshly  broken-off  leaf, 
or  as  the  green  spider  would  fall,  but  with 
a  slower  motion,  precisely  like  a  leaf  with- 
ered up  till  it  has  become  almost  light  as  a 


Protection 
Psychology 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


562 


feather.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  how 
this  comes  about:  either  a  thicker  line,  or  a 
greater  stiffness  or  tenacity  of  the  viscid 
fluid  composing  the  web  and  attached  to  the 
point  the  spider  drops  from,  causes  one  to 
fall  slower  than  the  other. — HUDSON  Natu- 
ralist in  La  Plata,  ch.  14,  p.  182.  (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

2772.  PROTECTION  IMPOSSIBLE  IF 
NATURAL    LAW   NEGLECTED—  Guardian 
Leucocytes  Powerless  To  Save  an  Enfeebled 
or   Corrupted    Organism.  —  It    seems    prob- 
able,   and,    in    fact,    almost    certain,    that 
so  long  as  we  live  in  tolerably  healthy  con- 
ditions, these   leucocytes    [or  white  corpus- 
cles of  the  blood]   are  able  to  deal  with  all 
disease-germs  which  can  gain  access  to  our 
system;    but  when  we  live  in   impure  air, 
or   drink    impure  water,   or   feed   upon  un- 
wholesome   food,    our    system    becomes    en- 
feebled and  our  guardian  leucocytes  are  un- 
able to  destroy  the  disease-germs  that  gain 
access  to  our  organism;  they  then  increase 
rapidly,    and    are    in    many    cases    able   to 
destroy  us. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Cen- 
tury, ch.  14,  p.  145.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2773.  PROTECTION    OF   ALPINE 
PLANTS  BY  SNOW—  The  Greenhouse  Proves 
a  Fitting  Substitute. — The  most  striking  il- 
lustration of  the  protection  which  a  cover- 
ing of  snow  affords  against  cold  is  furnished 
by  the  way  in  which  it  was  at  last  found 
possible    to    naturalize    in    gardens    on    the 
continent  of  Europe  some  of  the  peculiarly 
beautiful   and  brilliantly  colored  plants  of 
the  Alpine  regions,  which  it  had  often  been 
attempted   to   naturalize   in   vain.     During 
the   winter   they    always    died,   till    an    in- 
genious   gardener    hit    upon    the    device    of 
affording    them    artificially    the    protection 
against  cold  which  in  their  native  seats  they 
regularly  obtain  from  their  covering  of  snow. 
He  did  so  by  putting  them  in  the  green- 
houses   along   with    the   orange   and   pome- 
granate trees  of  warmer  climates,  and  his 
experiment  was  crowned  with  success.     The 
protection  which  snow  affords  against  cold 
is  perhaps  the  most  important  function  that 
it  fulfils  in  the  economy  of  Nature,  but  it 
is  not  its   only  function,  nor  its  only  im- 
portant function. — CHISHOLM  Nature-Stud- 
ies, p.  30.      (Hum.,  1888.) 

2774.  PROTECTION    OF   EARTH  BY 
VEIL  OF  VAPOR— Freezing  Power  of  Radia- 
tion through  Dry  Air. — A  freedom  of  escape, 
similar    to   that    from   bodies    of   vapor    at 
great  elevations,  would  occur  at  the  earth's 
surface  generally   were   the   aqueous   vapor 
removed  from  the  air  above  it ;  for  the  great 
body    of    the    atmosphere    is    a    practical 
vacuum  as  regards  the  transmission  of  radi- 
ant heat.     The  withdrawal  of  the  sun  from 
any   region   over   which   the   atmosphere   is 
dry  must  be  followed  by  quick  refrigeration. 
The  removal,  for  a  single  summer  night,  of 
the    aqueous    vapor    from    the    atmosphere 
which    covers    England    would    be    attended 
by  the  destruction  of  every  plant  which  a 


freezing  temperature  could  kill.  The  moon 
would  be  rendered  entirely  uninhabitable 
by  beings  like  ourselves  through  the  oper- 
ation of  this  single  cause.  With  a  radiation 
uninterrupted  by  aqueous  vapor  the  differ- 
ence between  her  monthly  maxima  and  mini- 
ma must  be  enormous.  The  winters  of  Tibet 
are  almost  unendurable.  Witness  how  the 
isothermal  lines  dip  from  the  north  into 
Asia,  in  winter,  as  a  proof  of  the  low  tem- 
perature of  this  region.  Humboldt  has 
dwelt  upon  the  "  frigorific  power "  of  the 
central  portions  of  this  continent,  and  con- 
troverted the  idea  that  it  was  to  be  ex- 
plained by  reference  to  the  elevation,  there 
being  vast  expanses  of  country,  not  much 
above  the  sea-level,  with  an  exceedingly  low 
temperature.  But  not  knowing  the  influence 
which  we  are  now  studying,  Humboldt,  I 
imagine,  omitted  the  most  potent  cause  of 
the  cold.  The  refrigeration  at  night  is  ex- 
treme because  the  air  is  dry.  In  Sahara, 
where  "  the  soil  is  fire  and  the  wind  is 
flame,"  the  cold  at  night  is  often  painful 
to  bear. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  13,  p.  385.  (A.,  1900.) 

2775.  PROTECTION  OF 'LABOR— Nat- 
ural Laws  Inadequate — Positive  Enactments 
Needed — The  Old  English  Apprenticeship. — 
And  now  for  the  first  time  appeared  some 
of  the  consequences  of  •  gregarious  labor  un- 
der the  working  of  natural  laws,  and  under 
no    restrictions    from    positive    institution. 
The    mill-owners    collected    as    apprentices 
boys  and  girls,   and  youths   and  men,   and 
women,  of  all  ages.     In  very  many  cases  no 
provision  adequate,  or  even  decent,  was  pro- 
vided for  their  accommodation.     The  hours 
of  labor  were  excessive.     The  ceaseless  and 
untiring  agency  of  machines  kept  no  reckon- 
ing of  the  exhaustion  of  human  nerves.    The 
factory  system  had  not  been  many  years  in 
operation    when    its    effects   were    seen.      A 
whole   generation    were   growing   up    under 
conditions  of  physical  degeneracy,  of  mental 
ignorance,  and  of  moral  corruption. 

The  first  public  man  to  bring  it  under  the 
notice  of  Parliament  with  a  view  to  remedy 
was,  to  his  immortal  honor,  a  master  manu- 
facturer, to  whom  the  new  industry  had 
brought  wealth  and  power  and  station.  In 
1802  the  elder  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  the  first 
to  introduce  a  bill  to  interfere  by  law  with 
the  natural  effects  of  unrestricted  compe- 
tition in  human  labor. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  7,  p.  207.  (Burt.) 

2776.  PROTECTION    OF    TREE 
AGAINST  LOSS  OF  HEAT— MM.  De  la  Rive 
and  De   Candolle  have  remarked   upon  the 
influence  which  its  feeble  conducting  power 
in  a  lateral  direction  must  exert,  in  preserv- 
ing within  a  tree  the  warmth  which  it  ac- 
quires from  the  soil.     But  Nature  has  gone 
farther  and  clothes  the  tree  with  a  sheath- 
ing of  worse  conducting  material  than  the 
wood  itself,  even  in  its  worst  direction  [viz., 
the  bark]. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Mo- 
tion, lect.  9,  p.  253.      (A.,  1900.) 


563 


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Protection 
Psychology 


2777.  PROTECTION,  PRECIOUSNESS 
OF  THE  DIVINE— Human  Littleness  and  In- 
security.— Now,  it  is  this  littleness  and  this 
insecurity  which  make  the  protection  of  the 
Almighty   so   dear   to   us,    and   bring,   with 
such    emphasis,    to   every   pious    bosom   the 
holy  lessons  of  humility  and  gratitude.    The 
God  who  sitteth  above,  and  presides  in  high 
authority    over    all    worlds,    is    mindful    of 
man;    and  tho  at  this   moment  his  energy 
is  felt  in  the  remotest  provinces  of  creation, 
we  may  feel  the  same  security  in  his  provi- 
dence as  if  we  were  the  objects  of  his  un- 
divided care.     It  is  not  for  us  to  bring  our 
minds  up  to  this  mysterious  agency.     But 
such  is  the  incomprehensible  fact  that  the 
same  Being,  whose   eye  is  abroad  over  the 
whole    universe,    gives    vegetation    to    every 
blade   of  grass,   and  motion   to   every   par- 
ticle of  blood  which  circulates  through  the 
veins    of    the    minutest    animal;    that,    tho 
his  mind  takes  into  its  comprehensive  grasp 
immensity   and    all    its    wonders,    I    am    as 
much  known  to  him  as  if  I  were  the  single 
object  of  his  attention;   that  he  marks  all 
my  thoughts;  that  he  gives  birth  to  every 
feeling  and  every  movement  within  me,  and 
that,  with  an  exercise  of  power  which  I  can 
neither  describe  nor  comprehend,  the  same 
God   who   sits   in   the    highest   heaven   and 
reigns    over    the   glories    of    the    firmament 
is  at  my  right  hand,  to  give  me  every  breath 
which   I   draw  and  every  comfort  which   I 
enjoy. — CHALMERS  Astronomical  Discourses, 
p.  39.     (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

2778.  PROTECTION    SECURED    BY 
THE  "SLEEP"  OF  PLANTS— SavingUpper 

Surface  of  Leaf  from  Radiation  the  Object 
Gained. — The  fact  that  the  leaves  of  many 
plants  place  themselves  at  night  in  widely 
different  positions  from  what  they  hold 
during  the  day,  but  with  the  one  point  in 
common  that  their  upper  surfaces  avoid 
facing  the  zenith,  often  with  the  additional 
fact  that  they  come  into  close  contact  with 
opposite  leaves  or  leaflets,  clearly  indicates, 
as  it  seems  to  us,  that  the  object  gained 
is  the  protection  of  the  upper  surfaces  from 
being  chilled  at  night  by  radiation.  There 
is  nothing  improbable  in  the  upper  surface 
needing  protection  more  than  the  lower,  as 
the  two  differ  in  function  and  structure. 
All  gardeners  know  that  plants  surfer  from 
radiation.  It  is  this  and  not  cold  winds 
which  the  peasants  of  Southern  Europe  fear 
for  their  olives.  Seedlings  are  often  pro- 
tected from  radiation  by  a  very  thin  cover- 
ing of  straw,  and  fruit-trees  on  walls  by  a 
few  fir  branches,  or  even  by  a  fishing-net, 
suspended  over  them. — DARWIN  Power  of 
Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  6, p.  284.  (A.,  1900.) 

2779.  PROTECTION  THE  CHIEF  CARE 
OF    NESTING    BIRDS— The    first    step    in 
nest-building    is    the    selection    of    a    site. 
There  is  almost  no  suitable  location,  from 
a   hole   in   the   ground    to   branches   in   the 
tree-tops,    in    which    birds    may    not    place 
their    nests.      Protection    seems    to    be    the 


chief  desideratum,  and  this  is  generally  se- 
cured through  concealment.  Most  birds  hide 
their  nests.  Many  sea-birds,  however,  lay 
their  eggs  on  the  shores  or  cliffs,  with  no 
attempt  at  concealment;  but,  as  a  rule, 
birds  that  nest  in  this  manner  resort  to 
uninhabited  islets  and  secure  protection 
through  isolation.  Some  birds  nest  alone 
and  jealously  guard  the  vicinity  of  their 
home  from  the  approach" of  other  birds, 
generally  of  the  same  species.  Others  nest 
in  colonies  brought  together  by  tempera- 
ment or  community  of  interests,  and  dwell 
on  terms  of  the  closest  sociability. — CHAP- 
MAN Bird-Life,  ch.  5,  p.  65.  (A.,  1900.) 

2780.  PROVISION  OF  NATURE  FOR 

MAN  —  The  Bamboo. — Almost  all  tropical 
countries  produce  bamboos,  and  wherever 
they  are  found  in  abundance  the  natives 
apply  them  to  a  variety  of  uses.  Their 
strength,  lightness,  smoothness,  straight- 
ness,  roundness,  and  hollowness,  the  facility 
and  regularity  with  which  they  can  be  split, 
their  many  different  sizes,  the  varying  length 
of  their  joints,  the  ease  with  which  they 
can  be  cut,  and  with  which  holes  can  be 
made  through  them,  their  hardness  out- 
side, their  freedom  from  any  pronounced 
taste  or  smell,  their  great  abundance,  and 
the  rapidity  of  their  growth  and  increase, 
are  all  qualities  which  render  them  useful 
for  a  hundred  different  purposes,  to  serve 
which  other  materials  would  require  much 
more  labor  and  preparation.  The  bamboo 
is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  and  most 
beautiful  productions  of  the  tropics,  and 
one  of  Nature's  most  valuable  gifts  to  un- 
civilized man.  [Quoted  from  Wallace, 
"  Malay  Archipelago."] — MASON  Origins  of 
Invention,  ch.  6,  p.  209.  (S.,  1899.) 

2781.  PSEUDO-SCIENCE—  Comte's Sec- 
ond -  hand    Knowledge.  —  As    I    have    said, 
that    part    of    M.    Comte's    writings  which 
deals     with     the     philosophy     of     physical 
science    appeared   to   me   to    possess    singu- 
larly   little    value,    and  to    show    that    he 
had   but   the   most   superficial    and    merely 
second-hand  knowledge  of  most  branches  of 
what  is   usually  understood  by  science.     I 
do  not  mean  by  this   merely  to   say   that 
Comte   was  behind  our  present  knowledge, 
or  that  he  was  unacquainted  with  the  de- 
tails of  the  science  of  his  own  day.     No  one 
could    justly    make    such    defects    cause    of 
complaint  in  a  philosophical  writer  of  the 
past  generation.     What  struck  me  was  his 
want  of  apprehension  of  the  great  features 
of  science;   his  strange  mistakes  as  to  the 
merits  of  his  scientific  contemporaries,  and 
his  ludicrously  erroneous  notions  about  the 
part  which  some  of  the  scientific  doctrines 
current  in  his  time  were  destined  to  play 
in  the  future. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serin. 
8,  p.  147.      (A.,  1895.) 

2782.  PSYCHOLOGY  EXPERIMENTAL 

— Not  Advanced  by  Hypnotism. — It  must, 
moreover,  be  plain  to  you  all  that  there 


Psychology 
Purity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


564 


can  be  no  question  of  an  experimental  psy- 
chological method,  in  the  exact  sense  of 
those  words,  in  this  matter  of  hypnotizing. 
The  condition  of  hypnosis  is  such  as  absolute- 
ly to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  psycho- 
logical experiment  in  the  real  sense.  The 
psychological  experiment  demands  from  its 
subject  concentration  of  the  attention,  prac- 
tise, skilled  introspection — in  short,  the  ful- 
filment of  all  manner  of  conditions,  which, 
if  not  altogether  and  normally  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  hypnotic  subject,  is  at  least 
wholly  impossible  during  the  course  of  the 
induced  sleep.  If  we  compose  ourselves  to 
sleep  with  the  intention  of  observing  our 
dreams,  so  far  as  that  is  possible,  or  even 
if  we  take  morphin  for  the  same  purpose, 
we  are  not  making  an  experiment,  not  doing 
anything  that  in  execution  or  result  is  es- 
sentially different  from  simple  observation. 
The  conditions  of  dream  observation  are  not 
altered  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  fact 
that  we  have  brought  on  sleep  intentional- 
ly. The  characteristics  of  the  experimental 
method  are  variation  and  gradation  of  the 
phenomena,  and  elimination  of  certain  con- 
ditions. Such  a  mode  of  procedure  can  be 
followed  out  in  artificially  induced  sleep  as 
little — or,  let  us  say,  as  imperfectly — as  in 
natural  sleep;  we  shall  gain  no  more  by 
investigating  the  former  than  by  collecting 
casual  observations  of  normal  dreams.  And 
all  this  holds  in  still  greater  measure  of  hyp- 
notism, since  just  in  the  cases  which  present 
the  most  interesting  phenomena  there  is  a 
total  absence  of  any  subsequent  recollection. 
We  can  only  infer  what  goes  on  in  the  mind 
of  the  somnambulist  from  his  words  and 
actions;  if  we  wish  to  subject  him  to  special 
influences  we  are  hampered  by  the  same  con- 
ditions as  hinder  the  investigation  of  sleep 
and  dreams. — WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  22, 
p.  336.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2783.     PSYCHOLOGY   EXPLAINING 

SOCRATES— Heroism  and  Self-devotion  Defy 
Analysis — Character  Known  by  Experience 
and  Sympathy. — We  can  say  that  Socrates 
remained  in  the  prison  because  his  knee 
muscles  were  contracted  in  a  sitting  posi- 
tion and  not  working  to  effect  his  escape, 
and  that  these  muscle  processes  took  place 
because  certain  psychophysical  ideas,  emo- 
tions, and  volitions,  all  composed  of  ele- 
mentary sensations,  occurred  in  his  brain, 
and  that  they,  again,  were  the  effect  of  all 
the  causes  which  sense  stimulations  and  dis- 
positions, associations,  and  inhibitions, 
physiological  and  climatic  influences,  pro- 
duced in  that  organism.  And  we  can  say,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  Socrates  remained  in  the 
prison  because  he  decided  to  be  obedient  to 
the  laws  of  Athens  unto  death.  This  obedi- 
ence means,  then,  not  a  psychophysical  proc- 
ess, but  a  will  attitude  which  we  must  un- 
derstand by  feeling  it  and  living  through 
it,  an  attitude  which  we  cannot  analyze,  but 
which  we  interpret  and  appreciate.  The 
first  is  a  psychological  description;  the  sec- 


ond is  an  historical  interpretation.  .  .  . 
And  yet  both  are  equally  true,  while  they 
blend  into  an  absurdity  if  we  say  that  those 
psychophysical  states  in  the  brain  of  Soc- 
rates were  the  objects  which  inspired  the 
will  of  his  pupils,  and  were  suggestive 
through  two  thousand  years. — MUNSTER- 
BERG  Psychology  and  Life,  p.  219.  (H.  M. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 

2784,  PSYCHOLOGY,  FANTASIES  OF 
COMPARATIVE   METHOD    IN— Wild   State- 
ments about  Children  and  Savages. — There 
are  great  sources  of  error  in  the  compara- 
tive   method.      The    interpretation    of    the 
"  psychoses "   of   animals,    savages,    and    in- 
fants   is    necessarily   wild    \vork,    in    which 
the    personal    equation   of    the    investigator 
has  things  very  much  its  own  way.     A  sav- 
age will  be  reported  to  have  no  moral  or 
religious    feeling    if   his    actions    shock    the 
observer  unduly.     A  child  will  be  assumed 
without  self-consciousness  because  he  talks- 
of  himself  in  the  third  person,  etc.,  etc.     No* 
rules  can  be  laid  down  in  advance.     Com- 
parative observations,  to  be  definite,  must 
usually   be   made   to  test   some   preexisting 
hypothesis;  and  the  only  thing,  then,  is  to 
use   as  much  sagacity  as  you  possess,  and 
to  be  as   candid  as  you  can. — JAMES   Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  194.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2785.  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  THE  SCHOOL- 
ROOM— Science  Limited  by  an  Incalculable  Ele- 
ment— The  Unknown  Mind  of  an  Opponent. 
— The  science  of  psychology,  and  whatever 
science  of  general  pedagogics  may  be  based 
on  it,  are,  in  fact,  much  like  the  science  of 
war.     Nothing  is   simpler  or  more  definite 
than  the  principles   of  either.     In  war  alL 
you  have  to  do  is  to  work  your  enemy  into- 
a  position  from  which  the  natural  obstacles, 
prevent  him  from  escaping  if  he  tries  to; 
then  to  fall  on  him  in  numbers  superior  to 
his  own,  at  a  moment  when  you  have  led 
him  to  think  you  far  away;   and  so,  with 
a  minimum  of  exposure  of  your  own  troops, 
to  hack   his   force  to   pieces,   and  take  the 
remainder  prisoners.     Just  so,  in  teaching, 
you  must  simply  work  your  pupil  into  such 
a  state  of  interest  in  what  you  are  going 
to    teach    him    that    every   other    object   of 
attention  is  banished  from  his  mind;   then 
reveal   it   to   him   so   impressively   that   he 
will    remember    the    occasion    to    his    dying 
day;    and    finally   fill   him   with    devouring 
curiosity  to  know  what  the  next   steps   in 
connection  with  the  subject  are.     The  prin- 
ciples being  so  plain,  there  would  be  nothing 
but  victories  for  the  masters  of  the  science, 
either  on  the  battle-field  or  in  the  school- 
room,  if  they   did  not  both  have  to   make 
their  application  to  an  incalculable  quantity 
in  the  shape  of  the  mind  of  their  opponent, 
— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  1,  p.  9.     (II. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


2786. 


Teacher  Deals  with 


Mental  Life;  Not  with  Brain  Processes  and 
Ganglion  -  cells — Pedagogy    Independent    of 


565 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Psychology 
Purity 


Psychological  Problems. — The  case  of  physi- 
ological psychology  is  the  simplest  one. 
There  was  never  a  teacher  who  would  have 
taught  otherwise,  or  would  have  changed  his 
•educational  efforts,  if  the  physiological  sub- 
stratum of  the  mental  life  had  been  the 
liver  or  the  kidneys  instead  of  the  brain. 
.  .  .  It  is  a  caricature  of  the  facts  if  you 
tell  the  teacher  that  he  can  learn  anything 
new  about  the  mental  life  if  he  knows  by 
heart  the  accompanying  brain  processes;  and 
if  the  teacher,  in  the  hope  of  understanding 
the  mental  life  of  children  better,  studies 
the  ganglion-cells  under  the  microscope,  he 
•could  substitute  just  as  well  the  reading  of 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics. — MUNSTERBERG  Psy- 
chology and  Life,  p.  129.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2787.  PSYCHOLOGY    MUST    BEGIN 
WITH  FACTS    OF   CONSCIOUSNESS— Ex- 
perience As  Compared  with  Reflection. — If 
it  be  sensation,  feeling,  idea,  and  will  which 
led  in  the  first  instance  to  the  assumption 
•of   mind,  the  only  natural  method  of  psy- 
chological investigation  will  be  that  which 
begins  with  just  these  facts.     First  of  all, 
we  must  understand  their  empirical  nature, 
and  then  go  on  to  reflect  upon  them.     For 
it  is  experience  and  reflection  which  consti- 
tute   each    and    every    science.      Experience 
comes  first ;  it  gives  us  our  bricks ;  reflection 
is   the   mortar   which   holds   the   bricks   to- 
gether.     We    cannot    build    without    both. 
Reflection    apart   from   experience,    and   ex- 
perience without  reflection,  are  alike  power- 
less.    It  is  therefore  essential  for  scientific 
progress  that  the  sphere  of  experience  be  en- 
larged,   and   new   instruments    of   reflection 
from  time  to  time  invented. — WUNDT  Psy- 
chology, lect.  1,  p.  8.     (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2788.  PSYCHOLOGY,  NOTHING  NEW 
IN  ESSENTIALS  OF— There  is  no  "  new  psy- 
chology "    worthy   of   the    name.      There    is 
nothing  but  the  old  psychology  which  began 
in  Locke's  time,  plus  a  little  physiology  of 
the  brain   and  senses  and  theory  of  evolu- 
tion, and  a  few  refinements  of  introspective 
detail. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  1,  p. 
7.     (H.  H.  &Co.,  1900.) 

2  7 89.     PUGNACITY  U  S  EF  U L  —  The 

Fighting  Impulse  Needed  to  Conquer  Diffi- 
culties.— Pugnacity  need  not  be  thought  of 
merely  in  the  form  of  physical  combative- 
ness.  It  can  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  a  gen- 
eral unwillingness  to  be  beaten  by  any  kind 
of  difficulty.  It  is  what  makes  us  feel 
"'  stumped "  and  challenged  by  arduous 
achievements,  and  is  essential  to  a  spirited 
and  enterprising  character.  We  have  of  late 
been  hearing  much  of  the  philosophy  of  ten- 
derness in  education ;  "  interest  "  must  be 
assiduously  awakened  in  everything,  diffi- 
culties must  be  smoothed  away.  Soft  peda- 
gogics have  taken  the  place  of  the  old  steep 
and  rocky  path  to  learning.  But  from  this 
lukewarm  air  the  bracing  oxygen  of  effort 
is  left  out.  It  is  nonsense  to  suppose  that 


every  step  in  education  can  be  interesting. 
The  fighting  impulse  must  often  be  appealed 
to.  Make  the  pupil  feel  ashamed  of  being 
scared  at  fractions,  of  being  "  downed  "  by 
the  law  of  falling  bodies;  rouse  his  pugnac- 
ity and  pride,  and  he  will  rush  at  the  diffi- 
cult places  with  a  sort  of  inner  wrath  at 
himself  that  is  one  of  his  best  moral 
faculties.  A  victory  scored  under  such  con- 
ditions becomes  a  turning-point  and  crisis 
of  his  character.  It  represents  the  high- 
water  mark  of  his  powers,  and  serves  there- 
after as  an  ideal  pattern  for  his  self- 
imitation. — JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  7, 
p.  54.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2  7  9O .  PUNCTUALITY  ESSENTIAL 
IN  SCIENTIFIC  OBSERVATIONS— Eclipse 
To  Be  Recommenced — Story  of  Cassini. — It 
is  necessary  to  catch  them  [eclipses]  on  the 
wing,  so  to  say,  and  not  to  imitate  the  too 
presumptuous  marquis  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XV.  when  conducting  to  the  observatory  a 
party  of  fashionable  ladies,  and  who,  hav- 
ing been  a  little  delayed  by  the  petty  cares 
of  the  toilet,  arrived  half  a  minute  after  the 
end  of  the  eclipse.  As  the  ladies  refused  to 
alight  from  their  coach,  a  little  displeased 
by  the  unreasonableness  of  coquetry,  "  Let 
us  all  go  in,  ladies,''  cried  the  little  dandy, 
with  the  most  haughty  assurance ;  "  M.  de 
Cassini  is  one  of  my  best  friends,  and  he 
will  have  real  pleasure  in  recommencing  the 
eclipse  for  us!"  This  anecdote  has  been  re- 
told in  our  century  on  the  authority  of 
Arago. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  194.  (A.) 

2791.  PURIFICATION    OF    THE   AT- 
MOSPHERE— Deadly   Gas  Made  to   Sustain 
Life. — Consider,   then,   all   the   fires   in   the 
world  and  all  the  animals  in  the  world  con- 
tinually   pouring   their    carbonic    acid    into 
the  atmosphere.     Would  it  not  be  fair  to 
conclude   that   our    air   must   become   more 
and  more  contaminated,  and  unfit  to   sup- 
port either  combustion  or  life?     This  seems 
inevitable,    but    it    would    be    a    conclusion 
founded  upon  half-knowledge,  and  therefore 
wrong.     A  provision  exists  for  continually 
purifying  the   atmosphere   of   its    excess   of 
carbonic  acid.     By  the  leaves  of  plants  this 
gas  is  absorbed,  and  within  the  leaves  it  is 
decomposed  by  the  solar  rays.     The  carbon 
is  stored  up  in  the  tree,  while  the  pure  oxy- 
gen is  restored  to  the  atmosphere.     Carbonic 
acid,  in  fact,  is  to  a  great  extent  the  nutri- 
ment of  plants;   and  inasmuch  as  animals, 
in  the  long  run,  derive  their  food  from  the 
vegetable    world,    this   very   gas,    which    at 
first  sight  might  be  regarded  as  a  deadly 
constituent  of  the  atmosphere,  is  the  main 
sustainer  both  of  vegetable  and  animal  life. 
— TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  3, 
p.  55.     (A.,  1900.) 

2792.  PURITY,    APPARENT,    NOT 
ALWAYS  REAL— Bacteria  Float  in  Transit 
through    the   Air — Often    Where   Least   Ex- 
pected.— There  is  no  numerical  standard  for 


•urity 
•urpose 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


566 


bacteria  in  the  air,  as  there  is  in  water. 
The  open  air  possibly  averages  about  250 
per  cubic  meter.  On  the  seacoast  this  num- 
ber would  fall  to  less  than  half;  in  houses 
and  towns  it  would  rise  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, and  frequently  in  dry  weather 
reach  thousands  per  cubic  meter.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  air  possesses  no  pabulum 
for  bacteria,  as  do  water  and  milk,  it  will 
be  understood  that  bacteria  do  not  live  in 
the  air.  They  are  only  driven  by  air-cur- 
rents from  one  dry  surface  to  another. 
Hence  the  quality  and  quantity  of  air  or- 
ganisms depend  entirely  upon  environment 
and  physical  conditions.  In  some  researches 
which  the  writer  made  into  the  air  of  work- 
shops in  Soho  in  1896,  it  was  instructive 
to  observe  that  fewer  bacteria  were  isolated 
by  Sedgwick's  sugar-tube  in  premises  which 
appeared  to  the  naked  eye  polluted  in  a 
large  degree  than  in  other  premises  appar- 
ently less  contaminated.  In  the  workroom 
of  a  certain  skin-curer  •  the  air  was  densely 
impregnated  with  particles  from  the  skin, 
yet  scarcely  a  single  bacterium  was  isolated. 
In  the  polishing-room  of  a  well-known  hat 
firm,  in  which  the  air  appeared  to  the  naked 
eye  to  be  pure,  and  in  which  there  was  am- 
ple ventilation,  there  were  found  four  or  five 
species  of  saprophytic  bacteria. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  3,  p.  107.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2793.  PURITY  IS  SAFETY—  Qermless 
Air  Produces  No  Putrefaction  nor  Disease. 
— During  the  ten  years  extending  from  1859 
to   1869   researches  on  radiant  heat  in  its 
relations  to  the  gaseous  form  of  matter  oc- 
cupied my  continual  attention.     When   air 
was   experimented   on   I   had   to   cleanse    it 
effectually    of    floating    matter,    and    while 
doing  so  I  was  surprised  to  notice  that,  at 
the  ordinary  rate  of  transfer,  such  matter 
passed   freely   through    alkalis,   acids,   alco- 
hols, and  ethers.     The  eye  being  kept  sensi- 
tive by   darkness,    a   concentrated  beam   of 
light  was  found  to  be  a  most  searching  test 
for  suspended  matter  both  in  water  and  in 
air — a  test,  indeed,  indefinitely  more  search- 
ing and  severe  than  that  furnished  by  the 
most  powerful  microscope.     With  the  aid  of 
such  a  beam  I  examined  air  filtered  by  cot- 
ton-wool, air  long  kept  free  from  agitation, 
so  as  to   allow  the  floating  matter  to  sub- 
side;   calcined   air   and   air   filtered  by  the 
deeper    cells   of  the  human    lungs.      In   all 
cases  the  correspondence  between  my  experi- 
ments and  those  of  Schwann,  Schroeder,  Pas- 
teur,  and  Lister   in  regard  to   spontaneous 
generation  was  perfect.     The  air  which  they 
found  inoperative  was  proved  by  the  lumi- 
nous beam  to  be  optically  pure  and  there- 
fore germless. — TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of 
the  Air,  essay  5,  p.  288.      (A.,  1895.) 

2794.  PURITY,  RELATIVE,  OF  ANI- 
MAL FOOD— Meat  Rarely  Contains  Bacteria. 
— Parasites  are  occasionally  found  in  meat, 
but  bacteria   are  comparatively  rare.     Not 
that  they  do  not  occur  in  the  bodies  of  ani- 
mals used   for   human  consumption,   for   in 


the  glands,  mesenteries,  and  other  organs 
they  are  common.  But  in  those  portions  of 
the  carcass  which  are  used  by  man,  namely, 
the  muscles,  bacteria  are  rare.  The  reasons 
alleged  for  this  are  the  acid  reaction  (sar- 
colactic  acid)  and  the  more  or  less  constant 
movement  during  life.  A  bacterial  disease 
which,  perhaps  more  than  any  other,  might 
be  expected  to  be  conveyed  by  meat  is  tuber- 
cle. Yet  the  recent  Royal  Commission  on 
Tuberculosis  has  again  emphasized  the  ab- 
sence of  bacilli  in  the  meat  substance. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  234.  (G.  P.  P., 
1S99.) 

2795.  PURPOSE,  APPARENT,  IN  RE- 
FLEX ACTION — The  Brainless  Frog. — In  ob- 
serving the  effects,  and  in  reading  accounts 
of  the  effects,  of  what  is  called  "  reflex  ac- 
tion "  in  the  animal  economy,  and  before  I 
had  submitted  the  phrase  to  strict  analysis, 
I  had  long  felt  that  sense  of  confusion  which 
results  from  the  presentation  to  the  mind 
of   false   analogies,  of   incompetent  descrip- 
tion,  and  of  formulae  of  expression  which, 
pretending   to   be   scientific,    are   in   reality 
nothing  but  the  wilful  shutting-out  of  knowl- 
edge.    It  is,  however,  most  satisfactory  to 
find  that  in  one  of  the  latest  and  best  text- 
books of  physiology,  that  of  Professor  Fors- 
ter  of  Cambridge,  there  is  a  full  confession 
of  the  incompetency  of  such  words  as  "  re- 
flex action  "  to  describe  the  relation  between 
the  stimulus  of  an  "  afferent "  nerve  and  the 
"  efferent "    movements    which    are    carried 
into    responsive    preadjusted    action.      The 
two    classes    of    impulse    and    of    resulting 
movement  are  justly  described  as  really  "  in- 
commensurate."   And  whilst  the  purely  me- 
chanical or  physical  relation  of  mere  bending 
or  turning  is  thus  condemned  not  only  as  an 
inadequate,  but  as  essentially  a  false  image 
•of  the  real  relation  which  subsists  between 
the  antecedent  and  the  consequent  phenom- 
ena, that  real  relation  is  described  and  ad- 
mitted in  the  following  remarkable  passage : 
"  In  the  more  complex  reflex  actions  of  the 
brainless  frog,  and  in  other  cases,  the  rela- 
tion is  of  such  a  kind  as  that  the  resulting 
movement  bears  an  adaptation  to  the  stimu- 
lus; the  foot  is  withdrawn  from  the  stimu- 
lus, or  the  movement  is  calculated  to  push 
or  wipe  away  the  stimulus.     In  other  words, 
a   certain  purpose  is   evident  in  the  reflex 
action." — ARGYLL    Unity   of  Nature,   ch.   8, 
p.  302.     (Burt.) 

2796.  PURPOSE  IN  NATURE—  Beauty 
and    Utility   of   Dust. — Let   us   now   briefly 
summarize  what  we  owe  to  the  universality 
of  dust,  and  especially  to  that  most  finely 
divided   portion   of   it   which    is   constantly 
present  in  the  atmosphere  up  to  the  height 
of  many  miles.     First  of  all,  it  gives  us  the 
pure  blue  of  the  sky,  one  of  the  most  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  colors  in  Nature.  It  gives 
us  also  the  glories   of  the   sunset  and   the 
sunrise,  and  all  those  brilliant  hues  seen  in 
high  mountain  regions.     Half  the  beauty  of 
the   world  would  vanish  with    the  absence 


567 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Purity 
Purpose 


of  dust.  But,  what  is  far  more  important 
than  the  color  of  sky  and  beauty  of  sunset, 
dust  gives  us  also  diffused  daylight,  or  sky- 
light, that  most  equable  and  soothing  and 
useful  of  all  illuminating  agencies.  With- 
out dust  the  sky  would  appear  absolutely 
black,  and  the  stars  would  be  visible  even 
at  noonday.  The  sky  itself  would,  therefore, 
give  us  no  light.  We  should  have  bright, 
glaring  sunlight  or  intensely  dark  shadows, 
with  hardly  any  half-tones.  From  this  cause 
alone  the  world  would  be  so  totally  differ- 
ent from  what  it  is  that  all  vegetable  and 
animal  life  would  probably  have  developed 
into  very  different  forms,  and  even  our  own 
organization  would  have  been  modified  in 
order  that  we  might  enjoy  life  in  a  world 
of  such  harsh  and  violent  contrasts. — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9,  p.  82. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


2797. 


Law  of  Structure 


Subordinate  to  Law  of  Purpose — Man  and 
Gorilla. — Professor  Huxley,  in  his  work  on 
"  Man's  Place  in  Nature,"  has  endeavored 
to  prove  that,  so  far  as  mere  physical  struc- 
ture is  concerned,  "  the  differences  wThich 
separate  him  from  the  gorilla  and  the  chim- 
panzee are  not  so  great  as  those  which 
separate  the  gorilla  from  the  lower  apes.!' 
On  the  frontispiece  of  this  work  he  exhibits 
in  series  the  skeletons  of  the  anthropoid 
apes  and  of  man.  It  is  a  grim  and  grotesque 
procession.  The  form  which  leads  it,  how- 
ever like  the  others  in  general  structural 
plan,  is  wonderfully  different  in  those  lines 
and  shapes  of  matter  which  have  such  mys- 
terious power  of  expressing  the  characters 
of  mind.  And  significant  as  those  differ- 
ences are  in  the  skeleton,  they  are  as  noth- 
ing to  the  differences  which  emerge  in  the 
living  creatures.  Huxley  himself  admits 
that  these  differences  amount  to  "  an  enor- 
mous gulf,"  to  a  "  divergence  immeasurable 
— practically  infinite."  What  more  striking 
proof  could  we  have  than  this,  that  organic 
forms  are  but  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the 
potter,  and  that  the  "  law  of  structure  "  is 
entirely  subordinate  to  the  "  law "  of  pur- 
pose and  intention  under  which  the  various 
parts  of  that  structure  are  combined  for 
use? — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  157. 
(Burt.) 

2798. Manifold  Adapta- 
tions— One  Design  No  Disproof  of  Another 
— Adaptation  of  Grain  both  to  Reproduction 
and  to  Food. — To  perceive  intention  is  a 
very  different  thing  from  perceiving  all  that 
is  intended.  Our  own  human  experience 
should  make  this  distinction  familiar  to  us. 
Many  things  we  do  and  many  things  we  con- 
trive are  done  and  contrived  with  more  than 
one  intention.  In  the  light  of  this  experi- 
ence it  is  altogether  irrational  to  regard 
as  an  exception  to  the  attainment  of  pur- 
pose in  Nature  the  fact,  for  example,  "  that 
of  fifty  seeds  she  often  brings  but  one  to 
bear."  It  throws  no  doubt  or  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  our  conviction,  for  example,  that 


one  purpose  of  seed-bearing  in  plants  is  the 
reproduction  of  their  kind,  because  it  ap- 
pears that  another  purpose  to  which  that 
seed-bearing  is  applied  is  the  support  of 
animal  life.  The  intention  with  which  a 
grain  of  wheat  is  so  constituted  as  to  be 
capable  of  producing  another  wheat  plant 
is  not  the  less  in  the  nature  of  purpose  be- 
cause it  coexists  with  another  intention, 
that  the  same  grain  should  be  capable  of 
sustaining  the  powers  and  the  enjoyments 
of  life  in  the  body  and  in  the  mind  of  man. 
On  the  contrary,  the  power  possessed  by 
most  plants,  and  by  this  plant  especially, 
of  producing  seed  in  a  ratio  far  beyond  that 
which  would  be  required  for  one  purpose, 
is  the  sure  indication  and  the  proof  that 
another  purpose  larger  and  wider  was  in 
view. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  104. 
( Burt. ) 

2799. Movement  of  Leaves 

of  Plants. — As  the  upward  movements  of 
the  leaflets  of  Robinia,  and  the  downward 
movements  of  those  of  Oxalis,  have  been 
proved  to  be  highly  beneficial  to  these  plants 
when  subjected  to  bright  sunshine,  it  seems 
probable  that  they  have  been  acquired  for 
the  special  purpose  of  avoiding  too  intense 
an  illumination. — DARWIN  Power  of  Move- 
ment in  Plants,  ch.  8,  p.  453.  (A.,  1900.) 

28OO. Plain  Coloring  of 

Female  Birds — Final  Not  Identical  icith 
Physical  Cause. — Utility,  indeed,  in  a  dif- 
ferent sense,  can  be  quoted  with  proba- 
bility, as  accounting  for  the  comparative 
plain  coloring  of  females  in  this  and  in 
almost  all  other  genera  of  birds.  But  then 
it  is  utility  conceived  as  operating  by  way 
of  motive  in  a  creative  mind,  and  not  oper- 
ating as  a  physical  cause  in  the  production 
of  a  mechanical  result.  And  here  we  find 
Mr.  Wallace  instinctively  testifying  to  this 
great  distinction,  and  employing  language 
which  indicates  the  passage  from  one  order 
of  ideas  to  another.  He  says,  "  The  reason 
why  female  birds  are  not  adorned  with  equal- 
ly brilliant  plumes  is  sufficiently  clear;  they 
would  be  injurious  by  rendering :  their  pos- 
sessors too  conspicuous  during  incubation." 
[Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  October,  1867, 
p.  481.]  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  true  ex- 
planation of  the  purpose  which  the  plain 
coloring  of  female  birds  is  intended  to 
serve;  but  it  is  no  explanation  at  all  of 
the  physical  causes  by  which  this  special 
protection  is  secured. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  5,  p.  137.  (Burt.) 


28O1. 


The  Extermination 


of  Useless  Organisms. — Nature  is  purpose- 
ful, not  only  in  adapting  recently  developed 
structures  to  her  uses — i.  e.,  in  fitting  them 
to  perform  properly  the  functions  allotted  to 
them — but  conversely,  in  removing  every- 
thing superfluous,  so  that  as  soon  as  a 
structure  is  no  longer  required  it  is  elimi- 
nated. Of  course,  this  elimination  is  neither 
sudden  nor  voluntary,  but  comes  to  pass 


Purpose 
Qualifications 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


568 


gradually,  in  accordance  with  certain  laws, 
so  that  we  are  often  able  to  watch  every  stage 
of  the  transition  from  the  full  development 
•of  an  organ  to  the  entire  absence  of  it. — 
WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  6. 
(Cl.  P.,  1891.) 

28O2. The  Key  to  Struc- 
ture— How  Darwin  "  Neglected  This  Plain 
•Guide." — The  idea  of  special  use,  as  the  con- 
trolling principle  of  construction,  is  so  im- 
pressed on  Mr.  Darwin's  mind  that  in  every 
•detail  of  structure,  however  singular  or  ob- 
scure, he  has  absolute  faith  that  in  this  lies 
the  ultimate  explanation.  If  an  organ  is 
largely  developed,  it  is  because  some  special 
purpose  is  to  be  fulfilled.  If  it  is  aborted 
•or  rudimentary,  it  is  because  that  purpose 
is  no  longer  to  be  subserved.  In  the  case 
•of  another  species  whose  structure  is  very 
singular  Mr.  Darwin  had  great  difficulty 
in  discovering  how  the  mechanism  was  meant 
to  work  so  as  to  effect  the  purpose.  At  last 
lie  made  it  out,  and  of  the  clue  which  led 
to  the  discovery  he  says :  "  The  strange 
position  of  the  labellum  perched  on  the 
summit  of  the  column  ought  to  have  shown 
me  that  here  was  the  place  for  experiment. 
I  ought  to  have  scorned  the  notion  that  the 
labellum  wras  thus  placed  for  no  good  pur- 
pose. I  neglected  this  plain  guide,  and  for 
a  long  time  completely  failed  to  understand 
the  flower."  ["  Fertilization  of  Orchids,"  p. 
262.] — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  23. 
(Burt.) 

2803.  PURPOSE,    MANIFESTED    BY 
MONKEY — I  observed  to-day  that  if  a  nut 
or    any    object    he     [a    capuchin    monkey] 
wishes   to  get  hold  of  is  beyond  the  reach 
of  his  chain  he  puts  out  a  stick  to  draw 
it  towards  him,   or,   if  that   does  not   suc- 
ceed, he  stands  upright  and  throws  a  shawl 
back  over  his  head,  holding  it  by  the  two 
corners  so  that  it  falls  down  his  back;  he 
then  throws  it  forward  with  all  his  strength, 
still  holding  on  by  the  corners;  thus  it  goes 
•out  far  in  front  of  him  and  covers  the  nut, 
which  he  then  draws  towards  him  by  pulling 
in    the    shawl.      When    his    chain    becomes 
twisted  round  the  bars  of  a  "  clothes-horse  " 

(which  is  given  him  to  run  about  upon), 
and  thus  too  short  for  his  comfort,  he  looks 
•at  it  intently  and  pulls  it  with  his  fingers 
this  way  and  that,  and  when  he  sees  how  the 
turns  are  taken  he  deliberately  goes  round 
and  round  the  bars,  first  this  way,  then 
that,  until  the  chain  is  quite  disentangled. — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence  (extract  from 
diary  of  author's  sister),  ch.  17,  p.  486.  (A., 

1899.) 

2804.  PURPOSE  MISUNDERSTOOD— 

Bird  Not  Buoyed  Up  by  Air-cells — Why  the 
Bird's  Bones  Are  Hollow. — The  common  ex- 
planation of  birds  being  assisted  by  air- 
cells  for  the  inhalation  and  storage  of  heated 
air  must  not  only  be  erroneous,  but  founded 
on  wholly  false  conceptions  of  the  funda- 
mental mechanical  principles  on  which  flight 
depends.  If  a  bird  could  inhale  enough 


warm  air  to  make  it  buoyant,  its  power 
of  flight  would  be  effectually  destroyed. 
It  would  become  as  light  as  a  balloon,  and 
consequently  as  helpless.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  were  merely  to  inflate  itself  with 
a  small  quantity  of  hot  air  insufficient  to 
produce  buoyancy,  but  sufficient  to  increase 
its  bulk,  the  only  effect  would  be  to  expose 
it  to  increased  resistance  in  cleaving  the 
air.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  bones  of 
birds  are  made  more  hollow  and  lighter 
than  the  bones  of  mammals,  because  birds, 
tho  requiring  weight,  must  not  have  too 
much  of  it.  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  air 
must  have  access  to  these  hollows,  else  they 
would  be  unable  to  resist  atmospheric  pres- 
sure. But  it  is  no  part  whatever  of  the 
plan  or  intention  of  the  structure  of  birds, 
or  of  any  part  of  that  structure,  to  afford 
balloon-space  for  heated  air  with  a  view  to 
buoyancy. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p. 
87.  (Burt.) 

2805.  PURPOSE    OF    CIRCULATION 
ON  THE  SUN—  The  Reverse  of  That  on  the 
Earth. — The  solar  system  of  circulation,  in- 
stead  of   being   adapted,    like    that    of   the 
earth,  to  the  distribution  of  heat  received 
from  without,  was   seen  to  be  directed  to- 
wards the  transportation  towards  the  sur- 
face of  the  heat  contained  within.      Polar 
and  equatorial  currents,  tending  to  a  purely 
superficial  equalization  of  temperature,  were 
replaced   by    vertical    currents   bringing   up 
successive  portions  of  the  intensely  heated 
interior  mass,  to  contribute  their  share  in 
turn  to  the  radiation  into  space  which  might 
be   called  the  proper  function  of  a  sun. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  2, 
p.  187.      (Bl.,  1893.) 

2806.  PURPOSE,  SELECTIVE,  OF 

HONEY-BEE— Plan  Changed  to  Meet  Difficul- 
ties.— Finally,  in  places  where  special  con- 
ditions of  the  situation  do  not  otherwise 
permit,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  bees, 
far  from  clinging  obstinately  to  their  plan, 
very  well  understand  how  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  circumstances  not  only  in  cell- 
building,  but  also  in  making  their  combs. 
F.  Huber  tried  to  mislead  their  instinct, 
or  rather  to  put  to  the  proof  their  reason 
and  cleverness  in  every  possible  way,  but 
they  always  emerged  triumphant  from  the 
ordeal.  For  instance,  he  put  bees  in  a  hive  the 
floor  and  roof  of  which  were  made  of  glass, 
that  is,  of  a  body  which  the  bees  use  very 
unwillingly  for  the  attachment  of  their 
combs  on  account  of  its  smoothness.  Thus 
the  possibility  of  building  as  usual  from 
above  downwards,  and  also  from  below  up- 
wards, was  taken  away  from  them;  they 
had  no  point  of  support  save  the  perpendicu- 
lar walls  of  their  dwelling.  They  thereupon 
built  on  one  of  these  walls  a  regular  stratum 
of  cells,  from  which,  building  sideways,  they 
tried  to  carry  the  comb  to  the  opposite  side 
of  the  hive.  To  prevent  this,  Huber  covered 
that  side  also  with  glass.  But  what  way 
out  of  the  difficulty  was  found  by  the  clever 


569 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Purpose 
Qualifications 


insects?  Instead  of  building  further  in  the. 
projected  direction  they  bent  the  comb  round 
at  the  extreme  point,  and  carried  it  at  a 
right  angle  towards  one  of  the  inner  sides 
of  the  hive  which  was  not  covered  with 
glass,  and  there  fastened  it.  The  form  and 
dimensions  of  the  cells  must  necessarily  have 
been  altered  thereby,  and  the  arrangement 
of  their  work  at  the  angle  must  have  been 
quite  different  from  the  usual.  They  made 
the  cells  of  the  convex  side  so  much  broader 
than  those  of  the  concave  that  they  had 
a  diameter  two  or  three  times  as  great,  and 
yet  they  managed  to  join  them  properly 
with  the  others.  They  also  did  not  wait 
to  bend  the  comb  until  they  came  to  the 
glass  itself,  but  recognized  the  difficulty  be- 
forehand, which  had  been  interposed  by 
Huber  while  they  were  building  with  a  view 
to  overcome  the  first  difficulty. — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p.  177.  (A., 
1899.) 

2  8  O  7 .    PURPOSE  THE  MARK  OF  MIND 

— Theist  vs.  Atheist  and  Materialist. — The 
pursuance  of  future  ends  and  the  choice  of 
means  for  their  attainment  are  the  mark 
and  criterion  of  the  presence  of  mentality 
in  a  phenomenon.  We  all  use  this  test  to 
discriminate  between  an  intelligent  and  a 
mechanical  performance.  We  impute  no 
mentality  to  sticks  and  stones,  because  they 
never  seem  to  move  for  the  sake  of  anything, 
but  always  when  pushed,  and  then  indiffer- 
ently and  with  no  sign  of  choice.  So  we 
unhesitatingly  call  them  senseless.  Just 
so  we  form  our  decision  upon  the  deepest 
of  all  philosophic  problems:  Is  the  Kosmos 
an  expression  of  intelligence  rational  in  its 
inward  nature,  or  a  brute  external  fact  pure 
and  simple?  If  we  find  ourselves,  in  con- 
templating it,  unable  to  banish  the  impres- 
sion that  it  is  a  realm  of  final  purposes, 
that  it  exists  for  the  sake  of  something,  we 
place  intelligence  at  the  heart  of  it  and  have 
a  religion.  If,  on  the  contrary,  in  survey- 
ing its  irremediable  flux,  wre  can  think  of 
the  present  only  as  so  much  mere  mechanical 
sprouting  from  the  past,  occurring  with  no 
reference  to  the  future,  we  are  atheists  and 
materialists. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
1,  p.  8.  (H.  H.  $  Co.,  1899.) 

2 808.  PURPOSE  WROUGHT  OUT  IN 
DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA—  The  Result  of 
Scientifi-c  Thought. — Wholly  different  from 
the  first  discovery  of  the  New  Continent  in 
the  eleventh  century,  its  rediscovery  by 
Christopher  Columbus  and  his  explorations 
of  the  tropical  regions  of  America  have  been 
attended  by  events  of  cosmical  importance, 
and  by  a  marked  influence  on  the  extension 
of  physical  views.  Altho  the  mariners  who 
conducted  this  great  expedition  at  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century  were  not  actuated 
by  the  design  of  attempting  to  discover  a 
new  quarter  of  the  world,  and  altho  it  would 
appear  to  be  proved  that  Columbus  and 
Amerigo  Vespucci  died  in  the  firm  conviction 
that  they  had  merely  touched  on  portions 


of  Eastern  Asia,  yet  the  expedition  mani- 
fested the  perfect  character  of  being  the 
fulfilment  of  a  plan  sketched  in  accordance 
with  scientific  combinations.  The  expedition 
was  safely  conducted  westward,  through  the 
gate  opened  by  the  Tyrians  and  Colaeus  of 
Samos,  across  the  immeasurable  dark  sea, 
mare  tenebrosum,  of  the  Arabian  geogra- 
phers. They  strove  to  reach  a  goal,  with  the 
limits  of  which  they  believed  themselves 
acquainted.  They  were  not  driven  accident- 
ally thither  by  storms,  as  Naddod  and  Gar- 
dar  had  been  borne  to  Iceland,  and  Gunli- 
jorn  to  Greenland. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  238.  (H.,  1897.) 

2809.  PURSUIT  OF  THE  TYPE—  The 

Struggle  of  Nature — The  Ideal  of  Christian- 
ity.— We  have  been  dealing  with  Christi- 
anity at  its  most  mystical  point.  Mark  here 
once  more  its  absolute  naturalness.  The  pur- 
suit of  the  type  is  just  what  all  Nature  is. 
engaged  in.  Plant  and  insect,  fish  and  rep- 
tile, bird  and  mammal — these  in  their  sev- 
eral spheres  are  striving  after  the  type.  To 
prevent  its  extinction,  to  ennoble  it,  to  peo- 
ple earth  and  sea  and  sky  with  it — this  is. 
the  meaning  of  the  struggle  for  life.  And 
this  is  our  life — to  pursue  the  type,  to  popu- 
late the  world  with  it. — DRUMMOND  Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  8,  p.  279. 
(H.  Al.) 

20 1O.  PUTREFACTION   IMPOSSIBLE 
IN  GERMLESS  AIR— Experiments  of  Schwann. 
— Schwann  placed  flesh  in  a  flask  filled  to 
one-third  of  its  capacity  with  water,  sterilized 
the  flask  by  boiling,  and  then  supplied  it  for 
months  with  calcined  air.     Throughout  this 
time  there  appeared  no  mold,  no  infusoria,, 
no    putrefaction;    the   flesh   remained   unal- 
tered, while  the  liquid   continued   as   clear 
as      it     wras      immediately     after     boiling. 
Schwann  then  varied  his  experimental   ar- 
gument,  with   no    alteration   in   the  result. 
His  final  conclusion  was  that  putrefaction 
is  due  to  decompositions  of  organic  matter 
attendant  on  the  multiplication  therein  of 
minute   organisms.      These    organisms   were 
derived  not  from   the  air,  but   from  some- 
thing contained  in  the  air,  which  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  sufficiently  high  temperature. 
— TYNDALL  Floating  Matter  of  the  Air,  p. 
282.      (A.,  1895.) 

2811.  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  ARABS 
FOR  SCIENTIFIC  RESEARCH-The  Arabs 
possessed  remarkable. qualifications  alike  for 
appropriating  to  themselves,  and  again  dif- 
fusing abroad,  the  seeds  of  knowledge  and 
general  intercourse,  from  the  Euphrates  to 
the  Guadalquivir,  and  to  the  south  of  Cen- 
tra] Africa.     They  exhibited  an  unparalleled 
mobility   of    character,    and   a    tendency   to 
amalgamate   with    the   nations    whom   they 
conquered,  wholly  at  variance  with  the  re- 
pelling spirit  of  the  Israel itish  castes,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  they  adhered  to  their  na- 
tional character,  and  the  traditional  recol- 
lections   of    their    original    home,    notwith- 


Qualifications 

Rain 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


570 


standing  their  constant  change  of  abode. 
No  other  race  presents  us  with  more  stri- 
king examples  of  extensive  land  journeys, 
undertaken  by  private  individuals,  not  only 
for  purposes  of  trade,  but  also  with  the 
view  of  collecting  information,  surpassing 
in  these  respects  the  travels  of  the  Buddhist 
priests  of  Tibet  and  China,  Marco  Polo, 
and  the  Christian  missionaries,  who  were 
sent  on  an  embassy  to  the  Mongolian 
princes. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii, 
p.  212.  (H.,  1897.) 

2812.  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  GREAT 
SCIENTIS T— Kepler  —Imaginative  Power 
Joined  with  Accuracy  of  Observation. — My 
reason  for  more  particularly  naming  Kepler 
in  these  remarks  on  the  influence  of  direct 
sensuous    contemplation   has   been   to   point 
out  how,    in   this   great   and   highly   gifted 
man,  a  taste  for  imaginative  combinations 
was  combined  with  a  remarkable  talent  for 
observation,   an  earnest  and  severe  method 
of  induction,  a  courageous  and  almost  un- 
paralleled perseverance  in  calculation,   and 
a     mathematical     profoundness     of     mind, 
which,  revealed  in  his  "  Stereometria  Doli- 
orum,"  exercised  a  happy  influence  on  Fer- 
mat,  and,  through  him,  on  the  invention  of 
the  theory  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus.     A 
man   endowed  with   such   a   mind  was  pre- 
eminently qualified  by  the  richness  and  mo- 
bility of  his  ideas,  and  by  the  bold  cosmical 
conjectures  which  he  advanced,  to  animate 
and  augment  the  movement  which  led  the 
seventeenth     century    uninterruptedly     for- 
ward to  the  exalted  object  presented  in  an 
extended   contemplation   of   the   universe. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.   ii,   pt.   ii,  p.   327. 
(H.,  1897.) 

2813.  QUALITIES,  MORAL,    RE- 
QUIRED IN  SCIENTIFIC  INVESTIGATOR 

— Science  [early]  fascinated  me  on  its  own 
account.  To  carry  it  duly  and  honestly 
out,  moral  qualities  were  incessantly  in- 
voked. There  was  no  room  allowed  for  in- 
sincerity— no  room  even  for  carelessness. 
The  edifice  of  science  had  been  raised  by 
men  who  had  unswervingly  followed  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Nature,  and  in  doing  so 
had  often  sacrificed  interests  which  are 
usually  potent  in  this  world. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  383. 
(A.,  1900.) 

2814.  QUESTIONS    FOR    WHICH 
SCIENCE    HAS  NO  ANSWER—  Yearning  a 
Prophecy. — [The]  notion  of  decay,  however, 
implied  a  reference  to  a   period  when  the 
Matterhorn    was    in    the    full    strength    of 
mountainhood.     My  thoughts  naturally  ran 
back  to  its  possible  growth  and  origin.    Nor 
did     they     halt    there,     but     wandered     on 
through    molten    worlds    to    that    nebulous 
haze  which  philosophers  have  regarded,  and 
with  good  reason,  as  the  proximate  source 
of    all    material    things.     .     .     .     Did    that 
formless  fog  contain  potentially  the  sadness 
with  which  I  regarded  the  Matterhorn?   Did 


the  thought  which  now  ran  back  to  it  simply 
return  to  its  primeval  home?     .     .     . 

Questions  like  these,  useless  as  they  seem, 
may  still  have  a  practical  outcome.  For  if 
the  final  goal  of  man  has  not  been  yet  at- 
tained, if  his  development  has  not  been  yet 
arrested,  who  can  say  that  such  yearnings 
and  questions  are  not  necessary  to  the  open- 
ing of  a  finer  vision,  to  the  budding  and  the 
growth  of  diviner  powers?  Without  this 
upward  force  could  man  have  risen  to  his 
present  height?  When  I  look  at  the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth,  at  my  own  body,  at  my 
strength  and  weakness  of  mind,  even  at 
these  ponderings,  and  ask  myself,  Is  there 
no  being  or  thing  in  the  universe  that  knows 
more  about  these  matters  than  I  do?  what 
is  my  answer? — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise 
in  the  Alps,  ch.  24,  p.  291.  (A.,  1898.) 

2815.  RACE    DEPENDENT    UPON 
SINGLE  TREE — The  South-American    Fan- 
palm. — The   Mauritia    [fan-palm]    not   only 
affords    a    secure    habitation,    but    likewise 
yields  numerous  articles  of  food.    Before  the 
tender   spathe   unfolds  its  blossoms   on  the 
male  palm,  and  only  at  that  peculiar  period 
of  vegetable  metamorphosis,  the  medullary 
portion  of  the  trunk  is  found  to  contain  a 
sago-like    meal,    which,    like    that    of    the 
Jatropha  root,   is   dried   in   thin  bread-like 
slices.     The  sap  of  the  tree  when  fermented 
constitutes  the  sweet  inebriating  palm-wine 
of  the  Guaranes.     The  narrow-scaled  fruit, 
which   resembles   reddish   pine-cones,   yields, 
like    the    banana    and    almost   all    tropical 
fruits,  different  articles  of  food,   according 
to    the    periods    at    which    it    is    gathered, 
whether  its  saccharine  properties  are  fully 
matured,  or  whether  it  is  still  in  a  farina- 
ceous condition.     Thus  in  the  lowest  grades 
of  man's  development  we  find  the  existence 
of  an  entire  race  dependent  upon  almost  a 
single  tree;    like  certain  insects  which  are 
confined  to  particular  portions  of  a  flower. 
— HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  13.    (Bell, 
1896.) 

2816.  RACE,    IMPROVEMENT    OF, 
BY    INDIVIDUAL     SELF  -  DISCIPLINE— 
Every  course  of  intellectual  and  moral  self- 
discipline,    steadily    and    honestly    pursued, 
tends  not  merely  to  clear  the  mental  vision 
of  the  individual,  but  to  ennoble  the  race; 
by  helping  to  develop  that  intuitive  power 
which  arises  in  the  first  instance  from  the 
embodiment  in  the  human   constitution   of 
the  general  resultants  of  antecedent  experi- 
ence,  but   which,    in   its   highest   form,    far 
transcends  the  experience  that  has  furnished 
the  materials  for  its  evolution — just  as  the 
creative   power   of   imagination    shapes   out 
conceptions    which    no    merely    constructive 
skill  could  devise. — CARPENTER  Mental  Phys- 
iology, bk.  ii,  ch.  11,  p.  485.     (A.,  1900.) 

2817.  RACE   SLOWLY  OUTGROWS 
CHILDISH    CONCEPTION  —  Stars   Set  in 
Crystal  Sphere. — It  must  be  admitted  that 
the  idea  of  the  stars  being  set  in  a  hollow 
sphere  of  crystal,  forming  the  vault  of  the 


571 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Qualifications 


firmament,  was  a  very  natural  one.  They 
seemed  to  revolve  around  the  earth  every 
day  for  generation  after  generation  without 
the  slightest  change  in  their  relative  posi- 
tions. If  there  were  no  solid  connection  be- 
tween them,  it  does  not  seem  possible  that  a 
thousand  bodies  could  move  around  their 
vast  circuit  for  such  long  periods  of  time 
without  a  single  one  of  them  varying  its 
distance  from  one  of  the  others.  It  is  espe- 
cially difficult  to  conceive  how  they  could  all 
move  around  the  same  axis.  But  when  they 
are  all  set  in  a  solid  sphere,  every  one  is 
made  secure  in  its  place.  The  planets  could 
not  be  set  in  the  same  sphere,  because  they 
•change  their  positions  among  the  stars. 
This  idea  of  the  sphericity  of  the  heavens 
held  on  to  the  minds  of  men  with  remark- 
able tenacity.  The  fundamental  proposition 
of  the  system,  both  of  Ptolemy  and  Coper- 
nicus, was  that  the  universe  is  spherical,  the 
latter  seeking  to  prove  the  naturalness  of 
the  spherical  form  by  the  analogy  of  a  drop 
of  water,  altho  the  theory  served  him  no 
purpose  whatever.  Faint  traces  of  the  idea 
are  seen  here  and  there  in  Kepler,  with 
whom  it  vanished  from  the  mind  of  the  race, 
as  the  image  of  Santa  Glaus  disappears 
from  the  mind  of  the  growing  child. — NEW- 
COMB  Popular  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  int.,  p.  4. 
(A.  B.  Co.) 

2818.  RADIATION  FROM   LEAVES 

— Space  Draining  Plants  of  Heat — Death  of 
Leaves  that  Cannot  Turn. — We  doubted  at 
first  whether  radiation  would  affect  in  any 
important  manner  objects  so  thin  as  are 
many  cotyledons  and  leaves,  and  more  espe- 
cially affect  differently  their  upper  and 
lower  surfaces;  for  altho  the  temperature 
of  their  upper  surfaces  would  undoubtedly 
fall  when  freely  exposed  to  a  clear  sky,  yet 
we  thought  that  they  would  so  quickly  ac- 
quire by  conduction  the  temperature  of  the 
surrounding  air,  that  it  could  hardly  make 
any  sensible  difference  to  them  whether 
they  stood  horizontally  and  radiated  into 
the  open  sky,  or  vertically  and  radiated 
chiefly  in  a  lateral  direction  towards  neigh- 
boring plants  and  other  objects.  We  en- 
deavored, therefore,  to  ascertain  something 
on  this  head  by  preventing  the  leaves  of  sev- 
eral plants  from  going  to  sleep,  and  by  ex- 
posing to  a  clear  sky  when  the  temperature 
Avas  beneath  the  freezing-point,  these,  as 
well  as  the  other  leaves  on  the  same  plants 
which  had  already  assumed  their  nocturnal 
vertical  position.  Our  experiments  show 
that  leaves  thus  compelled  to  remain  hori- 
zontal at  night  suffered  much  more  injury 
from  frost  than  those  which  were  allowed  to 
assume  their  normal  vertical  position. — 
DARWIN  Power  of  Movement  in  Plants,  ch. 
6,  p.  285.  (A.,  1900.) 

2819.  RADIATION    FROM    METAL 

AND  WOOL— Protecting  Cover  Should  Fit 
Loosely. — Here  are  two  metal  vessels,  one 
of  which  is  covered  with  lampblack,  while 


the  other  is  bright.  Three-quarters  of  an 
hour  ago  boiling  water  was  poured  into 
them,  a  thermometer  being  placed  in  each. 
Both  thermometers  then  showed  the  same 
temperature,  but  now  one  of  them  is  some 
degrees  below  the  other,  the  vessel  which 
has  cooled  most  rapidly  being  the  coated 
one.  Here,  again,  are  two  vessels,  one  of 
which  is  bright,  and  the  other  closely  coated 
with  flannel.  Half  an  hour  ago  two  ther- 
mometers, plunged  in  these  vessels,  showed 
the  same  temperature,  but  the  covered  vessel 
has  now  a  temperature  two  or  three  degrees 
lower  than  the  naked  one.  It  is  not  unusual 
to  preserve  the  heat  of  teapots  by  a  woolen 
covering ;  but  to  be  effective  the  "  cozy " 
must  fit  very  loosely.  A  closely  fitting 
cover  which  has  the  heat  of  the  teapot  freely 
imparted  to  it  by  contact  would,  as  we  have 
seen,  promote  the  loss  which  it  is  intended 
to  diminish,  and  thus  do  more  harm  than 
good. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion, 
lect.  11,  p.  299.  (A.,  1900.) 

2820.  RADIATION  KEEPING  PACE 
WITH     CONTRACTION  —  Would    Sustain 
Sun's  Heat  for  Millions  of  Years. — Calcula- 
tion shows  that,  assuming  the  thermal  ca- 
pacity of  the  sun  to  be  the  same  as  that  of 
water,  the  temperature  might  be  raised  to 
28,000,000   of   degrees,    if   this   quantity   of 
heat  could  ever  have  been  present  in  the  sun 
at  one  time.     This  cannot  be  assumed,  for 
such  an  increase  of  temperature  would  offer 
the  greatest  hindrance  to  condensation.     It 
is  probable  rather  that  a  great  part  of  this 
heat,  which  was  produced  by  condensation, 
began  to  radiate  into  space  before  this  con- 
densation   was    complete.       But    the    heat 
which    the    sun    could    have    previously    de- 
veloped by  its  condensation  would  have  been 
sufficient   to   cover   its   present   expenditure 
for  not  less  than  22,000,000  of  years  of  the 
past. — HELMHOLTZ    Popular   Lectures,    lect. 
4,  p.  181.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2821.  RAIN,  SILENT  ACTION  OF— 

Solid  Rocks  Dissolved — "  The  Waters  Wear 
the  Stones  "  (Job  xiv,  19). — The  most  con- 
spicuous agent  employed  [in  the  disinte- 
gration of  rocks]  is  rain.  Rain  is  not 
chemically  pure,  but  always  contains  some 
proportion  of  oxygen  and  carbonic  acid 
absorbed  from  the  atmosphere;  and  after  it 
reaches  the  ground  organic  acids  are  derived 
by  it  from  the  decaying  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal matter  with  which  soils  are  more  or 
less  impregnated.  Armed  with  such  chem- 
ical agents,  it  attacks  the  various  minerals 
of  which  rocks  are  composed,  and  thus, 
sooner  or  later,  these  minerals  break  up. 
.  .  .  In  all  regions  where  rain  falls  the 
result  of  this  chemical  action  is  conspicu- 
ous; soluble  rocks  are  everywhere  dissolv- 
ing, while  partially  soluble  rocks  are  becom- 
ing rotten  and  disintegrated.  In  limestone 
areas  it  can  be  shown  that  sometimes  hun- 
dreds of  feet  of  rock  have  thus  been  gradu- 
ally and  silently  removed  from  the  surface 
of  the  land.  And  the  great  depth  now  and 


gain 
eason 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


572 


again  attained  by  rotted  rock  testifies  like- 
wise to  the  destructive  action  of  rain-water 
percolating  from  the  surface. — GEIKIE  Earth 
Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  25.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

2822.  RAINBOW,  NO    PERFECT 
IMAGE  OF  IN  WATER— Seeing  two  [rain- 
bows], the  one  in  the  heavens,  the  other  in 
the  water,  you  might  be  disposed  to  infer 
that  the  one  bears  the  same  relation  to  the 
other   that   a    tree   upon    the    water's    edge 
bears  to  its  reflected  image.     The  rays,  how- 
ever, which  reach  an  observer's  eye  after  re- 
flection, and  which  form  a  bow,  would,  were 
their   course   uninterrupted,    converge   to    a 
point  vertically  under  the  observer,  and  as 
far  below  the  level  of  the  water  as  his  eye 
is   above   it.      But  under  no   circumstances 
could  an  eye  above  the  water-level,  and  one 
below  it,  see  the  same  bow — in  other  words, 
the  selfsame  drops  of  rain  cannot  form  the 
reflected  bow  and  the  bow  seem  directly  in 
the  heavens.     The  reflected  bow,  therefore, 
is   not,    in   the   usual   optical   sense   of  the 
term,  the  image  of  the  bow  seen  in  the  sky. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  26. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2823.  RANGE  OF  THE  CONDOR— 

A  Run  Necessary  for  Flight — A  Palisade 
Trap. — This  bird  [the  condor],  which,  singu- 
larly enough,  like  the  lamas,  vicunas,  al- 
pacas, and  guanftcos,  is  not  found  beyond 
the  equator  in  New  Granada,  penetrates  as 
far  south  as  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  In 
Chile,  as  in  the  elevated  plateaux  of  Quito, 
the  condors,  which  usually  live  in  pairs,  or 
even  alone,  congregate  in  flocks  for  the  pur- 
pose of  attacking  lambs  and  calves,  or  seiz- 
ing on  young  guanacos  ( guanacillos ) .  The 
havoc  annually  committed  by  the  condor 
among  the  herds  of  sheep,  goats,  and  cattle, 
as  well  as  among  the  wild  vicunas,  alpacas, 
and  guanacos  of  the  chain  of  the  Andes,  is 
very  considerable.  The  Chileans  assert  that 
this  bird  when  in  captivity  can  endure  hun- 
ger for  forty  days;  when  in  a  free  state, 
however,  its  voracity  is  excessive,  and  it 
then,  like  the  vulture,  feeds  by  preference 
on  carrion. 

The  mode  of  catching  these  birds,  by  an 
enclosure  of  palisades,  ...  is  as  suc- 
cessful in  Chile  as  in  Peru;  for  the  bird,  after 
being  rendered  heavy  from  excess  of  food,  is 
obliged  to  run  a  short  distance  with  half- 
extended  wings  before  it  can  take  flight.  A 
dead  ox,  which  is  already  in  an  incipient 
state  of  decomposition,  is  strongly  enclosed 
with  palisades,  within  which  narrow  space 
the  condors  throng  together;  being  unable, 
as  already  observed,  to  fly  on  account  of  the 
excess  of  food  which  they  have  devoured, 
and  impeded  in  their  run  by  the  palisades, 
these  birds  are  either  killed  by  the  natives 
with  clubs,  or  are  caught  alive  by  the  lasso. 
The  condor  was  represented  as  a  symbol  of 
strength  on  the  coinage  of  Chile  immediately 
after  the  first  declaration  of  political  inde- 
pendence.— HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p. 
239.  (Bell,  1896.) 


2824.  RAYS  OF  STARS— Splendor  of 

the  Heavens  Increased  by  Optical  Illusion. — 
The  rays  of  the  stars  disappear  when  the 
image  of  the  radiating  star  is  seen  through 
a  very  small  aperture  made  with  a  needle 
in  a  card,  and  I  have  myself  frequently  ob- 
served both  Canopus  and  Sirius  in  this  man- 
ner. The  same  thing  occurs  in  telescopic 
vision  through  powerful  instruments,  when 
the  stars  appear  either  as  intensely  lumi- 
nous points,  or  as  exceedingly  small  disks. 
Altho  the  fainter  scintillation  of  the  fixed 
stars  in  the  tropics  conveys  a  certain  im- 
pression of  repose,  a  total  absence  of  stel- 
lar radiation  would,  in  my  opinion,  impart 
a  desolate  aspect  to  the  firmament,  as  seen 
by  the  naked  eye.  Illusion  of  the  senses, 
optical  illusion,  and  indistinct  vision,  proba- 
bly tend  to  augment  the  splendor  of  the 
luminous  canopy  of  heaven. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  128.  (H.,  1898.) 

2825.  REACTION   OF  ENVIRON- 
MENT  ON  MAN— Physical  Influences  Have 
Menial  Results. — The  knowledge  of  the  char- 
acter of  Nature  in  different  regions  is  most 
intimately    associated   with    the   history   of 
the    human    race    and    its    mental    culture. 
For  altho  the  dawn  of  this  culture  cannot 
have  been  determined  solely  by  physical  in- 
fluence, climatic  relations  have  at  any  rate 
to  a  great  extent  influenced  its  direction,  as 
well  as   the  character   of   nations,   and   the 
degree  of  gloom  or  cheerfulness  in  the  dispo- 
sitions   of   men.      How   powerfully    did   the 
skies  of  Greece  act  on  its  inhabitants !     Was 
it  not  among  the  nations  who  settled  in  the 
beautiful  and  happy  region  between  the  Eu- 
phrates, the  Halys,  and  the  ^Egean  Sea  that 
social  polish  and  gentler  feelings  were  first 
awakened?  and  was  it  not  from  these  genial 
climes  that  our  forefathers,  when  religious 
enthusiasm  had  suddenly  opened  to  them  the 
Holy  Lands   of  the  East,   brought  back  to 
Europe,  then  relapsing  into  barbarism,  the 
seeds  of  a  gentler  civilization  ?    The  poetical 
works    of   the  Greeks   and  the  ruder   songs 
of  the  primitive  northern  races  owe  much 
of  their  peculiar  character  to  the  forms  of 
plants  and  animals,  to  the  mountain-valleys 
in  which  their  poets  dwelt,  and  to  the  air 
which  surrounded  them.     To  revert  to  more 
familiar  objects,  who  is  there  that  does  not 
feel  himself  differently  affected  beneath  the 
embowering  shade  of  the  beechen  grove,  or 
on  hills  crowned  with  a  few  scattered  pines, 
or  in  the  flowering  meadow  where  the  breeze 
murmurs  through  the  trembling  foliage  of 
the  birch?     A  feeling  of  melancholy,  or  so- 
lemnity, or  of  light,  buoyant  animation  is 
in  turn  awakened  by  the  contemplation  of 
our  native  trees.   This  influence  of  the  phys- 
ical   on   the   moral   world — this   mysterious 
reaction  of  the  sensuous  on  the  ideal — gives 
to   the    study    of   Nature,    when   considered 
from    a   higher    point   of    view,    a    peculiar 
charm   which    has    not   hitherto    been    suffi- 
ciently recognized. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Na- 
ture, p.  219.      (Bell,  1896.) 


573 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


gain 
easoi 


2826.  READINESS  OF  NERVE-CUR- 
RENTS    TO    FOLLOW    ACCUSTOMED 
PATHS — Paths  Deepened  as   Traversed — The 
Power  of  Habit. — Of  course,  a  simple  habit, 
like   every   other   nervous   event — the   habit 
of  snuffing,  for  example,  or  of  putting  one's 
hands  into  one's  pockets,  or  of  biting  one's 
nails — is,  mechanically,  nothing  but  a  reflex 
discharge,    and    its    anatomical    substratum 
must  be  a  path  in  the  system.     The  most 
complex  habits     .     .     .     are,  from  the  same 
point  of  view,  nothing  but  concatenated  dis- 
charges in  the  nerve-centers,  due  to  the  pres- 
ence there  of  systems  of  reflex  paths,  so  or- 
ganized as  to  wake  each  other  up  successive- 
ly, the  impression  produced  by  one  muscular 
contraction  serving  as  a  stimulus  to  provoke 
the  next,  until  a   final   impression  inhibits 
the  process  and  closes  the  chain.    .    .    .    For 
the  entire  nervous  system  is  nothing  but  a 
system  of  paths  between  a  sensory  terminus 
a  quo  and  a  muscular,  glandular,  or  other 
terminus  ad  quern.     A  path  once  traversed 
by  a  nerve-current  might  be  expected  to  fol- 
low the  law  of  most  of  the  paths  we  know, 
and  to  be  scooped  out  and  made  more  per- 
meable than  before;    and  this  ought   to  be 
repeated  with  each  new  passage  of  the  cur- 
rent.    ...     So  nothing  is  easier  than  to 
imagine  how,  when  a  current  once  has  tra- 
versed a  path,   it  should  traverse   it  more 
readily  still  a  second  time. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  107.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2827.  READING    OF    CHARACTER 
A  RARE  ATTAINMENT— Its  Perfection  In- 
volves Knowledge  Not  Less  Than  Omnisci- 
ent (John  ii,  24)- — Even  overlooking  human 
reticence,  and,  what  is  worse,  human  hyp- 
ocrisy, the  conditions  of  an  accurate  read- 
ing  of    others'    minds    are    rarely    realized. 
If,  as  has  been  remarked  by  a  good  author- 
ity, one  rarely  meets,  even  among  intelligent 
people,  with   a   fairly   accurate  observer   of 
external  things,  what  shall  be  said  as  to  the 
commonly  claimed  power  of  "  intuitive  in- 
sight "    into    other    people's    thoughts    and 
feelings,    as    tho    it   were    a    process    above 
suspicion?     It  is  plain,  indeed,  on  a  little 
reflection,   that,   taking   into    account  what 
is    required    in    the  way    of   large    and   va- 
ried   experience     (personal    and    social),    a 
habit   of   careful    introspection,    as   well   as 
a   habit  of   subtle   discriminative  attention 
to   the   external    signs   of   mental    life,   and 
lastly  a  freedom  from  prepossession  and  bias, 
only  a  very  few  can  ever  hope  even  to  ap- 
proximate to   good  readers   of  character. — 
SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  9,  p.  229.     (A.,  1897.) 

2828.  REALITY    OF    THE    HUMAN 
SOUL — No   Ghostly   Universe — Thoughts   and 
Feelings  the  Surest  of  All  Facts. — What  we 
call  the  soul,  the  mind,  the  conscious  self, 
is    something    strange    and    wonderful.      In 
our  ordinary  efforts  to  conceive  it,  invisible 
and  impalpable  as  it  is,  we  are  apt  to  try 
so  strenuously  to  divorce  it  from  the  notion 
of  substance  that  it  seems  ethereal,  unreal, 
ghostlike.     Yet  of  all   realities  the  soul  is 


the  most  solid,  sound,  and  undeniable. 
Thoughts  and  feelings  are  the  fundamental 
facts  from  which  there  is  no  escaping.  Our 
whole  universe,  from  the  sands  on  the  sea- 
shore to  the  flaming  suns  that  throng  the 
Milky  Way,  is  built  up  of  sights  and  sounds, 
of  tastes  and  odors,  of  pleasures  and  pains, 
of  sensations  of  motion  and  resistance  either 
felt  directly  or  inferred.  This  is  no  ghostly 
universe,  but  all  intensely  real  as  it  ex- 
ists in  that  intensest  of  realities,  the  hu- 
man soul! — FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  27.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2829.  REASON ,  THE  INTENTIONAL 
ADAPTATION    OF    MEANS    TO    ENDS— 
Reason  or  intelligence  is  the  faculty  which 
is  concerned  in  the   intentional  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends.     It  therefore  implies  the 
conscious  knowledge  of  the  relation  between 
means  employed  and  ends  attained,  and  may 
be  exercised  "in  adaptation  to  circumstances 
novel   alike   to   the  experience   of  the   indi- 
vidual and  to  that  of  the  species. — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  int.,  p.  17.     (A.,  1899.) 

2830.  REASON  WORKING  FOR  EVIL 

— Cruel  Practises  Logical  Results  from  False 
Premises. — It  is  astonishing  how  reasonable 
— that  is  to  say,  how  logical — are  even  the 
most  revolting  practises  connected,  for  ex- 
ample, with  religious  worship  or  religious 
customs,  provided  we  accept  as  true  some 
fundamental  conception  of  which  they  are 
the  natural  result.  If  it  be  true  that  the 
God  we  worship  is  a  being  who  delights 
in  suffering,  and  takes  pleasure,  as  it  were, 
in  the  very  smell  of  blood,  then  it  is  not 
irrational  to  appease  him  with  hecatombs 
of  human  victims.  This  is  an  extreme  case. 
There  are,  however,  such  cases,  as  we  know, 
actually  existing  in  the  world.  But,  short 
of  this,  the  same  principle  is  illustrated 
in  innumerable  cases,  where  cruel  and  appar- 
ently irrational  customs  are  in  reality  noth- 
ing but  the  logical  consequences  of  some 
fundamental  belief  respecting  the  nature, 
the  character,  and  the  commands  of  God. 
In  like  manner,  in  the  region  of  morals  and 
of  conduct  not  directly  connected  with  re- 
ligious beliefs,  reason  may  be  nothing  but 
the  servant  of  desire,  and  in  this  service 
may  have  no  other  work  to  do  than  that  of 
devising  means  to  the  most  wicked  ends. 
If  the  doctrine  given  to  reason  be  the  doc- 
trine that  pleasure  and  self-indulgence,  at 
whatever  sacrifice  to  others,  are  the  great 
aims  and  ends  of  life,  then  reason  will  be 
busy  in  seeking  out  "  many  inventions  "  for 
the  attainment  of  them,  each  invention  being 
more  advanced  than  another  in  its  defiance 
of  all  obligation  and  in  its  abandonment  of 
all  sense  of  duty.  Thus  the  development  of 
selfishness  under  the  guidance  of  faculties 
which  place  at  its  command  the  great  pow- 
ers of  foresight  and  contrivance,  is  a  kind 
of  development  quite  as  natural  and  quite 
as  common  as  that  which  constitutes  the 
growth  of  knowledge  and  of  virtue.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  development  which,  under  the  con- 


Season 
ecoiistruction 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


574 


dition  supposed  —  that  is  to  say,  the  condi- 
tion of  false  or  erroneous  data  supplied 
to  the  reasoning  faculty  —  is  not  an  accident 
or  a  contingency,  but  a  necessary  and  in- 
evitable result.  —  ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  10,  p.  260.  (Burt.) 

2831.  REASONING,  APPARENT  IN- 
STANCE OF,  AMONG  BEES  —  Inference 
Sagaciously  Drawn.  —  Huber  gives  a  case  of 
apparent  exercise  of  reason,  or  power  of  in- 
ference from  a  particular  case  to  other  and 
general  cases.  A  piece  of  comb  fell  down 
and  was  fixed  in  its  new  position  by  wax. 
The  bees  then  strengthened  the  attachments 
of  all  the  other  combs,  clearly  because  they 
inferred  that  they,  too,  might  be  in  danger 
of  falling.  This  is  a  very  remarkable  case, 
and  leads  Huber  to  exclaim,  "  I  admit  that 
I  was  unable  to  avoid  a  feeling  of  aston- 
ishment in  the  presence  of  a  fact  from  which 
the  purest  reason  seemed  to  shine  out."  — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p.  185. 
(A.,  1899.) 


2832. 


Intelligence 


Shown  in  Repair  of  Damages.  —  A  closely 
similar  and  therefore  corroborative  case  [cf. 
2831]  of  an  even  more  remarkable  kind  is 
thus  narrated  in  Watson's  "  Reasoning  Pow- 
er of  Animals,"  p.  448  : 

"  Dr.  Brown,  in  his  book  on  the  bee,  gives 
another  illustration  of  the  reasoning  power 
of  bees,  observed  by  a  friend  of  his.  A 
center  comb  in  a  hive,  being  overburdened 
with  honey,  had  parted  from  its  fastenings 
and  was  pressing  against  another  comb,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  bees  be- 
tween them.  This  accident  excited  great 
bustle  in  the  colony,  and  as  soon  as  their 
proceedings  could  be  observed  it  was  found 
that  they  had  constructed  two  horizontal 
beams  between  the  two  combs,  and  had  re- 
moved enough  of  the  honey  and  wax  above 
them  to  admit  the  passage  of  a  bee,  while 
the  detached  comb  had  been  secured  by 
another  beam  and  fastened  to  the  window 
with  spare  wax.  But  what  was  most  re- 
markable was  that,  when  the  comb  was  thus 
fixed,  they  removed  the  horizontal  beams 
first  constructed  as  being  of  no  further 
use.  The  whole  occupation  took  about  ten 
days."  —  ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch. 
4,  p.  185.  (A.,  1899.) 

2833.  REASONING  VS.  EMPIRICAL 
JUDGMENT—  Cloth  and  Dyestuff.—  Suppose 
I  say,  when  offered  a  piece  of  cloth,  "  I 
won't  buy  that  ;  it  looks  as  if  it  would  fade," 
meaning  merely  that  something  about  it 
suggests  the  idea  of  fading  to  my  mind; 
my  judgment,  tho  possibly  correct,  is  not 
reasoned,  but  purely  empirical;  but  if  I 
can  say  that  into  the  color  there  enters  a 
certain  dye  which  I  know  to  be  chemically 
unstable,  and  that  therefore  the  color  will 
fade,  my  judgment  is  reasoned.  The  notion 
of  the  dye,  which  is  one  of  the  parts  of  the 
cloth,  is  the  connecting  link  between  the 


latter  and  the  notion  of  fading. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  340.  (H.  II .  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

2834.  RECITATION,   VERBAL, 
VALUE  OF— Reaction  of  Mind  upon  Impres- 
sions.— The  older  pedagogic  method  of  learn- 
ing things  by  rote,  and  reciting  them  par- 
rot-like  in    the    schoolroom,    rested    on    the 
truth   that   a  thing  merely  read  or  heard, 
and  never  verbally  reproduced,  contracts  the 
weakest    possible    adhesion    in    the    mind. 
Verbal  recitation  or  reproduction  is  thus  a 
highly  important  kind  of  reactive  behavior 
on  our  impressions;    and  it  is  to  be  feared 
that,  in  the  reaction  against  the  old  parrot 
recitations  as  the  beginning  and  end  of  in- 
struction, the  extreme  value  of  verbal  reci- 
tation as  an  element  of  complete  training 
may    nowadays    be    too    much    forgotten. — 
JAMES  Talks* to  Teachers,  ch.  5,  p.  34.    (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2835.  RECOGNITION,  A  TRIUMPH 

OF —  Uranus  Often  Seen  Before — Herschel  Rec- 
ognized It  as  a  Planet. — So  soon  as  astron- 
omers had  recognized  the  nature  of  the  path 
of  Uranus,  so  as  to  be  able  to  predict  the 
motions  of  the  planet,  they  could  also  trace 
back  its  course,  so  as  to  find  where  it  had 
been  at  any  given  time  before  its  discovery. 
Now,  when  this  had  been  done,  it  was  found 
that  Uranus  had  in  reality  been  often  ob- 
served before — no  less  than  nineteen  times, 
in  fact. 

It  had  been  observed  by  the  eminent  astron- 
omers Flamsteed,  Bradley,  Mayer,  and  Le- 
monnier.  Flamsteed  had  seen  it  five  times, 
each  time  recording  its  place  as  that  of  a 
star  of  the  fifth  magnitude.  But  Lemonnier 
had  actually  seen  the  planet  no  less  than 
twelve  times.  Unfortunately,  Lemonnier 
was  not  an  orderly  man ;  "  his  astronomical 
papers,"  says  one  who  has  recently  written 
on  the  subject,  "  are  said  to  have  been  a 
very  picture  of  chaos";  and  M.  Bouvard  nar- 
rates that  he  had  "  seen  one  of  Lemonnier's 
observations  of  this  very  star  written  on  a 
paper-bag  which  had  contained  hair-pow- 
der." So  narrowly  had  the  planet  escaped 
recognition  until  its  discovery  should  come 
to  reward  the  most  laborious  of  all  astrono- 
mers— the  great  Sir  W.  Herschel. — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  117.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

2836.  RECOGNITION,  MARKS  THAT 
SERVE  FOR—  Varied  Colors  of  Birds.—  If  we 
consider    the    habits    and    life    histories    of 
those  animals  which  are  more  or  less  grega- 
rious, comprising  a  large  proportion  of  the 
herbivora,  some  carnivora,  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  all  orders  of  birds,  we  shall 
see  that  a  means  of  ready  recognition  of  its 
own  kind,    at    a    distance   or   during   rapid 
motion,  in  the  dusk  of  twilight  or  in  partial 
cover,    must  be   of   the  greatest   advantage 
and  often  lead  to  the  preservation  of  life. 

Among  birds,  these  recognition  marks  are 
especially  numerous  and  suggestive.  Species 
which  inhabit  open  districts  are  usually  pro- 


575 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Reason 
Reconstruction 


tectively  colored;  but  they  generally  pos- 
sess some  distinctive  markings  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  easily  recognized  by  their  kind, 
both  when  at  rest  and  during  flight.  Such 
are  the  white  bands  or  patches  on  the  breast 
or  belly  of  many  birds,  but  more  especially 
the  head  and  neck  markings  in  the  form  of 
white  or  black  caps,  collars,  eye-marks  or 
frontal  patches. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch. 
8,  pp.  147-150.  (Hum.) 

2837.  RECOGNITION,  MATERNAL— 

Possible  Only  among  the  Higher  Animals. — 
The  next  thing  [in  the  evolution  of  mother- 
hood] was  to  make  it  possible  for  the  parent 
to  recognize  its  young.  ...  In  the  lower 
reaches  the  young  are  never  in  the  smallest 
degree  like  their  parents,  and,  granting  the 
highest  power  of  recognition  to  the  mother, 
it  is  impossible  that  she  should  recognize 
her  own  offspring.  For  generations  even 
science  was  imposed  upon  here,  for  many 
forms  of  life  were  described  and  classified 
as  distinct  species  which  have  turned  out  to 
be  simply  the  young  of  other  species.  .  .  . 
The  larval  forms  of  the  starfish,  or  the  sea- 
urchin,  or  their  kinsman  the  holothurian 
are  disguised  past  all  recognition;  and 
among  the  insects  the  relation  between  but- 
terflies and  moths  and  their  respective 
caterpillars  is  beyond  any  possible  clue.  No 
doubt  there  are  other  modes  of  recognition 
in  Nature  than  those  which  depend  on  the 
sense  of  sight.  But  looked  at  on  every  side, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  power  to  identify 
their  young  is  all  but  absent  until  the 
higher  animals  appear. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  8,  p.  274.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2838.  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  IDEAL 

— The  First  Step  toward  Conformity. — The 
recognition  of  the  ideal  is  the  first  step  in 
the  direction  of  conformity.  But  let  it  be 
clearly  observed  that  it  is  but  a  step.  There 
is  no  vital  connection  between  merely  seeing 
the  ideal  and  being  conformed  to  it. — DRUM- 
MONO  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
essay  8,  p.  274.  (H.  Al.) 

2839.  RECOGNITION    OF    UNSEEN 
POWER  —  Illustration  of  Mill  Shaft.— If  we 
think    the    man    foolish    who    supposes    the 
main  shaft  of  a  cotton-mill  to  turn  of  itself, 
merely  because  he  sees  it  apparently  end  in  a 
wall  which  conceals  from  him  the  source  of  its 
motive  power,  are  we  not  really  chargeable 
with  the  like  folly  if  we  attribute  self-mo- 
tion  to  the  ultimate  molecules   of  matter, 
merely  because  the  power  that  moves  them 
is  hid  from  our  sight? — CARPENTER  Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  12,  p.  363.     (A.,  1889.) 

2840.  RECOIL    OF    CANNON  —  Gun 
Heavy    To    Absorb    Its    Own    Reaction. — In 
constructing   a    cannon   provision   must   al- 
ways be  made  for  its  recoil  when  fired.     A 
cannon  that  fires   a  very  heavy  shot  must 
itself  be  heavy,   for  two  reasons:    first,   in 
order  that  it  may  be  strong  enough  to  resist 
the  charge  of  powder,  and,'  secondly,  that  it 
may  be  heavy  enough  to  absorb  the  reaction, 


so  that  the  recoil  will  not  be  too  great. — 
ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
1,  p.  8.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

2841.  RECONCILIATION,    IRRA- 
TIONAL— Attempt  to  Force  Science  to  Accord 
with    Supposed    Biblical    Teaching — Scheme 
of  Tycho  Brahe. — There  was  a  slight  delay 
in  the  adoption  of  the  theory  of  the  central 
sun  and  the  motion  of  the  earth,  a  delay 
due  to   the   astronomer   TychcT  Brahe,   who- 
contrived,  in  1582,  a  mixed  system  suscep- 
tible   of    reconciling    observation    with    the 
Bible,   in  the  name  of  which  the  teaching- 
schools  refused  to  accept  the  theory  of  the 
earth's  motion. 

Here  is  how  the  Danish  astronomer  him- 
self states  his  theory: 

"  I  think  it  is  decidedly  necessary,  with- 
out any  doubt,  to  place  the  earth  motion- 
less at  the  center  of  the  system,  according 
to  the  opinion  of  the  ancients  and  the  tes- 
timony of  Scripture.  I  do  not  admit,  with. 
Ptolemy,  that  the  earth  may  be  the  center 
of  the  orbits  of  the  second  '  mobile,'  but  I 
think  that  the  celestial  motions  are  ar- 
ranged so  that  the  moon  and  the  sun  only, 
with  the  eighth  sphere,  the  most  distant  of 
all,  and  which  includes  all  the  others,  have 
the  center  of  their  motion  near  the  earth. 
The  five  other  planets  revolve  round  the  sun 
as  round  their  chief  and  king,  and  the  sun 
must  be  incessantly  in  the  midst  of  their  orbs, 
which  accompany  him  in  his  annual  motion. 
.  .  .  Thus  the  sun  would  be  the  ruler  and 
end  of  all  these  revolutions,  and,  like  Apollo 
in  the  midst  of  the  Muses,  he  would  rule 
alone  all  the  celestial  harmony." 

To  the  system  of  Tycho  Brahe  there  exists 
the  same  serious  objection  which  was  made 
to  that  of  Ptolemy,  since  in  fixing  the  earth 
at  the  center  of  the  world-system  he  sup- 
posed that  the  sun,  all  the  planets,  and  the 
whole  sky  of  fixed  stars,  described  round  us 
their  immense  orbits  in  twenty-four  hours. 
It  never  enjoyed  a  real  influence. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  1, 
p.  343.  (A.) 

2842.  RECONSTRUCTION     FROM 

FRAGMENTS— Intuitive  Perception  of  Geniu» 
— Agassiz  Rivals  Exploit  of  Cuvier — Extinct 
Crustacean  of  Balruddery  Restored. — The 
numerous  specimens  .  .  .  were  spread 
out  before  us.  ...  There  were  the  frag- 
ments of  scaly  rhombs,  of  scaly  crescents, 
of  scaly  circles,  with  scaly  parallelograms 
attached  to  them,  and  of  several  other  regu- 
lar compound  figures  besides.  .  .  .  Agas- 
siz glanced  over  the  collection.  One  speci- 
men especially  caught  his  attention — an  ele- 
gantly symmetrical  one.  It  seemed  a  com- 
bination of  the  parallelogram  and  the  cres- 
cent; there  were  pointed  horns  at  each  end; 
but  the  convex  and  concave  lines  of  the  op- 
posite sides  passed  into  almost  parallel  right 
lines  towards  the  center.  His  eye  bright- 
ened as  he  contemplated  it.  "  I  will  tell 
you,"  he  said,  turning  to  the  company — "  I 
will  tell  you  what  these  are — the  remains 


Reooiis  tructioi 
Reflection 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


576 


of  a  huge  lobster."  He  arranged  the  speci- 
mens in  the  group  before  him  with  as  much 
apparent  ease  as  I  have  seen  a  young  girl 
arranging  the  pieces  of  ivory  or  mother-of- 
pearl  in  an  Indian  puzzle.  A  few  broken 
pieces  completed  the  lozenge-shaped  shield; 
two  detached  specimens,  placed  on  its  op- 
posite sides,  furnished  the  claws;  two  or 
three  semirings,  with  serrated  edges,  com- 
posed the  jointed  body;  the  compound  fig- 
ure, which  but  a  minute  before  had  so 
strongly  attracted  his  attention,  furnished 
the  terminal  flap,  and  there  lay  the  huge 
lobster  before  us,  palpable  to  all.  There  is 
homage  due  to  supereminent  genius,  which 
Nature  spontaneously  pays  when  there  are 
no  low  feelings  of  envy  or  jealousy  to  inter- 
fere with  her  operations,  and  the  reader 
may  well  believe  that  it  was  willingly  ren- 
dered on  this  occasion  to  the  genius  of  Agas- 
siz. — MILLER  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  8,  p. 
135.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

2843.  RECORD,  ENDURING,  OF 
THE  EVANESCENT— Prints  of  Rain-drops 
in   Geologic  Rocks. — It  may  be  asked  how 
any  clue  can  be  found  to  phenomena  so  eva- 
nescent as  those  of  clouds  and  moisture.  But 
do   we   not   trace    in   the   old   deposits   the 
rain-storms  of  past  times  ?    The  heavy  drops 
of    a    passing    shower,    the    thick,    crowded 
tread  of  a  splashing  rain,  or  the  small  pin- 
pricks of  a  close  and  fine  one — all  the  story, 
in  short,  of  the  rising  vapors,  the  gathering 
clouds,  the  storms  and  showers  of  ancient 
days,  we  find  recorded  for  us  in  the  fossil 
rain-drops;    and  when  we  add  to  this   the 
possibility    of   analyzing   the   chemical   ele- 
ments  which   have  been  absorbed   into  the 
soil,  but  which  once  made  part  of  the  at- 
mosphere, it  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that 
we  shall  learn   something  hereafter  of  the 
meteorology  even  of  the  earliest  geological 
ages. — AGASSIZ   Geological  Sketches,  ser.   i, 
ch.  3,  p.  74.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2844.  RECORD   OF  MEMORY   IM- 
PERISHABLE— Accident  May  Recall  What  is 
Lost  from  Consciousness — The  Day  of  Judg- 
ment.— Accordingly,  in  a  brain  that  is  not 
disorganized  by  injury  or  disease,  the  organ- 
ic registrations  are  never  actually  forgotten, 
but    endure   while    life    lasts;    no   wave    of 
oblivion  can  efface  their  characters.     Con- 
sciousness, it  is  true,  may  be  impotent  to 
recall   them;    but   a   fever,   a   blow   on   the 
head,    a    poison    in    the    blood,    a    dream, 
the  agony  of  drowning,  the  hour  of  death, 
rending     the     veil     between     our     present 
consciousness    and    these    inscriptions,    will 
sometimes     call    vividly    back,     in    a    mo- 
mentary flash,  and  call  back,  too,  with  all 
the  feelings  of  the  original  experience,  much 
that  seemed  to  have  vanished  from  the  mind 
forever.     In  the  deepest  and  most  secret  re- 
cesses of  mind  there  is  nothing  hidden  from 
the   individual   self,  or   from  others,   which 
may  not  be  thus  some  time  accidentally  re- 
vealed, so  that  it  might  well  be  that,  as  De 


Quincey  surmised,  the  opening  of  the  book  at 
the  day  of  judgment  shall  be  the  unfolding 
of  the  everlasting  scroll  of  memory. — MAUDS- 
LEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  26.  (A., 
1898.) 

2845.  RECORDS,  EARLY,   OF  SCI- 
ENTIFIC FACT— Eruptions  of  Etna.— Etna 
appears  to  have  been  in  activity   from  the 
earliest  times  of  tradition,  for  Diodorus  Si- 
culus  mentions  an  eruption  which  caused  a 
district  to  be  deserted  by  the  Sicani  before 
the  Trojan  war.  Thucydides  informs  us  that 
in  the  sixth  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
or  in  the  spring  of  the  year  425  B.  C.,  a  lava- 
stream  ravaged  the  environs  of  Catania,  and 
this,  he  says,  was  the  third  eruption  which 
had  happened  in  Sicily  since  the   coloniza- 
tion   of   that   island   by   the    Greeks.      The 
second  of  the  three  eruptions  alluded  to  by 
the  historian  took  place  in  the  year  475  B.  C., 
and  was  that  so  poetically  described  by  Pin- 
dar, two  years  afterwards,  in  his  first  Pythi- 
an ode.     .     .     . 

In  these  verses  a  graphic  description  is 
given  of  Etna,  such  as  it  appeared  five  cen- 
turies before  the  Christian  era,  and  such 
as  it  has  been  seen  when  in  eruption  in 
modern  times.  The  poet  is  only  making  a 
passing  allusion  to  the  Sicilian  volcano  as 
the  mountain  under  which  Typhoeus  lay 
buried,  yet  by  a  few  touches  of  his  master- 
hand  every  striking  feature  of  the  scene 
has  been  faithfully  portrayed.  We  are  told 
of  "  the  snowy  Etna,  the  pillar  of  heaven — 
the  nurse  of  everlasting  frost,  in  whose  deep 
caverns  lie  concealed  the  fountains  of  un- 
approachable fire — a  stream  of  eddying 
smoke  by  day,  a  bright  and  ruddy  flame  by 
night,  and  burning  rocks  rolled  down  with 
loud  uproar  into  the  sea." — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  25,  p.  398.  (A., 
1854.) 

2846.  RECORDS,    IMPERISHABLE, 
OF  THE  BABYLONIANS— Humane  Laws— 
— Astronomical  Beginnings — Cuneiform  In- 
scriptions. —  Of    the    early    Babylonians    or 
Chaldeans  less  is  known  [than  of  the  Egyp- 
tians], yet  their  monuments  and  inscriptions 
show  how  ancient  and  how  high  was  their 
civilization.      Their   writing   was    in   cunei- 
form or  wedge-shaped  characters,  of  which 
they  seem  to  have  been  the  inventors,  and 
which  their  successors,  the  Assyrians,  learnt 
from   them.      They   were   great  builders    of 
cities,   and  the  bricks   inscribed  with   their 
kings'    names    remain    as    records    of    their 
great   temples,   such,    for   instance,   as   that 
dedicated  to  the  god  of  Ur,  at  the  city  known 
to  Biblical  history  as  Ur  of  the  Chaldees. 
Written  copies  of  their  laws   exist,   so   ad- 
vanced as  to  have  provisions  as  to  the  prop- 
erty of  married  women,   the   imprisonment 
of    a    father   or   mother    for    denying   their 
son;  the  daily  fine  of  a  half-measure  of  corn 
levied  on  the  master  who  killed  or  ill-used 
his  slaves.    Their  astrology,  which  made  the 
names   of  Chaldean   and  Baylonian  famous 
ever  since,  led  them  to  make  those  regular 


577 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Reconstruction 
lie  flection 


observations  of  the  heavenly  bodies  which 
gave  rise  to  the  science  of  astronomy.  The 
nation  which  wrote  its  name  thus  largely 
in  the  book  of  civilization  dates  back  into 
the  same  period  of  high  antiquity  as  the 
Egyptian. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p. 
22.  (A.,  1899.) 

2847.  RECORDS  OF  ANCIENT  DEAD 

— Histories  Self-written  in  the  Rocks. — In- 
deed, the  fossil  remains  of  all  times  tell 
us  almost  as  much  of  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  world  at  different  epochs  as  they 
do  of  its  animal  and  vegetable  population. 
When  Robinson  Crusoe  first  caught  sight 
of  the  footprint  on  the  sand  he  saw  in  it 
more  than  the  mere  footprint,  for  it  spoke 
to  him  of  the  presence  of  men  on  his  desert 
island.  We  walk  on  the  old  geological 
shores,  like  Crusoe  along  his  beach,  and  the 
footprints  we  find  there  tell  us,  too,  more 
than  we  actually  see  in  them.  The  crust 
of  our  earth  is  a  great  cemetery,  where  the 
rocks  are  tombstones  on  which  the  buried 
dead  have  written  their  own  epitaphs.  They 
tell  us  not  only  who  they  were,  and  when 
and  where  they  lived,  but  much  also  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  lived.  We 
ascertain  the  prevalence  of  certain  physical 
conditions  at  special  epochs  by  the  presence 
of  animals  and  plants  whose  existence  and 
maintenance  required  such  a  state  of  things, 
more  than  by  any  positive  knowledge  re- 
specting it. — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches, 
ser.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  30.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

2848.  RECORDS  OF  GEOLOGY— Com- 

pared  with  Human  Traditions.— There  is  a 
rabbinical  tradition  that  the  sons  of  Tubal- 
cain,  taught  by  a  prophet  of  the  coming 
deluge,  and  unwilling  that  their  father's 
arts  should  be  lost  in  it  to  posterity,  erected 
two  obelisks  of  brass,  on  which  they  in- 
scribed a  record  of  his  discoveries,  and  that 
thus  the  learning  of  the  family  survived 
the  cataclysm.  The  flood  subsided,  and  the 
obelisks,  sculptured  from  pinnacle  to  base, 
were  found  fast  fixed  in  the  rock.  Now,  the 
twin  pyramids  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone, 
with  their  party-colored  bars  and  their 
thickly  crowded  inscriptions,  belong  to  a 
period  immensely  more  remote  than  that 
of  the  columns  of  the  antediluvians,  and 
they  bear  a  more  certain  record. — MILLER 
The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  9,  p.  172.  (Gr. 
&  L.,  1851.) 

2849.  RED  A  PREVALENT  COLOR 
IN  FAUNA  OF  THE  DEEP  SEA— The  fau- 
na of  the  deep  sea,    .    .    .    taken  as  a  whole, 
is  not  characterized  by  the  predominance  of 
any   one   color.     The   shades   of   red   occur 
rather  more  frequently  than  they  do  in  the 
fauna    of    any    other    zone    or    region,    but 
whether  this  is  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
fact   that   red   is   the   complementary   color 
to  that  of  the  phosphorescent  light,  in  which 
many  of  these  animals  live,  it  is  at  present 
difficult   to   say;    it   is   possible   that   when 
we  have  further  information  concerning  the 


colors  of  the  animals  living  in  the  deeper 
parts  of  the  neritic  zone  another  explana- 
tion may  be  forthcoming. — HICKSON  Fauna 
of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  66.  (A.,  1894.) 

2  85O.     REENFORCEMENT,  MUTUAL 

— Bacteria  Gain  Power  by  Association. — The 
association  of  organisms  ...  is  ...  a 
fact  that  is  rapidly  becoming  of  the  first  im- 
portance in  bacteriology.  When  species  were 
first  isolated  in  pure  culture  it  was  found 
that  they  behaved  somewhat  differently  un- 
der differing  circumstances.  This  modifica- 
tion in  function  has  been  attributed  to  dif- 
ferences of  environment  and  physical  con- 
ditions. Whilst  it  is  true  that  such  external 
conditions  must  have  a  marked  effect  upon 
such  sensitive  units  of  protoplasm  as  bac- 
teria, it  has  recently  been  proved  that  one 
great  reason  why  modification  occurs  in  pure 
artificial  cultures  is  that  the  species  has 
been  isolated  from  amongst  its  colleagues 
and  doomed  to  a  separate  existence.  One  of 
the  most  abstruse  problems  in  the  immedi- 
ate future  of  the  science  of  bacteriology  is 
to  learn  what  intrinsic  characters  there  are 
in  species  or  individuals  which  act  as  a 
basis  for  the  association  of  organisms  for  a 
specific  purpose.  Some  bacteria  appear  to 
be  unable  to  perform  their  regular  function 
without  the  aid  of  others.  An  example  of 
such  association  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  tetanus,  for  it  has  been  shown  that 
if  the  bacilli  and  spores  of  tetanus  alone 
obtain  entrance  to  a  wound  the  disease  may 
not  follow  the  same  course  as  when  with 
the  specific  organism  the  lactic-acid  bacillus 
or  the  common  organisms  of  suppuration  or 
putrefaction  also  gain  entrance.  There  is 
here  evidently  something  gained  by  associ- 
ation.— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  31.  (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.) 

2851.  REFLECTION  AND  J  U  D  G  - 
MENT    SHOWN    BY    A    WASP— Securing 
Facilities   of    Transportation. — Th.    Meenan 
(Proceedings    of    the    Acad.    of    Nat.    Sci., 
Philadelphia,   January   22,    1878)    observed 
a  case  with  Vespa  maculata.    He  saw  one  of 
these  wasps  try  in  vain  to  raise  from  the 
ground  a  grasshopper  it  had  killed.     When 
all  its  efforts  proved  to  be  in  vain  it  pulled 
its  prey  to  a  maple-tree,  about  thirty  feet 
off,  mounted  it  with  its  prize,  and  flew  away 
from    it.      "  This,"   adds   the   writer,   "  was 
more  than  instinct.     It  was  reflection  and 
judgment,  and  the  judgment  was  proved  to 
be  correct."     [It  could  carry  the  load  when 
once  raised  into  the  air,  tho  it  could  not 
fly  up  with  it.] — ROMANES  Animal  Intelli- 
gence, ch.  4,  p.  197.     (A.,  1899.) 

2852.  REFLECTION  AND  REFRAC- 
TION— The  Two  Unite  to  Make  the  Rainbow. 
— A  beam   of   solar   light   falling  obliquely 
upon  a   rain-drop   is   refracted   on   entering 
the  drop.    It  is  in  part  reflected  at  the  back 
of  the  drop,  and  on  emerging  it  is   again 
refracted.     By  these  two  refractions — at  its 
entrance  and  at  its  emergence — the  beam  of 


Inflection 
Lelics 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


578 


light  is  decomposed,  quitting  the  drop  re- 
solved into  colored  constituents.  The  light 
thus  reaches  the  eye  of  an  observer  facing 
the  drop,  and  with  his  back  to  the  sun. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  24. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2853.  REFRACTION,  DOUBLE,  OF 
LIGHT— Iceland  Spar.— Pour  water  and  di- 
sulfid  of  carbon  into  two  cups  of  the  same 
depth;     the    cup    that    contains    the    more 
strongly  refracting  liquid  will  appear  shal- 
lower than  the  other.     Place  a  piece  of  Ice- 
land spar  over  a  dot  of  ink;  two  dots  are 
seen,    the    one    appearing    nearer    than    the 
other  to  the  eye.     The  nearest  dot  belongs 
to   the   most   strongly  refracted    [the   ordi- 
nary] ray,  exactly  as  the  nearest  cup  bottom 
belongs  to  the  most  highly  refracting  liquid. 
When  you  turn  the  spar  round,  the  extraor- 
dinary image  of  the  dot  rotates  round  the 
ordinary  one,  which  remains  fixed. — TYNDALL 
Lectures   on    Light,    lect.    3,    p.    114.      (A., 
1898.) 

2854.  REFRACTION    ENHANCES 
SENSE  OF  VASTNESS  —  Steppes  of  South 
America. — The  distant  aspect  of  the  steppe 
is    the    more    striking    when    the    traveler 
emerges  from  dense  forests,  where  his  eye 
has  been  familiarized  to  a  limited  prospect 
and  luxuriant  natural  scenery.     I  shall  ever 
retain  an  indelible  impression  of  the  effect 
produced  on  my  mind  by  the  llanos,  when, 
on    our    return    from    the    Upper    Orinoco, 
they  first  broke  on  our  view  from  a  distant 
mountain,   opposite  the   mouth   of  the  Rio 
Apure,  near  the  Hato  del  Capuchino.     The 
last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  illumined  the 
steppe,  which  seemed  to  swell  before  us  like 
some  vast  hemisphere,  while  the  rising  stars 
were  refracted  by  the  lower  stratum  of  the 
atmosphere.     When  the  plain  has  been  ex- 
cessively heated  by  the  vertical  rays  of  the 
sun,    the   evolution   of   the   radiating   heat, 
the  ascent  of  currents  of  air,  and  the  con- 
tact of  atmospheric  strata  of  unequal  den- 
sity continue  throughout  the  night. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  28.     (Bell,  1896.) 

2855.  REFRACTION    OF    LIGHT  — 

Diminished  Velocity  in  Denser  Medium,  as 
Glass  or  Water. — According  to  the  undula- 
tory  theory,  the  velocity  of  light  in  water 
and  glass  is  less  than  in  air.  Consider,  then, 
a  small  portion  of  a  wave  issuing  from  a 
point  of  light  so  distant  that  the  portion 
may  be  regarded  as  practically  plane.  Mov- 
ing vertically  downwards,  and  impinging  on 
an  horizontal  surface  of  glass  or  water,  the 
wave  would  go  through  the  medium  with- 
out change  of  direction.  But  as  the  velocity 
in  glass  and  water  is  less  than  the  velocity 
in  air,  the  wave  would  be  retarded  on  pass- 
ing into  the  denser  medium.  But  suppose 
the  wave,  before  reaching  the  glass,  to  be 
oblique  to  the  surface,  that  end  of  the  wave 
which  first  reaches  the  medium  will  be  the 
first  retarded  by  it,  the  other  portions  as 


they  enter  the  glass  being  retarded  in  suc- 
cession. It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  re- 
tardation of  the  one  end  of  the  wave  must 
cause  it  to  swing  round  and  change  its  front, 
so  that  when  the  wave  has  fully  entered  the 
glass  its  course  is  oblique  to  its  original 
direction.  According  to  the  undulatory 
theory,  light  is  thus  refracted. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  3,  p.  109.  (A., 
1898.) 

2856.  REFRIGERATION    BY    EX- 
PANSION— Liquefaction  of  Oxygen,  Nitrogen, 
Hydrogen,   and  Air. — In    1877   M.   Cailletet 
had  liquefied  nitric  oxid  and  acetylene,  and 
on   the   2d   of   December   he   placed   in   the 
hands    of  M,   Henri    Saint-Claire  Deville   a 
note  wherein,  in  cautious  but  distinct  terms, 
he    announced    the    liquefaction    of    oxygen. 
On  the  16th  of  the  same  month  he  repeated 
his  experiments.     .     .     .     His  plan  of  oper- 
ation involved  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  refrigeration  by  expansion.     .     .     . 
By  instruments  of  great  strength   and  su- 
preme accuracy  of  fit  he  was  able  to  sub- 
ject a  volume  of  oxygen  gas  to  a  pressure 
of  300  atmospheres.     He  might  have  mul- 
tiplied this  pressure  tenfold  without  lique- 
fying the  gas,   but    instead   of   augmenting 
the   pressure  he  suddenly  released  the  gas 
from  the  pressure  imposed  upon  it.     It  for- 
cibly expanded,  and  the  cold  of  expansion 
caused   the   gas    to   precipitate   itself   as    a 
cloud,  which  the  eminent  men  who  witnessed 
the  experiment  agreed  in  pronouncing  liquid 
oxygen.     He  subsequently  applied  the  same 
method  with  success  to  nitrogen,  hydrogen, 
and  air,  all  of  which,  through  the  combina- 
tion of  pressure  with  sudden  release  from 
pressure,  were  caused  to  precipitate  them- 
selves in  clouds. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  5,  p.  145.     (A.,  1900.) 

2857.  REGELATION,    FARADAY'S 
DISCOVERY  OF— Blocks  of  Ice  Freeze  To- 
gether under  Hot  Water. — In  a  lecture  given 
at  the  Royal  Institution  in  June,  1850,  and 
reported  in  the  Athenceum  and  Literary  Ga- 
zette  for  that  year,   Faraday  showed  that 
when  two  pieces  of  ice,  at  a  temperature  of 
32°    F.,    are    placed    in    contact   with    each 
other  they  freeze  together  by  the  conversion 
of  the  film  of  moisture  between  them  into 
ice.     The  case  of  a  snowball  is  a  familiar 
illustration    of    the    principle.      When    the 
snow   is   below   32°,    and   therefore   dry,   it 
will   not   cohere,  whereas   when  it   is    in   a 
thawing  condition  it  can  be  squeezed  into  a 
hard  mass.     During  one  of  the  hottest  days 
of  July,    1857,  when  the   thermometer   was 
upwards  of  100°   F.   in  the  sun,  and  more 
than  80°   in  the  shade,  I  observed  a  num- 
ber of  blocks  of  ice,  which  had  been  placed 
in  a  heap,  frozen  together  at  their  places  of 
contact,   and   I   afterwards   caused  them  to 
freeze  together  under  water  as  hot  as   the 
hand  could  bear. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exer- 
cise in  the  Alps,  ch.  1,  p.  354.     (A.,  1898.) 


579 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Reflection 
Relics 


2858.  RELATIVITY,   LAW  OF— Dif- 
ferent  Estimates  from   Same   Height. — The 
varying  judgments  may  perhaps  be,  to  some 
extent,   accounted   for   by   that   doctrine   of 
relativity  which  plays  so  important  a  part 
in   philosophy.      This   doctrine   affirms   that 
the  impressions  made  upon  us  by  any  cir- 
cumstance, or  combination  of  circumstances, 
depend  upon  our  previous  state.     Two  trav- 
elers upon  the  same  height,  the  one  having 
ascended  to  it  from  the  plain,  the  other  hav- 
ing descended  to  it  from  a  higher  elevation, 
will    be    differently    affected    by    the    scene 
around  them.    To  the  one  Nature  is  expand- 
ing, to  the  other  it  is  contracting,  and  im- 
pressions which  have  two  such  different  an- 
tecedent states  are  sure  to  differ.     In  our 
scientific    judgments   the   law   of   relativity 
may  also  play  an  important  part. — TYNDALL 
Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  123. 
(A.,   1897.) 

2859.  RELICS  OF  A  DISTANT  LAND 
AND  AGE— Deposits  of  Glacial  Epoch.— On 
the  steep  slope  leading  from  the  valley  of 
the    Rhone    into    the   Val    d'llliez,    erratics 
[scattered   boulders],    formerly    many   hun- 
dreds,   if    not    thousands,    in    number,    are 
strewn    among    the    vines    and    under    the 
shadow  of  the  Spanish  chestnuts.     They  are 
mostly  of  crystalline  rock,  while  the  valley 
itself  is  wholly  excavated  in  limestones  and 
slates.     They  have  been  derived  from  vari- 
ous places  higher   up  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone. — BONNEY  Ice- work,  Present  and  Past, 
pt.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  17.     (A.,  1896.) 

2860.  RELICS  OF  ANCIENT  PAST 
IN     PRESENT      CIVILIZATION— As  the 
fragment   of    a    speech    or    song,    a    waking 
or  a  sleeping  vision,  the  dream  of   a  van- 
ished  hand,   a   draft   of  water   from    a    fa- 
miliar    spring,    the    almost    perished     fra- 
grance of   a   pressed   flower,    call    back   the 
singer,  the  loved  and  lost,  the  loved  and  won, 
the  home  of  childhood,  or  the  parting  hour, 
so  in  the  same  manner  there  linger  in  this 
crowning   decade    of    the    crowning   century 
bits  of  ancient  ingenuity  which  recall  to  a 
whole  people  the  fragrance  and  beauty   of 
its    past. — MASON    The   Birth    of   Invention 
(Address  at  Centenary  of  American  Patent 
System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891;  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Congress,  p.  406). 

2861.  RELICS     OF    BRUTES    ARE 
BONES   AND  TEETH— Relics  of  Man  Are 
Chiefly   His   Works — Archeology   Links    Ge- 
ology and  History. — Nor  does  there  appear 
to    be    any    reason    why    those   methods    of 
examination  which  have  proved  so  successful 
in  geology  should  not  also  be  used  to  throw 
light  on  the  history  of  man  in  prehistoric 
times.     Archeology  forms,  in  fact,  the  link 
between  geology  and  history.    It  is  true  that 
in  the  case  of  other  animals  we  can,  from 
their  bones  and  teeth,  form  a  definite  idea 
of  their  habits  and  mode  of  life,  while  in  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge  the  skeleton 
of   a    savage    could    not    always    be    distin- 
guished from  that  of  a  philosopher.     But, 


on  the  other  hand,  while  other  animals  leave 
only  teeth  and  bones  behind  them,  the  men 
of  past  ages  are  to  be  studied  principally 
by  their  works:  houses  for  the  living,  tombs 
for  the  dead,  fortifications  for  defense,  tem- 
ples for  worship,  implements  for  use,  and 
ornaments  for  decoration. — AVEBURY  Prehis- 
toric Times,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (A.,  1900.) 

2862.     RELICS  OF-PRIMEVAL  MAN 

— The  Old  Man  of  Cromagnon — Cave-dwell- 
ers.— The  beautiful  work  of  Lartet  and 
Christy  has  vividly  portrayed  to  us  the  an- 
tiquities of  the  limestone  plateau  of  the 
Dordogne — the  ancient  Aquitania — remains 
which  recall  to  us  a  population  of  Horites, 
or  cave-dwellers,  of  a  time  anterior  to  the 
dawn  of  history  in  France,  living  much  like 
the  modern  hunter-tribes  of  America,  and 
possibly  contemporary — in  their 
early  history,  at  least — with  the  mammoth 
and  its  extinct  companions  of  the  later  post- 
Pliocene  forests.  .  .  .  What  manner  of 
people  were  they?  The  answer  is  given  to 
us  by  the  skeletons  found  in  the  cave  of 
Cromagnon.  This  cavern  is  a  shelter  or 
hollow  under  an  overhanging  ledge  of  lime- 
stone, and  excavated  originally  by  the  action 
of  the  weather  on  a  softer  bed.  It  fronts 
the  southwest  and  the  little  river  Vezere; 
and,  having  originally  been  about  eight  feet 
high  and  nearly  twenty  deep,  must  have 
formed  a  cozy  shelter  from  rain  or  cold  or 
summer  sun,  and  with  a  pleasant  outlook 
from  its  front.  .  .  .  The  "Old  Man  of 
Cromagnon "  was  of  great  stature,  being 
nearly  six  feet  high.  More  than  this,  his 
bones  show  that  he  was  of  the  strongest 
and  most  athletic  muscular  development — 
a  Samson  in  strength;  and  the  bones  of 
the  limbs  have  the  peculiar  form  which  is 
characteristic  of  athletic  men  habituated 
to  rough  walking,  climbing,  and  running; 
for  this  is,  I  believe,  the  real  meaning  of  the 
enormous  strength  of  the  thigh-bone  and 
the  flattened  condition  of  the  leg  in  this 
and  other  old  skeletons.  It  occurs  to-  some 
extent,  tho  much  less  than  in  this  old  man, 
in  American  skeletons.  His  skull  presents 
all  the  characters  of  advanced  age,  tho  the 
teeth  had  been  worn  down  to  the  sockets 
without  being  lost,  which,  again,  is  the  char- 
acter of  some,  tho  not  of  all,  aged  Indian 
skulls.  The  skull  proper,  or  brain-case,  is 
very  long — more  so  than  in  ordinary  modern 
skulls — and  this  length  is  accompanied  with 
a  great  breadth,  so  that  the  brain  was  of 
greater  size  than  in  average  modern  men, 
and  the  frontal  region  was  largely  and 
well  developed.  In  this  respect  this  most 
ancient  skull  fails  utterly  to  vindicate  the 
expectations  of  those  who  would  regard  pre- 
historic men  as  approaching  to  the  apes. 
It  is  at  the  opposite  extreme.  The  face,  how- 
ever, presented  very  peculiar  characters.  It 
was  extremely  broad,  with  projecting  cheek- 
bones and  heavy  jaw,  in  this  resembling  the 
coarse  types  of  the  American  face,  and  the 
eye-orbits  were  square  and  elongated  later- 


Selics 
epair 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


580 


ally.  The  nose  was  large  and  prominent, 
and  the  jaws  projected  somewhat  forward. 
This  man,  therefore,  had,  as  to  his  features, 
some  resemblance  to  the  harsher  type  of 
American  physiognomy,  with  overhanging 
brows,  small  and  transverse  ejes,high  cheek- 
bones, and  coarse  mouth.  ...  The  woman 
presented  similar  characters  of  stature  and 
cranial  form  modified  by  her  sex. 
The  ornaments  of  Cromagnon  were  perfora- 
ted shells  from  the  Atlantic  and  pieces  of 
ivory. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Mod- 
ern Science,  ch.  4,  p.  152.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

2863.  RELIGION  AND  SCIENCE  NOT 
AT  VARIANCE— Loyalty  to  Truth  Aids  Both. 
— Fully   satisfied  that  religion  and  science 
cannot    in   reality    be    at   variance,    I   have 
striven  in  the  present  publication  to  follow 
out   the  rule  laid   down  by  the   Bishop   of 
London    in    his    excellent    lecture    delivered 
last  year  at  Edinburgh.     The  man  of  sci- 
ence, says  Dr.  Tait,  ought  to  go  on,  "  honest- 
ly, patiently,  diffidently,  observing  and  stor- 
ing up   his   observations,   and   carrying  his 
reasonings  unflinchingly  to  their  legitimate 
conclusions,  convinced  that  it  would  be  trea- 
son to  the  majesty  at  once  of  science  and 
of  religion   if  he  sought  to  help  either  by 
swerving    ever   so    little    from   the   straight 
rule  of  truth." — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times, 
p'ref.,  p.  9.     (A.,  1900.) 

2864.  RELIGION  IMPREGNABLE  IN 
THE    ESTIMATE    OF    SCIENCE— Herbert 
Spencer. — "  How  truly  its   central   position 
is  impregnable,"  Herbert  Spencer  has  well 
discerned,    "  religion   has   never    adequately 
realized.     In  the  devoutest  faith,  as  we  ha- 
bitually see  it,  there  lies  hidden  an  inner- 
most core  of  skepticism,  and  it  is  this  skep- 
ticism which  causes  that  dread  of  inquiry 
displayed  by  religion  when  face  to  face  with 
science."     True   indeed;    religion  has  never 
realized  how  impregnable  are  many  of  its 
positions. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  int.,  p.  26.      (H.  Al.) 

2865.  RELIGION  MEETS  NATURAL 
WANT  —  General    Craving  of   Man.  —  This 
world  of  ours  has,   on  the  whole,  been  an 
inclement  region  for  the  growth  of  natural 
truth;  but  it  may  be  that  the  plant  is  all 
the  hardier  for  the  bendings  and  buffetings 
it    has    undergone.       The    torturing    of    a 
shrub,  within  certain  limits,  strengthens  it. 
Through  the  struggles  and  passions  of  the 
brute,  man  reaches  his  estate;  through  sav- 
agery  and  barbarism  his   civilization;    and 
through  illusion  and  persecution,  his  knowl- 
edge of  Nature,  including  that  of  his  own 
frame.   The  bias  towards  natural  truth  must 
have  been  strong  to  have  withstood  and  over- 
come the  opposing  forces.     Feeling  appeared 
in  the  world  before  knowledge,  and  thoughts, 
conceptions,  and  creeds,  founded  on  emotion, 
had,  before  the  dawn  of  science,  taken  root 
in   man.      Such   thoughts,   conceptions,   and 
creeds  must  have  met  a   deep  and  general 
want,    otherwise    their    growth    could    not 


have  been  so  luxuriant,  nor  their  abiding 
power  so  strong. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of 
Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  373.  (A.,  1900.) 

2866.  RELIGION,    MINGLING    OF, 
WITH  SCIENCE  UNDESIRABLE— Nebular 
Hypothesis  Unsustained. — It  has  indeed  al- 
ways   seemed   to   me   a  circumstance  to  be 
regretted    that    religious    questions    should 
have  been  in  any  way  associated  with  the 
scientific  difficulties  involved  in  this  particu- 
lar question  [the  nebular  hypothesis].  There 
is  always  this  objection  to  such  associations, 
that,   in  forming  them,   we  are   apt  to  as- 
sociate scientific  errors  with  religious  teach- 
ings, and  these  truths  seem  to  suffer  when 
the    scientific    errors    are    exposed.      Thus 
well-meaning  men  have  again  and  again  in- 
jured  the   cause   they   were   most   eager   to 
serve,   by   calling   in   to   its   aid   unsuitable 
allies.      But    altho    I    can    see   no   religious 
reasons  for  casting  discredit  on  the  theory 
that  processes  have  gone  on  and  are  going 
on  upon  an  infinitely  vast  scale,  resembling 
those  which  we  see  daily  going  on  around 
us  upon  a  finite  scale,  yet  it  does  appear 
to  me  that  there  are  many  excellent  scien- 
tific    reasons     for     doubting    very    gravely 
whether    all    the    suns    which    people    space 
were  originally  formed  from  masses  of  glow- 
ing gas. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infini- 
ties, p.  230.      (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2867.  RELIGION    MORE    THAN 
SENSE    OF    DEPENDENCE— Definition  In- 
cludes the  Thing  To  Be  Defined. — The  defi- 
nitions   of   religion   have   been   even    worse 
than   the  definitions   of  morality.     Just  as 
the  attempt  is  made  to  account  for  morals 
apart  from  the  sense  of  duty  or  of  obliga- 
tion in  conduct,  so  is  the  attempt  made  to 
account   for   religion   apart   from  the  sense 
of  mind  or  will  in  Nature.    The  great  effort 
seems  to  have  been  to  try  how  the  essential 
idea  of  religion  could  be  either  most  com- 
pletely  eliminated  or   else  most  effectually 
concealed.      For   example,   a   feeling  of    ab- 
solute   dependence    has    been    specified    by 
Schleiermacher   as    the  essence   of   religion. 
Yet  it  is  evident  that  a  sense  of  absolute 
dependence   may   be  urgent  and   oppressive 
without  the   slightest   tincture   of   religious 
feeling.     A  man  carried  off  in  a  flood  and 
clinging  to   a   log  of  wood  may  have,   and 
must  have,  a  painful  sense  of  absolute  de- 
pendence  on    the    log.      But   no   one   would 
think  of  describing  this  sense  as  a  feeling 
of  religion.     .     .     .     Any  plausibility,  there- 
fore, which  may  attach  to  the  proposition 
which  identifies  religion  with  the  mere  sense 
of  dependence  is  due  entirely  to  the  fact  that 
when   men  speak  of  a  sense  of  dependence 
they  suggest  the  idea  of  a  particular  kind 
of  dependence — namely,  dependence  upon  a 
being  or  a  personality,  and  not  dependence 
upon   a   thing.      That    is   to    say,    that    the 
plausibility  of  the  definition  is  entirely  due 
to  an  element  of  thought  which  it  is  special- 
ly  framed   to   keep    out   of   sight. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  267.     (Burt.) 


581 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Relics 
Repair 


2868.  RELIGION,  ORIGIN    AND 
MANIFESTATION  OF— Danger  Awakens  Re- 
ligious Instinct. — As  long  as  no  real  danger 
threatens,  we  may  laugh  at  the  religious  in- 
stinct, because  it  has  no  opportunity  to  act. 
But  as   soon  as  danger  approaches  it  acts 
even  in  unbelievers. — DAHL  Die  Nothwendig- 
keit  der  Religion  eine  letzte  Consequenz  der 
Darwinschen  Lehre.      (Translated  for  Scien- 
tific Side-Lights.) 

2869.  RELIGION,   PRIMEVAL,  UN- 
FOUNDED SPECULATION  CONCERNING 

— The  One  Element  Common  to  All  Religions 
— Worship  of  Superhuman  Personality. — 
Primeval  man  has  kept  no  journal  of  his 
own  first  religious  emotions,  any  more  than 
of  his  own  first  appearance  in  the  world. 
We  are  therefore  thrown  back  upon  pure 
speculation — speculation,  indeed,  which  may 
find  in  the  present,  and  in  a  comparatively 
recent  past,  some  data  for  arriving  at  con- 
clusions, more  or  less  probable,  on  the  con- 
ditions of  a  time  which  is  out  of  sight.  But 
among  the  very  first  of  these  data — if  it  be 
not,  indeed,  the  one  datum  without  which 
all  others  are  useless — is  a  clear  conception 
of  the  element  which  is  common  to  all  re- 
ligions as  they  exist  now,  or  as  they  can 
be  traced  back  beyond  the  dawn  of  history 
into  the  dim  twilight  of  tradition.  Of  this 
universal  element  in  all  religions  "  the  In- 
finite "  is  no  definition  at  all.  It  is  itself 
much  more  vague  and  indefinite  in  meaning 
than  the  word  which  it  professes  to  explain. 
And  this  is  all  the  more  needless,  seeing  that 
the  common  element  in  all  religions,  such  as 
we  know  them  now,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
simplicity.  It  is  the  element  of  a  belief  in 
superhuman  beings — in  living  agencies  other 
and  higher  than  our  own. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  274.  (Burt.) 

08 7 O.  RELIGION,  SCIENCE  A  HELP- 
ER   OF — Extension  of  Knowledge  Leads  to 
Higher    Faith. — In    proportion    as    religion' 
avails  herself  of  the  help  of  science  and  its 
labors  to  strengthen  her  position  and  power, 
so   will   she  most  typically  and  admirably 
fulfil  her  great  office  in  ruling  wisely   and 
well  the  inner  and  higher  life  of  man.     As 
science   progresses,   so   let  religion   advance 
with  her;   for  the  world,  we  shall  find,  is 
daily  awakening  to  new  beliefs,  to  the  fuller 
knowledge  of  itself.     The  great,  irresistible 
tide  of  human  knowledge  is  sweeping  away 
the  old   landmarks  and  resting-places  with 
rapid    force.      And    wise    indeed    are    they 
who,  recognizing  the  extension  of  knowledge 
as   from    God,   betake   themselves   with   the 
tide  to  higher  levels  of  thought,  and  there 
construct  their  dwelling-places  anew. — AN- 
DREW WILSON  Science-Culture  for  the  Mass- 
es, p.  35.     (Hum.,  1888.) 

2871.  RELIGION,   UNIVERSALITY 

OF— The  universality  of  religion,  its  exist- 
ence among  all  known  peoples,  may  be  re- 
garded as  indubitable  evidence  that  its  ap- 


pearance is  owing  to  necessary  causes. — 
DAHL  Die  Nothicendigkeit  der  Religion  eine 
letzte  Consequenz  der  Darwinschen  Lehre. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 


2872. 


No  Adequate  Evi- 


dence of  Tribes  without  Religion. — On  one 
main  point  which  has  been  questioned  re- 
specting existing  facts  the  progress  of  in- 
quiry seems  to  have  established  beyond  any 
reasonable  doubt  that  no  race  of  men  now 
exists  so  savage  and  degraded  as  to  be,  or 
to  have  been  when  discovered,  wholly  des- 
titute of  any  conceptions  of  a  religious  na- 
ture. It  is  now  [1883]  well  understood  that 
all  the  cases  in  which  the  existence  of  such 
savages  has  been  reported  are  cases  which 
break  down  upon  more  intimate  knowledge 
and  more  scientific  inquiry. 

Such  is  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  a 
careful  modern  inquirer,  Professor  Tiele, 
who  says :  "  The  statement  that  there  are 
nations  or  tribes  which  possess  no  religion 
rests  either  on  inaccurate  observations  or  on 
a  confusion  of  ideas.  No  tribe  or  nation  has 
yet  been  met  with  destitute  of  belief  in  any 
higher  beings,  and  travelers  who  asserted 
their  existence  have  been  afterwards  refuted 
by  facts.  It  is  legitimate,  therefore,  to  call 
religion,  in  its  most  general  sense,  an  uni- 
versal phenomenon  of  humanity." — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  11,  p.  281.  (Burt.) 

2873.  RENEWAL  AFTER  EXHAUS- 
TION— Impediments  to  New  Action  Removed — 
Sundew  Leaf  Dried  to  Clear  It  of  Remains — 
Reanointing  for  Capture  of  Prey. — As  soon 
as   tentacles    which   have   remained    closely 
inflected  during  several  days  over  an  object 
begin  to  reexpand,  their  glands  secrete  less 
freely,  or  cease  to  secrete,  and  are  left  dry. 
In  this  state  they  are  covered  with  a  film 
of  whitish,   semifibrous   matter,  which  was 
held  in  solution  by  the  secretion.     The  dry- 
ing of  the  glands  during  the  act  of  reex- 
pansion    is    of    some    little    service    to    the 
plant ;    for   I  have  often  observed  that  ob- 
jects   adhering    to    the    leaves    could    then 
be  blown  away  by  a  breath  of  air,  the  leaves 
being  thus  left  unencumbered  and  free  for 
future  action.     Nevertheless,   it  often   hap- 
pens that  all  the  glands  do  not  become  com- 
pletely dry;    and  in  this  case  delicate  ob- 
jects, such  as  fragile  insects,  are  sometimes 
torn   by   the   reexpansion   of   the   tentacles 
into  fragments,  which  remain  scattered  all 
over    the    leaf.      After    the    reexpansion    is 
complete  the  glands   quickly  begin  to  rese- 
crete,   and  as  soon  as  full-sized  drops  are 
formed  the  tentacles  are  ready  to  clasp  a 
new  object. — DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants, 
ch.  1,  p.  13.     (A.,  1900.) 

2874.  REPAIR    COMPENSATES 

WASTE— Sleep  Nature's  Opportunity  of  Resto- 
ration.— Repair  is  everywhere  and  always 
making  up  for  waste.  Tho  the  two  processes 
vary  in  their  relative  rates,  both  are  con- 
stantly going  on.  Tho  during  the  active, 
waking  state  of  an  animal  waste  is  in  excess 


Repair 
Respiration 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


582 


of  repair,  yet  repair  is  in  progress ;  and  tho 
during  sleep  repair  is  in  excess  of  waste, 
yet  some  waste  is  necessitated  by  the  carry- 
ing-on of  certain  never-ceasing  functions. 
The  organs  of  these  never-ceasing  functions 
furnish,  indeed,  the  most  conclusive  proofs 
of  the  simultaneity  of  repair  and  waste. 
Day  and  night  the  heart  never  stops  beating, 
but  only  varies  in  the  rapidity  and  vigor  of 
its  beats,  and  hence  the  loss  of  substance 
which  its  contractions  from  moment  to  mo- 
ment entail  must  from  moment  to  moment 
be  made  good.  Day  and  night  the  lungs 
dilate  and  collapse,  and  the  muscles  which 
make  them  do  this  must  therefore  be  kept 
in  a  state  of  integrity  by  a  repair  which 
keeps  pace  with  waste,  or  which  alternately 
falls  behind  and  gets  in  advance  of  it'  to  a 
very  slight  extent. — SPENCEK  Biology,  pt.  ii, 
ch.  4,  p.  216.  (A.,  1900.) 

2875.  REPOSE    IS    DEATH— Knowl- 
edge and  Progress  from  Action. — Some  years 
ago   I    found   myself   in   discussion    with    a 
friend  who  entertained  the  notion  that  the 
general    tendency    of    things    in   this    world 
is  towards  equilibrium,  the  result  of  which 
would  be  peace  and  blessedness  to  the  human 
race.       My    notion    was    that    equilibrium 
meant  not  peace  and  blessedness,  but  death. 
No   motive  power   is  to  be  got   from  heat, 
save  during  its  fall  from  a  higher  to  a  lower 
temperature,  as  no  power  is  to  be  got  from 
water  save  during  its  descent  from  a  higher 
to  a   lower  level.     Thus   also   life  consists, 
not  in  equilibrium,  but  in  the  passage  to- 
wards   equilibrium.      ...      In   times    of 
strife    and    commotion    wre    may    long    for 
peace,  but  knowledge  and  progress  are  the 
fruits  of  action. — TYNDALL  New  Fragments, 
p.  10.     (A.,  1897.) 

2876.  REPOSE     SUCCEEDING 
STRESS  AND  STRAIN—  Quiet  Hills  the  Re- 
mains of  Once  Vast  Volcanoes — The  British 
Isles    Volcanic. — In   Devonian    or    Old    Red 
Sandstone  times,  volcanic  activity  was  re- 
newed with  fresh  violence  upon  that  part  of 
the    earth's    surface    now    occupied    by   the 
British  Islands.     Along  the  line  which  now 
forms    the    Grampians    there    rose    a    series 
of   volcanoes   of   the  very   grandest    dimen- 
sions.    Ben  Nevis,  and  many  others  among 
the    higher    Scotch    mountains,    have    been 
carved  by  denudation  from  the  hard  masses 
of  granite,  quartz-felsite,  and  other  Plutonic 
rocks    which    formed    the/  central    cores    of 
these   ancient  volcanic  piles.     The  remains 
of  the  great  lava-sheets  and  of  the  masses 
of  volcanic  agglomerate  ejected  from  these 
grand    Devonian    volcanoes    make    up    hill 
ranges   of   no   mean   altitude. — JUDD   Volca- 
noes, ch.  10,  p.  274.     (A.,  1899.) 

2877.  REPOSE    SUGGESTED    BY 
ASPECT  OF  STARS—  Vast  and  Swift  Motion 
the   Contrasted  Fact. — The   motions   taking 
place   within    the    star-system    are   also    al- 
together amazing  when  rightly  apprehended. 
Contemplating   the   stars   on   a    still   night, 


the  idea  of  infinite  repose  is  suggested  by 
their  serenity  of  aspect.  Judging  the  stars 
again  by  the  ordinary  tests  of  motion,  the 
astronomers  of  old  had  abundant  reason  to 
regard  them  as  the  very  emblems  of  fixity. 
But  in  the  light  of  modern  astronomical  re- 
search, we  have  this  lesson  forced  upon 
us,  that  every  one  of  these  bright  orbs,  and 
all  the  millions  that  are  unseen  save  by  tele- 
scop  ically  strengthened  vision,  are  urging 
their  wray  so  swiftly  through  space  that 
the  most  rapid  motions  familiar  to  us  must 
be  regarded  as  absolute  rest  by  comparison. 
We  know  with  what  startling  rapidity  an 
express  train  rushes  past  a  quiet  country 
station.  In  its  swift  motion  and  heavy 
mass  it  seems  the  embodiment  of  might  and 
energy.  Yet  the  swiftest  express  train  moves 
but  at  the  rate  of  about  one  mile  in  a  min- 
ute of  time,  and  its  bulk  is  utterly  insignifi- 
cant compared  with  that  of  the  smallest 
member  of  the  solar  system.  What  incon- 
ceivable energy  must  we  recognize,  then,  in 
the  motion  of  our  sun  through  space,  at  a 
rate  of  hundreds  of  miles  per  minute,  the 
whole  of  his  attendant  family  (each  member 
of  which  is  traveling  rapidly  around  him) 
accompanying  him  in  his  swift  rush  through 
the  interstellar  depths !  Yet  even  this  won- 
derful energy  of  motion  seems  little  when 
compared  with  the  flight  of  Sirius,  an  orb 
a  thousand  times  larger  than  the  sun,  and 
traveling  many  times  more  swiftly.  And 
we  have  abundant  reasons  for  believing  that 
amongst  the  stars  revealed  by  powerful 
telescopes  there  are  thousands  as  large  as 
Sirius,  and  millions  as  large  as  our  sun 
— all  with  their  attendant  systems  speed- 
ing with  inconceivable  rapidity  on  their 
several  courses! — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among 
Infinities,  p.  232.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2878.  REPRODUCTION  OF  BAC- 
TERIA— Almost  Incredible  Fertility— Checks 
upon  Their  Increase.  —  Their  minute  size 
would  make  them  harmless  enough  if  it 
were  not  for  an  extraordinary  power  of 
multiplication.  This  power  of  growth  and 
division  is  almost  incredible.  Some  of  the 
species  which  have  been  carefully  watched 
under  the  microscope  have  been  found  un- 
der favorable  conditions  to  grow  so  rapidly 
as  to  divide  every  half-hour  or  even  less. 
The  number  of  offspring  that  would  result 
in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours  at  this 
rate  is  of  course  easily  computed.  In  one 
day  each  bacterium  would  produce  over  16,- 
500,000  descendants,  and  in  two  days  about 
281,500,000,000.  It  has  been  further  cal- 
culated that  these  281,500,000,000  would 
form  about  a  solid  pint  of  bacteria  and 
weigh  about  a  pound.  At  the  end  of  the 
third  day  the  total  descendants  would 
amount  to  47,000,000,000,000,  and  would 
weigh  about  16,000,000  pounds.  Of  course 
these  numbers  have  no  significance,  for  they 
are  never  actual  or  even  possible  numbers. 
Long  before  the  offspring  reach  even  into 
the  millions  their  rate  of  multiplication  is 


583 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Repair 
Respm 


expiration 


checked  either  by  lack  of  food  or  by  the 
accumulation  of  their  own  excreted  prod- 
ucts, which  are  injurious  to  them.  But  the 
figures  do  have  interest,  since  they  show 
faintly  what  an  unlimited  power  of  multi- 
plication these  organisms  have,  and  thus 
show  us  that  in  dealing  with  bacteria  we 
are  dealing  with  forces  of  almost  infinite 
extent. — CONN  Story  of  Germ  Life,  ch.  1,  p. 
21.  (A.,  1900.) 


2879. 


•Growth  of  Yeast 


— The  Budding  of  a  Plant  (Matt,  xiii,  33). — 
Budding,  division,  and  spore-formation  are 
the  three  chief  ways  in  which  [bacteria] 
reproduce  their  kind.  Budding  occurs  in 
some  kinds  of  yeast.  .  .  .  The  capsule 
of  a  large  or  mother-cell  shows  a  slight 
protrusion  outwards,  which  is  gradually  en- 
larged into  a  daughter-yeast  and  later  on 
becomes  constricted  at  the  neck.  Eventually 
it  separates  as  an  individual.  The  proto- 
plasm of  spores  of  yeast  differs,  as  Hansen 
has  pointed  out,  according  to  their  condi- 
tions of  culture. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1, 
p.  16.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

288O.  RESERVE  OF  POWER— Phys- 
ical Endurance  without  Food. — On  the  east- 
ern end  of  the  ridge  [of  the  Matterhorn]  we 
halted  to  take  a  little  food;  not  that  I 
seemed  to  need  it — it  was  the  remonstrance 
of  reason  rather  than  the  consciousness  of 
physical  want  that  caused  me  to  do  so. 

Facts  of  this  kind  illustrate  the  amount 
of  force  locked  up  in  the  muscles  which 
may  be  drawn  upon  without  renewal.  I 
had  quitted  London  ill,  and  when  the  Mat- 
terhorn was  attacked  I  was  by  no  means 
well.  In  fact,  this  climb  was  one  of  the 
means  adopted  to  drive  the  London  virus 
from  my  blood.  The  day  previous  I  had 
taken  scarcely  any  food;  and  on  starting 
from  the  cabin  half  a  cup  of  bad  tea,  with- 
out any  solid  whatever,  constituted  my 
breakfast.  Still,  during  the  five  hours'  climb 
from  the  cabin  to  the  top  of  the  Matterhorn, 
tho  much  below  par  physically  and  mentally, 
I  felt  neither  faint  nor  hungry.  This  is  an 
old  experience  of  mine  upon  the  mountains. 
The  Weisshorn,  for  example,  was  climbed  on 
six  meat  lozenges,  tho  it  was  a  day  of  nine- 
teen hours.  Possibly  this  power  of  long- 
continued  physical  effort,  without  eating, 
may  be  a  result  of  bad  digestion  which  deals 
out  stingily,  and  therefore  economically,  to 
the  muscles  the  energy  of  the  food  previous- 
ly consumed. — TYNDALL  New  Fragments,  p. 
491.  (A.,  1897.) 


2881. 


The  Sun's  Energy 


Stored  in  Wood  or  Coal  Operative  after  Any 
Lapse  of  Years. — The  sun  [has]  locked  up 
in  each  tree  a  store  of  energy  thousands 
of  times  greater  than  that  which  was  spent 
in  merely  lifting  the  trunk  from  the  ground, 
as  we  may  see  by  unlocking  it  again  when 
we  burn  the  tree  under  the  boiler  of  an 
engine ;  for  it  will  develop  a  power  equal  to 
the  lifting  of  thousands  of  its  kind,  if  we 


choose  to  employ  it  in  this  way.  This  is 
so  true  that  the  tree  may  fall  and  turn  to 
coal  in  the  soil,  and  still  .keep  this  energy 
imprisoned  in  it — keep  it  for  millions  of 
years  till  the  black  lump  under  the  furnace 
gives  out,  in  the  whirling  spindles  of  the 
factory  or  the  turning- wheel  of  the  steam- 
boat, the  energy  gathered  in  the  sunshine 
of  the  primeval  world. — LANGLEY  New  As- 
tronomy, ch.  3,  p.  73.  (HTM;  &  Co.) 

2882.  RESISTANCE  TO  INFECTION 

— Some  Persons  Insusceptible. — There  is  am- 
ple evidence  in  support  of  the  fact  that  not 
all  the  persons  partaking  of  infected  food 
suffer  equally,  and  occasionally  some  escape 
altogether.  We  know  little  or  nothing  of 
the  causes  of  such  modification  in  the  effect 
produced.  It  may  be  due  to  other  organ- 
isms, or  chemical  substances  already  in  the 
alimentary  canal  of  the  individual,  or  it 
may  be  due  to  some  insusceptibility  or  re- 
sistance of  the  tissues.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
it  is  a  matter  which  must  not  be  neglected 
in  •  estimating  the  effects  of  food  contami- 
nated with  bacteria  or  their  products. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  180.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

2883.  RESOLVES  STRENGTHENED 
BY  ACTION— Motor  Effects  in  Brain  Endure 
— Practical    Opportunity    the    Fulcrum    of 
Moral  Power. — Seize  the  very  first  possible 
opportunity  to  act  on  every  resolution  you 
make,    and   on   every   emotional   prompting 
you  may  experience  in  the  direction  of  the 
habits  you  aspire  to  gain.     It  is  not  in  the 
moment  of  their  forming,  but  in  the  moment 
of   their   producing  motor   effects,  that  re- 
solves and  aspirations  communicate  the  new 
"  set "   to   the  brain.     As   the   author   last 
quoted  [Bahnsen]  remarks: 

"  The  actual  presence  of  the  practical  op- 
portunity alone  furnishes  the  fulcrum  upon 
which  the  lever  can  rest,  by  means  of  which 
the  moral  will  may  multiply  .its  strength 
and  raise  itself  aloft.  He  who  has  no  solid 
ground  to  press  against  will  never  get  be- 
yond the  stage  of  empty  gesture-making." — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  124.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1S99.) 

2884.  RESPIRATION  IN  RAREFIED 
AIR— Man  at  Great  Heights—  Wonderful  Power 
of    Condor. — Ulloa,    more    than    a    hundred 
years  ago,  expressed  his  astonishment  that 
the    vulture    of    the   Andes    could    soar    at 
heights   where   the   pressure   of   the   atmos- 
phere was  less  than  fifteen  inches.    An  opin- 
ion was  at  that  time  entertained,  from  the 
analogy  of  experiments  made  with  the  air- 
pump,    that   no    animal    could    exist    under 
this  slight  amount  of  atmospheric  pressure. 
I  have  myself     .     .     .     seen  the  barometer 
fall  to  14.85  inches  on  the  Chimborazo;  and 
my  friend,  M.   Gay-Lussac,  breathed  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  an  atmosphere  in  which 
the  pressure  was  only  12.9  inches.     It  must 
be    admitted    that   man,    when    wearied    by 
muscular  exertion,  finds  himself  in  a  state 


So  spiral  ion 
esults 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


584 


of  painful  exhaustion  at  such  elevations; 
but  in  the  condor  the  respiratory  process 
seems  to  be  performed  with  equal  facility 
under  a  pressure  of  30  or  of  13  inches.  This 
bird  probably  raises  itself  voluntarily  to  a 
greater  height  from  the  surface  of  our  earth 
than  any  other  living  creature.  I  use  the 
expression  "  voluntarily/'  since  small  insects 
and  silicious-shelled  infusoria  are  frequently 
borne  to  greater  elevations  by  a  rising  cur- 
rent of  air.  It  is  probable  that  the  condor 
flies  even  higher  than  the  above  calculations 
would  appear  to  show. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of 
Nature,  p.  238.  (Bell,  1896.) 

2885.  RESPIRATION    IS    COMBUS- 
TION—-Food  Supplies  Fuel— Three  Classes  of 
Food  Necessary. — Respiration  is  a  true  ex- 
ample of  combustion.     The  seat  of  the  com- 
bustion is  the  lungs.     The  substance  burnt 
is  sugar.     The  products  are  carbonic  dioxid 
gas   and   water.      The    materials   of   animal 
food  may  be  divided  into  three  classes :  non- 
nitrogenized  substances,  such  as  starch  and 
sugar;    nitrogenized    substances,    like    lean 
meat  and  eggs,  and  lastly,  fatty  substances, 
like  butter.    ...    No  article  of  food  which 
does  not  contain  all  three  of  these  classes 
of  substances  can  alone  support  life  for  any 
length    of   time.      A    man   would   starve   to 
death  on  starch  alone,  on  meat  alone,  or  on 
butter  alone.     The  relative  proportion,  how- 
ever,  in   which   these   three   classes   of  sub- 
stances are  required  by  man  depends  on  his 
outward  circumstances,  such  as  the  climate, 
his  physical  activity,  his  occupation,  or  his 
peculiar  temperament,  and  to  the  right  bal- 
ance  of  his   food   he   is   guided   by   experi- 
ence.— COOKE  Religion  and  Chemistry,  ch.  4, 
p.  104.     (S.,  1894.) 

2886.  RESPONSE  TO  HUMAN  FEEL- 
INGS   SOUGHT    IN    NATURE— Every  im- 
aginative mind  looks  for  reflections  of  its 
own  deepest  feelings  in  the  world  about  it. 
The    lonely,    embittered   heart,    craving    for 
sympathy,  which  he  cannot  meet  with  in  his 
fellow  man,  finds  traces  of  it  in  the  sighing 
of  the  trees  or  the  moaning  of  the  sad  sea 
wave.     Our  poet  laureate,  in  his  great  ele- 
gy, has  abundantly  illustrated  this  impulse 
of  the  imagination  to  reflect  its  own  emo- 
tional coloring  on  to  inanimate  things:   for 
example,  in  the  lines: 

The  wild  unrest  that  lives  in  woe 
Would  dote  and  pore  on  yonder  cloud 
That  rises  upward  always  higher, 

And  onward  drags  a  laboring  breast, 
And  topples  round  the  dreary  west, 
A  looming  bastion  fringed  with  fire. 

[TENNYSON  In  Memomam,  st.  15,  1.  15.] 

— SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  9,  p.  226.     (A.,  1897.) 

2887.  RESPONSIBILITY    DES- 
TROYED OR  TRANSFERRED— Anything 
which    destroys    responsibility   or    transfers 
it   cannot   be    other   than    injurious    in    its 
moral    tendency    and    useless    in    itself. — 
DRUMMOND   Natural   Law  in   the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  10,  p.  325.     (H.  Al.) 


2888.  RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  MEN- 
TAL   ILLUSIONS  —  Coleridge  s    Unbelief  in 
Ghosts — Resolution  Can  Hold  the  Mind  to 
Realities. — If  we  only  choose  to  exert  our- 
selves   we    can    always    keep    our    illusions 
in  a  nascent  or  imperfectly  developed  stage. 
This  applies  not  only  to  those  half-illusions 
into  which  we  voluntarily  fall,  but  also  to 
the  more  irresistible  passive   illusions,   and 
those   arising   from   an   over-excited    imagi- 
nation.    Even  persons  subject  to  hallucina- 
tions, like  Nicolai  of  Berlin,  learn  to  recog- 
nize  the    unreal    character    of    these    phan- 
tasms.    On  this  point  the  following  bit  of 
autobiography    from    the    pen    of    Coleridge 
throws  an  interesting  light.     "A  lady"    (he 
writes )    "  once    asked   me    if    I   believed    in 
ghosts   and   apparitions.      I    answered   with 
truth  and  simplicity,  '  No,  madam,   I  have 
seen  far  too  many  myself.'  "     However   ir- 
resistible our  sense-illusions  may  be,  so  long 
as  we  are  under  the  sway  of  particular  im- 
pressions or  mental   images,   we  can,  when 
resolved   to   do    so,    undeceive   ourselves    by 
carefully  attending  to   the   actual   state   of 
things  about  us. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  6,  p. 
125.      (A.,  1897.) 

2889.  RESPONSIBILITY    OF    THE 
DRUNKARD— Abstinence  a  Possibility  and  a 
Duty — Ruin   Is   Criminal   Insanity. — What- 
ever   allowances    society    may   be    ready    to 
make    for    individual    cases — such,    for    in- 
stance,  as   that   of   Hartley   Coleridge,  who 
was  the  victim  of  a  strong  hereditary  pre- 
disposition, accompanied  by  a  constitutional 
weakness   of  will — it  recognizes   as   a   fixed 
conviction,  and  consistently  acts  upon  that 
conviction,  that  the  incipient  drunkard  has  a 
power  over  himself ;  that  he  can  not  only  ab- 
stain if  he  chooses,  but  that  he  can  choose 
to  abstain  because  he  knows  that  he  ought 
to  do  so;  and  that  when,  by  voluntarily  giv- 
ing way  to  his  propensity,  he  brings  himself 
into   a    condition    in   which   he   is   no   more 
responsible   for  his  actions  than  a  lunatic, 
he  is   not  thereby  exempted  from  the  pen- 
alty  that   may   attach   to   them,   but   must 
be    held   responsible    for    having   knowingly 
and   deliberately   brought   himself   into   the 
condition    of    irresponsibility.  —  CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  pref.,  p.  42.     (A.,  1900.) 

2890.  REST  DUE  TO   A   BALANCE 
OF  FORCES— Duration  and  Indestructibility 
of  Matter. — All  that  we  know  of  matter  is  in- 
separably connected  with  the  forces  which  it 
exerts,  or  which  it  is  capable  of  exerting,  or 
which  are  being  exerted  in  it.     The  force  of 
gravitation  seems  to  be  all-pervading,  and  to 
be  either  an  inherent  power  or  property  in 
every   kind,   or   almost  every  kind  of   mat- 
ter, or  else  to  be  the  result  of  some  kind 
of  energy  which  is  universal  and  unquench- 
able.    All  bodies,  however  passive  and  inert 
they  may  seem  to  be  under  certain  condi- 
tions, yet   indicate   by  their  very  existence 
the  power  of  those  molecular  forces  to  which 
the   cohesion   of   their    atoms    is   due.      The 
fact  is  now  familiar  to  us  that  the  most 


585 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


gespiration 
esults 


perfect  stillness,  and  apparent  rest,  in  many 
forms  of  matter  is  but  the  result  of  a  bal- 
ance or  equilibrium  maintained  between 
forces  of  the  most  tremendous  energy,  which 
are  ready  to  burst  forth  at  a  moment's  no- 
tice, whe*n  the  conditions  are  changed  under 
which  that  balance  is  maintained.  And  this 
principle,  which  has  become  familiar  in  the 
case  of  what  are  called  explosive  substances, 
because  of  the  ease  and  the  certainty  with 
which  the  balanced  forces  can  be  liberated, 
is  a  principle  which  really  prevails  in  the 
composition  of  all  material  substances  what- 
ever, the  only  difference  being  that  the  ener- 
gies by  which  their  molecules  are  held  to- 
gether are  so  held  under  conditions  which 
are  more  stable — conditions  which  it  is 
much  more  difficult  to  change — and  condi- 
tions, therefore,  which  conceal  from  us  the 
universal  prevalence  and  power  of  force  in 
the  constitution  of  the  material  universe. 
It  is,  therefore,  distinctly  the  tendency  of 
science  more  and  more  to  impress  us  with 
the  idea  of  the  unlimited  duration  and  in- 
destructible nature  both  of  matter  and  of 
the  energies  which  work  in  it  and  upon 
it. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  80. 
(Burt.) 

2891.  REST,    UNREAL—  Parasitism 
Not   Christian. — Whatever  rest  is   provided 
by  Christianity  for  the  children  of  God,  it  is 
certainly  never  contemplated  that  it  should 
supersede    personal    effort.      And    any    rest 
which  ministers  to  indifference  is  immoral 
and    unreal  —  it   makes   parasites    and   not 
men. — DBUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spir- 
itual World,  essay  9,  p.  301.     (H.  Al.) 

2892.  RESULT,   CpMBINATION  TO 

SECURE — Force  of  Association  in  Memory — 
All  Circumstances  Must  Converge  upon  Hid- 
den Thought. — The  writer  of  these  pages 
has  every  year  to  learn  the  names  of  a 
large  number  of  students  who  sit  in  alpha- 
betical order  in  a  lecture-room.  He  finally 
learns  to  call  them  by  name  as  they  sit  in 
their  accustomed  places.  On  meeting  one 
in  the  street,  however,  early  in  the  year,  the 
face  hardly  ever  recalls  the  name,  but  it 
may  recall  the  place  of  its  owner  in  the 
lecture-room,  his  neighbors'  faces,  and  con- 
sequently his  general  alphabetical  position; 
and  then,  usually,  as  the  common  associate 
of  all  these  combined  data,  the  student's 
name  surges  up  in  his  mind.  A  father 
wishes  to  show  to  some  guests  the  progress 
of  his  rather  dull  child  in  kindergarten  in- 
struction. Holding  the  knife  upright  on 
the  table,  he  says,  "  What  do  you  call  that, 
my  boy?"  "I  calls  it  a  knife,  I  does,"  is 
the  sturdy  reply,  from  which  the  child 
cannot  be  induced  to  swerve  by  any  altera- 
tion in  the  form  of  question,  until  the 
father  recollecting  that  in  the  kindergarten 
a  pencil  was  used,  and  not  a  knife,  draws  a 
long  one  from  his  pocket,  holds  it  in  the 
same  way,  and  then  gets  the  wished-for  an- 
swer, "  I^calls  it  vertical."  All  the  concomi- 
tants of  the  kindergarten  experience  had  to 


recombine  their  effect  before  the  word  "  ver- 
tical"  could  be  reawakened. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  14,  p.  568.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2893.  RESULT,  VAST,  FROM  SMALL 
EXPERIMENTS— Soda  from  Sea-salt.— As  a 
single  example  out  of  a  thousand,  take  the 
manufacture  of  carbonate  of  soda  from  sea- 
salt,  more  than  200,000  tons  of  which,  of 
the  value  of  two  millions"  sterling,  are  an- 
nually made  in  the  alkali  works  of  Great 
Britain.      The   salt    is    first   converted    into 
sulfate   of   soda  by   the   action   of   sulfuric, 
acid;  the  sulfate  of  soda  is  then  converted 
into  carbonate  of  soda  by  being  heated  with 
chalk    and    carbon.      This    important    sub- 
stance was  formerly  manufactured  from  ba- 
rilla, and  the  interesting  chemical  process 
now  employed  on   so  gigantic  a   scale  was 
the  result  of  an  experiment  with  substances 
heated  in  an  evaporating-dish  by  means  of 
a  spirit-lamp. — LOWE  Nature-Studies,  p.   1. 
(Hum.,  1888.J 

2894.  RESULTS    ATTAINED,    DUE 
APPRECIATION    OF— It  is  true  that  our 
plummet  is  not  long  enough  to  measure  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  but  that  is  no  reason  why 
it  should  lose  value  for  us;   if  it  helps  us 
for  the  time  being  to  avoid  the  rocks  and 
the  sand-banks,  that  service  is  great  enough. 
— LIEBIG  Vorrede  zur  Thierchemie.     (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.} 

2895.  RESULTS, NATURAL  TO  SEEK 

— Return  Impression  Completes  Cycle  of  Ac- 
tivity.— It  would  seem  only  natural  to  say 
that,  since  after  acting  we  normally  get 
some  return  impression  of  result,  it  must 
be  well  to  let  the  pupil  get  such  a  return 
impression  in  every  possible  case.  Never- 
theless, in  schools  where  examination  marks 
and  "  standing "  and  other  returns  of  re- 
sult are  concealed,  the  pupil  is  frustrated 
of  this  natural  termination  of  the  cycle  of 
his  activities,  and  often  suffers  from  the 
sense  of  incompleteness  and  uncertainty; 
and  there  are  persons  who  defend  this  sys- 
tem as  encouraging  the  pupil  to  work  for 
the  work's  sake,  and  not  for  extraneous  re- 
ward. Of  course,  here,  as  elsewhere,  con- 
crete experience  must  prevail  over  psycho- 
logical deduction.  But,  so  far  as  our  psy- 
chological deduction  goes,  it  would  suggest 
that  the  pupil's  eagerness  to  know  how  well 
he  does  is  in  the  line  of  his  normal  com- 
pleteness of  function,  and  should  never  be 
balked  except  for  very  definite  reasons  in- 
deed.— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  5,  p. 
37.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2896.  RESULTS  NOT  ACCOUNTED 

FOR — Structure  of  Organic  Beings  Not  Ex- 
plained by  External  Conditions. — It  is  pre- 
posterous to  attribute  to  mere  external  con- 
ditions the  structure,  for  instance,  of  the 
woodpecker,  with  its  feet,  tail,  beak,  and 
tongue  so  admirably  adapted  to  catch  in- 
sects under  the  bark  of  trees.  In  the  case 
of  the  mistletoe,  which  draws  its  nourish- 


Results. 
Revelations 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


586 


merit  from  certain  trees,  which  has  seeds 
that  must  be  transported  by  certain  birds, 
and  which  has  flowers  with  separate  sexes 
absolutely  requiring  the  agency  of  certain 
insects  to  bring  pollen  from  one  flower 
to  the  other,  it  is  equally  preposterous  to 
account  for  the  structure  of  this  parasite, 
with  its  relations  to  several  distinct  organic 
beings,  by  the  effects  of  external  conditions, 
or  of  habit,  or  of  the  volition  of  the  plant 
itself. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  int.,  p.  3. 
(Burt.) 

2897.  RESULTS   OF   DISTANT 

CAUSES—  Coal  Deposits.— We  find  in  certain 
localities  subterranean  deposits  of  coal,  con- 
sisting of  vegetable  matter,  formerly  drifted 
into  seas  and  lakes.  These  seas  and  lakes 
have  since  been  filled  up,  the  lands  where- 
on the  forests  grew  have  disappeared  or 
changed  their  form,  the  rivers  and  currents 
which  floated  the  vegetable  masses  can  no 
longer  be  traced,  and  the  plants  belonged 
to  species  which  for  ages  have  passed 
away  from  the  surface  of  our  planet.  Yet 
the  commercial  prosperity  and  numerical 
strength  of  a  nation  may  now  be  mainly 
dependent  on  the  local  distribution  of  fuel 
determined  by  that  ancient  state  of  things. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  ch.  1,  p.  2. 
(A.,  1854.) 

2898.  RESULTS    OUTREACHING 
NARROW     LIMITS—  The  Mediterranean  in 
History — True  Conception  of  Plato. — Plato, 
in  his  *'  Phaedo,"  describes  the  narrow  limits 
of  the  Mediterranean  in  a  manner  that  ac- 
cords with  the  spirit  of  enlarged  cosmical 
views.  "  We,  who  inhabit  the  region  extending 
from  Phasis  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  occupy 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  earth,"  he  writes, 
"  where  we  have  settled  ourselves  round  the 
inner  sea  like  ants  or  frogs  round  a  swamp." 
This  narrow  basin,  on  the  borders  of  which 
Egyptian,   Phenician,   and   Hellenic  nations 
flourished  and  attained  to  a  high  degree  of 
civilization,    is    the   point    from    which    the 
most  important  historical  events  have  pro- 
ceeded, no  less  than  the  colonization  of  vast 
territories   in   Africa    and   Asia,   and   those 
maritime  expeditions  which  have  led  to  the 
discovery  of  the  whole  western  hemisphere 
of  the  globe. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt. 
ii,  p.   119.      (H.,  1897.) 

2899.  RESULTS,  SECONDARY,  MOST 
PERNICIOUS  —  Bacteria  Poison   by    Their 
Products — Toxins — Ptomaines.  —  From     the 
careful  study  of  a  number  of  epidemics  due 
to  food  poisoning,  this  patient  observer  [Dr. 
Ballard]  was  able,  without  the  aid  of  mod- 
ern bacteriology,  to  arrive  at  a  simple  prin- 
ciple  which   must  not  be   forgotten.      Food 
poisoning   is   due   either   to  bacteria   them- 
selves or  to  their  products,  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  substance  of  the  food.   In  cases 
of  the  first  kind,  bacteria  gaining  entrance 
to  the  human  alimentary  canal,  set  up  their 
specific   changes   and   produce   their   toxins, 
and  by   «o   doing   in    course  of   time  bring 


about  a  diseased  condition,  with  its  conse- 
quent symptoms.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
products,  sometimes  called  ptomaines,  are 
ingested  as  such,  the  symptoms  set  up  by 
their  action  in  the  body  tissues  appear  ear- 
lier. From  these  facts  Dr.  Ballard  deduced 
the  simple  principle  that  if  there  is  no  in- 
cubation period,  or  at  all  events  a  compara- 
tively short  space  of  time  between  eating 
the  poisoned  food  and  the  advent  of  disease, 
the  agents  of  the  disease  are  products  of 
bacteria.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  an 
incubation  period,  the  agents  are  probably 
bacteria. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  176. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

29OO.  RESULTS  UNINTENDED— 

Bradley  —  Herschel  —  Fraunhofer — Colum- 
bus.— This  method  of  measuring  the  distance 
of  the  stars  by  the  effect  of  perspective  due 
to  the  annual  displacement  of  the  earth  had 
already  been  divined  by  the  astronomers  of 
the  last  century,  and  in  particular  by  Brad- 
ley, who,  in  attempting  to  measure  the  dis- 
tance of  the  stars  by  observations  made  at 
intervals  of  six  months,  found  another  thing. 
Instead  of  discovering  the  distance  of  the 
stars,  which  was  the  object  of  his  obser- 
vations, he  discovered  a  very  important  op- 
tical phenomenon — the  aberration  of  light, 
an  effect  produced  by  the  combination  of 
the  velocity  of  light  with  the  earth's  motion 
in  space.  His  case  was  similar  to  that  of 
William  Herschel,  who,  in  searching  for  the 
parallax  of  stars  by  comparisons  between 
bright  stars  and  their  near  companions, 
found  the  double-star  systems;  or,  like 
Fraunhofer,  who,  in  seeking  the  limits  of 
the  colors  of  the  solar  spectrum,  found  the 
rays  of  absorption,  the  study  of  which 
founded  spectrum  analysis.  The  history  of 
the  sciences  shows  us  that  discoveries  have 
very  often  been  made  by  researches  which 
are  only  indirectly  related  to  them.  In  at- 
tempting to  reach  by  the  west  the  eastern 
frontiers  of  Asia,  Christopher  Columbus  dis- 
covered the  New  World.  He  might  not  have 
discovered  it,  and  he  might  not  have  looked 
for  it,  if  he  had  known  the  true  distance 
from  Portugal  to  Kamchatka. — FLAMMARI- 
ON  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  5,  p.  594. 
(A.) 

29O1. Descartes  Support- 
ing Materialism — Animals  as  Automata — 
Why  Not  Man  the  Same? — When  Descartes 
denied  mind  to  animals,  on  the  ground  that 
the  essence  of  mind  consists  in  thought,  and 
man  is  the  only  thinking  being,  he  could 
have  little  imagined  that  this  proposition 
would  do  as  much  as  the  strictly  mechanical 
views  which  he  represented  in  natural  phi- 
losophy to  further  the  doctrines  which  are 
the  direct  opposite  of  the  spiritualism  which 
he  taught — the  doctrines  of  modern  mate- 
rialism. If  animals  are  natural  automata, 
and  if  all  the  phenomena  which  general 
belief  refers  to  sensation,  feeling,  and  will 
are  the  result  of  purely  mechanical  condi- 
tions, why  should  not  the  same  explana- 


587 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Results 


evelations 


tion  hold  of  man  ?  .  This  was  the  obvious 
inference  which  the  materialism  of  the  sev- 
enteenth and  eighteenth  centuries  drew  from 
Descartes's  principles. — WUNDT  Psychology, 
lect.  1,  p.  5.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

29O2. Indefatigable  Pa- 
tience Rewarded — Quest  in  One  Line  Leads 
to  Discovery  of  a  Different  Kind. — Indeed, 
Schwabe  himself  was  far  from  anticipating 
the  discovery  which  fell  to  his  share.  He 
compared  his  fortune  to  that  of  Saul,  who, 
seeking  his  father's  asses,  found  a  kingdom. 
For  the  hope  which  inspired  his  early  reso- 
lution lay  in  quite  another  direction.  His 
patient  ambush  was  laid  for  a  possible  in- 
tramercurial  planet,  which,  he  thought,  must 
sooner  or  later  betray  its  existence  in  cross- 
ing the  face  of  the  sun.  He  took,  however, 
the  most  effectual  measures  to  secure  what- 
ever new  knowledge  might  be  accessible. 
During  forty-three  years  his  "  imperturbable 
telescope  "  never  failed  ( weather  and  health 
permitting)  to  bring  in  its  daily  report  as 
to  how  many,  or  if  any,  spots  were  visible 
on  the  sun's  disk,  the  information  obtained 
being  day  by  day  recorded  on  a  simple  and 
unvarying  system.  In  1843  he  made  his 
first  announcement  of  a  probable  decennial 
period  [of  sun-spots]. — CLERKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  156.  (BL,  1893.) 

29O3. Machinery  Improv- 
ing Weeds — Difficulty  of  Cleansing  Wheat 
Increased. — L.  H.  Dewey,  in  the  Year-book 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the 
year  1896,  p.  276,  says:  "Cockle-seeds  are 
normally  somewhat  smaller  than  wheat- 
grains.  In  some  parts  of  the  Northwest, 
where  wheat  for  sowing  has  been  cleaned 
year  after  year  by  steam  thrashers,  all  the 
cockle-seeds  except  the  largest  ones  have 
been  removed,  and  these  have  been  sown  un- 
til a  large-seeded  strain  has  been  bred  which 
is  very  difficult  to  separate  from  the  wheat." 
— BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  8,  p.  81.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

29O4.  RESULTS,  UNNOTICED,  OF 
QUIET,  PERSISTENT  ACTION—  Thermal 
Springs  Bring  Material  from  Depths  of  the 
Earth. — Nor  are  thermal  springs  by  any 
means  ineffective  agents  in  bringing  ma- 
terial from  the  interior  of  the  earth's  crust 
and  depositing  it  at  the  surface.  The  Bath 
spring  contains  various  saline  substances, 
principally  sulfates  and  chlorids,  in  solu- 
tion in  its  waters.  These  are  quietly  car- 
ried by  rivers  to  the  sea,  and  are  lost  to 
our  view.  The  spring  has  certainly  main- 
tained its  present  condition  since  the  time 
of  the  Romans,  and  I  find  that  if  the  solid 
materials  brought  from  the  interior  of  the 
earth  during  the  last  2,000  years  had  been 
collected  they  would  form  a  solid  cone  equal 
in  height  to  Monte  Nuovo.  Yet  we  usually 
regard  the  Campi  Phlegrsei  as  a  powerfully 
active  volcanic  district,  and  the  subterra- 
nean action  in  our  own  country  as  quite 
unworthy  of  notice. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  8, 
p.  219.  (A.,  1899.) 


2905.  REVELATION  ALLOWS  ROOM 

FOR  NATURAL  LAW— "The  Dust  of  the 
Ground."— But  what  of  revelation  ?  Are  its 
history  and  doctrines  incompatible  with  the 
belief  that  God  uniformly  acts  through  the 
use  of  means?  The  narrative  of  creation 
is  given  to  us  in  abstract  only,  and  is  told 
in  two  different  forms,  both  having  appar- 
ently for  their  main,  perhaps  their  exclusive, 
object  the  presenting  to  our  conception  the 
personal  agency  of  a  living  God.  Yet  this 
narrative  indicates,  however  slightly,  that 
room  is  left  for  the  idea  of  a  material  proc- 
ess. "  Out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground  " — 
that  is,  out  of  the  ordinary  elements  of  Na- 
ture— was  that  body  formed  which  is  still  up- 
held and  perpetuated  by  organic  forces  act- 
ing under  the  rules  of  law.  Nothing  which 
science  has  discovered  or  can  discover  is 
capable  of  traversing  that  simple  narrative. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  16. 
(Burt.) 

2906.  REVELATION   OF   GOD    IN 
NATURE— It  is  a  noble  object  that  invites 
us  to  these  annual  gatherings.    Leaving  the 
broils  of  the  world  to  others,  we  come  to 
contemplate  together  the  teachings  of  God 
in   Nature.     We  come  with   faith   in    that 
word  which  is  written   around  and  within 
us,  believing  in  the  truthfulness  of  the  reve- 
lation, and  knowing  that  he  who  approaches 
it  with  an  inquiring,  teachable  spirit,  ever 
wakeful  to  the  still,  small  voice,  and  forget- 
ful of  ambitious  self,  shall  find  the  truth, 
and  feel  its  benign  influence.     We  aim  to 
decipher  some  new  words  in  the  volume  of 
Nature,  that  we  may  learn  the  will  of  Him 
who  has  ordered  all  things  well,  and  compre- 
hend more  fully  his  laws  in  the  government 
of   the  universe. — DANA  Address  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Association  for  1854  (Proceed- 
ings of  the  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  1855,  vol.  ix,  p.  1 ) . 

2907.  REVELATION   OF   THE  UN- 
KNOWN— Depths  of  Sea   Till  Lately   Unex- 
plored.— The  bottom  of  the  deep  sea  was  un- 
til quite  recently  one  of  the  terra?  incogni- 
tcB.    It  was  regarded  by  most  persons,  when 
it  entered  into  their  minds  to  consider  it 
at  all,  as  one  of  those  regions  about  which 
we  do  not  know  anything,  never  shall  know 
anything,   and  do  not  want  to  know  any- 
thing.— HICKSON   Fauna  of   the  Deep   Sea, 
pref.,  p.  7.     (A.,  1894.) 

2908.  REVELATIONS  OF  THE  SPEC- 
TROSCOPE— Stars  Proved  To  Be  Suns— Min- 
erals  Found    in    the    Stars — Unity    of    the 
Universe — Stars     and     Nebula?     Discrimi- 
nated.— The  immediate  effect  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  spectroscope  to  the  stars  was 
very   striking.     The  supposition   that  they 
were   suns   became   a   certainty,   since   they 
gave  spectra  similar  in  character  and  often 
very   closely   resembling   in   detail   that   of 
our  sun.     Aldebaran  is  one  of  the  most  sun- 
like  stars,  being  yellow  in  color   and  pos- 
sessing  lines    which    indicate   most    of   the 
elements   found  in  the   sun.     White   stars, 


Revelations 
Reversion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


588 


such  as  Sirius  and  Vega,  show  hydrogen 
lines  only;  and  these  are  supposed  to  be 
hotter  than  our  sun,  and  in  an  earlier  stage 
of  development,  while  red  stars  are  sup- 
posed to  be  cooling.  Other  explanations  of 
these  facts  have,  however,  been  suggested. 
Much  information  has  also  been  obtained 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  nebulae.  Sir  Will- 
iam Herschel  supposed  that  they  were  all 
really  star-clusters,  but  so  enormously  re- 
mote that  even  the  most  powerful  tele- 
scopes could  not  render  visible  the  stars 
composing  them.  Later  observations  have 
shown  that  many  of  them  do  consist  of 
stars,  or  star-dust,  as  it  has  been  called; 
and  this  seemed  to  support  the  theory  that 
all  were  so  composed,  including  the  Milky 
Way.  A  study  of  the  distribution  of  stars 
and  nebulae  by  Proctor  and  others  led,  how- 
ever, to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  often 
really  connected,  and  that  nebulae  were  not, 
on  the  average,  more  distant  than  stars; 
and  this  view  has  been  confirmed  by  the 
spectroscope,  which  has  shown  them  often 
to  consist  of  glowing  gas;  and  this  is 
especially  the  characteristic  of  all  those 
situated  in  or  near  the  Milky  Way.  The 
first  great  result  of  spectrum  analysis  has 
thus  been  to  demonstrate  the  real  nature  of 
many  stars  and  nebulae,  to  determine  some 
of  the  elements  of  which  they  are  formed, 
and  to  give  us  some  indications  of  the 
changes  they  have  undergone,  and  thus 
help  us  toward  a  general  theory  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  stellar  universe. — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  6,  p.  43. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

29O9.  REVELATIONS  OF  THE  TEL- 
ESCOPE FRAGMENTARY— Each  View  but 
of  a  Narrow  Field — A  Human  Eye  with 
Telescopic  Power  Could  Get  the  Perspective 
of  the  Heavens — Science  Seeks  to  Present 
Such  a  Scene  to  the  Mind's  Eye.  —  If 
the  human  eye  could  suddenly  obtain  the 
power  of  telescopic  vision,  those  wealths  of 
star-strewing  which  it  is  the  province  of 
star-gaging  to  measure  would  be  revealed 
to  our  view,  not  piecemeal,  as  under  tele- 
scopic scrutiny,  but  at  once  as  in  a  grand 
celestial  panorama.  Those  varieties  of  dis- 
tribution to  which  Herschel  applied  his 
resolution  test  would  be  clearly  recognized. 
Here  the  stars  would  be  seen  spread  richly 
over  a  region  of  the  heavens,  but  clearly 
separated  from  each  other;  elsewhere 
would  be  regions  where  the  stars  would 
more  closely  cluster,  tho  still  separately 
discernible;  but  in  parts  of  the  heavens 
veritable  star-clouds  would  be  seen,  regions 
where  the  stars  gather  so  closely  together 
that  even  the  enhanced  powers  of  vision  I 
have  imagined — nay,  tho  the  power  of  the 
Rosse  telescope  had  been  acquired  by  man 
— would  fail  to  show  discrete  stars,  the  sky 
in  those  parts  being  aglow  with  condensed 
starlight,  on  which,  as  on  a  splendid  back- 
ground, brighter  stars  would  be  seen  spread 
with  inconceivable  richness. 


Such  a  scene  might  not  be  intelligible  at 
a  first  view;  it  might  even  baffle  all  at- 
tempts at  interpretation,  all  efforts  to 
estimate  the  relative  distances  and  propor- 
tions of  its  several  parts.  But  our  only 
path  to  the  solution  of  the  noblest  problem 
in  science  is  by  presenting  to  the  mind's  eye 
such  a  picture  of  the  great  star- strewn 
sphere  which  surrounds  us  on  all  sides; 
when  that  has  been  done  we  shall  begin  to 
know  whether  the  great  problem  is  alto- 
gether beyond  our  mastery. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  pp.  262-3.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

2910.  REVERENCE  FOR  ANTIQUITY 

— Decline  of,  under  Modern  Civilization. — 
The  whole  country  [of  Denmark]  appears 
to  have  been,  at  one  time,  thickly  studded 
with  tumuli;  where  the  land  has  not  been 
brought  into  cultivation,  many  of  them  are 
often  in  sight  at  once,  and  even  in  the  more 
fertile  and  thickly  populated  parts  the 
plow  is  often  diverted  from  its  course  by 
one  of  these  ancient  burial-places.  Fortu- 
nately, the  stones  of  which  they  are  con- 
structed are  so  large  and  so  hard  that 
their  destruction  and  removal  is  a  labori- 
ous and  expensive  undertaking.  While, 
however,  on  the  one  hand,  land  grows 
gradually  more  valuable,  and  the  stones 
themselves  are  more  and  more  coveted  for 
building  or  other  purposes;  on  the  other, 
the  conservative  traditions,  the  feeling  of 
superstitious  reverence  for  the  dead,  which 
have  so  long  protected  them  from  desecra- 
tion, is  gradually  becoming  weaker;  and 
it  is  estimated  that  not  a  day  passes  with- 
out witnessing  the  destruction  of  one  or 
more  of  these  tumuli,  and  the  loss  of  some, 
perhaps  almost  irrecoverable,  link  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race. — AVEBURY  Pre- 
historic Times,  ch.  7,  p.  213.  (A.,  1900.) 

2911.  REVERENCE  GROWS  WITH 
KNOWLEDGE    OF    NATURE  —  Sublimity 
Not    the   Product    of   Ignorance. — The    fear 
[is]   entertained  by  some  persons  that  Na- 
ture may  by  degrees  lose  a  portion  of  the 
charm  and  magic  of  her  power  as  we  learn 
more  and  more  how  to  unveil  her  secrets. 
.     .     .     It  is  true  that,  properly  speaking, 
the   forces   of  Nature   can   only   exercise   a 
magical  power  over  us  as  long  as  their  ac- 
tion is  shrouded  in  mystery  and  darkness, 
and  does  not  admit  of  being  classed  among 
the   conditions   with    which    experience   has 
made  us  acquainted.     The  effect  of  such  a 
power  is,  therefore,  to  excite  the  imagina- 
tion, but  that,  assuredly,  is  not  the  faculty 
of  mind  we  would  evoke  to  preside  over  the 
laborious     and     elaborate    observations     by 
which  we  strive  to  attain  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  greatness  and  excellence  of  the  laws 
of  the  universe.     The  physical  philosopher 
measures     with     admirable     sagacity     the 
waves  of  light  of  unequal  length  which  by 
interference  mutually  strengthen  or  destroy 
each    other,    even    with    respect    to    their 


589 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Levelations 
Reversion 


chemical  actions;  the  astronomer,  armed 
with  powerful  telescopes,  penetrates  the  re- 
gions of  space,  contemplates,  on  the  extre- 
mest  confines  of  our  solar  system,  the  satel- 
lites of  Uranus,  or  decomposes  faintly 
sparkling  points  into  double  stars  differing 
in  color.  The  botanist  discovers  the  con- 
stancy of  the  gyratory  motion  of  the  chara 
in  the  greater  number  of  vegetable  cells, 
and  recognizes  in  the  genera  and  natural 
families  of  plants  the  intimate  relations  of 
organic  forms.  The  vault  of  heaven,  stud- 
ded with  nebula  and  stars,  and  the  rich 
vegetable  mantle  that  covers  the  soil  in  the 
climate  of  palms,  cannot  surely  fail  to  pro- 
duce on  the  minds  of  these  laborious  ob- 
servers of  Nature  an  impression  more  im- 
posing and  more  worthy  of  the  majesty  of 
creation  than  on  those  who  are  unaccus- 
tomed to  investigate  the  great  mutual  rela- 
tions of  phenomena.  I  cannot,  therefore, 
agree  with  Burke  when  he  says,  "  it  is  our 
ignorance  of  natural  things  that  causes  all 
our  admiration,  and  chiefly  excites  our  pas- 
sions."— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p. 
39.  (H.,  1897.) 

2912.  REVERSAL  OF  GENERAL 

RULE — Snow-line  Highest  on  Northern  Slope 
of  Himalayas — Monsoons  Pile  Waters  of 
Indian  Ocean  on  the  Southern  Side  of  the 
Mountains. — Since  the  time  of  Humboldt 
attention  has  frequently  been  drawn  to  the 
fact  that  in  those  mountains  [the  Hima- 
layas] the  snow-line  is  higher  on  the  north 
or  colder  side  than  on  the  southern  and 
therefore  warmer  slopes.  The  amount  of 
the  difference  has  been  variously  estimated 
by  various  observers,  but  there  appears  to 
be  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  the  relative 
difference  is  as  stated,  not  the  reverse. 
And  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  it 
should  be  so.  The  southern  slopes,  tho  the 
warmer,  are  exposed  to  the  moisture-laden 
monsoons  which  blow  from  the  south  dur- 
ing half  the  year  in  India,  and  at  a  certain 
elevation  this  moisture  is  precipitated  in 
the  form  of  snow.  The  northern  slopes,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  swept  only  by  the  com- 
paratively dry  winds  that  have  crossed  the 
interior  of  Asia,  and  hence  the  accumula- 
tions of  snow  in  the  course  of  the  year  are 
immensely  greater  on  the  south  side  than 
on  the  north.  On  the  former  side  the  power 
of  the  sun  on  the  Himalayas,  just  as  on 
the  Alps,  is  greater  in  causing  the  snow  to 
disappear,  but  as  there  is  much  more  snow 
on  that  side  to  be  removed  in  the  intervals 
between  the  deposition  of  fresh  snow,  the 
line  up  to  which  its  total  disappearance 
can  be  effected  is  lower  there  than  on  the 
north. — CHISHOLM  Nature-Studies,  p.  34. 
(Hum.,  1888.) 

2913.  REVERSION    IN     AGE    TO 
FAULTS  OF  YOUTH—  Deep  Meaning  of  Sec- 
ond   Childhood — Importance    of    Early    Im- 
pressions.— The  science  of   statistics   shows 
that  certain   crimes   which   are  common  in 
the   seasons   of  youth   disappear,   compara- 


tively, with  advancing  age,  and  reappear 
again  toward  the  close  of  life;  or,  in  other 
words,  that  the  tendencies  to  indulgences  in 
disorders  of  imagination,  and  habits  which 
were  acquired  in  the  early  life  of  a  vicious 
youth,  or  one  exposed  to  evil  associations, 
tho  they  may  be  masked  and  kept  in  sub- 
jection by  the  judgment  and  the  influences 
of  position  and  reputation  during  early 
manhood,  middle  life,  and-J&rst  decline,  re- 
sume their  sway  and  close  the  career  of  the 
man  who  has  perhaps  for  years  sustained  a 
spotless  reputation — with  ignominy  and 
shame.  How  frequently  do  cases  of  this 
kind  present  themselves !  I  have  now  in 
my  mind's  eye  an  individual  who  for  forty 
years  was  known  and  esteemed  as  a  model 
of  honor,  purity,  and  integrity,  but  who  at 
the  age  of  seventy  committed  a  crime 
which  consigned  his  name  to  infamy.  De- 
pend upon  it,  this  man  was  subjected  to 
evil  influences  in  early  life,  and  the  im- 
pressions then  made,  tho  neutralized  by  the 
conditions  and  circumstances  which  after- 
wards surrounded  him,  were  never  effaced, 
and,  when  the  latter  ceased  to  produce  their 
restraining  effects,  the  former  resumed 
their  original  sway.  Pursuing  this  train 
of  thought  we  would  conclude  that  the  child 
is  not  merely  the  father  of  the  man,  but, 
more  emphatically,  the  father  of  the  old 
man ;  that  the  term  "  second  childhood " 
has  a  more  extended  signification  than  that 
of  the  mere  decline  of  the  faculties.  It  also 
should  convey  the  idea  that  the  tendency 
of  the  dispositions  and  propensities  of  in- 
dividuals is  to  return  to  the  condition  of 
earlier  life. — HENRY  Thoughts  on  Educa- 
tion (Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  341). 
(Sm.  Inst.,  188G.) 

2914.  REVERSION  TO  ANCESTRAL 
FORMS—  Enduring  Power  of  Type—  The  Stripe 
in  Horses. — By  the  term  "  reversion "  or 
"  atavism  "  we  understand  the  remarkable 
fact  known  to  all  breeders  of  animals,  that 
occasionally  single  and  individual  animals 
assume  a  form  which  has  not  existed  for 
many  generations,  but  belongs  to  a  genera- 
tion which  has  long  since  disappeared.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  this 
kind  is  the  fact  that  in  some  horses  there 
sometimes  appear  singular  dark  stripes, 
similar  to  those  of  the  zebra,  quagga,  and 
other  wild  species  of  African  horses.  Do- 
mestic horses  of  the  most  different  races 
and  of  all  colors  sometimes  show  such  dark 
stripes;  for  example,  a  stripe  along  the 
back,  a  stripe  across  the  shoulders,  and  the 
like.  The  sudden  appearance  of  these 
stripes  can  only  be  explained  by  the  suppo- 
sition that  it  is  the  effect  of  a  latent  trans- 
mission, a  relapse  into  the  ancient  original 
form,  which  has  long  since  vanished,  and 
was  once  common  to  all  species  of  horses; 
the  original  form,  undoubtedly,  was  orig- 
inally striped  like  the  zebras,  quaggas,  etc. 
— HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch. 
9,  p.  214.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


Revolution 
Rivers 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


590 


2915.  REVOLUTION    IN    ASTRON- 
OMY— New  Centering  of  the  Solar  System  by 
Copernicus. — The  fundamental  views  of  Co- 
pernicus  have   indicated   to   theoretical   as- 
tronomy paths  which  could  not  fail  to  lead 
to  sure  results.    .    .    .    "  By  no  other   ar- 
rangement,"  he  exclaims  with   enthusiasm, 
"  have    I    been    able    to    find    so    admirable 
a   symmetry   of   the  universe,   and   so  har- 
monious a  connection  of  orbits,  as  by  pla- 
cing   the    lamp    of    the    world     (lucernam 
mundi),  the  Sun,  in  the  midst  of  the  beau- 
tiful   temple    of    Nature    as    on    a    kingly 
throne,  ruling  the  whole  family  of  circling 
stars  that  revolve  around  him  (circumagen- 
tem  gubernans  astrorum  familiam)."     Even 
the  idea  of  universal  gravitation  or  attrac- 
tion (appetentia  qucedam  naturalis  partibus 
indita)  toward  the  sun  as  the  center  of  the 
world    (centrum  mundi),   and  which  is   in- 
ferred from  the  force  of  gravity  in  spher- 
ical bodies,  seems  to  have  hovered  before  the 
mind  of  this  great  man,  as  is  proved  by  a 
remarkable   passage  in  the   9th   chapter   of 
the   1st  book    [of]    "  De  Revolutionibus."- 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.   ii,  pp.   305, 
308.     (H.,  1897.) 

2916.  REWARDS    OF    EARLY    IN- 
VENTORS— The  First  Patent.— The  earliest 
invention  was  a  single  homogeneous  act,  an 
original  suggestion,  a  happy  thought.     The 
patent  on  this  was  an  immediate  and  indi- 
vidual benefit.     A  sharper  knife  of  flint,  a 
better    scraper,    a   longer    spear,    a    stouter 
thread  wrought  better,  and  the  reward  was 
more  execution.     Now,  the  man  who  made 
the    best    weapons    killed    the    most    game, 
from   that   game   he   got  better    food,    that 
food    made    him    stronger,    that    strength 
made  him  chief,  that  chieftaincy  gave  him 
more  wives,  more  children,  more  cohorts  to 
support   his    throne.      The  best   woman   to 
cook   or   sew  or   carry   loads    got   the  best 
husband;    that  was  her  patent.     From  these 
simple   methods   of   inventing   and   reward- 
ing invention  we  come  on  to  the  Olympic 
games,  the  monopolies,  the  patent  system. 
And   now,   in   the  inventor's   laboratory   of 
Graham    Bell    or    Edison    the    climax    is 
reached,    where    one    machine    is    the    co- 
operative result  of  any  number  of  trained 
minds,  and  the  reward  is  meted  out  to  each 
by  the  manufacturer. — MASON  The  Birth  of 
Invention  (Address  at  Centenary  of  Ameri- 
can Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891 ; 
Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  411). 

2917.  RHYTHM     OF    THOUGHT 
LIKE  PERIODS  OF  LANGUAGE— Intervals 
between    Sentences    Full    of    Meaning. — As 
we  take,  in  fact,  a  general  view  of  the  won- 
derful   stream    of   our    consciousness,    what 
strikes  us  first  is  this  different  pace  of  its 
parts.     Like    a   bird's   life,    it   seems   to   be 
made  of  an  alternation  of  nights  and  perch- 
ings.      The   rhythm    of    language    expresses 
this,  where  every  thought  is  expressed  in  a 
sentence,    and    every    sentence   closed   by    a 
period.     The  resting-places  are  usually  oc- 


cupied by  sensorial  imaginations  of  some 
sort,  whose  peculiarity  is  that  they  can  be 
held  before  the  mind  for  an  indefinite  time, 
and  contemplated  without  changing;  the 
places  of  flight  are  filled  with  thoughts  of 
relations,  static  or  dynamic,  that  for  the 
most  part  obtain  between  the  matters  con- 
templated in  the  periods  of  comparative 
rest. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p. 
243.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2918.  RICHES  OF  CREATIVE  POW- 
ER INEXHAUSTIBLE—  Wonderfully  Varied 
Light  of  Colored  Suns. — The  colors  of  the 
double    stars,    then,    are    real,    so    that    if 
we  could  pay  a  visit  to  one  of  these  pairs 
we   should    find   colored   suns — red,   orange, 
and  yellow  ruling  suns,  and  green,  purple, 
or  blue  minor  suns,  or,  as  the  case  might 
be,  lilac,  puce,  mauve,  russet,  or  olive  suns 
of  the   smaller    sort.      Nor   must  we   think 
of    these    smaller    suns    as    really    small    in 
themselves.     It  is  only  by  comparison  with 
the  leading  orbs  of  unequal  pairs  that  the 
lesser    is    called    small.      In    reality    it    is 
probable   that  many   of  the  lesser   suns   of 
these  double  systems  are  very  much  larger 
than  all  the  planets  of  the  solar  system  to- 
gether.— PROCTOR    Expanse    of    Heaven,    p. 
222.    (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2919.  RICHES    OF    SCIENCE    NOT 
TO  BE  WASTED— Revelation  of  Nature  Must 
Help  Religion. — It  is   impossible  to  believe 
that  the  amazing  succession  of  revelations 
in   the  domain   of  Nature   during  the   last 
few  centuries,  at  which  the  world  has  all 
but   grown    tired    wondering,    are   to    yield 
nothing  for  the  higher  life.     If  the  develop- 
ment of  doctrine  is  to  have  any  meaning 
for   the   future,   theology  must  draw   upon 
the  further   revelation  of  the  seen  for   the 
further  revelation  of  the  unseen.     It  need, 
and  can,  add  nothing  to  fact;   but  as   the 
vision  of   Newton  rested  on  a  clearer  and 
richer  world  than  that  of  Plato,  so,  tho  see- 
ing the  same  things  in  the  spiritual  world 
as   our   fathers,   we   may   see   them   clearer 
and  richer.     With  the  work  of  the  centu- 
ries upon  it,  the  mental  eye  is  a  finer  instru- 
ment, and  demands  a  more  ordered  world. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  29.     (H.  Al.) 

2920.  RIDDLE  OF  ATTRACTION  OF 

AMBER— Dawning  Study  of  Electricity.— The 
sphinx  of  the  centuries  follows  the  flies 
and  the  reptiles  into  the  golden  recesses 
of  the  amber,  and  there  enthroned  poses 
once  more  the  nature  of  the  amber  soul 
as  a  new  riddle.  There  is  no  kinship  be- 
tween this  evanescent  energy  drawn  from 
these  yellow  depths  and  the  stolid  pull  of 
the  dull  stone,  no  similarity  between  the 
wayward  and  mastering  spirit  which  seizes 
upon  anything  within  its  strength  and  the 
unrelenting  tyranny  with  which  the  magnet 
enforces  servitude  only  upon  the  stubborn 
iron.  What,  then,  is  this  genius  which  is 
called  forth  by  the  friction  of  the  amber, 


591 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Revolution 
Rivers 


even  as  the  afrit  was  summoned  by  the 
rubbing  of  Aladdin's  lamp?  Thus  the  ques- 
tion first  asKed  twenty-two  hundred  years 
before  was  renewed,  and  now  impressed  with 
greater  urgency  than  ever  upon  the  newly 
awakened  human  intellect  [in  the  sixteenth 
century]. — PARK  BENJAMIN  Intellectual  Rise 
in  Electricity,  ch.  9,  p.  252.  (J.  W.,  1898.) 

2921.  RIGHT  WINS  ITS  OWN  CON- 
QUEST— Will  Has  Only  To  Hold  It  Steadily  at 
the  Front. — When  our  impulsive  feeling  is 
hot     .    .     .     it  is  hard  to  hold  the   right 
idea    steadily    enough    before   the   attention 
to  let  it  exert  its  adequate  effects.    Whether 
it  be  stimulative  or  inhibitive,  it  is  too  rea- 
sonable  for   us;    and   the   more   instinctive 
passional  propensity  then  tends  to  extrude 
it  from   our   consideration.      We  shy   away 
from  the  thought   of  it.     It  twinkles   and 
goes  out  the  moment  it  appears  in  the  mar- 
gin of  our  consciousness,  and  we  need  a  reso- 
lute effort  of  voluntary  attention  to  drag  it 
into  the  focus  of  the  field,  and  to  keep  it 
there   long  enough   for   its   associative   and 
motor  effects  to  be  exerted.     .     .     .     Once 
brought,  however,  in  this  way  to  the  center 
of  the  field  of  consciousness  and  held  there, 
the  reasonable  idea  will  exert  these  effects 
inevitably;    for  the  laws  of   connection  be- 
tween   our    consciousness   and   our   nervous 
system  provide  for  the  action  then  taking 
place.    Our  moral  effort,  properly  so  called, 
terminates   in  our  holding  fast  to  the   ap- 
propriate  idea. — JAMES   Talks  to   Teachers, 
ch.  15,  p.  186.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

2922.  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  ANCIENT 
LANDS— Forests  Submerged — New  Vegetation 
Succeeding   (Ps.  cvii,  33,  35). — In  some  of 
the  deeper  coal-beds  there  is  a  regular  alter- 
nation  between   layers   of   coal   and   layers 
of   sand   or   clay;    in   certain    localities    as 
many  as  ten,  twelve,  and  even  fifteen  coal- 
beds  have  been  found   alternating  with  as 
many  deposits  of  clay  or  mud  or  sand;  and 
in  some  instances,  where  the  trunks  of  the 
trees  are  hollow  and  have  been  left  stand- 
ing erect,  they  are  filled  to  the  brim,  or  to 
the  height  of  the  next  layer  of  deposits,  with 
the   materials    that   have   been    swept    over 
them.     Upon   this  set  of  deposits  comes  a 
new  bed  of  coal  with  the  remains  of  a  new 
forest,  and  above  this  again  a  layer  of  ma- 
terials left  by  a  second  freshet,  and  so  on 
through  a  number  of  alternate  strata.     It 
is  evident  from  these  facts  that  there  has 
been    a    succession    of    forests,    one    above 
another,  but  that  in  the  intervals  of  their 
growth   great   floods  have   poured   over  the 
marshes,   bringing  with   them   all   kinds   of 
loose  materials,  such  as  sand,  pebbles,  clay, 
mud,  lime,  etc.,  which,  as  the  freshets  sub- 
sided,   settled    down    over    the    coal,    filling 
not  only  the  spaces  between  such  trees  as 
remained    standing,    but    even    the    hollow 
trunks    of    the    trees    themselves. — AGASSIZ 
Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  84.    (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


2923.  RISE  IN  GRADE  OF  LIFE— 

Insect  Life  Shows  the  Gradation. — Take  a 
homely  and  very  familar  example,  that  of 
the  branch  of  articulates.  Naturalists  di- 
vide this  branch  into  three  classes — Insects, 
Crustacea,  and  Worms;  and  most  of  them 
tell  you  that  worms  are  lowest,  Crustacea 
next  in  rank,  and  that  insects  stand  highest, 
while  others  have  placed  the  Crustacea  at 
the  head  of  the  group.  -We  may  well  ask 
why.  Why  does  an  insect  stand  above  a 
crustacean,  or  vice  versa;  why  is  a  grass- 
hopper or  a  butterfly  structurally  superior 
to  a  lobster  or  a  shrimp?  .  .  .  But  when 
we  study  the  gradual  development  of  the 
insect,  and  find  that  in  its  earliest  stages 
it  is  wormlike,  in  its  second,  or  chrysalis 
stage,  it  is  crustacean-like,  and  only  in  its 
final  completion  it  assumes  the  character  of 
a  perfect  insect,  we  have  a  simple  natural 
scale  by  which  to  estimate  the  comparative 
rank  of  these  animals. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in 
Brazil,  ch.  1,  p.  21.  (H.  M.  &  Co.) 

2924.  RIVERS      CLARIFIED     BY 
PASSING    THROUGH     LAKES— Purity  of 
Niagara's  Torrent — The  Rhone  Flows  Clear 
from  Lake  of  Geneva. — The  fact  that  bodies 
of  standing  water  retain  the  mineral  matter 
brought  to  them  in  suspension  is  illustrated 
more  or  less  perfectly  in  nearly  every  lake 
and  pond,  and  even  by  ephemeral  pools  by 
the   wayside,   but   is    especially   marked   in 
great  seas  like  those  drained  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence.    During   storms   all   of.  the   streams 
pouring   into   the   upper   Laiirentian   lakes, 
from  the  surface  drainage  of  the  land,  are 
brown  and  heavy  with  mud,  but  the  water 
rushing  over  Niagara  remains  of  the  same 
deep  greenish-blue  tint  season  after  season 
and  year  after  year.     Niagara  River,  above 
the  falls,  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  are  surface 
streams,    because    their    clear   waters    have 
but  slight  power  of  corrasion;  it  is  for  this 
reason  that  during  the  centuries  they  have 
occupied   their   present  channels  they  have 
not  materially  deepened  them. 

In  the  case  of  lakes  fed  by  the  turbid 
waters  from  glaciers  the  part  they  play  as 
settling-basins  is  even  more  strikingly 
shown  than  in  the  instances  just  cited. 
Lake  Geneva,  Switzerland,  fed  by  the  silt- 
laden  waters  of  the  Rhone,  is  discolored 
for  several  miles  from  where  the  river 
enters,  but  when  the  waters  leave  the  lake 
and  again  start  on  their  journey  they  are 
wonderfully  clear.  An  abundance  of  similar 
illustrations  is  furnished  by  the  glacial- 
fed  lakes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Cas- 
cade mountains  and  by  some  of  the 
numerous  lakes  on  the  head  waters  of  the 
Yukon. — RUSSELL  Lakes  of  North  America, 
ch.  2,  p.  39.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

2925.  RIVERS     IN     THEIR    WILD 

STATE—  Maps  Change  from  Year  to  Year.— 
The  greatest  changes  are  shown  by  rivers 
in  their  wild  state — that  is,  where  they  di- 
vide into  numerous  arms  and  may  be  said 
to  dissolve  into  separate  veins,  as  may  be 


Rivers 
Rocks 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


592 


witnessed  wherever  a  stream  plunges  from 
the  mountains  immediately  into  a  plain. 
The  Rhine  runs  wild  as  it  enters  the  upper 
Rhine  plateaux,  the  Bode  does  the  same  at 
the  north  foot  of  the  Harz,  the  Inn  as  it 
forsakes  the  Alps.  Throughout  such  regions 
scarcely  a  year  elapses  without  one  arm  or 
another  disappearing,  while  other  branches 
are  formed.  Successive  maps,  therefore,  show 
very  different  pictures  of  the  stream. — 
PETJCK  Oberflachenbau,Anleitung  zurLandes- 
und  Volksforschung,  p.  29.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2926.  RIVERS    IN    THE    OCEAN— 

The  Gulf  Stream. — The  narrow  currents  or 
true  oceanic  rivers  which  traverse  the  sea 
bring  warm  water  into  higher  and  cold 
water  into  lower  latitudes.  To  the  first 
class  belongs  the  celebrated  Gulf  Stream, 
which  was  known  to  Anghiera,  and  more 
especially  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  Its  first  impulse  and 
origin  are  to  be  sought  to  the  south  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope;  after  a  long  circuit  it 
pours  itself  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  and 
the  Mexican  Gulf  through  the  Straits  of 
the  Bahamas,  and,  following  a  course  from 
south-southwest  to  north-northeast,  con- 
tinues to  recede  from  the  shores  of  the 
United  States,  until,  further  deflected  to 
the  eastward  by  the  banks  of  Newfound- 
land, it  approaches  the  European  coasts, 
frequently  throwing  a  quantity  of  tropical 
seeds  (Mimosa  scandens,  Guilandina  Ion- 
due,  Dolichos  urens)  on  the  shores  of  Ire- 
land, the  Hebrides,  and  Norway.  The 
northeastern  prolongation  tends  to  mitigate 
the  cold  of  the  ocean,  and  to  ameliorate  the 
climate  on  the  most  northern  extremity  of 
Scandinavia. — HTJMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p. 
307.  (H.,  1897.) 

2927.  RIVERS    LIFTED     BY    THE 

SUN  —  Heat  Restored  in  Downward  Flow. — 
Late  discoveries  have  taught  us  that  winds 
and  rivers  have  their  definite  thermal 
values,  and  that,  in  order  to  produce  their 
motion,  an  equivalent  amount  of  solar  heat 
has  been  consumed.  While  they  exist  as 
winds  and  rivers,  the  heat  expended  in  pro- 
ducing them  has  ceased  to  exist,  being  con- 
verted into  mechanical  motion;  but  when 
that  motion  is  arrested,  the  heat  which 
produced  it  is  restored.  A  river,  in  descend- 
ing from  an  elevation  of  7,720  feet,  gen- 
erates an  amount  of  heat  competent  to 
augment  its  own  temperature  10°  F.,  and 
this  amount  of  heat  was  abstracted  from  the 
sun,  in  order  to  lift  the  matter  of  the  river 
to  the  elevation  from  which  it  falls.  As 
long  as  the  river  continues  on  the  heights, 
whether  in  the  solid  form  as  a  glacier  or  in 
the  liquid  form  as  a  lake,  the  heat  expended 
by  the  sun  in  lifting  it  has  disappeared 
from  the  universe.  It  has  been  consumed 
in  the  act  of  lifting.  But  at  the  moment 
that  the  river  starts  upon  its  downward 
course,  and  encounters  the  resistance  of  its 
bed,  the  heat  expended  in  its  elevation  be- 


gins to  be  restored.  The  mental  eye,  in- 
deed, can  follow  the  emission  from  its 
source;  through  the  ether  as  vibratory  mo- 
tion; to  the  ocean,  where  it  ceases  to  be 
vibration,  and  assumes  the  potential  form, 
among  the  molecules  of  aqueous  vapor;  to 
the  mountain-top,  where  the  heat  absorbed 
in  vaporization  is  given  out  in  condensa- 
tion, while  that  expended  by  the  sun  in 
lifting  the  water  to  that  elevation  is  still 
unrestored.  This  we  find  paid  back  to  the  last 
unit:  by  the  friction  along  the  river's  bed; 
at  the  bottom  of  the  cascades  where  the 
plunge  of  the  torrent  is  suddenly  arrested; 
in  the  warmth  of  the  machinery  turned  by 
the  river;  in  the  spark  from  the  millstone; 
beneath  the  crusher  of  the  miner  [or]  in 
the  Alpine  sawmill. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  527.  (A.,  1900.) 

2928.  RIVERS  OF  ICE—  The   Glacier 
Flows  Like  a  Stream — No  Sharp  Line  Di- 
vides Different  States  of  Matter. — As  might 
be  expected  from  these  varied  phenomena,  it 
has  been  found  that  there  is  no  such  sharp 
line    of    distinction    between    the    various 
states  of  matter  as  is  popularly  supposed; 
some   of   the   properties   which   are   charac- 
teristic of  matter  in  one  state  being  present 
in  a  less  degree  in  other   states.     Viscous 
bodies,    for    example,     often    present    phe- 
nomena   characteristic    of   both    solids    and 
fluids.     Sealing-wax,  pitch,  and  ice  are  all 
brittle  at  low  temperatures,  resembling  in 
this  respect  such  solids  as  glass  and  stone; 
but  they  are  at  the  very  same  time  fluid,  if 
time  enough  is  allowed  to  exhibit  the  phe- 
nomenon.    This   is   seen  in  the  motion   of 
glaciers,  which  move  in  every  respect  like 
true  fluids,  even  to  the  middle  of  the  stream 
flowing  quicker  than  the  sides,  and  the  top 
than  the  bottom.     Eddies  and  whirls  occur 
in  glaciers   as  in  rivers,   and   also  upward 
and  downward  motion,  so  that  rocks  torn 
off  the  glacier  floor  may  be  carried  upward 
and  deposited  on  surfaces  hundreds  of  feet 
above  their  place  of  origin. — WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  7,  p.  55.    (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

2929.  RIVERS,    TRANSPORTING 
POWER  OF— Earth  Carried  from  Mountains 
to  Sea. — The  quantity  of  mud  held  in  sus- 
pension by  the  waters   of  the  Ganges   and 
Brahmaputra    is    found,    as    might    be    ex- 
pected, to  exceed  that  of  any  of  the  rivers 
alluded   to   in   this   or   the  preceding  chap- 
ters;    for,  in  the  first  place,   their  feeders 
flow  from  mountains  of  unrivaled  altitude, 
and  do  not  clear  themselves  in  any  lakes, 
as  does  the  Rhine  in  the  Lake  of  Constance, 
or  the  Rhone  in  that  of  Geneva.     And,  sec- 
ondly,   their    whole    course    is    nearer    the 
equator  than  that  of  the  Mississippi  or  any 
great  river  respecting  which  careful  experi- 
ments   have    been    made    to    determine    the 
quantity  of  its  water  and  earthy  contents. 
The  fall  of  rain,  moreover,  as  we  have  be- 
fore   seen,    is    excessive    on    the    southern 
flanks  of  the  first  range  of  mountains  which 


593 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


KSf 


rise  from  the  plains  of  Hindustan,  and  still 
more  remarkable  is  the  quantity  sometimes 
poured  down  in  one  day.  The  sea,  where 
the  Ganges  and  Brahmaputra  discharge 
their  main  stream  at  the  flood  season,  only 
recovers  its  transparency  at  the  distance  of 
from  60  to  100  miles  from  the  delta;  and 
we  may  take  for  granted  that  the  current 
continues  to  transport  the  finer  particles 
much  farther  south  than  where  the  sur- 
face-water first  becomes  clear. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  ch.  18,  p.  278.  (A.,  1854.) 

2930.  RIVERS  USE  ROCK-DEBRIS 
TO  CUT  DOWN  OTHER  ROCKS— Rivers 
are  much  more  than  mere  transporters   of 
sediment.      Just   as    in    desert   lands    wind 
employs   disintegrated   rock   material   as    a 
sand-blast,  so  rivers  use  their  stones,  grit, 
and  sand  as  tools  with  which  to  rasp,  file, 
and  undermine  the  rocks  over  which  they 
flow.    In  this  way  their  channels  are  gradu- 
ally deepened  and  widened. — GEIKIE  Earth 
Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  34.    (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

2931.  ROBBER-BARON    OF    THE 

AIR— Eagle  and  Fish-hawk. — What  an  inspir- 
ing sight  it  is  to  see  one  [an  osprey,  or  fish- 
hawk]  plunge  from  the  air  upon  its  prey! 
One  can  sometimes  hear  the  splash  half  a 
mile  or  more,  and  the  bird  is  quite  concealed 
by  the  spray.  It  is  a  magnificent  perform- 
ance, and  when,  after  shaking  the  water 
from  his  plumage,  he  rises  into  the  air,  I 
am  always  tempted  to  applaud. 

The  osprey,  or  fish-hawk,  as  he  is  also 
called,  adheres  closely  to  a  finny  diet; 
neither  flesh  nor  fowl  appears  on  his  menu, 
and  he  is  consequently  a  migratory  bird, 
coming  in  April  when  the  ice  is  melted,  and 
remaining  until  October.  In  favorable  lo- 
calities he  nests  in  colonies,  returning  year 
after  year  to  the  same  nest. 

One  master,  it  is  true,  the  osprey  has, 
tho  he  makes  a  most  unwilling  servant. 
The  bald-headed  eagle  is  often  an  appreci- 
ative observer  of  the  osprey's  piscatorial 
powers,  which  so  far  exceed  his  own  that 
he  wisely,  if  unjustly,  profits  by  them. 
Pursuing  the  osprey,  he  forces  him  to 
mount  higher  and  higher  until  the  poor  bird 
in  despair  drops  his  prize,  which  the  eagle 
captures  as  it  falls. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life, 
ch.  7,  p.  122.  (A.,  1900.) 

2932. Swiftness  and  Dex- 
terity of  the  White-headed  Eagle. — The 
white-headed  eagle  has  also  developed  the 
plundering  instinct  in  great  perfection,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  graphic  account 
of  Audubon :  "  During  spring  and  summer 
the  white-headed  eagle,  to  procure  suste- 
nance, follows  a  different  course,  and  one 
much  less  suited  to  a  bird  apparently  so 
well  able  to  supply  itself  without  inter- 
fering with  other  plunderers.  No  sooner 
does  the  first  hawk  make  its  appearance 
along  the  Atlantic  shore  or  around  the 
numerous  and  large  rivers,  than  the  eagle 
follows  it,  and,  like  a  selfish  oppressor,  robs 


it  of  the  hard-earned  fruits  of  its  labor. 
Perched  on  some  tall  summit,  in  view  of 
the  ocean  or  of  some  watercourse,  he 
watches  every  motion  of  the  osprey  while 
on  the  wing.  When  the  latter  rises  from 
the  water,  with  a  fish  in  its  grasp,  forth 
rushes  the  eagle  in  pursuit.  He  mounts 
above  the  fish-hawk,  and  threatens  it  by 
actions  well  understood;  when  the  latter, 
fearing  perhaps  that  its— life  is  in  danger, 
drops  its  prey.  In  an  instant  the  eagle, 
accurately  estimating  the  rapid  descent  of 
the  fish,  closes  its  wings,  follows  it  with 
the  swiftness  of  thought,  and  the  next  mo- 
ment grasps  it.  The  prize  is  carried  off  in 
silence  to  the  woods,  and  assists  in  feeding 
the  ever-hungry  brood  of  the  eagle." — RO- 
MANES Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  10,  p.  284. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2933.  ROCK  A  SURE  FOUNDATION 

— Earthquake  Resisted  by. — It  would  seem 
the  harder  rocks  form  better  foundations 
than  the  softer  ones.  One  explanation  of 
this  appears  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  soft 
strata  may  be  in  a  state  of  unstable  equi- 
librium, and,  by  shaking,  it  is  caused  to 
settle.  Another  explanation  is  that  in 
hard  ground  or  rock,  altho  the  motion  is 
more  rapid  than  on  soft  ground,  this  is 
more  than  compensated  for  by  the  small- 
ness  of  the  range  of  motion  in  the  former 
foundation. — MILNE  Earthquake,  ch.  7,  p. 
131.  (A.,  1899.) 

2934.  ROCKS  ROUNDED  BY  WAVES 
OF    ANCIENT    SEA— We     raised    another 
block  in  a  different  part  of  the  quarry,  and 
found  that  the  area  of  a  circular  depression 
in  the  stratum  below  was  broken  and  flawed 
in  every  direction,  as  if  it  had  been  the  bot- 
tom of  a  pool  recently  dried  up,  which  had 
shrunk  and  split  in  the  hardening.     Several 
large   stones   came  rolling   down    from   the 
diluvium    in    the    course   of   the   afternoon. 
They  were  of  different  qualities  from   the 
sandstone    below     and    from    one    another; 
and,  what  was  more   wonderful  still,  they 
were  all  rounded  and  water-worn,  as  if  they 
had  been  tossed  about  in  the  sea,  or  the  bed 
of  a  river,   for  hundreds  of  years.     There 
could    not,    surely,    be    a    more    conclusive 
proof    that   the"    bank    which    had    enclosed 
them  so  long  could  not  have  been  created 
on  the  rock  on  which  it  rested.     No  work- 
man ever  manufactures  a  half-worn  article, 
and  the  stones  were  all  half- worn!     And  if 
not  the  bank,  why  then  the  sandstone  un- 
derneath?— MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sandstone, 
ch.  1,  p.  7.    (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

2935.  ROCKS,  THICKNESS  OF,  ON 
OCEAN    FLOOR  —  Check  of  Radiant  Heat 
Causes     Outburst     of     Volcano — Repression 
Prepares  for  Outbreak. — If  the  reader  has 
any   difficulty  in    conceiving   the   effects   of 
overlaid  beds  in  bringing  about  a  high  tem- 
perature in  strata,  he  may  help  himself  by 
a  homely  comparison.     Let  him  imagine  a 
vessel  containing  hot  water  exposed  to  the 


locks 

sagacity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


594 


cold  and  covered  with  felt  or  other  non- 
conducting material;  'the  surface  of  this 
covering  will  have  a  certain  temperature. 
If  now  this  vessel  be  covered  with  another 
thickness  of  felt,  the  temperature  of  the 
original  surface  will  rise,  and  a  certain  gain 
of  its  heat  will  be  made  by  each  additional 
coating  of  non-conductive  material. 

The  only  serious  question  is  as  to  the 
thickness  of  the  rocks  which  have  been  laid 
down  on  the  sea-floors.  Hardly  any  geol- 
ogist will  doubt  that  it  is  entirely  within 
bounds  to  assume  that  thickness  much  to 
exceed  twenty  miles. — SHALEB  Aspects  of 
the  Earth,  p.  82.  (S.,  1900.) 

2936.  ROENTGEN  RAYS  DEFY  RE- 
FLECTION   OR    REFRACTION— A  Force 
Not  To  Be  Diverted. — An  exceptional  prop- 
erty of  these  rays  is  that  they  cannot  be 
either  refracted  or  reflected  as  can  ordinary 
light  and  heat.    Hence  it  is  only  the  shadow 
that    can   be    photographed.      And    another 
curious  result  of  this  is  that  they  can  pass 
through  a  powder  as  easily  as  through   a 
solid;    whereas  ordinary  light  cannot  pass 
through  powdered  glass  or  ice,  owing  to  the 
innumerable     reflections     and     refractions 
which  soon  absorb  all  the  rays  except  those 
reflected    from    a    very   thin    surface    layer. 
Proportionate  thicknesses   of  aluminum   or 
zinc,    whether    in    the    solid    plate    or    in 
powder,    are    equally   transparent   to   these 
singular    rays. — WALLACE    The    Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  5,  p.  41.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2937.  ROMANCE     OF    ZOOLOGY— 

Slaveholding  Ants. — Some  species  of  ants 
keep  slaves — for  instance,  the  reddish  ant 
found  in  the  meadows  of  Switzerland  and 
Alsace  (Polyergus  rufescens).  It  is  not  a 
large,  but  a  strong  species,  which  has  adopt- 
ed the  habit  of  sallying  forth  in  troops  from 
time  to  time  to  make  raids  upon  and  plun- 
der the  nests  of  some  weaker  species,  such 
as  the  common  Formica  fusca.  The  object 
is,  however,  not  to  destroy  or  devour  the 
ants  they  attack,  but  merely  to  carry  off 
the  pupae  to  their  own  nest,  where  they 
receive  every  care;  the  workers  hatched 
from  them  are  then  employed  as  servants, 
or,  to  use  the  usual  term,  as  slaves.  These 
slaves  fulfil  all  the  duties  of  the  nest,  which 
would  otherwise  have  fallen  to  the  share 
of  the  red  workers;  they  feed  the  larvae, 
build  galleries  and  chambers,  bring  in  food- 
supplies,  and  even  feed  their  lazy  masters! 
This  is  no  fable,  as  was  once  thought,  but 
an  ascertained  fact,  proved  to  be  such  early 
in  this  century  by  Huber  of  Geneva,  a  cele- 
brated observer  of  ants,  and  since  fully  con- 
firmed by  his  pupil  and  successor,  Auguste 
Forel,  as  well  as  by  Sir  John  Lubbock.  I 
have  also  convinced  myself  of  the  truth  of 
the  assertion. — WEISMANN  Heredity,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  9,  p.  25.  (01.  P.,  1897.) 

2938.  ROOTS  MAKING  THEIR  WAY 
IN  THE  SOIL— Tip  of  Radicle  a  Wonderful 
Structure — Final    Purpose    of    Its    Various 


Movements. — We  believe  that  there  is  no 
structure  in  plants  more  wonderful,  as  far 
as  its  functions  are  concerned,  than  the  tip 
of  the  radicle.  If  the  tip  be  lightly  pressed 
or  burnt  or  cut  it  transmits  an  influence 
to  the  upper  adjoining  part,  causing  it  to 
bend  away  from  the  affected  side;  and,  what 
is  more  surprising,  the  tip  can  distinguish 
between  a  slightly  harder  and  softer  object, 
by  which  it  is  simultaneously  pressed  on 
opposite  sides.  If,  however,  the  radicle  is 
pressed  by  a  similar  object  a  little  above 
the  tip,  the  pressed  part  does  not  transmit 
any  influence  to  the  more  distant  parts,  but 
bends  abruptly  towards  the  object.  If  the 
tip  perceives  the  air  to  be  moister  on  one 
side  than  on  the  other,  it  likewise  transmits 
an  influence  to  the  upper  adjoining  part, 
which  bends  towards  the  source  of  moisture. 
When  the  tip  is  excited  by  light  (tho  in  the 
case  of  radicles  this  was  ascertained  in  only 
a  single  instance)  the  adjoining  part  bends 
from  the  light,  but  when  excited  by  gravita- 
tion the  same  part  bends  towards  the  center 
of  gravity.  In  almost  every  case  we  can 
clearly  perceive  the  final  purpose  or  advan- 
tage of  the  several  movements.  Two,  or 
perhaps  more,  of  the  exciting  causes  often 
act  simultaneously  on  the  tip,  and  one  con- 
quers the  other,  no  doubt,  in  accordance  with 
its  importance  for  the  life  of  the  plant. 
The  course  pursued  by  the  radicle  in  pene- 
trating the  ground  must  be  determined  by 
the  tip,  hence  it  has  acquired  such  diverse 
kinds  of  sensitiveness.  It  is  hardly  an  ex- 
aggeration to  say  that  the  tip  of  the  radicle 
thus  endowed,  and  having  the  power  of  di- 
recting the  movements  of  the  adjoining 
parts,  acts  like  the  brain  of  one  of  the  lower 
animals,  the  brain  being  seated  within  the 
anterior  end  of  the  body,  receiving  impres- 
sions from  the  sense-organs,  and  directing 
the  several  movements. — DARWIN  Power  of 
Movement  in  Plants,  ch.  12,  p.  576.  (A., 
1900.) 

2939.  ROYALTY  AMONG  BEES > — The 

Queen  Feared,  yet  Restrained. — The  victori- 
ous queen  riow  presented  a  very  singular 
spectacle.  She  approached  a  royal  cell  and 
took  this  moment  for  uttering  the  sound 
and  assuming  that  posture  which  strikes 
the  bees  motionless.  For  some  minutes  it 
seemed  as  if  she  would  profit  by  the  dread 
exhibited  by  the  workers  on  guard,  open 
the  cell  and  destroy  the  young  female.  She 
also  prepared  to  mount  the  cell,  but  in  doing 
that  she  ceased  to  make  the  sound,  and 
quitted  the  attitude  that  paralyzes  the  bees. 
Then,  instantly,  the  guardians  of  the  cell 
took  courage,  and  by  means  of  tormenting 
and  biting  the  queen,  caused  her  to  retreat. 
— HUBER  Nouvelles  Observations  sur  les 
Abeilles,  p.  117.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.} 

2940.  SACRIFICE  OF  GEM  TO  SCI- 
ENCE— Burning  of  a  Diamond  in  Oxygen. — 
Faraday  thus  describes  the  burning  of  a  dia- 
mond in  oxygen  by  the  concentrated  rays  of 


595 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Rocks 
Sagacity 


the  sun.  It  was  effected  at  Florence,  in 
presence  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  on  Tuesday, 
the  27th  of  March,  1814:  "To-day  we  made 
the  grand  experiment  of  burning  the  dia- 
mond, and  certainly  the  phenomena  present- 
ed were  extremely  beautiful  and  interesting. 
A  glass  globe  containing  about  22  cubical 
inches  was  exhausted  of  air,  and  filled  with 
pure  oxygen.  The  diamond  was  supported 
in  the  center  of  this  globe.  The  Duke's 
burning-glass  was  the  instrument  used  to 
apply  heat  to  the  diamond.  It  consists  of 
two  double  convex  lenses,  distant  from  each 
other  about  3%  feet;  the  large  lens  is  about 
14  or  15  inches  in  diameter,  the  smaller  one 
about  3  inches  in  diameter.  By  means  of 
the  second  lens  the  focus  is  very  much 
reduced,  and  the  heat,  when  the  sun  shines 
brightly,  rendered  very  intense.  The  dia- 
mond was  placed  in  the  focus  and  anxiously 
watched.  On  a  sudden  Sir  H.  Davy  observed 
the  diamond  to  burn  visibly,  and  when  re- 
moved from  the  focus  it  was  found  to  be  in 
a  state  of  active  and  rapid  combustion." — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  5,  p.  172. 
(A.,  1898.) 

2941.  SACRIFICE    OF   LESS    FOR 
GREATER—  Of  Present  for  Future,  Personal 
for  Social,  Material  for  Spiritual. — Men  have 
arranged    the    various    selves    which    they 
may  seek  in  an  hierarchical  scale  according 
to  their  worth.    A  certain  amount  of  bodily 
selfishness    is    required   as   a   basis    for   all 
the  other  selves.     But  too  much  sensuality 
is  despised,  or  at  best  condoned  on  account 
of  the  other  qualities  of  the  individual.   The 
wider  material  selves  are  regarded  as  higher 
than  the  immediate  body.  •    He  is  esteemed 
a  poor  creature  who  is  unable  to  forego  a 
little  meat  and  drink  and  warmth  and  sleep 
for  the  sake  of  getting  on  in  the  world.   The 
social  self  as  a  whole,  again,  ranks  higher 
than  the  material  self  as  a  whole.    We  must 
care  more  for  our  honor,  our  friends,  our 
human  ties,  than  for  a  sound  skin  or  wealth. 
And  the  spiritual  self  is  so  supremely  pre- 
cious that,  rather  than  lose  it,  a  man  ought 
to  be  willing  to  give  up  friends,  and  good 
fame,  and  property,  and  life  itself. 

In  each  kind  of  self,  material,  social,  and 
spiritual,  men  distinguish  between  the  im- 
mediate and  actual,  and  the  remote  and  po- 
tential, between  the  narrower  and  the  wider 
view,  to  the  detriment  of  the  former  and 
advantage  of  the  latter.  One  must  forego 
a  present  bodily  enjoyment  for  the  sake  of 
one's  general  health;  one  must  abandon  the 
dollar  in  the  hand  for  the  sake  of  the 
hundred  dollars  to  come;  one  must  make 
an  enemy  of  his  present  interlocutor  if  there- 
by one  makes  friends  of  a  more  valued  cir- 
cle ;  one  must  go  without  learning,  and  grace, 
and  wit,  the  better  to  compass  one's  soul's 
salvation. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10, 
p.  314.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2942.  SACRIFICE  OF  LOWER  OR- 
GANISM FOR  HIGHER— Inoculation  of  Ani- 
mals to  Protect  Man. — It  may  be  necessary 


to  observe  the  action  of  supposed  patho- 
genic organisms  upon  animals.  This  is  ob- 
viously a  last  resource,  and  any  abuse  of 
such  a  process  is  strictly  limited  by  law. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  an  immense  amount 
of  bacteriological  investigation  can  be  car- 
ried on  without  inoculating  animals;  but, 
strictly  speaking,  as  regards  many  of  the 
pathogenic  bacteria  this  test  is  the  most 
reliable  of  all.  Nor  would  any  responsible 
bacteriologist  be  justified  in  certifying  a 
water  as  healthy  for  consumption  by  a  large 
community  if  he  was  in  doubt  as  to  the 
disease-producing  action  of  certain  contained 
organisms. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  46. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2943.  SACRIFICES     TO    MALEVO- 
LENCE—  Terror  the  Inspiration  to  Worship  of 
Serpents. — The  worship  of  serpents  has  been 
attributed  to  conceptions  of  a  very  abstract 
character — with  the  circle,  for  example,  into 
which  they  coil  themselves  considered  as  an 
emblem  of  eternity.     But  this  is  a  concep- 
tion far  too  transcendental  and  far-fetched 
to    account    either    for    the    origin    of    this 
worship   or   for   its   wide   extension   in   the 
world.     Serpents  are  not  the  only  natural 
objects  which  present  circular  forms.   ..    *    * 
They  have  been  chosen,  beyond  any  reason- 
able doubt,  because  of  the  horror  and  terror 
they  inspire.    For  this,  above  all  other  crea- 
tures, they  are  prominent  in  Nature.     For 
their  deceptive  coloring,  for  their  insidious 
approach,  for  their  deadly  virus,  they  have 
been  taken  as  the  type  of  spiritual  poison 
in  the  Jewish  narrative  of  the  Fall.     The 
power  of  inflicting  almost  immediate  death, 
which   is  possessed  by  the  most  venomous 
snakes,   and   that   not  by  violence,   but  by 
the   infliction   of   a   wound   which   in   itself 
may  be  hardly  visible,  is  a  power  which  is 
indeed  full  of  mystery  even  to  the  most  cul- 
tivated scientific  mind,  and  may  well  have 
inspired  among  men  in  early  ages  a  desire 
to  pacify  the  powers  of  evil.     The  moment 
this    becomes    the    great    aim    and    end    of 
worship  a  principle  is  established  which  is 
fertile  in  the  development  of  every  foul  im- 
agination.   Whenever  it  is  the  absorbing  mo- 
tive  and   desire   of  men  to   do   that  which 
may    most    gratify    or    pacify    malevolence, 
then  it  ceases  to  be  at  all  wonderful  that 
men  should  be  driven  by  their  religion  to 
sacrifices  the  most  horrid,  and  to  practises 
the  most  unnatural. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.   12,  p.  290.      (Burt.) 

2944.  SAGACITY,    ANIMAL  —  Mule 
Drinking    from    Cactus.— The    mule,    more 
cautious  and  cunning,  adopts  another  meth- 
od of  allaying  his  thirst  [on  the  plains  of 
South  America].   There   is   a   globular   and 
articulated  plant,  the  Melocactus,  which  en- 
closes under  its  prickly  integument  an  aque- 
ous pulp.    After  carefully  striking  away  the 
prickles  with  his  forefeet  the  mule  cautious- 
ly ventures  to  apply  his  lips  to  imbibe  the 
cooling  thistle  juice.     But  the  draft  from 
this  living  vegetable  spring  is   not  always 


igacity 
ivajrery 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


596 


unattended  by  danger,  and  these  animals 
are  often  observed  to  have  been  lamed  by 
the  puncture  of  the  cactus  thorn. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  15.  (Bell,  1896.) 

2945.  SAGACITY  OF  A  WASP- Cut- 
ting Bulky  Prey  into  Manageable  Parcels. — 
Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin  records  an  observation 
("Zoonomia,"  i,  p.  183)  which,  from  having 
since  been  so  widely  quoted,  deserves  to  be 
called  classical.     He  saw  a  wasp  upon  the 
ground   endeavoring  to   remove  a   large   fly 
which  was  too  heavy  for  it  to  carry  off.    The 
wasp  cut  off  the  head  and  abdomen,  and  flew 
away    with    the    thorax    alone.      The   wind, 
however,  catching  the  wings  of  this  portion 
made  it  still  too  unwieldy  for  the  wasp  to 
guide.       It    therefore    again    alighted    and 
nipped  off  first  one  wing  and  then  the  other, 
when  it  was  able  to  fly  off  with  its  booty 
without  further  difficulty.     This  observation 
has  since  been  amply  confirmed. — ROMANES 
Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p.  195.    (A.,  1899.) 

2946.  SAGACITY  OF  ESKIMO  DOGS 

— The  Pack  Scattering  When  on  Thin  Ice, 
to  Distribute  Their  Weight. — It  will  be  re- 
membered in  connection  with  these  dogs 
that  Mr.  Darwin  in  the  "  Descent  of  Man  " 
(p.  75)  quotes  Dr.  Hayes,  who,  in  his  work 
on  "  The  Open  Polar  Sea,"  "  repeatedly  re- 
marks that  his  dogs,  instead  of  continuing 
to  draw  the  sledges  in  a  compact  body,  di- 
verged and  separated  when  they  came  to 
thin  ice,  so  that  their  weight  might  be  more 
evenly  [and  widely]  distributed.  This  was 
often  the  first  warning  which  the  travelers 
received  that  the  ice  was  becoming  thin  and 
dangerous."  Mr.  Darwin  remarks :  "  This 
instinct  may  possibly  have  arisen  since  the 
time,  long  ago,  when  dogs  were  first  em- 
ployed by  the  natives  in  drawing  their 
sledges;  or  the  Arctic  wolves,  the  parent 
stock  of  the  Eskimo  dog,  may  have  ac- 
quired an  instinct  impelling  them  not  to 
attack  their  prey  in  a  close  pack  when  on 
thin  ice." — ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence, 
ch.  16,  p.  462.  (A.,  1899.) 

2947.  SAGACITY  SURPASSES  THE- 
ORY— Regelation  of  Ice  and  Snow. — Two  frag- 
ments  of   ordinary  table  ice  brought   care- 
fully together  freeze  and  cement  themselves 
at  their  place  of  junction;    or  if  two  pieces 
floating  in  water  be  brought  together,  they 
instantly    freeze,    and    by    laying    hold    of 
either    of    them    gently    you    can    drag   the 
other  after  it  through  the  water.     Imagine 
such    points    of    attachment   distributed    in 
great    numbers    through    a   mass    of    snow. 
The  substance  becomes  thereby  a  semisolid 
instead   of  a  mass   of  powder.      My   guide, 
however,  unaided  by  any  theory,  did  a  thing 
from    which    I    should    have    shrunk,    tho 
backed    by    all    the   theories    in    the   world 
[viz.,    tramping   Alpine    snow    into    a    firm 
support]. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the 
Alps,  ch.  9,  p.  100.     (A.,  1898.) 

2948.  SALT  A  NECESSITY  OF  LIFE 

— Common  salt    .    .     .    is  an  article  of  food, 


tho  often  miscalled  a  condiment.  Salt  is 
food  simply  because  it  supplies  the  blood 
with  one  of  its  normal  and  necessary  con- 
stituents, chlorid  of  sodium,  without  which 
we  cannot  live.  A  certain  quantity  of  it 
exists  in  most  of  our  ordinary  food,  but  not 
always  sufficient. — WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of 
Cookery,  ch.  15,  p.  259.  (A.,  1900.) 

2949.  SALVATION  AN  ACTIVE,  EF- 
FECTIVE PRINCIPLE—  The  Definitive  Over- 
coming   of    the   Law    of   Deterioration   and 
Death. — There    is    a    natural    principle    in 
man,  lowering  him,  deadening  him,  pulling 
him   down  by   inches    to   the   mere    animal 
plane,   blinding   reason,    searing   conscience, 
paralyzing  will.     This  is  the  active  destroy- 
ing  principle,   or   sin.      Now   to   counteract 
this  God  has  discovered  to  us  another  prin- 
ciple which  will  stop  this  drifting  process 
in   the   soul,    steer   it  round,   and   make   it 
drift  the  other  way.     This  is  the  active  sa- 
ving principle,  or  salvation.     To  neglect  it 
is   to   cut   off   the   only   possible   chance   of 
escape.     In  declining  this  he  is  simply  aban- 
doning himself  with  his  eyes  open  to  that 
other  and  terrible  energy  which  is  already 
there,  and  which,  in  the  natural  course  of 
things,   is  bearing  him  every  moment  fur- 
ther and  further  from  escape. — DBUMMOND 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay 
2,  p.  96.    (H.  Al.) 

2950.  SAND  A  PRESERVER  OF  AN- 
CIENT  MONUMENTS— No  mode  of  inter- 
ment  can   be    conceived   more   favorable  to 
the   conservation   of  monuments   for   indefi- 
nite periods  than  that  now  so  common  in 
the    region    immediately    westward    of    the 
Nile.     The  sand  which  surrounded  and  filled 
the  great  temple  of  Ipsambul,  first  discov- 
ered  by   Burckhardt,    and   afterwards    par- 
tially  uncovered   by    Belzoni    and    Beechey, 
was  so  fine  as  to  resemble  a  fluid  when  put 
in    motion.      Neither    the    features    of    the 
colossal  figures,  nor  the  color  of  the  stucco 
with    which    some    were    covered,    nor    the 
paintings  on  the  walls,  had  received  any  in- 
jury from  being  enveloped  for  ages  in  this 
dry   impalpable  dust. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  ch.  45,  p.  726.    (A.,  1854.) 

2951.  SAND-BAR    SHIFTED    BY 
STORM — It    sometimes   happens   that   dur- 
ing a  violent  storm  a  large  bar  of  sand  is 
suddenly  made  to  shift  its  position,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  free  influx  of  the  tides,  or  efflux 
of  river  water.     Thus  about  the  year  1500 
the  sands  at  Bayonne  were  suddenly  thrown 
across  the  mouth  of  the  Adour.     That  river, 
flowing  back  upon  itself,  soon  forced  a  pas- 
sage to  the  northward  along  the  sandy  plain 
of  Capbreton  till  at  last  it  reached  the  sea 
at  Boucau,  at  the  distance  of  seven  leagues 
from  the  point  where  it  had  formerly  en- 
tered.    It  was  not  till  the  year   1579  that 
the  celebrated  architect  Louis  de  Foix  un- 
dertook, at  the  desire  of  Henry  III.,  to  re- 
open the  ancient  channel,  which  he  at  last 


597 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sagacity 
Savagery 


effected  with  great  difficulty. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  21,  p.  338.  (A., 
1854.) 

2952.  SAVAGE   COMPARED   WITH 
BRUTE — Reasoning  Power  Divides  Man  from 
Lower  Animals. — A  creature  which  has  few 
instinctive  impulses,  or  interests,  practical 
or   esthetic,   will   dissociate  few  characters, 
and   will,    at  best,    have    limited   reasoning 
powers ;    whilst  one  whose  interests  are  very 
varied  will   reason  much  better.     Man,   by 
his    immensely    varied    instincts,    practical 
wants,  and  esthetic  feelings,  to  which  every 
sense  contributes,   would,  by  dint  of  these 
alone,    be    sure    to    dissociate    vastly    more 
characters  than  any  other  animal;    and  ac- 
cordingly we  find   that  the  lowest  savages 
reason  incomparably  better  than  the  high- 
est brutes. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
22,  p.  345.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2953.  SAVAGE,    HOW   NATURE 
MOVES  THE—  The  Struggle  for  Life  Develops 
New    and    Higher    Powers. — Start    with    a 
comparatively    unevolved    savage,    and    see 
what  the  struggle  for  life  will  do  for  him. 
When  we  meet  him  first  he  is  sitting,  we 
shall  suppose,  in  the  sun.     Let  us  also  sup- 
pose— and    it    requires    no    imagination    to 
suppose  it — that  he  has  no  wish  to  do  any- 
thing else  than  sit  in  the  sun,  and  that  he 
is  perfectly  contented,  and  perfectly  happy. 
Nature  around  him,  visible  and  invisible,  is 
as  still  as  he  is,  as  inert  apparently,  as  un- 
concerned.    Neither  molests  the  other;  they 
have  no  connection  with  each  other.     Yet  it 
is  not  so.     That  savage  is  the  victim  of  a 
conspiracy.     Nature  has  designs  upon  him, 
wants  to  do  something  to  him.     That  some- 
thing is  to  move  him.     Why  does  it  wish  to 
move    him?      Because    movement    is    work, 
and    work    is    exercise,    and    exercise    may 
mean  a  further  evolution  of  the  part  of  him 
that  is  exercised.     How  does   it  set   about 
moving   him?      By    moving    itself.      Every- 
thing else  being  in  motion,  it  is  impossible 
for  him  to  resist.     The  sun  moves  away  to 
the  west  and  he  must  move  or  freeze  with 
cold.     As  the  sun  continues  to  move,  twi- 
light   falls    and    wild    animals    move    from 
their  lairs,  and  he  must  move  or  be  eaten. 
The  food  he  ate   in  the  morning  has   dis- 
solved and  moved  away  to  nourish  the  cells 
of  his  body,   and  more  food  must  soon  be 
moved  to  take  its  place  or  he  must  starve. 
So  he  starts  up,  he  works,  he  seeks  food, 
shelter,  safety;    and  those  movements  make 
marks  in  his  body,  brace  muscles,  stimulate 
nerves,   quicken  intelligence,   create   habits, 
and  he  becomes  more  able  and  more  willing 
to  repeat  these  movements  and  so  becomes 
a  stronger  and  a  higher  man. — DRTJMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  6,  p.  191.    (J.  P.,  1900.) 

2954.  SAVAGE  SURPASSES  BRUTE 

— Capacity  for  Language,  Learning,  Prog- 
ress.— In  the  comparison  of  man  with  other 
animals  the  standard  should  naturally  be 
the  lowest  man,  or  savage.  But  the  savage 


is  possessed  of  human  reason  and  speech, 
while  his  brain-power,  tho  it  has  not  of 
itself  raised  him  to  civilization,  enables  him 
to  receive  more  or  less  of  the  education 
which  transforms  him  into  a  civilized  man. 
To  show  how  man  may  have  advanced  from 
savagery  to  civilization  is  a  reasonable 
task.  .  .  .  But  there  is  no  such  evidence 
available  for  crossing  the  mental  gulf  that 
divides  the  lowest  savage  from  the  highest 
ape.  On  the  whole,  the  safest  conclusion 
warranted  by  facts  is  that  the  mental  ma- 
chinery of  the  lower  animals  is  roughly 
similar  to  our  own,  up  to  a  limit.  Be- 
yond this  limit  the  human  mind  opens  out 
into  wide  ranges  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  the  beast-mind  shows  no  sign  of  ap- 
proaching. If  we  consider  man's  course  of 
life  from  birth  to  death,  we  see  that  it  is, 
so  to  speak,  founded  on  functions  which 
he  has  in  common  with  lower  beings.  Man, 
endowed  with  instinct  and  capable  of  learn- 
ing by  experience,  drawn  by  pleasure  and 
driven  by  pain,  must,  like  a  beast,  maintain 
his  life  by  food  and  sleep,  must  save  him- 
self by  flight,  or  fight  it  out  with  his  foes, 
must  propagate  his  species  and  care  for  the 
next  generation.  Upon  this  lower  frame- 
work of  animal  life  is  raised  the  wondrous 
edifice  of  human  language,  science,  art,  and 
law. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  2,  p.  54. 
(A.,  1899.) 

2955.  SAVAGERY  AS  MODERN  AS 
CIVILIZATION  —  The  Same  Distance  from 
Primeval  Life. — It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
the  savage  of  the  present  day  is  as  far  re- 
moved in  time  from  the  common  origin  of 
our  race  as  the  man  who  now  exhibits  the 
highest  type  of  moral  and  intellectual  cul- 
ture. Whether  that  time  is  represented  by 
six  thousand,  or  ten  thousand,  or  a  hundred 
thousand  years,  it  is  the  same  for  both.  If, 
therefore,  the  number  of  years  since  the 
origin  of  man  be  taken  as  a  multiplier  in 
the  processes  of  elevation,  it  must  be  taken 
equally  as  a  multiplier  in  the  processes  of 
degradation.  Not  even  on  the  theory  which 
some  hold,  that  the  human  species  has 
spread  from  more  than  one  center  of  birth 
or  of  creation,  can  this  conclusion  be  af- 
fected. For  even  on  this  hypothesis  of  sepa- 
rate origins  there  is  no  reason  whatever  to 
suppose  that  the  races  which  are  now  gen- 
erally civilized  are  of  more  recent  origin 
than  those  which  are  generally  savage. 
Presumably,  therefore,  all  the  ages  which 
have  been  at  work  in  the  development  of 
civilization  have  been  at  work  equally  in 
the  development  of  savagery.  It  is  not  pos- 
sible in  the  case  of  savagery,  any  more  than 
in  the  case  of  civilization,  that  all  those 
ages  have  been  without  effect.  Nor  is  it 
possible  that  the  changes  they  have  wrought 
have  been  all  in  one  direction.  The  conclu- 
sion is,  that  neither  savagery  nor  civiliza- 
tion, as  we  now  see  them,  can  represent  the 
primeval  condition  of  man.  Both  of  them 


ivagery 
:ience 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


598 


are  the  work  of  time.  Both  of  them  are  the 
product  of  evolution. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  10,  p.  232.  (Burt.) 

2956.  SAVAGES  AMIDST  CIVILIZA- 
TION—Out   of    164,000   persons    committed 
to  prison  in  England  and  Wales,  only  4,000 
could   read   and   write   well.      In   fact,   our 
criminal  population  are  mere  savages,  and 
most   of   their   crimes   are   but   injudicious 
and  desperate  attempts  to  live  as  a  savage 
in  the  midst  and  at  the  expense  of  a  civi- 
lized    community.  —  AVEBUBY     Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  16,  p.  574.    (A.,  1900.) 

2957.  SAVAGES    DISTORT    FACTS 

OF  RECENT  EVENTS  — Even  as  regards 
events  which  are  contemporary,  or  nearly 
so,  we  find  that  the  accounts  given  by  sav- 
ages become  rapidly  distorted.  Thus  Nilsson 
quotes  the  account  given  by  Mackenzie  that 
the  Eskimos  described  the  English  to  him 
as  being  giants,  with  wings,  who  could  kill 
with  a  glance  of  their  eye,  and  swallow  a 
whole  beaver  at  a  mouthful. — AVEBUBY  Pre- 
historic Times,  ch.  13,  p.  405.  (A.,  1900.) 

2958.  SAVAGES,    DOMESTIC  LIFE 

OF — Oppression  of  Woman  Not  Universal. — 
Cruelty  does  not  breed  refinement  either  of 
manners  or  of  taste.  Where  women  adorn 
themselves  with  flowers,  and  produce  with 
skilful  fingers  work  that  will  excite  the  ad- 
miration of  the  most  refined,  their  home  can 
hardly  be  the  abode  of  cruelty.  Of  one  of 
the  most  primitive  peoples  E.  H.  Man  says : 
"  It  is  incorrect  to  say  that  among  the  An- 
damanese  marriage  is  nothing  more  than 
taking  a  female  slave,  for  one  of  the  stri- 
king features  of  their  social  relation  is  the 
marked  equality  and  affection  which  sub- 
sists between  husband  and  wife.  Careful 
observations  extended  over  many  years 
prove  that  not  only  is  the  husband's  au- 
thority more  or  less  nominal,,  but  that  it  is 
not  at  all  an  uncommon  occurrence  for 
Andamanese  benedicts  to  be  considerably 
at  the  beck  and  call  of  their  better  halves." 
— MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, int.,  p.  7.  (A,  1894.) 

2959.  SCAFFOLDING  OF  SCIENCE 

— Dry  Bones  of  Detail — Astronomy  in  Itself 
Interesting  and  Practical. — Far  from  being 
a  difficult  and  inaccessible  science,  astrono- 
my is  the  science  which  concerns  us  most, 
the  one  most  necessary  for  our  general  in- 
struction, and  at  the  same  time  the  one 
which  offers  for  our  study  the  greatest 
charms  and  keeps  in  reserve  the  highest 
enjoyments.  We  cannot  be  indifferent  to  it, 
for  it  alone  teaches  us  where  we  are  and 
what  we  are;  and,  moreover,  it  need  not 
bristle  with  figures,  as  some  severe  savants 
would  wish  us  to  believe.  The  algebraical 
formulae  are  merely  scaffoldings  analogous 
to  those  which  are  used  to  construct  an  ad- 
mirably designed  palace.  The  figures  drop 
off,  and  the  palace  of  Urania  shines  in  the 
azure,  displaying  to  our  wondering  eyes  all 


its  grandeur  and  all  its  magnificence. — 
FLAMMABION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch. 
1,  p.  1.  (A.) 

2960.  SCALES    USED   BY    PRIMI- 
TIVE   MAN— The    scale    or    balance    was 
known    in    America    before    the    discovery. 
The   Peruvians   made  beams    of  bone,   sus- 
pended little  nets   to  each   end,   supported 
the  beam  at  the  middle  by  means  of  a  cord, 
and  used  stones  for  weights.    The  transition 
from  the  balance  to  the  "  steelyard  "  is  not 
easy  to  make  out. — MASON   Origins  of  In- 
vention, ch.  2,  p.  68.      (S.,  1899.) 

2961.  SCAVENGERS,  INSECTS  AS— 

The  "  Driver  Ants  "  Help  to  Purify  Tropic- 
al Lands — Invasion  of  Human  Dwellings. 
— Savage  .  .  .  has  given  a  graphic  account 
of  the  driver  ants  (Anomma  arcens)  of  West 
Africa.  They  keep  down,  he  says,  "  the  more 
rapid  increase  of  noxious  insects  and  small- 
er reptiles;  consume  much  dead  animal  mat- 
ter, which  is  constantly  occurring,  decaying, 
becoming  offensive,  and  thus  vitiating  the 
atmosphere,  and  which  is  by  no  means  the 
least  important  in  the  torrid  zone,  often 
compelling  the  inhabitants  to  keep  their 
dwellings,  towns,  and  their  vicinity  in  a 
state  of  comparative  cleanliness.  The  dread 
of  them  is  upon  every  living  thing.  .  .  ; 

"  Their  entrance  into  a  house  is  soon 
known  by  the  simultaneous  and  universal 
movement  of  rats,  mice,  lizards,  Blapsidce, 
Blattidce,  and  of  the  numerous  vermin  that 
infest  our  dwellings.  .  .  . 

"  They  move  over  the  house  with  a  good 
degree  of  order,  unless  disturbed,  occasion- 
ally spreading  abroad,  ransacking  one  point 
after  another,  till,  either  having  found  some- 
thing desirable,  they  collect  upon  it,  when 
they  may  be  destroyed  en  masse  by  hot 
water.  .  .  . 

"  When  they  are  fairly  in,  we  give  up 
the  house,  and  try  to  await  with  patience 
their  pleasure,  thankful,  indeed,  if  permit- 
ted to  remain  within  the  narrow  limits  of 
our  beds  or  chairs." 

These  ants  will  soon  destroy  even  the 
largest  animal  if  it  is  confined.  In  one 
case  Savage  saw  them  kill  near  his  house 
a  snake  four  feet  long. — AVEBUBY  Ants, 
Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch.  4,  p.  63.  (A.,  1900.) 

2962.  SCAVENGERS   OF   THE  SEA 

— Service  Rendered  by  Gulls — Ocean  Trans- 
formed by  Their  Life  and  Beauty. — The 
herring  gull  ...  is  the  gull  we  see  in 
such  numbers  in  our  bays  and  harbors, 
flying  gracefully  and  apparently  aimlessly 
about,  but  in  reality  ever  keeping  its  bright 
black  eyes  fixed  on  the  water  in  search  of 
some  floating  morsel,  which  it  deftly  picks 
from  the  surface.  It  frequently  follows  ves- 
sels, hanging  over  the  stern  day  after  day, 
and  deserting  its  post  only  to  feed  on  scraps 
thrown  overboard  from  the  galley.  .  .  . 
Gulls  do  excellent  service  in  devouring  much 
refuse  that  would  otherwise  be  cast  ashore 
to  decay;  but,  useful  as  they  are  as  scaven- 


599 


SCIENTIFIC   SIDE-LIGHTS 


ivagery 
:ience 


gers,  I  feel  that  their  place  in  Nature  is 
to  animate  the  barren  wastes  of  the  sea. 
How,  when  at  sea,  the  presence  of  a  single 
gull  changes  the  whole  aspect  of  Nature! 
The  great  expanse  of  water,  which  before 
was  oppressive  in  its  dreary  lifelessness,  is 
transformed  by  the  white-winged  gulls  into 
a  scene  of  rare  beauty.  Every  voyager,  be 
he  naturalist  or  not,  admires  their  grace 
of  form  and  motion.  They  seem  born  of  the 
waves,  and  as  much  a  part  of  the  ocean 
as  the  foamy  whitecaps  themselves. — CHAP- 
MAN Bird-Life,  ch.  7,  p.  88.  (A.,  1900.) 

2963.  SCIENCE  ACCEPTS  POPULAR 
BELIEF — Rhea'a  Stomach  an  Ancient  Remedy 
— Now  Valued  for  Pepsin. — More  than  two 
centuries  ago  (very  ancient  times  for  South 
America}    the  gauchos  were  accustomed  to 
take  the  lining  of  the  rhea's  stomach,  dried 
and  powdered,  for  ailments  caused  by  im- 
paired digestion,  and  the  remedy  is  popular 
still.     Science  has  gone  over  to  them,  and 
the    ostrich-hunter    now    makes    a    double 
profit,  one  from  the  feathers,  and  the  other 
from  the  dried  stomachs  which  he  supplies 
to  the  chemists  of  Buenos  Ayres.     Yet  he 
was  formerly  told  that  to  take  the  stomach 
of  the  ostrich  to  improve  his  digestion  was 
as  wild  an  idea  as  it  would  be  to  swallow 
birds'  feathers  in  order  to  fly. — HUDSON  Nat- 
uralist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  4,  p.  79.     (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

2964.  SCIENCE   ADDS   GLORY   TO 
THE    VISION    OF    REDEMPTION— I  do 

not  enter  at  all  into  the  positive  evidence 
for  the  truth  of  the  Christian  revelation, 
my  single  aim  at  present  being  to  dispose 
of  one  of  the  objections  which  is  conceived 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  it.  Let  me  suppose, 
then,  that  this  is  done  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  a  philosophical  inquirer,  and  that 
the  evidence  is  sustained;  and  that  the 
same  mind  that  is  familiarized  to  all  the 
sublimities  of  natural  science,  and  has  been 
in  the  habit  of  contemplating  God  in  as- 
sociation with  all  the  magnificence  which 
is  around  him,  shall  be  brought  to  submit 
its  thoughts  to  the  captivity  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ.  Oh!  with  what  veneration,  and 
gratitude,  and  wonder  should  he  look  on 
the  descent  of  .Him  into  this  lower  world 
who  made  all  these  things,  and  without 
whom  was  not  anything  made  that  was 
made.  What  a  grandeur  does  it  throw  over 
every  step  in  the  redemption  of  a  fallen 
world,  to  think  of  its  being  done  by  Him 
who  unrobed  him  of  the  glories  of  so  wide 
a  monarchy,  and  came  to  this  humblest  of 
its  provinces,  in  the  disguise  of  a  servant, 
and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  our  degraded 
species,  and  let  himself  down  to  sorrows, 
and  to  sufferings,  and  to  death,  for  us!  In 
this  love  of  an  expiring  Savior  to  those 
for  whom  in  agony  he  poured  out  his  soul 
there  is  a  height,  and  a  depth,  and  a  length, 
and  a  breadth,  more  than  I  can  comprehend; 
and  let  me  never  from  this  moment  neglect 
so  great  a  salvation,  or  lose  my  hold  of  an 


atonement,  made  sure  by  Him  who  cried 
that  it  was  finished,  and  brought  in  an  ever- 
lasting righteousness.  —  CHALMERS  Astro- 
nomical Discourses,  disc.  3,  p.  85.  (R.  Ct., 
1848.) 

2965.  SCIENCE     ADVANCED     BY 
ARABS  IN    SPITE    OF   HINDRANCES  — 

Alchemy,  magic,  and  mystic  fancies,  de- 
prived by  scholastic  phra_seology  of  all 
poetic  charm,  corrupted  here,  as  elsewhere, 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  true  results  of  in- 
quiry; but  still  the  Arabs  have  enlarged 
the  views  of  Nature,  and  given  origin  to 
many  new  elements  of  knowledge,  by  their 
indefatigable  and  independent  labors,  while, 
by  means  of  careful  translations  into  their 
own  tongue,  they  have  appropriated  to 
themselves  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  earlier 
cultivated  generations.  Attention  has  been 
justly  drawn  to  the  great  difference  exist- 
ing in  the  relations  of  civilization  between 
immigrating  Germanic  and  Arabian  races. 
The  former  became  cultivated  after  their 
immigration;  the  latter  brought  with  them 
from  their  native  country  not  only  their 
religion,  but  a  highly  polished  language, 
and  the  graceful  blossoms  of  a  poetry  which 
has  not  been  wholly  devoid  of  influence  on 
the  Provencals  and  Minnesingers. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  212.  (H., 
1897.) 

2966.  SCIENCE,  A    HIGHER,   NOT 
TO  BE  MERGED  IN  A  LOWER—  Chemis- 
try— Mechanics — Physiology — Terms  of  the 
Lower  Misrepresent  the  Higher. — "  Any  at- 
tempt to  merge  the  distinctive  characteris- 
tic   of    a    higher    science    in    a    lower — of 
chemical  ehanges  in  mechanical;   of  physi- 
ological in  chemical;    above   all,  of  mental 
changes  in  physiological — is  a  neglect  of  the 
radical   assumption   of   all   science,   because 
it  is  an  attempt  to  deduce  representations 
— or  rather  misrepresentations — of  one  kind 
of   phenomenon   from   a    conception   of   an- 
other kind  which  does  not  contain  it,  and 
must  have  it  implicitly  and  illicitly  smug- 
gled in  before  it  can  be  extracted  out  of  it. 
Hence,  instead  of  increasing  our  means  of 
representing  the  universe  to  ourselves  with- 
out the  detailed  examination  of  particulars, 
such  a  procedure  leads  to  misconstructions 
of  fact  on  the  basis  of  an  imported  theory, 
and   generally   ends   in   forcibly   perverting 
the  least  known  science  to  the  type  of  the 
better    known." — DRUMMOND    Natural    Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  int.,  p.  19.    (H.  Al.) 

2967.  SCIENCE  A  LIVING  REALITY 

— To  Know  the  Actual  Earth  and  the 
Starry  Heavens — Carlyle's  Lament. — Think 
of  true  science  as  a  living  reality;  as  a 
faithful  expounder  of  all  that  is  worth 
knowing  and  that  can  be  known;  as  an  ex- 
isting power,  ever  anxious  in  its  unwearied 
march  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  man- 
kind; and  best  of  all,  perhaps,  as  an  ever- 
willing  instructor  of  all  who  will  come  to 
be  taught.  .  .  .  Let  us  bend  the  educa- 
tional twig  in  its  early  growth  that  our  ef- 


Science 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


600 


forts  may  be  perceptible  on  the  fully  grown 
tree.  Let  us  send  our  boys  and  girls  out 
into  the  world,  knowing  something  of  the 
world,  of  its  wonders  and  of  themselves,  as 
well  as  of  the  proprieties  of  life,  or  of  the 
dead  languages  and  modern  tongues.  I 
think  Carlyle  well  expresses  himself  regard- 
ing the  want  of  such  information  when  he 
says :  "  For  many  years  it  has  been  one  of 
my  constant  regrets  that  no  schoolmaster 
of  mine  had  a  knowledge  of  natural  history 
— so  far,  at  least,  as  to  have  taught  me  the 
grasses  that  grow  by  the  wayside,  and  the 
little  winged  or  wingless  neighbors  that  are 
continually  meeting  me  with  a  salutation 
that  I  cannot  answer  as  things  are.  Why," 
he  continues,  "  did  not  somebody  teach  me 
the  constellations,  and  make  me  at  home  in 
the  starry  heavens  which  are  always  over- 
head, and  which  I  don't  half  know  to  this 
day  ?  " — ANDREW  WILSON  Science-Culture 
for  the  Masses,  p.  30.  (A.,  1888.) 

2968.  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY 

— Each  Needs  Help  from  the  Other. — If  we 
consider  and  compare  the  most  important 
advances  which  the  human  mind  has  made 
in  the  knowledge  of  truth,  we  shall  soon 
see  that  it  is  always  owing  to  philosophical 
mental  operations  that  these  advances  have 
been  made,  and  that  the  experience  of  the 
senses  which  certainly  and  necessarily  pre- 
cedes these  operations,  and  the  knowledge 
of  details  gained  thereby,  only  furnish  the 
basis  for  those  general  laws.  Experience 
and  philosophy,  therefore,  by  no  means 
stand  in  such  exclusive  opposition  to  each 
other  as  most  men  have  hitherto  supposed; 
they  rather  necessarily  supplement  each 
other.  The  philosopher  who  is  wanting  in 
the  firm  foundation  of  sensuous  experience, 
of  empirical  knowledge,  is  very  apt  to  ar- 
rive at  false  conclusions  in  his  general 
speculations,  which  even  a  moderately  in- 
formed naturalist  can  refute  at  once.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  purely  empiric  natural- 
ists, who  do  not  trouble  themselves  about 
the  philosophical  comprehension  of  their 
sensuous  experiences  and  who  do  not  strive 
after  general  knowledge,  can  promote  sci- 
ence only  in  a  very  slight  degree,  and  the 
chief  value  of  their  hard-won  knowledge  of 
details  lies  in  the  general  results  which 
more  comprehensive  minds  will  one  day  de- 
rive from  them. — HAECKEL  History  of  Crea- 
tion, vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  81.  (K.  P.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

2969.  SCIENCE  AND  THE  SCHOOL- 
MEN— The  Abdication  of  Galileo.— The  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  Des- 
cartes reached  manhood,  is  one  of  the  great 
epochs  of  the  intellectual  life  of  mankind. 
At    that    time,    physical    science    suddenly 
strode  into  the  arena  of  public  and  familiar 
thought,    and   openly    challenged,    not   only 
philosophy  and  the  church,  but  that  com- 
mon ignorance  which  passes  by  the  name  of 
common  sense.     The  assertion  of  the  motion 
of  the  earth  was  a  defiance  to  all  three,  and 


physical  science  threw  down  her  glove  by 
the  hand  of  Galileo.  It  is  not  pleasant  to 
think  of  the  immediate  result  of  the  com- 
bat; to  see  the  champion  of  science,  old, 
worn,  and  on  his  knees  before  the  Cardinal 
Inquisitor,  signing  his  name  to  what  he 
knew  to  be  a  lie.  .  .  .  But  two  hundred 
years  have  passed,  and  however  feeble  or 
faulty  her  soldiers,  physical  science  sits 
crowned  and  enthroned  as  one  of  the  legiti- 
mate rulers  of  the  world  of  thought.  Char- 
ity children  would  be  ashamed  not  to  know 
that  the  earth  moves;  while  the  schoolmen 
are  forgotten. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm. 
14,  p.  330.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

2970.  SCIENCE,    APPLIED—  Not  a 

Special  Branch,  but  Simply  the  Practical 
Use  of  All. — Pasteur,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent members  of  the  Institute  of  France,  in 
accounting  for  the  disastrous  overthrow  of 
his  country  and  the  predominance  of  Ger- 
many in  the  late  war,  expresses  himself 
thus :  "  Few  persons  comprehend  the  real 
origin  of  the  marvels  of  industry  and  the 
wealth  of  nations.  I  need  no  further  proof 
of  this  than  the  employment  more  and  more 
frequent  in  official  language,  and  in  writing 
of  all  sorts,  of  the  erroneous  expression  ap- 
plied science.  The  abandonment  of  scien- 
tific careers  by  men  capable  of  pursuing 
them  with  distinction  was  recently  deplored 
in  the  presence  of  a  minister  of  the  greatest 
talent.  The  statesman  endeavored  to  show 
that  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  this  re- 
sult, because  in  our  day  the  reign  of  theo- 
retic science  yielded  place  to  that  of  applied 
science.  Nothing  could  be  more  erroneous 
than  this  opinion,  nothing,  I  venture  to  say, 
more  dangerous,  even  to  practical  life,  than 
the  consequences  which  might  flow  from 
these  words.  They  have  rested  in  my  mind 
as  a  proof  of  the  imperious  necessity  of  re- 
form in  our  superior  education.  There  ex- 
ists no  category  of  the  sciences  to  which  the 
name  of  '  applied '  science  could  be  rightly 
given.  We  have  science,  and  the  applica- 
tions of  science,  which  are  united  together 
as  the  tree  and  its  fruit."  [See  PRACTISE.] 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  p.  223.  (A., 
1898.) 

2971.  SCIENCE     A    REST     FROM 
STRIFE—  Man  against  Man. — While  on  the 
steppe   tigers   and   crocodiles   contend   with 
horses  and  cattle,  so  on  the  forest  borders 
and  in  the  wilds  of  Guiana  the  hand  of  man 
is  ever  raised  against  his  fellow  man.     With 
revolting  eagerness   some   tribes   drink   the 
flowing  blood   of  their   foes,   whilst  others, 
seemingly  unarmed,  yet  prepared  for  mur- 
der,   deal    certain    death    with    a    poisoned 
thumb-nail.     The  feebler  tribes,  when   they 
tread  the  sandy  shores,  carefully  efface  with 
their  hands   the   traces   of  t  their   trembling 
steps.    Thus  does  man,  everywhere  alike,  on 
the  lowest  scale  of  brutish  debasement,  and 
in  the  false  glitter  of  his  higher  culture,  per- 
petually create  for  himself  a  life  of  care. 
And  thus,  too,  the  traveler,  wandering  over 


601 


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the  wide  world  by  sea  and  land,  and  the  his- 
torian who  searches  the  records  of  bygone 
ages,  are  everywhere  met  by  the  unvarying 
and  melancholy  spectacle  of  man  opposed  to 
man.  He,  therefore,  who  amid  the  discord- 
ant strife  of  nations,  would  seek  intellectual 
repose,  turns  with  delight  to  contemplate 
the  silent  life  of  plants,  and  to  study  the 
hidden  forces  of  Nature  in  her  sacred 
sanctuaries;  or  yielding  to  that  inherent 
impulse,  which  for  thousands  of  years  has 
glowed  in  the  breast  of  man,  directs 
his  mind  by  a  mysterious  presentiment  of 
his  destiny  towards  the  celestial  orbs,  which, 
in  undisturbed  harmony,  pursue  their  an- 
cient and  eternal  course. — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  20.  (Bell,  1896.) 

2972.  SCIENCE  BEFORE  INSTRU- 
MENTS— Discovery  of  Kepler's  Laws  Antedated 
the  Telescope — Achievements  of  TychoBrahe 
and  Other  Early  Scientists. — The  basis  of  a 
very  important  part  of  the  astronomy  of 
our  planetary  system  was  already  laid  be- 
fore the  memorable  years  1608  and  1610, 
and  therefore  before  the  great  epoch  of 
the  invention  of  telescopic  vision,  and  its 
application  to  astronomical  purposes.  The 
treasure  transmitted  by  the  learning  of  the 
Greeks  and  Arabs  was  augmented  by  the 
careful  and  persevering  labors  of  George 
Purbach,  Regiomontanus  (i.  c.,  Johann  Miil- 
ler ) ,  and  Bernhard  Walther, of  Nurnberg.  To 
their  efforts  succeeded  a  bold  and  glorious 
development  of  thought  —  the  Copernican 
system;  this,  again,  was  followed  by  the 
rich  treasures  derived  from  the  exact  ob- 
servations of  Tycho  Brahe  and  the  combined 
acumen  and  persevering  spirit  of  calculation 
of  Kepler.  Two  great  men,  Kepler  and  Gali- 
leo, occupy  the  most  important  turning- 
point  in  the  history  of  measuring  astrono- 
my, both  indicating  the  epoch  that  separates 
observation  by  the  naked  eye,  tho  aided 
by  greatly  improved  instruments  of  meas- 
urement, from  telescopic  vision.  Galileo  was 
at  that  period  forty-four,  and  Kepler  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age;  Tycho  Brahe,  the  most 
exact  of  the  measuring  astronomers  of  that 
great  age,  had  been  dead  seven  years.  .  .  . 
None  of  Kepler's  contemporaries,  Galileo 
not  excepted,  bestowed  any  adequate  praise 
on  the  discovery  of  the  three  laws  which 
have  immortalized  his  name.  Discovered 
by  purely  empirical  methods,  altho  more 
rich  in  results  to  the  whole  domain  of  sci- 
ence than  the  isolated  discovery  of  unseen 
cosmical  bodies,  these  laws  belong  entirely 
to  the  period  of  natural  vision,  to  the  epoch 
of  Tycho  Brahe  and  his  observations,  altho 
the  printing  of  the  work  entitled  "  Astro- 
nomia  nova  seu  Physica  coelestis  de  motibus 
Stellse  Martis "  was  not  completed  until 
1609,  and  the  third  law,  that  the  squares 
of  the  periodic  times  of  revolution  of  two 
planets  are  as  the  cubes  of  their  mean  dis- 
tances, was  first  fully  developed  in  1619. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii.p.  69.  (H.,  1897.) 


2973.  SCIENCE    BROADENS    OUR 
ESTIMATE   OF    THE    UNIVERSE— .Leads 

to  Modest  Estimate  of  Ourselves  (Ps.  viii, 
4). — Did  the  discoveries  of  science  stop  here, 
we  have  enough  to  justify  the  exclamation 
of  the  psalmist,  "  What  is  man,  that  thou 
are  mindful  of  him;  or  the  son  of  man,  that 
thou  shouldest  deign  to  visit  him?"  They 
widen  the  empire  of  creation  far  beyond  the 
limits  which  were  formerly  assigned  to  it. 
They  give  us  to  see  that  yon  sun,  throned 
in  the  center  of  his  planetary  system,  gives 
light,  and  warmth,  and  the  vicissitude  of 
seasons  to  an  extent  of  surface  several  hun- 
dreds of  times  greater  than  that  of  the  earth 
which  we  inhabit.  They  lay  open  to  us  a 
number  of  worlds,  rolling  in  their  respective 
circles  around  this  vast  luminary,  and  prove 
that  the  ball  which  we  tread  upon,  with  all 
its  mighty  burden  of  oceans  and  continents, 
instead  of  being  distinguished  from  the 
others,  is  among  the  least  of  them,  and,  from 
some  of  the  more  distant  planets,  would  not 
occupy  a  visible  point  in  the  concave  of  their 
firmament.  They  let  us  know  that  tho  this 
mighty  earth,  with  all  its  myriads  of  peo- 
ple, were  to  sink  into  annihilation,  there 
are  some  worlds  where  an  event  so  awful 
to  us  would  be  unnoticed  and  unknown,  and 
others  where  it  would  be  nothing  more  than 
the  disappearance  of  a  little  star  which  had 
ceased  from  its  twinkling.  We  should  feel  a 
sentiment  of  modesty  at  this  just  but  hu- 
miliating representation.  We  should  learn 
not  to  look  on  our  earth  as  the  universe  of 
God,  but  one  paltry  and  insignificant  portion 
of  it;  that  it  is  only  one  of  the  many  man- 
sions which  the  Supreme  Being  has  created 
for  the  accommodation  of  his  worshipers, 
and  only  one  of  the  many  worlds  rolling  in 
that  flood  of  light  which  the  sun  pours 
around  him  to  the  outer  limits  of  the  planet- 
ary system. — CHALMERS  Astronomical  Dis- 
courses, p.  24.  (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

2974.  SCIENCE  CANNOT  DISPROVE 
THEOLOGY— Redemption  May  Reach  All  the 
Worlds  of  Space. — For  anything  he  [the  ob- 
jector] can  tell,  sin  has  found  its  way  into 
these  other  worlds.  For  anything  he  can  tell, 
their  people  have  banished  themselves  from 
communion  with  God.    .    .    .    For  anything 
he  can  tell,  the  redemption  proclaimed  to  us 
is  not  one  solitary  instance,  or  not  the  whole 
of  that  redemption  which  is  by  the  Son  of 
God,  but  only  our  part  in  a  plan  of  mercy, 
equal  in  magnificence  to  all  that  astronomy 
has    brought    within   the   range    of    human 
contemplation.     For   anything  he  can   tell, 
the   moral    pestilence,   which   walks   abroad 
over  the  face  of  our  world,  may  have  spread 
its   desolations  over  all  the  planets  of   all 
the  systems  which  the  telescope  has  made 
known  to  us.     .     .     .     For  anything  he  can 
tell,    the    wonder-working    God,    who    has 
strewed  the  field  of  immensity  with  so  many 
worlds,  and  spread  the  shelter  of  his  om- 
nipotence over  them,  may  have  sent  a  mes- 
sage of  love  to  each.     .    .     .    For  anything 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


603 


he  can  tell,  angels  from  paradise  may  have 
sped  to  every  planet  their  delegated  way, 
and  sung  from  each  azure  canopy  a  joyful 
annunciation,  and  said,  "  Peace  be  to  this 
residence,  and  good-will  to  all  its  families, 
and  glory  to  him  in  the  highest,  who,  from 
the  eminency  of  his  throne,  has  issued  an 
act  of  grace  so  magnificent  as  to  carry  the 
tidings  of  life  and  of  acceptance  to  the  un- 
numbered orbs  of  a  sinful  creation." — CHAL- 
MERS Astronomical  Discourses,  p.  58.  (R. 
Ct.,  1848.) 

2975.     SCIENCE    CANNOT     PROVE 

IMMORTALITY—  Types  of  Sound  and  Flame. 
— As  yet  we  know  of  no  fact,  which  can  be 
established  by  scientific  observation,  which 
would  show  that  the  finer  and  complex 
forms  of  vital  motion  could  exist  otherwise 
than  in  the  dense  material  of  organic  life; 
that  it  can  propagate  itself  as  the  sound- 
movement  of  a  string  can  leave  its  originally 
narrow  and  fixed  home  and  diffuse  itself  in 
the  air,  keeping  all  the  time  its  pitch  and 
the  most  delicate  shade  of  its  color-tint; 
and  that,  when  it  meets  another  string  at- 
tuned to  it,  starts  this  again  or  excites  a 
flame  ready  to  sing  to  the  same  tone.  The 
flame,  even,  which,  of  all  processes  in  inani- 
mate Nature,  is  the  closest  type  of  life,  may 
become  extinct,  but  the  heat  which  it  pro- 
duces continues  to  exist — indestructible,  im- 
perishable, as  an  invisible  motion,  now  agi- 
tating the  molecules  of  ponderable  matter, 
and  then  radiating  into  boundless  space  as 
the  vibration  of  an  ether.  Even  there  it  re- 
tains the  characteristic  peculiarities  of  its 
origin,  and  it  reveals  its  history  to  the 
inquirer  who  questions  it  by  the  spectro- 
scope. United  afresh,  these  rays  may  ignite 
a  new  flame,  and  thus,  as  it  were,  acquire 
a  new  bodily  existence. — HELMHOLTZ  Popu- 
lar Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  194.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1898.) 

2976.  SCIENCE  CONFRONTED  WITH 

MYSTERY—  Transition  from  Phenomena  of 
Physics  to  Phenomena  of  Thought  across  a 
Gulf. — When  we  endeavor  to  pass  by  a 
similar  process  from  the  phenomena  of  phys- 
ics to  those  of  thought  we  meet  a  problem 
which  transcends  any  conceivable  expansion 
of  the  powers  which  we  now  possess..  We 
may  think  over  the  subject  again  and  again, 
but  it  eludes  all  intellectual  presentation. 
We  stand  at  length  face  to  face  with  the 
incomprehensible.  The  territory  of  physics 
is  wide,  but  it  has  its  limits  from  which 
we  look  with  vacant  gaze  into  the  region 
beyond.  Let  us  follow  matter  to  its  utmost 
bounds,  let  us  claim  it  in  all  its  forms — 
even  in  the  muscles,  blood,  and  brain  of  man 
himself — as  ours  to  experiment  with  and 
to  speculate  upon.  Casting  the  term  "  vital 
force  "  from  our  vocabulary,  let  us  reduce, 
if  we  can,  the  visible  phenomena  of  life  to 
mechanical  attractions  and  repulsions.  Hav- 
ing thus  exhausted  physics  and  reached  its 
very  rim,  a  mighty  mystery  still  looms  be- 
yond us.  We  have,  in  fact,  made  no  step 


towards  its  solution. — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  391.  (A., 
1900.) 

2977.  SCIENCE,  CONQUESTS  OF— 

Arabs  Wot  Fitted  to  Work  Out  Highest  Re- 
sults.— As  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt  observes: 
"  What  would  be  the  condition  of  our  civili- 
zation at  the  present  day  if  the  Arabs  had 
remained,  as  they  long  did,  the  sole  possess- 
ors of  scientific  knowledge,  and  had  spread 
themselves  permanently  over  the  west?  A 
less  favorable  result  would  probably  have  su- 
pervened. .  .  .  It  is  to  the  same  causes 
which  procured  for  the  Romans  a  dominion 
over  the  world — the  Roman  spirit  and  char- 
acter— and  not  to  external  and  merely  ad- 
ventitious chances,  that  we  owe  the  influence 
exercised  by  the  Romans  on  our  civil  institu- 
tions, our  laws,  languages,  and  culture.  It 
was  owing  to  this  beneficial  influence  and  to 
the  intimate  alliance  of  races  that  we  were 
rendered  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  the 
Greek  mind  and  language,  while  the  Arabs 
directed  their  consideration  principally  only 
to  those  scientific  results  of  Greek  investi- 
gation which  referred  to  the  description  of 
Nature,  and  to  physical,  astronomical,  and 
purely  mathematical  science."  The  Arabs, 
by  carefully  preserving  the  purity  of  their 
native  tongue,  and  the  delicacy  of  their 
figurative  modes  of  expression,  were  enabled 
to  impart  the  charm  of  poetic  coloring  to 
the  expression  of  feeling  and  of  the  noble 
axioms  of  wisdom;  but,  to  judge  from 
what  they  were  under  the  Abbassides,  had 
they  built  on  the  same  foundation  with 
which  we  find  them  familiar  it  is  scarcely 
probable  that  they  could  have  produced 
those  works  of  exalted  poetic  and  creative 
art  which,  fused  together  in  one  harmonious 
accord,  are  the  glorious  fruits  of  the  mature 
season  of  our  European  culture. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  227.  (H.,  1897.) 

2978.  SCIENCE   DEMANDS  A  LIFE 
BEYOND   THAT   OF   THE  SENSES— Pic- 
torial Power   Needed   to  Deal  with   Under- 
lying  Principles. — The    life    of   the    experi- 
mental philosopher  is  twofold.    He  lives,  in 
his  vocation,  a  life  of  the  senses,  using  his 
hands,   eyes,   and  ears   in  his  experiments; 
but  such  a  question  as  that  now  before  us 
[the  ultimate  nature  of  light]   carries  him 
beyond  the  margin  of  the  senses.    He  cannot 
consider,    much    less    answer,    the   question, 
"  What  is  light  ?  "  without  transporting  him- 
self to  a  world  which  underlies  the  sensible 
one,  and  out  of  which  spring  all  optical  phe- 
nomena.    To  realize  this  subsensible  world, 
if  I  may  use  the  term,  the  mind  must  pos- 
sess   a    certain    pictorial    power. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  43.    (A.,  1898.) 

2979.  SCIENCE     DEPENDENT     ON 

ENVIRONMENT— Indeed,  the  experience  ac- 
quired by  its  [the  telescope  of  Lord  Rosse] 
use  plainly  shows  that  atmospheric  rather 
than  mechanical  difficulties  impede  a  still 
further  increase  of  telescopic  power.  Its 


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construction  may  accordingly  be  said  to 
mark  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  effort  in  one 
direction,  and  the  beginning  of  its  conver- 
sion towards  another.  It  became  thence- 
forward more  and  more  obvious  that  the 
conditions  of  observation  must  be  amelio- 
rated before  any  added  efficacy  could  be 
given  to  it.  The  full  effect  of  an  uncertain 
climate  in  nullifying  optical  improvements 
was  recognized,  and  the  attention  of  as- 
tronomers began  to  be  turned  toward  the 
advantages  offered  by  more  tranquil  and 
more  translucent  skies. — CLEBKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  148.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

2980.  SCIENCE  DESTROYING  IDOL- 
ATRY— Sun-worship  Impossible — Mind  Alone 
Adorable. — Has    not    science,    for    example, 
even  in  these  last  few  years,  rendered  forever 
impossible  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  nat- 
ural of  the  idolatries  of  the  world?     It  has 
disclosed  to  us  the  physical  constitution  of 
the  sun — that  great  heavenly  body  which  is 
one  of  the  chief  proximate  causes  of  all  that 
we  see  and  enjoy  on  earth,  and  which  has 
seemed  most  naturally   the   very   image   of 
the  Godhead  to  millions  of  the  human  race. 
We  now  know  the  sun  to  be  simply  a  very 
large  globe  of  solid  and  of  gaseous  matter, 
in  a   state  of  fierce   and  flaming  incandes- 
cence.    No  man  can  worship  a  ball  of  fire, 
however  big,  nor  can  he  feel  grateful  to  it, 
nor  love  it,  nor  adore  it,  even  tho  its  beams 
be  to  him  the  very  light  of  life.     Neither  in 
it  nor  in  the  mere  physical  forces  of  which 
it  is   the  center    can   we   see   anything   ap- 
proaching to  the  rank  and  dignity  of  even 
the  humblest  human  heart.     "  What  know 
we  greater  than  the  soul?  "     It  is  only  when 
we  come  to  think  of  the  coordination  and 
adjustment  of  these  physical  forces  as  part 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  heavens — it  is  only, 
in  short,  when  we  recognize  the  mental  .  .  . 
element,  that  the  universe  becomes  glorious 
and  intelligible,  as  indeed  a  cosmos — a  sys- 
tem   of   order   and  beauty   adapted   to   the 
various  ends  which  we  see  actually  attained, 
and   to   a    thousand    others    which    we    can 
only  guess. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  8, 
p.  183.     (Burt.) 

2981.  SCIENCE    DOES    NOT    CON- 
TROL ACTIVITIES— Logic  and  Reasoning- 
Ethics  and   Conduct. — The   science   of   logic 
never  made  a  man  reason  rightly,  and  the 
science  of  ethics   (if  there  be  such  a  thing) 
never    made    a    man    behave    rightly.      The 
most  such  sciences  can  do  is  to  help  us  to 
catch  ourselves  up  and  check  ourselves,  if 
we   start  to  reason   or   to  behave  wrongly, 
and  to  criticize  ourselves  more  articulately 
after   we  have   made   mistakes.      A   science 
only  lays  down  lines  within  which  the  rules 
of  the  art  must  fall,  laws  which  the  follower 
of  the  art  must  not  transgress;   but  what 
particular  thing  he  shall  positively  do  with- 
in those  lines  is  left  exclusively  to  his  own 
genius. — .TAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  1,  p. 
8.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


2982.  SCIENCE  DOES  NOT  DISDAIN 
THE  KITCHEN— Meat  Cooked  at  Lower  Tem- 
perature.— At  Munich  water  boils  at  209%° 
(on  account  of  its  elevation),  while  in  Lon- 
don the  boiling-point  is  212°.    "Yet  nobody, 
I   believe,   ever   perceived   that   boiled   meat 
was  less  done  at  Munich  than  at  London. 
But  if  meat  may  without  the  least  difficulty 
be  cooked  with  a  heat  of  209%°  at  Munich, 
why  should  it  not  be  possible  to  cook  it  with 
the  same  degree  of  heat  in  London?     If  this 
can  be  done  in  London  (which,  I  think,  can 
hardly  admit  of  a  doubt),  then  it  is  evident 
that  the  process  of  cookery  which  is  called 
boiling  may  be   performed  in  water  which 
is  not  boiling  hot." — COUNT  RUMFORD,  quo- 
ted by  WILLIAMS  in  Chemistry  of  Cookery, 
eh.  2,"  p.  16.    (A.  1900.) 

2983.  SCIENCE,  ECONOMIC  VALUE 
OF — Pasteur  Saves  Silk  Culture  of  France. — 
If  also  you  will  read  the  account    ...    of 
Pasteur's    researches    into    the    nature    and 
cause  of  the  great  silkworm  disease,  known 
as  "  pebrine,"   which  decimates  that  insect 
species  as  cholera  slays  its  human  thousands, 
you  will   discover   how   a   zoological   study 
saved  the  commercial  prosperity  of  France. 
Prior  to  Pasteur's  researches  the  silkworms 
died    in    multitudes    from    the    mysterious 
epidemic,   and   blank   ruin   stared   the   silk- 
growers  and  -cultivators  in  the  face.    When, 
however,  by  careful  study  of  the  causes  and 
conditions  of  the  disease,  Pasteur  had  made 
himself   master   of   the   situation,    and   had 
found  that  a  minute  plant-organism,  propa- 
gating itself  within  the  bodies  of  the  silk- 
worms  and   readily   conveyed   from   one   to 
the   other,   was   the   cause   of  the   disorder, 
his  countrymen  fully  realized  the  truth  of 
the  proverb  that  "  knowledge  is  power,"  and 
that  to  scientific  research  was  due  the  sal- 
vation of  their  commerce  and  the  rescue  of 
their    happiness    and    prosperity. — ANDREW 
WILSON  Science-Culture  for  the  Masses,  p. 
32.      (Hum.,  1888.) 

2984.  SCIENCE  FAVORS   SIMPLIC- 
ITY— Plain  Language  Required  by  Royal  So- 
ciety.—  It   [the  Royal   Society  in   time  of 
Charles  II.]  "  exacted  from  all  its  members 
a   close,   naked,    natural   way   of    speaking, 
positive  expressions,  clear  senses,   a  native 
easiness,   bringing   all    things    as    near   the 
mathematical    plainness    as    they    can,    and 
preferring  the   language   of  artisans,   coun- 
trymen, and  merchants  before  that  of  wits 
or  scholars."     Thence  sprang  that  require- 
ment which  enters  into  all  highly  developed 
modern  systems  of  patent  law,  that  a  speci- 
fication shall  not  be  addressed  to  the  erudite 
and  learned,  but  shall  be   written   in  such 
full,  clear,  and  exact  terms  that  any  person 
skilled  in  the  art  to  which  it  nearest  re- 
lates shall  be  able  to  understand  it  and  put 
it  in  practise.    In  a  word,  the  Royal  Society 
completely  revolutionized  didactic  and  tech- 
nical  writing  and   the   mode   of  expressing 
scientific  thought,   and  thereby  did  enough, 
had  it  immediately  afterwards  gone  out  of 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


604 


existence,  to  earn  for  itself  the  perpetual 
gratitude  of  mankind. — PARK  BENJAMIN  In- 
tellectual Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  13,  p.  412. 
(J.  W.,  1898.) 

2985.  SCIENCE      FOUNDED      ON 

FAITH — Confidence  in  the  Order  of  Nature — 
Man's  Thought  Sweeps  All  Space  and  All 
Time. — It  may  perhaps  appear  rash  that  we 
— restricted  as  we  are  in  the  circle  of  our 
observations  in  space,  by  our  position  on 
this  little  earth,  which  is  but  as  a  grain 
of  dust  in  our  Milky  Way,  and  limited  in 
time  by  the  short  duration  of  the  human 
race — that  we  should  attempt  to  apply  the 
laws  which  we  have  deduced  from  the  con- 
fined circle  of  facts  open  to  us  to  the  whole 
range  of  infinite  space,  and  of  time  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting.  But  all  our 
thought  and  our  action,  in  the  greatest 
as  well  as  in  the  least,  is  based  on  our 
confidence  in  the  unchangeable  order  of  Na- 
ture, and  this  confidence  has  hitherto  been 
the  more  justified  the  deeper  we  have  pene- 
trated into  the  interconnections  of  natural 
phenomena.  And  that  the  general  laws, 
which  we  have  found,  also  hold  for  the  most 
distant  vistas  of  space,  has  acquired  strong 
actual  confirmation  during  the  past  half- 
century.  —  HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  4,  p.  144.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

2986.  SCIENCE,  FOUR  PILLARS  OF 

— Nothing  Proved  Till  "  Foursquare  to  Op- 
position"— Crude  and  Hasty  Inference  Re- 
buked.— Every  completed  scientific  investi- 
gation must  consist  of  four  series  of  opera- 
tions. In  the  first  of  these  an  attempt  is 
made  to  collect  the  whole  of  the  facts  bear- 
ing on  the  question,  by  means  of  observa- 
tion and  experiment,  the  latter  being  only 
observation  under  conditions  determined  by 
ourselves.  In  the  second  stage  of  the  in- 
quiry the  attention  is  directed  to  classifying 
and  grouping  the  isolated  facts,  so  as  to 
determine  their  bearings  upon  one  another 
and  the  general  conclusions  to  which  they 
appear  to  point.  In  the  third  stage  it  is 
sought  to  frame  an  hypothesis  which  shall 
embrace  all  the  observed  facts,  and  shall  be 
in  harmony  with  the  general  conclusions 
derived  from  them.  In  the  fourth  stage  this 
hypothesis  is  put  to  the  most  rigid  test,  com- 
paring the  results  which  must  follow,  if  it 
be  true,  with  the  phenomena  actually  ob- 
served, and  rejecting  or  amending  our  hy- 
pothesis accordingly.  Every  great  scientific 
theory  has  thus  been  established  by  these 
four  processes — observation,  generalization, 
hypothesis,  and  verification.— JUDD  Volca- 
noes, ch.  12,  p.  331.  (A.,  1899.) 

2987.  SCIENCE  HAS  ALWAYS  NEW 
WORLDS  TO  CONQUER— As  men  contem- 
plate the  riches  of  Nature,  and  see  the  mass 
of  observations  incessantly  increasing  before 
them,  they  become  impressed  with  the  inti- 
mate conviction  that  the  surface   and   the 
interior    of    the   earth,    the    depths    of   the 
ocean,  and  the  regions  of  air  will  still,  when 


thousands  and  thousands  of  years  have 
passed  away,  open  to  the  scientific  observer 
untrodden  paths  of  discovery.  The  regret 
of  Alexander  cannot  be  applied  to  the  prog- 
ress of  observation  and  intelligence. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  41.  (H.,  1897.) 

2988.  SCIENCE  INDEPENDENT  OF 
PHILOSOPHICAL  THEORIES  —  Investiga- 
tor Should  Keep  to  His  Own  Department. — 
Neither  materialism  nor  spiritualism  is  a 
scientific  term,  and  one  need  have  no  con- 
cern with  them  in  a  scientific  inquiry  which, 
if  it  be  true  to  its  spirit,  is  bound  to  have 
regard  only  to  what  lies  within  its  powers 
and  to  the  truth  of  its  results.     It  would 
seem  to  be  full  time  that  vague  and  barren 
disputations     concerning    materialism     and 
spiritualism  should  end,  and  that,  instead 
of  continuing  such  fruitless  and  unprofitable 
discussion,    men    should    apply    themselves 
diligently  to  discover,  by  direct  interroga- 
tion of  Nature,  how  much  matter  can  do 
without  spiritual  help.     Let  each  investiga- 
tor  pursue   the   method   of   research   which 
most  suits  the  bent  of  his  genius,  and  here, 
as  in  other  departments  of  science,  let  each 
system  be  judged  by  its  fruits,  which  cannot 
fail  in  the  end  to  be  the  best  sponsors  and 
sureties    for    its    truth.  —  MAUDSLEY   Body 
and  Mind,  pref.,  p.  6.     (A.,  1898.) 

2989.  SCIENCE  IN  ITS  PRACTICAL 
BEARINGS—  The  Material   Triumphs  of  the 
Nineteenth    Century.  —  When    our    century, 
with  justice,   is  called   the  age  of  natural 
science,  when  we  look  with  pride  upon  the 
immensely  important  progress  made  in  all 
its  branches,  we  are  generally  in  the  habit 
of  thinking  more  of  immediate  practical  re- 
sults, and  less  of  the  extension  of  our  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  Nature.    We  call  to  mind 
the   complete  reform,   so   infinitely  rich   in 
consequences   to    human  intercourse,    which 
has  been  effected  by  the  development  of  ma- 
chinery, by  railways,  steamships,  telegraphs, 
and  other  inventions  of  physics.  Or  we  think 
of  the  enormous  influence  which  chemistry 
has  brought   to  bear   upon   medicine,   agri- 
culture,   and   upon    all    arts    and   trades. — 
HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  2.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

2990.  SCIENCE   IN   PRESENCE  OF 
THE  OLD  MYSTERY— Infinite  Purpose  As- 
sociated with  Endless  Material  Evolution. — 
The  wave  of  life  which  is  now  passing  over 
our  earth  is  but  a  ripple  in  the  sea  of  life 
within  the  solar  system;    this  sea  of  life  is 
itself  but  as  a  wavelet  on  the  ocean  of  eter- 
nal   life   throughout   the  universe.      Incon- 
ceivable,   doubtless,    are   these  infinities    of 
time  and  space,  of  matter,  of  motion,  and  of 
life.     Inconceivable  that  the  whole  universe 
can  be  for  all  time  the  scene  of  the  operation 
of  infinite  personal  power,  omnipresent,  all- 
knowing!       Utterly    incomprehensible    how 
infinite  purpose  can  be  associated  with  end- 
less material  evolution!     But  it  is  no  new 
thought,    no    modern    discovery,    that    we 


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are  thus  utterly  powerless  to  conceive  or 
comprehend  the  idea  of  an  Infinite  Being, 
almighty,  all-knowing,  omnipresent,  and 
eternal,  of  whose  inscrutable  purpose  the 
material  universe  is  the  unexplained  mani- 
festation. Science  is  in  presence  of  the  old, 
old  mystery;  the  old,  old  questions  are 
asked  of  her :  "  Canst  thou  by  searching 
find  out  God?  canst  thou  find  out  the  Al- 
mighty unto  perfection?  It  is  as  high  as 
heaven;  what  canst  thou  do?  deeper  than 
hell;  what  canst  thou  know?"  (Job  xi,  7.) 
And  science  answers  these  questions  as  they 
were  answered  of  old :  "  As  touching  the  Al- 
mighty, we  cannot  find  him  out"  (Job 
xxxvii,  23 ) . — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  In- 
finities, p.  34.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2991.  SCIENCE,  INSTRUCTION    IN 

— Progress  of  Germany  through  Scientific 
Education. — If  we  investigate  more  closely 
the  causes  of  the  wonderful  strides  which 
Germany  has  made  in  all  directions,  we 
shall  find  that  it  is  not  due  to  the  mystified 
and  inexplicable  ponderous  phrases  of  their 
philosophers,  nor  to  the  beautiful  and  de- 
scriptive verses  of  their  poets,  nor  yet  to  the 
system  of  federation  and  the  great  victories 
due  to  their  statesmen  and  warriors.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  will  find  that  this  prog- 
ress is  due  directly  to  the  system  of  instruc- 
tion in  science,  which  during  the  last  hun- 
dred years  has  permeated  all  parts  of  the 
German  Empire,  dominating  the  faculties  of 
its  universities  and  absorbing  all  the  ener- 
gies of  its  technical  schools.  And  among 
the  sciences  whose  teachings  have  made  this 
great  progress  possible  chemistry  easily 
stands  at  the  head. 

Directly  springing  from  the  instruction 
given  in  the  universities  and  technical 
schools  have  grown  the  great  industries 
which  have  pushed  the  German  people  to  the 
forefront  in  many  of  the  leading  pursuits  of 
civilized  life. — WILEY  Relations  of  Chemis- 
try to  Industrial  Progress  (Address  at  Pur- 
due University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  16). 

2992.  SCIENCE  IS  EXACT,  SYSTEM- 
ATIZED KNOWLEDGE— Material  for  Sci- 
ence  Gained  Even   by  Savages. — Science  is 
exact,    regular,    arranged    knowledge.      Of 
common  knowledge  savages  and  barbarians 
have  a  vast  deal,  indeed  the  struggle  of  life 
could   not  be   carried   on   without  it.      The 
rude  man  knows  much  of  the  properties  of 
matter,  how  fire  burns  and  water  soaks,  the 
heavy  sinks  and  the  light  floats,  what  stone 
will  serve  for  the  hatchet  and  what  wood  for 
its  handle,  which  plants  are  food  and  which 
are  poison,  what  are  the  habits  of  the  ani- 
mals that  he  hunts  or  that  may  fall  upon 
him.    He  has  notions  how  to  cure,  and  much 
better  notions  how  to  kill.     In  a  rude  way 
he  is  a  physicist  in  making  fire,  a  chemist 
in  cooking,  a  surgeon  in  binding  up  wounds, 
a    geographer    in    knowing    his    rivers    and 
mountains,  a  mathematician  in  counting  on 
his  fingers.     All  this  is  knowledge,   and  it 
was  on  these  foundations  that  science  proper 


began  to  be  built  up,  when  the  art  of  writing 
had  come  in  and  society  had  entered  on  the 
civilized  stage. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch. 
13,  p.  309.  (A.,  1899.) 

2993.  SCIENCE   JUSTIFIES    PRAC- 
TICAL SAGACITY  -Solidification  of  Alpine 
Snow. — Upon  the  wall  of  rock  was  placed  a 
second  wall  of  snow,  which  dwindled  to  a 
pure  knife-edge  at  the  top.     It  was  white, 
of  very  fine  grain,  and  a  little  moist.     How 
to  pass  this  snow  catenary  I  knew  not,  for 
I  did  not  think  a  human  foot  could  trust  it- 
self upon  so  frail  a  support.    Bennen's  prac- 
tical sagacity,  however,  came  into  play.    He 
tried  the  snow  by  squeezing  it  with  his  foot, 
and  to  my  astonishment  began  to  cross  it. 
Even  after  the  pressure  of  his  feet  the  space 
he  had  to  stand  on  did  not  exceed  a  hand- 
breadth.     I  followed  him,  exactly  as  a  boy 
walking  along  a  horizontal  pole,  with  toes 
turned  outwards.     Right  and  left  the  preci- 
pices were  appalling.     We  reached  the  op- 
posite  rock,   and   an  earnest  smile   rippled 
over    Bennen's    countenance    as    he    turned 
towards  me.     He  knew  that  he  had  done  a 
daring  thing,  tho  not  a  presumptuous  one. 
"  Had  the  snow,"  he  said,  "  been  less  perfect, 
I  should  not  have  thought  of  attempting  it; 
but  I  knew  after  I  had  set  my  foot  upon  the 
ridge  that  we  might  pass  without  fear." 

It  is  quite  surprising  what  a  number  of 
things  the  simple  observation  made  by  Fara- 
day in  1846  [see  REGELATION]  enables  us  to 
explain.  Bennen's  instinctive  act  is  justi- 
fied by  theory.  The  snow  was  fine  in  grain, 
pure,  and  moist.  When  pressed,  the  attach- 
ments of  its  granules  were  innumerable,  and 
their  perfect  cleanness  enabled  them  to  freeze 
together  with  a  maximum  energy.  It  was 
this  freezing  which  gave  the  mass  its  sus- 
taining power. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise 
in  the  Alps,  ch.  9,  p.  99.  (A.,  1898.) 

2994.  SCIENCE,  MODERN,  IS  PRAC- 
TICAL —  Bacteriology  Studies  Prevention  of 
Disease — Life-and-Death   Battles   under   the 
Microscope. — The  object  of  modern  bacteri- 
ology  is   not  merely  to   accumulate  tested 
facts  of  knowledge,   nor   only  to   learn   the 
truth  respecting  the  biology  and  life-history 
of    bacteria.      These    are    most    important 
things  from  a  scientific  point  of  view.     But 
they  are  also  a  means  to  an  end;    that  end 
is    the   prevention    of  preventable    diseases 
and  the  treatment  of  any  departure  from 
health.    In  a  science  not  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury   old    much    has    already    been    accom- 
plished  in   this   direction.     The   knowledge 
acquired  of,   and  the  secrets  learned  from, 
these  tiny  vegetable  cells,  which  have  such 
potentiality  for  good  or  evil,  have  been,  in 
some  degree,   turned   against  them.     When 
we  know  what  favors  their  growth  and  vi- 
tality and  virulence,  we  know  something  of 
the  physical  conditions  which  are  inimical 
to  their  life;    when  we  know  how  to  grow 
them,   we   also   know  how  to   kill   them. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  9,  p.  322.    (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 


Science 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


606 


2995.  SCIENCE,     NATURAL,    THE 
LIMITS  OF — Physics,  as  the  name  itself  im- 
plies, can  only  deduce  the  phenomena  of  the 
physical  world  from  the  properties  of  mat- 
ter: the  highest  aim  of  experimental  science 
is   therefore   to  ascend  to   the  existence  of 
the  laws,  and  progressively  to  generalize  the 
same.      Whatever   lies  beyond  is   no   object 
for    physical    demonstration,    it   belongs    to 
another  order  of  more  elevated  speculations. 
Immanuel  Kant,  one  of  the  few  philosophers 
whom  no   one  has  yet  accused  of  impiety, 
has,  with  rare  sagacity,  indicated  the  limits 
of  physical  explanation  in  his  renowned  "Es- 
sai   sur   la  Theorie  et  la   Construction   des 
Cieux,"  Koenigsberg,  1775. — HUMBOLDT  Pre- 
face to  French   translation  of  the   Cosmos. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

2996.  SCIENCE  NEITHER  PROVES 
NOR    DENIES   A    GOD—  The  Inconceivable 
May  Still  Be  Fact — The  Realities  of  Science 
Point  to  Infinite  Purpose. — So  far  as  science 
is  concerned,  the  idea  of  a  personal  God  is 
inconceivable,  as  are  all  the  attributes  which 
religion  recognizes  in  such  a  being.     On  the 
other  hand,  it  should  be  admitted  as  dis- 
tinctly, that  science  no  more  disproves  the 
existence  of  infinite  personal  power  or  wis- 
dom than  she  disproves  the  existence  of  in- 
finite material  energy    (which   on  the  con- 
trary must  be  regarded  as  probable ) ,  or  the 
existence  of  infinite  space  or  time    (which 
must  be  regarded  as  certain ) ....     To 
the  man  of  science,  observing  the  operation 
of  second  causes  in  every  process  with  which 
his  researches  deal,  and  finding  no  limit  to 
the  operation  of  such   causes,  however  far 
back  he  may  trace  the  chain  of  causation, 
the  idea  of  a  first  cause  is  as  inconceivable 
in  its  relation  to  observed  scientific  facts  as 
is  the  idea  of  infinite  space  in  its  relation  to 
the   finite   space  to  which  the  observations 
of  science  extend.     Yet  infinite  space  must 
be  admitted;    nor  do  I  see  how  even  that 
man  of  science  who  would  limit  his  thoughts 
most   rigidly   to   facts   can   admit   that  all 
things  are  of  which  he  thinks,  without  hav- 
ing  impressed   upon   him  the  feeling  that, 
in   some  way   he   cannot   understand,   these 
things    represent   the   operation    of    infinite 
purpose. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infini- 
ties, p.  2.      (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

2997.  SCIENCE    NOT    A    REVELA- 
TION OF  SPIRITUAL  TRUTH— No  Moral 
Telescope  to  Make  Discoveries  in  the  Spiri- 
tual Realm. — Without  the  testimony  of  an 
authentic   messenger   from   heaven,   I   know 
nothing  of  heaven's  counsels.     I  never  heard 
of  any  moral  telescope  that  can  bring  to  my 
observation  the  doings  or  the  deliberations 
which  are  taking  place  in  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Eternal.     I  may  put  into  the  registers 
of   my   belief  all   that   comes   home   to   me 
through  the  senses  of  the  outer  man,  or  by 
the  consciousness   of  the   inner  man.      But 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can  tell  me  of 
the  purposes   of  God;     can   tell  me  of  the 


transactions  or  the  designs  of  his  sublime 
monarchy;  can  tell  me  of  the  goings  forth 
of  Him  who  is  from  everlasting  unto  ever- 
lasting; can  tell  me  of  the  march  and  the 
movements  of  that  great  administration 
which  embraces  all  worlds,  and  takes  into 
its  wide  and  comprehensive  survey  the 
mighty  roll  of  innumerable  ages.  .  .  . 
The  more  that  this  spirit  [the  modesty  of 
true  science]  is  cultivated  and  understood, 
the  more  will  it  be  found  in  alliance  with 
that  spirit,  in  virtue  of  which  all  that  exalt- 
eth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God  is 
humbled,  and  all  lofty  imaginations  are  cast 
down,  and  every  thought  of  the  heart  is 
brought  into  the  captivity  of  the  obedience 
of  Christ. — CHALMERS  Astronomical  Dis- 
courses, disc.  2,  p.  65.  (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

2998.  SCIENCE  NOT  TO  BE  ESTI- 
MATED BY  MERE  UTILITY— There  is  no 
science  whose  value  can  be  adequately  esti- 
mated by  economists  and  utilitarians  of  the 
lower  order.  Its  true  quantities  cannot  be 
represented  by  arithmetical  figures  or  mone- 
tary tables;  for  its  effects  on  mind  must  be 
as  surely  taken  into  account  as  its  opera- 
tions on  matter,  and  what  it  has  accom- 
plished for  the  human  intellect  as  certainly 
as  what  it  has  done  for  the  comforts  of  so- 
ciety or  the  interests  of  commerce.  Who 
can  attach  a  marketable  value  to  the  discov- 
eries of  Newton? — MILLER  Old  Red  Sand- 
stone, ch.  10,  p.  177.  (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

-     2999.      SCIENCE    OF    NATURE  —  A 

Universal  System. — This,  then,  is  what  is 
designed  to  be  conveyed  by  the  "  foundation 
of  astronomical  or  cosmical  physics."  It 
means  the  establishment  of  a  science  of  Na- 
ture whose  conclusions  are  not  only  pre- 
sumed by  analogy,  but  are  ascertained  by 
observation,  to  be  valid  wherever  light  can 
travel  and  gravity  is  obeyed — a  science  by 
which  the  nature  of  the  stars  can  be  studied 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  nature  of  the  earth 
can  be  made  better  known  by  study  of  the 
stars — a  science,  in  a  word,  which  is,  or 
aims  at  being.,  one  and  universal,  even  as 
Nature — the  visible  reflection  of  the  invis- 
ible highest  Unity — is  one  and  universal. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1, 
p.  176..  (Bl.,  1893.) 

3OOO.      SCIENCE     OF     POLITICS  — 

Knowledge  of  Social  Laws  Still  Rudimen- 
tary.— The  world  is  not  so  prosperous  or  so 
happy  as  that  we  should  readily  or  willingly 
believe  in  the  exhaustion  of  the  means 
which  are  at  our  disposal  for  its  better  guid- 
ance. Especially  in  the  great  science  of  poli- 
tics, which  investigates  the  complicated 
forces  whose  action  and  reaction  determine 
the  condition  of  organized  societies  of  men, 
we  are  still  standing,  as  it  were,  only  at  the 
break  of  day.  Our  command  over  the  exter- 
nal elements  of  Nature  is,  beyond  all  com- 
parison, in  advance  of  our  command  over 
the  resources  of  human  character. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  7,  p.  228.  (Burt.) 


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3001.  SCIENCE   OVERCOMES  DIF- 
FICULTIES —  Color-photography.  —  It  has 
long  been  the  dream  of  photographers  to  dis- 
cover some  mode  of  obtaining  pictures  which 
shall    reproduce    all    the    colors    of    Nature 
without    the    intervention    of    the    artist's 
manipulation.     This  was  seen  to  be  exceed- 
ingly difficult,  if  not  impossible,  because  the 
chemical    action    of    colored    light    has    no 
power  to  produce  pigments  of  the  same  color 
as  the  light  itself,  without  which  a  photo- 
graph in  natural  colors  would  seem  to  be 
impossible.     Nevertheless,  the  problem  has 
been  solved,  but  in  a  totally  different  man- 
ner ;    that  is,  by  the  principle  of  "  interfer- 
ence," instead  of  by  that  of  chemical  action. 
This   principle   was   discovered  by  Newton, 
and  is  exemplified  in  the  colors  of  the  soap- 
bubble,  and  in  those  of  mother-of-pearl  and 
other  iridescent  objects.     It  depends  on  the 
fact  that  the  differently  colored  rays  are  of 
different   wave-lengths,    and   the    waves    re- 
flected from  two  surfaces  half  a  wave-length 
apart  neutralize  each   other  and   leave  the 
remainder  of  the  light  colored.     If,  there- 
fore,  each   differently  colored   ray  of   light 
can   be   made   to   produce   a    corresponding 
minute    wave-structure    in    a    photographic 
film,  then  each  part  of  the  film  will  reflect 
only  light  of  that  particular   wave-length, 
and  therefore  of  that  particular  color,  that 
produced  it.    This  has  actually  been  done  by 
Professor    Lippmann,    of    Paris,    who    pub- 
lished his  method  in  1891 ;    and  in  a  lecture 
before  the  Royal  Society  in  April,  1896,  he 
fully  described  it  and  exhibited  many  beau- 
tiful specimens. — WALLACE   The  Wonderful 
Century,  ch.  5,  p.  36.    (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3002.  SCIENCE  PERSONIFIES  FOR- 
CES— Laws  Invested  with  Attributes  of  Mind. 
— The  universal  prevalence  of  this  idea  of 
purpose  in  Nature  is  indicated  by  the  irre- 
sistible tendency  which  we  observe  in  the 
language  of  science  to  personify  the  forces, 
and  the  combinations  of  force  by  which  all 
natural  phenomena  are  produced.     It  is  a 
great  injustice  to  scientific  men — too  often 
committed — to   suspect  them   of  unwilling- 
ness to  accept  the  idea  of  a  personal  Creator 
merely  because  they  try  to  keep  separate  the 
language   of  science   from   the   language   of 
theology.     But  it  is  curious  to  observe  how 
this  endeavor  constantly  breaks  down — how 
impossible  it  is  in  describing  physical  phe- 
nomena   to    avoid    the    phraseology    which 
identifies  them  with  the  phenomena  of  mind, 
and  is  molded  on  our  own  conscious  person- 
ality and  will.    It  is  impossible  to  avoid  this 
language  simply  because  no  other  language 
conveys  the  impression  which  innumerable 
structures  leave  upon  the  mind.     Take,  for 
example,    the    word    "contrivance."      How 
could  science  do  without  it?    How  could  the 
great  subject  of  animal  mechanics  be  dealt 
with  scientifically  without  continual  refer- 
ence to  law ^  as  that  by  which,  and  through 
which,    special   organs   are   formed    for   the 
doing  of  special  work?     What  is  the  very 


definition  of  a  machine?  Machines  do  not 
increase  force,  they  only  adjust  it.  The  very 
idea  and  essence  of  a  machine  is  that  it  is  a 
contrivance  for  the  distribution  of  force 
with  a  view  to  its  bearing  on  special  pur- 
poses. A  man's  arm  is  a  machine  in  which 
the  law  of  leverage  is  supplied  to  the  vital 
force  for  the  purposes  of  prehension.  .  .  . 
Anatomy  supplies  an  infinite  number  of 
similar  examples.  It  is  impossible  to  describe 
or  explain  the  facts  we  meet  with  in  this 
or  in  any  other  branch  of  science  without 
investing  the  "  laws  "  of  Nature  with  some- 
thing of  that  personality  which  they  do 
actually  reflect,  or  without  conceiving  of 
them  as  partaking  of  those  attributes  of 
mind  which  we  everywhere  recognize  in  their 
working  and  results. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  2,  p.  54.  (Burt.) 

3OO3.       SCIENCE,     PHYSICAL     VS. 

MENTAL— Individuality  of  Consciousness.— 
The  phenomena  of  the  external  world  are 
so  palpable  and  so  easily  described  that  the 
experience  of  one  observer  suffices  to  render 
the  facts  he  has  witnessed  intelligible  and 
probable  to  all.  The  phenomena  of  the  in- 
ternal world,  on  the  contrary,  are  not  capa- 
ble of  being  thus  described;  all  that  the 
prior  observer  can  do  is  to  enable  others 
to  repeat  his  experience.  In  the  science  of 
mind  we  can  neither  understand  nor  be  con- 
vinced of  anything  at  second  hand.  Here 
testimony  can  impose  no  belief,  and  instruc- 
tion is  only  instruction  as  it  enables  us  to 
teach  ourselves.  A  fact  of  consciousness, 
however  accurately  observed,  however  clearly 
described,  and  however  great  maybe  our  con- 
fidence in  the  observer,  is  for  us  as  zero,  until 
we  have  observed  and  recognized  it  ourselves. 
Till  that  be  done  we  cannot  realize  its  possi- 
bility, far  less  admit  its  truth.  Thus  it  is 
that,  in  the  philosophy  of  mind,  instruction 
can  do  little  more  than  point  out  the  position 
in  which  the  pupil  ought  to  place  himself,  in 
order  to  verify,  by  his  own  experience,  the 
facts  which  his  instructor  proposes  to  him 
as  true. — HAMILTON  Metaphysics,  lect.  1,  p. 
11.  (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

3OO40       SCIENCE,     PRACTICAL  —  A 

Message  of,  to  Man  about  Himself. — What 
science  has  to  say  about  himself  is  of  tran- 
scendent interest  to  man,  and  the  practical 
bearings  of  this  theme  are  coming  to  be 
more  vital  than  any  on  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge.— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  pref.,  p. 
5.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 


3005. 


Utility  Sought  and 


Attained — Treatment  of  Soil  to  Avoid  Frost. 
— From  the  fact  of  the  great  heat-absorp- 
tion by  dark  soils,  the  increased  loss  of 
heat  by  night  necessarily  follows.  In  such 
districts  the  occurrence  of  night  frosts  is 
promoted  in  a  high  degree,  a  result  that  is 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  vegetation. 
Experiments  on  a  great  scale  have  been 
made  in  the  black,  low  grounds  of  North 
Germany — for  instance,  in  Dromling,  the 


•ience 
jiences 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


608 


great  marsh  at  the  source  of  the  rivers 
Aller  and  Ohre.  These  resulted  in  the  in- 
teresting discovery  that  on  clear  nights  the 
nightly  minimal  temperature  was  several 
degrees  lower  upon  the  uncovered  black 
moor  earth  than  upon  neighboring  places 
close  by  of  a  different  character  of  soil.  But 
if  the  moor  soil  was  covered  with  a  layer  of 
sand  ten  centimeters  in  thickness,  as  is  the 
procedure  in  tilling  the  moor  dikes,  the  dif- 
ference in  the  radiation  of  heat  immediately 
disappeared,  so  that  this  greatest  danger 
to  vegetation  was  materially  lessened. — ASS- 
MAN,  article  on  Klima,  p.  157,  in  KIRCH- 
HOFF'S  Anleitung  zur  deutschen  Landes-  und 
Volksforschung.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

3006.  SCIENCE  REPLACING  SUPER- 
STITION— Observation  and  Reasoning  Correct 
Disorders   of  Imagination. — Among  nations 
least  advanced  in  civilization  the  imagina- 
tion  revels   in   strange   and   fantastic   crea- 
tions, and,  by  its  predilection  for  symbols, 
alike  influences  ideas  and  language.    Instead 
of   examining,    men   are   led   to   conjecture, 
dogmatize,  and  interpret  supposed  facts  that 
have  never  been  observed.     The  inner  world 
of  thought  and  of  feeling  does  not  reflect  the 
image  of  the  external  world  in  its  primitive 
purity.     That  which  in  some  regions  of  the 
earth  manifested  itself  as  the  rudiments  of 
natural   philosophy,   only  to   a  small  num- 
ber of  persons  endowed  with  superior  intel- 
ligence, appears  in  other  regions,  and  among 
entire  races  of  men,  to  be  the  result  of  mys- 
tic tendencies  and  instinctive  intuitions.   An 
intimate  communion  with  Nature,  and  the 
vivid    and    deep    emotions    thus    awakened, 
are   likewise   the   source    from   which   have 
sprung  the  first  impulses  toward  the  wor- 
ship and  deification  of  the  destroying  and 
preserving  forces  of  the  universe.     But  by 
degrees,  as  man,  after  having  passed  through 
the  different  gradations  of  intellectual  de- 
velopment, arrives  at  the  free  enjoyment  of 
the  regulating  power  of  reflection,  and  learns 
by  gradual  progress,  as  it  were,  to  separate 
the  world  of  ideas  from  that  of  sensations, 
he  no  longer  rests  satisfied  merely  with  a 
vague  presentiment  of  the  harmonious  unity 
of  natural  forces;   thought  begins  to  fulfil 
its  noble  mission,  and  observation,  aided  by 
reason,  endeavors  to  trace  phenomena  to  the 
causes  from  which  they  spring. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  37.     (H.,  1897.) 

3007.  SCIENCE,  ROMANCE  OF—  The 

Story  of  Man. — The  last  romance  of  science, 
the  most  daring  it  has  ever  tried  to  pen, 
is  the  story  of  the  ascent  of  man.  Withheld 
from  all  the  wistful  eyes  that  have  gone 
before,  whose  reverent  ignorance  forbade 
their  wisest  minds  to  ask  to  see  it,  this 
final  volume  of  natural  history  has  begun 
to  open  with  our  century's  close. — ^DRUM- 
MONO  Ascent  of  Mew, eh.  l,p.  1.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3008.  SCIENCE,     SPURIOUS,     IN 
EARLY  EGYPT— A  Record  of  Dead  Facts.— 
Of  science  properly  so  called  the  Egyptian 


had  none.  He  claimed  to  have  made  rec- 
ords of  natural  facts  for  ages,  such,  for  ex- 
ample, as  astronomical  observations,  which, 
as  he  boasted,  had  been  kept  up  for  six 
thousand  centuries.  But  out  of  this  vast 
storehouse  of  accumulated  data  not  a  single 
theory  explanatory  of  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  ever  emerged.  He  heaped 
up  facts  as  he  did  the  stones  of  the  great 
pyramid,  with  infinite  labor,  and  over  a 
great  interval  of  time,  but  the  mountain 
of  facts  was  as  lifeless  as  the  mountain  of 
stone.  It  was  dead,  it  held  the  dead,  and 
there  was  no  health  in  it. — PARK  BENJAMIN 
Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  2,  p.  32. 
(J.  W.,  1898.) 

3x>O9.  SCIENCE  TEACHES  PROTEC- 
TION— Pasteurization  or  Sterilization  of  Milk. 
— The  bacteria  causing  the  diseases  convey- 
able  by  milk  succumb  at  much  lower  tem- 
peratures than  the  boiling-point.  Advantage 
is  taken  of  this  in  the  process  known  as 
"  pasteurization."  By  this  method  the  milk 
is  heated  to  167-185°  F.  (75-85°  C.).  Such 
a  temperature  kills  harmful  microbes,  be- 
cause 75°  C.  is  decidedly  above  their  aver- 
age thermal  death-point,  and  yet  the  physic- 
al changes  in  the  milk  are  practically  nil, 
because  85°  C.  does  not  relatively  approach 
the  boiling-point.  There  is  no  fixed  stand- 
ard for  pasteurization,  except  that  it  must 
be  above  the  thermal  death-point  of  patho- 
genic bacteria,  and  yet  below  the  boiling- 
point.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  158°  F.  (70° 
C.)  will  kill  all  souring  bacteria  as  well  as 
disease-producing  organisms  found  in  milk. 
If  the  milk  is  kept  at  that  temperature 
for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  we  say  it  has 
been  "  pasteurized."  If  it  has  been  boiled, 
with  or  without  pressure,  for  half  an  hour, 
we  say  it  has  been  "  sterilized." — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  6,  p.  208.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3010.  SCIENCE     TEACHES     THE 
NATURALNESS   OF   RELIGION— Religion 
Shoivs  the  Supernaturalness  of  Nature. — No 
science  -  contributes  to  another  without   re- 
ceiving a  reciprocal  benefit.     And  even   as 
the  contribution  of  science  to  religion  is  the 
vindication  of  the  naturalness  of  the  super- 
natural,  so   the  gift  of  religion  to  science 
is   the   demonstration  of   the   supernatural- 
ness  of  the  natural.    Thus,  as  the  supernat- 
ural becomes  slowly  natural,  will  also  the 
natural  become  slowly   supernatural,   until 
in    the    impersonal    authority    of   law    men 
everywhere  recognize  the  authority  of  God. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  pref.,  p.  20.     (H.  Al.) 

3011.  SCIENCE    THE    GREAT  EX- 
POSITOR— Religion  Purified  by  Science— Sci- 
ence Exalted  by  Religion. — Herbert  Spencer 
points  out,  with  how  much  truth  need  not 
now  be  discussed,  that  the  purification  of  re- 
ligion has  always  come  from  science.     It  is 
very  apparent,  at  all  events,  that  an  immense 
debt  must  soon  be  contracted.     The  shifting 
of  the  furnishings  will  be  a  work  of  time. 


609 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Science 
Sciences 


But  it  must  be  accomplished.  And  not  the 
least  result  of  the  process  will  be  the  effect 
upon  science  itself.  No  department  of  knowl- 
edge ever  contributes  to  another  without  re- 
ceiving its  own  again  with  usury — witness 
the  reciprocal  favors  of  biology  and  soci- 
ology. From  the  time  that  Comte  defined 
the  analogy  between  the  phenomena  exhibit- 
ed by  aggregations  of  associated  men  and 
those  of  animal  colonies  the  science  of  life 
and  the  science  of  society  have  been  so  con- 
tributing to  one  another  that  their  progress 
since  has  been  all  but  hand-in-hand.  A  con- 
ception borrowed  by  the  one  has  been  ob- 
served in  time  finding  its  way  back,  and 
always  in  an  enlarged  form,  to  further  il- 
luminate and  enrich  the  field  it  left.  So 
must  it  be  with  science  and  religion.  If  the 
purification  of  religion  comes  from  science, 
the  purification  of  science,  in  a  deeper  sense, 
shall  come  from  religion.  The  true  ministry 
of  Nature  must  at  last  be  honored,  and  sci- 
ence take  its  place  as  the  great  expositor. — 
DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  27.  (H.  Al.) 

3012.  SCIENCE,    THE    STUDY  OF, 
AWAKENS  THE  THIRST  FOR  KNOWL- 
EDGE— Recognition  of  the  truth  is  the  ob- 
ject of  every  science,  but  research  into  nat- 
ural science  has  the  advantage  of  being  cal- 
culated to  put  into  practise  and  to  confirm 
the  striving  after  knowledge.     In  this  re- 
spect it  proves  a  specially  valuable  means 
of  education.     Even  mathematics  is  inferior 
to  it. — MAGNUS  Address  as  Rector  (Rector- 
alsrede).      (Translated   for   Scientific   Side- 
Lights.) 

3013.  SCIENCE  TO  BE  CULTIVATED 
FOR    ITS    OWN   SAKE -Love  of  Truth  a 
Sufficient   Motive. — This,   then,   is   the    core 
of  the  whole  matter  as  regards  science.     It 
must  be  cultivated  for  its  own  sake,  for  the 
pure  love  of  truth,  rather  than  for  the  ap- 
plause or  profit  that  it  brings.    .    .    .    Could 
we  have  seen  these  men  at  work,  without 
any  knowledge  of  the  consequences  of  their 
work,  what  should  we  have  thought  of  them  ? 
To  the  uninitiated  in  their  day  they  might 
often  appear  as  big  children  playing  with 
soap-bubbles  and  other  trifles.     It  is  so  to 
this  hour.     Could  you  watch  the  true  in- 
vestigator— your  Henry  or  your  Draper,  for 
example — in  his  laboratory,  unless  animated 
by  his  spirit,  you  could  hardly  understand 
what  keeps  him  there.     Many  of  the  objects 
which  rivet  his  attention  might  appear  to 
you  utterly  trivial,  and  if  you  were  to  ask 
him  what  is  the  use  of  his  work  the  chances 
are  that  you  would  confound  him.    He  might 
not  be  able  to  express  the  use  of  it  in  in- 
telligible terms.     He  might  not  be  able  to 
assure  you  that  it  will  put  a  dollar  into  the 
pocket   of   any   human   being,    living   or   to 
come.      That    scientific    discovery    may    put 
not   only  dollars   into  the  pockets  of  indi- 
viduals,   but   millions    into    the    exchequers 
of    nations,    the    history    of    science    amply 
proves;  but  the  hope  of  its  doing  so  never 


was,  and  it  never  can  be,  the  motive  power 
of  the  investigator. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  p.  213.  (A.,  1898.) 

3014.  SCIENCE,  TRANSFORMATION 

OF — Beginning  of  Nineteenth  Century  in  Ger- 
many—  Medieval  Ideas  Still  Prevalent — 
"  Phlogiston,"  the  Fire  Element. — It  is  dif- 
ficult for  us  to  realize  the-eondition  of  nat- 
ural science  as  it  existed  in  Germany,  at 
least  in  the  first  twenty  years  of  this  cen- 
tury. Magnus  was  born  in  1802;  I  myself 
nineteen  years  later;  but  when  I  go  back  to 
my  earliest  recollections,  when  I  began  to 
study  physics  out  of  the  school-books  in  my 
father's  possession,  who  was  himself  taught 
in  the  Cauer  Institute,  I  still  see  before  me 
the  dark  image  of  a  series  of  ideas  which 
seems  now  like  the  alchemy  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  Of  Lavoisier's  and  of  Humphry  Davy's 
revolutionizing  discoveries  not  much  had  got 
into  the  school-books.  Altho  oxygen  was  al- 
ready known,  yet  phlogiston,  the  fire  ele- 
ment, played  also  its  part.  Chlorin  was  still 
oxygenated  hydrochloric  acid;  potash  and 
lime  were  still  elements.  Invertebrate  ani- 
mals were  divided  into  insects  and  reptiles, 
and  in  botany  we  still  counted  stamens. — 
HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  1,  p.  10. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3015.  SCIENCE,  VICISSITUDES  OF  A 

— The  Early  Days  of  Chemistry — Alche- 
mists First  Favored,  Then  Persecuted. — 
Chemistry  has  been  the  wonder-child  among 
the  natural  sciences.  None  of  her  sisters  ever 
followed  such  objects  of  adventure,  or  ever 
fulfilled  so  strange  a  destiny  as  hers.  There 
was  a  time  when  chemistry  believed  in  all 
earnest  that  within  the  dark  lap  of  Na- 
ture there  was  a  secret  treasure  to  be  found 
called  the  philosopher's  stone.  At  that  time 
chemistry  was  in  high  esteem  among  the 
great  of  the  earth,  and  was  clothed  in  purple 
as  long  as  avarice  could  entertain  that  be- 
lief; but  when  men  imagined  themselves  be- 
trayed in  their  hopes  of  discovering  [the 
secret  of  transmuting  the  baser  metals  into] 
gold  they  offered  the  gallows  and  the  wheel 
for  its  followers  (frequently  unworthy 
enough,  it  must  be  acknowledged).  And,  in 
fact,  the  church  regarded  the  salvation  of 
believers  as  endangered  by  these  black  arts, 
and  hurled  against  them  banns  and  bull. — 
PETTENKOFER  Lecture,  Was  bedeutet  die  Che- 
mie  fiir  die  Physiologie?  p.  4.  (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3016.  SCIENCES,     INTERDEPEND- 
ENCE OF— Medicine  Developed  Botany.— The 
science  of  medicine,  which  was  founded  by 
Dioscorides    in    the    school    of    Alexandria, 
when  considered  with  reference  to  its  scien- 
tific development,  is  essentially  a  creation 
of  the  Arabs,  to  whom  the  oldest,  and  at 
the  same  time  one  of  the  richest,  sources 
of  knowledge,  that  of  the  Indian  physicians, 
had  been  early  opened.     Chemical  pharmacy 
was   created  by  the  Arabs,  while  to  them 
are  likewise  due  the  first  official  prescrip- 


Sciences 
Sea 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


610 


tions  regarding  the  preparation  and  admix- 
ture of  different  remedial  agents — the  dis- 
pensing recipes  of  the  present  day.  These 
were  subsequently  diffused  over  the  south 
of  Europe  by  the  school  of  Salerno.  Phar- 
macy and  materia  medica,  the  first  require- 
ments of  practical  medicine,  led  simulta- 
neously, in  two  directions,  to  the  -study  of 
botany  and  to  that  of  chemistry.  From  its 
narrow  sphere  of  utility  and  its  limited 
application,  botany  gradually  opened  a  wider 
and  freer  field,  comprehending  investiga- 
tions into  the  structure  of  organic  tissues 
and  their  connection  with  vital  forces,  and 
into  the  laws  by  which  vegetable  forms  are 
associated  in  families,  and  may  be  distin- 
guished geographically  according  to  diver- 
sities of  climate  and  differences  of  elevation 
above  the  earth's  surface. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  210.  (H.,  1897. )__ 

3017.  SCIENTIST    LOYAL   TO   OP- 
POSING   CHURCH  —  Copernicus  Dedicates 
Great  Discovery  to  the  Pope. — When  Coper- 
nicus is  describing,  in  his  dedication  to  the 
pope,  the  origin  of  his  work,   he  does  not 
scruple  to  term  the  opinion  generally   ex- 
pressed among  theologians  of  the  immobility 
and  central  position  of  the  earth  "  an  ab- 
surd acroama,"  and  to  attack  the  stupidity 
of  those  who  adhere  to  so  erroneous  a  doc- 
trine.    "  If  even,"  he  writes,  "  any  empty- 
headed  babblers    (i*.a.Ta<.o\6yoi.) ,  ignorant  of  all 
mathematical     science,     should    take    upon 
themselves   to   pronounce   judgment   on   his 
work  through   an  intentional   distortion   of 
any  passage  in  the  Holy  Scriptures    .    .    .    , 
he  should  despise  so  presumptuous  an  at- 
tack.   It  was,  indeed,  universally  known  that 
the    celebrated    Lactantius,    who,    however, 
could   not   be   reckoned    among   mathemati- 
cians, had  spoken  childishly  (pueriliter)  of 
the  form  of  the  earth,  deriding  those  who  held 
it  to  be  spherical.   On  mathematical  subjects 
one   should   write   only  to   mathematicians. 
In  order   to   show  that,    deeply   penetrated 
with  the  truth  of  his  own   deductions,  he 
had   no   cause   to   fear   the   judgment   that 
might  be  passed  upon  him,  he  turned   his 
prayers  from  a  remote  corner  of  the  earth 
to  the  head  of  the  church,  begging  that  he 
would    protect    him    from    the    assaults    of 
calumny,  since  the  church  itself  would  de- 
rive advantage  from  his   investigations   on 
the  length  of  the  year  and  the  movements 
of  the  moon."     Astrology  and  improvements 
in   the   calendar    long   procured    protection 
for  astronomy  from  the  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical   powers,    as    chemistry    and    botany 
were   long   esteemed   as   purely   subservient 
auxiliaries    to    the    science    of    medicine. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.   ii,  pt.   ii,  p.   307. 
(H.,    1897.) 

3018.  SCIENTIST  MUST  BECOME  AS 
A  LITTLE  CHILD— In  the  law  book  of  re- 
search in  natural  science  we  read  the  same 
command  as   in  the   Scriptures,   "  Verily   I 
say  unto  you,  except  ye  become  as  a  little 
child,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 


of  heaven."  Accordingly,  we  see  the  inves- 
tigator everywhere  making  an  earnest  ef- 
fort to  return  to  the  standpoint  of  a  child 
that  forgets  all  sorrow  as  soon  as  some- 
thing that  moves  is  furnished  him  to  look 
at,  it  matters  little  what — a  tin  plate  set 
to  spin,  or  a  kitten  at  her  play.  But,  of 
course,  between  the  manner  in  which  the 
scientist  marvels  at  these  phenomena,  and 
that  of  the  child,  there  lies  the  chasm  that 
separates  the  moral  value  of  a  human  being, 
ripened  by  experience,  from  the  innocence  of 
a  child.— Du  BoiS-tlEYMOxn,  a  lecture,  Tier- 
isclie  Bewegung.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

3019.  SCIENTISTS    FOILED    BY    A 
KING —  The,  "April  Moon  " — Laplace  Astound- 
ed— Arago  Seeks  Instruction  from   Garden- 
ers.— "  I  am  delighted  to  see  you  collected 
round  me,"  said  Louis  XVIII.  one  day  to 
the  members  composing  a  deputation  from 
the  Bureau  des   Longitudes,  who  had  gone 
to  present  to  him   the  "  Connaissance  des 
Temps  "  and  the  "  Annuaire,"  "  for  you  will 
explain  to  me  what  the  April  moon  is,  and 
its  mode  of  action  on  the  crops."    Laplace, 
to  whom  he  more  especially  addressed  these 
words,  was  astounded.    He  who  had  written 
so  much  on  the  moon  had   never,   in  fact, 
thought  of  the  April  moon.     He  consulted 
all  his  neighbors  by  a  look,  but  seeing  no- 
body  disposed  to   speak,   he   determined    to 
reply  himself.     "  Sire,  the  April  moon  does 
not  hold  any  place  in  astronomical  theories; 
we  are  not,  then,  able  to  satisfy  the  curiosity 
of  your  Majesty."     In  the  evening,  during 
his"  game,   the   king  was   very   merry   over 
the  embarrassment  in  which  he  had  placed 
the  members  of  his  Bureau  des  Longitudes. 
Laplace  heard  of  it,  and  went  to  ask  Arago 
if  he  could  enlighten  him  about  this  famous 
April  moon,  which  had  been  the  subject  of 
such  a  disagreeable  mishap.    Arago  went  for 
information    to   the  gardeners   of   the  Jar- 
din  des  Plantes. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  ii,  ch.  8,  p.  174.     (A.) 

3020.  SCIENTISTS     READ    KING'S 
RIDDLE — The  "April  Moon" — Popular  Ob- 
servation   True — Popular    Theory    False. — 
Gardeners  give  the  name  of  "  April  moon  " 
to  the  moon  which  commences  in  April  and 
becomes  full  either  at  the  end  of  that  month 
or,  more  usually,  in  the  course  of  May.     In 
popular   opinion  the  light  of  the  moon  in 
April  and  May  exercises  an  injurious  action 
on  the  young  shoots  of  plants.   They  are  con- 
fident of  having  observed  that  on  the  nights 
when  the  sky  is  clear  the  leaves  and  buds 
exposed  to  this  light  are  blighted — that  is 
to  say,   are  frozen — altho  the  thermometer 
in  the  atmosphere  stands  at  several  degrees 
above  zero.     They  add,  however,  that  if  a 
clouded  sky  arrests  the  lunar  rays,  and  pre- 
vents  them   reaching  the  plants,   the   same 
effects  no  longer  take  place,  in  circumstances 
of  temperature,  moreover,  perfectly  similar. 
These  phenomena  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
light  of  our  satellite  may  be  endowed  with  a 


611 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sciences 
Sea 


certain  freezing  effect.  Nevertheless,  in  di- 
recting the  largest  lenses  and  reflectors  to- 
wards the  moon,  and  then  placing  in  their 
focus  very  delicate  thermometers,  nothing 
has  ever  been  perceived  which  could  justify 
such  a  singular  conclusion.  .  .  .  The 
following  is  the  explanation: 

The  physicist  Wells  first  ascertained  that 
at  night  objects  may  acquire  a  temperature 
different  from  that  of  the  atmosphere  which 
surrounds  them.  This  important  fact  is 
now  proved.  If  we  place  in  the  open  air 
small  pieces  of  cotton,  eiderdown,  etc.,  we 
often  find  that  their  temperature  is  six  or 
seven  or  even  eight  degrees  centigrade  be- 
low the  temperature  of  the  surrounding  at- 
mosphere. Vegetables  are  in  the  same  case. 
We  cannot,  then,  judge  of  the  cold  which  a 
plant  has  experienced  in  the  night  by  the 
sole  indications  of  a  thermometer  suspended 
in  the  atmosphere.  Place  a  thermometer 
flat  on  the  ground:  its  temperature  will 
descend  below  that  of  the  air,  if  the  sky  is 
very  clear.  A  plant  may  be  much  frozen, 
altho  the  air  may  be  constantly  maintained 
at  several  degrees  above  zero  [centigrade]. 

These  differences  of  temperature  are  only 
produced  in  perfectly  clear  weather.  If  the 
sky  is  cloudy  the  difference  disappears  en- 
tirely or  becomes  imperceptible.  In  the 
nights  of  April  and  May  the  temperature  is 
often  only  a  few  degrees  above  zero  [centi- 
grade] .  At  that  time  plants  exposed  to  the 
light  of  the  moon — that  is  to  say,  to  a  clear 
sky — may  be  frozen,  notwithstanding  the 
thermometer.  If  the  moon,  on  the  contrary, 
does  not  shine,  if  the  sky  is  cloudy,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  plants  not  descending  below 
that  of  the  atmosphere,  they  would  not 
freeze — at  least  not  till  the  thermometer 
has  marked  zero.  It  is,  then,  true,  as  the 
gardeners  assert,  that  with  quite  similar 
thermometric  circumstances  a  plant  may 
be  frozen  or  not,  according  as  the  moon  is 
visible  or  hidden  behind  clouds.  If  they  are 
mistaken,  it  is  only  in  the  conclusions — that 
is,  in  attributing  the  effect  to  the  light  of 
the  moon.  The  lunar  light  is  here  but  an 
index  of  a  clear  atmosphere:  it  is  in  conse- 
quence of  the  clearness  of  the  sky  that  the 
nocturnal  freezing  of  the  plants  is  effected 
[through  the  radiation  of  their  heat  into 
space].  The  moon  contributes  in  no  way  to 
the  result.  Whether  it  is  set  or  on  the  hori- 
zon the  phenomenon  would  be  the  same. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
8,  p.  174.  (A.) 

3O21.  SCULPTURE  AND  PAINTING, 
INFANCY  OF— Modern  Work  of  Untaught 
Rustics  Like  Ancient  Idols. — The  painter's 
and  sculptor's  art  seems  to  have  arisen  in 
the  world  from  the  same  sort  of  rude  begin- 
nings which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  children's 
attempts  to  draw  and  carve.  The  sheets  of 
bark  or  skins  on  which  barbarous  tribes 
have  drawn  men  and  animals,  guns  and 
boats,  remind  us  of  the  slates  and  barn 
doors  on  which  English  children  make  their 
early  trials  in  outline.  Many  of  these  chil- 


dren will  grow  up  and  go  through  their  lives 
without  getting  much  beyond  this  childish 
stage.  The  clergyman  of  a  country  parish 
some  years  ago  set  the  cottagers  to  amuse 
themselves  with  carving  in  wood  such  fig- 
ures as  men  digging  or  reaping.  They  pro- 
duced figures  so  curiously  uncouth,  and  in 
style  so  like  the  idols  of  barbarous  tribes, 
that  they  were  kept  as  examples  of  the  in- 
fancy of  sculpture,  and  are  now  to  be  seen 
in  the  museum  of  Kew  Gardens. — TYLOB 
Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p.  300.  (A.,  1899.) 

3022.  SCULPTURE,     GREEK,    IN- 
DEBTED   TO    ASSYRIANS    AND  EGYP- 
TIANS— Painting  of  Ancient  Statuary. — Greek 
art  is  sometimes  written  of  as  tho  it  had 
itself  begun  in  the  rudest  stage,  with  clumsy 
idols  of  wood  and  clay,   till  by  efforts   of 
their    own    surpassing    genius    the    Greek 
sculptors  came  to  hew  in  marble  the  forms 
which  are  still  the  wonders  of  the  world. 
But  great  as  Greek  genius  was,  it  never  did 
this.     The  Greek  nations  had  been  for  ages 
in  contact  with  the  older  civilizations  of  the 
Mediterranean;    their  starting-point  was  to 
learn  what  art  could  do  in  Egypt,  Phenicia, 
Babylonia;  and  then  their  genius  set  them 
free  from  the  hard  old  conventional  forms, 
leading  them   to  model   life  straight   from 
Nature,    and    even    to    fashion    in    marble 
shapes    of   ideal   strength   and   grace.      The 
Egyptian  sculptors  would  not  spoil  polished 
granite    with    paint,    but    many    of    their 
statues  wTere  colored,  and  there  are  traces 
of  paint  left  on  the  Assyrian  sculptures  and 
on  Greek  statues,  so  that  we  are  apt  to  have 
a  wrong  idea  of  a  Greek  temple,  as  tho  its 
marble  gods  and  goddesses  used  to  be  of  the 
glaring   whiteness    of  a   modern   sculpture- 
gallery.    The  Greek  terra-cotta  statuettes  in 
the  British  Museum  are  models  of  antique 
female    grace    in    form    and    costume,    only 
wanting  the  lost  color  restored  to  make  them 
the  prettiest  things   in   the  world. — TYLOB 
Anthropology,  ch.  12,  p.  303.      (A.,  1899.) 

3023.  SEA,  EARTHQUAKES  ORIG- 
INATING BENEATH— Steam  the  Motive  Pow- 
er of  Volcanic  Eruptions. — It  may  here  be 
remarked  that  a  very   large  proportion  of 
the    destructive   earthquakes    of   the   world 
have  originated  beneath  the  sea,  along  the 
base  of  continental  domes  which  are  unusu- 
ally   steep.      On   the   top    of   these    slopes, 
which,   for  example,  form   the  backbone   of 
Japan    and    Peru,    we   find   volcanic   vents. 
Where   strong  folding  of  the  earth's  crust 
has  taken  place,  as  in  the  Alps  and  Hima- 
layas, but  at  a  distance  from  the  sea,  earth- 
quakes   may    be    frequent    whilst    volcanic 
eruptions  are  unknown.    Earthquakes  occur 
where  rock-folding  is  in  progress,  and  vol- 
canoes are  found  where  maxima  of  folding 
have  taken  place,  providing  the  site  of  these 
is   sufficiently  near   large  bodies   of  water, 
which  supply  the  moisture  which,  when  con- 
verted into  steam,  is  the  motive  power  for 
all    great    eruptions. — MILNE    Earthquakes, 
ch.  17,  p.  285.    (A.,  1899.) 


Seed-dispersal 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


612 


3024.  SEA,  MOUNTAIN  CAST  INTO 

— Earthquake  in  Hindustan. — The  town  of 
Chittagong,  in  Bengal,  was  violently  shaken 
by  an  earthquake  on  the  2d  of  April,  1762, 
the  earth  opening  in  many  places  and 
throwing  up  water  and  mud  of  a  sulfureous 
smell.  At  a  place  called  Bardavan  a  large 
river  was  dried  up;  and  at  Bar  Charra, 
near  the  sea,  a  tract  of  ground  sunk  down 
and  200  people,  with  all  their  cattle,  were 
lost.  It  is  said  that  sixty  square  miles  of 
the  Chittagong  coast  suddenly  and  per- 
manently subsided  during  this  earthquake, 
and  that  Ces-lung-Toom,  one  of  the  Mug 
Mountains,  entirely  disappeared,  and  an- 
other sank  so  low  that  its  summit  only 
remained  visible.  Four  hills  are  also  de- 
scribed as  having  been  variously  rent 
asunder,  leaving  open  chasms  from  thirty 
to  sixty  feet  in  width.  Towns  which  sub- 
sided several  cubits  were  overflowed  with 
water;  among  others,  Deep  Gong,  which 
was  submerged  to  the  depth  of  seven  cubits. 
Two  volcanoes  are  said  to  have  opened  in 
the  Secta  Cunda  Hills.  The  shock  was  also 
felt  at  Calcutta.  While  the  Chittagong 
coast  was  sinking,  a  corresponding  rise  of 
the  ground  took  place  at  the  island  of 
Ramree  and  at  Cheduba. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  494.  (A., 
1854.) 

3025.  SEA-SHELLS  ABOVE  HIGH- 
WATER  MARK— Elevation  of  Land  in  Earth- 
quake.— The  most  remarkable  effect  of  this 
earthquake     [the     Chilean     earthquake     in 
1835]    was  the  permanent  elevation  of  the 
land;    it  would  probably  be  far  more  cor- 
rect to  speak  of  it  as  the  cause.    There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  land  round  the  Bay  of 
Concepcion  was  upraised  two  or  three  feet; 
but   it   deserves   notice  that   owing   to    the 
wave    having    obliterated   the    old    lines   of 
tidal  action  on  the  sloping  sandy  shores,  I 
could  discover  no  evidence  of  this  fact,  ex- 
cept in  the  united  testimony  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, that  one  little  rocky  shoal,  now  ex- 
posed, was  formerly  covered  with  water.    At 
the  island  of  S.  Maria   (about  thirty  miles 
distant)   the  elevation  was  greater;    on  one 
part,  Captain  Fitz  Roy  found  beds  of  putrid 
mussel-shells  still  adhering  to  the  rocks,  ten 
feet  above   high- water   mark:     the   inhabit- 
ants had  formerly  dived  at  low-water  spring- 
tides for  these  shells.     The  elevation  of  this 
province  is  particularly  interesting  from  its 
having  been  the  theater  of  several  other  vio- 
lent earthquakes,  and  from  the  vast  numbers 
of  sea-shells  scattered  over  the  land,  up  to  a 
height  of  certainly  600,   and,  I  believe,   of 
1,000   feet.      At  Valparaiso,   as   I   have  re- 
marked,   similar    shells    are    found    at    the 
height  of  1,300  feet:    it  is  hardly  possible  to 
doubt  that  this  great  elevation  has  been  ef- 
fected by  successive   small   uprisings,    such 
as   that  which   accompanied  or   caused   the 
earthquake  of  this  year,  and  likewise  by  an 
insensibly  slow  rise,  which  is  certainly  in 


progress  on  some  parts  of  this  coast. — DAB- 
WIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the  World, 
ch.  14,  p.  310.  (A.,  1898.) 

3026.  SEA -WAVES     UPON     THE 
LAND— Earthquake  Piling  up  Waters— Ships 
Driven  Inland. — At   the   earthquake   in   St. 
Thomas,  in  1868,  it  is  said  that  the  water 
receded  shortly  before  the  first  shock.    Whem 
it  returned,  after  the  second  shock,  it  was 
sufficient  to  throw  the  U.  S.  ship  "  Monon- 
gahela"  high  and  dry.     Another  American 
ship,  the  "  Wateree,"  was  also  lost  in  1868 
by  being  swept  a  quarter  of  a  mile  inland  by 
the  sea-wave  which  inundated  Arica.     The 
sea- waves  of  1877  removed  it  still  further  in- 
land. Much  of  the  great  destruction  which  oc- 
curred at  the  time  of  the  great  Lisbon  earth- 
quake was  due  to  a  series  of  great  sea-waves, 
thirty  to  sixty  feet  higher  than  the  highest 
tide,  which  swamped  the  town.    These  came 
in  about  an  hour  after  the  town  had  beem 
shattered  by  the  motion  of  the  ground.    The 
first  motion  in  the  waters  was  their  with- 
drawal, which  was  sufficient  to  completely 
uncover  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus. 
At   Cadiz,    the   first   wave,   which   was   the 
greatest,  is  said  to  have  been  sixty  feet  in 
height.     Fortunately  the  devastating  effect 
which  this  would  have  produced  was  par- 
tially warded  off  by  cliffs. — MILNE  Earth- 
quakes, ch.  9,  p.  165.    (A.,  1899.) 

3027.  SECLUSION  OF  WOMEN— Its 

Tendency  to  Refinement. — The  seclusion  of 
women  and  their  always  eating  apart  by  a 
roundabout  way  tended  to  their  refinement 
and  advancement  and  protection.  It  called 
for  more  services,  and  time  in  service.  It 
consumed  the  hours  in  organized  and  regu- 
lated labor.  It  was  discipline.  In  this 
coterie  were  included  frequently  the  chil- 
dren and  the  old  men.  It  is  said  that  in 
times  of  scarcity  the  women  were  pinched 
with  hunger  first,  but  no  one  ever  heard  of 
a  cook  starving  to  death.  This  seclusion  is 
also  an  evidence  of  the  great  independence 
and  self-help  developed  in  the  prisca* 
women. — MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primi- 
tive Culture,  ch.  10,  p.  235.  (A.,  1894.) 

3028.  SECRETIVENESS    TOWARD 

SUPERIORS — The  impulse  to  conceal  is 
more  apt  to  be  provoked  by  superiors  tham 
by  equals  or  inferiors.  How  differently  do 
boys  talk  together  when  their  parents  are 
not  by!  Servants  see  more  of  their  masters' 
characters  than  masters  of  servants'.  Where 
we  conceal  from  our  equals  and  familiars, 
there  is  probably  always  a  definite  element 
of  prudential  prevision  involved.  Collective 
secrecy,  mystery,  enters  into  the  emotional 
interest  of  many  games,  and  is  one  of  the 
elements  of  the  importance  men  attach  to 
freemasonries  of  various  sorts,  being  delight- 
ful apart  from  any  end. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  433.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3029.  SECRET    OF    COMETS    DIS- 
COVERED —  Self-luminous    Bodies  —  Their 
Light    from    Glowing    Gas. — The    first    sue- 


613 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sea 
Seed-dispersal 


cessful  application  of  the  spectroscope  to 
comets  was  by  Donati  in  1864.  A  comet  dis- 
covered by  Tempel,  July  4,  brightened  until 
it  appeared  like  a  star  somewhat  below  the 
second  magnitude,  with  a  feeble  tail  30°  in 
length.  It  was  remarkable  as  having,  on 
Augtist  7,  almost  totally  eclipsed  a  small 
star — a  very  rare  occurrence.  On  August  5 
Donati  admitted  its  light  through  his  train 
of  prisms,  and  found  it,  thus  analyzed,  to 
consist  of  three  bright  bands — yellow,  green, 
and  blue — separated  by  wider  dark  inter- 
vals. This  implied  a  good  deal.  Comets 
had  previously  been  considered,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  shine  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  by  re- 
flected sunlight.  They  were  now  perceived 
to  be  self-luminous,  and  to  be  formed,  to  a 
large  extent,  of  glowing  gas.  The  next  step 
was  to  determine  what  kind  of  gas  it  was 
that  was  thus  glowing  in  them;  and  this 
was  taken  by  Dr.  Huggins  in  1868.  .  .  . 
All  the  eighteen  comets  tested  by  light- 
analysis,  between  1868  and  1880,  showed  the 
typical  hydrocarbon  spectrum  common  to 
the  whole  group  of  those  compounds,  but 
probably  due  immediately  to  the  presence  of 
acetylene. — CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy, 
pt.  ii,  ch.  10,  p.  414.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

3030.  SECRETS   REVEALED  —  For- 
eign   Substances    in    the    Body    Shown    by 
Roentgen  Rays — The  Mercy  of  Civilization. 
— Flesh  and  skin  are  transparent  in  moder- 
ate thicknesses,  while  bone  is  opaque.  Hence, 
if  the  rays  [Roentgen]   are  passed  through 
the  hand  the  bones  cast  a  shadow,  tho  an 
invisible  one;    and  as,  most  fortunately,  the 
rays  act  upon   photographic   plates   almost 
like  ordinary  light,  hands  or  other  parts  of 
the    body    can    be    photographed    by    their 
shadows,  and  will  show  the  bones  by  a  much 
darker  tint.     Hence  their  use  in  surgery,  to 
detect  the  exact  position  of  bullets  or  other 
objects  embedded  in  the  flesh  or  bone.     A 
needle  which  penetrated  the  knee-joint  and 
then  broke  off,  leaving  a  portion  embedded 
which  set  up  inflammation,  and  might  have 
necessitated  the  loss  of  the  limb,  was  shown 
so  accurately  that  a  surgeon  cut  down  to  it 
and  got  it  out  without  difficulty. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  5,  p.  40.     (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3031.  SECURITY  BY  PRECAUTION 

— Disinfection  of  Milk  Possible — Sterilizing 
by  Heat.  —  If  for  practical  purposes  we 
look  upon  all  milk  derived  from  tubercular 
udders  as  highly  infective,  we  may  adopt  a 
comparatively  simple  and  efficient  remedy. 
To  avoid  all  danger  it  is  sufficient  to  bring  the 
milk  to  a  boil  for  a  few  minutes  before  it  is 
consumed;  in  fact,  the  temperature  of  85° 
C.  (160°  F.)  prolonged  for  five  minutes  kills 
all  bacilli.  The  common  idea  that  boiled 
milk  is  indigestible,  and  that  the  boiling 
causes  it  to  lose  much  of  its  nutritive  value, 
is  largely  groundless. — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  6,  p.  197.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


3032.  SECURITY  FROM  INFECTION 

— Putrefaction  within  the  Law  of  Cause  and 
Effect — Bacteria. — Our  knowledge  here,  as 
elsewhere  in  connection  with  this  subject, 
has  been  vastly  extended  by  Professor  Cohn, 
of  Breslau.  "No  putrefaction,"  he  says, 
"  can  occur  in  a  nitrogenous  substance  if  its 
bacteria  be  destroyed  and  new  ones  prevent- 
ed from  entering  it.  Putrefaction  begins 
as  soon  as  bacteria,  even  in  the  smallest 
numbers,  are  admitted  either  accidentally 
or  purposely.  It  progresses  in  direct  pro- 
portion to  the  multiplication  of  the  bacteria, 
it  is  retarded  when  they  exhibit  low  vitality, 
and  it  is  stopped  by  all  influences  which 
either  hinder  their  development  or  kill  them. 
All  bactericidal  media  are  therefore  anti- 
septic and  disinfecting." — TYNDALL  Floating 
Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  5,  p.  287.  (A., 
1895.) 

3033.  SEED-DISPERSAL— Compensa- 
tions   for    Vegetable    Immobility — Children 
Given  a  New  Start  in  Life. — If  each  seed 
fell  where  it  grew,  the  spread  of  the  species 
would  shortly  be  at  an  end.     But  Nature, 
working  on  the  principle  of  cooperation,  is 
once  more  redundant  in  its  provisions.     By 
a  series  of  new  alliances  the  offspring  are 
given    a   start   on   distant    and   unoccupied 
ground ;  and  so  perfect  are  the  arrangements 
in  this  department  of  the  struggle  for  the 
life  of  others  that  single  plants,  immovably 
rooted  in  the  soil,  are  yet  able  to  distribute 
their  children  over  the  world.     By  a  hun- 
dred devices  the  fruits  and  seeds  when  ripe 
are    entrusted    to   outside    hands — provided 
with  wing  or  parachute  and  launched  upon 
the  wind,  attached  by  cunning  contrivances 
to  bird  and  beast,  or  dropped  into  stream 
and  wave  and  ocean-current,  and  so  trans- 
ported over  the  earth. — DRTJMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  237.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3O34. Seed  Distributor 

Rolled  by  Wind — The  Russian  Thistle. — The 
Russian  thistle  begins  its  yearly  growth  in 
a  simple,  inoffensive  way.  The  young  plants 
are  slender  and  succulent,  but  as  they  grow 
older  they  harden  and  spread  out,  becoming 
densely  covered  with  sharp  spines.  When 
full  grown  they  often  reach  a  diameter  of 
four  or  five  feet,  a  majority  of  the  specimens 
being  distinctly  rounded  in  outline.  After 
the  seeds  have  matured  the  stem  twists 
around  and  breaks  off,  thus  leaving  the 
plant  to  roll  wherever  the  wind  blows  it, 
dropping  its  seeds  as  it  goes  along.  As  one 
large  plant  sometimes  produces  200,000 
seeds,  and  may  be  blown  for  miles,  one  can 
readily  imagine  how  soon  a  prairie  region 
might  be  overrun  by  the  pest,  which  grows 
so  vigorously  that  it  crowds  out  practically 
all  plants  with  which  it  comes  in  competi- 
tion.— WEED  Seed  Travellers,  pt.  i,  p.  23. 
(G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


3O35. 


Seeds  Carried  by 


Birds — The  Holly — The  American  Currant. 
— What  holly  loses  in  the  size  of  its  clusters, 
it  gains  in  the  brightness  of  its  berries. 


Seed-dispersal 
Selection 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


614 


Against  the  dark  green  of  the  leaves,  the 
berries  stand  out  with  great  prominence. 
Their  after-history  is  instructive  enough.  A 
holly-berry  is  gobbled  up  by  a  bird  with 
ease.  What  of  the  seeds  the  berries  contain  ? 
Does  digestion,  which  in  a  bird  is  a  tolerably 
rough  and  mechanical  process,  destroy  the 
seeds?  Not  so.  The  seeds,  encased  each  in 
its  dense  tough  covering,  resist  even  the  di- 
gestion of  the  bird's  gizzard  and  stomach, 
and  they  are  passed  on  uninjured  through 
the  alimentary  tract  of  the  animal.  Thus 
liberated,  and  the  bird  being  the  gainer  by 
its  digestion  of  the  soft  parts  of  the  berries, 
the  holly-seeds  fall  into  the  soil  and  grow 
up  each  in  time  to  the  holly-tree.  Note 
again  how  this  interaction  between  bird  and 
fruit  serves  another  useful  purpose.  Birds 
traverse  leagues  of  country  in  their  peregri- 
nations. They  may  thus  convey  the  holly- 
seeds  to  regions  hundreds  of  miles  from  the 
parent  tree  whence  the  berries  were  plucked. 
.  .  .  We  owe  much  to  the  dispersal  of 
seeds  by  such  agencies.  There  is  a  plant  of 
the  New  World,  the  American  currant, 
which  long  ago  was  introduced  into  France, 
for  the  sake  of  the  dark  red  juice  of  its 
berries,  which  was  used  to  color  wines. 
At  Bordeaux  this  currant  was  extensively 
cultivated.  Man  introduced  the  plant,  but 
mark  the  greater  influence  of  the  color  of  its 
fruits  and  the  work  of  the  birds.  Now,  the 
American  currant  is  found  universally 
throughout  the  south  of  France.  It  has 
spread  also  into  Switzerland,  and  has 
reached  the  Tyrol.  You  can,  therefore, 
prophesy  with  considerable  safety  regarding 
plants  and  their  chances  of  distribution, 
when  you  see  these  fruits  and  learn  the 
story  of  their  distribution.  Holly-berries 
have  social  associations  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  us  all.  They  possess,  however,  in  their 
redness  and  in  their  attraction  for  bird-visit- 
ors, a  romance  that  is  all  their  own. — WIL- 
SON Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  22,  p.  73. 
(Hum.,  1892.) 


3036. 


Seeds  Flung  Afar 


— The  "  Catapult  Fruits." — The  calyx  of 
sage,  bergamot,  and  most  other  mints  re- 
mains dry  and  stiff,  as  a  cup  to  hold  one  to 
four  little  round  nutlets  as  they  ripen. 
.  .  .  When  dry,  the  plant  behaves  some- 
what as  follows:  when  the  wind  jostles  the 
branches  against  each  other,  or  when  an 
animal  of  some  kind  hits  the  plant,  this 
movement  causes  many  of  these  cups  to  get 
caught ;  but  the  elastic  stem  comes  suddenly 
back  to  its  place,  and  in  so  doing  flips  a  nut- 
let or  more  from  its  mouth  one  to  six  feet, 
somewhat  as  a  boy  would  flip  a  pea  with  a 
pea-shooter.  In  our  garden,  July  2,  when 
plants  of  sage,  Salvia  interrupta,  were 
ripening  their  fruit,  we  found  it  difficult  to 
collect  any  seeds,  but  seedlings  were  ob- 
served in  abundance  on  every  side  of  the 
plant,  some  to  the  distance  of  six  feet. 
Plants  dispersing  seeds  in  this  manner  have 


been  called  catapult  fruits. — BEAL  Seed  Dis- 
persal, ch.  5,  p.  50.  (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3O37.     Seeds  Scattered 

Like  Snowftakes. — The  seeds  of  willow  and 
poplar  are  covered  with  white  downy  silk, 
by  means  of  which  they  are  borne  through 
the  air  in  summer,  often  so  filling  it  as  to 
suggest  a  light  snow-storm. — WEED  Seed 
Travellers,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


3038. 


Seeds  Transported 


by  Rivers. — "  The  mountain  stream  or  tor- 
rent," observes  Keith,  "  washes  down  to  the 
valley  the  seeds  which  may  accidentally  fall 
into  it,  or  which  it  may  happen  to  sweep  from 
its  banks  when  it  suddenly  overflows  them. 
The  broad  and  majestic  river,  winding  along 
the  extensive  plain,  and  traversing  the  con- 
tinents of  the  world,  conveys  to  the  distance 
of  many  hundreds  of  miles  the  seeds  that 
may  have  vegetated  at  its  source.  Thus  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Baltic  are  visited  by 
seeds  which  grew  in  the  interior  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  western  shores  of  the  Atlan- 
tic by  seeds  that  have  been  generated  in  the 
interior  of  America."  Fruits,  moreover,  in- 
digenous to  America  and  the  West  Indies, 
such  as  that  of  the  Mimosa  scandens,  the 
cashewnut  and  others,  have  been  known  to 
be  drifted  across  the  Atlantic  by  the  Gulf 
Stream,  on  the  western  coasts  of  Europe,  in 
such  a  state  that  they  might  have  vegetated 
had  the  climate  and  soil  been  favorable. 
Among  these  the  Guilandina  Bonduc,  a  legu- 
minous plant,  is  particularly  mentioned,  as 
having  been  raised  from  a  seed  found  on  the 
west  coast  of  Ireland. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  37,  p.  620.  (A.,  1854.) 


3039. 


Seeds  Transported 


in  Mud — Animals  as  Seed  Distributors. — 
Seeds  and  fruits  of  aquatic  and  bog  plants 
that  are  floating,  or  in  the  mud  of  shallow 
water,  are  often  carried  by  ducks,  herons, 
swallows,  muskrats,  and  other  frequenters 
of  such  places,  on  their  feet,  beaks,  or  feath- 
ers, as  they  hastily  leave  one  place  for  an- 
other. In  this  way  seeds  of  water  plantain, 
sedges,  grasses,  rushes,  docks,  arrowhead, 
pondweeds,  duckweed,  cat-tail  flag,  bur  reed, 
bladderwort,  water  crowfoot,  and  many  oth- 
ers are  transported  from  one  pond,  lake,  or 
stream  to  another.  In  some  cases  enough 
of  a  living  plant  may  be  detached  and  car- 
ried away  to  keep  on  growing.  Darwin 
found  on  the  feet  of  some  birds  six  and 
three-quarter  ounces  of  mud,  in  which  were 
five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  seeds  that 
germinated.  Mud  may  be  carried  on  the 
feet  of  land  animals  as  well  as  on  aquatic 
animals,  not  only  from  the  ponds  and  bogs, 
but  from  the  fields  where  seeds  may  have 
accumulated  in  the  earth  or  washed  down 
the  slopes. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  7,  p. 
71.  (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 


3O4O. 


Worms  Bury  Seeds 


in  the  Earth — Chambers  under  Ground  Care- 
fulljl  Lined  by  Worm  Builders. — I  found  at 
Abinger,  in  Surrey,  two  burrows  termina- 


615 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Seed-dispersal 
Selection 


ting  in  similar  chambers  at  a  depth  of  36 
and  41  inches,  and  these  were  lined  or  paved 
with  little  pebbles  about  as  large  as  mus- 
tard-seeds; and  in  one  of  the  chambers 
there  was  a  decayed  oat-grain,  with  its  husk. 
Hensen  likewise  states  that  the  bottoms  of 
the  burrows  are  lined  with  little  stones; 
and  where  these  could  not  be  procured, 
seeds,  apparently  of  the  pear,  had  been  used, 
as  many  as  fifteen  having  been  carried  down 
into  a  single  burrow,  one  of  which  had  ger- 
minated. We  thus  see  how  easily  a  botanist 
might  be  deceived  who  wished  to  learn  how 
long  deeply  buried  seeds  remained  alive,  if 
he  were  to  collect  earth  from  a  considerable 
depth,  on  the  supposition  that  it  could  con- 
tain only  seeds  which  had  long  lain  buried. 
It  is  probable  that  the  little  stones,  as  well 
as  the  seeds,  are  carried  down  from  the  sur- 
face by  being  swallowed;  for  a  surprising 
number  of  glass  beads,  bits  of  tile  and  of 
glass  were  certainly  thus  carried  down  by 
worms  kept  in  pots;  but  some  may  have 
been  carried  down  within  their  mouths.  The 
sole  conjecture  which  I  can  form  why  worms 
line  their  winter  quarters  with  little  stones 
and  seeds,  is  to  prevent  their  closely  coiled- 
up  bodies  from  coming  into  close  contact 
with  the  surrounding  cold  soil;  and  such 
contact  would  perhaps  interfere  with  their 
respiration,  which  is  effected  by  the  skin 
alone. — DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable 
Mould,  ch.  2,  p.  33.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

3041.  SEEDS,     PROFUSION     OF— 

Abundance  in  Nature. — In  producing  seeds 
Nature  is  generous,  often  lavish.  Most  seeds 
are  eaten  by  animals,  or  fall  in  places  where 
they  cannot  germinate  and  produce  plants, 
or  fall  in  such  numbers  that  most  of  them 
in  growing  are  crowded  and  starved  to  death. 
A  very  small  proportion  fall  on  good  ground, 
and  succeed  in  becoming  fruiting  plants.  A 
large  plant  of  purslane  produces  one  million 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  seeds;  a 
patch  of  daisy  fleabane,  three  thousand  seeds 
to  each  square  inch  of  space  covered  by  a 
plant.  The  genuine  student  will  ncrt  be  sat- 
isfied till  he  has  selected  several  different 
kinds  of  plants  and  counted,  or  estimated, 
the  number  of  seeds  produced  by  each,  or  the 
number  of  seeds  furnished  to  the  area  cov- 
ered by  one  or  by  several  plants. — BEAL  Seed 
Dispersal,  ch.  7,  p.  78.  (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3042.  SEEING  WITHOUT  PERCEIV- 
ING— Habitual  Acts  Automatic — Not  Recog- 
nized by  Consciousness  Nor  Held  in  Mem- 
ory.— When  we  move  about  in  a  room  with 
the  objects  in  which  we  are  quite  familiar, 
we   direct  our   steps  so  as  to  avoid  them, 
without    being    conscious,  what    they    are, 
or   what   we   are    doing;    we    see    them,    as 
we  easily  discover  if  we  try  to  move  about 
in  the  same  way  with  our  eyes  shut,  but  we 
do  not  perceive  them,  the  mind  being  fully 
occupied  with  some  train  of  thought.   In  like 
manner,  when  we  go  through  a  series  of  fa- 
miliar   acts,    as   in   dressing    or   undressing 
ourselves,    the    operations    are   really    auto- 


matic; once  begun,  we  continue  them  in  a 
mechanical  order,  while  the  mind  is  think- 
ing of  other  things;  and  if  we  afterward 
reflect  upon  what  we  have  done,  in  order  to 
call  to  mind  whether  we  did  or  did  not  omit 
something,  as  for  instance  to  wind  up  our 
watch,  we  cannot  satisfy  ourselves  except 
by  trial,  even  tho  we  had  actually  done  what 
we  were  in  doubt  about.  It  is  evident,  in- 
deed, that  in  a  state  of  profound  reverie  or 
abstraction  a  person  may,  as  a  somnambu- 
list sometimes  does,  see  without  knowing 
that  he  sees,  hear  without  knowing  that 
he  hears,  and  go  through  a  series  of  acts 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  conscious  of  them  at  the 
time,  and  not  remembering  them  afterward. 
— MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  23. 
(A.,  1898.) 

3043.  SELECTION  AMONG  SIMUL- 
TANEOUS POSSIBILITIES— Mind  Works  as 
a  Sculptor  on  Marble — The  Statue  in  the 
Stone. — The  mind  is  at  every  stage  a  theater 
of  simultaneous  possibilities.    Consciousness 
consists    in   the   comparison   of   these   with 
each  other,  the  selection  of  some,   and  the 
suppression  of  the  rest  by  the  reenforcing 
and    inhibiting   agency    of   attention.      The 
highest  and  most  elaborated  mental   prod- 
ucts are  filtered  from  the  data  chosen  by  the 
faculty  next  beneath,  out  of  the  mass  offered 
by  the  faculty  below  that,  which  mass  in 
turn  was  sifted  from  a  still  larger  amount 
of  yet  simpler   material,   and   so  on.     The 
mind,  in  short,  works  on  the  data  it  receives 
very  much  as  a  sculptor  works  on  his  block 
of  stone.     In  a  sense  the  statue  stood  there 
from  eternity.     But  there  were  a  thousand 
different  ones  besides  it,   and  the  sculptor 
alone  is  to  thank  for  having  extricated  this 
one  from  the  rest. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  9,  p.  288.    (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3044.  SELECTION  A  PROPERTY  OF 
LIFE — Each  Organ  and  Tissue  Takes  from  the 
Blood  Its  Own  Material — A  Mystery  of  Sci- 
ence.— Each  tissue     .     .     .     takes  from  the 
common  stream  of  nourishment  the  materi- 
als  necessary   for   the   building-up    of   new 
substance.     From  the  blood  bone  selects  the 
materials  necessary  for  the  formation  of  new 
bone;   nerve  from  the  same  source  gathers 
matter  for  the  production  of  new  nerve-tis- 
sue; muscle  therefrom  elaborates  new  mus- 
cle;  cells  of  wondrously  diverse  kind,  like 
buyers  of  many  nations  in  a  common  mar- 
ket, select  from  the  blood  the  special  food 
or  pabulum  suited  to  their  wants,  and  there- 
from manufacture  new  cells — in  short,  the 
process  of  growth  in  man  and  in  all  animals 
of  higher  grade  exemplifies  the  results   of 
many  varied  operations  effected  by  the  tis- 
sues and  organs  of  the  body  upon  the  com- 
mon material  offered  to  them  in  the  shape 
of  the  nutrient  blood.     How  this  property 
of  "  selection  "  is  exercised,  or  what  is  its 
exact    nature,    science    knows    not    as    yet. 
But  the  possession  of  this  remarkable  prop- 
erty of  selecting  and  using  appropriate  ma- 
terial in  the  actions  of  life,  explain  it  how 


Selfishness 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


616 


\ve  may,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  con- 
sistent and  clearly  defined  distinctions  which 
can  be  drawn  between  the  world  of  life  and 
the  great  encompassing  universe  of  non- 
living matter. — ANDREW  WILSON  Facts  and 
Fictions  of  Zoology,  p.  30.  (Hum.,  1882.) 

3045.  SELECTION,     ARTIFICIAL, 
THE    MAGICIAN'S    WAND—  Agriculturist 
May  Mold  His  Flock  at  Pleasure. — Youatt, 
who  was   probably   better   acquainted   with 
the  works  of  agriculturists  than  almost  any 
other   individual,   and   who   was   himself   a 
very  good  judge  of  animals,  speaks  of  the 
principle  of  selection  as  "  that  which  enables 
the    agriculturist   not   only    to    modify   the 
character  of  his  flock,  but  to  change  it  alto- 
gether.   It  is  the  magician's  wand,  by  means 
of  which  he  may  summon  into  life  whatever 
form  and  mold  he  pleases." — DARWIN  Origin 
of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  27.     (Burt.) 

3046.  SELECTION,  ARTIFICIAL,  UN- 
CONSCIOUSLY PRACTISED  BY  SAVAGES 

— If  there  exist  savages  so  barbarous  as 
never  to  think  of  the  inherited  character  of 
the  offspring  of  their  domestic  animals,  yet 
any  one  animal  particularly  useful  to  them, 
for  any  special  purpose,  would  be  carefully 
preserved  during  famines  and  other  acci- 
dents, to  which  savages  are  so  liable,  and 
such  choice  animals  would  thus  generally 
leave  more  offspring  than  the  inferior  ones, 
so  that  in  this  case  there  would  be  a  kind 
of  unconscious  selection  going  on. — DARWIN 
Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1,  p.  31.  (Burt.) 

3047.  SELECTIpN  IMPLIES  REJEC- 
TION— Selection  implies  rejection  as  well  as 
choice;  and  the  function  of  ignoring,  of  in- 
attention,  is    as   vital   a   factor   in   mental 
progress  as  the  function  of  attention  itself. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  371. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3048.  SELECTION,    NATURAL  — In 

Man  Devoted  to  Mind — Tools  Take  the  Place 
of  New  Organs. — As  an  optical  instrument, 
the  eye  had  well-nigh  reached  extreme  per- 
fection in  many  a  bird  and  mammal  ages 
before  man's  beginnings;  and  the  essential 
features  of  the  human  hand  existed  al- 
ready in  the  hands  of  Miocene  apes.  But 
different  methods  came  in  when  human  in- 
telligence appeared  upon  the  scene.  Mr. 
Spencer  has  somewhere  reminded  us  that 
the  crowbar  is  but  an  extra  lever  added  to 
the  levers  of  which  the  arm  is  already  com- 
posed, and  the  telescope  but  adds  a  new 
set  of  lenses  to  those  which  already  ex- 
ist in  the  eye.  This  beautiful  illustration 
goes  to  the  kernel  of  the  change  that  was 
wrought  when  natural  selection  began  to 
confine  itself  to  the  psychical  modification 
of  our  ancestors.  In  a  very  deep  sense  all 
human  science  is  but  the  increment  of  the 
power  of  the  eye,  and  all  human  art  is  the 
increment  of  the  power  of  the  hand. — FISKE 
Destiny  of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  59.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1900.) 


3O49. 


Not  a   Cause — 


Forma  To  Be  Selected  Must  First  Exist— 
Not  Origin,  but  Success  of  Variations. — Nat- 
ural selection  can  do  nothing  except  with 
the  materials  presented  to  its  hands.  It 
cannot  select  except  among  the  things  open 
to  selection.  Natural  selection  can  originate 
nothing;  it  can  only  pick  out  and  choose 
among  the  things  which  are  originated  by 
some  other  law.  Strictly  speaking,  there- 
fore, Mr.  Darwin's  theory  is  not  a  theory  on 
the  origin  of  species  at  all,  but  only  a 
theory  on  the  causes  which  lead  to  the  rela- 
tive success  or  failure  of  such  new  forms 
as  may  be  born  into  the  world.  It  is  the 
more  important  to  remember  this  distinc- 
tion, because  it  seems  to  me  that  Mr.  Dar- 
win himself  frequently  forgets  it. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  130.  (Burt.) 

3O5O. Personified— Or- 
ganisms Invested  with  Power  of  Self-crea- 
tion— Plants  and  Animals  Credited  with  De- 
sign.— In  one  of  those  most  able  expositions 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  origin  of  species  by 
natural  selection,  by  which  Professor  Hux- 
ley very  early  impressed  the  educated  pub- 
lic with  the  scientific  value  of  the  new 
views  which  Mr.  Darwin  had  opened  out, 
he  remarked  that  nothing  had  more  strong- 
ly impressed  him  than  the  fact  that  they 
had  completely  disposed  of  the  old  teleolog- 
ical  argument;  the  adaptations  in  organized 
structures  which  had  been  regarded  as  evi- 
dences of  "  design "  being  sufficiently  ac- 
counted for  as  results  of  the  "  survival  of 
the  fittest."  And  this  view  of  the  case  has 
been  so  zealously  adopted  by  some  of  the 
younger  advocates  of  the  doctrine  that  they 
have  gone  the  length  of  representing  the 
plants  and  animals  which  exhibit  them  as 
having  made  themselves  for  the  purposes 
which  their  organization  is  found  to  answer 
— as  if  they  had  the  intelligent  design  which 
is  denied  to  an  universal  Creator.  When 
challenged  to  justify  that  language  they  rep- 
resent it  as  merely  "  figurative  " ;  their  in- 
tention being  only  to  show  that,  as  natural 
selection  gives  a  sufficient  account  of  the 
adaptiveness,  there  is  no  need  to  seek  for 
any  other  explanation  of  it. — CARPENTER 
Nature  and  Man,  lect.  15,  p.  435.  (A.,  1889.) 


3051. 


Will  Not  Explain 


Man — Darwin  Never  Accounted  for  the 
Genesis  of  Man. — Yet  not  only  are  there  ex- 
tensive regions  in  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
about  which  Darwin  knew  very  little,  but 
even  as  regards  the  genesis  of  species  his 
theory  was  never  developed  in  his  own 
hands  so  far  as  to  account  satisfactorily  for 
the  genesis  of  man.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  while  the  natural  selection  of 
physical  variations  will  go  far  toward  ex- 
plaining the  characteristics  of  all  the  plants 
and  all  the  beasts  in  the  world,  it  remains 
powerless  to  account  for  the  existence  of 
man.  Natural  selection  of  physical  varia- 
tions might  go  on  for  a  dozen  eternities 
without  any  other  visible  result  than  new 


617 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Selection 
Selfishness 


forms  of  plant  and  beast  in  endless  and 
meaningless  succession. — FISKE  Through  Na- 
ture to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  5,  p.  81.  (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 

3O52. Wrought  by  Ele- 
mental Forces — Frost  Destroys  Weak  Plants 
— The  Thistle  Spreads. — That  which  wind 
and  sea  are  to  a  sandy  beach,  the  sum  of 
influences,  which  we  term  the  "  conditions 
of  existence,"  is  to  living  organisms.  The 
weak  are  sifted  out  from  the  strong.  A 
frosty  night  "  selects "  the  hardy  plants 
in  a  plantation  from  among  the  tender  ones 
as  effectually  as  if  it  were  the  wind,  and 
they  the  sand  and  pebbles  of  our  illustra- 
tion; or,  on  the  other  hand,  as  if  the  in- 
telligence of  a  gardener  had  been  operative 
in  cutting  the  weaker  organisms  down.  The 
thistle,  which  has  spread  over  the  pampas, 
to  the  destruction  of  native  plants,  has  been 
more  effectually  "  selected "  by  the  uncon- 
scious operation  of  natural  conditions  than 
if  a  thousand  agriculturists  had  spent  their 
time  in  sowing  it. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons, 
serm.  13,  p.  317.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3053.  SELECTION     REQUIRES    A 
HIGHER  THAN  HUMAN  WISDOM—  Con- 
stantly   Reaches    Beyond    Man's    Intent. — 
Hairless   dogs   have   imperfect   teeth;    long- 
haired and  coarse-haired  animals  are  apt  to 
have,  as  is  asserted,  long  or  many  horns; 
pigeons   with   feathered   feet   have   skin   be- 
tween their  outer  toes;   pigeons  with  short 
beaks  have  small  feet,  and  those  with  long 
beaks   large   feet.     Hence,   if   man  goes   on 
selecting,  and  thus  augmenting,  any  peculi- 
arity, he  will  almost  certainly  modify  un- 
intentionally other   parts   of  the  structure, 
owing  to  the  mysterious  laws  of  correlation. 
— DARWIN   Origin  of  Species,  ch.   1,  p.   11. 
(Burt.) 

3054.  SELF,  EACH  ONE'S  SUPREME 
INTEREST  IN— The    most    natively    inter- 
esting object  to  a  man  is  his  own  personal 
self  and  its  fortunes.     We  accordingly  see 
that  the  moment  a  thing  becomes  connected 
with  the  fortunes  of  the  self   it  forthwith 
becomes  an  interesting  thing.  Lend  the  child 
his    books,    pencils,    and    other    apparatus; 
then  give  them  to  him,  make  them  his  own, 
and  notice  the  new  light  with  which  they 
instantly   shine    in   his    eyes.      He   takes    a 
new  kind  of  care  of  them  altogether.     In 
mature   life   all   the    drudgery   of   a   man's 
business  or  profession,  intolerable  in  itself, 
is  shot  through  with  engrossing  significance 
because  he  knows  it  to  be  associated  with  his 
personal  fortunes.     What  more  deadly  unin- 
teresting object  can  there  be  than  a  rail- 
road time-table?    Yet  where  will  you  find  a 
more    interesting   object    if    you    are   going 
on  a  journey,  and  by   its   means  can   find 
your  train?     At  such  times  the  time-table 
will  absorb  a  man's  entire  attention,  its  in- 
terest being  borrowed  solely  from   its  rela- 
tion to  his  personal  life. — JAMES   Talks  to 
Teachers,  ch.  10,  p.  95.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


3O55.  SELF  IN  RELATION  TO  EN- 
VIRONMENT— Each  Person  Several  Selves. 
— Properly  speaking,  a  man  has  as  many 
social  selves  as  there  are  individuals  who 
recognize  him  and  carry  an  image  of  him 
in  their  mind.  To  wound  any  one  of  these 
his  images  is  to  wound  him.  But  as  the  in- 
dividuals who  carry  the  images  fall  natural- 
ly into  classes,  we  may  practically  say  that 
he  has  as  many  different  social  selves  as 
there  are  distinct  groups  of  persons  about 
whose  opinion  he  cares.  He  generally  shows 
a  different  side  of  himself  to  each  of  these 
different  groups.  Many  a  youth  who  is 
demure  enough  before  his  parents  and  teach- 
ers swears  and  swaggers  like  a  pirate  among 
his  "  tough  "  young  friends.  We  do  not  show 
ourselves  to  our  children  as  to  our  club 
companions,  to  our  customers  as  to  the  la- 
borers we  employ,  to  our  own  masters  and 
employers  as  to  our  intimate  friends.  From 
this  there  results  what  practically  is  a  divi- 
sion of  the  man  into  several  selves,  and  this 
may  be  a  discordant  splitting,  as  where  one 
is  afraid  to  let  one  set  of  his  acquaintances 
know  him  as  he  is  elsewhere;  or  it  may  be 
a  perfectly  harmonious  division  of  labor, 
as  where  one  tender  to  his  children  is  stern 
to  the  soldiers  or  prisoners  under  his  com- 
mand.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p. 
294.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3056.  SELFISHNESS    IN    ANIMAL 
LIFE — Parasitism  a  Crime  in  Nature. — Among 
animals    these    lazzaroni    are    more    largely 
represented  still.     Almost  every  animal  is  a 
living  poorhouse,  and  harbors  one  or  more 
species  of  Epizoa  or  Entozoa,  supplying  them 
gratis,   not   only   with   a  permanent   home, 
but  with   all   the  necessaries   and   luxuries 
of  life. 

Why  does  the  naturalist  think  feardly  of 
the  parasites?  Why  does  he  speak  of  them 
as  degraded,  and  despise  them  as  the  most 
ignoble  creatures  in  Nature?  .  .  . 

The  naturalist's  reply  to  this  is  brief. 
Parasitism,  he  will  say,  is  one  of  the  gravest 
crimes  in  Nature.  It  is  a  breach  of  the  law 
of  evolution.  Thou  shalt  evolve,  thou  shalt 
develop  all  thy  faculties  to  the  full,  thou 
shalt  attain  to  the  highest  conceivable  per- 
fection of  thy  race — and  so  perfect  thy  race 
— this  is  the  first  and  greatest  «ommand- 
ment  of  Nature.  But  the  parasite  has  no 
thought  for  its  race,  or  for  perfection  in  any 
shape  or  form.  It  wants  two  things — food 
and  shelter.  How  it  gets  them  is  of  no  mo- 
ment. Each  member  lives  exclusively  on  its 
own  account  an  isolated,  indolent,  selfish, 
and  backsliding  life. — DRUMMOWD  Jt&tural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay  9,  p.  288. 
(H.  Al. ) 

3057.  SELFISHNESS  IN  DISGUISE 
OF  SPIRITUALITY— Mohammedan  Paradise 
—True   Spiritual   Self-seeking. — Under   the 
head  of  spiritual  self-seeking  ought  to  be  in- 
cluded every  impulse  towards  psychic  prog- 
ress, whether  intellectual,  moral,  or  spiritual 
in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  term.    It  must  be 


Selfishness 
Sense 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


618 


admitted,  however,  that  much  that  common- 
ly passes  for  spiritual  self-seeking  in  this 
narrow  sense  is  only  material  and  social  self- 
seeking  beyond  the  grave.  In  the  Moham- 
medan desire  for  paradise  and  the  Christian 
aspiration  not  to  be  damned  in  hell,  the 
materiality  of  the  goods  sought  is  undis- 
guised. In  the  more  positive  and  refined 
view  of  heaven  many  of  its  goods,  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  saints  and  of  our  dead  ones, 
and  the  presence  of  God,  are  but  social  goods 
of  the  most  exalted  kind.  It  is  only  the 
search  of  the  redeemed  inward  nature,  the 
spotlessness  from  sin,  whether  here  or  here- 
after, that  can  count  as  spiritual  self-seek- 
ing pure  and  undefiled. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  309.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3058.  SELFISHNESS  ON  THE   SEA 

— Shipwreck  for  Insurance — Life  Less  Es- 
teemed than  Property. — There  is  no  doctrine 
in  physics  more  certainly  true  than  this  doc- 
trine in  politics — that  every  practise  which 
the  authority  of  society  recognizes  or  sup- 
ports has  its  own  train  of  consequences 
which,  for  evil  or  for  good,  can  be  modified 
or  changed  in  an  infinite  variety  of  degrees 
according  as  that  sanction  is  given  or  with- 
held. .  .  .  Thus,  for  example,  there  seems 
good  reason  to  believe  there  is  a  direct  re- 
lation between  the  amount  of  life  and  prop- 
erty annually  sacrificed  by  shipwreck,  and 
the  legislation  which  recognizes  and  sanc- 
tions insurance  to  the  full  amount  of  the 
value  of  ship  and  cargo.  The  cause  of  this 
is  obvious.  Care  for  life  is  less  eager  and 
less  wakeful  than  care  for  property.  This 
is  true  even  when  men  are -dealing  equally 
with  their  own  property  and  with  their 
own  lives.  It  is  still  more  true  when  they 
are  dealing  not  only  with  property  which 
is  their  own,  but  with  lives  which  belong  to 
others.  The  inevitable  effect  of  such  insur- 
ance is  therefore  to  relax  the  motives  of 
self-interest,  which  are  the  strongest  incite- 
ments to  precaution. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  7,  p.  217.  (Burt.) 

3059.  SELF-SACRIFICE   OF  A 
FLOWER — Laying  Down  Life  for  Offspring — 
Struggle  for  the  Life  of  Others. — Watch  this 
flower   at  work  for  a   little,   and  behold  a 
miracle.     Instead  of  struggling  for  life,  it 
lays    down    its    life.     After    clothing   itself 
with  a  beauty  which  is  itself  the  minister 
of  unselfishness,  it  droops,  it  wastes,  it  lays 
down  its  life.    The  tree  still  lives ;  the  other 
leaves   are   fresh    and   green;    but  this   life 
within  a  life  is  dead.     And  why?     Because 
within  this    death   is   life.      Search   among 
the  withered  petals,  and  there,  in  a  cradle 
of  cunning  workmanship,  are  a  hidden  prog- 
eny  of   clustering   seeds  —  the    gift   to    the 
future  which  this  dying  mother  has  brought 
into  the  world  at  the  cost  of  leaving  it.    The 
food  she  might  have  lived  upon  is  given  to 
her  children,  stored  round  each  tiny  embryo 
with  lavish  care,  so  that  when  they  waken 
into  the  world  the  first  helplessness  of  their 
hunger    is   met.      All   the   arrangements   in 


plant  life  which  concern  the  flower,  the 
fruit,  and  the  seed  are  the  creations  of  the 
struggle  for  the  life  of  others. — DRUMMOND 
Ascent  of  Man,  p.  227.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3060.  SENSATION  REQUIRES  TIME 
FOR  TRANSMISSION—  Whale  Not  Instantly 
Aware   of   Wound. — People    in   general   im- 
agine,  when    they   think   at   all   about   the 
matter,  that  an  impression  upon  the  nerves 
— a  blow,  for  example,  or  the  prick  of  a  pin 
— is  felt  at  the  moment  it  is  inflicted.     But 
this  is  not  the  case.     The  seat  of  sensation 
being  the  brain,  to  it  the  intelligence  of  any 
impression  made  upon  the  nerves  has  to  be 
transmitted  before  this  impression  can  be- 
come manifest  as  consciousness.     The  trans- 
mission,  moreover,    requires   time,    and   the 
consequence  is  that  a  wound  inflicted  on  a 
portion  of  the  body  distant  from  the  brain 
is   more    tardily   appreciated   than   one   in- 
flicted  adjacent  to   the  brain.     By   an  ex- 
tremely    ingenious     experimental     arrange- 
ment, Helmholtz  has  determined  the  velocity 
of  this  nervous  transmission,  and  finds  it  to 
be  about  eighty  feet  a  second,  or  less  than 
one-thirteenth  of  the  velocity  of  sound  in 
air.     If,  therefore,  a  whale  forty  feet  long 
were  wounded  in  the  tail,  it  would  not  be 
conscious  of  the   injury  till  half  a   second 
after  the  wound  had  been  inflicted. — TYN- 
DALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  21,  p. 
439.    (A.) 

3061.  SENSATIONS     ACUTE     OR 
MASSIVE—  Touch,  Light,  Sound— Acuteness 
vs.  Diffusion  of  Sensation. — There  is  an  in- 
teresting correspondence  between  the  physic- 
al and  the  mental,  in  regard  to  a  marked 
distinction  among  the  sensations,  in  all  the 
senses,  between  the  acute  and  the  volumi- 
nous   or    massive.      A    sharp    prick    in    the 
finger,  or  a  hot  cinder,  yields  acute  sensa- 
tions;   the  contact  of  the   clothing  of  the 
entire  body,  or  a  warm  bath,  yields  volumi- 
nous or  massive  sensations.     Now  it  is  ob- 
servable that  an  acute  sensation  is  due  to  an 
intense  stimulus  on  a  small  surface ;  a  mass- 
ive sensation,  to  a  gentler  stimulus  over  an 
extended  surface.    The  contrast  is  noticeable 
in  every  one   of  the   senses.     A  gas  flame 
gives  an  acute  feeling,  the  diffused  sunlight 
gives  a  massive  feeling.     A  high  note  upon 
the  flageolet  is  acute;    a  deep  bass  note  on 
the  violoncello  or  the  organ  is  massive.    The 
sea,  the  thunder,  the  shouting  of  a  multi- 
tude are  voluminous  or  massive  from  repe- 
tition  over   a   wide   area.     Taste   is   acute, 
digestive    feeling    is    massive.      Thus    thor- 
oughly does  the   mere  manner   of  external 
incidence  determine  one  of  the  most  notable 
distinctions  among  our  states  of  feeling. — 
BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  3,  p.  11.     (Hum., 
1880.) 

3062.  SENSATIONS  INCREASED  BY 
ATTENTION  —  Unnatural     Sensitiveness    in 
Hysteria. — It   is   no    less    certain,    however, 
that  the  intensity  of  sensations   is  greatly 
affected  by  the  degree  in  which  the  recipi- 
ent mind  is  directed  towards  them ;    and  this 


619 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Selfishness 
Sense 


may  operate  in  regard  either  to  sensory  im- 
pressions generally  or  to  those  of  some  par- 
ticular class.  Of  the  former  we  have  a 
characteristic  example  in  what  is  known  as 
the  hysterical  condition;  in  which  the 
patient's  attention  is  so  fixed  upon  her  own 
bodily  state  that  the  most  trivial  impres- 
sions are  magnified  into  severe  pains;  while 
there  is  often  such  an  extraordinary  acute- 
ness  to  sounds  that  she  overhears  a  conver- 
sation carried  on  in  an  undertone  in  an 
adjoining  room,  or  (as  in  a  case  known  to 
the  writer)  in  a  room  on  the  second  floor 
beneath.  There  is  here,  doubtless,  a  peculiar 
physical  susceptibility  to  nervous  impres- 
sions, which  is  to  a  certain  degree  re- 
mediable by  medical  treatment;  but  much 
depends  upon  the  diversion  of  the  patient's 
attention  from  her  own  fancied  ailments, 
and  we  here  see  the  importance  of  the  self- 
determining  power  of  the  will,  which,  if 
duly  exercised,  can  substitute  a  healthful 
direction  of  the  mental  activity  for  the 
morbid  imaginings  to  which  the  patient  has 
previously  yielded  herself. — CARPENTER  Na- 
ture  and  Man,  bk.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  153.  (A., 
1900.) 

3063.  SENSATIONS   NOT    TO    BE 
MEASURED    NUMERICALLY— The  whole 
notion  of  measuring  sensations  numerically 
remains  in  short  a  mere  mathematical  specu- 
lation about  possibilities,  which  has  never 
been   applied  to  practise. — JAMES   Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  13,  p.   539.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3064.  SENSATIONS     OF     NORMAL 
CONSCIOUSNESS     TO    BE    TRUSTED  — 

Some  External  Fact  Corresponds. — The  phys- 
icist, by  reducing  all  external  changes  to 
"  modes  of  motion,"  appears  to  leave  no  room 
in  his  world-mechanism  for  the  secondary 
qualities  of  bodies,  such  as  light  and  heat, 
as  popularly  conceived.  Yet,  while  allowing 
this,  I  think  we  may  still  regard  the  at- 
tribution of  qualities  like  color  to  objects 
as  in  the  main  correct  and  answering  to 
a  real  fact.  When  a  person  says  an  object 
is  red,  he  is  understood  by  everybody  as 
affirming  something  which  is  true  or  false, 
something,  therefore,  which  either  involves 
an  external  fact  or  is  illusory.  It  would  in- 
volve an  external  fact  whenever  the  particu- 
lar sensation  which  he  receives  is  the  result 
of  a  physical  action  (ether  vibrations  of  a 
certain  order),  which  would  produce  a  like 
sensation  in  anybody  else  in  the  same  situ- 
ation and  endowed  with  the  normal  retinal 
sensibility.  On  the  other  hand,  an  illusory 
attribution  of  color  would  imply  that  there 
is  no  corresponding  physical  agency  at  work 
in  the  case,  but  that  the  sensation  is  con- 
nected with  exceptional  individual  condi- 
tions, as,  for  example,  altered  retinal 
sensibility. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  3,  p.  36. 
(A.,  1897.) 

3065.  SENSE  OF  BEAUTY,  SCIENCE 
DOES  NOT  DIMINISH— Knowledge  Not  In- 
compatible with   Poetry. — Does    the   knowl- 


edge of  the  fact  that  oxygen  has  been  dis- 
covered in  the  sun  tend  to  diminish  by  one 
iota  the  feeling  of  joy,  the  inexpressible 
sense  of  delight  and  wonder,  with  which  we 
see  the  red  rays  rising  aslant  over  the 
Rigi,  and  finally  bursting  into  glorious 
effulgence  as  peak  after  peak  is  tinged  with 
the  morning  glow  ?  Or  when  we  walk  abroad 
in  the  full  glow  of  the  midday,  does  the  idea 
of  the  immensity  of  heaven's  great  orb,  the 
knowledge  of  its  distance  from  us,  or  the 
information  which  details  the  extent  of  time 
occupied  in  the  transit  of  its  light-rays 
earthward  interfere  in  any  sense  with  our 
delight  in  the  poetry  which  has  selected 
astronomy  as  its  theme?  Does  such  knowl- 
edge repress  what  Dr.  Shairp  would  call 
"  the  momentary  elevation  of  heart,"  for 
which  its  subject  "  has  no  words  "  ?  The 
eye  rests  on  the  grateful  green  of  Nature 
which  everywhere  meets  our  gaze,  and  drinks 
in  the  sense  of  beauty  and  of  this  earth's 
sweet  fairness.  Shall  I  the  less  be  filled 
with  joy  because  I  know  that  the  green  is 
the  botanist's  "  chlorophyl,"  and  that  but 
for  the  verdant  hues  of  plants  our  world 
would  become  a  great  stagnant  pond  of  foul 
air? — ANDREW  WILSON  Science  and  Poetry, 
p.  8.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

3066.  SENSE   OF   DURATION— Per- 
ception of  Empty  Time  Vast  and  Dreary — 
Slow  Lapse  of  a  Minute. — Close  your  eyes 
and  simply  wait  to  hear  somebody  tell  you 
that  a  minute  has  elapsed.     The  full  length 
of    your   leisure   with    it   seems    incredible. 
You  engulf  yourself  into  its  bowels  as  into 
those  of  that  interminable  first  week  of  an 
ocean  voyage,  and  find  yourself  wondering 
that  history  can  have  overcome  many  such 
periods   in   its  course,   all  because  you  at- 
tend so  closely  to  the  mere  feeling  of  the 
time  per  se,  and  because  your  attention  to 
that    is    susceptible    of    such    fine-grained, 
successive   subdivision.     The   odiousness   of 
the  whole  experience  comes   from   its   insi- 
pidity; for  stimulation  is  the  indispensable 
requisite  for  pleasure  in  an  experience,  and 
the  feeling  of  bare  time  is  the  least  stimu- 
lating experience  we  can  have. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p.  626.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3067.  SENSE     OF     IGNORANCE    A 
LAW  OF  MAN'S   BEING—  Origin  of  Curi- 
osity and  Wonder — Incentive  to  Progress. — 
It  is  impossible  to  mistake,  then,  the  place 
which  is  occupied  among  the  unities  of  Na- 
ture by  that  sense  of  ignorance  which   is 
universal   among   men.      It  belongs   to   the 
number  of  those  primary  mental  conditions 
which   impel   all   living   things   to   do   that 
which   it  is  their  special  work  to  do,   and 
in  the  doing  of  which   the  highest  law  of 
their  being  is  fulfilled.     In  the  case  of  the 
lower  animals  this  law,  as  to  the  part  they 
have  to   play,   and  the   ends   they  have  to 
serve  in  the  economy  of  the  world,  is  simple, 
definite,  and  always  perfectly  attained.     No 
advance  is  with  them  possible,  no  capacity 


Sense 
Sensibility 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


620 


of  improvement,  no  dormant  or  undeveloped 
powers  leading  up  to  wider  and  wider 
spheres  of  action.  With  man,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  law  of  his  being  is  a  law  \vhich 
demands  progress,  which  endows  him  with 
faculties  enabling  him  to  make  it,  and  fills 
him  with  aspirations  which  cause  him  to 
desire  it.  Among  the  lowest  savages  there 
is  some  curiosity  and  some  sense  of  wonder, 
else  even  the  rude  inventions  they  have 
achieved  would  never  have  been  made,  and 
their  degraded  superstitions  would  not  have 
kept  their  hold.  Man's  sense  of  ignorance 
is  one  of  the  greatest  of  his  gifts,  for  it  is 
the  secret  of  his  wish  to  know.  The  whole 
structure  and  the  whole  furniture  of  his 
mind  are  adapted  to  this  condition.  The 
highest  law  of  his  being  is  to  advance  in 
wisdom  and  knowledge,  and  his  sense  of  the 
presence  and  of  the  power  of  things  which 
he  can  only  partially  understand  is  an  abi- 
ding witness  of  this  law,  and  an  abiding  in- 
centive to  its  fulfilment. — ARGYLL  Unity  of 
Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  189.  (Burt.) 

3068.  SENSE  OF  PROPERTY  MANI- 
FESTED   BY    DOGS— Dogs  seem  to  have 
the  feeling  of  the  value  of  their  master's 
personal  property,  or  at  least  a  particular 
interest  in  objects  which  their  master  uses. 
A  dog  left  with  his  master's  coat  will  defend 
it,  tho  never  taught  to  do  so.     I  know  of 
a  dog  accustomed  to   swim  after  sticks  in 
the  water,  but  who  always  refused  to  dive 
for  stones.    Nevertheless,  when  a  fish-basket, 
which  he  had  never  been  trained  to  carry, 
but  merely  knew  as  his  master's,  fell  over, 
he  immediately  dived  after  it  and  brought 
it  up.     Dogs  thus  discern,  at  any  rate  so 
far  as  to  be  able  to  act,  this  partial  charac- 
ter of  being  valuable,  which  lies  hidden  in 
certain  things. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii, 
ch.  22,  p.  350.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3069.  SENSE-IMPRESSIONS.   COM- 
BINATION AND  INTERPRETATION  OF— 

Attention  of  Infant  Is  Automatic. — In  the 
young  child,  as  among  the  lower  animals, 
the  attention  seems  purely  automatic,  being 
solely  determined  by  the  attractiveness  of 
the  object;  and  the  diversion  of  it  from 
one  object  to  another  simply  depends  upon 
the  relative  force  of  the  two  attractions. 
It  is  this  automatic  fixation  of  the  attention 
on  the  sense-impressions  received  from  the 
external  world  that  enables  the  infant  to 
effect  that  marvelous  combination  of  visual 
and  tactile  perceptions  which  guides  the 
whole  subsequent  interpretation  of  its  phe- 
nomena. .  .  .  When  an  attractive  object 
is  presented  to  it,  which  it  grasps  in  its  lit- 
tle hands,  carries  to  its  lips,  and  holds  at 
different  distances,  earnestly  gazing  at  it  all 
the  while,  it  is  learning  a  most  valuable 
lesson,  and  the  judicious  mother  or  nurse 
will  not  interrupt  this  process,  but  will 
allow  the  infant  to  go  on  with  its  examina- 
tion of  the  object  as  long  as  it  is  so  dis- 
posed.— CARPENTER  Mental  Physiology,  ch. 
3,  p.  133.  (A.,  1900.) 


3D  7  O.  SENSE  -  PERCEPTIONS  ACT 
ONE  AT  A  TIME— Sight  and  Hearing  among 
Astronomers. — Astronomers  have  long  been 
aware  that  no  human  being  can  hear  and 
see  at  the  same  time.  If  a  moving  star  is 
being  observed  through  a  telescope,  and  the 
observer  is  required  to  announce,  while 
counting  the  strokes  of  a  pendulum,  at 
which  stroke  the  star  is  found  at  a  certain 
point,  he  never  fails  to  make  a  mistake. 
He  generally  counts  one  too  many  strokes  of 
the  pendulum.  He  sees  first  and  then  hears. 
— PREYER  Ueber  Empfindungen  (a  Lecture). 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3O71.  SENSES,  ASSUMED  "FAL- 
LACY ' '  OF— Intellectual  Fallacy  by  Erroneous 
Inference. — Note  that  in  every  illusion  what 
is  false  is  what  is  inferred,  not  what  is 
immediately  given.  The  "  this,"  if  it  were 
felt  by  itself  alone,  would  be  all  right;  it 
only  becomes  misleading  by  what  it  suggests. 
If  it  is  a  sensation  of  sight,  it  may  suggest 
a  tactile  object,  for  example,  which  later 
tactile  experiences  prove  to  be  not  there. 
The  so-called  "  fallacy  of  the  senses/'  of 
which  the  ancient  skeptics  made  so  much 
account,  is  not  fallacy  of  the  senses  proper, 
but  rather  of  the  intellect,  which  interprets 
wrongly  what  the  senses  give. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  ii,  ch.  19,  p.  86.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3O  7  2.  SENSES  IN  CONFLICT—  Vision 
on  Precipice  Opposed  to  Muscular  Sense  of 
Equilibrium — Resultant  Feeling  of  Inse- 
curity.— Thus  a  person  unaccustomed  to  look 
down  heights  feels  insecure  at  the  top  of  a 
tower  or  a  precipice,  altho  he  knows  that 
his  body  is  properly  supported,  for  the  void 
which  he  sees  below  him  contradicts  (as  it 
were)  the  muscular  sense  by  which  he  is 
made  conscious  of  its  due  equilibrium.  So, 
again,  altho  any  one  can  walk  along  a 
narrow  plank  which  forms  part  of  the  floor 
of  a  room,  or  which  is  elevated  but  little 
above  it,  without  the  least  difficulty,  and 
even  without  any  consciousness  of  effort, 
yet  if  that  plank  be  laid  across  a  chasm 
the  bottom  of  which  is  so  far  removed  from 
the  eye  that  the  visual  sense  gives  no  as- 
sistance, even  those  who  have  braced  their 
nerves  against  all  emotional  distraction  feel 
that  an  effort  is  requisite  to  maintain  the 
equilibrium  during  their  passage  over  it, 
that  effort  being  aided  by  the  withdrawal 
of  the  eyes  from  the  depth  below,  and  the 
fixation  of  them  on  a  point  beyond,  which 
at  the  same  time  helps  to  give  steadiness 
to  the  movements  and  distracts  the  mind 
from  the  sense  of  its  danger. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  214.  (A., 
1900.) 

3O73.  SENSES,  JUDGMENT  NEEDED 
TO  INTERPRET— The  question  whether  ver- 
milion is  really  red  as  we  see  it,  or  whether 
that  is  only  a  delusion  of  our  sense,  is  there- 
fore unmeaning.  The  sensation  of  red  is 
the  normal  reaction  from  the  light  reflected 
from  vermilion  upon  normally  constructed 


621 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sensibility 


eyes.  One  who  is  red-blind  would  see  the 
vermilion  black  or  a  dark  grayish  yellow; 
that  also  is  the  correct  reaction  for  his  pe- 
culiar construction  of  eye.  But  he  ought 
to  be  aware  that  his  eyes  differ  from  those 
of  other  human  beings.  In  itself  the  one 
sensation  is  neither  more  correct  nor  more 
false  than  the  other,  altho  the  red-seeing 
are  in  the  majority.  In  fact,  the  red  color 
of  vermilion  only  has  existence  in  as  far 
as  there  are  eyes  constructed  like  the  ma- 
jority of  eyes.  It  is  absolutely  as  much  a 
characteristic  of  vermilion  to  be  black, 
namely,  for  the  red-blind.  The  fact  is,  the 
light  reflected  from  vermilion  is  not  to  be 
termed  red  per  se;  it  is  only  red  for  eyes 
of  a  peculiar  form.  ...  It  would  seem 
as  if  it  were  unnecessary  to  mention  this, 
and  for  that  reason  we  are  apt  to  forget  it, 
and  to  be  deceived  into  believing  that  the 
red  is  a  characteristic  belonging  to  vermil- 
ion, or  to  the  light  reflected  from  it,  wholly 
independent  of  our  organs  of  sight.  It  is 
different  when  we  assert  that  the  waves 
thrown  back  from  vermilion  have  a  certain 
length.  That  is  an  assertion  we  can  make 
independent  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  our 
eyes;  it  is  wholly  a  question  of  the  relations 
between  the  substance  and  the  different  sys- 
tems of  the  waves  of  ether. — HELMHOLTZ 
Eandbuch  der  physiologischen  Optik,  p.  589. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 

3O74.  SENSES,  KEENNESS  OF, 
AMONG  RUDE  TRIBES—  Wonderful  Skill 
and  Judgment  of  Savage  Hunter. — The  na- 
tives of  the  Brazilian  forests,  to  whom  track- 
ing game  is  the  chief  business  of  life,  do  it 
with  a  skill  that  fills  with  wonder  the  white 
men  who  have  watched  them.  The  Botocudo 
hunter,  gliding  stealthily  through  the  under- 
wood, knows  every  habit  and  sign  of  bird 
and  beast;  the  remains  of  berries  and  pods 
show  him  what  creature  has  fed  there;  he 
knows  how  high  up  an  armadillo  displaces 
the  leaves  in  passing,  and  so  can  distinguish 
its  track  from  the  snake's  or  tortoise's,  and 
follow  it  to  its  burrow  by  the  scratches 
of  its  scaly  armor  on  the  mud.  Even  the 
sense  of  smell  of  this  savage  hunter  is  keen 
enough  to  help  him  in  tracking.  Hidden 
behind  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  he  can  imitate 
the  cries  of  birds  and  beasts  to  bring  them 
within  range  of  his  deadly  poisoned  arrow, 
and  he  will  even  entice  the  alligator  by  ma- 
king her  rough  eggs  grate  together  where 
they  lie  under  leaves  on  the  river-bank.  If 
an  ape  he  has  shot  high  in  the  boughs  of 
some  immense  tree  remains  hanging  by  its 
tail,  he  will  go  up  after  it  by  a  hanging 
creeper  where  no  white  man  would  climb. 
At  last,  laden  with  game  and  useful  forest 
things,  such  as  palm-fiber  to  make  ham- 
mocks, or  fruit  to  brew  liquor,  he  finds  his 
way  back  to  his  hut  by  the  sun  and  the 
lie  of  the  ground,  and  the  twigs  that  he  bent 
back  for  way-marks  as  he  crept  through  the 
thicket. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  207. 
(A.,  1899.) 


3O75.  SENSES,  RELATIVE  ACUTE- 
NESS  OF — Keenness  of  Scent  among  Arabs. — 
It  is  said  that  the  Arabs  of  the  Sahara  can 
recognize  the  smell  of  a  fire  thirty  or  forty 
miles  distant. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physi- 
ology, bk.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  141.  (A.,  1900.) 

3O  7  6. Keenness  of  Scent 

among  Indians. — We  are  told  by  Humboldt 
that  the  Peruvian  Indians  in  the  darkest 
night  can  not  merely  perceive  through  their 
scent  the  approach  of  a  stranger  whilst  yet 
far  distant,  but  can  say  whether  he  is  an 
Indian,  European,  or  negro. — CARPENTER 
Mental  Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  141.  (A., 
1900.) 

3O77. Progress  Accom- 
panied by  Decline — Smell  of  First  Impor- 
tance to  Lower  Animals — Little  Used  by 
Man. — In  general,  this  lowest,  most  animal, 
least  intellectual  of  the  sensations  [smell] 
is  peculiarly  baffling  of  all  attempts  to  re- 
duce it  to  terms  of  science.  In  the  developed 
and  cultivated  human  species  smell  has 
come  to  be,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  nature 
of  an  esthetical  advantage  or  affliction, 
rather  than  a  means  of  accurate  knowledge. 
But  in  the  lower  and  less  cultivated  phases 
of  animal  life  it,  by  the  prompt  and  accu- 
rate information  it  furnishes,  serves  as  a 
most  important  factor  in  the  preservation, 
propagation,  and  evolution  of  the  individual 
and  of  the  species. — LADD  Psychology,  ch.  6, 
p.  100.  (S.,  1899.) 

3D  7  8.  SENSES,  TO  EXTEND  THEIR 
RANGE  ONE  OF  THE  PROBLEMS  OF 
SCIENCE — Telescope  and  Microscope. —  One 
of  the  problems  of  science,  on  which  scien- 
tific progress  mainly  depends,  is  to  help  the 
senses  of  man  by  carrying  them  into  regions 
which  could  never  be  attained  without  such 
help.  Thus  we  arm  the  eye  with  the  tele- 
scope when  we  want  to  sound  the  depths  of 
space,  and  with  the  microscope  when  we 
want  to  explore  motion  and  structure  in 
their  infinitesimal  dimensions.  —  TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  12.  (A.,  1898.) 

3D  7  9.  SENSIBILITY  CHANGEABLE 
— The  World  Enduring. — There  are  facts 
which  make  us  believe  that  our  sensibility 
is  altering  all  the  time,  so  that  the  same 
object  cannot  easily  give  us  the  same  sen- 
sation over  again.  The  eye's  sensibility  to 
light  is  at  its  maximum  when  the  eye  is  first 
exposed,  and  blunts  itstlf  with  surprising 
rapidity.  A  long  night's  sleep  will  make  it 
see  things  twice  as  brightly  on  wakening, 
as  simple  rest  by  closure  will  make  it  see 
them  later  in  the  day.  We  feel  things  dif- 
ferently according  as  we  are  sleepy  or 
awake,  hungry  or  full,  fresh  or  tired;  dif- 
ferently at  night  and  in  the  morning;  dif- 
ferently in  summer  and  in  winter;  and,  above 
all  things,  differently  in  childhood,  man- 
hood, and  old  age.  Yet  we  never  doubt  that 
our  feelings  reveal  the  same  world,  with  the 
same  sensible  qualities  and  the  same  sensi- 
ble things  occupying  it. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  232.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


Sensitiveness 
Sewing 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


622 


3O8O.  SENSITIVENESS  OF  PLANTS 
TO  LIGHT — Exactness^/ Movement. — In  our 
various  experiments  we  were  often  struck 
with  the  accuracy  with  which  seedlings 
pointed  to  a  light,  altho  of  small  size.  To 
test  this,  many  seedlings  of  Phalaris,  which 
had  germinated  in  darkness  in  a  very  nar- 
row box  several  feet  in  length,  were  placed 
in  a  darkened  room  near  to  and  in  front 
of  a  lamp  having  a  small  cylindrical  wick. 
The  cotyledons  at  the  two  ends  and  in  the 
central  part  of  the  box  would  therefore 
have  to  bend  in  widely  different  directions 
in  order  to  point  to  the  light.  After  they 
had  become  rectangularly  bent,  a  long  white 
thread  was  stretched  by  two  persons,  close 
over  and  parallel,  first  to  one  and  then  to 
another  cotyledon,  and  the  thread  was  found 
in  almost  every  case  actually  to  intersect 
the  small  circular  wick  of  the  now  extin- 
guished lamp.  The  deviation  from  accuracy 
never  exceeded,  as  far  as  we  could  judge, 
a  degree  or  two. — DARWIN  Power  of  Move- 
ment in  Plants,  ch.  9,  p.  469.  (A.,  1900.) 

3O81.  SENSITIVENESS  SPECIALIZED 

— Leaves  of  Dioncea  Close  at  Touch  of  In- 
sect— Wind  and  Rain  Have  No  Effect. — 
Drops  of  water,  or  a  thin,  broken  stream, 
falling  from  a  height  on  the  filaments,  did 
not  cause  the  blades  to  close,  tho  these  fila- 
ments were  afterwards  proved  to  be  highly 
sensitive.  No  doubt,  as  in  the  case  of  Dros- 
era,  the  plant  is  indifferent  to  the  heaviest 
shower  of  rain.  Drops  of  a  solution  of  a 
half  an  ounce  of  sugar  to  a  fluid  ounce  of 
water  were  repeatedly  allowed  to  fall  from 
a  height  on  the  filaments,  but  produced  no 
effect,  unless  they  adhered  to  them.  Again, 
I  blew  many  times  through  a  fine-pointed 
tube  with  my  utmost  force  against  the  fila- 
ments without  any  effect,  such  blowing  being 
received  with  as  much  indifference  as  no 
doubt  is  a  heavy  gale  of  wind.  We  thus  see 
that  the  sensitiveness  of  the  filaments  is  of 
a  specialized  nature,  being  related  to  a  mo- 
mentary touch  rather  than  to  prolonged 
pressure;  and  the  touch  must  not  be  from 
fluids,  such  as  air  or  water,  but  from  some 
solid  object. — DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants, 
ch.  13,  p.  236.  (A.,  1900.) 

3O82.  SENTIMENT  WITHOUT  AC- 
TION PERNICIOUS— Character  Hopelessly 
Enervated. — No  matter  how  full  a  reservoir 
of  maxims  one  may  possess,  and  no  matter 
how  good  one's  sentiments  may  be,  if  one 
have  not  taken  advantage  of  every  concrete 
opportunity  to  act,  one's  character  may  re- 
main entirely  unaffected  for  the  better. 
.  .  .  A  tendency  to  act  only  becomes  effect- 
ively ingrained  in  us  in  proportion  to  the 
uninterrupted  frequency  with  which  the  ac- 
tions actually  occur,  and  the  brain  "  grows  " 
to  their  use.  Every  time  a  resolve  or  a  fine 
glow  of  feeling  evaporates  without  bearing 
practical  fruit  is  worse  than  a  chance  lost; 
it  works  so  as  positively  to  hinder  future 
resolutions  and  emotions  from  taking  the 
normal  path  of  discharge.  There  is  no  more 


contemptible  type  of  human  character  than 
that  of  the  nerveless  sentimentalist  and 
dreamer,  who  spends  his  life  in  a  weltering 
sea  of  sensibility  and  emotion,  but  who  never 
does  a  manly,  concrete  deed.  Rousseau,  in- 
flaming all  the  mothers  of  France  by  his  elo- 
quence, to  follow  Nature  and  nurse  their 
babies  themselves,  while  he  sends  his  own 
children  to  the  foundling  hospital,  is  the 
classical  example  of  what  I  mean. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  125.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3083.  SEPARATENESS   OF  GREAT 
SUBKINGDOMS   OF   ANIMALS—  "Missing 
Links  "  Not  Found — No  Transitional  Forms 
Known  in  Present  or  Past. — If  I  had  fol- 
lowed out  all  these  various  lines  of  classi- 
fication fully  I  should  discover  in  the  end 
that  there  was  no  animal,  either  recent  or 
fossil,  which  did  not  at  once  fall  into  one 
or  other  of  these  subkingdoms.      In   other 
words,  every  animal  is  organized  upon  one 
or  other  of  the  five  or  more  plans  whose 
existence  renders  our  classification  possible. 
And  so  definitely  and  precisely  marked  is 
the  structure  of  each  animal  that,  in  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge,  there  is  not 
the  least  evidence  to  prove  that  a  form,  in 
the  slightest  degree  transitional  between  any 
two  of  the  groups  Vertebrata,  Annulosa,  Mol- 
lusca,  and  Ccelenterata,  either  exists,  or  has 
existed,   during  that   period  of  the  earth's 
history  which  is  recorded  by  the  geologist. — 
HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  vol.'vi,  p.  103.     (A., 
1895.) 

3084.  SERVICE    OF    AMATEURS— 

Schwabe,  a  German  Magistrate,  Takes  to 
Counting  Sun-spots — Important  Law  Dis- 
covered.— The  sun  sometimes  has  numerous 
spots  on  it,  and  sometimes  none  at  all;  but 
it  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  any 
one  to.  see  whether  they  had  any  regular 
period  for  coming  or  going,  till  Schwabe,  a 
magistrate  in  a  little  German  town,  who 
happened  to  have  a  small  telescope  and  a 
good  deal  of  leisure,  began  for  his  own 
amusement  to  note  their  number  every  day. 
He  commenced  in  1826,  and  with  German 
patience  observed  daily  for  forty  years. 
He  first  found  that  the  spots  grew  more 
numerous  in  1830,  when  there  was  no  single 
day  without  one;  then  the  number  declined 
very  rapidly,  till  in  1833  they  were  about 
gone;  then  they  increased  in  number  again 
till  1838,  then  again  declined;  and  so  on, 
till  it  became  evident  that  sun-spots  do  not 
come  and  go  by  chance,  but  run  through  a 
cycle  of  grov/th  and  disappearance,  on  the 
average  about  once  in  every  eleven  years. 
— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  77. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.) 

3085.  SERVICE  OF  GREAT  TO 

SMALL—  "Whosoever  Will  Be  Chief  among 
You,  Let  Him  Be  Your  Servant"  (Matt,  xxi, 
27) — Saturn  a  Minor  Sun  to  His  Satellites. 
— We  seem  compelled,  then,  to  adopt  the  view 
that  Saturn  subserves  useful  purposes  to 


623 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sensitiveness 
Sewing 


the  worlds  which  circle  round  him.  To  these 
he  certainly  supplies  much  reflected  light, 
and  possibly  a  considerable  proportion  of 
inherent  light.  He  probably  warms  them  in 
a  much  greater  degree.  And  it  seems  no 
unworthy  thought  respecting  him  that  even 
as  he  sways  them  by  his  attractive  energy, 
so  he  nourishes  them  as  a  subordinate  sun 
by  the  heat  with  which  his  great  mass  is 
instinct.  If  our  sun,  so  far  surpassing  all 
his  dependent  worlds  in  mass,  yet  acts  as 
their  servant  in  such  respects,  we  may  rea- 
sonably believe  that  Saturn  and  Jupiter  act 
a  similar  part  towards  the  orbs  which  circle 
round  them. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  103.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3086.  SERVICE,  RECIPROCAL,  OF 
PLANTS  AND  ANIMALS— Plant  life  seizes 
upon  its  required  constituents,  and  by  means 
of  the  energy  furnished  by  the  sun's  rays 
builds  these  materials  up  into  its  own  com- 
plex  forms.      Its    many    and   varied   forms 
fulfil  a  place  in  beautifying  the  world.    But 
their   contribution  to  the  economy   of  Na- 
ture is,  by  means  of  their  products,  to  sup- 
ply food  for  animal  life.     The  products  of 
plant  life  are  chiefly  sugar,  starch,  fat,  and 
proteids.     Animal  life  is  not  capable  of  ex- 
tracting   its    nutriment    from    soil,    but    it 
must  take   the  more  complex  foods   which 
have    already   been    built    up    by   vegetable 
life.    Again,  the  complementary  functions  of 
animal   and  vegetable  life   are   seen  in  the 
absorption  by  plants   of  one  of  the  waste 
materials    of    animals,    viz.,    carbonic    acid 
gas.     Plants  abstract  from  this  gas  carbon 
for  their  own  use,  and  return  the  oxygen 
to  the  air,  which  in  turn  is  of  service  to  ani- 
mal life. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  147. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3087.  "  SETTING »  OF  THE  MEM- 
ORY— Learning  in  Order  to  Forget — Religion 
and  Morality  May  Be  Limited  to  Times  and 
Seasons. — There  is  an  interesting  fact  con- 
nected with  remembering,  which,  so  far  as  I 
know,  Mr.  R.  Verdon  was  the  first  writer 
expressly  to  call  attention  to.     We  can  set 
our  memory  as  it  were  to  retain  things  for 
a  certain  time,  and  then  let  them  depart. 

"  Individuals  often  remember  clearly  and 
well  up  to  the  time  when  they  have  to  use 
their  knowledge,  and  then,  when  it  is  no 
longer  required,  there  follows  a  rapid  and 
extensive  decay  of  the  traces.  Many  school- 
boys forget  their  lessons  after  they  have 
said  them,  many  barristers  forget  details 
got  up  for  a  particular  case.  Thus  a  boy 
learns  thirty  lines  of  Homer,  says  them  per- 
fectly, and  then  forgets  them  so  that  he 
could  not  say  five  consecutive  lines  the  next 
morning,  and  a  barrister  may  be  one  week 
learned  in  the  mysteries  of  making  cog- 
wheels, but  in  the  next  he  may  be  well 
acquainted  with  the  anatomy  of  the  ribs 
instead." 

The  rationale  of  this  fact  is  obscure,  and 
the  existence  of  it  ought  to  make  us  feel 


how  truly  subtle  are  the  nervous  processes 
which  memory  involves. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  685.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3088.  SEVERITY  AND  PRIVATION 
OF  THE  NORTH— Mental  Triumph  a  Com- 
pensation.— Many  of  the  enjoyments  which 
Nature  affords  are  denied  to  the  nations  of 
the  North.     Many  constellations  and  many 
vegetable   forms,   including  more   especially 
the  most  beautiful  productions  of  the  earth 
(palms,     tree-ferns,     bananas,     arborescent 
grasses,  and  delicately  feathered  mimosas), 
remain  forever  unknown  to  them;    for  the 
puny  plants  pent  up  in  our  hothouses  give 
but  a  faint  idea  of  the  majestic  vegetation 
of  the  tropics.    But  the  rich  deyelopment  of 
our  language,  the  glowing  fancy  of  the  poet, 
and  the  imitative  art  of  the  painter,  afford 
us  abundant  compensation;    and  enable  the 
imagination   to   depict  in   vivid   colors   the 
images  of  an  exotic  Nature.     In  the  frigid 
North,  amid  barren  heaths,  the  solitary  stu- 
dent may  appropriate  all  that  has  been  dis- 
covered in  the  most  remote  regions  of  the 
earth,    and    thus    create    within   himself    a 
world  as  free  and  imperishable  as  the  spirit 
from  which  it  emanates. — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  231.    (Bell,  1896.) 

3089.  SEWING    AMONG    SAVAGES 

— Needles  in  the  Stone  Age — New  Zealand- 
ers  Drill  Hole  in  Glass. — The  neatness  with 
which  the  Hottentots,  Eskimos,  North- 
American  Indians,  etc.,  are  able  to  sew,  is 
very  remarkable,  altho  awls  and  sinews 
would  in  our  hands  be  but  poor  substitutes 
for  needles  and  thread.  .  .  .  Some  cau- 
tious archeologists  hesitated  to  refer  the 
reindeer  caves  of  the  Dordogne  to  the  Stone 
Age,  on  account  of  the  bone  needles  and  the 
works  of  art  which  are  found  in  them.  The 
eyes  of  the  needles  especially,  they  thought, 
could  only  be  made  with  metallic  imple- 
ments. Professor  Lartet  ingeniously  re- 
moved these  doubts  by  making  a  similar 
needle  for  himself  with  the  help  of  a  flint; 
but  he  might  have  referred  to  the  fact  stated 
by  Cook  in  his  first  voyage,  that  the  New 
Zealanders  succeeded  in  drilling  a  hole 
through  a  piece  of  glass  which  he  had  given 
them,  using  for  this  purpose,  as  he  supposed, 
a  piece  of  jasper. — AVEBTJRY  Prehistoric 
Times,  ch.  15,  p.  523.  (A.,  1900.) 

3090.  SEWING     OF     PRIMITIVE 
WOMAN — Plain   sewing  among  the   lowest 
peoples    is    an    affair    of   the    skin    dresser. 
They  do  not,  as  has  been  said,  make  cloth  in 
long  pieces  to  be  cut  up  and  sewed  into  gar- 
ments and  other  useful  things.     This  being 
the  fact,  the  best  tailors  ought  to  be  sought 
in  the  arctic  regions.     And  this  is  true,  as 
any  one  knows  who  has  examined  the  gar- 
ments of  caribou  skin,   of  sealskin,  of  the 
pelts  of  the  little  fur-bearing  animals,  of  the 
intestines  of  the  larger  mammals,  wrought 
by  the  Siberians  and  the  Eskimo. 

Parkas  or  blouses,  trousers  or  boots,  are 


ft?, 


ing 
ore 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


624 


cut  out  with  stone  or  metal  knives.  The 
edges  of  the  parts  are  whipped  together  with 
sinews  so  as  to  be  water-tight.  Bits  of 
different  colored  fur  are  inserted  for  orna- 
mentation, and,  frequently,  to  save  every 
scrap,  the  sempstress  will  have  a  hundred 
pieces  of  skin  in  a  single  garment.  Her 
needle  is  a  tough  bit  of  bone  working  like 
an  awl,  and  her  sinew  is  drawn  through  with 
a  true  needle  made  of  bird .-  bone.  Her 
thimble  is  a  bit  of  tough  seal  hide  drawn 
over  the  end  of  the  forefinger,  tho  in  modern 
times  they  imitate  in  ivory  the  white 
woman's  thimble. — MASON  Origins  of  Inven- 
tion, ch.  7,  p.  248.  (S.,  1899.) 

3091.  SEX  AND  DIVISION  OF  LA- 
BOR—  Woman  the  Inventor  of  the  Arts  of  Peace. 
— Division  of  labor  began  with  the  invention 
of  fire-making,  and  it  was  a  division  of  labor 
based  upon  sex.     The  woman  stayed  by  the 
fire  to  keep  it  alive,  while  the  man  went  to 
the  field  or  the  forest  for  game.    The  world's 
industrialism  and  militancy  began  then  and 
there.     Man  has  been  cunning  in  devising 
means  of  killing  beast  and  his  fellow  man — 
he  has  been  the  inventor  in  every  murderous 
art.     The  woman  at  the  fireside  became  the 
burden-bearer,  the  basket-maker,  the  weaver, 
potter,    agriculturist,    domesticator    of    ani- 
mals— in  a   word,   the   inventor   of  all   the 
peaceful     arts     of     life. — MASON     Woman's 
Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  pref.,  p.  7.    (A., 
1894.) 

3092.  SEX     BINDS    UNITS    INTO 
UNITY — Separates  in   Order  to    Unite — God 
Setteth  the  Solitary  in  Families  (Ps.  Ixviii, 
6). — By  a  device  the  most  subtle  of  all  that 
guard  the  higher  evolution  of  the  world — 
the  device  of  sex — Nature  accomplishes  this 
task  of  throwing  irresistible  bonds  around 
widely    separate    things,    and    establishing 
such    sympathies   between   them    that   they 
must  act  together  or  forfeit  the  very  life  of 
their  kind.     Sex  is  a  paradox;    it  is  that 
which  separates  in  order  to  unite.    The  same 
mysterious  mesh  which  Nature  threw  over 
the  two  separate  palms,  she  threw  over  the 
few  and  scattered  units  which  were  to  form 
the  nucleus  of  mankind. — DRUMMOND  Ascent 
of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  243.    ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

3093.  SEX,  DIFFERENTIATION  OF, 
FROM    CELL    TO    SOUL— Energy,  Motion, 
Activity  of  Male — Passivity,  Gentleness,  Re- 
pose of  Female. — The  predominating  note  in 
the  male  will  be  energy,  motion,   activity; 
while  passivity,  gentleness,  repose,  will  char- 
acterize the  female.     These  words,  let  it  be 
noticed,    psychical   tho  they   seem,    are   yet 
here  the  coinages  of  physiology.     No  other 
terms  indeed  would  describe  the  difference. 
Thus   Geddes   and   Thomson:     "The  female 
cochineal   insect,   laden  with   reserve   prod- 
ucts in  the  form  of  the  well-known  pigment, 
spends  much  of  its  life  like  a  mere  quiescent 
gall  on  the  cactus  plant.     The  male,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  his  adult  state,  is  agile,  rest- 
less, and  short-lived.     Now  this  is  no  mere 


curiosity  of  the  entomologist,  but  in  reality 
a  vivid  emblem  of  what  is  an  average  truth 
throughout  the  world  of  animals — the  pre- 
ponderating passivity  of  the  females,  the 
freedomness  and  activity  of  the  males." 
Rolph's  words,  because  he  writes  neither  of 
men  nor  of  animals,  but  goes  back  to  the 
furthest  recess  of  Nature  and  characterizes 
the  cell  itself,  are  still  more  significant: 
"  The  less  nutritive  and  therefore  smaller, 
hungrier,  and  more  mobile  organism  is  the 
male;  the  more  nutritive  and  usually  more 
quiescent  is  the  female." — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  255.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3094.  "SEX    OF    SOUL  "—  Inherent 
Differences  in  Mental  Activity  of  Man  and 
Woman. — It  has  been  affirmed  by  some  phi- 
losophers that  there  is  no  essential  differ- 
ence between  the  mind  of  a  woman  and  that 
of  a  man,  and  that  if  a  girl  were  subjected 
to  the  same  education  as  a  boy  she  would 
resemble   him   in  tastes,   feelings,   pursuits, 
and  powers.     To  my  mind  it  would  not  be 
one  whit  more  absurd  to  affirm  that  the  ant- 
lers of  the  stag,  the  human  beard,  and  the 
cock's  comb,  are  effects  of  education.     .    .    > 
The  physical  and  mental  differences  between 
the  sexes  intimate  themselves  very  early  in 
life,  and  declare  themselves  most  distinctly 
at  puberty.     .     .     .    While  woman  preserves 
her  sex,  she  will  necessarily  be  feebler  than 
man,    and,    having  her    special    bodily   and 
mental   characters,   will   have  to   a   certain 
extent  her   own   sphere  of  activity;    where 
she  has  become  thoroughly  masculine  in  na- 
ture, or   hermaphrodite  in  mind — when,   in 
fact,    she   has   pretty  well   divested   herself 
of  her  sex — then  she  may  take  his  ground, 
and  do  his  work;  but  she  will  have  lost  her 
feminine  attractions,  and  probably  also  her 
chief  feminine  functions. — MAUDSLEY  Body 
and  Mind,  lect.  1,  p.  35.     (A.,  1898.) 

3095.  SHADOW    SEEMING    SUB- 
STANCE—A   Terrifying  Spectacle— Movement 
of  Moon's  Shadow  across  the  Earth  in  Solar 
Eclipse — Real    Confounded    with    Apparent 
Motion. — The  reader  who  has  ever  ascended 
to   the   Superga,   at   Turin,   will   recall   the 
magnificent  view,  and  be  able  to  understand 
the  good  fortune  of  an  observer    (Forbes) 
who   once  had  the   opportunity   to   witness 
thence  this  phenomenon,  and  under  a  nearly 
cloudless  sky.     "  I  perceived,"  he  says,  "  in 
the  southwest  a  black  shadow  like  that  of  a 
storm   about  to  break,  which   obscured  the 
Alps.     It  was  the  lunar  shadow  coming  to- 
wards us."     And  he  speaks  of  the  "  stupe- 
faction " — it    is    his    word — caused    by    the 
spectacle.      "  I   confess,"  he   continues,    "  it 
was  the  most  terrifying  sight  I  ever  saw. 
As  always  happens  in  the  case  of  sudden, 
silent,  unexpected  movements,  the  spectator 
confounds  real  and  relative  motion.     I  felt 
almost  giddy  for  a  moment,  as  tho  the  mass- 
ive building  under  me  bowed  on  the  coming 
eclipse."      Another   witness,    who   had   been 
looking  at  some  bright  clouds  just  before, 
says :     "  The  bright  cloud  I  saw  distinctly 


625 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sewing 
Shore 


put  out  like  a  candle.  The  rapidity  of  the 
shadow,  and  the  intensity,  produced  a  feel- 
ing that  something  material  was  sweeping 
over  the  earth  at  a  speed  perfectly  frightful. 
I  involuntarily  listened  for  the  rushing  noise 
of  a  mighty  wind." — LANGLEY  New  Astron- 
omy, ch.  2,  p.  38.  (H.  M.  &  Co.) 

3096.  SHELLS,  IMPORTANCE  OF, 
IN  CHRONOLOGY—  The  Medals  of  Nature. 
— In  the  present  state  of  science,  it  is  chiefly 
by  the  aid  of  shells  that  we  are  enabled  to  ar- 
rive at  these  results  [determination  of  geo- 
logical time],  for  of  all  classes  the    Testacea 
are  the  most  generally  diffused  in  a  fossil 
state,  and  may  be  called  the  medals  prin- 
cipally employed  by  Nature  in  recording  the 
chronology  of  past  events. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  13,  p.  183.     (A.  1854.) 

3097.  SHELLS,     POMPEIAN,    UN- 
CHANGED THROUGH  CENTURIES— Pic- 
tures Preserved — Lines  Written  by  Vanished 
Hands — Enduring  Record  of  the  Evanescent. 
— The  writings  scribbled  by  the  soldiers  on 
the  walls   of  their  barracks    [at  Pompeii], 
and  the  names  of  the  owners  of  each  house 
written  over  the   doors,,   are   still  perfectly 
legible.  The  colors  of  fresco  paintings  on  the 
stuccoed    walls    in    the    interior    of    build- 
ings  are  almost  as   vivid   as  if   they   were 
just  finished.     There  are  public   fountains 
decorated  with  shells  laid  out  in  patterns  in 
the  same  fashion  as  those  now  seen  in  the 
town  of  Naples ;  and  in  the  room  of  a  paint- 
er, who  was  perhaps  a  naturalist,  a  large  col- 
lection of   shells  was   found,    comprising   a 
great  variety  of  Mediterranean  species,   in 
as  good  a  state  of  preservation  as  if  they 
had  remained  for  the  same  number  of  years 
in  a  museum.     A  comparison  of  these  re- 
mains with  those  found  so  generally  in  a 
fossil  state  would  not  assist  us  in  obtaining 
the  least  insight  into  the  time  required  to 
produce  a  certain  degree  of  decomposition  or 
mineralization;     for,  altho  under  favorable 
circumstances  much  greater  alteration  might 
doubtless    have    been    brought    about    in    a 
shorter  period,   yet  the  example  before  us 
shows  that  an  inhumation  of  seventeen  cen- 
turies may  sometimes  effect  nothing  towards 
the  reduction  of  shells  to  the  state  in  which 
fossils  are  usually  found. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  392.     (A.,  1854.) 

3098.  SHOCK,      TRANSMITTED— 

Earthquake  Heaves  Ocean  Wave  on  the 
Shore. — Shortly  after  the  shock  [of  the 
Chilean  earthquake  of  1835],  a  great  wave 
was  seen  from  the  distance  of  three  or  four 
miles,  approaching  in  the  middle  of  the  bay 
with  a  smooth  outline;  but  along  the  shore 
it  tore  up  cottages  and  trees,  as  it  swept 
onwards  with  irresistible  force.  At  the  head 
of  the  bay  it  broke  in  a  fearful  line  of  white 
breakers,  which  rushed  up  to  a  height  of  23 
vertical  feet  above  the  highest  spring-tides. 
Their  force  must  have  been  prodigious,  for 
at  the  fort  a  cannon  with  its  carriage,  esti- 
mated at  four  tons  in  weight,  was  moved  15 


feet  inwards.  A  schooner  was  left  in  the 
midst  of  the  ruins,  200  yards  from  the 
beach.  The  first  wave  was  followed  by  two 
others,  which  in  their  retreat  carried  away 
a  vast  wreck  of  floating  objects.  .  .  . 
The  great  wave  must  have  traveled  slowly, 
for  the  inhabitants  of  Talcahuano  had  time 
to  run  up  the  hills  behind  the  town;  and 
some  sailors  pulled  out  seaward,  trusting 
successfully  to  their  boat  riding  securely 
over  the  swell,  if  they  could  reach  it  before 
it  broke. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage 
around  the  World,  ch.  14,  p.  305.  (A., 
1898.) 

3O99. Wide  Reach  of 

Earthquake  of  Lisbon — Felt  Over  Half  the 
World — Mighty  Wave  in  West  Indies. — The 
area  over  which  this  convulsion  [the  earth- 
quake of  Lisbon]  extended  is  very  remark- 
able. It  has  been  computed,  says  Humboldt, 
that  on  the  1st  [of]  November,  1755,  a  por- 
tion of  the  earth's  surface  four  times  greater 
than  the  extent  of  Europe  was  simultane- 
ously shaken.  The  shock  was  felt  in  the 
Alps  and  on  the  coast  of  Sweden,  in  small 
inland  lakes  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic, 
in  Thuringia,  and  in  the  flat  country  of 
northern  Germany.  The  thermal  springs  of 
Toplitz  dried  up,  and  again  returned,  inun- 
dating everything  with  water  discolored  by 
ocher.  In  the  islands  of  Antigua,  Barba- 
does,  and  Martinique,  in  the  West  Indies, 
where  the  tide  usually  rises  little  more  than 
two  feet,  it  suddenly  rose  above  twenty  feet, 
the  water  being  discolored  and  of  an  inky 
blackness.  The  movement  was  also  sensible 
in  the  great  lakes  of  Canada.  At  Algiers 
and  Fez,  in  the  north  of  Africa,  the  agita- 
tion of  the  earth  was  as  violent  as  in  Spain 
and  Portugal;  and  at  the  distance  of  eight 
leagues  from  Morocco,  a  village  with  the  in- 
habitants to  the  number  of  about  8,000  or 
10,000  persons,  are  said  to  have  been  swal- 
lowed up,  the  earth  soon  afterwards  closing 
over  them. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  495.  (A.,  1854.) 

31  GO.  SHORE,  INHOSPITABLE— In- 
sects Blown  Far  Out  to  Sea  Off  Patagonia. 
— When  seventeen  miles  off  Cape  Corrientes, 
I  had  a  net  overboard  to  catch  pelagic  ani- 
mals. Upon  drawing  it  up,  to  my  surprise  I 
found  a  considerable  number  of  beetles  in  it, 
and  altho  in  the  open  sea,  they  did  not  ap- 
pear much  injured  by  the  salt  water.  .  .  . 
At  first  I  thought  that  these  insects  had 
been  blown  from  the  shore;  but  upon  re- 
flecting that  out  of  the  eight  species  four 
were  aquatic,  and  two  others  partly  so  in 
their  habits,  it  appeared  to  me  most  prob- 
able that  they  were  floated  into  the  sea  by  a 
small  stream  which  drains  a  lake  near  Cape 
Corrientes.  On  any  supposition  it  is  an 
interesting  circumstance  to  find  live  in- 
sects swimming  in  the  open  ocean  seventeen 
miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  land.  There 
are  several  accounts  of  insects  having 
been  blown  off  the  Patagonian  shore.  Cap- 
tain Cook  observed  it,  as  did  more  lately 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


626 


h — 

Captain  King  in  the  "  Adventure."  The  cause 
probably  is  due  to  the  want  of  shelter,  botli 
of  trees  and  hills,  so  that  an  insect  on  the 
wing,  with  an  off-shore  breeze,  would  be  very 
apt  to  be  blown  out  to  sea. — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  8,  p. 
160.  (A.,  1898.) 

3101.  SHOWER     OF     VOLCANIC 
ASHES—  Cattle  Overwhelmed  in  Fiery  Deluge 
— Modern    Catastrophe    Throws    Light    on 
Geologic  Past. — The   great  crest  or   cordil- 
lera  of  the  Andes  is  depressed  at  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  to  a  height  of  about  1,000  feet, 
and  at  the  lowest  point  of  separation  be- 
tween the  two  seas  near  the  Gulf  of  San 
Miguel    to    150    feet.      What   some   geogra- 
phers regard  as  a  continuation  of  that  chain 
in   Central   America   lies   to  the  east  of  a 
series  of  volcanoes,  many  of  which  are  ac- 
tive in  the  provinces  of  Pasto,  Popayan,  and 
Guatemala.     Coseguina,   on  the  south  side 
of  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca,  was  in  eruption  in 
January,   1835,  and  some  of  its  ashes  fell 
at  Truxillo,  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.     What  is  still  more  remarkable,  on 
the  same  day,  at  Kingston,  in  Jamaica,  the 
same  shower  of  ashes  fell,  having  been  car- 
ried by  an  upper  counter-current  against  the 
regular  east  wind  which  was  then  blowing. 
Kingston  is  about  700  miles  distant  from 
Coseguina,  and  these  ashes  must  have  been 
more  than  four  days  in  the  air,  having  trav- 
eled 170  miles  a  day.     Eight  leagues  to  the 
southward  of  the  crater  the  ashes  covered 
the  ground  to  the  depth  of  three  yards  and 
a  half,  destroying  the  woods  and  dwellings. 
Thousands   of  cattle  perished,  their  bodies 
being    in     many     instances     one     mass    of 
scorched  flesh.    Deer  and  other  wild  animals 
sought  the  towns  for  protection ;  many  birds 
and   quadrupeds   were    found   suffocated   in 
the  ashes,  and  the  neighboring  streams  were 
strewed  with  dead  fish.     Such  facts  throw 
light  on  geological  monuments,  for  in  the 
ashes  thrown  out  at  remote  periods  from  the 
volcanoes  of  Auvergne,  now  extinct,  we  find 
the  bones  and  skeletons   of  lost  species  of 
quadrupeds. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  349.     (A.,  1854.) 

3102.  SIGHT    AND    TOUCH    NOT 

EQUIVALENT— Recovery  from  Blindness.— 
In  regard  to  our  visual  conceptions  it  may 
be  stated  with  perfect  certainty,  as  the 
result  of  very  numerous  observations  made 
upon  persons  who  have  acquired  sight  for 
the  first  time,  that  these  do  not  serve  for 
the  recognition  even  of  those  objects  with 
which  the  individual  had  become  most  fa- 
miliar through  the  touch,  until  the  two 
sets  of  sense-perceptions  have  been  coordi- 
nated by  experience.  .  .  . 

Thus,  in  a  recently  recorded  case,  in  which 
sight  was  imparted  by  operation  to  a  young 
woman  who  had  been  blind  from  birth,  but 
who  had  nevertheless  learned  to  work  well 
with  her  needle,  when  the  pair  of  scissors 
she  had  been  accustomed  to  use  was  placed 
before  her,  tho  she  described  their  shape, 


color,  and  glistening  metallic  character,  she 
was  utterly  unable  to  recognize  them  as 
scissors  until  she  put  her  finger  on  them, 
when  she  at  once  named  them,  laughing  at 
her  own  stupidity  (as  she  called  it)  in  not 
having  made  them  out  before. — CARPENTER 
Nature  and  Man,  lect.  6,  p.  201.  (A.,  1889.) 

3103.  SIGHT  NOT  EXPLAINED  BY 
MECHANISM  ONLY— Material  Science  Can- 
not Account  for  Consciousness,  Mind,  Life. — 
[In  comparing  the  camera  with  the  eye,  we 
find  a  close  likeness  up  to  a  certain  point. 
Mechanism,  physics,  and  chemistry  explain 
the  production  of  the  image  in  both.     But 
suddenly  the  likeness  disappears.     There  is 
something  in  vision  that  mechanism,  phys- 
ics, and  chemistry  cannot  explain.]      At  a 
certain  point  molecular  and  chemical  change 
is  replaced  by  sensation,  perception,  judg- 
ment, thought,  emotion.     We  pass  suddenly 
into    another    and    wholly    different   world, 
where  reigns  an  entirely  different  order  of 
phenomena.     The  connection  between  these 
two  orders  of  phenomena,  the  material  and 
the  mental,   altho   it  is   right .  here   in  the 
phenomena  of  the  senses,  and  altho  we  bring 
to  bear  upon  it  the  microscopic  eye  of  sci- 
ence,   is    absolutely    incomprehensible,    and 
must  in  the  very  nature  of  things  always 
remain  so.     Certain  vibrations  of  the  mole- 
cules of  the  brain,  certain  oxidations,  with 
the  formation  of  carbonic  acid,  water,  and 
urea,  are  on  the  one  side,  and  there  appear  on 
the  other  sensations,  consciousness,  thoughts, 
desires,   volitions.      There    are,   as    it  were, 
two  sheets  of  blotting-paper  pasted  together ; 
the  one  is  the  brain,  the  other  is  the  mind. 
Certain  ink-scratches  and  ink-blotchings,  ut- 
terly meaningless  on  the  one,  soak  through 
and  appear  on  the  other  as  intelligible  wri- 
ting.    But  how  or  why  we  know  not,  and 
can  never  hope  even  to  guess.     Certain  phys- 
ical   phenomena — molecular   vibrations,   de- 
compositions,   and    recompositions  —  occur, 
and  there  emerge,  how  we  know  not,  psy- 
chical phenomena — thoughts,  emotions,  etc. 
Aladdin's    lamp    is    rubbed — physical    phe- 
nomenon— and  the  genie  appears — psychical 
phenomenon. — LE  COMTE  Sight,  ch.  3,  p.  167. 
(A.,  1897.) 

3104.  SIGNIFICATION     OF     LAN- 
GUAGE    LEARNED    BY    DEAF-MUTE— 
Dr.  Howe  and  Laura  Bridgman. — Dr.  Howe 
began  to   teach   Laura   Bridgman   by   gum- 
ming   raised    letters    on    various    familiar 
articles.    The  child  was  taught  by  mere  con- 
tiguity   to   pick    out   a   certain    number   of 
particular   articles  when   made  to  feel  the 
letters.     But  this  was  merely  a  collection  of 
particular  signs,  out  of  the  mass  of  which 
the  general  purpose  of  signification  had  not 
yet  been  extracted  by  the  child's  mind.    Dr. 
Howe  compares  his  situation  at  this  moment 
to  that  of  one  lowering  a  line  to  the  bottom 
of  the  deep  sea  in  which  Laura's  soul  lay, 
and  waiting  until  she  should  spontaneously 
take  hold  of  it  and  be  raised  into  the  light. 
The  moment  came,  "  accompanied  by  a  radi- 


627 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Shore 

Similarity 


ant  flash  of  intelligence  and  glow  of  joy"; 
she  seemed  suddenly  to  become  aware  of  the 
general  purpose  embedded  in  the  different 
details  of  all  these  signs,  and  from  that  mo- 
ment her  education  went  on  with  extreme 
rapidity. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  22, 
p.  358.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3 1 05.  SILENCE  IN  VACUUM— Sound 
Demands     a     Medium. — Sound     cannot     be 
transmitted  through  a  vacuum,  as  shown  by 
the  following  familiar  experiment  made  by  a 

Philosopher  named  Hawksbee  as  far  back  as 
705.  Place  a  bell  that  is  operated  by  a 
clock-work  inside  of  the  receiver  of  an  air- 
pump.  This  receiver  is  a  large  bell  glass, 
ground  to  make  an  air-tight  fit  on  the  bed- 
plate of  the  air-pump.  Suspend  the  bell 
inside  the  receiver,  by  some  kind  of  cord 
that  will  not  transmit  sound,  and  then  set 
it  to  ringing.  At  first  it  will  ring  as  loudly 
as  tho  it  were  in  the  open  air.  Now,  work 
the  pump  and  exhaust  the  air.  The  sound 
will  grow  fainter  until  a  nearly  perfect 
vacuum  is  obtained,  when  the  sound  will 
cease,  altho  the  hammer  is  still  striking  the 
bell  the  same  as  at  first.  Now  let  the  air  in 
and  the  ringing  is  heard  again. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  6,  p.  62. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3 1 06.  SILENCE  PRODUCED  BY  IN- 
TERFERING SOUNDS— Analogies  of  Sound 
and   Light — Darkness   Produced   by  Adding 
Light    to    Light. — Thomas    Young's    funda- 
mental   discovery    in    optics    was    that   the 
principle  of  interference  was  applicable  to 
light.     Long  prior   to  his  time  an  Italian 
philosopher,  Grimaldi,  had  stated  that  under 
certain    circumstances    two   thin    beams    of 
light,  each  of  which,  acting  singly,  produced 
a  luminous  spot  upon  a  white  wall,  when 
caused  to  act  together,  partially  quenched 
each  other  and  darkened  the  spot.    This  was 
a  statement  of  fundamental  significance,  but 
it  required  the  discoveries  and  the  genius  of 
Young  to  give  it  meaning.     How  he  did  so 
will  gradually  become  clear  to  you.     You 
know    that    air    is    compressible;     that   by 
pressure  it  can  be  rendered  more  dense,  and 
that  by   dilation  it  can  be  rendered  more 
rare.     Properly  agitated,  a  tuning-fork  now 
sounds  in  a  manner  audible  to  you  all,  and 
most    of   you    know   that    the    air    through 
which  the  sound  is  passing  is  parceled  out 
into  spaces  in  which  the  air  is  condensed, 
followed  by  other  spaces  in  which  the  air  is 
rarefied.     These  condensations  and  rarefac- 
tions   constitute    what    we    call    waves    of 
sound.     You  can  imagine  the  air  of  a  room 
traversed  by   a   series   of   such   waves,   and 
you  can  imagine  a  second  series  sent  through 
the  same  air,  and  so  related  to  the  first  that 
condensation    coincides    with     condensation 
and  rarefaction  with  rarefaction.     The  con- 
sequence   of    this    coincidence    would    be    a 
louder  sound  than  that  produced  by  either 
system  of  waves  taken  singly.     But  you  can 
also  imagine  a   state   of  things   where  the 
condensations  of  the  one  system  fall  upon 


the  rarefactions  of  the  other  system.  In 
this  case  the  two  systems  would  completely 
neutralize  each  other.  Each  of  them  taken 
singly  produces  sound;  both  of  them  taken 
together  produce  no  sound.  Thus,  by  adding 
sound  to  sound  we  produce  silence,  as  Gri- 
maldi in  his  experiment  produced  darkness 
by  adding  light  to  light. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  57.  (A.,  1898.) 

3107.  SIMILARITY,    ASSOCIATION 

BY— At  the,  Foundation  of  Reasoning.— After 
the  few  most  powerful  practical  and  esthet- 
ic interests,  our  chief  help  towards  notic- 
ing those  special  characters  of  phenomena 
which,  when  once  possessed  and  named,  are 
used  as  reasons,  class  names,  essences,  or 
middle  terms,  is  this  association  by  simi- 
larity. Without  it,  indeed,  the  deliberate 
procedure  of  the  scientific  man  would  be  im- 
possible; he  could  never  collect  his  analo- 
gous instances.  But  it  operates  of  itself  in 
highly  gifted  minds  without  any  delibera- 
tion, spontaneously  collecting  analogous  in- 
stances, uniting  in  a  moment  what  in  Nature 
the  whole  breadth  of  space  and  time  keeps 
separate,  and  so  permitting  a  perception  of 
identical  points  in  the  midst  of  different  cir- 
cumstances, which  minds  governed  wholly 
by  the  law  of  contiguity  could  never  begin 
to  attain. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
22,  p.  347.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3108.  SIMILARITY  OF  INVENTIONS 

— How  Far  Denoting  Unity  of  Race. — It  is 
agreed,  then,  by  all  that  certain  kinds  of 
similarity  may  exist  in  regions  wide  apart 
independently  when  the  occasion  arises  and 
the  environment  permits.  It  is  also  ad- 
mitted that  things  may  be  so  similar  as  to 
allow  no  doubt  that  they  were  created  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  same  teachers.  There 
is,  then,  a  criterion,  a  boundary  line,  not 
definitely  fixed,  perhaps,  but  a  fence  between 
those  so-called  similarities  that  arise  inde- 
pendently and  those  which  show  accultura- 
tion of  some  kind.  This  fence  must  be 
largely  psychological. 

The  question,  I  repeat,  is  not  one  of 
origins  at  all,  but  one  of  the  number,  kinds, 
and  degrees  of  similarities  in  the  artificiali- 
ties of  life.  For  example,  the  invention  of 
the  canoe  is  a  natural,  human  process;  the 
bark  canoe  is  environmental,  the  birch-bark 
canoe  is  culture-historical.  But  what  should 
we  say  of  the  Amur  and  the  Columbia  River 
types,  each  pointed  beneath  the  water  like 
a  monitor  and  unlike  any  other  species? 
Surely  these  must  have  some  kind  of  accul- 
turation. Now,  if  it  be  found  that  the 
Columbia  stock  and  the  Amur  people  have 
also  the  same  name  for  their  pointed  canoes, 
and  a  multitude  of  other  coordinated  like- 
nesses, then  kinship  of  blood  or  nationality 
is  proclaimed. — MASON  Similarities  in  Cul- 
ture, from  the  American  Anthropologist, 
vol.  viii,  p.  115. 

31O9.  SIMILARITY  THE  FOUNDA- 
TION OF  SCIENCE,  AS  OF  WIT—  Genius 
Involves  Hard  Work. — The  first  discovery  of 


arity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


628 


a  new  law  is  the  discovery  of  a  similarity 
which  has  hitherto  been  concealed  in  the 
course  of  natural  processes.  It  is  a  mani- 
festation of  that  which  our  forefathers  in  a 
serious  sense  described  as  "  wit " ;  it  is  of 
the  same  quality  as  the  highest  perform- 
ances of  artistic  perception  in  the  discovery 
of  new  types  of  expression.  It  is  something 
which  cannot  be  forced,  and  which  cannot 
be  acquired  by  any  known  method.  Hence 
all  those  aspire  after  it  who  wish  to  pass  as 
the  faroied  children  of  genius.  It  seems, 
too,  so  easy,  so  free  from  trouble,  to  get  by 
sudden  mental  flashes  an  unattainable  ad- 
vantage over  our  contemporaries.  The  true 
artist  and  the  true  inquirer  know  that 
great  works  can  only  be  produced  by  hard 
work. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect. 
5,  p.  227.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

30 1O.  SIMPLICITY  OF   METHOD— 

Opens  Way  to  Marvelous  Result — Magnet- 
ism Converted  into  Electric  Light — Fara- 
day's Experiment. — In  the  fall  of  1831, 
Professor  Faraday  announced  that  from  a 
magnet  he  had  obtained  electricity.  On  the 
8th  of  February,  1832,  he  entered  in  his  note- 
book :  "  This  evening,  at  Woolwich,  experi- 
mented with  magnet,  and  for  the  first  time 
got  the  magnetic  spark  myself.  .  .'._." 

Next  day  he  repeated  this  experiment, 
and  then,  as  was  his  habit,  invited  some  of 
his  friends  to  see  the  new  light.  He  had  a 
piece  of  soft  iron,  surrounded  by  coils  of 
wire  insulated  with  calico  and  tied  by  com- 
mon string.  When  he  touched  the  pole  of  a 
magnet  with  the  soft  iron,  the  ends  of  the 
coil,  as  he  says,  opened  a  little,  and  a  spark 
passed  between  them.  An  electrical  current 
had  been  caused  in  the  coil. — PARK  BENJA- 
MIN Age  of  Electricity,  ch.  7,  p.  88.  (S., 
1897.) 

3111.  SIMPLICITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC 
DISCOVERY — Forms  of  Leaves  Modified  by 
Environment. — In  the  year   1851,  during  a 
country  ramble  in  which  the  structures  of 
plants  had  been  a  topic  of  conversation  with 
a  friend — Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes — I  happened  to 
pick  up  the  leaf  of  a  buttercup,  and,  draw- 
ing it  by  its  footstalk  through  my  fingers 
so  as  to  thrust  together  its  deeply  cleft  divi- 
sions, observed  that  its  palmate  and  almost 
radial   form   was   changed   into   a   bilateral 
one;    and  that  were  the  divisions  to  grow 
together  in  this  new  position,  an  ordinary 
bilateral  leaf  would  result.    Joining  this  ob- 
servation with  the  familiar  fact  that  leaves, 
in    common    with    the    larger    members    of 
plants,   habitually   turn   themselves   to  the 
light,    it    occurred   to   me   that    a    natural 
change    in    the    circumstances    of    the    leaf 
might  readily  cause  such  a  modification  of 
form  as  that  which  I  had  produced  artifi- 
cially.   If,  as  they  often  do  with  plants,  soil 
and  climate  were  greatly  to  change  the  habit 
of  the  buttercup,   making  it  branched  and 
shrublike,  and  if  these  palmate  leaves  were 
thus   much   overshadowed  by   one    another, 
would  not  the  inner  segments  of  the  leaves 


grow  towards  the  periphery  of  the  plant 
where  the  light  was  greatest,  and  so  change 
the  palmate  form  into  a  more  decidedly 
bilateral  form?  Immediately  I  began  to 
look  round  for  evidence  of  the  relation  be- 
tween the  forms  of  leaves  and  the  general 
characters  of  the  plants  they  belong  to,  and 
soon  found  some  signs  of  connection.  Cer- 
tain anomalies,  or  seeming  anomalies,  how- 
ever, prevented  me  from  then  pursuing  the 
inquiry  much  further.  But  consideration 
cleared  up  these  difficulties;  and  the  idea 
afterwards  widened  into  the  general  doctrine 
[of  morphological  development]  here  elab- 
orated. —  SPENCER  Biology,  pt.  iv,  ch.  9,  p. 
160.  (A.,  1900.) 


3112. 


The  Counting  of 


Sun-spots  Reveals  Solar  Period. — Periodic- 
ity of  the  manifestation  of  solar  activity 
is  a  fact  now  proved  with  the  most  unques- 
tionable certainty.  It  was  discovered  by 
him  who  first  thought  of  counting  the  spots 
on  the  sun.  What  a  beautiful  lesson  for 
astronomical  amateurs!  How  discoveries 
may  be  thus  made  by  simple  curiosity  or  by 
perseverance!  What  could  apparently  be 
more  childish  than  the  idea  of  amusing  one- 
self by  counting  every  day  the  spots  on  the 
sun?  Nevertheless,  the  name  of  Schwabe 
will  remain  inscribed  in  the  annals  of  as- 
tronomy for  having  thus  discovered  this 
mysterious  period  of  eleven  years  in  the 
variation  of  the  solar  spots. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  284. 
(A.) 

3113.  SINGING    A    PLEASURE    TO 
SONG-BIRDS— Brilliancy  of  Color  Does  Not 
Accompany     Musical    Power. — The     act    of 
singing  is  evidently  a  pleasurable  one;    and 
it  probably  serves  as  an  outlet  for  super- 
abundant  nervous    energy    and    excitement, 
just  as  dancing,  singing,  and  field  sports  do 
with  us.     It  is  suggestive  of  this  view  that 
the  exercise  of  the  vocal  power  seems  to  be 
complementary  to  the  development  of  acces- 
sory plumes  and  ornaments,  all  our  finest 
singing  birds  being  plainly  colored,  and  with 
no  crests,  neck  or  tail  plumes  to  display, 
while  the   gorgeously   ornamented  birds  ^  of 
the  tropics  have  no  song,  and  those  which 
expend  much  energy  in  display  of  plumage, 
as   the  turkey,   peacock,  birds   of  paradise, 
and  humming-birds,  have  comparatively  an 
insignificant    development    of    voice. — WAL- 
LACE Darwinism,  ch.  10,  p.  192.    (Hum.) 

3114.  SINGLENESS    OF    THEORY 
SOUGHT  IN  MEDICINE—  A II  Diseases  To 
Be  Referred  to  One  Cause—"  The  Four  Car- 
dinal Fluids." — What  was  not  right  was  the 
[old]  delusion  that  it  was  more  scientific  to 
refer  all  diseases  to  one  kind  of  explanation 
than  to  several.    What  was  called  the  "  soli- 
dar  pathology  "  wanted  to  deduce  everything 
from    the   altered    mechanism    of   the    solid 
parts,  especially  from  their  altered  tension; 
from    the   strictum    and    laxum,    from   tone 
and    want    of    tone,    and    afterwards    from 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ilarity 


strained  or  relaxed  nerves  and  from  obstruc- 
tions in  the  vessels.  Humoral  pathology 
was  only  acquainted  with  alterations  in 
mixture.  The  four  cardinal  fluids,  repre- 
sentatives of  the  classical  four  elements, 
blood,  phlegm,  black  and  yellow  gall ;  with 
others,  the  acrimonies  or  dyscrasies,  which 
had  to  be  expelled  by  sweating  and  purging, 
all  these  were  elements  of  their 
chemistry. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  5,  p.  210.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.J 

3115.  SIZE  RELATIVE— Difference  in 
Point  of  View — Microscopic  Objects  Re- 
garded as  Immense. — To  two  men,  one  edu- 
cated in  the  school  of  the  senses,  having 
mainly  occupied  himself  with  observation; 
the  other  educated  in  the  school  of  imagina- 
tion as  well,  and  exercised  in  the  conceptions 
of  atoms  and  molecules  to  which  we  have  so 
frequently  referred,  a  bit  of  matter,  say 
^nnny  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  will  present 
itself  differently.  The  one  descends  to  it 
from  his  molar  heights,  the  other  climbs  to 
it  from  his  molecular  lowlands.  To  the  one 
it  appears  small,  to  the  other  large.  So, 
also,  as  regards  the  appreciation  of  the  most 
minute  forms  of  life  revealed  by  the  micro- 
scope. To  one  of  the  men  these  naturally 
appear  conterminous  with  the  ultimate  par- 
ticles of  matter;  there  is  but  a  step  from 
the  atom  to  the  organism.  The  other  dis- 
cerns numberless  organic  gradations  between 
both.  Compared  with  his  atoms,  the  small- 
est vibrios  and  bacteria  of  the  microscopic 
field  are  as  behemoth  and  leviathan. — TYN- 
DALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  ii,  ch.  8,  p. 
124.  (A.,  1897.) 


3116. 


Dimensions  of  Sun- 


spots — One  Spot  Might  Engulf  the  Earth. — 
The  dimensions  of  sun-spots  are  sometimes 
enormous.  Many  groups  have  been  observed 
covering  areas  of  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  miles  square,  and  single  spots 
have  been  known  to  measure  forty  or  fifty 
thousand  miles  in  diameter,  the  central 
umbra  alone  being  twenty-five  or  thirty 
thousand  miles  across.  A  spot,  however, 
measuring  thirty  thousand  miles  over  all, 
would  be  considered  large  rather  than  small. 
— YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  4,  p.  126.  (A.,  1898.) 

3117.     SKELETON  ADORNED  WITH 

JEWELS— Mother  and  Babe  Perish  Together 
— Remains  at  Pompeii. — A  very  small  num- 
ber of  skeletons  have  been  discovered  in  either 
city  [Herculaneum  or  Pompeii] ;  and  it  is 
clear  that  most  of  the  inhabitants  not  only 
found  time  to  escape,  but  also  to  carry  with 
them  the  principal  part  of  their  valuable  ef- 
fects. In  the  barracks  at  Pompeii  were  the 
skeletons  of  two  soldiers  chained  to  the 
stocks,  and  in  the  vaults  of  a  country  house 
in  the  suburbs  were  the  skeletons  of  seven- 
teen persons,  who  appear  to  have  fled  there 
to  escape  from  the  shower  of  ashes.  They 
were  found  enclosed  in  an  indurated  tuff, 
and  in  this  matrix  was  preserved  a  perfect 
cast  of  a  woman,  perhaps  the  mistress  of 


the  house,  with  an  infant  in  her  arms.  Al- 
tho  her  form  was  imprinted  on  the  rock, 
nothing  but  the  bones  remained.  To  these  a 
chain  of  gold  was  suspended,  and  on  the 
fingers  of  the  skeletons  were  rings  with 
jewels.  Against  the  sides  of  the  same  vault 
was  ranged  a  long  line  of  earthen  amphorae. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  24, 
p.  391.  (A.,  1854.) 

3118.  SKEPTICISM,  PSYCHOLOGIC- 
AL, CONTRADICTS  ITSELF— Duty  and  Mo- 
rality Remain — Truth  of  Skeptical  Denial 
Assumed. — If  you  repeat   again  and  again 
that  there  are  only  relative  laws,  no  abso- 
lute truth  and  beauty  and  morality,   that 
they    are    changing   products   of    the   outer 
conditions  without  binding  power,  you  con- 
tradict yourself  by  the  assertion.     Do  you 
not    demand    already     for    your     skeptical 
denial  that  at  least  this  denial  itself  is  an 
absolute  truth?     And  when  you  discuss  it, 
and  stand  for  your  conviction  that  there  is 
no  morality,  does  not  this  involve  your  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  moral  law  to  stand  for 
one's      conviction?      .      .      .      Psychological 
skepticism  contradicts  itself  by  its  preten- 
sions ;   there  is  a  truth,  a  beauty,  a  morality, 
which  is  independent  of  psychological  condi- 
tions.— MTJNSTERBERG  Psychology  and  Life, 
p.  17.    (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3119.  SKETCH  OF  CREATIVE  PUR- 
POSE  IN   EARLY  FOSSILS— These  early 
types  seem  to  sketch  in  broad,  general  char- 
acters the  creative  purpose,  and  to  include 
in  the  first  average  expression  of  the  plan 
all  its  structural  possibilities.     The  crinoid 
forms   include   the   thought   of  the  modern 
starfishes  and  sea-urchins;  the  simple  cham- 
bered shells  of  the  Silurian  anticipate  the 
more  complicated  structure  of  the  later  ones; 
the  trilobites  give  the  most  comprehensive 
expression  of  the  articulate  type,  while  the 
early  fishes  not  only  prophesy  the  reptiles 
which  are  to  come,  but  also  hint  at  birds 
and  even  at  mammalia  by  their  embryonic 
development  and  their  mode  of  reproduction. 
— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  2, 
p.  58.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

30 2O.  SKILL   OF   PRIMITIVE  MAN 
IN  STONE-WORKING— Difficult  for  Civilized 
Man  To  Attain. — Easy  as   it  may  seem  to 
make  such  flakes  as  these  [prehistoric  flint 
specimens],   a  little  practise  will   convince 
any  one  who  attempts  to  do  so,  that  a  cer- 
tain   knack    is    required;     and    a   gun-flint 
maker    at    Brandon   told   me    that    it  took 
him  two  years  to  acquire  the  art.    It  is  also 
necessary  to  be  careful  in  selecting  the  flint. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  these  flakes,  sim- 
ple as  they  may  appear,  are  always  the  work 
of  man.     To   make  one,  the  flint  must  be 
held  firmly,  and  then  a  considerable  force 
must  be  applied,  either  by  pressure  or  by 
blows  repeated  three  or  four  times,  but  at 
least  three,  and  given  in  certain  slightly  dif- 
ferent   directions,    with    a    certain    definite 
force ;    conditions  which  could  scarcely  occur 


kill 
leep 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


630 


by  accident;  so  that  a  flint  flake,  simple 
as  it  may  seem  to  the  untrained  eye,  is  to 
the  antiquary  as  sure  a  trace  of  man  as 
the  footprint  in  the  sand  was  to  Robinson 
Crusoe. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  4, 
p.  83.  (A.,  1900.) 

3121.  SKINS  AS  CLOTHING—  Woman 
the  Skin  Dresser  of  Ancient  Times. — If  aught 
in  the  heavens  above,  or  on  the  earth  be- 
neath, or  in  the  waters  wore  a  skin,  sav- 
age women  were  found  on  examination  to 
have  had  a  name  for  it,  and  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  turning  it  into  its  primitive  use 
for  human  clothing,  and  to  have  invented 
new    uses    undreamed    of    by    its    original 
owner.    ...    As  any  taxidermist,  or  farm- 
er's boy,  for  that  matter,  knows,  there  are 
hosts  o'f  birds  and  fish  and  small  mammals 
whose  hides  need  only  to  be  drawn  off  and 
dried  wrong  side  out  in  the  sun  to  be  com- 
pletely cured.     The  furrier  has  his  way  of 
keeping  out  the  destructive  insects,  and  the 
taxidermist  knows  the  virtues  of  arsenical 
soap;   but  away  on  the  boundaries  of  time 
or  civilization  the  harmonies  of  Nature  had 
not   been    so   much    disturbed,   hence   there 
was    not    such    trouble    with    insect    pests. 
Furthermore,  the  garment  or  what-not  was 
in  daily  use  until  it  was  worn  out,  so  there 
was  poor  chance  for  moths  or  dermestids. — 
MASON    Woman's   Share  in  Primitive   Cul- 
ture, ch.  4,  p.  71.      (A.,  1894.) 

3122.  SKULL,      PREHISTORIC, 
MIGHT  HAVE   BELONGED    TO   A   PHI- 
LOSOPHER —  No  Mark  of  Degradation  in 
Engis    Skull. — Taking    the    evidence    as    it 
stands,  and  turning  first  to  the  Engis  skull, 
I  confess  I  can  find  no  character  in  the  re- 
mains  of  that   cranium   which,    if    it  were 
a  recent  skull,  would  give  any  trustworthy 
clue  as  to  the  race  to  which  it  might  ap- 
pertain.     Its    contours    and    measurements 
agree  very  well  with  those  of  some  Austra- 
lian skulls  which  I  have  examined,  and  es- 
pecially has  it  a  tendency  toward  that  occip- 
ital flattening,  to  the  great  extent  of  which 
in  some  Australian  skulls  I  have  alluded. 
But   all   Australian   skulls    do   not  present 
this   flattening,   and  the  superciliary  ridge 
of  the  Engis  skull  is  quite  unlike  that  of 
the  typical  Australians.    On  the  other  hand, 
its   measurements   agree   equally  well  with 
those   of   some  European   skulls.     And   as- 
suredly  there    is    no    mark   of   degradation 
about  any  part  of  its  structure.     It  is,  in 
fact,    a    fair    average    human    skull,    which 
might   have  belonged   to    a    philosopher   or 
might  have  contained  the  thoughtless  brains 
of  a  savage.— HUXLEY  Man's  Place  in  Na- 
ture, p.  253.     (Hum.) 

3123.  SKY,   ARTIFICIAL— Composite 
Particles  Too  Small  for  Microscope — Infini- 
tesimal Minuteness. — Into  an  experimental 
tube  I  introduce  a  new  vapor,     .     .     .     and 
add    to    it    air    which    has   been    permitted 
to  bubble  through  dilute  hydrochloric  acid. 
On    permitting   the    electric   beam    to    play 


upon  the  mixture,  for  some  time  nothing 
is  seen.  The  chemical  action  is  doubtless 
progressing,  and  condensation  is  going  on; 
but  the  condensing  molecules  have  not  yet 
coalesced  to  particles  sufficiently  large  to  scat- 
ter sensibly  the  waves  of  light.  .  .  .  The 
particles  here  generated  are  at  first  so  small 
that  their  diameters  do  not  probably  exceed 
a  millionth  of  an  inch;  while  to  form  each 
of  these  particles  whole  crowds  of  mole- 
cules are  probably  aggregated.  Helped  by 
such  considerations,  our  intellectual  vision 
plunges  more  profoundly  into  atomic  Na- 
ture, and  shows  us,  among  other  things,  how 
far  we  are  from  the  realization  of  Newton's 
hope  that  the  molecules  might  one  day  be 
seen  by  means  of  microscopes.  While  I  am 
speaking,  you  observe  this  delicate  blue  color 
forming  and  strengthening  within  the  ex- 
perimental tube.  No  sky-blue  could  exceed 
it  in  richness  and  purity;  but  the  particles 
which  produce  this  color  lie  wholly  beyond 
our  microscopic  range.  A  uniform  color  is 
here  developed,  which  has  as  little  breach 
of  continuity — which  yields  as  little  evidence 
of  the  individual  particles  concerned  in  its 
production — as  that  yielded  by  a  body  whose 
color  is  due  to  true  molecular  absorption. 
This  blue  is  at  first  as  deep  and  dark  as 
the  sky  seen  from  the  highest  Alpine  peaks, 
and  for  the  same  reason.  But  it  grows 
gradually  brighter,  still  maintaining  its 
blueness,  until  at  length  a  whitish  tinge 
mingles  with  the  pure  azure,  announcing 
that  the  particles  are  now  no  longer  of  that 
infinitesimal  size  which  scatters  only  the 
shortest  waves. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of 
Motion,  lect.  16,  p.  490.  (A.,  1900.) 

31 24.    SKY,  CLOUDLESS,  CONTAINS 

DUST-PARTICLES— Matter  from  All  Lands 
and  from  Celestial  Spaces. — Something,  then, 
in  a  cloudless  sky  still  exists  to  reflect  the 
rays  toward  us,  and  this  something  is  made 
up  of  separately  invisible  specks  of  dust  and 
vapor,  but  very  largely  of  actual  dust,  which 
probably  forms  the  nucleus  of  each  mist- 
particle.  That  discrete  matter  of  some  kind 
exists  here  has  long  been  recognized  from 
the  phenomena  of  twilight;  but  it  is,  I 
think,  only  recently  that  we  are  coming  to 
admit  that  a  shell  of  actual  solid  particles 
in  the  form  of  dust  probably  encloses  the 
whole  globe,  up  to  far  above  the  highest 
clouds. 

In  1881  the  writer  had  occasion  to  con- 
duct a  scientific  expedition  to  the  highest 
point  in  the  territories  of  the  United  States, 
on  one  of  the  summits  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas 
of  Southern  California,  which  rise  even  above 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  .  .  .  Yet  even 
above  here  on  the  highest  peak,  where  we 
felt  as  if  standing  on  the  roof  of  the  con- 
tinent and  elevated  into  the  great  aerial 
currents  of  the  globe,  the  telescope  showed 
particles  of  dust  in  the  air,  which  the  geol- 
ogists deemed  to  have  probably  formed  part 
of  the  soil  of  China  and  to  have  been  borne 
across  the  Pacific,  but  which  also,  as  we 


631 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


skill 
sleep 


shall  see  later,  may  owe  something  to  the 
mysterious  source  of  the  phenomena  [me- 
teors] already  alluded  to. — LANGLEY  The 
New  Astronomy,  ch.  6,  p.  179.  (H.  M.  &. 
Co.,  1896.J 

3125.  SKY  COMBINES  ALL  COLORS 

— Blue  Not  Sole,  but  Predominant — Small- 
est Particles  Reflect  Smallest  Waves. — In 
the  case  of  water,  for  example,  a  pebble  will 
intercept  and  reflect  a  larger  fractional  part 
of  a  ripple  than  of  a  larger  wave.  We  have 
now  to  imagine  light-undulations  of  differ- 
ent dimensions,  but  all  exceedingly  minute, 
passing  through  air  laden  with  extremely 
small  particles.  It  is  plain  that  such  par- 
ticles, tho  scattering  portions  of  all  the 
waves,  will  exert  their  most  conspicuous 
action  upon  the  smallest  ones ;  and  that  the 
color-sensation  answering  to  the  smallest 
waves — in  other  words,  the  color  blue — will 
be  predominant  in  the  scattered  light.  This 
harmonizes  perfectly  with  what  we  ob- 
serve in  the  firmament.  The  sky  is  blue, 
but  the  blue  is  not  pure.  On  looking  at  the 
sky  through  a  spectroscope  we  observe  all 
the  colors  of  the  spectrum;  blue  is  merely 
the  predominant  color. — TYNDALL  Fragments 
of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  138.  (A.,  1897.) 

3126.  SLAVERY   DEGRADES    THE 

MASTERS — Slave-making  Ants  Powerless  to 
Help  or  Feed  Themselves. — Polyergus  rufes- 
cens  present  a  striking  lesson  of  the  degra- 
ding tendency  of  slavery,  for  these  ants  have 
become  entirely  dependent  on  their  slaves. 
Even  their  bodily  structure  has  undergone 
a  change;  the  mandibles  have  lost  their 
teeth,  and  have  become  mere  nippers,  deadly 
weapons,  indeed,  but  useless  except  in  war. 
They  have  lost  the  greater  part  of  their  in- 
stincts: their  art,  that  is,  the  power  of 
building;  their  domestic  habits,  for  they 
show  no  care  for  their  own  young,  all  this 
being  done  by  the  slaves;  their  industry 
— they  take  no  part  in  providing  the  daily 
supplies;  if  the  colony  changes  the  situation 
of  its  nest,  the  masters  are  all  carried  by 
the  slaves  on  their  backs  to  the  new  one; 
nay,  they  have  even  lost  the  habit  of  feed- 
ing. Huber  placed  thirty  of  them  with 
some  larvae  and  pupae  and  a  supply  of  honey 
in  a  box.  "At  first,"  he  says,  "they  ap- 
peared to  pay  some  little  attention  to  the 
larvae;  they  carried  them  here  and  there, 
but  presently  replaced  them.  More  than  one- 
half  of  the  Amazons  died  of  hunger  in  less 
than  two  days.  They  had  not  even  traced 
out  a  dwelling,  and  the  few  ants  still  in 
existence  were  languid  and  without  strength. 
I  commiserated  their  condition,  and  gave 
them  one  of  their  black  companions.  This 
individual,  unassisted,  established  order, 
formed  a  chamber  in  the  earth,  gathered 
together  the  larvae,  extricated  several  young 
ants  that  were  ready  to  quit  the  condition 
of  pupae,  and  preserved  the  life  of  the  re- 
maining Amazons." — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees, 
and  Wasps,  ch.  4,  p.  82.  (A.,  1900.) 


3127.  "SLEEP"   OF  PLANTS— Pur- 
pose Not  the  Same  as  in  Sleep  of  Animals. — 
The  so-called  sleep  of  leaves  is  so  conspicu- 
ous a  phenomenon  that  it  was  observed  as 
early  as  the  time  of  Pliny;  and  since  Lin- 
naeus published  his  famous  essay,  "  Somnus 
Plantarum,"  it  has  been  the  subject  of  sev- 
eral memoirs.     Many  flowers  close  at  night, 
and  these  are  likewise  said  to  sleep;  but  we 
are   not   here    concerned    with    their    move- 
ments, for  altho  effected  by  the  same  mecha- 
nism as  in  the  case  of  young  leaves,  namely, 
unequal  growth   on  the  opposite  sides    (as 
first    proved    by    Pf eff er ) ,    yet    they    differ 
essentially  in  being  excited  chiefly  by  changes 
of    temperature    instead    of    light,    and    in 
being  effected,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  for 
a  .different  purpose.     Hardly  any  one  sup- 
poses that  there  is  any  real  analogy  between 
the   sleep    of   animals    and   that   of   plants, 
whether  of  leaves  or  flowers. — DARWIN  Pow- 
er of   Movement   in   Plants,   ch.    6,   p.   283. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3128.  SLEEP  THE  REPOSE  OF  THE 
BRAIN — Rest  of  Voluntary  and  Involuntary 
Muscles  Compared. — All  parts  of  the  body 
which  are  the  seat  of  active  change  require 
periods   of  rest.     The  alternation   of   work 
and  rest  is  a  necessary  condition  of  their 
maintenance   and   of   the   healthy    perform- 
ance of  their  functions.     These  alternating 
periods,  however,  differ  much  in  duration  in 
different  cases;  but,  for  any  individual  in- 
stance, they  preserve  a  general  and  rather 
close  uniformity.   Thus,  as  before  mentioned, 
the  periods  of  rest  and  work,  in  the  case 
of  the  heart,  occupy,  each  of  them,  about 
half  a  second;   in  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
respiratory   muscles   the  periods   are  about 
four  or  five  times  as  long.     In  many  cases, 
again   (as  of  the  voluntary  muscles  during 
violent  exercise) ,  while  the  periods  during 
active    exertion    alternate   very    frequently, 
yet  the  expenditure  goes  far  ahead  of  the 
repair,  and  to  compensate  for  this  an  after- 
repose    of    some   hours    becomes    necessary, 
the  rhythm  being  less   perfect  as   to  time 
than  in  the  case  of  the  muscles  concerned 
in  circulation  and  respiration. 

Obviously,  it  would  be  impossible  that 
in  the  case  of  the  brain  there  should  be  short 
periods  of  activity  and  repose,  or  in  other 
words,  of  consciousness  and  unconsciousness. 
The  repose  must  occur  at  long  intervals,  and 
it  must  therefore  be  proportionately  long. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  that  condition  which 
we  call  "  sleep,"  a  condition  which,  seeming 
at  first  sight  exceptional,  is  only  an  unusual- 
ly perfect  example  of  what  occurs,  at  vary- 
ing intervals,  in  every  actively  working  por- 
tion of  our  bodies.^ — BAKER  Handbook  of 
Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  135.  (W.  W., 
1885.) 

3129. Withdrawal   of 

Blood  Leaving  Brain  Anemic — Parallel  of 
Swooning. — A  temporary  abrogation  of  the 
functions  of  the  cerebrum  imitating  sleep 
may  occur,  in  the  case  of  injury  or  disease, 


air: 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


632 


as  the  consequence  of  two  apparently  widely 
different  conditions.  Insensibility  is  equally 
produced  by  a  deficient  and  an  excessive 
quantity  of  blood  within  the  cranium 
(coma)  ;  but  it  was  once  supposed  that  the 
latter  offered  the  truest  analogy  to  the  nor- 
mal condition  of  the  brain  in  sleep,  and  in 
the  absence  of  any  proof  to  the  contrary 
the  brain  was  said  to  be  during  sleep  con- 
gested. Direct  experimental  inquiry  has  led, 
however,  to  the  opposite  conclusion. 

By  exposing,  at  a  circumscribed  spot,  the 
surface  of  the  brain  of  living  animals,  and 
protecting  the  exposed  part  by  a  watch- 
glass,  Durham  was  able  to  prove  that  the 
brain  becomes  visibly  paler  (anemic)  during 
sleep;  and  the  anemia  of  the  optic  disk  dur- 
ing sleep,  observed  by  Hughlings  Jackson, 
may  be  taken  as  a  strong  confirmation,  by 
analogy,  of  the  same  fact. — BAKER  Hand- 
look  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  135. 
(W.  W.,  1885.) 

313O.  SLOWNESS  OF  ACTION  OF 
TITANIC  FORCES— Gradual  Growth  of  Con- 
tinents— Earth  Behaving  Now  Substantially 
as  in  Former  Ages. — When  geologists  began 
to  unravel  the  earth's  history,  they  were 
naturally  led  to  suppose  that  the  present 
was  a  time  of  unusual  repose,  the  earlier 
ages  having  been  periods  when  the  forces 
which  affect  the  earth  were  in  a  state  of 
often  recurring  and  violent  activity.  As 
long  as  the  observer  was  compelled  to  con- 
ceive the  construction  of  the  world  to  have 
been  accomplished  in  a  few  thousand  years, 
it  was  inevitable  that  he  should  assume 
a  certain  violence  in  the  development  of  the 
earth's  features.  Gradually  the  fancy  for 
startling  theories  concerning  the  past  his- 
tory of  this  sphere  which  led  to  these  views 
has,  under  the  influence  of  better  knowledge, 
been  put  aside.  Geologists  now  believe  that 
the  continents  have  grown  slowly  from  the 
seas,  and  that  the  mountains,  with  all  their 
exhibitions  of  titanic  energy,  have  likewise 
gradually  come  to  their  present  state — in 
a  word,  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  behaves 
at  the  present  day  substantially  as  it  has 
acted  at  all  stages  in  its  history,  since  life 
came  upon  it. — SHALER  Nature  and  Man  in 
America,  ch.  4,  p.  131.  (S.,  1899.) 

3131.  SMOKE  AS  A  PRESERVATIVE 
OF  FOOD  AMONG  SAVAGES— Smoke  as 
a  preservative  of  food  is  a  very  early  in- 
vention. No  sight  is  more  common  in  a 
savage  hut  than  that  of  a  frame  suspended 
over  the  fire  in  the  center  of  the  cabin  for 
holding  fish  or  meat  to  be  dried  out  and 
smoked  for  future  use.  It  will  be  readily 
seen  that  this  was  a  potent  factor  in  the 
increase  of  longevity,  not  only  securing  pro- 
visions for  time  of  famine,  but  eliminating 
a  portion  of  the  noxious  creatures  that  prey 
on  subsistence  and  shorten  life. — MASON 
Origins  of  Invention,  ch.  3,  p.  105.  (S., 
1899.) 


3132.  SNOW    HOLDS    WATER    IN 
STORE—  Gradual  Distribution  in  Place  of  Tor- 
rents and  Floods. — In  mountainous  regions 
it  [snow]  accumulates  moisture  that  might 
otherwise  have  fallen  in  repeated  torrents, 
tearing    the    soil    from    the    mountainsides, 
inundating  the  valleys,  and  spending  almost 
all  its  energy  in  destruction,  and  allows  that 
moisture   to   be   stored   up    for   future   use, 
to  feed  the  streams  that  water  the  valleys, 
and  to   keep  them   filled  with   comparative 
regularity   and    constancy.      In   level   coun- 
tries it  performs  a  similar  service  in  another 
way,    keeping    the    underlying    ground    re- 
freshed with  water  that  trickles  from  the 
snow  as  it  is  slowly  melted  from  underneath 
by  the  warmth  of  the  earth  itself. — CHIS- 
HOLM  Nature-Studies,  p.  31.     (Hum.,  1888.) 

3133.  SNOW-CRYSTALS  ON  MOUN- 
TAINTOPS— Prisms  Like  Delicate  Needles- 
Type  Preserved  through  All  Change. — On  the 
tops    of   mountains    and   in   high   latitudes, 
where  the  snow  falls  through  the  air  at  a 
very    low    temperature,    the    particles    may 
take  the  form  of  extremely  delicate  needles, 
or  may  seem  to  resemble  a  fine  vhite  dust. 
But  these  needles,  on  a  close  examination, 
are  found  to  be  minute  six-sided  prisms,  the 
sides  of  which  are  inclined  to  one  another 
at   precisely   the   same   angle   as   would   be 
formed   by   two    lines   joining   the    ends    of 
three  adjoining  rays   in  an  ordinary  snow- 
flake;    and  the  particles  of  snow-dust  may 
generally  be  found  on  examination  with  a 
lens  to  show  at  least  the  minute  beginnings 
of  rays  such  as  are  seen  in  more  elaborate 
forms.     Some  of  the  beauty  may  be  want- 
ing,  but  the   exquisite   mathematical   regu- 
larity is  always  there.     It  is  this  regularity 
which  makes  the  form  of  a  snowflake  more 
wonderful,  as  we  have  said,  than  the  form 
of  the  rain-drop.     Wonderful  it  will  always 
remain,  even  tho  science  should  ultimately 
be  able  to  explain  the  general  laws  under 
which  particles  of  water  assume  this  form 
in    freezing. — CHISHOLM   Nature-Studies,   p. 
26.      (Hum.,  1889.J 

3134. '  SOAP-BUBBLE  A  UTENSIL 
OF  SCIENCE — Prismatic  Colors  Shown  in 
Films. — Any  film  whatever  will  produce 
these  colors.  The  film  of  air  l»etween  two 
plates  of  glass  squeezed  together  exhibits, 
as  shown  by  Hooke,  rich  fringes  of  color. 
.  .  .  Nor  is  even  air  necessary;  the  rup- 
ture of  optical  continuity  suffices.  Smite 
with  an  ax  the  black,  transparent  ice — black 
because  it  is  pure  and  of  great  depth — under 
the  moraine  of  a  glacier;  you  readily  pro- 
duce in  the  interior  flaws  which  mo  air  can 
reach,  and  from  these  flaws  the  colors  of 
thin  plates  sometimes  break  like  fire.  But 
the  source  of  most  historic  interest  is,  as 
already  stated,  the  soap-bubble.  With  one 
of  those  mixtures  employed  by  the  eminent 
blind  philosopher  Plateau  in  his  researches 
on  the  cohesion  figures  of  thin  films,  we  ob- 
tain in  still  air  a  bubble  ten  or  twelve  inches 


633 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SRt! 


in  diameter.  You  may  look  at  the  bubble 
itself,  or  you  may  look  at  its  projection 
upon  the  screen;  rich  colors  arranged  in 
zones  are,  in  both  cases,  exhibited.  Render- 
ing the  beam  parallel,  and  permitting  it  to 
impinge  upon  the  sides,  bottom,  and  top  of 
the  bubble,  gorgeous  fans  of  color  over- 
spread the  screen,  rotating  as  the  beam 
is  carried  round  the  circumference  of  the 
bubble.  By  this  experiment  the  internal 
motions  of  the  film  are  also  strikingly  dis- 
played. [See  COLORS  OF  THIN  PLATES; 
FILMS;  LIGHT.] — TYNDALL  Lectures  on 
Light,  lect.  2,  p.  67.  (A.,  1898.) 

3135.  SOCIABILITY  A  PROTECTION 

— Gregarious  Mammals  Dominate  the  World 
— Cooperation  and  Sympathy  Begin  in  the 
Lower  Realm. — Run  over  the  names  of  the 
commoner  or  more  dominant  mammals,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  they  are  those  which 
have  at  least  a  measure  of  sociability.  The 
cat  tribe  excepted,  nearly  all  live  together  in 
herds  or  troops — the  elephant,  for  instance, 
the  buffalo,  deer,  antelope,  wild  goat,  sheep, 
wolf,  jackal,  reindeer,  hippopotamus,  zebra, 
hyena,  and  seal.  These  are  mammals,  ob- 
serve— an  association  of  sociability  in  its 
highest  developments  with  reproductive 
specialization.  Cases  undoubtedly  exist 
where  the  sociability  may  not  be  referable 
primarily  to  this  function;  but  in  most  the 
chief  cooperations  are  centered  in  love.  So 
advantageous  are  all  forms  of  mutual  serv- 
ice that  the  question  may  be  fairly  asked 
whether  after  all  cooperation  and  sympathy 
— at  first  instinctive,  afterwards  reasoned — 
are  not  the  greatest  facts  even  in  organic 
Nature? — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  7, 
p.  238.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3136.  SOCIETY,  MAN  DEPENDENT 

ON — Man  in  himself  is  a  defenseless,  help- 
less creature.  No  other  animal  continues  so 
long  in  a  state  of  infancy,  no  other  exists 
so  long  before  obtaining  its  teeth,  no  other 
so  long  before  it  is  able  to  stand,  no  other 
arrives  so  late  at  puberty.  Even  his  great- 
est advantages,  reason  and  speech,  are  but 
germs  that  develop  not  spontaneously,  but 
only  by  means  of  external  assistance,  culti- 
vation, and  education.  This  necessity  of 
assistance  and  his  numerous  urgent  wants 
prove  the  natural  destination  of  man  for 
social  connections. — BLUMENBACH  Manual 
of  Natural  History,  §  4,  p.  35. 

3137.  SOIL  PILED  UP  BY  WORMS 

— Materials  Digested  into  Fertility. — 
Worms  have  played  a  more  important  part 
in  the  history  of  the  world  than  most  per- 
sons would  at  first  suppose.  In  almost  all 
humid  countries  they  are  extraordinarily 
numerous,  and  for  their  size  possess  great 
muscular  power.  In  many  parts  of  England 
a  weight  of  more  than  ten  tons  (10,516  kilo- 
grams) of  dry  earth  annually  passes 
through  their  bodies  and  is  brought  to  the 
surface  on  each  acre  of  land;  so  that  the 


whole  superficial  bed  of  vegetable  mold 
passes  through  their  bodies  in  the  course  of 
every  few  years.  From  the  collapsing  of  the 
old  burrows  the  mold  is  in  constant  tho  slow 
movement,  and  the  particles  composing  it 
are  thus  rubbed  together.  By  these  means 
fresh  surfaces  are  continually  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  soil,  and 
of  the  humus  acids  which_appear  to  be  still 
more  efficient  in  the  decomposition  of  rocks. 
The  generation  of  the  humus  acids  is  prob- 
ably hastened  during  the  digestion  of  the 
many  half-decayed  leaves  which  worms  con- 
sume. Thus  the  particles  of  earth,  forming 
the  superficial  mold,  are  subjected  to  condi- 
tions eminently  favorable  for  their  decompo- 
sition and  disintegration.  Moreover,  the 
particles  of  the  softer  rocks  suffer  some 
amount  of  mechanical  trituration  in  the 
muscular  gizzards  of  worms,  in  which  small 
stones  serve  as  mill-stones. — DARWIN  For- 
mation of  Vegetable  Mould,  ch.  7,  p.  89. 
(Hum.,  1887.) 

3138.  SOILS,  EXHAUSTION  OF— Ro- 
tation of  Crops  Scientific — Practise  in  Ad- 
vance of  Science. — We  know  that  a  virgin 
soil  cropped  for  several  years  loses  its  pro- 
ductive powers,   and  without  artificial   aid 
becomes    unfertile.      For    example,    through 
this  exhaustion  forty  bushels  of  wheat  per 
acre  have  dwindled  to  seven.     Rotation  of 
crops  is  an   attempt  to  meet  the  problem, 
and  the  four-course  rotation  of  turnips,  bar- 
ley, clover,  and  wheat  witnesses  to  the  fact 
that  practise  has  been  ahead  of  science  in 
this  matter. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,   ch.  5,  p. 
161.    (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3139.  SOILS  FERTILIZED  BY  BAC- 
TERIA— Future  Agriculturist  Will  Inoculate 
His  Fields  with  the  Most  Useful  Germs. — 
Experiments  which  are  now  conducting  seem 
to  indicate  that  there  are  great  differences 
in  the  vitality  and  nitrifying  ability  of  dif- 
ferent nitrobacteria.    It  is  the  present  work 
of  the  chemist  to  compare  the  activity  of  the 
nitrifying  organisms  existing  in  the  soils  of 
widely  separated  localities  and  to  isolate,  if 
possible,  those  which  show  the  highest  quali- 
ties.     When   this   shall    have    been    accom- 
plished, the  novel  practise  will  be  seen  of 
practical    farmers    inoculating    their    fields 
with   minute   capillary   tubes   containing   a 
colorless  liquid   in  almost  an  unweighably 
small  quantity,  in  which  are  found  invisible 
organisms  by  whose  multiplication  the  fer- 
tilities of  broad  acres  are  to  be  increased. 
As   the  surgeon  now  prepares  particles   of 
virus  which,  when  inserted  into  the  system, 
produce  immunity  from  contagious  disease, 
so  the  farmer,  by  a  similar  species  of  inocu- 
lation, will  render  possible  in  his  soil  the 
growth    of    organisms    which    will    increase 
the  quantity  and  value  of  his  crops. — WILEY 
Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Prog- 
ress (Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafay- 
ette, Ind.,  May,  1896,  p.  38). 


§o" 


und 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


634 


314O. 


Nitrogen  Essential 


to  Fertility  of  Soils — Bacteria  Seize  Nitro- 
gen of  Air  and  Fix  It  in  the  Earth. — A  more 
important  factor  of  soil  fertility  is  its  nitro- 
gen content,  without  which  it  is  completely 
barren.  The  origin  of  these  nitrogen  ingre- 
dients has  been  more  or  less  of  a  puzzle. 
Fertile  soil  everywhere  contains  nitrates 
and  other  nitrogen  compounds,  and  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  the  world  there  are  large 
accumulations  of  these  compounds,  like  the 
nitrate  beds  of  Chile.  That  they  have  come 
ultimately  from  the  free  atmospheric  nitro- 
gen seems  certain,  and  various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  explain  a  method  of  this 
nitrogen  fixation.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  electrical  discharges  in  the  air  may 
form  nitric  acid,  which  would  readily  then 
unite  with  soil  ingredients  to  form  nitrates. 
There  is  little  reason,  however,  for  believing 
this  to  be  a  very  important  factor.  But  in 
the  soil-bacteria  we  find  undoubtedly  an  effi- 
cient agency  in  this  nitrogen  fixation.  As 
already  seen,  the  bacteria  are  able  to  seize 
the  free  atmospheric  nitrogen,  converting  it 
into  nitrites  and  nitrates.  We  have  also 
learned  that  they  can  act  in  connection  with 
legumes  and  some  other  plants,  enabling 
them  to  fix  atmospheric  nitrogen  and  store 
it  in  their  roots.  By  these  two  means  the 
nitrogen  ingredient  in  the  soil  is  prevented 
from  becoming  exhausted  by  the  processes  of 
dissipation  constantly  going  on.  Further, 
by  some  such  agency  must  we  imagine  the 
original  nitrogen  soil  ingredient  to  have  been 
derived.  Such  an  organic  agency  is  the  only 
one  yet  discerned  which  appears  to  have  been 
efficient  in  furnishing  virgin  soil  with  its 
nitrates,  and  we  must  therefore  look  upon 
bacteria  as  essential  to  the  original  fertility 
of  the  soil. — CONN  Story  of  Germ  Life,  ch. 
4,  p.  115.  (A.,  1900.) 

3141.     SOLIDITY  DECEPTIVE— 

Earth's  Surface  a  Thin  Crust  Covering  a 
Molten  Ocean. — [We  infer  that  the  earth 
was  once  a  molten  mass]  because  the  earth 
we  tread  is  but  a  thin  crust  floating  on  a 
liquid  sea  of  molten  materials;  because  the 
agencies  that  were  at  work  then  are  at  work 
now,  and  the  present  is  the  logical  sequence 
of  the  past.  From  Artesian  wells,  from 
mines,  from  geysers,  from  hot  springs,  a 
mass  of  facts  has  been  collected,  proving  in- 
contestably  the  heated  condition  of  all  sub- 
stances at  a  certain  depth  below  the  earth's 
surface;  and  if  we  need  more  positive  evi- 
dence, we  have  it  in  the  fiery  eruptions  that 
even  now  bear  fearful  testimony  to  the 
molten  ocean  seething  within  the  globe  and 
forcing  its  way  out  from  time  to  time.  The 
modern  progress  of  geology  has  led  us  by 
successive  and  perfectly  connected  steps 
back  to  a  time  when  what  is  now  only  an 
occasional  and  rare  phenomenon  was  the 
normal  condition  of  our  earth;  when  those 
internal  fires  were  enclosed  in  an  envelope 
so  thin  that  it  opposed  but  little  resistance 
to  their  frequent  outbreak,  and  they  con- 


stantly forced  themselves  through  this  crust, 
pouring  out  melted  materials  that  subse- 
quently cooled  and  consolidated  on  its  sur- 
face.— AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i, 
ch.  1,  p.  3.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3142.  SOLIDITY   NOT    REVEALED 
BY  SIGHT—  The  Visual  Impression  of  Relief 
an    Unconscious   Derivation   from    Touch — 
Optical  Illusion. — That  this  idea  of  solidity 
is  a  matter  of  judgment  was  well  shown  by  a 
photograph  of  a  marble  statue  which  I  had 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  at  a  late  exhibi- 
tion.    It  was  impossible  not  to  believe  that 
a  marble  statue  was  being  looked  at.     The 
photograph  was  at  the  end  of  a  room,  and 
lighted   on   both   sides,    and   not   looked   at 
through  glass,  nor  the  ordinary  vision  inter- 
fered with  in  any  way.     It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  ideas  of  form  gained  by  the  sense  of 
sight  are  essentially  distinct  from  those  de- 
rived by  touch,  and  it  is  as  impossible  to  ex- 
plain to  a  congeni tally  blind  man  how  form 
can  be  represented  on  a  plane  surface  as  it 
is  to  give  him  any  ideas  of  color. — ELDRIDGE- 
GREEN  Memory  and  Its  Cultivation,  pt.  i, 
ch.  3,  p.  11.    (A.,  1900.) 

3143.  SOLIDS     CONQUERED     BY 

YIELDING  FLUIDS— Air  and  Water  Carve 
the  Earth's  Crust. — We  may  take  it  that  the 
denudation  of  the  [earth's]  surface,  ren- 
dered everywhere  so  conspicuous  by  the 
discontinuity  of  strata,  has  been  effected 
mainly  by  the  atmosphere  and  running  wa- 
ter.— GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  2,  p.  40. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

3144.  SOLITUDE  THE  TERROR  OF 

INFANCY—  A  Protective  Instinct.— The  great 
source  of  terror  to  infancy  is  solitude.  The 
teleology  of  this  is  obvious,  as  is  also  that 
of  the  infant's  expression  of  dismay — the 
never-failing  cry — on  waking  up  and  find- 
ing himself  alone. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  24,  p.  418.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3145.  SORROW  RECALLS  SORROW 

— Memory  Dominated  by  Mood — Joy  Recalls 
Joy. — The  same  objects  do  not  recall  the 
same  associates  when  we  are  cheerful  as 
when  we  are  melancholy.  Nothing,  in  fact, 
is  more  striking  than  our  utter  inability  to 
keep  up  trains  of  joyous  imagery  when  we 
are  depressed  in  spirits.  Storm,  darkness, 
war,  images  of  disease,  poverty,  and  perish- 
ing afflict  unremittingly  the  imaginations 
of  melancholiacs.  And  those  of  sanguine 
temperament,  when  their  spirits  are  high, 
find  it  impossible  to  give  any  permanence 
to  evil  forebodings  or  to  gloomy  thoughts. 
In  an  instant  the  train  of  association  dances 
off  to  flowers  and  sunshine,  and  images  of 
spring  and  hope. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  14,  p.  576.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3146.  SOUL  IN  STONE— First  Expla- 
nation of  Magnetic  Power — The  Magnet  at 
the    Foundation    of    Philosophy. — Aristotle 
reports  the  sayings  of  Thales  only  by  hear- 
say,  and   then   with   extreme  caution:    the 


635 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Soil* 
Sound 


first  being  that  everything  is  full  of  gods, 
and  the  second  (and  it  is  this  which  is  of 
especial  importance  in  our  present  research) 
that  "Thales,  too,  as  is  related,  seems  to 
regard  the  soul  as  somehow  producing  mo- 
tion, for  he  said  that  the  stone  has  a  soul, 
since  it  moves  iron." 

Thus  we  find  the  magnet  at  the  very  foun- 
dation of  the  world's  philosophy.  Refusing 
to  account  for  the  attraction  of  the  lode- 
stone  by  supernatural  interposition,  as  the 
priests  and  worshipers  at  Samothrace  had 
undoubtedly  done  centuries  before,  Thales 
assumed  a  soul  or  a  virtue  inherent  and  ex- 
isting in  the  magnet  itself,  whereby  it  was 
enabled  to  move  the  iron. — PARK  BENJAMIN 
Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  2,  p.  33. 
(J.  W.,  1898.) 

3147.  "  SOUL  OF  LIFE,"  THE  SUP- 
POSED VITAL  FORCE— Physician  Thought 
To  Deal  with  an  Unseen  Personality  in  Dis- 
ease.— The  vi^al  force  had  formerly  lodged 
as  ethereal   spirit,  as  a  pneuma  in  the  ar- 
teries;    it  had     .     .     .     acquired  its  clear- 
est   scientific    position    as    "  soul    of    life," 
anima  inscia,  in  Georg  Ernst  Stahl,  who,  in 
the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  was  pro- 
fessor of  chemistry  and  pathology  in  Halle. 
.     .     .     Stahl's   "soul    of   life"  is,   on    the 
whole,  constructed  on  the  pattern  on  which 
the  pietistic  communities  of  that  period  rep- 
resented   to    themselves    the    sinful    human 
soul;    it  is  subject  to  errors  and  passions,  to 
sloth,  fear,  impatience,  sorrow,  indiscretion, 
despair.     The  physician  must  first  appease 
it,  or  then  incite  it,  or  punish  it,  and  compel 
it  to  repent.     And  the  way  in  which,  at  the 
same  time,  he  established  the  necessity  of 
the    physical    and    vital    actions    was    well 
thought  out.     The  soul  of  life  governs  the 
body,  and  only  acts  by  means  of  the  physico- 
chemical    forces    of   the   substances    assimi- 
lated.    But  it  has  the  power  to  bind  and  to 
loose  these  forces,  to  allow  them  full  play 
or  to  restrain   them.     After  death   the  re- 
strained forces  become  free,  and  evoke  putre- 
faction  and   decomposition.      For   the   refu- 
tation   of   this   hypothesis    of   binding   and 
loosing,  it  was  necessary  to  discover  the  law 
of   the   conservation   of  force. — HELMHOLTZ 
Popular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  215.    (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

3148.  SOUL,  PSYCHOLOGY  WITH- 
OUT A— Personality  Explained  by  Ideas  as  a 
House     by     Stones     and    Bricks. — Another 
.     .     .     way  of  unifying  the  chaos  [of  men- 
tal impressions]  is  to  seek  common  elements 
in  the   divers  mental   facts   rather   than   a 
common  agent  behind  them,  and  to  explain 
them  constructively  by  the  various  forms  of 
arrangement  of  these  elements,   as  one  ex- 
plains Chouses   by   stones    and   bricks.      The 
"  associationist "  schools  of  Herbart  in  Ger- 
many, and  of  Hume,  the  Mills,  and  Bain  in 
Britain,  have  thus  constructed  a  psychology 
without  a  soul  by  taking  discrete  "  ideas," 
faint  or  vivid,   and  showing  how,  by  their 
cohesions,  repulsions,  and  forms  of  succes- 


sion, such  things  as  reminiscences,  percep- 
tions, emotions,  volitions,  passions,  theories, 
and  all  the  other  furnishings  of  an  indi- 
vidual's mind  may  be  engendered.  The  very 
self  or  ego  of  the  individual  comes  in  this 
way  to  be  viewed  no  longer  as  the  preexist- 
ing source  of  the  representations,  but  rather 
as  their  last  and  most  complicated  fruit. — 
JAME'S  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ~ch.  1,  p.  1.  (H. 
H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3149.  SOUL,  THE,  A  CAPACITY  FOR 
GOD— Shrinks  and  Shrivels  without  the  Divine. 
— The  soul,  in  its  highest  sense,  is  a  vast  ca- 
pacity for  God.    It  is  like  a  curious  chamber 
added  on  to  being  and  somehow  involving 
being,  a  chamber  with  elastic  and  contractile 
walls  which  can  be  expanded  with  God  as  its 
guest,   inimitably,  but  which  without  God 
shrinks  and  shrivels  until  every  vestige  of 
the  Divine  is  gone,  and  God's  image  is  left 
without  God's  Spirit.    One  cannot  call  what 
is  left  a  soul;  it  is  a  shrunken,  useless  or- 
gan, a  capacity  sentenced  to  death  by  dis- 
use, which  droops  as  a  withered  hand  by  the 
side,    and    cumbers    Nature    like    a    rotted 
branch. — DRUMMOND    Natural   Law   in    the 
Spiritual  World,  essay  2,  p.  98.     (H.  Al.) 

3150.  SOUL      TRIUMPHS     OVER 
BODY  —  Insensibility  to  Pain  under  Strong 
Emotion  —  Soldier  —  Martyr  —  Devotee. — 
Tho  we  speak  of  pleasure  and  pain  as  fixed 
and  definite  things,  yet  they  are  truly  by 
no  means  fixed.     It  is  matter  of  familiar 
experience  that  various  circumstances  may 
modify  our  sensibility  in  respect  to  things 
which  are,  in  our  ordinary  state,  painful. 
The  power  of  mental  excitement  in  this  re- 
spect  is   well   known.     A   soldier   wounded 
during' battle  may  feel  no  immediate  suffer- 
ing from  the  severest  injury,  and  we  have 
every-day  proof  of  the  same  in  the  failure 
of  slight  accidents  to  pain  us  when  we  are 
intently  occupied.     All  strong  emotions,  in- 
deed, seem  to  have  a  similar  power.     It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  martyrs  have  some- 
times gone  through  their  flaming  death  in 
ecstasy.    And  the  accounts  we  have  of  that 
fanatical  sect  in  the  East,  one  part  of  whose 
devotions    consists    in    working    themselves 
first  into  a  frenzy,  and  then  laying  hold  on 
glowing  iron,  dancing  with  it  in  their  hands, 
and   putting  it  to  their   lips,  indicate  not 
only  an  absence  of  pain  in  the  act,  but  even 
some  kind  of  pleasure.     It  would  seem,  in- 
deed, that  there  is  nothing  that  can  be  said 
to  be  always  or  necessarily  a  cause  of  pain. 
What  we  can  truly  say  on  this  point  is  that 
there  are  certain  things  which  are  painful 
to  our  bodily  senses  when  these  are  not  con- 
trolled or  modified  by  the  state  of  the  mind. 
— HINTON    The    Mystery    of    Pain,    p.    20. 
(Hum.,   1893.) 

3151.  SOUND   CAUSES    TERROR— 

Subterranean  Thunder  Unexplained.  —  Phe- 
nomena of  sound,  when  unattended  by  any 
perceptible  shocks,  produce  a  peculiarly  deep 
impression  even  on  persons  who  have  lived 


Sound 

Space 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


636 


in  countries  where  the  earth  has  been  fre- 
quently exposed  to  shocks.  A  striking  and 
unparalleled  instance  of  uninterrupted  sub- 
terranean noise,  unaccompanied  by  any  trace 
of  an  earthquake,  is  the  phenomenon  known 
in  the  Mexican  elevated  plateaux  by  the 
name  of  the  "  roaring  and  the  subterranean 
thunder  "  (bramidos  y  truenos  subterraneosj 
of  Guanajuato.  This  celebrated  and  rich 
mountain  city  lies  far  removed  from  any 
active  volcano.  The  noise  began  about  mid- 
night on  the  9th  of  January,  1784,  and  con- 
tinued for  a  month.  I  have  been  enabled 
to  give  a  circumstantial  description  of  it 
from  the  report  of  many  witnesses,  and 
from  the  documents  of  the  municipality,  of 
which  I  was  allowed  to  make  use.  From 
the  13th  to  the  16th  of  January  it  seemed 
to  the  inhabitants  as  if  heavy  clouds  lay 
beneath  their  feet,  from  which  issued  al- 
ternate slow  rolling  sounds  and  short,  quick 
claps  of  thunder.  The  noise  abated  as  gradu- 
ally as  it  had  begun.  It  was  limited  to  a 
small  space,  and  was  not  heard  in  a  basaltic 
district  at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles.  Al- 
most all  the  inhabitants,  in  terror,  left  the 
city,  in  which  large  masses  of  silver  ingots 
were  stored;  but  the  most  courageous,  and 
those  more  accustomed  to  subterranean  thun- 
der, soon  returned,  in  order  to  drive  off  the 
bands  of  robbers  who  had  attempted  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  treasures  of  the 
city.  Neither  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
nor  in  mines  1,600  feet  in  depth,  was  the 
slightest  shock  to  be  perceived.  No  similar 
noise  had  ever  before  been  heard  on  the 
elevated  table-land  of  Mexico,  nor  has  this 
terrific  phenomenon  since  occurred  there. 
— HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  209.  (H., 
1897.) 

3152.  SOUND  LAGGING  AFTER 
SIGHT— Ice-cliffs  Seem  to  Fall  in  Silence— 
Rlow  Reverberations,  as  of  Distant  Battle. — 
"  The  [Turner]  glacier  expands  on  entering 
the  water,  as  is  the  habit  of  all  glaciers 
of  clear  ice  when  unconfined,  and  ends  in 
magnificent  ice  -  cliffs  some  two  miles  in 
length.  The  water  dashing  against  the  bases 
of  the  cliffs  dissolves  them  away,  and  the 
tide  tends  to  raise  and  lower  the  expanded 
ice-foot.  The  result  of  these  agencies  and 
of  the  onward  flow  of  the  ice  itself  is  to 
cause  huge  masses,  sometimes  reaching  from 
summit  to  base  of  the  cliffs,  to  topple  over 
into  the  sea  with  a  tremendous  crash.  Owing 
to  the  distance  of  the  glacier  from  Haenke 
Island,  we  could  see  the  ice  fall  long  before 
the  roar  it  caused  reached  our  ears;  the 
cliffs  separated  and  huge  masses  seemed  to 
sink  into  the  sea  without  a  sound ;  the  spray 
thrdwn  up  as  the  blue  pinnacles  disappeared 
ascended  like  gleaming  rockets,  sometimes 
as  high  as  the  tops  of  the  cliffs,  and  then 
fell  back  in  silent  cataracts  of  foam.  Then 
a  noise  as  of  a  cannonade  came  booming 
across  the  waters  and  echoing  from  cliff 
to  cliff.  The  roar  of  the  glacier  continues 
all  day  when  the  air  is  warm  and  the 


sun  is  bright,  and  is  most  pronounced  when 
the  summer  days  are  finest.  Sometimes 
roar  succeeds  roar  like  artillery  fire,  and 
the  salutes  were  answered,  gun  for  gun,  by 
the  great  Hubbard  glacier,  which  pours  its 
flood  of  ice  into  the  fiord  a  few  miles  north- 
east of  where  Turner  glacier  terminates." — 
RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America,  ch.  6, 
p.  93.  (G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3153.    SOUND  MAY  QUENCH  SOUND 

—  Interference  of  Sound  -  waves  —  Beats, 
What  They  Are. — The  most  familiar  illus- 
tration of  the  interference  of  sound-waves 
is  furnished  by  the  beats  produced  by  two 
musical  sounds  slightly  out  of  unison.  When 
two  tuning-forks  in  perfect  unison  are  agi- 
tated together  the  two  sounds  flow  without 
roughness,  as  if  they  were  but  one.  But 
by  attaching  with  wax  to  one  of  the  forks 
a  little  weight,  we  cause  it  to  vibrate  more 
slowly  than  its  neighbor.  Suppose  that  one 
of  them  performs  101  vibrations  in  the  time 
required  by  the  other  to  perform  100,  and 
suppose  that  at  starting  the  condensations 
and  rarefactions  of  both  forks  coincide. 
At  the  101st  vibration  of  the  quickest  fork 
they  will  again  coincide,  that  fork  at  this 
point  having  gained  one  whole  vibration,  or 
one  whole  wave-length  upon  the  other.  But 
a  little  reflection  will  make  it  clear  that, 
at  the  50th  vibration,  the  two  forks  are  in 
opposition;  here  the  one  tends  to  produce, 
a  condensation  where  the  other  tends  to  pro- 
duce a  rarefaction;  by  the  united  action  of 
the  two  forks,  therefore,  the  sound  is 
quenched,  and  we  have  a  pause  of  silence. 
This  occurs  where  one  fork  has  gained  half 
a  wave-length  upon  the  other.  At  the  101st 
vibration,  as  already  stated,  we  have  coin- 
cidence, and  therefore  augmented  sound;  at 
the  150th  vibration  we  have  again  a  quench- 
ing of  the  sound.  Here  the  one  fork  is  three 
half-waves  in  advance  of  the  other.  In  gen- 
eral terms,  the  waves  conspire  when  the  one 
series  is  an  even  number  of  half-wave 
lengths,  and  they  destroy  each  other  when 
the  one  series  is  an  odd  number  of  half-wave 
lengths  in  advance  of  the  other.  With  two 
forks  so  circumstanced,  we  obtain  those  in- 
termittent shocks  of  sound,  separated  by 
pauses  of  silence,  to  which  we  give  the  name 
of  beats.  By  a  suitable  arrangement,  more- 
over, it  is  possible  to  make  one  sound  wholly 
extinguish  another.  Along  four  distinct 
lines,  for  example,  the  vibrations  of  the 
two  prongs  of  a  tuning-fork  completely  blot 
each  other  out. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light, 
lect.  2,  p.  61.  (A.,  1898.) 

3154.    SOUND,  MINGLED  WAVES  OF 

— Discriminating  Power  of  the  Ear. — You 
must  conceive  the  air  of  a  concert-hall  or 
ballroom  as  traversed  in  every  direction, 
and  not  merely  on  the  surface,  by  a  varie- 
gated throng  of  intersecting  wave-systems. 
From  the  mouths  of  the  male  singers  pro- 
ceed waves  of  six  to  twelve  feet  in  length; 
from  the  lips  of  the  songstresses  dart  shorter 


637 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Pound 
Space 


waves,  from  eighteen  to  thirty-six  inches 
long.  The  rustling  of  silken  skirts  excites 
little  curls  in  the  air,  each  instrument  in 
the  orchestra  emits  its  peculiar  waves,  and 
all  these  systems  expand  spherically  from 
their  respective  centers,  dart  through  each 
other,  are  reflected  from  the  walls  of  the 
room,  and  thus  rush  backwards  and  for- 
wards until  they  succumb  to  the  greater 
force  of  newly  generated  tones. 

Altho  this  spectacle  is  veiled  from  the 
material  eye,  we  have  another  bodily  organ, 
the  ear,  especially  adapted  to  reveal  it  to 
us.  This  analyzes  the  interdigitation  of  the 
waves,  which  in  such  a  case  would  be  far 
more  confused  than  the  intersection  of 
the  water  undulations,  and  separates  the 
several  tones  which  compose  it,  and  dis- 
tinguishes the  voices  of  men  and  women, 
nay,  even  of  individuals,  and  of  the  peculiar 
qualities  of  tone  given  out  by  each  instru- 
ment, the  rustling  of  the  dresses,  the  foot- 
falls of  the  walkers,  and  so  on. — HELMHOLTZ 
On  the  Physiological  Causes  of  Harmony  in 
Music  (Popular  Lectures,  ser.  i,  p.  79). 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3155.  SOURCE  OF  THE  SUN'S  HEAT 
— By   Combustion  It    Would  Burn   Out   in 
Three  Thousand  Years. — On  earth  the  proc- 
esses of  combustion  are  the  most  abundant 
source  of  heat.     Does  the  sun's  heat  origi- 
nate  in  a  process  of  this  kind?     To  this 
question  we  can  reply  with  a  complete  and 
decided  negative,  for  we  now  know  that  the 
sun  contains  the  terrestrial  elements  with 
which  we  are  acquainted.    Let  us  select  from 
among  them  the  two  which,  for  the  smallest 
mass,  produce  the  greatest  amount  of  heat 
when  they  combine ;  let  us  assume  that  the 
sun  consists  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  mixed 
in  the  proportion  in  which  they  would  unite 
to   form  water.     The   mass   of   the  sun    is 
known,  and  also  the  quantity  of  heat  pro- 
duced by   the   union   of   known   weights  of 
oxygen    and   hydrogen.      Calculation    shows 
that  under  the  above  supposition  the  heat 
resulting  from   their   combustion   would  be 
sufficient  to  keep  up  the  radiation  of  heat 
from  the  sun  for  3,021  years.     That,  it  is 
true,  is  a  long  time,  but  even  profane  his- 
tory teaches  that  the  sun  has  lighted  and 
warmed  us  for  3,000  years,  and  geology  puts 
it  beyond   doubt  that  this  period  must  be 
extended  to  millions  of  years.   Known  chem- 
ical forces  are  thus  so  completely  inadequate, 
even  on  the  most  favorable  assumption,  to 
explain  the  production  of  heat  which  takes 
place  in  the  sun,  that  we  must  quite  drop 
this  hypothesis. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lec- 
tures, ser.  ii,  lect.  4,  p.  178.     (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1898.) 

3156.  SOURCE   OF   THE   WINDS— 
Circulation  in  Doorway  of  Heated  Room — 
Currents  of  Aerial  Ocean. — From  the  heat 
of  the  sun  our  winds  are  all  derived.     We 
live  at  the  bottom  of  an  aerial  ocean,  in  a 
remarkable   degree   permeable   to  the   solar 
rays,  and  but  little  disturbed  by  their  direct 


action.  But  those  rays,  when  they  fall  upon 
the  earth,  heat  its  surface,  and  when  they 
fall  upon  the  ocean  they  provoke  evapora- 
tion. The  air  in  contact  with  the  surface 
shares  its  heat,  is  expanded,  and  ascends 
into  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere, 
while  the  vapor  from  the  ocean  also  ascends, 
because  of  its  lightness,  carrying  air  along 
with  it.  Where  the  rays  fall  vertically  on 
the  earth,  that  is  to  say,  between  the  tropics, 
the  heating  of  the  surface  is  greatest.  Here 
aerial  currents  ascend  and  flow  laterally, 
north  and  south,  towards  the  poles,  the 
heavier  air  of  the  polar  regions  streaming 
in  to  supply  the  place  vacated  by  the  light 
and  warm  air.  Thus  we  have  incessant 
circulation.  A  few  days  ago,  in  the  hot 
room  of  a  Turkish  bath,  I  held  a  lighted 
taper  in  the  open  doorway,  midway  between 
top  and  bottom.  The  flame  rose  vertically 
from  the  taper.  When  placed  at  the  bot- 
tom the  flame  was  blown  violently  inwards; 
when  placed  at  the  top,  it  was  blown  vio- 
lently outwards.  Here  we  had  two  currents, 
or  winds,  sliding  over  each  other,  and  mov- 
ing in  opposite  directions.  Thus,  also,  as 
regards  our  hemisphere,  a  current  from  the 
equator  sets  in  towards  the  north  and  flows 
in  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere, 
while,  to  supply  its  place,  another  flows 
towards  the  equator  in  the  lower  regions 
of  the  atmosphere.  These  are  the  upper  and 
the  lower  trade  winds. — TYNDALL  Heat  a 
Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  8,  p.  208.  (A.,  1900.) 

3157.  SPACE    FILLED    WITH   LU- 
MINIFEROUS    ETHER— No  Empty  Spot- 
Belief  that  Other  Inhabited  Worlds  Exist. — 
As  far  as  our  knowledge  of  space  extends, 
we  are  to  conceive  it  as  the  holder  of  the 
luminiferous   ether,   through  which  are  in- 
terspersed, at  enormous  distances  apart,  the 
ponderous  nuclei  of  the  stars.     Associated 
with  the  star  that  most  concerns  us  we  have 
a  group  of  dark  planetary  masses  revolving 
at  various   distances  round   it,   each   again 
rotating  on  its  own  axis;  and,  finally,  as- 
sociated with  some  of  these  planets  we  have 
dark    bodies    of    minor    note — the    moons. 
Whether  the  other  fixed  stars  have  similar 
planetary  companions  or  not  is  to  us  a  mat- 
ter of  pure  conjecture,  which  may  or  may 
not  enter   into   our  conception  of  the  uni- 
verse.    But  probably  every  thoughtful  per- 
son believes,   with   regard  to  those   distant 
suns,  that  there  is  in  space  something  be- 
sides  our    system    on   which    they   shine. — 
TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  5.     (A.,  1897.) 

3158.  SPACE      IMPENETRABLE— 

Giant  Telescopes  of  Herschel  and  Rosse 
Leave  Star  Depths  Yet  Unfathomed. — It  has 
been  said  that  with  the  telescopes  with 
which  the  Herschels  have  surveyed  the 
depths  of  heaven  twenty  millions  of  stars 
are  visible.  But  these  telescopes  do  not 
penetrate  to  the  limits  of  the  star  system. 
In  certain  parts  of  the  Milky  Way  Sir  W. 
Herschel  not  only  failed  to  penetrate  the 


Space 
Spectrum 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


638 


star  depths  with  his  gaging  telescope,  tho 
the  mirror  was  eighteen  inches  in  width; 
but  even  when  he  brought  into  action  his 
great  forty-feet  telescope,  with  its  mirror 
four  feet  across,  he  still  saw  that  cloudy 
light  which  speaks  of  star  depths  as  yet 
unfathomed.  Nay,  the  giant  telescope  of 
Lord  Rosse  has  utterly  failed  to  penetrate 
the  ocean  of  space  which  surrounds  us  on 
all  sides. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p. 
302.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3159.  SPACE,  INFINITY  OF— Space 
has  no  bounds.  Whatever  be  the  fron- 
tier which  we  may  assign  to  it  in  thought, 
our  imagination  immediately  flies  across  this 
frontier,  and,  looking  beyond,  still  finds 
space.  And  altho  we  cannot  comprehend 
the  infinite,  each  of  us  feels  that  it  is  easier 
to  conceive  space  as  unlimited  than  to  imag- 
ine it  limited,  and  that  it  is  impossible 
that  space  should  not  exist  everywhere. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
4,  p.  590.  (A.) 

31  (JO.  — There  may  ex- 
ist round  our  visible  universe  an  immense 
space,  absolutely  void  and  desert,  beyond 
\vhich,  at  immeasurable  distances,  lie  other 
universes. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astrono- 
my, bk.  vi,  ch.  10,  p.  670.  (A.) 

3161.  SPACE,  MATERIAL  SUPPLIED 
TO  EARTH  FROM— Ninety  Thousand  Tons 
of    Meteoric    Matter    Annually    Received. — 
Day  by  day  and  year  by  year  meteors  are 
falling  upon  the  earth,  not  by  hundreds  and 
thousands,    but   by    thousands    of    millions. 
This  process  of  growth  is,  however,  exceed- 
ingly slow.     Estimated,  indeed,  by  the  ac- 
tual quantity  of  matter  falling  year  by  year 
upon  the  earth,  it  seems  like  a  real,  appreci- 
able growth.    For  let  us  suppose  that  on  the 
average  each  meteor  of  more  than   140,000 
millions  which  fall  per  annum  weighs  but  a 
single   grain.     Then   the   earth's   weight   is 
increased  each  year  by  20  millions  of  pounds, 
or  by  more  than  90,000  tons.    Yet  this  is  a 
mere    nothing    compared    with    the    actual 
weight  of  the  earth.     Supposing  the  matter 
thus  received  to  be  spread  uniformly  over 
the  whole   surface   of  the   earth,    it  would 
form    a    layer   less   than  the    800,000,000th 
part  of  an   inch   in   thickness;    so  that   at 
this  rate  400  millions  of  years  must  elapse 
before   the   earth's    diameter   would   be   in- 
creased a  single  inch.     Thus  it  may  fairly 
be  said  that  tho  the  earth  is  really  acquir- 
ing new  mass  year  by  year,  yet  she  is  no 
longer   growing  appreciably   in   dimensions. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  178.     (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3162.  SPECIALIZATION  OF  MOVE- 
MENTS— Functions    Localized    in  Particular 
Regions  of  the  Brain. — Up  to  1870  the  opin- 
ion which  prevailed  was  that  which  the  ex- 
periments   of   Flourens    on   pigeons'   brains 
had  made  plausible,  namely,  that  the  dif- 
ferent  functions    of   the    hemispheres    were 
not  locally  separated,  but  carried  on  each 


by  the  aid  of  the  whole  organ.  Hitzig  in 
1870  showed,  however,  that  in  a  dog's  brain 
highly  specialized  movements  could  be  pro- 
duced by  electric  irritation  of  determinate 
regions  "of  the  cortex  [of  the  brain] ;  and 
Ferrier  and  Munk,  half  a  dozen  years  later, 
seemed  to  prove,  either  by  irritations  or  ex- 
cisions or  both,  that  there  were  equally  de- 
terminate regions  connected  with  the  senses 
of  sight,  touch,  hearing,  and  smell. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  30.  (H.  II.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3163.  SPECIES,  ABSOLUTENESS  OF, 
A    FALLACY—  The  Doubts  of  Scientists.— 
Much  of  the  popular  idea  of  the  distinctness 
of  all  species  rests  on  a  fallacy,  which  is 
obvious  enough  when  once  pointed  out.     In 
systematic   works   every   plant   and   animal 
must  be  referred  to  some  species,  every  spe- 
cies is  described  by  such   and  such  marks, 
and  in  the  books  one  species  is  as  good  as 
another.     The  absoluteness  of  species,  being 
the  postulate  of  the  science,  was  taken  for 
granted,  to  begin  with ;  and  so  all  the  forms 
which  have  been  named  and  admitted  into 
the  systematic  works  as  species  are  thereby 
assumed  to  be  completely  distinct.     All  the 
doubts   and   uncertainties   which  may   have 
embarrassed    the    naturalist   when    he    pro- 
posed or  admitted  a  particular  species,  the 
nice  balancing  of  the  probabilities  and  the 
hesitating  character  of  the  judgment,  either 
do  not  appear  at  all  in  the  record  or  are 
overlooked  by  all  but  the  critical  student. — 
ASA    GRAY    Natural  Science   and   Religion, 
lect.  1,  p.  39.     (S.,  1891.) 

3164.  SPECIES   DEFINED  —  Distinct 
Species    of    Bacteria    Recognized. — A    word 
may  be  said  here  respecting  the  much-dis- 
cussed question   of   species   in  bacteria.     A 
species  may  be  defined  as  "  a  group  of  indi- 
viduals   which,    however    many    characters 
they  share  with  other  individuals,  agree  in 
presenting    one    or    more    characters    of    a 
peculiar    and    hereditary    kind    with    some 
certain  degree  of  distinctness."     Now,  as  re- 
gards bacteria,  there  is  no  doubt  that  sepa- 
rate species   occur  and  tend  to   remain  as 
separate  species.    It  is  true,  there  are  many 
variations,  due  in  large  measure  to  the  me- 
dium in  which  the  organisms  are  growing — 
variations  of  age,  adaptation,  nutrition,  etc. 
— yet  the  different  species  tend  to  remain 
distinct.     .     .     .     But  because  of  the  occur- 
rence of  these  morphological  and  even  patho- 
logical   differences   it   must  not   be   argued 
that  the  demarcation  of  species   is  wholly 
arbitrarv. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  29. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3165.  SPECIES  ONCE    ABUNDANT 
NOW  EXTINCT—  The  Irish  Elk.— The  mag- 
nificent Irish  elk,  or  Megaceros  hibernicus, 
which  attained  a  height  of  more  than  ten 
feet,  with  antlers  measuring  eleven  feet  from 
tip   to  tip,   may   perhaps  have   lived   to   a 
somewhat  more  recent  period,  but  appears 
to  have  had  a  much  more  restricted  range 
[than  the  cave-bear,  mammoth,  etc.].     Its 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Space 
Spectrum 


remains  have  been  found  in  Sweden,  in  Ger- 
many, in  France  as  far  as  the  Pyrenees,  and 
in  Central  Italy.  It  seems,  however,  to  have 
been  most  abundant  in  the  British  Isles, 
and  especially  in  Ireland. — AVEBURY  Pre- 
historic Times,  ch.  9,  p.  278.  (A.,  1900.) 

3166.  SPECIES,  SUPPOSED,  PROVED 
TO     BE    VARIETIES  —  A  small  butterfly 
(Terias  hecabe)    ranges   over   the  whole  of 
the  Indian  and  Malayan  regions  to  Austra- 
lia,   and   everywhere   exhibits    great   varia- 
tions, many  of  which  have  been  described 
as  distinct  species ;  but  a  gentleman  in  Aus- 
tralia bred  two  of  these  distinct  forms  (T. 
hecabe  and  T.  JEsiope),  with  several  inter- 
mediates,   from    one    batch    of    caterpillars 
found  feeding  together  on  the  same  plant. 
It  is  therefore  very  probable  that  a  consid- 
erable number  of  supposed  distinct  species 
are    only    individual    varieties.  —  WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  3,  p.  31.     (Hum.) 

3167.  SPECTACLE     OF     ACTION 

STIMULATES  ACTION—  Value  of  Competi- 
tion.— The  deepest  spring  of  action  in  us  is 
the  sight  of  action  in  another.  The  spectacle 
of  effort  is  what  awakens  and  sustains  our 
own  effort.  No  runner  running  all  alone 
on  a  race-track  will  find  in  his  own  will  the 
power  of  stimulation  which  his  rivalry 
with  others  incites,  when  he  feels  them 
at  his  heels,  about  to  pass.  When  a  trotting 
horse  is  "  speeded,"  a  running  horse  must  go 
beside  him  to  keep  him  to  the  pace. — JAMES 
Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  7,  p.  53.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1900.) 

3168.  SPECTROSCOPE   HELPS 
SOLVE    MYSTERY    OF  AURORA— Deter- 
mines What  It  Is  Not — Its  Light  from  Lumi- 
nous Gases. — If  the  light  emanating  from  a 
solid  or  liquid  incandescent  body  be  passed 
through  the  spectroscope  the  resulting  spec- 
trum  is  continuous.     If,   on   the   contrary, 
the  source  of  light  is  gaseous,  the  spectrum 
is  composed  of  a  certain  number  of  bright 
lines  or  stripes,  separated  from  each  other 
by  dark  intervals.     .     .     . 

The  spectrum  of  the  aurora  borealis,  stud- 
ied for  the  first  time  by  Angstroem  in  1866, 
is  essentially  a  spectrum  of  lines;  the  light 
of  the  aurora  is  the  product,  therefore,  of 
luminous  gases,  and  not  of  solid  or  liquid 
incandescent  particles;  neither  can  it  be 
due,  as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  to  a 
reflection  of  the  light  of  the  sun. — ANGOT 
Aurora  Borealis,  ch.  3,  p.  42.  (A.,  1897.) 

3169.  SPECTRUM  ANALYSIS— Each 
Metal  Gives  Its  Own  Unvarying  Bands — Dis- 
tinction between  Things  Seemingly  Identical. 
— Within  the  camera  is  now  placed  a  cylin- 
der of  carbon  hollowed  out  at  the  top  to 
receive   a   bit   of  metal;    in   the   hollow   is 
placed  a  fragment  of  the  metal  thallium. 
Down  upon  this  we  bring  the  upper  carbon 
point,  and  then  separate  the  one  from  the 
other.     A  stream  of  incandescent  thallium 
vapor   passes   between   them,   the  magnified 
image  of  which  is  now  seen  upon  the  screen. 


It  is  of  a  beautiful  green  color.  What  is 
the  meaning  of  that  green?  We  answer  the 
question  by  subjecting  the  light  to  prismatic 
analysis.  Sent  through  the  prism,  its  spec- 
trum is  seen  to  consist  of  a  single  refracted 
band.  Light  of  one  degree  of  refrangibility, 
and  that  corresponding  to  this  particular 
green,  is  emitted  by  the  thallium  vapor. 
We  will  now  remove  the  thallium  and  put 
a  bit  of  silver  in  its  place.  The  arc  of  silver 
is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  that  of  thal- 
lium; it  is  not  only  green,  but  the  same 
shade  of  green.  Are  they  then  alike?  Pris- 
matic analysis  enables  us  to  answer  the 
question.  However  impossible  it  is  to  dis- 
tinguish the  one  color  from  the  other,  it  Is 
equally  impossible  to  confound  the  spectrum 
of  incandescent  silver  vapor  with  that  of 
thallium.  In  the  case  of  silver,  we  have  two 
green  bands  instead  of  one.  .  .  .  We 
have  in  these  bands  a  perfectly  unalterable 
characteristic  of  the  two  metals.  You  never 
get  other  bands  than  these  two  green  ones 
from  the  silver,  never  other  than  the  single 
green  band  from  the  thallium,  never  other 
than  the  three  green  bands  from  the  mixture 
of  both  metals.  Every  known  metal  has  its 
own  particular  bands,  and  in  no  known 
case  are  the  bands  of  two  different  metals 
alike  in  refrangibility.  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  these  spectra  may  be  made  a  sure 
test  for  the  presence  or  absence  of  any  par- 
ticular metal.  If  we  pass  from  the  metals 
to  their  alloys,  we  find  no  confusion.  Cop- 
per gives  green  bands;  zinc  gives  blue  and 
red  bands;  brass,  an  alloy  of  copper  and 
zinc,  gives  the  bands  of  both  metals,  per- 
fectly unaltered  in  position  or  character. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  193. 
(A.,  1898.) 


3170. 


Gases  Tell  Their 


Story — Far-off  Nebulce  Analyzed. — If  a  solid 
or  a  liquid  is  heated  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  becomes  incandescent,  the  spectrum 
which  its  light  gives  is,  like  the  rain- 
bow, a  broad  colored  band  without  any 
breaks,  with  the  well-known  series  of  col- 
ors— red,  yellow,  green,  blue,  and  violet, 
and  in  no  wise  characteristic  of  the  nature 
of  the  body  which  emits  the  light. 

The  case  is  different  if  the  light  is  emit- 
ted by  an  ignited  gas  or  by  an  ignited 
vapor;  that  is,  a  substance  vaporized  by 
heat.  The  spectrum  of  such  a  body  consists, 
then,  of  one  or  more,  and  sometimes  even  a 
great  number,  of  entirely  distinct  bright 
lines,  whose  position  and  arrangement  in 
the  spectrum  are  characteristic  for  the  sub- 
stances of  which  the  gas  or  vapor  consists, 
so  that  it  can  be  ascertained,  by  means  of 
spectrum  analysis,  what  is  the  chemical 
constitution  of  the  ignited  gaseous  body. 
Gaseous  spectra  of  this  kind  are  shown  in 
the  heavenly  space  by  many  nebulae;  for 
the  most  part  they  are  spectra  which  show 
the  bright  line  of  ignited  hydrogen  and  oxy- 
gen, and  along  with  it  a  line  which,  as  yet, 
has  never  been  again  found  in  the  spectrum 


•  prct  m  in 
Speed 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


640 


of  any  terrestrial  element.  Apart  from  the 
proof  of  two  well-known  terrestrial  elements, 
this  discovery  was  of  the  utmost  importance, 
since  it  furnished  the  first  unmistakable 
proof  that  the  cosmical  nebulae  are  not,  for 
the  most  part,  small  heaps  of  fine  stars,  but 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  light  which  they 
emit  is  really  due  to  gaseous  bodies. — HELM- 
HOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  152.  (L. 
G.  &Co.,  1898.) 

3171.  SPECULATION    CONFIRMED 
BY  OBSERVATION— Herschel's  Explorations 
of  the  Heavens. — The  purely  speculative  con- 
clusions arrived  at  by  Wright,  Kant,  and 
Lambert,  concerning  the  general  structural 
arrangement  of  the  universe,  and  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  matter  in  space,  have  been  con- 
firmed   by    Sir    William    Herschel,    on    the 
more  certain  path  of  observation  and  meas- 
urement.   That  great  and  enthusiastic,  altho 
cautious,    observer   was   the   first  to   sound 
the  depths  of  heaven  in  order  to  determine 
the    limits    and    form    of    the    starry    stra- 
tum which  we  inhabit,  and  he,  too,  was  the 
first  who  ventured  to  throw  the  light  of  in- 
vestigation upon  the  relations  existing  be- 
tween the  position  and  distance  of  remote 
nebulse  and  our  own  portion  of  the  sidereal 
universe.     William  Herschel,  as  is  well  ex- 
pressed   in   the   elegant   inscription   on   his 
monument    at    Upton,    broke    through    the 
enclosures    of    heaven     (ccelorum    perrupit 
claustra),  and,  like  another  Columbus,  pene- 
trated into  an  unknown  ocean,  from  which 
he  beheld  coasts  and  groups  of  islands,  whose 
true    position    it   remains    for    future    ages 
to  determine. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p. 
87.     (H.,  1897.) 

3172.  SPECULATION,  GEOLOGICAL 

— Supposed  Ancient  Union  of  England  and 
France.  —  Whether  England  was  formerly 
united  with  France  has  often  been  a  favor- 
ite subject  of  speculation.  So  early  as  1605 
our  countryman,  Verstegan,  in  his  "  Antiq- 
uities of  the  English  Nation,"  observed  that 
many  preceding  writers  had  maintained  this 
opinion,  but  without  supporting  it  by  any 
weighty  reasons.  He  accordingly  endeavors 
himself  to  confirm  it  by  various  arguments, 
the  principal  of  which  are,  first,  the  prox- 
imity and  identity  of  the  composition  of  the 
opposite  cliffs  and  shores  of  Albion  and 
Gallia,  which,  whether  flat  and  sandy  or 
steep  and  chalky,  correspond  exactly  with 
each  other;  secondly,  the  occurrence  of  a 
submarine  ridge,  called  "  our  Lady's  Sand/' 
extending  from  shore  to  shore  at  no  great 
depth,  and  which,  from  its  composition,  ap- 
pears to  be  the  original  basis  of  the  isthmus ; 
thirdly,  the  identity  of  the  noxious  animals 
in  France  and  England,  which  could  neither 
have  swum  across,  nor  have  been  intro- 
duced by  man.  Thus  no  one,  he  says,  would 
have  imported  wolves,  therefore  "  these 
wicked  beasts  did  of  themselves  pass  over." 
He  supposes  the  ancient  isthmus  to  have 
been  about  six  English  miles  in  breadth, 


composed  entirely  of  chalk  and  flint,  and 
in  some  places  of  no  great  height  above 
the  sea-level.  The  operation  of  the  waves 
and  tides,  he  says,  would  have  been  more 
powerful  when  the  straits  were  narrower, 
and  even  now  they  are  destroying  cliffs  com- 
posed of  similar  materials.  He  suggests  the 
possible  cooperation  of  earthquakes;  and 
when  we  consider  how  many  submarine  for- 
ests skirt  the  southern  and  eastern  shores 
of  England,  and  that  there  are  raised  beach- 
es at  many  points  above  the  sea-level,  con- 
taining fossil  shells  of  recent  species,  it 
seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  up- 
ward and  downward  movements,  taking 
place  perhaps  as  slowly  as  those  now  in 
progress  in  Sweden  and  Greenland,  may 
have  greatly  assisted  the  denuding  force  of 
"  the  ocean  stream." — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  19,  p.  315.  (A.,  1854.) 

3173.  SPECULATION, PRECARIOUS- 
NESS  OF— Newton  Timid  There— Doubt,  Con- 
jecture, Question. — Sir  Isaac  Newton  never 
went  beyond  this  field   [of  actual  observa- 
tion] without  a  reverential  impression  upon 
his  mind  of  the  precariousness  of  the  ground 
on  which  he  was  standing.     On  this  ground 
he  never  ventured  a  positive  affirmation,  but, 
resigning  the  lofty  tone  of  demonstration, 
and   putting  on   the  modesty   of   conscious 
ignorance,   he  brought  forward   all  he  had 
to  say  in  the  humble  form  of  a  doubt,  or  a 
conjecture,   or   a   question. — CHALMERS   As- 
tronomical Discourses,  disc.  2,  p.  52.      (R. 
Ct.,  1848.) 

3174.  SPEECH,  LOSS  OF  POWER  OF 

— Motor  Aphasia. — Motor  aphasia  ie  neither 
loss  of  voice  nor  paralysis  of  the  tongue  or 
lips.  The  patient's  voice  is  as  strong  as 
ever,  and  all  the  innervations  of  his  hypo- 
glossal  and  facial  nerves,  except  those  nec- 
essary for  speaking,  may  go  on  perfectly 
well.  He  can  laugh  and  cry,  and  even  sing; 
but  he  either  is  unable  to  utter  any  words 
at  all,  or  a  few  meaningless  stock  phrases 
form  his  only  speech;  or  else  he  speaks  in- 
coherently and  confusedly,  mispronouncing, 
misplacing,  and  misusing  his  words  in  vari- 
ous degrees.  Sometimes  his  speech  is  a  mere 
broth  of  unintelligible  syllables.  In  cases 
of  pure  motor  aphasia  the  patient  recognizes 
his  mistakes  and  suffers  acutely  from  them. 
Now  whenever  a  patient  dies  in  such  a  con- 
dition as  this,  and  an  examination  of  his 
brain  is  permitted,  it  is  found  that  the 
lowest  frontal  gyrus  is  the  seat  of  injury. 
Broca  first  noticed  this  fact  in  1861,  and 
since  then  the  gyrus  has  gone  by  the  name 
of  Broca's  convolution.  The  injury  in  right- 
handed  people  is  found  on  the  left  hemi- 
sphere, and  in  left-handed  people  on  the 
right  hemisphere. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  2,  p.  37.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3175.  SPEECH,     ONOMATOPCEIC, 
LIMITATIONS    OF— Imitative  Words  Few- 
Language   a   System   of   Arbitrary  Signs. — 
When  the  Englishman  and  the  Australian 


641 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Spectrui 
Speed 


speak  each  in  his  native  tongue,  only 
such  words  as  belong  to  the  inter jectional 
and  imitative  classes  will  be  naturally  in- 
telligible, and,  as  it  were,  instinctive  to 
both.  Thus  the  savage,  uttering  the  sound 
"  waow  !  "  as  an  explanation  of  surprise  and 
warning,  might  be  answered  by  the  white 
man  with  the  not  less  evidently  significant 
"  sh !"  of  silence,  and  the  two  speakers 
would  be  on  common  ground  when  the  native 
indicated  by  the  name  "  bioirri,"  his  cudgel, 
flung  "  whirring  "  through  the  air  at  a  flock 
of  birds,  or  when  the  native  described  as  a 
"  jakkal-yakkal "  the  bird  called  by  the  for- 
eigner a  "  cockatoo."  With  these  and  other 
very  limited  classes  of  natural  words,  how- 
ever, resemblance  in  vocabulary  practically 
ceases.  The  Australian  and  English  lan- 
guages each  consist  mainly  of  a  series  of 
words  having  no  apparent  connection  with 
the  ideas  they  signify,  and  differing  utter- 
ly.— DANIEL  WILSON  Anthropology,  ch.  6,  p. 
23.  (Hum.,  1885.) 

3176.  SPEECH,  PURPOSE  UNDER- 
LYING —  Man  Demands  a   Word  for  Each 
Thing. — When  a  dog  yelps  in  front  of  a  door, 
and   his   master,   understanding  his   desire, 
opens  it,  the  dog  may,  after  a  certain  num- 
ber  of   repetitions,    get   to   repeat    in    cold 
blood  a  yelp  which  was  at  first  the  involun- 
tary inter  jectional  expression  of  strong  emo- 
tion. The  same  dog  may  be  taught  to  "  beg  " 
for  food,  and  afterwards  come  to  do  so  de- 
liberately when  hungry.     ...     In  each  of 
these  separate  cases  the  particular  sign  may 
be    consciously   noticed   by   the    animal,    as 
distinct  from  the  particular  thing  signified, 
and  will  thus,  so  far  as  it  goes,  be  a  true 
manifestation  of   language.     But  when  we 
come  to  man  we  find  a  great  difference.    He 
has  a  deliberate  intention  to  apply  a  sign  to 
everything.     The  linguistic  impulse  is  with 
him  generalized  and  systematic.    For  things 
hitherto   unnoticed   or   unfelt  he   desires   a 
sign  before  he  has  one.     Even  tho  the  dog 
should  possess  his  "yelp"   for  this  thing, 
his  "  beg  "  for  that,  and  his  auditory  image 
"  rat "  for  a  third  thing,  the  matter  with 
him  rests  there.     If  a  fourth  thing  interests 
him  for  which  no  sign  happens  already  to 
have    been   learned,   he    remains    tranquilly 
without  it,  and  goes  no  further.     But  the 
man  postulates  it,  its  absence  irritates  him, 
and  he  ends  by  inventing  it.     This  general 
purpose  constitutes,  I  take  it,  the  peculiarity 
of  human  speech,  and  explains  its  prodigious 
development. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
22,  p.  356.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3177.  SPEED  A  SAFEGUARD—  The 

Humming-Mrd  Secure  with  Brilliant  Colors 
— Birds  of  Prey  Pursue  in  Vain. — In  their 
[the  humming-birds']  plumage,  .  .  .  Na- 
ture has  strained  at  every  variety  of  effect, 
and  reveled  in  an  infinitude  of  modifica- 
tions. How  wonderful  their  garb  is,  with 
colors  so  varied,  so  intense,  yet  seemingly  so 
evanescent! — the  glittering  mantle  of  pow- 


dered gold;  the  emerald  green  that  changes 
to  velvet  black;  ruby  reds  and  luminous  scar- 
lets; dull  bronze  that  brightens  and  burns 
like  polished  brass,  and  pale,  neutral  tints 
that  kindle  to  rose  and  lilac-colored  flame.  .  .  . 
Excessive  variation  in  this  direction  is 
checked  in  nearly  all  other  birds  by  the  need 
of  a  protective  coloring,  few  kinds  so  greatly 
excelling  in  strength  and_  activity  as  to  be 
able  to  maintain  their  existence  without  it. 
Bright  feathers  constitute  a  double  danger, 
for  not  only  do  they  render  their  possessor 
conspicuous,  but,  just  as  the  butterfly  chooses 
the  gayest  flower,  so  do  hawks  deliberately 
single  out  from  many  obscure  birds  the  one 
with  brilliant  plumage;  but  the  rapacious 
kinds  do  not  waste  their  energies  in  the  vain 
pursuit  of  humming-birds.  These  are  in  the 
position  of  neutrals,  free  to  range  at  will 
amidst  the  combatants,  insulting  all  alike, 
and  flaunting  their  splendid  colors  with 
impunity.  They  are  Nature's  favorites,  en- 
dowed with  faculties  bordering  on  the  mi- 
raculous, and  all  other  kinds,  gentle  or  fierce, 
ask  only  to  be  left  alone  by  them. — HUDSON 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  16,  p.  219.  (C. 
&  H.,  1895.) 

3178.  SPEED,    MEASURABLE,    OF 
NERVE    ACTION—  Volition   Takes   Time.— 
By  a  series  of  very  ingenious  and  conclu- 
sive experiments,  the  rate  of  passage  of  the 
nerve-force    has   been    shown    to    be    about 
ninety   feet  per   second.     This   measure   is 
made  upon  the  course  of  the  nerve-threads, 
and  does  not  include  the  passage  through 
the  gray  matter  of  the  centers,  with  their 
mass  of  corpuscles.    Now,  the  time  of  a  com- 
plete circuit  of  action,  beginning  at  a  stimu- 
lation of  the  senses,  and  ending  in  certain 
movements,  depends  partly  on  the  time  of 
moving  along  the  nerves,  and  partly  on  the 
time  of  passing  through  the  centers,  where 
a  number  of  corpuscles  must  be  traversed. 
Estimates  have  been  made  as  to  this  last 
operation,   which,   from  the   nature   of   the 
case,  is  likely  to  be  somewhat  various;  for 
not  only  may  the  central  mass  to  be  pene- 
trated be  of  various  extent,  but  also  there 
is  a  liability  to  conflicting  currents.     The 
case  of  least  internal  delay  is  what  is  termed 
reflex   action,   where   a   motion   answers    to 
a  stimulus  without  the  intervention  of  the 
will,   as   in   the    involuntary   start   from   a 
pinch  in  the  hand.    By  experiments  on  frogs 
Helmholtz  found  that  a  period  of  from    & 
to  A   of  a  second  was  occupied  by  the  re- 
flex act;  now  the  length  of  the  entire  nerve- 
tract   could   only   be    a   few   inches,    which 
would  hardly  occupy  the  two-hundredth  of  a 
second,  if  that  tract  were  an  uninterrupted 
nerve  thread. — BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  3, 
p.  10.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

3179.  SPEED  OF  MENTAL  ACTION 

— Association  Intensely  Rapid — Naming  of 
Separate  Letters — Proof  -  reading. — Heading 
exemplifies  this  kind  of  cohesion  [by  mental 
association].  It  is  an  uninterrupted  and  pro- 


read 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


642 


tracted  recall  of  sounds  by  sights  which  have 
always  been  coupled  with  them  in  the  past. 
I  find  that  I  can  name  six  hundred  letters 
in  two  minutes  on  a  printed  page.  Five 
distinct  acts  of  association  between  sight 
and  sound  (not  to  speak  of  all  the 
other  processes  concerned)  must  then  have 
occurred  in  each  second  in  my  mind.  In 
reading  entire  words  the  speed  is  much  more 
rapid.  Valentin  relates  in  his  "  Physiology  " 
that  the  reading  of  a  single  page  of  the 
proof,  containing  2,629  letters,  took  him 
1  minute  and  32  seconds.  In  this  experiment 
each  letter  was  understood  in  ds  of  a  second, 
but  owing  to  the  integration  of  letters  into 
entire  words,  forming  each  a  single  aggre- 
gate impression  directly  associated  with  a 
single  acoustic  image,  we  need  not  suppose 
as  many  as  28  separate  associations  in  a 
sound.  'The  figures,  however,  suffice  to  show 
with  what  extreme  rapidity  an  actual 
sensation  recalls  its  customary  associates. 
Both,  in  fact,  seem  to  our  ordinary  attention 
to  come  into  the  mind  at  once. — JAMES  Psy- 
chology, vol.  i,  ch.  14,  p.  557.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3180.  SPEED    OF    TORTOISE    SCI- 
ENTIFICALLY MEASURED— The  tortoises 
[of  the  Galapagos  Islands],  when  purposely 
moving  towards  any  point,  travel  by  night 
and  day,  and  arrive  at  their  journey's  end 
much  sooner  than  would  be  expected.     The 
inhabitants,    from    observing   marked    indi- 
viduals, consider  that  they  travel  a  distance 
of  about  eight  miles  in  two  or  three  days. 
One  large  tortoise,  which  I  watched,  walked 
at  the  rate  of  sixty  yards  in  ten  minutes — 
that  is  360  yards  in  the  hour,  or  four  miles 
a  day,  allowing  a  little  time  for  it  to  eat 
on  the  road. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage 
around   the   World,   ch.    17,   p.    383.      (A., 
1893.) 

3181.  SPEED  OF  TRAVEL  AT- 
TAINABLE BY  MEANS  OF  BICYCLE— 

Strength,  Accuracy,  and  Lightness  Com- 
bined.— Almost  as  remarkable  as  our  rail- 
roads and  steamships  is  the  new  method 
of  locomotion  by  means  of  the  bicycle  and 
tricycle.  The  principle  is  old  enough,  but 
the  perfection  to  which  these  vehicles  have 
now  attained  has  been  rendered  possible  by 
the  continuous  growth  of  all  kinds  of  deli- 
cate tools  and  machines  required  in  the 
construction  of  the  infinitely  varied  forms 
of  steam-engines,  dynamos,  and  other  rapid- 
ly moving  machinery.  In  the  last  century 
it  would  not  have  been  possible  to  construct 
a  modern  first-class  bicycle,  even  if  any 
genius  had  invented  it,  except  at  a  cost  of 
several  hundred  pounds.  The  combination 
of  strength,  accuracy,  and  lightness  would 
not  then  have  been  attainable. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  1,  p.  9.  (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3182.  SPIRITS,  DISTILLED,  A  ME- 
DIEVAL DISCOVERY— Intemperance  a  Chief 
Evil  of  Modern  World. — It  was  not  till  the 


Middle  Ages  that  distilled  spirit,  tho  more 
ancient  in  the  east,  came  into  use  among 
the  western  nations.  It  was  generally  ac- 
cepted as  beneficial,  as  is  well  seen  in  the 
name  of  "water  of  life,"  Latin,  aquavitce; 
French,  eau-de-vie;  Irish,  usquebaugh  (for 
shortness,  whisky).  Alcoholic  spirit  is  now 
produced  in  immense  quantities  from  the 
refuse  of  wine  making,  brewing,  sugar-re- 
fining, etc.  Its  employment  as  a  habitual 
stimulant  is  among  the  greatest  evils  of  the 
modern  world,  bringing  about  in  the  low 
levels  of  the  population  a  state  of  degrada- 
tion hardly  matched  in  the  worst  ages  of  his- 
tory.— TYLOE  Anthropology,  ch.  11,  p.  269. 
(A.,  1899.) 

3183.  SPIRITUALITY    THE    GOAL 
OF  EVOLUTION— Victor  Hugo:  "  The  Tad- 
pole of  an  Archangel." — What  strikes  one 
most  in  running  the  eye  up  this  graduated 
ascent  [of  life]  is  that  the  movement  is  in  the 
direction  of  what  one  can  only  call  spiritual- 
ity. From  the  growl  of  a  lion  we  have  passed 
to  the  whisper  of  a  soul,  from  the  motive 
fear    to    the    motive    sympathy;    from    the 
icy,  physical  barriers  of  space  to  a  nearness 
closer  than  breathing;    from  the  torturing 
slowness  of  time  to  time's  obliteration.     If 
evolution  reveals  anything,  if  science  itself 
proves  anything,  it  is  that  man  is  a  spiri- 
tual being,   and   that  the  direction    of  his 
long  career  is  towards  an  ever  larger,  rich- 
er, and  more  exalted  life.    On  the  final  prob- 
lem of  man's  being  the  voice  of  science  is 
supposed  to  be  dumb.    But  this  gradual  per- 
fecting of  instruments — and,  as  each  arrives, 
the  further  revelation  of  what  lies  behind 
in  Nature — this  gradual  refining  of  the  mind, 
this   increasing  triumph  over   matter,   this 
deeper  knowledge,  this  efflorescence  of  the 
soul,    are    facts    which    even    science    must 
reckon  with.    Perhaps,  after  all,  Victor  Hu- 
go is  right:  "  I  am  the  tadpole  of  an  arch- 
angel."— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  5, 
p.  184.     (J.  P.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3184.  SPLENDOR  THAT  CONCEALS 

— 'Night  Has  Revelations  Even  More  Sublime 
than  Day — From  Star-clusters  the  Distant 
Universe  Is  Unseen. — The  blaze  of  light  from 
the  thousand  thousand  stars  of  their  [dwell- 
ers on  worlds  in  star-clusters]  firmament 
must  blot  out  all  light  from  beyond.  Their 
whole  sky — by  which  I  here  mean  the  illu- 
minated air  which  in  the  case  of  our  own 
daylight  limits  our  range  of  view,  and  forms 
a  veil  beyond  which  we  cannot  penetrate 
— their  whole  sky  must  be  far  more  re- 
splendent than  ours,  because  every  part 
has  its  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  suns.  In 
this  great  splendor  exists  a  perpetual  limit 
to  all  extension  of  their  researches  into  the 
constitution  of  the  universe.  The  light  of 
their  myriads  of  suns  blinds  them  to  lights 
which  lie  beyond;  their  system  of  suns  is 
their  universe;  and  tho  the  universe  thus 
revealed  to  them  is  magnificent  and  stu- 
pendous, yet  we  can  see  how  minute  it  is, 
compared  with  what  is  revealed  to  ourselves, 


643 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SBJ* 


pread 


when  we  remember  that  we  can  perceive 
many  hundreds  of  such  systems  of  suns. 

Thus  we  learn  how  an  excess  of  light  may 
hide  more  than  it  reveals.  .  .  .  Night 
has  its  revelations,  more  wonderful  in  real- 
ity tho  less  splendid  in  seeming  than  the 
sun  which  rules  the  day. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  218.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3185.  SPONTANEOUSNESS    OF 
GROWTH — Progress  without  Endeavor — Vo- 
lition Simply  Fulfils  Conditions. — There  are 
three  lines  along  which  one  may  seek  for 
evidence  of  the  spontaneousness  of  growth. 
The  first  is  science.    And  the  argument  here 
could  not  be  summed  up  better  than  in  the 
words  of  Jesus.    The  lilies  grow,  he  says,  of 
themselves;   they  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin.      They   grow — that   is,    automatically, 
spontaneously,  without  trying,  without  fret- 
ting, without  thinking.     Applied  in  any  di- 
rection— to  plant,  to  animal,  to  the  body  or 
to  the  soul — this  law  holds.     A  boy  grows, 
for  example,  without  trying.     One  or  two 
simple    conditions    are    fulfilled,    and    the 
growth   goes   on.     He   thinks,   probably,   as 
little  about  the  condition  as  about  the  re- 
sult; he  fulfils  the  conditions  by  habit,  the 
result   follows   by   nature.     Both    processes 
go  steadily  on  from  year  to  year  apart  from 
himself,  and  all  but  in  spite  of  himself.    One 
would  never  think  of  telling  a  boy  to  grow. 
A  doctor   has   no   prescription    for  growth. 
He  can  tell  me  how  growth  may  be  stunted 
or  impaired,  but  the  process  itself  is  recog- 
nized as  beyond  control — one  of  the  few  and 
therefore  very  significant  things  which  Na- 
ture keeps  in  her  own  hands. — DRUMMOND 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  essay 
3,  p.  113.      (H.  Al.) 

3186.  SPONTANEOUSNESS  THE  AT- 
TRIBUTE   OF     HUMAN    INTELLECT  — 

Mind  of  Man  Included  in  Nature. — We  must 
understand  it  [Nature]  as  including  every 
agency  which  we  see  entering,  or  can  con- 
ceive from  analogy  as  capable  of  entering, 
into  the  causation  of  the  world.  First 
and  foremost  among  these  is  the  agency 
of  our  own  mind  and  will.  Yet,  strange 
to  say,  all  reference  to  this  agency  is 
often  tacitly  excluded  when  we  speak  of 
the  laws  of  Nature.  One  of  our  most 
distinguished  living  teachers  of  physical 
science,  Professor  Tyndall,  began,  not  long 
ago,  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  phe- 
nomena of  heat,  by  a  rapid  statement  of  the 
modern  doctrine  of  the  correlation  of  forces 
— how  the  one  was  convertible  into  the 
other — how  one  arose  out  of  the  other — how 
none  could  be  evolved  except  from  some  other 
as  a  preexisting  source.  "  Thus,"  said  the 
lecturer,  "  we  see  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
spontaneousness  in  Nature."  What! — not 
in  the  lecturer  himself?  Was  there  no 
"  spontaneousness  "  in  his  choice  of  words 
— in  his  selection  of  materials — in  his  order- 
ly arrangement  of  experiments  with  a  view 
to  the  exhibition  of  particular  results?  It 


is  not  probable  that  the  lecturer  was  in- 
tending to  deny  this;  it  simply  was  that 
he  did  not  think  of  it  as  within  his  field 
of  view.  His  own  mind  and  will  were  then 
dealing  with  the  "  laws  of  Nature,"  but  they 
did  not  occur  to  him  as  forming  part  of 
those  laws,  or,  in  the  same  sense,  as  sub- 
ject to  them. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1, 
p.  4.  (Burt.)  -.«tt»-..^ 

3187.  SPOTS  ON  THE  SUN—  Cooled 
Vapors  Sinking  Back  on  Central  Mass — A 
Coolness  Exceeding  All  Earthly  Heat. — Just 
on  the  edge  of  these  [sun-]  spots  there  are 
spectroscopic  indications  of  the  most  violent 
motion,  and  in  their  vicinity  there  are  often 
large  protuberances;  they  show  compara- 
tively often  a  rotatory  motion.  They  may 
be  considered  to  be  places  where  the  cooler 
gases  from  the  outer  layers  of  the  sun's  at- 
mosphere sink  down,  and  perhaps  produce 
local  superficial  coolings  of  the  sun's  mass. 
To  understand  the  origin  of  these  phenom- 
ena, it  must  be  remembered  that  the  gases,  as 
they  rise  from  the  hot  body  of  the  sun,  are 
charged  with  vapors  of  difficultly  volatile 
metals,  which  expand  as  they  ascend,  and, 
partly  by  their  expansion  and  partly  by 
radiation  into  space,  must  become  cooled. 
At  the  same  time  they  deposit  their  more 
difficultly  volatile  constituents  as  fog  or 
cloud.  This  cooling  can  only,  of  course,  be 
regarded  as  comparative;  their  temperature 
is  probably,  even  then,  higher  than  any 
temperature  attainable  on  the  earth.  If 
now  the  upper  layers,  freed  from  the  heav- 
ier vapors,  sink  down,  there  will  be  a  space 
over  the  sun's  body  which  is  free  from  cloud. 
They  appear  then  as  depressions,  because 
about  them  are  layers  of  ignited  vapors  as 
much  as  500  miles  in  height. — HELMHOLTZ 
Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  160.  (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1898.) 


3188. 


Solar  Rotation 


Revealed. — The  study  of  solar  physics  may 
be  said  to  have  commenced  with  the  dis- 
covery of  the  sun-spots,  about  267  years 
ago.  These  spots  were  presently  found  to 
traverse  the  solar  disk  in  such  a  way  as 
to  indicate  that  the  sun  turns  upon  an  axis 
once  in  about  twenty-six  days.  Nor  will  this 
rotation  appear  slow  when  we  remember 
that  it  implies  a  motion  of  the  equatorial 
parts  of  the  sun's  surface  at  a  rate  exceeding 
some  seventy  times  the  motion  of  our  swift- 
est express  trains. — PROCTOR  Other  Worlds 
than  Ours,  ch.  2,  p.  35.  ( Burt. ) 

3189.       SPREAD  OF  A  PEST  —  The 

Russian  Thistle. — About  twenty  years  ago 
a  colony  of  immigrants  brought  from  the 
plains  of  southern  Russia  to  the  prairie 
region  of  Dakota  a  small  quantity  of  flax- 
seed. 

The  flaxseed  was  sown  in  the  fertile  soil 
of  the  new  home.  It  sprouted  and  grew. 
Along  with  it  there  also  developed  a  slender, 
reddish  plant,  which  seemed  natural  enough 
to  the  immigrants,  for  it  had  been  common- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


644 


ly  present  in  the  crops  on  the  far-away 
prairies  from  whence  they  came.  .  .  . 

This  plant  first  appeared  in  a  locality 
which  was  wooded  and  hilly,  but  in  a  few 
seasons  it  reached  the  adjacent  plains,  where 
it  was  rolled  by  the  wind  for  miles  and 
miles,  each  year  afterward  invading  new 
territory.  Within  a  dozen  years  it  had 
spread  throughout  South  Dakota,  had  en- 
tered North  Dakota  on  the  south,  Iowa  on 
the  north,  and  Nebraska  on  the  east.  Dur- 
ing the  next  few  years  it  spread  with 
marvelous  rapidity,  invading  Minnesota, 
Wisconsin,  Colorado,  Illinois,  and  Ohio.  Its 
progress  was  aided  by  the  railroads  that 
carried  the  seed  to  many  distant  localities, 
which  quickly  became  new  centers  of 
distribution.  Presumably,  the  plant  [the 
Russian  thistle  or  Russian  cactus]  will  con- 
tinue to  spread  by  similar  methods,  and 
within  a  few  years  will  be  present  in  most 
of  the  United  States. 

In  the  plains  region  of  southeastern  Rus- 
sia this  plant  has  long  been  known  as  a 
noxious  pest.  On  its  account  "  the  cultiva- 
tion of  crops  has  been  abandoned  over  large 
areas  in  some  of  the  provinces  near  the 
Caspian  Sea."  In  our  own  West  it  has  al- 
ready caused  damage  amounting  in  a  single 
State  to  millions  of  dollars  a  year. — WEED 
Seed  Travellers,  ch.  1,  p.  21.  (G.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3190.  SPREAD    OF    UNMOLESTED 
SPECIES — Reindeer  Naturalized  in  Iceland — 
Rapid    Increase    from    Small    Beginning — 
Man  Aids  Nature  by  Destroying  Destroyers. 
— As  an  example  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
a   large  tract  may  become  peopled  by  the 
offspring  of  a  single  pair  of  quadrupeds,  it 
may  be  mentioned   that   in   the  year    1773 
thirteen  reindeer  were  exported  from  Nor- 
way, only  three  of  which  reached  Iceland. 
These  were  turned  loose  into  the  mountains 
of  GuldbringS  Syssel,  where  they  multiplied 
so  greatly,  in  the  course  of  forty  years,  that 
it  was  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  herds, 
consisting  of    from   forty   to    one   hundred, 
in   various   districts. 

The  reindeer,  observes  a  modern  writer, 
is  in  Lapland  a  loser  by  his  connection  with 
man,  but  Iceland  will  be  this  creature's 
paradise.  There  is,  in  the  interior,  a  tract 
which  Sir  G.  Mackenzie  computes  at  not 
less  than  forty  thousand  square  miles,  with- 
out a  single  human  habitation,  and  almost 
entirely  unknown  to  the  natives  themselves. 
There  are  no  wolves;  the  Icelanders  will 
keep  out  the  bears,  and  the  reindeer,  being 
almost  unmolested  by  man,  will  have  no 
«nemy  whatever,  unless  it  has  brought  with 
it  its  own  tormenting  gadfly. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  41,  p.  686. 
(A.,  1854.) 

3191.  SPRINGS    EXPLAINED     BY 
ARTESIAN  WELLS— Lakes  and  Streams  be- 
neath   the    Earth. — Much    light    has    been 
thrown,    of    late    years,    on    the    theory    of 
springs,   by  the  boring  of  what   are  called 


by  the  French  "  Artesian  wells,"  because 
the  method  has  long  been  known  and  prac- 
tised in  Artois;  and  it  is  now  demonstrated 
that  there  are  sheets  and  in  some  places 
currents  of  fresh  water  at  various  depths 
in  the  earth.  The  instrument  employed  in 
excavating  these  wells  is  a  large  auger,  and 
the  cavity  bored  is  usually  from  three  to 
four  inches  in  diameter.  If  a  hard  rock 
is  met  with  it  is  first  triturated  by  an  iron 
rod,  and  the  materials,  being  thus  reduced 
to  small  fragments  or  powder,  are  readily 
extracted.  To  hinder  the  sides  of  the  well 
from  falling  in,  as  also  to  prevent  the 
spreading  of  the  ascending  water  in  the 
surrounding  soil,  a  jointed  pipe  is  intro- 
duced, formed  of  wood  in  Artois,  but  in 
other  countries  more  commonly  of  metal. 
It  frequently  happens  that  after  passing 
through  hundreds  of  feet  of  retentive  soils 
a  water-bearing  stratum  is  at  length  pierced, 
when  the  fluid  immediately  ascends  to  the 
surface  and  flows  over.  The  first  rush  of  the 
water  up  the  tube  is  often  violent,  so  that 
for  a  time  the  water  plays  like  a  fountain, 
and  then,  sinking,  continues  to  flow  over 
tranquilly,  or  sometimes  remains  stationary 
at  a  certain  depth  below  the  orifice  of  the 
well.  This  spouting  of  the  water  in  the 
first  instance  is  probably  owing  to  the  dis- 
engagement of  air  and  carbonic  acid  gas,  for 
both  of  these  have  been  seen  to  bubble 
up  with  the  water. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  16,  p.  233.  (A.,  1854.) 

3192.  SPUN  GLASS    FROM    VOL- 
CANO—Pele's  Hair— Artistic  Birds'   Nests- 
Man  Imitates  Nature's  Product. — Sometimes 
the    passage    of    [volcanic]    steam    through 
a  mass  of  molten  glass  produces  large  quan- 
tities of  a  material  resembling  spun  glass. 
Small  particles    or   shots   of   the  glass   are 
carried  into  the  air  and  leave  behind  them 
thin,  glassy  filaments  like  a  tail.     At  the 
volcano   of   Kilauea,    in    Hawaii,    this    fila- 
mentous volcanic  glass  is   abundantly  pro- 
duced,  and   is   known   as   "  Pele's   Hair  " — 
Pele  being  the  name  of  the  goddess  of  the 
mountain.    Birds'  nests  are  sometimes  found 
composed    of   this    beautiful    material.      In 
recent  years    an    artificial    substance    simi- 
lar   to    this    Pele's    hair    has    been    exten- 
sively manufactured  bypassing  jets  of  steam 
through   the  molten  slag  of   iron-furnaces; 
it   resembles   cotton-wool,   but   is   made  up 
of  fine   threads   of   glass,   and   is  employed 
for  the  packing  of  boilers  and  other   pur- 
poses.— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  71.      (A., 
1899.) 

3193.  SQUIRRELS  PLANTING  NUTS 
— Animals  as   Seed  Distributers. — Even  be- 
fore  the    arrival    of    frosts    many   of   these 
[nuts]  are  dropped  by  the  aid  of  squirrels, 
gray  and  red,  which  cut  the  stems  with  their 
teeth.  The  leaves,  with  the  help  of  the  shift- 
ing winds,  gently  cover  the  fruit,  or  some 
portions  of  it,  and  make  the  best  kind  of  pro- 
tection from  dry  air  and  severe  cold;    and 
they  come  just  in  the  nick  of  time.     Dame 


645 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


»pread 
star 


Nature  is  generous.  She  produces  an  abun- 
dance; enough  to  seed  the  earth  and  enough 
to  feed  the  squirrels,  birds,  and  some  other 
animals.  The  squirrels  eat  many  nuts,  but 
I  have  seen  them  carry  a  portion  for  some 
distance  in  several  directions,  and  plant  one 
or  two  or  three  in  a  place,  covering  them 
well  with  soil.  It  may  be  the  thought  of 
the  squirrel — I  cannot  read  his  thoughts — 
to  return  at  some  future  time  of  need,  as  he 
often  does.  But  in  some  cases  he  forgets 
the  locality,  or  does  not  return  because  he 
has  stored  up  more  than  he  needs;  or  in 
some  cases  the  squirrels  leave  that  locality 
or  are  killed;  in  any  such  case  the  planted 
nuts  are  not  disturbed.  At  all  events,  some 
of  the  nuts — one  now  and  then  is  all  that 
is  needed — are  allowed  to  remain  where 
planted.  In  this  way  the  squirrel  is  a  bene- 
fit to  the  trees,  and  pays  for  the  nuts  he 
eats. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  7,  p.  61.  (G. 
&  Co.,  1898.) 

3194.  STABILITY  OF  NATURE  ES- 
SENTIAL   TO    PROSPERITY— Earthquake 
Shocks  Would  Ruin  England. — Earthquakes 
alone  are  sufficient  to  destroy  the  prosperity 
of   any    country.      If  beneath   England   the 
now  inert  subterranean  forces  should  exert 
those  powers  which  most  assuredly  in  for- 
mer geological  ages  they  have  exerted,  how 
completely  would  the  entire  condition  of  the 
country  be  changed !     What  would  become  of 
the  lofty  houses,  thickly  packed  cities,  great 
manufactories,  the  beautiful  public  and  pri- 
vate edifices?    If  the  new  period  of  disturb- 
ance were  first  to  commence  by  some  great 
earthquake  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  how 
terrific    would    be    the    carnage!      England 
would  at  once  be  bankrupt;  all  papers,  rec- 
ords, and  accounts  would  from  that  moment 
be  lost.     Government  being  unable  to  collect 
the  taxes,  and  failing  to  maintain  its  au- 
thority,   the   hand   of   violence    and   rapine 
would  remain  uncontrolled.     In  every  large 
town  famine  would  go  forth,  pestilence  and 
death  following  in  its  train. — DARWIN  Nat- 
uralist's Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  14, 
p.  305.     (A.,  1898.) 

3195.  STABILITY  OF  THE  ANCIENT 
MOUNTAINS—  The  Evanescent  Has  Already 
Disappeared.  —  Comparing   mountain   chain 
with  mountain  chain,  we  find,  as  might  have 
been   expected,   that  the   oldest   mountains, 
if  they  are  the  least  prominent,  are  at  the 
same  time  the  most  stable.     They  have  en- 
dured so  long  that  much  of  their  primeval 
elevation   has  been   lost;    the  weakly  built 
structures  have  been  demolished,   and  only 
the  stronger  now  remain.     Great  rock-falls 
and    landslips    are   therefore    seldom    heard 
of  among  such  mountains.    It  is  quite  other- 
wise with  the  younger  uplifts  of  the  globe. 
The  valleys  of  the  Alps,  the  Caucasus,  the 
Himalayas,  the  Cordilleras,  and  other  chains 
of  relatively  recent  age  are  cumbered  with 
chaotic  heaps  of  fallen  rock-masses.     From 
time   to   time   peaks    and  whole   mountain- 
sides   collapse    and   slide    into    the   valleys, 


and  this  rapid  degradation  will  continue 
until  every  weak  structure  has  been  re- 
moved.— GEIKIE  Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  5,  p. 
119.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

3196.  STAR,  NEW,  SUDDEN  AP- 
PEARANCE OF— The  Burning  of  a  Sun- 
Seen  by  Us  Years  after  Its  Occurrence. — The 
appearance  of  "  new  stars  "  is  not  so  very 
rare  a  phenomenon.  Every  one  at  all  in- 
terested in  such  matters  remembers  that  in 
1866  a  new  star  broke  out  in  the  Northern 
Crown  so  suddenly  that  it  was  shining  as 
bright  as  the  pole-star,  where  six  hours 
before  there  had  been  nothing  visible  to  the 
eye.  Now,  all  stars  are  not  as  large  as  our 
sun,  tho  some  are  much  larger;  but  there 
are  circumstances  which  make  it  improbable 
that  this  was  a  small  or  near  object,  and 
it  is  well  remembered  how  the  spectroscope 
showed  the  presence  of  abnormal  amounts 
of  incandescent  hydrogen,  the  material 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  widely  diffused 
in  the  universe  (and  which  is  plentiful,  too, 
in  our  own  bodies),  so  that  there  was  some 
countenance  to  the  popular  notion  that  this 
was  a  world  in  flames.  We  were,  at  any 
rate,  witnessing  a  catastrophe  which  no 
earthly  experience  can  give  us  a  notion  of, 
in  a  field  of  action  so  remote  that  the  flash 
of  light  which  brought  the  news  was  un- 
known years  on  the  way,  so  that  all  this 
— strange  but  now  familiar  thought — oc- 
curred long  before  we  saw  it  happen.  The 
star  faded  in  a  few  days  to  invisibility  to 
the  naked  eye,  tho  not  to  the  telescope; 
and,  in  fact,  all  these  phenomena  at  present 
appear  rather  to  be  enormous  and  sudden 
enlargements  of  the  light  of  existing  bodies 
than  the  creation  of  absolutely  new  ones; 
while  of  these  "  new  stars "  the  examples 
may  almost  be  said  to  be  now  growing  nu- 
merous, two  having  appeared  in  the  last 
two  years. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch. 
8,  p.  230.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3197. Wagoners  Point 

Out  Phenomenon  to  Astronomers — Wonder 
as  in  Ancient  Days  (Matt,  ii,  2). — The  ap- 
pearance of  hitherto  unseen  stars  in  the 
vault  of  heaven,  especially  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  strongly  scintillating  stars  of 
the  first  magnitude,  is  an  occurrence  in  the 
realms  of  space  which  has  ever  excited  as- 
tonishment. This  astonishment  is  the  great- 
er, in  proportion  as  such  an  event  as  the 
sudden  manifestation  of  what  was  before 
invisible,  but  which  nevertheless  is  supposed 
to  have  previously  existed,  is  one  of  the  very 
rarest  phenomena  in  Nature.  ...  It 
seems  not  inappropriate  to  quote  the  nar- 
rative of  an  eye-witness,  and,  by  dwelling 
on  a  particular  instance,  to  depict  the  vivid- 
ness of  the  impression  produced  by  the  sight 
of  a  new  star.  "  On  my  return  to  the  Da- 
nish islands  from  my  travels  in  Germany," 
says  Tycho  Brahe,  "  I  resided  for  some  time 
with  my  uncle,  Steno  Bille  (ut  aulicce  vitce 
fastidium  lenirem),  in  the  old  and  pleasantly 
situated  monastery  of  Herritzwadt,  and  here 


»tar 
stars 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


646 


I  made  it  a  practise  not  to  leave  my  chem- 
ical laboratory  until  the  evening.  Raising 
my  eyes,  as  usual,  during  one  of  my  walks, 
to  the  well-known  vault  of  heaven,  I  ob- 
served, with  indescribable  astonishment, 
near  the  zenith,  in  Cassiopeia,  a  radiant 
fixed  star,  of  a  magnitude  never  before  seen. 
In  my  amazement,  I  doubted  the  evidence 
of  my  senses.  However,  to  convince  myself 
that  it  was  no  illusion,  and  to  have  the 
testimony  of  others,  I  summoned  my  assist- 
ants from  the  laboratory  and  inquired  of 
them,  and  of  all  the  country  people  that 
passed  by,  if  they  also  observed  the  star 
that  had  thus  suddenly  burst  forth.  I  sub- 
sequently heard  that  in  Germany  wagoners 
and  other  common  people  first  called  the 
attention  of  astronomers  to  this  great  phe- 
nomenon in  the  heavens — a  circumstance 
which,  as  in  the  case  of  non-predicted  com- 
ets, furnished  fresh  occasion  for  the  usual 
raillery  at  the  expense  of  the  learned." — 
HUMHOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,p.  151.  (H.,  1897.) 

3198.  STAR-CLUSTERS— Island  Uni- 
verses— Plurality  of  Worlds. — The  contem- 
plation of  the  heavens  affords  no  spectacle 
so  grand  and  so  eloquent  as  that  of  a  clus- 
ter of  stars.  Most  of  them  lie  at  such  a 
distance  that  the  most  powerful  telescopes 
still  show  them  to  us  like  star-dust.  "  Their 
distance  from  us  is  such  that  they  are  be- 
yond, not  only  all  our  means  of  measure- 
ment," says  Newcomb,  "  but  beyond  all  our 
powers  of  estimation.  Minute  as  they  ap- 
pear, there  is  nothing  that  we  know  of  to 
prevent  our  supposing  each  of  them  to  be 
the  center  of  a  group  of  planets  as  exten- 
sive as  our  own,  and  each  planet  to  be  as 
full  of  inhabitants  as  this  one.  We  may 
thus  think  of  them  as  little  colonies  on  the 
outskirts  of  creation  itself,  and  as  we  see 
all  the  suns  which  give  them  light  condensed 
into  one  little  speck,  we  might  be  led  to 
think  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  various  sys- 
tems as  holding  intercourse  with  each  other. 
Yet,  were  we  transported  to  one  of  these 
distant  clusters,  and  stationed  on  a  planet 
circling  one  of  the  suns  which  compose  it, 
instead  of  finding  the  neighboring  suns  in 
close  proximity,  we  should  see  a  firmament 
of  stars  around  us,  such  as  we  see  from  the 
earth.  Probably  it  would  be  a  brighter 
firmament,  in  which  so  many  stars  would 
glow  with  more  than  the  splendor  of  Sirius 
as  to  make  the  night  far  brighter  than 
ours ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring 
worlds  would  as  completely  elude  telescopic 
vision  as  the  inhabitants  of  Mars  do  here. 
Consequently,  to  the  inhabitants  of  every 
planet  in  the  cluster,  the  question  of  the 
plurality  of  worlds  might  be  as  insolvable 
as  it  is  to  us." — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  vi,  ch.  10,  p.  660.  (A.) 

3199. Minuteness  of  the 

Earth — The  Vision  of  the  Universe. — There 
is  still  another  very  interesting  tract  of 
speculation,  which  has  been  opened  up  to 
us  by  the  more  recent  observations  of  as- 


tronomy. What  we  allude  to  is  the  dis- 
covery of  the  nebulae.  W^e  allow  that  it 
is  but  a  dim  and  indistinct  light  which 
this  discovery  has  thrown  upon  the  struc- 
ture of  the  universe;  but  still  it  has 
spread  before  the  eye  of  the  mind  a  field  of 
very  wide  and  lofty  contemplation.  Anteri- 
or to  this  discovery,  the  universe  might  ap- 
pear to  have  been  composed  of  an  indefinite 
number  of  suns,  about  equidistant  from 
each  other,  uniformly  scattered  over  space, 
and  each  encompassed  by  such  a  planetary 
attendance  as  takes  place  in  our  own  sys- 
tem. But  we  have  now  reason  to  think  that 
instead  of  lying  uniformly,  and  in  a  state 
of  equidistance  from  each  other,  they  are 
arranged  into  distinct  clusters;  that,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  distance  of  the  nearest 
fixed  stars — so  inconceivably  superior  to  that 
of  our  planets  from  each  other — marks  the 
separation  of  the  solar  systems,  so  the 
distance  of  two  contiguous  clusters  may  be 
so  inconceivably  superior  to  the  reciprocal 
distance  of  those  fixed  stars  which  belong 
to  the  same  cluster  as  to  mark  an  equally 
distinct  separation  of  the  clusters,  and  to 
constitute  each  of  them  an  individual  mem- 
ber of  some  higher  and  more  extended  ar- 
rangement. This  carries  us  upwards  through 
another  ascending  step  in  the  scale  of  mag- 
nificence, and  there  leaves  us  in  the  uncer- 
tainty whether  even  here  the  wonderful 
progression  is  ended;  and,  at  all  events, 
fixes  the  assured  conclusion  in  our  minds 
that,  to  an  eye  which  could  spread  itself 
over  the  whole,  the  mansion  which  accom- 
modates our  species  might  be  so  very  small 
as  to  lie  wrapped  in  microscopical  conceal- 
ment; and  in  reference  to  the  only  Being 
who  possesses  this  universal  eye,  well  might 
we  say,  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mind- 
ful of  him;  or  the  son  of  man,  that  thou 
shouldst  deign  to  visit  him?" — CHALMERS 
Astronomical  Discourses,  p.  35.  (R.  Ct., 
1848.) 

32OO.  STAR-COLORS  DUE  TO  STEL- 
LAR ATMOSPHERES  —  Celestial  Signal- 
lamps. — Hence  we  learn  that  the  two  stars 
[composing  the  double  star  Albireo  or  p  Cyg- 
ni]  owe  their  color  to  the  nature  of  their 
vaporous  envelopes.  Each  star  glows  in  re- 
ality with  a  white  light ;  but  the  white  light 
has  in  one  case  to  pass  through  vapors  of  a 
somewhat  ruddy  hue  (because  absorbing  blue 
light),  and  therefore  this  star  looks  ruddy, 
while  the  light  of  the  other  star  shines 
through  bluish  vapors,  and  therefore  this 
star  looks  blue.  We  do  not  yet  know  how 
it  chances  that  the  vaporous  envelopes  of 
these  stars,  and  of  other  pairs  of  stars,  differ 
in  this  way.  Perhaps  we  shall  never  know. 
It  is,  however,  an  important  gain  to  our 
knowledge  to  have  ascertained  that  the  col- 
ors of  the  double  stars  are  not  inherent,  but 
that  these  stars  are,  as  it  were,  celestial 
signal-lamps,  shining  through  colored  mat- 
ter.— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  225. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


647 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Star 
Stars 


3201.  STAR-COLORS    REAL  —  Spec- 
trum Analysis  of  Double  Stars. — Spectrum 
analysis    applied   to    the    double   stars   has 
proved  that  the  beautiful  colors  presented 
by  these  pairs   are  not  due  to  the  simple 
effect  of  contrast,  but  are  real.     The  two 
suns  which   compose  the  double   star    ft    of 
Cygnus,  one   colored  yellow   and  the   other 
blue,  show  two  spectra  absolutely  different. 
A  similar  observation,  made  on  the  two  com- 
ponents of  a  Herculis,  of  which  one  is  orange- 
colored  and  the  other  bluish  green,  has  also 
shown  spectra  totally  different.     In  each  of 
these  two  cases  the  special  color  of  each  star 
agrees  with  the  way  in  which  the  light  is 
distributed   in  the   different  regions   of   its 
spectrum. — FLAMMARION    Popular   Astrono- 
my, bk.  vi,  ch.  6,  p.  612.      (A.) 

3202.  STAR-DRIFTING— Sets  of  Stars 
that    Travel   as    Systems    through    Space — 
Ursa    Major  —  Proctor's    Prediction    Veri- 
fied.— I  have  said  that  my  object  was  to 
determine  whether  any  set  of  stars  show  a 
tendency  to  drift  together.    ...    I  predict- 
ed that  whenever  Dr.  Huggins  should  apply 
to  them  [five  specified  stars  of  Ursa  Major] 
the  new  spectroscopic  method  he  would  find 
that  they  were  either  all  approaching  or  all 
receding,  and  at  a  common  rate. 

This  prediction  was  exactly  confirmed  by 
the  event  two  years  later.  It  happened  that 
Dr.  Huggins  had  forgotten  which  of  the 
seven  stars  form  the  drifting  set  of  five. 
He  proceeded,  however,  with  his  observa- 
tions. He  found  both  the  remaining  wheel- 
stars  receding  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty 
miles  per  second.  The  star  representing 
the  first  horse  was  found  to  be  receding 
at  the  same  rate,  and  lastly  the  star  repre- 
senting the  second  horse.  Here,  then,  were 
five  stars  receding  at  the  rate  of  about 
twenty  miles  per  second;  but  Dr.  Huggins 
supposed  at  the  moment  that  these  were 
not  the  five  stars  respecting  which  I  had 
made  my  little  prediction.  On  turning,  how- 
ever, to  my  "  Other  Worlds  "  ( published 
two  years  before  his  observations  were 
made),  he  found  that  it  was  the  set  of  five 
stars  which  he  had  found  to  be  thus  re- 
ceding at  a  common  rate  which  I  had  de- 
scribed as,  in  my  belief,  forming  a  drifting 
set.  I  think  the  inference  is  fair  that  my 
general  theory  respecting  local  star-drifts  is 
correct,  and  that  among  those  stars  which 
form  our  familiar  systems  there  are  groups 
traveling  as  systems  through  space. — PROC- 
TOR Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  294.  (L.  G.  & 
Co.,  1897.) 

3203.  STARS   AND  NEBULJE— Neb- 
ulous Masses  Intermixed  icith  Stars. — Some 
important  points  in  cosmical  economy  have, 
indeed,  become  quite  clear  within  the  last 
thirty  years,   and   scarcely   any   longer   ad- 
mit of  a  difference  of  opinion.    One  of  these 
is  that  of  the  true  status  of  nebulae.     This 
was  virtually  settled  by   Sir  J.   HerschePs 
description  in  1847  of  the  structure  of  the 
Magellanic    clouds;    but    it    was    not    until 


Whewell  in  1853,  and  Herbert  Spencer  in 
1858,  enforced  the  conclusions  necessarily 
to  be  derived  therefrom,  that  the  conception 
of  the  nebulae  as  remote  galaxies,  which 
Lord  Rosse's  resolution  of  many  into  stellar 
points  had  appeared  to  support,  began  to 
withdraw  into  the  region  of  discarded  and 
half-forgotten  speculations.  In  the  nubecu- 
lae  as  Whewell  insisted  •"  there  coexists  in 
a  limited  compass  and  in  indiscriminate  po- 
sition stars,  clusters  of  stars,  nebulae  regular 
and  irregular,  and  nebulous  streaks  and 
patches.  These,  then,  are  different  kinds  of 
things  in  themselves,  not  merely  different 
to  us.  There  are  such  things  as  nebulae  side 
by  side  with  stars  and  with  clusters  of  stars. 
Nebulous  matter  resolvable  occurs  close  to 
nebulous  matter  irresolvable." — CLERKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  12,  p.  505. 
(BL,  1893.) 

3204.  STARS,  A  SEED-PLOT  OF— 

Our  Sun  a  Star  of  the  Milky  Way. — This 
seed-plot  of  stars  [the  Milky  \Vay]  is 
formed  of  objects  individually  invisible  to 
the  naked  eye  below  the  sixth  magnitude, 
but  so  crowded  that  they  appear  to  touch 
each  other  and  form  a  nebulous  gleam  which 
all  human  eyes  directed  to  the  sky  for 
thousands  of  years  have  contemplated  and 
admired.  Since  it  is  developed  like  a  girdle 
round  the  whole  circuit  of  the  sky,  we  our- 
selves must  be  in  the  Milky  Way.  The  first 
fact  which  impresses  our  minds  is  that  our 
sun  is  a  star  of  the  Milky  Way. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  10, 
p.  654.  (A.) 

3205.  STARS,  COUNTING  OF— Seven 
Thousand  Visible  to  Naked  Eye. — According 
to  this  estimation,  the  number  of  stars  of 
the  first  six  magnitudes,  or,  in  other  words, 
the  total  number  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
is  about  7,000.    Excellent  sight  distinguishes 
8,000,  average  sight  about  5,700.    Generally, 
we  think  we  see  many  more;  we  believe  we 
can  count  them  by   myriads,   by  millions; 
in  this,  as  in  other  things,  we  are  always 
led  into  exaggeration.     As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  the  number  of  stars  visible  to  the 
naked  eye  in  both  hemispheres  all  over  the 
earth    does    not    exceed    the    above    figures. 
The  stars  visible  to  the  naked  eye  for  or- 
dinary sight  are  in  reality  so  few  in  num- 
ber that  we  might  easily  show  them  in  an 
illustration  of  the  size  of  these  pages,  and 
count  them:    the   southern  hemisphere  has 
3,307,  and  the  northern  2,478;  total,  5,785, 
without  counting,   of  course,  the   star-dust 
of  the  Milky  Wray.     Thus  we  see  with  the 
naked  eye  fewer  stars  in  the  sky  than  there 
are  inhabitants  in  a  small  town.    It  is,  then, 
not  so  difficult  to  make  their  acquaintance 
as  might  be  imagined.     It  is  but  an  hour's 
amusement. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astron- 
omy, bk.  vi,  ch.  4,  p.  586.     (A.) 

3206.  STARS,  DOUBLE,  EFFECT  OF 

— Quadruple  Alternation  of  Day  and  Night — 
Our  Experience  Not  the  Limit. — Every  one 


Stars 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


of  the  worlds,  in  systems  belonging  to  a 
double  star,  has  a  quadruple  alternation, 
in  place  of  that  double  alternation  which  we 
call  day  and  night.  There  is,  first,  "  double 
day,"  when  both  suns  are  above  the  horizon ; 
next,  single  day  with  one  sun;  then  single 
day  with  the  other  sun;  and,  lastly,  true 
night,  when  both  suns  are  below  the  horizon. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  228.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3207.  STARS  INNUMERABLE    UN- 
DER THE  TELESCOPE— Millions  of  Stars 
in  the  Milky  Way. — Let  us  point  a  telescope 
towards   any   point  of   this   vaporous   arch 
[the  Milky  Way] :  suddenly  hundreds,  thou- 
sands of  stars  show  themselves  in  the  tele- 
scopic field  like  needle-points  on  the  celestial 
vault.     Let  us  wait  for  some  moments,  that 
our  eye  may  become  accustomed  to  the  dark- 
ness of  the  background,  and  the  little  sparks 
shine  out  by  thousands.     Let  us  leave  the 
instrument  pointed  motionless  towards  the 
same  region,  and  there  slowly  passes  before 
our  dazzled  vision  the  distant  army  of  stars. 
In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  see  them  appear 
by  thousands  and  thousands.    William  Her- 
schel  counted  331,000  in  a  width  of  5°  in  the 
constellation  Cygnus,  so  nebulous  to  the  na- 
ked eye.     If  we  could  see  the  whole  of  the 
Milky   Way  pass  before   us  we  should   see 
18  millions  of  stars. — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  10,  p.  653.     (A.) 

3208.  STARS   LOST   FROM   THE 
HEAVENS  —Extinguished  Suns.— There  are 
also  cases  where  stars  which  had  long  been 
known  to  astronomers  have  disappeared  al- 
together   from    view,    so    that    their    place 
knows  them  no  more.     It  is  possible  that 
they  may  still  give  out  some  degree  of  light 
and  heat,  but  the  most  powerful  telescope 
fails  to  afford  any  sign  of  their  existence, 
so  that  so  far  as  our  astronomers  are  con- 
cerned, these  stars  must  be  regarded  as  ex- 
tinguished suns.     It  is  at  least  certain  that 
they  have  lost  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
light  and  heat  they  once  possessed  that  the 
change  must  seriously  have  affected  the  con- 
dition of  beings  living  in  the  planets  which 
doubtless  circle  around  these  once  brilliant 
orbs. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  197. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3209.  STARS   NEWLY   SEEN  SUP- 
POSED   NEWLY    CREATED  —  Wandering 
Nations  Surprised  ~by  a  New  Heaven. — In  a 
fine   episode  to   the   Ramayana,    the    oldest 
heroic  poem  of  Indian  antiquity,  the  stars 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  south  pole  are  declared 
for   a   singular   reason  to   have  been   more 
recently  created  than  the  northern.     When 
Brahminical  Indians  were  emigrating  from 
the  northwest  to  the  countries  around  the 
Ganges,  from  the  30th  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude to  the  lands  of  the  tropics,  where  they 
subjected  the  original  inhabitants  to  their 
dominion,   they   saw   unknown   stars   rising 
above    the    horizon    as    they    advanced    to- 


ward Ceylon.  In  accordance  with  ancient 
practise,  they  combined  these  stars  into  new 
constellations.  A  bold  fiction  represented 
the  later-seen  stars  as  having  been  subse- 
quently created  by  the  miraculous  power 
of  Visvamitra,  who  threatened  the  ancient 
gods  that  he  would  overcome  the  north- 
ern hemisphere  with  his  more  richly  starred 
southern  hemisphere"  (A.  W.  von  Schle- 
gel,  in  the  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  Kunde  des 
Morgenlandes,  bd.  i,  s.  240).  While  this 
Indian  myth  figuratively  depicts  the  as- 
tonishment excited  in  wandering  nations 
by  the  aspect  of  a  new  heaven  (as  the 
celebrated  Spanish  poet,  Garcilaso  de  la 
Vega,  says  of  travelers,  "  they  change  at 
once  their  country  and  stars,"  mudan  de 
pays  y  de  estrellas),  we  are  powerfully  re- 
minded of  the  impression  that  must  have 
been  excited,  even  in  the  rudest  nations, 
when,  at  a  certain  part  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, they  observed  large,  hitherto  unseen 
stars  appear  in  the  horizon,  as  those  in  the 
feet  of  the  Centaur,  in  the  Southern  Cross, 
in  Eridanus  or  in  Argo,  while  those  with 
which  they  had  been  long  familiar  at  home 
wholly  disappeared.  —  HUMBOLDT  Cosmos, 
vol.  iii,  p.  137.  (H.,  1897.) 

32 1O.     STARS  OBSERVED  BY  DAY 

— Companion  Stars  Discovered. — The  idea 
of  observing  the  stars  by  daylight  with  a 
telescope  first  occurred  to  Morin,  who,  with 
Gascoigne  (about  1638,  before  Picard  and 
Auzout),  combined  instruments  of  measure- 
ment with  the  telescope.  Morin  himself 
says :  "  It  was  not  Tycho's  great  observa- 
tions in  reference  to  the  position  of  the  fixed 
stars,  when,  in  1582,  twenty-eight  years  be- 
fore the  invention  of  the  telescope,  he  was 
led  to  compare  Venus  by  day  with  the  sun, 
and  by  night  with  the  stars,"  but  "  the  sim- 
ple idea  that  Arcturus  and  other  fixed  stars 
might,  like  Venus,  when  once  they  had  been 
fixed  in  the  field  of  the  telescope  before  sun- 
rise, be  followed  through  the  heavens  after 
the  sun  had  risen,  that  led  him  to  a  dis- 
covery which  might  prove  of  importance  for 
the  determination  of  longitude  at  sea."  No 
one  was  able  before  him  to  distinguish  the 
fixed  stars  in  the  presence  of  the  sun.  Since 
the  employment,  by  Homer,  of  great  merid- 
ian telescopes  in  1691,  observations  of  the 
stars  by  day  have  been  frequent  and  fruit- 
ful in  results,  having  been,  in  some  cases, 
advantageously  applied  to  the  measurement 
of  the  double  stars.  Struve  states  that  he 
has  determined  the  smallest  distances  of  ex- 
tremely faint  stars  in  the  Dorpat  refractor, 
with  a  power  of  only  320,  in  so  bright  a 
crepuscular  light  that  he  could  read  with 
ease  at  midnight.  The  polar  star  has  a 
companion  of  the  ninth  magnitude,  which 
is  situated  at  only  18"  distance;  it  was  seen 
by  day  in  the  Dorpat  refracting  telescope 
by  Struve  and  Wrangel,  and  was  in  like 
manner  observed  on  one  occasion  by  Encke 
and  Argelander. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol. 
iii,  p.  66.  (H.,  1897.) 


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Stars 


3211.  STARS  OF  A  NEW  HEMI- 
SPHERE— Sir  John  Herschel  Opens  the  Study 
of  the  Southern  Skies. — "  Strongly  invited," 
as   he    [Sir   John   Herschel]    tells   us   him- 
self, "  by  the  peculiar  interest  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  wonderful  nature  of  the  objects 
which  presented  themselves,"  he  resolved  to 
attempt  the  completion  of  the  survey  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.     With  this  noble  ob- 
ject in  view,  he  embarked  his  family  and  in- 
struments on  board  the  "  Mount  Stewart  El- 
phinstone,"  and,  after  a  prosperous  voyage, 
landed  at  Cape  Town  on  the  16th  of  Janu- 
ary,   1834.      Choosing   as   the   scene   of   his 
observations  a  rural  spot  under  the  shelter 
of  Table  Mountain,  he  began  regular  "  sweep- 
ing" on  the  5th  of  March.     The  site  of  his 
great  reflector  is  now  marked  with  an  obel- 
isk, and  the  name  of  Feldhausen  has  become 
memorable  in  the  history  of  science,  for  the 
four  years'  work  done  there  may  truly  be 
said  to  open  the  chapter  of  our  knowledge 
as  regards  the  southern  skies. — CLEBKE  His- 
tory of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  56.     (Bl., 
1893.) 

3212.  STARS  OF  MANY  COLORS— 
"  Star  Differeth  from  Star  in  Glory  "  (1  Cor. 
xv,  Jfl) — A  Suggestion  of  the  Foundations 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  (Rev.  xxi,  19-21). — 
In  the  heavens  there  are  stars  of  many  col- 
ors;   for    one    star    differeth    from    another 
in  glory.     But  the  colors  we  see  with  the 
unaided  eye  are  far  less  beautiful  and  less 
striking  than  those  which  are  brought  into 
view  by  the  telescope.     And  among  the  col- 
ored stars   seen  by  the  telescope  there  are 
none  more  beautiful  than  the  colored  pairs 
of  stars.     Amongst  these  we  find  the  most 
strongly   marked   contrasts — such    combina- 
tions  as   green   and   red,   orange   and  blue, 
yellow   and   purple;    then    again   we  some- 
times see  both  the  companions  of  the  same 
color;   and  yet  again  we  find  combinations 
where  the  contrast,  tho  not  so  striking  as 
in  the  pairs  first  mentioned,  is  nevertheless 
exceedingly    beautiful,    as    when    we    have 
gold  and  lilac,  or  white  and  blue,  or  white 
and  green  stars;  and  lastly,  we  find  among 
the  smaller  companions  of  double  stars  such 
hues     as     gray,     fawn,     ash-colored,     puce, 
mauve,  russet,  and  olive. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  220.     (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3213.  STARS  OF  THE  ABYSS— Phos- 
phorescence of  Echinoderms  from  Deep  Sea 
— Starfish  Coruscating  with  Green  Light. — 
Among  the  echinoderms  we  have  not  many 
recorded  instances  of  a  phosphorescent  light 
being  emitted,  but  it  is  quite  possible  that 
many,  if  not  all  of  them,  may  possess  this 
power.   The  curious  deep-sea  form,  Brisinga, 
that  was  first  discovered  by  Ch.  Asbjornsen, 
is   known  to  be  so  brilliantly  phosphores- 
cent  that    it   has    been    called    a    veritable 
gloria   maris,   and   writing   of   the    curious 
brittle-star  Ophiacantha  spinulosa  (dredged 
by  the  "  Porcupine  "  in  584  fathoms  of  wa- 
ter),  Professor   Wyville   Thomson   remarks 
that  the  light  was  of  a  "  brilliant  green,  cor- 


uscating from  the  center  of  the  disk,  now 
along  one  arm,  now  along  another,  and  some- 
times vividly  illuminating  the  whole  outline 
of  the  starfish." — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  81.  (A.,  1894.) 

3214.  STARS  OF  THE  MILKY  WAY 

— Each  Star  a  Sun — Myriad  Centers  of 
Light,  Motion,  and  Power. — The  least  of  the 
stars  seen  in  the  galactic^  depths— even  tho 
the  telescope  which  reveals  it  be  the  might- 
iest yet  made  by  man,  so  that  with  all  other 
telescopes  that  star  would  be  unseen — is  a 
sun  like  our  own.  It  is  a  mighty  mass, 
capable  of  swaying  by  its  attraction  the 
motions  of  worlds,  like  our  earth  and  her 
fellow  planets,  circling  in  their  stately 
courses  around  it.  It  is  an  orb  instinct 
with  life  (if  one  may  so  speak),  aglow  with 
fiery  energy,  pouring  out  each  moment  sup- 
plies of  life  and  power  to  the  worlds  which 
circle  around  it.  It  is  a  mighty  engine, 
working  out  the  purpose  of  its  great  Cre- 
ator; it  is  a  giant  heart,  whose  pulsations 
are  the  source  whence  a  myriad  forms  of 
life  derive  support;  and  until  the  fuel  which 
maintains  its  fires  shall  be  consumed,  that 
mighty  engine  will  fulfil  its  work;  until  its 
life-blood  shall  be  exhausted,  that  giant 
heart  will  throb  unceasingly. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  p.  300.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

3215.  STARS   PRESENT   NEW   AS- 
PECT TO  MODERN  WORLD—  Change  Due 
to  Precession  of  the  Equinoxes. — In  conse- 
quence  of  the  precession  of  the   equinoxes 
the  starry  heavens  are  continually  changing 
their    aspect    from    every    portion    of    the 
earth's  surface.    The  early  races  of  mankind 
beheld  in  the   far  north  the  glorious   con- 
stellation  of  our  southern  hemisphere  rise 
before  them,  which,  after  remaining  long  in- 
visible, will  again  appear  in  those  latitudes 
ofter  the  lapse  of  thousands  of  years.     Ca- 
nopus  was  fully  1°  20'  below  the  horizon  at 
Toledo  (39°  54'  north  latitude)  in  the  time 
of  Columbus,  and  now  the  same  star  is  al- 
most ass  much  above  the  horizon  at  Cadiz. 
While  at  Berlin  and  in  the  northern  lati- 
tudes the  stars  of  the  Southern  Cross,  as 
well  as  a  and  ft   Centauri,  are  receding  more 
and  more  from  view,  the  Magellanic  clouds 
are  slowly  approaching  our  latitudes.     Ca- 
nopus  was  at  its  greatest  northern  approxi- 
mation during  the  last  century,  and  is  now 
moving  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  south,  al- 
tho  very  slowly,  owing  to  its  vicinity  to  the 
south  pole  of  the  ecliptic. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  290.     (H.,  1897.). 

3216.  STARS,  SPLENDOR  OF,  BUT 
PARTIALLY  KNOWN  TO  MAN—  Owr  At- 
mosphere a  Veil — Radiance  in  the  Tropics — 
The  Dimness  of  Distance. — The  splendor  of 
these  natural   illuminations  can  hardly  be 
conceived   by    our    terrestrial    imagination. 
The  tints  which  we  admire  in  these  stars 
from  here  can  give  but  a  distant  idea  of  the 
real  value  of  their  colors.    Already,  in  pass- 


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Steam-jets 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


650 


ing  from  our  foggy  latitudes  to  the  limpid 
regions  of  the  tropics,  the  colors  of  the  stars 
are  accentuated,  and  the  sky  becomes  a 
veritable  casket  of  precious  stones.  What 
would  it  be  if  we  could  transport  ourselves 
beyond  the  limits  of  our  atmosphere?  Seen 
from  the  moon  these  colors  would  be  splen- 
did. Antares,  a  Herculis,  Pollux,  Aldeba- 
ran,  Betelgeuse,  Mars,  shine  like  rubies;  the 
polar  star,  Capella,  Castor,  Arcturus,  Pro- 
cyon,  are  veritable  celestial  topazes;  while 
Sirius,  Vega,  and  Altair  are  diamonds  eclips- 
ing all  by  their  dazzling  whiteness.  How 
would  it  be  if  we  could  approach  the  stars 
so  as  to  perceive  their  luminous  disks,  in- 
stead of  merely  seeing  brilliant  points  desti- 
tute of  all  diameter  ? — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  8,  p.  637.  (A.) 

3217.  STARS  TEACH  MAN'S  WEAK- 
NESS AND  MAJESTY—  "What  Is  Man  that 
Thou  Art  Mindful  of  Him?  Thou  Hast  Made 
Him  a  Little  Lower  than  the  Angels  "  (Ps. 
viii,  4,  5). — If  the  starry  heavens,  by  incal- 
culable numbers,  magnitude,  space,  duration, 
and  length  of  periods,  impress  man  with  the 
conviction    of    his    own    insignificance,    his 
physical   weakness,   and  the  ephemeral  na- 
ture of  his  existence,  he   is,  on  the   other 
hand,  cheered  and  invigorated  by  the  con- 
sciousness  of  having  been  enabled,  by   the 
application  and  development  of  intellect,  to 
investigate  very  many  important  points  in 
reference  to  the  laws  of  Nature  and  the 
sidereal    arrangement    of    the    universe. — 
HUMBOLDT    Cosmos,   vol.    iii,   p.    30.      (H., 
1897.) 

3218.  STARS  THAT  NEVER  SET— 

Circle  of  Perpetual  Apparition. — Now,  to 
see  the  effect  of  the  diurnal  motion  near 
the  pole,  let  us  watch  any  star  in  the  north 
between  the  pole  and  the  horizon.  We 
shall  soon  see  that,  instead  of  moving  from 
east  to  west,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  see 
the  heavenly  bodies  move,  it  really  moves 
towards  the  east.  After  passing  the  north 
point  it  begins  to  curve  its  course  upwards, 
until,  in  the  northeast,  its  motion  is  verti- 
cal. Then  it  turns  gradually  to  the  west, 
passing  as  far  above  the  pole  as  it  did 
below  it,  and,  sinking  down  on  the  west  of 
the  pole,  it  again  passes  under  it.  The 
passage  above  the  pole  is  called  the  upper 
culmination,  and  that  below  it  the  lower 
one.  .  .  .  We  cannot  with  the  naked  eye 
follow  it  all  the  way  round,  on  account  of 
the  intervention  of  daylight,  but  by  con- 
tinuing our  watch  every  clear  night  for  a 
year  we  should  see  it  in  every  point  of 
its  course.  A  star  following  the  course  we 
have  described  never  sets,  but  may  be  seen 
every  clear  night.  If  we  imagine  a  circle 
drawn  round  the  pole  at  such  a  distance 
as  just  to  touch  the  horizon,  all  the  stars 
situated  within  this  circle  will  move  in 
this  way;  this  is  therefore  called  the  circle 
of  perpetual  apparition. — NEWCOMB  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  ch.  1,  p.  11.  (H.,  1899.) 


3219.  STARS  THAT  SET  SPEEDILY 
TO  RISE  AGAIN— Newly  Risen  Comet  Sup- 
posed To  Be  Another. — As  we  go  away  from 
the  pole  we  shall  find  the  stars  moving  in 
larger  circles,   passing  higher   up   over  the 
pole,    and   lower    down   below   it,   until   we 
reach    the    circle    of    perpetual    apparition, 
when  they  will  just  graze  the  horizon.     Out- 
side this  circle  every  star  must  dip  below 
the  horizon  for  a  greater  or  less  time,  de- 
pending on   its   distance.     If  it  be  only  a 
few  degrees  outside  it  will  set  in  the  north- 
west, or  between  north  and  northwest;  and 
after  a  few  hours  only  it  will  be  seen  to  rise 
again  between  north  and  northeast,  having 
done    little    more   than    graze    the   horizon. 
The  possibility  of  a  body  rising  so  soon  after 
having  set  does  not  always  occur  to  those 
who   live   in  moderate  latitudes.     In  July, 
1874,  Coggia's  comet  set  in  the  northwest 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  rose 
again  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning; 
and  some  intelligent  people  who  then  saw 
it  east   of  the  pole  supposed  it  could  not 
be  the  same  one  that  had  set  the  evening 
before. — NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy,  ch. 
1,  p.  11.     (H.,  1899.) 

3220.  STARS,   TWINKLING    OF, 
CAUSED  BY  OUR  ATMOSPHERE— Higher 
Mountains  Give  Purer  Sky. — Were  the  par- 
ticles   which    produce    the    purer    celestial 
vault    all    swept    away,    we    should,    unless 
helped   by    what   has   been   called   "  cosmic 
dust,"  look  into  the  blackness   of  celestial 
space.      And    were    the    whole    atmosphere 
abolished  along  with  its  suspended  matter 
we   should  have  the  "  blackness "  spangled 
with  steady  stars;  for  the  twinkling  of  the 
stars  is  caused  by  our  atmosphere.     Now, 
the  higher  we  ascend,  the  more  do  we  leave 
behind  us  the  particles   which   scatter  the 
light;   the  nearer,  in  fact,  do  we  approach 
to    that   vision    of   celestial    space      .     .     . 
Viewed,  therefore,  from  the  loftiest  Alpine 
summits,    the    firmamental    blue    is    darker 
than    it   is   ever   observed   to   be   from   the 
plains. — TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
i,  ch.  5,  p.  139.      (A.,  1897.) 

3221.     Partly  Inherent, 

Partly  Atmospheric — The  White  Stars  Scin- 
tillate  Most,    the    Orange   or   Red   Least — 
"  Star  Differeth  from  Star  in  Glory  "  (1  Cor. 
xv,  41}- — Who  has  not  been  struck  with  the 
scintillation  of  the  stars?     While  the  plan- 
ets, even  the  brightest,  radiate  a  calm  and 
motionless   light,  the  stars,  even  the  least 
brilliant,     appear    more    or    less    agitated 
by    a    wavering    and    variable    light.      This 
light,    which    glimmers    sometimes    vividly, 
sometimes    feebly,    in    intermittent    gleams, 
sometimes    white,    green,    or    red,    like    the 
flashing   fires   of   a  limpid   diamond,    seems 
to  animate   the   interstellar    solitudes,    and 
makes  us  think  of  eyes  opened  in  the  heav- 
ens.    It  is  like  a  calm  and  transparent  sea 
on  which  flit  lamps  lighted  by  other  mor- 
tals;   the   silence    is   as    profound,   but  the 
desert   is  less  void,   and   it  seems  that  we 


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Stars 
Steam-jets 


divine  better  the  distant  life  which  is  in 
motion  round  each  of  these  brilliant  fires 
burning  in  infinitude.  .  .  . 

Scintillation  is  a  phenomenon  caused 
partly  by  the  intrinsic  light  and  partly  by 
the  state  of  our  atmosphere. 

The  stars  which  scintillate  most  are  the 
white  stars,  like  Sirius,  Vega,  .  .  .  etc. 
[86  variations  per  second].  The  stars 
which  scintillate  least  are  the  orange  or  red 
stars,  like  Antares,  Aldebaran,  Arcturus, 
etc.  [56  variations  per  second]. 
There  is  thus  a  certain  correspondence 
between  the  scintillation  of  a  star  and  its 
physical  constitution. 

Our  atmosphere  plays  a  considerable  part 
in  the  scintillation;  the  lower  a  star  is,  the 
more  it  scintillates;  the  scintillation  is  pro- 
portional to  the  product  which  we  obtain 
by  multiplying  the  thickness  of  the  layer  of 
air  traversed  by  the  luminous  ray  emanating 
from  the  star  by  the  astronomical  refraction 
for  the  altitude  at  which  it  is  observed. 

The  scintillation  is  more  pronounced  as 
the  cold  is  greater;  it  is  stronger  in  winter 
than  in  summer — a  fact  which  may  be  no- 
ticed by  everybody. — FLAMMABION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  6,  p.  606.  (A.) 

3222.  STARS  WITHDRAWN  FROM 
NORTHERN  SKIES—  Change  in  the  Heavens. 
— It  was  not  more  than  2,900  years  before 
our  era  that  the  Cross  ( the  Southern  Cross ) 
became  invisible  in  northern  Germany.    The 
constellation   had    ascended   as    far    as    the 
tenth  degree  above  the  horizon.     When  it 
disappeared  from  the  Baltic  skies,  the  pyra- 
mid of  Cheops  had  already  stood  five  hun- 
dred   years.      The   shepherd   nation    of   the 
Hyksos  invaded  Egypt  seven  hundred  years 
later.    The  past  becomes  apparently  less  re- 
mote when  we  can  measure  it  by  reference 
to   memorable   events. — HUMBOLDT    Cosmos, 
vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  290.     (H.,  1897.) 

3223.  STARS  WITHOUT   LIGHT— 

Non-luminous  Bodies  May  Have  Brilliant 
Satellites. — The  belief  in  the  existence  of 
non-luminous  stars  was  diffused  even  among 
the  ancient  Greeks,  and  especially  in  the 
earliest  ages  of  Christianity.  It  was  as- 
sumed that  among  the  fiery  stars  which 
are  nourished  by  the  celestial  vapors  there 
revolve  certain  other  earthlike  bodies,  which, 
however,  remain  invisible  to  us.  The  total 
extinction  of  new  stars,  especially  of  those 
so  carefully  observed  by  Tycho  Brahe  and 
Kepler  in  Cassiopeia  and  Ophiuchus,  appears 
to  corroborate  this  opinion.  Since  it  was 
at  the  time  conjectured  that  the  first  of 
these  stars  had  already  twice  appeared,  and 
that,  too,  at  intervals  of  nearly  300  years, 
the  idea  of  annihilation  and  total  extinction 
naturally  gained  little  or  no  credit.  The 
immortal  author  of  the  "  Mgcanique  Celeste  " 
[Laplace]  bases  his  conviction  of  the  exist- 
ence of  non-luminous  masses  in  the  universe 
on  these  same  phenomena  of  1572  and  1604: 
"  These  stars,  that  have  become  invisible 
after  having  surpassed  the  brilliancy  of  Ju- 


piter, have  not  changed  their  place  during 
the  time  of  their  being  visible."  (The  lumi- 
nous process  in  them  has  simply  ceased.) 
"  There  exist,  therefore,  in  celestial  space 
dark  bodies  of  equal  magnitudes,  and  prob- 
ably in  as  great  numbers  as  the  stars."  So 
also  Madler,  in  his  "  Untersuchungen  iiber 
die  Fixstern-Systeme,"  says :  "  A  dark  body 
might  be  a  central  body;~it  might,  like  our 
own  sun,  be  surrounded  in  its  immediate 
neighborhood  only  by  dark  bodies  like  our 
planets.  The  motions  of  Sirius  and  Procyon, 
pointed  out  by  Bessel,  force  us  to  the  as- 
sumption that  there  are  cases  where  lumi- 
nous bodies  form  the  satellites  of  dark 
masses." — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  187. 
(H.,  1897.) 

3224.  STATES,    MENTAL,  RESULT 
IN  PHYSICAL  ACTION— Interdependence  of 
Body  and  Mind. — The  psychologist  is  forced 
to    be    something    of    a    nerve-physiologist. 
Mental    phenomena    are    not    only    condi- 
tioned  a   parte   ante   by   bodily   processes; 
but  they  lead  to  them  a  parte  post.     That 
they    lead   to    acts    is   of   course   the   most 
familiar    of   truths,   but   I    do   not   merely 
mean  acts    in   the   sense   of  voluntary   and 
deliberate  muscular  performances.     Mental 
states    occasion    also    changes    in    the    cali- 
ber  of   blood-vessels,    or    alteration    in    the 
heart-beats,  or  processes  more   subtle  still, 
in  glands  and  viscera.     If  these  are  taken 
into  account,  as  well  as  acts  which  follow 
at  some  remote  period  because  the  mental 
state  was  once  there,  it  will  be  safe  to  lay 
down  the  general  law  that  no  mental  modi- 
fication   ever    occurs    which    is   not    accom- 
panied or  followed  by  a  bodily  change.    The 
ideas  and  feelings,  e.  g.  which  these  present 
printed    characters    excite    in    the    reader's 
mind  not  only  occasion  movements  of   his 
eyes    and    nascent    movements    of    articula- 
tion in  him,  but  will  some  day  make  him 
speak,  or  take  sides  in  a  discussion,  or  give 
advice,  or  choose  a  book  to  read,  differently 
from  what  would  have  been  the  case  had 
they    never    impressed    his    retina. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.   i,  ch.   1,  p.  5.      (H.  H.  & 
Co.,   1899.) 

3225.  STEAM-JETS    IN   NATURE— 

Volcanoes  the  Vents  for  Imprisoned  Waters. 
— If  water  be  subjected  to  sufficiently  great 
pressure  it  may  be  raised  to  a  very  high 
temperature  and  still  retain  its  liquid  con- 
dition. When  this  pressure  is  removed, 
however,  the  whole  mass  passes  at  once  into 
the  condition  of  steam  or  water-gas,  and 
the  gas  thus  formed  at  high  temperatures 
has  a  proportionably  high  tension.  In  a 
Papin's  digester  water  confined  in  a  strong 
vessel  is  raised  to  temperatures  far  above 
its  ordinary  boiling-point,  and  from  any 
opening  in  such  a  vessel  the  steam  escapes 
with  prodigious  violence.  Now,  at  consid- 
erable depths  beneath  the  earth's  surface, 
and  under  the  pressure  of  many  hundreds 
or  thousands  of  feet  of  solid  rock,  water 
still  retaining  its  liquid  condition  may  be- 


Steam-jets 
Stone 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


652 


come  intensely  heated.  When  the  pressure 
is  relieved  by  the  formation  of  a  crack  or 
fissure  in  the  superincumbent  mass  of  rock, 
the  escape  of  the  superheated  steam  will  be 
of  very  violent  character,  and  may  be  at- 
tended with  the  most  striking  and  destruc- 
tive results.  In  the  existence  of  high  tem- 
peratures beneath  the  earth's  surface,  and 
the  presence  in  the  same  regions  of  im- 
prisoned water  capable  of  passing  into  the 
highly  elastic  gas  which  we  call  steam,  we 
have  a  cause  fully  competent  to  produce 
all  the  phenomena  which  we  have  described 
as  occurring  at  Stromboli. — JUDD  Volcanoes, 
ch.  2,  p.  21.  (A.,  1899.) 

3226.  STEAM-NAVIGATION— Its 

Gradual  Development. — From  the  earliest 
dawn  of  history  men  used  rowing  or  sail- 
ing vessels  for  coasting  trade  or  for  cross- 
ing narrow  seas.  The  Carthaginians  sailed 
nearly  to  the  equator  on  the  west  coast 
of  Africa,  and  in  the  eleventh  century 
the  Northmen  reached  North  America  on 
the  coast  of  New  England.  Exactly  five 
hundred  years  ago  Vasco  da  Gama  sailed 
from  Portugal  round  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  to  India,  and  in  the  next  century 
Columbus  and  his  Spanish  followers  crossed 
the  Atlantic  in  its  widest  part  to  the  West 
Indies  and  Mexico.  From  that  time  sailing 
ships  were  gradually  improved,  till  they 
culminated  in  our  magnificent  frigates  for 
war  purposes  and  the  clipper  ships  in  the 
China  and  Australian  trade,  which  were  in 
use  up  to  the  middle  of  the  century.  But 
during  all  this  long  course  of  development 
there  was  no  change  whatever  in  principle, 
and  the  grandest  three-decker  or  full-rigged 
clipper  ship  was  but  a  direct  growth,  by 
means  of  an  infinity  of  small  modifications 
and  improvements,  from  the  rudest  sailing 
boat  of  the  primeval  savage.  Then,  at  the 
very  commencement  of  the  present  [nine- 
teenth] century,  the  totally  new  principle 
of  steam-propulsion  began  to  be  used,  at 
first  experimentally  and  with  many  failures, 
on  rivers,  canals,  and  lakes,  till  about  the 
year  1815  coasting  steamships  of  small  size 
came  into  pretty  general  use.  These  were 
rapidly  improved;  but  it  was  not  till  the 
year  1838  that  the  "Great  Western,"  of 
1,340  tons  and  400  horse-power,  made  the 
passage  from  Bristol  to  New  York  in  four- 
teen days,  and  thus  inaugurated  the  system 
of  ocean  steam-navigation  which  has  since 
developed  to  such  an  enormous  extent. — 
WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  1,  p. 
8.  D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3227.  STEEL  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  HU- 
MAN PROGRESS— Iron  the  Universal  Metal 
—Metallurgy    Dependent    on    Chemistry. — 
Without  metal-working,  civilization,  as  we 
understand  it  at  the  present  day,  would  be 
impossible.   Much  has  been  made  possible  in 
the   past   half-century   by   progress    in    the 
metallurgy  of  iron  alone.     It  seems  almost 
incredible,  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact,  that 
Steel   has    been   sold   in   the   United    States 


in  the  last  few  years  at  a  price  per  ton 
which  is  often  obtained  for  hay.  Iron  is  the 
universal  metal.  It  is  found  in  every  hu- 
man trade,  and  devoted  to  every  possible 
technical  art.  Steel,  which  is  only  a  pe- 
culiar variety  of  iron,  can  be  made  almost 
as  cheap  as  pig  iron  itself.  Dominant  in 
the  arts  of  peace,  as  it  is  in  the  art  of 
war,  it  rules  every  battle,  whether  of  peace 
or  war.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  mis- 
sionary effort,  no  matter  how  successful  it 
has  been,  has  had  an  influence  on  the  de- 
velopment of  humanity  such  as  has  been 
exercised  by  the  Bessemer  converter.  Iron 
and  steel  are  almost  synonyms  for  prog- 
ress and  intelligence.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  spend  any  time  to  show  how  intimately 
the  science  and  art  of  chemistry  are  inter- 
woven with  the  metallurgy  of  iron  and  steel. 
Every  step  has  been  made  possible  by  the 
researches  of  the  chemist,  and  every  im- 
provement in  the  application  of  chemical 
principles. — WILEY  Relations  of  Chemistry 
to  Industrial  Progress  (Address  at  Purdue 
University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  22). 

3228.  STELLAR    PERPLEXITIES— 

Nebula?,  Star-clusters,  or  Stars  in  Perspec- 
tive?— A  region  which  appears  singularly 
rich  in  stars  may  be  a  true  star-cluster — a 
subordinate  star-system — or  it  may  be  a 
region  where  the  line  of  sight  passes  through 
an  almost  interminable  range  of  stars. 
Seemingly  minute  stars  may  form  schemes 
of  suns  far  smaller  than  our  own,  or  than 
any  of  the  leading  orbs  of  the  heavens,  or 
they  may  be  orbs  surpassing  even  Sirius 
in  magnitude  and  splendor,  but  set  at  depths 
compared  with  which  his  enormous  distance 
is  relatively  as  insignificant  as  the  distance 
of  our  moon  compared  with  the  dimensions 
of  the  solar  system.  A  cloud  of  light  in 
the  star-depths  may  be  a  vast  mass  of  nebu- 
lous matter,  or  it  may  be  a  scheme  of  stars 
as  magnificent  as  the  most  splendid  of  all 
the  star-clusters  discernible  with  the  tele- 
scope.— PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infinities, 
p.  2u7.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3229.  STILLNESS    OF    THE    DEEP 

SEA — Animals  There  Found  Less  Muscular  in 
Consequence. — It  is  very  probable,  however, 
that  these  currents  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean  are  extremely  slow,  and  as  the  water 
is  never  affected  by  tides  or  storms,  the  gen- 
eral character  of  the  deep  sea  is  probably 
one  of  calm  repose.  This  is  a  matter  of  no 
little  importance;  for,  in  the  consideration 
of  the  characters  presented  by  the  fauna  of 
any  particular  region,  it  is  always  necessary 
to  take  into  account  the  physical  difficulties 
the  animals  have  to  contend  against  and  the 
modifications  of  structure  they  present  to 
combat  these  difficulties.  Thus  in  a  region 
such  as  that  presented  by  the  deep  sea, 
where  there  are  no  rapid  tides,  we  should 
not  expect  to  find  such  a  powerful  set  of 
body  muscles  in  the  free-swimming  forms, 
nor  such  a  firm  vertebral  column  as  in  the 


653 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Steam-jets 
Stone 


animals  that  live  in  more  lively  water. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p. 
34.  (A.,  1894.) 

323O. Strata  Deposited 

by  Currents. — It  appears  extraordinary  that 
in  some  tracts  of  the  sea  adjoining  the  coast 
of  England,  where  we  know  that  currents 
are  not  only  sweeping  along  rocky  masses, 
thrown  down  from  time  to  time  from  the 
high  cliffs,  but  also  occasionally  scooping 
out  channels  in  the  regular  strata,  there 
should  exist  fragile  shells  and  tender  zoo- 
phytes in  abundance,  which  live  uninjured 
by  these  violent  movements.  The  ocean, 
however,  is  in  this  respect  a  counterpart 
of  the  land ;  and  as,  on  the  continents,  rivers 
may  undermine  their  banks,  uproot  trees, 
and  roll  along  sand  and  gravel,  while  their 
waters  are  inhabited  by  testaceans  and  fish, 
and  their  alluvial  plains  are  adorned  with 
rich  vegetation  and  forests,  so  the  sea  may 
be  traversed  by  rapid  currents,  and  its  bed 
may  here  and  there  suffer  great  local  de- 
rangement, without  any  interruption  of  the 
general  order  and  tranquillity.  It  has  been 
ascertained  by  soundings  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  that  where  new  deposits  are  taking 
place  in  the  sea  coarse  sand  and  small 
pebbles  commonly  occur  near  the  shore, 
while  farther  from  land  and  in  deeper  wa- 
ter finer  sand  and  broken  shells  are  spread 
out  over  the  bottom.  Still  farther  out  the 
finest  mud  and  ooze  are  alone  met  with. 
Mr.  Austen  observes  that  this  rule  holds 
good  in  every  part  of  the  English  Channel 
examined  by  him.  He  also  informs  us  that 
where  the  tidal  current  runs  rapidly  in  what 
are  called  "  races,"  where  surface  undula- 
tions are  perceived  in  the  calmest  weather, 
over  deep  banks,  the  discoloration  of  the 
water  does  not  arise  from  the  power  of  such 
a  current  to  disturb  the  bottom  at  a  depth 
of  40  or  80  fathoms,  as  some  have  supposed. 
In  these  cases  a  column  of  water  sometimes 
500  feet  in  height  is  moving  onwards  with 
the  tide  clear  and  transparent  above,  while 
the  lower  portion  holds  fine  sediment  in  sus- 
pension (a  fact  ascertained  by  soundings), 
when  suddenly  it  impinges  upon  a  bank,  and 
its  height  is  reduced  to  300  feet.  It  is  thus 
made  to  boil  up  and  flow  off  at  the  sur- 
face, a  process  which  forces  up  the  lower 
strata  of  water  charged  with  fine  particles 
of  mud,  which  in  their  passage  from  the  coast 
had  gradually  sunk  to  a  depth  of  300  feet 
or  more. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
ii,  ch.  21,  p.  341.  (A.,  1854.) 

3231.    STILLNESS  OF  TROPIC  NOON 

— Jet  Busy  Life. — A  singular  contrast  to  the 
scenes  I  have  here  described  [the  uproar 
of  a  tropical  forest  by  night],  and  which  I 
had  repeated  opportunities  of  witnessing, 
is  presented  by  the  stillness  which  reigns 
within  the  tropics  at  the  noontide  of  a 
day  unusually  sultry.  ...  A  thermom- 
eter observed  in  the  shade,  but  brought 
within  a  few  inches  of  the  lofty  mass  of 
granite  rock,  rose  to  more  than  122°  F. 


All  distant  objects  had  wavy,  undulating 
outlines,  the  optical  effect  of  the  mirage. 
Not  a  breath  of  air  moved  the  dust-like 
sand.  The  sun  stood  in  the  zenith,  and 
the  effulgence  of  light  poured  upon  the  river, 
and  which,  owing  to  a  gentle  ripple  of  the 
waters,  was  brilliantly  reflected,  gave  addi- 
tional distinctness  to  the  red  haze  which 
veiled  the  distance.  All- the  rocky  mounds 
and  naked  boulders  were  covered  with  large, 
thick-scaled  iguanas,  gecko-lizards,  and  spot- 
ted salamanders.  Motionless,  with  uplifted 
heads  and  widely  extended  mouths,  they 
seemed  to  inhale  the  heated  air  with  ec- 
stasy. The  larger  animals  at  such  times 
take  refuge  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  for- 
est, the  birds  nestle  beneath  the  foliage  of 
the  trees  or  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks;  but 
if  in  this  apparent  stillness  of  Nature  we 
listen  closely  for  the  faintest  tones,  we 
detect  a  dull,  muffled  sound,  a  buzzing  and 
humming  of  insects  close  to  the  earth,  in 
the  lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere.  Every- 
thing proclaims  a  world  of  active  organic 
forces.  In  every  shrub,  in  the  cracked  bark 
of  trees,  in  the  perforated  ground  inhabited 
by  hymenopterous  insects,  life  is  everywhere 
audibly  manifest.  It  is  one  of  the  many 
voices  of  Nature  revealed  to  the  pious  and 
susceptible  spirit  of  man. — HUMBOLDT  Views 
of  Nature,  p.  200.  (Bell,  1896.) 

3232.  STIMULUS  AND  INCITEMENT 

— The  Teacher's  Great  Work. — My  theory 
of  education  agrees  with  that  of  Emer- 
son, according  to  which  instruction  is 
only  half  the  battle,  what  he  calls  provoca- 
tion being  the  other  half.  By  this  he  means 
that  power  of  the  teacher,  through  the  force 
of  his  character  and  the  vitality  of  his 
thought,  to  bring  out  all  the  latent  strength 
of  his  pupil,  and  to  invest  with  interest 
even  the  driest  matters  of  detail. — TYNDALL 
Forms  of  Water,  pref.,  p.  17.  (A.,  1899.) 

3233.  STONE  AGE,  UNIVERSALITY 

OF — Fantastic  Explanations  of  Forgotten  Im- 
plements— Everywhere  Man  Has  Risen  Only 
by  Toil  and  Struggle. — One  of  the  chief  ques- 
tions to  be  asked  about  the  condition  of  any 
people  is  whether  they  have  metal  in  use 
for  their  tools  and  weapons.  If  so,  they  may 
be  said  to  be  in  the  metal  age.  If  they  have 
no  copper  or  iron,  but  make  their  hatchets, 
knives,  spear-heads,  and  other  cutting  and 
piercing  instruments  of  stone,  they  are  said 
to  be  in  the  Stone  Age.  Wherever  such 
stone  implements  are  picked  up,  as  they 
often  are  in  our  own  plowed  fields,  they 
prove  that  Stone- Age  men  have  once  dwelt 
in  the  land.  It  is  an  important  fact  that 
in  every  region  of  the  inhabited  world  an- 
cient stone  implements  are  thus  found  in 
the  ground,  showing  that  at  some  time 
the  inhabitants  were  in  this  respect  like 
the  modern  savages.  In  countries  where  the 
people  have  long  been  metal-workers  they 
have  often  lost  all  memory  of  what  these 
stone  things  are,  and  tell  fanciful  stories 
to  account  for  their  being  met  with  in 


ftone 
to  rin  8 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


654 


plowing  or  digging.  One  favorite  notion 
in  England  and  elsewhere  is  that  the  stone 
hatchets  are  "  thunderbolts  "  fallen  from  the 
sky  with  the  lightning  flash.  It  has  been 
imagined  that  in  the  east,  the  seat  of  the 
most  ancient  civilizations,  some  district 
might  be  found  without  any  traces  of  man 
having  lived  there  in  a  state  of  early  rude- 
ness, so  that  in  this  part  of  the  world  he 
might  have  been  civilized  from  the  first. 
But  it  is  not  so.  In  Assyria,  Palestine, 
Egypt,  as  in  other  lands,  one  may  find 
sharp-chipped  flints,  which  show  that  here 
also  tribes  in  the  Stone  Age  once  lived 
before  the  use  of  metal  brought  in  higher 
civilization. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p. 
25.  (A.,  1899.) 

3234.  STONE  AS  BUILDING  MA- 
TERIAL— Durability  of— Causes  of  Decay- 
Bending  of  Bunker  Rill  Monument. — The 
solvent  power  of  water,  which  attacks  even 
glass,  must  in  time  produce  an  appreciable 
effect  on  the  most  solid  material,  particu- 
larly where  it  contains,  as  the  water  of  the 
atmosphere  always  does,  carbonic  acid  in 
solution.  The  attrition  of  silicious  dusts, 
when  blown  against  a  building,  or  washed 
down  its  sides  by  rain,  is  evidently  oper- 
ative in  wearing  away  the  surface,  tho  the 
evanescent  portion  removed  at  each  time 
may  not  be  indicated  by  the  nicest  balance. 
An  examination  of  the  basin  which  former- 
ly received  the  water  from  the  fountain  at 
the  western  entrance  of  the  Capitol,  now 
deposited  in  the  Patent  Office,  will  convince 
any  one  of  the  great  amount  of  action  pro- 
duced principally  by  water  charged  with 
carbonic  acid.  Again,  every  flash  of  light- 
ning not  only  generates  nitric  acid  (which 
in  solution  in  the  rain  acts  on  the  marble ) , 
but  also  by  its  inductive  effects  at  a  distance 
produces  chemical  changes  along  the  moist 
wall,  which  are  at  the  present  time  beyond 
our  means  of  estimating.  Also  the  constant 
variations  of  temperature  from  day  to  day, 
and  even  from  hour  to  hour,  give  rise  to 
molecular  motions  which  must  affect  the 
durability  of  the  material  of  a  building. 
Recent  observations  on  the  pendulum  have 
shown  that  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  is 
scarcely  for  a  moment  in  a  state  of  rest, 
but  is  constantly  warping  and  bending  under 
the  influence  of  the  ever  varying  tempera- 
ture of  its  different  sides. 

Moreover,  as  soon  as  the  polished  surface 
of  a  building  is  made  rough  from  any  of  the 
causes  aforementioned,  the  seeds  of  minute 
lichens  and  mosses,  which  are  constantly 
floating  in  the  atmosphere,  make  it  a  place 
of  repose,  and  from  the  growth  and  decay 
of  the  microscopic  plants  which  spring  from 
these  discoloration  is  produced  and  disin- 
tegration assisted. — HENRY  Mode  of  Test- 
ing Building  Materials,  Scientific  Writings, 
vol.  i,  p.  345.  (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 

3235.    STONE-CUTTING,  ANCIENT— 

Blocks    Laid   without    Cement. — In    ancient 
Egypt  the  masons  hewed  and  smoothed  even 


granite  and  porphyry  to  a  finish  which  is 
envied  by  the  architects  of  our  own  day, 
and  the  pyramids  of  Gizeh  are  as  wonderful 
for  the  fine  masonry  of  their  slopes,  cham- 
bers, and  passages  as  for  their  prodigious 
size.  Our  modern  notion  of  a  stone  build- 
ing is  that  the  blocks  of  stone  are  to  be 
fixed  together  with  a  layer  of  mortar  to 
bind  them,  but  in  the  old  and  beautiful 
architecture  of  Egypt  and  Greece  the  faced 
stone  blocks  lie  on  one  another,  having  no 
cement  to  hold  them,  and  needing  none. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  10,  p.  233.  (A., 
1899.) 

3236.  STONES  OF  ANCIENT  MONU- 
MENTS BURIED  BY  WORMS— Stonehenge. 
— At  Stonehenge  some  of  the  outer  druidic- 
al  stones  are  now  prostrate,  having  fallen 
at  a  remote  but  unknown  period,  and  these 
have  become  buried  to  a  moderate  depth  in 
the  ground.     They  are  surrounded  by  slo- 
ping borders  of  turf,  on  which  recent  cast- 
ings were  seen.    Close  to  one  of  these  fallen 
stones,  which  was  17  feet  long,  6  feet  broad, 
and  28 y2  inches  thick,  a  hole  was  dug,  and 
here  the  vegetable  mold  was   at  least  9% 
inches  in  thickness.     At  this  depth  a  flint 
was  found,  and  a  little  higher   up  on  one 
side  of  the  hole  a  fragment  of  glass.     The 
base  of  the  stone  lay  about  9y8  inches  be- 
neath the  level  of  the  surrounding  ground, 
and  its  upper  surface  19  inches  above  the 
ground. 

A  hole  was  also  dug  close  to  a  second 
huge  stone,  which  in  falling  had  broken 
into  two  pieces,  and  this  must  have  hap- 
pened long  ago,  judging  from  the  weathered 
aspect  of  the  fractured  ends.  The  base  was 
buried  to  a  depth  of  10  inches,  as  was  ascer- 
tained by  driving  an  iron  skewer  horizontal- 
ly into  the  ground  beneath  it.  The  vegetable 
mold  forming  the  turf-covered  sloping  bor- 
der round  the  stone,  on  which  many  castings 
had  recently  been  ejected,  was  10  inches  in 
thickness,  and  most  of  this  mold  must  have 
been  brought  up  by  worms  from  beneath 
its  base. — DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable 
Mold,  ch.  3,  p.  45.  (Hum.,  1887.) 

3237.  STORE   OF   NUTRIMENT  IN 
SEED— A  Help  to  Plant  in  Struggle  for  Life. 
— The    store   of   nutriment   laid   up    within 
the   seeds    of    many    plants    seems    at   first 
sight  to  have  no  sort  of  relation  to  other 
plants.      But    from    the    strong    growth    of 
young  plants  produced  from  such  seeds  as 
pease  and  beans,  when  sown  in  the  midst 
of  long  grass,  it  may  be  suspected  that  the 
chief  use  of  the  nutriment  in  the  seed  is  to 
favor   the   growth    of   the    seedlings,    while 
struggling  with  other  plants  growing  vigor- 
ously all  around. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Spe- 
cies, ch.  3,  p.  71.      (Burt.) 

3238.  STORIES    ABOUT    GORILLA 
DISCREDITED— His  Dwelling  a  Mere  Rude 
Nest — Ferocity  in  Attack. — Dr.   Savage  re- 
pudiates the  stories  about  the  gorillas  car- 
rying off  women  and  vanquishing  elephants, 
and  then  adds: 


655 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Stone 
Storms 


"  Their  dwellings,  if  they  may  be  so  called, 
are  similar  to  those  of  the  chimpanzee, 
consisting  simply  of  a  few  sticks  and  leafy 
branches,  supported  by  the  crotches  and 
limbs  of  trees;  they  afford  no  shelter,  and 
are  occupied  only  at  night. 

"  They  are  exceedingly  ferocious,  and  al- 
ways offensive  in  their  habits,  never  running 
from  man,  as  does  the  chimpanzee.  They 
are  objects  of  terror  to  the  natives,  and 
are  never  encountered  by  them  except  on 
the  defensive.  The  few  that  have  been  cap- 
tured were  killed  by  elephant-hunters  and 
native  traders,  as  they  came  suddenly  upon 
them  while  passing  through  the  forests. 

"  It  is  said  that  when  the  male  is  first 
seen  he  gives  a  terrific  yell,  that  resounds 
far  and  wide  through  the  forest,  something 
like  *  kh — ah!  kh — ah!'  prolonged  and  shrill. 
His  enormous  jaws  are  widely  opened  at 
each  expiration,  his  under-lip  hangs  over 
the  chin,  and  the  hairy  ridge  and  scalp  are 
contracted  upon  the  brow,  presenting  an 
aspect  of  indescribable  ferocity. 

"  The  females  and  young,  at  the  first  cry, 
quickly  disappear.  He  then  approaches  the 
enemy  in  great  fury,  pouring  out  his  horrid 
cries  in  quick  succession." — HUXLEY  Man's 
Place  in  Nature,  p.  211.  (Hum.) 

3239.  STORING    OF    THE    COAL— 

Earth  Once  a  Giant  Hotbed. — There  is  in- 
disputable proof  .  .  .  that  all  coal  beds  are 
of  vegetable  origin.  Geologists  tell  us  that 
these  coal  beds  were  formed  during  an  age 
before  the  earth  had  cooled  down  to  the  tem- 
perature that  it  has  at  the  present  time — 
an  age  when  vegetation  was  forced  by  the 
internal  heat  of  the  earth  instead  of  having 
to  receive  all  its  warmth  from  the  sun's 
rays,  as  we  do  now.  Some  of  our  readers 
are  familiar  with  what  is  commonly  termed 
a  hotbed.  A  hotbed  is  made  by  putting 
soil  on  top  of  substances  that  will  ferment 
and  create  heat  underneath  the  soil.  This 
heat  from  beneath  will  force  vegetation 
and  cause  a  much  larger  growth  than  there 
will  be  if  left  to  the  sun's  rays  alone.  Dur- 
ing the  carboniferous  age  the  earth  was  a 
great  hotbed. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Mira- 
cles, vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  24.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3240.  STORMS  MILD  BY  COMPAR- 
ISON— Earth's    Fiercest    Tempests   Compared 
with  Hurricanes  on  Jupiter. — Examined  by 
a  powerful  telescope,  Jupiter  shows  all  the 
signs  of  the  most  tremendous  atmospheric 
disturbances.      There    are    great    bands    of 
clouds   all  around   him,  so  arranged  as  to 
imply  the  existence   of   very    strong  winds 
resembling  our  trade-winds.    But  these  cloud 
zones  change  sometimes  so  rapidly  in  shape 
as  to  show  that  either  some  of  the  clouds 
have   rapidly    discharged    their   contents   in 
rain  and  new  clouds  have  been  very  rapidly 
formed,  or  else  that  great  cloud-masses  have 
been  carried  along  with  enormous  rapidity 
by  winds  of  hurricane  force.     These  motions 
of  cloud-masses  on  Jupiter,  when  interpreted 
by  what  we   know   of  the   real   dimensions 


of  Jupiter,  have  been  found  to  indicate  the 
existence  of  winds  blowing  at  the  rate  of 
nearly  200  miles  per  hour  [contrasted  with 
the  rarely  attained  speed  of  ninety  miles 
an  hour  on  earth].  .  .  .  Our  terrestrial 
storms  rage  sometimes  for  five  or  six  days 
in  successsion,  but  this  is  very  unusual.  Or- 
dinarily, the  fiercest  storm  blows  itself  out 
in  less  than  three  days.  Now,  Jovian  hurri- 
canes have  been  known  to  last  for  six  or 
seven  weeks. — PEOCTOB  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  79.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3241.  STORMS  ON  THE  SUN—  Tor- 
rents of  Flaming  Hydrogen  Thousands  of 
Miles  High. — Outside  the  opaque  photo- 
sphere the  sun  appears  surrounded  by  a 
layer  of  transparent  gases,  which  are  hot 
enough  to  show  in  the  spectrum  bright 
colored  lines,  and  are  hence  called  the 
chromosphere.  They  show  the  bright  lines 
of  hydrogen,  of  sodium,  of  magnesium,  and 
iron.  In  these  layers  of  gas  and  of  vapor 
about  the  sun  enormous  storms  occur,  which 
are  as  much  greater  than  those  of  our  earth 
in  extent  and  in  velocity  as  the  sun  is 
greater  than  the  earth.  Currents  of  ignited 
hydrogen  burst  out  several  thousands  of 
miles  high,  like  gigantic  jets  or  tongues 
of  flame,  with  clouds  of  smoke  above  them. 
These  structures  could  formerly  only  be 
viewed  at  the  time  of  a  total  eclipse  of 
the  sun,  forming  what  were  called  the  rose- 
red  protuberances.  We  now  possess  a  meth- 
od, devised  by  MM.  Jansen  and  Lockyer,  by 
which  they  may  at  any  time  be  seen  by  the 
aid  of  the  spectroscope. — HELMHOLTZ  Popu- 
lar Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  158.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1898.) 

3242. Tumult  and  Up- 
roar behind  Beneficence  —  The  Soundless 
Depths  of  Space. — We  know  something  of 
the  processes  at  work  upon  our  own  sun. 
We  know  of  storms  raging  there,  in  which 
fiery  vapor  masses,  tens  of  thousands  of 
miles  in  breadth,  sweep  onward  at  a  rate 
exceeding  a  hundredfold  in  velocity  the 
swiftest  rush  of  our  express  trains.  We 
see  matter  flung  forth  from  the  depths  be- 
neath the  sun's  blazing  surface  to  a  height 
exceeding  ten-  and  twenty- fold  the  diameter 
of  the  globe  on  which  we  live.  And  we 
know  that  these  tremendous  motions,  tho 
they  seem  to  take  place  silently,  must  in 
reality  be  accompanied  with  a  tumult  and 
uproar  altogether  inconceivable.  We  know 
that  precisely  as  distance  so  reduces  the 
seeming  dimensions  of  these  vapor-masses, 
and  their  seeming  rate  of  motion,  that  even 
in  the  most  powerful  telescopes  they  appear 
like  the  tiniest  of  the  clouds  which  fleck 
the  bosom  of  the  summer  sky,  and  change 
as  slowly  in  their  seeming  shape;  so  dis- 
tance partly,  and  partly  the  absence  of  a 
medium  to  convey  the  sound,  reduces  to  ut- 
ter silence  a  noise  and  clangor  compared 
with  which  the  roar  of  the  hurricane,  the 
crash  of  the  thunderbolt,  the  bellowing  of 
the  volcano,  and  the  hideous  groaning  of 


Storms 
Strength 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


656 


the  earthquake  are  as  absolute  silence. — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  300.  (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

3243.  STRAIN  OF  DESIRE  TOWARD 
THE  UNKNOWN— Recollection  by  Effort.— 
Whenever  we  seek  to  recall  something  for- 
gotten, or  to  state  the  reason  for  a  judgment 
which  we  have  made  intuitively,  the  desire 
strains  and  presses  in  a  direction  which  it 
feels  to  be  right,  but  towards  a  point  which 
it  is  unable  to  see.     In  short,  the  absence 
of  an  item  is  a  determinant  of  our  repre- 
sentations quite  as  positive  as  its  presence 
can  ever  be. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
14,  p.  584.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3244.  STRATA    ARRANGED    FOR 
GEOLOGIST'S      STUDY  —  Granite    Wedges 
Forced  through  Sandstone. — Imagine  a  large 
wedge  forced  from  below  through  a  sheet  of 
thick  ice  on  a  river  or  pond.     First  the  ice 
rises  in  an  angle,  that  becomes  sharper  and 
higher  as  the  wedge  rises;    then  it  cracks 
and    opens,    presenting   its    upturned   edges 
on  both  sides,  and  through  comes  the  wedge. 
And  this  is  a  very  different  process,  be  it 
observed,   from  what  takes  place  when  the 
ice    merely    cracks    and    the    water    issues 
through  the  crack.     In  the  one  case  there 
is  a  rent  and  water  diffused  over  the  sur- 
face;  in  the  other  there  is  the  projecting 
wedge,    flanked   by   the   upturned   edges    of 
the  ice;   and  these  edges,  of  course,   serve 
as  indices  to  decide  regarding  the  ice's  thick- 
ness and  the  various  layers  of  which  it  is 
composed.     Now,   such   are   the  phenomena 
exhibited  by  the  wedge-like  granitic  ridge. 
The    lower    Old   Red    Sandstone,    tilted   up 
against   it  on   both   sides,    at  an   angle   of 
about  eighty,  exhibits  in  some  parts  a  sec- 
tion of  well-nigh  two  thousand  feet,  stretch- 
ing from  the  lower  conglomerate  to  the  soft, 
unfossiliferous    sandstone,   which   forms   in 
Ross  and  Cromarty  the  upper  beds  of  the 
formation.     There  is   a  mighty   advantage 
to  the  geologist  in  this  arrangement.    When 
books  are  packed  up  in  a  deep  box  or  chest 
we  have  to  raise  the  upper  tier  ere  we  can 
see  the  tier  below,  and  this  second  tier  ere 
we  can  arrive  at  a  third,  and  so  on  to  the 
bottom.      But  when   well   arranged   on   the 
shelves  of  a  library,  we  have  merely  to  run 
the  eye  along  their  lettered  backs,  and  we 
can  thus  form  an  acquaintance  with  them 
at  a  glance,  which  in  the  other  case  would 
have  cost  us  a  good  deal  of  trouble.     Now, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  this  granitic  wedge, 
or  wall,  the  strata  are  arranged,  not  like 
books  in  a  box — such  was  their  original  po- 
sition— but  like  books  on  the  shelves  of  a 
library.     They  have  been  unpacked  and  ar- 
ranged   by    the    uptilting    agent,    and    the 
knowledge  of  them,  which  could  only  have 
been   attained   in   their   first  circumstances 
by  perforating  them  with    a   shaft   of  im- 
mense depth,  may  now  be  acquired  simply 
by  passing  over  their  edges.     A  morning's 
saunter  gives  us  what  would  have  cost,  but 
for  the  upheaving  granite,  the  labor  of  a 


hundred  miners  for  five  years. — MILLER  The 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  6,  p.  98.  (G.  &  L., 
1851.) 

3245.  STRATA  OF  A  MOUNTAIN— 

An  Amended  Illustration. — The  geologists  of 
the  school  of  Werner  used  to  illustrate  what 
we  may  term  the  anatomy  of  the  earth,  as 
seen  through  the  spectacles  of  their  system, 
by  an  onion  and  its  coats;  they  represented 
the  globe  as  a  central  nucleus,  encircled  by 
concentric  coverings,  each  covering  consti- 
tuting a  geological  formation.  The  onion, 
through  the  introduction  of  a  better  school, 
has  become  obsolete  as  an  illustration ;  but 
to  restore  it  again,  tho  for  another  purpose, 
we  have  merely  to  cut  it  through  the  middle, 
and  turn  downwards  the  planes  formed  by 
the  knife.  It  then  represents,  with  its  coats, 
hills  .  .  .  such  as  Ben  Nevis,  ere  the 
granite  had  perforated  the  gneiss,  or  the 
porphyry  broken  through  the  granite. — 
MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  ch.  2,  p.  25. 
(G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

3246.  STRATEGY   OF   DEER  PRO- 
TECTING FAWN— Fawn's  Instinct  of  Flight 
and  Concealment. — I  have  had  frequent  op- 
portunities   of   observing   the   young,    from 
one  to  three  days  old,  of  the  Cervus  campes- 
tris — the  common  deer  of  the  pampas — and 
the  perfection  of  its  instincts  at  that  tender 
age    seem   very   wonderful   in   a   ruminant. 
When    the    doe    with    fawn    is    approached 
by  a  horseman,  even  when  accompanied  with 
dogs,    she   stands   perfectly   motionless,   ga- 
zing fixedly  at  the  enemy,  the  fawn  motion- 
less at  her  side;   and  suddenly,  as  if.  at  a 
preconcerted  signal,  the  fawn  rushes  direct- 
ly away  from  her  at  its  utmost  speed,  and 
going  to   a   distance   of  six  hundred   to   a 
thousand  yards  conceals  itself  in  a  hollow 
in  the  ground  or  among  the  long  grass,  lying 
down   very    close   with   neck    stretched   out 
horizontally,    and    will    thus    remain    until 
sought  by  the  dam.     When  very  young,  if 
found  in  its  hiding-place,  it  will  allow  itself 
to  be   taken,   making  no   further   effort   to 
escape.     After  the  fawn  has  run  away  the 
doe  still  maintains  her  statuesque  attitude, 
as  if  resolved  to  await  the  onset,  and  only 
when   the   dogs   are   close   to   her    she   also 
rushes  away,  but  invariably  in  a  direction 
as  nearly  opposite  to  that  taken  by  the  fawn 
as  possible.     At  first  she  runs  slowly,  with 
a  limping  gait,  and  frequently  pausing,  as 
if  to  entice  her  enemies  on,  like  a  partridge, 
duck,  or  plover  when  driven  from  its  young ; 
but  as  they  begin  to  press  her  more  closely 
her   speed    increases,   becoming  greater   the 
further  she  succeeds  in  leading  them  from 
the  starting-point. 

The  alarm-cry  of  this  deer  is  a  peculiar 
whistling  bark,  a  low  but  far  -  reaching 
sound;  but  when  approaching  a  doe  with 
young  I  have  never  been  able  to  hear  it, 
nor  have  I  seen  any  movement  on  the  part 
of  the  doe.  Yet  it  is  clear  that  in  some 
mysterious  way  she  inspires  the  fawn  with 
sudden,  violent  fear,  while  the  fawn,  on  its 


657 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Storms 
Strength 


side,  instead  of  being  affected  like  the  young 
in  other  mammals,  and  sticking  closer  to 
its  mother,  acts  in  a  contrary  way,  and  runs 
from  her. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata, 
ch.  6,  p.  110.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

3247.  STREAM  OF  LAVA  HARD- 
ENED INTO  STONE— A  Frozen  Cataract- 
Eruption  of  Etna. — The  lava  [flowing  from 
Etna  in  1669],  after  overflowing  fourteen 
towns  and  villages,  some  having  a  popula- 
tion of  between  three  and  four  thousand 
inhabitants,  arrived  at  length  at  the  walls 
of  Catania.  These  had  been  purposely  raised 
to  protect  the  city,  but  the  burning  flood 
accumulated  till  it  rose  to  the  top  of  the 
rampart,  which  was  sixty  feet  in  height, 
and  then  it  fell  in  a  fiery  cascade  and 
overwhelmed  part  of  the  city.  The  wall, 
however,  was  not  thrown  down,  but  was  dis- 
covered long  afterwards  by  excavations  made 
in  the  rock  by  the  Prince  of  Biscari,  so  that 
the  traveler  may  now  see  the  solid  lava  curl- 
ing over  the  top  of  the  rampart  as  if  still 
in  the  very  act  of  falling. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  25,  p.  400.  (A.,  1854.) 


3248. 


Entrapped — Hill  Melted  Down. — As  another 
illustration  of  the  solidity  of  the  walls  of 
an  advancing  lava-stream,  I  may  mention 
an  adventure  related  by  Recupero,  who,  in 
1766,  had  ascended  a  small  hill  formed  of  an- 
cient volcanic  matter,  to  behold  the  slow  and 
gradual  approach  of  a  fiery  current,  two 
miles  and  a  half  broad,  when  suddenly  two 
small  threads  of  liquid  matter  issuing  from 
a  crevice  detached  themselves  from  the  main 
stream  and  ran  rapidly  towards  the  hill. 
He  and  his  guide  had  just  time  to  es- 
cape, when  they  saw  the  hill,  which  was 
fifty  feet  in  height,  surrounded,  and  in  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  melted  down  into  the 
burning  mass,  so  as  to  flow  on  with  it. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  25, 
p.  401.  (A.,  1854.) 

3249.  STRENGTH  DEVELOPED 
BY  RESISTANCE  —  Growing  Plants  Made 
Stronger  6t/  Stress  and  Strain.  —  Many 
commonplace  facts  indicate  that  the  me- 
chanical strains  to  which  upright  growing 
plants  are  exposed  themselves  cause  increase 
of  the  dense  deposits  by  which  such  plants 
are  enabled  to  resist  such  strains.  There 
is  the  fact  that  the  massiveness  of  a  tree- 
trunk  varies  according  to  the  stress  habitu- 
ally put  upon  it.  ...  A  tree  trained 
against  a  wall  has  a  less  bulky  stem  than  a 
tree  of  the  same  kind  growing  unsupported ; 
and  between  the  long,  weak  branches  of  the 
one  and  the  stiff  ones  of  the  other  there 
are  decided  contrasts.  Garden  plants,  which 
when  held  up  by  tying  them  to  sticks  have 
weaker  stems  than  when  they  are  unpropped, 
and  sink  down  if  their  props  are  taken 
away.  .  .  .  Trees  growing  on  inclined 
rocky  surfaces  send  into  crevices  that  afford 
little  moisture  or  nutriment  roots  which 


nevertheless  become  thick  where  they  are  so 
directed  as  to  bear  great  strains. — SPENCER 
Biology,  pt.  iv,  ch.  4,  p.  275.  (A.,  1900.) 


3250. 


Strongest  Corals 


Grow  in  Hardest  Surf — Vital  Energies  Con- 
quer Mechanical  Power. — It  has  been  a  ques- 
tion with  some  naturalists  which  part  of  a 
reef  is  most  favorable  to  the  growth  of  coral. 
The  great  mounds  of  living  porites  and  of 
millepora  round  Keeling  atoll  occur  exclu- 
sively on  the  extreme  verge  of  the  reef,  which 
is  washed  by  a  constant  succession  of  break- 
ers; and  living  coral  nowhere  else  forms  solid 
masses.  At  the  Marshall  Islands  the  larger 
kinds  of  coral,  .  .  .  "which  form  rocks 
measuring  several  fathoms  in  thickness,'* 
prefer  .  .  .  the  most  violent  surf.  I 
have  stated  that  the  outer  margin  of  the 
Maldiva  atolls  consists  of  living  corals  ( some 
of  which,  if  not  all,  are  of  the  same  species 
with  those  at  Keeling  atoll),  and  here  the 
surf  is  so  tremendous  that  even  large  ships 
have  been  thrown,  by  a  single  heave  of  the 
sea,  high  and  dry  on  the  reef,  all  on  board 
thus  escaping  with  their  lives.  .  .  .  The 
vital  energies  of  the  corals  conquer  the  me- 
chanical power  of  the  waves;  and  the  large 
fragments  of  reef  torn  up  by  every  storm 
are  replaced  by  the  slow  but  steady  growth 
of  the  innumerable  polypifers  which  form 
the  living  zone  on  its  outer  edge.  ...  It 
is  certain  that  the  strongest  and  most  mas- 
sive corals  flourish  where  most  exposed. — 
DARWIN  Coral  Reefs,  ch.  4,  p.  85.  (A.,  1900.) 

3251.  STRENGTH,  MAN'S,  PROPOR- 
TIONED TO  EARTHLY  NEEDS—  Weakness 
of  Gravity  on  the  Moon — Cyclopean  Amphi- 
theaters and  Volcanoes. — Gravity  at  the  sur- 
face of  the  moon  is  weaker  than  with  us; 
if  we  represent  by  1,000  the  force  which 
causes  objects  to  adhere  to  the  terrestrial 
globe,  that  on  the  moon  would  be  represent- 
ed by  164.  Hence,  objects  weigh  there  six 
times  less  than  here;  they  are  attracted 
six  times  less  strongly.  A  stone  weighing 
one  pound,  if  transported  to  the  moon,  would 
not  weigh  more  than  3  ounces.  A  man 
weighing  11  stone  on  our  planet  would  not 
weigh  there  more  than  26  pounds.  If  we 
imagine  a  man  transported  to  our  satellite, 
if  we  suppose,  moreover,  that  his  muscular 
powers  would  remain  the  same  in  this  new 
abode,  he  would  be  able  to  raise  weights 
five  to  six  times  heavier  than  on  the  earth, 
and  his  own  body  itself  would  seem  to  be 
five  or  six  times  lighter.  The  least  mus- 
cular effort  would  enable  him  to  spring 
to  enormous  heights  or  to  run  with  the 
speed  of  a  locomotive.  [It  must  be  observed] 
what  a  considerable  part  this  weakness  of 
gravity  has  played  in  the  topographical  or- 
ganization of  the  lunar  world,  by  permitting 
the  volcanoes  to  pile  up  giant  mountains  on 
Cyclopean  amphitheaters,  and  with  a  power- 
ful hand  to  toss  Alps  upon  Pyrenees. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  3,  p.  110.  (A.) 


trength 

truggle 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


658 


3252.  STRENGTH  OF  STRUCTURE 
ADAPTED    TO    RESISTANCE  —  Shells   of 
Plymouth     Breakwater  —  Weakest     against 
Least  Exposure. — The  same  species  of  mol- 
lusk  lias  often  a  shell  comparatively  weak 
and    thin,    or    a    shell    comparatively    ro- 
bust   and    strong,    according    as    it    lies    in 
tranquil    or    in    stormy    water.      The    shell 
which  is  much  exposed  needs  to  be  stronger 
than  the  shell  which  is  less  exposed.     But 
it   is    obvious   that    the    mere    fact    of    the 
need   cannot  supply  the   thing  needed,   un- 
less   by    the    adjustment    of    some    machin- 
ery for  the  purpose.     How  the  vital  forces 
of  the  mollusk  can  thus  be  made  to  work 
to  order,  under  a  change  of  external  condi- 
tions, we  do  not  know.     But  we  do  know, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  shell  is  thick- 
ened and  strengthened  according  as  it  needs 
resisting  power.     This  result  does  not  ap- 
pear  to   arise   from   any    difference    in   the 
amount    of    lime    held    in    solution    in    the 
water,  but  from  some  power  in  the  secreting 
organs  of  the  animal  to  appropriate  more  or 
less  of  it  according  to  its  own  need.     The 
effects  of  this  power  are  seen  where  there 
is  no  difference  of  condition  except  difference 
of  exposure.     It  is  said  that  they  are  ob- 
servable,  for  example,  in  the  shells  which 
lie  on  the  different  sides  of  Plymouth  break- 
water— the  sheltered  side  and  the  exposed 
side.    The  same  power  of  adaptation  is  seen 
in  many  other  forms.    Trees  which  are  most 
exposed  to  the  blast  are  the  most  strongly 
anchored  in  the  soil.     Limbs  which  are  the 
most  used  are  the  most  developed.     Organs 
which  are  in  constant  use  are  strengthened, 
whilst  organs  in  habitual  disuse  have  a  ten- 
dency to  become  weaker. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  5,  p.  128.     (Burt.) 

3253.  STRENGTH,    SURPRISING  — 

Physical  Effect  of  Emotion. — Of  the  almost 
superhuman  strength  and  agility  with  which 
the  body  seems  endowed,  when  the  whole 
energy  is  concentrated  upon  some  nervo- 
muscular  effort,  especially  under  the  in- 
fluence of  an  overpowering  emotion,  the 
following  remarkable  example  has  been 
communicated  to  the  writer  by  a  gentleman 
on  whom  he  can  place  full  reliance,  and  who 
was  personally  cognizant  of  the  fact:  An 
old  cook-maid,  tottering  with  age,  having 
heard  an  alarm  of  fire,  seized  an  enor- 
mous box  containing  her  whole  property, 
and  ran  downstairs  with  it  as  easily  as  she 
would  have  carried  a  dish  of  meat.  After 
the  fire  had  been  extinguished  she  could  not 
lift  the  box  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  ground, 
and  it  required  two  men  to  convey  it  up- 
stairs again. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physiol- 
ogy, ch.  7,  p.  328.  (A.,  1900.) 

3254.  STRENGTH  UNDERMINED— 

White  Ants  Eat  Out  the  Substance  of 
Timber  from  Within. — Either  from  the  de- 
sire to  remain  undiscovered  [according  to 
Biichner],  or  from  their  liking  for  darkness, 
they  [the  white  ants]  have  the  remarkable 
habit  of  destroying  and  gnawing  everything 


from  within  outwards,  and  of  leaving  the 
outside  shell  standing,  so  that  from  the  out- 
side appearance  the  dangerous  state  of  the 
inside  is  not  perceptible.  If,  for  instance, 
they  have  destroyed  a  table  or  other  piece  of 
household  furniture,  in  which  they  always 
manage  from  the  ground  upwards  to  hit  ex- 
actly the  places  on  which  the  feet  of  the  ar- 
ticle rest,  the  table  looks  perfectly  uninjured 
outside,  and  people  are  quite  astonished  when 
it  breaks  down  under  the  slightest  pressure. 
The  whole  inside  is  eaten  away,  and  only 
the  thinnest  shell  is  left  standing.  If  fruits 
are  lying  on  the  table  they  also  are  eaten 
out  from  the  exact  spot  on  which  they  rest 
on  the  surface  of  the  table.  In  similar  fash- 
ion things  consisting  wholly  of  wood,  such 
as  wooden  ships,  trees,  etc.,  are  destroyed 
by  them  so  that  they  finally  break  in  with- 
out any  one  having  noticed  the  mischief. — 
ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  5,  p.  201. 
(A.,  1899.) 

3255.  STRESS  OF  EMOTION  MAKES 
PAST    SEEM    DISTANT— A    Great  Sorrow 
Quickly  Seems  Old. — Our  representation  of 
the  position  of  a  given  event  in  the  past 
is     ...     determined  by  the  movement  of 
imagination  in  going  back  to  it  from  the 
present.     And  this  is  the  same  thing  as  to 
say  that  it  depends   on   our  retrospective 
sense    of    the    intervening    space.     That    is 
to   say,   the   sense   of   distance  in   time,   as 
in  space,   is  the  recognition  of   a   term  to 
a  movement.     ...     A  very  recent  event, 
bringing  with  it  a  deep  mental  shock  and  a 
rapid  stirring  of  wide  tracts  of  feeling  and 
thought,  may  get  to  look  old  in  a  marvelous- 
ly  short  space  of  time.     An  announcement 
of  the  loss  of  a  dear  friend,  when  sudden 
and  deeply  agitating,  will  seem  remote  even 
after    an    hour    of    such    intense    emotional 
experience. — SULLY  Illusions,  ch.  10,  p.  254. 
(A.,  1897.) 

3256.  STRIFE    IN    NATURE  —  The 

Struggle  for  Existence  —  Parasites  Have 
Brought  Famine  to  Man. — In  thus  obtain- 
ing possession  of  the  earth  by  conquest  [of 
animals],  and  defending  our  acquisitions  by 
force,  we  exercise  no  exclusive  prerogative. 
Every  species  which  has  spread  itself  from 
a  small  point  over  a  wide  area  must,  in 
like  manner,  have  marked  its  progress  by 
the  diminution  or  the  entire  extirpation  of 
some  other,  and  must  maintain  its  ground 
by  a  successful  struggle  against  the  en- 
croachments of  other  plants  and  animals. 
That  minute  parasitic  plant,  called  "  the 
rust "  in  wheat,  has,  like  the  Hessian  fly, 
the  locust,  and  the  aphis,  caused  famines 
ere  now  amongst  the  "  lords  of  the  cre- 
ation." The  most  insignificant  and  diminu- 
tive species,  whether  in  the  animal  or  vege- 
table kingdom,  have  each  slaughtered  their 
thousands,  as  they  disseminated  themselves 
over  the  globe,  as  well  as  the  lion,  when 
first  it  spread  itself  over  the  tropical  regions 
of  Africa. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk. 
iii,  ch.  41,  p.  688.  (A.,  1854.) 


659 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Strength 
Struggle 


3257.  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  HEAV- 
ENS,    COMPLICATED  —  Nebula  of  Many 
Types — The  Magellanic  Clouds — Contrasted 
with  Starless  Spaces,  the  "  Coal  Sacks." — 
Mysterious  objects    [the  nebulae],  voices  of 
the  past,  prophecies  of  the  future,  these  soft 
and  pale  gleams  open  to  the  mind  new  per- 
spectives in  infinitude;   the  first  telescopic 
observers  of  the  sky,  who  treasured  the  mem- 
ory   of    the    empyrean,    described    them   as 
openings   through   the   celestial   vault,   per- 
mitting our  gaze  to  penetrate  to  the  light 
of  Paradise.     The  types  on  which  we  have 
fixed    our    attention   give    still   but   an   in- 
complete idea.     We  should  add  the  lenticu- 
lar  and    elliptical    nebulas;    the    perforated 
nebulae;   nebulous  rays;   the  great  cloud  of 
Magellan,  at  20°  from  the  south  pole,  which 
contains  291  nebulae,  46  stellar  clusters,  and 
582  stars,  and  covers  42  square  degrees  of 
the  sky;  the  smaller  cloud,  which  occupies 
10   square   degrees,   contains   200   stars,    37 
nebulae,  and  7  clusters;    and  not  far  from 
that  the  "  coal  sacks,"  regions  entirely  void 
of  stars,  yawning  openings  in  the  sidereal 
universe,  as  if  a  waterspout  had  devastated 
them;   and,  again,  the  faintest  nebulae  lost 
in  the  depths  of  the  sky,  whose  light  would 
take,  according  to  the  Herschelian  estimates, 
two  millions  of  years  to  reach  us! — FLAM- 
MARIOX  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  10, 
p.  665.     (A.) 

3258.  STRUGGLE   AND   CONFLICT 
BEHIND  THE  BEAUTY  AND  ORDER  OF 
NATURE — To    most    persons    Nature    ap- 
pears calm,  orderly,  and  peaceful.    They  see 
the  birds  singing  in  the  trees,  the   insects 
hovering  over  the  flowers,  the  squirrel  climb- 
ing among  the  tree-tops,  and  all  living  things 
in  the  possession  of  health  and  vigor  and 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  sunny  existence.    But 
they  do  not  see  and  hardly  ever  think  of 
the  means  by  which  this  beauty  and  har- 
mony   and    enjoyment    are    brought    about. 
They  do  not  see  the  constant  and  daily  search 
after  food,  the  failure  to  obtain  which  means 
weakness  or  death;   the  constant  effort  to 
escape   enemies;    the    ever-recurring    strug- 
gle against  the  forces  of  Nature.    This  daily 
and  hourly  struggle,  the  incessant  warfare, 
is   nevertheless   the   very   means   by   which 
much  of  the  beauty  and  harmony  and  enjoy- 
ment in  Nature  are  produced,  and  also  affords 
one  of  the  most  important  elements  in  bring- 
ing about  the  origin  of  species. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  10.     (Hum.) 


3259. 


Among  All  Plants 


— The  More  Vigorous  Choke  the  Weaker 
(Matt,  sciii,  7). — "All  the  plants  of  a  given 
country,"  says  De  Candolle,  in  his  usual 
spirited  style,  "  are  at  war  one  with  another. 
The  first  which  establish  themselves  by 
chance  in  a  particular  spot  tend,  by  the 
mere  occupancy  of  space,  to  exclude  other 
species — the  greater  choke  the  smaller;  the 
longest  livers  replace  those  which  last  for 
a  shorter  period;  the  more  prolific  gradually 


make  themselves  masters  of  the  ground 
which  species  multiplying  more  slowly  would 
otherwise  fill."  In  this  continual  strife  it 
is  not  always  the  resources  of  the  plant 
itself  which  enable  it  to  maintain  or  extend 
its  ground.  Its  success  depends,  in  a  great 
measure,  on  the  number  of  its  foes  or  allies 
among  the  animals  and  plants  inhabiting 
the  same  region.  Thus,  for  example,  an  herb 
which  loves  the  shade  may  multiply,  if  some 
tree  with  spreading  boughs  and  dense  foliage 
flourish  in  the  neighborhood.  Another,  which, 
if  unassisted,  would  be  overpowered  by  the 
rank  growth  of  some  hardy  competitor,  is 
secure  because  its  leaves  are  unpalatable  to 
cattle,  which,  on  the  other  hand,  annually 
crop  down  its  antagonist,  and  rarely  suffer 
it  to  ripen  its  seed. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  40, "p.  670.  (A.,  1854.) 

326O.     STRUGGLE  FOR  LIFE,  THE 

— Among  Ants. — Almost  everything  is  in- 
vaded by  the  structures  of  ants.  Where 
there  are  no  real  nests  there  are  under- 
ground passages  and  galleries,  open  roads, 
covered  ways;  or,  at  least,  the  inhabitants 
of  neighboring  nests  are  out  scouting,  con- 
tending with  one  another  for  the  possession 
of  plants  containing  plant-lice  and  cochineal 
kermes,  for  the  possession  of  the  trees,  the 
flowers,  and  the  insect  plunder. 
Ants  certainly,  no  less  than  men,  fancy 
themselves  the  lords  of  creation;  for,  owing 
to  their  social  organization,  their  numbers, 
and  their  courage,  they  have  few  foes  to 
fear.  Their  most  formidable  foes  are  other 
ants,  just  as  men  are  the  worst  foes  of  men. 
In  the  tropical  world  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence is  much  fiercer  than  with  us,  and  the 
ants,  with  their  immense  number  of  species, 
play  a  much  more  important  part.  Their 
nest  -  structures  are  correspondingly  more 
varied  there,  displaying  far  more  singular 
and  complicated  adaptations  as  the  result 
of  the  struggle  for  life. — FOREL  Ants'  Nests 
(Report  of  Smithsonian  Institution,  1894, 
p.  503). 


3261. 


Among  Bacteria. 


— There  is  in  these  media  [water  and  sew- 
age] in  Nature  a  keen  struggle  for  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  bacteria  for  each 
special  medium.  In  a  carcass  it  is  the 
same.  If  saprophytic  bacteria  [bacteria  of 
decomposition]  are  present  with  pathogenic 
[disease-producing],  there  is  a  struggle  for 
the  survival  of  the  latter.  Now  whilst  this 
is  in  part  due  to  a  competition  owing  to  a 
limited  food  supply  and  an  unlimited  popu- 
lation, as  occurs  in  other  spheres,  it  is  also 
due  in  part  to  the  inimical  influence  of  the 
chemical  products  of  the  one  species  upon 
the  life  of  the  bacteria  of  the  other  species. 
Moreover,  in  one  culture  medium,  as  Cast 
has  pointed  out,  two  species  will  often  not 
grow.  When  Pasteur  found  that  exposure 
to  air  attenuated  his  cultures,  he  pointed 
out  that  it  was  not  the  air  per  se  that  hin- 
dered his  growth,  but  it  was  the  introduc- 


Struggle 
stupidity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


tion  of  other  species  which  competed  with 
the  original. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p. 
34.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


3262. 


Conflict  Most  Se- 


vere between  Allied  Forms. — The  depend- 
ency of  one  organic  being  on  another,  as  of 
a  parasite  on  its  prey,  lies  generally  between 
beings  remote  in  the  scale  of  Nature.  This 
is  likewise  sometimes  the  case  with  those 
which  may  be  strictly  said  to  struggle  with 
each  other  for  existence,  as  in  the  case 
of  locusts  and  grass-feeding  quadrupeds. 
But  the  struggle  [for  life]  will  almost 
invariably  be  most  severe  between  the  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  species,  for  they  fre- 
quent the  same  districts,  require  the  same 
food,  and  are  exposed  to  the  same  dangers. 
— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  3,  p.  69. 
(Burt.) 

3263. Family  Relieves— 

Duties  Distributed — Character  Developed. 
— Great  as  are  the  physical  advantages 
of  the  family,  the  ethical  uses,  even  in  the 
early  days  of  its  existence,  place  this  insti- 
tution at  the  head  of  all  the  creations  of 
evolution.  For  the  family  is  not  only  its 
greatest  creation,  but  its  greatest  instru- 
ment for  further  creation.  The  ethical 
changes  begin  almost  the  moment  it  is 
formed.  One  immediate  effect,  for  instance, 
of  the  formation  of  family  groups  was  to 
take  off  from  any  single  individual  the  per- 
petual strain  of  the  struggle  for  life.  The 
family  as  a  whole  must  sometimes  fight, 
but  the  responsibility  and  the  duty  are  now 
distributed,  and  those  who  were  once  solely 
preoccupied  with  the  personal  struggle  will 
have  respites  during  which  other  things 
will  occupy  their  minds.  Attention  thus 
called  off  from  environing  enemies,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  will,  as  it  were,  discover 
one  another.  New  relations  among  them 
will  spring  up,  new  adjustments  to  one 
another's  presence  and  to  one  another's 
needs,  and  hitherto  unknown  elements  of 
character  will  be  gradually  called  to  the 
surface. — DEUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  9, 
p.  310.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 


3264. 


Its  Intensity  Tran- 


scends Calculation. — Every  one  has  heard 
that  when  an  American  forest  is  cut  down 
a  very  different  vegetation  springs  up;  but 
it  has  been  observed  that  ancient  Indian 
ruins  in  the  southern  United  States,  which 
must  formerly  have  been  cleared  of  trees, 
now  display  the  same  beautiful  diversity 
and  proportion  of  kinds  as  in  the  surround- 
ing virgin  forests.  What  a  struggle  must 
have  gone  on  during  long  centuries  between 
the  several  kinds  of  trees,  each  annually 
scattering  its  seeds  by  the  thousand;  what 
war  between  insect  and  insect,  between  in- 
sects, snails,  and  other  animals,  with  birds 
and  beasts  of  prey,  all  striving  to  increase, 
all  feeding  on  each  other,  or  on  the  trees, 
their  seeds  and  seedlings,  or  on  the  other 
plants  which  first  clothed  the  ground  and 


thus  checked  the  growth  of  the  trees !  Throw 
up  a  handful  of  feathers  and  all  fall 
to  the  ground  according  to  definite  laws; 
but  how  simple  is  the  problem  where  each 
shall  fall  compared  to  that  of  the  action 
and  reaction  of  the  innumerable  plants  and 
animals  which  have  determined,  in  the 
course  of  centuries,  the  proportional  num- 
bers and  kinds  of  trees  now  growing  on  the 
old  Indian  ruins! — DARWIN  Origin  of  Spe- 
cies, ch.  3,  p.  69.  (Burt.) 


3265. 


Not   the  Only 
Villain"  Not 


Element  in  Evolution — The 
the  Only  Actor  in  the  Drama. — That  the 
struggle  for  life  has  been  a  prominent 
actor  in  the  drama  is  certain.  Further 
research  has  only  deepened  the  impression 
of  the  magnitude  and  universality  of  this 
great  and  far  -  reaching  law.  But  that 
it  is  the  sole  or  even  the  main  agent  in  the 
process  of  evolution  must  be  denied.  Cre- 
ation is  a  drama,  and  no  drama  was  ever 
put  upon  the  stage  with  only  one  actor. 
The  struggle  for  life  is  the  "  villain  "  of  the 
piece,  no  more ;  and,  like  the  "  villain  "  in 
the  play,  its  chief  function  is  to  react  upon 
the  other  players  for  higher  ends. — DRUM- 
MOND  Ascent  of  Man,  int.,  p.  12.  (J.  P., 
1900.) 

3266.      Painfulness  of, 

among  the  Lower  Animals — Less  Painful 
than  We  Imagine — Nature  Takes  by  Force 
the  Sacrifice  Not  Freely  Made. — The  proba- 
bilities are  that  the  struggle  for  life  in 
the  lower  creation  is,  to  say  the  least,  less 
painful  than  it  looks.  Whether  we  regard 
the  dulness  of  the  states  of  consciousness 
among  lower  animals,  or  the  fact  that  the 
condition  of  danger  must  become  habitual, 
or  that  death  when  it  comes  is  sudden,  and 
unaccompanied  by  that  anticipation  which 
gives  it  its  chief  dread  to  man,  we  must 
assume  that  whatever  the  struggle  for  life 
subjectively  means  to  the  lower  animals,  it 
can  never  approach  in  terror  what  it  means 
to  us.  And  as  to  putting  any  moral  content 
into  it,  until  a  late  stage  in  the  world's  de- 
velopment, that  is  not  to  be  thought  of. 
Judged  of  even  by  later  standards,  there  is 
much  to  relieve  one's  first  unfavorable  im- 
pression. With  exceptions,  the  fight  is  a 
fair  fight.  As  a  rule,  there  is  no  hate  in 
it,  but  only  hunger.  It  is  seldom  prolonged 
and  seldom  wanton.  As  to  the  manner  of 
death,  it  is  generally  sudden.  As  to  the  fact 
of  death,  all  animals  must  die.  As  to  the 
meaning  of  an  existence  prematurely  closed, 
it  is  better  to  be  to  be  eaten  than  not  to 
be  at  all.  And,  as  to  the  last  result,  it  is 
better  to  be  eaten  out  of  the  world  and, 
dying,  help  another  to  live,  than  pollute  the 
world  by  lingering  decay.  The  most,  after 
all,  that  can  be  done  with  life  is  to  give  it 
to  others.  Till  Nature  taught  her  creatures 
of  their  own  free  will  to  offer  the  sacrifice, 
is  it  strange  that  she  took  it  by  force? — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  6,  p.  203. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 


661 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Stupidity 


3267. 


Subordinated  to 


Higher  Aims — The  Evolution  of  Motherhood 
— The  Struggle  for  Another's  Life  Begun. — 
Watch  any  higher  animal  at  that  most  crit- 
ical of  all  hours — for  itself,  and  for  its  spe- 
cies— the  hour  when  it  gives  birth  to  another 
creature  like  itself.  Pass  over  the  purely 
physiological  processes  of  birth;  observe  the 
behavior  of  the  animal-mother  in  presence 
of  the  new  and  helpless  life  which  palpi- 
tates before  her.  There  it  lies,  trembling  in 
the  balance  between  life  and  death.  Hunger 
tortures  it;  cold  threatens  it;  danger  be- 
sets it ;  its  blind  existence  hangs  by  a  thread. 
There  is  the  opportunity  of  evolution.  There 
is  an  opening  appointed  in  the  physical 
order  for  the  introduction  of  a  moral  or- 
der. If  there  is  more  in  Nature  than  the 
selfish  struggle  for  life  the  secret  can  now 
be  told.  Hitherto,  the  world  belonged  to 
the  food-seeker,  the  self-seeker,  the  strug- 
gler  for  life,  the  father.  Now  is  the  hour 
of  the  mother.  And,  animal  tho  she  be, 
she  rises  to  her  task.  And  that  hour,  as  she 
ministers  to  her  young,  becomes  to  her, 
and  to  the  world,  the  hour  of  its  holiest 
birth. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  17. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

3268.  STUDENT     OF    FACTS    CAW 
ALONE  DETERMINE  THEORY— But  none 
have  a  right  to  question  either  the  sanity 
or  the  sanctity  of  such  investigations,  still 
less  to  dismiss  them  idly  on  a  priori  grounds, 
till  they  have  approached  the  practical  prob- 
lem for  themselves,  and  heard  at  least  the 
first  few  relevant  words  from  Nature.     For 
one  has   only  to  move  for   a   little  among 
the  facts  to   see  what  a  world  of  interest 
lies  here,  and  to  be  forced  to  hold  the  judg- 
ment in  suspense  till  the  sciences  at  work 
upon  the  problem  have  further  shaped  their 
verdict. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  4, 
p.  121.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

3269.  STUDENTS    OF    PURE    SCI- 
ENCE MAKE  DISCOVERIES-  Others  Make 
Industrial    Application. — Cuvier,    the   great 
comparative  anatomist,  writes  thus  .    .    .     : 
"  These  grand,  practical  innovations  are  the 
mere  applications  of  truths  of  a  higher  or- 
der, not  sought  with  a  practical  intent,  but 
pursued    for    their    own    sake,    and    solely 
through    an    ardor    for    knowledge.      Those 
who  applied  them  could  not  have  discovered 
them;    those  who   discovered  them  had  no 
inclination  to  pursue  them  to   a   practical 
end.     Engaged  in  the  high  regions  whither 
their  thought  had  carried  them,  they  hard- 
ly perceived  these  practical  issues,  tho  born 
of  their  own  deeds.    These  rising  workshops, 
these   peopled    colonies,    those    ships    which 
furrow  the  seas — this  abundance,  this  lux- 
ury, this  tumult — all  this  comes  from  dis- 
coverers   in    science,    and    it    all    remains 
strange  to  them.     At  the  point  where  sci- 
ence merges  into  practise  they  abandon  it; 
it  concerns  them  no  more." — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  p.  223.      (A.,  1898.) 


3270.  STUDY,  FAVORITE,  MENTAL 
BENEFIT   OF— Biology   Gives  the  Mind 
Breadth  and  Tone. — Mr.  Hamerton  has  well 
said,  "  To  have  one  favorite  study,  and  live 
in  it  with  happy  familiarity,  and  cultivate 
every  portion  of  it  diligently  and  lovingly, 
as  a  small  yeoman  proprietor  cultivates  his 
own  land,  this,  as  to  study,  at  least,  is  the 
most  enviable  intellectual  life."     And  if  a 
study    should    be    sought    for    which    shall 
most  pleasantly  aid  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
inner  life  just  described  it  will   assuredly 
be  found  more  readily  within  the  domain  of 
biology   than   in   any   other   department  of 
human  knowledge.    To  act  as  such  a  mental 
stimulant;  to  effectually  prevent  the  occur- 
rence  of  that  miserable   disease   of   female 
mental  existence — ennui;   to  give  the  mind 
breadth  and  tone  from  the  beginning  of  its 
cultivation — such   are  the  benefits   I   claim 
for    the    school    study    of    biology,    carried 
in  its  natural  development  into  the  after- 
life of  the  pupil   of   either   sex. — ANDREW 
WILSON  Biology  in  Education,  p.  25.    (Hum., 
1888.) 

3271.  STUDY  OF  NATURE   LIMIT- 
ED BY  TRADITIONAL    BELIEFS— Exist- 
ence of  Sun-spots  Denied — The  Sun  Stud- 
ied by  Night  in  Aristotle. — It  was  Father 
Scheiner,  a  Jesuit  of  Ingolstadt,  who  first 
effectually  called  attention  to  the  sun-spots, 
and  this,  so  to  say,  in  spite  of  himself  and 
in  spite  of  his  superior.     The  day-star  was 
regarded  and  honored  as  the  purest  symbol 
of  celestial  incorruptibility,  and  the  official 
savants  of  that  age  would  never  have  dared 
to  consent  to  the  admission  of  these  spots. 
It  would  have  been  then   a  crime  of  high 
treason,   and  dogma   itself  would  have  ap- 
peared  to   be   compromised.     After  his   re- 
peated observations,  which  would  not  permit 
him   to    doubt    their    existence,    our   Jesuit 
went   to    consult   the   provincial    father    of 
his  order,  a  zealous  peripatetic  philosopher, 
who  refused  to  believe  it.    "  I  have  read  the 
whole   of   my   Aristotle   several   times,"   he 
replied  to  Scheiner,  "  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  I  have  found  nothing  similar  there. 
Go,   my    son,"    added    he,    dismissing   him; 
"  quiet  yourself,  and  be  certain  that  there 
are  defects  in  your  glasses  or  in  your  eyes 
which  you  take  for  spots  on  the  sun."    They 
even  say  that  he  passed  the  night  in  ascer- 
taining the  state  of  the  day-star!     At  this 
epoch   academical   routine   still   domineered 
over  the  study  of  Nature.    Very  fortunately 
for  science,  unfettered  minds  would  observe : 
what  Scheiner  did  in  Germany,  Galileo  did 
in  Italy,  and  the  solar  spots  were  verified  as 
facts  by  all  those  who  wished  to  see  them. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch. 
3,  p.  253.      (A.) 

3272.  STUPIDITY   OF    INSTINCT— 

Cats  Endlessly  Baffled  by  Same  Trick — All 
Experience  Vain. — A  curious  instance  .  .  . 
was  brought  to  my  notice  .  .  .  by  one 
of  my  neighbors,  a  native.  His  children 
had  made  the  discovery  that  some  excite- 


Stupidity 
tabsidence 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ment  and  fun  were  to  be  had  b] 
•long,  hollow  stalk  of  the  giant  thistle  with 
a  mouse  in  it — and  every  hollow  stalk  at  this 
time  had  one  for  a  tenant — before  a  cat,  and 
then  watching  her  movements.  Smelling  her 
prey,  she  would  spring  at  one  end  of  the 
stalk — the  end  towards  which  the  mouse 
would  be  moving  at  the  same  time — but 
would  catch  nothing;  for  the  mouse,  instead 
of  running  out,  would  turn  back  to  run  to 
the  other  end,  whereupon  the  cat,  all  excite- 
ment, would  jump  there  to  seize  it;  and  so 
the  contest  would  continue  for  a  long  time, 
an  exhibition  of  the  cleverness  and  the  stu- 
pidity of  instinct,  both  of  the  pursuer  and 
the  pursued. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  3,  p.  61.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 


3273. 


Example  of  Con- 


trasted Intelligence. — There  were  several  cats 
at  the  house,  and  all  acted  in  the  same  way 
[as  that  described  in  paragraph  3272]  except 
one.  When  a  stalk  was  placed  before  this 
cat,  instead  of  becoming  excited  like  the 
others,  it  went  quickly  to  one  end  and  smelt 
at  the  opening;  then,  satisfied  that  its  prey 
was  inside,  it  deliberately  bit  a  long  piece 
out  of  the  stalk  with  its  teeth,  then  another 
strip,  and  so  on  progressively,  until  the 
entire  stick  had  been  opened  up  to  within 
six  or  eight  inches  of  the  further  end,  when 
the  mouse  came  out  and  was  caught.  Every 
stalk  placed  before  this  cat  was  demolished 
in  the  same  businesslike  way;  but  the  other 
cats,  tho  they  were  made  to  look  on  while 
the  stick  was  being  broken  up  by  their  fel- 
low, could  never  learn  the  trick. — HUDSON 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  3,  p.  61.  (C.  & 
H.,  1895.) 


3274. 


No  Power  of  Adap- 


tation to  New  Needs  and  Perils. — The  na- 
ture of  this  lizard's  food  [the  Amblyrhyn- 
cus  of  the  Galapagos  Islands],  as  well  as 
the  structure  of  its  tail  and  feet,  and 
the  fact  of  its  having  been  seen  volun- 
tarily swimming  out  at  sea,  absolutely 
prove  its  aquatic  habits ;  yet  there  is  in  this 
respect  one  strange  anomaly,  namely,  that 
when  frightened  it  will  not  enter  the  water. 
Hence  it  is  easy  to  drive  these  lizards  down 
to  any  little  point  overhanging  the  sea, 
where  they  will  sooner  allow  a  person  to 
catch  hold  of  their  tails  than  jump  into  the 
water.  ...  I  threw  one  several  times 
as  far  as  I  could  into  a  deep  pool  left  by  the 
retiring  tide,  but  it  invariably  returned  in 
a  direct  line  to  the  spot  where  I  stood.  It 
swam  near  the  bottom,  with  a  very  graceful 
and  rapid  movement,  and  occasionally  aided 
itself  over  the  uneven  ground  with  its 
feet.  ...  I  several  times  caught  this 
same  lizard  by  driving  it  down  to  a  point, 
and  tho  possessed  of  such  perfect  pow- 
ers of  diving  and  swimming,  nothing  would 
induce  it  to  enter  the  water;  and  as 
often  as  I  threw  it  in  it  returned  in  the 
manner  above  described.  Perhaps  this  sin- 
gular piece  of  apparent  stupidity  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  circumstance  that  this 


reptile  has  no  enemy  whatever  on  shore, 
whereas  at  sea  it  must  often  fall  a  prey  to 
the  numerous  sharks.  Hence,  probably, 
urged  by  a  fixed  and  hereditary  instinct 
that  the  shore  is  its  place  of  safety,  what- 
ever the  emergency  may  be,  it  there  takes 
refuge. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around 
the  World,  ch.  17,  p.  386.  (A.,  1893.) 

3275.  STUPIDITY  OF  THE  HORSE 

— Utility  of  Limited  Intelligence. — The  horse 
is  a  densely  stupid  animal,  as  far  as  every- 
thing goes  except  contiguous  association. 
We  reckon  him  intelligent,  partly  because 
he  looks  so  handsome,  partly  because  he 
has  such  a  wonderful  faculty  of  contiguous 
association  and  can  be  so  quickly  molded 
into  a  mass  of  set  habits.  Had  he  anything 
of  reasoning  intelligence  he  would  be  a  less 
faithful  slave  than  he  is. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy,vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  353.  (H.  H.&  Co.,  1899.) 

3276.  SUBLIMITY    AND    BEAUTY 
ARE    IN    THE  SOUL— To  Switzerland  be- 
longs the  rock — to  the  early  climber,  com- 
petent to  enjoy  them,  belong  the  sublimity 
and  beauty  of  mass,  form,  color,  and  group- 
ing.    And  still  the  outward  splendor  is  by 
no  means  all.     "  In  the  midst  of  a  puddly 
moor,"  says  Emerson,  "  I  am  afraid  to  say 
how  glad  I  am,"  which  is  a  strong  way  of 
affirming   the    influence    of    the    inner    man 
as   regards  the  enjoyment  of  external   Na- 
ture.    And  surely  the  inner  man  is  a  high 
factor   in   the   effect.     The  magnificence  of 
the  world  outside   suffices  not.     Like  light 
falling    upon    the    polished    plate    of    the 
photographer,    the   glory   of   Nature,   to  be 
felt,    must   descend    upon    a    soul   prepared 
to  receive   its   image   and  superscription. — 
TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch. 
25,  p.  301.     (A.,  1898.) 

3277.  SUBLIMITY  OF  VASTNESS— 
The  Steppes  Once  the  Bottom  of  an  Inland 
Sea. — The   steppes   themselves    [were   once] 
the  bottom  of  some  vast  inland  sea.     Even 
now  illusion  often  recalls,  in  the  obscurity 
of  night,  these  images  of  a  former  age.     For 
when  the  guiding  constellations  illumine  the 
margin  of  the  plain  with  their  rapidly  rising 
and  setting  beams,  or  when  their  flickering 
forms    are    reflected   in   the    lower   stratum 
of  undulating  vapor,  a  shoreless  ocean  seems 
spread  before  us.     Like  a  limitless  expanse 
of  waters,  the  steppe  fills  the  mind  with  a 
sense  of  the  infinite,  and  the  soul,  freed  from 
the  sensuous  impressions  of  space,  expands 
with  spiritual  emotions  of  a  higher  order. 
But  the  aspect  of  the  ocean,  its  bright  sur- 
face   diversified    with    rippling    or    gently 
swelling  waves,  is  productive  of  pleasurable 
sensations,  while  the  steppe  lies  stretched  be- 
fore us  cold  and  monotonous,  like  the  naked, 
stony  crust  of  some  desolate  planet. — HUM- 
BOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  1.     (Bell,  1896.) 

3278.  SUBMERGENCE    AND    ELE- 
VATION OF  CONTINENTS— Marine  Fossils 
in  Inland  Rocks — Warm  Seasons  in  Arctic 
Regions. — The  greater   part  of  the   marine 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Stupidity 
Subsidenc 


fossils  known  to  us  are  from  rocks  now 
raised  up  in  our  continents,  and  they  lived 
at  periods  when  the  continents  were  sub- 
merged. Now,  in  geological  time  these  peri- 
ods of  submergence  alternated  with  others 
of  elevation;  and  it  is  manifest  that  each 
period  of  continental  submergence  gave  scope 
for  the  introduction  of  numbers  of  new 
marine  species,  while  each  continental  ele- 
vation, on  the  other  hand,  gave  opportunity 
for  the  increase  of  land  life.  Further,  peri- 
ods when  a  warm  climate  prevailed  in  the 
arctic  regions — periods  when  plants  such  as 
now  live  in  temperate  regions  could  enjoy 
six  months  of  continuous  sunshine — were 
eminently  favorable  to  the  development  of 
such  plants,  and  were  utilized  for  the  in- 
troduction of  new  floras,  which  subsequently 
spread  to  the  southward.  Thus  we  see  phys- 
ical changes  occurring  in  an  orderly  suc- 
cession, and  made  subservient  to  the  prog- 
ress of  life. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in 
Modern  Science,  lect.  3,  p.  125.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 


3279. 


The  Glacial  Period 


— The  Walrus  Swimming  among  Sunken 
Fir-trees  of  England. — There  is  a  writing 
upon  the  wall  of  cliffs  at  Cromer,  and  whoso 
runs  may  read  it.  It  tells  us,  with  an  au- 
thority which  cannot  be  impeached,  that  the 
ancient  sea-bed  of  the  chalk  sea  was  raised 
up  and  remained  dry  land  until  it  was  cov- 
ered with  forest,  stocked  with  the  great 
game  whose  spoils  have  rejoiced  your  ge- 
ologists. .  .  .  That  dry  land,  with  the 
bones  and  teeth  of  generations  of  long-lived 
elephants,  hidden  away  among  the  gnarled 
roots  and  dry  leaves  of  its  ancient  trees, 
sank  gradually  to  the  bottom  of  the  icy  sea, 
which  covered  it  with  huge  masses  of  drift 
and  boulder  clay.  Sea-beasts,  such  as  the 
walrus,  now  restricted  to  the  extreme  north, 
paddled  about  where  birds  had  twittered 
among  the  topmost  twigs  of  the  fir-trees. 
How  long  this  state  of  things  endured  we 
know  not,  but  at  length  it  came  to  an  end. 
The  upheaved  glacial  mud  hardened  into  the 
soil  of  modern  Norfolk.  Forests  grew  once 
more,  the  wolf  and  the  beaver  replaced  the 
reindeer  and  the  elephant;  and  at  length 
what  we  call  the  history  of  England  dawned. 
— HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  9,  p.  194. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

328O.  SUBSIDENCE,  GRADUAL,  OF 
EARTH'S  CRUST—  Coral  Islands  a  Proof. 
— There  are  many  large  spaces  of  ocean, 
without  any  high  land,  interspersed  with 
reefs  and  islets  formed  by  the  growth  of 
those  kinds  of  coral  which  cannot  live  at 
great  depths;  and  the  existence  of  these 
reefs  and  low  islets  in  such  numbers  and 
at  such  distant  points  is  inexplicable,  ex- 
cepting on  the  theory  that  their  rocky  bases 
slowly  and  successively  sank  beneath  the 
level  of  the  sea,  whilst  the  corals  continued 
to  grow  upwards.  No  positive  facts  are 
opposed  to  this  view,  and  some  direct  evi- 
dence, as  well  as  general  considerations, 


render   it    probable. — DARWIN    Coral   Reefs, 
ch.  5,  p.  132.     (A.,  1900.) 

3281.  SUBSIDENCE    OF   GRECIAN 
COAST— Deluge  of  Samothrace— Capitals  of 
Columns  in  Fishing  Nets. — As  to  the  deluge 
of  Samothrace,  which  is  generally  referred 
to  a  distinct  date,  it  appears  that  the  shores 
of    that    small    island    and    the    adjoining 
mainland  of  Asia  were  inundated  by  the  sea. 
Diodorus  Siculus  says  that  the  inhabitants 
had  time  to  take  refuge  in  the  mountains 
and  save  themselves  by  flight;   he  also  re- 
lates that  long  after  the  event  the  fisher- 
men of  the   island   drew  up   in   their   nets- 
the  capitals  of  columns,  which  were  the  re- 
mains of  cities  submerged  by  that  terrible 
catastrophe.  These  statements  scarcely  leave 
any  doubt  that  there  occurred,  at  the  period 
alluded   to,   a  subsidence  of   the   coast,   ac- 
companied by   earthquakes  and   inroads   of 
the  sea.    It  is  not  impossible  that  the  story 
of  the  bursting  of  the  Black  Sea  through 
the   Thracian   Bosphorus    into   the   Grecian 
Archipelago,    which    accompanied    and,    as 
some  say,  caused  the  Samothracian  deluge, 
may  have   reference  to  a  wave,  or   succes- 
sion   of    waves,    raised    in    the    Euxine    by 
the  same  convulsion. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  356.     (A.,  1854.) 

3282.  SUBSIDENCE    OF   LAND    IN 
EARTHQUAKE— Sudden  Death  in  Fissures 
of  the  Earth. — In  the  year  1692  the  island 
of  Jamaica  was  visited  by  a  violent  earth- 
quake; the  ground  swelled  and  heaved  like 
a  rolling  sea,  and  was  traversed  by  numer- 
ous cracks,  two  or  three  hundred  of  which 
were  often  seen  at  a  time,  opening  and  then 
closing   rapidly   again.     Many   people  were 
swallowed    up    in    these    rents;    some    the 
earth   caught  by   the   middle   and   squeezed 
to  death;  the  heads  of  others  only  appeared 
above  ground;  and  some  were  first  engulfed 
and  then  cast  up  again  with  great  quanti- 
ties  of  water.      Such   was   the   devastation 
that  even  in  Port  Royal,  then  the  capital, 
where   more  houses  are  said   to  have  been 
left  standing  than  in  the  whole  island  be- 
sides,   three-quarters    of    the    buildings,   to- 
gether with  the  ground  they  stood  on,  sank 
down,  with  their  inhabitants,  entirely  under 
water.    .     .    .    The  large  storehouses  on  the 
harbor  side  subsided,  so  as  to  be  twenty-four,, 
thirty-six,   and   forty-eight   feet   under   wa- 
ter, yet  many  of  them  appear  to  have  re- 
mained standing,  for  it  is  stated  that  after 
the   earthquake    the    mastheads    of    several 
ships  wrecked  in  the  harbor,  together  with 
the  chimney-tops  of  houses,  were  just  seen 
projecting  above  the  waves.    A  tract  of  land 
round  the  town,  about  a  thousand  acres  in 
extent,  sank  down  in  less  than  one  minute 
during  the  first  shock,  and  the  sea  imme- 
diately   rolled    in.  —  LYELL    Principles    of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  504.     (A.,  1854.) 

3283.  SUBSIDENCE  OF  THE  QUAY 
AT  LISBON— Crowds  Engulfed  under  Sea  and 
Land. — Among    other    extraordinary    events 


Subsidence 
Summation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


664 


related  to  have  occurred  at  Lisbon  during  the 
catastrophe  [the  earthquake  of  1755]  was 
the  subsidence  of  a  new  quay,  built  entirely 
of  marble  at  an  immense  expense.  A  great 
concourse  of  people  had  collected  there  for 
safety,  as  a  spot  where  they  might  be  beyond 
the  reach  of  falling  ruins;  but  suddenly  the 
quay  sank  down  with  all  the  people  on  it, 
and  not  one  of  the  dead  bodies  ever  floated 
to  the  surface.  A  great  number  of  boats 
and  small  vessels  anchored  near  it,  all  full 
of  people,  were  swallowed  up  as  in  a  whirl- 
pool. No  fragments  of  these  wrecks  ever 
rose  again  to  the  surface,  and  the  water  in 
the  place  where  the  quay  had  stood  is  stated, 
in  many  accounts,  to  be  unfathomable;  but 
Whitehurst  says  he  ascertained  it  to  be  one 
hundred  fathoms.  —  LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  495.  (A.,  1854.) 

3284.  SUBSISTENCE  OF  PRIMEVAL 
IMPULSE—  The  Instinct  of  Habitation— Man 
Seeks    at    Once    Shelter    and    Protection. — 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  instinct  to 
seek  a  sheltered  nook,  open  only  on  one  side, 
into  which  he  may  retire  and  be  safe,  is  in 
man  quite  as  specific  as  the  instinct  of  birds 
to  build  a  nest.    It  is  not  necessarily  in  the 
shape  of  a  shelter  from  wet  and  cold  that 
the  need  comes  before  him,  but  he  feels  less 
exposed  and  more  at  home  when  not  alto- 
gether unenclosed  than  when  lying  all  abroad. 
Of  course  the  utilitarian  origin  of  this  in- 
instinct  is  obvious.     But  to  stick  to  bare 
facts  at  present  and  not  to  trace  origins, 
we  must  admit  that  this  instinct  now  ex- 
ists, and  probably  always  has  existed,  since 
man  was  man.     Habits  of  the  most  compli- 
cated kind  are  reared  upon  it.     But  even 
in   the  midst  of   these   habits   we   see  the 
blind  instinct  cropping  out;  as,  for  example, 
in  the  fact  that  we  feign  a  shelter  within 
a  shelter  by  backing  up  beds  in  rooms  with 
their    heads    against    the    wall,    and    never 
lying  in  them  the  other  way — just  as  dogs 
prefer  to  get  under  or  upon  some  piece  of 
furniture  to  sleep,  instead  of  lying  in  the 
middle  of  the  room.     The  first  habitations 
were  caves  and  leafy  grottoes,  bettered  by 
the  hands;  and  we  see  children  to-day,  when 
playing   in   wild   places,   take   the   greatest 
delight    in    discovering    and    appropriating 
such  retreats  and  "  playing  house  "  there. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  426. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3285.  SUBSTITUTES    FOR    NAILS, 
CLAMPS,  AND  SCREWS  AMONG  AMER- 
ICAN INDIANS— Fire  as  a  Tool— For  nails 
and  screws  the  Western  mechanics  employed 
"tree-nails"    and    all    sorts    of    rope    and 
twine   and   sinew-cord   and   rawhide  string. 
They  also  made  excellent  glues  and  cements, 
from  both   vegetal   and  animal   substances. 
For  tightening  a  joint,  they  knew  how  to 
take  advantage  in  the  twisting  of  a  rope. 
The  power  that  can  be  put  into  a  half-inch 
sinew-rope,  by  means  of  a  trusty  lever,  is 
very  great.     The  Eskimo  bow  is  thus  tight- 
ened.    These  mechanics  were  well  versed  in 


the  use  of  fire  as  a  tool,  excavating  and 
bending  wood  thereby,  and  among  some 
tribes  the  bow  was  rendered  more  elastic  in 
this  manner. — MASON  Aboriginal  American 
Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  International  Con- 
gress of  Anthropology,  p.  74).  (Sch.  P.  C.) 

3286.  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  VISE  AND 
PINCERS  —  Ingenuity  of  Adaptation.  —  For 
grasping  hot  stones  the  American  mechanics 
used  tongs  of  wood,  and  in  lieu  of  vises  and 
strong  pincers  they  resorted  to  the  shrinking 
of  vegetable  fiber  and  of  rawhide.  They  made 
a  kind  of  clamp  of  two  stout  bits  of  wood, 
wrapped  the  two  ends  with  spruce-root  or 
rawhide,  wet,  and  allowed  it  to  dry.     In 
this  way  the  parts  of  a  box  could  be  held 
until  they  were  sewed. — MASON  Aboriginal 
American  Mechanics   (Memoirs  of  Interna- 
tional  Congress   of   Anthropology,   p.    73). 
(Sch.  P.  C.) 

3287.  SUBSTITUTION   OF   FACUL- 
TIES   GIVES  ECONOMY   OF   POWER— 

Aids  to  Memory — Dependence  on  One's  In- 
dividuality.— The  same  result  may,  in  many 
cases,  be  achieved  by  different  faculties.  A 
man  who  can  only  remember  facts  should 
not  trouble  to  try  to  learn  by  heart;  there 
are  very  few  cases  in  which  the  substance 
is  not  sufficient. 

Those  who  can  very  easily  learn  by  heart 
should  use  concise  books,  as  their  tendency 
will  be  to  learn  the  words  and  miss  the 
sense. 

A  man  who  -  cannot  remember  details 
should  try  to  classify  everything,  and  re- 
member a  general  rule  for  the  whole,  as 
French  words  by  the  terminations,  etc. 

A  man  who  can  remember  reasons  better 
than  anything  else  should  try  to  find  a  rea- 
son for  everything,  simply  as  an  aid  to  mem- 
ory, using  a  bad  reason  instead  of  none 
at  all. 

The  artist  should  make  mental  pictures 
of  a  subject,  if  not  in  a  position  to  be  able 
to  draw  them  on  paper.  An  artist's  sketch- 
book often  forms  an  admirable  diary — that 
is,  directly  he  looks  at  the  drawings  he  has 
made  the  accompanying  circumstances  oc- 
cur to  his  mind,  and  those  which  happened 
about  that  time,  the  names  of  the  friends 
he  was  staying  with,  and  the  amusements 
they  indulged  in,  all  "coming  back." — 
ELDRIDGE-GREEN  Memory  and  its  Cultiva- 
tion, pt.  ii,  p.  275.  (A.,  1900.) 

3288.  SUCCESS  AT  OUTSET— Habit 
of  Achievement — Barbarians  and  Europeans. 
— The  need  of  securing  success  at  the  outset 
is   imperative.     Failure   at   first   is   apt  to 
dampen  the  energy  of  all  future  attempts, 
whereas   past  experience   of   success   nerVes 
one  to  future  vigor.    Goethe  says  to  a  man 
who  consulted  him  about  an  enterprise,  but 
mistrusted  his  own  powers :  "  Ach !  you  need 
only  blow  on  your  hands!"    And  the  remark 
illustrates  the  effect  on  Goethe's  spirits  of 
his  own   habitually  successful  career.    Pro- 
fessor Baumann,  from  whom  I  borrow  the 


665 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Subsidence 

humiliation 


anecdote,  says  that  the  collapse  of  barbarian 
nations  when  Europeans  come  among  them 
is  due  to  their  despair  of  ever  succeeding 
as  the  newcomers  do  in  the  larger  tasks  of 
life. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  124. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3289.  SUCCESS  TENDS  TO  BECOME 
A  HABIT —  It  is  matter  of  experience  that 
.     .     .     feelings  of  successful   achievement 
do  tend  to  fix  in  our  memory  whatever  proc- 
esses have  led  to  them. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  71.     (II.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3290.  SUFFERING    OF    ANIMALS 
LESS    THAN    CONJECTURED— There  is, 

I  think,  good  reason  to  believe  that  .  .  . 
the  supposed  "  torments  "  and  "  miseries  " 
of  animals  have  little  real  existence,  but  are 
the  reflection  of  the  imagined  sensations  of 
cultivated  men  and  women  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances, and  that  the  amount  of  actual 
suffering  caused  by  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence among  animals  is  altogether  insignifi- 
cant.— WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  2,  p.  25. 
(Hum.) 

3291.  SUGAR  SCIENTIFICALLY 
PRODUCE  D—  The  Beet-sugar  Industry.— 
We    see   in    the    development    of    the    beet- 
sugar  industry  in  that  country   [Germany] 
an  illustration  of  the  immense  industrial  im- 
portance of  pure  and  applied  chemistry.    On 
a  soil  not  naturally  fertile  and  exhausted 
by  twenty  centuries  of  agriculture,  and  in 
a  climate  not  of  the  most  hospitable  kind, 
chemical  science  has  developed  a  great  in- 
dustry which  successfully  competes  with  the 
warmth  of  climate  and  fertility  of  soil  of 
the    most    favored    tropical    regions.      Last 
year  the  German  Empire  produced   nearly 
two   million   tons   of   sugar,   a   quantity   as 
great  as  that  produced  by  the  whole  world 
a  little  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. — 
WILEY  Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Industrial 
Progress    (Address    at    Purdue    University, 
Lafayette,  Ind.,  1896,  p.  17). 

3292.  SUGGESTION   A    CAUSE    OF 
ILLUSION — Mental  Impression  Appears  Ob- 
jective.— A    suggested    impression    may    ap- 
pear so  vividly  before  the  mind  as  to  com- 
pletely overpower  a  real  impression.     Thus, 
I  was  once  traveling  by  railroad  to  Batter- 
sea   Park,   and  firmly  believed   that   I   had 
passed   Chelsea,   and  that  the  next  station 
was  Battersea  Park.  When  the  train  reached 
Chelsea  I  looked  out  of  the  carriage  at  the 
signboard,   and   saw   Battersea   Park   there, 
as  I  expected,  and  got  out  of  the  train,  but 
soon    noticed    that   I    had    alighted    at   the 
wrong   station;    I    felt   perfectly   convinced 
that  I  had  seen  Battersea  Park  on  the  sign- 
board, and  went  back  to  look,  of  course  only 
finding  Chelsea.     There  was  no  mistake  in 
the  sense  of  one  word  being  mistaken  for 
another,  for  the  words  Battersea  Park  are 
not  the  least  like  the  word  Chelsea,  and  I 
looked  directly  at  the  signboard,  and  plainly 
saw  Battersea  Park.     Such  is  the  probable 


origin  of  a  good  many  ghosts. — ELDRIDGE- 
GREEN  Memory  and  its  Cultivation,  pt.  i,  ch. 
7,  p.  171.  (A.,  1900.) 


3293. 


Vision  of  Byron 


Seen  after  His  Death  ly  Sir  Walter  Scott. — 
It  is  mentioned  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in 
his  "  Demonology  and  Witchcraft,"  that  hav- 
ing been  engaged  in  reading  with  much  in- 
terest, soon  after  the  death  of  Lord  Byron, 
an  account  of  his  habits  and  opinions,  he 
was  the  subject  of  the  following  illusion: 

Passing  from  his  sitting-room  into  the 
entrance  hall,  fitted  up  with  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts,  armor,  etc.,  he  saw  right  before 
him,  and  in  a  standing  posture,  the  exact 
representation  of  his  departed  friend,  whose 
recollection  had  been  so  strongly  brought  to 
his  imagination.  He  stopped  for  a  single 
moment  so  as  to  notice  the  wonderful  ac- 
curacy with  which  fancy  had  impressed  upon 
the  bodily  eye  the  peculiarities  of  dress 
and  posture  of  the  illustrious  poet.  Sensible, 
however,  of  the  delusion,  he  felt  no  senti- 
ment save  that  of  wonder  at  the  extraor- 
dinary accuracy  of  the  resemblance,  and 
stepped  onwards  towards  the  figure,  which 
resolved  itself,  as  he  approached,  into  the 
various  materials  of  which  it  was  composed. 
These  were  merely  a  screen  occupied  by 
greatcoats,  shawls,  plaids,  and  such  other 
articles  as  are  usually  found  in  a  country 
entrance-hall.  Sir  Walter  returned  to  the 
spot  from  which  he  had  seen  this  product 
of  what  may  be  called  imagination  proper, 
and  tried  with  all  his  might  to  recall  it  by 
the  force  of  his  will,  but  in  vain. — CARPEN- 
TER Mental  Physiology,  ch.  5,  p.  207.  (A., 
1900.) 

3294.     SUMMATION  OF  STIMULI— 

Repeated  Impulses  Give  Effect. — We  con- 
stantly use  the  summation  of  stimuli  in 
our  practical  appeals.  .  .  .  If  we  are  stri- 
ving to  remember  a  lost  name  or  fact  we  think 
of  as  many  "  cues  "  as  possible,  so  that  by 
their  joint  action  they  may  recall  what  no 
one  of  them  can  recall  alone.  The  sight 
of  a  dead  prey  will  often  not  stimulate  a 
beast  to  pursuit,  but  if  the  sight  of  move- 
ment be  added  to  that  of  form  pursuit  oc- 
curs. ..."  Dr.  Allen  Thomson  hatched 
out  some  chickens  on  a  carpet,  where  he 
kept  them  for  several  days.  They  showed 
no  inclination  to  scrape,  .  .  .  but  when 
Dr.  Thomson  sprinkled  a  little  gravel  on  the 
carpet  .  .  .  the  chickens  immediately 
began  their  scraping  movements."  A  strange 
person,  and  darkness,  are  both  of  them 
stimuli  to  fear  and  mistrust  in  dogs  (and, 
for  the  matter  of  that,  in  men).  Neither 
circumstance  alone  may  awaken  outward 
manifestations,  but  together,  i.  e.,  when  the 
strange  man  is  met  in  the  dark,  the  dog 
will  be  excited  to  violent  defiance.  Street- 
hawkers  well  know  the  efficacy  of  summa- 
tion, for  they  arrange  themselves  in  a  line 
upon  the  sidewalk,  and  the  passer  often 
buys  from  the  last  one  of  them,  through 
the  effect  of  the  reiterated  solicitation,  what 


Summation 
Sun 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


666 


he  refused  to  buy  from  the  first  in  the 
row. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  84. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3295.  SUN  AS  A  FURNACE— Pennsyl- 
vania's Coal  Supply  as  Fuel — The  Sun's  Heat 
Constant  through  All  Historic  Time. — How 
is  this  heat  [of  the  sun]  maintained?     Not 
by  the  miracle  of  a  perpetual  self-sustained 
flame,  we  may  be  sure.     But,  then,  by  what 
fuel  is  such  a  fire  fed?     There  can  be  no 
question  of  simple  burning,  like  that  of  coal 
in  the  grate,  for  there  is  no  source  of  sup- 
ply adequate  to  the  demand.     The  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  for  instance,  is  underlaid  by 
one  of  the  richest  coal-fields  of  the  world, 
capable  of  supplying  the  consumption  of  the 
whole  country  at  its  present  rate  for  more 
than    a    thousand   years    to    come.      If   the 
source  of  the  solar  heat  (whatever  that  is) 
were  withdrawn,   and  we  were    enabled   to 
carry    this    coal    there,    and    shoot    it    into 
the  solar   furnace  fast  enough   to  keep   up 
the  known  heat  supply,   so  that  the   solar 
radiation  would   go   on   at  just   its   actual 
rate,  the  time  which  this  coal  would  last 
is  easily  calculable.     It  would  not  last  days 
or  hours,  but  the  whole  of  these  coal-beds 
would  demonstrably  be  used  up   in  rather 
less    than    one    one  -  thousandth    of    a    sec- 
ond!    We  find  by  a  similar  calculation  that 
if  the   sun  were   itself   one   solid   block   of 
coal  it  would  have  burned  out  to  the  last 
cinder  in  less  time  than  man  has  certainly 
been    on    the    earth.      But    during    historic 
times   there  has   as   surely  been  no  notice- 
able diminution  of  the  sun's  heat,  for  the 
olive  and  the  vine  grow  just   as   they  did 
three  thousand  years  ago,  and  the  hypothesis 
of  an  actual  burning  becomes  untenable. — 
LANGLEY    New    Astronomy,    ch.    4,    p.    97. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3296.  SUN  A  ST&R-But  a  Point  as 
Seen  from  Other  Stars — Night  Wraps   the 
Universe  Except  around  Each  Star. — Let  us 
suppose  ourselves,  then,  on  the  cun.  nearest 
to  ours.     From  there  our  dazzling  furnace 
is  already  lost  like  a  little  star,  hardly  rec- 
ognizable among  the  constellations:    earth, 
planets,  comets  sail  in  the  invisible.    We  are 
in  a  new  system.    If  we  thus  approach  each 
star  we  find  a  sun,  while  all  the  other  suns 
of  space  are  reduced  to  the  rank  of  stars. 
Strange  reality! — the  normal   state  of  the 
universe  is  night.     What  we  call  day  only 
exists  for  us  because  we  are  near  a  star. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
1,  p.  554.     (A.) 

3297.  SUN,  CHROMOSPHERE    OF, 
AN  OCEAN   OF  FIRE—  Metals  in   Vapor- 
Mountains  of  Glowing  Hydrogen. — Below  the 
corona  [of  the  sun],  descending,  we  find  the 
chromosphere,  a  sheet  of  fire  from  6,000  to 
9,000   miles   in   thickness,  and   which,   here 
and  there,  is  projected  in  immense  masses 
which  we  might  call  flames,  if  this  expres- 
sion were  not,  in  spite  of  its  eloquence,  very 
much  below  the  reality.     We  call  flame  and 
fire  that  which  burns;  but  the  gases  of  the 


solar  atmosphere  are  raised  to  such  a  degree 
of  temperature  that  it  is  impossible  for  them 
to  burn!  Extremes  meet.  Hydrogen  forms 
the  upper  part  of  the  chromosphere;  but 
as  we  descend  we  find  vapors  of  magnesium, 
iron,  and  a  great  number  of  metals.  The 
prominences  are  due  to  projections  of  hydro- 
gen, shot  up  with  velocities  which  exceed 
240,000  meters  (149  miles)  per  second.  The 
eruption  sometimes  continues  during  several 
hours  and  even  during  several  days,  and 
these  immense  luminous  clouds  remain  sus- 
pended without  moving  until  they  fall  back 
in  showers  of  fire  on  the  solar  surface.  How 
can  we  conceive,  how  express,  these  tremen- 
dous operations  of  solar  nature!  If  we  call 
the  chromosphere  an  ocean  of  fire,  it  should 
be  added  that  it  is  an  ocean  hotter  than 
the  most  intense  fiery  furnace,  and  also  deep- 
er than  the  Atlantic  is  wide.  If  we  call 
these  movements  hurricanes,  it  should  be 
remarked  that  our  hurricanes  blow  with  a 
force  of  100  miles  an  hour,  while  on  the  sun 
they  blow  with  a  violence  of  100  miles  a 
second !  Shall  we  compare  them  to  volcanic 
eruptions?  Vesuvius  buried  Pompeii  and 
Herculaneum  under  its  lava;  a  solar  erup- 
tion rising  in  a  few  seconds  to  60,000  miles 
in  height  would  swallow  up  the  entire  earth 
in  its  rain  of  fire,  and  reduce  to  ashes  all 
terrestrial  life  in  less  time  than  you  take 
to  read  these  lines.  If  our  globe  could  fall 
into  the  sun  it  would  melt  and  evaporate 
on  arriving  there  like  a  flake  of  snow  on 
red-hot  iron. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  iii,  ch.  5,  p.  296.  (A.) 

3298.  SUN     LIFTS    GLACIER    TO 
MOUNTAIN— Brings  River  Down.— The  sun, 
by   the  act  of  vaporization,  lifts  mechanic- 
ally all  the  moisture  of  our  air,  which  when 
it  condenses  falls  in  the  form  of  rain,  and 
when  it  freezes  falls  as  snow.    In  this  solid 
form   it  is   piled  upon  the  Alpine  heights, 
and  furnishes  materials   for  glaciers.     But 
the  sun  again  interposes,  liberates  the  solidi- 
fied liquid,  and  permits  it  to  roll  by  gravity 
to  the  sea.     The  mechanical  force  of  every 
river  in  the  world  as  it  rolls  towards  the 
ocean  is  drawn   from  the  heat  of  the  sun. 
No  streamlet  glides  to  a  lower  level  without 
having  been  first  lifted  to  the  elevation  from 
which  it  springs  by  the  power  of  the  sun. 
The  energy  of  winds  is  also  due  entirely  to 
the    same    power. — TYNDAIX    Fragments    of 
Science,  vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  378.     (A.,  1897.) 

3299.  SUN  NOT  STATIONARY— So- 
lar System  Moves  toward  Constellation  Her- 
cules.— The  sun  is  not  motionless  in  space. 
He  moves  on  and  draws  with  him  the  earth 
and  the  whole  planetary  system.     We  have 
detected   his   motion   by   that   of  the  stars. 
When  we  travel  on  the  railway,  with  the 
velocity  of  the  new  Pegasus  of  modern  sci- 
ence,    through     countries    diversified    with 
fields,  meadows,  woods,  hills,  and  villages, 
we  see  all  the  objects  flying  past  us  in  a 
direction   opposite   to   that   of   our   motion. 
Well,  by  carefully  watching  the   stars,  we 


667 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Summation 
Sun 


observe  an  analogous  fact  in  celestial  ob- 
jects. The  stars  appear  animated  with  mo- 
tions which  draw  them  apparently  towards 
a  certain  region  of  the  sky — that  which  is 
behind  us.  On  each  side  of  us  they  seem  to 
fly  past,  and  the  constellations  which  are 
in  front  of  us  appear  to  enlarge  so  as  to 
open  for  us  a  passage.  Calculation  has 
shown  that  these  perspective  appearances 
are  caused  by  the  translation  of  the  sun, 
the  earth,  and  all  the  planets  towards  a 
region  of  the  sky  marked  by  the  constella- 
tion Hercules.  We  travel  towards  that 
region  with  a  velocity  which  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  exactly,  but  which  appears  to 
be  from  400  to  500  millions  of  miles  per 
annum.  We  leave  the  starry  latitudes  where 
Sirius  sparkles,  and  we  sail  towards  those 
where  shine  the  stars  of  Lyra  and  of  Her- 
cules. The  earth  has  never  passed  twice 
over  the  same  course. — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  50.  (A.) 

33OO.  SUN  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  PURE 
AND  QUENCHLESS  FIRE— Hence  the  Al- 
chemists' Quest  for  an  Ever-burning  Lamp. 
— To  look  across  the  space  of  over  ninety 
million  miles,  and  to  try  to  learn  from  that 
distance  the  nature  of  the  solar  heat,  and 
how  it  is  kept  up,  seemed  to  the  astronomers 
of  the  last  century  a  hopeless  task.  The 
difficulty  was  avoided  rather  than  met  by 
the  doctrine  that  the  sun  was  pure  fire,  and 
shone  because  "  it  was  its  nature  to."  In 
the  Middle  Ages  such  an  idea  was  uni- 
versal; and  along  with  it,  and  as  a  logical 
sequence  of  it,  the  belief  was  long  prevalent 
that  it  was  possible  to  make  another  such 
flame  here,  in  the  form  of  a  lamp  which 
should  burn  forever  and  radiate  light  end- 
lessly without  exhaustion.  With  the  phi- 
losopher's stone,  which  was  to  transmute  lead 
into  gold,  this  perpetual  lamp  formed  a 
prime  object  of  research  for  the  alchemist 
and  student  of  magic. 

We  recall  the  use  which  Scott  has  made 
of  the  belief  in  this  product  of  "  gramarye  " 
in  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  where 
it  is  sought  to  open  the  grave  of  the  great 
wizard  in  Melrose  Abbey.  It  is  midnight 
when  the  stone  which  covers  it  is  heaved 
away,  and  Michael's  undying  lamp,  buried 
with  him  long  ago,  shines  out  from  the  open 
tomb  and  illuminates  the  darkness  of  the 
chancel. 

I  would  you  had  been  there  to  see 

The  light  break  forth  so  gloriously; 

That  lamp  shall  burn  unquenchably 

Until  the  eternal  doom  shall  be, 

says  the  poet.  Now  we  are  at  liberty  to 
enjoy  the  fiction  as  a  fiction;  but  if  we 
admit  that  the  art  which  could  make  such 
a  lamp  would  indeed  be  a  black  art,  which 
did  not  work  under  Nature's  laws,  but 
against  them,  then  we  ought  to  see  that, 
as  the  whole  conception  is  derived  from  the 
early  notion  of  a  miraculous  constitution 
of  the  sun,  the  idea  of  an  eternal  self-sus- 
tained sun  is  no  more  permitted  to  us  than 
that  of  an  eternal  self -sustained  lamp.  We 


must  look  for  the  cause  of  the  sun's  heat 
in  Nature's  laws. — LANGLEY  New  Astrono- 
my, ch.  4,  p.  91.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

33O1.  SUN  THE  SOURCE  OF  TER- 
RESTRIAL ENERGY— Decay  the  Recoiling 
of  the  Bent  Spring. — All  terrestrial  energy 
comes  from  the  sun,  and  every  manifesta- 
tion of  power  on  the  earth  can  be  traced 
directly  back  to  his  energizing  and  life-giv- 
ing rays.  The  force  with  which  oxygen  tends 
to  unite  with  the  other  elements  may  be 
regarded  as  a  spring,  which  the  sun's  rays 
have  the  power  to  bend.  In  bending  this 
spring  they  do  a  certain  amount  of  work, 
and  when,  in  the  process  of  combustion,  the 
spring  flies  back,  the  energy  reappears. 
Moreover,  the  instability  of  all  organized 
forms  is  but  a  phase  of  the  same  action,  and 
the  various  processes  of  decay,  with  the  ac- 
companying phenomenon  of  death,  are  sim- 
ply the  recoiling  of  the  same  bent  spring. 
Amid  all  these  varied  phenomena,  the  one 
element  which  reappears  in  all,  and  fre- 
quently wholly  engrosses  our  attention,  is 
energy. — COOKE  Neio  Chemistry,  lect.  10,  p. 
235.  (A.,  1899.) 


33O2. 


Delicacy  as  Well 


as  Power  Due  to  Central  Orb. — We  have  .  .  . 
been  led  to  recognize  the  sun  as  the  ultimate 
material  source  of  all  the  energy  which  we 
possess,  and  we  must  now  regard  him  as 
the  source  likewise  of  all  our  delicacy  of 
construction.  It  requires  the  energy  of  his 
high- temperature  rays  so  to  wield  and  ma- 
nipulate the  powerful  forces  of  chemical  af- 
finity, so  to  balance  these  various  forces 
against  each  other,  as  to  produce  in  the 
vegetable  something  which  will  afford  our 
frames  not  only  energy,  but  also  delicacy 
of  construction.  Low  -  temperature  heat 
would  be  utterly  unable  to  accomplish  this; 
it  consists  of  ethereal  vibrations  which  are. 
not  sufficiently  rapid,  and  of  waves  that 
are  not  sufficiently  short,  for  the  purpose 
of  shaking  asunder  the  constituents  of  com- 
pound molecules.  It  thus  appears  that  ani- 
mals are,  in  more  ways  than  one,  pensioners 
upon  the  sun's  bounty. — STEWART  Conserva- 
tion of  Energy,  ch.  6,  p.  413.  (Hum.,  1880.) 


3303. 


Deprivation  of 


Sunlight  Would  Speedily  Destroy  All  Ac- 
tivity on  Earth. — When  we  come  to  in- 
quire for  the  source  of  the  energy  which 
lifts  the  water  from  the  sea  to  the  moun- 
tain-top, which  decomposes  the  carbonic 
acid  of  the  atmosphere  and  plant-foods  of 
the  soil,  and  builds  up  the  hydrocarbons 
and  other  fuels  of  animal  and  vegetable  tis- 
sue, we  find  it  always  mainly  in  the  solar 
rays.  I  say  mainly,  because,  of  course,  the 
light  and  heat  of  the  stars,  the  impact  of 
meteors,  and  the  probable  slow  contraction 
of  the  earth,  are  all  real  sources  of  energy, 
and  contribute  their  quota.  But,  as  com- 
pared with  the  energy  derived  from  the  sun, 
their  total  amount  is  probably  something 
like  the  ratio  of  starlight  to  sunlight;  so 


Sun 

Sunshine 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


small  that  it  is  quite  clear  .  .  .  that  a 
month's  deprivation  of  the  solar  rays  would 
involve  the  utter  destruction  of  all  activity 
upon  the  earth. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  int.,  p.  4. 
(A.,  1898.J 

33O4. Our  Varied  Powers 

Derived  from  Its  Heat — All  Life  Due  to 
Solar  Influence. — Everything  which  moves, 
circulates,  and  lives  on  our  planet  is  the 
child  of  the  sun.  .  .  .  The  most  nutritious 
foods  come  from  the  sun.  The  wood  which 
warms  us  in  winter  is,  again,  the  sun  in 
fragments;  every  cubic  inch,  every  pound  of 
wood,  is  formed  by  the  power  of  the  sun. 
The  mill  which  turns  under  the  impulse  of 
wind  or  water  revolves  only  by  the  sun. 
And  in  the  black  night,  under  the  rain  or 
snow,  the  blind  and  noisy  train  which  darts 
like  a  flying  serpent  through  the  fields,  rush- 
es along  above  the  valleys,  is  swallowed  up 
under  the  mountains,  goes  hissing  past  the 
stations,  of  which  the  pale  eyes  strike  si- 
lently through  the  mist — in  the  midst  of 
night  and  cold  this  modern  animal,  pro- 
duced by  human  industry,  is  still  a  child 
of  the  sun;  the  coal  from  the  earth  which 
feeds  its  stomach  is  solar  work  stored  up 
during  millions  of  years  in  the  geological 
strata  of  the  globe.  As  it  is  certain  that  the 
force  which  sets  the  watch  in  motion  is  de- 
rived from  the  hand  which  has  wound  it, 
so  it  is  certain  that  all  terrestrial  power 
proceeds  from  the  sun.  It  is  its  heat  which 
maintains  the  three  states  of  bodies — solid, 
liquid,  and  gaseous;  the  last  two  would 
vanish,  there  would  be  nothing  but  solids, 
water,  and  air  itself  would  be  in  massive 
blocks,  if  the  solar  heat  did  not  maintain 
them  in  the  fluid  state.  It  is  the  sun  which 
blows  in  the  air,  which  flows  in  the  water, 
which  moans  in  the  tempest,  which  sings 
in  the  unwearied  throat  of  the  nightingale. 
It  attaches  to  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
the  sources  of  the  rivers  and  glaciers,  and 
consequently  the  cataracts  and  the  ava- 
lanches are  precipitated  with  an  energy 
which  they  draw  directly  from  him.  Thun- 
der and  lightning  are  in  their  turn  a  mani- 
festation of  his  power.  Every  fire  which 
burns  and  every  flame  which  shines  has  re- 
ceived its  life  from  the  sun.  And  when 
two  armies  are  hurled  together  with  a  crash, 
each  charge  of  cavalry,  each  shock  between 
two  army  corps,  is  nothing  else  but  the 
misuse  of  mechanical  force  from  the  same 
star.  The  sun  comes  to  us  in  the  form  of 
heat,  he  leaves  us  in  the  form  of  heat,  but 
between  his  arrival  and  his  departure  he 
has  given  birth  to  the  varied  powers  of 
our  globe. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astrono- 
my, bk.  iii,  ch.  3,  p.  245.  (A.) 

33O5.  SUN  THE  SOURCE  OF  TER- 
RESTRIAL LIFE— Three  Necessary  Elements 
Supplied — Light,  Heat,  and  Actinism. — Our 
sun  sends  forth  rays  which  supply  three 
very  different  requirements  of  living  crea- 
tures, animal  and  vegetable,  peopling  our 
earth.  Without  light,  we  should  all  before 


long  perish  miserably;  and  the  sun's  rays 
supply  us  with  light.  Without  heat,  we 
should  be  even  more  quickly  destroyed;  and 
the  sun's  rays  provide  ample  supplies  of 
heat.  But  besides  light  and  heat,  we  require, 
directly  and  indirectly,  that  chemical  action 
of  the  solar  rays  which  has  been  called 
actinism.  Without  this  action  the  air  we 
breathe  would  be  loaded  before  long  with 
pestilential  vapors,  which  would  destroy 
the  lives  of  men  and  animals;  plants  would 
wither,  and  presently  die;  the  whole  earth, 
in  fact,  would  soon  be  the  abode  of  death, 
as  surely,  tho  perhaps  not  so  quickly,  as 
tho  the  sun  had  ceased  to  supply  either 
light  or  heat.  Now  at  present  these  three 
forms  of  energy  are  exerted  in  certain  pro- 
portions admirably  suited  to  our  require- 
ments. Dividing  the  solar  rays  according 
to  the  position  they  occupy  with  reference 
to  the  spectrum,  we  have  from  the  red  rays, 
and  from  dark  rays  beyond  the  red,  the 
chief  supply  of  heat;  from  the  whole  visible 
spectrum,  but  chiefly  from  the  yellow  por- 
tion, comes  the  supply  of  light;  and  lastly, 
the  violet  rays  and  the  dark  rays  beyond  the 
violet  afford  the  chief  supply  of  actinism. — 
PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infinities,  p.  212. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

'  33O6.  SUN'S  CORONA  YET  A  MYS- 
TERY— Limited  Opportunities  for  Observation 
— Three-quarters  of  an  Hour  in  Thirty  Years. 
— Our  knowledge  of  the  corona  remains  very 
incomplete,  and  if  the  most  learned  in  such 
matters  were  asked  what  it  was,  he  could 
probably  answer  truthfully,  "  I  don't  know." 
This  will  not  be  wondered  at  when  it  is 
considered  that  as  total  eclipses  come  about 
every  other  year,  and  continue,  one  with 
another,  hardly  three  minutes,  an  astrono- 
mer who  should  devote  thirty  years  exclu- 
sively to  the  subject,  never  missing  an  eclipse 
in  whatever  quarter  of  the  globe  it  occurred, 
would  in  that  time  have  secured,  in  all, 
something  like  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
for  observation.  Accordingly,  what  we  know 
best  about  the  corona  is  how  it  looks, 
what  it  is  being  still  largely  conjecture. — 
LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  2,  p.  59.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

33O7.  SUN'S  HEAT  PRODUCED  BY 
CONCENTRATION— Probable  Continued  Du- 
ration of  Solar  Light  and  Heat. — For  how 
many  ages  has  the  sun  himself  shone?  On 
the  hypothesis  that  the  nebulous  matter 
was  originally  of  extreme  tenuity  has  been 
calculated  the  quantity  of  heat  which  must 
have  been  produced  by  the  fall  of  all  those 
molecules  towards  the  center  to  the  conden- 
sation of  which  was  due  the  birth  of  the 
solar  system.  Supposing  the  specific  heat 
of  the  condensing  mass  was  that  of  water, 
the  heat  of  the  condensation  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  produce  an  elevation  of  tempera- 
ture of  28  millions  of  degrees  centigrade 
(Helmholtz  and  Tyndall).  It  has  been 
known  for  some  time  past  that  heat  is  but 
a  mode  of  motion;  it  is  an  infinitesimal  vi- 


669 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Bun 
Sunshine 


bratory  motion  of  the  atoms.  We  can  now 
convert  at  will  all  motion  into  heat,  and 
all  heat  into  motion.  The  motion  of  con- 
densation has  sufficed,  and  more  than 
sufficed,  to  produce  the  present  temperature 
of  the  sun  and  the  original  temperature  of 
all  the  planets.  If  that  brilliant  star  con- 
tinues to  condense,  as  is  probable,  a  conden- 
sation which  would  shorten  its  diameter 
by  vfov  of  its  present  length  would  produce 
a  quantity  of  heat  sufficient  to  cover  the 
loss  by  emission  during  two  thousand  years. 
At  the  present  rate  of  emission  the  solar 
heat  produced  by  the  earlier  condensation 
of  its  mass  would  still  last  for  20  millions 
of  years. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  75.  (A.) 

3308.  SUN'S     SURFACE    PHOTO- 
GRAPHED—  Under  the  Camera — Photograph 
Secures  Details  Invisible  to  the  Eye — Open- 
ings in  an  Atmosphere  of  Vaporized  Metal — 
Reality    Surpassing    Wildest    Dream. — The 
photograph  has  transported  us   already   so 
near  the  sun's   surface  that  we  have  seen 
details    there    invisible    to    the   naked    eye. 

What  we  have  called  "  spots " 
are  indeed  regions  whose  actual  vastness 
surpasses  the  vague  immensity  of  a  dream, 
and  it  will  not  cause  surprise  that  in  them 
is  a  temperature  which  also  surpasses  great- 
ly that  of  the  hottest  furnace.  .  .  .  The 
whole  surface  is  composed  largely  of  metals 
turned  into  vapor  in  this  heat,  and  .  .  . 
if  we  could  indeed  drop  our  great  globe 
itself  upon  the  sun  it  would  be  dissipated 
as  a  snowflake. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy, 
ch.  1,  p.  19.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3309.  «  SUNNY  FRANCE  »  BURIED 
UNDER  ICE—  The   Glacial  Epoch.— At  the 
time    of    the    maximum    extension    of    the 
ice-sheet    almost    the    whole    of    the    Swiss 
lowland    was    buried,    and    the    ice    welled 
up  against  the  flanks  of  the  Jura  to  a  height 
of  3,000  feet  above  the  Lake  of  Neuchatel, 
whence  it  extended  northward  to  the  neigh- 
borhood   of    Soleure.      Along    the    present 
course  of  the  Rhone  it  sent  out  a  huge  lobe 
far  beyond  the  frontier  of  Switzerland,  for 
erratics  [scattered  boulders]  and  other  gla- 
cial deposits  have  been  traced  to  within  a 
few  miles  of  Lyons.     It  is  estimated  that 
altogether  the  ancient  glacier  of  the  Rhone 
was  not  less  than  270  miles  in  length. — BON- 
NEY  Ice-work,  Present  and  Past,  pt.  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  35.      (A.,  1896.) 

33 1C.  SUNSET  MADE  BEAUTIFUL 
BY  DUST— Owing  to  the  constant  presence 
of  air  currents,  arranging  both  the  dust  and 
vapor  [in  the  atmosphere]  in  strata  of  vary- 
ing extent  and  density,  and  of  high  or  low 
clouds,  which  both  absorb  and  reflect  the 
light  in  varying  degrees,  we  see  produced 
all  those  wondrous  combinations  of  tints 
and  those  gorgeous  ever-changing  colors 
which  are  a  constant  source  of  admiration 
and  delight  to  all  who  have  the  advantage 
of  an  uninterrupted  view  to  the  west,  and 


who  are  accustomed  to  watch  for  these 
not  unfrequent  exhibitions  of  Nature's  kalei- 
doscopic color-painting.  With  every  change 
in  the  altitude  of  the  sun  the  display 
changes  its  character,  and  most  of  all  when 
it  has  sunk  below  the  horizon,  and,  owing 
to  the  more  favorable  angles,  a  larger  quan- 
tity of  the  colored  light  is  reflected  toward 
us.  Especially  when  there-  is  a  certain 
amount  of  cloud  is  this  the  case.  These, 
so  long  as  the  sun  was  above  the  horizon, 
intercepted  much  of  the  light  and  color; 
but  when  the  great  luminary  has  passed 
away  from  our  direct  vision  his  light 
shines  more  directly  on  the  under  sides 
of  all  the  clouds  and  air  strata  of  different 
densities;  a  new  and  more  brilliant  light 
flushes  the  western  sky,  and  a  display  of 
gorgeous,  ever-changing  tints  occurs  which 
are  at  once  the  delight  of  the  beholder  and 
the  despair  of  the  artist.  And  all  this  un- 
surpassable glory  we  owe  to  dust! — WAL- 
LACE The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9,  p.  75. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3311.  SUNSET  MERGING  INTO  SUN- 
RISE— Effect  of  Atmospheric  Refraction— The 
Midnight  Sun  at  Tornea. — It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  go  to  the  polar  circle  in  order  to 
see  the   sun   not   setting   and   grazing   the 
horizon    at   midnight.      At    the    sixty-sixth 
degree    of    latitude    in    Sweden    and    Fin- 
land we  can  enjoy  this  spectacle,  so  strange 
to    us — the    midnight    sun.      It    has    even 
become  the  fashion  in  recent  years  to  make 
a  voyage  to  Tornea,  a  little  town  on  the 
frontiers    of    Russia    and    Sweden,    on    the 
Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  to  be  present  on  June 
21  on  Mount  Avasaxa,  only  227  meters  high, 
when  the  sun  does  not  set  at  the  summer 
solstice. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  30.     (A.) 

3312.  SUNSHINE,    DECREASE   OF, 
IN  ENGLAND—  The  Vine  Once  Freely  Grown 
— The  Dust   from  Manufactories   Changing 
a  Nation's  Climate. — Now,  there  is  much  evi- 
dence to  show  that  there  has  been  a  consid- 
erable increase  in  the  amount  of  cloud,  and 
consequent  decrease  in  the  amount  of  sun- 
shine, in  all  parts  of  our  country.     It  is  an 
undoubted  fact  that  in  the  Middle  Ages  Eng- 
land was  a  wine-producing  country,  and  this 
implies  more  sunshine  than  we  have  now. 
.     .    .    Some  years  back  one  of  our  garden- 
ing periodicals  obtained  from  gardeners  of 
forty  or  fifty  years'  experience  a  body  of 
facts    clearly    indicating    a    comparatively 
recent   change   of   climate.      It  was   stated 
that    in    many    parts    of    the    country,    es- 
pecially in  the  north,  fruits  were  formerly 
grown  successfully  and  of  good  quality  in 
gardens  where  they  cannot  be  grown  now. 
.    .     .    But  an  increase  of  cloud,  and  conse- 
quent diminution  of   sunshine,   would   pro- 
duce just  such  a  result;   and  this  increase 
is  almost  certain  to  have  occurred,  owing 
to  the  enormously  increased  amount  of  dust 
thrown  into  the  atmosphere  as  our  country 
has  become  more  densely  populated,  and  es- 


•  uiisliinr 
Superstition 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


670 


pecially  owing  to  the  vast  increase  of  our 
smoke  -  producing  manufactories.  .  .  . 
When  this  fact  is  thoroughly  realized  we 
shall  surely  put  a  stop  to  such  a  reckless 
and  wholly  unnecessary  production  of  in- 
jurious smoke  and  dust. — WALLACE  The 
Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9,  p.  84.  (D.  M.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3313.  SUNSHINE,  DURATION  OF— 

A  Sunshine  Autograph. — For  determining 
the  duration  of  sunshine  use  is  made 
of  a  simple  apparatus  called  the  sun- 
shine autograph.  Its  common  form  is  that 
of  a  ball  of  clear  glass  set  up  free,  which 
collects  the  sun's  rays  like  a  burning 
glass,  burning  an  index  in  a  paper  strip 
fastened  behind  the  globe  if  the  sunshine 
is  bright  enough.  Since  the  paper  strip 
is  divided  into  hours  it  can  be  easily  read 
when  and  how  long  the  sun  has  been  shining 
upon  the  apparatus.  If  the  duration  of  sun- 
shine thus  obtained  is  compared  with  the 
length  of  day,  the  actual  with  the  possible 
number  of  sunny  hours,  we  obtain  a  number 
that  in  fact  not  only  announces  during  what 
fraction  of  the  hours  of  the  day  the  sun 
was  uncovered,  but  which  harmonizes  very 
well  with  the  estimates  of  the  entire 
cloud-covering.  Many  an  important  deduc- 
tion concerning  the  thriving  as  well  as  the 
possibility  of  the  improvement  of  plants, 
grapes,  fruits,  beets,  etc.,  for  whose  develop- 
ment sunshine  is  particularly  important,  can 
be  thus  derived. — BORNSTEN  Leitfaden  der 
Wetterkunde,  1901,  p.  58.  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3314.  SUN-SPOTS  EASILY  SEEN— 

Overlooked  by  Minds  Unprepared  to  Recog- 
nize Them. — An  object  of  this  size  [30,000 
miles]  upon  the  sun's  surface  can  easily  be 
seen  without  a  telescope  when  the  brightness 
is  reduced  either  by  clouds,  or  nearness  to 
the  horizon,  or  by  the  use  of  a  shade-glass. 
At  the  transit  of  Venus,  in  1882,  every  one 
saw  the  planet  readily  without  telescopic 
aid.  Her  apparent  diameter  was  about  67" 
at  the  time,  which  is  equivalent  to  about 
31,000  miles  on  the  solar  surface.  Probably 
a  very  keen  eye  would  detect  a  spot  meas- 
uring not  more  than  23,000  or  24,000  miles. 
Hardly  a  year  passes,  at  times  when  spots 
are  numerous,  without  furnishing  several 
as  large  as  this,  so  that  it  is  rather  surpri- 
sing than  otherwise  that  we  have  not  a 
greater  number  of  sun-spot  records  in  the 
pretelescopic  centuries.  The  explanation 
probably  lies  in  two  things:  the  sun  is  too 
bright  to  be  often  or  easily  looked  at,  and 
when  spots  were  seen  they  would  be  likely 
to  be  taken  for  optical  illusions  rather  than 
realities. — YOUNG  The  Sun,  ch.  4,  p.  27 
(A.,  1898.) 

3315.  SUN-SPOTS,    SUPPOSED 
APERTURES   IN   SOLAR  CLOUDS-Her- 

schel's  Theory. — Sir  William  Herschel,  rea- 
soning from  terrestrial  analogies,  was  led  to 
look  on  the  spot  cavities  as  apertures 


through  a  double  layer  of  clouds.  He  ar- 
gued that  were  the  solar  photosphere  of  any 
other  nature,  it  would  be  past  comprehension 
that  vast  openings  should  form,  in  it,  to  re- 
main open  for  months  before  they  close 
up  again.  .  .  .  And  because  the  solar 
spots  present  two  distinct  varieties  of  light, 
the  faint  penumbra  and  the  dark  umbra 
or  nucleus,  Herschel  saw  the  necessity  of 
assuming  that  there  are  two  beds  of  clouds, 
the  outer  self-luminous  and  constituting  the 
true  solar  photosphere,  the  inner  reflecting 
the  light  received  from  the  outer  layer,  and 
so  shielding  the  real  surface  of  the  sun  from 
the  intense  light  and  heat  which  it  would 
otherwise  receive. — PROCTOR  Other  Worlds 
than  Ours,  ch.  2,  p.  36.  (Burt.) 

33 1 6.  SUPERFICIALITY  OF  MATE- 
RIALISM—Science  Does  Not  Include  Philos- 
ophy— Eternal  Problems  behind  Phenomena. 
— Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  find  men 
who  may  be  trusted  thoroughly  on  the  facts 
of  their  own  science,  who  cannot  be  trusted 
for  a  moment  on  the  place  which  those  facts 
assume  in  the  general  system  of  truth.    Phi- 
losophy must  include   science;    but   science 
does    not    necessarily    include    philosophy. 
There  are,  and  there  always  have  been,  some 
special   misconceptions   connected   with   the 
prosecution  of  physical  research.    It  is,  how- 
ever, on  the  surface  of  things,  rather  than 
below  it,  that  the  suggestions  of  material- 
ism lie  thickest  to  the  eye.     They  abound 
among  the  commonest  facts  which  obtrude 
themselves  on  our  attention  in  Nature  and 
in  human  life.     When  the  bursting  of  some 
small  duct  of  blood  upon  the  brain  is  seen 
to  destroy  in  a  moment  the  mind  of  man, 
and  to  break  down  all  the  powers  of  his 
intellect  and  his  will,  we  are  in  presence 
of  a  fact  whose  significance  cannot  be  in- 
creased by  a  million  of  other  facts  analogous 
in  kind.     Yet  on  every  fresh  discovery  of  a 
few  more  such  facts  there  is  generally  some 
fresh  outbreak  of  old  delusions  respecting 
the  forms  and  the  laws  of  matter  as  the  su- 
preme realities  of  the  world.     But  when  the 
new  facts  have  been  looked  at  a  little  long- 
er it  is  always  seen  that  they  take  their 
place    with    others    which   have    been    long 
familiar,  and  the  eternal  problems  which  lie 
behind  all  natural  phenomena   are  seen  to 
be  unaffected  and  unchanged.  Like  the  most 
distant   of    the    fixed    stars,   they   have    no 
parallax. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p. 
68.      (Burt.) 

3317.  SUPERNATURAL,    THE,  VS. 
THE  SUPERHUMAN—  True  and  False  Views 
of  Law — Classification  Is  Not  Explanation. 
— Theological  and  philosophical  writers  fre- 
quently use  the  supernatural  as  synonymous 
with  the  superhuman.   But  of  course  this  is 
not  the  sense  in  which  any  one  can  have 
any  difficulty  in  believing  in  it.     The  pow- 
ers and  works  of  Nature  are  all  superhu- 
man— more   than   man   can   account  for   in 
their   origin — more   than   he   can   resist   in 
their  energy — more  than  he  can  understand 


671 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Sunshine 
Superstition 


in  their  effects.  This,  then,  cannot  be  the 
sense  in  which  so  many  minds  find  it  hard 
to  accept  the  supernatural;  nor  can  it  be 
the  sense  in  which  others  cling  to  it  as  of  the 
very  essence  of  their  religious  faith.  What, 
then,  is  that  other  sense  in  which  the  diffi- 
culty arises?  Perhaps  we  shall  best  find  it 
by  seeking  the  idea  which  is  competing  with 
it,  and  by  which  it  has  been  displaced.  It 
is  the  natural  which  has  been  casting  out 
the  supernatural — the  idea  of  natural  law — 
the  universal  reign  of  a  fixed  order  of  things. 
This  idea  is  a  product  of  that  immense  de- 
velopment of  the  physical  sciences  which 
is  characteristic  of  our  time.  We  cannot 
read  a  periodical,  or  go  into  a  lecture-room, 
without  hearing  it  expressed.  Sometimes, 
but  rarely,  it  is  stated  with  accuracy,  and 
with  due  recognition  of  the  limits  within 
which  law  can  be  said  to  comprehend  the 
phenomena  of  the  world.  But  generally 
it  is  expressed  in  language  vague  and  hol- 
low, covering  inaccurate  conceptions,  and 
confounding  under  common  forms  of  expres- 
sion ideas  which  are  essentially  distinct.  The 
mere  ticketing  and  orderly  assortment  of 
external  facts  is  constantly  spoken  of  as  if 
it  were  in  the  nature  of  explanation,  and  as 
if  no  higher  truth  in  respect  to  natural  phe- 
nomena were  to  be  attained  or  desired. — 
ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  2.  (Burt.) 

-3318.  SUPERSTITION  ACCOUNTING 
FOR  THE  FROZEN  MAMMOTH— The  in- 
habitants of  Siberia  seem  to  be  familiar 
with  this  animal,  which  they  designate  by 
the  name  of  mammoth,  while  naturalists 
call  it  Elephas  primigenius.  The  circum- 
stance that  they  abound  in  the  frozen  drift 
of  the  great  northern  plain  of  Asia,  and 
are  occasionally  exposed  in  consequence  of 
the  wearing  of  the  large  rivers  traversing 
Siberia,  has  led  to  the  superstition  among 
the  Tongouses  that  the  mammoths  live  un- 
derground, and  die  whenever,  on  coming  to 
the  surface,  the  sunlight  falls  upon  them. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  7, 
p.  183.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3319.  SUPERSTITION     ASCRIBES 
INUNDATIONS   TO  ARRIVAL  OF  SHIPS 

— In  Kotzebue's  "  Voyage "  there  are  ac- 
counts of  islands,  both  in  the  Caroline  and 
Marshall  Archipelagoes,  which  have  been 
partly  washed  away  during  hurricanes ;  and 
Kadu,  the  native  who  was  on  board  one  of 
the  Russian  vessels,  said  "  he  saw  the  sea 
at  Radack  rise  to  the  feet  of  the  coconut- 
trees;  but  it  was  conjured  in  time.  .  .  . 
According  to  a  tradition  which  was  commu- 
nicated to  Captain  Fitz  Roy,  it  is  believed 
in  the  Low  Archipelago  that  the  arrival 
of  the  first  ship  caused  a  great  inundation 
which  destroyed  many  lives. — DARWIN  Coral 
Reefs,  ch.  5,  p.  129.  (A.,  1900.) 

3320.  SUPERSTITION    AS   TO  AU- 
RORA BOREALIS— Armies  Seen  Battling  in 
the  Sky. — Pliny,  the  naturalist  ("Naturalis 
Historia,"    ii,    26,    27,    33,    and    57),   says: 


"  There  are  seen  in  the  heaven  (and  nothing 
is  more  terrible  for  trembling  mortals) 
blood-colored  flames  which  afterwards  fall 
upon  the  earth,  as  it  happened  in  the 
third  year  of  the  hundred  and  seventh 
Olympiad,  when  King  Philip  ruled  over 
Greece.  .  .  .  It  is  said  that  at  the  time 
of  the  wars  of  the  Cimbri,  and  also  often 
before  and  since,  the  clashing  of  arms  and 
the  sound  of  trumpets  were  heard  in  the  sky. 
But  in  the  third  consulate  of  Marius  the 
dwellers  in  Ameria  and  Tuderta  saw  in  the 
heavens  two  armies  rushing  one  against 
the  other  from  the  east  and  from  the  west; 
that  of  the  west  was  defeated.  The  heaven 
itself  caught  fire:  this  is  no  extraordinary 
thing,  and  it  has  often  been  seen  when  the 
clouds  are  exposed  to  great  heat." 

In  this  quotation  from  Pliny  we  find  for 
the  first  time  the  trace  of  that  popular  su- 
perstition which  obtained  almost  down  to 
our  own  day,  and  which  attributed  the  great 
auroras  to  armies  combating  in  the  sky. — 
ANGOT  Aurora  Borealis,  ch.  1,  p.  3.  (A., 
1897.) 

3321.  SUPERSTITION  AS  TO  POR- 
TRAITS— Life  Shown  in  Picture  Thought  to 
Be   Taken  Away  from    Original. — The   red- 
skins  are   not   altogether    deficient   in   art, 
being  able  to  make  rude  carvings,  and  to 
trace  equally  rude  drawings  on  their  wig- 
wams, robes,  etc.;  but  about  portraits  they 
have  some  curious  ideas.     They  think  that 
an  artist  acquires   some  mysterious  power 
over  any  one  whose  likeness  he  may  have 
taken;  and  on  one  occcasion,  when  annoyed 
by  some  Indians,  Mr.  Kane  got  rid  of  them 
at   once   by   threatening   to  draw   any   one 
who  remained.     Not  one  ventured  to  do  so. 
If  the  likeness  is  good,  so  much  the  worse; 
it  is,  they  fancy,  half  alive — at  the  expense 
of   the   sitter.      So   much   life,   they   argue, 
could  only  be  put  in  the  picture  by  taking 
it  away  from  the  original.    Again  they  fan- 
cy that  if  the  picture  were  injured,  by  some 
mysterious    connection    the    original    would 
suffer  also. — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
14,  p.  504.      (A.,  1900.) 

3322.  SUPERSTITION  CLOUDS  TRI- 
UMPH OF  SCIENTIST— A  Trial  for  Witch- 
craft.— The  figurative  and  poetical  myths  of 
the  Pythagorean   and   Platonic   pictures   of 
the  universe,  changeable  as  the  fancy  from 
which  they  emanated,  may  still  be  traced 
partially  reflected  in  Kepler ;  but  while  they 
warmed  and  cheered  his  often  saddened  spir- 
it, they  never  turned  him   aside  from  his 
earnest  course,  the  goal  of  which  he  reached 
in  the  memorable  night  of  the  15th  of  May, 
1618,  twelve  years  before  his  death.     .     .     . 
"On  the  8th *of  March,  1618,  it  occurred  to 
Kepler,  after  many   unsuccessful  attempts, 
to  compare  the  squares  of  the  times  of  revo- 
lution of  the  planets  with  the  cubes  of  the 
mean  distances;   but  he  made  an  error  in 
his  calculations,  and  rejected  this  idea.    On 
the  15th  of  May,  1618,  he  again  reverted  to 
it,  and  calculated  correctly.     The  third  law 


Superstition 
Surprise 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


672 


of  Kepler,  was  now  discovered."  This  dis- 
covery and  those  related  to  it  coincide  with 
the  unhappy  period  when  this  great  man, 
who  had  been  exposed  from  early  childhood 
to  the  hardest  blows  of  fate,  was  striving 
to  save  from  the  torture  and  the  stake  his 
mother,  who,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years, 
in  a  trial  for  witchcraft,  which  lasted  six 
years,  had  been  accused  of  poison-mixing, 
inability  of  shedding  tears,  and  of  sorcery. 
The  suspicion  was  increased  from  the  circum- 
stance that  her  own  son,  the  wicked  Chris- 
topher Kepler,  a  worker  in  tin,  was  her 
accuser,  and  that  she  had  been  brought  up 
By  an  aunt  who  was  burned  at  Weil  as  a 
witch. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii, 
p.  314.  (H.,  1897.) 

3323.  SUPERSTITION   DEFEATING 

KINDNESS—  The  Emperor  of  China  Buries  a 
Burning-glass. — It  is  said  that  the  Emperor 
of  China,  when  he  got  his  lens  [a  three-foot 
burning-glass,  made  at  great  expense,  and 
sent  by  the  English  government  as  a  present 
to  the  Chinese  monarch],  was  much  alarmed 
by  it,  as  being  possibly  sent  him  by  the 
English  with  some  covert  design  for  his  in- 
jury. By  way  of  a  test,  a  smith  was  or- 
dered to  strike  it  with  his  hammer;  but  the 
hammer  rebounded  from  the  solid  glass,  and 
this  was  taken  to  be  conclusive  evidence  of 
magic  in  the  thing,  which  was  immediately 
buried,  and  probably  is  still  reposing  under 
the  soil  of  the  Celestial  Flowery  Kingdom. 
— LANGLEY  2V ew  Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  103. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3324.  SUPERSTITION,  EFFECTS  OF 

— Historic  Eclipses  Have  Affected  Believ- 
ers in  Their  Malign  Influence. — History  re- 
lates a  crowd  of  memorable  acts  on  which 
eclipses  have  had  the  greatest  influence. 
Alexander,  before  the  battle  of  Arbela,  ex- 
pected to  see  his  army  routed  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  phenomenon  of  this  kind.  The 
death  of  the  Athenian  general,  Nicias,  and 
the  ruin  of  his  army  in  Sicily,  with  which 
the  decline  of  the  Athenians  commenced, 
had  for  their  cause  an  eclipse  of  the  moon. 
We  know  how  Christopher  Columbus,  with 
his  little  army,  threatened  with  death  by 
famine  at  Jamaica,  found  means  of  pro- 
curing provisions  from  the  natives  by  de- 
priving them  in  the  evening  of  the  light 
of  the  moon.  The  eclipse  had  scarcely  com- 
menced when  they  supplied  him  with  food. 
This  was  the  eclipse  of  March  1,  1504,  ob- 
served in  Europe  at  Ulm  by  Stoffer,  and  at 
Nuremberg  by  Bernard  Walter,  and  which 
happened  at  Jamaica  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  We  need  not  relate  other  facts 
of  this  nature,  in  which  history  abounds, 
and  which  are  known  to  every  one. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  9,  p. 
181.  (A.) 

3325.  SUPERSTITION   FOUNDS  ON 
NATURAL     PHENOMENON  —  The  "Fairy 
Rings." — Several    low   forms   of   plant   life, 
such    as    Marasmius    oreades,    Spathularia 
flavida,  and  some  of  the  puffballs,  start  in 


isolated  spots  in  the  grass  of  a  lawn  or 
pasture,  and  spread  each  year  from  a  few 
inches  to  a  foot  or  more  in  every  direction, 
usually  in  the  form  of  a  circle;  at  the  end 
of  fifteen  years  some  of  these  circles  ac- 
quire a  diameter  of  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  or 
more.  These  are  known  as  fairy  rings.  Be- 
fore science  dispelled  the  illusion  they  were 
believed  to  have  been  the  work  of  witches, 
elves,  or  evil  spirits,  from  which  arose  the 
name. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  2,  p.  4. 
(G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3326.  SUPERSTITION  IN  AVOIDING 
SUPERSTITION— Danger  of  Undue  Recoil— 
Superstition,  without  a  veil,  is  a  deformed 
thing;  for  as  it  addeth  deformity  to  an  ape 
to  be  so  like  a  man,  so  the  similitude  of 
superstition  to  religion  makes  it  the  more 
deformed ;  and  as  wholesome  meat  corrupteth 
to  little  worms,  so  good  forms  and  orders 
corrupt  into  a  number  of  petty  observances. 
There  is  a  superstition  in  avoiding  super- 
stition, when  men  think  to  do  best  if  they 
go  furthest  from  the  superstition  formerly 
received;  therefore  care  would  be  had  that 
(as  it  fareth  in  ill  purgings)   the  good  be 
not  taken  away  with  the  bad,  which  com- 
monly  is   done. — BACON    Essays,   essay    17, 
Of  Superstition,  p.  63.     (W.  L.  A.) 

3327.  SUPERSTITION,  INDICATIONS 
OF,  IN  LOWER  ANIMALS— Fear  as  a  Re- 
sult of  Intellectual  Confusion — Dog  Terrified 
~by  Mystery. — It  produces  a  strange  emotion- 
al "curdle"  in  our  blood  to  see  a  process  with 
which  we  are  familiar  deliberately  taking  an 
unwonted  course.     Any   one's   heart  would 
stop  beating  if  he  perceived  his  chair  sliding 
unassisted  across  the  floor.     The  lower  ani- 
mals appear  to  be  sensitive  to  the  mysteri- 
ously exceptional  as  well  as  ourselves.     My 
friend,  Professor  W.  K.  Brooks,  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins   University,   told   me  of  his   large 
and  noble  dog  being  frightened  into  a  sort 
of  epileptic  fit  by  a  bone  being  drawn  across 
the  floor  by  a  thread  which  the  dog  did  not 
see.  Darwin  and  Romanes  have  given  similar 
experiences. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch. 
24,  p.  419.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3328.  SUPERSTITION,     ITS     EX- 
PLANATION OF  SCIENTIFIC  FACT— At 

the  place  where  we  slept  [11,000  feet  up  in 
the  Andes]  water  necessarily  boiled,  from 
the  diminished  pressure  of  the  atmosphere, 
at  a  lower  temperature  than  it  does  in  a 
less  lofty  country,  the  case  being  the  con- 
verse of  that  of  a  Papin's  digester.  Hence 
the  potatoes,  after  remaining  for  some  hours 
in  the  boiling  water,  were  nearly  as  hard  as 
ever.  The  pot  was  left  on  the  fire  all  night, 
and  next  morning  it  was  boiled  again,  but 
yet  the  potatoes  were  not  cooked.  I  found 
out  this  by  overhearing  my  two  companions 
[Chileans]  discussing  the  cause;  they  had 
come  to  the  simple  conclusion  "  that  the 
cursed  pot  (which  was  a  new  one)  did  not 
choose  to  boil  potatoes." — DARWIN  Natu- 
ralist's Voyage  around  the  World,  ch.  15, 
p.  323.  (A.,  1898.) 


673 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Superstition 
Surprise 


3329.  SUPERSTITiON  PREVENTING 
SCIENTIFIC    STUDY  — Science    Thought  to 
Tempt  to  Witchcraft. — In     .     .     .     ages  so 
inimical  to  intellectual  culture,  when  Chris- 
tianity  was   diffused   among  the   Germanic 
and    Celtic    nations,    who    had    previously 
been    devoted    to    the    worship    of    Nature, 
and    had    honored    under    rough    symbols 
its    preserving   and    destroying   powers,    in- 
timate intercourse  with  Nature,  and  a  study 
of  its  phenomena,  were  gradually  considered 
suspicious    incentives    to    witchcraft.      This 
communion   with   Nature   was   regarded   in 
the   same   light   as   Tertullian,   Clement   of 
Alexandria,  and  almost  all  the  older  fathers 
of  the  church  had  considered  the  pursuit  of 
the  plastic  arts.     In  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth   centuries    the    Councils    of    Tours 
(1163)    and  of  Paris    (1209)    interdicted  to 
monks    the    sinful    reading    of    works    on 
physics.    Albertus  Magnus  and  Roger  Bacon 
were  the  first  who  boldly  rent  asunder  these 
fetters  of  the  intellect,  and  thus,  as  it  were, 
absolved  Nature,   and   restored   her   to   her 
ancient  rights. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii, 
pt.  i,  p.  43.    (H.,  1897.) 

3330.  SUPPORT  FOR  TREE-CLIMB- 
ER—Perfect  Grasp  of  Branches— The  Monkey' 8 
Prehensile    Tail. — In    the  .spider    monkeys, 
the  woolly  monkeys,  and  the  howling  mon- 
keys, the  undersurface  of  the  terminal  por- 
tion of  the  tail  is  naked,  so  that  it  can  be 
very    closely    applied    to    any    surface   with 
which  it  is  in  contact.     The  tail  itself  is  a 
very  powerful  organ,  and  is  capable  of  curl- 
ing its  own  end  so  firmly  round  an  object 
that  the  animal's  whole  body  can  thus  be 
safely   suspended.     A   tail   of  this   kind   is 
called  a  "  prehensile  tail."    Not  every  Amer- 
ican monkey  has  it,  but  no  monkey  which 
is  not  American  possesses  anything  of  the 
kind.     Its  possession  must  greatly  add  to 
the    security    and    ease    of    locomotion    of 
any    forest-dwelling    beast. — MIVART    Types 
of  Animal  Life,  ch.  1,  p.  5.      (L.  B.  &  Co., 
1893.) 

3331.  SUPREMACY    COVETED    IN 
A  MAN'S  CHOSEN  FIELD-S/iame  of  Sur- 
passing All  but  One. — I,  who  for  the  time 
have  staked  my  all  on  being  a  psychologist, 
am    mortified    if    others    know    much    more 
psychology  than  I.     But  I  am  contented  to 
wallow  in  the  grossest  ignorance  of  Greek. 
My  deficiencies  there  give  me  no  sense  of 
personal  humiliation  at  all.     Had  I  "  pre- 
tensions "  to  be  a  linguist  it  would  have  been 
just  the  reverse.    So  we  have  the  paradox  of 
a  man  shamed  to  death  because  he  is  only 
the  second  pugilist  or  the  second  oarsman 
in  the  world.     That  he  is  able  to  beat  the 
whole   population   of   the   globe   minus   one 
is  nothing;  he  has  "  pitted  "  himself  to  beat 
that  one,  and  as  long  as  he  doesn't  do  that 
nothing  else  counts.     He  is  to  his  own  re- 
gard as  if  he  were  not,  indeed  he  is  not. — 
JAMES   Psychology,  vol.   i,  ch.    10,  p.   310. 
<H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


3332.  SUPREMACY  OF  MIND— New- 
ton— Scientific    Fame    Surpassing    That    of 
Warriors  and   Kings. — There  are,   perhaps, 
no  two  sets  of  human  beings  who  compre- 
hend less  the  movements,  and  enter  less  into 
the  cares  and  concerns,  of  each  other,  than 
the  wide  and  busy  public  on  the  one  hand, 
and   on  the  other  those  men  of  close  and 
studious  retirement  whom  the  world  never 
hears  of,  save  when,  fronTtheir  thoughtful 
solitude,   there   issues   forth   some  splendid 
'discovery  to  set  the  world  on  a  gaze  of  ad- 
miration.      Then  will   the  brilliancy   of   a 
superior  genius  draw  every  eye  towards  it, 
and  the  homage  paid  to  intellectual  superi- 
ority will   place  its  idol  on  a  loftier  emi- 
nence than  all  wealth  or  than  all  titles  can 
bestow,  and  the  name  of  the  successful  phi- 
losopher will  circulate,  in  his  own  age,  over 
the  whole   extent   of   civilized   society,  and 
be  borne  down  to  posterity  in  the  characters 
of  ever-enduring  remembrance;  and  thus  it 
is  that  when  we  look  back  on  the  days  of 
Newton    we    annex    a    kind    of    mysterious 
greatness  to  him,  who,  by  the  pure  force  of 
his  understanding,  rose  to  such  a  gigantic 
elevation  above  the  level  of  ordinary  men, 
and  the  kings  and  warriors  of  other  days 
sink  into  insignificance  around  him,     .     .     . 
and,  while  all  the  vulgar  grandeur  of  other 
days  is  now  moldering  in  forgetfulness,  the 
achievements  of  our  great  astronomer   are 
still  fresh  in  the  veneration  of  his  country- 
men, and  they  carry   him  forward   on   the 
stream    of    time,    with    a    reputation    ever 
gathering,   and  the  triumphs  of  a  distinc- 
tion   that   will    never    die. — CHALMERS    As- 
tronomical Discourses,  p.  44.    (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 

3333.  SURPRISE  OF  AERONAUT— 

Falling  Stone  Follows  Balloon — Communica- 
tion of  Motion. — When  we  drop  a  stone  from 
the  top  of  the  mast  of  a  ship  in  motion 
it  falls  exactly  at  the  foot  of  the  mast,  just 
as  if  the  ship  were  at  rest.  The  motion  of 
the  vessel  is  communicated  to  the  mast,  to 
the  stone,  and  to  everything  on  the  floating 
abode;  there  is  nothing  but  the  resist- 
ance of  the  liquid  plain  cleft  by  the  ship 
which  permits  the  passengers  to  perceive 
the  motion.  It  is  the  same  on  the  rail- 
way and  in  a  balloon.  But  as  the  earth 
does  not  encounter  any  strange  obstacle, 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  in  Nature  which 
can  by  its  resistance,  by  its  motion,  or  by 
its  shock,  enable  us  to  perceive  the  motion. 
This  motion  is  common  to  all  terrestrial 
bodies;  if  they  are  raised  in  the  air,  they 
have  received  beforehand  the  motion  of  our 
globe,  its  direction  and  its  velocity;  and 
even  when  they  are  at  the  highest  point  of 
the  atmosphere  they  continue  to  move  as 
the  earth  does. 

We  verify  the  same  law  in  a  balloon.  I 
remember  myself  one  day  passing  over  the 
town  of  Orleans.  I  had  taken  care  to  write 
a  despatch  addressed  to  the  leading  journal 
of  that  town,  and  I  had  expected  when  we 
arrived  above  a  promenade  to  let  it  fall, 


Surprise 
Sustenance 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


674 


by  affixing  a  stone  for  a  counterpoise.  What 
was  my  surprise  to  see  this  stone,  while 
descending,  suspended  beneath  the  balloon 
as  if  it  had  slipped  the  length  of  a  cord. 
The  balloon  sails  rather  fast.  Instead  of 
falling  on  the  spot  I  had  chosen,  or  even 
in  the  town,  the  despatch,  following  a  diag- 
onal, fell  into  the  Loire.  I  had  not  reflected 
on  one  of  the  oldest  questions  of  my  bache- 
lor's degree,  the  independence  of  simultane- 
ous motions.  Very  fortunately  the  balloon, 
having  crossed  the  Loire,  had  towards  even- 
ing descended  sufficiently  near  the  earth  to 
allow  us  to  hail  an  inhabitant  of  the  town, 
who  was  following  the  Orleans  road,  on  his 
way  home,  seated  in  a  cabriolet,  which  ad- 
vanced at  a  slow  pace.  It  was  nightfall,  and 
the  Angelus  was  wafted  from  the  village 
bells.  Much  surprised  was  this  traveler  on 
hearing  himself  hailed  from  the  height  of 
heaven.  He  seemed  at  first  to  believe  neither 
his  ears  nor  his  eyes.  But  the  horse  was 
promptly  stopped,  and  we  had  sufficient  time 
to  announce  our  passing,  which  next  morn- 
ing was  published  in  the  newspapers. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, p. 58.  (A.) 

3334.  SURPRISE  OF  A  GREAT  DIS- 
COVERY— Newton  Discovers  the  Spectrum — 
Light   Composite — Its  Apparent  Simplicity 
Delusive. — In  the  rainbow  a  new  phenome- 
non was  introduced — the  phenomenon  of  col- 
or.    And   here  we   arrive   at  one   of  those 
points  in  the  history  of  science  when  great 
men's  labors  so  intermingle  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to   assign  to  each  worker  his  precise 
meed  of  honor.    Descartes  was  at  the  thresh- 
old of  the  discovery  of  the  composition  of 
solar  light ;  but  for  Newton  was  reserved  the 
enunciation  of  the  true  law.     He  went  to 
work  in  this  way:  Through  the  closed  win- 
dow-shutter of  a  room  he  pierced  an  orifice 
and  allowed  a  thin  sunbeam  to  pass  through 
it.    The  beam  stamped  a  round  white  image 
of  the  sun  on  the  opposite  wall  of  the  room. 
In   the   path   of  this   beam   Newton  placed 
a  prism,  expecting  to  see  the  beam  refracted, 
but  also  expecting  to  see  the  image  of  the 
sun,   after  refraction,  still  round.     To  his 
astonishment,  it  was  drawn  out  to  an  image 
with  a  length  five  times  its  breadth.    It  was, 
moreover,  no  longer  white,  but  divided  into 
bands  of  different  colors.     Newton  saw  im- 
mediately  that  solar   light  was   composite, 
not  simple.     His  elongated  image  revealed 
to  him  the  fact  that  some  constituents  of 
the  light  were  more  deflected  by  the  prism 
than   others,    and   he    concluded,    therefore, 
that   white    solar   light   was    a    mixture   of 
lights    of   different   colors,   of  different   de- 
grees  of  refrangibility. — TYNDALL  Lectures 
on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  26.      (A.,  1898.) 

3335.  SURRENDER    OF    PRETEN- 
SIONS A  RELIEF  FROM  STRAIN— Yonder 
puny    fellow,  ,   whom   every   one 
can  beat,  suffers  no  chagrin  about  it,  for  he 
has  long  ago  abandoned  the  attempt  to  "  car- 
ry that  line,"  as  the  merchants  say,  of  self 
at  all.     With  no  attempt  there  can  be  no 


failure;  with  no  failure  no  humiliation.  So 
our  self-feeling  in  this  world  depends  en- 
tirely on  what  we  back  ourselves  to  be  and 
do.  It  is  determined  by  the  ratio  of  our 
actualities  to  our  supposed  potentialities,  a 
fraction  of  which  our  pretensions  are  the 
denominator  and  the  numerator  our  success  : 
thus 


Such  a  fraction  may  be  increased  as  well 
by  diminishing  the  denominator  as  by  in- 
creasing the  numerator.  To  give  up  pre- 
tensions is  as  blessed  a  relief  as  to  get  them 
gratified;  and  where  disappointment  is  in- 
cessant and  the  struggle  unending,  this  is 
what  men  will  always  do.  The  history  of 
evangelical  theology,  with  its  conviction 
of  sin,  its  self-despair,  and  its  abandonment 
of  salvation  by  works,  is  the  deepest  of  pos- 
sible examples,  but  we  meet  others  in  every 
walk  of  life.  —  JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch. 
10,  p.  310.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3336.  -    -    Illusions  Aban- 
doned —  Burdens     Dropped.  —  There     is     the 
strangest   lightness    about   the   heart   when 
one's  nothingness  in  a  particular  line  is  once 
accepted  in  good  faith.    All  is  not  bitterness 
in  the  lot  of  the  lover  sent  away  by  the  final 
inexorable  "  No."     Many  Bostonians,  crede 
experto    (and    inhabitants    of    other    cities, 
too,  I  fear)    would  be  happier  women  and 
men  to-day  if  they  could  once  for  all  aban- 
don the  notion  of  keeping  up  a  Musical  Self, 
and  without   shame   let   people   hear   them 
call  a  symphony  a  nuisance.    How  pleasant 
is  the  day  when  we  give  up  striving  to  be 
young  —  or   slender!      Thank   God!    we   say, 
those  illusions  are  gone.     Everything  added 
to  the  Self  is  a  burden  as  well  as  a  pride. 
A  certain  man  who  lost  every  penny  during 
our  civil  war  went  and  actually  rolled  in 
the  dust,  saying  he  had  not  felt  so  free  and 
happy  since  he  was  born.  —  JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  311.     (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3337.  SURVIVAL  NOT  BY  CHANCE 

—  Some  Quality  of  the  Organism  Determines. 

—  Variations  Universal.  —  Why  do  some  live 
rather  than  others?     If  all  the  individuals 
of  each  species  were  exactly  alike  in  every 
respect    we    could    only    say    it    is    a    mat- 
ter   of    chance.      But   they    are    not    alike. 
We  find  that  they  vary  in  many  different 
ways.      Some    are    stronger,    some    swifter, 
some   hardier    in    constitution,    some    more 
cunning.     An  obscure  color  may  render  con- 
cealment more  easy  for  some,  keener  sight 
may  enable  others  to  discover  prey  or  escape 
from   an   enemy   better   than   their   fellows. 
Among  plants  the  smallest  differences  may 
be  useful  or  the  reverse.     The  earliest  and 
strongest  shoots  may  escape  the  slug;  their 
greater  vigor  may  enable  them  to  flower  and 
seed    earlier    in    wet   autumn;    plants    best 
armed  with  spines  or  hairs  may  escape  being 
devoured;  those  whose  flowers  are  most  con- 
spicuous  may  be  soonest   fertilized  by   in- 


675 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Surprise 
sustenance 


sects.  We  cannot  doubt  that,  on  the  whole, 
any  beneficial  variations  will  give  the  pos- 
sessors of  it  a  greater  probability  of  living 
through  the  tremendous  ordeal  they  have 
to  undergo.  There  may  be  something  left 
to  chance,  but  on  the  whole  the  fittest  will 
survive. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  1,  p.  7. 
(Hum.) 

3338.     SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

— Fitness  Is  Fittedness — The  Texas  Bull  and 
the  Mosquito — The  Prize-fighter  and  the 
Cripple — Social  Compassion  Makes  a  New 
Fitness  for  the  Weak. — The  survival  of  the 
fittest,  of  course,  does  not  mean  the  survival 
of  the  strongest.  It  means  the  survival  of 
the  adapted — the  survival  of  the  [one]  most 
fitted  to  the  circumstances  which  surround 
it.  A  fish  survives  in  water  when  a  leaking 
ironclad  goes  to  the  bottom,  not  because 
it  is  stronger,  but  because  it  is  better  adapt- 
ed to  the  element  in  which  it  lives.  A  Texas 
bull  is  stronger  than  a  mosquito,  but  in  an 
autumn  drought  the  bull  dies,  the  mosquito 
lives.  Fitness  to  survive  is  simply  fitted- 
ness,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  strength 
or  courage,  or  intelligence  or  cunning  as 
such,  but  only  with  adjustments  as  fit  or 
unfit  to  the  world  around.  A  prize-fighter 
is  stronger  than  a  cripple;  but  in  the  en- 
vironment of  modern  life  the  cripple  is  cared 
for  by  the  people,  is  judged  fit  to  live  by 
a  moral  world,  while  the  pugilist,  handi- 
capped by  his  very  health,  has  to  conduct 
his  own  struggle  for  existence.  Physical  fit- 
ness here  is  actually  a  disqualification ;  what 
was  once  unfitness  is  now  fitness  to  survive. 
As  we  rise  in  the  scale  the  physical  fitness 
of  the  early  world  changes  to  fitness  of  a 
different  quality,  and  this  law  becomes  the 
guardian  of  a  moral  order.  In  one  era  the 
race  is  to  the  swift,  in  another  the  meek 
inherit  the  earth.  In  a  material  world  social 
survival  depends  on  wealth,  health,  power; 
in  a  moral  world  the  fittest  are  the  weak, 
the  pitiable,  the  poor.  Thus  there  comes 
a  time  when  this  very  law,  in  securing  sur- 
vival for  those  who  would  otherwise  sink 
and  fall,  is  the  minister  of  moral  ends. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  6,  p.  209. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 


3339. 


Natural  Interfer- 


ence with. — Apes  that  abstract  a  thorn  from 
a  wounded  comrade,  and  protect  the  weak 
or  wounded,  defy  the  laws  of  the  struggle 
for  existence. — KOKEN  Die  Vorwelt,  p.  635. 
(Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights.} 

334O.  SURVIVAL  OF  WEAPON  AS 
SYMBOL  OF  POWER—  The  Mace  Is  the  War- 
club  of  Primitive  Man. — Among  the  sim- 
plest of  weapons  is  the  thick  stick  or  cudgel, 
which  when  heavier  or  knobbed  passes  into 
the  club.  Rude  champions  have  delighted 
in  the  ferocious  roughness  of  such  a  gnarled 
club  as  Hercules  in  the  pictures  carries  on 
his  shoulder,  while  others  spent  their  lei- 
sure hours  in  elegant  shaping  and  carving, 
like  that  of  the  South  Sea  Island  clubs  to 


be  seen  in  museums.  From  savage  through 
barbaric  times  the  war-club  lasted  on  into 
the  Middle  Ages  of  Europe,  when  knights 
still  smashed  helmets  in  with  their  heavy 
maces.  Mostly  used  as  a  weapon,  it  only 
now  and  then  appears  in  peaceful  arts, 
as  in  the  ribbed  clubs  with  which  the  Poly- 
nesian women  beat  out  bark  cloth.  It  is 
curious  to  see  how  the  rudest  of  primitive 
weapons,  after  its  serious  warlike  use  has 
ceased,  survives  as  a  symbol  of  power,  when 
the  mace  is  carried  as  emblem  of  the  royal 
authority,  and  is  laid  on  the  table  during 
the  sitting  of  Parliament  or  the  Royal  So- 
ciety.— TYLOK  Anthropology,  ch.  8,  p.  184. 
(A.,  1899.) 

334 1 .  SUSPENSE,  EVIL  HELD  IN- 

May  Burst  Forth  Anew — Antiseptics  vs. 
Germicides — Cold  Merely  Represses  Bac- 
teria.— In  a  cold  temperature,  as  a  general 
rule,  bacteria  do  not  multiply  with  the  same 
rapidity  as  at  blood-heat.  Within  the  limits 
of  a  moist  perimeter  the  air  is,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  germ-free.  Direct  sun- 
light has  a  definitely  germicidal  effect  in 
the  course  of  time  upon  some  of  the  most 
virulent  bacteria  we  know.  Here,  then,  are 
three  examples  of  physical  agents — low  tem- 
perature, moist  perimeter,  sunlight — which, 
if  strong  enough  in  degree,  or  acting  for  a 
long  enough  period  of  time,  become  first 
antiseptics  and  then  germicides.  Yet  for 
a  limited  period  they  have  no  injurious 
effect  upon  bacteria. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch. 
9,  p.  323.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3342.  SUSPENSE,  IMPATIENCE  OF 

— Longing  for  Action  of  Some  Kind. — Cer- 
tain motives  are  more  or  less  constantly 
in  play  [in  time  of  deliberation].  One  of 
these  is  impatience  of  the  deliberative  state ; 
or,  to  express  it  otherwise,  proneness  to  act 
or  to  decide  merely  because  action  and  de- 
cision are,  as  such,  agreeable,  and  relieve 
the  tension  of  doubt  and  hesitancy.  Thus 
it  comes  that  we  will  often  take  any  course 
whatever  which  happens  to  be  most  vividly 
before  our  minds,  at  the  moment  when  this 
impulse  to  decisive  action  becomes  extreme. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  529. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3343.  SUSTENANCE    STORED    IN 
BODY  FOR  LONG  FAST— Summer  Torpid- 
ity of  Lemuroids. — Certain  small  nocturnal 
lemuroids  inhabit  Madagascar.    .    .    .    They 
have   also   an    interesting   peculiarity   of  a 
temporary    nature;    this   is   their    tendency 
to  accumulate  a  quantity  of  fat  in  certain 
parts  of  the  body,  especially  at  the  root  of 
the  tail,  which   becomes  of  an  exceedingly 
large    size.      This    peculiarity    of   structure 
is  related  to  a  peculiarity  of  habit,  for  dur- 
ing the  dry  season  they  retire  into  the  holes 
of  trees,   coil  themselves  up,  and  pass  the 
whole  period  in  sleep,  as  bats  with  us  hiber- 
nate in  winter.     When,  with  the  advent  of 
the    rainy    season,    they    rouse    themselves 
again,    their    fat    has    disappeared,    having 


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served  to  nourish  them  during  their  period 
of  torpor. — MIVABT  Types  of  Animal  Life, 
ch.  12,  p.  343.  (L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

3344.  SWIFTNESS     OF     EARTH'S 
REVOLUTION— Maw  Like  Dust  on  Flying 
Cannon-ball. — In  order  to  accomplish,  as  it 
does  in  365*4  days,  this  immense  distance 
round  the  sun  our  sphere  is  obliged  to  travel 
a  distance  of  2,544,000  kilometers    [1,580,- 
765.28  miles]   a  day,  or  106,000  kilometers 
[65,865.22  miles]  an  hour,  or  29  kilometers 
[18  miles]  a  second!     This  is  an  absolutely 
demonstrated    mathematical    fact. 

We  sail,  then,  in  immensity  with  a  velocity 
eleven  hundred  times  quicker  than  that  of 
an  express  train.  .  .  .  This  velocity  of 
our  globe  in  its  celestial  orbit  is  seventy-five 
times  swifter  than  that  of  a  cannon-ball. 

Upon  this  moving  globe  we  live,  almost  in 
the  same  situation  as  grains  of  dust  adher- 
ing to  the  surface  of  an  enormous  cannon- 
ball  shot  into  immensity.  *  *  *  Sharing 
absolutely  in  all  the  motions  of  the  globe, 
with  all  that  surrounds  us,  we  cannot  per- 
ceive these  motions,  and  we  can  only  detect 
them  from  observations  of  the  stars,  which 
do  not  participate  in  the  motion.  Marvelous 
sidereal  mechanism — the  force  which  trans- 
ports our  planet  is  exercised  without  an 
effort,  without  friction,  and  without  shocks 
in  the  midst  of  absolute  silence  in  the  eter- 
nal heavens.  Smoother  than  the  barge  upon 
the  limpid  river,  smoother  than  the  gondola 
moving  on  the  mirror  of  the  Venetian  canals, 
the  earth  glides  majestically  in  its  ideal  or- 
bit, showing  no  perceptible  trace  of  the 
powerful  force  which  guides  it.  Thus,  but 
not  with  such  perfection,  glides  the  soli- 
tary balloon  in  the  midst  of  the  transparent 
air.  How  many  times,  entrusted  to  the  car 
of  the  aerial  ship,  either  during  the  bright 
hours  of  the  day  above  the  verdant  fields, 
or  in  the  darkness  of  night,  with  the  melan- 
choly light  of  the  moon  and  stars — how 
many  times  have  I  compared  the  glorious 
course  of  the  balloon  in  the  atmosphere  to 
that  of  the  earth  in  space! — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  8.  (A.) 

3345.  SWIFTNESS  OF  MOTION— 

A  Gnat's  Wings — Corresponding  Quickness 
of  Perception. — "  A  gnat's  wings,"  says  Mr. 
Spencer,  "make  ten  or  fifteen  thousand 
strokes  a  second.  Each  stroke  implies  a 
separate  nervous  action.  Each  such  nervous 
action  or  change  in  a  nervous  center  is  prob- 
ably as  appreciable  by  the  gnat  as  is  a  quick 
movement  of  his  arm  by  a  man.  And  if 
this,  or  anything  like  this,  is  the  fact,  then 
the  time  occupied  by  a  given  external  change, 
measured  by  many  movements  in  the  one 
case,  must  seem  much  longer  than  in  the 
other  case,  when  measured  by  one  move- 
ment."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p. 
639.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3346.  SYMPATHY  A  GENUINE 
HUMAN  IMPULSE— Not  a  Result  of  Calcula- 
tion.— Sympathy  is  an  emotion  as  to  whose 


instinctiveness  psychologists  have  held  hot 
debate,  some  of  them  contending  that  it  is 
no  primitive  endowment,  but,  originally  at 
least,  the  result  of  a  rapid  calculation  of  the 
good  consequences  to  ourselves  of  the  sympa- 
thetic act.  Such  a  calculation,  at  first  con- 
scious, would  grow  more  unconscious  as  it 
became  more  habitual,  and  at  last,  tradition 
and  association  aiding,  might  prompt  to  ac- 
tions which  could  not  be  distinguished  from 
immediate  impulses.  It  is  hardly  needful 
to  argue  against  the  falsity  of  this  view. 
Some  forms  of  sympathy,  that  of  mother 
with  child,  for  example,  are  surely  primitive, 
and  not  intelligent  forecasts  of  board  and 
lodging  and  other  support  to  be  reaped  in 
old  age.  Danger  to-  the  child  blindly  and 
instantaneously  stimulates  the  mother  to 
actions  of  alarm  or  defense.  Menace  or 
harm  to  the  adult  beloved  or  friend  excites 
us  in  a  corresponding  way,  often  against  aW 
the  dictates  of  prudence.  It  is  true  that 
sympathy  does  not  necessarily  follow  from 
the  mere  fact  of  gregariousness.  Cattle  do 
not  help  a  wounded  comrade;  on  the  con- 
trary, they  are  more  likely  to  despatch  him. 
But  a  dog  will  lick  another  sick  dog,  and 
even  bring  him  food;  and  the  sympathy  of 
monkeys  is  proved  by  many  observations  to 
be  strong.  In  man,  then,  we  may  lay  it 
down  that  the  sight  of  suffering  or  danger 
to  others  is  a  direct  exciter  of  interest,  and 
an  immediate  stimulus,  if  no  complication 
hinders,  to  acts  of  relief. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  410.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3347.  SYMPATHY  AND  KINDNESS 
AMONG  APES — Here  is  a  case  which  I  my- 
self witnessed  at  the  Zoological  Gardens,  and 
published  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence, from  which  I  now  quote :  "  A  year  or 
two  ago  there  was  an  Arabian  baboon  and 
an  Anubis  baboon  confined  in  one  cage,  ad- 
joining that  which  contained  a  dog-headed 
baboon.  The  Anubis  baboon  passed  its  hand 
through  the  wires  of  the  partition,  in  order 
to  purloin  a  nut  which  the  large  dog-headed 
baboon  had  left  within  reach — expressly,  I 
believe,  that  it  might  act  as  a  bait.  The 
Anubis  baboon  very  well  knew  the  danger  he 
ran,  for  he  waited  until  his  bulky  neighbor 
had  turned  his  back  upon  the  nut  with  the 
appearance  of  having  forgotten  all  about  it. 
The  dog-headed  baboon,  however,  was  all  the 
time  slyly  looking  round  with  the  corner  of 
his  eye,  and  no  sooner  was  the  arm  of  his 
victim  well  within  his  cage  than  he  sprang 
with  astonishing  rapidity  and  caught  the 
retreating  hand  in  his  mouth.  The  cries  of 
the  Anubis  baboon  quickly  brought  the  keep- 
er to  the  rescue,  when,  by  dint  of  a  good 
deal  of  physical  persuasion,  the  dog-headed 
baboon  was  induced  to  leave  go  his  hold. 
The  Anubis  baboon  then  retired  to  the  mid- 
dle of  his  cage,  moaning  piteously,  and  hold- 
ing the  injured  hand  against  his  chest  while 
he  rubbed  it  with  the  other  one.  The  Arabi- 
an baboon  now  approached  him  from  the 


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top  part  of  the  cage,  and  while  making  a 
soothing  sound  very  expressive  of  sympathy, 
folded  the  sufferer  in  his  arms — exactly  as  a 
mother  would  her  child  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. It  must  be  stated,  also,  that 
this  expression  of  sympathy  had  a  de- 
cidedly quieting  effect  upon  the  sufferer,  his 
moans  becoming  less  piteous  so  soon  as  he 
was  enfolded  in  the  arms  of  his  comforter; 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  laid  his  cheek 
upon  the  bosom  of  his  friend  was  as  ex- 
pressive as  anything  could  be  of  sympathy 
appreciated.  This  really  affecting  spectacle 
lasted  a  considerable  time,  and  while  watch- 
ing it  I  felt  that,  even  had  it  stood  alone, 
it  would  in  itself  have  been  sufficient  to 
prove  the  essential  identity  of  some  of  the 
noblest  among  human  emotions  with  those 
of  the  lower  animals." — ROMANES  Animal 
Intelligence,  ch.  17,  p.  474.  (A.,  1899.) 

3348.  SYMPATHY,     HINDRANCES 

TO — Cruelty  of  Mobs. —  Sympathy  is  pecul- 
iarly liable  to  inhibition  from  other  in- 
stincts which  its  stimulus  may  call  forth. 
The  traveler  whom  the  good  Samaritan 
rescued  may  well  have  prompted  such  in- 
stinctive fear  or  disgust  in  the  priest  and 
Levite  who  passed  in  front  of  him,  that  their 
sympathy  could  not  come  to  the  front. 
Then,  of  course,  habits,  reasoned  reflections, 
and  calculations  may  either  check  or  reen- 
force  one's  sympathy,  as  may  also  the 
instincts  of  love  or  hate,  if  these  exist, 
for  the  suffering  individual.  The  hunting 
and  pugnacious  instincts,  when  aroused,  also 
inhibit  our  sympathy  absolutely.  This  ac- 
counts for  the  cruelty  of  collections  of  men 
hounding  each  other  on  to  bait  or  torture 
a  victim.  The  blood  mounts  to  the  eyes,  and 
sympathy's  chance  is  gone. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  411.  (H.  H.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3349.  SYMPATHY  WITH  PICTURED 

EMOTION — As  emotions  are  described  in 
novels,  they  interest  us,  for  we  are  made 
to  share  them.  We  have  grown  acquainted 
with  the  concrete  objects  and  emergencies 
which  call  them  forth,  and  any  knowing 
touch  of  introspection  which  may  grace 
the  page  meets  with  a  quick  and  feeling  re- 
sponse.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  25, 
p.  448.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3350.  SYMPATHY    WITH     STORM 
AND  DARKNESS—  The  Wild  Beast's  Response 
to  the  Terrible  in  Nature. — If  an  African 
lion  is  to  be  seen  in  his  glory,  he  must  be 
looked  at  by  the  lightning's  glare.  It  is  amid 
tempest   and   gloom   that   the   full   propor- 
tions  of  his   nature  come   forth.     So  with 
this  lion  of  another  world  [a  captive  puma]. 
Many  a  time  in  the  course  of  those  nightly 
interviews     ...     he  roused  himself  from 
an  intense  contemplation  of  his  companion, 
disturbed  by  thunder  and  the  tumult  with- 
out.    Then   while   the   wind   blew   unequal- 
ly,   roared    through    swaying    branches,    or 
mourned   around  the  walls  that  shut  him 


in,  he  quickened  under  the  influence  of  over- 
tones in  Nature  which  human  beings  cannot 
hear.  Storm  and  darkness  wrought  upon 
him  as  they  will  not  do  upon  man.  Beyond 
what  was  visible  or  audible  there  was  some- 
thing that  came  from  within  himself;  some- 
thing that  wove  "  the  waste  fantasies  "  of 
his  dreams  together,  and  gave  character  and 
purpose  to  ideation.  He  showed  it  in  pro- 
foundly suggestive  pantomime.  But  what 
"  air-drawn "  shapes  were  followed  with 
those  long,  swift,  soft  yet  heavy  steps,  on 
what  his  eyes  were  fixed,  what  feelings  and 
fancies  engrossed  and  transfigured  him,  gave 
that  fierce  energy,  and  led  him  in  their 
train,  are  unknowable.  They  had  no  voice, 
but  only  with  mute  motions  pointed  back- 
ward to  a  past  in  which  humanity  shared 
no  part,  and  which  it  cannot  explore. — 
PORTER  Wild  Beasts,  p.  290.  (A.,  1894.) 

3351.  SYNTHESIS,   CHEMICAL— 

Building  Greater  than  Destruction — Vital 
Products  Chemically  Produced. — One  of  the 
marked  features  of  modern  chemistry  has 
been  in  the  widening  of  the  field  of  synthetic 
research.  The  building  of  a  molecule  re- 
quires far  more  skill  than  its  destruction, 
and  therefore,  as  the  knowledge  of  chemical 
principles  has  advanced,  and  as  the  skill  of 
the  analyst  has  increased,  it  has  been  possi- 
ble to  put  together  the  chemical  elements 
into  increasingly  more  complex  and  more 
valuable  forms.  Following  out  researches 
of  this  kind,  the  chemist  has  been  able  to 
produce  by  synthesis  hundreds  of  compounds 
which  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  were  sup- 
posed to  be  exclusively  formed  by  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  so-called  vital  forces. — WILEY 
Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Prog- 
ress (Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafay- 
ette, Ind.,  1896,  p.  28). 

3352.  SYSTEM,  COPERNICAN— Hum- 
ble Worker  Solves  Mystery  of  Universe — Pa- 
tience and  Exactness  of  Science. — The  hy- 
pothesis   of    the    earth's    motion    had    been 
suggested    long    before    his     [Copernicus's] 
birth  on  this  planet.     This  theory  counted 
partisans  in  his  time.     But  he — he  did  his 
work.     He  examined   it  with  the   patience 
of  an  astronomer,  the  rigor  of  a  mathema- 
tician, the  sincerity  of  a  sage,  and  the  mind 
of  a  philosopher.    He  demonstrated  it  in  his 
works.     Then  he  died  without  seeing  it  un- 
derstood, and  it  was  not  till  a  century  after 
his   death   that  astronomy   adopted   it  and 
popularized  it  by  teaching  it.    However,  Co- 
pernicus  is  really  the  author   of  the  true 
system  of  the  world,  and  his  name  will  re- 
main respected  to  the  end  of  time. 

This  great  man  was  neither  potentate, 
prince,  nor  official  personage,  nor  covered 
with  titles  more  or  less  sonorous  and  more 
or  less  vain.  He  was  a  modest  physician, 
the  friend  of  humanity  and  the  friend  of 
science,  consecrating  his  whole  life  to  the 
study  of  Nature,  nobly  indifferent  as  well 
to  fortune  as  to  glory.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  Polish  baker,  and  became  by  his  own 


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labors  the  greatest  man  of  his  age.  The 
physician  became  a  priest,  a  physician  of 
the  soul,  and  the  position  of  a  canon  as- 
sured to  him  the  calm  and  tranquil  life 
which  he  preferred.  His  uncle  was  a  bishop, 
and  was  sometimes  astonished  that  he 
should  "  lose  his  time  "  working  at  astrono- 
my.— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk. 
iv,  ch.  1,  p.  343.  (A.) 

3353.  SYSTEMS   MERELY  ARTIFI- 
CIAL MUST  PERISH—  The  Linnean  System 
of  Botany. — The  botany  of  Linnaeus,  a  pure- 
ly artificial  system,  was  a  splendid  contri- 
bution to  human  knowledge,  and  did  more 
in  its  day  to  enlarge  the  view  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom  than  all  that  had  gone  be- 
fore.    But  all  artificial  systems  must  pass 
away.      None   knew  better   than   the   great 
Swedish    naturalist    himself    that    his    sys- 
tem,  being  artificial,   was  but   provisional. 
Nature  must  be  read  in  its  own  light.    And 
as  the  botanical  field  became  more  luminous 
the  system  of  Jussieu  and  De  Candolle  slow- 
ly  emerged    as    a    native   growth,    unfolded 
itself  as  naturally  as  the  petals  of  one  of 
its    own    flowers,    and    forcing    itself    upon 
men's  intelligence  as  the  very  voice  of  Na- 
ture, banished  the  Linnean  system  forever. — 
DRUMMOND   Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  int.,  p.  18.      (H.  Al.) 

3354.  SYSTEMS  OF  RELATED  COM- 
ETS— A  Common  Origin  in  Distant  Space. — 
The  idea  of  cometary  systems  was  first  sug- 
gested by  Thomas  Clausen  in  1831.     It  was 
developed  by  the  acute  inquiries  of  the  late 
M.  Hoek,  director  of  the  Utrecht  Observa- 
tory, in  1865  and  some  following  years.    He 
found  that  in  quite  a  considerable  number 
of  cases  the  paths  of  two  or  three  comets 
had  a  common  point  of  intersection  far  out 
in  space,  indicating  with  much  likelihood  a 
community   of   origin.     This   consisted,   ac- 
cording to  his  surmise,  in  the  disruption  of 
a  parent  mass  during  its  sweep  round  the 
star  latest  visited.     Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
fact  is  undoubted  that  numerous  comets  fall 
into  groups,  in  which  similar  conditions  of 
motion  betray  a   preexistent  physical   con- 
nection.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  11,  p.  438.      (Bl.,  1893.) 

3355.  TANGIBLE,  THE,   HELD  TO 
BE  THE  REAL— Objects  Hurt  or  Help  Only 
by  Contact — Other  Senses  Are  but  Anticipa- 
tory Touch. — Why  do  we  thus  so  markedly 
select  the  tangible  to  be  the  real?    Our  mo- 
tives are  not  far  to  seek.  The  tangible  quali- 
ties are  the  least  fluctuating.    When  we  get 
them  at  all  we  get  them  the   same.     The 
other  qualities  fluctuate  enormously  as  our 
relative    position    to    the    object    changes. 
Then,  more  decisive  still,  the  tactile  proper- 
ties   are   these   most    intimately    connected 
with  our  weal  or  woe.     A  dagger  hurts  us 
only  when  in  contact  with  our  skin,  a  poi- 
son only  when  we  take  it  into  our  mouths, 
and  we  can  only  use  an  object  for  our  ad- 
vantage when  we  have  it  in  our  muscular 


control.  It  is  as  tangibles,  then,  that  things 
concern  us  most;  and  the  other  senses,  so  far 
as  their  practical  use  goes,  do  but  warn  us 
of  what  tangible  things  to  expect.  They  are 
but  organs  of  anticipatory  touch,  as  Berkeley 
has  with  perfect  clearness  explained. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  21,  p.  306.  (H.  H. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 

3356.  TASKS,   CONTRASTED,  FOR 

MAN  AND  WOMAN— Woman's  Bias  toward 
the  Domestic  Life. — Among  primitive  peo- 
ples, as  largely  in  modern  times,  "  The  tasks 
which  demand  a  powerful  development  of 
muscle  and  bone,  and  the  resulting  capacity 
for  intermittent  spurts  of  energy,  involving 
corresponding  periods  of  rest,  fall  to  the 
man;  the  care  of  the  children  and  all 
the  various  industries  which  radiate  from 
the  hearth,  and  which  call  for  an  expendi- 
ture of  energy  more  continuous,  but  at  a 
lower  tension,  fall  to  the  woman."  [Have- 
lock  Ellis,  "Man  and  Woman,"  p.  2.] 
Whether  this  or  any  theory  of  the  origin 
of  sex  be  proved  or  unproved,  the  fact  re- 
mains, and  is  everywhere  emphasized  in 
Nature,  that  a  certain  constitutional  dif- 
ference exists  between  male  and  female,  a 
difference  inclining  the  one  to  a  robuster 
life,  and  implanting  in  the  other  a  certain 
mysterious  bias  in  the  direction  of  what 
one  can  'only  call  the  womanly  disposition.* 
— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  256. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

3357.  TASKS    INCREASED    WITH 
POWER— New  Problems  of  Astronomy.— The 
means  at  the  disposal  of  astronomers  have 
not  multiplied  faster  than  the  tasks  imposed 
upon  them.     Looking  back  to  the  year  1800, 
we  cannot  fail  to  be  astonished  at  the  change. 
The  comparatively  simple  and  serene  science 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  known  to  our  pred- 
ecessors, almost  perfect  so  far  as  it  went, 
incurious  of  what  lay  beyond  its  grasp,  has 
developed  into  a   body  of  manifold  powers 
and  parts,  each  with  its  separate  mode  and 
means  of  growth,  full  of  strong  vitality,  but 
animated  by  a  restless  and  unsatisfied  spirit, 
haunted  by  the  sense  of  problems  unsolved, 
and   tormented   by   conscious    impotence   to 
sound   the   immensities   it   perpetually  con- 
fronts.— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt. 
ii,  ch.  13,  p.  526.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

3358.  TASTE    AMONG   PRIMITIVE 
WOMEN—  Early  Needle  and  Thread— Geo- 
metric Patterns. — The  first  sewing-machine 
was  a  needle  or  bodkin  of  bone,  with  dainty 
sinew  thread  from  the  leg  of  the  antelope, 
and  for  thimble  a  little  leather  cap  over  the 
ends    of    the    fingers.      Coarse,    indeed,    the 
apparatus,  but  the  hand  was  deft,  the  eye 
was   true,   the   sense   of  beauty   was   there, 
and     so     that    needlewoman    of    long    ago 

*" "but  this  is  fixt 

As  are  the  roots  of  earth  and  base  of  all, 
Man  for  the  field  and  woman  for  the  hearth ; 
Man  for  the  sword  and  for  the  needle  she ; 
Man  with  the  head  and  woman  with  the  heart." 

—TENNYSON  Princess,  can.  v,  at.  16, 1.  9. 


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wrought  in  fur  from  the  mammals,  feathers 
from  the  birds,  grasses  from  the  fields,  shells 
from  the  sea,  wings  from  the  beetle,  and 
skins  of  snakes,  with  tasteful  geometric 
figures.  You  do  err  who  think  those  ancient 
needlewomen  had  no  taste.  It  would  be 
hard  to  invent  a  pattern  now  that  was  un- 
familiar to  them. — MASON  The  Birth  of 
Invention  (Address  at  Centenary  of  Ameri- 
can Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1891, 
Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  408). 

3359.  TASTE  IN  MUSIC,  PROGRESS 
OF — Greeks  and  Japanese — Handel — Beethoven 
— Wagner.  —  The    pains    and    pleasures    of 
tones,  tastes,  and  smells,  altho  still  imme- 
diately sensuous,  are  becoming,  as  develop- 
ment goes  on,  more   and  more   matters   of 
determination  according  to  ideal  standards. 
The    ear   of    the    Greeks    scarcely  tolerated 
as   agreeable   the  "  imperfect  consonances " 
of  the  major  and  minor  third.     But  Handel 
accepted  "  fourths,"  Beethoven  "  fifths,"  and 
the  modern  Wagnerian  music  pleases  many 
lovers  of  music,  altho  tolerating  the  widest 
range  of  discords.    Some  nations,  whose  mu- 
sic is  quite  undeveloped  (notably,  for  exam- 
ple, the  Japanese),  find  intervals  agreeable 
which  are  intolerable  to  us,  apparently  be- 
cause of  the  association  of  the  tones  with 
the  sad,  weird  sounds  of  Nature,  so  "  con- 
sonant" with  the  national  tone  of  feeling. — 
LADD  Psychology,  ch.  10,  p.  198.     (S.,  1899.) 

3360.  TASTE   ROUSES  DIGESTIVE 
ORGANS—  Function  of  the  Palate— Unspoiled 
Appetite    a    Guide    to    Nutrition — Nature's 
Chemistry. — It    would    seem    that    gelatin 
alone,  altho  containing  the  elements  required 
for  nutrition,   requires   something  more  to 
render  it  digestible.     We  shall  probably  be 
not  far  from  the  truth  if  we  picture  it  to  the 
mind  as  something  too  smooth,  too  neutral, 
too  inert,  to  set  the  digestive  organs  at  work, 
and  that  it  therefore  requires  the  addition 
of  a  decidedly  sapid  something  that  shall 
make  these  organs  act.     I  believe  that  the 
proper  function  of  the  palate  is  to  determine 
our  selection  of  such  materials;  that  its  ac- 
tivity is  in  direct  sympathy  with  that  of 
all   the    digestive   organs,    and   that    if   we 
carefully  avoid  the  vitiation  of  our  natural 
appetites,  we  have  in  our  mouths  and  the 
nervous    apparatus    connected    therewith    a 
laboratory  that  is  capable  of  supplying  us 
with    information    concerning    some    of   the 
chemical  relations  of  food  which  is  beyond 
the   grasp   of   the   analytical   machinery   of 
the    ablest    of    our    scientific    chemists. — 
WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  4,  p. 
40.     (A.,  1900.) 

3361 .  TEA  IN  CHINA— A  Nation  Sup- 
plied  with  Sterilized  Water. — In  the  coun- 
try which  over  all  others  combines  a  very 
large  population  with  a  very  small  allow- 
ance of  cleanliness,  the  ordinary  drink  of  the 
people  is  boiled  water  flavored  by  an  infusion 
of  leaves.     These  people,  the  Chinese,  seem, 
in  fact,  to  have  been  the  inventors  of  boiled- 


water  beverages.  Judging  from  travelers' 
accounts  of  the  state  of  the  rivers,  rivulets, 
and  general  drainage  and  irrigation  arrange- 
ments of  China,  its  population  could  scarcely 
have  reached  its  present  density  if  China- 
men were  drinkers  of  raw  instead  of  cooked 
water.  This  is  especially  remarkable  in  the 
case  of  such  places  as  Canton,  where  large 
numbers  are  living  afloat  Tm  the  mouths  of 
sewage-laden  rivers  or  estuaries.  The  ordi- 
nary every-day  domestic  beverage  is  a  weak 
infusion  of  tea,  made  in  a  large  teapot,  kept 
in  a  padded  basket  to  retain  the  heat.  The 
whole  family  is  supplied  from  this  reservoir. 
The  very  poorest  drink  plain  hot  water,  or 
water  tinged  by  infusing  the  spent  tea- 
leaves  rejected  by  their  richer  neighbors. — 
WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  2,  p. 
13.  (A.,  1900.) 

3362.  TEACHABLENESS     DISTIN- 
GUISHES HUMANITY— Man  Can  Learn.— 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  difference 
between  man  and  all  other  living  creatures, 
in  respect  of  teachableness,  progressiveness, 
and  individuality  of  character,  surpasses  all 
other  differences  of  kind  that  are  known  to 
exist    in    the    universe. — FISKE   Destiny   of 
Man,  ch.  6,  p.  56.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3363.  TEACHING  NOT  A  SUBSTI- 
TUTE FOR  SEEING— Instruction  about  Light 
Given  to  the  Blind. — In  training- institutions 
for  the    blind    they    teach    the    pupils    as 
much   about  light   as   in   ordinary   schools. 
Reflection,    refraction,    the    spectrum,    the 
ether-theory,  etc.,  are  all  studied.     But  the 
"best    taught   born-blind    pupil    of    such    an 
establishment  yet  lacks  a  knowledge  which 
the  least  instructed  seeing  baby  has.     They 
can   never   show  him  what  light  is   in   its 
"  first  intention  " ;  and  the  loss  of  that  sen- 
sible   knowledge    no    book-learning    can    re- 
place.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  17,  p. 
4.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3364.  TELEGRAPH,     ELECTRIC  — 

Foreshadowed  in  the  Animal  Economy. — We 
must  look  for  the  soul  in  the  brain  as  the 
only  province  in  the  body  known  to  possess 
sensibility.  Just  as  the  center  station  of 
our  post-office  is  in  communication  with  the 
uttermost  boundaries  of  our  monarchy  by 
means  of  its  gigantic  spider-web  of  copper 
wires,  so  the  soul  in  its  office,  the  brain, 
is  ceaselessly  receiving  messages  through  its 
telegraph  wires,  the  nerves,  from  all  of  the 
limits  of  its  kingdom,  the  body,  and  dis- 
tributing commands  in  all  directions  to  its 
officials,  the  muscles. 

As  he  glances  at  the  mute,  indifferent 
wire,  who  can  discern  whether  the  message, 
trembling  with  lightning  celerity  along  its 
course,  is  bringing  news  of  a  victory,  or  a 
stock  quotation,  or  some  unextinguishable 
disgrace  to  himself  ?  Thus,  no  matter  what 
storm  may  be  raging  within  the  nerves,  they 
never  change  their  external  appearance,  tho 
they  deliver  messages  that  vary  a  thousand- 
fold, or  whether  they  carry  from  the  instru- 


Telegraph 
Temperature 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


680 


ments  of  the  senses  to  the  brain, 'or  return 
from  the  brain  to  the  members  out  in  the 
world.  And  just  as  the  brain  cannot  dis- 
tinguish from  which  point  in  any  thread 
of  perception  the  news  of  pain  has  ar- 
rived, since  a  knock  on  the  elbow  may  be 
felt  in  the  hand,  so  the  telegraph  operator 
cannot  know  from  what  station  a  despatch 
is  being  sent  until  the  name  of  that  station 
is  announced.  And  if  at  any  point  the 
wire  is  destroyed,  tho  a  mob  may  riot  or  a 
run  of  ice  threaten  to  destroy,  no  officials 
will  receive  warning.  And  just  so,  if  the 
nerves  of  sensation  in  a  man's  leg  were 
paralyzed,  the  burning  of  his  foot  to  ashes 
would  not  disturb  his  sleep  any  more  than 
if  that  leg  were  of  wood. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  miracle  of  our 
age,  the  electric  telegraph,  was  prefigured 
long  ago  in  the  animal  machine.  But  the 
similarity  between  the  two  kinds  of  appa- 
ratus, the  nervous  system  and  the  electric 
telegraph,  is  still  more  profound.  It  is  more 
than  similarity;  it  is  relationship,  corre- 
sponding not  merely  in  their  effects,  but  also 
in  their  causes. — Du  BOIS-REYMOND  Tie- 
rische  Bewegung  (a  Lecture),  in  Virchow 
und  Holtzendorff's  Sammlung  wissenschaft- 
licher  Vortrdge.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 


3365. 


Long  Preparation 


for — Unity  of  the  Host  of  Discoverers. — The 
ancients  discovered  the  electricity  of  amber; 
and  Gilbert,  in  the  year  1600,  extended  the 
discovery  to  other  bodies.  Then  followed 
Boyle,  Von  Guericke,  Gray,  Canton,  Du  Fay, 
Kleist,  Cuna<us,  and  your  own  Franklin. 
But  their  form  of  electricity,  tho  tried,  did 
not  come  into  use  for  telegraphic  purposes. 
Then  appeared  the  great  Italian  Volta,  who 
discovered  the  source  of  electricity  which 
bears  his  name,  and  applied  the  most  pro- 
found insight  and  the  most  delicate  experi- 
mental skill  to  its  development.  Then  arose 
the  man  who  added  to  the  powers  of  his  in- 
tellect all  the  graces  of  the  human  heart, 
Michael  Faraday,  the  discoverer  of  the  great 
domain  of  magneto-electricity.  Oersted  dis- 
covered the  deflection  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
and  Arago  and  Sturgeon  the  magnetization 
of  iron  by  the  electric  current.  The  voltaic 
circuit  finally  found  its  theoretic  Newton 
in  Ohm;  while  Henry,  of  Princeton,  who  had 
the  sagacity  to  recognize  the  merits  of  Ohm 
while  they  were  still  decried  in  his  own 
country,  was  at  this  time  in  the  van  of  ex- 
perimental inquiry. 

In  the  works  of  these  men  you  have  all 
the  materials  employed  at  this  hour,  in  all 
the  forms  of  the  electric  telegraph.  Nay, 
more;  Gauss,  the  celebrated  astronomer,  and 
Weber,  the  celebrated  natural  philosopher, 
both  professors  in  the  University  of  Gottin- 
gen,  wishing  to  establish  a  rapid  mode  of 
communication  between  the  observatory  and 
the  physical  cabinet  of  the  university,  did 
this  by  means  of  an  electric  telegraph.  Thus, 
before  your  practical  men  appeared  upon  the 


scene,  the  force  had  been  discovered,  its 
laws  investigated  and  made  sure,  the  most 
complete  mastery  of  its  phenomena  had  been 
attained — nay,  its  applicability  to  telegraph- 
ic purposes  demonstrated — by  men  whose 
sole  reward  for  their  labors  was  the  noble 
excitement  of  research,  and  the  joy  attend- 
ant on  the  discovery  of  natural  truth. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  6,  p.  220. 
(A.,  1893.) 

3366.  TELEPATHY  —  Communication 
without   Speech — A    Possible   New  Step    of 
Evolution. — Is  this  the  end?     It  is  by   no 
means  likely.    The  mind  is  feeling  about  al- 
ready   for    more   perfect    forms    of    human 
intercourse  than  telegraphed  or  telephoned 
words.     As  there  was  a  stage  in  the  ascent 
of  man  at  which  the  body  was  laid  aside 
as  a  finished  product,  and  made  to  give  way 
to  mind,  there  may  be  a  stage  in  the  evo- 
lution of  mind  when  its  material  achieve- 
ments— its   body — shall   be   laid   aside   and 
give  place  to  a  higher  form  of  mind.     Tele- 
pathy  has   already   become   a   word,   not  a 
word  for  thought-reading  or  muscle-reading, 
but  a  scientific  word.    It  means  "  the  ability 
of  one  mind  to  impress,  or  to  be  impressed 
by   another   mind,   otherwise   than   through 
the  recognized  channels  of  sense."     By  men 
of  science,  adepts  in  mental  analysis,  aware 
of  all  sources  of  error,  armed  against  fraud, 
this  subject  is  now  being  made  the  theme 
of  exhaustive  observation. — DBUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  5,  p.  183.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3367.  TELEPHONE     ANTICIPATES 
THE  EYE— Passage  of  Lightning  Heard  be- 
fore Flash  Is  Seen. — The  sound  produced  in 
the  telephone  by   lightning,   even   when    so 
distant  that  only  the  flash  can  be  seen  in 
the  horizon,  and  no  thunder  can  be  heard, 
is   very   characteristic — something  like   the 
quenching   of   a   drop    of   molten   metal    in 
water,   or   the   sound  of   a   distant   rocket; 
but  the  remarkable  circumstance  for  us  in 
this   history   is   that  this   sound   is   always 
heard  just  before  the  flash  is  seen,  showing 
that  there  is  an  inductive  disturbance  of  the 
electricity    overhead,    due    to    the    distant 
concentration  preceding  the  disruptive  dis- 
charge.    Thus,  on  November  18,  1877,  these 
peculiar  sounds  were  heard  in  Providence, 
and  the  papers  next  morning  explained  them 
by   reporting  thunder-storms    in   Massachu- 
setts.    Sounds  like  those  produced  by  light- 
ning, but  fainter,  are  almost  always  heard 
many  hours  before  a  thunder-storm  actually 
breaks. — FAHIE  Wireless  Telegraphy,  p.  80. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,   1900.) 

3368.  TELESCOPE   EXTENDS  DO- 
MAIN   OF    HUMAN   MIND— Gives  Mathe- 
matics Nobler  Problems — Perception  Reacts 
upon  Thought. — The  transition  from  natural 
to  telescopic  vision  which  characterizes  the 
first  ten  years  of  the  seventeenth   century 
was    more    important    to    astronomy     (the 
knowledge  of  the  regions  of  space)  than  the 
year   1492    /that  of  the  discoveries  of  Co- 


681 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Telegraph 
Te 


perature 


lumbus)  in  respect  to  our  knowledge  of  ter- 
restrial space.  It  not  only  infinitely  ex- 
tended our  insight  into  creation,  but  also, 
besides  enriching  the  sphere  of  human  ideas, 
raised  mathematical  science  to  a  previously 
unattained  splendor  by  the  exposition  of  new 
and  complicated  problems.  Thus  the  in- 
creased power  of  the  organs  of  perception 
reacts  on  the  world  of  thought,  to  the 
strengthening  of  intellectual  force  and  the 
ennoblement  of  humanity.  To  the  telescope 
alone  we  owe  the  discovery  in  less  than  two 
and  a  half  centuries  of  thirteen  new  planets, 
of  four  satellite  systems  (the  four  moons 
of  Jupiter,  eight  satellites  of  Saturn,  four 
or  perhaps  six  of  Uranus,  and  one  of  Nep- 
tune), of  the  sun's  spots  and  faculae,  the 
phases  of  Venus,  the  form  and  height  of 
the  lunar  mountains,  the  wintry  polar 
zones  of  Mars,  the  belts  of  Jupiter  and  Sat- 
urn, the  rings  of  the  latter,  the  interior 
planetary  comets  of  short  periods  of  revolu- 
tion, together  with  many  other  phenomena 
which  likewise  escape  the  naked  eye.  While 
our  own  solar  system,  which  so  long  seemed 
limited  to  six  planets  and  one  moon,  has 
been  enriched  in  the  space  of  240  years  with 
the  discoveries  to  which  we  have  alluded, 
our  knowledge  regarding  successive  strata  of 
the  region  of  the  fixed  stars  has  unexpected- 
ly been  still  more  increased.  Thousands  of 
nebulae,  stellar  swarms,  and  double  stars 
have  been  observed.  The  changing  position 
of  the  double  stars  which  revolve  round  one 
common  center  of  gravity  has  proved,  like 
the  proper  motion  of  all  fixed  stars,  that 
forces  of  gravitation  are  operating  in  those 
distant  regions  of  space,  as  in  our  own  lim- 
ited, mutually  disturbing  planetary  spheres, 
.  .  .  The  astronomical  knowledge  of  the 
solar  system  has  gradually  extended  to  that 
of  a  system  of  the  universe. — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  61.  (H.,  1897.) 

3369.  TEMPERAMENT  DETERMIN- 
ING ACTION— A  Wide-spread  Belief— Incor- 
porated in  Language. — The  various  words  in 
use  to  characterize  the  different  tempera- 
ments are  highly  instructive.  They  show  the 
persistent  and  wide-spread  impression  that 
the  lines  are  laid  down,  within  which  the 
development  of  the  individual  takes  place, 
by  some  form  of  physical  influence  that 
operates  upon  the  original  "  make-up "  of 
the  individual.  When  men  believed  in  as- 
trology they  found  in  the  determining  power 
of  the  planets  a  reason  why  some  were  "  Jo- 
vial," others  "  Saturnine,"  and  still  others 
"Mercurial"  in  temperament.  When  they 
more  justly  recognized  the  influence  of  the 
circulatory  and  digestive  systems  over  every 
one's  "  temper  "  of  mind,  they  came  to  speak 
of  the  "  sanguine  "  (or  "  full-blooded  ")  man, 
of  the  "choleric"  (or  "full  of  bile")  man, 
of  the  "melancholic"  (or  "full  of  black 
bile")  man,  and  of  the  "phlegmatic"  (or 
"  full-phlegmed")  man.  Thus,  in  Shake- 
speare's "  King  John  "  we  read: 


Or  if  that  surly  spirit,  melancholy, 
Had  baked  thy  blood  and  made  it  heavy,  thick,  which 
Else,  runs  tickling  up  and  down  the  veins. 

— LADD  Psychology,  ch.  27,  p.  649.  (S., 
1899.) 

3370.  TEMPERANCE    OF   SAVAGE 

WOMEN — A  remarkable  result  of  abstinence 
and  morality  is  the  fact  that  neither  in 
America  nor  in  Africa  nor  in  the  Indo-Pa- 
cific  were  women  guilty  of  indulgence  in  the 
native  forms  of  intoxication.  In  the  New 
Hebrides  and  elsewhere  Turner  found  that 
the  women  and  girls  were  total  abstainers 
from  drinking  kava.  "  Drunkenness,"  says 
Dodge,  "  is  not  a  female  vice.  In  all  my 
experience  I  have  never  seen  a  drunken  In- 
dian woman."  Similar  testimony  could  be 
gathered  concerning  beer-drinking  in  Africa. 
— MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, ch.  10,  p.  235.  (A.,  1894.) 

3371.  TEMPERATURE  IN  EUROPE 

AND  AMERICA— Land  a  Conductor  of  Cold 
— Ocean  Tends  to  Produce  Uniform  Climate. 
— On  comparing  the  two  continents  of  Eu- 
rope and  America,  it  is  found  that  places 
in  the  same  latitudes  have  sometimes  a  mean 
difference  of  temperature  amounting  to  11°, 
or  even  in  a  few  cases  to  17°  F.;  and  some 
places  on  the  two  continents,  which  have 
the  same  mean  temperature,  differ  from 
7°  to  17°  in  latitude.  Thus,  Cumberland 
House,  in  North  America,  having  the  same 
latitude  (54°  N.)  as  the  city  of  York  in 
England,  stands  on  the  isothermal  line  of 
32°,  which  in  Europe  rises  to  the  North 
Cape,  in  lat.  71°,  but  its  summer  heat  ex- 
ceeds that  of  Brussels  or  Paris.  The  prin- 
cipal cause  of  greater  intensity  of  cold  in 
corresponding  latitudes  of  North  America, 
as  contrasted  with  Europe,  is  the  connection 
of  America  with  the  polar  circle,  by  a  large 
tract  of  land,  some  of  which  is  from  three 
to  five  thousand  feet  in  height;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  separation  of  Europe  from 
the  arctic  circle  by  an  ocean.  The  ocean 
has  a  tendency  to  preserve  everywhere  a 
mean  temperature,  which  it  communicates 
to  the  contiguous  land,  so  that  it  tempers 
the  climate,  moderating  alike  an  excess  of 
heat  or  cold.  The  elevated  land,  on  the 
other  hand,  rising  to  the  colder  regions  of 
the  atmosphere,  becomes  a  great  reservoir 
of  ice  and  snow,  arrests,  condenses,  and  con- 
geals vapor,  and  communicates  its  cold  to 
the  adjoining  country.  For  this  reason, 
Greenland,  forming  part  of  a  continent 
which  stretches  northward  to  the  82d  degree 
of  latitude,  experiences  under  the  60th 
parallel  a  more  rigorous  climate  than  Lap- 
land under  the  72d  parallel. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  94.  (A., 
1854.) 

3372.  TEMPERATURE     OF    THE 

DEEP  SEA  —  Depths  Intensely  Cold.  —  The 
temperature  of  the  water  in  the  abyss  is  by 
no  means  constant  for  a  constant  depth,  nor 
does  it  vary  with  the  latitude.  It  is  true 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  water  is  colder  at  greater 


Temperature 
eats 


SCIP:NTIFIC  SIDE-LIGHTS 


682 


depths  than  in  shallower  ones,  and  that  the 
deeper  the  thermometer  is  lowered  into  the 
sea  the  lower  the  mercury  sinks.  This  is 
consistent  with  physical  laws.  If  there 
is  any  difference  at  all  in  the  temperature 
of  a  column  of  water  that  has  had  time  to 
settle,  the  thermometer  will  always  reach 
its  highest  point  at  the  top  of  the  column 
and  its  lowest  at  the  bottom,  for  the  colder 
particles,  being  of  greater  specific  gravity 
than  the  warmer  ones,  will  sink,  and  the 
warmer  ones  will  rise. — HICKSON  Fauna  of 
the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  28.  (A.,  1894.) 

3373.  TEMPERATURES  DIFFER  IN 
DEEP  SEA— Ridges  Shut  Off  Polar  Cold.— 
If  the  ocean  were  a  simple  basin  somewhat 
deeper  at  the  equator  than  at  the  poles,  the 
cold   water    at   the   poles   would   gradually 
sink  down  the  slopes  of  the  basin  towards 
the  latitude  of  the  equator,  and  the  bottom 
temperature  of  the  water  would  be  constant 
all  the  world  over.     A  few  hills  here  and 
there   would   not   affect   the   general   state- 
ment that  for   a  constant  depth   the  tem- 
perature  of   the   lowest   stratum   of   water 
would    be    constant.      But    in    some   places 
ridges    occur    stretching   across    the   oceans 
from  continent  to  continent,  and  these  ridges 
shut  off  the  cold  water  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea    on    the   polar   side   from   reaching   the 
bottom  of  the  sea  on  the  equator  side.    .    .    . 
These   facts   then   show  that,   altho  at  the 
bottom    of   the   deep    sea   the   water    is   al- 
ways very  cold,   the   degree  of  coldness   is 
by  no  means  constant  in  the  same  latitude 
for  the  same  depth. — HICKSON  Fauna  of  the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  2,  p.  31.     (A.,  1894.) 

3374.  TENACITY  OF  LIFE  OF  BAC- 
TERIA— Disease-germs  Living  in  Soil  Sixteen 
Years. — Farm  soils  have,  as  is  well  known, 
been  contaminated  with  anthrax  in  the  late 
summer  or  autumn,  and  have  retained  the 
infectious   virus   till   the   following   spring, 
and  it  has  even  then  cropped  up  again  in 
the  hay  of  the  next  season.     In  1881  Miquel 
took   some   samples   of   soil   at  a   depth   of 
ten  inches,  containing  six  and  a  half  million 
bacteria  per  gram.     After   drying  for  two 
days  at  30°  C.,  the  dust  was  placed  in  her- 
metically sealed  tubes,  which  were  put  aside 
in  a  dark  corner  of  the  laboratory  for  six- 
teen years.     Upon  reexamination  it  is  re- 
ported that  more  than  three  million  germs 
per  gram   were   still   found,   amongst   them 
the  specific   bacillus   of   tetanus.      Whether 
or  not  there  is  any  fallacy  in  these  actual 
figures,  there  is  abundant  evidence  in  sup- 
port of  the   fact  that  bacteria,  non-patho- 
genic and  pathogenic,  can  and  do  retain  their 
vitality,  and  sometimes  even  their  virulence, 
for  almost  incredibly  long  periods  of  time. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5,  p.  174.     (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

3375.  TENDERNESS   OF   ANTS  TO 
THEIR  YOUNG— Feminine  Care  and  Delicacy 
toward   the   Newly  Born. — After  remaining 
some  days  in  this  [pupal]  state  they  [ants] 


emerge  as  perfect  insects.  In  many  cases, 
however,  they  would  perish  in  the  attempt 
if  they  were  not  assisted;  and  it  is  very 
pretty  to  see  the  older  ants  helping  them 
to  extricate  themselves,  carefully  unfolding 
their  legs  and  smoothing  out  the  wings,  with 
truly  feminine  tenderness  and  delicacy.  Our 
countryman,  Gould,  was  the  first  to  observe, 
and  the  fact  has  since  been  fully  confirmed 
by  Forel,  that  the  pupae  are  unable  to  emerge 
from  the  cocoons  without  the  assistance  of 
the  workers. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  1,  p.  7.  (A.,  1900.) 

3376.  TERROR  OF  DARKNESS  AND 
GLOOM    HEREDITARY  —  Caverns  Inspire 
Dread. — Black  things,   and  especially   dark 
places,  holes,  caverns,  etc.,  arouse  a  peculiar- 
ly gruesome  fear.    This  fear,  as  well  as  that 
of  solitude,  of  being  "  lost,"  are  explained 
after    a    fashion    by    ancestral    experience. 
Says  Schneider: 

"  It  is  a  fact  that  men,  especially  in  child- 
hood, fear  to  go  into  a  dark  cavern  or  a 
gloomy  wood.  This  feeling  of  fear  arises, 
to  be  sure,  partly  from  the  fact  that  we 
easily  suspect  that  dangerous  beasts  may 
lurk  in  these  localities — a  suspicion  due  to 
stories  we  have  heard  and  read.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  quite  sure  that  this  fear 
at  a  certain  perception  is  also  directly  in- 
herited. Children  who  have  been  carefully 
guarded  from  all  ghost-stories  are  neverthe- 
less terrified  and  cry  if  led  into  a  dark 
place,  especially  if  sounds  are  made  there. 
Even  an  adult  can  easily  observe  that  an 
uncomfortable  timidity  steals  over  him  in 
a  lonely  wood  at  night,  altho  he  may  have 
the  fixed  conviction  that  not  the  slightest 
danger  is  near. 

"  This  feeling  of  fear  occurs  in  many 
men  even  in  their  own  house  after  dark, 
altho  it  is  much  stronger  in  a  dark  cavern 
or  forest.  The  fact  of  such  instinctive  fear 
is  easily  explicable  when  we  consider  that 
our  savage  ancestors  through  innumerable 
generations  were  accustomed  to  meet  with 
dangerous  beasts  in  caverns,  especially  bears, 
and  were  for  the  most  part  attacked  by  such 
beasts  during  the  night  and  in  the  woods, 
and  that  thus  an  inseparable  association  be- 
tween the  perceptions  of  darkness  of  caverns 
and  woods,  and  fear  took  place  and  was  in- 
herited."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24, 
p.  418.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3377.  TERROR  OF  EARTHQUAKE 
UNCONQUERABLE— Dr.    Tschudi,    in    his 
interesting    work,    "  Travels    in    Peru,"    de- 
scribes strikingly  the  effect  of  an  earthquake 
upon  the  native  and  upon  the  stranger.  "  No 
familiarity  with  the  phenomenon  can  blunt 
this  feeling.     The  inhabitant  of  Lima,  who 
from    childhood    has    frequently    witnessed 
these  convulsions  of  Nature,  is  roused  from 
his  sleep  by  the  shock,  and  rushes  from  his 
apartment    with    the    cry    of    M isericordia ! 
The    foreigner   from    the   north    of   Europe, 
who  knows  nothing  of  earthquakes  but  by 
description,   waits  with   impatience  to   feel 


683 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Temperature 
Tests 


the  movement  of  the  earth,  and  longs  to 
hear  with  his  own  ear  the  subterranean 
sounds  which  he  has  hitherto  considered 
fabulous.  With  levity  he  treats  the  appre- 
hension of  a  coming  convulsion,  and  laughs 
at  the  fears  of  the  natives;  but  as  soon  as 
his  wish  is  gratified  he  is  terror-stricken, 
and  is  involuntarily  prompted  to  seek  safety 
in  flight." — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  215. 
(H.,  1897.) 

3378.  TERROR  OF  HAWK   OVER- 
POWERS MULTITUDES  OF  BIRDS— The 

sudden  appearance  overhead  of  this  hawk 
[the  marsh-hawk]  produces  an  effect  won- 
derful to  witness.  I  have  frequently  seen 
all  the  inhabitants  of  a  marsh  struck  with 
panic,  acting  as  if  demented,  and  suddenly 
grown  careless  to  all  other  dangers;  and 
on  such  occasions  I  have  looked  up  confident 
of  seeing  the  sharp-winged  death  suspended 
above  them  in  the  sky.  All  birds  that  hap- 
pen to  be  on  the  wing  drop  down  as  if  shot 
into  the  reeds  or  water;  ducks  away  from 
the  margin  stretch  out  their  necks  hori- 
zontally and  drag  their  bodies,  as  if  wound- 
ed, into  closer  cover;  not  one  bird  is  found 
bold  enough  to  rise  up  and  wheel  about  the 
marauder — a  usual  proceeding  in  the  case 
of  other  hawks ;  while,  at  every  sudden  stoop 
the  falcon  makes,  threatening  to  dash  down 
on  his  prey,  a  low  cry  of  terror  rises  from 
the  birds  beneath;  a  sound  expressive  of  an 
emotion  so  contagious  that  it  quickly  runs 
like  a  murmur  all  over  the  marsh,  as  if  a 
gust  of  wind  had  swept  moaning  through 
the  rushes.  As  long  as  the  falcon  hangs 
overhead,  always  at  a  height  of  about  forty 
yards,  threatening  at  intervals  to  dash  down, 
this  murmuring  sound,  made  up  of  many 
hundreds  of  individual  cries,  is  heard  swell- 
ing and  dying  away,  and  occasionally,  when 
he  drops  lower  than  usual,  rising  to  a  sharp 
scream  of  terror. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  97.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

3379.  TERROR   OF  THE  NATIONS 
PASSES  HARMLESSLY  B Y— Earth  Wrapped 
for  Hours  in  the  Tail  of  a  Comet. — On  June 
30,   1861,  the  earth  passed,  for  the  second 
time  in  this  century,  through  the  tail  of  a 
great  comet.    Many  of  our  readers  must  re- 
member  the  unexpected  disclosure,   on  the 
withdrawal  of  the  sun  below  the  horizon  on 
that  evening,  of  an  object  so  remarkable  as 
to  challenge  universal  attention.     A  golden- 
yellow  planetary  disk,  wrapt  in  dense  nebu- 
losity,  shone   out  while   the  June  twilight 
of    these    latitudes    was    still    in    its    first 
strength.    ...    Its  tail  stretched  outward 
just   along  the   line   of   intersection   of   its 
own  with  the  terrestrial  orbit  to  an  extent 
of  fifteen  million  miles,  so  that  our  globe, 
happening  to  pass  at  the  time,  found  itself 
during  some  hours   involved   in   the  flimsy 
appendage.    No  perceptible  effects  were  pro- 
duced by  the  meeting;  it  was  known  to  have 
occurred  by  theory  alone.     A  peculiar  glare 
in  the  sky,  thought  by  some  to  have  dis- 
tinguished the  evening  of  June  30,  was,  at 


best,  inconspicuous.  Nor  were  there  any 
symptoms  of  unusual  electrical  excitement. 
— CLEBKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
10,  p.  398.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

3380.  TERROR,  SUPERSTITIOUS— 

Great  Meteoric  Storm  of  1833. — The  most 
notable  modern  one  [shower  of  meteors]  was 
on  November  13,  1833,  and  this  was  visible 
over  much  of  the  North- American  continent, 
forming  a  spectacle  of  terrifying  grandeur. 
An  eye-witness  in  South  Carolina  wrote: 

"  I  was  suddenly  awakened  by  the  most 
distressing  cries  that  ever  fell  on  my  ears. 
Shrieks  of  horror  and  cries  for  mercy  I 
could  hear  from  most  of  the  negroes  of  the 
three  plantations,  amounting  in  all  to  about 
six  hundred  or  eight  hundred.  While  ear- 
nestly listening  for  the  cause  I  heard  a  faint 
voice  near  the  door  calling  my  name.  I 
arose,  and,  taking  my  sword,  stood  at  the 
door.  At  this  moment  I  heard  the  same 
voice  still  beseeching  me  to  rise,  and  saying, 
'O  my  God,  the  world  is  on  fire!'  I  then 
opened  the  door,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say 
which  excited  me  the  most — the  awfulness 
of  the  scene  or  the  distressed  cries  of  the 
negroes.  Upwards  of  one  hundred  lay  pros- 
trate on  the  ground — some  speechless  and 
some  with  the  bitterest  cries,  but  with  their 
hands  raised,  imploring  God  to  save  the 
world  and  them.  The  scene  was  truly  aw- 
ful; for  never  did  rain  fall  much  thicker 
than  the  meteors  fell  toward  the  earth ; 
east,  west,  north,  and  south,  it  was  the 
same." — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  6,  p. 
194.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3381.  TEST  OF  SCIENTIFIC  THE- 
ORY—Two  Elements  of   Value.—  The  value 
which    every    scientific    theory   possesses    is 
measured  by  the  number  and  importance  of 
the  objects  which  can  be  explained  by  it, 
as  well  as  by  the  simplicity  and  universal- 
ity of  the  causes  which  are  employed  in  it 
as  grounds  of  explanation.    On  the  one  hand, 
the  greater  the  number  and  the  more  im- 
portant the  meaning  of  the  phenomena  ex- 
plained by  the  theory,  and  the  simpler,  on 
the  other  hand,  and  the  more  general  the 
causes    which    the    theory    assigns    as    ex- 
planations, the  greater  is  its  scientific  value, 
the  more  safely  we  are  guided  by  it,  and 
the  more  strongly  are  we  bound  to  adopt  it. 
— HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch. 
2,  p.  25.     (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3382.  TESTS,  FUTILE,    OF    SPON- 
TANEOUS   GENERATION  —  Death-point  of 
Bacteria    Not    Yet    Found — Supposed    New 
Life  a  Survival  of  the  Old. — I  have  had  sev- 
eral cases  of  survival  [of  germs]  after  four 
and  five  hours'  boiling,  some  survivals  after 
six,  and  one  after  eight  hours'  boiling.   Thus 
far  has  experiment  actually  reached;    but 
there  is  no  valid  warrant  for  fixing  upon 
even  eight  hours  as  the  extreme  limit  of  vi- 
tal resistance.     Probably  more  extended  re- 
searches (tho  mine  have  been  very  extensive ) 
would  reveal  germs  more  obstinate  still.    It 


leories 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


634 


is  also  certain  that  we  might  begin  earlier, 
and  find  germs  which  are  destroyed  by  a 
temperature  far  below  that  of  boiling  water. 
In  the  presence  of  such  facts,  to  speak  of 
a  death-point  of  bacteria  and  their  germs 
would  be  unmeaning. — TYNDALL  Floating 
Matter  of  the  Air,  essay  5,  p.  307.  (A., 
1895.) 

3383.  TEXTILES     OF    PRIMITIVE 

MAN — Early  Patterns  the  Despair  of  Modern 
Imitators. — The  cotton-gin  and  power- loom 
are  among  the  wonders  of  our  age.  Yet  in 
that  [primitive]  day  human  fingers  wrought 
the  textile  from  first  to  last.  They  gathered 
the  bark  or  wool,  colored  them  to  suit  the 
primitive  taste,  spun  and  wove  them  with 
simple  apparatus,  and  left  upon  the  fabric 
patterns  that  are  the  despair  of  all  modern 
machine-makers — patterns  that  are  a  pleas- 
ure to  the  eye  by  their  infinite  variety,  re- 
placed in  modern  fabrics  by  a  dreary  mon- 
otony that  awakens  pain  instead  of  pleasure. 
— MASON  The  Birth  of  Invention  (Address 
at  Centenary  of  American  Patent  System, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  1891,  Proceedings  of  the 
Congress,  p.  408). 

3384.  THEOLOGY,  ACCEPTANCE  OF, 
READY   MAD  E— Spiritual  Parasitism.— 
There   are   still   large  numbers   whose  only 
contact  with  religion  is  through  theological 
forms.     ...     If  the  greatest  minds   of 
the  church's   past,   having   exercised   them- 
selves   profoundly    upon    the    problems    of 
religion,    formulated    as   with    one   voice    a 
system  of  doctrine,  why  should  the  humble 
inquirer  not  gratefully  accept  it?     Why  go 
over  the  ground  again?     Why  with  his  dim 
light   should   he   betake    himself    afresh   to 
Bible  study,  and  with  so  great  a  body  of 
divinity  already  compiled  presume  himself 
to  be  still  a  seeker  after  truth?     Does  not 
theology  give  him   Bible  truth  in   reliable, 
convenient,  and,  moreover,  in  logical  propo- 
sitions?    There  it  lies  extended  to  the  last 
detail    in    the    tomes    of    the    fathers,    or 
abridged  in  a  hundred  modern  compendiums, 
ready  made  to  his  hand,  all  cut  and  dry, 
guaranteed  sound  and  wholesome,  why  not 
use    it  ? 

Just  because  it  is  all  cut  and  dry.  Just 
because  it  is  ready  made.  Just  because  it 
lies  there  in  reliable,  convenient,  and  logical 
propositions.  The  moment  you  appropriate 
truth  in  such  a  shape  you  appropriate  a 
form.  You  cannot  cut  and  dry  truth.  You 
cannot  accept  truth  ready  made  without  it 
ceasing  to  nourish  the  soul  as  truth.  You 
cannot  live  on  theological  forms  without 
becoming  a  parasite  and  ceasing  to  be  a 
man. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spir- 
itual World,  essay  10,  p.  323.  (H.  Al.) 

3385.  THEOLOGY,   ANCIENT,    OP- 
POSED TO  SCIENCE— Bruno  Burned  by  In- 
quisition —  Galileo's    Recantation.  —  If    the 
neighboring  stars    are   placed   at  tens   and 
hundreds  of  billions  of  miles  from  us,  it  is 
at  quadrillions,  at  quintillions  of  miles  that 


most  of  the  stars  lie  which  are  visible  in  the 
sky  in  telescopic  .fields.  What  suns!  What 
splendors !  Their  light  comes  from  such  dis- 
tances !  And  it  is  these  distant  suns  which 
human  pride  would  like  to  make  revolve 
round  our  atom;  and  it  was  for  our  eyes 
that  ancient  theology  declared  these  lights, 
invisible  without  a  telescope,  were  created! 
It  was  because  the  philosophical  astronomer, 
Giordano  Bruno,  asserted  these  distant  suns 
to  be  centers  of  other  systems  that  the  In- 
quisition caused  him  to  be  burned  alive  at 
Rome  before  the  terrified  people;  and  it  was 
because  Galileo  persisted  in  maintaining 
that  our  planet  is  subject  to  the  sun,  and 
that  that  body  is  itself  but  a  star  lost  in 
infinitude,  that  this  same  Inquisition  or- 
dered him  under  pain  of  death  to  kneel  be- 
fore the  Gospels  (Church  of  Minerva  at 
Rome,  June  22,  1633)  and  abjure  the  truth 
which  his  conscience  believed! — FLAMMARI- 
ON  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  5,  p.  601. 
(A.) 

3386.  THEOLOGY   THE    HIGHEST 
SCIENCE—  Would  Naturally  Be  Last  to  Reach 
Perfection. — Theology  continues  to  be  con- 
sidered, as  it  has  always  been,  a  thing  apart. 
It  remained  still  a  stupendous  and  splendid 
construction,  but  on  lines  altogether  its  own. 
Nor  is  theology  to  be  blamed  for  this.    Na- 
ture has  been  long  in  speaking;    even  yet 
its  voice  is  low,  sometimes  inaudible.     Sci- 
ence is  the  true  defaulter,  for  theology  had 
to  wait  patiently  for  its  development.     As 
the  highest  of  the  sciences,  theology  in  the 
order  of  evolution  should  be  the  last  to  fall 
into  rank.  It  is  reserved  for  it  to  perfect  the 
final  harmony. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in 
the  Spiritual  World,  int.,  p.   15.      (H.  AL) 

3387.  THEORIES  ABANDONED  BY 
GREAT    SCIENTIST— Newton  Undetermined 
as  to  Nature  of  Gravitation. — At  the  time, 
.     .     .     that  Newton  recognized  all  move- 
ments of  the  cosmical  bodies  to  be  the  re- 
sults of  one  and  the  same  force,  he  did  not, 
like  Kant,  regard  gravitation  as  an  essential 
property  of  bodies,  but  considered  it  either 
as  the  result  of  some  higher  and  still  un- 
known power,  or  of  "  the  centrifugal  force 
of  aether,  which  fills  the  realms  of  space,  and 
is  rarer  within  bodies,  but  increases  in  den- 
sity outward."     The  latter  view  is  set  forth 
in  detail  in  a  letter  to  Robert  Boyle  (dated 
February   28,    1678),   which   ends  with   the 
words,  "  I  seek  the  cause  of  gravity  in  the 
aether."     Eight  years  afterward,  as  we  learn 
from  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Halley,  Newton 
entirely  relinquished  this  hypothesis  of  the 
rarer   and    denser    ether.      It    is    especially 
worthy  of  notice  that  in   1717,  nine  years 
before    his   death,    he   should    have   deemed 
it  necessary  expressly  to  state,  in  the  short 
preface  to  the  second  edition  of  his  "  Op- 
tics," that  he  did  not  by  any  means  consider 
gravity  as  an  "  essential  property  of  bod- 
ies";   while  Gilbert,   as   early  as   1600,  re- 
garded magnetism  as  a  force  inherent  in  all 
matter.     So  undetermined  was  even  Newton, 


685 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Theories 


the  profound  and  experienced  thinker,  re- 
garding the  "  ultimate  mechanical  cause  " 
of  all  motion. — HUMIJOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii, 
int.,  p.  22.  (H.,  1897.) 

3388.  THEORIES,    CONFLICTING, 
OF  GEOLOGISTS— How  Alpine  Valleys  Were 
Formed — Fracture  vs.  Erosion. — To  the  phys- 
ical geologist  the  conformation  of  the  Alps 
and  of  mountain  regions  generally  consti- 
tutes one  of  the  most  interesting  problems 
of  the  present  day.    To  account  for  this  con- 
formation,   two    hypotheses    have   been   ad- 
vanced,  which   may  be   respectively   named 
the  hypot'iesis  of  fracture  and  tl     hypothe- 
sis of  erosion.     Those  who  adopt  the  former 
maintain  that  the  forces  by  which  the  Alps 
were  elevated  produced  fissures  in  the  earth's 
crust,  and  that  the  valleys  of  the  Alps  are 
the  tracks  of  these  fissures.    Those  who  hold 
the  latter  hypothesis  maintain  that  the  val- 
leys have  been  cut  out  by  the  action  of  ice 
and  water,  the  mountains  themselves  being 
the  residual  forms  of  this  grand  sculpture. 
To  the  erosive  action  here  indicated  must  be 
added  that  due  to  the  atmosphere  (the  sev- 
erance   and    detachment    of    rocks    by    rain 
and   frost),   as   affecting  the   forms   of  the 
more  exposed  and  elevated  peaks. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  20,  p.  219. 
(A.,  1898.) 

3389.  THEORIES  FRAMED  IN  THE 
IDEAL  WORLD—  Their    Verification  in   the 
World  of  Fact — The  Final  Test  the  Gift  of 
Prophecy  (2  Pet.  i,  19). — Tho  the  region  of 
physical  theory  lies  thus  behind  the  world 
of  senses,  the  verifications  of  theory  occur 
in  that  world.     Laying  the  theoretic  concep- 
tion at  the  root  of  matters,  we  determine  by 
deduction   what  are  the   phenomena   which 
must   of   necessity   grow   out   of   this   root. 
If  the  phenomena  thus  deduced  agree  with 
those  of  the  actual  world,  it  is  a  presump- 
tion   in    favor   of   the   theory.     If,    as   new 
classes   of  phenomena   arise,   they   also   are 
found   to   harmonize   with   theoretic   deduc- 
tion, the  presumption  becomes  still  stronger. 
If,  finally,  the  theory  confers  prophetic  vi- 
sion upon  the  investigator,  enabling  him  to 
predict  the  occurrence  of  phenomena  which 
have  never  yet  been  seen,  and  if  those  pre- 
dictions be  found  on  trial  to  be  rigidly  cor- 
rect,   the   persuasion    of   the   truth    of   the 
theory     becomes      overpowering. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  47.     (A.,  1898.) 

3390.  THEORIES  OF  CREATION— 

False  Alternatives  of  Spencer — Creator  Not 
External,  but  Immanent. — Spencer  says: 
"  The  verbally  intelligent  suppositions  re- 
specting the  origin  of  the  universe  are  three : 
(1)  It  is  self-existent;  (2)  it  is  self -cre- 
ated ;  ( 3 )  it  is  created  by  an  external  agen- 
cy." On  these  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
second  is  scarcely  even  "  verbally  intelli- 
gent"; it  seems  to  be  a  contradiction  in 
terms.  The  third  admits  of  an  important 
modification,  which  was  manifest  to  Spi- 
noza, if  not  to  Spencer — namely,  that  the 


Creator  may — nay,  must — be  not  merely 
"  external,"  but  within  the  universe  as  well. 
If  there  is  a  God,  he  must  be  in  the  uni- 
verse as  a  pervading  power,  and  in  every 
part  of  it,  and  must  not  be  shut  out  from 
his  own  work.  This  mistaken  conception  of 
God  as  building  himself  out  of  his  own  uni- 
verse and  acting  on  it  by  external  force  is 
both  irrational  and  unscientific,  being,  for 
example,  quite  at  variance  with  the  analogy 
of  force  and  life.  Rightly  understood,  there- 
fore, Spencer's  alternatives  resolve  them- 
selves into  two — either  the  universe  is  self- 
existent,  or  it  is  the  work  of  a  self-existent 
Creator  pervading  all  things  with  his  power. 
— DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern 
Science,  lect.  1,  p.  29.  (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

3391.  THEORIES    OF     SLOW 
GROWTH—  Undulatory    Theory  of   Light- 
Not  in  a  moment  are  great  theories  elabo- 
rated :  the  facts  which  demand  them  are  first 
called  into  prominence  by  observant  minds; 
then,  to  the  period  of  observation  succeeds 
a  period  of  pondering  and  of  tentative  ex- 
planation.    By  such  efforts  the  human  mind 
is  gradually  prepared  for  the  final  theoretic 
illumination.     The  colors  of  thin  plates,  for 
example,  occupied  tne  attention  of  the  cele- 
brated Robert  Boyle.     In  his  "  Experimental 
History  of  Colors  "  he  contends  against  the 
schools  which  affirmed  that  color  was   "  a 
penetrative  quality  that  reaches  to  the  in- 
nermost parts  of  the  object,"  adducing  op- 
posing facts.       [It  was  not  till  a  century 
later,  however,  that  the  undulatory  theory 
of  light  was  finally  established  by  Thomas 
Young.] — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect. 
2,  p.  £8.      (A.,  1898.) 

3392.  THEORIES  OF  THE   HEAV- 
ENS— Pictures  Made  to  Illustrate— A  True  Map 
of  the  Shies — Preconceived  Opinions  Disre- 
garded.— It  occurred  to  me  very  early  in  my 
inquiry  into  the  great  problem,  and  before  I 
had  fully   investigated  the   long  and  noble 
series  of  researches  by  which  Sir  W.  Her- 
schel  had  attempted  to  master  it,  that  this 
was  a  case  where  the  mental  vision  must  be 
assisted  by  the  bodily  vision.     It  is  singular 
that  hitherto,  so  far  as  I  know  (and  I  think 
little  that  has  been  done  on  the  subject  has 
escaped  my  reading),  the  idea  of  picturing 
the  results  obtained  by  telescopic  scrutiny 
had  been  altogether  overlooked.      I  do  not 
here  refer  to  pictures  illustrating  theories 
of  the  universe.     Every  student  of  astronomy 
knows  that  Sir  W.  Herschel  was  careful  to 
give    diagrams    illustrating    his    successive 
conceptions  of  the  structure  of  the  universe. 
But  such  illustrations  as  these,  tho  neces- 
sary   and   useful,    cannot   throw   any    light 
on  the  structure  of  the  universe,  since  they 
illustrate  theories  already  formed,  not  facts 
on  which  theories  are  to  be  based.     What 
seemed  to  me  most  desirable  was  that  charts 
should  be  constructed  on  which  the  results 
of  telescopic  observation  should  be  carefully 
mapped  down  without  reference  to  any  pre- 
conceived opinions,  and  solely  with  the  in- 


Theories 
Thi 


icory 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


686 


tention  of  interpreting  as  satisfactorily  as 
possible  whatever  laws  of  stellar  distribu- 
tion may  really  exist.  It  appeared  to  me 
that  mere  lists  of  numbers  could  afford 
but  unsatisfactory  evidence  on  such  points. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  263.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3393.  THEORIES    PERISH,  FACTS 

REMAIN — Planetary  Motions  Constant — Hu- 
man Systems  Progressive — Gravitation  May 
Be  Superseded. — When  ...  we  come  to 
study  the  history  of  science,  the  distinction 
between  fact  and  theory  obtrudes  itself  at 
once  upon  our  attention.  We  see  that,  while 
the  prominent  facts  of  science  have  remained 
the  same,  its  history  has  been  marked  by 
very  frequent  revolutions  in  its  theories  or 
systems.  The  courses  of  the  planets  have 
not  changed  since  they  were  watched  by  the 
Chaldean  astronomers,  three  thousand  years 
ago;  but  how  differently  have  their  motions 
been  explained — first  by  Hipparchus  and 
Ptolemy,  then  by  Copernicus  and  Kepler, 
and  lastly  by  Newton  and  Laplace! — and, 
however  great  our  faith  in  the  law  of  uni- 
versal gravitation,  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  even  this  grand  generalization  is  the 
final  result  of  astronomical  science. — COOKE 
The  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1,  p.  1.  (A.,  1899.) 

3394.  THEORIES,  TENTATIVE,  OF 
ORIGIN   OF   CAVES— Earthquakes  Not  the 
Cause — Water  Alone  Could  Not  Excavate — 
Truth  the  Outcome  of  Many  Errors. — It  was 
at   no   very    distant   date   pretty   generally 
believed  that  caves  were  due  to  internal  con- 
tortions of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  by  which 
the  rocks  were  rent  asunder,  leaving  gaps 
and  breaks   such  as  we  now  see.     Bufr  an 
examination  of  the  interior  of  the  caves  soon 
showed  that  this  was  quite  an  impossible 
explanation,  for  it  was  found  that  both  the 
floor  and  the  roof  were  composed  of  solid 
rock,  and  that  so  far  from  there  being  any 
indication  of  folding  and  crumbling  of  the 
mass,  which  could  account  for  the  existence 
of  a  cavity,  the  rock  was,  in  fact,  unbroken 
both   above  and   below,  and  in   most  cases 
the  lie  of  the  beds  was  perfectly  continuous. 
Then,  again,  it  was  supposed  that  the  caves 
had  been  worn  by  the  mechanical  action  of 
running  water  alone,  in  places  where  a  fault 
occurred  in  the  rock — that  is,  where,  from 
a  local  displacement  of  the  beds,  one  por- 
tion of  the  series  was  elevated  above  or  de- 
pressed below  its  normal  leyel,  thus  leaving 
a  vertical   or  diagonal  crack,  which  might 
well  be  supposed  to  be  a  line  of  weakness. 
Probable  as  this  view  appears,  it  was,  how- 
ever, found  that  the  caves  did  not,  in  fact, 
follow  these  lines,  but  were  sometimes  seen 
actually  to  be  excavated  across  them,  and 
yet  another  theory  [that  of  erosion  by  car- 
bonated water]    was  necessary  to  elucidate 
their  origin. — DALLAS  Nature-Studies,  p.  39. 

(Hum.,  1888.) 

3395.  THEORY    ABANDONED—/?? 

terior  of  the  Sun  Not  a  Cool,  Dark  Body. 
— Spectrum  analysis  has  further  taught  us 


more  about  the  sun,  by  which  he  is  brought 
nearer  to  us,  as  it  were,  than  could  formerly 
have  seemed  possible.  You  know  that  the 
sun  is  an  enormous  sphere,  whose  diameter 
is  112  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  earth. 
We  may  consider  what  we  see  on  its  sur- 
face as  a  layer  of  incandescent  vapor,  which, 
to  judge  from  the  appearances  of  the  sun- 
spots,  has  a  depth  of  about  500  miles.  This 
layer  of  vapor,  which  is  continually  radia- 
ting heat  on  the  outside,  and  is  certainly 
cooler  than  the  inner  masses  of  the  sun,  is, 
however,  hotter  than  all  our  terrestrial 
flames — hotter  even  than  the  incandescent 
carbon-points  of  the  electrical  arc,  which 
represent  the  highest  temperature  attain- 
able by  terrestrial  means.  .  .  .  The  older 
assumption  that  the  sun  is  a  dark,  cool 
body,  surrounded  by  a  photosphere  which 
only  radiates  heat  and  light  externally,  con- 
tains a  physical  impossibility. — HELMHOLTZ 
Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  157.  (L.  G  & 
Co.,  1898.) 

3396.  THEORY    AND     FACT—  The 

Tragedy  of  Science. — The  great  tragedy  of 
science — the  slaying  of  a  beautiful  hypothe- 
sis by  an  ugly  fact — which  is  so  constantly 
being  enacted  under  the  eyes  of  philosophers, 
was  played,  almost  immediately,  for  the 
benefit  of  Buff  on  and  Needham  [regarding 
their  theory  of  "  organic  molecules,"  i.  e.,  of 
universal  and  indestructible  molecular  life]. 
— HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  15,  p.  356. 
(A.,  1895.) 

3397.  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE— 

Skill  in  Action  Not  Coextensive  with  Knowl- 
edge of  Principles. — Expertness  in  the  per- 
formance of  an  art  does  not  depend  on  a 
knowledge  of  its  -principles,  and  can  be  read- 
ily acquired  without  reference  to  them.  The 
most  expert  accountants  are  frequently  and 
perhaps  generally  those  who  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  philosophy  of  figures.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  profound  acquaintance  with 
the  principles  of  an  art  may  exist  without 
the  ability  to  apply  it  in  practise.  I  have 
known  of  mathematicians  who  were  unable 
to  perform  with  accuracy  and  despatch  the 
processes  which  constitute  the  application 
of  the  simple  rules  of  multiplication  and  ad- 
dition. The  same  is  the  case  with  the  art 
of  composition.  A  most  learned  rhetorician 
is  not  necessarily  a  fluent  and  pleasing  wri- 
ter. The  acquisition,  therefore,  of  these  arts 
should  be  the  principal  and  prominent  ob- 
ject of  the  primary  or  common  schoo'l,  and 
nothing  ought  to  be  suffered  to  usurp  their 
place.  ...  I  may  venture  to  say  that 
the  general  substitution  of  instruction  in 
the  mere  rationale  of  the  rules  of  arithmetic 
without  a  proper  drilling  in  the  practise 
would  produce  more  bankruptcies  than  all 
the  changes  of  tariffs  or  fluctuations  of 
trade. — HENRY  Thoughts  on  Education  (Sci- 
entific Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  336).  (Sm.  Inst., 
1886.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Theories 
Theory 


3398.  THEORY,    ATOMIC,   FORE- 
SHADOWED —  Surely  it   cannot   be    said 
that  Boyle    [1626-1692]    had   not   perceived 
that  it  was  the  province  of  science  to  con- 
cern herself  not  with  matter,  but  with  the 
changes  in  matter.     "  I  am  apt  to  think," 
he  avers,  "  that  men  will  never  be  able  to 
explain  the  phenomena  of  Nature  while  they 
endeavor  to  deduce  them  only  from  the  pres- 
ence and  proportions  of  such  and  such  ma- 
terial ingredients,  and  consider  such  ingre- 
dients or  elements  as  bodies  in  a  state  of 
rest;   whereas,  indeed,  the  greatest  part  of 
the  affections  of  matter,  and  consequently  of 
the  phenomena  of  Nature,  seems  to  depend 
upon    the    motion    and    contrivance    of    the 
small   parts    of   bodies." — PARK    BENJAMIN 
Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.    13,  p. 
416.     (J.  W.,  1898.) 

3399.  THEORY,    ATTEMPT    TO 
SHAPE  SCIENCE    TO  FIT— A  "Convenient 
Generalisation "    in     Chemistry.  —  We    are 
afraid  it  must  also  be  said — tho  shown  only 
by    slight    indications    in    his    fundamental 
work,  and  coming  out  in  full  evidence  only 
in  his  later  writings — that  M.  Comte,  at  bot- 
tom, was  not  so  solicitous  about  complete- 
ness of  proof  as  becomes  a  positive  philoso- 
pher, and  that  the  unimpeachable  objectiv- 
ity, as  he  would  have  called  it,  of  a  con- 
ception— its  exact  correspondence  to  the  re- 
alities of  outward  fact — was  not,  with  him, 
an  indispensable  condition  of  adopting  it,  if 
it  was  subjectively  useful,  by  affording  fa- 
cilities to  the  mind  for  grouping  phenomena. 
This  appears  very  curiously  in  his  chapters 
on   the   philosophy   of   chemistry.      He   rec- 
ommends, as  a  judicious  use  of  "  the  degree 
of  liberty  left  to  our  intelligence  by  the  end 
and   purpose   of  positive   science,"   that  we 
should  accept  as  a  convenient  generalization 
the  doctrine  that  all  chemical  composition 
is  between  two  elements  only. — MILL  Posi- 
tive  Philosophy   of   Auguste   Comte,   p.   55. 
(H.  H.  &  Co./ 1887.) 

3400.  THEORY  CONFIRMED  BY 

FACT— Neptune  Found  Where  Gravitation  De- 
manded.— By  it  [the  discovery  of  Neptune] 
the  last  lingering  doubts  as  to  the  absolute 
exactness  of  the  Newtonian  law  were  dissi- 
pated. Recondite  analytical  methods  re- 
ceived a  confirmation  brilliant  and  intelli- 
gible even  to  the  minds  of  the  vulgar,  and 
emerged  from  the  patient  solitude  of  the 
study  to  enjoy  an  hour  of  clamorous  tri- 
umph. Forever  invisible  to  the  unaided 
eye  of  man,  a  sister-globe  to  our  earth  was 
shown  to  circulate,  in  perpetual  frozen  exile, 
at  thirty  times  its  distance  from  the  sun. 
Nay,  the  possibility  was  made  apparent  that 
the  limits  of  our  system  were  not  even  thus 
reached,  but  that  yet  profounder  abysses  of 
space  might  shelter  obedient  tho  little 
favored  members  of  the  solar  family,  by 
future  astronomers  to  be  recognized  through 
the  sympathetic  thrillings  of  Neptune,  even 
as  Neptune  himself  was  recognized  through 


the  telltale  deviations  of  Uranus. — CLEBKE 
History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  102. 
(Bl.,  1893.) 

340 1 .  THEORY,  FALSE,  MAKES 
MEN   BLIND  TO  FACTS— Sea,  Not  Land, 
is  Permanent. — The  interminable  controver- 
sies  to   which   the  phenomena   of  the   Bay 
of  Baise  [the  rise  and  subsidence  of  the  level 
of  the  Temple  of  Serapis]    gave  rise  have 
sprung  from  an  extreme  reluctance  to  admit 
that  the  land,  rather'  than  the  sea,  is  sub- 
ject alternately  to  rise   and   fall.     Had   it 
been  assumed  that  the  level  of  the  ocean 
was  invariable,  on  the  ground  that  no  fluc- 
tuations have  as  yet  been  clearly  established, 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  continents 
are  inconstant  in  their  level,  as  has  been 
demonstrated     by     the     most     unequivocal 
proofs  again  and  again,  from  the  time  of 
Strabo  to  our  own  times,  the  appearances 
of  the  temple  at  Puzzuoli  could  never  have 
been  regarded  as  enigmatical.     Even  if  con- 
temporary accounts   had  not  distinctly  at- 
tested the  upraising  of  the  coast,  this  ex- 
planation should  have  been  proposed  in  the 
first  instance  as  the  most  natural,  instead 
of  being  now  adopted  unwillingly  when  all 
others  have  failed. 

To  the  strong  prejudices  still  existing  in 
regard  to  the  mobility  of  the  land,  we  may 
attribute  the  rarity  of  such  discoveries  as 
have  been  recently  brought  to  light  in  the 
Bay  of  Baiae.  A  false  theory,  it  is  well 
known,  may  render  us  blind  to  facts  which 
are  opposed .  to  our  prepossessions,  or  may 
conceal  from  us  their  true  import  when  we 
behold  them.  But  it  is  time  that  the  geolo- 
gist should,  in  some  degree,  overcome  those 
first  and  natural  impressions  which  induced 
the  poets  of  old  to  select  the  rock  as  the 
emblem  of  firmness — the  sea  as  the  image 
of  inconstancy.  Our  modern  poet,  in  a  more 
philosophical  spirit,  saw  in  the  sea  "the 
image  of  eternity,"  and  has  finely  contrasted 
the  fleeting  existence  of  the  successive  em- 
pires which  have  flourished  and  fallen  on 
the  borders  of  the  ocean  with  its  own  un- 
changed stability. 

Their  decay 

Has  dried  up  realms  to  deserts  :  — not  so  thou, 
Unchangeable  save  to  thy  wild  wave's  play: 

Time  writes  no  wrinkle  on  thine  azure  brow  ; 

Such  as  creation's  dawn  beheld,  thou  rollest  now. 

—BYRON  Childe  Harold,  canto  iv. 

— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29, 

p.  518.      (A.,  1854.) 

3402.  THEORY  MUST  POINT  THE 
WAY    FOR     EXPERIMENT  —  Experiment 
Must  Be  the  Test  of  Theory. — The  convic- 
tion is  constantly  gaining  ground,  that  in 
the  present  more  advanced  state  of  science 
those    only    can    experimentalize    profitably 
who  have  a  clear-sighted  knowledge  of  the- 
ory, and  know  how  to   propound  and  pur- 
sue the  right  questions;   and,  on  the  other 
hand,  only  those  can  theorize  with  advan- 
tage who  have  great  practise  in  experiments. 
The  discovery   of  spectrum   analysis   is  the 
most  brilliant  example  within  our  recollec- 


Theory 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


tion  of  such  an  interpenetration  of  theo- 
retical knowledge  and  experimental  skill. — 
HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  1,  p.  19. 
(L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

34O3.  THEORY  OF  CREATION  — 

Sketch  of  the  Nebular  Hypothesis. — In  their 
view  [i.  e.,  the  view  of  Kant  and  Laplace, 
known  as  "  the  nebular  hypothesis "]  our 
system  was  originally  a  chaotic  ball  of  nebu- 
lous matter,  of  which  originally,  when  it 
extended  to  the  path  of  the  most  distant 
planet,  many  billions  of  cubic  miles  could 
contain  scarcely  a  gram  of  mass.  This 
ball,  when  it  had  become  detached  from  the 
nebulous  balls  of  the  adjacent  fixed  stars, 
possessed  a  slow  movement  of  rotation.  It 
became  condensed  under  the  influence  of 
the  reciprocal  attraction  of  its  parts;  and, 
in  the  degree  in  which  it  condensed,  the 
rotatory  motion  increased,  and  formed  it 
into  a  flat  disk.  From  time  to  time  masses 
at  the  circumference  of  this  disk  became 
detached  under  the  influence  of  the  increas- 
ing centrifugal  force;  that  which  became 
detached  formed  again  into  a  rotating  nebu- 
lous mass,  which  either  simply  condensed 
and  formed  a  planet,  or  during  this  con- 
densation again  repelled  masses  from  the 
periphery,  which  became  satellites,  or  in 
one  case,  that  of  Saturn,  remained  as  a 
coherent  ring.  In  another  case  the  mass 
which  separated  from  the  outside  of  the 
chief  ball  divided  into  many  parts,  detached 
from  each  other,  and  furnished  the  swarms 
of  small  planets  between  Mars  and  Jupiter. 
—HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  4,  p. 
173.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

34O4.     THEORY     OF    "CRYSTAL 

SPHERES"—  The  Conception  of  the  Middle 
Ages — Destruction  of  Theory  by  Kepler. — 
The  idea  of  a  crystalline  vault  of  heaven 
was  handed  down  to  the  Middle  Ages  by  the 
fathers  of  the  church,  who  believed  the  fir- 
mament to  consist  of  from  seven  to  ten 
glassy  strata,  incasing  one  another  like  the 
different  coatings  of  an  onion.  This  sup- 
position still  keeps  its  ground  in  some  of 
the  monasteries  of  Southern  Europe,  where 
I  was  greatly  surprised  to  hear  a  venerable 
prelate  express  an  opinion  in  reference  to 
the  fall  of  aerolites  at  Aigle,  which  at  that 
time  formed  a  subject  of  considerable  in- 
terest, that  the  bodies  we  called  meteoric 
stones  with  vitrified  crusts  were  not  portions 
of  the  fallen  stone  itself,  but  simply  frag- 
ments of  the  crystal  vault  shattered  by  it  in 
its  fall.  Kepler,  from  his  considerations  of 
comets  which  intersect  the  orbits  of  all  the 
planets,  boasted,  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  that  he  had  destroyed  the 
seventy-seven  concentric  spheres  of  the  cele- 
brated Girolamo  Fracastoro,  as  well  as  all 
the  more  ancient  retrograde  epicycles. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos, vol.  iii,  p.  125.  (H.",  1897.) 

34O5. The  System  of 

Pythagoras — "  Music  of  the  Spheres." — He 
[Pythagoras]  is  said  to  have  taught  that 
the  heavenly  bodies  were  set  in  a  number 


of  crystalline  spheres,  in  the  common  center 
of  which  the  earth  was  placed.  In  the  outer 
of  these  spheres  were  set  the  thousands  of 
fixed  stars  which  stud  the  firmament,  while 
each  of  the  seven  planets  had  its  own  sphere. 
The  transparency  of  each  crystal  sphere  was 
perfect,  so  that  the  bodies  set  in  each  of 
the  outer  spheres  were  visible  through  all 
the  inner  ones.  These  spheres  all  rolled 
round  on  each  other  in  a  daily  revolution, 
thus  causing  the  rising  and  setting  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  This  rolling  of  the  spheres 
on  each  other  made  a  celestial  music,  the 
"  music  of  the  spheres,"  which  filled  the  fir- 
mament, but  was  of  too  elevated  a  char- 
acter to  be  heard  by  the  ears  of  mortals. — 
NEWCOMB  Popular  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  int.,  p. 
3.  (H.,  1899.) 

34O6.  THEORY  OF  DEW— An  Effect 
of  Chilling  by  Radiation. — A  series  of  ex- 
periments, conceived  and  executed  with  ad- 
mirable clearness  and  skill,  enabled  Dr. 
Wells  to  propound  a  theory  of  dew,  which 
has  stood  the  test  of  all  subsequent  criti- 
cism, and  is  now  universally  accepted.  It 
is  an  effect  of  chilling  by  radiation.  "  The 
upper  parts  of  the  grass  radiate  their  heat 
into  regions  of  empty  space,  which,  conse- 
quently, send  no  heat  back  in  return;  its 
lower  parts,  from  the  smallness  of  their 
conducting  power,  transmit  little  of  the 
earth's  heat  to  the  upper  parts,  which,  at 
the  same  time,  receiving  only  a  small  quan- 
tity from  the  atmosphere,  and  none  from 
any  other  lateral  body,  must  remain  colder 
than  the  air,  and  condense  into  dew  its  wa- 
tery vapor,  if  this  be  sufficiently  abundant 
in  respect  to  the  decreased  temperature  of 
the  grass."  Why  the  vapor  itself,  being  a 
powerful  radiant,  is  not  so  quickly  chilled 
as  the  grass,  has  been  already  explained 
on  the  ground  that  the  vapor  has  not  only 
its  own  heat  to  discharge,  but  also  that  of 
the  large  mass  of  air  by  which  it  is  sur- 
rounded. Dew,  then,  is  the  result  of  the 
condensation  of  atmospheric  vapor,  on  sub- 
stances which  have  been  sufficiently  cooled 
by  radiation;  and  as  bodies  differ  widely  in 
their  radiative  powers,  we  may  expect  cor- 
responding differences  in  the  deposition  of 
dew.  This  Wells  proved  to  be  the  case.  He 
often  saw  dew  copiously  deposited  on  grass 
and  painted  wood,  when  none  could  be  ob- 
served on  gravel  walks  adjacent. — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  17,  p.  498. 
(A.,  1900.) 

34O7.  THEORY  OF  "FACULTIES" 
A  BONDAGE— Feeling,  Desire,  Impulse,  and 
Will  Combine  in  Free  Choice. — It  is  in  the 
doctrine  of  feeling  and  will  more  than  any- 
where else  that  psychology  still  wears  the  fet- 
ters of  the  old  faculty  theory.  .  .  .  Thus  first 
of  all  feeling  was  considered  apart  from  its 
connection  with  will,  and  then  desire  was 
treated  as  a  separate  process,  sometimes 
found  in  connection  with  feeling.  Further, 
impulse  was  opposed  to  desire  proper  as  an 
obscure  desire,  in  which  the  subject  is  not 


689 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Theory 


conscious  of  the  desired  object;  or,  perhaps, 
as  a  lower  desire,  referring  exclusively  to  the 
needs  of  sense.  (That  is  why  many  psychol- 
ogists hold  that  impulses  only  exist  among 
animals.)  And  finally  these  processes  are 
still  further  supplemented  by  the  postula- 
tion  of  will  as  an  entirely  new  and  inde- 
pendent faculty,  whose  function  it  is  to 
choose  between  the  various  objects  of  desire, 
or  in  certain  circumstances  to  act  in  ac- 
cordance with  purely  intellectual  motives 
and  in  opposition  to  impulses  and  desires. 
According  to  this  theory,  that  is,  will  con- 
sists in  the  capacity  for  free  choice.  Choice 
in  this  sense  presupposes  the  possibility  of 
decision  between  various  objects  of  desire, 
and  even  of  decision  against  the  desired 
object  on  the  ground  of  purely  rational  con- 
siderations.— WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  15, 
p.  224.  (Son.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

34O8.  THEORY  OF  MORALITY 
DOES  NOT  SAVE— Lower  Impulses  Given 
the  Right  of  Way — The  Limp  Character. — 
Men  do  not  differ  so  much  in  their  mere 
feelings  and  conceptions.  Their  notions  of 
possibility  and  their  ideals  are  not  as  far 
apart  as  might  be  argued  from  their  differ- 
ing fates.  No  class  of  them  have  better 
sentiments  or  feel  more  constantly  the  dif- 
ference between  the  higher  and  the  lower 
path  in  life  than  the  hopeless  failures,  the 
sentimentalists,  the  drunkards,  the  schemers, 
the  "  dead-beats,"  whose  life  is  one  long  con- 
tradiction between  knowledge  and  action, 
and  who,  with  full  command  of  theory,  never 
get  to  holding  their  limp  characters  erect. 
No  one  eats  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  as  they  do;  as  far  as  moral  in- 
sight goes,  in  comparison  with  them,  the 
orderly  and  prosperous  philistines  whom 
they  scandalize  are  sucking  babes.  And  yet 
their  moral  knowledge,  always  there  grum- 
bling and  rumbling  in  the  background — 
discerning,  commenting,  protesting,  longing, 
half  resolving — never  wholly  resolves,  never 
gets  its  voice  out  of  the  minor  into  the 
major  key,  or  its  speech  out  of  the  subjunc- 
tive into  the  imperative  mood,  never  breaks 
the  spell,  never  takes  the  helm  into  its 
hands.  In  such  characters  as  Rousseau 
and  Restif  it  would  seem  as  if  the  lower 
motives  had  all  the  impulsive  efficacy  in 
their  hands.  Like  trains  with  the  right  of 
way,  they  retain  exclusive  possession  of  the 
track.  The  more  ideal  motives  exist  along- 
side of  them  in  profusion,  but  they  never 
get  switched  on,  and  the  man's  conduct  is 
no  more  influenced  by  them  than  an  express 
train  is  influenced  by  a  wayfarer  standing 
by  the  roadside  and  calling  to  be  taken 
aboard.  They  are  an  inert  accompaniment 
to  the  end  of  time;  and  the  consciousness 
of  inward  hollowness,  that  accrues  from  ha- 
bitually seeing  the  better  only  to  do  the 
worse,  is  one  of  the  saddest  feelings  one 
can  bear  with  him  through  this  vale  of  tears. 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  26,  p.  547. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


3409.  THEORY,     PRECONCEIVED, 
RETARDS  SCIENCE-^*  Fossils  Assigned, 
to    the    Deluge  —  Medieval    Geology.  —  The 
theologians  who  now  [1670]  entered  the  field 
in   Italy,    Germany,    France,    and   England, 
were   innumerable;    and  henceforward   they 
who  refused  to  subscribe  to  the  position,  that 
all  marine  organic  remains  were  proofs  of 
the  Mosaic  deluge,  were  exposed  to  the  im- 
putation of  disbelieving  the  whole  of  the  sa- 
cred writings.     Scarcely  any  step  had  been 
made   in   approximating   to   sound   theories 
since  the  time  of  Fracastoro,  more  than  a 
hundred  years  having  been  lost  in  writing 
down  the  dogma  that  organized  fossils  were 
mere  sports  of  Nature.     An  additional  peri- 
od of  a  century  and  a  half  was  now  destined 
to  be  consumed  in  exploding  the  hypothesis 
that  organized  fossils  had  all  been  buried 
in  the  solid  strata  by  Noah's  flood.     Never 
did  a  theoretical  fallacy,  in  any  branch  of 
science,  interfere  more  seriously  with  accu- 
rate observation  and  the  systematic  classi- 
fication of  facts.     In  recent  times  we  may 
attribute  our  rapid  progress  chiefly  to  the 
careful  determination  of  the  order  of  suc- 
cession in  mineral  masses,  by  means  of  their 
different  organic  contents  and  their  regular 
superposition.    But  th«  old  diluvialists  were 
induced  by  their  system  to  confound  all  the 
groups    of   strata   together    instead   of   dis- 
criminating— to  refer  all  appearances  to  one 
cause  and  to  one  brief  period,  not  to  a  va- 
riety  of   causes   acting   throughout   a    long 
succession  of   epochs.     They   saw   the   phe- 
nomena only  as  they  desired  to  see  them, 
sometimes    misrepresenting    facts,    and    at 
other  times  deducing  false  conclusions  from 
correct  data.     Under  the  influence  of  such 
prejudices  three  centuries  were  of  as  little 
avail  as  a  few  years  in  our  own  times,  when 
we  are  no  longer  required  to  propel  the  ves- 
sel against  the  force  of  an  adverse  current. 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  3, 
p.  25.      (A.,  1854.) 

30 1O.  THEORY    PROVED   BY   EX- 
PERIMENT —  Science  Demands  the   Test  of 
Fact — Structure  of  Orchid  Compels  Bee  to 
Gather  Pollen. — I    .    .    .    caught  and  placed 
within  the  labellum  [of  Cypripedium  pubes- 
cens~\  a  very  small  bee  which  seemed  of  about 
the  right  size.     .     .     .     The  bee  vainly  en- 
deavored to  crawl  out  again  the  same  way 
by   which    it  had   entered,   but   always   fell 
backwards,  owing  to  the  margins  being  in- 
flected.    The  labellum  thus  acts  like  one  of 
those  conical  traps,  with  the  edges  turned 
inwards,    which    are    sold   to    catch    beetles 
and  cockroaches  in  the  London  kitchens.     It 
could  not  creep  out  through  the  slit  between 
the  folded  edges  of  the  basal  part  of  the 
labellum,  as  the  elongated,  triangular,  rudi- 
mentary   stamen    here    closes    the    passage. 
Ultimately  it   forced   its  way  out  through 
one  of  the  small  orifices  close  to  one  of  the 
anthers,  and  was  found  when  caught  to  be 
smeared  with  the  glutinous  pollen.     I  then 
put  the  same  bee  back  into  the  labellum; 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


and  again  it  crawled  out  through  one  of 
the  small  orifices,  always  covered  with  pol- 
len. I  repeated  the  operation  five  times, 
always  with  the  same  result.  I  afterwards 
cut  away  the  labellum,  so  as  to  examine  the 
stigma,  and  found  its  whole  surface  covered 
with  pollen.  It  should  be  noticed  that  an 
insect  in  making  its  escape  must  first  brush 
past  the  stigma  and  afterwards  one  of  the 
anthers,  so  that  it  cannot  leave  pollen  on 
the  stigma,  until,  being  already  smeared  with 
pollen  from  one  flower,  it  enters  another; 
and  thus  there  will  be  a  good  chance  of 
cross  -  fertilization  between  two  distinct 
plants. — DARWIN  Fertilisation  of  Orchids, 
ch.  8,  p.  231.  (A.,  1898.) 

3411.  THEORY  STRONGER  THAN 
EVIDENCE—  Testimony  Discredited  — Facts 
Held  to  be  Contrary  to  the  Uniformity  of 
Nature  —  The   Falling    of    Meteorites    Pro- 
nounced Impossible. — When  induced  to  give 
the  matter  consideration,  they  [early  scien- 
tists]  observed  that  all  the  conditions  for 
scientific  observation  were  violated  by  these 
bodies  [meteorites],  since  the  wonder  always 
happened  at  some  far-off  place  or  at  some 
past  time,  and    (suspicious  circumstance!) 
the  stones  only  fell  in  the  presence  of  igno- 
rant and  unscientific  witnesses,  and  never 
when  scientific  men  were  at  hand  to  exam- 
ine the  facts.    That  there  were  many  worthy 
if  ignorant  men  who  asserted  that  they  had 
seen  such  stones  fall,  seen  them  with  their 
very    eyes,    and    held    them    in    their    own 
hands,    was   accounted   for   by   the   general 
love  of  the  marvelous  and  by  the  ignorance 
of  the  common  mind,  unlearned  in  the  con- 
ditions   of    scientific    observation,    and    un- 
guided  by  the  great  principle  of  the  uni- 
formity of  the  laws  of  Nature. — LANGLEY 
2V ew  Astronomy,  ch.  6,  p.   175.      (H.  M.  & 
Co.,  1896.) 

3412.  THEORY,  TRUE,  OF  THE 

UNIVERSE  —Its  Beneficent  Effect— Advance 
of  Science  Uninterrupted  from  Time  of  Co- 
pernicus.— The  scientific  revolution  origina- 
ted by  Nicolaus  Copernicus  has  had  the  rare 
fortune  (setting  aside  the  temporary  retro- 
grade movement  imparted  by  the  hypothesis 
of  Tycho  Brahe)  of  advancing  without  in- 
terruption to  its  object — the  discovery  of 
the  true  structure  of  the  universe.  The  rich 
abundance  of  accurate  observations  fur- 
nished by  Tycho  Brahe  himself,  the  zealous 
opponent  of  the  Copernican  system,  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  discovery  of  those  eternal 
laws  of  the  planetary  movements  which  pre- 
pared imperishable  renown  for  the  name 
of  Kepler,  and  which,  interpreted  by  New- 
ton, and  proved  to  be  theoretically  and  nec- 
essarily true,  have  been  transferred  into  the 
bright  and  glorious  domain  of  thought  as 
the  intellectual  recognition  of  Nature.  It 
has  been  ingeniously  said,  altho,  perhaps, 
with  too  feeble  an  estimate  of  the  free  and 
independent  spirit  which  created  the  theory 
of  gravitation,  that  "  Kepler  wrote  a  code 


of  laws,  and  Newton  the  spirit  of  those 
laws." — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p. 
313.  (H.,  1897.) 

3413.  THEORY  VAIN  BY  DEATH- 
BED— Practise  of  Medicine  the  Constant  Test 
of  Science. — I  consider  the  study  of  medi- 
cine   to    have    been    that    training    which 
preached  more  impressively  and  more  con- 
vincingly than  any  other  could  have  done 
the   everlasting   principles   of   all    scientific 
work;   principles  which  are  so  simple  and 
yet  are  ever  forgotten  again;   so  clear  and 
yet  always  hidden  by  a  deceptive  veil. 

Perhaps  only  he  can  appreciate  the  im- 
mense importance  and  the  fearful  practical 
scope  of  the  problems  of  medical  theory 
who  has  watched  the  fading  eye  of  approach- 
ing death,  and  witnessed  the  distracted  grief 
of  affection,  and  who  has  asked  himself  the 
solemn  questions,  Has  all  been  done  which 
could  be  done  to  ward  off  the  dread  event? 
Have  all  the  resources  and  all  the  means 
which  science  has  accumulated  become  ex- 
hausted ?  —  HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lectures, 
lect.  5,  p.  203.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3414.  THEORY    VALUABLE    FOR 
RETENTION  OF  FACTS— The  great  mem- 
ory for  facts  which  a  Darwin  or  a  Spencer 
reveal   in   their   books   is   not   incompatible 
with  the  possession  on  their  part  of  a  mind 
with  only  a  middling  degree  of  physiological 
retentiveness.     Let  a  man  early  in  life  set 
himself  the  task  of  verifying  such  a  theory 
as   that  of  evolution,   and   facts   will   soon 
cluster  and  cling  to  him  like  grapes  to  their 
stem.     Their   relations   to  the   theory   will 
hold  them  fast;  and  the  more  of  these  the 
mind  is  able  to  discern  the  greater  the  eru- 
dition will  become.     Meanwhile  the  theorist 
may  have  little,  if  any,  desultory  memory. 
Unutilizable  facts  may  be  unnoted  by  him, 
and  forgotten  as  soon  as  heard.     An  igno- 
rance almost  as  encyclopedic  as  his  erudition 
may  coexist  with  the  latter,  and  hide,  as  it 
were,    within    the    interstices    of    its    web. 
Those  of  you  who  have  had  much  to  do  with 
scholars  and  savants  will  readily  think  of 
examples   of  the   class  of   mind   I   mean. — 
JAMES    Talks   to    Teachers,  ch.    12,   p.    125. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3415.  THEORY  VS.   EXPERIMENT 
IN  MEDICINE— Love  of  a  Sweeping  Clever 
Stroke — A  Credulous  Multitude  Never  Want- 
ing.— Do    not    think,    gentlemen,    that    the 
struggle  [between  theory  and  experiment  in 
medicine]    is  at  an  end.     As  long  as  there 
are  people  of  such  astounding  conceit  as  to 
imagine    that    they    can    effect,    by    a    few 
clever  strokes,  that  which  man  can  other- 
wise only  hope  to  achieve  by  toilsome  labor, 
hypotheses  will  be  started  which,  propound- 
ed as  dogmas,  at  once  promise  to  solve  all 
riddles.     And  as   long  as  there  are  people 
who  believe  implicitly  in  that  which   they 
wish  to  be  true,  so  long  will  the  hypotheses 
of  the  former   find  credence.     Both  classes 


691 


SCIENTIFIC   SIDE-LIGHTS 


will  certainly  not  die  out,  and  to  the  latter 
the  majority  will  always  belong. — HELM- 
HOLTZ  Popular  Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  224.  ( L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3416.  THICKNESS  OF  EARTH'S 
CRUST — Theories  Corrected  by  Advancing  Sci- 
ence.— The  earth  is  known  gradually  to  aug- 
ment in  temperature  as  we  pierce  it  deeper, 
and  the  depth  has  been  calculated  at  which 
all  known  terrestrial  bodies  would  be  in  a 
state   of   fusion.      Owing,    however,   to    the 
enormous    pressure   of   the    superincumbent 
layers,  the  deeper  strata,  according  to  Mr. 
Hopkins,  would  require  a  far  higher  tem- 
perature to  fuse  them  than  would  suffice  to 
fuse   the    strata   near   the  earth's    surface. 
Hence  he  inferred  that  the  solid  crust  must 
have  a  considerably  greater  thickness  than 
that  given  by  a  calculation  which  assumes 
the  fusing  points  of  the  superficial  and  the 
deeper  strata  to  be  the  same.    Mr.  Hopkins, 
therefore,  rejected  the  estimate  of  geologists 
that  the  earth   could  be  a  molten  nucleus 
covered  by  a  crust  only  100  miles  in  thick- 
ness, concluding  that  the  depth  of  the  crust 
must  be  at  least  800  miles.     Sir  William 
Thomson  considers  it  "  extremely  improbable 
that  any  crust  thinner  than  2,000  or  2,500 
miles  could  maintain  its  figure  with  suffi- 
cient   rigidity    against    the    tide-generating 
forces  of  sun  and  moon,  to  allow  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  ocean  tides  and  of  precession 
and   nutation    to   be    as   they    now   are." — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  6,  p. 
148.      (A.,  1900.) 

3417.  "THING    IN    ITSELF "—  The 

Unconditioned  Unthinkable,  and  also  In- 
credible.— In  metaphysics  the  assertion  that 
we  can  never  attain  to  any  knowledge  of 
things  "  in  themselves  "  does  not  mean  sim- 
ply that  we  know  things  only  in  a  few  re- 
lations out  of  many.  It  does  not  mean 
even  that  there  may  be  and  probably  are  a 
great  many  relations  which  we  have  not 
faculties  enabling  us  to  conceive.  All  this 
is  quite  true,  and  a  most  important  truth. 
But  the  metaphysical  distinction  is  quite 
different.  It  affirms  that  if  we  knew  things 
in  every  one  of  the  relations  that  affect 
them,  we  should  still  be  no  nearer  than  be- 
fore to  a  knowledge  of  "  things  in  them- 
selves." .  .  . 

Now,  as  the  very  idea  of  knowledge  con- 
sists in  the  perception  of  relations,  this  af- 
firmation is,  in  the  purest  sense  of  the  word, 
nonsense — that  is  to  say,  it  is  a  series  of 
words  which  have  either  no  meaning  at  all 
or  a  meaning  which  is  self-contradictory.  It 
belongs  to  the  class  of  propositions  which 
throw  just  discredit  on  metaphysics — mere 
verbal  propositions,  pretending  to  deal  with 
conceptions  which  are  no  conceptions  at  all, 
but  empty  sounds.  The  "unconditioned," 
we  are  told,  "  is  unthinkable  " ;  but  words 
which  are  unthinkable  had  better  be  also  un- 
speakable, or  at  least  unspoken.  It  is  alto- 
gether untrue  that  we  are  compelled  to  be- 
lieve in  the  existence  of  anything  which  is 


"  unconditioned  " — in  matter  with  no  quali- 
ties— in  minds  with  no  character — in  a  God 
with  no  attributes.  Even  the  metaphysi- 
cians who  dwell  on  this  distinction  between 
the  relative  and  the  unconditioned  admit 
that  it  is  one  to  which  no  idea  can  be  at- 
tached. Yet,  in  spite  of  this  admission,  they 
proceed  to  found  many  inferences  upon  it, 
as  if  it  had  an  intelligible  meaning. — AR- 
GYLL Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  4,  p.  90.  (Burt.) 

3418.  THIRST  OF  ALPINE  CLIMBER 

— Milk  a  Perfect  Refreshment. — During  the 
previous  night  I  had  been  very  unwell,  and 
as  I  climbed  the  slope  I  suffered  from  in- 
tense thirst.  Water  seemed  powerless  to 
quench  the  desire  for  drink.  We  reached 
a  chalet,  and  at  our  request  a  smart  young 
Senner  caught  up  a  pail  and  soon  returned 
with  it  full  of  delicious  milk.  The  effect  of 
the  milk  was  astonishing.  It  seemed  to  lu- 
bricate every  atom  of  my  body,  and  to  ex- 
hilarate with  its  fragrance  my  brain. — TYN- 
DALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  9, 
p.  92.  (A.,  1898.) 

3419. Snow  and  Ice  In- 
crease Distress. — We  had  plodded  on  for 
hours  soddened  by  the  solar  heat  and 
parched  with  thirst.  There  was 

Water,  water  everywhere, 

But  not  a  drop  to  drink  : 

for,  when  placed  in  the  mouth,  the  lique- 
faction of  the  ice  was  so  slow,  and  the  loss 
of  heat  from  the  surrounding  tissues  so 
painful,  that  sucking  it  was  worse  than 
total  abstinence.  In  the  midst  of  this  solid 
water  you  might  die  of  thirst. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  15,  p.  170. 
(A.,  1898.) 

342O.  THOUGHT  AND  FEELING 
HAVE  NO  EXTENSION— Intense  Pleasure 
or  Pain  Annuls  Space  and  Time. — When  1 
am  studying  a  brain  and  nerve-communica- 
tions, I  am  engrossed  with  properties  ex- 
clusively belonging  to  the  object  or  material 
world.  I  am  unable  at  that  moment  (except 
by  very  rapid  transitions  or  alternations) 
to  conceive  a  truly  mental  fact,  my  truly 
mental  consciousness.  Our  mental  experi- 
ence, our  feelings  and  thoughts,  have  no  ex- 
tension, no  place,  no  form  or  outline,  no 
mechanical  division  of  parts ;  and  we  are 
incapable  of  attending  to  anything  mental 
until  we  shut  off  the  view  of  all  that.  Walk- 
ing in  the  country  in  spring,  our  mind  is 
occupied  with  the  foliage,  the  bloom,  and 
the  grassy  meads — all  purely  objective 
things:  we  are  suddenly  and  strongly  ar- 
rested by  the  odor  of  the  May  blossom ;  we 
give  way  for  a  moment  to  the  sensation  of 
sweetness;  for  that  moment  the  objective 
regards  cease;  we  think  of  nothing  extend- 
ed; we  are  in  a  state  where  extension  has 
no  footing;  there  is,  to  us,  place  no  longer. 
Such  states  are  of  short  duration,  mere  fits, 
glimpses ;  they  are  constantly  shifted  and  al- 
ternated with  object  states,  but  while  they 
last  and  have  their  full  power  we  are  in 
a  different  world;  the  material  world  is  blot- 


Thought 
Time 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


69* 


ted  out,  eclipsed,  for  the  instant  unthink- 
able. These  subject  moments  are  studied 
to  advantage  in  bursts  of  intense  pleasure 
or  intense  pain,  in  fits  of  engrossed  reflec- 
tion, especially  reflection  upon  mental  facts ; 
but  they  are  seldom  sustained  in  purity 
beyond  a  very  short  interval;  we  are  con- 
stantly returning  to  the  object  side  of  things 
— to  the  world  whose  basis  is  extension 
and  place. — BAIN  Mind  and  Body,  ch.  6,  p. 
34.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

342 1 .  THOUGHT  AND  MOTION  NOT 

COMMENSURABLE  —  Chasm  between  Con- 
sciousness and  Mechanics. — Every  one  ad- 
mits the  entire  incommensurability  of  feel- 
ing as  such  with  material  motion  as  such. 
"  A  motion  became  a  feeling ! " — no  phrase 
that  our  lips  can  frame  is  so  devoid  of  ap- 
prehensible meaning.  Accordingly,  even  the 
vaguest  of  evolutionary  enthusiasts,  when 
deliberately  comparing  material  with  mental 
facts,  have  been  as  forward  as  any  one  else 
to  emphasize  the  "  chasm  "  between  the  in- 
ner and  the  outer  worlds. 

"  Can  the  oscillations  of  a  molecule,"  says  Mr.  Spencer 
["Psychology,"  §62],  "  be  represented  side  by  side  with  a 
nervous  shock  [he  means  a  mental  shock],  and  the  two  be 
recognized  aa  one  ?  No  effort  enables  us  to  assimilate 
them.  That  a  unit  of  feeling  has  nothing  in  common 
with  a  unit  of  motion  becomes  more  than  ever  manifest 
when  we  bring  the  two  into  juxtaposition." 

And  again  ["  Psychology,"  §  272] : 

"  Suppose  it  to  have  become  quite  clear  that  a  shock  in 
consciousness  and  a  molecular  motion  are  the  subjective 
and  objective  faces  of  the  same  thing:  we  continue  utterly 
incapable  of  uniting  the  two,  so  as  to  conceive  that  reality 
of  which  they  are  the  opposite  faces." 

In  other  words,  incapable  of  perceiving  in 
them  any  common  character.  So  Tyndall, 
in  that  lucky  paragraph  ["  Fragments  of 
Science,"  p.  420],  which  has  been  quoted  so 
often  that  every  one  knows  it  by  heart: 

"  The  passage  from  the  physics  of  the  brain  to  the  cor- 
responding facts  of  consciousness  is  unthinkable.  Granted 
that  a  definite  thought  and  a  definite  molecular  action  in 
the  brain  occur  simultaneously,  we  do  not  possess  the  in- 
tellectual organ,  nor  apparently  any  rudiment  of  the 
organ,  which  would  enable  us  to  pass,  by  a  process  of 
reasoning,  from  one  to  the  other." 

— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  146. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3422.  THOUGHT,    ENLARGEMENT 
OF,    BY     VOLUNTARY    STUDY— It    is 

.  .  .  by  the  use  of  the  power  which  every 
man  possesses  of  enlarging  as  well  as  im- 
proving his  fabric  of  thought,  by  applying 
himself  to  the  acquirement  of  new  knowl- 
edge, that  he  gains  a  vastly  increased  ca- 
pacity for  the  reception  of  a  nobler  and 
grander  order  of  beliefs,  such  as  he  would 
have  previously  thought  it  impossible  that 
he  could  ever  come  to  possess. — CARPENTER 
Nature  and  Man,  feet.  7,  p.  234.  (A.,  1889.) 

3423.  THOUGHT,  HUMAN,  GROWS 
AROUND  A  FEW  GREAT  THINKERS— 

The  thoughts  of  men  seem  rather  to  be  com- 
parable to  the  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit 
upon  the  innumerable  branches  of  a  few 
great  stems,  fed  by  commingled  and  hidden 
roots.  These  stems  bear  the  names  of  the 
half  a  dozen  men  endowed  with  intellects 


of  heroic  force  and  clearness,  to  whom  we 
are  led,  at  whatever  point  of  the  world  of 
thought  the  attempt  to  trace  its  history 
commences;  just  as  certainly  as  the  follow- 
ing up  the  small  twigs  of  a  tree  to  the 
branchlets  which  bear  them,  and  tracing 
the  branchlets  to  their  supporting  branches, 
brings  us,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  bole. — 
HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14,  p.  320. 
(G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3424.  THOUGHT,  ITS   POWER    IN 

MAN — The  superiority  of  man  over  ani- 
mals, of  the  scholar  over  the  barbarian,  de- 
pends upon  thinking;  sensation,  feeling,  per- 
ception, on  the  contrary,  he  shares  with  his 
lower  fellow  creatures,  and  in  acuteness  of 
the  senses  many  of  these  are  even  superior 
to  him.  That  man  strives  to  develop  his 
thinking  faculty  to  the  utmost  is  a  problem 
on  the  solution  of  which  the  feeling  of  his 
own  dignity  as  well  as  of  his  own  practical 
power  depends. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular  Lec- 
tures, lect.  5,  p.  206.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3425.  THOUGHT,  NEW,  HOW  MADE 

— We  must  not  forget  that  everything  new 
that  can  possibly  be  thought  is  nothing  more 
than  either  a  combination  of  particulars 
which  had  previously  been  separate,  or  a 
separation  of  particulars  which  had  been 
combined.  As  thinking  cannot  be  accom- 
plished without  feeling  and  perceptions,  so 
it  is  with  willing. — SCHWARZ  Psychologie 
des  Willens  (a  Lecture).  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3426.  THOUGHT,  RAPIDITY  OF,  IN 

GREAT  MINDS— When  two  minds  of  a  high 
order,  interested  in  kindred  subjects,  come 
together,  their  conversation  is  chiefly  re- 
markable for  the  summariness  of  its  al- 
lusions and  the  rapidity  of  its  transitions. 
Before  one  of  them  is  half  through  a  sen- 
tence the  other  knows  his  meaning  and  re- 
plies. Such  genial  play  with  such  massive 
materials,  such  an  easy  flashing  of  light 
over  far  perspectives,  such  careless  indiffer- 
ence to  the  dust  and  apparatus  that  ordi- 
narily surround  the  subject  and  seem  to  per- 
tain to  its  essence,  make  these  conversa- 
tions seem  true  feasts  for  gods  to  a  listener 
who  is  educated  enough  to  follow  them  at 
all. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p. 
370.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3427.  THOUGHTLESSNESS     UN- 
WARNED BY  OTHERS'  FATE— Bees  Per- 
ishing in  Sweets. — The  following  scene  [says 
Sir  John  Lubbock],  one  which  most  of  us 
have  witnessed,  is  incompatible  surely  with 
much   intelligence.     The   sad   fate   of  their 
unfortunate    companions    does    not    in    the 
least  deter  others  who  approach  the  tempt- 
ing lure  from  madly  alighting  on  the  bodies 
of  the  dying  and  dead,  to  share  the  same 
miserable  end.     No  one  can  understand  the 
extent  of  their  infatuation  until  he  has  seen 
a   confectioner's   shop   assailed   by   myriads 
of    hungry    bees.      I    have    seen    thousands 
strained  out  from  the  sirup  in  which  they 


693 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Thought 
Time 


had  perished;  thousands  more  alighting  even 
upon  the  boiling  sweets,  the  floor  covered 
and  windows  darkened  with  bees,  some 
crawling,  others  flying,  and  others  still  so 
completely  besmeared  as  to  be  able  neither 
to  crawl  nor  fly,  not  one  in  ten  able  to  carry 
home  its  ill-gotten  spoils,  and  yet  the  air 
filled  with  new  hosts  of  thoughtless  comers. 
— ROMANES  Animal  Intelligence,  ch.  4,  p. 
184.  (A.,  1899.) 

3428.  THUNDER-STORM  THE  RE- 
LEASE OF  STORED  ENERGY— All  of  the 

phenomena  of  a  thunder-storm,  hail-storm,  or 
tornado,  with  their  terrific  manifestations 
in  the  form  of  thunder,  lightning,  wind,  and 
rain,  are  simply  the  result  of  a  sudden  re- 
leasing of  the  stored  energy  in  the  myriads 
of  moisture  spherules  that  were  placed  there 
by  the  power  of  the  sun  when  they  were 
silently  and  invisibly  wrested  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  or  from  condensed  mois- 
ture globules  floating  in  the  air. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  2,  p. 
20.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3429.  TIME,   ANCIENT    METHODS 
OF    MEASURING— Difficulties   Overcome  by 
Ancient  Astronomers. — During  many  centu- 
ries time  was  only  measured  by  sun-dials 
and  water-clocks,  or  clepsydras.    Water,  run- 
ning out  regularly  from  a  reservoir,  is  re- 
ceived in   a  vase  which  shows  every  hour. 
A  float  placed  upon  the  liquid  carries  a  lit- 
tle figure  of   a   boy,  which  rises  regularly 
and  points  to  the  hours.     The  ancient  as- 
tronomers   of    China,    Asia,    Chaldea,    and 
Greece  measured  in  this  way  the  hours  of 
the  night,  the  transits  of  stars  across  the 
meridian,    and   the   duration   of   eclipses. — 
FLAMMARION    Popular    Astronomy,    bk.    ii, 
ch.  2,  p.  19.     (A.) 

3430.  TIME,  ELEMENT  OF,  IN  BAC- 
TERIAL   ANALYSIS— Rapid  Multiplication 
of  Bacteria  May  Defeat  Experiment. — When 
the  sample  has  been  duly  collected,  sealed, 
and  a  label  affixed  bearing  the  date,  time, 
and  conditions  of  collection  and  full  address, 
it  should  be  transmitted  with  the  least  pos- 
sible  delay  to  the   laboratory.      Frequently 
it  is  desirable  to  pack  the  bottles  in  a  small 
ice  case  for  transit.     On  receipt  of  such  a 
sample  of  water  the  examination  must  be 
immediately    proceeded    with,    in    order    to 
avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the  fallacies  arising 
from    the    rapid    multiplication    of    germs. 
Even  in  almost  pure  water,  at  the  ordinary 
temperature   of    a    room,    Frankland    found 
organisms  multiplied  as  follows: 

NO.  OF  GERMS 

HOURS.                                                                                                PER  C.  C. 
0 1 ,073 

6  6,028 

24 7,262 

48 43,100 

Another  series  of  observations  revealed 
the  same  sort  of  rapid  increase  of  bacteria. 
On  the  date  of  collection  the  micro-organ- 
isms per  c.  c.  in  a  deep- well  water  (in  April) 
were  seven.  After  one  day's  standing  at  room 


temperature  the  number  had  reached  twenty- 
one  per  c.  c.  After  three  days  under  the 
same  conditions  it  was  495,000  per  c.  c.  At 
blood-heat  the  increase  would,  of  course, 
be  much  greater,  as  a  higher  temperature 
is  more  favorable  to  multiplication. — NEW- 
MAN Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  38.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3431.  TIME,  EVOLUTION   GIVES 
NEW  PERSPECTIVE  OF— Reveals  the  Unity 
of    Nature. — Evolution    has    done    for    time 
what  astronomy  has  done  for  space.    As  sub- 
lime to  the  reason  as  the  science  of  the  stars, 
as  overpowering  to  the  imagination,  it  has 
thrown  the  universe  into  a  fresh  perspec- 
tive, and  given  the  human  mind  a  new  di- 
mension.    Evolution   involves  not  so  much 
a  change  of  opinion  as  a  change  in  man's 
whole  view  of  the  world  and  of  life.     It  is 
not  the  statement  of  a  mathematical  propo- 
sition which  men  are  called  upon  to  declare 
true  or  false.    It  is  a  method  of  looking  upon 
Nature.     Science  for  centuries  devoted  itself 
to  the  cataloguing  of  facts  and  the  discovery 
of   laws.     Each   worker  toiled   in   his   own 
little  place — the  geologist  in  his  quarry,  the 
botanist  in  his  garden,  the  biologist  in  his 
laboratory,  the  astronomer  in  his  observa- 
tory, the  historian  in  his  library,  the  arche- 
ologist    in    his    museum.      Suddenly    these 
workers    looked    up;     they    spoke    to    one 
another;   they  had  each  discovered  a  law; 
they  whispered  its  name.     It  was  "evolu- 
tion."    Henceforth  their  work  was  one,  sci- 
ence was  one,  the  world  was  one,  and  mind, 
which   discovered    the    oneness,   was    one. — 
DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  int.,  p.  8.     (J. 
P.,  1900.) 

3432.  TIME,  GEOLOGIC— ,4  Thousand 
Feet    of    Chalk    Long    in    Depositing. — The 
chalk  [of  the  English  cliffs]  is  in  places  more 
than  a   thousand  feet  thick.     I   think  you 
will  agree  with  me  that  it  must  have  taken 
some  time  for  the  skeletons  of  animalcules 
of  a  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  to 
heap  up  such  a  mass  as  that.     I  have  said 
that  throughout  the  thickness  of  the  chalk 
the  remains  of  other  animals  are  scattered. 
These   remains   are   often   in  the   most  ex- 
quisite  state  of  preservation.     The   valves 
of  the  shellfishes   are   commonly   adherent; 
the  long  spines  of  some  of  the  sea-urchins, 
which   would   be   detached  by   the   smallest 
jar,    often    remain    in    their    places.      In    a 
word,  it  is  certain  that  these  animals  have 
lived  and  died  when  the  place  which  they 
now  occupy  was  the  surface  of  as  much  of 
the  chalk  as  had  then  been  deposited ;  and 
that  each  has  been  covered  up  by  the  layer 
of   globigerina-mud,    upon    which    the    crea- 
tures embedded  a  little  higher  up  have,  in 
like  manner,  lived  and  died.     But  some  of 
these  remains  prove  the  existence  of  reptiles 
of  vast  size  in  the  chalk  sea.     These  lived 
their   time,    and    had    their    ancestors    and 
descendants,  which  assuredly  implies  time, 
reptiles  being  of  slow  growth.    .     .     .    Thus, 
not  onlv  is  it  certain  that  the  chalk  is  the 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


694 


mud  of  an  ancient  sea-bottom,  but  it  is  no 
less  certain  that  the  chalk  sea  existed  dur- 
ing an  extremely  long  period,  tho  we  may 
not  be  prepared  to  give  a  precise  estimate 
of  the  length  of  that  period  in  years. — 
HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serin.  9,  p.  189.  (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.) 

3433.  TIME,  IMMEASURABLE 
LAPSE    OF— Ages  Required  to  Build  Chalk 
Cliffs. — The  chalk    .    .    .    now  seen  stretch- 
ing for  thousands  of  miles  over  different 
parts  of  Europe  has  become  visible  to  us 
by  the  effect,  not  of  one,  but  of  many  dis- 
tinct   series    of    subterranean    movements. 
Time  has  been  required,   and  a  succession 
of  geological  periods,  to  raise  it  above  the 
waves  in  so  many  regions. — LYELL  Princi- 
ples of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  159.     (A., 
1854.) 

3434.  TIME,  INCREASING  APPRE- 
CIATION  OF—  Our  Indebtedness  to  Ages  of 
Thought  and  Observation. — When  we  picture 
to  ourselves  the  virtuosity  with  which  every 
schoolchild  is  capable  in  our  day  of  meas- 
uring  off   and    dividing   uj>   his   time,    and 
how  among  our  ordinary  citizens  the  more 
many-sided  their  life  becomes  in  all  direc- 
tions, the  more  it  is  based  upon  an  ever- 
increasingly    exact    appropriation    of    time, 
and  that  our  modern  great  means  of  trans- 
portation,   the    railroads    and    telegraphs, 
scarcely    reckon    otherwise    than    according 
to   minutes,   indicating  thereby  the   exacti- 
tude of  their  division  of  time,  then  it  be- 
comes   difficult   to    transport   our   thoughts 
back  to  that  period  when  neither  the  for- 
tunate  nor  the  unfortunate  had  his  hour. 
And  yet  we  still  remember  yonder  blessed 
childhood  in  which  we,  too,  without  regard 
for  time,  measured  off  our  entire  career  ac- 
cording to  nothing  but  days  and  nights,  and 
the  great  pleasures  afforded  by  the  festivals 
of  the  year.     And  we  still  find  byways,  re- 
mote   from    intercourse    with    great    cities, 
where    a    countryman    will    have   no    other 
measure  of  time  at  his  disposal  than  the 
clock  on  the  church  tower  of  his  hamlet, 
and  must  regulate  his  hours  of  labor  by  the 
course  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  the  stars. 
Solitary  shepherds  are  still  to  be  met  on 
the  heath  who,  in  classic  fashion,  measure 
time  by  the  foot-lengths  of  their  own  shad- 
ows.   But  who  ever  thinks,  as  he  glances  at 
his  watch  or  at  a  calendar  condensed  into 
a  few  pages,  of  the  thousands  of  years  of 
the  most  zealous  astronomical  observations 
required  to  furnish  both  of  these  as  we  have 
them  in  our  day?    Who  ever  considers  that 
this  calendar,   frequently  coming  to  us   in 
such  unpretentious  garb,  represents  one  of 
the  greatest  achievements  of  human  research 
and  effort? — WITTICH  Die  Schnelligkeit  un- 
seres  Empfindens  und  Wollcns  (a  Lecture), 
p.  6.    (Translated  for  Scientific  Side-Lights. ) 

3435.  TIME,  LAPSE   OF,  MADE 
SENSIBLE   BY   DWELLING   ON  IT— Pre- 
occupation Seems  to  Shorten. — Our  estimate 
of  time  as   it  passes  is  commonly  said  to 


depend  on  the  amount  of  consciousness  which 
we  are  giving  to  the  fact  of  its  transition. 
Thus,  when  the  mind  is  unoccupied  and  suf- 
fering from  ennui,  we  feel  time  to  move 
sluggishly.  On  the  other  hand,  interesting 
employment,  by  diverting  the  thoughts  from 
time,  makes  it  appear  to  move  at  a  more 
rapid  pace.  This  fact  is  shown  in  the  com- 
mon expressions  which  we  employ,  such  as 
"  to  kill  time,"  and  the  German  Langeweile. 
Similarly,  it  is  said  that  when  we  are  eager- 
ly anticipating  an  event,  as  the  arrival  of 
a  friend,  the  mere  fact  of  dwelling  on  the 
interval  makes  it  appear  to  swell  out.  This 
view  is  correct  in  the  main. — SULLY  Illu- 
sions, ch.  10,  p.  250.  (A.,  1897.) 

3436.  TIME,  MAN'S  FIRST  MEAS- 
URE OF — Months  and  Weeks  Determined  by 
the  Moon. — It  was  these  phases  and  aspects 
of  the  moon  which  formerly  gave  birth  to 
the  custom  of  measuring  time  by  months, 
and  by  weeks  of  seven  days,  on  account  of 
the  return  of  the  moon's  phases  in  a  month, 
and  because  the  moon  appears  about  every 
seven  days,  so  to  say,  under  a  new  form. 
Such  was  the  first  measure  of  time;  there 
was  not  in  the  sky  any  signal  of  which  the 
differences,  the  alternations,  and  the  epochs 
were  more   remarkable.      Families   met   to- 
gether at  a  time  fixed  by  some  lunar  phase. 
— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  2,  p.  100.     (A.) 

3437.  TIME  OCCUPIED  BY  SENSA- 
TION AND  VOLITION— Illustration  of  Whale 
Wounded  in  the  Tail. — The  time  occupied 
by  a  sensation  and  subsequent  volition  has 
been  measured  in  circumstances  where  there 
were  no  conflicting  impulses.     This  is  done 
by  ascertaining  the  time  elapsing  between 
the  sensation  of  a  signal  and  the  answering 
by  the  hand.    A  comparison  is  made  between 
two  situations ;  one  where  the  person  is  pre- 
pared beforehand,  by  knowing  where  he  is 
to  be  affected  and  what  part  is  to  move,  in 
which  case  the  attention  is  turned  upon  the 
proper  points.    The  other  situation  is  where 
a  person  does  not  know  which  part  is  to  be 
struck,  and  which  part  is  to  be  moved;  in 
this  last  case  he  has  to  exercise  an  active 
judgment  or  consideration,  and  the  differ- 
ence of  time  is  about  the  -^th  of  a  second. 
Two  persons  are  separated  by  a  screen;  one 
is  to  utter  a  syllable  and  the  other  to  re- 

Ct  it  as  soon  as  possible.  If  the  syllable 
been  agreed  upon,  the  interval  of  repe- 
tition occupies  from  one- sixth  to  one- fourth 
of  a  second;  if  it  is  not  agreed  upon,  the 
interval  is  one-twelfth  of  a  second  more. 
The  example  is  put  by  M.  Du  Bois  Raymond 
of  a  whale,  ninety  feet  long,  struck  in  the 
tail  by  a  harpoon;  one  second  would  be  oc- 
cupied in  transmitting  the  impression  to  the 
brain;  a  fraction  of  a  second,  say  one- 
tenth,  in  traversing  the  brain ;  a  full  second 
in  returning  the  motor  impulse,  so  that 
the  boat  would  have  upward  of  two  seconds 
for  escaping  the  danger. — BAIN  Mind  and 
Body,  ch.  3,  p.  10.  (Hum.,  1880.) 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


TombfltODi 


3438.  TIME,  THE  BEGINNING  OR 
END  OF,  INCONCEIVABLE  — We  are  al- 
together  unable  to   conceive   time   as   com- 
mencing;    ...    we  are  conscious  to  our- 
selves of  nothing  more  clearly  than  that  it 
would  be  equally  possible  to  think  without 
thought  as  to  construe  to  the  mind  an  abso- 
lute commencement  or  an  absolute  termina- 
tion of  time.     .     .     .     Goad  imagination  to 
the  utmost,  it  still  sinks  paralyzed  within 
the  bounds  of  time,  and  time  survives  as  the 
condition  of  the  thought  itself  in  which  we 
annihilate  the  universe. — HAMILTON   Meta- 
physics, lect.  38,  p.  529.     (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

3439.  TIME  WORKS  VAST  RESULTS 
WITH    TRIFLING    FORCE— Crevasses   of 
Glacier. — [Upon  the  glacier]  an  explosion  is 
heard.     .     .     .     The  sound  is  repeated,  sev- 
eral  shots  being  fired  in   quick  succession. 
.     .     .     After   an   hour's    strict   search  we 
discover    the   cause   of   the   reports.     They 
announce  the  birth  of  a  crevasse.     Through 
a  pool  upon  the  glacier  we  notice  air-bub- 
bles ascending,  and  find  the  bottom  of  the 
pool  crossed  by  a  narrow  crack,  from  which 
the  bubbles  issue.    Right  and  left  from  this 
pool  we  trace  the  young  fissure  through  long 
distances.    It  is  sometimes  almost  too  feeble 
to  be  seen,  and  at  no  place  is  it  wide  enough 
to  admit  a  knife-blade.     .     .     .     The  great 
and  gaping  chasms  on  and  above  the  ice-falls 
of  the  G6ant  and  the  Talefre  begin  as  nar- 
row cracks,  which  open  gradually  to  crev- 
asses.    We  are  thus  taught  in  an  instructive 
and  impressive  way  that  appearances  sug- 
gestive of  very  violent  action  may  really  be 
produced  by  processes  so  slow  as  to  require 
refined  observations  to  detect  them.     In  the 
production  of  natural  phenomena  two  things 
always  come  into  play,  the  intensity  of  the 
acting  force  and  the  time  during  which  it 
acts.     Make  the  intensity  great  and  the  time 
small,  and  you  have  sudden  convulsion;   but 
precisely  the  same  apparent  effect  may  be 
produced  by  making  the  intensity  small  and 
the  time  great. — TYNDALL  Forms  of  Water, 
p.  98.     (A.,  1899.) 

3440.  TIME-KEEPING  IN  SLEEP— 

Waking  at  a  Specified  Hour — Power  Varies 
in  Different  Persons — Unconscious  Chro- 
nometry. — There  are  many  individuals  who 
have  the  power  of  determining,  at  the  time 
of  going  to  rest,  the  hour  at  which  they  shall 
awake,  and  who  arouse  themselves  at  the 
precise  time  fixed  upon — not  from  the  rest- 
less sleep  which  such  a  determination  would 
ordinarily  induce  (the  writer,  for  example, 
would  be  prevented  by  it  from  obtaining 
an  hour  of  continuous  repose  through  the 
whole  night),  but  from  a  slumber  that  re- 
mains unbroken  until  the  appointed  time 
arrives.  This  fact  .  .  .  seems  to  point 
to  a  kind  of  unconscious  chronometry,  which 
is  in  some  way  connected  with  the  sequence 
of  the  organic  functions.  .  .  .  The  whole 
series  of  such  phenomena  has  a  peculiar  in- 
terest, in  connection  with  the  pretensions 


advanced  by  mesmerizers  to  exercise  a  spe- 
cial control  over  the  "  subjects "  of  their 
manipulations. — CARPENTER  Mental  Physi- 
ology, bk.  ii,  ch.  15,  p.  583.  (A.,  1900.) 

3441.  TIMIDITY  TAUGHT  YOUNG 

BIRDS  BY  ELDERS— During  the  past  sum- 
mer, while  living  near  Kew  Gardens,  I 
watched  the  sparrows  a  great  deal,  and  fed 
forty  or  fifty  of  them  every  day  from  a 
back  window.  The  bread  and  seed  were 
thrown  on  to  a  low  roof  just  outside  the  win- 
dow, and  I  noticed  that  the  young  birds 
when  first  able  to  fly  were  always  brought 
by  the  parents  to  this  feeding-place,  and 
that  after  two  or  three  visits  they  would 
begin  to  come  of  their  own  accord.  At  such 
times  they  would  venture  quite  close  to  me, 
showing  as  little  suspicion  as  young  chick- 
ens. The  adults,  however,  altho  so  much 
less  shy  than  birds  of  other  species,  were 
extremely  suspicious,  snatching  up  the  bread 
and  flying  away;  or,  if  they  remained,  hop- 
ping about  in  a  startled  manner,  craning 
their  necks  to  view  me,  and  making  so  many 
gestures  and  motions,  and  little  chirps  of 
alarm,  that  presently  the  young  would  be- 
come infected  with  fear.  The  lesson  was 
taught  them  in  a  surprisingly  short  time; 
their  suspicion  was  seen  to  increase  day  by 
day,  and  about  a  week  later  they  were 
scarcely  to  be  distinguished  in  behavior 
from  the  adults.  It  is  plain  that,  with  these 
little  birds,  fear  of  man  is  an  associate  feel- 
ing, and  that,  unless  it  had  been  taught 
them,  his  presence  would  trouble  them  as 
little  as  does  that  of  horse,  sheep,  or  cow. — 
HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Plata,  ch.  5,  p.  84. 
(C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

3442.  TOMBSTONES    OF  ANCIENT 

ANIMALS — Limestone  Largely  Composed  of 
Sea-shells. — Limestone  strata  in  the  crust  of 
the  earth  are  found  in  all  the  periods  of 
the  earth's  formation.  All  forms  of  sea- 
shells  that  were  once  the  homes  of  animal 
life  are  constructed  of  this  compound;  and 
in  the  later  formations  of  limestone,  in  the 
Secondary  and  Tertiary  periods,  we  find  this 
rock  to  be  made  up  almost  entirely  of  ma- 
rine shells,  some  of  them  microscopic  in  size. 
The  earlier  or  older  formations  of  limestone 
that  are  found  deeper  down  in  the  earth's 
crust  are  less  mingled  with  these  marine 
shells.  This  comes  from  the  fact  that  the 
first  deposition  of  limestone  strata  occurred 
before  the  later  forms  of  sea  life  had  de- 
veloped. WThatever  signs  of  life  are  found 
in  these  lower  stratifications  are  of  the 
very  lowest  order.  It  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood that  animal  life  is  a  necessary  factor 
in  the  formation  of  limestone,  but  it  has 
been  an  incidental  feature  which  no  doubt 
has  been  the  chief  means  of  gathering  up 
from  the  water  this  compound  and  precipi- 
tating it  into  the  great  limestone  strata  that 
are  everywhere  found. — ELISHA  GRAY  Na- 
turc's  Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  13.  (F.  H. 
&  H.,  1900.) 


Too  IK 
Traditions 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


3443.  TOOLS,  ANCIENT    INDIAN— 

Provided  with  Carefully  Wrought  Handles — 
The  Grip  a  Matter  of  Thought  and  Care. — 
The  ingenuity  of  the  American  mechanic  in 
hafting  his  tools  and  bringing  them  to  their 
work  cannot  be  overlooked.  In  this  study 
the  archeologist  must  learn  of  the  ethnolo- 
gist. The  study  of  hafting  must  take  into 
consideration  the  grip  and  the  attachment. 
The  grip  of  the  implement  may  be  a  part 
of  the  object  itself,  or  it  may  be  a  separate 
piece  fastened  on.  In  the  Eskimo  scrapers, 
women's  knives,  men's  knives,  throwing- 
sticks,  and  harpoons,  the  greatest  care  was 
taken  to  have  the  grip  so  fit  the  hand  and 
fingers  that  the  greatest  force  and  dexterity 
could  be  used  in  operating  them. — MASON 
Aboriginal  American  Mechanics  (Memoirs  of 
the  International  Congress  of  Anthropology, 
p.  74).  (Sch.  P.  C.) 

3444.  TOOLS    AND    WEAPONS   OF 
PRIMITIVE   MAN  —  Alike  in  Europe  and 
America. — The  simple  weapons  of  bone  and 
stone    found    in    America    closely    resemble 
those  which  occur  in  other  countries.     The 
flakes,     hatchets,     axes,     arrow-heads,     and 
bone  implements  are,  for  instance,  very  simi- 
lar   to    those    which    occur    in    the    Swiss 
lakes,   if  only  we  make  allowance  for  the 
differences  of  material.     .     .     .     [There  are 
many]   simple  forms,  which  may  almost  be 
said  to  be  ubiquitous. — AVEBUBY  Prehistor- 
ic Times,  ch.  8,  p.  237.     (A.,  1900.) 

3445.  TOOLS  FITTED  TO  ENVIRON- 
MENT— Habitat  Determines  Material  and  Uses. 
—The  tool  of  the  artisan   is   fitted  to  the 
hand;  but  to  the  scrutinizing  glance  of  the 
student  it   is   just   as   nicely   fitted   to   its 
environment,  to  the  work  which  it  has  to 
perform,  to  the  grade  of  industrial  education 
which  the  owner  has  reached,  to  the  genius 
of  his  people,  and  even  to  their   language 
and   mythology.      The    director   of   a    large 
museum,   on  examining  an   implement  new 
to  him,  is  quite  as  likely  to  fix  his  attention 
upon  the  region,  or   the  work  to  be  done, 
or  the  standing  of  the  owner,  as  upon  his 
blood    or    nationality.      The    continent    of 
America    was    largely    the    director   of   the 
arts  of  the  aborigines. — MASON  Aboriginal 
American  Mechanics  (Memoirs  of  the  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Anthropology,  p.  70). 
(Sch.  P.  C.) 

3446.  TOUCH,  SENSE    OF,  IN 
WORMS— Shape  of  Objects  Discovered.—  If 
worms  are  able  to  judge,  either  before  draw- 
ing or  after  having  drawn  an  object  close 
to  the  mouths  of  their  burrows,  how  best 
to  drag  it  in,  they  must  acquire  some  notion 
of  its  general  shape.    This  they  probably  ac- 
quire by  touching  it  in  many  places  with  the 
anterior   extremity   of   their   bodies,    which 
serves  as  a  tactile  organ.     It  may  be  well 
to  remember  how  perfect  the  sense  of  touch 
becomes  in  a  man  when  born  blind  and  deaf, 
as  are  worms.     If  worms  have  the  power  of 
acquiring  some  notion,  however  rude,  of  the 


shape  of  an  object  and  of  their  burrows,  as 
seems  to  be  the  case,  they  deserve  to  be 
called  intelligent;  for  they  then  act  in  near- 
ly the  same  manner  as  would  a  man  under 
similar  circumstances. — DABWIN  Formation 
of  Vegetable  Mouldy  ch.  2,  p.  28.  (Hum., 
1887.) 

3447.  TOWERS,  SPIRES,  AND  PIN- 
NACLES   OF    ICE— Nature's  Architecture.— 
When  a  glacier  descends  a  precipice  it  may 
become  broken  and  fall  in  detached  blocks, 
thus  forming  veritable  ice  cascades;  but  the 
fragments   unite  again  at  the  base  of  the 
cliffs  and  become  reconsolidated,  and  the  ice 
flows  on  as  a  continuous  stream.     At  other 
times  the  descent  is  completely  covered  with 
ice  so  shattered  as  to  be   impassable,  and 
presents  all  degrees  of  diversity  between  ice 
cascades  and  ice  rapids.    The  places  of  steep 
descent   in  the  floor   of   a    neve   frequently 
lead  to  the  breaking  of  the  snow  and  ice 
into    cubical    blocks    of   all    dimensions    up 
to  hundreds  of  feet  in  diameter,  which  bear 
a  striking  resemblance  to  towers  and  other 
architectural   forms,  and  add  most  attrac- 
tive features  to  the  scenery  of  glacier-cover- 
ed regions.     During  night  marches  on  the 
glaciers  of  Alaska,  the  writer  could  scarcely 
put  aside  the  idea  that  these  shadowy  forms, 
partially  illuminated  by  the  northern  twi- 
light, were  in  reality  the  ruins  of  marble 
temples.     In  the  lower  portions  of  glaciers, 
where  the  ice  is  more  solid  and  where  sur- 
face melting  is   more  rapid,  the  steep  de- 
scents are  marked  by  spires  and  pinnacles 
having  extremely  rugged  and  angular  forms, 
separated  by  profound  crevasses. — RUSSELL 
Glaciers  of  North  America,  int.,  p.  10.     (G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

3448.  TRACK  OF  VANISHED  GLA- 
CIER— Rocks  Polished  as  by  Lapidary.— Rock 
surfaces    that   have   been   subjected   to   the 
grinding  of  an  ice  sheet,  or  crossed  by  even 
a  small  Alpine  glacier,  are  frequently  found 
to  be  worn  and  the  angles  and  prominences 
rounded  and   planed  away.     All  weathered 
and  oxidized  portions  of  the  preglacial  sur- 
face are  removed,  and  the  fresh  hard  rock 
exhibits    a    polish    approaching   that   given 
by   marble-workers   to   finished  monuments. 
The  hardest  and  finest-grained  rocks  receive 
the  most  brilliant  polish.    Limestone,  gran- 
ite, and  quartzite,  especially,  are  frequently 
so  highly  burnished  that  they  glitter  in  the 
sunlight  with  dazzling  brilliancy.     On  such 
surfaces    there    are    usually    scratches    and 
grooves,   frequently  in  long,  parallel  lines, 
which  show  the  direction  in  which  the  ice 
moved  over  them.     These  markings  vary  in 
size  from   delicate,   hairlike   lines,    such   as 
might  be  made  by  a  crystal  point,  to  heavy 
grooves  and  gouges,  a  foot  and  sometimes 
several  feet  deep,  which  frequently  run  in 
one  general  direction  for  many  yards  and 
even    several    rods,    and    indicate   by   their 
straightness   and  evenness  that  the  engine 
which  made  them  was  one  of  great  power 


697 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Tools 
Traditions 


and  moved  steadily  in  a  continuous  direc- 
tion.— RUSSELL  Glaciers  of  North  America, 
int.,  p.  20.  (G.  &Co.,  1897.) 

3449.  TRACTS,    DEFINITE,    IN 
BRAIN,  FOR  SPECIAL  SERVICE— Loss  of 

the  Power  of  Speech  and  of  Writing — Other 
Faculties  May  Remain  Unimpaired. — Vic- 
tims of  motor  aphasia  generally  have  other 
disorders.  One  which  interests  us  in  this 
connection  has  been  called  agraphia:  they 
have  lost  the  power  to  write.  They  can  read 
writing  and  understand  it ;  but  either  cannot 
use  the  pen  at  all  or  make  egregious  mis- 
takes with  it.  ...  The  symptom  may 
exist  when  there  is  little  or  no  disability 
in  the  hand  for  other  uses.  If  it  does  not 
get  well,  the  patient  usually  .  .  .  learns 
to  write  with  his  left  hand.  In  other  cases 
.  .  .  the  patient  can  write  both  spon- 
taneously and  at  dictation,  but  cannot  read 
even  what  he  has  himself  written !  All  these 
phenomena  are  now  quite  clearly  explained 
by  separate  brain-centers  for  the  various 
feelings  and  movements,  and  tracts  for  as- 
sociating these  together. — JAMES  Psychol- 
ogy, vol.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  40.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3450.  TRADE,  PRIMITIVE,  EVI- 
DENCES OF— Stone  and  Metal  Bartered  over 
Thousands  of  Miles. — Till  1884  no  European 
locality  of  jade  or  nephrite  was  known,  and 
tho  it  has  now  been  discovered  in  Silesia, 
and  described  by  Traube,  yet,  as  he  points 
out,   the  Eurepean   implements   do   not  be- 
long to  the  same  variety,  and  were  not  there- 
fore  derived   from   that  locality    .     .     .     ; 
they  must  therefore  have  passed  from  tribe 
to  tribe  by  a  sort  of  barter.    .    .    . 

Other  facts  of  a  similar  nature  are  on 
record.  Thus  Messrs.  Squier  and  Davis  tell 
us  that  in  the  tumuli  of  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley we  find  "  side  by  side,  in  the  same 
mounds,  native  copper  from  Lake  Superior, 
mica  from  the  Alleghanies,  shells  from  the 
Gulf,  and  obsidian  (perhaps  porphyry)  from 
Mexico."  Fair  representations  of  the  sea- 
cow  or  manatee  are  found  a  thousand  miles 
from  the  shores  inhabited  by  that  animal, 
and  shells  »f  the  large  tropical  Pyrula  per- 
versa  are  met  with  in  the  tumuli  round  the 
great  lakes,  two  thousand  miles  from  home. 
— AVERITRY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  4,  p.  76. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3451.  TRADITION    OFTEN    A 
TRUTHFUL     MEMORIAL  —  Chiefs  Stone 
Seat  Found  as  Related — A   Treasured  Staff 
of  Office. — There  are  still  peoples  left  whose 
whole  history  is  the  tradition  of  their  an- 
cestors.   Thus  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  who 
till  quite  lately  had  no  writing,   were  in- 
telligent barbarians,  much  given  to  handing 
down  recollections  of  bygone  days,  and  in 
one  or  two  cases,  which  it  has  been  possible 
to  test  among  them,  it  seems  as  tho  memory 
may   really    keep   a   historical   record   long 
and  correctly.     It  is  related  by  Mr.  Whit- 
mee,  the  missionary,  that  in  the  island  of 
Rotuma  there  was  a  very  old  tree,  under 


which,  according  to  tradition,  the  stone  seat 
of  a  famous  chief  had  been  buried;  this  tree 
was  lately  blown  down,  and,  sure  enough, 
there  was  a  stone  seat  under  its  roots,  which 
must  have  been  out  of  sight  for  centuries. 
In  the  Ellice  group,  the  natives  declared 
that  their  ancestors  came  from  a  valley  in 
the  distant  island  of  Samoa  generations  be- 
fore, and  they  preserved  "an  old  worm-eaten 
staff,  pieced  to  hold  it  together,  which  in 
their  assemblies  the  orator  held  in  his  hand 
as  the  sign  of  having  the  right  to  speak; 
this  staff  was  lately  taken  to  Samoa,  and 
proved  to  be  made  of  wood  that  grew  there, 
while  the  people  of  the  valley  in  question 
had  a  tradition  of  a  great  party  going  out 
to  sea  exploring,  who  never  came  back. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  15,  p.  374.  (A., 
1899.) 

3452.  TRADITION,  PERUVIAN,  OF 

DELUGE— Parallel  to  Story  of  Genesis.— All 
authentic  accounts  cease  when  we  ascend 
to  the  era  of  the  conquest  of  Peru  by  the 
Spaniards.  The  ancient  Peruvians,  altho 
far  removed  from  barbarism,  were  without 
written  annals,  and  therefore  unable  to  pre- 
serve a  distinct  recollection  of  a  long  series 
of  natural  events.  They  had,  however,  ac- 
cording to  Antonio  de  Herrera,  who,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  inves- 
tigated their  antiquities,  a  tradition,  "  that 
many  years  before  the  reign  of  the  Incas, 
at  a  time  when  the  country  was  very  popu- 
lous, there  happened  a  great  flood;  the  sea 
breaking  out  beyond  its  bounds,  so  that  the 
land  was  covered  with  water  and  all  the 
people  perished.  To  this  the  Guacas,  inhab- 
iting the  vale  of  Xausca,  and  the  natives 
of  Chiquito,  in  the  province  of  Callao,  add 
that  some  persons  remained  in  the  hollows 
and  caves  of  the  highest  mountains,  who 
again  peopled  the  land.  Others  of  the  moun- 
tain people  affirm  that  all  perished  in  the 
deluge,  only  six  persons  being  saved  on  a 
float,  from  whom  descended  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  that  country." — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p.  502.  (A.,  1854.) 

3453.  TRADITION  UNTRUSTWOR- 
THY—  Tasman  and  De  Soto  Forgotten  in  Lands 
They  Discovered. — Tradition  [will  not]  sup- 
ply the  place  of  history.     At  best  it  is  un- 
trustworthy and  short  lived.     Thus  in  1770 
the  New  Zealanders  had  no  recollection  of 
Tasman's  visit.    Yet  this  took  place  in  1643, 
less  than  130  years  before,  and  must  have 
been  to  them  an  event  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible importance  and  interest.     In  the  same 
way  the  North-American  Indians  soon  lost 
all  tradition  of  De  Soto's-  expedition,  altho 
"  by   its   striking  incidents   it  was   so  well 
suited  to  impress  the  Indian  mind." — AVE- 
BURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  13,  p.  404.     (A., 
1900.) 

3454.  TRADITIONS    OF    ANCIENT 
DELUGES— China's  Flood  Perhaps  a  Local 
Inundation. — The  great  flood  of  the  Chinese, 
which    their   traditions   carry   back   to   the 


Traditions 
Transformation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


698 


period  of  Yaou,  something  more  than  2,000 
years  before  our  era,  has  been  identified  by 
some  persons  with  the  universal  deluge  de- 
scribed in  the  Old  Testament;  but  according 
to  Mr.  Davis,  who  accompanied  two  of  our 
embassies  to  China,  and  who  has  carefully 
examined  their  written  accounts,  the  Chinese 
cataclysm  is  therein  described  as  interrupt- 
ing the  business  of  agriculture,  rather  than 
as  involving  a  general  destruction  of  the 
human  race.  The  great  Yu  was  celebrated 
for  having  "  opened  nine  channels  to  draw 
off  the  waters,"  which  "  covered  the  low  hills 
and  bathed  the  foot  of  the  highest  moun- 
tains." Mr.  Davis  suggests  that  a  great  de- 
rangement of  waters  of  the  Yellow  River, 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world,  might  even 
now  cause  the  flood  of  Yaou  to  be  repeated, 
and  lay  the  most  fertile  and  populous  plains 
of  China  under  water.  In  modern  times  the 
bursting  of  the  banks  of  an  artificial  canal, 
into  which  a  portion  of  the  Yellow  River 
has  been  turned,  has  repeatedly  given  rise 
to  the  most  dreadful  accidents,  and  is  a 
source  of  perpetual  anxiety  to  the  govern- 
ment. It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  imagine 
how  much  greater  may  have  been  the  in- 
undation if  this  valley  was  ever  convulsed 
by  a  violent  earthquake. — LYELL  Principles 
of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  7.  (A.,  1854.) 

3455.  TRAINING,    SCIENTIFIC-Ite 

Educational  Value. — I  have  already  ex- 
pressed a  favorable  opinion  of  the  old  clas- 
sical methods  of  mind-training,  but  that 
opinion  does  not  exclude  the  idea  of  other 
methods  which  may  be  equally  as  valuable. 
Of  one  thing  we  may  be  quite  certain,  and 
that  is  that  in  the  habits  of  careful  ob- 
servation and  recording,  which  are  neces- 
sary to  the  study  of  any  science,  the  per- 
ceptive faculties  of  the  mind  receive  a  train- 
ing which  cannot  be  regarded  as  inferior 
to  that  secured  by  any  other  method.  In 
considering  the  data  which  are  obtained 
by  perception,  the  reflective  faculties  also  ob- 
tain a  training  of  the  highest  value.  Teach- 
ers of  science,  therefore,  must  not  be  regard- 
ed wholly  from  a  technical  point  of  view, 
but  must  be  entitled  to  a  proper  recognition 
from  the  pedagogic  side. — WILEY  Relations 
of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Progress  (Ad- 
dress at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Ind., 
J896,  p.  50). 

3456.  TRANSCENDENTALISM     IN 

SCIENCE  —  Matter  Analyzed  into  Force.  — 
There  are  eddies  in  every  stream — eddies 
where  rubbish  will  collect  and  circle  for  a 
time.  But  the  ultimate  bearing  of  scien- 
tific truth  cannot  be  mistaken.  Nothing 
is  more  remarkable  in  the  present  state  of 
physical  research  than  what  may  be  called 
the  transcendental  character  of  its  results. 
And  what  is  transcendentalism  but  the  ten- 
dency to  trace  up  all  things  to  the  rela- 
tion in  which  they  stand  to  abstract  ideas? 
And  what  is  this  but  to  bring  all  physical 
phenomena  nearer  and  nearer  into  relation 
with  the  phenomena  of  mind?  The  old 


speculations  of  philosophy  which  cut  the 
ground  from  materialism  by  showing  how 
little  we  know  of  matter  are  now  being 
daily  reenforced  by  the  subtle  analysis  of 
the  physiologist,  the  chemist,  and  the  elec- 
trician. Under  that  analysis  matter  dis- 
solves and  disappears,  surviving  only  as  the 
phenomena  of  force;  which  again  is  seen 
converging  along  all  its  lines  to  some  com- 
mon center — "  sloping  through  darkness  up 
to  God." — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p. 
70.  (Burt.) 

3457.  TRANSFER  OF  THOUGHT 

IMPOSSIBLE— Signs  Awaken  Corresponding 
Idea — No  Resemblance  between  Thought  and 
Sign. — Consider,  with  Professor  Bowne,  what 
happens  when  two  people  converse  together 
and  know  each  other's  mind. 

"  No  thoughts  leave  the  mind  of  one  and 
cross  into  the  mind  of  the  other.  When 
we  speak  of  an  exchange  of  thought,  even 
the  crudest  mind  knows  that  this  is  a  mere 
figure  of  speech.  ...  To  perceive 
another's  thought  we  must  construct  his 
thought  within  ourselves;  .  .  .  this 
thought  is  our  own  and  is  strictly  original 
with  us.  At  the  same  time  we  owe  it  to 
the  other ;  and  if  it  had  not  originated  with 
him,  it  would  probably  not  have  originated 
with  us.  But  what  has  the  other  done? 
.  .  This:  by  an  entirely  mysterious 
world-order,  the  speaker  is  enabled  to  pro- 
duce a  series  of  signs  which  are  totally  un- 
like [the]  thought,  but  which,  by  virtue 
of  the  same  mysterious  order,  act  as  a  series 
of  incitements  upon  the  hearer,  so  that  he 
constructs  within  himself  the  corresponding 
mental  state.  The  act  of  the  speaker  con- 
sists in  availing  himself  of  the  proper  in- 
citements. The  act  of  the  hearer  is  im- 
mediately only  the  reaction  of  the  soul 
against  the  incitement.  .  .  .  All  com- 
munion between  finite  minds  is  of  this  sort." 
— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  219. 
(H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3458.  TRANSFIGURATION  OF  PHE- 
NOMENA BY  LAW— Need  of  Law  in  Spiri- 
tual  World. — I   confess  that  even  when   in 
the  first  dim  vision  the  organizing  hand  of 
law  moved  among  the  unordered  truths  of 
my  spiritual  world,  poor  and  scantily  fur- 
nished   as    it   was,    there    seemed    to    come 
over  it  the  beauty  of  a  transfiguration.    The 
change  was  as  great  as  from  the  old  chaotic 
world  of  Pythagoras  to  the  symmetrical  and 
harmonious  universe  of  Newton.     My  spiri- 
tual world  before  was  a  chaos  of  facts;  my 
theology    a  Pythagorean   system  trying  to 
make  the  best  of  phenomena  apart  from  the 
idea  of  law.     I  make  no  charge  against  the- 
ology in  general.     I  speak  of  my  own.    And 
I  say  that  I  saw  it  to  be  in  many  essential 
respects  centuries  behind  every  department 
of  science  I  knew.     It  was  the  one  region 
still  unpossessed  by  law.     I  saw  then  why 
men  of  science  distrust  theology;  why  those 
who  have  learned  to  look  upon  law  as  au- 


699 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Traditions 
Transformation 


thority  grow  cold  to  it — it  was  the  great 
exception. — DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  pref.,  p.  9.  (H.  Al.) 

3459.  TRANSFORMATION   BY 
CHANGED  CONDITIONS—  Worker  Changed 
to  Queen — Potentiality  To  Be  Accounted  for. 
— The  most  remarkable  example  with  which 
I  am  acquainted,  of  the  effect  of  physical 
conditions   in  modifying  the   developmental 
process,  is  that  which  is  seen  in  the  economy 
of  the  hive-bee.    It  is  well  known  that  when- 
ever, from  any  cause,  a  community  wants 
a  queen,  a  worker  grub  at  an  early  stage  is 
selected ;  a  "  royal  cell  "  is  constructed  round 
it,  several  ordinary  cells  being  demolished 
for  the  purpose,  and  their  contained  grubs 
killed;  the  selected  grub  is  fed  with  "royal 
jelly  "  instead  of  with  "  bee-bread  ";  and  (it 
seems    probable)     a    higher    temperature    is 
maintained  by  the  incessant  activity  of  the 
bees  which  cluster  about  the  royal  nursery. 
In  due  time  a  perfect  "  queen  "  comes  forth, 
differing  from  the  "  worker  "  not  merely  in 
the  completeness  of  its  reproductive  appa- 
ratus, but  in  the  conformation  of  its  jaws 
and   antennae,   the   absence    of   "  pollen-bas- 
kets "  on  the  thighs,  and  yet  more  remark- 
ably in  its  instincts.     Now  it  is  obviously 
no  explanation  of  this  extraordinary  trans- 
formation  to   say   that   every  worker  grub 
is  a  "  potential  "  queen,  because  the  attribu- 
ting   this    "  potentiality "    to     it    is    only 
another  way  of  expressing  the  fact  that  it 
can  be  so  transformed.    The  existence  of  the 
"  potentiality,"  and  of  the  wonderful  instinct 
that  leads  the  worker  bees  to  act  upon  it, 
are  not  less  evidences  of  "  design,"  because 
physical  agencies  are  needed  to   call  them 
into  exercise. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  15,  p.  440.      (A.,  1889.) 

3460.  TRANSFORMATION,     GRAD- 
UAL, FROM    ANCIENT    TO    MODERN 
TYPE —  Crocodile  the  Heir  of  a  Long  Succes- 
sion.— The  crocodiles  are  animals  which,  as 
a  group,  have  a  very  vast  antiquity.     They 
abounded  ages  before  the  chalk  was  deposit- 
ed; they  throng  the  rivers  in  warm  climates 
at  the  present  day.     There  is  a  difference 
in  the  form  of  the  joints  of  the  backbone, 
and  in  some  minor  particulars,  between  the 
crocodiles   of   the   present  epoch   and  those 
which  lived  before  the  chalk.     .     .     .     But 
each  epoch  has  had  its  peculiar  crocodiles, 
tho  all,   since  the  chalk,  have  belonged  to 
the  modern  type,  and  differ  simply  in  their 
proportions,    and    in    such    structural    par- 
ticulars as  are  discernible  only  to  trained 
eyes.     How   is   the   existence   of   this    long 
succession  of  different  species  of  crocodiles 
to  be  accounted  for?     Only  two  suppositions 
seem  to  be  open  to  us — either  each  species 
of  crocodile  has  been  specially  created,  or 
it  has  arisen  out  of  some  preexisting  form 
by  the  operation  of  natural  causes.     Choose 
your   hypothesis;    I    have   chosen   mine.      I 
can  find  no  warranty  for  believing  in  the 
distinct   creation    of   a    score    of   successive 
species  of  crocodiles  in  the  course  of  count- 


less ages  of  time.  Science  gives  no  counte- 
nance to  such  a  wild  fancy;  nor  can  even 
the  perverse  ingenuity  of  a  commentator 
pretend  to  discover  this  sense,  in  the  simple 
words  in  which  the  writer  of  Genesis  records 
the  proceedings  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  days 
of  the  creation.  On  the  other  hand,  I  see 
no  good  reason  for  doubting  the  necessary 
alternative,  that  all  ~th~e"se~  varied  species 
have  been  evolved  from  preexisting  croco- 
dilian forms,  by  the  operation  of  causes  as 
completely  a  part  of  the  common  order  of 
Nature  as  those  which  have  effected  the 
changes  of  the  inorganic  world. — HUXLEY 
Lay  Sermons,  serm.  9,  p.  200.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

346 1 .  TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENG- 
LAND THROUGH  THE  DISCOVERY  OF 
COAL— Possible  Effect  of  Its  Exhaustion.— 
Three  hundred  years   ago  the  sun,   looking 
down   on   the   England   of   our   forefathers, 
saw  a  fair  land  of  green  woods  and  quiet 
waters,   a    land   unvexed  with   noisier    ma- 
chinery   than    the    spinning-wheel    or    the 
needles  of  the  "  free  maids  that  weave  their 
threads  with  bones."     Because  of  the  coal 
which  has  been  dug  from  its  soil  he  sees  it 
now  soot-blackened,  furrowed  with  railway- 
cuttings,  covered  with  noisy  manufactories, 
filled   with  grimy  operatives,  while  the  is- 
land shakes  with  the  throb  of  coal-driven  en- 
gines, and  its  once  quiet  waters  are  churned 
by  the  wheels  of  steamships.     Many  gener- 
ations of  the  lives  of  men  have  passed  to 
make   the    England    of    Elizabeth    into    the 
England  of  Victoria;   but  what  a  moment 
this  time  is,  compared  with  the  vast  lapse 
of   ages   during  which   the   coal   was   being 
stored!     What  a  moment  in  the  life  of  the 
"  all-beholding  sun,"  who  in  a  few  hundred 
years — his  gift  exhausted  and  the  last  fur- 
nace fire  out — may  send  his  beams  through 
rents    in    the  ivy-grown   walls    of   deserted 
factories,   upon   silent   engines   brown   with 
rust,  while  the  mill-hand  has  gone  to  other 
lands,  the  rivers  are  clean  again,  the  har- 
bors show  only  white  sails,  and  England's 
"  black  country  "  is  green  once  more !      To 
America,  too,  such  a  time  may  come,  tho  at 
a   greatly   longer    distance. — LANGLEY    New 
Astronomy,  ch.  4,  p.  115.      (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

3462.  TRANSFORMATION  OF  PAST 
INTO  PRESENT—  The  Past  of  the  Stars  la 
the  Terrestrial  Present. — We  have  seen  that 
light  is  not  transmitted  instantaneously  from 
one  point  to  another,  but  gradually,  like  ev- 
erything movable;  that  it  flies  at  the  rate 
of  186,000  miles  a  second,  or  11  millions  of 
miles  in  one  minute ;  that  it  takes  more  than 
eight  minutes  to  pass  over  the  distance  which 
separates   us   from  the  sun,   four  hours  to 
come  from  Neptune,  and  four  years  and  four 
months  to  come  from  the  nearest  star,  etc. 

There  is  here,  then,  a  surprising  trans- 
formation of  the  past  into  the  present.  For 
the  star  observed,  it  is  the  past — already 
vanished.  For  the  observer,  it  is  the  pres- 


transformation 
'ransition 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


700 


ent,  the  now.  The  past  of  a  star  is  strict- 
ly and  positively  the  present  of  the  observer. 
As  the  aspect  of  worlds  changes  from  year 
to  year,  from  one  season  to  another,  and 
almost  from  one  day  to  the  next,  we  can 
represent  this  aspect  as  escaping  into  space 
and  advancing  in  infinitude  to  reveal  itself 
to  the  eyes  of  distant  beholders.  Each  as- 
pect is  followed  by  another,  and  so  on  suc- 
cessively; and  it  is  as  if  a  series  of  waves 
bearing  from  afar  the  past  of  worlds  should 
become  present  to  observers  ranged  along 
its  passage!  What  we  believe  we  see  now 
in  the  stars  is  already  past;  and  what  is 
now  being  accomplished  we  do  not  yet  see. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
6,  p.  616.  (A.) 

3463.  TRANSFORMATION  OF  RAIL- 
WAY INTO    TELEPHONE    CIRCUIT- 

Another  striking  illustration  [of  electrical 
conduction  without  wires]  is  furnished  by 
Professor  Blake,  of  Brown  University,  .  .  . 
who  talked  with  a  friend  for  some  distance 
along  a  railway  (using  the  two  lines  of  rails 
for  the  telephonic  circuit),  hearing  at  the 
same  time  the  Morse  signals  passing  along 
the  telegraph  wires  overhead. — FAHIE  Wire- 
less Telegraphy,  p.  85.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3464.  TRANSFORMATION  OF   UN- 
SEEN   PRODUCTS    OF    COMBUSTION— 

Beauty  and  Warmth  Arise  from  Destruction. 
— [The  floating]  smoke,  tho  so  long  un- 
noticed by  man,  was  not  overlooked  by  the 
Author  of  Nature.  It  is  a  part  of  his  grand 
and  beneficent  design  in  the  scheme  of  or- 
ganic nature.  No  sooner  do  the  products 
of  that  wood  burning  on  the  hearth  escape 
into  the  free  expanse  of  the  outer  air,  than 
a  new  cycle  of  changes  begins.  The  carbonic 
dioxid  and  the  aqueous  vapor,  after  roving 
at  liberty  for  a  time,  are  absorbed  by  the 
leaves  of  some  wide-spreading  tree,  smiling 
in  the  sunshine,  and  in  the  tiny  laboratory 
of  their  green  cells  are  worked  up  by  those , 
wonderful  agents,  the  sun-rays,  into  new 
wood,  absorbing  from  the  sun  a  fresh  sup- 
ply of  power,  which  is  destined,  perhaps, 
to  shed  warmth  and  light  around  the  fire- 
side of  a  future  generation. — COOKE  Religion 
and  Chemistry,  ch.  3,  p.  80.  (A.,  1897.) 

3465.  TRANSFORMATION  WROUGHT 
BY  SUNLIGHT— Waste  Products    Utilized— 
A  Lily  in  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta. — The 
sunbeam     .     .     .     does     what     our     wisest 
chemistry  cannot  do:   it  takes  the  burned- 
out  ashes  and  makes  them  anew  into  green 
wood;   it  takes  the  close  and  breathed-out 
air  and  makes  it  sweet  and  fit  to  breathe 
by  means  of  the  plant,  whose  food  is  the 
same  as  our  poison.     With  the  aid  of  sun- 
light a  lily  would  thrive  on  the  deadly  at- 
mosphere of  the  "  black  hole  of  Calcutta  " ; 
for  this  bane  to  us,  we  repeat,  is  vital  air 
to  the  plant,  which  breathes  it  in  through 
all  its  pores,  bringing  it  into  contact  with 
the  chlorophyl,  its  green  blood,  which  is  to 
it  what  the  red  blood  is  to  us ;  doing  almost 


everything,  however,  by  means  of  the  sun- 
ray,  for  if  this  be  lacking,  the  oxygen  is  no 
longer  set  free  or  the  carbon  retained,  and 
the  plant  dies.  This  too  brief  statement 
must  answer  instead  of  a  fuller  description 
of  how  the  sun's  energy  builds  up  the  vege- 
table world. — LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch. 
3,  p.  73.  (H.  M.  &Co.,  1896.) 

3466.  TRANSFORMATION  WROUGHT! 
BY  WORMS- The  "Wilderness   Turned  into 
a  Fruitful  Field  " — Beneficent  Work  of  Un- 
considered  or  Despised  Organisms. — A  field 
.    .    .    ,  which  was  last  plowed  in  1841,  was 
then  harrowed  and  left  to  become  pasture- 
land.    For  several  years  it  was  clothed  with 
an  extremely  scant  vegetation,  and  was  so 
thickly  covered  with  small  and  large  flints 
(some  of  them  half  as  large  as  a  child's 
head)    that  the  field  was  always  called  by 
my  sons  "  the  stony  field."     When  they  ran 
down  the  slope  the  stones  clattered  together. 
I  remember  doubting  whether  I  should  live 
to  see  these  larger  flints  covered  with  veg- 
etable   mold    and    turf.      But    the    smaller 
stones  disappeared  before  many  years  had 
elapsed,  as  did  every  one  of  the  larger  ones 
after   a   time;    so   that   after   thirty   years 
(1871)   a  horse  could  gallop  over  the  com- 
pact turf  from  one  end  of  the  field  to  the 
other,   and  not  strike  a   single   stone  with 
his  shoes.     To  any  one  who  remembered  the 
appearance  of  the  field  in  1842,  the  trans- 
formation was  wonderful.    This  was  certain- 
ly the  work  of  the  worms,  for  tho  castings 
were   not    frequent    for    several   years,    yet 
some  were  thrown  up  month  after  month, 
and  these  gradually   increased   in  numbers 
as  the  pasture  improved.     In  the  year  1871 
a  trench  was  dug  on  the  above  slope,  and 
the  blades  of  grass  were  cut  off  close  to  the 
roots,  so  that  the  thickness  of  the  turf  and 
of  the  vegetable  mold  could  be  measured  ac- 
curately.     The   turf   was   rather   less   than 
half  an  inch,  and  the  mold,  which  did  not 
contain  any  stones,  2%  inches  in  thickness. 
Beneath   this   lay  coarse,  clayey  earth  full 
of  flints,  like  that  in  any  of  the  neighboring 
plowed  fields.     This  coarse  earth  easily  fell 
apart  from  the  overlying  mold  when  a  spit 
was  lifted  up.     The  average  rate  of  accumu- 
lation of  the  mold  during  the  whole  thirty 
years   was   only   .083   inch   per  year    (i.   e., 
nearly  one  inch  in  twelve  years)  ;   but  the 
rate  must  have  been  much  slower  at  first, 
and  afterwards  considerably  quicker. — DAR- 
WIN Formation  of  Vegetable  Mould,  ch.  3,  p. 
41.      (Hum.,  1887.) 

3467.  TRANSITION    FROM    BIRDS 
TO  REPTILES— Fossil  Connecting-links  Are 
Found. — When    compared    with    other    ;ini- 
mals,  birds  are  found  to  occupy  second  place 
in   the   scale  of   life.     They   stand   between 
mammals  and  reptiles,  and  are  more  closely 
related   to  the   latter   than   to   the   former. 
In  fact,  certain  extinct  birds  so  clearly  con- 
nect living  birds  with   reptiles    that  these 
two    classes    are    sometimes    placed    in    one 


701 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Transformation 
Transition 


group — the  Sauropsida.  .  .  .  There  is 
good  evidence  for  the  belief  that  birds  have 
descended  from  reptilian  ancestors.  This 
evidence  consists  of  the  remains  of  fossil 
birds,  some  of  which  show  marked  reptilian 
characters,  and  are  toothed. — CHAPMAN 
Bird-Life,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (A.,  1900.) 

3468.  TRANSITION  FROM  BRONZE 
TO  IRON  AGE— Barbarism  Surpassing  Civ- 
ilization.— It   is    especially    difficult    to    de- 
termine the  positive  date  when  any  nation 
made    the    transition    from    the    Bronze    to 
the  Iron  Age,  and  practically  impossible  to 
do    so    in   the   cases    of   people   who    either 
inhabited    countries    where    iron    does    not 
abound,  or  who  never  acquired  the  art  of 
obtaining  it.    In  such  event,  the  substitution 
of  implements  of  iron  necessarily  imported 
from  other  countries  for  the  native  ones  of 
bronze,  to  which  the  population  had  become 
accustomed  by  ages  of  use,  was  an  exceed- 
ingly slow  process,  retarded  by  the  mental 
inertia  of  the  times,  and  often  by  national 
pride    in    home    customs    and    handiwork. 
Hence    arises    the    seeming    anomaly    that 
among  people  far  advanced  in  civilization 
the  general  use  of  iron  can  be  recognized 
only  at  a  comparatively  late  period  in  their 
history ;  while  among  barbarians,  incompara- 
bly below  them  in  intellectual  attainments, 
we  find  evidence  of  its  employment  at  im- 
mensely earlier  periods.     In  Denmark,  for 
example,  the  Age  of  Iron  corresponds  to  that 
of  the  beech-tree.     Hesiod,  writing  in   850 
B.    C.,    speaks    of    the    time    when    "  men 
wrought  in  brass,  when  iron  did  not  exist " ; 
and    Homer,    altho   frequently   referring  to 
weapons  and  implements  of  bronze,  mentions 
iron  but  rarely.     The  Aztecs,  at  the  time 
of  the  Conquest,  knew  nothing  of  the  metal, 
altho   their  soil   was   impregnated   with   it. 
The  Peruvians,  under  the  same  natural  con- 
ditions, were  equally  ignorant. — PARK  BEN- 
JAMIN Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  1, 
p.  21.      (J.  W.,  1898.) 

3469.  TRANSITION    FROM    NATU- 
RAL TO  SPIRITUAL— lAke  That  from  Min- 
eral to  Organic  Life. — Why  a  virtuous  man 
should  not  simply  grow  better   and  better 
until  in  his  own  right  he  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  what  thousands  honestly  and  seri- 
ously fail  to  understand.     Now  philosophy 
cannot  help  us  here.     Her   arguments  are, 
if  anything,  against  us.    But  science  answers 
to  the  appeal  at  once.    If  it  be  simply  point- 
ed out  that  this  is  the  same  absurdity  as 
to  ask  why  a  stone  should  not  grow  more 
and  more  living  till  it  enters  the  organic 
world,  the  point  is  clear  in  an   instant. — 
DRUMMOND   Natural  Law  in   the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  1,  p.  71.     (H.  Al.) 

34  7  O.  TRANSITION  FROM  TYPE  TO 

TYPE— Species  United  by  Steady  Gradation  of 
Varieties. — In  the  small  forest  region  of 
Oahu,  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  there 
have  been  found  about  175  species  of  land- 


shells  represented  by  700  or  800  varieties; 
and  we  are  told  by  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Gulick, 
who  studied  them  carefully,  that  "  we  fre- 
quently find  a  genus  represented  in  several 
successive  valleys  by  allied  species,  some- 
times feeding  on  the  same,  sometimes  on 
different  plants.  In  every  such  case  the 
valleys  that  are  nearest  to  each  other  fur- 
nish the  most  nearly  allied  forms;  and  a 
full  set  of  the  varieties  of  each  species  pre- 
sents a  minute  gradation  of  forms  between 
the  more  divergent  types  found  in  the  more 
widely  separated  localities." — WALLACE  Dar- 
winism, ch.  3,  p.  29.  (Hum.) 

3471.  TRANSITION,  GRADUAL,  OF 
GROUPS   AND    SPECIES    IN   GEOLOGIC 
TIMES— If  there  be  any  result  which  has 
come  more  clearly  out  of  geological  investi- 
gation than  another,  it  is  that  the  vast  series 
of  extinct  animals  and  plants  is  not  divis- 
ible, as  it  was  once  supposed  to  be,  into  dis- 
tinct groups,  separated  by  sharply  marked 
boundaries.     There  are  no  great  gulfs   be- 
tween epochs  and  formations — no  successive 
periods  marked  by  the  appearance  of  plants, 
of  water  animals,  and  of  land  animals,  en 
masse.    Every  year  adds  to  the  list  of  links 
between  what  the  older  geologists  supposed 
to  be  widely  separated  epochs.    .    .    .    This 
truth  is  further  illustrated  in  a  most  inter- 
esting manner  by  the  impartial  and  highly 
competent    testimony    of    M.    Pictet,    from 
whose   calculations    of   what   percentage   of 
the  genera  of  animals,  existing  in  any  for- 
mation,  lived  during  the  preceding  forma- 
tion, it  results  that  in  no  case  is  the  pro- 
portion less  than  one-third,  or  33  per  cent.; 
.     .     .     other  formations  not  uncommonly 
exhibit  60,  80,  or  even  94  per  cent,  of  genera 
in   common  with  those  whose  remains  are 
embedded    in    their     predecessor. — HUXLEY 
Lay  Sermons,  serm.  12,  p.  280.      (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

3472.  TRANSITION,    SCIENCE     IN 
STATE  OF— Miasma  and  Malaria  but  Partial- 
ly Understood. — The  term  "  miasm  "  has  had 
an  extensive  and  somewhat  diffuse  applica- 
tion   in   medical    science.      It   may    happen 
in  the  future  that  typhoid  will  be  classified 
strictly    as    a   miasmatic   disease.      But   at 
present,  in  the  transition  state  of  the  sci- 
ence, it  would  hardly  be  justifiable  to  clas- 
sify   typhoid    with    a    typically    miasmatic 
disease  like  malaria.     Yet  it  is  clear  that 
mention  should  here  be  made  of  a  group  of 
diseases  of  which  malaria  is  the  type,  and  of 
which  the  tropics  generally  are  the  native 
land.    The  bacterial  etiology  of  the  group  is 
by  no  means  worked  out.    The  cause  of  ma- 
laria alone  is  not  yet  a  closed  subject.    How- 
ever the  details  of  the  etiology  of  this  group 
finally    arrange   themselves,    there   is    little 
doubt  of  two  facts,  viz.,  the  diseases  are 
probably  produced  by  bacteria  or  allied  pro- 
tozoa, and  soil  plays  an  important  part  in 
their  production. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  5, 
p.  177.      (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


Trail  .si  tori  ness 
Tree 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


702 


3473.  TRANSITORINESS  OF  HUMAN 
MEMORIALS — We  can  foresee  no  limit  to 
the  perpetuation  of  some  of  the  memorials 
of  man,  which  are  continually  entombed  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  or  in  the  bed  of  the 
ocean.    .    .    . 

Yet  it  is  no  less  true,  as  a  late  distin- 
guished philosopher  [Davy]  has  declared, 
"  that  none  of  the  works  of  a  mortal  being 
can  be  eternal."  They  are  in  the  first  place 
wrested  from  the  hands  of  man,  and  lost 
as  far  as  regards  their  subserviency  to  his 
use,  by  the  instrumentality  of  those  very 
causes  which  place  them  in  situations  where 
they  are  enabled  to  endure  for  indefinite 
periods.  And  even  when  they  have  been 
included  in  rocky  strata,  when  they  have 
been  made  to  enter,  as  it  were,  into  the  solid 
framework  of  the  globe  itself,  they  must 
nevertheless  eventually  perish;  for  every 
year  some  portion  of  the  earth's  crust  is 
shattered  by  earthquakes,  or  melted  by  vol- 
canic fire,  or  ground  to  dust  by  the  moving 
waters  on  the  surface.  "  The  river  of  Lethe," 
as  Bacon  eloquently  remarks,  "  runneth  as 
well  above  ground  as  below." — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  48,  p.  764.  (A., 
1854.) 

3474.  TRANSITORINESS  OF  LAND- 
FORMATIONS  —  Islands  Built  Up  and  Des- 
troyed in  the  Ganges. — Major  R.  H.   Cole- 
brooke,  in  his  account  of  the  course  of  the 
Ganges,  relates  examples  of  the  rapid  filling 
up  of  some  of  its  branches,  and  the  exca- 
vation of  new  channels,  where  the  number  of 
square  miles  of  soil  removed  in  a  short  time 
(the  column  of  earth  being  114  feet  high) 
was  truly  astonishing.     Forty  square  miles, 
or   25,600   acres,   are   mentioned   as   having 
been    carried    away,    in    one   place,    in    the 
course  of  a  few  years.     The  immense  trans- 
portation of  earthy  matter  by  the  Ganges 
and   Brahmaputra   is   proved   by   the  great 
magnitude    of  the   islands   formed   in   their 
channels  during  a  period  far  short  of  that 
of    a    man's    life.      Some    of    these,    many 
miles    in   extent,    have   originated   in   large 
sand-banks  thrown  up  round  the  points  at 
the  angular  turning  of  the  rivers,  and  after- 
wards insulated  by  breaches  of  the  streams. 
Others,   formed    in   the    main   channel,    are 
caused  by  some  obstruction  at  the  bottom. 
A  large  tree  or  a  sunken  boat  is  sometimes 
sufficient  to   check   the  current,   and   cause 
a   deposit   of   sand,   which   accumulates   till 
it  usurps  a  considerable  portion  of  the  chan- 
nel.    The  river  then  undermines  its  banks 
on  each  side  to  supply  the  deficiency  in  its 
bed,    and    the    island    is    afterwards    raised 
by   fresh    deposits    during   every   flood.      In 
the  great  gulf  below  Luckipour,  formed  by 
the  united  waters  of  the  Ganges  and  Megna, 
some  of  the  islands,  savs  Rennell,  rival  in 
size  and  fertility  the  Isle  of  Wight.     While 
the  river  is  forming  new  islands  in  one  part, 
it    is    sweeping    away    old    ones    in    others. 
Those  newly  formed  are  soon  overrun  with 
reeds,  long  grass,  the  Tamarix  Indica,  and 


other  shrubs,  forming  impenetrable  thickets, 
where  the  tiger,  the  rhinoceros,  the  buffalo, 
deer,  and  other  wild  animals,  take  shelter. 
It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  perceive  that  both 
animal  and  vegetable  remains  may  occa- 
sionally be  precipitated  into  the  flood  and 
become  embedded  in  the  sediment  which  sub- 
sides in  the  delta. — LYELL  Principles  of  Ge- 
ology, bk.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  277.  (A.,  1854.) 

3475.  TRANSITORINESS    OF    OUR 

UNIVERSE— Some  Greater  All-embracing  Re- 
ality.— These  impressions  are  strengthened 
rather  than  weakened  when  we  come  back 
from  the  outer  universe  to  our  own  little 
solar  system;  for  every  process  which  we 
know  tends  to  the  dissipation,  or  rather  the 
degradation,  of  heat,  and  seems  to  point, 
in  our  present  knowledge,  to  the  final  decay 
and  extinction  of  the  light  of  the  world. 
In  the  words  of  one  of  the  most  eminent 
living  students  of  our  subject,  "  The  candle 
of  the  sun  is  burning  down,  and,  as  far  as 
we  can  see,  must  at  last  reach  the  socket. 
Then  will  begin  a  total  eclipse  which  will 
have  no  end. 

'  Dies  irse,  dies  ilia, 
Solvet  sseclum  in  favilla.'  " 

Yet  tho  it  may  well  be  that  the  fact  itself 
here  is  true,  it  is  possible  that  we  draw 
the  moral  to  it  unawares,  from  an  unacknowl- 
edged satisfaction  in  the  idea  of  the  vastness 
of  the  funeral  pyre  provided  for  such  beings 
as  ourselves,  and  that  it  is  pride,  after  all, 
which  suggests  the  thought  that  when  the 
sun  of  the  human  race  sets,  the  universe 
will  be  left  tenantless,  as  a  body  from  which 
the  soul  has  fled.  Can  we  not  bring  our- 
selves to  admit  that  there  may  be  something 
higher  than  man  and  more  enduring  than 
frail  humanity,  in  some  sphere  in  which 
our  universe,  conditioned  as  it  is  in  space 
and  time,  is  itself  embraced,  and  so  distrust 
the  conclusions  of  man's  reason  where  they 
seem  to  flatter  his  pride? — LANGLEY  The 
~New  Astronomy,  ch.  8,  p.  249.  (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

3476.  TRANSMISSION  OF  RADIANT 
HEAT— Adventure  on  Railroad— Power  of  Un- 
seen Forces. — I  once  had  an  opportunity  to 
observe  the  wonderful  rapidity  with  which 
light    and    radiant    heat    are    transmitted 
through  glass,  which  is  transparent  to  both. 
I  was  at  Vancouver,  at  the  terminus  of  the 
Canadian   Pacific  Railway,  on  Burrard   In- 
let.    We  started  for  Winnipeg  about  noon, 
and  six  miles  out  the  train  was  stopped  by 
a  burning  woodpile  of  large  dimensions  with- 
in a  few  feet  of  the  track.     After  two  hours 
of  waiting  the  wood  had  been  reduced  to  a 
huge  pile  of  glowing  coals.     The  conductor 
concluded  to   run   past  at   a    high    ra-te   of 
speed;    so   backing  up   about  one-half   mile 
they  put  on  a  full  head  of  steam  and  ran 
past  the  fire  at  a  tremendous  speed.     I  was 
in  a  stateroom,  and  the  passageway  around 
it  was  between  me  and  the  fire,  so  that  the 
heat  and  light  had  to  pass  through  two  win- 


703 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Trail  si  toriness 
ree 


dows  before  it  reached  me.  I  stood  in  the 
stateroom,  looking  in  the  direction  of  the 
fire,  so  as  to  get  a  glimpse  of  it  as  we  ran 
by.  The  time  that  my  face  was  exposed 
was  only  a  small  fraction  of  a  second,  and 
the  heat  had  to  come  through  the  glass  of 
two  windows  some  distance  apart,  and  yet 
my  face  was  burned  to  redness.  The  glass 
was  not  heated,  but  the  sides  of  the  cars 
were  burned  into  blisters.  The  one  was  a 
transparent  and  the  other  an  opaque  sub- 
stance.— ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  23,  p.  194.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3477.  TRANSMISSION  OF  RE- 
TRIEVER'S   INSTINCT  —  Heredity  of  Ac- 
quired  Characters. — The   fixed  and   deliber- 
ate stand  of  the  pointer  has  with  propriety 
been  regarded  as  a  mere  modification  of  a 
habit,  which  may  have  been  useful  to  a  wild 
race  accustomed   to  wind  game,   and  steal 
upon  it  by  surprise,  first  pausing  for  an  in- 
stant in  order  to  spring  with  unerring  aim. 
The  faculty  of  the  retriever,  however,  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  more  inexplicable  and 
less  easily  referable  to  the  instinctive  pas- 
sions of  the  species.     M.  Majendie,  says  a 
French  writer  in  a  recently  published  me- 
moir, having  learned  that  there  was  a  race 
of    dogs    in    England    which    stopped    and 
brought  back  game  of  their  own  accord,  pro- 
cured a  pair,  and  having  obtained  a  whelp 
from  them,  kept  it  constantly  under  his  eyes 
until  he  had  an  opportunity  of  assuring  him- 
self that,  without  having  received  any  in- 
struction, and  on  the  very  first  day  that  it 
was  carried  to  the  chase,  it  brought  back 
game  with  as  much  steadiness  as  dogs  which 
had  been  schooled  into  the  same  maneuver 
by  means  of  the  whip  and  collar.     [See  HE- 
REDITY OF  ACQUIRED  CHARACTERS.] — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch.  35,  p.  594. 
(A.,  1854.) 

3478.  TRANSPARENCY     NEVER 
PERFECT— A  Sufficient  Depth  of  Water  Ab- 
sorbs All  Light — Increase  of  Quantity  Re- 
verses  Result. — All   bodies,   even   the   most 
transparent,  are  more  or  less  absorbent  of 
light.     Take   the   ease   of   water:    in   small 
quantities  it  does  not  sensibly  affect  light. 
A  glass  cell  of  clear  water  interposed  in  the 
track    of    our    beam    does    not    perceptibly 
change  any  one  of  the  colors  of  the  spectrum 
derived    from   the  beam.      Still    absorption, 
tho    insensible,   has   here   occurred,    and   to 
render  it  sensible  we  have  only  to  increase 
the  depth  of  the  water  through  which  the 
light  passes.     Instead  of  a  cell  an  inch  thick 
let  us  take  a  layer  ten  or  fifteen  feet  thick; 
the  color  of  the  water  is  then  very  evident. 
By    augmenting    the    thickness    we    absorb 
more  of  the  light,  and  by  making  the  thick- 
ness very  great  we  absorb   the  light  alto- 
gether.   Lampblack  or  pitch  can  do  no  more, 
and  the  only  difference  between  them  and 
water  is  that  a  very  small  depth   in  their 
case    suffices    to    extinguish    all    the    light. 
The   difference  between   the   highest   known 


transparency  and  the  highest  known  opac- 
ity is  one  of  degree  merely. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  35.  (A.,  1898.) 

3479.  TRANSPORTATION  BY  STA- 
GES— Nature's  Ice-boats— Locust-seeds  Borne 
on  Wings  of  Wind. — And  the  wind  is  sure 
to  come  along,  a  slight  breeze  to-day  tossing 
the  half-pod  a  few  feet,  leaving  it  perhaps 
to  be  again  and  again  moved  farther  for- 
ward.    The  writer  has  seen  these  half- pods 
[of  the  locust]   transported  by  this  means 
more  than  a  block.     But  many  of  the  pods 
stick  to  the  limbs  till  winter  comes.     Then 
a    breeze   tears    off    a    few    pods    and   they 
fall   on  the  snow,  which  has   filled  up   all 
the  crevices  in  the  grass  and  between  the 
dead    leaves    and   rubbish.      Each   half-pod, 
freighted    with    every    other    seed,    is    ad- 
mirably   constructed ;    like   an    ice  -  boat,    it 
has  a  sail  always  spread  to  the  breeze.     In 
this  way  there  is  often  nothing  to  hinder 
some  of  the  seeds  from  going  a  mile  or  two 
in   a   few  minutes,   now   and  then   striking 
some  object  which  jars  off  a  seed  or  two. 
The  seeds  are  very  hard,  and  no  doubt  pur- 
posely so,  that  they  may  not  be  eaten  by  in- 
sects or  birds;   but  once  in  moist  soil  the 
covering  slowly  swells  and  decays,  allowing 
the  young  plant  to  escape.     Thus  the  locust- 
seeds  are  provided  with  neither  legs,  wings, 
fins,  nor  do  they  advertise  by  brilliant  hue 
and  sweet  pulp ;  but  they  travel  in  a  way  of 
their  own,  which  is  literally  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind. — BEAL  Seed  Dispersal,  ch.  5,  p. 
36.      (G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3480.  TRAVELING,  THREE  RAPID 

MODES  OF— Maximum  Speed  of  Horse  Near- 
ly Reached — Possibilities  of  the  Bicycle. — 
It  is  a  very  interesting  fact  that  three  out 
of  the  four  methods  of  rapid  locomotion  we 
now  possess  should  have  attained  about  the 
same  maximum  speed.  The  racehorse,  the 
steamship,  and  the  bicycle  have  each  of  them 
reached  thirty  miles  an  hour.  The  horse  is, 
however,  close  upon,  if  it  has  not  actually 
attained,  its  utmost  limits;  the  bicycle  can 
already  beat  the  horse  for  long  distances, 
and  will  certainly  go  at  higher  speeds  for 
short  ones;  while  the  steamship  will  also 
go  much  quicker,  tho  how  much  no  one  can 
yet  say.  The  greatest  possibilities  are  with 
the  bicycle  driven  by  electric  power  or 
compressed  air,  by  which  means,  on  a  near- 
ly straight  and  fairly  level  asphalt  track, 
no  doubt  fifty  miles  an  hour  will  soon  be 
reached. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century, 
ch.  1,  p.  9.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3481.  TREE,  LIMITED    CORRE- 
SPONDENCE OF,  WITH   ITS   ENVIRON- 
MENT— Irresponsiveness  Is  Death. — Different 
organisms  correspond  with   [their]   environ- 
ment in  varying  degrees  of  completeness  or 
incompleteness.     At  the  bottom  of  the  bio- 
logical scale  we  find  organisms  which  have 
only  the  most  limited  correspondence  with 
their    surroundings."    A   tree,   for   example, 
corresponds   with   the   soil   about  its   stem, 


iuniph 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


704 


with  the  sunlight,  and  with  the  air  in  con- 
tact with  its  leaves.  But  it  is  shut  off  by 
its  comparatively  low  development  from  a 
whole  world  to  which  higher  forms  of  life 
have  additional  access.  The  want  of  loco- 
motion alone  circumscribes  most  seriously 
its  area  of  correspondence,  so  that  to  a  large 
part  of  surrounding  Nature  it  may  truly  be 
said  to  be  dead.  So  far  as  consciousness 
is  concerned,  we  should  be  justified,  indeed, 
in  saying  that  it  was  not  alive  at  all.  The 
murmur  of  the  stream  which  bathes  its 
roots  affects  it  not.  The  marvelous  insect 
life  beneath  its  shadow  excites  in  it  no  won- 
der. The  tender  maternity  of  the  bird  which 
has  its  nest  among  its  leaves  stirs  no  re- 
sponsive sympathy.  It  cannot  correspond 
with  those  things.  To  stream  and  insect 
and  bird  it  is  insensible,  torpid,  dead.  For 
this  is  death,  this  irresponsiveness. — DRUM- 
MONO  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
essay  4,  p.  138.  (H.  Al.) 

3482.  TREE-FERNS  OF  THE  TROP- 
ICS— A  Climate  of  Perpetual  Spring. — The  form 
of  ferns     .     .     .    ,  like  that  of  grasses,  also 
assumes    nobler    dimensions    in    the    torrid 
regions   of  the  earth,   and  the   arborescent 
ferns,  which  frequently  attain  the  height  of 
above  forty  feet,  have  a  palm-like  appear- 
ance,  altho  their   stem  is  thicker,   shorter, 
and  more  rough  and  scaly  than  that  of  the 
palm.     The  leaf  is  more  delicate,  of  a  loose 
and  more  transparent  texture,  and  sharply 
serrated    on    the    margins.      These    colossal 
ferns  belong  almost  exclusively  to  the  trop- 
ics,  but   there   they    prefer    the   temperate 
localities.    As  in  these  latitudes  diminution 
of  heat  is  merely  the  consequence  of  an  in- 
crease of  elevation,  we  may  regard  moun- 
tains  that   rise   2,000   or   3,000   feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea  as  the  principal  seat  of 
these    plants.      Arborescent    ferns    grow    in 
South  America,  side  by  side  with  that  benefi- 
cent tree  whose   stem  yields  the   febrifuge 
bark,  and  both  forms  of  vegetation  are  in- 
dicative of  the  happy  region  where  reigns 
the  genial  mildness  of  perpetual  spring. — 
HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  230.     (Bell, 
1896.) 

3483.  TREES,  COLOSSAL,  OF  TROP- 
ICS— Crown  Like  Domed  Cathedral— The  Giant 
Must  Dwell  Alone. — What  attracted  us  chief- 
ly were  the  colossal  trees.     The  general  run 
of  trees  had  not  remarkably  thick  stems; 
the  great  and  uniform  height  to  which  they 
grow  without  emitting  a  branch  was  a  much 
more   noticeable   feature   than   their   thick- 
ness;  but  at  intervals  of  a  furlong  or  so 
a    veritable    giant   towered    up.     Only    one 
of  these  monstrous  trees  can  grow  within  a 
given  space;  it  monopolizes  the  domain,  and 
none  but  individuals  of  much  inferior  size 
can  find  a  footing  near  it.     The  cylindrical 
trunks  of  these  larger  trees  were  generally 
about  20  to  25  feet  in  circumference.     Von 
Martius  mentions  having  measured  trees  in 
the  Para  district,  belonging  to  various  spe- 
cies  (Symphonia  coccinea  Lccythis  sp.  and 


CratCBva  Tapia),  which  were  50  to  60  feet 
in  girth  at  the  point  where  they  become 
cylindrical.  The  height  of  the  vast  column- 
like  stems  could  not  be  less  than  100  feet 
from  the  ground  to  their  lowest  branch. 
Mr.  Leavens,  at  the  sawmills,  told  me  they 
frequently  squared  logs  for  sawing  100  feet 
long,  of  the  Pao  d'Arco  and  the  Massaran- 
duba.  The  total  height  of  these  trees,  stem 
and  crown  together,  may  be  estimated  at 
from  180  to  200  feet;  where  one  of  them 
stands,  the  vast  dome  of  foliage  rises  above 
the  other  forest-trees  as  a  domed  cathedral 
does  above  the  other  buildings  in  a  city. — 
BATES  Naturalist  on  the  River  Amazon,  ch. 
2,  p.  635.  (Hum.,  1880.) 

3484.  TRIAL,    FIERY,    PRECIOUS 

RESULTS  O¥—Gem8  the  Products  of  Volca- 
noes— Crystallization  through  Pressure  and 
Fierce  Heat  Gives  Them  All  Their  Value. — 
Among  the  most  interesting  effects  resulting 
from  the  extrusion  of  masses  of  incandes- 
cent rock,  charged  with  water  and  various 
gases,  through  beds  of  limestone,  clay,  sand- 
stone, etc.,  we  may  mention  the  production 
of  those  beautiful  crystalline  minerals  which 
adorn  our  museums  and  are  so  highly  prized 
as  gems.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  these 
beautiful  minerals  have  been  formed,  direct- 
ly or  indirectly,  by  volcanic  agencies. 

These  gems  and  beautiful  minerals  are, 
for  the  most  part,  substances  of  e very-day 
occurrence,  which  entirely  owe  their  beauty 
to  the  crystalline  forms  they  have  assumed. 
The  diamond  is  crystallized  carbon,  the  ruby 
and  sapphire  are  crystallized  aluminum,  the 
amethyst  and  a  host  of  other  gems  are 
crystallized  silica;  and  in  almost  all  cases 
the  materials  of  gems  are  common  and  wide- 
ly diffused;  it  is  only  in  their  finely  crystal- 
line condition  that  they  are  rare  and  there- 
fore valuable. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  5,  p.  146. 
(A.,  1899.) 

3485.  TRIUMPH  OF  SCIENCE-  Cu- 
vier    Reproduces    from    Fragments    Extinct 
Animals — Complete  Specimens  Later  Verify 
His  Theory. — At  length  there  was  discovered 
at  Montmartre  an  upper  jaw  of  the  same 
[unknown]  animal,  next  a  lower  jaw,  match- 
ing the  upper  one,  and  presently  a  whole 
head,   with   a   few  backbones,   was  brought 
to  light.     These  were  enough,  with  Cuvier's 
vast    knowledge    of    animal    structure,    to 
give  him  a  key  to  the  whole  skeleton.     At 
about  the  same  time,  in  the  same  locality, 
were  found  other  bones  and  teeth  also,  differ- 
ing   from    those    first    discovered,    and    yet 
equally  unlike  those  of  any  living  animal. 
The  first  evidently  belonged  to  some  stout 
and   heavy    animal,   the   others   were   more 
slender  and  of  lighter  build.     From  these 
fragments,    ample   evidence  to    him   of   his 
results,  he   drew  the  outlines   of  two   ani- 
mals: one  which  he  called  the  Palceotherlum 

(old  animal)  .  .  .  ,  and  the  other  An- 
oplotherium  (animal  without  fangs).  He 
presented  these  figures  with  an  explanatory 
memoir  at  the  Academy,  and  announced 


705 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Tree 
Triumph 


them  as  belonging  to  some  creation  pre- 
ceding the  present,  since  no  such  animals 
had  ever  existed  in  our  own  geological  peri- 
od. Such  a  statement  was  a  revelation  to 
the  scientific  world;  some  looked  upon  it 
with  suspicion  and  distrust;  others,  who 
knew  more  of  comparative  anatomy,  hailed 
it  as  introducing  a  new  era  in  science;  but 
it  was  not  till  complete  specimens  were 
actually  found  of  animals  corresponding  per- 
fectly to  those  figured  and  described  by  Cu- 
vier,  proving  beyond  a  doubt  their  actual 
existence  in  ancient  times,  that  all  united 
in  wonder  and  admiration  at  the  result 
obtained  by  him  with  such  scanty  means. — 
AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  7, 
p.  185.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3486. Kepler's  Laws— 

His  Joy  in  Proving  the  Harmony  of  the 
Universe. — It  was  thus  that  Kepler  viewed 
this  last  discovery  of  his.  His  fervent  dis- 
position was  roused  to  earnest  enthusiasm 
when  he  had  found  this  law  of  harmony  in 
the  universe.  He  felt  instinctively  that  he 
was  approaching  a  yet  grander  discovery, 
or  that  at  least  he  had  shown  the  path 
by  which  a  greater  truth  was  to  be  reached 
and  the  law  of  the  universe  recognized. 
He  might  have  spoken  of  himself,  had  he 
known  what  was  to  come,  as  the  Moses 
of  the  astronomy  of  the  future,  who  saw 
the  promised  land  afar  off,  but  entered  not 
therein.  But  he  chose  rather  to  use  the 
words  of  the  ancient  mystics :  "  I  will  re- 
joice!" he  exclaimed;  "I  will  triumph  in 
my  sacred  fury;  for  I  have  found  the  gold- 
en vases  of  the  Egyptians!"* — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  p.  109.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3487. Result  Attained  Af- 
ter Long  Discouragement — Newton's  Discov- 
ery of  Gravitation  Confirmed — Patience  and 
Exactness  of  Science. — At  the  time  when 
Newton  attempted  to  make  this  comparison 
between  gravity  at  the  surface  of  the  earth 
and  the  force  which  keeps  the  moon  in  her 
orbit,  the  diameter  of  the  terrestrial  globe 
was  not  known  with  sufficient  exactness. 
The  result  did  not  completely  answer  his 
expectations;  he  found  for  the  distance 
which  the  moon  falls  towards  the  earth  in 
one  second  a  little  less  than  the  twentieth 
of  an  inch  (it  should  be  a  little  more, 
about  0.053  inch)  ;  but  altho  the  difference 
was  not  large  it  appeared  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent him  from  inferring  the  identity  which 
he  hoped  to  find.  The  cause  of  his  failure 
was  not  explained  till  sixteen  years  later. 
In  the  year  1682,  being  present  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  he  heard 
mentioned  a  new  measure  of  the  earth  made 
by  the  French  astronomer  Picard,  and  hav- 
ing obtained  the  result  which  that  astrono- 
mer had  found,  he  again  took  up  the  calcula- 
tion which  he  had  attempted  sixteen  years 
previously,  employing  the  new  data ;  but  as 

*  Referring  to  the  belief  of  the  Pythagoreans  that  cer- 
tain sacred  secrets  were  preserved  in  golden  vases  shown 
to  Pythagoras  by  Egyptian  priests. 


he  proceeded  the  desired  precision  came  with 
evidence  more  and  more  luminous;  the 
thinker  became  as  if  mentally  dazed,  and 
felt  seized  with  such  emotion  that  he  could 
not  continue,  and  begged  one  of  his  friends 
to  finish  the  calculation. — FLAMMARION  Pop- 
ular Astronomy,  bk.  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  92.  (A.) 


3488. 


Terrestrial  Sub- 


stances in  the  Sun  —  Revelations  of  the 
Spectroscope.  —  It  has  long  been  supposed 
that  the  sun  and  planets  have  had  a 
common  origin,  and  that  hence  the  same 
substances  are  common  to  them  all.  Can 
we,  then,  detect  the  presence  of  any  of 
our  terrestrial  substances  in  the  sun?  We 
have  learned  that  the  bright  bands  of  a 
metal  are  characteristic  of  the  metal;  that 
we  can,  without  seeing  the  metal,  declare 
its  name  from  the  inspection  of  its  bands. 
The  bands  are,  so  to  speak,  the  voice  of 
the  metal  declaring  its  presence.  Hence,  if 
any  of  our  terrestrial  metals  be  contained 
in  the  sun's  atmosphere,  the  dark  lines 
which  they  produce  ought  to  coincide  ex- 
actly with  the  bright  lines  emitted  by  the 
vapor  of  the  metal  itself.  About  sixty  bright 
lines  have  been  determined  as  belonging  to 
the  single  metal  iron.  If  the  light  from  the 
incandescent  vapor  of  iron,  obtained  by  pass- 
ing electric  sparks  between  two  iron  wires,  be 
allowed  to  pass  through  one-half  of  a  fine 
slit,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  through  the 
other  half,  the  spectra  from  both  sources  of 
light  may  be  placed  one  underneath  the 
other.  When  this  is  done  it  is  found  that 
for  every  bright  line  of  the  iron  spectrum 
there  is  a  dark  line  of  the  solar  spectrum. 
Reduced  to  actual  calculation,  this  means 
that  the  chances  are  more  than  1,000,000,- 
000,000,000,000  to  1  that  iron  is  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  the  sun.  Comparing  in  the 
same  manner  the  spectra  of  other  metals, 
Professor  Kirchhoff,  to  whose  genius  we  owe 
this  splendid  generalization,  finds  iron,  cal- 
cium, magnesium,  sodium,  chromium,  and 
many  other  metals,  in  the  solar  atmosphere. 
— TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  17, 
p.  512.  (A.,  1900.) 

3489.     TRIUMPH  OF  SPIRIT  OVER 

MATTER— Scott  Composing  Waverley  Novels. 
— "  John  Ballantyne  ( whom  Scott,  while  suf- 
fering under  a  prolonged  and  painful  illness, 
employed  as  his  amanuensis)  told  me  that 
tho  Scott  often  turned  himself  on  his  pillow 
with  a  groan  of  torment,  he  usually  con- 
tinued the  sentence  in  the  same  breath. 
But  when  dialogue  of  peculiar  animation 
was  in  progress  spirit  seemed  to  triumph 
altogether  over  matter;  he  arose  from  his 
couch  and  walked  up  and  down  the  room, 
raising  and  lowering  his  voice,  and,  as  it 
were,  acting  the  parts.  It  was  in  this  fash- 
ion that  Scott  produced  the  far  greater 
portion  of  the  *  Bride  of  Lammermoor,'  the 
whole  of  the  '  Legend  of  Montrose,'  and 
almost  the  whole  of  *  Ivanhoe  '  "  (Lockhart's 
"  Life  of  Scott,"  ch.  44) . — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  139.  (A.,  1900.) 


¥riumpliH 
ruth 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


706 


3490.  TRIUMPHS  OF  MECHANICAL 

SKILL — Microscopic  Lines  Ruled  on  Glass 
Plate. — Let  not,  then,  these  numbers  [the 
dimensions  of  light-waves]  impair  your  con- 
fidence in  our  results;  but  remember  that 
the  microscope  reveals  a  universe  with  di- 
mensions of  the  same  order  of  magnitude. 
Moreover,  the  magnitudes  with  which  we 
are  here  dealing  are  not  beyond  the  limits 
of  mechanical  skill.  It  is  possible  to  rule 
lines  on  a  plate  of  glass  so  close  together 
that  the  bands  of  fine  lines  thus  obtained 
cannot  be  resolved  even  by  the  most  powerful 
microscopes;  and  I  am  informed  that  the 
German  optician  Nobert  has  ruled  bands 
containing  about  224,000  lines  to  the  inch. 
He  regularly  makes  plates  with  bands  con- 
sisting of  from  about  11,000  to  112,000  lines 
to  the  inch.  These  bands  are  numbered  from 
the  1st  to  the  19th,  and  are  used  for  micro- 
scopic tests. — COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect. 
1,  p.  17.  (A.,  1899.) 

3491.  TROPICS,  PROLIFIC  VEGE- 
TATION OF— Numerous  Species  of  Orchids. 
— In    the    tropics    the   species    [of   orchids] 
are    very      .      .      .      numerous;    thus    Fritz 
MiilJer   found   in    South    Brazil  more   than 
thirteen  kinds  belonging  to  several  genera 
growing  on  a  single  cedrela-tree.    Mr.  Fitz- 
gerald has  collected  within  the  radius  of  one 
mile  of  Sydney  in  Australia  no  less  than 
sixty-two  species,  of  which  fifty-seven  were 
terrestrial.    Nevertheless,  the  number  of  in- 
dividuals of  the  same  species  is,  I  believe, 
in  no  country  nearly  so  great  as  that  of  very 
many  other  plants.     Lindley  formerly  esti- 
mated that  there  were  in  the  world  about 
6,000  species  of  Orchidece,  included  in  433 
genera.  The  number  of  the  individuals  which 
come  to  maturity   does  not  seem  to  be  at 
all    closely    determined   by   the   number    of 
seeds    which    each    species    produces;    and 
this  holds  good  when  closely  related  forms 
are  compared. — DARWIN  Fertilization  of  Or- 
chids, ch.  9,  p.  279.     (A.,  1898.) 

3492.  TROPICS,  PROTECTIVE  COL- 
ORS IN  —  Why  Parrots  Are  Green. — Passing 
on  to  the  tropical  regions,  it  is  among  their 
evergreen  forests  alone  that  we  find  whole 
groups  of  birds  whose  ground  color  is  green. 
Parrots  are  very  generally  green,  and  in  the 
east  we  have  an  extensive  group  of  green 
fruit-eating  pigeons;  while  the  barbets,  bee- 
eaters,   turacous,  leaf -thrushes  (Phyllornis), 
white-eyes     (Zosterops),    and    many    other 
groups  have  so   much  green   in   their  plu- 
mage as  to  tend  greatly  to  their  concealment 
among  the  dense  foliage.     There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  these  colors  have  been  acquired 
as   a   protection,   when  we   see  that   in   all 
the  temperate  regions,  where  the  leaves  are 
deciduous,    the   ground   color   of   the   great 
majority  of  birds,  especially  on  the  upper 
surface,  is  a  rusty  brown  of  various  shades, 
well  corresponding  with  the  bark,  withered 
leaves,     ferns,    and    bare    thickets    among 
which  they  live  in  autumn  and  winter,  and 


especially  in  early  spring,  when  so  many  of 
them  build  their  nests. — WALLACE  Darwin- 
ism, ch.  8,  p.  131.  (Hum.) 

3493.     TROPICS,  RAINFALL  IN  THE 

— Condensation  of  Vapor  by  Mountains — 
Monsoons. — Warm,  southerly  winds,  blowing 
over  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  becoming  laden 
with  vapor  during  their  passage,  reach  the 
low  level  delta  of  the  Ganges  and  Brahma- 
putra, where  the  ordinary  heat  exceeds  that 
of  the  sea,  and  where  evaporation  is  con- 
stantly going  on  from  countless  marshes  and 
the  arms  of  the  great  rivers.  A  mingling 
of  two  masses  of  damp  air  of  different 
temperatures  probably  causes  the  fall  of 
70  or  80  inches  of  rain,  which  takes  place 
on  the  plains.  The  monsoon  having  crossed 
the  delta,  impinges  on  the  Khasia  Moun- 
tains, which  rise  abruptly  from  the  plain 
to  a  mean  elevation  of  between  4,000  and 
5,000  feet.  Here  the  wind  not  only  encoun- 
ters the  cold  air  of  the  mountains,  but,  what 
is  far  more  effective  as  a  refrigerating  cause, 
the  aerial  current  is  made  to  flow  upwards, 
and  to  ascend  to  a  height  of  several  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea.  Both  the  air  and 
the  vapor  contained  in  it,  being  thus  relieved 
of  much  atmospheric  pressure,  expand  sud- 
denly, and  are  cooled  by  rarefaction.  The 
vapor  is  condensed,  and  about  500  inches 
of  rain  are  thrown  down  annually,  nearly 
twenty  times  as  much  as  falls  in  Great 
Britain  in  a  year,  and  almost  all  of  it 
poured  down  in  six  months.  The  channel 
of  every  torrent  and  river  is  swollen  at  this 
season,  and  much  sandstone  horizontally 
stratified,  and  other  rocks  are  reduced  to 
sand  and  gravel  by  the  flooded  streams. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  14, 
p.  200.  (A.,  1854.) 


3494. 


Landslides— The 


Turbid  Ganges. — In  another  part  of  India 
[see  3493],  immediately  to  the  westward, 
similar  phenomena  are  repeated.  The  same 
warm  and  huinid  winds,  copiously  charged 
with  aqueous  vapor  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal, 
hold  their  course  due  north  for  300  miles 
across  the  flat  and  hot  plains  of  the  Ganges, 
till  they  encounter  the  lofty  Sikkim  Moun- 
tains. On  the  southern  flank  of  these  they 
discharge  such  a  deluge  of  rain  that  the 
rivers  in  the  rainy  season  rise  twelve  feet 
in  as  many  hours.  Numerous  landslips,  some 
of  them  extending  three  or  four  thousand 
feet  along  the  face  of  the  mountains,  com- 
posed of  granite,  gneiss,  and  slate,  descend 
into  the  beds  of  streams,  and  dam  them 
up  for  a  time,  causing  temporary  lakes, 
which  soon  burst  their  barriers.  "  Day  and 
night,"  says  Dr.  Hooker,  "  we  heard  the 
crashing  of  falling  trees  and  the  sound  of 
boulders  thrown  violently  against  each  other 
in  the  beds  of  torrents.  By  such  wear  and 
tear  rocky  fragments  swept  down  from  the 
hills  are  in  part  converted  into  sand  and 
fine  mud;  and  the  turbid  Ganges,  during 
its  annual  inundation,  derives  more  of  its 


707 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Triumph* 
Truth 


sediment  from  this  source  than  from  the 
waste  of  the  fine  clay  of  the  alluvial  plains 
below. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii, 
ch.  14,  p.  201.  (A.,  1854.) 

3495.  TRUSTWORTHINESS  OF  NAT- 
URAL FORCES— A  Belief  as  Old  as  Human- 
ity.— Even  the  modern  idea  of  law,  of  the 
constancy  and  therefore  the  trustworthiness 
of  natural  forces,  has  been  known,  not  in- 
deed scientifically  but  instinctively,  to  man 
since  first  he  made  a  tool  and  used  it  as 
the  instrument  of  purpose.     What  has  sci- 
ence   added   to    this    idea,    except   that   the 
same  rule  prevails  as  widely  as  the  universe, 
and  is  made  subservient  in  a  like  manner 
to  knowledge  and  to  will? — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  69.     (Burt.) 

3496.  TRUTH,  ABSOLUTE,  UNAT- 
TAINABLE   BY  MAN— Absolute   truth    no 
man  of  science  can  ever  hope  to  grasp;  for 
he  knows  that  all  human  search  for  it  must 
be  limited  by  human  capacity. — CARPENTER 
Nature  and  Man,  essay  7,  p.  238.    (A.,  1889.) 

3497.  TRUTH  IN  ANCIENT  THEO- 
RIES— Hot  Springs — Heat  of  Interior  of  the 
Earth. — The  observation  made  by  Arago  in 
1821,  that  the  deepest  Artesian  wells  are  the 
warmest,  threw  great  light  on  the  origin  of 
thermal  springs,  and  on  the  establishment  of 
the  law  that  terrestrial  heat  increases  with 
increasing  depth.    It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
which  has  but  recently  been  noticed,  that  at 
the  close  of  the  third  century  St.  Patricius, 
probably  Bishop  of  Pertusa,  was  led  to  adopt 
very  correct  views  regarding  the  phenome- 
non  of  the   hot   springs   at   Carthage.      On 
being  asked  what  was  the  cause  of  boiling 
water  bursting  from  the  earth,  he  replied: 
"  Fire  is  nourished  in  the  clouds  and  in  the 
interior   of   the    earth,    as    Etna    and    other 
mountains  near  Naples  may  teach  you.    The 
subterranean  waters  rise  as  if  through  si- 
phons.    The  cause  of  hot  springs  is  this: 
waters   which    are   more   remote    from   the 
subterranean   fire    are    colder,    while    those 
which   rise   nearer   the    fire   are   heated   by 
it  and  bring  with  them  to  the  surface  which 
we  inhabit  an  insupportable  degree  of  heat." 
— HUMBOLDT   Cosmos,  vol.   i,   p.   223.      (H.. 
1897.) 

3498.  TRUTH,   LIKE    NATURE'S 
GIFTS,  TO    BE   WORKED   FOR— Nature 
never  provides  for  man's  wants  in  any  di- 
rection, bodily,  mental,  or  spiritual,  in  such 
a   form  as  that  he  can  simply  accept  her 
gifts  automatically.     She  puts  all  the  me- 
chanical powers  at  his  disposal — but  he  must 
make  his   lever.      She   gives  him   corn,   but 
he  must  grind  it.     She  elaborates  coal,  but 
he  must  dig  for  it.     Corn  is  perfect,  all  the 
products  of  Nature  are  perfect,  but  he  has 
everything   to    do    to   them    before    he    can 
use  them.     So  with  truth;  it  is  perfect,  in- 
fallible.    But  he  cannot  use  it  as  it  stands. 
He  must  work,  think,  separate,  dissolve,  ab- 
sorb, digest;  and  most  of  these  he  must  do 


for  himself  and  within  himself. — DRUM- 
MONO  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
essay  10,  p.  326.  (H.  Al.) 

3499.  TRUTH  LOVED  MORE  THAN 
THEORY  —  Kepler  Abandons   Systems  that 
Conflict  with  Facts. — What  love  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Nature  was  ever  more  conspicu- 
ous than  that  which  Keple?  displayed  in  his 
abandonment  of  each  of  the  ingenious  con- 
ceptions of  the  planetary  system  which  his 
fertile  imagination  had  successively  devised, 
so  soon  as  it  proved  to  be  inconsistent  with 
the  facts  disclosed  by  observation?     In  that 
almost  admiring  description  of  the  way  in 
which  his  enemy  Mars,  "  whom  he  had  left 
at   home   a   despised   captive,"   had   "  burst 
all  the  chains  of  the  equations,  and  broke 
forth  from  the  prisons  of  the  tables,"  who 
does  not  recognize  the  justice  of  Schiller's 
definition  of  the  real  philosopher,  as  one  who 
always  loves  truth  better  than  his  system? 
— CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man,  essay  6,  p» 
188.      (A.,  1889.) 

3500.  TRUTH,  PHYSICIAN  DRIVEN 

TO  SEEK— Responsibility  of  Life  or  Death 
Compels. — One  who,  like  the  physician,  has 
actively  to  face  natural  forces  which  bring 
about  weal  or  woe  is  also  under  the  obli- 
gation of  seeking  for  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  of  the  truth  only,  without  con- 
sidering whether  what  he  finds  is  pleasant 
in  one  way  or  the  other.  His  aim  is  one 
which  is  firmly  settled;  for  him  the  success 
of  facts  is  alone  finally  decisive.  He  must 
endeavor  to  ascertain  beforehand  what  will 
be  the  result  of  his  attack  if  he  pursues 
this  or  that  course. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular 
Lectures,  lect.  5,  p.  225.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3501.  TRUTH,  SCIENTIFIC,  AGREE- 
ING WITH  POPULAR   OBSERVATION— 

There  is  another  fact  of  common  observa- 
tion, and  now  scientifically  established: 
strong  scintillations  foretell  rain.  It  is  the 
presence  of  water  in  greater  or  less  quan- 
tity in  the  atmosphere  which  exercises  the 
most  marked  influence  on  the  scintillation, 
and  which  modifies  its  character  according 
to  the  quantity,  either  when  the  water  is 
dissolved  in  the  air,  or  when  it  falls  to  the 
level  of  the  ground  in  the  liquid  state,  or 
in  the  solid  state  in  the  form  of  snow. — 
FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch. 
6,  p.  607.  (A.) 

3502.  TRUTH,    SIMPLE,    OVER- 
LOOKED —  Transparency  Invisible.  —  It    is 
probably  the  very  simplicity  of  the  law  re- 
garding  it    [spiritual   conformity   to   type] 
that   has   made   men   stumble;    for   nothing 
is  so  invisible  to  most  men  as  transparency. 
— DRUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  8,  p.  275.     (H.  Al.) 

3503.  TRUTH  THE  CRITERION  OF 
POETRY  —  Tennyson's  '  'Dragon-fly  " — Truth 
to  Nature  Increases  Poetic  Charm. — The  cri- 
teripn  of  perfect  poetry  is  not  elegance,  but 
truth;  and  that  in  proportion  as  the  poet's 


Rfift. 


lity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


708 


knowledge  of  Nature  is  true,  so  will  his 
work  represent  the  thoughts  which  have 
power  to  charm,  instruct,  and  better  man- 
kind through  all  time.  I  know  of  no  better 
example  of  the  complete  reconcilement  of 
poesy  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of  Nature 
than  is  contained  in  Tennyson's  "  Two 
Voices."  Let  any  one  watch  the  birth  of 
a  dragon-fly,  and  say  whether  or  not  the 
poet  has  written  sweetly  and  well — and  all 
the  more  sweetly  because  his  words  are  true: 

To-day  I  saw  a  dragon-fly 

Come  from  the  wells  where  lie  did  lie. 

An  inner  impulse  rent  the  veil 

Of  his  old  husk :  from  head  to  tail 

Came  out  clear  plates  of  sapphire  mail. 

He  dried  his  wings:  like  gauze  they  grew; 

Through  crofts  and  pastures  wet  with  dew 

A  living  flash  of  light  he  flew. 

— ANDREW  WILSON  Science  and  Poetry,  p. 
11.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

3504.  TUTELAGE  PROLONGED  BY 
CIVILISATION— More   Time  Needed  to  Pre- 
pare for  the  More  Complex  Life. — Now  it  is 
owing  to  the  necessity  for  having  a  certain 
number    of   the  more   useful   routes   estab- 
lished before  the  babe  can  be  trusted  from 
its  mother's  side  that  the  delay  of  infancy 
is  required.    And  even  after  the  child  has  be- 
gun to  practise  the  art  of  living  for  itself, 
time  has  still  to  be  granted  for  many  pur- 
poses— for  new  route-making,  for  becoming 
familiar  with  established  thoroughfares,  for 
practising  upon   obstacles   and   ingredients, 
for  learning  to  perform  the  journeys  quick- 
ly  and  without  fatigue,   for   allowing  acts 
repeated   to    accelerate    and   embody    them- 
selves as  habits.    In  the  savage  state,  where 
the  after-life  is  simple,  the  adjustments  are 
made  with  comparative  ease  and  speed;  but 
as  we  rise  in  the  scale  of  civilization  the 
necessary  period  of  infancy  lengthens  step 
by  step,  until  in  the  case  of  the  most  highly 
educated  man,  where  adjustments  must  be 
made  to  a  wide  intellectual  environment,  the 
age  of  tutelage  extends  for  almost  a  quarter 
of  a  century. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man, 
ch.  8,  p.  287.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3505.  TWINKLING  OF  STARS  EX- 
PLAINED— Interference  of  Light-waves — Iri- 
descence  of   Striated   Surfaces — The   Colors 
of    Mother-of-pearl    Transferred    to    Black 
Sealing-wax. — By  interference  in  the  earth's 
atmosphere   the  light  of  a  star,   as   shown 
by  Arago,  is  self-extinguished,  the  twinkling 
of  the  star  and  the  changes  of  color  which 
it  undergoes  being  due  to  this  cause.    Look- 
ing at  such  a  star  through  an  opera-glass, 
and  shaking  the  glass  so  as  to  cause  the 
image  of  the  star  to  pass  rapidly  over  the 
retina,  you  produce  a  row  of  colored  beads, 
the  spaces  between  which  correspond  to  the 
periods  of  extinction.     Fine  scratches  drawn 
upon    glass    or    polished    metal    reflect   the 
waves  of  light  from  their  sides ;  and  some, 
being  reflected   from   opposite   sides   of  the 
same  scratch,  interfere  with  and  quench  each 
other.    But  the  obliquity  of  reflection  which 
extinguishes  the  shorter  waves  does  not  ex- 


tinguish the  longer  ones,  hence  the  phe- 
nomena of  color.  These  are  called  the  colors 
of  striated  surfaces.  They  are  beautifully 
illustrated  by  mother-of-pearl.  This  shell 
is  composed  of  exceedingly  thin  layers, 
which,  when  cut  across  by  the  polishing 
of  the  shell,  expose  their  edges  and  furnish 
the  necessary  small  and  regular  grooves. 
The  most  conclusive  proof  that  the  colors 
are  due  to  the  mechanical  state  of  the  sur- 
face is  to  be  found  in  the  fact,  established 
by  Brewster,  that  by  stamping  the  shell 
carefully  upon  black  sealing-wax  we  trans- 
fer the  grooves,  and  produce  upon  the  wax 
the  colors  of  mother-of-pearl. — TYNDALL  Lec- 
tures on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  92.  (A.,  1898.) 

3506.  TYPE,  COMMON,  TRACED 
THROUGH  ALL  VERTEBRATES— Legs  of 
Whale    and    Boa-constrictor. — The    general 
law  to  be  learned  from  the  series  of  skele- 
tons in  a  natural-history  museum  is  that 
through  order  after  order  of  fishes,  reptiles, 
birds,  beasts,  up  to  man  himself,  a  common 
type  or  pattern  may  be  traced,  belonging 
to   all   animals  which  are  vertebrate — that 
is,    which    have    a    back-bone.     Limbs    may 
still    be    recognized,    tho    their    shape    and 
service  have  changed,  and  tho  they  may  even 
have  dwindled  into  remnants,  as  if  left  not 
for  use,  but  to  keep  up  the  old  model.    Thus, 
altho    a    perch's    skeleton    differs    so    much 
from  a  man's,  its  pectoral  and  ventral  fins 
still  correspond  to  arms  and  legs.     Snakes 
are   mostly   limbless,    yet    there   are    forms 
which   connect  them   with   the  quadrupeds, 
as,  for  instance,  the  boa-constrictor's  skele- 
ton shows  a  pair  of  rudimentary  hind  legs. 
The   Greenland   whale   has   no   visible   hind 
limbs,  and  its  fore  limbs  are  paddles  or  flip- 
pers ;  yet  when  dissected,  the  skeleton  shows 
not  only  remnants  of  what  in  man  would 
be   the    leg-bones,   but   the   flipper   actually 
has  within  it  the  set  of  bones  which  belong 
to  the  human  arm  and  hand.     It  is  popu- 
larly considered  that  man  is  especially  dis- 
tinguished from  the  lower  animals  by  not 
having  a  tail;  yet  the  tail  is  plainly  to  be 
seen  in  the  human  skeleton,  represented  by 
the  last  tapering  vertebrse  of  the  spine. — 
TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  2,  p.  36.    (A.,  1899.) 

3507.  UNANIMITY,     CONVINCING 
POWER   OF—  Astronomy    Trusted  Because 
Astronomers  Agree. — In  order  that  this  salu- 
tary ascendency  over  opinion  should  be  exer- 
cised by  the  most  eminent  thinkers  it  is  not 
necessary  that  they  should  be  associated  and 
organized.     The  ascendency  will  come  of  it- 
self when  the  unanimity  is  attained,  with- 
out which  it  is  neither  desirable  nor  pos- 
sible.    It  is  because  astronomers   agree  in 
their  teaching  that  astronomy  is  trusted,  and 
not  because  there  is  an  Academy  of  Sciences 
or  a  Royal  Society  issuing  decrees  or  passing 
resolutions. — MILL   Positive    Philosophy    of 
Auguste  Comte,  p.  91.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1887.) 

3508.     Spectrum  Anal- 
ysis Universally  Accepted  as  Trustworthy. — 
I   do  not  know  any  more  remarkable  fact 


709 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Ellltll 
niformity 


in  the  psychology  of  belief  than  the  univer- 
sality with  which  even  the  most  wonderful 
— I  might  say  the  most  romantic — results 
of  spectrum  analysis  have  been  accepted  as 
sober  truth,  not  merely  by  the  whole  scien- 
tific world,  but  by  the  general  public.  And 
this  universality  is,  I  think,  to  be  attributed 
to  these  two  conditions:  first,  that  the  ab- 
solute concurrence  of  scientific  men  on  this 
subject  gives  to  their  statements  the  value 
(if  I  may  so  express  myself)  of  bank-notes, 
which  any  one  may  convert  into  the  stand- 
ard gold  of  personal  knowledge  merely  by 
inquiring  into  the  matter  for  himself;  and 
secondly,  that  these  results  are  additions 
to  our  previous  knowledge,  and  do  not  run 
counter  to  any  established  beliefs. — CARPEN- 
TER Nature  and  Man,  lect.  7,  p.  236.  (A., 
1889.) 

35O9.     UNCERTAINTY  INEVITABLE 

— Atmosphere  of  Venus  Makes  Exact  Obser- 
vation of  Transit  Impossible. — [At  the  tran- 
sit of  Venus,  1874]  an  appearance  super- 
vened which  took  most  observers  by  surprise. 
This  was  the  illumination  due  to  the  atmos- 
phere of  Venus.  Astronomers,  it  is  true, 
were  not  ignorant  that  the  planet  had,  on 
previous  occasions,  been  seen  girdled  with  a 
lucid  ring;  but  its  power  to  mar  observa- 
tions by  the  distorting  effect  of  refraction 
had  scarcely  been  reckoned  with.  It  proved, 
however,  to  be  very  great.  Such  was  the 
difficulty  of  determining  the  critical  instant 
of  internal  contact,  that  (in  Colonel  Tup- 
man's  words)  "  observers  side  by  side,  with 
adequate  optical  means,  differed  as  much 
as  twenty  or  thirty  seconds  in  the  times 
they  recorded  for  phenomena  which  they 
have  described  in  almost  identical  language." 
— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
6,  p.  291.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

35 1C.  UNIFICATION  OF  THE  SCI- 
ENCES—Astronomy  Needs  and  Aids  All  Other 
Science  —  The  Universe  an  Intellectually 
Consistent  Whole. — The  unification  of  the 
physical  sciences  is  perhaps  the  greatest  in- 
tellectual feat  of  recent  times.  The  process 
has  included  astronomy;  so  that,  like  Bacon, 
she  may  now  be  said  to  have  "taken  all 
knowledge"  (of  that  kind)  "for  her  prov- 
ince." In  return,  she  proffers  potent  aid  for 
its  increase.  Every  comet  that  approaches 
the  sun  is  the  scene  of  experiments  in  the 
electrical  illumination  of  rarefied  matter, 
performed  on  a  huge  scale  for  our  benefit. 
The  sun,  stars,  and  nebulae  form  so  many 
celestial  laboratories,  where  the  nature  and 
mutual  relations  of  the  chemical  "  ele- 
ments "  may  be  tried  by  more  stringent  tests 
than  sublunary  conditions  afford.  The  laws 
of  terrestrial  magnetism  can  be  completely 
investigated  only  with  the  aid  of  a  concur- 
rent study  of  the  face  of  the  sun.  The  posi- 
tions of  the  planets  will  perhaps  one  day 
tell  us  something  of  impending  droughts, 
famines,  and  cyclones. — CLERKE  History  of 
Astronomy,  int.,  p.  7.  (Bl.,  1893.) 


3511.     UNIFORMITY  OF  NATURE- 

Ancient  Sedimentary  Deposits  Like  the  Pres- 
ent— Geological  Strata  Forming  Now. — The 
great  bulk  of  the  derivative  rocks  being  of 
sedimentary  origin,  it  is  obvious  that  they 
must  have  been  at  the  time  of  their  forma- 
tion spread  out  in  approximately  horizon- 
tal layers  upon  the  beds  of  ancient  lakes 
and  seas.  This  we  are  justified  in  believing 
by  what  we  know  of  the  accumulation  of 
similar  sediments  in  our  own  day.  The 
wide  flats  of  our  river-valleys,  the  broad 
plains  that  occupy  the  sites  of  silted-up 
lakes,  the  extensive  deltas  of  such  rivers 
as  the  Nile,  the  Po,  the  Amazon,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  narrow  or  wide  belts  of  low- 
lying  land  which  within  a  recent  period  have 
been  gained  from  the  sea,  are  all  made  up 
of  various  kinds  of  sediment  arranged  in 
gently  inclined  or  approximately  horizontal 
layers.  Now,  over  considerable  areas  of  the 
earth's  surface  the  derivative  rocks  show 
the  same  horizontal  arrangement,  a  struc- 
ture which  is  obviously  original. — GEIKIE 
Earth  Sculpture,  ch.  1,  p.  7.  (G.  P.  P., 
1898.) 

3512. Ancient  Volcanic 

Action  Like  the  Modern — Fertility  and  Hap- 
piness in  the  Intervals. — If  we  look  at  the 
vast  masses  of  volcanic  materials  erupted 
in  Miocene  times  in  our  own  island  and 
in  Ireland,  for  example,  we  might  be  led 
to  imagine  that  we  have  the  indications 
of  a  veritable  "  reign  of  fire,"  and  that  the 
evidence  points  to  a  condition  of  things 
very  different  indeed  from  that  which  pre- 
vails at  the  present  day.  But  [we  must  re- 
member] that  these  volcanic  ejections  are 
not  the  result  of  one  violent  effort,  but  are 
the  product  of  numerous  small  outbreaks 
which  have  been  scattered  over  enormous 
periods  of  time. 

When  we  examine  with  due  care  the  lavas, 
tuffs,  and  other  volcanic  ejections  which 
constitute  such  mountain  masses  as  those 
of  the  Hebrides,  of  the  Auvergne,  and  of 
Hungary,  we  find  clear  proofs  that  the  an- 
cient Miocene  volcanoes  of  these  districts 
were  clothed  with  luxuriant  forests,  through 
which  wild  animals  roamed  in  the  greatest 
abundance.  The  intervals  between  the  ejec- 
tions of  successive  lava-streams  were  often 
so  great  that  soils  were  formed  on  the  moun- 
tain slope,  and  streams  cut  deep  ravines 
and  valleys  in  them. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  9, 
p.  278.  (A.,  1899.) 

3513. A   Revelation  of 

the  Immutability  of  God. — The  chemist  in 
his  laboratory,  as  he  questions  Nature,  may 
be  almost  said  to  put  her  to  the  torture 
when,  tried  in  his  hottest  furnace,  or  probed 
by  his  searching  analysis  to  her  innermost 
arcana,  she  by  a  spark  or  an  explosion,  or  an 
effervescence,  or  an  evolving  substance, 
makes  her  distinct  replies  to  his  investiga- 
tions. And  ...  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe  her  answer  is  the  same — so  that,  let 
the  experiment,  tho  a  thousand  times  re- 


Uniformity 
Union 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


710 


peated,  only  be  alike  in  all  its  circumstances, 
the  result  which  cometh  forth  is  as  rigidly 
alike,  without  deficiency,  and  without  devi- 
ation. .  .  .  But  there  is  a  God  who  liveth 
and  sitteth  there,  and  these  unvarying  re- 
sponses of  Nature  are  all  prompted  by  him- 
self, and  are  but  the  utterances  of  his  im- 
mutability. They  are  the  replies  of  a  God 
who  never  changes,  and  who  hath  adapted 
the  whole  materialism  of  creation  to  the 
demonstration  of  it.  The  certainties  of  Na- 
ture and  of  science  are,  in  fact,  the  vocables 
by  which  God  announces  his  truth  to  the 
world;  and  when  told  how  impossible  it  is 
that  Nature  can  fluctuate,  we  are  only  told 
how  impossible  it  is  that  the  God  of  Nature 
can  deceive  us. — CHALMERS  Astronomical 
Discourses,  suppl.  disc.  1,  p.  213.  (R.Ct.,1848.) 

3514. Interruption  of— 

Eclipse  of  the  Sun — Perplexity  of  Animals. 
— The  effect  of  the  waning  light  on  animals 
[during  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  1865]  was  very  striking.  The  Bay 
of  Rio  is  daily  frequented  by  large  numbers 
of  frigate-birds  and  gannets,  which  at  night 
fly  to  the  outer  islands  to  roost,  while  the 
carrion-crows  (urubus)  swarming  in  the  sub- 
urbs, and  especially  about  the  slaughter- 
houses of  the  city,  retire  to  the  mountains 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Tijuca,  their  line 
of  travel  passing  over  San  Christovao.  As 
soon  as  the  light  began  to  diminish,  these 
birds  became  uneasy;  evidently  conscious 
that  their  day  was  strangely  encroached 
upon,  they  were  uncertain  for  a  moment  how 
to  act.  Presently,  however,  as  the  darkness 
increased,  they  started  for  their  usual  night 
quarters,  the  water-birds  flying  southward, 
the  vultures  in  a  northwesterly  direction, 
and  they  had  all  left  their  feeding-grounds 
before  the  moment  of  greatest  obscurity  ar- 
rived. They  seemed  to  fly  in  all  haste,  but 
were  not  half-way  to 'their  night  home  when 
the  light  began  to  return  with  rapidly  in- 
creasing brightness.  Their  confusion  was 
now  at  its  height.  Some  continued  their 
flight  towards  the  mountains  or  the  harbor, 
others  hurried  back  to  the  city,  while  others 
whirled  about  wholly  uncertain  what  to  do 
next.  The  reestablishment  of  the  full  light 
of  noon  seemed  to  decide  them,  however, 
upon  making  another  day  of  it,  and  the 
whole  crowd  once  more  moved  steadily  to- 
ward the  city. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil, 
ch.  2,  p.  52.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3515. Maintained  amid 

Contending  Forces.  —  Battle  within  battle 
must  be  continually  recurring  with  varying 
success;  and  yet  in  the  long  run  the  forces 
are  so  nicely  balanced  that  the  face  of  Na- 
ture remains  for  long  periods  of  time  uni- 
form, tho  assuredly  the  merest  trifle  would 
give  the  victory  to  one  organic  being  over 
another. — DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1, 
p.  67.  (Burt.) 

3516. Natural  Laws  Un- 
changed through  All  Ages — Limitations  of 
the  Doctrine. — The  geological  record  informs 


us  that  the  general  laws  of  Nature  have 
continued  unchanged  from  the  earliest  peri- 
ods to  which  it  relates  until  the  present 
day.  This  is  the  true  "  uniformitarianism  " 
of  geology  which  holds  to  the  dominion  of 
existing  causes  from  the  first.  But  it  does 
not  refuse  to  admit  variations  in  the  in- 
tensity of  these  causes  from  time  to  time, 
and  cycles  of  activity  and  repose,  like  those 
that  we  see  on  a  small  scale  in  the  seasons, 
the  occurrence  of  storms,  or  the  paroxysms 
of  volcanoes. — DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies 
in  Modern  Science,  lect.  3,  p.  119.  (A.  B. 
P.  S.) 

3517. Slow  Recognition 

of  the  Truth. — Woodward  did  not  hesitate, 
in  1695,  to  teach  that  the  entire  mass  of  fos- 
siliferous  strata  contained  in  the  earth's 
crust  had  been  deposited  in  a  few  months; 
and,  consequently,  as  their  mechanical  and 
derivative  origin  was  already  admitted, 
the  reduction  of  rocky  masses  into  mud, 
sand,  and  pebbles,  the  transportation  of  the 
same  to  a  distance,  and  their  accumulation 
elsewhere  in  regular  strata,  were  all  assumed 
to  have  taken  place  with  a  rapidity  un- 
paralleled in  modern  times.  This  doctrine 
was  modified  by  degrees,  in  proportion  as 
different  classes  of  organic  remains,  such  as 
shells,  corals,  and  fossil  plants,  had  been 
studied  with  attention.  Analogy  led  every 
naturalist  to  assume  that  each  full-grown 
individual  of  the  animal  or  vegetable  king- 
dom had  required  a  certain  number  of 
months  or  years  for  the  attainment  of  ma- 
turity, and  the  perpetuation  of  its  species 
by  generation;  and  thus  the  first  approach 
was  made  to  the  conception  of  a  common 
standard  of  time,  without  which  there  are 
no  means  whatever  of  measuring  the  com- 
parative rate  at  which  any  succession  of 
events  has  taken  place  at  two  distinct  peri- 
ods. This  standard  consisted  of  the  aver- 
age duration  of  the  lives  of  individuals  of 
the  same  genera  or  families  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdoms;  and  the  multitude 
of  fossils  dispersed  through  successive  strata 
implied  the  continuance  of  the  same  species 
for  many  generations.  At  length  the  idea 
that  species  themselves  had  had  a  limited 
duration  arose  out  of  the  observed  fact  that 
sets  of  strata  of  different  ages  contained 
fossils  of  distinct  species.  Finally,  the  opin- 
ion became  general  that  in  the  course  of  ages 
one  assemblage  of  animals  and  plants  had 
disappeared  after  another  again  and  again, 
and  new  tribes  had  started  into  life  to  re- 
place them. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  i,  ch.  10,  p.  153.  (A.,  1854.) 

3518.  UNION,  CHEMICAL,  VS.  ME- 
CHANICAL—A Mixture  Differs  from  a  Com- 
pound. — We  cannot  say  that  water  consists 
of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  in  the  same  sense 
that  bread  consists  of  flour,  or  sirup  of  su- 
gar, and  mortar  of  lime.  We  must  be  very 
careful  not  to  transfer  our  ideas  of  com- 
position, drawn  chiefly  from  the  mixtures 
we  use  in  common  life,  directly  to  chemis- 


711 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


try.  In  these  mixtures  the  product  partakes, 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  the  character 
of  its  constituents,  which  can  be  recognized 
essentially  unchanged  in  the  new  material, 
but,  in  all  instances  of  true  chemical  union 
and  decomposition,  the  qualities  of  the  sub- 
stances concerned  in  the  process  entirely 
disappear,  and  wholly  different  substances, 
with  new  qualities,  appear  in  their  place. 
— COOKE  New  Chemistry,  lect.  5,  p.  114. 
(A.,  1899.) 

3519.  UNION,  CLOSE,  OF  BODY 
WITH  MIND— Bodily  Processes  Affected  by 
Sensations. — Modern   physiological   psychol- 
ogy emphasizes  the  wonderfully  delicate  way 
in  which  the  whole  nervous  mass  responds 
to  the  slightest  phases  of  change  in  all  forms 
of  excitation,  with   accompanying  modifica- 
tions of  even  the  lowest  possible  phases  of 
conscious  mental  life.     Haller,  for  example, 
noticed  that  the  noise  from  beating  a  drum 
increased  the  flow  of  blood  from  an  open 
vein.     Mosso  observed  that  the  approach  of 
a  lamp  toward  a  patient  whose  brain  was 
exposed  increased  the  volume  of  the  brain 
substance.     M.  Payot  claims  to   have  seen 
the  passage  of  a  cloud  over  the  sun  increase 
the  respiratory  rhythm  and  pulse-rate  of  a 
sleeping  infant.     M.  Fere  found  that  slight 
sensations   of   sound   and   smell   sometimes 
affect  a  man's  dynamometric  force.     Schiff 
and  Vulpian  have  observed  the  pupils  of  the 
eyes  dilate  under  the  influence  of  various 
forms  of  excitement.     Experiments  in  reac- 
tion-time show  that  increasing  the  intensity 
of  conscious  states  of  sensation  increases  the 
volume  of  the  blood  in  the  forearm  and  hand 
with  which  the  agent  is  reacting. — LADD  Psy- 
chology, ch.  3,  p.  48.      (S.,   1899.) 

3520.  UNION  OF  DANGEROUS  SUB- 
STANCES IN  SALT—  Combination  Harmless 
and  Useful. — It  is  a  curious  fact  in  Nature 
that  two  such  substances  as  chlorin  and  sodi- 
um, both  of  them  so  difficult  and  dangerous 
to  handle,  should  unite  together  to  form  such 
a  useful  and  harmless  compound  as  common 
salt.    The  important  element  in  bleaching- 
powder  is  the  chlorin  which  it  contains.     It 
is  extensively  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pa- 
per and  in  all  other  materials  where  bleach- 
ing is  required.     The  object  of  combining  it 
with  lime,  forming  a  chlorid  of  lime,  is  sim- 
ply to  have  a  convenient  method  of  holding 
the  chlorin  in  a  safe  and  convenient  manner 
until  it  is  needed  for  use. — ELISHA  GRAY 
Nature's  Miracles,   vol.   iii,  ch.   26,  p.   219. 
(F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3521.  UNION  OF  DISSIMILAR 

TRAITS— A  Butcher  among  Song-birds— The 
Shrike — Hawk's  Bill  with  Sparrow's  Foot. 
— The  marked  difference  in  the  temperament 
of  birds  is  emphasized  by  finding  among 
the  song-birds,  who  feed  on  fruit,  seeds,  and 
insects,  a  bird  who  in  his  position  and 
choice  of  food  is  truly  hawklike.  Shrikes 
are  solitary,  never  assembling  in  flocks  or 
associating  with  other  birds.  Their  days 
are  days  of  waiting,  varied  by  a  pounce  upon 


some  unfortunate  field-mouse,  or  dash  into 
a  flock  of  unsuspecting  sparrows.  But  while 
they  resemble  the  hawks  in  these  respects, 
their  manner  of  capturing  their  prey  differs 
from  that  of  their  larger  prototypes.  The 
shrike  [or  butcher-bird]  has  a  hawk's  bill, 
but  a  sparrow's  foot,  and,  lacking  the  pow- 
erful talons  which  make  so  deadly  a  weapon, 
he  captures  his  prey  with  his  strong  mandi- 
bles. Possibly  it  may  be  due  to  his  compara- 
tively weak  feet  that  he  pursues  the  singular 
custom  of  impaling  his  prey  on  some  thorn 
or  hanging  it  from  a  crotch,  where  he  can 
better  dissect  it. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch. 
7,  p.  218.  (A.,  1900.) 

3522.  UNION  OF  LABOR  AND  ART 

— Art  here  [in  Italy]  stood  in  close  rela- 
tion with  manual  labor,  and  the  artist  was 
only  distinguished  from  the  manual  laborer 
by  higher  intellectual  gifts. — KAAT  Leonar- 
do da  Vinci  als  Naturforscher.  (Translated 
for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3523.  UNION     OF    RIVERS  —  Evils 
Averted  by   Nature's   Compensation — Speed 
of  Current  Increased  with  Volume. — A  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  How  the  more  tranquil 
rivers  of  the  valleys  and  plains,  flowing  on 
comparatively  level  ground,  can  remove  the 
prodigious  burden  which  is  discharged  into 
them  by  their  numerous  tributaries,  and  by 
what    means    they    are    enabled    to    convey 
the  whole  mass  to  the  sea?     If  they  had 
not    this    removing'  power    their    channels 
would  be  annually  choked  up,  and  the  val- 
leys of  the  lower  country  and  plains  at  the 
base  of  mountain  chains  would  be  continual- 
ly strewed  over  with  fragments  of  rock  a^d 
sterile  sand.     But  this  evil  is  prevented  by 
a  general  law  regulating  the  conduct  of  run- 
ning water — that  two  equal  streams  do  not, 
when  united,  occupy  a  bed  of  double  surface. 
Nay,  the  width  of  the  principal  river,  after 
the  junction  of  a  tributary,  sometimes  re- 
mains the  same  as  before,  or  is  even  less- 
ened. The  cause  of  this  apparent  paradox  was 
long  ago  explained  by  the   Italian  writers, 
who  had  studied  the  confluence  of  the  Po 
and  its  feeders  in  the  plains  of  Lombardy. 
The  addition  of  a   smaller  river  augments 
the  velocity  of  the  main  stream,  often  in 
the  same  proportion  as  it  does  the  quantity 
of  water.    Thus  the  Venetian  branch  of  the 
Po  swallowed  up  the  Ferranese  branch  and 
that   of    Panaro    without   any   enlargement 
of  its  own  dimensions.     The  cause  of  the 
greater    velocity    is,    first,    that    after    the 
union  of  two  rivers  the  water,  in  place  of 
the  friction  of  four  shores,  has  only  that  of 
t\vo    to    surmount ;    secondly,    because    the 
main  body  of  the  stream  being  farther  dis- 
tant from  the  banks,  flows  on  with  less  in- 
terruption;   and   lastly,    because    a   greater 
quantity  of  water,  moving  more  swiftly,  digs 
deeper  into  the  river's  bed.     By  this  beauti- 
ful adjustment  the  water  which  drains  the 
interior  country  is  made  continually  to  oc- 
cupy less  room  as  it  approaches   the  sea; 
and  thus  the  most  valuable  part  of  our  con- 


I  nion 
Unity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


tinents,  the  rich  deltas  and  great  alluvial 
plains,  are  prevented  from  being  constantly 
under  water. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
ch.  14,  p.  207.  (A.,  1854.) 

3524.  UNION  OF  WEAKNESS  AND 
STRENGTH— Plastic  Bodies  Weak  Enough  to 
Yield  to  an  Influence — Strong  Enough  Not 
to  Yield  All  at  Once. — Gradual  yielding  [of 
plastic  bodies]  often  saves  the  material  from 
being  disintegrated   altogether.     When  the 
structure  has  yielded,  the  same  inertia  be- 
comes a  condition  of  its   comparative  per- 
manence in  the  new  form,  and  of  the  new 
habits  the  body  then  manifests.     Plasticity, 
then,  in  the  wide  sense  of  the  word,  means 
the  possession  of  a  structure  weak  enough 
to  yield  to  an  influence,  but  strong  enough 
not  to  yield  all  at  once.     Each  relatively 
stable  phase  of  equilibrium  in  such  a  struc- 
ture is  marked  by  what  we  may  call  a  new 
set  of  habits.      Organic   matter,   especially 
nervous  tissue,  seems  endowed  with  a  very 
extraordinary   degree   of   plasticity   of  this 
sort;    so   that  we   may   without  hesitation 
lay  down  as  our  first  proposition  the  fol- 
lowing, that  the  phenomena  of  habit  in  liv- 
ing beings  are  due  to  the  plasticity  of  the 
organic  materials  of  which  their  bodies  are 
composed. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  104.       (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3525.  UNITY   AMID    DIVERSITY— 

Disease  Reveals  Correlation  of  Parts  of  an 
Organism. — The  truth  is  that  all  the  parts 
of  an  organism  are  bound  together  as  one 
whole  by  a  pervading  system  of  correla- 
tions as  intricate  as  they  are  obscure.  When 
the  organism  is  in  health,  and  all  its  parts 
are  working  in  harmony,  the  wonder  of 
these  correlations  is  not  perceived.  But  they 
are  brought  out  in  a  marked  degree  by  the 
phenomena  of  disease,  and  also  by  the 
phenomena  of  monstrosity  or  malformation. 
The  "sympathy"  which  the  most  distant 
and  apparently  unconnected  parts  of  an  or- 
ganism show  with  each  other,  when  one 
of  them  is  affected  by  disease,  is  the  index 
of  correlations  whose  nature  is  utterly  be- 
yond the  reach  of  our  anatomy. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  5,  p.  147.  (Burt.) 


3526. 


Physics  and  Meta- 


physics Complementary,  Not  Antagonistic. 
— Thus  we  arrive  at  the  singular  result 
that,  of  the  two  paths  opened  up  to  us  in 
the  "  Discourse  upon  Method,"  the  one  leads, 
by  way  of  Berkeley  and  Hume,  to  Kant 
and  idealism ;  while  the  other  leads,  by  way 
of  De  la  Mettrie  and  Priestley,  to  modern 
physiology  and  materialism.  Our  stem  di- 
vides into  two  main  branches,  which  grow 
in  opposite  ways,  and  bear  flowers  which 
look  as  different  as  they  can  well  be.  But 
each  branch  is  sound  and  healthy,  and  has 
as  much  life  and  vigor  as  the  other.  If  a 
botanist  found  this  state  of  things  in  a  new 
plant,  I  imagine  that  he  might  be  inclined 
to  think  that  his  tree  was  monoecious — that 
the  flowers  were  of  different  sexes,  and  that, 


so  far  from  setting  up  a  barrier  between 
the  two  branches  of  the  tree,  the  only  hope 
of  fertility  lay  in  bringing  them  together. 
I  may  be  taking  too  much  of  a  naturalist's 
view  of  the  case,  but  I  must  confess  that  this 
is  exactly  my  notion  of  what  is  to  be  done 
with  metaphysics  and  physics.  Their  dif- 
ferences are  complementary,  not  antagonis- 
tic; and  thought  will  never  be  completely 
fruitful  until  the  one  unites  with  the 
other. — HUXLEY  Lay  Sermons,  serm.  14,  p. 
337.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3527. Uniform  Motion 

of  Planets  and  Satellites — One  Common 
Impulse  Affecting  All. — All  the  planets  trav- 
el the  same  way  round.  This  is  true  not 
only  of  the  eight  primary  planets,  but  of  the 
asteroids,  now  more  than  a  hundred  and 
thirty  in  number.  Again,  all  the  secondary 
planets  or  satellites  travel  the  same  way 
round  ( this  direction  of  revolution  being  the 
same  as  that  in  which  the  planets  revolve 
round  the  sun) — except  the  satellites  of 
Uranus,  which,  however,  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  any  direction  of  motion  with  refer- 
ence to  the  general  level  in  which  the  plan- 
etary system  circuits,  for  they  travel  in 
planes  nearly  square  to  that  level.  Lastly, 
as  respects  direction  of  motion,  all  the  plan- 
ets whose  rotation  has  been  observed,  in- 
cluding our  earth  and  the  moon,  and  the 
sun  also,  rotate  on  their  axes  in  the  same 
direction.  It  must  be  understood  that  this 
direction  is  one  and  the  same  for  all  these 
motions — the  revolutions  of  the  planets 
around  the  sun,  of  the  satellites  round  the 
planets,  and  of  the  planets  on  their  axes. 
It  seems  natural  to  infer  that  the  uniform- 
ity is  the  result  of  some  general  condition 
affecting  the  whole  scheme  from  the  begin- 
ning.— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  179. 
(L.  G.  &Co.,  1897.) 

3528. Various  Adjust- 
ments Accomplish  a  Single  End — Insects 
Compelled  to  Fertilize  Orchids. — Thus  the 
use  of  all  the  parts  of  the  flower  (namely, the 
inflected  edges,  or  the  polished  inner  sides 
of  the  labellum — the  two  orifices  and  their 
position  close  to  the  anthers  and  stigma — 
the  large  size  of  the  medial  rudimentary 
stamen)  are  rendered  intelligible.  An  in- 
sect which  enters  the  labellum  is  thus  com- 
pelled to  crawl  out  by  one  of  the  two  nar- 
row passages,  on  the  sides  of  which  the 
pollen  masses  and  stigma  are  placed.  We 
have  seen  that  exactly  the  same  end  is 
gained  in  the  case  of  Coryanthes  by  the 
labellum  being  half  filled  with  secreted  fluid ; 
and  in  the  case  of  Pterostylis  and  some 
other  Australian  orchids  by  the  labellum 
being  irritable,  so  that  when  touched  by  an 
entering  insect  it  shuts  up  the  flower,  with 
the  exception  of  a  single  narrow  passage. — 
DARWIN  Fertilization  of  Orchids,  ch.  8,  p. 
231.  (A.,  1898.) 

3529.     "UNITY"    BECOMES   A 

SNARE — Systematizing    Overdone — Perfection 
by    Diversity. — The    fons    errorum    in    M. 


713 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Union 
Unity 


Comte's  later  speculations  is  this  inordinate 
demand  for  "  unity  "  and  "  systematization." 
This  is  the  reason  why  it  does  not  suffice  to 
him  that  all  should  be  ready,  in  case  of 
need,  to  postpone  their  personal  interests 
and  inclinations  to  the  requirements  of  the 
general  good;  he  demands  that  each  should 
regard  as  vicious  any  care  at  all  for  his 
personal  interests,  except  as  a  means  to  the 
good  of  others — should  be  ashamed  of  it, 
should  strive  to  cure  himself  of  it,  because 
his  existence  is  not  "  systematized,"  is  not 
in  "  complete  unity,"  as  long  as  he  cares 
for  more  than  one  thing.  The  strangest  part 
of  the  matter  is  that  this  doctrine  seems 
to  M.  Comte  to  be  axiomatic.  That  all  per- 
fection consists  in  unity,  he  apparently  con- 
siders to  be  a  maxim  which  no  sane  man 
thinks  of  questioning.  It  never  seems  to  en- 
ter into  his  conceptions  that  any  one  could 
object  ab  initio,  and  ask  why  this  universal 
systematizing,  systematizing,  systematizing  ? 
Why  is  it  necessary  that  all  human  life 
should  point  but  to  one  object,  and  be  culti- 
vated into  a  system  of  means  to  a  single 
end?  May  it  not  be  the  fact  that  mankind, 
who,  after  all,  are  made  up  of  single  hu- 
man beings,  obtain  a  greater  sum  of  happi- 
ness when  each  pursues  his  own,  under  the 
rules  and  conditions  required  by  the  good 
of  the  rest,  than  when  each  makes  the  good 
of  the  rest  his  only  object,  and  allows  him- 
self no  personal  pleasures  not  indispensable 
to  the  preservation  of  his  faculties?  The 
regimen  of  a  blockaded  town  should  be  cheer- 
fully submitted  to  when  high  purposes  re- 
quire it,  but  is  it  the  ideal  perfection  of 
human  existence? — MILL  Positive  Philos- 
ophy of  Auguste  Comte,  p.  127.  (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1887.) 

353O.     UNITY,  LOWER  VS.  HIGHER 

— Position  of  Agnosticism. — [The]  funda- 
mental inconsistency  in  the  agnostic  philos- 
ophy becomes  all  the  more  remarkable  when 
we  find  that  the  very  men  who  tell  us  that 
we  are  not  one  with  anything  above  us  are 
the  same  who  insist  that  we  are  one  with 
everything  beneath  us.  Whatever  there  is  in 
us  or  about  us  which  is  purely  animal  we 
may  see  everywhere;  but  whatever  there  is 
in  us  purely  intellectual  and  moral  we  del- 
ude ourselves  if  we  think  we  see  it  anywhere. 
There  are  abundant  homologies  between  our 
bodies  and  the  bodies  of  the  beasts,  but  there 
are  no  homologies  between  our  minds  and 
any  mind  which  lives  and  manifests  itself 
in  Nature.  Our  livers  and  our  lungs,  our 
vertebrae  and  our  nervous  systems,  are  iden- 
tical in  origin  and  in  function  with  those 
of  the  living  creatures  round  us ;  but  there 
is  nothing  in  Nature  or  above  it  which 
corresponds  to  our  forethought,  or  design, 
or  purpose — to  our  love  of  the  good  or  our 
admiration  of  the  beautiful — to  our  indig 
nation  with  the  wicked,  or  to  our  pity  for 
the  suffering  and  the  fallen.  I  venture  to 
think  that  no  system  of  philosophy  that  has 
ever  been  taught  on  earth  lies  under  such  a 


weight  of  antecedent  improbability;  and  this 
improbability  increases  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  success  of  science  in  tracing  the  unity 
of  Nature,  and  in  showing  step  by  step  how 
its  laws  and  their  results  can  be  brought 
more  and  more  into  direct  relation  with  the 
mind  and  intellect  of  man. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  8,  p.  166.  _(Burt.) 

3531.  UNITY  OF  ALL  KNOWLEDGE 

— The  truth  is  that  there  is  no  branch  of 
human  inquiry,  however  purely  physical, 
which  is  more  than  the  word  "branch" 
implies;  none  which  is  not  connected  through 
endless  ramifications  with  every  other,  and 
especially  that  which  is  the  root  and  center 
of  them  all.  If  He  who  formed  the  mind 
be  one  with  Him  who  is  the  Orderer  of  all 
things  concerning  which  that  mind  is  occu- 
pied, there  can  be  no  end  to  the  points  of 
contact  between  our  different  conceptions 
of  them,  of  Him,  and  of  ourselves. — ARGYLL 
Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  35.  (Burt.) 

3532.  UNITY    OF   LANGUAGE 
WRONGLY    INFERRED—  History   Told  in 
Borrowed  Words — Intercourse  of  Nations. — 
Before  now  a  writer  has  proved  to  his  own 
satisfaction  that  Turkish,  Arabic,  and  Per- 
sian are  all  branches  of  one  primitive  lan- 
guage, his  argument  being  that  the  Turks 
call  a  man  adam,  as  the  Arabs  call  the  first 
man,  and  a  father  pader,  which  is  like  the 
Persian  word.    The  fact  is  true  enough,  but 
what  the  argument  omits  to  notice  is  that 
the  Turks  have  been  for  ages  enriching  their 
own    barbaric    language    by    taking    words 
from  the  cultured  Arabic  and  Persian,  and 
adam  and  pader  are   such  lately  borrowed 
words,    not    philologically    Turkish    at    all. 
Borrowed  words  like  these  are  indeed  valu- 
able evidence,  but  what  they  prove  is  not  the 
common    origin    of   languages — it    is    inter- 
course between  the  nations  speaking  them. 
They   often   give   the   clew   to   the   country 
from  which  some  new  produce  was  obtained, 
or  some  new  instrument,  or  idea,  or  insti- 
tution was  learned.     Thus  in  English  it  is 
seen  by  the  very  words  how  Italy  furnished 
us    with   opera,    sonata,    chiaroscuro,    while 
Spain  gave  gallina  and  mulatto;  how  from 
the  Hebrews  we  have  sabbath  and  jubilee, 
from  the   Arabs  zero  and  magazine,  while 
Mexico  has  supplied  chocolate  and  tomato, 
Haiti  hammock  and  hurricane,  Peru  guano 
and  quinin,  and  even  the  languages  of  the 
South    Sea    Islands   are    represented   by   ta- 
boo and  tatoo.    But  in  all  this  there  is  not 
one   particle   of  evidence   that   any   one   of 
these   languages   is   sprung  from   the   same 
family  with  any  other. — TYLOR  Anthropol- 
ogy, ch.  6,  p.  154.     (A.,  1899.) 

3533.  UNITY  OF  MAN  WITH  LOW- 
ER   NATURE  — A   Beneficent,    Provision.— 
It    is    because    of    the    composition    of    our 
body  that  the   animals   and  plants   around 
us  are  capable  of  ministering  to  our  support 
— that  the  common  air  is  to  us  the  very 


Unity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


714 


breath  of  life,  and  that  herbs  and  minerals 
in  abundance  have  either  poisoning  proper- 
ties or  healing  virtue. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Na- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  28.  (Burt.) 

3534.  UNITY  OF  MANKIND— Like- 
ness, Mental  and  Bodily,  of  All  Human 
Races. — Now  if,  as  some  have  thought,  the 
negroes,  Mongolians,  whites,  and  other  races 
were  distinct  species,  each  sprung  from  a 
separate  origin  in  its  own  region,  then  the 
peopling  of  the  globe  might  require  only  a 
moderate  time,  the  races  having  only  to 
spread  each  from  its  own  birthplace.  But 
the  opinion  of  modern  zoologists,  whose  study 
of  the  species  and  breeds  of  animals  makes 
them  the  best  judges,  is  against  this  view  of 
several  origins  of  man,  for  two  principal 
reasons.  First,  that  all  tribes  of  men,  from 
the  blackest  to  the  whitest,  the  most  savage 
to  the  most  cultured,  have  such  general  like- 
ness in  the  structure  of  their  bodies  and  the 
working  of  their  minds  as  is  easiest  and  best 
accounted  for  by  their  being  descended  from 
a  common  ancestry,  however  distant.  Sec- 
ond, that  all  the  human  races,  notwithstand- 
ing their  form  and  color,  appear  capable  of 
freely  intermarrying  and  forming  crossed 
races  of  every  combination,  such  as  the  mil- 
lions of  mulattos  and  mestizos  sprung  in 
the  New  World  from  the  mixture  of  Euro- 
peans, Africans,  and  native  Americans;  this 
again  points  to  a  common  ancestry  of  all  the 
races  of  man.  We  may  accept  the  theory 
of  the  unity  of  mankind  as  best  agreeing 
with  ordinary  experience  and  scientific  re- 
search.— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  1,  p.  5. 
(A.,  1899.) 

3535. Proof  that  Variety 

Is  Consistent  with  Common  Origin — Man's 
Command  of  the  Whole  Habitable  Globe. — 
1  may  refer  the  reader  to  the  writings  of 
Blumenbach,  Prichard,  Lawrence,  and  more 
recently  Latham  for  convincing  proofs  that 
the  varieties  of  form,  color,  and  organization 
of  different  races  of  men  are  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  the  generally  received  opinion 
that  all  the  individuals  of  the  species  have 
originated  from  a  single  pair;  and,  while 
they  exhibit  in  man  as  many  diversities  of 
a  physiological  nature  as  appear  in  any 
other  species,  they  confirm  also  the  opinion 
of  the  slight  deviation  from  a  common  stand- 
ard of  which  species  are  capable. 

The  power  of  existing  and  multiplying 
in  every  latitude,  and  in  every  variety  of 
situation  and  climate,  which  has  enabled 
the  great  human  family  to  extend  itself  over 
the  habitable  globe,  is  partly,  says  Law- 
rence, the  result  of  physical  constitution, 
and  partly  of  the  mental  prerogative  of 
man.  If  he  did  not  possess  the  most  en- 
during and  flexible  corporeal  frame,  his  arts 
would  not  enable  him  to  be  the  inhabitant 
of  all  climates,  and  to  brave  the  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold  and  the  other  destructive 
influences  of  local  situation.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing this  flexibility  of  bodily  frame,  we 
find  no  signs  of  indefinite  departure  from 


a  common  standard,  and  the  intermarriages 
of  individuals  of  the  most  remote  varieties 
are  not  less  fruitful  than  between  those  of 
the  same  tribe. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geol- 
ogy, bk.  iii,  ch.  36,  p.  609.  (A.,  1854.) 

3536. The   Crossing  of 

Dissimilar  Races. — It  may  be  strongly  argued 
.  .  .  that  not  only  do  the  bodily  and 
mental  varieties  of  mankind  blend  gradually 
into  one  another,  but  that  even  the  most 
dissimilar  races  can  intermarry  in  all  di- 
rections, producing  mixed  or  sub-races  which, 
when  left  to  themselves,  continue  their  own 
kind.  Advocates  of  the  polygenist  theory, 
that  there  are  several  distinct  races  of  man, 
sprung  from  independent  origins,  have  de- 
nied that  certain  races,  such  as  the  English 
and  native  Australians,  produce  fertile  half- 
breeds.  But  the  evidence  tends  more  and 
more  to  establish  crossing  as  possible  be- 
tween all  races,  which  goes  to  prove  that 
all  the  varieties  of  mankind  are  zoologically 
oi  one  species. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  3, 
p.  85.  (A.,  1899.) 

3537.  UNITY  OF  NATURE— [The] 
substitution  or  repetition  of  similar  and 
almost  identical  forms,  in  regions  that  are 
separated  from  each  other  by  seas  or  wide 
intervening  tracts,  is  a  wonderful  law  of 
Nature.  It  prevails  even  in  the  rarest  forms 
of  the  floras. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature, 
p.  317.  (Bell,  1896.) 

3538. A  Mental  Concep- 
tion— Theory  of  Development  the  Perception 
of  a  Plan. — All  theories  of  development  have 
been  simply  attempts  to  suggest  the  manner 
in  which  or  the  physical  process  by  means 
of  which  this  ideal  continuity  of  type  and 
pattern  has  been  preserved.  But  whilst 
all  these  suggestions  have  been  in  the  high- 
est degree  uncertain,  some  of  them  violently 
absurd,  the  one  thing  which  is  certain  is 
the  fact  for  which  they  endeavor  to  account. 
And  what  is  that  fact?  It  is  one  which  be- 
longs to  the  world  of  mind,  not  to  the  world 
of  matter.  When  Professor  Owen  tells  us, 
for  example,  that  certain  jointed  bones  in 
the  whale's  paddle  are  the  same  bones  which 
in  the  mole  enable  it  to  burrow,  which  in 
the  bat  enable  it  to  fly,  and  in  man  consti- 
tute his  hand,  with  all  its  wealth  of  func- 
tions, he  does  not  mean  that  physically  and 
actually  they  are  the  same  bones,  nor  that 
they  have  the  same  uses,  nor  that  they  ever 
have  been  or  ever  can  be  transferable  from 
one  kind  of  animal  to  another.  He  means 
that  in  a  purely  ideal  or  mental  conception 
of  the  plan  of  all  vertebrate  skeletons  these 
bones  occupy  the  same  relative  place — rela- 
tive, that  is,  not  to  origin  or  use,  but  to  the 
plan  or  conception  of  that  skeleton  as  a 
whole. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  1,  p.  19. 
(Burt.) 

3539.     Apprehended  by 

Savage — Recognition  of  One  Great,  Unseen 
Power. — We  find  even  among  the  most  sav- 
age nations  (as  my  own  travels  enable  me 


715 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Unity 


to  attest)  a  certain  vague,  terror-stricken 
sense  of  the  all-powerful  unity  of  natural 
forces,  and  of  the  existence  of  an  invisible, 
spiritual  essence  manifested  in  these  forces, 
whether  in  unfolding  the  flower  and  matur- 
ing the  fruit  of  the  nutrient  tree,  in  up- 
heaving the  soil  of  the  forest,  or  in  rending 
the  clouds  with  the  might  of  the  storm. 
We  may  here  trace  the  revelation  of  a  bond 
of  union,  linking  together  the  visible  world 
and  that  higher  spiritual  world  which  es- 
capes the  grasp  of  the  senses. — HUMBOLDT 
Cosmos,  vol.  i,  int.,  p.  36.  (H.,  1897.) 

354O.     Evaporation  of 

Solids,  as  Ice  and  Metals. — Metals,  and  prob- 
ably all  solids,  evaporate  at  ordinary  tem- 
peratures. It  has  long  been  known  that  ice 
evaporates  very  rapidly,  and  now  it  is  found 
that  metals  do  the  same,  and  the  evapora- 
tion can  be  detected  at  temperatures  far 
below  their  melting-points.  All  these  curi- 
ous phenomena  give  us  new  ideas  as  to  the 
constitution  of  matter,  and  lead  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  extreme  mobility  of  the 
molecules  of  gases  has  its  analogue  in  liq- 
uids and  even  in  solids.  The  flow  of  metals, 
their  diffusion  into  other  metals,  and  their 
evaporation,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
proportion  of  their  molecules  must  possess 
considerable  mobility,  and  when  these  reach 
the  surface  they  are  enabled  to  escape  either 
into  other  bodies  in  contact  with  them  or 
into  the  atmosphere.  This  proportion  of 
rapidly  moving  molecules  gives  to  solids 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  liquids  and 
of  gases. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century, 
ch.  7,  p.  57.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3541. Familiar  Birds  or 

Flowers  in  Strange  Lands — Arctic  Lichen 
under  Shadow  of  Palm. — In  all  regions,  how- 
ever far  away  from  his  own  home,  in  the 
midst  of  a  fauna  and  flora  entirely  new  to 
him,  the  traveler  is  startled  occasionally 
by  the  song  of  a  bird  or  the  sight  of  a  flower 
so  familiar  that  it  transports  him  at  once 
to  woods  where  every  tree  is  like  a  friend 
to  him.  It  seems  as  if  something  akin  to 
what  in  our  own  mental  experience  we  call 
reminiscence  or  association  existed  in  the 
workings  of  Nature;  for  tho  the  organic 
combinations  are  so  distinct  in  different 
climates  and  countries,  they  never  wholly 
exclude  each  other.  Every  zoological  £nd 
botanical  province  retains  some  link  which 
binds  it  to  all  the  rest,  and  makes  it  part 
of  the  general  harmony.  The  arctic  lichen 
is  found  growing  under  the  shadow  of  the 
palm  on  the  rocks  of  the  tropical  sierra,  and 
the  song  of  the  thrush  and  the  tap  of  the 
woodpecker  mingle  with  the  sharp,  discord- 
ant cries  of  the  parrot  and  paroquet. — AGAS- 
siz  Geological  Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  188.  (H. 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


3542. 


Is  Man  an  Ex- 


ception?— We  have  only  to  observe,  in  the 
first  place,  the  strange  and  anomalous 
position  in  which  it  [i.  e.,  the  assump- 


tion that  in  the  system  of  Nature,  as  thus 
seen  and  known,  there  are  no  phenomena 
due  to  mind  having  any  analogies  with 
our  own]  places  man.  As  regards  at 
least  the  higher  faculties  of  his  mind,  he 
is  allowed  no  place  in  Nature,  and  no  fellow- 
ship with  any  other  thing  or  any  other 
being  outside  of  Nature.  He  is  absolutely 
alone — out  of  all  relation  with  the  universe 
around  him,  and  under  a  complete  delusion 
when  he  sees  in  any  part  of  it  any  mental 
homolof^es  with  his  own  intelligence,  or  with 
his  own  will,  or  with  his  own  affections. 
Does  this  absolute  solitariness  of  position  as 
regards  the  higher  attributes  of  man — does 
It  sound  reasonable,  or  possible,  or  consist- 
ent with  some  of  the  most  fundamental  con- 
ceptions of  science?  How,  for  example,  does 
it  accord  with  that  great  conception  whose 
truth  and  sweep  become  every  day  more  ap- 
parent— the  unity  of  Nature? — ARGYLL  Uni- 
ty of  Nature,  ch.  8,  p.  165.  (Burt.) 

3543. Magnetism  Appar- 
ently Universal  as  Gravitation. — This  proc- 
ess of  unification  of  the  cosmos  .  .  .  was 
carried  no  further  until  the  fact  unexpected- 
ly emerged  from  a  vast  and  complicated 
mass  of  observations,  that  the  magnetism  of 
the  earth  is  subject  to  subtle  influences, 
emanating,  certainly,  from  some,  and  pre- 
sumably .  .  .  from  all  of  the  heavenly 
bodies;  the  inference  being  thus  rendered  at 
least  plausible  that  a  force  not  less  univer- 
sal than  gravity  itself,  but  with  whose 
modes  of  operation  we  are  as  yet  unacquaint- 
ed, pervades  the  universe,  and  forms,  it 
might  be  said,  an  intangible  bond  of  sympa- 
thy between  its  parts.  Now  for  the  inves- 
tigation of  this  influence  two  roads  are 
open.  It  may  be  pursued  by  observation 
either  of  the  bodies  from  which  it  emanates, 
or  of  the  effects  which  it  produces — that 
is  to  say,  either  by  the  astronomer  or  by 
the  physicist,  or,  better  still,  by  both  con- 
currently. Their  acquisitions  are  mutually 
profitable;  nor  can  either  be  considered  as 
independent  of  the  other.  Any  important 
accession  to  knowledge  respecting  the  sun, 
for  example,  may  be  expected  to  cast  a  re- 
flected light  on  the  still  obscure  subject 
of  terrestrial  magnetism;  while  discoveries 
in  magnetism  or  its  alter  ego  electricity 
must  profoundly  affect  solar  inquiries. — 
CLEBKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  1, 
p.  175.  (BL,  1893.) 

3544. Microscopic  Reve- 
lations of  Minutest  Cell  Join  with  Telescopic 
Study  of  Sun  and  Stars. — To  the  scientific 
worker  no  subject  is  too  vast  for  his  re- 
search, no  object  so  minute  as  to  be  un- 
worthy of  his  most  patient  study.  In  some 
inquiries  concerning  the  nature  of 
volcanic  action  we  shall  be  led  to  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  phenomena  displayed  in  the 
sun,  moon,  comets,  and  other  great  bodies 
of  the  universe;  but  another  road  to  truths 
of  the  same  grandeur  and  importance  is 
found  .  .  .  in  an  examination  of  the 


Unity 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


716 


mode  of  development  of  crystallites,  and  a 
study  of  the  materials  contained  in  the  mi- 
croscopic cavities  of  the  minutest  crystals. 
— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  3,  p.  66.  (A.,  1899.) 


3545. 


One  Plan  in  Struc- 


ture of  Diverse  Animals — Leg  and  Jaw  of 
Young  Lobster  Indistinguishable. — [The] 
study  of  development  proves  that  the  doc- 
trine of  unity  of  plan  is  not  merely  a  fancy, 
that  it  is  not  merely  one  way  of  looking  at 
the  matter,  but  that  it  is  the  expression  of 
deep-seated,  natural  facts.  The  legs  and 
jaws  of  the  lobster  may  not  merely  be  re- 
garded as  modifications  of  a  common  type — 
in  fact  and  in  Nature  they  are  so — the  leg 
and  the  jaw  of  the  young  animal  being  at 
first  indistinguishable.  —  HUXLEY  Lay  Ser- 
mons, serm.  6,  p.  101.  (A.,  1895.) 


3546. 


The  Conservation 


of  Energy — All  Forces  May  Be  One. — It  may 
be  that  all  natural  forces  are  resolvable  into 
some  one  force;  and  indeed  in  the  modern 
doctrine  of  the  correlation  of  forces  an  idea 
which  is  a  near  approach  to  this  has  al- 
ready entered  the  domain  of  science.  It  may 
also  be  that  this  one  force,  into  which  all 
others  return  again,  is  itself  but  a  mode 
of  action  of  the  divine  will.  But  we  have 
no  instruments  whereby  to  reach  this  last 
analysis. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  3,  p. 
76.  (Burt.) 


3547. 


The  Kosmos.— 


The  system  of  Nature  in  which  we  live 
impresses  itself  on  the  mind  as  one  system. 
It  is  under  this  impression  that  we  speak 
of  it  as  the  "  universe."  It  was  under  the 
same  impression,  but  with  a  conception  spe- 
cially vivid  of  its  order  and  its  beauty,  that 
the  Greeks  called  it  the  "  kosmos."  By  such 
words  as  these  we  mean  that  Nature  is  one 
whole — a  whole  of  which  all  the  parts  are 
inseparably  united — joined  together  by  the 
most  curious  and  intimate  relations,  which 
it  is  the  highest  work  of  observation  to 
trace,  and  of  reason  to  understand. — AR- 
GYLL Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  1,  p.  1.  (Burt.) 

3548. The   One   Great 

Lesson  of  Modern  Science. — What  is  the  phil- 
osophic purport  of  these  beautiful  and  sub- 
lime discoveries  with  which  the  keen  insight 
and  patient  diligence  of  modern  students  of 
science  are  beginning  to  be  rewarded?  What 
is  the  lesson  that  is  taught  alike  by  the  cor- 
relation of  forces,  by  spectrum  analysis,  by 
the  revelations  of  chemistry  as  to  the  subtle 
behavior  of  molecules  inaccessible  to  the  eye 
of  sense,  by  the  astronomy  that  is  beginning 
to  sketch  the  physical  history  of  countless 
suns  in  the  firmament,  by  the  paleontology 
which  is  slowly  unraveling  the  wonders  of 
past  life  upon  the  earth  through  millions 
of  ages?  What  is  the  grand  lesson  that  is 
taught  by  all  this?  It  is  the  lesson  of  the 
unity  of  Nature.  To  learn  it  rightly  is  to 
learn  that  all  the  things  that  we  can  see 
and  know  in  the  course  of  our  life  in  this 
world  are  so  intimately  woven  together  that 


nothing  could  be  left  out  without  reducing 
the  whole  marvelous  scheme  to  chaos. — 
FISKE  Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  23.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3549.  UNITY  OF  ORIGIN  OF  EACH 
ORGANISM— Distribution  from  a  Single  Cen- 
ter.— The    most    important    principle    from 
which  we  must  start  in  chorology,  and  of  the 
truth   of   which   we   are   convinced   by   due 
examination  of  the  theory  of  selection,   is 
that,  as  a  rule,  every  animal  and  vegetable 
species  has  arisen  only  once  in  the  course 
of  time  and  only  in  one  place  on  the  earth 
— its    so-called    "  center    of    creation  " — by 
natural  selection.     I  share  this  opinion  of 
Darwin's  unconditionally,  in  respect  to  the 
great    majority   of    higher    and   perfect   or- 
ganisms,   and    in   respect   to   most   animals 
and  plants  in  which  the  division  of  labor,  or 
differentiation   of   the    cells   and   organs   of 
which   they   are   composed,   has   attained   a 
certain  stage.    For  it  is  quite  incredible,  or 
could  at  best  only  be  an   exceedingly  rare 
accident,  that  all  the  manifold  and  compli- 
cated  circumstances — all  the  different  con- 
ditions  of  the  struggle   for   life  which   in- 
fluence   the    origin    of    a    new    species    by 
natural   selection — should   have  worked   to- 
gether in  exactly  the  same   agreement  and 
combination  more  than  once  in  the  earth's 
history,  or  should  have  been  active  at  the 
same  time  at  several  different  points  of  the 
earth's  surface. — HAECKEL  History  of  Cre- 
ation, vol.  i,  ch.  14,  p.  166.     (K.  P.  &  Co., 
1899.) 

3550.  UNITY  OF  PERFECTION  AND 
HAPPINESS— Pleasure  and  Pain— Delight  oj 
Abundant    Spontaneous     Activity. — Human 
perfection    and    human    happiness    coincide, 
and  thus  constitute,  in  reality,  but  a  single 
end.    For  as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  perfection 
or  full  development  of  a  power  is  in  pro- 
portion to  its  capacity  of  free,  vigorous,  and 
continued  action,  so,  on  the  other,  all  pleas- 
ure is  the  concomitant  of  activity;   its  de- 
gree  being   in    proportion    as   that   activity 
is  spontaneously  intense,  its  prolongation  in 
proportion  as  that  activity  is  spontaneously 
continued;  whereas,  pain  arises  either  from 
a  faculty  being  restrained  in  its  spontaneous 
tendency    to    action,    or    from    being    urged 
to^a  degree,  or  to  a  continuance  of  energy 
beyond  the  limit  to  which  it  of  itself  freely 
tends.     To  promote  our  perfection   is  thus 
to  promote  our  happiness;  for  to  cultivate 
fully  and  harmoniously  our  various   facul- 
ties is   simply  to  enable   them  by  exercise 
to    energize    longer    and    stronger    without 
painful  effort — that  is,  to  afford  us  a  larger 
amount  of  a  higher  quality  of  enjoyment. — 
HAMILTON  Metaphysics,  lect.  2,  p/15.      (G. 
&  L.,  1859.) 

3551.  UNITY    OF    TENDENCY    OF 
CERTAIN  EPOCHS—  The  Fifteenth  Century 
in  Discovery. — The  fifteenth  century  belongs 
to  those  remarkable  epochs  in  which  all  the 
efforts  of  the  mind  indicate  one  determined 


717 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Unity 


and  general  character,  and  one  unchanging 
striving  toward  the  same  goal.  The  unity 
of  this  tendency,  and  the  results  by  which 
it  was  crowned,  combined  with  the  activity 
of  whole  races,  give  to  the  age  of  Columbus, 
Sebastian  Cabot,  and  Gama,a  character  both 
of  grandeur  and  enduring  splendor.  In  the 
midst  of  two  different  stages  of  human 
culture  the  fifteenth  century  may  be  regard- 
ed as  a  period  of  transition  which  belongs 
both  to  the  Middle  Ages  and  to  the  begin- 
ning of  more  recent  times.  It  is  the  age 
of  the  greatest  discoveries  in  space,  embra- 
cing almost  all  degrees  of  latitude  and  all 
elevations  of  the  earth's  surface.  While 
this  period  doubled  the  number  of  the  works 
of  creation  known  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  it  likewise  offered  to  the  intellect 
new  and  powerful  incitements  toward  the 
improvement  of  natural  sciences,  in  the 
departments  of  physics  and  mathematics. — 
HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  pt.  ii,  p.  228. 
(H.,  1897.) 

3552.  UNITY  OF  THE  SCIENCES— 
Perhaps     All     Elements     One — Alchemist's 
Dream  May  Come  True. — Every   important 
discovery   establishes    a    closer   kinship    be- 
tween the  sciences.     The  time  has  already 
come  when  to  know  any  one  of  the  sciences 
thoroughly  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  rest; 
in   fact,   all   the   so-called   natural   sciences 
are  different  branches  of  one  great  science. 
It  is  doubtless  true  that  there  is  but  one 
energy,    and    it   may   be   that   there   is   but 
one  element  of  matter  out  of  which  all  the 
various    so-called    elements    come. — ELISHA 
GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  ii,  ch.  20,  p. 
170.     (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3553.  UNITY  OF  THE   UNIVERSE 

— It  is  every  day  becoming  more  and  more 
clear  that  our  earth  is  bound  by  ties  of  the 
closest  resemblance  to  the  other  members 
of  that  family  of  worlds  to  which  it  belongs, 
and  that  the  materials  entering  into  their 
constitution  and  the  forces  operating  in  all 
are  the  same.  .  .  .  There  are  the  strongest 
grounds  for  believing  the  interior  of  our 
globe  to  consist  of  similar  materials  to  those 
found  in  the  small  planetary  bodies  known 
as  meteorites.  That  the  comets  are  merely 
aggregations  of  such  meteorites,  and  that 
the  planets  differ  from  them  only  in  their 
greater  dimensions,  may  be  regarded  as 
among  the  demonstrated  conclusions  of  the 
astronomer.  The  materials  found  most  abun- 
dantly in  meteorites  and  in  the  interior  of 
our  globe  are  precisely  the  same  as  those 
which  are  proved  to  exist  in  an  incandescent 
state  in  our  sun.  Hence  we  are  led  to  con- 
clude that  the  whole  of  the  bodies  of  the 
solar  system  are  composed  of  the  same 
chemical  elements. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  12, 
p.  360.  (A.,  1899.) 

3554. Continuity  of  the 

Law  of  Gravitation  through  All  Worlds. — 
The  most  striking  examples  of  the  continu- 
ousness  of  law  are,  perhaps,  those  furnished 
by  astronomy,  especially  in  connection  with 


the  more  recent  applications  of  spectrum 
analysis.  But  even  in  the  case  of  the  sim- 
pler laws  the  demonstration  is  complete. 
There  is  no  reason  apart  from  continuity 
to  expect  that  gravitation,  for  instance, 
should  prevail  outside  our  world.  But 
wherever  matter  has  been  detected  through- 
out the  entire  universe,  whether  in  the 
form  of  star  or  planet,~comet  or  meteorite, 
it  is  found  to  obey  that  law.  "  If  there 
were  no  other  indication  of  unity  than  this 
it  would  be  almost  enough.  For  the  unity 
which  is  implied  in  the  mechanism  of  the 
heavens  is  indeed  a  unity  which  is  all-em-, 
bracing  and. complete.  The  structure  of  our 
own  bodies,  with  all  that  depends  upon  it, 
is  a  structure  governed  by  and  therefore 
adapted  to  the  same  force  of  gravitation 
which  has  determined  the  form  and  the 
movements  of  myriads  of  worlds.  Every 
part  of  the  human  organism  is  fitted  to  con- 
ditions which  would  all  be  destroyed  in  a 
moment  if  the  forces  of  gravitation  were 
to  change  or  fail. — DBUMMOND  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  p.  36.  (H.  Al.) 

3555. Earthly  Elements 

Found  in  Far-off  Stars — Aldebaran. — The 
light  of  this  star  [Aldebaran]  is  of  a  pale 
red.  Seen  in  the  spectroscope  it  presents 
at  a  glance  a  great  number  of  strong  lines, 
particularly  in  the  orange,  green,  and  blue. 
The  positions  of  about  seventy  of  these  lines 
have  been  measured,  and  coincidences  have 
been  found  with  the  spectra  of  sodium,  mag- 
nesium, hydrogen,  calcium,  iron,  bismuth, 
tellurium,  antimony,  and  mercury.  Seven 
other  elements  have  been  compared  with 
this  star,  namely — nitrogen,  cobalt,  tin,  lead, 
cadmium,  lithium,  and  barium;  but  no  co- 
incidence has  been  observed. — FLAMMABION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  6,  p.  608. 
(A.) 

3556. Gravitation  Holds 

through  Boundless  Space. — In  the  front  rank 
of  all  ...  is  the  law  of  gravitation. 
The  celestial  bodies,  as  you  all  know,  float 
and  move  in  infinite  space.  Compared  with 
the  enormous  distances  between  them,  each 
of  us  is  but  as  a  grain  of  dust.  The  nearest 
fixed  stars,  viewed  even  under  the  most 
powerful  magnification,  have  no  visible  di- 
ameter; and  we  may  be  sure  that  even  our 
sun,  looked  at  from  the  nearest  fixed  stars, 
would  only  appear  as  a  single  luminous 
point,  seeing  that  the  masses  of  those  stars, 
in  so  far  as  they  have  been  determined,  have 
not  been  found  to  be  materially  different 
from  that  of  the  sun.  But,  notwithstanding 
these  enormous  distances,  there  is  an  invis- 
ible tie  between  them  which  connects  them 
together,  and  brings  them  in  mutual  in- 
terdependence. This  is  the  force  of  gravi- 
tation with  which  all  heavy  masses  attract 
each  other.  We  know  this  force  as  grav- 
ity when  it  is  operative  between  an  earthly 
body  and  the  mass  of  our  earth.  The  force 
which  causes  a  body  to  fall  to  the  ground 
is  none  other  than  that  which  continually 


ins 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


718 


compels  the  moon  to  accompany  the  earth 
in  its  path  round  the  sun,  and  which  keeps 
the  earth  itself  from  fleeing  off  into  space, 
away  from  the  sun. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular 
Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  145.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3557. Laws  of  Gravita- 
tion and  of  Chemistry  the  Same  through 
Farthest  Space. — That  a  science  of  stellar 
chemistry  should  not  only  have  become  pos- 
sible, but  should  already  have  made  ma- 
terial advances,  is  assuredly  one  of  the  most 
amazing  features  in  the  swift  progress  of 
knowledge  our  age  has  witnessed.  Custom 
can  never  blunt  the  wonder  with  which 
we  must  regard  the  achievement  of  compel- 
ling rays  emanating  from  a  source  devoid 
of  sensible  magnitude  through  immeasurable 
distance,  to  reveal,  by  its  peculiarities,  the 
composition  of  that  source.  The  discovery 
of  revolving  double  stars  assured  us  that  the 
great  governing  force  of  the  planetary  move- 
ments, and  of  our  own  physical  existence, 
sways  equally  the  courses  of  the  farthest 
suns  in  space;  the  application  of  prismatic 
analysis  certified  to  the  presence  in  the 
stars  of  the  familiar  materials,  no  less  of 
the  earth  we  tread,  than  of  the  human  bod- 
ies built  up  out  of  its  dust  and  circum- 
ambient vapors. — CLEBKE  History  of  As- 
tronomy, pt.  ii,  ch.  12,  p.  450.  (BL,  1893.) 

3558. Sodium  Found  in 

Spectrum  of  a  Comet. — Comet  Wells  [in  its 
circuit],  approached  its  [the  sun's]  sur- 
face within  little  more  than  five  million 
miles  on  June  10,  1882;  and  it  is  not  doubt- 
ful that  to  this  circumstance  the  novel  fea- 
ture in  its  incandescence  was  due.  During 
the  first  half  of  April  its  spectrum  was  of  the 
normal  type,  tho  the  carbon  bands  were  un- 
usually weak;  but  with  increasing  vicinity 
to  the  sun  they  died  out,  and  the  entire 
light  seemed  to  become  concentrated  into  a 
narrow,  unbroken,  brilliant  streak,  hardly 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  spectrum  of  a 
star.  This  unusual  behavior  excited  atten- 
tion, and  a  strict  watch  was  kept.  It  was 
rewarded  at  the  Dunecht  Observatory,  May 
27,  by  the  discernment  of  what  had  never 
before  been  seen  in  a  comet — the  yellow 
ray  of  sodium.  By  June  1  this  had  kindled 
into  a  blaze  overpowering  all  other  emis- 
sions. The  light  of  the  comet  was  practical- 
ly monochromatic;  and  the  image  of  the 
entire  head,  with  the  root  of  the  tail,  could 
be  observed,  like  a  solar  prominence,  depict- 
ed, in  its  new  saffron  vesture  of  vivid  illu- 
mination, within  the  jaws  of  an  open  slit. — 
CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  11, 
p.  431.  (BL,  1893.) 

3559.  UNITY,  VISIBLE  AND  TAN- 
GIBLE—  Luminiferous  Ether  a  Solid — The 
Crystalline  Orb  of  Poetry. — Sir  J.  Herschel 
has  declared  that  the  luminiferous  ether 
must  be  conceived  of  not  as  an  air,  nor  as  a 
fluid,  but  rather  as  a  solid — "  in  this  sense, 
at  least,  that  its  particles  cannot  be  sup- 
posed as  capable  of  interchanging  places,  or 
of  bodily  transfer  to  any  measurable  dis- 


tance from  their  own  special  and  assigned 
localities  in  the  universe."  Well  may  Sir 
J.  Herschel  add  that  "this  will  go  far  to 
realize  (in  however  unexpected  a  form)  the 
ancient  idea  of  a  crystalline  orb."  And  thus 
the  wonderful  result  of  all  investigation  is 
that  this  earth  is  in  actual  rigid  contact 
with  the  most  distant  worlds  in  space — 
in  rigid  contact,  that  is  to  say,  through  a 
medium  which  touches  and  envelops  all,  and 
which  is  incessantly  communicating  from 
one  world  to  another  the  minutest  vibra- 
tions it  receives. — ARGYLL  Unity  of  Nature, 
ch.  1,  p.  8.  (Burt.) 

3560.  UNIVERSALITY     OF    DEEP- 
SEA  LIFE — No  Part  of  the  Ocean  Azoic. — 
As  soon  as   it  became  clear  to  naturalists 
that  there  is  no  part  of  the  ocean,  however 
deep    it   may    be,   that   deserves   the    name 
"  azoic,"  but  that  almost  every  part  has  a 
fauna  of  greater  or  less  density,  the  prob- 
lem of  the  origin  of  this  fauna  presented 
itself. — HICKSON   Fauna   of   the  Deep   Sea, 
ch.  3,  p.  53.      (A.,  1894.) 

3561.  UNIVERSALITY  OF  EMULA- 
TION— Affects  Even  Religion  (2  Cor.  ix,  2-4). 
— Emulation  or  rivalry,  a  very  intense  in- 
stinct, [is]  especially  rife  with  young  chil- 
dren,   or  at    least    especially    undisguised. 
Every    one   knows    it.      Nine-tenths    of   the 
work  of  the  world  is  done  by  it.     We  know 
that  if  we  do  not  do  the  task  some  one  else 
will  do  it  and  get  the  credit;  so  we  do  it. 
It  has  very  little  connection  with  sympathy, 
but   rather    more    with    pugnacity. — JAMES 
Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  409.      (H.  H. 
&  Co.,  1899.) 

3562.  UNIVERSE,  ANCIENT    IDEA 

OF  THE — Cicero's  Scheme  as  Given  in  the 
"  Dream  of  Scipio  " — Hearing  Blunted  ~by 
Harmony. — The  universe  is  composed  of 
nine  circles,  or  rather  of  nine  globes,  which 
move.  The  external  sphere  is  that  of  the 
sky,  which  includes  all  the  others,  and  on 
which  are  fixed  the  stars.  Within  revolve 
seven  globes,  drawn  along  by  a  motion  con- 
trary to  that  of  the  sky.  On  the  first  circle 
revolves  the  star  which  men  call  Saturn;  on 
the  second  moves  Jupiter,  a  star  beneficent 
and  propitious  to  human  beings;  then  comes 
Mars,  glowing  and  abhorred;  below,  occupy- 
ing the  middle  region,  shines  the  sun,  chief, 
prince,  moderator  of  the  other  stars,  life  of 
the  world,  whose  immense  globe  illuminates 
and  fills  the  volume  of  its  light.  After  him 
come,  like  two  companions,  Venus  and  Mer- 
cury. Finally,  the  lower  orbit  is  occupied 
by  the  moon,  which  borrows  its  light  from 
the  day-star.  Below  this  last  celestial  circle 
there  is  nothing  but  mortal  and  corruptible, 
with  the  exception  of  the  souls  given  by  di- 
vine kindness  to  the  human  race.  Above  the 
moon  all  is  eternal.  Our  earth,  placed  at 
the  center  of  the  world,  and  separated  from 
the  sky  in  all  directions,  remains  motion- 
less, and  all  heavy  bodies  are  drawn  towards 
it  by  their  own  weight. 


719 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Unit 


Unity 
Uplifting 


Formed  of  unequal  intervals,  but  com- 
bined according  to  a  correct  proportion,  har- 
mony results  from  tke  motion  of  the  sphere, 
which,  forming  grave  and  high  tones  in  a 
common  accord,  makes  with  all  these  varied 
notes  a  melodious  concert.  Such  grand  mo- 
tions cannot  be  accomplished  in  silence,  and 
Nature  has  placed  a  grave  tone  at  the  slow 
and  inferior  orbit  of  the  moon,  and  a  high 
tone  at  the  superior  and  rapid  orbit  of  the 
starry  firmament;  with  these  two  limits  of 
the  octave,  the  eight  moving  globes  produce 
seven  tones  in  different  ways,  and  this  num- 
ber is  the  bond  of  all  things  in  general.  The 
ears  of  men  filled  with  this  harmony  know 
not  how  to  hear  it,  and  mortals  do  not  pos- 
sess a  more  imperfect  sense.  It  is  thus  that 
the  tribes  near  the  Cataracts  of  the  Nile 
have  lost  the  power  of  hearing  them.  The 
splendid  concert  of  the  whole  universe  in 
its  rapid  revolution  is  so  prodigious  that 
your  ears  are  closed  to  this  harmony,  as 
your  glances  sink  before  the  fires  of  the 
sun,  whose  piercing  light  dazzles  and  blinds 
you. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk. 
iv,  ch.  1,  p.  332.  (A.) 

3563.  UNIVERSE     DIVIDED     DIF- 
FERENTLY    BY    EACH    INDIVIDUAL— 

"  Me  "  and  "  Not-me." — There  is  ...  one 
entirely  extraordinary  case  in  which  no  two 
men  ever  are  known  to  choose  alike.  One  great 
splitting  of  the  whole  universe  into  two 
halves  is  made  by  each  of  us;  and  for  each 
of  us  almost  all  of  the  interest  attaches  to 
one  of  the  halves;  but  we  all  draw  the  line 
of  division  between  them  in  a  different  place. 
When  I  say  that  we  all  call  the  two  halves 
by  the  same  names,  and  that  those  names 
are  "  me  "  and  "  not-me  "  respectively,  it 
will  at  once  be  seen  what  I  mean.  The  alto- 
gether unique  kind  of  interest  which  each 
human  mind  feels  in  those  parts  of  creation 
which  it  can  call  me  or  mine  may  be  a  moral 
riddle,  but  it  is  a  fundamental  psychological 
fact.  No  mind  can  take  the  same  interest 
in  his  neighbor's  me  as  in  his  own.  .  .  . 
Each  of  us  dichotomizes  the  cosmos  in  a 
different  place. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i, 
ch.  9,  p.  289.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3564.  UNIVERSE     EVANESCENT— 

Its  Energy  at  Last  Expended — Science  Has 
No  Prophecy  Beyond — "  They  All  Shall  Grow 
Old  as  a  Garment,  and  as  a  Vesture  Shalt 
Thou  Change  Them,  and  They  Shall  Be 
Changed"  (Ps.  cii,  26). — We  are  dependent 
upon  the  sun  and  center  of  our  system, 
not  only  for  the  mere  energy  of  our  frames, 
but  also  for  our  delicacy  of  construction — 
the  future  of  our  race  depends  upon  the 
sun's  future.  But  we  have  seen  that  the 
sun  must  have  had  a  beginning,  and  that 
he  will  have  an  end.  We  are  thus  induced 
to  generalize  still  further,  and  regard,  not 
only  our  own  system,  but  the  whole  material 
universe,  when  viewed  with  respect  to  serv- 
iceable energy,  as  essentially  evanescent, 
and  as  embracing  a  succession  of  physical 
events  which  cannot  go  on  forever  as  they 


are.  But  here  at  length  we  come  to  mat- 
ters beyond  our  grasp;  for  physical  science 
cannot  inform  us  what  must  have  been  be- 
fore the  beginning,  nor  yet  can  it  tell  us 
what  will  take  place  after  the  end. — STEW- 
AKT  Conservation  of  Energy,  ch.  6,  p.  414. 
(Hum.,  1880.) 

3565.  UNIVERSE,  MECHANICAL 
THEORY  OF  THE— Lapiaces  Nebular  Hy- 
pothesis— Change  of  View  from  Eighteenth 
to  Nineteenth  Century. — [Laplace's]  scheme 
of  cosmical  evolution  was  a  characteristic 
bequest   of   the   eighteenth    century   to   the 
nineteenth.      It   possessed   the   self-sufficing 
symmetry  and  entireness  appropriate  to  the 
ideas  of  a  time  of  renovation,  when  the  com- 
plexity of  Nature  was  little  accounted  of  in 
comparison  with  the  imperious  orderliness 
of    the    thoughts    of    man.      Since    it    was 
propounded,  however,  knowledge  has  trans- 
gressed many  boundaries,  and  set  at  naught 
much    ingenious    theorizing.      How    has    it 
fared  with   Laplace's   sketch   of  the   origin 
of  the  world?     It  has  at  least  not  been  dis- 
carded as  effete.     The  groundwork  of  specu- 
lation on  the  subject  is  still  furnished  by 
it.      It   is,    nevertheless,    admittedly    inade- 
quate.    Of  much  that  exists  it  gives  no  ac- 
count, or  an  erroneous  one.     The  march  of 
events  certainly  did   not  everywhere — even 
if  it  did  anywhere — follow  the  exact  path 
prescribed  for  it.     Yet  modern  science  at- 
tempts to  supplement,  but  scarcely  ventures 
to  supersede  it. — CLERKE  History  of  Astron- 
omy, pt.  ii,  ch.  9,  p.  375.     (Bl.,  1893.) 

3566.  UNIVERSE   NOT   MERELY 
MATTER  AND  FORCE—  Contains  at  Least 
One    Rational    and    Conscious    Being. — The 
universe  does  not  consist  merely  of  insen- 
sate matter  and  force  and  automatic  vital- 
ity; there  happens  to  be  in  it  the  rational 
and   consciously   responsible   being,   man. — 
DAWSON  Facts  and  Fancies  in  Modern  Sci- 
ence, lect.  1,  p.  27.     (A.  B.  P.  S.) 

3567.  UPLIFTING,    GRADUAL,   OF 
CONTINENTS — Rise  of  a  Century  Measured 
by   Inches. — Perhaps   it   may   be   said   that 
there  is  no  analogy  between  the  slow  up- 
heaval of  broad  plains  or  table-lands  and 
the  manner  in  which  we  must  presume  all 
mountain  chains,  with  their  inclined  strata, 
to  have  originated.     It  seems,  however,  that 
the  Andes  have  been   rising   century   after 
century,  at  the  rate  of  several  feet,  while 
the  pampas   on  the  east  have  been   raised 
only  a  few  inches  in  the  same  time.     Cross- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  in  a 
line  passing  through  Mendoza,  Mr.  Darwin 
traversed  a  plain  800  miles  broad,  the  east- 
ern   part    of   which   has   emerged    from   be- 
neath the  sea  at  a  very  modern  period.    The 
slope  from  the  Atlantic  is  at  first  very  gen- 
tle, then  greater,   until  the   traveler   finds, 
on  reaching  Mendoza,  that  he  has  gained, 
almost   insensibly,   a   height   of   4,000   feet. 
The  mountainous  district  then  begins  sud- 
denly, and  its  breadth  from  Mendoza  to  the 


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shores  of  the  Pacific  is  120  miles,  the  aver- 
age height  of  the  principal  chain  being  from 
15,000  to  16,000  feet,  without  including  some 
prominent  peaks,  which  ascend  much  higher. 
Now  all  we  require,  to  explain  the  origin 
of  the  principal  inequalities  of  level  here 
described,  is  to  imagine,  first,  a  zone  of  more 
violent  movement  to  the  west  of  Mendoza, 
and,  secondly,  to  the  east  of  that  place,  an 
upheaving  force,  which  died  away  gradually 
as  it  approached  the  Atlantic.  In  short,  we 
are  only  called  upon  to  conceive  that  the 
region  of  the  Andes  was  pushed  up  four  feet 
in  the  same  period  in  which  the  pampas  near 
Mendoza  rose  one  foot,  and  the  plains  near 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  one  inch.  In  Eu- 
rope we  have  learned  that  the  land  at  the 
North  Cape  ascends  about  five  feet  in  a  cen- 
tury, while  farther  to  the  south  the  move- 
ments diminish  in  quantity  first  to  a  foot, 
and  then,  at  Stockholm,  to  three  inches 
in  a  century,  while  at  certain  points  still 
farther  south  there  is  no  movement. — LYELL 
Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  171. 
(A.,  1854.) 

3568.  UPROAR  OF  LIFE  IN  TROP- 
ICAL FOREST— Profusion  of  Nature  Made 
Audible — Stillness  in  England  Deathlike  by 
Contrast. — As  we  continued  our   walk  the 
brief  twilight  commenced,   and  the   sounds 
of  multifarious  life  came  from  the  vegeta- 
tion around.     The  whirring  of  cicadas;  the 
shrill   stridulation   of   a   vast  number   and 
variety  of  field  crickets   and  grasshoppers, 
each  species  sounding  its  peculiar  note;  the 
plaintive  hooting  of  tree-frogs — all  blended 
together  in  one  continuous  ringing  sound — 
the  audible  expression  of  the  teeming  pro- 
fusion of  Nature.    As  night  came  on,  many 
species   of  frogs   and  toads  in  the  marshy 
places  joined  in  the  chorus;  their  croaking 
and  drumming,  far  louder  than  anything  I 
had   before  heard   in  the   same  line,  being 
added  to  the  other  noises,  created  an  almost 
deafening  din.    This  uproar  of  life,  I  after- 
ward found,  never  wholly  ceased,  night  or 
day:  in  course  of  time  I  became,  like  other 
residents,  accustomed  to  it.     It  is,  however, 
one  of  the   peculiarities   of   a  tropical — at 
least   a    Brazilian — climate   which    is   most 
likely  to  surprise  a  stranger.     After  my  re- 
turn to  England,  the  deathlike  stillness  of 
summer  days  in  the  country  appeared  to  me 
as  strange  as  the  ringing  uproar  did  on  my 
first  arrival  at  Para. — BATES  Naturalist  on 
the  Amazon,  ch.  1,  p.  625.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

3569.  USE  AND  ORNAMENT  CON- 
NECTED— Curves  of  Movement  Are  Forms  of 
Beauty. — The  harmonies  on  which  all  beauty 
probably  depends  are  so  minutely  connected 
in    Nature    that    use    and    ornament    may 
often  both  arise  out  of  the  same  conditions. 
Thus,  some  of  the  most  beautiful  lines  on 
the  surface  of  shells   are  simply  the  lines 
of  their  annual  growth,  which  growth  has 
followed  definite  curves,  and  it  is  the  law 
of  these  curves  that  is  beautiful  in  our  eyes. 
Again,  the  forms  of  many  fish  which  are  so 


beautiful  are  also  forms  founded  on  the 
lines  of  least  resistance.  The  same  obser- 
vation applies  to  the  form  of  the  bodies  and 
of  the  wings  of  birds.  Throughout  Nature 
ornament  is  perpetually  the  result  of  con- 
ditions and  arrangements  fitted  to  use  and 
contrived  for  the  discharge  of  function.  But 
the  same  principle  applies  to  human  art, 
and  few  persons  are  probably  aware  how 
many  of  the  mere  ornaments  of  architecture 
are  the  traditional  representation  of  parts 
which  had  their  origin  in  essential  structure. 
Yet  who  would  argue  from  this  fact  that 
ornament  is  not  a  special  aim  in  the  works 
of  man  ?  When  the  savage  carves  the  handle 
of  his  war-club  the  immediate  purpose  of 
his  carving  is  to  give  his  own  hand  a  firmer 
hold.  But  any  shapeless  scratches  would 
be  enough  for  this.  When  he  carves  it  in 
an  elaborate  pattern  he  does  so  for  the  love 
of  ornament,  and  to  satisfy  the  sense  of 
beauty. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law,  ch.  4,  p.  115. 
(Burt.) 

3570.  USEFULNESS  OF  THE  CROW 

— An  Insectivorous  Bird — High  Intelligence 
of  the  Corvidce. — There  are  systematists  who 
think  that  the  members  of  this  family  [the 
Corvidce,  including  crows,  jays,  etc.]  should 
hold  the  place  usually  assigned  the  thrushes, 
at  the  head  of  the  class  Aves  [birds] .  Leav- 
ing out  of  the  case  anatomical  details  whose 
value  is  disputed,  we  might  object  to  a  fam- 
ily of  songless  birds  being  given  first  rank 
in  a  group  whose  leading  character  is  power 
of  song.  But  while  crows  and  jays  may  from 
a  musical  standpoint  be  considered  songless, 
no  one  can  deny  their  great  vocal  powers. 
Song,  after  all,  does  not  imply  high  rank  in 
bird-life If,  however,  the  relative  in- 
telligence ...  be  taken  into  account, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Corvidce  fully 
deserve  to  be  considered  the  most  highly 
developed  of  birds.  .  .  . 

Crows  share  with  hawks  the  reputation 
of  being  harmful  birds.  That  they  do  much 
damage  in  the  corn  field  is  undeniable,  but, 
after  the  examination  of  nine  hundred  crows' 
stomachs,  Dr.  Merriam,  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  states  that  the  amount  of 
good  done  by  the  crow  in  destroying  grass- 
hoppers, May-beetles,  cutworms,  and  other 
injurious  insects  exceeds  the  loss  caused 
by  the  destruction  of  corn.  Moreover,  if 
the  corn  be  tarred  before  planting,  the  crows 
will  not  touch  either  the  kernel  or  young 
sprout. — CHAPMAN  Bird-Life,  ch.  7,  p.  161. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3571.  USES  OF  DARKNESS— Fraun- 
hofer's  Lines  Give  New  Meaning  to  the  Spec- 
trum.— The   gaseous  spectra  present   a   dif- 
ferent appearance  when  the  gas  is  in  front 
of  an  ignited  solid  whose  temperature  is  far 
higher  than  that  of  the  gas.     The  observer 
sees  then  a  continuous  spectrum  of  a  solid, 
but  traversed  by  fine  dark  lines,  which  are 
just  visible  in  the  places  in  which  the  gas 
alone,  seen  in  front  of  a  dark  background, 
would  show  bright  lines.     The  solar   spec- 


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Utility 


trum  is  of  this  kind,  and  also  that  of  a  great 
number  of  fixed  stars.  The  dark  lines  of 
the  solar  spectrum,  originally  discovered  by 
Wollaston,  were  first  investigated  and  meas- 
ured by  Fraunhofer,  and  are  hence  known 
as  Fraunhofer's  lines. — HELMHOLTZ  Popular 
Lectures,  lect.  4,  p.  153.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3572.  UTILITARIANISM  COMMEND- 
ABLE—  The  End  the  Measure  of  the  Utility. — 
What   is   a    utilitarian?      Simply   one   who 
prefers  the  useful  to  the  useless — and  who 
does  not?     But  what  is  the  useful?     That 
which  is  prized,  not  on  its  own  account,  but 
as  conducive  to  the  acquisition  of  something 
else — the  useful  is,  in  short,   only  another 
word  for  a  mean  towards  an  end;  for  every 
mean  is  useful,  and  whatever  is  useful  is 
a  mean.    Now  the  value  of  a  mean  is  always 
in  proportion  to  the  value  of  its  end;  and 
the  useful  being  a  mean,  it  follows  that,  of 
two  utilities,  the  one  which  conduces  to  the 
more  valuable  end  will  be  itself  the  more 
valuable  utility. 

So  far  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion. 
All  agree  that  the  useful  is  a  mean  towards 
an  end;  and  that,  cceteris  parilus,  a  mean 
towards  a  higher  end  constitutes  a  higher 
utility  than  a  mean  towards  a  lower.  The 
only  dispute  that  has  arisen  or  can  possibly 
arise  in  regard  to  the  utility  of  means  ( sup- 
posing always  their  relative  efficiency)  is 
founded  on  the  various  views  that  may  be 
entertained  in  regard  to  the  existence  and 
comparative  importance  of  ends. — HAMIL- 
TON Metaphysics,  lect.  1,  p.  3.  (G.  &  L., 
1859.) 

3573.  UTILITY  AND  INUTILITY  OF 
FEAR — In  fact,  the  teleology  of  fear,  be- 
yond a  certain  point,  is  very  dubious.     Pro- 
fessor Mosso,  in  his  interesting  monograph, 
"La   Paura "    (which   has    been   translated 
into   French),   concludes   that  many  of   its 
manifestations    must   be   considered   patho- 
logical rather  than  useful;  Bain,  in  several 
places,  expresses  the  same  opinion ;  and  this, 
I  think,  is  surely  the  view  which  any  ob- 
server without  a  priori  prejudices  must  take. 
A    certain    amount    of    timidity    obviously 
adapts  us  to  the  world  we  live  in,  but  the 
fear-paroxysm  is  surely  altogether  harmful 
to  him  who  is  its  prey. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p.  419.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3574.  UTILITY  AND   PROGRESS— 

Key  of  the  Baconian  Philosophy — Ancient 
Philosophy  Despised  the  Practical. — Two 
words  form  the  key  of  the  Baconian  doc- 
trine —  utility  and  progress.  The  ancient 
philosophy  disdained  to  be  useful,  and  was 
content  to  be  stationary.  It  dealt  largely 
in  theories  of  moral  perfection,  which  were 
so  sublime  that  they  never  could  be  more 
than  theories;  in  attempts  to  solve  insolu- 
ble enigmas;  in  exhortations  to  the  attain- 
ment of  unattainable  frames  of  mind.  It 
could  not  condescend  to  the  humble  office 
of  ministering  to  the  comfort  of  human 
beings.  All  the  schools  regarded  that  office 


as  degrading;  some  censured  it  as  immoral. 
Once  indeed  Posidonius,  a  distinguished  wri- 
ter of  the  age  of  Cicero  and  Caesar,  so  far 
forgot  himself  as  to  enumerate  among  the 
humbler  blessings  which  mankind  owed  to 
philosophy  the  discovery  of  the  principle 
of  the  arch  and  the  introduction  of  the 
use  of  metals.  This  eulogy  was  considered 
as  an  affront,  and  was  taken  up  with  proper 
spirit.  Seneca  vehemently  disclaims  these 
insulting  compliments.  Philosophy,  accord- 
ing to  him,  has  nothing  to  do  with  teaching 
men  to  rear  arched  roofs  over  their  heads. 
The  true  philosopher  does  not  care  whether 
he  has  an  arched  roof  or  any  roof.  Philos- 
ophy has  nothing  to  do  with  teaching  men 
the 'use  of  metals.  She  teaches  us  to  be 
independent  of  all  material  substances,  of 
all  mechanical  contrivances.  The  wise  man 
lives  according  to  Nature.  Instead  of  at- 
tempting to  add  to  the  physical  comforts 
of  his  species,  he  regrets  that  his  lot  was 
not  cast  in  that  golden  age  when  the  human 
race  had  no  protection  against  the  cold  but 
the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  no  screen  from  the 
sun  but  a  cavern.  To  impute  to  such  a  man 
any  share  in  the  invention  or  improvement 
of  a  plow,  a  ship,  or  a  mill  is  an  insult. — 
MACAULAY  Essays  (Lord  Bacon),  p.  271. 
(A.,  1876.) 

3575.  UTILITY   COMBINED  WITH 
BEAUTY  —  Palms,   Bananas,    and  Ferns.— 
Palms,  bananas,  and  arborescent  ferns  con- 
stitute three  forms  of  especial  beauty  pe- 
culiar to  every  portion  of  the  tropical  zone; 
wherever  heat  and  moisture  cooperate,  vege- 
tation is  most  exuberant  and  vegetable  forms 
present  the  greatest  diversity.    Hence  South 
America   is   the  most  beautiful   portion   of 
the  palm  world.     ...     In  the  basin  of  the 
Orinoco  whole  tribes  find  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence for  many  months  together  in  the 
fruit  of  the  palm. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Na- 
ture, p.  303.     (Bell,  1896.) 

3576.  UTILITY  COMPELS  EXACT- 
NESS— Practical  Results  To  Be  Won  or  Lost 
— Mere  Disputation  Content  with,  Unproved 
Premises. — By  stimulating  men  to  the  dis- 
covery of  new  truth  Bacon  stimulated  them 
to   employ  the  inductive  method,  the  only 
method — even  the  ancient  philosophers  and 
the  schoolmen  themselves  being  judges — by 
which    new   truth    can    be    discovered.      By 
stimulating  men  to  the  discovery  of  useful 
truth  he  furnished  them  with  a  motive  to 
perform  the  inductive  process  well  and  care- 
fully.    His  predecessors  had  been  anticipa- 
tors of  Nature.    They  had  been  content  with 
first  principles,  at  which  they  had  arrived 
by  the  most  scanty  and  slovenly  induction. 
And  why  was  this?     It  was,  we  conceive, 
because  their  philosophy  proposed  to  itself 
no  practical  end,  because  it  was  merely  an 
exercise  of  the  mind.     A  man  who  wants  to 
contrive  a  new  machine  or  a  new  medicine 
has  a  strong  motive  to  observe  accurately 
and  patiently,  and  to  try  experiment  after 
experiment.     But  a  man  who  merely  wants 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


722 


a  theme  for  disputation  or  declamation  has 
no  such  motive.  He  is  therefore  content 
with  premises  grounded  on  assumption,  or 
on  the  most  scanty  and  hasty  induction. 
Thus,  we  conceive,  the  schoolmen  acted.  On 
their  foolish  premises  they  often  argued 
with  great  ability;  and  as  their  object  was 
"  assensum  subjugare,  non  res  " — to  be  vic- 
torious in  controversy,  not  to  be  victorious 
over  Nature — they  were  consistent.  For 
just  as  much  logical  skill  could  be  shown 
in  reasoning  on  false  as  on  true  premises. 
But  the  followers  of  the  new  philosophy, 
proposing  to  themselves  the  discovery  of 
useful  truth  as  their  object,  must  have 
altogether  failed  of  attaining  that  object  if 
they  had  been  content  to  build  theories 
on  superficial  induction. — MACAULAY  Essays 
(Lord  Bacon),  p.  283.  (A.,  1876.) 

3577.  UTILITY,    DISCOVERY     OF 
UNEXPECTED— Nature  Sifts  the  Food  of  In- 
sectivorous Plants — Marginal  Spikes  of  Ve- 
nus's    Fly-trap — Escape    of    Useless   Insects 
Provided  for. — We  are  now  prepared  to  un- 
derstand   the   use    of   the   marginal   spikes 
which  form  so  conspicuous  a  feature  in  the 
appearance  of  the  plant  [Dion&a  muscipula, 
or    Venus's    fly-trap],    and    which    at   first 
seemed  to  me  in  my  ignorance  useless  ap- 
pendages.    From  the  inward  curvature  of 
the  lobes  as  they  approach  each  other  the 
tips  of  the  marginal  spikes  first  intercross, 
and  ultimately  their  bases.    Until  the  edges 
of  the   lobes   come   into   contact,   elongated 
spaces  between  the  spikes,  varying  from  the 
•j^to  the  ^  of  an  inch  (1.693  to  2.54  mm.) 
in  breadth,  according  to  the  size  of  the  leaf, 
are  left  open.     Thus  an  insect,  if  its  body 
is  not  thicker  than  these  measurements,  can 
easily   escape   between    the    crossed    spikes, 
when   disturbed   by    the    closing   lobes   and 
increasing  darkness;    and   one   of  my   sons 
actually  saw  a  small  insect  thus  escaping. 
A  moderately  large  insect,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  it  tries  to  escape  between  the  bars,  will 
surely  be  pushed  back  again  into  its  horrid 
prison   with    closing   walls,    for   the  spikes 
continue  to  cross  more  and  more  until  the 
edges  of  the  lobes  come  into  contact.    .    .    . 
Now  it  would  manifestly  be  a  great  disad- 
vantage to  the  plant  to  waste  many  days 
in  remaining  clasped  over  a  minute  insect, 
and    several    additional    days    or   weeks    in 
afterwards  recovering  its  sensibility,  inas- 
much as  a  minute  insect  would  afford  but 
little  nutriment.     It  would  be  far  better  for 
the  plant  to  wait  for  a  time  until  a  moder- 
ately large  insect  was  captured,  and  to  al- 
low all  the  little  ones  to  escape;  and  this 
advantage  is  secured  by   the   slowly  inter- 
crossing   marginal    spikes,    which    act    like 
the  large  meshes  of  a  fishing-net,  allowing 
the    small    and    useless    fry    to    escape. — 
DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants,  ch.  13,  p.  252. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3578.  UTILITY,  ENDEAVOR  TO  AT- 
TAIN— Magnetism  Converted  into  Electricity- 
Faraday's  Words. — Faraday's  reply  to  those 


who  saw  nothing  gained  by  the  development 
of  the  little  [electric]  spark,  and  who  de- 
manded its  utility,  was  .  .  .  sententious. 
"  Endeavor  to  make  it  useful,"  he  said.  He 
left  to  others  the  immediate  work  of  doing 
so.  Some  twenty-five  years  later  he  saw 
that  tiny  flash  expanded  into  the  magnifi- 
cent blaze  of  the  famous  South  Foreland 
lighthouse.  To-day  it  illuminates  the  thor- 
oughfares of  the  great  cities  of  the  civilized 
world.— PARK  BENJAMIN  Age  of  Electricity, 
ch.  7,  p.  90.  (S.,  1897.) 

3579.  UTILITY,  HIGHER  AND  LOW- 
ER— Knowledge  for  the  Sake  of  Man — Means 
Valued  in   Proportion   to   End. — There  are 
few,  I  believe,  disposed  to  question  the  specu- 
lative   dignity   of   mental    science;    but   its 
practical  utility  is  not  unfrequently  denied. 
To  what,  it  is  asked,  is  the  science  of  mind 
conducive?     What  are  its  uses?     I  am  not 
one  of  those  who  think  that  the  importance 
of  a  study  is  sufficiently  established  when 
its  dignity  is  admitted;    for,  holding  that 
knowledge  is  for  the  sake  of  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  sake  of  knowledge,  it  is  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  vindicate  its  value,  that 
every  science  should  be  able  to  show  what 
are  the  advantages  which  it  promises  to  con- 
fer upon  its  student.     I,  therefore,  profess 
myself  a  utilitarian;  and  it  is  only  on  the 
special  ground  of  its  utility  that  I  would 
claim   for  the  philosophy  of  mind  what  I 
regard  as  its  peculiar  and  preeminent  im- 
portance.— HAMILTON   Metaphysics^  lect.   1, 
p.  3.     (G.  &  L.,  1859.) 

3580.  UTILITY     MORE     THAN 
BEAUTY—  Classic  Lamps—  The  Argand  Burn- 
er.— The   Greek  and  Roman   lamps,  tho   in 
beautiful    receptacles    of    bronze    or    silver, 
were  exactly  the  same  in  principle  as  those 
of  the  lowest  savage,  and  hardly  better  in 
light-giving  power ;  and  tho  various  improve- 
ments   in    form   were   introduced,   the   first 
really  important  advance  was  made  by  the 
Argand  burner.     This  introduced  a  current 
of  air  into  the  center  of  the  flame  as  well 
as  outside  it,  and,  by  means  of  a  glass  chim- 
ney, a  regular  supply  of  air  was  kept  up, 
and  a  steady  light  produced.     Altho  the  in- 
vention was  made  at  the  end  of  the   last 
century,  the  lamps  were  not  sufficiently  im- 
proved and  cheapened  to  come  into  use  till 
about    1830;    and   from   that   time    onward 
many  other  improvements  were  made,  chiefly 
dependent  on  the  use  of  the  cheap  mineral 
oils,    rendering   lamps    so    inexpensive,   and 
producing  so  good  a  light  that  they  are  now 
found   in   the   poorest    cottages. — WALLACE 
The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  4,  p.  28.      (D. 
M.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3581 .  UTILITY  NOT  THE  SUPREME 

TEST — Life  a  Power  beyond  Man's  Measure  of 
Use. — After  all,  is  this  question  of  "  use  " 
really  one  which  need  concern  us  greatly  in 
our  studies  of  life?  I  trow  not;  for  it 
surely  indicates  by  no  means  a  lofty  con- 
ception of  things  if  we  are  perpetually  to 


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speak  and  think  of  living  beings  as  we 
should  talk  of  the  items  in  a  store.  Each 
organism,  like  the  smith  in  "  The  Fair  Maid 
of  Perth,"  fights  for  its  own  hand  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.  If  in  the  course 
of  its  fight  it  aids  or  opposes  the  interests 
of  other  living  things  it  will  receive  benefit 
or  incur  failure  in  a  meed  corresponding 
to  its  own  ways  and  means.  This  is  really 
the  true  philosophy  of  natural  history  study. 
To  "  consider  the  lilies "  as  if  they  were 
mere  contrivances  for  human  ends  and 
"  uses  "  is  a  tolerably  small-minded  fashion 
of  regarding  the  children  of  life.  To  know 
something  of  their  histories,  structure,  and 
relationships,  and  thereby  to  learn  how  life 
jogs  along  its  primrose  way  (or  the  re- 
verse), is  in  itself  an  education  worth  much 
seeking-after  and  much  painstaking  care. — 
WILSON  Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  1,  p.  7. 
(Hum.,  1892.) 


3582. 


Truth  an  End  for 


Itself — Unexpected  Utility  Results. — If  you 
ask  me,  To  what  end? — of  what  use  is  such 
a  discovery? — I  answer,  It  is  given  to  no 
mortal  man  to  predict  what  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  any  discovery  in  the  realms  of  Na- 
ture. When  the  electric  current  was  discov- 
ered, what  was  it?  A  curiosity.  When  the 
first  electric  machine  was  invented,  to  what 
use  was  it  put?  To  make  puppets  dance 
for  the  amusement  of  children.  To-day  it 
is  the  most  powerful  engine  of  civilization. 
But  should  our  work  have  no  other  result 
than  this — to  know  that  certain  facts  in 
Nature  are  thus  and  not  otherwise,  that 
their  causes  were  such  and  no  others — this 
result  in  itself  is  good  enough,  and  great 
enough,  since  the  end  of  man,  his  aim,  his 
glory,  is  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. — 
AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil,  ch.  3,  p.  95. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3583.  UTILITY  OF  DIVERGENCE— 

A  Maximum  of  Organic  Forms  in  Each  Area. 
— Divergence  of  character  has  a  double 
purpose  and  use.  In  the  first  place  it  ena- 
bles a  species  which  is  being  overcome  by 
rivals,  or  is  in  process  of  extinction  by  ene- 
mies, to  save  itself  by  adopting  new  habits 
or  by  occupying  vacant  places  in  Nature. 
This  is  the  immediate  and  obvious  effect  of 
all  the  numerous  examples  of  divergence  of 
character  which  we  have  pointed  out.  But 
there  is  another  and  less  obvious  result, 
which  is  that  the  greater  the  diversity  in 
the  organisms  inhabiting  a  country  or  dis- 
trict the  greater  will  be  the  total  amount  of 
life  that  can  be  supported  there. — WALLACE 
Darwinism,  ch.  5,  p.  77.  (Hum.) 

3584.  UTILITY  OF  MICRO-ORGAN- 
ISMS—Bacteria  Useful  as  Well  as  Harmful- 
Saprophytes  and  Parasites. — A   saprophyte 
is   an   organism  that   obtains   its  nutrition 
from    dead    organic    matter.      Its    services, 
of  whatever  nature,  lie  outside  the  tissues 
of  living  animals.     Its  life  is  spent  apart 
from  a   "  host."     A  parasite,  on  the  other 


hand,  lives  always  at  the  expense  of  some 
other  organism  which  is  its  host,  in  which 
it  lives  and  upon  which  it  lives.  There  is 
a  third  or  intermediate  group,  known  as 
"  facultative,"  owing  to  their  ability  to  act 
as  parasites  or  saprophytes,  as  the  exigen- 
cies of  their  life-history  may  demand. 

The  saprophytic  organisms  are,  generally 
speaking,  those  which  contribute  most  to  the 
benefit  of  man,  and  the  parasitic  the  reverse, 
tho  this  statement  is  only  approximately 
true.  In  their  relation  to  the  processes  of 
fermentation,  decomposition,  nitrification, 
etc.,  we  shall  see  how  great  and  invaluable 
is  the  work  which  saprophytic  microbes  per- 
form. [See  DECOMPOSITION,  BACTERIA  OF.] — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  27.  (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

3585.  UTILITY     SUBLIMATED    TO 
USELESSNESS— Humanity  Not  Guided  by  the 
Inconceivable. — So  long  as  the  simple  and 
natural  meaning  was  put  upon  utility,  and 
the  good  was  identified  with  the  pleasurable, 
or  the  serviceable,  the  utilitarian  theory  of 
morals  did  indicate  at  least  some  rule  of 
life,  however  low  that  rule  might  be.     But 
now  that  the  apostles  of  that  theory  have 
been    driven   to    put   upon   utility    a    tran- 
scendental meaning,  and  the  pleasurable  is 
interpreted  to  refer  not  merely  to  the  imme- 
diate and  visible  effects  of  conduct  on  our- 
selves or  others,  but  to  its  remotest  effects 
upon  all  living  beings,  both  now  and  for  all 
future  time,  the  utilitarian  theory  in  this 
very  process  of  sublimation  becomes  lifted 
out  of  the  sphere  of  human  judgment.     If 
it  be  true  "  that  there  can  be  no  correct  idea 
of  a  part  without  a  correct  idea  of  the  cor- 
relative whole,"  and  if  human  conduct  in  its 
tendencies   and  effects   is  only  "  a  part  of 
universal  conduct " — that  is  to  say,  of  the 
whole  system  of  the  universe  in  its  past,  its 
present,  and  its  future — then,  as  this  whole 
is  beyond  all  our  means  of  knowledge  and 
comprehension,    it   follows   that  utility,    in 
this  .sense,  can  be  no  guide  to  us. — ARGYLL 
Unity  of  Nature,  ch.  9,  p.  208.     (Burt.) 

3586.  UTILITY,    UNEXPECTED  — 

Conspicuous  Coloring  Protective — Zebra  Al- 
most Invisible  in  Twilight. — It  may  be 
thought  that  such  extremely  conspicuous 
markings  as  those  of  the  zebra  would  be  a 
great  danger  in  a  country  abounding  with 
lions,  leopards,  and  other  beasts  of  prey; 
but  it  is  not  so.  Zebras  usually  go  in  bands, 
and  are  so  swift  and  wary  that  they  are 
in  little  danger  during  the  day.  It  is  in 
the  evening  or  on  moonlight  nights,  when 
they  go  to  drink,  that  they  are  chiefly  ex- 
posed to  attack;  and  Mr.  Francis  Galton, 
who  has  studied  these  animals  in  their  na- 
tive haunts,  assures  me  that  in  twilight 
they  are  not  at  all  conspicuous,  the  stripes 
of  white  and  black  so  merging  together  into 
a  gray  tint  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  see 
them  at  a  little  distance.  We  have  here 
an  admirable  illustration  of  how  a  glaring- 
ly conspicuous  style  of  marking  for  recog- 


Jtility 
talue 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


724 


nition  may  be  so  arranged  as  to  become 
also  protective  at  the  time  when  protection 
is  most  needed;  and  we  may  also  learn  how 
impossible  it  is  for  us  to  decide  on  the  in- 
utility  of  any  kind  of  coloration  without 
a  careful  study  of  the  habits  of  the  species 
in  its  native  country. — WALLACE  Darwinism, 
ch.  8,  p.  149.  (Hum.) 

3587. Scientific  Toy 

Gives  Roentgen  Rays. — There  are  thou- 
sands of  facts  which  are  discovered  which 
seem  to  have  no  interest,  near  or  remote,  to 
the  welfare  of  humanity,  and  yet  the  discov- 
ery and  recording  of  these  facts  must  some- 
time and  somehow  prove  useful. 

In  chemistry  we  have  many  illustrations 
of  this  idea.  Many  years  ago  Professor 
Crookes,  by  producing  a  vacuum  far  greater 
than  had  ever  been  accomplished  before,  dis- 
covered certain  properties  of  energy  which 
he  called  radiant  matter.  For  nearly  twen- 
ty years  Crookes'  tubes  have  been  a  physical 
toy  devoted  more  to  the  entertainment  than 
the  instruction  of  classes  in  light,  heat,  and 
electricity.  The  vanes  of  mica,  blackened 
on  one  side,  and  revolving  without  any  ap- 
parent cause,  seem  to  be  almost  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  chimera  of  perpetual  motion. 
With  wonderful  skill  and  ingenuity  Profess- 
or Crookes  investigated  the  elusive  proper- 
ties of  this  fourth  state  of  matter,  a  space 
from  which  almost  all  energy  was  excluded, 
save  that  of  the  unthinkable  ether  itself. 
Who,  even  a  few  months  ago,  would  have 
supposed  that  these  truly  marvelous  re- 
searches of  Crookes  could  possibly  have  any 
direct  influence  upon  men  and  things?  Yet 
we  see  now  through  the  marvelous  discovery 
of  Professor  Roentgen  an  application  of  Pro- 
fessor Crookes's  discovery  which,  in  its  pos- 
sibilities of  benefit  to  suffering  humanity, 
has  not  been  surpassed  by  any  single  inven- 
tion of  the  last  hundred  years. — WILEY  Re- 
lations of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Progress 
(Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette, 
Ind.,  1896,  p.  18). 

3588.  UTILIZATION  OF  WASTE 
PRODUCTS — Bleaching-powder  Made  to  Lock 
Up  Noxious  Gas.  —  Formerly  the  chemist 
when  he  wished  to  obtain  sodium  extracted 
it  from  common  salt  and  discharged  the 
chlorin  gas  into  the  air.  It  was  found  that 
in  establishments  where  the  manufacture 
of  sodium  was  conducted  on  a  large  scale 
the  destructive  properties  of  the  chlorin  dis- 
charged into  the  air  were  such  that  all  vege- 
tation was  killed  for  some  distance  around 
the  manufactory.  This  came  to  be  such  a 
nuisance  that  the  manufacturers  were  either 
compelled  to  stop  business  or  in  some  way 
take  care  of  the  chlorin.  This  is  done  at 
the  present  day  by  uniting  the  chlorin  gas 
with  common  lime,  forming  a  chlorid  of 
lime,  which  is  used  for  bleaching  and  puri- 
fying purposes. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's 
Miracles,  vol.  i,  ch.  5,  p.  37.  (F.  H.  &  H., 
1900.) 


3589. 


Colors  from  Coal- 


tar. — Through  the  discoveries  of  the  great 
Hoffmann  and  afterwards  by  the  investiga- 
tions of  other  chemists,  the  dyeing  interests 
of  the  world  have  been  completely  revolu- 
tionized. From  that  most  unpromising  sub- 
stance, coal-tar,  at  one  time  considered  an 
almost  worthless  residue  of  the  manufacture 
of  gas,  nearly  all  the  colors  which  now  find 
a  use  in  the  arts  have  been  derived. — WILEY 
Relations  of  Chemistry  to  Industrial  Prog- 
ress (Address  at  Purdue  University,  Lafay- 
ette, Ind.,  1896,  p.  17). 

3590.  VAGARIES,  PHILOSOPHICAL, 

OF  SCIENTISTS— Importations  of  Theories 
into  Scripture — Imagined  "  Conflict  of  Re- 
ligion and  Science." — One  fruitful  cause  of 
difficulty  in  the  relations  of  science  and  re- 
ligion is  to  be  found  in  the  narrowness  and 
incapacity  of  well-meaning  Christians  who 
unnecessarily  bring  the  doctrines  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion  into  conflict,  by  mis- 
understanding the  one  or  the  other,  or  by 
attaching  obsolete  scientific  ideas  to  Holy 
Scripture,  and  identifying  them  with  it  in 
points  where  it  is  quite  non-committal. 
Much  mischief  is  also  done  by  a  prevalent 
habit  of  speaking  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
votaries  of  science  as  if  they  were  irreligious. 
A  second  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  ex- 
travagant speculations  indulged  in  by  the 
adherents  of  certain  philosophical  systems. 
Such  speculations  often  far  overpass  the 
limits  of  actual  scientific  knowledge,  and 
are  yet  paraded  before  the  ignorant  as  if 
they  were  legitimate  results  of  science,  and 
so  become  irretrievably  confounded  with  it 
in  the  popular  mind. — DAWSON  Facts  and 
Fancies  in_  Modern  Science,  lect.  1,  p.  15. 
(A.  B.  P.  S.) 

3591.  VAGUENESS  OF  ORDINARY 
KNOWLEDGE— Ideas  of  a  Babe — Layman  at 
Shipwreck,  Battle,  or  Fire. — All  our  knowl- 
edge at  first  is  vague.     When  we  say  that 
a  thing  is  vague,  we  mean  that  it  has  no 
subdivisions  aft  intra,  nor  precise  limitations 
db  extra;  but  still  all  the  forms  of  thought 
may  apply  to  it.     It  may  have  unity,  real- 
ity,   externality,    extent,    and    what  -  not — 
thinghood,  in  a  word,  but  thinghood  only  as 
a  whole.     In  this  vague  way,  probably,  does 
the  room  appear  to  the  babe  who  first  be- 
gins to  be  conscious  of  it  as  something  other 
than  his  moving  nurse.     It  has  no  subdivi- 
sions in  his  mind,  unless,  perhaps,  the  win- 
dow is  able  to  attract  his  separate  notice. 
In   this   vague   way,    certainly,    does   every 
entirely  new  experience  appear  to  the  adult. 
A  library,  a  museum,  a  machine-shop,  are 
mere  confused  wholes  to  the  uninstructed, 
but  the  machinist,  the  antiquary,  and  the 
bookworm  perhaps  hardly  notice  the  whole 
at  all,  so  eager  are  they  to  pounce  upon  the 
details.     Familiarity  has  in  them  bred  dis- 
crimination.    ...     A  layman  present  at 
a  shipwreck,  a  battle,  or  a  fire  is  helpless. 
Discrimination  has  been  so  little  awakened 
in  him  by  experience  that  his  consciousness 


725 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Utility 
Value 


leaves  no  single  point  of  the  complex  situ- 
ation accented  and  standing  out  for  him 
to  begin  to  act  upon.  But  the  sailor,  the 
fireman,  and  the  general  know  directly  at 
what  corner  to  take  up  the  business.  They 
"  see  into  the  situation  " — that  is,  they  ana- 
lyze it — with  their  first  glance.  It  is  full 
of  delicately  differenced  ingredients  which 
their  education  has  little  by  little  brought 
to  their  consciousness,  but  of  which  the  nov- 
ice gains  no  clear  idea. — JAMES  Psychology, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  343.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3592.  VALE    OF  FIREFLIES  —  Air 

Laden  with  Phosphorescent  Odor. — Riding 
on  the  pampas  one  dark  evening  an  hour 
after  sunset,  and  passing  from  high  ground 
overgrown  with  giant  thistles  to  a  low  plain 
covered  with  long  grass,  bordering  a  stream 
of  water,  I  found  it  all  ablaze  with  myriads 
of  fireflies.  I  noticed  that  all  the  insects 
gave  out  an  exceptionally  large,  brilliant 
light,  which  shone  almost  steadily.  The 
long  grass  was  thickly  studded  with  them, 
while  they  literally  swarmed  in  the  air,  all 
moving  up  the  valley  with  a  singularly  slow 
and  languid  flight.  When  I  galloped  down 
into  this  river  of  phosphorescent  fire  my 
horse  plunged  and  snorted  with  alarm.  I 
succeeded  at  length  in  quieting  him,  and 
then  rode  slowly  through,  compelled  to  keep 
my  mouth  and  eyes  closed,  so  thickly  did 
the  insects  rain  on  to  my  face.  The  air  was 
laden  with  the  sickening  phosphorous  smell 
they  emit;  but  when  I  had  once  got  free  of 
the  broad  fiery  zone,  stretching  away  on 
either  hand  for  miles  along  the  moist  valley, 
I  stood  still  and  gazed  back  for  some  time 
on  a  scene  the  most  wonderful  and  enchant- 
ing I  have  ever  witnessed. — HUDSON  Nat- 
uralist in  La  Plata,  ch.  13,  p.  173.  (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

3593.  VALLEY  LIFELESS  AND  SI- 
LENT— Scenery  of  the   Val  del  Bove,  Mount 
Etna. — This  plain  has  been  deluged  by  re- 
peated streams  of  lava;  and  altho  it  appears 
almost  level  when  viewed  from  a  distance, 
it  is  in  fact  more  uneven  than  the  surface 
of  the  most  tempestuous  sea.     .     .     . 

An  unusual  silence  prevails;  for  there  are 
no  torrents  dashing  from  the  rocks  nor  any 
movement  of  running  water  in  this  valley, 
such  as  may  almost  invariably  be  heard  in 
mountainous  regions.  Every  drop  of  water 
that  falls  from  the  heavens,  or  flows  from 
the  melting  ice  and  snow,  is  instantly  ab- 
sorbed by  the  porous  lava ;  and  such  is  the 
dearth  of  springs  that  the  herdsman  is  com- 
pelled to  supply  his  flocks,  during  the  hot 
season,  from  stores  of  snow  laid  up  in  hol- 
lows of  the  mountain  during  winter. 

The  strips  of  green  herbage  and  forest 
land  which  have  here  and  there  escaped  the 
burning  lavas  serve,  by  contrast,  to  heighten 
the  desolation  of  the  scene.  When  I  visited 
the  valley,  nine  years  after  the  eruption  of 
1819,  I  saw  hundreds  of  trees,  or  rather  the 
white  skeletons  of  trees,  on  the  borders  of 
the  black  lava,  the  trunks  and  branches 


being  all  leafless  and  deprived  of  their  bark 
by  the  scorching  heat  emitted  from  the 
melted  rock;  an  image  recalling  those  beau- 
tiful lines: 

As  when  heaven's  fire 

Hath  scath'd  the  forest  oaks,  or  mountain  pines, 
With  singed  top  their  stately  growth,  tho  bare. 
Stands  on  the  blasted  heath. 

— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch. 
25,  p.  405.  (A.,  1854.)- 

3594.  VALLEY  PARTITIONED    BY 

MEETING  DELTAS— The  separation  of 
lakes  Brienz  and  Thun,  Switzerland,  has 
been  cited  by  Davis  as  an  example  of  the 
partitioning  of  a  valley  by  the  union  of 
deltas  from  opposite  sides.  Interlaken 
stands  on  the  beautiful  alluvial  plain  thus 
formed.  Several  other  similar  examples  in 
central  Europe  have  been  described  by  vari- 
ous authors. — RUSSELL  Lakes  af  North 
America,  ch.  1,  p.  7.  (G.  &  Co.,  1895.) 

3595.  VALLEYS     HOLLOWED     BY 
GLACIERS — Ice,  Sand,  and  Water  Combine  to 
Wear  Away  Rocks. — In  the  case  of  every 
glacier  we  have  two   agents   at  work — the 
ice  exerting  a  crushing  force  on  every  point 
of  its  bed  which  bears  its  weight,  and  either 
rasping  this  point  into  powder  or  tearing 
it  bodily  from  the  rock  to  which  it  belongs; 
while  the  water  which  everywhere  circulates 
upon  the  bed  of  the  glacier  continually  wash- 
es  the  detritus   away  and  leaves  the  rock 
clean  for  further  abrasion.     Confining  the 
action  of  glaciers  to  the  simple  rubbing  away 
of  the  rocks,   and  allowing  them   sufficient 
time  to  act,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  opinion, 
but  a  physical  certainty,  that  they  will  scoop 
out  valleys. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in 
the  Alps,  ch.  20,  p.  238.     (A.,  1898.) 

3596.  VALUE   OF  LEAST  PROMIS- 
ING  ELEMENT—  The  Layer  of  Scum  and 
Mud  the  Most  Important  Part  of  Filter. — 
Koch   maintained  that  the   portion   of   the 
filter  -  bed    which     really     removed    micro- 
organisms effectively  was  the  slimy  organic 
layer  upon  the  surface.     This  layer  is  pro- 
duced by  a  deposit  from  the  still  unpurified 
water  lying  immediately  above  it.    The  most 
vital  part  of  the  filter-bed  is  this  organic 
layer,   which,    after  -formation,    should   not 
be  disturbed  until  it  requires  removal  owing 
to  its  impermeability.    .    .    .    The  only  vital 
part  of  the  [filtration]  process     ...     is 
the  chemical  effect  of  the  layer  of  scum  and 
mud  on  the  surface  of  the  sand  at  the  top 
of  the  filter-bed.     The  mechanical  part  of 
this  layer  is,  of  course,  the  holding  back  of 
the  particulate  matter  which  has  not  sub- 
sided in  the  reservoir;  the  vital  action  con- 
sists in  what  is  termed  nitrification  of  un- 
oxidized   substance,   which    is   accomplished 
in  this  layer  of  organic  matter. — NEWMAN 
Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  75.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3597.  VALUE    OF    SIMPLICITY- 

Plain  Food  Best  for  Constant  Use^-Codftsh 
Used  Like  Bread— The  Bonito  of  the  Medi- 
terranean.— By  boiling  out  the  rich  oil  of 


•iiliir 
Variation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


726 


the  salmon,  the  Norwegian  reduces  it  nearly 
to  the  condition  of  codfish,  concerning  which 
I  learned  a  curious  fact  from  two  old  Dog- 
ger Bank  fishermen  with  whom  I  had  a  long 
sailing  cruise  from  the  Golden  Horn  to  the 
Thames.  They  agreed  in  stating  that  cod- 
fish is  like  bread,  that  they  and  all  their 
mates  lived  upon  it  (and  sea-biscuits)  day 
after  day  for  months  together,  and  never 
tired,  while  richer  fish  ultimately  became 
repulsive  if  eaten  daily.  This  statement 
was  elicited  by  an  immediate  experience. 
We  were  in  the  Mediterranean,  where  boni- 
to  were  very  abundant,  and  every  morning 
and  evening  I  amused  myself  by  spearing 
them  from  the  martingale  of  the  schooner, 
and  so  successfully  that  all  hands  ( or  rather 
mouths)  were  abundantly  supplied  with 
this  delicious  dark-fleshed,  full-blooded,  and 
high-flavored  fish.  I  began  by  making  three 
meals  a  day  on  it,  but  at  the  end  of  about 
a  week  was  glad  to  return  to  the  ordinary 
ship's  fare  of  salt  junk  and  chickens. — 
WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  3,  p. 
29.  (A.,  1900.) 

3598.  VALUE    OF    THE    MINUTE 
THINGS  —  Bacteria  Essentially    Beneficial— 
Man's   Perversion   of   Nature   Makes    Them 
Noxious. — We    learn,    too,    another    lesson 
from  this  latest  discovery  of  the  secrets  of 
the  living  universe.     .     .     .     For  these  mi- 
nute bacteria  of  various  kinds  are  present 
everywhere — in  the  air,  in  the  water,  in  the 
soil  under  our  feet.    Their  function  appears 
to  be  to  break  up  by  putrefactive  processes 
all  dead  organized  matter,  and  thus  prepare 
it   for   being  again   assimilated   by   plants, 
so  as  to  form  food  for  animals  and  for  man; 
and   it   seems   probable   that   they   prepare 
the  soil  itself  for  plant-growth  by  absorbing 
and  fixing  the  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere. 
They  are,  in  fact,  omnipresent,  and  under 
normal  conditions  they  are  wholly  beneficial. 
It  is  we  ourselves  who,  by  our  crowded  cities, 
our  polluted  streams,  and  our  unnatural  and 
unwholesome    lives,    enable    them    to    exert 
their    disease  -  creating    powers. — WALLACE 
The    Wonderful    Century,    ch.    14,    p.    146. 
(D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3599.  VALUE  OF  THE  UNKNOWN 
AND  HIDDEN—  Utility  of  the  Earth's  Mass 
— Stability  Depends  on  Gravity — Difference 
of  Weight  on  the  Earth  and  on  Mars. — A 
body  which  would  weigh  27  pounds  on  the 
earth  would,  if  removed  to  Mars,  weigh  only 
10  pounds.     .     .     .     Whewell  remarks  that 
in  such  a  case  "  we  should  discover  the  want 
of  the  usual  force  of  gravity  by  the  insta- 
bility of  all  about  us.     Things  would  not 
lie  where  we  placed  them,  but  would  slide 
away  with  the  slightest  push.     We  should 
have   a   difficulty   in   standing  or   walking, 
something  like  what  we  have  on  shipboard 
when  the  deck  is  inclined;   and  we  should 
stagger   helplessly   through    an    atmosphere 
thinner  than  that  which  oppresses  the  res- 
piration of  the  traveler  on  the  tops  of  the 
highest  mountains."    And  he  very  well  notes 


that  all  this  shows  the  real  importance  of 
those  dark  and  unknown  central  portions 
of  the  earth  which  we  are  apt  to  regard 
as  **  deposits  of  useless  lumber  without  effect 
or  purpose.  We  feel  their  influence  on  every 
step  we  take  and  on  every  breath  we  draw; 
and  the  powers  we  possess  and  the  comforts 
we  enjoy  would  be  unprofitable  to  us  if 
they  had  not  been  prepared  with  reference 
to  those  as  well  as  to  the  near  and  visible 
portions  of  the  earth's  mass." — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  71.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

3600.  VARIABILITY     GENERAL 
AMONG  PLANTS   AND    ANIMALS— Indi- 
vidual variability  is  a  general  character  of 
all  common  and  wide-spread  species  of  ani- 
mals or  plants ;  and,  further,   .  .  .  this  vari- 
ability extends,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  every 
part  and  organ,  whether  external  or  inter- 
nal, as  well  as  to  every  mental  faculty.    Yet 
more  important  is  the  fact  that  each  part 
or  organ  varies  to  a  considerable  extent  in- 
dependently of  other  parts.    Again,  we  have 
shown  by  abundant  evidence  that  the  vari- 
ation that  occurs  is  very  large  in  amount — 
usually  reaching  10  or  20,  and  sometimes 
even  25  per  cent,  of  the  average  size  of  the 
varying  part;   while  not  1   or  2  only,  but 
from   5   to    10   per   cent,   of  the  specimens 
examined  exhibit  nearly  as  large  an  amount 
of   variation. — WALLACE   Darwinism,   ch   3, 
p.  58.     (Hum.) 

3601.  VARIABILITY    OF    ADJUST- 
MENT— Constancy  of  Force  Admits  Variety  of 
Adaptation — Contrivance  in  Constitution  of 
the  Universe. — The  superstition  which  saw 
in  all  natural  phenomena  the  action  of  ca- 
pricious deities  was  not  more  irrational  than 
the  superstition  which  sees  in  them  nothing 
but  the  action  of  invariable  law.    Men  have 
been  right,  and  not  wrong,  when  they  saw 
in  the  facts  of  Nature  the  variability  of  ad- 
justment even  more  clearly  and  more  surely 
than  they  saw  the  constancy  of  force.    They 
were  right  when  they  identified  these  phe- 
nomena with  the  phenomena  of  mind.     They 
were  right  when   they  regarded  their  own 
faculty  of  contrivance  as  the  nearest  and 
truest  analogy  by  which  the  constitution  of 
the  universe  can  be  conceived  and  its  order 
understood.    They  were  right  when  they  re- 
garded  its   arrangements   as   susceptible   of 
change,  and  when  they  looked  upon  a  change 
of  will  as  the  efficient  cause  of  other  changes 
without  number  and  without  end.     It  was 
well  to  feel  this  by  the  force  of  instinct; 
it  is  better  still  to  be  sure  of  it  in  the  light 
of  reason.     It  is   an   immense  satisfaction 
to  know  that  the  result  of  logical  analysis 
does  but  confirm  the  testimony  of  conscious- 
ness,  and   run   parallel   with   the  primeval 
traditions  of  belief. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  7,  p.  231.     (Burt.) 

3602.  VARIABILITY    IN    THE    COM- 
BINATION OF  FORCES  —Witt  Finds  Room 
in  the  Variation. — When  .  .  .  scientific  men 
speak,  as  they  often  do,  of  all  phenomena 


727 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


being  governed  by  invariable  laws,  they  use 
language  which  is  ambiguous,  and  in  most 
cases  they  use  it  in  a  sense  which  covers 
an  erroneous  idea  of  the  facts.  There  are 
no  phenomena  visible  to  man  of  which  it 
is  true  to  say  that  they  are  governed  by 
any  invariable  force.  That  which  does  gov- 
ern them  is  always  some  variable  combina- 
tions of  invariable  forces.  But  this  makes 
all  the  difference  in  reasoning  on  the 
relation  of  will  to  law — this  is  the  one 
essential  distinction  to  be  admitted  and  ob- 
served. There  is  no  observed  order  of  facts 
which  is  not  due  to  a  combination  of  forces; 
and  there  is  no  combination  of  forces  which 
is  invariable — none  which  are  not  .capable 
of  change  in  infinite  degrees. — ARGYLL  Reign 
of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  59.  (Burt.) 

3603.  VARIATION  IN  THE  ACTION 
OF    EROSIVE    FORCES—  Currents,    Tides, 
Waves,  Elevation  and  Depression  of  Lands. 
— We  can  explain  why  the  intensity  of  the 
force  of  aqueous  causes  should  be  developed 
in    succession   in    different   districts.      Cur- 
rents, for  example,  tides,  and  the  waves  of 
the   sea,  cannot  destroy  coasts,   shape   out 
or    silt   up    estuaries,    break   through    isth- 
muses, and  annihilate  islands,  form  shoals 
in  one  place  and  remove  them  from  another, 
without  the  direction  and  position  of  their 
destroying  and  transporting  power  becom- 
ing transferred  to  new  localities.     Neither 
can  the  relative  levels  of  the  earth's  crust 
above  and  beneath  the  waters  vary   from 
time  to  time,  as  they  are  admitted  to  have 
varied  at  former  periods,  and  as  it  will  be 
demonstrated    that  they   still   do,   without 
the  continents  being,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
modified,  and  even  entirely  altered,  in  their 
external   configuration.     Such   events   must 
clearly  be  accompanied  by  a  complete  change 
in  the  volume,  velocity,  and  direction  of  the 
streams   and  land   floods   to   which    certain 
regions  give  passage.     That  we  should  find, 
therefore,  cliffs  where  the  sea  once  commit- 
ted ravages,   and  from  which   it  has  now 
retired;  estuaries  where  high  tides  once  rose, 
but  which  are  now  dried  up;    valleys  hol- 
lowed out  by  water,  where  no  streams  now 
flow,  is  no  more  than  we  should  expect ;  these 
and   similar  phenomena   are  the  necessary 
consequences  of  physical  causes  now  in  oper- 
ation; and  if  there  be  no  instability  in  the 
laws  of  Nature,  similar  fluctuations   must 
recur  again  and  again  in  time  to  come. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p. 
344.     (A.,  1854.) 

3604.  VARIATION    OF    MAGNETIC 

NEEDLE — Its  Correspondence  with  'Sun-spots 
— Needle  in  Cellar  at  Paris  Responds  to 
Aurora  Borealis  in  Sweden  and  Norway. — 
Our  planet  is  alive  with  a  certain  stellar 
life  which  we  cannot  yet  sufficiently  under- 
stand. Magnetic  currents  circulate  in  it, 
and  incessantly,  under  their  mysterious  in- 
fluence, the  magnetic  needle  seeks  the  north 
with  its  restless  and  agitated  finger.  The 
intensity  and  direction  of  these  currents 


vary  day  by  day,  year  by  year,  century  by 
century.  .  .  .  Here  is  an  important  secu- 
lar variation  which  has  caused  many  mari- 
time disasters  to  pilots  who  are  ignorant 
of  it.  We  may  add  that  every  day  this  curi- 
ous needle  deviates  from  its  magnetic  merid- 
ian towards  the  east  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  towards  the  west  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  extent  of  this  vari- 
ation varies  year  by  year,  and,  what  is 
truly  surprising,  this  variation  appears  to 
correspond  with  the  number  of  spots  visible 
on  the  sun;  it  is  in  the  years  when  there 
are  most  spots  that  this  fluctuation  is  most 
marked.  The  number  of  aurorae  boreales 
seems  likewise  connected  with  the  state  of 
the  day-star.  Indeed,  the  magnetic  needle 
enclosed  in  a  cellar  of  the  Paris  Observa- 
tory follows  the  aurora  borealis  which  lights 
its  aerial  fires  in  Sweden  and  Norway.  It 
is  restless,  agitated — I  might  say,  feverish ; 
more  than  that,  infatuated — and  its  dis- 
turbance only  ceases  when  the  distant  meteor 
has  disappeared.  What  books  like  the  book 
of  Nature!  And  how  strange  it  is  that  it 
has  so  few  readers! — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  6,  p.  67.  (A.) 

3605.  VARIATION  OF  ORGANISMS 
FROM    COMMON    TYPE -Varieties  of  the 
Apple. — All  our  apples  are  known  to  have 
descended    from   the   common    crab    of    our 
hedges    (Pyrus   Mains),   and   from   this    at 
least  a  thousand  distinct  varieties  have  been 
produced.     These  differ  greatly  in  the  size 
and  form  of  the  fruit,  in  its  color,  and  in 
the  texture  of  the  skin.    They  further  differ 
in  the  time  of  ripening,  in  their  flavor,  and 
in  their  keeping  properties;  but  apple-trees 
also  differ  in  many  other  ways.    The  foliage 
of  the  different  varieties  can  often  be  dis- 
tinguished by  peculiarities  of  form  and  color, 
and  it  varies  considerably  in  the  time  of 
its  appearance. — WALLACE  Darwinism,  ch.  4, 
p.  62.     (Hum.) 

3606.  VARIATION  OF  STARLIGHT 
IN     TRAVERSING     EARTH'S      ATMOS- 
PHERE— Scintillation  Diminishes  with  Alti- 
tude— Tranquillity    of    the    Stars    as    Seen 
from  a  Balloon. — The  light  which  reaches  us 
from  the  stars  is  subject,  in  traversing  our 
atmosphere,  to  slight  variations  of  aspect, 
according  to  its  original  intensity,  its  vi- 
vacity, its  tint;  in  a  word,  according  to  its 
own  nature.    The  higher  we  rise  in  the  air, 
the  more  the  scintillation  diminishes.     At 
the  tops  of  mountains  it  appears  very  feeble. 
During  the  nights  which   1  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  passing  in  a  balloon  I  have  been 
surprised  at  the  calm  and  majestic  tran- 
quillity   of    the    celestial    torches,    which 
seemed  to  correspond  with  the  silence  and 
profound  solitude  by  which  I  was  surround- 
ed.— FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk. 
vi,  ch.  6,  p.  607.     (A.) 

3607.  VARIATION   THE   RULE   IN 

NATURE— All  Qualities  Affected  by  It.— The 
experience  of  breeders  and  cultivators  .  .  . 


Variation 
Variety 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


728 


proves  that  variation  is  the  rule  instead  of 
the  exception,  and  that  it  occurs,  more  or 
less,  in  almost  every  direction.  This  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  different  species  of 
plants  and  animals  have  required  different 
kinds  of  modification  to  adapt  them  to  our 
use,  and  we  have  never  failed  to  meet  with 
variation  in  that  particular  direction,  so  as 
to  enable  us  to  accumulate  it  and  so  to  pro- 
duce ultimately  a  large  amount  of  change 
in  the  required  direction. — WALLACE  Dar- 
winism, ch.  4,  p.  61.  (Hum.) 

3608.  VARIETIES  MUST  PRECEDE 
SELECTION— Natural  Selection  Not  a  Cause 
— Darwin's    Admission. — To    me    it    seems 
that  Professor  Huxley  and  his  followers  in 
this   line  of  argument   have  entirely  over- 
looked the  consideration,  that  before  natural 
selection  among  varietal  forms  could  come 
into  operation,  there  must  have  been  varie- 
ties to  select  from — that  for  the  "  fittest " 
to  have  survived,  they  must  have  come  to 
possess  the  structure  that  made  them  the 
fittest.     It  was  very  early  pointed  out  that 
natural  selection  only   expresses  a  general 
fact,  and  can  in  no  sense  be  accounted  a 
vera  causa;  and  this,  in  his  later  years,  Mr. 
Darwin  showed  himself  quite  willing  to  ad- 
mit.   In  what  I  believe  to  be  his  last  public 
utterance  on  the  subject,  he  spoke  of  the 
causes  of  variation  as  at  present  the  great- 
est problem  of  biological  science;    and  the 
greater  our  success  in  the  investigation  of 
it,  the  more  surely — I  feel  convinced — shall 
we   recognize  the  evidences   of  an   origina- 
ting design. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  15,  p.  436.     (A.,  1889.) 

3609.  VARIETIES    OF   DOGS  —  Not 

Found  in  Wild  State. — The  numerous  races 
of  dogs  which  we  have  produced  by  domes- 
ticity are  nowhere  to  be  found  in  a  wild 
state.  In  Nature  we  should  seek  in  vain 
for  mastiffs,  harriers,  spaniels,  greyhounds, 
and  other  races,  between  which  the  differ- 
ences are  sometimes  so  great  that  they 
would  be  readily  admitted  as  specific  be- 
tween wild  animals ;  "  yet  all  these  have 
sprung  originally  from  a  single  race,  at  first 
approaching  very  near  to  a  wolf,  if,  indeed, 
the  wolf  be  not  the  true  type  which  at  some 
period  or  other  was  domesticated  by  man." 
— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  iii,  ch. 
33,  p.  570.  (A.,  1854.) 

30 1O.  VARIETIES     SCORNED    BY 
THE  OLDER  NATURALISTS— Now  Sought 
and    Cherished. — By   the   older   naturalists, 
indeed,    varieties — especially    if    numerous, 
small,    and    of    frequent    occurrence — were 
looked  upon  as  an  unmitigated  nuisance,  be- 
cause they  rendered  it  almost  impossible  to 
give  precise  definitions  of  species,  then  con- 
sidered the  chief  end  of  systematic  natural 
history.     Hence  it  was  the  custom  to   de- 
scribe what  was  supposed  to  be  the  "  typical 
form  "  of  species,  and  most  collectors  were 
satisfied  if  they  possessed  this  typical  form 
in  their  cabinets.     Now,  however,  a  collec- 


tion is  valued  in  proportion  as  it  contains 
illustrative  specimens  of  all  the  varieties 
that  occur  in  each  species,  and  in  some 
cases  these  have  been  carefully  described, 
so  that  we  possess  a  considerable  mass  of 
information  on  the  subject. — WALLACE  Dar- 
winism, ch.  3,  p.  28.  (Hum.) 

3611.     VARIETY  IN  THE  UNIVERSE 

— Aggregations  of  Stars — Different  Magni- 
tudes Intermingled — The  Milky  Way. — Here, 
then,  is  fresh  evidence  of  the  wonderful  con- 
stitution of  the  Milky  Way.  We  see  that 
this  complicated  aggregation  of  star-streams 
— for  such  is  the  true  description  of  the 
galaxy — consists  in  the  main  of  a  multitude 
of  relatively  minute  stars,  amidst  which 
many  stars,  so  large  as  to  be  visible  to  the 
naked  eye,  are  scattered,  while  also  stars 
of  intermediate  orders  are  gathered  with 
great  richness  in  the  same  region  of  space. 
It  follows  that  when  Sir  W.  Herschel  was 
endeavoring  by  means  of  his  powerful  tele- 
scopes to  resolve  the  cloudy  light  of  the  Milky 
Way  into  separate  stars  he  was  not  really 
penetrating,  as  he  supposed,  to  the  remotest 
limits  of  our  stellar  system,  and  bringing 
into  view  stars  which  were  at  a  relatively 
enormous  distance,  but  in  many  cases  at 
least  was  simply  scrutinizing  more  and 
more  closely  certain  definite  aggregations  of 
stars,  of  many  orders  of  real  magnitude,  all 
intermixed  together  in  the  same  region  of 
space.  .  .  .  Our  stellar  universe,  in  fact, 
no  longer  presents  the  uniform  aspect  which 
it  had  assumed  as  interpreted  by  Sir  W. 
Herschel,  but  shows  varieties  of  structure 
and  of  aggregation  corresponding  with,  but 
far  surpassing  in  degree,  those  which  we 
recognize  in  the  solar  system. — PROCTOR 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  273.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

3612. Creation  Not  Held 

to  the  Single  Model  of  Our  Sun  and  Solar 
System — Pairs  and  Clusters  of  Suns  of 
Varying  Color  and  Brightness. — The  most 
beautiful  contrasts  of  coloring  are  not  pre- 
sented by  the  systems  in  rapid  motion,  but 
by  the  systems  in  slow  motion,  and  even  in 
those  which  have  remained  motionless  since 
their  discovery.  This  curious  fact  does  not 
prevent  the  planets  which  gravitate  round 
these  latter  suns  from  being  subject  to  the 
most  singular  alternations  of  illumination, 
of  seasons,  and  of  years.  Our  white  and 
solitary  sun,  our  solar  system  formed  with 
a  single  focus  round  which  revolve  obedient 
worlds,  following  regular  orbits,  does  not 
constitute  the  type  and  the  model  of  univer- 
sal creation.  The  multiple  suns  which  we 
study  here  sometimes  unite  their  light,  some- 
times oppose  each  other,  sometimes  alternate 
successively  in  the  same  sky;  suns  of  dis- 
similar volumes  and  masses,  acting  often  in 
contrary  directions  and  distorting  the  singu- 
lar orbits  of  the  unknown  worlds  which 
gravitate  in  their  power.  No  spectacle  is 
more  magnificent  than  the  telescopic  contem- 
plation of  these  strange  suns.  When  in  the 


729 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Variation 
Variety 


silent  night,  during  the  sleep  of  terrestrial 
Nature,  in  those  nocturnal  hours  when  hu- 
manity around  us  is  asleep  in  anticipated 
death,  our  gaze  and  our  thoughts  are  ele- 
vated by  the  aid  of  the  marvelous  telescope 
towards  these  celestial  lights  which  are  lit 
up  on  high  from  other  worlds,  and  radiate 
around  them  heat,  activity,  and  life,  the 
contrast  is  so  great  that  we  think  we  dream. 
Here  night,  above  light;  here  lethargy,  above 
motion;  here  shadows,  above  splendor;  here 
heavy  and  dark  matter,  above  the  devouring 
flame  and  the  sidereal  life. — FLAMMABION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  vi,  ch.  9,  p.  638. 
(A.) 

3613. Cycles  of  Revolu- 
tion of  Stellar  Systems. — Notwithstanding 
the  enormous  distances  which  separate  these 
stars  [of  one  system]  from  each  other,  yet 
vaster  distances,  or  rather  distances  of  a 
higher  order  of  vastness,  separate  that  sys- 
tem of  stars  from  the  surrounding  parts  of 
the  galaxy.  It  presents  to  us,  also,  the 
wonderful  thought  that  cycles  of  revolution 
must  exist  within  that  system,  compared 
with  which  the  longest  periods  of  motion 
recognized  within  our  solar  system  must  be 
regarded  as  absolutely  insignificant.  We  are 
shown  in  such  star-systems  an  order  of 
created  things  unlike  any  that  before  we 
had  known.  One  other  form  of  evidence 
has  been  given  to  show  the  infinite  variety 
which  pervades  every  part  of  the  universe. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  296.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3614. Stars  and  Nebulce 

Intermingled  in  Same  Great  Group. — There 
is  no  maintaining  nebulae  to  be  simply  re- 
mote worlds  of  stars,  in  the  face  of  an  ag- 
glomeration like  the  Nubecula  Major,  con- 
taining in  its  (certainly  capacious)  bosom 
both  stars  and  nebulae.  Add  the  evidence 
of  the  spectroscope  to  the  effect  that  a  large 
proportion  of  these  perplexing  objects  are 
gaseous,  with  the  intimate  relation  obvious- 
ly subsisting  between  the  mode  of  their  scat- 
tering and  the  lie  of  the  Milky  Way,  and  it 
becomes  impossible  to  resist  the  conclusion 
that  both  nebular  and  stellar  systems  are 
parts  of  a  single  scheme. — CLERKE  History 
of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch.  12,  p.  505.  (Bl., 
1893.) 


3615. 


The  Heavens  Trans- 


figured,— Science  is  only  beginning  to  pene- 
trate into  the  starry  immensity.  Even  yes- 
terday we  were  ignorant  of  the  number  of 
the  real  double  stars  now  observed,  the  di- 
versity of  their  motions,  and  their  propor- 
tion in  the  organization  of  the  heavens. 
We  may  estimate  that  about  one-fifth  of  the 
suns  of  which  the  universe  is  composed  are 
not  single,  like  that  which  illuminates  us, 
but  associated  in  binary,  ternary,  or  multi- 
ple systems.  Thus  the  double  stars  are 
veritable  suns,  gigantic  and  powerful,  gov- 
erning, in  the  regions  illuminated  by  their 
splendor,  systems  different  from  that  of 
which  we  form  part.  The  sky  is  no  longer 


a  gloomy  desert;  its  ancient  solitudes  have 
given  place  to  regions  peopled  like  those 
in  which  the  earth  gravitates;  the  darkness, 
the  silence  and  death  which  reigned  in  these 
depths  have  given  place  to  light,  to  motion, 
and  to  life;  thousands  and  millions  of  suns 
pour  out  in  great  waves  into  space  the  ener- 
gy, the  heat,  and  the  different  undulations 
which  emanate  from  their~foci ;  the  universe 
is  transfigured  to  our  thoughts ;  suns  succeed 
to  suns,  worlds  to  worlds,  universes  to  uni- 
verses; tremendous  proper  motions  carry  all 
these  systems  through  the  endless  regions  of 
immensity;  and  everywhere,  out  to  and  be- 
yond the  farthest  limits  where  the  fatigued 
imagination  may  rest  its  wings,  everywhere 
is  developed  in  infinite  variety  the  divine 
creation  in  which  our  microscopical  planet  is 
but  an  insignificant  province. — FLAMMARION 
Popular  Astronomy, bk.  vi,  ch.  8, p.  640.  (A.) 

3616. Varying  Length  of 

Years. — What  inexhaustible  variety  distin- 
guishes the  planets  from  each  other!  On 
the  moon,  for  example,  there  are  but  twelve 
days  and  twelve  nights  in  a  year,  and  yet 
their  year  is  of  the  same  length  as  ours.  Here 
we  count  365  days  in  a  year.  On  Jupiter 
the  year  is  nearly  twelve  times  longer  than 
ours,  and  the  day  less  than  half  the  terres- 
trial day;  hence  it  follows  that  there  are 
no  less  than  10,455  days  in  the  year  of  that 
world!  On  Saturn  the  disproportion  is  still 
more  extraordinary;  for  its  year,  thirty 
times  longer  than  ours,  contains  25,217  days. 
And  what  shall  we  say  of  Neptune,  whose 
year  lasts  for  a  century  and  a  half — 165  of 
our  rapid  years!  If  biology  is  there  regu- 
lated in  the  same  proportions,  a  young  girl 
of  seventeen  years  on  Neptune  would  really 
have  lived  2,800  of  our  years;  she  would 
have  lived  nearly  a  thousand  years  before 
Christ  was  born  in  Judea;  she  would  have 
been  contemporary  with  Romulus,  Julius 
Caesar,  Constantine,  Clovis,  Charlemagne, 
Francois  I.,  Louis  XIV.,  Robespierre — and 
she  would  still  be  only  seventeen!  Le- 
thargic fiancee,  she  will  marry  in  three  or 
four  hundred  years  a  young  man  of  her 
dreams  aged  himself  more  than  three  thou- 
sand terrestrial  years. — FLAMMARION  Popu- 
lar Astronomy,  bk.  i,  ch.  2,  p.  13.  (A.) 

3617.     VARIETY    IN    UNITY-Simi- 

larity  in  Structure  of  Diverse  Parts. — The 
similar  framework  of  bones  in  the  hand  of 
a  man,  wing  of  a  bat,  fin  of  the  porpoise, 
and  leg  of  the  horse — the  same  number  of 
vertebrae  forming  the  neck  of  the  giraffe  and 
of  the  elephant— and  innumerable  other 
such  facts,  at  once  explain  themselves  on 
the  theory  of  descent  with  slow  and  slight 
successive  modifications.  The  similarity  of 
pattern  m  the  wing  and  in  the  leg  of  a  bat, 
tho  used  for  such  different  purpose,  in  the 
jaws  and  legs  of  a  crab,  in  the  petals,  sta- 
mens, and  pistils  of  a  flower,  is  likewise,  to 
a  large  extent,  intelligible  on  the  view  of 
the  gradual  modification  of  parts  or  organs. 


Variety 
Vegetation 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


730 


which  were  aboriginally  alike  in  an  early 
progenitor  in  each  of  these  classes. — 
DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  15,  p.  494. 
(Burt.) 

3618.  VARIETY  OF  COLOR  AMONG 

THE  STARS  -Double  Stars  of  Complementary 
Colors. — A  careful  examination  of  the  bright 
double  stars  .  .  .  teaches  that,  besides 
white,  all  the  colors  of  the  solar  spectrum 
are  to  be  found  in  the  double  stars,  but 
that  the  principal  star,  whenever  it  is  not 
white,  approximates  in  general  to  the  red 
extreme  ( that  of  the  least  refrangible  rays ) , 
but  the  companion  to  the  violet  extreme 
(the  limit  of  the  most  refrangible  rays). 
The  reddish  stars  are  twice  as  frequent  as 
the  blue  and  bluish ;  the  white  are  about  two 
and  a  half  times  as  numerous  as  the  red 
and  reddish.  It  is  moreover  remarkable 
that  a  great  difference  of  color  is  usually 
associated  with  a  corresponding  difference 
in  brightness.  In  two  cases — in  £  Bootis  and 
y  Leonis — which,  from  their  great  bright- 
ness, can  easily  be  measured  by  powerful 
telescopes,  even  in  the  daytime,  the  former 
consists  of  two  white  stars  of  the  third 
and  fourth  magnitudes,  and  the  latter  of  a 
principal  star  of  the  second,  and  of  a  com- 
panion of  the  3.5th  magnitude.  This  is  usual- 
ly called  the  brightest  double  star  of  the 
northern  hemisphere,  whereas  a  Centauri 
and  <*  Crucis,  in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
surpass  all  the  other  double  stars  in  bril- 
liancy. .  .  .  "This  superb  double  star 
(a  Centauri)  is  beyond  all  comparison 
the  most  striking  object  of  the  kind  in 
the  heavens,  and  consists  of  two  individ- 
uals, both  of  a  high  ruddy  or  orange  color, 
tho  that  of  the  smaller  is  of  a  somewhat 
more  somber  and  brownish  cast."  ( Sir  John 
Herschel,  "  Observations  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,"  p.  300.) — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii, 
p.  209.  (H.,  1897.) 

3619.  VARIETY    OF     COLOR    IN 
DEEP-SEA  ECHINODERMS—  Compared  to 
Autumn  Leaves. — It  is  impossible  to  account 
for  [the]   extraordinary  variety  of  color  in 
the  deep-sea  echinoderms.    It  is  hardly  prob- 
able that  it  can  be  protective  or  warning  in 
function,  and  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that 
it  is  due  to  any  peculiar  excretory  process. 
Whether  it  is  due  in  any  way  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  environment,  or,  like  the  color 
of  autumn  leaves,  to  the  chemical  degenera- 
tion   of    colors    that   in    the    shallow-water 
ancestry  were  functional,  are  problems  that 
must  be   left  for    the   future    to   decide. — 
HICKSON  Fauna  of  the  Deep  Sea,  ch.  4,  p.  64. 
(A.,  1894.) 

3620.  VARIETY     OF    MOVEMENT 
OF  COMETS  -Celestial  Visitors  Captives  of 
Sun's    Attraction. — Four    principal    charac- 
teristics  distinguish   comets    from   planets: 
(1)    Their  nebulous  aspect  and  their  tails, 
often  considerable;    (2)    the  length   of  the 
elliptical   orbits   which   they   describe;    (3) 
the  inclination  of  these  orbits,  which,  instead 
of  lying  in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  or  at 


least  in  the  zodiac,  like  those  of  the  planets 
in  general,  are  inclined  at  all  degrees  up  to 
a  right  angle,  and  sometimes  carry  the 
comets  to  the  polar  constellations:  (4)  the 
directions  of  their  motions,  which,  instead  of 
being  performed  in  the  same  direction  as 
those  of  planets,  are,  some  direct,  others 
retrograde,  and  appear  to  be  strangers  to 
any  unity  of  plan.  From  these  circum- 
stances the  certain  conclusion  follows  that 
comets  have  not  the  same  origin  as  the 
planets,  that  they  did  not  originally  belong 
to  the  solar  system,  that  they  travel  through 
immensity,  that  they  may  be  transported 
from  one  sun  to  another  (from  star  to  star) , 
and  that  those  which  revolve  round  our  sun 
have  been  caught  in  their  passage  by  his  at- 
traction, having  had  their  course  curved  and 
closed  by  the  influence  of  the  planets  of  our 
system. — FLAMMARION  Popular  Astronomy, 
bk.  v,  ch.  2,  p.  489.  (A.) 

3621.  VARIETY  OF  NATURE— Au- 
rora Ranges  from  Low  Elevation  Up  to  Hun- 
dreds of  Miles. — From  all  this  evidence  we 
are  entitled  to  conclude  that  the  altitude 
of  polar  auroras  varies  within  very  wide 
limits,  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  opinion  of 
certain  authors,  it  is  certainly  possible  to 
observe  auroral  manifestations  quite  near 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  .  .  . 

But  let  us  distinguish.  In  mean  latitudes, 
in  France  and  Central  Europe,  all  measure- 
ments of  the  height  of  the  aurora  have  al- 
ways given  very  high  numbers  [by  some 
observers  in  some  instances  estimated  at 
more  than  500  miles].  .  .  .  It  is  only 
in  latitudes  above  the  55th  or  60th  parallel 
that  auroras  are  undoubtedly  found  at  a 
much  lower  level,  and  sometimes  even  quite 
near  the  surface  of  the  earth.  It  seems, 
then,  lawful  to  assume  that  the  mean  height 
at  which  the  aurora  is  produced  diminishes 
as  we  approach  the  poles.  Perhaps  exceed- 
ing 100  kilometers  (60  miles)  in  low  lati- 
tudes, it  descends  to  some  tens  of  miles  in 
the  arctic  regions,  and  may  even  be  quite 
near  the  ground. — ANGOT  Aurora  Borealis, 
ch.  4,  p.  68.  (A.,  1897.) 


3622. 


Close  Observation 


Finds  Endless  Differences — Shepherd  Knows 
Individual  Sheep. — If  we  look  about  us  in 
a  forest  consisting  of  only  a  single  species 
of  tree,  for  example,  of  beech,  we  shall  cer- 
tainly not  find  in  the  whole  forest  two  trees 
of  this  kind  which  are  absolutely  identical 
or  perfectly  equal  in  the  form  of  their 
branches,  the  number  of  their  branches,  and 
leaves,  blossoms,  and  fruits.  Special  differ- 
ences occur  everywhere,  just  as  in  the  case 
of  men.  There  are  no  two  men  who  are 
absolutely  identical,  perfectly  equal  in  size, 
in  the  formation  of  their  faces,  the  number 
of  their  hairs,  their  temperament,  character, 
etc.  The  very  same  is  true  of  individuals 
of  all  the  different  species  of  animals  and 
plants.  It  is  true  that  in  most  organisms 
the  differences  are  very  trifling  to  the  eye 
of  the  uninitiated.  Everything  here  essen- 


731 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Variety 
Vegetation 


tially  depends  on  the  exercise  of  the  faculty 
of  discovering  these  often  very  minute  dif- 
ferences of  form.  The  shepherd,  for  exam- 
ple, knows  every  individual  of  his  flock, 
solely  by  accurately  observing  their  peculi- 
arities, while  the  uninitiated  are  incapable 
of  distinguishing  at  all  the  different  indi- 
viduals of  one  and  the  same  flock. — HAECKEL 
History  of  Creation,  vol.  i,  ch.  7,  p.  158. 
(K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3623. Results  Wrought 

from  a  Few  Elements — As  Language  from 
the  Alphabet. — The  number  of  substances 
deemed  elementary  has  varied  with  the 
advance  of  science;  but  as  compared  with 
the  variety  of  their  products,  that  number 
may  be  considered  as  infinitesimally  small; 
whilst  the  progress  of  analysis,  with  glimpses 
of  laws  as  yet  unknown,  renders  it  almost 
certain  that  this  number  will  be  found  to 
be  smaller  still.  Yet  out  of  that  small 
number  of  elementary  substances,  having 
fixed  rules,  too,  limiting  their  combina- 
tion, all  the  infinite  varieties  of  organic  and 
inorganic  matter  are  built  up  by  means  of 
nice  adjustment.  As  all  the  faculties  of  a 
powerful  mind  can  utter  their  voice  in  lan- 
guage whose  elements  are  reducible  to  twen- 
ty-four letters,  so  all  the  forms  of  Nature, 
with  all  the  ideas  they  express,  are  worked 
out  from  a  few  simple  elements  having  a 
few  simple  properties. — ARGYLL  Reign  of 
Law,  ch.  2,  p.  57.  (Burt.) 

3624.  VARIETY  OF  TONES  AMONG 

ANIMALS — Darwin's  Six  Modulations  in  the 
Bark  of  the  Dog — From  These  May  Spring 
a  Full  Vocabulary. — The  howl  of  the  dog, 
the  neigh  of  the  horse,  the  bleat  of  the 
lamb,  the  stamp  of  the  goat,  and  other  signs 
are  all  readily  understood  by  other  animals. 
One  monkey  utters  at  least  six  different 
sounds  to  express  its  feelings;  and  Mr.  Dar- 
win has  detected  four  or  five  modulations 
in  the  bark  of  the  dog:  "  the  bark  of  eager- 
ness, as  in  the  chase;  that  of  anger  as  well 
as  growling;  the  yelp  or  howl  of  despair 
when  shut  up;  the  baying  at  night;  the 
bark  of  joy  when  starting  on  a  walk  with 
his  master;  and  the  very  distinct  one  of 
demand  or  supplication,  as  when  wishing 
for  a  door  or  window  to  be  opened."  Now 
these  signs  are  as  much  language  as  spoken 
words.  You  have  only  to  evolve  this  to  get 
all  the  language  the  dictionary-maker  re- 
quires.— DRUMMOND  Ascent  of  Man,  p.  158. 
(J.  P.,  1900.) 

3625.  VASTNESS,  SENSE  OF— Plains- 
man's   First    Experience    of    a  Hill. — I    re- 
member my  first  experience  of  a  hill,  after 
having    been    shut    within    "these    narrow 
limits."    It  was  one  of  the  range  of  Sierras 
near  Cape  Corrientes,  and  not  above  eight 
hundred  feet  high;  yet,  when  I  had  gained 
the  summit,  I  was  amazed  at  the  vastness 
of  the  earth,  as  it  appeared  to  me  from  that 
modest  elevation.     Persons  born  and  bred  on 
the  pampas,  when  they  first  visit  a  mountain- 
ous district,  frequently  experience  a   sensa- 


tion as  of  "  a  ball  in  the  throat,"  which  seems 
to  prevent  free  respiration. — HUDSON  Natu- 
ralist in  La  Plata,  ch.  1,  p.  5.  ( C.  &  H.,  1895. ) 

3626.  VAULT  OF  HEAVEN— Ancients 
Regarded   the    Heavens    as    Made    of    Glass 
— The  "  Crystal  Sphere" — Altho,  according 
to  Stobaeus  and  the  collector  of  the  "  Views 
of  the  Philosophers,"  the -designation  "  crys- 
tal vault  of  heaven  "  dates  as  far  back  as 
the   early   period   of  Anaximenes,   the    first 
clearly  defined  signification  of  the  idea  on 
which  the  term  is  based  occurs  in  Empedo- 
cles.     This  philosopher  regarded  the  heaven 
of  the  fixed  stars  as  a  solid  mass,  formed 
from    the    ether    which    had   been    rendered 
crystalline  and  rigid  by  the  action  of  fire. 
According  to  his  theory,  the  moon  is  a  body 
conglomerated   (like  hail)    by  the  action  of 
fire,    and   receives    its    light   from   the   sun. 
The  original  idea  of  transparency,  congela- 
tion, and  solidity  would  not,  according  to  the 
physics    of    the    ancients,    and    their    ideas 
of  the  solidification  of  fluids,  have  referred 
directly   to   cold   and  ice;    but   the  affinity 

between  Kpvo-raAAos,  K  p  v  o  ? ,  and  ttpwraivia, 

as  well  as  this  comparison  with  the  most 
transparent  of  all  bodies,  gave  rise  to  the 
more  definite  assertion  that  the  vault  of 
heaven  consisted  of  ice  or  of  glass.  Thus 
we  read  in  Lactantius:  "  Coelum  ae'rem  gla- 
ciatum  esse  "  and  "  vitreum  coelum."  Em- 
pedocles  undoubtedly  did  not  refer  to  the 
glass  of  the  Phenicians,  but  to  air,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  condensed  into  a  trans- 
parent solid  body  by  the  action  of  the  fiery 
ether.  In  this  comparison  with  ice  (*pv<r- 
T  a  A  A  o  s ) »  the  idea  of  transparency  predomi- 
nated, no  reference  being  here  made  to  the 
origin  of  ice  through  cold,  but  simply  to 
its  conditions  of  transparent  condensation. 
While  poets  used  the  term  crystal,  prose 
writers  .  .  .  limited  themselves  to  the 
expression  crystalline  or  crystal-like,  *pv<r- 
raAAoeiSijs-  In  like  manner,  nayos  (from 
7r>7-yi>u<r0ai,  to  become  solid)  signifies  a  piece 
of  ice — its  condensation  being  the  sole  point 
referred  to. — HUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p. 
123.  (H.,  1897.) 

3627.  VEGETATION     AND    CRYS- 
TALLIZATION— Lake  of  the  Solfatara— Con- 
trast of  the  Animate  and  the  Inanimate. — 
In  the  Campagna,  between  Rome  and  Tivoli, 
is   the   Lake   of   the   Solfatara,   called   also 
Lago  di    Zolfo    (lacus   albula),   into   which 
flows  continually  a  stream  of  tepid  water 
from  a  smaller  lake,  situated  a  few  yards 
above  it.     The  water  is   a   saturated  solu- 
tion   of    carbonic-acid    gas,    which    escapes 
from   it  in   such   quantities   in   some   parts 
of  its   surface  that   it  has  the   appearance 
of   being   actually   in   ebullition.      "  I    have 
found  by   experiment,"   says   Sir   Humphry 
Davy,    "  that    the    water    taken    from    the 
most  tranquil  part  of  the  lake,  even  after 
being    agitated    and    exposed    to    the    air, 
contained    in   solution    more    than   its    own 
volume   of   carbonic-acid   gas,    with    a   very 
small  quantity  of  sulfureted  hydrogen.     Its 


Vegetation 
Ventriloquism 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


732 


high  temperature,  which  is  pretty  constant 
at  80°  F.,  and  the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid 
that  it  contains,  render  it  peculiarly  fitted 
to  afford  nourishment  to  vegetable  life.  The 
banks  of  travertin  are  everywhere  covered 
with  reeds,  lichen,  confervse,  and  various 
kinds  of  aquatic  vegetables ;  and  at  the  same 
time  that  the  process  of  vegetable  life  is 
going  on  the  crystallizations  of  the  calcare- 
ous matter,  which  is  everywhere  deposited 
in  consequence  of  the  escape  of  carbonic 
acid,  likewise  proceed.  There  is,  I  believe, 
no  place  in  the  world  where  there  is  a  more 
striking  example  of  the  opposition  or  con- 
trast of  the  laws  of  animate  and  inanimate 
Nature,  of  the  forces  of  inorganic  chemical 
affinity,  and  those  of  the  powers  of  life." 

The  same  observer  informs  us  that  he 
fixed  a  stick  in  a  mass  of  travertin  covered 
by  the  water  in  the  month  of  May,  and  in 
April  following  he  had  some  difficulty  in 
breaking,  with  a  sharp-pointed  hammer,  the 
mass  which  adhered  to  the  stick,  and  which 
was  several  inches  in  thickness.  The  upper 
part  was  a  mixture  of  light  tufa  and  the 
leaves  of  confervas;  below  this  was  a  darker 
and  more  solid  travertin,  containing  black 
and  decomposed  masses  of  confervas;  in 
the  inferior  part  the  travertin  was  more 
solid,  and  of  a  gray  color,  but  with  cavi- 
ties probably  produced  by  the  decomposition 
of  vegetable  matter. — LYELL  Principles  of 
Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  16,  p.  243.  (A.,  1854.) 

3628.  VEGETATION,  GIGANTIC,  OF 
TROPICS— A  Forest  of  Arum.— One  of  the 
islands  was  low  and  sandy,  and  half  of  it 
was   covered  with  gigantic  arum-trees,  the 
often-mentioned  Caladium  arbor escens,  which 
presented    a    strange    sight.      Most    people 
are  acquainted  with  the  little  British  spe- 
cies   Arum    maculatum,    which    grows    in 
hedge-bottoms,    and   many,    doubtless,    have 
admired    the    larger    kinds    grown    in    hot- 
houses; they  can  therefore  form  some  idea 
of   a   forest   of   arums.     On  this   islet   the 
woody   stems   of   the  plants  near  the   bot- 
tom were  eight  to  ten  inches  in  diameter, 
and   the   trees   were   twelve   to   fifteen   feet 
high,  all  growing  together  in  such  a  manner 
that  there  was  just  room  for  a  man  to  walk 
freely  between   them.     There  was   a    canoe 
inshore,   with    a    man    and    a   woman;    the 
man,  who  was  hooting  with  all  his  might, 
told  us   in  passing  that  his   son  was  lost 
in  the  "  aningal "    (arum-grove).     He  had 
strayed  while  walking  ashore,  and  the  father 
had  been  an  hour  waiting  for  him  in  vain. 
— BATES  Naturalist  on  the  River  Amazon, 
ch.  5,  p.  664.     (Hum.,  1880.) 

3629.  VEGETATION,  MICROSCOPIC 

-—The  "  Red  Snow"  of  the  Alps. — Some- 
times, in  the  midst  of  the  wide  expanse,  one 
comes  upon  a  patch  of  the  so-called  red  snow 
of  the  Alps.  At  a  distance  one  would  say 
that  such  a  spot  marked  some  terrible  scene 
of  blood,  but,  as  you  come  nearer,  the  hues 
are  so  tender  and  delicate,  as  they  fade  from 
deep  red  to  rose,  and  so  die  into  the  pure 


colorless  snow  around,  that  the  first  im- 
pression is  completely  dispelled.  This  red 
snow  is  an  organic  growth,  a  plant  spring- 
ing up  in  such  abundance  that  it  colors  ex- 
tensive surfaces,  just  as  the  microscopic 
plants  dye  our  pools  with  green  in  the 
spring.  It  is  an  alga  (Protocoites  nivalis), 
well  known  in  the  arctics,  where  it  forms 
wide  fields  in  the  summer. — AGASSIZ  Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  i,  ch.  8,  p.  227.  (H, 
M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

363O.  VELOCITY  OF  LIGHT— Ex- 
actness of  Newcomb's  Observations — Rays 
Sent  Across  a  Measured  Space. — All  ear- 
lier efforts  of  the  kind  were  thrown  into 
the  shade  by  Professor  Newcomb's  arduous 
operations  at  Washington  in  1880-1882.  The 
scale  upon  which  they  were  conducted  was 
in  itself  impressive.  Foucault's  entire  appa- 
ratus in  1862  had  been  enclosed  in  a  single 
room;  Newcomb's  revolving  and  fixed  mir- 
rors, between  which  the  rays  of  light  were 
to  run  their  timed  course,  were  set  up  on 
opposite  shores  of  the  Potomac,  at  a  distance 
of  nearly  four  kilometers  [about  2y2  miles]. 
This  advantage  was  turned  to  the  utmost 
account  by  ingenuity  and  skill  in  contri- 
vance and  execution;  and  the  deduced  velocity 
of  299,860  kilometers  (=186,328  miles)  a 
second  had  an  estimated  error  (30  kilo- 
meters [18.63  miles])  only  one- tenth  that 
ascribed  by  Cornu  to  his  own  result  in  1874. 
— CLERKE  History  of  Astronomy,  pt.  ii,  ch. 
6,  p.  297.  (Bl.,  1893.) 

3631. Happy  Conjecture 

of  Bacon. — The  second  book  of  Lord  Bacon's 
"  Novum  Organum "  gives  us  the  earliest 
views  on  the  velocity  of  light  and  the  prob- 
ability of  its  requiring  a  certain  time  for  its 
transmission.  He  speaks  of  the  time  re- 
quired by  a  ray  of  light  to  traverse  the 
enormous  distances  of  the  universe,  and  pro- 
poses the  question  whether  those  stars  yet 
exist  which  we  now  see  shining.  We  are 
astonished  to  meet  with  this  happy  conjec- 
ture in  a  work  whose  intellectual  author 
was  far  behind  his  contemporaries  in  mathe- 
matical, astronomical,  and  physical  knowl- 
edge. The  velocity  of  reflected  solar  light 
was  first  measured  by  Kb'mer  (November, 
1675)  by  comparing  the  periods  of  occulta- 
tion  of  Jupiter's  satellites;  while  the  veloc- 
ity of  the  direct  light  of  the  fixed  stars  was 
ascertained  (in  the  autumn  of  1727)  by 
means  of  Bradley's  great  discovery  of  aber- 
ration, which  afforded  objective  evidence  of 
the  translatory  movement /of  the  earth,  and 
of  the  truth  of  the  Copernican  system. — 
FUMBOLDT  Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  80.  (H., 
1897.) 

3632.  VELOCITY  OF  OCEAN  CUR- 
RENTS —  Narrowing  of  Channel  Increases 
Speed  of  Crowded  Waters. — The  ordinary 
velocity  of  the  principal  currents  of  the 
ocean  is  from  one  to  three  miles  per  hour; 
but  when  the  boundary  lands  converge,  large 
bodies  of  water  are  driven  gradually  into  a 
narrow  space,  and  then  wanting  lateral  room 


733 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Vegetation 
Ventriloquh 


are  compelled  to  raise  their  level.  When- 
ever this  occurs  their  velocity  is  much  in- 
creased. The  current  which  runs  through 
the  Race  of  Alderney,  between  the  island  of 
that  name  and  the  mainland,  has  a  velocity 
of  about  eight  English  miles  an  hour.  Cap- 
tain Hewett  found  that  in  the  Pentland 
Firth  the  stream,  in  ordinary  spring  tides, 
runs  ten  miles  and  a  half  an  hour,  and 
about  thirteen  miles  during  violent  storms. 
The  greatest  velocity  of  the  tidal  current 
through  the  "  Shoots  "  or  New  Passage,  in 
the  Bristol  Channel,  is  fourteen  English 
miles  an  hour ;  and  Captain  King  observed, 
in  his  survey  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  that 
the  tide  ran  at  the  same  rate  through  the 
"  First  Narrows,"  and  about  eight  geo- 
graphical miles  an  hour  in  other  parts  of 
those  straits. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  19,  p.  293.  (A.,  1854.) 

3633.  VELOCITY,  UNIMAGINABLE, 
OF    ELECTRICITY— Emblem    of   Speed  of 
Thought — Moving  Bodies  Seen  Motionless. — 
A  flash  of  lightning  cleaves  a  cloud,  appear- 
ing and  disappearing  in  less  than  a  hundred- 
thousandth  of  a  second,  and  the  velocity  of 
electricity  is  such   as  would  carry  it  in  a 
single  second  over  a  distance  almost  equal 
to  that  which  separates  the  earth  and  moon. 
It  is  well  known  that  a  luminous  impression 
once  made  upon  the  retina  endures  for  about 
one-sixth  of  a  second,  and  that  this  is  the 
reason  why   we   see  a   continuous  band  of 
light  when  a  glowing  coal  is  caused  to  pass 
rapidly  through  the  air.     A  body  illumina- 
ted by  an  instantaneous  flash  continues  to 
be  seen  for  the  sixth  of  a  second  after  the 
flash  has  become  extinct;   and  if  the  body 
thus  illuminated  be  in  motion,  it  appears 
at  rest  at  the  place  where  the  flash   falls 
upon  it.     When  a  color-top  with  differently 
colored  sectors  is  caused  to  spin  rapidly  the 
colors  blend  together.     Such  a  top,  rotating 
in  a  dark  room  and  illuminated  by  an  elec- 
tric spark,  appears  motionless,  each  distinct 
color   being   clearly    seen.      Professor   Dove 
has  found  that  a  flash  of  lightning  produces 
the  same  effect.    During  a  thunder-storm  he 
put  a  color-top  in  exceedingly  rapid  motion, 
and  found  that  every  flash  revealed  the  top 
as  a  motionless  object,  with  its  colors  dis- 
tinct.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
i,  ch.  21,  p.  440.     (A.,  1900.) 

3634.  VENOM  ADAPTED  TO  VIC- 
TIM— One  Plan  Must  Comprehend  Destroyer 
and    Destroyed. — The    poison    of    a    deadly 
snake — let  us  for  a  moment  consider  what 
this  is.    It  is  a  secretion  of  definite  chemical 
properties  which  have  reference,  not  only — 
not   even   mainly — to    the  organism  of  the 
animal  in  which  it  is  developed,  but  specially 
to  the  organism  of  another  animal  which  it 
is    intended  to   destroy.      Some   naturalists 
have  a  vague  sort  of  notion  that,  as  regards 
merely   mechanical    weapons,    or   organs   of 
attack,  they  may  be  developed  by  use — that 
legs   may   become   longer   by    fast   running, 
teeth   sharper  and  longer  by  much   biting. 


Be  it  so:  this  law  of  growth,  if  it  exist,  ia 
but  itself  an  instrument  whereby  purpose 
is  fulfilled.  But  how  will  this  law  of  growth 
adjust  a  poison  in  one  animal  with  such 
subtle  knowledge  of  the  organization  of  an- 
other that  the  deadly  virus  shall  in  a  few 
minutes  curdle  the  blood,  benumb  the  nerves, 
and  rush  in  upon  the  citadel  of  life?  There 
is  but  one  explanation — a  Mind,  having  mi- 
nute and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  structure 
of  both,  has  designed  the  one  to  be  capable 
of  inflicting  death  upon  the  other.  This 
mental  purpose  and  resolve  is  the  one  thing 
which  our  intelligence  perceives  with  direct 
and  intuitive  recognition.  The  method  of 
creation,  by  means  of  which  this  purpose  has 
been  carried  into  effect,  is  utterly  unknown. 
— ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, oh.  1,  p.  21.  (Burt.) 

3635.  VENTILATION  IS  LIFE— Deadly 
Products  of  Combustion — Breathing  Is  Com- 
bustion   without    Flame.  —  We    often    take 
great  precautions  to  prevent  its  [carbon  di- 
oxid  or  carbonic  acid]  escape.    Scared  by  the 
ghosts  of  rheumatism  and  neuralgia,  some 
people   in  winter   close  the   doors   of*  their 
apartments   and   stop   up   every   crevice   by 
which  fresh  air  can  enter  or  foul  air  escape. 

By  means  of  a  sandbag  at  the  window, 
another  at  the  door,  and  a  piece  of  list  care- 
fully tacked  along  its  edge,  the  whole  ar- 
rangement being  supplemented  by  a  screen, 
the  products  of  combustion  and  exhalation 
are  kept  circulating  in  the  room  and 
breathed  over  and  over  again  by  those 
within,  at  the  cost  of  morning  headache, 
languor,  and  depression,  with  a  long  train 
of  other  evils  following  in  the  wake.  From 
the  fire,  from  the  lights,  and  from  the  lungs 
of  the  inmates,  the  poisonous  gas  is  evolved, 
and  must  be  removed  by  efficient  ventila- 
tion. We  are  here  struck  by  the  remarkable 
analogy  between  the  process  of  combustion 
and  the  function  of  respiration. 

The  latter  is,  in  fact,  a  species  of  com- 
bustion without  flame.  The  carbon  of  the 
impure  venous  blood  unites  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  air  to  form  carbonic  acid  gas,  while 
the  hydrogen  unites  with  another  portion 
of  oxygen  to  form  water.  Both  products 
are  expelled  at  each  exhalation,  and  the 
chemical  action  going  on  within  the  body 
raises  its  temperature  to  nearly  100°. — 
LOWE  Nature-Studies,  p.  4.  (Hum.,  1888.) 

3636.  VENTRILOQUISM  IN  NATU- 
RAL MAGIC— Judgment  of  Distance  Relative. 
— A  change  of  wind,  an   unusual   stillness 
in  the  air,  is  quite  sufficient  to  produce  the 
sense  that  sounding  objects  are  nearer  than 
they  actually  are.     The  art  of  the  ventrilo- 
quist manifestly  aims  at  producing  this  kind 
of  illusion.     By  imitating  the  dull  effect  of 
a  distant  voice,  he  is  able  to  excite  in  the 
minds  of  his  audience  a  powerful  conviction 
that    the    sounds    proceed    from    a    distant 
point.     There  is  little  doubt  that  ventrilo- 
quism has  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
arts    of   divination    and   magic. — SULLY   Il- 
lusions, ch.  5,  p.  82.     (A.,  1897.) 


Venue's 
Victory 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


734 


3637.  VENUS'S  FLY-TRAP— Remark- 
able Mechanism  for  Securing  Insect  Food — 
Plant  Almost  without  Roots — Leaves  Spring 
upon  Prey  at  a  Touch. — This  plant  [Dion&a 
muscipula],    commonly    called   Venus's    fly- 
trap,  from   the   rapidity    and   force   of   its 
movements,   is  one   of  the  most  wonderful 
in  the  world.     It  is  a  member  of  the  small 
family  of  the  Droseracecc,  and  is  found  only 
in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Carolina,  grow- 
ing  in  damp  situations.  The  roots  are  small; 
those  of  a  moderately  fine  plant  which  I  ex- 
amined consisted  of  two  branches  about  one 
inch    in    length,    springing   from   a   bulbous 
enlargement.      They   probably   serve,    as    in 
the  case  of  Drosera,  solely  for  the  absorption 
of  water;  for  a  gardener,  who  has  been  very 
successful  in  the  cultivation  of  this  plant, 
grows  it,  like  an  epiphytic  orchid,  in  well- 
drained  damp  moss  without  any  soil.    .    .    . 
The  two  lobes  stand  at  rather  less  than  a 
right  angle  to   each   other.     Three   minute 
pointed   processes   or   filaments,  placed  tri- 
angularly, project  from  the  upper  surfaces 
of  both;   but  I  have  seen  two  leaves  with 
four    filaments   on   each    side,   and   another 
with  only  two.    These  filaments  are  remark- 
able from  their  extreme  sensitiveness  to  a 
touch,  as  shown  not  by  their  own  movement, 
but  by  that  of  the  lobes.    The  margins  of  the 
leaf  are  prolonged  into  sharp,  rigid  projec- 
tions which  I  will  call  spikes,  into  each  of 
which  a  bundle  of  spiral  vessels  enters.    The 
spikes  stand  in  such  a  position  that,  when 
the  lobes  close,  they  interlock  like  the  teeth 
of  a  rat-trap. — DARWIN  Insectivorous  Plants, 
ch.  13,  p.  232.     (A.,  1000.) 

3638.  VERACITY  OF  ANCIENT 
TRAVELER  VINDICATED—  The  Sea  of  Sea- 
weed.— His   ships,   he    [Himilco,   a   Cartha- 
ginian explorer  of  the  sixth  century  B.  C.] 
says,  or  at  least  Avienus  says  for  him,  were 
"  surrounded  by  seaweed."     Where  was  he 
when  this  took  place?     All  that  we  can  say 
in  answer  to  this  question  is  that  he  sailed 
through   the    Pillars    of   Hercules    into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  and  we  know  that  few  days' 
sail   in  this  direction  would  have  brought 
him  to  the  "  Mare  di  Sargasso,"  a  sea  which 
has  actually  taken  its  name  from  the  quan- 
tity of  seaweed   (sargasso)   growing  in  it. 
Sir  G.  C.  Lewis  says,  "  The  notion  of  remote 
seas  being  impassable  by  ships,  either  from 
their  shoals,  or  from  the  obstacles  to  navi- 
gation produced  by  the  semifluid  and  muddy 
properties  of  the  water,   frequently  recurs 
among  the  ancients";    and   it  is   true,  no 
doubt,  that  statements  of  this  kind  are  made 
by  many  ancient  writers,  as,  for  instance, 
by  Herodotus,  Plato,  Scylax,  and  even  Aris- 
totle; but  not  one  of  these  writers  alludes 
to  "  seaweed  "  as  an  impediment  to  naviga- 
tion, and  it  can  hardly  be  accidental  that 
the  only  voyager  by  whom  this  is  referred 
to  was  one  who  sailed  on  a  course  which,  if 
persevered  in  for  a  few  days,  would  have 
brought   him   to    that   which    is    even    now 


known    as   the    Sea    of    Seaweed. — AVEBURY 
Prehistoric  Times,  ch.  3,  p.  59.     (A.,  1900.) 


3639. 


Unknown  Sub- 


stance Found  Covering  the  Sea — Plates  of 
Ice  Like  Jellyfish. — Round  the  island  of 
Thule  Pytheas  [a  Greek  explorer,  third  cen- 
tury B.  C.,  treated  by  Polybius,  Strabo,  and 
later  writers  as  a  mendacious  imposter] 
saw  a  substance  which  was  neither  earth, 
air,  nor  water,  but  a  substance  resembling 

meduSSB   Or   jellyfishes    (irvevnovt  ea\a.<T<rl<*  COIKOS), 

which  could  neither  be  passed  on  foot  nor 
in  ships.  This  passage,  which  has  complete- 
ly puzzled  southern  commentators,  is  justly 
regarded  by  Professor  Nilsson  as  a  striking 
evidence  of  Pytheas's  veracity.  For  when 
the  Northern  Ocean  freezes,  this  does  not 
happen  as  in  our  ponds  or  lakes,  but  small, 
separate  plates  of  ice  are  formed,  and  as 
soon  as  this  process  commences  the  fisher- 
men hurry  to  the  shore,  lest  they  should  be 
caught  in  the  ice,  which  for  some  time  is 
too  thick  to  permit  the  passage  of  a  boat, 
yet  too  weak  to  support  the  weight  of  a 
man.  A  very  similar  description  is  given 
by  Captain  Lyon.  "  We  came,"  he  says, 
"  amongst  young  ice,  in  that  state  called 
sludge,  which  resembles  in  appearance  and 
consistency  a  far  better  thing — lemon  ice. 
From  this  we  came  to  small  round  plates,  of 
about  a  foot  in  diameter,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  the  scales  of  gigantic  fishes." 
Richardson  also  particularly  mentions  the 
"  circular  plates  of  ice,  six  or  eight  inches 
in  diameter."  These  disks  of  ice  tossed  about 
by  the  waves  suggested  to  Professor  Nilsson 
himself,  when  he  first  saw  them,  the  idea 
of  a  crowd  of  medusae,  and  if  we  imagine  a 
southerner  who  had  never  before  witnessed 
such  a  phenomenon,  and  who  on  his  return 
home  wished  to  describe  it  to  his  fellow 
countrymen,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
find  an  apter  or  more  ingenious  simile.  It 
is,  moreover,  one  which  would  hardly  have 
occurred  to  any  one  who  had  not  witnessed 
the  actual  phenomenon. — AVEBURY  Prehis- 
toric Times,  ch.  3,  p.  62.  (A.,  1900.) 

364O.    VERIFICATION  OF  POPULAR 

BELIEF — Naturalist's  Observation —  Vampire 
and  Horse. — The  vampire-bat  is  often  the 
cause  of  much  trouble,  by  biting  the  horses 
on  their  withers.  The  injury  is  generally 
not  so  much  owing  to  the  loss  of  blood  as 
to  the  inflammation  which  the  pressure  of 
the  saddle  afterwards  produces.  The  whole 
circumstance  has  lately  been  doubted  in 
England;  I  was  therefore  fortunate  in  being 
present  when  one  .  .  .  was  actually 
caught  on  a  horse's  back.  We  were  bivou- 
acking late  one  evening  near  Coquimbo,  in 
Chile,  when  my  servant,  noticing  that  one 
of  the  horses  was  very  restive,  went  to  see 
what  was  the  matter,  and  fancying  he  could 
distinguish  something,  suddenly  put  his 
hand  on  the  beast's  withers  and  secured  the 
vampire.  In  the  morning  the  spot  where  the 
bite  had  been  inflicted  was  easily  distin- 


735 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


V  enus'M 
Victory 


guished  from  being  slightly  swollen  and 
bloody. — DARWIN  Naturalist's  Voyage  around 
the  World,  ch.  2,  p.  22.  (A.,  1898.) 

3641.  VERSATILITY  OF  SCIENTIST 

— Mastery  of  Three  Great  Departments — 
The  Philosophic  Mind  Everywhere  at  Home. 
— Wherever  mineralogy  or  geology  is  taught, 
the  unsurpassed  text-books  on  these  subjects 
by  Dana  hold  easy  supremacy.  ...  Of 
his  mineralogy  Powell  says :  "  Thus  he  was 
the  first  to  give  us  a  system  of  mineralogy ; 
but  his  work  in  this  field  did  not  end  at 
that  stage.  He  still  pursued  his  investiga- 
tions, collecting  from  many  fields,  and  draw- 
ing from  the  collections  of  many  others  in 
many  lands,  until  at  last  he  developed  a 
new  system  of  mineralogy,  placing  the  sci- 
ence on  an  enduring  basis.  This  accom- 
plishment alone  was  also  worthy  of  a  great 
man,  and  by  it  a  new  science  was  organ- 
ized on  a  mathematical,  chemical,  and  phys- 
ical basis." 

The  broader  field  of  geology  became  his 
after  his  return  from  the  exploring  expedi- 
tion, and  he  published  his  "  Manual  of  Ge- 
ology "  in  1862.  .  .  .  Concerning  his 
valuable  work  on  geology  Powell  said :  "  So 
Dana's  '  Geology '  is  not  only  a  text-book  of 
geology,  but  it  is  the  handbook  for  all 
national,  state,  and  local  geologists  and 
all  students  in  the  field.  It  is  the  universal 
book  of  reference  in  that  department  of  sci- 
ence. Other  text-books  have  been  developed, 
but  no  other  handbook  for  America.  It  is 
a  vast  repository  of  facts,  but  all  arranged 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  constitute  a  geologic 
philosophy.  It  is  on  every  worker's  table, 
and  is  carried  in  the  kit  of  every  field  ob- 
server. It  has  thus  become  the  standard  to 
which  all  scientific  research  is  referred,  and 
on  which  geologic  reports  are  modeled." 

Besides  the  foregoing,  Dana  was  the  au- 
thor of  "  Coral  Reefs  and  Islands,"  which  he 
enlarged  and  published  later  as  "  Corals  and 
Coral  Islands";  of  "The  Geological  Story 
Briefly  Told  " ;  "  The  Characteristics  of  Vol- 
canoes," and  "  The  Four  Rocks  of  the  New 
Haven  Region." 

In  conclusion  Powell  says  of  him :  "  Dana 
as  a  zoologist  was  great,  Dana  as  a  mineral- 
ogist was  greater,  but  Dana  as  a  geologist 
was  greatest,  and  Dana  in  all  three  was  a 
philosopher;  hence  Dana's  great  work  is  en- 
during.—  MARCUS  BENJAMIN  Early  Presi- 
dents of  the  American  Association  in  Pro- 
ceedings of  Amer.  Assoc.  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  1899,  p.  1G. 

3642.  VICES   OF   SAVAGERY  NOT 

PRIMEVAL—  Cannibalism  and  Infanticide.— 
There  is  an  assumption  that  the  further  we 
go  back  in  time  there  was  not  only  less  and 
less  extensive  knowledge  of  the  useful  arts 
— not  only  simpler  and  simpler  systems  of 
life  and  polity — but  also  that  there  were 
deeper  and  deeper  depths  of  the  special  char- 
acteristics of  the  modern  savage.  We  have, 
however,  only  to  consider  what  some  of  these 
characteristics  are  to  be  convinced  that,  al- 


tho  they  may  have  arisen  in  early  times, 
they  cannot  possibly  have  existed  in  the 
times  which  were  the  earliest  of  all.  .  .  . 
If,  for  example,  there  ever  was  a  time  when 
there  existed  on  one  spot  of  earth,  or  even 
on  more  spots  than  one,  a  single  pair  of 
human  beings,  it  is  impossible  that  they 
should  have  murdered  their  offspring  or  that 
they  should  have  killed  and  eaten  each  other. 
Accordingly  it  is  admitted  that  cannibalism 
and  infanticide,  two  of  the  commonest  prac- 
tises of  savage  and  of  barbarous  life,  cannot 
have  been  primeval.  But  this  is  a  conclu- 
sion of  immense  significance.  It  hints  to 
us,  if  it  does  no  more,  that  what  is  true  of 
one  savage  practise  may  possibly  be  true 
of  others.  It  breaks  down  the  presumption 
that  whatever  is  most  savage  is  therefore 
probably  the  most  ancient. — ARGYLL  Unity 
of  Nature,  ch.  10,  p.  228.  (Burt.) 

3643.  VICTIM  OF  BOA  OR  PYTHON 
DESTITUTE  OF  FEAR— We  have  often  ob- 
served boas  and  pythons  do  this  [kill  their 
victims  by  crushing]   in  captivity,  and  can 
affirm  that  the  rabbits  and  ducks  introduced 
into   their   cages   are   entirely   destitute   of 
fear  or  apprehension,  and  suffer  nothing  un- 
til they  are  seized,  and  then  their  sufferings 
are  extremely  brief.     Such  a  serpent,  if  dis- 
posed to  feed — to  attain  which  disposition  it 
often   needs    a   fast   of  several   weeks — will 
move  slowly  about  till  it  brings  its  mouth 
opposite  to  the  muzzle  of  the  rabbit.     Then 
in  an  instant  its  mouth  is  opened  and  the 
rabbit's  head  is  seized,  while  simultaneous- 
ly the  voluminous  folds  of  the  powerful  body 
are  twined  round  it,  and  it  is  crushed  im- 
mediately to  death.     The  serpent  does  not 
at  once  uncoil  its  folds,  but  continues  for  a 
time  tightly  to  embrace  its  victim,  so  that 
reanimation    becomes    impossible.  —  MIVART 
Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  5,  p.  141.     (L.  B. 
&  Co.,  1893.) 

3644.  VICTIM    UNWARNED— Infec- 
tion Unsuspected — Incubation  Period  of  Ty- 
phoid.— Until  intoxication   [i.  e.,  toxin  poi- 
soning]   occurs    there    may    be    few    or    no 
symptoms,  but  directly  enough  bacteria  are 
present  to  produce  in  the  body  certain  poi- 
sons in  sufficient  amount  to  result  in  more 
or  less  marked  tissue  change,  then  the  symp- 
toms  of  that  tissue   change   appear.     This 
period  of  latency  between  infection  and  the 
appearance  of  the  disease  is  known  as  the 
incubation   period.     Take   typhoid,    for   ex- 
ample.    A  man   drinks   a   typhoid-polluted 
water.     For  about  fourteen  days  the  bacilli 
are  making  headway  in   his  body  without 
his  being  aware  of  it.     But  at  the  end  of 
that  incubation  period  the  signs  of  the  dis- 
ease assert  themselves. — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  8,  p.  271.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3645.  VICTORY  OF  THE  MAMMALS 
IN   ANCIENT    STRUGGLE—  Nature  Ever 
Since  Perfecting  This  Highest  Type.— The  de- 
velopment of  complete  mammality  was  no 
sudden  thing.     The  results  of  the  struggle 


Victory 
Vision 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


736 


are  registered  in  the  Eocene  rocks.  The 
ancient  world  had  found  its  Waterloo.  Gone 
were  the  dragons  \vho  so  long  had  lorded  it 
over  both  hemispheres — brontosaurs,  iguano- 
dons,  plesiosaurs,  laelaps,  pterodactyls — all 
gone;  their  uncouth  brood  quite  vanished 
from  the  earth,  and  nothing  left  alive  as  a 
reminder,  save  a  few  degenerate,  collateral 
kin,  such  as  snakes  and  crocodiles,  objects 
of  dread  and  loathing  to  higher  creatures. 
Never  in  the  history  of  our  planet  has  there 
been  a  more  sweeping  victory  than  that 
of  the  mammals,  nor  has  Nature  had  any 
further  occasion  for  victories  of  that  sort. 
The  mammal  remains  the  highest  type  of 
animal  existence,  and  subsequent  progress 
has  been  shown  in  the  perfecting  of  that 
type  where  most  perfectible.  —  FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  ii,  ch.  11,  p. 
125.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3646.  VIEW,  ANCIENT,  OF  FIXED 
STARS— Stars  Supposed  To  Be  Riveted  to  the 
Vault  of  Heaven — The  "  Crystal  Sphere." — 
The  inappropriate  expression  of  fixed  stars 
(astro,  fixa  of  Manilius)  reminds  us     .     .     . 
of  the  connection,  or,  rather,  confusion  of 
the  ideas  of  insertion,  and  of  absolute  im- 
mobility or  fixity.    When  Aristotle  calls  the 
non-wandering  celestial  bodies  (air\avrj  a<rrpa) 
riveted     (evSeSe^eVa),     when    Ptolemy    desig- 
nates them  as  ingrafted  (wpoo-n-e^uKOTej),  these 
terms  refer  specially  to  the  idea  entertained 
by  Anaximenes  of  the  crystalline  sphere  of 
heaven.     The   apparent   motion   of   all    the 
fixed  stars  from  east  to  west,  while  their 
relative    distances    remain    unchanged,    had 
given  rise  to*  this  hypothesis.     "  The  fixed 
stars    (ait\a.vj}  aarpa)  belong  to  the  higher  and 
more  distant  regions,  in  which  they  are  riv- 
eted, like  nails,  to  the  crystalline  heavens; 

the    planets   (aorpo.  irAavw/meva  Or  irAairjTa),  which 

move  in  an  opposite  direction,  belong  to 
a  lower  and  nearer  region."  [Stob«us, 
"Eclog.  Phys.,"  p.  582.] — HUMBOLDT  Cos- 
mos, vol.  iii,  p.  122.  (H.,  1897.) 

3647.  VIRTUE  AMONG  SAVAGES— 
Names  Wanting  for  Love  and  Gratitude. — 
Neither  faith,  hope,  nor  charity  enters  into 
the  virtues  of  a  savage.    The  Sichuana  lan- 
guage contains   no  expression   for   thanks; 
the  Algonquin  had  no  word  for  love;   the 
Tinne  no  word  for  beloved;  mercy  was  with 
the  North- American  Indians  a  mistake,  and 
peace  an  evil ;  theft,  says  Catlin,  they  "  call 
capturing  " ;  humility  is  an  idea  which  they 
could   not    comprehend.      Among    the   Kou- 
pouees  the  greatest  misconduct,  says  Major 
McCulloch,   "  is   to   forgive   an   enemy,   the 
first  virtue  is  revenge." — AVEBURY  Prehis- 
toric Times,  ch.  15,  p.  541.     (A.,  1900.) 

3648.  VIRTUES,  PATERNAL,  DIF- 
FERENT  FROM   MATERNAL— As  Neces- 
sary to  the  Race — Heredity  Blends  the  Two. 
— The  acquisitions  of  the  manly  life  are  as 
necessary  to  human  character  as  the  virtues 
which  gather  their  sweetness  by  the  cradle; 
and  these  robuster  elements — strength,  cour- 
age,   manliness,    endurance,    self-reliance — 


could  only  have  been  secured  away  from 
domestic  cares.  Apart  from  that,  it  was 
not  necessary  to  put  the  father  through 
the  same  mill  as  the  mother.  Whatever 
the  mother  gained  would  be  handed  on  to 
her  boys  as  well  as  to  her  girls,  and  with  the 
law  of  heredity  to  square  accounts,  it  was 
unnecessary  for  each  of  the  two  great  sides 
of  humanity  to  make  the  same  investments. 
By  one  acquiring  one  set  of  virtues  and  the 
other  another,  the  blend  in  the  end  would 
be  the  richer;  and,  without  obliterating  the 
eternal  individualities  of  each,  the  measure 
of  completeness  would  be  gained  more  quick- 
ly for  the  race.  Before  heredity,  however, 
could  do  its  work  upon  the  father  a  certain 
basis  had  to  be  laid.  With  his  original 
habits  he  would  squander  the  hereditary 
gains  as  fast  as  he  received  them,  and  unless 
some  change  was  brought  about  in  his  mode 
of  life  the  old  wild  blood  in  his  veins  would 
counteract  the  gentler  influence,  and  leave 
all  the  mother's  work  in  vain.  Hence  Na- 
ture had  to  set  about  another  long  and  dif- 
ficult process — to  make  the  savage  father 
a  reformed  character. — DRUMMOND  Ascent  of 
Man,  ch.  9,  p.  293.  (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3649.  VIRULENCE   OF   BACTERIA 
INCREASED    BY   ASSOCIATION— Banded 
Evils  Most  Deadly. — The  virulence  of    ... 
bacteria  is     ...     increased  by  means  of 
association.  The  Bacillus  coli  is  an  example; 
for,   in    conjunction   with   other  organisms, 
this    bacillus,    altho    normally    present    in 
health  in  the  alimentary  canal,  is  able  to 
set  up  acute  intestinal  irritation,  and  vari- 
ous changes  in  the  body  of  an  inflammatory 
nature.     It  is   not  yet  possible  to   say   in 
what  way  or  to  what  degree  the  association 
of  bacteria  influences  their  role.     That  is  a 
problem  for  the  future.    But  whilst  we  have 
examples  of  this  association  in  streptococcus 
and  the  bacillus  of  diphtheria,  B.  coli  and 
yeasts,    tetanus    and    putrefactive   bacteria, 
Diplococcus   pneumonice   and    streptococcus, 
and  association  amongst  the  various  suppu- 
rative  organisms,  we  cannot  doubt  that  there 
is  an  explanation  to  be  found  here  of  many 
hitherto    unsolved    results    of   bacterial    ac- 
tion.— NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  1,  p.  32.     (G. 
P.  P.,  1899.) 

3650.  VISIBLE  VS.  ACTUAL—  Other 
Worlds  than  Ours  Like  Lands  Beyond  the 
Sea. — The  world  in  which  we  live  is  a  round 
ball  of  a  determined  magnitude,  and  occu- 
pies its  own  place  in  the  firmament.     But 
when   we   explore   the   unlimited   tracts    of 
that  space    which  is  everywhere  around  us, 
we   meet  with  other  balls  of   equal  or   su- 
perior magnitude,  and  from  which  our  earth 
would  either  be  invisible,  or  appear  as  small 
as  any  of  those  twinkling  stars  which  are 
seen  on  the  canopy   of  heaven.     Why  then 
suppose  that  this  little  spot,  little  at  least 
in  the  immensity  which  surrounds  it,  should 
be  the  exclusive  abode  of  life  and  of  intelli- 
gence?    What  reason  to  think   that  those 
mightier  globes  which  roll  in  other  parts  of 


737 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Victory 

Vision 


creation,  and  which  we  have  discovered  to 
be  worlds  in  magnitude,  are  not  also  worlds 
in  use  and  in  dignity  ?  Why  should  we  think 
that  the  great  Architect  of  Nature,  supreme 
in  wisdom  as  he  is  in  power,  would 
call  these  stately  mansions  into  existence 
and  leave  them  unoccupied?  When  we  cast 
our  eye  over  the  broad  sea,  and  look  at  the 
country  on  the  other  side,  we  see  nothing 
but  the  blue  land  stretching  obscurely  over 
the  distant  horizon.  We  are  too  far  away 
to  perceive  the  richness  of  its  scenery,  or 
to  hear  the  sound  of  its  population.  Why 
not  extend  this  principle  to  the  still  more 
distant  parts  of  the  universe?  What  tho, 
from  this  remote  point  of  observation,  we 
can  see  nothing  but  the  naked  roundness 
of  yon  planetary  orbs?  Are  we  therefore 
to  say  that  they  are  so  many  vast  and  un- 
peopled solitudes;  that  desolation  reigns  in 
every  part  of  the  universe  but  ours;  that 
the  whole  energy  of  the  divine  attributes  is 
expended  on  one  insignificant  corner  of  these 
mighty  works;  and  that  to  this  earth  alone 
belongs  the  bloom  of  vegetation,  or  the 
blessedness  of  life,  or  the  dignity  of  rational 
and  immortal  existence? — CHALMERS  Astro- 
nomical Discourses,  p.  21.  (R.  Ct.,  1848.) 


3651. 


Stars  Seem  to  Re- 


volve around  the  Pole — The  "  Steadfast  Po- 
lar 8 tar  "  Changes  Place  in  the  Sky, — If  we 
wratch  the  heavenly  bodies  for  a  few  hours 
we  shall  always  find  them  in  motion,  those 
in  the  east  rising  upwards,  those  in  the 
south  moving  towards  the  west,  and  those  in 
the  west  sinking  below  the  horizon.  We 
know  that  this  motion  is  only  apparent, 
arising  from  the  rotation  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis;  but  ...  we  may  speak  of  the 
motion  as  real.  A  few  days'  watching  will 
show  that  the  whole  celestial  sphere  seems 
to  revolve,  as  on  an  axis,  every  day.  It  is 
to  this  revolution,  carrying  the  sun  alter- 
nately above  and  below  the  horizon,  that 
the  alternations  of  day  and  night  are  due. 
The  nature  and  effects  of  this  motion  can 
best  be  studied  by  watching  the  apparent 
movement  of  the  stars  at  night.  We  should 
soon  learn  from  such  a  watch  that  there  is 
one  point  in  the  heavens,  or  on  the  celestial 
sphere,  which  does  not  move  at  all.  In  our 
latitudes  this  point  is  situated  in  the  north, 
between  the  zenith  and  the  horizon,  and  is 
called  the  pole.  Around  this  pole,  as  a  fixed 
center,  all  the  heavenly  bodies  seem  to  re- 
volve, each  one  moving  in  a  circle,  the  size 
of  which  depends  on  the  distance  of  the 
body  from  the  pole.  There  is  no  star  situ- 
ated exactly  at  the  pole,  but  there  is  one 
which,  being  situated  little  more  than  a  de- 
gree distant,  describes  so  small  a  circle  that 
the  unaided  eye  cannot  see  any  change  of 
place  without  making  some  exact  and  care- 
ful observation.  This  is  therefore  called  the 
pole-star.  .  .  .  The  altitude  of  the  pole 
is  equal  to  the  latitude  of  the  place. — NEW- 
COMB  Popular  Astronomy,  pt.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  9. 
(H.,  1899.) 


3652.  VISION,  BINOCULAR—  The  Ef- 
fect of  Seeing  with  Two  Eyes. — In  Nature 
we  see  every  object  with  two  eyes,  each  of 
which  occupies  a  somewhat  different  stand- 
point in  space.     We  therefore  acquire  two 
pictures   of    each    separate   object   that   we 
blend   in  our   conception   into   one  physical 
whole.     That  is  why  we  see  objects  in  Na- 
ture in  so  much  greater  relief  than  in  paint- 
ing.— KAAT  Leonardo  da   Vinci  als   Natur- 
forscher.      (Translated   for   Scientific   Side- 
Lights.) 

3653.  VISION,    DEFECTIVE—  Color- 
blindness — Case   of  Dr.  Dalton. — The   most 
interesting  case  of  [color-blindness]   is  that 
of  the  celebrated  chemical  philosopher,  Dr. 
Dalton,  of  England.     He  published  an  ac- 
count of  his  own  case  and  that  of  several 
others  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Manches- 
ter  Society   in    1794.     Of   the  seven  colors 
of  the  rainbow  he  could  distinguish  but  two, 
yellow  and  blue;  or  at  most,  three,  yellow, 
blue,    and    purple.      He    saw   no    difference 
between  red  and  green;  so  that  he  thought 
the  color  of  a  laurel  leaf  the  same  as  that 
of  a  stick  of  red  sealing-wax.     A  story  is 
told  of  his  having,  on  one  occasion,  appeared 
at  the  Quaker  meeting,  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  in  the  usual  drab  coat  and  small- 
clothes of  the  sect,  with  a  pair  of  flaming 
red-colored  stockings  to  match.     Whatever 
may  be  the  truth  in  reference  to  this  story, 
we  have  the  assertion  of  Professor  Whewell 
that  when  Dr.  Dalton  was  asked  with  what 
he   would   compare   the    scarlet  gown   with 
which  he  had  been  invested  by  the  univer- 
sity, he  pointed  to  the  trees,  and  declared 
that  he  perceived  no  difference  between  the 
color  of  his  robe  and  that  of  their  foliage. 
— HENRY   Color  Blindness    (Scientific   Wri- 

9,  vol.  i,  p.  236).     (Sm.  Inst.,  1886.) 


3654.  VISION  INDEPENDENT  OF 
ARGUMENT  OR  CALCULATION— Appar- 
ent and  Real  Size  of  Church  Clock  and  Ball 
on  Steeple. — Vision  requires  to  be  convinced 
[through  its  own  organs].  No  assertion  on 
the  part  of  other  people,  no  speculation  or 
calculation  is  of  influence  in  determining 
our  perception,  but  only  an  association  of 
ideas  repeated  over  and  over  again.  Isolated 
experiences,  therefore,  make  no  impression 
upon  our  minds.  From  a  window  in  my 
room  I  look  directly  upon  a  neighboring 
church  tower.  The  face  of  the  church  clock 
appears  about  as  large  as  that  of  a  moder- 
ately large  clock  which  hangs  upon  my  wall. 
The  ball  of  the  steeple  looks  about  as  large 
as  the  button  of  a  flagstaff.  A  little  while 
ago  the  clock  face  and  steeple  knob  were 
taken  down  for  repairs  and  lay  upon  the 
street.  To  my  astonishment,  I  saw  that  the 
former  was  as  large  as  a  church  door,  and 
the  latter  as  large  as  a  wagon-wheel.  Now 
the  two  are  in  their  places  again  and  look 
to  me  just  as  they  did  before,  altho  I  have 
learned  their  true  size.  The  workman  upon 
the  roof  does  not  seem  so  much  smaller 
than  he  actually  is,  because  I  have  observed 


Vision 

VividiK 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


738 


the  size  of  my  fellow  men  hundreds  of  times. 
But  the  ball  of  a  steeple  and  a  church  clock 
are  not  objects  of  every-day  experience.  The 
button  of  a  flagstaff  and  the  clock  on  the 
wall  are  much  more  familiar.  And  so  I 
think  of  the  steeple  knob  as  the  flagstaff 
button,  and  the  church  clock  as  a  wall  clock. 
— WUNDT  Psychology,  lect.  2,  p.  179.  (Son. 
&  Co.,  1896.) 

3655.  VISION,  NEW  POSSIBILITIES 

OF — Roentgen  Rays  Make  the  Opaque  Trans- 
parent. —  These  [Roentgen]  rays  are  pro- 
duced by  a  special  form  of  electrical  current 
sent  through  a  vacuum  tube,  in  or  around 
which  is  some  fluorescent  substance,  which 
under  the  action  of  the  current  becomes  in- 
tensely luminous.  But  this  luminosity  has 
totally  different  properties  from  ordinary 
light,  inasmuch  as  the  substances  which 
are  opaque  or  transparent  to  it  are  not  the 
same  as  those  to  which  we  usually  apply  the 
terms,  but  often  the  very  contrary.  Paper, 
for  instance,  is  so  transparent  that  the  rays 
will  pass  through  a  book  of  a  thousand 
pages,  or  through  two  packs  of  cards,  both 
of  which  would  be  absolutely  opaque  to  the 
most  brilliant  ordinary  light.  Aluminum, 
tin,  and  glass  of  the  same  thickness  are  all 
transparent,  but  they  keep  out  a  portion 
of  the  rays;  whereas  platinum  and  lead  are 
quite  opaque.  To  these  rays  aluminum  is 
two  hundred  times  as  transparent  as  pla- 
tinum. Wood,  carbon,  leather,  and  slate  are 
much  more  transparent  to  the  X-rays  than 
is  glass,  some  kinds  of  glass  being  almost 
opaque,  tho  quite  transparent  to  ordinary 
light. — WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century, 
ch.  5,  p.  39.  (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3656.  VISION,  REMARKABLE  AD- 
JUSTMENTS FOR—  The  Eye  Surpasses  the 
Camera. — As  an  optical  instrument,  the  eye 
is  superior  to  the  camera  in  the  following, 
among  many  other  particulars,  which  may 
be  enumerated   in   detail:      1.  The  correct- 
ness of  images  even  in  a  large  field  of  view. 

2.  The  simplicity  and  efficiency  of  the  means 
by  which  chromatic  aberration  is  avoided. 

3.  The  perfect   efficiency   of   its   adaptation 
to  different  distances.     In  the  photographic 
camera  it  is  well  known  that  only  a  com- 
paratively  small   object   can  be   accurately 
focused.    In  the  photograph  of  a  large  object 
near  at  hand  the  upper   and   lower   limits 
are  always  more  or  less  hazy,  and  vertical 
lines  appear  curved.    This  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  image  produced  by  a  convex  lens 
is  really  slightly  curved  and  can  only   be 
received   without    distortion    on    a    slightly 
curved  concave  screen,  hence  the  distortion 
on   a   flat   surface   of   ground  glass.      It    is 
different  with  the  eye,  since  it  possesses  a 
concave  background,   upon   which   the   field 
of  vision   is   depicted,   and  with  which  the 
curved  form  of  the  image  coincides  exactly. 
Thus  the  defect  of  the   camera   obscura   is 
entirely  avoided,  for  the  eye  is  able  to  em- 
brace a  large  field   of  vision,  the  margins 


of  which  are  depicted  distinctly  and  with- 
out distortion.  If  the  retina  had  a  plane 
surface  like  the  ground-glass  plate  in  a 
camera,  it  must  necessarily  be  much  larger 
than  is  really  the  case  if  we  were  to  see  as 
much;  moreover,  the  central  portion  of  the 
field  of  vision  alone  would  give  a  good,  clear 
picture. — BERNSTEIN,  quoted  by  BAKER  in 
Handbook  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  19,  p. 
213.  (W.  W.,  1885.) 

3657.  VISIONS,  DREADFUL,  IN  AL- 
COHOLIC   MANIA  —  Reptiles  and   Specters 
Seen-. — Delirium   Tremens. — This    state    [de- 
lirium  tremens],   which   constitutes   a   con- 
necting link   between    intoxication   and   in- 
sanity, seems  rather  to  arise  from  perverted 
and  imperfect  nutrition  of  the  brain  than 
from  poisoning  of  the  blood;  for  it  may  be 
produced  by   other    agencies  which   depress 
the  nervous   power,   such   as   great  loss   of 
blood,  the  shock  of  severe  injuries,  or   ex- 
treme cold.     It  is  characterized  by  a  low, 
restless  activity  of  the  cerebrum,  manifest- 
ing itself  in  muttering  delirium,  with  occa- 
sional  paroxysms   of  greater  violence;    and 
the  nature  of  this  delirium  almost  always 
shows  the  mind  of  the  subject  of  it  to  be 
possessed  with  the  apprehension  of  some  dire- 
ful calamity.     He   imagines   his  bed  to  be 
covered  with  loathsome  reptiles;  he  sees  the 
walls   of  his   apartment  covered  with   foul 
or   terrific    specters;    and   he   supposes    the 
friends  or  attendants  who  stand  around  to 
be  fiends  come  to  drag  him  down  into  a  fiery 
abyss   beneath.      Here   we  have,   as   in   the 
case  of  false  perceptions,     ...     a  misin- 
terpretation of  actual  sense-impressions,  un- 
der the  influence  of  a  dominant  emotional 
state. — CARPENTER    Mental   Physiology,   bk. 
ii,  ch.  17,  p.  656.     (A.,  1900.) 

3658.  VISIONS    OF    SCIENCE— Con- 
scious of  Its  Own  Incompleteness — Hopeful 
of  Mastery. — From  what  has  been  said,  it 
will  be  seen  that  tho  a  considerable  amount 
of  knowledge  has  been   obtained  respecting 
bacteria  in  the  soil,  it  may  be  conjectured 
that  actually  there  is  still  a  great  deal  to 
ascertain    before    the    microbiology    of    soil 
is  in  any  measure  complete  or  even  intelli- 
gent.   The  mere  mention  of  tetanus  and  ty- 
phoid in  the  soil,  and  their  habits,  nutri- 
ment, and  products  therein,  not  to  mention 
the  work  of  the    economic   bacteria,    is   to 
open  up  to  the  scientific  mind  a  vast  realm 
of  possibility.     It  is  scarcely  too  much  to 
say   that   a    fuller   knowledge   of    the  part 
which  soil  plays  in  the  culture  and  propaga- 
tion of  bacteria  may  suffice  to  revolutionize 
the  practise  of  preventive  medicine.     Truly, 
our  knowledge  at  the  moment  is  rather  a 
heterogeneous  collection  of  isolated  facts  and 
theories,  some  of  which,  at  all  events,  re- 
quire ample  confirmation;   still,  there  is  a 
basis  for  the  future  which  promises  much 
constructive  work. — NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch. 
5,  p.  177.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 


739 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Vision 
Vividness 


3659.  VISITORS  FROM  THE  STARS 

— The  Lenarto  Meteor  under  Chemical  Anal- 
ysis— Must  Have  Come  from  a  Star  Whose 
Atmosphere  Is  Dense  with  Hydrogen — Com- 
ets Originally  Expelled  from  Sun  or  Star. — 
Professor  Graham,  the  late  Master  of  the 
Mint,  and  one  of  the  greatest  chemists  of  our 
day,  examined  the  iron  of  an  aerolite,  called 
the  Lenarto  meteor  from  the  place  where 
it  fell.  He  tested  it  with  special  reference 
to  the  quantity  of  hydrogen  contained  in 
it;  for  hydrogen  and  other  gases  can  be 
occluded,  as  it  is  called,  or,  as  it  were,  closed 
in  within  the  substance  of  iron.  Now  ob- 
serve what  he  says  about  the  iron  of  this 
meteor :  "  It  has  been  found  difficult  to  im- 
pregnate malleable  iron  with  more  than  an 
equal  volume  of  hydrogen  under  the  pressure 
of  our  atmosphere.  Now,  the  meteoric  iron 
(this  Lenarto  iron  is  remarkably  pure  and 
malleable)  gave  up  about  three  times  that 
amount  without  being  fully  exhausted.  The 
inference  is  that  the  meteorite  had  been  ex- 
truded from  a  dense  atmosphere  of  hydro- 
gen gas,  for  which  we  must  look  beyond  the 
light  cometary  matter  floating  about  within 
the  limits  of  our  solar  system.  .  .  .  Hy- 
drogen has  been  recognized  by  the  spectrum 
analysis  of  the  light  of  the  fixed  stars  by 
Messrs.  Huggins  and  Miller.  The  same  gas 
constitutes,  according  to  the  wide  researches 
of  Father  Secchi,  the  principal  element  of  a 
numerous  class  of  stars,  of  which  Alpha 
Lyrse  (the  leading  brilliant  of  the  Lyre)  is 
the  type.  The  iron  of  Lenarto  has  no  doubt 
come  from  such  an  atmosphere,  in  which 
hydrogen  greatly  prevailed.  This  meteorite 
may  be  looked  upon  as  holding  imprisoned 
tvithin  it,  and  bearing  to  us,  the  hydrogen 
of  the  slars." 

We  are  led,  then,  to  the  startling  con- 
clusion that  comets  ( for  what  applies  to  the 
meteoric  trains  must  needs  apply  to  the 
comets  whence  those  trains  proceed)  have 
been  expelled  either  from  our  sun  or  from 
one  or  other  of  the  stars. — PROCTOR  Expanse 
of  Heaven,  p.  146.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3660.  VISITS    OF     CEREMONY 
AMONG  BIRDS—  The  South-American  Lap- 
icing. — If  a  person  watches  any  two  birds 
[South-American   lapwings]    for    some  time 
— for  they  live  in  pairs — he  will  see  another 
lapwing,  one  of  a   neighboring  couple,  rise 
up  and  fly  to  them,  leaving  his  own  mate  to 
guard  their  chosen  ground;   and  instead  of 
resenting  this  visit  as  an  unwarranted  in- 
trusion on  their  domain,  as  they  would  cer- 
tainly resent  the  approach  of  almost  any  other 
bird,  they  welcome  it  with  notes  and  signs 
of  pleasure.     Advancing  to  the  visitor,  they 
place  themselves  behind  it;  then  all  three, 
keeping  step,  begin  a  rapid  march,  uttering 
resonant,  drumming  notes  in  time  with  their 
movements,    the   notes    of    the   pair   behind 
being  emitted  in  a  stream,  like  a  drum-roll, 
while   the   leader   utters   loud    single   notes 
at   regular    intervals.      The   march    ceases; 
the   leader    elevates    his   wings    and    stands 


erect  and  motionless,  still  uttering  loud 
notes,  while  the  other  two,  with  puffed-out 
plumage  and  standing  exactly  abreast,  stoop 
forward  and  downward  until  the  tips  of 
their  beaks  touch  the  ground,  and,  sinking 
their  rhythmical  voices  to  a  murmur,  remain 
for  some  time  in  this  posture.  The  perform- 
ance is  then  over  and  the—visitor  goes  back 
to  his  own  ground  and  mate,  to  receive  a 
visitor  himself  later  on. — HUDSON  Natural- 
ist in  La  Plata,  ch.  19,  p.  269.  (C.  &  H., 
1895.) 

3661.  VITALITY,    ENDURING,   OF 
TYPHOID  BACILLUS  IN  SOIL— Frost  and 
Snow  Powerless  to  Destroy. — Dr.  Robertson 
[has  made]    admirable   researches   into   the 
growth   of  the  bacillus  of  typhoid   in   soil. 
By    experimental    inoculation    of    soil   with 
broth  cultures  he  was  able  to  isolate  the  ba- 
cillus twelve  months  after,  alive  and  viru- 
lent.     He   concludes   that   the   typhoid   or- 
ganism is  capable  of  growing  very  rapidly 
in  certain  soils,  and  under  certain  circum- 
stances  can    survive    from   one   summer   to 
another.     The  rains  of  spring  and  autumn 
or  the  frosts  and  snows  of  winter  do  not 
kill  them  off  so  long  as  there  is  sufficient 
organic   pabulum.     Sunlight,   the  bacterici- 
dal power  of  which  is  well  known,  had,  as 
would  be  expected,  no  effect  except  upon  the 
bacteria  directly  exposed  to  its  rays.     The 
bacillus    typhosus  quickly   dies   out  in   the 
soil  of  grass-covered  areas.     Dr.  Robertson 
holds  that  the  chief  channel  of  infection  be- 
tween typhoid-infected  soil  and  man  is  dust. 
As  in  tubercle  and  anthrax,  so  in  typhoid, 
dried  dust  or  excreta  containing  the  bacillus 
is  the  vehicle  of  disease. — NEWMAN  Bacteria, 
ch.  5,  p.  176.     (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3662.  VITALITY  LOWERED—  Gives 
Foothold  to  Disease — Effect  of  Sewer-gas. — 
Tho  not  of  material  importance  as  regards 
bacterial  treatment  of  sewage,  this  subject 
calls    for   some   remark.     For   long   it  has 
been    known    that    air    polluted    by    sewage 
emanations  is  capable  of  giving  rise  to  vari- 
ous degrees  of  ill  health.   These  chiefly  affect 
two  parts  of  the  body;    one  is  the  throat, 
and  the  other  is  the  alimentary  canal.     Ir- 
ritation  and  inflammation   may  be   set  up 
in  both  by  sewer-air.     Such  conditions  are 
in   all   probability  produced  by   a   lowering 
of  the  resistance  and  vitality  of  the  tissues, 
and  not  by  either  a  conveyance  of  bacteria 
in  sewer-air  or  any  stimulating  effect  upon 
bacteria  exercised  by  sewer-air.     What  evi- 
dence  we   have    is   against   such   factors. — 
NEWMAN  Bacteria,  ch.  2,  p.  87.     (G.  P.  P., 
1899.) 

3663.  VIVIDNESS  OF  MEMORY  SUG- 
GESTS NEARNESS  IN  TIME— A  Corrective 
in    Recalling     Intervening     Events. — Some- 
times pictures  of  very  remote  incidents  may 
suddenly  present  themselves  to  our  minds 
with   a   singular    degree    of   brightness   and 
force.     And  when  this  is  the  case  there  is 
a  disposition  to  think  of  them  as  near.     If 


Vividness 
Volcanoes 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


740 


the  relations  of  the  event  to  other  events 
preceding  and  succeeding  it  are  not  remem- 
bered, this  momentary  illusion  will  persist. 
We  have  all  heard  persons  exclaim,  "  It 
seems  only  yesterday,"  under  the  sense  of 
nearness  which  accompanies  a  recollection 
of  a  remote  event  when  vividly  excited.  The 
most  familiar  instance  of  such  lively  re- 
production is  the  feeling  which  we  experi- 
ence on  revisiting  the  scene  of  some  memor- 
able event.  At  such  a  time  the  past  may 
return  with  something  of  the  insistence  of 
a  present  perceived  reality. — SULLY  Illu- 
sions, ch.  10,  p.  257.  (A.,  1897.) 

3664.  VOID,  SENSE  OF,  FROM  LACK 
OF   CUSTOMARY   SOUND— Facts  in  Con- 
sciousness,   but    Unheeded. — When   we   first 
come  out  of  a  mill  or  factory,  in  which  we 
have  remained  long  enough  to  get  wonted 
to  the  noise,  we  feel  as  if  something  were 
lacking.     Our  total  feeling  of  existence   is 
different  from  what  it  was  when  we  were 
in  the  mill.     ...    A  friend  writes  to  me: 
"  I  have  in  my  room  a  little  clock  which  does 
not   run   quite    twenty- four    hours   without 
winding.     In  consequence  of  this,  it  often 
stops.     So  soon  as  this  happens  I  notice  it, 
whereas  I  naturally  fail  to  notice  it  when 
going.      When    this    first   began   to    happen 
there  was  this  modification:  I  suddenly  felt 
an   undefined    uneasiness   or    sort    of    void, 
without  being   able   to  say  what  was   the 
matter;   and  only  after  some  consideration 
did  I  find  the  cause  in  the  stopping  of  the 
clock. — C.  E.  MULLER,  quoted  by  JAMES  in 
Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  11,  p.  456.     (H.  H.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3665.  VOLCANO  AND  EARTHQUAKE 
IN  CONJUNCTION— It   is   a   very   general 
opinion  that  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  have 
a  common  origin;   for  both  are  confined  to 
certain  regions,  altho  the  subterranean  move- 
ments  are   least  violent   in   the   immediate 
proximity  of  volcanic  vents,  especially  where 
the  discharge  of  aeriform  fluids  and  melted 
rock  is  made  constantly  from  the  same  cra- 
ter.— LYELL   Principles   of   Geology,   bk.    ii, 
ch.  22,  p.  245.     (A.,  1854.) 


3666. 


Shock  and  Erup- 


tion Simultaneous. — One  of  the  earliest  rec- 
ords of  a  severe  earthquake  and  a  volcanic 
eruption  occurring  simultaneously  is  found 
in  the  accounts  of  the  destruction  of  Her- 
culaneum  and  Pompeii.  The  throwing-up  of 
Monte  Nuovo  in  the  neighborhood  of  Poz- 
zuoli  was  accompanied  with  a  dreadful 
earthquake.  At  the  time  of  the  eruptions 
of  Kilauea  in  1789  the  ground  shook  and 
rocked  so  that  persons  could  not  stand.  The 
first  eruption  of  the  volcano  Irasu,  in  Costa 
Rica  (1783),  was  accompanied  by  violent 
earthquakes.  The  smoke  and  flames  which 
are  said  to  have  issued  from  the  side  of 
Mount  Fojo  at  the  time  of  the  Lisbon  earth- 
quake are  regarded  by  some  as  having  been 
volcanic.  Others  thought  that  the  phenom- 
ena, rather  than  being"  on  the  side  of  Fojo, 


which  showed  no  traces  of  volcanic  action, 
had  taken  place  in  the  ocean.  At  the 
time  of  the  great  earthquake  at  Concepcion 
(1835),  whilst  the  waves  were  coining  in, 
two  great  submarine  eruptions  were  ob- 
served. One,  behind  the  isle  of  Quiriquina, 
appeared  like  a  column  of  smoke.  The 
other,  in  the  bay  of  San  Vicente,  appeared 
to  form  a  whirlpool.  The  sea-water  became 
black,  and  had  a  sulf  urous  smell,  there  being 
a  vast  eruption  of  gas  in  bubbles.  Many 
fish  were  killed.  With  this  same  earthquake, 
near  to  Juan  Fernandez,  about  one  mile 
from  the  shore,  the  sea  appeared  to  boil, 
and  a  high  column  of  smoke  was  thrown 
into  the  air.  At  night  flames  were  seen. 

In  1861,  when  Mendoza  was  destroyed  and 
10,000  inhabitants  killed,  a  volcano  at  the 
foot  of  which  Mendoza  is  situated  burst  into 
eruption. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  16,  p. 
274.  (A.,  1899.) 

3667.  VOLCANO,  PROBLEMS  OF 

THE—  A  Fiery  Flood— Waves  Hardened  into 
Rock. — The  lava-streams  of  active  volca- 
noes, those  last  stragglers  of  the  preceding 
powerful  product  of  volcanic  action,  still 
contain  unsolved  problems  for  geology  and 
mineralogy.  We  behold  the  lava  breaking 
forth  from  the  crater,  and  the  mass  of  fire 
congealing  into  stone.  Biased  by  the  pre- 
vailing error  that  we  understand  what  is 
being  formed  before  our  eyes,  we  suppose 
that  we  understand  the  formation  of  the  lava 
rock.  But,  in  fact,  we  are  still  far  from 
such  insight.  The  lava  flowing  almost  with- 
out sound  from  the  crevices,  in  a  tough, 
heavy  stream,  already  contains  completely 
formed  crystals.  It  gradually  congeals,  car- 
rying flakes  like  a  stream  of  ice.  The  quiet 
flow  of  the  lava  at  its  egress  is  in  peculiar 
contrast  to  the  racket  and  noise  the  stream 
makes  in  its  progress  and  near  to  its  end. 
Finally  it  becomes  a  wild  aggregate,  a  pro- 
cession of  hills  of  glowing  blocks  of  rock, 
propelled  and  rolled  forward  by  an  invisible 
hand.  It  is  not  a  simple  consolidation  of 
homogeneous  masses;  steam  and  gases  are 
active  meanwhile,  chemical  processes  are 
taking  place.  The  glowing  fire  gradually 
disappears,  but  while  the  mass  solidifies  and 
crystallizes  heat  is  again  liberated,  and  the 
chemical  processes  may  long  continue  after 
everything  upon  the  surface  of  the  mighty 
stream  may  be  rigid  and  seemingly  dead. — 
RATH  Der  Vesuv,  eine  geologische  Skizze,  in 
Virchow  und  Holtzendorff's  Sammlung  ge- 
meinverstdndlicher  wissenschaftlicher  Vor- 
trage  (Serie  viii,  p.  671).  (Translated  for 
Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3668.  VOLCANO,    QUIESCENT— De- 
lusive Repose — A  Century  of  Quiet — Sudden 
Eruption. — For  nearly  a  century  after  the 
birth  of  Monte  Nuovo,  Vesuvius  continued  in 
a  state  of  tranquillity.     There  had  been  no 
violent  eruption  for  492  years,  and  it  ap- 
pears that  the  crater  was  then  exactly  in 
the   condition    of    the    present   extinct   vol- 
cano of  Astroni,  near  Naples.     Bracini,  who 


741 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Vividness 
Volcanoes 


visited  Vesuvius  not  long  before  the  erup- 
tion of  1631,  gives  the  following  interesting 
description  of  the  interior:  "  The  crater  was 
five  miles  in  circumference,  and  about  a 
thousand  paces  deep;  its  sides  were  covered 
with  brushwood,  and  at  the  bottom  there 
was  a  plain  on  which  cattle  grazed.  In  the 
woody  parts  wild  boars  frequently  harbored. 
In  one  part  of  the  plain,  covered  with  ashes, 
were  three  small  pools,  one  filled  with  hot 
and  bitter  water,  another  salter  than  the 
sea,  and  a  third  hot,  but  tasteless."  But  at 
length  these  forests  and  grassy  plains  were 
consumed,  being  suddenly  blown  into  the 
air,  and  their  ashes  scattered  to  the  winds. 
In  December,  1631,  seven  streams  of  lava 
poured  at  once  from  the  crater,  and  over- 
flowed several  villages,  on  the  flanks  and  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain.  Resina,  partly 
built  over  the  ancient  site  of  Herculaneum, 
was  consumed  by  the  fiery  torrent.  Great 
floods  of  mud  were  as  destructive  as  the 
lava  itself — no  uncommon  occurrence  during 
these  catastrophes;  for  such  is  the  violence 
of  rains  produced  by  the  evolutions  of  aque- 
ous vapor  that  torrents  of  water  descend 
the  cone,  and  becoming  charged  with  im- 
palpable volcanic  dust,  and  rolling  along 
loose  ashes,  acquire  sufficient  consistency  to 
deserve  their  ordinary  appellation  of  "  aque- 
ous lavas." — LYELL,  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  ii,  ch.  23,  p.  374.  (A.,  1854.) 

3669.  VOLCANO  RENDERS  SERV- 
ICE TO  MAN— Buildings  Cemented  with  Mor- 
tar from  Depths  of  the  Earth. — The  quantity 
of  rain  which  falls  during  volcanic  eruptions 
is  often  enormous,  owing  to  the  condensa- 
tion of  the  great  volumes  of  steam  emitted 
from    the   vent.      Consequently    the    falling 
lapilli    and    dust    often    descend    upon    the 
mountain,  not   in  a  dry   state,  but  in  the 
condition  of  a  muddy  paste.    Many  volcanic 
mountains  have  evidently  been  built  up  by 
the  flow  of  successive  masses  of  such  muddy 
paste   over   their  surfaces.      Some   volcanic 
materials  when  mixed  with  water  have  the 
property  of  rapidly  "  setting  "  like  concrete. 
The  ancient  Romans  and  modern  Italians, 
well  acquainted  with  this  property  of  cer- 
tain kinds  of  volcanic  dust  and  lapilli,  have 
in  all  ages  employed  this  "  puzzolana,"  as  it 
is  called,  as  mortar  for  building. — JUDD  Vol- 
canoes, ch.  4,  p.  89.      (A.,  1899.) 

06 7 O.  VOLCANO  TURNS  FRUITFUL 
LAND    INTO   BARRENNESS— Irredeemable 
Sterility  of  Lava-stream. — In  the  year  1302 
[occurred    the    eruption]    of    a    lava-stream 
from  a  new  vent  on  the  southeast  end  of 
the  island  of  Ischia.     During  part  of  1301 
earthquakes  had  succeeded  one  another  with 
fearful   rapidity;    and   they    terminated    at 
last   with    the   discharge    of    a    lava-stream 
from   a  point  named  the  Campo  del  Arso, 
not  far  from  the  town  of  Ischia.    This  lava 
ran  quite  down  to  the  sea — a   distance  of 
about   two   miles;    in   color   it  varies   from 
iron-gray  to  reddish  black,  and  is  remark- 
able for  the  glassy  feldspar  which  it  contains. 


Its  surface  is  almost  as  sterile,  after  a  peri- 
od of  five  centuries,  as  if  it  had  cooled  down 
yesterday.  A  few  scantlings  of  wild  thyme, 
and  two  or  three  other  dwarfish  plants, 
alone  appear  in  the  interstices  of  the  scoriae, 
while  the  Vesuvian  lava  of  1767  is  already 
covered  with  a  luxuriant  vegetation.  Pon- 
tanus,  whose  country-house  was  burnt  and 
overwhelmed,  describes  tlm  dreadful  scene  as 
having  lasted  two  months.  Many  houses 
were  swallowed  up,  and  a  partial  emigration 
of  the  inhabitants  followed. — LYELL  Prin- 
ciples of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  22,  p.  365.  (A., 
1854.) 

3671.  VOLCANOES  EARTH'S  SAFE- 
TY-VALVES— Rocks  Crumpled  Like   Tissue- 
paper  by  Internal  Forces. — No  one  who  has 
not    studied    the   crushed,    crumpled,    frac- 
tured,   and   altered    condition    of    many    of 
the    sedimentary    rocks    of    the    globe    can 
form  the  faintest  idea  of  the  enormous  ef- 
fects of  the  internal  forces  which  have  been 
in  operation  within  the  earth's  crust  dur- 
ing earlier  geological  periods.  And  it  is  only 
by  such   studies   as  these  that  we  at   last 
learn  to  regard  the  earthquake  and  volcanic 
phenomena  of  our  globe,  not  as  the  grandest 
and  most  important  effects  of  these  forces, 
but  as  their  secondary  and  accidental  accom- 
paniments.    "  Volcanoes,"  it  has  been  said, 
"  are  the  safety-valves  of  the  globe  " ;   and 
when  we  come  to  realize  the  real  extent  and 
nature    of    the    internal    forces    ceaselessly 
working  in  the  earth's  crust  we  shall  scarce- 
ly be  disposed  to  regard  the  simile  as  an 
overstrained  one. — JUDD   Volcanoes,  ch.    10, 
p.  289.      (A.,  1899.) 

3672.  VOLCANOES  IN  MINIATURE 

— Imprisoned  Steam  Escaping  from  Sulfur. 
— In  the  process  of  extracting  sulfur  from 
the  residues  obtained  during  the  manufac- 
ture of  soda,  some  very  interesting  phenome- 
na are  manifested.  The  molten  sulfur  is 
exposed  to  a  temperature  of  262°  F.  and  a 
pressure  of  two  or  three  atmospheres,  in 
the  presence  of  steam;  under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  found  that  the  sulfur  absorbs 
a  considerable  quantity  of  water,  which  is 
given  off  again  with  great  violence  from  the 
mass  as  it  undergoes  solidification.  The 
hardened  crust  which  forms  on  the  surface 
of  the  molten  sulfur  is  agitated  and  fissured, 
miniature  cones  and  lava-streams  being 
formed  upon  it,  which  have  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  grander  phenomena  of  the 
same  kind  exhibited  upon  the  crust  of  the 
globe. — JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  12,  p.  356.  (A., 
1899.) 

3673.  VOLCANOES,  PRESENT  NUM- 
BER OF — Seeming  Quiescence  Often  Delusive. 
— What  is  the  number  of  volcanoes  which 
are    still    vomiting   forth    lava    during   the 
present  period  of  the  earth's  vitality?     It 
is  difficult  to  ascertain,  for  often  mountains 
have  seemed  for  a  long  time  to  be  extinct; 
forests  have  grown  up  in  their  disused  cra- 
ters, and  their  beds  of  lava  have  been  cov- 
ered up  under  a  rich  carpet  of  vegetation, 


Volcanoes 
Walking 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


742 


when  suddenly  the  sleeping  force  beneath  is 
aroused  and  some  fresh  volcanic  outlet  is 
opened  through  the  ground.  When  Vesuvius 
woke  up  from  its  protracted  slumber,  to 
swallow  up  Pompeii  and  the  other  towns 
lying  round  its  base,  it  had  rested  for  some 
centuries,  and  the  Romans  looked  upon  it 
as  nothing  but  a  lifeless  mountain  like  the 
peaks  of  the  Apennines.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  very  possible  that  some  craters  from 
which  steam  and  jets  of  gas  are  still  esca- 
ping, or  which  have  thrown  out  lava  dur- 
ing the  historic  era,  have  entered  decisively 
into  a  period  of  repose,  ceasing  somehow 
to  maintain  their  communication  with  the 
subterranean  center  of  molten  matter.  The 
number  of  vents  which  serve  for  the  erup- 
tion of  lava  can  therefore  be  ascertained 
in  a  merely  approximate  way.  Humboldt 
enumerates  223  active  volcanoes;  Keith 
Johnson  arrives  at  the  larger  number  of 
270  ;  but  this  latter  estimate  is 

probably  too  small. — RECLUS  The  Earth,  pt. 
iv,  ch.  62,  p.  432.  (H.,  1871.) 

3674.  VOLITION    A    FORCE  —  Will 
Draws  on  Latent  Supplies  in  the  Body — Ap- 
plication and  Direction  of  Energy. — Is  there 
nothing  in  the  human  body  to  liberate  it 
from    that    chain    of    necessity    which    the 
law  of  conservation  coils  around  inorganic 
nature?     Look  at  two  men  upon  a  moun- 
tainside,   with    apparently    equal    physical 
strength;  the  one  will  sink  and  fail,  while 
the  other  scales  the  summit.     Has  not  voli- 
tion, in  this  case,  a  creative  power  ?    Physic- 
ally considered,  the  law  that  rules  the  oper- 
ations of  a  steam-engine  rules  the  operations 
of  the  climber.     For  every  pound  raised  by 
the   former,   an  equivalent  quantity   of   its 
heat   disappears;    and    for    every    step   the 
climber  ascends  an  amount  of  heat,  equiva- 
lent   jointly    to    his    own    weight    and    the 
height  to  which  it  is  raised,  is  lost  to  his 
body.      The   strong   will   can   draw   largely 
upon  the  physical  energy  furnished  by  the 
food;  but  it  can  create  nothing.     The  func- 
tion of  the  will  is  to  apply  and  direct,  not 
to  create. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Mo- 
tion, lect.  17,  p.  531.     (A.,  1900.) 

3675.  VOLITION  AS  ESSENTIAL  TO 
LIFE    AS   AUTOMATISM  — Mow  Has  His 

Own  Part  to  Play — Voluntary  and  Involun- 
tary Processes  Blend  in  Perfect  Living. — We 
find  that  in  maintaining  this  natural  life 
Nature  has  a  share  and  man  has  a  share. 
By  far  the  larger  part  is  done  for  us — the 
breathing,  the  secreting,  the  circulating  of 
the  blood,  the  building  up  of  the  organism. 
And  altho  the  part  which  man  plays  is  a 
minor  part,  yet,  strange  to  say,  it  is  not 
less  essential  to  the  well-being,  and  even  to 
the  being,  of  the  whole.  For  instance,  man 
has  to  take  food.  He  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it  after  he  has  once  taken  it,  for  the 
moment  it  passes  his  lips  it  is  taken  in 
hand  by  reflex  actions  and  handed  on  from 
one  organ  to  another,  his  control  over  it, 


in  the  natural  course  of  things,  being  com- 
pletely lost.  But  the  initial  act  was  his. 
And  without  that  nothing  could  have  been 
done.  Now  whether  there  be  an  exact  anal- 
ogy between  the  voluntary  and  involun- 
tary functions  in  the  body  and  the  corre- 
sponding processes  in  the  soul  we  do  not  at 
present  inquire.  But  this  will  indicate,  at 
least,  that  man  has  his  own  part  to  play. — 
DEUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  7,  p.  228.  (H.  Al.) 

3676.  VOLITION   INCARNATED  IN 
THE  BODY— Habitual  Voluntary  Movements 
Become  Automatic — The  Motor   Memory. — 
Each  time  a  voluntary  action  is  performed, 
an  impulse  is  discharged  by  the  will  to  the 
muscles.     .     .     .    The  mind  being  concerned 
with   the   execution   of  the   movement,   and 
not  with  the  individual  muscles,  the  further 
elaboration  of  the  impulse  is  brought  about 
by  the  ganglion  cells  of  the  motor  memory 
centers. 

Each  time  the  higher  faculties  send  im- 
pulses to  several  of  these  governing  cells  at 
once,  an  association  is  formed  between  them, 
resulting  in  a  permanent  modification  of 
their  constituent  protoplasm.  By  repetition 
of  the  same  movement,  this  association  of 
the  cells  becomes  stronger  and  stronger,  un- 
til a  very  slight  stimulus  is  required  to 
bring  about  the  movement. 

It  is  this  modification  of  their  protoplasm 
and  association  of  the  cells  which  consti- 
tutes the  motor  memory.  The  motor  mem- 
ory thus  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  out- 
going impulses  of  the  mind  as  the  sensory 
memory  does  to  the  ingoing  impressions. 
The  motor  memory  has,  therefore,  only  to 
do  with  voluntary  movements,  or  move- 
ments which  have  been  primarily  voluntary, 
but  have  become  secondarily  reflex. — EL- 
DRIDGE-GREEN  Memory  and  Its  Cultivation, 
pt.  i,  ch.  4,  p.  25.  (A.,  1900.) 

3677.  VOLITION  WEAKENED    BY 

HASHISH  —  Control  and  Coordination  of 
Thought  Lost. — One  of  the  first  appreciable 
effects  of  the  hashish  is  the  gradual  weak- 
ening of  that  power  of  volitionally  control- 
ling and  directing  the  thoughts,  which  is  so 
characteristic  of  the  vigorous  mind.  The 
individual  feels  himself  incapable  of  fixing 
his  attention  upon  any  subject;  the  conti- 
nuity of  his  thoughts  being  continually  drawn 
off  by  a  succession  of  disconnected  ideas, 
which  force  themselves  (as  it  were)  into 
his  mind,  without  his  being  able  in  the  least 
to  trace  their  origin.  These  speedily  engross 
his  attention,  and  present  themselves  in 
strange  combinations,  so  as  to  produce  the 
most  impossible  and  fantastic  creations.  By 
a  strong  effort  of  the  will,  however,  the  orig- 
inal thread  of  the  ideas  may  still  be  recov- 
ered, and  the  interlopers  may  be  driven 
away;  their  remembrance,  however,  being 
preserved,  like  that  of  a  dream  recalling 
events  long  since  past.  These  lucid  inter- 
vals become  progressively  of  shorter  dura- 


743 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


WttBKT 


tion,  and  can  be  less  frequently  procured 
by  a  voluntary  effort. — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  17,  p.  640.  (A.,  1900). 

3678.  VOYAGERS,  AERIAL,  UNSEEN 

— Gossamer-spiders  in  Multitudes  Floating 
through  the  Air. — The  gossamer-spider,  most 
spiritual  of  living  things,  of  which  there 
are  numerous  species,  some  extremely  beau- 
tiful in  coloring  and  markings,  is  the  most 
numerous  of  our  spiders.  Only  when  the 
declining  sun  flings  a  broad  track  of  shiny 
silver  light  on  the  plain  does  one  get  some 
faint  conception  of  the  unnumbered  millions 
of  these  buoyant  little  creatures  busy  weav- 
ing their  gauzy  veil  over  the  earth  and  float- 
ing unseen,  like  an  ethereal  vital  dust,  in  the 
atmosphere. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La  Pla- 
ta, ch.  14,  p.  184.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

3679.  VOYAGERS,  INVOLUNTARY— 

Bees  on  Mountain  Summit — Butterflies  on 
Ship  in  South  Sea. — To  the  surprise  of  the 
adventurous  travelers  the  summit  of  Fre- 
mont's Peak  was  found  to  be  visited  by 
bees.  It  is  probable  that  these  insects,  like 
the  butterflies  which  I  found  at  far  higher 
elevations  in  the  chain  of  the  Andes,  and 
also  within  the  limits  of  perpetual  snow, 
had  been  involuntarily  drawn  thither  by  as- 
cending currents  of  air.  I  have  even  seen 
large-winged  lepidoptera,  which  had  been 
carried  far  out  to  sea  by  land-winds,  drop 
on  the  ship's  deck  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  land  in  the  South  Sea. — HUMBOLDT 
Views  of  Nature,  p.  33.  (Bell,  1896.) 


3680. 


Organisms  Borne 


"by  Fallen  Tree  to  Distant  Lands. — It  is  well 
known,  from  numerous  examples,  how  far 
in  many  cases  trunks  of  trees,  hard-shelled 
fruits,  and  other  not  readily  perishable  por- 
tions of  plants  are  carried  away  from  their 
original  home  by  the  course  of  rivers  and  by 
the  currents  of  the  sea.  Trunks  of  palm 
trees  from  the  West  Indies  are  brought  by 
the  Gulf  Stream  to  the  British  and  Norwe- 
gian coasts.  All  large  rivers  bring  down 
driftwood  from  the  mountains,  and  frequent- 
ly Alpine  plants  are  carried  from  their 
home  at  the  source  of  the  river  into  the 
plains,  and  even  further,  down  to  the  sea. 
Frequently  numerous  creatures  live  between 
the  roots  of  the  plants  thus  carried  down; 
and  between  the  branches  of  the  trees  thus 
washed  away  there  are  various  inhabitants 
which  have  to  take  part  in  the  passive  mi- 
gration. The  bark  of  the  tree  is  covered 
with  mosses,  lichens,  and  parasitic  insects. 
Other  insects,  spiders,  etc.,  even  small  rep- 
tiles and  mammals,  are  hidden  within  the 
hollow  trunk  or  cling  to  the  branches.  In 
the  earth  adhering  to  the  fibers  of  the  roots, 
in  the  dust  lying  in  the  cracks  of  the  bark, 
there  are  innumerable  germs  of  smaller  ani- 
mals and  plants.  Now,  if  the  trunk  thus 
washed  away  lands  safely  on  a  foreign  shore 
or  on  a  distant  island,  the  guests  who  had 
to  take  part  in  the  involuntary  voyage  can 


leave  their  boat  and  settle  in  the  new  coun- 
try.— HAECKEL  History  of  Creation,  vol.  i, 
ch.  14,  p.  372.  (K.  P.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3681.  VOYAGES,  TOO  ADVENTUR- 
OUS— Butterflies  at  Sea— Frail  Creatures  the 
Sport  of  the  Elements. — Several  times  when 
the  ship  has  been  some  miles  off  the  mouth 
of  the  Plata,  and  at  other  times  when  off 
the  shores  of  Northern  Patagonia,  we  have 
been  surrounded  by  insects.     One  evening, 
when  we  were  about  ten  miles  from  the  Bay 
of  San  Bias,  vast  numbers  of  butterflies,  in 
bands  or  flocks  of  countless  myriads,  extend- 
ed as  far  as  the  eye  could  range.     Even  by 
the  aid  of  a  telescope  it  was  not  possible 
to  see  a  space  free  from  butterflies.     The 
seamen  cried  out  "  it  was  snowing  butter- 
flies," and  such  in  fact  was  the  appearance. 
.    .    .    The  day  had  been  fine  and  calm,  and 
the  one  previous  to  it  equally  so,  with  light 
and  variable  airs.    Hence  we  cannot  suppose 
that  the  insects  were  blown  off  the  land,  but 
we  must  conclude  that  they  voluntarily  took 
flight.    .    .    .    Before  sunset  a  strong  breeze 
sprung  up  from  the  north,  and  this  must 
have  caused  tens  of  thousands  of  the  butter- 
flies and  other  insects  to  have  perished. — 
DARWIN    Naturalist's    Voyage    around    the 
World,  ch.  8,  p.  160.     (A.,  1898.) 

3682.  WAKEFULNESS   PARTIAL 
AND  CONTROLLED— Mother  Hears  the  Stir- 
ring of  Her  Babe — Does  the  Mind  Sleep  f — 
The  mother  who  is   asleep  to  every  sound 
but  the  stirrings  of  her  babe  evidently  has 
the  babe-portion  of  her  auditory  sensibility 
systematically  awake.     Relatively  to  that, 
the  rest  of  her  mind  is  in  a  state  of  system- 
atized anesthesia.     That  department,   split 
off  and  disconnected  from  the  sleeping  part, 
can  none  the  less  wake  the  latter  up  in  case 
of  need.     So  that  on  the  whole  the  quarrel 
between  Descartes  and  Locke  as  to  whether 
the  mind  ever  sleeps  is  less  near  to  solution 
than  ever.     On  a  priori  speculative  grounds 
Locke's  view  that  thought  and  feeling  may 
at  times  wholly  disappear  seems  the  more 
plausible.     As  glands  cease  to  secrete  and 
muscles   to    contract,    so    the   brain    should 
sometimes  cease  to  carry  currents,  and  with 
this    minimum   of   its    activity   might   well 
coexist  a  minimum  of  consciousness.    On  the 
other  hand,  we  see  how  deceptive  are  appear- 
ances, and  are  forced  to  admit  that  a  part 
of  consciousness  may  sever  its  connections 
with   other  parts   and  yet  continue  to  be. 
On  the  whole  it  is  best  to  abstain  from  a  con- 
clusion.   The  science  of  the  near  future  will 
doubtless  answer  this  question  more  wisely 
than  we  can  now. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
i,  ch.  8,  p.  213.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3683.  WALKING  AN  INSTINCTIVE 
MO VEMENT  —  Impulse  Suddenly  Developed 
in    Human    Beings. — The    walking    instinct 
may  awaken  with  [remarkable]  suddenness, 
and  its  entire  education  be  completed  within 
a  week's  compass,  barring,  of  course,  a  lit- 
tle "  grogginess  "  in  the  gait.    Individual  in- 


Walking 
Waste 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


744 


fants  vary  enormously;  but  on  the  whole 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  mode  of  develop- 
ment of  these  locomotor  instincts  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  account  given  by  the  older 
English  associationist  school,  of  their  being 
results  of  the  individual's  education.  .  .  . 
[Persons]  who  have  observed  new-born 
calves,  lambs,  and  pigs  agree  that  in  these 
animals  the  powers  of  standing  and  walking, 
and  of  interpreting  the  topographical  sig- 
nificance of  sights  and  sounds,  are  all  but 
fully  developed  at  birth.  Often  in  animals 
who  seem  to  be  "  learning "  to  walk  or  fly 
the  semblance  is  illusive.  The  awkwardness 
shown  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that  "  experi- 
ence "  has  not  yet  been  there  to  associate 
the  successful  movements  and  exclude  the 
failures,  but  to  the  fact  that  the  animal 
is  beginning  his  attempts  before  the  coordi- 
nating centers  have  quite  ripened  for  their 
work. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24,  p. 
405.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3684.  WALKING  SCIENTIFICALLY 

DESCRIBED — Walking  is  a  continual  fall- 
ing forward. — KAAT  Leonardo  da,  Vinci  als 
Naturforscher.  (Translated  for  Scientific 
Side-Lights.) 

3685.  WANDERERS   OF   ANCIENT 
DAYS— Boulders  Carried  Far  by  Ice— North- 
ern Rocks  on  Western  Prairies. — The  min- 
eralogical  character  of  the  loose  materials 
forming  the  American  drift  leaves  no  doubt 
that  the   whole   movement    [of   the   ancient 
glaciers],  with  the  exception  of  a  few  local 
modifications  easily  accounted  for  by  the  lay 
of  the  land,  was  from  north  to  south,  all 
the  fragments  not  belonging  to  the  localities 
where   they   occur   being   readily   traced   to 
rocks  in  situ  to  the  north  of  their  present 
resting-places.      The    farther    one    journeys 
from   their   origin   the  more   extraordinary 
does  the  presence  of  these  boulders  become. 
It  strikes  one  strangely  to  find  even  in  New 
England  fragments  of  rock  from  the  shores 
of  Lake  Superior;  but  it  is  still  more  im- 
pressive to  meet  with  masses   of  northern 
rock  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  or  Iowa.    One 
may  follow  these  boulders  to  the  fortieth  de- 
gree of  latitude,  beyond  which  they  become 
more  and  more  rare,  while  the  finer  drift 
alone  extends  farther  south. — AGASSIZ  Geo- 
logical Sketches,  ser.  ii,  p.  84.     (H.  M.  &  Co., 
1896.) 

3686.  WAR  AMONG  INSECTS -Slave- 
making   Ants    Terrible   in   Battle — Prowess 
and    Excellence    Not    Coextensive. — Polyer- 
gus   rufescens,   the   celebrated   slave-making 
or  Amazon-ant,  has  a  mode  of  combat  almost 
peculiar  to  herself.    The  jaws  are  very  pow- 
erful, and  pointed.     If  attacked — if,  for  in- 
stance, another  ant  seizes  her  by  a  leg — she 
at   once   takes    her   enemy's  head   into   her 
jaws,   which  generally  makes  her  quit  her 
hold.     If  she  does  not,  the  Polyergus  closes 
her  mandibles,  so  that  the  points  pierce  the 
brain  of  her  enemy,  paralyzing  the  nervous 
system.      The   victim    falls    in    convulsions, 
setting  free  her  terrible  foe.    In  this  manner 


a  comparatively  small  force  of  Polyergus 
will  fearlessly  attack  much  larger  armies 
of  other  species,  and  suffer  themselves  scarce- 
ly any  loss. — AVEBURY  Ants,  Bees,  and 
Wasps,  ch.  1,  p.  18.  (A.,  1900.) 

3687.  WAR,  FOREIGN   MERCENA- 
RIES NO  LONGER  EMPLOYED  IN— Mod- 
ern Standing  Armies. — Looking  at  the  army 
system  as   it  is  in  our  modern  world,  one 
favorable  change  is  to  be  noticed.     The  em- 
ployment of  foreign  mercenary  troops,  which 
almost  through  the  whole  stretch  of  histor- 
ical record  has  been  a  national  evil  alike  in 
war  and  peace,  is  at  last  dying  out.     It  is 
not  so  with  the  system  of  standing  armies 
which  drain  the  life  and  wealth  of  the  world 
on  a  scale  more  enormous  even  than  in  past 
times,  and  stand  as   the  great  obstacle   to 
harmony  between  nations.     The  student  of 
politics  can  but  hope  that  in  time  the  pres- 
sure of  vast  armies  kept  on  a  war-footing 
may  prove  unbearable  to  the  European  na- 
tions  which   maintain   them,   and   that   the 
time   may    come   when    the   standing   army 
may  shrink  to  a  nucleus  ready  for  the  ex- 
igencies of  actual  war  if  it  shall  arise,  while 
serving  in   peace-time   as   a   branch   of  the 
national  police. — TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  9, 
p.  228.     (A.,  1899.) 

3688.  WAR,  THE  FOLLY  OF— Rela- 
tive Insignificance  of  the  Earth  in  the  Uni- 
verse.— Behold  a  little  globe  whirling  in  the 
infinite  void.     Hound  this  globule  vegetate 
1,450  millions  of  so-called  reasonable  beings 
— or  rather  talkers — who  know  not  whence 
they    come    nor   whither    they   go,    each    of 
them,  moreover,  born  to  die  very  soon;  and 
this  poor  humanity  has  resolved  the  prob- 
lem,  not  of  living  happily  in  the  light  of 
Nature,  but  of  suffering  constantly  both  in 
body  and  mind.     It  does  not  emerge   from 
its  native  ignorance,  it  does  not  rise  to  the 
intellectual  pleasures  of  art  and  science,  and 
torments  itself  perpetually  with  chimerical 
ambitions.       Strange    social     organization! 
This  race  is  divided  into  tribes  subject  to 
chiefs,  and  from  time  to  time  we  see  these 
tribes,  afflicted  with  furious  folly,  arrayed 
against  each  other,  obeying  the  signal  of  a 
handful   of   sanguinary  evil-doers  who   live 
at  their  expense,  and  the  infamous  hydra  of 
war  mows  down  its  victims,  who  fall   like 
ripe  ears  of  corn  on  the  blood-stained  fields. 
Forty  millions  of  men  are  killed  regularly 
every  century  in  order  to  maintain  the  mi- 
croscopical divisions  of  a  little  globule  into 
several  ant-hills. — FLAMMARION  Popular  As- 
tronomy, bk.  i,  ch.  1,  p.  12.      (A.) 

3689.  WARFARE     IN     NATURE— 

Animals  Constructed  for  Others'  Destruc- 
tion.— Very  many  animals  contribute  nat- 
urally to  the  destruction  of  caterpillars,  spi- 
ders, and  other  insects.  They  lay  their  eggs 
in  living  caterpillars,  which  consequently  be- 
come diseased  and  die  either  before  or  after 
their  change  into  pupae.  Many  also  confine 
themselves  to  other  species  of  their  own 
genus,  in  whose  bodies  they  lay  their  eggs, 


745 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Walking 
Waste 


so  that,  as  Rolander  has  remarked  of  certain 
species,  some  appear  to  be  created  soleiy  for 
the  destruction  of  others. — BLUMENBACH 
Manual  of  the  Elements  of  Natural  Hisiory, 
p.  217. 

3690.  WASPS    PROVIDING    FOR 
THEIR  OFFSPRING— Prevision  among  In- 
sects.— The  females  of  certain  species  of  this 
genus  (Sphecc)  dig  a  hole  in  sandy  ground, 
drag  a  large  spider,  or  the  caterpillar  of  a 
Phalcena,  into  it,  lame  it  by  biting  off  its 
legs,  and  then  lay  an  egg  in  each  hole,  so 
that  the  larva  may  suck  the  spinning-fluid 
from  the  animal  the  mother  has  buried,  and 
by  this  means  prepare  for  itself  a  habitation 
in  which  to  pass  through  its  metamorphosis. 
— BLUMENBACH  Manual  of  the  Elements  of 
Natural  History,  p.  217. 

3691.  WASTE    OF    EARTH'S  SUR- 
FACE   REPAIRED  —  Perpetual  Reconstruc- 
tion— A  Necessity  Early  Discerned — Geology 
in   the  Eighteenth   Century. — Generelli    [an 
Italian  monk   and  philosopher,    1749]    then 
describes  the  continual  waste  of  mountains 
and  continents  by  the  action  of  rivers  and 
torrents,  and  concludes  with  these  eloquent 
and   original  observations :    "  Is   it  possible 
that  this  waste  should  have  continued  for 
six  thousand  and  perhaps  a  greater  num- 
ber of  years,  and  that  the  mountains  should 
remain  so  great,  unless  their  ruins  have  been 
repaired?     Is  it  credible  that  the  Author  of 
Nature  should  have  founded  the  world  upon 
such  laws  as  that  the  dry  land  should  for- 
ever be  growing  smaller,  and  at  last  become 
wholly  submerged  beneath  the  waters?     Is 
it    credible    that,    amid    so    many    created 
things,  the  mountains  alone  should  daily  di- 
minish in  number  and  bulk,  without  there 
being  any  repair  of  their  losses  ?  This  would 
be   contrary    to    that    order    of    Providence 
which  is  seen  to  reign  in  all  other  things 
in  the  universe.     Wherefore  I  deem  it  just 
to  conclude  that  the  same  cause  which,  in 
the    beginning    of    time,    raised    mountains 
from   the   abyss,   has   down  to  the  present 
day  continued  to  produce  others,  in  order  to 
restore  from  time  to  time  the  losses  of  all 
such  as   sink  down  in   different  places,   or 
are  rent  asunder,  or  in  other  ways  suffer  dis- 
integration.    If  this  be   admitted,   we  can 
easily    understand   why    there    should    now 
be  found  upon  many  mountains  so  great  a 
number  of  crustaceans  and  other  marine  ani- 
mals."— LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  i, 
ch.  3,  p.  37.     (A.,  1854.) 

3692.  WASTE  OF  THE  EARTH'S 
CAPITAL — Sewage  and  Garbage  Thrown  into 
the  Sea — Stock  of  Fixed  Nitrogen  Finite. — 
Sir  William  Crookes  has  recently  pointed 
out  the  vast  importance  of  using  all  the 
available  nitrogen  in  the  service  of  wheat 
production.  The  distillation  of  coal  in  the 
process  of  gas -making  yields  a  certain 
amount  of  its  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  sul- 
fate  of  ammonia,  and  this,  like  other  nitrog- 
enous manures,  might  be  used  to  give  back 
to  the  soil  some  of  the  nitrogen  drained  from 


it.  But  such  manuring  cannot  keep  pace, 
according  to  Sir  W.  Crookes,  with  the  pres- 
ent loss  of  %fixed  nitrogen  from  the  soil.  We 
have  already  referred  to  several  ways  in 
which  "  loss  "  of  nitrogen  occurs.  To  these 
may  well  be  added  the  enormous  loss  occur- 
ring in  the  waste  of  sewage  when  it  is  passed 
into  the  sea.  .  .  .  Let  us  remember  that 
the  plant  creates  nothing-in  this  direction; 
there  is  nothing  in  wheat  which  is  not  ab- 
sorbed from  the  soil,  and  unless  the  abstract- 
ed nitrogen  is  returned  to  the  soil  its  fer- 
tility must  be  ultimately  exhausted.  When 
we  apply  to  the' land  sodium  nitrate,  sulfate 
of  ammonia,  guano,  and  similar  manurial 
substances,  we  are  drawing  on  the  earth's 
capital,  and  our  drafts  will  not  be  perpetual- 
ly responded  to. — NEWMAN  Bacteria  ch  5 
p.  160.  (G.  P.  P.,  1899.) 

3693.  WASTE,  SEEMING,  IN  NA- 
TURE— But  One  Seed  among  Thousands  Grows 
—Progeny  of  One  Orchid  Would  Cover  the 
Earth. — I  was  curious  to  estimate  the  num- 
ber of  seeds  produced  by  some  few  orchids, 
so  I  took  a  ripe  capsule  of  Cephalanthera 
grandiflora,  and  arranged  the  seeds  on  a 
long  ruled  line  as  equably  as  I  could  in  a 
narrow  hillock;  and  then  counted  the  seeds 
in  an  accurately  measured  length  of  one- 
tenth  of  an  inch.  In  this  way  the  contents 
of  the  capsule  were  estimated  at  6,020  seeds, 
and  very  few  of  these  were  bad;  the  four 
capsules  borne  by  the  same  plant  would  have 
therefore  contained  24,080  seeds.  Estima- 
ting in  the  same  manner  the  smaller  seeds 
of  Orchis  maculata,  I  found  the  number 
nearly  the  same,  viz.,  6,200;  and,  as  I  have 
often  seen  above  thirty  capsules  on  the  same 
plant,  the  total  amount  would  be  186,300. 
As  this  orchid  is  perennial,  and  cannot  in 
most  places  be  increasing  in  number,  one 
seed  alone  of  this  large  number  yields  a  ma- 
ture plant  once  in  every  few  years.* 

To  give  an  idea  what  the  above  figures 
really  mean,  I  will  briefly  show  the  possible 
rate  of  increase  of  0.  maculata:  an  acre  of 
land  would  hold  174,240  plants,  each  having 
a  space  of  six  inches  square,  and  this  would 
be  just  sufficient  for  their  growth;  so  that, 
making  the  fair  allowance  of  400  bad  seeds 
in  each  capsule,  an  acre  would  be  thickly 
clothed  by  the  progeny  of  a  single  plant. 
At  the  same  rate  of  increase  the  grandchil- 
dren would  cover  a  space  slightly  exceeding 
the  island  of  Anglesea ;  and  the  great  grand- 
children of  a  single  plant  would  nearly  (in 
the  ratio  of  47  to  50)  clothe  with  one  uni- 
form green  carpet  the  entire  surface  of  the 
land  throughout  the  globe.  But  the  num- 
ber of  seeds  produced  by  one  of  our  common 
British  orchids  is  as  nothing  compared  to 
that  of  some  of  the  exotic  kinds. — DARWIN 
Fertilisation  of  Orchids,  ch.  9,  p.  277.  (A., 
1898.) 

*  "  And  finding  that  of  fifty  seeds 
She  often  brings  but  one  to  bear." 

—TENNYSON  In  Memoriam,  st.  Iv,  11.  11-12. 
The  poet's  estimate  ia  cautious  and  conservative,  beside 
the  studious  computation  of  the  man  of  science. 


Waste 
Water 


SCIENTIFIC  SIDE-LIGHTS 


746 


3094. 


Seeds — Animals 


— Man. — Altho  astronomy,  bringing  us  as  it 
does  in  presence  of  the  infinities  of  space, 
and  indicating  the  operations  of  an  infinity 
of  force  acting  during  infinite  time,  is  of  all 
others  the  science  which  seems  to  present 
to  us  the  most  striking  instances  of  waste 
in  Nature,  it  would  yet  be  easy  to  cite 
many  instances  of  seeming  waste  without 
leaving  the  teachings  of  our  earth.  How 
many  seeds  are  scattered  over  the  face 
of  the  earth  to  no  visible  purpose,  for 
each  one  that  falls  on  good  ground  and 
grows  to  perfection?  How  many  creatures 
are  brought  to  life  that  perish  before  they 
reach  maturity?  This,  true  of  all  races  of 
animals,  is  true  of  man.  True  of  the  in- 
dividual man,  it  is  also  true  of  nations, 
of  races  of  men.  History  shows  us,  and  we 
see  in  our  own  day,  whole  tribes  of  men 
disappearing  without  having  reached  that 
degree  of  civilization  which  we  may  regard 
as  the  measure  of  maturity  in  races  and  na- 
tions.— PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infinities, 
p.  40.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3695. Sun's  Heat  Poured 

through  Empty  Space. — Our  earth  receives 
less  than  the  2,000  millionth  part  of  the 
heat  and  light  emitted  by  the  sun ;  all  the 
planets  together  receive  less  than  the  230 
millionth  part;  the  rest  is  seemingly  scat- 
tered uselessly  through  the  interstellar 
depths.  To  other  worlds,  circling  around 
other  suns,  our  sun  may  indeed  appear  as 
a  star ;  but  how  minute  the  quantity  of  light 
and  heat  so  received  from  him  compared 
with  the  enormous  quantity  apparently 
wasted.  The  portion  which  seems  squan- 
dered is  scarcely  affected  at  all  by  such  small 
uses;  and  that  portion  is  more  than  230 
millions  of  times  as  great  as  the  portion 
used  to  warm  and  illuminate  the  solar  sys- 
tem. And  then  consider  what  is  the  actual 
amount  of  energy  thus  seemingly  wasted.  I 
have  computed  (adopting  Sir  J.  Herschel's 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  heat  poured  by 
the  sun  upon  each  square  mile  of  the  earth's 
surface)  that  the  sun  emits  in  each  second 
as  much  heat  as  would  result  from  the 
burning  of  11,600,000,000,000,000  tons  of 
coal,  and  of  this  enormous  amount  of  energy 
the  portion  utilized  (that  is,  the  heat  re- 
ceived by  the  various  members  of  the  solar 
system)  corresponds  only  to  that  due  to  the 
consumption  of  about  50  millions  of  tons — 
only  50  millions  out  of  11,600  millions  of 
millions. — PROCTOR  Our  Place  among  Infini- 
ties, p.  42.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3696.  WASTING  OF  THE  MOUN- 
TAINS— Atmospheric  Erosion  of  the  Matter- 
horn. — Standing  on  the  arete,  at  the  foot  of 
a  remarkable  cliff  gable  seen  from  Zermatt, 
and  permitting  the  vision  to  range  over  the 
Matterhorn,  its  appearance  is  exceedingly 
wild  and  impressive.  Hardly  two  things 
can  be  more  different  than  the  two  aspects 
of  the  mountain  from  above  and  below. 
Seen  from  the  Riffel,  or  Zermatt,  it  presents 


itself  as  a  compact  pyramid,  smooth  and 
steep,  and  defiant  of  the  weathering  air. 
From  above  it  seems  torn  to  pieces  by  the 
frosts  of  ages,  while  its  vast  facets  are  so 
foreshortened  as  to  stretch  out  into  the  dis- 
tance like  plains.  But  this  underestimate 
of  tis  steepness  of  the  mountain  is  checked 
by  th*e  deportment  of  its  stones.  Their  dis- 
charge along  the  side  of  the  pyramid  to-day 
was  incessant,  and  at  any  moment,  by  de- 
taching a  single  boulder,  we  could  let  loose 
a  cataract  of  them,  which  flew  with  wild  ra- 
pidity and  with  a  thunderous  clatter  down 
the  mountain.  We  once  wandered  too  far 
from  the  arete,  and  were  warned  back  to  it 
by  a  train  of  these  missiles  sweeping  past 
us. — TYNDALL  Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps, 
ch.  24,  p.  290.  (A.,  1898.) 

3697.  WATCHFULNESS   OF  MAR- 
MOTS— Sociability  in  Hibernation.— The  Eu- 
ropean marmots  of  the  Alps,  we  learn  from 
Professor    Blasius,    "  live    high    up    in    the 
snowy  regions  of  the  mountains,  generally 
preferring  exposed  cliffs,  whence  they  may 
have  a  clear  view  of  any  approaching  dan- 
ger, for  which,  while  quietly  basking  in  the 
sun,  or  actively  running  about  in  search  of 
food,  a  constant  watch  is  kept.     When  one 
of  them  raises  the  cry  of  warning,  a  loud 
piercing  whistle  well  known  to  travelers  in 
the  Alps,  they  all  instantly  take  to  flight, 
and  hide  themselves  in  holes  and  crannies 
among  the  rocks,  often  not  reappearing  at 
the  entrance  of  their  hiding-place  until  sev- 
eral hours  have  elapsed,  and  then  frequently 
standing  motionless   on   the   lookout   for   a 
still  longer  period.     Their  food  consists  of 
the    roots    and    leaves    of    various    Alpine 
plants,   which,    like   squirrels,    they   lift   to 
their  mouths  with  their  fore  paws.   For  their 
winter  quarters  they  make  a   large,   round 
burrow,  with  but  one  entrance,  and  ending 
in  a  sleeping-place  thickly  lined  with  hay. 
Here  from  ten  to  fifteen  marmots  will  often 
pass  the  winter,  all  lying  closely  packed  to- 
gether, fast  asleep,  until  the  spring." — Mi- 
VART  Types  of  Animal  Life,  ch.  12,  p.  353. 
(L.  B.  &  Co.,  1893.) 

3698.  WATER  AN  EXCEPTION  TO 
LAW  OF  EXPANSION— A  Warning  against 
Hasty    Generalizations.  —  A    most    valuable 
lesson  as  to  the  allowance  we  ought  always 
to  make  for  the  unknown  "  possibilities  of 
Nature  "  is  taught  us  by  an  exceptional  phe- 
nomenon so  familiar  that  it  does  not  attract 
the  notice  it  has  a  right  to  claim.     Next  to 
the  law  of  the  universal  attraction  of  masses 
of  matter,  there  is  none  that  seems  to  have 
a  wider  range  than  that  of  the  expansion  of 
bodies  by  heat  and  their  contraction  by  cold. 
Excluding  water  and  one  or  two  other  sub- 
stances, the  fact  of  such  expansion  might  be 
said  to  be  invariable;  and,  as  regards  bodies 
whose  gaseous  condition  is  known,  the  law 
of  expansion  can  be  stated  in  a  form  no  less 
simple  and  definite  than  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation.     Supposing   those    exceptions,    then, 
to  be  unknoAvn,  the  law  would  be  universal 


747 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Waste 
Water 


in  its  range.  But  it  comes  to  be  discovered 
that  water,  whilst  conforming  to  it  in  its 
expansion  from  39^°  upwards  to  its  boiling- 
point,  as  also,  when  it  passes  into  steam,  to 
the  special  law  of  expansion  of  vapors,  is  ex- 
ceptional in  expanding  also  from  39^° 
downwards  to  its  freezing-point;  and  of  this 
failure  in  the  universality  of  the  law  no 
rationale  can  be  given. — CARPENTER  Nature 
and  Man,  lect.  6,  p.  207.  (A.,  1889.) 

3699.  WATER  A  POOR  CONDUCTOR 
OF  HEAT— Solid  Matter  Hinders  Diffusion. 
— Count  Rumford  made  a  number  of  very 
amusing  but  also  very  important  experi- 
ments on  the  diffusion  of  heat  through  liq- 
uids. He  had  frequently  noticed  to  his  cost 
the  tenacity  with  which  stewed  apples  re- 
tained their  heat.  "  I  never  burned  my 
mouth  with  them,"  he  says,  "without  en- 
deavoring, but  in  vain,  to  find  out  some  way 
of  accounting  for  this  most  surprising  phe- 
nomenon." He  noticed  that  the  water  of 
the  volcanic  bay  of  Baiae  was  cold,  while 
the  sand  on  which  the  water  lay  was  intoler- 
ably hot  a  few  inches  beneath  the  surface. 
Hence  he  concluded  that  water  could  not 
possess  the  power  of  conducting  heat  with 
which  it  was  credited  in  his  day.  A  sun- 
beam falling  on  a  flask  of  heated  alcohol, 
which  he  had  placed  in  a  window  to  cool, 
revealed  to  him,  by  the  motion  of  floating 
particles,  the  convection  currents  of  the 
liquid.  His  final  inference  was  that  it  is 
solely  by  such  currents  that  liquids  distrib- 
ute their  heat,  and  that  if  these  currents  are 
impeded  a  proportionate  retardation  of  the 
diffusion  occurs.  The  fibrous  part  of  apples 
he  found  to  amount  to  only  two  per  cent, 
of  the  whole,  the  rest  being  mainly  water. 
Still  this  small  modicum  of  solid  matter 
so  reduced  the  power  of  transferring  heat 
that,  while  a  thermometer  surrounded  by 
stewed  apples  required  535  seconds  to  be 
raised  80°  F.  in  temperature,  it  required, 
when  surrounded  by  water,  only  172  seconds. 
Mixing  192  grains  of  starch  with  2,276 
grains  of  water,  he  found  the  convection  so 
hampered  by  the  starch  that  the  heating  of 
his  thermometer  80°  required  341  seconds  of 
exposure,  while  when  surrounded  by  pure 
water  only  172  seconds  were  needed.  The 
retention  of  heat  by  thick  soup  or  chocolate 
is  to  be  referred  to  the  cause  revealed  by 
these  experiments  of  Eumford. — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  8,  p.  216.  (A., 
1900.) 

3 TOO.     WATER  A  PROTECTION  TO 

PLANTS — Leaf -cups  Stop  Injurious  Insects. — 
In  aquatic  plants,  of  course,  the  access  of 
ants  is  precluded  by  the  isolation  in  water. 
Nay,  even  many  land  plants  have  secured 
to  themselves  the  same  advantage,  the  leaves 
forming  a  cup  round  the  stem.  Some  spe- 
cies have  such  a  leaf-cup  at  each  joint;  in 
others  there  is  only  a  single  basin,  formed 
by  the  rosette  of  radical  leaves.  In  these 
receptacles  rain  and  dew  not  only  collect, 
but  are  retained  for  a  considerable  time. 


In  our  own  country  Dipsacus  sylvestris  (the 
common  teazel)  is  the  best  marked  instance 
of  this  mode  of  protection,  tho  it  is  possible 
that  these  cups  serve  another  purpose,  and 
form,  as  suggested  by  Francis  Darwin,  traps 
in  which  insects  are  caught,  and  in  which 
they  are  dissolved  by  the  contained  fluid, 
so  as  to  serve  as  food  for  the  plant.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the -basins  are  generally 
found  to  contain  water,  even  if  no  rain  has 
fallen  for  some  days,  and  must,  therefore, 
serve  to  prevent  the  access  of  ants. — AVE- 
BURY  Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps,  ch.  3,  p.  52. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3701.  WATER  AS  A  MECHANICAL 
POWER—  The  World's  Progress  Dependent  on 
Water-power. — If  we  were  permitted  to  coin 
a  word,  we  should  call  all  the  arts  combined 
that  relate  to  the  getting,  preserving,  and 
utilizing   of  water,   hydrotechny;    but   that 
would  furnish  rather  a  long  term  for  the 
study  of   these   arts — hydrotechnology — tho 
it  is  not  lacking  in  euphony.     The  spring, 
the  well,  the  city  reservoir  and  water-works ; 
the  open  stream,  the  canal,  the  locomotive; 
the  tide-wheel,  the  overshot,  the  turbine — 
all  of  these  indicate  progress  in  hydrotechny 
as  related  to  aliment,  to  transportation,  to 
irrigation,  and  to  manufactures.   The  world's 
progress  has  followed  the  water,  and  water 
has  never  been   absent   from  men's   minds. 
— MASON    Aboriginal    American    Mechanics 
(Memoirs  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Anthropology,  p.  82).     (Sch.  P.  C.) 

3702.  WATER   CHANGING   LEVEL 

— Work  Done  on  the  Way — Energy  of  Posi- 
tion.— An  instance  of  energy  of  position  may 
be  found  in  a  body  of  water  having  a  level 
higher  than  that  of  the  ocean's  surface. 
If  this  body  of  water  is  released  it  will  flow 
down  to  the  lower  level,  and  during  its 
progress  it  is  able  to  do  work,  such  as  grind- 
ing grain,  sawing  wood,  or  driving  the  ma- 
chinery of  a  factory.  When  it  has  reached 
its  lowest  level  it  no  longer  possesses  the 
power  to  do  work.  In  order  to  restore  to  it 
the  same  power  that  it  had  at  the  higher 
level  we  should  have  to  expend  the  same 
amount  of  energy  in  pumping  it  back  that 
it  gave  up  when  it  ran  down.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  we  should  have  to  expend  a  great 
deal  more,  because  of  the  great  amount  of 
energy  that  would  be  lost  in  the  form  of 
friction  in  the  machinery  employed  for  the 
purpose. — ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles, 
vol.  ii,  ch.  2,  p.  19.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3703.  WATER,  COLOR  OF,  DUE  TO 
FINELY  DIVIDED   MATTER— Absolutely 
pure  water,  like  pure  air,  is  colorless,  but 
all  seas  and  lakes,  however  clear  and  trans- 
lucent, contain  abundance  of  very  finely  di- 
vided matter,  organic  or  inorganic,  which, 
as  in  the  atmosphere,  reflects  the  blue  rays 
in  such  quantity  as  to  overpower  the  white 
or  colored  light  reflected  from  the  fewer  and 
more  rapidly  sinking  particles  of  larger  size. 
— WALLACE  The  Wonderful  Century,  ch.  9, 
p.  75.     (D.  M.  &  Co.,  1899.) 


Water 
Wave-motion 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


748 


37O4.  WATER  EXPANDS  IN  FREEZ- 
ING— Protection  to  Life  in  Lakes  and  Streams. 
— ••  It  does  not  appear  to  me,"  he  [Count 
Rumford]  writes,  "  that  there  is  anything 
which  human  sagacity  can  fathom,  within 
the  wide-extended  bounds  of  the  visible  cre- 
ation, which  affords  a  more  striking  or  more 
palpable  proof  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Creator, 
and  of  the  special  care  he  has  taken  in  the 
general  arrangement  of  the  universe  to  pre- 
serve animal  life,  than  this  wonderful  con- 
trivance." Rumford's  enthusiasm  was  ex- 
cited by  considerations  like  the  following: 
Suppose  a  lake  exposed  to  a  clear,  wintry 
sky.  The  superficial  water  is  first  chilled; 
it  contracts,  becomes  heavier,  and  sinks  by 
its  superior  weight,  its  place  being  taken  by 
the  lighter  water  from  below.  In  time  this . 
is"  chilled  and  sinks  in  its  turn.  Thus  a 
circulation  is  established,  the  cold,  dense 
water  descending,  and  the  lighter  and  warm- 
er water  rising  to  the  top.  Supposing  this 
to  continue,  even  after  the  first  pellicles  of 
ice  have  been  formed  at  the  surface;  the  ice 
would  sink,  and  the  process  would  not  cease 
until  the  entire  water  of  the  lake  would  be 
solidified.  Death  to  every  living  thing  in 
the  water  would  be  the  consequence.  But 
just  when  matters  become  critical,  Nature, 
speaking  poetically,  steps  aside  from  her 
ordinary  proceeding,  causes  the  water  to  ex- 
pand by  cooling,  and  the  cold  water  to  swim 
like  a  scum  on  the  surface.  Solidification 
ensues,  but  the  solid  is  much  lighter  than 
the  adjacent  liquid,  and  the  ice  forms  a  pro- 
tecting roof  over  the  living  things  below. — 
TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  4,  p. 
109.  (A.,  1900.) 

37O5.  WATER  HONEYCOMBS  ROCKS 
FAR  UNDER  GROUND  —  How  Mineral 
Springs  Are  Formed. — In  the  case  of  f eld- 
spathic  rocks,  it  is  found  that  some  of  the 
constituent  minerals,,  more  especially  the 
feldspars,  usually  show  traces  of  decompo- 
sition at  depths  of  many  feet  or  even  yards 
below  the  weathered  superficial  portions.  It 
is  hard,  indeed,  to  get  a  specimen  of  any 
such  rock  from  the  bottom  of  our  deepest 
quarries  which  is  perfectly  fresh.  Water 
soaks  through  interstitial  fissures  and  pores, 
and  finds  its  way  by  joints  and  other  di- 
vision-planes, so  that  chemical  action,  with 
resultant  rock-decay,  is  carried  on  at  the 
greatest  depths  to  which  water  can  pene- 
trate. This  underground  water  eventually 
comes  to  the  surface  again  through  similar 
joints,  etc.,  opening  upwards,  and  thus  forms 
natural  springs.  All  these  springs  contain 
mineral  matter,  derived  from  the  chemical 
decomposition  and  solution  of  rock-constitu- 
ents. Many,  indeed,  are  so  highly  impreg- 
nated, that  as  soon  as  they  are  exposed  to 
evaporation  they  begin  to  deposit  some  of 
their  mineral  matter.  Thus  vast  quantities 
of  rock-material  are  brought  up  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth. — GEIKIE  Earth  Sculp- 
ture, ch.  2,  p.  30.  (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 


3706.  WATER  IN  MOUNTAIN  LAKES 
UNFROZEN—  Uniform    Temperature  in  the 
Depths.  —  The      temperature      observations 
made  in  Lake  Tahoe     .     .     .     furnish  an  il- 
lustration of  the  fact  that  deep  lakes,  even 
when  situated  at  a  high  elevation  and  sub- 
ject  to    low    winter    temperatures,    do    not 
freeze.     The   surface   Avaters   are   cooled   in 
winter   and  descend,   while  warmer  waters 
from  below  rise  and  take  their  place,  thus 
establishing  a  circulation;  but  the  body  of 
water  is  so  great  that  its  entire  mass  never 
becomes  cooled  sufficiently  during  the  com- 
paratively  short  winters  to   check  the  up- 
ward circulation  and  alloAV  ice  to  form.     At 
the  greatest  depth  reached  the  temperature 
was  39.2°  F.,  which  is  the  temperature  of 
fresh  water  at  its  maximum  density;    and 
from    more    extended    observation    in    other 
lakes,  the  water  is  believed  to  retain  this 
temperature  throughout  the  year. — RUSSELL 
Lakes  of  North  America,  ch.  4,  p.  64.      (G. 
&  Co.,  1895.) 

3707.  WATER  STORED  IN  THORNY 
PLANT— A  Reservoir  for  Thirsty  Animals— 
Provision  in  Lower  Organism  for  Needs  of 
Higher — Cactus  in  South  America. — The  cac- 
tus form    ...     is  almost  peculiar  to  the 
new    continent;    it   is    sometimes    globular, 
sometimes  articulated,   sometimes   rising  in 
tall,    polygonal    columns   not   unlike  organ- 
pipes.      This    group    forms    the    most    stri- 
king   contrast    with    the    lily    and    banana 
families,  and  belongs  to  that  class  of  plants 
which  Bernardin   de  St.   Pierre  felicitously 
terms  vegetable  fountains  of  the  desert.     In 
the  parched,  arid  plains  of  South  America 
•the  thirsting  animals  eagerly  seek  the  Melo- 
cactus,  a  globular  plant  half-buried  in  the 
dry  sand,  whose  succulent  interior  is  con- 
cealed by   formidable   prickles.     The   stems 
of  the  columnar  cactus  attain  a  height  of 
more    than    30    feet;    their    candelabra-like 
ramifications,    frequently    covered    with    li- 
chens, reminding  the  traveler,  by  some  anal- 
ogy in  their  physiognomy,  of  certain  of  the 
African    euphorbias. — HUMBOLDT    Views    of 
Nature,  p.  220.     (Bell,  1896.) 

3708.  WATER,  TRANSLUCENCE  OF 

— Rich  Color  of  Waves  that  Break  in  Foam. 
— Nothing  can  be  more  superb  than  the 
green  of  the  Atlantic  waves  when  the  cir- 
cumstances are  favorable  to  the  exhibition 
of  the  color.  As  long  as  a  wave  remains 
unbroken  no  color  appears,  but  when  the 
foam  just  doubles  over  the  crest  like  an  Al- 
pine snow-cornice,  under  the  cornice  we  often 
see  a  display  of  the  most  exquisite  green. 
It  is  metallic  in  its  brilliancy.  But  foam  is 
necessary  to  its  production.  The  foam  is 
first  illuminated,  and  it  scatters  the  light 
in  all  directions;  the  light  which  passes 
through  the  higher  portion  of  the  wave  alone 
reaches  the  eye,  and  gives  to  that  portion 
its  matchless  color.  The  folding  of  the 
wave,  producing,  as  it  does,  a  series  of  longi- 
tudinal protuberances  and  furrows,  which 


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SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


VVatev 
\Vu\e-inotioi 


act  like  cylindrical  lenses,  introduces  vari- 
ations in  the  intensity  of  the  light,  and 
materially  enhances  its  beauty. — TYNDALL 
Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  1,  p.  36.  (A.,  1898.) 

3709.  WATER,WONDERFUL  TRANS- 
FORMATION   OF— Feathery  Lightness  of 
Snotc. — We  are  all  familiar  with  the  way  in 
which  the  flakes,  in  falling,  are  driven  about 
by  the  slightest  breath  of  air,  and  every  one 
knows,  likewise,  that  a  handful  of  snow  is 
perhaps  as  light  a  handful  as  one  can  lift. 
The    actual    weight    of    snow   depends    very 
much    upon    circumstances.       Snow    varies 
greatly  in  compactness,  but  on  an  average 
it  is  found  that  a  cubic  yard  of  this  sub- 
stance weighs  about  187  Ibs.,  or  about  one- 
twelfth  of  an  equal  bulk  of  water.    Ice  itself 
is  lighter  than  water,  but  in  nothing  like  the 
same  proportion;   and  a  certain  volume  of 
snow  would,  on  an  average,  have  only  about 
one-eleventh  of  the  weight  of  an  equal  vol- 
ume of  ice.     No   one  will  be  at  a  loss  to 
understand  the  reason  for  it;  it  is  so  mani- 
fest that  snow  in  the  mass  consists  of  in- 
numerable  little   spicules    of   ice  interlaced 
together,  and  having  a  great  quantity  of  air 
enclosed  in  the  meshes,  that  the  lightness 
of  this  substance  when  compared  with   ice 
or    water    will    not    excite    any    surprise. — 
CHISHOLM   Nature-Studies,  p.   29.      (Hum., 
1888.) 

30 1O.  WATERS    CROWDED    UPON 

WATERS—  The  Whirlpool  Rapids  at  Niagara 
— Illustration  of  Wave  -  action. — The  most 
impressive  illustration  of  the  action  of 
waves  on  waves  that  I  have  ever  seen  oc- 
curs near  Niagara.  For  a  distance  of  two 
miles,  or  thereabouts,  below  the  Falls,  the 
river  Niagara  flows  unruffled  through  its 
excavated  gorge.  The  bed  subsequently  nar- 
rows, and  the  water  quickens  its  motion. 
At  the  place  called  the  "  Whirlpool  Rapids  " 
I  estimated  the  width  of  the  river  at  300 
feet,  an  estimate  confirmed  by  the  dwellers 
on  the  spot.  WThen  it  is  remembered  that 
the  drainage  of  nearly  half  a  continent  is 
compressed  into  this  space,  the  impetuosity 
of  the  river's  escape  through  this  gorge  may 
be  imagined.  Two  kinds  of  motion  are  here 
obviously  active,  a  motion  of  translation 
and  a  motion  of  undulation — the  race  of  the 
river  through  its  gorge,  and  the  great  waves 
generated  by  its  collision  with  the  obstacles 
in  its  way.  In  the  middle  of  the  stream 
the  rush  and  tossing  are  most  violent;  at 
all  events,  the  impetuous  force  of  the  indi- 
vidual waves  is  here  most  strikingly  dis- 
played. Vast  pyramidal  heaps  leap  inces- 
santly from  the  river,  some  of  them  with 
such  energy  as  to  jerk  their  summits  into 
the  air,  where  they  hang  suspended  as  bun- 
dles of  liquid  pearls,  which,  when  shorik  upon 
by  the  sun,  are  of  indescribable  beauty. — 
TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  56. 
(A.,  1898.) 

3711.  WATERS      TRANSPORTING 

SEEDS—  Wmd  and  Wave  Combine  to  Plant  the 

Sedge   in   New  Locations. — The  most  abun- 


dant plants  in  marshes  and  by  pond-sides 
are  the  sedges.  They  resemble  coarse  grass- 
es, for  which  they  are  frequently  mistaken. 
Some  of  them  have  seeds  adapted  to  wind- 
dispersal  by  means  of  cottony  tufts  of  hairs ; 
but  most  of  them  simply  cast  their  seeds 
upon  the  quiet  waters,  where  they  float  upon 
the  surface  and  are  driven  along  by  every 
breath  of  wind.  It  will  be  worth  your  while 
to  remove  some  "  seed  "  of  sedge  from  a  ri- 
pened head  and  study  its  structure.  As  you 
pick  up  what  appears  to  be  the  seed  .  .  . 
you  notice  how  little  weight  it  has.  On  look- 
ing closer  you  are  likely  to  see  that  it  is 
triangular,  in  many  species  being  shaped 
like  a  miniature  beechnut.  If  you  press 
upon  it  the  "  seed  "  breaks,  and  you  find  it 
apparently  hollow  on  the  inside.  But  if  you 
look  carefully  you  will  see  within  a  tiny 
body,  which  is  really  the  seed.  The  other  is 
simply  an  air-filled  boat  in  which  the  seed 
remains.  A  seed  with  such  an  outer  covering 
is  called  an  achene,  altho  in  most  achenes 
there  is  not  the  air  space  which  these  sedges 
show.  Now  drop  some  of  these  sedge  achenes 
upon  the  surface  of  water  in  a  tumbler  or 
other  vessel.  Do  they  sink?  See  them  rest 
buoyantly  upon  the  top,  with  one  flat  side 
down  and  the  two  other  sides  projecting 
upward.  Blow  gently  across  the  water;  see 
how  quickly  the  tiny  sails  catch  the  breeze 
and  the  achenes  move  away.  Fancy  them 
upon  a  quiet  pool  out-of-doors:  the  wind 
ripples  the  surface  and  away  they  go  to  the 
other  side,  where  they  may  find  lodgment, 
or,  perchance,  if  the  pool  has  an  outlet,  they 
may  be  carried  far  away  by  the  running 
water. — WEED  Seed  Travelers,  pt.  i,  p.  26. 
(G.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3712.  WAVE-MOTION  IS  THE  AD- 
VANCE OF  A  FORM—  The  Particles  of  Wa- 
ter Merely  Rise  and  Fall. — In  the  earliest 
writings  of  the  ancients  we  find  the  notion 
that  sound  is  conveyed  by  the  air.  Aristotle 
gives  expression  to  this  notion,  and  the 
great  architect,  Vitruvius,  compares  the 
waves  of  sound  to  waves  of  water.  But  the 
real  mechanism  of  wave-motion  was  hidden 
from  the  ancients,  and  indeed  was  not  made 
clear  until  the  time  of  Newton.  The  central 
difficulty  of  the  subject  was  to  distinguish 
between  the  motion  of  the  wave  itself  and 
the  motion  of  the  particles  which  at  any 
moment  constitute  the  wave. 

Stand  upon  the  seashore  and  observe  the 
advancing  rollers  before  they  are  distorted 
by  the  friction  of  the  bottom.  Every  wave 
has  a  back  and  a  front,  and,  if  you  clearly 
seize  the  image  of  the  moving  wave,  you  will 
see  that  every  particle  of  water  along  the 
front  of  the  wave  is  in  the  act  of  rising, 
while  every  particle  along  its  back  is  in  the 
act  of  sinking.  The  particles  in  front  reach 
in  succession  the  crest  of  the  wave,  and  as 
soon  as  the  crest  is  passed  they  begin  to 
fall.  They  then  reach  the  furrow  or  sinus 
of  the  wave,  and  can  sink  no  farther.  Im- 
mediately afterwards  they  become  the  front 


Wave-motion 
Weaving 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


750 


of  the  succeeding  wave,  rise  again  until  they 
reach  the  crest,  and  then  sink  as  before. 
Thus,  while  the  waves  pass  onward  horizon- 
tally, the  individual  particles  are  simply 
lifted  up  and  down  vertically.  Observe  a 
sea-fowl,  or,  if  you  are  a  swimmer,  abandon 
yourself  to  the  action  of  the  waves;  you  are 
not  carried  forward,  but  simply  rocked  up 
and  down.  The  propagation  of  a  wave  is  the 
propagation  of  a  form,  and  not  the  trans- 
ference of  the  substance  which  constitutes 
the  wave. — TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect. 
2,  p.  52.  (A.,  1898.) 

3713.  WAVES  HEAVING  EARTH'S 
CRUST  IN  EARTHQUAKE—  Trees  Lashing 
Ground  with  Their  Branches. — The  whole  of 
the   country   over  which  the   effects   of   the 
great  shocks  [of  the  Calabrian  earthquake] 
extended  was  at  times  heaved  simultaneous- 
ly, like  an  angry  sea,  and  sensations  resem- 
bling seasickness  were  experienced  by  many 
of  the  inhabitants.    Those  who  have  watched 
the  sky  from  the  deck  of  a  sea-tossed  ship 
will  have  noticed  that  the  drifting  clouds 
seem  at  times  to  be  arrested  in  their  mo- 
tion; it  is  in  reality  the  ship  which  is  mov- 
ing for  the  moment  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  clouds,  and  thus  neutralizes  the  effects 
of  their  motion.    The  same  phenomenon  wras 
observed  during  the  Calabrian  earthquake; 
and  nothing   serves   to  give  us   a   stronger 
impression  of  the  turbulence  of  those  inter- 
nal heavings  which   make  the  dry  land  as 
unstable  as  the  billows   of  a   swelling  sea. 
Trees  whose  roots  continued  firmly  embedded 
in  the  soil  were  seen  to  lash  the  ground  with 
their  branches. — PROCTOR  Notes   on  Earth- 
quakes, p.  3.      (Hum.,  1887.) 

3714.  WAVES,  INTERFERENCE  OF 

— The  Whirlpool  at  Niagara  —  Motion 
Doubled  or  Annulled. — The  first  impression, 
and,  indeed,  the  current  explanation  of  these 
rapids  [of  Niagara]  is,  that  the  central  bed 
of  the  river  is  cumbered  with  large  boulders, 
and  that  the  jostling,  tossing,  and  wild  leap- 
ing of  the  water  there  are  due  to  its  impact 
against  these  obstacles.  A  very  different 
explanation  occurred  to  me  upon  the  spot. 
Boulders  derived  from  the  adjacent  cliffs 
visibly  cumber  the  sides  of  the  river. 
Against  these  the  water  rises  and  sinks 
rhythmically,  but  violently,  large  waves 
being  thus  produced.  On  the  generation 
of  each  wave  there  is  an  immediate  com- 
pounding of  the  wave-motion  with  the  river- 
motion.  The  ridges,  which  in  still  water 
would  proceed  in  circular  curves  round  the 
center  of  disturbance,  cross  the  river  oblique- 
ly, and  the  result  is  that  at  the  center  waves 
commingle  which  have  really  been  genera- 
ted at  the  sides.  This  crossing  of  waves 
may  be  seen  on  a  small  scale  in  any  gutter 
after  rain;  it  may  also  be  seen  on  sim- 
ply pouring  water  from  a  wide-lipped  jug. 
Where  crest  and  furrow  cross  each  other  the 
wave  is  annulled;  where  furrow  and  furrow 
cross,  the  river  is  plowed  to  a  greater  depth ; 
and  where  crest  and  crest  aid  each  other 


we  have  that  astonishing  leap  of  the  water 
which  breaks  the  cohesion  of  the  crests,  and 
tosses  them  shattered  into  the  air.  The  phe- 
nomena observed  at  the  Whirlpool  Rapids 
constitute,  in  fact,  one  of  the  grandest  il- 
lustrations of  the  principle  of  interference. 
— TYNDALL  Lectures  on  Light,  lect.  2,  p.  57. 
(A.,  1898.) 

3715.  WAVES    OF    HEAT    LIKE 
WAVES  OF  LIGHT— Ethereal  Billows  Beat 
on   Human  Body. — To  the  eye  of  the  phi- 
losopher,  looking  at  such  matters  without 
reference  to   sensation,   these   obscure   radi- 
ations [of  heat]  are  substantially  the  same 
in  kind  as  those  which  produce  the  impres- 
sion of  light.     You  must,  therefore,   figure 
the  molecules   of  the  heated  body   as   in   a 
state  of  motion;  you  must  figure  that  mo- 
tion  as   communicated   to   the   surrounding 
ether,  and  transmitted  through  it  with  a  ve- 
locity which  we  have  the  strongest  reason 
for  believing  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  light. 
When,   therefore,   you   turn   towards    a   fire 
on  a  cold  day  and  expose  your  chilled  hands 
to  its  influence,  the  warmth  which  you  feel 
is  due  to  the  impact  of  these  ethereal  bil- 
lows upon  your  skin.    They  throw  the  nerves 
into   motion,   and  the   consciousness,   corre- 
sponding to  this  motion,  is  what  we  popu- 
larly call  warmth. — TYNDALL  Heat  a  Mode 
of  Motion,  lect.  10,  p.  276.     (A.,  1900.) 

3716.  WAVES    OF    LIGHT    MORE 
RAPID  AS  HEAT  MORE  INTENSE—  Wire 
Passes    from    Red    to    White. — A    platinum 
wire    [through    which    an    electric    current 
flows]  is  warmed  by  the  current,  and  may  be 
felt  to  be  warm  by  the  hand.    It  emits  waves 
of    heat,    but    no    light.      Augmenting    the 
strength   of  the  current,  the  wire  becomes 
hotter;    it   finally   glows   with   a    sober   red 
light.    At  this  point  Dr.  Draper  many  years 
ago  began  an  interesting  investigation.     He 
employed  a  voltaic  current  to  heat  his  plat- 
inum, and  he  studied,  by  means  of  a  prism, 
the  successive  introduction  of  the  colors  of 
the  spectrum.     His  first  color     .     .     .     was 
red;    then   came   orange,   then  yellow,   then 
green,    and   lastly    all   the    shades    of   blue. 
Thus   as   the  temperature  of  the  platinum 
was  gradually  augmented,  the  atoms  were 
caused    to    vibrate    more    rapidly;    shorter 
waves    were   thus    introduced,    until   finally 
waves   were  obtained   corresponding  to   the 
entire    spectrum.  —  TYNDALL    Lectures     on 
Light,  lect.  5,  p.  174.     (A.,  1898.) 

3717.  WAVES  OF  SEA  AND  LAND 
IN  EARTHQUAKE—  Undulations  Transmit- 
ted  through   Solid  Bodies. — Mr.   Mallet,   in 
his  memoir  [1846]     .     .     .     has  endeavored 
to   bring   to   bear   on   this    difficult   subject 
[of  ea/thquake  shocks]    the  more  advanced 
knowledge  obtained  of  late  years  respecting 
the  true  theory  of  waves.    He  conceives  that 
when   the   origin    of   the   shock   is    beneath 
the    deep    ocean    one    wave    is    propagated 
through  the  land,  and  another  moving  with 
inferior  velocity   is   formed  on  the   surface 
of  the  ocean.     This  last  rolls  in  upon  the 


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Weaving 


land  long  after  the  earth  wave  has  arrived 
and  spent  itself.  However  irreconcilable  it 
may  be  to  our  common  notions  of  solid 
bodies,  to  imagine  them  capable  of  trans- 
mitting, with  such  extreme  velocity,  motions 
analogous  to  tidal  waves,  it  seems  neverthe- 
less certain  that  such  undulations  are  pro- 
duced, and  it  is  supposed  that  when  the 
shock  passes  a  given  point  each  particle  of 
the  solid  earth  describes  an  ellipse  in  space. 
The  facility  with  which  all  the  particles 
of  a  solid  mass  can  be  made  to  vibrate  may 
be  illustrated,  says  Gay-Lussac,  by  many 
familiar  examples.  If  we  apply  the  ear  to 
one  end  of  a  long  wooden  beam,  and  listen 
attentively  when  the  other  end  is  struck  by 
a  pin's  head,  we  hear  the  shock  distinctly, 
which  shows  that  every  fiber  throughout  the 
whole  length  has  been  made  to  vibrate.  The 
rattling  of  carriages  on  the  pavement  shakes 
the  largest  edifices;  and  in  the  quarries 
underneath  some  quarters  in  Paris  it  is 
found  that  the  movement  is  communicated 
through  a  considerable  thickness  of  rock. — 
LYELL  Principles  of  Geology,  bk.  ii,  ch.  29,  p. 
498.  (A.,  1854.) 

3718.  WEALTH     OF    CELESTIAL 
BEAUTY—  The  Stars  Repeat  the  Lesson  of 
the    Lilies    (Matt,    vi,    28-29 J. — I    conceive 
that  few  thoughts  can  be  more  striking  and 
instructive  than  those  suggested  by  this  in- 
finite wealth  of  beauty  and  variety  [among 
the  double  stars  and  the  star-clusters  of  the 
sky].     We  see   throughout  the  whole   uni- 
verse the   same   splendor   on   a   large  scale 
which   is  bestowed  on   a   small   scale  upon 
the   flowers   of  the   field,   which   "  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin,  yet  Solomon  in  all  his 
glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." — 
PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  237.     (L.  G. 
&  Co.,  1897.) 

3719.  WEAPON   AND    TOOL— Knife 
or  Dagger. — Among  implements  used  by  man, 
the  same  forms  may  sometimes  be  employed 
for  destruction  and  at  other  times  for  in- 
dustrial purposes.     When  used  for  destruc- 
tion they  are  weapons,  but  when  their  func- 
tion is  industrial  they  are  tools.     The  same 
object,  when  used  as  a  weapon,  becomes  a 
dagger,  but  if  it  be  employed  as  an  edged 
tool  it  is  a  knife.    As  in  the  case  of  all  other 
•weapons  or  tools,  the  edged  tool  works  by 
pressure,  by   friction,   or  by   a   blow.      One 
used  by  means  of  a  blow  is  an  ax  if  the  edge 
is  in  a  line  with  the  handle,  and  an  adz  if 
it  lies  across  the  handle;  an  edged  tool  work- 
ing by  friction  is  a  scraper,  but  one  working 
by  pressure  is  a  knife. — MASON  The  Man's 
Knife   among  the  North  American  Indians 
(Report  of  the  U.  8.  National  Museum  for 
1897,  p.  727). 

37  2O.      WEAPONS    IMPROVISED  — 

Armadillo  Saws  Snake  with  Its  Shell. — A 
friend  of  mine,  a  careful  observer,  who  was 
engaged  in  cattle-breeding  amongst  the  stony 
sierras  near  Cape  Corrientes,  described  to  me 
an  encounter  he  witnessed  between  an  arma- 


dillo and  a  poisonous  snake.  While  seated 
on  the  hillside  one  day  he  observed  a  snake, 
about  twenty  inches  in  length,  lying  coiled 
up  on  a  stone  five  or  six  yards  beneath 
him.  By  and  by,  a  hairy  armadillo  ap- 
peared trotting  directly  towards  it.  Ap- 
parently the  snake  perceived  and  feared  its 
approach,  for  it  quickly  uncoiled  itself  and 
began  gliding  away.  Instantly  the  armadillo 
rushed  on  to  it,  and  squatting  close  down, 
began  swaying  its  body  backward  and  for- 
ward with  a  regular  sawing  motion,  thus 
lacerating  its  victim  with  the  sharp,  deep- 
cut  edges  of  its  bony  covering.  The  snake 
struggled  to  free  itself,  biting  savagely  at 
its  aggressor,  for  its  head  and  neck  were 
disengaged.  Its  bites  made  no  impression, 
and  very  soon  it  dropped  its  head,  and  when 
its  enemy  drew  off  it  was  dead  and  very 
much  mangled. — HUDSON  Naturalist  in  La 
Plata,  ch.  4,  p.  72.  (C.  &  H.,  1895.) 

3721.  WEAPONS,     POISONED,    IN 

ANCIENT  TIMES— Reprobation  of  the  Cus- 
tom in  Homer — Its  Prevalence  in  Middle 
Ages — Also  among  Modern  Savages. — The 
daubing  on  of  venom  to  make  them  [offen- 
sive weapons]  more  deadly  is  found  among 
low  tribes  far  over  the  world.  Thus  the 
bushman  mixes  serpent's  poison  with  the 
euphorbia  juice,  and  the  South-American 
native  poison-maker,  prepared  by  a  long  fast 
for  the  mysterious  act,  concocts  the  para- 
lyzing urari,  or  curare,  in  the  secret  depths 
of  the  forest,  where  no  woman's  eye  may 
fall  on  the  fearful  process.  Poisoned  arrows 
were  known  to  the  ancient  world,  as  witness 
the  lines  which  tell  of  Odysseus  going  to 
Ephyra  for  the  man-slaying  drug  to  smear 
his  bronze-tipped  arrows ;  but  Ilos  would  not 
give  it,  for  he  feared  the  ever-living  gods. 
Thus  it  seems  that  in  early  ages  the  moral 
sense  of  the  higher  nations  had  already  con- 
demned the  poisoned  weapons  of  the  savage 
with  something  of  the  horror  Europeans  now 
feel  in  examining  the  Italian  brave's  dag- 
gers of  the  Middle  Ages,  with  their  poison- 
grooves  imitated  from  the  serpent's  tooth. 
— TYLOR  Anthropology,  ch.  9,  p.  221.  (A., 
1899.) 

3722.  WEAVING     INVENTED     BY 
PRIMITIVE    WOMEN— Styles    Transported 
over  the  World. — There  is  no  work  of  wom- 
an's fingers  that  furnishes  a  better  oppor- 
tunity  for   the  study   of  techno-geography, 
or  the  relationship  existing  between  an  in- 
dustry and  the  region  where  it  may  have 
been  developed,  than  the  textile  art.     Sup- 
pose   a    certain    kind    of    raw    material    to 
abound  in  any  area  or  country:    you  may 
be    sure    that    savage    women    searched    it 
out   and   developed   it   in   their   crude   way. 
Furthermore,    the     peculiar     qualities     and 
idiosyncrasies    of    each    substance    suggest 
and    demand    a    certain    treatment.      Wom- 
en   of   the    lowest   grades    of    culture    have 
not  been  slow  in  discovering  this ;   so  that 
between  them  and  the  natural  product  there 
has   been   a    kind    of   understanding   or   co- 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


752 


operation  leading  to  local  styles.  If  these 
women  were  moved  far  away,  they  carried 
oftentimes  these  processes  with  them,  and 
plied  the  old  trade  upon  such  strange  ma- 
terials as  they  discovered  in  their  new  home. 
— MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, eh.  3,  p.  41.  (A.,  1894.) 

3723.  WEAVING  OF   THE  SPIDER 

— Fluid  Silk  Hardening  by  Exposure  to  the 
Air. — Like  the  silk-moth's  caterpillar,  or  the 
mussel  in  the  sea,  which  are  also  spinners 
and  weavers,  Madame  Spider's  silk-secretion 
exists  within  her  body  in  a  fluid  state.  It 
is  made  and  secreted  by  certain  silk-forming 
glands  which  end  in  the  "  spinnerets."  These 
last  are  conical  projections  placed  near  the 
tail;  and  comparative  anatomy  seems  to 
teach  us  that  the  spinnerets  really  represent 
much-altered  limbs.  Each  of  these  organs 
seems  in  its  essential  nature  to  be  composed 
of  a  multitude  of  fine  tubes,  opening  at  the 
top  of  the  spinneret.  This,  then,  is  the  ap- 
paratus wherewith  our  spider  weaves. 

Let  us  see  how  the  weaving  is  carried  on. 
The  silk,  while  within  the  glands,  exists  in 
a  semifluid  state;  but  when  it  is  exposed 
to  the  air  it  becomes  dried,  or  of  a  more 
tenacious  consistency,  and  in  this  state  is 
susceptible  of  being  drawn  out  into  a  fine 
thread.  Think  for  a  moment  what  happens 
to  melted  wax  or  glue.  So  long  as  the  heat 
is  of  sufficient  amount  either  substance  re- 
mains fluid;  but  if  we  draw  a  little  out  of 
the  pot  on  a  piece  of  stick,  exposure  to  the 
air  hardens  the  wax  or  glue,  and  with  a 
little  dexterity  we  can  produce  the  melted 
substance  into  a  fine  thread.  This  repre- 
sents accurately  enough  how  and  why  the 
semifluid  silk  of  the  spider  becomes  a  dry 
thread  when  it  is  pressed  out  through  the 
fine  tubes  of  the  spinnerets.  —  WILSON 
Glimpses  of  Nature,  ch.  6,  p.  23.  (Hum., 
1892.) 

3724.  WEIGHT  BALANCED  AGAINST 
DISTURBING  FORCE—  The  Spider's  Knowl- 
edge of  Mechanics. — Practical  acquaintance 
with  mechanical  principles    ...    is  some- 
times shown  by  spiders  when  they  find  that 
a  widely  spread  web  is  not  tightly  enough 
stretched,   and   as   a   consequence   is   to   an 
inconvenient   extent   swayed    about   by   the 
wind.     Under  such  circumstances  these  ani- 
mals have  been  observed  to  suspend  to  their 
webs  small   stones  or  other  heavy  objects, 
the  weight  of  which   serves   to   steady  the 
whole  system.     Gleditsch   saw  a   spider  so 
circumstanced  let  itself  down  to  the  ground 
by  means  of  a  thread,  seize  a  small  stone, 
remount,  and  fasten  the  stone  to  the  lower 
part  of   its  web,   at  a  height  sufficient  to 
enable  animals  and  men  to  walk  beneath  it. 
— ROMANES   Animal  Intelligence,   ch.    6,   p. 
220.     (A.,  1899.) 

3725.  WEIGHT  OF  THE  SUN— Den- 
sity  One-fourth   That   of  Earth — Mass  Not 
Proportioned  to  Size. — We  now  know  that 
the  sun's  average  distance  from   the  earth 
is  about  93,000,000  miles,  and  consequently 


that  his  diameter  is  about  865,000  miles.  The 
sun  has  been  weighed  against  the  earth  and 
found  to  contain  a  quantity  of  matter  nearly 
330,000  times  as  great,  and  comparing  this 
with  his  enormous  bulk,  it  appears  that  his 
mean  density  is  only  about  one-fourth  that 
of  the  earth,  or  one  and  a  quarter  times 
that  of  water — in  other  words,  the  mass  of 
the  sun  is  about  one-fourth  greater  than 
that  of  a  globe  of  water  of  the  same  size. — 
YOUNG  The  Sun,  int.,  p.  7.  (A.,  1898.) 

3726.  WHEEL,  THE,  A    PREHIS- 
TORIC INVENTION—  The  Primitive  Farm- 
cart — War-chariots    with    Spoke-wheels    in 
Ancient  Egypt — Railway  Wheels  and  Axles 
Return  to  Primitive  Type. — The  wheel-car- 
riage, which  is  among  the  most  important 
machines  ever  contrived  by  man,  must  have 
been  invented  in  ages  before  history.    To  see 
what  constructive  skill  the  leading  nations 
had  already  attained  to  in  times  we  reckon 
as  of  high  antiquity,  it  is  worth  while  to 
examine  closely  the  Egyptian  war-chariots, 
with    their    neatly-fitted    and    firmly-tired 
spoke-wheels  turning  on  their  axles  secured 
by    linchpins,    while    the    body,    pole,    and 
double  harness   show  equal  technical   skill. 
In  looking  for  some  hint  as  to  how  wheel- 
carriages  came  to  be  invented,  it  is  of  little 
use  to  judge  from  such  high  skilled  work 
as  was  turned  out  by  these  Egyptian  chariot- 
builders,   or  by  the  Roman   carpentarii  or 
carriage-builders  from  whom  our  carpenters 
inherit  their  name.     But  as  often  happens, 
rude  contrivances  may  be  found  which  look 
as  tho  they  belonged  to  the  early  stages  of 
the  invention.     The  plaustrum  or  farm-cart 
of  tLe  ancient  world  in  its  rudest  form  had 
for  wheels  two  solid  wooden  drums  near  a 
foot  thick,  and  made  from  a  tree-trunk  cut 
across,  which  drums  or  wheels  did  not  turn 
on  the  axle,  but  were  fixed  to  it;  the  axle 
was  kept  in  place  by  wooden  stops,  or  passed 
through  rings  at  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  and 
went  round  together  with  its  pair  of  wheels, 
as  children's  toy  carts  are  made.     It  is  curi- 
ous to  notice  how,  under  changed  conditions, 
the  builders  of  railway  carriages  have  re- 
turned to  this  early  construction. 

In  such  countries  as  Portugal  the  old  classic 
bullock-cart  on  this  principle  is  still  to  be 
seen,  and  it  has  been  reasonably  guessed  that 
such  carts  tell  the  story  how  wheel-carriages 
came  to  be  invented. — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  8,  p.  198.  (A.,  1899.) 

3727.  WHEELS  FOR  VEHICLES  UN- 
KNOWN IN  AMERICA  BEFORE  COLUM- 
BUS—  The  Fly-wheel  for  Spindles  and  Drills. 
— There  was  nothing  on  the  continent  that 
could  be   compared   to   a   wheel,   either   for 
carriage  or  for  mechanical  purposes,  when 
Columbus  discovered  America.   The  fly-wheel 
was  well  known  and  widely  distributed  on 
spindles  and  drills,  but  there  were  no  wheel- 
barrows, carts  or   carriages,  no  cranks,   or 
windlasses,  or  capstans.     But  the  Alaskan 
Indians,  and  perhaps  others,  used  the  par- 
buckle, which  combines  the  roller  and  the 


753 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Bar11 


pulley  in  the  same  device.  For  hoisting  logs, 
a  rope  was  fastened  to  the  tops  of  posts, 
passed  down  under  a  log  in  the  ground, 
back  over  the  top  of  the  post,  and  down  to 
the  ground,  where  it  was  seized  by  men. 
— MASON  Aboriginal  American  Mechanics 
(Memoirs  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Anthropology,  p.  76).  (Sch.  P.  C.) 

3728.  WHIRLWIND  AS  OBSERVED 
BY  FRANKLIN— A  Means  of  Seed-dispersal 
— Franklin  tells   us,   in   one  of  his   letters, 
that  he  saw,  in  Maryland,  a  whirlwind  whicli 
began  by  taking  up  the  dust  which  lay  in 
the  road,  in  the  form  of  a  sugar-loaf,  with 
the  pointed  end  downwards,  and  soon  after 
grew  to  the  height  of  forty  or   fifty  feet, 
being  twenty  or  thirty  in  diameter.     It  ad- 
vanced in  a  direction  contrary  to  the  wind; 
and  altho  the  rotary  motion  of  the  column 
was  surprisingly  rapid,  its  onward  progress 
was    sufficiently    slow   to    allow   a    man    to 
keep   pace  with  it  on  foot.     Franklin  fol- 
lowed it  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  his 
son,  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  saw 
it  enter  a  wood,  where  it  twisted  and  turned 
round    large    trees    with    surprising    force. 
These  were  carried  up  in  a  spiral  line,  and 
were  seen  flying  in  the  air,  together  with 
boughs  and  innumerable  leaves,  which,  from 
their   height,  appeared  reduced  to   the   ap- 
parent size  of  flies.     As  this  cause  operates 
at   different    intervals    of   time   throughout 
a  great  portion  of  the  earth's   surface,   it 
may  be  the  means  of  bearing  not  only  plants, 
but  insects,   land  testacea   and  their   eggs, 
with    many    other    species    of    animals,    to 
points    which    they    could    never    otherwise 
have  reached,  and  from  which  they  may  then 
begin  to  propagate  themselves  again  as  from 
a  new  center. — LYELL  Principles  of  Geology, 
bk.  iii,  ch.  37,  p.  619.     (A.,  1854.) 

3729.  WILDERNESS,  PLANTING  OF 
THE—  Wind-wafted  Seeds— The   Tumbleweed. 
— There  is  a  very  common  weed  found  on 
waste  ground   and   also   in   fields   and  gar- 
dens,  which   on   good   soil,   with   plenty   of 
room  and  light,  grows  much  in  the  shape 
of  a  globe  with  a  diameter  of  two  to  three 
feet.     It  is  called  Amaranthus  albus  in  the 
books,   and  is   one   of  the   most   prominent 
of  our  tumbleweeds.     It  does  not  start  in 
the  spring  from   seed  till  the  weather  be- 
comes pretty  warm.     The  leaves  are  small 
and  slender,  the  flowers  very  small,  with  no 
display,    and    surrounded    by    little    rigid, 
sharp-pointed    bracts.      When    ripe    in    au- 
tumn, the  dry,  incurved  branches  are  quite 
stiff;  the  main  stem  near  the  ground  easily 
snaps  off  and  leaves  the  light  ball  at  the 
mercy  of  the  winds.      Such   a  plant  is  es- 
pecially   at    home    on    prairies    or    cleared 
fields,  where  there  are  few  large  obstructions 
and  where  the  wind  has  free  access. 

The  mother  plant,  now  dead,  toiled  busily 
during  the  heat  of  summer  and  produced 
thousands  of  little  seeds.  The  best  portion 
of  her  substance  went  to  produce  these 
seeds,  giving  each  a  portion  of  rich  food 


for  a  start  in  life,  and  wrapping  each  in  a 
glossy  black  coat.  Now  she  is  ready  to  sac- 
rifice the  rest  of  her  body  to  be  tumbled 
about,  broken  in  pieces,  and  scattered  in 
every  direction  for  the  good  of  her  precious 
progeny,  most  of  whom  will  find  new  places, 
where  they  will  stand  a  chance  the  next 
summer  to  grow  into  plants. — BEAL  Seed 
Dispersal,  ch.  5,  p.  31.  -(G-.  &  Co.,  1898.) 

3730.  "  WILFULNESS,"  SUPPOSED, 
IN  CHILD — A  Misinterpretation — Perhaps  a 
Lack  of  Volitional  Control. — Great  mistakes 
are  often  made  by  parents  and  teachers,  who 
.    .    .    treat  as  wilfulness  what  is  in  reality 
just  the  contrary  of  will-fulness,  being  the 
direct  result  of  the  want  of  volitional  con- 
trol over  the  automatic  activity  of  the  brain. 
To  punish  a  child  for  the  want  of  obedience 
which   it  has   not  the   power  to   render   is 
to  inflict  an  injury  which  may  almost  be 
said  to  be  irreparable.     .     .     .     Nothing  re- 
tards the  acquirement  of  the  power  of  di- 
recting the   intellectual  processes   so  much 
as  the  emotional  disturbance  which  the  feel- 
ing of  injustice  provokes.     Hence  the  deter- 
mination   often    expressed,    to    "  break    the 
will "  of  an  obstinate  child  by  punishment, 
is  almost  certain  to  strengthen  these  reac- 
tionary  influences.      Many   a    child   is   put 
into  "  durance  vile  "  for  not  learning  "  the 
little  busy  bee,"  who  simply  cannot  give  its 
small  mind  to  the  task,  whilst  disturbed  by 
stern  commands  and  threats  of  yet  severer 
punishment    for    a    disobedience    it    cannot 
help;    when   a   suggestion   kindly  and  skil- 
fully adapted  to  its  automatic  nature,  by 
directing  the  turbid  current  of  thought  and 
feeling  into  a  smoother  channel,  and  guiding 
the  activity  which  it  does  not  attempt  to 
oppose,  shall  bring  about  the  desired  result, 
to  the  surprise  alike  of  the  baffled  teacher, 
the  passionate  pupil,  and  the  perplexed  by- 
standers.— CARPENTER     Mental    Physiology, 
ch.  3,  p.   135.      (A.,   1900.) 

3731.  WILL    AS   DISTINCT    FROM 
IMPERSONAL  FORCE— Mind  Sees  in  Na- 
ture a  Reflection  of  Itself. — Whatever  diffi- 
culty there  may  be  in  conceiving  of  a  will 
not  exercised  by  a  visible  person,  it  is  a 
difficulty  which  cannot  be  evaded  by  arrest- 
ing our  conceptions  at  the  point  at  which 
they  have  arrived   in   forming  the  idea   of 
laws  or  forces.    That  idea  is  itself  made  up 
out  of  elements  derived  from  our  own  con- 
sciousness of  personality.     This  fact  is  seen 
by  men  who  do  not  see  the  interpretation 
of  it.     They  denounce  as  a  superstition  the 
idea  of  any  personal  will  separable  from  the 
forces  which  work  in  Nature.    They  say  that 
this  idea  is  a  mere  projection  of  our  own 
personality  into  the  world  beyond — the  shad- 
ow of  our  own  form  cast  upon  the  ground 
on  which  we  look.     And  indeed  this,   in  a 
sense,  is  true.     It  is  perfectly  true  that  the 
mind  does  recognize  in  Nature  a  reflection 
of  itself.     But  if  this  be  a  deception,  it  is  a 
deception  which  is  not  avoided  by  transfer- 
ring the  idea  of  personality  to  the  abstract 


inds 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


754 


idea  of  force,  or  by  investing  combinations 
of  force  with  the  attributes  of  mind. — AR- 
GYLL Reign  of  Law,  ch.  2,  p.  73.  (Burt.) 

3732.  WILL  AS  VIEWED  BY  THE 
PHYSIOLOGIST  —  Volition    Connected    with 
Organic  Changes — Loss  of  Power  of  Will  in 
Mental  Derangement. — As  physiologists,  we 
have  to  deal  with  volition  as  a  function  of 
the    supreme    centers,    following    reflection, 
varying  in  quantity  and  quality  as  its  cause 
varies,  strengthened  by  education  and  exer- 
cise, enfeebled  by  disuse,  decaying  with  de- 
cay of  structure,  and  always  needing  for  its 
outward  expression  the  educated  agency  of 
the  subordinate  motor  centers.     We  have  to 
deal  with  will,  not  as  a  single  undecompo- 
sable  faculty  unaffected  by  bodily  conditions, 
but  as  a  result  of  organic  changes  in  the 
supreme  centers,   affected  as  certainly  and 
seriously  by  disorder  of  them  as  our  motor 
faculties   are  by  disorder  of  their   centers. 
Loss  of  power  of  will  is  one  of  the  earliest 
and  most  characteristic  symptoms  of  mental 
derangement;  and  whatever  may  have  been 
thought  in  times  past,  we  know  well  now 
that  the  loss  is  not  the  work  of  some  un- 
clean  spirit  that  has   laid   its  hands  upon 
the  will,  but  the  direct  effect  of  physical 
disease. — MAUDSLEY  Body  and  Mind,  lect.  1, 
p.  28.     (A.,  1898.) 

3733.  WILL  CREATES  NO  FORCE— 
Existing  Bodily  Energy  Directed  by  Mind. — 
As   a   physiologist,   I   most  fully   recognize 
the  fact  that  the  physical  force  exerted  by 
the  body  of  man  is  not  generated  de  novo 
by  his  will,  but  is  derived  from  the  oxida- 
tion of  the  constituents  of  his  food.     But 
holding   it  as   equally   certain,  because  the 
fact  is  capable  of  verification  by  every  one 
as  often  as  he  chooses  to  make  the  experi- 
ment, that,  in  the  performance  of  every  vo- 
litional   movement,    that   physical    force    is 
put  in  action,  directed,  and  controlled,  by 
the  individual  personality  or  "  ego,"  I  deem 
it  just  as  absurd  and  illogical  to  affirm  that 
there  is  no  place  for  a  God  in  Nature,  origi- 
nating, directing,  and  controlling  its  forces 
by  his  will,  as  it  would  be  to  assert  that 
there  is  no  place  in  man's  body  for  his  con- 
scious mind. — CARPENTER  Nature  and  Man, 
lect.  12,  p.  364.     (A.,  1889.) 

3734.  WILL,  DETHRONEMENT  OF, 
IN  INTOXICATION— Drunkard  a  Madman- 
Limits  of  Responsibility  and  Punishment. — 
When  the  government  of  the  will  is  com- 
pletely overthrown,  and  the  excited  passions 
rage  uncontrolled,  the  drunkard  may  be  most 
truly  said  to  be  a  madman,  and  is,  like  him, 
at  the  time  completely  irresponsible  for  his 
actions,  since,  even  if  some  glimmering  con- 
sciousness of  their  criminality  should  still 
remain,  he  has  lost  all  power  either  of  re- 
straining his  vehement  impulses,  or  of  with- 
drawing himself  from  their  influence.     His 
responsibility  arises  from  his  having  know- 
ingly and  voluntarily  given  up  the  reins  of 
reason  and  conscience,  and  subjected  himself 
to  the  domination  of  his  evil  passions;   so 


that  his  better  nature  loses  its  due  su- 
premacy, and  he  becomes  the  mere  instru- 
ment of  his  insane  impulses.  It  has  been 
argued  with  considerable  plausibility  that  a 
man  ought  not  to  be  punished  for  any  crime 
he  may  commit  in  a  state  of  intoxication, 
since  he  is  then  in  a  state  of  "  temporary 
insanity  " ;  but  that  he  should  be  punished 
as  severely  for  having  brought  himself  into 
that  state.  This  would  doubtless  be  the  most 
logical  mode  of  dealing  with  the  criminal; 
but  as  it  would  require  that  every  drunkard 
should  be  held  guilty  of  a  crime  equal  in 
gravity  to  murder,  such  punishment  could 
obviously  not  be  enforced. — CARPENTER  Men- 
tal Physiology,  ch.  17,  p.  651.  (A.,  1900.) 

3735.  WILL  FIXING  ATTENTION 
ON  DIVINE  IDEAL  — The  highest  exercise 
of  the  will  is  shown  in  those  who  are  en- 
dowed with  vigorous  intellectual  powers,  and 
whose  strong  emotional  nature  gives  force 
to  all  their  tendencies  to  action,  but  who 
determinately  fix  their  attention  on  the  di- 
vine ideal,  and  steadily  endeavor  to  shape 
their  character  and  direct  their  conduct 
in  accordance  with  it. — CARPENTER  Mental 
Physiology,  bk.  i,  ch.  9,  p.  428.  (A.,  1900.) 

3  7  36.  WILL  FREE  FROM  COMPUL- 
SION—Motives  Do  Not  Destroy  Freedom.— 
— It  is  true  that  our  wills  can  never  be  free 
from  motives,  and  in  this  sense  can  never  be 
free  from  "  law."  But  this  is  only  saying  that 
we  can  never  be  free  from  the  relations  pre- 
established  between  the  structure  of  our 
minds  and  the  system  of  things  in  which 
they  are  formed  to  move.  From  these,  it 
is  true,  indeed,  that  we  never  can  be  free. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  know  that  these 
relations  do  not  involve  compulsion.  It  is 
from  compulsion  that  our  wills  are  free,  and 
from  nothing  else;  and  for  this  freedom  we 
have  the  only  evidence  we  can  ever  have 
for  any  ultimate  truth  respecting  the  powers 
of  mind — the  evidence  of  consciousness — 
that  is,  the  evidence  of  observation  turned 
in  upon  ourselves. — ARGYLL  Reign  of  Law, 
ch.  6,  p.  182.  (Burt.) 

3737.  WILL  IN  OPPOSITION  TO  RE- 
FLEX ACTION— Darwin's  Experiment— Self- 
preserving  Act  Uncontrollable. — To  prevent 
the  reflex  action  of  crying  out  when  in  pain, 
it  is  often  sufficient  firmly  to  clench  the  teeth 
or  to  grasp  some  object  and  hold  it  tight. 
When  the  feet  are  tickled  we  can,  by  an 
effort  of  will,  prevent  the  reflex  action  of 
jerking  them  up.  So,  too,  the  involuntary 
closing  of  the  eyes  and  starting,  when  a 
blow  is  aimed  at  the  head,  can  be  similarly 
restrained. 

Darwin  has  mentioned  an  interesting  ex- 
ample of  the  way  in  which,  on  the  other 
hand,  such  an  instinctive  reflex  act  may 
override  the  strongest  effort  of  the  will. 
He  placed  his  face  close  against  the  glass 
of  the  cobra's  cage  in  the  Reptile  House  at 
the  Zoological  Gardens,  and  tho,  of  course, 
thoroughly  convinced  of  his  perfect  security, 


755 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


could  not  by  any  effort  of  the  will  prevent 
himself  from  starting  back  when  the  snake 
struck  with  fury  at  the  glass. — BAKER  Hand- 
look  of  Physiology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  18,  p.  101. 
(W.  W.,  1885.) 

3738.  WILL  IS  ULTIMATE— Not  To 
Be    Translated    into    Simpler    Terms. — The 
transition  from  merely  considering  an  object 
as  possible  to  deciding  or  willing  it  to  be 
real;    the   change    from    the    fluctuating   to 
the  stable  personal  attitude  concerning  it; 
from  the  "  don't  care  "  state  of  mind  to  that 
in  which  "  we  mean  business,"  is  one  of  the 
most  familiar  things  in  life.    We  can  partly 
enumerate  its  conditions ;  and  we  can  partly 
trace  its  consequences,  especially  the  momen- 
tous one  that  when  the  mental  object  is  a 
movement  of  our  own  body  it  realizes  itself 
outwardly  when  the  mental  change  in  ques- 
tion has  occurred.     But  the  change  itself  as 
a  subjective  phenome'non  is  something  which 
we  can  translate  into  no  simpler  terms. — 
JAMES  Psychology,  vol.   ii,  ch.   26,  p.   569. 
(H.  H.  ^Co.,  1899.) 

3739.  WILL  MAY  SHUT  OUT  EVI- 
DENCE— Refusal  to  Look  through  Telescope. 
— In  the  discussion  of  a  question  of  intel- 
lectual  truth,    the   will   has    the   power    of 
keeping   some   considerations   more   or   less 
completely  out  of  view,  whilst  it  increases 
the  force  of  others  by  fixing  the  attention 
upon  them.     Another  familiar  proverb,  that 
"  there  are  none  so  blind  as  those  that  won't 
see,"  precisely  expresses  the  way  in  which 
the  will  thus  exerts  its  influence.    For  as  the 
opponents  of  the  Copernican  system  refused 
to  look  at  the  satellites  of  Jupiter  through 
the   telescope   of   Galileo,   so  there  are   too 
many  who  wilfully  turn  away  the  eyes  of 
their  minds  from  inconvenient  truths,  or  re- 
fuse to  get  a  gleam  of  sunshine  into  the  dark 
chambers  of  their  intellects,  where  they  hide 
as   sacred   treasures  the   antiquated   beliefs 
of    past    ages,    the   worthlessness    of   which 
would  be  at  once  apparent  if  the  full  light 
of  day  were  permitted  to  shine  in  upon  them. 
— CARPENTER   Nature  and  Man,  lect.   7,   p. 
231.     (A.,  1889.) 

3  7 4O.  WILL,  WEAKNESS  OF,  COUN- 
TERACTED— Mozart  Saved  by  Good  Influ- 
ence— Help  of  Father  and  of  Wife  Sustained 
Great  Composer. — Mozart  certainly  stands 
alone  among  musicians,  and  deserves  to  rank 
as  a  typical  example  of  genius.  Mozart,  like 
Coleridge,  was  a  man  whose  will  was  weak 
in  proportion  to  the  automatic  activity  of 
his  mind;  and  it  is  probable  that  if  he  had 
not  been  under  the  guidance,  in  the  first 
instance,  of  a  judicious  father,  and  after- 
wards of  an  excellent  wife,  to  both  of  whom 
he  had  the  good  sense  to  submit  himself, 
his  career  would  have  been  comparatively 
inglorious.  For  his  lively  sensibility  made 
him  the  sport  of  every  kind  of  impulse,  so 
that  he  could  neither  keep  firm  to  a  resolu- 
tion, nor  resist  a  temptation;  and  hence  he 
would  never  of  his  own  accord  have  sub- 
jected himself  to  the  discipline  which  his 


father  imposed  upon  him,  and  without  which 
he  Co  aid  not  have  been  anything  else  than 
a  "  muoical  prodigy  " ;  nor  would  he  have 
had  tne  motive  which  his  conjugal  affection 
supplied,  for  the  steady  application  that  was 
required  for  the  elaboration  of  his  greatest 
works.  Hence  his  life  becomes  a  most  in- 
teresting study  to  the  psychologist,  no  less 
than  to  the  musician.— CASPENTEE  Mental 
Physiology,  ch.  6,  p.  271.  (A.,  1900.) 

3741.  WIND   CHANGES    CONTOUR 
OF  MOUNTAINS— Cliffs  Shaped  by  Viewless 
Air. — When  a  strong  wind  is  blowing  during 
a  volcanic  outburst,  the  materials  may  be 
driven  to  one  side  of  the  vent,  and  accumu- 
late there  more  rapidly  than  on  the  other. 
Thus   lop-sided   cones   are   formed,   such   as 
may   frequently   be   observed   in    some   vol- 
canic  districts.      In    areas    where   constant 
currents  of  air,  like  the  trade-winds,  prevail, 
all  the  scoria-cones  of  the  district  may  thus 
be  found  to  be  unequally  developed  on  op- 
posite   sides,    being   lowest    on   those    from 
which  the  prevalent  winds  blow,  and  highest 
on  the  sides  towards  which  these  winds  blow. 
— JUDD  Volcanoes,  ch.  4,  p.  90.     (A.,  1899.) 

3742.  WIND    SCATTERS    SEEDS— 

Samaras  or  "  Keys  "  of  Maple  and  Ash. — 
There  are  many  methods  by  which  seeds 
have  been  adapted  to  dispersal  by  the  wind. 
The  degree  of  adaptation  is  greatly  varied. 
With  the  fruits  of  many  trees  the  seed-en- 
velopes have  been  drawn  out  into  thin  plates, 
by  means  of  which  in  a  strong  wind — when 
of  course  they  are  most  likely  to  break  away 
from  the  stem — they  may  be  carried  to  a 
considerable  distance  before  falling  to  the 
ground.  Even  then  during  high  winds  many 
of  them  will  be  picked  up  and  carried 
farther. 

The  familiar  fruits,  or  "  keys,"  of  maple 
and  ash  at  once  come  to  mind  as  examples 
of  this  kind  of  dispersal.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  generally  in  such  cases  the  seed  has  a 
decided  advantage  in  starting  at  a  point 
some  distance  from  the  ground.  Its  chances 
of  going  far  afield  are  much  greater  than 
they  would  be  if  the  seed  was  borne  on  a 
herbaceous  plant  only  a  foot  or  two  high. 
— WEED  Seed  Travellers,  pt.  i,  p.  13.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3743.  WINDS  OF  THE  UPPER  AIR 
— Direction  Opposite  to  That  of  Surface  Cur- 
rents— Volcanic     Ashes    Shot     into     Upper 
Stream  of  Air. — It  is  not  by  reasoning  alone 
that  we  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  upper  atmospheric  current,  tho 
reasoning  is  sufficient  to  show  that  compen- 
sation  must    take   place    somehow — that    a 
wind  cannot  blow  in  any  direction  without 
an  equal  displacement  of  air   taking  place 
in  the  opposite  direction.     But  clouds  are 
sometimes  seen  in  the  tropics,  high  in  the 
atmosphere,  moving  in  a  direction  opposed 
to  that  of  the  constant  wind  below.     Could 
we   discharge   a    light   body   with    sufficient 
force  to  cause  it  to  penetrate  the  lower  cur- 


imU 
.'oiiiiiu 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


756 


rent,  and  reach  the  higher,  the  direction  of 
the  body's  motion  would  give  us  that  of 
the  wind  above.  Human  strength  cannot 
perform  this  experiment,  but  it  has  never- 
theless been  made.  Ashes  have  been  shot 
through  the  lower  current  by  volcanoes,  and, 
from  the  places  where  they  have  subsequent- 
ly fallen,  the  direction  of  the  wind  which 
carried  them  has  been  inferred.  Professor 
Dove,  who  has  so  enriched  the  knowledge 
of  the  age  by  his  researches  in  meteorology, 
cites  the  following  instance :  "  On  the  night 
of  April  30  explosions  like  those  of  heavy 
artillery  were  heard  at  Barbadoes,  so  that 
the  garrison  at  Fort  St.  Anne  remained  all 
night  under  arms.  On  May  1,  at  daybreak, 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  horizon  appeared 
clear,  while  the  rest  of  the  firmament  was 
covered  by  a  black  cloud,  which  soon  extend- 
ed to  the  east,  quenched  the  light  there,  and 
at  length  produced  a  darkness  so  intense 
that  the  windows  in  the  rooms  could  not  be 
discerned.  A  shower  of  ashes  descended. 
Whence  came  these  ashes?  From  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wind  we  should  infer  that  they 
came  from  the  Azores;  they  came,  however, 
from  the  volcano  Morne  Garou  in  St.  Vin- 
cent, which  lies  about  100  miles  west  of 
Barbadoes.  The  ashes  had  been  cast  into 
the  current  of  the  upper  trade." — TYNDALL 
Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion,  lect.  8,  p.  209.  (A., 
1900.) 

3744.     WINE,  ADULTERATION    OF 

— Connoisseur  Demands  Impossible  Trans- 
parency— Use  and  Effect  of  Mineral  Acids — 
An  Imperial  Martyr. — The  wine-merchants 
are  .  .  .  the  victims  of  their  customers,  who 
demand  an  amount  of  transparency  that  is 
simply  impossible  as  a  permanent  condition 
of  unsophisticated  grape  wine.  To  anybody 
who  has  any  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of 
wine  nothing  can  be  more  ludicrous  than 
the  antics  of  the  pretending  connoisseur  of 
wine  who  holds  his  glass  up  to  the  light, 
shuts  one  eye  (even  at  the  stage  before 
double  vision  commences),  and  admires  the 
brilliancy  of  the  liquid,  this  very  brilliancy 
being,  in  nineteen  samples  out  of  twenty, 
the  evidence  of  adulteration,  cookery,  or  so- 
phistication of  some  kind.  Genuine  wine 
made  from  pure  grape- juice  without  chem- 
ical manipulation  is  a  liquid  that  is  never 
reliably  clear.  .  .  .  Partial  precipita- 
tion, sufficient  to  produce  opalescence,  is 
continually  taking  place,  and  therefore  the 
unnatural  brilliancy  demanded  is  obtained 
by  substituting  the  natural  and  whole- 
some tartrate  by  salts  of  mineral  acids, 
and  even  by  the  free  mineral  acid  itself.  At 
one  time  I  deemed-  this  latter  adulteration 
impossible,  but  have  been  convinced  by  direct 
examination  of  samples  of  high-priced  (mark 
this,  not  cheap)  dry  sherries  that  they  con- 
tained free  sulfuric  and  sulfurous  acid.  .  .  . 
But  what  is  the  effect  of  such  free  mineral 
acid  on  the  drinker  of  the  wine?  If  he  is 
in  any  degree  predisposed  to  gout,  rheuma- 
tism, stone,  or  any  of  the  lithic-acid  dis- 


eases, his  life  is  sacrificed,  with  preceding 
tortures  of  the  most  horrible  kind.  It  has 
been  stated,  and  probably  with  truth,  that 
the  late  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  drank  dry 
sherry,  and  was  a  martyr  of  this  kind. — 
WILLIAMS  Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  16,  p. 
274.  (A.,  1900.) 


3745. 


Sulfuric  Replaces 


Tartaric  Acid — A  Clergyman's  Costly  Error. 
— The  brilliancy  thus  obtained  [by  fining 
with  sulfate  of  lime]  is  not  lost  by  age  or 
variations  of  temperature,  and  the  dry  sher- 
ries thus  cooked  are  preferred  by  English 
wine-drinkers. 

The  sulfate  of  potash  which,  by  the  action 
of  sulfate  of  lime,  is  made  to  replace  bitar- 
trate,  is  so  readily  soluble  that  neither 
changes  of  temperature  nor  increase  of  al- 
cohol, due  to  further  fermentation,  will 
throw  it  down;  and  thus  the  wine-maker 
and  wine-merchant,  without  any  guilty  in- 
tent, and  ignorant  of  what  he  is  really  do  ing, 
sophisticates  the  wine,  alters  its  essential 
composition,  and  adds  an  impurity  in  doing 
what  he  supposes  to  be  a  mere  clarification 
or  removal  of  impurities.  .  .  . 

So  far,  the  wine-merchant ;  but  how  about 
the  consumer?  Simply  that  the  substitu- 
tion of  a  mineral  acid — the  sulfuric  for  a 
vegetable  acid  (the  tartaric) — supplies  him 
with  a  precipitant  of  lithic  acid  in  his  own 
body;  that  is,  provides  him  with  the  source 
of  gout,  rheumatism,  gravel,  stone,  etc.,  with 
which  English  wine-drinkers  are  proverbial- 
ly tortured. 

I  am  the  more  urgent  in  propounding  this 
view  of  the  subject  because  I  see  plainly 
that  not  only  the  patients,  but  too  common- 
ly their  medical  advisers,  do  not  understand 
it.  WThen  I  was  in  the  midst  of  these  ex- 
periments I  called  upon  a  clerical  neighbor, 
and  found  him  in  his  study  with  his  foot  on 
a  pillow,  and  groaning  with  gout.  A  decan- 
ter of  pale,  choice,  very  dry  sherry  was  on 
the  table.  He  poured  out  a  glass  for  me 
and  another  for  himself.  I  tasted  it,  and 
then  perpetrated  the  unheard-of  rudeness  of 
denouncing  the  wine  for  which  my  host  had 
paid  so  high  a  price.  He  knew  a  little 
chemistry,  and  I  accordingly  went  home 
forthwith,  brought  back  some  chlorid  of 
barium,  added  it  to  his  choice  sherry,  and 
showed  him  a  precipitate  which  made  him 
shudder.  He  drank  no  more  dry  sherry,  and 
has  had  no  serious  relapse  of  gout. — WILL- 
IAMS Chemistry  of  Cookery,  ch.  16,  p.  278. 
(A.,  1900.) 

3746.  WINGS  OF  FLYING-FISH 
REALLY  FINS — Different  Organs  ivith  Simi- 
lar Function. — When  we  speak  of  the  flight 
of  birds,  of  insects,  of  fishes,  of  bats,  etc., 
and  designate  their  locomotive  organs  indis- 
criminately as  wings,  it  is  evident  that  the 
character  of  the  motion,  and  not  the  special 
structure  of  the  organs,  has  determined  our 
nomenclature.  We  are  influenced  by  the 
same  consideration  when  we  give  the  name 
of  "  fins  "  to  the  organs  of  all  animals  which 


757 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Winds 
Woman 


swim  in  the  water,  be  they  whales,  turtles, 
fishes,  crustaceans,  or  mollusks.  It  requires 
but  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  the 
anatomy  of  the  flying-fishes  to  perceive  that 
their  organs  of  flight  are  built  upon  exactly 
the  same  pattern  as  the  pectoral  fins  of  most 
fishes,  and  differ  entirely  from  the  wing  of 
birds,  as  also  from  the  wing  of  bats,  the 
latter  being  in  all  essentials  a  paw,  iden- 
tical with  the  paw  of  ordinary  quadrupeds, 
save  the  length  of  the  fingers  and  the  ab- 
sence of  nails  on  the  longest  of  them.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  the  flight  of  the  flying- 
fishes  should  entirely  differ  from  that  of . 
birds  or  bats. — AGASSIZ  Journey  in  Brazil, 
ch.  2,  app.,  p.  522.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3747.  WISDOM      TRANSCENDING 
HUMAN  POWER    TO    ATTAIN— Newton's 

Grand  Humility. — Why  .  .  .  should  we 
hesitate  to  receive  the  evidence  of  a  philos- 
opher like  Newton,  who,  after  spending  a 
long  life  in  the  investigation  of  Nature,  and 
with  a  success  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  science,  uttered  this  memorable  sentiment 
shortly  before  his  death :  "  I  do  not  know 
what  I  may  appear  to  the  world;  but  to 
myself  I  seem  to  have  been  only  like  a  boy 
playing  on  the  seashore,  and  devoting  myself 
now  and  then  to  finding  a  smoother  pebble 
or  a  prettier  shell  than  ordinary,  while  the 
great  ocean  of  truth  lay  all  undiscovered 
before  me."  I  know  this  sentiment  has  been 
so  many  times  repeated  as  to  seem  trite, 
but,  coming  from  whom  it  does,  .it  cannot 
be  too  often  quoted.  It  is  the  testimony  of 
the  foremost  master  of  science  to  its  great- 
est and  sublimest  truth. 

We  can  all  recognize  the  marks  of  design 
in  Nature,  and  when  we  add  to  this  evidence 
of  our  senses  the  testimony  of  a  man  like 
Newton,  who  assures  us  that  the  more  our 
powers  are  enlarged,  and  the  wider  our 
knowledge  becomes,  the  grander  and  vaster 
the  design  will  appear,  until  it  surpasses 
all  our  powers  of  thought  or  imagination, 
we  begin  to  feel  the  full  depth  of  the  truth. 
.  .  .  If  our  minds  are  incapable  of  com- 
prehending the  plan,  who  could  have  been 
equal  to  the  design?  "  Whence,  then,  cometh 
wisdom,  and  where  is  the  place  of  under- 
standing, seeing  it  is  hid  from  the  eyes  of 
all  living,  and  kept  close  from  the  fowls  of 
the  air?  .  .  .  God  understandeth  the  way 
thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the  place  thereof. 
For  he  looketh  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
seeth  under  the  whole  heaven,  to  make  the 
weight  for  the  winds  .  .  .  and  a  way  for 
the  lightning  of  the  thunder.  Then  did  he 
see  it  and  declare  it;  he  prepared  it,  yea, 
and  searched  it  out.  And  unto  man  he  said, 
Behold  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wis- 
dom, and  to  depart  from  evil  is  understand- 
ing "  [Job  xxviii,  20-28]. — COOKE  Religion 
and  Chemistry,  ch.  2,  p.  66.  (S.,  1891.) 

3748.  WITCH-GRASS  ON  WINGS  OF 

WIND  —  Distribution  of  Seeds.  —  One  breezy 
October  morning  the  neighboring  fields  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  a  fairies'  carnival. 


A  thousand  tenuous  will-o'-the-wisps  were 
dancing  and  sailing  and  whirling  in  every 
direction.  Now  one  alone  with  feathery 
grace  would  glide  along,  to  join  a  moment 
later  a  host  of  airy  sprites,  and  be  wafted 
hither  and  thither  by  the  erratic  breath  of 
the  zephyr  god.  Here  and  there  the  paths 
of  miniature  cyclones  could  be  traced  by 
the  movements  of  whirling  circles,  while 
in  other  places  solid  phalanxes  moved  stead- 
ily forward.  The  ranks  of  the  revelers  were 
constantly  depleted  through  desertions  to 
the  eastward,  to  be  quickly  filled  by  new 
recruits  from  out  the  west. 

With  some  difficulty  I  caught  a  few  of 
these  feathery  sprites,  and,  holding  them 
securely,  started  homeward.  But  a  sudden 
gust  of  wind  left  me  empty-handed,  save  for 
some  tiny  pieces  of  stems;  the  sprites,  again 
at  liberty,  sailed  away  with  mocking  grace. 
I  caught  more,  and,  shielding  them  from 
the  wind,  got  them  safely  indoors,  where 
they  proved  to  be  the  seed-heads  of  a  grass 
commonly  known  as  the  "  old-witch  grass." 
— WEED  Seed  Travellers,  pt.  i,  p.  18.  (G.  & 
Co.,  1899.) 

3749.  WOMAN  A  POWER  IN  SAV- 
AGE LIFE — Cowardice  Repressed  by  Fear  of 
Woman's  Scorn. — It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  in  any  state  of  civilization  a  man's  con- 
duct depends  altogether  on  his  own  moral 
sense  of  right  and  wrong.    Controlling  forces 
of  society  are  at  work  even  among  savages, 
only  in  more  rudimentary  ways  than  among 
ourselves.    Public  opinion  is  already  a  great 
power,  and  the  way  in  which  it  acts  is  par- 
ticularly to  be  noticed.     .     .     .     The  assem- 
bled tribe  can  crush  the  mean  and  cowardly 
with   their    scorn,    or   give   that   reward   of 
glory  for  which  the  high-spirited  will  risk 
goods    and   life.      Travelers    have   remarked 
that     the     women,     however     downtrodden, 
know  how  to  make  their   influence   felt  in 
this  way,  and  many  a  warrior  whose  heart 
was   failing  him  in  face  of  the  enemy  has 
turned  from  flight  when  he  thought  of  the 
girls'  mockery  when  he  should  slink  home 
to   the  village,   safe  but  disgraced. — TYLOR 
Anthropology,  ch.  16,  p.  408.     (A.,  1899.) 

3750.  WOMAN  DOMESTICATES  THE 

CAT—  The  Guardian  of  the  Food  Supply.— The 
world  has  to  thank  woman  for  the  domesti- 
cation of  the  cat.  There  may  be  some  dis- 
pute as  to  who  has  the  honor  of  subduing 
the  dog  and  the  milk-  and  fleece-yielding 
animals.  But  woman  tamed  the  wildcat  for 
the  protection  of  her  granaries.  Of  the  time 
when  this  heartless  beast  laid  down  its  arms 
and  enlisted  in  her  service  no  one  knoweth. 
Already  at  the  dawn  of  written  history  in 
Egypt "  the  cat  was  sacred  to  Sekhet,  or 
Pasht,  daughter  of  Ra  and  wife  of  Ptah. 
Then  as  now  the  cat  and  the  goddess  had 
among  their  other  qualifications  the  faculty 
of  seeing  in  the  dark.  Her  method  of  domes- 
tication was  to  secure  the  young  wildcats 
and  rear  them  about  her  household  as  play- 


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things  for  her  children,  and  to  gratify  them 
in  their  instincts  of  prowling  and  seizing. — 
MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture, 
ch.  2,  p.  18.  (A.,  1894.) 

3751.  WOMAN  IN  GEOLOGY—  Orig- 
inal Discoveries  by  Lady  Gordon  Gumming. 
— The  seat  of  Sir  William  Gordon  Gumming, 
of  Altyre,  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  of 
the  Morayshire  deposits  discovered  by  Mr. 
Malcolmson;    and   for   the  greater   part  of 
the  last  two  years  Lady  Gordon  Gumming 
has  been  engaged  in  making  a  collection  of 
its  peculiar  fossils,  which  already  fills  an 
entire  apartment.     The  object  of  her  lady- 
ship was  the  illustration  of  the  geology  of 
the  district,  and  all  she  sought  in  it  on  her 
own  behalf  was  congenial  employment  for  a 
singularly  elegant  and  comprehensive  mind. 
But  her  labors  have  rendered  her  a  benefac- 
tor to  science.     Her  collection  was  visited, 
shortly  after  the  late  meeting  of  the  British 
Association  in  Glasgow,  by  Agassiz  and  Dr. 
Buckland;  and  great  was  the  surprise  and 
delight  of  the  philosophers  to  find  that  the 
whole  was  new  to  geology.    All  the  species, 
amounting  to  eleven,  and  at  least  one  of  the 
genera,  that  of  the  Glyptolepis,  were  differ- 
ent from  any  Agassiz  had  ever  seen  or  de- 
scribed before. — MILLER  The  Old  Red  Sand- 
stone, ch.  7,  p.  123.     (G.  &  L.,  1851.) 

3752.  WOMAN,  PARENTAL    LOVE 
STRONGEST  IN— Mother's  Devotion  to  Her 
Child. — Parental  love  is  an  instinct  stronger 
in  woman  than  in  man,  at  least  in  the  early 
childhood  of  its  object.    I  need  do  little  more 
than  quote  Schneider's  lively  description  of 
it  as  it  exists  in  her: 

"  As  soon  as  a  wife  becomes  a  mother  her 
whole  thought  and  feeling,  her  whole  being, 
is  altered.  Until  then  she  had  only  thought 
of  her  own  well-being,  of  the  satisfaction 
of  her  vanity;  the  whole  world  appeared 
made  only  for  her;  everything  that  went 
on  about  her  was  only  noticed  so  far  as  it 
had  personal  reference  to  herself;  she  asked 
of  every  one  that  he  should  appear  interest- 
ed in  her,  pay  her  the  requisite  attention, 
and  as  far  as  possible  fulfil  her  wishes. 
Now,  however,  the  center  of  the  world  is 
no  longer  herself,  but  her  child.  She  does 
not  think  of  her  own  hunger,  she  must  first 
be  sure  that  the  child  is  fed.  It  is  nothing 
to  her  that  she  herself  is  tired  and  needs 
rest,  so  long  as  she  sees  that  the  child's  sleep 
is  disturbed ;  the  moment  it  stirs  she  awakes, 
tho  far  stronger  noises  fail  to  arouse  her 
now.  .  .  .  But  not  only  the  contact,  the 
bare  look  of  the  offspring  affords  endless 
delight,  not  only  because  the  mother  thinks 
that  the  child  will  some  day  grow  great  and 
handsome  and  bring  her  many  joys,  but 
because  she  has  received  from  Nature  an 
instinctive  love  for  her  children.  She  does 
not  herself  know  why  she  is  so  happy,  and 
why  the  look  of  the  child  and  the  care  of  it 
are  so  agreeable,  any  more  than  the  young 
man  can  give  an  account  of  why  he  loves 
a  maiden,  and  is  so  happy  when  she  is  near. 


Few  mothers,  in  caring  for  their  child,  think 
of  the  proper  purpose  of  maternal  love  for 
the  preservation  of  the  species.  Such  a 
thought  may  arise  in  the  father's  mind ;  sel- 
dom in  that  of  the  mother.  The  latter  feels 
only  .  .  .  that  it  is  an  everlasting  delight 
to  hold  the  being  which  she  has  brought 
forth  protectingly  in  her  arms,  to  dress  it, 
to  wash  it,  to  rock  it  to  sleep,  or  to  still  its 
hunger."— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  ch.  24, 
p.  440.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3753.  WOMAN,  THE  MYSTERIOUS 
BIFOLD   LIFE  OF—"  The  Germans  believe 
that    there    is    something    sacred    and    pro- 
phetic   in    woman;    therefore    they    respect 
the  counsel  of  women  and  hearken  to  their 
judgments"  (Tacitus).  In  fact, both  of  those 
preeminent    antique    nations     (Greece    and 
Rome)  never  regarded  woman  as  more  than 
a  thing,  always  as  only  the  servant,  in  no 
respect  the   partner   of  man,   his   equal   in 
birth;  while  the  Germans  regarded  woman, 
weak  physically,  as  nevertheless  a  creature 
of    fine     intellectual    development,    having, 
therefore,  a  right  to  protection  and  forbear- 
ance, to  reverence  and  sacred  consideration. 
The   emotional    side   of   humanity   was    re- 
garded her  strength,  that  invisible,  mysteri- 
ous   power    closely    related    to    the    divine, 
before  which  one  retires  with  a  natural  awe, 
as  from  something  supernatural.     And  yet 
just  as  throughout  Nature  we  have  day  and 
night,  summer  and  winter,  so  throughout  the 
life  of  the  Germanic  woman  there  runs  that 
bipartition  which  on  the  one  hand  permits 
her  to  appear  like  unto  the  gods,  and  on  the 
other  represents  her  in  slavish  inferiority. 
Her  legal  position  was  entirely  subordinate. 
— REINSCH  Stellung  und  Leben  der  deutschen 
Frau  im  Mittelalter  (Virchow  und  Holtzen- 
dorff's    Sanimlung    wissenschaftlicher    Vor- 
tr age,  1882).    (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.) 

3754.  WOMAN  THE  SUPPORT  OF 
RELIGION  —  Was   it  accident,   or   a   pro- 
phetic  token,   that  Greek   architecture   em- 
ployed superb  female  figures  called  caryat- 
ides,   in   the   place   of  pillars,   as   supports 
for  the  halls  of  their  temples? — HOLTZEN- 
DORFF  Frauenrechte   (a  Lecture).      (Trans- 
lated for  Scientific  Side-Lights.) 

3755.  WOMAN'S     CULTURE,    ER- 
RORS AFFECTING— Highest  Development  of 
Character  Required. — Fathers   and  mothers 
are  still  mostly  of  opinion  that  light  caliber 
in  their  daughters  would  find  most  approval 
from  their  prospective  husbands.     They  be- 
lieve that  the  master  of  the  house  should 
train  his  wife  to  suit  his  own  taste  and  re- 
quirements, and  think  that  a  character  of  wax 
forms  the  most  suitable  raw  material.    They 
erroneously  assume  that  a  dependent,  unen- 
lightened creature,  without  any  aim,  is  equal 
to   the   capacity   for   sacrifice   and   personal 
devotion.      From   traditions   in   the   family, 
young  girls  acquire  the  notion  that  marriage 
signifies    chiefly   promotion   in   social  rank, 


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Woman 
Wonders 


release  from  parental  authority  doing  away 
with  manifold  limitations  founded  on  cus- 
tom. All  of  the  deeper  moral  relations, 
the  most  difficult  duties,  and  the  problems 
of  self-abnegation  are  hidden  from  youth, 
and  cannot  be  made  comprehensible  to  them. 
But  the  likelihood  of  the  fulfilment  of  duty 
does  not  increase  with  the  systematic  foster- 
ing of  ignorance,  or  the  fear  of  overculture, 
but  with  that  moral  effort  that  will  not  al- 
low any  year  to  pass  without  profit,  with 
the  development  of  ripe  understanding  and 
a  firm,  self-conscious  will. — HOLTZENDORFF 
Die  Verbesserungen  in  der  gesellschaftlichen 
und  wirlhsch  aft  lichen  Stellung  der  Frauen 
(a  Lecture).  (Translated  for  Scientific  Side- 
Lights.  ) 

3756.  WOMAN'S  MISSION—  The  Strug- 
gle  for   the  Life   of   Others — Motherhood — 
Psychical  Attributes  of  Sex. — That  cleavage, 
therefore,  which  began  in  the  merely  physic- 
al region   is  now   seen  to   extend  into  the 
psychical  realm,  and  ends  by  supplying  the 
world  with  two  great  and  forever  separate 
types.     No  efforts,  or  explanations,  or  ex- 
postulations can  ever  break  down  that  dis- 
tinction between  maleness   and  femaleness, 
or  make  it  possible  to  believe  that  they  were 
not  destined  from  the  first  of  time  to  play 
a  different  part  in  human  history.     Male 
and  female  never  have  been  and  never  will 
be  the  same.     They  are  different  in  origin; 
they  have  traveled  to  their  destinations  by 
different   routes;    they    have    had   different 
ends  in  view.     The  result  is  that  they  are 
different,  and  the  contribution,  therefore,  of 
each  to  the  evolution  of  the  human  race  is 
special  and  unique.     ...     To  him  [man] 
has  been  mainly  assigned  the  fulfilment  of 
the    first  great    function — the    struggle    for 
life.     Woman     ...     is  the  chosen  instru- 
ment for  carrying  on  the  struggle  for  the 
life  of  others.     Man's  life,  on  the  whole,  is 
determined  chiefly  by  the  function  of  nutri- 
tion; woman's  by  the  function  of  reproduc- 
tion.    Man  satisfies  the  one  by  going  out 
into  the  world,  and  in  the  rivalries  of  war 
and  the  ardors  of  the  chase,  in  conflict  with 
Nature,   and  amid  the  stress  of  industrial 
pursuits,  fulfilling  the  law  of  self-preserva- 
tion;  woman  completes  her  destiny  by  oc- 
cupying   herself    with    the    industries    and 
sanctities  of  the  home,  and  paying  the  debt 
of  motherhood  to  her  race. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  7,  p.  256.     ( J.  P.,  1900.) 

3757.  WOMEN  THE  INVENTORS  OF 
TEXTILES  AND  POTTERY— Mental  Power 
Required  for  Early  Inventions. — Only  now 
and  then  the  angry  sky  was  lighted  for  the 
primitive  man  by  electricity,  and  even  then 
it  filled  him  with  terror.     But  it  was  he 
that  invented  the  apparatus  for  conjuring 
from  dried  wood,  by  a  rude  sort  of  dynamo, 
the  Promethean  spark.     It  was  our  Aryan 
ancestors  that  paid  their  devotions  to  the 
rising  sun  by  kindling  fresh  fire  every  morn- 
ing as  the  orb  of  day  flashed  his  first  beam 
across  the  earth. 


Who  has  not  read  with  almost  breaking 
heart  the  story  of  Palissy,  the  Huguenot 
potter?  But  what  have  our  witnesses  to 
say  of  that  long  line  of  humble  creatures 
that  conjured  out  of  prophetic  clay,  without 
wheel  or  furnace,  forms  and  decorations  of 
imperishable  beauty,  which  are  now  being 
copied  in  glorified  material  in  the  best  fac- 
tories of  the  world  ?  In_  ceramic  as  well  as 
in  textile  art  the  first  inventors  were  wom- 
en. They  quarried  the  clay,  manipulated 
it,  constructed  and  decorated  the  ware, 
burned  it  in  a  rude  furnace,  and  wore  it 
out  in  a  hundred  uses. — MASON  The  Birth 
of  Invention  (Address  at  Centenary  of  Amer- 
ican Patent  System,  Washington,  D.  C., 
1891;  Proceedings  of  the  Congress,  p.  409). 

3758.  WONDERS    OF    LIFE     RE- 
VEALED BY  CLOSER  STUDY— Phosphor- 
escence of  Ocean  Due  to  Light-bearing  Ani- 
mals.— The    luminosity    of   sea-water    is    in 
part  owing  to  living  light-bearing  animals, 
and  in  part  to  the  organic  fibers  and  mem- 
branes of  the  same,  when  in  a  state  of  de- 
composition. The  first  named  of  these  causes 
of  the  phosphorescence  of  the  ocean  is  un- 
doubtedly the  most  common  and  the  most 
widely  diffused.    The  more  actively  and  the 
more  efficiently  that  travelers  engaged  in  the 
study  of  Nature  have  learned  to  employ  pow- 
erful microscopes,  the  more  our  zoological 
systems  have  been  enriched  by  new  groups 
of  Mollusca  and  Infusoria,  whose  property 
of   emitting   light    either    at   will   or    from 
external  stimulus  has  been  recognized.    .   .   . 
The  development   of   light    [is]    an   organic 
vital  process,  which  exhibits  itself  in  infu- 
sorial   animals    as   a    momentary   spark   of 
light,  and  is  repeated  after  short  intervals 
of  rest. — HUMBOLDT  Views  of  Nature,  p.  247. 
(Bell,  1896.) 

3759.  WONDERS  OF  NATURE— Gla- 
cier-tables  in   the  Alps. — A   mass   of   rock, 
having  fallen  on  the  surface  of  the  glacier, 
protects  the  ice  immediately  beneath  it  from 
the  action  of  the  sun;  and  as  the  level  of 
the   glacier   sinks  all   around   it,   in   conse- 
quence of  the  unceasing  waste  of  the  surface, 
the  rock  is  gradually  left  standing  on  an 
ice-pillar   of   considerable   height.      In   pro- 
portion  as   the  column  rises,  however,  the 
rays   of   the   sun   reach   its    sides,    striking 
obliquely  upon  them  under  the  boulder,  and 
wearing  them  away,  until  the  column  be- 
comes at  last  too  slight  to  sustain  its  bur- 
den,   and    the    rock    falls    again    upon    the 
glacier;  or,  owing  to  the  unequal  action  of 
the  sun,  striking,  of  course,  with  most  power 
on  the  southern  side,  the  top  of  the  pillar 
becomes  slanting,  and  the  boulder  slides  off. 
These   ice-pillars,   crowned   with   masses   of 
rock,    form    a    very    picturesque   feature   in 
the  scenery  of  the  glacier,  and  are  represent- 
ed in  many  of  the  landscapes  in  which  Swiss 
artists    have   endeavored   to    reproduce   the 
grandeur  and  variety  of  Alpine  views,  es- 
pecially in  the  masterly  aquarelles  of  Lory. 
The  English  reader  will  find  them  admirably 


Wonders 
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well  described  and  illustrated  in  Dr.  Tyn- 
dall's  work  upon  the  glaciers.  They  are 
known  throughout  the  Alps  as  "  glacier- 
tables." — AGASSIZ  Geological  Sketches,  ser. 
i,  ch.  8,  p.  285.  (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 


376O. 


Milk  from  Trop  - 


ical  Tree — The  Cow-tree. — We  had  already 
heard  a  good  deal  about  this  tree  [the  Mas- 
saranduba,  or  cow-tree],  and  about  its  pro- 
ducing from  its  bark  a  copious  supply  of 
milk  as  pleasant  to  drink  as  that  of  the 
cow.  We  had  also  eaten  its  fruit  in  Para, 
where  it  is  sold  in  the  streets  by  negro 
market-women,  and  had  heard  a  good  deal 
of  the  durableness  in  water  of  its  timber. 
We  were  glad,  therefore,  to  see  this  wonder- 
ful tree  growing  in  its  native  wilds.  It 
is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  forest  monarchs, 
and  is  peculiar  in  appearance  on  account  of 
its  deeply  scored,  reddish,  and  ragged  bark. 
A  decoction  of  the  bark,  I  was  told,  is  used 
as  a  red  dye  for  cloth.  A  few  days  afterward 
we  tasted  its  milk,  which  was  drawn  from 
dry  logs  that  had  been  standing  many  days 
in  the  hot  sun  at  the  sawmills.  It  was  pleas- 
ant with  coffee,  but  had  a  slight  rankness 
when  drank  pure ;  it  soon  thickens  to  a  glue, 
which  is  excessively  tenacious,  and  is  often 
used  to  cement  broken  crockery.  I  was  told 
that  it  was  not  safe  to  drink  much  of  it, 
for  a  slave  had  recently  nearly  lost  his  life 
through  taking  it  too  freely. — BATES  Nat- 
uralist on  the  River  Amazon,  ch.  2,  p.  635. 
(Hum.,  1880.) 

3761.  WONDERS  OF  SUPERSTITION 
SURPASSED  BY  THE  WONDERS  OF 
SCIENCE — Distances  from  which  Comets  Come 
— Millions  of  Years  on  Their  Way — Witness- 
es of  Vanished  Eras — Ancient  Testimony  of 
the  Existence  of  Matter. — Do  we  ever  think 
what  an  immense  voyage  they  [comets] 
must  have  made  to  come  from  there  to 
here?  Do  we  imagine  for  how  many  years 
they  must  have  flown  through  the  dark  im- 
mensity to  plunge  themselves  into  the  fires 
of  our  sun?  If  we  take  into  account  the 
directions  from  which  certain  comets  come 
to  us,  and  if  we  assign  to  the  stars  situated 
in  that  region  the  least  distances  consistent 
with  known  facts,  we  find  that  these  comets 
certainly  left  their  last  star  more  than 
20,000,000  years  ago. 

In  thus  putting  to  us  from  the  height  of 
their  celestial  apparitions  so  many  notes  of 
interrogation  on  the  grandest  problems  of 
creation,  comets  assume  to  our  eyes  an  in- 
terest incomparably  greater  than  that  with 
which  superstition  blindly  surrounded  them 
in  past  ages.  When  we  reflect  for  a  mo- 
ment that  a  certain  comet  which  shines 
before  us  in  the  sky  came  originally  from 
the  depths  of  the  heavens,  that  it  has  trav- 
eled during  millions  of  years  to  arrive  here, 
and  that,  consequently,  it  is  by  millions  of 
years  that  we  must  reckon  its  age  if  we 
wish  to  form  any  idea  of  it,  we  cannot  re- 
frain from  respecting  this  strange  visitor 
as  a  witness  of  vanished  eras,  as  an  echo 


of  the  past,  as  the  most  ancient  testimony 
which  we  have  of  the  existence  of  matter. 
But  what  do  we  say?  These  bodies  are 
neither  old  nor  young;  there  is  nothing  old, 
nothing  new;  all  is  present:  the  ages  of  the 
past  contemplate  the  ages  of  the  future, 
which  all  work,  all  gravitate,  all  circulate 
in  the  eternal  plan.  Musing,  you  look  at 
the  river  which  flows  so  gently  at  your  feet, 
and  you  believe  you  see  again  the  river  of 
your  childhood;  but  the  water  of  to-day  is 
not  that  of  yesterday;  it  is  not  the  same 
substance  which  you  have  before  your  eyes, 
and  never,  never  shall  this  union  of  mole- 
cules, which  you  behold  at  this  moment, 
come  back  there,  never  till  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  ages! — FLAMMARION  Popular 
Astronomy,  bk.  v,  ch.  3,  p.  528.  (A.) 

3762.  WONDERS,    SCIENCE    DOES 
NOT    MAKE  LESS—  An  Explanation  Is  a 
Statement  of  a   Grander  Fact — Gravitation 
a    Marvelous    Truth. — People    are    apt    to 
think  that  when  the  scientific  explanation 
of  a  fact  is  given,  the  fact  in  question  ceases 
to  be  wonderful.     But  if  we  would  but  re- 
flect, we  should  see  that  this  explanation  is 
only  another  fact  of  a  more  general  kind, 
and  one  which  ought,  therefore,  to  be  re- 
garded as  more  striking,  one  which  ought 
to  incite  us  to  more  curious  inquiry.     That 
a   stone,   dropped   in   the   air,   falls  to   the 
ground,  is  so  familiar  an  experience  that  it 
could  excite  wonder   only   in   the   most  re- 
flective minds.     But  when  it  did  excite  won- 
der  and  curiosity,  the   fact  was  made  not 
less,    but    much    more   wonderful    when    its 
scientific  explanation  was  furnished  in  New- 
ton's  law  of  gravitation — a  law  according 
to  which  we  find  that  a  stone  is,  as  it  were, 
drawn  to  the  earth  by  a  force  which  can  be 
measured,  and  by  which  the  earth  acts  on 
the  moon  precisely  in  the  same  way  as  it 
does  upon  a  stone  dropped  in  the  air.    That 
explanation  is  a  very  wonderful  fact,  one 
that   leads   men  of  science  to  inquire  why 
this  should  be  so,  tho  it  requires  a  scientific 
training  to  appreciate  that  kind  of  curiosity. 
— CHISHOLM  Nature-Studies,  p.  26.     (Hum., 
1888.) 

3763.  WORD    ASSOCIATED    WITH 

ITS  MEANING— Empty  Repetition  Gives  Feel- 
ing of  Unnaturalness. — This  [difference  be- 
tween perception  of  particulars  and  of  a 
whole  which  includes  them]  is  probably  the 
reason  why,  if  we  look  at  an  isolated  print- 
ed word  and  repeat  it  long  enough,  it  ends 
by  assuming  an  entirely  unnatural  aspect. 
Let  the  reader  try  this  with  any  word  on 
this  page.  He  will  soon  begin  to  wonder  if 
it  can  possibly  be  the  word  he  has  been 
using  all  his  life  with  that  meaning.  It 
stares  at  him  from  the  paper  like  a  glass 
eye.  with  no  speculation  in  it.  Its  body  is 
indeed  there,  but  its  soul  is  fled.  It  is  re- 
duced, by  this  new  way  of  attending  to  it, 
to  its  sensational  nudity.  We  never  before 
attended  to  it  in  this  way,  but  habitually 
got  it  clad  with  its  meaning  the  moment 


761 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Wonders 
\\  ork 


we  caught  sight  of  it,  and  rapidly  passed 
from  it  to  the  other  words  of  the  phrase. 
We  apprehended  it,  in  short,  with  a  cloud 
of  associates,  and,  thus  perceiving  it,  we  felt 
it  quite  otherwise  than  as  we  feel  it  now 
divested  and  alone. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol. 
ii,  ch.  19,  p.  80.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3764.  WORDS,    THEIR    UNDYING 
POWER — In  all     ...     later  studies,  ver- 
bal   material   is   the    vehicle   by   which   the 
mind  thinks.     The  abstract  conceptions  of 
physics   and   sociology  may,   it  is  true,  be 
embodied  in  visual  or  other  images  of  phe- 
nomena, but  they  need  not  be  so;  and  the 
truth    remains   that,   after    adolescence   has 
begun,  "  words,  words,  words  "  must  consti- 
tute a  large  part,  and  an  always  larger  part 
as  life  advances,  of  what  the  human  being 
has  to  learn.    This  is  so  even  in  the  natural 
sciences,  so  far  as  these  are  causal  and  ra- 
tional, and  not  merely  confined  to  descrip- 
tion.— JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  ch.  12,  p. 
149.     (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3765.  WORK,  ANCIENT  AND  MOD- 
ERN, COMPARED— flow?  Machinery  Would 
Rebuild  the  Great  Pyramid. — I  know  we  are 
frequently  referred  to  the  immense  masses 
of  stone  transported  and  wrought  by  ancient 
art,  which   are  found  among  the  ruins  of 
Baalbec    and    Thebes,    and    are    frequently 
told  that   the  management  of  these  would 
far  transcend  the  skill  and  power  of  modern 
engineers.      Such    assertions    are,    however, 
rather   intended  to   convey  an   idea   of  the- 
impression   produced   upon  the  beholder  of 
these  venerable  ruins  than  a  declaration  of 
absolute  truth.     As  a  sufficient  illustration 
of  this  we  may  mention  the  fact  that  in 
New  York  large  buildings  of  brick  and  stone 
are  moved  from   place   to  place  while  the 
inhabitants  remain  undisturbed  within;   or 
we  may  point  to  the  Menai  Strait  tubular 
bridge,  a  structure  of  cast-iron  several  hun- 
dred tons  in  weight,  suspended  in  mid  air 
over  a  chasm  more  than  a  hundred  feet  deep. 

The  pyramid  of  Cheops  is  said  to  have 
employed  the  power  of  100,000  men  for  twen- 
ty years  in  its  erection ;  but,  vast  as  is  this 
pile,  were  the  steam-engines  employed  in  one 
of  our  large  cities  directed  to  the  task  of 
rearing  one  of  equal  magnitude  the  whole 
would  be  accomplished  in  a  few  weeks. — 
HENRY  Improvement  of  the  Mechanical  Arts 
(Scientific  Writings,  vol.  i,  p.  321).  (Sm. 
Inst.,  1886.) 

3766.  WORK  A  SPECIFIC— Rest  Joy- 
ful  Because    of   Previous    Toil. — Sooner    or 
later    every    intellectual    canker    disappears 
before  earnest  work,  the  influence  of  which, 
moreover,    fills    a  wide   margin   beyond   the 
time  of  its  actual  performance.     Thus,  to- 
day,   I    sang    as    I    rolled   along — not   with 
boisterous  glee,  but  with   serene   and  deep- 
lying   gladness    of   heart.      This    happiness, 
however,  had  its  roots  in  the  past,  and,  had 
I  not  been  a  worker  previous  to  my  release 
from  London,   I   could  not  now  have  been 


so  glad  an  idler.  In  any  other  country  than 
Switzerland  the  valley  through  which  we 
sped  would  have  called  forth  admiration 
and  delight.  Noble  fells,  proudly  grouped, 
flanked  us  right  and  left.  Cloudlike  woods 
of  pines  overspread  them  in  broad  patches, 
with  between  them  spaces  of  the  tenderest 
green,  while  among  the  meadows  at  their 
feet  gleamed  the  rushing— Rhine. — TYNDALL 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps,  ch.  5.  p.  62. 
(A.,  1898.) 

3767.  WORK,  INCESSANT,  OF   IN- 
SECTS— Industry  of  Ants — Long  Days  of  La- 
bor— Persevering  Toil. — In  industry  ants  are 
not  surpassed  even  by  bees  and  wasps.    They 
work  all  day,  and  in  warm  weather,  if  need 
be,  even  at  night,  too.     I  once  watched  an 
ant    from    six    in    the    morning,    and    she 
worked  without  intermission  till  a  quarter 
to  ten  at  night.     I  had  put  her  to  a  saucer 
containing  larvae,  and  in  this  time  she  car- 
ried off  no 'less  than  a  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  to'  the  nest.    I  had  another  ant,  which 
I  employed  in  my  experiments,  under  con- 
tinuous observation  several  days.     When  I 
started    for   London    in   the    morning,    and 
again  when  I  went  to  bed  at  night,  I  used 
to  put  her  in  a  small  bottle,  but  the  mo- 
ment she  was  let  out  she  began  to   work 
again.     On  one  occasion  I  was  away  from 
home  for  a  week.    On  my  return  I  took  her 
out   of  the  bottle,  placing  her   on   a   little 
heap   of   larvae    about   three    feet   from    the 
nest.     Under  these  circumstances  I  certain- 
ly did  not  expect  her  to  return.     However, 
tho  she  had  thus  been  six  days  in  confine- 
ment, the  brave  little  creature  immediately 
picked  up  a  larva,  carried  it  off  to  the  nest, 
and  after  half  an  hour's  rest  returned  for 
another. — AVEBUBY  Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps, 
ch.  1,  p.  27.     (A.,  1900.) 

3768.  WORK  INVOLVES  THE  UN- 
DOING OF  SOME   PREVIOUS  WORK— 

Clock — Mill-wheel — Rifle. — Whenever  work 
is  done,  it  is  by  the  undoing  of  some  pre- 
vious work.  When  a  clock  moves,  it  is  the 
unwinding  of  a  spring  or  the  falling  of  a 
weight  which  keeps  it  going,  and  some  one 
must  have  wound  it  up  to  begin  with.  If 
the  water  of  a  river  falls  year  after  year 
over  a  cataract,  and  is  intercepted  to  drive 
our  mill-wheels,  the  river  continues  to  run 
because  some  power  [that  of  the  sun]  is 
continually  raising  and  returning  to  the 
hilltops  the  water  which  has  flowed  into 
the  sea — a  process  precisely  equivalent  to 
the  daily  rewinding  of  the  clock.  If  the 
powder  in  a  rifle  explodes  and  drives  out  the 
bullet,  its  explosive  energy  depends  upon 
the  fact  that  some  power  has  placed  the 
component  molecules  in  such  relations  that, 
when  the  trigger  is  pulled,  and  the  exciting 
spark  has,  so  to  speak,  cut  the  bonds  which 
hold  them  apart,  they  rush  together  just 
as  suspended  weights  wTould  fall  if  freed. 
Before  the  same  substance,  which  once  was 
a  charge  of  gunpowder,  but  now  is  dust  and 
gas,  can  again  do  the  same  work,  the  prod- 


Work 
World 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


762 


ucts  of  the  explosion  must  by  some  power 
be  decomposed,  and  the  atoms  replaced  in 
the  same  relations  as  before  the  firing  of  the 
gun;  and  this  process  is  mechanically  analo- 
gous to  the  lifting  of  fallen  weights  and 
placing  them  upon  elevated  shelves,  or  hang- 
ing them  from  hooks,  ready  to  drop  again 
when  the  occasion  may  require. — YOUNG 
The  Sun,  int.,  p.  3.  (A.,  1898.) 

3769.  WORK  OF  MAN  AND  WOMAN 
AMONG  ABORIGINES—  Carving  for  Man- 
Basketry  and  Pottery  for  Woman — White 
Man's  Tools  Not  an  Improvement. — There 
ought  to  be  no  doubt  that  in  every  case 
where  the  savage  was  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  the  knife  his  carving  and  whittling 
were  better  done.  There  is  a  marvelous  dif- 
ference between  carving,  on  the  one  hand, 
man's  work  chiefly,  and  basketry  or  pottery, 
on  the  other,  conservative  woman's  work. 
In  no  tribes  were  the  two  last-named  arts 
bettered  by  contact  with  the  higher  race. 
The  work  was  done  with  the  hands  almost 
wholly.  The  tools  were  of  the  simplest 
character.  The  harsh  iron  awl  was  not  so 
good  as  the  smooth-pointed  bone  awl,  of 
which  hundreds  have  been  found,  and  the 
pride  in  personal  endeavor  departed  with  the 
quenching  of  the  tribal  spirit.  The  potter's 
wheel,  such  as  it  was  three  centuries  ago, 
was  only  a  barrier  to  the  unmechanical  sex. 
Therefore  those  who  constantly  assert  that 
prejudice  made  it  impossible  for  the  savage 
to  better  himself  in  the  adoption  of  the 
white  man's  devices  catch  only  half  a  truth. 
— MASON  The  Man's  Knife  among  the  North 
American  Indians  (Report  of  U.  8.  National 
Museum,  for  1897,  p.  727). 

37  7 O.  WORK  OF  WOMAN  THE 
CALENDAR  OF  PRIMITIVE  MAN— The 
work  of  the  men  among  the  Omahas,  accord- 
ing to  Dorsey,  was  regulated  essentially  by 
that  of  the  women,  who  were  to  them  a  sort 
of  calendar.  The  summer  hunt  was  under- 
taken after  the  women  had  planted  the  corn 
and  the  pumpkins,  and  the  beans  had  been 
gathered.  They  returned  on  the  ripening 
of  the  sunflower.  They  went  on  the  fall 
hunt  when  the  hair  on  the  game  was  thick 
and  warm,  out  of  which  the  women  made 
the  clothing.  The  women  buried  in  caches 
whatever  they  wished  to  leave.  Food,  etc., 
was  placed  in  a  blanket,  which  was  gathered 
at  the  corners  and  tied  with  a  thong;  then 
the  bundle  was  allowed  to  fall  at  the  bottom 
of  the  cache.  Then  the  women  went  over 
the  corn  fields  to  see  that  all  the  work  had 
been  finished.  They  prepared  pack-saddles 
and  litters  and  mended  moccasins  and  other 
clothing.  The  day  for  the  departure  having 
arrived,  the  women  loaded  their  horses  and 
dogs  and  took  as  great  weights  on  their  own 
backs  as  they  could  conveniently  transport. 
— MASON  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Cul- 
ture, int.,  p.  9.  (A.,  1894.) 

3771.  WORK  UNFINISHED—  Tools 
of  Ancient  Miners  Found  as  Left  in  Distant 
Age. — In  one  case  the  roof  of  a  passage  had 


given  way.  On  removing  the  chalk  which 
had  fallen  in,  the  end  of  the  gallery  came 
in  view.  The  flint  had  been  hollowed  out 
in  three  places,  and  in  front  of  two  of  these 
recesses,  pointing  towards  the  half-excavated 
stone,  were  two  deer-horn  picks,  lying  just 
as  they  had  been  left,  still  coated  with  chalk 
dust,  on  which  was  in  one  place  plainly 
visible  the  print  of  the  workman's  hand. 
The  tools  had  evidently  been  left  at  the  close 
of  a  day's  work;  during  the  night  the  gal- 
lery had  fallen  in,  and  they  had  never  been 
recovered. 

"  It  was  a  most  impressive  sight,"  says 
Mr.  Greenwell,  "  and  one  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, to  look,  after  a  lapse,  it  may  be,  of 
3,000  years,  upon  a  piece  of  work  unfinished, 
with  the  tools  of  the  workmen  still  lying 
where  they  had  been  placed  so  many  centu- 
ries ago." — AVEBURY  Prehistoric  Times,  ch. 
4,  p.  79.  (A.,  1900.) 

3772.  WORK  WROUGHT  BY  THE 

SUN  ON  EARTH—  Calculation  in  Horse-pow- 
er.— The  sun  is  the  mighty  source  from 
which  proceed  all  the  forces  which  set  in 
motion  the  earth  and  its  life.  It  is  its 
heat  which  causes  the  wind  to  blow,  the 
clouds  to  ascend,  the  river  to  flow,  the  forest 
to  grow,  the  fruit  to  ripen,  and  man  himself 
to  live.  The  force  constantly  and  silently 
expended  in  raising  the  reservoirs  of  rain 
to  their  mean  atmospheric  height,  in  fixing 
the  carbon  in  the  plants,  in  giving  to 
terrestrial  Nature  its  vigor  and  its  beau- 
ty, has  been  calculated  from  a  mechanical 
point  of  view;  it  is  equal  to  the  work  of 
217,316,000,000,000  horse-power;  543  milli- 
ards (543,000,000,000)  of  steam-engines, 
each  with  an  effective  power  of  400  horses, 
would  have  to  work  day  and  night  without 
intermission:  such  is  the  permanent  work 
of  the  sun  upon  the  earth. — FLAMMABION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iii,  ch.  3,  p.  245. 
(A.) 

3773.  WORKER,    INSIGNIFICANT, 
ACHIEVES     VAST     RESULTS  —  Progress 
against    Resistance — Coral    Islands. — Every 
one  must  be  struck  with  astonishment  when 
he  first  beholds  one  of  these  vast  rings  of 
coral  rock   [the  atolls],  often  many  leagues 
in  diameter,  here  and  there  surmounted  by 
a  low,  verdant  island,  with  dazzling  white 
shores,  bathed  on  the  outside  by  the  foaming 
breakers   of   the   ocean,   and   on   the   inside 
surrounding  a  calm  expanse  of  water,  which, 
from  reflection,  is  generally  of  a  bright  but 
pale  green  color.     The  naturalist  will  feel 
this  astonishment  more  deeply  after  having 
examined    the    soft    and    almost   gelatinous 
bodies  of  these  apparently  insignificant  coral 
polypifers,    and    when    he    knows    that   the 
solid  reef  increases  only  on  the  outer  edge, 
which  day  and  night  is  lashed  by  the  break- 
ers   of    an    ocean    never    at    rest. — DARWIN 
Coral  Reefs,  int.,  p.  1.      (A.,  1898.) 

3774.  WORLD,  A  DIVIDED -Barrier 
which  the  Inorganic  Cannot  Cross — Biogen- 
esis.— What  essentially  is  involved  in  saying 


763 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Work 
World 


that  there  is  no  spontaneous  generation  of 
life?  It  is  meant  that  the  passage  from  the 
mineral  world  Jto  the  plant  or  animal  world 
is  hermetically  sealed  on  the  mineral  side. 
This  inorganic  world  is  staked  off  from  the 
living  world  by  barriers  which  have  never 
yet  been  crossed  from  within.  .  .  .  Only 
by  the  bending  down  into  this  dead  world 
of  some  living  form  can  these  dead  atoms 
be  gifted  with  the  properties  of  vitality; 
without  this  preliminary  contact  with  life 
they  remain  fixed  in  the  inorganic  sphere 
forever.  It  is  a  very  mysterious  law  which 
guards  in  this  way  the  portals  of  the  living 
world.  And  if  there  is  one  thing  in  Nature 
more  worth  pondering  for  its  strangeness 
it  is  the  spectacle  of  this  vast,  helpless 
world  of  the  dead  cut  off  from  the  living 
by  the  law  of  biogenesis  and  denied  forever 
the  possibility  of  resurrection  within  itself. 
So  very  strange  a  thing,  indeed,  is  this  broad 
line  in  Nature  that  science  has  long  and 
urgently  sought  to  obliterate  it.  Biogenesis 
stands  in  the  way  of  some  forms  of  evolu- 
tion with  such  stern  persistency  that  the 
assaults  upon  this  law  for  number  and  thor- 
oughness have  been  unparalleled.  But,  as 
we  have  seen,  it  has  stood  the  test.  Nature, 
to  the  modern  eye,  stands  broken  in  two. 
"  The  present  state  of  knowledge  furnishes 
us  with  no  link  between  the  living  and  the 
not-living.".  ( Huxley,  "  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,"  new  ed.,  art.  "Biology.")  — 
DUUMMOND  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,  essay  1,  p.  61.  (H.  Al.) 

3775.  WORLD  LIGHTED  BY  A 
BLUE  AND  AN  ORANGE  SUN— Its  Strange 
Varieties  of  Day  and  Night. — In  the  first 
place,  let  us  take  the  case  where  the  world 
is  between  the  orange  sun  and  the  blue 
one,  and  let  us  suppose  that  the  season  cor- 
responds to  our  spring.  Then  it  is  mani- 
fest that  since  one  sun  illumines  one  side 
of  the  globe,  and  the  other  illumines  the 
other,  there  can  be  no  night;  it  is  orange 
day  to  one  half  of  the  world,  and  blue  day 
to  the  other.  Moreover,  since  the  season 
corresponds  to  our  springtime,  it  follows 
that  orange  day  lasts  exactly  as  long  as 
blue  day,  and  using  for  convenience  the  di- 
vision of  the  day  into  twenty-four  hours 
(which  may  or  may  not  be  nearly  the  same 
as  our  terrestrial  hours),  there  are,  all  over 
the  world,  twelve  hours  of  orange  day  and 
twelve  hours  of  blue  day.  This,  however, 
would  not  last  very  long,  any  more  than 
on  our  own  earth  we  have  Jupiter  visible 
all  night  for  any  length  of  time.  The  blue 
sun  would  gradually  take  up  the  position 
which  Jupiter  has  when  he  is  an  evening 
star.  .  .  .  The  blue  sun  would,  in  fact, 
rise  before  the  orange  sun  had  set.  Thus 
there  would  be  orange  day  as  before,  but 
towards  orange  sunset  there  would  be  two 
suns,  the  orange  sun  nearing  the  west,  the 
blue  sun  passing  over  the  eastern  horizon. 
Then  would  come  orange  sunset  and  blue 


day;  but  the  blue  sun  would  set  before  the 
orange  sun  rose,  and  there  would  be,  there- 
fore, a  short  night,  tho,  no  doubt,  not  a  dark 
night,  since  there  would  be  blue  twilight  in 
the  west  and  orange  twilight  in  the  east. 
Gradually  the  length  of  this  night  would 
increase,  the  length  of  the  double  day  also 
increasing,  but  the  orange  and  blue  hours 
gradually  shortening.  At-  length  the  blue 
sun  would  have  drawn  quite  near  to  the 
place  of  the  orange  sun  in  the  heavens,  and 
there  would  be  double  day  and  night,  but 
neither  orange  day  nor  blue  day  alone. 
The  double  day  would  probably  be  white, 
since  the  colors  of  the  two  suns  are  sup- 
posed to  be  complementary.  After  this  the 
blue  sun  would  pass  to  the  other  side  (the 
west)  of  the  orange  sun,  and  would  be 
placed  like  Jupiter  when  he  is  a  morning 
sun.  There  would  then  be  blue  morning, 
white  day,  orange  evening,  and  night,  the 
night  gradually  growing  shorter  and  short- 
er, until  at  length  the  blue  sun  would  be 
opposite  the  orange  sun,  and  there  would 
be  no  night,  but  simple  alternation  of  blue 
day  and  orange  day,  as  at  first. — PROCTOK 
Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  229.  (L.  G.  &  Co., 
1897.) 

3776.  WORLD   THE  PRODUCT  OF 
WARRING  SYSTEMS— Doctrines  of  Gnostics 
and   Manichceans. — Some   Gnostics   went   so 
far  as  to  hold  that  the  world  was  originally 
created  by  the  devil,  and  is  to  be  gradually 
purified    and    redeemed    by    the    beneficent 
power  of  God  as  manifested  through  Jesus 
Christ.     This  notion  is  just  the  opposite  to 
that  of  the  Vendidad,  which  represents  the 
world   as   coming   into   existence   pure   and 
perfect,  only  to  be  forthwith  defiled  by  the 
trail  of  the  serpent  Ahriman.     In  both  these 
opposing  theories  the  divine  power  is  dis- 
tinctly and  avowedly  curtailed  by  the  intro- 
duction of  a  rival  power  that  is  diabolical ; 
upon    this    point    Parsee    and    Gnostic    are 
agreed.    Distinct  sources  are  postulated  for 
the  evil  and  the  good.     The  one  may  be  re- 
garded as  infinite  in  goodness,  the  other  as 
infinite  in  badness,  and  the  world  in  which 
we  live  is   [held   to  be]    a  product  of  the 
everlasting  conflict  between  the  two. — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  i,  ch.  3,  p.  14. 
(H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 

3777.  WORLD,  UNSEEN,  OF  FUN- 
DAMENTAL  IMPORTANCE—  The  Consum- 
mation of  Evolution  There. — So  far  as  our 
knowledge   of  Nature  goes,   the  whole   mo- 
mentum of  it  carries  us  onward  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  unseen  world,  as   the  ob- 
jective term  in  a  relation  of  fundamental 
importance    that    has    coexisted    with    the 
whole  career  of  mankind,  has  a  real  exist- 
ence; and  it  is  but  following  out  the  anal- 
ogy  to   regard    that   unseen   world    as    the 
theater  where  the  ethical  process  is  destined 
to    reach    its    full    consummation. — FISKE 
Through  Nature  to  God,  pt.  iii,  ch.   10,  p. 
190.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1900.) 


World 
Worms 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


764 


3778.  WORLD  WITHOUT   AN   AT- 
MOSPHERE— Effects  of  Rarefied  Air—Oppo- 
sites  Unite — The  Sun's  Rays  Burn  amid  Win- 
try  Cold. — [The   investigator   cannot  go   to 
the  moon] ;  but  he  may  go  if  he  pleases,  as 
I    have    done,    to    the    waterless,    shadeless 
waste  which  stretches  at  the  ,  eastern  slope 
of  the  Sierra  Nevadas.     .     .     .     The  sky  is 
cloudless,  and  the  air  so  clear  that  all  idea 
of  the  real  distance  and  size  of  things  is 
lost.      The    mountains,   which    rise    in    tre- 
mendous   precipices    above    him,    seem    like 
moss-covered   rocks    close   at   hand,    on   the 
tops  of  which,  here  and  there,  a  white  cloth 
has  been  dropped ;  but  the  "  moss  "  is  great, 
primeval  forests,  and  the  white  cloths  large 
isolated  snow-fields,  tantalizing  the  dweller 
in  the  burning  desert  with   their   delusive 
nearness.     When  I  climbed  the  mountains, 
at  an  altitude  of  ten  thousand  feet  I  already 
found  the  coolness  delicious,  but  at  the  same 
time    (by   the   strange   effect   I    have   been 
speaking  of)  the  skin  began  to  burn,  as  tho 
the  seasoning  in  the  desert  counted  for  noth- 
ing at  all;  and  as  the  air  grew  thinner  and 
thinner   while   I   mounted  .still   higher  and 
higher,    tho    the    thermometer    fell,    every 
part  of  the  person  exposed  to  the  solar  rays 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  recent  severe 
burn  from  an  actual  fire — and  a  really  se- 
vere burn  it  was,  as  I  can  testify — and  yet 
all  the  while  around  us,  under  this  burning 
sun  and  cloudless  sky,  reigned  a  perpetual 
winter  which  made  it  hard  to  believe  that 
torrid  summer  still  lay  below.     The  thinner 
the  air,  then,  the  colder  it  grows,  even  where 
we  are  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  the  lower 
becomes    the   reading   of   the   thermometer. 
Now,   by   means    of    suitable    apparatus,    it 
was  sought  by  the  writer  to  determine,  while 
at  this   elevation   of   fifteen   thousand   feet, 
how  great  the  fall  of  temperature  would  be 
if  the  thin  air  there  could  be  removed  alto- 
gether;  and  the  result  was  that  the  ther- 
mometer  would    under    such    circumstances 
fall,  at  any  rate,  below  zero  in  the  full  sun- 
shine.— LANGLEY  New  Astronomy,  ch.  5,  p. 
160.     (H.  M.  &  Co.,  1896.) 

3779.  WORLDS  ALWAYS   IN   THE 
LIGHT— Every  Star  a  Sun— "There  Shall  Be 
No    Night    There"     (Rev.    xxi,    25;    xxii, 
5). — We    can     .     .     .     form    some    idea    of 
the   wonderful    scene   presented   to    the   in- 
habitants of  such  a  world   [circling  round 
one  sun  of  a  star-cluster],  because  in  real- 
ity it  is  no  other  than  that  which  would 
be  presented  to  ourselves   if  all   the  stars 
seen  on  the  darkest  and  clearest  night  were 
to  grow  suddenly  in  luster  until  the  faint- 
est shone  with  light  enough  alone  to  banish 
night.     The  wonderful  scene  thus  presented 
must  be  carried  round  by  a  stately  motion 
of  rotation  precisely  as  happens  with  our 
own    star    sphere.      Suns    must   be    always 
rising  and  always  setting,  only  the  magnifi- 
cent colors  which  adorn  our  skies  at  sun- 
rise and  sunset  must  be  wanting  there,  ban- 
ished by  the  excess  of  splendor.    It  is  mani- 


fest that,  at  least  when  the  sky  is  clear, 
there  can  be  no  shadows  in  the  landscapes 
on  those  distant  worlds,  since  every  quarter 
of  the  sky  must  have  its  suns.  When  the 
sky  is  partially  clouded  there  will  be  shad- 
ows, tho  not  well-defined  shadows  such  as 
we  recognize,  but  rather  the  lightest  possi- 
ble shade  on  those  sides  of  objects  which 
lie  towards  the  clouded  portion  of  the  sky. 
— PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven,  p.  217.  (L. 
G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


3780. 


Night  Unknown 


to  Dwellers  amid  Star-clusters, — I  have  spo- 
ken thus  far  of  but  two  stars  out  of  the 
thousands  on  thousands  composing  the  star- 
cluster.  All  these  thousands  would  shine 
with  a  brightness  enormously  exceeding  that 
of  any  of  the  stars  we  see,  and  many  hun- 
dreds among  them  would  appear  as  suns, 
smaller  than  the  two  nearest  suns  before 
considered,  but  bright  enough  with  their 
sole  luster  to  banish  night. 

It  follows,  then,  that  to  a  globe  placed 
as  we  have  supposed,  and  traveling  around 
one  or  other  of  the  suns  composing  the  clus- 
ter, night  would  be  absolutely  unknown. 
There  would  be  different  degrees  of  daylight, 
from  the  broadest  day  on  the  part  of  the 
globe  turned  fully  towards  the  nearest  sun, 
to  a  less  brilliant  day  on  the  opposite  part 
turned  to  other  suns,  but  always  day,  often 
very  much  brighter  than  our  summer  noon, 
and  seldom  fainter,  since  the  number  of  suns 
would  make  up  for  the  comparative  small- 
ness  of  each. — PROCTOR  Expanse  of  Heaven, 
p.  209.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 

3781.  WORLDS,  OTHER,  MAY  BE  IN- 
HABITED— Conditions  of  Life  on  Mars — 
Supposed  Inhabitants. — Such  is  the  general 
physiology  of  this  neighboring  planet  [Mars] . 
The  atmosphere  which  surrounds  it,  the  wa- 
ters which  irrigate  and  fertilize  it,  the  rays 
of  the  sun  which  warm  and  illuminate  it,  the 
winds  which  pass  over  it  from  one  pole  to 
the  other,  the  seasons  which  transform  it, 
are  so  many  elements  from  which  to  con- 
struct for  it  an  order  of  life  analogous  t» 
that  which  has  been  conferred  on  our  planet. 
The  weakness  of  gravity  at  its  surface  must 
materially  modify  this  order  of  life  in  adapt- 
ing it  to  its  special  condition.  Henceforth 
the  globe  of  Mars  should  no  longer  be  pre- 
sented to  us  as  a  block  of  stone  revolving 
in  the  midst  of  the  void,  in  the  sling  of  the 
solar  attraction,  like  an  inert,  sterile,  and 
inanimate  mass;  but  we  should  see  in  it  a 
living  world,  adorned  with  landscapes  simi- 
lar to  those  which  charm  us  in  terrestrial 
Nature;  a  new  world  which  no  Columbus 
will  ever  reach,  but  on  which,  doubtless,  a 
human  race  now  resides,  works,  thinks,  and 
meditates  as  we  do  on  the  great  and  mys- 
sterious  problems  of  Nature.  These  un- 
known brothers  are  not  spirits  without 
bodies,  or  bodies  without  spirits,  beings 
supernatural  or  extranatural,  but  active 
beings,  thinking,  reasoning  as  we  do  here. 


765 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


World 
Worms 


They  live  in  society,  are  grouped  in  families, 
associated  in  nations,  have  raised  cities,  and 
conquered  the  arts.  Doubtless,  their  senses 
of  sight  and  hearing  do  not  differ  essen- 
tially from  ours,  and  if  we  happened  to  pass 
a  day  not  far  from  their  abodes,  we  should 
perhaps  be  surprised  with  their  architecture, 
or  charmed  by  the  echo  of  melodious  har- 
mony, reminding  us  of  the  musical  inspira- 
tions of  our  great  masters.  In  the  midst 
of  varieties  inherent  to  planetary  diversi- 
ties and  the  secular  metamorphoses  of 
worlds,  we  should  find  the  same  vital  torch 
kindled  on  all  the  spheres. — FLAMMABION 
Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  4,  p.  397. 
(A.) 

3782. Experience  Not  the 

Measure  of  Possibility — Increase  of  Knowl- 
edge Leads  to  Modesty  of  Judgment — Life 
in  Ocean  Depths. — We  are  apt  to  forget  that 
the  forms  of  life  we  are  accustomed  to  are 
not  necessarily  the  only  possible  forms  of 
life.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  say  under 
what  conditions  life  is  possible  or  impos- 
sible. Men  of  science  have  lately  been  taught 
this  in  a  very  striking  manner.  For,  judg- 
ing by  what  they  know  of  the  state  of  things 
at  the  bottom  of  the  deep  sea,  they  concluded 
that  there  could  be  no  living  creatures  there. 
They  reasoned  that  the  pressure  exerted  by 
the  water  v/ould  crush  the  life  out  of  any 
known  creature,  which  was  unquestionably 
true.  .  .  .  The  tremendous  mail  of  the 
crocodile  or  the  thick  skin  of  the  rhinoceros 
would  be  unable  to  resist  a  tithe  of  the  enor- 
mous pressure  exerted  by  the  water  at  the 
bottom  of  deep  seas.  Yet  it  is  now  known 
that  creatures  not  only  exist  down  there, 
but  that,  notwithstanding  the  great  dark- 
ness which  must  prevail  there,  these  crea- 
tures are  provided  with  the  means  of  seeing. 
So  unlike  are  they  to  all  other  creatures, 
however,  that  they  are  unable  to  live  out 
of  their  native  depths,  and  when  dragged 
up  by  the  dredges  they  burst  asunder  and 
are  killed  long  before  reaching  the  surface. 
This  should  teach  us  that  altho  it  may  be 
proved  that  in  some  inaccessible  world,  like 
Venus  or  any  of  her  fellow  planets,  the  con- 
ditions which  prevail  are  not  such  as  would 
be  convenient  to  terrestrial  creatures,  or  are 
even  such  that  no  creatures  known  to  us 
could  endure  them  even  for  a  few  minutes, 
life  may  nevertheless  exist. — PROCTOR  Ex- 
panse of  Heaven,  p.  49.  (L.  G.  &  Co.,  1897.) 


3783. 


Neptune — Life  in 


Ocean  Depths — Supposed  Impossibility  Over- 
come.— Is  this  equivalent  to  saying  that  this 
world  [Neptune]  is  condemned  to  remain 
eternally  in  the  state  of  a  sterile  and  un- 
inhabited desert?  Nature  herself  replies 
that  such  a  supposition  would  be  entirely 
contrary  to  her  acts  and  her  views.  Short- 
sighted naturalists,  who  think  they  know 
everything,  would  teach  dogmatically  that 
a  pressure  of  so  many  atmospheres  prevents 
life  from  being  produced;  that  a  certain 
amount  of  light  is  indispensable  to  life,  and 


that  the  ocean  depths  are  absolutely  desti- 
tute of  all  vital  manifestation.  A  ship  starts 
on  an  immense  liquid  plain  to  visit  the 
equatorial  and  polar  zones,  casts  the  sound- 
ing-line at  2,000  fathoms,  at  10,000  feet  in 
depth,  in  eternal  night — a  black  darkness, 
where  the  pressure  is  such  that  could  a  man 
descend  there  he  would  have  to  support  a 
weight  equal  to  that  of  twenty  locomotives, 
each  accompanied  by  a  train  of  wagons  load- 
ed with  bars  of  iron.  Evidently  there  is 
nothing  there!  The  sounding-line  is  drawn 
in,  however,  and  brings  up  charming,  deli- 
cate beings  which  the  lightest  touch  of  the 
finger  of  Psyche  would  kill:  they  live  there 
tranquil,  happy,  "  like  the  fish  in  water," 
and,  since  there  is  no  light  there,  they  make 
it!  If  they  could  understand  you,  you 
should  not  speak  to  them  of  your  castles, 
your  parks  and  venerable  trees,  nor  of  the 
Paris  worldling  and  the  boulevards  which 
you  love  so  much;  they  prefer  their  abode, 
their  dark  abode  in  the  depths  of  the  sea, 
scarcely  illuminated  with  the  light  of  their 
own  phosphorescence,  and  to  them  there  is 
the  true  medium,  there  is  real  happiness. 
And  when  you  cast  these  living  debris  on  the 
deck  of  the  ship,  and  when  these  marvelous 
beings  with  variegated  embroideries  die  be- 
fore your  eyes,  overwhelmed  by  the  light  of 
the  sky,  suffocated  by  the  rarefaction  of  the 
air  which  nourishes  your  lungs,  do  you  not 
think  of  Neptune?  Do  you  not  see  that 
the  god  of  the  ocean  has  down  there  an  em- 
pire as  vast  as  the  one  we  see?  And  as  they 
have  there  900  times  less  light  and  heat 
than  on  the  deck  of  your  ship,  you  imagine 
that  Nature  has  been  unable  to  produce  any- 
thing there!  Error,  foolish,  insane  error, 
excusable,  perhaps,  in  the  time  of  Aristotle, 
but  absolutely  unpardonable  now. — FLAM- 
MARION  Popular  Astronomy,  bk.  iv,  ch.  9, 
p.  469.  (A.) 

3784.  WORMS  AS  BUILDERS— In- 
telligent Skill  Shown  in  the  Lining  of  Their 
Burrows. — Many  leaves  of  the  Scotch  fir  or 
pine  (Pinus  sylvestris)  were  given  to  worms 
kept  in  confinement  in  two  pots;  and  when 
after  several  weeks  the  earth  was  carefully 
broken  up,  the  upper  parts  of  three  oblique 
burrows  were  found  surrounded  for  lengths 
of  7,  4,  and  %]/2  inches  with  pine  leaves, 
together  with  fragments  of  other  leaves 
which  had  been  given  the  worms  as  food. 
Glass  beads  and  bits  of  tile,  which  had  been 
strewed  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  were 
stuck  into  the  interstices  between  the  pine 
leaves;  and  these  interstices  were  likewise 
plastered  with  the  viscid  castings  voided  by 
the  worms.  The  structures  thus  formed 
cohered  so  well  that  I  succeeded  in  remov- 
ing one  with  only  a  little  earth  adhering  to 
it.  It  consisted  of  a  slightly  curved  cylin- 
drical case,  the  interior  of  which  could  be 
seen  through  holes  in  the  sides  and  at  either 
end.  The  pine  leaves  had  all  been  drawn 
in  by  their  bases,  and  the  sharp  points  of 
the  needles  had  been  pressed  into  the  lining 


Worms 
Years 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


766 


of  voided  earth.  Had  this  not  been  effectual- 
ly done,  the  sharp  points  would  have  pre- 
vented the  retreat  of  the  worms  into  their 
burrows;  and  these  structures  would  have 
resembled  traps  armed  with  converging 
points  of  wire,  rendering  the  ingress  of  an 
animal  easy  and  its  egress  difficult  or  im- 
possible. The  skill  shown  by  these  worms 
is  noteworthy,  and  is  the  more  remarkable, 
as  the  Scotch  pine  is  not  a  native  of  this 
district. — DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable 
Mould,  ch.  2,  p.  113.  (A.,  1882.) 

3785.  WORMS  PREPARE  GROUND 
FOR     SEED  —  Trituration,  Aeration,  and 
Mixing  of  Soil. — Worms  prepare  the  ground 
in  an  excellent  manner  for  the  growth   of 
fibrous-rooted   plants    and    for    seedlings   of 
all    kinds.      They    periodically    expose    the 
mold    to   the    air,    and    sift    it    so    that   no 
stones    larger  than  the  particles  which  they 
can  swallow  are  left  in  it.    They  mingle  the 
whole  intimately  together,  like  a  gardener 
who  prepares  fine  soil  for  his  choicest  plants. 
In  this  state  it  is  well  fitted  to  retain  mois- 
ture and  to  absorb  all  soluble  substances,  as 
well  as  for  the  process  of  nitrification.    The 
bones  of  dead  animals,  the  harder  parts  of 
insects,  the  shells  of  land  mollusks,  leaves, 
twigs,  etc.,  are  before  long  all  buried  beneath 
the  accumulated  castings  of  worms,  and  are 
thus  brought  in  a  more  or  less  decayed  state 
within  reach  of  the  roots  of  plants.     Worms 
likewise    drag  an   infinite  number   of   dead 
leaves  and  other  parts  of  plants  into  their 
burrows,    partly   for   the   sake   of   plugging 
them  up  and  partly  as  food. 

The  leaves  which  are  dragged  into  the 
burrows  as  food,  after  being  torn  into  the 
finest  shreds,  partially  digested,  .  .  .  are 
commingled  with  much  earth.  This  earth 
forms  the  dark-colored,  rich  humus  which  al- 
most everywhere  covers  the  surface  of  the 
land  with  a  fairly  well-defined  layer  or 
mantle. — DARWIN  Formation  of  Vegetable 
Mould,  ch.  7,  p.  310.  (A.,  1882.) 

3786.  WORSHIP     OF    MAGNETIC 
NEEDLE   IN  CHINA— To  the  magnet  the 
Chinese    have    always    paid    divine    honors. 
"  An  astonishing  number  of  offerings,"  says 
the   missionary    Gutzlaff,    "  are   brought   to 
the  magnet;  a  piece  of  red  cloth  is  thrown 
over  it,  incense  is  kindled  before  it,  and  gold 
paper,    in   the   form   of   a   Chinese   ship,   is 
burned."     Barrow  also  notes  that  a  Chinese 
navigator   not    only    considers    the    magnet 
needle  as  a  guide  to  direct  his  track  through 
the  ocean,  but  is  persuaded  that  the  spirit 
by  which  its  motions  are  influenced  is  the 
guardian  deity  of  his  vessel. — PARK  BENJA- 
MIN Intellectual  Rise  in  Electricity,  ch.  3,  p. 
80.      (J.  W.,  1898.) 

3787.  WORTH     OF    CULTURE 
SHOWN  BY  ITS  LACK— Plants  Unimproved 
among  Savages. — If  it  has  taken  centuries 
or  thousands  of  years  to  improve  or  modify 
most  of  our  plants  up  to  their  present  stand- 
ard of  usefulness  to  man,  we  can  understand 
how  it  is  that  neither  Australia,  the  Cape 


of  Good  Hope,  nor  any  other  region  inhabit- 
ed by  quite  uncivilized  man,  has  afforded 
us  a  single  plant  worth  culture.  It  is  not 
that  these  countries,  so  rich  in  species,  do 
not  by  a  strange  chance  possess  the  aborig- 
inal stocks  of  any  useful  plants,  but  that 
the  native  plants  have  not  been  improved 
by  continued  selection  up  to  a  standard  of 
perfection  comparable  with  that  acquired 
by  the  plants  in  countries  anciently  civi- 
lized.— DARWIN  Origin  of  Species,  ch.  1,  p. 
32.  (Burt.) 

3788.  WRETCHEDNESS    OF    SAV- 
AGERY—  The  Fuegians. — While     going     one 
day   [in  1832]   on  shore  near  Wollaston  Is- 
land, we  pulled  alongside  a  canoe  with  six 
Fuegians.     These  were  the  most  abject  and 
miserable  creatures  I  anywhere  beheld.    .   .   . 
These  poor  wretches  were  stunted  in  their 
growth,  their  hideous  faces  bedaubed  with 
white  paint,  their  skins  filthy  and  greasy, 
their  hair  entangled,  their  voices  discordant, 
and   their   gestures  violent.     Viewing   such 
men,   one   can  hardly  make  oneself  believe 
that  they  are  fellow  creatures,  and  inhabit- 
ants of  the  same  world.     It   is  a    common 
subject  of  conjecture  what  pleasure  in  life 
some  of  the  lower  animals  can  enjoy:   how 
much    more   reasonably   the    same   question 
may   be   asked   with    respect  to   these   bar- 
barians !     At  night  five  or  six  human  beings, 
naked  and  scarcely  protected  from  the  wind 
and  rain  of  this  tempestuous  climate,  sleep 
on  the  wet  ground  coiled  up  like  animals. 
Whenever  it  is  low  water,  winter  or  sum- 
mer, night  or  day,  they  must  rise  to  pick 
shellfish    from   the   rocks;    and   the   women 
either   dive   to   collect   sea-eggs,   or   sit   pa- 
tiently in  their  canoes,   and  with  a  baited 
hair-line  without  any  hook  jerk  out  little 
fish.     If  a  seal  is  killed,  or  the  floating  car- 
cass of  a   putrid  whale  discovered,   it  is  a 
feast;    and  such  miserable  food  is  assisted 
by  a  few  tasteless  berries  and  fungi. — DAR- 
WIN Naturalist's  Voyage  around  the  World, 
ch.   10,  p.  212.      (A.,   1898.) 

3789.  WRITING  ACROSS  SPACE— 

The  Telautograph — Celerity,  Accuracy,  and 
Identification. — In  1893  there  was  exhibited 
in  the  electrical  building  at  the  World's  Fair 
an  instrument  invented  by  the  writer  called 
the  telautograph.  As  the  word  implies,  it 
is  a  system  by  which  a  man's  own  hand- 
writing may  be  transmitted  to  a  distance 
through  a  wire  and  reproduced  in  facsimile 
at  the  receiving  end.  .  .  .  As  one  writes 
his  message  in  one  city  another  pen  in  an- 
other city  follows  the  transmitting-pen  with 
perfect  synchronism;  it  is  as  tho  a  man  were 
writing  with  a  pen  with  two  points  widely 
separated,  both  moving  at  the  same  time 
and  both  making  exactly  the  same  motions. 
By  this  system  a  man  may  transact  business 
with  the  same  accuracy  as  by  the  United 
States  mail,  and  with  the  same  celerity  as 
by  the  electric  telegraph. 

A  broker  may  buy  or  sell  with  his  own 
signature  attached  to  the  order,  and  do  it 


767 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Worms 
Years 


as  quickly  as  he  could  by  any  other  method 
of  telegraphing,  and  with  absolute  accu- 
racy, secrecy,  and  perfect  identification.  .  .  . 
Companies  have  been  organized  both  in  Eu- 
rope and  America  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
the  telautograph  into  commercial  use. — 
ELISHA  GRAY  Nature's  Miracles,  vol.  iii,  ch. 
19,  p.  165.  (F.  H.  &  H.,  1900.) 

3790.  WRITING  DIVIDES  CIVILIZED 
MAN  FROM  BARBARIAN -Makes  Accumu- 
lation of  Knowledge  Possible. — The   inven- 
tion of  writing  was  the  great  movement  by 
which  mankind  rose  from  barbarism  to  civ- 
ilization.    How  vast  its  effect  was  may  be 
best  measured  by  looking  at  the  low  condi- 
tion   of  tribes    still   living   without   it,   de- 
pendent on  memory  for  their  traditions  and 
rules  of  life,  and  unable  to  amass  knowl- 
edge as  we  do  by  keeping  records  of  events, 
and   storing  up    new   observations   for   the 
use  of  future  generations.     Thus   it  is  no 
doubt  right  to  draw  the  line  between  bar- 
barian and  civilized  where  the  art  of  wri- 
ting comes  in,  for  this  gives  permanence  to 
history,   law,   and   science. — TYLOR  Anthro- 
pology, ch.  7,  p.  179.      (A.,  1899.) 

3791.  WRITING,  EVOLUTION  OF— 
At   First   Imitative — The   Hieroglyph — Chi- 
nese Picture-writing — Its  Shorthand  Modern 
Form. — From  being  able  to  say  what  he  knew, 
man  went  on  to  write  what  he  knew.     The 
evolution  of  writing  went  through  the  same 
general   stages   as   the   evolution  of  speech. 
First  there  was  the  onomatopoeic  writing — 
as  it  were,  the  growl-writing — the  ideograph, 
the  imitation  of  an  actual  object.     This  is 
the  form  we  find  fossil  in  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphic.    For  a  man  a  man  was  drawn,  for 
a  camel  a  camel,  for  a  hut  a  hut.     Then 
intonation  was  added — accents,  that  is,  for 
extra  meaning  or  extra  emphasis.     Then  to 
save  time  the  objects  were  drawn  in  short- 
hand— a  couple  of  dashes  for  the  limbs  and 
one  across,  as  in  the  Chinese  for  man;   a 
square   in   the   same   language   for   a   field; 
two  strokes  at  an  obtuse  angle,  suggesting 
the  roof  for  a  house.     To  express  further 
qualities,    these    abbreviated    pictures   were 
next  compounded  in  ingenious  ways.    A  man 
and   a   field  together   conveyed  the  idea  of 
wealth,  and  because  a  man  with  a  field  was 
rich,  he  was  supposed  to  be  happy,  and  the 
same  combination  stood,  and  stands  to  this 
day,  for  contentment.    When  a  roof  is  drawn 
and   a   woman   beneath   it — or    the   strokes 
which  represent  a  roof  and  a  woman — we 
have  the  idea  of  a  woman  at  home,  a  woman 
at  peace,   and   hence  the   symbol   comes   to 
stand  for  quietness  and  rest.     Chinese  wri- 
ting  is    picture-writing,    with    the    pictures 
degenerated  into  dashes — a  lingual  form  of 
the  modern  impressionism. — DRUMMOND  As- 
cent of  Man,  ch.  5,  p.  182.     (J.  P.,  1900.) 

3792.  WRITING   EXTENDS    MAN'S 
HORIZON   IN   SPACE    AND    TIME— Eye- 
mindedness    vs.     Ear-mindedness — Accurate 
Thinking  Promoted  by  Permanence  of  Visible 
Symbols. — Man    is    an    animal    who    as    in- 


dividual can  become  a  species  by  acquiring 
the  knowledge  and  power,  the  experience  and 
wisdom,  of  his  race.  But  how  limited  is  this 
power  with  the  illiterate  person !  By  means 
of  letters  one  comes  to  be  able  to  put  down 
his  life-experience  in  written  and  printed 
words,  and  all  persons  who  can  read  get 
the  power  of  living  over  his  experience,  in- 
terpreting the  signs  which  are  addressed  to 
the  eye  and  not  to  the  ear.  Through  letters 
the  person  becomes  eye-minded,  and  when  a 
person  can  read  without  effort  he  finds  him- 
self in  possession  of  a  much  more  accurate 
mind  than  is  possible  in  the  case  of  the  il- 
literate. Ear-mindedness,  having  to  keep 
up  as  it  does  with  the  spoken  word,  and 
having  to  depend  on  the  memory  of  what 
is  spoken,  cannot  critically  examine  the 
statements  and  descriptions,  the  definitions 
and  deductions,  as  it  can  do  when  it  has 
before  it  the  printed  page.  In  fact,  accurate 
thinking  for  the  most  part  becomes  possible 
through  eye-mindedness  and  not  through  ear- 
mindedness.  Then  just  think  of  the  scope 
which  eye-mindedness  attains!  It  does  not 
depend  at  all  upon  the  living  voice,  but  it 
can  become  participant  in  the  experience  of 
persons  at  a  distance,  of  all  nationalities 
dwelling  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  not 
limited  by  time.  It  can  make  available  for 
its  use  the  writings  of  all  peoples  that  be- 
long to  the  historical  era,  and,  in  fact,  it 
can  use  the  experience  even  of  the  peoples 
whose  only  records  are  monuments  and  writ- 
ten tablets  of  the  prehistoric  era. 

Think  of  the  meaning  of  this  for  the 
development  of  individuality  .  .  .  the 
peculiar  index-mark  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury! For  individuality  grows  through  the 
appropriation  or  assimilation  of  other  Indi- 
viduality, and  while  the  ear-minded  person 
can  command  by  means  of  wealth  the  serv- 
ices of  oral  teachers,  and  gains  his  instruc- 
tion through  absorbing  the  lives  of  his  oral 
teachers,  the  eye-minded,  on  the  other  hand, 
can  command  the  services  of  the  book,  and 
the  book  awaits  his  leisure.  All  parts  of 
the  earth  become  to  him  substantially  pres- 
ent like  his  own  village.  Not  merely  or- 
dinary teachers  come  to  his  service,  but  the 
wise  men  of  his  race  await  his  leisure  in  the 
books  jwhich  he  possesses.  These  facts  about 
ear-mindedness  and  eye-mindedness  seem 
trite  like  a  twice-told  tale,  but  few  persons 
are  in  the  habit  of  thinking  what  a  differ- 
ence it  makes  with  an  entire  people  to 
pass  from  ear-mindedness  to  eye-mindedness 
through  the  beneficent  influences  of  the  com- 
mon schools.  .  .  .  As  an  eye-minded  peo- 
ple, with  us  world  gossip  has  taken  the  place 
of  village  gossip  in  its  hold  on  our  lives. — 
HARRIS  The  Movement  from  Individualism 
to  Cosmopolitanism  (an  Address  at  the  Na- 
tional Educational  Association,  Chicago,  III., 
1900;  Proceedings  of  the  Association,  p.  14). 

3793.  YEARS  SHORTEN  WITH  AD- 
VANCING AGE—  The  Novelty  of  Youth  Has 
Become  Routine. — The  same  space  of  time 


Years 
Zones 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


768 


seems  shorter  as  we  grow  older — that  is,  the 
days,  the  months,  and  the  years  do  so; 
whether  the  hours  do  so  is  doubtful,  and  the 
minutes  and  seconds  to  all  appearance  re- 
main about  the  same.  ...  In  youth  we 
may  have  an  absolutely  new  experience,  sub- 
jective or  objective,  every  hour  of  the  day. 
Apprehension  is  vivid,  retentiveness  strong, 
and  our  recollections  of  that  time,  like  those 
of  a  time  spent  in  rapid  and  interesting 
travel,  are  of  something  intricate,  multi- 
tudinous, and  long  drawn  out.  But  as  each 
passing  year  converts  some  of  this  experi- 
ence into  automatic  routine  which  we  hardly 
note  at  all,  the  days  and  the  weeks  smooth 
themselves  out  in  recollection  to  contentless 
units,  and  the  years  grow  hollow  and  col- 
lapse.— JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  15,  p. 
625.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3794.  YIELDING  A  BETTER  PRO- 
TECTION THAN  HARDNESS  —  Flexible 
Buildings  Best  Withstand  Earthquakes. — 
From  [an  examination  of]  the  different 
buildings  found  in  earthquake  countries,  it 
will  be  seen  that  if  we  wish  to  put  up  a 
building  able  to  withstand  a  severe  shaking 
we  have  before  us  structures  of  two  types. 
One  of  these  types  may  be  compared  with 
a  steel  box,  which,  even  were  it  rolled 
down  a  high  mountain,  would  suffer  but 
little  damage;  and  the  other,  with  a  wicker 
basket,  which  would  equally  withstand  so 
severe  a  test.  Both  of  these  types  may  be, 
to  some  extent,  protected  by  placing  them 
upon  a  loose  foundation,  so  that  but  little 
momentum  enters  them  at  their  base. 

One  suggestion  is  to  place  a  building  upon 
iron  balls.  The  author  found  that  the  most 
practical  form  of  free  foundation  was  to 
rest  the  building  upon  layers  of  cast-iron 
shot,  each  shot  being  about  one-quarter  inch 
in  diameter.  Another  method  would  be  to 
place  them  upon  two  sets  of  rollers,  one  set 
resting  upon  the  other  set  at  right  angles. 
The  sole-plates  of  a  Japanese  house  rest 
freely  on  more  or  less  rounded  stones.  The 
solid  type  of  building  is  expensive,  and  can 
only  be  approached  partially,  whilst  the  lat- 
ter is  cheap,  and  can  be  approached  closely. 
In  the  case  of  a  solid  building  it  would  be 
a  more  difficult  matter  to  support  it  upon 
a  movable  foundation  than  in  the  case  of  a 
light  framework.  Such  a  [solid]  building  is 
usually  firmly  fixed  on  the  ground,  and  con- 
sequently at  the  time  of  an  earthquake,  as 
has  already  been  shown  by  experiment,  must 
be  subjected  to  stresses  which  are  very  great. 
In  consequence  also  of  the  greater  weight  of 
the  solid  structure, the  effects  due  to  its  own 
inertia  will  be  augmented.  Also,  we  must 
remember  that  the  rigidity  favors  the  trans- 
mission of  momentum,  and  with  rigid  walls 
we  are  likely  to  have  ornaments,  coping- 
stones,  and  the  comparatively  freer  portions 
forming  the  upper  part  of  a  building  dis- 
placed; whilst,  with  flexible  walls,  absorbing 
momentum  in  the  friction  of  their  various 


parts,  &uch  disturbances  would  not  be  so 
likely. — MILNE  Earthquakes,  ch.  7,  p.  127. 
(A.,  1899.) 


3795. 


Tracery  of  Fine 


Fabrics  on  Glass. — By  protecting  certain 
portions  of  the  surface  [of  glass,  from  the 
sand-blast],  and  exposing  others,  figures  and 
tracery  of  any  required  form  could  be  etched 
upon  the  glass.  The  figures  of  open  iron- 
work could  be  thus  copied:  while  wire-gauze 
placed  over  the  glass  produced  a  reticulated 
pattern.  But  it  required  no  such  resisting 
substance  as  iron  to  shelter  the  glass.  The 
patterns  of  the  finest  lace  could  be  thus 
reproduced;  the  delicate  filaments  of  the 
lace  itself  offering  a  sufficient  protection. 
All  these  effects  have  been  obtained  with  a 
simple  model  of  the  sand-blast  devised  by 
my  assistant.  A  fraction  of  a  minute  suf- 
fices to  etch  upon  glass  a  rich  and  beautiful 
lace  pattern.  Any  yielding  substance  may 
be  employed  to  protect  the  glass.  By  dif- 
fusing the  shock  of  the  particle  such  sub- 
stances practically  destroy  the  local  erosive 
power.  The  hand  can  bear,  without  incon- 
venience, a  sand-shower  which  would  pulver- 
ize glass.  Etchings  executed  on  glass  with 
suitable  kinds  of  ink  are  accurately  worked 
out  by  the  sand-blast.  In  fact,  within  cer- 
tain limits,  the  harder  the  surface  the  great- 
er is  the  concentration  of  the  shock,  and  the 
more  effectual  is  the  erosion.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  the  sand  should  be  the  harder 
substance  of  the  two;  corundum,  for  exam- 
ple, is  much  harder  than  quartz;  still, 
quartz-sand  can  not  only  depolish,  but  ac- 
tually blow  a  hole  through  a  plate  of  corun- 
dum.— TYNDALL  Fragments  of  Science,  vol. 
i,  ch.  7,  p.  193.  (A.,  1897.) 

3796.  YOUTH  AND  AGE,  GEOLOG- 
ICAL— Such,   then,    are   the    several   stages 
through  which  a  region  of  mountain-uplift 
must  pass.     First  comes  the  stage  of  youth, 
when  the  surface  configuration  corresponds 
more  or  less  closely  with  the  underground 
structure.     Next  succeeds  the  stage  of  mid- 
dle  life,   when   such   coincidence  is   all   but 
obliterated,  when  the  valleys  of  youth  have 
been  exalted  and  its  mountains  have  been 
laid    low.      Last    comes    old    age    and    final 
dissolution,  when  the  whole  region  has  been 
reduced    to    its    base-level. — GEIKIE    Earth 
Sculpture,  ch.  5,  p.  125.      (G.  P.  P.,  1898.) 

3797.  YOUTH    THE   PERIOD    FOR 
FORMING  PERSONAL  HABITS— Character 
Plastic    before    Twenty. — If   the    period   be- 
tween twenty  and  thirty  is  the  critical  one 
in   the   formation    of   intellectual   and   pro- 
fessional  habits,    the    period   below   twenty 
is   more   important   still    for   the    fixing   of 
personal  habits,  properly  so  called,  such  as 
vocalization  and  pronunciation,  gesture,  mo- 
tion,  and   address.     Hardly  ever   is   a   lan- 
guage karned  after  twenty  spoken  without 
a  foreign  accent;   hardly  ever  can  a  youth 
transferred  to  the  societv  of  his  betters  un- 


769 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


Years 

Zones 


learn  the  nasality  and  other  vices  of  speech 
bred  in  him  by  the  associations  of  his  grow- 
ing years.  Hardly  ever,  indeed,  no  matter 
how  much  money  there  be  in  his  pocket,  can 
he  even  learn  to  dress  like  a  gentleman 
born.  The  merchants  offer  their  wares  as 
eagerly  to  him  as  to  the  veriest  "  swell," 
but  he  simply  cannot  buy  the  right  things. 
An  invisible  law,  as  strong  as  gravitation, 
keeps  him  within  his  orbit,  arrayed  this  year 
as  he  was  the  last;  and  how  his  better-bred 
acquaintances  contrive  to  get  the  things 
they  wear  will  be  for  him  a  mystery  till  his 
dying  day. — JAMES  Psychology,  vol.  i,  ch.  4, 
p.  121.  (H.  H.  &  Co.,  1899.) 

3798.  ZERO-SIGN,  VALUE  OF—  Great 
Advance  in  Mathematics  Due  to  a  Sign  for 
Nothing. — [The]  invention  of  a  sign  for 
nothing  was  practically  one  of  the  greatest 
moves  ever  made  in  science.  It  is  the  use 
of  the  zero  which  makes  the  difference  be- 
tween the  old  arithmetic  and  our  easy 
ciphering.  We  give  the  credit  of  the  inven- 
tion to  the  Arabs  by  using  the  term  Arabic 
numerals,  while  the  Arabs  call  them  Indian, 
and  there  is  truth  in  both  acknowledgments 
of  the  nations  having  been  scholars  in  arith- 
metic one  to  the  other.  But  this  does  not 
go  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  it  is  still 
unsettled  whether  ciphering  was  first  .de- 
vised in  Asia,  or  may  be  traced  further  back 
in  Europe  to  the  arithmeticians  of  the  school 
of  Pythagoras.  As  to  the  main  point,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  doubt  that  modern  arith- 
metic comes  out  of  ancient  counting  on  the 
columns  of  the  abacus,  improved  by  writing 
a  dot  or  a  round  O  to  show  the  empty 
column,  and  by  this  means  young  children 
now  work  calculations  which  would  have 
been  serious  labor  to  the  arithmeticians  of 
the  ancient  world. — TYLOR  Anthropology, 
ch.  13,  p.  315.  (A.,  1899.) 


3799.  ZONE,  ABYSMAL—  The  Lowest 
Depths  of  the  Great  Oceans — The  Unknown 
Realm   That   Yet  Baffles  Science. — The  last 
well-marked  zone  is  the  abysmal,  extending 
from    the    500- fathom   line  "to    the  greatest 
depths  of  the  ocean,  one  of  enormous  super- 
ficial area,  one  that  it  is  most  difficult  to 
investigate,  and  one  about  which  we  know  but 
little.    In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge 
we  cannot  divide   it  into   any   well-marked 
subzones,  nor  even  into  geographical  regions 
or  subregions.     It  is  not  divided  into  sec- 
tions  by   any   important  geographical   bar- 
riers, and  the  general  characters  presented 
by  its  fauna  are  practically  the  same  all 
the    world    over. — HICKSON    Fauna    of    the 
Deep  Sea,  ch.  3,  p.  50.     (A.,  1894.) 

3800.  ZONES,    TEMPERATE,  THE 
CHIEF    ABODES    OF   LIFE— The     as- 
tronomical  contrast  between  the  north  and 
the    south    divides    distinctly    the    different 
parts  of  the  world  into  two  separate  groups. 
Almost  the  whole  extent  of  the  three  north- 
ern   continents    belongs    to    the    temperate 
zone,   and   it  is   only   their   most  advanced 
peninsulas    which    are   pushed    forward-Am 
the  one  side  into  the  frigid,  and  on  the  other 
into  the  torrid  zone.     With  regard  to   the 
three  southern  continents,  they  present  their 
chief  development  between  the  tropics  or  in 
the  south  temperate  zone.    They  receive  the 
greatest  amount  of  annual  heat,   and  con- 
sequently become  the  theater   of  the  most 
remarkable     phenomena     of    planetary    vi- 
tality.    There  the  cross  action  of  the  winds 
and  rains  between  the  two  hemispheres  takes 
place,  and  hurricanes  take  their  rise;  there 
immense    deserts    extend    over    vast    areas; 
there,  too,  vegetation  manifests  all  its  pro- 
ductive   energy,    and   the   terrestrial    fauna 
attains   its   greatest   force   and   its   highest 
beauty. — RECLUS  The  Earth,  pt.  ii,  ch.  10, 
p.  75.     (H.,  1871.) 


INDEXES 


INDEXES 

PAGE 

TOPICS  IN  GENERAL 773 

TOPICS  WITH  CROSS-REFERENCES 869 

PROPER  NAMES  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS 906 

AUTHORS  AND  PUBLISHERS  OF  WORKS  QUOTED 913 


TOPICS  IN  GENERAL 


Numbers  refer  to  selections,  not  to  pages.  References  marked  by  a  star  (*)  are  the  titles  proper  of  the 
selections.  Those  not  so  marked  are  cross-references  to  matters  of  interest  other  than  that  indicated  by  the 
title  proper  of  each  selection.  For  a  more  extended  system  of  cross-reference  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  special 
index  cf  "  Topics  with  Cross-References."  Attention  is  also  called  to  the  indexes  of  "Proper  Names  and  Technical 
Terms,"  and  of  "Authors  and  Works  Quoted." 


AAR,  Glaciers  of  the 2377 

ABANDONMENT,   Denial  of 
theology  not  a  of  religion.. 

of  Faulty  theories 

of    System    in    conflict 

with  fact 

ABASING  of  That  which  is 
High 

ABDICATION  of  Galileo 

(See  also  INTOLERANCE.) 

ABERRATION  of  Light .... 

Observation  to  be  cor- 
rected for 

ABILITY  to  Sustain  pressure 
gradually  acquired 

. .     (See  also  POWER) 

ABIOGENESIS,      Biogenesis 
and 

Argument  of ,  refuted  . . 

(See     also    GENERATION. 
SPONTANEOUS.) 

ABODE,  Animals  light  their 
own 

,  Influence  of  fixed 

,  Modern,  a   survival    of 

Egyptian 

ABODES.      (See  also  DWEL- 
LINGS, HOMES.) 

ABOLITION    of    Cause    and 
effect — Chance 

ABORIGINES,     Roller     and 
pulley  of  American .... 

,  Tools  of  American.  .  .  . 

,  Wood-carving     among 

American 

,  Work     of     man     and 

women  among 

.      See  also  (MAN,  PRIM- 
EVAL; MAN,  PRIMITIVE.) 

ABRASION  of  Rocks  by  gla- 
cier   

(See  also  GLACIERS.) 

ABSENCE,    Ant    recognized 
after 

of  Color 

of  Item, a  mental  stimu- 
lus  

of     Vegetable     life     in 

ocean  depths 

ABSENCE  OF  MIND,  Insen- 
sibility due  to 

,  Newton  an  example  of. 

ABSOLUTE  ZERO  of  Space. 

ABSOLUTENESS  of  Species. 

ABSORPTION  and  Reflection 
unite 

of  Heat  by  earth's  at- 
mosphere  

,  Hues  of  flowers  due  to . 

,  Law  of,  of  light 

ABSTINENCE,    Absolute,    a 
cure  for  drunkenness 

a  Possibility  and  duty. 

ABSTRACT   CONCEPTIONS, 
Man  influenced  by 

ABSTRACT    REASONING, 
Government  by 

ABSTRACT,  the,  Mind  pre- 
fers concrete  to 

ABSTRACTIONS  Credited  to 
savages 


ABSTRACTIONS,  Pioneer  too 

ACID,  Boracic  ,  as  a  preserva- 
tive                                            2641 

,2665 

768 
1073 

,  Primitive    man    incap- 
able of  1546,2064 
ABSURDITY,  Conception  of 

,  Carbonic,  helps  to  dis- 
solve rocks  2821 
,  Carboni  c  ,    N  a  t  ur  e  '  s 
great  resolvent                .          2383 

ed  as  an                                       2423 

ACONITE,  Hallucination  pro- 

3499 

duced  by                                     1431 

298 

ABUNDANCE  of  Life  in  ge- 
ologic times.                    .    .   *1870 

ACQUAINTANCE  with  Phe- 
nomena of  sound-waves.  .          79 

1743 

in  Nature  *3041 

ACQUIRED   CHARACTERS. 

*1 

ABUSE,  Use  or  of  material  ...      2119 
ACADEMY,    Bone-soup       of 
French                                    .      1074 

(See  HEREDITY.) 
ACQUIREMENT,  Time  when 
each   is  easy                             2457 

2707 

of  Sciences.  .             3507 

ACQUISITION,     Application 

1007 

ACCEPTANCE   of   Spectrum 
analysis                              .  .  .      3508 

of  knowledge  follows  217 
Automatism   a   labori- 

ACCIDENT  Confirms  super- 
stition. .  .                       *5 

ous  294 
Impulse  to                            1605 

1344 

1371 

,  Happy  —  Measurement 
of  Etna  .  .                         .  .          *6 

ACT,  the  Same,  good  or  bad  .      2246 
ACTINISM  a  Necessity  of  life     3305 

electric  motor                    .  .          *7 

like  modern                               3512 

2586 
506 

Leads    to    discovery  — 
the  earth  circuit  
Reinforces  Superstition         *9 
Seeming    in   discovery 

of  Animals  *27 
,  Automatic  —  Habit  .  .  .      2675 
of  Bacteria  essential  for 
butter     .                                      359 

222 

of  Uranus.                     ....         *10 

,  Belief  created  by  357 

a  Celestial  law                       *20 

Utilized  by  Darwin               *11 

building  forces                            *23 

452 
1759 

and  Wit  combined  ....        846 
Yields   discovery   to 
trained  observer.                .        *12 

,  Cycles  of  volcanic.  ...       717 
,  Destruction  by  indirect       793 
Determined  by  temper- 

2133 

Order  amid  seeming         2462 

ament                                           703 

1788 

ACCOMPLISHMENT   of   the 
Impossible  *13 

,  Difficulty  a  spur  to  ....        830 
of  earth-building  forces 

ACCORD,  Humanity  in,  with 

continuous  *23 

3769 

higher  law  1515 
ACCUMULATION  of  Associa- 
tions   from    long     experi- 
ence                           .             .      1154 

,  Electric,  by  atomic  mo- 
tion          711 
,  Every,  counts  for  char- 
acter          481 

*2,*3 

of    Details    spoils    per- 
spective ...             965 

,  Explanation  of,  of 
memory  2148 

of  Errors                                 1050 

2438 

of  Ethical  forces                    *14 

mental                                          3407 

532 

Feelings  impel  to                2759 

3243 

of  Imperceptible  differ- 
ences                                            2539 

,  Glaciers  now  in  1381 
Impresses  memory  ....        *24 

Inaction  vs                             492 

1922 

1690 

ACCURACY  of  Ancient  build- 
ers          *17 
of  Bicycle                    .    .      3181 

,  Incalculable  ,    of    e  1  e  - 
mental  forces.  .  *25 
vs.  Indecision    906 

*4 
1461 

of  Detail  *18 
of  Modern  astronomical 

.Instinctive,   without 
purpose  1702 

3163 

instruments  *19 

Joint,  of  fire  and   water       519 

*538 

ACHIEVEMENT,      Each      a 

forces                                            298 

999 

step  to  discovery  1005 
Grander  than  emotion         686 

in  Line  of  greatest  re- 
sistance                                       2242 

539 

Habit  of  3288 

of  Living  things  tends 

1939 

Industrial                              2698 

to  self-preservation.            .      1880 

141 

in  Spite  of  perils  101 
Readiness  and  prompt- 

  ,  Longing  for  3342 
Mental                             .      2142 

2889 

ness  secure  2659 
Transcends  psychology     2123 

.Mental   states   pro- 
duce physical           3224 

2046 

ACHIEVEMENTS   of   Tycho 
Brahe  and  other  early  sci- 

  ,  Molecular,   a  concomi- 
tant of  mental        2599 

1393 

entists  2972 
ACHROMATIC  LENS,  Inven- 

  a    Necessity    to    good 
resolution.  .  .            *22 

2205 

tion  of                                         1069 

Preparation  for  right    .      1423 

2943 

ACHROMATISM,  Imperfect, 
of  eye..                                      1174 

—  •  —  of  Present  causes  in  past       *28 
and  Recreation  .  .                  *21 

774 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ACTION,  Reflex,  becomes 

purely  mechanical 2284 

,  Reflex,  does  not  indi- 
cate mind *26 

,  Reflex,  in  walking, 

writing,  etc 2291 

,  Reflex,  shows  apparent 

purpose 2795 

,  Resolves  strengthened 

by 2883 

,  Revolutionary,  in  so- 
ciety   707 

.Right,  tends  to  right 

feeling *29 

,  Sentiment  without,  per- 
nicious   3082 

,  Silent,  of  rain 2821 

,  Slowness  of,  of  great 

forces 3130 

,  Specific ,  of  nerves 2408 

,  Spectacle  of,  stimu- 
lates   3167 

,  Transporting,  of  winds     2685 

,  Unnoticed  results  of 

persistent 2904 

of  Voltaic  battery 1844 

ACTIONS,   Good   or  bad  in 

themselves *30 

ACTIVITIES,  Character  a 

sum  of 481 

,  Co-ordination  of  bodily  661 

of  the  Earth *31 

in   Elementary   organ- 
isms  

,  Lack  of  organized ....  2229 

,  Science  does  not  control  2981 

,  Silent 2745 

ACTIVITY,  Blood  pours  to 

brain  during  mental 380 

,  Brain-f  unction  and 

mental 2099 

of  Brain  produces  local 

heat 396 

,  Continued,  of  ice 1530 

.Cycle  of 2895 

,  Delight  of  spontaneous     3550 

,  Lack  of  light  would  de- 
stroy    3303 

of  Mind *33 

vs.    Passive   repetition 

in  learning 24 

of  Solar  forces *34 

of  Swallows *35 

.Varied  and  intense,  of 

2269 
*36 


plants . 

,  Volcanic,  on  moon .... 

,  Voluntary  and  involun- 

ACTOR  Practises  illusion  on 
audience 

Practises  illusion  on 

himself 1578 

ACTORS,  Ideas  as 600 

ACTS,  Automatic,  accom- 
plishing purpose ......... 

,  Few,  of  higher  animals 

mechanical 

ACTUAL,  the,  Visible  vs. ... 

ACUTENESS.Penetration 
and,  of  a  great  mind 

ADAPTABILITY  among  Ani- 
mals  

of  Birds 

— '—  of  the  Vertebrate  type . 

ADAPTATION  Admitted  to 
exist 

of  Animals  to  habitat .  . 

of  Animals  to  night .... 

Best  expressed  in  terms 

of  design 

Certainly  known *43 

to  Changes  of  environ- 
ment   1029 

in  Christianity 493 

to  Circumstance 410 

of  Color  to  environ- 
ment  *45, *46, *47 

of  Color  to  habit     ....         *48 

,  Constancy  of  force  ad- 
mits variety  of 3601 

to  Desert  life 59 

of  Devices  to  climate . .        *49 


2291 
*37 


*38 

756 
3651 

2533 

*39 
*40 
*41 

*42 
1029 

2417 

2157 


ADAPTATION  to  Two  ele- 
ments at  once 

to  Environment — Color 

of  birds 

to  Environment — Deep- 
sea  organisms 

to  Environment — Dogs. 

to  Environment — Kan- 
garoo  

to  Environment — Liz- 
ard  

to  Environmen t — 

Man 

t  o  Environment — t  h  e 

Sloth 

to  Environment — the 

Whale 

of  Eye  automatic  and 

unconscious 

,  Facts  of  a  known 

of  Flowers  to  insects .  .  . 

— ,  Gradual,  to  new  home. 

of  Grain  to  reproduction 

and  food 

of  Horse  to  needs  of 

man 

and  Improvement 

,  Incomprehensible 

of  Instinct  to  ends .... 

to  Life-work 

of  Man  to  climate 

of  Man  to  erect  posture 

of  Means  to  ends 

Measured     by     intelli- 


*65 

*46 

*56 

*57 

*58 
*59 
*62 
*60 
*61 

77 
43 
*50 
1585 

2798 

1509 
1493 
2034 
1698 

*63 
1714 
2017 

*51 

1624 

.Mutual,  of  diverse  or- 
ganisms         *44 

to     New     conditions — 

Paralytic *53 

of  Nocturnal  animals  to 

night  in  color 2417 

of  Organs  to  mind *52 

not   Originated   by  en- 
vironment        1034 

.  Phenomena    explained 

by 2311 

of  Plant  to  animal  food       *54 

,  Power  of 2664 

,  Power  of,  lacking 3274 

,  Primitive,  of  handles  to 

tools *55 

,  Principle  of,  in  infinite 

degrees 52 

to    Season — feet    of 

grouse *64 

to  Use  throughout  na- 
ture        *66 

ADAPTATIONS      in      Bird- 
structure  *67 

Manifold  in  nature.  .  .*68.  646 

of  Plants.  .  .  2689 

ADAPTIVENESS   of  Human 

organism *69 

of  Nature *70 

ADDITION,    Color  not  pro- 
duced by 533 

ADJUSTMENT  of  Aerial  tem- 
perature         *71 

of  Bird's  wing  to  air.  .  .        372 

Certain  and  manifest .  .      1804 

of  Chemical  affinities.  .       *72 

of  Force  by  machine.  .      3002 

,  Invariable  law  admits 

of  varying 2358 

of  Mental  forces *73 

of  Organism  to  environ- 
ment         *74 

of   Organs   for   musical 

effect *75 

of  Soul  to  the  non-exist- 
ent        *76 

,  Variability  of 3601 

of  Vision  to  distance.  .  .        *77 

.     (See  also  BALANCE.) 

ADJUSTMENTS,      Manifest, 

stand  as  facts 1804 

,  Minute 2525 

ADMISSION,  Darwin's 3608 

of  German  scientist ....        965 

ADOBE,  A  survival  from  an- 
cient Egypt 222 

ADULTERATION  of  Foods.      1277 


ADULTS,  Immunity  of,  vs. 
Children 

ADVANCE  along  Aboriginal 
lines 

of  Civilization 

,  Division  of  labor  an 

of  Glaciers 

of  Intellect 

in  Knowledge  of  living 

organisms 

from  Known  to  un- 
known  

of  Learning  in  Seven- 
teenth Century 

,  Mental,  attends  open- 
ing of  the  Pacific 

Must  be  unbroken 

,  Novel  gives  no,  in 

knowledge 

of  Photography 

,  Prelude  to  swifter  .... 

of  Primitive  man 

against  Resistance 

in  Science — Joy  of  study 

of  Science  corrects  theo- 
ries  

of  Science  uninterrupted 

of  Solar  photography 

,  Spiritual,  the  goal  of 

civilization 

through  Struggle '.  '.  '.  '.  .  . 

in  Type  has  ceased .... 

,  Wave-motion  is  the,  of 

a  form..  . .  . 

ADVANCES  Made  in 'astron- 
omy  

ADVANTAGE  of  Diminished 
light  of  stars 

,  Mutual 

Results  from  motor 

memory 

of  Tropics  for  study  of 

Nature 

ADVANTAGES  of "North 
America  for  commerce.  .  . 

of  Reflective  character 

vs.  impulsiveness 

of  the  Spectroscope .... 

Transmitted  by  hered- 
ity  

of  Wealth 

ADVENTURE  of  Butterflies 
at  sea 

on  Railroad — Unseen 

forces 

,  Stories  of,  help  love  of 

science 

ADVICE  of  Old  to  new  judge 

ADZ  a  Tool  of  primitive  man 

ADZES  of  Stone 

AEOLUS,  Primitive  meteor- 
ologist, deified 

AERIFORM  SUBSTANCES, 
Combustion  of,  not  for- 
merly understood .  . 

AERONAUT,  Spider  as 

AFFECTION,  Animal,  perish- 


1588 

*78 
*83 
890 
*84 
*85 

*80 
*79 
*86 

1691 
14 

252 

*87 
2757 

*88 
1772 

*81 

3416 

3412 

*89 

509 

*90 
*82 

3712 
810 

*91 
2514 

1179 
*92 
*93 

2659 
*94 

*96 
604 

3681 
3476 

1600 
1154 
3719 
2133 

2351 


274 
*96 


of  Definite  brain-tracts 

—Aphasia,  etc 3174,  3449 

,  Domestic,    lacking    in 

savages *98 

Needs  time  to  grow ....        487 

among    Primitive    peo- 


ples  

AFFECTIONS,  Organic,  act 
upon  character 

AFFINITIES,  Adjustment  of 
chemical 

AFFINITY,  Chemical,  and 
electricity 

,  Chemical,  incompre- 
hensible  

,  Elective. 


AFFLICTION  May  strength- 
en character 

AFRICA,  Heat  and  cold  in 
South 

.Winds  of 

AFRICANS,  Potter's  wheel  of 

AFTER-IMAGES  in  Con- 
sciousness. ..  . 


*97 
*99 
72 
*100 

2034 
2158 

*101 

637 
2176 
2647 

960 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


775 


AGASSIZ  Rivals  exploit  of 
Cuvier 

AGE  of  Deep-sea  organisms . . 

,  Geological 

,  Middle 

,  the  Planet's  old 

,  Relics  of  a  distant 

of  Sequoias 

,  Tools  of  Ancient  Miners 

found  as  left  in  distant .... 

,  Tools  found  as  left  in 

distant 

— — ,  Transition  from  bronze 
to  iron 

of  Trees 

,  Years  shorten  with  ad- 
vancing  

,  Swiss  lakes  in 

AGE  OF  BRONZE.  (See 
BRONZE  AGK.) 

AGE  OF  STONE. 

,  History  has  no  records 

of 

,  Kitchens  of  the 

,  Needles  in  the 

(See  also  STONE  AGE.) 

AGENCIES,  Destructive,  ob- 
literate the  remains 

,  Giant  power  of  natural 

,  Natural,  personified.  .  . 

,  Power  of  unseen 

,  Terrible 

AGENCY  of  Contrasted  forces 

,  Human,  recognized  in 

arrow-head 

,  Manifest 

,  Unconscious 

AGENT  of  Destruction  van- 
ishes  

Lost  in  result . 

,  Power  of  invisible.  .  .  . 

Remains  tho'  combina- 
tion perish 

,  Viewless,  of  destruction 

AGENTS,  Early  teachings  of 
"imponderable" 

,  Laws  of  nature  not .... 

AGES,  Changes  in,  to  come.  . 

— '• — ,  Culture  the  work  of .  .  . 

,  Deserts  may  remain 

desolate  for 

• ,  Duration  varying  from 

a  day  to 

,  Earth  as  in  former.  .  .  . 

of  Geology 

,  Gifted  men  of  Middle .  . 

,  Marks  left  by  ice,  in 

past 

,  Middle 

,  Natural  laws  un- 
changed through  all 

,  Inheritance  from  an- 
cient  

,  Joy  of  study  alike  in  all 

,  Our  indebtedness  to.  . 

,  Philology  unites 

,  Plan  extended  through 

Preceding  human  his- 
tory  

Required  to  build  chalk 

cliffs 

Seconds  of  eternal  clock 

.Study  of 

.  (See  also  MIDDLE 

AGES;  PERIODS.) 

AGGREGATE  of  Units 

AGGREGATIONS  of  Stars.  885, 

AGNOSTIC  Agrees  with  Scrip- 
ture  

AGNOSTICISM  Accepts  mys- 
tery of  human  personality 

and  Darwinism 

,  Hopelessness  of 

,its  Hypotheses  need  a 

God 

,  Position  of 

a  Witness  for  Christian 

truth 

AGREEMENT  of  Agnostic 
with  scripture 

,  Authority  in 

-         amid  Controversy 


2842 

*108 

3796 

345 

939 

2859 

*109 

3771 
3771 

3468 
*110 

3793 
2563 


1498 
2065 
3089 


1591 
2723 
2572 
2682 
2211 
*104 

*102 
*103 
*105 

*107 
*106 
2685 

551 

801 

1071 

1857 

2702 

805 

1989 

1806 

3130 

*111 

315 

2 
1663 

3516 

2385 
81 

3434 
1832 

785 

*112 

3433 

913 

2356 


119 
3611 

113 

356 

730 

*115 

*116 
3530 

*114 

113 
650 
873 


AGREEMENT  of  Independent 

thinkers *117 

of  Masters 6 

of   Specialists   the   test 

authority 2456 

of  Sun  and  moon  in  ap- 
parent size *118 

AGRICULTURE    Aided    by 

chemistry *120 

alone  Impoverishes 1157 

and  Commerce 2029 

,  Dearth  from  lack  of .  . .     1269 

an  Early  invention.  ...      *122 

,  First  implements  in.  125 

,  Foundation  of  civiliza- 
tion   *126 

,  Man  without 2073 

,  Primitive,     of     North 

America *123 

of  Primitive  man.  ....      *121 

Provides  man  f9od.  ...      1714 

,  Woman's  work  in  prim- 
itive        *124 

AGRICULTURIST  Aided  by 

science 1686-87 

,  Future,  will  inoculate 

his  fields 3139 

Uses  the  process  of  se- 
lection   3045 

,  Woman  the  prim- 
itive    3091 

AKBER  KHAN,  Pigeons  at 

court  of 1737 

AID,  Governmental,  to  ex- 
ploration   1156 

AIDS  to  Memory 3287 

AIM,  Formation  of  character 

the  great 597 

,  Utility  not  the  supreme     3582 

AIR  as  Armor 2223 

in  Arteries  of  the  dead .       894 

,  Bacteria  in 304,2792 

,  Bacteria  take  nitrogen 

from,  for  soil 3140 

,  Birds  not  lighter  than. 

1402,1554 

,  Birds  lost  in  waste  of.  .        370 

Carried  to  watery  home 

— the  Diving  spider 1704 

,  Chill  of  upper 1461 

,  Currents  of  the 3156 

,  Discovery  of  transpar- 
ency of 857 

,  A  Dweller  in  the  upper 

—Condor 1502 

,  Exclusion  of,  quenches 

fire *127 

and  Earth  mutually 

electrified 269 

,  Fear  drives  flying-fish 

into  the 2293 

,  Forces  unseen  in  the.  .      1302 

,  Freezing  by  radiation 

through  dry 2774 

,  Germless,  produces  no 

putrefaction *130,  2793 

,  Germs  in,  cause  disease       917 

,  Gossamer-spider  float- 
ing through  the 3678 

,  Gunpowder  explodes 

without 2228 

.Heated,  descending 

from  tropics — Europe 2176 

,  Ice-clouds  of  upper.  . .      1539 

Laden  with  phosphor- 
escent odor 3592 

,  no  Life  in  glacier 1124 

,  Liquefaction  of .  .  .  .*128,  2856 

Made      habitable      by 

movement 2260 

,  Man's  dependence  on .  .      *129 

,  Micro-organisms  in  the     1364 

,  Multitude  of  birds  by 

night  in  upper 2299 

not  Navigated  by  buoy- 
ancy   1554 

,  Newton  calculates  the 

depth  of  fine  film  of 1123 

,  Planet  viewed  through 

heated 1132 

,  Pull  of ,  on  a  sail 2121 


AIR,  Putrefaction  impossible 
in  germless 

,  Reflection  from  a  sur- 
face of  heated 

,  Respiration  in  rarefied. 

,  Robber-baron  of  the — 

Eagle 

,  Still  ascending  current 

in 

Thick  with  microscopic 

life. 

,  Transporting  and  stor- 
ing of 

Unwarmed  by  solar 

rays 

,  Vaulting  in  the — Ibis. 

-,  Volcanic  ashes  cast  into 


2810 


765 

2884 


2932 


1371 

886 


1662 
156 


upper 3743 

and  Water  carve  earth's 

crust *3143 

,  Water  without,  deadly 

to  fish 

,  Winds  of  the  upper.  .  . 

{See  also  ATMOS- 
PHERE.) 

AIR-BUBBLES  Cause  expan- 
sion of  ice 

AIR-CELLS,  Bird  not  buoyed 


472 
3743 


1531 


up  by 

AIR-CURRENTS  Driven  by 


2804 


fanning  wings, 
of . .  . 


342 
2666 


,  Power 

ALASKA,  Fascination  of  gla- 
ciers in 317 

ALBERTUS  MAGNUS,  Great 

in  spite  of  errors 763 

ALBION,    England    called— 

"White-land." 1734 

ALBUMINOIDS  Thought  un- 
stable   1067 

ALCHEMIST,  Search  of,  for 

ever-burning  lamp.  .  .         ,  3300 
ALCHEMISTS,      Discovered 

chemistry 1052 

,  Dream  of,   may   come 

_     true 3552 

,  Favored  and  perse- 
cuted   3015 

ALCHEMY  Led  to  chemistry  763 

a  Natural  conception .  .  2759 

ALCOHOL  to  be  Avoided  in 

tropics 1448 

in    Bread — Experiment  *136 

,  Children  debilitated  by  *135 

,  Coleridge  a  victim  of.  .  1192 

,  Cumulative    effect  — 

Children *135 

Mania  from *134 

Small  doses  of *133 

,  Delirium  tremens  from  3657 

Destroys  volition.  .  .*132,  697 

,  Effect  of,  on  children .  .  *135 

,  Effects  of,  hereditary .  1479 

in  Fermentation 2743 

,  Harmless  dose  of *142 

,  Intoxication   produced 

by 1745 

,  Is  it  a  food? *137 

and  Loss  of  nitrogen.  .  2424 

vs.  Nutrition *140 

a  Poison *131 

Produces  criminal    he- 
redity   *139 

Producing  criminal  in- 
sanity    2889 

.Mortality  resulting 

from 1732 

not  Nutritious 1275 

Weakens  volition  ....  *141 

ALCOHOLISM  a  Chief  disease  *138 

Confirmed. 


,    V^l'lJ  111  111C7U  .    • 

ALDEBARAN,  Spectroscopic 
lines  of 

ALETSCH,  Glacier  of 

ALEXANDER  at  Battle  of 
Arbela. . 

ALGAE,  Microscopic,  in  Al- 
pine lakes 

ALGEBRA  Developed  by 
Arabs 

.  Invention  of 

ALGOL,  Variable  star. . . 


132 


3555 

84 


3324 


738 

2108 

876 


776 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


2614 


3701 
*143 


1553 


1445 
745 


*146 


*148 
3623 


1774 


ALGOL,  Variation  of 

ALIMENT,    Progress   in   hy- 

drotechny  as  related  to ... 
ALLEVIATION    of     Human 

misery 

ALLEVIATIONS  of  Struggle 

for  life 

ALLIANCE     of     Mind     and 

matter 2187 

of  Sciences *144 

ALLOYS  Made  by  pressure .  .        459 
ALLUREMENT  by  Imitation     *145 
ALLY,  Hawk  the  farmer's.  . 
.  Nervous  system  an,  not 

an  enemy 

ALMIGHTY,  Sun  an  emblem 

of  the 

ALMSHOUSE  of  the  Ocean  .  . 

ALPHABET  of  Geology 

,  Language  from  the .... 

ALPHA  CENTAURI,  Dis- 
tance from 

ALPINE-PEAKS,  Endurance 

of— Mattershorn 2560 

ALPS,  Flowers  of 382 

,  Glacier-tables  in 3759 

,  Physical  cause  of  the . .       435 

,  Red  snow  of  the 3629 

Slowly  raised 977 

ALTAR  of  Stonehenge *149 

ALTERNATIONS  of  Climate.519,520 
ALTERNATIVES,    False,    of 

Spencer 3390 

ALTITUDE    Determined   by 

boiling  point 618 

ALTRUISM,      Individualism 

gives  place  to 628 

Necessary     for     repro- 
duction       *150 

a  Result  of  evolution .  .     2389 

AMATEURS,     Service     of— 

Schwabe 

AMAZEMENT  at  Power  of 
magnet 

AMAZONS  among  Ants 

AMBER,  a  "Breath"  ani- 
mating  

,  Riddle  of  attraction  of 

AMBIGUITY,  Misfortune  of. 

of  the  Word    "light.". 

AMBITION  of  Great  astrono- 
mer  

AMERICA,  Aborigines  of, 
carving  in  wood . 

,  Change  of  climate  of 

North 

,  Climate  of,  vs.  England 

,  Climate  of,  vs.  Europe. 

,  Destruction  of    forests 

,  Discovery  of — Prep- 
aration  

,  Discovery  of — Purpose 

,  Extremes  of  tempera- 
ture in 1171 

,  Freedom  of  sexes  in ...      1323 

,  Humming-birds  con- 
fined to 

.Indians  of — Irriga- 
tion   

Mechanics 

,  Indians  of — Substitute 

for  nails 

-Wood  carving.  . 


3084 

*151 
203 

2007 
2920 
1655 
*152 

*153 

1788 

460 

523 

3371 

795 

851 
2808 


2530 

1768 
2133 

3285 
1788 
-,  Links  between  species 

of,  and  Europe 1977 

,  Mechanics     of,     before 

Columbus 2133 

I s  really  the  old  world.  *155 

,  Monkeys  of,  distinctive  237 

,  "Pepper-pot"  of  tropi- 
cal   2536 

,  Traces  of  ice-period  in .  1027 

an  Unstable  continent  *154 

,  Wheels  for  vehicles  un- 
known in ,  before  Columbus  3727 
AMERICAN    Founds    Royal 

Institution  of  Great  Britain  362 
AMETHYST    a    Product    of 

volcano 3484 

,  Structure    of,    not    re- 
vealed by  microscope 1959 

AMMONITES,  Discovery  of.  2388 


1363 


1251 
2234 


3251 


AMOEBA  in  Stagnant  water 
AMOROUSNESS,    Fatal,    of 

fishes  .................. 

AMPERE'S    Theory—  M  a  g  - 

netism  .................. 

AMPHITHEATRES,     Cyclo- 

pean, of  the  moon  ........ 

AMUSEMENTS    of    Ani- 

mals .................  *156,  718 

ANABOLISM,  Process  of  ____        747 

ANALOGY,  in  Forms  of  vege- 

tation ..................      *158 

-  ,  Materialists'  false  .....      2103 

-  of  Natural  and  spiritual     *157 

-  of  Nature  ...........          76 

ANALOGIES   of   Sound   and 

light  ...................     3106 

--  of  Spiritual  gifts  ......        827 

ANALYSIS,  Bacterial  .......      3430 

--  a  Complex  problem.  .  .      *159 

-  of  Existing  nebulae.  .  .  .      1527 

-  ,  Heroism  and  self-devo- 

tion defy  ................     2783 

-  ,  Scientific,  of  foods..  .1263,  1278 
--  ,  Spectrum  —  Astronomy.     1942 
--  ,  Spectrum  —  Discovery..       847 
--  ,  Spectrum  —  Gases  ..... 

-  ,  Spectrum  —  Metals  ..... 

-  ,  Spectrum,     universally 
accepted  ................ 

--  ,  Structure    that     defies 


3170 
3169 


3508 


1959 


*160 


351 

3757 

139 

1409 


mcroscopc  ............. 

ANATOMY,  Comparative  — 

among  savages  .......... 

--  ,  Comparative  —  Knowl- 

edge of  man  ..............    *162 

-  ,  Comparative  —  Organic 

life  ...........  .  .........      2479 

--  ,  Discoveries  in  ........      1742 

--  ,  Reformed  by  Vesalius.      1742 

-  ,  Savages  had  practical 
knowledge  of  ............     *161 

-  of  Whale  and  porpoise.      2014 
ANCESTORS  of  Steam-plow. 

-  ,  Sun-worship     by     our 
Aryan  .................. 

ANCESTRY  of  Prisoners  ____ 

ANCHOR  Preserved  in  coral. 

ANCIENTS  Knew  the  Recti- 

lineal propagation  of  light 

..................  ...  .838,  1184 

-  ,  Physical  conceptions  of 

the  .....................     1534 

-  Regarded  the  heavens 

as  made  of  glass  .........      3626 

-  ,  Stars  not  seen  as  by  the     3215 
"ANCIENTS  of  the  Earth."  .  . 
ANDES,  Condor  soars  above 

the  ..................... 

ANESTHETICS  Help  surgeon 

and  patient  ............. 

ANGLE,  Water  crystals  held 

to  one  .................. 

ANGLER  in  Danger  from 

electric  eel  .............. 

ANGUS,  the  Polled,  cattle.  .  . 
ANIMAL  Becomes  automatic 

machine  ................ 

--  ,  Competitors  affect.  .  .  . 

-  ,  Each,  recapitulates  its 
race-history  ............. 

--  .Earth  likened  to  vast 

-  Free,  as  plant  is  not  .  .  . 

-  Germs  similar  to  vege- 
table ................... 

--  .Huge  marine  —  the 
Whale  .................. 

--  ,  Lowest,  starts  with 
nothing  to  learn  ......... 

--  Made  a  true  automaton 
—  Mutilation  ............ 

-  ,  Man    completes,    king- 
dom .................... 

--  ,  Man  will  develop  no 
further  as  an  ............ 

-  ,  Materialist's  delight  in 
the  merely  .............. 

--  ,  Movement  of  mutilated 
--  ,  Organisms  neither 

plant  nor  ............... 

--  and  Plant  —  Resem- 

blances. ..  ...119,659 


1798 

1920 

1516 

383 

1250 
45 

1679 
564 

803 

31 

2624 

1370 
61 

1481 

2574 

2070 

231 

2104 
2284 

2471 


ANIMAL,  Relative  purity  of, 

food 2794 

,  Sagacity  of — Mule 2944 

,  Waste  of,  life 3694 

ANIMALS,  Action  of— Mem- 
ory    27 

,  Adaptability  among. .  .  39 

,  Adaptation  of  noctur- 
nal, to  night 2417 

,  Amusements  of.  156 , 718,2628 

of  Ancient  Egypt  same 

as  modern *175 

.Arctic,  commonly 

white *163,  *164 

as  Autpmata *173,  2901 

,  Bacteria  at  first  deemed  2606 

,  Census  of 80 

,  Collecting     mania     in 

lower 2079 

1 Compared     with     chil- 
dren    969 

Compared  with  plants.  2295 

,  Coral,  found  below  thir- 
ty fathoms 663 

— —  Credited  with  design .  .  3050 

,  Danger  signals  among.  722 

,  of  Deep  sea  less  muscu- 
lar   3229 

,  Depend  on  plants *166 

Destroyed  by  man ....  2232 

,  Destruction    of    plants 

by.  . 793,798 

,  Differences   among,   in 

the  Philippines 825 

,  Difficulty    of    tests    in 

deep-sea 832 

,  Dispersion     of     plants 

effected  by 870 

as  Distributors  of  seeds 

*165, 644 

,  Domestication  of  .900, 1706-07 

,  Electricity  in 991 

,  Effect  of  fire  on 978 

,  Extermination  of .  .    .  .  505 

,  Extinct,  reproduced  .  .  3485 

,  Eyes  of  deep-sea ...    .11 75-76 

,  Esthetic  sense  in 2628 

,  Fear  of  man  among   .  .  1214 

Fed  scientifically 1278 

•  Feigning  death 736 

,  Few  wholly  blind 1937 

Fixed  to  sea-floor..    .  .  *167 

.  Floating  homes  of  ma- 
rine   1773 

,  F9od  of  deep-sea 1266 

Give  warning  of  earth- 
quake   *168 

,  The  glass 532 

,  Gradation  manifest  in 

marine 1109 

,  Gregarious,  survive.  ..  243 

Have  no  monopoly  of 

motion 2606 

,  Hues      of,      in      ocean 

depths 1512 

,  Immigration  of,  to  the 

deep  sea 1585 

,  Indian  pipes  formed  in 

figures  of 350 

,  Industry  among 1640 

,  Inoculation  of 2942 

,  Intelligence  of 1719 

,  Language  of 1823 

,  Light-bearing 3758 

Light    their     own 

abode 2586 

,  Limited  intelligence  of 

*169,  1720 

Living  without  water .  .  59 

,  Lower,  depend  on  sense  • 

of  smell 3077 

Made  to  destroy  others  3689 

Make     clearing     about 

homes *170,  *171 

,  Man  and  woman  taught 

by 2023 

,  Man  contemporary 

with  extinct 2040 

.Man  distinguished 

from  other 2048-50 

,  Man  has  more  impulses 

than  lower 1702 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


777 


ANIMALS,  Man's  interest  in     1737 

,  Man's  likeness  to  and 

difference  from  lower. .  .    .      2481 

,  Marine— Modes  of    life     *172 

,  Markings  of 2087 

,  Morality    elemental    of 

lower 2244 

Moving  plants    among 

rooted 2471 

not  Needing  mothers .  . 

*177,  *181 

,  One  plan  for  destroyer 

and  destroyed 3634 

,  One  plan  for  all  verte- 
brate   2014 

,  Oppressors  among,  de- 
graded    714 

,  Perfection  of *176 

,  Perplexity  of .      3514 

,  Phosphorescence         in 

deep-sea 1087, 1555, 1938 

,  Play  of  young 2629 

,the  Principle  of  selec- 
tion applied  to 3045 

,  Protection  of .  .      *178 

,  Prudence    a    virtue  in 

higher 756 

,  Range  of— Climate 1213 

,  Reasoning  power  di- 
vides man  from  lower.  .  .  .  2952 

,  Reciprocal    service    of 

plants  and 3086 

,  Relations  of,  to  envir- 
onment. .  . : 1037 

,  Reservoir  for  thirsty ..      3707 

Secreting  chtorophy  11 .  .      2471 

as      Seed  -  distributors 

*180,  3039,  3193 

,  Selection  of,  in  domes- 
tication   3046 

Share  ecstacy  of  health 

with  man 964 

.  Subjection  of,  to  man  *179, 571 

.  Superstition  in  lower ..      3327 

Surprised     by     glacial 

epoch 1536 

,  Tombstones  of  ancient     3442 

,  Transparency  of  pela- 
gic   242 

,  Tunnelling  and  burrow- 
ing   1917 

not  Understood *174 

,  Unitv  of  Man  with 3533 

,  Variability  of 3600 

.Widespread  conflict 

among 2420 

,  Whiteness  of  Arctic. .  .        521 

without  an  Infancy.*  177,*  118 

,  Young,  follow  ancestral 

habits 1705 

ANKLE  a  Standard  of  meas- 
urement   2129 

ANOMALIES  of  Memory. 2139,  2148 

of  Science *182 

ANOMALY,    Non-inheritance 

is  an 1676 

ANT.     (See  ANTS.) 

ANT-EATER .  .  1282 

ANTAGONISMS  of  Bacteria 

*183,  2642 

ANTECEDENT,  Life,  none, 

without  life 1902 

ANTELOPE  of  the  Desert  has 

sandy  protective  color ....  780 

ANTENNA,  Ants  communi- 
cate by 1812,  1826,  2476 

ANTHRAX  not  in  Blood  of 

dead  victim 202 

Communicated  by  dust     3661 

,  Germs  of,  brought  up 

by  earthworms 1651 

ANTHROPOLOGIST  Specu- 
lating on  skull 1647 

ANTHROPOMORPHISM  ,Con- 

ceptions  of 2074 

,  Difficulties  of 786 

an  Idle  bugbear *185 

,  Inversion  of *186 

a  Misnomer *184 

,  Nightmare  of 2423 

ANTICIPATIONS  of  Modern 

methods *187 


ANTICS  of  the  Scissors-tail .  .  *188 
ANTIDOTE,  Philosophy  an, 

to  atheism 2464 

ANTIQUITY,  Accuracy  of 

builders  of 17 

Behind    ancient    civili- 
zation    500 

ANTIQUITY       of       Animal 

architecture *  1 90 

of  Arch.. *199 

of  Astronomy *191 

,  Astronomy  of 259 

not  Barbarism *189 

of   Chinese   history   in 

doubt *192 

of  Culture 804 

of  Delta  of  the  Missis- 
sippi   760 

.  a  Discovery  of    dim — 

Iron 1766 

,  Eclipses  calculated  in .  963 

of  the  Earth 2759 

Engineering  feats  of.  .  1022 

Error  of 764 

Fossils  of  remote 1319 

Geologic  forms  of 147 

Idea  of  the  universe  in  3562 

Inheritance  from 2385 

of  Leaf-tracery  in  rocks  1864 

of  Life  on  earth *193 

—  of  Machines *194 

—  of  Man.  .  .*195,  2024-25,  2481 

—  Measured  by  geology .  .  1955 

—  of  Mines 2215 

— ,  Omission  by  writer  of.  2453 
— ,  Personality    a   concep- 
tion of 2573 

— ,  Philosophy  of,  despised 

the  practical 3574 

— ,  Potter's   wheel   known 

from  early 2647 

*196 
2161 
2756 


of  Pottery 

-,  Record  of  meteorites  in. 


,  Rejection  of  dogma  of 

,  Relics    of,    in    present 

civilization 2860 

,  Remote,     of     mound- 
builders  *201 

,  Reverence  for 2910 

,  Sand  preserves  monu- 
ments of 2950 

,  Scientific  errors  of 218 

of  Seven-day  week ....  *197 

of  Sun-worship *198 

,  Theory  of,  refuted. . . .  1149 

,  Thinkers   of,    prepared 

the  way  for  modern  dis- 
coverers   256 

of  Weaving *200 

ANTISEPTICS  vs.  Germicides  3341 

ANTITOXINS,  Theory  of ....  *202 

ANTS,  Amazons  among *203 

,  Communication    among  1812 

1826,  2476 

Domesticate   other  in- 
sects   *205 

,  Good  Samaritan  among  1470 

as  House-builders.  ...  221 

Injurious  to  flowers.  .  .  *210 

Keeping  live-stock ....  *204 

,  The  Leaf-bearing 2083 

,  Leaf-like  locust  among  771 

,  Life  of ,  in  winter 1204 

,  Recognition    of    mates 

among 2438 

,  Savages  living  on. .  1269 ,  2493 

Showing  friendship *206 

,  Slaveholding .  .714, 1475,  2937 


-,  Storehouses  of 

•  Storing  grains 

-,  Struggle  of,  for  exist- 


1640 
*207 


3260 


ence 

Tracking  one  another 

by  scent *209 

,  White,  eating  out  tim- 
ber   3254 

ARCHEOLOGY  a  Guide  to 

the  birth  of  invention ....  2753 

APE,  Brain  of,  and  of  man 

400-02,  826 

,  Differences  between 

man  and 826 


APE,  Embryos  of,  and  man.  803 

,  Fossil  man  not  like.  .  .  2044 

,  Gulf  between  man  and  826 

1472, 2020 

,  Likeness  of,  to  man.  ..  3326 

,  N  o  link  between  man  and  2060 

APE  and  Man .  .  2019 

,  Slight   convolutions  in 

brain  of 651 

,  Unbridged-  chasm    be- 
tween man  and 826 

APES,  Anthropoid,  not  found 

in  America..,  *211 


.Bearded 

,  Civilization  means  ex- 
tinction of 

,  Infancy  prolonged  in .  . 

,  Mythical  stories  of  man- 
like.  

,  Difficulty  of  learning 

about  manlike 

in  South  America 

APHASIA,     Motor,     due     to 

brain  injury 3174 

APHIDS  Hunted  by  ants 

APPARATUS,  Perfection    of 

— Astronomy,  etc 

,  (See  also  INSTRUMENTS; 

MACHINE;         MACHINERY; 

MICROSCOPE;     TELESCOPE; 

SPECTROSCOPE,  etc.) 
APPARITION,  Perpetual..  .  . 
APPEAL  from  Illusive  pres- 
ent  

APPEARANCE     of      Design 

acknowledged  by  Darwin. 

of  a  New  star 

of  Purity  sometimes  de- 


ceptive. 

of  Purpose 

APPENDAGES,  Useless,  re- 
moved  

APPERCEPTION  a  Form  of 
expectant  attention ; 

,  Illustration  of 

APPETITE  Can  be  satisfied .  . 

Subdued  to  supreme 


2493 


*212 
1649 


833 


833 
2493 


3449 
1205 


2547 


3218 
213 

*214 
3197 

2792 
42 

*215 

1598 
1598 
2191 

2609 


volition 

,  Unspoiled,  a  guide  to 

nutrition 3360 

APPLE,  Fall  of,  not  yet  ac- 
counted for 1400 

,  Newton  and  the 853 

Shows  variations  from 

a  common  type 3605 

,  Varieties  of 3605 

Attacked  by  enemies.-      1009 

APPLIANCES,  Defective, 

may  give  great  results ....     *216 

.     (See  also  APPARATUS.) 

APPLICATION  and  Direction 

of  energy 3674 

of    Knowledge    follows 

acquisition *217 

of  Practical  science  in 

the  nineteenth  century.  .  .  473 
APPLICATIONS,  Industrial.  3269 
APPLIED  SCIENCE  no  Spe- 

,  cial  branch 2970 

APPRECIATION   of   Results 

attained 2894 

of  Time.  .  3434 


APPRENTICESHIP  an  Inci- 
dent in  factory  system .... 

,  the  old  English 

APPROXIMATIONS,  Gradu- 
al, to  scientific  truth 

APRIL,  "The,  Moon." 3019-20 

APPROACH  of  Stars  ob- 
served   2265 

ARAB  Knows  footprints  of 
his  camels 

ARABS,  Algebra  developed  by 

,  Chemistry  developed  by 

;  Founders  of  physical 

science 

.Keenness  of  scent 

among 

.Mediaeval,  in  astron- 
omy  

.Pedigrees  of  horses 


574 
2775 


*218 


2543 
738 
485 

1320 

3075 

251 


kept  by 


1737 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ARABS    Preserved   Greek 

learning *219 

;,  Qualification     of,     for 

scientific  research 2811 

,  Revival  of  science  by'. '.     2075 

,  Science  advanced  by . .     2965 

.Service   of,   to  mathe- 
matics      2109 

Tr-. Superiority  of 2977 

ARAGO  Questions  gardeners 

April  Moon." 3019 

ARBELA,  Battle  of— Superl 

stition 3324 

ARCH,  Antiquity  of .  .  199 
ARCHEOLOGY,  Mysteries  of  2305 
-,  Pentateuch  in  harmony 

with 2535 

Tells  story  of  civiliza- 
tion  

ARCHIMEDES,     Preoccupal 

tion  of,  in  study. 

,  the  "Eureka"  of.  . . .' . 

,  "  No  royal  road." 

ARCHITECTS,      Microscopic 

—Chalk  cliffs. .  . 
ARCHITECTURE,      Ancient 

— Sun-dried  bricks -^* 

of  the  Earth *224 

among  Insects *221 

,  Nature's — glaciers..  .         3447 

ARCTIC  REGIONS,  Animals 

white  in 163 

,  Birds  breeding  within 

the 

,  Coloration  of  animals  in 

,  Coloration  of  fox  in.  . . 

,  Coloration  of  hare  in . 

,  Thirst  in  snow-fields  of 

,  Warm  seasons  in 

,  Whiteness  of  animals  in 

ARCTURUS,  Wonders  of   . 
AREA,  Trifling,  of  coral 

islands 

ARGAND  Invents  new  burl 


501 

1690 
1693 
1866 

*220 
*222 


2174 
4 
4 
4 

117 

327 

52 

85 

*22 


ARROWS,  Ancient,  inlaid 

with  gold 189 

,  Measurement  of 2129 

ART,  Accuracy  of  detail  the 

charm  of 

among  Cave-men ....  .  *233 

— — ,  Beauty  in,  due  to  elim- 
ination   238 

— — ,  Destruction    of    treasl 


ASSOCIATION,  Virulence  of 
_5ac^rm^ncreaaed^by. .  2850,  3649 


1  1  54 


. 

ted   from  long  experience  . 
.Memory     depends     on 


.  n 

multiple.  .  9141 

ASSUMPTION,'  '  'indestructil     ' 


Emotions  and  passions 


796 


, 
bihty  of  atom  an  ........ 

Necessary  to  maintain 


1007 
189 
3522 

88 


.  A  priori,  can- 
not determine  fact 

from  Design 

,  Vision  independent  of 

ARISTOCRACY   vs.    Democ- 

racy  as  favoring  scholarship 

ARISTOTLE  on  "  the  Divine" 

,  Geologic  theory  of.  ... 

,  Harmonious  govern- 
ment  of  the  universe  taught 

by 

.Induction  recognized  by     ^  „  w 

,  Lost  work  of 1322 

——.Rules   given   by,   only 

for  deduction. .  .  . 
ARITHMETIC,     Early— '-Cai- 
culation  by  pebbles 

Limited  before  decimal 

system 

,  Mental,  brings  blood  to 

brain 

of  Primitive  man .  .'.'.'. 

ARIZONA,    Irrigation   in 

Southern  .  .  . 
ARMADILLO     Saws '  '  snake 

ARMIES,  March  of  insect .  '.  '.  2083 
•  been  battling  in  the  sky  3320 
3687 
2223 
*229 
2358 


*22 
*22 
365 

766 

2370 

93 


1395 
1638 


1638 

413 

2108 

380 
*228 

1768 


359 
1545 


xr  /r°m  animals '- 
Ai  fNature  as  an.  ... 

AROMA    of    Butter    due    to 

bacteria 

ARRAGONITE,  Luminous  en^ 

velope  shown  in.  .  . 
ARREST  of  Bodily  developl 

ment.  •  •  •• *230,  *231 

— ,  Cure  by  sudden 864 

of  the  Hand  *9qo 

ARROW,  Measurement  of  the 

Omaha.  .  .  21 9Q 

ARROWHEAD,  Seeds  of  ,'di's-     " 

tnbuted  by  animals.  . .  3039 

ARROW-HEAD    recognized 

on  garden  path 102 

Proves  antiquity  of  bow       395 


,  Mycenaean— Bronze  age 

Union  of  labor  and  .  . 

ARTIFICER,  Nature  the  first 
ARTIFICIALITY  Destroys 

true  nature *234 

ARTIFICIAL    WORK/Hul 

A P^TTQ A°wginT °f '  Cognized .        1 02 

ARTISAN    May     become 

scholar +235 

ARTIST      Contrasted      with 

camera 1571 

— ,  Embryo      shaped  '  by 
viewless 1000 

—  Endangered  on  account 
of  portrait 

Fearing  blindness. .  .  .  .      *236 

—  Portrays    face    with    a 

few  bold  lines 2206 

— .Scientific  blunder  of..     *237 

—  Seeks  perfection  for  its 

own  sake 323 

,  Selection  the  secret  of 

power  of *238 

ARTS,  Gradual  development 

of 804 

,  Growth  of .'.'.' .'     *239 

,  Improvement    in    me- 
chanic  

,  Lost — South   Sea    isl- 
anders  

,  Woman  the  inventor  of 

the,  of  peace 

ARYAN   Sun-worship  by  our 

ancestors 

ASBESTOS  a  Non-conductor 

of  heat 

ASCENT  from  brute  to  niaii 
ASCETICISM  in  Daily  liS; 
ASHES,  Rain  of .  . . 
ASH,  Wind-borne  seeds  of '  ' 
ASHES,      Volcanic— Central 

America 

,  Volcanic  —  Pompeii. . . 

ASPECT,  Double,  of  develop7-8 ' 

ment 

ASPIRATION  of  science  li'ml 

itless *24t 

— ,  Upward  reach  of  palm 

leaves  suggests 321 

ASS,  Domestication  of 179,  900 

,  Wild,  in  desert.  .  .  .  2556 

ASSIMILATION  of  Color  to 

environment *242 

— ,  Process  of .'        747 

—  Unheeded..  .  .  1263 

ASSINABOINS,    "Stone-boill 


l/U 

ASTEROIDS, '  Countless'  host 
of.  .. 


78 

504 

3091 

3757 

888 

240 

1495 

1081 

3742 

3101 


1623 

--jssary  to  maintain 
spontaneous  oceneration  *947 

ASSUMPTIONS  ~of  Monism '. '.     *248 

of  Psychology 1195 

-—Regarding     a     Divine 

Being 2486 

— -— ,  Unfounded,      discredit 

true  doctrines.  10  SI 

ASSURANCE  of  Our  own  re'all 

ity 

gives 

1147 


3022 

*250 
2122 

3197 

2759 
255 

153 
347 
144 
552 

963 

1060 
466 

587 
3070 
3197 

810 

*257 

579 

*255 
2846 


ance  of  a  new  star. 
ASTROLOGY  a  Natural  conl 

ception 

vs.  Astronomy  in  China 

ASTRONOMER,  Ambition  of 

great — Herschel 

,  Chaldeans  the  first .  .  .  . 

Must  now  be  a  physicist 

,  Use  of  electricity  by 

ASTRONOMERS,  Chinese, 

punished  for  neglect 

Denied      satellites     to 

Mars 

,  Greek .'.'"."' 

,  Personal    difference  '  of 

observation  among .  .  . 

,  Sight       and       hearing 

among 

,  Wagoners     point     out 


ers" — Origin  of  name.  .  .  .        654 
ASSOCIATION    Accidental .  .     2608 
— ,  Bacteria  gain  power  by 

••••••: 2850,3649 

— ,  Contiguous,  chief  trait 

of  horse 3275 

— ,  Force  of,  in  memory .  .      2892 

—  of  Ideas,  power  of.  ...      2289 

—  of   the   Impressions   of 

different  senses *245 

— ,  Intimate,  of  land  and 

333 
2143 


,  Retracing  links  of 

— ,  Lack  of,  in  hasty  learn- 
ing- .. 680 

— ,  Mental,  becomes  auto- 
matic    2289 

— ,  Rapidity  of 3179 

—  by  Similarity 3107 

a  Source  of  power.  .  .  .  *243 

-,  the  Spirit  of *246 

•  in  Thought +244 


ragoners 

new  star  to 

ASTRONOMY,     Advances 

made  in 

of  Antiquity ]  .  ' 

— ,  Advance  of 

-— .  Astrology  rather  than, 

in  China 

,  Beginnings  of 347 

Brings    before    us    in- 
finity  

,  Century  of 

—  a  Continuous  science 
— ,  Copernican —     Dante's 
cosmogony 

.Copernican,  harmless 

to  Christianity 

,  Corrections  in 

— ,  Dependence  of,  on  seem- 
ing accident  

Depends  upon  fractions 

of  a  second 

—  of  the  Early  world .' .' .'  " 
— ,  Error  in,  cumulative. 

•,  Fascination  of ....... 

the  First  of  sciences.  . 
,  Generalizations  of .  .  . 

— ,  Gravitation  in 

— ,  The  Greeks  careful  ob- 
servers of 

— .  Instructive  power  of.  . 

Not  now  isolated 

,  Mathematics  in .  .  .  .*256, 
the  Most  ancient  science 
Needs  and  aids  all  other 

science 

•,  New  vs.  old 

•  Originated     with   'the 
moon 

,  Photography    as     aid 

to 

-,  Precision  of ......'.. 

-,  Problems  pending  iii 

-,  Revolution  in 

-,  Spectrum  analysis  in 

•  Supposed  exhausted. 
•,  Transformation  of ... 


1493 
*251 

673 

495 
2707 


1113 
*258 
1050 
416 
811 
*253 
3393 

347 

*252 
144 

2112 
558 

3510 
2598 

*259 

2591 
*260 
2741 
2915 
1942 
*261 
*262 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


779 


ASTRONOMY,  Unexpected 

developments  in 263 

.  (See  also  EARTH; 

EXACTNESS  OF  SCIENCE; 
LIGHT;  MOON;  PLANETS- 
SPECTROSCOPE;  SPECTRUM; 
STARS;  SUN;  TIME.) 

ATHEISM  Destroys  Man's 

nobility 1784 

,  Heart  revolts  from ....     *264 

Lacking  in  evolution.  .      1104 

,  Philosophy  an  antidote 

to 2464 

Results  from  dethron- 
ing humanity 1514 

ATHEIST  Incapable  of  seeing 

God *265 

vs.  Theist 2807 

ATHENS,  Museum  of  natural 

curiosities  at 2300 

ATLANTIC,  Blackness  of, 

depths 375 

Cable     destroyed     by 

heat  from  rust 2153 

,  Ocean  floor  of  the  North  2449 

ATMOSPHERE,  Change  of 

pressure  of 1502 

Contrasted     with     the 

ether 518 

of  Death *272 

Affected    by    volcanic 

eruption *267 

,  Earth's,    balances    in- 
ternal forces 307 

,  Effect  of,  on  light 3606 

Effects  of  rarefaction.     3778 

,  Fathomless  ocean  ....      *266 

,  Heat  of 1461 

,  Life  diffused  through- 
out the 1877 

,  Life  surrounded  by  an 

of  destruction 1914 

-,  Magnetic *270-*71 

307 
*275 
2425 
*274 
2791 


of  Moon— Denied. . 

—  of   Moon — Possible .... 
,  Nitrogen  of,  unlimited. 

Once  a  source  of  error . 

,  Purification  of  the .... 

Separated    into    strata 

would    destroy    pitch    of 
sounds 

—  of  Sun  exceeds  central 


*276 


*273 

a  Trap  for  sunbeams .  .      *268 

.Twinkling  of  stars 

caused  by 3220 

a    Vast    hydro-electric 

machine *269 

Veils  splendor  of  stars.      3216 

of  Venus 3509 

,  Star-colors  d  ue  to  stellar     3200 

.     (See  also  AIR;  HEAT; 

LIGHT;  SOUND;  WAVES.) 

ATOM,  Indestructibility  of 

the 1623 

ATOMIC  THEORY  Explain- 
ing phenomena 2115-17 

ATOMIC  EVOLUTION  the 

Study  of  chemistry 280 

ATOMIC  FORCE  Exceeds 

gravitation 1281 

ATOMIC  MOTION,  Heat  in,       279 

Not     convertible     into 

consciousness 598,  2256 

ATOMIC  THEORY  Foreshad- 
owed   3398 

Often  overloaded  .  .1055, 1191 

a  Product  of  imagina- 
tion       1574 

— —  Statement  of  action  of 

in  chemistry 1452 

in  Theoretical  physics.      1191 

.     (See  also  THEORY, 

ATOMIC.) 
ATOMS  Baffle  microscope.  .  .     1959 

Fall  together  in  com- 
bustion      *277 

,  The  "Falling,"  of  an- 
cient philosophy 578 

,  no  Fortuitous  con- 
course of 454 

in  Greek  philosophy. . .     1052 


ATOMS,  Infinitesimal  minute- 
ness of 3123 

,  Life  depends  on  num- 
ber of 1873 

,  Light  separates,  from 

gas 384,540 

,  Number  and  weight  of 

279, 1614 

,  Polarity  of *278 

,  the  Soul  not  a  combin- 
ation of 609 

the  Ultimate  elements 

of  chemistry *280 

,  Weight  of *279,  1614 

ATROPHY  of  Eyes  due  to 

disuse *281 

of  Mental  powers *282 

of  Optic  nerve 1991 

of  Wings  of  Great  Auk     1992 

ATTACK,  Ferocity  of  gorilla  in 
,  Increase  by  exemption 

from 

ATTAINMENT,  Reading  of 

character  a  rare 

,  Slow,  of  better  things .  . 

ATTEMPT,  Mistaken,  at 

cleanliness — Dairy 1652 

to    Shape    science    to 

theory 3399 

ATTEMPTS,  All,  to  explain 

obligation  vain 2436 

to  Avert  extinction  of 

bison 1165 

ATTENTION,  Awakening  due 

to  expectant 301 

Brief  if  voluntary *283 

,  Distraction     of,     from 

grief 881 

,  Education  based  on ...  969 

,  Fixation  of *284 

,  Genius  unfavorable  to 

voluntary 1353 

of  Infant  is  automatic .      3065 

.Limit    of    visual    field 

concentrates 

in  Listening 

Longer      sustained     if 


3238 
1131 


2827 
982 


1960 

*285 


passive 

,  Mind  capable  of  sus- 
tained  

,  Concentration  of,  gives 

mastery 

,  Mobility  of,  in  child- 
hood  

,  Perception  increased 

by  habitual 

,  Power  of,  attributed  to 

earthworms 

,  Power  of  expectant. .  . 

,  Sensation  increased  by 

,  Will  fixing,  on  Divine 

ideal 

ATTENUATION  of  Virulence 
of  bacteria 

ATTITUDE,  Feelings  mani- 
fested by 

ATTRACTION  Constant ,  how- 


*283 
2212 
1353 
2229 
2538 

*286 
2671 
3062 

3735 

*287 
1219 


ever  restrained *288 

,  Magnetic,  vs.  human.  .      1006 

,  Power  of  earth's 853 

,  Power  of  sun's 1303,  3620 

,  Ancient    riddle    of,    of 

-  amber 2920 

of  Sun  and  moon  affects 

tides 975 

of    the    Sun    for    the 

magnetic  needle 1664 

,  No    time    required   for 

action  of 2117 

,  Transmitted 2008 

ATTRIBUTE,  Reproduction 

an  essential 2032 

,  Spontaneousness  an,  of 

intellect 900 

ATTRIBUTES  Higher  than 

space,  time  and  force.  .  .  .  2113 
,  Laws  invested  with,  of 

mind 3002 

AUDIENCE,  Actor  practises 

illusion  on 37 

AUK,  Atrophy  of  wings  of 

Great  .  .  1992 


AUK,  Razor-billed 1992 

AURA  around  electrical  con- 
ductor  

AURICULARS  in  Birds 

AURORA,  a  Limited 

May  envelop  the  earth 

,  Mystery  of 

,  Proportion  between  ex- 
tent and  height  of 2766 

,  Varying  height  of 3621 

AURORA    AUSTRALIS    Re- 
sponds to  Aurora  Borealis .        289 
AURORA  BOREALIS— Influ- 
ence 9n  magnetic  needle .  . 

Mistaken  for  conflagra- 
tion  

and  Sun-spots 

,  Superstition  as  to .... 

AURORAS  follow   Variation 

of  Sun-spots 586,  934 

AUSCULTATION  Scorned  as 
needless 

AUTHOR  Forgets  his  own 
work 

AUTHORITY  in  Agreement 
of  scientists 

,  Agreement  of  special- 
ists the  test  of 

a  Hindrance  to  investi- 
gation  

of  Motherhood 

,  Opinions  on 

Used  to  sustain  error .  . 

AUTOGRAPH,  a  Sunshine.  . 
AUTOMATA,     Animals    and 


270 
74 

2086 
*289 
3168 


3604 

2581 

586 

3320 


862 
2145 

650 
2456 

*290 
*291 
2456 
*292 
3313 


children  not. 
— ,  Animals  viewed  as . 


AUTOMATISM  Acquired  .... 

-  of  Action  ........... 

-  of  Adaptation  —  the  eye 

-  ,  Association  tending  to 

-  Characterizes  instinct. 
Economy  of 


173 
2901 
69 

2675 
77 

2289 
1702 
2055 
Implies  design  ........      *293 

of  Instinct  ...........      1698 

-  Laboriously  acquired  .  .      *294 
--  of  Musician  ..........      *295 

--  ,  Righteousness  not  by.      2736 

-  Subsiding  in  Man  .....      2056 

-  ,  Theory  of,  destroys  re- 
sponsibility .............      *296 

--  ,  Volition  as  essential  as     3675 

-  ,  Voluntary    movements 
reduced  to  ..............     3676 

AUTONOMIST  THEORY 

Leaves  drunkard  helpless.  132 

AUTOMATON,  Animal  made 

true—  Mutilation  .........  2574 

-  ,  Man,  physical,  largely 


Sure  but  helpless. 
Theory      an      imperti- 
nence . 


1907 
2673 


*297 

AVALANCHE  of  Stones .    .  .  *298-99 
AVALANCHES,  Roar  of.   ...       317 

AVENGER  of  Blood 381 

AVERNIAN  LAKE,  Story  of 

the 1177 

AVERSION  to  Idea  of  spirit     2102 
AVOIDANCE  of  Evil  by  love 

of  good 1328 

AX  Tool  and  weapon  of  prim- 
itive man *302,  3719 

AXES  of  Stone 302,  2133 

AXIS,  Comte  would  have  im- 
proved the  tilt  of  earth's.  .        817 
AXLE,  Wheel  and,  used  by 

primitive  man 2694 

AZORES,  Island  rises  among     1771 

AZURE  of  Italian  sky 526 

AWAKENING      Determined 

by  interest *300 

Due   to   expectant   at- 
tention      *301 

B 

BABE  Perished  with  mother 

—Pompeii 3117 

— ,  Mother  hears  stirring  of. . 
her...  ,..3682 


780 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


BABE,  Sudden  impulse  of,  to 

walk 3683 

BABYLON,  Ancient  culture  of  804 
BABYLONIANS,      Imperish- 
able records  of 2846 

Built  on  mounds 924 

BACILLI  Utilized  in  dairy.  .  1222 

.     (See  also  BACTERIA.) 

BACILLUS,  Vitality  of  ty- 
phoid, in  soil 3661 

BACON,  FRANCIS,  LORD, 
First  proved  water  incom- 
pressible    2387 

,  Happy  conjecture  of.  .  1663 

,  Key  of,  philosophy  .  .  .  3574 

.  a  Martyr  of  science ....  2089 

BACON,  ROGER,  the  Scien- 

ific  light  of  the  Middle  Ages  1663 

BACTERIA,  Analysis  of 3430 

,  Antagonisms  of 183,  2642 

,  Antiseptic      treatment 

for 439 

,  Attenuation  of  viru- 
lence of 287 

,  Benefits  conferred  by .  .  359 

,  Bread  contains  few.  .  .  405 

Cannot  thrive  on  nor- 
mal living  tissues 1883 

Capture  nitrogen *303 

,  Cold  merely  represses.  3341 

,  Cooking  destroys 655 

,  Death-point  of 3382 

of  Decomposition 747-48 

not  Destroyed  by  elec- 
tric light 1935 

,  Discoverer  of 841 

,  Disease  a  conflict  be- 
tween victim  and 1914 

,  Distinct  species  of.  .1914,  3164 

,  Economic  value  of.  ...  3658 

Elude  classification..  .  .  513 

Essentially  beneficial .  .  3598 

Exciting  cause  of  dis- 


2466 
2338 
2878 
3140 
2792 


,  Exclusion  of,  in  surgery 

,  Fertility  of 

Fix  nitrogen  in  soil .  . 

Float  through  the  air .  . 

Gain  power  by  associa- 
tion  

Generate  own  destroj'er 

,  Ice  contains 

Inconceivably  minute. 

,  Light  of  sun  represses 

or  destroys 

,  Meat  rarely  contains.  . 

,  Milk  commonly  infest- 
ed with 

,  Multiplication  of,  rapid 

,  Multiplication  by  divi- 
sion of 2296 

Must      find     favorable 

medium 1040 

of  Nitrification 303,  2621 

,  Nitrogen    supplied    to 

plants  by 

,  Phosphoresence  of   ... 

,  Place  of,  in  nature.  .  .  . 

,  Plants  destroyed  by. 

,  Poison  by  products  of. 

Produce  disease  in  dis- 
ordered systems 

,  Products  of,  more 

harmful  than  organisms 

,  Putrefaction  an  impos- 
sibility without 

,  Reproduction  of.  2296 ,2878-79 

Restore  nitrogen  to  the 

soil 1988 

,  Scientific  control  of .  .  .      1091 

• ,  Soils  fertilized  by 3139-40 

,  Struggle  for  life  among     3261 

,  Tenacity  of  life  of 3374 

,  Tetanus     or     lockjaw 

caused  by 

,  Their  power  and  influ- 
ence  

in  Unclean  feeding-bot- 
tles. 


2850 

202 

1331 

2663 

1941 
2794 

2177 
2297 


2426 
2585 
2606 
1887 
2899 

2669 

1680 

792 


863 
774 


422 

— ,  Universal  presence  of.  .*304-5 
—  Useful  as  well  as  harm- 
ful..  ,.   *3584 


BACTERIA  Utilized  in  dairy. 

,  Virulence  of 

.  (See  also  BACILLI; 

GERMS;  MICROBES ;  MICRO- 
ORGANISMS.) 

BACTERIOLOGY,  I  m  p  o  r  - 
tance  of 774, 

Studies   prevention   of 


BALANCE  of  Forces  on  our 

globe f 

of    Happiness    in    the 

animal  world 

,  Rest  due  to  a,  of  forces 

.  (See  also  ADJUSTMENT.) 

BALLOpN,  Fall  of  stone  from 
Different  from  bird, 


BALLS,  Houdin's  play  with. 

of  Seeds  of  buttonwood 

tree 

BALSAS  Recovered  from  ir- 
rigating ditches 

BAMBOO,  Industrial  value  of 

BANANA  Contrasted  with 
cactus 

BANANAS  in  Tropical  zone .  . 

BANK.     (See  RIVERBANK.) 

BANKSIA  Burns  slowly.  .  .  . 

BARBARIAN,  Antiquity  not 

Divided  from  civilized 

man  by  writing 

.     (See  also  SAVAGE.) 

BARBARIANS  of  Ancient 
Europe 

,  Europeans  among 

,  Our  domestic  animals 

spared  by  ancient 

BARBARISM,  Cruelty  a  sur- 
vival of 

,  Intelligence  and,  co-ex- 
isting  

,  Nurseries  of — the  Step- 


Relics  of.. 
Surpassing 


civilization 


BARK  as  Clothing. 

BARK-LOUSE  Attacks  ap- 
ples  

BARLEY  Raised  by  lake- 
dwellers 

BARNACLES,  Design  in 
structure  of 

BAROMETER,  The  ethical.  . 

BARRENNESS  amid  Beauty 
and  sublimity 

,  Fertility  turned  to .... 

Self -perpetuating 

BARRIERS,    Herschel    burst 

the,  of  Heaven 

BASIN,  Lake,  once  bed  of 
glacier 

BASIS,  Cells  the,  of  all  life.  .  . 

,  Scientific,     of     strange 

tale 

BASKET-MAKER,  Woman 
the  primitive 

BASKET-MAKING  of  Primi- 
tive peoples 

,  Work  of,  for  woman.  . 

BASKET-WORK,    Ancient 
pottery  modelled  on 

BAS-RELIEFS  of  Nineveh.  . 

BATRACHIANS  as  Food  for 
chicken-hawk 

BATS  Heavier  than  air 

BATTERSEA  PARK,  Mistak- 
en impression  of 

BATTERY,  Action  of  Voltaic 

of  the  Electric  ray. 

BATTLE    Influenced   by   su- 
perstition   

,  Layman  helpless  at.  .  . 

Stopped  by  eclipse .... 

BATS,  Dusky  color  of 

BAN,      Science      under,      of 

church 

BEACH,  Discovery  of  an  an- 
cient  

BEACHES,  Ancient,  become 
highways 

BEAM  of  Light  in  darkness . . 


1222 
3649 


(*306 
2994 
*307 

*308 
2890 

3333 

1402 

69 

872 

1768 
2780 

3707 
3575 

1237 
189 

3790 


*309 
3288 

505 

705 

1716 

*310 
499 

3468 
524 

1009 
121 

1861 
*311 

323 

1226 
*312 

579 

2320 
446 

1570 
3091 

*313 
3769 

2648 
*314 

1445 
1554 

3292 

1844 

991 

3324 

3591 

260 

2417 

1743 

852 

1496 
*315 


BEAM,    the    Terms,  "Ray" 

and 838 

BEAR,  Attack  by 39 

in  England  and  France     2040 

in  New  and  Old  World.     1977 

in  Northern  Europe.  .  .      1536 

.     (See  also  POLAR  BEAR.) 

BEARINGS,  Practical,  of  sci- 
ence       2989 

,  Wasp  takes 1726 

BEAST,  Mind  9f.... 2202 

Sympathizes  with  storm 

and  darkness 3350 

BEASTS  Excel  man  in  many 
ways 

,  Kinship  with,  cannot 

satisfy  the  soul 

,  Moral  sense  takes  no 

cognizance  of  actions  of.  . 

BEATING  of  the  Heart- 
Reflex  action. 

BEATS  Due  to  interference 

of  sound-waves 3153 

BEAUTIES  of  Nature  neglec- 
ted. .  . 


52 

1784 

2053 

399 


*316 


de- 


332 
1352 
3464 

238 
*335 
*329 
1322 


*318 
914 


*319 
*330 


BEAUTIFUL,   Utility   might 

dispense  with  the 

BEAUTY  of  Alaskan  glaciers 

Arises  from  destruction 

in  Art  due  to  elimina- 
tion  

of  Crevasses  in  glaciers 

Defies  definition 

,  Description  of  natural . 

amid    Desolation  — 

Alaskan    glacier *317 

amid        Desolation  — 

Sunset  in  desert 

,  Dust  gives  mellow 

of    Earth    due    to 

spised  organisms 

Embowered    amid    in- 
hospitable mountains 

an  End  in  the  divine 

mind *327-28 

an      End      in      nature 

*324, *325,  *326 

Enhanced  by  mystery  .      *331 

an  Experience  of  the  soul     3276 

Inaccessible *323 

,  Luxuriance  of 2446 

with  Majesty  in  palm .  .      *321 

not  Matched  by  intel- 
lect— Humming-bird 

of  Mathematics 

,  Natural,  moulds  nation 

of     Nature    in     Greek 

poetry 

in  Nature,  objective.  . 

of  Orchids *337 

of  the  Palm *322 

Resulting    from    inter- 
ference of  waves 

Revealed    by    subdued 

light 

of  Sea-gulls  transforms 

ocean 

,  Sense  of  natural 

in  the  Soul 

,  Struggle  behind,  of  na- 
ture       3258 

Subserves  a  purpose.  .        537 

,  Utility  combined  with .      3575 

,  Utility  more  than 3580 

,  Wealth  of  celestial ....      1968 

of     Wild     plant     fails 

under  cultivation *338 

BEAVER  in  England 3279 

— ,  Teeth  of 63 

BEAVERS  Change  surface  of 
continent 

,  Dam   made   by,    1,000 

years  ago 

,  Design  in  work  of  men 

or 

BECLOUDING  of  Judgment. 

BED,  Lake  basin  once  the,  of 
a  glacier 

BEE,  Perfection  of  cell  of ... 
Prevision    of — the  Car- 


*334 
2107 
*333 

*336 
*332 


*339 
*340 

2962 
2343 
*320 


1899 
190 


788 
1520 


2320 
2545 


penter-bee 2727 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


781 


1684 
2832 

1701 
1139 

1867 

221 
*341 
3427 
2611 

2831 

837 

1449 

*342 


BEE,  Selective  purpose  of..     2806 

,  Worker     changed     to 

queen .- 3459 

.     (See  also  BEES.) 

BEER  to  be  Avoided  in  trop- 
ics       1448 

BEES  Busy  during  winter .  .  .      2249 

Guided  by  sight  or  scent 

,  Instance    of    reasoning 

among 

Know    locality    rather 

than  hive 

Learning  by  experience 

Learning  the  way,  nec- 
essary for 

Less     adaptable     than 

ants 

Merciless  utilitarians.  . 

Perishing  in  sweets .  . . 

,  Plan  manifested  by .  . . 

,  Power      of      reasoning 

among 

,  Sense  of  direction  of.  . 

,  Sense  of  hearing  in .... 

Ventilate  their  hives .  . 

,  Workers     undeveloped 

queens 822 

.     (See  also  HUMBLE-BEES.) 

BEETLES,  Wingless ;  .  .      2672 

BEET-SUGAR  a  Triumph  of 

science 3291 

BEGINNING,  Geology  proves 

a  definite 193,  1360 

Interpreted  by  end *346 

of  Life  somewhere ....      *344 

in  Middle  life *345 

of  Universe  supernatu- 
ral  *343 

BEGINNINGS  of  Agriculture       122 

of  Astronomy *347,  *348 

.Great    results    from 

small 1755 

,  Rude  and  poor *351 

of  Science *349 

of  Sculpture *350 

BEING,  Assumptions  regard- 
ing a  Divine 2486 

,  One  rational  and    con- 
scious      3566 

,  Sense    of    ignorance    a 

law  of  man's 3068 

BEINGS,  Embryos  of  diverse     1952 

,  Structural  relations  of 

organic 44,  935 

BELEMNITE,  Discovery  of . .     2388 
BELIEF  in  Causation  a  ne- 
cessity         455 

,  Compulsory 1086 

Before  discovery *352 

,  Popular,  magnified   in 

error 1054 

Not  Forced  by  will ....      *357 

Founded    on    scientific 

fact 1607 

in  a  Future  life *353,  *354 

in  Illusions  of  others.  .    *355 

,  Knowledge  and 1791 

as  Old  as  humanity.  . .      3495 

,  Old,  in  phlogiston.  .  .  .      1071 

,  Popular,  verified 3640 

-,  Science   accepts   popu- 


lar. 


2963 


in  Spontaneous  genera- 
tion   1345 

,  a  Stable  consensus  of ..        450 

That  no  sunlight  pene- 
trates to  depths  of  sea ....  *358 

,  Unanimity  of  scientists 

secures 3508 

,  Universal,  in  conscience       597 

in  the  Unknowable  a 

necessity *356 

,  Widespread 3369 

BELIEFS,  Intellectual,  direct 

social  pj-ogress 2759 

BELIEVERS,  Superstitious, 

in  eclipses 3324 

BELL,  Thermal  vibration 

compared  to  sound  of.  ...  1464 

BELLS,  Music  and  church, 

attract  seals 709 


BENEFICENCE  of  Delusions.763-64 

,  Lavish,  of  sun's  heat.  .        999 

.Power        undesirable 

without 2693 

,  Tumult  and  uproar  be- 
hind, of  sun.  * 34,  3242 

Unappreciated 1674 

of  Volcano  and  earth- 
quake       2333 

BENEFIT,  Dust  a,  to  man .  .      2796 
BENEFITS      Conferred      by 

bacteria ,      *359 

of  Fire *360 

Possible    in    unknown 

future *361 

,  Reciprocal,   of   nations 

in  science *362 

BENEVOLENCE,  Enjoyment 

conducive  to 1024 

BENGAL,  Formation  of  arti- 
ficial ice  in 1329 

BIBLE  the  Only  standard  of 

early  Christians *363 

BICYCLE,  Possibilities  of  the     3480 
,  Speed     of     travel     by 

means  of 3181 

BIELA'S     COMET     crosses 

earth's   orbit 1430 

Division  of 889 

BIGOTRY  and  Science *364 

BILLOWS,  Ethereal,  beat  on 

body 3715 

BINDING     with     Rawhide 

among  the  Eskimo 49 

Substitute  for  nails.  . .     *365 

BIOGENESIS  and  Abiogene- 

sis 1344 

,  Law  of 3774 

.  (See  also  GENERATION, 

SPONTANEOUS;  LIFE.) 
BIOLOGY,  Problems  of *366 

Values    the    humblest 

creature 2704 

BIRD,  Anecdote  of  little,  and 

mountain 976 

Attacked    for    unusual 

color *367 

not  Buoyed  up  by  air 

cells 2804 

,  Change  of  habits  in  a.  .        464 

,  A  common,  left  without 

mention 2453 

,  Correspondence  of,  with 

environment 1033 

,  the   Crow  an  insectiv- 
orous  ' 3570 


-,  Development  of 

— ,  Development  of  reptile 
into 

Differs  from  a  balloon . 

,  Embryos    of    a,    indis- 
tinguishable  

,  Fear  taught  by  parent . 

Feeding  on  ground .... 

- ,  Hunter  foiled  by  newly- 


785 

809 
1402 

803 

1215 

534 

2550 


hatched 

Learns    only    from    its 

own  kind 706 

,  Male,  characterized  by 

brilliant  colors 408 

,  Adaptation  to  environ- 
ment       2349 

BIRDS,  Aquatic,  find  food.  .      1246 

Blown  off  shore 2666 

,  Brilliancy    of    color  of 

protected 48 

,  Care  of  offspring  among       423 

,  Change     of    diet  of .  .  .      2174 

,  Contrasted  feathers  in .          74 

,  Dancing  among 718 

Dashing    themselves 

against  light  house 370 

,  Deceptive        coloration 

among 1047 

of  Deserts  have  sandy 

color 780 

,  Diet  changes  color  of .  .      1261 

.  E  a  r  t  h     uninhabitable 

without 942 

,  Equipment  of,  for  de- 
struction   1047 


BIRDS  Fall  dead  in  volcanic 
eruption 

,  Familiar,  in  strange 

lands 

,  Flight  of,  instinctive.  . 

,  Food  affects  organism  of 

,  Fun-loving 

,  Gravitation  enables,  to 


1079 

3541 
1258 
1231 

188 

fly! 1402 

— ,  Hawk  overpowers  mul- 
titude of .  .^_ 3378 

Heavier  than  air 1554 

— ,  Insect  food  of  flower- 
loving 1518 

,  Intelligence  of 1721 

— ,  Intelligence  and  devo- 
tion of 423 

—  Killed  by  spider *369 

—  not  Lighter  than  air.  .  1402 

—  and   Lighthouse 1208 

—  Lost  in  waste  of  air.  .  .  *370 
,  Male,   more   brilliantly 

408 


colored  than  female  ...... 

-  ,  Markings     of,     visible 

only  during  flight  ........      2088 

-  .Maternal    instinct 
among  ..................       424 

-  ,  Method  of,  in  feeding 
their  young  .............       423 

-  ,  Migration  of  .........      *371 

-  ,  Migration  of,  by  night  .      2299 

-  ,  Multitude  of,  by  night 

in  upper  air  .............      2299 

-  ,  Mystery  of  color  among       676 

-  ,  Parents  among,  united 

in  love  ..................      1413 

--  .Plain    coloring    of 

female  ..................     2800 

-  ,  Prevision  in  ..........      3915 

-  ,  Protection   of   feathers 
of  ...................... 

-  ,  Reptiles  prophesy  ..... 

-  Seed-distributers  ..... 

-  Subdued     by    nature's 
silence  —  S.  Amer.  plains.  .  . 

-  ,  Subsistence  a  factor  in 
migration  of  ............. 

-  in  Sudden  multitudes. 
--  Thrive  on  poison  ivy  — 

Crows  .................. 

-  ,  Timidity  taught  young 

-  ,  Union      of      dissimilar 
traits  in  ................. 

-  ,  Usefulness  of  swallows 

as  insectivorous.  ....  .....          35 

-  ,  Varied  colors  of  ......      2836 

-  ,  Vast  increase  of  ...... 

-  ,  Visits  among  ......... 

-  ,  Why     bones     of      are 
hollow  .................. 

-  of    Prey    pursue    hum- 
ming-birds in  vain  ....... 

-  ,  Transition  from,  to  rep- 
tiles .................... 

-  ,  Unconsidered  indebted- 
ness to  .................. 

BIRD'S-  WING    a  Self-acting 
valve  ................... 

BIRTH  of  Geology  ........  *373-74 

-  ,  Higher  intelligence  de- 
veloped after  ............      1727 

BISON      in      England      and 
France  ................. 

-  ,  Extinction  of  ......... 

-  in  New  and  old  world. 

-  in  Texas  ....... 

BISON-TRACKS  Show  passes 

over  mountains  .......... 

BITTERNESS,    Pure    waters 

evaporated  to  ....... 

BITTER-ROT    Attacks    ap- 


178 

3119 

165 

2236 

2174 
*368 

702 
3441 

3521 


1620 
3660 


2804 
3177 


3467 
942 


*372 


2040 
1165 
1977 
1165 

2603 
1128 


,  Visibility  of  white 
on 2690 

,  White  light  may  come 

from  a,  object 634 

BLACKBIRD,  Destruction  of 

the 1620 

BLACKNESS  of  Atlantic 

depths *375 

BLADDER-NUT,  Distribu- 
tion of  seeds  of 2379 


782 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


BLADE,  Iron,  of  knife 1788 

BLAMELESSNESS  of  Drunk- 
ard— Automaton  theory.  .  296 

BLEACHING-POWDER  to 

Lock  up  noxious  gas 3588 

BLESSING,  Paternal  govern- 
ment a,  to  savages 1396 

BLIND,  Instructions  about 

light  to  the 3363 

BLIND  MAN  and  sense  of 

solidity 3142 

BLINDNESS,  Artist  fearing.        236 

Ascribed    to    effect    of 

moonbeams 2240 

,  False  theory  produces, 

to  facts 3401 

of  Fishes  in  caves.  .  .  .      2696 

not  in  Forces  of  nature     1300 

of  Instinct *376,  1708 

,  The  Microscopist's  pur- 
posed          284 

,  Recovery  from 3102 

"BLOCK-BOOKS,"       Origin 


of,  among  Chinese. . 

BLOCKS  of  Ice  freeze  to- 
gether under  hot  water.  .  . 

BLOOD,  The  Avenger  of .... 

,  Cause  of  color  of 

,  Flow  of,  to  brain 

,  Liver  as  a  manufactory 

of 

,  Poison  gradually  elim- 
inated from  the 

Pours  to  brain  during 

mental  activity 

BLOOD-  BROTHERHOOD, 


2732 

2857 

*381 

*378 

33 

894 
1745 
*380 
*377 


Ancient  rites  of . 

BLOOD-LETTING  the  Uni- 
versal cure 

BLOOM  amid  Desolation.  .  . 

BLOSSOMS  of  the  Frost 

BLUE  of  Alaskan  icebergs .  . 

of  Alpine  lake 

of  Crystal  ice  in  glacier 

'-,  Fine  particles  make,  of 

sky 

,  Green  seen  as 

of  Ice  rivals,  of  ocean .  . 

of  Mountain  side — Mt. 

Blanc 

,  Predominance  of,  in  sky 

of  Sky  artificially  pro- 
duced  

of  Subaqueous  icebergs 

,  Unbroken,  of  sky.  .... 

BLUEBIRD,  Migration  of .  .  . 

BLUENESS  of  Water 

BLUNDER  Attributed  to  na- 
ture  

,  Scientific,  of  artist 

BOA  CONSTRICTOR  Be- 
comes torpid  in  drought .  . 

,  Rudimentary  legs  of.  . 

,  Victims  of 

BOAT  of  Eskimo 

BOATS  Checked  by  floating 

rock 2440 

,  Submarine 992 

BOBOLINK  Changes  color.  .        676 

,  Migration  of 1778 

,  Follows  ancestral  path 

southward 

BODIES,  Black,  emit  most 
light 

,  Breaking  down  of  com- 
plex  

,  Celestial,  inhabited..  .  . 

,  Ether  pervades  all.  ... 

,  Force  of  moving 

,  Heavenly,  in  Scriptures 

.  Invisible  molecules  of 

solid 

,  Moving,    seen    motion- 


*379 
*382 
*383 
1537 
916 
1532 

539 

1608 

335 

638 
3125 

*384 
1538 
384 
2174 
3703 

*385 
237 

1172 
3506 
3643 
1783 


1677 
1611 

1221 
*386 
1083 
1287 
858 

214 


— ,  the  Nature  vs.  the 
movements  of  heavenly.  . 
-,  Non-luminous  may 


3633 
263 


have  brilliant  satellites.  .  .      3223 

.Plastic,  weak, yet  strong     3524 

,  Self-luminous 3029 

BODY,    Arrest    of    develop- 
ment of  the ..230-31 


608 
3715 
1262 

814 
*387 
1459 


1179 
1279 


BODY  Can  endure  high  tem- 
perature    1008 

,  Care  of,  important.  .  .  .      2207 

,  Close  union  of,  with 

mind 3519 

,  Consciousness  influen- 
ces life  of 

Exposed     to     ethereal 

billows 

,  Food  building  up  sub- 
stance of 

,  Future     progress     not 

within  the 

,  Greek  training  of 

,  Heat  of,  lost  in  exercise 

,  Heat  of  human 1458-60 

,  Hemispheres    of    brain 

control  opposite  sides  of.  .      1476 

Holds  perverted  habit . 

,  How  heated 

,  The  Human,  the  stand- 
ard of  measurement 2129-30 

,  Leucocytes  and  ciliated 

cells  in  the 1890 

,  the,  a  Machine *391-*92 

,  Man  develops  in  mind 

as  animals  in 2041 

,  Mastery  of,  by  mind.  .      2093 

,  Mechanical  functions  of 

human *392 

,  Mediaeval  contempt  for     *389 

and  Mind 3224 

,  Mind  associated  with .  .     2201 

and  Mind  in  unison .  . .      *387 

without  a  Soul 1429 

— ,  Substances  in  a,  shown 

by  Roentgen  rays 

-,  Sun  no  longer  thought 

to  be  a  cool,  dark 

the  Vehicle  of  the  soul . 

,  Volition  incarnated  in 

the 

,  Will  draws  on  latent 

supplies  in 

a  Wonderful  contriv- 
ance   

BOILER,  Volcano  like  a 

bursting.' 

BOILING  of  Food  for  the 

table 

Germs     destroyed     by 

discontinuous 1366 

by  Hot  stones 654 

Substances      deposited 

b: 


3030 


3395 
509 


3676 
3674 


367 
107 


1789 


BOnilNG-PpiNT    '  D  e't  e  T- 

mines  altitude 

BOMBARDMENT  by  Mole- 
cules  

BOND,  Infancy  the,  of  home 

,  The  Sea  a,  of  union 

BONDAGE,  Environment  a. 

of  Fact 

BONDS  to   Replace  gravita- 
tion, strength  of 

BONE,  Sharpened,  used  as 
marling-spike 

,  Wedge  made  of 

BONE-SOUP  not  Nutritious 
food 

BONES  Chief  relics  of  brutes. 

of  Man  and  beast 

,  Why,  of  birds  are  hol- 
low  

BONETTA  (or  BONITO) 
Speared  in  Mediterranean . 

BORAX  Injurious  as  food- 
preservative 

BOREALIS,  Australis  re- 
sponds to 

BORERS  Attack  peach-trees 

BOTANIST  and  Evolution .  . 

BOTANISTS,  Making  of 

BOTANY  Developed  by  med- 
icine  

,  Fascination  of 

,  Linnsean  system  of .  .  . 

.Mythology  suggests 

names  in 

and  Physical  geography 

BOTTOM,  Trout  colored  like, 
of  stream 


2213 
618 

*393 
1203 
2442 
1032 
*394 

1303 

2133 
2694 

1264 

2861 

52 

7254 
2804 

3597 
1277 

289 
1009 

650 
2457 

3016 

416 

3353 

1576 
763 

45 


3685 
3159 


239 


3285 
*395 


194 
2628 


1442 
1179 


2900 


1242 


*396 
*397 


651 


380 

477 


566 
3449 


737 
2599 


*404 


1473 
33 


BOULDERS  Carried  far  by  ice 
BOUNDLESSNESS  of  Space 
BOW    and    Cross-bow    com- 
pared   

,  Eskimo — how  tight- 
ened.  

Prehistoric   weapon .  .  . 

BOW-DRILL  Used  by  Egyp- 
tians  

BOWER-BIRD,  Playhouses 
of  the 

BOWSTRING  Becomes  Musi- 
cal instrument 

BOXING,  Motor  memory  in. 

BOY,  Discovery  by  Galileo 

when  a 2532 

BOYS,  Inattention  of,:  at 

school 1598 

BRADLEY  Measures  stars.. 

BRAHMANS,  Gulf  between 
husband  and  wife  among .  . 

Kindling  sacred  fire .  .  . 

BRAIN,  Activity  of,  produces 

heat 

Benumbed  by  heat.  .  . 

,  of  ape  has  few  convo- 
lutions   

,  Blood  pours  to,  during 

mental  activity 

,  Changes  in  the 

,  Complexity  and  fine- 
ness of  structure 

,  Definite  tracts  in 

Destroyed   before   sen- 
sation reaches  it 

Does  not  "secrete 

thought." 

the  Essential  organ  of 

knowledge 

,  Finer  human  retards 

bodily  development 

,  Flow  of  blood  to .... 

Has  special  regions  for 

special  functions 3162 

,  Hemispheres  of 1476 

— • — ,  Hemispheres  of,  spec- 
ialized   *398 

of  Human  infant  and 

of  ape 651 

,  Idiots' 2654 

,  Interdependence  of  the 

parts  of  the 244 

Not  involved  in  reflex 

action *399 

of  Man  and  of  ape *400-02 

,  Motor  effects  in ,  endure     2883 

,  Movements  assigned  to 

centers  in  the 

,  Oxygen  ministers  to. .  . 

,  Power  of,  depends  on 

convolutions 651 

of  Primitive  man 

Reposes  in  sleep 3129 

,  Right,  in  movements  of 

left-handed  people 

Set  free  by  habit 

,  Surface  of,  increased  by 

long  infancy 

•,  Weight  of,  of  man  and 

of  ape 

.  (See  also  BRAIN- 
FUNCTION;  CEREBRUM  ; 
CONSCIOUSNESS;  MIND.) 

BRAIN-ACTION,  Chemistry 
of,  little  known 

BRAIN-FUNCTION  and  Men- 
tal activity 

BRAIN-POWER  of  Earliest 
men 

BRAIN-  PROCESSES  not 
Dealt  with  by  teacher .... 

BRAINS,  Struggle  of 

BRAMBLE,  Number  of  spe- 
cies of 

BRANCHES,  Grasp  of 3330 

BRASS,  Instructor  of  arti- 
ficers of 1766 

BRASSICA,  Natural  selection 

applied  to 1667 

BRAZIL,  Bobolink  winters  in     1778 

BREACH  of  Continuity — 

Divine  existence.  .  ,  76 


2294 

2207 


2596 
403 


398 
1603 


1472 
401 


2590 
2099 


2058 


2786 
1711 


2664 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


783 


BREACHES  of  Continuity  in 
epochs  1044 

BUGBEAR,      Anthropomor- 
phism an  idle  185 
BUILDER,  Edifice  of  a  hid- 
den         966 
.Life  the  716 
BUILDERS,  Accuracy  of  an- 
cient.    17 

CALCIUM  in  the  Sun  .  .        ,     3488 
CALCULATION,  Basis  of  ....     2547 
a  Check  upon  imagina- 
tion                                                437 

BREAD,   Alcohol   in,   incon- 
considerable  136 
Contains  few  bacteria.     *405 
Value  of  1271 

by   Pebbles                         *413 

,  Sympathy  not  a  result 
of.  .                                                3346 

BREAKING  DOWN,  Cycle  of 

Verified  *414 
,  Vision  independent  of.      3654 
CALCULATIONS,  Chinese,  of 
eclipses  erroneous  255 
CALCULUS   not   from  Clash 
of  billiard-balls     ....           598 

,  Fermentation,  the,    of 
complex  bodies  1221 

tised  by  shell-mound  419 
,  Shell-mound  2073 
BUILDING,  Co-operative.  .  .  .     2473 
,  Cycle  of  up  and  break- 
ing down  747 
,  The  slow,  of  mountains     2529 
.      (See  also  MOUNTAIN 
BUILDING.) 
BUILDINGS  Cemented  with 
mortar  from  depths  of  the 
earth                               3669 

BREATHING     Depends     on 
Medulla  oblongata  2004 
,  Ordinarily  unconscious     1609 
BREEDER,  Qualities  needed 
for   a                                      .      2539 

,  Invention  of  86 

CALENDAR,  Moon  the  basis 
of  the  2239 
,  Woman,  her  work  the, 
of  primitive  man  .  .             .      3770 
CALIFORNIA,  Giant  fig-tree 
of  1229 
,  the  Smyrna  fig  in  ....  1686-87 
CALM  of  Nature  *415 
of  Nature  delusive  ....     2362 
CALMNESS    and   Confidence 
in  surgery  1516 
of  Science,  a  relief  *416 
CALVES,  Development  of,  at 
birth                                              3683 

BREEDING,      Improvement 
by                                                      95 

BREEDS,    Gradual    produc- 
tion of                                        2042 

BREVITY   of   Human  exist- 
ence                                            1167 

Peril  of  high                          154 

Undermined  by  worms     *411 
BULK,  Contraction  of,  may 
sustain  heat  of  sun           .  .  .   633 

of  Human  life  and  fame       109 
,  Relative,  of  human  life       110 
of  Voluntary  attention       283 
BRICKS,    Ideas    like,    in    a 
structure                    2209 

BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT 
Bent  by  sunshine  2670,  3234 
BUOYANCY,   Air  not  to  be 
navigated  by  1554 
Causes     overthrow     of 
iceberg                                          1537 

,  the  "  Row  of  "  —  Molec- 
ular motion              711 

and  Stones  3148 

CALVINISM    and    Scientific 
thought                                        910 

Sun-dried      222 

BURDEN-BEARER,  Woman 
the  primitive  3091 
BURDENS      Dropped—  Illu- 
sions abandoned.              .  .     3336 

BRIGHTNESS    Revealed   by 

CAMEL,    America   once   the 
home  of                                          460 

BRILLIANCY    of    Color    of 
birds                                 ....          48 

,  Characteristics  of  *417 
Companion  of  primitive 
man  2062 

BURDOCK,  Burrs  of  the  ....        644 
BURIAL-PLACE  of  Huancos       925 
BURIAL-PLACES,  Ancient..      2910 
BURNER,     the       Argand  — 
Combustion  1235,  3580 
BURNING  of  a  Diamond  in 
oxygen  2940 
of  Iron  and  zinc  2153 

nf    a     CSun                                             ^IQfi 

of  Color  of  birds  does 
not     accompany     musical 
power.  .        3113 

,  Domestication  of  900 
,  Historic  records  of  2062 

of  Color  of  male  birds       *408 

of  Hues  of  animals  in 
ocean  depths                               1512 

of                                                     780 

,  Submission  of  179 
CAMELS,  Arab  knows  foot- 
prints of  his  own                      2543 

BRILLIANCY  a  Means  of  con- 
cealment        *407 

BRILLIANT,    Progress   from 
the,  to  the  useful  1391 
BRINE,  Worms  that  live  in  .  .      1896 
BRITISH  COLUMBIA,  Tools      • 
of  early  2133 
BRITISH  ISLES    Volcanic  .  .      2876 
BRITTANY,  Monuments  of.      1926 
BROCCOLI,  Evolution  of  .  .  .      1667 
BROCKEN,    the    Spectre    of 
the  1564 
BROOKS  Undermining  rocks     2718 
BROOM   Tool  of  woman  1231 
BRONZE  Before  iron  2535 

BURNING-GLASS,      Largest 

CAMEO  More  familiar  than 
intaglio  1738 

BURR,  The,  marigold  180 
BUR-REED,    Seeds    of,    dis- 
tributed by  animals  3039 
BURROWS  of  Earth-worms. 
2655,3784 
BURRS  of  the  Burdock.  ...        644 
BUSH,      Materialist      before 
Burning  2095 
BUSHMEN  Cannot  count.  .  .      1713 
BUSINESS  MAN    Makes  his 

CAMERA  Has  absolute  faith- 
fulness                                       1571 

Supplements  telescope       263 
Surpassed  by  eye  3656 
CAMPHOR,     Small  bits    of, 
have  rotary  motion  2512 
CANADIAN   TRIBES,    Knife 
of  the  1751 

CANAL  Indicates  progress  in 
hydrotechny                               3701 

CANARIES,  Color  of,  changed 
by  food  1261 

,  Cutting  tools  of  2133 
in  Europe  501 

BUTCHER,       The       Shrike 

CANDLE,  Gas  baled  out  ex- 
tinguishes                                    272 

.Transition  from  stone  to     2152 
,The  Use  of  739 
BRONZE  AGE,  Stone  weap- 

BUTTER,    Best    quality    of, 
due  to  bacteria  359 
BUTTERFLY  Cannot  care  for 
young  2106 
Danais,  Archippus.  .  .  .      2770 
,  Species  and  varieties  of 
the,  confused        3166 

CANDOR  of  Scientist.      .    .      *418 

CANID.E,  Food-burying  pro- 
pensity in  wild  1702 
CANNIBALISM  not  Practised 
by  shell-mound  builders.  .      *419 
not  Primeval.  .  .             ,      3642 
CANNON,  Recoil  of                     2840 

,  Transition  from  ,  to  iron     3468 
.      (See    also    AGE    OF 
BRONZE.) 
BRONZE-PERIOD,  Traces  of     1643 
BROTHERHOOD,     Human, 
advanced  by  war  592 

BUTTERFLIES  Deceived  and 
captured   .                           .  .        145 

CANNON-BALL    needs   high 
velocity  1287 
CANNON-SHOT,     Mountain- 
side raked  as  by  299 
CANOE,  Invention  of  360 
CANONS,    Ordinary,    of    sci- 
ence fail  1710 

on  Mont  Blanc  1469 
Guided     by     sight     or 
scent  1684 

of  Man  *409 
BRUNO,  GIORDANO,  burned     3385 
BRUTE,     Ascent     from,     to 
man  240 

at  Sea                                  3681 

BUTTONWOOD,     Balls     of 

,  Gulf  between  man  and     1415 
,  Primeval  man  not  mere     1716 
,  Savage  compared  with     2952 
—  Surpassed  by  savage.  .      2954 
BRUTE  FORCE  in  Geologic 
times  1282 
BRUTES   Attain    only   rudi- 
ments of  language  1815 

BUTTRESS    Jackdaws  build 
for  nest                                        1721 

CAOUTCHOUC.    (See  INDIA- 
RUBBER.) 
CAPACITY    for    Change    of 
pressure  1502 

BUTTRESSES,  Natural  *412 

c 

CABANIS,    His    saying   that 
"brain  secretes  thought.".      2599 
CABBAGE,  Evolution  of  the     1667 
CABBAGES,  Brown-rot  of  .  .      1887 
on  New  soil  1009 
CABINET,  Tyndall's   glycer- 
ine-coated                                     130 

Differs  with  race  968 
of  Failure                            2673 

of  Man  for  progress  .  .  .      2954 
of  Soul  for  God  3149 

not  Inventive  2491 
,  Relics  of    chiefly  bones     2861 
BUBBLE  and  Frog  *410 
BUBBLES    as    Teachers    of 
science  1933,  1837a 
BUDDING  of  a  Plant  2879 
BUDS  Destroyed  by  birds  .  .        798 
BUFFALO  a  Pioneer.                  2603 

of  Variation  a,  of  im- 
provement                                  1420 

CAPITAL,  Civilized  man  con- 
suming earth's  2037 

,  Vital  *147 
,  Waste  of  earth's  3692 
CAPRICE  in  Nature  1551 
CAPSTANS      Unknown      in 
America  before  Columbus-.      3727 
CAPTIVES,  Visitors  made  .  .      3620 
CAPTOR,  a  Sucking-fish  as, 
of  other  fishes  .  .  .                       816 

CABLE,    Sunken,    found    on 
the  high  seas                              2708 

—  ,  Range  of                              1213 

BUFFON,     Theory    of    "or- 
ganic molecules  ".                     3396 

CACTUS,  Mule  drinking  from     2944 
in  South  America.  .  .  .      3707 
CAESIUM      Discovered      by 
spectroscope  .  .            .  .  .847,  1877 

Recants  his  "Theory  of 
the  Earth."...                            1744 

784 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


CARBON,  Effect  of  tempera- 

CATTLE, Hairless  521 

CAUSES,  Chain  of  591 

ture  on    pencil                            182 

,  Increase  of,  in  America     1616 

,  Creation  by  second             685 

and  Nitrogen  in  body.      1276 
CARBON   DIOXIDE.        (See 

Overwhelmed   by   vol- 
cano. .  .                                        3101 

-,  Discovery  of,  a  part  of 
science.  .  .                                       31 

CARBONIC  ACID.) 
CARBONIC  ACID  in  Fermen- 
tation       2743 

Restrain  forest  growth     2049 
CAT-  WORSHIP        among 
Egyptians  .  .                                 499 

,  Existing,  active  in  past         28 
,  Intervention  of  natural     1739 
,  Knowledge  of    .                   *4:39 

the  Main  sustainer  of 
life  2791 

CAULIFLOWER,      Develop- 
ment   of,    from    sea-shore 

,  Man  cannot  apprehend 
first  2034 

,  Weight  of  1614 
.Nature's  great  resolvent     2383 
CARBONIFEROUS  PERIOD, 

plant  1667 
CAUSALITY,  Idea  of,  inher- 
ent  in  man                         .          *426 

,  Natural  765 
,  Natural,     in     limitless 
past.  .    .                                        977 

Change  of  opinion  regard- 
ing .              .        .                         418 

CAUSATION      Distinguished 
from  succession..             .  .  .        879 

,  Place  of  second  1104 
,  Result  of  distant                2897 

,  Decimal  system  settled 
in  .                                        .       744 

,  Necessity  of  belief  in  .  .        455 
,  Personal,    an    ultimate 

CAUSEWAY,  The  Giant's.  .        224 
CAUTION   Needed   in   inter- 

  Embryos  in                          2553 

preting  discoveries                    *440 

Forests  of.  .                          1223 

Power  an  essential  of    .      1296 

CAVE,  Fingal's                                224 

CARBORUNDUM,  Discovery 
of                                       .           990 

an     Ultimate    fact     of 
consciousness.  .            ....      *427 

.      (See   also   MAMMOTH 
CAVE.) 

CARE  of  Body  important  .  .  .     2207 
to  Exclude  germs.  .  .  .        622 
,  Increase  in,  of  offspring     *424 
Maternal,  necessary              150 

CAUSE  Back  of  mechanism.        561 
Bacteria  the,  of  lockjaw       863 
,  Bacteria     exciting,     of 
disease                                        2466 

CAVE-DWELLERS   Like 
American  Indians  1716 
,  Ornaments  used  by.  .  .      2862 
CAVE-FISH,    Eyes  of    atro- 

  ,  Maternal,      of     young 

of  Bacterial  phosphor- 

phied.       .                           281  2531 

orang                                      .      1649 

escence  unknown                      2585 

CAVE-MEN,  Art  among                233 

of      Offspring      among 
birds  .                                            *423 

.Carelessness,  of  death.        422 
Carried  further  back  in 

Compared  to  Eskimos.        360 
of  Denmark                         *441 

Pasteur's      in     experi- 

time                                           2309 

of    Europe                              443 

ments.       .                                  1124 

behind  Cause                        *430 

Fires  of                                  1232 

,  Wealth  liberates  from.        855 
CAREFULNESS    of    Mother- 

  of  Chemical  phenomena 
unknown  1837 

CAVERNS  Carved  by  ocean- 
waves  *442 

hood  732 
CARELESSNESS     Cause     of 

of   Cultivation   still  to 
seek  .                1667 

Formed  in  lava  1836 
Inspire  dread  3376 

death  *422 

Demanded    for    every 

,  Limestone  950 

CARIES,  Inclined  plane  made 

effect  *432 

CAVES,  Blind  fishes  in.             2696 

by  the  2694 
CARPET,  Dog  tries  to  bury 
food  under                         .  .  .      1702 

,  Diseases  to  be  referred 
to  one  3114 
and  Effect  abolished           452 

of  Darkness  2587 
as  Ready-made  houses     *443 
CEDARS  of  the  Himalayas         *444 

CARPETS,  Original  1501 
CARRIAGE,  First..                       1981 

,  Effect  beyond  apparent 
975-76 

CELERITY  of  Telautograph  .      3789 
CELL,  Development  from  the       803 

CARRIAGES     Unknown    in 
America  before  Columbus.      3727 
CARRIERS,  Men  as  1981 

,  Effect  exerted  at  a  dis- 
tance from  1844 
and  Effect  reciprocal  .  .        312 

,  Fundamental  unit.  .*445,  *446 
,  Perfection     of    honey- 
bee's        2545 

CARTS  Unknown  in    Amer- 
ica before  Columbus  3727 

,  Environment  a  predis- 

CELLS,  Ciliated,  in  the  body     1890 

CARVING  for  Man  3769 
in  Wood                                1788 

,  Evolution  does  not  re- 
veal                                              227 

cal  in  structure  1965,  1981 

CASARITA,     the,     Burrows 
through  hut  wall  1720 

,  Germs  in  air  a,  of  dis- 
ease         917 

assumed  1504 
,  Population      of      vital 

CASE,  Deduction  supposes  a     1637 

of  Gravitation   still  to 

kingdom        .    .  .                       *447 

CASES,    New    principles   for 

seek                                   .          1400 

CEMENT     Binding  a  substi- 

new        2402 

of  Heat  —  Gravity  632 

tute  for                                         365 

CASTE,  Positivism  would  es- 
tablish a  834 

,  the    Highest    work    of- 
science  to  find      *438 

CENSUS     of     Animals     and 
plants                                               80 

CASTING,    Indians   ignorant 
of                                                     662 

—  —  ,  Idea  of,  a  product    of 

CENTER,   Distribution  from 
a  single                                       3549 

CASTLES     and     Towers     of 
native  rock  331 

of   Intemperance  —  Pri- 
vation          140 

,  Revolution  of  solid,  of 
earth                                               947 

CASTS  of  Vanished  remains.      *425 
CAT,  Domestication  of  900 

,  Life   the,   of  organiza- 
tion                            1916 

CENTERING,  New,  of  solar 
system  by  Copernicus             2915 

,  Individuality  strong  in     1634 

in  Mental  phenomena.      *428 

CENTERS  of  Creation  2530 

Woman      domesticates 

ial                                                  977 

in  the  brain                                 2294 

the  3750 
CATACOMBS,     Modern     ex- 
ploration of  2167 
CATARACT,  a  Frozen  3247 
Less  effective  than   si- 
lent forces.                                   2745 

of  Migration  of  birds.  .      *434 
,  Mind  demands  a  1312 
,  Natural  impulse  to  seek       426 
,  Natural  selection  not  a 
2489,  3608 
,  Organization    not    the, 

,  Myriad,    of   light,   mo- 
tion and  power  3214 
CENTRAL  AMERICA,  Birds 
wintering  in  2174,  1778 
,  Stone  buildings  of  2694 
CENTURIES,  News  occupies, 

Water  of    warmed  by 

of  life                    2475 

the  fall...                                    1454 
CATASTROPHE,  Theory  of, 
abandoned.  .  .  .                           1105 

,  Parasitism  a,  of  degen- 
eracv  2506 
Physical    of  Alps               *435 

CENTURY  of  Astronomy.  .  .      1403 
,  Change     wrought     by 
Nineteenth  473 

CATASTROPHES,  Geology  a 
system  of.                                    1358 

Behind  the  primordial 
germ                                             *431 

,  Combustion  not  under- 
stood till  a,  ago  274 

CATASTROPHISM,     Theory 
of  1075 

,  Progress  from  effect  to     2188 
Putrefaction  within  the 

,  The  Fifteenth,  in  dis- 
covery        3551 

CATERPILLARS     Destroy 
leaves                                              798 

law  of,  and  effect  3032 
Real    of  fermentation       2743 

CEREBRATION,     Uncon- 
scious       2139 

Credited     with      spon- 
taneous   generation  1056 
,  Frozen,  revived  734 
,  Protective  mimicry  of.      1028 
CATHEDRAL,    Lead    crawls 

,  Same,  produces  unlike 
effects  *436 
Seen  in  least  effect  ....      *437 
,  Statements      of,      and 
effect                                 .  .  .      1854 

.     (See  also  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS; MEMORY.) 
CEREBRUM,      Deliberation 
and  choice  functions  of  ...        756 
.     (See  also  BRAIN.) 

down  roof  of  979 

,  Suggestion  a,  of  illusion     3292 

CEREMONY,        Visits       of, 

,  Part  of,  in  destruction 
of  humble-bees  567 
CAT-TAIL  FLAG,   Seeds  of, 
carried  by  animals.                  3039 

-'  of  Warmth  of  fur  .'.'.'.'.        888 
.    (See  also  FIRST  CAUSE.) 
CAUSE,  FINAL,  Never  fully 
known                  *433 

CERTAINTIES  of  the  Past  .  .        213 
CERTAINTY  and  Conjecture     *448 
,  the  Ground  of  scientific     *450 
of  Instinct  *449 

CATTLE  Fed  scientifically  .  .      1278 

not  Physical  cause  2800 

,  Search  still  for  905 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


785 


CHALDEANS  the   First  As- 

CHANGE  of  Theory   by  ex- 
periment        1144 

CHECKS  on  Increase  of  weeds     *484 
of  Reason  and  observa- 

  ,  System  of  astronomy  of     3393 
CHALK,    Ages    required    to 

,  Unceasing,      of      solid 
earth  *471 

tion  1575 
CHEERFULNESS,    Forced, 

build  cliffs  of  3433 
an  Ancient  sea-bottom     1089 
,  Micro-organisms     fossil 
in  2169 
,  a    Thousand    feet    of, 
long  in  depositing                      3432 

,  Unseen,  involves  life  or 
death  472 
of  View  of  scientist  .  .  .      *468 
Wrought  by  nineteenth 
century  *473 
CHANGEABLENESS  of  Sen- 

will conquer  depression.  .  .          29 
CHEMICAL        AFFINITIES, 
Adjustment  of  72 
CHEMICAL  AFFINITY 
Generating  electricity.  .  .  .        100 
CHEMICAL  COMBINATION, 

CHALK-BED,  London  stands 

sibility  3079 
CHANGES  in  the  Brain.  .  .404,  *477 

Enormous  force  of  1284 
in  Nature.  .  .  .                        1845 

CHALK  BEDS  of  England.  .  .      1734 
—  —  of  the  Paleozoic  period     1734 
CHALK-CLIFFS     Built     by 

,  Ceaseless,     in     earth's 
crust  948,949 
of  earth's  surface.              3603 

CHEMICAL  UNION  vs.  Me- 
chanical Union  351& 
CHEMIST  Puts  nature  to  the 

minute  organisms  220 
of  England  *451 

of      Form      in      ocean 
depths  2230 

torture  3513 
CHEMISTRY    Aids    agricul- 

CHAMELEON Changes  color.       461 

in  Habits.  .              2731 

ture  120- 

CHANCE,  no,  in  Concourse  of 

,  Local  and  climatic,  con- 
quered            1714 

,  Alchemy  led  to  763 
,  The  Atomic  theory  in       1452 

Does  not  give  order  and 

in  Maps  made  by  rivers     2925 
,  Molecular,  in  plants.          *478 

,  Atoms  the  ultimate  ele- 
ments of  280 

Finally    ruled    out    of 
nature  *454 

of  Plan  of  honey-bee  .  .      2806 
Beneath    sea    hard    to 

of     Brain-action    little 
known  2590 

Gives  no  coherence  .  .    .      *453 

imagine  1808 

,  A   "Convenient  gener- 

Survival  not  by                  3337 

'  World*  of                               *45^ 

of  a  Star                              *479 

Developed     by    Arabs     *485 

CHANDELIERS,  Galileo  and 
the                                       .  .  .      2532 

among  the  Stars  *474 
in     Structure     of     the 

Discovered  by  alchem- 
ists        1052 

CHANGE  Agents  of                     2718 

earth.  .  .                                .     *476 

Does    not    explain 

Alone  is  constant      .    .      2120 

,  Subterranean  *480 

thought  2263 

CHANNEL      Narrow      gives 

Early  days  of                      3015 

,  No,  of  Animals  in  5,000 

swifter  current  3632 
CHARACTER       Change   of 

of  Foods  1279 
Heat  developed  by             1455 

,  Capacity   for,   of  pres- 
sure                                              1502 

from  contact  459 
above  Conduct  .                    597 

,'  Laws  of  1837 
Laws  of,  and    gravita- 

  ,  No,  of  earth's  heat  71 

,  Contrasted  advantages 
of  refl  active                                 2659 

tion  the  same  3557 
,  Life  subjugates.                  1913 

from  contact  *459 

,  Decision  of  2569 

,  Metallurgy     dependent 

of    Climate    of    North 

Determines  decision.         2270 

on                                                  3227 

CHANGE  of  Color  as  effect  of 

an's                                             3755 

each  other                                    668 

sight  *461 
of  Color  of  Sirius.  ....        546 

,  Difference  of  822 
,  Each  region  has  a,  of  its 
own.  ...            .                  .  .      1632 

,  Modern,  elevates  work     *486 
,  Music  depends  on  law 
of.  .                                                  276 

to  '                                        .  .       596 

,  Formation  of  *482,  597 

,  Nature's  3360 

Compelled  by  rashness     1326 
of  Conceptions  is  sub- 
stitution                                      2562 

,  Happiness  vs.  perfected     1435 
,  Heredity  moulds  1493 
Hopelessly  enervated..     3082 

Prepares  supposed  "vi- 
tal" products  3351 
a  Science                              2966 

thp  PnnHitinn    of  life            *470 

Constant  of  object                283 

tive                                      .  .      1764 

Stops  at  elements             1964 

',a  Cycle  of  716 

Known   by   experience 
and  sympathy.     ,              .  .      2783 

of    Sun    and    stars   re- 
vealed                                             13 

tory  birds                                    2174 

,  The  Limp  3408 

CHIAROSCURO,  World  seen 

•  in  Dogs  during  growth         57 

,  Man  communicates  his 

in  536 

Due    to    precession    of 

own  2119 

CHICK,  Evolution  of.                    785 

equinoxes  3215 

,  Man  constructs  imagin- 

CHICKADEES Feeding  their 

of  Earth  to  cease     .    ...   939 

ary  2039 

young                                              423 

,  Electricity  a  result  of 
every                                 .    .       987 

Plastic  before  twenty.      3797 
,  Reading  of,  a  rare  at- 

CHICKEN,   Egg     producing 
all  material  for  the                    981 

tainment                                      2827 

CHICKEN-HAWK     Lives 

man                                         .      1036 

a  Sum  of  activities.  .  .  .      *481 

chiefly  on  mice  and  insects     1445 

of  Eyes  to  suit  environ- 
ment                                    .  .      *462 

Transcends  psychology     2123 
,  An  Undecided.  .  .                  906 

CHILD     Believes     in     spon- 
taneous generation.                  *488 

,  Fixity  in  1253 
Freedom  of              ....      1326 

CHARACTERISTICS,      C  1  i  - 
mate  changes  521 

Center  of  home  901 
,  Common  sense  of.              1189 

fTTAR  APTFRS      Apmiirpcl 

face                                     .          *458 

,  Heredity  of    .  .  .57,  1484,  1491 

of  a.  .                .  .                        1095 

,  Habit    best    conquered 
by  sudden                             .      1419 

.  (See  also  HEREDITY.) 
CHARCOAL,  Burning  of,  in 

,  Experience     of,     with 
color-blindness                           1661 

of  Habits  in  a  bird             *464 

oxygen                           .    ...        277 

First  awakened  love           1996 

of  Habits  of  Coypti            1615 

CHARITY,  Lesson  of                   2576 

Learning  to  walk                1004 

of  Heart       .  .  .      *465 

—  Needs  corrective  1645 

,  Mother's  devotion  to  .  .      2752 

the  of  science     18 

each  other                                    181 

midst  of                                 .      1017 

of  Discovery.  .  .        ...        859 

Safe  with  South  Ameri- 

  Inherited  effect  of    in 

CHARNEL-HOUSES,      Hos- 

can lion                                        2045 

habits                                      .      1487 

pitals  no  longer  2338 

,  Scientist  as  little  .     2373  3018 

in  Language  1828 

CHASM  Between   conscious- 

  ,  Tutor  for  affections  .  .  .      *487 

,  Life  evidenced  by.  ...      1880 

ness  and  mechanics  3421 

,  "  Wilfulness"  in  3730 

,  Man's  body  undergoing     2047 
of  Opinion  with  knowl- 

  ,  Unbridged,    between 
man  and  ape  826 

CHILDHOOD    Best    remem- 
bered in  old  age                        2148 

edge   .                                              418 

CHASMS  Opened  by  earth- 

  of    Positions    of    fixed 

quake  954 

ond."                                            2913 

stars.  .  .                                        *466 

CHASTITY     Dependent     on 

,  Impressions  of  recalled     2149 

the  Result  of  prepara- 
tion. .  .  .                                       *455 

habit  1426 
CHEAPENING  of  Labor  *483 

,  Impressions  of,  a  stim- 
ulus                                              1600 

,  Silent  witness  of  *469 
of    Skies    in    southern 
climes  *467 

CHECK  of  Intolerance  upon 
science  692 
of  Radiant  heat  2935 

,  Language  the  study  of     1831 
,  Mobility  of  attention  in     2229 
of  the  Race                     .        488 

among  the  Stars  *456 
,  Steam  the  medium  of.      2266 

CHECKS  on  Increase  of  bac- 
teria. .                                    ,     2878 

,  Time    of    installations 
and  trials.  .  .                               1473 

786 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


CHILD-LABOR    in     British 

factories 1805 

Restricted  by  law.  .  .  .  1515 

CHILD-TRAINING,  Need  of, 

a  science *489 

CHILDREN,  Alcohol  and. . .  135 

and  Animals 969 

not    Automata 173 

,  Dramatic      impulses 

strong  in 1594 

,  Imitative  sports  of.  ...  2627 

,  Mischief  in,  instinctive  2220 

-,  Play  of 


,  Relative  immunity  of. 

-,  Victims  of  cheap  labor 


2629 
1588 
483 
2240 
1461 


CHILL  of  Celestial  space 

of  Upper  air 

CHIMBORAZO,     Humming- 
birds found  on 1425 

CHIMPANZEE     in     Crystal 

palace 1561 

in  Equatorial  forests.  .        833 

,  Walk  of  the 1004 

CHINA,      Astrology      rather 

than  astronomy  in 255 

,  Extremes  of  tempera- 
ture in 1171 

,  Magnet  and  amber  in.      2007 

,  Philippines     connected 

with 825 

,  Potter's  wheel  of 2647 

,  Tea   in 3361 

CHINESE,  Antiquity  of  his- 
tory of  the 192 

,  Astronomers    punished 

for  neglect  by 963 

,  Calculations  of,  errone- 
ous   255 

,  Invention    of   compass 

by,  a  question 192 

,  Knowledge  of,  regard- 
ing navigation 255 

J ,  The  Magnet  deified  by .     3786 

,  Picture-writing   of.  ...      3791 

,  Tradition      of      deluge 

among 3454 

CHLORIDE  OF  LIME,  For- 
mation of 3588 

CHLOROPHYLL,   Animals 

secreting 2471 

Produced  by  sun 478 

CHOCOLATE,   Sustaining 

power    of 1273 

CHOICE  a  Function  of  cere- 
brum   756 

the  Great  work  of  con- 
sciousness      *491 

among    Methods    of 

reaching  a  single  end.  .  .  .      *490 

the  Result  of  compari- 
sons   492 

-,  Theory  of  free 3407 

CHOPPING-KNIFE  among 

Eskimo  women 559 

CHRIST,  Work  of,  a  means 

to  an  end 493 

CHRISTIANS,  Views  of 

Heaven  among .  3056 

CHRISTIANITY  Demands  no 

exception  to  law *493 

,  The  Ideal  of 2809 

Led  to  study  of  nature     *494 

not    Shaken    by   over- 
throw of  dogmas 895 

,  Simple  idea  of,  of  God.        749 

Supplies  a  goal  for  evo- 
lution      1102 

Thought  to  be  threat- 
ened by  astronomy 673 

Unshaken  by  Coperni- 
cus       *495 

CHRISTIANS,  Bible  the  only 

standard  of  early 363 

CHROMIUM  in  the  Sun.  .  3488 
CHROMOSPHERE  of  Sun .  .  3297 
and  Prominences  of  sun  585 

of     Sun     seen     in 

eclipse 406,  *496 

of  Sun  studied  by 

means  of  spectroscope ....  94 

CHRONOMETER,  Compensa- 
tion in 561 


CHRONOMETRY,    Uncon- 
scious         3440 

CHURCH,  Interests  of  the .          246 

,  Science  under  ban  of.        1743 

,  Scientist    loyal   to    op- 
posing         3017 

CICERO,     Descriptions     of 

true  to  fact 1670 

CINNAMON-TREE     of     the 

Tertiary 1864 

"CIPHERING"  from  Use  of 

zero 3798 

CIRCLE,  Ellipse,  etc.,  merge 

into 2458 

of     Perpetual    appari- 
tion   ...3218-19 


,  Reasoning  in  a 

CIRCUIT,  Transformation  of 

railway  into  telephonic.  .  . 
CIRCULATION  of  the  Blood 

confirmed 

of  the  Blood  mechani- 
cal  

of     Blood    taught     by 

Harvey 

in  Doorway  of  heated 

room 

of    Lungs    taught    by 

Servetus 

,  Purpose  of,  on  the  sun 

of  Solid  materials  of  the 

globe 

on  the  Sun 

CIRCUMMUTATION,  Effects 

of 

of  Plants 

CIRCUMSTANCE     and     ele- 
mentary law 

,  Present  state  of  brain 


2764 
3463 


841 
2004 


1742 
3156 


1742 
2805 


935 
*497 


2287 
2286 


410 

477 


result  of 

CIRCUMSTANCES,    Individ- 
ual deemed  victim  of 1820 

CITIES  of  Cloudland 2219 

where     Ocean     once 

rolled 1733 

CITY,  Archipelago  less  than  a  225 

Receives     hot      water 

from  underground 1465 

CIVILIZATION,  Advance  of.  83 
,  Agriculture  foundation 

of 126 

,  Ancient  —  Prehistoric 

development *500 

.Ancient — Relics  of 

Barbarism *499 

Blights  and  destroys.  .  751 

Came  to  Europe  from 

without *501 

Not  completed  by  ma- 
terial good *509 

,  Culture  the  ripe  fruit  of  *502 

,  Decline  of *503-04 

.Decline     of  —  Imple- 
ments   746 

,  Decline  of  reverence  for 

antiquity  under  modern .  .  2910 

— ,  Dwelling  an  index  of.  .  *512 

,  Essential  features  of .  .  *508 

.Evidence  of  vanished.  2493 

Fails  to  reach  human- 
ity   *505 

,  Fire  a  factor  of 1236 

,  Fire  a  necessity  of  ....  1233 

• Founded  upon  home .  .  *506 

Founded    upon    imita- 
tion   1582 

a  Gain *498 

,  Imitation    of   first   im- 
portance to 1297 

,  Man  builds 2033 

,  Mature,  and  culture  .  .  .  502 

Means     extinction     of 

apes 212 

,  The  Mercy  of 3030 

in  Northern  lands ....  *507 

,  Pilots  of 2603 

Prolongs  age  of  tutel- 

age 3504 

Promotes  longevity.  .  .  1987 

,  Relics  of  past  in  present  2860' 

Removes  occasions  for 

fear..                          *510 


CIVILIZATION,  Savagery  as 

modern  as 2955 

,  Savages  amidst 2956 

Teaches  regular  work       *511 

not  an  Unmixed  gain .        1990 

CLAIMS,  Contrasted 2094 

of  Priority  largely  spur- 
ious       2733 

CLAMPS,  Substitutes  for, 

among  American  Indians.  3285 

CLASSES,  Three,  of  food 

necessary 2885 

CLASSICS,  Magnet  in  Greek .      2008 

CLASSIFICATION,  Bacteria 

elude *513 

Dependent    upon    pur- 
pose       *514 

not  Explanation 3317 

,  Religious      phenomena 

need 2580 

CLEANLINESS  the  First 

great  need 2177 

.Mistaken  attempt  at, 

causes  pollution 1652 

Secures  purity  of  milk .      *515 

,  Utility  of *516,  *517 

CLEARING  Made  by  animals  170,171 
CLEARNESS      of      Celestial 

ether *518 

CLIFF,  Minute  particles  cut 

through  solid 1049 

CLIFFS,  Chalk,  built  by  mi- 
nute organisms 220 

.  (See  also  CHALK  ;  CHALK- 
CLIFFS.) 

CLIMATE,  Alternations  of,  in 

geologic  time *519,  *520 

,  Change  of,  of  North 

America 460 

Changed  by  dust 3312 

,  Coal      deposits     prove 

mild *528 

Conquered  by  intellect  1714 

,  Effect  of,  on  man *523 

,  Effect  of.  on  struggle 

for  life *522 

,  Effect  of  land  and  sea  on  3371 

Effects       changes       of 

characteristics *521 

of    Europe    moderated 

by  Gulf  Stream 1417 

and  Garden  plants 793 

,  Man  adapts  himself  to 

every 1714 

.Mildness  of  European.      2176 

of  Perpetual  spring.  .  .      3482 

Ranged    on    mountain 

sides 92 

.Rigorous,  stimulates..  1802 

,  Warm,  in  coal  period.  .  1318 

CLIMATES,  "Insular"  vs. 

"Excessive." 1171 

CLIMBER,  Milk  refreshes 

Alpine 573 

.  Thirst  of  Alpine 3418-19 

CLIMBING,  Power  of,  innate  2649 
CLIME,  Horse  and  ox  with 

man  in  every 39 

CLIMES,  Change  of  skies  in 

Southern 467 

CLOCK,  Apparent  size  of 

church 3654 

,  Counting  strokes  after, 

has  struck 960 

Involves  work 3768 

Noticed  when  it  stops.      3664 

,  Tick  of,  a  weak  stimu- 
lus       1599 

CLOSET,  Workers  in,  behind 

industrial  achievement..  .  .  2698 

CLOSING,  Involuntary,  of 

the  eye 392 

CLOTH  and  Dyestuff 2833 

CLOTHES,  Pressure  of,  un- 
noticed    1609 

CLOTHING  Is  almost  part  of 

self 1158 

,  Ornament  before 2061 

of  Primitive  man *524 

,  Psychology  of 3428 

CLOUD,  Changing,  on  moun- 
tain peak 2561 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


787 


*525 


2219 
525 


*527 


373 

*528 


3461 

795 

2922 

1318 

1614 

3695 

741 

1465 


CLOUD  about  Mountain  top.     1253 

,  Azure  of  incipient.  .  .  .      *526 

CLOUD-CAPITALS  of  View- 
less columns 

CLOUDLAND,      Cities     and 

towers  of 

CLOUDS,  Cumulus 

with  Lining  of  blue  and 

CLOTDS,  Mageilanic.  .'  '  '.  .'885,  3257 
,  Smoke-like ,  of  darkness       857 

Wait   vainly   over   the 

Sahara ,•••••        312 

CLOVERS  Distributed  by 
man.. «•  •  •  •  20 

CLUSTERS.  (See  STAR- 
CLUSTERS.) 

COAL,  Deposits  of 2897 

Despoiled  under  agency 

of  water •  • 

,  Deposits  of,  prove  mild 

climate 

Effect  of  Discovery- 
possible  effect  of  exhaus- 
tion  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 

.Exhaustion  of  English 

Forests  preserved  in.  . 

,  Fossils  of  the,  period. . 

,  Gas  weighs  more  than 

the,  producing  it • 

,  Gives  equivalent  ot 

sun's  heat 

in  Great  Britain 

1  Heat  of  earth  instead  of 

,  Heat  of  sun  measured 

bv  heat  of ;•      2128 

-,  Money  wasted  in  vain 

sparrh  for  1357 

-  -  Power 'stored  in.  .  .2657,  2692 

Preserves   structure  of 

J-raIioringof:::: :::::.::  Mi 

COAL-BEDS    Buried    under 

ocean-rocks 1734 

COAL-HEAVER,  Queer  sav- 

ings  of »** 

COAST,  Inroad  of  sea  on 

British 458 

COAST-FEVER  Fatal  among 

Europeans ..••  1030 

COAT,  Illusion  of  cap  and...  1556 

COB-WORK,  Mass  of ,  1926 

COCOA,  Sustaining  power  of  1273 

CODE  of  Honor *529 

CODLING-MOTH  Attacks 

COEDUCATION  iri  'America  1323 
COHERENCE  not  by  Chance  453 
COHESION  of  Gaseous  mass  2433 
COINCIDENCE  of  Great  dis- 
coveries   *530-*«31 

COINS  Less  interesting  than 

fossils 1316 

,  Old,  increase  in  purity  2154 

COLD,  Contrast  of  heat  and 

in  South  Africa 637 

,  Dead-line  of 71 

Of  Deep  sea  intense .  . .  3372 

Drought  produces  tor- 
por as  of 1172 

,  Effect  of  heat  and,  re- 
sistless    979 

,  Electric  conduction  in- 
creased by 1453 

Extreme  near  pole ....  725 

Has    high    commercial 

value 1463 

and  Heat  break  down 

rocks 868 

,  Heat  producing 1463 

,  Illusion  of  heat  and ..  1557 

,  Influence  of,  on  water  1669 

,  Land  a  conductor  of.  3371 

Merely    represses    bac 

teria 3341 

,  Partnership  of  heat  and  2513 

and    Pressure   in   deep 

727 
3778 
3373 

.  Self -adjustment  to.  ...  561 

COLERIDGE,  Irresolution  of  1192 


in  Rarefied  air 

,  Ridges  shut  off  polar.  . 


COLERIDGE,  Unbelief  of,  in 

ghosts 2888 

COLLECTING,     Mania     for, 

seen  in  lower  animals ....     2079 

,  Time  and  cost  of,  fatal     1754 

COLLECTION  of  a  Wood-rat     2079 

COLLECTORS,     in     Natural 

history 2457 

COLONY,  Home  selected  for 

new,  of  bees 2611 

COLOR   as   Protective   from 

heat *535 

,  Absence  of,  helpful. . .     *532 

,  Adaptation   of,  to  en- 
vironment    45-47 

of  Arctic  animals  com- 
monly white 163 

.Assimilation  of,  to  en- 
vironment         242 

,  Bird  attacked  for  un- 
usual        367 

,  Brilliancy  of,  does   not 

accompany  musical  power     3113 

,  Brilliancy  of,  of  male 

birds 408 

,  Brilliancy    of,    of    pro- 

48 
546 

461 
*536 
1261 
*537 

335 


tected  birds. 
— ,  Change  of,  of  Sirius.  . . 
—  Changed    as    effect    of 

sight 

Depends  on  observer . 


-  ,  Diet  changes,  of  birds. 

-  in  Flowers  and  fruits.  . 

-  of    Ice   rivals   blue   of 
ocean  .................. 

-  of  Iceberg  changed  by 
revolution  ..............      1537 

--  ,  Mystery      of,      among 

birds  ........  :  ..........        676 

--  ,  No  Natural,  pure  .....      2602 

--  a  Negative  quality  ....     *533 

-  of    Nocturnal    animals 
adapted  to  night  ........      2417 

-  of    Objects    the    color 

they  reject  ..............     1943 

-  ,  Perception  of  .........      1174 

-  in     Photography  —  Ac- 
complished ............  ,.  .     3001 

-  in  Photography  —  Prin- 
ciples ...................      1671 

-  of  Pigments  ..........      *538 

--  a  Protection  .........      *534 

-  ,  Purpose  of,  in  nature.  .      2361 

-  ,  Red    a    prevalent,    in 
fauna  of  deep  sea  ........     2849 

--  -,  Reflection  necessary  to 

give  ....................       375 

-  ,  Rich  ,  of  breaking  waves    3708 

-  of  Sky  artificially  pro- 
duced ..................      *540 

-  of  Sky  —  How  produced     *539 

-  .Spiders    resembling 

2771 
474 


leaves  in 

-  ,  Variations  in,  of  stars. 

-  Varied    with    surround- 

ings ....................          94 

-  ,  Variety  of,  among  the 

stars  ...................      3618 

-  ,  Variety  of,  in  deep-sea 
echinoderms  .............      3619 

COLORADO,  Ancient,  had 

pottery  .................  196 

COLORATION  of  Animals  a 

defense  .................  722 

--  of  Arctic  animals  .....          47 

--  ,  Deceptive,  among  birds     1047 

-  ,  Protective,  universal.  .      *541 
COLOR-BLINDNESS,  Defect 

in  retina  causes  ..........        536 

--  of  Dr.  Dalton  ........      3653 

-  ,  Effect    of  ............      3073 

-  More    common    among 

men  than  among  women  .  .      *542 

-  Unknown     to     person 
affected  by  it  ............  1660-61 

COLORING,        Conspicuous, 

protective  ...............      3586 

-  ,  Gorgeous,  of  humming- 
birds ____  .  ..............        325 

-  ,  Memory's    unconscious     1186 

-  ,  Ostrich     invisible     by 
protective  ...............     2492 


COLORING,  Purpose  in  plain, 

of  female  birds 2800 

COLORS  in  Art 238 

,  Birds      protected      by 

modest 408 

from  Coal  tar 3589 

,  Complementary,    cause 

illusion 1562 

of  Deep-sea  fish *543 

,  Double    stars   of   com- 
plementary        3618 

,  Dusky,  of  nocturnal  an- 
imals    2417 

of  Flower  Petals 478 

,  Flowers  and  trees  ab- 
sorb different 2737 

of  Flowers  due  to  ab- 
sorption        539 

of  Grouse  and  ptarmi- 
gan      2179 

,  The  Humming-bird  se- 
cure with  brilliant.  ......  3177 

,  Impurity  of  natural.  .  .      1608 

,  Many  hues  from  pri- 
mary    2384 

of  Mother-of-pearl 

transferred 3505 

Obtained     from     thin 

films *544 

,  Perception  of,  limited.      2537 

,  Prismatic,  from  inter- 
ference of  waves 1339 

Produced  by  soap-bub- 
bles      3134 

Produced   by   spirit   of 

turpentine 549 

,  Protective,  of  animals.        163 

,  Protective,  in  the  Des- 
ert   780 

,  Protective,  in  the  Trop- 
ics   3492 

Result  of  molecular  ar- 
rangement       *550 

,  Rich    and    varied,    of 

glaciers 1532 

,  Sky  combines  all 3125 

of  Spectrum *545 

of  Stars *546-*47 

,  Stars  of  many 3212 

of  Thin  plates.  .544,*548-*49 

of   Thin    plates — Illus- 
trated       2625 

,  Transparency  to  differ- 
ent   1083 

,  Varied,  of  birds 2836 

(See  also  STAR-COLORS.) 

COLUMBUS  Aided  by  an- 
cient error 764 

,  Discovery    of  America 

by,  unintentional 2900 

and     Eclipse     of     the 

moon 3324 

,  No  horses  in  America 

in  time  of 1314 

Infers  a  continent ....      1579 

,  Mechanics   of   America 

before 2133 

,  Scientific  spirit  of.  ...      2533 

.Wheels  for  vehicles  in 

America  unknown  be- 
fore      3727 

COMBATIVENESS    Inherent 

in  man 2398 

,  Mental  vs.  physical .  .  .      2460 

COMBINATION,  Chemical,  in 

nature 1845 

against  Competition. .  .     2474 

,  Conduct        determined 

by,  of  motives 73 

,  Force  of  chemical.  .  .  .      1284 

of    Intelligence *552 

May   perish *551 

for  Mutual  advantage.      2514 

to  Secure  result 2892 

of    the    seemingly    in- 
compatible      *553 

.Useful 3520 

,  Variable,  of  invariable 

forces 3602 

COMBINATIONS,  Human, 

must  act  with  Nature *554 

Subject  to  change ....       596 


788 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


COMBUSTION,    Atoms    fall 
together  in  277 

COMPENSATION    in    Chro- 
nometer                                       *561 

CONCLUSION,      Inadequate 
data  lead  to  erroneous.  .  .  .      *731 
,  Method  of  arriving  at 
scientific  2165 
,  Proofs  unite  in  one  ....      2762 
,  Wallace     and     Darwin 
reach  the  same.  .                         117 
CONCOMITANTS,    Molecular 
movements,  of  mental  ac- 
tion        2599 
CONCOURSE,  No  Fortuitous, 
of  atoms  .  .                                      454 

,  Chief   products   of   in- 
visible        *555 
not     Formerly    under- 
stood                                              274 

,  Evils    averted    by  Na- 
ture's                                           3523 

.Mental  triumph  a....      3088 
in  Nature                             *562 

,  Influence      of      height 
upon      .                     ...        117 

in  Wonders  of  science.        859 
COMPENSATIONS      of     the 
Deep  ...     *563 

,  Respiration  is  2885 

of     Sun     would     take 
3,000  years  3155 

for     Vegetable     immo- 
bilitv  3033 
COMPETITION,  Combination 
against  2474 
and  Improvement  ....      1602 
•  Necessary  for  improve- 
ment. ...                           .    .      1602 

.Transformation  of 
products  of                        .          3464 

CONCRETE,     Mind     prefers 
the,  to  the  abstract  .  .              2205 
CONCURRENCE    of    Events 
to  advance  astronomy  .  .          *579 
CONDEMNATION  of  Present 
judges    braved    for   higher 
approval  *580 
CONDIMENTS,    Heating,    to 
be  avoided  in  tropics   .  .          1448 
CONDITION,   Adaptation  to 
new  .     .                                           53 

COMET,   Approach  and  de- 
parture of  a  1082 

,  Biela's,  crosses  earth's 
orbit  1430 
,  Division  of  Biela's.  .  .  .        889 
,  Earth  wrapped  in  tail 
of                                           .     3379 

.Value  of  3167 
COMPETITORS,  New,  affect 
plant  *564 
COMPLEXITY  of  Conscious- 
ness        *565 
of  Human  brain  *566 
of  Light  971 
Requires  time  for  de- 
velopment        *568 
of  the  Struggle  for  life  .      *567 
COMPLICATION    of    Struc- 
ture of  the  heavens  3257 
COMPOSITION  of  Forces.  .  .     *569 
COMPOUND.  Mixture  differs 
from  3518 
COMPOUNDS,  Our  chemical 
elements  may  be  993 
COMPREHENSION    of    Me- 
chanics by  monkey  2132 
COMPREHENSIVENESS     of 
Genius  *570 
of  the  Human  mind.  .      *571 
COMPULSION     Abolishes 
moral  quality  of  actions.  .      *572 
of  Body  by  mind  *573 
,  Will,  free  from  3736 
COMTE,  Second-hand  knowl- 
edge of  2781 
Would  have  improved 
the  tilt  of  the  earth's  axis.       817 
CONCAVE,  The,  seen  in  relief     1738 
CONCEALMENT  of  Animals 
by  markings                         .      2087 

,  Halley's,  at  Hastings  .  .      2451 
,  H  a  1  1  e  y  '  s  —  Reappear- 
ance       2523 

A  lost              .             ...      2163 

,  Change,  the,  of  life  470 

,  Newly  risen  3219 
COMETS    Aggregations      o  f 
meteorites  3553 
,  Distances,  travel  3761 
Expelled  from   sun  or 
star                                              3659 

less  pigeons.                               2574 

CONDITIONS,        Apparently 
similar,    produce    different 
results  *581 
,  Contrast     with     all 
known  earthly  3630 
,  Control  of  conduct  by 
change  of  1848 
,  External,    do    not    ex- 
plain structure  2896 
,  Gross    pollution    under 
ordinary  515 

<  ,  Laws  of  motion  of.  ...      2091 
,  Meteorites  the  dust  of 
decaying  1135 
Moving  electric  lights.      *556 
,  Nuclei  of  1061 
Shot  forth  from  stars.  .      2658 
,  Variety    of    movement 
of  3620 
"Visible  nothings."  .  .  .      1061 
COMFORT  Sought  in  homes 
of  ants                               .  .  .        221 

statement  of  1400 

same  1843 
,  Organism     more     con- 
trolling than  2467 
,  Transformation          by 
changed  3459 
,  Volition  fulfills  3185 
CONDOR   a   Dweller  in   the 

COMMAND  of  Two  oceans.  .         93 
,  Wonders   wrought   by, 

COMMERCE,  Advantages  of 
North  America  for  93 

and  Agriculture  2029 

Results  of                      .  .     2298 

Flight  of                                2285 

'  Aids  science  2761 
as  a  Seed-distributer.  .     2029 
COMMON-SENSE  of  a  Child  .      1  1  89 
a  Safe  guide              .  .  .        582 

,  Brilliancy  a  means  of  .  .        407 
,  Dusky  colors  of  animals 
aid  in  2417 
CONCENTRATION    of    Care 
and  love      1882 

Range  of  the   .    .         .      2823 

Soars  above  the  Andes     1920 
,  Wonderful  power  of  .  .      2884 
CONDUCT,  Character  above       597 
Determined     by     com- 
bination of  motives  73 
,  Human,  and  the  moral 
sense                                             2053 

COMMOTION  Attends  eman- 

Excess  of                    .    .      1128 

COMMUNICATION,  Co-oper- 
ation depends  upon  658 
Electrical               *557 

of  Industry             *574 

of  Light  by  lens  19 
of    Power   in    burning- 
glass  *575 
,  Source  of  sun's  heat  .  .      3307 
CONCEPTION  of  Energy  or 
force                                              1546 

,  Knowledge    not    suffi- 
cient for  1799 

COMMUNION   of   Man   with 
Nature                          *558 

Prediction  of  2710 

of  Nature  with  Man.  .  .      1912 
COMMUNITY   of   Need   and 
supply  *559 
COMPANION,     Bright     star 
with  dark  2500 
,  Dog  the  universal,  of 
man..                     897 

CONDUCTION,    Electric,   in- 
creased by  cold  1453 
CONDUCTIVITY,       Division 
lessens  888 
CONDUCTOR,   Aura   around 
electrical  270 
,  Water  a  poor,  of  heat  .      3699 
CONFIDENCE  and  Calmness 
in  surgery                                    1516 

of  a  Finite  Creator  *577 
,  Infinite,  from  finite  ex- 
perience        *576 
of  Infinity  a    necessity     1659 
,  Laborious  climbing  to 
now  familiar                               1403 

Earth's  ancient.        .    .        943 

,  The  Great  580 
COMPARATIVE    ANATOMY 
among  Savages  160 
COMPARISON,     Color-blind- 
ness  learned  by                         1660 

of  the  Middle  ages  3404 
,  Personality    an    inevi- 
table     .             2572 

in  Common  sense  *582 
,  Earthquake          shakes 
man's  955 
in  the  Order  of  nature  .      2985 
,  Protective    mimicry    a 
source  of                                      2250 

Personality  a  primitive     2573 

of  Different  views  *560 

]  Primitive,  of  deity.  ...      1211 

lief...                                          1791 

,  A  Recent,  in  legislation     1848 
of  Supreme  Intelligence 
treated  as  an  absurdity.  .  .     2423 
,  Unity  of  n  ature  a  mental     3538 
CONCEPTIONS,  Abstract,  in- 
fluence man  2046 
,  Abstract  ,  personified  ..      2095 
Founded  on  experience     *578 
,  No  New,  in  later  life..        835 
,  Permanence  of  2561 
,  Physical,    of    the    an- 

CONFLAGRATION,      Aurora 
borealis  mistaken  for  2581 
at  Crystal  Palace  1561 
,  Spark  produces  976 
of  a  Star  *583-*84 

COMPARISONS,   Choice   the 
result  of  series  of  492 
COMPARTMENTS,      Water- 
tight, of  nature's  boats.  .  .      2379 
COMPASS,  Chinese  invention 
of  ,  questionable  192 
.  First  record  of  mariner's    2084 
,  Mariner's,  of  the  East, 
a  "Chinese  copy."  2085 
,  Origin     of      mariner's 
lost                                                2484 

,  Stellar  3196 
on  the  Sun                      *585-86 

CONFLICT  Behind  the  order 
of  nature                                     3258 

,  Disease  a,  between  vic- 
tim and  bacteria.                      1914 

of  Forces  2337 
,  Imagined,    of    religion 
and  science  *590,  3590 

,  Respiratory    power   in 
small  1618 

,  Primeval  749 
,  Primitive    man    incap- 
able of  abstract  2064 
CONCEPTS,  Original,  in  San- 
scrit. .  .                                          1443 

Subject  to  variations  ..          17 
.     (See  also  MARINER'S 
COMPASS,) 

of  Senses                              3072 

of  System  with  fact  .  .  .      3499 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


789 


CONFLICT  of   Testimony 

*587-S9, 1571 

of  Theories 292 

,  Widespread     among 

animals 2420 

CONFORMITY  of  Nature  to 

law 2381 

CONFUSION  of  Unlike  things  2098 

CONJECTURE  and  Certainty  448 

Confirmed  by  discovery  848 

,  Darwin's,  unfounded .  .  2340 

,  Happy,     of     Bacon — 

Velocity  of  light 3631 

.  Suffering  less  than 3290 

CONNECTION  of  Brain-func- 
tion and  mental  activity.  .  2099 

of  Physical  phenomena  *591 

CONQUERING  of  Habit  by 

sudden  change 1419 

CONQUEROR  of  Temptation 

allowed  no  merit 296 

CONQUEST  of  Difficulties .  .  .  2789 

Has  unintended  result .  *592 

of  Nature  by  savages.  .  *593 

.  Right  wins  its  own ....  2921 

CONQUESTS  of  Science— As- 
tronomy   262 

of  Science  for  humanity  922 

of   Science  by  travelers  *594 

CONSCIENCE  Active  in  opi- 
um-eater   *595 

,  Aggregate,    controlling 

individual *596 

Deemed  dependent  on 

circumstances 1820 

,  Universal  belief  in *597 

CONSCIOUSNESS,     Action 

without 2675 

,  Atomic  motion  not  con- 
vertible into •  •  2256 

and     Atomic      motion 

different *598 

Causation  an  ultimate 

fact  of •  427 

- .Choice  the  great  work 

of 491 

,  Continuity  of *601 

Dead    to    ever-present 

fact    *602 

Depends  on  contrast  *603,*604 

N0t  explicable  by  me- 
chanical theory *606 

?  Facts  unheeded  in 3664 

Fails  to  note  common 

facts 1190 

,  Fields  of,  always  com- 
plex   565 

the  Fundamental  fact .  2828 

of    Ignorance — A   step 

toward  knowledge 1550 

of  Incompleteness .  .  .  3658 

Incomprehensible.  .  .  .  2034 

,  Individuality  of 3003 

,  Man's,  of  power 2074 

.Materialism  baffled  by  2096 

,  Mechanical  evolution  of  2100 

and  Mechanics 3421 

.Memory  an  ultimate.  .  1967 

,  Memory  seems  intuitive 

as,  itself 1633 

,  From  molecular  move- 
ment to 2281 

Momentarily     oblitera- 
ted   2676 

,  Mystery  of. .  .2313,  2315,  2318 

,  Number  of  objects  pos- 
sible in 2428-29 

,  Origin  of  states  of.  ...  2487 

.  Parsimony  in 2508 

Persists  in  sleep *607 

,  Personal   causation   an 

ultimate  fact  of 427 

,  Power  of *608 

Not  a  product  of  physi- 
cal forces *605 

,  Psychology  begins  with 

facts  of 2787 

,  Relation  of,  to  space.  .  2329 

Repudiates      material- 
ism. . *609 

,  Science  knows  not  ori- 
gin of 2814 


CONSCIOUSNESS,  Sensations 

of  normal 3064 

in  Sleep *607 

as  a  Stage *600 

.Suspended *610 

an  Ultimate  fact  of  life     1919 

an     Unresting     stream 

*599, 1574 

CONSENSUS,  Stable,  of  belief       450 
CONSERVATION  OF  ENER- 
GY, All  forces  may  be  one 


,  Heat,  light,  etc 

,  Heat  stored  in  lime. 


3546 
611 
612 
,  Maintenance    of    sun's 

heat 614 

,  One  power  behind  all 

phenomena 2579 

,  Sum  total  of  energy  in- 
variable   1020 

,  Sun's    heat    cause    of 

motion 613 

CONSISTENCY  of  Progress .  .  *6 1 5 

not  Result  of  chance.  .  453 

,  Truth  better  than 1326 

in  Union  of  old  and  new  2450 

of  the  Universe 3510 

CONSTANCY  of  Attraction  .  288 

,  Importance  of *616 

,  Law  of 1844 

of  Laws  of  nature *617-18 

of  Vision *619,  *620 

of  Force  with  variety  of 

adaptation 2267,  3601 

.  (See  also  PERMAN- 
ENCE.) 

CONSTELLATIONS  Gradual- 
ly arranged 1790 

Recognized   by   rudest 

nations 620 

CONSTITUENTS,  Gaseous,  of 

nebulas 2397 

of  the  Sun *621 

CONSTITUTION,  Bodily.  .  .  .  2072 

,  Contrivance  in,  of  the 

universe 3601 

,  Mystery  as  to,  of  the 

earth." 2307 

CONSTRUCTION,  Power  of.  1180 
CONSUMMATION  of   Evolu- 
tion   3777 

CONTACT,  Change  of  charac- 
ter from 459 

with  external  world.  .  .  1159 

Gives  sense  of  reality .  .  3355 

,  Objects    hurt    or    help 

only  by 3355 

CONTAGION,  Minute  parti- 
cles of 2878 

among  Silk-worms ....  *622 

CONTAMINATION,  Artificial  *623 
CONTEMPLATION     of     na- 
ture  *624-25 

CONTEMPT,    Body    not    an 

object  of 388 

— ,  Mediaeval,  f9r  body. . . .  389 
of   Scholastics  for   sci- 
ence   *626 

CONTINENT,  Antarctic,  dis- 
covered   848 

,  Beavers  change  surface 

of 1899 

,  Columbus  infers  a.  ...  1579 

,  Ganges  washing  down.  1340 

,  Humming-birds  con- 
fined to  American ....  2530 

,  Ice-capped  Antarctic.  .  323 

,  An  unstable 154 

CONTINENTS,    Gradual   rise 

of 471,3567 

,  Growth  of 3130 

Maintained    by    repro- 
ductive power 957 

Persistent *627 

,  Relative  height  of *629 

,  Submerged *630 

,  Submergence   and  ele- 
vation of 3278 

Washed  into  the  sea.  .  *628 

CONTINUITY    of   Action   of 

earth-building    forces 23 

,  Law  of 455,  1845 

Manifest  in  gravitation  3554 


CONTINUITY  of  Mental  life. 

of  Nature *631 

of  Racial  life 


CONTOUR,  Wind  changes,  of 
mountains 

CONTRACTION  of  Bulk  may 
sustain  heat  of  sun *632 

,  No,  of  Earth  in  2,000 

years 

and  Evolution  of  heat . 

Explained 

,  Radiation  keeping  pace 

with 

CONTRADICTION,  Seeming, 

in  reflection  of  light 

,  Sensations  combine  in 

CONTRAST  with  all  known 

earthly  conditions 

of    Doing    with    mere 

saying 

of   Elements  with  hu- 
man power 

of  Giving  and  with- 
holding   . 

of    Heat    and    cold    in 


South  Africa. 
,  Impressive 

with  All  known  earthly 

conditions 

,  Light  and  dark,  deter- 
mined   t .  .  . 

,  Modern  in,  to  ancient 

political  philosophy 

of  Mountain  and  valley 

of  Reflected  and  trans- 
mitted light 

of  Sleep  to  waking  life. 

of  Star-colors 

of  Temperate  and  trop- 
ical vegetation 

CONTRASTS,  Man  a  creature 
of 

CONTRIBUTOR,  Unlearned 
debt  of  science  to 

CONTRIVANCE,  Apparent, 
among  insects 

CONTRIVANCES,  Cat's 
knowledge  of  mechanical . 

CONTRIVANCE  in  Constitu- 
tion of  the  universe ...... 

for  Fertilizing  orchid .  . 

Finds  place  in  Nature. . 

in  Nature .  .  . 

Recognized 

for  seed-dispersal.  .*644 

Worthy  of  the  supreme 

will 

CONTROL,  Acquired  interest 
obtains 

of  Conduct  by  change 

of  conditions 

,  How  much,  by  govern- 
ment?  

of  Instinct  in  man.  .  .  . 

by  Obedience 

,  Scientific,  of  bacteria.  . 

,  Sun's  ceaseless,  of  the 

earth 

of  Thought  lost 

,  Value  of  power  of.  ... 

CONTROVERSY,  Agreement 

amid 

Between      holders      of 

partial  truths 

over  Little  hill 

CONVERGENCE  of  Charac- 
ters in  art 

of     Opposite     growths 

forms  eye 

of  Sciences  upon  evolu- 
tion   

CONVERSATION  as  a  Con- 
test   ; 

CONVICTION,  Courage  of .  .  . 

of  Human  origin  of 

arrowhead 

of  the  Human  race .... 

,  Obligation  to  morality 

a  primal 

CONVOLUTIONS,  Power  of 
brain  depends  on *651, 


601 

,1381 

1584 

3741 
,*633 

1457 
769 
393 

2820 

*634 
1557 

*641 

899 

2605 

*636 

*637 
*635 

3630 
2544 

791 
*639 

*638 

2328 

547 

*640 

*642 

740 

782 

1723 

3601 
*643 
2358 
*646 
214 
,*645 

*647 
1735 
1848 

2735 

1699 

903 

1091 

946 
3677 
2667 

873 

*648 
*649 

238 

783 

*650 

1911 
2565 

102 

409 

2436 
2596 


790 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


CONVULSIONS  of  the  Earth  929 

,  Silent     memorials     of 

past 224 

COOK,  Cookery  depends  on.  653 

COOKERY    Ignored 1263 

,  Importance  of *653 

,  The  Morality  of 140 

among  Primitive  wom- 
en   *652 

COOKING,  Early  devices  for  *654 

of     Food     an     ancient 

custom . ..  1789 

the  Invention  of  wom- 
an   *656 

2651 
1231 
*655 
1728 

3187 


,  Pottery  made  to  meet 

demand  for 

,  Primitive  utensils  for.  . 

,  Scientific  value  of .... 

COOKS,  Intelligent,  needed. 

COOLNESS  on  Sun  exceeds 
all  earthly  heat . 


all  earthly  heat 

COOPERATION    of  Animals 

*657,3135 

Depends     upon     com- 
munication      *658 

in     Flower- world 660 

of     Higher     organisms 

with  lower 2468 

in  lower  life *659 

,  Unconscious *660 

,  Unsupported  stories  of 

*657,  1492 

COORDINATION    of  Bodily 

activities *661 

of  Parts  for  result 787 

of  Thought  lost 3677 

COPERNICUS,    Advance    of 

science  from  time  of 3412 

,  Astronomy    of,    harm- 
less to  Christianity 495 

,  Astronomy  of,  wrecked 

cosmogony  of  Dante 673 

Dedicates     great     dis- 
covery to  the  Pope 3017 

,  His    book   finished   on 

eve  of  death 530 

,  New  centering  of  solar 

system  by 2915 

,  Opponents  of  system  of     3739 

,  Reasonings  of 1145 

,  System  of,  demonstrat- 
ed      3631 

,  System  of,  developed .  .     2972 

,  System      of  —  Earth's 

motion 3352 

COPPER,  Effect  of  tempera- 
ture on 182 

in  Europe 501 

First  metal  of  impor- 
tance to  man 1391 

Hammered  into  shape.     *662 

,  Nugget  of 1926 

,  Use  of ,  in  early  America     2133 

Used  as  stone 2152 

Waiting   for   primitive 

man  to  pick  up 662 

,  Wedge  of  hammered . .  2694 

COPY,  Mariner's  compass  of 

the  East  a  "Chinese" 2085 

CORAL,  Anchor  preserved  in  1409 

Animals    found    below 

thirty  fathoms *663 

,  Area  of,  islands 225 

,  Beds  of,  formed  only  at 

small  depths.. 2165 

Grows  against  beating 

waves 1772 

,  Islands  of 1772 

Islands— Size 3773 

,  Rapid  growth  of 476, 1998 

,  Rate  of  growth  of 1409-10 

,  Reefs  and  islands  of ...      2472 

CORALS,  Strongest,  grow  in 

hardest  surf ,  3250 

CORDILLERAS  Slowly  raised  977 
CORNER,  Our  system  but  a, 

of  space 1197 

CORONA  of  sun,  Mystery  of, 

2330,  3306 

— —  seen  only  in  eclipse 

406,  *664,  729 


CORONA,  Steadfast  glory  of. 
CORPUSCLES,  White,  of 

blood,  destroy  germs 

CORRECTION  of  Error  by 

spectroscope 

of  Impressions 

,  Minute 

CORRECTIONS,    Astronomi- 
cal  

CORRECTIVE  Dreamer  has, 
of  waking 

in  Recalling  events.  .  . 

of  Society  a  necessity. 

CORRELATION     of     Forces 

cannot    evolve    conscious- 
ness  

of  Forces — Modern  doc- 
trine  

of  Forces— Tyndall.  .  . 

of  Growth 

,  Light  a  result  of 

of    Parts    revealed    by 


of  Sciences. 


CORRESPONDENCE  of  Ani- 
mal organs 

Demands  a  plan 

Between      embryology 

and  geology 

with  Environment .  1036, 

of  Far-off  lands 

,  Lack  of,  is  death 

of  Magnetic  needle  with 

sun-spots 

Between  pitch  of  sound 

and  color  of  light 

CORRESPONDENCES,     Man 

a  mass  of 

CORRUPTION,  Life  fights  off 
CORVID^,    Intelligence    of 

the 

COSMOGONY    of     Dante 

wrecked 

,  "Ordinances  of  Manu" 

in  Hindu 

,  Oriental 

,  Rival  schools  of .  . 

COSMOS,  Nature  a.... 

,  Unification  of  the    .  .  . 

COST  of  Collecting  products 

fatal 

of  Pleasure  and  pain.  . 

COSTUME  of  Birds  changed 

with  season 

COTOPAXI,  Humming-birds 
found  on 

COTTON-GIN  among  Won- 
ders of  our  age 

COUNTING,  Methods  of, 
among  savages 

of  Strokes  after  clock 

has  struck 

COUNTRY,  Interests  of 

,  Nation  greater  than . . 

,  Prophet  in  his  own .... 

COURAGE  of  Conviction . . . 

of  Scientist 

COURSE,  Persistence  of  cur- 
rent in  its 

COURTSHIP  an  Educational 
season 

COVER,  Protecting,  should 
fit  loosely 

COVERINGS,  Thin,  protect 
from  frost 

COW,  Disabled,  gored  by  herd 

,  Submission  of 

COWARDICE  Repressed  by 
fear  of  woman's  scorn.  .  .  . 

COWBIRD,  Imposture  prac- 
tised by 

COWS  9f  Ants 

,  Milk-product  of,  in- 
creased by  selection 

COYPU,  Increase  of  South 
American 

CRADLE  in  Tree-top— His- 
tory  

CRAMMING  Scientifically 
bad . 

,  System  of,  false 


'*665 
1363 

1059 
*666 
1122 

2707 

907 

3663 

724 


605 

3546 
3186 
*667 
1928 

3525 
*668 

*672 
*671 

*669 
3481 
2620 
1039 

1665 
*670 

1039 
1883 

3570 
*673 

674 
*674 

649 
2356 
3543 

1754 
*675 

*676 
3895 
3383 
*677 

960 
246 
2354 
2749 
2565 
*678 

2570 
*679 
2819 

2729 

1471 

179 

3749 

1597 
205 

2052 
1615 
2430 

*680 
2141 


2558 
2382 
2865 

141 

2662 

1222 
359 

325 
2530 
*681 

671 

2003 

896 


CRATER  a  Fortress 

of  Volcano  filled  with 

boiling  lava 

CRAVING  of  Man  satisfied 
by  religion 

,  Morbid  physical,  pro- 
duced by  alcohol 

CRAZE  of  Perpetual  motion 

CREAM,  Inoculation  of— 
Bacteria 

,  Ripening  of,  due  to 

bacteria 

CREATION,  Beauty  an  end 
in 

,  Centres  of 

,  A  Coming-to-be 

,  Correspondence 

through  all 

of  Power  by  machine .  . 

Denied  to  be  origin  of 

matter 

by  Development *684 

,  Evolution      consistent 

with 1097 

Higher    than    destruc- 
tion      *686 

,  Hindu  account  of ....       674 

,  Length  of  period  occu- 
pied in *687 

Not  limited  in  method .      *688 

and  Maintenance  one.  .      *682 

,  Potter's  wheel  a  type  of     2650 

a  Present  fact *685 

by  Second  causes *683 

Still  in  progress *689-91 

,  System  of,  in  Koran .  .      *692 

,  Theories   of 3390 

,  Theory  of 3403 

Transcends    human 

thought *693 

,  Variety  of 3615 

CREATIONS  of  the  Mound- 
builders  2615 

CREATIVE  POWER  may  use 
pre-existing  material 

CREATOR  Acts  through 
laws 

,  Aims  and  purposes  of. 

Cannot  be  demonstrat- 
ed  

,  Conception  of  a  finite . 

Not  External,  but  im- 
manent  

,  Power  and  wisdom  of 

the 

,  A  Priori  judgment  of 

the  will  of 

,  Spontaneous  generation 

required  to  dispense  with. 

,  Universal 3050 

,  Wisdom  of  the 3704 

,  The  Wise  providence  of 

the 

CREATURE,  Every,  subject 
to  man 

CREATURES  of  Fancy 

,  Frail,  sport  of  elements 

,  G  o  d  communicating 


681 


1852 
324 


*344 
577 


3390 

1187 


1160 
247 


1363 

571 
*695 
3681 


2765 


*696 
1090 


1345 
248 


with  rational 

CREDULITY    Accepting 
worthless  remedies 

May  vitiate  evidence . . 

,  Public     easily     enter- 
tained on  account  of  their 

CREED,  Faith  demanded  in 

philosophic 

CREEDS,  Decay  of 742 

,  Utility  of  ancient 2767 

CRESS.      (See       WATER- 

CRE8S.) 

CREVASSES,  Beauty  of,  in 

glaciers 335 

of  Glacier 3439 

CRIES,  Discordant 2420 

CRIME  not  Excused  by  in- 
toxication   *697 

,  Statistics  of 311 

CRIMES,    Reduction    of,    in 

navy 2395 

CRIMINAL    INSANITY,    Al- 
coholism a  form  of 2889 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


791 


CRIMINALS  Are  mere  sav- 
ages   2956 

Often  moral  imbeciles.      *698 

CRIMSON  of  Summit  of  Mt. 

Blanc 638 

of  Sunset  and  sunrise.      *699 

CRITICISM,  Crushing  power 

of  hostile 1351 

of  the  Human  eye ....     *700 

on  Inadequate  data.  . .     *701 

CROCODILE  in  Drought ....      1172 
,  the  Heir  of  a  long  suc- 
cession      3460 

CROCODILES    Attacking 

horses 39 

Find    way    to    unseen 

water 449 

on  the  South  American 

Steppes 2971 

CROMAGNON,  The  Old  man 

of 1374,1716,2862 

CROPS,  Rotation  of,  scien- 
tific   3138 

CROSS,  Southern,  once  visi- 
ble in  Europe 3222 

CROSS-BOW  and  Long-bow 

compared 239 

CROSS-FERTILIZATION  of 

Plants 2175 

CROSSING  of  Dissimilar  races    5336 

of  Rays  with  inversion 

of  image 2763 

CROW  Proved  an  insectivor- 
ous bird 3570 

,  Usefulness  of  the 3570 

(See     also     CORVIDAE; 

CROWS.) 

CROWBAR  an  Added  lever.     3048 
CROWFOOT,  Seeds  of,  trans- 
ported in  mud 3039 

CROWN,  Man  the,  of  evolu- 
tion   2068 

CROWS    as    Distributers    of 

seed *702 

CRUCIFIXION  of  the  Flesh.     *703 
CRUELTY,  Ancient,  toward 

insane *704 

Developed  by  encour- 
agement         705 

,  Inherited  tendencies  to     1519 

of  Mobs 3348 

the  Result  of  reasoning     2830 

Wells    up    from    lower 

nature *705 

CRUST  of  Earth  afloat 947 

of  Earth  carved  by  air 

and  water 3143 

of  Earth  fashioned  by 

fire  and  water 104 

,  Surface  of  earth  a  thin     3141 

of  Earth  undetermined       950 

of  Earth  wrinkles  into 

mountains 2613 

,  Evolution  of  earth's.  .      1105 

,  Gradual  subsidence  of 

earth's 3280 

.Movements  of  the 

earth's 2292 

.Slow  elevation  of 

earth's 998 

.Thickness  of  earth's..      3416 

CRUSTACEA,  Blind,  of  Mam- 
moth Cave ....  752 

CRUSTACEAN,  Extinct,  re- 
constructed— Agassiz 2842 

CRY  of  Foster-parent  not 

understood  by  bird *706 

,  Young  in  shell  know 

warning 1215 

CRYSTAL,  Blue  of,  mass  of 

ice 1532 

Compared  with  shell.  .      1886 

,  Idea  realized  in 1545 

,  Origin  of  every,  a  mys- 
tery      2311 

Shaped     according    to 

law 966 

CRYSTALLIZATION,  Force 

of 1291 

• Incomprehensible 2034 

through  Pressure 3484 

,  Process  of 2742 

Requires  time *707 


CRYSTALS,  Artificial *708 

,  Law    binding    water. .  .  383 

,  Structure    of,    not    re- 
vealed by  microscope ....  1959 
CRYSTAL   SPHERE   of  An- 
cient philosophy .  .3626,  3646 

Still  the  conception  of 

the  Middle  Ages 3404 

CRYSTAL  SPHERES  of  Py- 
thagoras   3405 

CUBIT,  Derivation  of 2130 

CUCUMBERS     Escape    ene- 
mies by  migration 1009 

,  Wilt  of 1887 

CUIRASS  imitates  scales  of 

reptile 229 

CULMINATION,  Discovery  a  842 

,  Upper    and    lower,    of 

stanc 3218 

CULTIVATION,    Beauty    of 

wild  plant  fails  under 338 

,  Influence  of 1667 

CULTS,  Utility  of  ancient.  .  .  2767 

CULTURE  and  Civilization.  502 

,  Development  of 805 

,  Egyptian    and    Baby- 
lonian    804 

,  Errors  in  woman's ....  3755 

,  Knowledge     valued 

more  than 1057 

,  Types  of  ancient 2753 

CURCULIO    Enemy  of  plum  1009 
CURE,     Blood-letting    once 

the  universal 379 

by  Opposing  evil  in  the 

stronghold 1980 

by  Sudden  arrest 864 

CURIOSITIES,    Museum    of 

natural,  at  Athens 2300 

CURIOSITY,    Misfortune    of 

sated 1831 

of  Monkeys *710 

,  Origin  of 3068 

a  Trait  of  seals *709 

CURRENT  Ascending  in  still 

air 96 

.Electric, a  misnomer.  .  985 

of    Electricity   non-ex- 


istent 

,  Persistence  of  a  strong 

,  Plastic,  hardens  to  rock 

,  Speed  of 

CURRENTS  Aid  distribution 

of  animal  organisms.  ..._.. 
,  Circulation  of,  of  aerial 


*711 
2270 
2282 
3523 

*712 
3156 


ocean 

,  Direction  of  winds  op- 
posite in  upper  and  lower 
atmosphere 3743 

,  Electric,  from  hot  to 

cold  regions 713 

,  Electric,  traversing  the 

ocean *713 

CURSE  of  Slavery *714 

CURVES  of  Movement  are 

forms  of  beauty 3569 

CUSTOMS,  Language  con- 
trols    1817 

,  Slavery  to  barbarous.      1327 

CUTTING,  Resistless,  by  gla- 
cier   *715 

CUVIER,  Agassiz  rivals  ex- 
ploits of 2842 

Reproduces  extinct  an- 
imals   3485 


and 


CYCLE  of  Activity. 

—  of     Building     up 
breaking  down 

—  of  Change 

CYCLES    of    Revolution    of 

stellar  systems 

—  of  Volcanic  action.  . 


DAGGER,  Knife  a  tool  or  a. 

,  Poisoned  mediaeval  .  .  . 

DAGUERROTYPE  Founded 

on  old-time  discovery.  .  .  . 
DAIRY,  Bacterial  treatment 

of 

— ,  Ferments,     good     and 

bad  in 

DAM,  Beaver,  1,000  years  old 


2895 


747 
'716 


3613 

*717 


3719 
3721 


1797 
306 


1222 
190 


DAMAGES,  Repair  of  —Bees 
DANCE,    Superstitions    con- 
nected with 

DANCING  Anciently  a  signi- 
ficant rite 

among  Birds 

,  Motor  memory  in .... 

,  Religious 

DANDELION,  Seed  of 

DANES,  Power  and  influence 

of  the 

DANGER  Awakens  religious 
instinct , 

of  Flight  with  burning 

garments 

.Hidden 

in   Recoil  from  super- 
stition  

DANGERS   Faced  by   scien- 
tists  '. 

of    Incipient    intoxica- 


tion. 

of  Isolation 

,  Ready  perception  of . . 

,  Unseen 

DANGER-SIGNALS      among 

Animals 

DANTE,  Cosmogony  of, 
wrecked 

DARK,  Light  and,  deter- 
mined by  contrast 

DARKNESS  Attended  with 
cold 

,  Beam  of  light  in 

,  Boundary  of — Mystery 

,  Caves  of 

before  Dawn  of  new  era 

in  the  Daytime 

in  Deep  sea 

Essential  to  reveal  ce- 
lestial splendors 

,  Fire     makes     a     way 

through  

at  Mid-day 

Produced     by     adding 

light  to  light 

Produced  by  conflicting 

light-waves 

Reveals  corona  of  sun . 

,  Smoke-like  clouds  of .  . 

,  Solid    interposed   scat- 
ters  

,  Spectrum  seen  in 

,  Sympathy  of  wild  beast 


2831 
719 

*719 
*718 
1179 
*720 
44 

2354 
2868 

127 
*721 

3326 
*723 

2395 
*724 
2460 
2224 

*722 

673 

2544 

*725 
315 
2333 
2587 
*926 
*728 
*727 

2421 

1240 
1081 

3106 

1528 

*729 

857 

1932 
1565 


,  Terror  of,  hereditary. . 

That  reveals  brightness 

,  Two  crossed  plates  pro- 
duce.   

,  Union  of  transparent 

substances  producing 

.Uses  of 

,  A  Zone  of 

DARWIN  Admits  natural 
selection  not  a  cause 

Admits  profound  ignor- 
ance  

Charged  with  atheism. 

,  Distaste  of,  for  poetry. 

,  Language     of     design 

used  by 

on  Law  of  variation .  .  . 

— —  Led  to  study  of  insect- 
ivorous plants 

."Neglect   of  plain 

guide"  by 

Never     accounted    for 

the  genesis  of  man 

on  Tameness  of  birds 

of  Pacific  islands 

and  Wallace  reach  the 


same  conclusion. 
DARWINISM  not  Atheistic . . 
Involves  a  new  teleol- 

DATA,  Expert  alone  can  se- 
cure needed 

.Inadequate,  lead  to 

erroneous  conclusion ..... 

DATE,  Fixing  a  relative — 
Archaeology 


3376 
406 

2643 
1083 
2335 
3608 

2488 

1852 

282 

214 

2489 

11 

2802 
3051 
1214 

117 
*730 

66 

159 

*731 

501 


792 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


DAWN,  Impersonation  of.  .      2573 
of  Motherly  virtues.  .  .      *732 
of  New  era  726 
DAY  Endless  on  Mercury.  ..      3630 
of  Judgment  2844 
,  Movement  of  a,  changes 
face  of  the  earth                      2282 

DECIMALS,  System  of,  made 
arithmetic  possible                    2108 

DELAY,   Separate     volitions 
involve                                         2150 

DECISION  of  Character.  .  .  .      2569 
.Character    determines.      2270 
,  Factors  of  2651 
Made  habitual  *745 

DELIBERATION  a  Function 
of  cerebrum  *756 

DELICACY  of  Adjustment  .  .      *757 
Due  to  Sun                          3302 

of  Eye  and  hand  2525 
,  Feminine,  toward  new- 
ly born  3375 

,  Stars  observed  by  3210 
DAY  AND  NIGHT,  Quadru- 
ple alternation  of  3206 
vs.  the  Rotation  of  the 
earth                              879 

the  Result  of  test  492 
of    Science    waits    for 
facts  2740 
DECISIONS  vs.  Reasons.  ...      1154 
,  Spurious  persistence  in 
rash  2569 
DECLINE  Accompanies  prog- 
ress        3077 

—  —  ,  Man  a  machine  of  great     2018 
of  Organic  structure  .  .      *758 
DELIGHT  of  Activity  3550 
,  Loneliness  yields  1985 
in  the  Mechanical  and 
animal  2104 
DELIRIUM   Proves  depend- 
ence of  mind  on  body.  .          2138 
DELIRIUM  TREMENS  Link 
between   intoxication   and 
insanity.  .  .  .                               3657 

,  Strange  varieties  of  .  .  .      3775 
DAYS,  Giants  of  primeval.  .      1374 
,  Long,  of  labor  3767 
DAY'S   JOURNEY  a   Primi- 
tive measure  of  distance  .  .      *733 
DEAD,  Air  in  arteries  of  the  .        894 
,  Favored  objects  buried 
with  the  354 
,  Records  of  ancient  2847 
DEAD-LINE  Overhangs  zone 
of  life  71 
DEADLOCK  Results  in  pub- 
lic misfortune  1855 
DEAF-MUTES  and  Idiots..       969 
,  Lip  reading  by  2538 
,  Signification     of     Ian- 

sense                             1189 

of  Civilization  503,  *746 
of    Reverence   for   an- 
tiquity       2910 
DECOMPOSITION,    Bacteria 
of..              *747-48 
DECORATION  of  Home.  .  .  .      1501 
DECREASE  in  Brightness  of 
stars                       474 

DELIVERER      Becomes      a 
scourge                                         *759 

DELTA,  Antiquity  of,  of  the 
Mississippi                                   *760 

DELTAS  of  Great  rivers  3511 
,  Valley    partitioned    by 
meeting                                        3594 

of  Sunshine  in  England     3312 
DEDUCTION,  Induction  and, 
must  combine  1636 

DELUGE,  All  fossils  once  as- 

.Rules   given   by   Aris- 
totle only  for                1638 

,  The     Noachian,     once 
deemed  universal  895 
Peruvian  tradition  of  .  .      3452 
Possible  by  irruption  of 
ocean  2447 
Possible    in    North 
America  1752 

DEATH,  Animals  feigning.  .      *736 
Atmosphere  of        ....        272 

—  Supposes  a  case  1637 
DEEP,  Compensations  of  the       563 
,  Light  and  life  of  the.  .     2445 

,  Book  finished  on  eve  of       530 
,  Carelessness  cause  of  .  .       422 
Determined  by  number 

!  Problems  of  the  2739 
DEER,  Spotted,  invisible  by 
color                  2087 

,  Form  photographed  in     2600 
from     Irresponsiveness 
to    environment  3481 
,  Lack  of  correspondence 

of  Samothrace  3281 
DELUGES,     Ancient     tradi- 
tions   of  *761 

,  Strategy  of  3246 
DEFECTS,     Theoretical,     of 
human  eye      700 

DELUSION,  Mental  equality 
a                                                    1045 

Law  Of                  1846 

DEFENSE,  Coloration  of  ani- 
mals a                          722 

of  Phosphorus  2590 
of    Positivism  1586 

'of  Leaves  2818 
,  Life  and—  Battles  under 

against      Death's-head 
moth                             1139 

proved  a  955  ,  2292 

,  Life  and,  of  plants  de- 
pendent on  sleep  1874 
,  Life  resists  1900 
,  Lighthouse  a  beacon  of     1208 
the  Loss  of  individual- 
ity                        1913 

,  Mountains    a,    against 
earthquakes                        •  •     2276 

by  System.              .  .          *762 

DELUSIONS,       Beneficent  — 
Alchemy  *763 
,  Beneficent  —  Area       of 
ocean  *764 

of  Plant  against  useless 
insects  *750 
Soft  but  sure—  Air.  .  .     2223 
,  Treasure  lavished  for  .  .     2225 
DEFIANCE,  Flight  of  birds  a 
seeming,  of  gravitation  .  .      2319 
DEFINITION,  Beauty  defies       329 
of  Cell  447 
Includes  the  thing  to  be 
defined                                         2867 

Due  to  natural  causes.      *765 
DEMAND,   Studies  not   lim- 
ited to  manifest  361 
DEMANDS.     Irrational,     on 
devotee  to  barbarous  cus- 
toms        1327 
.  Structure  adapted  to..     1861 
DEMOCRACY    as    Affecting 
scholarly  pursuits  *766 
DEMONSTRATION     Defined 
—  vs.    circumstantial    evi- 
dence       *767 

,  Overcoming  of  2949 
,  Painlessness  of  violent  .      2498 
of  Plants  in  sterilized 
soil                                      .  •  .      1224 

,  Point  of,  of  bacteria.  .      3382 
Radiance  from  2589 

Repose  is                    ...      2875 

,  Scientist's,  of  death.  .  .       734 
•  of  Species  3164 

1  Responsibility  of  life  or     3500 
,  A  Scientist's  definition 
of                                   *734 

DEFINITIONS  of  God  *749 
DEGENERACY  Beyond  pow- 

,  Scott     sees    image    of 
Byron  after                       .  .  .      3293 

Caused  by  luxury  ....      2000 
Concealed  *752 
Due  to  reason  *753 
,  Irreligion    may    result 
from                                              1767 

of      Explosiveness      of 
niter  839 
DEMONSTRATIONS   of   Sci- 
ence                                            1153 

in     Seeking     refuge  — 
Flood  1260 

,  Sentence  of,  for  failure         90 
,  Sleep  changed  to  794 

DENIAL    of    Theology    not 
abandonment  of  religion  .  .      *768 
.Truth  of  skeptical,  as- 
sumed                           .3118 

by  Starvation                .      1460 

from  Sting  of  a  fly  ....      2168 
,  Strange  forms  of  sud- 
den        *735 

evil  1106 
,  Law  of  —  Nature's  Pen- 
alty                                            2403 

DENMARK,     The     S;h  ell- 
mounds  of  861 
DENSITY  of  Sun  one-fourth 
that  of  earth  3725 
of  Sun  relatively  slight     *769 
DENTIST,  Intuition  of  1154 
DENTISTRY    Aided—  Elec- 
tricity        1992 

Unwarned  *737 
DEATH-BED,  Theory  vain  by     3413 
DEATH-PENALTY    for    Im- 
perfection in  natural  selec- 
tion          176 
DEBT  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion to  Moslems  *738 
of  Europe  to  the  East.     *739 
of  Science  to  unlearn- 
ed contributor  *740 

,  Parasitism  a  cause  of  .  .      2506 

DEGENERATES,      Physical, 
mental,  and  moral  698 
DEGENERATION  from  Dis- 
use    *754-55 
DEGRADATION,     Evolution 
of  .                                               753 

DENITRIFICATION,   Nitrifi- 
cation and  2426 
DEPARTMENT.  Investigator 
should  keep  to  his  own  .  .  .      2988 
DEPARTMENTS  of  Memory     *770 
.Three    of   scientific 
study  438 
DEPENDENCE   of  Color  on 
observer                                 .        536 

,  No  mark  of,    in  Engis' 
skull                                              3122 

DECAY  of  Ancient  life  min- 
isters to  modern                        *741 

—  the  Result  of  idleness.    2507 
DEITY,  Assumptions  regard- 
ing the  2486 
,  Perfection  an  aim  of.  .        328 
,  Philosophy       demands 
belief  in  2464 

of  Creeds  *742 
Like  the  recoiling  of  a 
bent  spring  3301 
of    Organs  2480 
Pervades  all  nature.  .  .      1406 
of  Spiritual  faculties.  .  .      *743 
DECEPTION  of  Entomologist     1028 
DECIMALS,     System     of  — 
Carboniferous  period  *744 

of      Development      on 
emotion  and  passion  1001 
of   the   Greatest    upon 
the  least  774 

,  Primitive  conception  of     1211 
,  Separateness  of  the.  .  .      1386 
,  Shrine  of,  in  Science.  .      2416 
DELAY,   Discovery  long    to 
realize  849 

of   Industry   on   scien 
tific  studv.  .  ,                            1641 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


793 


DEPENDENCE  of  Insect  on 
mimicry 

of  Man  on  air 

of  Man  on  society 

of  Man  on  the  sun .... 

on  One's  individuality. 

of     Organism     on     en- 
vironment   

.  Religion      more     than 

sense  of 

of  Science  on  mechan- 


on  Speed  of  light 

DEPOLARIZATION  of  Light 
DEPOSIT  on  Deep-sea  floor 

— Globegerina-ooze 

on  Deep-sea  floor — Red 

mud 

DEPOSITION  of  Delta  of 

Mississippi  

DEPOSITS  of  Glacial  epoch. 

.Modern,  like  ancient.  . 

.  Unsafe  to  calculate 

depth  of 

DEPRESSION,  Division  by, 

among  fauna  of  sea 

DEPRIVATION  of  Sunlight 

would  destroy  life 

DEPTH  of  Earthquake  shock 

of  Fine  film  of  air.  .  .  . 

,  Ice  a  mile  and  a  half  in 

— —  No  Reefs  at  great 

of  the  Sea 

,A  Sufficient    of  water 

absorbs  all  light 

DEPTHS,  Blackness  of  At- 
lantic   

• Changes     of     form    in 

ocean  

,  Color  of  glaciers  rivals 

blue  of  ocean 

,  Fauna  of  ocean 

• ,  Growth  of  coral  only  at 

small 

,  Hues     of     animals     in 

ocean 

,  Life  in  ocean 

,  Light  in  ocean 

,  The     lowest,     of     the 

great  oceans 

— ,  Material  from,  of  earth 

Metals  from,  of  earth .  . 

• ,  Mortar  from,  of  the 

earth 

,  Ocean,  disappoint  nat- 
uralists  

— ,  Ocean,  supposed  to  be 

lifeless 

of  Ocean  paved  with 

volcanic  dust 

,  Oldest  genera  at  great- 
est  

,  No  sunlight  in  ocean .  . 

,  Uniform  temperature 

in,  of  lakes 

Where      Mont      Blanc 

might  be  sunk 

DE  QUINCEY  on  Day  of 
Judgment, 

DERANGEMENT,  Loss  of 
will  power  in  mental 

,  Mental,  may  result 

from  continued  intoxica- 
tion  

DESCARTES  Assailed  by 
both  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants  

,  Doubt  consecrated  by. 

,  Illustration  of,  of  a 

bathing  Diana 

,  Matter  and  motion 
made  by,  the  basis  of  all 
phenomena  of  the  universe 

'-          on  Mind-sleeping 

Supported  materialism 

Supposed  transmission 

of  light  instantaneous.  .  .  . 

DESCENT  of  Man 

DESCRIPTION  of  Natural 
Beauty — Aristotle 

,  Size  of  germs  baffles.  . 

DESCRIPTIONS  Cicero's, 
true  to  fact 


*771 
129 

3136 
962 

3287 

*772 
2867 

*773 

1589 

*1932 

*775 
*776 

760 
2859 

*777 

701 
887 

3303 

*778 

1123 

1529 

663 

241 

3478 

375 

2230 

335 

2849 

2165 

1512 
3783 
1937 

.3799 
2904 
2156 

3669 
1137 
2448 
*779 

108 
2534 

3706 
2449 
2844 
3732 


134 


364 

905 


390 


2114 
3682 
2901 

1180 
2069 

322 
1372 

1670 


DESERT  Created  by  upheav- 
al of  land '......  1226 

,  Fertility      encroaching 

on 997 

,  No  Lions  in 2556 

,  Mosquitoes  in ........  2556 

,  Protective  colors  in  the  *780 

,  Ship  of 2062 

,  Sunset  among,  ranges.  318 

,  Vipers  in 2556 

DESERTION    of    Young   by 

mother-birds 1604 

DESERTS  May  remain  deso- 
late for  ages 1989 

to  Be  transformed *781 

DESIGN,  Adaptation  best  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of 2157 

.Apparent,    among    in- 
sects   *782 

,  Appearance      of,      ac- 
knowledged by  Darwin  .  .  214 

,  Arrangement  for. .....  227 

,  Automatism   implies .  .  293 

,  Can     Darwinism     dis- 
pense with 66 

,  Denial  of 42 

,  Evidence  of *783-84 

in  Evolution *785 

,  Language  of,  used  by 

Darwin 214 

,  Law  consistent  with.  .  1838 

in  Nature .  *786 

,  One,  no  disproof  of  an- 
other   2798 

,  Plants  credited  with .  .  3050 

Proves  designer *  789-90 

in  Sea-anemone *787 

,  Self-seeking  fulfills  wide  105 

Shown   in  flint   imple- 
ments   790 

in  Structure  of  barna- 
cles   1861 

not  Superseded  by  evo- 
lution.   1104 

— : — ,  Tentacles  of  leaf  close 

as  if  by 1685 

Transferred  from  facts 

to  laws 1104 

Transferred  from  phe 

nomena  to  laws 615-1852 

in    Work    of    man    or 

beavers *788 

DESIRE,  Faculty  theory  of.  3407 
,  The  Illusions  of 2578 

to  Impart  pleasure..  .  .  1-024 

to  Know 217 

,  Men    without    the,    of 

hunting 1696 

,  Right,  the  chief  need .  .  1799 

Subdued    to    one    su- 
preme volition 2609 

of  Wealth  approved..  *791 

DESOLATION,  Arctic. .  .  .973, 1810 

,  Beauty  amid 317-18 

,  Bloom  amid :  .  .   382 

DE  SOTO  Forgotten 3453 

DESTROYER,  One  plan  com- 
prehends, and  destroyed.  .  3634 

,  Oxygen  the 716 

DESTROYERS,  Bacteria  gen- 
erate their  own 202 

of  Crops  devoured  by 

sparrow-hawk 2769 

of  Germs 1363 

DESTRUCTIBILITY  of  Lava  1758 
DESTRUCTION,    Agent    of, 

vanishes 107 

,  Agents  of *792 

of  America's  forests.  .  .  *795 

,  Animals    constructed 

for 3689 

of  Art  treasures *796 

,  Beauty  arises  from .  .  .  .  3464 

of  Birds.  .  .  1620 


,  Birds  allured  to . 
,  Creation  higher  than .  . 

of     Earth    would     not 

affect  universe 

through  Earthquake.. 

of  Earth's  surface.  .  .  . 

,  Equipment  of  birds  for 

,  Greed  brings.  .  . 


1208 
686 

*799 
953 
931 
1047 
1405 
-,  Increase  by 1614 


DESTRUCTION  by    Indirect 

action *793- 

of   Initiative 1679 

of  Insects  by  sundew.  .          11 

of  life  in  earthquake — 

Calabria 1888 

of  Life  in  earthquake — 

Java.  . 2273 

of  Life  in  earthquake — 

Lisbon 956, 1978,  3283 

,  Life  surrounded  by  an 

atmosphere  of 1914 

of   Material 1013 

by     Means     used     for 

safety *794 

,  Missiles  of 2225 

of  Noxious  insects.  .  .  .      *79T 

,  Obliteration  of  remains 

by  agencies  of 1591 

of  Personality 2574r 

of  Plants  by  animals .  .      *798 

of  Precious  by  worth- 

2703 


-,  Protection  by,  of  ene- 


mies   

Sent      from     Asia     to 

Europe 310 

of  Theory  by  Kepler.  .  3404 

of  Trees  changes  earth's 

surface *800- 

,  Viewless  agent   of ....  *801 

.Wanton,  of  bird-life..  1924 

(See  also  SLAUGHTER.) 

DETAIL,  Accuracy  of 1& 

DETAILS,  Accumulation  of.  965 

,  Science  must  master .  .  394 

DETERIORATION,  Law  of .  .  2949 

2403 


the  Penalty  of  neglect . 

DETERMINATION  of  Charac- 


ter  by  doing. 
—  of  a 


899- 
3168 

785 

*soa 


a  Negative — Aurora 
DEVELOPMENT  of  Bird. . . . 

from  the  Cell 

-,  Complexity      requires 

time  for 

,  Creation  by 

Delayed  for  a  purpose 

Dependent  on  emotion 

and  passion 1001 

,  Difference  of 822 

,  Double  aspect  of 1106 

Due  to   Prolonged   in- 
fancy       1650' 

,  Experiment 


568 
684 
802 


for  full '.  1148 

of     Experimental     sci- 
ence   *807 

.Failure  accompanies..  1189s 

-,  Gradual,    of    arts    and 

sciences *804 

,  Gradual,  of  culture.  .  .  *805 

,  Gradual — Steam    navi- 
gation   3226 

of  Individual 808 

,  Limit  of,  in  new  world  211 

of  Man 204& 

of  Mathematics 2108 

May  be  retrogressive . .  *806 

,  Mind  gains,  by  speech.  2198 

of  Mind  by  man 230 

.Orderly,  of  universe..  *813 

,  Possible    spiritual,    to 

come 2814 

,  Prehistoric 500 

.Psychical,  arrests  phy- 
sical   *814 

of  Reptile  into  bird.  .  .  *809 

of   Science *810-11 

of  Senses  by  practise.  .  *812 

,  Slow,  of  theology 3386 

of  Strength  by  strain .  .  3249 

,  Sudden,  of  human  pow- 
er   1044 

,  Theory  of.  the  percep- 
tion of  a  plan 3538 

of  the  Will 482 

of  Woman's  character.  3755 

DEVELOPMENTS  in  Astron- 
omy   263 

DEVIATIONS,  Inheritable.  .  .  *815 
DEVICE  Common  to  diverse 

peoples *816 

of  the  Diaphragm ....  1618» 


794 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


DEVICE    to     Secure     cross- 
fertilization                                   802 

DIFFICULTY,  Delight    of 
solving                                          1780 

DISCOVERIES,  Early,    of 
microscope  2171 
,  Epoch  created  by  great     1043 
,  Faith  in  law  leads  to  .  .     2312 
,  A  Galaxy  of  86 
in    Geology    by    Lady 
Gordon  Cumming  3751 
,  Great,  with  small  tele- 
scopes. .  .                                    2032 

DEVICES,  Adaptation  of,  to 
climate                                             49 

of  Dividing  intelligent 
from  automatic                          1718 

of  Architecture  antici- 
pated          223 
to  Explain  mystery  of 
evil                                                *817 

Increased  by  explana- 
tion       2308 
of  Learning  by  experi- 
ence         837 
of     Obtaining     knowl- 
edge of  manlike  apes  *833 
Results  from  motor 

for  Stalking  1750 
DEVONSHIRE,  Fossils  of  .  .  .      1317 
DEVOTEE,    Insensibility  of, 
to  pain  3150 
DEVOTION  of  Birds  to  their 
young  •.  .  .  .        423 
Mother's,  to  her   child 
2497,  3752 

DISCOVERY,  Accident  leads 
to..                                              7,12 

.Accidental,    of   the 
earth-circuit.      ...                  8 

,  Scientist  explains  236 
of  Securing  sample  of 
water  1114 
of  Sociological  study  .  .      *834 
a  Spur  to  action                  *830 

,  Achievement  a  step  to 
new  1005 
,  Advance    prepares    for 
new  85 
of  America  2808 

to  Science  *818 
A  Sister's                               1346 

of    Tests    on    deep-sea 
animals                                          832 

DEW  an  Effect  of  chilling  by 
radiation  3406 
Formation  of                       *819 

-  of  Widespread  reforms     *835 
DIFFUSION,    Acuteness   vs., 
of  sensation                        .       3061 

lated  event  *851 

of  an  Ancient  beach  .  .     *852 
,  Belief  before  352 
of  Cause  a  part  of  sci- 
ence.                                               31 

Result  of  radiation  436 
Theory  of                            3406 

of  Gases                                  276 

DIAMOND  Burning  in  oxy- 
gen    277,2940 

of  Life  universal  .        .    *1921 

of  Metals  2154-55 

,  Chance  utterance  not  .  .      2733 
,  The  Charm  of  *859 

a  Product  of  volcano  .  .      3484 
,  Structure    of,    not    re- 
vealed by  microscope.  .  .  .      1959 
Vaporized   by  burning- 
glass  575 
DIANA,     Descarte's  illustra- 
tion of  a  bathing  390 
DIAPHRAGM,  Device  of  the     1618 
DICE,  Illustration  of  loaded.      1046 
DIET  Changes  color  of  birds  .      1  26  1 
,  Change  of,  of  non-mi- 
gratory birds  2174 
DIFFERENCE  in  Action  of 
ice  and  water.                          *821 

,  Solid  matter  hinders         3699 
,  Universal,  of  life  ....          1920 
DIGESTION  of  Animal  mat- 
ter by  plants                    .          *836 

,  Coincidence  of  great  .  .        531 
of  Companion  stars.  .  .      3210 
Confirms  conjecture.  .  .      *848 
,  Copernicus   dedicates 
great   to  the  Pope                   3017 

a  Chemical  process.          2004 
Ruined  by  cayenne.         2640 
DIGESTIVE  ORGANS,  Taste 
rouses  3360 
DIGGING-STICK  of  Savagery       351 
DILIGENCE  Rivals  genius.  .      1872 
DIMENSIONS  of  Sun-spots  .  .      3116 
of  Waves  of  light  2216 

,  Daguerrotype   founded 
on  old-time                               1797 

,  Disaster  leads  to  839 
,  Faraday's,  in   electric- 
ity        1283 

,  Faraday's,    of    regela- 
tion  2857 
the    Fifteenth    century 
in                                                3551 

DIMINUTION  of  Power.  .  .  .      1520 
DIN   of   Foundry   unnoticed 
by  its  workers  1609 
DINNER-PILLS   Attempt  to 
evade  nature's  penalty.  .  .      2640 
DION^EA,  Leaves  of,  close  at 
touch  of  insect  3081 
DIRECTION,        Application 
and,  of  energy  3674 
of   Force   the   greatest 
power                                          1297 

Between  a  bird  and  a 
balloon  1402 
in  Brain  of  man  and  of 
ape  401 

,  Foreseeing,  of   new 
planet.  ...                           .        2765 

Genius  of                             1349 

of  Development  *822 
in  Habits  of  male  and 
female  *820 
,  Heat    makes,    between 
solid  and  liquid  1021 

Gives  reason  and  proof 
of  truth                                        2734 

of  Gravitation                    *853 

a  Growth  *842-4 

,  Growth  of  electric  and 
magnetic  .                                  1411 

between     Intoxication 
and  insanity  1745 

,  Sense  of,  in  bees  and 
wasps                                          *837 

of  the  Gulf  stream  *856 
before  History  *845 
,  Iron  a,  of  dim  antiquity     1766 
Joy  of                         1693  1780 

between  Man  and  tree     2030 
of  Man  from  lower  ani- 
mals                                             2481 

,  Sense,  of,  destroyed  by 
snow                                             2559 

between   Mixture   and 
union        .                                      2228 

instinct  1867 
of  Winds  in  upper  and 
surface  currents  3743 
DIRECTNESS    of    Rays    of 
light  *838 
DISADVANTAGES,  Toil  un- 
der        1643 
DISAPPEARANCE  of  Myths     2344 
DISASTER  Leads  to  discov- 
ery       *839 
Provided     against     by 
man..  .                       *840 

'  of  Kepler's  laws                '  2972 

,  Long  delay  to  realize  .  .      *849 
of  the  Mammoth  740,  *854 
of  Men  the  chief  need  .  .      *855 
Missed     by     stopping 
with  instance                              *850 

,  Personal,  of  observation      587 
in  Point  of  view  3115 
of  Quantity  not  of  qual- 
ity                                        *823 

in  Results  from  similar 
conditions                                      581 

of  Neptune  2112 
by  Persistent  search  .  .  .      1060 
,  Physical,      does      not 
affect  spiritual  truth  *858 
by  Plain  people                 *846 

DIFFERENCES,  Absolute  and 
relative  .                 .                       *824 

,  Accumulation  of  2539 
among  Animals  in  the 
Philippines.  .                               *825 

,  Progress  of  scientific  .  .          21 
,  Quest    leads   to    unex- 
pected        2902 

DISCERNMENT  of  Bees  sur- 
passes man's  1449 
DISCIPLINE  of  mind  2164 
.     (See  also  SELF-DISCI- 
PLINE) 
DISCONTINUITY  of  Boiling 
destroys  germs  1366 
DISCORD,  Harmony  or,  with 
nature.  .                30 

in   Brain   of  man  and 
ape.  .  .  .                                          400 

of     the  Refrigerating 

between  Man  and  ape.     *826 
of  Instrumentsfor 
study  of  the  heavens  *827 
,  Minute,  of  sensation.  .       812 
in   Mental   activity   of 
man  and  woman  3094 
,  Structural,  of  plants.  .      1368 
Unrecognized  1965 
DIFFICULTIES    in    Anthro- 
pomorphism          786 
with  the  Ether  *829 
,  Fighting  impulse  need- 

process                                       2089 

from  Seeming  accident          10 
.Simplicity  of  scientific     3111 
by  Spectrum  analysis.      *847 
,  Sudden  harvest  of  1408 
of  the  Transparency  of 
air                                               *857 

Pain  due  to                          2496 

,  Relief   from,   in   calm- 
ness of  science  416 
,  Supposed,   of   the   ele- 
ments                                   .       415 

of  Unexpected  utility.     3577 
of  Uranus     .                  345,  579 

Valueless   without   sci- 
entific knowledge  *860 
of  Velocity  of  light  ....     2706 
of  Waves  of  light                    79 

DISCOVERER  of  Bacteria.  .     *841 
,  Great,  ridiculed  1351 
of  Gulf  stream  —  Frank- 
lin         856 
,  Poetic   imagination   of 
great  1579 
DISCOVERERS,      Modern- 
Ancient    thinkers                        256 

in  Finding  parallax  of 
stars  2503 

DISCREPANCIES,    Explana- 
tions of,  reveal  new  laws.  .        182 
,  Individual      variations 
and                                              1631 

Imposed  upon  religion     *828 
,  Overcoming,     not     re- 
moval of..                                    1764 

DISCRETION,      Artist      has 
more,  than  camera  1571 
DISCRIMINATION  of  Differ- 
ences of  sensation  812 
between  Different  selves     1635 
of  Science  *861 
DISCUSSION,  Prayer  will  per- 
sist in  spite  of  all  2700 

,  Plan  changed  to  meet.     2806 
,  Ready  perception  of  .  .      2460 
,  Science  overcomes.  .  .  .      3001 
DIFFICULTY  of  Attaining  to 
family  life  *831 
of  Cleansing  wheat  in- 
creased                        2903 

.Unity    of  3365 
DISCOVERIES  in   Anatomy 
and  physiology                          1742 

,  Caution  needed  in  in- 
terpreting          440 
.  Coincidence  of  great  .  .        530 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


795 


DISEASE,  Alcoholism  as  a.  .        138 
— ,  Bacteria     produce,     in 
disordered  system 2669 

,  Battle    of    white    cells 

with  germs  of 1315 

a  Conflict  between  vic- 
tim and  bacteria 1914 

,  Correlation  revealed  by     3525 

Dealt  with  as  a  func- 
tion of  a  soul *862 

,  Doubt  as  a 904 

— ,  Foul  springs  spread.  .  .      2645 

,  Germless    air   produces 

no 2793 

— ,  Germs  in  air  a  cause  of       917 

,  Investigation  of  ner- 
vous   2189 

,  Lowered  vitality  gives 

foothold  to 3662 

,  Mental,  inherited 1675 

now  Explained — Lock- 
jaw   *863 

,  Organism  determines .  .      2466 

,  Physician    embarassed 

by  theory  in 3147 

,  Predisposition  to — He- 
redity   1483 

,  Prevention  of 138,  2994 

Supposed  due  to  un- 
seen personality 3147 

,  Surgery  conquers 439 

DISEASE-GERMS,  Prolonged 

life  of,  in  soil 3374 

DISEASES,  Cause  of  immuni- 
ty from .•••:•••  202 

,  Functional,  maintained 

by  habit *864 

Attempt  to  refer  to  one 

cause 3114 

,  Single    remedy    sought 

for  all 762 

DISGUST    a    Hindrance    to 

sympathy 3348 

DISINFECTING,  Early  proc- 
esses inexact 1116 

DISINFECTION  of  Milk  pos- 
sible    3031 

,  Problem  of *865 

DISINTEGRATION  of  Moun- 
tains   *866 

of  Rocks *867-8,  1917 

DISK,   Discovery  of  the,  of 

Venu.* 1043 

DISORDER,  Mental,  wrecks 

higher  structures  first 2463 

DISORDERS  of  Society *869 

DISPERSAL,  Gradual,  of 

seeds *872 

of  Plants — effected  by 

animals *870 

of  Plants — effected  by 

man *871 

of  Seeds 3033,3035,3036 

DISPLACEMENT,  Minute,  of 

Sirius 1122 

DISPROOF,  One  design  no,  of 

another 2798 

DISPUTATION,  Mere,  con- 
tent with  unproved  pre- 
mises    3576 

on  Names  rather  than 

things *873 

DISPUTE    over    Nature    of 

light 292 

DISREGARD  of  Pleasure  or 

pain.  Progress  by 2748 

DISTANCE,    Adjustment    of 

vision  to 77 

of    Earth   from   Alpha 

Centauri 1774 

,  Effect  at,  from  cause.  .      1844 

,  Error  as  to  sun's 2547 

.Judgment  of,  rela- 
tive   3636 

of  Only  one  star  known     *874 

Penetrated *876 

,  Primitive  measures  of.        733 

Seeming  interminable.      2542 

of  Sun  from  earth.  .  .  .      *875 

— —  of  Sun  a  fundamental 

unit , 1050 

• ,  Terrestrial,  in  measure- 
ments   2547 


DISTANCE  in  Time  suggested 

by  impression 1194 

DISTANCES  of  Few  stars 

known 2341 

,  Inconceivable,  of  the 

stars *877-8 

of  the  Stars 241, 1777 

DISTASTE,      Darwin's,     for 

poetry 282 

DISTASTEFULNESS  a  Pro- 
tection   2770 

DISTILLATION     of     Spirits 

begun  in  middle  ages 3182 

DISTINCTION  Between  good 

and  evil 1092 

of  Man  among  animals     2050 

— • —  Between  succession  and 

causation *879 

DISTINCTIONS  Little  noted 

by  average  mind *880 

of  Nature  and  of  sci- 
ence        821 

DISTORTION  of  Fact  by 

imagination 1570 

DISTRACTION  of  Attention 

from  grief *881 

DISTRESS  from  thirst- 
Snow  and  ice  increase.  .  .  .  3419 

DISTRIBUTION,  Currents  as 
a  means  of,  of  animal  or- 
ganisms    712 

,  Gradual,  of  mammalia     *882 

,  Gradual,  by  snow  in- 
stead of  by  torrents 3132 

,  Peculiarities  of  geo- 
graphic   2530 

of  Plants  irregular *883 

of  Seeds *884 

from  Single  centre ....      3549 

of  Stars  unequal *885 

DISTRIBUTERS,  Animals  as, 

of  seeds 165,644 

,  Crows  as,  of  seeds 702 

DISTRICT  Desolated  by 

earthquake 953 

DISUSE,  Atrophy  of  eyes  due 

to 281 

,  Atrophy  of  mental 

powers  through 282 

,  Degeneration  from ....  754 

,  Loss  through — Magnet  1993 

,  Loss  through — Optic 

nerve 1991 

.Loss  through— Wings.  1992 

,  Penalty  of 2531 

,  Power  lost  by — Flight  2672 

,  Power  lost  by — Para- 
sites    1994 

,  Power  lost  by— Sight.  2696 

,  Structure  destroyed  by  806 

DIVERGENCE,  Utility  of .  .  .  3583 
DIVERSION,  Extermination 

by,  of  supplies 1162 

DIVERSITY  of  Northern  life  507 
,  Perfection  by 3529 


,  Unity  amid 3525-28 

: ,  Unity  from 119 

DIVINE,  Aristotle    on  the. .  .  2370 

,  Kindred  with  the 1784 

,  The,  lifts  from  natural 

to  spiritual 2617 

,  Soul  depends  on  the. .  3149 

DIVINE  POWER  Consistent 
with  intervention  of  natu- 
ral causes 1739 

DIVING-BELL,  The  First.  ..  *886 

DIVISION  of  Biela's  comet .  .  *889 

among  the  Fauna  of  the 

sea *788 

of     Labor   began  with 

fire-making 3091 

of  Labor  among  birds.  424 

of  Labor   among   cells 

*44 7-890-92 

Lessens  conductivity .  .  *888 

.Multiplication  by 

among  bacteria 2296 

of       Personality       by 

jy *893 

Resulting  in  harmony.  1906 
DOCK,  Seeds  of,  carried  by 

animals 3039 

DOCTOR,  Intuition  of 1154 


DOCTRINE  of  Ancient  phil- 

hy 1084 

ig's,    of   fermenta- 
tion       1067 

,  Problem     not     to     be 

made 2738 

DOCTRINES  of  Gnostics  and 

Manichaeans 3746 

,  Unfounded        assump- 
tions discredit  true 1055 

DODDER  a  Parasite 2623 

DOG,      Danciner.     compared 

with  child. .  .". 1004 

Frightened  by  tiger.  .  .      2420 

,  Hereditary  intelligence 

of  shepherd's 1486 

,  Instinct  of,  transmitted 

—Retriever 3477 

,  Man  a  god  to  the 1784 

Recovers  fish-basket . .     3069 

,  Submission  of 179 

,  Suffocation  of  a 272 

Tries     to     bury     food 

under  carpet 1702 

the      Universal      com- 
panion of  man *897 

DOGMA   Dangerous   to   dis- 
pute       *894 

vs.  Investigation 1762 

in  Medicine 3415 

,  Rejection  of  ancient.  .      2756 

,  Science  not    to  be    si- 
lenced by 590 

DOGMAS  Once  identified 

with  religion *895 

DOGMATISM,  No,  upon  the 

unknown 2307 

of  Scientist *896 

DOGS,  Alarm   of,  before 

earthquake 168 

.Apparent      heredity 

among 1420 

Fed  on  gelatin  starve 

to  death 1264 

,  Hairless 3053 

,  Language  of 1815 

jects  of  wor- 


ship. 

,  Native,  of  South  Amer- 
ica  

,  Sagacity  of  Eskimo. . . 

,  Sense  of  property  man- 
ifested by 

-,  Varieties  of,  in  domes- 
tication  

,  Wild,  of  European  ex- 
traction  

,  Wolves  become 

(See  also  ANIMALS;  SA- 
GACITY.) 

DOG-WORSHIP  among 
Egyptians 

DOING,  Value  of . . 

of  More  than  is  required 

DOLLOND  Disproved  New- 
ton's theory 

DOLLS,  Care  of,  as  prepara- 
tion for  motherhood.  .  . 

DOMAIN  of  Each  sun 

of  Human  mind. 


*898 


2946 
3069 


900 


DOMESTICATION    of   Ani- 
mals  

,  Factors  in . 


499 
*899 
1495 

1069 

2253 
1775 
3368 

*900 
2467 

,  Natural  instincts  in.  .1706-07 

DOMESTICITY,     New     and 

beautiful  social  state *901 

DOMINATION,  Love  of,  nec- 
essarily selfish. .  .  .  1024 
DOMINION  of  Man  over  na- 
ture  *902-3 

,  Mind  gives  man 2752 

DOOM,   Struggles   of  victim 

seal  its 2616 

DOSE,  Harmless,  of  alcohol.        142 
DOSES,  Small,  of  poison.  .  133 
DOUBLE  STARS  of  Comple- 
mentary colors 3618 

,  Quadruple    alternation 

of  day  and  night 3206 

,  Spectrum  analysis  of.  .      3201 

DOUBT  Consecrated  by  Des- 
cartes      *905 

*904 


796 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


DOUBT,  Experience  compels 
to                      2146 

DUST,  Volcanic,   in    ocean 
depths                                            779 

EARTH,  Elevation  and  subsi- 
dence of                                     *932 

,  Knowledge  acquired  by 
learning  to  1789 

,  Wind  scatters  in  868 
•  .     (See       also      ROCK- 
DUST.) 
DUTIES  Distributed  in  family     3263 
DUTY,  Abstinence  a  .             .      2889 

Engulfing  human  dwel- 
lings        *937 
Enriched  by  materials 
from  afar  *933 
,  Evolution   of   crust    of 
the  1105 

DOUBTS  of  Scientists                  3163 

DOVES  Feeding  their  young  .        423 
DRAGON-FLIES     and     the 
Pampero  1688 

on  Autonomist  theory  .      1820 
to  Humanity  *922 

DRAGON-FLY,     Description 
of                          .                ..     3503 

Feels  changes  on  sun  .  .      *934 
,  Finishing  of,  for  man  .  .      *941 
,  Fire    enables    man    to 
subdue  the  1234 
,  Firmness  of  the  solid.  .      1245 

and  Morality  3118 
DWELLER  in  the  Upper  air 
—  Condor.                            .  .      1502 

•'DRAGONS  of  the  Prime".  .       982 
DRAWING,    The    Fixing   of 
skill  in                            ...     2457 

,  Man  a  universal,  upon 
earth  2031 
DWELLING     of     Gorilla     a 

,  Photography  vs  1571 
DRAWING-KNIFE  a  Devel- 
opment                                       1788 

,  Formation  of  1525 
•  as  in  Former  ages.  ...      3130 
,  Former  surface  of,  re- 
moved. .             .                             469 

DRAWINGS,  Inadequacy  of.      1610 
DREAD  of-  the  Irrevocable  .  .      *906 
DREAM,    Alchemist's,    may 
come  true                   .                3552 

an  Index  of  civilization       512 
DWELLINGS    Aid    man    to 
conquer  climate  1714 
,  Defensible,  of  spider.  .      *923 
Destroyed  by  flood.  .  .      1259 
,  Earth    engulfing    h  u  - 
man                  937 

.Fragility  of  "solid.".  .      1252 
,  Fragment  of  ancient  .  .      1321 
,  Future   of,   not   to   be 
sunless  1337 
once  a  Giant  hotbed.  .     3239 
,  Girdle  of  *944 

a  Brief  insanity  *907 
DREAM-LIFE   Influences 
waking  hours                              *908 

DREAMS,     Feeling     moulds 
images  in                                     1218 

.Elevated,  most  health- 
ful                                       *924 

.Gradual    change     of 
earth's  surface  458 
,  Gradual  distribution  of 
mammalia  over  the  882 
a  Great  meteorite  ....      *936 
,  Growing  root  divides  .  .      2674 
,  Growth  in  structure  of     1847 
,  Heat  of,  constant  ....          71 
,  Heat  of  interior  of.  ...      3497 
,  Helium  found  on  1119 
,  Imagined  to  be  hollow  .      1054 
,  Influence  of  man  upon 
the  2049 

DRILLS,    Fly-wheel    for,    in 
ancient  America                        3727 

Invasion  of  human...     2961 
.     (See  also  ABODES  ; 
HOMES;  HOUSES.) 
DYESTUFF  and  Cloth  2833 
DYING-PLACE  of  a  Race  .  .  .     *925 

E 

EAGERNESS,  Man's,  to  know     2075 
EAGLE,  The  White-headed.     2932 
EAR,    Discriminating   power 
of  the   3154 

DROSERA,  Destruction  of  in- 
sects by                                           11 

DROUGHT  Produces  torpor 
like  cold                     1172 

Regardless  of  man  2367 
DRUDGERY  of  Engine-room 
lessened                                        *909 

DRUNKARD  Held  blameless 
by  automatism  theory  ....        296 
,  Redemption  of  the  2352 
,  Responsibility  of  the.  .      2889 
DRUNKENNESS  Leading  to 
idiocy  1492 

,  Sound   always  in   the, 
never  heard                                   602 

,  Interior  of,  unknown  .  .      1966 
,  Knowledge  of  2967 
—  —  Once  lifeless  344 
,  Long  duration  of  *938 
Losing  heat  *939 
,  Loss  of  heat  of  1457 
a  Magnet  *927 
,  Man    appropriates   en- 
tire                                       .        2080 

Tells  only  of  sound  ....      2408 
,  Vibrations  caught  by  .  .        758 
EARNESTNESS  of  Science.  .     *926 
of   Workers   wins   suc- 
cess                                 216 

,  Physical  remedies  for.  .        141 
DUALISM  of  Plato  and  Mill  .     *9  1  0 
DUALITY  of  the  Mind                  *91  1 

DUCKS,  Seeds  carried  by.  .  .     3039 
Tame  and  wild  1487 

EARS,  Muscles  for  moving.  .      2478 
EARTH,  Activities  of  the.  .  .          31 
.Adjustments      of 
changed  1294 

DUCKWEED,  Seeds  of,  car- 
ried by  animals  3039 
DUGONG,    The,    the    fabled 
mermaid  2151 
DURATION,         Intoxication 
and  insanity  differ  only  in  .      1745 
of  Life  of  ants  *912 

,  Man  commands  whole  .      3535 
,  Man  transforms  the.  .  .      2071 
,  Man  a  universal  dweller 
upon  2031 
.Mechanic,  master  of  the     2131 
Minute  to  eye  viewing 
ing  universe  3199 

and  Air  mutually  elec- 
trified         269 
,  Ancient  companion  of.      *943 
,  "Ancients  of  the"  1798 
,  Antiquity  of  life  on.  .  .        193 
,  Apparent     motion     of 
stars  in  space,  due  to  mo- 
tion of  the  1 

,  Long,  of  earth  938 

r\f  Matter                                       98QO 

,  Provision   for  vast,  of 
sun  1337 

Once  a  molten  mass.  .      *940 
,  Mortar  from  depths  of 
the                                               3669 

,  Architecture  of  the.  .  .        224 
,  Aurora    may     envelop 
the  289 
Bacteria  in                              305 

,  Sense  of,  relative.  .  .    .     3067 

of  Solar  heat                     3307 

,  Motion  of  the,  discov- 
ered                                            2759 

of  Sunshine     3313 

Varying  from  a  day  to 
ages.  .              1806 

,  Biela's    Comet    crosses 
earth's  orbit.                  .            1430 

,  Mountain  engulfed  in  .      2273 
,  One  sun-spot  might  en- 
gulf                                              3116 

DURATIONS  of  the  Celestial 
periods                                         *913 

Bombarded  by  meteors     2160 
Brought  closer  to  other 

Painted  in  shadow  2372 
,  Pendulum  tells  form  of     2532 
,  Progeny  of  one  orchid 
would  cover  3693 
,  Progress  of,  shows  pur- 
pose         453 
,  Protection  of,  by  veil  of 
vapor                                            2774 

DUSKINESS   in   Coloring   of 
nocturnal  animals  2417 

worlds                                            810 

Carried  from  mountain 
to  sea                                         2929 

DUST  of  the  Air  proved  to  be 
organic  *917 
,  Bacteria  dormant  in.  .        305 
a  Benefit  2796 

,  Caverns  beneath  the  .  .      2278 
,  Changes  in  shape  of  .  .  .        475 
,  Changes  in  structure  of 
the.        .            ...                      476 

Changing  a  climate.  .  .      3312 
in  Cloudless  sky                  3124 

,  Circulation  on  2805 
,  Civilized  man  consum- 
ing the  earth's  capital  2037 
,  Constitution  of  the  ....      2307 
Convulsions  of.  .                   *929 

,  "The,  of  the  Ground." 
...  681,  2072,  2905 

the                                                 *945 

Seems  dead  1558 
,  No  sensible  cooling  or 
contraction  of,  in  historic 
time  1457 
.Slow    elevation     of 
earth's  crust  998 

Gives  mellow  beauty  ..        914 
Glory  due  to                         699 

on  Highest  mountains.     *918 
on  the  High  seas  *919 
Makes  path  of  sunbeam 
visible.  .  ..                                   *915 

,  Cooling  and  contraction 
of  .                                               *930 

,  Covered  with  rock-de- 
bris    :  867 
,  Crust  of,  changing  2274 
,  Crust  of,  fashioned  by 
fire  and  water  104 
a    Delicately    adjusted 
machine  307 
,  Density  of  sun  less  than 
that  of  769 
Destruction  of                     3475 

,  "The  Solid,"  proved  a 
delusion                                         955 

,  Man      from,      of      the 
ground  (Gen.  ii.  7)  *681  ,  2072,  2905 
.Meteorites  the,  of  de- 
caying comets                            1135 

Still  forming  *935 
,  Subterranean  forces  of, 

of  Mountains  *916 
Occasions  glory  of  sun- 
set. .  .                                         3310 

,  Sun     the     source     of 
life  on  3303-04 
,  Supply  of  heat  within 
the                                1465 

a  Source  of  beauty.  .  .     *914 
in  Upper  atmosphere  .  .      1694 
.Volcanic  —  carried 
around  the  world                     *920 

,  Destruction   of,   would 
not  affect  universe  799 
,  Destruction   and  reno- 
vation of  *931 
,  Destruction     of     trees 
chances  earth's  surface.  .  .        800 

,  Surface  of,  a  thin  crust     3141 
,  Swift  revolution  of  the     *946 
,  Thermal  springs  bring 
material  from  depths  of  the     2904 
,  Thickness   of   crust    of 
the.  .  .                                          3416 

,  Volcanic  —  Vast    quan- 
tity       *921 

.Volcanic,  of  Iceland..     2709 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


797 


EARTH,  Trees  of  great  age 

growing  on  excavated.  ...  2215 

,  Unceasing  change  of 

the  solid 471 

Uninhabitable  without 

birds *942 

,  Utility   of  the  earth's 

mass 3599 

as  Viewed  from  moon.      *928 

,  Waste  of  capital  of 3692 

,  Waves  of  crust  of 3713 

Wrapped  in  the  tail  of  a 

comet 3379 

.     (See  also  WORLD.) 

EARTH-BUILDING  Now  in 

progress 23 

EARTH-CIRCUIT,  Discovery 

of 8 

EARTH-CRUST  Afloat  on  a 

plastic  ocean *947 

Carved  by  water 3143 

,  Changes  in, ceaseless  *948  *949 

,  Movement  of  the 2292 

Undermined *950 

EARTH-LIGHT  on  the  Moon     *951 
EARTHQUAKE,  Animals 

giving  warning  of _.  .  .        168 

Casts    mountains    into 

sea— Hindustan 3024 

Changing     level    of 

ground *952 

in     Conjunction     with 

volcanic  eruption 3665 

,  Depth  of  shock  of 778 

,  District  desolated  by.  .      *953 

,  Effect    of,    on    earth's 

crust 3713 

,  Elevation  of  land  in.  .      3025 

Engulfs    mountain    in 

Java 2273 

,  Fissures  made  by 937 

Followed  by  pestilence     1888 

Heaves  ocean  wave  on 

shore 3098 

in  Jamaica — Mountains 

rent 2279 

of  Lisbon 1978 

in  Mississippi  valley. .     *954 

,  Mystery  of 2333 

Piling  up  waters ......     3026 

Produces  sense  of  inse- 
curity      1689 

Resisted  by  rock 2933 

Shakes     Man's     confi- 
dence       *955 

,  Shocks  of,  would  ruin 

England 3194 

,  Subsidence  of  land  in — 

Jamaica 3282 

in  Sumbawa 728 

,  Terror   of,   unconquer- 
able. ... 3377 

,  Victims   of,   plundered 

by  robbers 1678 

,  Volcano   and,   in   con- 
junction      3666 

,  Wide-reaching  effect  of     *956 

,  Wide  reach  of — Lisbon     3099 

EARTHQUAKES,  Beneficent 

effects  of, *957 

not  Cause  of  caves ....     3394 

Due  to  collapse  of  cav- 
erns      2278 

,  Fissures  formed  by.  .  .      1252 

,  Flexible  buildings  with- 
stand      3794 

,  Houses  built  to  with- 
stand         840 

,  Japanese  buildings  un- 
harmed by *958 

Mightier  in  early  times       930 

,  Mountains     a     defense 

against 2276 

Origin-at  ing  beneath  sea     3023 

,  Prediction  of 2711 

,  Provision  against ....      1892 

,  Widespread 1771 

EARTH- SCULPTURE      of 

Primitive   man.  .  *959 

EARTHWORKS  of  American 

mound-builders 2271 

EARTHWORMS,      Infection 

caused  by 1651 


EARTHWORMS    Making 

choice 51 

,  Power  of  attention  in .  .  286 

EASE,   Automatic    action 

gains   in 2150 

of  Following  propensi- 
ties   2242 

Undesirable  for  man .  .  1802 

EAST,  Debt  of  Europe  to  the  739 
"ECCE  HOMO"  Quoted.  . . .  1387 
ECHINODERMS,  Deep-sea..  3619 
,  Phosphorescence         of 

deep-sea 3213 

ECHO,  Distant,  of  eruption.  1771 

ECHOES  of  Thought  in  brain  *960 
ECLIPSE,  Chromosphere  of 

the  sun  studied  unhurt  in.  496 
,  Corona  of  sun  seen  only 

during 664 

to  be  "Recommenced".  2790 

Stops  battle 260 

of  the  Sun— Beauty  of 

spectacle *961 

of  the   Sun — Cause   of 

superstition *962 

of  the  Sun— Effect  on 

animals 3514 

a  Terrorizing  spectacle  3095 

,  Total,  of  sun  described  729 

,  Variation  of  Algol  due  to  2614 

ECLIPSES  Affect  the  super- 
stitious    3324 

Calculated   in   far   an- 
tiquity   *963 

,  Chinese  calculations  of, 

erroneous 255 

of  the  Moon 3324 

Predicted 260 

of  Sun 496, 1842, 1851 

,  Sun  studied  without .  .  94 

ECONOMISTS  Opposed  regu- 
lation of  labor 1515 

ECONOMY,    Animal,    prefig- 
ures telegraph 3364 

of  Automatism 2055 

of  Fuel 1728 

of  Nature— Coral 2472 

of  Power 2656 

of  Power  by  substitu- 
tion   3287 

,  Volcanic  forces  part  of 

a  wise 1392 

ECSTASY  of  Health *964 

EDDA  of  Northmen 654 

EDDIES,  Sense  of  direction 

destroyed  by,  of  snow.  .  . .  2559 
EDDYSTONE,  Oak  the  model 

for  the 2432 

EDEN,  Mart's  original  home 

an 2077 

EDGE,  Terror  on  precipice's.  2077 

EDIFICE  of  a  Hidden  builder  *966 

Not  seen  till  scaffolding 

is  removed *965 

EDINBURGH,  Trap-rock  of.  374 
EDUCATION  Based  on  atten- 
tion   *969 

Develops    mental    en- 
dowment   *970 

,  Errors  of 1057 

,  German  vs.  Slav  in. . .  1829 

,  Hopeful  result  of 2754 

,  Instinct  independent  of  1698 

,  Liberal  vs.  professional  2551 

Mainspring  of  technical 

investigation 1760 

and  Man *967 

of  Man  for  spiritual  life  *971 

,  Movements  made  auto- 
matic by 2288 

Place  of  language  in.  .  1827 

Politics  an 2644 

Progress  by  scientific .  .  2991 

a  Racial  test  .    *968 

Scientific  training  in..  3455 
Value  of  nature-study 

in *972 

,  Vocabulary  varies  with  1818 

EEL,  The  Electric 1250 

EELS    Credited    with    spon- 
taneous generation 1056 

EFFECT  of  Alcohol  on  chil- 
dren .  .  135 


EFFECT    Beyond    apparent 

cause *973-6 

,  Cause    demanded    for 

every 432 

,  Cause  and,  abolished .  .       452 

,  Cause   and,  in   mental 

phenomena 428 

,  Cause  and,  reciprocal.  .        312 

,  Cause  seen  in  least 437 

,  Cumulative,  of  alcohol       133 

,  Cumulative,  of  photog- 
raphy  

,  Dew  an,  of  chilling  by 

radiation ...'.. 

,  Earthquake's    wide- 

reaching 

Exerted  at  a  distance 

from  the  cause 

,  Far-reaching,  of  earth- 
quake        728 

of  Fire  on  animals *978 

of  Grief  or  fear 465 

of   Heat   and   cold  re- 
sistless       *979 

of  Human  infancy *980 

•,  Inherited,   of   changed 


2592 
3406 


956 
1844 


habits 1487 

of  Lightning-stroke...  610 

of  Molecular  motion.  .  397 

of  Mountain  on  rainfall  1225 

,  Musical,  adjustment  of 

organs . 75 

,  Paralyzing,  of  intoler- 
ance    1743 

of  Practise 2697 

,  Progress  from,  to  cause  2188 

,  Putrefaction  within  the 

law  of  cause  and 3032 

,  Relative  judgment  of 

light  and  shade  determines 

mental 2541 

,  Repeated  impulses  give  3294 

of  Sewer  gas 3662 

,  Statements  of  cause 

and 1854 

of   superstition.....    .  3324 

,  Tests  of  cause  and . .    .  429 

from  Trivial  cause . .    .  *977 

of  True  theory  of  the 

universe .  3412 

of  Two  eyes  on  vi  ion   .  3652 

EFFECTIVENESS  of  Natural 

implements 1596 

EFFECTS,  Motor,  in  brain 

endure • 2883 

of  Earthquakes 957 

,  Similar,  from  opposite 

extremes 1172 

,  Same  cause  produces 

unlike 436 

of  Volcanic  eruption . .  267 

EFFORT  Better  than  promp- 
ting   24 

,  Force    a    reflection    of 

man's  conscious 1280 

Needed  for  excellence.  2403 

,  Power  of,  kept  by  do- 
ing more  than  is  required. .  1495 

at  Recollection 2241 

EGG,  Germ-spot  of  fowl's. . .  785 

,  Newton  and  the.  .....  4 

Producing   all   material 

for  the  chicken *981 

EGG-LAYING  of  Poultry  in- 
creased by  selection 2025 

EGGS,  Numbers  of 1620 

EGO,  Conscience  an  element 

of 597 

EGOISM  of  Ancient  geologic 

world *982 

EGYPT,  Ancient  culture  of.  .  804 

,  Animals     of     ancient, 

same  as  modern 175 

,  Monuments  in 1022 

,  Pigeons  bred  in  ancient  1737 

,  Pyramids  of,  might  be 

surpassed 1022 

,  Science  of  early 3008 

,  Seeds  and  plants  of  .*983,  *984 

,  Spindle    of,    in    Scotch 

highlands 1644 

,  Traces  of  ancient  ani- 
mals in 175 


798 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


EGYPTIAN,  Potter's  wheels 

of  the 2647 

,  Ancient     astronomical 

knowledge  of 254 

,  Bow-drill  used  by.  ...  194 

,  Debt  of  Greeks  to 3022 

,  Geological      ideas      of 

ancient 1359 

EJECTION  of  Fish  from  vol- 
cano   1248 

ELBE,  The,  below  Hamburg  1441 
ELDERS,    Timidity    taught 

young  birds  by 3441 

ELECTRICITY  in  Animals.  .  *991 

,  Atomic  theory  of 1453 

,  Chemical  affinity  and.  100 

Connected  with  motion 

and  life 1305 

Convertible 611 

,  Current  of,  non-existent  71 1 

,  Dawning  study  of ....  2920 

.Evolution   of,   from 

steam *988 

a  Form  of  energy *985 

,  Friction  a  source  of .  .  .  269 

Generated  by  volcanic 

eruption *989 

Gives  new  products.  . .  *990 

,  Growth   of      discovery 

of 1411 

,  Heat  and 1048, 1453 

,  Heat  developed  by ....  1455 

Imponderable 2116 

from  Magnetism 1755 

,  Magnetism     converted 

into 3578 

in  Medicine *992 

,  Mental  force  like 2099 

Like  mind 2201 

Outtravels  sun 944 

a  Recent  science *986 

,  Resemblance  of,  to  fire  1013 

a   Result  of   every 

change *987 

and  Thunderstorm.  ...  1150 

,  Velocity  of 3633 

in  the  Waters 1250 

Widens      astronomer's 

view 552 

ELECTRIC  LIGHT,  Magnet- 
ism converted  into 3110 

,  Progress  to 1235 

Scarcely  affects  germs.  1935 

ELEMENT,  Energy  the  form- 
giving 1021 

,  History  of  water  an  ele- 
ment in  its  analysis 616 

,  Incalculable,  limits  sci- 
ence   2785 

,  Phlogiston,  the  fire.  .  .  3014 

,  Time  an,  in  bacterial 

analysis 3430 

,  Value  of  least  promis- 
ing   3596 

ELEMENTS,  Adaptation  to 

two 65 

• ,  Atoms  the  ultimate,  of 

chemistry 280 

,  Chemical,  may  be  com- 
pounds   *993 

,  Chemistry  stops  at ....  1964 

,  Discord  of  the 415 

of  Earthly  substance  in 

space *995 

,  Frail  creatures  sport  of  3681 

,  Life  not  in  material ...  1903 

in  Other  suns *994 

,  Perhaps  all,  one 3552 

,  Phrenology  ignores..  .  .  2597 

,  Primary 1524 

of  Terror  accumulated .  *996 

of  Theine  and  strych- 
nine identical 1873 

,  Three  necessary,  from 

sun 3305 

,  Two,  of  value  in  scien- 
tific theory 3381 

.Variety  of  nature 

wrought  from  a  few 3623 

ELEPHANT,  Domestication 

of 900 

in  England 3279 

in  England  and  France  2040 


ELEPHANT,  Intelligence  of . .  1 724 

in  Northern  Europe.  .  .  1536 

Preserved  in  iceberg.  .  2554 

in  Process  of  extermin- 
ation   505 

Once  ranged  in  England  1307 

,  Remains  of,  entombed  519 

,  Submission  of 179 

ELEPHANTS     in     Northern 

lands 2013 

ELEVATION  of  Bed  of  Nile.  *997 

of  Continents 3278 

of  Earth 932 

of  Land  in  earthquake  3025 

,  Slow,  of  earth's  crust .  .  *998 

.     (See  also  EARTH;  UP- 
LIFTING.) 

ELIMINATION,    Beauty    of 

works  of  art  due  to 238 

of  Imagination 1571 

ELK,  The  Fossil  Irish 1282 

,  The  Irish 3165 

the    Irish,  in  England 

and  France 2040 

ELKHORN,  Wedge  made  of.  2694 

ELL,  Derivation  of 2130 

ELLIPSE,  Circle,  etc.,  merge 

into  each  other 2458 

,  Path    of    pendulum 

changed  to  an 569 

EMANCIPATION,  Commo- 
tion attends 1538 

EMBLEM  of  Divine  fulness.  *999 

of  Speed  of  thought .  .  .  3633 

EMBRYO  Shaped  by  viewless 

artist *1000 

EMBRYOLOGIST  Welcomes 

evolution 650 

EMBRYOLOGY,  Correspond- 
ence between,  and  geology  669 

EMBRYOS,  Likeness  of 1952 

EMERGENCY,  Preparation 

for  unseen 1495 

EMISSION  THEORY  of 

Light 731,1062,2511 

EMOTION,  Achievement 

grander  than 686 

,  Development  depend- 
ent on *1001 

,  Field  for  study  of *1002 

,  Insensibility  to  pain 

under  strong 3150 

,  Intellect  vs 1613 

Makes   man   insensible 


to  pain 

Manifested 


through 


1995 
1824 


body ... 

,  Stress  of,  makes  past 

seem  distant 3255 

,  Sympathy  with  pic- 
tured.   3349 

,  Thrill  of,  gives  sense  of 

reality 1130 

EMOTIONS,  Nature  stirs  var- 
ied human 2375 

EMPEDOCLES,  Nature  un- 
derstood by 2334 

EMPEROR  of  China  buries 

burning-glass 3323 

EMPHASIS  in  Reading  shows 

sense  of  words  to  come .  .  .  2728 

EMULATION  Has  a  noble  side  *  1 003 

,  Universality  of 3561 

ENCLOSURE  of  Land  pro- 
motes forest  growth 


2049 


motes  lorest  growtn 

ENCOURAGEMENT,  Cruelty 
easily  developed  by 

END,  Beauty  an,  in  the  Di- 
vine Mind 327-28 

,  Beginning  interpreted 

by 

,  Choice  among  methods 

of  reaching  a  single 

,  Man  the,  of  evolution. 

,  Means  valued  in  pro- 
portion to 

the  Measure  of  utility. 

,  Ornament  an,  in  nature 

Sought     in     secondary 

instruction 1834 

,  Truth  an,  for  itself 3582 

,  Various    adjustments 

accomplish  single 3528 


705 


346 

490 
346 

3579 

3572 

324 


ENDEAVOR,    Growth    with- 

out ..  ..................      3185 

-  ,  Resolute,     needed     to 
overcome  bloodthirstiness.     1519 

--  for  Utility  ...........      3578 

ENDOWMENT,      Conditions 

experience  ..............   *1004 

-  ,  Education  develops 
mental  ..................       970 

--  ,  Marvelous,  of  speech  .  .        240 
ENDS,  Adaptation  of  means 

to  ....................  51,2829 

-  ,  the  Highest  man  serves 
distant  .................      1513 

--  ,  Material,  not  supreme  .        971 

-  and  Means  in  science.*  1005-6 

-  .  Movements  in  reference 

to  .....................      2295 

ENDURANCE,  artificial  stone 

lacks  ...................      1758 

-  a  Growth  ............   *1007 

-  of    High    temperatures 

by  human  body  ..........   *1008 

-  ,  Human,  of  all  climates.     1181 

-  ,  Physical,  without  food  .      2880 

-  with  Stupidity  ........        417 

-  of  the  World  .........      3079 

ENEMIES  of  plants  escaped 

by  migration  ............    *1009 

-  ,  Production  of  crops  by 
destruction  of  ............      2769 

-  Unable  to  approach  un- 

seen .....................        171 

ENEMY,  Nervous  system  an 

ally,  not  an  ..............        745 

-  ,  Protection  by  weaken- 

ing ......................        287 

ENERGY,  All,  probably  one.  .      3552 

-  ,  Application  and  direc- 

tion of  ..................      3674 

-  ,  Battery  a  store  of  ......    *1013 

-  .Chemical  .............     2687 

-  ,  Conception  of,  difficult.     1546 

-  ,  Conservation     of 
.......  611-14,  *1020,  2579,  3546 

-  Directed  by  mind  .....      3733 

-  ,  Earthly,   derived  from 

the  Sun  ..............  435r  *1012 

-  ,  Electricity,  a  form  of  .  .        985 

-  Expended  to  heat  hu- 

man body  .......  .  ..  .....      1458 

-  and  Force  discriminated  *1011 

-  the    Form-giving    ele- 
ment ...................   *1021 

-  ,  Indestructibility  of  ----      1624 

-  ,  Infinity  of  ............      1656 

-  amid    Inhibitions    the 
highest  mental  type  ......    *1010 

-  ,  Machine  distributes.  ...      2001 

-  ,    Manufacture    of,    im- 
possible ..................   *1014 

-  ,  Measurement  of  ......     2127 

-  of  Molecules  ..........      2682 

-  of  position  .....  *1015-6,  3702 

-  Required  to  hold  gases 
together  in  water  ........    *1018 

-  a  Result  of  food  .......      1262 

-  ,  Seeming  waste  of  .....    *1019 

-  ,  Stored,  of  Sun  ........      2331 

-  of  Sun  seemingly  undi- 
minished  ................    *1017 

-  ,  Sun  the  source  of  ....  3301-02 

-  ,  Thunderstorm   the   re- 
lease of  stored  ...........      3428 

-  of  Universe  at  last  ex- 
pended .................. 

-  ,  Unlocking  of  ......... 

-  ,  Will   draws   on  latent, 
in  the  body  .............. 

ENERVATION,  Hopeless,  of 
character  ............... 

ENGINES,  Heat,  constantly 
improved  ................ 

-  ,  Horse  a  mighty  ...... 

ENGINEER,  Cap  and  coat  as 

suming  guise  of  .......  ... 

-  ,  Mind   the,   controlling 
the  mechanism  ............ 

ENGINEERING  Feats  of  an- 
tiquity .................. 

-  of  Nature  ............. 

-  ,  Time  no  object  in,  feats 

of  antiquity  .............      1022 


3564 
976 


3674 
3082 


1297 
1509 


1556 
390 


*1022 
2432 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


799 


ENGINE-ROOM,      Drudgery 

of,  lessened 909 

ENGIS  SKULL,  No  mark  of 

degradation  in 3122 

ENGLAND  Called  "Albion" 

from  chalk  cliffs 1734 

,  Chalk-beds  of 1734 

,  Exhaustion     of     Eng- 
land's coal 795 

,  Sunken  fir-trees  of 3279 

,  Transformation  of, 

through  discovery  of  coal.      3461 
-,  Union  of  England  and 


France 
,  Weavers  and   spinners 

of 

ENGLISHMAN          Founds 

Smithsonian  Institution. .  . 
ENGRAVING  on  substance  of 

brain 

ENJOYMENT   Conducive  to 

benevolence 

by  Illusion 

of  Nature  expressed  in 

ENLARGEMENT  of  Thought 
by  study 

ENNUI,  Scientific  study  over- 
comes   

ENTERPRISE,  Newspaper  .  . 

of  Primitive  man 

ENTHUSIASM  for  Science. .  . 
,  Self-sacrificing.  . 


of  Young  naturalis 

ENTITIES,  Ultimate,  un- 
known  

ENTOMOLOGIST  Deceived.. 

ENVELOPE  of  Sun  cooler 
than  central  mass 

ENVIRONMENT,  Adaptation 
of  color  to 

,  Adaptation  to  changes 

of. 


1963 
*1028 


3395 

47 


*1029 


-,  Adaptation to.56, 57, 58,  60,  61 

,  Adaptation       to — 

Birds 46 

,  Adaptation  to — Dcgs. .          57 

,  Adaptation  to — Kan- 
garoo            58 

,  Adaptation  to— Man .  .          62 

.Adaptation  to— SI  th.          60 

,  Adaptation  to— Whale         61 

,  Adjustment    of   organ- 
ism to 74 

,  Affecting  man *1030 

alone  does  not    d  e  - 

velop  Genius *1031 

and  Heredity 1480 

and  Mind 1110 

Artificial,  a  bondage..    *1032 

,  Assimilation    of     color 

to 242 

,  Bird's    correspondence 

with *1033 

,  Cannot  originate  adap- 
tation     *1034 

Changed  by  Evolution.  *1035 

Changed  by  man 1036 

,  Change  of  Eyes  to  suit       462 

,  Civilized  man  masters     2036 

,  Contact  with  sinful. ..      1038 

,  Correspondence  with.  .    *1036 

,  Favorable  or  destruct- 
ive        183 

,  Increasing        harmony 

with 2041 

,  Life  moulds 1899 

,  Limited 3481 

,  Man  makes  new 2071 

a  Predisposing  cause  of 

disease 1483 

,  Reaction  of,  on  man  .  .      2825 

,  Relations  of  animal  to..    *1037 

,  Science  dependent  on  . .      2979 

,  Self  in  relation  to 3055 

,  Spiritual *1039 

,  Suitable,  a  necessity  of 

life *1040-42 

,  Study  of,  for  animals.  .        174 

,  Tools  fitted  to 3445 

EPHEMERA,  Lakes  transi- 
tory as 1806 

EPIDEMIC  at  Maidstone  .  .        2645 


1485 


EPILEPSY,  Hereditary,  in 
guinea-pigs 

EPOCH,  Created  by  great  dis- 
coveries    *1043 

,  Deposits  of  Glacial  ....      2859 

,  Etiological,  in  m  e  d  i  - 

cine 138 

the  Glacial 1536 

,  Glacial,  alternating 

with  tropical  period 519 

,  the  Glacial— Italy 1542 

,  the  Glacial — S  w  i  t  z  e  r  - 

land 3309 

,  the  Glacial,  unexplained  2321 

,  Mystery  of  the  Glacial  2322 

( See  also  GLACIAL  EPOCH. ) 

EPOCHS  Are  breaches  of  con- 
tinuity      *1044 

,  Prolific,  in  geologic  time     2755 

,  Unity   of   tendency   of 

certain 3551 

EQUALITY,  Mental,  a  de- 
lusion   *1045 

of  the  Sexes 2646 

EQUATION,  Personal,  in  ob- 
servation       1631 

,  Personal,  in  science.  .  .      1125 

EQUATOR,  Future  of  hu- 
manity under 507 

,  Snow-line  highest  un- 
der    1957 

,  Winds  from  the 2176 

EQUILIBRIUM,    Muscular 

sense  of 3072 

of  Nature *1046 

EQUINOXES,    Precession   of     3215 
EQUIPMENT  of  Birds  for  de- 
struction    *1047 

EQUIVALENCE  of  Forcee.  .   *1048 
EQUIVALENT  of  Heat  in  mo- 
tion        1466 

ERA,  Dawn  of  new 726 

,  Formation  of  rocks  in 

the  present 1311 

ERECT  POSTURE  not  at- 
tained by  Orang 1178 

ERMINE,  Coloration  of  the  . .         47 
ERODING,    Action    of    the 

wind 2685 

EROSION,    Atmospheric,    of 

the  Matterhorn 3696 

by  Sand-laden  water.  .   *1049 

,  Variety  of 3603 

ERROR,  Atmosphere  once  a 

source  of 274 

,  Authority  used  to  sus- 
tain   292 

'• of  Claiming  too  much.  *1055 

,  Columbus  aided  by  an- 
cient    764 

,  Cumulative  result  of  ..    *1050 

,  Definite,  more  help- 
ful than  indecision *1051 

,  Honest,  leads  to  know- 
ledge   *1052 

Inseparable    from     in- 

vestigati9n *1053 

Magnified  in  popular  be- 
lief    *1054 

as  to  Sun's  distance . . .     2547 

,  Truth     may     appear 

amid  a  flood  of 2734 

once  Universal *1056 

ERRORS,    Ancient,    in 

science 218 

of  Educators *1057 

of  Equipment 1893 

,  Truth  the  outcome  of 

many 3394 

in  Woman's  culture.3755,  6007 

ERRORS  OF  SCIENTISTS 

,  Hog  among  ruminants  *1058 

,  All  Nebulae  thought  re- 
solvable    *1059 

,  Satellites  denied    to 

Mars *1060 

.Comets  "Visible  Noth- 
ings"    *1061 

,  Emission  theory  of  light  *1062 

,  Meteorites  denied  ....    *1063 

Sun's  distance *1064 

,  Herschel  recants  former 

views *1065,  *1073 


ERRORS  OF  SCIENTISTS 

,  "Bone-soup  theory"  .  .    *1074 

,  Geological    catastroph- 

ism *1075 

,  The  Will  a  separate 

faculty *1076 

,  Igneous  and  aqueous 

rocks  confused *1077 

,  "Living  Creatures"  on 

the  sun *1078 

,  HerscheL's    Conception 

of  the  sun .  .      *1066 

,  Liebig  on  fermentation  *1067 

,  Motion  of  light  thought 

timeless *1068 

,  Newton    on     reflection 

and  refraction *1069 

,  Newton,  Linnaeus,  etc.  *1070 

,  "Phlogiston".  .*1071-72, 1466 

ERUPTION,  Distant  echo  of     1771 
,  Effects  of  volcanic  ....       267 

of  Krakatoa 920, 1694 

,  Lightnings  attend  vol- 
canic          996 

of  Monte  Nuovo *1079 

,  Shock    of    earthquake 

and,   of   volcano  simulta- 
neous      3666 

of  Vesuvius 

996, *1080-81, 1301 

,  Volcanic 989 

ERUPTIONS  of  Etna 2845 

,  Fish  in  volcanic 1248 

,  Mountains  piled  by  vol- 
canic       2278 

,  Similarity  of  volcanic  . .        823 

,  Steam  the  motive  pow- 
er of  volcanic 3023 

,  Volcanic,  eject  plants  .      2619 

ESCAPE  of  Useless  insects — 

Plants 3577 

ESKIMO,  Boat  of 1783 

,  Curved    knife    of   the     1751 

,  Grip  of,  scraper 3443 

the   2694 

,  Sagacity  of,  dogs 2946 

ESKIMOS,  Binding  with  raw- 
hide among  the 49 

,  Bows  tightened  by 3285 

,  Cave-men  compared  to       360 

,  Inventors  of  the  lamp .        360 

,  Substitutes    for    floats 

among  1759 

ESQUIMAUX,  (See  ESKIMOS.) 
ESSENTIAL,   Camel  the,   of 

patriarchal  life 

ESSENTIALS     Grasped     by 
early  geologists 

of  Psychology  not  new. 

ESTIMATE,    Nature   sur- 


2062 


111 

2788 


3377 


passes  human  . 

,  Popular,    reversed    by 

science 912 

ESTIMATES,      Different, 

from  same  height 2858 

,  Early,  of  living  organ- 
isms inadequate 80 

ESTIMATION  of  Science  not . 

by  mere  utility '  2998 

ETERNITY,  Serpent  a  sup- 
posed emblem  of 2943 

,  Suggestion  of *1082 

ETHER  in  Ancient  philoso- 
phy  , *1084 


-,  Clearness  of  celestial .  . 
-,  Incompatible   qualities 


518 

829 

,  the      Luminiferous  — 

Medium  of  light 152 

.Luminiferous — Motion.     2257 

,  Luminiferous  —  Prop- 
erties        2459 

,  Luminiferous — a  solid .      3559 

.Luminiferous — Theory.     1160 

Pervades  all  bodies *1083 

,  Properties  of 2116-17 

,  Space  filled  with  Lumi- 
niferous       3157 

.Stars   visible    only- 
through  .  ! 2459 

ETHICS  Associated  with  re- 
ligion     *1085 


soo 


SCIENTIFIC,  SIDE-LIGHTS 


ETHICS  and  Conduct 2981 

,  Psychology    surrenders 

problems  to 1001 

ETHNOLOGY  a  Guide  to  the 

birth  of  invention 2753 

ETNA,  Eruption  of 3247 

,  Measurement  of 6 

,  Miles   of   rock   ejected 

from 

ETYMOLOGY,  Perplexities  of 

,  tributary  to  psychology 

EUCALYPTUS,    Height  and 

girth  of,  tree 

on  the  South  American 


pampas 

"•EUREKA,"  the,  of  Archi- 
medes   

EURIPIDES,  "(Eneus" of, 
mentions  lodestone 

EUROPE,  American  currant 


2391 

2564 
1508 

110 
2340 
1693 
2008 
3035 

164 
309 


— ,     Arctic      animals      in 

Southern  

,  Barbarians   of   ancient 

,  Civilization  from  with- 
out coming  to 501 

— ,  Climate  of 523 

— .Climate  of  and   of 

America 3371 

— ,  Debt  of  to  the  East ...       739 
— ,  Destruction    to,   from 

Asia 310 

— ,  Gulf  Stream  moderate 

climate  of 1417 

— ,  Mildness  of  climate  of     2176 
— ,  More  stable  than  Amer- 

154 
3222 
1536 
818 


,  Stars  once  visible  in. . . 

,  Tropical  animals  in. .  . 

,  Von  Buch  traverses. .  . 

EUROPEANS  among  Barba- 
rians  

EVANESCENT,  THE,  endur- 
ing record  of  the 2843 

the  Enduring  record  of 

— Ferns  in  coal 1231 

,  the  Enduring  record  of 

— Leaf-tracery  in  rock ....  1864 

,  the  Enduring  record  of 

— Pompeii 3097 

EVAPORATION  of  Solids. . .     3540 

EVENT,  Discovery  of  Amer- 
ica not  an  Isolated 851 

EVENTS,  Concurrence  of, 

advance  astronomy 579 

,  Duration  estimated  by 

succession  of 1878 

,  Nearness  of  time  as- 
cribed to  public 2396 

,  Savages  distort  facts  of 

recent 2957 

EVERYTHING  Said  by 

some  one  somewhere 2733 

EVIDENCE  that  Chalk  is  an 

ancient  sea-bottom *1089 

,  Force  of  circumstan- 
tial   767 

,  Circumstantial  may 

equal  demonstrative 767 

of  Design — Eye 783 

of  Design  in  fertiliza- 
tion of  orchids 784 

Finally  accepted 1063 

of  Gradual  change 2231 

of  Human,  handiwork.        790 

,  Lack  of,    no  impeach- 
ment of  evidence 1804 

,  Lack  of,  not  disproof. .      1625 

of  Man's  recent  origin. 2043-44 

of  Mental  growth 1747 

of  Meteorites  rejected.      1621 

Multiplies    for    willing 

minds *1086 

,  None,  of  spontaneous 

generation 1343 

,  None,  of  tribes  without 

religion 2872 

of  Phosphorescence  in 

deep-sea  animals *1087 

of  Preoccupation..  ....        286 

of  Purpose  in  mind..  .  .        788 

of  Self-determining 

power *1088 


EVIDENCE,  Silent,  of  dense 

agricultural  population . .  .      2272 

the  Test  of  science 1612 

,  Untrustworthy *1090 

of  Vanished  civilization     2493 

— ,  Will  may  shut  out  1621,  3739 
EVIDENCES,    Geological,  of 

Life  in  the  Past 1499 

of  the  Work  of  an  an- 
cient stream 148 

EVIL,  Avoiding  through  love 

of  good 1328 

,  Cure  by  opposing 1980 

,  Evolution  of 1106 

,  Explanations    of   mys- 
tery of 817 

,  Good  from  seeming  957,  1392 

Held  in  suspense 3341 

,  Menace  of 1904 

,  Moral,  a  universal  fact .    *1092 

,  Mystery  of  —  Insoluble     2583 

,  Mystery  of— Plato,  etc.     2316 

Overcomebygood*1091,*1093 

,  Permissions  of  moral  . .        529 

Points  the  way  to  bet- 
terment         869 

,  Power  of,  limited 2669 

,  Problem  of  moral 2736 

,  Reason  W9rking  for. .  .      2830 

Spread    with   good    in 

seeds 2029 

,  Struggle  against 577 

EVILS  Averted  by  Nature's 

compensation 3523 

,  Banded,  most  deadly .  .  3649 

EVOLUTION  not  Accounted 

for *1103 

not  Atheistic *1104 

,  Atomic 280 

of  the  Cabbage 1667 

not  a  Cause 227 

Changes  its  course.  . .  .   *1096 

Consistent    with    crea- 
tion     *1097 

,  Consummation  of 3777 

,  Convergence  of  sciences 

upon   650 

of  Degradation 753 

,  Design  in 785 

of  Earth's  crust *1105 

of      Electricity      from 

steam 988 

,  Endless  material 2990 

of  Evil *1106 

of  Evolution *1107 

Exalts  humanity. . . 

*1098,2552 

,  Family     the     master- 
piece of 1201 

out  of  Focus *1111 

a  General  law *1094 

Gives  new  perspective.     3431 

of  Heat  from  sun 769 

,  Humanization  of 1645 

,  Indications  of,    in    or- 
chids          684 

,  Interpreted    as    blank 

materialism *1099 

,  Involves  many  elements     3265 

,  Involves     more     than 

natural  selection *1 100 

of    Language  —  Com- 
parative philology *1108 

of  Language  conceded     1830 

,  Limited 1886 

,  Limits  of  doctrine  of.  .      1974 

,  Man  co-operates  with .  .   *1 101 

,  Man  the  crown  of 2068 

Man  the  end  of 346 

.Material 2990 

,  Materialistic *1102 

.Mechanical,  of  con- 
sciousness       2100 

of  Mind 1730, 2208 

in  the  Mind  of  a  child.      1095 

of  Motherhood 2251 ,  3267 

,  Motherhood  the  great 

work  of 2252 

,  Mystery  behind 2309 

Mystery  of 2317 

.  Order  of,  reversed 2463 

of   Phosphorescent   or- 
gans     *1109 


17 


2706 
3080 


EVOLUTION  a  Pillar  without 

a  capital H02 

as  Prophecy 2241 

of  Sciences *1110 

of  Speech  may  lead  to 

Telepathy 3366 

a  Study  for  the  nursery  *1095 

,  Triumphs  of 2519 

of  Writing 3791 

EXACTNESS  of  Great  pyra- 
mid not  attainable  by  com- 
pass  

,  Minute,    of     measure- 
ment    

of  Movement 

of  Newcomb's  observa- 
tions      3630 

of  Photograph *1112 

,  Utility  compels *3576 

EXACTNESS    OF    SCIENCE 

Astronomy *1113 

,  Combustion *1117 

,  Disinfection *1116 

,  Disregard  of *11 15 

,  The  Footpound 2127 

,  Gradations  of  species  .  .     2526 

,  Gravitation 3487 

,  Halley 's  comet 2523 

.Kepler *1125 

.Light *1118 

,  Location  of  specimens.  *1126 

,  Measurement  of  vision.   *1120 

,  Minute  displacement  of 

Sirius *1122 

.Newton *1123 

,  Parallax  of  stars 2503 

.Pasteur *1124 

,  Salmon's  leap *1 121 

,  Spectrum *1119 

,  Spectrum  of  Sun 2524 

,  Spectrum  of  Vega 2525 

,  Spontaneous  generation     2522 

,  Velocity  of  light *1127 

,  Water-analysis *1114 

EXALTATION,  Height  gives 

sense  of 3625 

— —  by  Influence  of  higher 

intelligence 1784 

,  Peril  in 2557 

,  Spiritual,  of  man 240 

EXAMPLE,  Soap-bubble  the 

choicest,  of  interference  of 

light  waves 3134 

EXCELLENCE,  Prowess  and, 

not  coextensive 

EXCEPTION,     Christianity 

demands  no,  to  law 493 

,  Is  man  an,  to  Unity  of 

Nature? 3542 

-,  Water   an,   to   law   of 

expansion 3698 

EXCESS  of  Concentration..  .   *1128 

of  Increase *1129 

,  Pain  due  to 2496 

,  Result  of  alcoholic ....      1492 

EXCHANGE     of     Functions 

among  vital  organs 1897 

EXCITEMENT  an  Aid  to 

faith *1130 

.Bodily  activities 

aroused  by 

May  vitiate  evidence.  . 

,  Savage  requires 

EXCITEMENTS,    Accumula- 
tion of 

EXCLUSION  of  Air  quenches 
fire 

of  Bacteria  helps   sur- 
geon   

,  Possibility  of 1367 

from  Scientific  system. .  1612 

EXCRETION,  Thought  not 

an 2103 

EXCUSE,  Intoxication  no, 

for  crime 697 

EXEMPTION,  Increase  by 

from  attack *1131 

from  Restraint   1325 

,  (See  also  FREEDOM.) 

EXERCISE,    Heat    of    body 

lost  in 1459 

EXERTION  Creates  new  sup- 
ply of  heat 1459 


3688 


661 

1090 

511 

15 

127 

2338 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


801 


EXERTION  Secures  increased 
supply  2697 
—  ,  Sustained     movement 
with  slight  2285 
EXHALATIONS,    Deadly,  of 
volcanoes  1177 
EXHAUSTION  of  England's 
coal   795 
of  Fuel  1450 
,  Nerve-force  capable  of     2406 
-,  Renewal  after  2873 
EXISTENCE,  Brevity  of  hu- 
man        1167 
,  Present,  of  images  of 
memory  1568 
,  Ross  confident  of  the, 
of  deep-sea  life  352 

EXPERIMENT  Confirms  the- 
ory—Plants      *1146 
Confirms      t  h  e  o  r  y  — 
Sinking  of  well  *1147 
,  a    Disastrous  —  Alcohol 
in  bread  136 
,  Errors  of  1893 

EXPLORATION  of    the 
Heavens  —  Herschel                  3171 

,  Trivial,    of  earth's  in- 
terior        1966 
EXPLOIT,   Agassiz  rivals,  of 
Cuvier  2842 
EXPLOSION    of   Gunpowder 
without  air                                 2228 

,  Errors  settled  by  545 
Essential    to    scientific 
investigation  2986 
of  Faraday  3110 
"The  Florentine"              2387 

—  vs.       Implosion  —  Pres- 
sure in  deep  sea  2722 
,  Mechanics  of  1313 
EXPLOSIVENESS    of    Niter 
demonstrated  .  .  .                        839 
EXPLOSION  of  Volcano.  ...        107 
EXPORTATION  of  Products.  *1157 
EXPOSITOR,      Science     the 
great                                             3011 

Furnishes  test  1637 
,  Growth  of  Coral  shown 
by  1410 
,  Huber's—  Ants  209 
Illustrating  pressure  in 
deep-sea                                 .     2722 

,    Struggle     for  —  Glass 
animals  532 
,  Struggle  for—  Parasites     3256 
.  (See  also  LIFE;   .STRUG- 
GLE FOR  LIFE.)  
EXPANSION  explained.  .393  *1132 
,  Force  of,  resistless  1292 
,  Force  of  gunpowder  in     2228 
,  Power  of                                2670 

EXPOSURE,  Fluid  silk  hard- 
ening by,  to  air  3723 
EXPRESSION,  Feelings  man- 
ifested by  .              1219 

,  Investigation  of  forces 
effected  by  624 
of    Passing     light 
through  iron-filings  2521 
with  Molten  iron  2386 
,  Rapid     multiplication 
of  bacteria  defeating  3430 
Necessary  to  Science..    *1148 
,  Observation  ,  theory  ...        438 
Refutes  ancient  theory.     1149 
for  Restoration  of  life..     1881 

,  Natural  language  of.  .      1824 
of  Pleasure  and  pain  .  .      2630 
EXTENSION    of   Individual- 
ity      *1158 
of  Knowledge  *1159 
of  Knowledge  leads  to 
higher  faith  2870 
of  Language  1829 
of  Mental  horizon  1508 
of  the  Spectrum  *1161 
of  Suggestion  *1160 
,  Thought     and     feeling 
have  no  2187,3420 
EXTENT     of     Migration     of 
birds  2174 
Compared  with  height 
of  aurora  2766 
EXTERMINATION    of    Ani- 
mals    595 

,  Power  in,  of  iron  1404 
,  Refrigeration  by  2856 
,  Unequal,  of  glass  *1134 
,  Water  an  exception  to 
law  of                                           3698 

friction  1466 
Superior     to     ordinary 
observation  *1150 
—  .  the  Test  of  theory  3402 
—  ,  Theory  must  point  way 
for  3402 
—  ,  Theory  proved  by  ....      3410 
—  Once  thought   degrad- 
ing     *1151 
—  ,  Value  of  912 
,  Vast  result  from  small  .      2893 
Verifies  hypothesis.  .  .  .      1528 
EXPERIMENTER  Differs 
from  observer  *1152 
EXPERIMENTERS,  Germs 
evade  1368 
EXPERIMENTS,  Conclusions 
from  1274 

-  of  Water  in  freezing.  .  .    *1133 
EXPECTED,  THE,    lUusions 
due  to  seeing  1563 

,  the  Witness  sees  1548 
EXPECTATION,    Result    be- 
yond        2902 
of  Science  verified  *1135 
EXPECTATIONS  of  New  in- 
vention       *1136 
of     Naturalists    disap- 
pointed       *1137 
EXPEDIENCY  Distinguished 
from  morality  2243 
EXPEDITION,    "Transit    of 
Venus"   2672 
EXPENDITURE  of  Blood  .  .  .        675 
Profuse,  in  nature  *1138 
EXPENSE  of    Modern    steel 
guns  ?  2225 

—  by    Diversion    of    sup- 
plies                                           *1162 

,  Excess       of       increase 
tends  to  1129 
of    Game    by    modern 
weapons                                    *  1  1  63 

-  of  Plant  by  plant  *1164 
—  ,  Sudden,  of  Coypu  .  .          1615 
EXTINCTION  of  Apes  212 
of  Bison  *1  165 
of  Choice  animals  796 
of  Other  suns  *1166 
of  Species                           *1168 

,  Cumulative  *1153 
on  Deep-sea  animals.  .        832 
of  French  Academy.  .  .      1264 
,  Pasteur's  care  in  1124 
,  Place  of,  in  science.  .  .  .     2607 
—  of  Schwann  2810 

EXPERIENCE,  Accumulated 
associations  from  long  ....      1154 
,  Bees  learning  by  *1139 
,  Character  known  by  .  .      2783 
Compared  with  reflec- 
tion  .  2787 
Compels    to    reluctant 
doubt  2146 
—  ,  Conceptions  founded  on       578 
Conditioned  by  endow- 
ment                                            1004 

of  our  Sun  *1167 
of  Waves  by  interfer- 
ence.. .  .                                       1933 

EXPERT   Alone   can    secure 
needed  data  159 
Intuition  of        .          .      1154 

EXTRACTION,  Wild  dogs  of 
European                                      898 

EXPLANATION,  Aimless  va- 
riation not  an  809 
.Attempts  at,  of  obliga- 
tion vain  2436 
Carrying     a     difficulty 
farther    back—  Origin      of 
life  2308 

EXTRAS,  Printing  of  2414 
EXTRAVAGANCES    of    Na- 
ture      *1169 
EXTREMES  of     Heat     and 
cold  in  South  Africa  637 
,  Meeting  of  *1170 
—  Opposite,  have     like 
effects  *1  172-73 
—  of  Temperature  *1171 
EYE,  Adaptation  of,  auto- 
matic      .              .                           77 

,  Difficulty  of  learning  by       837 
the   Foundation  of  re- 
membrance     *1142 

Has  taught  caution.  .  .      1207 
,  Inability  to  learn  by.  .  .        169 
-  Includes    the    laws    of 
Mind   *1140 
r-,    Individual,     not     the 
limit  1508 
,    Infinite   conception 
from  finite  576 
,  Learning    by,    a    proof 
of  mind  *1141 

,  Classification  is  not  ...      3317 
—  of  Discrepancies  reveals 
new  laws  182 
—  ,  no,  of  consciousness..  .      2313 
,  no,  of  memory  2313 
—  .First,  of  magnetic  power     3146 
of    Loss    of    power    of 
speech  3449 
,  Mechanical,  of  life  finds 
limit  366 
Science  has  no,  of  life.        716 
—  .Science    has    no,  of 
memory.  ..                       1967  2313 

—  Complete  before  man's 
creation  3048 
,  Criticism  of  the  human       700 
,  Delicacy  of  2525 
,  Fish  with  divided  65 
Formed  by  converging 
growths  783 
.Imperfect    achroma- 
tism of  *1174 
,  Imperfections  of  the  .  .      1592 
,  Involuntary  closing  of 
the  392 
,  Photography     pictures 
stars  invisible  to  the  2594 
,  Photography  surpasses 
the  human  250- 
,  Practical  perfection  of 
the  .  .                                            1960 

Not  the  measure  of  pos- 
sibility .    .    .                               3782 

,  Ours  not  the  limit.  .  .  .      3206 
,  Plainsman's  first,  of  a 
hill  3625 
to  Prove  matter  eternal  .        896 
,    Recent,    best    remem- 
bered.. .'  2148  " 

,  Science     has    no,    of 
vital  force  1916 
,  Scientific,    often    mere 
restatement  2325 
of  Scientific  fact  by  su- 
perstition        3328 
—  a  Statement  of  grander 
fact                                               3762 

—  ,  Science  enforces  lesson 
of  1793 

the    Starting-point    of 
science  *1143 
EXPERIENCES,     Feeling    a 
sum  of                                          1217 

of    Tendency    to    idol 
worship  2435 
EXPLANATIONS,  Makeshift, 
of  mystery  of  evil  2316 
,  Tentative       .                       1794 

—  .Ready  motion    of  — 
Wide  vision  .    .                 .        1958 

EXPERIMENT,  a  Barbarous 
—Grotto  del  Cane  272 
Changes  theory  *1144 
Confirms    theory  —  Tel- 
escope .  .                              ,  .    *1145 

Surpasses  camera  ....      3656 
,  Telephone     anticipates 
the                                                3367 

EXPLORATION  of    Ancient 
geologic  lands....                    *1155 

of  the  Deeo  sea.   *  1156.  2907 

Tftlls  onlv  nf  lio-ht.                    9t4flS 

SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


EYE,  Vibrations  caught  by  . .  758 
EYELESSNESS  of  Deep-sea 

organisms 2587 

EYES,  Atrophy  of,  due  to 

disuse 281 

of  Blind  fishes 752 

of  Cave-fish  atrophied .  2531 

Changed    to    suit    en- 
vironment    462 

of  Deep-sea  animals.*1175-76 

Differ  in  perception  of 

color . 1174 

,  Effect  of  two,  in  vision .  3652 

.Joint   action    of,    lo- 
cates objects 1979 

of  the  Mole  atrophied.  2696 

,  the  Mole  has  true 1991 

and  wings 754 


FABLE  Founded  on  fact *1177 

,  Origin  of,  of  mermaid. .      2151 

FABLES  about  Orang *1178 

FABRICS,  Primitive,  the  des- 
pair of  imitators.  .... 3358 

,  Tracery  of,  on  glass  .  .  .      3795 

FACE  of  the  earth  changed .  .      2282 

Seen  in  artist's  few  lines     2206 

FACILITY  Becomes  a  snare.  *1179 

FACT,  Bondage  of 394 

,  Causation,  of  conscious- 
ness        427 

,  C  i  c  e  r  o's    descriptions 

true  to   1670 

,  Consciousness  dead  to 

ever-present 602 

,  Consciousness  the  fun- 
damental        2828 

of  Consciousness — 

memory 1967 

Contradicts  reasonable 

theory 2355 

Distorted  by  imagina- 
tion        1570 

,  Early  records  of  scien- 
tific       2845 

,  Explanation    a    state- 
ment of  grander 3762 

,  Fable  founded  on 1177 

,  Logic  disregarding  ....        762 

,  Moral  evil  a  universal ..     1092 

Needed  to  correct  theory  *1180 

,  Popular  belief  founded 

on  scientific 1607 

,  Science    demands    the 

test  of 3410 

,  Scientific,    basis     of 

strange  tale 1570 

,  Scientific,  superstitious 

explanation  of 3328 

,  Some    external,   corre- 
sponds to  normal  sensation     3064 

Surpasses  theory *1181 

,  System  in  conflict  with, 

abandoned 3499 

and  Theory 3396 

,  Theory  confirmed  by .  .      3400 

,  Verification     in     the 

world  of 3389 

FACTS  of  Astronomy  surpass 

poetic  fancies 1552 

,  Classification  of,  not 

explanation 3317 

.Common,  not  noted 

by  consciousness 1190 

— —  in  Consciousness,  but 

unheeded 3664 

Contrasted  with  theo- 
ries of  science *1182 

.  Dealing     with,    dispels 

illusions *1183 

,  Decision  must  be  upon       344 

,  Decision      of      science 

waits  for 2740 

of  External  world *1185 

,  False     Theory     blinds 

men  to 3401 

,  Genius  coordinates  ....  856 

,  Law  an  observed  order 

of 1837 

,  Materialism  gives  no .  .  2099 

May  be  tested  one  by 

one *1184 


FACTS,  Mystery  surrounds,  of 

science 2339 

in  Newton's  possession  731 

of    Past    in    frame    of 

present *1186 

,  Psychology  begins  with  2787 

,  a  Record  of  dead 3008 

Remain  when  theories 

perish 3393 

,  Retention  of 3414 

,  Savages  distort 2957 

of   Science   not   to   be 

feared *1187 

,  Thoughts  and  feelings 

fundamental 2828 

,  Ultimate,  of  life 1919 

FACTOR,  Fire  a,  of  civiliza- 
tion    1236 

FACTORIES,   Child-labor  in 

British  ...             1803 

FACTORS  of  Decision 2454 

FACTORY    SYSTEM    Ante- 
dates steam 1754 

,  a  Necessity 1754 

,  a  Result  of  invention .  .  1044 

FACULTIES    of    Phrenology 

are  virtually  persons 1819 

,  Power  of  higher  more 

persistent  than  of  lower. .  .  2676 
,  Substitution  of 3287 

Unused  but  persistent.  *1188 

FACULTY,  Mathematical, 

lacking  among  savages..  .  .  1713 

of  Observation  trained.  972 

of  Plants 2295 

,  no    Single,    competent 

to  the  work 1819 

Theory   of   mental 

action 3407 

,  Will    once     deemed    a 

separate 1076 

FAILING,  Illusion  a  common  355 
FAILURE  Accompanying  de- 
velopment   *1189 

,  Capacity  of 2673 

,  Compensation    for,    of 

coal-supply 1465 

of  Fatalism  inevitable.  1209 

of  Generalization.  .  .    .  850 

through  Lack  of  will   .  *1192 

of    Memory *1190 

of  Past  hypotheses..    .  *1191 

to  Teach  humanity .  .    .  505 

FAILURES,     Herschel     un- 
daunted by  many 1346 

Pave  the  way  to    suc- 
cess   *1193 

Resulting  in  success.  .  1408 

FAINTNESS,  Imagination 

producing 1580 

of  Mental  impression ..  *1194 

FAIRY-LAND  of  Ice 1532 

"FAIRY    RINGS"     Ascribed 

to  witches,  etc 3325 

FAITH  Demanded  in  philo- 
sophic  creed 248 

,  Excitement  an  aid  to. .  1130 

,  Extension     of     know- 
ledge leads  to  higher 2870 

,  First  law  of  motion  re- 
vealed to  scientific,  only  .  .  1544 

in  Law  leads  to  new  dis- 
coveries   2312 

Opposes  materialism.  .  1505 

of  Science *1195 

.Science  founded    on 

*1196,2985 

,  Science  teaches  need  of  *1197 

FAITHFULNESS  through  All 

things *1198 

.Camera  has  absolute.  .  1571 

FALCON,    Coloration     of 

— Greenland 47 

FALCONS  of  the  Sea 816 

FALL  of  Apple  not  yet  ac- 
counted for 1400 

,  Cause  of,  forgotten...  .  2144 

of  Meteors  on  the  sun.  2162 

,  Rise  and,  of  lands 2922 

of  Stones  from  the  sky.  1063 

Upwards 1849 

FALLACIES  Regarding  "free 

labor"...                   1803 


FALLACIES  of  Scientists 

FALLACY  of  the  Absolute- 
ness of  species 

of  Identification 

of  the  Intellect 

FALLIBILITY  of  Newton . 
FALSENESS     of     Cramming 

system 

of  Materialists'  analogy 

of  Popular  theory 

FALSITY  of  Spencer's  alter- 
natives  

FAME,  Brevity  of  human  .  . 

and  "Honor" 

,  Scientific,  surpasses 

that  of  warriors  and  kings 

FAMILIES,  Insanity  in  royal 

FAMILY,  Difficulty  of  at- 
taining true,  life 

Educator  of    man- 
kind. 


1263 

3163 
1548 
3071 
1062 

2141 
2103 
3020 

3390 
109 
1635 

3332 
1675 

831 

*1200 

Foundation     of     social 

progress *1201 

Goal  of  evolution.  .1210,  2015 

.the  Human,  en  dures 

throughout  the  year *1202 

Part  of  self *1199 

Relieves  individual .  .  .      3263 

the  Unit  of  society.  .  .  .    *1203 

FAMILY  LIFE,  Beginning  of     1202 

Favored  by  ancient  in- 
dustries       1644 

FAMINE,  Parasites  have 

brought,  to  man 3256 

.Resources  against, cf 

Ants *1204-5 

FANCY,  Creatures  of  ...  695 

FAN-PALM  Makes  the  home 

of  a  people 62 

FANTASIES  of  Comparative 

method  of  psychology.  .  .  .  2784 

FARADAY,  Discovery  by, 

of  magnetic  induction  ....  1755 

,  Experiment  of — Mag- 
netism   3110 

Produces  electricity 

from  magnetism 1283 

,  Reply  of,  as  to  utility.  3578 

FARM-CART,  Primitive.  .  .  .  3726 

FARMER,  Hawk  the  ally  of. .  3621 

FARMING  of  Insects *1206 

FARMS,  Indigo,   abandoned.  1626 
FASCINATION    of     Alaskan 

glaciers 317 

of  Botany  and  astron- 
omy   416 

,  Fatal,  of  lighthouse  for 

birds 370 

of  Flame *1207-8 

FAST,  Sustenance  stored  in 

body  for  long 3343 

FATALISM,  Failure  of,  in- 
evitable    *1209 

FATE  Awaiting  our  sun 1166 

.Bees     unwarned     by 

others' 3427 

FATES,  the  Three 1595 

FATHER,  Son  a  worthy  suc- 
cessor to  honored 1482 

,  Son  begins  where,  ends .      1821 

FATHERHOOD  Essential  to 

family  life *1210 

-  of  God— Vedas *1211-12 

.Little,    among     wild 

mammalia 1413 

,  Nature's  training  for.  .  3648 

FATIGUE  Diminished  by 

habit 1962 

Requires     exertion     of 

the  will 2290 

FAULT,    Wasp    starts    fresh 

when  at 1726 

FAUNA,  no  Close  resem- 
blance to  geologic *2366 

-  of  the  Deep  sea 887 

,  First  proof  of  deep-sea..     2761 

,  Range  of— Climate *1213 

of  one  Region  overlaps 

that  of  another 2366 

,  Sargasso 1773 

of  the  Sea 2444,  3484 

FAWN,  Strategy  of  deer  pro- 
tecting        3246 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


803 


FEAR,   Civilization  removes 

occasion  for 510 

Drives  fish  into  air ....      2293 

,  Effect  of 465 

Hereditary 3376 

of  Man  not  instinctive.     2410 

of  Man  by  lower  ani- 
mals    *1214 

• without  Reason *1216 

a  Result  of  intellectual 

confusion 3327 

Taught  by  parent  bird  *1215 

.Utility  and  inutility 

of 3573 

,  Victims  of  boa  or  py- 
thon destitute  of 3643 

FEAR-PAROXYSM,  Harmful  3573 
FEAST  in  South  Sea  Islands  593 
FIAT  of  God  back  of  science.  1388 
FEATHERS  of  Birds'  wings 

underlap 372 

in     Primitive     needle- 
work      3358 

FEATS,  Engineering,  of  an- 
tiquity   1022 

FEATURES,  Each  geological 

formation  has  special 1811 

FECUNDITY  of  Lower  forms 

of  life 1882 

FEEBLEST,  the  Importance 

of  the 2878 

FEEDING  -  BOTTLES,  Un- 
clean, nurseries  of  bacteria  422 

FEELING,  the  Dominant, 

moulds  images  in  dreams  *1218 

,  Faculty  theory  of 3407 

Has  no  extension 3420 

of  Insecurity  on  height     3072 

a  Sum  of  experiences.  .    *1217 

through  Tools  and  im- 
plements       2318 

FEELINGS  Impel  to  action. .      2759 

Manifested  by  expres- 
sion     *1219 

,  Response     to     human 

sought  in  nature 2886 

,  Thoughts  and,  funda- 
mental facts 2828 

FEINT  of  Monkey *1220 

FELINES,  Merciless,  domes- 
ticated   900 

FELLOWSHIP  with  Universe     1985 

FEMALE,  Passivity  of 3093 

,  Purpose  in  plain  color- 


ing of,  birds 

FERMENTATION,  Cause  of, 


2800 
2743 


discovered  by  Pasteur.  . 

Involves     breaking 

down  of  complex  bodies. .  .      1221 

,  Liebig's  doctrine  of..  .  .      1067 

the    Product   of  living 

organisms *1221 

Traced  to  living  organ- 
isms       1153 

FERMENTS  in  the  Dairy....   *1222 
FERNS,  Lead-fronds  on  wire 

like 1863 

,  Structure  of  ancient.  .  .    *1223 

in  the  Tropic  zone ....      3575 

.     (See     also     TREE- 
FERNS.) 

FEROCITY  in  Attack  of  go- 
rilla   3238 

FERTILITY  Caused  by 

worms 3137 

• Due  to  micro-organ- 
isms   *1224 

Due  to  worms 319 

Encroaching  on  desert       997 

of  Land  determined  by 

mountains *1225 

,  Rain  brings 914 

Turned  to  barrenness. .   *1226 

on  Volcanoes 3512 

Waiting  for  protection     2049 

FERTILIZATION,    Evidence 

of  design  in,  of  orchids  .  .  .        784 
FERTILIZING    of    Soils    by 

bacteria 3140 

FERTILIZATION  of  Soils- 
Chemistry  120 

FETISHISM,     Origin      of 

idea  and  name  of ...          ..   *1227 


FEVER,  Patient  reduced  to 

keep  down :  .  .  .        379 

,    Putrid,    attributed  to 

eruption  of  fish 1248 

FICTION,  Popular,  about  the 

skunk 2347 

— ,  Truth  underlying 2151 

FICTIONS  of  Lamarck — evo- 
lution     *1228 

FIELD,  Limitation  of  visual, 

concentrates  attention ....      1960 

,  Supremacy  coveted  in 

one's  chosen 3331 

,  Wide,  of  vision  for  eye.      1958 

.      (See  also    FIELD  OP 

FORCE  .3 

FIELD-FINCH    of    South 

America 2427 

FIELD    OF    FORCE    around 

Magnet 271,1286 

FIELD-MICE  Destroy  hum- 
ble-bees      3515 

FIELDS  of  consciousness  al- 
ways complex 565 

Inoculated  with  useful 

germs 3139 

,  Power  stored  in  coal . .  .     2692 

FIG,    Domestic,    in    United 

States *1229 

,  the    Smyrna,  in    Cali- 
fornia   1686-87 

FIGHTING,    Impulse    of, 

needed 2789 

FIGURE  of  Speech 711 

FIGURES  on  Indian  pipes ...       350 

on  the  Rocks 2493 

FILINGS,  Iron,  supposed 

"raving"  to  escape 1286 

FILM,  Depth  of  fine,  of  air  .  .      1123 

of  Spirits  of  turpentine       549 

FILMS,   Colored,   on   molten 

lead 2625 

,  Double      reflection     of 

light  from 

Give  prismatic  colors .  . 


1933 
3134 
2390 


FILTER,  Sand  the  great  ....  2390 
FINAL  CAUSE  not  Physical 

cause 2800 

.  (See  also  CAUSE  ,  FINAL.  ) 

FINGER,  Seeds  shot  as  from 

thumb  and 645 

FINISHING  of  Earth  for  man  941 

FINITE,  THE  and  the  Infinite  1659 

FINS  of  Flying-fish 3746 

FIRE  Aids  man  to  conquer 

climate 1714 

,  the  Assumed  principle 

of—"  Phlogiston." 1072 

,  the  Beauty  of *1244 

,  Benefits  of 360 

by  Bowdrill — Indians. .  194 

/'Day  of" 584 

,  Effect  of,  on  animals. .  .  978 

Enables  man  to  subdue 


of    air 


*1234 


the  earth 

,  Exclusion 

quenches 127 

from  Flint  and  steel  .  .  .   *1235 

,  Forests  subdued  by  ....        360 

,  Impersonation  of 2573 

Kindled    by  friction 

*1237-*1238 

,  Kindling  of,  in  Brazi- 
lian forest *1239 

,  Kindling  of,  by  Tahi- 

tians 593 

,  Knowledge  of,  universal     1800 

Lifts  pall  of  night *1240 

a  Necessity  of  civiliza- 
tion     *1233 

,  an  Ocean  of 238 

,  Origin  of 845 

."Phlogiston."    the, 

element 3014 

,  Resemblance  of  elec- 
tricity to 1013 

,  Rivers  of , *1241 

,  Rocks  formed  by 648 

,  Sacred,  of  Brahmans  .  .   *1242 

,  Service  of,  to  science  .  .   *1236 

Started  with  ice *1243 

,  Sun  compared  to  a  prai- 
rie on 585 


FIRE  as  a  Tool 3285 

,  Tool  of  woman *1231 

Used  to  fell  trees 1643 

,  Uses  of *1232 

Works  to  build  earth's 

crust 104 

FIRE-DRILL  Used  by  prim- 
itive man 1238 

FIREFLIES,  Vale  of 3592 

FIRE-MAKING  Brought   di- 
vision of  labor 3091 

FIRE-MIST,  Mind  to  be  evol- 
ved from 248 

FIRE-WORSHIP,    Primitive     1233 
FIRES,  Volcanic,  turn  wood 

into  pitch 2604 

FIRMNESS  of  the  Solid  earth.  *1245 
FIRST  CAUSE,  Physical  forces 

not  negation  of 1104 

FIR-TREES  of  England 3279 

FISH   Cannot  live  in   Great 

Salt  Lake *1246 

,  Deep-sea 543 

Die  in  boiled  water 472 

with  Divided  eye 65 

Ejected  from  volcanoes 

*1247-48 

,  Fear  drives,  into  air  ...     2293 

Killing  horses *1250 

,  Lights  on  sides  of  deep- 
sea  *1249, 1948 

,  Peculiar  peril  of  deep- 

1849 


Taken  on  land— Earth- 
quake   

Taken    on    land— Vol- 
cano   

FISHES,  Blind,  in  caves 

.Early 

Enticed  within  net .... 

.  Eyes  of,  atrophied  .... 

Numerous  specimens  of 


2279 
1079 


3119 

*1251 

281 

1870 
1954 


,  Rudimentary  legs  of . .  . 

,  Sucking-fish  as  captor 

of  other 

,  Whale  and  porpoise  not 

FISHING,  Reliance  of  primi- 
tive man  on 

FISSURES  Engulfing  houses 

Formed  by  earthquake 

937,  *1252 

,  Persons  engulfed  in 

earthquake 

FITTEST,  THE.  (See  SUR- 
VIVAL OF  THE  FITTEST.) 

FIXATION  of  Nitrogen  in 
earth  

FIXEDNESS,  Early,  of  men- 
tal states 

FIXITY  in  Change 

of  the  Earth  once  as- 
sumed    

of  Solids  delusive 

FLAME,    Breathing   is   com- 
bustion without .  . . 


816 
2074 


441 
952 


735 


3140 

835 
*1253 

*1255 
*1254 


.  .  .      3635 
,  Fascination  of 1207-8 

the      Frankenstein     of 

alchemists *1256 

,  Ghostly,  on  summit  of 

Mont  Blanc 1117 

—.Types  of.... 2975 

FLAMES,  Colored,   of  Chro- 
mosphere          961 

,  Solar 1610 

FLASH,  Passage  of  lightning 

heard,  before  flash  is  seen  .      3367 
FLATFISH  Change  color...  .        461 
FLAVORS     Chemically   pro- 
duced     *1257 

FLAX     Produced    by    lake- 
dwellers  .  .  121 

FLIES  on  Chimborazo 1469 

,  Wingless 2672 

FLIGHT   of  birds  a  natural 

gift *1258 

of  Condor 2285 

,  Danger  of,  with  burn- 
ing garments 127 

,  Fear  drives  flying-fish 

to,  in  air 2293 

,  Markings  of  many  birds 

visible  only  during 2088 


804 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


FLIGHT,  Mystery  of 2319 

,  Power  of,  lost  by  disuse     2672 

a  Seeming  defiance  of 

gravitation 2319 

,  Wings    used    otherwise 

than  for 70 

FLINT,     Light      from,     and 

steel 1235 

— ,  Origin  of 1238 

FLINT  IMPLEMENTS,  De- 
sign shown  in 790 

,  Human   origin  of,  now 

unquestioned 789 

,  Once  attributed  to  acci- 
dent   789 

in  Shell-mounds 2065 

FLOATS   Used    by    Eskimos 

as    rollers 1759 

FLOES,  Mirage  among  ice.  .  .      2219 

FLOOD,  a  fiery 3667 

at    Tivoli *1259 

in  White  Mountains.  .  .    *1260 

— .     (See    also    DELUGE.) 
FLOOD-GATES  in  Irrigating 

ditches 1768 

FLOODS,  Gradual  distribu- 
tion in  place  of 3132 

Incidents     of     a     wise 

economy 1392 

FLOOR,  Deposit  on  deep-sea       776 
,  Depth  of  rocks  on,  of 

ocean 2935 

,  Ocean,    of    the    North 

Atlantic 2449 

FLOW,     Heat     restored     in 

'downward »  of  river 2927 

—  of  Past  into  present.  .  .      1105 
FLOWER,  Colors  of   petals.        478 
,  Contrivances  aiding  in 

fertilization  of 50 

— ,  Insect  food  of  flower- 
loving  birds 1518 

— .  Pollen  carried  from 
flower  to  flower 643 

,  Self-sacrifice    of 3059 

— ,  Tubular,  could  not 
produce  humming-bird's 
bill 1034 

FLOWERS,   Adaptation    of, 

to     insects 50 

,  Alpine  amid  snow.  .  .  .        382 

,  Ants  useless  to 210 

,  Bee   fertilizes    1889 

,  Colors  of,  due  to  ab- 
sorption   539 

,  Our,  could  not  grow  on 

Mars 1439 

,  Familiar,     in     strange 

lands 3541 

,  Fertilized  by  insects 

784,  1686-87 

— ,  Giant,  of  the  tropics  ...      1375 

,  Gravity  and  1439 

— ,  Improved  by  selection         95 

and  Insects  co-operate       660 

— ,  Puroose  of  color  in  ...  .        537 

of  Space 3212 

—  and  Trees  absorb  differ- 
ent    colors 2737 

FLOWING  of  Metals 1254 

-  of  Metals— Diffusion  2154-55 
FLUCTUATION  of  Sea  level .        629 
FLUID,    Digestive,    of     sun- 
dew resembles  gastric  juice     1953 
— .Electric,      misnomer       985 
FLUIDS,  "the  Four  cardinal"     3114 
FLUORESCENCE       Renders 

ultra-violet  rays  visible .  . .      1765 

Reveals     ultra-violet 

waves 1765 

FLY  and  Humble-bee 2183 

— ,  Sting  of  causing  death  2164 
FLYCATCHERS,  color  of .  .  .  1047 
FLYING-FISH,  Movements  of  2298 
FLY-SHUTTLE,  Invention  of  1754 
FLY-TRAP,  Marginal  spikes 

of  Venus's 3577 

,  Venus's 3637 

FLY-WHEEL  for  Spindles 
and  drills  in  ancient  Amer- 
ica   3727 

FOAM,  Rich  color  of  waves 

that  break  in 3708 


1111 


835 
2753 


2491 
169 


54 


FOCUS,  Evolution  out  of  .... 
FOGIES,    Most     men,     at 

twenty-five 

FOLK-LORE  a  Guide  to  the 

birth  of  invention 

FOLLOWERS,      Originators 

and 

FOLLY  of  Serpent 

FOOD,  Adaptation  of  plant 

for  animal 

,  Analysis  of 1263 

,  Aquatic  birds  find  ....      1246 

Better  than  stimulant.  *1273 

,  Birds    preparing,    for 

their  young 423 

,  Boiling    of,    for     the 

table 1789 

a  Cause  of  migration.  .    *1265 

of  Combustion 127 

,  Cooking  of 1236 

-,  Cooking    of  — Primi- 
tive custom 1789 

Deeply  affects  organism  *1261 

of  Deep-sea  animals..  .    *1266 

,  Definition  of *1262 

,  Dog  tries  to  bury 1702 

,  Endurance  without  . .  .      2880 

of    Entombed    rhinoc- 
eros     *1267 

,  Fallacy  regarding *1263 

,  Good,  promotes   t  e  m  - 

perance 140 

— ,  Growth  due  to  animal. .      1 146 

,  the  Guardian  of 3750 

,  Increasing  use  of  ani- 
mal        2027 

— ,  Insect,     of    flower-lov- 
ing birds 1518 

— ,  Is  alcohol  a 137,  2638-39 

— ,  Leaves  of  insectivorous 

plants  supply 562 

— ,  Mechanism  for  securing 

insect 3637 

— ,  Mortars   for,   found   in 

all  latitudes 2133 

,  Natural       constituents 

needed  in  . . . *1264 

,  Nature   sifts,    of    i  n  - 

sectivorous  plants 3577 

,  Permanent     supply   of  *1272 

,  Plain,     best    for     con- 
stant use 3597 

of  Plant  preserved *1268 

of    Poor    better    than, 

of  savage 498 

of  Prehistoric  man.  .  .  .      2027 

Provided  by  man 1714 

,  Purpose  of *1262 

in  Raw  state 1263 

,  Reduction  of 522 

,  Refrigeration  of 1463 

— ,  Relative  purity  of  ani- 
mal        2794 

of  Savages *1269 

— ,  Savory,  nutritious  ....    *1274 
— ,  Smoke    a    preservative 

of 3131 

-  Supplies  fuel 2885 

— ,  Toxic  substance  not  ...    *1275 
— ,  Universal    article    of — 

Bread *1271 

— ,  the      Universal,      rela- 
tively pure 405 

,  Varied,  of  man 2080 

— ,  Varied,  of  parasite 2504 

— ,  Variety  of,  a  necessity  .    *1276 

of  the  World  found  in 

fruits  and  seeds *1270 

.   (See  also  PLANTFOOD.) 

FOODS,  Adulteration  of  ....    *1277 

— ,  Chemistry  of *1279 

— ,  Nutritive  value  of  ....    *1278 

FOOT  of  the  Shrike 3521 

FOOTHOLD  to  Disease 3626 

FOOT-POUND     a     measure- 
ment of  energy 2127 

FOOTPRINT,    Arab     knows, 

of  his  camel 2543 

FORAMINIFERA   Architects 

of  chalk  cliffs 220 

FORCE  Apparently  lost 2312 

of  Association  in  mem- 
ory        2892 


.  *1282 


2692 
2009 


551 
1546 


427 


FORCE,  Atomic,  exceeds 

gravitation *1281 

.Brute,  at  highest 

point  before  man. 

,  Circumstantial  e  v  i  - 

dence  may  have,  of  dem- 
onstration   

in  Coal  supply 

,  Coercive,  in  steel 

,  Combination    of,     per- 
ishable   

,  Conception  of  difficult 

•  Connected  with  con- 
scious mind 

,  Constancy  of 2267 

.Constancy     of,     with 

variety  of  adaptation 3601 

of  Crystallization *1291 

,  Direction      of,      the 

greatest  power *1297 

,  a  Diversion  of,  impos- 
sible    2936 

Economized 399 

,  Electrical *1283 

,  Energy     and,    discrim- 
inated         1011 

,  Enormous,  of  chemi- 
cal combination *1284 

of  Expansion  resistless  *1292 

.Expansive,  of  gun- 
powder    2228 

Expended    to    convert 

water  into  steam *1285 

,  Field  of,  around  mag- 
net  271,*1286 

,  Gravitation  surpassed 

by  molecular 1404 

of  Gravity  at  sun's  sur- 
face  *1293-94 

from  Heat 1467 

,  Hypothesis  of  centers 

of  

— ,  Increase  of  intellectual 

not  Increased  by  ma- 
chine   

,  Increase  of  muscular  .. 

.Indestructibility  of 

matter  and 

Inferior  to  mind 

,  Language  a  living   .... 

,  Living,     of    moving 

bodies 

,  Magnetic  lines  of 

,  Man   utilizes  but   does 

not  create *1289 

a  Manifestation  of  will     1299 

and  Matter 1654 

,  Matter  analyzed  into.  .      3456 

,  Mental,  like  light 

Misapplied 

,  Nature  of,  unknown  .  . 

,  Origin  of,  unknown  .  .  . 

,  Origin  of  idea  of 

,  Product    of    slight    by 

vast  period 

—  a  Reflection  of  man's 
conscious  effort 

of  Running  water 

— ,  Science  has  no  explana- 
tion of  vital 

Stored  in  coal  or  zinc .  . 

,  Universe  not  merely  .. . 

,  Unseen  power  of  mag- 
netic  

— ,  Vast  results  with  tri- 
fling   

— ,  Vital,  organizes  mat- 
ter   

,  Volition 

,  Weight  balanced 

against  disturbing 

,  Will  creates  no 

,  Will  as  distinct  from 

impersonal 

FORCES,  Accumulation  of 
ethical 

,  Adjustment  of  mental . 

,  Agency  of  contrasted. . 

,  Balance  of,  on  our  globe 

,  Composition  of 

,  Command  of  natural 

,  Conflict  of  . 


2115 
2186 

3002 
53 

576 

2113 
1816 

*1287 
*1288 


2099 

*1290 

2371 

1857 
*1296 

2745 

*1280 
*1295 

1916 
1013 
3566 

1198 
3439 

2475 
3674 

3724 
3733 

3731 

14 

73 

104 

307 

569 

2131 

2337 


-,  Correlation  of 3186,  3546 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


805 


FORCES,    Destructive    vol- 

canic ....................  1392 

-  ,  Earth-building  ........  23 

-  ,  Errth's      subterranean, 
never  still  ................  717 

-  .Elemental,   joined  ......  989 

-  ,  Elemental,     made      to 
work  for  man  .............  *1298 

-  ,  Elemental,  used  .......  2751 

-  ,  Equivalence  of  .......  1048 

-  ,  Incalculable   action    of 
elemental  ................  25 

--  ,  Levelling  action  of   de- 

nuding ..................  298 

-  of  Life  destroy    useless 
organs  .......  .  ..........  1884 

-  ,  Life  the  mightiest  of  .  .  1917 

-  ,  Material  and  mental.  .  .  *1299 

-  ,  Moral    sense    not    cog- 
nizant of  natural  ........  2053 

-  ,  of  Nature  not  blind  .  .  *1300 
,  Physical,    cannot    pro- 

duce consciousness  .......  605 

-  -  ,  Pitilessness  of  natural.  2605 
—  —  ,  Power  of  elemental..  953,  2668 

-  -  ,  Power  of  unseen.  .*1303,  3476 

-  -  ,  Property  in  ...........  1289 

--  ,  Rest  due  to  a  balance 

of  ....................  .  .  2890 

--  ,  Rocks  crumbled  by  in- 

ternal ...................  3671 

--  ,  Science  personifies  ....  3002 

--  ,  Selection  by  elemental  3052 

-  ,  Slowness  of  action  of  .  .  3130 
--  ,  Subterranean,  built  the 

mountains  ...............  430 

-  ,  Titanic,  of  nature  .....  *1301 
--  ,  Trustworthiness  of  nat- 

ural .....................  3495 

--  ,  Uniformity  amid  con- 

tending ................  3515 

--  ,  Unity  of  .............  3546 

—  ,  Unseen,  in  the  air  ____  *1302 
--  ,  Unseen  control  world..  1793 
--  ,  Variable    combinations 

of  invariable  ............  3602 

--  ,  Vital  and  material.  .  .  .  *1304 

—  ,  Working  in  unison.  .  .  .  *1305 
FOREFEET,         Kangaroo's, 

serve  as  hands  ..........  58 

FOREKNOWLEDGE,  Omni- 

science is  ...............  2454 

--  .Perfect  knowledge 

would  be  perfect  ........  2710 

FOREST  of  Arum  ..........  3628 

--  ,  Ice-storms  in  ........  1543 

--  ,  Night  in  tropical  .....  2420 

--  ,  Overgrowing  .........  1999 

--  .  Primeval,  of  Brazil  .  .  .  *1306 

--  and  Steppe  ...........  635 

-  Uproar  of  life  in  tropical    3568 
FORESTS,  Vast,  of  Africa.  .  .  1999 
--  .Buried  —  During  the 

Stone  Age  ..............  2025 

--  Buried  under  drift.  .  .  .  *1307 

--  Buried  under  ice  .......  *1308 

--  Buried  under  strata.  .  .  *1309 
--  Decomposed  by  volcan- 

ic action  ................  2604 

--  ,  Destruction  of  Amer- 

ican ...................  795 

--  ,  Fire  in  Brazilian  ......  1239 

--  ,  Return  to  sunlight  after 

centuries  ................  1308 

--  ,  Subdued  by  fire  ......  360 

-  ,  Submerged  ...........  2922 

--  Thousands  of  years  old  2493 

FORGE  of  Vulcan  .  .  2342 
FORGETFULNESS  of  Changes 

in  the  earth  .............  *1310 

-  ,  Helps  to  .......  881 

FORGETTING,  Learning  for  3087 
FORM,     Anthropomorphism 

refers  to  soul,  not  ........  184 

--  ,  Changes    of,    in    ocean 

depths  ..................  2230 

-  of  Crystal    determined 

by  polarity  of  molecules.  .  966 

-  ,  Each      substance     has 
crystalline  ....  708 


1021 


element  ................. 


FORM  of  Glaciers 1380 

,  Pendulum    tells,    of 

earth 2532 

Photographed  in  death     2600 

,  Wave  motion  is  the  ad- 
vance of  a 3712 

FORMATION  of  Artificial  ice 


in  Bengal 

of  Character  the  great 


1329 


aim 597 

of  the  Earth 1525 

of  Plat  within  human 

lifetime 2374 

of  Rocks  in  the  present 

era *1311 

of  Rocks,  theories  of.  .        648 

of  Scientific  theories. ..   *1312 

,  Special      features      for 

each  geological 1811 

,  Systems  in   process  of     2397 

of  Water  from  gas *1313 

FORMATIONS,  Knowledge  of 

of  would  save  outlay ....      1357 

of  Secondary  and  Ter- 
tiary periods 1734 

.Sameness  of,  from 

geologic  times 627 

FORMS,  All,  represented  in 
tropics ..."  

,  Curves  of  movement 

are,  of  beauty 3569 

Fossil,  living  in  ocean 

depths 1894 

of  Fossils  that  have  be- 
come extinct 1319 

,  Intelligence  in  lower 

of  life 1718 

,  Language  still  preserves 

old 2756 

of  Life  in  blood *131 

,  Lost,  reintroduced *1314 

,  Most,    of  fauna   modi- 
fied        1894 

.Moulded  599 

Organic,    adaptation...          52 

Repeated  in  separ- 
ated lands 353 

,  Reversion  to  ancestral     2914 

,  to    be    Selected    must 

first  exist 3049 

,  Strange,  of  death 735 

,  No    transitional,     join 

sub-kingdoms 3083 

of    Vegetation    of    Old 

and  New  Worlds 158 

FORTRESS,  Crater  a 2558 

FOSSIL  in  Chalk 2169 

,  Numerous      specimens 

of,   fishes 1870 

FOSSILS  Assigned  to  deluge  .     3409 

of  the  Coal  period *1318 

,  Creative   purpose   seen 

in 3119 

Ejected     from     depths 

of  volcano 553 

,  a    Few   forms  of,    still 

living 1894 

Found  after  long  search     2567 

,  Marine,       in        inland 

rocks 3278 

as    Mementoes   of   the 

past *1316 

of  the  Old  red  sand- 
stone   *1319 

Show  man's  origin  re- 
cent    2043 

Show  successive  types.      1168 

,  Virtues  attributed  to  .  .  *1317 

,  Voltaire  denied  existence 

of 1740 

of  Winged  fish 1026 

FOSTER-PARENT,    Cry    of, 

not  understood 706 

FOUNDATION,  Agriculture, 

of  civilization 126 

,  Magnet  at  the,  of 

philosophy 3146 

of  Morals 2248 

of     Play — Native    im- 
pulses        1984 

of  Reasoning 3107 

of    Remembrance — ex- 
perience        1142 


FOUNDATION,  Rock  a  sure.      2933 
FOUNDATIONS  of  the  earth .        693 

of  the  New  Jerusalem  .      3212 

-  of  the  Universe 1100 

FOUNDERS    of    Physical 

science *1320 

FOUNDRY,  Din  of,  unnotic- 
ed by  workers 1609 

FOWLS    Made   rapacious 

mousers 1619 

FOX.     (See  ARCTIC  Fox.) 
FRACTIONS.  Astronomy  de- 
pends on,  of  a  second 1113 

FRACTURE  vs.  Erosion 3388 

,  Glacier   changes   shape 

by    1377 

and  Regelation 1533 

FRAGILITY  of  "Solid  earth"      1252 
FRAGMENT  of  Ancient  earth  *132J 

From  lost  work  of  Aris- 
totle    *1322 

of  the  Magnet  retains 

its  poles 278 

FRAGMENTS,  Complete  spec- 
imens give  meaning  to ....  2554 

,  Earth's  returning  ....        945 

,  Extinct  animals  repro- 
duced from 3485 

,  Falling,  of  Matter- 
horn  866 

,  Reconstruction  from .  .      2842 

FRAME,  Facts  of  past  in, 

of  present 1186 

FRANCE,  Pasteur  saves  silk 

culture  of 2983 

,  "Sunny,"  Buried  under 

ice 3309 

FRANCONIA,  Fossils  of .  .  .    .      1317 

FRANKENSTEIN,  Flame  the, 

of  alchemists 1256 

FRANKLIN  Discovered  Gulf 

stream 856 

FRAUNHOFER,  Color  inves- 
tigations of 2900 

FRAUNHOFER'S  LINES 
Give  new  meaning  to  spec- 
trum    3571 

FREAKS  of  Lightning 25 

FREEDOM  not  Absolute.  ...   *1325 

of  Change *1326 

of  Choice 3407 

,  Fallacies  regarding,  of 

labor 1803 

,How  much,  if  abused .  .      2735 

of  Inferior  intelligence.      490 

,  Motives  do  not  destroy     3736 

Necessary  to  morality.        572 

of  Savages  an  illusion .  .    *1 327 

and  Necessity *1324 

of  Sexes  in  America.  .  .   *1323 

.  (See  also  EXEMPTION.) 

FREEMAN,  Moral,  vs.  moral 

slave *1328 

FREEZING  not  Destructive 

of  micro-organisms *1331 

by  Radiation *1329 

by  Radiation  through 

dry  air 2774 

by  Rarefaction *1330 

,  Sudden,  of  northern 

river *1332 

of  Water  causes  expan- 
sion        3704 

.Water  in,  shatters 

iron 1292 

FRENCH     REVOLUTION , 

Theory  of  morality  in 2248 

FRENZIES,  Imitative  tenden- 
cies produce 1582 

FRENZY  Resulting  from  in- 
firmity   *1333 

FRICTION,   Fire  kindled  by     2259 
— ,  Fire    kindled    by — 

Australians 1237,  2349 

— ,Fire    kindled    by— 
Tahitians 593 

—  an  Inexhaustible  source 

of  heat 1456 

—  a  Source  of  electricity       269 
FRIEND  of  Man 1236 

— ,  Voice  of,  easily  heard..     1598 
FRIENDSHIP,  How  ants  ex- 
press     '.  .        206 


806 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


FROG,  Bubble  and 410 

,  the  Decapitated 38 

Deprived    of    cerebral 

hemispheres 1679 

,  Reflex    action    of    the 

brainless 2795 

Credited  with  spontan- 
eous generation 1056 

FRONT ,  Right  steadily  at  the     292 1 
FROST,  Blossoms  of  the.  .  .        383 

Breaking  up  rocks .  .  .298,  801 

Carves  mountains  into 

shape 430 

Destroys  weak  plants. .      3052 

Powerless    to    destroy 

bacteria 3661 

Prevented  by  clouds .  .      2257 

Result  of  radiation .  .  .        436 

Thin  coverings  protect 

from 2729 

Treatment    of    soil    to 

avoid    3005 

FRUIT  PIGEON,  The  white- 
headed 407 

FRUITS,  Catapult 3036 

Color  in 537 

asFood 1270 

Improved  by  selection         95 

.  (See  also  FIG,  SMYRNA; 

FOOD.) 
FRUIT-SYRUPS  Imitated 

by  chemistry 1257 

FUEGIANS     not     Types    of 

primeval  men 2058 

,  Wretchedness  of 3788 

FUEL,  Economy  of 1728 

,  Exhaustion  of 1450 

,  Food  supplies 2885 

FULFILLMENT  of  Omen  by 

itself 2451 

FULLNESS,     Emblem     of 

divine 999 

FUNCTION,   Adaptation   by 

alteration  in 2231 

,  Disease   dealt   with  as 

a,  of  a  soul 862 

.Loss    of,     through 

inaction. 


2507 
3746 


,  Organs  with  similar  .  . 

FUNCTIONS,     Exchange    of 

among  vital  organs 1897 

.Interchange  of,  of 

organs . 562 

Localized  in  special 

regions 3162 

,  Mechanical,  of  human 

body 392,2004 

of  Natural  life 1900 

of  the  Palate 3360 

—  of  Spiritual  life 1900 

FUNGUS,  Intoxication  pro- 
duced by 2542 

,  Shot-hole,  enemy  of 

plum 1009 

FUR,  Cause  of  warmth  of  .  .  888 

Used  in  primitive  needle- 
work   3358 

FURNACES,  Nature's 2382 

FUSION  of  Rocks— Volcanoes  *1334 
FUTILITY  of  Tests  of  spon- 
taneous generation 3382 

of  Trust  in  racial  im- 
mortality   1587 

FUTURE  of  Astronomy *1336 

Based  upon  a  past.*  1335, 3382 

,  Benefits  in  unknown  .  .  361 

.Brain   of    primitive 

man  held  the  possibilities 

of  the 403 

of  Earth  not  to  be  sunless  1 337 

,  Hope    for    humanity's  1506 

of     Humanity     under 

equator 507 

Life     in     the — British 

Islanders 353 

Life  in  the  — Indians  . .  354 

,  the  Past  a  guide  for  .  .  2517 

,  Progress  in,  as  in  past.  2241 

,  Progress  of  within  the 

mind 814 

,  Promise  for 1159 

.Sacrifice  of  present 

for ,  2941 


FUTURE,  Science  looks  to  .  ..  2308 

in  Studyof  past 1155 

,  Sun's  direct   heat   may 

be  reliance  of  the 795 

to  Surpass  present *1338 

,  Vision  of  a  possible 557 


GAIN,  Civilization  a  ....  498 

GALILEO,  Abdication  of 1743 

and  the  Chandeliers 2532 

,  Recantation  of ........      3385 

Verifies     reasonings     of 

Copernicus 1145 

GAMBLING,  Folly  of *1339 

GAME    Exterminated  by 

modern  weapons 1163,  5036 

GANGES,  Islands  built  and  des- 
troyed in 3474 

Washing    down    a    con- 
tinent  *1340-41 

GAP    Unfilled   between   man 

and  ape 1472,  2020 

GAPING,  Difficult  not  to  im- 
itate       1582 

GARBAGE  Thrown  into  sea..     3692 

GARDENERS,    Arago    seeks 

instruction  from 3019 

GARDENS  of  Ants 1640 

GARMENTS,  Utility  of  wool- 
en   

GAS  Baled  out  extinguishes 
candle 

,  Comet's      light      from 

glowing . 

,  Deadly,  made  to  sustain 

life 

,  Effect  of  sewer 

,  Formation     of     water 

from 

,  Heat  makes  difference 


178 
272 


3029 


2791 
3662 


1313 


between  liquid  and 1021 

,  Noxious,  locked  up  in 

bleaching  powder. 3588 

,  an  Unknown  in  sun's 

corona 2330 

Weighs  more  than  coal 

producing  it 1614 

GAS-CLOUDS,  Some  nebula 

are 2637 

GASES,  Diffusion  of 276 

,  Energy      required      to 

hold  together  in  water  ....      1018 

Imprisoned     in     fluid 

rock  of  volcanoes 2762 

,  Nebulse  consisting  of. .  .  3170 

Tell  their  story 3170 

,  Waves  of,  sent  round 

the  world 267 

"GATHERING -GROUND" 

of  Water 159 

of  Water  contaminated .  2645 

GAZELLE  in  the  Desert  ....  2556 
GEESE,  Myth  concerning 

barnacle 2346 

,  Progeny  of  from  ber- 

nicletree 1813 

GELATIN  Will  not  support 

life 1264 

GEMS,  Artificial  inferior *1342 

Cut  in  ancient  times.. .  .        189 

the    Product    of    vol- 
canoes        3484 

GENERA,  Oldest  at  greatest 

depths 108 

GENERALIZATION  of  As- 
tronomy    253 

Among  children 3624 

a      "Convenient"      in 

chemistry 3399 

.Failure  of 850 

One  of  the  four  pillars 

of  science 2986 

GENERALIZATIONS,  Hasty, 

in  study  of  religions 1227 

,  Human  from  phenom- 
ena   1857 

,  Warning  against  hasty     3698 

GENERATIONS,  Bee  fertil- 
izes flowers  for  future 1889 

of  Single  sex 2509 


1770 


GENERATION,  Island  created 


GENERATION,  Spontaneous, 

child  believes  in 488 

,  Spontaneous,  fostered 

belief  in 2171 

,  Spontaneous,  never 

known 247 

.Spontaneous,  never 

proved 248 

,  Spontaneous,  no  evi- 
dence of 343 

,  Spontaneous,  refuted 

by  Pasteur  and  Tyndall.. .  .  *1344 

,  Spontaneous,  tests  of.. .  3382 

,  Spontaneous,  universal 

ancient  belief  in 1345 

GENESIS  of  Man 3051 

GENEVA,  the  Rhone  flows 

clear  from  lake  of 2924 

GENIUS  Accompanied  by 

tireless  industry *1346 

,  Artistic  and  scientific 

not  conjoined 2196 

Coordinates  facts  ....          856 

Developed  by  labor *1347 

,  Diligence  rivals 1872 

of  Discovery *1349 

.Environment       alone 

does  not  develop 1031 

,  Inspiration  of *1348 

,  Intuitive  perception  of      2842 

Involves  hard  work. ...      3109 

of    Primitive    mechan- 
ics     *1350 

Quenched *1351 

Not  the  result  of  training       970 

Sees  abstract  truth *1352 

Unfavorable  to  volun- 
tary attention 1353 

and  Wealth 855 

GEOGRAPHY,  Mediaeval. 
"GEOLOGIC  AGE,"  Jupiter   1354* 

still  in  its 689 

GEOLOGIC  FAUNA,  Resem- 
blance of 2482 

GEOLOGIC  TIME,  Mammalia 

2013 

1870 
627 

3388 
897 

111 

1026 
1806 

3244 
2718 

813 

148 
818 

195 


GEOLOGIC  TIMES,  Abun- 
dance of  life  in 

— ,  Sameness  of  land  form- 
ations from 

GEOLOGISTS,  Conflicting 
theories  of  . 

,  Discoveries  of 

,  Early,  grasped  essen- 
tials   

GEOLOGIST,  Enthusiasm  of 


,  Oldest  lake  recent  for .  . 

— ,  Strata      arranged      for 

study  of 

GEOLOGISTS,  Teaching  of  .  . 
GEOLOGY  Allied  with  other 

sciences 

,  Alphabet  of 

,  Aqueous  theory  of 

Attests  remote  origin 

of  man 


,  Birth  of 373-74 

,  Catastrophism  in 1075 

,  Discoveries  in,  by  Lady 

Gordon  Gumming 3751 

and  Embryology 669 

.Evidence    of — An- 
tiquity of  beaver  dam  ....        190 

an  Evolution 1094 

Has  industrial  value  ..    *1357 

,  Igneous  theory  of 818 

,  Imperfections    of    the 

record  of 1591 

,  Lyell  transforms 28 

,  Mediaeval 3409 

,  Mystery    of 2320-1 

Needs    wide    observa- 
tion         701 

Once  a  system  of  cat- 
astrophes     *1358 

,  Opportunities  of  stone- 
mason in 235 

.Origin of *1359 

.Parallel    of    and    his- 
tory  *1355-56 

Proves   a   definite    be- 
ginning   193,*1380 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


807 


GEOLOGY,  Uniformity  of.  .  .  3516 

-  Unites  present  and  past  1355 
--  ,  Von  Buch's  study  of  .  .  818 
--  ,  Woman  in  ...........  3751 

-  ,  Wonders  of  ..........  2388 

GEOMETRY      Grows     from 

builder's  arts  ...........  *1361 

-  ,  Origin  of  ............  2483 

GERM,    Cause    behind    the 

primordial    .............  431 

--  a  Seed  ..............  *1362 

-  of   Undulatory   theory 

of  light  .................  1395 

-  ,  Wonderful    develop- 
ment  of  ................  *1365 

GERMAN  vs.  Slav  in  educa- 

tion ...................  1829 

GERMAN  OCEAN,  Fossil- 

fishes  of  the  .............  1870 

GERMANY,  Progress  of,  by 

scientific  education  ......  2991 

-  ,  Specialists  of  .........  2028 

-  ,  Stars  visible  in  .......  3222 

GERM-DESTROYERS,  White 

corpuscles  are  ........  1315,  *1363 

GERMICIDE,  Sunlight  acts  as  1941 

GERMICIDES,  Antiseptics  vs.  3341 
GERMS  in  air  a  cause  of 

disease  ................  917 

-  ,  Air  freed  from  .........  130 

--  ,  Air  without,  produces 

no  putrefaction  ...........  2793 

-  ,  Battle    of    white    cells 
with,  of  disease.  .  .  .  ......  1315 

-  ,  Care  to  exclude  ........      622 

-  Destroyed  by  boiling.  .  *1366 
--  ,  Electric    light    scarcely 

affects  .................  1935 

-  Evade  experimenters  ..  *1367 

-  ,  Favorable,  planted  ____  1091 

-  ,  Fields    to    be    innocu- 
latedwith  ..............  3139 

-  not   Found    on    moun- 

tain tops  ................  1839 

-  ,  Gravitation   holds   mi- 
croscopic ...............  1839 

-  Indistinguishable     in 
earlier  stage  .............  *1369 

-  ,  Indistinguishable  —  oak 
palm,  etc  ...............  *1368 

-  ,  Indistinguishable  — 
vegetable  and  animal  ......  *1  370 

-  ,  Innumerable  .........  *1371 

-  Kept     from     entering 
fusions    ................  1344 

-  ,  Life  of  wandering    ....  1904 

-  of  Malaria  in  soil  .......  3472 

-  ,  Minute  size  of  .........  *1372 

-  Proven  deadly  .......  517 

-  .  (See  also  BACTERIA.)  .  .  439 
GERM-SPOT  of  fowl's  egg  ...  785 
GERM   THEORY    in  Treat- 

ment of  wounds  .........  *1364 

1825 
1130 

,  How  originated  ......  3292 

GIANTS  of  primeval  days  .  .  .  *1374 

-  among  the  Suns  ......  *1373 

-  ,  Supposed  remains  of  .  .  2350 

-  of  the  Vegetable  king- 

dom ....................  *1375 

GIBBONS,  European  testi- 

mony about  ............  833 

GIBRALTAR,  Current  flow- 

ing through  straits  of  .....  *1376 
GIFT,  Flight  of  birds  a  nat- 

ural ...................  1258 

-  ,  Metals    the,    of    vol- 
canoes ...................  2156 

GILA,  Irrigation  along  the  ..  1768 
GILLS  of  Tadpole  devoured 

by  white  cells  ...........  1884 

GIRDLE,  Earth's  .........  944 

GIVING  C9ntrasted  with 

withholding  ............  636 

GIZEH,  Pyramids  of  .....  3235 

GLACIAL  EPOCH  Came  as  a 

surprise  .................  1536 

-  ,  Deposits  of  the  .......  2859 

-  ,  Extent    of    ice    in—- 
Italy ...................  1542 

-  .Extent   of    ice    in  — 
Switzerland  ......  3309 


GESTURE,  Language  of 
GHOSTS,  Belief  in 


GLACIAL  EPOCH,    Mystery 

of  the 2321-22 

Unexplained 2339 

GLACIAL    MARKINGS    not 

the  Work  of  floating  ice ...  1378 

GLACIER  of  the  Aar 2665 

,  Abrasion  of  rocks  by  .  . 

Changing  shape *1377 

,  Crevasses  of 3439 

of  Continental   magni- 
tude   .. *1379 

,  Distinctive  carving  of   .  *1378 

Flows  like  a  stream  .  .  .  2928 

Grinds   rocks  to   pow- 
der   916 

,  Impurities  rejected  by  .  1607 

,  Iron  rods  to  sound  ....  2377 

,  Lake    basin    once    the 

bed  of 2320 

,  no  Life  in  air  of    1124 

,  Measure  of  ancient    ...  2124 

,  Motion  of 1144 

Ploughs  away  hill   ....  2681 

Preserved  under  lava- 
stream  2502 

,  Pressure  of 2723-24 

,  Resistless  cutting  by  .  .  715 

,  Rocks  cut  and  polished 

by 2380 

,  Sun  lifts  to  mountain.  .  3298 

,  Track  of  vanished 3448 

GLACIERS,  Abrasion  of  rocks 

by 3 

,  Advance    of,    in  recent 

times 84 

,  Beauty  of  Alaskan ....  1532 

,  Beauty  of  crevasses  in. .  335 

,  Existing,  cutting  rocks 

,  Fascination  of  Alaskan.  317 

,  Form    and    movement 


of 


*1380 
*1381 
1379 


Now  in  action 

in  Pleistocene  times .  . . 

Unknown     in     coldest 

Siberia 581 

,  Valleys  hollowed  by.  .  .  3595 

GLACIER  TABLES  in  Alps  .  3759 
GLARE,  Eclipse  abolishes,  of 

Sun 664 

GLASS,  Ancients  regarded  the 

heavens  as  made  of. 3626 

Diminishes  velocity  of 

light 2855 

,  Microscopic  lines  ruled 

on  plate 3490 

,  New  Zealanders  drill 

hole  in 3089 

,  Tracery  of  fabrics  on. .  .  3795 

,  Unequal  expansion  of  .  1134 

GLASSMAKING  In  Nature's 

laboratories *1382,  2668 

GLOBE,  Balance  of  forces  on 

our 307 

,  Scientific  conquest  of .  .  2610 

,  Solid  materials  of  the .  .  935 

GLOOM  Reveals  brightness . .  406 

,  Terror  of,  hereditary .  . .  3376 

GLORY,  Dust  occasions,  of 

sunset 3310 

of  Phosphorescent 

ocean 2446 

—.Reflected *1383 

.Steadfast,  of  evan- 
escent substance 665 

,  Varied,  in  distant  space       414 

,  Veiled     for     human 

weakness    *1384 

GLYCERINE   Used  to  catch 

germs  from  air 130 

GLUE  Made  by  early  Amer- 
ican mechanics 3285 

GNOSTICS,  Doctrines  of,  and 

Manichseans   3776 

GOAL  of  Nature 2552 

,  Spiritual  advance  the, 

of  civilization 509 

GOAT,  Domestication  of 900 

,  Submission  of 179 

GOATSUCKERS,    Dusky 

color  of '. 2417 

GOD,  .SSolus  made  a    2351 

,  Agnostic       hypotheses 

need  a 116 


GOD  Can  reveal  Himself  to 

man *1385 

,  Capacity  of  soul  for  .  .  .     3149 

Communicating      with 

rational  creatures    2765 

,  Definitions  of 749 

— ,  Denial    of,    by    atomic 

theories 2464 

,  Dependence  of  soul  on          772 

,  Fatherhood  of,  Vedas  1211-12 

the  Highest    580 

His  eternal  now *1389 

Incapable  of  seeing   .  . .        265 

.Latin    idea   of,   vs. 

Greek    *1386 

.Laws,  of    Nature   the 

methods  of 1859 

,  Laws    of   Nature    the 

thoughts  of 1860 

,  Message  of,  of  Nature . .      1306 

."Nature"  a  pseudo- 
nym for... 2360 

,  Preaching    to     oneself 

2701 
2906 


under  guise  of  praying  to. 
-,  Revelation  of,  in  Nature 
-,  Science  neither  proves 


2996 


nor  denies  a 
,  Scientific  conception  of , 

sublime *1387 

Seeing    unity    amid 

conflict 873 

,  Simple     representation 

of,  in  Christianity    749 

,  Sublime  idea  of,  in  the 

Vedas 1211 

Viewed    as     struggling 

against  evil 577 

Working  through  nat- 
ural law. 2218 

Works  by  law 685 

Works  through  second 

causes *1388 

GODS,  Images  of,  formed  by 

concave  mirror 1567 

of  Savages *1390 

,  Timber  for  the 444 

GOETHE,    Nature    under- 
stood by 2334 

GOLD  Man's  first  metal *1391 

Sinks  into  copper 2154 

GOLGOTHA,  the  Huanacos' .       925 
GOOD,  Avoiding  evil  through 

love  of 1328 

.Conditions   of  the 

highest 2497 

,  Distinction  between, 

and  evil 1092 

,  Evil     destroyed   by 

growth  of 1091 

.Material,  not    end  of 

civilization 509 

out  of  Seeming  evil ..  957 ,  *  1 392 

GORGE  Cut  by  river  ex- 
plored          678 

GORILLA  in  Equatorial  for- 
ests        833 

,  Man  and 2797 

,  Myths  about 2348 

,  Origin  of  name 2485 

,  Size  of  body  and  brain 

of 402 

.Stories  about,  dis- 
credited       3238 

GOSSAMER-SPIDER    Float- 
ing through  air 3678 

GOUGES  of  stone 2133 

GOVERNMENT   by  Abstract 

reasoning *1393 

,  Aid    of,    required    for 

exploration 1156 

.Harmonious,    of    the 

universe     *1395 

,  How  much  control  by  .      2735 

Involved    in     question 

of  heredity 1490 

, Paternal, of  sa vages..  ..   *1396 

by  Philosophers *1394 

GRACEFULNESS     of    great 

blue  heron 1924 

GRADATION,     Insect     life 

shows 2923 

Manifest      in       marine 

animals 1109 


808 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


GRADATION,      Union     of 

species  by,  of  varieties  .  .  .  3354 

GRADATIONS,  Insensible.. . .  2458 

of  Species 2526 

GRADE,  Rise  in .  of  life 2923 

GRAIN,    Adaptation    of,    to 

reproduction  and  food ....  2798 

,  Ants  storing 207,  *1397 

GRAINS   Distributed   by 

man 2029 

Follow  man 39 

GRANARIES,  Original 178 

GRANDEUR  of  Human  soul  *1398 
GRANITE     from     Depths 

found  at  new  surface 469 

,  Wedges     of,      forced 

through  sandstone  .......  3244 

GRASP,  Perfect ,  of  branches .  3330 

GRASS,  the  Pampas 338 

.  (See  also  BLUE  GRASS.) 

GRASSES  in  primitive  needle- 
work    3358 

•,  Seeds    of,    transported 

bv  animals 3039 

GRASSHOPPER    the     Chief 

food  of  sparrow-hawk 2769 

Resembles  wasp 2181 

GRATITUDE,  no  names  for 

among  savages 3647 

GRAVITATION,    all    Worlds 

held  by 571 

Ascribed  to  a  supreme 

will    2371 

,  Atomic  force  exceeds    .  1281 

,  Continuity  of  law  of    .  .  3554 

,  Discovery  of 853, 1043 

• ,  Doctrine  of 251 1 

vs.  Electric  repulsion .  . .  2337 

Enables  birds  to  fly  ....  *1402 

not  Explained 231 1 

,  Flight    a    seeming    de- 
fiance of 2319 

Holds  Microscopic  germs  1839 

Holds  through  bound- 
less space    3556 

Holds  true  for  distant 

stars    456 

,  Idea  of,  a  product  of 

imagination 1574 

Incomprehensible 2034 

,  Laws     of,     the     same 

through  farthest  space 3557 

,  Magnetism  universal 


3543 
3762 
3393 


a  Marvelous  truth. . 

May  be  superseded 

a  Mystery *1399,  *1400 

,  Nature  of— Newton    .  .      3387 

,  Neptune   found   where 

demanded 3400 

Proved  universal *1403 

Sign  of  unity    *1401 

by  molecular  forces  ...    *1404 

,  no   Time   required    for 

action  of  2117 

GRAVITY  the  Cause  of  heat .  632 

and  Flowers 1439 

,  Force  of,  of  sun 1294 

,  the  Force  of,  at  the 

sun's  surface 1293 

on  the  Moon 3251 

,  Stability  depends  on  .  .      3599 

on  Sun    1293 

Swifter  than  light 1589 

GREAT    and    Small    in    bal- 
anced movement 1437 

GREATER,  Sacrifice  of  less 

for   2941 

GREATEST  Dependent  upon 

least 774 

GREATNESS,  Each  form  of, 

has  its  own  sphere 1613 

GREAT  SALT  LAKE,  Fish 

cannot  live  in 1246 

GREECE,  Scenery  of 336,  333 

GREED  Brings  destruction.. .    *1405 
GREEKS,    Careful    observa- 
tions of  the •      347 

,  Dancing  among  Ancient       720 

,  Magnet  in  classics  of   .  .      2008 

,  Mythology  of  ; 2343 

,  Neglected  arch  of 199 


-,  Poetry  of  the 


1025 


807 
387 
2773 

1529 
1536 

1379 
1706 

2129 
652 
1779 

881 
465 
3443 

2395 

1909 
1836 
534 


3713 
952 


1689 
3614 


3471 
64 


324 


GREEKS,  Study  of,  too  sub- 
jective   . 

-,  Training  of  body  and 

mind  in  unison  among .... 

GREENHOUSE  a  Substitute 
for  snow 

GREENLAND,     Interior    of, 
unknown 

•,  Tropical  animals  in  ... 

,  a    Type    of    ancient 

North  America 

GREGARIOUSNESS  of  Ani- 
mals helps  domestication  . 

GIRDLE    a    Standard    of 
measurement   

GRIDDLE-CAKES,  Cassava. 

GRIEF,  Depression  result  of. 

,  Distraction    of    atten- 
tion from 

,  Effect  of 

GRIP  of  Mechanics'  tools.  .  .  . 

GROG,    Stoppage    of,    in 
British  navy 

GROOVES,   Life  runs  in,  of 
habit • 

GROTTOES  of  Etna 

GROUND,  Bird  feeding  on   .  . 

,  The  dust  of  the 681,  2905 

Lashed  by  branches  of 

trees 

,  Level  of,  changed    .... 

,  Solid,  quivers  in  earth- 
quake  

GROUP,   Stars    and    nebulae 
intermingled  in  same  great. 

GROUPS     and     Species,   in 
geologic  times 

GROUSE,  Adaptation  of  feet 

of,  to  season 

,  Color    of — beauty    and 

protection 

GROWTH     of     Arts     and 

Sciences    239 

,  Change  during 57 

,  Christian  life  a 1407 

Comes  from  life *1407 

of  Coral  only  at  small 

depths 2165 

,  Correlation  of 667 

and  Dacay  pervade  all 

nature *1406 

,  Discovery  a 842,  844,  3007 

—  Due  to  animal  food  ....      1146 

—  of    Electric    and     mag- 
netic discovery *1411 

—  without  Endeavor 3185 

— ,  Evidence  of  mental  ...      1747 

,  Evil   destroyed   by,  of 

good    1091 

.Gradual,  of    conti- 
nents       3130 

— ,  Gradual,  of  truth *1408 

— ,  Law  of 1847 

— ,  Light    essential    to,   of 
plants 1936 

—  of  Loyalty *1412 

—  of  Organs 2480 

— ,  Power  of 2674 

— ,  Rapid,  of  coral 476,  1998 

— ,  Rate  of,  of  coral *1409-10 

—  of      Reverence,     with 

knowledge  of  nature 2911 

— ,  Slow  of,  theories    3391 

— ,  Slow,  of  paternal  vir- 
tues      *1413 

— ,  Slow,    through        pro- 
tracted observation 258 

—  of  Yeast 2879 

GROWTHS,   Convergence  of 

opposite — eye  

GRUBS  Eaten  by  savages  .  . . 
GRYPHITES,  Discovery  of.  . 
GUARANTY,  Logic  no,  of 

truth 

GUARDIAN  of  the  food 

supply — Woman  tames  cat 

for 

GUESSING  vs.  Reasoning  .  .  . 
GUIDE,  Common  sense  a 

safe 

— ,  Daring  of  Alpine 

.  the  Mariners',  in  the 

sky — Pleiades    


783 
1269 
2388 

1983 


3750 
2833 


582 
2993 


2633 


GUIDE,  to  Nutrition— Appe- 
tite    3360 

,  Purpose  the,  to  struct- 
ure   2802 

,  Theory  not  a  safe,  for 

vital  processes 1074 

GUIDES  for  the  Study  of 

human  progress 2753 

GUINEA-PIGS,  Hereditary 

epilepsy  induced  in 1485 

GULF  Assumed  between 

man  and  nature *1414 

between  Man  and  ape  .  .      1472 

between  Man  and  brute.  *1415 

,  between  Organic  and 

inorganic  *1416 

GULF  STREAM,  Discovery  of       856 

,  Moderates  climate  of 

Europe *1417 


GULLS  Scavengers  of  the 
sea 

GUM-TREE  of  the  Tertiary  . 

GUNPOWDER,  Air  not  nec- 
essary for  the  explosion  of. 

,  Expansive  force  of 

GUNS,  Expense  of  modern 
steel ! 

,  Percussion,  altered  to 

flint-lock 

GYMNASIUM,  Training  of 
German  .  . 


2962 
1864 


2228 
2228 


2225 
746 


1834 


HABIT  of  Achievement  Best 
conquered  by  sudden 

change  3288, *1419 

,  Body  holds  perverted  .      1179 

,  Change  of .  in  a  bird  .  .  .        464 

Controls  remembrance         770 

,  Decision  made  a    745 

Distinguished         from 

duty    2243 

of  Doing  right *1423 

,  Fascination  of  hyp- 
notic   *1421 

— ,  Fatigue  diminished  by .      1962 
— ,  Functional     diseases 

maintained  by 864 

— ,  Heredity  of    *1420 

— ,  Imperiousness  of  .*1422,  1593 
— ,  Life  runs  in  grooves  of        1909 

— ,  Philosophy  of 2584 

— ,  the  Power  of 2675,  2826 

— ,  the  Process   of  acquir- 
ing        2055 

,  Religious,  of  mind,  as  a 

survival    768 

—  Result  of  bodily  organ- 
ism        *1418 

—  Sets     upper    brain     re- 
gions free 1603 

—  in  Structure  of  plants  .  .      2896 
— .  Success      becomes       a     3289 

HABITAT,    Adaptation       of 

animals  to *1424 

Determines    mechanical 

products   ..._.... 3445 

of  Humming-birds *1425 

HABITATION,  Instinct  of.. .  .      3284 

,  Range  of,  widened  by 

fire 360 

HABITS,  Changes  in 2731 

— ,  Change  of,  of  Coypu. .  .      1615 

— ,  Difference  in,  of  male 

and  female 820 

—  Fixed  in  youth *1426 

—  Good  as  well  as  bad    ...    *1427 

—  ,  Inherited  effect  of    ...      1487 
of  a  Nation    1423 

— ,  Personal 3797 

— ,  Science    cultivates    or- 
derly, of  thought 2199 

— ,  Science  teaches  correct, 

of  observation 2439 

—  Show   man's  composite 

nature *1428 

— ,  Young   animals   follow 
ancestral 1705 

HABITUDES  Transmitted  as 

tendencies  1488 

HAECKEL  Admits  gap  un- 
filled   2020 

and  Monism  ..  .    *1429 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


809 


HAIR,  Cattle  destitute  of  ...  521 

,  Sheep's    wool  replaced 

by 521 

HAIRBREADTHS,      Astron- 
omy depends  upon    1113 

HAIR-TRIGGER,  Rostellum 

of  orchid  set  like    757 

HAIR-WORMS,    Myth    con- 
cerning    2346 

HALF-CASTES  of  India 503 

HALF-KNOWLEDGE,  Pride 

of 2729 

HALF-TRUTH  Terrifies *1430 

H ALLEY  and  Comet  of  1680 .  209 1 

,  comet 2523 

,  comet   at    Battle   of 


Hastings 

rcm. 


2451 
HALLUCINATION  Produced 

by  aconite *1431 

HALO,  Disagreement  in  early 

accounts  of  sun's 588 

of  Sun 588 

HAMBURG,  The  Elbe  below .  1446 
HAMMER,  Bill  of  Macaw 

surpasses 1596 

,  Relic  of  stone  age  ....  *1432 

HAMMERING,  Iron  heated 


HAND, 


,i/,  Arrest  of  the  

-,  Delicacy  of  eye  and  .  .  . 

Developed  in  Miocene 

apes _. 

Gives  man  pre-emi- 
nence   

HANDIWORK,  Evidence  of 
human 

HANDLES,  Primitive  adap- 
tation of,  to  tools 

HANDS,  Kangaroo's  forefeet 
serve  as 

,  Tools  are  external  .... 

HAPPINESS  in  Animal 
world 

vs.  Character 

Involves     element      of 


2258 

232 

2525 

3048 

*1433 

790 

55 

58 
232 

308 
*1435 

*1434 


pain 

— —  Obtained    by  attempt- 
ing to  seem  happy 1023 

,  Prosperity    in    endan- 
gered lands 2555 

,  Unity  of  perfection  and     3550 

HARBORS,  Abundant 93 

Formed  by  coral  reefs    .    *1436 

HARDNESS,   Yielding     pro- 
tects better  than 3795 

HARM  Greater    from    prod- 
ucts of  Bacteria  than  from 


the  organisms 

HARMFULNESS    of    Fear— 


1680 
3573 


paroxysm 

HARMONY,  Ability  to  fix  on 

particular  part  in  a 285 

,  Actions  in,  with  Na- 
ture    30 

in  Art  due  to  elimina- 
tion   238 

amid  Diversity *1437 

,  Hearing  blunted  by.  .  .      3562 

-  Increasing,   with  envi- 
ronment        2041 

of    Nature *1438-39 

of  Nature— Geology ...      1358 

of  Nature  and  human 

mind 


of  Nature — Mathemat- 


ics  

—  of     Pentateuch,     with 

archaeology 

Result  of  division 


*1440 
2107 


—  Sought  by  theology.  .  . 

—  inth«  n  ' 


2535 
1906 
1358 
320 
*1441,  3486 


le  Soul, 
of  the  Universe. 

,     (See  also  UNIFORMITY.) 

HARP  Derived    from    bow- 
string  , .    *1442 

HARPOONS,  Grip  of 3443 

HARVEST,  Great,  from  scan- 
ty sowing .    *1443 

HARVESTER   and   Thresher.     351 

HARTZ,  Fossils  of 1317 

HASHISH,  Intoxication  pro- 
duced by 1745 

,  Perception  disturbed  by     2542 


HASHISH,  Volition  weakened 

by 3677 

HASTINGS,  Battle  of 2451 

HAWAII,  Volcanoes  of *1444 

HAWK  the  Farmer's  ally .  .  .    *1445 

,  Shrike  has  hawk's  bill.      3521 

,  Terror  of 3378 

HEALING  of    Earth's  scars.      1438 
HEALTH  Conduces    to    mo- 
rality     *1447 

,  Ecstacy  of 964 

,  Ownership  and  mental.     2495 

by  Removal  of  impur- 
ities      *1446 

in  the  Tropics— India.      2640 

in  Tropical  lands *1448 

HEALTHFULNESS,     Science 

increases 1934 

of  Sun-light 1941 

HEARING  Among     astrono- 
mers  

Blunted  by  harmony .  . 

•  of  One's  own  name .... 

,  Sense  of  in  bees . 


3070 
3562 
300 
*1449 

HEART,  Beating  of  the,  un- 
conscious  399, 1609 

,  Change  of 465 

,  Incessant  beating  of .  .  .      2874 

,  Learning   by .........          24 

Outstripped    by    intel- 
lect       1712 

Revolts  from  Atheism .        264 

HEARTH  as  Type  of  home.  .    *1450 
HEAT  Absorbed   by   atmos- 
phere        999 

,  Activity  of  brain  pro- 
duces local 396 

,  All  work  result  of 1012 

of  the  Atmosphere ....    *1461 

in  Atomic  motion 279 

,  Brain  benumbed  by..  .        397 

,  Check  of  radiant 2935 

and  Cold 868,  1557 

,  Contraction    of    bulk 

may  sustain,  of  sun 633 

,  Contraction  of  sun 

evolves 769 

Converted  into  work.  .  1008 

Convertible 611 

,  Crystallization  through  3484 

Developed  by   chemis- 
try.  .....  . .  .    *1455 


ity. 


Developed  by  electric- 


1455 
106 


-  Disappears  in  work. .  .  . 

—  Dissipated     by     hot 
springs 2680 

—  of  Earth  constant 71 

— ,  Earth  losing 939 

— ,  Effect  of,  resistless.  ...  979 

—  and  Electricity.  .  .1048,  *1453 
— ,  Friction  a  source  of. .  .  .  *1456 

— ,  Gravity  cause  of 632 

— ,  Hammering   produces.  2258 
— ,  How   produced  in   hu- 
man body 2662 

of    Human    body.  .  .*1458-60 

,  Ice     supposed     to     be 

formed  by 1534 

,  Imponderable 2116 

— ,  Increase  of,  from  violet 

to  red 1617 

— ,  Influence  of,  on  water.  1669 

—  Inseparably   connected 

with  motion  and  life 1305 

,  Intensity  of — Rapidity 

of  light 3726 

—  of  Interior  of  Earth 3497 

—  Long  known  as  motion  2261 
is  Molecular  motion .  .  .  2267 

— ,  Loss  of,  of  earth *1457 

— ,  Lowest  temperature  on 

sun  exceeds  earthly 3187 

—  Makes  solid  differ  from 
liquid 1021 

— ,  Measure  of  the  power 

of 2125 

— ,  Measurements     of,     of 

sun 2128 

— ,  Meteors  cannot  supply 

sun's 2162 

—  a  Mode  of  motion 

*1451-52,  1466 


HEAT,  Motion  converted  into 

2258,2267 

,  Motion  produced  by .  .  .  2266 

,  Motion  reconverted  in- 

into 2266 

a  Necessary  element. .  .  3305 

,  Partnership      of,      and 

cold 2513 

,  Plants  need  uniform. .  .  *1462 

,  Power  exerted  by 106 

,  Power  of  sun's 999 

,  Powers  derived  from.  .  3304 

Producing  cold *1463 

.Protection  of  tree 

against  loss  of 2776 

Proved  not  a  substance  *1464 

,  Radiation    as    sustain- 
ing sun's 2820 

,  Rays  of  spectrum  rich 

in 2686 

Restored  in  downward 

now  of  river 2927 

a  Result  of  food 1262 

a  Result  of  motion.  .  .  .  *1454 

,  Science  may  yet  mine 

for 1465 

,  Self  adjustment  to 561 

,  Source  of  the  sun's.  .  .  .  3155 

.Space  draining  plants 

of 2818 

,  Sterilizing  by 3031 

Stored  in  lime 612 

of  Sun  constant 3295 

of    Sun    measured    by, 

of  coal 2128 

of  Sun — Source  of  ter- 


restial  motion 613 

of  Sun  in  space 1019-3695 

— ,  Sun's  direct 795 

— ,  Supply  of,  within  the 

earth *1465 

—  Supposed  to  be  matter.  *1466 
— ,  Thrills  of,  measured ...  1 1 18 

Transformed  to  force ..  *1467 

—  Transformed  into   mo- 


tion     *1468 

— ,  Transmission  of  radiant     3476 

,  Tyndall's    lecture  on — 

Criticism 3186 

— ,  Water  a  poor  conductor 

of 3699 

— ,  Waves  of,  like  waves  of 

light 3715 

— ,  White     covering     pro- 
tects from 535 

— .     (See  also  CLIMATE; 

TEMPERATURE.) 

HEAT-ENGINES,  Constantly 

improved 1297 

HEATHEN,  Rites  of  the 1567 

HEAT-WAVES      Contrasted 

with  light  rays 2683 

HEAVEN,     Dante's    concen- 
tric spheres  of 673 

— ,  Herschel    "bursts    the 

barriers  of" 579 

— ,  the  Mariner's  guide  in.      2633 

— ,  A  new 3209 

— ,  Rain     brings     fertility 

from 914 

,  Vault  of 3646 

HEAVENS,  Ancient  knowl- 
edge of  the 1790 

— ,  Ancients  regard  the,  as 

made  of  glass 3626 

— ,  Changes  in  the 3222 

— ,  Herschel's    exploration 

of  the 3171 

— .Investigation     of     all     " 

stars  in  the 153 

— ,  Knowledge  of 2967 

— ,  Labryinth  of  the 250 

— ,  Mapping  of  the 3392 

— ,  Mechanism  of  the 1401 

— ,  a  Photographic  survey 

of  the 2591 

— ,  Structure  of  the 3257 

— ,  Splendor  of  the 1680 

— ,  Stars  lost  from  the 3208 

HEBREWS,  Iron  among  the     1766 

,  Poetry  of ;  .  .  .  .      1025 

HEIGHT,  Different  estimates 

from  same 2858 


810 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


2274 
1119 


481 
2919 


HEIGHT  Gives  sense  of  ex- 
altation    3625 

,  Influence  of,  upon  com- 
bustion    1117 

,  Proportion  between  ex- 
tent and,  of  aurora 2766 

HEIGHTS,  Alpine,  of  intel- 
lect   240 

Attained  by  insects. . .   *1469 

,  Man  at  great 2884 

.Widening  prospect 

from .  , 

HELIUM  Found  on  earth. .  .  . 

HELL  a  Present  fact  in  evil 

HELP, 'Revelation  of  Nature, 
a,  to  religion 

to  the  needy *1470 

,  Science  a,  to  religion .  .     2870 

,  Sciences,  a,  to  one  an- 
other          844 

in  Struggle  for  life ....      3237 

HELPLESS,    the,   Destroyed 

by  the  strong *1471 

HELPLESSNESS   of   Human 

babe *1473-74 

of  Primitive  man 2059 

the  Result  of  indolence  *1475 

of  Slave-holding  ants. .      1475 

• a  Source  of  power *1472 

HELPS  to  Forgetfulness 881 

HEMISPHERES  of  Brain 
control  opposite  side  of 

body *1476 

of  Brain,  specialized.  .  .        398 

,  Cutting  of  cerebral,  of 

frog 

HENRY,  JOSEPH,  Discovery 
by,  of  magnetic  induction. 
.Effects of   lightning  in- 
vestigated by 

,  Evolution  of  electricity 

from  steam 

,  Freezes  water  by  rare- 
faction   

HERCULANEUM  Buried  in 

lava *1477 

,  Earthquake  at. .  . 3666 

.  Relics  preserved  in.  .  .  .*  1478 

HERCULES,  Constellation 

toward  which  sun  is  moving    3299 
HERD,  Each  animal  has  the 

perception  of  the 243 

Gores  the  disabled  cow 

to  death 1471 

HEREDITY,  Advantages 

transmitted  by 95 

,  Alcoholic 141,  *1479 

in  Astronomic  research  *1482 

Blends  virtues  of  father 

and  mother , .  .      3648 

,  Criminal,  due  to  alco- 
hol   139 

and  Environment *1480 

of  Idiot *1492 

,  Intoxication  producing 

insane 1746 

in  Lowest  types *1481 

May  transmit  predispo- 
sition to  disease *1483 

Modified  by  human  in- 
fancy       1648 

• Moulds  character *1493 

,  Mystery  of 2323 

Progress   transmitted 

1814 

Social 1584 

,  Spencer  and  Mill  on.  .  .  1491 

,  Terror  of  darkness  due 

to.......... t 3376 

,  Universal  recognition 

of *1494 

HEREDITY  OF  ACQUIRED 

CHARACTERS  —Brain 

states *U91 

,  Cope's  doctrine *1484 

,  Dogs *1486 

,  Ducks *1487 

,  Guinea-pigs *1485 

,  Mental  habitudes *1488 

,  New  instincts *1489 

,  Question    stated *1490 

.  Retriever ,  3477 


1679 
1755 


1951 


1330 


by. 


HERODOTUS,  Ideas    of,    on 

geology 

,  Missing  date  of,  sup- 
plied    260 

HEROISM  in  Daily  life *1495 

Defies  analysis 2783 

,  Growth  of 1412 

HERON,  the  Great  blue,  or 

crane 

HERONS,  Seeds    transported 

HERSCHEL,     CAROLINE, 

sisterly  devotion  cf 

HERSCHEL,  SIR  JOHN, 
Opens  the  study  of  the 
southern  skies 

the  Younger  carries  on 

the  researches  of  the  elder . 

HERSCHEL,  SIR  WILLIAM, 
"Bursts  the  barriers  of 
Heaven," 

,  Conception  of,  regard- 
ing sun 

Counts  the  stars 

,  Discoverer  of  Uranus.  . 

Discovers  double  stars . 

,  Exhaustive  study  of. .  . 

,  Exploration     of     the 

heavens   by 

,  Great    work    of,    done 

after  his  fortieth  year 

Makes  his  own  reflect- 


1359 


1924 
3039 


1346 


3211 
1482 


579 

1066 
3207 
2835 
2900 
10 

3171 
345 


ors 

Recants  his  earlier 

views 

,  Theory  of 

HETEROGENESIS.  (See 
SPONTANEOUS  GENERA- 
TION,)   

HIBERNATION,    Sociability 

HIDDEN,  THE,  Value  of . '. '. '. 
HIDING-PLACE,  Tree-trunk 


1346 


1065 
3315 


3697 
3599 

534 


HIEROGLYPH,       Transition 

from,  to  sound 2601 

HIEROGLYPHICS,  Egyptian  3791 

Give   proof   of   ancient 

culture 499 

HIGHWAYS,  Ancient  beach- 
es became  modern *1496 

HILL,  Controversy  over  little  649 

,  Glacier  ploughs  away .  .  392 

,  Plainsman's  first  expe- 
rience of  a 3625 

HILLS  Once  under  sea 1955 

,  Quiet,  remains  of  vol- 
canoes    2876 

HIMALAYAS,  Cedars  of  the.  444 

,  Snow  line  on 2912 

HINDRANCES,    Science    ad- 
vanced in  spite  of 2965 

to  Sympathy 3348 

HIPPOPOTAMUS  in  England 

and  France 2040 

Once    ranged    in    Eng- 
land   1307 

HISTORIES,  Lakes  have  life .  1806 
HISTORY,    Ages    proceeding 

human 112 

,  Antiquity    of    Chinese, 

in  doubt 192 

,  Brevity  of  human 687 

,  Discovery    before 845 

,  Each  animal  recapitu- 
lates, of  its  race 803 

,  a  Guide  to  the  birth  of 

invention 2753 

,  Influenced      by      geo- 
graphic conditions 1668 

,  Laws  of 1854 

of  Man,  a,  of  progress.  .  *1500 

,  Meaning   of 2123 

,  Mediterranean  in 2898 

but  Moment  of  time.  . .  1197 

,  Myths  of  natural 2347 

in  Nursery  rhymes ....  2430 

,  Parallel    of,    and    geol- 
ogy  1355-56 

of  Perished  races 3694 

,  and     Philosophy    dis- 
tinct      *1497 

of  Progress 1500 


HISTORY    or    Prophecy— 

Rudimentary  organs 2612 

Records  no  Stone  Age    .   *1498 

in  the  Rocks    *1499 

Tributary    to    psychol- 
ogy     

of  Water  necessary  for 

analysis 

HIVE,    Bees    know    locality 
rather  than 

,  Bees  ventilate  their 

HOARD,  Typical,  of  miser   .  . 

HOG    Classified    among    ru- 
minants   

HOGS  Fed  scientifically 

HOME,   Bee    scouts    select 
new   

,  Civilization    founded 

upon 506 

of  the  Condor    *1502 

,  Decoration  of *1501 

,  Family    and,    part    of 

self 

,  Gradual  adaptation  to 

new   

,  Man's  original,  a  gar- 
den of  Eden 

of  the  Trap-door  spider.. 

Typified  by  hearth 

of  the  Water-spider  .... 

.  (See  also  CIVILIZATION; 

WOMAN.) 

HOMELESSNESS    of    Prim- 
itive man    

HOME-LIFE,    Long   infancy 

the  bond  of 1203 

HOMER,  Mention  of  pottery 

in 196 

HOMES,    Animals    making 

clearing  around  their 170-71 

,  Birds  return  to  .  .    *1503,  2411 

.Floating,    of    marine 

animals 1773 

(See  also  DWELLINGS; 


1508 
616 

1701 

342 

2221 

1058 
1278 

2611 


1199 
1585 

2077 
923 

1450 
886 


2059 


HOUSES  ) 
HOMOGENEOUSNESS,     As- 
sumed, of  microscopic  cells    *1504 


HOMOLOGIES,  Animal.. 

of  Animal  kingdom  .  .  . 


672 
2481 

HONESTY  Better  than  con- 
sistency    1326 

HONEY,    Bee    seeking,    fer- 
tilizes flowers 1889 

HONOR,  Code  of 529 

—  and  "Fame" 1635 

— ,  Mathematics  on  word  of  2111 
— ,  Prophet      without      in 

his  own  country 2749 

HOOKS  for  seed  dispersal ....  165 

HOPE  for  Humanity's  future  *1606 

of  Mastery 3658 

Opposes      materialism..  *1505 
HOPEFULNESS  of  Consump- 
tives      99 

—  of  Science *1507 

HOPELESSNESS    of    Agnos- 
ticism     115 

HORIZON,  Mental  .extended  *1508 
HORN,  "Unicorn's"  or  "ebur 

fossile"  1317 

HORNS,  Picks  made  of  deer's  1673 
HORSE  Attacked  by     vam- 
pire   3640 

—  Follows  man 39 

—  Meets  man's  enemies.. .  .  39 

—  a  Mighty  engine *1509 

— ,  Stupidity  of  the 3275 

— ,  Submission  of    179 

—  Supposed,  inside  of  loco- 
motive    893 

HORSE-POWER,     Coal-sup- 
ply translated  into 2692 

— ,  Work  of  sun  in 3772 

HORSES,   Alarm    of,   before 

earthquake 168 

— .Apparent     heredity 

among 1420 

—  Attacked   by  crocodiles  39 

—  Extinct  in  America  be- 
fore Columbus *1510 

,  Extinct  race  of,  in  S. 

America 1314 

,  Fish  killing 1250 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


811 


HORSES,  Millions  of  not  equal 
to  power  in  coal  fields  2692 
,  Speed  of,  increased  by 
selection  2052 
cjtrinp  ;n                                    2914 

HUMMING-BIRDS  in  Snow- 
storm                                         *1518 

ICE  Formed  by  radiation  1329 
,  Gigantic  rasp  of  ......        715 
,  Glacial     markings    not 
the  work  of  floating  1378 

,  Tubular  flower  cannot 
produce  bill  (  f  1034 
HUNGARY,  Fossils  of  .  .              1317 
HUNTER  Foiled  by     newly- 
hatched  bird  2550 

HORSE-STEALING  vs.  Sheep 
stealing  880 
HOSPITALS,    English  vs. 
Continental    516 
no     Longer    charnel- 

sufferer  from  thirst     ,     .         3419 

Lighter  than  water  1669 
,  Marks  of  vanished  ....            2 
a  Mile  and  a  half     in 
depth                                          *1529 

,  Skill  of  savage  3074 

HUNTING  as  Amusement    ..      1163 
,  Men  without  desire  of        1696 
a  Natural  impulse  *1519 
,  Reliance    of    primitive 
man  on  441 
HUNTING-SPIDER,  Raft   of 
the  2393 
HURRICANES,  Earth's,  com- 
pared with  Jupiter's  3240 
Incidents     of     a    wise 
economy                                       1392 

,  Mirage  among,  floes    .        2219 
,  Natural  vs.  artificial   .        1463 
Polishing  rocks  2380 
Preserved  under  molten 
rock  1170 

HOST,   Countless,   of    aster- 
oids                                 250 

of  Minute  particles             *1511 

—  ,  Unity  of,  of  discoverers     3365 
HOSTS  Unseen  ever  passing.  .        368 
HOTBED,    Earth    once       a 
giant  3239 
HOT  SPRINGS,  Cause  of               3497 

a  Protection  3704 
Regulation  of                       2949 

Remolded  by  breaking 
and  freezing                              *1533 

HOUDIN     Practising     play 
with  balls                               .          69 

,  Rivers  of  2928 
,  Rivers  under  arches  of..     1380 
,  Road  buried  under  84 
,  "Sunny   France"   bur- 
ied under    3309 

HYACINTH,  Disease  of  1887 
HYBRIDISM      not       Found 
among  humming-birds  ...      1517 
HYDROGEN  in  Atmosphere 
of  stars  3659 
Burning  mountain  high 
on  sun  3297 

HOUR,  Waking  at  a  specified     3440 
HOURS,  Intoxication  makes 
minutes  seem  2542 
HOUSE  in  South  Sea  Islands         593 
HOUSES  Built  to  withstand 
earthquakes  840 
Engulfed  in  fissures    ...        952 
.     (See  also  DWELLINGS; 
HOMES.)  
HUBER,     Experiment     of  — 
Ants        209 
HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY, 
Indians  protected  by  1396 
HUES   of  Animals  in  ocean 
depths             *1512 

Supposed  to  be  formed 
by  heat  *1534 
,  Thin,    ground    quivers 
like,  in  earthquake    1689 
,  Transporting  power  of..  *1535 
,  Tropical    animals    em- 
balmed in  *1536 
,  Wearing  of  rocks  by..82l',  3595 
ICE-AGE  Unexplained  2339 

Combined  with  oxygen     1404 
,  Conflagration     of,     on 
the  sun  585 
,  Liquefaction  of  .......      2856 
and  Oxygen     obtained 
from  water  1018 

around  sun                    .              3241 

.     (See  also  GLACIAL 
EPOCH.)  
ICEBERG,    Elephant       pre- 
served in  2554 
ICEBERGS,  Color  of  *1537-33 
—  •  —  ,  Commotion     attends 
emancipation  of  1538 

HYDROGEN  ATOM  Lightest 
of  all  atoms  1614 
HYENA,  Earlier  giant  forms 
of  1282 
in  England  and  France        2040 

of  Flowers  due  to  ab- 
sorption           539 
,  Nature's,  from      three 
colors                                            2384 

HUGUENOT,  Palissy,  the 
potter        3757 

in  Northern  Europe  .  .          1536 
HYPERBOLA,  Straight  line, 
etc.,  merge  into  2458 
HYPNOTISM,  Effects  of  ....    *1520 
,  Fascination  of  1421 
May    injure   body   and 
mind  *1521 
,   Psychology     not     ad- 
vanced by  2782 
HYPOTHESES,     Agnostic, 
need  a  God  116 
Tentative                   .         2740 

Emerge  from  under  sea.  .     1538 
of  White,  blue  and  gray      1537 
ICE-CLIFFS  Seem  to  fall  in 
silence    3152 
ICE-CLOUDS  of  Upper  air  .  .    *1539 
ICE-CRYSTALS     in     Solid 
block  .  .                                  .    *1540 

HUMANITY  in  Accord    with 
higher  law  .  .  *1515 
Always  believed  natural 
forces  trustworthy     .      .          3495 

,  Ascending  scale  of  ....    *1513 
,  Civilization     fails    to 
teach     505 

ICE-HOUSE,     a     Natural- 
Mammoth  preserved  *1541 
ICELAND,  Hardships  of  ....        101 
,  Volcanic   dust   of,      in 
Norway  2709 
ICE-SHEET    over    Northern 
Italy  *1542 
ICE-STORMS  in  Forests  *1543 
IDEA    of     Force  —  Sense    of 
effort  1296 
of  Immanence  1386 
.Latin,   of  God  vs. 
Greek    1386 
of  Mathematician  *1545 
,  Mind  dominated  by  pre- 
conceived        2193 

Dethroned  *1514 

Duty  to                                    922 

j  Evolution  exalts  .  .  1098,2552 
,  Future  of,  under  equa- 
tor         507 
not  Guided  by  the  in- 
conceivable                                3585 

,  Visionary,  of  material- 
ism          2099 
HYPOTHESIS  of  a  Designing 
mind  *I522 
,  Failure  of  past  1191 
not  to  be  Made  Doc- 
trine                    .                   .      2738 

,  Hope  for  future  1506 
Outcasts  of.                          2493 

\  Plan     and     purpose 
marks  of  2609 
,  Religion  universal  as.  .  .      2872 
.  Results  in  utility  *1516 
,  Solicitude  of  science 
for             2461 

Must  stand  or  fall  as  a 
whole    1184 
,  Newton's,  of  matter..  .  21  16-17 
One   of  four  pillars  of 
science                                          2986 

,  Teachableness  dis- 
tinguishes        3362 

of  a  Soul  is  satisfying  .  .  .    *1523 

Behind  phenomena    .  .  .    *1544 

brutes        900 

,  Laplace's,  nebular  3565 
HYPOTHESIS,      NEBULAR, 
Objection  to  2433-34 
f  Sketch  of  *1525-27,  3403 

,  Sensations  without  1925 
,  Sublime,  of  God  in  the 
Vedas  .                ..                      1211 

Waiting                                     819 

HUMAN  RACE,  Sentiment  of       409 
HUMAN   SELECTION,   Nat- 

,  Unconscious,  unknown        600 
IDEAL     Order    of  .arrange- 
ment of  bodily  structure  .  .  .       160 

Unsustained                         2866 

HUMBLE-BEE  and  Fly  .  .  .        2184 
HUMBLE-BEES     Fertilize 
red  clover  567 
,  Simultaneous    increase 
of,  and  mice  1619 

HYSTERIA,   Unnatural  sen- 
sitiveness in                               3062 

I 

IBIS,  Wild  vaulting  of                     156 

action  703 

,  Will    fixing    attention 
on  divine                                      8735 

HUMBLEST,  Biology  values 
the  2704 
HUMMING-BIRD  Has  no  rival 
in  its  own  field  1602 
Lacks  intelligence  334 
HUMMING-BIRDS,    Color- 
ing  of.                                                325 

ICE,  Alpine  flowers  amid  382 
,  Bacteria  in  1331 
,  Blocks  of,  hurled  from 
trees    1543 
,  Boulders      transported 
by                                               3685 

IDEALISM   Deduced      from 
Descartes                              .     3526 

,  Materialism  and    2094 
IDEALS,  a  Struggle  for  2242 
IDEAS,  Abstract,  not  prim- 
eval     *1546 
as    Actors    appearing 
and  disappearing  600 

—  —  Confined  to   the  Amer- 
ican continent  2530 

,  Esquimo    dogs    scatter 
on  thin                                         2946 

,  Feathers  of  324 

,  Evaporation  of    3540 
Expands  by  means    of 
air-bubbles  *1531 
,  Fairy-land  of  317,  *1532 
,  Fire  started  with  1243 
,  Forests  buried  under  .  .      1308 
,  Formation  of  artificial        1329 

parison  of                  .                    902 

Feeding  their  young  .  .  .        423 

of  a  Babe                       .       3591 

of  Cause,  etc      1574 
Like    bricks    of       the 
mental  structure  2209 
,  Mediaeval,    still   preva- 
lent .  .                                     ,     3014 

,  Hybridism    not    found 
among                                       *1517 

,  Migration  of  1518 
Seen  at  great  height  .  .  .      1502 

812 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


IDEAS,  not  Objects  but  proc- 


*1547 

,  Personality     explained 

by 3148 

,  Reversal  of  all,  of  po- 
sition   467 

of   Virtue    among  sav- 
ages        3647 

,  Waking,  control    607 

IDENTIFICATION  often  fal- 
lacious    *1548 

by  Spectroscope 1939 

—  by  Telautograph 3789 

IDENTITY,  no  Personal,  with- 
out memory 2142 

,  Spiritual 2047 

IDIOCY    Through    alcoholic 

heredity 1479 

a    Manufactured    arti- 
cle     *1549 

IDIOT,  Convolutions  few  in 

brain  of 2654 

,  Heredity  of 1492 

IDIOTS  and  Deaf-mutes 969 

IDLENESS  Ends  in  degrada- 
tion   2507 

IDOLATRY,  Science  destroy- 
ing    2980 

,  Secret  of 2575 

IDOL  WORSHIP,  Explana- 
tion of  tendency  to 3435 

IGNORANCE,  Conscious,  a 

step  toward  knowledge ....  *1550 

,  Darwin  admits  pro- 
found   2488 

,  Human,  imagines  ca- 
price in  Nature *1551 

of  Man *1553 

of  Natural  laws *1554 

,  Sense  of,  with  desire  to 

know 217 

,  Sense  of,  an  incentive 

to  progress 3068 

,  Sense  of,  a  law  of  man's 

being 3068 

,  Sublimity  not  the  prod- 
uct of .2911,  *1552 

,  Un worthiness  distinct 

from 1092 

ILLNESS  Destroys  remem- 
brance   2145 

in  India 2640 

ILLUMINATION  of  Ocean  by 

phosphorescent  animals.  .  .  *1555 

ILLUSION  of  Absence  of  life  *1558 

,  Actor  practises,  on 

audience 37 

of  Cap  and  coat 1556 

Due  to  relative  sensa- 
tions    *1557 

,  Enjoyment  by 1023 

,  Freedom  of  savages  an     1327 

the  Lot  of  all  men  ....    *1560 

through  Mental  sugges- 
tion    *1561 

of  Movement *1559 

,  Optical 2824,  3142 

of  Perception *1562 

through  Preconception .    *  1 563 

of  Present 213 

.Ready,  in   artists' 

drawing 2206 

at  Sea ' *1556 

of  Seeing  the  expected . .     1563 

,  Senses  true  in 3071 

,  Suggestion  a  cause  of. . .     3292 

ILLUSIONS  Abandoned 3336 

,  Belief  in,  of  others  ....        355 

,  Dealing  with  facts  dis- 
pels   1183 

of  Desire 2578 

.Facts    of    external 

world  corrective  of 1185 

in  Nature '.   *1564 

,  Phantoms  known  as.  .  .      2577 

,  Responsibility  for  men- 
tal   2888 

of  Sight 1565 

of  Touch *1566 

Used  in  heathen  rites ...    *1567 

ILLUSTRATION,  an  Amend- 
ed   3245 

,  Ingenious,  of  a  staff 1180 


IMAGE,  Inversion  of 2763 

,  no  Perfect,  of  rainbow  .      2822 

IMAGES  in  Dreams 1218 

of  gods  formed  by  con- 
cave mirror 1567 

of  Memory *1568 

.Minds  differ  in,  re- 
tained.   1781 

,  Overlapping 2763 

IMAGINATION  Among  bar- 
barians    2350 

,  Character  of 2039 

Checked  by  calculation .        437 

,  Creative *1569 

Distorting  fact *1570 

Eliminated *1571 

Essential  to  research.  ..    *1572 

— —  Imports  false  material 

into  memory *1573 

May  make  ideal  world 

almost  real *1578 

,  Phantom  of 2578 

.Poetic,  of  great  dis- 
coverer   *1579 

,  Possibilities  of  exist- 
ence outrun 1169 

Producing  faintness.  .  .  .  *1580 

in  Science *1574-77 

Stimulated  by   nature- 
study  *1581 

IMBECILITY,  Alcoholic  ....        135 
,  Four    steps    from    im- 
morality to 1492 

IMBECILES,  Criminals  often 

moral 698 

IMITATION,  Allurement  by  .        145 

,  Civilization    founded 

upon 1582 

,  a   controlling      human 

impulse *1582 

in    Cuirass    of    reptile 

scales 229 

of  First  importance  to 

civilization 1297 

,  Instinctive  and  uni- 
versal   *1583 

,  Protective 2179 

Secures  continuity     of 

life *1584 

IMITATIONS,  Man's,  of  Na- 
ture feeble 2668 

IMITATORS,  Early  patterns 
of  fabric  the  despair  of 
modern 3383 

IMMANENCE,  Idea  of 1386 

—  of  Creator 3390 

IMMIGRATION    of    Animals 

to  the  deep  sea *1585 

IMMOBILITY,  Instinct  of.  .  736 

IMMORALITY,     Four    steps 

from,  to  imbecility 1492 

IMMORTALITY  of  Grateful 

remembrance *1586 

— ,  Racial,  a  delusive  hope.   *1587 
— ,  Science  cannot  prove. . .     2975 

IMMUNITY,  Natural,     from 

disease *1588 

—  of  Patients  after  recov- 
ery from  diseases 202 

IMMUTABILITY     of       God 

shown  in  nature 3513 

—  in  the  Midst  of  change .  .      1017 
IMPATIENCE  of  Suspense.  .  .     3342 
IMPEACHMENT,    Lack   of 

evidence  in  one  line  not ,  of 
evidence  in  another  .  .  1804 

IMPEDIMENTS  to  new  ac- 
tion removed ,  2873 

IMPERFECTION  of  Human 

senses *1589 

—  of  Instruments *1590 

— ,  Perfection    sheds   light 

on .      2554 

IMPERFECTIONS    of    the 

Eye *1592 

—  of  the  Geological  rec- 
ord      *1591 

IMPERIOUSNESS  of  Habit .  .    *1593 
IMPERSONATION    by    chil- 
dren      *1594 

Creates  myths *1595 

IMPERSONATIONS,    Aryan, 

of  elementary  powers 2573 


IMPERTINENCE,     Automa- 
ton-theory an 297 

IMPLEMENT,  Progress  from 

to  machine . .  .  2751 
IMPLEMENTS,  Design  shown 

in  flint 790 

Deteriorated 746 

,  Effectiveness     of    nat- 
ural.   *1596 

,  Feeling    through    tools 

and 2318 

,  First ,  in  agriculture ....  125 

,  Forgotten 3233 

IMPLOSION  vs.  Explosion  .  .  2722 
IMPORTANCE  of  Bacteriol- 
ogy    306 

of  Constancy 616 

of  Cookery 653 

,  Imitation    of    first,    to 

civilization 1297 

of  Name 2352 

of  Pottery 2649 

of  Smallest  and  feeblest  2878 

of  Unseen  world  .  .  .  3777 

IMPORTATIONS  into  Scrip- 
ture   3590 

IMPOSSIBLE.  THE,  Accom- 
plishment cf 13 

— ,  Relief  in  surrender   of  3335 
IMPOSSIBILITY,      Putrefac- 
tion an,  without  bacteria .  .  792 

,  Putrefaction  made  an. .  130 

IMPOSTURE    Practised    by 

cowbird *1597 

IMPRESSION  Completes  cy- 
cle of  activity 2895 

,  Faintness  of  mental  . .  .  1194 

,  Mental,     deemed     ob- 
jective   3292 

,  Power  of,  falls  on  pre- 
pared nerve  center *1598 

,  Visual,  of  relief  an  in- 
ference      3142 

,  Weak,  obliterated     by 

strong *1599 

IMPRESSIONS  of  Childhood..  *1600 

,  Correction  of 666 

of  Different  senses 245 

— ,  Early,    determine    life 

work 2368 

— ,  Early,  important 2913 

— ,  Enduring,  of  Scriptures  858 

— ,  Familiar 2206 

— ,  First,  do  not  give  deep- 
est truth 2012 

— ,  Power  of  co-ordinating.  902 

— ,  Reaction  on 967 

— ,  Reaction  of  mind  upon  2834 
,  Transient,  made  indel- 


ible. 

IMPRESSIVENESS  of  Mound- 
builders'  works 

—   of   Plans   of   primitive 


1864 
2010 


2615 


man 

IMPRINT  of  Raindrops 

rock *1607 

IMPROVEMENT   and    adap- 
tation       1493 

by  Breeding 95 

,  Capacity  of 420 

Ceases   with   lack   of 

competition *1602 

— .Mental,     supersedes 

physical 2752 

by  Self-  discipline 2816 

IMPROVIDENCE,    Abund- 
ance of  tropics  favors 507 

IMPULSE  to  Acquisition *1605 

— ,  Common,  affecting    all 

planets 3527 

— ,  the    Dramatic,    strong 

in  children 1594 

— ,  Faculty-theory  of.  ...  3407 
— ,  Fighting,  necessary. .  .  2789 
— ,  Human,  of  locomotion  3683 
— ,  Hunting  a  natural  .  .  .  1519 
— ,  Imitation  a  control- 
ling human 1582 

—  and  Instinct 1708 

— ,     Migratory,    in    cage- 
birds  *1604 

—  for    Movement    from 
preceding  movement *1603 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


813 


IMPULSE,  Prayer  a  universal     2700 

INCREASE   of  Quantity   re- 

INDIVIDUALITY  of  a  Region  *1632 
in  Science  *1631 

.  xvatlOn*il,     Illiiy     C                          OQOA 

Strong  in  cat  tribe             *1634 

ble-bees  and  mice                     *  1  6  1  9 

,  Varying  aspects  of  .  .    .    *1635 

!  Transitoriness  of  1702 

of  Surface  in  lung  *1618 
INCREDULITY   Hinders  in- 

INDIVIDUALS and   Nations 
—  Knowledge                               1795 

veloped  in  human  beings.  .      3683 

vestigation  *1621 
INCUBATION  Period  of              2899 

INDOLENCE,  Abundance    of 
tropics  favors  .                             507 

small                                                  16 

,  Period  of  typhoid.  .  '.  '.  .      3644 

,  Helplessness  the  result 

INDEBTEDNESS     Unconsid- 

of                                                    1475 

,  Lower,  gnen  t  e  rig  t     „.„„ 

ered  to  birds                                 942 

Tends  to  degradation  .  .      1802 

INDECISION  vs  Action                  906 

INDUCTION  Gives  a  law.  .  .      *1637 

,  Man  _  nas    i    ire,    t   a        if  no 

of  Character                             906 

Magnetic                                1755 

.Memory  and  reason 

.Error  more  helpful 
than                                            1051 

Must  combine  with  de- 
duction                                    *1636 

Play  founded  on  native.     1984 
Repeated  give  effect          3294 

,  Habit  of,  to  be  avoided.       745 
INDEPENDENCE,      Power 

Recognized     by     Aris- 
totle                                         *1638 

INDULGENCE    Attempt    to 

IMPU^LSIVENESS   v  s  ^  C  o  n  - 

evade  penalty  of     .                  2640 

trol                                                2667 

,  Excuses  for  *1639 

a  Source  of  power  2659 
IMPURITIES,  Health  by  re- 
moval of                  1446 

Weakened  by  surveil- 
lance      *1622 
INDESTRUCTIBILITY        of 

INDUSTRIES,  Man  in  the.  .  .      1853 
,  Nature  aids  2357 
INDUSTRY,  Achievement  of     2698 

IMPURITY  of  Natural  colors  *1608 
INABILITY  to  Learn  by  ex- 

  of  Three  great  powers  .  .   *1624 
INDIA  Dancing  in                           720 

of  Ants.  797,  1206,  *1642,  3767 
Applications  of  science 

perience  169 

,  Half-castes  of  503 

to  3269 

Beauty  and  sublimity                 323 

Sanscrit      1443 

science  2761 

INACCURACY     of     Personal 

—  Red  ants  in                            1642 

the  Corrective  of  phil- 

evidence                                       1090 

INDIAN,   Prognostication  of 

anthrophy  *1645 

Slight  vitiates  results        1050 

Dependent  on  scientific 

INACTION,  vs  Action.    .  .           492 

INDIANS,  Burial  customs  of 

study  *1641 

Loss     of     function 

Genius   accompanied 

through                    2507 

Cave-dwellers    like 

by  tireless  1346 

INACTIVITY  Causes  degen- 

Geology  of,  value  for         1357 

Digger  of  North  Amer        503 

INANITION      Hunting       in- 

of  Mozart                               1347 

INATTENTION    Causes    fail- 
ure  of  memory  1190 

—  —  ,  Invention  among  1759 
Irrigation     among 

,  Patient  ,      evinced  — 
Monkey  1761 

—  to  the  Unimportant           *1609 

American                1768 

of  Primitive  man.      .      *1643 

INCANDESCENCE,  Colors  of, 
cannot  be  reproduced.  .  .    .    *1610 
.Phenomena  of  *1611 
INCENTIVE  to  Progress  .  .    .      3068 

Obtain  fire  by     bow- 
drill  194 
,  Pipes  of,  moulded     to 
figures  f.       350 

,  Separate  vs.  gregarious  *1644 
,  Transformation  of.  ...      1298 
INEQUALITY  Law  of  human 
nature  *1646 
INEXACTNESS  of  Early  dis 

of  life                                               958 

Bay  Co                                          1396 

INCITEMENT,      Momentum 
outlives  975 

,  Substitutes     for     nails 
among  American  3285 

INFALLIBILITY,     Assumed, 
of  scientists  *1647 

,  Teacher's  great  work.  ..     3232 
INCITEMENTS  to  Study  of 

INDIA-RUBBER,   First  vul- 
canized —  Goodyear.                      12 

INFANCY,    Animal    without 
an                                                     181 

nature  2368 
INCLINED-PLANE  Used  by 

INDICATOR,    Light    an,    of 

,  The  bond  of  home  1203 
Gives  time  to  elaborate 

primitive  man  2694 

INDIFFERENCE    to    Catas- 

brain. .  .            1474 

INCLUSION  vs.  Exclusion  in 

trophe                                   .   *1625 

Man's  single  and  costly       ^24 

scientific  system  *1612 
INCOMPATIBILITY  of  Men- 
tal  qualities                               *1613 

to  Warnings  of  disaster.  .     1241 
INDIGO   Made   by   chemical 
process                                       *1626 

,  Moral  effect  of  980 
,  Need  of  long  time  of  ...      3504 

INCOMPLETENESS,   Science 
conscious  of  its.                          3658 

INDIRECTION,  Injury  'by!  !        1680 
INDIVIDUAL,  Aggregate  con- 

  A  period  of  plasticity  .  .   *1648 
Prolonged  —  A  p  e    and 

INCONCEIVABLE,    Human- 
ity not  guided  by  the  3585 
INCONCEIVABLE,  the,  May 
be  fact  2996 
INCONCEIVABLENESS       of 

science  controlling  596 
,  Chief  use  of  pain  not 
for,  but  for  race  2399 
.Development    of,  and 
race  808 

man  *1649-50 
,  Prolonged  ,  increases 
brain  surface  1474 
,  Solitude  the  terror  of  .  .      3144 
,  Through,  to  the  King- 

Distances of  the  stars  877 
INCONSISTENCY  of  Voltaire 

,  Experience  of,  not  the 
limit                                              1508 

dom  of  God  1910 
INFANT,  Attention  of   is  au- 

regarding fossils  .      1740 
INCORPORATION  of     Mind 
and  brain  impossible  2324 
INCREASE  of  Animals  under 
protection      .  .                          *1615 

,  Intentions  not  explain- 
ed by  experience  of  1748 
,  One,   infected,   poisons 
many  622 
Repeating    history     of 

tomatic.  3065 
Attracted  by  flame  ....      1207 
.  Brain      of.      resembles 
that  of  ape  651 
Life    of     destroyed    by 

of  Birds                                  *1620 

race                                               1369 

in  Brightness  of  stars.  .  .       474 
Checks    upon     of   bac- 

  ,  the,  Sacrificed  to  pub- 
lic welfare                                      341 

INFANTICIDE  and  Canniba- 
lism                                            3642 

teria  2878 

,  Universe    divided    dif- 

— not  Primeval.  .                     3642 

,  Checks  to,  of  life.  .                 484 

ferently  by  each.         .              3563 

INFANTS,  Slight    mortality 

by  Destruction  *1614 
of  European  cattle  in 
America  .                                   *1616 

INDIVIDUALISM  vs.  Concen- 
tration of  industry  1644 
Contrary     to    Nature's 

among  Jewish  1896 
INFECTION  Caused  by  earth- 
worms                                         *1651 

Excess  of                               1129 

plan                                             *1627 

by    Exemption      from 

Gives  place  to  altruism  *1628 

suit                                                1980 

attack.  .  .                                     1131 

INDIVIDUALITY     of     Con- 

  Security  from                      3032 

of  Force  as  square  of 
velocity  1287 

sciousness  3003 
Dependence  on  .                   3287 

of  Source  of  life  1904 
Unsuspected                         3644 

of  Heat  from  violet  to 
red  *1617 
—  of  Intellectual  force..    ..      2186 

Developed  by  prolong- 
ed infancy  1648 
the  Essence  of  life  1913 

-  Widely  distributed.  .  .  .    *1652 
INFERENCE,   Animal    intel- 
ligence known  by  1719 

—  of  Light  by  darkening 

Indestructible  *163() 

Crude    and    hasty,    re- 

shadow                  824 

a  Law  of  Nature..           *1629 

buked                                          2986 

of  Magnetic  power.  ...          21 

of  Memory  *1633 

—  ,  Mental,  to  explain  phe_ 

of  Muscular  force.  .                   53 

of  Mental  life.  .,                     601 

nomena.  .  .                                   1399 

814 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


856 


3071 
581 


673 


926 
1656 


2233 


*1667 
2354 


3324 
2665 


INFERENCE  from  Partial 
observation 

,  Sensation  of  move- 
ment due  to 1559 

INFERENCES,  Erroneous,  of 
the  fallacy  of  the  senses . . . 

,  Hasty,  untrustworthy. 

INFERNO  of  Dante  disap- 
pears  

INFINITE,  THE,  Reaching 
toward 

,  Science  leads  out  to 

INFINITESIMAL,  THE,  in 
Mollecular  theory 

INFINITUDE,  Richter's  vis- 
ion of  *1653 

INFINITY,  the  Conception  of  *1659 

a  Necessity  of  thought .    *1654 

not  an  Object  of  wor- 
ship     *1655 

Revealed  in  nature.  .  .  .   *1657 

of  Space 1971,  3159 

of   Space,   matter   and 

energy *1656 

Suggested  by  the  Ocean  *1658 

INFIRMITY,  Unconscious- 
Color  blindness *1660-61 

INFLAMMATION     of     Eyes 

from  chill  of  space 2240 

INFLEXIBLENESS  of  Rou- 
tine of  instinct 1697 

INFLUENCE  from  Afar *1664 

,  Cosmic 934 

of  Cultivation 

of  the  Danes 

of  Eclipses  on  the  su- 
perstitious  

.Enduring,     of    great 

teacher 

of    an    Enlightened 

monarch *1666 

Exerted  in  vain *1662 

of  Fixed  abode 506 

of    Geographic    condi- 
tions on  history *1668 

of  a  Great  man *1663 

,  Healthful,  of  sunlight.      1941 

of  Heat  and  cold *1669 

of   Height   upon   com- 
bustion  

,  Life  an  unseen 

of  Man  upon  the  earth . 

of  Nature  on  poetry.  .  .    *1670 

,  Nature's  silent 625 

-,  Plastic     bodies     weak 

3524 

on    magnetic 
needle 

of  Sun-spots   on   auro- 
ras         934 

Transmitted *1671 

Unseen  and  unfelt 

of  Woman  for  peace .  . . 

INFUSIONS,  Life  in.  .......      1893 

,  Protected  from  germs  130, 1344 

.Protected,  void  of  life.      2470 

INFUSORIA  Cause  phospho- 
rescence of  ocean 

INGENUITY  of  Primitive 
man 

of  Reasons  for  wrong- 
doing  

of  a  Spider .  .  . 

INGRATITUDE   for  Benefits 

from  sun *1674 

INHABITANTS  of  Mars.  .  .          3781 
INHARMONIC  USN  ESS     of 

Past  with  present .  .  . 
INHERITANCE  from  Ancient 

ages 

through      Countless 

generations 

Explains  phenomena .  . 

Incomprehensible 

of  Mental  disease.  .  .    . 

-  the  Rule  of  life 

INHIBITION  by  Substitu- 
tion  

INHIBITIONS,  Energy  amid, 
highest  mental  type 

INHUMANITY     amid 
and  suffering.  .  .  . 


enough  to  yield  to . 

of    Sun 


.  . 
Peril 


1117 
1876 
2049 


'1665 


2684 
2528 


3758 
"1673 


1639 
*1672 


2518 
2385 

*1677 

2311 

2034 

*1675 

*1676 

1093 
1010 


*1678 
INITIATIVE,  Destruction  of.   *1679 


INITIATIVE,  Value  of 
strong  —  Pledge 


2632 


INJURY  by  Indirection  .....    *1680 
INOCULATION  of  Animals  . 


of  Cream—  Bacteria. 

-  of    Fields    with    useful 
germs  .................. 

INORGANIC,    THE,    Cannot 
become  organic  .......... 

-  ,  and  the  Organic  ....... 

-  ,  Shut  from  the  organic 
INQUIRY,  Mystery    not    the 

end  of  .................. 

INQUISITION,  Bruno  burned 

by  ..................... 

INROADS  of  Sea  on 


2942 
1222 

3139 

3774 

1416 
2515 

2370 
3385 


British 

coast 58 

INSANE,  Ancient    cruelty   in 

treatment  of 704 

INSANITY  through  Alcoholic 

heredity 1479 

,  Dream  a  brief 907 

,  False  views  of 389 

,  Improved  treatment  of  2189 

,  Intoxication  one  with . .  1746 

,  Moral,  may  be  congen- 
ital   *1681 

in  Royal  families 1675 

,  "Temporary"  or  "emo- 
tional.".   1333 

INSCRIPTIONS,  Cuneiform. .  2846 

INSECT  Attracted  by  flame. .  1207 

with  Bird-like  habit.  .  .  *1682 

,  Birds  killed  by 369 

,  Contrivances  forcing,  to 

fertilize  flower 50 

,  Dependence      of,    on 

mimicry 771 

,  Leaves  of  Dionsea  close 

at  touch  of 3081 

INSECT-FOOD  of  Flower- 
loving  birds 1518 

INSECT-LIFE,  Richness     of, 

in  tropics *1683 

INSECTS,  Acute  senses  of .  .  .  *1684 

,  Adaptation   of    flowers 

to 50 

.  Ants  domesticate  oth- 
ers  , 205 

,  Apparent     contrivance 

among 782 

,  Architecture  among.  . .  221 

Blown  out  to  sea 3100 

Blown  off  shore 2666 

Borne  to  mountain  tops  2666 

,  Capture  of,  by  sun-dew  *1685 

,  C  h  i  c  k  e  n-h  a  w  k  lives 


chiefly  on. 
Compelled    to    fertilize 

orchids 

Co-operate    with    flow- 


1445 
3528 


660 


,  Defense  of  plant  against, 

useless 750 

.Destruction   of,   by 

sun-dew 11 

,  Destruction  of  noxious.  797 

Distribute  pollen 2896 

,  Escape  of  useless 3577 

,  Farming  of 1206 

Fertilizing   flowers.  .  .  . 

784,*1686-87 

Fleeing  before  wind ...  *1688 

,  Heights  attained  by.  .  .  1469 

,  Industry  among 208 

,  Injurious,    stopped    by 

leaf-cups 3700 

,  Leaf  and  stick 2182 

,  Lessons  in 2376 

,  Life   of,    shows   grada- 
tion   2923 

,  Means  of  cross-fertiliza- 
tion   105 

,  on  Mountain  peaks ....  1920 

,  Navigation  by 2393 

,  Plants  eating 2471 

.Plants     protected 

against    useless 2622 

,  Prevision   among.  .2726,  3690 

as  Scavengers 2961 

,  War    among 3686 

INSECURITY,  Feeling  of,  on 

height 3072 


INSECURITY  Makes    divine 

protection  precious 2777 

,  Sense  of,  in  earthquake  *1689 

INSENSIBILITY  Due  to  ab- 
sence of  mind *1690 

to    Pain   under   strong 

emotion 3150 

INSIGHT,  Poet  shows  scien- 
tific    2634 

,  Scientific,  enlarged ....    *1691 

,  Scientific,  penetrates 

the  unknown.  ..  1579 

INSIGNIFICANCE  of  the 

Earth.  . 2949 

,  Joined  with ,  supremacy       642 

of  Man 1167 

INSIPIDITY    in    Unchanging 

experience 3067 

INSOLATION  Breaks  up 

rocks 867-8 

INSPIRATION  of  Genius *1693 

Likened  to  magnetism .      2008 

Needed  in  science *1692 

,  Terror  the,  to  worship 

of  serpents 2943 

INSTABILITY  of  the  Earth .  .  *1694 
INSTANCE  of  reasoning 

among  bees 2832 

Under     general     law — 

Freezing  of  water 1133 

INSTANCES  of  parthenogen- 
esis   2509 

INSTINCTIVE  Dependence  of 

insect  on  mimicry 771 

INSTINCT,  Blind — Lemming 

of  Norway 2173 

,  Blind— Remora 657 

,  Blind — Squirrel 376 

,  Certainty  of 449 

,  Chadbourne  on 1698 

Dying     of    inanition — 

Hunting *1696 

,  Early — Common   spi- 
ders       2548 

• 1,  Early — Trap-door  spi- 
der   2549 

Follows   routine *1697 

of  Habitation 3284 

of  Immobility 736 

vs.  Impulse 1708 

Independent  of  educa- 
tion    *1698 

of  Larvae , 2727 

,  Limitations  of — in  bees     *701 

.Limitations  of— in  dog  *1702 

.Limitations    of,    in 

Man *1699,  *1700 

,  Maternal,  among  birds       424 

,  Maternal,  of  the  spider.  *1703 

,  Mischief  result  of  con- 
structive   2220 

.Modification    of,  in 

birds 1721 

,  Obliteration  of 2437 

,  Perfection   of,  in   early 

life.  . .  2550 

and  Reason *1695,  1909 

,  Religious 2868 

of  Robbery— Eagle  ....     2932 

,  Sense  of  direction  not  a 

blind 1867 

,  Fear  of  solitude  a  pro- 
tective   3144 

Stronger  than  affection     1604 

,  Stupidity    of .  .  .  .*3272,    3274 

,  Transmission  of 3477 

INSTINCTS,  Blindness  of 

mere 1708 

Change    with    circum- 
stances       1489 

,  Complex *1704 

,the  Functional  cor- 
relatives of  structure.  .  .  .  1698 

—  vs.  Impulses *1708 

,  Innate *1705 

of  Labor  reckless *1707 

,  Man  must  acquire . .    .  .      2055 

,  Natural,  in  domestica- 
tion   *1706 

INSTRUCTION  about  Light, 

to  the  blind 3363 

,  Young  swallows  fly 

with  no.  1258 


TOPICS     IN    GENERAL 


815 


INSTRUCTION    Might    save 

life *170 

,  Secondary  aim  of 1834 

INSTRUMENT,  Man  behind  .  2032 

,  Man  an,  of  research  .  .  .  2028 

,  Man  viewed  as  an 1057 

INSTRUMENTS,  Different 

with  different  methods.  .  .  .  827 

,  Natural,  of  music 2301 

,  Science  before 2972 

INTAGLIO  Less  familiar 

than  cameo 1738 

INTELLECT,  Alpine  heights 

of 240 

,  Beauty    not     matched 

by — Humming-bird 334 

,  Boundary-line  of *1710 

,  Deadened  by  intemper- 
ance    1731 

Developed  by  struggle 

for  life *1711 

Developed    by   use    of 

hand 1433 

of  Early  inventors 3757 

vs.  Emotion 1613 

,  Fallacy  of  the 3071 

,  Fear  a  result  of  confu- 
sion of 3327 

,  Has  outstripped  heart .  *1712 

,  Language     banks     the 

gains  of 1814 

,  Limitations  of *1713 

of    Man    conquers    cli- 
mate   *1714 

Prepares  for  new  dis- 
covery   85 

Required  to  make  uni- 
verse   *1715 

and  Sense-perception. .  .  2676 

INTELLIGENCE  of  Animals 

—Ants *1722 

of  Animals— Birds.  .    *1720-21 

of  Animals— Cat  .  .*1723,  3272 

of  Animals— Elephant. .  *1724 

of   Animals — Shepherd- 
dog  *1725 

of  Animals— Wasp, *1726 

of  Animals  inferred  ....  *1719 

of  Animals  limited.  .169,*1720 

and    Barbarism    coex- 
isting   *1716 

of  Birds  combined  with 

devotion. 423 

,  Combination  of ,  .  552 

of  the  Corvidse 3570 

,  Exaltation     by     influ- 
ence of  higher 1784 

the  Final  victor *1730 

of  High  order *1727 

,  Human,  one  step  above 

brute 973 

,  Humming-bird  lacks  .  .  334 

in  the  Kitchen 486 

Limited,  cf  animals  ...  169 

not  Limited  by  size  of 

brain 51 

in  Lower  forms  of  life. .  .  *1718 

of  Monkey  limited 2235 

Needed  by  cooks *1728 

,  Play  an  indication  of  .  .  2626 

of  Primitive  man *1717 

Prop9rtioned  to  brain- 
convolutions 651 

in  Reflex  movements.  .  .  2195 

Shown  in  fossils *1729 

Shown    in    repair    of 

damages 2831 

a  Supreme  creative ....  2360 

,  Utility  of 3275 

,  Worms  seeming  to  ex- 
ceed ants  in 2197 

INTEMPERANCE    a     Cause 

of  idiocy 1549 

,  Debasing  effect  of *1731 

among    Greatest    evils 

of  modern  world 3182 

,  Mortality  from *1732 

,  Privation  a  cause  of.  .   .  140 

.     (See    also    ALCOHOL; 

HEREDITY;  IDIOCY;  IN- 
SANITY ;  INTOXICANTS; 
INTOXICATION;  STIMU- 
LANTS; WINES.) 


INTENSITY,  Judgment  of,  of 
sensation 

,  Power  of,  controlled .  .  . 

INTENT,  Selection  reaches 
beyond  man's 

INTENTION,  Morality  in.  ... 

in  Nature 

INTENTIONS  not  Explained 
by  experience*.  .  . 

INTERACTION    of 


1782 
2667 

3053 
2246 
43 

1748 
1447 

562 
of  Land  and  sea *  1733-34 


Matter 


and  spirit 

INTERCHANGE  of  Functions 


of  organs. .  .  . 


,  Progress  by 2749 

of  Subject  and  object.  .  .     2324 

INTERCOURSE  of  Nations.  .     3532 

,  Progress  by 2749 

INTERDEPENDENCE  of 

Mental  and  bodily  states  .  .     3224 

of  the  Parts  of  the  brain      244 

INTEREST,  Acquired,  be- 
comes controlling *1735 

Determines   conscious- 
ness        491 

in  the  Divine  record 1738 

and  Habits  control  re- 
membrance        770 

of  Man  in  animals *1737 

,  Memory  co-extensive 

with 2140 

,  the  Moon  an  object  of, 

to  man 943 

of  Northern  life 507 

of  Science 3004 

,  Supreme  in  self 3054 

INTERFERENCE,  Beauty  re- 
sulting from,  of  waves 339 

of  Light-waves ,  i  1 1  u  s  - 

trated 549 

,  Extinction  of  waves  by 

—Light 1933 

of   Light-waves — New- 
ton's rings 2415 

of    Light-waves— Thin 

films 544 

of  Light-waves — Twink- 
ling of  stars 3505 

, Phenomena    of,    of 

light-waves 3505 

of  Sound-waves 3153 

with  Survival  of  fittest. .     3339 

of  Waves  of  water 3714 

INTERIOR  of   Earth   un- 
known       1966 

,  of  Greenland,  unknown     1529 

,  Supposed     hollow,     of 

the  earth 1054 

INTERPRETATION,  Instinc- 
tive   *1738 

,  Man's,  of  the  world. . .  .       320 

INTERPRETERS,  Nerves,  of 

the  world  to  the  mind 2409 

INTERVALS,  Quiet,  of  vol- 
canoes       2362 

Between  sentences  full 

of  meaning 2917 

INTERVENTION  of  Natural 

causes *1739 

INTOLERANCE  of  Compre- 
hensive systems 1 184 

of  Infidelity *1740 

,  Mohammedan,    checks 

science 692 

of     Paganism — Anax- 

agoras *1741 

,  Paralyzing  effect  of  .*1743-44 

of  the  Schoolmen *1742 

INTOXICANTS,  Indians  pro- 
tected from 1396 

,  Sale  of,  prohibited   by 

Hudson's  Bay  Company. .  .      1396 
INTOXICATION     Allied     to 

mania 134 

— ,  Dangers  of  incipient .  .  .      2395 
— ,  One  with  insanity.  .  .*1745-46 

—  Produced  by  alcohol.  .        697 

—  Produced  by  fungus.  .  .      2542 

—  Produced  by  hashish  2542, 3677 

Produced  by  opium 595 

— .     (See    also    ALCOHOL; 

HEREDITY;     IDIOCY;     IN- 
SANITY;   INTEMPERANCE.) 


INTROSPECTION  a  Marvel- 
ous power *1747 

INTUITION  of  Expert 1154 

,  Perception  of  genius  by 

INTUITIONS  n6t  Explained 
by  experience  of  individ- 
ual   

Repudiate  materialism 

INTUITIVE  PERCEPTION  of 
the  Divine 

INUNDATION,  Possible,  in 
North  America 

INUNDATIONS  Ascribed  to 
arrival  of  ships 

INUTILITY  and  Utility  of 
fear 

IN  VARIABILITY  of  Law 

1843, 1982 

INVASION  of  Human  dwell- 


2842 


*1748 
609 


1385 
*1749 


3319 
3573 


ings. 
INVEN 


to. 


TION,  Accident  leads 


2961 


,  Cooking,  of  woman.  .  .  .       656 

and  Discovery *1752 

Driving  to  invention. ..    *1754 

,  Extravagant     expecta- 
tions of  new 1 136 

Gives  increasing  power  *1755 

,  Guides  to 2753 

Indigenous  in  man.  .  .  .    *1756 

Joined  with  imitation.      1584 

,  Leaven  an,  of  woman .  .      1868 

,  Nature  anticipates  hu- 
man       2359 

a   Necessity  for  prim- 
itive woman *1753 

,"  Pepper-pot "    an,    of 

woman 2536 

of  the  Sand-blast *1757 

among  Savages *  1750-51 

,  Unsuccessful. 1758 

INVENTIONS,  Mental  powers 

required  for  early 3757 

of  Primitive  man *1759 

,  Similarity  of 3108 

INVENTOR,  Perseverance  of     2565 
INVENTORS,     Rewards     of 

early 2916 

,  Women  the,  of  textiles 

and  pottery 3757 

INVERSION  of  Anthropomor- 
phism         186 

of  Image 2763 

INVESTIGATION  of  All  stars 

in  the  heavens 153 

,  Authority  hinders 290 

vs.  Dogma *1762 

,  Electricity   for   patho- 


logical         992 

.Error   inseparable 

from 1053 

,  Incredulity  hinders  . . .      1621 

into  Natural  forces 

INVIGORATION  of  Negative 

character 

INVESTIGATION  of  Nervous 

disease. 

,  Original . 

,  Paralysis  of 

,  Rapid  spread  of,  once 


624 

*1764 

2189 

*1760 

2075 


315 


"1761 
2813 


2988 
*1763 


started.  . 
,  Untiring    spirit    of,    in 

monkey 

INVESTIGATOR,    Qualities 

required  in  scientific 

Should  keep  to  his  own 

department 

INVESTIGATORS  Often  bad 

lecturers 

INVISIBLE,  THE,  Made  vis- 
ible    *1765 

,  Photographing 2595 

,  Power  of — Attractipn .  .     2684 

,  Power    of — C  h  e  m  i  c  a  1 

energy 2687 

,  Power  of — Heat 

2683,  2686, 3476 

,  Power  of— Molecules .  .     2682 

,  Power  of— Wind 2685 

INVISIBILITY,     Absolute 

trust  of  moth  in  its 2250 

of   Chemical   or   ultra- 
violet waves 2537 


816 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


INVISIBILITY     of     Chief 
products  of  combustion.  .  .        555 
,  Instantaneous,  of  moth     2249 
of  Minerals  in  water.  ...     2213 
of  Some  rays  of  spec- 
trum        1161 
of  Zebra  in  twilight.  .  .  .      3586 
IRIDESCENCE    of    Striated 
surfaces  .          3505 

JOURNEY    through    Track- 
less space  *1778 
JOURNEYS,  the  Nocturnal, 
of  birds  2516 

KINGDOM,     Giants    of    the 
vegetable  1375 
,  Passage    from    one,   to 
another  impossible  2515 
KINGDOMS,     Common 
thought  unites  two.  .  .  .            1953 
KINGFISHER,  Brilliant  colors 
of  48 
KINGS,     Pigeon-breeding     a 
pastime  of  1737 
KINSHIP    Basis    of    ancient 
morality.  .  .  .                                 377 

JOY  of  Creation  —  Mozart...      1348 
of  Discovery  ....  1693,  *1780 
Exaggerated   in    mem- 
ory      *1781 
,  Exaltation  result  of  ...    *1779 
,  Love  converts  pain  to  .      1995 
,  Nature  a,  to  man  625 

IRISH  BOG,  Body  preserved 
in                                                   2554 

IRON,  Barbarians  knew  use 
of                                                   309 

,  Pain  latent  in.                      2497 

Recalls  joy  3145 
of  Studying  science.  ...          81 
JUDGES,    Condemnation    of 
present,  braved  580 
JUDGMENT,  a  Priori,  of  the 
Creator's  Will  1160 
Beclouded  1520 

with    Beasts    cannot 
satisfy  the  soul.                           1784 

,  Bronze  before  2535 
,  Burning  of  2153 
,  Copper  more  useful  than, 
to  savages  1391 
,  Experiment  with    mol- 
ten                                              2386 

KITCHEN  a  Chemical  labor- 
atory      *1786 
,  Intelligence  in  the  486 

KITCHENS  of  the  Stone  Age.     2065 
KITE,    Condor's    flight    sug- 
gests        2285 
KLEPTOMANIA   a   real   In- 
sanity                                      *1787 

,  Freezing  water  shatters     1292 
Among  the  Hebrews.  .  .    *1766 
Made    hot    by   ham- 
mering        2258 
,  Molecules  of,  magnetic.     2234 
,  Plasticity  of  2009 
,  Power  invoked  in  ex- 

,  Day  of  2844 

of  Distance,  relative  .  .  .      3636 

ing  VS".  .  .  mPinCa  .  .reaSOn.      2833 
of   Intensity  of  sensa- 
tion      *1782 
Necessary  for  selection     2539 
Needed     to     interpret 
senses  3073 

KNEE-CAP    a    Standard    of 
measurement.                             2129 

KNIFE  or  Dagger  3719 
of  the  Eskimo  1751 
KNIVES,    Beaver-teeth.    ...      1751 
,  Grips  of  men's  3443 
of  Shark's  teeth.  .  .  1751,  *1788 
KNOWLEDGE,      Accumula- 
tion of,  by  writing  3790 
Acquired    by    learning 
to  doubt  *1789 
of  Anatomy  among  sav- 
ages.    161 

,  Record    graven    with, 
pen                        715 

Shown  by  wasp  2851 
JUICE,  Digestive  fluid  of  sun- 
dew resembles  gastric  ....      1953 
JUNKS,  Ships  converted  into       746 
JUPITER,  Earth's  hurricanes 
compared  with  3240 
,  Glorious  aspect  of  1905 
with    His    satellites    a 
little  universe.      .                       1  145 

in  the  Sun                              3488 

the  Universal  metal.  .  .      3227 
IRON  AGE,  Transition  from 
Bronze  Age  to  3468 
IRON  FILINGS,  Light  passed 
through  2521 

Pulverized        2521 

Raving  to  escape  1286 
IRREGULARITY  of  Distribu- 
tion of  plants                                 883 

,  Life  on  the  moons  of  690,  1905 
,  Measurement     of    sat- 
elites  of  2706 

.Ancient,    of    magnetic 
needle  2401 
,  Application  of,  follows 
acquisition  217 
and  Belief  *1791 
of  Causes  saves  life.  .  .  .        439 
,  Common  vs.  scientific.      2992 
.  Comte's,  second-hand.  .      2781 
,  Conscious  ignorance  a 
step  toward  1550 
of  the  Construction  of 
the  heavens  *1801 
,  Difficulty  of  obtaining, 
of  manlike  apes     .     .                  833 

IRRELIGION    May   result 
from  degeneracy  *1767 

,  Moons     of,     simultan- 
eously discovered  531 
,  Satellites  of,  gave  speed 
of  light  1127 
JURA,  View  of  Alps  from  818 
JUSTICE,  Barbaric  381 

K 

KAIAK  vs.  Ocean  steamer.  .  .    *1783 
KANGAROO,  Sandy  protect- 
ive color  of  780 

IRRESPONSIVENESS  is 
Death...  3481 
IRREVOCABLE,     Dread    of 
the  906 
IRRIGATION  Among  Ameri- 
can Indians  *1768 
Progress     in     hydro- 
techny  as  related  to  3701 

in  Southern  Arizona  ...      1768 
IRRITATION  of  Skin  by  Al- 
pine sunshine  *1769 
ISABELLA,  Ornithology  en- 
couraged by  Queen  1666 
ISLAND  Created  in  one  gen- 
eration .                               .   *1770 

Traverses  desert  swiftly         58 
KATABOLISM,  Process  of  .  .  .        747 
KEA  of  New  Zealand  464 
KEENNESS  of  Scent—  Arabs.     3075 
of  Scent  —  Indians  ....      3076 
of  Senses  in  savages  .  .  .      3074 
KEPLER,    Destruction       of 
theory  by  3404 
has    Qualifications     of 
great  scientist  2812 

,  Discovery  results  from 
preceding  844 
,  Divine  power  acts  by  .  .        682 
,  Extension  of  1159 
,  Extension  of,  leads  to 
higher  faith  2870 
of  Fire  universal  *1800 
of    Formations    would 
save  outlay  1357 
,  Fuller,  of  man  162 
of  Heavens  by   David 
and  Job  858 
of  Human  nature  2365 
not  Incompatible  with 
poetry  3066 
.Increased     leads        to 
change  of  opinion  418 

Rises  among  Azores.  .  .   *1771 
Universes.  .  .                  .3198 

ISLANDERS  of  South  Sea  ...       504 
,  Ancient  British  —  Burial 

ISLANDS,  Area  of  coral, 
trifling                                              225 

,  Laws    of,    Product     of 
imagination  2972 

Built  and  destroyed  in 
Ganges..                                       3474 

,  Laws   of  —  Triumph   of 
Science  3486 

of  coral  *1772,  3280,  3773 
,  Coral,  in  economy     of 
nature                                     .      2472 

—  —  ,  Laws   9f  —  True   mean- 
ing ascertained     853 

the  Moses  of  astronomy     3486 

of  Floating  seaweed  *1773 
ISOLATION  of  Sequoias  *1776 
of  Solar  system  *1777 
-  of  Sun  *1774-75 
ITEMS,  Many  contribute,  to 
Science                                           842 

a  Theorist  on  the  ob- 
servation of  others  1125 

of  Nature  .  .  2635 
,  Increasing,     of     social 
laws                                -        .      2644 

KEW,    Egyptian    seeds    .  in 
gardens  of  983 

Leads  to  modesty  3782 
,  Limitations  of  human.  . 
*  1793-94,*  1964-68 

KEY  of  Baconian  philosophy.     3574 
,  Present  the,  to  past.  .  .  .      2718 
."Purpose"    the,    to 
structure  2802 
KEYS  of  Maple  and  ash  3742 
KIND,  Bird  learns  only  from 
its  own  1215 
,  Bird  stranger  to  its.  .    .        367 
,  Each    seed   propagates 
only  its  1362 
KINDNESS  Among  apes.  .  .    .      3347 
KINDRED  with  the  Divine    .    *1784 
KINETIC  THEORY  of  Gases  .       393 
KING,  Scientists  foiled  by  a.  .      3019 
,  Scientists  read;  riddle.      3020 
,  the  Sun  an  independent     1775 
KINGDOM,  Cells  the  popula- 
tion of  vital  447 
,  Distinct,    required    for 
man  *1785 

IVORY  in  Northern  Russia  .  .        520 
—  ,  Wedge  made  of  2694 
IVY,  POISON,  in  Japan  2620 

JACKDAWS   Build  buttress 
for  nest  1721 
JAGUAR  Invisible  by  color  .  .      2087 
in  South  America.  .  .            2493 

Limited      by     precon- 
ceptions      *1796 
Made  practical  *1797 
,  Man  on  threshhold  of  .  .    *1798 
of  Mechanics  —  Spider  .      3724 
More  valued  than  cul- 
ture        1057 
Objection  refuted     by 
fuller   .  .                                         207 

JAMAICA,    Earthquake    de- 
vastates        3282 
,  Pharaoh's  rat  in  .  .                759 
JAPAN,     Plants     of     North 
America  found  in  2620 
JAPANESE,  Musical  taste  of  .     3359 
JEWELS    Adorn    skeleton- 
Pompeii  3117 
JEW  S,  Longevity  of                      1986 

,  Observation  needs  cor- 
rection by  deeper  2707 
,  Organ  of  —  Brain  404 
,  Perfect,  would  be  fore- 
knowledge. .             2710 

of  Phenomena  624 

is  Power  *1795 
,  Pride  of  half  2729 

—  ,  Preservation  of  the.  .  .  .      1862 

,  Reason  involves  2829 

TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


817 


KNOWLEDGE,  Responsibil- 
ity dependent  on 30 

.Results  from  honest 

error  1052 

,  Reverence  grows  with, 

of  Nature 2911 

a  Safeguard *1792 

for  the  Sake  of  man  . . .     3579 

,  Scientific 860 

,  Scientific,     of     ancient 

Egyptians 3779 

,  Scientific  study  awak- 
ens thirst  for 3012 

not  Sufficient  for  con- 
duct 


-,  Summary  of  human, 
of  the  stars 

,  Superstition  mingled 

with  real 

Supplemented  by  re- 
flection  

,  Ultimate  entities  be- 
yond human 

,  Vagueness  of  ordinary. 

KORAN,  System  of  creation 
in 

L 

LABELLUM  Developed  to 
attract  lepidoptera.. . 


*1799 
726 


349 
1692 


1963 
3591 


692 


214 
50 


in  Orchids 

LABOR,  Division  of — Ancient 

organisms 890 

Division  of — Birds.  .     .  427 

Division  of— Cell  ....  444 

Division  of — Lichens..  *891 

Division  of— Nations .  .  892 

• Division  of,  in  Nature.  .  890-92 

.  Division  of,  in  relation 

t-j  sex 3091 

Essential  to  human 

progress *1802 

,  Fallacies  regarding  free  *1803 

,  Human,  vs.  power  in 

coal 2657 

,  Instincts  of,  blind 1707 

,  Long  days  of 3767 

in  Making  of  axes  from 

stone 302 

,  Organization  of 2474 

,  Power  of  organized      ..  1022 

,  Protection  of 2775 

of  Red  ants 1642 

,  Restrictions  on 1515 

,  Sex  and  division  of  .    .  .  3091 

,  Union  of,  and  art 3522 

,  Victims  of  cheap 483 

LABORS,     Prodigious,     of 

Herschel 345 

LABORATORIES,  Glass- 
making  in  Nature's 1382 

,  Nature's,  surpass  those 

of  man 1342 

,  Unseen,  of  Nature  ....  741 

LABORATORY,  the  Kitchen 

a  chemical 1786 

LABYRINTH  of  the  Heavens.  2122 
LACK  of  Customary  sound 

perceived 3664 

of    Evidence    not    im- 
peachment of  evidence. . . .  *1804 

,  Improvement    ceases 

with,  of  competition 1602 

of  Organized  activities .  2229 

,  Organs  of  touch  com- 
pensate, of  sight 563 

of  Pressure  at  surface.  .  1007 

of  Volitional  control .  .  .  3730 

LAKE,  Blue  of  Alpine 916 

,  Lava  stream  forms 2282 

,  Mountain,  with  flowing 

stream 636 

,  Oldest,  recent  for  geol- 
ogist   1806 

,  Transparency  of  moun- 
tain.   330 

without  Tributary     or 

outlet 2306 

,  Undimmed      reflection 

through  mountain 1945 

of  Unexplained  origin  .  2320 

LAKE  GENEVA,  The  Rhone 

flows  clear  from 2924 


LAKE-DWELLERS,    Agri- 
culture of 121 

had  Pottery 196 

LAKE-DWELLINGS,    how 

Built 2473 

of  Living  people 1805 

LAKES  have  Life  history *1806 

,  Life  in  subterranean.  .  .  1247 

of  Molten  lava 1334 

,  Permanent    level    of 

Swiss 2563 

,  Rivers    clarified   by 

passing  through 2924 

,  Subterranean 1248,  3191 

.Water    unfrozen   in 

mountain 3706 

LAMBS,  Development  of,  at 

birth 3683 

LAMENT,  Carlyle's 2967 

LAMP,  Classical  and  savage, 

the  same *1807 

,  Search    for    ever-burn- 
ing    3300 

,  Value  of,  to  Eskimos. .  .  360 

.     (See  also  SAFETY- 
LAMP.) 

LAMPS,  Classic 3580 

,  Earthquake 1892 

,  Electric 992 

,  Greek  and  Roman  ....  1950 

LAND,  Aerial  armies  crossing  2422 

,  Association  of,  and  sea  333 

,  Competitors  affect  ani- 


mals  in  new 

a  Conductor  of  cold  .  .  . 


564 
3371 

,  Dwellers  on,  know  little 

of  ocean *1808 

,  Enclosure  of,  promotes 

forest  growth 2049 

,  Fertility  of,  determined 

by  mountains 1225 

Inundated  by  sea 3281 

Less    permanent    than 

sea 3401 

,  Ocean  supposed  less 

than 764 

,  Relics  of  a  distant 2859 

and  Sea 1733 

,  Sea-waves  upon 3026 

Upheaved    across    bed 

of  river 1226 

from     beneath     the 

Waters *1809 

LAND-BUILDING  under  Sea.       777 

LANDS,  Civilization  in  north- 
ern        507 

,  Correspondence  of  far- 
off 2620 

,  Elephants  in  northern..     2013 

,  Exploration  of  ancient     1155 

.Familiar  birds  and 

flowers  in  strange 3541 

,  Lack    of    new,    to    ex- 
plore          859 

• ,  Men  of  northern,  lead 

world 830 

,  Organisms    borne    to 

distant 3680 

,  Remote,  visited  by 

birds *1810 

,  Rise  and  fall  of 2922 

,  Subsidence    and    u  p  - 

heaval  of 3279 

,  Tasman   and   De   Soto 

forgotten  in,  they  discov- 
ered        3453 

,  Temperate,  within  the 

tropics 640 

,  Tropical,  purified      by 

"Driver-ants" 2961 

,  Upheaval    and     subsi- 
dence of 23 

LANDSCAPE,     Features    old 

and  new  of,  blend 1438 

,  Physiognomy  of *1811 

LANDSLIDE  in  White  Moun- 
tains       1260 

LANGUAGE,  Acquisition  of, 

gradual 1818 

,  all,  Metaphorical 2157 

from  the  Alphabet 3623 

of  Animals *1823 

,  Automatic  action  in.. .  .      2150 


LANGUAGE  Banks  the  gains 

of  intellect *181 

,  Belief  incorporated  in  .      3369 

— ,  Brutes  attain  only  rud- 
imentary      *1815 

,  Change  in *1828 

Continually  generated..  *1816 

Controls    customs   and 

trade  .. .  .    *1817 


of  Design  used  by  Dar- 


win. 


214 
1094 


an  Evolution 

,  Evolution  of,  conceded.  *1830 

,  Evolution     of,    taught 

by  comparative  philology  .  1108 

of  Expression  natural. .  *1824 

,  the  Foundation  of  hu- 
man   902 

of  Gesture *1825 

,  How  far  divine 1830 

Involves  entire  mind  .  .  *1819 

Learned  by  imitation .  .  1583 

Among  lower  animals. .  *1812 

Made  meaningless *1820/ 

Makes    knowledge    he- 
reditary   *1821 

the  Mould  of  mind 17291 

,  Mystery  of *1822 

the  Natural  study     of 

childhood *1831 

,  Periods  of 2917 

,  Place  of,  in  education. .  *1827 

,  Plain,  required  by  Royal 

Society 2984 

.Race-struggle    for    ex- 
tension of *1829' 

,  the  Science  of,  unites 

the  ages *1832 

,  Signification  of,  learned 

by  deaf-mutes 3104 

a  Source  of  myth *1813- 

Still  preserves  old 

forms 2756- 

a    System    of    arbitrary 

signs 317& 

of  Touch *1826 

Unfolded  from  depths 

of  thought *1833 

,  Unity  of 3532 

,  Value  of  study  of *1834 

Woman's  specialty *1835 

LANGUAGES    of    all    India 

from  Sanscrit 1443 

,  Prehistoric 2024 

LAPIDARY,  Rocks  polished 

as  by 916 

LAPLACE,  Anecdote  of 1763 

Astounded  by  a  king  .  .  3019 

Charged  with  atheism .  1852 

Constructs  Nebular  hy- 
pothesis   1526 

,  "Mecanique     Celeste" 

of 1763 

LAPSE  of     Memory     under 

shock 2144 

— ,  Slow,  of  a  half-minute.  3067 

—  of  Time  made  sensible .  3435 
LAPWINGS,  Visits    of    cere- 
mony among 3660 

LARKS     Caught     by     thou- 
sands    2422 

LARVA  Spinning  its  shroud .  2546 

LARVAE,   Mimicry  of 1028 

LAUGHING,  Difficult  not  to 

imitate 1582 

LAVA,  Aqueous,  at    Pom- 
peii   2092 

— ,  Caverns  in *1836 

—  Covering  Herculaneum.  2092 
— ,  Crater  of  volcano  filled 

with  boiling 2382 

— ,  Destructibility  of 1758 

—  Hardened  into  stone .  3247-48 
— ,  Herculaneum  buried  in  1477 

— ,  Lakes  of  molten 1334 

— ,  Statues  preserved  in. .  .  2719 

— ,  Stream  of,  forming  lake  2282 

— ,  Vast   river  of — Hawaii  1444 
— ,  (See  also  VOLCANO).  .  . 

LAVA-STREAM,  Glacier  pre- 
served under 2502 

LAW  of  Absorption 1939 

,  Action  a  celestial 20 


818 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


LAW  Consistent  with  design  *1838 

of  Constancy .*1844-45 

of  Continuity  explain- 
ed   .  .  .        455 

of  Continuity — Light- 
ning, etc *1845 

of  Continuity— Voltaic 

battery *1844 

,  Crystal  shaped  accord- 
ing to 966 

of  Death *1846 

of  Degeneracy 1106,  2403 

of  Deterioration 2949 

,  Disorders  of  society 

from  transgression  of 
natural 869 

Does  not  neglect  the 

least *1839 

,  Elementary,  h  a  s  n  o 

adaptation  to  circumstance  410 

,  Evolution  a  general.  .  .      1094 

Exalts  phenomena.  .  .  .    *1840 

,  Faith  in,  leads  to  dis- 
coveries       2312 

,  False  and  true  views  of     3317 

.First,  of  motion...  1196,  1544 

,  God  works  by 685 

of  Gravitation 1400 

of  Growth *1847 

,  Hidden,  of  crystals 383 

Holds  wandering  com- 
ets    *1841 

,  Humanity     in     accord 

with  higher 1515 

,  Individuality  a,  of  na- 
ture   1629 

,  Induction  gives  a 1637 

,  Inequality  a,  of  human 

nature 1646 

,  Innate,  of  matter 708 

,  Instance  under  general     1133 

,  Invariable,    admits    of 

varying  adjustment 2358 

,  Invariable,  under  same 

conditions *1843 

,  Invariability  of  natural     1982 

in  Leaf-movements. ...    *1842 

of  Limitation  of  mind.      1961 

Makes  science  possible .        685 

of  Man  to  follow  law  of 

nature *1848 

,  Migration    of    birds    a 

universal.     371 

and  Milk  preservatives  2641 

.Music    depends  on 

chemical 276 

.Natural    phenomena 

subject  to 2580 

,  Nature's  conformity  to 

,  Need  of 

,  Neglect  of  natural 

,  as   an   Observed   order 

of  facts 

,  Ordinary  action  of,  re- 
versed   *1849 

,  Phenomena  reduced  to     2582 

,  Preservation    of    Jews 

due  to 

.  Problem  of,  and  liberty 

.Putrefaction     within 

the,  of  cause  and  effect .... 

in  Realm  of  Mind 

,  Recompense  of  violated 

,  Relation  of,  to  will.  . . . 

of  Relativity 2858 

,  Revelation  allows  nat- 
ural   2905 

Rules  the  universe ....        454 

,  Stars  obey  unchanging       878 

of    Structure    subordi- 

ate  to  purpose 2797 

of  Symmetry 667 

,  Transfiguration  of  phe- 
nomena by 3458 

,  Universal *1850-51 

,  a  Universe  without. .  .  .        631 

Variable  when  condi- 
tions vary 1843 

,  Natural  difficulty  solv- 
ed illustrates 1780 

,  Natural,  life  for  others     1885 

LAWS,  Comet's  tails  subject 

to  ordinary,  of  matter. .  .          2336 


2381 
3458 
1363 

*1837 


1862 
2735 

3032 
428 

1549 
647 


LAWS,  Constancy  of,  of 

Nature 617-18 

,  Design  transferred  from 

phenomena  to *1852 

,  Experience  includes 

the,  of  mind 1 140 

the  same  through  far- 
thest space 3557 

of  History *1854 

,  Humane,  of  Babyloni- 
ans       2846 

,  Ignorance  of  natural.  .      1554 

,  Imaginary,  of  Nature .  .      2248 

,  Increasing     knowledge 

of  social 2644 

,  Industrial  and  moral.  .    *1853 

,  Invariable 596 

Invested     with     attri- 
butes of  mind 3002 

,  Kepler's 2972,3486 

,  Knowledge    of    social, 

rudimentary 3000 

,  Man  bound  by  Nature's     1256 

of  Man  vs.  laws  of  Na- 
ture       1855 

of    Mind    also    natural 

laws 2190 

of  Motion  of  comets.  .  .      2091 

,  Natural,  unchanged.  .  .      3516 

,  New,  in  science 182 

,  Ordinary,  superseded       *1862 

of  Pedagogy 2480 

,  Power    in     conformity 

to  Nature's 1876 

,  Spiritual,  are  laws  of 

Nature 742 

.Natural,  constancy  of.  617 

Natural,     contrasted 

with  human  laws *1855 

Express  purpose 41 

not  Matters  of  experi- 
ence    *1858 

,  the  Methods  of  God *1859 

Never     subverted     by 

human  agency *1856 

,  Obedience  to 903 

,  not  Themselves  agents  *1857 

the  Thoughts  of  God. . .   *1860 

Used  by  Nature  as  by 

man *1861 

,the  Will  adapts,  to  its 

purpose 1838 

LAWS    OF    NATURE 

617-18,  742,903,  1838, 

1852,  *1855-61,  1876,  2190,  3516 

LAWS   OF   VARIATION,  Ac- 
cording to  Darwin 2489 

LAYER    of    scum    and    mud 

important  in  filter 3596 

LAYMAN  at  Shipwreck 3591 

LEAD  Crawls    down    cathe- 
dral roof 979 

and  Gold 1254 

,  Molten 2625 

LEAD-FRONDS     Growing 

around  Voltaic  wire *1863 

LEAF,  Absorption    of    nutri- 
tion by  sun-dew 2431 

,  Sun-dew,  dried  to  clear 

it  of  remains 2873 

,  Tentacles   of,   close  on 

victim 1685 

,  Upper  surface  of,  saved 

from  radiation 2778 

LEAF-CUPS    Stop    injurious 

insects 3700 

LEAF-CURL     Enemy     of 

peach  tree 1009 

LEAF-GREEN.     (See   CHLO- 
ROPHYLL.) 

LEAF-INSECT 2182 

LEAF-MOVEMENTS,  Law  in     1842 

LEAF-TRACERY  in  Ancient 

rocks *1864 

LEAPS  of  Natural  processes.    *1865 

LEARNING,  Active  vs.  pass- 
ive repetition  in 24 

,  Advance    of,    in     17th 

century 86 

by  Experience  a  proof 

of  mind 1141 

,  Greek 1561 

,  Hasty 680 


LEARNING  by  Heart 24 

for  the  Moment 3087 

in  Order  to  forget 3087 

,  Power  of,  distinguishes 

man 3362 

,  no  Provision  for,  in 

lowest  animals 1481 

,  no  Royal  road  to *1866 

the  Way  necessary 

for  bees *1867 

LEAST,  Greatest  dependent 

upon 774 

,  Law  does  not  neglect 

the 1839 

LEAVEN  an  Invention  of 

woman *1868 

,  New  meaning  of — Bac- 


at 


teria 

LEAVES  as  Clothing.  .  .  . 
,  Death  of 

of     Dionsea      close 

touch  of  insect 

,  Green,    seen    red    and 

blue 

of  Insectivorous  plants 

supply  food 

,  Insects    building   roofs 

of. 


1222 
524 

2818 

3081 
1608 
562 

208 

-  on  the  March *1869 

-  of  Palm  point  upward .        321 
-,  Purpose  in  movement  of     2799 

,  Radiation  from 2818 

-,  Spiders  resembling.  .  .  .      2771 

-  Spring  upon  prey 

-,  Vertical,  in  sleeping 


3637 


1842 
1763 


plants 

LECTURERS,    Investigators 

often  bad 

LEFT-HANDEDNESS  Occurs 

in  right-brained  people ....     3449 
LEGEND  of  Montrose 3489 

of  a  Tree-creeper's 

nest 2349 

LEGISLATION  Must  control 

rapacity 483 

LEGS  of  Serpents  and  fishes.  1954 

of  Whale  and  boa-con- 
strictor       3506 

LEIBNITZ,  Optimism  of 2316 

LEMMING,  in  England   and 

France 2040 

LEMMINGS,  Blind  instinct  of     2173 

Perish  in  sea 2173 

LENGTH  of  Creative  period .       687 

,  Hand,  arrow 2129 

LENS,  the  Achromatic 1069 

LENSES,  Combination  of 1931 

Found  at  Ninevah 1931 

.Plain  business  man 

makes  his  own 841 

LEPIDOPTERA,    Baits     to 

tempt  the 784 

,  Labellum  developed  to 

attract 214 

LEPROSY  Rare    in    English 

race 1588 

LESS,  Sacrifice  of,  for  greater     2941 

LESSON,  the    One   great,    of 

modern  science 3548 

LESSONS  from  Criminal  sta- 
tistics         311 

in    Insects,   plants,   or 

shells 2376 

LETTERS,  Naming  of   sepa- 
rate       3179 

LEUCOCYTES    and    Ciliated 

cells  in  the  body 1890 

,  Guardian 2772 

Destroy   disease-germs 

1315,1363 

-LEVEL  of  Ground  changed  .  .        952 

,  Hills  mark  ancient ....      2520 

,  New  mental 465 

,  Sea,  a  fluctuating  line.        629 

of  Swiss  lakes  perma- 
nent       2563 

Water  changing 3702 

LEVELLING,  Ceaseless,  of 

rocks 298 

LEVER,  Crowbar, a,  added  to 

levers  of  arms. ..:........      3048 

Known  in  ancient 

Egypt 2695 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


819 


LEVER   Used    by    primitive 

man 2694 

LEYDEN-JAR     BATTERY, 

Shock  of 2676 

LIBERTY,  Problem  of 2735 

LIBRARY  and  Uninstructed 

person 3591 

LICHEN,  Structure  of  the.  .  .      1368 
LICHENS  Composed  of  algae 

and  fungi 891 

LIFE,  Absence  of  vegetable, 

in  ocean  depth 1922 

,  Abundance  of  geologic 

*1870-1 

•,  Air  thick  with   micro- 
scopic       1371 

,  Alcohol  destroys 131 

,  Antiquity  of,  on  earth.        193 

None    without    antece- 
dent       1902 

,  Arboreal  human 62 

,  Belief  in  future — Brit- 
ish islanders 353 

,  Belief    in    future — In- 
dians         354 

,  Bifold,  of  woman 3753 

,  Brevity     of     human — 

Coral  reefs 938,  5164 

,  Brevity  of  human — Se- 
quoias         109 

the  Builder 716 

r  Busy,  in  stillness 3231 

the  Cause  of  organiza- 


?  Cells  the  basis  of  all. '. '. ! 

,  Change  the  condition  of 

Characterized    by    mo- 
tion  . .  . 

,  Checks  to  increase  of. .  . 

,  Christian,  a  growth. .  .  . 

,  Comfort    of,  in  wilder- 


*1916 
446 
470 

1908 

484 

1407 

1239 


1876 
567 


'608 
601 

1584 
659 


_____  .          ^ 

-  like    Commander     of 
army  ................... 

-  .Complexity    of   the 
struggle  for  .............. 

-  ,  Conditions  of  ,  on  Mars  .      378  1 

-  Conquers    elemental 
forces  ..................      1772 

-  ,  Consciousness    influen- 
ces bodily  .............. 

--  ,  Continuity  of  mental. 
--  ,  Continuity  of  racial.  .  . 
---  ,  Co-operation  in  lower. 
--  ,  Co-operation  in  physi 

cal  .....................   *1906 

-  ,  Deadline    overhangs 

zone  of  ...................      71 

--  .Deadly    gas   made   to 

sustain  .................      2791 

--  ,  Battles  for  —  Under  the 

microscope  .....  .  ........      2994 

--  ,  Decay  of  ancient,  sup- 

plies modern  ............        741 

--  Dependent  on  number 

of  atoms  ................    *1873 

--  Destruction  of  —  Earth- 

quake ...............  956,  *1888 

--  Diffused  throughout 

the  atmosphere  ..........    *1877 

—  —  ,  Diffusion  of  .universal*  1920-21 
--  Discovered  in  deep  sea  *1894 
--  ,  Distance  of  savagery 

from  primeval  ...........      2955 

--  ,  Diversity  of  northern.  .  507 
--  ,  the  Divine,  exalts  nat- 

ural to  spiritual  .......... 

--  ,  Domestic,  of  savages.  . 
--  ,  Domestic,  shown  by  re- 

mains .................. 

--  ,  Duration  of,  of  ants.  .  . 
--  on  Earth  not  eternal.  .  . 

-  ,  Effect    of    climate    on 
struggle  for  .............. 

--  ,  Essential  of    Patriar- 

chal—Camel .............      2062 

--  ,  Estimated  duration  of  *1878 
--  ,  Eternal,  denned  ......    *1879 

--  .  Evidenced  by  change.  .  *188 
--  ,  Existing  in  deep  sea.  .  .  2355 

-  Fecundity    of   lower 
forms  of  ................    *1882 

---  Fights  off  corruption.  .    *1883 


2617 
2958 

2065 
912 
193 

522 


LIFE,  Forces  of,  destroy  use- 
less organs *1884 

,  Forms  of,  in  blood  ....      1315 

,  Fruitf  ulness  of  ad- 
vanced   *1872 

,  Future  possibilities  in- 
volved in *1886 

,  Gelatine  will  not  sup- 
port   1264 

,  General  phenomena  of .     2376 

a  Great  power 3581 

•,  Growth  comes  from  .  .  .      1407 

,  Hell  a  present  fact  in 

evil 

,  Heroism  in  daily 

,  Higher,  menaced  by 

lower 

,  Human,  lengthened.  .  . 

,  Impulse  to  take 

,  Individuality  of  mental 

,  Individual,  fitting  into 

scheme  of  Nature *1889 

.  Individual,  subordin- 
ate   *1889-90 

,  Infant,  destroyed  by 

uncleanliness 422 

Infinite  and  eternal  .  .  .    *1891 

in  Infusions *1893 

,  Instruction  might  save 

,  Intelligence     in     lower 

forms  of 

Involves  individuality . 

,  Knowledge    of    causes 

saves 

,  Later,  dependent  on 

early 

Less  esteemed  than 

property 3058 

,  Lost  forms  of,  reintro- 

duced 

.Lower,  preying  on 

higher 

of  Man  depends  on 

unity  with  animal  and 
plant 

,  Manifestation  of  uni- 
versal  

,  Manifold,   of   the  deep 


481 
1495 

*1887 

1987 

1209 

601 


1709 


1718 
9113 


439 
1426 


1314 
369 


3533 
262 


2445 
1480 


,  Master-influences  of ... 

•  not  in  Material  ele- 
ments   *1903 

,  Microscopic,  in  Alpine 

lakes ;...  *1898 

,  Microscopic  organisms 

affect  the  chief  concerns  of  774 

the  Mightiest  of  forces..  *1917 

,  Momentary,  of  man.. .  .  112 

on  the  Moons  of  Jup- 
iter  690,*1905 

Motion  and 1305 

,  Motion  essential  to ....  2260 

without  Motive *1925 

Moulds  environment. ..  *1899 

,  Muscles  drained  to  sup- 
ply higher 380 

— — ,  Mystery  of ....  391 ,  2317,  2325 

,  no,  in  Glacier  air 1124 

,  no,  Without  anteced- 
ent   *1902 

,  Natural ,  defined *1900 

,  Nature  of,  unknown  to 

science _. . .  .  *1901 

,  Nature's    masterpieces 

of 2385 

,  Nature's  provision  for 

extended 215 

,New 1137 

,  Normal  mental 666 

,  Obliteration  of  family. .  1393 

in  Ocean  depths 

* 1894-95,  3783 

,  One  plan  of  organic  .  .  .  2479 

,  Organic 52 

,  Organization    not    the 

cause  of 2475 

,  Origin  of  deep-sea 2482 

,  Origin  of,  a  mystery.. .  .  344 

for  Others *1885 

in  Other  worlds 1181, 1896 

in  the  Past 1499 

,  Perfection    of    instinct 

in  early 2550 


LIFE  in  Peril *1892 

,  Peril   a   common   inci- 
dent of 958 

Picture  thought  to  be 

taken  away  from  original. .      3321 

of  Plants  dependent  on 

"sleep" *1874 

,  Plasticity  characterizes     2624 

,  Power  of  social  position 

in 1016 

,  Primitive  remains  show 

domestic A 2065 

,  One  principle  of 2730 

,  Problem  of,  in  the  deep 

sea 3560 

,  Processes    of,    beyond 

volition *1907 

,  Progress  of,  in  geologic 

times 2755 

.Protected    infusions 

void  of 2470 

,  Protection  to,  in  waters     3704 

Real  and  earnest 1183 

,  Relations  of  organic .'   .      1553 

,  Relative      brevity     of 

110 
1772 
1900 


3500 


—  human 

-  ,  Resisting  power  of  .  . 
--  Resists  death 

--  ,  Responsibility  of,  com- 

—  pels  search  for  truth  ...... 

-  ,  Restoration  of  ........    *1881 

-  ,  Result  of  struggle  for  .  .       412 

-  Reverses  rules  of    the 

—  inorganic  ...............    *1908 

-  ,  Rise  in  grade  of  .......      2923 

—  ,  Ross     confident     of  — 
—Deep  sea  ................       352 

--  Runs     in    grooves     of 

habit  ...................    *1909 

-  ,  Salt  a  necessity  of  .....      2948 

—  .Science    cannot    ac- 

—  count  for  ................ 

-  ,  Science  demands  a,  be- 
yond that  of  the  senses.  .  .  . 

-  ,  Science  has  no  explan- 
ation of  ................. 

-  ,  Selection  a  property  of. 

-  ,  Sensation  the  mystery 
of  ..................... 

--  ,  Sleep   contrasted   with 

waking  ..................     2328 

-  of     Sleeper     strangely 
preserved  ...............      1955 

--  ,  Slow  progress  in  moral 

and  social  ...............        473 

-  .Social,    depends    on 
motherhood  .............   *1910 

--  ,  Social    qualities      that 

give  pre-eminence  in  ......    *1911 

-  ,  Source  of,  infected  ....      1904 

-  ,  Spiritual  ............        971 

-  ,  Spiritual,  of  man  ......    *1912 

-  ,  Spiritual,  requires  suit- 

able environment  ........      1042 

--  ,  Spiritual,  resists  sin  ...      1900 


3103 
2978 


716 
3044 


758 


-,  Struggle  for. 
.1553,3 


. 3237, 3262, 3267,  3492 
.Struggle  for,  among 

bacteria 3261 

,  Struggle  for,  develops 

intellect 1711 

,  Struggle  for,  lessened.. .  2175 

Subject  to  law 1850 

Subjugates  chemistry  .    *1913 

in  Subterranean  lakes  .      1247 

,  Suitable     environment 

a  necessity  of 1040 

,  Sun,  the  source  of  all 

the  earth's 146,  3304 

,  Supreme 72 

Surrounded  by  an  at- 
mosphere of  destruction.  ..  *1914 

.Teacher    deals    with 

mental 2786 

,  the    Temperate    zones 

the  chief  abodes  of 3800 

•  a  Temporary  resistance     1846 

,  Tenacity  of *1915 

.Tenacity  of,  of  bac- 
teria      3374 

in  Torrid  heat  and  arc- 
tic cold *1181 

,  Transforming  power  of  *1897 


820 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


LIFE,  Transitoriness  of 1918 

— — ,  Transitoriness    of    hu- 
man   203 

,  Ultimate  facts  of *1919 

in  Unexpected  places...  *1896 

,  Universal  diffusion  of . .  *1920 

,  Uproar  of,  in  tropics.  .  .  3668 

,  Variety  of 41 

,  Vegetable,  lacking     in 

ocean  depths *1922 

1  Ventilation  is 3635 

Viewed  as  continuous. .  *1923 

,  Volition  essential  to.  .  .  3675 

,  Volition  may  secure 

more  of 1036 

of  Wandering  germs ...  *1904 

,  Wanton  destruction  of.  *1924 

a  Warfare *1875 

1  Waste  of 3694 

without  Water 59 

,  Wonders  of,  destroyed .  796 

,  Wonders  of ,  revealed. ...  3758 

,  Zone  of,  dead-line  over- 
hangs    71 

.     (See  also  EXISTENCE.) 

LIFE-FORCE,  Waste  of 675 

LIFELESSNESS    Presumes 

correct  manipulation 1893 

.Supposed,   in    ocean 

depths 2448 

LIFE-WORK,  Adaptation  to.  63 
,  Early   impressions   de- 
termine    2368 

LIFTING  of  Heavy  stones 

by  primitive  man *1926 

LIGHT,  Aberration  of 1 

.Advantage    of    dimin- 
ished, of  stars 91 

,  Advantages  of  electric..  *1934 

,  Ambiguity  of  the  word.  152 

,  Analogies  of  sound  and.  3106 

,  Artificial. *1929 

,  Beam  of,  in  darkness  .  .  315 

,  Beauty    revealed      by 

subdued 340 

.Black  bodies   emit 

most  intense, 1611 

,  Color  of 670 

,  Comet's,  from  glowing 

gas 3027 

,  Complexity  of 971 

,  Composite. 3334 

,  Connected  with  Motion 

and  life 1305 

,  Contrast     of     reflected 

and  transmitted 638 

Convertible 611 

and   Dark   determined 

by  contrast 2544 

,  Darkening  shadow  in- 
creases   824 

,  Darkness  produced  by 

adding  to 3106 

of  the  Deep 2445 

,  Depolarization  of *1932 

,  Dimensions  of  waves  of  2216 

,  Directness  of  rays  of. .  .  838 

,  Discovery  of  velocity  of  2706 

,  Discovery  of  waves  of  .  79 

,  Dispute  over  nature  of .  292 

,  Double    reflection     of, 

from  films *1933 

,  Double  refraction  of . . .  2853 

in  Eclipse 961 

,  Electric,    scarcely    af- 
fects germs *1935 

,  Emission  theory  of  . .  731 , 1062 

• Essential  to  growth  of 

plants *1936 

,  Eternal,  mountains  of.  2277 

,  Eye  tells  only  of 2408 

,  Fitful  and  intermittent  2500 

from  Flint  and  steel  .  .  .  1235 

Formerly    believed    to 

pass   instantly  through 

space 1068 

• ,  Germ     of     undulatory 

theory  of 1395 

Imponderable 2116 

,  Incessant  record  of  the 

sun  by  its  own 89 

as  an  Indicator  of  mo- 
tion   1118 


LIGHT.  Instructions  about,  to 

the  blind 3363 

,  Judgment  of,  and  shade     2541 

Known  to  ancients  ....    *1931 

,  Law  of  absorption  of  .  .      1939 

Liberates    atoms    from 

vapor 540 

,  Mariners  perplexed  by 

mysterious 2086 

May   vary   more   than 

heat  for  plants 1462 

,  Mental  force  like 2099 

not  a  Mere  sensation. .  .    *1927 

,  Motion  of *1947 

,  Myriad  centers  of 3214 

a  Necessity  of  life 3305 

in  Ocean  depths *1937-38 

,  Particles  of 251 1 

Passes   unchanged      in 

quality  through  space  ....    *1942 

,  Pathways  for — Trans- 
parency   2521 

,  Penetration  of,  through 

water 2534 

,  Perception  of,  in  paint- 
ing, illusive 2541 

.Perfection  sheds,  on 

imperfection 2554 

of  Phosphorescence  in 

the  Banda  seas *1940 

of    Planets    not    their 

own 1383 

,  Polarization  of 2643 

,  Porpoises  swimming  in 

paths  of 2588 

,  Power  of 1540 

on    Questions     of    ve- 
racity... 2608 

,  Rectilineal  propagation 

of 2763 

,  Reflection  of 634 

,  Reflection  of,  only  par- 
tial    2660 

,  Refraction  of 1125,  2855 

a  Result  of  correlation..  *1928 

,  Rose  seen  by,  reflected 

through  its  substance 

,  Scientific 

,  Sensitiveness  of  plants 

to 

Separates  atoms  from 

gas 

Sifted  by  natural  ob- 
jects  ' *1943 

a  Sign  of  unity *1930 

,  Source  of,  in  eclipse. ...        961 

•,  Sources  of  terrestrial. .  .    *1944 

,  Sparrows  utilize  elec- 
tric   40 

,  Speed  of 1589 

,  Star  -  fish     coruscating 

with 3213 

of  Stars 1599 

,  Stars  without 3223 

,  a  Sufficient  depth     of 

water  absorbs  all 3478 

of  Sun  has  healthful 

influence *1941 

.Time  for,  to  come 

from  stars 877 

,  Transmission  of 1180 

Transports  us  into  life  .  1891 

Traversing  pure  water.    *1945 

.Tubes,  ancient,  ex- 
cluded diffused 257 

,  Undulatory  theory  of  . 

1528,3391 

,  Unnatural,  in  eclipse  .  .    *1946 

,  Velocity  of — Bacon  .  .  .      3631 

,  Velocity    of — Basis    of 

calculation 2547 

,  Velocity     of — Jupiter's 

satellites 1127 

.Velocity  of — Newcomb     3630 

,  Waves     of    heat     like 

waves  of 2715 

—.Waves  of 3716 

,  Waves  of,  abolish  each 

other *1947 

,  Waves  of,  flow  around 

obstacles 2441 

— ,  f  rom  Wavesof  sound 

to  waves  of 1160 


538 
1663 


3080 
384 


LIGHT,    What   the   ancients 


................ 

Where  sun's  rays  never 

&£.i  ............  .... 

,  White,  may  come  from 


'1948 
634 


black  object 

.Wonderfully  varied,  of 

colored  gems 

.  (See  also  MOONLIGHT; 

SUNLIGHT:  WAVES.) 

LIGHTHOUSE  a  Beacon  of 
death  

,  Birds  dashing  them- 
selves against 

,  Fascination  of,  to  birds 

of  the  Mediterranean .  . 

LIGHTING,  Gas  and  electric  . 

,  Methods  of 

LIGHT-INTENSITIES  Meas- 
urable  

LIGHTNESS  of  Bicycle 

of  Snow 

LIGHTNING  Destroys  mast 
on  capitol 

,  Effect  of,  stroke  of  .... 

,  Freaks  of  —  Darwin's 

observation  of 

,  Passage  of 

,  Phenomena  of — Joseph 

Henry  investigates 

Subject  to  man 

,  Suddenness  of  flash  of. . 

about  Volcano—  a   Hy- 
dro-electric machine 

Volcanic  eruption  at- 
tended by 

LIGHTS,  Comets  are  moving 
electric 

on    Sides    of    deep-sea 

fish 1249,  2876 

LIGHT- WAVES,  Conflicting, 
produce  darkness 

,  Dimensions  of — Incon- 
ceivable minuteness 

,  Interference  of,  illus- 
trated   

,  Interference  of — New- 
ton's rings 

,  Interference  of — Thin 

films 

-,  Number  of 

,  Particles  smaller  than. . 

,  Phenomena  of  interfer- 
ence of 

LIKENESS  of  all  Races 

of  Animal  and  plant.. .  . 

,  Anthropomorphism    is, 

of  soul 

of  Embryos 

of  Lower  animals  to  man 

of  Man  to  lower  ani- 
mals  .- 

of  Man  to  lower  organ- 
isms  

Only  in  an  order  of 

thought  

LILY  Contrasted  with  cactus 

Would      thrive      in 

" Black  Hole  of  Calcutta" . 

LIMBS,  Remnants  of  lost 

LIME,  Chloride  of 

,  Heat  stored  in 

is  Oxide  of  calcium 

LIMESTONE  Built  by  micro- 
scopic organisms 2745 

in  Earth's  crust 1614 

,  Hills  of,  once  under  sea  *1955 

LIMIT,  Absolute,   of  phren- 
ology   

of  Development  in  new 

world 

of  Human  powers 

of  Human  observation . 

of  Human  thought.  .  .  . 

,  Individual     experience 

not  the 

of  "Perpetual  snow"...    *1957 

of  Power  of  Microscope. 

*1959, 2510 

of  Sensitiveness  in  re- 
tina   *1958 

of  Strength  of  fer- 
mented liquors. — 131 


2918 


1208 

978 
370 

*1949 
1235 

*1950 

1120 
3181 
3709 

2713 
610 

25 
3367 

*1951 
571 
1845 

989 
996 
556 


1528 

2216 

549 

2415 

544 

670 
2510 

3505 

3534 

*1953 

184 

*1952 

162 

2481 
2076 

672 
3707 

3465 
*1954 

3588 
612 
612 


2596 

211 

*1956 

1956 

1971 

1508 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


821 


LIMIT  of  Visual  field  concen- 
trates attention *1960 

LIMITATION  of  Brute  intel- 
ligence    1724 

of  Impulse  and  move- 
ment   196: 

of  Intelligence — Mon- 
key   2235 

of  Knowledge 1796 

,  Law  of,  of  intellect.  .  .  .  1961 

of  Perception  of  colors..  2537 

of  Science 2785 

LIMITATIONS     of     Human 

knowledge 1793 

of  Human  mind  .  .  .2196,  2311 

of  Instinct— Cat 3273 

of  Instinct— Dog 1702 

,  Mind  conscious  of 2191 


of       Onomatopoeic 


3175 


110 

277 


1718 


688 
629 


78 
2366 


speech 

LIMITS  of  Animal  intelli- 
gence   1570 

of  Doctrine  of  evolution  *1974 

to  Educational  use  of 

scientific  theories *1975 

,  Fixed,  of  natural  sci- 
ences   *1963 

of  Human  intelligence..       786 

of  Human  knowledge  *  1964-68 

of  Human  perceptions..  *1969 

of  Human  thought.. *1970-72 

for  Microscope 1504 

of  Mind  unknown 2197 

of  Opportunity  of  the 

mind 2191 

of  Physical  science.  .  .  .    *1973 

of  Power  of  telescope.  .   *1976 

,  Results    outreach   nar- 
row       2898 

of  Science 2995 

LINDEN,  Age   and  girth  of 

trees 

LINE,    Circle,    ellipse,    etc., 

merge  into 

,  Dividing,  between  in- 
telligent and  automatic 

between    Natural    and 

supernatural 

,  Sea  level  a  fluctuating  . 

LINES,  Advance  along  abor- 
iginal  

,  Dividing 

,  Face,   seen   in    artist's 

few 2206 

of  Magnetic  force 1288 

,  Man's  dividing 2366 

,  Microscopic,    on    glass 

plate 3490 

,  Spectral 2765 

of  the  Spectrum 1119 

,  Submarine 944 

.  (See also  FRAUNHOFER'S 

LINES.) 
LINK,  no  Trace  of  missing, 

between  man  and  ape 

,  None  between  man  and 

LINK-BOYS  of  London  '.'.'.'.'. 
LINKS  between  European 

and  American  species 

,  Fossils  connecting  .... 

LION,  Child  safe  with  South 

American 

in  England  and  France.. 

has  Sandy  protective 

color 

Kills  painlessly 2498 

in  Northern  Europe  .  .  .     1536 

,  Remains  of,  entombed 

LIONS,  No,  in  deserts.  .  . 
LIP-READING,    Deaf    and 

dumb 

LIQUEFACTION  of  Glass  '.  '.  . 

LIQUID,  Air  made  a 

,  Heat  makes  difference 

between  solid  and 

LIQUORS,  Limit  to  strength 
of  fermented 

Unknown  among  shell- 
mound  builders 

LISBON,  Earthquake  of  *1978,  3666 

LITERATURE,  Accuracy  of 

detail  the  charm  of 18 


2019 


826 
1929 


*1977 
3467 


2045 
2040 


"80 


519 
2556 

2538 

2856 

128 

1021 
131 

2073 


LITTLE,  the  Great  and, 
alike  in  province  of  astron- 
omy   25J 

,  Power  of  the 2172 

"LITTLE  RED  RIDING- 
HOOD,"  Parable  in  legend  2418 

LIVER  a  Manufactory  of 

blood 3114 

LIVE-STOCK  Kept  by  ants.        204 

LIVING,  Air  supposed  to  be 

in  arteries  of  the 894 

,  The  Gulf  between  the, 

and  the  not-living 1416 

LIZARD,  Embryos  of  a,  in- 
distinguishable   803 

.  Sand-colored,  on  sea- 
shore   2183 

LIZARDS  Eaten  by  savages. .      1269 

that  Live  without 

water 59 

LLAMA,  Submission  of,  to 

man 179 

LOBSTER,  Leg  and  jaw  of , 

interchangeable 3545 

LOCALITY,  Bees  know 

rather  than  hive 1701 

LOCATION  of  Objects  in 

space  *1979 

LOCKE  Foreshadows  molec- 
ular theory 2261 

on  Mind  sleeping 3682 

LOCKJAW  Caused  by  bac- 
teria   863 

in  Grasp  of  science  ....    *1980 

.Tenacity    of     life   in 

germs  of *1904 

LOCOMOTION,  Primitive.  .  .    *1981 
LOCOMOTIVE,    Horse    sup- 
posed to  be  inside  of  .....        893 

Indicates    progress    in 

use  of  water 3701 

LOCUST  Bringing  famine. .  . .      3256 

,  a  Leaf-like 771 

LODESTONE  Mentioned    by 

Euripides 2008 

LOGIC  Aids  science *1982 

and  Reasoning 2981 

,  Aristotle's  immortal.  ..      1349 

Disregarding  fact 762 

no  Guaranty  of  truth ..    *1983 

of  Play *1984,  *3327 

LONELINESS  Yields  delight..  *1985 
LONGEVITY  of  Jews *1986 

Result  of  advanced  civ- 
ilization     *1987 

LONGING  for  Action. .  .  3342 

LOOM  of  1760 1644 

LOSS,  Apparent,  of  nitrogen  *1988 

by  Disease *1991-94 

not  Easily  repaired..  .  .    *1989 

of   Function      through 

inaction 2507 

of  Heat  by  inanition. .  .      1460 

Involves     seeming 

shrinkage  of  ourselves 1605 

of  Power  of  speech 3174 

of  Power  of  writing..  .      3449 

of  Primitive  simplicity  *1990 

of  Will-power 3732 

LOVE  Converts  pain  to  joy .  .    *1995 

Developed  in  f amily.  ..      1200 

of  Domination 1024 

Final   result   of  evolu- 
tion       2744 

Impossible    in    lower 

animals 2747 

Makes  sacrifice  painless     1434 

,  Maternal ,  developed ...      2715 

,  the  Mother's,  unrivaled.  *1997 

,  no    Name    for,    among 

savages 3647 

,  Parental 3752 

not  a  Product  of  sex  ...    *1996 

of  Science 1600 

of   a    Sweeping   clever 

stroke 3415 

o  f  T  r  u  t  h — Man's  su- 
preme distinction 2050 

of  Truth  more  than  of 

theory 3499 

of    Truth    a    sufficient 

motive 3013 

LOWERING  of  Vitality 3662 


LOWLINESS  Is  safety 2557 

LOYALTY,  Growth  of 1412 

to  Truth  aids  religion 

and  science 2863 

LUBRICATION  Converges 

power  on  work 1290 

LUMINARY,  Main  volume  of 

the,  commonly  unseen.  .  .  .  273 

LUNATIC,  Miser  a 2221 

LUNG,  Increase  of  surface  in  .  1618 
LUNGS,  Incessant  labor  of. .  .  2874 
LUXURIANCE  of  Beauty  .  .  .  2446 

of  Beauty  in  wilderness  1683 

of  Nature *1998 

of  Tropics *1999 

LUXURY  a  Cause  of  degen- 
eracy     *2000 

M 

MACAW,   Bill   of,   surpasses 

hammer 1596 

MACE,  Primitive  war-club. .  .  3340 
MACHINE,  Animal  becomes 

automatic 1679 

,  Atmosphere  a  vast  ....        269 

,  Body  of  man,  a 390-91 

Distributes  energy.  ..  .    *2001 

,  the  Earth  a  delicately 

adjusted 307 

,  Electric,  and  thunder- 
storms   H50 

,  Electric,  once  a  toy.  .  . .      3582 

has  no  Inherent  power  .  *2002 

,  the  Human  body  a.  ... 

*2004-05,2018 

Improves  with  use  ....      2697 

,  Mind  behind 293 

Never  creates  power. .  .    *2003 

,  Power  not  produced  by     2662 

,  Progress  to 2751 

MACHINERY  Improving 

weeds 2903 

.Primitive  substitutes  for  *2006 

MACHINES,    Moral   sense 

takes  no  note  of 2053 

,  Antiquity  of 194 

,  Electric 2816 

— —  Give     no     increase    of 

force 3002 

MACHINE-SHOP    to     unin- 

structed  person 3591 

MAGELLAN,  Cloud  of 3257 

MAGIC,  Ventriloquism  in 

natural 3636 

MAGICIAN,     Selection      the 

wand  of 3045 

MAGNANIMITY,      Rivalry 

leads  to 1003 

MAGNESIUM  in  the  Sun ....  3488 
MAGNET,  Amazement  at 

power  of 151 

in  China *2007 

,  a  "Breath"  animating  2007 

.Description  by  Au- 
gustine   151 

,  Earth  a 927 

,  Eulogy  of  the 2007 

,  Field   of  force   around 

poles  of ....271,1286 

at   the    Foundation   of 

Philosophy 3146 

,  Fragment  of  the,  re- 
tains its  poles 278 

in  Greek  classics *2008 

Must  work  or  perish.  . .  1893 

,  Poles  of 1288 

,  Temporary  or    perma- 
nent    *2009 

MAGNETIC  ATTRACTION 
Contrasted  with  human 
action 1006 

MAGNETIC  FIELD  Surround- 
ing magnet 271 

MAGNETIC  NEEDLE,  Agi- 
tation of 586 

.Ancient  knowledge  of.      2401 

,  Attraction  of  the  Sun 

forthe 1661 

MAGNETIC  POLE,  Revolu- 
tion of 927 

MAGNETISM  Apparently  uni- 
versal as  gravitation 3543 

,  Constancy  of J.198 


822 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


of 


Increase  of 

,  an  Inherent  property.. 

,  Inspiration  likened  to 

Known  in  antiquity.  . 

and  the  Needle 

Needs  astronomy.  .  .  . 

Opens  a  way  for  light  . 

,  Power  of 

,  Thrills  of,  measured.  . 

MAGNITUDEof  Mound- 
builders'  works.  .  . 
,  Real  and  apparent.  .  . 


MAGNETISM  Converted  into 

electricity 3578 

Converted  into  electric 

light 3110 

,  Electricity,  heat,  etc., 

convertible 611 

,  Electricity  produced 

from 1755 

,  First  explanati9n  of .  . .  3146 

,  Growth  of  discovery 

21 

2234 
2008 
2484 
2185 
3510 
2521 
1198 
1118 

*2010 
*2012 
of  Sun ".". *2011 

of  Sun-spots 3116 

.     (See  also  SIZE.) 

MAGNITUDES,  Different  or- 
ders of  intermingle 3611 

MAIL,  Illustration  of  distri- 
buting office  of — Nerves. .  2407 

MAINSPRING  of  Technical 

education 1760 

MAINTENANCE,  Creation 

and,  one 682 

MAIZE  an  Original  North 

American  product 123 

MAJESTY  with  beauty  in 

palm 321 

,  Exalted  conception  of 

divine 2716 

of  Fire 1244 

1  Stars  teach  man's 3217 

MAKESHIFT     Explanations 

of  the  mystery  of  evil . . .  2316 
MALARIA  Only  partially 

understood 3472 

MALE,  Activity  of 3093 

,  Difference  in  habits  of, 

and  female 820 

-,  Illustration  of,  and  fe- 


Sacrifices 


3526 


2943 


male  flowers. 

MALEVOLENCE, 

to .• 

MAMMALIA  Crown    of   ani- 
mal development *2015 

,  Distribution    of,    over 

the  earth 882 

in  Geologic  time *2013 

,  Gigantic,  early 1282 

,  Pinnacle  of  animal  life .          82 

,  Reptiles  prophesy 3119 

of  South  America 1314 

of  the  Waters *2014 

MAMMALS,  Arctic 521 

.Gigantic,     preceding 

man 

,  Man  differs  from  all 

other 

,  Perfecting  of 

,  Victory  of,  in  ancient 

struggle 

MAMMOTH  Compared  with 

modern  animals 

,  Discovery  of 740,  854 

Links   Old  World  with 

New *2016 

,  Man  contemporary 

with ...  2044 

,  North  America  once  the 

home  of 460,3019 

,  The  Siberian 1541 

,  Superstition  about 3318 

MAMMOTH  CAVE,  Blind 

fishes  of 752 

MAMMOTH  PERIOD,  Fire  in  1232 
MAN,  Absolute  truth  unat- 
tainable by 3496 

,  Accident  utilized  by, 

of  science 11 

,  Adaptation  of  horse  to 

needs  of 1509 

,  Adaptation  of,  to  erect 

posture *2017 


1282 


1714 
3645 


3645 
1282 


MAN  without  Agriculture  .  .  .   *2073 

,  Animals  share  ecstacy 

of  health  with 964 

,  Antiquity  of .  .  .  195,  *2024-25 

and  Ape *2019-21 

Appropriates  the  earth     2080 

,  Ascent  from  brute  to .  .        240 

an  Automaton 2901 

the  Best   that    Nature 

can  produce.  . .  1098 

,  Blindness  in — not  in 

nature 1300 

,  Body  of,  changing *2047 

,  Body  of — Functions  .  .  392 

,  Body  of  — Machine  .  .  .  390 

Bound  by  Nature's  law     1256 

,  Brain  of,  and  ape 400-02 

,  Brevity  of  existence  of .      1167 

,  Brotherhood  of 409 

Builds  civilization *2033 

Can  learn 3362 

Cannot  apprehend  first 

causes *2034,  2311 

Cannot  set  boundaries 

of  possibility 836 

Can  think  only  as  man .        185 

,  Carving  a  work  for ....      3769 

Changes  natural  prod- 
ucts     *2035 

,  Civilized,    consuming 

earth's  capital *2037 


2398 

3535 

121 


,  Combativeness     inher- 
ent in 

Commands  whole  earth 

,  Commerce  of  primitive 

Communicates  his  own 

character 2119 

Compared  with  gorilla.      2797 

Compared    with    lower 

animals *2038 

Constructs     imaginary 

character *2039 

,  Contemplation    of  Na- 
ture a  joy  to 625 

Contemporary  with  ex- 
tinct animals.  .  .  1317,  *2040,  2044 

Contending  against  ..  .      2971 

not   Controlled   by  in- 
stinct       1700 

Co-operates  with   evo- 
lution       1101 

,  Costly  infancy  of 424 

a  Creature  of  contrasts       642 

the  Crown  of  evolution  *2068 

Demands    a    word    for 

each  thing 3176 

,  Dependence  of,  on  air.        129 

,  Descent  of *2069 

,  Developing  varieties — 

3609 

velopment  of 1650 

,  Develops     in     mind — 

Animals  in  body 230,  *2041 

,  Differences    between 

andape 826 

,  Differences    in    mental 

activity  of,  and  woman.  ..      3094 

Differs  from  lower  crea- 
tures in  instincts 1708 

,  Disappearance  of 3694 

,  Dispersion     of     plants 

effected  by 871 

,  Distinction   of  in   ani- 
mal  world *2050 

,  Dog  the  companion  of.        897 

,  Dominion  of,  over  ani- 
mals        900 

,  Dominion  of,  over  na- 
ture         902 

,  Dust  a  benefit  to 2796 

,  Eagerness  of,  to  know.    *2075 

,  Earthquake  shakes  con- 
fidence of 955 

and  Education 967 

,  Education  of,  for  spir- 
itual life 971 

,  Effect  of  climate  upon .        523 

Emphasizes  Nature' s 

variations *2042 

the   End   of  evolu- 
tion         346 

,  Every  creature  sub- 
ject to 571 


MAN,  Evidences  of   recent 

origin *2043 

,  Finishing  of  earth  for .  .  941 

,  Fire,  friend  and  servant 

of. 1236 

,  Fire  enables,  to  subdue 

the  earth 1234 

.First  metal  of— Gold.  1391 

,  Force  a  reflection  of 

man's  conscious  effort  .  .  .  1280 

,  Fossil  remains  of *2044 

.Fuller  knowledge  of.  ..  162 

,  Genesis  of 3051 

Gives  scope  to  law  and 

matter 708 

,  God  can  reveal  himself 

to 1385 

the  God  of  the  dog  ....      2244 

the  Grains,  and  horse, 

and  ox  follow 39 

at  Great  heights 2884 

a  Gregarious  animal.  .  .      1582 

,  Gulf  between  and    ape 

472,  *2020 
and 


-,  Gulf    between, 


brute. 
-,  Habits  show  composite 


1415 


nature 1428 

has   Muscles   for   mov- 
ing ears 2478 

has  Mysterious    power 

over  puma *2045 

has  Selecting  power .  .  .    *2046 

the  Highest  earthly  be- 
ing possible *2070 

,  the  Highest,  serves  dis- 
tant ends 1513 

,  His  consciousness  of 

power *2074 

,  His  dependence  on  the 

sun 962 

,  His  development  of, 

distinguishes  him  from 
brutes *2048 

,  History  of,  one  of  prog- 
ress    1500 

Doing  the  known  right       357 

,  Ignorance  of 1553 

Imitates  Nature .  .  .2668,  3192 

,  Imitation,    a    controll- 
ing impulse  in 1582 

,  Impulse  of  to  walk  in- 
nate    3683 

in  Industries 1853 

,  Influence  of,  upon  the. 

earth *2049 

,  Influence  of  one  great .  1663 

,  Inoculation  of  animals 

to  protect 2942 

,  Inquiring  spirit  of,  not 

satisfied 1801 

,  Insignificance  of 1167 

,  Instinct  in 1699 

,  no  Instinctive  fear  of — 

Birds 2410 

as  an  Instrument  of  re- 
search     *2028 

behind  Instrument *2032 

,  Intellect    of,    conquers 

climate 1714 

.Intelligence  of  ants 

ranks  them  near  to 1722 

,  Intelligence      of,    vs. 

brute  force 1282 

,  Invention  indigenous  in     1756 

.Inventions  of  primi- 
tive   1759 

,  Is  man  an  exception  to 

unity  of  Nature? 3542 

Kindred  to  the  stars.  .  .    *2051 

,  Knowledge  for  the  sake 

of 3579 

,  Law  of,  to  follow  law  of 

Nature 1848 

,  Laws  used  in  Nature  as 

by, 1861 

,  Life  a  power  beyond 

measure  of  use 3581 

,  Lifting  of  stones  by 

primitive 1926 

Like  dust 1846 

,  Likeness   of,   to   lower 

organisms *2076 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


MAN,  no  Link  between,  and 

ape 2060 

Loves  to  divide  space .  .      2483 

,  Lower  animals  com- 
pared with 162 

a  Machine   of  great  del- 
icacy  ' *2018 

-  Made  for  usefulness ....      1993 
a  Mass  of  correspond- 
ences       1033 

Masters  environment .  .    *2036 

May  change  environ- 
ment   1036 

Measures  universe 1398 

as  a  Meat-eater *2027 

,  Mechanical  powers  used 

by  primitive 2694 

,  Memorials  of 3473 

not  Mere  automaton. .  .    *2056 

,  Message  of  science 

about 3004 

and  Mimosa *2022 

,  Mind  gives,  dominion.  2752 

,  Mind  of,  and  beast ....  2202 

,  Mind  of,  included  in 

Nature 3186 

Modifies  Nature *2052 

Modifying  earth 2232 

,  Momentary  life  of 112 

,  the  Moon  an  object  of 

unique  interest  to 943 

,  Moral  nature  of *2053 

More  fearful  than  Na- 
ture     *2054 

Must  acquire  instincts.    *2055 

,  No,  sufficient  to  himself.       724 

,  Natural    selection    de- 
voted to  mind  in 3048 

,  Natural    selection    will 

not  explain 3051 

Nature    does    not    ex- 
plain       2363 

,  Nature  ignores  exist- 
ence of 2367 

,  Nature  ignores  divid- 
ing lines  of 2366 

,  Nature  surpasses 2378 

,  Nature's  laboratories 

surpass 1342 

Neglects  Nature's  warn- 
ings   1241 

Never  subverts  laws  of 

Nature 1856 

,  Night,  as  source  of  an- 
xiety to 2419 

,  the  Old,  of  Cromagnon 

1374,1716,2862 

,  Organs  of  sense  beyond 

ken  of 2476 

,  Origin  and  antiquity  of     2481 

,  Original  house  of *2077 

,  Parasites  have  brought 

famine  to 3256 

a  Part  of  Nature *2026 

not  Perfect *2057 

,  Perfection  of ,  as 2551 

,  Perfection  of,  the  goal 

of  Nature 2552 

Perishes 3694 

,  Perversion  of  Nature  by  3598 

.Plain  business,  makes 

his  own  lenses 841 

Powerless    in    earth- 
quake         953 

Preceded  by  giant  an- 
imals       1282 

,  Pre-eminence  of,  be- 
cause of  hand 1433 

-.Pre-eminence  of,  be- 
cause of  freedom  of  choice.  2402 

,  Prehistoric,  a  vegeta- 
rian   2027 

Provides    against    dis- 
aster         840 

,  Provision  of  Nature  for     2780 

-,  Psychological,  requires 

distinct  kingdom 1785 

,  Reaction  of  environ- 
ment on 2825 

Reads  system  into  phe- 
nomena         571 

,  Reason    divides,    from 

lower  animals 2952 


MAN,  Recent  origin  of 

-,  Relics  of,  are  his  works 


,  Relics  of  primeval. . 

,  Religion  meets  natural 

want  of 

,  Resemblance  of  ape  to . 

,  Robuster  tasks  for.  ... 

Scarcely  uses  sense  of 

smell 

,  the  Secret  of  suprem- 
acy. 


*2066 
2861 
2862 

2865 
3326 
3356 

3077 

52 
*2029 


as  a  Seed-distributer.  . 

Seeks  shelter  and  pro- 
tection       3284 

,  Selection  reaches  be- 
yond intent  of 3053 

,  Sense    of    ignorance    a 

law  of  being 3068 

,  Primitive  simplicity  of     1990 

,  Social  self  of *2078 

,  Soul  of .......... 2828 

,  Source  of  taciturnity  of     1835 

,  Spiritual  life  of 1912 

,  Stars  teach  weakness  of     3217 

,  Story  of 3007 

,  Structure  of  hand  of ...      3538 

,  Structure  of,  compared 

with  ostrich 160 

,  Surrender  of  animals  to       179 

,  Sympathy  an  impulse  in     3346 

Taught  by  animals *2023 

Taught  by  Nature 1757 

Taught  caution  by  ex- 
perience       1207 

Tests  results  of  obser- 
vation   *2067 

,  Thought  the  matchless 

power  in 3424 

Transf orms  the  earth.  .    *2071 

a  Type   of   the   super- 
natural        2026 

United  with  all  animal 

and  vegetable  life *2072 

,  a  Unity,  a  tree  is  not .  .    *2030 

,  Unity  of,  with  animal.      3533 

a  Universal  dweller  up- 
on earth *2031 

Utilizes  but  never  cre- 
ates force 1289 

Viewed    as    an    instru- 
ment       1057 

Will  develop  no  further 

as  an  animal 231 

,  Work  of,  among  abo- 
rigines   3769 

,  the     World     as    inter- 


preted by 

-,  World-wide  unity  of. .  . 


320 
*2079 


.  (See  also  MEN)  . 

MAN,  PRIMEVAL,  Helpless- 
ness and  homelessness  of .  .    *2059 

,  not  like  Modern  races  .    *2058 

,  Relics  of 2862 

,  Remains  of *2060 

,  Was  not  a  mere  brute.      1716 

MAN,  PRIMITIVE,  Abstract 
ideas  not  to  be  attributed 

to 1546 

,  Arithmetic  of 228 

,  Axe,  chief  weapon  of.  .        302 

,  Camel    the    companion 

of *2062 

,  Copper  easily  obtained 

by 2357 

,  Domestic  life  of *2065 

,  Earth  sculpture  of 959 

,  Fancy  sketch  of *2063 

,  Incapable    of    abstract 

conceptions *2064 

,  Industrial  skill  of 3120 

,  Industry  of 1643 

,  Ingenuity  of 1673 

,  Intelligence  of 1717 

,  Inventions  of 1759 

,  Lifting  of  heavy  stones 

by 1022,  1926 

Loved  ornament *2061 

,  Measure  of  distance  by.       733 

,  Measures  of — Body  the 

standard 2129 

,  Mechanical  genius  of. .  .      1350 

,  Mechanical  powers  used 

by 2694 


MAN,  PRIMITIVE,    Pottery 

of — Importance 2649 

,  Reliance     of — Hunting 

—Fishing 441 

,  Scales  used  by 2961 

,  Skill  of 3120 

,  Textiles  of 3383 

,  Tools  and  weapons  of .  .      3444 

,  Vast  plans  of 2615 

,  Woman's  work  the  cal- 
endar of 3770 

.     (See   also    PRIMITIVE 

MAN.) 

MANATEE  Imitated  in  pipes.  350 
MANIA,  Collecting,  in  lower 

animals *2080 

,  Intoxication  allied  to.. .        134 

MANICHAEANS,      Doctrines 

of  Gnostics  and 3776 

MANIFESTATION,   Bodily, 

of  spiritual  attributes 1219 

,  Force  a,  of  will 1299 

of  Religion 2868 

MANIFESTATIONS  of  Friend- 
ship among  ants 206 

.Phenomena,     of     one 

omnipresent  power 2579 

MANIPULATION,  Lifeless- 

ness  and  correct 1893 

MANKIND   Believes  in  con- 
science and  volition 4320 

,  Mariner's  compass  con- 
tributed to  progress  of.  ...      2484 

,  Unity  of 2080,  3536 

MANTIS,     Wingless,    resem- 
bles orchis 145 

MANUFACTORIES,  Dust 

from,  changing  a  climate .  .      3312 

MANUFACTORY,   the   Liver 

a,  of  blood 894 

MANUFACTURE    of    Nutri- 
tion     *2081 

MANUFACTURES  Conducted 

by  primitive  women *2082 

by  Water  power 3701 

MAPLE,  Samaras  or  "keys" 

of 3742 

of  the  Tertiary 1864 

MAPS  of  Rivers  change  ....     2925 
MARCH  of  Insect  armies...    .    *2083 

,  Leaves  on  the 1869 

MARINE  Animal 61 

Color  of,  organisms.  .  . .        242 

MARINER,  the  Guide  of  the, 

in  Heaven 2633 

MARINERS    Perplexed     by 

mysterious  light *2086 

of  Tyre  and  Sidon 2394 

MARINER'S     COMPASS     of 

the  East  a  "  Chinese  copy  "  *2085 

,  First  record  of *208.4 

,  Invention  of 2759 

.     (See  also  COMPASS.) 

MARK,  Plan  and  purpose  in 

humanity 2609 

MARKINGS  of  Animals.. .  .  *2087-88 
MARKS.  Recognition  of  an- 
imals'        2836 

.  Glacial,   not   the  work 

of  floating  ice 1378 

,  of  Vanished  ice 2 

MARMOT  in  Central  Europe .  1 64 
MARMOTS,  Watchfulness  of  3697 
MARRIAGE  Among  early 

races  without  love 199ft 

.    (See  also  AFFECTION; 

LOVE;  MAN;  WOMAN.) 
MARS,  Conditions  of  life  on.     3781 

,  Kepler  and  orbit  of .  .  .     2568 

,  Our    flowers    cannot 

grow  on 1439 

,  Satellites  of 1060 

MARTYR,  Insensibility  of,  to 

pain 3150 

MARTYRS     of     Science- 
Bacon *2089 

,  of  Science— Pliny *2090 

MARVEL,  Eye  a,  to  the  re- 
flecting mind 1592 

MARVELOUS,    THE,    trans- 
formed    *2091 

,  Untrained    mind    pre- 
fers. .,  2211 


824 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


MASK,  Cast  of,  in  lava.. . 

MASS,  the  Blue  of  the  crystal 
— ,  Central,  of  sun 

,  Cohesion  of  gaseous  .  .  . 

,  Contraction  of  sun's.. .  . 

,  Cooled  vapors  sinking 

back  on  central,  of  sun 

,  Earth  once  a  molten.  . . 

,  Envelope  of  sun  cooler 

than  the  central 

,  Enveloping  Herculan- 

eum 

,  Man  a,  of  correspon- 
dences   

of     Sun     not     propor- 
tioned to  size 

,  Mountain  carved  from 

vaster 

,  Power  of  slow-moving. 

MASSACRE  of  St,  Bartholo- 
mew  

MASSARANDUBA,  the  Cow- 
tree  

MASSES,  Imitating  tendency 
in,  of  men 

,  the,  a  Rising  power.  . .  . 

,  Nebulous,  intermixed 

with  stars 

,  Thinker  sees  things  in  . 

MASTER,  the  dog  and  his  ... 

MASTERPIECES,  Nature's, 
of  life 

MASTERS,  Servants  and.  .  .  . 

,  Slavery  degrades 

,  Agreement  of 

MASTERY,  Attention  gives. . 

of  Body  by  mind 

Possible  in  one  line  only 

,  Science  hopeful  of 

MASTODON,  North  America 

once  the  home  of  the 

.Representative  of 

giants 

Embalmed  in  ice 

in  Middle  Tertiary 

MATCHES,  Progress  to  fric- 
tion  

MATERIAL,  Creative  power 
may  use  pre-existing 

from  Depths  of  earth .  . 

,  Destruction   of 1013 

,  Each  organ  takes  from 

blood  its  own 

,  Eggs  producing  all, 

for  the  chicken 

Ends  not  supreme 

,  False,  imported  by  im- 
agination  

Good,  not  end  of  civ- 
ilization  

,  Neglect  of  useless 

,  New,  supplied  to  the 

earth 

,  the,  Sacrificed  for  Spir- 
itual  

,  Use  or  abuse  of 

MATERIALISM  Baffled  by 
Consciousness 

Carried    to    logical    re- 
sult  

Confuses  unlike  things  .  *2098 

Consciousness      repud- 
iates  

,  Evolution  as  blank.  .  .  . 

Gives  no  facts 

,  Hope  and  faith  oppose. 

and  Idealism 

Incomprehensible 

Means  paralysis 

Results  from  dethron- 
ing humanity 

,  Superficiality  of 

Supported  by  Des- 
cartes  

.  a  Tendency  of  individ- 
ual minds 

.  Tendency  to 

MATERIALIST,  Analogy  of, 
false — Thought  not  a  secre- 
tion   

,  False    analogy    of — 

Phosphorus 

,  Pnysiology  against.  .  .  . 


1477 
1532 
273 
2433 
632 

3187 
3141 

3395 
*2092 
1033 
3725 

1321 
2681 

1690 
3760 

1582 
1335 

3203 
1763 
1784 

2385 
3028 
3126 
6 
1353 
*2093 
2196 
3658 

460 

1282 
1536 
2013 

1235 

681 
2904 
1013 

3044 

981 
971 

1573 

509 
2431 

3161 

2941 
2119 

*2096 

*2097 
*2098 

609 
1099 
*2099 
1505 
*2094 
*2100 
*2101 

1514 
3316 

2901 

*2095 
*2102 

*2103 

2590 
2599 

MATERIALIST,  Theist  vs.  .  .      2807 
,  Triumph  of  *2104 
MATERIALS,    Solid,   of   the 
globe  935 
MATERNITY   Foreshadowed 
in  plants  *2105 
vs.  Motherhood  *2106 
MATHEMATICIAN,  Idea  of.  .      1545 
MATHEMATICS     Advanced 
by  use  of  zero   .  .                        3798 

MEASURE,  the  end  the,   of 
utility  3572 
,  Life    a   power   beyond 
man's,  of  use  3581 
of  the  Power  of  heat..  .  .    *2125 
,  Primitive,  of  distance..        733 
of  Sensation  impracti- 
cable        3063 

MEASURED  in  Terms  of  fall- 
ing body.  .  .  .                               1284 

,  Astronomy  made  possi- 
ble by  256 
,  Beautv  of  *2107 
,  Development  of  *2108 
,  Faculty     for,     lacking 
among  savages  1713 
Gives  nobler  problems  .     3368 
Ministers  to  all  science.  *2109 
Power  of                    .    .      *2112 

MEASUREMENT    of   energy 
—  the  Foot  pound  *2127 
of  Etna  ..                                   6 

,  Human  powers  of,  lim- 
ited   .  .           .                                1956 

Among    North    Ameri- 
can mound-builders  *2126 

of  the  Universe    *2110 
on  Word  of  Honor  *2111 
MATTER,  Absorption  of  nu- 
tritious, by  sun-dew  leaf.  .      2431 
,  Alliance  of  mind  with.  .      2187 
•  Analyzed  into  force  ....      3456 
,  Ancient  existence  of  .  .  .      3761 
,  Atomic  constitution  of 
*2115-17 

of  Vast  distances.  .  .    .        1956 

of  Vision  1120 

MEASUREMENTS,  Earthly, 
of  sun  spots  3116 

,  Error  as  to  sun's  dis- 
tance vitiated  early  2547 

of  Heat  of  sun.  .                 *2128 

.Precise  quantitative  , 
needed  1125 
MEASURES    among    Primi- 
tive men                                     *2129 

,  Combination     of,     and 
force  may  perish  551 
,  Comet's    tails    subject 
to  ordinary  laws  of  2336 
,  Different  states  of  2928 
,  Experience    to    prove, 
eternal  896 
and  Forces  1654 
,  Heat  supposed  to  be.  .  .      1466 
,  Mutability  of.  •.  .  ...  v  .  .  *2120 

,  Ancient  *2130 
MEAT  Cooked  at  lower  tem- 
perature        2982 
,  Human      consumption 
of  2027 
Rarely    contains    bac- 
teria        2794 
MECHANIC,    the   Ancient 
American                                    *2133 

of.'  576,  1624,2890 

,  Grip  of  tools  of  3443 

,  Infinity  of  1656 
Innate  law  of.              .  .        708 

Master  of  the  earth  *2131 
,  Tools  of,  fitted  to  en- 
vironment     .                              3445 

,  Interaction  of  1447 
,  Mind  revealed  through.     2207 
,  Moral  relations  of  *2119 
and  Motion              ....    *2114 

MECHANICS,    Cat's    knowl- 
edge of  1723 

,  Consciousness   not   ex- 
plained by  3421 
,  Dependence  of  science 
on                                                  773 

,  Nature  named  2370 
,  Plato   finds,    source   of 
evil                                              2316 

,  Properties   of,   treated 

a  Distinct  science  ....      2966 
,  Elementary  laws  of.  ...      1858 

Recognized    by    resist- 
ance                                        .    *2121 

biology                                            366 

,  Solid,  hinders  diffusion.     3699 
from  Space  933 
in  Space  and  Time  *21  18 

of  Explosion  1313 
,  Monkey's     comprehen- 
sion of                                         *2132 

,  Universe  not  merely.  .  .      3566 
,  Vital  force  organizes.  .  .      2475 
,  Wonderful  property  of 
lifeless  1291 
MATTERHORN,  Falling  frag- 
ments  of  866 
,  a  First  view  of  the  2560 
MATURITY,  Child's  common 
sense  declining  at  1189 

,  Spider's  knowledge  of  .      3724 
the  Second  science.  ...        811 
Triumphs  of                    .      3490 

,  Wonderful  results  of.  .  .      1350 
MECHANISM,  Action  of  nat- 
ural       .                                      1685 

—  ,  Cause  back  of  561 
MECHANISM  of  Heavens  .  .  .      1401 
for  Securing  insect  food     3637 
—  ,  Sight  not  explained  by.     3103 
MEDALS    Less    interesting 
than  fossils  1316 

of  Civilization.  .  .        .          502 

.Science  requires,   of 
mind  1831 
MAXIMUM  of  Power  follows 
repose  2406 
MAURITIA  or  Fan-palm.  ..62,  2815 
MAZE  of  Asteroidal  orbits.  ..    *2122 
MEANING.  I  ntervals  full  of  ..      2917 
of  History  *2123 
,  Language  loses,  under 
automatist  theory  1820 
,  New,  given  to  spectrum     2571 
,  Word  associated  with.  .      3763 
MEANS,    Adaptation    of,   to 
ends  51,2829 

,  Seeds,  the,  of  Nature  .  .      3096 
MEDES,    Battle   of   Lydians 
with         260 

MEDICINE    Developed    bot- 
any                                         .      3016 

,  Etiological  epoch  in...  .        138 
Practise  of              .        .      3413 

,  Singleness     of     theory 
sought  in  .".      3114 
MEDITERRANEAN    in    His- 
tory        2898 
,  "  Lighthouse  of  the  "  .  .      1949 
—  ,  Problems  of  the.  .  .  1376,  *2134 
Unites  Orient   and  Oc- 
cident                               .            2442 

,  Currents  as  a,  of  dis- 
tribution                                .        712 

,  Ends  and,  in  science.  .  .      1005 
,  Ends  and.                    ...      1006 

MEDIUM,      Diminished    ve- 
locity in  denser  2855 
,  Favorable,    necessary 
for  bacteria       1040 

,  Result  reached  by  use 
of  1862 
Valued  in  proportion  to 
end  3579 
MEASLES,  Fatal  among  sav- 
ages                                              1030 

,  Sound  demands  a  3105 
,  Steam  the,  of  change  .  .      2266 
MEDULLA  OB  LONG  AT  A, 
Breathing  depends  on  ....      2004 

MEASURE  of  Ancient  glacier  *2124 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


825 


MELANCHOLY  Appeals  to 

con  non  people 2303 

MELODY  and  Motion  united  *2135 

MELVILLE  ISLANDS,  Trop- 
ical animals  in 

MEMENTOES,  Fossils,  of  the 
past 

MEMORIALS,  Human 

of  Man's  existence  .... 

,  Silent 

MEMORIES,  Touch  awakens, 
of  sight  and  sound 

MEMORY,  Action  determin- 
ed by 

,  Action  impresses 

Aids  to. 


1536 

1316 

3473 

2066 

224 

245 


,  Anomalies  of 

Coextensive  with  inter- 


27 
24 

3287 
*2139 


philo- 


*2140 


est 

Combined    with    . 

sophic  power 2691 

,  Departments  of .        770 

Dependent    on    bodily 

condition *2138 

Depends  on  multiple 

associations *2141 

,  Difficulty  and  advan- 
tage of  motor *1179 

Does  not  admit  of  ex- 
planation   2313 

Dominated  by  mood.  .      3145 

Essential  to  all  mental 

action *2142 

,  Failure  of,  through  in- 
attention   1190 

,  False  material  imported 

into  scenes  of 1573 

,  Force  of  association  in .      2892 

,  Freaks  of *2143 

,  Habitual  acts  not  held  in    3042 

,  Images  of 1568 

Impressed  by  action..  .          24 

,  Individuality  of 1633 

,  Joy  or  sorrow  exagger- 
ated in 1781 

,  Lapse  of — Work  for- 
gotten by  author *2145 

,  Lapse  of,  under  shock.    *2144 

,  Local,  of  swallows 1503 

a  Marvelous  phenom- 
enon   *2136 

,  Mendacity  of *2146 

,  the  Motor 3676 

a  Mystery *2137,  2313 

,  Peculiarities  of *2148 

,  Place  or  person  con- 
fused in 2608 

Rallies  from  shock  ....      2676 

,  Record  of,  imperishable     2844 

Regulates  human  im- 
pulses   1708 

,  Restoration   of  mental 

past 1747 

,  Revival  of *2149 

,  Setting  the 3087 

of  Totals *2147 

an  Ultimate  fact  of  con- 
sciousness       1967 

,  Unconscious  coloring  of     1 186 

,  Unconscious *2150 

,  Vividness   of,    suggests 

nearness  in  time 3663 

MEN,  Brain-power  of  earliest     2058 

as  Carriers 1981 

,  Design  in  work  of,  or 

beavers 788 

,  Discovery  of,  the  chief 

need 855 

Discriminate     between 

their  own  different  selves.  .      1635 

,  False     theory     makes, 

blind  t9  facts 3401 

.Indian  pipes  in  figures  of       350 

,  Fire  universal  among.  .      1800 

,  Gifted,  of  Middle  Ages.        315 

,  Great,  in  clusters 1044 

,  Grip  of  knives  of 3443 

,  How  wise,  learn 2365 

,  Illusion  the  lot  of  all ...      1560 

— - — ,  Measures  among  prim- 
itive   2129 

,  Natural     signs     under- 
stood by  all  races  of 1825 


MEN  of  Northern  lands  lead 

world. 830 

,  Organization        among 

primitive 2473 

,  Pugnacity  of 2247 

Thought      Christianity 

threatened  by  astronomy.        673 

.  (See  also  MAN.). 

MENU,  Ordinances  of 674 

MENACE  of  Evil 1904 

MENDACITY  of  Memory ....  2146 
MENDOZA,  Earthquake  at .  .  3666 
MENTAL  ADVANCE  Attends 

opening  of  the  Pacific 1691 

MENTAL  LIFE,  the  Teacher 

deals  with 2786 

.   (See   also   CONSCIOUS- 
NESS;  INTELLECT;    INTEL- 
LIGENCE ;     KNOWLEDGE  ; 
LIFE;  MIND.) 
MENTAL  POWERS,  Atrophy 

of,  through  disuse 282 

MENTAL     SUGGESTION     a 

Cause  of  illusion 1562 

MENTAL,   THE,    Influenced 

by  the  Physical 2825 

MENTION,   a  Common  bird 

left  without 2453 

MERCENARIES    No    longer 

employed  in  war 3687 

MERCHANTS,  Antiquity  of.      2392 
MERCURY  (the planet),  End- 
less day  and  endless  night 

on 3630 

,  Perturbation  of,  still 

unexplained 2741 

MERCURY  (the  metal)  as  Il- 
lustration of  heat  and  mo- 
tion   1454 

.  Pattern   on   surface    of       339 

MERCY  of  Civilization 3030 

MERIT,  Conqueror  of  temp- 
tation allowed  no 296 

MERMAID,  Origin  of  fable  of  *2151 
MESSAGE  of  Science  to  man .  3004 

— ,  Silent,  of  God 1306 

METAL,  Each,  gives  unvary- 
ing bands 3169 

,  Evidences  of  bartering 

of 3450 

,  Man's  first— Gold 1391 

,  Progress  from  the  duc- 
tile to  the  stubborn 2535 

,  Radiation  from 2819 

Used  as  stone *2152 

METALLURGY      Dependent 

on  chemistry 3227 

— ,  Early 1297 

METALS,  Combustible *2153 

,  Diffusion  of *2 154-55 

,  Flowing  of 1254 

the  Gift  of  volcanoes.  .    *2156 

,  Evaporation  of 3540 

in  the  Sun 3488 

of  Sun,  identified 2524 

,  Transmutation   of,  be- 
lieved in 763 

in  Vapor  on  sun 3297 

METAMORPHOSES    of    In- 
sects       1865 

METAPHOR  Conveys  essen- 
tial truth *2157 

METAPHORS  a  Necessity  of 

science *2158 

METAPHYSICS,  Assertions  of    3417 

,  Bad  vs.  good *2159 

and     Physics    comple- 
mentary        3526 

of  Positivism 2159 

METEOR,  the  Lenarto 3659 

METEORITE,  Earth  held  to 

be  a  great 936 

METEORITES,  All  evidence 

of,  once  rejected 1621 

,  Belief  in,  scouted 226 

the    Dust    of    decaying 

comets. 1135 

,  Falling  of,  declared  im- 
possible   3411 

,  Fall  of,  in  France 1086 

,  Fall  of,  recorded  in  an- 
tiquity   *2161 


METEORITES  Like  mass  of 

earth's  interior 3553 

Perhaps  of  earthly  ori- 
gin         945 

,  Solidity  of 1061 

,  Space  full  of *2160 

,  Supposed,  ejected  from 

volcanoes 936 

METEOROLOGY,  Ancient. .  .      2843 
METEORS,  Annual  rain  of. .  .      2224 

,  Fall  of,  on  the  sun *2162 

,  Matter   from,    supplied 

to  the  earth. 3161 

,  Nebular     hypothesis 

would  give 2433 

,  a  Rain  of 2163,  2223 

in  Track  of  lost  comet .    *2163 

METHOD  of  Attaining  scien- 
tific conclusion. ..  .    *2165 


— ,  Comparative,  in  psy- 
chology  

— ,  Creation  not  limited  to 
one 

— ,  Importance  of 

of  Science. 


Shown  by  worms 

,  No  single,  of  thought 

leads  to  truth 

,  Value  of 

METHODS,  Anticipations  of 
modern 

,  Choice  among,  of  reach- 
ing a  single  end 

of  Counting  among  sav- 
ages  

,  Different  instruments 

with  different 

,  Laws  of  Nature  the,  of 


2784 


*2164 

*2166 

1718 

1636 
*2167 

187 
490 
677 
827 


God 1859 

,  Loose,  now  discarded .  .      1126 

,  New,  of  research 2758 

.  Primitive,    of    kindling 

fire 1239 

,  Primitive,  of  light 1929 

MEXICO,  Stone  buildings  of .      2694 
MIASMA     Not    fully   under- 
stood       3472 

MICE  Credited  with  sponta- 
neous generation 1056 

Destroyed     by     chick- 
en-hawk       1445 

.Destruction    of,    in 

South  America 1 129 

,  Dusky  color  of 2417 

,  Increase    of,    in    South 

America 1619 

,  Increase    simultaneous 

of  bumblebees  and 161& 

.  (See  also  FIELD-MICE.) 

MICHIGAN,  Copper  mines  of 
MICROBES  Fix   nitrogen  for 

plants 

,  to  Kill,  without  killing 

patients 

,  Multiplication  of 

,  Poisons  of 

.  (See  also  BACTERIA.).  .  . 

MICRO-ORGANISMS  in  the 

air 

— ,  Fertility  due  to 

— ,  Fossil  in  chalk 

—  Found  living  in  ocean 

bed *2170 

— ,  Freezing    not    destruc- 
tive of 1331 

— ,  Plants     supplied     with 

nitrogen  by 2621 

— .    (See    also  BACTERIA; 
MICROBES.) 
MICROSCOPE,  Battles  under 

the 2994 

—  Does  not  reveal  all  par- 
ticles      2510 

— ,  Early  discoveries  of .  .  .    *2171 

,  Infinity  revealed  by.  ..      2216 

,  Invention  of 1931 

,  Limit  of  power  of 2510 

— ,  Limit  of  the 1959 

,  Lines  ruled  for 349O 

,  Particles  too  small  for.      3123 

,  Properties  of  water 

elude 1504 

— ,  Service  of,  to  science. .  .    *2172 


1926 
2469 

865 

*2168 
2642 


1364 

1224 
*2169 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


2745 
1371 


.  774 
3115 


MICROSCOPE,  Solar,    shows 

crystallization    2742 

and  Telescope 3078 

MICROSCOPIC  ORGANISMS, 

Limestone  built  by 

,  Air  thick  with 

Affect  chief  concerns  of 

life 

MICROSCOPIC   OBJECTS 

seen  as  immense 

MICROSCOPIC     ANALYSIS, 

Structure  that  defies 1959 

MICROSCOPIST,      Purposed 

blindness  of  the 284 

MICROSCOPY,  Business  man 

advances 841 

Aids  chemistry 668 

MID-DAY,  Darkness  at 1081 

MIDDLE     AGE,     Beginning 

great  work  in 

MIDDLE  AGES,  Contempt 

for  science  in 

,  Gifted  men  of 

,  Knowledge  of  magnet 

in 

,  Prevalence  of  poisoning 

in 

,  Scientific  light  of — 

Roger  Bacon 1663 


345 


626 
315 


2484 
5039 


-Al- 


1354 


371 

*2174 
434 

1581 


-,  Travelers  of 

MIGRATION    of    Bird 
most  universal 

of  Birds — Extent  of ... 

of  Birds — Cause  of.  ... 

of   Birds — Humming- 
birds  

of  Birds — Largely  noc- 
turnal        2422 

of  Birds— Need  of  food 

a  cause 1265 

of    Birds — Oriole    and 

bobolink 1778 

of  Birds — Periodic  im- 
pulse   434 

of  Birds— Routes  of .  .  .      1677 

,  Irrational *2173 

of  Plants — Advantages 

of 

of  Plants — Enemies  es- 
caped by 1009 

MILDNESS  of  European  cli- 
mate   *2176 

MILK,  Boracic  acid  as  a  pre- 
servative of 

,  Cleanliness  secures  pur- 
ity of  _ 

' ,  Disinfection  of,  possi- 

ble 

,  Dregs  of,  filled  with 

bacteria 

an    Ideal  medium    for 

bacteria 2177 

Normally  sterile *2177 

a  Perfect  refreshment.      3418 

,  Preservatives  of ,  in 

court 2641 

,  Purity  of 2513 

Refreshes  Alpine  climb- 
ers.  

,  Sterilization  of 

,  Production  of,  increas- 
ed by  selection  of  cows.  .  .  . 

from  Tropical  tree 

MILKY   WAY   Composed   of 

suns 

,  Stars  of  the 

,  Our  sun  a  star  of  the.  . 

MILK  WEED,  Seeds  of,  float- 
ing through  air 

MILL,  Dualism  of  Plato  and . 
MILLION,    Seeds    from    one 

plant  exceed  a 3041 

MILLIONS,  One  hundred,  of 

stars 2304 

MILLS,  No,  in  America  four 

hundred  years  ago.  . . 
MILL-SHAFT,  Illustration  of 
MILL  WHEEL,  Work  of,  done 

by  undoing  previous  work . 
MIMICRY,  Natural  delight  in 
MIMICRY,  PROTECTIVE, 

of  caterpillars 

Colors  of  birds  for .  .  . 


*2175 


2641 
515 


3031 
422 


573 
3009 

2052 
3760 

3214 
3207 
3204 

884 
910 


2133 
2839 


3768 
1582 


1028 
*2179 


MIMICRY,  PROTECTIVE, 

Dependence  of  insect  on — 

Locust 771 

,  Dependent  on  will.  .  .  .    *2180 

of  Grasshopper *2181 

of  Leaf-insects *2182 


of  Lizard *2183 

,  Moth  mimics  leaves..  2249 

,  Moths  mimic  other 

moths.  .  .  .  *2178 

,  Spider 2771 

,  of  Stick-insects *2184 

,  a  Source  of  confidence.  2250 

MIMOSA,  Man  and 2022 

MIND,  absorption  of.  causes 

physical  insensibility .....  1690 
,  Activity  of,  sends 

blood  to  brain 33,  380 

,  Adaptation  of  organs  to  52 

,  Adapts  venom  to  victim  3634 

,  Adjustment  of  forces  of  73 

,  Alliance  of,  with  matter  *2187 

Alone  adorable 2980 

,  Ants  possessed  of 2194 

Associated  with  body. .    *2201 

,  Has    it    been    evolved 

from  fire-mist? 248 

,  Beauty  an  end  in  the 

divine 327-28 

and  Body  interdepend- 
ent       3224 

and  Brain *2186 

Cannot  be  satisfied.  ...     2191 

Capable    of    sustained 

attention *2212 

,  Cause    demanded    b  y 

human 432, 1312 

,  Close    union    of    body 

with 3519 

— ,  Comprehensiveness  of  .570-71 
— ,  Compulsion  of  body  by.       573 

—  Conscious     of     limita- 
tions    *2191 

—  Controlling  body *2192 

— ,  Disease  of  inherited...      1675 
— ,  Distinctions  little  noted 

by  average 880 

— ,  Does  the,  sleep 3682 

—  Dominated  by  precon- 
ceived idea *2193 


-,  Duality  of  the.  . 
-,  Early     fi  x  e  d  n  es  s 


of 


911 
835 


970 


2714 
3733 


1010 
390 


230 


1140 
1747 


states  of. 

— ,  Education  develops  en- 
dowment of 

— ,  Effect  of  preoccupation 
of 

,  Energy  directed  by.  . .  . 

.Energy  the  highest 

type  of 

—  the    Engineer    control- 
ling bodily  mechanism .... 
— ,  Evidence  of  purpose  in 

higher  or  lower 788 

— ,  Evolution  in  the,  of  a 

child 1095 

— ,  Evolution  of 1730,  *2208 

— .Development   of,  in 

man 

— ,  Experience    includes 

laws  of 

— ,  Evidence  of  growth  of  . 
— ,  Eye  a  marvel  to  the  re- 
flecting   1592 

— ,  Faculty  theory  of.  ....      3407 
— ,  Feeling  dominant  in..  .      1218 

—  Follows  accustomed 

track 1520 

— ,  Force  connected    with 

conscious 427 

— ,  Forces  of 1299 

— ,  Future  progress  within 

the 814 

—  Gains  development  by 
speech *2198 

Gives  man  dominion  ..      2752 

— .Greeks  trained,  with 

body 387 

— ,  Harmony  of  nature  and 

human 1440 

— ,  the  Human,  a  part  of 
nature 1414 

—  Hypothesisofadesigning     1522 


2360 
2324 

1819 
1729 

428 


MIND  Infinitely  varied *2194 

Inseparable  from  body  *2185 

,  an     Intelligent     crea- 
tive   

.Interaction  of.and 

brain 

,  Language  involves  en- 
tire   

,  Language  the  mould  of. 

,  Law  in  realm  of 

,  Laws  invested  with 

attributes  of 3002 

,  is.  Limited  to  brain?. .  .    *2195 

,  Limitations  of.  .  .    *2196,  2311 

,  Limits  of,  unknown  ...    *2197 

behind  Machine 293 

,  Machine  a  product  of.  .      2002 

of  Man  a  part  of    na- 
ture       1414 

of  Man  and  beast *2202 

,  Man  develops  in 2041 

of  Man  included  in 


nature 3186 

,  Mastery  of  body  by  ...  2093 

,  Matter  and  force  in- 
ferior to 2113 

,  Mechanical  theory  of.  .  *2209 

,  Memory  essential  to 

all  action  of 2142 

Must  be  trained *2199 

,  Mysteries  of,  revealed 

in  music *2200 

,  Natural  tendency  o  f 

human 1524 

,  Interaction  of,  and 

nature *2188 

,  Nerves  Interpreters  of 

the  world  to  the 2409 

,  Normal,  restored  b  y 


touch  of  external  world 

—  an  Object  of  scientific 
study 

—  Obliged  to  contend .... 

—  of  Observer 

—  of  Observer  determines 


view  ............  .  ...... 

—  ,  One,  focuses  all  items.  . 
--  ,  Order   requires   organ- 

izing ................... 

—  ,  Organic   affections   act 


907 

*2189 

1875 
2364 

*2203 
842 

2464 
99 


upon  ................... 

Overwhelmed   by  vast 

periods  of  time  ..........    *2204 

-  a  Part  of  nature  ......    *2190 

--  ,  Physical     science     vs. 

science  of  ...............      3003 

—  Prefers  concrete  to  ab- 
stract ..................     *2205 

—  ,  Proof  of  —  Learning.  ...      1141 

—  ,  Purpose  the  mark  of.  .  .      2807 

—  ,  Reaction  of,  upon  im- 
pressions ................      2834 

—  Readily  reproduces  fa- 
miliar impressions  ........    *2206 

—  ,  No  real,  without  mem- 

ory ....................      2142 

—  ,  Realization    possible 

only  to  divine  ............      2110 

—  ,  Reflection  of,  in  nature.     3731 

—  ,  Reflex  action  does  not 
indicate  ............  ....          26 

—  in  Relation  to  environ- 
ment ...........  ........      1110 

--  ,  Religious  habit  of  ,  as  a 

survival  .  ................       768 

—  Required    to    construe 

the  world  ...............        615 

—  ,  Resolution    holds,    t  o 
reality  ..............  1185,  2888 

—  Revealed  through  mat- 

ter .....................   *2207 

—  ,  Science  cannot  account 

for  .....................      3103 

--  ,  Science  requires  matur- 

ity of  ...........  ..........      1831 

—  ,  Soul,   as   distimguished 
from  ...................        680 

—  as  a  Storehouse  .......      2439 

--  .Superstition  of  un- 

trained .................    *2211 

--  ,  Supremacy  of  ........      3332 

—  ,  Telescope  extends  do- 
main of  human  .  .  ....      3368 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


827 


MIND,  Unity  of  Nature  a 

conception  of 3538 

,  Unlike  human,  un- 
known to  human *2210 

Works  as  a  sculptor  .  .  .      3043 

,  Wandering  in  Child- 
hood    2229 

,  (See  also  ABSENCE  OF 

MIND.) 

MINDS   Differ  in  choice  of 


images 

.  Materialism  a  tendency 


1781 
2095 


of  individual 
,  Rapidity  of  thought  in 

great 3426 

MINERAL,  Change  from,  to 

organic  life 3469 

,  Plant  lifts  the 2617 

MINERALS   Brought   up   by 

thermal  springs 2904 

Found  in  the  stars.  ..    .      2908 

Invisible  in  water.  .  .    .    *2213 

,  Precipitation  of,  keeps 

water  pure 2705 

intheSun 1119 

of  Vesuvius *2214 

MINERAL     SPRINGS     from 

Decay  of  ancient  life.  . 


741 
1709 

57 
3771 
*2215 
1926 


2866 
3672 
3067 

2762 

921 

2663 

*2216 


1372 
2542 

3048 
2013 

*221S 


MINER,  Safety-lamp  of 

MINERS,    Cornish,    in    Mex- 
ico  .•  •  •  • 

Tools  found  of  ancient . 

MINES,  Antiquity  of 

Copper,  of  Michigan.  .  . 

MINGLING  of  Religion  with 

science 

MINIATURE,  Volcanoes  in . . 

MINUTE,  Slow  lapse  of  a.  ... 

MINUTE,  THE,  Proofs  from 
the  vast  and,  unite 

MINUTENESS,     Incalculable 
—Dust. 

,  Inconceivabl e — Bac- 
teria  t 

,  Inconceivable — Light- 
waves  

,  Infinite,    overwhelms 

mind 1970,2233 

with  Power  of  vast  re- 
sults— Bacteria 

MINUTES,    Use    of    hashish 
makes,  seem  hours 

MIOCENE    PERIOD,    Hand 
developed  in 

,  Mammalian  life  in 

MIRACLE,    Divine   agency 
without 

an    Exercise   of   super- 
human power *2217 

MIRAGE,  Cause  of 765 

,  Description  of 1172 

Among  ice  floes *2219 

MIRROR,    Images    of     gods 

formed  by  concave 1567 

MISAPPLICATION  of  Force  .      1290 

"  MISCHIEF  "in  Children.  ...  *2220 

MISDIRECTION  of  Instinct. .      1702 

MISER  a  Lunatic *2221 

,  Typical  hoard  of 2221 

a  Victim  of  the  collect- 
ing mania 

MISERS  among  Animals.  .  .  . 
MISERY,    Human  alleviation 

of 

MISFORTUNE  of  Ambiguity 
,  Deadlock  brings  public. 

of  Sated  curiosity 

MISINTERPRETATION      of 

Observation ;•••.••      2438 

,  Popular,    of    scientific 

phenomenon *2222 

MISNOMER,     Anthropomor- 
phism a 184 

,  Electric   "fluid"      and 

"current" 985 

,  "  Fixed  stars"  a 466 

MISSILES  of  Destruction.  .  . .    *2225 
,  Meteoric 2223-24 

Use  of,  by  Monkey.  .  .  .    *2226 

MISSING  LINK  not  Found  .  .      3083 

MISSION  of  Pain 1001 

MISSISSIPPI,  Delta  of 760 

,  Earthquake  in  valley  of       954 


2079 
2079 

143 
1655 
1855 
1831 


MISTAKE  of  Workman  leads 

to  discovery ...  7 

MISTLETOE  a  Parasite *2228 

,  Structure  of  the 2896 

MIXTURE  Differs  from  com- 
pound   3518 

vs.  Union — Differ- 
ences   *2228 

MOBILITY  of  Attention  in 

Childhood *2229 

MOBS,  Cruelty  of 3348 

MODE,  Heat  a,  of  motion 1466 

of  Rock  formation  un- 
known  

MODEL,  Oak  the,  for  Eddy- 
stone 

MODES  of  Life  of  marine  ani- 
mals  

,  Negation  of  fixed 

MODESTY  from  Increased 
knowledge 

Taught  by  science 

MODIFICATION    of   Animal 

structures ...... 

of  Instinct  in  birds. 

,  Long  course  of  slow. 

of  Nature  by  man.  . 

of  Parts  in  orchid  .  . 

MODIFICATIONS    of    Earth 

by  man 2232 

MOHAMMEDANISM,  Intol- 
erance of 

,  Paradise  of 

MOLD  of  Skeleton  preserved 
in  rock 

MOLE,  Eyes  of,  atrophied.  .  . 

,  the,  Has  true  eyes  ...» 

MOLE-CRICKET,    Natural 
violin  of 

MOLECULAR  MOTION,  Ef- 
fect of 

,  Electricity  a  mode  of.  . 

MOLECULAR  THEORY, 
Consciousness  not  explic- 
able by 

,  Locke  foreshadows 


331 
2432 

172 

2402 

3782 
2973 

*2230 

1721 

684 

2053 

*2231 


692 
3056 

425 
2696 
1991 

75 

397 

987 


606 
2261 


.     (See  also  THEORY.) 

MOLECULES,  Bombardment 

by 393 

,  Energy  of 2682 

of  Gases *2233 

Invisible 214 

of  Iron  magnetic *2234 

Outside  of  microscopic 

limit 1504 

,  Polarity  of 966 

MOLES,  Dusky  color  of 2417 

MOLLUSK,  Colors  of  the 

nudibranchiate 242 

MOMENT,  History  but,  of 

Time 1197 

MOMENTUM  of  Tides 975 

MONEY  wasted  in  vain  search 

for  coal . 


MONISM,  Assumptions  of .  .  . 
and  Darwinism 


1357 
248 
730 

1429 


,  Haeckel  and. 

MONIST,  Mystery  remains  to 

the 2334 

MONKEY  Asiatic,  given  pre- 
hensile tail 237 

,  Baby,  contrasted  with 

human  babe. 1473 

,  Comprehension  of,  of 

mechanics 2132 

,  Feint  of 1220 

,  Manifest  purpose  in  ...      2803 

,  Spirit  of  investigation 


1761 
*2235 
2226 
2202 
710 


Trained  to  gather  nuts. 

,  Use  of  missiles  by 

MONKEYS  and  Children 

,  Curiosity  of 

.Howling,  in  South 

America 2420 

.Prehensile  tails  of 

American 211.  3330 

MONOMANIA  Produced  by 

alcohol 1746 

Resulting  from  intox- 
ication    1746 

MONOPOLY,  Animals  have 

no,  of  motion 2606 


*2236 


MONOTONY  of  South  Amer- 
ican plains 

MONSOONS  Affect  snow-line 

on  Himalayas 2912 

,  Explanation  of 3493-94 

MONSTERS,  Nature  supposed 

to  produce 385 

of  Sentimentality *2237 

MONTE  NUOVO,  Earthquake 

at 

MONUMENT,  Bending  of 

Bunker  Hill 2670,  3234 

MONUMENTS,  Ancient,  bur- 
ied by  worms 3236 

Confirm  historian *2238 

,  Egyptian 175 

,  Sand  preserver  of.  ...      2950 

MOOD,  Memory  dominated  by    3145 

MOON,  "the  April" 3019 

,  Astronomy  began  with       259 

,  Atmosphere  of 275 

,  Attraction  of 975 

the  Basis  of  the  calen- 
dar.     *2239 

Contrasted    with   the 

earth 307 

a  Dead  world 1587 

.  Disturbances    of     mo- 
tion of 570 

,  Earthlight  on 951 

,  Gravity  on  the 3251 

,  Amphitheatres       and 

volcanoes  of  the 3251 

Has  no  atmosphere. .  .          307 

,  Impersonation  of 2573 

an  Object  of  unique  in- 
terest to  man 943 

,  Phases  of,  and  calendar       558 

,  Phases      of,      measure 

time 3436 

,  Scientists  on 928 

,  Supposed  pernicious 

effect  of *2240 

,  Utilizing  the 414 

,  Volcanoes  on 36 

MOONBEAMS,  Blindness  as- 
cribed to 2240 

MOONS  of  Jupiter— Life  on  690, 1905 

of     Jupiter     simultan- 
eously discovered 531 

MOONLIGHT  vs.  Sunlight...     824 

MOOSE 1282 

MORAL    EVIL,    Permissions 

of 529 

.     (See  also  EVIL.) 

MORALITY,  of  Cookery 140 

Deeply   rooted   in   the 

universe 1100 

Demands  action  in  line 

of  greatest  resistance *2242 

,  Distinctive,  vs.  habit, 

etc *2243 

.Duty  and 3118 

.Elemental,  of  lower 


animals *2244 

,  Freedom  necessary  to .  572 

,  Health  conduces  to.  .  .  1447 

Independent  of  reward 

or  punishment *2245 

in  Intention *2246 

Limited  to  times  and 

seasons 3087 

Not  a  Matter  of  sex. .  .  .  *2247 

,  Obligation  to,  a  primal 

conviction 2436 

and  Science *2241 

and  Science  unite.  .    .  .  2352 

,  Slow  progress  in 473 

,  System  of  Christian   .  .  597 

,  Theory  of 3408 

MORALS,  Foundation  of.     .  .  *2248 
MORAL  SENSE,  Human  con- 
duct the  subject  matter  of.  2053 

MORPHOLOGIST  Welcomes 

evolution 650 

MORTALITY  from  Intemper- 
ance   1732 

.Low  infant,  among 

Jews 1986 

MORTAR  from  Depths  of 

the  earth 3669 

MORTARS  Found  in  all  lat- 
itudes   2133 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


MOSQUITOES  One  great  ter- 
ror of  the  desert.  .  .                    2556 

MOTION,  Pervades    all    Na- 
ture                                            *2268 

MOUNTAIN     CLIMBER 

Changes  environment..  ..         1035 
MOUNTAIN    LAKE     with 
Flowing   stream  636 
,  Undimmed      reflection 
through.  .  .  .                                1945 

MOTH  Assumes  instant    in- 
visibility                     .      *2249 

of  all  Planets                        2434 

Produced  by  heat  ...    .    *2266 
,  Rapidity  of  3345 
-,  Ready,    of    eye    gives 
wide  vision..                              1958 

,  Defense  against  death's 
head  1139 
,  Folds  in    its    brilliant 
wings  2180 
Trusting  its  invisibility  *2250 
MOTHER  and   Babe   perish 
together  —  Pompeii  3117 
,  the  Devotion  of  a.  .  2497,  3752 
,  the    Mother's   care    of 

of  Unexplained  origin.      2320 
,  Water  unfrozen  in              3706 
MOUNTAIN     PEAK     Blown 
away  2306 
,  Changing  cloud  on.  ...      2561 
,  Insects  on.                           1920 

,  Rotary,  of  odorous  par- 
ticles        2512 
in  the  Sidereal  world.  .  .    *2255 
,  Soul  as  cause  of  3146 
of    Stars    and    worlds 
harmonious.  .  .                   .      *2264 

MOUNTAINS  Act  as  conden- 
sers                                                 525 

,  Needless  alarm  of  1562 
,  Sleeping,  hears  babe..  .      3682 
MOTHER  -BIRD   Protected 
by  modest  colors.                         408 

of  Stars  determined.  .  .    *2265 
of  Stars  in  space  1 
•  ,  Stationary  train  seems  in    1559 
,  Sun's  heat   the   source 
of  terrestrial  613 
,  Thought  and,  not  com- 
mensurable. .  .                            3421 

,  Air  on  summits  of,  germ 
free.  .                                             1839 

-,  Beauty  embowered   a- 
mid  inhospitable  330 
,  Bison  tracks  show  best 

Seeks  protection  in 
silence   .                                          820 

MOTHER-BIRDS,  Desertion 
of  young  by.  .  .                           1604 

Cast  into  sea  3024 
.Condensing    vapor  — 
Rainfall                                        3493 

Transformed  into  heat 
....                                   1468  *2267 

MOTHERHOOD,     Authority 
of  291 

,  Uniform,  of  planets.  .  .  .      3527 
within     the    Walls     of 
plants  *2269 
(See  also  MOVEMENT  ) 

Crust  of  earth  wrinkles 
into.  .  .  .                                       2613 

Completes  woman's  des- 

,a  Defense    against 
earthquakes.  .  .                         *2276 

,  Dawning  virtues  of.  ...        732 
,  Evolution  of.  ...  .*2251,  3267 
,  Four  steps  toward  2715 
Higher  than  maternity     2106 
,  Social  life  depends  on  .  .      1910 
the  Task  of  evolution  .  .    *2252 
,  Training  for  *2253 
.     (See  also  MATERNITY; 
MOTHER;  MOTHERS;  WOMAN.) 
MOTHER-LOVE    Unrivalled     1997 
MOTHER-OF-PEARL,  Colors 

MOTION,  ATOMIC,    Electric 
action  by  ....                             711 

,  Disintegration  of  866 
,  Dust    of  916 
,  Dust  on  highest  918 
,  Exceptional    snow-line 
on.  .  .                                            2912 

,  Heat  in  279 

,  Not     convertible     into 
consciousness  598,  *2256 
.    (See      also     ATOM; 
ATOMIC  THEORY;    ATOMS; 
MOLECULAR      THEORY; 
THEORY.) 
MOTIONS,    Planetary,    con- 
stant                                    3393 

.Fertility  of  land    de- 
termined by.                               1225 

,  Frost  breaks  down  ....        801 
of    Glowing    hydrogen 
on  sun  3297 

,  Higher,  give  purer  sky     3220 
of  Eternal  light  *2277 

of    Stars  overwhelm 
thought.  .  .  .                                  437 

MOTHERS  Among  birds.  ...        424 
,  Creation  of,  nature's 
aim                                                2015 

,  Mystery  amid  the  2306 
Piled  by  volcanic  erup- 
tions      *2278 
Precipitate  invisible  va- 
por    1302 
,  Relative    insignificance 
of  949 
,  Rivers  saw  asunder  .  .  .      2570 
,  Seeming  permanence  of 
great  2560 

MOTIVE  Determines  moral- 
ity              2246 

.  Nature's    premium    on 
good                                              2389 

,  Life  without.  .                      1925 

and    Volition    not    me- 
chanically connected  *2270 
,  Love  of  truth  a  suffi- 
cient.                                          3013 

not    Needed    by    early 

at  Top  of  Creation  82 
MOTHS,  Inedible,  mimicked  .      2178 
—  ,  Mimicry    of    larvae    of 
geometer  1028 
,  Wingless  2672 
MOTION,   Animals   have   no 
monopoly  of  2606 

MOTIVES,     Conduct     deter- 
mined by.      .                                73 

Shattered    bv    earth- 
quake—Jamaica      *2279 
,  the  Slow  building  of  .  .  .      2529 
,  Snow-clad  *2280 
,  Stability  of  ancient.  ...      3195 
,  Subterranean     forces 
built  the  430 
,  Wind  changes  contour 
of  3741 
MOUNTAIN     SICKNESS    on 
Pike's  Peak  723 
MOUNTAINSIDE    Raked  as 

do    not    Destroy    free- 
dom        3736 
MOTOR,   Difficulty  and  ad- 
vantage of,  memory  1179 
,  Electric,    results    from 
workman's  mistake  7 
,  The,  memory  3676 

,  Apparent,   of   the   sun 
among  the  stars                       *2254 

Not  to  be  changed  to 

,  Ceaseless,  of  luminifer- 
ous  ether                                    *2257 

MOTOR   APHASIA,    Patient 
recognizes  his  mistakes  in.      3174 
MOUND-BUILDERS,  An- 
tiquity of  201 
,  Artistic   earthworks  of 
American  2271 
,  The,  Creation's  2615 
Had  pottery  196 
,  Inclined  plane  made  by     2694 
.  Measurement      among 
North  American  2126 
^trnfLiirp<*  nf                   *9971    72 

Contrasted  with  appar- 
ent rest  2877 

Converted  into  heat  .  .  .    *2258 
,  Convertible  611 
Creating  heat  *2259 
,  Doubled  or  annulled..  .      3714 
of  the  Earth  discovered     2759 
,  Effect  of  molecular.  .  .  .        397 
Essential  to  life  *2260 
,  Every  star  in  20 
,  First  law  of,  a  matter 
of  faith.  .               .    ..      1196,1544 

by  cannon  shot  299 
MOUNTAIN-TOP,  Cloud 
about  1253 
MOUNTAIN-TOPS,    Insects 
borne  to                                        2666 

Shine  like  rubies  699 
Snow  crystals  on.  .              3133 

MOUSERS,  Fowls    made    ra- 
pacious        1619 
MOVEMENT,  Air  made  hab- 
itable by  2260 

MOUNDS,  Babylonians  built 
on  924 
MOUNTAIN,  Altitude  of,  de- 
termined by  boiling  point  .        618 
,  Anecdote  of  little  bird 
and  976 
,  Bees  on  summit  of  ....      3679 
Carved   from  vaster 
mass  1321 
,  Climate  on  sides  of.  ...          92 
,  Earth  carried  from,  to 
sea  2929 
Engulfed  in  earth  *2273 
Flung  upon  plain.  ....        794 
,  Humming  birds  limited 
to  a  single  1425 
for  a  Plummet  2124 

,  Glacier  1  144 
,  Heat  a  mode  of  1452,  1466 
,  Heat  a  result  of  1454 
,  Heat  long  known  as.  ..    *2261 
and  Life                                 1305 

of  Comets.  .                           3620 

,  Curves  of  ,  are  beautiful     3569 
of  a  Day  changes  face 
of  the  earth  *2282 
,  Easier  by  practise  2697 
of  Entire  solar  system 
through  space  *2283 
,  Exactness  of  3080 
of  Glaciers                             1380 

—  ,  Life  characterized  by.  .      1908 
,  Light  an  indicator  of  .  .      1118 
of    Light    differs    from 
that  of  sound   .  .                        1947 

of  Light  incomprehen- 
sible                        2326 

,  Great  and  small  in  bal- 
anced                                   .        1437 

,  Magnified,  equals  time 
extended  *2262 

,  Illusion  of  1559 
,  Increase    in    force    for 

and  Matter.                         2114 

and  Melody  2135 
,  Mode    of    molecular  — 
Electricity  987 

•  Slowly  sinking                   *2274 

,  Molecular  2009 
,  Molecular,  has  no  sug- 
gestion of  consciousness.  ..    *2281 
of  Mutilated  animal.    .    *2284 
,  One,  pervading  all  sci- 
ences          813 

,  Strata  of  a  
,  Sun    lifts     glaciers    to     3298 
MOUNTAIN-BUILDING   a 
Long    and     complicated 
process  *2275 

,  Myriad  centers  of  3214 
,  Notes  tuned  to  2427 
.  Perpetual—  Craze  2662 
.  Perpetual—  Fallacy  .  .  .      1014 

TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


829 


MOVEMENT  in  Plants *2286-87 

,  Protozoa   show   volun- 
tary         173 

,  Purpose  in,  of  leaves. .  .      2799 

and  Respiration  of  an 

animal 31 

,  Slow ,  through  centuries       932 

Supplies     impulse     for 

succeeding 1603 

Sustained  with  slight  ex- 
ertion     *2285 

,  Walking  an  instinctive     3683 

.  (See  also  MOTION.) 

MOVEMENTS,  Automatic.*2288-91 
— ,  Complicated,  to  avoid 
radiation— Plants 1874 

-  of  the  Earth's  crust  .  .    *2292 

of  Flying-flsh *2293 

.  The  greatest,  least  per- 
ceptible       2760 

,  Intelligence  in  reflex. .  .      2195 

Made  automatic 2699 

,  Molecular,  but  concom- 
itants of  thought 2599 

of  Muscles  assigned  to 

nerve  centers  in  the  brain .    *2294 

,  the  Nature  of  heavenly 

bodies  vs.  the 261 

,  Purpose  of  various,  of 

radicle 2938 

in  Reference  to  ends .  .  .    *2295 

,  Voluntary,  changed  to 

automatic 3676 

MOVING  Bodies 1287 

MOZART  as  a  Composer.,1348,  1569 
MUD,  Deluges  of  volcanic — 

Andes 1247 

an   Important   part    of 

filter 3596 

,  Red.  on  deep-sea  floor.        776 

.  Seeds  transported  in. .  .      3039 

MULE  Drinking  from  cactus     2944 
MULE-JENNY,  Invention   of     1754 
MULTIPLICATION  by  Divi- 
sion, among  bacteria *2296 

,  Memory    depends    on, 

of  associations 2141 

of  Microbes 2168 

of  Pests *2298 

Rapid,  of  bacteria  *2297,  3430 

MULTITUDE  of  Birds  in  up- 
per air *2299 

-,  a    Credulous,    never 

wanting 3415 

MULTITUDES,  Birds  in  sud- 
den         368 

MUNIFICENCE  of  Sun 2369 

MUSCLES  Affected   by  men- 
tal states 1779 

,  Development  of 812 

Drained     to     supply 

higher  life 380 

Feelings    indicated    by 

tension  of 2630 

,  Movements  of,  assigned 

to  nerve-centers  in  brain .  .      2294 

for  Moving  ears 2478 

,  Reserves  of  power  in.  .      2880 

Respond    to    sight    or 

sound 295 

,  Tension  of,  in  rest 2678 

MUSCULARITY,  Animals  in 

deep  sea  found  to  have  less     3229 
MUSEUM,  Ancient,  of  natur- 
al curiosities *2300 

of  Comparative  Zoolo- 
gy   2665 

—  to  Uninstructed  perse  n     3590 
MUSIC,  Automatic  action  in .      2150 

-  and  Church  bells 709 

in  Composer's  soul.  .  .  .    *1348 

Depends    on    chemical 

law 276 

,  Mathematics  in 2107 

,  Natural  instruments  of  *2301 

,  Plaintive *2303 

— ,  Power  for,  does  not  ac- 
company brilliancy  of  col- 
or in  birds 3113 

—  of  Primitive  woman .  .  .      2302 
— ,  Progress  of  taste  for.  .  .      3359 

Reveals     mysteries     of 

mind 2200 


MUSIC  of  the  Spheres 3405 

MUSICIAN,  Automatism  of. .        295 
MUSKET  Compared  with 

bow 239 

MUSK  OX    in  England  and 

France 2040 

MUSKRATS,     Seeds     trans- 
ported by 3039 

MUTABILITY  of  Matter 2120 

MUTILATION,  Effect  of,  on 

animal 2284 

MUTINY,    Imagined    by 

drunken  captain 1746 

MYGALE,  the  Spider  of  Bra- 
zil        369 

MYRIADS  of  Suns. .  .  .    *2304 

MYSTERIES   of   Archaeology  *2305 

Gradually  unfolded.  .  .        991 

of  Mind 2200 

MYSTERY,  Agnosticism  ac- 
cepts        356 

of  Aurora 3168 

Awaiting  solution *2308 

,  Beauty  enhanced  by  .  .        331 

of  Chemical  action  ....    *2312 

of  Color  among  birds. .  .        676 

of  Communion   of  Na- 
ture with  man 1912 

of  Consciousness  .  .  .*2313-15 

as   to   Constitution   of 

the  earth *2307 

,  Contrast  and 2187 

not  the  End  of  inquiry.      2370 

-  behind  Every  theory.  .    *2311 

behind  Evolution *2309 

of  Evil 817,  *2316,  2583 

of  Evolution *2317 

Explained *2310 

of  Extended  conscious- 
ness     *2318 

in  Familiar  things 371 

of  Flight  of  birds *2319 

of  Geology *2320 

-  of  the  Glacial  epoch.*2321-22 
,  Gravitation  a 1399,  1400 

of  Heredity *2323 

of   Interaction   of   mind 

and-brain *2324 

— ,  Scientific *2335 

of  Language 1822 

of  Life 391,  *2325 

of  Light *2326 

of  Lower  organisms. .  .  .      2725 

of  Memory 2137,2313 

amid  the  Mountains  .      *2306 


,  Nature  of  soul  a 

,  Origin  of  life  a 

of   Origin   of   the   red- 
wood  

of  Power  of  antennae. . 

of  Roentgen  rays  .... 


605 
344 


1776 
2476 
*2327 
--   of  Science  ............      3044 

--  ,  Science     confronted 

with  ...................      2976 

--  ,  Science  in  presence  of 

old  ....................      1990 

--  of  the  Seat  of  the  soul.  .    *2329 
--  of  Sensations  .........        758 

--  of  Sleep  ..............    *2328 

--  Solved—  Bacteria  ......    *2338 

--  Solved  —  Comet's  tails.*2336-7 
--   of  Sun's  corona  .......    *2330 

-  of  Sun's  uplifting  power  *2331 
--  Surrounds     facts     of 

science  .................    *2339 

-  Unexplained  .........    *2340 

--  Unfathomable  ........    *2341 

-  of  the  Universe  .......    *2332 

--  of  Volcano  and  earth- 

quake ..................    *2333 

-  Remains  even  to  mon- 

ist  .....................    *2334 

MYTH,  Language  a  source  of     1813 
MYTHOLOGY    and    Ancient 


volcanoes 

-  of  Greeks  ............ 

-  Suggests      botanical 
names  .................. 

-  Tributary   to   psychol- 
ogy .................... 

MYTHS   Created    by    imper- 
sonation 


*2342 
*2343 


1576 

1508 


1595 


--  ,  Disappearance  of  .....    *2344 


MYTHS  about  Manlike  apes  .       833 
-,  Modern,  match  ancient  *2345 


of  Night  and  day 2418 


-,  Origin  of  .  .  . 


2350 


of  Zoology — Gorilla ....   *2348 

of     Zoology — Hair- 
worms, etc *2346 

of  Zoology— Skunk  .  .  .    *2347 

of      Zoology— T  r  e  e  - 

creeper's  nest *2349 

— ,  Origin  of *2350-51 


N 

NAILS,  Bindinga  substitute  for 
Planted  by  South  Sea 

islanders 

,  Savages  planting 

,  Substitutes  for,  among 

American  Indians 

NAME  of  Child  forgotten  by 

father 

,  Fault  branded  with  its 


365 

504 
504 

3285 
2143 

1639 
300 
*2352 
2485 
1227 
2633 

-  873 
1901 

1576 
3179 

369 
*2353 


real. 

,  Hearing  of  one's  own.  . 

,  Importance  of 

,  Origin  of — Gorilla 

,  Origin  of,  of  fetishism. . 

,  Origin  of — Pleiades. .  .  . 

NAMES,  Disputation, or.  rath- 
er than  things 

Help  memory 

,  Mythology  suggests  bo- 
tanical   

NAMING  of  Separate  letters. . 
NARRATIVES,  Confirmation 

of  early 

NARROWNESS  of  Specialist . 

of  Theologian's  idea  of 

God 1387 

NATION      Greater     than 

country 2354 

— ,  Habits  of  a 1423 

NATIONS,  Constellations  rec- 
ognized by  rudest 620 

,  Knowledge  is  power  for     1795 

,  Progress  of 892 

,  Prosperity  of 2768 

,  Terror  of  the 3379 

,  Wandering,     surprised 

by  a  new  Heaven 3209 

NATURAL,  THE,  includes  the 

supernatural 671 

— ,  Shut  from  the  spiritual     2515 
,  Transition  from  to  spir- 
itual   3469 

,  Scripture  associates, 

with  supernatural.  .  688 
NATURAL  FORCES,  Pitiless- 
ness  of 2367 

,  Trustworthiness  of 3495 

NATURALIST,     Enthusiasm 

of  young 1026 

,  Observation  of 3640 

-  Tires  of  humming-bird.       334 
NATURALISTS,  Expectations 

of ,  disappointed 1137 

had  Reasons  for  deny- 
ing deep-sea  life *2355 

Seek  varieties  ...  3610 

NATURAL  LAW  Contrasted 

with  miracle 2218 

,  Difficulty  solved  illus- 
trates       1780 

,  Life  for  others  a 1885 

.  Neglect  of 2772 

,  Phenomena  subject  to     2580 

,  Transgression  of 869 

— ,  the  Working  of,  upon 

human  will 1515. 

Works   to   correct   hu- 
man error 1855 

NATURAL  LAWS,  Ignorance 

of 1554 

Inadequate  for  protec- 
tion of  labor 2775 

,  Mental  laws  are  also.  ..      2190 

Not  negation  of  divine 

power 1739 

,  Revelation  allows  room 

for .      2905 

,  Supersedure  of  ordinary     1862 

Unchanged  through  all 

ages 3516 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


NATURAL   LAWS,    Will 

adapts , 1838 

NATURAL  LIFE,  Definition 


of 


NATURALNESS  of  Seeking 
results  

,  Science  teaches,  of  re- 
ligion   

NATURAL  PROCESSES, 
Leaps  of 

"NATURAL  RELIGION,"  by 
author  of  "Ecce  Homo" 


1900 
2895 


3010 
1865 


1387 


2361 


176 

1100 


NATURAL  SELECTION     of 
Color  in  humming-birds  . . 

Eliminates   imperfec- 
tion  

and  Evolution 

Not  a  cause 2488,  3608 

Not  an  explanation  of 

beauty 2361 

Personified 2572,  3050 

,  Spencer  accepts 468 

Surpasses  human  selec- 
tion 


Used     metaphorically 


explain 


by  Darwin.  . 

Will     not 
man 


2378 
2158 


3051 

NATURE,  Carving  of 2380 

Aids  industries *2357 

.Adaptation  to  use 

throughout 66 

,  Adaptations  in 68 

,  Adaptiveness  of 70 

,  Analogy  of 76 

Anticipates  human  in- 
vention   *2359 

,  Architecture  of 3447 

an  Armory *2358 

,  Artificiality  destroys 

true 234 

,  Beauties  of,  neglected. .  316 

,  Beauty  an  end  in 325 

,  Beauty  and  variety  of  .  *2361 

,  Beauty  of 336 

,  Beauty  in,  objective. ..  332 

,  Blunder  attributed  to  .  385 

Builds  boats  with  water- 
tight compartments *2379 

,  Calm  of 415 

,  Carving  of *2380 

,  Chance  ruled  out  of  ...  454 

,  Christianity  led  to 

study  of .  .  . 494 

,  Communion  of,     with 

man 1912 

,  Compensations  in 562 

,  Confidence  in  order  of, 

shaken 955 

,  Confidence  in  the  order 

of — Science  founded  on ...  2985 

,  Conformity  of,  to  law .  .  *2381 

,  Confusion  of 1813 

,  Conquest    of,   by    sav- 
ages    593 

,  Constancy  of  laws  of . .  .617-18 

,  Continuity  9f 631,  1381 

,  Contemplati9n  of 625 

,  Contrivance  in 646 

a  Cosmos *2356 

,  a  Creative  purpose  in .  .  971 

,  Cruelty  wells  up  from 

the  lower 705 

,  Delusive  calm  of *2362 

,  Description   of  beauty 

of 1322 

,  Design  in 786 

,  Dispute  over,  of  light.  .  292 

,  Distinctions  of,  also  of 

science 821 

,  Division  of  labor  in.  ...  891 

Does  not  explain  man  .  *2363 

,  Dominion  of  man  over. 902, 903 

,  Economy  of 2472 

,  the  Engineering  of  ....  2432 

.Enjoyment    of,  ex- 
pressed in  poetry 1025 

• ,  Equilibrium  of 1046 

,  Expenditure  in 1138 

,  Extravagance  of 1169 

the  First  artificer 88 

of  Force  unknown *2371 

,  Forces  of,  not  blind  .  .  .  1300 


NATURE,  Furnaces  of 2382 

Furnishes  instances  of 

parthenogenesis 2509 

,  Gifts  must  be  worked  for     3498 

Gives  many  hues  from 

three  primary  colors *2384 

-,  Glassmaking 2668 

,  God  of 1306 

of  Gravitation— New- 
ton    3387 

the  Great  parable 2501 

,  Great  resolvent  of *2383 

,  Growth  and  decay  in  .  .      1406 

,  Gulf  assumed  between 

man  and 1414 

,  Habits  show  man's 

composite 1428 

,  Harmony  of 

1358, 1438,  1439,  2107 

,  Harmony  of,  and  hu- 
man mind 1440 

,  Harmony  or  discord 

with 30 

of  Heavenly  bodies 

studied 2598 

,  Human  combinations 

must  act  with 554 

,  Human  ignorance  im- 
agines caprice  in. 1551 

,  the  Human  mind  a  part 

of 1414 

,  Human *2365 

Ignores  man's  dividing 

lines *2366 

Ignores  man's  existence  *2367 

,  Illusion  in 1564 

,  Imaginary  laws  of 2248 

,  Incitements  to  study  of  *2368 

,  Individuality  a  law  of  .      1629 

,  Individual  life      fitted 


into  scheme  of.  . 
-,  Individualism  contrary 


1889 
1627 


to  plan  of.  . 

,  Inequality     a    law    of 

human 

,  Infinity  revealed  in.  .  . 

,  Influence  of,  on  poetry. 

,  Intention  ascribed  t9- . 

,  the  Investigator's     in- 
quiries addressed  to 

Laboratories  surpass 

those  of  man 

,  Law  of,  man  to  follow 

,  Laws  of,  express  pur- 
pose  

,  Laws  of,  the  methods 

of  God 

,  Laws  of,  not  agents  .  .  . 

,  Laws  of,  the  thought  of 

God 

,  Laws  used  in,  as     by 

man 

of    Life    unknown    to 

science 1901 

,  Lower  vs.  higher  unity 

of 

,  Luxuriance  of 

,  Man  a  part  of 

,  Man  bound  by  laws  of. . 

,  Man    emphasizes    vari- 
ations of 

,  Man  imitates.  ........ 

,  Man  knows,  to  be     a 

whole 2067 

,  Man  learns  the,  of  orbs       263 

Man  limits  the  process 


1646 

1657 

1670 

43 

2607 

1342 
1848 

41 

1859 
1857 

1860 
1861 


3530 
1998 
2026 
1256 

2042 
3192 


of 


Man  more  fearful  than  . 
Man's  perversion  of. ... 
Man  taught  by  proc- 


of. 


Masterpieces  of  life  in. 
Mind  and,  interact.  .  .  . 

Mind  a  part  of 

Mind  determines  view 

Mind  interpreting 

Mind  of  man  included 


Modified  by  man 

vs.   the  Movements  of 

heavenly  bodies 

Moves  the  savage 


180 
2054 
3598 

1757 

*2385 

2188 

2190 

2203 
1352 

3186 
2052 

263 
2953 


NATURE,  Munificence  of  ...  *2369 

Must  help  religion 2919 

named  "Matter" *2370 

,  No  short  cuts  in 394 

,  Non-conducting    med- 
ium of *2386 

,  Numerical  relations  in  .  744 

,  Order  of,  one  system  of 

contrivance 647 

,  Ornament  an  end  in.  .  .  324 

Painted  in  shadow *2372 

— — ,  Paradox  of *2387,  2502 

,  Perception  of  external..  *2364 

Perfecting  highest  type  3645 

,  Perfection  of  man  the 

goal  of 2552 

,  Phenomena   of,   misin- 

trepreted 2581 

,  Picture-book  of *2388 

,  Place  of  bacteria  in.  .  .  2606 

,  Power  over 1236 

,  Powers  of 21 

,  Powers  of,  as  energies 

of  persons 1546 

,  Premium   of,   on   good 

mothers *2389 

,  the    Principle  pervad- 
ing all  2730 

,  Profusion  of 3568 

,  Provision    of,    for    ex 

tended  life 215 

,  Provision  of,  for  man .  2780 

a  Pseudonym  for  God  *2360 

,  Purifier *2390 

,  Purpose  in 2801 

,  Purpose  pervades  all. .  .  2796 

a  Reflection  of  mind .  .  .  3731 

,  Response     to     human 

feelings  sought  in 2886 

,  Results  in,  referred  to 

supreme  mind 2074 

,  Retrogressive   develop- 
ment in 806 

,  Revelation  of  God  in ...  2906 

,  Reverence  grows   with 

knowledge  of 2911 

,  Reversal    of    common 

order  of 836 

of  Roentgen  rays  unex- 
plained    2327 

,  Science    increases    ap- 
preciation of 2635 

,  Science  makes,  not  less 

grand 2344 

,  Science  of 2999 

,  Secrets  of *2373 

,  Seeds  in  abundance  in  .  3041 

,  Seeming  waste  in 3695 

Seen  at  work 1311,  *2374 

,  Sense  of  beauty  of 2343 

,  Severance   of  theology 


from. 

Shuts  ants  off  in  favor 

of  bees 

Sifts  food  of  insectiv- 
orous plants 

,  Simplicity  of,  spoiled .  . 

of  Soul  a  mystery 

,  Spiritual  laws  are  laws 

of 

,  Stability  of,  essential 

to  prosperity 

,  Steam-jets  in *2391 

Stimulates  imagina- 
tion.  

Stirs  varied  human 

emotions 

,  Struggle   behind  the 

order  of 

,  the  Struggle  of 

,  Study  of,  in  tropics. .  .  . 

,  Suddenness  in 

,  Supernaturalness  of  ... 

Supposed    to    produce 

monsters 

,  Supreme  purpose  of.  ... 

Surpasses    human    es- 
timate   

Surpasses  man 

,  Surrender   of  animate, 

to  man.  .  . 

,  Threshing-machine  of. . 

,  Titanic  forces  of 


742 
210 

3577 

2343 

605 

742 

3194 
3225 

1581 
*2375 

3258 
2809 
92 
1845 
3010 

385 
2015 

*2377 

*237S 

179 

872 

1301 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


831 


NATURE,  Truth  to,  increases 

poetic  charm  ............      3503 

-  ,  Uniformity  of  .3511,  3512,3515 

-  ,  Uniformity  of  ,  proved  .        260 

-  ,  Unity  of  ............. 

.  158,  3537,  3538,  3540,  3544,  3547 

-  ,  Unity  of,  apprehended 

by  savage  ...............      3539 

-  ,  Unity  of,  a  unity  of 

plan  ....................     2481 


,  Unity  of  —  Familiar  ob- 


3541 


3542 

3545 

741 

3607 


jects  in  strange  land.  . 

,  Unity  of — Man  not  an 

exception 

,  Unity  of  plan  in 

,  Unseen  laboratories  of 

,  Variation  the  rule  in.  .  . 

,  Variety  of, 3621,  3622-23 

,  Warfare  in 3689 

,  Waste  in .  3693, 3694 

,  Wonders  of  ...  .41,  3759,  3760 

,  Work  of,  exceeding,  of 

man.  1341 

,  Wonders  wrought  by .  .      2131 

.     (See  also  LAW;  LAWS 

OF  NATURE;  ORDER;  UNI- 
FORMITY ;  UNITY  OF  NATURE  . ) 
NATURE'S  Chemistry 3360 

Evils    averted    by, 

compensation 3523 

NATURE-STUDY  interests 

children *2376 

,  Value  of 972 

NAUTILUS,  the  Chambered . .        463 
NAVAJO,     Measurement     of 

the— Pole 2129 

NAVIGATION,  Ancient *2392 

,  Chinese  knowledge  re- 
garding         255 

,  Development  of  steam.      3226 

Guided  by  the  stars *2393 

by  Insects *2393 

NAVY,   Excellence   of  cocoa 

prepared  for 1273 

,  Stoppage   of   grog      in 

British *2395 

NEBULA  of  Orion 691,  1346 

NEBULAE  May  be  star-clus- 
ters  

,  All,  once  supposed  re- 
solvable  

,  Analysis  of  existing. . . . 

,  Far-off,  analyzed 

not  Formed  of  stars .  .  . 

,  Many,  are  star  clusters 

of  Many  types 

,  Partially  condensed 

matter 

and  Star-clusters 

,  Stars  and  intermingled. 

,  Stars    and,    discrimin- 
ated  

and  Stars  in  same  great 

group 

not  Wholly    composed 

of  stars *2397 

NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS  an 

Imperfect  sketch 693 

,  Objections  to 1526 

.    (See  also  HYPOTHESIS, 

NEBULAR.) 

NEGROES 1227 

NEANDERTHAL  SKULL  is 

Thoroughly  human 2060 

NEARNESS  in  Time  ascribed 

to  public  events *2396 

,  Vividness    of     memory 

suggests,  in  time 

NECESSITY    of    Action       to 

clench  resolution 

of  Belief  in  causation.. 

,  Belief  in  the  unknow- 
able a 

,  Conception  of    infinity 

a 1659 

of  Conflict *2398 

,  the    Corrective    of    so- 
ciety a 724 

,  the  Factory  system  a..      1754 

,  Fire  a,  of  civilization  .  .      1233 

of     Food    a    cause    of 

migration 1265 

,  Freedom  and 1324 


3228 

1059 
1527 
3170 
3170 
2637 
3257 

683 
3199 
3203 

2908 
3614 


3663 


22 

455 


356 


NECESSITY,  Infinity  a,  of 

human  thought 1654 

,  Man's  likeness  to  lower 

organisms  a 2076 

of  Memory  for  intelli- 
gence       2142 

— • — ,  Metaphor  a 2158 

of  Pain *2399 

,  Parable  a 2501 

— : — ,  Suitable     environment 

a,  of  life 1040 

NECTAR,  Insects  allured  by.        105 
NEED,   Cleanliness  the   first 

great 2177 

.Community    of,    and 

supply 559 

.Discovery  of  men  the 

chief 855 

of  Law  in  spiritual  world.     3458 

,  Right  desire  the  chief.  .      1799 

,  Science      teaches,     of 

faith 1197 

NEEDHAM   Theory   of  "or- 
ganic molecules" 3396 

NEEDLE,     Ancient     knowl- 
edge of  magnetic *2400-01 

,  Attraction  of  the  Sun 

for  the  magnetic 1664 

,  Early,  and  thread 3358 

in    Knee    found     by 

Roentgen  rays 3030 

,  Magnetic,  responds  to 

aurora  borealis 3604 

,  Magnetism  and  the 2185 

.  (See  also  MAGNETIC 

NEEDLE.) 

NEEDLES,  Prisms  like 3133 

in  the  Stone  age 3089 

NEEDLEWOMEN,     Geomet- 


3358 
3358 


1244 
3274 


ric  patterns  of  ancient 

NEEDLE-WORK,    Materials 

used  in  primitive 

NEEDS,    Destroying    power 

ministering  to  human.  .... 
,  Power    of    adaptation 

to  new 

NEEDY,  Help  to  the 1470 

NEGATION  of  Fixed  modes 

gives  man  pre-eminence. .  .    *2402 
,  Use  of  means  not  the, 

of  divine  power 1739 

NEGLECT,    Chinese    astron- 
omers punished  for.  ......        963 

,  Deterioration  resulting 

from *2403 

,  Fatal  result  of 422 

of  Natural  law 2772 

of  Plain  guide  by  Dar- 
win      2802 

of    Sanitation    invites 

disease 2404 

Of  Useless  material 2431 

NEIGHBOR,  Ancient  idea  of 

the *2405 

NEPTUNE,  Discovery  of .  .  .  .     2112 

Found   where   gravita- 
tion demanded 3400 

NERVE,  Atrophy  9f  optic . . .      1991 

,  Speed  of,  action 3178 

NERVE-CENTER,  Power  of 

impression  on  prepared  . .  .      1598 

NERVE-CURRENTS,    Read- 
iness of 2826 

NERVE-FORCE  Capable    of 

exhaustion *2406 

NERVE-STIMULATION  Eas- 
ier by  practise 2697 

NERVE-TISSUE,      Expendi- 
ture of 

NERVES,  Communication  of, 

through  centers *2407 

,  Interpreters    of    the 

world  to  the  mind *2409 

,  Specific  action  of *2408 

NERVOUS  SYSTEM  Made  an 

ally,  not  an  enemy 745 

,  Man  and  tree  differ  in  .      2030 

NEST,  Dwelling  of  gorilla  a 

mere  rude 3238 

,  Jackdaws     build     but- 
tress for 1721 

.  Legend  of  a  tree-creep- 
er's . .  2349 


NESTLINGS    not    timid    if 

gently  approached *2410 

NESTS,  Arctic  birds' 3192 

of  Chimney-swifts 40 

Rebuilt  on  same  sites  .    *2411 

NET  Coeval  with  history.  .  .  .    *2412 

NETS  Provide  man  food 1714 

NE*VE,  Granular  snow  or 918- 

NEURALGIA  Ceasing  during 

lecture 2714 

NEW,  the  Old  and,  unite  in 

system 2450 

NEW    HEAVEN  Surprises 

wandering  nations 32091 

NEW  JERUSALEM,  Founda- 
tions of  the  suggested 3212 

NEWS  Ahead  of  time *2413 

by  Telephone *2414 

NEWSPAPER,  Telephone  in- 
stead of 2414 

NEWTON  Blowing  soap-bub- 
bles         548 

Calculates     depth   of 

fine  film  of  air 1123 

Charged  with  atheism. .      1852 

and  Comet  of  1680 2091 

.Disappointment      and 

Triumph 3487 

Discoverer  of  gravita- 
tion   570,853 

Discovers     the     spect- 
rum      333* 

,  Experiment    with    the 


1977 
2016 


,  Fallibility  of 1062 

Gives  meaning  to  Kep- 
ler's laws 85a 

,  His  doctrine  of  gravi- 
tation      3387 

,  Kepler    the    predeces- 
sor of 3486- 

.  Nature  understood  by.     2334 

,  Objection  of,  answered .      2441 

,  Potential  in  fires  of  sun     1099 

Secures   a    measurable 

film *2415 

,  View  of,  as  to  reflection 

and  refraction .  1068-69* 

NEW    WORLD,    Bison  and 

bear  in 

.Old    world    linked   by 

mammoth  with 

NEW  WORLDS,  Old  and 158 

NEW  YORK,  Climate  of 1171 

NIAGARA,     The    Whirlpool 

rapids  at 3710 

,  Whirlpool  at 3714 

NICHE  of  Science  unfilled.  . .  *2416 

NICIAS,  Death  of 3324 

NIGHT,  Adaptation  to *2417 

,  Endless,    and    endless 

day  on  Mercury 3630 

,  Fire  lifts  pall  of 1240 

Gives    greater    revela- 
tions than  day 3184 

,  Journey  of  birds  by  ...      2516 

Lasting  five  months.  .  .        725 

Made  glorious 2446 

,  Myths    woven    about, 

and  day *2418 

,  Need  of *2441 

,  Ocean     depths     illum- 
ined like  city  street  at.  ...      1938 

a  Source  of  anxiety..  .  .   *2419 

in  Tropical  forest *2420 

Unknown  to  worlds  in 

star-cluster 3779 

Vocal  with  birds  of  pas- 
sage      *2422 

Wraps  the  universe  .  .  .      3296 

,  Day    and,  vs.  rotation 

of  earth 879 

,  Myths  about,  and  day  .    *2418 

NIGHTMARE   of  Anthropo- 
morphism      *242 

.Opium-eater    under 


weight  of 

NIGHT  AND  DAY,  Quad- 
ruple alternation  of 

,  Strange  varieties  of  ... 

NILE,  Animals  ancient  and 
modern  along  the 


595 


3206 
3775 


175 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


473 

460 
314 

839 
2469 
2621 

2426 
1988 
*2425 
303 
3140 


2621 
3692 

*2426 

895 
1003 

1737 

1676 

3231 

467 


NILE,  Elevation  of  bed  of  ... 

NINETEENTH  CENTURY, 
Change  wrought  by 

,  Science  in  Germany  at 

beginning  of 

NINEVEH,  Bas-reliefs  of 

NITER,  Explosiveness  of, 
demonstrated 

NITRATES  the  Necessary 
food  of  plants 

NITRIFICATION,  Bacteria 
of 

Dovetailing  with  de- 
nitrification 

NITROGEN,  Apparent  loss  of 

of  Atmosphere 

,  Bacteria  capture. 

Essential  to  fertility.  .  . 

,  Liquefaction  of 2856 

,  Loss  of,   under  use   of 

alcoh9l *2424 

,  Microbes  fix,  for  plants     2469 

,  Plants  supplied  with  .  . 

,  Stock  of  fixed,  finite.  .  . 

Supplied  to  plants  by 

bacteria 

NOACHIAN  DELUGE,  Ex- 
tent of 

NOBLENESS  of  Emulation .  . 

NOBLES,  Pigeon-breeding  a 
pastime  of 

NON-INHERITANCE  The 
anomaly 

NOON,  Stillness  of  tropic .... 

,  the  Sun  north  at 

NORTH,  Men  of,  lead  the 

world 830 

,  Severity  and  privation 

of  the 3088 

NORTH  AMERICA,  Digger 

Indians  of 503 

— — ,  Plants  of,  found  in  Ja- 
pan   2620 

,  Tropical  animals  in. ...      1536 

NORTHMEN  Boiled  flesh  of 

boar 654 

NORWAY 2526 

.  Reindeer  in 164 

NOTES  of  Song-bird  tuned 

to  motion *2427 

NOT-ME,  Recognition  of  the     2121 

NOVEL-READING  Compar- 
ed with  astronomy 252 

NOVELS,  Reader  of,  shares 

emotions  described 3349 

,  Scott  composing  Wa- 

verley  . 3489 

NOVELTY  of  Youth  becomes 

routine 3793 

NOW,  God's  eternal 1389 

NUCLEI  of  Comets 1061 

NUCLEUS,  Rays  of,  and  pho- 
tosphere conflict 621 

NUGGET  of  Copper 1926 

NUMBER  of  Butterflies  in 

Brazil .  1683 

,  Care  of  offspring  in- 
creases as,  diminishes.  .  .  .  424 

,  Inconceivable,  of  light 

waves 670 

,  Infinite,  not  -eligious.  .      1655 

,  Life  depends  on,  of  at- 
oms   1873 

of  Objects  possible    in 

consciousness *2428-29 

and  Weight  of  atoms.  .        279 

of   Words   in   common 

use 1818 

NURSERIES  of  Barbarism — 

the  Steppes 310 

NURSERY,  Rhymes  of,  as 

history *2430 

NUT,  Bladder 2379 

— ,  Squirrel  burying 376 

NUTATION,  Observation  to 

be  corrected  for .  .  .  2707 

NUTRIMENT,  Store  of,  in 

seed 3237 

NUTRITION  Affected  by 

mental  states 1779 

in  Foods  determined  by 

science 1278 

,  Manufacture  of 2081 


NUTRITION,  Response  of 

plant  to *2431 

,  Unspoiled  appetite 

guide  to 336C 

vs.  Alcohol 140 

NUTS  Crushed  by  macaw's 

bill 1596 

,  Squirrels  planting 3193 

o 

OAK   the  Model  for  the  Ed- 

dystone *2435 

,  Poison,  found  in  Japan     262C 

,  Structure  of  the 1368 

of  the  Tertiary 1864 

OBEDIENCE  to  Nature  leads 

to  dominion 903 

OBELISK,  Figures  on  Egyp- 
tian       1319 

OBJECT,  Change  of,  in  atten- 
tion         283 

,  Digested    by    sun-dew 

leaf..     54 

,  Existence     of     mental 

image  as 1568 

,  How  secured 1874 

,  Infinity  not  an,  of  wor- 
ship       1655 

,  Interchange  of  subject 

and 2324 

-  of  Sleep  of  plant 2778 

,  White  light  may  come 

from  a  black 634 

OBJECTION  to  Nebular  Hy- 
pothesis  *2433-34 

,  Newton's,  answered.  .  .      2441 

Refuted  by  knowledge       207 

OBJECT-LESSONS,  Need  of     1709 
OBJECTS,  All,  held  by  gravi- 
tation         571 

in  Consciousness 2428 

,  Cats  made,  of  worship.       499 

,  Dogs  made,  of  worship  499, 898 

,  Favored,    buried    with 

the  dead 354 

Help  realization *2435 

Hurt  or  help   only  by 

contact 3555 

,  Ideas  not,  but  processes  1547 

,  Light  sifted  by  natural  1943 

,  Location  of,  in  space.  .  1979 

,  Number     of,   in   con- 


sciousness  

— ,  Shape  o£,  discovered 

by  worms 

-,  Visibility  of  distant .  .  . 


2429 

3446 
2690 
OBLIGATION  to  Morality 

primal  conviction *2436 

,  Sense  of  moral 1092 

OBLITERATION    of    Family 

life 1393 

of  Instinct *2437 

of  Weak  by  strong.  .          1599 

OBLIVION  a  Result  of  hasty 

learning 680 

OBSERVATION,  Check  of ...  1575 
,  Confirmation    of    Solo- 
mon's... . 1397 

— ,  Experiment  and  theo- 
ry in  science 438 

,  Experiment  superior  to  2816 

,  Faculty  of  trained 972 

Finds     natural     differ- 
ences   3622 

,  Geology  needs  wide. .  .  .        701 

,  Limited     opportunities 

for 3306 

,  Man  tests  results  of. ...      2067 

Misinterpreted *2438 

Needs     correction     by 

deeper  knowledge 2707 

One  of  the  four  pillars 

of  science 2986 

,  Personal  difference  of.  587 

,  The  personal  equation 

in 1631 

, 'Popular,  true 3020 

,  Popular,  verified  by 

science 3501 

,  Precision  of 2706 

,  Protracted 258 

,  Science  teaches  correct 

habits  of,..                           .  *2439 


OBSERVATION,  Scientific  .  . 

,  Speculation  confirmed 

by 

of  Transit  of  Venus 

not  possibly  exact — Plane- 
tary atmosphere 

,  Wide  inference  from 

partial 

OBSERVATIONS  Combined 
to  locate  Celestial  objects. 
.Exactness  of  New- 


2571 
3171 


3509 
856 


560 
3630 


comb's. 

,  Kepler    a    theorist 

the,  of  others 1125 

OBSERVER,  Accident  helps 

trained 12 

,  Change  of,  affects  ob- 
servations   2571 

,  Color  dependent  on. .  .  .        536 

,  Experimenter    d  i  ff  e  r  s 

from 1152 

Held  to  be  ruler  of  the 

winds 2351 

,  Mind  of,  determines 

views 2203 

,  Perception  depends  on 

mind  of 2346 

OBSERVERS,  the  Greeks 

careful 347 

OBSTACLES,    Unimagined .  .    *2440 

,  Waves  of  light  flow 

around *244 1 

OCCASIONS,  Civilization  re- 
moves, for  fear 510 

OCCIDENT  Indebted  to  Ori- 
ent   2401 

,  United  to  Orient  by 

Mediterranean *2442 

OCEAN,  The  almshouse  of 

the 147 

Animals 1773 

,  Bed  of — Micro-organ- 
isms in  2170 

— ,  Bed  of,  lifted 948 

Blockaded   by   floating 

rock. 


ed. 


-,  Cities  where,  once  roll- 

l.  .  .  , 

-,  Color    rivals    blue    of, 

depths 

,  Coral  resists  waves  of.  . 

,  Currents  of  aerial 

,  Depth     of     rocks     on, 

floor 

— ,  Earth's  crust  afloat  on 

a  plastic 

-  Equalizes  climate 

— ,  Fathomless,  of  air 

,  Freedom  of  communi- 
cation in 

-,  Hues     of     animals     in 


*2443 
1733 

335 

1772 
3156 

2935 

947 

3371 

266 

*2444 


depths  of 1512 

— ,  Illumination  of 1555 

— ,  Infinity    suggested    by 

the 1658 

,  Life  in 3783 

— ,  Molten,    under    earth's 

crust 3141 

— ,  No  part  of,  azoic 3560 

,  Phosphorescence  of .  .  . 

1944, 2445-46,  2588-89 

— .Phosphorescence  of, 

due  to  animals 3758 

— ,  P9ssible  irruption  of ...    *2447 

— ,  Rivers  in  the 2926 

— ,  Sun's  chromosphere  an, 

c.f  fire 3297 

—  Supposed  less  than  the 

land 764 

—  Transformed    by     sea- 
gulls       2962 

—  Wave  heaved  on  shore 

by  earthquake 3098 

— .    (See  also  SEA.) 
OCEAN  DEPTHS,  Changes  of 

form  in 2230 

— ,  Exploration    of.  .  .1156,    2907 
— ,  Illuminated    by    phos- 
phorescent animals 1938 

—  Intensely  cold 3372 

,  Life  in 1895,  3783 

.Light  in 1937 

,  Pressure  in. .          1895 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


OCEAN  DEPTHS  Reveal  no 

new  life 1137 

,  Stillness  in 3230 

,  No  sunlight  in 2534 

Formerly   supposed  to 

be  lifeless *2448 

Till  lately  unexplored.      2907 

— ,  Vegetable  lifelackingin     1922 

,  Volcanic  dust  in 779 

OCEAN    FLOOR    Covered 

with  rock  debris 867 

of  the  North  Atlantic.  .    *2449 

OCEANICA,  the  Sennit  of...        365 
OCEAN  ROCKS,  Coal  buried 

under 1734 

OCEANS,  Command  of  two.  .          93 

,  The  lowest  depths  of. .  .      3799 

,  Persistent 627 

OCEAN  STEAMERS,  Kayak 

vs 1783 

OCEAN     WAVES,     Caverns 

carved  by 442 

OCELOT  Invisible  by  color .  .      2087 
ODIOUSNESS  From  insipidity     3067 
ODOR,  Air  laden  with  phos- 
phorescent        3592 

,  Viewless  particles  of.  .  .      2512 

ODORS  Chemically  produced    1257 

,  Habitual,  unnoticed..  .      1609 

ODYSSEY   Finds  parallel  in 

New  Zealand 2345 

OENEUS  of  Euripides    men- 
tions lodestones 2008 

OFFENCES,  Great  and  small,  + 

treated  alike 1622 

OFFENDERS,  Juvenile 698 

OFFICE,  Mail  sent   through 

distributing 2407 

,  Selection   the,   of   con- 
sciousness         491 

OFFICER,  Anecdote  of  mili- 
tary       1422 

Awakes    at    the    word 

"Signal" 2671 

OFFSPRING,  Care  of,  among 

birds 423 

Not  children 177 

,  In  care  of 424 

,  Wasps  providing  for. .  .      3690 

OIL  Obtained  from  poppies 

by  lake  dwellers 121 

OLD,  The,  unites  with  new 

to  form  system *2450 

OLD  TESTAMENT,   Seers  of       682 
OLD  WORLD,  America  the       155 

and  New  World 158 

,  Bison  and  bear  in.  ....      1977 

,  Mammoth    links    with 

New  World 2016 

OLYMPIC  Games 2916 

OMAHA,  Measurement  of  the, 

arrow 2129 

OMEN  Fulfills  itself *2451 

,  Hunter's ; 

Reversed  by  science. .  .    *2452 

OMISSION  by  Ancient  writer  *2453 
OMNIPRESENT,  The,  is  Om- 
niscient      2717 

OMNISCIENCE  is  Foreknowl- 
edge     *2454 

,  Reading  past  in  present       477 

,  Reading    of    character 

involves  knowledge  not  less 

than 2827 

ONE,  Perhaps  all  elements.  .      3552 
ONTOGENESIS    and    Phylo- 
genesis     *2455 

OPAQUE,    the,    made   trans- 
parent by  Roentgen  rays .  .     3555 

,  Roentgen     rays     make 

the,  transparent 3655 

OPERATION  of  Law  of  mo- 
tion       1544 

OPENING  of  the  Pacific 1691 

OPINION    Changed    with 

knowledge 418 

OPINIONS  on  Authority *2456 

OPIUM,   Coleridge   a  victim 

of 1192 

Habit  best  broken  short 

off 1419 

,  Intoxication    produced 

by 1745 


OPIUM  EATER,  Conscience 

active  in, 595 

,  Paralysis  of  will  of.  ...        595 

OPOSSUM,  Range  of 1213 

,  on  Treeless  plains 1188 

OPPORTUNITIES    of  Stone- 
mason in  geology 235 

OPPORTUNITY,     Flowering 

time  of  impulses  an 1606 

,  Limits  of,  rather  than 

power  of  the  mind 2191 

,  in  Line  of  natural  ten- 


dency     *2457 

,  Practical,    and     moral 

power 2883 

OPPOSITES     Connected    by 

slight  gradations 

United 

OPPOSITION,  Delight  in 


*2458 
*2459 
*2460 
2986 


,  Science  "foursquare to" 
OPPRESSION,  Hateful— Ty- 
rant despised *2461 

Opens   way   for   pesti- 
lence      2404 

of  Woman 2958 

OPPRESSORS,     Degradation 

of  animal 714 

OPTICS,  Illusion 3142 

OPTIMISM  of  Liebnitz 2316 

ORANG  Does  not  use  sticks . .     1 178 

in  Equatorial  forests.  .        833 

,  Fables  about 1178 

,  Young,  under  mother's 

care 1649 

ORB,  Crystalline,  of  poetry .  .      3559 
,  Delicacy    due    to    cen- 
tral— the  Sun 3302 

ORBIT  of  the  Earth  as  base 

of  star  measurement 1956 

,  Earth's,      crossed      by 

comet 1430 

of  Mars 2568 

ORBITS,  Maze  of  asteroidal. .     2122 

,  Parabolic,  of  comets  .  .      2658 

,  Spectroscope  measures, 

of  stars 876 

ORBS,  Man  learns  nature  of.        263 
ORCHID,  Contrivance  for  fer- 
tilizing         643 

,  Device  to  secure  cross- 
fertilization  in ;••-.•••        802 

,  Evidence  of  design  in .  .        784 

,  Evolution  in 684 

,  Extent  of  progeny 

of  one 3693 

,  Rostellum    of,   set  like 

hair-trigger 757 

,  Structure  of,    compels 

bee  to  gather  pollen 3410 

ORCHIDS,  Beauty  of 337 

,  Fertilization  of 784,  1138 

,  Fertilization  of,  by  in- 
sects         105 

Fertilized  by  bees 1889 

,  Insects    compelled    to 

fertilize.  .  3528 


Labellum  in.. 
Modification    of 


parts 


50 


2231 
3491 


,  Numerous  species  of. . . 

,  Precautions     against 

self-fertilization  of 1627 

,  Seeming  capriciousness 

of 1551 

ORDER,  Appreciation  of,  of 

nature 2635 

,  Chance    does   not  give     1046 

of  Evolution  reversed.    *2463 

,  Ideal,    of    arrangement 

— Anatomy 160 

,  Intelligence  of  high 1727 

,  Law  as  an  observed,  of 

facts .      1837 

,  Likeness  found  only  in 

an,  of  thought 672 

,  Prosperity  made  possi- 
ble by  social 2767 

Requires     organizing 

mind *2464 

of  Nature,  confidence  in 

the 2985 

,  of  Nature,  Confidence  in 

shaken.  .  955 


ORDER,  of  Nature,  Conflict 

behind  the 3258 

of  Nature — Contrivance      647 

,  Reversal  of  common,  of 

nature 836 

amid     Seeming     acci- 
dents     *2462 

of  Starry  host *2465 

ORGAN,  Brain  the  essential 

of  knowledge 404 

,  Purpose  of  supposedly 

useless 1363 

Takes   from    blood    its 

own  material 3044 

ORGANIC  FORMS,  Inex- 
haustible variety  of 52 

ORGANIC  LIFE,  One  plan  of.     2479 

ORGANIC,  THE,  and  the  in- 
organic   1416 

,  the  Inorganic  shut  off 

from 2515 

ORGANISM,  Adaptiveness  of 

the  human. 69 

,  Correlation  in,  revealed 

by  disease 3525 

Determines  disease. .  . .   *2466 

Determines  survival. .  .      3337 

,  Food  affects,  of  birds  .  .      1261 

,  Guardian      Leucocytes 

powerless  to   save  an  en- 
feebled      2772 

,  Habit  a  result  of  bodily     1418 

,  Human,  like  keyed  in- 
strument    1695 

,  Light  and  sound  ex- 
ternal to  human. 1927 

More   controlling  than 

conditions *2467 

,  No,  exactly  like  parent     1629 

Protecting  itself 38 

,  Sacrifice  of  lower,  for 

higher 2942 

,  Scientific  structure  in 

living 991 

,  Stores  of  one,  appro- 
priated by  another 2227 

ORGANISMS,  Activities  in 

elementary , 32 

,  Advance  of  knowledge 

in  living 80 

,  Age  of  deep-sea 108 

Borne  by  fallen  tree  .  . .     3680 

,  Change  of  eyes  to  suit. .       462 

,  Cliffs  built  by  minute.  .       220 

,  Color  of  marine 242 

,  Deep-sea,  fossils  of  the 

chalk  resemble 56 

,  Deep-sea,  perish  at  sur- 
face   1007 

,  Deep-sea,  with  movable 

plates 56 

,  Distribution  of  animal .        712 

,  Eyeless,  in  deep-sea.  .  .     2587 

,  Fermentation  the  prod- 
uct of  living 1221 

,  Fermentation  traced  to 

living 1153 

,  Giant,  perishable 2016 

,  Higher,    co-operating 

with  lower *2468 

,  Injurious,  live  only  in 

favorable  medium 1040 

.Invested  with  power 

of  self -creation 3050 

Less    harmful        than 

their  products — Bacteria.      1680 

,  Lower,   flourish   where 

fish  die 1246 

,  Lower,  help  higher.  .  .  .    *2469 

,  Man's  likeness  to  lower     2076 

,  Marine 1409 

,  Microscopic 774 

,  Microscopic,  numerous.  *2470 

,  Mystery  in  lower 2725 

Neither  plant  nor  ani- 
mal     *2471 

,  Problem  of  first 730 

,  Provision  in  lower  ....      3707 

,  Social *2472 

,  Structural  relation  of .  .          44 

,  Transparency  of  m i - 

nute 1898 

,  Unity  of  origin  of 3549 


834 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ORGANIZATION    not    the 

Cause  of  life *2473 

of  Industry *2474 

of  Labor *2475 

,  Life  of 1890 

,  Life  the  cause  of 1916 

,  Power  by,  of  labor 1022 

,  Social,  of  ants 1722 

,  Tyranny  of  bad  mental     1045 

ORGANS,  Adaptation  of,  to 

mind 52 

.Adjustment  of,  for 

musical  effect 75 

,  Correspondence  of  ani- 
mal   672 

,  Different,  with  similar 

function 3746 

,  Distinctive,  mark  high- 
er types 890 

,  Growth  and  decay  of  .  .    *2480 

,  Interchange  of  func- 
tions of 562 

,  No  new,  acquired 1228 

.Phosphorescent,  of 

marine  animals 1109 

,  Plan  revealed  in  rudi- 
mentary   2612 

,  Rudimentary — in  ani- 
mals   1954, *2477-79 

,  Rudimentary — in  Man  *2478 

of  Sense— Ants *2476 

,  Tools  take  place  of  new     3048 

of  Touch 563 

,  Useless,  destroyed 1884 

,  Vital 1897 

ORIENT,  Occident  indebted 

to 2401 

and  Occident  united..  .      2442 

ORIENTATION  of  Great  pyr- 
amid           17 

ORIGIN  of  Curiosity  and 

wonder 3068 

of  Deep-sea  life *2482 

of  Fable  of  Mermaid  .  . .     2151 

: of  Fire 845 

of  Force  unknown 1857 

of  Geology 1359 

of  Geometry *2483 

.Human,  of  artificial 

work  manifest.  ..........        102 

,  Human,  of  flint  im- 
plements   789 

of   Idea   and   name   of 

fetishism 1227 

,  Independent,  of  struc- 
tures   *2490 

,  Lake  of  unexplained. .  .      2320 

of  Life  a  mystery 344 

of  Man.. *2481 

of    Mariner's    compass 

lost *2484 

of  the  Name  "gorilla".    *2485 

of  the  Name  Pleiades .  .     2633 

,  Recent,  of  man 2043-44 

of  the  Redwood  mys- 
terious        1776 

of  Religion 2868,  *2486 

,  Remote,  of  mh,n 195 

Requires  creative  power      344 

of  States  of  conscious- 
ness    *2487 

,  Theories  of,  of  caves .  .  .     3394 

of   Variation   unex- 
plained  *2488-89 

of     Species    through 

struggle  and  conflict 3258 

of    Species,     Darwin's 

theory  of 2488,  3049 

of  Species  not  due  to 

hybri  d  i  s  m — H  u  m  m  i  n  g  - 
birds 1517 

ORIGINAL,  Life  shown  in 
picture  thought  to  be 
taken  away  from 3321 

,  an,  Product 123 

ORIGINALITY  in  Investiga- 
tion   1760 

ORIGINATORS  and  follow- 
ers   *2491 

ORINOCO  Thought  a  river 

of  Paradise 1579 

ORION,  Nebula  of 691 

,  Wonders  of 858 


ORIOLE,  Migration  of.  .  , 

ORIOLES,  Color  of 

Return  to  homes .  . 

ORNAMENT  before  Clothing. 

an  End  in  nature 

,  Use  and,  connected 


1778 
1047 
2411 
2061 
324 
3569 

ORNAMENTS  Used  by  cave- 
dwellers 2862 

ORNITHOLOGY  Encouraged 

by  Queen  Isabella 1666 

ORPHANS,  All  elementary 

animals 2251 

OSTRACISM,  Torture  of 2078 

OSTRICH  of  America *2492 

in  the  Desert 2556 

,  Eggs  of,  as  water- ves- 

2006 


-,  Structure  of — Compar- 
ative anatomy 

,  Wings  of,  not  for  flight 

OTHER  WORLDS,  (See 
WORLDS.) 

"OUGHT"     in     Automatist 


160 
70 


1820 


use 

OUTBREAK,  Preparation  for 

violent 2935 

OUTCASTS  of  Humanity *2493 

OUTLET,  Bitter  waters  with 

no 636 

,  Lake  without 2306 

OUTLOOK  Enlarged  by  tele- 
scope        2494 

OUTSET,     Alcoholic     excess 

from,  in  heredity  of  idiot .  .      1492 

,  Success  at 3288 

OVERCOMING,     The,     of 

death 2949 

Not   removal   of   diffi- 
culties       1764 

OVERSTED I860 

OVERTHROW,  Buoyancy 

1537 

895 
1047 
2417 
*2495 

39 
1332 

612 
2940 
2743 
1404 

1934 
716 
1614 
2856 

2207 
1018 
2656 
890 
623 


,  Christianity  not  shaken 

by,  of  dogmas 

OWL,    Deceptive    coloration 
of 

.     (See  also  SNOWY  OWL.) 

OWLS,  Dusky  color  of . 

OWNERSHIP,  Sense  of 
sential 

OX  Follows  man,  meets 
man's  enemies 

OXEN  Frozen  in  river. 

OXIDE  OF  CALCIUM,  Lime 
is 

OXYGEN,  Burning  of  a  dia- 
mond in 

Not  a  cause  of  fermen- 
tation  

Combined  with  hydro- 
gen  

not  Consumed  by  elec- 
tric light 

the  Destroyer 

Heavier  than  carbon. .  . 


,  Liquefaction  of. 

Ministers  to  mental  and 

spiritual  life 

Obtained  from  water.  . 

OYSTER,  Actions  of 

OYSTERS  

Fattened  on  sewage.  . . 


PACE   as   Primitive  unit   of 

measure 2130 

PACIFIC,  North 1751 

— ,  Opening  of  the 1691 

PACK  Scattering  when  on 

thin  ice 2946 

PACKS,  Cats  never  hunt  in .  .  1634 

PAIN,  Anaesthetics  deaden  .  .  1516 

— ,  Cost  of 675 

—  Due  to  discord *2496 

— ,  Emotion    makes    man 

insensible  to 1995 

— ,  Expression  of 2630 

— ,  Happiness  involves  ele- 
ment of 1434 

—  from  Imaginary  wound  2677 

— ,  Insensibility  to 3150 

— ,  Intense,  annuls  space.  .  3420 

—  Latent  in  joy *2497 


PAIN,  Love  converts,  to  joy  .      1995 

,  Mission  of 1001 

,  Necessity  of 2399 

— ; — ,  Preoccupation  produces 

insensibility  to 2714 

,  Progress   by   disregard 

of 2748 

from   Restraint   of  ac- 
tion   3550 

PAINLESSNESS  of  Lightning 

stroke 610 

of  Severe  electric  shock     2676 

of  Violent  death  .  .  .          *2498 

PAINS,  Steadfast  bodily,  un- 
noticed   

PAINT,  Mortars  for,  found  in 
all  latitudes 

PAINTING  of  Ancient   stat- 
uary  

,  Egyptian *2499 

,  Infancy  of 3021 

,  Perception  of  light  in 

illusive.  .  .  . 

PAINTINGS,  Greek 

PAIRS  Strangely  assorted. 

PALATE,  Function  of  the  . 

PALEOZOIC,   Chalk-beds  o 
the,  period 

PALISADE  Trap  for  the  con- 
dor   

PALISSY  the  Huguenot  pot- 
ter  

PALL,  Fire  lifts,  of  night 

PALM,  Arctic  lichen     under 

shadow  of 

,  Beauty    and     majesty 


1609 
2133 


3022 


2541 

2499 

*2500 

3360 

1734 
2823 

3757 
1240 

3541 


combined  in 

,  Beauty  of  the  tropic .  .  . 

,the  Fan,  of  South 

America 

,  Structure  of  the 


PALMS  in  Tropics  only 
PALM-TREES  Seen  in 


321 
322 


2815 
1368 


.1462,3575 


1172 
338 


PAMPAS,  Grass  of  the 

,  Hairless  cattle  of  South 

American 561 

PAMPERO  on  South  Ameri- 
can pampas 2340 

PANICS,  Imitative  tendency 

produces 1582 

PANTHEISM        Harmonized 

with  divine  personality. .  .  .      2074 

PANTHER  Invisible  by  color.     2087 

PAPER  an  Invention  of  in- 
tellect        2759 

PARABLE,  Nature  the  great.     2501 

a  Necessity *2501 

PARABOLA,  Hyperbola,  etc., 

merge  into 2458 

PARADISE,  Mohammedan.  .      3056 
— ,  Orinoco  thought  a  river 
of 1579 

PARADOX  of  Nature— Gla- 
cier under  lava-stream *2502 

,  Nature's 2387 


PARALLAX  of  Stars  deter- 
mined   

—  of  Stars  not  found 

PARALYSIS  of  Investigation 

,  Materialism  nieans. .  .  . 
of  Will  of  opium-eater  . 

PARALYTIC,  Adaptation  of, 
to  new  conditions , 

PARASITE,  Definition  of..  .  . 
— ,  Injury  from,  to  silk- 
worm   

— ,  Mistletoe  a 

— ,  Structure  of  the 

PARASITES   Avoid    inedible 

insects 

— ,  Degenerate 

—  Have    brought    famine 
to  man 

—  Minister  to  decay 


*2503 
726 
2075 
2101 
595 

53 

*2504 

*2505 
2227 
2896 

2770 
755 

3256 
743 

Among  plants 1994 

Saprophytes  and 3584 

Selfish  plants 3057 

in  Unreal  rest 2891 

PARASITISM  a  Cause  of  de- 
generacy   *2506-07 

,  Combination  for  mutual 

advantage  not 2514 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


PARASITISM.  A  relapse  into. 

in  Theology 

PARBUCKLE  Substitute  for 
roller  and  pulley 

PARCELS,  Wasp  cutting 
prey  into 

PARENT  and  Child  unknown 
to  each  other 

,  Fear  taught  nestling  by 

,  Infancy  calls  out  un- 
selfishness of 

,  No  organism  exactly 

like 

PARENTS,  Devotion  of, 
among  birds 

PARIS,  Ancestry  of  prisoners 


,  Remains  of  reindeer 

near 

PARLIAMENT  of  England 
prohibiting  child-labor  .  .  . 

PARROT  Attacks  sheep 

,  Brilliant  coloring  of .  .  . 

of  New  Zealand 

PARROTS,  Color  of,  changed 

by  food f 

in  South  America 

Why,  are  green 

PARSIMONY    in    Conscious- 
ness   

,  Law  of 

PART,  Ability  to  fix  on  par- 
ticular, in  a  harmony 

,  Clothing  is  almost,  of 

self 

,  Every,  of  world  habit- 
able   

,  the  Human  mind  a,  of 

nature 

,  Man  a,  of  nature 

,  One,  serves  many  pur- 
poses  

,  Scum  and  mud  most 

important,  of  filter 

P  A  R  T  H  E  NOGENESIS,  In- 
stances of 

PARTICLES,  Composite,  too 
small  for  microscope 

,  Fine,  make  blue  of  sky. 

,  Minute,  of  contagion.  . 

,  Minute,  cut  through 

solid  cliff 

not  Revealed  by  micro- 
scope   

Smaller      than      light- 


,  Smallest,  reflect  small- 
est waves 

,  Supposed,  of  light 

,  Ultimate,  of  matter  in- 
conceivable   

,  Viewless,  of  odor 

,  of  Water 

PARTICULARS,  Correspond- 
ence fails  in 

,  Perception  of 

PARTNERSHIP  of  Heat  and 
cold 

PARTNERSHIPS  in  Vegeta- 
ble kingdom 

PARTS  of  the  Brain  interde- 
pendent   

,  Co-ordination  of,  for  re- 
sult   

,  Correlation  of,  revealed 

by  disease 

,  Similarity  in  structure 

of  diverse ; .  .  . . 

PASHIUBA,  Roots  of 

PASSAGE,  Birds  of— Night 
journeys 

,  Birds  of,  allured  to  de- 
struction   

From  one  kingdom  to 

another  impossible 

PASSES,  Best,  shown  by  bi- 
son tracks. 

PASSING  of  Unseen  hosts.'  '.  '. 

PASSION,  Development  de- 
pendent on 

Subdued.  . 

PASSIONS  Stimulated  by  'in- 
temperance   


2623 
2384 

3727 
2945 

181 
1215 

1648 

1629 

423 

139 

164 

1515 

464 

48 

464 

1261 
2420 
3492 

*25C8 
293 

285 
1158 
1896 

1414 
2026 

68 

3596 

*2509 

3123 
539 

2878 

1049 

2510 

*2510 

3125 
*2511 

1970 

*2512 

3712 

669 
3763 

*2513 

*2514 

244 

787 

3525 

3617 
412 

2422 

1208 

*2515 

2603 
*2516 

1007 
2609 

1731 


PASSIVITY  vs.  Actual  repeti- 
tion in  learning 24 

PAST,  Appeal  from  illusive 
present  to  certainties  of 
the 213 

,  Facts  of,  in  frame  of 

present 1186 

,  Future  based  upon  a. .  .      1335 

,  a  Future  in  study  of ...      1 155 

Gives  assurance 1506 

a  Guide  for  the  future.  .  *2517 

,  Life  in  the 1499 

Limitless 977 

Made  to  seem  remote .  . 

,  Present  causes  active  in 

,  the  Present  in  the 


2518 
28 
1355 
2718 
2241 


,  Present  the  key  to .... 

,  Progress  in,  as  in 

,  Relics  of  ancient,  in 

present 

,  Resurrection  of  the, 

buried 

,  Science  brings,  to  pres- 
ent  

,  Sea-coast  tells  story  of 

the 

,  the,  of  Stars  is  our  pres- 
ent  

,  Stress  of  emotion  makes 

seem  distant 

,  Triumphs  of  evolution 

in  the 

PASTEUR,  Care  of,  in  experi- 
ments  

,  Method  of 

,  Real  cause  of  fermen- 
tation discovered  by 

1  Saves  silk  culture 

and  Silkworms 

Spontaneous  genera- 
tion denied  by 

Traces  fermentation  to 

living  organisms 

and  Tyndall 1344 

PASTEURIZATION  of  Milk.      3009 
PASTIME,    Clearing    around 

homes  a  resource  for 

of  Kings 

PATAGONIA,  Birds  winter- 
ing along  coast  of 

PATENT,  the  First 

PATERNAL  VIRTUES  Dif- 
ferent from  maternal 

PATH  of  Amazon 

,  Arrowhead  in  garden .  . 

,  Bobolink  follows  an- 
cestral  

,  Dust  makes,  of  sun- 
beam visible 

,  Earth's,  in  space 

of  a  Pendulum. .  .  . 

PATHOGENIC  Bacteria 
compete  with  saprophytic 

PATHS  in  Brain  deepened  as 
traversed 

PATHWAYS  for  Light 
through  solids 

PATIENCE  of  Astronomer.  ..  *2527 

and   Exactness  of  sci- 
ence       2503 

and  Industry  evinced — 

Monkey 1761 

of  Motherhood 732 

Rewarded 2902 

of  Science  *2522-26 , 3352 , 3487 

PATIENT,  Anaesthetics  dead- 
en pain  for 

,  Exclusion  of  bacteria 

helps  surgeon  and 

,  To  kill  microbes  with- 
out killing 

PATIENTS,  Immunity  of.  ... 

,  Reduced  to  keep  down 

fever 

PATRIOTISM,  Growth  of..  .  . 

PATTERN  Reyealed  in  ani- 
mal homologies 

on  Surface  of  mercury . 


2860 
2137 
1267 
3025 
3462 
3255 
*2519 

1124 

287 

2743 
2893 
2712 

1344 
1153 


170 
1737 

2174 
2916 

3648 

*2520 

102 

1677 

915 
457 
569 

3261 

2826 
*2521 


1516 
2338 

865 
202 

379 
1412 

672 
339 
PATTERNS,  Early,  of  textile 

fabrics ..     3383 

,  Geometric,    of   ancient 

needle-work 3358 

PAUL  the  Apostle 597 


PAUPERISM,   Provision 

against 

PEA  Raised  by  lake-dwellers 

PEACEFUL  Travelers 

PEACE,  Influence  of  woman 

for 

,  Woman  the  inventor  of 

the  arts  of. .  . 


2644 
121 
594 

*2528 

3091 
1009 


1805 
313 


816 

187 


PEACH  TREES,  Enemies  of. 
PEAK,    Changing    cloud    on 

mountain 2561 

PEAKS,  Volcanic,  the  work  of 

time *2529 

PEAT,  Formation  of 2374 

PEBBLES,  Calculation  by ...       413 

,  Cutting  power  of 1295 

PECCARY  in  South  America     2420 
PECULIARITIES      of      Geo- 
graphic distribution *2530 

of  Memory 2148 

PEDAGOGY  Independent  of 

psychology 2786 

,  Laws  of  .  .  2480 

PEKIN,  Climate  of 1171 

PEN,    Record    graven    with 

iron 715 

PENALTY,  Deterioration  the, 

of  neglect 2403 

of  Disuse *2531 

of  Parasitism 2507 

PENDULUM,  Path  of  a 569 

Tells  form  of  earth ....   *2532 

PENETRATION   of   a   Great 

mind *2533 

of  Light  through  water  *2534 

PENTATEUCH  in  Harmony 

with  archaeological  fact .  .  .    *2535 

PEOPLE,  Common,  touched 

by  melancholy 2303 

,  Discovery  by  plain ....        846 

,  Emotion     among     the 

common 1002 

— — ,  Lake-dwellings    of   liv- 
ing  

PEOPLES,  Basket-making  of 
primitive 

,  Device  common  to  di- 
verse  

,  Granaries  of  primitive. 

PEPPER-POT     of     Tropical 

America *2536 

PEPSIN,  Ancient  remedy  val- 
ued for 2963 

PERCEIVING,  Seeing  without    3042 

PERCEPTION  of  Colors  lim- 
ited      *2540 

of    Dangers   and   diffi- 
culties       2460 

of    Empty    time    vast 

and  dreary 3067 

,  False  interpretation  of 

—Illusion 1566 

— ,  Illusion  of 1562 

,  Increased   by   habitual 

attention *2537 

.Instantaneous,  may 

teach  eternal  truth 

,  Intuitive,  of  genius..  .  . 

Largely  psychical  .... 

— —  Leaves  its  traces 

of  Light  in  painting, 

illusive 

Needed  for  successful 

selection *2538 

of   Particulars  vs.  the, 

of  the  whole 3763 

of  a  Plan  in  nature 3538 

,  Power  of,  among  sav- 
ages    *2543 

,  Quickness  of 3345 

Reacts  upon  thought .  . 

Relative 

of  Time  and  space  dis- 
turbed by  hashish *2542 

an  Ultimate  fact  of  life     1919 

PERCEPTIONS,  Needless, 

become  unconscious 

PERFECT,  Man  not . . 

PERFECTING  of  Mammals. . 

PERFECTION  of  Animal  se- 
cured by  natural  selection . 

of  Apparatus   gives 

surer  results 1805 


1140 

2842 

*2539 

960 

*2541 


*2544 


2508 
2057 
3645 

176 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


PERFECTION  by  Diversity  .      3529 
of  Early   instinct  — 
Bird  *2550 

PERSIAN,  Study  in,  poetry..        234 
PERSISTENCE,  Spurious,  in 
rash  decisions  *2569 
,  of  a  Strong  current  in 
its  course  *2570 
,  of  Unused  faculties  ....      1188 
PERSON,  Confused  memory 
of.  .                                                2608 

PHENOMENA,  General,  read- 
ily learned.  .      .                         2376 

,  Human    generalization 
from  1857 
,  Idea  behind  1544 

of  Early  instinct  —  Com- 
mon spiders  *2548 
of  Early  instinct  —  Trap- 
door spider.  .  ..                         *2549 

of  Incandescence  1611 
of  Interference  of  light- 
waves..                                       3505 

of  Geologic  record  *2553 

,  Each,  several  selves.  .  .      3055 
PERSONAL,  the  ,  Sacrificed 
for  social  2941 
PERSONAL  CAUSATION  an 
Ultimate  fact  of  conscience       427 
PERSONAL    EQUATION    in 
astronomical     observa- 
tions                                   .            587 

,  Knowledge  of                        624 

of  character               .                  1435 

,  Law  exalts  1840 
,  Man  reads  system  into       571 
,  Manifestations    of    one 
omnipresent  power  .  .               *2579 

of  Honey-bee's  cell.  .  .  .    *2545 
,  Importance  of,  of  ap- 
paratus     *2547 

of  Man  as  man  *2551 
of  Man,  Nature's  goal  .  *2552 
,  Mechanical,  of  insect's 
work  *2546 
,  Microscopic,  in  hidden 
rocks  327 
,  Practical,  of  human  eye       700 
Sheds  light   on  imper- 
fection    *2554 
Sought  for  itself  328 

,  Mental   inference    to 
explain  1399 

Moved  by  unseen  some- 
thing        1352 
,  Natural,  subject  to  law.  *2580 
of    Nature    misinter- 
preted            *2581 

PERSONALITY  Affects     ob- 
servation. .  .                             *2571 

,  Destruction  of  *2574 
,  Division    of,    by    phre- 
nology.                                           893 

of  Physics.                             2976 

Embodied.  .  .                     *2575 

,  Problems  behind  3316 
Reduced  to  law  *2582 
,  Religious,   need  classi- 
fication                              2580 

Explained  by  ideas  3148 
of  God—  Vedas.  .  .               1212 

.Transparency      never 
attains                                          3478 

,  Human,  inexplicable.  .        356 
.Idea  of  3731 
,  Individual  and  incom- 
municable      *2576 
,  an    Inevitable   concep- 
tion      *2572 
,  Nearer  and  simpler.  .  .      2064 
Obliterated  2097 
,  Physician  formerly  sup- 
posed    to   deal    with 
unseen.    •                                     3147 

,  Unity  of,  and  happiness     3550 
PERIL    a   Common  incident 
of  life  958 
Defied  or  ignored  *2555 
in  Exaltation  *2557 
Fictitious,  of  deserts.  .  .    *2556 
and  High  achievement.        101 
of  High  buildings  154 
,  Inhumanity  amid  ....      1678 
Life  in                               .     1892 

,  Transfiguration  of,  by 
law.  .  .                                           3458 

of  the  Universe.  .                 2114 

PHENOMENON,    Memory   a 
marvelous  2136 

,  Scientific  2222 
,  Superstition  founds  on 
natural  .  .  .                                    3325 
PHILANTHROPY     Involved 
in  question  of  heredity  1490 
PHILIPPINES,       Differences 
among  animals  in  the  .    .  .          825 
PHILOLOGY,     Comparative, 
teaches   evolution   of   lan- 
guage        1108 
Unites  the  ages  1832 
PHILOSOPHER,      Co-opera- 
tion of  conqueror  and  2300 
,  Prehistoric  skull  might 
have  belonged  to.  .                     3122 

,  Peculiar,  of  deep-sea 
fish                                                 1849 

a  Primitive  conception.  *2573 
,  Spiritual  identity  con- 
stitutes        2047 
,  Worship    of    super- 
human       2869 
PERSONIFICATION  of  Nat- 
ural agencies  and  powers  .  .      2572 
PERSONS    Engulfed    in    fis- 
sures    735,  952 
,  Faculties    of    phrenol- 
ogy are                                        1819 

,  Prevision  of  1265 

,  Unimagined  *2558 
PERILS,    Power   of   adapta- 
tion to  new.  .                              3274 

of  Snow                               *2559 

-  Unseen.                                  1904 

PERIOD,  Decimal  system  set- 
tled in  Carboniferous  744 
the  Glacial                             3279 

,  a  Great,  sustains  great 

,  Powers    of    Nature    as 
energies  of.  .  .                              1546 

PHILOSOPHIC,      Memory 
combined  with,  power  .  .          2691 
PHILOSOPHICAL      TRANS- 
ACTIONS                    345 
PHILOSOPHERS,    Govern- 
ment by.  .                    .  .              1394 

—  —  ,  Incubation,  of  typhoid     3644 
,  Length  of  creative.  .  .  .        687 
,  Product  of  slight  force 
by  vast  2745 
,  Tropical,    in    northern 
hemisphere  519 
PERIODICITY  of  Sun-spots.      2462 
PERIODS  in  Language  2917 
,  Life  abundant  in  ancient 
geologic  1871 
.Prolific,  in  geologic 
time  2755 

,  Power  varies  in  differ- 
ent.                                               3440 

PERSPECTIVE,     Accumula- 
tion  of  details  spoils                     965 

of  the  Heavens                     2909 

,  Lack  of  moral.  .  .  .              1622 

PHILOSOPHY,  Ancient—  Be- 
lief    in     ether     pervading 
space  .  1084 
,  Ancient,    despised   the 
practical                                       3574 

,  Evolution  gives  new.  .  .      3431 
,  New  mental  level  pro- 
duces new                                      465 

PERTURBATION  of  Mercury 
still  unexplained.                       2741 

an  Antidote  to  atheism..     2464 
,  Endless  problem  of.  ...    *2583 
,  the  "  Falling  atoms"  of 
ancient                      .                    578 

PERU,  Ancient  ,  had  pottery  .        1  96 
,  Stone  buildings  of  2694 
PERVERSION,  Man's,  of  Na- 
ture            3598 

.  Vast,  of  time  2204 
.  (See  also  AGES.) 
PERISHABLENESS  of  Giant 
organisms  2016 
PERMANENCE,      Apparent, 
amid    transition                      *2561 

.Belief   in,  Greek— 
"Phlogiston"  1071 

of  Science  1277 
PEST,  the  Spread  of  a  3189 
PESTILENCE,  Earthquake 
followed  by  1888 
,  Oppression    opens    the 
way  for        .                                 2404 

—  —  a  Guide  to  the  birth  of 
invention.                .    .                2753 

,  Apparent,  of  mountain 
—  Matterhorn.       .                   *2560 

of  Habit  *2584 

and  History  1497 

of  Conception                    *2562 

1  Ionic  .                                     1084 

of  Level  of  Swiss  lakes.'   *2563 
,  Social,  favors  study  of 
science  766 

PESTS,    Multiplication    of— 
Commerce.     .                              2298 

,  Key  of  Baconian  3574 
,  Magnet  at  the  founda- 
tion of  3146 

PETALS,  Colors  of  flower  478 
PETREL,  The  fulmar  1131 
PETTINESS    of   merely   per- 
sonal life  2264 
PEWEE  Returns  to  home.  .  .      2411 
PHANEROGAMS  Highest  bo- 
tanical division                           2105 

PERMISSIONS     of     Moral 
evil               .  .                                 529 

,  Mightier,    revealed    by 
science  2344 

PERPETUAL    MOTION.... 
.  (See  MOTION,   PERPET- 
UAL.) 
PERPLEXITIES  of  Etymol- 
ogy      *2564 

Needs  science  2968 
,  Science    does    not    in- 
clude        3316 
PHLOGISTON,  the    Fire 
element  3014 
,  the  Imagined  principle 
of  fire                                             1072 

PHANTOMS  of  Imagination  .    *2578 
Known  as  illusions  ....    *2577 
PHARAOHS,  Use  of  iron  in 
times  of  1766 
PHENOMENA,  Cause  and  ef- 
fect in  mental  428 
,  Cause  of  chemical,  un- 
known        1837 
,  Connection  of  physical.       591 
'.  ,  Design  transferred  from 
to  laws                     .  .    .      615,  1852 

yet  Remain  in  science.      1507 
Stellar                                    3228 

PERPLEXITY  of  Animals  .  .  .      3514 
PERSECUTION  of  Anaxago- 
ras  1741 
,  Discoveries  met  by.  .  .      1742 
-,  Possible,    in    name    of 
science.  .  .  .  :  834 
.  (See  also  INTOLERANCE.) 
PERSEVERANCE  of  Invent- 
or.                                    2565  *2565 

—  Old  belief  in                           1071 

PHONOGRAPH    Reproduces 
sound  2601 

and  Telephone  1671 
PHOSPHORESCENCE,    Ani- 
mals light  ocean  depths  by     1938 
,  Cause  of  bacterial,  un- 
known      *2585 
of  Deep  sea  *2586-87 
in  Deep-sea  animals.  .  .      1087 
of   Epinoderms      from 
deen  sea.  .                             .     3213 

Explained    by    atomic 
theory  2115-17 
—  —  ,  Explanations     of    vol- 
canic  .                                          1794 

in  Learning  2132 
Necessary  for  selection     2539 

of    Scifinnft                         *5>.c»fifi-fi8 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


837 


PHOSPHORESCENCE,     Ex- 
tent of  illumination  of 

PIGMENTS,  Color  of  ...                538 
Differ  from  rays  *2602 
PIGS,    Development    of,    at 
birth  3683 
PIKE,  Limited  intelligence  of       169 
PIKE'S  PEAK  in  July  639 
PILE,  Plates  of  the  Voltaic  .  .        991 
PILLARS,  Four,  of  science  .  .      2986 
PILOT-FISH   Mistaken      for 
remora  657 
PILOTS  of  Civilization—  Buf- 
falo.                                          *2603 

PLANES  Made  of  stone  ..            2133 
PLANET  Cooled  by  celestial 
spaces  *2613 
,  Foreseeing      discovery 
of  new                                         2765 

,  Light  of,  in  the  Banda 
seas                             .  .                 1940 

of  the  Ocean  
1944,  2445,  2446,  2588-89 
of  Ocean  due  to  ani- 
mals .                                         3758 

,  Old  age  of                               939 

,  A  red-hot  689 
,  Uranus  recognized  as  a      2835 
,  Vain  search  for  intra- 
mercurian  2741 

PHOSPHORESCENT  Organs 
of  marine  animals  1109 
PHOSPHORUS,  Delusion  of.  .    *2590 
PHOTOGRAPH)  Secures   de- 
tails invisible  to  eye                  3308 

Viewed  through  heated 
air  1132 
PLANETARY  MOTIONS  Con- 
stant from  ancient  times.      3393 
PLANE-TREE     not     Recog- 
nized for  want  of  name.  ...      1190 
PLANETS,  Age  of  system  of.        687 
.Light     of,     not     their 
own  1383 

PINCERS,    Substitute     for 
vise  and.  .  .                        .          3286 

PHOTOGRAPHY  Aid  to  as- 
tronomy      *2591 
,  Cumulative  effect  of  .  .  .    *2592 
vs  Drawing                          1571 

PINNACLES  of  Ice—  Alaskan 
glaciers.  ...                       .          3447 

PIONEER,  Buffalo  a  .  .                2603 

too     Hard-driven     for 
abstractions  502 
PIPES,   Indian,   moulded  to 
figures  of  men  and  animals       350 
PITCH,  Atmosphere  and,  of 
sounds                                .            276 

Electrical  in  nature            2600 

Finds  no  trace  of  sun- 
light in  deep  sea                       *2593 

would  give  meteors  instead 
of  2433 

of  the  Invisible  2594-95 
,  Solar,  advance  of  89 
Surpasses    the    human 
eye  in  observing.      .             .        250 

,  Nebular    hypoth  e  s  i  s 
would    involve   retrograde 
motion  of  all  2434 
,  Relative  size  of  sun  and     1437 
Revolve  around  other 
suns.          ....                           *2614 

of    Sound  and  color  — 
Correspondence  of  670 
PITCH  LAKE  of  Trinidad.  .  .   *2604 
PITFALLS,    Biology    guards 
young  against  1792 
PITILESSNESS  of     Natural 
forces  *2605 
PLACE  of  Bacteria  in  nature.  *2606 
,  Confused  memory  of  .  .    *2608 

PHOTOSPHERE,    Rays      of 
nucleus  and,  conflict.  .  .  .           621 

PHRENOLOGY,    Absolute 
limit  of  *2596 
,  Division  of  personality 
by  893 
,  Faculties   of,   are   per- 
sons        1819 
Ignores  elements  *2597 
PHYLOGENESIS  Denned  .  .  .      2455 
and  Ontogenesis  2455 
PHYSICAL    CAUSE,   Final 
cause  not  2800 
PHYSICAL  SCIENCE,  Limits 
of                                                 1973 

,  Uniform  motion  of.  .           3527 
PLANING-MILL,     Evolution 
of                                                 1788 

PLANS,  Vast  and  impressive, 

same                                                457 

PLANT,    Adaptation    of,    to 

science                                      *2607 

Almost  without  roots  .  .      3637 

elusion  in  research  1612 
,  the  Polar  star  changes.  .      3651 
of  Second  causes.                1104 

cultivation                                     338 

Closing  on  its  prey.  .  .    .    *2616 
Defense  of                              750 

vs  Mental  science                3003 

,  not  one  Star  of  Greek 
astronomy  now  holds  its,       466 
,  Will,    contrivance   and 
purpose  find  2358 
PLACES,    Changing   the,   of 
things                                           2033 

,  Extermination  of  plant 
by  1164 

PHYSICAL,    THE,  Change 
from  to  the  psychical  1096 
,  Influences  Mental  ....      2825 
PHYSICAL  VARIATIONS.  ..      3051 
PHYSICIAN  Driven  to  seek 
truth   .  .                                       3500 

,  Food  of,  preserved.  .  .  .      1268 
,  the,  Immovable  2624 
,  Insectivorous,     closing 
on  its  prey.  .  .  *2616 
,  Is,  affected  by  the  dif- 
ference of  colors                        2737 

,  Life  in  unexpected.  .  .  .      1896 
PLASTICITY      Characterizes 
life  2624 
PLAGUE  rare  in  English  race     1588 
,  the  Silk-worm  696 
PLAIN,  Mountain  flung  upon.       794 
,  a  Vast  2449 

Supposed  to  deal  with 
unseen  personality  3147 
PHYSICS,  Aristotle's  absurd  .      1349 
.Celestial  —  the  New 
astronomy  *2598 
,  Elementary  laws  of  ...      1858 
,  Limitations  of                      2995 

Lifts    the    mineral    to 
living  world         .         .            *2617 

,  Likeness  of  animal  and     1953 
Lives  for  others.  .  .  .            1270 

Mediator  between  ani- 

PLAINS,  Monotony  of  South 
American                                     2236 

and  Metaphysics  com- 
plementary .  .                             3526 

,  New  competitors  affect       564 
,  Numerous  progeny   of 
single                                            2618 

,  Opossum  on  treeless.  .  .      1188 
PLAINSMAN,    First    experi- 
ence of  a  hill  by  a  3625 
PLAN,  Adaptation  held  to  be 
without  a  42 
Changed  to  meet  diffi- 
culties    .                                    2806 

,  Molecular  1191 

,  Phenomena  of                      2976 

,  Nutriment    in    seed    a 
help  to  3237 

,  Reinforcement  of,  has 
given  astronomy  new  youth       261 
PHYSIOGNOMY  of  a  Land- 
scape        1811 
PHYSIOLOGIST,    Will    as 
viewed  by  3732 
PHYSIOLOGY    against    Ma- 
terialist     *2599 

,  Organisms  neither,  nor 
animal  2471 

Resembled  by  animal.       659 
,  Response  of,  to  nutri- 
tion                                                 24 

.Correspondence  de- 
mands a.  .                                     671 

Extended  through  ages       785 
,  Individualism  contrary 
to  nature's.                                 1627 

,  Unity  of  man  with  ....      3533 
,  Water  stored  in  thorny.     3707 
,  What  is  a  "common"  .      2664 
,  Young,   draws   on   ac- 
cumulated store.                   .        421 

—  ,  Psychology  needs  3224 
a  Science  2966 

,  not    less    Divine    for 
lapse  of  time  227 
Manifested  by  bees  *2611 
Marks  humanity  *2609 
,  One,  of  organic  life.  .  .  .      2479 
,  One,  comprehends  de- 
stroyer and  destroyed  3634 
Revealed     in     animal 
homologies  672 

PIANO  a  Perfected  harp  1442 
PICKS  Made  of  deer's  horns  .      1673 
PICTORIAL  power  2978 
PICTURE   for    Barbarian 
court  328 
Drawn  by  lightning 
stroke  .    *2600 
PICTURE-BOOK,  Nature's..     2388 
PICTURES,    Inadequacy   of, 
to  represent  nature  .                   1610 

PLANTAIN   Transported   by 
animals  3039 
PLANTING  of  the  Wilderness     3729 
PLANT-LICE,  Ants  treat  as 
property.  .  .                                   204 

PLANT-LIFE,  Sun  the  source 
of  .                                               1936 

Revealed  in  rudiment- 
ary organs.  .  .                            *2612 

PLANTS   Built   up   by  sun's 
power                                            2331 

—  ;  —  ,  Superstition     regard- 
ing —  Portraits.  .  .                       3321 
PICTURE-WRITING.                *2601 

for  Scientific  conquest 
of  the  globe                       .       *2610 

,  Bacteria  now  ascertain- 
ed to  be                                      2606 

of  Structure  in  ostrich 
and  man.  ...        160 

PIGEON,  the  Brainless.  .  .1925,  2574 
,  Gizzard  of  1029 
,  The  Passenger          .            1131 

,  Climate  and  garden  793 
Credited  with  design.  .  .     3050 
,  Cross     fertilization  of, 
secured                                       2175 

,  Unity  of  nature  a  unity 
of                                                 2481 

.     (See  also  FRUIT-PIG- 
EON.) 
PIGEON-FANCIER,  Qualities 
needed  for  a  2539 
PIGEONS    Bred    in    ancient 
Egypt  1737 

,  Unity  of                      .          2477 

,  Unity  of,  in  nature  3545 
,  Variety    does   not   ex- 
haust adaptability  of  52 
"  PLAN     OF     CREATION," 
Lecture  of  Agassiz  on  2665 
PLANE   Developed      from 
knife                               .              1788 

,  Darwin's  study  of  in- 
sectivorous            11 
Destroyed  by  bacteria.      1887 
,  Destruction  of,  by  ani- 
mals                                             798 

,  Obliteration  of  instinct 
in  2437 

Die  in  sterilized  earth.  .      1224 
,  Digestion     of     animal 
matter  by  .  .                                836 

,  Peculiarities  of  .  .                3053 

,  Inclined.  .                             2695 

SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


PLANTS,  Dispersion  of,  ef- 

fected by  animals  ........  870 

--  ,  Dispersion  of,  effected 

by  man  .................  871 

-  ,  Distribution  of,  irregu- 

lar .....................       833 

-  Eating  insects  ........      2471 

-  of  Egypt  .............       983 

-  Extended  by  runners.  .   *2618 

-  ,  Faculty  of  —  Movement 

with  reference  to  ends  ....      2295 

-  ,  Fixation  of  nitrogen  in 

soil  for  ..................     2425 

-  ,  Frost  destroys  weak  .  .  .      3052 

-  with  Good  intentions.  .    *2623 

-  ,  Growing  .............       3249 

-  ,  Insectivorous,    "fed" 

and  "starved."  ..........      1146 

-  ,  Insectivorous,    flourish 

in  poor  soil  ..............        562 

-  ,  Leaves    vertical     i  n 
sleeping.  ...  ............      1842 

-  ,  Lessons  in  ...........      2376 

-  ,  Life  of,  dependent  on 
"sleep/'  .................      1874 

-  ,  Light    essential    to 
growth  of  ...............      1936 

-  ,  Microbes    fix    nitrogen 

for  .....................      2469 

-  ,  Migration  of  ......  1009,  2175 

-  ,  Molecular  changes  in  .  .       478 

-  ,  Mothering  .........          2105 

-  ,  Motion  within  the  walls 

of  ......................     2269 

-  ,  Movement  in.  .  ____  2286,  2287 

-  ,  Moving,  among  rooted 
animals  .................      2471 

-  ,  Nature  sifts  food  of  in- 
sectivorous ..............      3577 

-  Need  uniform  heat  ____      1462 

-  ,  Nitrogen    supplied    to, 

by  bacteria  ..............      2426 

-  of     North     America 
found  in  Japan  .......... 

-  ,  Parasites  among  ...... 

-  ,  Protected  against  use- 
less insects  .............. 

-  ,  Protection  of,  by  "sleep 

-  ,  Protection  of  ,  by  snow  . 

-  ,  Purpose  in  the  move- 
ment of  leaves  of  ......... 

-  ,  Reciprocal    service   of, 
and  animals  ............. 

-  Resisting  improve- 
ment ................... 

--  .Sensitiveness  of,  to 
light  ................... 

-  Separate  rocks  ....... 

-  ,  "Sleep"  of  ........... 

...........  763,  1874,  2778,3127 

-  ,  "Sleep"  of,  observed..  .       763 

-  ,  Space  draining,  of  heat     2818 

-  Struggle  for  life  among 

-  Struggle  of,  for  life 
lessened  ................ 

-  in   Subterranean   cavi- 
ties .....  .........  ...... 

--  Supplied  with  nitrogen 

by  micro-organisms  ......    *2629 

-  Thrive  in  new  soil  .....    *1009 

-  ,  Variability  of  .  .  ....... 

-  ,  Water  a  protection  to  .  . 
PLASTICITY  of  character  be- 

fore twenty  .............. 

--  Characterizes  life  ..... 

-  ,  Infancy  a  period  of.  ... 

-  of  Iron  .............. 

-  of  Structure  that  yields, 
but  not  all  at  once.  .  ...... 

PLATE,  Microscopic  lines  on 
glass  ................... 

PLATEAU,  the  Blind  Philos- 
sopher  .................. 

PLATES,  Color  of  thin.  .  .549,  *2625 

-  ,  Crossed,  produce  dark- 

ness ....................      2643 

-  ,  Movable,  adjustable  to 
pressure  ................ 

PLATO.Compared  with  Mill. 

-  Finds  matter  source  of 
evil  .................... 

--  ,  Inspiration    likened   to 

magnetism  ..............      2008 


*2620 
1994 

*2621 
2778 
2773 

2799 
3086 
1667 

3080 
1917 


3259 
2175 


*2619 


3600 
3700 

3797 

*2624 

1648 

2009 

3524 
3393 
3134 


56 
910 


2316 


PLATO  Potential  in  fires  of 

sun 1099 

,  His  "  Realm  of  Ideas."  2562 

,  True  conception  of .  .  2898 

PLAY  an  Art  of  pleasure *2627 

,  Houdin's,  with  balls.  .  .  69 

an  Indication  of  intelli- 
gence   2626 

,  Logic  of 1984 

of  Young  animals  and 

children *2628 

PLAY-GROUND,  Open  space 

for ....  171 

PLAY-HOUSES  of  the  Bower 

bird *2629 

PLEASURE  the  Concomitant 

of  activity 3550 

,  Cost  of 675 

,  Desire  to  impart 1024 

,  Expression  of *2630 

,  Intense,  annuls  space .  .  3420 

,  Progress  by  disregard  of  2748 

,  Singing  a ,  t  o  song-birds  3113 

,  Strange,  in  desolation..  *2631 

PLEDGE,  Utility  of *2632 

PLEIADES,  Origin  of  the 

name *2633 

,  Six  or  seven  stars  seen 

in  the 619 

Unchanging 2465 

PLINY,  Eruption  of  Vesuvius 

described  by 1080 

PLIOCENE   PERIOD,   Mam- 
malian life  in 2013 

PLOVER,  Migration  of 2174 

PLUMMET,  a  Mountain  for  a  2124 
PLUMS,  Enemies  of,  pursu- 
ing plant 67 

PLUTONIC  ROCK,  Granite  a  469 
POET  Shows   true   scientific 

insight *2634 

POETRY,  Crystalline  orb  of.  3559 

,  Darwin's  distaste  for.  .  282 

,  Enjoyment     expressed 

in  Hebrew 1025 

— —  a  Form  of  science 157 

•  Has    existed     without 

science *2635 

_,  Higher,  revealed   by 

science 2344 

,  Influence  of  nature  on.  1670 

,  Nature  in  Greek 336 

,  Power  of *2636 

of  Science 2636 

,  Study  in  Persian 234 

,  Truth  the  criterion  of  3503 

POINT  OF  VIEW,  Difference 

in 3115 

POINTS,  Debatable,  settled .  *2637 

POISON,  Alcohol    a 

..137,  1221,  *2638-39 

,  Bacteria,  by  their  prod- 
ucts   2899 

of  Cayenne *2640 

,  Gradually      eliminated 

from  the  blood 1745 

,  Small  doses  of 133 

POISONING,  Cumulative..  *2641 
POISON     IVY,     Birds     that 

thrive  on 702 

,  Found  in  America  and 

Japan 2620 

POISON     OAK     found    in 

America  and  Japan 2620 

POISONS  of  Microbes  mutu- 
ally destructive *2642 

Used  on  weapons.  .  .  .  3721 

POLAR  BEAR,  Coloration  of  47 

POLAR  HARE,  Coloration  of  47 

POLARITY  of  Atoms 278 

in  Growth  of  crystal ...  667 

of  Molecules 966 

,  Unsuspected 2484 

POLARIZATION  of  Light.  .  .  *2643 

Used  in  observing  sun.  1384 

POLAR  STAR,  Change  of 

place  of 3651 

POLE,    Revolution   of   mag- 
netic   927 

,  Stars  seem  to  revolve 

around  the 3651 

POLES,     force    around    the, 

of  a  magnet 271 


POLITICAL      ECONOMISTS 

Hostile  to  labor  reform. . 

POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY, 
Modern,  in  contrast  to  an- 
cient  

POLITICS  an  Education. 

.  Science  of 

POLLEN,  Bee  gathering. 

,  Bee  made  to  carry. 

,  Care  in  preparing 

,  Insects  carry  away .  .  . 

POLLUTION,  Gross,  under 
ordinary  condition 

,  Infinitesimal 

-,  Mistaken     attempt     at 


1515 


791 

*2644 

3000 

3410 

643 
1627 

105 

515 
1114 


Cleanliness  causes 1652 

at  the  Source *2645 

POLYGAMY  Not  primeval. .  .    *2646 
POMPEII,  Earthquake  at ... 
,  Shells     preserved     un- 
changed  

POND- WEEDS  .  Transported 

by  animals 

POOR  Better  fed  than  sav- 


3097 
3039 


498 


3017 


3037 
1864 


121 


3501 
3020 


447 


Copernicus  dedicates 
great  discovery  to  the. .  . 

POPLAR,  Seeds  of,  like  snow- 
flakes 

POPLAR  of  the  Tertiary 

POPPY  Raised  by  lake- 
dwellers 

POPULAR  Observation  of 
scientific  truth 

Observation  true 

POPULATION,  Cells   the,    of 

vital  kingdom 

,  jSilent  evidence  of  dense 

agricultural 2272 

PORES,  Invisible 214 

PORPHYRY, 940 

PORPOISE  Not  a  fish 2014 

PORPOISES     Swimming    in 

paths  of  light .  .  2588 
PORTRAIT,  Profile  gives  of- 
fense to  savages 9 

Gives  sense  of  reality .  .      2435 

PORTRAITS,  Superstition  as 

to 3321 

POSSESSION,  Belief  in  de- 
moniac   704 

POSSESSIONS  May  possess  .      1032 
POSSIBILITIES  of  the  Bicycle     3480 

of     Existence      outrun 

imagination 1169 

of  Future  in  brain  of 

primitive  man 403 

of   New  implements 

exhausted 1751 

of  Persecution  in  name 

of  science 834 

,  Selection  among  simul- 
taneous   3043 

POSSIBILITY  of  Exclu- 
sion   1367 

,  Man  cannot  set  bound- 
aries of 836 

POSITION  of  Agnosticism .  .  .      3530 

,  Change  of,  of  fixed  stars       466 

,  Energy  of  ...  1015,  1016,  3702 

,  Official,  in  life 1016 

,  Reversal    of   all    ideas 

of 467 

POSITIVISM,  Delusion  of. ...      1586 
,  Metaphysics  of 2159 

Would  assign  sociology 

to  a  caste 834 

POSTURE,  Erect,  not  attain- 
ed by  orang 1178 

,  Erect,  of  man 2017 

POTATOES,  Brown-rot  of.  .  .      1887 
Thrive  in  new  soil .  .  .          1009 

POTENTIALITY  of  Queen- 
bee — a  Problem 3459 

POTTER,  Woman  the  prim- 
itive   3091 

POTTER'S   WHEEL  Known 

from  early  antiquity *2647 

POTTERY,  Ancient,  modelled 

on  basket-work *2648 

— ,  Antiquity  of 196 

— ,  Importance  of,  to  prim- 
itive man.  .  .    *2649 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


POTTERY  of  Mound-builders     2272 

,  Prehistoric  origin  of .  .  .    *2650 

.  Women    the    inventors 

of 3757 

,  W9rk  of,  for  woman .  .  .      3769 

,  Primitive,  the  work  of 

woman *2651-52 

POULTRY,    Egg-laying    of 

increased  by  selection 2052 

POVERTY     of     Agricultural 

communities 1157 

of  Some  celestial  re- 
gions   885 

and  the  Stars *2653 

POWDER,      Glacier      grinds 

rocks     to 916 

,  Glass  crushed  to 2722 

,  Rocks  ground  to  im- 
palpable    1301 

POWDERS    Transparent    to 

Roentgen  rays 2936 

POWER  Accompanies  com- 
plexity   *2654 

of  Adaptation.  .  .  .*2664,  3274 

of  Air  currents *2666 

,  Amazement  at,  of  mag- 
net         151 

,  Antiseptic,  of  secretion 

of  sundew 1268 

,  Artist's,  in  selection.  .  .       238 

,  Association  a  source  of       243 

of  Attention  in  earth- 
worms         286 

,  Bacteria  gain,  by  asso- 
ciation   2850 

Beyond  man's  measure     3581 

of    Brain    depends    on 

convolutions 651,  2596 

,  to  be  Centered  in  desert       781 

of  Chemical  rays 1769 

in    Conformity  to   Na- 
ture's laws 1876 

of  Consciousness. 608 

of  Controlled  inten- 
sity     *2667 

of     Co-ordinating    im- 
pressions  

,  Creative,  may  use  pre- 
existing material 

,  Creator's 

,  Crus.hing,  of  hostile 

criticism 

of  the  Danes 

,  Degeneracy  beyond,  of 

recovery 

Derived  from  heat .... 

,  Destroying,  tamed.  .  .  . 

Diminished 

,  Discriminating,   of  the 

ear.  . .  . 

,  Divine,  acts  by  wisdom 

,  by  Direction  of  force .  . 

Due  to  sun 

.Economy  of — A  u  t  o- 

matic  actions *2656 

,  Economy  of,  by  sub- 
stitution  

of  Elemental  forces. .  .  . 

an  Element  of  causa- 

sation 

,  Enduring,  of  type 

,  Enormous,  stored  in 

coal 

-,  Evidence  of  self-deter- 
mining  

of    Evil    dependent    on 

what  it  finds 

Exerted  by  heat 

of  Expansion — Bunker 

Hill  m  onument 

in  Expansion  of  iron  .  . 

-,  of  Expectant  atten- 
tion  

,  First  explanation  of 

magnetic 

,  Freezing,  of  radiation 

through  dry  air 

Generating  comets.  .  .  . 

,  Giant,  of  natural  agen- 
cies       2723 

Gives  independence. . .      1016 

,  Failure  and,  of  good.  .  .    *2673 

of  a  Great  teacher .  .      .    *2665 


902 

681 
1187 

1351 
2354 

751 
3304 
1244 
1520 

3154 

682 

1297 

3302 


3287 
*2668 


1296 
2914 


*2657 
1080 


2669 
106 


*2670 
1404 


*2671 
3146 


2774 
2658 


POWER,  Grinding ,  of  glaciers     2724 

of  Growth *2674 

of  Habit *2675,  2826 

,  Helplessness    a    source 

of 

of     Higher     faculties 

more  persistent   than      of 

lower 


1472 


*2676 


,  Human  in  contrast 

with  elemental 

,  Imagination  a  c  o  n  - 

structive 

of  Impression  on  pre- 
pared nerve-center 

,  Impulsiveness  a  source 

of 

,  Increase  of  magnetic. .  . 

,  Inexhaustible  riches 

of  creative 

,  Introspection  a  mar- 
velous  

,  Invention  gives  in- 
creasing  

of  the  Invisible 

*2682,2685,  2687 

,  Invisible,  the  strongest.  *2683 

,  Knowledge  is 1795 

,  Life,  its  transforming.      1897 

,  Life  a  great 3581 

of  Light 

,  Limit  to,  of  microscope. 

,  Limits  of  mental 

,  Limits  to,  of  telescope  . 

,  Limits  to   magnifying, 

of  telescope 

of  the  Little 

,  Loss  of,  of  speech 

,  Loss  of,  of  will 

,  Loss  of,  of  writing 

Lost  by  disuse.      1994,  *2672 

Lost  in  transmission. .  .    *2660 

of  Lower  organisms  in 

construction 

,  Lubrication  converges, 

on  work 

,  Machine  has  no  inher- 
ent  

,  Machine  never  creates. 

of  Magnetism 

,  Man    has    mysterious, 

over  Puma 

,  Man  has  selecting 

,  Man's  consciousness  of. 

,  the  Masses  a  rising  .... 

of  Mathematics 

,  Maximum    of,    follows 

repose 

,  Measure  of  the,  of  heat. 

.Mechanical,     in     sun's 

rays 

•,  Memory  combined  with  *2691 

,  Mental,   not   measured 

by  size  of  brain 2186 

.Mental,   required      for 

early  inventions 

of  Mind  over  body  .... 

of  Minuteness 

,  Miracle  an  exercise  of 

superhuman 

of     Muscles     instantly 

available 

,  Myriad  centers  of 

,  Mysterious,  of  antennae 

,  Natural     causes     and 

divine 

over  Nature 1236 

.Organisms     invested 

with,  of  self -creation 

of  Organized  labor  .... 

,  Origin  requires  creative 

of  Perception     among 

savages 

,  Phenomena  manifesta- 
tions of  one  omnipresent  .  . 
,  Pictorial 2978 

of  Poetry 2636 

,  Practical     opportunity 

the  fulcrum  of  moral 2883 

Not  produced  by  ma- 
chine     *2662 

,  Production  of 1013 

not  Proportioned   t  o 

size.  ...  .    *2663 


2605 
1574 


1598 


*2659 
21 


2918 
1747 


1755 


1540 
1959 
2191 
1976 

1976 
2172 
3174 
3732 
3449 


*2655 
1290 

2002 
2003 
1198 

2045 
2046 
2074 
1335 
2112 

2406 
2125 

*2661 


3757 

*2677 

1372 

2217 

*2678 
3214 
2476 

1739 


3050 

1022 

344 

2543 
2579 


POWER  of  Quiet  process ....    *2679 

of  Quiet  W9rk *2680 

of   Reasoning      among 

bees 2831 

.Recognition  of  un- 
seen   -.••-.••  -2839,  3539 

of  Reproduction  in  bac«- 

teria 

,  Reproductive,  of  earth- 
quake  

,  Reserve  of .  .  . 

of  Resistance  in  early 

stages  of  alcoholism 

,  Respiratory,  in  small 

compass 

,  Sand  and  pebbles  give 

cutting 

,  Science  demands  con- 
centration of  human 

.Silent ^ 

of  Slow-moving  mass .  . 

,  Steam  the  motive,  of 

volcanic  eruptions 

Stored  in  coal  fields  .  .  . 

,  Sudden  developments 

of  human 

of  Sun 

of  Sun  manifested  in 

storms 

of  the  Sun's  heat 

,  Supernatural 

.Supernatural,  uses 

means _ 

,  Supreme  conscious.  .  .  . 

,  Man's,  thought  match- 
less  

,  Transporting,  of  rivers. 

of  Twining  innate  in 


2878 

957 

2880 

132 
1618 
1295 

1156 
*2684 
*2681 

3023 
*2692 

1044 
*2688 

3428 
999 

828 

828 
2074 

3424 
2929 


plants *2689 

of  Unaided  vision *2690 

,  Undesirable  without 

beneficence *2693 

,  Undying,  of  words  ....  3764 

of  Unseen  forces — Sun'a 

attraction 1303 

of      Unseen      forces — 

Heat 

,  Uplifting,  of  sun 

Varies  in  different  per- 
sons  ;  .  ; .  .  . 

of  Voluntary  societies. . 

of  Waking  at  specified 

hour 

.Water  as  a  mechani- 
cal  

,  Wonderful,  of  Condor. . 

.     (See    also  HORSE- 


3476 
2331 


3440 
246 


3440 


3701 
2884 


POWER..)     3772 

POWER-LOOM  among  Won- 
ders of  our  age 3383 

POWERS,  Abstractions  per- 
sonified as  living 2095 

,  Aryan    impersonations 

of  elementary 2573 

,  Atrophy  of  mental.  .  .  .        282 

,  Law    of    limitation    of 

mental 1961 

of  Man  developed 2953 

,  Mechanical,    used      by 

primitive  man *2694 

,  Mechanical,      antedate 

history *2695 

.Natural, personified.  ..      2572 

of   Nature   as   energies 

of  persons 1546 

,  Operations    among,    of 

nature 21 

,  Unused,  perish *2696 

POZZUOLI,  Earthquake  at .  .      3666 
PRACTICAL,    THE,    ancient 

philosophy  despised 3574 

,  Modern    science  is  de- 
voted to 2994 

PRACTISE  ahead  of  Science..     3138 

Compared  with  theory .      3397 

,  Development  by *812 

,  Effect  of 53,*2697 

Transforms  movement.  *2699 

of  Medicine 3413 

Must  be  supported  by 

Theory *2698 

PRAIRIE,  Sun's    chromo- 
sphere like  a,  on  fire ....  585 


840 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


PRAIRIES,  Northern  boul- 
ders on 3685 

PRAYER  cannot  benefit  by 

false  pretence *2701 

a  Universal  impulse .  .  .    *2700 

PREACHING  Under  guise  of 

2700 


prayer  

PRECARIOUSNESS  of  spec- 


3173 


2729 
3031 


1627 


ulation.  . 

PRECAUTION,  Scientific 
basis  for  practical 

,  Security  by 

PRECAUTIONS  against  Self- 
fertilization  of  flowers  .... 

PRECESSION  of  the  Equin- 
oxes   *2702,  3215 

,  Observation  to  be  cor- 
rected for 2707 

PRECIOUS  Destroyed  by  the 

worthless *2703 

PRECIOUSNESS  of  Lowly  life  *2704 

PRECIPICE,  Terror  on  edge 

of 1130 

,  Vision  and  muscular 

sense  opposed  on 3072 

PRECIPITATION  Keeps  wa- 
ter pure *2705 

PRECISION  of  Astronomy  . .       260 

of  Science 

. . *2706, *2707,  *2708, *2709 

PRECONCEPTION,  Illusion 

through 1563 

PRECONCEPTIONS,  Knowl- 
edge limited  by 1796 

PREDECESSOR  of  suction 

pump 2006 

PREDICTION  of  conduct 

*2710, 2454 

of  Earthquake *2711 

,  Human  actions  defy. .  .      2018 

.Scientific,  fulfilled 

. .1147, *2712 ,*2713 

PREDICTIONS  of  Scientists 
falsified 

PREDISPOSITION    to    dis- 


13 


1483 
1911 


PRE-EMINENCE  in  Society. 

PREMISES,  Logical  results 

from  false 2830 

,  Mere  disputation  con- 
tent with  unproved 3574 

PREOCCUPATION,  Evidence 

of 286 

by    Immediate    sensa- 
tion  v.      2229 

of  Mind  produces  in- 
sensibility  1690, *2714 

Seems  to  shorten  time .      3435 

PREPARATION,  Change  the 

result  of 455 

for  Emergency 1423,  1495 

,  Nature's,  for  mother- 
hood   *2715 

for  Violent  outbreak. .  .   *2935 

for  Warfare 203 

PRESENCE  of  Bacteria  uni- 
versal         305 

that  Fills  immensity ..   *2716 

PRESENT  Action  of  glaciers.     1381 

,  the,  Condemnation  of, 

braved  for  future 580 

,  the  Eternal *2717 

,  an  Ever  new 1389 

,  Future  to  surpass 1338 

the  Key  to  past *2718 

in  the  Past 1355 

,  Past    failures    warning 

for  the 1191 

,  Past  grows  gradually 

into 1105 

,  Past  inharmonious, 

with,  seems  remote 2518 

,  The,  Past  of  stars  is  the 

terrestrial 3462 

,  Relics  of  ancient  past  in  2860 

,  Sacrifice  of,  for  future  .  2941 

,  Science  brings  past  to.  1267 

PRESERVATION  of  Glacier 

under  lava-stream 2502 

of  the  Jews 1862 

of  Perishable  objects — 

Herculaneum 1478 

of  Statues  in  lava *2719 


PRESERVATIVE,    Boracic 

acid  as  a,  of  milk 2641 

,  Smoke  as  a,  of  food. .  .  .  3131 

PRESERVATIVES,  Many  in- 
jurious   1277 

PRESERVER,  Sand,  of  mon- 
uments    2950 

PRESS,  the,  aids  Astronomy .  552 
PRESSURE,  Ability  to  sus- 
tain, gradually  acquired..  .  1007 

,  Alloys  made  by 459 

,  Capacity  for  change  of..  1502 

,  Crystallization  through  3484 

in  Deep-sea 727,  *2720 

,  Experiment     illustrat- 
ing, in  deep-sea *2722 

of  Glacier *2723-24 

,  Granite  cooled  under.  .  1334 

,  Lack  of,  at  surface 1007 

,  Movable  plates  adjust- 
able to 56 

in  Ocean  depths. .  .  1895,  *2721 

,  Porphyry  cooled  under  1334 

PRETENSE,    Prayer  cannot 

benefit  by  false 2701 

of  Throwing  at  enemy  1220 

PRESTIDIGITATION,     Hou- 

din's  mastery  of 69 

PRETENSIONS,  Surrender  of 

a  relief 3335-36 

PREVALENCE  of  Dull  colors 

in  deep-sea  fish 543 

PREVENTION,  Bacteriology 

studies,  of  disease 2994 

of  Disease 138 

PREVISION  among  Animals .  1640 

in  Birds  and  insects *2725 

in  Insects.  .*2726,  *2727,  3690 

of  Peril 1265 

of  Thought *2728 

PREY,  Leaves  spring  upon  .  .  3637 

,  Plant  closing  on  its 2616 

,  the  Puma  and  its 1405 

,  Reanointing     of     sun- 
dew leaf  for  new 2873 

,  Wasp  cutting  bulky.  .  .  2945 

PRIDE  of  half-knowledge  .  .  .  *2729 
PRIMARY  COLORS,     Many 

hues  from 2384 

PRIMARY  ELEMENTS,  An- 
cient hypothesis  of 1524 

PRIME,  Dragons  of  the 982 

PRIMITIVE    MAN,    Adapta- 
tion of  handles  to  tools  by .  55 

,  Arithmetic  of 228 

,  Axe,  the  chief  weapon 

of 302 

,  Basket-making  by •  313 

,  Camel   the   companion 

of 2062 

,  Domestic  life  of 2065 

,  Earth  sculpture  of 959 

,  Fancy  sketch  of  what 

remains  indicate 2063 

,  Granaries  of 187 

Incapable    of    abstract 

conceptions 1546,  2064 

,  Industry  of 1643 

,  Ingenuity  of 1673 

,  Intelligence  and  enter- 
prise of 1717 

,  Native  copper  waiting 

to  be  picked  up  by 2357 

,  Pottery    of    great    im- 
portance to 2649 

,  Scales  of 2960 

,  Skill  of 3120 

,  Textiles  of 3383 

,  Tools  and  weapons  of .  .  3444 

,  Trade  of 3450 

,  Vast   and  impressive 

plans  of 2615 

.  (See  also  MAN,  PRIMI- 
TIVE.) 

PRIMITIVE  MEN,  Co-opera- 
tive   building  among 2473 

PRIMITIVE  WOMAN,  Cook- 
ery of 652 

,  Music  of 2302 

,  Pottery  of 2651 

,  Sewing  of 3090 

,  Weaving  invented  by. .  3722 

,  Work  of,  in  agriculture  124 


PRINCES,  Merchant,  of  an- 
tiquity   2392 

PRINCIPLE,  Assumed,  of 
fire — "Phlogiston."  .... 

,  One,  of  life.. 

,  One,  pervading  all  na- 


1072 
2730 


2730 


ture. 

PRINCIPLES,  New,  of  loco- 
motion   *2731 

,  New,  for  new  cases.  .  .  .      2402 

,  Pictorial  power  needed 

to  deal  with  underlying.  .  .  2978 

of  the  Universe 

PRINTING  Invented  in 
China. 


1524 


*2732 

of  Extras  dispensed 

with 2414 

an  Invention  of  intel- 
lect   2759 

PRINTS  of  Ancient  rain- 
drops   2843 

PRIORITY  of  Discovery — 

Spurious  claims *2733-34 

PRISMATIC  COLORS  from 

thin  films *544,545, 

548-49,  1933,  2415,  2625,  3134 

.  (See  also  COLORS;  LIGHT.) 

PRISM,  Newton  discovers  re- 
fractive power  of 3334 

.  (See  also  SPECTRUM.) 

PRISMS  Like  needles — Moun- 
tain snow 

PRISONERS,  Ancestry  of,  in 
Paris 

PRISON-HOUSE,  Body  re- 
garded as,  of  spirit 

PRIVATION  a  Cause  of  in- 
temperance  

of  the  North 

PROBABILITY  that  Higher 
attributes  exist  in  universe 

PROBLEM,  Analysis  a  com- 
plex  

,  Bone-soup 1274 

,  Constitution  of  earth 

unsolved 2307 

—  of  Deep-sea  life 3560 

—  of  Disinfection 865 

of  First  organisms. 

of  Law  and  liberty . 

,  Not  to  be  made  doc- 
trine  , 

of  the  Mediterranean. 

of  Moral  evil 

,  Philosophy's  endless. .  , 

,  Phrenology  answers,  by 

restatement 

of  Science *2737 

Yet  unsolved 614 

PROBLEMS  of  Biology 366 

-  of  the  Deep . . . . , .2098, *2739 
— ,  Mediaeval,      concerned 

the  future  world 620 

— ,  Behind  phenomena. . .      3316 

of  Science 3078 

— ,  Some  must  remain  un- 
solved       1968 

— .Telescope  gives  mathe- 
matics nobler 3368 

Unanswered 2317 

of  the  Volcano 3667 

Yet  unsolved..  .    *2740,*2741 

PROCESS  of  Change  in  lan- 
guage       1828 

of  Crystallization *2742 

— ,  Discovery    of    the    re- 
frigerating       2089 

,  Evolution  a,  without  a 

purpose 1102 

—  of  Germination 1365 

— ,  Mountain     building    a 

long 2275 

— ,  Opposite   results   of    a 

single 2213 

,  Power  of  quiet 2679 

Successfully  used *2743 

PROCESSES,  Bodily,  affect- 
ed by  sensations 700 

— ,  Brain,   not  dealt  with 

by  teacher 2786 

,  Early  disinfecting,  con- 

spiciously  inexact 

— ,  Ideas  not  objects  but .  .      1547 


3133 
139 


389 


140 
3088 


2113 
591 


730 
*2735 

*2738 
1376 

*2736 
2583 

2597 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


841 


1865 


1757 
1084 


1367 
1809 


3202 
605 


1221 
2002 


123 
3192 


*2745 


3776 
1013 


1680 
2899 

555 
3635 

990 
1157 

1574 


PROCESSES,  Leaps  of  natural 
,  Man  taught  by,  of  na- 
ture  

,  Theory  not  a  safe  guide 

for  vital 

,  Microbes  unharmed  by 

supposed  fatal 

PROCESSION  of  Ants 

PROCTOR,  Prediction  of, 

fulfilled 

PRODUCT,  Consciousness 

not  a,  of  physical  forces.  .  . 
,  Fermentation  the,  of 

living  organisms 

,  Machine  a,  of  the  mind 

,  Maize  an  original,  of 

America 

,  Man  imitates  Nature's 

More    important    than 

process *2744 

of  Slight  force  by  vast 

period 

,  World  the,  of  warring 

systems 

PRODUCTION  of  Power 

PRODUCTS  of  Bacteria  more 
harmful  than  the  organ- 
isms themselves 

.Bacteria  poison  by 

their. ; .  . 

,  Chief,  of  c  ombustion 

invisible 

,  Deadly,  of  combustion 

,  Electricity  gives  new .  . 

,  Exportation  of 

of  Imagination  in  sci- 
ence  

.Natural,  changed  by 

man 2035 

,  Transformation  of,  of 

combustion 3464 

,  Volcanic,  carried  afar..        919 

,  Waste,  utilized 3588 

PROFANITY,  Unconscious..      1422 

PROFIENCY  Increased  by 

rest *2746 

PROFILE,  Portrait  in,  gives 

offense  to  savages 9 

PROFUSION  of  Nature 3568 

.Seeds  in 3041 

PROGENY  of  Geese  from 

bernicle  tree.  . 1813 

of  Lower  animals  mul- 
titudinous    *2747 

,  Numberless,  of  lower 

forms 

,  Numerous,  of  single 

plant 

of  One  orchid  would 

cover  earth 

PROGNOSTICATION,  In- 
dian's, of  calamity 

PROGRESS  From  brilliant 
to  useful 

,  Chance  does  not  give.  . 

Characterizes  true  sci- 
ence    *2750 

,  Consistency  of 615 

with  Decline 3077 

.  by  Disregard  of  pleasure 

or  pain 

From  the  ductile  to  the 

stubborn  metal 

of    Earth    shows    pur- 
pose  

from  Effect  to  cause.  .  . 

,  Electrical,  in  half  cen- 
tury  

,  Evolution  a  system  of. 

to  Friction  matches.  .  . 


1882 
2618 


3693 


1391 
1046 


*2748 


2535 


453 

2188 


1283 
1107 
1235 
2241 


in  Future  as  in  past .  .  . 

.Future,     within    the 

mind,  not  the  body 814 

of  Humanity ....    *2753,2754 

,  from      Implement      to 

machine *2751 

,  Intellectual  beliefs  di- 
rect social *2759 

,  by  Intercourse *2749 

,  Labor  essential  to 1802 

of  Life  in  geologic  times  *2755 

of  Mankind  contribut- 
ed to  by  mariner's  compass     2484 


PROGRESS,  Man's  history 
one  of 

,  Mechanical — North 

Pacific 

of  Musical  taste 

of  Nations 

,  Prehistoric 

of  Science *2756, 

of  Science  rythmical. .  . 

,  Scientific,  and  prosper- 


ity. 

of  Scientific  discovery. 

,  Sense  of  ignorance  in- 
centive to 

,  Slow,  in  moral  and  so- 
cial life.  ... 

Transmitted  by  speech 

,  Social,   guided   by   be- 
liefs  

,  Unconscious 

and  Utility 

,  World's,  dependent  on 

water-power 

PROGRESSIVENESS  of  Hu- 
man system 

PROHIBITION,  Ideas  allied 
with 

PROLONGATION  of  Infancy 

of  Infancy  with  in- 
creased brain  surface 

PROMINENCES,  Chromo- 
sphere and ,  of  sun 

— ,  the  Solar '. 

PROMISE  for  Future 

PROMPTING,  Effort  better 
than 

PROMPTNESS,  Readiness 
and,  achieve 

PROOF,  Discovery  gives  rea- 
son and,  of  truth 

of  External  world 

,  First,  of  deep-sea  fauna 

,  Learning  by  experience 

of  mind 

,  Mere  disputation  con- 
tent without 

PROOF-READING,  Rapidity 
of 

PROOFS  from  the  Vast  and 
the  minute  unite 

PROPAGATION,  Ancients 
knew  the  rectilineal,  of 
light 

,  Rectilineal,  of  light.  .  . 

PROPENSITIES,  Ease  of  fol- 
lowing  

,  Lower,  stimulated  by 

intemperance 

PROPENSITY,  Fear  9f  man 
by  animals  an  acquired .  .  . 

PROPER  NAMES,  Easy  for- 
getting of 

PROPERTIES  of  Matter  treat- 
ed as  causes 

of  Water  elude  micro- 
scope  

PROPERTY  in  Aphids 

in  Forces 

,  Life  less  esteemed 

than 

,  Magnetism  an  inherent 

,  Sense  of,  manifested  by 

dogs 

PROPHECIES,  True,  remem- 
bered  

PROPHECY,  Evolution  as. .  . 

,  The  final  test  the  gift 

of 

in    Rudimentary    or- 


1500 

1751 

3359 

892 

500 

*2758 
*2757 

2768 
21 

3068 

473 
1814 

*2759 
*2760 
3574 

3701 
3393 

492 
1650 

1472 

585 
496 
1159 

24 
2659 

2734 
1088 
*2761 

1141 
3576 
3179 

*2762 


gans 

in  Science. 


,  Yearning   a 

PROPHET  In  his  own  coun- 

PROPORTION  BetweeA'  ex- 
tent and  height  of  aurora .  . 

PROSPECT,  Wider,  from 
neighboring  heights 

PROSPERITY  Made  possible 
by  social  order 

of  Nations 

,  Stability  of  Nature  es- 
sential to 


838 
*2763 

2242 
1731 
1214 
2148 
*2764 

1504 

204 

1289 

3058 
2234 

3069 

5198 
2241 

3389 

2612 

*2765 

2814 

2749 

*2766 

2274 

*2767 
*2768 

3194 


PROTECTION  of   the  Al- 
mighty precious *2777 

to    Arctic    animals   by 

coloration 47 

Chief    care    of    nesting 

birds *2779 

-,  Clearing  around  homes 


resource  for. 
.  Color  a 

of  Coloration 

of  Colors  in  the  desert. . 

of  Colors  of  animals .  .  . 

of    Conspicuous    color- 
ing  

,  Cover  should  fit  loosely 


170 
534 
541 
780 
163 

3586 
2819 


for. 

by  Destruction  of  ene- 
mies     *2769 

,  Distastefulness  a *2770 

,  Divine,    because    of 

human  insecurity *2777 

of  Earth  by  veil  of  va- 
por     *2774 

,  Fertility  waiting  for ...      2049 

,  Increase  of  South  Amer. 

Coypu  under  government- 
al.   1615 

of  Infusions  renders 

them  void  of  life 2470 

of  Labor *2775 

of  Life  by  instruction.  .      1709 

,  Man  seeks 3284 

by  Mimicry. 2179,  2249,  *2771 

of  Mimicry 2182,  2184 

of    Mimicry    of    cater- 
pillars       1028 

by  Mimicry  dependent 

on  will 2180 

of  Mimicry  of  insects..  .      2178 

by   Mimicry   source  of 

confidence 2250 

,  Mother-bird    seeks,    in 

silence 820 

of  Mother-birds  by 

modest  coloring 408 

,  Neglect  of  natural  laws 

makes,  impossible *2772 

of  Nests  of  birds 48 

by  Non-conducting 

clothing 178 

,  Organism  securing  its 

own 38 

of  Plants  by  sleep *2778 

of  Plants  by  snow *2773 

,  Science  teaches 3009 

,  Thin  coverings  a,  from 

frost 2729 

of  Tree  against  loss  of 

heat *2776 

,  T  h  e    tree  -  frequenting 

sable  is  brown  for  protec- 
tion   163 

Varied  with  situation..       750 

,  Water  a,  to  plants.  . .  .     3700 

by  Weakening  the  ene- 


my. 
,  Yielding  a  better,  than 

hardness 

PROTECTIVE      COLORING, 

Ostrich  invisible  by 

in  Tropics 

PROTEST,    Wonders   of   life 

destroyed  without. .  .  . 
PROTOPLASM,   Alcohol   de- 
stroys  

the  Great  result  of  food 

.Naked  specks  of 

PROTOZOA  Show  voluntary 

action 

PROVIDENCE  of  Ants 

.  Philosophy    impels    to 

belief  in 


287 
3795 

2492 
3492 

796 

2639 

1262 

695 

173 
1206 

2464 
1363 


.  The  wise,  of  the  Creator 
PROVINCES  of  History  and 

philosophy  distinct 149-7 

PROVISION    against    Earth- 
quakes       1892 

in  Lower  organisms.    .      3707 

of  Nature  for  man..  .    .    *2780 

,  Nature's,  for  extended 

life..... 215 

against  Pauperism.  .    .      2644 

for   Vast    duration  .    ,      1337 


842 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


1508 
1001 


*2788 


PROWESS  not  Coextensive 

with  excellence 3686 

PRUDENCE  Distinguished 

from  morality 2243 

to  Guide  study 2090 

a  Virtue  in  higher  ani- 
mals         756 

PSEUDO-SCIENCE, *2781 

PSYCHICAL,   THE,   change 

from  the  physical  to  the .  .      1096 
PSYCHOLOGY  not  Advanced 

by  hypnotism *2782 

,  Assumption   of .......      1195 

,  Brain-processes  in — 

Consciousness 2315 

,  Character  transcends ..      2123 

,  Comparative  method  in  *2784 

,  Explaining  Socrates.  .  .   *2783 

,  Importance  of 

,  Interest  of  emotions  to 

Must  begin  with  facts  .   *2787 

Needs  physiology 3224 

Nothing  new  in  essen- 
tials of 

,  Pedagogy  independ- 
ent of  *2786 

,  Place  of,  in  education. .     2457 

in  the  School-room... *2785-86 

Seeks  to  explain  men- 
tal action 2148 

without  a  Soul 3148 

PSEUDONYM,   "Nature"  a, 

for  God 2360 

PTARMIGAN,  Color  of  47,1047,  2179 

,  Feathers  of 324 

PTOLEMY,  his  Astronomical 

system 2841 

PTOMAINES 2899 

PUBLIC,    Credulous,    easily 

entertained 1354 

PUGNACITY    of    Men     and 

women 2247 

,  Useful *2789 

PULL,  the,  of  air  on  a  sail  .  .  .      2121 
PULLEY  of  American  Abor- 
igines       1759 

Known    in    ancient 

Egypt 2695 

Used  by  primitive  man.     2694 

PUMA,  The,  and  its  prey.  .  .  .      1405 
,  Mysterious    power    of 

man  over 2045 

PUMICE,  Drifting,  covering 
the  sea 

the  Froth  of  volcanic 

glass 

.  a  Raft  of 

PUMP,  Predecessor  of  suc- 
tion  

PUNCTUALITY  Essential...  . 

PURGATORY  of  Dante  dis- 
appears   

PURIFICATION  of  the  At- 
mosphere  

PURIFIER,  Nature's 

PURITY,  Apparent,  not  al- 
ways real *2792 

,  Cleanliness  secures,  of 

milk.... 515 

of  Milk  secured  by  alter- 
nate heat  and  cold 2513 

of  Niagara's  torrent.  .  .     2924 

,  Relative,  of  animal 

food *2794 

is  Safety *2793 

,  of  The  Universal  food . .       405 

PURPOSE     Adapted     to 

changed  relations.  .  .  .....      1843 

01  Air-cells  in  birds  mis- 
understood      *2804 

,  Apparent,  in  reflex 

action. *2795 

:  Apparent,  held  to  be 

unintended 42 

.Automatic  acts  ac- 
complishing a 38 

of  Beauty 537 

,  Can  Darwinism  dis- 
pense with 66 

of  Circulation  on  the 

sun *2805 

,  Classification  depend- 
ent upon 514 


2440 


1382 
2443 


2006 
*2790 


673 


*2791 
2390 


PURPOSE  of  Coloring  in  Na- 
ture   2361 

,  a  Creative,  in  Nature.  .       971 

— ,  Development     delayed 

for. 802 

— ,  Evidence  of,  in  mind. .  .        788 
— ,  Final,  of  movements  of 
radicle 2938 

—  Finds  place  in  Nature  .     2358 
— ,  High,    found    for    sup- 
posedly useless  organ 1363 

— ,  Immediate     not     ulti- 
mate, visible 433 

— ,  Infinite 2990,  2996 

—  the  Key  to  structure. .  .   *2802 
— ,  Law  of  structure  sub- 
ordinate to  law  of *2797 

,  Law  of  Nature  expres- 
sion of 41 

— ,  Life  without 1925 

—  Manifested  in  monkey .   *2803 

—  the  Mark  of  mind *2807 

—  Marks  humanity 2609 

—  in  Movement  of  leaves.   *2799 

—  in  Nature  .*2798,  *2801,  *2802 

—  Pervades  all  Nature  . .  .    *2796 
— ,  in  Plain  coloring   of 
female  birds. *2800 

of  Rudimentary  or- 
gans    2612 

,  Selective ,  of  honey- 

bee *2806 

—  Shown  in  earth's  prog- 
ress         453 

,  Sketch  of  creative 3119 

in  Sleep  of  plants 3127 

Underlying  speech.  ...      3176 

,  Will  adapts  laws  to  its.     3754 

Wrought  out  in  discov- 
ery of  America *2808 

PURPOSES,  Many,  served  by 

one  part 68 

PURSLANE   Plant   produces 

a  million  seeds 3041 

PURSUIT  of  the  Type *2809 

PURSUITS,  Scholarly,  un- 
der a  democracy 766 

,  Stimulus  to  scientific  .  .     1600 

PUTREFACTION  in  Germ- 
less  air  impossible 2793,2810 

an  Impossibility  with- 


out bacteria . 

within  the  Law  of  cause 


792 


and  effect 3032 

Made  impossible 130 

PYRAMID,  Orientation  of 

the  great  .  . 17 

PYRAMIDS,  Structure  of .  .  .  254 
PYRENEES,  Reindeer  at  foot 

of 164 

PYTHAGORAS  Quoted 2107 

PYTHON,  Victims  of 3643 


QUAGGA,  Stripes  of 2914 

QUALIFICATIONS  of  Arabs 

for  scientific  research *2811 

of   Great  scientist — 

Kepler *2812 

QUALITIES,  All,  affected  by 

variation 3607 

,  Incompatible,  involved 

in  ether 829 

,  Mental,  of  ants .  2194 

,  Moral,  required  in 

scientific  investigator *2813 

,  Best,  of  butter  due  to 

bacteria _. 359 

,  Color  a  negative  • .  •  j  . .  533 

,  Compulsion  abolishes 

moral,  of  actions *572 

.Difference  that  of, 

in  volcanic  eruptions 823 

,  Light  passes  unchanged 

in,  through  space. ........      1942 

of  a  Soup — Nutrition...        655 

QUANTITY,   Difference  that 

of,  in  volcanic  eruptions.  .  .        I 
.Increase  of,  reverses 

result 3478 

,  Vast,  of  volcanic  dust.        921 

QUEBEC,  Climate  of 1171 


QUEEN-BEE  feared  yet  re- 
strained  

,  Worker  changed  to.  .  .. 

QUEENS,  Among  bees, 
workers  are  undeveloped.  . 

QUEST  Leads  to  unexpected 

discovery 2902 

QUESTION  of  Method  of 
Adaptation 

of  the  Wilderness 

QUESTIONS  Unanswered  by 

science *2814 


2939 
3459 


822 


43 
2631 


of    Veracity — Acciden- 


tal association.. 

—  of  Veracity — Lapse  of 

memory 2144 

QUIET,    [Intervals    of— Vol- 
canoes       2362 

QUIVERS,  Siae  of ,  uniform ..     2 1 29 

R 

RACCOON,  Range  of 1213 

RACE,  Chief  use  of  pain  for.. .     2399 

,  Childhood  of  the 488 

,  Conquests     of     science 

for 922 

— ,  Continuity  of  life  of. ...      1584 
— ,  Dependent  upon  single 

tree *2815 

,  Development    of,    par- 
alleled in  individual 808 

,  Dying-place  of  a 92.5 

.  Each  animal  recapitu- 
lates the  history  of  its ....        803 
— ,  Growing    sentiment    of 

human 409 

— ,  Improvement  of *2816 

,  Individual    repeating 

history  of 803,  1369 

,  Intentions  not   due  to 

experience  of 1748 

,  Leprosy   rare  in   Eng- 
lish       1588 

Outgrows  childish  con- 
ception    *2817 

,  Remote   origin   of   hu- 
man, proved 195 

,  Unity  of  the 2031 

,  a     Vanished     without 

record 2272.  2305 

RACES,  Likeness  of 3534 

,  Natural     signs   under- 

.  stood  by  all 1825 

,  Persons  and,  free  from 

certain  diseases 1588 

,  Primeval  man  not  like 

modern  degraded 2058 

Tested  by  education. .  .        968 

RACE-STRUGGLES  for  Ex- 
tension of  languages 1829 

RADIANCE  from  Death 2589 

RADIANT  HEAT,  Transmis- 
sion of 3476 

RADIATION  Checked   by 

thin  coverings .     2729 

,  Dew  an  effect  of  chill- 
ing by 3406 

from  Eyes  into  space  .  .     2240 

,  Freezing  by 1329 

.Freezing   power   of, 

through  dry  air 2774 

Keeping  pace  with  con- 
traction      *2820 

from  Leaves *2818 

,  Loss  of  earth's  heat  by .      1457 

from  Metal  and  wool  .  .    *2819 

,  Movements  to  avoid. .  .      1874 

,  Observations  of  solar.  .      1117 

Produces   dew   and 

frost 436 

,  Solar 637 

,  Upper  surface  of  leaf 

saved  from 2778 

RADICLE,  Tip  of 2938 

RADIOMETER,  Rebound  of 

molecules  turns  the 2682 

RADISHES  Thrive  in  new 

soil 1009 

RAFFLESIA,  Flowers  of  the .  1375 

RAFT  of  the  Hunting-Spider.  2393 

-  of  Pumice 2443 

RAGE  Not  excused  by  intox- 

icatioB 697 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


843 


RAILROAD,  Adventure  on— 

Heat 3476 

Transformation 

o\ 3463 

RAIN  of  Ashes 1081 

Breaking  up  rocks 298 

Carved  mountains  into 

shape 43C 

Has  no  effect  on  Dion- 
sea 3081 

,  Personification  of 2573 

Silent  action  of *2821 

RAINBOW,  no  Perfect  image 

of,  in  water *2822 

,  Reflection    and   refrac- 
tion join  to  make  the 2852 

RAINDROPS,    Imprint  of,  in 

rock 1607,2843 

RAINFALL,  Effect  of  moun- 
tains on 1225 

RANGE  of  the  Condor *2823 

of  Fauna— Climate 1213 

of  Habitation  widened 

by  use  of  fire 360 

,  Senses  to  extend  their. .      3078 

RANGES,  Shocks  limited  by 

mountain 2276 

,  Sunset  among  desert. .  .        318 

RAPACITY,  Legislation  must 

control 483 

RAPHAEL   Potential  in  fires 

of  sun 1099 

RAPIDITY,     Automatic  ac- 
tion gains  in 5150 

of    Growth    of    marine 

organisms 1409 

of  Mental  association..      3179 

of  Motion 3345 

of  Thought 3426 

RAPIDS,  The  Whirlpool,  at 

Niagara 339 

RAREFACTION,  Freezing  by     1330 

RASP,  Gigantic,  of  ice 715 

RAT,  the  Pharaoh 759 

RATE  of  Growth  of  coral.. .  .  1409-10 
RATS    Credited    with    spon- 
taneous generation 1056 

,  Dusky  color  of 2417 

RAVEN  Needs  no  protective 

color 163 

RAWHIDE,    Binding    with, 

among  the  Eskimo 49 

Substituted    for    nails 

and  screws 3285 

RAY,  Battery  of  the  electric  .        991 

,  Origin  of  term,  of  light .        838 

RAYS,     Air     unwarmed     by 


with 


1662 


2763 


3030 
1948 

621 
2602 
1769 

2936 
1935 

3630 


burning  solar . 

,  Crossing    of, 

version  of  image 

,  Foreign    substances   in 

the  body  shown  by  Roent- 
gen  

.Light  where  sun's, 

never  come 

of  Nucleus  and  photo- 
sphere conflict 

,  Pigments  differ  from. .  . 

,  Power  of  chemical  .... 

,  Roentgen,  defy  reflec- 
tion  

,  Roentgen,  ineffective.  . 

Sent  across  a  measured 

space  

of    Spectrum    rich    in 

heat 

of  Stars *2824 

-,  Unseen,    of    spectrum 

yield  chemical  energy 2687 

,  Visible  and  invisible, 

of  spectrum 1161 

REACTION,  Action  and 21 

of    Environment  on 

man *2825 

,  Gun  heavy  to  absorb 

its  own 2840 

on  Impressions 967 

of  Mind  upon  impres- 
sions      967, 2834 

READER  of  Novels  shares 

emotions  described 3349 

READINESS,  Muscles  under 

tension  in  rest .  2678 


READINESS  of  Nerve-cur- 
rents   *2826 

and  Promptness 

achieve 2659 

READING  of  Character  a 

rare  attainment *2827 

REAL,  The  apparent  not  the     2707 

,  The  Tangible  held  to 

be  the 3355 

REALITIES,  Resolution  can 

hold  the  mind  to 1185,  2888 

of  Science 2996 

REALITY,  Assurance  of  our 

own 249 

,  Contact  gives  sense  of.     3355 

beyond  Dreams 330£ 

,  Emotional  thrill  gives 

sense  of 1130 

of  the  H,uman  soul *2828 

,  Religion  an  everlast- 
ing   1085 

,  Resolute  doing  to  keep, 

of  character.. 2237 

,  Science  a  living 296 

REALIZATION,   Full,   pos- 
sible only  to  divine  mind.  .     21 1C 

,  Objects  help 2435 

REALM,  Law  in,  of  mind 428 

REASON,  Checks  of 1575 

,  Degeneracy  due  to ....        753 

Depends  on  cause  and 

effect 452 

Directs  the  telescope. .  .       256 

,  Discovery  gives 2734 

,  Fear  without 1216 

,  Instinct  and 1909 

the    Intentional    adap- 
tation of  means  to  ends. .  .  .    *2829 

Regulating  human  im- 
pulses        1708 

,  "A  woman's" 2147 

Working  for  evil *2830 

REASONING    vs.    Empirical 

judgment *2833 

,  False,  produces  unnat- 
ural vices 753 

,  Foundation  of 3107 

.Government  by  ab- 
stract   1393 

.Instance    of,    among 


-,  Power  of,  among  bees. . 
-,  Power  of,  divides  man 


*2832 
*2831 


2952 


from  lower  animals 
,  Specialty     disqualifies 

for  comprehensive 2353 

REASONINGS  of  Copernicus. .     1145 
REASONS  vs.  Decisions 1154 

Naturalists     had,     for 

denying  deep-sea  life 2355 

RECANTATION,  Galileo's.. .  .      3385 
RECENT  Electric  science  .  .         986 
RECEPTIVITY  of  Nerve-cen- 
ters       2671 

RECESSION  of  Stars  observed    2265 
RECITATION,  Value  of  ver- 
bal      *2834 

,  Verbs  learned  by  hear- 
ing        2289 

RECKLESSNESS  of  Instincts 

of  labor 1707 

RECOGNITION  of  Birds  pos- 
sible only  during  flight 2088 

of  the  Ideal *2838 

by  Marks  of  animals.  ..    *2836 

,  Maternal *2837 

of    One    great    unseen 

power 3539 

,  Specific 2438 

,  A  Triumph  of *2835 

of  Unseen  power *2839 

RECOIL  of  Cannon *2840 

—  Undue,  from    super- 
stition       3326 

RECOLLECTION  by  Effort  .  .     3243 

.Name  helps 1190 

,  Sudden,  of  lost  item  ...      2139 
RECOMPENSE    of     Violated 

1549 

RECONCILIATION       Possi- 
ble        2099 

—  of  Science  with  the  Bi- 
ble ..  . .   *2841 


RECONSTRUCTION     From 

fragments *2842 

RECORD  of  Dead  facts 3008 

,  Earth's  ancient 1223 

,  Enduring,  of  the  evan- 
escent— Ferns 1223 

,  Enduring,  of  the  evan- 
escent—Leaf-tracery 1864 

,  Enduring,  of  the  evan- 
escent—Pompeii       3097 

,  Enduring,  of  the  evan- 
escent—Rain-drops  . .1601,  *2843 

,  First,  of  mariner's  coni- 

2084 
715 
2062 


,  Graven  in  rock 

,  Historic,  of  camel 

,  Imperfections     of    the 

geological 1591 

,  Incessant,   of   the    sun 

by  its  own  light 89 

,  Interest  in  divine 1736 

,  Lack  of,  not  disproof.  .      1625 

of    Memorv    imperish- 
able  ". *2844 

.Race  vanished  with- 
out   2272,  2305 

RECORDS  of  Ancient  dead . .    *2847 

.Early,  of  scientific 

fact *2845 

of  Geology  vs.  human 

traditions *2848 

,  History  has  no,  of  Stone 

Age 1498 

,  Imperishable,  of  Baby- 
lonians    *2846 

RECOVERY,  Belief  an  aid  to     2192 

from  Blindness 3102 

,  Degeneracy    beyond 

power  of 751 

,  Immunity   of  patients 


after 202 

,  Scientist  predicts 236 

RECRUITS,  Deadly  trades 

never  lack .      1707 

RED    a  Prevalent    color   in 

fauna  of  deep  sea *2849 

,  from  Violet  to 1617 

REDBREAST,  Destruction  of 

the 1620 

REDEEMER,    Science    adds 

glory  to  vision  of 2964 

REDEMPTION  of  the  Drunk- 
ard       2352 

May  reach  all    the 

worlds' of  space 2974 

RED  SANDSTONE    Deposit- 
ed under  agen  cy  of  water .  .        373 

RED  SNOW  of  the  Alps 3629 

REDUCTION  of  Food 522 

REDWOOD,   Origin   of  the, 

mysterious 1776 

.  (See  also  SEQUOIA.) 

REEFS,  Coral  and  island 2472 

,  Harbors     formed     by 

coral 1436 

,  None    at    the    greater 

depths 663 

REINFORCEMENT,  Mental.   *2850 

,  Mutual *2850 

REFINEMENT,  Tendency  of 

seclusion  to 3027 

REFLECTION   Compared 

with   experience 2787 

—  Defied  by  Roentgen 

rays 2327 

— ,  Double,  of  light  from 

films 1933 

— ,  Force  a,  of  man's  con- 
scious efforts 1280 

— ,  Habit  acts  without 2675 

,  Knowledge  supplement- 


ed by. 

—  of  Light,  seeming  con- 
tradiction in .•  •  •  • 

—  of  Light  only  partial.  . 
,  Mind  sees  in  Nature  a, 

of  itself 

— ,  Necessary  to  give  color 

—  and  Refraction .  .  .  1069,  *2852 
— ,  Roentgen  rays  defy 2936 

Shown  by  a  wasp *2851 

.  Skies     long     reddened 

by ,  of  volcanic  dust 920 


634 
2660 

3731 
375 


844 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


REFLECTION  from  a  Surface 

of  heated  air 765 

,  Undimmed,  through 

mountain  lake 1945 

REFLECTORS,  Herschel 

makes  his  own 1346 

REFLEX  ACTION  No  indica- 
tion of  mind 26 

REFORMS,  Difficulty  of  wide- 
spread   835 

REFRACTION  Defied  by 

Roentgen  rays 2327 

,  Double,  of  light *2S53 

Enhances  sense  of  vast- 
ness *2854 

of  Light 1125,  *2855 

,  Newton's  error  regard- 
ing       1068 

,  Observation  to  be  cor- 
rected for 2707 

and  Reflection  join  to 

make  the  rainbow 2852 

,  Roentgen  rays  defy.  .  .      2936 

REFRESHMENT,  Milk  a  per- 
fect   3418 

REFRIGERANT,  Liquid  air 

a  perfect 128 

REFRIGERATION,  Discov- 
ery of  the  process  of 2089 

by  Expansion *2856 

Improves  food 1463 

,  Machines  for 1463 

REFRIGERATOR     Steam- 

ships  carry  food 1463 

REFUGE,  Death  in  seeking .  .      1260 
REFUSAL   to   look   through 

telescope 3739 

REGELATION.Faraday's  dis- 
covery of *2857 

,  Fracture  and *2857 


of  Ice  and  snow . 


2947 


REGIONS,  Desolation  of 
arctic  in  winter.  .  ........ 

-  .Fauna   of  different, 
overlap  ..........  ......  . 

-  ,  Warm  seasons  in  Arctic 
REGION,  Individuality  of  a  . 

-  ,  Special,     for     special 
functions  ...............      3162 

REINDEER  in  England  .....      3279 

-  in  England  and  France     2040 

-  at  foot  of  Pyrenees.  .  . 

-  ,  Increase  of  ,     in     Ice- 
land ................... 

REINFORCEMENT  of  Phys- 
ics has  given  astronomy 
new  youth  .............. 

-  of  Superstition  by  acci- 
dent ................... 

REINTRODUCTION  of  Lost 
forms  of  life  ............. 

REJECTION  of  Ancient  dog- 
ma ..................... 

-  and  Degeneracy  ...... 

-  ,  Selection  implies  ...... 

RELATION  of  Consciousness 

to  space  ................ 

-  of  Law  to  will  ........ 

--  between  Means   and 

ends  ................... 

RELATIONS  of  Animal  to 
environment  ............ 

-  ,  Ignorance  as  to,  of  or- 
ganic life  ............... 

-  ,  Moral,  of  matter  ...... 

-  ,  Mutual    adaptation    of 
structural  .............. 

-  ,  Numerical,  in  Nature.  . 

-  ,  Purpose     adapted     to 
changed  ................ 

RELATIVE,  Illusion  due  to, 
sensations  ............... 

-  ,  Judgment  of  distance.  . 
RELATIVITY,  Law  of  ...... 

RELAXATION,    Feelings   in- 

dicated by,  of  muscles 
RELAYS  of  "Ant-workers 
RELICS  of  Brutes 

-  of  a  Distant  land 

-  ,  Fossil,  of  Stone  Age 

-  of    Herculaneum 
served 

---  of  Man,  his  works 


pre- 


1810 

2366 
3278 
1632 


164 
3190 


261 
9 

1314 

2756 
2077 
3047 

2329 
647 

2829 
1037 

1553 
2119 

44 
744 

1843 

1557 
3636 

*2858 

2630 

1869 

*2861 

*2859 

1729 

1478 
2861 


RELICS  of  Past    in   present 

civilization *2860 

of  Primeval  man *2862 

RELIEF  in  Calmness  of  sci- 
ence         416 

,  The  Concave  seen  in. .  .      1738 

,  Surrender     of     preten- 
sions a 3335-36 

,  Visual  impression  of .  .  .      3142 

RELIGION,  "Conflict  of,  and 

Science" 3590 

,  Definitions  of 2867 

,  Denial  of  theology  not 

abandonment  of 768 

,  Difficulties  imposed  up- 
on        828 

,  Dogmas  once  identified 

with 895 

,  Emulation  affects  even     3561 

Ethics  associated  with     1085 

Impregnable  to  science  *2864 

Limited   to  times  and 

seasons 3087 

Meets  natural  want .  .  .    *2865 

,  Method  of,  vs.  that  of 

science 2166 

,  Mingling  of,  with   sci- 
ence     *2866 

Ministers  to  science. .  .  .        494 

More  than  sense  of  de- 
pendence     *2867 

,  Naturalness  of 3010 

,  Nature  must  help 2919 

,  No  evidence  of  tribes 

without *2872 

,  Origin  of .2486,  *2868 

Outgrows  ancient  the- 
ories         495 

Purified  by  science 3011 

,  Science  exalted  by.  ...      3011 

,  Science  a  helper  of.  ...   *2870 

and  Science  not  at  va- 


be- 


*2863 


590 
3326 


nance 

,  Seeming     conflict 

tween  science  and 

Simulated  by  supersti- 
tion  

,  Speculation  as  to  pri- 
meval  

.Tributary  to  psy- 
chology   1508 

,  Universality  of *2871-72 

,  Woman  the  support  of     3754 

RELIGIONS,  Hasty  generali- 
zations in  study  of 

,One  element  common 

to  all 

.Phenomena  of,  need 

classification 

REMAINS  of  Ancient  beaches 

,  Casts  of  vanished 

,  Destructive  agencies 

obliterate 

of    Extinct    horses    in 

South  America 

,  Human,  in  caves 

,  Oldest,  of  man  thor- 
oughly human 

Preserved  in  icy  tomb . 

,  Quiet  hills,  of  volcanoes 

Show  life  of  primitive 

man 

.Sketch  of  primitive 

man  from 

,  Sun-dew  leaf  cleared 

of 

REMEDIES,  Credulity  ac- 
cepting worthless 

,  Physical,  for  drunken- 
ness  

REMEDY,,  Rhea's  stomach 
an  ancient — Pepsin 

.  Single,  sought  for  all 

diseases 

REMEMBRANCE,  Experi- 
ence the  foundation  of.  ... 

,  Immortality  of  grate- 
ful   

,  Interest  and  habit  con- 
trol  

.  (See  also  MEMORY.) 

REMISSION,  Sensations  more 
vivid  after.  .  . 


*2869 


1227 
2869 

2580 
442 
425 

1591 

1314 
1317 

2044 

854 

2876 

2065 
2063 
2873 


141 
2963 


762 
1142 


1586 
770 


2406 


REMORA,  Blind  instinct  of.        657 

,  Fishing  by 816 

REMOTENESS,  Apparent,  of 

past 2518 

REMOVAL  of  Earth's  vege- 
table covering 1989 

of  Impurities 1446 

,  Overcoming  not,  of  dif- 
ficulties       1764 

RENEWAL  After  exhaustion  *2873 

,  Perpetual,  of  snow.  .          2280 

RENOVATION  of  Earth's  sur- 
face   931 

REPAIR  Compensates  waste  *2874 

of  Damages — Bees.  .  .        2831 

REPETITION  Gives  feeling  of 

unnaturalness 3763 

REPLACEMENT  of  Fertiliz- 
ing elements  of  soil 1157 

REPOSE  is  Death *2875 

,  Maximum  of  power  fol- 
lows   2406 

Succeeding    stress   and 

strain *2876 

Suggested  by  aspect  of 

stars *2877 

REPRESENTATIVES,  An- 
cient geologic  forms  have, 
in  deep  sea 147 

REPRODUCTION,  Altruism 

necessary  for 150 

of  Bacteria *2879 

an  Essential  attribute .      1923 

,  Power    of,    almost    in- 
credible      *2878 

REPTILE,  Development  of, 

into  bird 809,  3467 

REPTILES  Seen  in  delirium 

tremens 3657 

.Transition  from  birds 

to 3467 

«« REPUBLIC  "  of  Plato 1393 

REPUBLICS  Compared  with 
aristocracies  as  promoters 
of  science 766 

REPULSION,  Electric,  cause 

of  comet's  tails 2337 

RESEARCH,  Imagination 

and  scientific 1572 

,  Man  as  an  instrument 

of 2028 

,  New  methods  of 2758 

,  Scientific — Arabs.  .  .          2811 

RESEMBLANCE  of  Electric- 
ity to  fire 1013 

of  Man  to  lower  animals     2038 

,  No  close,  to  geologic 

fauna 2482 

,  No,  between  thought 

and  sign 3457 

RESERVE  of  Power  in  coal .  .    *2881 

of  Power  in  muscles.  .  .    *2880 

RESERVOIR  for  Thirsty  an- 
imals—Cactus       3707 

RESERVOIRS  Found  in  Ari- 
zona   1768 

RESISTANCE,  Action  in  line 

with  greatest 2242 

,  Advance  against 1772 

to     Improvement     by 

plants 1667 

to  Infection *2882 

,  Matter  recognized  by .  .      2121 

,  Power  of,  diminished.  .      1520 

,  Shells    weakest    where 

least 3252 

RESISTLESSNESS  of  Effect 

of  heat  and  cold 979 

of  Force  of  expansion .  .      1292 

RESOLUTION,    Action    nec- 
essary to  good 22 

Can  hold  the  mind  to 

realities 1185,2888 

of  Scientist 678 

RESOLVENT,  Nature's  great     2383 
RESOLVES  Strengthened  by 

action *2883 

RESOURCE  Against  famine 

—Ants 1205 

,  Clearing  around  hpmes 

of  animals  a,  for  pastime.  .  170 
,  Volition  the  latest,  in 

grief 881 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


845 


RESOURCES  Against  famine 

, Meagre,    of    early 

mechanics . 

,  Wonderful  results  with 


RESPIRATION  is  Combus- 
tion  

and    Movements  of  an 

animal 

—  in  Rarefied  air 

RESPONSE  to  Human  feel- 
ings sought  in  Nature  .... 

of  Plant  to  nutrition. .  . 

RESPONSIBILITY,  Automa- 
tist  theory  destroys 

Dependent  on  knowl- 
edge  

Destroyed  or  trans- 
ferred  

of  the  Drunkard 

in  Early  stages  of  al- 
coholism  

Before  evil  becomes 

habitual 

of  Life  compels  search 

for  truth 

for  Mental  illusions.  .  . 

— ,  New  meaning  for 

REST,  Apparent,  contrasted 
with  motion 

Due  to  balance  of 

forces 

,  Joyful  because  of  toil .  . 

,  Proficiency  increased 

by .  .  .  . 

,  Science  a,  from  strife.  . 

,  Unreal 

RESTATEMENT,  Explana- 
tion of  life  often 

,  Phrenology  answers 

problem  by 

RESTORATION  of  Life.  .  .  . 

RESTRAINT,  Exemption 
from 

RESTRICTIONS  on  Labor 

RESULT,  Agent  lost  in ... 

,  Change  of,  correspond- 
ing to  change  of  agency.  .  . 

,  Change  the,  of  prepa- 
ration  

,  Choice  the,  of  compar- 
isons  

of  Circumstance  and 

sensibility 

,  Combination  to  secure  . 

.Conquest  has  unin- 
tended  

of  Continued  intoxi- 
cation   

,  Co-ordination  of  parts 

for 

,  Cruel,  of  belief  in  men- 
tal equality 

,  Cumulative,  of  error.  .. 

beyond  Expectation..  . 

,  Electricity,  a  of  every 

change 

,  Fear  a,  of  intellectual 

confusion 

,  Genius  not  the,  of  train- 
ing   

,  Habit  a,  of  bodily  or- 
ganism  

-,  Heat  a,  of  motion 

,  Helplessness  the,  of  in- 
dolence.  

,  Increase  of  quantity 

reverses  . 

,  Insignificant  infection 

producing  terrible 

,  Light  a,  of  correlation. . 

,  Materialism  carried  to 

logical.  ... 

,  Mischief  in  children  the, 

of  constructive  instinct  .  . 

,  Oblivion  a,  of  hasty 

learning 

,  One  knowing  all  factors 

of  decision  could  predict  .  . 

,  Physical  action  the,  of 

mental  states 

,  Practical,  of  science..  .. 

,  Precious,  of  fiery  trial. . 


1204 
1350 
1350 

*2885 

31 

*2884 

*2886 
2431 

296 

30 

*2887 
*2889 

132 
1333 

3500 

*2888 

1820 

2877 

*2890 
3766 

2746 

2971 

*2891 

2325 

2597 

1881 

1325 

1515 

106 

429 
455 
492 

477 
*2892 

592 
134 

787 

1045 
1050 
2902 

987 

3327 

970 

1418 
1454 

1475 
3478 

1980 
1928 

2097 

2220 

680 

2454 

3224 
143 

3484 


RESULT  Reached  by  use 

of  means 1862 

of  Scientific  progress  .  .      2768 

of  Scientific  thought.          2808 

of  Struggle  for  life 412 

,  Sympathy    not    a,    of 

calculation 3346 

,  Unthought  of 2903 

,  Vast,  from  small  ex- 
periment   *2893 

of  Workman's  mistake.  7 

RESULTS  not  Accounted  for    *2896 
,  Appreciation    of,    a  t  - 

tained *2894 

,  Ceaseless  striving  brings    2287 

of  Changes  in  brain.  .  . .        404 

of  Commerce 2298 

,  Defective  a'p pliances 

may  give  great 216 

,  Different  under  similar 

conditions 581 

of  Distant  causes *2897 

,  False,  confirming  each 

other 1064 

of  Glacier  action 1381 

,  Great,  from  meagre  re- 
sources      1350 

,  Great,  from  small  be- 
ginning   1755 

,  Great,  of  -  small  im- 
pulses   16 

,  Infinitesimal  pollution 

will  spoil  all 1114 

.Insignificant  worker 

achieves  vast 3773 

— — ,  Logical,  from  false 

premises 2830 

,  Man  tests,  of  observa- 
tion   2067 

,  Minuteness  accomplish- 
ing vast 1372 

Natural  to  seek *2895 

in  Nature  referred     to 

supreme  mind 2074 

,  Opposite,    of   a    single 

process 2213' 

Outreach  narrow  limits  *2898 

-,  Perfection  of  apparatus 


1050 


490 
3392 


gives  surer 2547 

,  Practical,  to  be  won  or 

lost 3576 

,  Secondary,  most  per- 
nicious   *2899 

,  Slight  inaccuracy  vit- 
iates  

.Superior  intelligence 

can  predetermine 

,  Telescopic,  pictured — 

Unintended — Aberra- 
tion of  light,  etc *2900 

Unintende  d — I  m  - 

provement  of  weeds *2903 

Unintended  —  Mater- 
ialism   *2901 

Unintended  —  Sun- 
spots *2902 

Unnoticed *2904 

of  Use  of  alcohol 1732 

with  Trifling  force 

,  Wonderful,  with  meagre 

resources 

RESURRECTION  of  the  Bur- 
ied past 

RETARDATION  the  Prelude 
to  swifter  advance 

RETENTION  of  Facts- 
Theory 

RETINA  Attuned  to  ethereal 
vibrations 

.  Limit  of  sensitiveness  in 

RETROGRESSION  of  Devel- 
opment in  Nature 806 

in  Motion  of  all  planets .     2434 

RETURN  of  Forests  to  the 

sunlight 1308 

REVELATION  Allows  room 

for  natural  laws *2905 

of  Brightness  by  dark- 
ness and  gloom 406 

of  God  in  Nature *2906 

of  Infinitv  in  Nature..  .      1657 

of  Nature 2919 

of  the  Unknown  .  .       .  .   *2907 


3439 
1350 


2137 

2757 


3414 


1928 
1958 


3544 


3184 


2654 
2075 


1537 
946 


947 
1846 


2963 


2040 
1267 


REVELATIONS,  Microscopic. 

of  Night  greater    than 

day 

of  the  Spectroscope.  .  .  . 

*2908,  3488 

of  the  Telescope  frag- 
mentary     *2909 

REVERBERATIONS,  Slow, 

of  sound 3152 

REVERENCE  for  Antiquity.    *2910 

Grows  with  knowledge 

of  Nature.  .  *2911 

REVERSAL  of  Common  or- 
der of  Nature 836 

of  General  rule *2912 

of  Ideas  of  position ....        467 

REVERSE,   Circulation      on 

sun   the,   of   that   on   the 

earth 2805 

REVERSION  in  Age  to  youth- 

fulfaults *2913 

to  Ancestral  type *2914 

to  Animal  type 

.     (See  also  ATAVISM.) 

REVIVAL,  Modern  scientific . 

REVOLUTION  in  Astron- 
omy    *2915 

,  Color  of  bergs  changed 

by 

,  Earth's  swift 

,  the  French 2248 

of  Magnetic  pole 927 

,  the    Solid    center    has 

different -.  . 

,  Swiftness  of  earth's  .  .  . 

REWARDS  of  Early  invent- 
ors   *2916 

RHEA,  the  American  ostrich.     2492 

,  Stomach  of,  an  ancient 

remedy — Pepsin 

RHINOCEROS  in  England 
and  France 

,  Food  of  entombed 

Once    ranged   in    Eng- 
land       1307 

,  the  Tichorhine 2044 

RHIZOPOD,  the,  or  Amoeba .  32 
RHONE,  The,  flows  clear 

from  Lake  Geneva 2924 

RYTHM,  Appreciation  of  the, 

of  Nature 2635 

of  Thought  like  periods 

of  language *2917 

RICHES  of  Creative   power 

inexhaustible *2918 

of  Science *2919 

RICHNESS  of  Insect-life  in 

tropics 1683 

RIDDLE  of  Attraction  of  am- 
ber   *2920 

,  Scientists  read  king's.  .      3020 

of  the  Universe  unread.     2334 

RIDGES  Shut  off  polar  cold. .      3373 
RIDING,  Motor  memory  in .  .      1179 
RIFLE  Calculable  but  sports- 
man not 5326 

Releases     stored-up 

work 3768 

RIGA,  Fossil  fishes  near 1870 

RIGHT,  Freedom  to  do -  1324 

,  Love  of,  the  highest 

victory 1093 

,  Lower  impulses  given 

the,  of  way 3408 

,  Chief  need  the  desire 

to  do  the 1799 

Wins  its  own  conquest..  *2921 

RIGHTEOUSNESS     Devel- 
oped in  family 1200 

,  Why  is,  not  automatic  2736 

RIGIDITY,  Earth's,  as  great 

as  that  of  steel 1245 

RIMES,  Nursery,  as  history.  2430 
RING  of  Saturn  discovered  .  2494 
RINGS,  Plant-growths 

known  as  fairy 3325 

RIPENING  of  Cream  due  to 

bacteria 359 

of  Impulses 1606 

RISE  and  Fall  of  lands.. ....    *2922 

in  Grade  of  life *2923 

,  a  True  intellectual.  ...      1411 

RITES,  Heathen 1567 


846 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


1602 
1003 


3561 

678 


2927 


1579 
3298 


1226 
1380 


430 


1866 

1722 

317 

351 


RIVAL,  the  Humming-bird 
has  no 

RIVALRY  Leads  to  magna- 
nimity  

r  a  Strong  natural  in- 
stinct   

RIVER,  Gorge  cut  by 

,  Heat  restored  in  down- 
ward flow  of 

,  Orinoco  thought  a,  of 

Paradise 

,  Sun  brings,  down 

Turned  by  upheaval  of 

RIVERS    under  '  Arches' '  of 

ice 

Carved  mountains  into 

shape  

Checked  by  earth- 
quake shock 2279 

Clarified     by     passing 

through  lakes *2924 

of  Fire — Lava 1241 

of  Ice *2928 

Lifted  by  the  sun *2927 

of  Mud  from  volcanoes.     2092 

in  the  Ocean *2926 

Saw  mountains  asunder     2570 

,  Self -purification  of 2468 

,  Subterranean 929,  950 

in  Their  wild  state *2925 

,  Transporting  power  of..  *2929 

Undermining  rocks. ...      2718 

,  Union  of 3523 

Use  rock-debris *2930 

ROAD  along  Ancient  beach .  .      1496 

,  Royal,    to    learning 

sought 

ROADWAYS  of  Ants 

ROAR  of  Avalanches 

ROASTING-TRAY  of  Primi- 
tive man 

ROBBER-BARON  of  the  Air . 

*2931-32 

ROBBERS    Plunder    victims 

of  earthquake 1678 

ROBBERY,  Instinct  of—- 
Eagle    2932 

ROBIN,  Migration  of! 2174 

Returns  to  home 2411 

ROCK,  Fluid ,  of  volcanoes. . . .     2762 

,  Ice   preserved      under 

molten 1170 

Marked    by    waves    of 

vanished  sea 

,  Masses  of,  ejected  from 

volcano 

,  Mould  of  skeleton  pre- 
served in 

— .  Ocean     blockaded     by 

floating 

,  Plastic  current  hardens 

to -. 

,  Plutonic,  a  granite.  .  .  . 

,  Record  graven  in 

Split  by  wedge 

— '. —  a  Sure  foundation 

,  Towers   and   castles  of 

native 

,  Waves  hardened  into.. . 

ROCK-DEBRIS,  Earth  cov- 
ered with 

,  Ocean     floor     covered 

with 

ROCK-DUST  Filling  the  air. 
ROCKS,  Abrasion  of,  by  glac- 
ier   

Bearing    imprint    of 

raindrops 

,  Constant  wearing  away 

of 

Crumbled    by   internal 

forces 3671 

Cut  by  glaciers 3,  2380 

,  Depth    of,    on    ocean 

floor *2935 

,  Disintegration  of 867-68 

,  Figures  on  the 2493 

Floated  away  by  ice.  .  .      1535 

— ,  Formation  of 648 

,  Formation  of,  in     the 

present  era 1311 

,  Frost  disintegrates.  .  .  .        801 


852 
2391 

425 
2443 

2282 

469 

715 

2674 

*2933 

331 
3667 

867 

867 
267 

2-3 
1607 
2718 


ROCKS  Ground  down  by 

glaciers 916 

Ground  to  impalpable 

powder 1301 

,  History  in  the 1499 

Honeycombed     by 

water 3705 

,  Igneous 374 

,  Leaf-tracery  in 1864 

,  Marine  fossils  in  inland.     3278 

,  Microscopic    perfection 

in  hidden 327 

,  Northern,  on  prairies.  .      3686 

,  Plants  separate 1917 

,  Plutonic 374 

Polished  as  by  lapid- 
ary   2380,  3448 

.Records    of    ancient 

dead  in 2847 

Rounded  by  waves  of 

ancient  sea *2934 

,  Solid ,  dissolved . .  282 1 

,  the  Stratified 373 

,  Toads  in 2346 

,  Volcanic  confused  with 

sedimentary 1077 

Worn  away  by  ele- 
ments    3595 

Worn  by  ice  or  water.  .        821 

Worn  down  in  present 

time 2718 

RODS,  Iron,  to  sound  glacier.     2377 
ROENTGEN  RAYS  defy  re- 
flection      *2936 

-.Foreign    substances 

shown  by 3030 

Make  opaque  transpar- 
ent   3655 

Scarcely  affect  germs .  .      1935 

,  Scientific  toy  gave 3587 

ROLLER  of  American  Abor- 
igines        1759 

Used  in  ancient  Egypt..     2695 

Used  by  primitive  man.     2694 

ROMANCE  of  Science 3007 

of  Zoology *2937 

ROMANS,  Beauties  of  Nature 

neglected  by 316 

Developed  arch 199 

and  Pigeon-breeding. ..      1737 

ROME,  Dominion  of,  not  a 

matter  of  chance 2977 

,  Philosophers  of,  con- 
demn riches 791 

ROOFS,   Insects    building 

thatched 208 

ROOM,     Revelation     allows, 

for  natural  law 2905 

,  Student  returns  to  old  .     1593 

— ,  Will  finds ,  in  variation .      3602 
ROOT,     Growing,     divides 

dense  earth 2674 

ROOTS  Defective  in  insecti- 
vorous plants 562 

Making  their  way  in  the 

soil *2938 

of  Pashiuba 412 

,  Plant  almost  without .  .      3637 

Sustain  massive  crown.       223 

ROPE,  Use  of,  by  primitive 

man 3285 

ROSE  Seen  by  light  reflected 
back  through  its  sub- 
stance   538 

ROSE-BUSH,  Ancient,  in 

Germany 1915 

ROSTELLUM  of  Orchid 757 

ROT,  Bitter,  attacks  apples. . .      1009 

Enemy  of  peach  tree .  .  .      1009 

ROTATION  of  crops  scientific     3138 
,  Day  and  night  vs.,   of 

earth 879 

,  Solar 3188 

ROUTINE,  Novelty  of  youth 

becomes 3793 

ROUTES  of  Migratory  birds  .      1677 
ROWS  of  Lights  on  sides    of 

deep-sea  fish 1249, 1948 

ROYAL  INSTITUTION  o  f 
Great  Britain  founded  by 

an  American 362 

ROYAL  SOCIETY,  Plain  lan- 
guage required  by 2984 


ROYAL  SOCIETY  in  Time  of 

Charles  II 2984 

ROYALTY  among  Bees *2939 

RUBBER,  Heat  shrinks 182 

RUBIDIUM,  Discovery  of .  .  .        847 
RUBIES,  Mountain  tops  shine 

like 699 

RUBY  a  Product  of  volcano  .     3484 
RUDIMENTARY     ORGANS, 

Plan  revealed  in *2479,  2612 

.     (See  also  ORGANS.) 

RUIN  by  Alcoholism  is  crim- 
inal insanity 2889 

Left  by  vanished  agent.       107 

RULE,  Inheritance  the 1676 

,  Reversal  of  general..  .  .     2912 

RULER  of  the  Winds 2351 

RULES  of  Aristotle  only  for 

deduction. 1638 

RUMINANTS-     Classification 


including  hog  among 

RUN  Necessary  for   flight — 


1058 
2823 


Condor 

RUNNERS,  Plants  extended 

by.  .  2618 

RUNNING,Reflex  action  in.  .     2291 

RUSHES,  Seeds  of.  trans- 
ported by  animals 3039 

RUSSIAN  THISTLE,  Spread  of    3189 


SABLE,  1'ree-frequenting,  in 

brown 163 

SACKING  of  a  Tow  n  —Cruelty  705 
SACRIFICE   a   Condition  of 

the  highest  good 2497 

of  Gem  to  science *2940 

of  the  Individual 341 

a  Law  of  Nature 3236 

of  Less  for  greater *2941 

,  Love  makes,  painless. .  1-134 

of  Lower  organism  for 

higher *2942 

for  Truth 2050 

SACRIFICES,  Human, 

deemed  righteous 2830 

to  Malevolence *2943 

SAFEGUARD,  Knowledge  a.  1792 

.Speed  a 3177 

SAFENESS  of  Common  sense 

as  a  guide 582 

SAFETY,  Destruction  b  y 

means  used  for 794 

,  Lowliness  is 2557 

,  Science  increases 1934 

.  Yielding,  a  means  of. .  .  3794 

SAFETY-LAMP,  Miners' 1709 

SAFETY-VALVES,  Volcanoes 

Earth's 3671 

SAGACITY,  Animal— Mule. .  *2944 

of  Cat 3273 

of  Eskim9  dogs *2946 

,  Science   justifies   prac- 
tical   2903 

Surpasses  theory *2947 


-  of  a  Wasp 


*2945 


1173 
2121 
1768 


SAHARA,    Thirst 

fields  as  in  ............... 

SAIL,  the  Pull  of  air  on  a..  .  . 

3ALADO,  Irrigation  along  the 
SALICYLIC   ACID  Injurious 

as  food  preservative  ......      1277 

SALMON,   Science   measures 

leap  of  .................      1121 

SALT  a  Necessity  of  life  .....   *2948 

---  ,  U  nioii  of  substances  in  .      3520 
SALVATION  an  Active  prin- 

ciple ..................   *2949 

SAMARAS   or  "Keys"   of 

maple  and  ash  .......... 

SAMARITAN,  The  Good  .... 

-  .Good,  in  the  ant  world. 
SAMPLE,  Difficulty  of  secur- 

ing, of  water  ............ 

SAND,  Cutting  power  of  ..... 

-  the  Great  filter  ........ 

-  Helps    rivers   to   wear 
rocks  ................  1049,2930 

--  ,  Lizard  the  color  of  .....     2183 

--  Preserver  of  monu- 

ments ..................    *2950 

--  in  Water  exits  rocks  .  .  .      1049 

-  Wears  away  rocks  .....      3595 


3742 
3348 
1470 

1114 
1295 
2390 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


847 


SAND-BAR  Shifted  by  storm.  *2951 

SAND-BLAST,  Desert     wind 

acts  as  a.  .  . 868 

,  Invention  of  the 1757 

SANDSTONE,  Granite  wedge 

forced  through 3244 

.  Fossils  in 1319 

SANITATION,  Neglect  of.  ...  2404 

SANSCRIT,  121  Original  con- 
cepts in 1443 

SAPPHIRE  a  Product  of  vol- 
cano   3484 

SAPROPHYTES  and  Para- 
sites   3584 

in  Soil 748 

SATELLITES,  Discovery    of 

Jupiter's,  by  Galileo.  .  .  1043,  2494 

of  Jupiter  showed  ve- 
locity of  light 2706 

of    Jupiter   denied    by 

opponents  of  Copernicus.  .  3739 

.Jupiter   with,    a   little 

universe 1 145 

of  Mars  discovered.  .  .  .  1060 

,  Non-luminous  bodies 

may  have  brilliant 3223 

,  Occupation  of.  of  Jup- 
iter   3631 

SATISFACTION,  Absolute,  of 

senses 1961 

SATURN  a  Minor  sun 3085 

as  Seen  by  telescope ...  1 969 

SAUBA  ANTS  the  Leaf-cut- 
ters     208 

SAUBA,  Procession  of,  ants .  .  1869 
SAUERMANN,  Experiments 

of,  on  birds 1261 

SAVAGE  Apprehends  unity  of 

Nature 3539 

Compared  with  brute .  .  *2952 

,  Conquest  of  Nature  by.  593 

Evolution  of  mind  in  a .  2208 

,  How  Nature  moves  the  *2953 

Kills   by  poisoned 

thumb-nail 2971 

,  Lamps  of .  .  . 1807 

Requires  excitement. ..  511 

Surpasses  brute *2954 

.     (See  also  BARBARIAN.) 

SAVAGERY    as    Modern    as 

civilization *2955 

,  Vices  of,  not  primeval. .  3642 

,  Wretchedness  of 378.8 

SAVAGES  amidst  Civilization  29o6 
,  Comparative  anatomy 

among 160 

Credited  with  abstract 

conceptions 2943 

Distort  facts *2957 

,  Domestic  life  of *2958 

,  Food  of 1269 

.  Freedom  of,  an  illusion  1327 

Gain  material  for  sci- 
ence   2992 

,  Gods  of,  like  them- 
selves   1390 

Had  practical  knowl- 
edge of  anatomy 161 

,  Invention  among 1751 

Lack  mathematical  fac- 
ulty   1713 

Learn  agriculture 122 

,  Methods    of    counting 

among 677 

,  Paternal  government  a 

blessing  to 1396 

.  Pictures  made  by 233 

,  Poor  better  fed  than. .  .  498 

,  Power     of     perception 

among 2543 

,  Profile  portrait  offends.  9 

,  Sewing  among 3089 

,  Smoke  as  a  preserva- 
tive of  food  among 3131 

,  Treasure  among — Gold  1391 

,  Unconscious     selection 

among 3046 

,  Virtue  among 3647 

SAVING,    Undesirable,        of 

waste  in  body 1275 

SAWS  Made  of  stone 2133 

S  A.XONY,  Geology  in  mines  of  373 

SAYING  vs.  Doing 899 


SCAB  Attacks  apples 1009 

SCAFFOLDING,  Edifice  un- 
seen till,  is  removed 965 

of  Science *2959 

SCALE,    Ascending,    of   hu- 
manity  

SCALES   of   Fish   or  reptile 
armor 


1513 


235 


651 
2577 


2759 
626 


1742 
649 


*2963 
11 


18 


229 

--  Used  by  primitive  man.  *2960 
SCALLOPS,  Discovery  of.  ...  2388 
SCANDINAVIA,  Tropical  ani- 

mals in  .................     1536 

SCATTERING  of  Pack  when 

on  thin  ice  —  Dogs  ........     2946 

SCAVENGERS,  Insects  as.  .  .   *2961 
-  of  the  Sea—  Gulls  .....  *2962 

SCENERY  of  Greece  ........       333 

SCENT,  Ants  tracking  by  ----  209 

-  .Keenness  of,   among 
Indians  .................      3076 

-  ,  Wasps  guided  by  .....      1684 
SCHEME,  Individual  life  fit- 

ting into,  of  Nature  ......      1889 

SCHOLAR,  Artisan  may  be- 
come a  ................. 

-  ,  Many  and  deep  convo- 
lutions in  brain  of  ........ 

-  ,  Specters  haunting  a. 

SCHOLASTICISM,  Intellec- 
tual movement  exploded  .  . 

SCHOLASTICS,  Contempt  of, 
for  science  .............. 

SCHOOLMEN,  Science  and 
the  ..................... 

-  ,  Intolerance  of  the  ..... 
SCHOOLS,  Rival  of   cosmo- 

gony ...................       t>4« 

--  ,  Technical,  in  Germany.  2991 
SCIENCE  Accepts  popular 

belief  .................. 

-  ,  Accident     utilized    by 
man  of  ................. 

-  .Accuracy  of  detail  the 
charm  of  ................ 

-  Adds  glory  to  vision  of 
redemption  .............   *2964 

-  ,  Advance  in  ...........          81 

-  ,  Advance    of,    uninter- 
rupted ..................     3412 

-  Advanced  by  Arabs.  .  .   *2965 

-  Aided  by  photography.       250 

-  Aids  agriculturist  .....  1686-87 

-  ,  Anomalies  of  ..........        182 

-  ,  Application  of,  in  the 
nineteenth  century  ....... 

-  .Applied,  is  no  special 
branch  ................. 

-  .Aristocracy  or  democ- 
racy as  favoring  ......... 

-  ,  Aspiration  of,  limitless. 

-  ,  Astronomy  a  continu- 
ous .................... 

-  ,  Attempt    to    shape  to 
theory  ................. 

--  ,  Bacon  a  martyr  of  ..... 

-  under  Ban  of  church  .  . 

-  at   Beginning  of  nine- 
teenth century  in  Germany 

-  ,  Beginnings  of  ......... 

-  .Biblical,    and    biblical 
teaching  ................ 

-  ,  Bigotry  and.  .  ........ 

-  Broadens    estimate    of 
universe  .................   *2973 

-  .Bubbles  as  teachers  of.      1933 

-  ,  Calmness  of  ..........       416 

--  Cannot  account  for  con- 

sciousness ..............      3103 

-  -  Cannot  disprove  theol- 

ogy ....................   *2974 

-  Cannot     explain     con- 
sciousness ..............      1967 

-  Cannot    prove   immor- 
tality ...................   *2975 

-  ,  Cause  the  highest  work 

of,  to  find  ...............        438 

-  of  Child-training  needed      489 

-  ,  Commercial  industry 

aids  ....................      2761 

-  ,  Compensation  in  won- 

ders of  .................        859 

-  ,  Conflict  of  religion  and     3590 


473 
*2970 

766 
241 

251 

3399 
2089 
1743 

3014 
349 

2841 
364 


2199 
740 


2740 
1879 


1156 


SCIENCE   Confronted     with 

mystery *2976 

,  Conquest  of  globe  by  .  .     2610 

,  Conquests  of.  .262,  594,  *2977 

,  Conquests  of,  for  hu- 
manity   922 

,  Contempt  of  scholastics 

for 626 

Counts  the  stars 3205 

Cultivated  for  its  own 

sake *3013 

Cultivates  orderly  hab- 
its of  thought 

.Debt  of. 

,  Decision  of,  waits  for 

facts 

,  Definition,  gives  of  life . 

Demands   concentra- 
tion of  human  power 

Demands  a  life  beyond 

the  senses *2978 

Demands   the   test    of 

fact 3410 

Demonstrations  of .  .  .  .      1153 

Dependence  of,  on  me- 
chanics  ^. .       773 

Dependent    on    envir- 
onment    *2979 

Despises  tyrant 2461 

Destroying  idolatry.  .  .   *2980 

,  Development     of — As- 
tronomy  810-11 

,  Development  of — Ex- 
periment  807, 1148 

,  Devotion  to 818 

,  Discovery  of  causes  a 

part  of 

,  Discrimination  of 

,  Disregard  of  exactness 

of 

,  Distinctions  of 

Does   not   control   ac- 
tivities  m *2981 

Does  not  diminish  sense 

of  beauty ;  . 

Does  not  include  phil- 

Does  not  lessen  wonders 

Does  not  reach  causes  . 

,  Earnestness  of 

,  Economic  value  of  .... 

.Educational  use  of 

theories  of 

,  Electric,  recent 

,  Ends  and  means  in.  .  .  . 

Enforces  lesson  of  ex- 


31 

861 


1115 
821 


3316 

3762 

1859 

926 

*2983 

1975 

986 

1005 


1793 
2653 


perience 

,  Enthusiasm  for 

not  Estimated  by  mere 

utility *2998 

.Exactness  of — the 

Foot-pound 2127 

Exalted  by  religion  .  .  .      3011 

,  Expectation  of ,  verified     1 1 35 

,  Experience   the    start- 
ing point  of. 1 143 

,  Facts  and  theories  of, 

to  be  discriminated 1182 

,  Faith  of 1195 

Favors  simplicity *2984 

Finds   no   evidence   of 

spontaneous  generation.  .  .      1343 

,  Fixed  limits  of 1963 

Founded  on  faith *2985 

,  Founders  of  physical  .  .      1320 

,  Four  pillars  of *2986 

the  Great  expositor  .  .  .   *3011 

Has  alwavs  new  worlds 

to  conquer *2987 

— : — Has  no  explanation  of  life  716 
— '• —  Has  no  explanation  of 

vital  force 1916 

a  Helper  of  religion 2870 

,  Higher  and  lower  or- 
ders of *2966 

,  Hopefulness  of 1507 

,  Imagination  in 1574-77 

Increases  healthfulness 

and  safety 1934 

Increases   human   sus- 
tenance        1274 

Independent   of  philo- 
sophical theories *2988 


848 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SCIENCE,  Industry  and  study 

of 

-,  Insight  into 

,  Inspiration  needed  in .  . 

Instruction  in 

Before  instruments .... 

Justifies   practical    sa- 
gacity  

in  the  Kitchen 

of  Language 

,  Law  makes,  possible. .  . 

,  Laws    of    history    like 

those  of 

Leads  out  to  the  infin- 
ite  

Lengthens  life 

Limited    by    an    incal- 
culable element 

,  Limits  of  natural 

,  Limits  of  physical 

a  Living  reality 

,  Logic  aids 

Looks  toward  future.  . 

,  Love  of,  combined  with 

love  of  adventure 

Makes  God  sublime.  .  . 

Makes  Nature  not  less 

grand 

.....  Martyrs  of — Bacon  .  .  . 
,  Martyrs  of — The  elder 

Pliny 

,  Marvels  of  practical.  .  . 

,  Mathematics  ministers 

to  all 

May  yet  mine  for  heat . 

Measured  by  Scripture 

Measures  salmon's  leap 

of  Medicine  developed 

botany 

,  Method  of 

.Mingling  of  religion 

with 

,  Modern,  the  one  great 

lesson  of 

,  Modern  revivial  of.  ... 

,  Modern,  is  practical.  .  . 

,  Mohammedan  intoler- 
ance checks 

and    Morality — Evolu- 
tion   

and  Morality  unite .... 

Must  master  details. .  . 

of  Mystery 

a  Mystery  of •. . . 

,  Mystery     surrounds 

facts    of 

of  Nature 

,  Nature  of  life  unknown 

to 

Needs  philosophy 

Neither  proves  nor  de- 
nies a  God 

,  Niche  of,  unfilled 

,  Omen  of  owl  reversed 

by 

,  Ordinary  canons  of, 

fail 

Overcomes  difficulties. 

,  Paralyzed    by    intoler- 
ance  

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Copernician  system.  . 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Halley's  comet 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of— Parallax 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Solar  spectrum 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Species 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Spectrum  of  Vega  .... 

,  Patience  and  exactness 

of — Spontaneous  genera- 
tion  

,  Persecution  in  name  of 

,  Perseverance  of — Kep- 
ler  

.Perseverance  of — 

Search  for  fossils 

-,  Perseverance  of — Tran- 
sit of  Venus 

,  Personal  equation  in .  . 


1641 

2634 

1692 

*2991 

*2972 

*2993 

*2982 

1832 

685 

1854 

1656 
1987 

2785 
*2995 

1973 
*2967 

1982 

2308 

1600 
1387 

2344 
2089 

2090 
21 

2109 

1465 

363 

1121 

3016 
2166 

2866 

3548 

2075 

*2994 

692 

2241 
2352 
394 
2335 
3044 

2339 
*2999 

1901 
*2968 

*2996 
2416 

2452 

1710 
*3001 

1744 
3352 
2523 
2503 
2524 
2  26 
2525 


2522 
834 


2568 
2567 


2566 
1125 


SCIENCE  Personifies  forces.  *3002 

,  Perversion  of 1277 

,  Physical  vs.  Mental.  .  .  *3003 

,  Place  of  experiments 

in 2607 

,  Poetry  a  form  of  .....  157 

,  Poetry  has  existed 

without 2635 

,  Poetry  of 2636 

of  Politics *3000 

,  Popular  belief  founded 

on  fact  of 1607 

in    its    Practical  bear- 
ings     *2989 


*3004 

2729 

143 

*3005 
3138 

3413 


,  Practical    interest    of, 
to  man 

in  Practical  precaution 

,  Practical  result  of 

,  Practical  utility  of.  ... 

,  Practise  ahead  of 

,  Practise  of  medicine  a 

test  of 

,  Precision    of 2707-09 

,  Premature  teaching  of     1831 

in  Presence  of  old  mys- 
tery     *2990 

,  a  Problem  of 2737 

,  Problems  of 3078 

,  Progress    characterizes 

true 2750 

,  Progress    of    discovery 

in 21 

,  Progress  of 2756-58 

,  Progress  of,  and  pros- 
perity       2768 

,  Prophecy  in 2765 

,  Qualities  of  investiga- 
tor of 2813 

,  Questions    for     which, 

has  no  answer 2814 

,  Rarely     learned     after 

youth 835 

,  Reconciliation  of,  with 

the  Bible 2841 

,  Religion    and,   not    at 

variance 2863 

,  Religion      impregnable 

to. .  .  .  .    2864 

,  Religion  ministers  to .  .        494 

,  Religion  purified  by.  .  .      3011 

Replacing   superstition  *3006 

Requires     imagination 

for  research 1572 

,  Research  in— Arabs  .  .      2811 

,  a  Rest  from  strife *2971 

,  Retarded    by    precon- 
ceived theory 3409 

Not  a  revelation  of 

spiritual  truth *2997 

Reverses  popular  esti- 
mate        912 

,  Riches  of 2919 

,  Romance  of *3007 

,  Scaffolding  of 2959 

and  the  Schoolmen ...      *2969 

.Seeming   conflict   of, 

and  religion 

,  Service  of  fire  to 

,  Service  of  microscope 

to 

not  Silenced  by  dogma 

,  Similarity  the  founda- 
tion of 3109 

,  the  Sloth  as  known  to.          60 

,  Solicitude    of,    for   hu- 
manity       2461 

- — .The  Spirit  of 1762 

Springs  from  the  search 

for  causes 427 

.Spurious,  of  early 

Egypt *3008 

,  Students  of  pure 3269 

,  The  Study  of  .591,  766,  *3012 

Not    to     supersede 

poetry 2636 

,  Superstition  prevents 

study  of 3329 

is  Systematized  knowl- 
edge     *2992 

Teaches  correct  habits 

of  observation 2439 

Teaches  naturalness  of 

religion *3010 


590 
1236 


2172 
590 


SCIENCE    Teaches   need   of 

faith 1197 

Teaches  protection ....    *3009 

,  Theology  opposed  to.  .      3385 

-,  Theology  the  highest .  .      3386 

,  Theories   corrected    by 

advancing 3416 

,  Theories  in,  perish.  .  .  .  3393 

,  Tragedy  of 3396 

,  Transcendentalism  in  3456 

,  Transition  state  of ....  3472 

,  Triumph  of 3485 

,  True,  will  not  confuse.  448 

,  Truth  of 218 

,  Vicissitudes  of  a *3015 

,  Visions  of 3658 

,  Way  prepared  by 851 

Will  not  discover  too 

much 685 

Works  to   definite   re- 
sults      2167 

.     (See  also  EXACTNESS 

OF  SCIENCE.) 

SCIENCES,  Alliance  of 

,  Bread-and-butter 

,  Convergence    of,   upon 

evolution 

,  Correlation  of 

,  Evolution  of 

,  Gradual  development  of 

,  Growth  of 

Help  one  another 

Interdependence  of  ... 

,  One  movement  prevad- 

ingall 

,  Unification  of  the 

,  Unity  of  the.  .  . 

SCIENTIFIC  LAWS  in  Struc- 
ture of  living  organism .  .  . 

SCIENTIFIC  THEORIES, 

Formation  of 1312 

SCIENTIFIC  THEORY,  Test 

of 3381 

SCIENTIST,  Admission  of 

Ger  nan 965 

,  Avowal  by  true,  of 

change  of  view 1073 

,  Candor  of 418 

,  Change  of  view  of 

,  Defines  death 

,  Dogmatism  of 

,  Enthusiasm  of  young.  . 

Explains  difficulty.  .  .  . 

.Loyal  to  opposing 

Church 

,  Must  become  as  little 

child 

,  Qualification  of  great — 

Kepler 

,  Resolution  of 

,  Theories  abandoned  by 

great 3387 

SCIENTISTS,    Achievements 

of  early 

: Assumed  infallibility.  . 

,  the  Doubts  of 

,  Errors  of 1058-78,  1466 

,  Fallacies  of 1263 

Foiled  by  a  king *3019 

,  Predictions  of,  falsified         13 

Read   king's  riddle.  .  .    *3020 

,  Unanimity   of,   secures 


144 
2551 

650 

668 

1110 

804 

239 

844 

*3016 

813 
3510 
3552 

991 


93 
734 
896 
1027 
236 

*3017 
*3018 

2812 
678 


2972 
1647 
3163 


belief 350& 

SCINTILATION  Affected  by 

vapor  in  the  air 3501 

Diminishes    with    alti- 
tude       3606 

of  Stars — Explanation 

of 3220-21 

.    (See  also  TWINKLING.) 

SCISSORS-TAIL,  Antics  of..        188 
SCOTLAND,  Black  cattle  in.          45 

,  Spindle  of  Egypt  in  the 

Highlands  of 1644 

SCOTT  Composing  Waverley 

novels 3489 

Forgets   novel  after 

writing 2145 

,  Vision   of   Byron   seen 

after  death  by 3293 

SCOURGE,  Deliverer  become  a      75£ 
SCOUTS,  Bee,   select  new 

home...  ....     2611 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


849 


3443 


2452 

2694 

3285 

113 

858 

3590 

363 

742 


682 

3043 

350 

959 

*3022 

*3021 

3596 

2422 

475 

167 

333 

2442 

3681 

628 

727 

2355 

241 

2907 

887 


SCRAPERS,  Grip  of  Eskimo's 

SCREECH-OWL,  Servicea- 
bleness  of  the 

SCREW  Used  by  primitive 
man 

SCREWS,  Substitutes  for, 
among  American  Indians. 

SCRIPTURE,  Agnostic  agrees 
with .  .  . 

,  Enduring  impressive- 
ness  of 

,  Importations  into 

,  Science  measured  by.  . 

,  Theology  not  separated 

from  Nature  in 

Unites  natural  and  su- 
pernatural  

,  Seers  of  Old  Testament 

SCULPTOR,  Mind  works  as .  . 

SCULPTURE,  Beginnings  of 

,  Earth,  of  primitive  man 

,  Greek 

,  Infancy  of 

SCUM  and  Mud  most  im- 
portant part  of  filter ...... 

SEA,  Aerial  armies  crossing .  . 

,  Alps  thrust  up  from  the 

,  Animals  fixed  to  the 

floor  of 

,  Association  of  land  and 

a  Bond  of  union 

,  Butterflies  at 

,  Continents  washed  into 

the 

,  Darkness,  cold  and 

pressure  in  deep 

,  Denial  of  life  in  deep .  . 

,  Depth  of  the 

-,  Depths  of,  till  lately 

unknown 

,  Division  among  fauna 

of  the 

,  Drifting  pumice  cover- 
ing the 2440 

,  Earth  carried  from 

mountain  to . 2929 

,  Earthquakes  originat- 
ing beneath *3023 

,  Enormous  pressure  in 

deep 2720 

,  Experiment  illustrating 

pressure  in  deep 2722 

,  Exploration  of  the  deep 

1156,  2907 

,  Eyes  of  animals  of  deep     1175 

,  the  Falcons  of  the 

,  Fauna  of  the 

,  First  proof  of  fauna  of 

deep 

.  Gulls  the  scavengers 

of  the 

,  Hills  once  under 

.  Icebergs  emerge  from 

under 1538 

,  Illusion  at 1556 

,  Inland,  steppes  once 

the  bottom  of 3277 

,  Inroads  of,  on  coast.  .  .        458 

,  Insects  blown  out  to.  .      3100 

,  Interchange  of  ••  land 

and 1733-34 

,  Inundating  land 3281 

,  Land-building  under .  .        777 

Life  discovered  in  deep     1894 

Made  warmer  by  storm     1454 

,  Mountains  cast  into  .  .  .   *3024 

,  Organisms  of  deep,  per- 
ish at  surface 1007 

,  Peculiar  peril  of  fish  of 

deep "1849 

,  Permanency  of 3401 

,  Phosphorescence 

in  deep 2586-87 

,  Phosphorescence 

of  echinodernes  from  deep . 

Photography   finds   no 

sunlight  in  deep 

,  Red  prevalent  in  fauna 

of  deep 

,  Rock  marked  by  waves 

of  vanished 

,  Rocks  rounded  by 

waves  of  ancient 2934 


816 
2444 


2761 


2962 
1955 


3213 
2593 


2849 
852 


SEA  of  Sea-weed 3638 

,  Sewage  and   garbage 

thrown  into 3692 

,  Stillness  in  deep 3229-30 

,  No  sunlight  penetrates 

deep 358 

,  Temperature  of  the 

deep 3372 

,  Temperatures  differ  in 

deep 3373 

,  Unknown  substance 

covers  the 3639 

.     (See  also  OCEAN.) 

SEA- ANEMONE,  Design  in..        787 
SEA-BIRDS  Flying  inland 

before  earthquake 168 

SEA-BOTTOM,  Chalk  an  an- 
cient   1089 

SEA-CAPTAIN,  Intoxicated, 

killing  sailors 1746 

SEA-GULL,    Stomach     of, 

changed  by  diet 1029 

SEA-LEVEL    a    Fluctuating 

line 629 

SEALING- WAX,Colors  trans- 
ferred to 3505 

SEALS,  Curiosity  a  trait  of .  .       709 
SEAMAN,  Strange  tale  of ....      1570 

SEARCH  for  Causes 426 

,  Discovery  by 1060 

,  Discovery  by  persistent     1060 

,  Fossils  found  after  long     2567 

,  Money  wasted  in  vain, 

for  coal 1357 

,  Vain,     for     intra-mer- 

curian  planet 2741 

SEAS,  Dust  on  high 819 

,  Exploration  of  geologic     1155 

,  Light  of  phosphores- 
cence in  the  Banda 1940 

Subject  to  man 571 

SEA-SALT,  Soda  from 2893 

SEA-SHELLS    above    High- 
water  mark *3025 

,  Limestone  composed 

of 3442 

SEASHORE,  Sand  -  colored 

lizard  on 2183 

SEASON,  Nesting,  cause  of 

migration  of  birds 434 

SEASONS  no  Longer  control 

marriage 1202 

,  Religion  may  be  lim- 
ited to 3087 

.  Warm ,  in  Arctic  regions     3278 

SEAT,  Mystery  of  the,  of  the 

soul 2329 

SEA- WAVES  upon  Land *3026 

SEA- WEED,  the  Sea  of 3638 

SECLUSION  a  Remedy  for 

drunkenness 141 

of  Women *3027 

SECOND,  Astronomy  de- 
pends upon  fractions  of  a .  .  1113 

SECOND  CAUSES,  God  works 

through 1388 

SECRET  of  Comets  discov- 
ered    *3029 

of  Idolatry 2575 

,  Selection  the,  of  artist's 

power 238 

SECRETION,  Antiseptic 

power  of,  of  sun-dew 1268 

,  Copious,  of  sun-dew  leaf         54 

SECRETIVENESS  towards 

Superiors *3028 

SECRETS  of  Nature 2373 

Revealed *3030 

SECURITY  from  Infection  .  .    *3032 

by  Precaution *3031 

SEDGE  Distributed  by  man. .      2029 
,  Seeds  of,  borne  by  wind 

and  wave 3711 

SEED,  Abundant  production 

of 2798 

Cast  upon  the  waters.  .      3711 

,  Crows     as    distributers 

of 702 

,  Dandelion 44 

,  Germ  a 1362 

,  One,  among  thousands 

grows 3693 

,  Store  of  nutriment  in..  3237 


SEED-BOATS,  Seeds  of  sedge 

enclosed  in 3711 

SEED-DISPERSAL  by  Ani- 
mals   *3039 

by  Birds *3035 

— —  of  Catapult  fruit *3036 

,  Contrivances  for 180 

Gives  new  start  in  life. .    *3033 

,  Gradual 872 

,  Hooks  and  spines  for  .  .        165 

by  Rivers *3038 

of  Russian  thistle *3034 

of  Willow  and  poplar.  .    *3037 

SEED-DISTRIBUTER,    Man 

as  a 2029 

Rolled  by  wind 3034 

SEED-DISTRIBUTERS,  Ani- 
mals as 645,  3039 

SEEDLINGS    Destroyed    by 

slugs 798 

SEEDS,  Animals  transporting       180 

Biding  their  time 2379 

,  Birds  as  distributers  of.       165 

Buried  by  worms *3040 

Destroyed  by  weevils .  .        798 

Distribution  of  by  man     2029 

,  Distribution  of  by  wind       884 

of  Egypt 983-84 

Flung  afar 3036 

—  as  Food 1270 

,  Locust,  borne  by  wind..     3479 

Numerous,  of  orchid  .  .      3693 

,  Profusion  of *3041 

,  Shot    as    from    thumb 

and  finger 645 

,  Spurious,  sold  to  trav- 
elers in  Egypt 984 

Transported  by  stages..     3479 

Transported  in  mud.  .  .      3039 

,  Waste  of 3694 

of  Willow  and  poplar.  .      3037 

.Wind-borne  .  .884,  3729,  3742 

SEEING  Without  perceiving  .  *3042 

,  Teaching  not  a  substi- 


tute for 

SEERS  of  the  Old  Testament.       682 

SELECTION,  Accumulative. .     2042 

,  Artificial  contrasted 

with  natural 42 

,  Artificial,  the  magi- 
cian's wand *3045 

,  Artificial,  among  sav- 
ages   *3046 

,  Benefit  of  animals  in- 
creased by 2052 

,  Evolution  involves 

more  than  natural 1100 

Implies  rejection 3047 

,  Natural,  personified.  .  .     3050 

,  Natural,  unexplained..      1667 

the    Office     of     con- 
sciousness         491 

a  Property  of  life *^044 

,  Qualities     needed     for 

successful 2539 

Requires    superhuman 

wisdom *3053 

the   Secret    of   artist's 

power 238 

among    Simultaneous 

possibilities *3043 

,  Spencer  accepts  natu- 
ral   468 

,  Varieties  must  precede.     3608 

SELECTION,  NATURAL,  As- 
sumed to  be  without  a  plan  42 

,  not  a  Cause *3049 

by  Elemental  forces.  .  .   *3052 

not  Explanationof 

beauty 1425 

in  Man  devoted   to 

mind *3048 

Personified  ........ *3050 

of  Physical  variations. .      3051 

to  be  Superseded 2071 

Surpasses  human 2378 

Will  not  explain  man .  .   *3051 

.     (See    also     NATURAL 

SELECTION;  SELECTION.) 
SELF,  Clothing  is  almost  part 

of 1158 

,  Family  and  home  part 

of  . .  1199 


850 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SELF,  Man  s  social 2078 

in  Relation  to  envir- 
onment    *3055 

,  Supreme  interest  in *3054 

SELF-ADJUSTMENT  to  Heat 

or  cold 561 

SELF-CONTEMPLATION  a 

Wonderful  power 2046 

SELF-CONTROL  Destroyed 

by  indulgence  of  passion. .  .  1333 

SELF-CREATION,  Organ- 

ismsinvestedwith  power  of  3050 

SELF-DEVOTION  defies  anal- 
ysis   2783 

SELF-DISCIPLINE,Improve- 

ment  by 2816 

SELF-FERTILIZATION  of 

Orchids  prevented 1627 

SELFISHNESS  in  Animal  life.  *3057 

Disguised    as    spirit- 
uality    *3056 

on  the  Sea *3058 

SELF-LUMINOUSNESS  of 
the  Ether  held  by  Ionic 
philosophers 1084 

SELF-PRESERVATION,  Ac- 
tion of  living  things  tends  to  1880 

SELF-RELIANCE  to  be  fos- 
tered  

SELF-RESPECT  Abandoned 
by  intemperate  woman.  . .  . 

SELF-SACRIFICE  of  a  Flow- 
er    *3059 

SELF-SEEKING  Fulfills  wide 

design 105 

,  True  spiritual 3056 

SELVES,  Each  person  sev- 
eral  

,  Men  discriminate  be- 
tween their  own  different. . 

SENNIT,  The,  of  Oceanica.. .  . 

SENSATION,  Brain  may  be 
destroyed  before,  reaches  it 

,  Judgment  of  intensity 

of 

Leaves  its  trace 

,  Minute  differences  of  .  . 

not  Motion 

of  Movement  of  station- 
ary objects 1559 

the  Mystery  of  life 758 

,  Preoccupation  by  im- 
mediate    2229 

Requires     time     for 

transmission .   *3060 

a    Sufficient    guide    in 

habit 1603 

.  Time  occupied  by 3437 

an  Ultimate  fact  of  life.     1919 

,  Unvarying,    u  n  p  e  r  - 

ceived 603 

SENSATIONS,  .Acute  or  mas- 
sive    *3061 

,  Bodily  processes     a  f  - 

fected  by 3519 

,  Habitual,  ignored 1609 

Without  ideas 1925 

Increased  by  attention.  *3062 

,  Light   and   sound   not 

mere 1927 

not    to    be    Measured 

numerically *3063 

More  vivid  after     re- 
mission      2406 

of  Normal  conscious- 
ness to  be  trusted *3064 

SENSE,  ^Esthetic,  in  animals     2628 
,  Common ,  of  a  child.  . . .      1189 

of  Beauty  not  dimin- 
ished by  science *3066 

of  Direction  not  a  blind 


1764 
1731 


3055 

1635 
365 

737 

1782 
960 
812 

2263 


instinct 

of  Direction  in  bees.  .  . . 

—  of  Direction  destroyed 

by  snow 

of  Duration — Unoccu- 
pied time. 


of  Duration  relative.  .  . 

,  Emotional  thrill  gives, 

of  reality 

of  Hearing  in  bees 

,  Height  gives,  of  exal- 
tation   3625 


1867 
837 

2559 

*3067 
1878 

1130 
1449 


217 

1689 

724 

213 


*3069 
2854 
2867 

3077 
1903 
2605 
3446 


2676 

*3070 
1684 
3071 


SENSE  of  Ignorance  a  law  of 

man's  being *3068 

of  Ignorance  rouses  de- 
sire to  know 

of  Insecurity  from 

earthquake 

,  Muscular,  of  equilib- 
rium  

,  One,  called  to  verify 

another  

,  Organs  of — Ants 2476 

of  Ownership  essential..     2495 

of     Property     mani- 
fested by  dogs 

,  Refraction   enhances, 

of  vastness 

,  Religion  more  than,  of 

dependence 

of  Smell  in  brute  and 

man 

,  Spirit  not  revealed  to . . 

of  the  Sublime 

of  Touch  in  worms  .... 

of  Void  from   lack  of 

customary  sound 3664 

SENSE-IMPRESSIONS,  Com- 
bination and  interpreta- 
tion of *3065 

SENSE-PERCEPTION,  Intel- 
lect rallies  from  shock  be- 
fore  

SENSE-PERCEPTIONS    Act 

one  at  a  time 

SENSES,  Acute,  of  insects.  .. 

,  Assumed  fallacy  of 

,  Conflict  of *3072 

,  Development  of 812 

,  Different 245 

to  Extend  their  range. .   *3078 

,  Imperfection  of  human     1589 

,  Judgment    needed    to 

interpret *3073 

,  Keenness  of,  in  savages  *3074 

Never  confused 2408 

,  Relative  acuteness  of — 

Keenness  of  scent *3075-77 

,  Science  demands  a  life 

beyond  that  of  the 

SENSIBILITY,  Activity  vs.  . 

-  Changeable *3079 

SENSITIVENESS,    Limit    of 

in  retina 

of  Plants  to  light 

Specialized *3081 

,  Unnatural,  in  hysteria.      3062 

SENTENCE  of  Death 90 

SENTENCES,  Intervals    be- 
tween, full  of  meaning  .... 

SENTIMENT  without  Action 
pernicious :  . 

of  the  Human  race.  .  .  . 

SENTIMENTALITY,    Mon- 
sters of 

SEPARATE  INDUSTRY    vs. 

Gregarious  industry 

SEPARATENESS  of  the  Deity 

of     Sub-kingdoms     of 

animals 

SEPARATION    of    Theology 

from  Nature 

SEPULCHRES,        Spaniards 


2978 
1613 


1958 

*3080 


2917 


*3082 
409 


2237 


1644 
1386 


*3083 
742 


11  building  tneir  own" 2557 

SEQUOIA,  Lakes  resembling.  1806 

.     (See  also  REDWOOD.) 

SEQUOIAS,  Age  of 109 

,  Isolation  of 1776 

SERIES,  Choice  through,  of 

comparisons 492 

SERPENT  as  an  Emblem  of 

Eternity 2943 

,  Folly  and  wisdom  of. .  .  169 

SERPENTS   Credited     with 

spontaneous  generation. ...  1056 

,  Rudimentary  legs  of. .  .  1954 

,  Terror   the   inspiration 

to  worship  of 2943 

.     (See  also  SNAKES.) 

SERVANT,  Fire  a,  of  man  .  .  .  1236 

SERVANTS  and  Masters 3028 

SERVICE  of  Amateurs *3084 

of  Fire  to  science 1236 

of  Great  to  small •.  *3085 

of  Microscope 2172 


SERVICE,    Reciprocal,  of 

plants  and  animals *3086 

.     (See  also  WORK.) 

SERVICEABLENESS  of 

Screech-owl 2452 

SETTING  of  the  Memory.. . 

SEVERANCE  of  Theology 
from  Nature 

SEVERITY  of  the  North 

SEWAGE,  Bacterial    treat- 
ment of 

and    Garbage    thrown 

into  sea 

,  Oysters  fattened  on  ... 

SEWER,  Effect  of,  gas. 


*3087 

742 
"3088 

306 

3692 
623 
3662 

SEWING  of  primitive  woman  *3090 
*3089 
*3092 
*3093 
*3091 
2509 


among  Savages..  

SEX  Binds  units  into  unity .  . 

,  Differentiation  of 

and  Division  of  labor.  . 

,  Generations  of  single  .  . 

Morality  not  a  matter 


of 


2247 
3756 
*3094 
3769 
2646 
2541 


Psychical  attributes  of. 

of  Soul 

,  the  Unmechanical  .... 

SEXES,  Equality  of  the 

SHADE  and  Light 

SHADES  Varied  in  different 
surroundings 

SHADOOF,  Egyptian 

SHADOW,  Darkening  of,  in- 
creases light 824 

,  Nature  painted  in 2372 

Seems     substance     in 

eclipse 

SHAKESPEARE  Potential  in 
fires  of  sun 

SHAM  Immortality  of  grate- 
ful remembrance 

SHAME  of  Surpassing  all  but 
one 

SHAPE,  Changes  in,  of  earth. 

,  Mountains  carved  into. 

of  Objects  discovered 

by  worms 

SHAPES,  Artist's  selection  of 
SHARK,  Knives  of  teeth  of . . 

1788,  1751 

Remora  clinging  to. ...        657 

SHATTERING  of  Scholastic 

dictum 1149 

SHEARS  Made  of  stone 2133 

SHEEP  Attacked  by  parrot .        464 

,  Domestication  of 

,  Embryos  of,  indistin- 
guishable   

Learn  migration 

,  Recovery  of  lost. .  .  .  .  . 

,  Shepherd  knows  indi- 
vidual. . 

.  Submission  of 

,  Wool  of  the,  increased 

by  selection 

SHEEP-STEALING,  Dis- 
tinction scorned  regarding 

SHEEPS'  WOOL  Replaced 
by  hair 

SHELL  Compared  with  crys- 
tal   •. 

,  Snake  sawed  by  Arma- 
dillo with  its 

,  Strength  of,  adapted  to 

waves 

,  Young  bird  in,  knows 

warning  cry 

SHELLEY,  Lines  of,  on  Mt. 
Blanc 

SHELL-FISH  Credited  with 

spontaneous  generation .  .  .  1056 

SHELL-MOUNDS,  Builders 
of,  not  cannibals 

,  Builders  of,  without  ag- 
riculture   

,  Domestic  life  of  build- 
ers of 

,  Human  occupation  cf , 

proved 

SHELLS  Important  in  chro- 
nology  

,  Lessons  in 

Perforated     for     orna- 
ments by  cave-dwellers ...      2862 


46 
1298 


*3095 
1099 
1586 

3331 
475 
430 

3446 
238 


900 

803 
1489 
1725 

3622 
179 

2052 

880 

521 

1886 

3720 

3252 

1215 

2631 


419 

2073 


2065 
861 


*3096 
2376 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


851 


SHELLS  in  Primitive  needle- 
work   3358 

Unchanged  through 

centuries'. *3097 

1  Use  of,  for  tools  limited  2133 

SHELTER,  Man  seeks 3284 

of  Parasite 2504 

SHEPHERD  Knows  indi- 
vidual sheep 3622 

SHEPHERD  DOG,  Intelli- 
gence of 1486,  1725 

SHIP  of  Desert— Camel 2062 

in  South  sea — Butter- 
flies on 3679 

,  of  the  Wilderness — 

American  ostrich 2492 

SHIPS  Converted  into  junks .  746 

Driven  inland 3026 

SHIPWRECK    for  Insurance  3058 

,  Layman  helpless  at.  .  .  3591 

SHOCK,  Depth  of  earthquake  778 

of   Earthquake   and 

eruption  of  volcano  simul- 
taneous   3666 

.Intellect  rallies  from.  .  2676 

,  Lapse  of  memory  under  2144 

Transmitted — Earth- 
quake  *3098-99 

SHOCKS  Limited  by  moun- 
tain ranges 2276 

SHOES,  Pressure  of.  unno- 
ticed   1609 

SHOOTING-STARS,    Courses 

of 1850 

SHORE,    Birds    and    insects 

blown  off 2666 

,  Inhospitable *3100 

,  Wave    heaved    on,    by 

earthquake 3098 

SHOWER  of  Stars 2264 

of  Volcanic  ashes *3107 

SHRIKE,  Bill  and  foot  of 3521 

a  Butcher  among  song- 
birds   3521 

,  Solitary  life  of 3521 

SHRINE,  Science  a,  of  deity.  2416 
SHRINKAGE,  Loss  involves 

seeming,  of  ourselves 1605 

SHROUD,  Larva  spinning  its  2546 

SHYNESS,  Stage-fright  and.  1216 
SIBERIA.  Extinct  animalsof  519,520 

,  Glaciers    unknown    in 

coldest 581 

,  Mammoth  discovered  in  740 

— ,  Tropical  animals  in. ...  1536 
SICILY,    Ruin    of    Athenian 

army  in 3324 

SICKLE,  the  Stone, 351 

SICKNESS,  "the  Mountain"  573 

SIDE,  Emulation  has  a  noble  1003 
SIDES,  Rows  of  lights  on,  of 

deep-sea  fish '.....  1948 

SIDON,  Mariners  of 2394 

SIGHT  Among  astronomers. .  3070 

,  Color  changed  as  effect 

of 461 

Does  not  reveal  solid- 
ity   3142 

not  Explained  by  mech- 
anism   *3103 

,  Illusions  of 1565 

,  Lack  of 563 

,  Muscles  respond  to ....  295 

,  Sensations  of 3061 

and  Sound 245 

,  Sound  lagging  after. .  .  .  3152 

and  Touch  not  equiv- 
alent   *3102 

— .  Wasps  guided  by 1684 

SIGN,  Gravitation,  of  unity  .  1401 

,  Light  a  sign  of  unity.  .  1930 

.Zero,  use  of  a,  for  noth- 
ing    3708 

SIGNAL,   Officer   awakes   at 

the  word 2671 

SIGNAL  LAMPS,  Celestial .  .  .  3200 
SIGNALS,  Colors  as  warning.  722 
.  (See  also  DANGER  SIG- 
NALS.) 

SIGNAL  SERVICE,  Most  per- 
fect triumphs 658 

SIGNIFICATION      of     Signs 

learned  by  deaf-mutes.  ...  *3104 


SIGNS  Awaken  correspond- 
ing idea 

,  Language  a  system  of 

arbitrary 

.Natural,  understood 

by  all  races  of  men 

,  Signification  of,  learned 

by  deaf-mutes 

SILENCE,  Activities  in 

,  Ice-cliffs  seem  to  fall  in 

,  Mother-bird  seeks  pro- 


tection in. 
Produced 


by  interfer- 


ing sounds. 

in  Vacuum 

SILK,    Fluid,    hardened 


by 


3457 
3175 
1825 

3104 
2745 
3152 

820 

*3106 
*3105 


exposure 3723 

,  Pasteur  saves,  culture.  2983 

SILK- WORM,  Parasite  and.  2505 

,  Plague  affecting 696 

SILK- WORMS,  Contagion 

among 622 

,  Pasteur  and 2712 

SILVER  Recovered  from  cop- 
per plate 2155 

Sinks  into  copper 2155 

SIMILARITY,  Association  by  *3107 

of  Conditions  produces 

different  results 581 

of  Effects  from  oppo- 
site extremes 1172 

the  Foundation  of  sci- 
ence   *3109 

of  Inventions *3108 

in  Structure 3617 

,  Volcanic  eruptions.  .  .  .  823 

SIMILE  of  Plato 2008 

SIMPLICITY,  Apparent,  de- 
lusive   3334 

,  Loss  of  primitive 1990 

of  Method *3110 

,  Mounds      impressive 

in 2010 

of  Nature  spoiled 2343 

,  Science  favors 2984 

of  Scientific  discovery.  *3 1 1 1-12 

.Truth    overlooked    be- 
cause of 3502 

,  Value  of 3597 

SIN,  Spiritual  life  resists 1900 

SINEW     Dainty    thread    in 

primitive  needle- work.  .  .  .  3358 

a   Substitute   for  nails 

and  screws 3285 

SINGING  Pleasure   to    song- 
birds                  "  *3113 

SINGLENESS  of  Theory 

sought  in  medicine *3114 

SIRIUS  Attended  by  a  dark- 
ened sun 456 

,  Change  of  color  of 546 

Equal    to    many    suns 

like  ours 

,  Minute  displacement  of 


1373 
1122 
994 
1346 
2411 


,  Spectrum  of  . 

SISTER,  Devotion  of  a 

SITES,  Nests  rebuilt  on  same 

SITUATION,  Protection  va- 
ried with 750 

SIZE  of  Cell 447 

,  Intelligence  not  limited 

by,  of  brain 51 

.Mental  power  not 

measured  by,  of  brain 2186 

,  Minute,  of  germs 1372 

,  Power  not  proportion- 
ed to 2663 

,  Real  and  apparent,  of 

objects 3654 

,  Relative,  of  microscop- 
ic objects *3115 

,  Relative,  of  sun  and 

planets 1437 

,  Relative,  of  sun-spots.    *3116 

,  Vast,  of  whale 61 

SKATING  to  be  Learned  in 

summer 2746 

SKELETON  Adorned  with 

jewels — Pompeii *3117 

,  Mould  of,  preserved  in 

rock 425 

,  the  Plan  of  the  verte- 
brate   ,  3538 


SKEPTICISM  Carried  to  ab- 
surdity   904 

,  Psychological,  contra- 
dicts itself *3118 

SKETCH  of  Creative  purpose  *3119 

of  Nebular  hypothesis  .     3403 

SKIES,  Change  of,  in  south- 
ern climes 467 

Reddened  by  reflection       920 

,  Study  of  southern 3211 

SKILL,    Body    a    wonderful 

contrivance  of  creative. .  .  .        388 

of  Cat  with  mechanical 

contrivances 1723 

not    Coextensive    with 

knowledge 3397 

in    Making    axes    from 

stone 302 

of    Primitive    man    in 

stone-working *3120 

,  Triumphs  of  mechan- 
ical   3490 

SKIN,  Irritation  of,  by  sun- 
shine   1769 

SKINS  as  Clothing *3121 

SKULL  as  Described  by  an- 
thropologist.   1647 

,  no  Mark  of  degrada- 
tion in  Engis 3122 

,  Neanderthal,  thorough- 
ly human 2060 

,  Prehistoric,  might  have 

belonged  to  philosopher ...   *3122 

.Sight  of,   quickened 

brain-pulse 33 

SKUNK,  Popular  fiction 

about  the 2347 

SKY,  Armies  seen  battling  in 

the 3320 

,  Artificial .  .  384, 526, 540, *3123 

,  Cloudless,  contains  dust  *3124 

,  Color  of  the 539 

Combines  all  colors..  .  .    *3125 

,  Fall  of  stones  from ....      1063 

,  Fine     particles     make 

blue  of 539 

,  Higher  mountains  give 

purer 3220 

,  Italian  .  . 526 

,  the  Polar  star  changes 

place  in 3651 

,  Unbroken  blue  of 1511 

SLACKING,   Heat   stored  in 

lime  returned  in 612 

SLAUGHTER   of   Birds   un- 

perceived 1620 

.     (See  also  DESTRUCTION.) 

SLAV  vs.  German  in  education     1829 
SLAVE,   Moral   freeman   vs. 

moral 1328 

SLAVE-HOLDING     Among 

ants 714, 1722,  2937. 3126 

SLAVERY  to  Barbarous  cus- 
toms   1327 

.Curse  of 714 

Degrades  masters *3126 

SLAVES  of  Ants 1722 

SLEEP  Changed  to  death  ...        794 

.Consciousnesspersistsin       607 

,  Leaves  vertical  in 1842 

,  Mystery  of -. 2328 

.Phenomena  of.  .300-01,  2671 

,  of  Plants — Life  depend- 
ent, on 1874 

of  Plants,  purpose  of  .  .   *3127 

of    Plants — Protection 

by 2778 

of  Plants  mentioned  by 

mediaeval  author 763 

Proves   dependence  of 

mind  on  body 2138 

the  Repose    of    brain 

*3128-29 

,  Time-keeping  in ......      3440 

SLEIGHT  OF  HAND,  Hou- 

din's  mastery  of 69 

SLOPE,  Snow-line  highest  on 

northern,  of  Himalayas.  .  .  2912 

SLOPES,  Southern  and  north- 
ern, of  mountains  com- 
pared   1957 

SLOTH,  as  Characterized  by 

Buffon 385 


852 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SLOTH  as  Known  to  science  .         60 
at  Night,  in  South 
America  2420 
SLOWNESS  of  Action  of  ti- 
tanic forces  *3130 
of  Growth  of  Theory         3391 

SOCIETY,  Family  the  unit  of     1203 
,  Man  dependent  on.  ...    *3136 
,  Pre-eminence  in  1911 
,  Revolutionary  action  in       707 
,  Royal,    in    time    of 
Charles  II                                    2984 

SONG-BIRDS,    Singing     a 
pleasure  to  3113 
SORROW    Exaggerated     in 
memory  .'  .  .  .      1781 
,  Great,    quickly    seems 
old                                                 3255 

of  Growth  through  pro- 
tracted observation  258 
SLUGS  Destroy  seedlings  .  .  .        798 

SOCIOLOGY,   Difficulty      of 
study  of  834 
,  Positivism    would    as- 

  Recalls  memory  of.  .  .  .    *3145 
.     (See  also  SUFFERING.) 
SOUL,  Adjustment  of  76 

SMALL,  Great  and,  in   bal- 

sign, to  a  caste              .               834 

,  Anthropomorphism  re- 

anced movement  1437 
SMELL  Almost  useless  to 
man  3077 
Important  to  most  an- 
imals       3077 

SOCRATES,   Psychology  ex- 
plaining        2783 
SODA  from  Sea-salt  2893 
SODIUM    Extracted   from 
common  salt  3588 

fers  to  184 
,  Beauty    and    harmony 
in  the  320 
,  Body  without  a  1429 
,  Body  the  vehicle  of  the.       509 

SMITH,  ADAM,  Theories  of, 

Found  in  spectrum  of 
a  comet                                        3558 

,  Capacity  of,  for  God  .  .  .    *3149 
as  Cause  of  motion             3146 

resemble                                        857 

SOIL,  Bacteria  restore  nitro- 

atoms...                        .                609 

,  as    a    Preservative    of 
food                            .                *3131 

gen  to  the  .--.•••.  •      1988 
,  Disease  germs  living  in, 

,  Dependence  of,  on  God.       772 
as   Directing   agent   in 

,  Same  column  of,  blue 

sixteen  years  3374 

body  2005 

and  red.  ...                  ....      1840 

a  Factor  in  producing 

,  Disease  dealt  with  as  a 

SNAKE  Sawed  by  Armadillo     3720 

germs  of  malaria.                       3472 

function  of  a.                                 862 

SNAKES  Eaten  by  savages.  .      1269 
(See  also  SERPENTS  ) 

,  Home  market  permits 
restoration  of.  .  .              .          1157 

Engraving  results     on 
brain.  .  .                                         651 

SNARE,  Faculty  becomes  a.      1179 
Unity  a                                 3529 

,  Insectivorous  plants 
flourish  in  poor                   .          562 

,  Hypothesis   of  a,   sat- 
isfies                1523 

SNARES  Provide  man  food  .  .      1714 
SNIPE,  Migration  of              .        2174 

,  New,  plants  prepare  .  .  .      1917 
,  Nitrogen  fixed  in,  for 

,  Kinship     with     beasts 
cannot  satisfy  1784 

SNOW,  Alpine  flowers  amid          382 

plants                                           2425 

,  Mobility  of.  .  .                      2624 

Breaking  up  rocks  ....        298 
Carved  mountains  into 
shape  430 
,  Frost  and,  powerless  to 

Piled  up  by  worms.  ...   *3137 
,  Plants  die  in  sterilized..     1224 
,  Plants  thrive  in  new.  .  .      1009 
.Preparation  of,   by 

wnrm<»                                            1Q17    ^78^ 

not    Motive   power   in 
body  2005 
,  Mystery  of  the  seat  of 
the  2329 

Granular  or  N£v£.                918 

in  Relation  to  disease         3658 

satisfies  1973 

Holds  water  in  store.  .    *3132 

,  Saprophytes  in  748 
Treated  to  avoid  frost        3005 

,  Psychology  without   a.  *3148 
Reality  of  the  human         2828 

Lightness  of                         3709 

Vitality  of  the                      1224 

\  Sex  of                                     3094 

,  Limit  of  "perpetual"..      1957 
.Meaning    of    "perpet- 
ual"                               2280 

,  Vitality  of  typhoid  ba- 
cillus in  3661 
SOILS,    the    Fertilization    of       120 

in  Stone  *3146 
,  Sublimity  an  attribute 
of  the  3276 

,  Melting,   congealed  on 
trees.  .           1543 

,  Exhaustion  of  *3138 
Fertilized  bybacteria*3139-40 

Triumphs  over  body.  ..    *3150 
"SOUL  OF  LIFE"  the   Sup- 

  Perils  of                               2559 

,  Purification  of  polluted     2468 

posed  vital  force  *3147 

,  Protection  of  plants  by     2773 
Regelation  of                      2947 

SOLAR  FLAMES,  Size     and 
color  of                           .              1610 

SOUND   Always  in   the  ear, 
never  heard  602 

,  Solidification  of  2947 
SNOW-  CRYSTALS,    Forma- 

SOLAR SYSTEM  an  Evolu- 
tion. ...                  .    .        .  .      1094 

,  Analogies  of,  and  light.     3106 
Causes  terror  *3151 

tion  of  1300 

,  Isolation  of  1777 

Demands  a  medium..  .      3105 

Mathematics  in                    2107 

not  a  Model  of  the  uni- 

  ,  Ear  tells  only  of  2408 

on  Mountain  tops             *3133 

verse                                           3612 

Exists  as  wave  1927 

SNOWDROP,      Earth     en- 
listed to  hold  the  1439 

,  Motion  of  3299 
.Movement   through 

Lagging  after  sight  ....   *3152 
Not  mere  sensation..  .  .      1927 

SNOWFIELDS,  Thirst  in  Arc- 
tic        1173 

space  of  2283 
,  New  centering  of,  by 

.  Motion  of  light  differs 
from  that  of  1947 

SNOWFLAKES     Blossoms 
of  the  frost  383 

Copernicus  2915 
SOLDER,  Melting  power  of.  .        182 

,  Pitch  of,  and  color  of 
light  670 

Seeds   scattered  like          3037 

SOLDIER,  Insensibility  of  to 

Quenches  other                 *3153 

SNOW-LINE,  Highest  under 

pain.        .                                    3150 

,  Sensations  of  3061 

orvT  DTFRS     '•ilrplptnnq   of     in 

on  Himalayas                      2912 

of                                                   366-1 

SNOWSHOES,    Grouse    pro- 
vided with                  64 

SOLID,  Ether  has  properties 
of  a.  .             2459 

,  Light  and  245 
,  Slow  reverberations  of  .     3152 

—  ,  Perfected  78 

,  Heat  makes  the  differ- 

  .Speed  of  1313 

SNOW-STORM,    Humming 
birds  in                                        1518 

ence  between,  and  liquid.  .      1021 
,  Luminiferous    ether    a     3559 

,  Types  of,  and  flame.  .  .  .      2975 
?  Waves  of  *3154 

SOAP-BUBBLE  a  Utensil  of 
science                                       *3134 

,  a  New,  interposed,  scat- 
ters darkness.                              1932 

,  From  Waves  of,  to  light     1  160 
SOUNDLESSNESS  of  Depths 

SOAP-BUBBLES,     Newton 
blowing  548 
SOCIABILITY  in  Hibernation     3697 
a  Protection.  .                    *3135 

SOLIDIFICATION  of  Alpine 
snow  2993 
SOLIDITY  Deceptive  *3141 
not  Revealed  by  sight.  .    *3142 

of  space  3242 
SOUNDS,    Atmosphere    in 
strata  would  destroy  pitch 
of  276 

SOCIAL,  THE,  Personal  sac- 
rificed for.                   .                2941 

SOLIDS  Conquered  by  yield- 
ing fluids.        .           *3143 

SOUND-TRANSMISSION     at 

Volcanic  eruption  267 

SOCIAL  LAWS,    Knowledge 

Evaporation  of  .                 3540 

SOUND-WAVES,  Acquain- 

of, rudimentary  3000 

.Pathways    for     light 
through                                        2521 

tance  with  phenomena  of  .         79 
Interference  of  3153 

SOCIAL    LIFE    Depends  on 

SOLITUDE  the  Terror  of  in- 

SOUP, Quality  of  a.  .           ...        653 

motherhood  1910 
SOCIAL  ORDER,  Prosperity 
made  possible  by  2767 
SOCIAL    PROGRESS,    Intel- 
lectual beliefs  direct  2759 
SOCIAL    SELF,    Man's,    de- 
pends on  recognition  2078 

fancy.  .  .                                .  .    *3144 
SOLOMON,  Confirmation    of 
observation  of  1397 
,  Statement  of,  verified  .        207 
SON  Begins  where  father  ends     1821 
.Language  gives,  father's 
knowledge  1821 

,  Appetizing,  more    nu- 
tritious      *1274 
,  Bone,  not  nutritious.  .    *1264 
SOURCE,  Apparent  strength, 
of  weakness  1134 
of  Difficulty  in  memory     1  179 
,  Friction  an  inexhaust- 

SOCIETIES, Power  of  volun- 
tary. .                                           246 

Worthy   successor      to 
honored  father                    .  .      1482 

ible,  of  heat  1456 
.  Helplessness  a,  of  power    1472 

SOCIETY,  the  Corrective  of, 
a  necessity  724 
,  Disorders  of  869 
an  Evolution..                    1094 

SONG-BIRD,  Notes  of,  tuned 
to  motion  2427 
SONG-BIRDS,   the  Shrike  a 
butcher  among  .  .                 .      3521 

.Impulsiveness  a,  of 
power  2659 
,  Language  a,  of  myth  .  .      1813 
of  Life  infected  1904 

TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


853 


SOURCE,  Plato  finds  matter, 

of  evil 2316 

,  Pollution  of  the 2645 

,  Protective  mimicry  a, 

of  confidence 2250 

,  Sun  the,  of  earth's  life. .      3303 

,  Sun  the,  of  plant-life  .  .      1936 

,  Sun  the,  of  terrestrial 

energy 3302 

of  the  Sun's  heat *3155 

,  Sun's   heat,    of   terres- 


trial motion. 


613 

of  the  Winds *3156 

SOURCES,  Varied,  of  light  ..  1944 
SOUTH  AFRICA,  Heat  and 

cold  in 637 

,  Travels  in 637 

SOUTH  AMERICA,  Cactus  in  3707 
,  Innumerable  variety  of 

orchids  in 337 

,  Native  dogs  of 898 

,  Steppes  of 2854 

SOUTH  SEA,  House  and  feast 

in,  Islands 593 

SPACE,  Absolute  zero  of  ....  1461 
,  the  Chill  of  celestial 2240 

Draining  plants  of  heat  2818 

,  Earthly     elements 

widely  different  in 995 

,  Ether  pervading 1084 

,  Exalted  ideas  of 877 

Filled  with  luminifer- 

ous  ether *3157 

Full  of  meteorites 2160 

.Gravitation    holds 

through 3556 

Immeasurable 3160 

Impenetrable *3158 

,  Infinite,  not  religious.  .  1655 

,  Infinity  of 1971,  *3159-60 

,  Intense  pleasure  annuls  3420 

.Journey    of   birds 

through  trackless 1778 

,  Light  once  believed  to 

pass  instantly  through 1068 

,  Light  pervades  all 1930 

,  Location  of  objects  in. .  1979 

,  Man  loves  to  divide  .  .  .  2483 

Man's  thought  sweeps 


all. 


2985 


-,  Material  supplied  to 

earth  from *3161 

,  Matter  from 933 

,  Matter  in,  and  time  ...      2118 

Must  be  conceived  as 

infinite 1659 

,  Open,  for  playground. .        171 

,  Our  system  but  a  cor- 
ner of 1197 

,  Rays  sent  across  a 

measured 3630 

,  Relation  of  conscious- 
ness to 2329 

,  Slight  inaccuracy  vit- 
iates results  in 1050 

,  Soundlessness  of 3242 

,  Sun's  heat  poured 

through  empty 3695 

and  Time  infinite 1654 

Writing  across 3789 

SPACES,  Celestial,  cool  plan- 
ets       2613 

,  Light  passes  unchanged 

through  abysmal 1942 

,  Matters  from  celestial, 

in  atmosphere 3124 

SPAN  as  a  Unit  of  measure- 
ment   2129 

SPANIARDS  "Building  their 

own  sepulchres" 2557 

SPAR,  Iceland,  refracting 

light 2853 

SPARK  Produces  conflagra- 
tion   976 

SPARROW,    Destruction    of 

the 1620 

,  the  Shrike  has  foot  of.  .      3521 

SPARROW-HAWK  Devours 

destroyers  of  crops 2769 

SPARROWS,  Migration  of ...      2174 
— ,  Young,  learn  timidity. .      3441 

SPARTA,   Precious    metals 

banished  from 791 


SPARTACUS  in  Vesuvius 

SPECIALIST,  Narrowness  of. 

SPECIALISTS,  Agreement  of, 
the  test  of  authority 

in  German  universities. 

SPECIALIZATION  of  Move- 
ments  

SPECIALTY  Disqualifies  for 

comprehensive  reasonings. 

,  Language  woman's.  . .  . 

SPECIES,  Absoluteness  of,  a 
fallacy 

,  Darwin's  theory  on  the 

origin  of.  ...  .  .  3894-9 

Defined *3164 

,  Distinct,  of  bacteria.  .  .      3164 

,  Domestic,  spared  by 


2054 
2353 


2456 
2028 


*3162 


2353 

1835 


*3163 


ancient  barbarians. 

,  Exterminated 

,  Extinction  of 

,  Gradations  of 

of  Humming-birds  .... 

Limited    to    locality — 


505 
1138 
1168 
2526 
1518 

1425 


Humming-birds. 

— ,  Links  between  Ameri- 
can and  European 1977 

—  Once    abundant,    now 
extinct *3165 

of  Orchids 3491 

-,  Origin  of 3258 


,  Supposed,   proved   va- 
rieties     *3166 

United  by  gradation  of 

varieties 3470 

SPECIFIC,  Work  a.  .  .  ,      3766 

SPECIMENS  of  Animals  ver- 

rify  theory 3485 

,  Complete,  give    mean- 
ing to  fragments 2554 

,  Improvement  by  breed- 
ing from  best 95 

.Numerous,    of   fossil 

fishes 1870 

Once  vaguely  located ..      1126 

SPECKS  in   Field   of  vision 

unnoticed 1609 

,  Naked ,  of  protoplasm  .        695 

SPECTACLE  of  Action  stim- 
ulates action *3167 

,  Terrifying 3095 

,  Unexpected  astronom- 
ical        889 

SPECTACLES,  Reflections 

from,  ignored 1609 

SPECTATOR,  in  Artist's  few 

lines,  sees  the  face 2206 

SPECTER,  The,  of  the  Brock- 
en 1564 

SPECTERS  haunting  a 

scholar.. 2577 

Seen  in  delirium  trem- 

ens 3657 

SPECTROSCOPE,  Advanta- 

ages  of  the 94 

,  Correction  of  error  by  .  1059 

Determines  approach 

of  star 2265 

Helps  solve  mystery  of 

aurora *3168 

,  Identification  of  metals 

by 1939 

Measures  speed  of  stars       876 

?  Revelations  of  the  .  2908,  3488 

and  Sun's  corona 2330 

Supplements  telescope.       263 

SPECTRUM,   Acceptance    of 

teachings  cf 3508 

,  Colors  9f 545 

,  Extension  of  the 1161 

,  Fraunhofer's  lines  give 

new  meaning  to  the 3571 

,  The  Lines  of  the 1119 

,  Newton  discovers  the. .  3334 

,  Rays  of,  rich  in  heat .  .  .  2686 

Seen  in  darkness 1565 

of  Sirius 994 

,  Sodium  found  in,  of  a 

comet 3558 

SPECTRUM  ANALYSIS  Ac- 
cepted        3508 

in  Astronomy 1942 

,  Discovery  by 847 

of  Distant  gases *3170 


SPECTRUM   ANALYSIS    of 

Metals *3169 

of  Stars 3201 

,  Theory  of,  applied 3402 

,  Universal     acceptance 

of 3508 

SPECULATION     Concerning 

primeval  religion 2869 

Confirmed  by  observa- 
tion     *3171 

,  Geological *3172 

,  Precarimisness  of *3173 

SPEECH,  Changes  hi 2731 

,  A  figure  of 711 

,  Limitations  of  onomato- 

pcetic *3175 

,  Loss  of  power  of — 

Aphasia *3174,  3449 

,  Marvelous  endowment 

of 240 

,  Metaphors  a  necessity 

of  scientific 2158 

,  Mind  develops  by 2198 

,  Progress  transmitted  by  1818 

,  Purpose  underlying  ...  *3176 

vs.  Writing 1816 

SPEED  of  Current 3523 

.Electricity  and,  of 

thought 3633 

of  Horses    increased 

by  selection 2052 

,  Maximum,  reached.. .  .     3480 

of  Mental  action *3179 

of  Nerve  action *3178 

of  Sound 1313 

a  Safeguard *3177 

,  Spectroscope  measures 

of  Tortoise  measured .  . 

of  Travel 

.     (See    also     LIGHT; 

VELOCITY.) 

SPENCER  Accepts  natural 
selection 

,  Formula  of,  in  psychol- 
ogy  

SPHERE,  The  crystal— An- 
cient conception  of  heavens 

,  Crystal — Fixed  stars.  . 

,  Crystal,  still  the  con- 
ception of  the  Middle  Ages 

,  Each  form  of  greatness 

has  its  own 1613 

SPHERES,  Concentric 3404 

,  Music  of  the 3405 

,  Stars  supposed  set  in 

crystal 3405 

SPHEX,  Limited  intelligence 

of 169 

SPIDER  as  Aeronaut 96 

of  Brazil 369 

Diving 1704 

-,  Gossamer,    floating   in 

air 

,  Home  of  the  trap-door. 

,  Ingenuity  of  a 

,  Knowledge  of  mechan- 
ics among. ...".. 

,  Nocturnal  instinct  of 

the 


876 
*3180 
"3181 


1110 


3626 
3646 


3404 


3678 

923 

1672 

3724 


,  Weaving  of 

.     (See  also    HUNTING- 

SPIDER;     TRAP-DOOR 
SPIDER;  WATER-SPIDER.) 

SPIDER-MONKEY  the  High- 
est in  the  New  World 

SPIDERS,  Common 

Resembling  leaves.  .  .  . 

SPIKES,  Marginal,  of  Venus' 
fly-trap 

SPINDLE  of  Egypt  in  high- 
lands of  Scotland. 


1703 
782 
3723 


211 
2548 
2771 

3577 
1644 


SPINDLES,  Fly-wheel  for,  in 

ancient  America 3727 

SPINNING  Unable  to  keep 

pace  with  weaving 1754 

SPINNING  JENNY,  Invention 

of : 1754 

SPINNING  WHEEL,  Ancient 

and  modern 1644 

SPIRES,  Towers,  pinnacles 

and,  of  ice 3447 

SPIRIT  of  Association 246 


854 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SPIRIT,  Body    regarded    as 

prison-house  of  the 389 

Cannot  be  satisfied 2191 

,  The  gift  of  the 1693 

,  Inquiring,  of  man 1801 

,  Interaction    of    matter 

and 1447 

,  Monkey's    untiring,    of 

investigation 1761 

not  Revealed  to  sense.      1903 

,  the  Scientific 1762 

,  Scientific,  of  Columbus     2533 

,  Triumph  of,  over  mat- 
ter      3489 

,  Universe  without  a. .  .  .      1429 

SPIRITS  Credited  with  "fai- 
ry rings" 3325 

SPIRITS,  DISTILLED,  a  me- 

diseval  discovery *3182 

,  Sale  of,  prohibited  by 

Hudson's  Bay  Company.  .      1396 
SPIRITUAL,  the  Analogy  of 

natural  and 157 

,  Change  from  natural  to     3469 

,  the,  Degeneracy  of 743 

,  the  Material  sacrificed 

for 2941 

SPIRITUALITY  Exalts  hu- 
manity   240 

the  Goal  of  evolution .  .   *3183 

,  Selfishness  disguised  as     3056 

SPIRITUAL  LAWS  are  Laws 

of  Nature 742 

SPIRITUAL  REALM,  Science 

does  not  reveal 2997 

SPLEEN  Once  supposed  use- 
less   1363 

SPLENDOR  of  Butterflies  in 

Brazil 1683 

that  Conceals *3184 

of  the  Heavens 2824 

SPOKESHAVE  Developed 

from  knife 1788 

SPONGES,  the  Calcareous. .  .     2526 
SPONTANEITY  Destroyed..      1925 
SPONTANEOUS      GENERA- 
TION, Child  believes  in 488 

,  Fostered  belief  in 171 

Never  proved 248 

,  Science    finds   no    evi- 
dence of 1343 

• ,  Tests,  futile,  of 3382 

.  Theory  of,  refuted, 

Pasteur 1344 

.  (See  also  GENERATION, 

SPONTANEOUS  . ) 

SPONTANEOUSNESS  an  At- 
tribute of  human  mind. .  .  .  *3186 

of  Growth *3185 

SPORT,    Frail    creatures,    of 

elements 664 

SPORTING  on  the  Volcano's 

edge 2555 

SPORTS  of  Children 2627 

.     (See  also  PLAY.) 

SPORTSMAN  Incalculable...     2018 
SPOTS  on  the  Sun *3187-88 

Tend   to   conceal   ani- 
mals      2087 

SPREAD    of    a    Pest— Old 

witch  grass *3189 

of  Unmolested  species.   *3190 

SPRING,  a  Climate  of  per- 

•  petual 3482 

,  the  Coiled 2001 

,  Thermal,  vs.  volca- 
no  2680,2904 

SPRINGS,  Cause  of  hot 3497 

Compared    with    arte- 
sian wells *3191 

,  F9rmation  of  mineral.     3705 

,  Mineral ,  of  Strathpeff er       74 1 

,  Thermal,  bring  mate- 
rial from  depths  of  earth .  .  2904 

and  Wells  spread  dis- 
ease      2645 

SPUN-GLASS  From  volcano  *3192 
SPUR,  Difficulty  a,  to  action       830 
SPURIOUS,  Claims  of  prior- 
ity largely 2733 

SQUARE  of  Velocity 1287 

SQUASHES  Escape  enemies 

in  new  ground 1009 


SQUIRREL  Burying  nut- 
Instinct 376 

Planting  nuts *3193 

STABILITY  of  Ancient 

mountains *3195 

Depends  on  gravity .  .  .      3599 

of  Nature  essential  to 

prosperity *3194 

of  Routes  of  migration 

of  birds. 1677 

STAFF,  Ingenious  illustra- 
tion of  a 1180 

of  Office  treasured *3451 

STAGE,  Consciousness  as  a .  .        600 

STAGE-COACH,  First 1981 

STAGE-FRIGHT    Fear  with- 
out reason 1216 

STAGES,  Power  and  respon- 
sibility in  early,  of  alcohol- 
ism    132 

.  Seeds  transported  by .  .      3479 

,  Three,  in  knowledge  of 

phenomena 624 

STALKING-HORSE,     Origin 

of  phrase 1750 

STANDARD,  Bible  the  only, 

of  early  Christians 363 

,the  Human  body  the, 

of  measures 2129 

STAR,  the  Blaze 584 

,  Changes  of  a 479 

,  Comets  expelled  from  a     3659 

,  Conflagration  of  a 583-84 

,  Distance  of  one,  known       874 

,  Every,  a  sun 3780 

,  Our  sun  a 3204 

,the    Polar,  changes 

place 3651 

,  Sudden  appearance  of 

a  new *3196-97 

,  Wagoners     point     out 

new 3197 

STAR-CLUSTERS,    Not    all, 

are  nebulae 3228 

Compared  with  earth .  .   *3199 

Island  universes *319 

,  Many  nebulae  are 2637 

,  Night  unknown  in ....      3779 

,  Worlds  in 3780 

STAR-COLORS  Due  to  stellar 

atmospheres *3200 

Real 414,  *3201 

STAR-DRIFTING  Through 

space *3202 

STAR-FISH  Coruscating  with 

light 3213 

STARLESS  Spaces  in  the 

heavens 3257 

STARLING,  Brilliant  color- 
ing of 48 

STARS  of  the  Abyss *3213 

,  Advantages  of  dimin- 
ished light  of 91 

,  All,  in  motion 20 

.Change  among  the  .  .456,  474 

,  Chemistry  of,  revealed         13 

,  Colors  of 546 

,  Counting  of *3205 

that  have  Disappeared       479 

,  Distances  of  few,  known     2341 

,  Distances     of,     incon- 
ceivable        877 

,  Distances  of,  too  great 

for  human  measurement .  .  1956 

,  Distances  of  the — Man 

aspires  to  know 241 

,  Double,  of  complement- 
ary colors 3618 

,  Double,  triple,  and 

multiple 547 

,  Effect  of  doable *3206 

,  Elements  may  be  re- 
solvable on  the  sun  and .  .  .  993 

,  Fixed 466,  3646 

,  Fixed — Ancient  view 

of  3646 

,  Fluctuating 726 

of    Greek    astronomers 

have  changed  places 466 

,  Hydrogen  in  atmos- 
phere of 3659 

,  Innumerable,  under  tel- 
escope   *3207 


STARS,  Investigation  of  all, 

in  the  heavens 153 

Without  light *3223 

,  Light  of 1599 

Lost  from  the  heavens .  *3208 

of  Many  colors *3212 

of  the  Milky- way *3214 

,  Minerals  found  in  the .  .  2908 

,  Motion  of 2264-65 

,  Motion  of   overwhelms 

thought 437 

,  Motion  of,  traced 571 

,  Motion  of  sun  among, 

apparent 2254 

,  Multiple 474 

.  Navigation  by  the 2394 

and  the  Nebulae  .  .2908,  *3203 

and   Nebulae  inter- 
mingled    3614 

.Nebulae  not  wholly 

composed  of 2397 

,  Nebulous  masses  inter- 
mixed with 3203 

,  Nebulae  may  be  in  per- 
spective   3228 

of  a  New  hemisphere .  *3211 

•  Newly   seen,   supposec 

newly  created *3209 

,  New,  constantly  ap 

pearing 3196 

Obey  unchanging  law.  878 

Observed  by  day *3210 

,  One  hundred  million .  2304 

,  Only  past  of,  known.  .  1589 

,  Parallax  of,  determined  2503 

,  Parallax  of,  not  found .  726 

,  Photography  pictures, 

invisible  to  the  eye 2594 

,  Poverty  and  the 2653 

Present  new  aspect  to 

modern  world *3215 

Proved  to  be  suns 2908 

Repeat   the  lessons  of 

the  lilies 3718 

,  the  Republic  of  the 552 

,  Scintillation  of 3221 

,  a  Seed-plot  of *3204 

Seem  to  revolve  around 

the  Pole 3651 

that  Set  to  rise  again 

soon *3219 

that  never  Set *3218 

,  a  Shower  of 2264 

,  Spectroscope  measures 

speed  of 876 

,  Spectrum  analysis  of.  .  3201 

,  Summary  of  human 

knowledge  of  the 726 

Supposed  set  in  crystal 

sphere 2817 

Teach  man's  weakness  *3217 

,  Telescopic  study  of ....  3544 

,  Twinkling  of,  explain- 
ed  *3220-21 

,  Distribution  unequal  of  885 

.Unknown  splendor  of.  *3216 

,  Variety  of  color  among 

the 3618 

Visible    only     through 

ether 2459 

,  Visitors  from  the 3659 

Withdrawn  from  north- 
ern skies *3222 

,  (See  also  SHOOTING- 
STARS.) 

STARTERS  for  Cream  and 

butter 1091 

STARTING-POINT  of  Science  1143 

STARVATION  of  Dogs  fed  on 

gelatin 1264 

STATE,  Wild,  of  rivers 2925 

STATEMENT,  Law  as  a,  of 

conditions 14 

STATEMENTS  of  Cause  and 

effect 1854 

STATES,  Body  affected  by 

menv  il 1779 

,  Different,  of  matter. .  .  2928 

,  Early  fixedness  of  men- 
tal   835 

,  Mental,  result  in  physi- 
cal action *3224 

STATISTICS  of  Crime. .  .  311 


TOPICS     IN    GENERAL 


855 


3022 


STATUARY,  Ancient  painted 
STATUE,   Bartholdi,  of  lib- 
erty  

in  the  Stone 

STATURE,  Gigantic,  of  kings 

and  heroes 

STEAM,  Evolution  of  elec- 
tricity from 

,  the  Factory  system  an- 
tedates  

,  Force  expended  to  con- 
vert water  into 1285 

Generates  electricity .  .       989 

,  Imprisoned,  escapes 

from  sulphur . 

Indicates  progress  in 

use  of  water 

the  Medium  of  change . 

the    Motive    power    of 

volcanic  eruptions 

and  Steersman 

"STEAMER,"  the,  a  Bird  of 
Falkland  islands 

,  Kayak  vs.  ocean 

STEAM-HAMMER  Beats 
iron  white-hot 

STEAM- JET    in  Nature  2391, 

STEAM-NAVIGATION,  Grad- 
ual development  of 

STEAM-PLOW,  Ancestors  of 

STEEL,  Coercive  force  in .... 

.Expense  of  modern, 

guns 

as  a  Factor  in  human 

progress 

,  Fire  from  flint  and.  .  .  . 

,  Rigidity  of  earth-crust 

as  great  as  that  of 

STELLAR  PERPLEXITIES. 
STEP,  Achievement  a,  to  new 

discovery.  . .-. 

,  Conscious  ignorance 

a,  toward  knowledge 

STEPPE,  Forest  and 

STEPPES  of  Asia 

Once  bottom  of  inland 


2516 
3043 


314 


574 


3672 


3701 
2266 


3023 
2759 


70 
1784 


1467 


*3226 

351 

2009 

2225 

*3227 
1235 

1245 
*3228 

1005 

1550 
635 
310 


3277 
2854 


of  South  America 

STEPS,  Four,  from  immoral- 
ity to  imbecility 1492 

STERILITY,  Normal,  of  milk  2177 
STERILIZATION  of  Milk.3009,  3031 
STICK-INSECT  Resembles 

inanimate  object 2184 

STICKS,  Orang  does  not  use .  1 178 
STICK-TIGHTS,  Seeds  of, 

transported  by  animals.  .  .        180 
STILLNESS    of    the   Deep 

sea *3229-30 

of  Tropic  noon *3231 

STILTS,  Tree  as  if  on 412 

STIMULANT,  Food  better 

than 

STIMULANTS.  Waste  of  life- 
force  by 

STIMULATION  to  Action  by 
sight  of  action 

a  Requisite  for  pleasure 

.  (See   also   NERVE-STIM- 
ULATION.) 

STIMULI,  Summation  of .... 

STIMULUS,  Absence  of  item 

a  mental .•  •  •  • 

to  Scientific  pursuits.  . 

,the  Teacher's  great 

work 

STING  of  Fly  causing  death. . 

STOCK  of  Fixed  nitrogen 
finite 

STOCKS,  Skeletons  of  soldiers 

in— Pompeii 3117 

STOKER,  the  Mechanical  909,  1297 

STOMACH,  Rhea's,  an  an- 
cient remedy 

STONE,  Artificial,  lacks  en- 
durance  

,  Axes  made  from 

— —  Bartered  by  primitive 
man 

as  Building  material.  . 

,  History  of   trilobite  in 

,  Implements  of,  pro- 
cured animal  food .  .  2027 


1273 
675 


3167 
3067 


3294 


3243 

1600 


*3232 
2168 


3692 


2963 

1758 
302 

3450 

*3234 

2553 


STONE,  Metal  used  as 

,  Soul  in 

,  the  Statue  in  the 

,  Weapons  of,  in  Bronze 


Age 

STONE    AGE, 


2152 
3146 
3043 

440 


Advance    of 
man  from 

,  All    stone    implements 

not  relics  of 440 

Coeval  with  buried  for- 
ests       2025 

,  Hammer  relic  of 1432 

,  History  has  no  records 

of 1498 

,  the  Kitchens  of  the. .  .  .      2065 

,  Mechanical  tools  of  a 

true 2133 

,  Needles  in  the 3089 

.Relics  of 1729 

,  Universality  of *3233 

.      (See    also    AGE    OP 

STONE.) 

STONE-CUTTING,  Ancient .  .    *3235 
STONEHENGE,  Altar  of.  ...        149 
STONE-MASON,    Opportuni- 
ties of,  in  geology 235 

STONE  PERIOD,  Traces  of .  .      1643 
STONES    of    Ancient    monu- 
ments buried  by  worms  .  .    *3236 

,  Avalanche  of 298-99 

.  Fall  of,  from  the  sky. .  .      1063 

.  Lifting  of,  by  primitive 

man 1022 

Sinking  through  soil.  .  .      2310 

STONE-SICKLE  the  Progen- 
itor of  steam  harvester.  .  .  .        351 
STONE- WORKING,  Skill    of 
primitive  man  in 


STORE,  Battery  a,  9f  energy. 
of  Nutriment  in  seed  .  . 


3120 
1013 
3237 


,  Young  plant  draws  on 

accumulated 

STOREHOUSE,  Mind  as  a. .  . 

STOREHOUSES  of  Ants 

STORES  of  One  organism  ap- 
propriated by  another  .... 

STORIES  of  Adventure  help 
love  of  science 

of  Co-operation  among 

brutes 

about  Gorilla  discred- 
ited  

,  Mythical,  of  man-like 

apes 833 

STORING  of  Coal *3239 

of  Heat  in  lime 612 

of    Water    in    thorny 

plant 

STORM,  Meteoric,  of  1833.  .  . 

Shifts  sand-bar 2951 

,  Sympathy  of  wild  beast 

with    ...    . 3350 

STORMS  Mild  by  comparison  *3240 

on  the  Sun *3241-42 

STORY,     Archaeology     tells, 

of  civilization 

,  Gases  tell  their 

,  The  Lines  of  the  spec- 
trum made  to  tell  their. . .  . 

of  Man — The  romance 

of  science 

,  Scientific  fact  basis  of 

sailor's 

STOVE,  Body  heated  like  a.  . 

STRAIN  of  Desire  toward  the 

unknown 

— ,  Strength  developed  by. 

STRANGER,  Bird  to  its 
kind 

STRATA  Arranged  for  geol- 
ogists' study. 

,  Atmosphere  in,  would 

destroy  pitch  of  sounds 

Deposited     by      cur- 
rents  ' 

Folded  and  contorted. . 

,  Forests  buried  under  .  . 

.Geological 3511 

of  a  Mountain *3245 

,  Sedimentary 630 

STRATEGY  of  Deer  .  .  .    *3246 


421 
2439 
1640 

2227 

1600 

657 

*3238 


3707 
3380 


501 
3170 

1119 
3007 

1570 
1279 

*3243 
3249 

367 

*3244 

276 

3230 

475 

1309 


STRAWBERRY,  Wild,  plant 
extended  by  runners 


2618 


STREAM  of  Consciousness.. 599,  601 

as  Force 1289 

,  the  Glacier  flows  like  a  .     2928 

of  Lava  hardened  into 

stone *3247-48 

,  Lava,  forming  lake ....  2282 

,  Mountain  lake  with 

flowing 636 

Swifter  through  nar- 
rower channel 3632 

,  Trout  colored  like  bot- 
tom of 45 

.  Work  of  ancient 148 

.  (See  also  GULP 

STREAM.) 

STREAMS  Cut  down  as  fast 

as  surface  is  lifted 998 

,  Subterranean 3191 

STREET  Quarried  through 

lava  .  .  1241 

STRENGTH  Adapted  to 

strain *3252 

from  Affliction 101 

.Apparent,  a  source  of 

weakness 1134 

of  Bicycle 3181 

Developed  by  strain .  *3249-50 

of  Initiative— Pledge...  2632 

of  Invisible  power 2683 

— ,  Limit  to,  of  fermented 

liquors 131 

,  Man's,  proportioned  to 

earthly  needs *3251 

.Surprising,  under  ex- 
citement    *3253 

Undermined *3254 

,  Union  of  weakness  and.  3524 

STRESS  of  Emotion   makes 

past  seem  distant *3255 

STRIFE  in  Nature *3256 

,  Relief  from,  in  calmness 

of  science 416 

,  Science  a  rest  from.  .  .  .  2971 

STRIPE  in  Horses 2914 

STRIPES    Serve    to    conceal 

animals 2087 

STRIVING,  Ceaseless 2287 

STROKE  of  Bird's  wing 372 

STROKES,  Counting,    after 

clock  has  struck 960 

STROMBOLI,  Island  volcano 

of 1949 

STRONG,  the  Helpless  de- 
stroyed by  the 1471 

Strengthened  by  trials..  1875 

STRONGHOLD,  Cure  by  op- 
posing evil  in  its 1980 

STRUCTURE  Adapted  to  de- 
mands    1861 

of  Ancient  ferns 1223 

.Changes  in,   of    the 

earth 476 

Defying  microscopic 

analysis 1959 

,  Delicacy  of  organic. .  .  .  758 

,  Design  in ,  of  barnacles .  1 86 1 

,  Differences  in 1369 

,  of  Earth,  law  of  growth 

in 1847 

,  Embryonic     cells     not 

identical  in 1965 

not  Explained  by  en- 
vironment   2896 

of  the  Heavens *3257 

,  Hidden,  made  manifest  1540 

,  Law  of,  subordinate  to 

law  of  purpose 2797 

of  Orchid 3410 

,  Purpose  the  key  to ....  2802 

,  Scientific,  in  living  or- 
ganism   991 

,  Similarity  in 3617 

,  Tip  of  radicle  a  wonder- 
ful   2938 

,  Types  of 890 

STRUCTURES,  Elaborate.  .  .  806 

,  Independent  origin  of  .  2490 

,  Mental  disorder  wrecks 

higher,  first 2463 

,  Modification  of  animal,  2230 

,  Mound-builder's 2272 

STRUCTURES,   ORGANIC, 

Related...  44 


856 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


STRUGGLE,      Advance 

through 90 

,  Ancient  geologic 3645 

of  Brains 1711 

and  Conflict  in  Nature 

*3258-59 

in  Conversation 1911 

for  Existence  .  .532,  883,  3256 

— • —  for  Food  to  be  less  se- 
vere        2081 

for  Ideals 2242 

against  Inevitable  evil  .       577 

for  Life  of  others 3059 

of  Nature  for  type 2709 

STRUGGLE    FOR  LIFE   be- 
tween Allied  forms *3262 

not  Always  painful  .  .  .    *3266 

among  Ants *3260 

among  Bacteria *3261 

,  Complexity  of 567 

Develops  intellect 1711 

Develops  new  powers .  .      2953 

,  Effect    of    climate    on,       522 

an   Element  in  evolu- 
tion    *3265 

,  Family  relieves  individ- 
ual of  strain  of *3263 

,  Intensity  of *3264 

among  Plants  .  883, 2175,  3237 

,  Result  of 412 

Subordinated *3267 

STRUGGLES  of  Victim  seal 

its  doom 2616 

STUDENT    of    Facts    deter- 
mines     theory *3268 

Unconsciously     takes 

way  to  former  apartment. .      1593 
STUDENTS  of  Pure  science.  .    *3269 
STUDIES  not  Limited  to  man- 
ifest demand 361 

STUDY,  Acquiring  capacity 

for 2164 

of  Ages— Nature 2356 

by  aid  of  Photography.       250 

,  Christianity  led  to,  of 

Nature 494 

,  Dawning,  of  electricity     2920 

,  Difficulty  of  sociological       834 

of  Emotion 1002 

.  Enlargement  of  thought 

by 3422 

,  Geologic,  of  Von  Buch..       818 

,  Greek,  too  subjective.  .        807 

,  Guides  for  the,  of  hu- 
man progress 2753 

,  Hasty     generalizations 

in,  of  religious 1227 

,  Herschel's  exhaustive. .          10 

Incitements  of  Nature.      2368 

,  Industry  dependent  on 

scientific 1641 

,  Joy  of,  of  science 81 

of  Language 1834 

,  Mental  benefit  of  fav- 
orite.     *3270 

,  Mind  an  object  of  sci- 
entific       2189 

of  Nature  in  tropics. ...          92 

of    Nature   limited   by 

traditional  beliefs *3271 

of    Nature    stimulates 

imagination 1581 

of  Neptunian  rocks. .  .  .        373 

in  Persian  poetry 234 

-,  Practical,  of  science  in 

nineteenth  century 2989 

Prudence  to  guide 2090 

.of  Pure  science 766 

Reveals  wonders  of  life.     3758 

,  Savages',  of  ostrich 160 

of  Science 591 

.Strata   arranged  for 

geologist's 3244 

,  Superstition  prevents 

scientific 3329 

.  Telescopic,  of  sun 3544 

.  Three  departments  of 

scientific 438 

STUPIDITY  of  Camel 417 

of  the  Horse *3275 

of  Instinct *3272-74 

STYLES   Transported      over 

the  world 3722 


SUBJECT,  Concentration  of 
attention  upon,  gives  mas- 
tery  

,  Interchange  of,  and  ob- 
ject  

SUBJECTION  of  Passion,  ap- 
petite and  desire 

SUBJUGATION  of  Chemistry 


1353 
2324 


2609 
1913 


by  life 

SUB-KINGDOMS  not  Joined 

by  transitional  forms 3083 

SUBLIME,  The,  not  Born  of 

ignorance.  . .  1552 

— ,  the  Sense  of 2605 

SUBLIMITY  of  Ancient  view 

of  Deity 1212 

and  Beauty 323 

,  Home  of,  in  the  soul.. .  .   *3276 

not  the  Product  of  ig- 
norance..        2911 

of  Scientific  conception 

of  God  .  .  1387 

of  Vastness *3277 

SUBMERGENCE  of  Con- 
tinents  79, 630, *3278 

SUBMISSION  of  Dog,  sheep 

goat,  etc 179 

SUBSIDENCE  of  Earth 932 

.Gradual,  of  earth's 

crust 1309,  *3280 

of  Grecian  coast *3281 

of  Land  in  earthquake.  *3283 

of  Lands  now   taking 

place 23 

Might  empty  Lake  Su- 
perior       1749 

of  Quay  at  Lisbon *3283 

of   Walls   caused      by 

worms 411 

SUBSISTENCE  a   Factor  in 

migration  of  birds 2174 

of  Primeval  impulse...  .    *3284 

SUBSTANCE,  Each,  has  its 

own  crystalline  form 708 

,  Heat  proved  not  a  ....      1464 

,  Each,  selects  and  stops 

its  own  kind  of  light 1939 

,  Elements  of  earthly,  in 

space 995 

,  Innocent,  poisoning.  .  .        264 

Remains     when     com- 
bination perishes 551 

,  the  Rose  seen  by  light 

through  its 538 

,  Soul  engraving  results 

on  bodily 651 

,  Steadfast  glory  of  evan- 
escent         665 

— ,  Unknown,   covers   the 

3639 
2387 


,  Water  an  unyielding  .  . 
SUBSTANCES  Deposited  by 

boiling 

,  Foreign,  in  body  shown 

by  Rontgen  rays 

,  Terrestrial,  in  the  sun. . 


2213 

3030 
3488 

,  Union  of  dangerous,  in 

salt 3520 

SUBSTITUTE,  Binding  a,  for 

nails 365 

,  Greenhouse  a,  for  snow.     2773 

,  Teaching    not     a,    for 

seeing 3363 

for  the  Telescope 257 

SUBSTITUTES  for  Nails, 
clamps,  etc.,  among  Amer- 
ican Indians *3285 

—  for  Vise  and  pincers  .  .  .    *3286 
SUBSTITUTION,  Change    of 

conceptions  is 2562 

—  of  Faculties *3287 

— .  Inhibition  by 1093 

SUBTRACTION,  Color  pro- 
duced by, 533 

SUCCESS     Earnest    workers 

win  astonishing 216 

— ,  Failures    sometimes 

pave  the  way  to 1193 

—  at  Outset *3238 

,  Preparation  for 203 

—  Resulting  from  failures.  1408 

—  Tends   to    become      a 
habit.  .  .   *3289 


SUCCESSION,  Crocodile  the 

heir  of  a  long 3460 

,  Distinction    between, 

and  causation 879 

,  Duration  estimated  by, 

of  events 1878 

in  Time  ...  ,      3224 


SUCCESSOR,  Son  a  worthy, 
to  honored  father 

SUCKING-FISH  as  Captor  of 
other  fishes 

SUCTION,  Predecessor  of, 
pump 

SUDDENNESS,  Cure  by,  of 


1482 
816 


2006 
864 


0WJPVAMAMW    at    V/(  JIIUIIIUII 

the  highest  good 

,  Inhumanity  amid .  . 


arrest. 

,  Enforced,  produces  im- 
perfection         707 

in  Nature 1845 

SUFFERING  a  Condition  of 

2497 

1678 

Less  than  Conjecture .  .    *3290 

.     (See  also  PAIN;  SOR- 
ROW; STRUGGLE.) 

SUFFICIENCY  of  no  Man  to 

himself 724 

SUFFOCATION  of  a  Dog 272 

SUGAR   Scientifically      pro- 
duced—Beet-sugar *3291 

SUGGESTION  a  Cause  of  il- 
lusion   *3292-93 

,  Extension  of 1160 

,  Mental,  a  cause  of  il- 
lusion       1561 

SULFATE  of  Copper  absorbs 

red  light-waves 1083 

SULFATES  of  Soda,  lime,  etc.       741 

SULFUR,  Effect   of  temper- 
ature on 182 

SULFUROUS  ACIDS  Used  as 

food  preservatives 1277 

,  Imprisoned    steam    es- 
capes from 3672 

SUMMARY  of  Human  knowl- 
edge of  the  stars 726 

SUMMATION  of  Stimuli *3294 

SUMMIT,  Ghostly  flame  on, 

of  Mont  Blanc 1117 

of    Mountain    reached 

3679 

118 
435 

273 

-,  Attraction  of 975 

-,  Body  of,  commonly  un- 

en.  ..  273 


by  bees. 
iUN, 


SUN,     Agreement     of,     and 

moon  in  apparent  size 

— ,  All  earthly  energy  from 

the 

— ,  Atmosphere  of,  exceeds 
central  mass . 


—  Brings  river  down 

,  Chemistry  revealed  of . 

— ,  Chlorophyll  produced 
by 

,  Chromosphere  and  co- 
rona of.  .  . 


3298 
13 

.     89 

406 

-,  Chromosphere  of  the  496,3297 
— ,  Chromosphere  of,  stud- 
ied without  eclipse 94 

,  Comets  expelled  from.  3659 

— ,  Conflagration  of  hydro- 
gen on  the 585 

— ,  Conflagration  on  the.  .  586 

— ,  Constituents  of    the .  .  .  621 

— ,  Contraction  of  mass  of  632 

—  Contraction  as  sustain- 
ing heat  of 2820 

— ,  Control  of  the  earth  by  946 

,  Corona  of  the 664-65 

— ,  Corona    of,  a  mystery 

2330,  *3306 

— ,  Density    of,    less    than 

that  of  earth 769,  3725 

— ,  Diameter  of 3725 

— ,  Direct  heat  of 795 

— .Distance  of,   from 

earth .875,1064,3725 

— ,  Distance  of,  important     1050 

—  Eclipse  of  the 3514 

— ,  Electricity  out-travels  .     2413 
— ,  Elements    of,    may    be 

resolvable 993 

— ,  Emblem  of  the  Almigh- 
ty        148 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


857 


SUN,  Energy  derived  from  .  . 

-  ,  Energy    of,    seemingly 
undiminished  ............ 

-  ,  Error    as    to    distance 
of  the  .................. 

-  ,  Every  star  a  .......... 

-  ,  Extinction  of  our  ..... 

-  ,  Fall  of  meteors  on  the.  . 

-  a  Fierce  furnace  ...... 

--  ,  Force  of  gravity  of  ____ 

,  Fraunhofer's    lines    of 


the 


1012 
1017 

2.547 
3780 
1167 
2162 
34 
1294 

621 
as  a  Furnace  .........      3295 

-  ,  Gravity  on  ...........      1293 

-  a  Great  builder  .......       465 

-  ,  Halo  of  ..............        588 

-  ,  Heat  of,  produced  by 
concentration  ............  *3307 

-  ,  Heat  of,  source  of  mo- 

tion ....................        613 

-  ,  Heat  of,  through  space     3695 

-  ,  Herschel's     conception 

of  the  ..................      1066 

--  ,  Impersonation  of  .....      2573 

-  ,  Incessant  record  of,  by 

its  own  light  ............  89 

-  Influences  comets  .....  3620 

-  Influences        magnetic 
needle.  .  .  ...............  1665 

-  ,  Interior  of,  hotter  than 
envelope  ...............      3395 

-  ,  Isolation  of  our  ......  1774-75 

-  ,  Jupiter,  a  minor  ......      1905 

-  ,  Lifts  glacier  to  moun- 

tain ....................  *3298 

--  ,  Light    where    rays   of, 

never  come  ..............  1948 

-  ,  Magnitude  of  .........  2071 

-  ,  Mass  of  ..............  3725 

-  ,  Measurements  of  heat 

of  ......................     2128 

--  ,  Minerals  in  the  .......      1119 

--  ,  Motion  of,  among  stars 

apparent  ................      2254 

--  Must  at  last  burn  out  .  .  3475 
--  ,  Mystery  of  corona  of 

........  .  ..........  2330,*3306 

--  ,  Organisms  supposed  on 

the  ...................          1078 

—  ,  Our,  a  star  ......  3204.  *3296 

--  ,  a  Perpetual  northern 

light  ...................      1305 

--  ,  Possible  conflagration 

of  our  ..................        584 

--  ,  Power  of  attraction  of.  1303 
--  ,  Power  of  .............  2688 

-  ,  Power  of  whole   radia- 

tion of  ..................      2369 

--  ,  Purpose  of  circulation 

on  the  ..................     2805 

-  Rays     of,     burn     skin 
amid  wintry  cold  .........      3778 

-  ,  Relative    size    of,    and 
planets  .................      1437 

-  ,  Rivers  lifted  by  the..  .      2927 

-  ,  Saturn,  a  minor  .......      3085 

-  ,  Sends     water    to     run 
mill-wheel  ..............      3725 

-  ,  Sirius    attended    by    a 
darkened  ...............        456 

-  the  Source  of  all  ter- 
restial   energy  .........  *3301-04 

-  the  Source  of  plant-life     1936 

-  the    Source    of    terres- 

trial life  ................    *3305 

-  ,  Spectra  of  ...........     2524 

-  and  Stars  ............      3544 

-  ,  Stars  brighter  than  the     1373 

-  not  Stationary  ........    *3299 

-  ,  Storms  due  to  power  of     3428 

-  ,  Storms  on  the  .......  3241-42 

-  Supposed     pure     and 
quenchless  fire  ......  *3300 

-  ,  Surface  of  the  ........     2527 

-  ,  Surface  of,  photograph- 

ed ........  .............   *3308 

-  ,  Terrestrial     substances 

in  the  ..................     3488 

-  ,  Three     necessary     ele- 
ments from  .............      3305 

--  ,  Total  eclipse  of  the  ____  962 
--  an  Unrecognized  bene- 

factor ...............  1674 


915 
2431 


1268 
1685 


11 
1953 


2873 
358 


1175 

1941 

824 
2534 
1941 
2593 

*3309 
539 
699 
638 

527 
3775 


SUN,  Welcome  to  the 2419 

,  Winds  due  to  agency  of     3298 

,  the  Work  of  the 3772 

SUNBEAM,  Dust  makes  path 
of,  visible 

SUNDEW,  Absorption  of  nu- 
tritious matter  by 

,  Antiseptic  power  of  se- 
cretion of 

,  Capture  of  insects  by.  . 

,  Destruction   of  insects 

by 

,  Digestive  fluid  of 

,  Leaf  of,  dried  to  clear 

it  of  remains 

SUNLIGHT,  Belief  that  no, 
penetrates  to  depths  of  sea 

,  Buried  forests  return  to 

the 

,  Can,  reach  deep-sea  an- 
imals?  

Has     healthful     influ- 
ence   

,  Moonlight  vs 

not  in  Ocean  depths.  .  . 

often  Germicidal 

,  no  Trace  of,  in  deep  sea 

SUNNY  FRANCE  Buried  un- 
der ice 

SUNRISE,  Alpine 

,  Crimson  of,  due  to  dust 

on  Mount  Blanc 

on   Worlds  lighted  by 

colored  suns 

SUNS,  Blue  and  orange 

,  Clusters  of 3612 

,  Elements  in  other 994 

,  Extinct 2397 

,  Extinguished 3208 

now  Forming 683 

,  Giant,   Alpha  Centauri 

and  Sirius 1373 

,  Myriads  of 2304 

,  Planets  revolve  around 

other .      2614 

,  Stars  proved  to  be 2908 

,  Strange  shadows  caus- 
ed by  colored 

SUNSET,  Alpine 

,  Crimson  of,  due  to  dust 

among  Desert  ranges.  . 

Made  beautiful   by 

dust 

,  Mathematics  in 

Merging  into  sunrise.  . 

on  Worlds  lighted  by 

colored  suns 

SUNSETS,  Red,  caused  by 
dust 

SUNSHINE,  Autograph  of. .  . 

Bends  Bunker  Hill 

monument 2670,  3234 

,  Decrease  of,  in  Eng- 
land   *3312 

,  Duration  of *3313 

Irritation  of  skin  by.  .  .        299 

,  Mechanical  power  of. .      2661 

Subject  to  man 

,  Victory  of 

SUN-SPOTS,  Correspondence 
of  magnetic  needle  with. .  . 

Counting  of 

,  Counting  of,  reveals 

solar  period 

,  Description  of 


527 
539 
699 
318 

*3310 

2107 

*3311 

527 

267 
3313 


571 
1957 

1665 
3112 

3084 
3187 

-,  Dimensions  of 3116 

Discovered 2494 

Easily     seen     without 

telescope *3314 

,  Existence  of,  denied . . .  3271 

Influence  auroras 934 

and  Magnetic  disturb- 
ances   586 

Overlooked  by  unpre- 
pared minds 3314 

,  Periodicity  of 2462 

Supposed  apertures  in 

solar  clouds *3315 

Tell   the  story   of    the 

sun 3188 

SUN-WORSHIP,  Ancient . .  149, 3757 

,  Antiquity  of 198 

Impossible  now 2980 


SUPERFICIALITY  of  Mate- 
rialism  

SUPERHUMAN,  THE,  vs.  the 
Supernatural 

SUPERIORS,  Secretiveness 
towards 

SUPERNATURAL.  THE,  Be- 
ginning of  universe  involves 

,  not  Denied  the  use  of 

means 

,  Man  a  type  of 

,  the    Natural     includes 

.  the  Script  uie  unites 

natural  and 

,  vs.  the  Superhuman .  . 

SUPERNATURALNESS  of 
Nature 

SUPERSTITION,  Accident 
confirms 

,  Accident  reinforces. .  .  . 

Ascribes   inundations 

to  arrival  of  ships 

as  to  Aurora  Borealis .  . 

,  in  Avoiding 

Caused  by  eclipse 

,  Clouds  triumph  of  sci- 
entist  

Connected  with  dance. 

Consecrates  ancient  us- 
age  .••••; 

Defeating  kindness..  .  . 

,  Effects  of 

Founded     on     natural 

illusion 

Founds  on  natural  phe- 
nomenon  

,  Its  explanation  of  sci- 
entific fact 

in  Lower  animals 

—  about  Mammoth 

, Mingled  with  real 

knowledge 

Ministers  to  science. .  .  . 

as  to  Portraits.  ....... 

Prevents  scientific 

study 

,  Science  replacing 

,  Wonderful  agencies  ex- 
cite  

SUPPLIES,  Extermination  by 
diversion  of 

SUPPLY,  Community  of  need 
and ,.  . 

,  Exertion  secures  in- 
creased   

SUPPORT  for  Tree-climber.  . 

SUPREMACY  Coveted  in 
one's  chosen  field 

of  Life 

of  Mind 

,  Physical   insignificance 

and  mental 

,  the  Secret  of  man's.  .  .  . 

of  Volition.  .  . 

SUPREME  INTELLIGENCE. 

Conception  of,  treated  as 
absurdity 

SUPREME  WILL,  Gravita- 
tion ascribed  to  a 

SURF,  Strongest  corals  grow 
in  hardest 

SURFACE  of  Brain  depends 
on  convolutions 

,  Changes  of  earth's,   to 


of  Continent  changed 

by  beavers 

,  Convulsion  of  earth- 
quake originates  below.  . 

,  Currents  differ  on,  and 

in  upper  air 

,  Deep-sea  organisms 

perish  at. 

,  Destruction  of  trees 

changes  earth's 

of  Earth  a  thin 

crust 

,  Food  of  deep-sea  ani- 
mals descends  from 

,  Former,  of  earth  re- 
moved  

,  Gradual  change  of 

earth's 


*3316 

3317 

3028 

343 

828 

2026 

671 

688 
*3317 

3010 

5 
9 

*3319 

*3320 

*3326 

962 

*3322 
719 

1242 
*3323 
*3324 

1564 
*3325 

*3328 
*3327 
*3318 

349 

983 

*3321 

*3329 
3006 

2211 

1162 

559 

2697 
*3330 

*331 

72 

*3332 

642 

52 

2609 


2423 

2371 

3250 

651 

939 

1899 

778 

3743 

1007 

800 

3141 

1266 

469 

458 


858 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


469 
1618 

861 
339 

765 
998 
2778 
3505 
2622 
2338 


SURFACE,  Granite  from 
depths  found  at  new  ..... 

-  -  ,  Increase  of,  in  lung.  .  .  . 

-  ,  Indications  of,  not  de- 
cisive ................... 

-  -  ,  Pattern  on,  of  mercury 

-  ,  Reflection    from    a,    of 
heated  air  ............... 

-  -  ,  Streams  cut,  as  fast  as 

lifted  ................... 

-  ,  Upper,    of   leaf    saved 
from  radiation  ........... 

SURFACES,  Iridescence  of 
striated  .......  .m  .......... 

-  ,  Slippery,  an  i  m  p  a  s  s- 
able  barrier...  ............ 

SURGEON,  Exclusion  of  bac- 
teria helps  .............. 

SURGEONS,  English,  vs. 

Continental  .............  516 

SURGERY  Conquers  wounds       439 

SURPRISE  of  Aeronaut  .....   *3333 

-  ,  Ceaseless,  of  the  Casa- 

rita.  .  .  ..  ................      1720 

-  .Glacial  epoch   came 

as  a  ....................      1536 

-  of  a  Great  discovery.  .  .    *3334 

-  Spoils  observation  ....        588 
SURRENDER  of  Animals 

to  man  ...................       179 

-  of    Pretensions    a    re- 

lief ................  *3335,*3336 

SURVEILLANCE,  Independ- 

ence weakened  by  ........      1622 

SURVEY,  a  Photographic,  of 

the  heavens  .............     2591 

SURVIVAL  not  by  Chance.  .  .  *3337 
---  Cruelty  a,  of  barbar- 

ism ....................        705 

-  of  the  Fittest,  Interfer- 

ence with  ............  *3338-39 

-  ,  a    Geological  —  Beaver- 

dam  ....................        190 

-  ,  New  life  a,  of  the  old  .  .     3382 

-  ,  Religious  habit  of  mind 

as  a  ....................       768 

-  of  Weapons  ..........   *3340 

-  .   (See  also  EVOLUTION.) 
SUSPENSE,  Evil  held  in  ____    *3341 

-  ,  Impatience  of  ........ 

SUSTENANCE,    Science    in- 

creases human  ........... 

-  ,  Stored  in  body  ....... 

SWALLOWS,  Activity  of  .... 

-  Fly     without     instruc- 
tion .................... 

-  ,  Local  memory  of  ...... 

-  ,  Seed  transported  by.. 
-  ,  Usefulness  of  ......... 

SWAN,  Fluctuating  star  in 
the  ..................... 

SWEDEN,  Reindeer  in  ...... 

SWEETS  Bees  perishing  in.  . 

SWIFTNESS  of  Earth's  revo- 

lution ...........  457,  946,  *3344 

-  of  Motion  —  Gnat's  wing  *3345 
--  of  Sun's  motion  .......      2283 

--  .      (See     also    MOTION; 

SPEED;  VELOCITY.) 
SWIFTS,  Nests  of  chimney.  .          40 
SWIMMING  to   be   Learned 

in  winter  ................     2746 

SWITZERLAND,    Aetion    of 

glaciers  in  ...............      1381 

-  ,  Alcohol  in  ...  1732 
SWOON,  Parallel    of,  with 

sleep  ...................      3129 

SYMMETRY,  Law  of  .......        667 

SYMPATHY  among  Apes.  .  .  *3347 
--  ,  Character  known  by.  .  2783 
--  ,  Hindrances  to  ........  *3348 

-  a  Human  impulse.  .  .  .    *3346 

-  ,  Limit  to  possibility  of 
human  .................      2576 

-  of  Motherhood  ........        732 

-  with  Pictured  emotion  *3349 

-  of  Wild  beast  with 
storm  ...............    .    *3350 

SYNTHESIS,  Chemical  ......    *3351 

SYSTEM,  in  conflict  with 

fact  abandoned  ...........     3489 

-  Copernician  ...........    *3352 

-  ,  Cramming,  false  ......     2141 


3342 

1274 

*3343 

35 

1258 

1503 

3039 

35 

726 

164 

3427 


SYSTEM,  Decimal,  settled  in 

Carboniferous  period 

,  Delusion  by 

-,  Disordered,  and  disease 


744 
762 
2669 
1107 


,  Evolution  a,  of  progress 
,  the  Factory,  antedates 
steam 574 

,  the  Factory,  a  neces- 
sity   1754 

,  Is  the  universe  one?.  .  .      2332 

,  Language  a,  of  arbitra- 
ry sighs 3175 

,  Man  reads,  into  phe- 
nomena   571 

,  Nervous,  an  ally,  not 

an  enemy 745 

,  Nervous,  makes  the  dif- 
ference between  man  and 
tree 2030 

,  New  centering  of  solar     2915 

,  Old  and  new  unite  to 

form 2450 

,  Our,  but  a  corner  of 

space 1197 

,  Science  of  Nature  a 

universal ,  2999 

,  Solar,  part  of  a  uni- 
versal   2283 

SYSTEMATIZING  May  be 

overdone 3529 

SYSTEMS,  Artificial,  must 

perish *3353 

,  Cycles  of  revolution  of 

stellar 2613 

of  Human  thought  pro- 
gressive      3393 

,  Intolerance  of  compre- 
hensive   1184 

,  Modern  and  ancient, 

of  political  philosophy.  ...  791 

in   Process    of    forma- 
tion      2397 

of  Related  comets. .  .  .  .   *3354 

of   Stars    traveling 

through  space 3202 

,  World  the  product  of 

warring 3776 

T 

TABLE,  Balanced,  a  test  of 

brain-action 380 

TABLES,  Glacier,  in  Alps...  .      3759 

TACITURNITY,  Source  of 
Man's 

TADPOLE,  Tail  of,  devoured 


by  white  cells 
TAIL,  Asiatic  monkey  given 

prehensile 

,  Earth  wrapped  in,  of 


1835 
1884 
237 


3379 


1884 
3437 


211 
2336 


1570 


676 
1047 


2301 


comet.  . 

,  the  Monkey's  prehen- 
sile  211,3330 

of  Tadpole  devoured 

by  white  cells 

,  Whale  wounded  in .... 

TAILS,  Prehensile,  of  Amer- 
ican monkeys 

,  Comet's,  not  ethereal .  . 

,  Electric  repulsion  the 

producing  cause  of  comet's  2337 

TALE,  Strange,  of  seaman.  .  . 

TANAGER  Changes  color 
with  season 

TANAGERS,  Color  of 

TANANA,  the  Wood  cricket 
of  Brazil 

TANGIBLE,  THE,  held  to  be 

the  real *3355 

"TAPERING-OFF"  rarely 

practicable 1419 

TAPIR  in  South  America.  .  .  .      2493 

TASKS  Contrasted  for  man 

and  woman *3356 

Increased  with  power. .    *3357 

TASMAN  and  De  Soto  for- 
gotten    3453 

TASMANIANS  not  Types  of 

primeval  men 2058 

TASTE  among  Primitive 

women *3358 

,  Progress  of  musical *3359 

Rouses  digestive  or- 
gans    *3360 


TASTES,  Habitual ,  u  n  n  o  - 

ticed 1609 

TEA  in  China *3361 

TEACHABLENESS  Disting- 
uishes humanity *3362 

TEACHER  Deals  with  men- 
tal life 2786 

,  Power  of  a  great 2665 

,  Stimulus  the  great  work 

of 3232 

TEACHERS,  Animal,  for  man 

and  woman 2023 

TEACHING  not  a  Substitute 

for  seeing *3363 

TEACHINGS,  Acceptance  of, 

of  spectrum 3508 

TECHNICAL  EDUCATION, 

Mainspring  of 1760 

TEETH  of  Animals  used  for 

tools 2133 

of  Beaver 63 

of  Fossil  birds 3467 

the  Relics  of  brutes  .  .  .  2861 

TELEGRAPH,  Electric 944 

,  Electric,  foreshadowed.  *3364 

,  Preparation  for  the *3365 

,  Submarine  lines  of  ....  944 

TELEGRAPHY,  Notation  of 

time  by 2708 

TELEOLOGY,  Darwinism  in- 
volves a  new 66 

,  True 2477 

TELEPATHY,  Communica- 
tion by *3366 

TELEPHONE  Anticipates 

the  eye *3367 

,  News  by 2414 

,  Principle  of 1671 

TELESCOPE,  Discovery     of 

Kepler's  laws  antedated  the  2972 
,  Effect  of  discovery  of.  .  1043 

Extends  domain  of  hu- 
man mind *3368 

Fails  to  penetrate  ocean 

of  space 3158 

,  Invention  of 1931 

,  Limits  to  power  of 1976 

May  surpass 1657 

and  Microscope 3078 

,  no  Moral 2997 

,  Outlook    on    the    uni- 
verse enlarged  by 2494 

,  Picturing  results  of. ...  3392 

,  Proposed  two-mile.  .  .  .  1136 

,  Reason  directs  the  ....  256 

,  Refusal  to  look  through  3739 

• Reveals    birds    against 

moon 2299 

,  Revelations  of  ,  f  ra  g- 

mentary 2909 

,  Saturn  as  seen  by 1969 

— ,  Spectroscope  and  cam- 
era supplement 263 

— ,  Stars  under  the 3207 

— ,  Substitute  for  the 257 

—  Verifies    reasonings    of 
Copernicus 1145 

TELESCOPES,  Great  discov- 
eries with  small 2032 

TEMPERAMENT   Determin- 

ng  action *3369 

TEMPERANCE,  Good    food 

promoter  of 140 

— ,  Instance  of  work  for.  .  .  2352 

— ,  Pledge  important  for.  .  2632 

—  of  Savage  women *3370 

— ,  Sudden  reform  a  help  to  1419 

TEMPERATURE,  Adjust- 
ment of  aerial 71 

—  of  the  Deep  sea.  .  .  ....   *3372 

—  of  Europe  and  America 

contrasted *3371 

— ,  Meat  cooked  at   lower  2982 

—  of  Planets  and  of  space.  268 
— ,  Uniform,  in  depths  of 
lakes 3706 

TEMPERATURES   Differ  in 

deep  sea *3373 

— ,  Endurance  of  high  ....  1008 

TEMPLE,  Pagan,  spared  by 

flood 1259 

TEMPTATION,  Conqueror  of, 

allowed  no  merit 296 


TOPICS  IN  GENERAL 


TENACITY  of  Life— a  Rose .  .      1915 

of  Life  of  bacteria *3374 

of  Life  of  typhoid  ba- 
cillus   3661 

TENDENCIES,  Inherited,  to 

cruelty 1519 

,  T  r  a  i  t  s  transmitted  as     1488 

TENDENCY  of  Human  mind.     1524 

to  Idol-worship 2435 

to  Materialism 2102 

,  Opportunity  in  line  of 

Natural 2457 

.  Unity    of,    of    certain 

epochs 3551 

TENDERNESS    of    Ants    to 

their  young *3375 

of  Motherhood 732 

TENDRIL,  Climbing 2295 

TENUITY,  Gaseous,  of  ether .      2459 
TENNYSON,  "Ancients  of  the 

earth" 1798 

,  "  Dragon-fly"  of 3503 

/'Dragons  of  the  Prime'*       982 

,  "Fifty  seeds" 3693 

TENSION,  Feelings  indicated 

by,  of  muscles 2630 

of  Muscles  in  rest  .....     2678 

,  Nervous,    disquali  fi  e  s 

for  observation 1112 

TENTACLES    of    Leaf   close 

upon  victim 1685 

TERMS,  Adaptation  best  ex- 
pressed in,  of  design 2157 

Ill  understood 1304 

,  Will  cannot  be  trans- 
lated into  simpler 3738 

"  TERRA  FIRMA"  a  Delu- 
sion   2292 

TERRESTRIAL,    Sun       the 

source  of  all,  energy 3301 

TERROR  of  Darkness  hered- 
itary   *3376 

of  Earthquake  uncon- 
querable   *3377 

in  Eclipse 1946 

,  Elements  of,  accumu- 
lated    996 

of  Hawks  among  birds.    *3378 

the  Inspiration  to  wor- 
ship of  serpents 2943 

of   Nations  passes 

harmlessly  by *3379 

on  Precipice's  edge  ..  .      1130 

.  Solitude  the,  of  infancy     3144 

,  Sound  causes 3151 

.Superstitious,  of  ne- 
groes..   *3380 

TERRORS,  Real,  of  desert. .  .     2556 
TERTIARY,    Formations   of 

the,  period 1734 

,  Trees  of 1864 

TEST,  Agreement  of  special- 
ists the,  of  authority 2456 

,  Experiment     furnishes 

the 1637 

,  the   Final,  the  gift  of 

prophecy 3389 

,  a  Fine — Star  color 414 

,  Practise     of     medicine 

constant,  of  science 3413 

,  Science     demands,     of 

fact 3410 

of  Scientific  theory *3381 

of     Theory  —  Experi- 
ment       3402 

,  Utility  not  the  supreme     3581 

TESTIMONY,  Conflict  of.  ... 

;.587-88,  1571 

Discredited.  .........      3411 

of  Geology  a  beginning.     1360 

TESTS  of  Cause  and  effect .  .  .        429 
,  Experimental,  on  deep- 
sea  animals 832 

,  Futile,  of  spontaneous 

generation *3382 

TETANUS  caused  by  Bac- 
teria    863 

in  Grasp  of  science ....      1980 

,  Tenacity  of  life  in  germs 

of 1904,3374 

.  (See  also  BACTERIA; 

GERMS;  LOCKJAW.) 

TEXTILES  of  Primitive  man.  *3383 


3757 

847 


730 

2807 


1387 
749 


768 
*3386 


TEXTILES,  Women  the  in- 
ventors of  .  . 

THALLIUM  Discovered  by 
spectroscope 

THEISM,  Conflict  of  Darwin- 
ism with 

THEIST  vs.  Atheist  and  Ma- 
terialist.. . 

THEOLOGIANS  Narrow  the 
idea  of  God 

THEOLOGY,  Conspicuous 
failure  of 

,  Denial  of,  not  abandon- 
ment of  religion 

the  Highest  science  .  .  . 

Opposed  to  science.  .  .  .   *3385 

,  Ready-made *3384 

Seeks  harmony 1358 

,  Severance  of,  from  Na- 
ture   742 

THEORIES  Abandoned  by 

great  scientist *  .  .  *3387 

Abandoned  upon  new 

evidence 1073 

,  Ancient  cosmic,  out- 
grown    495 

Aqueous  and  igneous.  ..       818 

,  Conflict  of— Light 292 

,  Conflicting,  in  geology 

648,*3388 

Corrected  by  advancing 

science 3416 

of  Creation *3390 

,  Facts  contrasted  with, 

of  science 1182 

,  Formation  of  scientific.  1312 

Framed  in  the  ideal 

world *3389 

of  the  Heavens  .  .  . *3392 

,  Limits  to  educational 

use  of  scientific 1975 

of  Origin  of  caves *3394 

Perish  while  facts  re- 
main     *3393 

,  Science  independent  of.     2988 

of  Slow  growth *3391 

THEORY  Abandoned *3395 

,  Ampere's 2234 

,  Ancient, refuted  by  ex- 
periment       1149 

of  Antitoxins ..  .        202 

,  Assumption  to  main- 
tain a e.  247 

,  Attempt  to  shape  sci- 
ence to *3399 

,  Autpmatist,  destroys 

responsibility  of  drunkard . 

,  Best,  accounts  for  all 

facts 

of  Catastrophe  aban- 
doned  

of  Catastrophism 

Compared    with    prac- 
tise    *3397 

Confirmed  by  experi- 
ment   1147 

Confirmed  by  Fact.  .  .  .    *3400 

,  Consciousness   not   ex- 
plicable by  mechanical  or 
molecular 606 

of  Creation — Nebular 

hypothesis *3403 

of  "Crystal  spheres" — 

Kepler *3404 

of  'Crystal  Spheres" — 

Pythorgoras 3405 

Determined  by  student 

of  facts 3268 

of  Development 3538 

of  Dew *3406 

,  Dissociation 993 

Emission,  of  light...  .731, 1062 

,  Experiment  changes  .  .      1144 

— ,  Experiment  confirms.  11 45-46 

,  Experiment  test  of *3402 

,  Fact  contradicts  reason- 
able  2355,*3396 

,  Fact  needed  to  correct  .     1180 

,  Fact  surpasses 1181 

of  Faculties  a  bondage..  *3407 

,  False,  makes  men  blind 

to  facts.  .  .  .    *3401 


296 
1526 

1105 
1075 


THEORY,  Geologic,  of  Aris- 
totle   931 

,Germ 1364 

,  Kinetic,  of  gases 393 

— — ,  Language  made  mean- 
ingless by  automatist  ....  1820 

,  Mechanical,  of  mind .  .  .      2209 

,  Mechanical,  of  the  uni- 
verse   3565 

in  Medicine *3415 

of  Morality *3408 

Must  point  way  for  ex- 
periment   *3402 

Must  support  practise  .      2698 

,  Mystery  behind  every.      2311 

,  Popular,  false 3020 

,  Preconceived,     retards 

science *3409 

Proved  by  experiment .    *3410 

not   a   Safe   guide   for 

vital  processes 1074 

,  Sagacity  surpasses.  .  .  .  2947 

,  Singleness  of,  sought  in 

medicine 3114 

of  Spontaneous  gener- 
ation refuted 1344 

Stronger  than  evidence  *3411 

of  Thunder-cloud 988 

,  Truth  loved  more  than.     3499 

of    Undulations     veri- 
fied       1545 

,  Undulatory,  of    light 

670,1395,3391 

of  the  Universe *3412 

Vain  by  death-bed.  . .  .   *3413 

Valuable  for  retention 

of  facts *3414 

,  Young    demonstrates 

the  undulatory 79 

THEORY,  ATOMIC,  Failure 
of  other  theories  a  warning 
for 1191 

,  of  Electricity 1453 

.     (See     also    ATOM; 

ATOMIC  THEORY;    ATOMS; 
ENERGY;  FORCE,    ETC.) 

THEORY,    MOLECULAR, 

Gases  explained  by 2233 

,  Locke  foreshadows. .  .  .      2261 

.     (See  also  CHEMISTRY; 

ENERGY;   FORCE;   MOLEC- 
ULAR THEORY;  MOLECULES.) 

THERMOMETER,  Fossils  an 

ancient 2847 

THICKNESS  of  Earth's  crust.  *3416 

THIMBLE  of  Pritmiive  wom- 
an   3358 

THING,  Man  demands  a  word 

for  each 3176 

'THING  IN  ITSELF"  as 
within  human  knowledge.  *3417 

THINGS,  Changing  the  places 

of  .................     2033 

,  Disputation  on  names 

rather  than 873 

THINKER,    Advanced,    sees 

things  in  masses 1763 

THINKERS,    Agreement    of 

independent 117 

,  Ancient — Modern  dis- 
coverers    256 

THINKING,    Mind   must    be 

trained  to 2199 

,  Society  a  necessity  for 

sound 724 

THIRST  of  Alpine  climber — 

Milk  a  refresnment *3418 

of      Alpine      climber — 

Snow  increases  distress. . .  .    *3419 
in  Arctic  snowfields.  .  .  .      1173 

THISTLE,    Spread    of       the 

common 3052 

,  Spread  of  the  Russian 

3189,  3034 

THOUGHT,  Association  in. . .       244 

,  Brain  adapted  to 1474 

Cannot  be  explained. .  .      2263 

,  a  Common,  unites  two 

kingdoms 1953 

,  no  Complete  transfer- 
ence of 1630 

,  Conception   of  infinity 

a  necessity  of 1659 


£60 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


THOUGHT,  Control  and  co- 
ordination of,  lost 3677 

,  Creation  transcends 

human 693 

Dependent    on    bodily 

condition 2138 

,  Echoes  of 960 

,  Emblem  of  speed  of . .  .     3633 

,  Enlargement     of,     by 

study *3422 

not  an  Excretion 2103 

,  the  Grip  of  tools  a  mat- 

terof 3443 

Has  no  extension 3420 

,  Human,  grows  around 

a  few  great  thinkers *3423 

,  Human,  not  to  be  at- 
tributed to  God 786 

Incapable  of  extension     2187 

,  Infinity  a  necessity  of 

human 1654 

.  Its  Power  in  man *3424 

,  Language     unfolded 

from  depths  of .  .      1833 

,  Likeness  found  only  in 

an  order  of 672 

, Limit      of      human 

1970, 1971, 1972 

,  Man's,  sweeps  all  space     2985 

,  Its  matchless  power  in 

man *3048 

— — ,  Mechanical  evolution  of 
consciousness  not  present- 
able in 2100 

and  Motion  not   com- 
mensurable    *3421 

,  New,  how  made 3425 

,  Paralyzing  effect  of  in- 
tolerance on  European.  .  .  .  1743 

,  Perception  reacts  upon     3368 

,  Power  of 52 

,  Revision  of 2728 

Not  product  of  matter     2<599 

,  Rapidity  of *3426 

,  Result  of  scientific ....     2808 

,  Rhythm  of,  like  periods 

of  language 2917 

,  Science  cultivates  or- 
derly habits  of 2199 

,  Scientific 910 

,  Transfer  of,  impossible     3457 

,  Transition  from  phe- 
nomena of  physics  to  ....  2976 

an  Ultimate  fact  of  life     1919 

,  not    Voice,    man     and 

brain 2098 

THOUGHTLESSNESS  Un- 
warned by  others'  fate ....  *3427 

THOUGHTS  and  Feelings 

fundamental  facts 2828 

,  Laws  of  nature  the,  of 

God 

THOUSAND,  One  seed  among 
grows 

THREAD,  Early  needle  and. 

THRESHER  Does  not  at- 
tack whale 

THRESHING-MACHINE, 

Ancestors  of 351 

.  Nature's 872 

THRILL,  Emotional,  gives 

sense  of  reality 1130 

THRILLS  of  Heat  or  mag- 
netism measured 1118 

THROWING-STICKS,     Grip 

of. 

THRUSH,  Destruction  of  the 

THUMB,  Seeds  shot  as  from 
and  finger 

THUMB-NAIL,  Poisoned, 
a  deadly  weapon 

THUNDER  Drowned  by  roar 
of  volcano 

-  ,  Impersonation  of 

THUNDER-CLOUD,   Theory 

THUNDERSTORM,  Elec- 
tricity and 

the   Release  of   stored 

energy *3428 

TICKING,  Incessant,  of  clock 

unperceived 603 


1860 


3693 
3358 


657 


3443 
1620 

645 
2971 


2573 


2816 


TIDES  Increased  by  momen- 
tum  974,975 

TIDE  WHEEL  Indicates  prog- 
ress in  water-power 3701 

TIGER,  Embryo  of,  indis- 
tinguishable   803 

Invisible  by  color 2087 

in  Northern  Europe  .  .  .      1536 

,  Ox  and  horse  exposed 

to  attack  by 39 

,  Remains  of,  entombed  519 

TIGERS  in  South  America, 

at  night 2420 

•  on  the  Steppes  of  South 

America 2971 

TILT  of  the  Earth's  axis 81 7 

TIMBER  for  the  Gods 444 

,  White  ants  eat  out ....  3254 

TIME,  Ancient  methods  of 

measuring *3429 

,  Beginning  or  end  of, 

inconceivable *3438 

Brings      great      effect 

from  slight  cause 977 

of  Collection  of    prod- 
ucts fatal 1754 

,  Complexity  requires, 

for    development 568 

,  Crystallization  requires       707 

,  Evolution     gives     new 

perspective  of *3431 

,  Exalted  ideas  of ......       877 

,  Faintness  of  impression 

and  distance  of ;  .  .      1194 

,  the  Flowering,  of  im- 
pulses   1606 

.Geologic— Chalk  cliffs.    *3432 

,  Geologic,    progress    of 

life  in 2755 

,  History  but  moment  of     1197 

,  Immeasurable — G  e  o  1- 

ogy *3433 

an  Important  element 

in  bacterial  analysis *3430 

,  Increasing  appreciation 

of *3434 

,  Infinite,  not  religious.  .      1655 

,  Intense  pleasure  annuls     3420 

,  Lapse    of,    in    geology 

slowly  conceded 3517 

,  Lapse  of,  made  sensi- 
ble by  dwelling  on  it ......  *3435 

,  Mammalia  in  geologic.      2013 

,  Man's  thought  sweeps 

all 2985 

,  Matter  in  spare  and ...      2118 

Measured  by  moon ....    *3436 

,  Mind  overwhelmed  by 

vast  periods  of 2204 

Must  be  conceived  as 

infinite 1659 

,  Nearness    in ,    ascribed 

to  public  events 2396 

,  News  "ahead  of"  ....        944 

No  object  in  engineer- 
ing feats  of  antiquity 1022 

Occupied  by  sensation  *3437 

,  One   principle   prevad- 

ing  all 2730 

,  Plan  not  less  divine  for 

lapse  of 227 

,  Prehistoric  languages 

developed  in 2024 

Requisite  to  form  Del- 
ta of  the  Mississippi 760 

,  Seeds  that  bide  their .  .     2379 

,  Sensation  requires,  for 

transmission ' 3060 

,  Slight  inaccuracy  vit- 
iates results  in 1050 

and  Space 1654 

,  a  Special,  for  each  ac- 
quirement       2457 

,  Succession  in 2324 

,  Telegraphic  notation  of     2708 

,  Transforming  work  of.      2702 

,  Vast  periods  of,  re- 
quired by  coral-reefs 938 

,  Vividness    of    memory 

suggests  nearness  in 3663 

,  Volcanic   peaks  the 

work  of 2529 


TIME,  Volition  takes 3178 

Works    vast    results 

with  trifling  force *3439 

TIME-KEEPING  in  Sleep...  *3440 

TIMES,  Animals  in  geologic.  164 

,  Earthquakes  in  early.  .  930 

,  Fall   of   meteorites  re- 
corded in  ancient 2161 

,  Geologic 3471 

,  Life  in  geologic 1870 

,  Primitive  methods  last- 
ed till  recent 1929 

,  Limitation    of    religion 

to ; 3087 

,  Sameness  of  land  form- 
ations from  geologic 627 

— ,  Women  of  ancient.  .  .  .  3121 
TIMIDITY     Taught     young 

birds *3441 

TIN  in  Europe 501 

TIP    of    Radicle    wonderful 

structure 2938 

TISSUE  Takes  from  blood  its 

own  material 3044 

TISSUE    PAPER,    Rocks 

crumbled  like 3671 

TISSUES,  Normal  living,  will 

not  sustain  bacteria 1883 

TITMICE  Return  to  homes.  .  2411 
TITMOUSE,    Destruction    of 

the 1620 

TOADS  in  Rocks 2346 

TOES,  Study  of,  of  ostrich  by 

savages 160 

TOIL  Under  Disadvantages.  1643 
,  Vain,    without    under- 
standing   1720 

,  Wealth  liberates  genius 

from 855 

TOMATOES,  Brown-rot  of.  .  1887 
TOMB,  Remains  of  mammoth 

preserved  in  icy 854 

TOMBSTONES  of  Ancient  an- 
imals   *3442 

TONE,  Biology  gives  mind  .  .  3270 

TONES  in  Art 238 

TONGOUSES,  Superstition  of  3318 
TONGUE,  Greatness  of  mind 

is  due  to 2198 

TOOL,  Fire  as  a 3285 

and  Weapon  combined  3719 

TOOLS  Aid  man  to  conquer 

climate 1714 

of  American  aborigines  2133 

,  Ancient   Indian — Han- 
dles   *3443 

of    Ancient   miners 

found 3771 

Are  external  hands.  ...  232 

First  used  by  man 230 

Fitted  to  environment  *3445 

Owe  existence  to  fire. .  .  1236 

in  Place  of  new  organs  3048 

,  Prehistoric 897 

,  Primitive  adaptation  of 

handles  to 55 

of  Primitive  man *3444 

,  White  man's,  not  an  im- 
provement    3769 

TOP  of  Mountain ,  cloud  about    1 253 
TORCHES,  Ancient  and  mod- 
ern   1950 

TORPIDITY  of  Lemuroids.  .  3343 
TORPOR,  from  Drought,  as 

from  cold 1172 

TORRENT,  Purity  of  Niag- 
ara's   2924 

TORRENTS  of  Flaming  hy- 
drogen around  sun 3241 

,  Gradual  distribution  in 

place  of 3132 

TORTOISE,  Speed  of,  meas- 
ured   3180 

TORTURE  of  Ostracism.  .  . .  2078 

TOTALS,  Memory  of 2147 

TOUCAN,  Brilliant  coloring  of  48 
TOUCH    Awakens   memories 

of  sight  and  sound 245 

,  Illusions  of 1566 

,  Language  of 1826 

.Leaves  of    Dionaea 

close  at,  of  insect 3081 


TOPICS     IN     GENERAL 


861 


TOUCH,  Leaves  spring  upon 
prey  at 

Organs  of,  compensate 

lack  of  sight.  . 

,  Sensations  of 

1  Sense  of,  in  worms.  .  .  . 

1  Sight  and,  not  equiv- 
alent   :••••,••• 

,  Visual  impression  of  re- 
lief due  to ;  •  •  •  Yi 

TOURMALINE  Quenches  all 


3637 

563 

3061 

*3446 

3102 
3142 
2643 


but  one  set  of  vibrations .  . 

TOWERS  and  Castles  of  na- 
tive rock 

of  Cloudland 2219 

of  Ice ..-.-•    *3447 

TOXIN  Differs  from  intra- 

cellular  poison ,-•,•'•  2642 

TOXINS  More  harmful  than 

bacteria 1680,  2899 

TOY,  Scientific,  gives  Roent- 
gen rays 

TOYS  Personified 

TRACE,  Perception  leaves  its 
-—.Slight,  left  by  life  on 
earth ;••-,••• 

,  No,  of  sunlight  in  deep 


3587 
2435 
960 

1918 
2593 
3795 

1027 


TRACERY  of  Fine  fabrics  on 
glass .-•,•'•' 

TRACES  of  Ice-period  in 
North  America  ..-••• 

TRACING  Records  blood-sup- 
ply of  brain  •••••• 

TRACK,  Mind  follows  ac- 
customed  •  •  -. *i;,2o 

of  Vanished  glacier *3448 

TRACTS  in  Brain  specialized  *3449 

TRADE,  Language  controls. 

,  Primitive •  •  •  • 

TRADES,  Deadly,  never  lack 
recruits •  •  •  ; 

TRADITION  Often  truthful 
memorial 

,  Peruvian,  of  deluge.  .  . 


380 


*3450 
1707 


Untrustworthy 

TRADITIONS  of   Ancient 

of  Giants  confirmed.  .  . 

TRADE- WINDS,  How  pro- 
duced   •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 

.     (See  also  WINDS.) 

TRAGEDY  of  Science 

TRAINING,  Genius  not  the 
result  of 

for  Motherhood 

,  Scientific 

TRAIT,  Curiosity  a,  of  seals.. 
TRAITS,  Union  of  dissimilar 
TRANQUILITY  of  the  Stars. 
TRANSCENDENTALISM     in 

Science — Atomic  forces.  .  . 

TRANSFER  of  Thought  im- 
possible  

TRANSFERENCE,  No  com- 
plete, of  thought 

TRANSFIGURATION  of  phe- 
nomena by  law 

of  the  Universe 

TRANSFORMATION  of  As- 
tronomy  ;•.••• 

by  Changed  conditions 
England,  through 
coal 

,  Gradual,  from  ancient 

to  modern  type 

of  Past  into  present..  .  . 

of  Railway 

of  Unseen  products.  .  . 

of  Water 

the  Work  of  time 

Wrought     by     sun- 
light  

-  Wrought   by   worms.  . 

TRANSIT,  Atmosphere  of 
Venus  makes  impossible 
exact  observation  of ...... 

.Bacteria  float  in, 

through  the  air 

of    Venus— a   Celestial 

index  

of  Venus — Expedition . 


*3451 
*3452 
*3453 


-  by 
--  of 


3156 
3396 


2253 

*3455 

709 

3521 

3606 

*3456 

*3457 

1630 

*3458 
3615 

262 
*3459 

*3461 

*3460 

*3462 

*3463 

*3464 

3709 

2702 

*3465 
*3466 


3509 
2792 


560 
2672 


TRANSITION  from  Birds  to 

reptiles 3467 

,  Apparent  permanence 

amid 2561 

From  bronze  to  iron 

age *3468 

,  Enjoyment  by 604 

,  Gradual,  of  groups  in 

geologic  times .    *3471 

from   Natural  to   spir- 
itual     *3469 

from     Phenomena     of 

physics  to  phenomena  of 
thought 

,  Science  in  state  of .... 

from  Stone  to  bronze .  . 

from  Type  to  type .... 

TRANSITORINESS  of  Earth- 
ly conditions 

of  Human  life ........ 

of  Human  memorials .  . 

of  Impulse 

of  Land  formations..  .  . 

of  Our  universe 

TRANSITS,  Times  of,  differ 

with  observer 

TRANSLATIONS,  Arab,  pre- 
serve Greek  learning 

TRANSLUCENCY  of  Water.. 

TRANSMISSION  of  Advan- 
tages by  heredity 

of  Earthquake  shock  .  . 

of  Light 

,  Power  lost  in 

of  Radiant  heat 

of  Retriever's  instinct  *3477 

,  Sensation  requires  time 

for 

.  (See  also  SOUND 

TRANSMISSION.) 

TRANSMUTATION,  Objec- 
tions to  theory  of ........ 

TRANSPARENCY  to  Differ- 
ent colors ;  • 

,  Discovery  of  the,  of  air. 

,  Invisible 

of  Mountain  lake.     .... 

of  Pelagic  animals  .... 

never  Perfect 

a  Protection 


2976 
*3472 

2152 
*3470 

1310 

2702 

*3473 

1702 

*3474 

*3475 

1631 

219 
3708 

95 

3098 

1180 

2660 

*3476 


3060 


2311 

1083 
857 

3502 

330 

242 

*3478 

1898 


TRANSPORTATION  of  Food 
in  refrigerating  steamships. 

of  Rocks  by  winds.    .  .  . 

of  Seeds  by  stages 

,  Wasp  secures  facilities 

of 

,  Water  power  for 

TRANSPORTING,  the,  of  Air 
by  spider 

TRAP,  a  Palisade 

TRAP-DOOR  SPIDERS,  Early 
instinct  of 

— — ,  Home  of  the,  defensible 

TRAVEL    Needed   to   give 
broad  views 

.Speed  of 

TRAVELER,  Privation  of,  in 
Norway 

,  Resource     of,     in     ex- 
haustion— Cocoa 

,  Sense   of   direction   of, 

destroyed 

,  Veracity  of  ancient.3638,  3639 

TRAVELERS  in   Egypt   im- 
posed upon 984 

of  Middle  ages 1354 

,  Peaceful 594 

TRAVELING,     Three     rapid 

modes  of *3480 

TREASURE  Lavished  for  de- 
fense   

among  Savages 

TREATMENT,  Antiseptic.  .  . 
,  Improved ,  of  insanity. . 

of  Wounds 

TREE  As  if  on  stilts 

,  Fallen,  bears  organisms 

to  new  lands 

Has  limited  environ- 
ment    *3481 

,  Milk  from  tropical 3760 

,  Myth  of  bernicle 1813 


1463 

2685 

*3479 

2851 
3707 


2823 


2549 
923 


290 
3181 


140 
1273 


2559 


2225 
1391 

439 
2189 
1364 

412 

3680 


TREE,  Not  as  man  a  unity.  2030 
,  Protection  of,  against 

loss  of  heat 2776 

,  Race  dependent  upon 

single 2815 

TREE-CLIMBER,  Support 

for 3330 

TREE-CREEPER,  Legend  of 

nest  of  a 2349 

TREE-DWELLERS,  South 

American 62 

TREE-FERNS  Now  only  in 

tropics 528,  1462 

of  the  Tropics *3482 

TREENAILS   Used  by  west- 
ern mechanics 3285 

TREES,  Age  of 

,  Buttresses  around  .... 

Cut  with  stone  axes  .  .  . 

,  Destruction  of 

in  Earthquake 

,  Flowers     and,     absorb 

different  colors. 

of  Great  age  growing 

near  ancient  mines 

,  Melting  snow  congealed 


,  Colossal,  of  tropics..  .  . 

TREE-TOP.  Cradle  in 

TREE-TRUNK  a  Hiding- 
place 

TRIAL,  Precious  result  of 
fiery 

for  Witchcraft 

TRIALS,  Effect  of,  on  strong 
and  weak 

TRIBE,  Individuality  strong 

in  cat 

,  Moral  obligation  an- 


ciently limited  to  .  . 

TRIBES,  No  evidence  of, 
without  religion 

TRIBULUM  Progenitor  of 
steam  thresher 

TRIBUTARY,  Lake  without.. 

TRILOBITE,  History  of,  in 
stone 

TRIUMPH,  Mental,  a  com- 
pensation .... 


110 
223 

1643 
800 

3713 

2737 
2215 

1543 
*3483 
2430 

534 

*3484 
3322 

1875 
1634 
2405 

2872 

351 

2306 

2553 

3088 


of  Science 


507 

92 

1375 

1448 

868 


.  .  .  .*3485-88 

of  Spirit  over  matter.  .    *3489 

,  Wonderful,  of  human- 
ity          900 

TRIUMPHS     of    Mechanical 

skill *3490 

TROPICS,    Abundance       of, 

favors  indolence 

,  Advantage  of 

,  Giant  flowers  of  the. . .  . 

,  Health  maintained  in. . 

,  Heat  and  cold  shatter 

rocks  in 

,  Heated   air   from   the, 

descending 2176 

,  Luxuriance  of 1999 

,  Night  in  forest  in 2420 

,  Protective  colors  in  the  *3492 

Radiance  of  stars  in.  .  .      3216 

,  Rainfall  in  the. *3493-94 

,  Richness  of  insect-life  in. .  1683 

,  Stillness  of  noon  in.  ...      3231 

,  Temperate  lands  within 

the 640 

,  Tree-ferns  only  in 528 

,  Tree-ferns  of  the 3482 

,  Trees  of 3483 

,  Vegetation  of  ...  .*3491,  3628 

TROUT  Colored  like  bottom 

of  stream 

TROY,  Ancient,  had  pottery.. 
TRUST  of  Moth  in  its  invis- 
ibility  

TRUSTWORTHINESS  of  Nat- 
ural forces  .  .  .  ." 

TRUTH,  Absolute,  unattain- 
able     *3496 

in  Ancient  theories *3497 

,  Approximations        t  o 

scientific 218 

Better     than     consist- 
ency       1326 

the  Criterion  of  poetry..  *3503 


45 
196 


2250 
"3495 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


TRUTH,  Definite  error  more 
helpful  to,  than  indecision.. 
-,  Discovery   gives   proof 


1051 


of :....      2734 

an  End  for  itself 3582 

,  Evolution  must  include 

the  whole 1111 

,  Genius  sees  abstract .  .  .      1352 

,  Gradual  growth  of 1408 

,  Gravitation  a  marvel- 
ous    3762 

,  Instantaneous  percep- 
tion may  teach  eternal 1140 

,  Logic  no  guaranty  of  .  .        762 

,  Love  of,  sufficient  mo- 
tive   3013 

Loved  more  than  theory 

by  Kepler *3499 

,  Loyalty  to 2863 

May   appear   by   acci- 
dent        2734 

,  Metaphor  conveys  es- 
sential    2157 

Must  be  worked  for  ...   *3498 

to      Nature     increases 

poetic  charm *3503 

the  Outcome  of  many 

errors 3394 

,  Physical  discovery  does 

not  affect  spiritual 858 

,  Physician  driven  to 

seek 3020,  *3500 

,  Scientific ,  agreeing  with 

popular  observation *3501 

,  Simple,  overlooked.  .  .  .  *3502 

,  no  Single  method  of 

thought  leads  to  the 1636 

of  Skeptical  denial  as- 
sumed      3118 

for  Truth's  sake 2050 

Underlying  fiction *2151 

,  Untrained  mind  prefers 

marvelous  to  the 2211 

Veiled,   not   dismem- 
bered,      2501 

"What  is" 241 

,  a  Wit  ness  for  Christian .       114 

TRUTHFULNESS    of    sensa- 
tion        758 

TRUTHS,  PARTIAL,  Lead  to 

controversy 648 

TUBERCLE  Communicated 

by  dust 3661 

TUBERCULOSIS,  Bacterial 

treatment  of 306 

,  Royal  commission  on .  .      2794 

TUBERS  Destroyed  by  ani- 
mals   798 

TUBES,  Ancient,  excluded 

diffused  light 257 

TUMBLEWEED,  Wind- 

wafted  seeds  of  the 3729 

TURACO,  Brilliant  coloring 

of 48 

TURBINE  Indicates  progress 

in  use  of  water-power ....  3701 

TURF,  Browsing  on 1164 

TURPENTINE,  Film  of,  shows 

prismatic  colors 549 

TURTLES  Find  way  to  un- 
seen water 449 

TUTELAGE  Prolonged  by 

civilization *3504 

TWILIGHT,  Colors  of  ani- 
mals adapted  to 2417 

TWINING,  Power  of ,  innate. .      2689 

TWINKLING  of  Stars  ex- 
plained  3220-21,  *3505 

.     (See  SCINTILLATION.) 

TWISTING  of  Rope  to  tighten 

joint 3285 

TYNDALL,  Dust  in  the  air 

proved  by,  to  be  organic  .  .  917 

Glycerine-coated     cab- 
inet of 130 

TYPE,  Adaptability    of    the 

vertebrate 41 

,  Common,        traced 

through  all  vertebrates  .  .  .   *3506 

,  Domestic  and  maternal     2302 

,  Enduring  power  of.  ...      2914 

,  Energy      the      highest 

mental ...      1010 


TYPE,  Greenland  a,  of  ancient 
North  America 

,  Heredity  everything  in 

lowest 

,  Higher,  has  distinctive 


1379 
1481 


890 

,  Man  a,  of  the  supernat- 
ural   2026 

.Transformation      from 

ancient  to  modern 3460 

,  Nature  perfecting  high- 
est   3645 

Preserved    through 

change 3133 

,  Pursuit  of  the 2809 

Revealed     in     animal 

homologies 672 

,  Reversion  to  animal.  .  .  2654 

,  Transition  from  type  to  3354 

TYPES  of  Ancient  culture.  .  .  2753 
,  Fossils  show  succession 

of 1168 

,  Fuegians  and  Tasman- 

ians  not,  of  primeval  men.     2058 

of  Organic  forms 52 

of  Sound  and  flame.  ...      2975 

TYPHOID,  Incubation  period 

of 3644 

,  Vitality  of  Bacillus  in 

soil 3661 

TYRANNY  of  Bad  mental  or- 
ganization   1045 

TYRANT,  Science  despises. .  .  2461 
TYRE,  Mariners  of 2394 

u 

UNANIMITY,  Convincing 

power  of *3507,  *3508 

UNCERTAINTY  Inevitable.  .    *3509 

UNCLEANLINESS  Destroys 

infant  life 422 

UNCONDITIONED,  THE,  Un- 
thinkable, and  incredible .  .  3417 

UNCONSCIOUSNESS  of 
Adaptation  of  eye  to  dis- 
tance    77 

of  Profanity 1422 

of  Selection  among  sav- 
ages        3046 

UNDERESTIMATE         D  e  - 

nounced  as  exaggeration  ..      1741 

UNDERGROUND,  City  re- 
ceives hot  water  from 1465 

UNDERSTANDING,  Toil  vain 

without 1720 

UNDOING,    Work    involves, 

of  work 3768 

UNDULATIONS,  Theory  of.. .      2116 
,  Theory  of  verified 1545 

UNDULATORY  THEORY  of 

light 1395,3391 

UNICORN  Horn 1317 

UNIFICATION  of  the  Cosmos     3543 
of  the  Sciences *3510 

UNIFORMITY,  Apparent,  of 

all  germs 1369 

UNIFORMITY  OF  NATURE. 

*3511,  *3512  *3513,*3515 

—  Interrupted *3514 

—.Geology *3516 

—  Slowly  recognized  ....    *3517 

—  Principle  of  early  scien- 
tists       3411 

—  Proved 260 

—  Shown  in  harmony  of 

landscape 1438 

— .     (See  also  HARMONY.) 

UNIFORMS,  White,  as  pro- 
tective from  heat 535 

UNIMPORTANT,  THE,  inat- 
tention to 1609 

UNION,  Chemical,  vs.  me- 
chanical   *3518 

— .Close,  of  body  with  mind  *3519 

—  of    Dangerous    sub- 
stances in  salt *3520 

— ,  Difference  between  mix- 
ture and „     2228 

—  of  Dissimilar  traits  in 
birds *3521 

—  of  England  and  France.     3172 

—  of  Labor  and  art *3522 

—  of  Risers  .  .  .    *3523 


UNION,  the  Sea  a  bond  of  ... 

of  Species  by  gradation 

of  varieties 

of    Transparent       sub- 
stances producing  darkness 

of    weakness    and 

strength.  . 

UNISON,  Forces  working  in. 


2442 
3354 


1083 


*3524 
1305 


,  Mind  and  body  trained 

in 387 

UNIT,  Cell ,  the  fundamental. .       445 

,  Family  the,  of  society. .     1203 

UNITS,  Aggregate  of 119 

UNITY  of  all  Knowledge *3531 

in  Art   due    to    elimi- 
nation         238 

Becomes  a  snare *3529 

of  all  Forces  in  one.  .  .  .      1299 

of  the  Body 661 

Amid    diversity 

. . 119, *3525,  *3526, *3527,  *3528 

,  Gravitation  a  sign  of.  .      1401 

,  Higher,  in  Nature 415 

of  the  Host  of  discov- 
erers       3365 

of    Language    wrongly 

inferred *3532 

,  Light  a  sign  of 1930 

,  Lower  vs.  higher *3530 

,  Man  a 2030 

of  Mankind 

2080, *3534, *3535, *3536 

of  Man  with  animal  .  .  .    *3533 

of  Origin  of  organisms  .    *3549 

of  Perfection  and  hap- 
piness     *3550 

of  Plan 2477 

of  the  Race 2031 

without  Sameness 1416 

of  the  Sciences *3552 

of  Tendency  01  certain 

epochs *3551 

of  the  Universe.  .  2908,*3553 

*3554,  *3555,  *3556, *3557,  *3558 

,  Variety  in 3617 

Visible  and  tangible  .  .    *3559 

UNITY     OF     NATURE 

158,  3431,   *3537,  *3539,    *3540, 

*3543, *3544, *3545, *3546,  *3547, 

*3548 

—  Animals  and  plants  in 
strange  land  included  in  .  .    *3541 
— ,  Is  man  an  exception. .  .    *3542 
— ,  Lower  vs.  higher 3530 

—  a  Mental  conception  .  .    *3538 

a  Unity  of  plan 248 

UNIVERSALITY  of  Deep-sea 

life *3560 

—  of  Emulation *3561 

of  Gravitation 1403 

of  Impulse  to  pray ....      2700 

of  Law 1850 

of  Stone  age '    3233 

UNIVERSAL   SYSTEM,    Sci- 
ence a 2999 

,  Solar  system  part  of .  .  .      2283 

UNIVERSE,  Ancient  idea  of 

the *3562 

— ,  Beginning  of  the,  super- 
natural          343 

— ,  Comprehensible  by  di- 
vine mind  only 2110 

— ,  Contrivance  in  consti- 
tution of  the 3601 

— ,  Development  of 813 

— ,  Divided  differently  by 

*3563 
*3564 
1985 
2828 

1395 
3486 

1715 
3510 

1145 
631 
454 

617 


each  individual . 

,  Evanescent 

,  Fellowship  with 

,  no  Ghostly 

.Harmonious  govern- 
ment of  the 

,  Harmony  of  the 

,  Intellect  required  to 

make 

an  Intellectually  con- 
sistent whole 

,  Jupiter  with  satellites 

a  little 

without  Law 

,  Law  rules 

— ,  Laws  of  Nature  adapt 
the,  for  rational  beings.  .  .  . 


TOPICS  IN  GENERAL 


863 


2110 
*3565 

*3566 
1100 
2332 

2494 
2114 
1524 

2113 
2334 
1429 

3613 
3612 
3412 

3615 


UNIVERSE,  Mathematics  of 

the 

,  Mechanical     theory  of 

the 

not  Merely  matter  and 

force 

,  Morality  in  the.  .  .  . 

,  Mystery  of  the 

,  Outlook    on    the, 

larged  by  telescope .... 

,  Phenomena  of  the. 

,  Principles  of  the 

,  Probability  that  higher 

attributes  exist  in 

,  the  Riddle  of  the ,  unread 

without  a  Spirit 

,  the,     Stellar     systems 

within 

,  Structure  of  the 

,  Theory  of  the 

,  Transfigured  by  astron- 
omy  

,  Unity  of 

2908,   3553,    3554,  3555,  3556, 
3558,  3558. 

,  the,  Unsolved 1972 

,  Variety  of  the 3614 

,  Would  suffer  little  from 

earth's  destruction 799 

UNIVERSES,     Nebulae    sup- 
posed   "  Island" 10«9,  3198 

UNIVERSITIES,     Specialists 
in  German 

UNKNOWABLE,  the,  Belief 
in,  a  necessity 

UNKNOWN,  THE,  Scientific 
insight  penetrates 

,  Strain  of  desire  toward. 

Surrounds  the  known.995, 2335 

1  Value  of 3599 

UNLIKENESS  of  Lower  ani- 
mals to  man 

UNLOCKING  of  Energy 

UNREALITY  Unrecognized. 

UNSEEN     POWER,     Recog- 
nition of 

UNSELFISHNESS,      Infancy 
calls  out  parental 

UNWORTHINESS     Distinct 

from  ignorance 1092 

UPBUILDING    of    Earth    to 

cease 939 

UPHEAVAL  of  Lands  in  geol- 
ogic times 3279 

of    Lands   now   taking 

place 

.    'See  also  ELEVATION.) 

UPLIFTING,  Gradual,  of  con- 
tinents. . 


2028 
356 


1579 
3243 


162 

976 

1431 

2839 
1648 


23 


Mineral     to    living 

world 

-.  (See  also  ELEVATION.) 


*3567 
2617 


UPROAR  of  Life  in  tropical 

forest *3568 

URANUS,  Discovery  of 10,  345 

— ,  Seen  before  Herschel ..  2835 

USAGE,  Ancient,  consecrated 

by  superstition 1 242 

USE  or  Abuse  of  material. .  .  2119 

.Adaptation  to, in  Nature  66 

of  Animal  food 2027 

of  Boiled  water— Tea.  .  3361 

of  Bronze 739 

of  Iron  known  by  bar- 
barians of  ancient  Europe  309 

,  Life  a  power  beyond 

man's  measure  of 3581 

,  Limits  to  educational, 

of  scientific  theories 1975 

,  Machine  improves  with  2697 

of  Means  by  supernat- 
ural power 828 

of  Missiles  by  monkey .  2226 

,  Number    of    words    in 

common 1818 

and     Ornament      con- 
nected   *3569 

of  Pain 2399 

,  Plain  food  best  for  con- 
stant   3597 

,  Science  applied  to  prac- 
tical. . .  2970 


USE,  Wings  for  other,  than 

flight 70 

USEFUL,  Progress  from  bril- 
liant to 1391 

USEFULNESS  of  the  Crow..    *3570 

,  Man  made  for 1993 

of  Pugnacity 2789 

of  Swallows 35 

USELESS,  The,  eliminated.  .     2801 
USELESSNESS,    Utility  sub- 
limated to 3585 

USES  of  Darkness *3571 

USHER,  Chronology  of 195 

UTAH,  Bobolink  of 1677 

UTENSILS,     Primitive     cook- 
ing       1231 

UTILITARIANISM  Com- 
mendable    *3572 

UTILITY   of   Ancient    creeds 

and  cults 2767 

of  Cleanliness 516,  517 

Combined  with  beauty  *3575 

Compels  exactness ....   *3576 

,  Discovery      of,    unex- 
pected    *3577 

of  Divergence *3583 

of  Dust  in  atmosphere     2796 

,  Endeavor  to  attain. .  .  .    *3578 

,  the  End  the  measure  of     3572 

of  Fire 1244 

of  Geology  and  of  history     1356 

,  Higher  and  lower *3579 

.Humanity  results  in.  .      1516 

and  Inutility  of  fear .  .    *3573 

of  Limited  intelligence     3275 

of  Micro-organisms..  .  .    *3584 

Might     dispense     with 

the  beautiful 332 

More  than  beauty *3580 

Not  the  supreme  test .  .    *3581 

and  Progress *2632 

of  Pledge.    3574 

of  Pugnacity 2789 

of  Science — Protection 

from  frost   3005 

of  Science  in  food-anal- 
ysis       1283 

,  Science  not  to  be  esti- 
mated by  mere 2998 

Sought  in  scientific  ed- 
ucation       2551 

Sublimated  to  useless- 
ness *3585 

not  the  Supreme  test .  . 

*3581,*3582 

,  Unexpected — Conspic- 
uous coloring  protective .  .  *3586 

Unexpected — Roent- 
gen   rays 

of  Woolen  garments . 


*3587 
178 
UTILIZATION  of  Sun  power .        781 

of  Waste  products  *3588,*3589 

UTOPIA,    Communistic,  dis- 
credited      2495 

UTTERANCE,    Chance,    not 

discovery 2733 

V 

VACUUM,  None 3157 

,  Silence  in 3105 

VAGARIES,  Philosophical,  of 

scientists *3590 

VAGUENESS     of     Ordinary 

knowledge *3591 

VALE  of  Fireflies *3592 

VALHALLA  Disappears 673 

VALLEY,  Lifeless  and  silent 

— jEtna *3593 

,  Partitioned    by    meet- 
ing Deltas *3594 

.  (See    also    MISSISSIPPI 

VALLEY.) 

VALLEYS,  Formation  of  Al- 
pine      3388 

,  Hollowed  by  glaciers .  .   *3595 

VALUE,  Biology  ascribes,  to 

humblest 2704 

of  Bread 1271 

of  Competition 3167 

of  Doing 899 

,  Each     instrument     its 

own  special 827 


VALUE,  Economic,  of 
bacteria 

of  Experiment 

of  Gems  due  to  crystal- 
lization  

— s — ,  Geology  has  industrial 

,  Great  prospective 

of  Least  promising  ele- 
ment  

of  Linguistic  study .... 

of  Method 

of  the  Minute  things.  . 

of  Nature-study 

of     Saying     "I     don't 

know" 

of  Science 

of  Scientific  cooking .  .  . 

of  Simplicity 

of   the    Unknown    and 

hidden 

of  Verbal  recitation.  .  . 

VALVE,     Bird's  wing  a  self- 
acting 

VAMPIRE  Attacks  horse.. 
VANILLA   Distinguished 

among  orchids 

VAPOR  in  the  Air  increases 

scintillation  of  stars 

,  Light    liberates   atoms 

from 

,  Metals  in,  on  sun 

,  Protection  of  earth  by 

veil  of 

,  Mountains    precipitate 

invisible 

VAPORS,  Cooled,  sink  back 

on  central  mass  of  sun. .  . 
VARIABILITY     of     Adjust- 
ment  

in  Combination  of  in- 
variable forces 

of  Plants  and  animals. . 

VARIANCE,  Religion  and  sci- 
ence not  at 

VARIATION,  Aimless,  not  an 
explanation 

of  Algol  due  to  eclipse. . 

,  Auroras  follow,  of  sun- 
spots 

,  Capacity  of 

of  Colors  of  birds .  . 

of  Erosion 

,  Factors  in 

of  Light  in  air 

of  Magnetic  needle .... 

of  Organisms 

of  Plants 

the   Rule  in  Nature .  . 

Will  finds  room  in .  . 


,     TY  111     1111U.0    1WJ-U,    A**  .    •    •    • 

VARIATIONS,  Apple  shows, 
from  a  common  type 

in  Colors  of  stars 

,  Individual.  . 

,  Man  emphasizes  Na- 
ture's  

.Physical 

,  Success  of 


VARIETIES  of  the  Apple. . 

of  Day  and  night,  in  a 

world  lighted  by  a  blue  and 
an  orange  sun 

ofDogs — Domestication 

Must  precede  selection 

,  Origin  of,  not  accounted 

for 

,  Scorned  by  older  natur- 
alists   ... 

,  Species  united  by  gra- 
dation of 

,  Supposed    species    are 

vs.  Species 

VARIETY  of  Color  in  deep- 
sea  echinoderms 

of    Color    among    the 

stars 

Consistent    with    com- 
mon origin 

,  Constancy  of  force  ad- 
mits, of  adaptation.  ...... 

of  Divine  creation.  .  .  . 

of  Food  a  necessity .... 

in  Homes  of  ants 


359 
912 

3484 
1357 
1436 

*3596 
1834 
2167 

*3598 
972 

1968 

2983 

655 

*3597 

*3599 
2834 

372 
3640 

337 
3501 

540 
3297 

2774 

1302 

3187 

*3601 

*3602 
*3600 

2863 

809 
2614 

934 

420 

2830 

*3603 

2467 

*3606 

*3604 

*3605 

95 

*3607 
3602 

*3605 

474 

1631 

2042 
3051 
3049 


3775 
*3609 
*3608 

2488 
*3610 

3354 
3166 
2664 

*3619 

="3618 

3535 

3601 

*3615 

1276 

221 


864 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


VARIETY,    Innumerable,  of 

orchids  in  South  America.        337 

of  Movement  of  comets.  *3fi20 

of  Nature.2361,3621,*3622-23 

of   Star  colors 547 

,  of  Sti  ucture  in  the  uni- 
verse     *361 1 

in     Structure     of     the 

universe *3612 

of    Tones   among   ani- 
mals    *3624 

of   Tools   of  American 

mechanics 2133 

in  Unity *3616-17 

of     the    Universe 

*3613,  *3714,*3616 

VASTNESS,  Height   gives 

sense   of *3625 

,  Infinite  minuteness 

and,  baffle 1970 

of  Plansof  primitive  man     2615 

Refraction        enhances 

sense   of 2854 

,  Sublimity  of 3277 

,  Works  of  mound-build- 
ers impressive  in 2010 

VAULT   OF    HEAVEN  Sup- 
posed a  crystal  sphere ....    *3626 

.  Stars   supposed   to   be 

riveted   to   the 3646 

VAULTING,  Wild,  of  Ibis ....        156 

VAULTS  of  .Etna 1836 

VEDAS,  Sublime  idea  of  God 

in  the     1211 

VEGETABLES  Improved  by 

selection 95 

VEGETARIANISM  in  tropics     1448 
VEGETATION,    Contrast    of 

temperate  and  tropical. .  .  .        640 

and   Crystallization.  .  .   *3627 

,  Microscopic *3629 

.New,  after  submer- 
gence       2922 

of  Old  and  new  worlds        158 

Removed  from  earth's 

surface 1989 

of  Tropics 3491,*3628 

VEHICLE,  Body  the,  of  the 

soul 509 

VEHICLES,  Wheels  for,  un- 
known in  America  before 

Columbus 3727 

VEIL,  Protection  of  earth  by, 

of  vapor 2774 

VELOCITY,    Diminished,  of 

light 2855 

of  Light 

1127, 2547. 2706  ,*3630-31 

of  Ocean  currents *3632 

,  Square  of 1287 

,  Unimaginable,  of  elec- 
tricity    *3633 

VENOM  Adapted  to  victim .  .   *3634 
VENTILATION  of  Bee-hives..       342 

-  is  Life *3635 

VENTRILOQUISM    in    Nat- 
ural Magic *3636 

VENTS,    Volcanoes,   for  im- 
prisoned waters 3225 

VENUS,  Atmosphere  of 3509 

,  The  disk  of,  first  seen . .      1043 

,  Fly-trap *3637 

,  Marginal  spikes  of,  fly- 
trap       3577 

— ,  Transits  of 560,  3314 

VERBS  Learned  by  hearing 

recitation 2289 

VERACITY  of  Ancient  trav- 
eler vindicated *3638,  *3639 

,  Questions  of 2144,  2608 

VERIFICATION  One  of  four 

pillars  of  science 2986 

of  Popular  belief *3640 

of   Theory   of   undula- 
tions.      1545 

in  the  World  of  fact 3389 

VERSATILITY  of  scientist — 

Dana *3641 

VERTEBRATE,  Adaptability 

of  the,  type 41 

,  One  plan  for  all,  ani- 
mals .  .  41 


VERTEBRATES  Show  com- 
mon type 3506 

,  Skeletons  of  all,  on  one 

3538 


plan 

VESUVIUS,  Eruptions  of 
1080-81 

before  the  Eruption  of 

A.  D.  79 

Seemingly   extinct   be- 
fore eruption  of  79 

,  Spartacus  in  crater  of.  . 

VIBRATION,  Expansion  ex- 
plained as 

,  Thermal,  compared  to 

— the  sound  of  bell 

VIBRATIONS  caught  by  eye 
and  ear 

,  the  Retina  attuned  to 

ethereal 1928 

,  Set  of— Light 2643 

VICARIOUSNESS  in  Prin- 
ciples of  Nature 

VICES,  False  reasoning  pro- 
duces unnatural 

of  Savagery  not  prime- 
val  

VICISSITUDES  of  a  Science. .     3015 
VICTIM,    Disease   a   conflict 
between,  and  bacteria 

Unwarned 

,  Individual  deemed,  of 

circumstances 

,  Mind  adapts  venom  to 

its 

,  Miser  a,  of  the  collect- 
ing mania 

,  Struggles  of,  seal  its 

doom 

,  Tentacles  of  leaf  close  on 

,  Venom  adapted  to  .... 

of  Boa  destitute  of  fear.  *3644 

VICTIMS  of   Earthquake 

plundered 

,  Women  and  children, 

of  cheap  labor.  . ' 

VICTORY,  Love  of  right  the 

highest 

of  the   Mammals  in 

ancient  struggle *3645 

of  Sunshine 1957 

VIEW,  Ancient,  of  fixed  stars  *3646 

,  Difference  in  point  of .  ..     3115 

,  First,    of   the    Matter- 
horn 

of  Nature  determined. . 

VIEWS,  Erroneous,  of  scien- 
tists   1063, 1073 

,  False,  of  insanity 389 

,  Herschel  recants  earlier     1065 

,  True  and  false,  of  law. 

VINE,  The,  once  freely  grown 

VINEYARDS  on  Slopes  of 
Vesuvius 

VIOLENCE,  Crimes  of,  re- 
duced by  stoppage  of  grog 
in  navy 

,  Distressing 

,  Strength  of  shell  adap- 
ted to,  of  waves 

VIOLET,  Heat  increases  from 
to  red 

VIOLIN,  Beginner  on  the .... 

,  Contrivance  as  of,  and 

bow — Wood-cricket 

,  a  Natural — Mole- 
cricket  

VIPERS  Real  terrors  of  des- 
erts  

VIREOS  Return  to  homes 

VIRTUE,  Prudence  a,  in 
higher  animals 

among  Savages 

VIRTUES  Attributed  to  fos- 
sils   

,  Paternal,  different  from 

maternal 

,  Paternal,  slow  growth 

of 

VIRULENCE,  Attenuation  of, 
of  bacteria 

of    Bacteria    increased 

by  association 


1301 
2558 


721 
2054 


1132 
1464 


758 


150 
753 


*3642 


1914 
*3644 

1820 
3634 
2079 

2616 
1685 
3633 


1678 
483 


1093 


2560 
2203 


3317 
3312 


2558 


2395 
2496 


3252 


1617 
294 


2301 
75 


2556 
2411 


756 
*3647 


1317 
*3648 


1413 

287 


*3649 


3286 
2690 


77 
*3656 
*3652 
619 


VISE,  Substitutes  for. . 

VISIBILITY  of  Distant  ob- 
jects  

VISIBLE,  THE,  vs.  the  Act- 
ual  *3650-51 

and  the  Invisible 1765 

VISION,  Adjustment  of,    to 

distance 

,  Adjustments  for.  .  . 

,  Binocular 

Constancy  of 

,  Defective — Color-blind- 
ness     *3653 

Independent  of  calcu- 
lation   *3654 

,  Measurement  of 1120 

,  New  possibilities  of. ...   *3655 

Opposed    to    muscular 

sense  on  height 3072 

of  a  Possible  future. .  .  .        557 

is    the   Recognition  of 

series  of  photographs 2592 

,  Wide  field  of— Move- 
ment of  eye 1958 

VISIONS,  Dreadful,  in  alco- 
holic mania *3657 

,  Inspiring,  of  science   .  .  *3658 

VISIT  in  Childhood  recalled. .      2154 

VISITORS  made  Captives. .  .  .     3620 
-  from  the  Stars *3659 

VISITS  of  Ceremony  among 

birds *3660 

VIS  VIVA,  or  Living  force  of 

moving  bodies 1287 

VITALITY  of  Ancient  Egyp- 
tian seeds 983-84 

,  Conditions  of 1041 

Lowered *3662 

of  the  Soil 1224 

of  Typhoid  bacillus  in 

soil *3661 

VIVIDNESS  of  Memory  and 

nearness  in  time 3663 

VIZCACHA     Clears     ground 

around  its  home. . 
VOCABULARY    of 

language  

,  Evolution  of  . 

Varies  with  education  .     1818 

VOID,  Sense  of, *3664 

VOLCANIC  ACTION,  Ancient 

like  modern 3512 

,  Cycles  of 717 

VOLCANIC  DUST 921 

VOLCANIC  FORCES  Ter- 
rible and  destructive 1392 

VOLCANO  Acts  in  conjunc- 
tion with  earthquake . .  *  366  5-66 

,  Ashes  from,  cast  into 

upper  stream  of  air 3743 

in    Conjunction      with 

earthquake *3666 

,  Desolation  made  by — 

^Etna 3593 

,  Dust  of,  carried  round 

the  world 920 

.Eruption    of,    ejects 

plants 2819 

,  Eruption  of,      forms 

Monte  Nuovo 

,  Fish  ejected  from 

,  Fossils  ejected  from . . 

Generates  electricity. .  . 

,  Herculaneum    over- 

whelmed  by 

,  Humming-birds  in 

crater  of  extinct 

,  Island,  of  Stromboli.  .  . 

Like  a  bursting  boiler. . 

Makes    fertile    land    a 

desert *3670 

,  Masses  of  rock  ejected 

from 2391 

,  Mysterv  of 2333 

,  Origin  of  name 2342 

,  Problems  of  the ...   *3667 

,  Products     of,     carried 

afar 919 

,  Quiescent — Delusive  re- 
pose.   *3668 

Regardless  of  man 2367 

Renders  service  to  man  *3669 


170-71 

English 

1818 

3624 


1079 

1248 

553 


1477 

1425 

1949 

107 


TOPICS     IN    GENERAL 


865 


3484 
1444 
2156 
930 
3251 

1077 
2517 


VOLCANO,  a  Slumbering 2558 

,  Sporting   on  the  edge 

of 2555 

J 1  the  Spring  vs.  the 2680 

,  Spun-glass  from 3192 

,  Thermal  spring  com- 
pared with 2904 

.     (See  also   ERUPTION; 

LAVA;  MOUNTAINS.) 
VOLCANOES,  Ancient 2342 

of  British  Isles 2876 

,  Danger    of   Investiga- 
tion of 2090 

Deadly  exhalations  of  .     1177 

Earth's  safety-valves.  .   *3671 

Eject  apparent  meteor- 
ites. ...... 936 

,  Eruptions  of 929 

,  False  notions  concerning     2211 

,  Fish  ejected  from 1247 

1  Fluid  rock  of 2762 

Free  imprisoned  waters     3225 

,  Gems  the  product  of.. . 

in  Hawaii 

,  Metals  the  gift  of 

Mightier  in  early  times. 

of  the  Moon 

on  Moon 

Once  active  in  Ireland.. 

,  Points  of  eruption  will 

vary zoi/ 

Present  number  of *3673 

,  Quiet  hills  remains  of . .     2876 

,  Quiet  intervals  of 2362 

.  Study  of 3544 

not  Wholly  explained..      1794 

VOLITION,  Alcohol  destroys.       132 

,  Alcohol  weakens 141 

,  Automatic    action    ac- 
complishes ends  of 2675 

Connected  with  organic 

changes 3732 

Essential  to  life *3675 

a  Force *3674 

Fulfills  conditions 

a   Hindrance  in  auto- 
matic activity 

Increased  in  the  body 

the  Latest  resource. . . . 

,  Life  processes  beyond. . 

,  Mankind  believes  in..  . 

May  secure  more  of  life. 

and  Motive 

,  Passion,   appetite   and 

desire  subdued  to  one  su- 
preme   

Takes  time 

,  Time  occupied  by 

Weakened  by  hashish  . 

,  "Wilfulness"   may   be 

lack  of 

VOLITIONS,  Separate,  in- 
volve delay 

VOLTAIC  BATTERY,  Action 
of 

,  Muscular  action  like 

that  of 

VOLTAIRE  Denied  existence 

of  fossils 1740 

VOLUME,  Speed  of  current 

increased  with 3523 

of  Sun  far  exceeds  cen- 
tral mass 273 

VOYAGE  of  Hanno  from  Car- 
thage   2485 

,  Involuntary *3680 

,  Ocean,  seems  intermin- 
able    3067 

VOYAGERS,  aerial,  unseen .  .   *3679 

,  Involuntary *367S 

,  too  adventurous *3681 

VULCAN,  The  Forge  of 2342 

w 

WADIES  of  Tropical  desert . . 
WAGONERS  Point  out  new 

star  to  Astronomers 

WAKEFULNESS,  Partial  and 

controlled 

WAKING,  Dreamer  has  the 

corrective  of 

at  a  Specified  hour. . .  . 


3185 

2291 
*3676 

881 
1907 

597 
1036 
2270 


2609 

3178 

3437 

*3677 

3730 
2150 
1844 
1468 


2685 
3197 


*3682 


907 
3440 


WALKING    an     Instinctive 

movement *3683 

,  Reflex  action  in 2291 

Scientifically  described.  *3684 

WALLACE     and     Darwin 

reach  the  same  conclusion.       117 
WALNUT  of  the  Tertiary. .  .  .      1864 
WALRUS,    The,    swimming 
among  sunken  fir-trees  of 

England 3279 

WANDERERS     of    Ancient 

days *3685 

WANDERING  Nations  sur- 
prised by  a  new  heaven 3209 

WANT,  Religion  meets  nat- 
ural   2865 

WAR,  Folly  of *3688 

among  Insects *3686 

,  Mercenaries  no  longer 

used  in *3687 

,  Necessity  of 2398 

,  Peloponnesian 2845 

,  Trojan.  .  2845 

WARFARE,  Life  a 1875 

in  Nature *3689 

,  Preparation  for 203 

.     (See    also  CONFLICT; 

STRUGGLE  FOR  LIFE.) 
WARMING  of  Water  of  cat- 
aract, by  the  fall 1454 

WARMTH  Arises  from  de- 
struction   3464 

,  Cause  of ,  of  fur 888 

WARNING,  Animals  giving,  of 

earthquake 168 

,  Destruction  without. .  .       953 

against  Hasty  general- 
izations    3698 

,  Past  failures  a,  for  the 

present 1191 

WARNINGS  of  Nature  un- 
heeded   1241 

WARRIORS  Accomplished 
less  than  peaceful  travel- 
ers   594 

WASP  Feeds  its  young 1682 

,  Grasshopper  resembles.     2181 

,  Intelligence  manifested 

by 1726 

,  Sagacity  of  a 2945 

Shows    reflection    and 

judgment 2851 

,  Spider  and 782 

WASPS  less  Adaptable  than 

ants 221 

Guided   by    sight    and 

scent 1684 

Providing  for  their  off- 
spring   *3690 

,  Sense  of  direction  in.. .  .        837 

WASTE  of  Earth  repaired..  .   *3691 
,  Birds  lost  in.  of  air  ....        370 

of  Earth's  capital *3692 

of   Life-force. 675 

of  Money  in  vain  search 

for  coal 1357 

Products  utilized 3588 

,  Repair   compensates .  .     2874 

.Seeming,  in   Nature 

*3693. *3694,  *3695 

of  Tissues  supplied  by 

food 1276 

,  Utilization  of,  products     3589 

WASTING  of  the  Mountains  *3696 

WATCH  Wound  up 1015 

WATCHFULNESS  of  Mar- 
mots   *3697 

WATER  Able  to  do  work 1015 

and   Air  carve  earth's 

crust 3143 

Alone  could  not  exca- 
vate caves 3394 

,  Animals  that  live  with- 
out   59 

.  Blocks  of  ice  freeze  to- 
gether under  hot 2857 

of  Cataract  warmed  by 

thefall 1454 

Changing  level *3702 

Charged  with  carbonic 

acid 3627 

— ,  Cause  of  color  in *3703 


1330 
159 
616 

3705 


1903 
1945 


WATER,  Combustion  of  gases 

to  form 1404 

a   Counterpoise    of 

weight 61 

,  Difficulty  of  securing 

sample  of 1114 

,  Energy  required  to  hold 

gases  together  in 1018 

,  Erosion  by  sand-laden     1049 

an  Exception  to  law  of 

expansion *3698 

,  Expansion  of.  in  Freez- 
ing  1133.*3704 

.  Fills  pores  of  wood  in 

ocean  depths 2721 

,  Fish  die  in  boiled 472 

,  Force  expended  to  va- 
porize        1285 

,  Force  of  running 1295 

,  Formation  of,  from  gas     1313 

,  Freezing,  shatters  iron     1292 

Frozen  by   rarefaction 

of  air 

,  "Gathering-ground"  of 

,  History  of  drinking.  .  . 

Honeycombs  rocks . ,  .  . 

,  Immigration  of  animals 

to  the  deep  sea 1585 

,  Influence  of  heat  and 

cold  on 1669 

,  Law  binding,  crystals. .       383 

is  Left  while  wave  goes 

on 

,  Light  traversing  pure. . 

Made      habitable      by 

movement 2260 

as  a  Mechanical  power .   *3701 

,  Minerals  invisible  in ...      2213 

in  Mountain  lakes  un- 
frozen     *3706 

,  Particles   of,   rise   and 

fall 3712 

,  Penetration  of  light 

through 2534 

a  Poor  conductor  of  heat  *3699 

,  Power  in  heating 2127 

,  Prismatic  colors  of  a 

film  on 549 

,  Properties  of,  elude 

microscope 1504 

a  Protection  to  plants.  *3700 

Purified   by   precipita- 
tion  

,  Rocks  formed  by 

,  Running,  as  a  force. .  . 

,  Shock  of  waves  of 

,  Simmering,  cooks  food 

,  Snow  holds,  in  store. . . 

.Solid  particles  give 

green  hue  to  shoal 

,  Some  bacteria  can  live 

in  distilled 

Stored  in  thorny  plant  *3707 

,  Transformation  of *3709 

.  Translucence  of *3708 

an      Unyielding     sub- 
stance      2387 

,  Use  of  boiled,  in  tea.  .  .     3361 

,  Velocity  of  light  dimin- 
ished by 2855 

,  Waves  in 484.  821 

.  Wearing  of  rocks  by.  .      3595 

— —  Works  to  build  earth's 
crust 

,  Young  turtles  find  way 

to  unseen 

,  (See  also  ICE- FREEZING 

STEAM  ;  VAPOR  ;    WAVES.  ) 

WATER-BEETLE,    an    In- 
stance of  adaptation 

WATER-CRESS     Destroyed 

by  willows 1162 

WATERS,    Bitter,    with    no 

outlet 636 

—  Crowded  upon *3710 

,  Earthquake  piling  up .      3026 

— ,  Electricity  in  the 1250 

— ,  Land  from  beneath  the     1809 

— ,  Mammalia  of  the *2014 

— .Protection  to  life  in..     3704 
— .  Pure,     evaporated     to 
bitterness 1182 


2705 
648 

1289 
487 

2679 

3132 

375 
183 


104 
449 


44 


866 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


WATERS,    Seed    cast   upon 

the 3711 

Transporting  seeds *3711 

,  Volcanoes  free  impris- 
oned      3225 

WATER-SPIDER,  Home  of 

the 886 

WATER-WHEEL,  Develop- 
ment of 1298 

an   Element  of  indus- 
trial progress 3701 

-  vs.  Windmill.: 1016 

WATER-WORKS      Indicate 

progress 3701 

WAVE  Goes  on,  water  is  left     1903 

,  Ocean,  heaved  on  shore 

by  earthquake 3098 

,  Motion  the  advance  of 

a  form *3712 

WAVE-LENGTH  of  colors. .  .     3073 
WAVERLEY,  Scott  compos- 
ing novels 3489 

WAVES     Annihilating   each 

other 1528 

,  Beauty  from  interfer- 
ence of 339 

,  Chemical,  invisible 2537 

,  Dimensions  of,  of  light     2216 

,  Extinction  of 1933 

of  Gases 267 

Hardened  to  rock 3667 

of  Heat  like,  of  light.  .   *3715 

Heaving  earth's  crust.  .   *3713 

,  Interference  of 339,  *3714 

of  Light  learned   from 

those  of  sound .  .  .          79 

• of  Light   change    with 

intensity  of  heat *3716 

• of  Light  abolish  each 

other 1947 

• of  Light  flow  around 

obstacles 2441 

,  Light  and  sound  exist 

as 1927 

of  Light  pervade  all 

space 1930 

,  Mingled,  of  sound 3154 

Revealed    by    fluores- 
cence      1765 

.Rich  color  of 3708 

— • — ,  Rocks  marked  by,  of 

vanished  sea 852 

• ,  Rocks  rounded  by.  of 

ancient  sea 2934 

of  Sea  and  land  in  earth- 
quake   *3717 

Shaping  lands 3603 

,  Smallest    particles    re- 
flect smallest 3125 

,  From,  of  sound  to,  of 

light 1160 

,  Strength  of  shell  adapt- 
ed to  violence  of 3252 

Traversing   ear^h-crust       954 

Undermining  rocks.  .  .      2718 

WAY,  Bees  have  to  learn  the     1867 
,  Evil  points  the,  to  bet- 
terment        869 

,  Fire  makes  a.  through 

darkness 1240 

Lower  impulses   given 

the  right  of 3408 

,  Magnetism  opens  a,  for 

light 2521 

Prepared  by  Science.  .        851 

WEAKENING  of  Volition  by 

alcohol .  141 

WEAK  crushed  by  trials ....  1875 
WEAKER,  the  Vigorous 

choke  the.  (Matt,  xiii.,  7) .  .  3259 
WEAKNESS,  Apparent 

strength  source  of 1134 

of  Gravity  on  the  moon     3251 

,  Stars  teach  man's.  .  .  .      3217 

.  Union  of,  and  strength     3524 

WEALTH,  Advantages  of..       604 
—  Can  liberate  genius.  ...        855 

of  Celestial  beauty.  .  .  .    *3718 

,  Desire  for,  approved.  .        791 

and   Poverty  of  celes- 
tial  regions 885 

— ,  Power  of 1016 


WEAPON,  Axe  the  chief,  of 

primitive  man 302 

,  Bow  a  prehistoric 395 

Survives  as  symbol ....      3340 

and  Tool  combined..  .  .    *3719 

WEAPONS,  Existence  of,  due 

to  fire 1236 

,  Improvised *3720 

,  Pois9ned *3720 

of  Primitive  man  alike     3444 

,  Power  of  modern 1163 

WEARING  of  Rocks  by  ice 

and  by  water 821 

WEAVER,  Woman  the  prim- 
itive   3091 

WEAVER-BIRD,       Limited 

intelligence  of 169 

WEAVING,  Antiquity  of .  .  .  .        200 

Invented  by  primitive 

women *3722 

Invention  of  fly-shuttle 

for 1754 

WEAVING  of  Spider *3723 

WEB  Stayed  by  suspended 

weight 1672 

WEDGE,  Root  a  wooden ....  2674 
,  the,  Used  by  primitive 

man 2694 

WEDGES,  Granite,  forced 

through  sandstone 3244 

WEEDS,  Machinery  improv- 
ing   2903 

-  Introduced  by  man. .  .  2029 
WEEK,  Ancient,  of  seven 

days 197 

,  Instituted  4,000  years 

ago 2403 

WEEVILS  Destroy  seeds...  798 
WEIGHT  Balanced  agianst 

disturbing  force *3724 

of  Brain  of  man  and  of 

ape 401 

.  Distributed  by  scatter- 
ing on  thin  ice 2946 

Effort  needed  to  raise     2121 

,  Heat,  light,  etc.,  with- 
out      2116 

,  Number  and,  of  atoms       279 

.    Slight,    obscured    by 

heavier 1599 

of  the  Sun *3725.  3725 

.  Water  a  counterpoise  of         61 

,  Web    stayed    by    sus- 

•pended 1672 

WELFARE,  Individual  sac- 
rificed to  public 341 

WELL  Indicates  progress  in  » 

control  of  water 3701 

WELLS,  Artesian,  described     3191 
,  Springs  and,  spread  dis- 
ease       2645 

WERNER,  Devotion  of  pu- 
pils to 290 

WEST,  Birds  of  the  far 1677 

WEST  INDIES,  Birds  winter- 
ing in 2174 

,  Tools  developed  in 2133 

WHALE     not   Attacked  by 

thresher 657 

,  Bones  in  paddles  of. ... 

not  Instantly  aware  of 

wound 3060 

.Rudimentary  limbs  of     3506 

Wounded  in  tail 3437 

WHEAT     Raised    by    lake- 
dwellers 121 

Reproduction  of 2798 

WHEEL    Animalculse 1898 

,  Potter's,    known    from 

early  antiquity 2647,  2650 

a  Prehistoric   i  n  v  e  n  - 

tion *3726 

Used  by  primitive  man     2694 

.  (See  also  MII/L-WHEEL.) 

WHEELBARROW      Un- 
known in  America  before 
Columbus 3727 

WHEELS  for  Vehicles  un- 
known in  America  before 

Columbus *3727 

WHIRLPOOL  at  Niagara.  .  .  3714 
,  The.  rapids  at  Niagara  3710 


WHIRLWIND,  Franklin's 
observation  of 

WHISKIES  Imitated  by 
chemistry 

WHITE,  Icebergs  of  dazzling 

a  Color  of  Arctic  ani- 
mals  

on  Black  more  visible 

than  black  on 

as  Protective  from  heat 

,  Wire  changes  from 

red  to 

WHITENESS  of  Arctic  ani- 
mals  

WHOLE,  Hypothesis  must 
stand  or  fall  as  a 

,  Man  knows  Nature  to 

be  a 

,  the  Universe  an  intel- 
lectually consistent 

WILDERNESS,  Beauty  in.  . 

,  Life  in 

.  Planting  of  the 

,  Question  of 

,  the  Ship  of  the — Amer- 
ican ostrich 

Transformed 

WILFULNESS  in  Child 

WILL,  Belief  not  forced  by.  . 
Adapts  natural  laws  to 

its  purpose 

Creates  no  force.  ..... 

Dethroned  by  intoxica- 
tion  

,  Development  of 

as  Distinct  from  im- 
personal force 

Draws  on  latent   sup- 
plies  

.  Effect  of  natural  law 

on  human 

.  Faculty-theory  of 

,  Failure  through  lack  of 

Finds  place  in  Nature .  . 

Finds  room  in  variation 

,  Force  a  manifestation 

of 

.  Force  the  action  of  the 

divine 

Fixing  attention  on  di- 
vine ideal 

Free  from   compulsion 

,  Gravitation  ascribed  to 

a  supreme 

Incomprehensible 

,  Loss  of  power  of 

,  Mimicry  dependent  on 

May  shut  out  evidence 

Once  deemed  a  sepa- 
rate faculty 

,  Paralysis  of,  of  opium 

eater. .  . 

,  a  Priori  judgment  of 

the  Creator's 

vs.  Reflex  action 

,  Relation  of  law  to.  ... 

,  Right  conquers  by  aid 


of. 


is  Ultimate 


as  Viewed  by  the  physi- 


Weakened  by  intem- 
perance  

,  Weakness  of,  counter- 
acted  

WILLOW,  Dispersal  of  the 
seeds  of 

of  the  Tertiary 

,  Varieties  of 

WILLOWS  Destroy  water 
cress  

WIND  Bears  seeds 

Changes      contour      of 

mountains 

Drives  seed  of  sedge 

across  water 

,  Eroding  action  of 

Has  no  effect  on  Dion- 
sea  

,  Insects  fleeing  before.  . 

,  Locust  seeds  borne  on 

wings  of 


*3728 

*3728 
1537 

47 

2690 
535 

3716 

521 

1184 

2067 

3510 
1383 
1239 
*3729 
2631 

2492 

3466 

*3730 

357 

1838 
*3733 

*3734 

482 

*3731 
3674 

1515 
3407 
1192 
2358 
3602 

1299 
3546 

*3735 
*3736 

2371 
2034 

*3732 
2180 

*3739 

3764 
595 

79 

*3737 
647 

2921 
*3738 

*3732 

1731 

*3740 

3037 
1864 
2664 

1162 
*3742 

*3741 

3711 
2685 

3081 
1688 

3479 


TOPICS    IN    GENERAL 


867 


WIND  as  Mechanical  force .  . 

Scatters  rocks  in  dust.. 

,  Seed  distributer  rolled 

by 

.  Transporting  action  of 

the 

,  Witch-grass    on    wings 

of 

,  (See  also  WHIRLWIND; 

WINDS.) 
WINDLASSES    Unknown  in 

America  before  Columbus. 
WINDMILL,  Waterwheel  vs. 
WINDS  Due  to  agency  of 

sun 3298 

,  Equatorial 2176 

,  Observer    held    to    be 

rulerofthe 2351 

,  Secondary  work  of  the  .       563 

,  Source  of 3156 

Subject  to  man 571 

of  the  Upper  air *3743 

WINE,  Adulteration  of  .  .*3744-45 
WINES  Imitated  by  chem- 


1289 
868 


3034 
2685 


3748 


1016 


istry 

WING,  Moths,  flies  and  beet- 


1257 


les  without 2672 

WING-FEATHERS  in  Birds  .  74 
WINGS,  Air  currents  driven 

by  fanning • 342 

Degeneration  of,  from 

disuse 754 

of  Flying-fish  really  fins  *3746 

of  Gnats 3345 

,  Loss  of  power  of 1992 

,  Moth  purposely  folds  in 

its  brilliant 2180 

for  Other  use  than 

flight 70 

WINNINGS  of  Gambling 

bank  calculable 1339 

WINTER,  Ant  life  in 1204 

,  Desolation  of  Arctic  re- 


gions in v  . 

,  Grouse  provided  with 

snowshoes  in 

WIRE  Changes  from  red  to 

white 

-,  Crystallization  by  vol- 


1810 
64 


3716 
1863 


taic... 
WIREWORMS     Destroy 

roots 798 

WISDOM,  The  Creator's 1187 

,  Divine  power  acts  by .  .  682 

— ,  Folly  and,  of  serpent. .  .  169 

,  Need   of   higher,  than 

man's 2814 

,  Transcending      human 

power  to  attain *3747 

WIT  and  Accident  combined.  846 
,  Similarity  the  founda- 
tion of 3109 

WITCHCRAFT,  a  Trial  for. .  .  3322 
WITCHES  Credited     with 

"fairy  rings" 3325 

WITCH-GRASS  on  wings  of 

wind *3748 

WTHHOLDING     Contrasted 

with  giving 636 

WITNESS  for  Christian  truth  1 14 

Sees  the  expected '.  1548 

,  Silent,  of  change 469 

WITNESSES  Disagree 589 

WOLF,  Animals  exposed  to 

attack  by 39 

in  England   3279 

WOLVES  Transformed  into 

dogs 900 

WOMAN,   Arts   of,   not   im- 
proved by  civilization 1990 

,  Basketry  and  patterns 

for 3769 

,  Bias    of,    toward    do- 
mestic life 3356 

,  Bifold  life  of *3753 

,  Cooking  invention  of  .  .  656 

,  Culture  of *3755 

— .  Differences    in    mental 

activity  of  man  and 3094 

Domesticates  the  cat.  .  *3750 

Fire  and  broom  tools  of  1231 

in  Geology *3751 


WOMAN,  Grip  of  knives  of.  .  3443 

,  Her  influence  for  peace.  2528 

,  Intemperance  e  s  p  e  c  - 

ially  degrades 1731 

,  Invention  a  necessity 

for  primitive 1755 

' ,  Parental  love  strongest 

in *3752 

, ' '  Pepper-pot "  i  n  v  e  n- 

tion  of 

the  Inventor  of  arts  of 

peace 

,  Language  specialty  of .. 

Learning  from  animal 

teachers 

,  Leaven ,  invention  of. .  . 

Makes  home 

,  Mission  of 

,  Music  of  primitive  .... 


2536 

3091 
1835 

2023 
1868 
901 
3756 
2302 

,  Oppression  of 2958 

,  Pottery  the  work  of  ...      2651 

a  Power  in  savage  life. .   *3749 

,  "a, reason" 2147 

,  Sewing  of  primitive 3090 

the  Skin-dresser  of  an- 
cient times 3121 

the  Support  of  religion.   *3754 

Weeping    in    theater, 

coachman  freezing.  ......      2237 

,  Work  of,  in  primitive 

agriculture 124 

,  Her  work  the  calendar 

of  primitive  man .........  3770 

WOMAN,  PRIMITIVE,  Sim- 
plicity of 1990 

.Manufactures  con- 
ducted by 2082 

,  Taste  shown  by 3358 

WOMEN,  Chopping-knife  in 

use  among  Eskimo 559 

,  Cookery  among  prim- 
itive    652 

the   Inventors  of  tex- 
tiles and  pottery *3757 

,  Pottery  made  for 2652 

,  Pugnacity  of  men  and .  2247 

,  Seclusion  of 3027 

,  Storage    of    water   by 

African 2006 

,  Temperance  of  savage..  3370 

Victims  of  cheap  labor..  483 

,  Work  of,  among  Abor- 
igines    3769 

.Primitive 3722 

WONDER,  Origin  of 3068 

WONDERS,  Compensation  in, 

of  Science 859 

—  of  Geology 2388 

—  of  Life — Phosphores- 
cence     *3758 

—  of  Life  destroyed 796 

—  of  Life  destroyed  with- 
out protest 796 

—  of  Nature *3759,  *3760 

—  of  Science *3761 

— ,  Science  does  not  lessen.  *3762 

—  Wrought    by    natural 
forces 2131 

WONDER-WORKER,  Flame 

1256 

WOOD  as  Fuel 1450 

Saturated    with    water 

in  ocean-depths 2721 

,  Wedge  made  of 2694 

WOOD-CRICKET  of  Brazil. .  2301 
WOODPECKER,  Brilliant 

coloring  of 48 

— ,  Structure  of  the 2896 

WOOD-RAT,  Collection  of  a .  2079 

WOOL,  Radiation  from 2819 

of    Sheep  increased  by 

selection 2052 

—  of   Sheep   replaced   by 

hair 521 

— .  Utility  of.  for  clothing.  178 

WORD   Associated   with  its 

meaning *3763 

— ,  Man    demands    a,    for 

each  thing 3176 

,  Officer  awakes  at  the, 

"signal" 2671 

-  as  Sign  of  idea 181 5 


WORDS,  Borrowed 3532 

— ,  Emphasis    in    reading 

shows  sense  of,  to  come. .  .  .      2728 

,  Imitative,  few 3175 

,  Misreading  of 2193 

,  Their  undying  power .  .   *3764 

WORK  of  Agassiz  in  America     2665 
,  All,  result  of  heat 1012 

Ancient    and    modern 

compared *3765 

,  The,  of  a  Century  of 

astronomy 1403 

,  Choice  the,  of  conscious- 
ness    491 

of  Christ  a  means  to  an 

end 

,  Civilization  teaches  reg- 
ular  

,  Design  in,  of  men  or 

beavers 

Done  on  the  way 

,  Evidences  of  the,  of  an 

ancient  stream 

of  Floating  ice  not  glac- 
ial markings 1378 

,  Genius  involves  hard . .     3109 

,  Heat  converted  into .  .  . 

,  Great    in    later    life — 

Herschel 

,  Heat  disappears  in. ... 

,  Incessant,  of  insects — 

Ants,  etc *3767 

,  Lost,  of  Aristotle 1322 

,  Lubrication    converges 

power  on 1290 

of    Man    and    woman 

among  Aborigines *3769 

the  Measure  of  energy. .      1011 

,  Mechanical    perfection 

of  insect's 2546 

,  Nature  seen  at 1311 ,  2374 

,  Power  of  quiet 2680 

of  Red  corpuscles 378 

,  No  single  faculty  com- 

.  petent  to  the 1819 

a  Specific *3766 

,  Stimulus,  the  teacher's 

great 3232 

of  the  Sun 3772 

Undoes  work *3768 

Unfinished *3771 

,  Volcanic  peaks  the,  of 

time 2529 

,  United,  by  contrasted 

forces 104 

,  Water  able  to  do 1015 


493 
511 


788 
3702 


148 


1008 


345 
106 


,  Woman's,   calendar   of 

primitive  man *3770 

,  Woman's,  in  primitive 

agriculture 124 

and  Worker 486 

— .  (See  also  ENERGY; 
FORCE;  INDUSTRY;  SER- 
VICE.) 

WORKER  Changed  to  Queen 

bee 3459 

— ,  Chemistry    to    elevate 

work  and 486 

,  Insignificant,    achieves 

vast  results *3773 

WORKERS   Among  bees  are 

undeveloped  queens 822 

— ,  Closet,  needful 2698 

—  Compelled  to  crowd  to- 
gether   1754 

— ,  Din  of  foundry  un- 
noticed by  its 1609 

,  Relays  of  ant 1869 

,  Success  of  earnest 216 

WORKMAN'S  Mistake  led  to 

discovery 7 

WORKS,  Beauty  of,  of  art. . .       238 

,  Magnitude    of   mound- 
builders'  2010 

are  Relics  of  man 2861 

WORLD,  America  the  old.  .  .        155 

,  Astronomy  of  the  early       258 

-  Without  atmosphere..   *3778 

,  Bison  and  bear  in  old 

and  new 1977 

,  Contact  with  External .      1 1 59 

-,  A  divided *3774 


868 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


WORLD,  Egoism  of  ancient 

geologic 982 

,  by  Electricity  the  as- 
tronomer looks  from  all 

parts  of  the,  at  once 552 

,  The,  enduring 3079 

,  Every  part  of,  habit- 
able   1896 

,  External 907 

,  Facts  of  external 1185 

,  Future 626 

,  Good  Samaritan  in  the 

ant 1470 

,  Ideal 1578,  3389 

as  Interpreted  by  man..       320 

Lighted  by  a  blue  and 

orange  sun *3775 

,  Men  of  north  lead 

the 830 

,  Mind  required  to  con- 
strue the 615 

,  Natural  lifted  to  spir- 
itual   2617 

,  Need  of  law  in  spiritual     3458 

,  Nerves  interpreters  of 

the,  to  the  mind 2409 

,  Old,  linked  by  mam- 
moth with  new 2016 

,  Plant  lifts  the  mineral 

to  the  living 2617 

the  Product  of  warring 

systems *3776 

,  Progress  of,  dependent 

on  water-power 3701 

,  Proof  of  external 1088 

Seen  in  chiaroscuro...  .        536 

,  Sidereal    and    organic, 

compared 2255 

,  Styles  transported  over 

the 3722 

,  Subsensible 1577 

.  Unseen  forces  control. .     1793 

,  Unseen,  of  fundamental 

importance *3777 

,  Verification  in  the,  of 

fact 3389 

.Waves  of  gases  round 

the 267 

WORLDS,  All,  held  by  grav- 
itation   571 

.  Earth  closer  to  other. .  .        810 

,  Law  of  gravitation  in  all     3554 

.  Life  in  other 1181, 1896 

Lighted  by  colored  suns 

....527,3775 

,  Motion  of 2264 

,  Old  and  new 158 

.  Other,  may  be  inhab- 
ited  386, *3781,  3782, *3783 

Other,  like  lands  be- 
yond the  sea 3650 

.  Other  than  ours  in  use.     3650 

.  Our  past  the  present  in 

distant 1389 

,  Plurality  of 3198 

.  Science    has    new,    to 

conquer 2987 

in  Star  clusters *3780 

Where    night    is    un- 
known    *3779 


WORMS  Break  up  soil 

Build  tunnels 

as  Builders 

Bury     ancient     monu- 
ments  

Bury  seeds 

Living  in  brine 

,  Method  shown  by 

Pile  up  soil 

Prepare   vegetable 

mould 

Seemingly  more  intel- 
ligent than  ants 

,  Sense  of  touch  in 

Sink  stones  in  soil 

•  Supplement  plow 

Transform  stony  into 

fertile  field 

Undermine  buildings .  . 

WORSHIP  of   Dog  and  cat 

in  ancient  Egypt 

,  Dogs  made  objects  of.. . 

,  Infinity  not  an  object 

of 

of  Magnetic  needle.  .  .  . 

of  Sun 

of  Superhuman  person- 
ality  

,  Terror  the  inspiration 

to,  of  serpents 

WORSHIPPERS,  Conjectures 
of  ancient 

,  Gods  •  of  savages  like 

their 

WORTH  of  Culture  shown 
by  its  lack 

WORTHLESS,  The,  Destroys 
the  precious 

WOUND,  Pain  from  imagin- 
ary   

,  Whale  not  instantly 

aware  of 

WOUNDS,  Surgery  conquers. 

,  Treatment  of 

WREN  Returns  to  home 

WRETCHEDNESS    of    Sav- 

WRITER,  Omission  by  an- 
cient  

WRITERS,  Popular,  fail  of 
exactness 

WRITING  Divides  civilized 
man  from  barbarian 

— — ,  Evolution  of 

Extends  man's  horizon 

,  Loss  of  power  of 

,  Reflex  action  in 

•  Across  space 

vs.  Speech 

of    Vanished    hands — 

Pompeii 


YARN,  Failure  of  supply  of . . 

YEARNING  Is  a  prophecy. . 

YEARS,  Disease-germs  liv- 
ing in  soil  sixteen 

,  Later  life  dependent  on 

early 


1917 

2655 

*3784 

3236 
3040 
1896 
1718 
3137 

*3785 

2197 

3446 

2310 

319 

3466 
411 

499 


1655 

*3786 

2688 

2869 
2943 
2688 
1390 
*3787 
2703 
2677 

3060 

439 

1364 

2411 

*3788 
2453 
1115 

*3790 

*3791 

*3792 

3449 

2291 

*3789 

1816 

*3097 


1754 
2814 

3374 
1426 


YEARS,  Paralysis  of  investi- 
gation for  1,000 2075 

Shorten  with  advancing 

age *3793 

,  Sun  would  burn  out  in 

3,000 3155 

YEAST,  Growth  of 2879 

YELLOW-FEVER       Fatal 

among    Europeans 1030 

YELLOWS     Attacks     peach 

trees 1009 

YEW   Attains    greatest   age 

of  all  trees 110 

YIELDING   a  Better  protec- 
tion than  hardness *3795 

YOKOHAMA,       Preparation 

for  earthquake  at 2711 

YOUNG,      Biology      guards, 

against   pitfalls 1792 

,  Desertion  of,  by  moth- 
er-birds       1604 

in  Shell  know  mother's 

warning  cry 1215 

,  Tenderness  of  ants  to 

their 3375 

,  Wasp  feeds  its 1682 

YOUTH  and     Age — Geolog- 
ical    *379C 

,  Habits  fixed  in 142  j 

,  Most    restrained    wan- 
ders farthest 1622 

,  Novelty    of,    becomes 

routine 3793 

.Period    for    forming 

habits *3797 


ZEBRA    Almost  invisible  in 

the     twilight 3586 

in  process  of  Extermin- 
ation  '. 505 

.Stripes  of 2914 

ZERO,  Absolute,  of  space. . .     1461 

ZERO-SIGN,  Value  of. *3798 

ZINC,  Burning  of  iron  and. .     2153 

,  Force  stored  in 1013 

ZIRCONIUM  Doubles  strength 

of  gold 459 

ZONE,  Abysmal *3799 

,  Dead-lineoverhangs, 

of  life 71 

ZONES,  Eyes  of  deep-sea  an- 
imals  differ    with 1176 

,  Temperate,  most  favor- 
able to  human  progress.  .  .      180? 

,  Temperate,    the    chief 

abodes  of  life *3800 

ZOOLOGIST  Welcomes  evo- 
lution        650 

ZOOLOGY  Allied  with  other 

sciences 813 

,  Museum    of    compara- 
tive      2665 

,Mythof 2346 

,  Romance  of 2937 

ZUNI,  Potter's  wheel  of  the 

woman 2647 

ZYMOTIC    DISEASE,    Neg- 
lect,  of   sanitation   invites     2404 


TOPICS  WITH  CROSS-REFERENCES 


Reference  denotes  not  necessarily  equivalence ,  but  illustration  or  suggestion ,  sometimes  contrast  or  even 
antithesis.  Cross-references  may  often  be  followed  out  still  more  fully  by  looking  up  in  the  General  Index  also  the 
topics  referred  to.  Particular  items,  as  the  names  of  animals,  instruments,  etc.,  are  to  be  sought  in  the  General 
Index,  and  names  of  persons,  places,  etc.,  in  the  Index  of  Proper  Names,  or  of  Authors  and  Publishers. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT,  13 

ACTIVITY,  33-36 

ADVANCE 

(See     also    ACHIEVE- 

Brain, 396,  404 

Wave,  3712 

ABANDONMENT, 

MENT.) 

Blood,  380 

(See    also      CIVILIZA- 

Theory, 3395 

ACCUMULATION,  15-16 

Climate,  523 

TION;  PROGRESS.) 

ABBERRATION,  1 

Action,  21 

Life,  1878 

ADVANCEMENT, 

Illusion,  1559 

Adaptations,  67 

Motion,  2254-69,2269 

Savage,  2953 

Parallax,   2503 

Advance,  87 

Movement,    2281-95 

ADVANTAGE,  91-95 

ABIOGENESIS, 

Alcohol,  133-135 

Slavery,  3126 

Benefits,  359-362 

Air,  130 

Astronomy,  251 

ACTOR,  37 

AERONAUT,  96 

Generation,  1343-45 

Capital,  421 

(See  also  ILLUSION.) 

Illusion,  1558 

Germs,  1371 

Effect,  973-76 

ACTS,  38 

Surprise,    3333 

Life,  1902 
World,  3774 

Erosion,  1049 
Error,  1050 

ACUTENESS, 
Penetration,   2533 

AFFECTION,  97-99 

(See  also    BIOGENE- 

Experiments,   1153 

ADAPTATION,  43-67 

A  nini  cils,  177 
Child,  487 

SIS.) 

Expert,  1154 

Bubble,  410 

ABNORMALITY, 

Photography,  2592 

Change,  464 

C/ourtsliip,  679 
D&wn   732 

Law,  1849 

Summation,  3294 

Conflict,  590 

ABORIGINES, 
Irrigation,  1768 
Work,  3769-70 

Writing,  3790 
(See     also     ACQUISI- 
TION.) 

Contrivance,  643-647 
Design,  783-790 
Difference,  822 

Family,  yi  199-1203 
Infancy,  1648 

ABRASION,  2-3 

(See    also   GLACIERS; 

ACCURACY,  18-19 
Monuments,  2238 

Difficulty,  825 
Endurance,  1007-8 

XjOVG,    1895*~97 
Obliteration,  2437 

ROCKS.) 

Qualifications,  2812 

Environment,     1029- 

AFFINITY,  100 

ABSENCE  OF  MIND,  4 
Insensibility,  1690 

(See  also  ASTRONOMY  ; 
EXACTNESS  ;  LIGHT- 

30, 1033-34 
Habitat,  1424 

Metaphor,  2158 
Struggle,  3262 

ABSOLUTE,  THE, 

WAVES;    MEASURE- 

Heredity, 1493 

AFFLICTION,  101 

Differences,  824 

MENT  ;  MICROSCOPE  ; 

Horse,  1509 

Strength,  3249-50 

Freedom,  1325 

SPECTROSC  OPE  ; 

Law,    1838,    1843, 

(See  also  PAIN;  SOR- 

Truth, 3496 

STARS;  SUN;   TEL- 

1848, 1856,  1861-62 

ROW;    SUFFERING; 

ABSOLUTENESS, 

ESCOPE.) 

Man,  2017 

TRIAL.) 

Species,  3163 
ABSORPTION, 

ACHIEVEMENT, 
Affliction,  101 

Metaphor,  2157 
Modification,  2230-31 

AFFLICTIONS, 

Law    1875 

Color,  533 
Light,  1939 
ABSTINENCE, 

Responsibility,  2889 

Appliances,  216 
Aspiration,  241 
Difficulty,   830 
Energy,  1010 

Mystery,    2311 
Night,  2417 
Notes,  2427 
Plan,  2609,  2612 

AGE,  108-10 
Antiquity,  189-201 
Beginning,  343-51 
Duration,  913 

Reserve,  2880 
(See  also  SELF-DENI- 
AL; TEMPERANCE.) 
ABSTRACTION, 

Life,  1872 
Success,  3288 
ACHROMATISM, 
Errors,  1069 
Eye    1174 

Plasticity,  2624 
Power,  2664,  2689 
Purpose,  2695-2802 
Seed-dispersal,   3033- 
40 

Life,  1872 
Memory.  2138 
Reversion,  2913 
Time,  2429-39 

Faith,  1196 
Genius,  1352 
ABSTRACTIONS, 

ACQUISITION, 

Impulse,  1605 
(See  also  ACCUMULA- 

Soul, 3149 
Stupidity,   3272-74 
Substitutes,  3285-86 

Years,  3793 
(See  also  BRONZE  AGE  ; 
MIDDLE  AGE  ;  STONE 

Government,  1393-94 
Ideas,  1546 

TION.) 
ACTION,  20-29 

ADAPTATIONS, 
Purpose  ,  2798 

AGE  j  TIME.) 
AGENCY,  102-05 

Law,  1837   1857-58 

Belief,  357 

ADAPTABILITY,  39-42 

Action,  20-28 

Man,  2046,  2064 

Brain,  396-99 

Man,  2402 

Design,  782-86 

Materialism,  2095 

Character,  481 

ADAPTIVENESS,  69-70 

Fermentation,  1221 

Mind,  2205 
ABUNDANCE, 
Emblem,  999 

Compulsion,  572 
Crucifying,  703 
Cycles,  717 

ADJUSTMENT,  71-77 
Balance,  307 
Birds,  372 

Fertility,  1224-25 
Fig,  1229-30 
Fire,    1231-34,    1236, 

Energy,  1019 
Life,  1870,  1882,1920 
-21 

Deliberation,  756 
Difficulty,  830 
Doing,  899 

Compensation  ,   561 
Crystallization,  707 
Delicacy,  757-58 

1240,  1244 
Insects,  1686-87 
Machine,  2001-05 

Luxury,  2000 

Doubt,  904 

Evolution,  1111 

AGENT,  106-07 

Meteorites,  2160 

Habit,  1423,  1426 

Force,  1294 

Combination,  551 

Nature,  2369 

Life,  1878,  1880 

Nature,  2358,  2378 

AGENTS, 

Seeds,  3041 

Morality,  2242 

Variability,  3601 

Destruction,  792 

Squirrels,  3193 
ABYSS, 
Adaptation,  56 
Life,  1894 
Stars,  3213 
Zone,  3799 
(See     also    OCEAN 

Motion,  2254-69 
Movement,  2281-95 
Process,  2742-43 
Reflex,  1076,  2795 
Resolves,  2883 
Sentiment,  3082 
Spectacle,  3167 
Speed,  3178-79 

ADJUSTMENTS, 
Patience,  2525 
Unity,  3528 
Vision,  3656 
ADULTERATION, 
Foods,    1277 
Wine,  3744-45 

AGES,  111-12 
Design,  785 
AGNOSTIC,  113 
AGNOSTICISM,    114-16 
Belief,  356 
Darwinism,  730 
Nature,  2360 
"Nightmare,"  2423 

DEPTHS.) 
ACCIDENT,  5-12 
Agreement,  118 

States,  Mental,  3224 
Suspense,  3342 
Temperament,  3369 

ADVANCE,  78-90 
Advantages,  95 
Ascent  ,  240 

Unity,  3530 
AGREEMENT,  117-19 
Convergence,  650 

Chance,  452-54 

ACTIONS,  30 

Astronomy,  251 

Co-ordination,  661 

Design,  789-90 
Disaster,  839-40 

ACTIVITIES,  31-32 
Co-ordination    661 

Candor,  418 
Capacity,  420 

Co-operation,  657-60 
Disputation,  873 

Discovery,  846 

Earth's  incessant,  31, 

Force,  1283 

Errors,  1064 

Priority,  2734 

927-50 

Growth,  1406-13 

Harmony,   1437-41 

ACCIDENTS, 

Earthquake,   952-59 

Insight,  1691 

Opinions,  2456 

Order,  2462 

Science,  2981 

Progress,  2748-60 

Unanimity,  3507-8 

870 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


AGREEMENT, 

ALMSHOUSE,    147 

ANALOGY, 

ANIMALS, 

Unification.  3510 

Life,  1894 

Extension,    1160 

Imitation,  1582,  1585 

Union,  3518-  24 

(See    also    OCEAN; 

Materialism,      2103 

Immigration,  1585 

Unity,  3525-59 

TROPICS.) 

ANALYSIS,  159 

Increase,     1615-16, 

AGRICULTURE,  120-26 

ALCOHOL,  131-42 

ANATOMY,  160-62 

1619-20 

Beauty,  319 

Chemistry,  485 

Errors,  1070 

Individuality,  1634 

Beginnings,  351 

Failure,  1192 

Intolerance,  1742 

Industry,    1640.   1642 

Cave-men,  441 

Crime,  697 

Variety,  3617 

Ingenuity,  1672 

Exportation,  1157 

Flavors,  1257 

ANCESTRY, 

Intelligence,    1718-26 

Farming    of     insects, 

Food,  1262-1275 

Reversion,   2914 

Interest,  1737 

1206 

Health,  1448 

(See  also  HEREDITY.) 

Investigation,     1761 

Fertility,  1224,  1225 

Heredity,  1479,  1492 

ANESTHETICS, 

Language,  1812,  1815, 

Fig.  1229-30 

Intemperance,  1731-32 

Humanity,   1516 

1823,   1826 

Food,   1270-71 

Intoxication,   1745-46 

(See     also     DISEASE; 

Life,    1870-71,    1875- 

Hawk,    1445 

Navy,  2395 

MEDICINE  ;  PAIN; 

77,  1880-84,  1889- 

Irrigation,  1768 

Nitrogen,  2424 

SURGERY.) 

90,  1893-97,  1898- 

Indigo,  1626 

Poison,  2638-39 

ANIMAL, 

99,1902,1904,1906 

Industry,  1641 

Responsibility,  2889 

Adaptability,    39-41 

-09,   1915-16,  1920 

Man,  2049,  2073 

Spirits,  3182 

Aggregate,  119 

-21,  1925 

Mound-builders,  2272 

Temperance,  3370 

Arrest,  231 

Limitation,  1961 

Soil,  3137-40 

Visions,  3657 

Ascent,  240 

Loss,  1991-92 

Soils,  3139-40 

Will,  3734 

Bird,  367-72 

Man,    2019-21,    2023, 

AID, 

(See  also  DRUNKARD; 

Competitors,  564 

2038,2040-41,2043, 

Service,  3086 

INTEMPERANCE; 

Diving-bell,   886 

2045,    2048,    2050, 

(See   also  COOPERA- 

INTOXICATION; 

Embryo,  1000 

2052,2062-63,2072, 

TION;  HELP.) 

MANIA;    STIMU- 

Initiative,  1679 

2076 

AIR,  127-130 

LANTS.) 

Likeness,  1953 

Markings,    2087-88 

Aeronaut,  96 

ALPHABET,  148 

Mind,      2194,      2197, 

Mammalia,    2013-15 

Atmosphere,    266-69 

(See  also  LANGUAGE; 

2201-02. 

Mechanics,  2133 

272,    274-76 

LETTERS  ;  WRITING.  ) 

Movement,  2284 

Migration,  2173-74 

Bacteria,  304-5 

ALPS, 

Sensation,  3060 

Missiles,  2226 

Bees,  342 

Cause,  435 

Telegraph,    3364 

Modification,  2230 

Clearness,  518 

Changes,  470,  475 

ANIMALS,  163-81 

Morality,  2244 

Combustion,  555 
Conditions,  581 

(See     also     CLIMBER  ; 
EROSION;     GLA- 

Adaptation, 56-61 
Advance,  80 

Multiplication,    2298 
Music,  2301 

Dangers,  723 

CIERS.) 

Almshouse,  147 

Nature,  2366 

Delusions,  765 

ALTAR,  149 

Amusements,  156 

Navigation,  2393 

Discovery,  857 
Diving-bell,  886 

ALTERNATIONS, 
Climate,  519-20 

Anthropomorphism  , 
186 

Night,  24  17,  2240 
Ocean,  2444-46 

Dogma,  894 
Exactness,  1124 
Expansion,  1132 

(See  also  CHANGE.) 
ALLEVIATION,  143 

(See    also    ADVANCE  ; 

Antiquity,  190,  193 
Armor,  229 
Assimilation,  242 

Organisms,    2471-72 
Originators,     2491 
Patienca,  2526 

Generation,  1343-44 

ANESTHETICS;  Dis- 

Association,  243 

Phosphorescence  ,2585 

Germs,  1371 

E  A  s  E  ;   MEDICINE  ; 

Balance,  308 

Pilots,    2603 

Germ-theory,  1364 
Home,  1502 

PAIN;  PHYSICIAN.) 
ALTITUDE. 

Beginnings,  350 
Belief,  352 

Plasticity,  2624 
Play,  2626,  2628,  2629 

Increase,  1618 

Birds,  368 

Change,  460-63 

Problems,  2739 

Influence,  1662 

Constancy,  618 

Civilization,  505 

Proof,  2761 

Life,  1877,  1902,  1904 

Continents,  627-30 

Climate,  519-22 

Progeny,    2747 

Machine,    2004 

Dangers,  722 

Color,   532,   534,    541 

Recognition,  2836-37 

Missiles,  2223-24 

Dust,  918 

543 

Sacrifice,  2942 

Motion,  2260 
Movement,  2285 
Purification,      2791 

Earth,  932 
Earth-crust,  948-49 
Earthquake,  952 

Compensations,    563 
Contrivance,  643-45 
Cooperation,     657-60 

Sagacity,     2944-46 
Seed-dispersal,  670, 
3039 

Purity,  2792-93 

Exactness,  1117 

Coral,  663 

Selection,  3050 

Putrefaction,  2810 

Home,  1502 

Correlation,  667 

Selfishness,    3057 

Respiration,  2884-85 

See  also    ALPS;    ELE- 

Correspondence, 672 

Sense     of     property, 

Silence,  3105 

VATION  ;      M  o  u  N  - 

Curiosity,  709 

3069 

Solids,  3143 
Wind,  3741-43 

TAINS.) 

ALTRUISM,  150 

Curse,  714 
Dancing,  718 

Separateness,    3083 
Service,  3086 

AIR-CURRENTS, 
Power,  2666 

Individualism,    1628 
Life,  1885,  1889-90 

Danger-signals,    722 
Desert,  780 

Squirrels,  3193 
Stillness,    3229 

Winds,  3743 

Nature,  2389 

Design,  782,  788 

Struggle,    3260.    3266 

AIR,  LIQUID, 

AMATEURS, 

Destruction,  796,  798' 

Struggle  for  life,  3266 

Refrigeration,  2856 

Service,  3084 

Difference,  825 

Suffering,  3290 

AIR,  PURE, 

Protection,  2772 

AMAZEMENT,  151 
AMAZONS, 

Difficulty,  832-33 
Digestion,  836 

Superstition,     3327 
Unity,    3545,3549 

AIR-SHIPS. 

Ants,  203 

Distribution,  882 

Variability,  3600 

Ignorance,  1554 

AMBIGUITY,  152 

Division  of  labor,  890 

Volcanic      ashes     de- 

Am, UPPER, 

A  MBER, 

Domestication,  900 

stroy,  3101 

Winds,  3743 

Magnet,  2007 

Ecstacy,  964 

Warfare,    3689 

ALARM, 

(See    also     ELECTRIC- 

Education, 969 

Weapons,  3720 

Half-truth,  1430 

ITY.) 

Effect  of  fire,  978 

(See  also  ANTS;  BEES; 

ALCHEMISTS, 

AMBITION,  153 

Electricity,  991 

BIRD;     CAT;    DOG; 

Error,  1052 

Aspiratidn 

Extermination,  1163 

etc.,  in  General  In- 

Sun, 3300 

Emulation,  1003 

Extinction,  1165 

dex.) 

(See  also  CHEMISTRY; 

Knowledge,  1801 

Evidence,  1087 

ANIMAL    ORGANS, 

DREAM;  ELEMENTS; 

AMERICA,  154-55 

Eyes,  1174-76 

Correspondence,  672 

UNITY.) 

Discovery,  851 

Fear,  1214-15 

ANOMALIES,  182 

ALCHEMY, 

(See   also     ANIMALS  ; 

Fish,  1246-51 

Memory,    2139 

Delusions,  763 
Flame,  1256 

CLIMATE  ;     MOUND- 
BUILDERS.) 

Food,  1261-67,  1278- 
79 

ANTAGONISMS,  183 
ANTHROPOLOGY, 

Science,  2965 

AMERICANS, 

Force,  1282 

Law,  1848,     1853-55, 

Unity,  3552 
ALLIANCE,  144 

Climate,  523 
AMUSEMENTS,  156 

Forests,  1307 
Forms,  1314 

1862 
Man,  2077-79 

(See  also  AGREEMENT; 

Antics,  188 

Fossils,  1316-19 

Mound-builders,  2271 

COOPERATION  ;  KIN- 

Dancing, 718-19 

Freezing,  1332 

-72 

DRED;  UNION;  UNI- 

Playhouses,   2628 

Help,  1470 

Nature,  2357,  2363 

TY.) 

Visits,  3680 

Helpless,  1471 

Pottery,  2648-52 

ALLOY, 

(See    also     ANTICS; 

Heredity,  1481,  1484, 

Tools,  3443-45 

Change,  459 
ALLUREMENT,  145 

PLAY.) 
ANALOGY,  157-58 

1486 
Hues,  1512 

Vices,  3642 
ANTHROPOMORPHISM, 

ALMIGHTY,   THE,    146 

Adjustment,  76 

Ice,  1536 

184-86 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


871 


ANTHROPOMORPHISM, 

ANTS,  203-10 

ARCHITECTURE, 

ASSOCIATION, 

God,  1385-90 

Appendages,  215 

Antiquity,  190,  199 

Cramming,  680 

Nightmare  of  Philos- 

Architecture, 221 

Ants,  208 

Man,  2078 

ophy,  242 

ANTITOXINS, 

Architects,  220 

Man's  social  self,  2078 

Spirituality,  3183 

Poisons,  2642 

Buildings,   411 

Memory,    2141 

Soul,  3147-50 

ANXIETY, 

Dwellings,  923-24 

Mind,  2201 

ANTICIPATION, 

Night,  2419 

Earthquakes,  958 

Movements,  2288-91 

Belief,  352 

APE,  211,  212 

Buttresses  ,     Natural  , 

Organisms,    2468-69, 

Conflagration,  583 

Brain,  400-02 

412 

2472 

ANTICIPATIONS,  187 

Differences,  826 

Earth-sculpture,  959 

Organs,  2480 

(See   also   EXPECTA- 

Helplessness,    1473 

Mound-builders,  2271 

Partnerships,  2514 

TION;    HOPE;    VIS- 

Kingdom, 1785 

-72 

Place,  2608 

IONS   OF   SCIENCE.) 

Monkey,  2235 

Subsidence,  3281 

Reenforcement,  2850 

ANTICS,  188 

APES, 

Powers,  3447 

Result,  2892 

(See    also   A  M  IT  s  E  - 

Difficulty,  833 

Worms,  3784     . 

Sociability,   3135 

MENTS;  PLAY.) 
ANTIQUITY,  189-201 

Fire,  1232 
Intelligence,  1722 

ARCTIC  REGIONS, 

Animals    163—64 

Society,  3136 
Sorrow,   3145 

Age,  108-12 
Agriculture,    122-23 

Man,  2017,  2019-21 
Myths,  2348 

Coloration,    47,     163, 
521 

Speed,    3179 
Virulence,  3649 

America,  155 
Animals,   175 
Astronomy,     254-55 
257-59 
Ax.  302 
Barbarisms,  309 
Bas-reliefs,  314 
Beginning,     343-51 
Bow,  395 
Change,  463 
Civilization,    498-501 
Constancy,    619-20 
Cooking,  652,654,656 
Debt,  739 
Delusions,  763-64 
Delta,  760 

Origin,  2485,  2490 
Power,  2654 
Sympathy,    3347 
APHASIA, 
Speech,  3174 
Tracts,  3449 
(See  also  BRAIN; 
LANGUAGE;  MIND.) 
APHIDS, 
Ants,  204-05 
APPARATUS, 
Appliances,  216 
Perfection,  2547 
(See  also  APPLIANCES  ; 
INSTRUMENTS;    MI- 
CROSCOPE :      SPEC- 

Extremes, 1173 
Fact,  1181 
Lands,  1810 
Ice,  1529 
Submergence,  3278 
AREA,  225 
Convolutions,  651 
ARGUMENT,  226-27 
Belief,  356 
Distinctions,  880 
Experiment,   1149 
Reasoning,    2831-33 
Theory     3387-3415 
Vision,  3654 
ARISTOCRACY, 

ASSUMPTION,  247-48 
Fetishism,   1227 
(See  also  EVIDENCE.) 
ASSURANCE,  249 
ASTEROIDS,  250 
Maze,  2122 
(See  also  PLANETS.) 
ASTROLOGY, 
Astronomy,  255 
Civilization,  499 
ASTRONOMER, 
Ambition,  153 
Beginning,  345 
Dependence,  773 
Recognition,  2835 

Development,  804-5 

TROSCOPE  ;   T  E  L  E- 

Government,  1393-96 

ASTRONOMERS, 

Eclipses,  963 
Engineering,  1022 

SCOPE,  etc.,  in  Gen- 
eral Index.) 

ARITHMETIC,  228 
Calculation,  413 

Conflict,  587-89 
ASTRONOMY,  251-63 

Enjoyment,  1025 
Experiment,   1148 
Fatherhood,    1211-12 
Fire,  1232.  1242 
Fixity,  1255 

APPEAL,  213 
APPEARANCE,  214 
APPENDAGES,  215 
APPERCEPTION, 

Choice  492 

Counting,  677 
Environment,  1031 
Mathematics,    2108 
ARMIES, 
March,  2083 

Aberration,  1 
Accuracy,  17,  19 
Alliance,  144 
Altar,  149 
Action,  20 

Generation,  1345 

Name,'  2352 

ARMOR,  229 

Agreement,   118 

Geology,  1359 
Home,    1501 

Impression,  1598 
APPTTTTTF 

ARMY, 
Life,  1876 

Antiquity,  191 
Asteroids,  250 

Induction,  1638 

AjrrKi  1  1  1  .CM 

Mind  2191 

ARREST,  230-32 

Beginning,  345,   347- 

Iron,  1766 

Tnsstp     "^fift 

Development,  814 

48 

Knowledge,  1790 

laste,  ooou 
APPLIANCES,  216 

Education.  968 

Calmness,  416 

Lamps,  1807 

Arrest,  232 

ARROW-HEADS, 

Christianity,  495 

Light,  1931 
Lighting,   1950 
Locomotion,  1981 

(See  also  APPARATUS.) 
APPLICATION,  217 
DiscovBrv   849 

Bow,  395 
ART,  233 
Beauty,  338 

Civilization,  499 
Combination,  552 
Comets,  556 

Magnet,  2007-8 
Man,  2024-25,  2043- 
44.  2058-66 

Science,  2970 
(See  also  UTILITY.) 
APPRECIATION. 

Beginnings,  350 
Crystals,  708 
Destruction,    796 

Communion,  558 
Comparison,    560 
Concurrence,  579 

Measures,  2129-30 

Result,  2894 

Emotion,  1001 

Contempt,  626 

Meteorites,  2161 

APPROVAL, 

Feelings,    1219 

Corona,  664-65 

Mines,  2215 
Museums,  2300 
Mythology,  2342-43 
Myths,  2345 
Navigation  ,  2392  ,  2394 
Needle,      Magnetic, 
2400-01 
Neighbor,  2405 

Condemnation,  581 
APPROXIMATIONS,  218 
ARABS,  219 
Chemistry,  485 
Debt,  738 
Founders,  1320 
Science,  2965,  2977 

Gems,  1342 
Perception,  2541 
Sculpture,   3021-22 
ART  AND  LABOR, 
Union,  3522 
ARTIFICIALITY,  234 
ARTIST,  236-38 
Beauty,  327-28 

Cosmogony,    673-74 
Darkness,  726 
Development,  810-11, 
813 
Differences,  827 
Discovery,  850-51, 
853,  858-59 
Distance,  874-78 

Origin,  2481 
Potter's  Wheel,  2647, 
2650 

ARCH, 

Antiquity,  199 
Discovery  repudiated  , 

OPT  A 

Embryo,  1000 
Germ,  1365 
Painting,  2499 

Environment,  1031 
Epochs,   1043-44 
Errors,      1059-61, 

Pottery,  2648-52 

3574 

ARTS,  239 

1063-66,  1078 

Progress,  2753 

ARCHEOLOGY, 

Binding,  365 

Exactness,  1,  13 

Reverence,    2910 

Antiquity,  195 

Civilization,  504,  508 

Experiment,  1145 

Sculpture,  3022 

Architecture,  222 

Development,  804 

Future,  1336 

Stability,  3194 

Civilization,    498-501 

Similarity,  3108 

Genius,  1346 

Stone-cutting,    3235 

Industry,  1643 

Textiles,    3383 

Geology,    1356 

Theology,  3385 

Intelligence,  1717 

Tools,  3443-45 

Gravitation,  1399, 

Textiles,  3383 

Man,  2024-25,  2043- 

ARTISAN,  235 

1401-03 

Time.  2429-39 
Transformation,  3460, 
3462 

44,  2058-66 
Monuments,  2238 
Mound-builders,  2271 

ASCENT,  240 
Progress,  2748-60 
ASCETICISM, 

Harmonv,  1437,  1441 
Heredity,  1482 
Inperfection,  1589-90 

Universe,  3562 

-75 

Heroism,    1495 

Intolerance,  1743 

Wheel,  3726 

Mysteries,  2305 

(See  also  ABSTINENCE  ; 

Knowledge,  1790-1801 

Work,     3765 

Net,  2412 

TEMPERANCE.) 

Law,   1841,   1850-51- 

ANTISEPTICS, 

Pentateuch,  2535 

ASHES, 

52 

Germ  -theory,  1364 
Germicides,  3341 

Progress,   2753 
Relics,  2861 

Winds,  3743 
ASPIRATION,  241 

Light,  1931,  1941-42, 
1946 

(See    also    BACTERIA; 

Tools,     3443-45 

Ambition,  153 

Limit,  1956 

CLEANLINESS  ;  GEN- 

(See also  ANTHROPOL- 

Beauty, 321 

Limits,  1968-73,  1976 

ERATION,     SPONTA- 

OGY;     MAN.      PRIM- 

Cause, 438 

Mathematics,  2107-9, 

NEOUS;     DISINFEC- 

EVAL;    MAN,     PRIM- 

ASSIMILATION, 242 

2110,  2112,  2114 

TION;  GERMS;   PU- 

ITIVE.) 

ASSOCIATION,  243-46 

Measurements,  2128 

TREFACTION;     SUR- 
GERY.) 

ARCHITECTS,  220 
ARCHITECTURE,  221-24 

Combination,  554 
Cooperation,    657-60 

Meteorites,    2160-63 
Moon,  2239-40 

872 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ASTRONOMY, 

ATOMS, 

AUTOMATISM, 

BACTERIOLOGY, 

Motion,    2254-55, 

Particles,  2510-12 

Sense,  3065 

Exactness,  11  14,  1116. 

2262,2264-65,2268 

Size,  3115 

Volition,    3675 

Disinfection,  865 

Movement,    2283 
Myriads,    2304 

Theory,  3398 
ATROPHY,   281-82 

AVALANCHE,  298-99 
Disintegration,  865 

Infection,  1652 
Science,  2994 

Nature,  2369,  2381 
Navigation,     2394 

Degeneracy,    752 
Degeneration,   754-55 

AVOIDANCE, 

Superstition,  3326 

BALANCE,  307-08 
Adjustment,  71 

Patience,   2523-25, 

Limbs,   1954 

AWAKENING,   300-01 

Rest,  2890 

2527 

Loss,  1991-94 

Power,  2671 

BAMBOO, 

Perseverance,      2566, 

Organs,    2477-80 

AWE, 

Provision,  2780 

2568 

Parasitism,    2506-07 

Eclipse,   962 

BANDS, 

Planets,  2613-14 
Photography,     2591- 

Penalty,  2531 
Powers,  2696 

AX,  302 

Spectrum,   3169-70 
BARBARIANS, 

92,  2594-95 

ATTENTION,    283-86 

Affection,  97-98 

Physics,   2598 

Attenuation,  287 

BABYLONIANS, 

Beginnings,  350 

Precession  ,   2702 

Awakening,     300-07 

Records,  2846 

Belief,    353-54 

Precision,    2706-07 

Custom,  602,  1190 

BACTERIA,  303-06 

Civilization,     503-04, 

Presence,  2716 

Distraction,  881 

Air,  130 

506 

Progress,  2758 

Education,  969 

Antagonisms,  183 

Constancy,  620 

Race,  2817 

Expectation  ,307,  2671 

Antitoxins,  202 

Dancing,  719 

Records,    2846 

Genius,  1353 

Benefits,  359 

Education,  968 

Results,  2900 

Interest,  1735 

Bread,  405 

Irrigation,  1768 

Revolution,  2915 

Limit,  1960 

Carelessness,  422 

Myths,  2350 

Scaffolding,  2959 

Memory,    2140 

Causes.  439 

Senses,  3074-77 

Science,    2967,    2969, 

Mind,  2185-2212 

Classification,  513 

BARBARIAN, 

2972-73,  2999 
Spectroscope,   3168 

Mobility,  2229 
Perception,  2538 

Cleanliness,  515-17 
Cookery,  655 

Writing,  3790 
BARBARISM,  310 

Spectrum,   3169-70 

Power,  2671 

Cooking,  655 

Antiquity,  189 

Speculation,  3171 

Sensations.    3062 

Constancy,  616 

Blood,  avenger  of,  381 

Splendor,  3184 

Sense,  3065 

Contagion,  622 

Civilization,  499,  500 

Stars,   3196,   3212, 

Specialization,    3162 

Decomposition  ,    747- 

Cruelty,  705 

3214-3223 

(See  also   CONSCIOUS- 

48 

Intelligence,  1716 

Sun,  3295-3308,  3310- 

NESS;  MBMORY; 

Dependence,  774 

Transition,    3468 

11,  3314-15 

MIND.) 

Destruction,    792 

BARK, 

Sun-spots,  3187-88 

ATTRACTION,  288 

Discoverer,  841 

Clothing,  524 

Tasks,    3357 

Amazement,   151 

Disease,  863 

BARRENNESS,  312 

Terror,  3379-80 

Birds,  368 

Disinfection,  865 

Beauty,   323 

Theories,  3387,  3392, 

Curiosity,  709-10 

Dust,    917 

Fertility,    1226 

3393,  3395 

Ends,  1006 

Errors,  1067 

Volcano,  3670 

Theory,  3395,  3400 

Fascination,    1207-08 

Environment,  1040 

BASKETRY,  313 

3402-04,  3412 

Force,  1281,  1283-84, 

Evil,  1091 

BASKETWORK, 

Time,  3436 

1286,  1288,  1291 

Exactness,  1114 

Pottery,  2648 

Unanimity,  3507-08 

Forces,     1303 

Fermentation,  1221 

BAS-RELIEFS,  314 

Unity,    3527 

Gravitation,        1399- 

Ferments,  1222 

BATTLE, 

Variety,  3611-16 

1404 

Fertility,   1224 

Omen,  2451 

Visitors,  3659 

Influence,  1664 

Freezing,  1331 

BEAUTY,  316-40 

Waste,  3694-95 

Magnet,  2007-09 

Germs,  1367-72 

Artist,  238 

Wonders,  3761-62 

Power,  2684 

Health,  1446 

Color,  537,  539-40 

(See  also  MOON; 

Riddle,    2920 

Infection,  1652 

Contrivance,  646 

PLANETS;  SPECTRO- 

AURORA,  289 

Injury,  1680 

Crimson,  699 

SCOPE;  STARS;  SUN; 

Conflagration,     586 

Life,    1877,    1882-83, 

Dust,    914 

TELESCOPE,    etc., 

Mariners,  2086 

1887,    1893,    1904, 

Eclipse,   961 

in  General    Index.) 

Phenomena,  2581 

1914 

Enjoyment,  1025 

ATHEISM,  264 

Proportion,  2766 

Light,  1941 

Forces,  1300 

Darwinism,  730 

Spectroscope,   3168 

Loss,  1988 

Fragment,  1322 

Evolution,  1104 

Superstition,  3320 

Microbes,  2168 

Home,  1501 

Denial,  768 
Devices,  817 

Variety,  3621 
AUTHORITY,  290-92 

Microscope,  2172 
Milk,  2177 

Ice,  1532 
Icebergs,   1537-38 

Humanity,  1514 

Bible,  363 

Movements,    2296-97 

Mathematics,    2107 

Order,  2464 

Bigotry,  364 

Mystery,    2338 

Nature,  2361,2375 

ATHEIST,  265 

Convergence,  650 

Nitrogen,  2426 

Painting,  2499 

Purpose,    2807 
ATMOSPHERE,   266-76 
Aeronaut,  96 

Dogma,  894-96 
Opinions,     2456 
AUTOGRAPH, 

Organism,  2466 
Organisms,    2468-70 
Partnerships,    2514 

Playhouses,  2628 
Purpose,  2796 
Sense.  3066 

Dew,  819 
Earth,  928 

Sunshine,  3313 
AUTOMATISM,  293-97 

Phosphorescence  ,  2585 
Place,  2606 

Soul,  3276 
Sunset,    3310 

Heat,  1461 

Acts,  38 

Poisons,  2642 

Stars,  3212,  3216-17 

Imperfection,  1590 

Alcohol,  132 

Power,  2663,  2669 

Struggle,  3258 

Life,  1877 

Animals,  173 

Purity,  2792-94 

Textiles,    3383 

Purification,  2791 

Body,  390 

Putrefaction,    2810 

Transformation,  3464 

Scintillation,   3220- 

Brain,  399 

Reenforcement,    2850 

Utility,  3575,  3580 

21,  3500,  3606 

Bubble,   410 

Reproduction,    2878- 

Wealth,  3718 

Sun,  3308 

Deliberation,    756 

79 

World,  3775,  3779-80 

Uncertainty,  3509 

Initiative,   1679 

Results,  2899 

BEAVER, 

Variation,  3606 

Errors,  1076 

Science,  3009 

Adaptation,  63 

Wind,    3741-43 

Instinct,  1695,  1697- 

Security,  3031-32 

BEAVER  DAM, 

World.  3778 

98,   1701-02,   1705, 

Size,  3115 

Antiquity,  190 

Star-colors,   3200-01 

1708 

Soils,    3139-40 

Design,  788 

(See  also  AIR.) 

Imperiousness,   1593 

Species,  3164 

BEE, 

ATOMS,  278-80 

Language,  1820 

Suspense,  3341 

Contrivance,  643 

Blue  of  sky,  384 

Life?  1907 

Struggle,    3260 

BEE-LINE, 

Chance,   454 

Limitation,  1962 

Tea,   3361 

Direction,  837 

Conception,  578 

Man,  2055-56 

Tenacity  of  life,  3374 

BEGINNER, 

Consciousness  ,598  ,609 
Current,  711 

Memory,    2150 
Mind,  2195 

Tests,  3382 
Time,  3430 

Limitation,   1962 
BEGINNING,  343-51 

Failure,  1191 

Movement,    2284 

Utility,  3584 

Age,   108-12 

Heat,  1451 

Movements,    2288-91 

Value,  3598 

Agriculture,  122-23 

Indestructibility,  1623 

Parsimony,  2508 

Virulence,  3649 

Antiquity,  189-201 

Life,  1873 

Personality,  2574 

Visions,  3658 

Astronomy,  259 

Limits,  1970 

Power,  2673,  2675 

BACILLUS, 

Beam  of  Light,  315 

Matter.  2115-17 

Problem,  2736 

Vitality,  3661 

Birth,  373-74 

Molecules,  2233-34 

Practise,  2699 

BACTERIOLOGY, 

Cause,  431 

Motion,  2256 

Seeing,  3042 

Antitoxins,  202 

Civilization,    499-501 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


873 


BEGINNING, 

BIRDS,  367-72 

BLIND,  THE, 

BRAIN, 

Creation,   681-93 

Adaptability,    40 

Teaching,  3363 

Deliberation,  756 

Creator,  694 

Adaptation,  46,  48 

(See  also  LIGHT; 

Helplessness,  1472-74 

Dawn,  732 

Adaptiveness,  70 

SIGHT;  VISION.) 

Hemispheres,  1476 

Development,       802- 

Adjustment,  74 

BLINDNESS,  376 

Initiative,  1679 

814 

Amusements,  156 

Artist,  236 

Intellect,  1710 

Evolution,  1094-1111 

Animals,  178 

Compensations,    563 

Life,  1925 

Experience,  1143 

Antics,  188 

Instincts,  1708 

Man,   Primeval,  2060 

Future,  1336 

Basket-making,  313 

Moon,  2240 

Materialism,  2096, 

Generation,  1343-45 

Beauty,  325-26,  334 

Penalty,  2531 

2098-99,  2103 

Geology,    1360 
Hypothesis,     1525-27 

Brilliancy,  407-8 
Care,  423 

Phosphorescence  ,  2587 
Powers,  2696 

Mind,  2185-2212 
Movements,  294 

Initiative,  1679 

Cause,  434 

Sight,  3102 

Mystery,     2313-15, 

Invention,  1755 

Costume,  676 

(See       also       COLOR- 

2324 

Knowledge,  1798 

Crows,  702 

BLINDNESS.) 

Obliteration,  2437 

Life,    1870-71,    1872, 

Cry,  706 

BLOOD,  378-81 

Power,  2654 

1902 

Dancing,  718 

Changes,  477 

Resolves,  2883 

Morality,  2244 

Difference,  820 

Dogma,  894 

Sleep,  3128-29 

Origin,  2481-90 

Earth,  942 

Forms,  1315 

Specialization,    1362 

Success,  3288 

Effects  of  fire,  978 

Germ-destroyer,  1363 

Tracts,  3449 

(See  also  ORIGIN.)/ 

Equipment,  1047 

Life,  1884,  1890 

BRAIN-ACTION, 

BELIEF,    352-58 

Eruption,  1079 

Materialism,  2098 

Phosphorus,    2590 

Argument,  226 
Doubt,  904-05 
Evidence,  1086,  1090 

Fascination,    1208 
Fear,  1214 
Fish,  1246 

BLOOD-BROTHERHOOD 
377 
BLOOM,  382 

BRAIN-CONVOLUTIONS, 
Phrenology,  2596 
BREAD,  405 

Faith,  1195-97 
Incredulity,  1621 

Flight,  1258 
Food,  1261,  1265 

BLOSSOMS,  383 
BLUE,  384 

Alcohol,  136 
Food   1271 

Knowledge,  1791 
Verification,  3640 

Gravitation,  1402 
Growth,  1413 

BLUNDER,  385 
Artist    237 

BREATH,' 

ATI-     1  0Q 

BELIEFS, 
Progress,   2759 
BENEFICENCE, 

Habit,  1420 
Home,  1502 
Homes,  1503 

(See     also    ERROR; 
ERRORS.) 
BOATS, 

Air,  i^y 
Change,  472 
BREATHING, 

Earthquakes,  957 

Humming-birds,  1517 

Nature,  2379 

Increase,  1618 
Machine  2004 

Emblem,  999 

-18 

BODIES,  386 

RRFFDTNfr 

Good,  1392 

Implements,  1596 

BODY,  387-92 

DJLAAJ^mwf 

Cau<*e  434 

Ingratitude,  1674 
Power,  2693 

Imposture,  1597 
Impulse,  1604 

Adjustment,  72 
Arrest,  230 

BREVITY,' 

Att6ntion    2S3 

Storms,  3242 

Increase,  1620 

Brain,  404 

RTJTCTCS 

BENEFIT, 

Inheritance,  1677 

Cells,  447 

JDlVll'JxDy 

Advantage,  91-95 
Utilitarianism,    3572 
Utility,  3573-87 
BENEFITS,  359-62 
Earthquakes,  957 
BENEVOLENCE, 
Enjoyment,  1024 
Help,    1470 
BIBLE,  363 
(See  also  CHRISTIANI- 

Intelligence,    1720-21 
Interest,  1737 
Journey,  1778 
Lands,  1810 
Life,  1896,1920,  1924- 
25 
Loss,  1992 
Markings,  2087 
Melody,  2135 
Migration,  2174 

Civilization,  509 
Compulsion,  573 
Consciousness,    608 
Coordination,  661 
Crucifying,  703 
Development,  814 
Earth,  933 
Endurance,  1007 
Feelings,    1219 
Food,  1262-64,  1273- 

-Architect  ur6  ,  222 
BRIGHTNESS,  406 
BRILLIANCY,  407-08 
BRONZE, 
Antiquity,  189 
Civilization,  501 
Metal,  2152 
Pentateuch,  2535 
BRONZE  AGE, 
Caution,  440 

Dpht     7*}Q 

i  T  Y  ;    CHRISTIANS  ; 
COSMOGNY;     CREA- 
TION; SCRIPTURE.) 
BIGOTRY,  364 

Mimicry,  2179 
Monotony,  2236 
Movement,  2285 
Multitude,  2299 

76,   1278-79 
Force,  1293-94 
Habit,  1418,  1428 
Heat,  1458-60 

A-JCDi,  *oy 
Permanence,  2563 
Transition,    3468 
BROTHERHOOD,  409 

Authority,  290 

Mystery,  2319 

Machine,  2004-05 

Conquest,  592 

Bible.  363 

Night,  2422 

Man,  2020,2038,2041, 

Neighbor,  2405 

Intolerance,    1740-44 

Ostrich,  2492 

2044,    2047,    2051, 

(See  also  AID;  HELP; 

BINDING,    365 
BIOGENESIS, 
Air,  130 

Passing,  2516 
Playhouses,  2628 
Peculiarities,  2520 

2059-60,  2072,2076 
Mastery,  2093 
Materialism,  2094 

FRIENDS;     FRIEND- 
SHIP ;  HUMANITY; 
KINDRED  ;     SYMPA- 

Generation,    1343-45 

Prevision,  2725,  2726 

Measures,  2129-30 

THY. 

Life,   1902 

Protection,  2779 

Memory    2138 

BRUTE, 

World,    3773 
BIOLOGY,    366 

Purpose,  2800,  2804 
Range,  2823 

Mind,  2207,  2185-87, 
2192      2195,    2201, 

Gulf,  1415 
Savage,  2952,  2954 

Convergence,  650 
Dependence,  774 
Difficulty,   835 

Recognition,  2836 
Respiration,  2884 
Scavengers,  2962 

2207 
Soul,  3150 
Volition   3676 

BRUTES, 
Cooperation,  657 
Education,  968-69 

Emotion,  1001 

Seed-dispersal,    3035, 

BODY  AND  MIND, 

Effect  of  fire,  978 

Knowledge,  1792 

3039 

Union,  3519 

Egoism,  982 

Life,  1870-71,    1873- 

Singing,  3113 

Unity    3526 

Force,  1282 

77,  1882-84,  1889- 

Speed,  3177 

BONDAGE,  394 

Helpless,  1471 

90,  1893-1904,1906- 

Transition,  3467 

BONES, 

Relics,  2861 

09,  1912-23 

Terror,  3378 

Relics,  2861 

BUBBLE,  410 

Limits,     1965 

Timidity,  3441 

BOTANY. 

BUILDERS, 

Nature,    2359,    2361, 

Tropics,  3492 

Convergence,  650 

Architects,  220 

2366,     2372,    2376, 

Union,  3521 

Imagination,  1576 

Worms,  3784 

2378-79,2385,2389 

Unity,  3541 

Law,  1842 

BUILDING, 

Parasite,  2504-05 

Usefulness,  3570 

Man    2035 

Food,  1262 

Parasitism,    2506-07 

Visits,  3660 

Nature,  2379 

Geometry,  1361 

Patience,  2522 

(See   also   COLOR; 

Plants,  2616-23 

Lifting,  1926 

Plan,  2612 

LIGHT  ;  LIGHT- 

Systems, 3353 

Organization,  2473 

Preciousness,    2704 
Study,    3270 

HOUSE;  SINGING.) 
BIRDS'    NESTS, 

Theory,  3410 
BOULDERS, 

Powers,  2695 
Slavery,  3126 

BIRD, 

Change,  464 

Spun-glass,  3192 
BIRD-STRUCTURE, 

Wanderers,  3685 
BOW,  395 

BUILDINGS,  411 
Architecture,  222 

Design,  785 

Adaptation,  67 

BRAIN,  396-404 

Life,  1888 

Development,  809 

BIRDS'  WINGS,  372 

Association,  244 

Mound-builders,  2271- 

Egg,  981 
Environment,      1029, 

(See    also  FLIGHT  ; 
WINGS.) 

Blood,  380 
Changes,  477 

72 
Peril,  2557 

1033-34 
Notes,    2427 
Omen,  2452 
Omission,  2453 
Perfection,  2550 

BIRTH,  373 

Creation,  688 
BLACKNESS,  375 
Discovery,  857 

Complexity,  566 
Consciousness,  598 
Convolutions,  651 
Crime,  697 
Death,  737 

Stone,  3234 
Stone-cutting,  3235 
Subsidence,  3281 
BURDENS, 
Surrender,  3336 

874 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


BURIAL, 

CAUSE, 

CHANGE, 

CHASMS, 

Belief,  353-54 
Forests,  1307-09 
Plants,  2619 
BUTTERFLY, 
Protection,  2770 

(See    also    BACTERIA; 
CREATION;      CREA- 
TOR;   DEITY;  DIVI- 
SION ;  GENERATION  ; 
GOD;  MIND;  PLAN; 

Environment,  1029-42 
Evolution,  1094-1111 
Experiment  ,   1  1  44 
Fixity,  1253 
Freedom    1326 

Earthquake,  954 
CHEAPENING,  483 
CHECKS,  484 
(See    also     ENEMIES; 
ENVIRONMENT; 

BUTTRESSES,  412 
Architecture,  223 

PURPOSE  ;  RESULT.) 
CAUSES, 

Growth,  '1406-13 
Habit,  1419,  1426 

G  RO  WTH  ;         I  N- 

CREASE;   SEEDS; 

Contempt,  626 

Home'  1502 

STRUGGLE     FOR 

CALCULATION,  413-14 

Delusions,   765 
Genius,  1352 

Interchange,   1733-34 
Language,  1828 

LIFE.) 
CHEMISTRY,  485-86 

Arithmetic,  228 
Patience,  2522 

Man,  2034 
Properties,    2764 

Law,  1838,  1842,  1845 
-49    1856    1861 

Accomplishment,  13 
Adjustment,  72 

Vision,  3654 
CALENDAR, 
Antiquity,  191 

Results,  2897 
CAUSES,  SECOND, 
Creation,  681-85,  688 

"Leap's,"  1865 
Life,  1878,  1880,  1899, 
1908 

Affinity,  100 
Agriculture.  120 
Alchemists,      1052, 

Moon,  2239 

Difficulties,  828 

Man  2029  2033   2035 

3015,  3052 

CALM,  415 
Nature,  2362 

God,  1388 
Intervention,  1739 

-37,2041-42,2047- 
49  2052  2057  2068 

Alchemy,  763,  2759 
Atoms,  279-80 

Science,  416 

Miracle,  2218 

2071 

Combustion,  555 

(See    also   CONFLICT; 

CAUTION,  440 

\Tat-froT-     O1  OH 

Conservation,  612 

STRUGGLE   FOR 
LIFE;  TUMULT  ; 

CAVE-DWELLERS, 
Art,  233 

iviatLcr,  &\.£\j 
Modification,  2230-32 
Motion    2266 

Correlation,  668 
Delusion,  763 

WARFARE.) 
CAMEL,  417 

Relics,  2862 
CAVE-FISH, 

Mountains,     2273-75, 
2278-79,  2280 

Development,  813 
Elements,  993-95 

Man,  2062 
CANDOR,  418 

Atrophy,  281 
Penalty,  2531 

Permanence,  2560-63 
Plasticity    2624 

Energy,  1018 
Error,  1052 

Change,  468 

Powers,  2696 

Precession    2702 

Errors,  1067,  1071-72 

Evidence,  1080 
CANNIBALISM,  419 
Vices,  3642 

(See  also  EYES.) 
CAVE-MEN,  441 
Caves,  443 

Sensibility',  3079 
Stars,  3215,  3222 
Revolution,    2915 

Exportation,  1157 
Flavors,  1257 
Food,  1262-64,  1273- 

CANNON, 

Fire,  1232 

Rivers  2924-25,  2930 

79 

Recoil,  2840 
CAPACITY,    420 

Fossils,  1317 
CAVERNS,  442 

Theories,     3387-88, 
3391-94 

Force,  1284 
Heat,  1452,  1455 

Education,  968 
Power,  2676-77 

Beauty,  335 
Earth-crust,  950 

Theory,  3395,  3401 
Transformation,  3459- 

Increase.  1614 
Indestructibility,  1624 

Soul    3149 

Lava,  1836 

66 

Indigo,  1626 

CAPITAL,  421 
Waste,  3692 
CAPTURE, 
Condor  Palis  trap 
Insects,  1685 
CARBONIC  ACID, 
Atmosphere,  212 
Blood,  378 
Purification,  2791 
CARE,  423-24 
Protection,  2772 
CARELESSNESS,  422 
CASTS,  425 
CATAPULT-FRUITS, 
Seed-dispersal,    3036 
CATARACT, 

Mountains,  2278 
Terror,  3376 
Theories.  3394 
CAVES,  442-43 
CAYENNE, 
Poison,  2640 
CEDARS,  444 
CELL, 
Development,  803 
Germ,  1362-72 
Sex,  3093 
CELLS,  445-47 
Aggregate,  119 
Complexity,  568 
Homogenousness  , 
1504 
Life,  1906 

Variability,  3600-02 
Variation,    3603-07 
Variety,  3611-24 
CHANGES, 
Earth,  929,934.950 
Earthquake,   952-58 
Earth-crust,  948-50 
Forgetfulness,     1310 
Principles,  2731 
Water,  3705 
CHARACTER,  481-82 
Choice,  492 
Conscience,  597 
Difference,  822 
Doing,  899 
Happiness,  1435 

Kitchen,  1786 
Law,   1837,   1844-45 
Life.  1913 
Limits,  1963 
Machine,  2004 
Materialism,  2098 
Mixture,  2228 
Motion,  2263 
Mystery,  2312 
Steel,  3227 
Sugar,  3291 
Sun,  3302,  3305 
Synthesis,  3351 
Theory,  3399 
Union,  3518,  3520 
Unity,  3557 
Visitors,  3659 

Heat,  1454 
CATASTROPHE, 
Geolcgy,  1558 
Indifference,  1625 
CATASTROPHES, 

Limits,  1965 
Unity,  3544 
CENTERS, 
Nerves,  2407 
CENTERS  OF  CREATION, 

Invigoration,  1764 
Man,  2039 
Matter,  2119 
Persistence,  2569 
Psychology,  2783 

Vital  products,  3351 
CHILD,  487-89 
Animals,  181 
Domesticity,  901 
Endowment,  1004 

Earth,  929 
CATASTROPHISM, 

Unity,  3549 
CERTAINTY,  448-50 

Self,  3055 
Sentiment,  3082 

Failure,  1189 
Infirmity,  1661 

Geology,  1358 

Dread,  906 

Struggle,  3264 

Love,  1997 

Errors,  1075 

Doubt,  905 

Theory,  3408 

Scientist,  3018 

Evolution,  1105 

CHALK,  45, 

Youth,  3797 

Wilfulness.  3730 

CATTLE, 
Increase,  1616 
CASUALITY,  426 
CAUSATION,  427 

Land,  1809 
Micro-organisms,  2169 
CHALK-CLIFFS, 
Architects    220 

CHARACTERISTICS, 
Climate,  521 
CHARACTERS,  AC- 

(See also  CHILDHOOD; 
CHILDREN.) 
CHILDHOOD, 
Effect    980 

Distinction,  879 
Environment,  1034 
Force,  1296 

Evidence,  1089 
Time,  3432-33 
CHAMELEON, 

QUIRED, 

Heredity,  1484-91 
CHARCOAL, 

Evolution,  1095 
Facts,  1186 
Family.  1200-03 

CAUSE,  428-39 

Change,  461 

Atoms,  277 

Impressions,  1600 

Action,  28 
Anomalies,  182 
Beginning,  343-44 

CHANCE,  452-54 
Accident,   5-12,   789, 
846,  2462 

CHARITY, 

Personality,  2576 
CHARM, 

Impulses,  1606 
Language,  1831 
Mobility,  2229 

Chance,  452 

Survival,  3337 

Discovery,  859 

Nature,  2368 

Cosmogony,  674 
Effect,   973-80 

Continuity,  631 
Equilibrium,  1046 

CHASM, 
Man  and  ape,  1472 

(See  also  CHILDREN.) 
CHILDHOOD,    SECOND, 

Erosion,  1049 

Gambling,  1339 

Man  and  brute,    1415 

Reversion,   2913 

Experience,  1143 

CHANGE,  455-80 

Organic       and      inor- 

CHILD-LABOR, 

Formation,  1312 

Avalanche,  298-99 

ganic,  1416 

Labor,  1803 

Gravitation,   1399- 

Climate,  519-21 

Thought  and  Motion, 

CHILDREN, 

1400 

Composition,  569 

3421 

Alcohol,    135 

Infancy.  1650 

Continents,   627-29 

(See   also   ABIOGENE- 

Cheapening,  483 

Law.  1837,1844.1857, 

Cycle,  716 

sis;    APE;    BEGIN- 

Education,   967,  969, 

1859 

Destruction.    792-801 

NING;  BIOGENESIS; 

972. 

Mind,  2188 

Difference,  820-27 

CONSCIOUS  NESS  ; 

Impersonation,  1594 

Mystery,  2309 

Education,  967-72 

CREATION  ;  GULF; 

Labor,  1803 

Organiiation,    2475 

Effect,  973-77,  979 

LEAPS  IN  NATURE; 

Mind,  2202 

Origin,  2488-89 

Electricity,  986,  987 

LIFE;  MAN;   MIND; 

"Mischief,"  2220 

Purpose,  2795-2808 

Embryo,  1000 

MISSING  LINK.) 

Nature.  2376 

Selection.  3049 
Survival,  3337 

Energy,      1015-17, 
1020-21 

CHASMS, 
Earth,  938 

Perplexities,  2564 
Play.  2626-27.  2629 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


875 


CHILDREN, 

CLIMATE, 

COLOR, 

COMET, 

Psychology  ,  2784 

Destruction   795-800 

Singing,  3113 

Unity,  3558 

Wilfulness,  3730 

Difficulty,  830 

Sky,  3123-25 

COMETS,  556 

(See  also  CHILDHOOD.) 

Environment,  1030 

Varietv,  3618-19 

Errors,  1061 

CHILD-SPIRIT, 

Extremes,    1171-73 

Water  ^  3708,  3713 

Expectation,  1135 

Nature,  2373 

Fauna,  1213 

(See     also       LIGHT; 

Law,  1841,  1851 

CHOICE,  490-92 

Fossils,  1318 

MIMICRY;     PRISM; 

Marvelous,    2091 

Consciousness,  491 

Gulf  Stream,  1417 

SPECTRUM;  WAVES.) 

Mystery,  2336-37 

Deliberation,  756 

Labor,  1802 

COLORATION,  541 

Power,  2658 

Intention,    2795-2808 

Mammalia,  2013 

Equipment,  1047 

Secret,    3029-30 

Sacrifice,  2941. 
3043 

Mildness,  2176 
Science,  2979 

Purpose,  2800 
COLOR-BLINDNESS,  542 

Variety,    3624 
Wonders,  3761 

Volition,  3674-75 

Severity,  3088 

Infirmity,  1660-61 

COMMERCE, 

Will,  3731-40 

Submergence,  3278-79 

Vision,  3653 

Civilization,  502 

CHRISTIANITY,    493-95 

(See    also    COLD  ; 

COLORING, 

Debt,  739 

Agnosticism,  113-16 
Cosmogony,  673 

HEAT;  TEMPERA- 
TURE; TROPICS 

Utility,  3586 
COLOR-  PHOTOGRAPHY, 

Exportation,  1157 
Navigation,  2392 

Definitions,  749 

CLOTH, 

Science,  3001 

Multiplication,  2298 

Evolution,  1102 
Law,  493-95 

Antiquity,  200 
CLOTHING,  524 

COLOR,  PROTECTIVE, 

Animals,  Arctic,  163 

Progress,  2749 
COMMON  SENSE, 

Pursuit   of  the  type, 

Animals,  178,  179 

Ostrich,  2492 

Confidence,  582 

2809 

Climate,  521 

COLORS,  543-50 

Evidence,  1088 

Religion,  2863-72 

Costume,  676 

Calculation,  414 

Failure,  1189 

CHRISTIANS, 

Extension,  1158 

Changes,  478 

COMMUNICATION,  557 

Bible,  363 

Man,  2061 

Exactness,  1123 

Combination,  552 

CHROMOSPHERE,  496 

Sewing,  3090 

Icebergs,  1537-38 

Cooperation,  658 

Conflagration,  585 

Skins,  3121 

Illusion,  1562 

Currents,  713 

Eclipse,  961 

CLOUD, 

Impurity,  1680 

Differences,  825 

Sun,  3297 

Color,  525-27,  539-40 

Incandescence,   1610- 

Language,  1812 

CHRONOMETER, 

Electricity,  988 

11 

News,  2413-14 

Compensation,   561 

Fixity,  1253 

Indigo,  1626 

Ocean,  2444 

CHURCH, 

Permanence,  2561 

Life,  1905 

Organs,  2476 

Association  ,  245 

Sky,  3123-24,  3135 

Light,  1933,  1943 

Progress,  2749 

Intolerance,   1743-44. 

CLOUDS,  525-27 

Markings,  2087-88 

Telepathy,  3366 

Science,  2969 

Ice-clouds,  1539 

Mimicry,  2178-84 

Transfer,   3457 

(See    also     BIBLE  ; 

Stars,  3206,  3212 

Nature,  2384 

COMMUNION,  558 

FAITH;    GOD;    RE- 

World, 3775 

Perception,  2537, 

Contemplation,  625 

LIGION.) 

COAL,  528 

2540-41 

Individuality,  1630 

CIRCULATION,  497 

Decay,  741 

Pigments,  2602 

Loneliness.  1985 

Change,  469-71,  475- 

Destruction,   795 

Plates,  2625 

COMMUNITIES, 

78,480,497 

Ferns,  1223 

Problem,  2737 

Concentration,  574 

Earth,  935 

Fossils,  1318 

Recognition,  2836 

Division  of  labor,  891 

CIRCULATION,  SOLAR, 
Purpose,  2805 
CIRCUMSTANCE, 

Geology,  1357 
Increase,  1614 
Nature,  2360 

Sensations,  3064 
Soap-bubble,  3134 
Speed,  3177 

COMMUNITY,  559 
Conscience,  596 
COMPANION, 

Changes,  477 

Power,  2657.  2692 

Star-colors,   3200-01 

Change,  456 

CIVILIZATION,   498-512 

Results,  2897 

Stars,  3212 

COMPARISON,  560 

Advance,  83 

Reserve,  2881 

Tropics,  3492 

Choice,  492 

Agriculture,  122,  126 

Storing.  3239 

Utilization,  3589 

COMPASS, 

Apes,  212 

Transformation,  3461 

World,  3775 

Earth,  927 

Benefits,  360 

CODE  OF  HONOR,  529 

COLUMBUS, 

Faithfulness,  1198 

Change,  473 

COINCIDENCE,  530-31 

Coincidence.  530 

Mariner's,    2084-85 

Conquest,  592 

COLD, 

Delusions,  764 

(See   also    MARINER'S 

Debt,  738 

Air,  Liquid,  128 

COLUMNS, 

COMPASS;    NEEDLE, 

Decline,  746 

Compensation,    561 

Architecture,  224 

MAGNETIC.) 

Development,  804-05 

Contrast,  637 

COMBATIVENESS, 

COMPENSATION,    561-63 

Difficulties,  830 
Family,   1200-03 
Force,  1283 

Darkness,  725-27 
Discovery,  848 
Disintegration,  867-68 

Necessity,  2398 
Opposition,  2460 
COMBINATION,  551-54 

Adjustment,   71-77 
COMPETITION, 
Cheapening,  483 

Imitation,  1582 

Freezing,  1329-32 

Adjustment,  73 

Improvement,  1602 

Longevity,  1987 

Suspense,  3341 

Association,  3649 

Organization,    2474 

Loss,  1990 

Temperature,  3371-73 

Comparison,  560 

Spectacle,  3167 

Man,  2033,  2036-37 

World,  3778 

Conscience,  596 

COMPETITORS,  564 

Outcasts,  2493 

COLLECTION, 

Correspondence,  669- 

COMPLETION, 

Pilots,  2603 

Mania,  2080 

72 

Earth,  941 

Progress,  2754 

COLOR,  532-48 

Differences,  825 

Results,  2895 

Relics,  2860 

Adaptation,  46-48 

Organization,  2473-74 

COMPLEXITY,    565-68 

Savagery,  2955 

Assimilation,  242 

Partnerships,  2514 

Consciousness,    608 

Savages,    2955-56 

Beauty,  317-18, 

Result,  2892 

Contrivance,  646 

Science,  2970 

325-26,330,335,338 

Union,  3518-24 

Power,  2654 

Secrets,  3030 

Bird,    367,    408,   676, 

COMBUSTION,  555 

COMPOSITION      OF 

Seclusion,  3027 

2088,  2800 

Air,  127 

FORCES,  569 

Senses,  3077 

Blackness,  375 

Atmosphere,  274 

(See   also   CONSERVA- 

Similarity, 3108 

Blood,  378 

Atoms,  277 

TION;  CORRELA- 

Survival,  3338-39 

Blue  of  sky,  384 

Errors,  1071-72 

TION.) 

Transition,  3468 

Brilliancy,  407-08 

COMBUSTION, 

COMPREHENSIVENESS, 

Tutelage,  3504 

Change.  461 

Errors,  1072 

570-71 

Writing,  3790 

Cloud,  526-27 

Exactness,  1117 

Narrowness,  2353 

CLASSIFICATION,  513-14 

Contrast,  638 

Increase,  1610 

COMPULSION,  572-73 

Convergence,  650 

Cooperation,  660 

Metals,  2153 

Belief,  357 

Errors,  1058 

Correspondence,  670 

COMBUSTION, 

Freedom,  1324-28 

Method,  2167 

Danger-signals,  722 

Respiration,  2885 

COMPUTATION, 

Phenomena,  2580 

Desert,  780 

Source,  3155 

Arithmetic,  228 

CLEANLINESS,  515-17 

Dust,  914,  916 

Transformation,  3464 

CONCEALMENT, 

Carelessness,  422 

Food,  1261 

Ventilation,  3635 

Animals,    170-71 

Infection.  1652 

Habitat,  1424 

COMET, 

Brilliancy,  407 

Milk,  2177 

Influence,  1671 

Division,  889 

Degeneracy,    752 

Puritv,  515-17,  2793 

Law,  1840 

Eternity,  1082 

Markings,  2088 

CLEARNESS,  518 

Light,  1927-48 

Half-truth,  1430 

Moth,  2249-50 

CLIMATE,  519-23 

Limits,  1969 

Meteors,  2163 

Splendor,  3184 

Adaptation.  49 

Night,  2417 

Omen,  2451 

CONCENTRATION,     574- 

Change.  460 

Red,  2849 

Patience,  2522 

75 

Coal.  528                                     Senses,  3073 

Terror,  3379 

Combination,    551-54 

876 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


CONCENTRATION, 

CONSCIOUSNESS, 

CONTINGENCY, 

CONVERGENCE, 

Excess,  1128 

Intelligence,    1715-30 

Laws,  1854 

Correlation,  668 

Invention,  1754 

Knowledge,  1796 

CONTINUITY, 

Design.  783 

Labor,  1802-03 

Life,  1919 

Astronomy,  251 

CONVERSION, 

Limit,  1960 

Limit,      1956,      1958, 

Chance,  452-54 

Change,  465 

Power,  2672 

1960-62,    1967-73 

Change,  455 

Force,  1281,  1284-88, 

Sun,   3307 

Limits,  1967 

Christianity,  493 

1290,  1297-98,  1305 

CONCEPTION,  576-78 

Man,  2028,  2030,  2041, 

Consciousness,  601-4, 

Heat,   1467-68 

Infinity,  1659 

2046,    2050,    2053, 

607 

CONVOLUTIONS,  651 

Personality,    2572-73 

2055-57,2064,2067 

Continents,  627-30 

Brain,  396-404 

Unity,  3538-39 
CONCEPTIONS, 

-68,  2074-75,  2078 
Materialism,    2094- 

Epochs,   1044 
Host,  1511 

Earth,  929 
Intellect,   1710 

Permanence,  2562 

2104 

Imitation,  1584 

COOKERY,  652-56 

CONCURRENCE,  579 

Memory,  2150 

Law,  1837-62 

Alcohol,  140 

CONDEMNATION,  580 

Mind,  2185,  2209,  2212 

Life,  1923 

Chemistry,  486 

CONDITION, 

Motion,  2256,  2263 

Order,  2462-65 

Conquest,  593 

Adaptation,  53 

Movement,  2281 

Permanence,  2560-63 

Food,  1263-64,  1271, 

CONDITIONS,  581 

Mystery,     2313-15, 

Science,  2895 

1274,    1278-79 

Contrast,  641 

2318,  2324,  2329 

Uniformity,  3511-17 

Intelligence,  1728 

CONDUCT, 

Number    of    Objects, 

CONTINUITY   OF   NA- 

Knowledge, 1789 

Knowledge,  1799 

2428-29 

TURE,  631 

"Pepper-pot,"   2536 

Prediction,  2710 

Origin,  2487 

Adjustment,  76 

Power,  2679 

CONDUCTIVITY, 

Division.  888 

Parsimony,  293,2508 
Phosphorus,  2590 

Glaciers    1381 
Uniformity,  3511-17 

Science,  2982 
Superstition,  3328 

CONDUCTOR, 
Water,  3699 

Psychology,    2782-88 
Record,  2844 

CONTRACTION,  632-633 
Density,  769 

Fire,  1231 
Pottery,  2651-52 

CONFIDENCE,  582 

Science,  2976,  3083 

Earth,  930 

COOLING, 

Dependence,  771 
Moth,  2250 

Seeing,  3042 
Selection,  3043 

Heat,  769 
Radiation,  2820 

Earth,  930,  939-40 
Spots  on  Sun,  3187 

Science,  2985 
Sensations,    3064 
CONFIRMATION, 

Sensation,  3063-64 
Sense,  3065-78 
Sight,  3103 

Sun,  632,  633,  3307 
CONTRADICTION,    634 
Extremes,   1170-73 

COOPERATION,  657-660 
Astronomy,  251 
Bees,  342 

Errors,  1064 
CONFLAGRATION,     583- 
86 

Soul,  3148-50 
Universe,  3566 
Void,  3664 

Law,  1849-1862 
Incompatibility,  1613 
Opposition,  2460 

Combination,    551-54 
Division     of     Labor, 
890-92 

Effect,  976 

CONSERVATION, 

Space,  3159 

Discovery     842  —  44  , 

Star,  New,  3196-97 

Energy,  611-14,  1010- 

CONTRAST,  635-42 

845,  851 

CONFLICT,  587-90 

21 

Change,  455-80 

Language,  1812 

Action,  27 

Equivalence.  1048 

Consciousness,  603 

Life,   1885,    1889-90, 

Agreement,  117 

Force,  1280-1305 

Difference,  820-27 

1906 

Contradiction,  634 

Phenomena,  2579 

Extremes,   1170-73 

March,  2083 

Contrast,  635-642 

Rivers,  2927 

Grandeur,  1398 

Order,  2462-65 

Individuality,     1629- 

Unity  of    Nature, 

Incompatibility,  1613 

Organization,     2473- 

1635 

3546-48 

Man,  2020,  2038 

75 

Necessity,  2389 

CONSISTENCY,  615 

Method,  2166 

Organs,  2480 

Pain,  2496 

Candor,  418 

Mind,  2187 

Seed-dispersal,   3033- 

Pugnacity,  2789 

Chance,  453 

Perception,  2544 

40 

Senses,  3072 

Change,  468 

Power,  2683 

Service,  3086 

Theories,   3388 

Freedom,  1326 

Union,  3521 

Sociability,    3135 

Uniformity,  3515 

Old  and  New,  2450 

Variety,  3611-24 

Society,  3136 

War,  3686-88 

Reason,  2829-30 

World,  3778 

Squirrels,  3193 

Warfare,    3689 

CONSTANCY,   616-20 

CONTRIVANCE, 

Unification,  3510 

CONFUSION, 

Attraction  ,  288 

Adaptation,  49-51,55 

Union,  3518-3524 

Education,  969 
Materialism,  2098 
CONJECTURE, 
Certainty,  448 
Discovery,  848 
Velocity,   3631 
CONNECTION,  591 

Continents,  627-30 
Energy,  1017,  1020 
Fixity,  1253-55 
Habit,  1418-23,  1426 
Law,  1837-62 
Permanence,  2560-63 
Uniformity,     3511-17 

Agency,  103 
Appearance,  214 
Body,  388 
Delicacy,  757 
Design,  783-90 
Development,  802 
Ends,  1006 

COORDINATION,     661 

Cooperation  659-60 
Design,  787 
Dominion,  902-03 
Order,  2462-65 
Organization,     2473- 

7C 

Association,  244 
Combination,    552-54 

CONSTELLATIONS, 
Change,  466 

Ingenuity,  1672-73 
Life,   1889 

7o 

Organs,  2480 

Q;  «U+.       61  HO 

Dependence,  772-74 
Unification,  3510 
Union,  3518-24 
Unity,  3525-59 

Constancy,    619-20 
Knowledge,  1790 
Order,  2465 
Pleiades,  2633 

Nature,  2358,  2379 
Plan,  2609-12 
Plant,  2616 
Purpose,  2795-2808 

Olgllt  ,    olU^s 

Union,  3518-24 
Unity,  3525-3559 
COORDINATION     OF 

CONQUEST,  592-94 
Plan,  2610 

CONSTITUENTS,  621 
CONSTRUCTION, 

Variability,     3601-02 
Venus'  Fly-trap,  3637 

SENSES, 
Solidity,  3142 

Pugnacity,  2789 

Food,  1262 

CONTRIVANCE,       N  A  T- 

COPERNICUS, 

Salvation,  2949 

CONTACT, 

URAL, 

Christianity,  495 

Victorv,  3645 

Tangible,  3355 

Utility,  3577 

Coincidence,    530 

War,  '3686-88 

CONTAGION,  622 

CONTROL, 

Cosmogomy,  673 

Warfare,    3689 

Contamination,  623 

Dominion,  902-3 

Experiment,  1145 

CONQUESTS,  594 

Infection,  1651-52 

Domestication,  900 

Revolution,  2915 

Science,  2977 

CONTAMINATION,    623 

Earth,  946 

System,  3352 

CONSCIENCE,  595-97 

Contagion,  622 

Environment,  1036 

Theory,  3412 

Man,  2053 

CONTEMPLATION,  625 

Experiment,  1152 

CORPUSCLES, 

Morality,    2241-47, 

Observation,  2438-39 

Extension,  1159 

Blood,  378 

2248 

CONTEMPT,  626 

Government,       1393- 

Form,  1315 

Morals,  2248 

Body,  389 

96 

Life,  1884,  1890 

Obligation,    2436 
CONSCIOUSNESS,  598-610 

CONTINENT,    ANTARC- 
TIC, 

Habit,  1422,  1426 
Influence,  1662-71 

Germ-destroyers, 
1363 

Automatism,  295 
Causation,  427 

Discovery,  848 
CONTINENTS,  627-30 

Instincts,  1706 
Law.  1848 

CORAL, 

Changes,  476 

Choice,  491 

Change,  471 

Life,  1876 

Growth,  1409-10 

Complexity,  565 

Earth,    929-32,    935, 

Organism,  2467 

Islands,  1772 

Death,  737 

938,  941 

Royalty,  2939 

Luxuriance,  1998 

Force,  1280-1299 

Earthquake,  952 

Wakefulness,  3682 

Method,  2165 

Hallucination,  1431 

Land,  1808-09 

CONTROVERSY,  648-49 

Strength.  3250 

Individuality,      1633, 
1635 

Uplifting,  3567 
CONTINENTS,    GROWTH 

Conflict,  587-90 
Disputation,  873 

CORAL  ISLANDS, 

Organisms,  2472 

Instinct,  1695-1708 

OF, 

CONVENIENCE, 

Subsidence,  3280 

Intellect,  1710-14 

Slowness,  3130 

Theory,  3399 

Worker,  3773 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


877 


CORAL-REEFS, 

CREATION, 

CULTURE, 

DEATH, 

Earth,  938 

Theories,  3390 

Development,  804-05 

Decay,  741-43 

Harbors,  1436 

Theory,  3403 

Ferments,  1224 

Definition,  734 

Organisms,  2472 

Universe,  3562-66 

Worth,  3787 

Destruction,    792-98, 

CORONA, 

Variety,  3611-24 

Woman,  3755 

800 

Brightness,  406 

World,  3776 

CURIOSITY,  709-9 

Dying-place,  925 

Conflict,  588-89 

CREATOR, 

Investigation,     1760- 

Environment,  1040 

Darkness,  729 

Assumption,  247 

63 

Fascination,  1208       4 

Eclipse,  961 

Beauty,  324-27 

Scientist,  3018 

Flood,  1260 

Incandescence,   1610 

Conception,  577 

CURRENT, 

Heat,  1460 

Mystery,  2330 

Consistency,  615 

Aeronaut,  96 

Intemperance,  1732 

Sun,  3306 

Contrivance,  647 

Gibraltar,  1376 

Instincts,  1707 

CORRELATION,  667-68 

Correspondence,  671 

Gulf  Stream,  1417 

Law,  1846 

Adaptation,  43-68 

Cosmogony,  674 

Persistence,  2570 

Life,  1870,1881,  1900, 

Adjustment,  72-77 

Creation,  681-92 

CURRENTS, 

1925 

Convergence,  650 

Dssign,  783-790 

Rivers,  2924-30 

Microbes,  2168 

Correspondence,  669- 

Evolution,  1104 

Velocity,  3632 

Ocean  depths,  2448 

72 

Extension,  1160 

CUSTOM, 

Painlessness,  2498 

Environment,  1034 

Facts,  1187 

Adaptation,  53 

Phosphorescence, 

Force,  1281,  1284-88, 

Fragment,  1322 

Inattention,  1609 

2589 

1290,  1297-98,  1305 

Hypothesis,  1522 

CUSTOMS, 

Radiation,  2818 

Heat,  2266-67 

Intellect,  1715 

Language,  1817 

Refuge,  1260 

Increase,    1619 

Law,  1861 

CYCLE, 

Repose,   2875 

Light,  1928 

Riches,  2918 

Decomposition,  747 

Salvation,  2949 

Order,  2462-65 

Science,  3002 

Shower,  3101 

Organisms,  2468-72 

Selection,  3053 

Skeleton,  3117 

Organization,     2473- 

Sketch     of     Purpose, 

DAIRY, 

Suddenness,  735,  737 

75 

3189 

Bacteriology,  306 

Tests,  3382 

Organs,    2477-80 

Theories,  3390 

Benefits,  359 

(See    also   BACTERIA; 

Sight,  3102 

(See   also    DEITY) 

Cleanliness,  515 

DISEASE  ;     GENER- 

Unity, 3525 
CORRELATION       OF 

GOD.) 
CREDULITY, 

Ferments,  1222 
Infection,  1652 

ATION,    SPONTANE- 
OUS; GERMS;  LIFE; 

FORCES, 

Evidence,  1090 

Milk,  2177 

LIGHTNING  ;    PAIN- 

Equivalence, 1048 

Geography,  1354 

DANCE, 

LESSNESS  ;     STRUG- 

(See also  C  o  M  P  o  s  i- 

CREVASSES, 

Antics,  188 

GLE  FOR  LIFE.) 

TION     OF    FORCES  ; 

Beauty,  335 

DANGER,  721-24 

DEATH-BED, 

CONSERVA  TION  ; 

CRICKET, 

Affliction,  101 

Theory,  3413 

CORRESPONDENCE; 

Adjustment,  75 

Man,  2054 

DEBATE, 

ENERGY;  FORCE.) 
CORRESPONDENCE, 

CRIME, 
Barometer,  311 

Peril,  2555-59 
DANGERS, 

Points,  2637 
DEBT,  738-740 

Adaptation,     39-41, 

Insanity,  1681 

Foods,  1277 

Duty,  922 

43,68 

CRIMES, 

Man,  2054,  2066 

Obligation,  2436 

Adaptiveness,  69-70 

Navy,  2395 

DANTE, 

DECAY,  741-42 

Adjustment,  72-77 

CRITICISM,  700-01 

Cosmogony,  673 

Buildings,  411 

Correlation,  667-68 

Eye,  1174 

DARKNESS,  725-29 

Growth,  1406 

Environment,      1034, 

Genius,  1351 

Belief,  358 

Life,  1883,  1890 

1036-42 

Imperfections,  1592 

Brightness,  406 

Organs,  2480 

Harmony,   1437-41 

Nebular     Hypothesis, 

Eclipse,  961 

Putrefaction,  2810 

Life,1879 

1526-27 

Eruption,  1081 

DECEPTION, 

Organisms,    2468-72 
Organization,  2473-75 

CROSS-FERTILIZATION, 

Development,  802 

Eyes,   1175-76 
Fire,  1240 

Imposture,  1597 
DECEPTIVENESS, 

Plants,  2620 

Expenditure,    1138 

Hypothesis,  1528 

Soliditv,  3141 

Transfer,   3457 

Individualism,  1627 

Light,  1927,  1932,  1948 

DECIMALS, 

Union,  3518-24 

Migration,  2175 

Mystery,  2335 

Mathematics,   2108 

Unity,  3525-59 

Seed-dispersal,   3033- 

Nature,  2372 

DECISION,  745 

COSMOGONY, 

40 

Night,  2417-22 

Choice,  490-92 

Controversy,  649 

(See   also  FERTILIZA- 

Penetration, 2534 

Dread,  906 

Creation,  692 

TION.) 

Phosphorescence  , 

Error,  1051-52 

Dogmas,  895 

CRUELTY, 

2587 

Omniscience,  2454 

Fixity,  1255 

Affection,  98 

Stars   without    Light, 

Persistence,  2569 

Limits,  1964,  1968 

Helplessness,  1471 

3223 

Resolves,  2883 

Race,  2817    . 

Hunting,   1519 

Sympathy,  3350 

Will,  3731-40 

Universe,  3562-66 

Reason,  2829-30 

Terror,  3376 

DECLINE,  746 

COSTUME,  676 

Savages,  2958 

Uses,  3571 

Civilization,  503-04 

Climate,  521 

CRYSTAL, 

DARWINISM,  730 

Development,  806 

Clothing,  524 

Edifice,  966 

Development,    802- 

Failure,  1189 

Color,  535 

Idea,  1545 

814 

Reverence,  2910 

COUNTRY, 

Life,  1886 

Evolution,  1094-1111 

DECOMPOSITION,  747-48 

Association,  245 

Plasticity,  2624 

DATA,  731 

Putrefaction,  2810 

Nation,  2354 

CRYSTALS,  708 

Criticism,  701 

DECORATION, 

COUNTING,  677 

Blossoms,  383 

Facts,  1182-87 

Beaut  v,  324-26 

Arithmetic,  228 

Correlation,  667 

Science,  2992 

DECREASE, 

Stars,  3205 

Crystallization,  707 

DAWN, 

Sunshine,  3312 

COURAGE, 

Mathematics,    2107 

Darkness,  726 

DEDUCTION, 

Dangers,  723 

CRYSTALLIZATION, 

DAY, 

Induction,  1636-38 

Facts,  1187 

Attraction,  288 

Stars,  3210 

DEEP-SEA  LIFE, 

COWARDICE, 

Force,  1291 

DAY  AND  NIGHT, 

Origin,  2482 

Camel,  417 

Ice-Crystals,  1540 

Stars,  Double,  3206 

Proof,  2761 

CRAMMING 

Process,  2742-43 

DAYLIGHT, 

(See    also    OCEAN 

Memory,  2141 

Snow-crystals,  3133 

Stars,  3210 

DEPTHS,) 

CRAVING, 

Trial,  3484 

DAYTIME, 

DEER  AND  FAWN, 

Religion,   2866 

Vegetation,  3627 

Darkness,  728 

Strategy,  3246 

CREATION,  681-93 

"CRYSTAL  SPHERES," 

DEAD, 

DEFECTS, 

Beginning,  343-44 

Theory,   3404-05 

Records,  2847 

Eye,  1174 

Cosmogony,  674 

"CRYSTAL  SPHERE," 

DEAF-MUTE, 

Vision,  3653 

Creator,  694 

Unity,    3559 

Perception,  2538 

DEFENSE,  750 

Darwinism,  730 

Vault  of  Heaven,  3626 

DEATH,  734-37 

Armor,  229 

Earth,  935 

View,  3646 

Advance,  90 

Dwellings,  924 

Evolution,  1097 
Force,  1289 

CULTIVATION, 
Beauty,  338 

Atmosphere,  272 
Belief,  353-54 

Experience,  1139 
DEFINITION, 

History,  1497 

Influence,  1667 

Balance,  308 

Beauty,  329 

Imagination,  1569 

CULTURE, 

Carelessness,  422 

DEGRADATION, 

Island,  1770-71 

Civilization,  502 

Change,  470,  472 

Degeneracy,    751 

878 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


DEGENERACY,  751-55 

DEPARTMENT, 

DESTRUCTION, 

DIFFERENCE. 

Curse,  714 

Supremacy,  3331 

Equipment,  1047 

Variability,   3600-02 

Civilization,  503-04 

DEPARTMENTS, 

Evil,  1091,  1093 

Variety,  3611-24 

Criminals,  698 

Mind,  2196 

Flood,  1259-60 

Variation,  3603-07 

Cruelty,  705 

Science,  2988 

Germs,  1366-67 

DIFFERENCES, 

Decay,  741-43 

Tracts,  3449 

Greed,  1405 

Development,  812 

Decline,  746 

Versatility,  3641 

Ice-storms,    1543 

Limits,  1965 

Development,  806 

DEPENDENCE,  771-74 

Increase,  1614, 

Perception,  2539 

Evolution,  1106 

Limitation,   1961-62 

1619-20 

Sensations,    3061 

Irreligion,  1767 

Limits,  1963-76 

Initiative,  1679 

Sex,  3091-94 

Loss,  1991-92,  1994 

Parasite,  2504 

Insects,   1685 

Sound,  3153-54 

Luxury,  2000 

Religion,  2867 

Life,    1883-84,  .1888, 

Spectrum,  3169 

Man,  2077 

DEPOSITS,  775-77 

1890,  1914,  1924 

DIFFICULTIES, 

Parasitism,    2506-07 

Deltas,  760,  351  1,3594 

Lisbon,  1978 

Opposition,  2460 

DEGENERATION,  754-55 

Rocks,  2935 

Missiles,  2225 

Science,  3001 

Development  ,  806 

Strata,  3244-45 

Mountains  ,     2273-74  , 

DIFFICULTY, 

Loss,  1991-94 

DEPTH, 

2279 

Appliances,  216 

Organs,  2477-80 

Division,  887 

Obliteration,  2437 

DIFFRACTION, 

Plants,  2623 

DEPTHS, 

Personality,  2574 

Artist.  236 

Power,  2672 

Changes,  480 

Protection,  2769 

Misir  ttrpretation, 

Slavery,  3126 

Ocean  Floor,  2449 

Responsibility,  2887 

2222 

Soils,  3138 

(See    also    OCEAN 

Shower,  3101 

Obstacles,  2441 

DEGRADATION, 

DEPTHS.) 

Strength,  3254 

DIFFUSION, 

Slavery,  3126 

DESCENT, 

Theory,  3396 

Contagion,  622 

DEITIES 

Man,  2069 

Usefulness,  3570 

Life,  1896 

Antiquity,  198 

DESCRIPTION, 

Volcano,  3668,  3670 

DIFFUSION  OF  GASES, 

(See    also    IDOLATRY; 

Sympathy,  3349 

DETAIL, 

Atmosphere,  276 

WORSHIP.) 

DESERT,  780-81 

Bondage,  394 

DIGESTION, 

DEITY, 

Adaptation,  58-59 

DETERIORATION, 

Adaptation,  54 

Emblem,  999 

Barrenness,  312 

Neglect,  2403 

Environment,  1029 

Ideas,  1545 

Beauty,  318,  340 

Salvation,  2949 

Machine,  2004 

Intervention,  1739 

Elevation,  997 

DETERMINATION, 

Taste,  3360 

Kindred,    1784 

Fertility,  1226 

Persistence,  2569 

DIMENSIONS, 

Man,  2074 

Peril,  2556 

Resolves,  2883 

Minuteness,  2216 

Mathematics,    2107, 

Space,  3160 

DEVELOPMENT,  803-814 

DIRECTION, 

2110 

DESERTS, 

Adaptation,  67 

Force,   1297 

Mystery,  2316 

Loss,  1989 

Apes,  211 

Perils,  2559 

Nature,  2370 

DESIGN,  782-90 

Arrest,  230-31-32 

DISADVANTAGES, 

Niche,  2416 

Adaptability,  41 

Character,  482 

Industry,  1643 

Origin,  2486 
Phenomena,  2579 

Adaptation,  42,  43 
Anthropomorphism  , 

Complexity,  568 
Courtship,  679 

DISAPPOINTMENT, 
Expectation,  1136-37 

Presence,  2716 

185 

Creation,  684 

DISCIPLINE, 

Protection,  2777 

Appearance,   214 

Darwinism,  730 

Navv,  2395 

Religion,  2863-72 

Automatism,  293 

Degeneracy,  751-53 

DISCORD, 

Science,  2990 

Argument,  227 

Difference,  822 

Calm,  415-16 

(See    also     CREATOR; 

Blunder,  385 

Education,  967-72 

Pain   2496 

GOD;  WORSHIP.) 

Cause,  433 

Effect  of  Infancy,  980 

DISCOURAGEMENT, 

DELAY, 

Consistency,  615 

Egg,  981 

Genius.  1351 

Development,  802 

Contrivance,  643-47 

Electricity,  986 

DISCOVERERS,  841 

Discovery,  849 
DELIBERATION,  756 

Cooperation,  660 
Evolution,  1104 

Equilibrium,  1046 
Evolution,  1094-1111 

Debt,  740 
Coincidence     530-31 

Choice,  490-92 

Law,    1837-38,    1842, 

Failure,  1189 

Man,  2032 

Freedom,  1324-27 

1848,  1852 

Family,    1200-1203 

Microscope,  2171 

DELIRIUM, 

Man,  2070 

Fictions,  1228 

Students,  3269 

Brain,  404 
Memory,  2138 
DELIRIUM  TREMEIfS, 

Metaphor,  2157 
Plan,  2609-12 
Purpose,  2795-2808 

Germ,  1365 
Germs,  1368-69-70 
Growth,  1406-13 

Telegraph,  3365 
DISCOVERY,  846 
Accident,  7,  8,  10,  12 

Visions,  3657 

Reason,  2829 

Infancy,  1648-50 

Advance,  85,  86 

DELUGE, 

Reflection,  2851 

Intellect,     1711-12, 

Agreement,  117 

Creation,  692 

Selection.  3050 

1714 

Beginning,  345 

Inundation,  1749 

(See  also  PLAN;   PUR- 

Intelligence,    1727, 

Belief,  352 

Ocean,  2447 

POSE.) 

1730 

Caution,  440 

Theory,  3409 

DESIRE, 

Life,  1886 

Chemistry,  485 

Tradition,  3452,  3454 

Knowledge,  1799 

Mammalia,  2015 

Conquests,  594 

DELUGES, 

DESOLATION, 

Man,   2041,    2047-48, 

Delusions,  763-64 

Earth,  929 

Beauty,  317-18 

2055,2057,2068-70 

Disaster,  839 

DELUSION,  762-65 

Bloom,  382 

Mind,  .2198 

Discoverer,  841 

Duality,  911 

Earthquake,  953 

Organs,  2480 

Epoch,  1043 

Earthquake,  955 

Loss,  1989 

Plan,  261  2 

Error,  1051-52 

Equality,  1045 

Pleasure,  2631 

Savage,  2953 

Force,  1283 

Error,  1050-78 

DESPONDENCY, 

Steam-navigation  , 

Genius,  1349 

Extremes,  1172 

Affections,  99 

3226 

Growth,  1408.  1411 

Fixity,  1254-55 

DESTROYERS, 

DEVOTION, 

Imagination,  1579 

Gambling,  1339 

Protection,  2769 

Truth   3499 

Insight,  1691 

Illusion,  1556-67 

DESTRUCTION, 

(See    also    LOVE; 

Intolerance,  1742 

Immortality,  1586-87 

Agent,  107 

MOTHER;   MOTHER- 

Invention, 1750.  1752, 

Imposture,    1597 

Almighty,  The,  146 

HOOD;  RELIGION.) 

1759 

Peril,  2556 

Antagonisms,  183 

DEVELOPMENT, 

Iron,  1766 

Phosphorus,  2590 
Power,  2677 

Antitoxins,  202 
Ants,  208 

Unity,  3538 
(See  also  EVOLUTION.) 

Jov,  1780 
Knowledge,     1789, 

DEMOCRACY,  766 

Avalanche,  298-99 

DEW, 

1797,    1801 

Freedom,  1327 

Barbarism,  310 

Cause,  436 

Martyrs,  2089 

Future,  1335 

Birds,  369,  370 

Theorv,  3406 

Mathematics,    2112 

Government,  1393-96 

Changes,  479 

DIAMOND; 

Needle,    Magnetic, 

DEMONIAC  POSSESSION, 

Change,  458 

Atoms,  277 

2400-01 

Cruelty,  704 

Ch  cks,484 

Concentration,   575 

Pendulum,  2532 

DEMONSTRATION,  767 

Civilization,  506 

Sacrifice,  2940 

Penetration,  2533-34 

Devotion,  818 

Complexity,  567 

DIFFERENCE,  820-27 

Priority,  2733-34 

Evidence,  1086-90 

Creation,  686 

Change,  455-80 

Prophecy,  2765 

Mathematics,  2107-12 

Death,  734-37 

Contrast,  635-642 

Purpose,  2808 

Proof,  2761-62 

Development,  806 

Germs,  1368-70 

Science,  2963-3020 

DEMONSTRATIONS, 

Earth,  931,  937 

Modification,  2230-32 

Service,  3084 

Experiments,    1153 

Earthquake,  953-56 

Origin,  2481 

Simplicity,  3111-12 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


879 


DISCOVERY, 

DIVERSITY, 

DUST, 

EARTH, 

Spirits,  Distilled,  3182 

Aggregate,  119 

Creation,  681 

Protection,    2774 

Star,  New,  3196-97 

Criticism,  701 

Crimson,  699 

Rivers,  2924-30 

Surprise,  3334 

Unity,  3525,  3529 

Depths,  779 

Science,  2967 

Theory,  3400 

DIVISION,  887-93 

Forces,  1301 

Star-clusters,  3199 

Transformation,  3462 

Mind,  2209 

Man,  2072 

Swiftness,  3344 

Triumph,  3487 

Multiplication,    2296- 

Precision,  2709 

Truth,  3497 

Unity,  3551 
DISCRIMINATION, 

97 
Nerves,  2407-08 

Purpose,  2796 
Revelation,  2905 

War,  3688 
Waste,  3691 

Sound,  3154 

Utility,  3583 

Sky,  3123-25 

Earth-crust,  947-50 

DISEASE,  862-64 

Nature,  2366 

Sunset,  3310 

Earth-light,  951 

Alcoholism,  138 

DIVISION  OF  LABOR,  424, 

Water,  3703 

Earthquake,  952-58 

Bacteria, 
Doubt,  904 

447,  880-92,  3091 
DOCTRINE, 

DUTY,  922 

Authority,  291 

EARTH-CRUST,  947-50 

Health,  1446,  1448 

Problem,  2738 

Belief,  357 

Elevation   998 

Heredity,  1483,  1485 
Immunity,  1588 

DOGMA,  894-95 
Authority,  290,  292 

Language,  1820 
Morality,  2241-47 

Evolution',  1105 
Mountain   2274 

Inheritance,  1675 

Investigation,  1762 

Morals,  2248 

Movement     2292 

Intemperance,  1731 
Life,  1875,  1883 

"Phosphorus,"  2590 
DOGMAS, 

Obligation,  2436 
Right,  2921 

Solidity,  3i41               , 
Subsidence    1309, 

Lockjaw,  1980 

Progress,  2757 

Skepticism,  3118 

3280 

Mind,  2189 

Reconciliation,  2841 

DWELLING, 

Theory    3401 

Neglect,  2404 

DOGMATISM,  896 

Habitat,  1424-25 

Thickness   3416 

Organism,  2466 
Pollution,  2645 

Authority,  290,  292 
Infallibility,  1647 

DWELLINGS, 
Adaptation,  62 

Uplifting,  '3567 
Waves    3713 

Purity,  2793 

DOMESTICATION,  900 

Ants,  208 

Science,  2994 

Animals,  179 

Architecture,  221 

EARTH'S  INTERIOR, 

Security,  3031-32 

Ants,  204-5 

Caves,  443 

Limits,  1966 

Unity,  3525 

Dog,  897 

Civilization,  506,  512 

Problems,  2740 

Vitality,  3662 

Dominion,  902-3 

Disaster,  840 

Value,  3599 

DISEASE-GERMS, 

Instincts,  1706 

Earth,  937 

EARTH-SUPPLY, 

Tenacity,  3374 
DISINFECTION,  865 

Man,  2052,  2062 
Monkey,  2235 

Earthquakes,  958 
Home,  1501 

Space,  3161 
EARTHQUAKE, 

Bacteriology,  306 

Woman,  3750 

Instinct,  1704 

America,  154 

Exactness,  1116 

(See   also    DOMINION; 

Race,  2815 

Animals,  168 

Germ-destroyers,  1363 

MAN.) 

Darkness,  728 

Germ-theory,  1364 

DOMESTICITY, 

Death,  735 

Mystery,  2338 
Pasteurization,  3009 

Music,  2302 
DOMESTIC  LIFE, 

EAGLE, 
Robber-baron,    2931- 

Depths,  778 
Destruction,  794 

Security,  3031 

Tasks,  3356 

32 

Earth,  930 

DISPERSAL  870-72,  3033  , 

Adaptation,  52 

EAR, 

Inhumanity,  1678 

3035-36 

DOMINION,  902-3 

Adjustment,  74 

Insecurity,  1689 

(See    also    DISTRIBU- 

Domestication, 900 

Delicacy,  758 

Instability,  1694 

TION;  SEED-DISPER- 

Forces, 1298 

Hearing,  1449 

Life,  1888,  1892 

SAL;  SEEDS.) 

Government,  1393-96 

Nerves,  2408 

Lisbon,  1978 

DISPERSION, 

Man,  2036,  2052 

Sound,  3154 

Mystery,  2333 

Man,  2077 

Mastery,  2093 

EAR-MINDEDNESS, 

Peril,  2557 

DISPLACEMENT, 

Mechanic,  2131 

Writing,  3792 

Rock,  2933 

Exactness,  1122 

Mind,  2192,  2196 

EARNESTNESS, 

Sea,  3024 

DISPOSITION, 

Originators,  2491 

Facts,  1183 

Sea-shells,  3025 

Knowledge,  1799 

Progress,  2752 

Fatalism,  1209 

Sea-  waves,  3026 

DISPUTATION, 

Royalty,  2939 

EARTH,  927-46 

Shock,  3098-99 

Dogma,  894 

(See  also  DOMESTICA- 

Activities,  31 

Stability,  3194 

DISTANCE,  874-78 

TION;  GOVER  N- 

Architecture,  224 

Subsidence,  3282 

Adjustment,  77 

MENT;  LAW.) 

Antiquity,  193 

Terror,  3377 

Comparison,    560 

DOUBT,  904-5 

Aurora,  289 

Volcano,  3665 

Day's  journey,  733 
Errors,  1064 

Belief,  352-58 
Knowledge,  1789 

Balance,  307 
Cause,  430 

Waves,  3713 
EARTHQUAKES, 

Isolation,  1777 

Memory,  2146 

Change,  457,  469-71 

Disaster,  840 

Mystery,  2341 
Space,  3158-60 
Ventriloquism,  3636 
DISTASTEFULNESS, 

Skepticism,  3118 
DOUBTS, 
Species,  3163 
DREAM,  907 

Changes,  475-76,  480 
Christianity,  495 
Comparison,   550 
Conservation,  613 

Earth,  929 
Fissures,  1252 
Island,  1771 
Prediction,    2711 

Protection,  2769,  2770 

Sleep,  3128-29 

Continents,  627-30 

Mountains,  2273,  2276 

DISTINCTION,  879 

DREAM-LIFE, 

Destruction,    799 

2278-79 

Causality,  426 

Sleep,  3128-29 

Energy,  1019 

Sea,  3023 

Causation,  427 

DREAMS, 

Firmness,  1245 

Theories,   3394 

Cause,  428-39 

Consciousness,  607 

Fissures,  1252 

Yielding,  3794 

Number,  2428-29 
Spectrum,  3169 

Feeling,    1217-19 
DRUNKARD, 

Fixity,  1255 
Forgetfulness,  1310 

EARTHWORKS, 
Mound-builders,  2271- 

DISTRIBUTION,  882-85 

Automatism,  296 

Fragment,  1321 

72 

Currents,  712 

Name,  2352 

Future,  1337 

EARTHWORMS, 

Dispersal,  870-72 

Responsibility,  2889 

Ganges,  1340-41 

Infection,  1651 

Peculiarities,  2530 

Will,  3734 

Geology,  1355-60 

ECLIPSE, 

Snow,   3132 

Conception,     577 

Heat,  1457,  1465 

Antiquity,  191 

Unity,  3549 

DUALISM,  910 

Illusion.  1558 

Brightness,  406 

(See  also  DISPERSAL,; 

Devices,  817 

Insecurity,  1689 

Conflict,  589 

SEED-DISTRIBUTION.  ) 

DURATION, 

Instability,    1694 

Contrast,  639 

DISTURBANCE, 

Age,   108-12 

Intellect,    1714 

Corona,  664-65 

Beauty,  339 

Earth,  938 

Intolerance,  1743-44 

Darkness,  729 

DISUSE, 

Effect,  977 

Law,  1847 

Light,  1946 

Appendages,  215 

Lakes,  1806 

Loss,  1989 

Punctuality,  2790 

Atrophy,  281-82 

Life,  1878,  1904,  1915 

Mechanic,  2131 

Shadow,  3095 

Development,  806 

Longevity,  1986 

Magnitude,  2011 

Eclipse,  961-63 

Organs,  2477-80 
Parasitism.    2506-07 

Mount  ain-building, 
2275 

Man,  2031,  2037,  2049, 
2071 

Sun,  3306 
Uniformity,  3514 

Penalty,  2531 

Sense,  3067 

Mankind,  2079 

ECLIPSES, 

Power,  2672 

Sun,  3307 

Meteorites,  2160-61 

Agreement,  118 

Powers,  2696 

Sunshine,  3313 

Modifications,  2232 

Astronomy,  260 

DIVERGENCE, 

DUST, 

Movement,  2282 

Chromosphere,  496 

Utility,  3583 
DIVERSITY, 

Atmosphere,  267 
Bacteria.  305 

Mystery,    2307 
Pendulum,  2532 

Superstition,  3324 
ECONOMICS, 

Adaptiveness,  70 

Color,  539-40 

Planet,  2613 

Exportation,  1157 

880 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


ECONOMICS, 

ELECTRICITY, 

EMOTION, 

ENVIRONMENT, 

Industry,  1641,  1644- 

Growth,  1411 

Stress,  3255 

Man,  2036,  204  1,2049, 

45 

Heat,  1453,  1455 

Volition,  3674-77 

2052,2071 

Science,  2982 

Invention,  1755 

Will,  3731-40 

Organism,  2467 

ECONOMY, 

Law,  1844-45 

Woman,  3753 

Reaction,  2825 

Brain,  399 

Lead-fronds,  1863 

EMOTIONS, 

Results,  2896 

Parsimony,  293,  2508 

Light,  1934-35 

Nature,  2375 

Self,  3055 

Power,  2656 
Substitution,  3287 

Lightning,  1951 
Mind,  2201 

Progress,   2759 
EMPIRICISM, 

Senses,  2979 
Simplicity,  3111 

EDEN, 

News,  2413-14 

Reasoning,  2833 

Strength,  3251 

Man,  2077 

Name,  2352 

EMULATION,  1003 

Tools,  3445 

EDIFICE, 

Power,  2676 

Ambition,  153 

Transformation,  3459 

Oak,  2432 

Riddle,  2920 

Universality,  3561 

Tree,  3481 

EDUCATION, 
Adaptiveness,  69 

Simplicity,  3110 
Telegraph,  3364-65 

END, 
Death,  734-37 

(See  also  ADAPTATION  ; 
COLORATION; 

Bacteriology,  306 

Telephone,  3367 

Infinitude,  1653 

COLOR;  Evo  LU- 

Family,  1200 

Thunderstorm,    3428 

Result,  2892-2904 

TION;  MIMIC  RY; 

Hand,  1433 

Utility,  3578 

Utilitarianism,    3572 

STRUGGLE   FOR 

Helplessness,  1472 

Velocity,  3633 

ENDEAVOR, 

LIFE.) 

Ignorance,  1550-54 

Writing,  3789 

Spontaneousness, 

EPOCH, 

Imitation,   1582-84 
Instinct,  1698 

ELECTRODE, 

Consciousness,  601 

3185 
Truth,  3498 

(See  GLACIAL  EPOCH.) 
EPOCHS, 

Instruction,     1709 
Investigation,  1760 
Knowledge,  1789-1801 

ELEMENTS,  993-95 
Adaptation,  65 
Atoms,  280 

Utility,  3578 
ENDOWMENT, 
Qualifications  ,    2811- 

Unity,  3551 
EQUILIBRIUM, 

Senses    3072 

Education,  967-72 

Comet,  3558 

12 

Language,  1818,  1827, 
1831,1834 

Discovery,  847 
Exactness,  1119 

ENDS  AND  MEANS, 
Reason,  2829 

EROSION, 

Alphabet  of  Geology, 

Learning,  1866 

Hypothesis,  1524 

ENDURANCE,  1007-08 

148 

Limits,  1975 

Ignorance,  1550 

Adaptation,  55-62 

Change,  469 

Man,  2023,  2075 

Limits,  1964 

Camel,  417 

Continents,  628 

Method,  2164 

Power,  2668 

Organs,  2480 

Courage,   678 

Mind,  2199 

Selection,  3052 

Power,  2664 

Destruction,  800 

Motherhood,  2253 

Space,  994-95 

Reserve,  2880-81 

Difference,  821 

Movements,  2288-91 

Stars,  3555 

Strength,  3249,  3252 

Disintegration,  866-68 

Nature,  2368,  2376 

Sun,  3488,  3553 

Tenacity,  3374 

Fragment,  1321 

Opportunity,  2457 
Organs,  2480 

Unity,     3552,     3555, 
3558 

ENEMIES, 
Protection,  2769 

Ganges,  1340-41 
Mountain-building  , 

Originators,  2491 

ELEVATION,  997 

ENERGY,  1010-21 

2275 

Perfection,  2551 

Change,  471 

Cause,  435 

Path,  2520 

Politics,  2644 

Continents,  627-30 

Conservation,   611-14 

Present,  2718 

Power,  2665 

Dwellings,  924 

Effect,   973-77 

Rain,  2821 

Progress,  2754 
Psychology,  2785-86 
Science,  2967,  2991 

Earth,  932 
Earthquakes,  957 
Energy,    1015-16 

Electricity,  985 
Expenditure,  1138 
Food,      1262,      1276, 

Rivers,  2929-30 
Solids,  3143 
Theories,   3388 

Study,  3270-71 

Force,  1281 

1278-79 

Variation,  3603 

Teaching,  3363 

Height,  1469 

Force.  1280-1305 

Wasting,    3696 

Timidity,  3441 
Training,  3455 
Woman,  3755 
EFFECT,  973-819 

Land,  1809 
Lifting,  1926 
Rise,  2922 
Sea-shells,  3025 

Indestructibility,  1624 
Power,  2654-96 
Machine,  2001-05 
Measurement,  2127 

Wind,  3741 
(See    also    EARTH; 
EARTH-CRUST  ;  GLA- 
CIERS; ICE;  MOUN- 

Causality, 426 

Theory,  3401 

Reserve,  2881 

TAINS;  ROCKS.) 

Causation,  427 

Uplifting,  3567 

Sun,  3298,  3301-05 

ERROR,  1050-56 

Cause,  428-29,  436-37 

(See  also  UPHEAVAL.) 

Thunderstorm,  3428 

Astronomy,  255 

Chance,  452 

ELIMINATION, 

Work,  3765-72 

Atmosphere,  274 

Ends,  1005-06 

Artist,  238 

(See  also  FORCE  ; 

Authority,  292 

Erosion,  1049 

EMBRYO,  1000 

POWER.) 

Blunder,  385 

Law,  1844 

Call,  445 

ENGINE, 

Candor,   418 

Mind,  2188 

Capital,  421 

Horse,  1509 

Child,  488 

Result,  2892-2904 
EFFECTS, 
Extremes,  1172-73 

Development,  803 
Germs,  1368-70 
Limits,  1965 

ENGINEERING,  1022 
Powers,     Mechanical, 
2695 

Data,  731 
Delusion,  762-65 
Facility,  1179 

EFFORT, 

Neglect,  2403 

Ontogenesis,  2455 
EMBRYOLOGY, 

ENGLISHMAN, 
Climate    523 

Failure,  1190-92 
Force,  1290 

Strain,   3243 
Causation,  427 
EGO, 
Universe,  3563 

Convergence,  650 
Correspondence,  669 
Development,  808 
Perfection,  2553 

ENJOYMENT,  1023-25 
Consciousness,  604 
Happiness,  1434-35 

T_-_      -i  77Q     Q1 

Ignorance,  1550-54 
Memory,  2146 
Nature,  2377 
Ocean  Depths,  2448 

EGOISM,  982 

EMBRYOS, 

j  oy  ,  I//  v  o  A 

Purpose,  2804 

Selfishness,  3057 
ELECTRICITY,  985-92 
Accident,  8 
Action,  25 
Advance,  86 
Affinity,  100 
Atmosphere,  269 
Beginnings,  349 
Combination,  552 

Likeness,   1952 
EMISSION  THEORY, 
Errors,  1062 
Particles,  2511 
EMOTION,  1001-02 
Action,  29 
Attention,  283-86 
Belief,  357 
Fear,  1214-16 

Materialism,  2104 
Pain,  2496-97 
Play,  2626-29 
Pleasure,  2630-31 
ENTHUSIASM,  1026-27 
Earnestness,  926 
ENTOMOLOGY, 
Entomologist,  1028 

ERRORS, 

Approximations,  218 
Heat,  1466 
Progress,   2757 
Pseudo-science.  278 
ERRORS  OF  SCIENTISTS, 
1058-78 
ERUPTION, 

Comets,   556 

Feeling,    1217-19 

ENVIRONMENT,   1029-42 

Volcano,  3666,  3668 

Communication,  557 

Incompatibility,  1613 

Adaptation  ,  45-47  ,  56- 

ESSENCE, 

Conservation,  611 

Intellect,  1710-15 

62 

Lifo,  1901 

Current,  711,  713 

Language,   1824 

Adjustment,  74 

Light  2326 

Difficulty,  835 

Mind,  2185-2212 

Analogy,  157 

ESTIMATES, 

Discovery,  846 

Monsters,     2237 

Animals,  174,  178 

Morality,  2243,  2245 

Earth,  944 
Elements,  996 

Mystery,  2312 
Pleasure,  2630-31 

Antagonisms,  183 
Assimilation,  242 

Mystery,  2335 
Relativity,  2858 

Energy,  1013 

Reason,   2829-30 

Change,  462 

ETERNITY, 

Equivalence,  1048 

Reasoning,    2831-33 

Competitors,  564 

Astronomy,  253 

Experiment,  1150 

Sensation,   3060-64 

Dependence,  772 

Dogmatism,    896 

Extension,  1159 

Sense,  3066 

Endurance,  1007-08 

Exactness,  1113    - 

Fish,  1250 

Sentiment,  3082 

Heredity,  1480 

Present,  2717 

Force,  1283 

Soul,  3150 

Influence,  1662-71 

(See  also  AGE;  AGES; 

Forces,  1305 

Strength,  3253 

Life,  1879,  1898 

TIME.) 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


881 


ETHER, 

EVOLUTION, 

EXPANSION, 

EXTERMINATION, 

Clearness,  518 

Language,  1814,  1821, 

Power,  2670 

(See  also  DEATH; 

Difficulties,  829 

1830 

Thought,  3422 

E   X   T   INCTION5 

Matter,  2116-17 

Limits,  J974 

Water,  3698,  3704 

STRUGGLE    FOR 

Extension,  1160 

Mammalia.    2015 

Writing.  3792 

LITE.) 

Motion,  2257 
Opposites,  2459 

Man,  2068 
Mind,  2208 

EXPECTATION,     1135-37 
Ext6nsion   1159 

EXTINCTION, 
Animals,  176 

Space,  3157 
Unity,  3559 
(See     also     CRYSTAL 

Motherhood,  2251-52 
Morality,  2241 
Order,  2463 

Hopefulness,  1507 
Identification,  1548 
Illusion,  1563 

Apes,  212 
Change,  460 
Civilization,  505 

SPHERE:    LIGHT; 
SOLID;  SOLIDITY.) 

Past,  2519 
Perfection,  2552 

Impression,  1598 
Mind   2193 

Contraction,  633 
Death,  734-37 

ETHICS, 

Matter,  2119 

Preparation,  2715 
Product,  2744 

Perception,  2540 
Power    2671 

Expenditure,  1138 
Forms,  1314 

Morality,  2241-47 

Science,  2990 

Science   2987 

Horses,  1510 

Theory,  3408 
ETHNOLOGY, 
Geography,  1354 
Progress,  2753 
ETYMOLOGY, 
Horizon,  1508 

Selection,  3044-53 
Sex,  3093 
Spirituality,  3183 
Struggle,  3258-66 
Telepathy,  3367 
Time,  3431 

EXPEDIENCY, 
Morality,  2243 
(See  also  ADVANTAGE  ; 
UTILITY.) 
EXPENDITURE,  1138 

Increase,  1615 
Mysteries,  2305 
Organs,  2477-80 
Purpose,  2801 
Species,  3165 
Stars   3208,  3223 

Perplexities,  2564 

World,  Unseen,  3777 

Effect,  973-77 

Sun,  3307 

EVANESCENCE, 
Corona,  6(55 
Universe,  3564 
EVANESCENT,  THE, 
Ferns,  1223 
Imprint,  1601 
Leaf  -tracer  v,  1864 
Life,  1918 

Writing,  3791 
EXACTNESS,  1112-27 
Discrimination,  861 
Error,  1050-52 
Evidence,  1090 
Lines,  3490 
Measurement,      2125, 
2127 

Emblem,  999 
Energy,  1015-16,  1019 
Exploration,  1156 
Seeds,  2798.  3693 
Sun,  3295,  3307 
Waste,  3693 
EXPERIENCE,  1139-43 
Conception,  576-78 

Transitoriness,  3475 
EXTRAVAGANCE, 
Expectations.  1136 
EXTRAVAGANCES,  1169 
Wonders,  3758-62 
EYE,  1173-76 
Adjustment,  77 
Artist   236 

Record,  2843 
Stability,  3195 
Transitorinefes,    3473- 
75 
EVENTS, 
Concurrence,  579 
EVIDENCE, 
Child,  488 
Demonstration,  767 
Design,  783-90 
Egypt,  983-84 
Errors,  1063 
Exactness,  1115 
Facts,  1184 
Incredulity,  1621 

Method,  2167 
Newton,  2416 
Parallax,  2503 
Patience,  2522-26 
Perfection,  2545-54 
Sensitiveness,     3080- 
81 
Science,  2992 
Triumph,  3488 
Utility,  3576 
Vagueness.  3591 
Velocity,  3630 
(See  also  ASTRONOMY  ; 
LIGHT-  WAVES;    Mi- 
NUTENESS  *    STARS  * 

Direction,  837 
Dogmatism,  896 
Endowment,  1004 
Fact,  1180-87 
Feeling,  1217 
Horizon,  1508 
Induction,  1636-37 
Practise,  2697-99 
Stupidity,  3272 
Worlds,  3782 
(See    also     ACTION  ; 
CAUSATION  ;  C  o  N  - 
SCIOUSNESS;    MEM- 
ORY ;          MIND; 
POWER.) 

Body,  392 
Colors,  550 
Criticism,  700 
Delicacy,  758 
Design,  783 
Imperfections,  1592 
Light,  1927-28,  1937- 
38,  1943 
Limit,  1958-59 
Nerves,  2408 
Sensibility,   3079 
Sight,  3102-03 
Stars,  3205 
Vision,  3652-56 
(See  also  VISION.) 

Identification,  1548 

SUN.) 

EXPERIMENT,  1144-53 

EYES, 

Lack,  1804 
Theory,  3411 
(See  also  ASSUMPTION) 
EVIL,  1091-93 
Code  of  honor,  529 
Conception,  577 
Dualism,  910 
Environment,      1038, 

EXALTATION. 

Evolution,  1098 
Joy,  1779 
EXCEPTION, 
Expansion,  1133 
Water,  3698 
EXCESS,  1128-29 

Assumptions,  248 
Cause,  427-29,  438 
Child-training,  489 
Contemplation,  624 
Development  ,  807 
Difficulty,  832 
Germs,  1366 
Hypothesis,  1528 

Atrophy,  281 
Change,  462 
Degeneracy,  752 
Degeneration,  754-55 
Location,  1979 
Loss.  1991 
Penalty,  2531 
EYE-MINDEDNESS, 

1040 
Evolution,  1106 
Good,  1392 
Insanity,  1681 
Life,  1900,  1904 
Mystery,  817,  2316 
Philosophy,  2583 
Power,  2669 

Emblem,  999 
Energy,  1019 
Pain,  2496 
EXCITEMENT, 
Civilization,  511 
Democracy,  766 
Evidence,  1090 
EXCLUSION, 

Idea,  1545 
Induction,  1637 
Psychology,  2782 
Science,  2978 
Theory,    3402,    3410, 
3415 
EXPERIMENTS, 
Place,  2607 

Writing,  3792 
EYES,  PERISHED, 
Powers,  2696 
(See  also      ATROPHY; 
CAVE-FISH  ;DisuSE  ; 
Loss;  MOLE.) 

F 

Problem,  2736 
Reason,  2830 
Suspense,  3341 

Inclusion,  1612 
EXCUSE, 
Indulgence,  1640 

Putrefaction,  2810 
Result,  2893 
EXPLANATION, 

FABLE, 
Mermaid,  2151 
Myths.  2344-51 

World,  3776 
EVOLUTION,    1094-1111 

Adjustment,  76 
Advance,  90 
Agnosticism,  115     . 
Agreement,  117 
Argument,  227 
Beginning,  344,  34b 

Name,  2352 
EXERTION, 
Heat,  1459 
(See    also   ACTIVITY  ; 
ENERGY;  FORCE  ; 
INDUSTRY  ;  LABOR  ; 
WORK.) 
EXHAUSTION, 

Investigators,  1763 
Knowledge,  1794 
Selection,  3054 
EXPLORATION,  1155-56 
Discovery,  859 
Insight,  1691 
Investigation,  1760 
Limits,  1966 

FABLES, 
Exactness.  1115 
Savages,  2957 
Stories,  3238 
FACILITY, 
Practise,  2697,  2699 
FACT,  1180-87 
Argument,  226 

Chance,  454 

Agriculture,  120 

Stars.  3211 

Bondage,  394 

Change,  455-480 

Exportation,  1157 

EXPLOSION, 

Consciousness,  602 

Civilization,  509 

Nerve  force,  2106 

Disaster,  839 

Data,  731 

Convergence      of   sci- 

Renewal, 2873 

Formation.  1313 

Delusion,  762 

ences,  650 

Soils,  3138 

Mixture,  2228 

Fable,  1177 

Creation,  684,  688 

EXISTENCE, 

EXPRESSION, 

Imagination,     1570, 

Darwinism,  730 

Assurance,  249 

Emotion,  1002 

1577 

Design,  785 
Development,  802-14 

(See  also  BEGINNING; 
COSMOGOMY;  CREA- 

Feelings, 1219 
Language,  1824-25 

Naturalists,  2355 
Records,  2845 

Egoism  ,  982 
Electricity,  986,  988- 

TION;  FACT;  FACTS; 
NATU  RE  ;  SPACE  ; 

Pleasure,  2630 
EXPULSION, 

Student,  3268-69 
Theory,  3396,  3400-01 

89 

TIME.) 

Power,  2658 

FACTS, 

Environment,     1029- 

EXPANSION.l  132-34 

EXTENSION, 

Data,  731 

42 
Family,    1200-1203 
Fatherhood,    1210-12 
Growth,  1406-13 

Bombardment,  393 
Effect  of  Heat,  979 
Energy,  1021 
Gravitation,  1404 

Language,  1829 
Materialism,  2094 
Mind,  2187 
Thought,  3420 

Law,  1837 
Life,  1919 
Materialism,  2099 
Science,  2967,  3008 

Improvement,  1602 
Industry,  1645 
Intelligence,  1730 

Ice,  1530-31 
Influence,  1670 
Motion, 

EXTERMINATION, 
Excess.  1129 
Purpose,  2801 

Scientists,  3020 
Theories,  3393 
Theory,  3411,  3414 

8S2 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


FACTORY, 

FAUNA, 

FIRE, 

FLOWING 

Concentration,  574 

(See  ANIMALS,  etc.) 

Controversy,  648 

Tropics,  3491 

Invention,  1754 

FEAR,  1214-16 

Discovery,  845 

Unitv,  3541 

FACULTIES, 

Animals,  168 

Effect,  978 

FLOOD,  1259-60 

Consciousness,  599 

Civilization,  510 

Fascination,  1207-08 

Deluges,  761 

Division,  893 

Cry,  706 

Fish,  1250 

Ocean,  2447 

Errors,  1076 

Curiosity,  710 

Flame,   1256 

FLOOD,  FIERY, 

Mind.  2209 

Nestlings,  2410 

Errors,  1071-72 

Volcano,  3667 

Order,  2463 

Royalty,  2939 

Industry,  1643 

FLOODS, 

Substitution,  3287 

Secretiveness,  3028 

Knowledge,  1800 

Deluges,  761 

Theory,  3407 

Senses,  3072 

Motion,  2259 

Snow.  3132 

FACULTY, 

Timidity,  3441 

Sex,  3091 

FLYING-FISH, 

Language,  1819 
FAILURE,  1189-93 

Utility,  3573 
Victim,  3643 

Science,  3014 
Substitutes,  3285 

Fear,  2293 
Movements,  2293 

Advance,  90 
Discovery,  850 

(See  also  TERROR.) 
FEATHERS, 

Sun,  3295,  3297,  3300 
(See  also  CHANGE 

Wings,  3746 
FOLK  LORE, 

Error,  1050-56 

Adjustment,  74 

CIVILIZATION  ;  COM- 

Progress, 2753 

Name,  2352 

FECUNDITY, 

BUSTION  ;     E  L  E  c  - 

(See    also    FABLE  ; 

Morals,  2248 

Life,  1882 

TKICITY  ;  FLAME 

MYTH  ;   POETRY; 

Power,  2673 

FEELING, 

FORCES;      HEAT 

SCIENCE.) 

"FAIRY  RINGS," 

Action,  29 

MAN  ;  METALS  » 

FOLLY, 

Superstition,  3325 

Atheism,  264 

OXYGEN;  STARS  ; 

Gambling,  1339 

FAITH,  1195-97 

Complexity,  565 

SUN.) 

War,  3688 

Agnosticism,  113-10 

Sensation,   3060-64 

FIRE,  DAY  OF, 

FOOD,  1261-79 

Emotion,  1001 

Sense,  3065-78 

Conflagration,  584 

Adaptation,  54 

Excitement,  1130 

Sentiment,  3082 

FIRE,  HIDDEN, 

Air,  127 

Facts,  1187 

FEELINGS, 

Earth-crust,  947 

Animals,  166,  179 

Hope,  1505 

Association,  245 

FISH,  1246-51 

Alcohol,  137,  140 

Law,  1858 

Response,  2886 

Change,  472 

Bread,  405 

Mind,  2192 

FEIGNING, 

Colors,  544 

Birds,  368 

Mystery,  2312 

Death,  736 

Device,  816 

Cave-men,  441 

Science,   2964,   2973- 

FEMALE, 

Eruption,  1079 

Carelessness,  422 

76,2978,2587,2985 

Difference,  820 

Law,  1849 

Civilization,  498 

2990,  2996-97,  3006 

Tasks.  3356 

Movements,  2293 

Climate,  522 

3010-11 

FERMENTATION,     1221- 

FISHES, 

Color,  537 

Sensation,  3064 

22 

Change,  462 

Contamination,  623 

Trustworthiness,  3495 

Errors,  1067 

FITNESS, 

Compulsion,  573 

FALLACIES, 

Experiments,  1153 

Qualif  ica  tions  , 

Egg,  981 

Food,  1262-64,  1275 
Labor    1803 

Process,  2743 
FERTILITY, 

2811-12 
FITTEST, 

Environment,  1029-40 
Errors,  1074 

FALLACY,' 
Energy,  1014 

Bacteria,  303 
Beauty,  319 

Survival,  3338 
(See   also  EVOLU- 

Experiment, 1146 
Experiments,    1264, 

Experiment,  1149 
Senses,  3071 

Dependence,  774 
Dust,  914 

TION  ;    SELECTION; 
STRENGTH;  STRUG- 

1274, 1278 
Famine,  1204-05 

Species   3163 

Elevation,  997 

GLE  FOR  LIFE.) 

Fish,  1246 

FAME, 

Life,  1882 

FIXEDNESS, 

Heat,  1463 

Age,  109 

Loss.  1988 

Difficulty,  835 

Luxury,  2000 

Supremacy,  3332 
FAMILY,  1199-1203 
Affection,  97—98 

Man,  2040 
Soil,  3137,  3139-40, 
3785 

FIXITY,  1253-55 
Constancy,  616-20 
Permanence,  2560-63 

Machine,  2004 
Man,  2027 
Manufacture,  2081 

Difficulty',  831 
Fatherhood    1210 

Tropics,  3491 
Volcano,  3670 

Uniformity,  3511-17 
FLAME, 

Maternity,  2105 
Migration,  2174 

Maternity,  2105 

FERTILIZATION, 

Birds,  370 

Nitrogen,  2424-26 

Motherhood,  2251-53 

Adaptation,  50 

Effect,  978 

Nutrition,  2431 

Sex,  3092 

Color,  537 

Fascination,    1207-08 

Parasite,  2504 

Sociability,  3135 
Society,  3136 
Struggle,  3263 

Contrivance,  643-45 
Cooperation,  660 
Delicacy,  757 

Fire,  1231-44 
Science,  2975 
FLESH, 

Poison,  2638-39,2641 
Puritv,  2794 
Purpose,  2798 

(See    also      CIVILIZA- 
TION*   HOME*     IN- 

Design, 784 
Fig,  1230 

Crucifying,  703 
FLEXIBILITY, 

Race,  2815 
Reserve,  2880 

FANCY  *  LOVE  *  MAN  * 

Insects,  1686-87 

Disaster,  840 

Respiration,  2885 

Life,  1889 

FLIGHT, 

Salt,  2948 

oOCIETY  ;    iVOMAN.  ) 

Purpose,  2802 

Gravitation,  1402 

Slavery,  3126 

FAMINE, 

Theory,  3410 

Ignorance,  1554 

Smoke,  3131 

St-ife,  3256 

(See  also  CROSS-FER- 

Insects, 1688 

Sustenance,  3343 

FANCY, 

TILIZATION.) 

Movement,  2285 

Value,  3597 

Creatures,  695 
Delusion,  762-65 
FANTASIES, 
Psychology,  2784 
FANTASY, 

FEVER, 
Blood-letting,  379 
FICTION, 
Fetishism,  1227 
Mermaid,  2151 

Movements,  2293 
Mystery,  2319 
Ran*e,  2823 
FLINT  IMPLEMENTS, 
Design,  789-90 

Woman,  3750 
(See    also    PRESERVA- 
TIVES: REFRIGERA- 
TION.) 
FORCE, 

Belief,  355 

(See  also  FABLE;  FA- 

(See also  STONE  AGE; 

Accumulation,  14-16 

FASCINATION, 

BLES;  MYTHOLOGY; 

TOOLS;  WEAPONS.) 

Action,  21 

Astronomy,  252 

MYPHS.) 

FLOCK, 

Activity,  34 

Birds.  370 

FIELD, 

Selection,  3045 

Adaptation,  53 

Fishes,  1251 

Force,  1286,  1287 

FLOWER, 

Atmosphere,  270-71 

Flame,  1207-08. 

FIG,  (See  SMYRNA  FIG.) 

Environment,  1034 

Attraction,  288 

Habit,  1421 

FILM, 

FLOWERS, 

Belief,  357 

FAST, 

Exactness,  1123 

Adaptation,  50 

Conception,  576 

Sustenance.  3343 

FILMS, 

Ants,  210 

Causation,  427 

FATALISM,  1209 

Colors,  544 

Beauty,  326,  337 

Cause,  430 

FATHERHOOD, 

Light,  1933 

Bloom,  382 

Energy,  1011 

Infancy,  1648,  1650 

Newton,  2415 

Color,  537-40 

Law,  1837 

Family,  1200-1203 

Plates.  2625 

Contrivance,  643 

Life.  1916-17 

Growth,  1413 
Virtues,  3648 

Soap-bubble,  3134 
FILTRATION, 

Cooperation,  660 
Delicacy,  757 

Materialism,    2094 
Matter,    2113,     2115, 

FATIGUE, 

Value,  3596 

Harmony,  1439 

2121 

Habit,  1962 

FIRE, 

Individualism,  1627 

Morality,  2242 

Limitation,  1962 

Agency.  104 

Insects,  1686-87 

Mvstery,  2312 

Will,  573,  2290 

Air,  127 

Life.  1889 

Nature,  2371,2381 

(See    also    ANIMALS  : 

Antiquity.  194,  196 

FLOWING, 

Nerve-force,  2406 

BIRDS  :      HABITAT: 

Benefits,  360 

Metals,  2154-55 

Transcen  d  e  n  t  a  1  i  s  m  , 

LIFE.) 

Conquest.  593 

Purpose,  2802 

3456 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


FORCE, 

FOSSILS, 

GASES, 

GEOLOGY, 

Volition,  3674 

Sketch,  3119 

Molecules,  2233 

Mountains,  2273-80 

Weight,  3724 

Theory,  3409 

Nebulas,  2397 

Movements,  2292 

Will,  3731,  3733 
FORCE,  ATOMIC,  1281 

Tombstones,  3442 
FOSSIL-FORMS, 

Spectroscope,  3168 
Spectrum,  3170 

Mystery,         2306-07, 
2320-22,  2333 

Crystallization,  1291 

Life,  1894 

Sun,  3297 

Nature,    2362,    2374, 

Water,  1018 

FRAGRANCE, 

GENERATION, 

2380,  2383,  2386 

(See  also  ATOM; 
ATOMS  ;  CHEMISTRY  ; 

Cooperation,  660 
FRAGMENTS, 

Parthenogenesis,  2509 
GENERATIONS, 

Ontogenesis,   2455 
Past,  2517 

COLORS  ;      COMBUS- 

Reconstruction,   2842 

Inheritance,  1677 

Path,  2520 

TION;  CRYSTALLIZA- 

FRICTION, 

GENERATION,  SPONTA- 

Perfection, 2553 

TION;  LIGHT;  MAG- 

Atmosphere, 269 

NEOUS, 

Perseverance,   2567 

NET  ;  MAGNETISM  ; 

Force,  1290 

Air,  130 

Precipitation,   2705 

MOLECULES  ;     P  o  - 

Heat,  1456,  1464 

Assumption,  247-48 

Progress,  2755 

LARITY;  SKY,  ARTI- 

FRIENDSHIP, 

Beginning,  344 

Reconstruction.  2842 

FICIAL.) 

Ants,  206 

Germ-theory,  1364 

Records,  2847-48 

FORCE,   MOLECULAR, 

FREEDOM,  1323-28 

Germs,  1366-67,  1371- 

Repose,  2876 

Gravitation,    1404 

Artificiality,  234 

72 

Rocks,  2933-35 

(See  also    Fo  RC  E  , 

Belief,  357 

Gulf,  1416 

Speculation,  3172 

ATOMIC.) 

Compulsion,    572-73 

Life,  1343-45,  1902 

Stability,  3194 

FORCE  AND  TIME, 

Fatalism,  1209 

Microscope,  2171 

Subsidence,  3280-83 

Product,  2745 

Labor,  1803 

Patience,  2522 

Theories,  3388,  3394 

FORCES, 

Man,  2018 

Tests,  3382 

Theory,  3401,  3409 

Agency,  104 

Martyrs,  2089 

GENERALIZATION, 

Time,  3432 

Agnosticism,  115 

Ocean,  2444 

Discovery,  850 

Transition,  3471 

Balances,  307 

(See  also   DEPEND- 

Perplexities, 2564 

Uniformity,   3511-12, 

Change,  458 

ENCE  ;    DOMESTICA- 

Science,  2986 

3516-17 

Composition,  569 

T  i  o  N  ;    DOMINION  ; 

GENIUS, 

Versatility,    3641 

Consciousness,  605-06 

GOVERNMENT;    IN- 

Advance, 85 

Woman,  3751 

Development,  811 

DEPENDENCE;     LA- 

Comprehensiveness , 

Youth,  3796 

Equivalence,  1048 

BOR;    LAW;  LIBER- 

570 

GERM, 

Extension,  1159 

TY;  SOCIETY.) 

Discovery,  842-44, 

Cause,  431 

Mechanic,  2131 

FREAKS, 

855,  856 

Cell,  445-47 

Pitilessness,  2605 
Power,  2668 

Memory,  2143 
FREEZING,  1329-32 

Education,  970 
Environment,  1031 

Embryo,    1000 
Hereditv,  1480-81 

Rest,  2890 

Expansion,    1133 

Epochs,    1043-44 

Sacrifice,    2940 

Science,  3002 
Slowness,  3130 

Force,  1292 
Ice,  1529-43 

Influence,  1663 
Inspiration,  1693 

GERM-DESTROYERS, 

1363 

Unity,  3546-48 

Refrigeration,  2856 

Man,  2032 

Forms,  1315 

Variability,  3601-02 
FORCES,  NATURAL, 

Regelation,   2857 
Science,  2993 

Materialism,  2097 
Mind,  2196,  2212 

Freezing,   1331 
Suspense,  3341 

Trustworthiness,  3495 

Water,  3704,  3706 

Penetration,  2533 

(See    also    DISINFEC- 

FOREKNOWLEDGE, 

FROST, 

Thought,  3423,  3426 

TION  ;      PRESERVA- 

Omniscience, 2454 
Prediction,  2710 

Avalanche,  298-99 
Blossoms,  383 

Similarity,  3109 
GEOGRAPHY,  1354 

TIVES;  REFRIGERA- 
TION ) 

Prevision,    2725-28 

Destruction,   801 

Influence,  1668 

GERMS, 

FOREST, 

Contrast,  635 

Science,  3005 
Scientists,  3020 

Insight,  1691 
GEOMETRY,  1361 

Bacteria,      303-06, 
1362-67,  1371-72 

Markings,  2088 

Selection,  3052 

Mathematics,  2107-12 

Cleanliness,  516-17 

Night,  2420 
FORESTS,   1306-09 
Destruction,  795,  800 

FRUGALITY, 

Ants,  207 
FRUITS, 

Origin,  2483 
GEOLOGY,  1355-60 
Activities,  31 

Contagion,  622 
Development,  803 
Environment,  1040 

Ice-storms,  1543 

Color,  537 

Ages,  111 

Dust,  917 

Luxuriance,  1999 

Food,  1270 

Alphabet,  148 

Exactness,  1124 

Man,  2025 

FUEL, 

Antiquity,  195 

Law,  1839 

Struergle  for  life,  3264 

Hearth,  1450 

Artesian  wells.  2325 

Life,  1877,  1904 

Submergence,  3279 
Tree-ferns,  3482 

Reserve.  2881 
(See  also  COAL  ;  COM- 

Authority, 290 
Beginning,  344 

Light,  1935 
Likeness,   1952 

Trees,  3483 

BUSTION;  COOKERY; 

Birth,  373-74 

Size    3115 

FORGERIES, 

FIRE;  FLAME;  FOR- 

Cause, 430 

GENIUS, 

Art,  233 
FORGETFULNESS, 

Distraction,  881 

ESTS;      HEAT;     IN- 
CREASE; WOOD.) 

Controversy,  648-49 
Convergence,  650 
Correspondence,  669 

Beam  of  light,  315 
Power,  2691 
GHOSTS, 

Memory,     2138-39, 

Antics,  188 

Criticism,  701 

Responsibility,  2888 

2143-45 

(See    also    AMUSE- 

Delta, 760 

Suggestion     3293 

FORM, 

MENTS;  PLAY.) 

Development,  813 

GIANTS, 

Crystals,  708 

FURNACE, 

Devotion,  818 

Mammalia,  2014 

Edifice,  966 

Sun,  3295 

Difference,  826 

Mammoth    2016 

Energy,  1021 
Mimicry,     2181-82, 

FURNACES, 
Nature,  2382 

Discovery,  858 
Earth,  929-59 

Myths,  2350 
GIVING, 

2184 

FUTURE, 

Egoism,  982 

Contrast,  636 

Wave,  3712 

Brain,  403 

Errors,  1075,  1077 

GLACIAL  EPOCH, 

FOUNDATION, 

Morals.  2248 

Civilization,  507 
Extension,  1159 

Evidence,  1089 
Evolution,  1105 

Animals,  Arctic,  164 
Change  ,  460 

FORMATION, 

The  Past,  2517 

Exploration,  1155 

Climate,  519-20 

Recent.  2374 
FOSSILS,  1316-19 

Hope.  1506 
Morality,   2241 

Food,  1267 
Formation,   1311 

Enthusiasm,  1027 
Glacier,  1379 

Antiquity,  193 

Mystery,    2308 

Fossils,  1316-19 

Ice,  1536 

Artisan,  235 

FUTURITY, 

Fusion,  1334 

Ice-sheet,  1542 

Casts,  425 
Combination,  553 
Enthusiasm,  1026 

Benefits.  361 

G 

History,  1499 
Highways,  1496 
Imperfection,    1591 

Mystery,   2321-22, 
2339 
Relics,  2859 

Extinction,   1168 
Ferns,  1223 
Geology,  1355-60 
Imperfection,    159J 
Interest,  1736 
Intolerance,  1740 

GAS, 
Atmosphere,  272 
Corona,  664-65 
Energy,  1021 
GAS-CARRIERS, 
Blood,  378 

Imprint,  1601 
Interchange,   1733-34 
Interest,  1736 
Landscape,  1811 
Leaf-tracery,  1864 
Life,  1870-71 

Submergence,  3279 
"Sunny  France,"  3309 
GLACIER,  1379 
Advance,  84 
Cutting,  715 
Difference,  821 

Life,  1870-71 

GASES, 

Limits,  1966 

Dust     916 

Man.  2043-44 
Micro-organisms,  2169 
Perseverance,  2567 

Bombardment,  393 
Combustion,   555 
Energy,  1018 

Mammalia,    2013 
Man,  1317,  1374,1716, 
2040,2043-44,2060, 

Ice,  1529 
Impurities,  1607 
Measure    2124 

Records,  2847 

Formation,  1313 

2066,  2862 

Mystery,'  2320 

884 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


GLACIER, 

GRAVITATION, 

HABIT, 

HEAT, 

Nature,  2377,  2380 

Mystery,  2319,  2331 

Success,  3288-89 

Forces,  1305 

Paradox,   2502 

Nature,  2371 

HABITAT,  1424-25 

Formation,    1313 

Power,  2681 

Science,  2999 

Animals,  163-64,  172 

Freezing    1329-32 

Pressure,  2723-24 

Theories,  3387,  3393 

Birds,  371 

Friction,     593      1237 

Rivers,  2928 
Sun,   3298 

Triumph,  3487 
Unity,  3554,  3556-57 

Migration,  2174 
HABITS, 

1456,  2259,  2349 
Ice,  1534 

Time,  3439 

Wonders,  3761-62 

Difference,  820 

Illusion,  1557 

Track,  3448 

GREAT  vs,  SMALL, 

Heredity,  1487 

Increase,    1617 

GLACIER-MARKINGS, 

Service,  3085 

Instincts,  1705 

Influence.  1662    1669 

Abrasion,  2 

GREGARIOUSNESS, 

Luxury,  2000 

Life,   1874 

Glacier,  1378 

Association,  243 

Mind,  2199 

Nature,  2369,  2386 

GLACIER-TABLES, 

Domestication,  1706 

Youth,  3797 

Measure,  2125 

Wonders,  3759 

Individuality,  1634 

HABITUDES, 

Measurement,  2128 

GLACIERS,  1377-81 
Abrasion,  2 

Industry,  1644 
Instincts.  1706 

Heredity,  1488 
HALLUCINATION,  1431 

Mildness,  2176 
Motion  ,  2258-59  ,  226  1  , 

Beauty,  317,  323,  335 

Protection,  243 

Delusions,   765 

2266-67 

Conditions,  581 

Sociability,    3135 

Illusion,  1556-67 

Planet,  2613 

Ice,  1530-33,  1535 

(See    also     ANIMALS; 

HAND, 

Power,     2670,     2683 

Valley,  3595 

FAMILY;  SOCIETY.) 

Arrest,  232 

2686-87 

GLASS, 

GROG, 

HAPPINESS, 

Purpose,  2805 

Expansion,    1134 

Navy,  2395 

Balance,  308 

Radiation,  2818 

GLORY,    1383-84 

GROTTO, 

Enjoyment,  1023-25 

Reserve,  2881 

Corona,  664 

Architecture,  224 

Family,   1200-03 

Rivers,  2927 

Limits,  1969 

GROUSE, 

Fire,  1244 

"Sleep"     of     plants 

Splendor,  3184 

Adaptation,  64 

Jov,  1779-81 

3127 

GNOSTICS, 

GROWTH,  1406-13 

Pain,  2496-97 

Source,  3156 

World,  3776 

Advance,  78-90 

Unity,   3550 

Stone,  3234 

GOD,  1385 

Change,  455-80 

HARMONY, 

Sun,    3295-98,    3300- 

Adjustment,  76 

Continents,  3130 

Animals,  178 

05,  3307 

Agnosticism,  116 

Correlation,  667 

Artist,  238 

Temperature,  3371-73 

Anthropormorphism  , 
184-85 

Design,  783 
Discovery,  842-44 

Attention,  285 
Beauty,  320 

Transformation,  3464 
Transmission,  3476 

Atheism,   264-65 

Ends,   1005 

Brilliancy,  407 

Truth,  3497 

Belief,  357 

Endurance,  1007 

Choice,  492 

Waste,  3695 

Condemnation,  580 

Geometry,  1361 

Convergence,  650 

Water,  3699 

Creation,     682,     685, 

Introspection,  1747 

Correspondence,  669- 

Waves,  3715 

688,  693 

Islands,  1772 

74 

World,  3778 

Creator,  694 

Law,  1846 

Government,  1395 

(See     also     CLIMATE; 

Definitions,  749 

Lead-fronds,  1863 

Life,   1906 

COLD;  FIRE;  FUEL; 

Denial,  768 

Life,  1886 

Motion,  2268 

RADIATION  ;     SPEC- 

Dependence, 772 

Movement,  2281  ,  2286 

Triumph,  3486 

TRUM  ;   SUN;  TEM- 

Fatherhood, 1211-12 

-87 

HASHISH, 

PERATURE  ;  T  R  o  P  - 

Future,  1336 
Law,  1838,  1859-60 

Multiplication,   2296- 
98 

Perception,   2542 
Volition,  3677 

ICS.) 

HEAT  AND  COLD, 

Infinity,  1655 

Organs,  2480 

HEALING, 

Partnership,  2513 

Miracle,  2218 

Power,  2674 

Mind,  2192 

HEART, 

Nature,  2360 

Progress.  2748-60 

HEALTH, 

Change,  465 

Omniscience,  2454 

Slowness,  3130 

Bacteriology,  306 

Intellect,    1712 

Revelation,  2905-06 

Spontaneousness,  3  185 

Dependence,  774 

HEAVENS, 

Science,  2996 

Theories,  3391 

Ecstacy,  964 

Structure,   3257 

Soul,  3149 

(See  also    INCREASE.) 

Joy,  1779 

Theories,   3392 

Uniformity,  3513 

GULF,  1414-16 

Memory,  2138 

Variety,  3611-16 

(See    aso      CREATOR; 

Consciousness,    598, 

HEARING, 

Vault,    3626 

DEITY;   DESIGN  ; 

606,  2256,  2281. 

Adjustment,  74 

(See     also     ASTRON- 

INTELLECT ;    P  u  R- 

Inorganic,  the,    1416, 

Delicacy,  758 

OMY  ;     ECLIPS  E  ; 

POSE;  UNIVERSE.) 

2515,  3774 

Sense,  3070 

MOON;    PLANETS; 

GODS, 

Intellect,  1710 

HEAT,  1451-68 

SKY;  STARS:  SUM.) 

Antiquity,  198 

Man.  2020 

Agent,  106 

HEIGHT, 

(See   also    IDOLATRY; 

(See  also  APE  ;  BRAIN  ; 

Atmosphere,  268 

Relativity,  2858 

WORSHIP.) 

B  R  tr  T  E  ;    CHASM  ; 

Animals,  178 

Respiration,  2884 

GORILLA, 

C  0  N  8  C  I  0  USNES8  ; 

Atoms,  279-80 

(See  also  ELEVATION; 

Origin,  2485 

INTELLECT;     LIFE: 

Attraction,  288 

MOUNTAINS  ;      U  P  - 

Stories,  3238 

MAN  ;     MIND  ;    NA- 

Barrenness, 312 

LIFTING.) 

GOVERNMENT, 

TURE.) 

Bombardment,  393 

HELL, 

Authority,  291 

GUIDE,    NEGLECTED, 

Brain,  396-97 

Character,  481 

Exploration,  1155 

Purpose.  2802 

Cause,  436 

HELPLESSNESS,  1471-75 

Heredity,  1490 

Coal,  528 

Earth,  937 

Law,  1848,  1855 

Compensation,  561 

Earthquake,   952-55 

Problem,   2735 

HABIT,  1418-23 

Concentration,    575 

Infancy,  1648-50 

(See  also  CIVILIZATION; 

Automatism,  294 

Conservation,  611-14 

Inhumanity,   1678 

FREEDOM;      LAW; 

Change,  464 

Contraction,    632-33 

Man,  2059 

SOCIETY;  O.^DER.) 

Conquest,  1419,  1422 

Contrast,  637 

Parasite,  2504,  2506- 

GRANARIES, 

Conscience,  595 

Darkness,  725,  727 

07 

Anticipations,  187 

Decision,  745 

Delusions,   765 

HEREDITY,  1479-94 

Ants,    207 

Diseases,  864 

Density,  769 

Advantages,  95 

Food,  1272 

Facility,  1179 

Deserts,  781 

Alcohol,  135,  139 

GRAVITATION,  1399-1404 

Heredity,  1479,  1481- 

Destruction,   795 

Deviations,  815 

Advance,  86 

91 

Disintegration,     867- 

Germ,  1362 

Cause,  437 

Imperiousness,    1593 

68 

Habit,  1420 

Change,  456 

Impulse,  1603 

Division,  888 

Hunting,    1519 

Comprehensiveness  , 

Life,  1909 

Effect,  979 

Individuality,  1629 

570 

Limitation,    1962 

Electricity,  1048, 

Inheritance,  1675-77 

Discovery,  853 

Man,  2055 

1453,  1455 

Instincts,  1705 

Distance,  878 

Morality,  2242-43 

Energy,   1012 

Interest    1737 

Earth,  946 

Name,  2352 

Equivalence,  1048 

Intoxication,  1746 

Epoch,  1043 

Negation,  2402 

Exactness,  1118 

Language,  1814,  1821 

Experiment,   1149 

Persistence,   2659, 

Extension,  1161 

Man,  2056.  2069 

Force,  1281,  1293-94 

2569 

Extremes,   1170-71 

Mystery,    2323 

Forces,  1303 

Pledge,  2632 

Fire,  1244 

Reversion,  2914 

Harmonv,  1439,  1441 

Philosophv,  2584 

Food,      1262,      1276. 

Transmission.  3477 

Law,  1839,  1841,  1849 

Power,  2675 

1278-79 

(See     also     INHERIT- 

1850-51 

Readiness,  2826 

Foods,  1279 

ANCE.) 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


885 


HERDS, 

HUMANITY, 

ICE, 

IMAGES, 

Cooperation,  658 

Civilization,  505 

Water,  3698-3709 

Mind,  2206 

(See    also     GREGARI- 

Discovery,  849 

(See      also      GLACIAL 

(See    also   IDOLATRY; 

OUSNESS. 

Duty,  922 

EPOCH;  GLACIER.) 

WORSHIP.) 

HEROISM, 

Evolution,  1098 

ICEBERGS, 

IMAGINATION,    1569-81 

Psychology,  2783 
HETEROGENESIS, 

Hope,  1506 
Immortality,  1587 

Beauty,  317 
ICE-FLOES, 

Accuracy,  18 
Excitement,  1130 

Generation,  1343 

Inequality,  1646 

Mirage,  2219 

Illusion,  1556-67 

Microscope,  2171 

Labor,  1803 

IDEA, 

Images,  1568 

(See   also    ABIOGENE- 

Man,  2017-79 

Conception,  576-78 

Impersonation,  1594- 

sis;  BIOGENESIS; 

Mind,  2210 

IDEAL, 

95 

GENERATION,  SPON- 

Necessity, 2399 

Beauty,  327-28 

Man,  2039 

TANEOUS.) 

Neglect,  2404 

Condemnation,  580 

Myths,  2350 

HIEROGLYPHICS, 

Picture-writing,    2601 

Neighbor,  2405 
Oppression,  2461 

Crucifying,  703 
Pursuit,  2809 

Phantoms,  2578 
Power,  2677 

Writing,  3791 

Outcasts,  2493 

Recognition,  2838 

Qualifications,  2812 

HIBERNATION, 

Plan,  2609 

Theories,  3389 

Savages,  2957 

Extremes,  1172 

Progress,  2753-54 

IDEALISM, 

Science,  2978 

Watchfulness,  3697 

Race,  2816-17 

Materialism,  2094 

Severity   3088 

HILL, 

Vastness,  3625 

Teachableness,   3362 
Utility,  3585 

IDEALS, 

Morality,  2242 

Sympathy,  3349 
IMBECILES, 

HILLS, 

HUMBLEST, 

IDEAS,  1544-47 

Criminals,  698 

Limestone,  1955 

Preciousness,  2704 

Advance,  82 

IMBECILITY, 

Path,  2520 

HUMILITY, 

Association,  244-45 

Alcohol,  135 

(See  also  MOUNTAINS.) 

Knowledge,  1793 

Consciousness,  600 

IMITATION,  1582-84 

HINDRANCE, 

Peril,  2557 

Language,  1815 

Allurement,  145 

Authority,  290 

Scientist,  3018 

Soul,  3148 

Armor,  229 

Progress,   2757 

Wisdom,  3747 

Thought,   3420-26 

Flavors,  1257 

HINDRANCES, 

HUMMING-BIRD, 

Vagueness,  3591 

Mimicry,  2178-84 

Science,  2965 

Beauty,  325-26,  334 

(See  also  EXACTNESS; 

Play,  2627,  2629 

Sympathy,  3348 
HISTORY,     1496-1500 

Improvement,  1602 
HUMMING-BIRDS, 

IMAGINATION  ;    I  N  - 
TELLECT  ;    INTELLI- 

Speech,  3175 
IMMANENCE, 

Ages,  112 

Peculiarities,  2530 

GENCE;    MIND£ 

Creation,  682,  685,  688 

Antiquity,  192 

HUNGER, 

THOUGHT.) 

God,  1386-88 

Civilization,  499-500 

Alcohol,  140 

IDENTIFICATION, 

IMMENSITY, 

Constancy,  616 

HUNTING, 

Patience,  2524 

Presence,  2716 

Creation,  687 

Instinct,  1696 

IDENTITY, 

Theories,  3390 

Discovery,  845 

HURRICANES, 

Consciousness,  600 

IMMORTALITY,    1586-87 

Emotion,  1001 

Sun,  3297 

Memory,  2142 

Belief,  353-54 

Geology,  1355 

HYBRIDISM, 

IDIOCY,  1549 

Contempt,  626 

Horizon,  1508 

Humming-birds,  1517 

Heredity,  1479,  1492 

Life,  1879,  1886,  1891 

Influence,  1668 

HYDROGEN, 

IDIOTS, 

Science,  2975 

Intuitions,  1748 

Conflagration,  583-84 

Education,    969-70 

IMMUNITY, 

Laws,  1854 

HYGIENE, 

IDLENESS, 

Resistance,  2882 

Meaning,   2123 

Knowledge,  1792 

Parasitism,   2506-07 

IMMUTABILITY, 

Monuments,   2238 

HYPOCRISY, 

IDOLATRY, 

Uniformity,  3513 

Progress,   2753 
HOME,  1501-03 
Civilization,  506 

Degeneracy,  752 
HYPOTHESIS,  1521-28 
Agnosticism,  116 

Civilization,  499 
Gods,  1390 
Personality,  2575 

IMPATIENCE, 

Suspense,  3342 
IMPERFECTION,  1589-92 

Difficulty,   831 

Assumption,   247-48 

Science,  2980 

Limit,  1956,  1958-60 

Domesticity,  901 

Certainty,  448 

IDOLS, 

Limitation,  1961 

Family,  1200-03 
Hearth,  1450 

Facts,  1184 
Failure,  1191 

Sculpture,  3021 
IDOL-WORSHIP, 

Limits,  1963-76 
IMPENETR  ABILITY, 

Man,  2077 

Materialism,  2099 

Objects,  2435 

Nature,  2387 

Maternity,  2105-06 
Motherhood,  2251-53 

Matter,  2116 
Problem,  2738 

IGNORANCE, 

Actions,  30 

Materialism,  2094 
IMPERFECTION, 

Music,  2303 

Science,  2986 

Agnosticism,  113-16 

Infirmity,    1660-61 

Sex,  3091-92 

Theory,    3387-3415 

Application,  217 

Limits,  1963-76 

Subsistence,    3284 

(See  also  THEORY.) 

Artist,  237 

IMPERFECTIONS, 

HOMELESSNESS, 

HYPOTHESIS,  NEBULAR, 

Evil,  1092 

Criticism,  700 

Man,  2059 

1525-27 

Sense,    3068 

Limit,  1958,  1960 

HOMES, 

Objection,  2433-34 

ILLUSION,  1556-67 

IMPERIOUSNESS, 

Architecture,  221 

Universe,  3565 

Aberration,  1 

Habit,  1422,  1426 

Cause,  434 

HYPNOTISM,   1520-21 

Appeal,  213 

IMPERSONATION,    1594- 

Dwellings,  923-24 

Habit,  1421 

Actor,  37 

95 

Nests,  2411 
HONESTY, 
Freedom,  1326 
Surrender,  3336 

Psychology,  2782 
HYSTERIA, 
Sensations,  3062 

Consciousness,  602 
Delusion,  762-65 
Enjoyment,  1023 
Faintness,  1194 

Actor,  37 
IMPLEMENTS,  1595 
Appliances,  216 
Ax   302 

HONOR, 

Hallucination,  1431 

Code,  529 

ICE,  1529-43 

Imagination,  1570 

.Hammer,  14o2 
Knives   1788 

HOPE,  1505-07 
Affections,  99 

Attraction,  288 
Beaut  v,  335 

1573,  1578,  1580 
Mind,  2193 

Industry,  1643-44 

Condemnation,  580 

Cutting,  715 

Mirage,  2219 

Ingenuity,  1673 
Net    94  1  2 

Expectation,  1135-36 

Debt,  740 

Motion,  2254 

HOPEFULNESS, 
Expectation,  1135-37 
Science,  1507,  2987 
HOPELESSNESS, 
Agnosticism,  115 

Difference,  821 
Discovery,  854 
Extremes,  1170 
Fire,  1243 
Force,  1291-92 

Nearness,  2396 
Perception,  2541 
Repose,  2877 
Senses,  3071 
Shadow,  3095 

Stone  Age,  3233 
Taste,  3358 
Tools,  3443-45 
(See    also    INSTRU- 

Atheism,  264 

Forests,  1308 

Suggestion,   3292-93 

ME  NTS,) 

HOPES, 

Freezing,   1329-32 

(See  also  DELUSIONS; 

IMPOSITION, 

Visions,  3658 
HOSPITALS, 

Impurities,  1607 
Influence,  1669 

IMAGINATION; 
MEMORY.) 

Egypt,  983-84 
IMPOSTURE,  1597 

Cleanliness,  516-17 

Pressure,  2723-24 

ILLUSIONS, 

Credulity,  696 

(See  also  ANAESTHET- 

Regelation, 2857 

Belief,  355 

(See   also   DELUSION; 

ICS  ;     BACTERIA; 

Rivers,  2928 

Correction,  666 

ILLUSION;  MIM- 

DISEASE ;  DISINFEC- 

Sagacity, 2946-47 

Facts,  1183,  1185-86 

ICRY.) 

TION;  GERMS.) 

"  Sunny  France,"  3309 

Phantoms,  2577-78 

IMPREGNABILITY, 

HOST, 

Thirst,  3419 

Responsibility,  2888 

Religion,  2864 

Stars,  3207 

Towers,  3447 

Surrender,  3336 

IMPRESSION,     1598-1600 

HUMANITY,  1513-15 
Brotherhood,  409 

Track,  3448 
Water,  3698 

IMAGE 
Rainbow,  2822 

Faintness,  1194 
Influence,  1662-71 

886 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


IMPRESSIONS, 

INDIVIDUALITY,  1629-35 

INFINITESIMAL,  THE 

INSANITY, 

Change,  470 

Belief,  356 

Minuteness,  2216 

Mania,  2060 

Correction,  666 

Cell,  446 

Molecules,  2233 

Mind    2189 

Education,  967 

Conscience,  596 

Parallax,  2503 

Miser'  2221 

Magnitude,  2012 

Consciousness,    601, 

Paiticles,  2510-12 

Order    2463 

Mind,  2206 

607 

Size,  3115 

Will    3734 

(See     also     ASSOCIA- 
TION ;    ATTENTION. 

Development,  803 
Extension,  1158 

Sky,  3123 
Value,  3598 

INSCRIPTIONS, 
Records   2846 

CRAMMING  ;    E  D  u- 

Family,  1199 

Vegetation,  3629 

INSECT, 

CATIO  N;     EYE  5 

Industry,  1644 

INFINITY,  1654-59 

Allurement,  145 

HEARING;  MIND; 

Infancy,  1648 

Change,  457 

Deli^acv.  757 

VISION.) 
IMPROVEMENT, 

Initiative,  1679 
Life,  1885,  1889,  1903 

Conception.  576-77 
Exactness,  1113 

Dependence,  771 
Design,  782 

Advantages,  95 
Capacity,  420 

Personality,  2576 
Progress,  2754 

Infinitude,  1653 
Space,  3158-bO 

Entomologist,  1028 
Reflection.  2851 

Heredity,    1490-91, 

Science,  3003 

Stars,  3207 

Swiftness    3344 

1493-94 

Secretiveness,  3028 

Time,  3438 

INSECTS,  1682-88 

Progress,  2748-60 
Race,  2816-17 

Self,  3054 
Universe,  3563 

Astronomy,  252 
Faith,  1197 

Adaptation,  50 
Agency,  105 

Savage,  2954 
IMPULSE,  1602-06 

Varietv,  3622 
INDUCTION,  1636-38 

INFIRMITY,  1660-61 
Color  blindness,  542 

Ants,  203-10 
Architecture,  221 

Accumulation,  14-16 

Advance,  81 

Frenzy,  1333 

Checks    484 

Action.  21 

INDULGENCE,  1639 

Imperfection,       15i>9, 

Color,  537 

Association,  246 
Limitation,  1962 

INDUSTRIES, 
Adaptation,  49 

1592 
INFLUENCE, 

Compensation,   562 
Cooperation,  660 

Prayer,  2700 
Subsistence,  3284 

Nature,  2357 
Navigation,  2392 

Beauty.  333 
Consciousness,  608 

Credulity  .  696 
Defense,  750 

(See  also   AFFECTION  ; 

Tools,  3443-45 

Contemplation,  625 

Design,  784 

FEELING;  INSTINCT  ; 

INDUSTRY, 

Dependence,  772-74 

Destruction,   797 

INTELLECT;  MIGRA- 

Ants, 207-08 

Dream-life,  908 

Duration,  912 

TION;    MIND;   PAS- 

Civilization, 511 

Earth  934 

Expenditure,  1138 

SION;     SENSATION  ; 

Concentration,  574 

Organs    2480 

Experience,  1139 

WILL. 

Crows,  702 

Power,  2665 

Experiment.  1146 

IMPULSES, 

Forces,  1298 

Will,  3740 

Famine,  1204-05 

Composition,  569 

Genius,  1346-47 

Woman,  3749 

Farming,  1206 

Instincts,  1708 

Insects,  1687 

INGENUITY,  1672-73 

Fascination,  1207 

Theory.  3408 

Instincts,  1707 

Substitutes,  3285-86 

Grain,  1397 

Summation,  3294 

Invention,  1754 

INHABITANTS. 

Hawk,  1445 

(See    also    FEELINGS; 

Investigation,  1761 

Worlds,  Other,  3781- 

Hearing,  1449 

PASSIONS.) 

Labor,  1802-03 

83 

Help,  1470 

IMPULSIVENESS, 

Law,  1853 

INHERITANCE,  1675-77 

Helplessness    1475 

Power,  2659 

Leaves,  1869 

Mystery.  2311 

Heights.  1469 

INACTION, 

Man,  2033 

Nature,  2385 

Humming-birds,  1518 

Degeneration,  754-55 
INACTIVITY, 

Organization,     2473- 

74 

(See  also  HEREDITY.) 
INHIBITIONS 

Industry,  1640,  1642 
Intelligence,  1722 

Faculties,  1188 
INATTENTION, 

Science,    2970,    2989, 
2991 

Energy,  1010 
(See  also   ACTION  ; 

Learning.  1867 
Leaves,,  1869 

Failure,  1190 

Sewing,  3089-90 

CONSCIENCE;     MO- 

Life, 1877,  1889,  1920 

INACCURACY, 

Truth,  3498 

TIVES;  WILL.) 

March,  2083 

Astronomy,  255 

INDUSTRY,  1640-45 

INITIATIVE,  1679 

Maternity,  2106 

Error,  1050 

Work,  3762-70 

Originators,  2491 

Mimicry,  2178,  2180- 

Evidence,  1090 

INFANCY, 

Pledge,  2632 

82  2184 

INCANDESCENCE,  1610- 

Animals,  181 

Volition.  3675 

Mind,  2194,  2197 

11 

Care,  424 

(See  also  ACTION? 

Nature.  2359,  2376 

INCONCEIVABLE,  THE, 

Effect,  980 

BEGINNING.) 

Observation,  2438 

Science,  2996 

Family,  1203 

INJURY 

Organs,  2476 

INCONSISTENCY, 

Heplessness,  1472-74 

Brain,  404 

Parasite,  2505 

Intolerance,  1740 

Intelligence,  1727 

Moon,  2240 

Perfection,  2545-46 

INCREASE,  1614-20 

Longevity,  1986 

(See    also    ALCOHOL; 

Plan,  2611 

Checks,  484 

Solitude.  3144 

BACTERIA;    DAN- 

Power, 2072 

Effect,  973-77 

Tutelage,  3504 

GER  ;    DEATH  :   DE- 

Prevision, 2725-26-27 

Error,  1050 
Excess,  1129 

Vagueness.  3591 
INFANTICIDE, 

STRUCTION  ;    DIS- 
EASE;   EARTH- 

Protection, 2770 
Purpose,  2806 

Exemption,  1131 

Vices,  3642 

QUAKE;    EVIL;  IN- 

Reasoning, 2831-32 

Life,  1882 

INFANTS, 

SANITY;  INTEMPER- 

Royalty, 2939 

Microbes.  2168 

Carelessness,  422 

ANCE  ;    LIGHTNING  ; 

Sagacity,  2945 

Mind,  2186 

INFECTION, 

VOLCANO.) 

Scavengers,  2961 

Multiplication,   2296- 

Contagion,  622 

INORGANIC 

Shore,  3100 

98 

Health,  1446 

Gulf,  1416 

Tenderness,  3375 

Reproduction,    2878- 

Lockjaw,   1980 

(See  also    ABIOGENE- 

Theory,  3410 

79 

Mystery,  2338 

s  is;     BIOGENESIS; 

Thoughtlessness,  3427 

Reverence,  2911 

Resistance.  2882 

CONSCIOU  SNE88  J 

Transformation  ,  3459 

Time,  3430 

Security.  3031-32 

GENESIS;      LIFE; 

Vovagers,  3679-81 

INDECISION, 

Victim,  3644 

MIND;  MYSTERY  ; 

War,  3686 

Error,  1051 

INFERENCE, 

SOUL.) 

Water    3700 

INDEPENDENCE, 

Reasonirg,  2831-33 

INOCULATION, 

Work,  3767 

Agreement,  117 
Animals,  177,  181 
Character,  482 
Isolation,  1774-75 

S?ns^,  3071 
INFERENCES, 
Conditions,  581 
INFEKNO, 

Sacrifice.  2942 
INQUIRY. 
Nature.  2370 
INSANITY,  1681 

INSL  CT-DESTRG  YERS, 

Usefulness,  3570 
INSECT-ENEMIES, 

Oripin,  2490 

Nature,  2372 

Alcohol,  134 

Plants,  2622 

Science,  2988 

INFIDELITY, 

Belief   355 

INSECT-FOOD, 

INDEPENDENCE,  1622 

Intolerance,  1740 

Body,  389 

Plant   2616 

Will,  3736 
INDESTRUCTIBILITY, 

INFINITE,  THE, 
Earnestness.  926 

Brain,  404 
Chance,  452 

INSECURITY, 

Instability,  1694 

1623-24 

Infinity,  1655 

Cruelty,  703 

Protection,  2777 

Individuality,  1630 

Limits,  1970-72 

Dream,  907 

Senses,  3072 

INDIANS, 

Man,  2064 

Fienzv,  1333 

INSENSIBILITY, 

Adaptation,  55 

INFINITESIMAL,  THE 

Heredity,  1479,  1492 

Beauties,  310 

Copper,  662 
INDIVIDUAL, 

Germs,  1372 
Law,  1839 

Inheritance,  1675 
Intoxication,  1745-46 

Death,  730 
Preoccupation    2714 

Development,  808 

Limits,  1970 

Kleptomania,   1787 

Sleep,  3129 

Race,  2816 

Microscope.  2172 

Life.  1875 

Soul,  3150 

TOPICS    WITH    CKOSS-PvEFERENCES 


887 


INSIGHT.  1691 

INTELLECT, 

INTERPRETATION, 

IRON, 

Poetic,  2634 

Hand,  1433 

Evolution  ,  1099 

Knives,  1788 

Reading  of  Character, 

Ideas,  1544-47 

Nerves,  2409 

Magnet,  2008-09 

2827 

Incompatibility,  1613 

Perfection    2554 

Metals,  2154 

Scientific,  1579 

Instinct,  1695-1708 

Senses,  3065,  3071-73 

Molecules,  2234 

INSPIRATION,  1692-93 

Language,    1812-35 

Sight,  3102 

Motion,  2258 

Intuitions.  1749 

Mind,  2185-2212 

Solidity,  3142 

Nature,  2386 

Magnet,  2008 

Po^er,  2676 

INTERRUPTION, 

Pentateuch,  2535 

INSTABILITY, 

Spontaneousness,  31S6 

Uniformity,  3514 

Steel,  3227 

Earth-crust,  947-50 

(See  also  MIND; 

INTOLERANCE,    1740-44 

(See    also    BRONZE. 

Earthquake,  952-955 

THOUGHT.) 

Bigotry,  364 

AGE  ;    FIRE  ;    MET- 

Insecurity, 1689 

INTELLIGENCE,  1716-30 

Creation,  692 

ALS;  STEEL;  STONE- 

INSTRUCTION, 

Adaptation,  51 

Facts,  1184 

AGE.) 

Education,  967-72 

Animals,  169 

Science   2969 

IRON  AGE, 

Learning,  1806 

Automatism,  293 

Theologv,  3385 

Transition,  3468 

Science,  2991 

BJCS,  342 

INTOXICATION, 

IRRESOLUTION, 

INSTRUMENT, 

Camel,  *17 

Alcohol,  132-35,  139- 

Dread,  906 

Man,  2032 

Care,  423 

142 

Doubt,  904 

INSTRUMENTS. 

Certainty,  449 

Crime,  697 

Failure,  1192 

Appliances.  216 

Chemistry.  486 

Insanity.  1745-46 

Intemperance,  1731 

Astronomy,  257,  263 

Combination,  552 

Intemperance     1745- 

ISOLATION, 

Differences,  827 

Convolutions,  651 

46 

Alliance,  144 

Epoch,  1043 

Cry,  706 

Navy,  2395 

Dangers,  724 

Exactness,  1112,  1118 

Currents,  713 

Temperance,  3370 

(See  also  FAMILY;  So 

-19,  1123 

Design,  786-90 

Will,  3734 

CIETY;  SOLITUDE.  > 

Extension,  1159 

Effect,  973 

(See  also  ALCOHOL.) 

Fire,   1235,  1237-39, 

Feeling,  1217-19 

INTUITION. 

1243 
Genius,  1346 

Force,  1282 
Indestructibility,  1624 

Expert,  1154 
INTUITIONS, 

JEWELS, 
Skeleton,  3117 

Glory,  1384 

Initiative,  1679 

Certainty,  450 

JOY,  1779-81 

Imperfection,    1590 

Instinct,  1695-1708 

INUNDATIONS, 

Contemplation,  625 

Influence,  1671 

Knowledge,  1789-1801 

Superstition,  3319 

Ecstasy,  964 

Invention,  1750-51, 

Man,    1716-17,  1727- 

INVENTION,  1750-59 

Enjoyment,  1023-25 

1754-55,1757,1759 

30,  1784 

Accident,  7,  8.  12 

Love,  1995 

Light,  1931 

Mind,  2185-2212 

Cooking,  656 

Pain,  2496-97 

Limit,  1959 

Monkey,  2235 

Disc  overy,  842-44, 

Sorrow,  3145 

Mariner's,  2084-85 

Organs,  2476 

846 

JUDGMENT,  1782 

Science,  2972 

Purpose,  2803 

Fire,  1235-39 

Condemnation,  580 

Soap-bubble  3134 

Reasoning,    2831-32 

Leaven,  1868 

Constancy,  616 

Telegraph,  3364-65 

Sagacitv,  2944-47 

Mathematics,  2108-09 

Discrimination,  861 

Telephone,  3367 
Tools,  3143-45 

Stupidity,  3273,  3275 
(See  also  BRAIN;  CRE- 

Nature, 2359 
Originators,  2491 

Hypnotism,  1520 
Reasoning,  2831-33 

Velocity,  3630 

ATOR  ;     INTELLECT  ; 

Powers,     Mechanical, 

Reflection,  2851 

(See  also  APPARATUS; 

KNOW  L  EDGEJ 

2694-95 

Senses,  3073 

ELECTRICITY;    IM- 

MIND.) 

Printing,  2732 

JUDGMENT,  DAY  OF, 

PLEMENTS;  MA- 
CHINE ;  MECHANICS  ; 
MICROSCOPE;  SPEC- 
TROSCOPE ;    TELES- 

INTELLIGENCE, ANIMAL 
Animals,     384,     423, 
552.  1718-26,2235, 
3279    3570 

Scales,  2960 
Sex,  3091 
Utility,  3580 
Women,  3757 

Record,  2844 
JUSTICE, 
Blood,   Avenger      of, 
381 

COPE.) 
INSTINCT,  1695-1708 

Brain,  51,  651 
Exactness    1115 

Wheel,  3726 
INVENTIONS, 

K 

Animals,  168-69 
Blindness,  376 
Cause,  434 

INTEMPERANCE,  1731-32 
Alcohol,  132-35,  141- 

Similarity,  3108 
INVENTOR, 
Perseverance,  2565 

KEENNESS, 
Senses,  3074-77 
KINDNESS, 

Certainty,  449 
Consciousness,  601-10 
Cooperation,  657 
Cry,  706 
Death,  736 
Dependence,  771 
Direction,  837 
Fear,  1215 
Flight,  1258 

42 

Alcoholism,  138 
Automatism,  296 
Idiocy,  1549 
Indulgence,  1639 
Intoxication,  1745-46 
Name,  2352 
Spirits,  3182 
Temperance,  3370 

INVENTORS, 
Rewards,  2916 
INVESTIGATION,  1760-64 
Authority,  290 
Contemplation,  624 
Courage,  678 
Exploration,   1155-56 
Incredulity,  1621 
Man,  2075 

Superstition,  3323 
KINDRED. 
Blood-brotherhood  , 
377 
Cry,  706 
Man,  2051 
(See    also     FAMILY; 
GREG  ARIOUSNESS  ; 
SOCIETY.) 

Heredity,  1481,  1486, 

Will,  3734 

Patience,  2522-27 

KINETIC  THEORY, 

1489 

INTENSITY, 

INVISIBLE,  THE,  1765 

Bombardment,  393 

Intellect,  1710-14 

Power,  2667 

Changes,  480 

(See  also  ATOMS; 

Learning,  1867 

Sansation,  3061 

Combustion,  555 

ATOMIC  THEORY; 

Life,  1909 

INTENTION, 

Correspondence,  670 

HEAT;  MOLECULAR 

Moth,  2250 

Motive,  2270 

Dependence,  774 

THEORY  ;    MOLECU- 

Nestlings, 2410 

Morality,  2246 

Destruction,  792,  801 

LES.) 

Obliteration    2436 
Perfection  2548-50 
Prevision,    2725-26 

Reason,  2829 
Results,  2900-03 
INTERCOURSE, 

Experiment.  1144 
Extension,  1161 
Faith,  1196 

KNOWLEDGE,  1789-1801 
Advance,   79-81,  85- 
87 

Stupidity,   3272-74 
Transmission,  3477 
Walking,  3683 

Progress,  2749 
INTEREST,  1735-37 
Attention,  283-285 

Force,  1280-1303 
Genius,  1353 
Man.  2064 

Agreement,  118 
Anthropomorphism  , 
185 

(See    also     ANIMALS  ; 
FEAR;  FLIGHT;  MI- 

Awakening, 300-301 
Memory,  2140 

Particles,  2510-12 
Perception,  2537 

Application,  217 
Arabs,  218 

GRATION  j  MIMICRY; 

Nature,  2376 

Photography  ,  2594-95 

Astronomy,  252 

NESTS.) 

Obliteration,  2437 

Power,  2682-87 

Brain,  404 

INSTINCTS, 

Opportunity,  2457 

Purity,  2792-93 

Causes,  439 

Inheritance    1677 
Man,  2055  ,-56 
INSURANCE, 

Self,  3054 
INTERFERENCE, 
Beaut  v,  339 

Recognition,  2839 
Voyagers.  3678 
Wind,  3741 

Contemplation,  624 
Darkness,  726 
Difficulty,  833 

Selfishness,  3058 

Colors,  545,  549 

World,  3777 

Error,  1051-52 

INTELLECT,  1710-15 

Light,  1933 

INVISIBILITY, 

Extension.  1159 

Advance,  85 

Silence,  3106 

Minerals,  2213 

Facts,  1187 

Ascent,  240 

Sound,   3152 

Moth,  2249-50 

Heredity,  1481 

Beauty,  334 
Convolutions,  651 
Criminals,  698 

Survival,  3338-39 
Twinkling,  3505 
Waves,  3714 

Ostrich,  2492 
Stars,  3222-23 
IRON. 

Ignorance,  1550-54 
Inspiration,  1692 
Limits    1963-76 

Emotion,  1001-02 
Genius,  1346-53 

INTERPRETATION, 

Caution,  440 

Barbarians,  308 
Force,  1292 

Man,  2067,  2075 
Politics,  2644 

888 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


KNOWLEDGE, 

LANGUAGE, 

LEARNING, 

LIFE, 

Pride.  2729 

Variety,  3623 

Advance,  86 

Law,  1846 

Printing,  2732 

(See  also  ANIMALS; 

Arabs,  219 

Light,  1936 

Probperity,  2768 

NOMENCLA  TURE  ; 

Debt,  738 

Lisbon,  1978 

Race,  2817 

SPEECH;  WRITING.) 

Nature,  2365 

Longevity,  1986-87 

Reading  of  character, 

2827 

LANGUAGES, 
Man,  2024 

Originators,  2491 
Severitv,    3088 

Man,  1872,  1875,  1878 
-79,  1883-86,    1888, 

Recognition,  2835-39 

LAVA,  1836 

Teachableness,   3363 

1890-92,  1897,  1900 

Religion,  2970 

Extremes,  1170 

LEAVES, 

1906-13 

Reverence,  2911 

Fire,  1241* 

Clothing,  524 

Middle,  345,  835 

Science,  3012 

Fusion,  1334 

Leaf-tracery,  1864 

"  Mind,  2207 

Unity,  3531 
Utility,  3579 
Vagueness,  3591 
Writing,  3790 

Glass-making,     1382 
Hawaii,  1444 
Herculaneum,  1477 
Invention,  1758 

Life,  1897 
Purpose,  2799 
Radiation,  1874,  2818 
(See   also   PLANTS; 

Motion,  2260 
Mystery,  2317,  2325 
Naturalists,  2355 
Nature,  2385 

Mass    2092 

SLEEP.) 

Ocean,  2444-46 

Mountains     2278 

LENS, 

Ocean  depths,  2448 

LABOR, 

Movement    2282 

Ice,  1243 

Organism,   2466-67 

Cheapening,  483 
Civilization,  509 

Nature,  2382,  2386 
PrcsGrvfltion    2719 

Superstition,  3323 
LESS  FOR  GREATER, 

Organisms,    2468-72 
Organization,  2475 

Concentration,    574 
Division,  890 

Stream,  3247-48 

Sacrifice,  2941 
LEVEL,  CHANGES  OF 

Origin,   2482 
Plan,  2609 

Drudgery,  909 
Engineering,  1022 
Humanity,  1515 
Industry,  1640,  1642- 

VOLCANOES.) 
LAVA  AND  ICE, 
Paradox,   2502 

Earth,    931-32 
Earthquake,  952,  957 
LEVELLING, 
Avalanche,  298-99 

Plant,  2617-18 
Plasticity,  2624 
Preciousness,  2704 
Principle,  2730 

44 

LAW,  1837-62 

LIBERTY, 

Progress,   2755 

Instincts,  1707 

Anomalies,  182 

Problem,  2735 

Purification,  2791 

Law,  2735,  2775 

Blossoms,  383 

LIFE,  1870-1925 

Rise,  2923 

Organization,  2474 
Protection,    2775 

Bondage,  394 
Bubble,  410 

Adjustment,  71 
Advance,  90 

Science,  2978 
Seed-dispersal,    3033- 

Sex,  3091 

Chance,  454 

Activities,  32 

40 

(See    also    FREEDOM; 

Change,  455 

Age,    109-10 

Selection,  3044 

WORK.) 

Cheapening,  483 

Ages,  111-12 

Sight,  3103 

LABOR  AND  ART, 
Union,  3522 
LAKE, 

Christianity,  493 
Consistency,  615 
Constancy,  617-18 

Aggregate,  119 
Agnosticism,  115 
Air,  129 

Stars,  2264 
Stillness,  3230 
Sun,  3303-05 

Beauty,  330 

Continuity,  631 

Alcohol,  131 

Superstition,  3322 

Dust,  916 

Creation,  685 

Animals,  166,  172 

Tenacitv,  3374 

Fish,  1246 

Crystals,  708 

Antiquity,  193 

Tests,  3382 

Inundation,  1749 

Decay,  742 

Assumption,   247-48 

Universality,  3560 

Light,  1945 
Movement,    2282 
Mystery,  2306,  2320 
LAKE-DWELLERS, 

Disorders,   869 
Distance,  878 
Dominion,  903 
Edifice,  966 

Assumptions,  248 
Beginning,  344-45 
Belief,  352,  353-54 
Biology,  366 

Uproar,  3568 
Utility,  3581 
Vegetation,  3627-29 
Ventilation,  3635 

Agriculture,  121 
Antiquity,  196 

Embryo,  1000 
Expansion,    1133 

Blood,  378 
Body,  390-92 

Water,  3704 
Worlds,  Other,  3781- 

Industry,  1643 

Faith,  1196 

Bubble,  410 

83 

Organization,    2473 
LAKE-DWELLINGS,  1805 

Flame,  1256 
Force,      1284,      1296, 

Calmness,  416 
Capital,   421 

Wonders,  3758 
Zones,  Temperate, 

LAKES,  1806 
Fusion,  1334 

1300,  1305 
G>avitation,1399- 

Carelessness,  422 
Cause,  431 

3800 
(See     also    ANIMALS; 

Life,  1896,  1898 

1404 

Causes,  439 

BACTERIA;  GERMS; 

Permanence,  2563 

Humanity,  1515 

Cell,  445-47 

MAN;  PLANTS; 

LAKES  (SUBTERRANE- 
AN,) 

Idiocy,  1549 
Ignorance,  1550,  1554 

Change,  470,  472 
Changes,  479 

SEEDS;     STRUGGLE 
FOR  LIFE.) 

Fish,  1247-48 

Induction,  1637 

Character,  481 

LIFE,  COPIOUS, 

LAMP,   EVER-BURNING, 

Labor,  2775 

Child,  488 

Seeds,  3041 

Sun,  3300 

Leaf-m  ovements, 

Christianity,   495 

LIFE,  DOMESTIC, 

LAND, 

Continents,  627-30 

1842 
Leaps  in  Nature,  1845, 

Circulation,  497 
Civilization,  509 

Savages,  2958 
(See  also  AFFECTION; 

Interchange,    1733-34 

1865 

Cleanliness,  516-17 

LOVE;  HOME;  WO- 

Man, 2049 

Light,  1939 

Creation,  690 

MAN.) 

Sea-shells,  3025 

Limitation,  1961 

Creator,  694 

LIFE  FOR  OFFSPRING, 

Sea-waves,  3026 

Mystery,  2312 

Creatures,    695 

Self-sacrifice,  3059 

Subsidence,  3280-83 

Nature,  2358,     2371, 

Cycle,  716 

LIFE,  PRIMEVAL, 

Temperature,   3371 
Theory,  3401 
Exploration,  1155 

2381 
Order,  2462-65 
Phenomena,    2580, 

Death,    734-37 
Decay,  741 
Destruction,  796 

Savaprerv,  2955 
LIFE  vs.  PROPERTY, 

Selfishness,    3058 

Transitoriness,  3474 

2582 

Duration,  912 

LIFE,  SPIRITUAL, 

LANDSCAPE,   1811 

Problem,  2735 

Earth,  933,  937,  938 

Analogy,  157 

Individuality,  1632 
LANDSLIDES, 

Protection,  2772 
Relativity,  2858 

Earthquake,    953-54, 
956 

LIGHT,  1927-48 
Aberration,  1 

Tropics,  3494 

Revelation,  2905 

Effect,  973 

Advance,  79,86 

LANGUAGE,  1812-35 

Cry,  706 
Emotion,  1001-02 

Science,  1982 
Snow-crvstals,    3133 
Transfiguration,  3458 

Egg,  981 
Electricity,  991 
Embryo,  1000 

Advantage,  91 
Ambiguity,  152 
Authority,  292 

Evolution,  1108 

Uniformity,  3511-17 

Environment,     1040- 

Astronomy,  259 

Harvest,  1443 

Universe,  3562-66 

42 

Appliances,  216 

Imitation,  1583 

LAW  OF  CONTRARIES, 

Expectations,   1137 

Beauty,  340 

Memory,  2150 

Ice,  1534 

Extinction,    1167 

Changes,  474,  479 

Metaphor,  2158-59 

LAWS, 

Fact,  1181 

Clearness.  518 

Mind.  2198 

Evolution,  1104 

Facts,  1183 

Cloud,  526-27 

Name,  2352 

Mind,  2190 

Fermentation,  1221 

Colors,  544-50 

Perplexities,  2564 

Miracle,  2218 

Forces,  1304-05 

Color,  533-40 

Recitation,    2834 

Morals,  2248 

Forms,   1314-15 

Comets,   556 

Rhythm,  2917 

Organs,  2480 

Geology,    1360,  1409- 

Contradiction,  634 

Savage,  2954 

Records,  2846 

10 

Contrast,  638 

Science,  2984 

Science,  2985,  3002 

Growth.  1406-07 

Conservation,  611 

Severity,  3088 

LAXITY, 

Heroism,  1496 

Correspondence,  670 

Signification,  3104 

Code  of  honor,  529 

Illusion,   1558 

Corona,  664-65 

Transfer,  3457 

LEAF-MOVEMENTS, 

Ignorance,  1553 

Data,  731 

Unity,  3532 

Law,  1842 

Immortality,  1586-87 

Differences    824 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


889 


LIGHT, 

LIGHTNING, 

LOSS, 

MAMMALS, 

Directness,  838 
Distance,  877 

Telephone,    3367 
LIGHTNING-STROKE, 

Seeds,  3041 
Speech,  3174 

Victory,  3645 
MAMMOTH, 

Earth-light,  951 

Picture,  2600 

Stars,  3208 

Debt    740 

Education,  971 

LIKENESS,   1952-53 

Waste,  3691-96 

Discoverv      854 

Eclipse,  961 

Correspondence,  672 

LOVE,  1995-97 

Electricity,  992 
Errors,  1062,  1068-69 

Germs,   1368-70 
Maternity,  2106 

Affection,  97-98 
Animals,  177 

Superstition,  3318 

Ether,  1083-84 

Mind,  2202 

Courtship,  679 

MAN,  2077-79 

Extension,  1160 
Exactness,  1118,  1127 

Origin,  2481-82 
Unity,  3534 

Family,    1200-03 
Freeman,  1328 

Adaptation,  52,  62 
Adaptiveness,  69 

Fact,  1180 

LIMITATION,  1961-62 

Matter.  2113 

Age,  109-10 

Fish,  1249 

Area,  225 

Mother,     1649,    1997 

Ages,  112 

Forces,  1305 

Aspiration,  241 

2497,    3117,     3682, 

Agency,   102 

Glory,  1383-84 

Beauty,   340 

3752 

Air,  129 

Heat,  1462 

Bible,  363 

Woman,  3752 

Antiquity,  195 

Hypothesis,  1528 

Brain,  398-99 

LOVE  OF  TRUTH, 

Arrest,   230-31 

Illumination,  1555 

Education,  968,  970 

Science,  3013 

Ascent,  240 

Imperfection,   1589, 

Error,  1051-52 

LOVELESSNESS, 

Association,  246 

1590 

Fauna,  1213 

Progeny,    2747 

Automatism,    294-97 

Lamps,  1807 

Glory,     1384 

LOWER   FOR  HIGHER, 

Beauty,  320,  324,  333 

Law,  1840 

Habitat,  1425 

Sacrifice,   2941-42 

Beginning,  346 

Life,  1891 

Imagination,     1575 

LOWER  LIFE, 

Benefits,  360 

Mariners,  2086 

Instinct,    1695,    1697, 

Cooperation,  659 

Body,  388-90,  393 

Motion,  2268 

1701-02 

LUXURIANCE,    1998-09 

Body  and  mind,  387 

Mountains,  2277 

Knowledge,    1793-94, 

LUXURY, 

Brain,  400-04 

Movement,  2287 

1796,  1798 

Degeneracy,  2000 

Brotherhood,  409 

Mystery,    2326 
Nerves,  2408 

Man,  2034 
Mind,  2191,  2195-97 

Parasitism,    2506-07 

Causality,    426 
Character,  481 

Night,    2419 
Obstacles,  2441 

Perception,   2537-38 
Narrowness,  2353 

MACHINE,  2001-05 

Cheapening,    483 
Child-training,  489 

Ocean,  2445-46 

Psychology,  2785 

Automatism,  293 

Civilization,    498-512 

Particles,  2510-11 
Pathways,  2521 

Sense-perceptions  , 
3070 

Atmosphere,  269 
Balance,  307 

Climate,  523 
Comprehensiveness  , 

Penetration,   2534 

Tree,  3481 

Body,  390-93 

571 

Perception,  2540-41 

Uniformity,  3516 

Initiative,  1679 

Conscience,  595-97 

Phosphorescence  , 

Visions,  3658 

Man,  2018 

Constancy,  617 

2585-89 

LIMITATIONS, 

Power,  2662 

Contemplation,  625 

Photographv,  2591-95 
Polarization,  2643 

Intelligence,  1720, 
1724 

Progress,   275 
Science,  3002 

Contrasts,    642 
Degeneracy  ,    752 

Power,  2660,  2683 

Mystery,    2311 

MACHINES, 

Degeneration,  754-55- 

Precision,  2706-07 
Propagation,  2763 

Speech,  3175 
LIMIT,  1956-60 

Antiquity,  194 
MACHINERY, 

Destruction,     795-96, 
800 

Rainbow,  2822,  2852 
Reflection,  2851-52 

LIMITS,  1963-76 
Results,  2898 

Drudgery,   909 
Results,  2903 

Development,  804-05 
Device,  816 

Refraction,  2852-55 

Phrenology,  2596 

Work,  3765 

Differences,  826 

Science,  2999 

Science,  2995 

MAGIC, 

Difficulty,    834 

Secret,  3029-30 

LIMITS,  MENTAL, 

Fossils,  1317 

Disorders,    869 

Sensibility,  3079 

Animals,  169 

Illusions,    1567 

Division  of  labor,  892 

Sensitiveness,   3080 
Service,  3085 

LINK,  MISSING, 
Differences,  826 

Science,  2965 
MAGNANIMITY, 

Domestication,     900 
Dominion,  902-03 

Splendor,  3184 

Man,  2019-20,  2060 

Emulation,    1003 

Drudgery,   909 

Stars,    3210,    3212, 

LIQUID, 

MAGNET,    2007-09 

Earth,  941 

3220-21,  3223 
Star-colors,  3200-01 
Sun,  3295-3308 

Energy,  1021 
Signification,  3104 
LIQUORS, 

Amazement,   151 
Earth,  927 
Ends,  1006 

Earth-sculpture,  959 
Education,    967-72 
Emotion,  1001-02 

Sunset,  3310-11 

Man,  2073 

Worship,   3786 

Ends,  1006 

Sunshine,     3312-13 

(See  also  ALCOHOL  JIN- 

MAGNETIC  FIELD, 

Endurance,   1008 

Teaching,  3363 

TEMPERANCE  ;      IN- 

Atmosphere, 270-71 

Environment,     1030- 

Theories,  3391 

TOXICATION.) 

MAGNETISM, 

32,  1035-36,  1038- 

Twinkling,  3505 

LISTENING, 

Atmosphere,  270-71 

42 

Utility,  3580 

Attention,  285 

Conflagration,  586 

Evolution,  1101 

Velocity,  3630-31 

LITERATURE, 

Conservation,  611 

Eye,  1174 

Vision,   5652-56 

Materialism,  2097 

Exactness,  1118 

Family,    1200-03 

Waves,  3715-16 

LOCALITY, 

Faithfulness,  1198 

Fascination,  1207 

World,  3775 

Environment,  1030 

Force,  1286,  1287 

Fear,  1214 

Worlds,    3779-80 

Exactness,  1126 

Growth,  1411 

Food,  1262-64,  1269- 

(See    also    ELECTRIC- 

Instinct, 1701 

Influence,  1664-65 

79 

ITY;  FIRE;  FLAME; 

LOCOMOTION, 

Invention,  1755 

Force,  1282,  1289 

HEAT;  LIGHTNING; 

Animals,  167 

Loss,  1993 

Forces,  1298,  1300 

LIGHT-WAVES; 

Principles,  2731 

Mind,  2185 

Fossils,  1317 

MOON  ;    PHOSPHOR- 

Speed, 3181 

Molecules,  2234 

Future,  1335,  1338 

ESCENCE  ;  PLANETS  ; 

Traveling,  3480 

Plan,  2610 

Genius,  1346-53 

SOUND;  STARS; 

LODESTONE, 

Soul  in  stone,  3146 

Grandeur,  1398 

SUN;  VELOCITY: 

Magnet,  2007-08 

Unity,   3543 

Gulf,  1414-15 

WAVES.) 

LOGIC,  1982-84 

Utility,  3578 

Habit,  1418-23,  1426- 

LIGHT   AND    SOUND, 

Delusion,  762 

MAGNETS, 

28 

Analogy,    245,    1160, 

Reason,   2829-30 

Atoms,  278 

Hand,  1433 

3106 

Results,  2901 

MAINTENANCE, 

Helplessness,  1472-74 

Silence,  3106 

Science,  2981 

Creation,  682 

History,  1498,  1500 

LIGHT-WAVES, 

LONGEVITY,    1986-87 

MINUTENESS  OF  EARTH 

Humanity,  1513-15 

T  __  Minuteness,  2216 

LOSS,  1988-94 

Star-clusters,  3199 

Hunting,    1519 

LIGHTING,   1950 

Atrophy,   281-82 

MAJESTY, 

Imagination,  1569-81 

Light,  1929 

Degeneration,  754-55 

Beauty,  321-22 

Imitation,    1582-84 

Simplicity,  3110 

Development,  806 

MALE, 

Imperfection,    1589, 

LIGHTNING, 

Heat,  1457,  1459-61 

Difference,  820 

1592 

Action,  25 

Limbs,  1954 

Tasks,  3356 

Individuality,     1630- 

Beginning,  349 

Memory,  2144-45 

MALEVOLENCE, 

31,  1633,  1635 

Consciousness,    610 
Elements.    996 

Myths,   2344 
Nitrcgen,  2424 

Sacrifices,  2943 
MAMMALIA,  2013-16 

Industry,  1641,  1643- 
45 

Law,  1845 

Parasitism,    2506-07 

Advance,  82 

Infancy,  980,  1648-50 

Power,  2668 

Power,  2672 

Distribution,  882 

Instinct,  1699-70, 

Prediction,    2713 

Powers.   2696 

Life,  1883 

1707-08 

$90 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


MAN, 

MAN,  PRIMEVAL, 

MASS, 

MEASUREMENT, 

Intemperance,    1731- 

Home,    1501 

Value,  3599 

Sunshine,  3313 

32 

Intelligence,  1716-17, 

MATERIAL, 

Time,  3429,  3434,  3436 

Interest,  1737 

1729 

Space,  3161 

Velocity,  3630 

Introspection,  1747 

Invention,  1756 

MATERIAL    FOR    SPIR- 

(See   also    DISTANCE  ; 

Invention,  1752-59 

Night,  2419 

ITUAL, 

LIGHT;    LIGHT- 

Kingdom, 1785 

Polygamy,  2646 

Sacrifice,  2941 

WAVES;  STARS; 

Knowledge,  1789-1800 

Relics,  2862 

MATERIALISM.2094-2  1  04 

SUN.) 

Labor,  1802-03 

Savagery,  2955 

Consciousness,  598, 

MEAT, 

Language,   1812-35 

Skull,  3122 

609 

Purity,  2794 

Law,  1838,  1848,  1853 

Subsistence,  3284 

Education,  971 

MEAT-EATING, 

-62 

MAN,  PRIMITIVE,  2061- 

Evolution,  1099,  1102 

Man,  2027 

Limitation,    1961-62 

65 

Hope,  1505 

MECHANIC  ARTS, 

Limits,  1956-76 

Advance,  78,  88 

Humanity,  1514 

Adaptation,  49 

Locomotion,   1981 

Affection,  97-99 

Motion,  2256 

Advance,  78,  88 

Loneliness,  1985 

Agriculture,  120-25 

Physiology,  2599 

Geometry,  1361 

Love,    1995-96 

Altar.  149 

Purpose,  2807 

Industry,  1641 

Machine,  2004-05 

Anticipations,    187 

Results,  2901 

Navigation,  2392 

Mind,  2185-2212 

Arithmetic,  22S 

Science,  2988 

MECHANICS, 

Modifications,  2232 

Art,  233 

Superficiality,  3316 

Consciousness,  606 

Morality,  2241-47 

Ax,  302 

MATERNITY,  2105-06 

Dependence,  773 

Nation,    2354,    2303- 

Basket-making,  313 

Animals,  177 

Development,  811 

68,   2373,   2375-78, 

Bow,  395 

Altruism,  150 

Faith,  1196 

2389 

Brain,  403 

Care,  423-24 

Forces,  1298 

Necessity,  2398-99 

Calculation,  413 

Family,  1200-1203 

Formation,  1313 

Negation,  2402 

Cannibalism,  419 

Impulse,  1604 

Genius,  1350 

Organization,  2473-74 

Cave-men,  441 

Instinct,  1703 

Law,  1838,1855,  1858, 

O  igin,  195,    2043-44, 

Caves,  443 

Purpose,  2800 

1861 

2066,  2481,  3051 

Civilization,  500 

(See  also    MOTHER- 

Substitutes, 3285-86 

Originators,  2491 

Clothing,  524 

HOOD  ;  MOTHERS.) 

Thought,  3421 

Pain,  2496-97 

Communion,  558 

MATHEMATICS,   2109-12 

Triumph,  3490 

Perception,   2537-44 

Conquest,  593 

Accident,  6 

Universe,  3565 

Perfection,  2551-52 

Counting,  677 

Advance,  86 

Weight,  3724 

Play,  2026-27,  2629 

Day's  journey,  733 

Arithmetic,  228 

MECHANISM, 

Pleasure,  2630-31 

Earth-sculpture,  858 

Astronomy,  256 

Brain,  399 

Prayer,  2700-01 

Fire,  1237-39,  1242 

Counting,  677 

Mind,  2209 

Primitive,  365 

Genius,  1350 

Debt,  738 

Sight,  3103 

Psychology,  2782-88 

Hammer,  1432 

Decimals,  744 

Venus'  Fly-trap,  3637 

Race,   2815-17 

Ideas,  1546 

Demonstration,  767 

(See    also    MACHINE  ; 

Pieaction,  2825 

Industry,  1643 

Environment,  1031 

MACHINES.) 

Reality,  2828 
Religion,  2863-72 

Ingenuity,  1673 
Inventions,  1759 

Gambling,  1339 
Intellect,  1713 

MEDICINE, 
Blood-letting,  379 

Relics,  2861-62 

Knives,  1788 

Mind,  2200 

Brain,  397 

Respiration,  2884 

Lifting,  1926 

Opposites,  2458 

Credulity,  696 

Responsibility,  2887- 

Magnitude,  2010 

Perfection,  2545 

Delusion,  762 

89 

Measures,  2129-30 

Snow-crvstals,  3133 

Dependence,  774 

Sacrifice,  2942 

Mines,  2215 

Telescop'e,  3368 

Disease,  862-64 

Sagacitv,  2947 

Mound-builders,  2271- 

Zero-sign,  3798 

Electricity,  992 

Savages,  2952-58 

72 

MATTER,  2113-21 

Humanity,  1516 

Science,  3004,  3007 

Organization.  2473 

Conception,  576,  577 

Science,  2963 

Seed-dispersal,  871 

Personality,  2573 

Consciousness,  598, 

Singleness,  3113 

Selection,  3048,    3051 

Plans,  2615 

605-06,  609 

"Soul  of  Life,"  3147 

Senses,  3065-78 

Powers,     mechanical, 

Forces,  1299 

Theory,  3413,  3415 

Sex,  3091-94 

2694-95 

Cosmogony,  674 

Truth,  3500 

Similaritv,  3108 

Scales,  2960 

Creation,  681 

(S3e  also  PHYSICIAN.) 

Society,  3136 

Sculpture,  3021 

Discovery,  858 

MELANCHOLY, 

Soul.  3148-50 

Skill,  3120 

Division,  888 

Music,  2303 

Speech,  3174 

Substitutes,  3285-86 

Dogmatism,  896 

MEMENTOES, 

Spirituality,  31S3 

Textiles,  3383 

Dust,  914-21 

Fossils,  1316 

Spontaneousness  ,3186 

Tools,  3443-45 

Energy,  1021 

MEMORIAL, 

Stars,  3217 

Trade,  3450 

Indestructibility,  1624 

Tradition,  3451 

Stone  Age,  3233 

Wheels,  3727-28 

Materialism,  2094 

MEMORIALS, 

Strength,  3251 

Work,  3769-70 

Mind,  2187-88,  2207 

Transitoriness,    3473 

Survival,   3338 

(  See    also   WOMAN, 

Mystery,  2316 

MEMORY,  2136-50 

Sympathy,    3346, 

PRIMITIVE.) 

Nature,  2370 

Action,  24 

3348-49 

MANIA, 

Organization,  2475 

Association,  245 

Tasks,  3356 

Alcohol,  134 

Transcendentalism  , 

Departments,  770 

Teachableness,   3362 

Miser,  2221 

3456 

Distraction,  881 

Truth,    3496 

Visions,  3657 

Triumph,  3489 

Echoes,  960 

Unity.    3542 

(See    also  DELIRIUM; 

MATTER  AND  FORCE, 

Facility,  1179 

Universe,  3566 

INSANITY;    INTOXI- 

Universe, 3566 

Facts,  1186 

Utility,  3579 

CATION.) 

MATURITY, 

Failure,  1190 

War,  3687 

MANICHAEANS, 

Impulses,  1606 

Faintness,  1194 

Waste,  3694 

World,  3776 

MEANING, 

Forgetfulness,  1310 

MAN  AND  APE, 

MANUFACTURE,  2081-82 

Word,  3763 

Homes,  1503 

Mind,  2202 

Energy,  1014 

MEANS, 

Images,  1568 

MAN  AND  NATURE, 

Indigo,  1626 

Choice,  490 

Imagination,  1573 

Unity,    3533 
MAN,  DOMINION  OF, 

MANUFACTURES, 
Antiquity,  200 

Ends,  1005-06 
MEANS  AND  ENDS, 

Individuality,  1633 
Joy,  1781 

Animals,  179 

Basket-making,  313 

Reason,  2829 

Limits,  1967 

Domestication,      900, 

Binding,  365 

MEASURE,  2124-25 

Mystery,  2313,  2315 

1706-07,  2467 

Deserts,  781 

Arithmetic,  228 

Place,  2608 

MANKIND,  2079 

MARINERS, 

Dav's  journey,  733 

Power,  2691 

Necessity,  2399 
Unitv,  3534-36 

Navigation,     2392, 
2394 

MEASURES,  2129-2130 
MEASUREMENT,  2126-28 

Record,  2844 
Result,  2892 

MAN,  PRIMEVAL,  2058- 

Pleiades,  2633 

Exactness,      1118-23, 

"Setting,"  3087 

60 

MARINER'S  COMPASS, 

1127 

Sorrow,  3145 

Discrimination,  861 

Accuracy,  17 

Moon,  2239 

Strain,  3243 

Fatherhood,    1210-12 

Needle,     Magnetic, 

Nature,  2377 

Substitution,  3287 

Fire,  1232 

2400-01 

Newton,  2415 

Theory,  3414 

Genius,  1350 
Giants,  1374 

Origin  ,  2484 
MARRIAGE, 

Perfection,  2547 
Sensations,  3061,  3063 

Vividness,  3663 
(See    also    REMEM- 

Harvest, 1443 

Love.  1986 

Speed,  3178,  3180 

BRANCE.) 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


891 


MEN, 

MICROSCOPY, 

MIND, 

MISINTERPRETATION  , 

Color-blindness,    542 

Discoverer,  841 

Imagination,  1569-81 

Phenomena,  2581 

Discovery,  855 

Embryo,  1000 

Infinity,  1659 

MISSILES,  2223-24,  2225 

Engineering,  1022 

Insects,    1686-87 

Influence,  1663,  1666, 

Meteors,  2160-63 

MENDACITY, 

MIDDLE  AGE, 

1670 

Weapons,  3719-21 

Memory,  2146 

Beginning,  345 

Insensibility,  1690 

MODERATION, 

MENTAL  POWERS, 

Life.  1872 

Instinct,  1695-1708 

Alcohol,  142 

Atrophy,  282 

MIDDLE  AGES, 

Intellect,  1710-15 

MODIFICATION,  2230-32 

MERCENARIES, 

Beam  of  light,  315 

Intelligence,  1716-30 

Adaptation,  42-68 

War,  3687 

Contempt,  626 

Introspection,  1747 

Difference,  822 

MERCY, 

Cruelty,  704 

Intuitions,  1748 

MOISTURE, 

Help,  1470 

Geography,  1354 

Invention,  1752 

Dew,  819 

METALS,  2152-56 

Influence,  1663 

Kingdom,  1785 

MOLECULAR  MOTION, 

Change,  459 

Mathematics,  2109 

Knowledge,     1789- 

Power,  2682 

Civilization,  501,  504 
Copper,  662 

Spirits,  3182 
MIDNIGHT, 

1801 
Language,   1812-35 

MOLECULES,    2233-34 

Atoms,  277-80 

Debt,  739 

Sunset,  3311 

Man,    2038-39,    2041, 

Attraction,  288 

Effect  of  heat,  979 

MIGRATION,  2173-75 

2046-48,   2050, 

Bombardment,  393 

Fixity,  1254 

Belief,  352 

2055-57,   2064, 

Color,  539-40 

Force,  1297 

Birds,  371 

2067-68,   2070, 

Colors,  550 

Gold,  1391 

Cause,  434 

2074-75 

Consciousness,  606 

Iron,  3227 

Enemies,   1009 

Mastery,  2093 

Edifice.  966 

Man,  2033 

Fascination,  1208 

Materialism  ,     2094- 

Force,  1281,  1284-85, 

Mercury,  339,  1454 

Food,  1265 

2104 

1291-92 

Nature,  2357 

Homes,  1503 

Matter,  2113 

Intellect,   1710 

Patience,  2524 

Immigration,    1580 

Mechanics,  2132 

Limit,  1959 

Pentateuch,  2535 

Impulse,  1604 

Mystery,  2311,  2313- 

Motion,  2261 

Radiation,  2819 

Inheritance.  1677 

15,  2324 

Pathways,  2521 

Spectrum,  3169 

Instinct,  1700 

Nature,  2360,  2364 

Particles,  2510-12 

Steel,  3227 

Journey,  1778 

Nerves,  2409 

(See    also  FORCE, 

Sun,  3297,  3308 

Lands,  1810 

Order,  2463-64 

MOLECULAR.) 

Unity,  3540 

Nests,  2411 

Perception,   2537-44 

MOMENTUM, 

(See    also     BRONZE; 

Night,  2422 

Play,  2626,  2629 

Effect,  975 

COPPER;      FIRE; 

Passing,  2516 

Power,  2677,  2691 

MONISM, 

GOLD;  HE  AT;  IRON; 

MILK, 

Progress,  2752 

Assumptions,  248 

X,E  AD;  M  ET  AL- 
LURGY;  METEOR- 

Bacteriology, 306 
Infection,  1652 

Psychology,    2782-88 
Purpose,  2795-2808 

Darwinism,  730 
Haeckel,  1429 

ITES  ;  METE  ORS  ; 

MILKY  WAY, 

Reaction,  2825 

Mystery,  2334 

STEEL;  STONE  AGE, 

Stars,   3204-05,  3207, 

Selection,  3043,  3048 

MONKEY, 

in  General  Index.) 

3214 

Severity,  3088 

Apes,  211-12 

METAPHOR,  2157-58 
METAPHYSICS,  2159 

Psychology,    2782-88 
Unity,  3526 

Variety,  3611 
MIMICRY,  2178-84 
Allurement,  145 
Dependence,  771 
Entomologist,  1028 

Science,  2966 
Sight,  3103 
Speed,  3179 
Spontaneousness,3186 
States,  3224 

Artist,  237 
Endowment,  1004 
Feint,  1220 
Investigation,  1761 
Mechanics,  2132 

METEORITE, 

Habitat,  1424 

Supremacy,  3332 

Missiles,  2226 

Earth,  936 

Imitation,   1582-84 

Telescope,  3368 

Purpose,    2803 

METEORITES,  2160-61 
Argument,  226 

Moth,  2249-50 
Perfection,  2550 

Variability,  3601-02 
Will,  3729-40 

Support,  3330 
MONOTONY, 

Earth,  933,  945 

Protection.  2771 

Woman,  3756 

Civilization,  511 

Errors,  1061,  1063 

MIND,  2185-2212 

(See  also  INTELLECT; 

MONSTER, 

Evidence,  1086 

Absence  of,  4 

INTELLIGENCE  ; 

Blunder,  385 

Expectation,  1135 

Action,  21,  24 

THOUGHT.)- 

MONUMENT, 

Incredulity,  3411 

Activity,  33 

MIND  AND  BODY, 

Stone,  3234 

Theory,  1621 

Adjustment,  73 

Union,  3519 

MONUMENTS, 

METEORS,  2162-63 

Affections,  99 

Unity,  3526 

Development,  804 

Evidence,  1086 

Animals,  169 

MINERAL, 

MOON, 

Missiles,  2223-24 

Anthropomorphism  , 

Animal,  166 

Activity,  36 

Space,  3161 

185-86 

Plant,  2617 

Antiquity,  198 

Terror,  3380 

Arrest,  230 

MINERALS,  2213-14 

Astronomy,  259 

Visitors,  3659 

'     Attention,  283-86 

Mystery,  2308 

Atmosphere,  275 

METHOD,  2164-67 

Blood,  380 

MINERALOGY, 

Bodies,  Celestial,  386 

Choice,  490 

Body,  387 

Versatility,  3641 

Brightness,  406 

Process,  2742-43 

Brains,  396-404 

MINERS,  ANCIENT, 

Communion,  558 

Simplicity,  3110 

Cause,  432 

Work,  3771 

Comparison,  560 

METHODS, 

Civilization,  499 

MINIATURE, 

Comprehensiveness  , 

Progress,  2758 

Comprehensiveness, 

Volcanoes,  3672 

570 

MICROBES,  2168 

570-71 

MINING, 

Earth,  943 

Bacteria,  303-04 

Compulsion,  573 

Geology,  1357 

Earth-light,  951 

Poisons,  2642 

Conception,  576-78 

Man,  2033 

Immortality,  1587 

MICRO-ORGANISMS, 

Consciousness,  607-10 

Mines,  2215 

Imperfection,  1590 

2169-70 

Consistency,  615 

MINUTENESS,  2216 

Magnitude,    1011 

Antitoxins,  202 

Contemplation,  625 

Infinitesimal,  3490 

Mountains,  2277 

Architects,  220 

Correction,  666 

Powers,  2663 

Scientists,    3019-20 

Harbors,  1436 

Development,  814 

(See    also    BACTERIA; 

Shadow,  3095 

Chalk  cliffs,  451 

Division,  893 

GERMS;    MICRO-OR- 

Time,  3436 

Deposit,  775-76 

Duality,  911 

GANTSMS;    MICRO- 

World,  3778 

Dependence,  774 

Doubt,  904 

SCOPE.) 

MORALITY,  2241-47 

Experiments,  1153 
Life,  1877,  1898 
Ocean,  2445-46 
Plants,  2621 

Education,  967-72 
Emotion,  1001-02 
Equality,  1045 
Evolution,  1096,  1110 

MIRACLE,  2217-18 
Beginning,  343-44 
Supernatural,  3317 

Actions,  30 
Automatism,  296 
Barometer,  311 
Character,  481-82 

(See  also  ORGANISMS.) 
MICROSCOPE,  2171-72 

Experience,  1140-42 
Forces.  1299 

MIRACLES, 

Assumption,  247 

Code  of  honor,  529 
Compulsion,  572 

Limit,  1959 

Genius,  1346-53 

MIRAGE, 

Conscience.  595-97 

Limits,  1965,  1970 

Habit,  1419-23,  1428 

Delusions.  765 

Duty,  1820,  3118 

Particles,  2510-12 

Heredity,  1486,  1488- 

Extremes,  1172 

Ethics,   1085 

Science,  2994 

94 

MISER, 

Evil,  1092 

Senses,  3078 

Harmony,  1440 

Mania,  2080 

Evolution,  1100 

Sky.  3123,  3125 

Horizon*  1508 

MISERY, 

Freedom,  1323-24 

Unitv,  3544 

Hypnotism,  1520-21 

Alleviation,  143 

Freeman,  1328 

MICROSCOPY, 

Hypothesis,  1522 

(See   also   PAIN;  SOR- 

Habit, 1423,  1427 

Correlation,  668 

Ideas,  1544-47 

ROW;  SUFFERING.) 

Health,  1447 

892 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


MORALITY, 

MOTION, 

MOUNTAINS, 

MUSIC, 

Heredity,  1490 

Movement,  2281-95 

Sky,  3124 

Motion,  2268 

Independence,  1622 

Mystery,  2326 

Snow-crystals,  3133 

Movements,  2289 

Insanity,  1681 

Notes,  2427 

Stability,  3195 

Notes,    2427 

Intemperance,  1731 

Order,  2462-65 

Washing,  3696 

Singing,  3113 

Laws,  1856 

Particles,  2512 

Wind,  3741 

Sound,  3153-54 

Life,  1885,  1900 

Planets,  2614 

World,  3778 

Taste,  3359 

Man,  2053 

Power,  2681 

(See  also  VOLCANOES.) 

MUSICIAN, 

Matter,  2119 

Progress,  2761 

MOUNTAIN-SICKNESS, 

Automatism,  295 

Motive,  2270 
Name,  2352 

Repose,  2877 
Shadow,  3095 

Dangers,  723 
MOVEMENT, 

MUSIC  OF  SPHERES, 
Universe,  3562-66 

Neighbor,  2405 

Star-drifting,  3202 

Action,  26 

MUSCLES, 

Obligation,  2436 

Sun,  3299 

Adaptation,  53 

Development.  812 

Qualities,  2813 

Surprise,  3333 

Advance,  84 

Movements,  2294 

Responsibility,  2887- 

Swiftness,  3344-45 

Animals,  173 

MUTILATION, 

89 

Thought,  3421 

Astronomy,    254  -  55 

Automaton,  2574 

Right,  2921 

Unity,  3527 

258-60 

Life,  1925 

Skepticism,  3118 
Theory,  3408 

Velocity,  3630-33 
MOTION,  ATOMIC, 

Birds'  wings,  372 
Change,  456-57 

Movement,  2284 
Obliteration,  2437 

Utility,  3585 

Current,  711 

Coordination,  661 

MYSTERY,  2306-2341 

MORTALITY, 

Motion,  2256 

Dancing,    718-20 

Beauty,  331 

Carelessness,  422 

(See     also    ATOMS; 

Death,  736 

Belief,  356 

Intemperance,  1732 

THEORY,  ATOMIC.) 

Earth,  932 

Biology,  366 

MOTHER, 

MOTION,   MOLECULAR, 

Earth-crust,  2292 

Birds,  371 

Devotion,  2487,  3752 

Electricity,  987 

Earthquake,  778, 

Body,  391 

Illusion,  1562 

Materialism,     2096, 

952,  3665 

Consciousness,  605-06 

Love,  1997 

2098,  2100 

Effect,  973-77,  979-80 

Creator,  694 

Recognition,  2837 

Molecules,  2233-34 

Flight,    1258 

Elements,    995 

MOTHER  AND  BABE, 

Motion,  2267 

Glaciers,  1380-81 

Faith,  1197 

Skeleton,  3117 

Thought,  2314 

Gravitation,  1402 

Gravitation,  1399- 

MOTHER  BIRD, 

(See  also  MOLECULES  ; 

Growth,  1406-13 

1400 

Difference,  820 

THEORY,    MOLECU- 

Harmony, 1437 

Influence,  1665 

Protection.  408,  820 

LAR.) 

Illusion,  1559 

Language,   1822 

MOTHERHOOD,   2251-53 

MOTION,  PERPETUAL, 

Impulse,  1603 

Materialism,  2096, 

Adaptation,  48 

Power,  2662 

Law,  1842 

2100 

Advance,  82 

(See    also     CORRELA- 

Life, 1874 

Memorv,    2136-37, 

Authority,  291 

TION    OF    FORCES  ; 

Limitation,   1962 

2139,     2143,    2148, 

Child,  487 

MACHINE;  POWER.) 

Magnet,  2009 

2150 

Child-training,  489 

MOTIVE,  2270 

Migration,  2173-75 

Mind,  2187-88,  2200 

Dawn,  732 

Cause,  434 

Movement,  2281-95, 

Motion,  2256 

Effect,  980 

Complexity,  565 

Motion,    2254-69 

Nature,  2370 

Evolution,  1095 

Life,  1925 

Mountains,     2273-76, 

Origin,  2487-89 

Family,    1200-03 
Growth,  1413 

Moralitv,  2246 
MOUND-BUILDERS,    - 

2278-80 
Purpose,  2799 

Science,  2976,  2990 
Space,  3159-60 

Helplessness,  1473 

Antiquity,   196,  201 

Rivers,  2924-30 

Sun,  3306 

Infancy,  1648-50 

Beginnings,  350 

Roots,  2938 

Wonders,  3758-62 

Insect,.  1682 

Earth-sculpture,  959 

Seed-dispersal,   3033- 

MYSTERY  OF  EVIL, 

Life,  1010 

Magnitude,  2010 

40 

Devices,  817 

Maternity,  2105-06 

Measurement,  2126 

Sensitiveness,      3080- 

Philosophy,  2583 

Music,  2302 

Plans,  2615 

81 

MYTH, 

Nature,  2389 

MOUNTAIN, 

Specialization,    3162 

Language,   1813 

Pain,  2497 

Avalanche,    298-99 

Spots  on  sun,  3187-88 

Peril,  2556 

Preparation,  2715 

Contrast,  638-39 

Star-drifting,  3202 

MYTHOLOGY,  2342-43 

Strategy,  3246 

Destruction,  794 

Sun,  3299 

Antiquity,  192 

Struggle  for  life,  3267 

Environment,  1035 

Varietv,  3620 

Causality,    426 

Tenderness,  3375 

Fixity,  1253 

Velocity,  3630-33 

Christianity,   494 

Victory,  3645 

Fragment,  1321 

(See    also     ATOMS; 

Horizon,    1508 

Virtues,  3648 

Measure,  2124 

EARTH;     MOON; 

Imagination,  1576 

Woman,  3752,  3756 
(See  also  MATERNITY.) 

Mystery,  2306,  2320 
Permanence,  2560 

PLANETS  ;       STARS  ; 
SUN.) 

Impersonation,  1595 
MYTHS,  2344-51 

MOTHERLESSNESS, 

Sea,  3024 

MOVEMENTS, 

Cooperation,  657 

Progeny,  2747 

Strata,  3245 

Beginnings,  347-48 

Difficulty,   833 

MOTHERS, 

Sun,  3298 

Brain,  398-99 

Fables,  1177-78 

Animals,  177 

(See  also  VOLCANO.) 

Earth,    927-43,    945- 

Night  and  day,  2418 

Brilliancy,  407 

MOUNTAIN  LAKES, 

46 

Stories,  3238 

Mammalia,  2015 

Water,  3706 

Earth-crust  ,    94  7-50 

MOTION,  2254-69 

MOUNTAINS,  2273-80 

Earthquake,   952-58 

Astronomy,      253-55, 

Advantage,  92 

MULTIPLICATION,  2296- 

NAME,  2352 

258-60 

Beauty,  31S,  330 

98 

Electricity,  985 

Atoms,  279 

Cause,  430,  435 

Growth,  1409-10 

Indulgence,  1639 

Avalanche,    298-99 

Cedars,  444 

Increase,    1615-16, 

Origin,  2485 

Bombardment,  393 

Change,  470 

1619-20 

(See    also        NOMEN- 

Cause, 437 

Changes,  475 

MULTITUDE, 

CLATURE.) 

Consciousness,    598 

Compulsion,  573 

Asteroids,    250 

NAMES, 

Conservation,  611 
Directness,  838 

Constancy,  618 
Crimson,  699 

Birds,  368 
MUNIFICENCE, 

Disputation,  873 
NARCOTICS, 

Development,  811 

Destruction,  801 

Nature,  2369 

Aconite,  1431 

Earth,  946 

Disintegration,  866 

(See  also  SEEDS  ;  SUN  ; 

Failure,  1192 

Energy,  1014 

Dust,  916,  918,  919- 

WASTE.) 

Hahish,    1745,    2542, 

Exactness,  1118 

20 

MUSIC,    2301-03 

3677 

Experiment,  1144 

Fertility,  1225 

Adjustment,  75 

(See  also  ALCOHOL.) 

Faith,  1196 

Flood,  1260 

Atmosphere,  276 

NARROWNESS, 

Flight,  1258 

Forces,  1302 

Attention,  285 

Authority,  290 

Force,  1287 
Forces,  1305 

Heights,  1469 
Limit,  1957 

Beaut  v,   320 
Genius,  1347-48 

NATION,  2354 
NATIONS, 

Heat,  1451-56,  1458- 

Limestone,  1955 

Harp,  1442 

Benefits,  362 

60,  1464,  1466,  1468 
Ice,  1535 

Loneliness,  1895 
Peaks,  2529 

Imagination,  1569 
Life,   1872 

Prosperity,    2768 
NATURALIST, 

Idea,  1544 

Persistence,  2570 

Limitation,    1962 

Enthusiasm,        1026- 

Life,  1908 

Pilots,  2603 

Mathematics,    2107 

27 

Light,  1947 

Respiration,  2884 

Melody,  2135 

NATURALISTS, 

Matter,  2114 

Reversal,  2912 

Memory,  2150 

Expectations,   1137 

Melody,  2135 

Rivers.  2929 

Mind,  2200 

Varieties,  3610 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


893 


NATURAL  SELECTION, 

NATURE-  STUDY, 

NITROGEN,  2424-26 

OCEAN,  2443-49 

Change,   468 

Education,  972 

Bacteria.  303 

Animals,  172 

Evolution,  1100 

NAUTILUS, 

Loss,  1988 

Assimilation,  242 

(See  also   SELECTION, 
NATURAL  ;     STRUG- 

Change, 463 
NAVIGATION,  2392-94 

Organisms,    2469 
Plants.     2621 

Atmosphere,  266 
Caverns,  442 

GLE  FOR  LIFE  ;  SUR- 

Benefits, 360 

NOMENCLATURE, 

Change,   458 

VIVAL  OF  FITTEST.) 
NATURE,    2356-91 

Electricitv,  992 
Mariners,'  2084-86 

Electricity,  985 
Imagination,  1576 

Continents,   627-30 
Coral,  663 

Adapt!  veness,  70 

Pleiades,    2633 

Name,  2352 

Delusions,   764 

Advance,  81 

Precision,  2708 

NORTH, 

Discovery,  856 

Armor,  229 

Steam,  3226 

Civilization    507 

Gibraltar,  1376 

Artificiality,  234 

NAVIGATION,  AERIAL, 

Climate,  519-20 

Gulf   Stream,    1417 

Astronomy,     261-62 
Beauties,  316 
Beauty,  324-26,   332, 
336,  338 

Ignorance,  1554 
NAVY,  2395 
NEBULAE,  2397 
Creation,  691 

Difficulty,   830 
Severity,    3088 
(See    also     CLIMATE  ; 
ZONES  ) 

Heat,  1454 
Illumination,  1555 
Infinity,  1658 
Light,  1944 

Blunder,  385 
Calm,  415-16 
Chance,  452-54 

Errors,  1059 
Hypothesis,  1527 
Points  debatable  ,2637 

NORTH  AMERICA, 
Advantages,  93 
NOTHING, 

Mammalia,    2014 
Micro-organisms,  2170 
Phosphorescence, 

Christianity,  494 

Spectrum,  3170 

Zero  *3798 

2586-89 

Combinations,  554 
Communion,  558 
Compensation,    562 

Star-clusters,    3199 
Stars,  3203 
Stellar    perplexities, 

NOVEL-READING, 
Astronomy,  252 
NOVELTY, 

Rivers,  2926 
Scavengers,  2962 
Sea,  3023-26 

Conquest,  593 
Consistency,   615 
Constancy,    617-18 

3228 
Structure,  3257 
Variety,  3614 

Difficulty,   835 
Electricity,  986 
NUMBER, 

Shore,  3100 
Temperature,  3371-73 
Theory,  3401 

Contemplation,  625 

NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS, 

Animals,  80 

Wonders,  3758 

Contrivance,  646-47 

Creation,  683 

Arithmetic    2*^8 

(See  also  COLOR  ;  LIFE  ; 

Creation,  688 

Development,  813 

A+rhTYIQ         97Q 

NAVIGATION; 

Crystals,  708 
Decimals,  744 

Theory,  3403 
NECESSITY,  2398-99 

Atoms,  ^  t  <f 
Counting,    677 
Stars   3205   3207 

OCEAN   DEPTHS; 
SEA;      WATER; 

Delusions,   765 

Air,  129 

Volcanoes   '3672 

WAVES.) 

Design,  785-87 
Dominion,  902-03 

Freedom,  1324-25 
Parable,  2501 

NUMBERS, 
Microbes  2168 

OCEAN  DEPTHS,  2448 
Adaptation,  56 

Electricity,      987-89, 

NECROMANCY, 

Organisms,  2470 

Age,   108 

991 

Illusions,    1567 

Almshouse,  147 

Enjoyment,  1025 

NEED, 

NUTRIMENT, 

Belief,  352,  358 

Equilibrium,  1046 

Community,    559 

Store,  3237 

Chalk-cliffs,  451 

Extravagances,    1169 
Education.  792 

Night,  2421 
NEEDLE,    MAGNETIC, 

(S?e  also  FOOD.) 
NUTRITION, 

Change,  462 
Color,  2849 

Force,  1289 

2400-01 

Alcohol,  140 

Colors,  544 

Forces,  1298-1305 
Fragment,  1322 

Earth,  927 
Faithfulness,  1198 

Civilization,    498 
Cookery,  653 

Compensations,    563 
Continents.  627 

Gems.  1342 

Influence,  1664-65 

Errors,  1074 

Currents,  713 

Glass-making,  1382 

Mariner's,   2084-85 

Food,   1261-79 

Darkness,    727 

Gulf,  1414-16 

Mariner's    compass, 

Manufacture,   2081 

Depths,  779 

Illusions,    1564 

2084-85 

Organisms,    2469 

Deposit,  775-76 

Imagination,  1581 

Variation,  3604 

o 

Difficulty,   832 

Implements,  1596 
Individualism,  1627 

Worship,   3786 
NEEDLES, 

OBEDIENCE, 

Disappointment,  1137 
Division,  887 

Infinity,  1657 

Sewing,  3089 

Animals,  179 

Earth,  944 

Influence,  1670 

NEGATION, 

Dominion,  903 

Endurance,  1007 

Invention,  1757 
Law,  1837-62 
"Leaps,"  1865 

Color,  532-33 
NEGLECT,  2403-04 
Carelessness,  422 

Monkey,    2235 
(See  also  CONSCIENCE  ; 
DOMESTIC  ATION  ; 

Evidence.  1087 
Exploration,  1156 
Eyes,  1175 

Life,  1901,  1912 

Omission,  2453 

MORALITY.) 

Fish,  1249 

Man,  2026,  2035,  2042, 

Parsimony,   2508 

OBJECTIVE,  THE, 

Food,  1266 

2048,    2052,    2054, 

Protection,    2772 

Beauty,  320,  332 

Hues,  1512 

2067 

Truth,    3502 

OBLIGATION,  2436 

Imagination,  1585 

Mind,  2188,  2190,  2203 

NEIGHBOR,  2405 

Authority,  291 

Land,  1808 

Miracle,  2218 

NERVE, 

Duty,  922 

Law,  1849 

Monotony,  2236 

Loss,  1991 

Neighbor,  2405 

Life,  1894-95,  1922 

Morals,  2248 

NERVE-CURRENTS, 

OBLIVION, 

Light,  1937-38,  1848 

Motion,  2268 

Readiness,  2826 

Consciousness,  602-03, 

Modification,    2230 

Mythology,   2343 
Myths,  2344 

NERVES,  2406-09,  3070 
Cooperation,  658 

610 
Forgetfulness,  1310 

Naturalists,  2355 
Origin,  2482 

Opportunity,  2457 

Coordination,  661 

Tradition,  3453 

Penetration,  2534 

Organism,  2466-67 

Habit,  1418,  1428 

OBSERVATION,  2438-39 

Phosphorescence, 

Organisms,    2468-72 

Man,  2030 

Combination,  552 

2586-89 

Paradox,   2502 

Mind,  2189 

Comparison,    560 

Photography,  2593 

Perfection,  2552 

Sensation,  3060-64 

Conflict,  587-89 

Pressure,  2720-22 

Pitilessness,  2605 

Senses,  3070-78 

Criticism,  701 

Problems,  2739 

Purpose,  2796 

NERVE-ACTION, 

Difficult  v,   833 

Stillness,   3229-30 

Response,  2886 

Speed,    3178 

Education,  972 

Temperature,  3372-73 

Revelation,  2906 

NESTING-SEASON, 

Evidence,  1090 

Variety,  3619 

Reverence,    2911 

Cause,  434 

Experiment,   1150-52 

Worlds,  Other,  3782- 

Riches,  2979 

NESTS,  2411 

Failure,  1190 

83 

Science,  2985,  2999 

Protection,    2779 

Imagination,  1575 

Zone,  3799 

Spontaneousness  , 

NEWNESS, 

Learning,  1867 

OCEAN-FLOOR, 

3186 

Thought,  3425 

Man,  2067 

Disintegration,  867-68 

Stability,  3194 

NEWS,  2413-14 

Mind,  2203 

Rocks,   2934 

Struggle,    3258 

NIAGARA, 

Patience,  2522-27 

OCEAN  LIFE, 

Strife,  3256 

Electricity,  990 

Perception,   2543 

Universality,  3560 

Unity,  3537-49 

NIGHT, 

Personality,  2571 

OCEAN,  MOLTEN, 

Variation,  3607 

Adjustment,  71 

Recognition,  2835-39 

Earth-crust,  947 

Variety,  3621-23 

Darkness,    725 

Science,  2986,  3006 

Solidity,  Deceptive, 

Warfare,    3689 

Splendor,  3184 

Speculation,  3171 

3141 

Waste,  3693 
Wonders,  3759-60 

Star,  Double,  3206 
Worlds,  3779-80 

Sun-spots,  3314 
Whirlwind,    3728 

OCEAN  OF  FIRE, 

Sun,  3297 

NATURE  AND  MAN, 

NIGHTINGALE, 

OBSTACLES,  2440-42 

OCEAN-WAVE, 

Unity,    3533 

Artificiality,    234 

OBSTINACY, 

Shock,  3098-99 

NATURE-STUDY, 

NILE, 

Dogmas,  895 

ODOR, 

Advantage,  92 

Elevation.  997 

OCCIDENT,  2442 

Particles,     2512 

894 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


OFFSPRING, 

ORGANISMS, 

OUTSET, 

PASTEUR, 

Care,  423-24 

Beauty,   319 

Success,     3288 

Contagion,  622 

Maternity,  2106 

Beginning,  344 

OVERCOMING, 

Prediction,  2712 

Recognition,  2837 

Benefits,  359 

Evil,   1091,   1093 

PASTEURIZATION, 

Tenderness,  3375 

Biology,  366 

OXYGEN, 

Disinfection,  865, 

OMEN,  2451-52 

Causes,  439 

Atoms,  277 

3031 

Prediction,  2711 

Coral  animals,  663 

Blood,  378 

Partnership,  2513 

OMISSION,  2453 

Currents,  712 

Change,   472 

PASTIME, 

OMNIPRESENCE, 

Difficulty,   832 

Purification,  2791 

Animals,  170-71 

Phenomena,  2579 

Division  of  labor,  891 

(See    also    AIR;  COM- 

PATIENCE, 2522-27 

OMNISCIENCE,   2454 

Fish,  1246 

BUSTION;   WATER.) 

Investigation,  1761 

ONOMATOPOEIA, 

Law,  1839,  1846 

Results,  2902 

Speech,  3175-76 

Organs,    2476-80 

Science,  3487 

OPIUM, 

Plants,  2616-23 

PAGANISM, 

PAUPERISM, 

Failure,  1192 

Power,  2655 

Intolerance,     1740-41 

Politics,  2644 

OPIUM-EATER, 

Putrefaction,  2810 

PAIN,   2496-97 

PEACE,  2528 

Conscience,    595 
OPPORTUNITY,  2457 

Variation,  3605 
Voyagers,  3680 

Balance,  308 
Cost,  675 

Science,  2971 
Sex,  3091 

OPPOSITES,  2458-59 

(See     also     ANIMALS, 

Death,  737 

PEDAGOGY, 

Contradiction,  634 

BACTERIA  ;     CELLS  ; 

Emotion,  1001-02 

Attention,  283-86 

Contrast,  635-42 

GERMS;          Mi- 

Enjoyment,  1023-24 

Education,  967-72 

Extremes,   1170-72 

CROBES;  MICRO-OR- 

Happiness, 1434-35 

Learning,  1866 

OPPOSITION,  2460 

GANISMS;     PARA- 

Humanity, 1516 

Limits,  1975 

OPPRESSION,  2461 

SITES;  PLANTS.) 

Joy,  1779-81 

Opportunity,  2457 

OPPRESSORS, 

ORGANIZATION,  2472-75 

Love,  1995 

Organs,  2480 

Child-labor,    1805, 
1815 

Combination,  551-54 
Cooperation,  657-60 

Nature,  2372 
Necessity,  2399 

Psychology,  2785-86 
PENALTY, 

Curse,  714 

Coordination,  661 

Pleasure,   2630 

Advance,  90 

(See  also  SLAVERY.) 
OPTIMISM, 

Engineering,  1022 
Life,  1875,  1913,  1916 

Preoccupation,  2714 

Progress,  2748 

Animals,  176 
PENETRATION,  2533-34 

Mystery,    2316 

Nerves,  2407 

Soul,  3150 

PERCEPTION,  2537-44 

ORANG, 

Order,  2462-65 

Struggle  for  Life,  3266 

Agnosticism,  113-14 

Fables,  1178 

ORGANS,   2476-80 

Sensation,  3060 

Animals,  176 

ORATORY, 

Beauty,  320 

Adaptation,  52 
Association,  245 

Suffering,  3290 
PAIN  AND  PLEASURE, 

Association,  243 
Beauty,  328 

ORCHID, 
Contrivance,  643 

Compensation,  562-63 
Coordination,  661 

Unity,  3550 
PAINLESSNESS,  2498 

Correction,  666 
Criticism,  700 

Delicacy,  757 

Correlation,  667 

Consciousness,  610 

Echoes,  960 

ORCHIDS, 

Correspondence,  672 

Death,  737 

Exactness,  2544-54 

Beauty,  337 
Design,    784 

Degeneration,  754-55 
Delicacy,  758 

Struggle  for  life,  3266 
PAINTING, 

Experience,  1140 
Illusion,  1556-67 

Development,  802 

Division  of  labor,  890 

Artist,  2381 

Life,   1919 

Modification,    2231 

Fictions,    1228 

Sculpture,  3021 

Man,  2057,  2068,  2070 

Purpose,  2802 

Organism,  2466-67, 

PALEONTOLOGY, 

Limits,  1965,  1969 

ORCHIS, 

2468-72 

Fossils,  1316-19 

Nature,  2364 

Allurement,     145 

ORGANS,     RUDIMENTA- 

PALM, 

Reading  of  character, 

Seeds,  Numerous,  3693 

RY, 

Beauty,  321-22 

2827 

ORDER, 

Limbs,  1954 

PARADISE, 

Recognition,  2835-39 

Advance,  81 

Type,  3506 

Man,  2077 

Roots,    2938 

Classification,   513-14 

ORIENT, 

Selfishness,  3056 

Sight,  3102-03 

Continuity,  631 

Debt,  738-39 

PARADOX, 

Seeing,  3042 

Cooperation,  658-60 

Occident,  2442 

Fire,  1243 

Sense,  3065-78 

Coordination,  661 

ORIENTALS, 

PARALLAX,  2503 

Swiftness,  3345 

Correlation,  667-68 

Cosmogony,  674 

Aberration,  1 

Telescope,  3368 

Disorders,  869 

ORIGIN, 

PARALYSIS, 

Time,  3435 

Equilibrium,  1046 

Agreement,  117 

Conscience,  595 

Vision, 

Law,    1837,    1841-43, 

Astronomy,   259 

Materialism,  2101 

PERCEPTIONS, 

1856,   1859-61 

Birth,  373-74 

PARASITE,  2504-07 

Parsimony,  2508 

Life,  1889 

Creator,  694 

Helplessness,  1475 

PERIL,  2555-59 

Maze,  2122 

Energy,   1014 

Mistletoe,  2227 

Affliction,  101 

Method,  2164-67 

Fire,  1237-39,  1242 

PARASITES, 

Earthquake,    952-56, 

Motion,  2264,  2268 

Geology,  1359 

Decay,  743 

958 

Observation,  2439 

Harp,  1442 

Degeneration,  754-55 

Inhumanity,  1678 

Organization,  2473-75 

Man,  2024-25,  2043- 

Loss,  1994 

Life,  1892 

Prosperity,  2767 

44,  2058-66,  2077 

Plants,  2623 

PERILS, 

Science,  2985 

Mariner's    compass, 

Strife,  3256 

Civilization,  510 

System,  3352-54 

2084-85 

PARASITISM. 

Life,  1904 

Uniformity,  3511-17 

Myths,  2350 

Partnerships,  2514 

PERIODICITY, 

Unity,  3537-39,  3543- 

Printing,    2732 

Rest,  2891 

Order,  2462 

48,    3557 

Religion,  2868-69 

Theology,  3384 

PERIODS, 

ORGANIC,  THE, 

Unity,    3549 

Selfishness,  3057 

Ages,  111 

Gulf,  1416 

Writing,  3791 

PARENT, 

(See  also    COMETS; 

(See  also  ABIOGENE- 

(See  also  BEGINNING.) 

Animals,  181 

EARTH  ;    GEOLOGY  ; 

sis  ;    BIOGENESIS; 

"ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES," 

PARROT, 

MOON;  MOVEMENT; 

INORGANIC;     GEN- 

Agreement, 117 

Change,  464 

PLANETS;    SUN- 

ERATION,     SPON- 

ORIGINALITY, 

PARTNERSHIP, 

SPOTS.) 

TANEOUS.,) 

Originators.  2491 

Association,  243-45 

PERMANENCE,  2560-63 

ORGANISM,  2466-67 

Priority,  2733-34 

PARTICLES,  2510-12 

Constancy,  616-20 

Activities,  32 

(See  also  DISCOVERY; 

Atoms,  277-80 

Fixity,  1253-55 

Adjustment,  74 

INVENTION.) 

Host,  1511 

Uniformity,  3511-17 

Body,  387-92 

ORIGINATORS, 

Molecules,  2533-34 

PERPETUITY, 

Cells,  447 
Dependence,  772 

Domestication,     900 
ORNAMENT, 

PASSION, 
Emotion,  1001-02 

Stars,  3218 
PERSECUTION, 

Electricity,  991 

Beauty,  324-26 

PAST,  2517-19 

Intolerance,  1740-44 

Organs,    2476-80 

Man,  2061 

Appeal,  213 

Mohammedanism  ,  692 

Survival,    3337 

Use,    3569 

Exploration,  1155 

PERSEVERANCE,  2565-68 

ORGANISMS,  2464-72 

ORNITHOLOGY, 

Facts,  1186 

Mechanics,  2132 

Adaptation,  44,  56 

Influence,  1666 

Future,  1335 

Resolves,  2883 

Advance,  80 

(See   also   BIRDS.) 

Geology,  1355-60 

PERSISTENCE,    2569-70 

Age,   108 

OSTRACISM, 

Imperfection,  1589 

Habit,  1418-23,  1426 

Animals,    163-81 

Bird,  367 

Memory,   2135-50 

Resolves,  2883 

Assimilation,  242 

Blood,  Avenger  of,  381 

Present,  2718 

PERSONAL  EQUATION, 

Bacteria,   303-05 

Man,  2078 

Relics,  2860 

Conflict,  587-89 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


895 


PERSONAL  EQUATION, 

PHOTOGRAPHY,  2591-95 

PLANET, 

PLANTS, 

Exactness,  1125 

Advance,  87,  89 

Contrast,  641 

Roots,  2938 

Individuality,  1631 

Asteroids,  250 

Prophecy,  2765 

Selection,  3050 

Personality,  2571 
PERSONALITY,  2571-76 

Exactness,  1112 
Extension.  1161 

Recognition,  2835 
PLANETARY  ORBITS, 

Sensitiveness,  3080-81 
Service,  3086 

Belief,  356 

Eye,  250,  2594 

Perseverance,  2568 

Sleep,    300-01,    2778, 

Definitions,  749 

Knowledge,  1797 

PLANETS,  2613-14 

3127 

Division,  893 

Patience,  2525 

Atmosphere,  268 

Squirrels,  3193 

Fatherhood,    1211-12 

Picture,  2600 

Asteroids,  250 

Strength,  3249 

Ideas,  1546 

Sublimity,  3276 

Beginning,  345 

Struggle,  3258-59 

Man,  2064,  2074 

Sun,  3308 

Creation,  687,  689-91 

Struggle  for  life,  3264 

Materialism,  2097 

PHRENOLOGY,  2596-97 

Earth,  927-51 

Superstition,  3325 

Ownership,  2495 

Division    893 

Errors,  1060 

Theory,  3410 

Religion,  2867,  2869 

Language,  1819 

Experiments,  1145 

Unity  ,  3537  ,  354  1  ,  3549 

Self,  3054 

PHYSICIAN, 

Glory,  138 

Utility,  3575 

"Soul  of  Life,"  3147 

Death-bed,  3413 

Harmony,  1437 

Variability,  3600 

Supremacy,  3331 
PERSONIFICATION, 

Personality,  3147 
Truth,  3500 

Life,  1905 
Limits,  1969 

Variation,  3605 
Vegetation,   3627-29 

Materialism,  2095 

PHYSICS,  2598 

Magnitude,   2012 

Water,   3700 

Personality,  2572-73, 

Astronomy   261 

Maze,  2122 

Wonders,  3760 

2575 

Development,  813 

Problems,  2741 

Worth      of      culture, 

Selection,  3050 

Errors,  1062/1068-69 

Service,  3085 

3787 

Science,  3002 

Failure,  1191 

Storms,  3240 

(See     also     FORESTS; 

PERSPECTIVE, 

Faith,  il96 

Theory,  3400 

GROWTH;  ORGAN- 

Change, 465 
Edifice,  965 

Indestructibil  ity  , 
1623-24 

Unity,  3527 
Worlds,  3781-83 

ISMS;  SLEEP.) 
PLATES, 

Revelations,  2909 
PERVERSION, 

Matter,  2113-2121 
Particles,  2510-12 

PLANT, 
Adaptation,  54 

Colors,  544,  548-49 
PLAY,  2626-29 

Dangers,  724 
Facility,  1179 

Progress,  2757 
Science,  2965,  2995 

Aggregate,  119 
Animals,  180 

Consciousness,  604 
Impersonation,  1594 

Foods,  1277 

Theories    3391 

Bloom,  382 

Logic,  1984 

PESTILENCE, 

Theory,  3398,  3402  , 

Capital,  421 

Playhouses,  2628 

Neglect,  2404 

3406* 

Competitors,  564 

PLEASURE,  2630-31 

(See    also   BACTERIA; 

Unity,  3526 

Cooperation,    659-60 

Cost,  675 

DISEASE  ;   D  i  s  i  N  - 
FECTION  ;  GERMS; 

(See    also    ATOMIC; 
ATOMS  ;  CRYSTALLI- 

Defense, 750 
Food,  1268,  1270 

Ecstasy,  964 
Enjoyment,  1023-25 

MICROORGANISMS.) 

ZATION*     ELECTRIC- 

Likeness, 1953 

Joy,  1779,  1780-81 

PESTS, 

ITY  ;    GRAVITATION  ; 

Nutrition,  2431 

Play,  2626-27 

Multiplication,    2298 
Spread,  3189 
PHANTOMS,  2577-78 

HEAT;  LIGHT;  MAG- 
N  ETIS  M  ;    M  O  LE- 

CTJLES  "     M  O  T  I  O  N  " 

Plasticity,  2624 
Self-sacrifice,  3059 
PLANTS,  2616-23 

Progress,  2748 
Singing,  3113 
PLEASURE  AND  PAIN 

PHENOMENA, 

SOUND;  THEORY. 

Animals,  165-67 

Unity,  3550 

Cause,  428-29,  433 

ATOMIC*  WAVES.) 

Bacteria,  303 

PLOW, 

Connection,  591 
Comprehensiveness  , 

PHYSIOLOGY,  2599 

Beauty,  337-38 
Calmness,  416 

Beginnings,  351 
PLUNDER, 

570-71 
Consistency,  615 
Contemplation,  624 
Experience.  1143 
Law,  1837.  1S40,  1852 
Matter,  2114,  2115 
PHILANTHROPY, 

Errors,  1074 
Dogma,  894 
Intolerance,  1742 
Will,  3732 
PICTURE,  2600 
Sympathy,  3349 
PICTURE-WRITING,  2601 

Changes,  478 
Checks,  484 
Compensation,  562 
Contrivance,  643-45 
Correlation,  667 
Destruction,  793,  798 
Digestion,  836 

Robber-baron,    2931- 
32 
POETRY,  2634-36 
Artificiality,  234 
Beauty,  336 
Enjoyment,  1025 
Mythology,  2343 

Industrv,  1645 

Writing,  3791 

Dispersal,  870-72 

•Myths,  2344 

PHILOLOGY, 

PIGMENTS,  2602 

Distribution,  883-84 

Nursery,    2430 

Evolution,  1108 

Color,  538 

Egypt,  983-84 

Science,  157,  2635-36 

Language,   1812-35 
PHILOSOPHER, 

Skull,  3122 

PILGRIMAGE, 
Cause,  434 
(See  also  MIGRATION.) 

Experiment,  1146 
Extermination,    1162, 
1164 

Sense,  3066 
Truth,  3503 
POISON, 

PHILOSOPHERS, 

PILLARS, 

Ferns,  1223 

Alcohol,  131,133 

Government,  1393-94 
PHILOSOPHY,  2583-84 

Science,  2986 
PIONEERS, 

Fertility,  1225 
Fig,  1229-30 

Contagion,  622 
Crows,  702 

Certainty,  450 

Alchemists,  763,  1C52 

Forests,  1306-09 

Food,  1275 

Conception,  576-78 

Buff  ilo,  2603 

Germs,  1368 

Life,  1873 

Dangers,  724 

Civilization,  502 

Giants,  1375 

Venom,  3634 

Desire,  791 

PITCH, 

Heat,  1462 

Weapons   3721 

Doubt,  905 

Correspondence,  670 

Influence,  1667 

POISONS, 

Emotion,  1001 

PITILESSNESS,  2605 

Islands,  1773 

Antitoxins,  202 

History,  1497 

PLACE,  2606-08 

Isolation,  1776 

POLARITY, 

Inclusion,  1612 

(  See  also  LOCALITY.) 

Law,  1842 

Atoms,  278 

Man,  2034 

PLAIN, 

Life,  1874,  1877,  1883, 

Edifice.  966 

Order,  2464 

Ocean  floor,  2449 

1887,  1904,  1916-17, 

Magnet,  278 

Power,  2691 

Path,  2520 

1921-22 

(See  also   ATOMS; 

Progress,  2753 

PLAINS, 

Light,  1936 

CRYSTALS;     LIGHT; 

Science,  2968,  2988 

Monotony,  2236 

Loss,  1994 

MAGNET:    MAGNET- 

Utility, 2632,  3576 

Mystery,  2340 

Man,  2022,  2025,  2029 

ISM;  MOLECULES.) 

Vagaries,  3590 

PLAN,  2608-12 

-30,  2035,  2072 

POLES, 

Versatility,  3641 
"PHLOGISTON," 

Errors,  1071 

Argument,  227 
Chance,  453 
Contrivance,  643-47 

Maternity,  2105 
Migration,  2175 
Motion,  2269 

Force,  1288 
POLES,  MAGNETIC, 
Earth,  927 

Heat,  1466 
Science,  3014 
PHOSPHORESCENCE, 

Correspondence,  671 
Equilibrium,   1046 
Individualism,    1627 

Movement,     2286-87, 
2295 
Mystery,  2331 

Earth-crust,  947 
POLITICS,  2644 
Science,  3000 

2585-89 
Evidence,  1087 
Evolution,  1109 

Organs,  2477,  2479 
Origin,  2481 
Purpose,  2795-2808 

Nitrogen,  2425 
Organisms,  2468-71 
Partnerships,  2514 

POLLEN, 

Contrivance,  643 
POLYTHEISM, 

Fish,  1249 
Illumination,  1555 
Light,  1937-38,  1940, 

Unity,  3538-39,  3545 
Venom,  3634 
(See  also  CREATOR; 

Place,  2606 
Power,  2674,  2689 
Precious,  2703 

Mythology,  2343 
POPULATION, 

Deserts  781 

1944,  1948 
Ocean,  2445-46 
Stars,  3213 
Vale  of  Fireflies,  3592 
Wonders,  3758 

DESIGN;     INTEL- 
LECT;   INTELLI- 
GENCE  ;  MIND  ;  PUR- 
POSE.) 
PLANS,  2615 

Protection,     2773-74, 
2778 
Purification,  2791 
Purpose,  2799 
Radiation,  2818 

PORTRAIT,' 
Superstition,  3321 
POSSIBILITIES, 

Vision,  3655 
Visions.  3658 

SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


POSITION, 

PRECISION, 

PROGRESS,  2748-60 

PROTECTION, 

Change,  466 

Astronomy,  260 

Advantages,  95 

Missiles,  2223-24 

Energy,  1015-16 
POSITIVISM, 

PREDICTION,  2710-13 
Artist,  236 

Ages,  111 
Apes,  212 

Mountains,  2276 
Plants,  2622 

Difficulty,  834 

Astronomy,  260 

Ascent,  240 

Preservation,  2719 

Metaphysics,  2159 

Movement,  2284 

Chance,  453-54 

Poisons,  2642 

Pseudo-science,  2781 
POSTURE,  ERECT, 

Omniscience,  2454 
Patience,  2523 

Change,  473 
Civilization,  500,  507, 

Purpose,  2800 
Radiation,  2819 

Man,  2017 

Prophecy,  2765 

509 

Sacrifice,  2942 

POTTERY,  2647-52 

Star-drifting,  3202 

Consistency,  615 

Science,  3009 

Antiquity,  189,  196 

Theories,  3389 

Convolutions,  651 

Security,  3031-32 

Mound-builders,  2272 

PREDISPOSITION, 

Development,  804-05 

Sociability,  3135 

Potter's  wheel,  2647, 

Heredity,  1483,  1485- 

Equilibrium,  1046 

Speed,  3177 

2650 

86,  1488,  1491 

Error,  1051-52 

Spread,  3190 

Women,  3757 

PREJUDICE, 

Evolution,  1107 

Strategy,  3246 

POVERTY, 

Civilization,  498 

Experiment,  1151 
PREOCCUPATION,  2714 

Experiment,  1151 
Extension,  1159 

Subsistence,  3283 
Tropics,  3492 

Exportation,  1157 
POWER,  2654-96 

Absence  of  mind,  4 
Time,  3435 

Failures,  1193 
Family,  1200-1203 

Utility,  3586 
Water,  3700-3704 

Activity,  34 

PREPARATION, 

Forces,  1298 

Yielding,      3794-95 

Affliction,  101 

Change,  455 

Gold,  1391 

(See  also  MIMICRY.) 

Agent,  106 

Choice,  492 

Growth,  1406-13 

PROTOPLASM, 

Amazement,  151 

Discovery,  860 

History,  1500 

Biology,  366 

Artist,  238 

PRESENCE,  2716 

Humanity,  1513 

Creatures,    695 

Association,  243 

PRESENT,  2717-18 

Improvement,  1602 

Food,   1262 

Capacity,  420 

Appeal,  213 

Kaiak,  1783 

PRUDENCE, 

Cause,  435. 

Facts,  1186 

Labor,  1802 

Deliberation,  756 

Concentration,  575 

Formation,  1311 

Language,  1814,  1821 

Martyrs,  2090 

Consciousness,  608 

Future,  1338 

Moralitv,  2241 

PSEUDO-SCIENCE,  2781 

Effect,  973-77 

Geology,  1355-58 

Pentateuch,  2535 

PSYCHOLOGY,  2782-88 

Emblem,  999 

Glaciers,  1381 

Prosperity,  2708 

Emotion,   1001 

Endurance,  1007-08 

God,  1389 

Science,  2991 

Errors,   1076 

Exploration,  1156 

PRESENT  FOR  FUTURE, 

Severity,  3088 

Faith,  1195 

Force,  1296 

Sacrifice,  2941 

Spontaneousness  ,  3  185 

Fatalism,  1209 

Helplessness,  1472-74 

PRESERVATION,  2719 

Steel,  3227 

Horizon,  1508 

Influence,  1662-71 

Language,  1816 

Taste,  3359 

Interpretation,    1738 

Invention,  1755 

Sand,  2950 

Telegraph,  3365 

Introspection,  1747 

Knowledge,  1795 

PRESERVATIVE, 

Theories,  3393 

Intuitions,   1748 

Life,  1897,  1899,  1900 

Poisoning,  2641 

Utility,  3574 

Limits,  1967,  1970-73 

1913,  1916-17 

Smoke,  3131 

War,  3687 

Materialism,     2094- 

Loss,  1991-94 

PRESERVATIVES, 

(See  also  ADVANCE.) 

2104 

Machine,  2001-05 

Food,  1277 

PROOF,  2761-62 

Memory,  2136-50 

Man,  2074 

Poison,  2641 

Assumptions,  248 

Mind,  2  185-2209,  22  12 

Mathematics,  2112 

PRESSURE,  2720-24 

Demonstration,  767 

Morality,   2241-2248 

Measure,  2125 

Change,  459 

Design,  788-90 

Motive,  2270 

Microscope,  2172 

Darkness,  727 

Evidence,  1086-90 

Movements,     2288-91 

Mind,  2186 

Endurance,  1007 

Reasoning,  2833 

Mystery,  2313-15 

Miracle,  2217 

Home,  1502 

Science,  2985,  2996 

'    Number,  2428-29 

Nerve-force,  2407 

Laws,  1861,  1895 

Tests,  3381-82 

Parsimony,  2508 

Phenomena,  2579 
Poetry,  2636 

Mystery,  2307 
PRETENSE, 

PROPENSITIES, 
Morality,  2242 

Perception,    2537-44 
Phrenology,     2596-97 

Practise,  2697 

Feint,  1220 

PROPERTY, 

Science,  2966,  2976 

Re-enforcement,  2850 

Death,  736 

Ants,  204 

Soul,  3148-50 

Robber-baron,    2931- 

Imposture,  1597 

Environment,  1032 

Speed,  3178-79 

32 

Prayer,  2701 

Ownership,  2495 

Theory,  3407 

Substitution,  3287 

(See  also  DELUSION.) 

Sense,  3069 

Woman,  3756 

Sun,  3298,  3301-05 

PRETENSIONS, 

PROPHECY,  2765, 

PTOMAINES, 

Tasks,  3357 

Surrender,  3335-36 

Prediction,  2712-13 

Results,  2899 

Telescope,  2494,  3368 

PREVENTION, 

Questions,  2814 

PURIFICATION,  2791 

Thought,  3424 

Science,  2994 

Theories,  3389 

Nature,  2390 

Water,  3701-02 

PREVISION,  2725-28 

PROPORTION,  2766 

Organisms,  2468 

Words,  3764 

Ants,  203,  207 

Bas-reliefs,  314 

PURITY, 

(See   also    ENERGY  ; 

Life,  1892 

PROSPERITY,  2767-68 

Air,  129-30 

FORCE  ;  I  N  s  T  R  u  - 

PRINCIPLES,  2730-31 

Stability,  3194 

Bread,  405 

MENTS  ;  INTELLECT  ; 

Science,  3008 

PROTECTION,  2769-79 

Exactness,  1124 

MACHINES;   TOOLS; 

PRIVATION, 

Adaptation,  45-48 

Milk,  2177 

WORK.) 

Severity,  3088 

Animals,  Arctic,  163 

Precipitation,   2705 

POWER  OF  BRAIN, 

PROBLEM, 

Animals,   170-71,  178 

Protection,  2772 

Convolutions,  651 

Gibraltar,  1376 

Antitoxins,  202 

Rivers,  2924 

POWERS,  2694-96 

PROBLEMS,  2535-41 

Ants,  210 

PURPOSE,  2795-2808 

Limit,  1956 

Biology,  366 

Armor,  229 

Action,  27 

POWERS,  MECHANICAL, 

Mediterreanean  ,  2134 

Association,  243 

Acts,  38 

2694-95 

Philosophy,  2583 

Bodv,  392 

Adaptation,  42,  43,  51 

PRACTICALITY, 

Questions,  2814 

Brilliancy,  407-08 

Adaptations,  68 

Science,  2989,  2994, 

Results,  2896 

Change,  461 

Animals,  173 

3004-05 

Tasks,  3357 

Color,  534-35 

Anthropomorphism  , 

PRACTICAL,  THE, 

Volcano,  3667 

Coloration,  541 

185 

Utility,  3574 

PROCESS,  2742-43 

Cooperation,  658 

Appearance,  214 

PRACTISE,  2697-99 

Product,  2744 

Death,  736 

Attention,  283-84 

Automatism,  294 

PRODUCT,  2744-45 

Defense,  750 

Beaut  v,  324-26 

Development,  812 
Experience,  1139-43 
Theory,  3397 

Result,  2892-2904 
PRODUCTS, 
Electricity,  990 

Deliverer,  759 
Dependence,  771 
Desert,  780 

Beginning,  346 
Bubble-410 
Cause,  433-34 

PRAYER,  2700-01 
PRECIPICE, 

Injury,  1680 
PRODUCTS,  VITAL, 

Difference,  820 
Division,  888 

Chance,  453 
Christianity,  493 

Senses,  3072 
PRECARIOUSNESS, 
Speculation,  3173 

Synthesis,  3351 
PROFIT, 
Utility,  3573-87 

Entomologist,  1028 
Experience,  1139 
Government,  1398 

Classification,  514 
Color,  537 
Contrivance,   643-47 

PRECAUTION, 

PROFUSION, 

Increase,  1615 

Co-operation  ,  66  ) 

Disaster,  840 

Seeds,  3041 

Immunity,  1588 

Design,  782-90 

PRECIOUS,  THE,  2703 
PRECIOUSNESS,  2704 

Uproar,  3568 
PROGENY,  2747 

Knowledge,  1792 
Life,    1874-75,    1883- 

Development,  809 
Ends,    1005-06 

PRECISION,  2706-09 

Plants,  2618 

84.  1892 

Experiment,  1152 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


897 


PURPOSE, 

REALITY,  2828 

REFRACTION, 

REMOTENESS, 

Germ-destroyers  ,1363 

Assurance,  249 

Reflection,  2852 

(See  also  ANTIQUITY; 

Humanity,  1513 

Facts.  1180-87 

Roentgen  rays,  2936 

SUN;  STARS.) 

Law,  1843,  1852,  1860 

Science,  2967 

REFRESHMENT, 

RENEWAL,  2873 

-62 

REALIZATION, 

Thirst,  3418 

Change,  471 

Life    1925 

Belief,  357 

REFRIGERATION, 

Food,  1262 

Morality,   2246 

Excitement.  1130 

Air,  128 

Mountains,  2280 

Movements,    2288-91, 

Objects,  2435 

Debt,   740 

Repair,  2874 

2295 

REASON,  2829-30 

Discovery,  854 

Rest,  2890 

Nature,  2360-61 

Chance,    452 

Force,  1292 

REPETITION, 

Plan,  2609-12 

Constancy,  617 

Freezing,  2857 

Summation,  3294 

Science    2990 

Degeneracy,  753 

Heat,  1463 

Word,  3763 

Speech.  3176 

Emotion,  1001-02 

Martyrs,  2089 

REPOSE,  2875-77 

Sketch.  3119 

Fear.  1216 

REFINEMENT, 

Change,   470 

(See      also      DESIGN; 

Feeling,    1217-19 

Seclusion,  3027 

Nerve-force,  2406 

PL4.N.    ) 

Imagination,  1575 

REFORM, 

Sleep,  3128 

PURPOSELESSNESS, 

Instinct,  1695 

Difficulty,  835 

Volcano,  3668,  3673 

Atheism.  264 

Life,   1909 

Navy,  2395 

REPRODUCTION,  2878-79 

Instinct     1702 

Process,  2743 

Pledge.  2632 

Altruism,  150 

PUTREFACTION, 

Savage,  2952 

REGELATION,  2857 

Balance,  308 

Air,  130 

REASONING,  2831-33 

Freezing,  2857 

Complexity,  568 

Destruction.  792 

Distinctions,  880 

Glacier,  1377 

Earthquakes,  957 

Puritv  .  2793 

Science,  2981,  3006 

Ice,  1533 

Life,  1923 

Security,  3032 

RECANTATION, 

Science,  2993 

Mind,  2206 

PYRAMIDS, 

Candor,  418 

REGION, 

Parthenogenesis,  2509 

Architecture,  222 

Errors,   1066 

Individuality,  1632 

Plants,  2618 

Astronomy,  254 

(See      also      ERRORS; 

REJECTION, 

Seed-dispersal,    3033- 

Work,  3765 

INTOLERANCE  ;  PER- 

Selection, 3047 

40 

/•x 

SECUTION.) 

RELATIVITY,  2858 

Time,  3430 

Q 

RECIPROCITY, 

Perception,  2544 

REPTILE, 

QUADRUMANA, 

Benefits,  362 

Size,   3115-16 

Development,  809 

Apes,  211-12 

RECITATION,  2S34 

RELATIVE,  THE, 

REPTILES, 

Monkey,  2235 

Reaction,  2825 

Differences,  824 

Certainty,    449 

QUESTIONS,  2814 

RECKLESSNESS, 

RELEASE, 

Transition,    3467 

Problems, 

Peril,  2555 

Effect,  976 

Visions,   3657 

QUIESCENCE, 

RECONCILIATION,  2841 

Energy.    1015-16 

RESEARCH, 

Volcano,  3668,  3673 

RECOGNITION,   2835-39 

RELICS,  2859-62 

Man,  2028 

QUIET, 

Markings,  2087 

Herculaneum,  1478 

Qualifications,    2811 

Danger,  721 

Observation,  2438 

RELIEF, 

RESEMBLANCE, 

Darkness,  727 
QUIETNESS, 
Power.  2679-80 

Uniformity,  3517 
RECOIL,    2840 
RECOLLECTION, 

Drudgery,  909 
Surrender,  3335-36 
Vision,   3652 

Development,  803 
Germs,   1368-70 
Man    2020,  2038 

Memory,    2139 

RELIGION,  2863-72 

Origin,  2481-82 

Strain,    3243 

Advance,  84 

RESERVE,  2880-81 

RACE,  2815-17 

RECONSTRUCTION,  2842 

Antiquity,  198 

Power,   2657,  2692 

Brotherhood,  409 

Food,  1262 

Cats,  499 

Wraterj  3707 

Development,  808 
Education,  968 

Triumph,  3485 
RECORD,    2843-44 

Christianity,  494 
Conflict,  590 

RESERVOIR,   NATURAL, 

Environment,  1030 

History,  1499 

Dancing,   720 

Water,  3707 

Imitation.  1584 

Ferns,'  1223 

Decay,  742 

RESCUE, 

Immortality,  1587 
Man,  2031 

Imprint,     1601 
Indifference,  1625 

Denial.  768 
Difficulties,  828 

Causes,  439 
RESISTANCE,  2882 

Mysteries,  2305 

Interest,  1736 

Dogmas,  895 

Energy,   1010 

Nation,  2354 

Leaf-tracery,  1864 

Dogs,   898 

Law,  1846 

Necessity,  2399 
RACES, 

Mound-builders,  2272 
Mysteries.  2-305 

Emotion,  1001 
Ethics.  1085 

Laws,   1861 
Life,  1875,1883,1890, 

Heredity,  1494 
Immunity,  1588 

Perfection,  2553 
Shells,  3096-97 

Facts,  1187 
Fatherhood,    1211-12 

1950 
Materialism,  2094 

Language,   1829 

Track,    3448 

Fetishism,  1227 

Matter,  2121 

Longevity,    1986 

RECORDS,  2845-48 

Fire,  1242 

Morality,  2242 

Unitv,  3536 

Outcasts,  2493 

Gods,  1390 

Oak,  2432 

RADIATION,  2818-20 

RECOVERY, 

Horizon.  1508 

Rock.  2933 

Atmosphere,  270-71 
Cause.  436 

Artist,  236 
Degeneracy,    751 

Ideas.  1546 
Idolatry,  2575,  2980 

Strength,  3249-50 
RESOLUTION, 

Freezing.  1329 
Law,  1842 

Memory,  2139,  2149 
Mind,  2192 

Infinity,  1655 
Intolerance,  1743-44 

Courage,  678 
Persistence.  2569 

Life,  1874 

Power,  2676 

Irreligion,  1767 

Resolves,  2883 

Moon,  2240 

REDEMPTION, 

Man.  2064 

Visible,  3651 

Planet,  2613 

Science,  2964 

Matter,  2119 

RESOLVENT, 

Protection,    2774 

RED  SNOW, 

Method,  2166 

Nature,  2383 

RAINDROPS, 

Imprint,  1601 

Vegetation,  3629 
REFLECTION, 

Origin,  2486 
Phenomena,  2580 

RESOLVES,  2883 
RESPIRATION,   2884-85 

Record.  2843 

Beauty,   330 

Prayer,  2700-01 

Increase,    1618 

RAINFALL, 

Color,  533,  538 

.      Prosperity,  2767 

RESPONSIBILITY,  2887- 

Barrenness,  312 

Colors,  550 

Riches,  2919 

89 

Fertility,    1225 

Concentration,  575 

Sacrifices,  2943 

Alcohol,  132,  141 

Tropics,   3493 

Contradiction,  634 

Science,  2964,  30  10-  11 

Automatism,  296 

RAPIDITY, 

Contrast,  638 

Serpents,  2943 

Crime.  697 

Thought.   3426 

Data,   731 

Supernatural,   3317 

Equality,  1045 

(See      also    LIGHT  ; 

Dust,  914-15 

Superstition,  3318-29 

Frenzy,  1333 

MOVEMENT;   VE- 
LOCITY.) 

Earth-light,  951 
Errors,   1069 

Theology,    3383-86 
Woman,  3753 

Language,  1820 
Truth,  3500 

RAREFACTION, 

Glory,  1383 

(See   also  ANTHROPO- 

Will, 3734,  3736,  3739 

Free/ing,    1330 

Light,  1933,  1945 

MORPHISM  ;     DEITY  ; 

REST,  2890-91 

REACTION,  2825 

Mystery.  2327 

GOD;    MAN;  PRAY- 

Proficiency, 2746 

Recitation,  2834 

Power,  2659 

ERS;  WORSHIP.) 

Renewal,  2873 

Recoil,  2840 

Rainbow,  2822 

REMAINS, 

Repose,   2875-77 

READINESS,    2826 

Roentgen  rays,  2936 

Casts,  425 

Science,  2971 

Power,   2678 

REFRACTION,  2853-55 

Relics,  2859-62 

Sleep,  3128 

READING, 

Concentration,    575 

REMEMBRANCE, 

Work,  3766 

Prevision.  2728 

Errors,  1069 

Immortality,  1586-87 

RESTORATION, 

Speed.    3179 

Exactness,  1125 

REMOTENESS, 

Earth.  931 

Writing,  3789-92 

Rainbow,  2822 

Past,  2518 

Life.  1881 

SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


RESULT, 

ROCKS, 

SAVAGES, 

SCIENCE, 

Action,  21 

Life,  1917 

Mind,  220S 

Failure,  1191,  1193 

Agent,  106 

Mystery,    2308 

Myths,  2345 

Faith,  1195-97 

Conquest,  592 

Nature,  2380 

Perception,   2543 

Flame,   1256 

RESULTS,  2892,  2904 

Precipitation,  2705 

Perplexities,  2564 

Foods,  1277-79 

Conditions,  581 

Present,  2718 

Psychology,  2784 

Formation,    1312 

Ends,  1005-06 

Power,  2685 

Sivagery,  2955 

Founders,  1320 

REVELATION,  2905-07 

Rain,  2821 

Science,   2992 

Generation,   1343-45 

Agnosticism,  113-16 

Records,    2847 

Sebction,  3046 

God,  1387-88 

Darkness,  729 

Rivers,  2930 

Senses,  3074 

Inclusion,  1612 

God,  1385 

Volcanoes,  3671 

Sewing,  3089 

Individuality,  1631 

Night,  2420 

Water,   3705 

Sruoka    3131 

Induction,   1636-38 

.      Riches,  2991 

(See  also  LAVA.) 

Temperance,  3370 

Industry,  1641 

Science,  2997 
REVELATIONS,  2908-09 

ROCK-DUST, 

Atmosphere,  267 

Unity    3539 
Vices,  3642 

Imagination,  1571-72r 
1574-77,  1581 

Splendor,  3184 

ROCKS,  FIGURED, 

Virtue.  3647 

Impressions,   1600 

REVERENCE,    2910-11 

Outcasts,  2493 

Woman,  3749 

Infallibility,  1647 

Forest,  1306 

ROCK,  FLOATING, 

Wretchedness   3788 

Infinity,   1656 

REVERSAL,  2912 

Obstacles,  2440 

SCHOLASTICISM, 

Knowledge,  1790-1801 

Digestion,   836 

Ocean,   2443 

Contempt.  626 

Law.  1837-62 

Change,  467 

ROCKS,  IGNEOUS, 

Science,  2969 

Limits,  1963-76 

Law.  1849 

Birth  of  Geology,  373- 

Study,    3271 

Lockjaw,  1980 

Order,  2463 

74 

SCIENCE,    2963-3020 

Logic,  1982 

REVERSION,  2913-14 

ROCKS,   STRATIFIED, 

Agriculture,  120 

Longevity,  1987 

(See    also    HEREDITY; 

Birth  of  Geology,  373- 

Advance.  81 

Man",  2028 

INHERITANCE.) 

74 

Alleviation,   143 

Martyrs.  2089-90 

REVIVAL, 

ROENTGEN  RAYS,  2936 

Ambition,  153 

Mathematics,  2107-12' 

Death,  734 

Mystery,    2327 

Anomalies,  182 

Measurement,     2124- 

Life,   1881 

Reflection, 

Application,    217 

25,  2127-28 

Memory,  2139,  2149 
REVOLUTION,  2915 

Refraction, 
Secrets,  3030 

Approximat  on,    218 
Artist,  236,  237 

Metaphor,  2158 
Metaphysics,  2159 

Crystallization,  707 

Utilitv,  3587 

Arts,  239 

Method,  2164-67 

Earth,  927,  946 

Vision,  3655 

Aspiration,  241 

Mind,    2189,  2196, 

REWARD, 

ROMANCE,  2037 

Asteroids,    250 

2199 

Morality.  2245 

Science,  3007 

Astronomy,  251 

Morality,  2241 

Poverty,  2653 

ROUTINE, 

Beginnings,  317-49 

Museum,  2300 

Results,  2895 

Instinct,  1697 

Benefits,  362 

Myths,  2344 

REWARDS,  2916 

RULE, 

Bible,  3o3 

Name,    2352 

RHYTHM, 

Law,  1837 

Bigotrv,  364 

Narrowness,  2353 

Beauty,   339 

Order,    1837 

Bondage,  394 

Nature,    2356-91 

RIVALRY, 

Reversal    2912 

Calm,  415 

Observation,  2439-40 

Emulation,  1003 

(See   also    DOMINION; 

Calmness,  416 

Omen,    2452 

RIVER, 

LAW;  ORDER;  UNI- 

Candor, 418 

Oppression,  2461 

Courage,  678 

FORMITY.) 

Causality  426 

Patience,  2522-27 

Erosion,  1049 

Cause,  438 

Penetration,    2533-34 

Freezing,  1332 

Certainty,  448,  450 

Perseverance,   2566 

Fertility,    1226 

SACRIFICE,   2940-43 

Change.   473 

Photography,  2591-95 

Ganges,  1340-41 

Civilization,  509 

Chemistry,  485 

Phrenology,  2596-97 

Imagination,  1579 

Happiness,    1434 

Child-training,  489 

Poetry,  2634-36 

Path,  2520 

Man,  2050 

Christianity,   494-95 

Poverty.    2653 

RIVERS,  2924-30 

Pain,  2497 

Civilization,  502 

Precision,  2706-09 

Currents,  712 

SAFETY, 

Cleanliness,  517 

Prediction    2711-13 

Delta,  760 

Destruction,    794 

Coincidence,  530-31 

Problem,  2737,  2740- 

Discovery,  856 

Refuge,  1260 

Cookery,  653 

41 

Elevation,  998 

Spend,    3177 

Cooking   655 

Progress,  2750,2756- 

Fire,  1241 

SAFETY-LAMP, 

Concurrence,  759 

58 

Glaciers,    1380 

Instruction,  1709 

Conflict,  590 

Prophecy,  2765 

Gulf  Stream,  1417 

SAFETY-VALVES, 

Connection,  591 

Prosperity,    2768 

Organisms,  2468 

Volcanoes,  3671 

Conquests,  594 

Questions,  2814 

Persistence,  2570 

SAGACITY,  2944-47 

Cons-stency     615 

Records,  2845 

Seed-dispersal,    3038 

Intelligence.  1716-30 

Contemplation,    624- 

Religion,     2863-66, 

Tropics,  3494 

Purpose,    2803 

25 

2870 

Union,  3523 

Science,  2993 

Contempt    626 

Riches,  2919 

RIVERS,   SUBTERRANE- 

Sense, 3069 

Convergence,  650 

Sacrifice,  2940,  2942 

AN 

SALVATION,  2949 

Creation,  685,  692 

Scaffolding,  2959 

Earth-crust,    950 

Theorv,  3408 

Credulity,    696 

Sense  of  beauty,  3066 

ROBBERY, 

SAND,  2950-51 

Cycle,  716 

Senses,  3078 

Ants,    204 

Erosion,  1049 

Death,  734 

Similarity    3109 

Eagle,  2931-32 

SAND-BAR,  2951 

Debt.  738,  740 

Soap-bubble.  3134 

ROCK, 

SAND-BLAST, 

Delta,  760 

Speed,  3178-81 

Extremes,  1170 

Invention,  1757 

Democracy,  766 

Sugar,    3291 

ROCKS,  2933-35 

SATISFACTION, 

Demonstration,  767 

Superstition,  3318-29 

Agency,  104 

Hypothesis,  1522-23 

Dependence,  773-74 

Theology,  3385-86 

Beauty,   331 

Limitation,    1961 

Development,  804  , 

Training,  3455 

Cause,  430 

Limits,  1973 

807,  810 

Transcendentalism, 

Change,  458,  469 

Mind,  2191 

Devotion,    818 

3456 

Changes,  476 

SAVAGES,  2952-58 

Discrimination,  867 

Transition,  3472 

Controversy,  648 

Agriculture,  122-23 

Doubt,  905 

Triumph,  3485 

Cutting,  715 

Art,  233 

Earnestness,   926 

Utility,     3574,     3576, 

Depths,    779 

Beauty,  324 

Edifice,    965 

3578,  3587 

Devotion,    818 

Beginnings,  351 

Egypt,  983 

Visions,  3658 

Difference,  821 

Civilization,  498,511 

Electricity,  985-92 

Wonders,  3761-62 

Disintegration,     866- 

Counting,  677 

Elements,  993-95 

SCIENCES, 

68 

Food    1269 

Enaction,  1001 

Alliance,  144 

Errors,  1077 

Gods,  1390 

Ends,   1005-06 

Correlation,  668 

Evidence,  1089 

Gold,  1391 

Enthusiasm,    1026-27 

Evolution,  1110 

Force,     1295 

Government,  1396 

Epochs,    1043-44 

Unification,  3510 

Forces,  1301 
Formation,    1311 

Intellect,    1713 
Invention,  1750-51 

Exactness,  1112-27 
Expectation,  1135-37 

Unity,    3548,3552 
SCIENCE-TEACHING, 

Fusion.  1334 
Ice,  1535 

Lamps,  1807 
Love.  1996 

Experience,  1143 
Experrr.ent,    1144-53 

Language,  1831 
SCIENTIST, 

Interest,  1736 

Machinery,  2006 

Eye,  1174 

Change,   468 

Leaf-tracery,  1864 

Man,  2058 

Facts    1180-87 

Courage,  678 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-EEFERENCES 


899 


SCIENTIST, 

SELECTION, 

SENSATION, 

SIZE,  3115-16 

Argument,  226 

Attention,  285 

Seuse,  3065,  3071-78 

Germs,  1372 

Dogmatism,    896 

Choice,  490-92 

Sensibility,  3079 

Giants,  1373-75 

Errors,  1058-78 

Edifice,  965 

Sight,  3102-03 

Power,  2663 

Qualifications,  2812 
Versatility,    3641 

Light    1939,  1943 
Man,  2046 

Time,  3437 
SENSATIONS, 

(See  also   ATOMS;  DI- 
MENSIONS ;   EARTH  ; 

SCIENTISTS, 

Nature,  2361,  2378 

Development,  812 

LIGHT-WAVES; 

Dangers,  722 

Perception,  2539 

Illusion,  1557 

MEASUREMENT; 

SCINTILLATION, 

Prose,  2806 

Inattention,  1609 

MOON;  PLANETS; 

Truth,  3501 

Utility,  3577 

Nerve-force,  2406 

STARS;  SUN.) 

Variation.  3606 

(See  also  NATURAL 

SENSE, 

SKEPTICISM,  3118 

SCOURGE, 

SELECTION.) 

Appeal,  213 

Incredulity,  1621 

Deliverer,  759 

SELECTION,  ARTIFICIAL 

Organs,  2476 

SKIES, 

SCRIPTURE, 

3045-46 

Sensibility,  3079 

Change,  467 

Agnosticism,  113-14 

Varieties,  3609 

SENSES,  3065-3078 

SKILL, 

Ants.    207 

SELECTION,     NATURAL, 

Association,  245 

Theory,  3397 

Bible,  363 

3048-52 

Development,  812 

Triumph,  3490 

Creation.  682,  688 

Adaptation,  42,  43 

Insects,  1684 

SKY,  3123-25 

Decay,  742 

Animals,  176 

Mind,  2188 

Beauty,  330 

Discovery,  858 

Intelligence,  1730 

Nerves,  2408 

Cloud,  525-27 

Grain,  1397 

Metaphor,  2158 

Perception,    2542-43 

Color,  539-40 

(See  also  BIBLE.) 

Nature,  2361,2378 

Science,  2978 

Dust,  914,  920-21 

SCULPTURE,  3021-22 
Bas-reliefs,  314 

Origin,  2488-89 
Varieties,  3608 

SENSIBILITY,  3079 
Sensation   3060—64 

Law,  1840 
Host,  1511 

Beginnings,  350 
Cutting,  715 
Nature.  2380 

SELF,  3054-55 
Consciousness,  601  ,607 
Extension,  1158 

Sense,  3065,  3071-78 
SENSITIVENESS,  3080-81 

Superstition,  3320 
SLAVEHOLDING  ANTS, 
Romance  of  Zoology, 

Selection,  3043 

SELF-COMMAND, 

Sensations,  3062 

2937 

SEA,  3023-26 
Beaut>  ,  333 

Heroism,  1495 
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS, 

Sensibility,  3079 
SENTIMENT,  3082 

SLAVERY,  3126 
Curse,  714 

Interchange,   1733-34 

Man,  2046 

SENTIMENTALITY, 

Freedom,  1327-28 

Selfishness,    3058 

SELF-CONTROL, 

Monsters,  2237 

Helplessness,  1475 

Shore,  3100 

Alcohol,  140-41 

SEQUOIA, 

Labor,  1803 

Veracity,  3638-39 

Frenzy,  1333 

Age,  109 

Romance  of  Zoology, 

(See       also       OCEAN; 

SELF-CREATION, 

SHADOW,  3095 

2937 

WATER;  WAVES.) 

Selection,  3050 

Eclipse,  961 

War,  3686 

SEA  AND  LAND, 

SELF-DENIAL, 

Nature,  2372 

SLEEP,  3127-29 

Waves,  3717 

Heroism,  1495 

SHELL, 

Consciousness,    601, 

SEA-LEVEL, 

Progress,  2748 

Laws,   1861 

607 

Continents,  630 

(See  also  ABSTINENCE  ; 

Life,  1886 

Dream,  907 

Fluctuation,  629 

ASCETICISM; 

SHELL-MOUNDS, 

Dream-life,  908 

SEA-SHELLS,  3025 

HABIT;  INTEMPER- 

Cannibalism, 419 

Extremes,  1172 

Tombstones,  3442 

ANCE;  RESOLU- 

Cave-men, 441 

Memory,  2138 

SEA-  WAVES,   3026 

TION;  TEMPER- 

Discrimination,  861 

Mystery,  2328 

SEA-WEED, 

ANCE.) 

Man,  2063,  2065,  2073 

Repair,  2874 

Islands,  1773 
SEAS, 

SELF-DETERMINATION, 

Evidence,  1088 

SHELLS,  3096-97 
Sea-shells,  3025 

Time-keeping,  3440 
"SLEEP"  OF  PLANTS, 

Dust,    919 

Power,  2674 

Strength,  3252 

Law,  1842 

Exploration  ,  1  155-56 

SELF-ESTEEM, 

SHELTER, 

Life,  1874 

SEASONS, 

Surrender,  3335 

Bloom,  382 

Protection,  2778 

Adaptation,  64 

SELF-INDULGENCE, 

Parasite,  2504 

Purpose,  2799 

Communion,  558 

Indulgence,  1639 

Subsistence,  3284 

SLOWNESS,  3130 

Family.    1202 
SECURITY,  3031-32 

SELFISHNESS,  3056-58 
Individualism;  1628 

SHOCK,  3098-99 
Depth,  778 

SMALL  vs,  GREAT, 
Service,  3085 

Civilization,  510 
Danger,  721 

Egoism,  982 
Life,   1885 

Memory,  2144 
Power,  2676 

SMELTING, 
Plates,  2625 

Earthquakes,  958 

Reason,  2830 

Volcano,  3666 

SMOKE,  3131 

Terror,  3379 

SELF-RELIANCE, 

SHORE,  3100 

SMYRNA  FIG, 

SEED, 

Capital,   421 

Invigoration,  1764 
SELF-SACRIFICE,  3059 

Subsidence,  3281 
SHORES, 

Fig,  1230 
Insects,  1686-87 

Germ,  1362 

SELVES, 

Change,  458 

SNARE, 

Store,  3237 
SEED-DISPERSAL,  3033- 

Individuality,  1635 
SERPENT-  WORSHIP, 

SHYNESS, 
Fear,  1216 

Unity,  3529 
SNOW,  3132-33 

40 

Sacrifices,  2943 

SIGN, 

Conditions,  581 

Contrivance    644-45 

SERVICE,  3084-86 

Zero,  3798 

Freezing,  1330 

Crows,  702 

Animals,  179 

SIGNS, 

Limit,  1957 

Man,  2029 

Volcano,  3669 

Language,  1825 

Mountains,  2280 

Nature,  2379 
Profusion,  3041 

SETTING, 
Stars,  3218-19 

SIGHT,  3102-03 
Adaptation,  65 

Perils,  2559 
Protection,  2773 

Whirlwind,  3728 

SEWAGE, 

Appeal,  213 

Science,  2993 

Wilderness,  3729 

Contamination,  623 

Artist,  236 

Water,  3709 

(See  also  WASTE.) 

Health,  1446 

Change,  461 

(See  also  RED  SNOW.) 

SEED  DISTRIBUTION, 

SEWING,  3089-90 

Compensations,  563 

SNOW-SHOES, 

Agency,  103 
Animals,      165,     180, 

Taste,  3358 
SEX,  3091-94 

Illusions.  1565 
Insects,  1684 

Adaptation,  64 
SOCIABILITY,  3135 

3193 

Difference,  820 

Loss,  1991 

Association,  246 

Color,  537 

Fishes,  1251 

Seeing,  3042 

Watchfulness,  3697 

Man,  871,  2029 

Love,  1996' 

Sense,  3070 

SOCIAL  SELVES, 

Waters,  3711 

Morality,  2247 

Solidity,  3142 

Self,  3055 

Wind,  3742 

Woman,  3756 

Sound,  3152 

SOCIETY,  3136 

Witch-grass,  3748 

SEXES, 

Splendor,  3184 

Association,  243,  246 

SEED-PLOT, 

Freedom,  1323 

(See  also  VISION.) 

Civilization,    506,  507 

Stars,  3204 
SEEDS,  3041 

Polygamy,  2646 
SENSATION,  3060-64 

SILENCE,  3105-06 
Monotony,  2236 

Cooperation,    658-59 
Crystallization,  707 

Dispersal,  870-72 

Ambiguity,  152 

Omission,  2453 

Dangers,  724 

Distribution,  883-84 

Consciousness,  603-04 

Sound,  3152-53 

Division  of  labor,  892 

Egypt,  983-84 

Death,  737 

Valley,  3593 

Disorders,  869 

Expenditure,  1138 

Echoes,  960 

Void,  3664 

Imitation,  1584 

Food,  1270 

Emotion,  1001-02 

SIMILARITY,  3107-09 

Life,  1910-11 

Transportation,    3479 

Judgment,  1782 

SIMPLICITY, 

Man,  2078 

Waste,  3693-94 

Life,  1919,  1925 

Loss,  1990 

Motherhood,  2251-53 

SELECTION,  3043-53 

Mobility,  2229 

Science,  2984 

Organisms,  2472 

Artist  ,  238 

Motion.  2263 

Value,  3597 

Progress,  2759 

900 


SCIENTIFIC    SIDE-LIGHTS 


SOCIETY, 

SPACE, 

SPIRIT, 

[  STARS, 

Prosperity,  2767 

Limits,  1970-72 

Triumph.  3489 

Extinction.  1166 

Self,  3055 

Location,  1979 

(See  also   CONSCIOUS- 

Giants,  1373 

Survival,  3338 

Matter,  2118 

NESS;  INTELLECT  ; 

God,  1389 

(See   also   FAMILY; 

Mystery,  2329 

MAN;  MAT  ERIAL- 

Imperfection,  1589 

G  R  E  G  A  R  IOUSNESS  ; 

Perception,  2542 

ISM;    MIND;    SOUL; 

Intelligence,  552 

MAN.) 

Science,  2985 

WILL.) 

Isolation,  1777 

SOCIOLOGY, 

Unity,  3556-57 

SPIRITUALISM, 

Life,  1891 

Difficulty,  831 

Writing,  3789,  3792 

Science,  2988 

Light.  1599 

Future,  1335,  1338 

SPECIALIST, 

SPIRITUALITY,  3183 

Man,  2051 

Industrv,  1645 

Narrowness,  2353 

Atheism,  265 

Motion,  2254-55,  2262, 

Law,    1848,    1854-55, 

Superficiality,  3316 

Decay,  743 

2264-65 

1862 

SPECIALISTS, 

Education,  971 

Mystery,  2341 

Politics,  2644 

Memorv,  2147 

Enjoyment,  1025 

Navigation,  2394 

Science,  3000 

Opinions,  2456 

Environment,  1039, 

Nebulae,  2397 

SOIL, 

SPECIALIZATION,  3162 

1042 

Night,  2420 

Agriculture,  120 

Attention,  285 

Life,  1900,  1912 

Number,  3025.  3027 

Decomposition,  748 

Brain.  398 

Materialism,  2102 

Order,  2465 

Exportation,  1157 

Division  of  labor,  890, 

Reality,  2828 

Parallax,  2503 

Fertility,  1224-26 

3091. 

Science,  2988 

Patience,  2525 

Loss,  1988 

Hemispheres,  1476 

Selfishness,  3056 

Presence,  27  16 

Worms,  3785 

SPECIALTIES, 

Transition,  3469 

Power,  2658 

SOILS,  3137-40 

Mind,  2196 

SPLENDOR,  3184 

Repose,  2877 

Bacteria,  303 

SPECIES,  3163-66 

Incandescence,   1610 

Revelations,    2908-09 

Organisms,  2468 

Advance,  80 

Insect  -life,  1683 

Science.  2967,  2999 

Science,  3005 

Expenditure,  1138 

Limits,  1969 

Splendor,  3184 

SOLITUDE,  3144 

Germs,  1368-70 

Niaht,  2421 

Stellar  perplexities, 

Dangers,  724 

Humming-birds,  1517 

Ocean,  2445-46 

3228 

Loneliness,  1985 

Extinction,  1165,  1168 

Stars.  3216 

Truth,  3501 

Personality  ,2574  ,2576 

Links,  1977 

SPONTANEOUS    GENER- 

Variety, 361  1-16,  3618 

SONG, 

Ontogenesis,  2455 

ATION,  488,  C95 

View,  3646 

Melody,  2135 

Patience,  2526 

Assumption,   247-48 

Visible,  3651 

SONG-BIRD, 

Spread,  3190 

Beginning.  343-44 

Visitors,  3659 

Notes,  2427 

Transition,  3470-71 

(See  also  GENERA- 

Unity. 3555 

SONG-BIRDS, 

Varieties,  3608-10 

TION,  SPONTANE- 

Wealth, 3718 

Singing,  3113 
SORROW,  3145 

SPECTERS, 
Illusions,  1564 

OUS.) 
SPRING, 

Worlds,  3775,  3779-80 
(See  also   COMETS; 

Joy,  1781 

Phantoms,  2577 

Power,  2680 

LIGHT;  METEORS; 

Past,  2518 

Visions,  3657 

SPRINGS,  3191 

SUM;  SUNS.) 

Superstition,  3322 

SPECTROSCOPE,  3168 

Pollution.  2645 

STARS,  DOUBLE,  3206 

SOUL,  3146-50 

Advantages,  94 

Results,  2904 

Clouds,  527 

Adjustment,  76 

Astronomy,  261-63 

STABILITY,  3194-95 

Pairs,  2500 

Anthropomorphism  , 

Conflagration,  583 

Mountains,  2276 

World,  3775 

184-85 

Discovery,  847 

STAGE, 

STARVATION, 

Beauty,  320 

Distance,  876 

Actor,  37,  1578 

Civilization,  498 

Civilization,  509 

Elements,  994-95 

Consciousness,  600 

Heat,  1460 

Convolutions,  651 

Errors,  1059 

STAGE-FRIGHT, 

STEAM, 

Disease,  862 

Exactness,  1119 

Fear,  1216 

Concentration,  574 

Education,  971 

Light,  1939 

STANDARD, 

Electricity,  988 

Grandeur,  1398 

Mysterv,  2330 

Bible,  363 

Force,  1285 

Haeckel,  1429 

Nebulae,  2397 

Exactness,  1116 

Nature,  2381 

Hypothesis,  1523 

Patience,  2524-25 

Measures,  2129-30 

Steam-jets,  3225 

Limits,  1973 

Revelations,  2908 

STAR, 

(See  also  COAL;  POW- 

Machine, 2005 

Stars,  2265 

Changes,  479 

ER;  WATER.) 

Man,  2053,  2057,  2064 

Star-drifting,  3202 

Conflagration,  583-86 

STERILIZATION, 

Mystery,  2329 

Triumph,  3488 

Exactness,  1122 

Partnership,  2513 

Reality,  2828 

Unity,  3555.  3558 

Sun,  3296,  3299 

Securitv,  3031-32 

Sex,  3093-94 

SPECTRUM, 

STAR-CLUSTERS,     3198- 

Tea,  3361 

Spirituality,  3183 

Astronomv,  261-63 

99 

STEEL,  3227 

Sublimity,  3276 

Colors,  545 

Splendor,  3184 

Magnet,  2009 

(See  also   CONSCIOUS- 

Constituents, 621 

Stars,  3204 

STIMULANT, 

NESS;    INTELLECT; 

Discovery,  847 

Variety,  3612,  3615 

Aconite.  1431 

MAN  ;  MATERIALISM  ; 

Elements,  994-95 

STAR-COLORS,   3200-01 

Cayenne,  2640 

MIND;    SPIRIT; 

WILL.) 

Exactness,  1119 
Extension,  1161 

Variety,  3618 
STARLIGHT, 

Food,  1273,  1275 
STIMULANTS, 

SOUND,  3151-54 

Illusions,  1565 

Impression,  1599 

Alcohol,  132-42 

Advance,  79 

Increase,  1617 

Variation,  3606 

Cost,  675 

Consciousness,  602-03 

Invisible,  The,  1765 

STAR,  NEW,  3196-97 

Failure,  1192 

Correspondence,  670 
Extension,  1160 

Light,  1942 
Perception,  2537 

Stars,  3209 
STAR-SYSTEM, 

Health,  1448 
Perception,  2542 

Formation,  1313 

Power,  2686-87 

Errors,  1065 

(See    also     ALCOHOL; 

Heat,  1464 

SPECTRUM   ANALYSIS, 

STARS,  3196-3223 

INTEMPERANCE;  IN- 

Light, 1927,  1947 

3169-70 

Aberration,  1 

TOXICATION;  OPI- 

Nerves, 2408    • 

Star-colors,  3201 

Advance,  87 

UM;     TROPICS| 

Science,  2975 

Unanimity,  3508 

Advantage,  91,92 

WINES.) 

Silence,  3105 

SPECULATION,  3171-73 

Ambition,  153 

STIMULI, 

Ventriloquism,   3636 

SPEED,  3177-81 

Asteroids,  250 

Summation,  3294 

Void,  3664 

Distance,  875 

Beginning,  345 

STIMULUS,  3232 

SOUNDS, 

Traveling,  3480 

Bodies,  Celestial,  386 

Organs,  2480 

Inattention,  1609 

Union.  3523 

Calculation,  413 

Spectacle,  3167 

SPACE,  3157-3161 

(See  also  VELOCITY.) 

Calmness,  416 

STONE,  3233-36 

Change,  457 

SPEECH,  3174-76 

Cause,  437 

Argument,  226 

Discovery,  858 

Beauty,  320 

Change,  456,  466 

Cutting,  3235 

Earth,  933 

Mind,  2198 

Changes,  474 

Soul,  3146 

Elements,  995 

Telepathy,  3366 

Clearness,  518 

Stream  of  lava,  3247- 

Error,  1050 

Tracts,  3449 

Clouds,  527 

48 

Ether,  1083-84 

Velocity,  3630-33 

Colors,  546-47 

STONE  AGE,  3233 

Faith,  1197 

SPIRIT, 

Constancy,  619-20 

Advance,  88 

Heat,  1461 

Agnosticism,  113-14 

Darkness,  726 

Ax,  302 

Infinitude,  1653 

Analogy,  157 

Distance,  874,  876-78, 

Bow,  395 

Infinity,  1654-59 

Association,  246 

1956 

Caution,  440 

Journey,  1778 

Discovery,  858 

Distribution,  885 

Hammer,  1432 

Light,  1930,  1942 

Spirituality,  3183 

Elements,  993-94 

History,  1498 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


901 


STONE   AGE, 

STUDY,  3270-71 

SUN, 

SUPERSTITION,    3318-29 

Industry,  1643 

Astronomy,  252 

Errors,  1064,  1066, 

Accident,  5,  9 

Intelligence,  1717, 

Cause,  438 

1078 

Astronomy,  255 

1729 

Cramming,  680 

Expenditure,  1138 

Beginnings,  349 

Kaiak.  1783 

Democracy,  766 

Extinction,    1166-67 

Civilization,  499 

Man,  2025,2063,2065 

Exploration,  1155 

Force,  1293-94 

Cruelty,  704 

Mechanics,  2133 

Insensibility,  1690 

Forces,  1303 

Eclipse,    962 

Metal,  2152 

Man,  2028 

Future,  1337 

Egypt.  983 

Sewing,  3089-90 

Mind,  2189,  2199 

Harmony,  1437 

Fetishism,  1227 

Skill,  3120 

Nature,  2368,  2376 

Incandescence,   1610 

Fir«,  1242 

Trade,  3450 

Practise.  2698 

Influence,  1662,  1664- 

Fossils,  1317 

STONEHENGE, 

Students,  3268-69 

65 

Freedom,  1327 

Altar,  149 

Superstition,  3329 

Ingratitude,  1674 

Illusion,  1563 

STONES, 

Thought,  3422 

Isolation,  1774-75 

Mind,  2211 

Avalanche,  298-99 

STUPIDITY,  3272-75 

Light,  1936,  1941 

Omen,  2451-52 

Mystery,  2310 

Mathematics,  2111 

Magnitude,    2011 

Phenomena,  2582 

Stone-cutting,  3235 

SUBJECTIVE,  THE, 

Measurement    2128 

Reason,  2830 

STORAGE  OF  WATER, 

Beauty,  320 

Meteors,  2162 

Science,  3006 

Snow,  3132 

Color,  536 

Motion,  2254 

Terror,  3380 

STORING, 

Development,  807 

Movement,  2283 

Wonders,  3761 

Store,  3237,  3239 

Enjoyment,  1025 

Mystery,  2330-31 

SUPPLIES, 

STORM, 

Nature,  2364,  2375 

Nature,  2369 

Extermination,  1162 

Sand-bar,  2951 

SUBJECTIVITY, 

Patience,  2524,  2527 

SUPPLY, 

Sympathy,  3350 
STORMS,  3240-42 

Prayer,  2701 
SUB-KINGDOMS, 

Purpose,  2805 
Power,  2661,  2684, 

Community,    559 
SUPPORT, 

STRAIN 

Separateness,  3083 

2688,  2693 

Architecture,  223 

Repose,  2876 

SUBLIMITY,  3376-77 

Radiation,  2820 

Dependence,  772-74 

Surrender,  3335-36 

Ignorance,  1552 

Reserve,  2881 

SUPREME  WILL, 

STRATA,  3244-45 

Imagination,  1581 

Rivers,  2927 

Contrivance,  647 

Atmosphere,  276 

Pitilessness.  2605 

Splendor,  3184 

(See  also  CREATOR; 

Cause,  430 

Science,    1387 

Spots,  3187-88 

DEITY  ;    DESIGN; 

Nature,  2386 

SUBMERGENCE,  3278-79 

Storms,     3241-42 

GOD  ;  I  N  T  E  L.LECT; 

Stillness,  3230 
STRATEGY, 

Continents,  630 
SUBSIDENCE,    3280-83 

Theory,   3395 
Triumph,  3488 

I  NTELEIGENCE; 
PURPOSE.) 

Animals,  170-71 

Earth,  929-32,  937 

Waste,  3695 

SUPREMACY,   3831-32 

Ants,  203 

Forests,    1309 

Weight,   3725 

Adaptation,  52 

STREAM, 

Inundation,  1749 

Work,     3772 

SURFACE, 

Consciousness,  599, 

Mountain,  2273-74 

(Seealso  EARTH; 

Convolutions   651 

601  ,  607 

Mvstery,    2310 

HEAT;  LIFE;  LIGHT; 

Increase,    1618 

Current,  711-13 

Rise,  2922 

SIRITJS;  STARS; 

SURGERY, 

STREAM  OF  LAVA,  3247- 

Sea,  3024 

WORLDS.) 

Causes,  439 

48 

Submergence,  3278-79 

SUNBEAMS, 

Cleanliness,  516-17 

STREAMS, 
Elevation,  998 

Theory,  3401 
SUBSTANCE, 

Atmosphere,  268 
Dust   915 

Discovery,  849 
SURPRISE,  3333 

Rivers,  2924-30 
STRENGTH,  3249-54 

Shadow,  3005 
SUBSTITUTES,  3285-86 

SUNLIGHT, 
Belief    358 

Conflict,  588 
Results,  2900-03 

Affliction,  101 
Alcohol,  131 

Teaching,  3363 
SUBSTITUTION,  3287 

Changes,  478 
Sun     3303 

SURRENDER,    3335-36 
Animals,  179 

Oak,  2432 
Union,  3524 
(See  also  POWER.) 

Evil,  1091,  1093 
SUCCESS,  3288-89 
Appliances,  216 

Transformation,  3465 
SUNRISE, 
Crimson    699 

Sacrifice.  2940-43 
SURVIVAL,  3337-40 
Animals,  176 

STRUCTURE, 
Architecture,  224 
Embryo,  1000 

Failures,  1193 
SUFFERING,  3290 
Pain,  2496-97 

SUNSET,  3310-11 
Beauty,  318 
Crimson    699 

Cruelty,  705 
Extermination,  1162- 
64 

Endowment,  1004 
Purpose,  2797,  2802 
(See  also  ORGANISM.) 
STRUGGLE. 
Advance.  90 

Struggle  for  Life,  3266 
SUFFOCATION, 
Atmosphere,  272 
SUGGESTION,    3292-93 
Extension,  1160 

SUNSETS,  RED, 
Atmosphere,  267 
SUNSHINE,  3312-13 
Irritation,  1769 

f  irrtif       1  Qf\7 

Extinction,  1165,1168 
Faculties,  1188 
Power,  2664 
(See    also    STRUGGLE 
FOR  LIFE.) 

Civilization,  502,  507 
Conception,  577 
Morality,  2242 
Victorv,  3645 
STRUGGLE     FOR     LIFE, 
3258-67 
Age,  108 
Almshouse  of  ocean, 
147 
Checks,  484 

Illusion,  1561 
Mind.  2206 
SUN,  3295-3315 
Activity,    34 
Advance,  89 
Advantages,  94 
Almighty,  The,  146 
Altar,  149 
Atmosphere,  268,  273 
Brightness,  406 

j-rfiiTiii,,   iyo/ 
Power,   2661,  2670 
Stone,     3234 
SUN-SPOTS,    3314-15 
Circulation,  497 
Order,  2462 
Results,  2902 
Service.   3084 
Simplicity,  3112 
Size,  3116 
Study     3271 

SUSCEPTIBILITY, 

Changes,  477 
SUSPENSE,  3341-42 
SUSPICION, 
Agency,  103 
SUSTENANCE,  3343 
Food,    1261-79 
Nutrition,  2431 
SWIFTNESS,  3344-45 
Speed,  3177-81 

Climate,  522 
Competitors,  564 
Complexity,  567 
Destruction,  793,  797- 

Cause,  435 
Change,   467 
Chromosphere,  496 
Circulation,  497 

Variation,  3604 
SUN-WORSHIP, 

Antiquity,  198 

Velocity,  3630-33 
SWOONING, 
Sleep.  3129 
SYMMETRY, 

98 

Comparison,  560 

Science.  2980 

Correlation    667 

Enemies,  1009 
Extermination,      1162, 
1164 
Food,  2081 

Concentration,  575 
Conflagration,  584-86 
Conflict,  588-89 
Conservation,   613-14 

SUNS, 
Creation,  683 
Giants,  1373 
Myriads,    2304 

SYMPATHY,  3346-50 
Enjoyment.  1025 
Personality,  2576 
SYSTEM, 

Ignorance,  1553 
Immigration,  1585 

Constituents,  621 
Contraction,    632-33 

Planets,  2614 
Revelations,  2908 

Comprehensiveness, 
571 

Intellect,  1711 

Corona,  664-65 

Riches,  2918 

Delusion  ,  762 

Manufacture,  2081 

Creation,  687 

Stars,  3214 

Evolution,  1107 

Microbes,  2168 

Darkness,  729 

SUPERHUMAN,  THE, 

Facts,  1184 

Migration,  2175 

Density,  769 

Supernatural,  3317 

Morals,  2248 

Nature,  2372 

Deserts,  781 

SUPERNATURAL,     THE, 

Old  and  new,  2450 

Painlessness,  2498 

Distance,  875 

3317 

Order,  2462-65 

Precious,  2703 
Savage,  2953 

Earth,  934,  946 
Eclipse,  961-63 

Beginning,  343-44 
Correspondence,  671 

Organism,   2466-67 
(See  also  THEORY.) 

Store,  3237 

Elements,    993 

Creation,  688 

SYSTEMS,  2999 

Strife,  3256 
(See  also  NATURAL  SE- 
LECTION;    SURVIVAL 
OF  FITTEST.) 

Emblem,  999 
Energy,   1012,      1017, 
1019 
Error,  1050,  1051 

Difficulties,  828 
Evolution,   1102 
Man,  2026 
Miracle,   2217-18 

World,  3776 
(Sse  also  THEOKIES.) 
SYSTEM,  SOLAR, 
Isolation,  1777 

902 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


SYSTEM, 

TERROR, 

THEORY,    MOLECULAR, 

TIME, 

Movement,  2283 

Earthquake,   955 

Motion,  2261 

Perception,  2542 

Unity,  3527 
Variety,  3612 

Elements,    996 
Half-truth,  1430 

(See  also  MOLECULES  ; 
compare     cross-ref- 

Photography,     2592, 

SYSTEMS,  STELLAR, 

Illusion,  1562 

erences  under  THE- 

Punctuality. 2790 

Variety,  3613 

Sacrifices,  2943 

ORY,  ATOMIC.) 

Precision,  2708 

Shadow,  3095 

THING  IN  ITSELF,  3417 

Present,  2717 

Solitude,   3144 

Mystery,    2334 

Science,   2985 

TANGIBLE,  THE,  3555 

Sound,  3151 

THIRST,  3418-19 

Sensation,  3060 

TASKS,  3356-57 

(See  also  FEAR.) 

Alcohol,  140 

Sense,  3067 

TASTE,    3358-60 

TEST, 

Analogy,  157 

Shells,  3096-97 

Textiles,  3383 

Education,  967 

Extremes,   1173 

Slowness,  3130 

TEACHABLENESS, 

Theories,   3389 

Sagacity,  2944 

Star,  New,  3196 

Education.    3362 

Utility,  3581-82 

THOUGHT,  3420-26 

Tutelage,  3504 

TEACHER, 

TESTIMONY, 

Adaptation,  52 

Variety,  3613,  3616 

Investigator,  1763 

Conflict,  587-88 

Anthropomorphism, 

Velocity,  3630-33 

Man,  2023 

Theory,   3411 

185 

TIME  AND  FORCE, 

Place,  2607 

TESTS,  3381-82 

Association,  244 

Product,    2745 

Stimulus,  3232 

TEXTILES,  3383 

Complexity,    566 

TIMIDITY,    3441 

TEACHING,  3363 

THEOLOGY,    3384-86 

Conception,  576-78 

Fear,  3441 

TELEGRAPHY, 

Decay,  742 

Creation,  692 

TOIL, 

Communication,  557 

Definitions,  749 

Echoes,  960 

Industrv,  1643 

Currents,  713 

Denial,  768 

Ideas,  1544-47 

Truth,    3498 

Earth,  944 

Dogmas,  895 

Individuality,     1630- 

Work,    3766 

TELEOLOGY, 

God,   1386-87 

31,   1635 

TONES, 

Organs,  2477,  2479 

Purpose,    2807 

Induction,  1636 

Variety,  3624 

(See    also   DESIGN; 

Science,   2973-74 

Infinity,  1654-59 

TOOL, 

PURPOSE.) 
TELEPATHY,  3366 

THEORIES,  3387-94 
Denial    768 

Language,  1815,  1833 
Limits,  1970-72 

Ax,  302 
Weapon,    3719 

TELEPHONE,  3367 

Facts,  'l!82 

Materialism,        2094- 

TOOLS,    3443-45 

News,  2414 

Formation     1312 

2104 

Adaptation,  55,  63 

TELESCOPE,    3368 

Limits    1975 

Memory,  2138,  2142 

Agriculture,  125 

Astronomy,  257 
Expectation,  1136 
Experience,  1145 

Truth,'  3497 
(See  also  HYPOTHESIS  ; 

Mind,  2185-2212 
Motion,  2263 
Mystery,   2314 

Arrest,  230-32 
Community,    559 
Differences.  827 

Imperfection,    1590 
Limits,  1968-72,  1976 
Man,  2032 

THEORIST, 
Experiment,  1151 

Phosphorus,    2590 
Physiology,  2599 
Prevision,  2728 

Hammer,  1432 
Manufacturers,  2082 
Mechanics,  2133 

Outlook,  2494 

THEORY, 

Rhythm,   2917 

Substitutes,  3285-86 

Photography,  2595 

Antitoxins,  202 

Science,  2976,  2985 

TOOLS  vs.  ORGANS, 

Power,  2690 

Argument,  226 

Transfer,  3457 

Selection,  3048 

Revelation,  2909 
Science,  2979 

Assumption,   247-48 
Automatism,    296-97 

Velocity,    3633 
(See  also  INTELLECT; 

TORPOR, 

Extremes,   1172 

Senses,  3078 

Cause,  438 

MIND.) 

TORTOISE, 

Space,  3158 

Data,  731 

THOUGHTLESSNESS 

Speed,    3180 

Stars,  3210 

Delusion,  762 

3427 

TOTALS, 

Will.  3739 
TEMPERAMENT, 

Difficulties,  828 
Discovery,  848 

THUNDER-CLOUD, 

Electricity,  988 

Memory,    2147 
TOUCH,  3446 

Action,  3369 
Climate,  523 
TEMPERANCE,  3370 
Alcohol,  131-142 
Man,  2073 
(See  also  ABSTINENCE  ; 
FOOD  ;      INTEMPER- 
ANCE;  INTOXICA- 
TION ;   STIMULANTS  ; 

Disease,  862 
Experiment,  1144-47, 
1149 
Fact,    1180-81 
Food,  1262-63,  1274 
Generation,   1343-45 
Germs,  1366 
Germ-theory,  1364 
Heat,  1451-52,  1464- 

THUNDER-STORM, 

Atmosphere,  269 
Experiment,   1150 
TIDE, 
Effect,    974-75 
TIME,  3429-39 
Age,  108-12 
Antiquity,  189-201 
Argument,  227 

Appeal,  213 
Compensations,    563 
Illusions,    1566 
Language,  1812,  1826 
Sight,  3102 
Solidity,  3142 
Tangible,  3355 
TOXINS, 
Injury,  1680 

TROPICS.) 
TEMPERATURE,  3371-73 
Adjustment,  71 
Advantage,  92 
Bfain,  396-97 
Climate,  522-23 
Compensation,    561 
Destruction,  801 
Dew,  819 

Molecules    2233-34 
Mystery,    2311 
Naturalists,  2355 
Ocean  depths,  2448 
Practise,  2698 
Pride,  2729 
Progress,   2758 
Sagacity.  2947 

Astronomy,  253 
Attention,  283 
Change,   460,  466 
Compensation,    561 
Complexity,    568 
Conflagration,  583 
Creation,  684,  687 
Crystallization,  707 
Delta,  760 

Results,  2899 
TOY, 
Utility,  3587 
TRACERY, 
Yielding,  3795 
TRADE,  3450 
Language,   1817 
TRADITION,  3451-54 
Advance,  84 

Discovery,  848,  856 
Earth,  930,  939 
Effect,  973,  979 

Science,  2972,  2988 
Scientists,  3020 
Singleness,  3113 

Design,  785 
Development,  804, 
809,  813 

Study,    3271 
TRADITIONS, 
Deluges,  761 

Endurance,   1008 
Extremes.  1171 

"Soul  of  life,"  3147 
Sun-spots,  3315 

Discovery,  858 
Duration,    913 

Records,    2848 
TRAINING,  3455 

Fossils,  1318 

Test,  3381 

Earth    938 

Automatism,  294-95 

Freezing,   1329-32 

Truth,  3499 

Effect,  977 

Body,  387 

Mysterv  ,    2307 
"  Sleep  "  of  plants  ,  3  1  27 
Water,  3707 

Unity,    3538 
Universe,  3565 
(See  also  HYPOTHESIS; 

Engineering,   1022 
Error,  1050 
Eternity,  3438 

Motherhood,  2253 
TRAITS, 
Union,    3521 

(See     also     CLIMATE  ; 
COLD;     HEAT; 
MOUNTAINS;  TROP- 

SYSTEM.) 
THEORY,  ATOMIC, 

Artificial     ^ky,      384, 

Experience,  1140 
Extinction,    1168 
Faintness,   1194 

TRANSFER,  3457 
Responsibilitv,     2887 
TRANSFORMATION,  3459 

ICS.) 

526,  540,  3123 

Faith,  1197 

-66 

TEMPTATION, 

Character,  481 

Failure,  1191 
Force,  1281 

Future,    1335-38 
Geology,  3433 

Astronomy,  261,262- 
263 

Fishes,  1251 
Name.    2352 
TENACITY, 
Life,  1904,  1915 

Heat,  1452 
Theory,   3398 
(See  also  ATOMS; 
CHEMISTRY  ;    CRYS- 

God. 1389 
Infinity,  1654-59 
Matter,  2118 
Mind,  2204 

Deserts.   781 
Fire,    1231.    1233-34, 
1236,    1240,    1244 
Flame,   1256 

(See    also    BACTERIA; 

TALS;  COMBUSTION; 

Moon,  2239 

Life,  1897 

DEATH  ;     GERMS; 

FORCE;  HEAT;  MO- 

Motion, 2262 

Man',  2071 

VITALITY.) 
TENDENCY, 

TION;  MOVEMENT; 
POLARITY;  TRANS- 

Mountain-building, 
2275 

Materialism,   2096 
Marvelouo,  2091 

Opportunitv,  2457 
TENDERNESS,  '3375 

TARENCY;  WATER.) 
THEORY,  MECHANICAL, 

Nearness,  2396 
Past,  2517-19 

Motion,  2266-67 
Passage,  2515 

TERROR,    3376-80 

Mind,  2209 

Patience,  2522 

Science,  3014 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


TRANSFORMATION, 

TRUST, 

UNION, 

UNSELFISHNESS, 

Transfiguration,   3458 
Water,  3709 

Dependence,  771 
Sensation   3064 

Mixture,  2228 
Occident    and  Orient, 

Infancy,  1648-50 
Life,  1885 

(See  also  CHANGE.) 

TRUSTWORTHINESS, 

2442 

UPHEAVAL, 

TRANSITION, 

3495 

Old  and  new,  2450 

Change,  471 

Consciousness,  603-04 

TUTELAGE,  3504 

Opposites,  2458-59 

Fertility,  1226 

Passage,  2515 
Permanence,  2561 

(See  also  INFANCY.) 
TWINKLING,  3505 

Speculation,  3172 
UNITY, 

UPLIFTING,  3567 
Lifting,  1926 

(See   also     CHANGE; 

Expansion,    1132 

Adaptations,  67 

Mvstery,  2331 

TRANSFORMATION.) 
TRANSITORINESS,  3473- 
75 
Life,  1918 
Universe,  3564 
TRANSPARENCY,     3478 
Assimilation,  242 
B3auty,   330 
Clearness,  518 

Stars,   3220-21 
Truth,    3501 
TYPE,  3506 
Adaptability,  41 
Advance,  82 
Correspondence,  672 
Development,  803 
Embryo,  1000 
Germ,  1362 
Pursuit,  2809 

Aggregate,  119 
Agreement,  117-18 
Alliance,  144 
Beauty,   327 
Calm,  415 
Coordination,  661 
Correspondence,  669- 
72 
Device,  816 
Elements,    993 

(S'ee  alpo  CONTINENTS; 

ELEVATION.) 

USE,  3569-71 
Adaptation,  66 
Benefits,  361 
Differences,  827 
Discovery,  860 
Utilitarianism,   3572 
Utility,  3573-87 

Color,  532 

Reversion,  2914 

Forces,  1305 

USEFULNESS,  3570 

Discovery,  857 
Ether    1083—84 

Transition,  3470 

Gravitation,  1401-03 

Utility,  3573-87 

Light,'  1945 
Pathways.  2521 
Water,  3703 
Wine,  3744-45 
TRANSPORTATION, 
Locomotion,    1981 

Variation,  3605 
TYPES, 
Extinction,  1168 
Man,  2058 
TYRANNY, 
Robber-baron,    2931- 

00 

Language,  1832 
Law,  1837-62 
Light,  1930 
Links,  1977 
Man,  2030-31 
Mankind,  2079 
Neglect    2404 

USELESSNESS, 
Degeneracy,  752 
Degeneration,  754-55 
Utility,  3585 
UTILITARIANS, 
Bees,  341 

(See     also     LOCOMO- 

&m 

Order  2462-65 

UTILITY,  3573-87 

TION.) 
TREASON, 
Degeneracy,    752 
TREE,  3481-83 

u 

ULTIMATE,  THE, 
Will,  3739 
UNANIMITY,  3507-08 

Organ's,  2477-79,  2480 
Origin,  2481 
Principle,  2730 
Sex,  3092 

Activity,  35 
Adaptation,  66 
Appendages,  215 
Application,  217 

Antiquity,  201 
Buttresses,  412 
Capital,   421 
Clothing.  524 
Man,  2030 
Protection,    2776 
Race,  2815 

Agreement,  117 
Convergence,  650 
Coincidence,  530-31 
UNCERTAINTY,  3509 
Power,  2673 
UNCONDITIONED,  THE, 
"Thing     in  •  Itself," 

Similarity,  3108 
Singleness,  3113 
Telegraph,  3365 
Unification,  3510 
Variety,  3617 
UNITY  OF  NATURE,  3431  , 
3537-48 

Association,  246 
Bacteriology,  306 
Beauty,  332 
Benefits,  359-361 
Cleanliness,  516-17 
Cookery,  653 
Color,  532,  534-35.  537 

TREES, 

3417 

UNITY     OF     THE     UNI- 

Criticism, 700 

Age,  109-10 

UNCONSCIOUSNESS, 

VERSE,  3553-58 

Delusions,  763-64 

Cedars,  444 
Isolation,  1776 
Mines,    2215 
Mystery,    2340 
TRIAL.  3484 
TRIBE, 
Neighbor,  2405 
TRIFLES, 
Result,  2893 

Consciousness,  610 
Memory,  2150 
Parsimony,  2508 
Progress,   2760 
UNDERMINING, 
Strength,  3254 
UNDOING, 
Work,  3768 
UNDULATIONS, 

UNIVERSE,  3562-66 
Beginning,  343 
Constancy,  617 
Cosmogony,  673-74 
Creation,  681-93 
Development,  813 
Distance,  877-78 
Government,  1395 
Grandeur,  1398 

Deserts,  781 
Differences,  827 
Emotion,  1001 
Error,  1051-52 
Geology,  1356 
Humanity,  1516 
Life,  1884 
Pledge,  2632 
Provision,  2780 

TRIUMPH, 
Name,    2352 
Recognition,  2835 

Idea,  1545 
Waves,   3713-17 
UNIFICATION,  3510 

Gravitation,  1401-03 
Harmony,  1441 
Intellect,  1715 

Pugnacity,  2789 
Science,     2982,     2989, 
2994,  3004-05 

Soul,  3150 
TROPICS,    3491-94 

Discovery,  842-44 
UNIFORMITY, 

Law,  1839,  1841,1850- 
51,  1859-60 

Stupidity,  3275 
Utilitarianism,   3572 

Advantage,  92 

Criticism,  701 

Limits,  1968,  1970-72 

Utilization,  3588-89- 

Civilization,  507 

Development,  803 

Loneliness,  1985 

Coal  .  528 
Contrast,  640 
Difficulties,  830 

Fixity,  1253-55 
Germs,  1368-70 
Nature,  2381 

Mathematics,        2110, 
2114 
Matter,  2113-14,  2116- 

VACATIONS, 
Proficiency,  2746 

Fact,  1181 

Order,  2462-65 

18 

VACUUM, 

Giants,  1375 
Health.  1448 

Permanence,  2560-63 
UNIFORMITY      OF     NA- 

Mystery, 2332,  2334 
Nature.  2356 

Silence,  3105 
VAGARIES,  3590 

Insect-life,  1683 
Luxuriance,  1999 
Mildness,  2176 
Night,  2420 
Stillness,    3230 
Tree-ferns,  3482 
Trees,  3483 
Uproar,  3568 
Vegetation,  3628 

TURE,  455-80,  3511-17 
Abrasion  of  rocks,  3 
Action,  23,  28 
Animals,  175 
Astronomy,  260 
Beginning,  343-44 
Certainty,  450 
Chance,  452-54 
Constancy,  617-20 

Order,  2465 
Outlook,  2494 
Science,  2973 
Splendor,  3184 
Theory,  3412 
Transitoriness,  3475 
Unity,  3553 
Variety,  3611-16 
UNIVERSES, 

VAGUENESS,  3591 
VALLEYS,  3592-95 
VALUE,  3596-99 
Time,  3434 
Utility,  3573-87 
VAPOR, 
Forces,  1302 
VARIABILITY,  3600-02 

TRUTH,  3496-3503 
Approximation,    218 
Controversy,  648 
Experience,  1140 

Creation,  683-84,  687, 
689-91 
Deposits,  775-77 
Development,  813 

Star-clusters,    3198-99 
UNIVERSALITY, 
Religion,   2871-72 
Science  2999 

VARIANCE, 
Religion,  2863 
VARIATION,  3603-07 
Advantages,  95 

Freedom,  1326 
Growth,  1408 
Half-truth,    1430 

Evolution,  1105 
Geology,  1358 
Science,  2985 

Stone  Age,  3233 
UNKNOWABLE,  THE, 

TJ-.I*    r    OCA 

Capacity,  420 
Change,  455-80 
Changes,  474 

Illusion,  1560 
Logic,  1983 
Man,  2051 

Slowness     of     action, 
3130 
Theory,  3411 

1561161,  OOO 

Mind,  2210 
UNKNOWN,  THE, 

Compensation,  561 
Development,  809 
Difference,  822 

Magnitude,   2012 
Mermaid,  2151 
Metaphor,  2157 

Trustworthiness,  3495 
Variability,  3601-02 
UNION, 

Elements,  995 
Imagination,  1579 
Revelation,  2907 

Earth-crust,  948-50 
Individuality,    1629, 
1631 

Mind,  2211 

Combination,    551-54 

Strain  of  desire,  3243 

Inheritance,  1676 

Parable,  2501 
Paradox,  2502 

Convergence,  650 
Cooperation,   657-60 

Value,  3599 
Zone,  Abysmal,  3799 

Law,  1843 
Life,  1873 

Sensations,    3064 
Tradition,   3451 

Coordination.  661 
Correspondence,  669- 

UNLIKENESS, 
Mind,  2210 

Limits,  1974 
Mind,  2194 

Utility,  3582 
Veracity,  3638-39 

72 
Dependence,  772-74 

(JNNATURALNESS, 
Word,  3763 

Nature,  2378 
Organism,  2467 

904 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


VARIATION, 

VICISSITUDES, 

VOLCANO, 

WASTING, 

(See    also     ANIMALS  ; 

Climate,  519-20 

Spun-glass,  3192 

Continents,  628 

CHANGE;      DIFFER- 
ENCE;   EVOLUTION; 

Science,  3015 
VICTIM,  3643-44 

Winds,  3743 
(See     also     EARTH- 

Strength, 3254 
WATCHFULNESS,  3697 

LAW;     ORDER; 

Venom,  3634 

QUAKE;      LAVA; 

WATER,  3698-3711 

PLANTS  ;     S  E  L  E  c- 

VICTORY,  3645 

MOUNTAIN.) 

Adaptation,  59-61 

TI  o  N  ;  S  P  ECIES  ; 

Change,  468 

VOLCANOES,  3671-73 

Agency,   104 

STRU  GGLE   FOR 

Energy,  1010 

Dust,  919-21 

Alphabet  of    geology, 

LIFE;  SURVIVAL; 

Pugnacity,  2789 

Eruptions,  1079-81 

148 

VARIETIES  ;     VARI- 

VIEWS, 

Extremes,  1170 

Atmosphere,  275 

ETY.) 

Comparison,  560 

Fable,  1177 

Bacteria,  304 

VARIATIONS, 

VIGILANCE, 

Fish.  1247-48 

Bacteriology,  306 

Deviations,  815 

Watchfulness,  3697 

Harmony,  1438 

Blackness,  375 

Earth,     927.     929-32, 

VIOLENCE, 

Hawaii,  1444 

Blossoms,  383 

934-41,  946-50 

Pain.   2496 

Martyrs,  2090 

Certainty,  449 

Man,  2042 

Painlessness,  2498 

Mass,  2092 

Change,  472 

Origin,  2488-89 

Navy,  2395 

Metals,  2156 

Constancy,  616.  618 

Survival,  3337 

VIRTUE,  3647-48 

Mythology.   2342 

Controversy,  648 

VARIETIES,  3608-10 

Dawn,  732 

Nature    2362 

Difference,  821 

Species,  3166 

Deliberation,  756 

Obstacles,  2440 

Disintegration,     867- 

(See     also      CHANGE; 

Vision,  3652-56 

Peaks,  2529 

68 

DIFFERENCE;  VARI- 

VISIBLE, THE,  3650-51 

Peril,  2555,  2558 

Electricity,    988-90 

ATION.) 

Growth,  1412-13 

Phenomena,  2582 

Energy,      1015-16, 

VARIETY,  3611-24 

(See  also  INVISIBLE; 

Pitch-lake,  2604 

1018 

Advantage,  92 

MIND  ;  SOUL  ;  SPIRIT  ; 

Plants,  2619 

Erosion,  1049 

Change,  455-80 

SUPERNATURAL; 

Precision,  2709 

Expansion,  1133 

Colors,  546-47 

TANGTBLE.) 

Problems,  2740 

Experiment,  1147 

Difference,  820-27 

VISION,  3652-56 

Itepose,  2876 

Extremes.  1172-73 

Food,  1276 

Adjustment,  77 

Sea,  3023 

Flood,  1259-60 

Purpose,  2798 

Ambiguity,  152 

Steam-jets,  3225 

Force,      1285,      1292, 

Unity,  3535 

Artist,  236 

Stromboli,  1949 

1295 

World,  3775 

Change,  462 

Sun,  3297 

Formation,  1313 

VASTNESS,  3625 

Clearness,  518 

Trail,  3484 

Freezing,   1329-32 

Refraction,  2854 

Constancy,  619-20 

Uniformity,  3512 

Heat,  1454 

Sublimity.  3277 

Criticism,  700 

(See  also  MOUNTAINS.) 

Ice,  1529-43 

VEGETATION,  3627-29 
Bacteria,  303 

Delicacy,  758 
Exactness,  1120 

VOLITION,  3674-77 

Influence,  1669 
Life,  1898 

Coal,  528 

Infirmitv,  1660-61 

Alcohol,  132,  141 

Light,  1945 

Contrast,  640 

Limit,  1958-59 

Animals    173 

Measure,  2125 

Decay,  741 

Location,  1979 

Attention,  283—84 

Minerals,  2213 

Forests,  1306-09 

Power,  2690 

\utomatism    295—97 

Motion,  2260 

Tropics,  3491 
(See    also    BACTERIA  ; 
CLIMATE;    COLOR  ; 
FLOWERS;  FORESTS  ; 

Seeing,  3042 
Sensibility,  3079 
Sight,  3102 
Telescope,  3368 

Choice,  490-92 
Compulsion,  572 
Distraction,  881 
Enjoyment    1023 

Nature's  paradox, 
2387 
Nature's      purifier, 
2390 

LIFE;      LIGHT; 

Velocity,    3633 

Ocean,  2143-49 

PLANTS;     SOIL; 

Visible,  3650-51 

Life,   1907 

Penetration,  2534 

TREES;  TROPICS.) 

(See  also  EYE;  LIGHT; 

Memory    2150 

Pollution,  2645 

VEHICLES, 

SIGHT.) 

Motive    2270 

Pressure,  2720-22 

Locomotion,  1981 

VISIONS,  3657-58 

Movements,  2288—91 

Protection,  2772 

Wheels,  3727 

Suggestion.  3293 

Plan   ^609 

Rain,  2821 

VEIL  OF  VAPOR, 

Protection,  2774 
VELOCITY,  3630-33 

VISITORS,  3659 
VITALITY,  3661-62 
Egypt,  983-84 

PowerT  2656 
Spontaneousness, 
3185—86 

Rainbow,  2822 
Rivers,  2924-27,  2929 
-30 

Correspondence,  670 

Environment,  1041 

Time,  3437 

Roots,  293S 

Earth,  946 
Exactness,  1127 

Forces,  1304 
Germs,  1366-67 

(See  also  WILL.) 

Seed-dispersal,    3038 
Snow,  3132 

Force,  1287 

Organization,  2475 

VOYAGERS,  3678-80 

Solids,  3143 

Shadow,  3095 

VIVIDNESS,  3663 

w 

Transparency,  3478 

Sound,  3152 
Speed,  3177-81 
(See     also     LOCOMO- 

VOCABULARY, 

Language,  1818 
VOLCANO,  3665-70 

WAKEFULNESS,  3682 
WAKING, 

"WATER  OF  LIFE," 

Spirits,  3182 
WATERS, 

TION.) 

Agent,  107 

Time,  3440 

T  »nc\     1  SftQ 

VENTILATION,  3635 
Bees,  342 

Atmosphere,  267 
Combination,  553 

WALKING,  3683-84 
Endowment,  1004 

.L<inQ,   louy 
Mammalia,  2014 
Man    ^066 

VENTRILOQUISM,    3636 
VERACITY,  3638-39 

Controversy,  649 
Cycles,  717 

WAR,  3686-89 
Conquest,  592,  594 

Union,  3523 

Memory,  2144-45 

Danger,  721 

Dancing,  719 

WAVE, 

Place,  2608 

Depths,  779 

Folly,  3688 

Life,   1903 

(See  also  TRUTH.) 
VERIFICATION, 

Difference,  823 
Elements,  996 

Necessity,  2398 
Struggle,  3258-67 

Shock,  3098 
WAVES,  3712-17 

Idea,  1545 

Electricity,  989 

WARFARE, 

Beauty,  339 

Science,  2986 

Fire,  1241 

Ants,  203 

Caverns,  442 

VERSATILITY,  3641 

Forces,  1301 

Life,  1875-76,  1914 

Change,  458 

VERTEBRATES, 

Glass-making,  1382 

Missiles,  2225 

Color,  539-40 

Adaptability,  41 

Good,  1392 

WARNING, 

Colors,  544,  549 

Type.  3506 
VIBRATION, 

Herculaneum,  1477 
Instability,  1694 

Animals,  168 
Danger-signals,  722 

Correspondence,  670 
Earthquake,   954 

Ambiguity,  152 

Knowledge,  1794 

Death,  737 

Extension,  1160 

Depth,  778 

Lighthouse    of    Med- 

Failure, 1191 

Formation,  1313 

Expansion,  1132 

iterranean,     1949 

Fear,  1214-15 

Hypothesis,  1528 

Light,  1928 

Minerals,  2214 

Thoughtlessness,  3427 

LiVht,      1927,      1930. 

Motion,  2268 

Mountain,  2273,  2278 

Victim,  3644 

'1947 

VIBRATIONS, 

Mystery,  2333 

WASTE,  3691-96 

Minuteness,  2216 

Delicacy,  758 

Nature,    2367,     23S2, 

Blood,  378 

Oak,  2432 

Earthquake,  954,  956 

2391 

Deserts,  781 

Obstacles,  2441 

Influence,  1671 

Past,  2517 

Energy,  1019 

Particles,  2510 

Silence,  3105 

Power,   2680 

Excess,  1128-29 

Rocks,  2934 

Waves.  3713-17 

Records,  2845 

Food,  1276 

Sea-^aves,  3026 

VICARIOUSNESS, 

Rocks,   2935 

Repair.  2874 

Silence,  3105-06 

Altruism,  150 

Shells.  3097 

Seeds,  3041 

Sound.   1353-54 

VICE,  3642 

Shower,  3101 

Utilization,   3588-89 

Twinkling,  3505 

Degeneracy,  753 

Skeleton,  3117 

Value,  3596 

Water,  3708 

TOPICS    WITH    CROSS-REFERENCES 


905 


WEAKNESS, 

WILL, 

WOMAN,  PRIMITIVE, 

WORSHIP, 

Alcohol,  140 

Variability,  3601-02 

Invention,  1753 

Cats,  499,  898 

Union,  3524 

(See  also  VOLITION.) 

Manufacture,  2082 

Dogs   898 

Survival,  3338-39 

WIND,  3741-43 

Music,  2302 

Idols!  2435,  3021,  3435 

Will,  3740 

Aeronaut,  96 

Pottery,  2651-52 

WEALTH, 

Consciousness,  604 
Desire,  791 

Bloom,  382 
Disintegration,      867 
Erosion,  868,  2685 

Sewing,  3089-90 
Taste,  3358 
Work,  3769-70 

Matter,  21  13 
Sacrifices,  2943 

S:*rt"»£»r»f  o      OA.Q1. 

Discovery,  855 
Earthquakes,  957 

Insects,  1688 
Invention,  1757 

(See  also  MAN,  PRIM- 
ITIVE.) 

rpents,  ^±yo 
San.    149,   198,  2980, 

Environment,  1032 

Power,  2685 

"WOMAN'S    REASON,"  A 

"*<*' 

Impulse,  1605 
Science.  2970 

Seed-dispersal,    3034 
Wilderness,   3729 

Memory,  2147 
WONDER, 

(See    al^o    IDOLATRY; 
RELIGION.) 

WEAPON, 

Witch-grass,  374S 

Star,  New,  3196-97 

WORTH, 

Bow,  395 

WINDS, 

WONDERS,  3758-62 

Preciousness,  2703 

Survival,  3340 

Atmosphere,  269 

Extravagances,  1169 

Utility,  3573-87 

WEAPONS,  3719-21 

Myths,  2345,  2351 

WOOL, 

WOUNDS, 

Arts,  239 

Sources,   3156 

Radiation,  2819 

Fbctermination,     1163 
Fables,  1178 

WINE,  3744-45 
WINES, 

WORD,  3763-64 
"WORD  OF  HONOR," 

Germ-theory,  1364 

Tools,  3444 

Flavors,  1257 

Mathematics,  2111 

(Sse  also  ANAESTHET- 

(S3e also  BRONZE  AGE; 
IRON;      METALS  ; 
STONE  AGE;  WAR.) 

WINGS,   3746 
Adjustment,  74 
Appendages,  215 

WORDS, 
Language,   1813-15 
Recitation,  2834 

ICS  ;  BACTE  RI  A  ; 
CLEANLINESS;  DIS- 
INFECTION; GENER- 

WEAVING, 3722-23 

Birds,  372 

WORLD,  3773-78 

ATION,     SPONTANE- 

Antiquity, 200 

Loss,  1992 

Chance,  452 

OUS;  GERMS;   HOS- 

Industry, 1644 

Seed-dispersal,  3037 

Consistency,  615 

PITALS;     LOCKJAW; 

Women,  3757 

Swiftness,  3345 

Creation,  681-93 

SURGERY  ;     TETAN- 

WEEDS, 

WINKING, 

Evidence,  1088 

US.) 

Checks.  484 

Body,  392 

Extension,  1159 

WRITING,  3789-92 

Power,   2664 

WISDOM,  3747 

Facts,  1185 

Civilization,  499 

Results,  2903 

Selection,  3053 

Nerves,  2409 

Ideas,  1547 

Spread,  3189 

WITCHCRAFT, 

WORLD,  EXTERNAL, 

Language,  1816 

WEIGHT,  3724-25 
Atoms,  279 

Superstition,  3322 
WITHHOLDING, 

Sensations,  3064 
WORLD,  OLD, 

Reproduction,  2879 

Experiment,   1149 

Contrast,  636 

America,  155 

Pressure,  2720-24 

WITNESSES, 

WORLD,  SPIRITUAL, 

Scales,  2960 

Conflict,  589 

Adjustment,  76 

YIELDING,  3794-95 

WEEK, 

WOMAN,  3749-57 

WORLDS,    3779-83 

Disaster,  840 

Antiquity,   191,  197 
WELFARE, 

Antiquity,  200 
Cheapening,  483 

Astronomy,  262-63 
Life,  1896 

Earthquakes,  958 
Union,  3524 

Civilization,   508-09 
WELLS, 
Experiment,  1147 
Pollution,  2645 
Springs,  3191 
WHALE, 

Cookery,  652-56 
Cooking,  655 
Domesticity,  901 
Family,    1200-1203 
Fire,  1231 
Food,  1272 

Star-clusters,  3198-99 
Space,  3157 
WORLDS,   OTHER,  3775, 
3778-83 
Bodies,  386 
Visible,  3650 

YOUTH,  3793,  3796-97 
Criminals,   698 
Habit,  1426 
Perfection,  2548-50 
Reversion.  2913 

Adaptation,  61 

Freedom,  1323 

WORMS,  3784-85 

Z1 

WHEELS,  3726-27 

Industry,  1644 

Beauty,  318 

WHIRLPOOL, 

Waters,  3710 
Waves,  3714 
WHIRLWIND,  3728 
WILD  BEAST, 
Sympathy,  3350 
WILDERNESS,  3729 
Ostrich,  2492 
WILFULNESS,  3730 
WILL,  3730-40 
Action,  22,  29 

Intemperance,  1731 
Lamps,  1807 
Language,  1835 
Leaven,  1868 
Loss,  1990 
Love,  1995-97 
Man,  2023 
Monsters,  2237 
Morality,  2247 
Nursery,  2430 
Peace,  2528 
"Pepper-pot,"  2536 

Buildings,  411 
Intelligence,  1718 
Life,    1896 
Mind,  2197 
Mystery,  2310 
Power,  2655 
Seed-dispersal,    3040 
Soil,  3137 
Stones,  Buried,  3236 
Touch,    3446 
Transformation,  3466 
WORK,  3765-73 

ZERO,  ABSOLUTE, 

Space,  1461 
ZERO-SIGN,  3798 
ZONE, 
Brain,  397 
ZONES,  3799-80 
Civilization,  507 
Difficulty,  830 
Labor,  1802 
Severity,  3088 

Alcohol,  140-41 

Savages,  2958 

Agency,   104 

ZOOLOGY, 

Belief,  357 

Sex,  3091,  3094 

Agent,  106 

Convergence.  650 

Character,  482 

Skins,  3121 

Ants,  207-08 

Development,  813 

Choice,  490-92 

Tasks,  3356 

Chemistry  486 

Errors,  1058,  1070 

Conscience,  595 
Contrivance,  647 

Temperance.  3370 
(See    also     CHILD; 

Energy,  1011-21 
Genius,  1346-47 

Exploration,  1156 
Myths,  2346-49 

Decision,  745 

CHILDHOOD;  CHILD- 

Interest, 1735 

Romance.  2937 

Deliberation,  756 

REN  ;      EDUCATION  ; 

Labor,  1802-03 

Science,  2967 

Emotion,  1001-02 

HOME;       INFANCY; 

Loss,  1993 

Versatility,  3641 

Errors,  1076 
Failure,  1192 

MATERNITY  ; 
MOTHER;      MOTH- 

Machine, 2001-05 
Nature,  2374 

(See  also  ADAPTATION  ; 
ANIMALS;  BIOLOGY; 

Fatalism,  1209 
Feeling,  1217-19 
Forces.  1299 

ERHOOD  ;    MOTH- 
ERS.) 
WOMEN, 

Sewing,  3089-90 
Sleep,  3128 
(See     also     ENERGY  ; 

BIRDS  ;  CHANGE  ; 
COLOR  ;  DEATH  ;  EN- 
VIRONMENT;    EVO- 

Frenzy, 1333 
Intemperance,  1731 

Color-blindness,    542 
Seclusion,  3027 

FORCE  ;    INDUSTRY  ; 
LABOR;   MECHAN- 

LUTION ;  EXTERMIN- 
ATION ;  EXTINCTION  ; 

Man,  2018 
Memory,  3087 
Mimicry,  2180 
Morality,  2242-2246 
Motive,  2270 
Nature,  2358,  2371 
Resolves,  2883 
Right,  2921 

Weaving.  3722 
WOMAN,  PRIMITIVE, 

Agriculture,  124 
Anticipations,  187 
Community.  559 
Cookery,  652 
Cooking,  656 
Fire,  1231 

IC.) 
WORKINGMAN, 
Artisan,  235 
Child       labor,     1515, 
1805 
(See  also    INDUSTRY; 
LABOR;      MECHAN- 
IC.) 

FOOD;     GEOLOGY; 
HABITAT;    LIFE; 
MIMICRY;    PROTEC- 
TION;   SELECTION; 
SPECIES;  STRUGGLE 
FOR    LIFE  ;    VARIA- 
TION;    VARIETIES; 
VARIETY.) 

PROPER  NAMES  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS 


AAR,  678,  1921 

ABASSIDES,  2977 

ABEL,  Prof.  Niels  Henrik, 

1292 

ABIOGENESIS,  1371 
ABUL-HASSAN,  257 
ACADEMIE  FRANCAISE, 

1403 
ACADEMY  DEL  CIMEN- 

TO,  2387 

ACADEMY,  French,  17 
ACOSTA,  Jose  de,  594 
ADAM,  363 
ADAMS,  John,  854 
jEGEAN  Sea,  2442,  2825 
AEOLIAN  Isles,  2351 
AEOLUS,  2351 
jETNA,  336,  3974 
AFRICA,  39, 505,  816,  833, 

1030, 1173,  1227,  1981, 

1999,  2040,  2176,2647, 

3226,3256,3370 
AFRICA,  Central,  2811 
AFRICA,  South,  233,  1713 
AFRITE,  2920 
AGASSIZ,  Jean  Louis  Ro- 

dolfe,    65,     190,    1144, 

1169,2520,2546,2665, 

2842, 3751 
AHTS  of  North  America, 

677 
AILLY,  Cardinal  Pierre  d', 

764 
AIRY,    Sir    Geo.    Bedell, 

1545 

ALABAMA,  2272 
ALADDIN'S  LAMP,  2920 
ALANI,  310 
ALASKA,  317,  1308,  1537, 

2282 
ALBERTUS  MAGNUS,  315, 

763, 3329 
ALCORAN,  2464 
ALCYONE,  619 
ALDEBARAN,  546,  2908 
ALEMBERT,  Jean  le  Rond 

d',  256 
ALEXANDER   the   Great, 

2151,2300,2987. 
ALEXANDRIA,  3016 
ALGOL,  726,  2500 
ALG.E,  2534 
ALGONQUIN,  3647 
ALHAZEN,     1125,     1320, 

2075 

"ALLIGATOR,"  The,  959 
ALPACA,  2823 
ALPHA  CENTAURI,  1373 
ALPINE  Peaks,  3123 
ALPS,  240,  299,  316,  475, 

539,    956,    1117,   1144, 

1380,  1447,  1542,  1769, 

1945,  1985,  2016,  2470, 

2560,  3195,  3388,  3697, 

3708 

ALTONA,  456. 
ALTYRE,  3751 
ALUATES,  2420 
AMANITA  Muscaria,  2542 
AMARANTHUS    Albus, 

4259 
AMAZON,      1126,      1677, 

1805,  2493,  2520 
AMBOYNA,  2178 
AMERICA,  548,  751,  833. 

860.  1171,  1510,  1616, 

1945,  1981,2133,2492, 

2530,  2665,  2960,3370, 

3444,3727 


AMERICA,     (See      also 

ARREST,    Heinrich    Lud- 

North  America,  South 
America.) 

wig  d',  2122 
ARYANS,  2573,  3757 

AMERICA,  Tropical,  1031 
AMERICAN  Indians,  3285 
AMIDON,  Dr.  R.  W.,  2294 
AM02BA,  32,  446 

ASBJORNSEN,     Peter 
Christian,  3213 
ASIA,  310,833,1737,1981, 
2774 

AMOY,  825 
ANABLEPS    Tetrophthal- 

ASIA,  Central,  2484 
ASIA  Minor,  956,  2442 

mus,  65 
ANAXAGORAS,  1084 
ANAXIMENES,  3626 
ANDAMAN  Islands,  1269 
ANDAMANESE,  228,  2958 
ANDES,    240,     557,     640, 
1030,  1247,  1502,  2362, 

ASIA,  Northern,  2375 
ASIA,  Southern,  2203 
ASSYRIA,  3233 
ATABAPO  River,  2493 
ATHENA,  2207 
ATHENS,  583,  2300 
ATLANTIC  Ocean,  93,  375, 

2520,  3107 
ANDES,  Peruvian,  337 
ANDROMEDA,  1576,  2494 
ANGHIERA,    Petro     Mar- 
tire  d',  2926 
ANGLES,  1497 

856,  1877,  2176,  2449, 
2520,  2720,  3226,3708 
ATLAS,  619 
ATURES,  Cataract  of  ,  321 
AUDUBON,    John   James, 
2932 

ANGOUL£ME,Ducd',2111 
"ANIMAL  MOUNDS,"  959, 

AUGSTROEM,  3168 
AUGUSTINE,  St.,  151 

2271 

AUSTRALIA,  233,  381,  505, 

ANIO,  1259 
ANNELIDA,  712 

825,  1691,  2340,  2543, 
3166  3226 

ANOPLOTHERIUM,  3485 

AUSTRALIANS,      1237, 

ANTARCTIC  Continent, 

1713 

323 
ANTARCTIC  Seas,  352 
ANTARES,  546 

AUVERGNE,  3512 
AUZOUT,    Adrien,    1136, 

091  o 

ANTIGUA,  956 
ANTILLES,  956.  1771 

OMVAW 

AVERNIAN  Lake,  1177 

ANTIPODES,  363 
ANTISANA,  39 

AVES,  3570 
AYRTON,  W.  E.,  557 

ANTISANA,     Cavern     of, 

AZORES,  1771,  2578,  3743 

1502 

AZTECS,  3468 

AQUITANIA,  2862 

APPOLLONIUS  of  Perga, 

251,256 
APTERIX,  70 
APURE  River,  1771,  2854 

BALS),  Bay  of,  3401,  3699 
BABINET,  Jacques,  1061 
BABYLON,  251 

ARABIA,  1031 
ARABIAN  Nights,  1346 

BACHE,  Dr.  Alexander  D., 

CKA 

ARABS,    219,    624,    1125, 
1320,2109,2401,  2543, 

OOO 

BACON,    Francis    (Lord), 

2811,2965,2972,2977, 
3016 

552,    693,    1051,  1143, 
1636,  1795,  2387,3473, 

ARAGO,  Dominique  F., 
257,  1351,  1465,  3497, 

3510,  3574,  3631 
BACON,  Roger,  315,  1125, 

3505 

1931,2075,  3329 

ARATUS,  258,  2633 
ARCHIMEDES,  256,  1690, 
1693    2108 

BAER,    Karl    Ernst    von, 
650 
BAGDAD,  2109 

ARCHIPELAGO,     South 
Indian,  1375 

BAHAMA  Islands,  2926 
BAIN,     Alexander,    3148, 

ARCTIC  Ocean,  2554 
ARCTIC      Regions,     581, 
1173 

3573 
BAIRD,  Prof.  Spencer  F., 
2347 

ARCTIC  Seas,  352 

BAJADA  (South  America), 

ARCTURUS,     546,     1790, 
2494,  3210 
ARGAND,  Aime",  1950 
ARGELANDER,  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  August,  3210 
ARGYRONETA,  The,  1704 

1314 
BAKER,  Inspector,  483 
BAKER,    Sir    Robert    B., 
1329 
BALABAC,  825 
BALONDA,  637 
BALLANTYNE,      John, 

ARISTARCHUS  of  Samos, 

3489 

218 

BALLARD,  Dr.,  2899 

ARISTILLUS,  257 

BALTIC,  1870,  3038 

ARISTOLOCHIA,  1375 

BALTIMORE,   502 

ARISTOTLE,  218,  219,  545, 

BANDA  Seas,  1940 

624,   931,    1071,   1072, 

BANKS  of  Newfoundland, 

1149,1322,  1395,  1638, 

2926 

1921,2300,  2370,3146, 
3646 

BARBADOS,  956,  3743 
BARBARIANS,  3288 

ARKWRIGHT,   Sir    Rich- 

BARRANDE,    Joachim, 

ard,  574,   1044,   1754 

2553 

ARNOLD,  Matthew,  1001 
ARPINUM,  1670 

BARROW,  Sir  John,  3786 
BARROWS,  Prof.,  702 

BARTHOLDI,    Fre'de'ric 

Auguste,  2516 
BASALT,  940 
BASHEES,  825 
BATH,  2904 
BATHANARIUS,  151 
BAUMAN,  Nicholas,  3288 
BAVARIA,  8 
BAY  OF  BENGAL,  3493 
BECQUEREL,  Antoine 

Cesar,  988 
BEDDARD,    Prof.    Frank 

Evers,  1261 
BEECHEY,  Sir  Frederick 

W.,  1770,  2950 
BEETHOVEN,       Ludwig 

von,  3359 
BEHUT  River,  444 
BEL  ALP,  2470 
BELL,  Thomas,  709 
BELL,  Alexander  G.,  2916 
BELZONI,   Giovanni  Bat- 

tista,  2950 
BENARES,  237 
BENDANT,M.,2668 
BENGAL,  1329,  3024 
BENNEN,  2993 
BEN  NEVIS,  2876,  3245 
BENTHAM,  Jeremy,  1335 
BENTHAM,  George,  2664 
BENTHOS,  The,  167 
BERKELEY,  George,  3355, 

3526 

BERLIN,  1005,  2610,3215 
BESSEL,     Friedrich    Wil- 
helm,  261,   456,   1631, 

2653 

BIOGENESIS,  1371 
BIOLOGY,  2748 
BIOT,  Jean  Baptiste,  1063 
BIRMINGHAM  (England), 

1758 

BIRMINGHAM,  John,  583 
BLAGDEN,  Sir  Charles, 

1008 

BLAKE.Prof .  Francis ,  3463 
BLASIUS,  Professor,  3697 
BLUEMts.  (Jamaica), 2279 
BLUMENBACH,  Jean 

Frederick,  3535 
BOBOLINK,  1677 
BOHEMIA,  649 
BOKHARA,  1031 
BOND,    William    Cranch, 

1059 
BONIFACE,     Archbishop, 

363 

BONN,  2709 
BONNET,  Charles,  2428 
BONNEVILLE,  460 
BONNEY,  Professor,  921 
BONPLAND,  Aims',   1469, 

2690 

BOOTES,  1790 
BORNEO,  524,  825 
BOSCOVICH,  Ruggiero  G., 

976 

BOSTON,  502,  2665 
BOUSSINGAULT,  M.,  2666 
BOYLE,  Robert,  544,  548, 

2258,3387,3391,3398 
BRACHIOPODS,  890 
BRADLEY,  James,  1,2547, 

3631 

BRAKE,  Tycho,  1044,2841 
BRAHMAPOOTRA,,  3493 
BRANDON      (England), 

1717,3120 
BRANDT,     Prof.      Jean 

Frederick  de,  1267 
BRASSICA  Oleracea,  1667 


PROPER  NAMES  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS 


907 


BRAZIL,  1126,  1269.1306, 

CANADA,  1165,1463,  1535, 

CHIMBORAZO,  Mt.,   921, 

GUMMING,     Sir    William 

1713,1999,3074 

1751,  1899 

1248,  1425,  1469,  1920, 

Gordon,  3751 

BRAZIL,  Central,  2520 

CANADIAN  Indians,  1751 

2884 

CUNDINAMARCA,  92 

BRENNUS,  309. 

CANADIAN    Pacific    Rail- 

CHINA, 192  ,  255  ,  963  ,  1  1  7  1  , 

GUSHING,  1768,  2302 

BRESLAU,  3032. 

way,  3476 

2007,  2085,  2647,  2732, 

CUSS,  Nicholas  de,  218 

BREWSTER,    Sir    David, 

CANARIES,  2578 

2811,3226,3786 

CUVIER,  160,  1058,  1070, 

1160,  3505 

CANARY  Islands,  818 

CHINESE,  1760,2108,2401 

2842,  3269 

BREYTENBACK,       Bern- 

CANDOLLE,    Augustin   P. 

CHITTAGONG,  3024 

CUVIER,  M.  F.,  1706 

hard  von,  1354. 
"BRIDE    OF     LAMMER- 

de,  110,  2776,  3259 
CANOPUS,  3215 

CHOLULA,  1621 
CHUSSULORGO,  1502 

CYCLOPS,  194 

MOOR,"  3489 

CAPE  Corrientes,  3720 

CICERO,  M.  Tullius,  1322, 

*HMmt*»»^ii 

BRIDGMAN,  Laura,  3104 

CAPE  Natal,  816 

3574 

DACOTAHS,  194 

BRIENZ,  3594. 

CAPE    OF   GOOD   HOPE, 

CLAIRANT,  Alexis  Claude, 

DAGUERRE,  Louis  J.  M., 

BRISTOL,  1652. 

2040,  2926,  3226 

256 

1797 

BRISTOL  Bay,  1807. 

CAPE  TOWN,  3211 

CLEMENT  IV,  1663 

DAKOTA,  1165 

BRITAIN,  458,  741. 

CAPE    DE    VERDE     Is- 

CLEMENT of  Alexandria, 

DALMATIA,  2526 

BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  of 

lands,  1555,  1877 

3329 

DALTON,  John,  536,  1574, 

Glasgow,  3751. 

CARACAS,  1771,2666 

CLEOMEDES,  546 

3653 

BRITISH    COLUMBIA, 

CARDAN,  Girolamo,  1690 

CLIFTON  (England),  1652 

DAMARAS,  1713 

2133 

CARIBBEAN    Sea,    2493, 

"COAL-SACK,"  2594 

DAMPIER,  William,  816 

BRITISH  Isles,  2176.2876, 

2926 

COCCOSTEUS,  2567 

DANA,  JamesDwight, 

3165 

CARIES,  2694 

CODRINGTON,     Sir     Ed- 

1444, 3641 

BRITTANY  1926 

CARLYLE,  Thomas,  1351  , 

ward,  2671 

DANIELL,  John  Frederick, 

BRITISH  MUSEUM,  983 
BROADBENT,    Sir    Wm., 
623 

2123 
CARNEADES    of    Cyrene, 
1690 

COHN,  Ferdinand  J.,  2606, 
3032 
COGGIA'S  Comet,  3219 

1253 
DANISH  Archipelago,  2063 
DANUBE,  River,  2300 

BROCA,  Prof.  Paul,  1716 
BROCKEN,  2690 
BROOKE,  Lieut.  John  Mer- 

......     O1  7O 

CAROLINE  Archipelago, 
225,  3319 
CAROLINE  Island,  2741 
CARPENTER,  Dr.Wm.B., 

COL^US  of  Samos,  2808 
COLERIDGE,  Hartley,  296 
COLERIDGE,  Samuel  Tay- 
lor, 1192,2888 

DARIUS,  2238 
D'ARREST    (See  ARREST.) 
DARWIN,  Charles  Robert, 
214,282,431,468,730, 

cer,  jd  t  \j 
'RPOO'K'TYN    ^09 

1897,  2475 

COLONOS,  2343 

767,     784,     925,    1034, 

XJxvL/UJtvJU  I  ii  ,  OU.£ 

BROOKS    W  K     3327 

CARGUAIRAZO,  Mt.,  1248 

COLORADO,     998,     1165, 

1214,  1216,  1312,  1692, 

BROSSES,  Charles  de,  1227 
BROUGHAM,  Lord  Henry, 
1351 

CARTHAGE,  2485,  3497 
CARTHAGINIANS,  3226 
CARTWRIGHT,  Edmund, 

3189 
COLUMBIA    River,   2016, 
2320 

2340,  2489,  3039,  3050, 
3051,  3252,3327,  3608 
DARWIN,  Erasmus,  2945 

BROWN,  Dr.Thomas,21  18 
BROWN  UNIVERSITY, 
3463 

1044 
CASCADE       Mts.,      2306, 
2924 

COLUMBUS,  The  Age  of, 
315 
COLUMBUS,   Christopher, 

DARWIN,  G.  H.,  1245 
DAVID,  858 
DAVIS,  Edward  H.,  3594 

BROWNE    Dr    W.  A    F 

CASSINI,      Giovanni     D., 

530,764,816,851,860, 

DAVIS,  Doctor  D.  S.,  1652 

1  47Q 

255,  2790 

1572,  1616,  1666,  2133, 

DAVY,      Sir      Humphrey, 

BROWNING     Robert    B 

CASSIOPEIA,  620,  3223 

2808,  3171,  3215,3226, 

362,   449,    1054,    1351, 

1001,2609 
BROWN-SE  GUARD,  Dr. 

Charles  Edouard,  1485 
BRUCKE,  Ernst  Wilhelm, 

CASSIQUIARE  River,  321, 
2493 
CAST,  3261 
CASTOR,  546 
CATANIA,  2502   2845 

3551,  3727 
COMMERSON,     Philibert, 
816 
COMTE,  Auguste,  13,  261, 
724,     817,     834,    879, 

1574,  1709,  1797,  2940, 
3014 
DAWKINS,   Prof.   D.,  360 
DEATH'S-HEAD    MOTH, 
1139 

2510 
BRUDZEWSKI,  Albert, 
530 

CATLIN,  George,  9,  3647 
CAUCASUS        Mountains, 

1024,  1335,  1394,  2123, 
2248,2456,3399,3507, 

DEINORNIS,  70 
DE  LACOUPERIE,  192 

BUCH,  Leopold  von,  818, 
2472 
BUCHANAN,  John  Young, 
2722 

3195 
CAUCHOIX      (Cauchy), 
Augustin  Louis,  2565 
CAUER  INSTITUTE  (Ger- 

3529 
CONN,  Prof.  Herbert  W., 
623 
CONQUISTADORES,  The, 

DELFT,  841 
DEMETRIUS,  956 
DEMOCRITUS,  2464 
DE  MORGAN,    Prof.    Au- 

BUCHNER, Prof.  Max,  342 
BUCKLAND,  Dr.  William, 
3751 

many),  3014 
CAVENDISH,  Henry,  1071 
CAVOUR,    Count   Camillo 
Benso    1010 

594,  859 
COOK,     Captain     James, 
1155,  2472,  3089,  3100 
COPE,    Edward    D.,  1053 

gustus,  880 
DENMARK,  441  ,  861  ,  1800,. 
2016,  2025,  2065,  2910, 
3468 

BUCKLE,  Henry  Thomas, 

CEDAR  DEODWARA  444 

COPENHAGEN,  861,  1005, 

DENT  BLANC,  435 

2123 
BUDA-PESTH,  1465,  2414 

CEDRUS  DEODARA/444 
CELEBES,  825 

2354 
COPERNICUS,     85,     218, 

DENZA,  Father,  1135 
DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRI- 

BUDAEUS,   Guillaume, 

CENTAUR,  3209 

251,    257,    530,    1145, 

CULTURE,  1686,  1687, 

1690 

CENTAURI  3618 

1352,  1692,  2817,  3017, 

2903 

BUDOS,  Hegy,  1177 

CENTRAL  AMERICA,  978, 

3393 

DE    QUINCEY,    Thomas,. 

BUENOS  AYRES,  898,  2963 
BUFFON,  George  L.  L.  de, 
385,  1070,  1744 
BUNSEN,  Robert  Wilhelm, 

847 

1390,  1677,  2174,  2694 
CEPHEUS,  1790 
CEPHISUS,  2343 
CERES,  39 
CEYLON,  449   2151    2182 

COPPERMINE     River, 
2357 
COQUIMBO,  3640 
CORDILLERAS,  1502, 
1899,  1920,  2203,  2320, 

595,  1653 
DESCARTES,    Rene",   392, 
1068,  1180,  2075,  2094, 
2114,2969,3682 
DE  SOTO,  3453 

BURCKHARDT,  Johann 
Ludwig,  2543,  2950 
BURKE,  Edmund,  2911 
BURNS,  Robert,  2244 

3209 
CHADBOURNE,  P.  A.  ,  1698 
CHALDEA,  347,  3393 
CHALDEANS,  The,  1031 
"CHALLENGER,"  779, 

2362,  3195 
CORDOVA,  2109 
CORNALIA,  M.,  696 
CORNU,  2547 
CORVID^E,  3570 

DESTUTT-TRACY,    An- 
toineL.  C.,  2428 
DEUCALION,  Flood  of,  761 
"DE  UTENSILIBUS,"2084 
DEUTERONOMY,  2535 

c 

1894 

CORNWALL,  57 

DEVILLE,     Henri     Saint- 

\s 

CORRIENTES,  Cape,  3681 

Claire,  2856 

CABOT,  Sebastian,  3551 
CADIZ,  956,  3215 
CAESAR,  Julius,  1312,  3574 

CHAMOUNI,  1117 
CHANCE,  Bros.  &  Co.,  Sir 
James-Timmins,  1758 

CORTEZ,  1621 
COSEQUINA  (Volcano), 
3107 

DEVONIAN,  2876 
DEWEY,  L.  H.,  2903 
DIANA,  392 

CAILLETET,  Louis   Paul, 

CHANTREY,  Sir  Frances, 

COTOPAXI,  921,1425 

DINOTHERIUM,     The, 

2856 

1008 

COX,  Charles,  2628 

2013 

CAIN,  Tubal,  1766, 
CALCUTTA,  3024 

CHARLES  II.  2984 
CHARLESTON,  2665 

CRATER  LAKE,  2306 
CROMARTY,  235 

DIPTERA,  1469 
DIODORUS,  Siculus,  349, 

CALIFORNIA,   1686,  1687 
1776,  2620 
CAMBRIDGE,  2795 

CHASLES,  Michel,  738 
CHAUX-DE-FONDS,  2565 
CHEIRACANTHUS,  2567 

CROMER,  1307,  3279 
CROMPTON,  Samuel,  574, 
1044,  1754 

929 
DIOGENES   of   Apollonia, 
2161 

CAMBRIDGE     (England), 
1765 

CHELSEA,  3292 
CHEOPS,  Pvramid  of,  614, 

CROOKES,  Prof.  Sir  Wil- 
liam, 847,  2682,  3587, 

DIOSCORIDES,  Pedanius, 
1320,3016 

CAMBRIDGE    (Massa- 
chusetts). 2665 

3215 
CHLADNI,    Ernst    F.    F., 

3692 
CRUCIS,  3618 

DODGE,  G.  M.,  3370 
DOGGERBANK,  3597 

CAMBRIDGE,  UNIVER- 

1063, 1621 

CRYSTAL  PALACE,  1561 

DOLLOND,  John,  1069 

SITY  OF,  456 
CAMPANI,  2032 

CHICAGO,  1022,  1463 
CHILE,  929.    1896,    2453, 

CUBA,  1677 
CUCURITO  Palm,  321 

DOLOMEDES,  The,  1704 
DOM,  435 

CAMPANIA,  2054 

3140,  3640 

GUMMING,  Lady  Gordon, 

DONATI    Giovanni  B. 

CAMPI  PHLEGR^EI,  2904 

CHILOE,  Island  of,  1518 

3751 

3029 

908 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


DON  QUIXOTE,  1346 
DORDOGNE,  3089 
DORSEY,  2129,  3770 
DOVE,  Prof.  HeinrichW., 

F 

FABRE,  1697 
FAIRBAIRN,  Sir  William, 
2267 

GARDEN  OF  EDEN,  2077 
GARRICK,  David,  1578 
GASCOIGNE,     William, 
2494,  3210 
GAUSS,  Karl  F.,  8,  1118 

GULF  OF  MEXICO,  2176, 
2926 
GULF  STREAM,  856,1417, 
2926,  3680 
GULICK,  Rev.  T.  J.,  4703 

3743 
DOWN,  Dr.  ,  1479 
DRACO,  1790 
DRAPER,  Dr.  Henry,  548, 

FARADAY,   Michael,   362, 
991,   1283,  1288,  1351, 
1574,  1755  2857,  2940, 

GAY-LUSSAC.M.,  2884 
GEBER,  Abu  Musa,  485 
GEIKIE,  Prof.  Sir  Archi- 

GUNLIJORN, 2808 
GUTZLAFF,  Karl,  3786 
GUYOT,     Arnold     Henry, 

2525,  3013,  3716 
DRIGG,     in    Cumberland, 

OAAQ 

2993,  3110 
FAYE,  Hervd  A.  E.  A.,  497, 
2434 

bald,  627 
GEMMELLARO,  2502 
GENESIS,  688 

2665 
GYMNOTUS,  1250 

^OOO 

DRUIDS  1390 

FEEJIANS,  1390 

GENEVA,  1742 

H 

DSCHEBER,  1320 
DUTARDIN,  Felix,  2606 

FELDHAUSEN,  3211 
FERDINAND  (King),  1579 

GEORGE,    Earl   of  Crom- 
arty,  2374 

HACHETTE,  Jean  Nicho- 
las Pierre,  2668 

DUNCAN,    Prof.    P.   M., 
2534 
DUNECHT        OBSERVA- 

FERE, M'.,  3519 
FERMAT,  Pierre  de,  2812 
FERRIER,    David,    2294, 

GEORGIA,  1379 
GERMAN  Ocean,  1B70 
GERMANO,  Dr.  Eduardo, 

HAECKEL,  Ernst  H.,  2020 
HAENKE  Island,  3152 
HAFIZ,  Muhammad,  234 

TORY,  3558 
DUTTON,  C.  E.,  2306 

3162 
FICHTE,  Johann  Gottlieb, 

1904 
GERMANY,  290,  730,  956, 

HAITI,  1579 
HALLE,  3147 

2123 

1871,  1915,  2970,  2991, 

HALLER,    Albrecht    von, 

nj  TT      -f  nQH 

3014,  3038,  3165,  3197 

3519 

EATON,  Rev.  A.  E.,  2672 
ECHINODERMATA,  712 
"ECLIPSE  STARS,"    2500 
EDDA,  1595 

?  1  J  1,    .lUoU 

FINGAL'S  CAVE,  224 
FINSTER-AARHORN,  618 
FINSTER-AARSCHLUC  T, 

678 

GETvE,  310 
GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY,  224 
GIBBONS,  Edward,  1739 
GIBRALTAR,  1132,  1376 

HALYS,  2825 
HAMILTON,  Sir  William, 
1545 
HAMLET,  2097 

EDDYSTONE,  2432 
EDINBURGH   REVIEW, 

FISHER,  Dr.  A.  K.,  2452, 
2769 

GILA,  1768 
GILBERT,  Sir  Humphrey, 

HAN,  Dynasty  of,  2533 
HANDECK,  1049 

1351 
EDISON,  Thomas  A.,  2916 
EDWARDS,     Guillaume 
Frederic,  1274 
EGYPT,     199,     251,     765, 

FISKE,  John,  1910 
FITZROY,     Robert,     925, 
3319 
FIZEAU,  Hippolyte  Louis, 
2547 

2926 
GILBERT,  William,  3387 
GILOLO,  825 
GLACIER  Bay,  2219 
GLACIER  DES  BOSSONS, 

HANDEL,  George    Freder- 
ick, 3359 
HANNO,  2485 
HANSARD,  Rev.  S.,  2149 
HARGREAVES,    James, 

1022,  1031,  1359.  1766, 
2412,  2647,  2650,  2695, 
3008,  3233,3235,3726 
EGYPTIANS,    The,      194, 
1031,  2108 
EHRENBERG,     Christian 
G.,  2606 
ELECTRA,  619 
ELISHA,  1766 
ELIZABETH  (Queen), 
1981 
ELLIOTT,  Charles  Wyllys, 
1759 
ELLIS,  2387 
EMERSON,      339,      1130, 
1350,2123,2139,  3232, 
3276 

FLORENCE,     Alabama, 
2272 
FLORENCE,  Italy,  2387 
"FLORENTINE       Experi- 
ment," 2387 
FLORIDA,  1463,  1677 
FLOURENS,    Marie    Jean 
Pierre,  3162 
FOL.,  2593 
FORBES,  Prof.  James,  1144 
FORBES,  O.K.,  407 
FORD,  Richard,  2348 
FORMOSA,  825 
FORSTER,  George,  2368 
FORSTER,  Professor,  2795 
FORSYTH,  2054 

1607 
GLADSTONE,     William 
Ewart,  1010 
GLASGOW,  3751 
GLOBIGERINA-OOSE,  775 
GLOBIGERIN^E,     1089, 
2169,  3197,  3432 
GLYPTOLEPIS,  3751 
GNEISS  Mountains,  2666 
GNOSTICS,  3776 
GOETHE,  Johann  W.  von, 
649,   2123,  2768,   3288 
GOLDEN  HORN,  3597 
GOLGOTHA,  925 
GOLTZ,  2437 
GOMARA,  Francisco  Lopez 
de   594 

574,  1044,  1754 
HARVARD    COLLEGE, 
1059 
HARVEY,    William,    841, 
1742,  2969 
HARTZ  Mts.,  1564 
HAWAII,  1444,3192.  (See 
Sandwich  Islands.) 
HAWKSBEE,    Francis 
3105 
HAYDN,  Joseph,  1872 
HAZELWOOD,  1390 
HEAD,  Sir  Francis  Bond, 
1405 
HEARNE,  Samuel,  2357 
HEBREWS,  1025,  1766 

EMPEDOCLES,  1084,  1524, 
3626 
ENCKE,  Johann  F.,  3210 

FORT  ST.  ANNE,  3743 
FOSTER,  Addison  G.,  2215 
FOUCAULT,     Le"on,    850, 

GOODYEAR,  Charles,  12 
GORKA,  310 
GOTTINGEN,  1064 

HEBRIDES,    2650,    2926, 
3512 
HEGEL,    George    W.    F., 

ENGLAND,  505,  548,  796, 
1497,  1754,  1760,  1981, 

2547 
FRACASTORO,  Girolamo, 

GOULD,  John,  325,  1517, 
2629 

1636 
HELLENES,     1790.     (See 

2025,  2040,  2085,  2565, 
2703,  2774,  3194,  3233, 
3312 
ENGLISH,  2957 
ENNIS,  John,  1162 
EOCENE  Rocks,  3645 
EPICURUS,  578,  1973, 
2464 
EQUATOR,  2176 
"EREBUS,"  352 
ERICSSON,  John,  795 

3404 
FRANCE,  1871,2040,2970, 
3165,  3621 
FRANKLIN,   Benjamin, 
856 
FRAUENBURG,  530 
FRAUNHOFER,      Joseph, 
621,  2565,  3571 
FREIBERG,  290 
FREMONT'S  Peak,  3679 
FRENCH,  354.     (See  also 

GRAMME,  M.,  7 
GRAND  CANON,  998 
GRAY'S  INN,  2089 
GREAT  BASIN,  1677 
GREAT  Britain,  362,  1357, 
1463 
GREAT  LAKES,  956 
GREAT  SALT  LAKE,  340, 
1246 
GREECE,  333,  791,  2825, 

also  GREEKS.) 
HELMHOLTZ,       Herman 
Ludwig  Ferdinand  von, 
633,    700,    1351,    1364, 
1592,  1958,  2384,  2544, 
2602,  3060 
HENRY,  Joseph,  362,  542, 
988,  1330,  1562,    1660, 
1661,  1752,  1755,  1951, 
2155,  3013 
HEPHAESTUS,  2342 

ERSKINE,  Captain,  1390 
ESKIMO,     49,     559,     677 

FRANCE.) 
FRENCH  ACADEMY,  1264 

3235 
GREEK   Commonwealths, 

HELLESPONT,  2300 
HERACLEA,  2008 

1173,  1751,  1807,  2957, 
3089,  3090 
ESKIMOS,  3285,  3443 
ESQUIMAUX     (See  ESKI- 

MO  ) 

FRESNEL,  Augustin  Jean 
1062,1351,1545 
FRESNO,  Cal.  ,  1230 
FULGURITES,  2668 

791 
GREEKS,    336,    347,   807, 
1025,  1524,  2108,  2109, 
2151,  2161,  2343,  2558, 
2578,  2972,  3359 

HERBART,     Johann     F., 
1598,  3148 
HERCULANEUM,        721, 
1081,     1477-78,     2092, 

ESTERHAZY  VON    GAL- 
ANTHA,  Prince    Niko- 

G 

GALAPAGOS,  Archipelago 

GREENLAND,     581,    860 
1379,1529,2808 

2558 
HERNANDEZ,    Francisco, 

laus  Joseph  von,  1872 
ETNA,    Mt.,     1836,    1920 
2342,  2517,  2719,  3593 
ETRUSCANS,  349 

1214 
GALAPAGOS  Islands,  1896 
3180 
GALEN,  219 

GREENWICH,  1631 
GRIMSEL,  The,  2380 
GRINDELWALD,  84,  1921 
GRIMALDI,  3106 

594 
HERODOTUS,    260,     929, 
1359,  2473 
HERRERA,    Antonio     de, 

EUCALYPTUS,  110 
EUCLID,  2108 

GALILEO,  257,  531,  1043 
1044,  1145,  1149,  1352 

GROTE,  George,  1638 
GROTTO  DEL  CANE,  272 

1579 
HERRITZWADT,       1685, 

EUDOXUS,  258 
EULER,      Leonard,     256 

1931,  2032,  2114,2532 
2969,  2972,  3739 

1177 
GUADALQUIVIR,  2811 

3197 
HERSCHEL,     Caroline, 

1947 
EUPHRATES,  2811,  2825 
EURIPIDES,  2008,  2343 
EUROPE,    39,    443,    501 

GALLE,  Johann  G.,  1135 
3215 
GALLEGOS  River,  925 
G  ALTON,    Francis,    1713 

GUANACO,  2823 
GUANAXUATO,  3151 
GUARANES,  62,  2815 
GUEVO  UPAS,  1177 

1346 
HERSCHEL,  Sir  J.,  6,  427, 
1061,  1078,  1399,  1400, 
1482,2371,2693,3203, 

856,  1071,  1733,  1981 

3586 

GUIANA,  2520,  2971 

3211,  3559,  3695 

2016,  2060,  2073,  2108 

GALVANI,  Louis,  991 

GUINAND,    Pierre    Louis 

HERSCHEL,  Sir  William, 

2176,  2354,  2546,  2825 

GAM  A,  Vasco  de,  530,  3551 

2565 

10,  153,  345,579,  1051, 

EUROPE,  Ancient,  309 

GANGES,   39,   1340,  1341 

GUISCARDI,        Professor 

1066,  1073,  1305,  1346, 

EUROPE,  Central,  3621 

2300,  3209,  3474,  3493 

553 

1482,  1801,  1976,  2283, 

EUROPEANS,  3288 

GARCILAS  (Inca),  898 

GUIZOT,  Francois  P.  G. 

2397,  2565,  2686,  2900, 

EUSEBIUS,  626 

GARDAR,  2808 

681 

2908,  3158,  3207,  3611 

PROPER  NAMES  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS 


909 


HESIOD,  285,  1790,2535 

IRELAND,  583,  1077,2016 

KOTZEBUE,  O  1  1  o   von 

LIBYAN  Desert,  2685 

3468 

2926,  3165,  3512 

3319 

LIEBIG,  Justus  von,  1067, 

HIGHGATE,  2089 

ISABELLA  (Queen),  1579 

KOUO  PHO,  2007 

1264 

HIGHLANDS      of      Ross- 

ISCHIA,  2367 

KOUPOUEES,  3647 

LIMA,    Peru,   1518,  2285, 

shire,  2374 

ISTHMUS    OF    PANAMA 

KRAKATOA,  920 

3377 

HIGHLANDS        (Scotch) 

3101 

KUNTH,  Prof.  Karl  S.  von 

LINCOLN,  Abraham,  1010 

1644 

ITALIAN  Lakes,  1302 

2666 

LINDLEY,  John,  2664 

HILAIRE,   M.    I.   G.    St. 

ITALICUS,  Silius,  316 

L, 

LINDSAY,   736 

2348 

ITALY,    721,    1542,    2016 

LINNAEUS,  Carolus    (Karl 

HILGARD,     Prof.     Julius 

2085,  2108 

LABOULLA,    M.    Gautier, 

von    Linne),    80,    654, 

Erasmus,  1687 

2348 

1070   1439,  1576,  2620, 

HIMALAYAS,     310,     444, 

LACONIA,  2343 

3127 

3195 

TAGUA  Palm,  321 

LACTANTIUS,  Firmianus, 

LINYANTI,  637 

HINDOOS,  2108 

JAMAICA,  1677 

626,  3017,  3626 

LIPARI      Islands,      2342, 

HINDOSTAN,  310,  3024 
HIPPARCHUS,     85,     251, 

JANSON,  726 
JANSSEN,      Pierre     Jules 

LAGRANGE,  Joseph  Louis, 
1968 

2351,  2440 
LIPPMAN,  Gabriel,  3001 

257,     285,     348.     619, 

Cesar,  664 

LAING,  Alexander  Gordon, 

LIRIS,  The,  316,  1670 

1457,  3393  , 

JAPAN,  2555,  2620 

2543 

LISBON,  956,  3283 

HIPPOCRATES,  924,  1184 

JAPANESE,  3359 

LAKE  CHELAN,  2320 

LISTER,  Joseph,  517,  1364, 

HITZIG,    Julius    Edward, 
3162 

JARDIN   DES    PLANTES, 
1465 

-   COMO,  1945 
ERIE,  1496 

2793 
LITHUANIA,  110 

HOBBES,  Thomas,  1609 
HODGE,  Frederick  Webb, 

JARDINES  DEL  REY,  816 
JARURES,  2493 

-  GENEVA,   916,  1920 
2924 

LITTLE  BEAR,  2084 
LIVINGSTONE,  David, 

1768 

TAVA       82*1       Q90       1177 

LAHONTAN,331,460 

160,    637,    1155,   2006, 

HODGE,   William   R.   A., 

JAVA,      o—o,     yzu,      1  1  /  /  , 
2182,  2273  2555 

LEMAN,  1920.    (See 

2498 

2368 

JAVIN,  1766  ' 

also  LAKE  GENEVA.) 

LLANOS,  The,  2854 

HOLDEN,    Prof.    Edward 
Singleton,  2741 
HOLLAND,  841 

JEREMAID,  1766 
JEWS,  2108 
JOB    858 

MAGGIORE,  1945 
ONTARIO,  1496 
SUPERIOR,       1749, 

LLOYD,  Humphrey,  1545 
LOCHMIAS,  The,  46 
LOCKE,  John,  1451,  2209, 

HOLY  LAND,  2825 
HOMER,  598,  1690,  1790, 

JOHNS     HOPKINS     UNI- 
VERSITY 3327 

2357,  3685 
TAHOE,     330,    636, 

2261,  2788 
LOCKYER,    Joseph    Nor- 

2008, 2362,  2535,  3468 
HONG  KONG,  825 

JOHNSON,  Dr.  S  a  m  u  e  1, 
1357 

1945,  2306,  3706 
LALANDE,   Joseph  G.   L. 

man,  993 
LOHLE,  2473 

HOOD,  Sir  Samuel.  2671 
HOOKE,  Robert,  544,  548, 
1068,  1084,  1136,  1180, 

JOSTEDAL,  140 
JOULE,    James    Prescott, 
614,  1466,  2125 

de,  579,  2565 
LAMARCK,  1228 
LAMBERT,  Johann  Hein- 

LOMBARD,    Dr.   J  .    S  .  , 
396 
LOMBARDY,  1542 

1451,3134 

rich,  3171 

LOM,  140 

HOPKINS,  3416 
HORACE,  234 

JUAN    FERNANDEZ   Is- 
land. 929,  1425,  3666 

LA  METTRIE,  Julien  Of- 
frov  de,  3526 

LONDON,  1929,  1981  ,2176, 
2880,  2982,  3766 

HOTEL  DE  L'UNION,1117 
HOUDIN,  Robert,  69 
HOWE,     Dr.    Samuel    G., 
1479   3104 

JULIET,  1006 
JUNGFRAU,  382,  435 
JUPITER,      1132,      1145, 
1437,  2364,  2494,  3368, 

LAMY,    Claude    Auguste, 
847 
LANCASTER,  Capt.  James, 
1570 

LONG  ISLAND,  1992 
LORY,  3759 
LOUIS  XIV,  2032 
LOUISIANA,  1463 

HOY,  CHURCH  OF,  709 
HUBER   Pierre   1695 

3403,  3631 
JURA,  2472,  3309 

LAND'S  END,  2560 
LANGE,  Friedrich   Albert, 

LOW  Archipelago,  1770 
LOWELL,  John  A.,  2665 

HUDSON'S     BAY     COM- 
PANY, 1396    2357 

JUSTINIAN,  956 
JUTES,  1497 

1973 
LANGLEY,    Samuel    Pier- 

LUBBOCK,  Sir  John,  751 
(See  also  AVEBURY  in 

HUGGINS,     Dr.'    William, 
2525,  2637,  3029,  3202 
HUGO,  Victor,  3183 
HULAGU  257 

K 

KAMCHATKA,  1871 
KAMMERBUHL,  649 

pont,  633 
LANKESTER,  Ray,  755 
LAPLACE,    Pierre  Simon, 
Marquise  de,  256,  1064, 

Index  of  Authors.) 
LUCAS,  Dr.  Prosper,  815 
LUCRETIUS,     578,     845, 
1312,  1345 

HUMBOLDT,        Friedrich 

KANE,  Elisha  Kent,  1173. 

1403,  1457,  1526,  2434, 

LUTHER,  Martin,  2097 

3321 

3223,  3393,  3403,  3565 

LUTKE,     Feodor     Petro- 

Baron    von    449     954 

KANT,     Immanuel,     392, 

LAPLAND,  3190 

vitch,  225 

2610,  2774  ' 
HUMBOLDT,        Wilhelm, 

2123,  3171,  3387,  3403 
KANTHACK,       Professor, 
655 

LA  PLATA,  820,  2181 
LA  PLATA  River,  1126 
LA    RIVE,     Auguste    de, 

LYCEUM,  2300 
LYCURGUS,  791 
LYELL,    Sir   Charles,    57, 

Baron  von,  2235,  2977 
HUME,  David,  3148,  3526 
HUNGARY,  1872,  3512 
HUNTER,  John,  160 
HUNTER,  William,  2475 
BUTTON,  James,  374 
HUXLEY,  Thomas  Henry, 
160,   402,    1058,    1070, 
1365,  2281,  2475,  2510, 
2797,  3050,  3608,  3774 
HUYG(H)ENS,  1084,  1947 
HYADES,  1790 
HYKSOS,  The,  3215 

KATAHDIN,  1378 
KAZWINI  (Arab  author), 
1310 
KEELING  Atoll,  11  10,  1770 
KENT  (England),  110 
KENTUCKY,  751 
KEPLER,      Johann,      85, 
251,     256,     571,     879, 
1044,  1125,  1352,  1572, 
1574,  2075,  2434,  2568, 
2817,  2972,  3223,  3322, 
3393,  3404,  3412,  3486, 
3499 

2776 
LARTET,  Professor,  3089 
LATHAM,  Robert  Gordon, 
3535 
LAVOISIER,    Ant  o  in  e 
Laurent,     1063,     1071, 
1072,  3014 
LAWRENCE,  Sir  Thomas, 
328 
LAWRENCE,  Sir  William, 
3535 
LEANING      TOWER      OF 
PISA,    1146 

977,  1309,  1314,  2665 
LYKEUM,  2300 
LYONS,  3309 
LYRA,  2637 
LYSANDER,  2161 

M 

MACEDON,  2300 
MACEDONIA,  929,  1921 
MACOS,  2493 
MADAGASCAR,  816 
MAGDALENA  River,  1375 
MAGELLAN,     Ferdinand, 

I 
IBARRA,  S.  A.,  1248 
ICELAND,  860,  1334,2709, 
2808,3190 
ICHTHYOLITE,  1026 
ILIAD,  2535 
IMBABURU,    Volcano    of, 
1248 
INDIA,  145,  237,  524,  664, 

KERGUELEN  Island,  2672 
KERRY  Mts.,  1225 
KEW,  983 
KHASIA  NUTS,  3493 
KILAUEA,  3192,  3666 
KILLARNEY,  1225 
KING,  Philio  Parker,  3100 
KIRCHHOFF,           Gustav 
Robert,  85,    621,   847, 

LE  CONTE,  John,  1945 
LEEUWENHOEK,    Anton 
von,  841,  2470 
LEGGE,  James,  192 
LEIBNITZ,  Gottfried  Wil- 
helm von,  2316 
LEIPSIC,  2256 
LEITH  (Scotland),  2709 
LENA  River,  740,  1267 
LEO       CONSTELLATION, 

530,  1691 
MAGELLANIC  Clouds,  92, 
2637.  3215 
MAGNUS,    Heinrich    Gua- 
tav,  3014 
MAHTOCHEEGA,  9 
MAIDSTONE,  2645 
MAINE,  1378,  1379 
MALAYAN  Regions,  3166 
MALCOLMSON,  3751 

1361,  1524,  2151,  2533, 

3395,  3488 

2254 

MALDIVA  Atolls   3250 

2640,  3166 
INDIAN  Archipelago,  2203 

KIRKWOOD,   Professor, 
2433 

LEONARD,  Adrian,  969 
LEPIDOPTERA,  2249, 

MANDEVILLE,  Sir  John, 
1354 

INDIANS,     9,     65,     1391, 

KITASATO,  202 

3679 

MANICHJEANS,  3776 

1805,2109,  2305,  2370, 
3089,  3321,  3453,3647 

KJOKKENMODDINGS, 

861,  2063,  2065.     (See 

LES  BRENETS,  2565 
LESLIE,  Sir  John,  1054 

MANNING,  Abp.  Henry 
Edward,  1088 

(See     also     WOOD-IN- 

also    SHELL     MOUNDS 

LEUCIPPUS,  2464 

MAQUIRITARES,     The, 

DIANS.) 

in  General  Index.) 

LEUCOCYTES,  2404 

2493 

INDUS,  River,  1579 

KJOLEN  FIELD,  140 

LEVERRIER,  Urbain  Jean 

MARASMIUS     Oreades, 

INTERLAKEN,  3594 

KLAMATH  Lake,  2306 

Joseph,  2741 

3325 

ION,  2008 

KLEIN,  Dr.,  2642 

LEVTTE,  3348 

MARCO  POLO,  2811 

IONIC  SCHOOL,  1084 

KNAPP,  2215 

LEWES,  G.  H.,  3111 

MARIUS,  Simon,  531 

IPSAMBUL,  2950 

KOCH,  Robert,  2390,  3596 

JAS,  1026 

MARS,  546,  3403.  3499 

910 


SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


MARSHALL    Archipelago, 

MONTANARI,  Geminiano, 

NEW  WORLD,  2578 

PANTHEON,  1839 

3319 

726 

NEW   YORK,    502,    1126, 

PAPANDAYANG      (Java), 

MARSHALL  Islands,  3250 

MONTANVERT,  1902 

1463,  1496,  2516,  2665 

2273 

MARTIN,  William,  3177 
MARTINEAU,  Dr.  James, 

MONTE     NUOVO,      1079, 
2904 

NEW  ZEALAND,  70,  464, 
1162,  1463,  2345,  2703, 

PARA,  1126 
PARACELSUS,  2609 

615 

MONTE  ROSA,  618 

3089,  3453 

PARIS,    850,    1126,    1465, 

MARTINIQUE,  956 

MONTUFAR,  Carlos,  1469 

NIAGARA      FALLS,    990, 

1593    1690   1742    1902* 

MASSACHUSETTS,  3367 
MATILDA  Atoll,  1770 
MATTERHORN,  470,  866, 
1321,2605,2814,2880, 
3696 

MOUNT  VULCAN,  1870 
MOZAMBIQUE,  816 
MOORE,  Captain,  663 
MOREA,  929 
MOREAU,  2542 

1454,2924,3710 
NICHOLAS  III,  1663 
NICHOLAS  IV,  1663 
NIEPCE,  M.    of     Chalons, 
1797 

2565!2668,'300l' 
PARLIAMENT,  1515 
PARNASSUS,  336 
PARRY,  Capt.  Sir  William 
Edward    1173 

MATTHEWS,  Dr.,  2  129 
MAUDSLEY,    Dr.    Henry, 

MORETON  Bay,  2543 
MORGAN,  Lewis  Henry, 

NILE,     River,    931,  1312, 
1579,2380,2950,3511 

PASTEUR,  Louis,  130,  842, 
1067,  1124,  1153,  1364, 

2055 

190 

NILSON,  2957 

1902,  2712,  2743,  2793, 

MAUNA  LOA,  1449 

MORIN,  John  Baptist, 

NINEVEH,  1931,2380 

2970    3261* 

MAYER,  Johann    Tobias, 
1064,  2162 
MAYER,  Dr.  Julius  Robert 
von,  614 
MAYPURES,  Cataract  of, 

2494,  3210 
MORINUS,  Johannes, 
(John  Morin),  13 
MORNE  GAROU,  3743 
MORTON,  Samuel  G.,  400, 

NOBERT  (Optician),  3490 
NOBILI,  1005 
NORFOLK,  1307,  3279 
NORMANDY,  765 
NORTH   AMERICA,    93, 

PATAGONIA,     156,     925, 
1896,  3100,  3681 
PATAGONIANS,  2060 
PAUSANIAS,  2634 
PAYOT,  3519 

321 

2060 

123,  460,  505,  677,  796, 

PEEL  Sir  Robert  2775 

MAXWELL,  James  Clerk, 
2384 

MORTON,  Henry,  1765 
MOSELEY,  Prof.  Henry 

1131,  1379,  1871,  1899, 
2016,2126,2306,2347, 

PEKIN,  1171 
PELE,  3192 

McCULLOCH,  3647 

Nottidge,      242,      358, 

3226.     (See  also  AMER- 

PELLY River,  2282 

MECANIQUE     CLXESTE, 
1064,  1403 
MECKLENBERG,  1737 
MEDITERRANEAN     Sea, 
712,  1376,  1668,  1733, 
1949,  2134,  2633,  <J898, 
3597 
Islands,  2016 
Telegraph  Company, 
2761 
MEDUSAE,  712 
MEGATHERIUM,  1282 
MELLONI,     M  a  c  e  d  o  nia  , 

1585,2586,2722 
MOSES,  1766 
MOSSO,  Professor,  33,  380, 
3519,  3573 
MOUNT  AUBURN,  2665 
—  ST.  ELIAS,  78 
"MOUNT  STEWART  EL- 
PHINSTONE,"  3211 
MOUNT     WASHINGTON, 
2124 
MOZART,  Wolfgang  Ama- 
deus,  1347,  1348 
MUIR  Glacier,  1308 

ICA.) 
NORTH  DAKOTA,  3189 
NORTHMEN,  3226 
NORTH  PACIFIC,  1751 
NORWAY,  140,  1871,  2043, 
2173,  2709,  2926 
NOVALIS,  1351 
NOVA  SCOTIA,  1677 
NOVUM  ORGANUM,  3631 
NUBECULJE,  3203 
NUBECULA,  MAJOR,  3614 
NYCTIPITHECUS    Trivir- 
gatus,  2420 

PELOPONNESUS,  929 
PENN,  William,  502 
PENTATEUCH,  1766,  2535 
PENTLANDS,  2876 
PEPRIS,  2181 
PERSEUS,  726,  1576 
PERSIA,  2238 
PERSIANS,  234,  1233 
PERU,  92,  2694,  3377,  3452 
PERUVIANS,  3468 
PETERS,     Christian     Au- 
gust Friedrich,  456 
PFEFFER,  Louis     George 

1005 

MUIR  Inlet,  1537 

Charles,  3127 

MELOCACTUS,  The,  2944, 
3707 

MULLER,  Max,  749,  1108, 
1927    1443 

OAHU,  3470 

PFLUGER,  2585 
PHILADELPHIA,         502, 

MENAI  Bridge,  1861 
MER   DE    GLACE,    1344, 

MUNG-KHI-P  I  -  T  H  A  N  , 
2400 

OCHILS,  2876 
ODYSSEY,  2535 

2665 
PHLOGISTON,  1466 

1607,  1902 

MUNICH,  2565,  2982 

O2DIPUS,  2343 

PHOENICIANS,  The,  1031, 

MERCURY,  641,2741 
MEROPE,  619 
MERRIAM,  Dr.  C  1  i  n  t  on 
H.,  3570 

MUNK,  3162 
MUSEUM  OF  NORTHERN 
ANTIQUITIES,  861, 

O*3  FCA 

ONEUS,  2008 
02RSTED,  1005 
OG.,  1766 
OGATA,  202 

1790,  2392,  3626 
PICARD,  John,  3210 
PICHINCHA,  1502,  2690 
PIEDMONT,  1542 

MESSENIA,  2343 
"METEORITES"    of  Aris- 

ZoO1* 

MYCENAE,  189 

OGYGES,  Flood  of,  761    • 
OHIO,  1496,  3189 

PILATE,  Pontius,  241 
PILGRIMS,  502 

totle,  931 

N 

OHIO  River,  954,  1771 

PINDAR,  336,  2845 

MEYRINGEN,  678 
MEXICO,  57,  1616,  1677, 

NADDOD,  2808 
NALTUNNE,  2129 

"OLD  RED  SANDSTONE," 
2876 

PINUS  Deodara,  444 
PLATA    River.     (See    Rio 

3151,  3226 
MEXICO,  Southern,  640 

NAPLES,   272,   553,   1177, 
1301    2016 

OLYMPUS,  1233 
OMAHAS    2129    3770 

DE  LA  PLATA.) 
PLATEAU,  Joseph  Antoine 

MICHIGAN,  1926 
MIDDLE    AGES,    2578, 

NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE, 

1010 

ONIPOLEGUS,  The,  820 
ONTOGENESIS,  2455 

Ferdinand,  3134 
PLATO,  218,256,485,  910, 

3404 
MIDDLE  STATES,  2174 
MILKY  WAY,  2594,  3611, 

NASMYTH,  James,  2386 
NAVAJOS,  2129 
NEARCHUS  444 

OPHIUCHUS    3223 
OREGON,  1463,1945,2129, 
2306 

1099,  1322,  1393,  1572, 
1636,  2008,  2316,  2562, 
2898,  3322 

3614 
MILL,   John    Stuart,   397, 

NECKHAM,       Alexander, 
2084 

ORINOCO  River,  62,  1579, 

PLEIADES,  619,  620,  1790, 
2633 

910,  1491,  1636,  1667, 
2190,  3148 

NEPAUL,  444 
NEPTUNE,      456        1437 

2493,  2854,  3575 
ORION,    620,    1059,    1346, 

PLEISTOCENE    Period, 

460,  1379,  2282 

MILVERTON,  79 
MILWAUKEE,  2305 
MIMOSA  Scandens,  3038 
MINDANAO,  825 
MINNESINGERS,  2965 
MINNESOTA,  2215 
MINUCIUS,  Felix,  494 
MIOCENE,  3512 

3368X3400 
NEUCHATEL,  2565,  3309 
NEWARK,  2272 
NEWCOMB,  Prof.  Simon, 
2224,  3630 
NEW  ENGLAND,   340, 
1463,  3226,  3685 

1790,  2637 
ORKNEY  Islands,  709 
OROTAVA,  1581 
ORTALIDES,  2420 
OSTEOLEPIS,  2567 
OTTOMAKS,  2493 
OVID,  619,  2517,  2634 
OVIEDO,  594 

PLINY,  721,3127 
PLUTARCH,  721,  2161 
PLYMOUTH,  502 
PO,  3511 
POLLUX,  546 
POLYNESIA,  524 
POLYPS,  712 
POMPEII,  721,  1081,1477, 

MIGUEL,  1839,  1904,  3374 

NEWFOUNDLAND,     375, 

OWEN,  Sir  Richard,  160, 

1478,  2092,2558,3117 

MISENUM,  1080 

2449 

1070,  1314,3538 

PORT  ROYAL,  2279,  3282 

MISSISSIPPI  River,  1771, 

NEW  GRANADA,  2823 

OXALIS,  2799 

PORTRUSH,  1077 

3511 

NEW  GUINEA,  1691 

PORTUGAL,    2085,    3226, 

MOGULS,  851 

NEW  HEBRIDES,  3370 

3726 

MOLINA,  Juan  Ignacio, 

NEW  HOLLAND,  1691 

PACHACUTEC  (Inca),898 

PORTUGUESE,  1227 

2347,  2453 
MOLUCCAS,  The,  825, 

NEW  IRELAND,  2178 
NEW  JERSEY,  1677 

PACIFIC,    93,    557,    1309, 
1691,  2446 

POSEIDON,  1576 
POSIDONIUS,  3574 

1691 

NEW  MADRID,  954 

PACIFIC  Coast,  78 

POUCHET,  1152 

MOLLUSCA,  712 
MOMPILIERE,  2719 

NEWMAN,  Colonel,  567 
NEW  MEXICO,   1899 

PAPUA,  1691 
PvEONIANS,  2473 

POULTON,    Edward   Bag- 
nail,  1047 

MONCALIERI,  1135 

NEWTON,    Sir   Isaac,   79, 

PAL^EOTHERIUM,  3485 

PRICH  ARD,  James  Cowles  , 

MONEDULA,  The,  1682 

85,  545,  548,  570,  571, 

PALAWAN,  825 

3535 

MONGOLIAN  Steppes,  310 

650,    731,     853,    1043, 

PALESTINE,  3233 

PRIESTLEY,  Joseph,  1071, 

MONGOLS,  310 

1062,  1068,  1069,  1070, 

PALIS  A,  2741 

3526 

MONT  BLANC,  435,    618 

1099,  1403,  1565,  1574, 

PALISSY,  Bernard,  3757 

PRINCE  OF  WALES,  237 

638,  1117,  1469,  1511, 

1612,  1692,  1765,  1852, 

PALMER,  E.,  124 

PROCTOR,  R.H.,  2908 

1920.  2449 

1947,  2075,  2123,  2511, 

PAMISOS,  2343 

PROCYON,  456,  3223 

MONT  PERDU,  1469 
MONT  TOMBELINE,  765 

2998,  3123,  3173,  3332, 
3334,  3387.  3393.  3400, 

PAMPAS,  898,  3052 
PAMPERO,  The,  1688 

PROVENCALS,  2965 
PROVIDENCE,  3367 

MONTANA,  1165,  1677 

3412,  3486 

PANAMA,  3101 

PRYTANEUM,  1807 

PROPER  NAMES  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS 


911 


PTERICHTHYS,  1026 

ROSSE,     Lord,     (William 

SCORESBY,   Dr.  William, 

STAFFA,   Island   of,    224, 

PTEROPTOCHOS,  2453 

Parsons),  1059,  3158 

1243 

1334 

PTOLEMIES,  256 

ROSSI,  Giovanni  Battista 

SCORPIO,  546 

STAHL,  George  Ernest, 

PTOLEMY,   85,  251,  257, 

de,  2167 

SCOTLAND,     309,      1644, 

3147 

347,   546,    1320,   2817, 

ROTHAMSTED,  2621 

2219 

STANLEY,  Sir  Henry  M., 

3393,  3646 

ROTUMA,  Island  of,  3451 

SCOTUS,  Nicolaus,  315 

1999 

PUENTE  DE  CAYA,  315 

ROUSSEAU,  Jean  Jacques, 

SCOTT,   Sir  Walter,  2145, 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  151 

PUZZUOLI,  3401 

2248,  3082,  3408 

3293,  3489 

ST.  BARTHOLOMEW, 

PYRAMID  Lake,  331,  636 

ROYAL  GEOGRAPHICAL 

SCROPE,  George  P.,  947 

1690 

PYRAMIDS,  1089 
PYRENEES,  3165 

SOCIETY,  627 
ROYAL    INSTITUTE    OF 

SCUDDER,     Samuel     H., 
2770 

STEENSTRUP,  Prof.  Jean 
Japhet  Smith,  861 

PYTHAGORAS,  485,  1398, 

GREAT  BRITAIN,  362 

SEEBECK,  Thomas,  1005 

STEINHEIL,  Karl  A.,  8 

3322 

ROYAL    SOCIETY,    2525, 

SELEUCUS    of    Babvlon, 

STEWART,  Prof.  Balfour, 

PYTHAGOREANS,       The, 

2610,  2984,  3507 

218 

1611 

218,  807 

RUBRUQUIS,  William  de, 

SELKIRK,  Alexander,  571 

STEWART,  Dr.  Matthew, 

2533 

SERAPIS,  3401 

1064 

QUEBEC,  1171 

RUBUS,  1667,  2664 
RUE  DE  RIVOLI.  1839 

SEVERUS,  Bishop,  151 
SERVETUS,  Michael,  1742 

ST.    HIPPOLYTE,  2712 
ST.KILDA,  1131 

QUITO,    92,    1081,    1247, 

RUMFORD,    Count,    362, 

SHAKESPEARE,  William, 

ST.   LAWRENCE  RIVER, 

1502,  2690,  2823 

1466,  2125,  3699,  3704. 

1099,  2097 

1535,  2924 

(See     also     BENJAMIN- 

SHALLENBERG,  299 

STOKES,  George  Gabriel, 

THOMPSON.) 

SHARP,  David,  80 

1765,  2687 

RADACK,  3319 
RAFFLES,  Sir    Stamford, 

RUMFORD   (New   Hamp- 
shire), 362 

SHERRINGTON,  458 
SHOEBURYNESS,  2267 

STONEHENGE,  3236 
ST.  PATRICIUS,  3497 

2235 

RUSKIN,  John,  2207,  2560 

SHONKA    (Indian  Chief), 

ST.  PAUL,  1463 

RAMOND,  1469 

RUSSELL,  H.C.,  2594 

9 

ST.   PETERSBURG     225, 

RAPHAEL,  1099 

RUSSELL,  Prof.  H.  L.,  515 

SIAM,  825 

1462 

RATH,  Prof.  Gerhard  vom, 

RUSSIA,  1871 

SIBERIA,  581,  854,  1871, 

ST.     PIERRE,   Bernardin 

2709 

2016    2040    2554    3318 

de,  3707 

RAY,     John      (or     John 

SIBERIANS,  3090 

STRABO,  257,    721,    929, 

Wray),80 
RAZES,  Mohammed,  485 

SABRINA,  Island  of,  1771 
SACO,  River,  1260 

SICHUANA,  3647 
SICILY,  956,  2845 

1790,  2392,  3401 
STRAITS  OF  MAGELLAN, 

REAL  DEL  MONTE,  57 
RECUPERO,  Joseph,  6 

SADI,  234 
SAHARA  Desert,  312,2556 

SICULUS,  Diodorus,  2845 
SIDLAWS,  2876 

2823 
STRATHPEFFER,  741 

RED  SEA,  712 

2774 

SIDA,  A.,  1230 

STROMBOLI,    823,    1949, 

REGULUS,  2254 

SAINT.     (See  ST.) 

SIDON,  2392 

2351,2362,3225 

RENAN,  Ernest,  1108 
RESTIF,   Nicholas   Edme, 

SALADO,  1768 
SALAMANCA,  1742 

SIDONIANS,  2392 
SIERRA  NEVADA,  2924 

S  T  R  U  V  E  ,        Frederick 
George  William  von, 

3408 

SALERNO,  3016 

SIKKIM  Mts.,  3494 

3210 

REYMOND,  Du  Bois,  2256 

SALIX,  1667,  2664 

SILLA,  The  2666 

ST.  VINCENT,  1771,  3743 

RHINE,  3766 

SALT  LAKE   CITY,  460 

SILLIMAN,    Prof.  S.,  2079 

SUIDAS,  2008 

RHODES,  929 

SALVIA  Interrupta,  3036 

SILURIAN,  3119 

SUMATRA,  825,  2235 

RHOMALEA,  2181 

SAMOA,  3451 

SILVER,  1391 

SUMBAWA,  1625 

RHONE,  1377,  2924,  3309 

SAMOTHRACE,   3146 

SIMPLON,  1302 

SWEDEN,  956,  2043,  3165 

R  H  U  S       Toxicodendron  , 

SANDWICH  Islands,  1444, 

SIRINAGUR,  310 

SWISS  Lakes,  2563,  3444 

2620 

1691,  3470.     (See  HA- 

SIRIUS,   456,    546,    1373, 

SWITZERLAND,  121,  317, 

Venenata,  2620 

WAII.) 

1790   2908   3223   3228 

1800,  1945,  2924,  3276, 

•\T__    •„    oAon 

SAN    FRANCISCO,  River, 

SMEATON,  John,  2432 

3309,  3594,  3766 

V  ernix,  ^o^U 

RIBERO,  Diego,  315 

1126 

SMITH,  Adam,  1515 

SYDNEY,(  Australia,)  2367, 

RICHARDSON,  Sir  John, 

SANSKRIT,  2573 

SMITHERS,  E.  F.,  1230 

2594 

1214 

SANTA  CLAUS,  2817 

SMITHSON,  James,  362 

SYDNEY  MUSEUM,   2628 

RICHTER,       Jean       Paul 

SANTA  CRUZ  River,  925 

SMITHSONIAN    INSTITU- 

SYENITE,' 940 

Friedrich,  1653 

SANTA  F£   96 

TION,  362,2155 

SYMMES,     Captain    John 

RIFFEL,  3696 

SANTO  DOMINGO,  1616 

SMYTH,  Captain  William 

C.,  1054 

RIGA,  1870 
RILEY,  Dr.  C.  V.  R.,80 
RIOBAMBA,  956 
RIO   DE  LA  PLATA,   39, 

SARASIN,  2593 
SATURN,  1437,2494,3368, 
3403 
SAUERMANN,  1261 

Henry,  6 
SNELL,  Willebrord,  1125. 
2075 
SOCRATES,  2008,  2783 

"SYMMES'  HOLE,"  1054 
SYRIA,  956 
SYRPHUS  FLY,  1518 

2668,  3681 

SAUROPSIDA  3467 

SOGNE,  140 

T 

RIP  VAN  WINKLE,  481 
RITTER,  Karl,  1155,  2537, 

SAUSSURE,  Horace  B.  de, 
1469 

SOLEURE,  3309 
SOLFATARA,  1177 

TABLE  MOUNTAIN,  3211 

2687, 
RIVERO,  Don  Mariano  de, 
2666 
RIVIERA,  2249 
RIXFORD,  Gulian  P.,  1230 

SAVAGE,  Dr.,  3238 
SAXONY,  290 
SCALIGER,  Joseph,  1690 
SCANDINAVIA,  818,  2016, 
2043  ^926 

SOLFERINO,  1542 
SOLOMON  Isles,  2443, 
SOMBRERO,     Island     of, 
1570 
SOPHOCLES,  2343 

TACITUS,  309 
T  A  I  N  E  ,           Hippolyte 
Adolphe,  238,  2209 
TAKU,  1532 
TALEFRE,  1377 

ROBERTSON,    Dr.    John, 
3661 
ROBINIA,  2799 
ROBINSON  CRUSOE,  852, 
3120 

SCANDINAVIANS,  860 
SCHAAFFHAUSEN,     Pro- 
fessor, 2060 
SCHEELE,  Karl  Wilhelm, 
1071 

SORBONNE,  The,  1744 
SOUTH     AMERICA,      70, 
505,   677,     718,     1126, 
1314,  1375,  1805,  1871, 
2347,  2963,  3575,  3707. 

TALMUD,  2464 
TANAIS,  River,  951 
TARTAR  Steppes,  310 
TARTARS,  2542 
TASMAN,  Abel  J.,  3453 

ROCKY  Mountains,  2016, 
2040 

SCHIFF,  3519 
SCHILLER,  3499 

(See  also  AMERICA.) 
SOUTH  AMERICAN  Pam- 

TAYLOR, Jeremv,  742 
TEMPLE   OF   MONKEYS, 

ROEDING,  F.,  1230,  1687 

SCHILTBERGER,      Hans, 

1  Q£.J_ 

pas,  521 
SOUTH  DAKOTA,  3189 

237 
TENERIFFE,  Peak  of,  39, 

ROEMER.     (See  Romer). 
ROENTGEN,  W.  C.,  3030 

loo** 
SCHMIDT,  Dr.  H.  D.,  376, 

SOUTHERN     CROSS     92, 
466,  620,  3209,  3215 

1581,  2176 
TENNYSON,    Alfred,    982, 

ROENTGEN  RAYS,  2327 
ROMANES,  George  J.,  3327 
ROMANS,  316,  1233,  1497, 
2108,2558,2977 
ROME,  327,720,791,2016, 

583 
SCHNEIDER,  John  Gott- 
lob,  3376 
SCHOOLCRAFT,       Henry 
Rowe,  354 

SOUTH  SEA,  3679 
SPAIN,  2016,  2085 
SPARTACUS,  2558 
SPATHULARIA     Flavida, 
3325 

1798,2886,  3356,3503, 
3693 
"TERROR,"  352 
TERTIARY,  2320 
TERTULLIAN,  3329 

2167,  3726, 

SCHRADER,     Hermann 

SPEDDING,  James,  2387 

TEXAS,  1165,  1677 

ROMEO,  1006 

Henry  Christian,  2437 

SPENCER,  Herbert,  1491, 

THALES,  3146 

ROMER,    Ole    for  Olaus), 

SCHROEDER,  2793 

2209,  2864,  3048,  3203, 

THAMES,  3597 

531,  2075,  2547,  2706, 

SCHWABE,  Heinrich  Sam- 

3345, 3390,  3421 

THEOPHRASTUS,  2300 

3210,  3631 

uel,  2462,  2902,  3084, 

SPHEX-WASP,  1697 

THESSALY,  929 

ROMIEU,  2512 

3112 

SPHINX   MOTH,  1518 

THIBET,  310,  1332,    2774 

RONNEI,  182 

SCHWANN,  Theodor,  517, 

SPINOZA,  Benedict,  1328, 

2811 

ROSA,  1667,2664 

1364,2793,2810 

3390 

THOMPSON,    Benjamin, 

ROSAS,  (Dictator),  1615 

SCIENTIFIC      CONGRESS 

SPONGES,  712 

362,    653,    3704.     (See 

ROSS    (County),  235 
ROSS,  Sir  James,  323,  352 

of  Berlin,  2610 
SCLERURUS,  The,  46,  534 

SQUIDS,  463 
STABLE,  1081,  2558 

also      RUMFORD, 
COUNT.) 

SCIENTIFIC     SIDE-LIGHTS 


912 


THOMPSON,   E.   P.,   1701 

TYCHO  BRAKE,  218,  251, 

VESUVIUS,  272,  553,  823, 

WERNER,  Abraham  Gott- 

THOMSON,    Sir     Charles 

256,   257,    1125,    2494, 

996,   1080,   1081,  1477, 

lieb,  373,  3245 

Wyville,  358,  470,  1191, 

2972,  3197,  3210,  3223, 

1478,  2092,  2214,  2558 

WEST    COAST  of    Africa, 

1555,  1895,  2162,  2722, 

3412 

VIA  MALA,  148 

1227 

3213,  3416 

TYNDALL,  Prof.  John,  130, 

VICUNA,  2823 

WEST  INDIES.  1030,  1677, 

THUCYDIDES,  2845 

917,  1344,    1371,  1839, 

VIENNA,  7 

2133,  3226.3680 

THUN,  3594 

1928,  2370,  3186,  3421, 

VIESCH,  84 

WEST,  W.C.,  1230 

THUNBERG,  Karl  P.,  2620 

3759 

VIETA,  Vranciscus,  1690 

WEYBOURNE,  458 

TIBERIUS,  956 

TYPHCEUS,  2845 

VILFA,  2666 

WHEWELL,    William, 

T  I  E  L  E  ,    Prof.    Cornells 

TYPHON,  2342 

VINCENTIUS  of  Beauvais, 

1104,  1439,  1852,  3203, 

Petrus,  2872 

TYRIANS,  The,  2808 

315 

3599 

TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO,  441  , 

VINCI    Leonardo  da    1143 

WHITE       MOUNTAINS 

1306,  1502,  1518 
TIMOCHARES,  257 

ULYSSES,  194 

VISVAMITRA,  3209  ' 
VITExvLIO,  1125    2075 

(New  Hampshire),  1260 
WHITTLESEY,  C.,2215 

TIMOR,  407 
TIVOLI,  1259 

UNITED  STATES,  456,766, 
1165,  1463,  1677,  1686, 

VOGEL,  Dr.  Edward,  876 
VOLCANO      of      Kilauea, 

WHYMPER,  Edward.  921 
WILJUISKOI  (Siberia), 

TOLEDO,  3215 

1687,  1751,2272 

3192 

1267 

TO'PLITZ,  956 

UNIVERSITY    OF   EDIN- 

VOLSCIAN Hills,  1670 

WINNEMUCCA  Lake,  331, 

TOCQUEVILLE,  Alexis  de, 
766,  1335,  1760 
TOULON   2671 

BURGH,  1064 
UPTON,  3171 
URANUS,  579,  1437,  2911, 

VOLTAIRE,  1740 
VULCAN,   Mount   Verona, 
1870 

636 
WINNIPEG,  3476 
WOLLASTON,  Dr.  William 

TRALHOTE,  65 
TRANSIT  OF  VENUS,  1874  , 
2566,  3509 
TRANSYLVANIA,  1177 
TRENCH,     Abp.    Richard 
Chenevix,1830 
TRILOBITE,  2553.  3119 
TRINITY  Bay,  2449 
TRIPLER,  Charles  E.  T., 
128 

3368,  3400 
URITUCU,  1250 
URSA  MAJOR,  620,  1790 
URSA  MINOR,  620 
USUNI,  310 
UTAH,  340,  1677 

V 

VADGIHAI  Palm,  321 
VAL  DEL  BOVE,  3593 

VULCAN,  Forge  of,  2342 
VULCANO.  2342 
VULPECULA,  2637 
VULPIAN  (A)  3519 

w 

WAGNER,  Wilhelm  Rich- 
ard, 3359 
WAITZ,  Theodor,  969 
WALFERDIN,  Henri,  1465 

Hyde,  6,  3571 
WOODBURY,  1608 
WOOD-INDIANS,      1713. 
(See  also  INDIANS.) 
WOODWARD,  John,  3517 
WOOLWICH,  1292,2266 
WRANGEL,  3210 
WRIGHT,  3171 
WYOMING,  1165 

y 

TROCHILUS      Forficatus, 

VALENTIA,  2449 
VALENTIN,     Gabriel     G., 

WALFORD,  Major,  2088 
WALLACE,  Alfred  Russell, 

YAKUTS,  854 

1518 

3179 

814  833    1999 

YAKUTSK,  581 

TROCHILUS  Gigas,  1518 
TROUVELOT,  2741 
TRUCKEE  Canon,  636 
TSCHUDI,  Dr.  Johann 

VALLEY  OF  HASLI,  678 
VALPARAISO,  3025 
VAL  TOURNANCHE,  1049 
VANCOUVER,  3476 

WALSINGH'AM,      Baron 

(Thomas  de  Grey).     80 
WALTHER,   Prof.  Baltha- 
sar  2685 

YELLOW  RIVER,  3454 
YELLOWSTONE  NATION- 
AL PARK,  1165 
YORKSHIRE,  110 

Jakob  von,  3377 
TSIN,  Dynasty  of,  2533 
TUAM,  583 

VASCO  DE  GAM  A,  3226 
VASSENIUS,  664 
VEGA,  2908 

WANGEN,  2473 
WASHINGTON  (City),  362 
502  . 

YOUATT,  3045 
YOUNG,  Thomas,  79,  362, 
1062,  1351,  1947,2384, 

TUBAL  CAIN,  1766 

VENEZUELA,   1771,  2493 

WASHINGTON,       George, 

3106,  3391 

TUCKER,  Abraham,  2428 

VENUS,   579,   1043,   1437, 

2123 

YUCATAN,  1677,  2349 

TUKE,  Doctor,  1561 
TUMULI,  2910 
TUNGURAGUA      (Quito,) 

2494,  3210,  3509 
VERDON,  R.,  3087 
VERSTEGAN,        Richard, 

WATT,  James,  574,  1044 
WEDGEWOOD,   1797 
WEIR,  Jenner,  1028 

YUKON,  2282,2924 

z 

ZERMATT,  3696 

1247 
TUNICATA,  712 
TUPMAN,  Colonel,  3509 

3172 
VESALIUS,  Andreas,  1742 
VESPUCCI,  Amerigo,  2808 

WEISS,  1135 
WELLS,  Dr.  David  Ames, 
1329.  3406 

ZOLLNER,'  Johann    Karl 
Friedrich,  556,  2337 

TURNER,  George,  1701 

VESTA,  Temple  of,  1259, 

WEISSHORN,     299,    435, 

ZULUS,  677 

TURNER  Glacier,  3152 

1807 

2880 

ZUNI.2302  2647 

AUTHORS  AND  PUBLISHERS  OF  WORKS  QUOTED 


AGASSIZ,  LOUIS  JEAN  RUDOLPH, 
Pb.D,,  M.D.  Prof.  Natural  His- 
tory, Neuchatel,  and  Prof.  Zoo- 
logy and  Geology,  Harvard  Uni- 
v  e  r  s  i  t  y  .  Geological  Sketches. 
(Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co  ,  Boston, 
1896.) 

.  Structure  of  Animal  Life. 

(Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New 
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AGASSIZ,  PROF.  &  MRS.  LOUIS  J. 
R.  A  Journey  in  Brazil.  (Hough- 
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ALLIANCE  FRANCAISE,  BuUetin- 
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Paris,  1889.) 

ALSBERG,  MORITZ  (Cassel)  Ph.D., 
M.D.  Die  gesunde  Wohnung.  S. 
G.  W.  V.  (Carl  Habel,  Berlin, 
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ANGOT,  ALFRED.  Honorary  Mete- 
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logical Office  of  France.  The 
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ARGYLL,  (GEORGE  JOHN  DOUG- 
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ASSMAN,  RICHARD,  Ph,D.  Direc- 
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Berlin.  Klima.  A.  D.  L.  V. 
(J.  Engelhorn,  Stuttgart,  1889.) 

AVEBURY,  BARON.  Rt.  Hon.  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  P.C.,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  D.L.,  etc.  Ants, 
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BACON,  FRANCIS.  Baron  Verulam 
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BALL,  WILLIAM  PLATT.  Are  the 
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BAIN,  ALEXANDER,  LL.D.  Prof. 
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BAKER,  W.  MORRANT,  M.D., 
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BASTIAN,  ADOLF,  Ph.D.,  M.D. 
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BATES,  HENRY  WALTER,  F.L.S. 
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BEAL,  WILLIAM  JAMES,  Ph.D., 
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BENJAMIN,  PARK,  Ph.D.,  LL.B. 
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.     The  History  of  the  Intellectual 

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BENJAMIN,  MARCUS,  Ph.D. ,  F.C.S. , 
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BERKELEY,  GEORGE.  Dean  of 
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BERNSTEIN,  JULIUS.  Prof.  Phys- 
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BERSIER,  EUGENE,  D.D.  "Souvi- 
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BLUMENTACH,  TOHANN  FRIED- 
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BONNEY,T.G.,D.Sc.,LL.D.,F.R.S., 
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BORCK,  de,  M.D.  Professor 
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BORNSTEIN,  RICHARD,  Ph.D. 
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BOUCHER.  JOHNATHAN.  Preface, 
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BOUTROUSE,  ETIENNE  ^MILE 
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BRACKETT,  CYRUS  F.  Henry, 
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BREHM,  ALFRED  EDMUND.  Nat- 
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BROOKS,  WILLIAM  KEITH,  LL.D., 
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BROWN,  Dr.  ROBERT,  F.L.S.  etc. 
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BUCHHEISTER,  J.,  M.D.  Eine 
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BUCKINGHAM,  CHARLES  L. 
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BUNGE,GUSTAVEVON,M.D.,Ph.D. 
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CARPENTER,  WILLIAM  BEN- 
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CHALMERS,  THOMAS,  D.D.  Prof. 
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CHAPMAN,  FRANK  MICHLER. 
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CHISHOLM,  GEORGE  G.,  M.A., 
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COOKE,  JOSIAH  PARSONS,  LL.T>. 
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COULIER, M.D.  Prof.  Im- 
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COUNT  RUMFORD.       (See    RUM- 

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COUTANCE,  A.  Prof,  des  Sciences 
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CZERMAK,  JOHN  N.,  M.D.  Prof. 
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D 

DAHL,  DR.  P.,  Prof.  Zoological  In- 
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DALLAS,  JAMES,  F.L.S.  Nature 
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DANA,  JAMES  DWIGHT,  Ph.D., 
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as  Retiring  President  ofthe  Ameri- 
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American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
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DARWIN,  CHARLES  ROBERT, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  M.A.,  F.G.S.  Fer- 
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-  .    Formationof  Vegetable  Mould 
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--  .  Journal  of  Researches  into  the 
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--  .  Origii  of  Species  by  Means  of 
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-  .     Power  of  Movement  in  Plants. 
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--  .  Structure  and  Distribution  of 
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DARWIN,  FRANCIS,  in  Insectivorous 
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DAWSON.  SIR  JOHN  WILLIAM. 
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FOREL,  AUGUSTUS,  M.D.,  Ph.D., 
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HAUG,  MARTIN,  Ph.D.  Confucius 
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JUDD,  JOHN  W.,  F.R.S.  Prof. 
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KIRCHOFF,  ALFRED,  Ph.D.  Nat- 
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KLEINWACHTER.F.,  Ph.D.  LL.D., 
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916 


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NIEBUHR,  BARTHOLD  GEORGE, 
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0 

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PETTENKOFER,  MAXIMILIAN 
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PFUHL,  FRITZ,  Ph.D.,  at  Posen. 
Was  geboren  ist  auf  Erden  muss 
zu  Erd-Asche  werden.  S.G.W.V. 
(Carl  Habel,  Berlin,  1866-76.) 

PIERCE,  BENJAMIN.  LL.D..F.  R. 
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of  the  American  Association.  (Pro- 
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POPE,  FRANKLIN  LEONARD. 
Past  President  of  the  American 
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The  Electric  Motor  and  Its  Appli- 
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(Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New 
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PORTER,  NOAH,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Prof.  Metaphysics  and  Moral 
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(Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New 
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PORTER,  THOMAS  CONRAD,  D.D. 
LL.D.  Prof,  of  Natural  Science, 
Marshall  College ,  Mercersburg ,  Pa. ; 
Prof.  Botany  and  Zoology,  La- 
fayette College,  Easton,  Pa. 
Wild  Beasts.  (D.  Appleton  & 
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PREYER.  WILHELM,  M.D.,  Ph.D. 
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PROCTOR,  RICHARD  A.  Expanse 
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— 7TT'  ^°^f  £*  Earthquakes. 
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,     Our  Place  Among  Infinities. 


(Longmans,   Green    &  Co.,    New 
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RAAB,  FRITZ,  Ph.D.  Leonardo  da 
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RATH,  GERHARD  VON,  Ph.D. 
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RANKE,  JOHANNES,  Ph.D.  Prof, 
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RECLUS,  JEAN  JACQUES  ELISfiE. 
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RINSCH,  GUSTAV.  Rector  of 
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ROMANES,  GEORGE  J.,  M.D., 
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RUMFORD,  COUNT  (Benjamin 
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RUSSEL,  ISRAEL  C.  Professor  of 
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,     Lakes     of    North     America. 

(Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  1895.) 


SCHONBERG,  GUSTAV,  Ph.D. 
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SCHURTZ,  HEINRICH,  Ph.D. 
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SCHWARTZ,  HERMANN,  Ph.D. 
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SEMPER,  KARL.  Prof.  Zoology 
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SHALER,  NATHANIEL  SOUTH- 
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STEIN,  LORENZ  RITTER  VON, 
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THOLUCK,  FRIED  RICH  AUGUST 
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YOUNG,  CHARLES  AUGUSTUS, 
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Z  IRK  EL,     FERDINAND,     Ph.D. 

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